United States · United States Congress · 2 October 1974
Home Purchase Assistance Act - Requires that whenever the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development determines that a substantial number of families are unable to obtain mortgage credit at reasonable rates due to high interest rates or reduced availability of mortgage credit and that the inability to obtain such credit is causing or threatening to cause a significant reduction in the volume of home construction or acquisition and thereby adversely to affect the economy and to delay the orderly achievement of the national housing goals contained in title XVI of the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968, the Secretary shall direct the Government National Mortgage Association to begin making commitments to purchase and to purchase mortgages in accordance with the provisions of this Act. Establishes within the Association a Housing Trust Fund which shall be used to carry out such purposes. Provides that mortgages may be purchased under this Act only if: (1) such mortgage was executed to finance the acquisition of the principal residence of the mortgagor; and (2) such mortgage involves the acquisition or construction of a residential dwelling at a cost which does not exceed $30,000 (or such greater amount, but not to exceed $45,000 as may be necessary to meet the need for mortgage credit in high cost areas). States that the Association shall not permit the aggregate outstanding amount of mortgages held by the fund under this section to increase by more than $10,000,000,000 in any single fiscal year. Requires that 50 percent of the aggregate principal amount of home mortgages purchased under this Act in any fiscal year shall involve residences upon which construction has been completed within twelve months preceding the date of purchase.
United States · United States Congress · 1 October 1974
Removes the provisions of the Flood Disaster Protection Act of 1973 which make flood insurance coverage and community participation in the national flood insurance program prerequisites for approval of any financial assistance in a flood hazard area.
United States · United States Congress · 30 September 1974
Prohibits the interstate shipment of dogs trained for or intended to be used in dog fights for purposes of sport, wagering, or entertainment. Specifies punishments for persons involved in such commerce and for promoters of and participants in activities which include such dog fights if at least one of the dogs involved had been moved in such commerce.
United States · United States Congress · 30 September 1974
Emergency Jobs Act - Authorizes to be appropriated such sums as are necessary to permit the Secretary of Labor to make financial assistance available for the purpose of providing transitional employment for unemployed persons in jobs providing needed public services, and training and manpower services. Makes $1,000,000,000 available for the purposes of this Act for obligation in any twelve-month period in which the national rate of unemployment exceeds 4 1/2 percent for three consecutive months, and an additional $1,000,000,000 for every increment of one-half percent over 4 1/2 percent not to exceed a 6 percent unemployment rate.
United States · United States Congress · 26 September 1974
Older Americans Home Repair Assistance Act - States that the purpose of this Act is to promote work opportunities for unemployed or underemployed persons who are at least fifty-five years of age and who have poor employment prospects and to assist eligible homeowners to repair their homes. Authorizes the Secretary of Labor to enter into contracts with public or private nonprofit agencies or organizations for the conduct of home repair projects by eligible individuals. Specifies the criteria to be met before the Secretary enters into any contract under this Act. Directs the Secretary to establish criteria designed to achieve an equitable distribution of assistance among the States and between urban and rural areas under this Act. Limits Federal financial assistance to any program carried out under this Act to not exceeding ninety percent of the cost of such program. Provides that the Secretary shall consult and cooperate with the Administration on Aging and any other related Federal agency administering related programs, with a view to achieving optimal coordination with such other programs and shall promote the coordination of projects under this Act with other public and private programs or projects of a similar nature. States that such Federal agencies shall cooperate with the Secretary in disseminating information about the availability of assistance under this Act and in promoting the identification and interests of individuals eligible for employment in projects funded under this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 25 September 1974
Black Lung Benefits Act - Directs that in the implementation of the provisions of the Federal Coal Mines Health and Safety Act of 1969 the Advisory Committee on Coal Mine Health Research established under such Act shall include in its membership a minimum of five members who are miners or retired miners. Requires that the standards prescribed by the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare for determining the total disability of a miner due to pneumoconiosis, in the case of claims filed after July 1, 1973, shall not be more restrictive than such standards prescribed by the Secretary for evaluating claims filed prior to July 1, 1973. Requires that if a miner claiming black lung benefits under the Act after December 31, 1972, was employed for fifteen years or more in one or more underground coal mines there shall be an irrebuttable presumption that the miner is totally disabled due to pneumoconiosis or that at the time of his death he was totally disabled by pneumoconiosis. Authorizes the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare to utilize procedures including affidavits similar to those utilized by him in determining entitlement to disability insurance benefit payments under the Social Security Act in cases under the Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act of 1969 where there is no medical evidence in the case of a deceased miner, in order to establish that the miner claiming benefits thereunder was totally disabled due to pneumoconiosis or that his death was due to such disease. Provides that the Secretary shall include a State workmen's compensation law on the list of State laws found by the Secretary to provide adequate coverage for pneumoconiosis for purposes of such Act if he finds that any claim for benefits on account of total disability or death of a miner due to pneumocomiosis is deemed by such State law to be timely filed if such claim is filed within three years of the date of last coal mine employment of such miner, and if it meets other criteria under the Act. Directs the Secretary to review all claims which were filed with the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare under the Act and which were denied or were pending at the time of the enactment of the Black Lung Benefits Act of 1974.
United States · United States Congress · 24 September 1974
Requires, under title XVI of the Social Security Act, that the value of maintenance and support furnished an indivudual or his eligible spouse by a nonprofit retirement home be excluded from income for the purpose of determining eligibility for supplemental security income benefits under such Act.
United States · United States Congress · 24 September 1974
Prohibits the mailing of unsolicited commercial mail to persons filing a statement with the Postal Service indicating they do not desire to receive such mail.
United States · United States Congress · 24 September 1974
Octane Rating Act - Stipulates that no person may distribute gasoline at the retail level unless (1) the gasoline and the pump from which such gasoline is distributed are color coded with respect to the octane rating of such gasoline in accordance with rules prescribed under this Act, and (2) the pump from which such gasoline is distributed clearly shows the flow and color of such gasoline in accordance with regulations prescribed under this Act. Directs the Federal Trade Commission to prescribe (1) a system of color coding of gasoline and gasoline pumps with respect to the octane rating of the gasoline distributed by such pumps, and (2) regulations with respect to the clear display of the flow and color of the gasoline distributed by such pumps. Provides for a civil penalty of not more than $1000 for each violation.
United States · United States Congress · 23 September 1974
Requires the President to provide for public access to all Watergate-related facts produced by any investigation conducted by any Federal executive office and to all Watergate-related documents which were produced from January 20, 1969, through August 9, 1974, and which were in the custody of the United States on August 9, 1974.
United States · United States Congress · 19 September 1974
Education for Exceptional Children Act - Defines "exceptional children" as handicapped children, children with specific learning disabilities, and particularly gifted children. Directs the Commissioner of Education to establish a National Clearinghouse on Exceptional Children which shall obtain and disseminate to the public information pertaining to the education of exceptional children. Authorizes the appropriation of $500,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1974 and for each of the four succeeding years for the establishment and operation of the clearinghouse. Authorizes the Commissioner of Education to make grants pursuant to this Act for the purpose of assisting the States in providing free appropriate public education for exceptional children at the preschool, elementary, and secondary levels. Sets forth the basis on which funds will be allocated to the States. Provides that in order to receive funds under this Act a State must submit to the Commissioner of Education a State plan is required detailing the State program for free appropriate education for exceptional children. Provides that the State plan must contain such information as the Commissioner deems necessary. Sets forth the criteria needed to be met by a State in order to obtain approval of its plan. Authorizes the Commissioner to withhold payments under this Act from any State when it is found that there has been a failure to comply substantially with any provision of this Act. Provides a method for judicial review of the Commissioner's decision. Authorizes the Commissioner to make grants to State educational agencies to provide training for personnel engaged or preparing to engage in educating exceptional children. Authorizes the Commissioner to make grants to institutions of higher learning to provide training for leadership personnel for the education of exceptional children. Authorizes the Commissioner to conduct research relating to the education of exceptional children and to make grants to States, educational agencies, institutions of higher learning and other public or private nonprofit education or research agencies for such research. Directs the Commissioner to establish standards and procedures to determine which children are "exceptional children" within the meaning of this Act, such standards and procedures to be applied uniformly by all States submitting plans pursuant to this Act. Authorizes the appropriation of such sums as may be necessary for carrying out the purpose of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 18 September 1974
Freedom from Military Surveillance Act - Restricts, under the first amendment and fourth amendment to the Constitution and the constitutional right of privacy, the actions of any civil officer of the United States or any member of the Armed Forces of the United States in using the Armed Forces of the United States to exercise surveillance of civilians or to execute the civil laws. Sets forth penalties for violations of the provisions of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 16 September 1974
Requests the President of the United States to furnish the House, within 10 days, with information concerning his specific knowledge of any formal criminal charges pending against Richard M. Nixon prior to issuance of the pardon. Lists other congressional questions relating to the Presidential pardon of former President Richard M. Nixon.
United States · United States Congress · 12 September 1974
Requests the President of the United States to furnish to the House of Representatives information concerning what are the specific offenses against the United States for which a pardon was granted to Richard M. Nixon on September 8, 1974 and what are the certain acts or omissions occurring before his resignation from the office of President for which Richard Nixon has become liable to possible indictment and trial for offenses against the United States, as stated in the Proclamation of Pardon. Lists other congressional questions concerning the President's general pardon of former President Richard M. Nixon.
United States · United States Congress · 11 September 1974
Authorizes the Architect of the Capitol to acquire the Willard Hotel in the District of Columbia for the purpose of providing living quarters for congressional interns and pages of the Senate and the House of Representatives. Provides for use of space in such building for office purposes by the Congress.
United States · United States Congress · 22 August 1974
Franchise Act - Sets forth the findings of Congress and the definitions of terms used in this Act. States that the Securities and Exchange Commission may, by its rules and regulations, exempt from the disclosure requirements of this Act any franchise where the Commission finds such exemption is necessary and appropriate. Enumerates what actions shall constitute unfair practices. States that any contract or agreement for the purpose of a franchise covered by this Act shall be voidable at the option of the franchisee, providing specified conditions are met. Provides that, with specified exceptions, the effective date of a disclosure statement shall be the twentieth day after the filing or such earlier date as the Commission may determine having due regard to the public interest and the protection of prospective franchisees. Requires that a disclosure statement contain such information as the Commission may require as being necessary or appropriate in the public interest or for the protection of prospective franchisees, including: (1) the name of the franchisor, the trade name(s) or trademark(s) under which he intends or is doing business, and the name of any parent or affiliated company that will engage in transactions with franchisees; (2) the name of the State under which the franchisor is organized and the location of the principal place of business; (3) the names and addresses, educational and business background, and biographical data, stated individually, of the directors, the chief executive, the financial accounting, principal executive officer, all partners, and of the franchisor; and (4) other enumerated statements relating to the franchise and attendant interests. Specifies the procedures for applications for registration, registration renewal statements and amendments thereto. Authorizes the Commission to promulgate such rules and regulations as it deems necessary to implement and interpret this Act. Sets forth civil liabilities for violations of this Act and other remedies available for violations of specified provisions. Provides for the jurisdiction of offenses and suits under this Act. Provides that the fact that a disclosure statement has been filed or is in effect shall not be deemed a finding by the Commission that such statement is in any way true and accurate in substance or on its face, or be held to mean that the Commission has in any way passed upon the merits or given approval to such franchise. States that any condition, stipulation, or provision binding any person acquiring any franchise to waive compliance with any provision of this Act or the rules and regulations prescribed thereunder shall be without effect and void.
United States · United States Congress · 22 August 1974
Requires the monthly publication of a Consumer Price Index for the Elderly and provides for studies and legislative recommendations to be made with regard to utilizing such index in determining cost-of-living adjustments authorized in Federal programs for individuals who are at least sixty-two years of age.
United States · United States Congress · 22 August 1974
Nuclear Energy Reappraisal Act - Terminates the granting of construction licenses of nuclear fission powerplants in the United States pending action by the Congress following a comprehensive five-year study of the nuclear fuel cycle, with particular reference to its safety and environmental hazards, to be conducted by the Office of Technology Assessment. Empowers the Office to compel delivery of any information in the possession of the National Laboratories which the Office deems necessary for conducting its study. Specifies that all Government agencies shall cooperate to the fullest extent with the Office. States that the recommendations of the study shall employ a cost benefit analysis of the safety and environmental hazards associated with the entire fuel cycle, the long-term economic effect of a commitment to nuclear fission powerplants, and the central question of proliferation of nuclear fission powerplants in relation to the possible alternatives. Specifies topics to be included in the comprehensive study of the office of Technology Assessment, in addition to those previously stated. Authorizes to be appropriated $100,000 for each of five fiscal years to carry out the study authorized by this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 22 August 1974
Expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) the designation of 1975 as International Women's Year is welcomed and full support is expressed for the goals for the Year as proclaimed by the Secretary General of the United Nations and the President of the United States; (2) cooperation in observance of the Year is urged on the part of all concerned people, official and private, men and women, to insure that constructive measures are taken to advance the rights and responsibilities of women during 1975; (3) a concerted effort should be made to insure that 1975 is a year not only of stock-taking but also a time for the launching of new programs and the forming of new attitudes toward the role of women; and (4) women in more than token numbers should be included on all United States delegations to international conferences or other meetings, and on national commissions and other bodies where positions are filled by Federal appointment.
United States · United States Congress · 21 August 1974
Internal Revenue Commission Act - Establishes an independent commission to be known as the Internal Revenue Commission, the principal office of which shall be in the District of Columbia. Provides that all the functions with respect to the administration and enforcement of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 which, immediately prior to the date that this Act takes effect, were performed by the Secretary of the Treasury, the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, or any other officer or employee of the Department of the Treasury are transferred to the Internal Revenue Commission. Provides that the transfer of functions under this Act shall not affect any act done or any right accruing or accrued before such transfer. States that so much of the positions, personnel, assets, liabilities, contracts, property, and records of the Department of the Treasury which, as determined by the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, were employed, held, used, or available or to be made available in connection with the functions transferred by this Act shall be transferred to the Internal Revenue Commission.
United States · United States Congress · 19 August 1974
Equal Opportunity and Full Employment Act - Directs the President, with the assistance of the Council of Economic Advisors, to transmit annually a full employment and production program to the Congress. Sets forth a summary of the content to be contained in such annual report. Provides for annual Labor Reports of the President. Requires the Labor Reports to provide detailed attention on a continuing and progressively analytical basis to the changing volume and composition of the American labor supply. Renames the United States Employment Service as the United States Full Employment Service. Creates a Job Guarantee Office in the United States Full Employment Office headed by a Job Guarantee Officer whose responsibility is to provide useful and rewarding employment for any American, able and willing to work but not yet working, unable otherwise to obtain work, and applying to such office for assistance. Directs the Job Guarantee Office to carry out responsibilities under this Act upon the recommendation and approval of the local planning councils. Requires that each Job Guarantee Office in carrying out its responsibilities shall insure that among projects planned that adequate consideration be given to such individuals and groups as may face special obstacles in finding and holding useful and rewarding employment and shall provide or have provided through the coordination of existing programs special assistance including but not limited to counseling, training, and, where necessary, transportation and migration assistance. Provides that such individuals and groups shall include (1) those suffering from past or present discrimination or bias on the basis of sex, age, race, color, religion, or national origin; (2) older workers and retirees; (3) the physically or mentally handicapped; (4) youths to age 21; (5) potentially employable recipients of public assistance; (6) the inhabitants of depressed areas, urban and rural; (7) veterans of the Armed Forces; (8) people unemployed because of the relocation, closing, or reduced operations in industrial or military facilities; and (9) such other groups as the President or the Congress may designate from time to time. Directs that each Job Guarantee Office may, subject to the limitations specified in this Act, enter into agreements with public agencies and private organizations operating on a profit, nonprofit, or limited-profit basis. Requires such agreements to contain assurances that the agency or organization will: (1) provide an annual independent audit to the Job Guarantee Office; and (2) not discriminate on the grounds of sex, age, race, color, religion, or national origin in the administration of any program encompassed within the agreement. Directs the Job Guarantee Office to: (1) refer jobseekers to the private sector and general public sector employment placement facilities of the Full Employment Service (other than as supplemented by this Act); and (2) directly refer jobseekers for placement in positions on projects drawn from the reservoir of public service and private employment projects. Provides that any who presents himself or herself in person at the full Employment Office shall be considered prima facie "willing and able" to work. Provides that this stipulation specifically shall include persons with impairments of sight, hearing, movement, coordination, mental retardation, or other handicaps. Directs that this stipulation be implemented by the Job Guarantee Officer, prusuant to regulations issued by the Secretary. Establishes a Standby Job Corps which shall consist of jobseekers registered pursuant to this Act. Provides that such Corps shall be available for public service work upon projects and activities that are approved as a part of community public service work reservoirs established by community boards pursuant to this Act. Directs the Secretary, by regulation, to provide for: (1) a requirement that jobseekers registered in the Standby Job Corps maintain a status of good standing, which status shall include attendance and performance standards; and (2) a system of compensation for Corps members. Provides that no Standby Job Corps members shall be paid less than the minimum wage in effect in the area. Directs the Joint Economic Committee to: (1) annually review the activities of the executive branch under all sections of this Act; (2) regularly conduct on its own behalf, or in cooperation with or through the facilities of the appropriate legislative committees or subcommittees of the Senate and the House, public hearings in as many labor market areas as feasible; and (3) annually report upon, with its own conclusions and recommendations, the development and administration of the policies and programs mandated by this Act. Establishes a National Institute for Full Employment within the Department of Labor, under a director to be appointed by the Secretary of Labor, and to operate in continuing consultation with a National Commission for Full Employment Policy Studies. Authorizes and directs the Institute to make, or have made through grants to or contracts with individual researchers and private or public research organizations, universities, and other Government agencies, studies that shall include, but need not be limited to, such subjects as: (1) the policies and programs needed to reduce whatever inflationary pressures may result from full employment to manage any such inflationary pressures through appropriate fiscal policies and indirect and direct controls, and to protect the weaker groups in society from whatever inflationary trends cannot be avoided or controlled; (2) the identification of human potentialities that are hidden, undeveloped, or underdeveloped because of the lack of suitable job opportunities, encouragement, education, or training and of various ways of releasing such potentialities; (3) the forms of education and training needed to help provide people with the skills, knowledge, and values required by existing employment opportunities and technologies and needed to assist in developing such new types of goods, services, technologies, and employment opportunities as may better meet human needs; and (4) the policies and programs needed to substantially eliminate substandard employment, wages, and working conditions and the techniques for establishing standards for employment, wages, and working conditions in accordance with changing levels of national output and resources, and regional variations in output. Authorizes the appropriation for the fiscal year ending on June 30, 1977, and for each succeeding fiscal year of such sums as may be needed to carry out this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 19 August 1974
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that: (1) all military, economic, or other assistance, all sales of defense articles and services, all sales of agricultural commodities and services, and all licenses with respect to the transportation of arms, ammunitions, and implements of war (including technical data relating thereto) to the Government of Turkey should be suspended on the date of adoption of this resolution; and (2) the provisions of this resolution should cease to apply when the President reports to the Congress that the Government of Turkey has withdrawn all of its armed forces from Cyprus.
United States · United States Congress · 15 August 1974
Establishes a fuel stamp program which will provide up to twenty-five dollars worth of fuel stamps per month to low-income elderly households to help meet fuel costs incurred by such households. Requires each State desiring to participate in such a program to submit for approval a plan indicating the method of operation of the program in such State.
United States · United States Congress · 14 August 1974
Youth Camp Safety Act - Makes it the purpose of this Act to protect and safeguard the health and well-being of youth attending day camps, resident camps, and travel camps by providing for the establishment of Federal standards for the safe operation of youth camps. Establishes in the Office of the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare an Office of Youth Camp Safety to be headed by a Director of Youth Camp Safety. Confers upon the Director the primary responsibility for the promulgation and enforcement of Federal and State youth camp safety regulations. Requires any State which desires to assume responsibility for the development and modification of youth camp safety standards to submit a State plan to the Director for his approval. Allows a State whose plan has been rejected to obtain review of the decision in the United States Court of Appeals. Authorizes the Director to make grants to States which have in effect approved State plans, such grants not to exceed eighty percent of the cost of carrying out the State plan. Authorizes to be appropriated $7,500,000 for fiscal year 1975, and for each succeeding fiscal year, to make the grants provided for in this Act. Authorizes the Director to enter and inspect youth camps and their records. Directs the Director to establish within the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare an Advisory Council on Youth Camp Safety and to submit to Congress at least once a year a comprehensive and detailed report on his administration under this Act. Prescribes penalties for each violation by youth camp operators of the standards promulgated pursuant to this Act. Authorizes the Director to request directly from any department or agency of the Federal Government information, suggestions, estimates, and statistics needed to carry out his functions under this Act; and such department or agency is authorized to furnish such information, suggestions, estimates, and statistics directly to the Director.
United States · United States Congress · 8 August 1974
Consumer Product Warranties-Federal Trade Commission Improvements Act - Title I: Consumer Product Warranties - Provides that any supplier warranting a consumer product to a consumer in writing shall fully and conspicuously disclose in simple and readily understood language the terms and conditions of such warranty pursuant to any rules issued by the Federal Trade Commission. States that the Commission shall prescribe rules requiring that the terms of any warranty on a consumer product be made available to the consumer (or prospective consumer) prior to the sale of the product to him. Allows the Commission to prescribe rules for determining the manner and form in which information with respect to any written warranty of a consumer product shall be clearly and conspicuously presented or displayed so as not to mislead the reasonable, average consumer, when such information is contained in advertising, labeling, point-of-sale material, or other representations in writing. States that no warrantor of a consumer product may condition his warranty of such product on the consumer's using, in connection with such product, any article or service (other than a service provided without charge under the terms of the warranty) which is identified by brand, trade, or corporate name; except that the prohibition of this subsection may be waived by the Commission if: (1) the warrantor satisfies the Commission that the warranted product will function properly only if the product or service so identified is used in connection with the warranted product; and (2) the Commission finds that the waiver is in the public interest. Enumerates Federal minimum standards for consumer product warranties. States that a written warranty incorporating the minimum Federal standards specified in this Act shall be conspicuously designated a "full" warranty, while a written warranty not incorporating Federal minimum standards shall be conspicuously designated a "limited" warranty. Provides that no supplier may disclaim or modify any implied warranty to a consumer with respect to a consumer product if: (1) such supplier makes any express warranty in writing to the consumer with respect to such consumer product; or (2) at the time of sale, or within ninety days thereafter, such supplier enters into a service contract with the consumer which applies to such consumer product. States that it is the policy of the Congress to encourage warrantors to establish procedures whereby consumer disputes are fairly and expeditiously settled through informal dispute settlement mechanisms. States that no claim shall be cognizable in a suit brought by a consumer damaged by the failure of a supplier to comply with any obligation under this title: (1) unless each individual claim exceeds the sum or value of $25; (2) unless the matter in controversy exceeds the sum or value of $50,000 (exclusive of interests and costs) computed on the basis of all claims to be determined in this suit; and (3) if the action is brought as a class action, unless the number of named plaintiffs equals or exceeds one hundred. Title II: Federal Trade Commission Improvements - Authorizes the Federal Trade Commission to make rules defining with specificity acts or practices which are unfair or deceptive and which are within the scope of this Act. Authorizes the Commission to conduct investigations of persons and partnerships, as well as corportions. Authorizes to be appropriated to the Federal Trade Commission to carry out its functions, powers, and duties specified amounts for fiscal years 1975, 1976 and 1977.
United States · United States Congress · 6 August 1974
Defines the term "recycled oil" and authorizes the Director of the National Bureau of Standards to issue regulations with respect to recycled oil. Provides that no excise tax shall be imposed on recycled oil which is not for use in automobiles.
United States · United States Congress · 6 August 1974
Directs the Clerk of the House of Representatives, the Sergeant at Arms of the House of Representatives, the Architect of the Capitol, and the Librarian of Congress (with respect to the employees of the United States Botanic Garden) to enter into agreements with Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia for the withholding of State or District of Columbia income tax in the case of each Member and employee who is subject to such income tax and who voluntarily agrees to such withholding. States that such agreement shall be subject to review by the Committee on House Administration of the House of Representatives.
United States · United States Congress · 2 August 1974
Declares that all foreign troops currently involved in Cyprus be withdrawn immediately so that the United Nations may be permitted to restore peace to the island and the Cypriot people guaranteed the right to determine their own destiny.
United States · United States Congress · 2 August 1974
Expresses the sense of Congress that the President of the United States should direct the Secretary of State: (1) to bring to the immediate attention of the Government of the Soviet Union the deep and growing concern among citizens of the United States over the plight of Simas Kudirka as a United States citizen; and (2) to urge that the Soviet Government release him from imprisonment and permit him and his immediate family to emigrate freely to the country of his choice. Expresses the sense of the Congress that the President of the United States forward a copy of this concurrent resolution to the United States Representative to the United Nations for transmission to the Commission on Human Rights or the Division of Human Rights of the United Nations.
United States · United States Congress · 1 August 1974
Permits employees in an executive agency and individuals employed by the government of the District of Columbia to take an active part in political management or in political campaigns in their role as private citizens under conditions set forth in this Act. Defines the term "an active part in political management or in political campaigns" as including: (1) candidacy for or service as delegate, alternate, or proxy in any political convention or service as an officer or employee thereof; (2) participation in the deliberations of any primary meeting, mass convention, or caucus, addressing the meeting, making motions, preparing or assisting in preparing resolutions before the meeting, or taking a prominent part in such meeting; (3) preparing for, or organizing or conducting a political meeting or rally, addressing such a meeting on any partisan political matter, or taking any part in any such meeting or rally; (4) membership in political clubs and organizing of such a club; (5) distributing campaign literature and distributing or wearing campaign badges and buttons; (6) publishing or having editorial or managerial connection with any newspaper; (7) organizing or participating in any political parade; (8) initiating or signing nominating petitions on behalf of a partisan candidate, including canvassing for signatures of others; and (9) candidacy for nomination or election to any National, State, county, or municipal office.
United States · United States Congress · 1 August 1974
Provides for television and radio coverage of proceedings in the Chamber of the House of Representatives on any resolution to impeach the President of the United States. Authorizes the Speaker to appoint a committee of five members to provide such arrangements as may be necessary in connection with such a broadcast.
United States · United States Congress · 30 July 1974
Child and Family Service Act - Title I: Child and Family Service Programs - Provides that the Secretary shall take all necessary action to coordinate child and family service programs under his jurisdiction and that, to this end, he shall establish and maintain within the Office of the Secretary of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare an Office of Child and Family Services administered by a Director appointed by the President with the advise and consent of the Senate. Provides that such office shall assume the responsibility of the Office of Child Development and shall be the principal agency of the Department for the administration of this Act. Establishes a Child and Family Services Coordinating Council, consisting of the Director of the Office of Child and Family Services (who shall serve as chairperson), and representatives from the Federal agencies administering the Social Security Act and the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 and from the appropriate Federal agencies. Requires the Department of Labor, and other appropriate agencies, to meet on a regular basis, as they may deem necessary, in order to assure coordination of child and family service activities under their respective jurisdictions so as to assure maximum use of available resources through the prevention of duplication of activities; and to structure the activities related to the purposes of this Act. States that funds available for this title may be used (in accordance with approved applications and plans) for planning and developing child and family service programs; establishing, maintaining, and operating child and family service programs, which may include: (1) part-day or full-day child care programs, which provide educational, health, nutritional, and social services directed toward enabling participating children to attain their maximum potential; (2) other health, social, recreational, and educational programs designed to meet the special needs of children and families including before- and after- school and summer programs; (3) school services, and education, and consultation for parents, other family members functioning in the capacity of parents, youth, and prospective and expectant parents who request assistance in meeting the needs of their children; (4) social services to help families determine the appropriateness of child and family services and the possibility of alternative plans; (5) prenatal, post partum and other medical care, including services to expectant mothers who cannot afford such services, designed to help reduce handicapping conditions among the newborn; (6) programs designed to meet the special needs of ethnic groups and to meet the needs of all children to understand the history and cultural backgrounds of ethnic groups and the role of members of such groups in the histroy and cultural development of the Nation and the region in which they reside; (7) food and nutritional services; (8) diagnosis, identification, and treatment, and special activities designed to ameliorate physiological, mental, psychological, and emotional barriers to full participation in child and family service programs; (9) programs designed to extend child and family service gains (particularly parent participation) into the kindergarten and early primary grades, in cooperation with local educational agencies; (10) other such services and activities as the Secretary deems appropriate in furtherance of the purposes of this Act; (11) rental, lease or lease-purchase, mortgage amortization payments, renovation, acquisition and maintenance of necessary equipment and supplies, and to the extent authorized by this Act, construction or acquisition of facilities, including mobile facilities; (12) preservice and inservice education and training for professional and paraprofessional personnel, including parents and volunteers, especially education and training for career development and advancement; (13) staff and other administrative expenses of child and family service councils and of project policy committees established and operated in accordance with the provisions of this Act; and (14) dissemination of information in the functional language of those to be served to assure that parents are well informed of child and family service programs available to them and may participate in such programs. Provides that a State, locality, or combination of localities may be designated by the Secretary as a prime sponsor for the purpose of entering into arrangements to carryout programs under this title. Enumerates the requirements which must be met by States and localities submitting prime sponsorship applications. States that each prime sponsor shall establsih and maintain a Child and Family Service Council of specified composition. States that such Council shall be responsible for approving child and family service plans, basic goal, policies, procedures, overall budget policies and project funding, and the selection or establishment and annual renewal of an administering agency or agencies and will be responsible for annual and ongoing evaluation of child and family service programs according to criteria established by the Secretary. States that financial assistance under this title may be provided by the Secretary for fiscal year 1975 and any subsequent fiscal year to a prime sponsor only pursuant to a child and family service plan which is submitted by such prime sponsor and approved by the Secretary in accordance with the provisions of this title. Specifies the elements to be contained in such plans, and the procedure including opportunity for airing of views with respect to such plan, for approval or disapproval of the plan. States that funds may be provided by the prime sponsor for carrying out any program under such prime sponsor's comprehensive child and family service plan only to a qualified public or private agency or organization, including but not limited to an educational agency or institution, a community action agency, single-purpose Headstart agency, community development corporation, parent cooperative, organization of migrant agricultural workers, organization of Indians, organization interested in child care, employer or business organization, labor union, or employee or labor management organization, or by any other public or private agency whose project application is approved by the Child and Family Service Council of the prime sponsorship. Provides for special grants to States for necessary expenses incident to the operation of programs authorized by this Act in such States, and, in addition to the conditions which must be met for such grants, requires that grants for construction or acquisition of facilities may be made only if such construction or acquisition is essential to the provision of adequate child care services. Title II: Standards And Evaluations - Provides that, within six months after the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall promulgate a common set of program standards which shall be applicable to all programs providing child care services under this or any other Federal Act, to be known as the Federal Standards for Child Care. Provides that the Secretary shall, within sixty days of the enactment of this Act, appoint a Special Committee on Federal Standards for Child Care to participate in the development of Federal Standards for child care and modifications thereof. Provides for the development of a minimum code for child and family service facilities to be addressed to the health, safety, and physical comfort of the children participating in such programs. Title III: Facilities and Research for Child and Family Services Programs - States that it is the purpose of this title to assist and encourage the provision of urgently needed facilities for child care and comprehensive child services programs. States that the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare is authorized to insure any mortgage (including advances on such mortgage during construction) in accordance with the provisions of this title upon such terms and conditions as he may prescribe and make commitments for insurance of such mortgage prior to the date of its execution or disbursement thereon. Provides that the mortgage shall be executed by a mortgagor approved by the Secretary, and that such mortgages shall involve in principal obligation of up to $250,000 and not to exceed 90 percent of the estimated replacement costs of properties or projects when the proposed improvements are completed. Creates a Child and Family Services Facility Insurance Fund which shall be used by the Secretary as a revolving fund for carrying out all the insurance provisions of this title, including mortgage insurance. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants, contracts, or other arrangements to carry out a program of research and demonstration projects, which shall include but not be limited to: (1) research to develop techniques to measure and evaluate child and family services, and to develop standards to evaluate professional and paraprofessional child and family service personnel; (2) research to test preschool programs emphasizing reading and reading readiness; (3) preventive medicine, techniques, and technology to improve the early diagnosis and treatment of diseases and learning disabilities of pre-school children; (4) research to test alternative methods of providing child and family service; (5) evaluation of research findings and the development of these findings and the effective application thereof; (6) dissemination and application of research and development efforts and demonstration projects to early childhood education programs; (7) production of informational systems and other resources necessary to support the activities authorized by this Act; (8) developing methods of determining the needs of individual children in particular areas such as education, nutrition, and medical services, so as to permit the modification of programs to fit the needs of individual children; and (9) a study of the need on a nationwide basis for child and family services programs and of the resources, including personnel, which are available to meet this need. Title IV: Training of Personnel for Child and Family Services - Authorizes the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare to make grants to or enter into contracts with institutions of higher education, State and local agencies, State and local educational agencies, private organizations and agencies engaged in teacher training, teacher training institutions, national child care organizations, and producers of television programing, for the purpose of establishing, developing, or upgrading early childhood personnel training programs to respond to the demonstrated need for child services personnel in the 1970's; and by stimulating the development of sufficient training and educational programs in every State and region of the United States to assure an adequate supply of personnel to meet staffing requirements. Authorizes appropriations for fiscal years 1975, 1976 and 1977 to carry out this title. Title V: General Provisions - Defines the terms used in this Act. Provides for nutrition services to be provided to child and family service programs under the National School Lunch Act of 1946 and the Child Nutrition Act of 1966.
United States · United States Congress · 29 July 1974
Public Service Employment Act - Declares that one of the purposes of the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act of 1973 is to provide employment opportunities to assure that no area in the United States has an unemployment rate in excess of seven percent. Defines "area of severe unemployment". Establishes in the Treasury the Public Service Employment Fund. Sets forth the amounts in such fund during each fiscal year and authorizes appropriations to carry out the purposes of this Act. Provides that eligible applicants shall be entitled to allotments from the fund in accordance with the excess number of unemployed persons residing in areas of severe unemployment. Makes technical and conforming amendments to specified Federal Acts.
United States · United States Congress · 29 July 1974
Expresses the sense of the House that the United States Government should seek agreement with other members of the United Nations on the prohibition of weather modification activity as a weapon of war.
United States · United States Congress · 25 July 1974
Provides that each Member of the House of Representatives, the Resident Commissioner from Puerto Rico, and the Delegates from the District of Columbia, Guam, and the Virgin Islands may hire not more than two additional employees who shall be known as John W. McCormack Senior Interns in honor of the former Speaker of the House of Representatives. States that such interns may be hired for not more than two weeks during the period May 1 through May 31 of each year and shall serve within the District of Columbia. Stipulates that for this purpose each such Member, Resident Commissioner, or Delegate shall have available annually for payment of compensation to such interns a total allowance of $500, to be payable to such interns at a rate not to exceed $125 per week, out of the contingent fund of the House. Requires that no person shall be paid compensation as a John W. McCormack Senior Intern who does not have on file with the Clerk of the House of Representatives, at all times during the period of employment as such intern, an appropriate certificate that such intern is sixty years of age or older and a resident of the district which the employing Member, Commissioner, or Delegate represents.
United States · United States Congress · 24 July 1974
New Homestead Act - Provides that in the case of any farm purchase loan to any person who is (1) a nonowner-operator of a farm or (2) an owner-operator of a farm who is not reliant on such farm for his principal source of income, the Secretary of Agriculture may make or insure any such loan up to $100,000 or 90 percent of the value of the farm being purchased, whichever is greater. States that the repayment of any farm purchase loan by any person who was at the time of such loan a nonowner-operator of a farm or an owner-operator of a farm, but not reliant on such farm for his principal source of income, shall, upon the request of such person at the time the loan is made or insured, be made as follows: (1) during the first twelve-month period beginning on the first day of the first month after the loan is made and during each of the next fourteen twelve-month periods, one-eightieth of the total amount to be financed including interest; and (2) (A) during each of the next twenty-five twelve-month periods, one twenty-fifth of an amount equal to the total amount to be financed including interest minus the amount paid pursuant to paragraph (1); or (B) at the close of the fifteenth twelve-month period, the balance of the principal plus an amount of interest which would have been due and payable during the first fifteen twelve-month periods had the forty-year loan been paid in four hundred and eighty equal installments; except that the balance of the loan shall become due and payable if such farm or any interest therin is transferred without the approval of the Secretary to any person ineligible for a loan. Authorizes appropriations of such sums as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 23 July 1974
Credit Allocation Incentive Act - Defines, under the Federal Reserve Act, "National Priority Loans and Investments" to include any loan or investment for: (1) useful capital investments; (2) lower middle-income housing; or (3) small businesses. Permits the requirement of a supplemental reserve by member banks which will not take outstanding National Priority Loans and Investments into consideration in its computation.
United States · United States Congress · 23 July 1974
Comprehensive Right to Privacy Act - Requires that any organization of Federal, State, or local government maintaining an information system that includes personal information shall: (1) collect, maintain, use, and disseminate only personal information necessary to accomplish a proper purpose of the organization; (2) collect information to the greatest extent possible from the data subject directly; (3) maintain information in the system with accuracy, completeness, timeliness, and pertinence as necessary to assure fairness in determinations relating to a data subject; (4) make no dissemination to another system or any individual other than the data subject without specifying requirements for security and the use of information exclusively for the purpose set forth in the notice required under this Act; (5) maintain a complete and accurate record, including identity purpose, and date, of every access to any personal information in a system by persons or organizations not having regular access authority; and (6) collect no personal information concerning the political or religious beliefs, affiliations, and activities of data subjects maintained by any government agency unless expressly authorized by statute. Prohibits any Federal agency from requiring individuals to disclose for statistical purposes any personal information unless such disclosure is required by a constitutional provision or Act of Congress, and the individual is so informed. Requires any organization maintaining or proposing to establish an information system for personal information to: (1) give notice of the existence and character of each existing system once a year to the Federal Privacy Board; (2) give public notice of the existence and character of each existing system each year; and (3) assure that such public notice specifies the categories of data maintained, and the categories of all information sources, a description of types of use made of information, and the procedures whereby an individual can gain access to such information and contest its accuracy and the necessity for its retention. Requires any organization maintaining personal information to inform an individual asked to supply personal information whether he is legally required, or may refuse, to supply the information requested, and also of any specific consequences, which are known to the organization, of providing or not providing such information. Permits data subjects who dispute information about themselves to have such disputed information noted as being disputed when such information about him is disseminated. Requires, upon request, corrections in information to be sent to past recipients of information. Directs organizations maintaining information to inform, within two years and each year thereafter, individuals on whom data is stored of its content and where a copy of such data may be obtained. Allows the head of a Federal agency maintaining such information to exempt his agency from requirements of this Act in the interest of national defense. Makes it unlawful for any organization to require an individual to disclose or furnish his social security account number, for any purpose in connection with any business transaction unless the disclosure or furnishing of such number is specifically required by Federal law. Establishes the Federal Privacy Board whose five members shall be appointed by the President. Directs the Board to: (1) publish an annual Data Base Directory of the United States containing the name and characteristics of each personal information system covered by this Act; (2) make rules to assure compliance with this Act; (3) upon the determination of a violation of a provision of this Act or regulation promulgated under the Act, and after opportunity for a hearing, order the organization violating such provision to cease and desist such violation; and (4) conduct open, public hearings on all petitions for exceptions or exemptions from provisions, application, or jurisdiction of this Act. States that any individual or organization or responsible officer of an organization who willfully: (1) keeps an information system without having notified the Federal Privacy Board; or (2) issues personal information in violation of this Act; or (3) solicits, uses, or otherwise acquires information in violation of this Act shall be fined not more than $10,000 in each instance or imprisoned not more than five years, or both. Provides that any person, system, or agency which violates the provisions of the Act, or any rule, regulation, or order issued thereunder, shall be liable to any person aggrieved thereby.
United States · United States Congress · 23 July 1974
Equal Opportunity and Full Employment Act - Directs the President, with the assistance of the Council of Economic Advisors, to transmit annually a full employment and production program to the Congress. Sets forth a summary of the content to be contained in such annual report. Provides for annual Labor Reports of the President. Requires the Labor Reports to provide detailed attention on a continuing and progressively analytical basis to the changing volume and composition of the American labor supply. Renames the United States Employment Service as the United States Full Employment Service. Creates a Job Guarantee Office in the United States Full Employment Office headed by a Job Guarantee Officer whose responsibility is to provide useful and rewarding employment for any American, able and willing to work but not yet working, unable otherwise to obtain work, and applying to such office for assistance. Directs the Job Guarantee Office to carry out responsibilities under this Act upon the recommendation and approval of the local planning councils. Requires that each Job Guarantee Office in carrying out its responsibilities shall insure that among projects planned that adequate consideration be given to such individuals and groups as may face special obstacles in finding and holding useful and rewarding employment and shall provide or have provided through the coordination of existing programs special assistance including but not limited to counseling, training, and, where necessary, transportation and migration assistance. Provides that such individuals and groups shall include (1) those suffering from past or present discrimination or bias on the basis of sex, age, race, color, religion, or national origin; (2) older workers and retirees; (3) the physically or mentally handicapped; (4) youths to age 21; (5) potentially employable recipients of public assistance; (6) the inhabitants of depressed areas, urban and rural; (7) veterans of the Armed Forces; (8) people unemployed because of the relocation, closing, or reduced operations in industrial or military facilities; and (9) such other groups as the President or the Congress may designate from time to time. Directs that each Job Guarantee Office may, subject to the limitations specified in this Act, enter into agreements with public agencies and private organizations operating on a profit, nonprofit, or limited-profit basis. Requires such agreements to contain assurances that the agency or organization will: (1) provide an annual independent audit to the Job Guarantee Office; and (2) not discriminate on the grounds of sex, age, race, color, religion, or national origin in the administration of any program encompassed within the agreement. Directs the Job Guarantee Office to: (1) refer jobseekers to the private sector and general public sector employment placement facilities of the Full Employment Service (other than as supplemented by this Act); and (2) directly refer jobseekers for placement in positions on projects drawn from the reservoir of public service and private employment projects. Provides that any who presents himself or herself in person at the full Employment Office shall be considered prima facie "willing and able" to work. Provides that this stipulation specifically shall include persons with impairments of sight, hearing, movement, coordination, mental retardation, or other handicaps. Directs that this stipulation be implemented by the Job Guarantee Officer, prusuant to regulations issued by the Secretary. Establishes a Standby Job Corps which shall consist of jobseekers registered pursuant to this Act. Provides that such Corps shall be available for public service work upon projects and activities that are approved as a part of community public service work reservoirs established by community boards pursuant to this Act. Directs the Secretary, by regulation, to provide for: (1) a requirement that jobseekers registered in the Standby Job Corps maintain a status of good standing, which status shall include attendance and performance standards; and (2) a system of compensation for Corps members. Provides that no Standby Job Corps members shall be paid less than the minimum wage in effect in the area. Directs the Joint Economic Committee to: (1) annually review the activities of the executive branch under all sections of this Act; (2) regularly conduct on its own behalf, or in cooperation with or through the facilities of the appropriate legislative committees or subcommittees of the Senate and the House, public hearings in as many labor market areas as feasible; and (3) annually report upon, with its own conclusions and recommendations, the development and administration of the policies and programs mandated by this Act. Establishes a National Institute for Full Employment within the Department of Labor, under a director to be appointed by the Secretary of Labor, and to operate in continuing consultation with a National Commission for Full Employment Policy Studies. Authorizes and directs the Institute to make, or have made through grants to or contracts with individual researchers and private or public research organizations, universities, and other Government agencies, studies that shall include, but need not be limited to, such subjects as: (1) the policies and programs needed to reduce whatever inflationary pressures may result from full employment to manage any such inflationary pressures through appropriate fiscal policies and indirect and direct controls, and to protect the weaker groups in society from whatever inflationary trends cannot be avoided or controlled; (2) the identification of human potentialities that are hidden, undeveloped, or underdeveloped because of the lack of suitable job opportunities, encouragement, education, or training and of various ways of releasing such potentialities; (3) the forms of education and training needed to help provide people with the skills, knowledge, and values required by existing employment opportunities and technologies and needed to assist in developing such new types of goods, services, technologies, and employment opportunities as may better meet human needs; and (4) the policies and programs needed to substantially eliminate substandard employment, wages, and working conditions and the techniques for establishing standards for employment, wages, and working conditions in accordance with changing levels of national output and resources, and regional variations in output. Authorizes the appropriation for the fiscal year ending on June 30, 1977, and for each succeeding fiscal year of such sums as may be needed to carry out this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 22 July 1974
Authorizes the Secretary of Defense to budget and provide for the authorization of appropriations, and the use of those appropriated funds by the Secretary of the Air Force to assist the Civil Air Patrol in providing services in connection with the noncombatant mission of the Air Force.
United States · United States Congress · 17 July 1974
Declares it to be the sense of the House that: (1) the contribution by the United States to the growing economic and human crisis in the developing world should be primarily in the form of food and the means and technology to produce it; (2) the President, the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Agriculture and their advisors should give the highest priority to the immediate expansion of American food assistance and (b) take such additional steps as might be necessary to expedite the transfer of American food commodities on concessional and donation terms to those nations most severely affected; (3) the United States should increase its matching pledge to the World Food Program for 1975-1976 and encourage other nations to do so; (4) the President and the Secretary of State should (a) negotiate with other major food exporting nations to seek to obtain their participation in this emergency effort proportionate to their share of world food exports and, (b) strongly encourage oil exporting nations to contribute a fair share to these efforts to assist the most severely affected nations; (5) the United States should announce its desire to work with the oil exporting and other nations in a major effort to increase world fertilizer production with the possibility of including the offer of American technology and capital; and (6) the President should encouarge the American people to reduce the non-critical, non-food-producing uses of fertilizer which now total nearly three million tons of nutrient a year, to make available increased fertilizer supplies for raising food production at home and in the developing world. Declares the sense of the House that the President of the United States and the Secretaries of State and Agriculture should, and are hereby urged and requested to: (1) maintain regular and full consultation with the appropriate committees of the Congress; and (2) report to the Congress and the Nation at regular intervals on the progress toward formulating an American response in a cooperative framework to the world food crisis and the needs of the most severly affected developing countries.
United States · United States Congress · 16 July 1974
Veterans' Housing Act - Authorizes increases in the amount limitations of the veterans home loan programs, and eliminates those provisions automatically guaranteeing dormant farm and business loans. Repeals the restriction on the guaranteeing or making of loans by the Administrator of Veterans Affairs for the purchasing of mobile homes or mobile home lots after July 1, 1975. Authorizes the Administrator to make expenditures to correct or compensate for structural defects in mortgaged homes with respect to any property improved by a one-to-four family existing dwelling as to which the Veterans' Administration issued a certificate of reasonable value.
United States · United States Congress · 16 July 1974
Prohibits a petroleum refiner or distributor from cancelling, failing to renew, or otherwise terminating a franchise unless he furnishes notification in writing to each affected distributor or retailer by certified mail not less than ninety days prior to the date on which such franchise will be canceled, together with a statement of the reasons of such cancellation and of the remedies available. Provides that a petroleum refiner or distributor shall not cancel, fail to renew, or otherwise terminate a franchise unless the retailer or distributor whose franchise is terminated failed to comply substantially with any essential and reasonable requirement of such franchise or failed to act in good faith in carrying out the terms of such franchise. States that if a refiner or distributor engages in conduct prohibited under this Act, a retailer or distributor may maintain a suit against such refiner or distributor.
United States · United States Congress · 11 July 1974
Eastern Wilderness Areas Act - Designates specified lands in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, New Hampshire, North Carolina, South Carolina, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin for inclusion in the National Wilderness Preservation System. Provides for a study of specified additional lands in eighteen states and Puerto Rico for such inclusion. Authorizes appropriations of such sums as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of this Act.
![Official portrait of Rep. Helstoski, Henry [D-NJ-9]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/h000465_200.jpg)