United States · United States Congress · 29 January 1986
House of Representatives Campaign Finance Reform Act of 1986 - Amends the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to decrease the amount one multicandidate political committee may contribute to any other political committee. Limits to $100,000 ($125,000 where two or more candidates qualify for the ballot) the aggregate amount which all multicandidate political committees may contribute to a candidate for the House of Representatives in a general or special election, including any primary election, convention, or caucus relating to such general or special election. Limits to $25,000 the aggregate amount allowed for multicandidate political committee contributions in a runoff election for the office of Representative. Requires multicandidate political committees which make independent expenditures for advertisements connected with a candidate's campaign to disclose such information within the advertisement. Establishes the method of financing general election campaigns for the House of Representatives. Establishes eligibility criteria entitling candidates to receive campaign payments on a matching basis. Establishes formulae to determine such sums. Limits the expenditure of personal funds to $50,000 per election. Waives spending limits for eligible candidates whose opponents have spent sums exceeding the limit imposed upon such candidates. Requires specified independent expenditures to be reported to the Federal Election Commission and to each candidate within specified time-frames. Requires the Commission to certify the eligibility of candidates to the Secretary of the Treasury, who shall disburse funds to such candidates. Directs the Secretary to establish a separate House of Representatives Election Campaign Account in the Presidential Election Campaign Fund and to deposit certain sums in such account in accordance with specified guidelines. Directs the Commission to audit campaign accounts. Requires repayment of excess payments and unexpended payments. Penalizes the misuse of funds for other than allowed campaign purposes. Authorizes the Commission to institute repayment actions in U.S. district courts. Delineates the administrative authority of the Commission in carrying out this Act. Requires the Commission to make certain reports to the House of Representatives. Authorizes appropriations. States that any extension of credit for advertising on broadcasting stations, in newspapers or magazines, or by direct mail, or for other types of public political advertising shall be considered a contribution, if such credit is: (1) in excess of $1,000; and (2) for a period exceeding 30 days. Limits the expenditures of House candidates to $250,000 plus any additional payments received under this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 23 January 1986
Summer Youth Employment, Training, and Education Act of 1986 - Amends the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) to require the addition of an education component to the summer youth employment and training programs under part B of title II (Training Services for the Disadvantaged) of JTPA. Requires that each service delivery area (SDA) be allotted an amount equal to at least 90 percent of the amount available to such area for the summer youth program in the preceding fiscal year. Requires ratable reductions in the allocation to each SDA if appropriations are not sufficient to provide such amount to each SDA. Requires that allotments to States and allocations to SDAs be: (1) made in accordance with provisions for prompt allocation of funds; and (2) available for planning purposes before the beginning of the summer months for which allotted and allocated. Requires that summer youth program funds be used so that participants spend a portion of their time on individualized, self-paced, remedial and basic academic and functional competency development and achieve specified types of performance standards established and developed in each SDA. Requires that the portion of a participant's time spent on such competency development be in addition to, and not in place of, regular employment under the summer youth program. Prohibits summer youth program funds from being used to provide employment to any individual who fails to comply with attendance standards established by the SDA with respect to such education components. Prohibits summer youth program funds from being used to compensate or reward participants for attendance at such education components, except under specified provisions which require that a portion of matching funds be used to provide bonuses to participants for achievement of academic and functional competence. Specifies that planning for summer youth programs does not have to be conducted during the summer months. Sets forth matching fund requirements for summer youth programs. Requires each private industry council (PIC), for each program year beginning after June 30, 1987, to make available from non-Federal sources an amount for use in such programs equal to at least one and one-half percent of the amount made available under JTPA for such programs in that SDA for the applicable program year. Limits, for any program year beginning after June 30, 1987, such matching amounts to not less than $20,000 and not more than $100,000 per SDA. Requires each PIC to notify the State of the PIC's matching amount by April 1 of the preceding program year. Requires each State, for program years beginning after June 30, 1987, to reserve three percent of its allotment under part A (Adult and Youth Programs) of title II of JTPA for allocation among PICs in proportion to the matching amounts made available by such PICS for such program years. Requires that such matching amounts be used to: (1) support the education and training components of the summer youth programs; (2) provide bonuses to participants for achievement of academic and functional competence; and (3) after complying with (1) and (2), create additional employment opportunities under the summer youth programs. Allows matching amounts to be in cash or in-kind, but requires that in-kind matching amounts be in the form of state-of-the-art basic and remedial education materials and equipment suitable for use for summer youth programs for the applicable program year. Requires each SDA to maintain complete records on the improvements in academic and functional competency attained by participants in the summer youth programs. Requires that such records be compiled by reference to State and locally determined general education diploma and basic education competency requirements. Requires each SDA to submit summaries of such records to the State. Requires States to submit annual reports on such summaries to the Secretary of Labor. Directs the Secretary to include an analysis of such reports in the Secretary's annual report to the Congress on employment and training programs. Provides that a specified portion of the State allotment under JTPA which is currently available for State education programs shall also be available to carry out matching requirements for summer youth programs.
United States · United States Congress · 21 January 1986
Repeals the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act), except for specified provisions concerning: (1) the budget treatment of, and restoration of funds to, social security trust funds; and (2) the restoration of funds to other Government trust funds.
United States · United States Congress · 19 December 1985
Permits the reappointment of a specified number of air traffic controllers who were separated from service for participation in a strike initiated on August 3, 1981. Requires such reappointments to be made in FY 1986 and 1987.
United States · United States Congress · 19 December 1985
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that: (1) the President should continue to express to the Soviet Union U.S. opposition with respect to the harassment and arrests of Hebrew teachers and Jewish activists in the Soviet Union; and (2) the Soviet Union should comply with its commitments under specified international human rights agreements and cease its persecution of individuals on the basis of their Jewish faith.
United States · United States Congress · 10 December 1985
Calls upon the President to direct the Agency for International Development to work in a global effort to provide universal access to childhood immunization by 1990 by: (1) assisting in the delivery, distribution, and use of vaccines; and (2) performing and supporting research and development activities that will be targeted at developing new vaccines and at modifying existing vaccines to make them more appropriate for use in developing countries. Declares that the President should appeal to the public to provide the necessary resources to achieve universal access to childhood immunization by 1990. Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to increase the authorization of appropriations for FY 1987 for the Child Survival Fund.
United States · United States Congress · 6 December 1985
Competitive Exchange Rate Act of 1985 - Requires the President to establish the United States Commission on Exchange Rate Reform. Directs the Commission to: (1) propose reforms in the international exchange rate system to correct exchange rate misalignments, align the actual exchange rate of the dollar with its competitive rate, and achieve long-term stability in exchange rates; (2) propose changes in domestic economic policy to complement other efforts to align the actual exchange rate of the dollar with its competitive rate; (3) recommend procedures for achieving better international coordination of fiscal, monetary, and savings and investment policies; (4) prepare an agenda for an international conference and negotiations on exchange rate reform; (5) develop objectives for coordinated interventions in foreign exchange markets by appropriate agencies of the major industrialized countries; (6) develop a method for calculating the competitive exchange rate of the dollar; and (7) report all such proposals to the President and specified congressional committees within six months. Terminates the Commission 30 days after it submits such report. Makes achievement of a competitive exchange rate for the dollar a top priority of the United States in international economic negotiations. Directs the President, as soon as practicable after the Commission submits its report, to seek to negotiate with other countries through an international conference in order to: (1) review the existing international exchange rate system; (2) develop an agenda for reform of that system to provide for long-term exchange rate stability; and (3) recommend proposals for better coordination of macroeconomic policies of the major industrialized nations and greater stability in trade, current account balances, and the exchange rates. Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to establish a Strategic Currency Reserve, consisting of assets denominated in foreign currencies purchased through intervention in the exchange markets, to be used as part of a coordinated international strategy to achieve exchange rate equilibrium and a competitive exchange rate for the dollar. Directs the Secretary, in coordination with central banks of key countries, to purchase and sell foreign currencies from the Reserve at appropriate times to offset speculative movements of the dollar away from its competitive exchange rate or to assist the gradual movement of the dollar toward a competitive exchange rate. Requires the Secretary to submit to the House Committee on Banking, Finance and Urban Affairs and the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs a biannual report on: (1) the change in the exchange rate required to balance the U.S. merchandise trade account and the current account; (2) the effects on production, employment, and international competitive performance of U.S. manufacturing, agricultural, and mining industries when the dollar exceeds the exchange rate level consistent with either merchandise trade or current account balance; (3) the conditions that cause the actual exchange rate of the dollar to exceed the competitive exchange rate; (4) recommendations for changing U.S. economic policy to attain current account balance; (5) any International Monetary Fund recommendations for changes in U.S. policies and an explanation of the Secretary's plans to implement or ignore such recommendations; (6) progress by the Secretary and any other Government employee in adjusting the actual exchange rate of the dollar toward its competitive exchange rate and in reforming the international exchange rate system to reduce instability and disequilibrium in exchange rates; (7) the Secretary's objectives and the obstacles concerning domestic economic policies that are consistent with achieving current account balance, intervention in exchange markets, and negotiations with other countries on exchange rate system reform, together with the reasons for any lack of progress in such negotiations; (8) an assessment of the relationship of such objectives to the Commission's proposals; (9) the impact of currency transactions under this Act on foreign exchange markets; and (10) the extent to which the actual exchange rate of each country with which the United States has substantial bilateral trade competition or bilateral capital flows differs from that country's competitive exchange rate level and the trends and policies affecting that country's exchange rate and international capital flows. Directs each Committee to consult with the Secretary and report to its House on the Secretary's intended policies. Directs the Secretary to transmit to the Congress all official U.S. documents submitted to the International Monetary Fund in the course of any requested consultation with the United States and all Fund documents arising from that consultation.
United States · United States Congress · 3 December 1985
Competitive Exchange Rate Act of 1985 - Requires the President to create a temporary Commission on Exchange Rate Reform. Directs the Commission, within six months, to transmit to the President and the House and Senate Banking Committees a report proposing: (1) reforms of the international exchange rate system to correct exchange rate misalignments, restore a competitive exchange rate for the dollar, and achieve long-term stability in the exchange rate of the dollar and other currencies; (2) reforms in domestic economic policy to bring the dollar to more competitive levels; (3) mechanisms for better international coordination of fiscal, monetary, and savings and investment policies by the major industrialized nations; (4) an agenda for international negotiations on exchange rate reform; (5) criteria for coordinated intervention in foreign exchange markets by the major central banks; and (6) methods for calculating target values or ranges for major currencies. Declares the achievement of a competitive exchange rate for the dollar to be a top priority in international trade negotiations. Directs the President, as soon as practicable after the Commission submits its report, to seek to negotiate with other countries through an international conference in order to: (1) review the inadequacies of the existing international exchange rate system; (2) develop an agenda for reform of that system to provide for long-term exchange rate stability; and (3) review and implement proposals to coordinate macroeconomic policies among the major industrialized nations, achieve more stable U.S. trade and current account balances, and achieve long-term stability in the exchange rate of the dollar and other currencies. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to establish a Strategic Currency Reserve, within the Exchange Stabilization Fund, from the foreign currencies purchased through intervention in the exchange markets, to be used as part of a coordinated international strategy to achieve exchange rate equilibrium and a competitive exchange rate for the dollar. Directs the Secretary, in coordination with central banks of key countries, to purchase and sell foreign currencies from the Reserve at appropriate times to offset speculative movements of the dollar away from its competitive exchange rate or to assist the gradual movement of the dollar toward a competitive exchange rate. Requires the Secretary to submit to the House Committee on Banking, Finance and Urban Affairs and the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs a biannual report on: (1) the change in the exchange rate required to balance the U.S. merchandise trade account and the current account; (2) the effects on production, employment, and international competitive performance of U.S. manufacturing, agricultural, and mining industries when the dollar exceeds the exchange rate level consistent with either merchandise trade or current account balance; (3) the conditions that cause the exchange rate of the dollar to exceed levels consistent with current account balance and recommendations for changing U.S. economic policy to attain current account balance; (5) International Monetary Fund (IMF) recommendations for changes in U.S. policies and an explanation of the Secretary's plans to implement or ignore such recommendations; (6) progress by the Secretary and other Government officials in adjusting the value of the dollar to achieve current account balance and in reforming the international exchange rate system to reduce instability and disequilibrium in exchange rates; (7) the Secretary's objectives for domestic policies, intervention in exchange markets, and negotiations with other countries on exchange rate system reform and the reasons for any lack of progress in such negotiations; (8) the impact of currency transactions under this Act on foreign exchange markets; and (9) the extent to which the exchange rate of each country with which the United States has substantial bilateral trade competition or bilateral capital flows differs from that country's competitive exchange rate level and the trends and policies affecting that country's exchange rate and capital flows. Directs each Committee to report to its House on the Secretary's intended policies. Directs the Secretary to transmit to the Congress all official U.S. documents submitted to the IMF in the course of any requested consultation with the United States and all IMF documents arising from that consultation.
United States · United States Congress · 21 November 1985
Competitive America Trade Reform Act of 1985 - Declares that it is U.S. policy that: (1) the United States shall call for a multilateral conference to seek a new international monetary regime; (2) the United States shall try to use its foreign aid programs to aid the development of the private sectors in less developed countries; (3) rules of trade, dispute settlement procedures, and penalties for trade violations should be strengthened; (4) new policies are required to aid U.S. industries to improve their international competitiveness; and (5) a new program of transition aid for workers and firms is needed. Title I: International Monetary Reform - Creates a temporary National Commission on International Monetary Reform which shall prepare a report for the President and the Congress analyzing and evaluating: (1) proposed reforms of the international monetary system; (2) the effects of international capital flows on exchange rate volatility and proposals for restricting capital transactions; (3) proposed methods for coordinating monetary policies of major industrialized nations; (4) objectives for joint intervention in foreign exchange markets; and (5) a detailed working agenda to be presented to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a new "Bretton Woods" conference. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury, within 45 days of the submission of the Commission's report, to submit legislation to the Congress implementing policy changes recommended by the Commission and authorizing submission of the agenda to the IMF. Provides for expedited consideration of such legislation. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury, within 15 days of enactment of such legislation, to request the IMF to convene a working group to consider the agenda for a conference on monetary reform. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to reinstate the 30 percent withholding tax on portfolio interest paid to foreign persons. Title II: Foreign Assistance and Investment - Amends the Agriculture Trade and Development and Assistance Act of 1954 (Public Law 480) to provide for a revived and expanded Cooley Loan Program. Authorizes the Secretary of State to: (1) develop a list of those less developed countries in which Cooley Loan Program activities may be conducted; and (2) negotiate and conclude agreements for the implementation of a Cooley Loan Program. Requires such agreements to provide for: (1) the sale of surplus U.S. commodities to be paid for by local currencies; (2) such currencies to be made available to designated accounts under the control of the Secretary of State; (3) spending no less than 50 percent of certain development funds for private sector development; and (4) specifying maximum local currency reserve levels in designated accounts, monetary growth targets in the host country, and termination conditions. Creates a Cabinet level Economic Security Council to advise the President on domestic and international economic matters and to develop and oversee U.S. economic policy. Directs the Council to develop an international bankruptcy procedure to guide U.S. banks and agencies in responding to impending defaults by debtor nations. Abolishes the Cabinet Council on Economic Affairs. Amends the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act to direct the Secretary of Commerce to develop a program for extending certain trade concessions to least developed developing countries that are designated by the Secretary of State. Directs the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) to request a waiver of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) nondiscrimination standards in order to implement this program. Requires congressional ratification of any agreements incorporating trade concessions. Creates within the International Development Cooperation Agency the International Private Enterprise Institute which shall: (1) provide expertise and technical aid to less developed countries in attracting financial investment, developing indigenous industries, and promoting exports; and (2) serve as U.S. liaison for the World Bank Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency. Expresses the intent of the Congress that funds authorized: (1) for programs conducted by the Agency for International Development shall be used for government-to-government and official activities which foster economic growth and promote a favorable climate for development of the private sector in developing countries; and (2) for programs conducted by the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) shall be used to promote economic growth and stability through the direct involvement of U.S. private sectors. Grants OPIC the primary responsibility for developing and packaging aid provided through the International Development Cooperation Agency for private sector development in less developed countries. Creates four special offices within OPIC for program development. Authorizes OPIC to take partial equity interest in qualified development projects. Requires OPIC to administer the private sector development initiatives authorized by the Cooley Loan Program. Expresses the sense of the Congress that the United States shall call upon the IMF and the World Bank to convene a special meeting of the Group of Ten industrial nations and debtor nations for the purposes of formalizing growth-oriented conditionality guidelines to promote the creditworthiness of less developed countries, debt repayment flexibility, and trade liberalization. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to prepare a report for such conference. Title III: Trade Law Reform - Directs the USTR to notify the GATT of the U.S. request to join other contracting parties in ministerial sessions preparatory to a new GATT round which would seek to: (1) create or strengthen GATT articles on certain trade issues; (2) strengthen the GATT as an institution by means of certain administrative and rules changes; (3) tighten GATT enforcement mechanisms through reforms of the panel system; and (4) have consultations in dispute settlement cases take place under GATT participation. Expresses the intent of the Congress to: (1) establish overall structural reforms of U.S. trade laws; (2) redefine the trade roles of the President, the ITC, the Department of Commerce, and the USTR; and (3) clarify the standards and procedures which apply in trade remedy cases. Makes the ITC the primary factfinding agency for all determinations involving international trade. Requires the Commerce Department to be responsible for assessing the injurious effects of foreign trade on domestic industries. Declares that it is the primary function of the USTR to formulate and implement U.S. trade policy. Limits the President's discretion in unfair trade cases to the suspension of sanctions determined by the USTR. Sets forth the alternative bases for suspending sanctions. Requires the Secretary of Commerce to define and clarify references in existing U.S. trade laws to serious injury or the threat of serious injury to domestic industry. Requires the ITC to define and clarify references in U.S. trade laws to unfair trade practices. Directs the ITC to develop standard administrative procedures of factfinding and determinations for all unfairness cases. Exempts certain unfair trade practice cases brought under the Tariff Act of 1930 from the requirements of the Administrative Procedure Act. Directs the ITC to: (1) determine the extent to which foreign trade practices contribute to injury to domestic or emerging industry; (2) certify to the USTR that an injury has occurred or an unfairness threshold has been exceeded; and (3) recommend sanctions appropriate to the character and extent of unfairness found. Expresses the intent of the Congress that the mission of the ITC shall include the investigation of economic policies and practices in other countries which affect the market for American products and services in those countries, in third-party countries, and in the United states. Requires that injury determinations made by the Secretary of Commerce pursuant to import relief investigations shall take into account the extent to which the domestic industry is operated efficiently and economically. Makes grants of import relief conditional upon the existence of an industry modernization agreement. Requires injury to a domestic industry to be shown in an unfairness case. Requires the USTR to declare sanctions against countries that the ITC has found to have committed unfair trade practices within 15 days of such finding. Sets forth procedures and deadlines to be followed in unfairness cases. Authorizes the President to suspend sanctions in such cases for national security reasons or upon certification that such country has entered into good-faith negotiations to end the offending practice or to achieve compensatory trade liberalization measures. Sets forth sanctions that the USTR may invoke in the most severe cases of violations of the GATT or U.S. trade laws. Requires the USTR to take into account specified factors in determining appropriate sanctions against unfair foreign trade practices. Title IV: Enhancing International Competitiveness - Creates a National Commission on International Competitiveness which shall report annually to the Congress on key factors affecting the competitive posture of American industry and services. Requires the Commission to report periodically on the effects of foreign industrial policies on U.S. industry. Requires the Commission to grant or deny approval to industrial modernization agreements before the granting of import relief or the provision of trade adjustment assistance to firms. Amends the antitrust laws to require the Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to take into consideration global competitive conditions when determining market concentration. Directs the Attorney General and the FTC to develop regulations for expedited procedures to consider applications for antitrust waivers for research and development consortia under guidelines established by the National Commission on International Competitiveness. Amends the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act to waive the provisions of that Act with respect to a country if the Attorney General certifies that such country has: (1) effective bribery or corruption statutes; and (2) an established record of aggressive enforcement of such statutes. Provides for sharing information with foreign countries to assist their prosecution of incidents of bribery. Requires the Commerce Department to develop a classification code for monitoring and reporting on international trade in services. Directs the Secretary of Commerce to report annually to the Congress on actual and potential U.S. services trade. Requires the United States to pursue bilateral services agreements pending development of a GATT article on services trade. Requires the U.S. Foreign and Commercial Service to expand commercial attache programs to cover developing countries now served by State Department personnel. Amends the Export-Import Bank Act of 1945 to require the Export-Import Bank to: (1) develop a program of coinsurance to expand small business exports; and (2) develop with the Agency for International Development a special fund to counter predatory, subsidized financing, and mixed credit programs of other countries. Provides for the enactment of the High Technology Morrill Act (S. 935, 99th Congress). (High Technology Morrill Act - Establishes the Technology Education Trust Fund in the Treasury. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to be the trustee of the Fund and to report to the Congress annually on the Fund's operation. Directs the Secretary to transfer from the Treasury's general fund to the Fund, for FY 1987 through 1991, three percent of the rents, royalties, and other sums paid to the United States under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, the Mineral Leasing Act of 1920, and any other Federal statute authorizing payments for mineral resource development designated by the Secretary for the purpose of this Act. Limits the amount of such transfers to $250,000,000 in any one fiscal year. Provides that amounts in the Fund shall be available for making payments in accordance with this Act as provided in advance by appropriation Acts, and without fiscal year limitation on availability unless specifically enacted. Prohibits the Secretary from making transfers to the Fund after FY 1991. Directs the Secretary to pay into the Treasury's general fund any amounts remaining in the Fund after FY 1993. (Authorizes the Secretary of Education (the Secretary) to make grants to educational institutions (including vocational schools), private for-profit business concerns, and State agencies making application jointly to pay the Federal share of the cost of technology education programs. Allows private nonprofit organizations and State agencies to submit applications jointly if the nonprofit private organization represents an educational institution and a for-profit business concern, or a group of such institutions and concerns. (Requires that such applications be consistent with State economic development and educational policies and with private sector priorities and educational institution needs. Requires the State and local public sources pay 30 percent, and for-profit businesses pay 20 percent, of total program costs. Sets forth other application requirements. (Allows grants made under this Act to be used for: (1) laboratory equipment and facilities in educational institutions; (2) improving science and mathematics education and computer literacy in elementary and secondary schools through teacher training, equipment improvement, and curricula development; (3) research/education centers for training new scientific, engineering, and technical employees while carrying out applied research or stimulating innovation, technology transfer, and the application of new technologies; (4) mathematics, science, and engineering faculty development through support for graduate students who enter teaching, faculty exchange with industry, teaching retraining, and other faculty retention programs; (5) lifelong learning and cooperative education activities for the scientific, engineering, and technical work force; (6) development of new educational methods and equipment such as computer-based educational aids and telecommunication instructional technologies; (7) expansion of technical training programs and initiation of programs at institutions of higher education (including postsecondary vocational education institutions) designed to retrain workers for jobs requiring more technical skills; (8) improving the access of women, minorities, and handicapped to technical, engineering, and scientific fields; and (9) cooperative programs between the humanities and the sciences. (Sets forth provisions for grant payments, distribution of funds, withholding, administration, and audit. (Authorizes the Secretary to establish advisory committees for purposes of this Act. (Directs the Secretary to consult with the Secretary of Defense to coordinate technical training programs supported by the Department of Defense and activities assisted under this Act. Authorizes the Secretary of Defense to transfer Department of Defense funds for technical training programs to the Secretary to carry out programs under this Act. (Directs the Secretary to consult with the Secretaries of Commerce, Labor, and Education and the heads of other appropriate Federal agencies in carrying out this Act. (Directs the Secretary to report annually to the Congress on activities assisted by this Act.) Provides for the enactment of title II (relating to science, mathematics and foreign language education) of the American Defense Education Act (S. 177, 99th Congress). (Title II: Teacher Training and Postsecondary Programs - Authorizes the Secretary of Education to establish a program of grants to institutions of higher education for coordination between such institutions and local educational agencies in improving science and mathematics education, through precollege teacher training, development, and recruitment programs. (Sets forth requirements for grant proposals and priorities in grant selection. (Authorizes appropriations for FY 1987 through 1989 for such grants.) Provides for the enactment, with a modification, of the Japanese Technical Literature Act of 1985 (S. 1073, 99th Congress). (Foreign Technical Literature Act of 1985 - Amends the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980 to direct the Secretary of Commerce, on a continuing basis and through the Director of the Office of Industrial Technology, to increase the availability of foreign science and engineering literature to U.S. businesses, scientists, and engineers through increased accessibility, monitoring, screening, translation, abstracting, indexing, dissemination, and marketing. (Authorizes the Secretary, in conducting such activity, to: (1) make grants to private for profit, nonprofit, and educational organizations (and, to the extent provided in advance in appropriations Acts, enter into contracts with such organizations); (2) provide funds to, and coordinate with, other Government organizations; and (3) utilize (for all or part of this effort) the directors, staff, and facilities of the National Bureau of Standards and the National Technical Information Service. (Authorizes appropriations for FY 1986 through 1988.) Directs the Secretary of State to implement a program of acquisition of foreign scientific and technological materials by U.S. embassy personnel. Expresses the intent of the Congress to promote the commercialization of Products and processes developed in Federal laboratories. Provides for the enactment of the Federal Science and Technology Transfer Act of 1985 (H.R. 1572, 99th Congress). (Federal Science and Technology Transfer Act of 1985 - Amends the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980 to authorize Federal agencies, subject to specified conditions, to permit the directors of their Government-operated Federal laboratories to enter into cooperative research and development agreements with other Federal agencies, State or local governments, industrial organizations, universities, or other persons. Authorizes Government-operated Federal laboratories, under such agreements and subject to specified conditions, to: (1) grant patent licenses or assignments, or options, in any subject invention made by a Federal employee, or made jointly by a Federal employee and an employee of the collaborating party, and to retain such rights as the laboratory deems appropriate; and (2) waive in advance any right of ownership which the Federal Government may have to any subject invention made by a collaborating party or such party's employee under the agreement. (Requires Federal agencies to establish certain plans to be followed in entering into such agreements. (Prohibits such agreements with: (1) any person who is not located in the United States, does not have a place of business located in the United States, or is subject to the control of a foreign government; or (2) any other entity which is owned or controlled by any such person. Prohibits such agreements if an authority of the Federal Government which is authorized by statute or executive order to conduct foreign intelligence or counterintelligence activities determines that ownership or licensing rights granted by the agreement must be restricted or eliminated in order to protect the security of such activities. Provides for an appeals procedure with respect to such determinations. (Provides that specified provisions of Federal law relating to patent rights in inventions made with Federal assistance shall apply to certain types of such agreements. (Provides that small businesses will be given preference in the making of certain types of such agreements. (Prohibits any person (or his or her assignee) who receives title or exclusive right or exclusive patent license to any subject invention from granting the exclusive right to use or sell, or from making exclusive use of, such invention unless the products embodying it or produced through its use will be manufactured substantially in the United States. Authorizes the Federal agency concerned to waive such prohibition on a case-by-case basis under specified conditions. (Directs each agency to maintain a record of all such agreements. (Establishes the Federal Laboratory Consortium for Technology Transfer in the National Science Foundation. Requires the Director of the Foundation to appoint an individual to manage the Consortium and authorizes such individual to appoint Consortium employees. (Sets forth Consortium duties relating to the commercial potential of new technologies generated by Federal laboratory research. (Requires the Director of the Foundation to report biennially to the President and to the appropriate authorization and appropriation committees of the Congress on Consortium and other specified activities. Requires other Federal agencies to: (1) cooperate in providing information for such reports; and (2) transfer a specified portion of their research and development budgets to the Foundation to carry out Consortium activities. (Sets forth rules and formulas for the distribution of royalties or other income received by Federal agencies from the licensing or assignment of inventions under such agreements under this Act, and from inventions licensed under provisions of Federal law relating to domestic and foreign protection of federally-owned inventions, or under any other provision of law. Requires Federal agencies to report annually to the appropriate authorization and appropriation committees of the Congress detailing the amount of such royalties or other income received and expenditures made under such rules and formulas.) Reauthorizes the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980 for five years. Repeals the agency waiver provisions of such Act. Makes the Federal Laboratory Consortium a permanent agency within the National Science Foundation which shall: (1) monitor technology transfer activities of Federal laboratories; (2) assess the resources and effectiveness of collaborative efforts among the laboratories, private industry, and academia; and (3) promote a national information network to foster private sector commercialization of Federal laboratory research and discoveries. Title V: Trade Adjustment Assistance - Amends the Trade Act of 1974 to: (1) repeal the condition that all rights to unemployment insurance be exhausted before one is eligible for trade adjustment assistance; (2) make a worker who is separated from employment in an industry that qualifies for an industrial modernization agreement and trade adjustment benefits automatically eligible for trade adjustment assistance; (3) deem a worker ineligible for unemployment insurance benefits during the operative period of trade adjustment assistance if the worker's separation is found to be trade-induced; (4) require workers, before receiving trade adjustment assistance, to agree to repay certain amounts of such assistance; (5) provide a worker eligible for trade adjustment assistance with a voucher to defray the cost of specified training programs; and (6) require the establishment of a national retraining certification program. Makes assistance provided to firms under this title conditional upon the approval of an industrial modernization agreement by the National Commission on International Competitiveness. Establishes a trust fund in the Treasury to finance the provisions of this Act. Finances such fund through a one percent duty on all imports. Directs the USTR to undertake negotiations through the GATT to impose such duty.
United States · United States Congress · 21 November 1985
Declares that the Congress supports expanded cultural exchange between the United States and the Soviet Union and pledges to work with the President to strengthen such exchange.
United States · United States Congress · 20 November 1985
Campaign Finance Reform Act of 1985 - Amends the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to: (1) increase dollar limits on personal contributions to candidates and their authorized political committees; and (2) decrease the amount one multicandidate political committee may contribute to any other political committee. Limits to $100,000 ($125,000 where two or more candidates qualify for the ballot) the aggregate amount which all multicandidate political committees may contribute to a candidate for the House of Representatives in a general or special election, including any primary election, convention, or caucus relating to such general or special election. Limits to $25,000 the aggregate amount allowed for multicandidate political committee contributions in a runoff election for the office of Representative. Establishes a formula for multicandidate political committee contributions to candidates for the Senate based upon State populations and limited to an aggregate total of $750,000. Requires multicandidate political committees which make independent expenditures for advertisements connected with a candidate's campaign to disclose such information within the advertisement. Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to require any station licensee which allows a person to broadcast material endorsing or opposing a candidate to provide the candidate opposing the endorsed candidate, or to the candidate opposed by the material, the opportunity to use the same amount of broadcasting time, without charge, during the same period of the day.
United States · United States Congress · 20 November 1985
Designates May 25, 1986, as Hands Across America Day. Authorizes and requests the President to commend: (1) United Support of Artists for Africa for their Hands Across America project; and (2) the American people for their commitment to helping people help themselves.
United States · United States Congress · 19 November 1985
Small Contribution Tax Credit Reform Act of 1985 - Amends the the Internal Revenue Code to repeal the income tax credit for contributions to presidential, state, and local candidates, political action committees, and newsletter fund contributions. Allows an income tax credit for congressional candidate contributions. Limits the amount of such credit to $100 for a taxable year ($200 in the case of a joint return).
United States · United States Congress · 12 November 1985
Establishes a U.S. Commission on Elections in the Philippines to observe and monitor elections in the Philippines. Requires the Commission to make two reports to the Congress: (1) the first one to deal with the Commission's preliminary findings on the election process; and (2) the second to be filed after an election is held, to evaluate the election's integrity and fairness.
United States · United States Congress · 5 November 1985
Declares that: (1) the people around the world desire a world free from the threat of war; (2) it is the hope of all citizens that the President and General Secretary Gorbachev will reach an arms control agreement which significantly cuts nuclear stockpiles and halts the arms race between the United States and the Soviet Union; and (3) in order to express this hope, all citizens are invited to light candles from dusk to dawn on November 19 and 20, 1985, while the President and Gorbachev meet in summit.
United States · United States Congress · 31 October 1985
Competitive Tied Aid Fund Bill - Amends the Export-Import Bank Act of 1945 to require the Export-Import Bank to establish a Competitive Tied Aid Fund. Requires such Fund to be used: (1) primarily, to supplement the financing of U.S. exports to foreign markets which are actual or potential export markets for countries that engage in predacious export financing through the use of tied or partially untied aid credits or that impeded negotiations to eliminate the use of such credits; and (2) secondarily, to supplement the financing of U.S. exports in competition with any foreign exports financed by tied or partially untied aid credit when such use of the Fund will not significantly impair its use for its primary purpose. Authorizes appropriations for the Fund. Requires the Board of Directors of the Export-Import Bank to report to the Congress on each loan or guarantee which is combined with a grant from the Fund.
United States · United States Congress · 30 October 1985
Authorizes the Francis Scott Key Park Foundation to establish a memorial on Federal land in the District of Columbia or its environs to honor Francis Scott Key, the author of the words to our national anthem. Subjects the selected site, design, and plans for the memorial to the approval of the National Commission of Fine Arts and the National Capital Planning Commission. Provides that only non-Federal funds may be used to establish the memorial and that these must be sufficient before construction begins. Terminates the authority provided by this Act if construction does not begin within five years.
United States · United States Congress · 30 October 1985
Designates 1986 as Save for the U.S.A. Year. Requests the President to initiate a nationwide campaign, to be known as the Buy Back America campaign, to encourage the people of the United States to buy U.S. savings bonds and certificates and thereby reduce borrowings from foreign sources. Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to enhance the marketability of such bonds and certificates.
United States · United States Congress · 28 October 1985
Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to deposit in Government trust funds amounts equal to interest lost to such trust funds through disinvestment of Federal or federally-insured obligations by the Secretary during FY 1986 for the purpose of avoiding any violation of the public debt limit.
United States · United States Congress · 24 October 1985
Joint Chiefs of Staff Reorganization Act of 1985 - Revises Federal provisions concerning the composition and function of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) to define the Chairman of JCS as the principal military advisor to the President, the National Security Council, and the Secretary of Defense. Authorizes a member of JCS other than the Chairman to offer, to the Secretary of Defense and then to the President, a separate opinion in disagreement with that of the Chairman concerning military advice given. Directs that the Chairman of JCS shall supervise the commanders of the combatant commands and act as their spokesman. Extends the term of the Chairman of JCS from two to four years. Establishes the position of Deputy Chairman of JCS. Prohibits the Deputy Chairman and the Chairman from being a member of the same military branch, unless the Secretary of Defense waives such prohibition for a limited period. Sets the term of the Deputy Chairman at four years. Requires the Deputy Chairman to perform such duties as delegated by the Chairman with the approval of the Secretary of Defense. Directs the Deputy Chairman to act as Chairman if the latter position is vacated for any reason. Directs the Deputy Chairman to act as director of the Joint Staff, which performs such duties as the Chairman prescribes. Eliminates any maximum number of officers on the Joint Staff. Provides that the four-year term of a member of the Joint Staff may be extended with the approval of the Secretary of Defense. Directs the Secretary to ensure that the Joint Staff is independently organized and operated in order to provide for the unified strategic direction of the combatant forces and their operation and integration into an efficient team of land, naval, and air forces. Requires the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to submit an evaluation to the President of any person for appointment to a grade above major general or rear admiral. Requires such evaluation to consider the performance of that officer as a member of the Joint Staff and in other assignments involving joint military experiences. Requires such evaluation to be submitted to the President at the same time as the submission of the recommendation for the appointment. Directs the Chairman or the Deputy Chairman of JCS to attend all meetings of the National Security Council and participate fully in its deliberations. Directs the Secretary of Defense, no later than six months after the enactment of this Act, to report to the Congress on plans for further changes in the administration of the military high commands of each of the armed forces. Outlines proposals to be developed in such report.
United States · United States Congress · 24 October 1985
Expresses the sense of the Senate that the United States: (1) should not sell advanced weapons to Jordan; (2) should ensure that Israel retains its qualitative military edge in the Middle East; and (3) should focus its efforts on bringing Jordan into direct peace negotiations with Israel.
United States · United States Congress · 16 October 1985
Depository Institution Examination Improvement Act of 1985 - Redesignates the Financial Institution Examination Council as the Depository Institutions Examination Council. Requires the Council to devise a Federal examiner classification system and, for each of 12 districts approximating the districts of the Federal depository institutions regulatory agencies (regulatory agencies), a regional pay scale in order to provide Federal examiners with compensation and benefits commensurate with private sector accountants and auditors who perform similar functions in such districts. Directs each regulatory agency and each regional bank, branch, or office of such agency to assign and pay examiners accordingly. Directs the Council to prescribe methods of determining travel allowances and pay rates for temporary assignments of examiners. Exempts from Federal laws and regulations applicable to Government employees the officers and employees of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Federal Home Loan Bank Board, the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation, and the National Credit Union Administration. Exempts such entities, the Council, Federal reserve banks, and Federal Home Loan Banks from Federal laws and regulations providing for budget and appropriation review and provides that certain assessments received by such entities shall not be considered Government funds or appropriated money. Subjects such entities and banks to audit by the Comptroller General. Repeals authority of the Secretary of the Treasury over the Comptroller of the Currency and staff. Authorizes each regulatory agency to establish procedures for transferring employees affected by this Act out of the civil service and for providing fair and equitable compensation and reimbursement to such employees for any resulting loss of benefits. Directs the Council to: (1) develop a proposal for consolidating all Federal examiner training programs in one school to be established and conducted by the Council; and (2) report to specified congressional committees on its findings, legislative recommendations, and the savings to the regulatory agencies that would result from such consolidation. Requires the Council to: (1) study the feasibility of establishing a graduate degree program in financial management analysis for officers and employees of the regulatory agencies and the State depository institutions supervisory agencies (State agencies); and (2) report to specified congressional committees on its findings, legislative recommendations, the cost of establishing and conducting the program, and on the approval or disapproval by each regulatory agency of the Council's proposal for such program. Requires the Council to establish minimum requirements for examinations of depository institutions by State agencies in order for such an examination to be acceptable for purposes of Federal law. Directs the Council: (1) at least annually, to request each State agency which examines institutions subject to Federal examination to allow the Council to review its examination methods; (2) to notify a State agency if its examination methods do not satisfy such minimum requirements and allow the agency not more than three years to cure any deficiency; and (3) notify each Federal regulatory agency if a State agency refuses to allow a review of its examination methods or fails to remedy any deficiency in its methods. Prohibits any Federal regulatory agency or any regional bank, branch, or other office of such Federal agency to rely on any report of examination by a State agency for which such a notice has been received to fulfill an examination requirement under Federal law. Requires the Council to establish a State examiner certification program and to evaluate State examiners for certification at the request of a State agency.
United States · United States Congress · 16 October 1985
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that the racism and divisiveness of Louis Farrakhan are morally repugnant. Condemns the blatant racism and anti-Semitism of Louis Farrakhan and calls upon him to cease his message of hatred.
United States · United States Congress · 10 October 1985
Declares that the Congress calls upon the President to direct the Agency for International Development (AID) to work in a global effort to provide support toward achieving the goal of universal access to childhood immunization by the year 1990. Sets forth specified actions to be taken by AID, in conjunction with the World Health Organization and UNICEF, in reaching such goal. Urges the President to seek both private and public assistance in the United States to achieve universal access to childhood immunization.
United States · United States Congress · 9 October 1985
Fair Labor Standards Amendments of 1985 - Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to allow State, local, or interstate governmental agencies to provide compensatory time in lieu of overtime compensation. Requires that such compensatory time be one and one-half hours for each hour of employment for which overtime compensation is required. Allows such compensatory time only if it is a collective bargaining agreement, memorandum of understanding or other agreement or understanding entered into by the public agency and its employees or their recognized representatives before the work for which the compensatory time is to be provided. Limits the amount of such compensatory time which public employees may accrue to 180 hours, or 480 hours in the case of work which included a public safety activity, an emergency response activity, or a seasonal activity. Requires that public employees who have accrued such compensatory time and requested its use be permitted to use it within a reasonable period after making such request if its use does not unduly disrupt the operations of the public agency. Requires that, upon termination of employment, a public employee who has accrued such compensatory time be paid for unused compensatory time at a rate not less than the average rate received by such employee during the last three years of the employees' employment. Provides that, if a public agency had in effect on April 15, 1986, a pattern or practice of providing its employees compensatory time off in lieu of overtime compensation, that pattern or practice shall constitute an agreement or understanding which meets specified requirements. Provides that a collective bargaining agreement in effect on April 15, 1986, which permits overtime compensation in the form of compensatory time off at a rate of less than one and one-half hours for each hour of employment for which overtime compensation is required shall remain in effect until its expiration date unless otherwise modified, except that compensatory time shall be provided after April 14, 1986, at the one and one-half hour rate. Provides that States, local governments, and interstate governmental agencies shall not be liable for specified overtime and related paperwork violations which occur before April 15, 1986, with respect to employees who would not have been covered under the Secretary of Labor's special enforcement policy in effect on January 1, 1985. Permits States, local governments, or interstate governmental agencies to defer until August 1, 1986, the payment of overtime compensation for hours of employment after April 14, 1986. Adds provisions relating to special detail work for fire protection and law enforcement (including prison security) employees of State, local, or intergovernmental agencies. Provides that those hours on special detail work for a separate or independent employer shall be excluded by the public agency in the calculation of overtime compensation, if the employee agrees, solely at the employee's option, to perform such special detail work. Provides that an employee's hours of part-time employment with a public agency in a substantially different capacity from the employee's regular full-time employment with such agency shall be excluded from the calculation of overtime compensation, if such part-time employment is undertaken on an occasional and sporadic basis and solely at the employee's option. Directs the Secretary of Labor to issue, by March 15, 1986, regulations: (1) defining when employment is done on an occasional or sporadic basis; and (2) prescribing a standard for determining if employment is in a substantially different capacity than other employment. Permits employees of States, local governments, and interstate governmental agencies to volunteer to perform services for any other such agency, including one with which the employing agency has a mutual aid agreement. Adds provisions relating to substitution work by and for fire protection and law enforcement (including prison security) employees of State, local, and intergovernmental agencies. Provides that those hours of substitution during scheduled work hours for a fellow employee shall be excluded by the public agency in the calculation of the substituting employee's overtime compensation, if such employee agrees to perform such substitute work with the public agency's approval and solely at the employee's option. Provides that the employer may not be required to keep a record of the hours of such substitute work under certain overtime recordkeeping requirements. Revises the definition of "employee" to exclude any volunteer for a State, local, or interstate governmental agency who volunteers to perform such services without compensation or for a nominal fee, expenses, or reasonable benefits or for any combination of such fee, expenses, or benefits. Provides that employees of such agencies shall still be considered employees if they volunteer to perform the same type of service for those agencies for which they are employed. Directs the Secretary of Labor to issue, by March 15, 1986, regulations to define nominal fees and reasonable benefits. Provides that, if before April 15, 1986, a public agency's practice was to treat certain persons as volunteers then such persons shall be considered volunteers and not employees until April 15, 1986. Provides that no State, local government, or interstate governmental agency shall be liable for a violation of minimum wage requirements occurring before April 15, 1986, with respect to services performed for the public agency by any individual who performed such services as a volunteer. Revises the definition of "employee" to exclude from coverage under the Act State and local legislative employees who are not legislative library employees. Makes the amendments made by this Act effective on April 15, 1986, but authorizes the Secretary of Labor to promulgate before such date regulations to implement such amendments. Prohibits construing such amendments as affecting whether a State, local government, or interstate governmental agency is liable under penalty provisions of the Act for violations of minimum wage, overtime, or paperwork requirements occurring before April 15, 1986, with respect to any employee who would have been covered by by the Act under the Secretary of Labor's special enforcement policy in effect on January 1, 1985. Requires that a State, local government, or interstate governmental agency be held to have violated specified provisions if it discriminates or has discriminated against an employee with respect to wages or other terms or conditions of employment because on or after February 19, 1985, the employee asserted coverage under overtime provisions.
United States · United States Congress · 9 October 1985
Sino-American Nuclear Verification Act of 1985 - Prohibits issuing a license for the export to China of any nuclear equipment, material, or technology and prohibits approving the transfer or retransfer to China of such equipment, material, or technology until 30 days after the President has certified to the Congress that: (1) the verification of peaceful uses on exported items covered by the Agreement for Cooperation Between the United States and China will be essentially equivalent to that provided by the International Atomic Energy Agency; (2) China has communicated its recognition that the Agreement neither favorably nor unfavorably disposes the United States toward approving any alteration of material transferred pursuant to the Agreement or material used in or produced through the use of any material or facility transferred pursuant to the Agreement; (3) China has provided a statement of its nuclear nonproliferation policies, and those policies correspond to the description of such policies contained in a specified State Department document relating to China's nuclear nonproliferation policy; and (4) China has communicated its recognition that all proposed exports of nuclear materials, equipment, or technology under such agreement are subject to U.S. laws and regulations.
United States · United States Congress · 8 October 1985
Establishes the United States Commission on Improving the Effectiveness of the United Nations to examine and evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the United Nations and to submit to the President recommendations on ways to improve its effectiveness and the role of the United States in such organization. Sets forth specified items which the Commission should focus on in carrying out its duties. Requires the Commission to transmit to the President and to the Congress a report containing a detailed statement of its findings, conclusions, and recommendations. Authorizes appropriations and private contributions for the Commission. Terminates the Commission 60 days after the submission of its report.
United States · United States Congress · 7 October 1985
Fair Export Financing Act of 1985 - Amends the Trade and Development Enhancement Act of 1983 to declare that one of the purposes of such Act is to establish a temporary tied aid credit program to combat the predatory concessional credit programs of foreign governments. Directs the President to negotiate limits on partially untied aid credit. Changes the U.S. negotiating objectives to include references to partially untied aid credits. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to establish within the Department of the Treasury a program of tied aid credits for U.S. exports. Requires the program to be carried out in cooperation with the Export-Import Bank or with private financial institutions or entities. (Currently the program is established within the Export-Import Bank and carried out in cooperation with the Agency for International Development (AID).) Sets forth financing methods that may be included in such program. Authorizes appropriations. Repeals the provision that established a tied aid credit program in AID. Requires the Secretary to seek the advice of the National Advisory Council on International Monetary and Financial Policies before approving financing under the tied aid credit program. Terminates the tied aid credit program on September 30, 1987. Limits judicial review of actions by the Chairman of the Export-Import Bank and by the Secretary. Changes the definition of "tied aid credit." Defines "partially untied aid credit." Deletes references to government-mixed credits and public-private cofinancing.
United States · United States Congress · 7 October 1985
Recognizes the 20th anniversary of the Higher Education Act of 1965 and the important role that the legislation has played in the Nation's development. Reaffirms the historic partnership between the Federal Government and the colleges and universities toward the development of human resources required for an increasingly complex and technological society.
![Official portrait of Rep. LaFalce, John J. [D-NY-29]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/l000556_200.jpg)