United States · United States Congress · 13 December 1982
Space Commerce Act - Directs the Secretary of Commerce to issue licenses for launching private sector space objects. Sets forth the conditions for issuing a license, including the ability to meet liability insurance requirements. Establishes criminal penalties for launching private space objects without such a license. Directs the Secretary to establish requirements for liability insurance to be carried by any licensee. Permits the Administrator to suspend or revoke a license for failure to comply with applicable regulations. Excludes from this Act space objects launched by or on behalf of the United States Government. Establishes the Commercial Space Study Commission to study the direction of future Government involvement and regulation of private sector commercial activity in outer space. Directs the Commission to report to Congress within a specified time. Terminates the Commission 60 days after its final report.
United States · United States Congress · 29 November 1982
Establishes the Commission on the Bicentennial of the United States Constitution. Requires the Commission to: (1) plan and develop appropriate activities to commemorate the bicentennial of the Constitution; (2) encourage private organizations, and State and local governments to organize and participate in bicentennial activities; (3) coordinate activities throughout all the States; and (4) serve as a clearinghouse for the collection and dissemination of bicentennial information. Directs the Commission to seek assistance from private and governmental agencies and organizations. Requires the Commission to submit a report of its recommendations to the President, Congress and the Judicial Conference within two years of enactment of this Act and annually until its termination. Terminates the Commission on December 31, 1989. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1983 and such sums as necessary through FY 1989.
United States · United States Congress · 29 November 1982
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that, due to the excessive prices for natural and propane gas, the Congress should take all steps to assure that legislation is enacted during the 97th Congress which responds to the natural gas marketing problems.
United States · United States Congress · 1 October 1982
Tax Funded Advocacy Act of 1982 - Prohibits: (1) the disbursement of Federal funds by any means to any organization which engages in advocacy or which is allied with such an organization; and (2) the use of Federal funds for lobbying or advocacy. Defines "advocacy" as any activity intended to influence public policy formation or to advance particular viewpoints with Congress or any legislative body, administrative office or individual, litigation, or the general public. Conditions eligibility for Federal funds on the certification by recipients that they do not and will not engage in advocacy. Makes it the responsibility of anyone disbursing Federal funds to establish that all applicants do not and will not engage in advocacy. Grants private citizens: (1) the right to advise Federal officials when they suspect that an organization receiving Federal funds engages in advocacy; and (2) standing to sue in Federal court to enforce this Act, to seek writs of mandamus, and to return funds to the Treasury from organizations engaged in advocacy. Entitles successful plaintiffs to their legal expenses and ten percent of the Federal funds returned. Provides that: (1) a public official's lack of reasonable care in monitoring fund recipients to determine whether they engage in advocacy shall constitute automatic grounds for adverse personnel action including dismissal; and (2) the intentional continuation of funding to a group in violation of this Act shall constitute a felony. Requires self certification by recipients as to noninvolvement in advocacy prior to any renewal or extension of funding. Establishes intentional misrepresentation as a felony offense. Requires any organization or individual found to have violated this Act to forfeit an amount equal to three times the funds unlawfully used. Authorizes the Government, on a motion by the appropriate Federal district court, to sue a person possessing funds or proceeds from funds expended in violation of this Act and to require forfeiture of such funds equal to three times the amount lost. Authorizes the Department of Justice to impose a $10,000 fine for failure to provide information relating to violations of this Act pursuant to formal requests. Declares that any violation of this Act shall be the basis for total disbarment of Federal benefits.
United States · United States Congress · 1 October 1982
Declares that it should be U.S. policy to: (1) support the people of Afghanistan in their struggle to be free from foreign domination; (2) provide the Afghans, upon request, with material assistance; and (3) pursue a negotiated settlement of the war in Afghanistan based on the total withdrawal of Soviet troops and the recognition of the right of the Afghans to choose their own destiny.
United States · United States Congress · 29 September 1982
Balanced Monetary Policy and Price Stability Act of 1982 - Amends the Federal Reserve Act to require the Board of Governors and the Federal Open Market Committee of the Federal Reserve System to establish monthly ranges of targets for short-term interest rates, consistent with historical levels of real interest rates, sustained economic growth, stable prices, and stable foreign exchange rates. Declares that if such objectives cannot be achieved simultaneously, the object of stable prices, as measured by an index of current prices, shall take precedence. Requires yearly targets for the growth or diminution of money and credit aggregates to also be established. Requires the Board and the Federal Open Market Committee to take necessary actions to assure that the targets for monetary and credit aggregates are achieved on an annual basis and short-term interest rates are achieved on a monthly basis. Requires a written report to specified congressional committees if such targets cannot or should not be achieved because of unfavorable economic conditions. Requires the Board of Governors to transmit specified information to Congress biannually. Requires the Board to announce publicly changes in objectives and plans at the time those changes are determined. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to instruct the United States excutive director of the International Monetary Fund to request a conference of the Board of Governors of the International Monetary Fund for the purpose of considering reforms of the international monetary system which would promote price stability, financial confidence, and expanded world trade.
United States · United States Congress · 23 September 1982
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to reinstate the exclusion from gross income of dividend and interest income received by an individual taxpayer. Limits the amount of such exclusion to $200 ($400 for joint returns) for a taxable year. Repeals provisions of the Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981 which provided an increased exclusion of interest income in 1985 and disallowed an exclusion for dividends received from real estate investment trusts.
United States · United States Congress · 22 September 1982
Urges the President to declassify and publicize to the American people existing intelligence information on the military threat to the United States and its allies posed by the Soviet Union.
United States · United States Congress · 19 August 1982
Jobs Incentive Act of 1982 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow an income tax credit for each new employee position created by an employer in an area of substantial unemployment. Sets the amount of such credit at $1,000 for each new permanent employee position and $500 for each new temporary employee position. Defines "area of substantial unemployment" as any county, within the United States, in which the local unemployment rate exceeds the national unemployment rate.
United States · United States Congress · 18 August 1982
Foreign Surveillance Prevention Act of 1982 - Directs the President, whenever the President has reason to believe that any individual covered by diplomatic immunity is willfully engaging in electronic surveillance on behalf of a foreign power in the United States, to inform specified congressional committees and, unless it would seriously compromise U.S. intelligence gathering sources, to: (1) inform those persons reasonably believed to be targets of such surveillance; (2) inform the foreign power and demand that such surveillance cease; and (3) declare the individual persona non grata in the United States if the surveillance does not cease within 30 days and demand that that person leave the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 18 August 1982
Disapproves the President's recommendation to extend the President's authority to waive the freedom of emigration requirements under the Trade Act of 1974 in order to extend the most-favored nation status of the People's Republic of China.
United States · United States Congress · 21 July 1982
Oil Pipeline Regulatory Reform Act of 1982 - Amends the Department of Energy Organization Act to repeal provisions transferring to the Secretary of Energy or the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission certain functions of the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) or the Chairman relating to the transportation of oil by pipeline. Transfers to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission such functions relating to the transportation of oil by pipeline as were carried out by the Secretary of Energy or the ICC before enactment of this Act. Amends the Interstate Commerce Act to delete provisions requiring common carriers to establish just and reasonable rates, fares, and charges. Deletes provisions: (1) requiring the ICC to investigate forthwith the lawfulness of a rate, fare, or charge upon the filing of a petition by a concerned carrier; and (2) empowering the ICC to issue cease and desist orders regarding rates, fares, and charges. Repeals provisions requiring the ICC to establish just divisions of joint fares, rates, or charges. Prohibits any State or interstate agency from reviewing, prescribing, suspending, or regulating the rates or charges of any common carrier for transportation of oil by pipeline in interstate commerce.
United States · United States Congress · 20 July 1982
Veterans' Employment and Education Assistance Act of 1982 - Title I: Employment Assistance - Extends eligibility for the program for employment and training of disabled and Vietnam-era veterans programs to include a veteran rated at any level of disability, rather than only those rated 30 percent or more disabled. Continues the 30 percent or more disabled requirement for purposes of giving preference in employment as veterans' benefits counselors and veterans' claims examiners. Authorizes the Assistant Secretary of Labor for Veterans' Employment to promulgate regulations to administer such program. Requires that eligible veterans and persons be given priority in the provision of employment and training services. Makes officials within the Department of Labor who help administer this program responsible to the Assistant Secretary. Changes the position of State veterans' employment representative to that of State Director for Veterans' Employment. Assigns to each regional office of the Assistant Secretary a regional director for veterans' employment. Makes such directors functionally responsible for supervising the participation of veterans in Federal employment and training programs, job listings, discrimination complaints, and other specified duties. Requires that funds used to assist States in administering the disabled veterans' outreach program be specifically set forth in appropriation Acts. Permits a waiver of limitation on the percentage of outreach specialists which shall be stationed at local employment service offices in a State. Requires outreach specialists to develop programs with the Veterans Administration vocational rehabilitation staff and others to assure maximum assistance to veterans. Directs the Assistant Secretary to monitor the employment of such specialists. Directs the Secretary of Labor to estimate the funds necessary for the administration of the employment training and reemployment rights programs, including the amounts necessary to fund the disabled veterans' outreach program specialists programs. Requires the Secretary's annual report to include a report on activities under such program. Directs the Secretary, through the Assistant Secretary, to establish a program providing job counseling, training, and placement services for veterans through grants to State agencies and private, nonprofit organizations. Encourages such agencies to make cooperative arrangements with industry. Directs the Secretary to coordinate this program with other veterans' job training programs and to determine the effectiveness of an agency in providing services under this program. Permits the Secretary to furnish technical assistance as necessary. Directs the Secretary to report annually to the Veterans' Affairs Committees of Congress on the conduct of this program. Establishes within the Department of Labor the Secretary's Committee on Veterans' Affairs to meet quarterly to bring veterans' employment problems to the attention of the Secretary. Extends eligibility for the employment and training programs for disabled and Vietnam-era veterans to include persons who, but for the receipt of military retired pay, would be eligible to receive compensation. Requires each Federal contractor who must take affirmative action to employ such veterans to make quarterly reports on the number and characteristics of new hires with the state veterans' employment director. Requires each Federal department and agency to list openings with a local employment service office, which shall give veterans priority in referral. Requires the Office of Personnel Management to publish a report which includes the number of openings and the number of veterans who were referred to and/or received a job. Repeals the exemplary rehabilitation certificates program. Title II: Education Assistance - Permits the Administrator of Veterans' Affairs to station veterans' benefits counselors at locations other than Veterans Administration offices. Repeals the veterans' representatives program. Prohibits the Administrator from approving the enrollment of an eligible veteran or person in any sales or sales management course which does not provide specialize training. Eliminates the requirement that a vocational school prove 50 percent employment among its graduates to prevent the Administrator's disapproving a veteran's enrollment. Permits enrollment of a veteran in a farm cooperative training course. Permits the payment of a subsistence allowance to a veteran pursuing a rehabilitation program while residing in a halfway house or participating in a work-release program. Sets forth class hour attendance requirements for laboratory and shop portions of courses. Permits the Administrator to discontinue educational assistance to eligible veterans and persons enrolled at institutions or in courses with uncorrected violations of specified requirements. Reduces the detail required in the Administrator's annual report to Congress on the default of educational loans. Provides for the transfer of funds from the Secretary of a military department to the Administrator for the administration of an educational assistance program. Permits accelerated payments of assistance to veterans enrolled in a high-cost, short-term course. Increases from $75 to $100 the maximum monthly deduction from a person's military pay for contribution to a matching fund for educational assistance. Amends the Veterans' Education and Employment Assistance Act of 1976 to extend eligibility for educational benefits for post-Vietnam era veterans. Title III: Miscellaneous Provisions - Requires applications for recovery of payments or over payments of benefits under laws administered by the Veterans Administration to be made within 180 days rather than within two years.
United States · United States Congress · 19 July 1982
Veterans Disability Compensation and Survivors' Benefits Amendments of 1982 - Title I: Compensation and Dependency and Indemnity Compensation Rate Increases - Increases the rates of: (1) disability compensation; (2) additional compensation for dependents; (3) the clothing allowance for certain disabled veterans; (4) dependency and indemnity compensation for surviving spouses; (5) dependency and indemnity compensation for children; and (6) supplemental dependency and indemnity compensation for children. Title II Program Changes - Includes within the term "active duty for training" annual training duty performed by a member of a Senior Reserve Officers' Training Corps program as ordered for 14 or more days. Entitles veterans with service-connected, total blindness without light perception in both eyes to the same rate of monthly disability compensation as is paid for the anatomical loss of both eyes. Entitles to an increased rate of monthly compensation veterans with service-connected anatomical loss or loss of use of a hand or of a foot. Requires that additional compensation for dependents be adjusted downward to the nearest dollar. Extends dependency and indemnity compensation to survivors of veterans who were entitled to but did not receive service-connected disability compensation. Eliminates the four year cut-off for payment of claims under the Servicemen's Group Life Insurance and Veterans' Group Life Insurance programs. Prohibits the escheat of payments to the State. Directs the Administrator of Veterans' Affairs to furnish a flag for burial (and subsequent retention by the next of kin) for persons designated by the Administrator as eligible for burial in a national cemetery. Directs the Administrator of Veterans' Affairs to pay the burial expenses of certain veterans of war whose bodies are held by a State and not claimed. Eliminates the requirement that the superintendent of a national cemetery under the jurisdiction of the Army be a disabled veteran.
United States · United States Congress · 19 July 1982
States that an employer of a member of a Reserve or National Guard component is not required to grant a leave of absence to such employee to perform active duty for training or inactive duty training in the armed forces for a total of more than 365 days within any 36 month period.
United States · United States Congress · 15 July 1982
Expresses the support of the Congress for beginning strategic arms reductions talks. Urges the Soviet Union to join with the United States in concluding an equitable and verifiable agreement which freezes strategic nuclear forces at equal and substantially reduced levels. Reaffirms congressional support for the position that the United States should not enter into an arms agreement which provides for force levels inferior to those of the Soviet Union. Declares that the United States should propose practical measures to: (1) reduce the danger of accidental nuclear war; (2) prevent the use of nuclear weapons by third parties, including terrorists; and (3) halt the worldwide proliferation of nuclear weapons. Insists that any arms control agreement must be fully verifiable.
United States · United States Congress · 14 July 1982
Amends the Home Owners' Loan Act of 1933 to declare that State law shall apply to the enforcement of any due-on-sale clause, or other similar provision, contained in: (1) any mortgage which secures sums borrowed from a Federal savings and loan association or national bank; or (2) any promissory note which serves as evidence of sums borrowed from a savings and loan association or national bank.
United States · United States Congress · 13 July 1982
Amends the Federal criminal code to establish criteria for the imposition of the death penalty for Federal crimes. Requires the Government, for any offense punishable by death, to serve notice upon the defendant a reasonable time before trial or acceptance of a plea that it intends to seek the death penalty and the aggravating factors upon which it will rely. Requires a separate sentencing hearing before a jury, or the court upon motion by the defendant, when the defendant is found guilty or pleads guilty to an offense punishable by death. Provides that no presentence report shall be prepared in such cases. Allows the defendant and the Government to present any information relevant to sentencing, without regard to the rules of evidence, but permits information to be excluded where its probative value is substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice, confusion of the issues, or misleading the jury. Specifies mitigating factors which the defendant must establish by a preponderance of the information and aggravating factors which the Government must prove beyond a reasonable doubt. Includes as threshold, aggravating factors for homicide that the defendant: (1) intentionally killed the victim; (2) intentionally inflicted serious bodily injury which resulted in the death of the victim; (3) intentionally participated in an act which he reasonably should have known would create grave risk of death to a person and the victim did die as a direct result of the act; or (4) attempted to kill the President of the United States. Sets forth special aggravating factors with respect to the crimes of treason and espionage. Includes among the mitigating factors that the defendant was less than 18 years old at the time of the crime. Conditions imposition of the death penalty on a unanimous finding by the jury that: (1) some aggravating factor exists in addition to a threshold factor; and (2) the aggravating factors sufficiently outweigh any mitigating factor found to exist. Directs the court to impose the death penalty upon a finding that such sentence is justified. Requires the court to instruct the jury not to consider the race, color, national origin, creed, or sex of the defendant in its consideration of the death sentence. Limits the circumstances under which the offense of delivering defense information to aid foreign governments is punishable by death. Allows the death penalty to be imposed for the murder of foreign officials and for an offense of kidnapping resulting in the death of any person. Eliminates the death penalty for the crime of rape. Authorizes the death penalty for the crime of attempting to kill the President of the United States if the attempt results in bodily injury to the President or otherwise comes dangerously close to causing his death. Establishes procedures for appeal from a death sentence. Requires the Court of Appeals, upon considering the record and the information and procedures of the sentencing hearing, to affirm the decision if: (1) the sentence was not imposed under influence of passion, prejudice, or arbitrariness; and (2) the information supports the finding of aggravating factors or the absence of mitigating factors. Requires the court to provide a written explanation of its determination. Increases the minimum sentence for carrying a firearm during the commission of a felony from two to five years. Provides that a person convicted of carrying a firearm during a commission of a felony shall not be eligible for parole.
United States · United States Congress · 13 July 1982
Disapproves the President's recommendation to extend the President's authority to waive the freedom of emigration requirements under the Trade Act of 1974 in order to extend the most-favored nation status of Romania.
United States · United States Congress · 24 June 1982
Educational Opportunity and Equity Act of 1982 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow an income tax credit in an amount equal to 50 percent of the tuition paid to an elementary or secondary educational institution for any dependents who have not attained the age of 20. Limits such credit to: (1) $100 in 1983 (2) $300 in 1984; and, (3) $500 in 1985 and thereafter. Reduces such limit by specified percentages of the amount by which the adjusted gross income of the taxpayer exceeds $50,000 ($25,000 in the case of a married individual filing a separate return). Reduces such limits by any amounts paid to the taxpayer or his dependents as scholarships or other financial assistance. Disallows such credit for tuition paid to schools found to maintain racially discriminatory policies. Requires all educational institutions which receive tuition payments for which such credit is taken to file with the Secretary of Treasury a statement, subject to the penalties for perjury, declaring that the institution does not follow a racially discriminatory policy. Requires a taxpayer claiming such credit to attach a copy of such statement to the income tax return. Authorizes the Attorney General, upon the filing of a petition alleging racial discrimination, to bring an action for declaratory judgment against an educational institution to determine whether the institution has followed a racially discriminatory policy.
United States · United States Congress · 23 June 1982
Authorizes the erection of a memorial on public grounds in the District of Columbia, or its environs, in honor and commemoration of members of the armed forces who served in the Korean war. Directs the Secretary of the Interior to select, with the approval of the National Commisson of Fine Arts and the National Capital Planning Commission, a suitable site on public grounds for such memorial. Subjects the design and any plans for the memorial to the approval of the Secretary, the National Commission of Fine Arts, and the National Capital Planning Commission. Declares that no moneys belonging to the United States or the District of Columbia shall be expended for the erection of such memorial.
United States · United States Congress · 22 June 1982
Expresses the sense of Congress that legislation should be proposed and enacted to: (1) establish parity between the compensation of Government Printing Office (GPO) employees and the compensation of other Federal employees performing similar work; (2) fix the wages of GPO employees in accordance with the prevailing wage rate system applicable to executive branch employees; and (3) strengthen the Public Printer's ability to manage without infringing on the oversight responsibilities of the Joint Committee on Printing.
United States · United States Congress · 10 June 1982
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow individuals to designate one dollar of their income tax liability to be used for the purpose of reducing the public debt of the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 25 May 1982
Amends the Food Stamp Act of 1977 to revise employment requirements for any person making application for food stamp benefits based upon such person's recent history of employment or receipt of State unemployment compensation. Exempts from such requirements: (1) persons under 18 or over 59 years of age; (2) persons certified as physically or mentally unfit for employment by a physician; (3) an unmarried parent or other household member responsible for the care of a child under 6 years of age or incapacitated person; or (4) a married parent or other caretaker of a child under 6 years of age in a household in which the other parent is otherwise exempt from employment requirements.
United States · United States Congress · 25 May 1982
Constitutional Amendment - Declares that nothing in the Constitution shall be construed to prohibit prayer in public schools or institutions. States that no person shall be required by the United States or any State to participate in prayer.
United States · United States Congress · 25 May 1982
Establishes in the House of Representatives the Ad Hoc Committee on Entitlements to conduct a full investigation of factors contributing to, and methods to restrain, costs of entitlement programs. Requires the committee to report its findings as soon as practicable during the current Congress.
United States · United States Congress · 21 May 1982
Professional Sports Stabilization Act of 1982 - Declares that it shall not be unlawful under any antitrust law for a professional sports league and its member clubs to enforce rules: (1) requiring approval by the league membership for the relocation of a member club; or (2) providing for the division of league or member club revenues that promote comparable economic opportunities for member clubs. Prohibits State and local governments from imposing limitations on the collective conduct of sports leagues or member teams authorized by this Act. Specifies the applicability of this Act to actions commenced under the antitrust laws before its enactment.
United States · United States Congress · 19 May 1982
Prohibits the payment of an annuity under the civil service retirement system to a Member of Congress or to his or her survivor or beneficiary if such Member is convicted of a felony. Provides for the refund of contributions and deposits made to the civil service retirement system or the armed forces survivor benefit plan for the period after the conviction. Restores the right of an individual to an annuity denied because the individual was convicted of a State felony, if such individual is pardoned by the State's governor.
United States · United States Congress · 11 May 1982
Authorizes the Administrator of Veterans' Affairs to provide that: (1) nurses employed at a Veterans Administration facility who work two regularly scheduled 12-hour tours of duty within a weekend shall be considered to have worked a full workweek and be paid as specified; or (2) such nurses who work on a tour of duty any part of which falls on a weekend may be paid additional pay (not to exceed 25 percent of the hourly rate). Extends from September 30, 1982, to September 30, 1983, the authority of the Administrator to contract for hospital care or medical services in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands without reference to patient loads or incidence of provision of medical services for veterans treated by the Veterans' Administration in the contiguous 48 States.
United States · United States Congress · 11 May 1982
Amends the Bankruptcy Code to provide that educational loans which are not dischargeable in bankruptcy liquidation shall not be dischargeable in an adjustment of debts in a bankruptcy of an individual with regular income.
United States · United States Congress · 11 May 1982
Flat Rate Tax Act of 1982 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to repeal the income tax tables. Provides for an income tax rate of ten percent for all individuals, estates, and trusts for gross income over $10,000. Repeals all special tax deductions, credits, and exclusions from income for individuals.
United States · United States Congress · 11 May 1982
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide for the collection of defaulted Federal student loans by offset against income tax refunds of those individuals found to be in default on such loans. Defines "Federal student loan" for purposes of this Act. Sets forth special rules with respect to joint returns and fiscal year taxpayers. Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to: (1) notify the Secretary of Education of the amounts collected with respect to any loan to any individual; and (2) transfer such amounts to the Secretary of Education as is necessary to reimburse the entity or fund to which such loan is repayable. Requires that such notification and transfer be made not less often than monthly.