United States · United States Congress · 27 January 1976
Prohibits the inspection, acquisition, or requisition by officers, employees, agents or departments of the United States of the medical or dental records of patients not receiving assistance from the Federal Government. Imposes penalties for violation of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 22 January 1976
Imposes a fine of not more than $10,000 and/or imprisonment of not more than ten years for disclosure of (1) the association of any individual or entity with the foreign intelligence operation of the United States, or (2) the identity of such individual where such disclosure may prejudice the safety of such individual.
United States · United States Congress · 19 January 1976
Amends the Supplemental Appropriations Act of 1974 to make individuals attending or teaching at vocational schools eligible to serve as congressional interns in the House of Representatives. Defines "vocational school" as a business or trade school in any State which admits only individuals who have completed or left elementary or secondary school, and is legally authorized to provide a program of postsecondary vocational or technical education.
United States · United States Congress · 19 January 1976
Expresses the sense of Congress that vocational education should be treated equally with other forms of education by the Congress, and executive agencies administering educational and Veterans' programs.
United States · United States Congress · 19 December 1975
Allows an income tax deduction under the Internal Revenue Code for social security taxes paid by employees and the self-employed, and retirement taxes paid by railroad employees and railroad employee representatives.
United States · United States Congress · 19 December 1975
Voting Rights Act Repealer Amendments Act - Repeals titles II and III of Public Law 94-73, an act to amend the voting Rights Act of 1965. Ends the extension (through title III of Pub. Law 94-73) of the Voting Rights Act to jurisdictions where more than five percent of the citizens of voting age in the jurisdiction are of a single language minority. Ends the requirement (imposed by title II of Pub. Law 94-73) that such jurisdiction provide registration and voting materials to minority groups in the language of such group.
United States · United States Congress · 18 December 1975
Title I: Emergency Natural Gas Authority - Natural Gas Emergency Standby Act - Declares the finding of the Congress that the Nation will suffer severe shortages of natural gas during the heating season from November 1975 through March 1976. Grants the Federal Power Commission authority to allow natural gas companies which transport natural gas in interstate commerce with inadequate quantities of natural gas to meet the requirements of their high priority consumers of natural gas, to purchase natural gas from sources not in interstate commerce and from other such companies on an emergency basis free from specified requirements of the Natural Gas Act. Grants the Federal Energy Administration the authority to prohibit the use of natural gas as boiler fuel. Grants the President the standby authority to allocate propane gas during periods of actual or threatened severe shortages of natural gas. Authorizes civil penalties of not more than $2,500 for each violation or violations of orders or regulations issued by the President under such standby authority. Provides that this title shall expire on midnight April 4, 1976. Title II: Natural Gas Act Amendments - Provides for the termination of the regulation by the Federal Power Commission of the sale of new natural gas to natural gas companies for resale in interstate commerce pursuant to the Natural Gas Act. Directs the Commission to conduct studies of the production, gathering, shortage, distribution, and sale of natural, artificial, or synthetic gas throughout the United States and its possessions. Requires the Commission to secure and keep information regarding the ownership, management, and control of all facilities for production and distribution of such gas. Requires a report by the Commission to the President and the Congress. Directs the Commission to establish a national ceiling for rates and charges for the sale or transfer in interstate commerce by any person of new natural gas produced from offshore Federal lands on or after January 1, 1975, through December 31, 1980.
United States · United States Congress · 18 December 1975
States that it is the policy of the United States to rely upon private commercial sources for goods and services required to meet Government needs, unless: (1) such reliance would demonstrably disrupt or significantly delay an urgent agency program; or (2) in-house performance is mandatory for national security; or (3) the product or service is not and cannot be made available from the private sector and is available from a Federal source.
United States · United States Congress · 15 December 1975
Truth in Budgeting Act - Provides for full congressional review of all Federal programs every 2 years by the appropriate standing committees of the House and Senate. Provides that each comprehensive review conducted by a committee with respect to a Federal program under this Act shall include a detailed consideration of the past experience under the program and a projection of the expected future experience of the program, a consideration of alternate ways of carrying out the activities involved and alternative funding levels for such activities, an evaluation of each such alternative in terms of its probable costs and benefits, a comparison of each such alternative with other programs and activities in the same or related fields, and an evaluation of the overall success or failure of the program. Details the method to be used to review such programs by the standing committee. Provides that no funds in excess of the appropriations for the previous year may be authorized for a program that has not been subject to review during the calendar year.
United States · United States Congress · 10 December 1975
Occupational Safety and Health Reform Act - Makes it the purpose of this Act to improve the administration of the Occupational Safety and Health Act and to provide for regulatory procedures related to such administration. States that the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare shall not propose any rule promulgating a new occupational health or safety standard before he: (1) has, as part of each such proposal, reviewed and published in the Federal Register the financial impact of such proposed standard; and (2) has determined with due regard for that impact that the benefit to be derived from such standard justifies such proposal. Provides that no standard adopted or promulgated shall require any employer to phase out, change, or replace existing equipment or facilities before the normal useful life of that equipment or facility has expired unless failure to so phase out, change, or replace that equipment or facility prematurely would result in a serious violation. Directs the Secretary to prescribe, as soon as practicable after the date of enactment of this Act, as part of each existing standard adopted under the Occupational Safety and Health Act: (1) the estimated average and maximum cost per unit to the average employer who is subject to that standard for compliance with the conditions, practices, means, methods, operation, or process used or proposed to be used by that employer under that standard; and (2) the period within which it is, in fact, possible for such employers to meet such standard including, but not limited to, availability of required devices, and possibility of performance of required procedures. Sets forth requirements with respect to notifying an employer of violations of the requirements prescribed pursuant to this Act. States that any employer who has been found to be not in compliance with any rule or standard adopted or promulgated under this Act shall not receive a notice for such violation if he is able to show: (1) that implementing such rule or standard would not materially affect the safety or health of his employees in the facility inspected; (2) that he has employed alternative procedures to protect his employees from the hazards contemplated by the rule or standard which are as effective in protecting the safety and health of his employees; or (3) that he has furnished adequate notice and exerted all reasonable efforts, pursuant to such regulations as the Secretary may prescribe, to obtain the compliance of his employee, that such violation was attributable to such employees, and that he could not otherwise have reasonably prevented such violation. Sets forth procedures for enforcement of these regulations. Authorizes the Secretary to enter into compliance agreements with an employer believed to be in violation of an occupational safety and health standard promulgated pursuant to such Act under which enforcement and penalty provisions are waived or deferred upon condition that the employer will voluntarily comply with the applicable standard upon such terms and conditions as the Secretary determines appropriate under the circumstances. States that failure of an employer to abide by such an agreement may be taken into account in resulting enforcement and penalty procedures. Directs the Secretary to provide technical advice, assistance, and consultation to employers with less than 100 employees whenever it is necessary to assist them in complying with applicable standards.
United States · United States Congress · 8 December 1975
Regulatory Reform Act - Provides that before any rule promulgated by any Federal agency can become effective, it must be submitted to the Congress for approval. Requires that an economic impact statement accompany such submission. Authorizes agencies to make rules which impose a penalty upon an employer of an employee who violates any rule or regulation in effect against such employer. States that no agency may require an applicant or a party to an agency proceeding to provide such agency with information or documents which have been previously furnished to such agency or which are not directly relevant to such application or proceeding. Entitles the applicant for any license to reimbursement by such agency for the complete costs of such party's application if such agency has not made a final determination in the licensing proceeding within six months of the date of announcement of the intention of any such proceeding.
United States · United States Congress · 4 December 1975
Extends from February 1, 1976, to October 1, 1977, the period during which payment may be made for child day care services under titles IV (Aid to Dependent Children) and XX (Grants to States for Social Services) of the Social Security Act without regard to new staffing standards imposed by or under title XX.
United States · United States Congress · 3 December 1975
Repeals titles I through IX of the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act. States that all laws and all rules of the House of Representatives and the Senate amended by such titles shall read as if the provisions of such titles had not been enacted.
United States · United States Congress · 2 December 1975
Authorizes and requests the President to issue a proclamation designating the seven calendar days commencing on April 30 of each year as "National Beta Sigma Phi Week."
United States · United States Congress · 1 December 1975
Repeals the provisions of the postal law relating to the private carriage of letters. Eliminates criminal penalties for conveying letters and packets on a private express basis. (Repeals 39 U.S.C. 601, 602: 18 U.S.C. 1694 - 1697; Amends 18 U.S.C. 1698 - 1699)
United States · United States Congress · 20 November 1975
Provides for the suspension of United States participation in the activities of the United Nations General Assembly until the Congress, by concurrent resolution, approves renewal of such participation. Directs the President to reduce United States payments in support of the United Nations by the amount he determines would be used to support the General Assembly.
United States · United States Congress · 20 November 1975
Truth in Government Accounting Act - Requires that the United States Government prepare and make public annual consolidated financial statements utilizing the accrual method of accounting.
United States · United States Congress · 20 November 1975
Stipulates that as of October 1, 1976, no appropriation is authorized and no payment shall be made to the United Nations in excess of the amount arrived at by the division of the total assessment of such organization by the number of its member states which make up the United Nations General Assembly.
United States · United States Congress · 20 November 1975
Designates the week beginning April 4, 1976, as "National Rural Health Week." Urges that efforts in disseminating health information be intensified. Calls for improved health services for rural America.
United States · United States Congress · 20 November 1975
Provides that Members of the House of Representatives may hire for not more than six months in any fiscal year one Vietnam veteran as a Vietnam veteran congressional intern. Makes available $3,000 a year to each Member to be paid to such intern at a rate not to exceed $500 a month.
United States · United States Congress · 14 November 1975
Designates 1976 as "National Bicentennial Highway Safety Year." Provides that each month of 1976 shall focus on a specific area of activity which offers the prospect of achieving substantial reductions in accidents on the Nation's highways.
United States · United States Congress · 12 November 1975
Guarantees to every resident of any long-term care facility receiving Federal assistance, or providing care to federally assisted patients, a fair administrative hearing prior to his or her removal from such facility. Directs the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare to prescribe regulations as may be necessary or appropriate to carry out the purposes of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 11 November 1975
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that the President should, upon visiting the People's Republic of China, request that the Chinese officials use their good offices to obtain an accounting of members of the United States Armed Forces missing in action and confined as prisoners of war in Southeast Asia and of all American civilian personnel who are listed as missing in Southeast Asia. Requests that upon his return to the United States, the President should report back to the Congress on the results of his request.
United States · United States Congress · 6 November 1975
Establishes a select committee in the House of Representatives to conduct an investigation of the circumstances surrounding the death of John F. Kennedy. Directs the committee to report to the House as soon as practicable during the present Congress the results of its investigation, together with such recommendation as it deems advisable.
United States · United States Congress · 5 November 1975
Requires, under the Congressional Budget Act, that the first congressional budget resolution each year fix ceilings on budget outlays and new budget authority which must be met for the coming fiscal year (instead of only setting forth flexible targets as under present law) and include three-year budget projections. Prohibits the consideration of any measure in the House or Senate if its enactment would result in total budget outlays or total budget authority in excess of the ceiling in effect under the most recently adopted congressional budget resolution.
United States · United States Congress · 4 November 1975
Increases the amount of money paid to States and counties for forest services and watershed protection from 25 percent of the cost of State programs to 75 percent.
United States · United States Congress · 31 October 1975
Condemns the resolution adopted by the Third Committee of the United Nations General Assembly which equates Zionism with racism, and urges the U.N. General Assembly to disapprove such resolution.
United States · United States Congress · 23 October 1975
Provides that in civil actions where the United States is a plaintiff, a prevailing defendant may recover a reasonable attorney's fee and other reasonable litigation costs, whether or not other costs are awarded or awardable against the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 20 October 1975
Administrative Rulemaking Control Act - States that it is the purpose of this Act to establish a procedure whereby Congress may review certain rulemaking activities of executive agencies, thereby exercising greater control and oversight over the operations of such agencies. Provides that an administrative rule, the violation of which subjects an individual to a criminal penalty, shall take effect only: (1) if published in the Federal Register; (2) after the expiration of 30 days of continuous session of Congress after the date on which the rule was published; and (3) if neither House of Congress passes a resolution disfavoring such a rule. Sets forth procedures governing the consideration of such rules by the Congress.
United States · United States Congress · 9 October 1975
States that the liability of a broker who sells any agricultural commodity on behalf of his principal when that commodity serves as security for any loan made, insured, or guaranteed under a program administered by the Farmers Home Administration shall be limited to the extent of any commission received by the broker as a result of the sale.
United States · United States Congress · 9 October 1975
Authorizes the President to issue a proclamation designating the week in November which includes Thanksgiving Day in each year as "National Family Week."
United States · United States Congress · 8 October 1975
Permanent Tax Reduction Act - Stipulates that no provision of this Act shall take effect unless Congress passes a concurrent resolution providing for a fiscal year budget limitation of $395,000,000,000. Title I: Permanent Reductions in Individual Income Taxes - Increases the personal income tax exemption to $1000 under the Internal Revenue Code. Authorizes a standard deduction of $2,500 for married couples filing a joint return, $1,800 for an unmarried individual, and $1,250 in the case of a married individual filing a separte return. Provides for a permanent reduction in the amount of income tax imposed on married individuals, heads of households, and unmarried individuals. Revises the optional tax tables to include increases in the low-income allowance and permanent reductions in individual income taxes. Title II: Permanent Reductions in Corporate Income Taxes - Provides for a reduction in the corporate tax rates, corporate surtax, and surtax exemption. Title III: Permanent Increase in Investment Credit - Makes permanent the increase in the investment credit under the Internal Revenue Code. Title IV: Incentives for the Expansion of Electric Power Facilities - Increases to 12 percent the investment credit for property used predominantly in the trade or business of furnishing electrical energy (other than property using petroleum or natural gas as its principal fuel.) Eliminates the phase-in of qualified progress expenditure credits for specified electric utility property. Extends until January 1, 1981, the period in which pollution control facilities may qualify for the five year amortization deduction. Authorizes a 5 year amortization deduction for certified fuel conversion electric power generating facilites. Permits taxpayers meeting specified requirements set forth in the Electric Power Facility Construction Incentive Act to depreciate qualified progress expenditures for electric utility property. Sets forth limitations governing such deduction. Exempts dividend reinvestments in the common stock of public electric utilities from taxation. Provides special tax rules for dispositions of utility stocks.
United States · United States Congress · 8 October 1975
Requires, under the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1970, that committee reports on proposed legislation in either House of Congress must contain statements of the reporting and recordkeeping requirements which will be imposed on private business as a result of the enactment of such proposed legislation.
United States · United States Congress · 7 October 1975
Expresses the sense of Congress that the United States Government while engaged in a lessening of tensions with the People's Republic of China, do nothing to compromise continued close relations with the Republic of China.
United States · United States Congress · 6 October 1975
Small Business Investment Company Tax Act - Exempts small business investment companies from the passive investment income test as a condition of eligibility to elect not to be taxed as a corporation under the Internal Revenue Code. Provides a tax deduction for investments made by small business investment companies in small business concerns. Allows small business investment companies to be shareholders in subchapter "S" corporations (corporations electing to be taxed as partnerships). Authorizes small business investment companies to add to their bad debt reserves at the close of a taxable year an amount sufficient to increase the reserve to 10 percent of the loans outstanding. Provides a deduction for dividends paid on preferred stock to small business investment companies.
United States · United States Congress · 3 October 1975
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the President and the Secretary of State should bring the issue of the incorporation of the Baltic States into the Soviet Union before the United Nations. Calls upon the Secretary of State to bring the matter of the Baltic States to the attention of all nations through such channels as the United States Information Agency. States that the United States shall not agree to the recognition of the Soviet annexation of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia by any international conference. Provides that the President should require that all government map publishers show Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia as independent states. Calls for the return of self-determination to such nations.
United States · United States Congress · 2 October 1975
Calls upon the United States Employment Service to devote its full resources to provide assistance to the unemployed and the disadvantaged. Provides that legislation establishing the United States Employment Service be amended to eliminate outdated and inhibitory provisions.
United States · United States Congress · 23 September 1975
Provides that property used in, or related to, a taxpayer's business which was acquired at no cost to him shall not be a capital asset for purposes of taxation under the Internal Revenue Code.
United States · United States Congress · 19 September 1975
Revises the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to allocate to the coastal States 37 1/2 percent of all rentals and royalties paid in connection with any lease on the Outer Continental Shelf. Exempts from such requirement funds credited to the Land and Water Conservation Fund. States that the proportion of the total amount set aside which shall be distributed to any coastal State shall bear the same ratio to such total amount as the amount of production sold from deposits adjacent to such coastal State.
United States · United States Congress · 18 September 1975
Prohibits the use of gasoline and diesel fuel for the busing of public school students to schools farther away than the closest public school offering educational courses for the appropriate grade level of the students concerned. Exempts from the provisions of this Act, parents using gasoline or diesel fuel to transport a child to a public school.
United States · United States Congress · 17 September 1975
Form Reform Act - Requires that all forms used by each executive agency shall be discontinued progressively over a five year period. States that no form may be placed in use by any executive agency after the effective date of this Act unless it has been approved by the Comptroller General. States that if the Comptroller General determines that the use of an existing form is necessary and that such form is as short, simple, and understandable as it can be, he shall approve the continued use of such form. Authorizes appropriations of sums necessary to carry out this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 17 September 1975
Exempts, under the Internal Revenue Code, nonprofit volunteer firefighting or rescue organizations from the Federal excise taxes on gasoline, diesel fuel, and special fuels. Exempts such organization from the tax on communication services.
United States · United States Congress · 11 September 1975
Social Security Rights Act - Requires that procedures be established for the expedited replacement of undelivered benefit checks. Requires that decisions (and reconsiderations) on initial benefit claims be made within 90 days. Requires that payment of benefits on approved claims begin no later than the day regularly fixed for delivery of benefits checks in the second month following the month in which the claim was approved.
United States · United States Congress · 9 September 1975
Authorizes the people of the Virgin Islands to organize a government pursuant to a constitution of their own adoption under the provisions of this Act. Authorizes the Legislature of the Virgin Islands to call a constitutional convention to draft a constitution for the people of the Virgin Islands. Requires that such constitution shall include a bill of rights. Provides for eligibility for membership at the convention. Establishes voting procedures for the approval or disapproval of such constitution as may be drafted by the convention. Provides that upon taking effect, a constitution drafted and approved under this Act shall supersede such provisions of the Organic Act of the Virgin Islands as may be inconsistent with such constitution.
United States · United States Congress · 9 September 1975
Authorizes the people of Guam to organize a government pursuant to a constitution of their own adoption under the provisions of this Act. Authorizes the Legislature of Guam to call a constitutional convention to draft a constitution for the people of Guam. Requires that such constitution shall include a bill of rights. Provides for eligibility for membership at the convention. Provides for voting procedures for the approval or disapproval of such constitution as may be drafted by the convention. Provides that upon taking effect, a constitution drafted and approved under this Act shall supersede such provisions of the Organic Act of Guam as may be inconsistent with such constitution.