United States · United States Congress · 11 June 1981
Amends the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970 to require a judicial officer, in setting conditions for pretrial release for any person charged with certain narcotics offenses, to consider which conditions will reasonably assure the safety of the community, the personal safety of persons in the community, and the prevention of similar offenses by such person. Requires a judicial officer to deny release to any person charged with a narcotics offense who: (1) has previously been convicted of a felony narcotics offense under Federal, State, or foreign law; (2) is on parole, probation, or other conditional release for a felony offense under Federal or State law; (3) is an illegal alien; (4) was arrested in possession of a false passport; or (5) has been convicted of being a fugitive from justice. Requires the Government to provide clear and convincing evidence that the person charged falls within any such category and to establish that there is substantial probability that the person committed the offense . Permits the judicial officer to grant release to a person who has not been previously convicted of a felony narcotics offense upon a finding of special mitigating factors. Requires that the case of a person who is denied release be placed on an expedited calendar.
United States · United States Congress · 8 June 1981
House Committee on Agriculture Reconciliation Measures - Subtitle A: Reductions in Authorizations for Appropriations - Amends the Food Stamp Act of 1977 to extend the food stamp program, at reduced funding levels, through fiscal year 1985. Makes reduced authorizations and limits outlays for each of fiscal years 1982 through 1984 for: (1) dairy indemnity payments by the Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service; (2) marketing activities payments to States and possessions by the Agricultural Marketing Service; (3) specified rural development assistance grants by the Farmers Home Administration; (4) Soil Conservation Service and other agricultural conservation program expenses; (5) international programs under the Agricultural Trade Development and Assistance Act of 1954 (Public Law 480); (6) specified expenses of the Forest Service (but not for the Bald Mountain road and timber sale in the Siskiyou National Forest); and (7) salaries and expenses of certain agencies, offices, and functions of the Department of Agriculture. Subtitle B: Reduction in Direct Spending - Amends the Agricultural Act of 1949 to set a new formula for the determination of the price support for milk during fiscal years 1982 through 1985. Limits the range of support from 75 percent to 90 percent of parity, keyed to net Government price support purchases of nonfat dry milk and the milk equivalent of butter and cheese. Requires an increase of the support price whenever dairy product imports are increased due to an expansion of imports or a termination of import restraints. Requires semiannual adjustments of such support price. Directs the Secretary to notify the congressional agriculture committees thirty days before the effective date of a new support level. Amends the United States Grain Standards Act, for fiscal years 1982 through 1984, to authorize the Administrator of the Federal Grain Inspection Service to collect inspection fees to defray administrative and supervisory costs. Limits such costs, for fiscal years 1982 through 1985, to 35 percent of the total costs of the Service. Authorizes appropriations for such years. Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to establish an advisory committee to advise the Administrator on the implementation of the United States Grain Standards Act of 1976. Amends the United States Cotton Standards Act, the Cotton Statistics and Estimates Act, and the United States Cotton Futures Act to direct the Secretary to collect directly from participating producers cotton classing and loose cotton sale fees in an amount sufficient to cover the costs of such services, including administrative and supervisory costs. Limits the net cost estimate used to calculate such fees to specified amounts for fiscal years 1982 through 1984. Directs the Secretary to impose charges for establishing cotton standards. Credits all such fees and charges to the current appropriation incurring such costs and leaves them available until expended. Exempts from the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949 any cotton samples submitted in compliance with the requirements of such Acts and thereby becoming United States property. Requires the Secretary to hold annual meetings with cotton industry representatives to review such activities. Amends the Tobacco Inspection Act to direct the Secretary to fix and collect fees for inspection and certification, the establishment of standards, sampling and weighing, and other services at designated auction markets. Requires such fees to cover the costs of such services, including administrative and supervisory costs. Credits such fees to the current appropriation incurring such costs and leaves them available until expended. Requires assessment of such fees against warehouse operators, who shall collect them from tobacco sellers. Directs the Secretary to set up a national advisory committee of tobacco producers, with advisory subcommittees for each major kind of tobacco, to advise him about such services and fees. Amends the United States Warehouse Act to direct the Secretary to collect warehouse examination, inspection, and licensing fees sufficient to cover the costs of such services and licenses, including administrative and supervisory costs. Limits the amounts of such fees for fiscal years 1982 through 1984. Authorizes appropriations for other services under such Act. Repeals the Naval Stores Act relating to standards and prohibitions regarding commerce in spirits of turpentine and rosin. Amends the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act to allow interest rates equal to the current market yield for municipal bonds for direct or insured loans to public bodies or nonprofit associations for water and waste disposal facilities and essential community facilities. Limits to five percent per annum the interest rate on such loans for facility upgrading or new facility construction in poverty areas. Sets the range for interest rates on direct or insured low-income farm ownership loans at between five percent per annum and one-half the current market yield on United States bonds. Requires a two percent per annum additional interest rate on any direct or insured loan to a State or local government for construction of certain facilities on prime farmland where non-prime farmland is available. Marks for such treatment certain facilities for: (1) recreational uses; (2) rural small business enterprises; (3) electrical transmission systems; (4) pollution abatement and control; and (5) subterminal uses. Limits to 90 percent of actual production loss the amount of farming, ranching, or aquaculture production loss for which an applicant may receive an emergency loan. Reduces the total amount of certain insurable rural development loans for fiscal year 1982: (1) from $1,000,000,000 to $300,000,000 for water and waste facilities; and (2) from $500,000,000 to $130,000,000 for community facilities. Amends the Agricultural Act of 1949 to eliminate certain waiver of interest provisions so the Secretary may collect interest on loans made on the 1980 and 1981 crops of wheat and feed grains placed in the farmer-held reserve. Reduces to $52,000,000 the ceiling on administrative expenses of the Commodity Credit Corporation for fiscal year 1982.
United States · United States Congress · 28 May 1981
Prohibits the Federal Trade Commission from investigating or taking any action concerning any State regulated profession until Congress enacts legislation which expressly provides that the Commission has authority over professions and that the Commission's authority preempts State authority. Vacates any such action taken during the period beginning on May 28, 1981, and ending on the date of enactment of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 19 May 1981
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to revise requirements for the exclusion of interest on mortgage subsidy bonds. Repeals provisions which allow tax-exempt status for such bonds if 95 percent of the mortgages financed by such issues are in compliance with stated requirements. Provides that a showing that the issuing authority has tried in good faith to satisfy all requirements will cure a failure to meet any particular requirement if such failure is corrected within a reasonable time after its discovery. Allows bondholders to rely upon an issuer's good faith covenant as to a compliance. Revises the new homeowner requirements to allow eligibility for bond-financed mortgages for persons who are residing in substandard housing or who have lost their homes because of natural disasters or governmental action. Changes the method of determining the average area purchase price for purposes of the purchase price requirements for bond-financed mortgages. Specifies that the average area purchase price shall not include residences which are not typically financed through normal real estate mortgage loans and that such price may be determined separately for new and previously occupied homes. Revises the arbitrage requirements to increase the amount by which interest rates on tax-exempt mortgage subsidy bonds may exceed the interest rates on mortgages financed with such bonds. Changes the method of determining the yield on an issue. Specifies that issuers are not required to dispose of any investment and realize a loss in order to satisfy arbitrage restrictions. Allows two or more qualified mortgage bond issues of a single issuer to be combined for purposes of determining compliance with arbitrage requirements. Permits issuers to maintain a reasonable reserve against investment losses and to allocate credits or payments between eligible mortgagors. Exempts mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration or guaranteed by the Veterans Administration from certain mortgage assumption requirements. Includes energy impacted areas within the definition of targeted areas for purposes of the special treatment of targeted area residences. Repeals the requirement that the designation of areas of chronic economic distress be approved by the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. Limits the designation of areas of chronic economic distress to 25 percent of the geographic area within a State. Redefines statistical areas to include two or more statistical areas combined. Repeals the registration requirements for bond issues.
United States · United States Congress · 18 May 1981
Food and Agriculture Act of 1981 - Title I: Dairy Production Act of 1981 - Amends the Agricultural Act of 1949 to establish milk price supports from October 1, 1981 through September 30, 1985, at between 75 and 90 percent of parity, based on projected purchases, surpluses and price increases. Extends dairy base plan authority. Extends through 1985: (1) the program of price-supported dairy products for the military and veterans' hospitals; and (2) the dairy indemnity program. Encourages wider consumption of dairy products through export promotion and domestic distribution. Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to explore domestic casein production possibilities and report to the House and Senate Agriculture Committees within 90 days after this Act becomes effective. Title II: Wool and Mohair - Amends the National Wool Act of 1954 to extend the wool and mohair price support program through 1985. Title III: Wheat - Provides for loans and purchases of the: (1) 1982 wheat crop at not less than $3.55 per bushel; and (2) 1983-1985 crops at levels adjusted proportionally to the target price of wheat. Stipulates that the Secretary may adjust levels downward by up to ten percent (but not less than $3.00 per bushel) whenever the yearly price for the previous year is not more than 105 percent of the current loan and purchase level. Requires the Secretary to provide producers with the same return they would have received if such loan reductions occur. Authorizes a target price program for the 1982-1985 crops. Makes such payments mandatory if domestic carryover levels exceed one billion bushels. Sets such price for the: (1) 1982 crop at $4.20 per bushel; and (2) 1983-1985 crops at a level based on production costs over a specified time. Authorizes prevented planting and low yield disaster programs for the 1982-1985 crops only if Federal crop insurance was not generally available prior to planting. Requires set-aside and program acreages for such crops to be announced by August 1 of each year. Suspends marketing quotas and producer certificate provisions for such crops. Title IV: Feed Grains - Provides for loans and purchases of: (1) the 1982 corn crop at not less than $2.65 per bushel; and (2) the 1983-1985 crops based on target price adjustments. Stipulates that such levels may be adjusted downward by up to ten percent (but not less than $2.00 per bushel) if the yearly price for the previous year is not more than 105 percent of the current loan and purchase level. Provides for loans and purchases of the 1982-1985 grain sorghum, barley, and rye crops at a level based on the loan level for corn. Bases 1982-1985 oats levels on a weight comparison with other grains. Authorizes target prices for grain sorghum and corn. Makes such prices mandatory if domestic carryover exceeds 1.3 billion bushels. Sets the target price for: (1) the 1982 corn crop at $2.90 per bushel; (2) the 1983-1985 corn crops at a level based on production cost changes; and (3) grain sorghum, oats, and barley at a level based on corn payments. Authorizes disaster payments for the 1982 feed grain crops only if Federal crop insurance was not generally available prior to planting. Requires set-aside and program acreages for the 1982-1985 feed grain crops to be announced by November 1 of each year. Title V: Upland Cotton - Suspends marketing quotas, base acreage allotments, and related provisions for the 1982-1985 upland cotton crops. Provides with regard to such crops that: (1) the minimum loan level shall be $.55 per pound (currently $.48 per pound); (2) the base for the Northern European price quotation used to determine the loan rate shall be middling 1 3/32 inch cotton (currently strict middling 1 1/16 inch); (3) the target price shall be 120 percent of the loan level; (4) disaster payments shall be available in counties without generally available Federal crop insurance; (5) cotton acreage reductions could be required as a condition for program benefits instead of current set-aside authority; and (6) the Secretary shall establish a seed cotton recourse loan program. Extends skiprow provisions through 1985. Bases the preliminary allotment for the 1986 crop on the permanent (as adjusted) 1977 acreage allotment. Title VI: Rice - Repeals acreage allotment and marketing quota provisions effective with the 1982 rice crop. Provides for loans and purchases of the 1982-1985 rice crops at not less than $8.00 per hundredweight. Bases target prices on production costs. Makes disaster payments available only in counties where Federal crop insurance was not generally available prior to planting. Extends: (1) set-asides but authorizes the Secretary to limit acreage as a condition of benefits eligibility; and (2) land diversion programs. Requires the Secretary to report by July 31, 1983, to the Congress on rice futures trading, including the feasibility of using the average seasonal price received by farmers as a basis for computing loan and target prices. Title VII: Peanuts - Suspends annual marketing quotas and acreage allotments for the 1982-1985 peanut crops. Provides that the 1982-1985 New Mexico peanut allotments shall not be reduced below the adjusted 1977 level. Extends acreage allotments and national and farm poundage quotas for the 1982-1985 peanut crops. Modifies such provisions to: (1) set a minimum acreage allotment of 1,614,000 acres; (2) set a minimum national poundage quota of 1,300,000 tons, increased as necessary by the Secretary; and (3) require and set forth formulae for determining individual farm yields, base production poundage, and poundage quotas. States that if the total of all increases in individual farm poundage quotas exceeds ten percent of the national quota the Secretary shall adjust such increases in order not to exceed such percentage. Extends provisions relating to sale, lease, and transfer of acreage allotments. Permits acreage allotments and marketing quotas to be transferred without regard to county boundaries in a State having a peanut acreage of less than 11,000 acres. Eliminates the 50 acre limitation on individual allotment transfers. Extends and modifies marketing penalty and disposition of additional peanut provisions to: (1) direct the Secretary to authorize specified county committees to reduce or waive penalties for unintentional violations; (2) provide that weight errors not exceeding one-tenth of one percent in a marketing document shall not be considered violations; (3) give the area marketing associations primary responsibility for selling additional peanuts under loan when such peanuts are sold at prices not less than the Commodity Credit Corporation's minimum price; (4) change the contract deadline for additional peanuts from June 15 to March 15; and (5) penalize handlers for marketing peanuts in excess of the quantity, grade, or quality of quota levels. Extends through 1985: (1) specified reporting and recordkeeping requirements; and (2) preservation of unused allotments provisions. Provides for loans and purchases of the: (1) 1982 crop at not less than $600 per ton; and (2) 1983-1985 crops at the level of the preceding year, adjusted for production costs. Prohibits marketing associations other than the three area associations selected by the Secretary from receiving storage loans or performing administrative or supervisory activities. Title VIII: Soybeans - Establishes the soybean price support program under the category of "basic agricultural commodity" for the 1982-1985 crop years. Provides for loans and purchases of the 1982-1985 soybean crops at not less than $5.02 per bushel. Authorizes the Secretary to lower such level ten percent each year (but not below $4.50 per bushel) if the previous year's average market price was not in excess of 105 percent of the loan rate for that year. States that soybeans are ineligible for the producer storage reserve program and the production adjustment control program. Title IX: Other Commodities - Establishes the sugar beet and sugar cane, and sunflower seed support programs under the category of "basic agricultural commodity" for the 1982-1985 crop years. Establishes a loan rate for sugar: (1) of 19.6 cents per pound; and (2) for the 1983-1985 crops based on production costs for the two preceding years. Provides for loans and purchases of oil sunflower seeds at not less than $9.00 per hundredweight. Title X: General and Miscellaneous Commodity Provisions - Continues current disaster and nondisaster payment limitations for wheat, feed grains, rice, and upland cotton through 1985. Continues and modifies the producer storage program for wheat and feed grains as follows: (1) provides an entry loan rate for grains at the higher of 110 percent of the loan rate or $3.85 per bushel for wheat and $2.80 per bushel for corn; (2) provides a minimum resale price for Commodity Credit Corporation stocks at 105 percent of the price levels at which the market rate interest rates are invoked; (3) authorizes the Secretary to waive storage charges and interest on support loans, to vary the size of the reserve, and to cancel early-release penalties, halt storage payments, and impose market rate interest under specified circumstances. Extends the special grazing and hay program through 1985. Authorizes the Secretary to: (1) provide for set-asides for the 1982-1985 wheat and feed grain crops as a result of executive export restrictions; (2) reduce accumulated interest charges on Commodity Credit Corporation loans in order to discourage loan defaults; and (3) transfer Department funds in plant or animal disease emergencies. Continues normally planted acreage requirements for the 1982-1985 wheat and feed grain crops (but not for rice and upland cotton) but bases such acreage on the preceding two years. Title XI: National Agricultural Cost of Production Standards Review Board - Establishes the National Agricultural Cost of Production Standards Review Board. Requires the Board to report annually to the House and Senate Agriculture Committees. Authorizes necessary appropriations. Makes the authority provided in this title applicable for the 1982-1985 crop years. Title XII: Export Provisions - Amends the Agricultural Trade Development and Assistance Act of 1954 (Public Law 480) to: (1) extend the program through December 31, 1985; (2) increase the annual ceiling; and (3) include other alcoholic beverages in addition to wine and beer within the authorization for overseas market development. Amends the Food and Agriculture Act of 1977 to require the loan rate to be set at 90 percent of parity for any executive embargo not based on national security, and at a level not less than the average market price during the 15 days preceding the embargo if based solely on national security. Exempts commodities if an embargo would reduce annual export tonnage by less than two percent. Waives interest charges on loans adjusted during an embargo and provides for payment of storage charges to producers. Directs the Secretary to report within six months to the Congress on the potential for increased food use of protein byproducts derived from alcohol fuel production. Expresses the sense of Congress that any agreement by the United States for foreign sales of wheat, corn, soybeans, or feed grains provide for a price of not less than the cost of production. Title XIII: Food Stamp and Commodity Distribution Amendments of 1981 - Food Stamp and Commodity Distribution Amendments of 1981 - Amends the Food Stamp Act of 1977 and the Agriculture and Consumer Protection Act of 1973 to extend such programs through fiscal year 1985. Modifies the food stamp plan to: (1) repeal the October 1-December 31 update of the Thrifty Food Plan based on projected food costs that was scheduled to take place as of January 1 of each year starting in 1982; (2) reduce the gross income eligibility ceiling to 130 percent of the poverty level; (3) repeal increases in dependent care deductions for working adults and medical deductions for the elderly, blind, and disabled scheduled to take effect on October 1, 1981; (4) require retrospective accounting for determining ongoing program eligibility and allotments for all but migrant farm worker households on a nationwide basis by October 1, 1983; (5) require monthly reporting to accompany implementation of retrospective accounting for all households with earned income (except migrant farmworker households) or receiving unemployment compensation or required to register for work or required to file monthly reports for AFDC, but not households in which all members are elderly, blind, or disabled or who reside in States with the lowest error rates; (6) impose an authorization ceiling for fiscal years 1982, 1983, 1984, and 1985 fixed at $10,010,000,000, $10,345,000,000, $10,290,000,000, and $10,480,000,000, respectively; (7) raise the authorization ceiling for fiscal year 1981 to $11,480,000,000 to accommodate program needs; (8) require the Secretary to permit any political subdivision that wishes to do so in return for a 50 percent share of workfare administrative costs and that agrees to comply with the Secretary's guidelines, to administer a workfare program in which non-exempt food stamp recipients must work for the subdivision at the Federal minimum hourly wage rate (or State rate, if higher), payable in the form of food stamps; (9) require parents and children who are living together to be treated as one household unless one parent is 60 years of age or older; (10) eliminate all boarders from participation in the program; (11) eliminate establishments that do only a marginal staple food business, such as bars, gas stations, party stores, and carryout shops, from the program unless they are the only food store in the immediate area; (12) permit Alaska to have a distinct Thrifty Food Plan for its rural areas; (13) reduce the adjustment of the standard deduction and the dependent care/excess shelter deduction cap by deleting reliance upon the homeownership component in the housing costs of the Consumer Price Index; (14) deny deductions for any expenses paid on a household's behalf by a third party and require the income and resources (over a floor) of sponsors of certain aliens to be deemed available to those aliens in order to determine the aliens' eligibility and benefits; (15) give the Secretary flexibility to alter the complex accounting standards for ascertaining the value of licensed vehicles; (16) extend disqualification from the program after hearing (a) from fraud to the making of false or misleading statements or misrepresentations or concealing or withholding facts, (b) expand the use of allotment reduction to recover non-fraud overissuance arising from agency error, and (c) permit States to retain 50 percent of all misrepresentation claims collected; (17) (a) extend program disqualification for voluntarily quitting a job to current program participants, (b) extend sanctions for noncompliance with the food stamp work registration requirement to food stamp participants who fail to satisfy an AFDC-WIN or unemployment compensation work requirement, and (c) make work registration an annual requirement; (18) disqualify strikers and the households to which they belong from participating in the food stamp program (unless they were eligible to participate prior to the strike); (19) make States strictly liable for issuance losses and provide liability for negligent failures in certain other areas of State agency administrative responsibility; (20) prevent households that apply to participate in the program and are declared to be eligible from receiving any stamps for that part of the month prior to the date on which they filed their application; (21) end the 60-day transfer provision permitting benefits to follow a household moving from one political subdivision to another in an uninterrupted fashion; (22) terminate the basic mandate to perform outreach; (23) allow States flexibility to provide households with a notice of expiration of their certification periods up to 30 days before the start of the last month of a six month or longer certification period; (24) limit provision for expedited food stamp benefits within three working days of application to applicant households with $150 or less in gross income a month and liquid assets of $100 or less and to applicant households whose only income for ten days after filing an application is $25 or less from a new source of income and who also meet the $100 liquid assets test; (25) end the Department's liability to restore food stamps to households that have wrongfully been denied them or terminated from the program if the benefits were lost more than one year prior to a household's request for restoration; (26) require the State agency to request and utilize for certification purposes household members' wage and benefit information available from the Social Security Administration and State unemployment compensation agencies; (27) require the Secretary to allow political subdivisions to use certified mail in issuing food stamps to reduce mail theft and loss; (28) clarify the Secretary's authority to determine the amount of and settle or adjust any claim, including claims filed against State agencies for issuance losses; (29) end the imposition of staffing standards upon the States; (30) require States to meet the Secretary's standard for improper denials and terminations in order to receive 55 percent Federal funding of administrative costs and further require all States with error rates over five percent to develop corrective action plans; (31) mandate obtaining a household's Social Security number as a prerequisite to participation; (32) extend pilot cash-out projects for four years at State option and expand possible cash-outs to include AFDC families; (33) provide contract and grant authority to develop means for continuous nutritional monitoring of high-risk populations; (34) require certain studies of various accounting and reporting methods; (35) provide penalties for the fraudulent misuse of commodities; (36) provide authority for pilot projects using the commodity supplemental feeding program for low-income elderly persons; and (37) prevent current Supplemental Security Income cash-out States from reverting to food stamps. Title XIV: National Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching Policy Act Amendments of 1981 - National Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching Policy Act Amendments of 1981 - Amends the National Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching Policy Act of 1977 to revise the Congressional findings and purposes of such Act to give greater emphasis to the role of State agricultural extension services in research and teaching in the food and agricultural sciences. Extends from five to eight years the term of the Joint Council on Food and Agricultural Sciences. Increases membership to at least 25 persons. Establishes three-year, staggered terms for such members. Extends from five to eight years the term of the National Agricultural Research and Extension Users Advisory Board. Increases membership from 21 to 25 persons. Establishes staggered terms for such members. Changes the due dates of the Board's: (1) annual recommendations to the Secretary from October 31 to July 1; and (2) appraisal of the President's budget from March 1 to February 20. Specifies as part of the staff of six full-time professionals assisting the Joint Council and the Users Advisory Board: (1) an executive secretary for each entity; and (2) an executive director to serve both. Authorizes the Secretary to establish cooperative human nutrition centers to focus on high-priority nutrition problems. Changes the due date of the Secretary's annual agricultural research report from February 1 to January 1. States that the Department of Agriculture should establish working relationships with foreign information and data systems as part of the policy of Congress. Provides for the appointment of an Assistant Secretary of Agriculture to carry out agricultural research, extension, and teaching. Authorizes specified appropriations through fiscal year 1985 for competitive agricultural research grants. Makes land grant college research foundations and veterinary colleges eligible for special grants. Changes the emphasis of facilities grants from purchasing equipment, land, and supplies to renovating existing buildings and limited new construction. Makes forestry schools and 1890 land grant colleges eligible for such grants. Authorizes specified appropriations for research facilities grants for fiscal years 1982-1985. Revises guidelines for higher education food and agricultural sciences grants. Transfers functions of the Secretary of Education under the Bankhead-Jones Act and the Morrill Act to the Secretary. Authorizes specified appropriations for fiscal years 1982-1985. Extends the research grant program in alcohol fuels and industrial hydrocarbons through fiscal year 1985. Limits the total amount institutions in any one State may receive to $5,000,000. Changes the due date of the assessment of the value and costs of food and human nutrition research centers. Requires the Secretaries of Health and Human Services and of Agriculture to jointly formulate such report. Extends limited authorizations of appropriations ($25,000,000 annually) through fiscal year 1985 for animal health and disease research. Increases and extends through fiscal year 1985 the annual limit on authorizations of appropriations for national and regional animal health and disease research. Limits the duration of such grants to five years. Directs the Secretary to establish priority lists annually for such grants. Sets forth guidelines for such determinations. Extends and increases funding for 1890 land grant colleges (including Tuskegee Institute) through fiscal year 1982. Permits administrative funds to be used for transportation to research meetings of scientists who are not Federal employees. Establishes a dairy goat research program. Authorizes appropriations for fiscal years 1982-1985. Authorizes the Secretary to provide technical assistance (on a reimbursable basis) to U.S. institutions involved in international agricultural research and extension. Authorizes specified appropriations for fiscal years 1982-1985 for: (1) existing agricultural programs; (2) State agricultural experiment stations; and (3) extension education. Requires at least 25 percent of research and grant funds to be appropriated for Hatch Act State experiment stations beginning with fiscal year 1984. Provides that funds made available by the Secretary under specified Acts shall not be subject to reduction for indirect costs incurred by the recipient. Authorizes the Secretary to: (1) establish an aquaculture research and extension program; (2) make grants to colleges and universities, Federal laboratories, and experiment stations; and (3) assist States (up to $50,000) in formulating aquaculture development plans. Directs the Secretary to: (1) report annually to the President and to the House and Senate Committees on Agriculture and Appropriations; and (2) establish an Aquaculture Advisory Board. Authorizes specified appropriations through fiscal year 1985. Authorizes the Secretary to: (1) establish a rangeland research program on a matching grant basis; and (2) make grants to colleges and universities, Federal laboratories, and experiment stations. Directs the Secretary to: (1) report annually to the President and to the House and Senate Committees on Agriculture and Appropriations; and (2) establish a Rangeland Advisory Board. Authorizes appropriations not to exceed $10,000,000 annually for fiscal years 1982-1985. Amends the McIntire-Stennis Act of 1962 to direct the Secretary to appoint an advisory forestry council. Amends the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949 to permit the Secretary to furnish excess Federal property to State or county extension services, 1890 land grant colleges, and State experiment stations. Makes the provisions of this title effective as of October 1, 1981. Title XV: Credit, Rural Development, and Family Farms - Amends the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act to permit cooperatives to receive Farmers Home Administration (FHA) loans if unable to otherwise get credit. Removes the five percent interest ceiling on FHA water and waste disposal and essential community facility loans. Directs the Secretary to set such rates, but not in excess of current market yields of comparable municipal obligations. Limits such rates to a maximum of five percent in low income areas. Provides: (1) for a two percent interest penalty on specified loans for nonfarm construction on prime farmland if optional sites are available; and (2) that interest rates on operating and ownership loans to limited resource borrowers shall be determined by the Secretary, but not at less than five percent nor more than one-half the average market value of comparable municipal obligations (currently a five percent ceiling). States that the above loan provisions shall apply as of fiscal year 1982. Amends the Emergency Agricultural Credit Adjustment Act of 1978 to extend the FHA economic emergency loan program through fiscal year 1982. Amends the Commodity Credit Corporation Charter Act regarding farm storage facility loans to: (1) extend such program through fiscal year 1985; (2) make the duration of such loans between eight and ten years; (3) base facility size on the space required to store two years' production; (4) make such loans in amounts not less than 80 percent of total construction costs, not to exceed $100,000; (5) set interest rates equal to the interest charged to the Commodity Credit Corporation by the Treasury plus up to one percent; and (6) provide that the loans shall be deducted from the proceeds of price support loans on purchase agreements. Amends the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 to: (1) extend for ten years and increase the annual authorization of appropriations for U.S. class A stock purchases of the Rural Telephone Bank; (2) change the date for retiring stock previously purchased by the United States from September 30, 1985 until September 30, 1995; (3) require that loans guaranteed by the Rural Electrification Administration (REA) be made by the Federal Financing Bank upon borrower request; and (4) remove the special two percent insured loan interest rate to electric and telephone borrowers, but permit interest rates on such loans of between two and five percent in situations of financial hardship or inability to provide service without utility rate increases. Amends the Food and Agriculture Act of 1977 to require the Secretary to include in his annual report to Congress an assessment of how Federal tax, credit, and other laws affect the growth of nonfamily farm operations. Title XVI: Conservation - Directs the Secretary to establish a program to provide increased financial and technical assistance to landowners and operators in the most seriously eroding areas of the country, as designated by the Secretary. Requires a participant to furnish a plan which: (1) incorporates erosion conservation measures; (2) includes a schedule for carrying out such measures; (3) considers local conditions; (4) allows for varying levels of application as appropriate; (5) may include wildlife and recreation enhancement; and (6) is to be developed in cooperation with, and approved by, the local soil and water conservation district. Requires: (1) a participant to forfeit further payments and reimburse the United States for payments received upon violation of the agreement; and (2) the Secretary to share the cost of such conservation measures. Authorizes the Secretary to enter into contracts to maintain already established conservation measures. Sets forth guidelines for special area determinations. Authorizes such designations for ten-year periods. Limits to a term of ten years any contract entered into during the ten years following such a designation. Requires approval by the House and Senate Agriculture Committees of all project areas designated by the Secretary. Authorizes the Secretary to provide grants to any State having lands within a designated special area to evaluate the impact of State and local tax structures on conservation measures. Authorizes necessary appropriations. Requires the Secretary to submit an evaluation to Congress by January 1, 1986, and at five-year intervals thereafter. Directs the Secretary to establish a matching grant program with local governmental units through State soil conservation agencies. Requires local participants to: (1) have a long-range program in effect; (2) have an annual work plan consistent with such program in effect; and (3) have matching fund sources available. Authorizes necessary appropriations through fiscal year 1991. Requires the Secretary to report to the House and Senate Agriculture Committees by January 1, 1986, and again by January 1, 1991. States that such grants shall be made to augment rather than replace other Department of Agriculture technical and financial assistance programs. Amends the Commodity Credit Corporation Charter Act to direct the Corporation, beginning with fiscal year 1982, to make loans for natural resource conservation and environmental specified county and State conservation committees as part of an overall local plan. Provides with regard to such loans that: (1) loan duration shall not exceed ten years, with interest rates based upon interest charged to the Corporation by the Treasury; (2) annual loans to an individual shall not exceed $25,000; and (3) loans over $10,000 must be secured. Directs the Secretary to establish a volunteer program for conservation work without regard to Civil Service requirements. Deems such volunteers to be Federal employees for purposes of injury and tort compensation. Authorizes necessary appropriations. Authorizes the Secretary to establish a program to test the feasibility of reducing excessive reservoir sedimentation in areas having watershed soil erosion problems. Requires approval by the House and Senate Agriculture Committees before implementing any program. Authorizes necessary appropriations for fiscal years 1983-1987. Requires the Secretary to report to Congress by January 1, 1987. Authorizes the Secretary to empower soil and water district boards to disapprove producers' designation of land under any set-aside or diversion program if such lands will make a less than average contribution to soil conservation compared with other lands that could have been so designated. Authorizes the Secretary to provide financial assistance to owners and operators in certain cold climates who remove land from production for up to one year in order to install conservation measures involving excavation. Requires approval of local soil and water conservation boards. Prohibits such assistance in any one year of more than one-half of one percent of a county's cropland. Authorizes necessary appropriations. Reaffirms the importance of agriculture and encourages the Secretary to cooperate with other Federal agencies in developing policies that recognize the importance of limiting agricultural conversions. Directs the Secretary and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget to report to Congress within one year of enactment of this Act concerning the retention of productive agricultural lands. Encourages the Secretary to provide related information to State, local and nonprofit entities. Directs the Secretary to develop agricultural land resource information. Declares that rural areas are facing resource utilization, economic, and social problems. Directs the Secretary to establish a resource conservation and development program of technical and financial assistance to States, local governmental units, and nonprofit organizations for rural planning. Sets forth the terms of such agreements. Authorizes necessary appropriations. Requires the Secretary to report to Congress by December 31, 1986. Directs the Secretary to establish a Resource Conservation and Development Policy Board. Makes the provisions of this title effective as of October 1, 1981.
United States · United States Congress · 13 May 1981
Directs the Postmaster General to issue a postage stamp to honor the seventieth anniversary of the founding of the Girl Scouts of the United States of America.
United States · United States Congress · 7 May 1981
Delinquent Payments Act of 1981 - Requires Federal agencies to pay interest on overdue payments to businesses for property or services. Specifies the procedure for computing such interest. Requires an agency to pay any such interest charges out of funds made available for administration of its programs. Allows an agency to take advantage of an early payment discount only if payment is made within the time specified by the business. Directs each agency to report to Congress annually on interest payments made during the fiscal year.
United States · United States Congress · 6 May 1981
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from gross income interest earned on certificates of deposit issued by banks, certain savings institutions, or credit unions. Requires such certificates to be issued between June 30, 1981 and July 31, 1982, to have a one year maturity, and to bear interest at a rate not greater than 70 percent of the average yield of U.S. Treasury bills. Limits the amount of such exclusion to $1,000 ($2,000 for joint returns).
United States · United States Congress · 29 April 1981
Amends the Agricultural Act of 1949 to establish a price support program (of not less than 44 percent of parity) for the 1982-1985 sugar beet and sugar cane crops.
United States · United States Congress · 28 April 1981
Malt Beverage Interbrand Competition Act - Declares that no antitrust law shall prohibit the importer, brewer, or trademark licensee of a trademarked malt beverage from entering into an agreement granting a wholesale distributor the exclusive right to sell such beverage within any defined geographic area within a State, or limiting such distributor to the sale of such beverage for ultimate resale to consumers in that area, when such beverage has substantial competition from other malt beverages in that area. Declares that this Act shall not affect any provision of State law.
United States · United States Congress · 28 April 1981
Amends the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938 to assure adequate supplies of peanuts for 1982 through 1985. Eliminates the national quota proclamation by the Secretary of Agriculture and eliminates his ability to apportion among the counties of a state allotments for the harvesting of peanuts. Provides formulas to determine farm yield, farm base production poundage and farm poundage quotas. Allows the Commodity Credit Corporation to make peanuts, received under loan agreements, available for domestic edible use. Requires the price to cover all costs involved in the peanut production including 100 percent of the loan value or in certain circumstances over 105 per cent of the loan value. Provides further price supports for peanut crops from 1982 to 1985. Allows the Secretary of Agriculture to make loans, purchases or other operations on quota and additional peanuts for the 1982 through 1985 crops. Makes the quota support rate reflect the national average costs of production.
United States · United States Congress · 27 April 1981
Expresses the disapproval of Congress of the proposed sale to Saudi Arabia of five airborne warning and control aircraft (AWACS) and conformal fuel tanks and air-to-air missiles for F-15 aircraft.
United States · United States Congress · 9 April 1981
Makes price support, marketing quota, base acreage allotment, and related provisions of the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938 inapplicable to the 1982 through 1985 crops of upland cotton. Amends the Agricultural Act of 1949 to: (1) extend the nonrecourse loan program through 1985; (2) revise the standard for determining cotton loan levels (from Strict Middling one and one-sixteenth inch to Middling one and three-thirty seconds inch cotton C.I.F. Northern Europe); and (3) raise the minimum loan level from 48 cents to 55 cents per pound. Declares that any upland cotton imported during a special import quota period shall be duty-free. Extends the disaster payment program for cotton through 1985. Denies eligibility for such payments to any person in a county in which crop insurance is generally offered. Changes the deadline for announcement of the national program acreage from December 15 to November 1. Authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to limit, on a uniform basis to all cotton-producing farms, the acreage planted to cotton if the Secretary determines that the total supply will otherwise likely be excessive. Directs the Secretary to require acreage set-asides only if such acreage limitations are in effect (currently, the Secretary must require set-asides upon determining the likelihood of an excessive supply.) Eliminates compliance with the set-aside program as a condition for loan eligibility. Directs the Secretary to delegate to State and county committees his present authority to make loans, purchases, and payments with respect to a non-complying producer on an equitable basis in relation to the seriousness of default. Prohibits the making of regulations which condition loans and payments on cross-compliance and offsetting-compliance procedures. Directs the Secretary to make available recourse loans on seed cotton to encourage and assist producers in orderly ginning and marketing. Extends through July 31. 1986 the Commodity Credit Corporation's present authority to sell upland cotton at not less than 115 percent of the loan rate. States that the permanent State, county, and farm base acreage allotments for the 1977 crop of upland cotton, as adjusted for under plantings in 1977, shall again become effective as preliminary allotments for the 1986 crop. Requires the Secretary to carry out a special price support or loan program through the Commodity Credit Corporation whenever the Executive Branch of the Federal Government suspends, for any reason other than a national emergency, the commercial export sales of upland cotton to any country or area with which the United States otherwise continues commercial trade. Limits such programs to instances where the country or area in question imported more than three percent of total cotton exports in the two years preceding such suspension. Prescribes formulae to assure producers, through payments or interest free loans, the export prices they would have received in the absence of such suspension. Directs the Secretary, through the Corporation, to compensate U.S. firms for losses incurred with respect to cotton and cotton product sales contracts canceled due to such suspension. Directs the Secretary to establish in the Corporation a revolving fund for financing export credit sales of cotton in accordance with GSM-5 (42 FR 10999). Requires the Secretary to provide for, and credit to such fund, all repayments on export sales of cotton made under GSM-5.
United States · United States Congress · 26 March 1981
Makes price support, marketing quota, base acreage allotment, and related provisions of the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938 inapplicable to the 1982 through 1985 crops of upland cotton. Amends the Agricultural Act of 1949 to: (1) extend the nonrecourse loan program through 1985; (2) revise the standard for determining cotton loan levels (from Strict Middling one and one-sixteenth inch to Middling one and three-thirty seconds inch cotton C.I.F. Northern Europe); and (3) raise the minimum loan level from 48 cents to 55 cents per pound. Declares that any upland cotton imported during a special import quota period shall be duty-free. Extends the disaster payment program for cotton through 1985. Denies eligibility for such payments to any person in a county in which crop insurance is generally offered. Changes the deadline for announcement of the national program acreage from December 15 to November 1. Authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to limit, on a uniform basis to all cotton-producing farms, the acreage planted to cotton if the Secretary determines that the total supply will otherwise likely be excessive. Directs the Secretary to require acreage set-asides only if such acreage limitations are in effect (currently, the Secretary must require set-asides upon determining the likelihood of an excessive supply). Eliminates compliance with the set-aside program as a condition for loan eligibility. Directs the Secretary to delegate to State and county committees his present authority to make loans, purchases, and payments with respect to a non-complying producer on an equitable basis in relation to the seriousness of default. Prohibits the making of regulations which condition loans and payments on cross-compliance and offsetting- compliance procedures. Directs the Secretary to make available recourse loans on seed cotton to encourage and assist producers in orderly ginning and marketing. Extends through July 31, 1986, the Commodity Credit Corporation's present authority to sell upland cotton at not less than 115 percent of the loan rate. States that the permanent State, county, and farm base acreage allotments for the 1977 crop of upland cotton, as adjusted for underplantings in 1977, shall again become effective as preliminary allotments for the 1986 crop. Requires the Secretary to carry out a special price support or loan program through the Commodity Credit Corporation whenever the Executive Branch of the Federal Government suspends, for any reason other than a congressionally declared national emergency, the commercial export sales of upland cotton to any country or area with which the United States otherwise continues commercial trade. Limits such program to instances where the country or area in question imported more than three percent of total United States cotton exports in the two years preceding such suspension. Prescribes formulae to assure producers, through payments or interest-free loans, the export prices they would have received in the absence of such suspension. Directs the Secretary, through the Corporation, to compensate U.S. firms for losses incurred with respect to cotton and cotton-product sales contracts canceled due to such suspension. Directs the Secretary to establish in the Corporation a revolving fund for financing export credit sales of cotton in accordance with GSM-5 (42 FR 10999). Requires the Secretary to provide for, and credit to such fund, all repayments on export sales of cotton made under GSM-5.
United States · United States Congress · 26 March 1981
Proclaims Raoul Wallenberg an honorary citizen of the United States. Requests the President to ascertain his whereabouts from the Soviet Union and to secure his freedom.
United States · United States Congress · 25 March 1981
State and Local Government Financing Reform Act of 1981 - Excludes from the Federal law limiting and restricting the corporate powers of national banking associations to deal in and underwrite investment securities, specified dealings in and underwriting of all other nongeneral obligations issued or guaranteed by or on behalf of a State or any political subdivision thereof (except special assessment obligations and industrial revenue bonds) which are at the time eligible for purchase by a national bank for its own account, subject to specified limitations. Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to submit an annual report to the Congress showing the extent to which the business of underwriting and dealing in State and local obligations is being carried on by commercial banks as compared with other banking institutions with a view to determining the effect of the provisions of this Act on the institutional distribution of such business.
United States · United States Congress · 18 March 1981
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend tax-exempt status to veterans' organizations at least 75 percent of whose membership consists of past or present members of the armed forces of the United States (combat or noncombat veterans) and whose remaining membership consists substantially of cadets or spouses, widows, or widowers of armed forces personnel or cadets.
United States · United States Congress · 13 March 1981
Expresses the sense of Congress that agricultural resources are of strategic importance to the United States' future. Calls for Federal cooperation with State and local governments and assistance to persons engaged in agriculture.
United States · United States Congress · 23 February 1981
Exempts nonprofit veterans' organizations and nonprofit fraternal organizations from the requirement that nondramatic literary or musical performance royalties be paid to copyright holders.
United States · United States Congress · 23 February 1981
Balanced Budget and Deficit Control Act of 1981 - Amends the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 to make a Congressional declaration that it is essential to provide for a balanced Federal budget. Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to require that the first concurrent resolution on the budget, on which Congress must complete action on or before May 15 of each year, provide a balanced budget for such year and for the succeeding fiscal year. Specifies that if changes in laws, bills, or resolutions are necessary in connection with any such concurrent resolution on the budget in order to assure that there is no deficit in the budget for either of the fiscal years to which such concurrent resolution relates, such concurrent resolution shall appropriately direct the legislative committees involved to determine and recommend such changes. Makes it out of order in either the House of Representatives or the Senate to consider or adopt any concurrent resolution on the budget, to consider or adopt any amendment to such a concurrent resolution, or to adopt a conference report on such concurrent resolution, if at the time of such consideration or adoption the level of total budget outlays which is set forth in such concurrent resolution for either of the two fiscal years to which it relates exceeds the recommended level of Federal revenues for that year. Permits the suspension of such provisions: (1) upon a Presidential request, approved by Congress; (2) upon a recommendation by the Budget Committee of either the House or the Senate and approval of the Congress; and (3) with respect to any fiscal year in which the United States is at war pursuant to a declaration of war by the Congress. Permits revisions of the first concurrent resolution on the budget at any time after it has been agreed to pursuant to such Act before the end of the first fiscal year to which such resolution relates. Requires such revision to meet the same balanced budget requirements as the original concurrent resolution and provide for the same suspension of such requirements. Requires the second concurrent resolution on the budget to be for the fiscal year beginning on October 1 of such year and the succeeding fiscal year. Makes it out of order in either the House or the Senate to receive or consider any amendment to a reconciliation bill or reconciliation resolution if such amendment would have the effect of increasing any specific budget outlays above the level of such outlays contained in the bill or resolution as reported, or would reduce any specific Federal revenues below the level of such revenues as reported, unless it includes or is accompanied by an amendment which assures that total budget outlays are not increased and that total Federal revenues are not reduced by making an equivalent reduction in other specific budget outlays or an equivalent increase in other specific Federal revenues. Makes it out of order in either the House or the Senate, at any time after the Congress has completed action on the first concurrent resolution on the budget, and if a reconciliation bill or resolution is required to be reported in connection with such resolution after that bill has been enacted into law or such resolution has been agreed to, to consider any bill or resolution or amendment which provides for budget outlays, new budget authority in excess of the appropriated allocation, or new spending authority. Amends the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 to state that any references to "a fiscal year" or "the fiscal year" with respect to a concurrent resolution on the budget shall be treated as references made separately to each of the two fiscal years to which such concurrent resolution relates. Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to require each committee required by such Act to report on a concurrent resolution on the budget to make such report within ten legislative days after the concurrent resolution is agreed to. Amends the Budget and Accounting Act, 1921, to require the President, from time to time during the fiscal year, to ensure that the budget complies with the requirements of the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974. Requires such budget to be balanced, but permits the President to recommend alternative balanced budgets with outlays and revenues at higher or lower levels to take account of possible changes in economic conditions or other circumstances. Requires such budget transmitted by the President to be accompanied by a projected budget for the succeeding fiscal year. Permits a suspension of such requirements upon a Presidential request or if the United States is at war pursuant to a declaration of war by Congress. Requires the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, with respect to any fiscal year beginning on or after October 1, 1983, to analyze the level of Federal revenues and budget outlays during the fiscal quarter beginning October 1 and ending December 31 in that year for the purpose of determining the levels of total revenues and budget outlays which may be anticipated for such fiscal year and whether such revenues will be sufficient to equal or exceed such outlays. Requires the Director to report to the President and Congress not later than January 3 if he determines that such revenues will not be sufficient to equal or exceed such outlays and to identify the amount of any such insufficiency and the percentage of total controllable expenditures which such insufficiency represents. Requires the President, upon receipt of such a report, to issue an order sequestering such amounts of budget authority as are necessary to reduce each such controllable expenditure by that percentage and to transmit to Congress a message identifying: (1) the total amount of budget authority which is to be sequestered; (2) the annuity budget authority which is to be sequestered with respect to each such controllable expenditure in order to reduce it by the required percentage; and (3) the account, department, or establishment from which each amount of budget authority is available for obligation and the specific project or governmental functions involved. Makes such an order effective from and after the date of its issuance except to the extent revised or abrogated by the Congress pursuant to this Act. Sets forth the procedure to be followed by Congress in reviewing such an order. Permits the Budget Committee of the House or the Senate, at any time after the promulgation of such an order, to report a concurrent resolution suspending, in whole or in part, the operation of such order. Defines the term "controllable expenditures" as expenditures which may be reduced without breaching any obligation, contractual or otherwise, of the United States to make payments. Requires the Congressional Budget Office to submit to the House and Senate Budget Committee recommendations concerning further refinement in the definition and identification of controllable expenditures.
United States · United States Congress · 19 February 1981
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide homebuilders with an income tax credit for the construction of residences which incorporate a passive solar energy system. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury, after consultation with the Secretaries of Energy and Housing and Urban Development, to prescribe regulations setting forth a solar construction credit table for purposes of determining the amount of the credit for which the incorporator of the solar energy system is eligible. Limits the dollar amount of such credit to $2,000 for calendar years prior to 1987 and phases out the amount of the credit by $500 decrements until 1990 when such credit terminates. Defines a "passive solar energy system" as a system which contains a solar collection area, an absorber, a storage mass, a heat distribution method, and heat regulation devices. Requires such system to be installed in a new residence after September 30, 1981, and before January 1, 1990.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 1981
Family Farm Estate Tax Relief Act of 1981 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to permit the executor of an estate to exclude the value of real property used in farming from a decedent's gross estate for purposes of the estate tax. Excludes up to the first $750,000 of the value of the farm property and certain percentages of the value in excess of $750,000. Requires a percentage reduction of the amount of the exclusion for farm property in excess of $1,350,000.
United States · United States Congress · 5 February 1981
Administrative Rulemaking Reform Act - Directs a Federal agency preparing to hold a rulemaking session to make a reasonable effort to inform those likely to be affected by the proposed rulemaking. Requires the notice of rulemaking to include: (1) the projected effective date of the rules; (2) the purpose of the rulemaking; (3) the text of the proposed rules; and (4) the studies on which the agency intends to rely in the rulemaking proceedings. Requires public notice and public opportunity for comment on all rulemaking proceedings unless the agency finds that proposed rules are emergency rules or are of routine or insignificant impact. Requires Federal agencies to give interested persons at least 45 days to participate in the rulemaking. Provides for agency hearings to receive oral comments, and procedures to resolve significant controversies over factual issues. Requires each agency to maintain a public file of all relevant material and required statements for each rulemaking. Prohibits adoption of a proposed rule that has been revised substantially unless interested persons are provided an opportunity to comment on such revisions. Sets forth an expedited rulemaking procedure for rules to replace emergency rules. Directs each agency to submit a copy of each promulgated rule to each House of Congress. Declares that no rule, excluding an emergency rule, shall become effective if: (1) both Houses of Congress adopt a concurrent resolution disapproving it within 90 days of continuous session of Congress; or (2) one House adopts such a resolution within 60 such days and the other House does not disapprove such resolution within 30 days thereafter. Authorizes either House to adopt a resolution directing an agency to reconsider and repromulgate a newly promulgated rule or an existing rule within a specified period. Provides that if such agency fails to act such rule shall lapse. Directs the Administrative Conference of the United States to study and report on the effects on rulemaking of the Congressional review provisions of this Act. Authorizes appropriations for such study. Directs a court reviewing an agency rule to set aside any rule found to be unwarranted by material in the rulemaking file.
United States · United States Congress · 28 January 1981
State and Local Government Cost Estimate Act of 1981 - Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to require the Congressional Budget Office, for every significant bill or resolution reported in the House or Senate, to prepare and submit (along with its regular estimate of the Federal cost involved) an estimate of the costs which would be incurred by State and local governments in carrying out or complying with such bill or resolution. Authorizes appropriations to carry out this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 28 January 1981
Commends former President Jimmy Carter, former Secretary of State Edmund Muskie, and former Deputy Secretary of State Warren Christopher for their success in securing the release of the American hostages held in Iran. Conveys appreciation to the Algerian negotiators for the role they played in resolving the hostage crises. Pays tribute to the eight servicemen killed in the April 1980 effort to rescue the American hostages. Commends President Reagan for designating former President Carter to officially greet the freed hostages.
United States · United States Congress · 22 January 1981
Authorizes the President to present on behalf of the Congress specially struck gold medals to fifty-three individuals held hostage in the United States Embassy in Iran. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to: (1) strike fifty-three gold medals with suitable emblems, devices and inscriptions; and (2) coin and sell bronze duplicates of such medals. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 16 January 1981
Expresses the sense of the Congress that each department, agency, or instrumentality of the United States that utilizes the Draize rabbit eye irritancy test should develop and validate alternative testing procedures that do not require the use of animal test subjects.
United States · United States Congress · 9 January 1981
Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to allow preference visas to be given to an alien who: (1) requests such treatment; (2) was born after 1950 in Korea, Vietnam, Laos, or Thailand; (3) was fathered by an American serviceman; and (4) provides a guarantee of financial support. Stipulates that such guarantee must: (1) be signed by a citizen or lawful permanent resident who is at least 21 years old; and (2) provide that such signing sponsor will provide necessary financial support for five years. Allows the Attorney General to enforce such guarantee against the sponsor in a civil suit unless such sponsor dies or is adjudicated bankrupt.
United States · United States Congress · 9 January 1981
Occupational Safety and Health Act Amendments of 1981 - Amends the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 to require the Secretary of Labor to publish financial impact statements regarding proposed occupational health and safety standards in the Federal Register prior to promulgating such standards as rules. Amends the Act with respect to existing facilities and equipment, inspections, promulgation of emergency standards, citations and penalties, and on-site consultations by the Secretary.
United States · United States Congress · 6 January 1981
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide that the standard mileage rate used in computing the charitable deduction for expenses incurred in the operation of a motor vehicle shall be the same as the standard mileage rate for the business related deduction.
United States · United States Congress · 6 January 1981
Prevention, Identification, and Treatment of Elder Abuse Act of 1981 - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish an office known as the National Center on Elder Abuse to: (1) compile an annual summary of recently conducted research on elder abuse; (2) develop and maintain an information clearinghouse on all programs for the prevention and treatment of such abuse; (3) compile training materials for personnel engaged in elder abuse prevention; (4) provide technical assistance for the planning and implementing of programs relating to the problems of elder abuse; and (5) investigate the causes and national incidence of elder abuse. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to or enter into contracts with public agencies or nonprofit organizations for demonstration projects designed to prevent and treat elder abuse. Sets forth the terms and conditions for such grants. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to States for the development and implementation of elder abuse prevention and treatment programs. Requires such States to have in effect a State elder abuse law with mandatory reporting provisions. Sets forth other requirements for eligibility. Prohibits the use of assistance for construction of facilities. Directs the Secretary to establish criteria to achieve equitable distribution of assistance among the States. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1981
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to permit taxpayers who do not itemize income tax deductions to claim a deduction from gross income for charitable contributions.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1981
Sunset Review Act of 1981 - Requires the House Committee on Rules and the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration to jointly develop and maintain an inventory of all Federal programs and tax expenditures. Requires such inventory to classify all such programs and expenditures according to the jurisdiction of the various legislative committees of the two Houses. Requires the General Accounting Office (GAO), before the beginning of the 98th Congress, after consultation with the appropriate legislative committees and the Congressional Budget Office, to submit a draft inventory to the House Committee on Rules and the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration. Requires such Committees to notify each legislative committee of the programs and tax expenditures which are classified within its jurisdiction. Allows any legislative committee to propose revisions of such inventory within 30 days after notification. Requires that such inventory be published in a single document. Requires that an update be made of such inventory at the beginning of every Congress. Specifies information to be contained in such an inventory. Directs the GAO to publish a supplement to such inventory which includes certain budget information. Requires each legislative committee of the House of Representatives and the Senate, by a specified date, to report a resolution setting forth an agenda for the sunset review of selected Federal programs within its jurisdiction, or, in the case of the House Committee on Ways and Means and the Senate Committee on Finance, of selected tax expenditures. Directs the committees of each House to develop their sunset review agenda in consultation with any other committee which has concurrent jurisdiction over any programs or tax expenditures involved. Requires, where practicable, that related programs and expenditures be reviewed during the same Congress. Requires the report accompanying any agenda reported in the 104th Congress and every fifth Congress thereafter to summarize the programs and expenditures reviewed and not reviewed during the five previous Congresses. Prohibits either the House or the Senate from considering a primary expense resolution for any legislative committee in any Congress until that committee has developed and submitted its sunset review agenda. Requires the House Committee on Rules and the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration to incorporate such agendas into a consolidated sunset review agenda and to report such consolidated agenda to its House in the form of a concurrent resolution, within seven legislative days after all committee sunset review agendas have been submitted. Requires the consolidated sunset review agenda to be adopted in the House and in the Senate no later than March 30 in the first session of each Congress. Sets forth the procedures for the consideration and adoption of such agenda. Requires each committee of the House or the Senate, not later than May 15 in the second session of each Congress, to report a bill or bills modifying, continuing, or terminating each program or tax expenditure which it has been directed to review under the consolidated sunset review agenda adopted during the first session. Requires such bill to be accompanied by a report. Requires each department, agency, and instrumentality in the executive branch of the Government which is responsible for the administration of a Federal program or tax expenditure selected for sunset review to provide the appropriate Congressional committees with its views, information, and assistance. Directs the Comptroller General to supply specified information on audits. Exempts foreign intelligence or counterintelligence programs designated by the President as requiring protection from unauthorized disclosure. Directs the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of the House and the Select Committee on Intelligence of the Senate to review such programs pursuant to the spirit of this Act. Amends rule X of the Rules of the House of Representatives to include the consolidated sunset review agendas and the Congressional inventory of Federal programs as part of the House Committee on Rules' functions.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1981
Establishes a Commission on More Effective Government to study and recommend ways of promoting economy, efficiency, and improved service within the Executive branch of Government. Directs the Commission to recommend methods to improve the relationship between Federal, State, and local governments. Directs the Commission to submit a final report to the Congress ten days after the Ninety-eighth Congress convenes. Terminates the Commission 90 days after such date. Authorizes appropriations.
![Official portrait of Rep. Hatcher, Charles [D-GA-2]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/0861e564205e8cf32b17f8c206d3bc61_200.jpg)