United States · United States Congress · 18 March 1975
National Welfare Reform Act - Stipulates that no family shall be eligible for the aid to families with dependent children program (AFDC) under the Social Security Act if its total income, without regard to exclusions, exceeds 150 percent of the family's needs. Provides that the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare shall provide the full cost of AFDC services to needy families who are not U.S. citizens and are lawfully present in the United States. States that unemployed individuals shall be ineligible for AFDC services for specified periods of time if such individual is determined to have, without good cause, refused an offering of bona fide employment or refused to participate under a work incentive program. Provides procedures for the determination of good cause. States that no sanctions will be applied for a ten day period after failure without good cause has been established, if the individual participates in counseling services. Sets forth procedures governing adjustment of AFDC grant overpayments. Prohibits AFDC grant payments where the caretaker relative is unemployed due to participation in a strike or because he has voluntarily terminated his employment. Defines "income" for purposes of this Act. Authorizes the Secretary to pay directly to any State up to 75 percent of the costs of investigating and prosecuting complaints of fraud under AFDC program. Requires that recipients of aid be issued a detailed identification card specifying the programs for which the recipient is eligible. Provides that any person who resides in the same household of an eligible family, but is not himself eligible for aid, shall be required to make a contribution to the State in an amount equal to the amount of the standard payment for single person household under the State's plan.
United States · United States Congress · 18 March 1975
Excludes from coverage under the Food Stamp Act households whose principal wage earner is on strike due to a labor dispute. States that this provision is inapplicable to households which were eligible for and participating in the food stamp program prior to the start of the strike.
United States · United States Congress · 18 March 1975
Creates a select committee in the House of Representatives with authority to conduct a full and complete investigation of the problem of United States servicemen missing in action or known to be dead whose bodies have not been recovered, as a result of military operations in North Vietnam, South Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. Provides that such investigation shall include an examination of the need for additional international inspection teams to determine whether there are servicemen still held as prisoner of war. Authorizes the Committee to hold hearings, issue subpenas, and maintain a staff as necessary to carry out its responsibilities under this resolution. Directs the committee to report to the House the results of its investigation no later than one year after adoption of this resolution. Provides that the committee's authority shall expire 30 days after the filing of such report. Directs that the expenses of the select committee shall be paid from the contingent fund of the House of Representatives upon vouchers signed by the Chairman.
United States · United States Congress · 14 March 1975
Establishes a select committee of the House of Representatives to conduct an investigation and study of the fate of the missing in action and prisoners of war in Vietnam and to make recommendations to the President and Congress of means to obtain an honorable resolution as soon as possible of the missing in action and prisoners of war problem. Provides the committee with the power to hold hearings and issue subpenas to carry out its responsibilities.
United States · United States Congress · 13 March 1975
Requires, under the Gun Control Act of 1968, that whoever during the commission of any robbery, assault, rape, burglary, kidnaping, or homicide (other than involuntary manslaughter), use any firearm which has been transported in interstate and foreign commerce shall be imprisoned (1) in the case of his first offense, for not less than ten years; and (2) in the case of his second or subsequent offense, for not less than twenty-five years. Stipulates that the execution or imposition of any term of imprisonment imposed under this Act (1) may not be suspended; probation may not be granted; and (3) may not run concurrently with any term of imprisonment imposed for the commission of any such offense.
United States · United States Congress · 12 March 1975
Provides, under the Public Health Service Act, that medical facilities may be reimbursed by the Federal Government for emergency medical treatment given aliens unlawfully in the United States if such aliens are unable to pay the cost of such treatment or can pay only a part of the cost and the aliens or medical facilities which provided such treatment are not eligible under any public assistance program for payment of or reimbursement of such cost. Requires that an application for reimbursement be submitted to the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare. Sets forth criteria for determining whether such an application shall be approved.
United States · United States Congress · 12 March 1975
Provides for a sentence of not less than five nor more than fifteen years for the commission of a felony with a firearm in addition to the sentence imposed for the commission of the felony. Provides for an additional sentence of from ten to thirty years for the commission of any subsequent felony with a firearm.
United States · United States Congress · 12 March 1975
Provides that the total contribution of the United States to the United Nations for any calendar year after 1975 shall not exceed an amount which bears the same ratio to the United Nations budget as the total population of the United States bears to the total population of the United Nations member states.
United States · United States Congress · 6 March 1975
Repeals the provisions of the Flood Disaster Protection Act of 1973 which makes 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 · 6 March 1975
Family Farm Inheritance Act - States that for purposes of the estate tax under the Internal Revenue Code the value of the taxable estate shall be determined by deducting the lesser of: (1) $200,000; or (2) the value of the decedent's interest in a family farming operation continuously owned by him or his spouse for five years prior to his death and which passes to a related individual. Disqualifies the individual to whom the estate passes from the tax benefit authorized by this Act if such individual, within five years after the decedent's death, sells or removes the family farming operation.
United States · United States Congress · 4 March 1975
Establishes a national historic park on the Island of Guam to commemorate the bravery of those participating in the campaigns of the Pacific theater in World War II. Authorizes the appropriation of such sums as are necessary to carry out the provisions of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 4 March 1975
Prohibits, except as provided in this Act, the inspection of tax returns and the disclosure of information contained in such returns. Authorizes the inspection of returns by or disclosure to (1) the taxpayer or his representative; (2) employees of the Internal Revenue Service and Department of Justice solely for purposes of enforcement of the tax laws; (3) State agencies charged with administration of the tax laws only for that purpose; (4) the President of the United States in the performance of his official duties; and (5) the Joint Committee on Internal Revenue Taxation for statistical purposes only. Increases the criminal penalties for unauthorized disclosure or receipt of information under this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 4 March 1975
National Commission on Epilepsy and Its Consequences Act - Directs the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare to appoint a National Commission to determine the most effective means of finding the cause and cures and treatments for epilepsy. Directs that such Commission shall develop a national plan for the control of epilepsy and its consequences. Provides for the membership of such Commission. Sets forth the duties of such Commission. Requires that it shall be a duty of the Commission to develop a comprehensive national plan for the control of epilepsy and its consequences based on the most thorough, complete, and accurate data available on the disorder. Requires the Commission to make recommendations concerning the proper roles of the Federal and State governments, and the national and local public and private agencies in research, prevention, identification and rehabilitation of persons with epilepsy. Requires the transmittal to the President and to the Congress of a final report under this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 4 March 1975
Repeals, under the Social Security Act, the provisions for the establishment of Professional Standards Review Organizations to review services covered under the medicare and medicaid programs.
United States · United States Congress · 4 March 1975
Provides that the total contribution of the United States to the United Nations for any calendar year after 1975 shall not exceed an amount which bears the same ratio to the United Nations budget as the total population of the United States bears to the total population of the United Nations member states.
United States · United States Congress · 4 March 1975
States that the purpose of this Act is to eliminate the obstructions to the free flow of commerce in wine among the several States resulting from acts of the States which impose discriminatory and unreasonable burdens upon such commerce. Prohibits any State which permits a State with respect to any wine into that State from imposing, with respect to any wine produced outside the State, or from materials originating outside the State, any tax, regulation, prohibition, or requirement which is not equally applicable with respect to wine of the same class (1) produced in, or from materials originating in, the State imposing such tax, regulation, prohibition, or requirement, or (2) produced outside the State, or produced from products produced outside the State. Stipulates that a State which permits the sale of wine within the State shall permit the transportation or importation of wine of the same class produced outside the State, or from materials originating outside the State, into such State for sale therein upon terms and conditions equally applicable of all wine of the same class sold in the State. Declares that notwithstanding the provisions of this Act, each State retains the right: (1) to engage in the purchase, sale, or distribution of wine; and (2) to exercise discretion in the selection and listing of wine to be purchased or sold by each such State.
United States · United States Congress · 4 March 1975
Title I: Amendments to the Immigration and Nationality Act - Sets minimum penalties of not less than a $1,000 fine, or imprisonment for a term of not less than three years, or both, for persons convicted of bringing in and harboring specified aliens. Sets minimum dollar amounts for penalties for illegal entry by aliens. Requires the assignment for hearing and decision at the earliest practicable date of court proceedings relating to the reentry of deported aliens. Title II: Administrative Provisions and Feasibility Studies - Requires the Attorney General to establish a border patrol force of not less than 3,800 border patrol officers, for the purpose of patrolling the land borders of the United States. Directs the Attorney General to conduct a full and complete study on: (1) the feasibility of establishing a system for the issuance of machine-readable cards to aliens entering the United States; and (2) the feasibility of utilizing the most current available technology in electronic sensing devices for use by the border patrol force in patrolling the land borders of the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 4 March 1975
Grants to members of the Armed Forces, for purposes of computing retired pay for members of the Armed Forces, an additional credit of service equal to all periods of time spent by any such members as a prisoner of war.
United States · United States Congress · 4 March 1975
Provides that all military, economic, or other assistance, all sales of defense articles and services, all sales of agricultural commodities, and all licenses with respect to the transportation of arms, ammunition, and the implements of war (including technical data) to the Government of India shall be suspended until India becomes a party to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.
United States · United States Congress · 4 March 1975
Provides for payments to State and local governments in lieu of real property taxes, with respect to real property owned by the Federal Government, wherever three percent or more of the land area is Federal real property. States that no payment shall be made under this Act if the Federal property would yield a negligible amount in real property taxes. Authorizes appropriation of such sums as are necessary to make the payments provided for by this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 4 March 1975
Provides that future social security benefit increases shall be disregarded in determining eligiblity for admission to or occupancy of low- rent public housing, the rent which an individual or family must pay for such housing or eligibility for mortgage insurance, assistance payments, or rent supplement payments, notwithstanding any other provision of law.
United States · United States Congress · 4 March 1975
Social Security Act Amendments - Removes the limitation upon the amount of outside income which an individual may earn while receiving benefits under title II (Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act.
United States · United States Congress · 4 March 1975
Makes it unlawful, under the Interstate Commerce Act, for any railroad to refuse to transport any refrigerator car because of the fact that such car is owned or controlled by a shipper or nonrailroad owner. Makes it the duty of every carrier by railroad to handle all refrigerator equipment in the same manner and subject to the same rules and regulations, regardless of whether such equipment is owned or controlled by railroad or nonrailroad interests.
United States · United States Congress · 4 March 1975
Transfers all functions of the Secretary of Agriculture under the Food Stamp Act of 1964 to the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare. Requires such transfer to be implemented in accordance with such procedures and regulations as the Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall prescribe.
United States · United States Congress · 4 March 1975
Declares it to be the sense of the House of Representatives that: (1) the Government of the United States should maintain and protect its sovereign rights and jurisdiction over the canal and zone, and should in no way cede, dilute, forfeit, negotiate, or transfer any of these sovereign rights, power, authority, jurisdiction, territory, or property that are indispensably necessary for the protection and security of the United States and the entire Western Hemisphere; (2) that there be no relinquishment or surrender of any presently vested United States sovereign right, power, or authority or property, tangible or intangible, except by treaty authorized by the Congress and duly ratified by the United States; and (3) that there be no recession to Panama, or other divestiture of any United States-owned property, tangible or intangible, without prior authorization by the Congress (House and Senate), as provided in article IV, section 3, clause 2 of the United States Constitution.
United States · United States Congress · 27 February 1975
Designates the Veterans' Administration hospital in Loma Linda, California, as the "Jerry L. Pettis Memorial Veterans' Hospital. Authorizes the Administrator of Veterans' Affairs to provide a memorial at such hospital in memory of the late Jerry L. Pettis.
United States · United States Congress · 27 February 1975
Creates, as an independent agency in the executive branch, the Federal Zoological and Aquarium Board. States that the Board shall consist of fifteen members to be chosen by the President from specified agencies and associations, the Director of the National Zoological Park, and the Comptroller General of the United States. States that the Board shall establish standards for the national accreditation of zoos and aquariums. Authorizes the Board to provide technical and financial assistance, including loans the aggregate value of which shall not exceed $25,000,000, to aid any zoo or aquarium in complying with such accreditation standards. Authorizes the Board to make grants to any nonprofit zoo or aquarium, agency, or organization for humane research and pilot projects which would serve as models for zoos or aquariums, and for the establishment of survival centers for the breeding, care and perpetuation of endangered species.
United States · United States Congress · 27 February 1975
Provides, under the Internal Revenue Code, that real property which is farmland, woodland, or open land and forms part of an estate may be valued, for estate tax purposes, at its value as farmland, woodland, or open land (rather than at its fair market value). Provides that real property which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places may be valued, for estate tax purposes, at its value for its existing use. Provides for the revocation of such lower evaluation and recapture of unpaid taxes with interest upon the conversion, rezoning, or removal of such land from the National Register of Historic Places.
United States · United States Congress · 25 February 1975
Records Management Act - Requires the establishment of standards and procedures to assure efficient and effective Government records management. States that such standards and procedures shall seek to effectuate the following goals: (1) accurate and complete documentation of the policies and transactions for the Federal Government; (2) control of the quantity and quality of records produced by the Federal Government; (3) simplification of the processes through which records are created, stored, retrieved, and used; (4) the judicious preservation and disposal of records; (5) the establishment and maintenance of a system which focuses continuous attention upon records from their initial creation to their final disposition; (6) the establishment and maintenance of mechanisms of control with respect to records creation, in order to assure the prevention of unnessary records; and (7) the establishment and maintenance of such other systems or techniques as the Administrator considers necessary to carry out the purposes of this Act. Provides that the Administrator shall provide guidance and assistance to Federal agencies with respect to records creation, records maintenance and use, and records disposition. Directs the Administrator of General Services to: (1) conduct inspections or paperwork studies, at regular intervals as determined to be necessary by the Administrator, of the records and records management practices and and programs of every Federal agency; (2) require the head of every Federal agency to transmit a report to the Administrator with respect to the records and records management practices and programs of each such Federal agency during each period of two calendar years; (3) prescribe rules with respect to records management; and (4) order, to the extent he considers necessary, the head of any Federal agency to take specific action with respect to the records or records management practices of his agency. Establishes in the executive branch a Records Review Board to review any order issued by the Administrator under the provisions of this Act upon appeal by any Federal agency. Directs the head of each Federal agency to make and preserve records containing adequate and proper documentation of the organization, functions, policies, decisions, procedures, and essential transactions of the Federal agency and designed to furnish the information necessary to protect the legal and financial rights of the Federal Government and of persons directly affected by the activities of the Federal agency. Requires each agency head to establish safeguards against the removal or loss of records he determines to be necessary and required by the rules of the Administrator.
United States · United States Congress · 25 February 1975
Provides that any individual who is eighteen years of age or older and who is receiving half of his income from any member of another household which, because of its income and other financial resources, is not eligible to receive food stamps shall not be considered as a member of household for purposes of the Food Stamp Act.
United States · United States Congress · 25 February 1975
Provides that the Administrator of the Small Business Administration may render onsite consultation and advice to small business employers who request such assistance in writing to assist such employers in providing safe and healthful working conditions for their employees. Provides that the Administration may issue recommendations and/or written notice with respect to hazards and/or serious violations under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, but no citation or civil penalty shall follow directly from such onsite consultation and advice.
United States · United States Congress · 21 February 1975
Antitrust Law Labor Amendments - Removes statutory limitations upon the application of the Sherman Act to labor organizations and their activities. States that every contract or agreement between any labor organization and any employer whereby such employer undertakes to cease or to refrain from using, selling, handling, transporting, or otherwise dealing in any of the products of any producer, processor, or manufacturer which are distributed in trade or commerce among the several States, or with foreign nations, is declared illegal. Provides that every person who enters into, attempts to enter into, or conspires with any other person to enter into any such contract or agreement shall be punished by a fine not exceeding $1,000,000 or by imprisonment not exceeding three years, or both.
United States · United States Congress · 20 February 1975
Prohibits any change in the status of any member of the uniformed services who is in a missing status as a result of service in Southeast Asia, until the provisions of the Paris Peace Accord of January 27, 1973, have been fully complied with by North Vietnam or the President has determined and reported to Congress that all reasonable actions have been taken to account for such members.
United States · United States Congress · 20 February 1975
Exempts .22 caliber ammunition from the recordkeeping requirements imposed on the specified types of firearms and firearm components under the Internal Revenue Code.
United States · United States Congress · 20 February 1975
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that the President and the Secretary of the State should take the necessary steps, including the renewal of negotiations between the parties, signatory to the Paris agreement and the agreement with the Lao Patriotic Front, to finally determine the fate of all United States servicemen and civilians missing in Southeast Asia. Directs the Speaker of the House of Representatives to transmit a copy of this resolution to the President who is requested to report to the House in 90 days on steps taken to implement this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 19 February 1975
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 · 19 February 1975
National Voluntary Medical and Hospital Services Act - Creates the National Voluntary Medical and Hospital Services Insurance Agency to operate a National Voluntary Medical and Hospital Services Insurance Plan with funds supplied by voluntary subscriptions and matching United States Treasury funds, to pay all reasonable costs of all medically necessary and appropriate medical and hospital services for all voluntary enrollees. Provides that this Act shall become operative within two years of its enactment, and that Congress shall appropriate $50,000,000 for the first calendar year after this Act becomes effective. Provides that payment shall be made by the plan to or on behalf of every enrollee for all legal, appropriate, and professionally recognized and medically necessary service provided as a personal professional service by or under the direct supervision of a licensed medical doctor, whenever performed. Specifies services excluded from benefits of the plan. Provides for premium payments in the amount of fifteen dollars per month for each adult and one-half of the amount for each child. Provides that subscribers with a total earned and unearned family income of less than $9,969 per year shall be entitled to have their premiums calculated at 1.8 percent of such income for each adult enrollee, and at half that amount for each child enrollee. Provides that not more than 3 percent of all premiums received shall be used for the payment of costs of the plan other than benefits. States that the Agency shall affix a fee to every professionally recognized diagnostic and therapeutic medical service procedure or treatment and laboratory pathological test and procedure that is proportionate to the customary and reasonable fee for such service in each general area of the United States. Enumerates, with respect to claims for the benefits of this plan, the form of, items of information to be contained in, and procedures for auditing, assessment, and payment of, such claims. States that the Agency shall have the right to temporarily or permanently exclude any enrollee or provider of services found to have made any false claim for payment for services. Provides for the arbitration of claims for damages resulting from the alleged malpractice in the provision of any service that is a benefit of the plan. Estimates that this Act would provide total medical and hospital care for all Americans at substantially less cost than present public expenditures for these services, for a limited segment of the population only. Estimates a maximum anticipated enrollment in Plan during fourth and subsequent years of two hundred million, at average monthly premiums of $9 per capita ($108 per year) or a total of less than $22,000,000,000 per year requiring matching United States Treasury general funds. Estimates the cost of medical benefits of Plan under assumed maximum ulization by two hundred million enrollees and two hundred and twenty-five thousand providers to be approximately $15,000,000,000 per year, or an average of approximately $65,000 per doctor, per year.
United States · United States Congress · 19 February 1975
Directs the officers of the House of Representatives to conduct seminars for freshmen Members of Congress. Provides for the curriculum and expense reimbursement for such seminars. Authorizes to be appropriated such sums as necessary to carry out this Act. Authorizes each freshman member to employ an interim staff between election and the next regular session of Congress. Authorizes expenditures for stationary during such period. Authorizes to be appropriated such sums as necessary for such purposes.
United States · United States Congress · 19 February 1975
Provides that excess annual leave lost by a Federal employee because of an unjustified or unwarranted personnel action shall be restored to such enployee in the same manner as if lost because of administrative error. (Amends 5 U.S.C. 5596)
United States · United States Congress · 19 February 1975
Declares it to be the sense of the House of Representatives that: (1) the Government of the United States should maintain and protect its sovereign rights and jurisdiction over the canal and zone, and should in no way cede, dilute, forfeit, negotiate, or transfer any of these sovereign rights, power, authority, jurisdiction, territory, or property that are indispensably necessary for the protection and security of the United States and the entire Western Hemisphere; (2) that there be no relinquishment or surrender of any presently vested United States sovereign right, power, or authority or property, tangible or intangible, except by treaty authorized by the Congress and duly ratified by the United States; and (3) that there be no recession to Panama, or other divestiture of any United States-owned property, tangible or intangible, without prior authorization by the Congress (House and Senate), as provided in article IV, section 3, clause 2 of the United States Constitution.
United States · United States Congress · 18 February 1975
Hobbs Act Amendment - Provides that anyone who interferes with commerce by damaging to the extent of $2,000 or more any property of a person where business is conducted or property is maintained shall be fined not more than $10,000 or imprisoned not more than twenty years or both. Defines the term "extortion" to mean the obtaining of property from another, with his consent, induced by use of actual or threatened force, violence, or fear, or under color of official right notwithstanding that the same acts or conduct may also be a violation of State or local law and notwithstanding that the actual or threatened force, violence, or fear was used in the course of a legitimate labor dispute or in the pursuit of legitimate union or labor ends or objectives. (Amends 18 U.S.C. 1951)
![Official portrait of Rep. Ketchum, William M. [R-CA-18]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/k000153_200.jpg)