United States · United States Congress · 15 March 1982
Reaffirms that deposits, up to the statutorily prescribed amount, in federally insured depository institutions are backed by the full faith and credit of the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 11 March 1982
States that the United States and the Soviet Union should: (1) pursue a complete halt to the nuclear arms race; (2) decide when and how to achieve a mutual and verifiable freeze on the testing, production, and further deployment of nuclear warheads, missiles, and other delivery systems; (3) give special attention to destabilizing weapons; and (4) proceeding from this freeze, pursue major, mutual, and verifiable reductions in nuclear warheads, missiles, and other delivery systems.
United States · United States Congress · 4 March 1982
Housing and Community Development Amendments of 1982 - Title I: Community and Neighborhood Development and Conservation - Amends the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 to limit the amount of commitments to guarantee notes and other obligations which the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development may enter into with respect to community development loan guarantees in FY 1983. Amends the Housing Act of 1964 to authorize appropriations for rehabilitation loans and to limit the amount of commitments to make such loans for FY 1983. Requires that at least 60 percent of the funds available for rehabilitation loans after FY 1982 be used for loans for one- to four-family dwellings. Amends the Neighborhood Reinvestment Cooperation Act to authorize appropriations for the Corporation for FY 1983. Title II: Assisted Housing - Amends the United States Housing Act of 1937 to: (1) increase, on October 1, 1982, the maximum amount of annual contributions which the Secretary may make to public housing agencies for low-income housing projects; (2) limit the amount which may be obligated over the duration of contribution contracts with respect to additional authority provided after October 1, 1982; and (3) provide a new formula for allocating such additional authority for low-income housing assistance. Permits a public housing agency to use authority allocated for assistance to owners of low-income multifamily projects and improvement assistance for existing public housing projects to pay for the operation of such projects. Authorizes appropriations for such operating assistance for FY 1983. Directs the Secretary to consider the effects of interest rates (up to 14 percent) on development costs when determining the initial maximum monthly rent for units of a low-income multifamily housing project. Declares that any upward revision of amounts appropriated for operating assistance for public housing projects shall be considered to be a rulemaking activity. Amends the Housing and Community Development Amendments of 1978 to authorize FY 1983 appropriations for operating assistance for troubled multifamily housing projects. Amends the National Housing Act to prohibit payment of such assistance after FY 1983. Amends the Housing Act of 1959 to increase on October 1, 1982, the aggregate amount of obligations the Secretary may issue to the Secretary of the Treasury to finance loans for housing facilities for elderly or handicapped families. Limits: (1) the interest rate payable on such obligations; and (2) the lending authority of the Secretary for FY 1983. Amends the Federal National Mortgage Association Charter Act to increase on October 1, 1982, the total amount of home mortgages the Government National Mortgage Association (GNMA) may purchase and to limit the aggregate principal amount of mortgages that the GNMA may enter into commitments to purchase during FY 1983. Title III: Housing Production Programs - Part A: One- to Four-Family Housing Production Program - Amends the National Housing Act to provide the Secretary, on October 1, 1982, authority to enter into contracts to provide payments to assist low-income families in acquiring home ownership or membership in a cooperative housing project. (Currently, the Secretary is prohibited from entering into new contracts after March 31, 1982.) Allows the Secretary to insure the mortgages of up to 50 percent of the homes in a subdivision if the owners of such homes receive assistance under the emergency housing market stimulation program. Activates such program which authorizes the Secretary to insure mortgages and enter into contracts to provide assistance payments on behalf of mortgagors having a family income of up to 130 percent of the area median income in order to reduce their mortgage payments to 25 percent of their income or to reduce their mortgage interest rates to nine and one-half percent. Limits: (1) the aggregate amount of assistance payable under such contracts; and (2) the duration of assistance to any mortgagor to ten years. Provides that any recaptured assistance shall be deposited into a fund which shall be used to make continued assistance payments to mortgagors who are unable to make full mortgage payments after receiving assistance for ten years. Part B: Multifamily Housing Production Program - Rental Housing Production and Rehabilitation Act of 1982 - Directs the Secretary to provide financial assistance to State and local governments to be used to stimulate the construction and rehabilitation of multifamily rental housing projects and cooperative housing projects in areas experiencing a severe shortage of rental housing for persons without other reasonable and affordable housing alternatives in the private market. Directs State and local governments which receive such assistance to provide such projects capital grants, loans, interest reduction payments, grants for the purchase of land, and other types of assistance designed to reduce project debt service cost. Sets forth area eligibility criteria, project selection criteria, and guidelines for allocating assistance. Requires the amount of assistance provided to a project to be the least amount necessary to provide decent and affordable rental or cooperative housing of modest design. Requires the owner of an assisted project to agree that for the first 15 years of the project: (1) 20 percent of the project units will be available for families whose income does not exceed 80 percent of the median area income; (2) savings resulting from reduced debt service payments for assistance will be passed on to the tenants; (3) prospective tenants will not be discriminated against on the basis of their eligibility for Federal housing assistance; and (4) units will not be converted to condominium ownership. Directs the Secretary to require an owner who violates any such agreement to repay all assistance plus interest. Declares that mortgages for such projects are insurable under the National Housing Act. Requires rent charges for project units to be approved by the Secretary. Limits such charges to 30 percent of a tenant's adjusted income. Requires that contracts for such assistance contain a provision requiring the payment of prevailing wages to workers employed in the development and operation of the project involved. Authorizes appropriations for such assistance for FY 1983. Title IV: Rural Housing - Amends the Housing Act of 1949 to authorize appropriations for FY 1983 to the Secretary of Agriculture: (1) to insure and guarantee loans for rural housing, with certain restrictions; (2) to make loans and grants for improvements of rural housing; (3) to provide financal assistance for the provision of low-rent housing for domestic farm labor; (4) to make grants or contracts for the development of programs to assist low-income persons in benefiting from housing programs in rural areas; (5) for programs of mutual and self-help in rural areas; and (6) for the Self-Help Housing Land Development Fund. Extends the authority of the Secretary of Agriculture to: (1) insure loans to provide rental housing for persons of moderate income; (2) insure loans for housing and buildings on adequate farms; and (3) make assistance payments to owners of low-income rental housing projects, with a specified amount of FY 1983 assistance earmarked for domestic farm labor and elderly or handicapped persons who are tenants of newly constructed or substantially rehabilitated housing. Eliminates use of the Rural Housing Fund for specified rural housing programs. Revises the maximum rental charge for certain assisted rural housing to the highest of: (1) 30 percent of the family's monthly adjusted income; (2) ten percent of the family's monthly income; or (3) the portion of the family's welfare payment designated for housing costs. Provides that interest credits for low- or moderate-income persons who receive rural housing mortgage loans may not exceed the lesser of: (1) the person's mortgage payments after applying 20 percent of his or her adjusted income; or (2) the person's mortgage payments exceeding what those payments would be if the mortgage were to bear one percent interest. Directs the Secretary of Agriculture, when determining whether to provide housing assistance to domestic farm laborers in an area, to consider the housing needs for only those persons. Title V: Program Amendments and Extensions - Amends the National Housing Act to extend the authority of the Secretary to insure loans for mortgages and home improvement, to make assistance payments for emergency stimulation of the housing market, and to establish the maximum interest rates for certain mortgage insurance programs. Amends the Emergency Home Purchase Assistance Act of 1974 to extend the authority of the Secretary to direct the Government National Mortgage Association to purchase mortgages and securities. Amends the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1970 to authorize appropriations for research for the Department of Housing and Urban Development in fiscal year 1982. Amends the National Housing Act to increase the amount of funds authorized to be appropriated to cover losses sustained by the General Insurance Fund. Amends the Federal National Mortgage Association Charter Act to extend the authority of the GNMA to guarantee mortgage-backed securities issued by the Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA). Amends the Energy Conservation in Existing Buildings Act of 1976 to earmark for the weatherization program for FY 1983 a specified amount of the funds authorized to be appropriated for energy conservation under the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1981. Amends the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 to extend the national flood insurance program until September 30, 1983, and to authorize appropriations for various insurance studies during FY 1983. Amends the National Housing Act to extend the Secretary's authority: (1) to carry out the Federal riot insurance program and the Federal crime insurance program until September 30, 1983; and (2) to continue riot and crime insurance policies written prior to such date until September 30, 1986. Limits the appropriations authorized for such programs for FY 1982. Amends the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968 to limit the appropriations authorized for FY 1983 for counseling and technical assistance programs for low- and moderate-income families with respect to housing. Amends the Federal National Mortgage Association Charter Act and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation Act to require the limitation on the maximum principal obligation of a conventional mortgage in which the FNMA or the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation may purchase a participating interest to be calculated without regard to the interest purchased by either such corporation. Authorizes such corporations to purchase conventional mortgages secured by a second lien against an owner-occupied residence. Specifies limitations on the maximum principal obligation of such mortgages. Title VI: Emergency Mortgage Relief - Amends the Emergency Housing Act of 1975 to rewrite such act as the Homeowners' Emergency Relief Act. Directs the Secretary to make emergency mortgage relief payments to mortgagees on behalf of certain delinquent mortgagors when, for three consecutive months, the amount of delinquent mortgage loans exceeds a specified percentage of the amount of all loans accounted for in the mortgage delinquency series maintained by the Federal Home Loan Bank Board. Provides for the discontinuation and reinstitution of such assistance program depending on such deliquency rate condition. Lists the conditions for assistance eligibility, which include requirements that: (1) the mortgage is not federally insured under the National Housing Act; (2) the mortgagor has suffered a substantial reduction in income as a result of circumstances beyond the mortgagor's control which render the mortgagor unable to make full mortgage payments; and (3) the Secretary has determined that assistance is necessary to avoid foreclosure and that it is likely that the mortgagor will be able to resume full mortgage payments within 24 months, commence repaying such assistance at a designated time, and pay the mortgage in full by its maturity date. Limits: (1) the amount of mortgage assistance payments to an amount necessary to supplement the amount the mortgagor is capable of contributing; and (2) the length of such payments to 12 months plus any period of default, with a 12-month extension authorized. Directs the Secretary to establish procedures for the periodic review of the mortgagor's financial circumstances to determine whether such payments should be terminated or adjusted. Declares that all assistance payments shall be secured by a lien on the property and repayable on terms prescribed by the Secretary. Sets forth the authority of the Secretary to recapture such assistance. States that a previously assisted morgagor shall be eligible for renewed assistance only if such mortgagor has made full mortgage payments for at least 12 months after the previous assistance was terminated. Limits the aggregate amount of assistance the Secretary is authorized to provide over the duration of assistance contracts. Prohibits the Secretary from entering such contracts after September 30, 1983. Requires the Secretary and specified agencies to waive or relax limitation pertaining to the operations of certain mortgagees and financial institutions with respect to mortgage delinquencies in order to encourage forebearance in residential mortgage loan foreclosure. Requires the Secretary to report to Congress every 60 days prior to October 1, 1983, on: (1) the rate of delinqencies and foreclosures in various housing markets; (2) the prospects of voluntary forebearance by mortgagees in such areas; (3) Government actions to encourage such forebearance and to provide assistance under this title; and (4) the default status of mortgages on multifamily properties with recommendations on caring and avoiding such defaults. Directs the Secretary to study and report on the use of alternative mortgage delinquency series under this title.
United States · United States Congress · 4 March 1982
Establishes in the Department of State an Assistant Secretary of State for Language Services to be the head of the Bureau of Language Services. Sets forth the duties of the Assistant Secretary.
United States · United States Congress · 4 March 1982
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the President should instruct the U.S. representatives at the arms reduction talks to inform the Soviets that: (1) the United States is willing to reduce its total strategic nuclear delivery vehicles and its total MIRVed launchers, ballistic missiles, and ICBM's by specified numbers if the Soviet Union will make corresponding reductions in its strategic force levels; and (2) each country should begin the reductions immediately and that the reductions should be verifiable. States that both countries should agree to a mutual ban on testing and deploying: (1) intercontinental and intermediate range ballistic missiles with new reentry vehicles; and (2) cruise missiles armed with multiple warheads. Expresses the sense of the Congress that the President should propose to the Soviet Union at the intermediate range nuclear weapons negotiations that: (1) both countries agree to a limit on the number of such weapons; (2) such limit be reduced by 50 percent by 1990 and by an additional 25 percent by 1992; and (3) both countries agree to eliminate all such weapons from Europe by 1994.
United States · United States Congress · 2 March 1982
Productivity Incentive Act of 1982 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow an income tax credit equal to five percent of the payments made by a taxpayer to an employee under a productivity incentive plan. Defines "productivity incentive plan" as a written plan which provides bonuses to employees resulting from increases in a company's productivity or cost-savings.
United States · United States Congress · 2 March 1982
Expresses the sense of the Congress that funding for community service employment programs for senior citizens under title V of the Older Americans Act of 1965 for FY 1983 and subsequent fiscal years should be provided at levels sufficient to maintain or increase the number of employment positions provided under such programs.
United States · United States Congress · 24 February 1982
Homeowners' Emergency Relief Act of 1982 - Amends the Emergency Housing Act of 1975 to direct the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to make emergency mortgage relief payments for certain mortgagors when, for three consecutive months, the amount of delinquent mortgage loans exceeds a specified percentage of the amount of all mortgage loans accounted for in the mortgage delinquency series maintained by the Federal Home Loan Bank Board. Directs the Board to submit delinquency information to the Secretary and Congress monthly. Provides for the discontinuation and resumption of such assistance program depending on such delinquency rate condition. Lists conditions for assistance eligibility which include requirements that: (1) the mortgage is not federally insured under title II of the National Housing Act; (2) the mortgagor has suffered a substantial reduction in income as a result of circumstances beyond the mortgagor's control which render the mortgagor unable to make full mortgage payments; and (3) the Secretary has determined that assistance is necessary to avoid foreclosure and that it is likely that the mortgagor will be able to resume full mortgage payments within 24 months, commence repaying such assistance at a designated time, and pay the mortgage in full by its maturity date. Limits: (1) the amount of mortgage assistance payments to an amount necessary to supplement the amount the mortgagor is capable of contributing; and (2) the length of such payments to 12 months plus any period of default, with a 12-month extension authorized. Directs the Secretary to establish procedures for the periodic review of the mortgagor's financial circumstances to determine whether such payments should be terminated or adjusted. Declares that all assistance payments shall be secured by a lien on the property and repayable on terms prescribed by the Secretary. Sets forth the authority of the Secretary to recapture such assistance. States that a previously assisted mortgagor shall be eligible for renewed assistance only if such mortgagor has made full mortgage payments for at least 12 months after the previous assistance was terminated. Limits the aggregate amount of assistance the Secretary is authorized to provide over the duration of assistance contracts. Prohibits the Secretary from entering such contracts after September 30, 1983. Requires the Secretary and specified agencies to waive or relax limitations pertaining to the operations of certain mortgagees and financial institutions with respect to mortgage delinquencies in order to encourage forebearance in residential mortgage loan foreclosure. Requires the Secretary to report to Congress every 60 days prior to October 1, 1983, on: (1) the rate of delinquencies and foreclosures in various housing markets; (2) the prospects of voluntary forebearance by mortgagees in such areas; (3) Government actions to encourage such forebearance and to provide assistance under this title; and (4) the default status of mortgages on multifamily properties with recommendations on remedying and avoiding such defaults. Directs the Secretary to study, and report to Congress on, the use of alternative mortgage delinquency series under this title.
United States · United States Congress · 24 February 1982
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission should take no action to accelerate the decontrol of wellhead natural gas prices.
United States · United States Congress · 24 February 1982
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the problem of Americans missing because of the Vietnam war should be resolved as soon as possible. Urges the President to: (1) take actions to ensure the release of all Americans who remain captive; and (2) obtain from Vietnam, Laos, and Kampuchea a complete accounting of all the Americans who are missing, including a returning of the remains of the dead.
United States · United States Congress · 24 February 1982
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the executive branch should begin to coordinate and improve its projections and analysis of world population, resources, and environmental trends as outlined in the Global 2000 study.
United States · United States Congress · 23 February 1982
Home Mortgage Capital Stability Act - Amends the Federal Deposit Insurance Act to authorize the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation to purchase capital participation notes from, and make earnings stabilization payments to, any insured bank determined eligible under this Act. Limits eligibility for such assistance to any insured bank: (1) whose net worth is less than two percent of its assets; (2) which has sustained earnings losses for any two consecutive quarters during a specified time period, althoug its prospects for long term viability remain reasonably good; and (3) at least 20 percent of whose loan portfolio consists of mortgages secured by property occupied by a one-to-four-family residence or by individual condominium or cooperative units. Prescribes the requirements of any assistance agreement between the Corporation and such a bank, including a requirement that at least 50 percent of annual net new deposits be used to issue mortgages to first-time home buyers for condominium or cooperative units or for property occupied by a one-to-four-family residence. Requires the capital participation notes purchased by the Corporation from an insured bank to be in an amount equal to the difference between such bank's net worth and two percent of its assets. Requires that all amounts received from the sale of capital participation notes be used to increase such bank's net worth. Permits the Corporation, during the two-year period following its purchase of such notes, to make quarterly earnings stabilization payments to such a bank in an amount equal to the earnings losses incurred by the bank during the previous quarter. Allows continued earnings stabilization payments after such two-year period only if the Corporation certifies that the continued earnings losses involved are caused by general market conditions and not by the banks's own actions. Requires an insured bank to begin repaying the Corporation the amounts received plus interest after its net worth reaches three percent of its assets or five years have passed since it first received assistance. Sets the total annual repayment amount at not less than half the bank's net income after taxes. Prohibits such a bank with a stock form of ownership from paying dividends to its shareholders while it owes any amount to the Corporation. Amends the National Housing Act and the Federal Credit Union Act to authorize the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation and the National Credit Union Administration Board to provide similar assistance to insured savings and loan associations and Federal credit unions in similar circumstances. Establishes in the Treasury a Home Mortgage Capital Stability Fund for use as a revolving fund by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Federal Home Loan Bank Board, and the National Credit Union Administration for the purposes of this Act. Requires quarterly reports to each House of Congress by each of such users. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 22 February 1982
Ocean and Coastal Resources Management and Development Block Grant Act - Establishes within the Treasury an Ocean and Coastal Resources Management and Development Fund. Limits the total amount payable into the Fund during any fiscal year. Directs the Secretary of Commerce to use specified portions of such funds to: (1) carry out the National Sea Grant College Program; and (2) provide national ocean and coastal resources management and development block grants to each coastal State. Requires such States to report specified information to the Secretary before receiving such grants. Sets forth the formula by which the Secretary shall determine the amount of such grants. Restricts the use of such grants to specified activities. Requires States receiving such grants to submit to the Secretary an assessment of the expenditure of such funds.
United States · United States Congress · 10 February 1982
Defense Industrial Base Revitalization Act - Amends the Defense Production Act of 1950 to direct the President to take immediate action to assist in the modernization of industries related to defense. Limits such assistance to small and medium-sized businesses unless national security requires otherwise. Directs the Secretary of Defense to determine immediately and semiannually which industries should be given priority and the type of assistance which would be most helpful. Directs the President to assist persons expanding the domestic capability to produce or process critical and strategic materials. Sets forth the terms of such assistance, including qualification through public solicitation and the President's right to refuse delivery of items exceeding market price. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1983-1987. Permits the President to utilize the borrowing authority of the Treasury as specified and to use unobligated funds in Department of Defense appropriations. Directs the President to implement a national program to train workers in skills necessary in key defense industries. Makes such assistance available through State vocational education programs in States with previously approved plans for a five-year program of skills training. Requires the States to make contributions to such program in specified percentages to qualify for extensions of such program. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1983-1987 for such purpose. Directs the President to implement a grant program to assist institutions of higher education in obtaining and installing modern equipment to train scientific and technical personnel needed in the key industries. Sets forth the terms of such assistance, including application procedures, limits on grants, and the requirement that such equipment be purchased through competitive bidding. Requires such equipment to be of U.S. origin. Authorizes appropriations for such purpose for FY 1983-1987. Directs the Comptroller General to monitor this program and submit an annual report to Congress. Requires each executive department and agency to follow the principle of geographical dispersal to the degree possible in constructing any Government-owned industrial facility. Directs such departments and agencies to continuously assess the capability of the defense industrial base to satisfy near-term and increased mobilization production requirements. Increases the maximum obligation of any guaranteeing agency for loans necessary to prevent personal insolvency or bankruptcy that would impede the production and delivery of materials or the performance of services for the national defense. Decreases from 60 to 30 days the period during which the appropriate committees of Congress must be notified of certain proposed loans before automatic approval. Permits such loans to be made immediately if both Houses adopt a concurrent resolution of approval. Extends to September 30, 1987, the termination date of certain provisions of the Defense Production Act of 1950, including certain priorities, allocations, and expansion of productive capacity and supply provisions. Repeals the National Commission on Supplies and Shortages Act of 1974.
United States · United States Congress · 10 February 1982
States that U.S. policy should encourage parties to the El Salvadoran conflict to: (1) begin cease-fire negotiations under international supervision; and (2) pursue a political settlement that would include open and free elections under international supervision.
United States · United States Congress · 9 February 1982
Amends the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1981 to extend by five months (until September 30, 1982) the period within which an individual must have become a full-time student at a postsecondary educational institution in order to receive, after July 1982, child's insurance benefits on the basis of student status under title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act.
United States · United States Congress · 8 February 1982
Declares that any action by the United Nations to prevent a democratic state from exercising its rights to participate in the United Nations will seriously and harmfully affect congressional support for the United Nations.
United States · United States Congress · 3 February 1982
Requires the Office of Personnel Management to provide a 30-day period each year during which Federal employees may transfer enrollments between health benefit plans.
United States · United States Congress · 2 February 1982
Amends the Federal criminal code to require the United States Parole Commission to impose as a condition of parole that the parolee consent to allow Federal, State, or local law enforcement officers to make warrantless searches of his person, residence, or property. Directs the Attorney General to impose as a condition to designating an alternative place of confinement or to extending the limits of confinement, that the prisoner consent to warrantless searches of his person or property. Requires the Commission and the Bureau of Prisons to distribute routinely to a State and local law enforcement agency upon request information regarding parolees and prisoners who reside or work in such agency's jurisdiction.
United States · United States Congress · 2 February 1982
Extends congratulations from the Congress to the Italian Government and its antiterrorist police forces for the successful rescue of Brigadier General James L. Dozier. Extends to General Dozier and his family best wishes for a quick recovery and return to normal life.
United States · United States Congress · 29 January 1982
Expresses the opposition of Congress to the imposition of a five percent withholding of tax requirement, or any other withholding requirement, for interest-bearing bank accounts or dividend receipts.
United States · United States Congress · 27 January 1982
Amends title XVI (Supplemental Security Income) of the Social Security Act to exclude burial plots and burial insurance policies from the determination of an SSI applicant's resources.
United States · United States Congress · 26 January 1982
Amends the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1981 to extend by two months (until June 30, 1982) the period within which an individual must have become a full-time student at a postsecondary educational institution in order to continue to receive, after July 1982, child's insurance benefits on the basis of student status under title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act.
United States · United States Congress · 25 January 1982
Amends the Federal criminal code to require the United States Parole Commission to make available to a State and local law enforcement agency upon request information regarding parolees under the jurisdiction of the Commission, who have been convicted of Federal crimes involving violence to persons or damage to property, and who reside in such agency's jurisdiction.
United States · United States Congress · 25 January 1982
Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act to prohibit the termination of an individual's disability benefits before a final administrative decision to terminate the individual's entitlement has been made, unless current medical evidence substantiates the change in such individual's medical condition which is the basis for benefit termination.
United States · United States Congress · 16 December 1981
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to repeal the special rules for the leasing of depreciable business property between corporations. Allows the election of a 20-percent refundable investment tax credit in lieu of depreciation for certain companies that have a net operating loss for the taxable year.
United States · United States Congress · 16 December 1981
Standards for State Product Liability Tort Litigation Act - Declares that each State has authority to adopt legislation relating to product liability tort law in accordance with specified basic standards set forth in this Act. Establishes, as an independent body within the Department of Commerce, the Standards for Product Liability Tort Law Review Panel to review State product liability legislation to determine whether such legislation is in accordance with the basic standards. Authorizes appropriations for the panel. Declares that State legislation is in accordance with the basic standards, and hence an "approved State plan," if the Review Panel determines that such legislation provides for: (1) a product liability cause of action; (2) a statute of limitations; (3) a state of the art defense; (4) court appointment of expert witnesses; (5) comparative responsibility; and (6) the treatment of workplace injuries, in accordance with this Act. States that the product liability cause of action provided by this Act shall be in lieu of all existing causes of action for damage as a result of bodily injury caused by a product. Sets forth Review Panel procedures. Subjects a declaration by the Review Panel that a State plan is not in accordance with the basic standards to judicial review in the United States courts of appeals. States that if the Review Panel declares that a State does not have an approved State plan, an alternative plan for product liability, under which the product liability cause of action shall be in lieu of all existing causes of action for damages resulting from both bodily injury and injury to property caused by a product, shall take effect in that State. Stipulates that this Act is not a grant of Federal jurisdiction over actions for product liability benefits.
United States · United States Congress · 15 December 1981
Orphan Drug Act - Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to promulgate regulations to exempt from such Act drugs intended solely for drug treatment investigations. Defines "drug treatment investigation" as an investigation of a drug which involves human participants with a rare disease or condition. Establishes in the Department of Health and Human Services an interagency committee known as the Committee on Orphan Drug Development. Makes it the function of such committee to promote the development of drugs for rare diseases or conditions (orphan drugs). Requires the Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to submit to the Committee an annual report on the rare disease and condition research activities of NIH. Requires the Committee to report by June 1 of each year to the appropriate congressional committees on its activities and the results of its evaluations, including the report submitted by NIH. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a tax credit for qualified experimental expenses incurred while researching orphan drugs.
United States · United States Congress · 14 December 1981
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to prohibit a business expense deduction for advertisements placed with a foreign broadcast station and directed to a market in the United States if a similar deduction is denied in the country in which such station is located for an advertisement placed with a U.S. broadcast station and directed to a market in that country.
United States · United States Congress · 11 December 1981
Amends the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1981 to extend by five months (until September 30, 1982) the period within which an individual must have become a full-time student at a postsecondary educational institution in order to receive, after July 1982, child's insurance benefits on the basis of student status under title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act. Extends by one year (through August 1986) the period during which such benefits may be paid to an individual so qualified.
United States · United States Congress · 11 December 1981
Expands the membership of the Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations to include three elected school board officials from different States.
United States · United States Congress · 10 December 1981
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the President should instruct the U.S. delegation to the February meeting of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights to tell the Commission that the Soviet Union should stop harassing Soviet Jews and should allow its citizens to practice their religion and to emigrate. Urges the Soviet Union to comply with its human rights obligations. Urges the President to: (1) express, to the Soviet Union, U.S. opposition to harassment of Soviet citizens and to restrictions on emigration; and (2) reiterate that the United States will consider the extent to which other nations honor their commitments under international law when evaluating its relations with such nations.
United States · United States Congress · 8 December 1981
Fair Practices in Automotive Products Act - Title I: Domestic Content Requirements for Motor Vehicles - Sets forth for all motor vehicle manufacturers which produce over 100,000 motor vehicles for ultimate retail sale in the United States "minimum domestic content ratios" (the domestic value, including labor and parts, of the manufacturer's production costs of all automotive products sold in the United States). Requires all vehicle manufacturers producing more than 50,000 motor vehicles for sale in the United States to provide information to the Secretary of Transportation for the purpose of administering this requirement. Authorizes the imposition of import restrictions on manufacturers violating such standards. Title II: Unfair and Deceptive Practices by Vehicle Manufacturers - Defines as an unfair method of competition and deceptive act or practice under the Federal Trade Commission Act the refusal of any vehicle manufacturer to determine whether parts produced in the United States by a parts manufacturer satisfy reasonable replacement part standards established by the vehicle manufacturer. Grants the Federal Trade Commission rulemaking authority to administer this title.
United States · United States Congress · 19 November 1981
Amends the Currency and Foreign Transactions Reporting Act to allow United States Customs officials to search for currency in the course of their presently authorized search for contraband articles.
United States · United States Congress · 19 November 1981
Amends the Currency and Foreign Transactions Reporting Act to allow United States Customs officials to search for currency in the course of their presently authorized search for contraband articles.
United States · United States Congress · 19 November 1981
Amends the Currency and Foreign Transactions Reporting Act to authorize the Secretary of the Treasury to pay a reward to any individual who provides original information that leads to the recovery of a criminal fine, civil penalty, or forfeiture, which exceeds $50,000, for any violation of such Act. Authorizes appropriations as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this Act.