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United States · Official source
2,451 records where Rep. Lancaster, H. Martin [D-NC-3] is listed as a sponsor, author, or other actor. Search with topics and years
United States · United States Congress · 25 March 1987
Grants a Federal charter to the 82nd Airborne Division Association, Incorporated.
United States · United States Congress · 25 March 1987
Designates the week of August 23 through August 29, 1987, as National CPR Awareness Week.
United States · United States Congress · 25 March 1987
Designates the month of October 1987 as Computer Learning Month.
United States · United States Congress · 25 March 1987
Acknowledges the magnanimity of the Marshall plan and the efforts of the Marshall Foundation in Lexington, Virginia, to continue the values for which George C. Marshall stood, and asks all Americans to rededicate themselves to the ideals which George C. Marshall represented. Welcomes the publication on June 5, 1987, of the fourth volume of the official biography of George C. Marshall. Designates the month of June 1987 as George C. Marshall Month.
United States · United States Congress · 25 March 1987
Designates May 5, 1987, as National Teacher Day.
United States · United States Congress · 19 March 1987
Family Welfare Reform Act of 1987 - Declares that, hereafter, the Aid to Families with Dependent Children program (part A of title IV of the Social Security Act) shall be known as the Family Support Program and the aid paid to needy families with dependent children shall be called family support supplements. Title I: National Education, Training, and Work (Network) Program - Amends the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program to require States to establish an education, training, and work program (program) which helps needy children and parents avoid long-term welfare dependence. Requires private sector involvement in planning and Program design to assure that participants are trained for jobs that will actually be available in the community. Requires adult recipients of family support supplements to participate in the Program if it is available in the political subdivision where he or she resides and State resources otherwise permit. Directs the State to fully inform such recipients of the opportunities offered under the Program. Lists recipients who are exempt from mandatory participation in the Program, including individuals who: (1) are ill, incapacitated, pregnant, or age 60 or older; (2) are needed at home due to the illness or incapacity of another family member; (3) work 20 or more hours a week; or (4) care for a child under age six, but such exception shall apply to only one parent in two-parent families. Authorizes States to require the participation of an otherwise exempt parent or relative of a child under age six if day or infant care is guaranteed by the State and participation is on a part-time basis. Directs States to actively encourage exempt supplement recipients to participate in the Program. Provides that if the adult family caretaker is attending a school or a course in vocational or technical training designed to lead to employment when he or she would otherwise commence participation in the Program, such attendance may constitute satisfactory participation in the Program, though the costs of such school or training shall not be covered by the Family Support Program. Directs States to give priority in Program participation to families: (1) with teenage parents and parents who were under age 18 when their first child was born; (2) that have been receiving family support supplements continuously for two or more years; and (3) with children under age six. Requires States to make an initial assessment of the educational needs, skills, and employability of each Program participant and on that basis develop an employability plan for the participant's family which, to the maximum extent possible, reflects the participant's preferences. Requires each participant to then negotiate a contract with the State which specifies the duration of his or her participation as well as the activities the State will conduct and services it will provide in the course of such participation. Directs the State to assign a case manager to each participating family who is responsible for obtaining, on the family's behalf, any other services which may assure the family's effective participation. Requires State Programs to provide a broad range of services and activities, including: (1) high school or equivalent education; (2) remedial education; (3) job search, training and placement services; and (4) counseling, information, and referral for participants experiencing personal and family problems which may be affecting their ability to work. Requires that children in participating families be encouraged to engage in the education or training activities available under the Program and be provided with additional services and incentives designed to keep them in school and help them obtain marketable job skills. Requires each work assignment to be consistent with the physical capacity, skills, experience, health, family responsibilities, and place of residence of each participant. Prohibits work assignments which displace a currently employed worker or position, impair existing contracts for services or collective bargaining agreements, or fill the job of a worker who has been laid off or fired. Establishes a complaint procedure for employees who allege that such prohibitions have been violated. Prohibits States from requiring participants to work at less than the minimum wage or accept a job which would result in a loss of income to the participant or his or her family. Requires that Program activities be coordinated with Job Training Partnership Act programs and any other relevant employment, training, and education programs available in the State. Authorizes any State to institute a work supplementation program under which such State reserves that sums which would otherwise be payable to program participants as family support supplements and uses such sums instead to subsidize jobs for such participants. Authorizes any State to establish a community work experience program to provide experience and training for individuals not otherwise able to obtain employment. Limits such programs to projects which serve a useful public purpose utilizing, if possible, the participant's prior training, experience, and skills. Limits community work program participants to work or training (or both) for up to 12 months or unpaid work experience or training for up to three months. Requires that: (1) a reassessment be made and a new employability plan developed for participants who do not obtain employment after participation in a community work program; and (2) other Program activities be coordinated with the community work program so that job placement has priority over participation in such program. Prohibits an individual from participating in job search without participating in one or more other Program services or activities if job search has continued for eight weeks or longer without the individual obtaining a job. Provides that when a mandatory Program participant fails without good cause to comply with any requirement imposed on his or her participation in such Program: (1) such participant's needs shall not be taken into account in determining the family support supplement; or (2) supplements shall be denied to all family members until the participant complys. Continues sanctions for a minimum of three months if the participant failed to comply on a previous occasion. Directs States, after three months of a participant's noncompliance, to remind the participant in writing of his or her option to end the sanction. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to: (1) publish final regulations and performance standards for such Programs within one year of this Act's enactment; (2) develop a legislative proposal for modifying the Federal AFDC matching rate so that it reflects the relative effectiveness of the various States in carrying out the Programs; and (3) provide for the continuing evaluation of State Programs and the conduct of research on making such Programs more effective. Directs the Secretary to establish uniform reporting requirements requiring each State to periodically furnish Program information to the Secretary, including the average monthly number and types of families assisted under each Program service and activity, the amounts expended on such families, and the length of time for which such families are assisted. Sets the federal matching rate at 75 percent of the expenditures for the operation and administration of the State Program if at least three-fifths of the non-Federal share is contributed in cash and at 50 percent if less than such amount is in cash. Broadens the definition of a "dependent child" to authorize States to provide benefits for individuals under age 21 who are regularly attending a course of higher, secondary, or primary education or vocational or technical training. Authorizes the Secretary to prescribe a standard for determining whether an individual is employed at the time of his or her application for family support supplements which is based upon whether or not the applicant has performed a specific number of hours of work within a designated period. Amends title XI (General Provisions) of the Act to authorize States to conduct demonstration projects testing financial incentives and interdisciplinary approaches to reducing school dropouts, encouraging skill development, and avoiding the welfare dependence of children receiving family support supplements. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to States to assist in financing such projects. Title II: Day Care, Transportation, and Other Work-Related Expenses - Requires States to either: (1) provide day care for dependent children and incapacitated individuals living in the same home as a dependent child; or (2) reimburse the caretaker relative for the cost of such care, if and to the extent that such care is directly related to an individual's participation in the Program, reasonably necessary for such participation, and cost-effective. Provides coverage for certain transportation and other work-related costs. Continues day care coverage for one year after a family's eligibility for support supplements ceases, but permits States to reduce such coverage on the basis of a family's ability to pay. Directs States to regularly assess the availability and reliability of child care services available to Program participants, and, when necessary, develop new child care resources. Title III: Real Work Incentives - Excludes, in determining a family's eligibility for supplement payments: (1) the earned income of students who are not full-time employees; (2) $100 plus 25 percent of any family member's monthly earned income; (3) $100 of monthly family support payments; and (4) earned income credits payable to the family under the Internal Revenue Code. Prohibits application of the $100 and 25 percent earned income exclusion in the case of individuals who, without good cause: (1) terminate their employment or reduce their income; (2) refuse a bona fide offer of employment; or (3) fail to make a timely report of their monthly earned income. Authorizes States to increase the amount of an individual's earned income excluded under this Act in making family support supplement eligibility determinations. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude any benefit provided under any Federal, State, or local governmental assistance program for the support of the individual or for maintenance of the household in determining whether a taxpayer is providing such support or maintenance. Title IV: Transitional Services for Families - Requires a State to continue a family's Medicaid (title XIX of the Act) eligibility for one year (a State may provide a two-year continuance of such eligibility) after the family's eligibility for family support supplements ends, unless such eligibility was terminated due to fraud or the imposition of a sanction. Terminates extended Medicaid coverage if the family ceases to include a dependent child or a family member engages in certain conduct which would warrant sanctions under the Family Support Program. Title V: Child Support Enforcement Amendments - Amends part D (Child Support and Establishment of Paternity) of title IV of the Act to direct States to: (1) establish binding guidelines for child support award determinations (currently, such guidelines need not be binding); and (2) periodically review and update all child support orders to ensure that they continue to comply with child support award guidelines. Requires States to abide by State procedural due process requirements when updating child support awards and notify absent parents of their right to contest the award. Requires that, to the extent possible, the paternity of a child be established at birth. Excludes the cost of paternity determinations as well as the cost of certain interstate child support enforcement projects from the computation of the incentive payment to a State for collecting child support payments. Amends title XI (General Provisions) of the Act to authorize States to conduct demonstration projects identifying and testing possible solutions to problems arising in connection with visitation by absent parents. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to States to assist in financing such projects. Requires the Department of Health and Human Services to establish time limits within which a State must respond to requests for assistance in locating absent parents or establishing paternity, and begin proceedings to establish child support awards. Makes it mandatory that States establish an automatic data processing and information retrieval system for the child support enforcement and establishment of paternity determination process. Title VI: Pro-Family Welfare Policies - Requires States to pay family support supplements with respect to dependent children of unemployed parents in two-parent families. Includes within the definition "quarter of work", for the purpose of determining a family's eligibility for assistance, the parent's: (1) full-time attendance as an elementary or secondary school student; (2) full-time attendance in a vocational or technical training course; and (3) participation in a Job Training Partnership Act education or training program. Directs States to assign an individual case manager to each family receiving family support supplements which is headed by a minor parent. Requires unmarried minor parents to live with a parent, legal guardian, other adult relative, or in a foster home, maternity home, or other supportive living arrangement, unless the State determines that, given specified circumstances, it is impossible or inappropriate for them to do so. Treats the minor parent and minor parent's children as a family separate from the parent and parent's children with whom the minor parent resides in determining the minor parent's eligibility for supplement payments. Authorizes States to condition a minor parent's eligibility on his or her: (1) part-time school attendance; or (2) training in parenting and family living skills. Sets the Federal share of the cost of providing case management services for minor parents at 75 percent. Title VII: Benefit Improvements - Directs each State to re-evaluate annually its need and payment standard under the Family Support Program, giving particular attention to whether the amount it has assumed to be necessary for shelter is adequate. Sets forth reporting requirements. Increases the Federal share of a State's Family Support program costs if such State increases the level of family support supplement payments after FY 1987. Sets a mandatory State Family Support program benefit level to be implemented five years after this Act's enactment. Title VIII: Miscellaneous Provisions - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Secretary of Agriculture to appoint an advisory group to make recommendations to the President and the Congress within one year of this Act's enactment regarding the coordination of the food stamp program under the Food Stamp Act of 1977 and the Family Support Program. Directs the Secretary to establish uniform reporting requirements requiring each State to periodically furnish the Secretary with information regarding the implementation of the Family Support Program.
United States · United States Congress · 19 March 1987
Marine Resources Investment and Economic Competitiveness Act of 1987 - Expands coverage of the National Sea Grant College and Program Act to include Great Lakes resources. (Current law covers ocean and coastal resources.) Authorizes the Secretary of Commerce (the Secretary) to establish a marine policy fellowship program for the placement of qualified graduate students with the legislative or executive branches of the U.S. Government. Amends the Sea Grant Improvement Act of 1976 to authorize the Secretary to make grants of up to 100 percent to carry out the strategic marine research program. Prohibits granting more than ten percent of the total funds appropriated for any fiscal year to persons in any one State, except for centers of excellence designated as provided in this Act. Requires the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere (the Under Secretary), within one year of enactment of this Act, and every three years thereafter, to develop and publish a report identifying and describing priority areas for strategic marine research. Requires submission of the report to the Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries in the House of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation in the Senate. Prohibits the Under Secretary from making such grants until 45 days after receipt of such report by the committees. Authorizes the Secretary, upon making certain findings, to designate centers of excellence in strategic marine research. Requires the Secretary to establish and administer a program of strategic marine research postdoctoral fellowships. Prohibits, except for such centers of excellence, more than ten percent of the fellowship awards being in use at any one sea grant program in the same fiscal year. Prohibits use of a fellowship to support an individual at the institution where that individual received a graduate degree. Authorizes the Secretary to enter into contracts and make grants for specified purposes. Sets eligibility requirements. (Current law requires the Secretary to support a sea grant fellowship program.) Establishes an independent committee to be known as the sea grant review panel, superseding the existing sea grant review panel, within 90 days after the enactment of this Act. Provides for the duties, membership, terms, and powers of such panel. Authorizes appropriations of specified amounts for each of FY 1988 through 1992. Provides for reversion of unused grant funds to the Secretary for use in other grants under the same provision as the original grant. Requires the Secretary, within one year of the enactment of this Act, to prescribe rules and regulations necessary to carry out provisions of this Act regarding the strategic marine research program. Repeals the provision of the current law dealing with the sea grant international program. Repeals provisions relating to a biennial report by the Secretary to the Congress and the President regarding the national sea grant program.
United States · United States Congress · 19 March 1987
Strategic Ocean and Coastal Resources Act of 1987 - Title I: National Sea Grant College Program - Amends the National Sea Grant College Program Act (the Sea Grant Act) to revise certain findings and definitions under such Act. Directs the Secretary of Commerce to identify those ocean and coastal resources research areas that are to be considered "strategic research areas" for purposes of the making of grants for research in such areas. Requires the Secretary to submit to the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee and the House Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee, on an annual basis, a report containing the rationale for identifying each strategic research area. Directs the Secretary to make grants to any project that is: (1) within a sea grant program; and (2) involves a strategic research area. Authorizes appropriations through FY 1992 for such grants. Authorizes the Secretary, as part of the sea grant fellowship program, to award sea grant fellowships to support the placement of qualified individuals in positions with the Federal Government for a period of up to one year. Revises provisions concerning the composition and terms of office of the Sea Grant Review Panel. Authorizes appropriations through FY 1992. Directs the Secretary to establish a postdoctoral fellowship program under which grants are made to support strategic research and to provide supplemental education and training in any field related to ocean and coastal resources for which the Secretary considers there to be a national need. Outlines provisions concerning the application for and the awarding of such fellowships. Authorizes appropriations through FY 1992 for such purpose. Amends the Sea Grant Act to direct the Secretary to provide annual grants to enable eligible institutions to improve and support curriculum offerings in marine affairs and resource management at the graduate level, to support graduate students of such studies through scholarships and fellowships, and to increase faculty and staff involvement in such programs. Defines "eligible institution" and sets forth grant application and award provisions. Requires each institution receiving such a grant to report to the Secretary annually and within 90 days after the termination of the grant with regard to the application of grant funds. Authorizes appropriations through FY 1992 for the making of such grants. Title II: International Sea Grant Program - Amends the Sea Grant Program Improvement Act of 1976 to include as objectives under such Act various goals which stress the need for international cooperation, technology transfer, and data exchange between the United States and foreign nations with regard to research and educational activity on important marine resources. Extends the authorization of appropriations under such Act through FY 1992.
United States · United States Congress · 19 March 1987
Government Contractor Whistleblower Protection Act of 1987 - Prohibits a Federal contractor from taking reprisal actions against its officers or employees for disclosing information to a Federal agency regarding performance of a contract with such agency which indicates: (1) a violation of law; or (2) mismanagement, gross waste of funds, abuse of authority, or a danger to public health or safety. Sets forth civil penalties and remedies for violations of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 19 March 1987
Agricultural Export Reserve Act of 1987 - Directs the Secretary of Agriculture, in consultation with the United States Trade Representative, to carry out an export expansion program for the 1987 through 1991 marketing years. Establishes an agricultural surplus Export Reserve for such program. Permits such Reserve to be used for barter for strategic and other stockpiled materials, either for direct ownership or for storage use as collateral. Sets forth policy guidelines for such Reserve, including a prohibition on its use to expand exports to any nation with which the United States does not have full diplomatic relations or against which the President has imposed a trade embargo. Establishes the Export Reserve Advisory Council to advise the Secretary and the Trade Representative on how best to use such Reserve. Requires semi-annual reports to the appropriate congressional committees.
United States · United States Congress · 19 March 1987
Authorizes county and municipal governments to designate mailing addresses.
United States · United States Congress · 19 March 1987
Repeals specified provisions of the Tax Reform Act of 1986 that eliminated income averaging. Provides that the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (IRC) shall be applied and administered as if such provisions had not been enacted. Amends the IRC to permit qualified farmers to use income averaging. Defines "qualified farmer" as a person: (1) actively engaged in the trade or business of farming; (2) whose gross income for the three preceding taxable years is at least 50 percent attributable to farming; (3) whose farming business or trade has been substantially affected in the first preceding taxable year by a natural disaster in the United States or by a major disaster or emergency so designated by the President; and (4) whose farming enterprise has sustained, as a result of such disasters, at least a 30 percent loss of normal per acre or per animal production, based on specified criteria.
United States · United States Congress · 19 March 1987
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to require the Internal Revenue Service to reimburse State and local law enforcement agencies that provide information which substantially contributes to the recovery of Federal taxes. Limits the amount of such reimbursement to ten percent of the sum ultimately recovered.
United States · United States Congress · 19 March 1987
Designates the week of May 10 through May 16, 1987, as Senior Center Week.
United States · United States Congress · 19 March 1987
Designates October 16, 1987, as World Food Day.
United States · United States Congress · 19 March 1987
Designates the week of November 15 through November 21, 1987, as Geography Awareness Week.
United States · United States Congress · 18 March 1987
Employee Educational Assistance Act of 1987 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to make permanent the income tax exclusion for employee educational assistance programs. (Present law terminates such exclusion as of December 31, 1987.) Requires, for every taxable year beginning after 1988, an annual cost of living adjustment of the maximum excludable amount. Waives the maximum excludable amount for any educational assistance furnished by certain educational institutions to graduate students engaged in teaching or research activities for such organization.
United States · United States Congress · 18 March 1987
Establishes the Veterans Administration as an executive department redesignated as the Department of Veterans' Affairs. Makes technical and conforming changes, including the redesignation of the Administrator of Veterans Affairs as the Secretary of Veterans' Affairs.
United States · United States Congress · 18 March 1987
Designates the week of September 21 through September 27, 1987, as National Historically Black Colleges Week.
United States · United States Congress · 18 March 1987
Authorizes and requests the President to designate May 3, 1987, and May 1, 1988, as Solidarity Sunday for Soviet Jewry.
United States · United States Congress · 18 March 1987
WIC Food for Life Resolution - Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) the Special Supplemental Food Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) should receive increasing appropriations until all eligible persons are being served; and (2) an outreach program should be conducted to identify persons eligible for WIC assistance.
United States · United States Congress · 18 March 1987
Designates the month of September 1987 as Partnerships in Education Month.
United States · United States Congress · 17 March 1987
Small Business Prompt Payment Act Amendments of 1987 - Revises Federal law to deem the head of a Federal agency to have received an invoice on the later of: (1) the date on which the designated office or employee of an agency actually receives it; or (2) the fifth day after the date on which a property is actually delivered, or final performance of a service is actually completed, unless the contract specifies otherwise. Makes Federal prompt payment provisions applicable to the United States Postal Service. Makes the Postmaster General responsible for issuing procurement regulations, solicitation provisions, and contract clauses. Reduces the 15-day grace period for payment of interest penalties to eight days for solicitations (other than meat products and agricultural commodities) issued before October 1, 1990. Eliminates such grace period for procurement solicitations issued on or after October 1, 1990. Requires an agency to pay a double interest penalty if: (1) the agency owes the interest penalty; (2) the interest penalty is not paid to the business concern on or after the date the penalty is due; (3) the agency does not pay the penalty within ten days after such payment is made; and (4) a written demand is made within 40 days after such payment is made. Requires regulations on interest penalties, in the case of construction contracts, to provide for the payment of interest on: (1) progress payments due for more than seven days, or a longer period if the prevailing practice in private construction contracts is to provide such longer period; and (2) amounts retained during the performance of a contract, if such amounts are not paid by the required payment date. Requires regulations on interest penalties to provide for periodic payments in the case of supply or service contracts upon: (1) the submission of an invoice for supplies delivered or services performed; and (2) acceptance of supplies or services by an authorized employee or certification of performance by such an employee. Requires Government construction contractors to include a payment provision in their agreements with their subcontractors which provides for payment in accordance with prevailing industry standards. Requires the contractor to pay a late payment interest penalty to the subcontractor at the rate applicable between the prime contractor and the Government. Specifies the calculation of time for interest penalties on discount payments. Revises agency reporting requirements on interest penalty payments to include: (1) a description of agency payment practices; and (2) an analysis by the Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization for each of the various Federal agencies on the impact of such payments on small and disadvantaged businesses. Requires the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small Business Administration to report to the congressional committees on Small Business on current Government compliance with the payment of interest penalties and the impact on small business. Requires the Chief Counsel to monitor the compliance of all agencies and of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget with interest penalty payments. Requires the modification of the Federal acquisition regulation to implement Federal prompt payment provisions.
United States · United States Congress · 17 March 1987
National Space Grant College and Fellowship Act-Establishes within the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) a national space grant college and fellowship program to provide financial and other assistance for the exploration and development of space resources. Requires such program to advise the Administrator of NASA and coordinate Federal efforts. Authorizes the Administrator to make grants or enter into contracts to assist any space grant and fellowship program, for up to 66 percent of total cost, except for special grants. Directs the Administrator to make grants or enter into contracts for up to 100 percent of costs for identified specific national needs and problems relating to space. Authorizes the Administrator to designate any institution of higher education as a space grant college if it maintains a balanced program in fields related to space and meets other qualifications. Authorizes the Administrator to designate an association or alliance as a space grant regional consortium if it is established to share research and facilities in any field related to space and meets other qualifications. Directs the Administrator to support a space grant fellowship program for educational and training assistance to graduate students in fields related to space. Directs the Administrator to establish the space grant review panel as an independent committee to advise the Administrator on implementing the program. Requires interagency cooperation among all Federal agencies with authority over matters relating to space, authorizing the sharing of personnel and facilities and requiring the sharing of information. Directs the Administrator to report biennially to the Congress and the President on the activities of the program, subject to the review of the Directors of the Office of Management and Budget and of the Office of Science and Technology Policy. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1988 through 1991.
United States · United States Congress · 17 March 1987
Federal Council on Women Act - Establishes a Federal Council on Women to: (1) collect and evaluate information with respect to any problems that are particular to women in the United States; (2) review and evaluate Federal policy related to any such problems; (3) coordinate the activities of the Council with similar activities conducted by States, local governments, and concerned organizations; and (4) make recommendations. Directs the Council to report its findings and recommendations to the Congress. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 17 March 1987
Grants a Federal charter to the Montford Point Marine Association, Incorporated.
United States · United States Congress · 12 March 1987
Small Business Preservation Act of 1987 - Amends the Small Business Act to require any procurement requirement which is not suitable for the award of Government contracts to small businesses to be set aside for exclusive competition among small businesses if the Government procurement officer has a reasonable expectation that offers will be obtained from at least two responsible small businesses that offer products of different small business concerns and that such awards will be made at reasonable prices.
United States · United States Congress · 12 March 1987
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the corporate, legal, labor, and academic communities should pursue establishment of an organization to provide pro bono legal assistance to small businesses in cases involving foreign unfair trade practices. Urges such organization to: (1) develop an outreach program to inform businesses of remedies available under U.S. trade laws; and (2) provide pro bono legal assistance to those businesses lacking resources to seek such remedies.
United States · United States Congress · 11 March 1987
Establishes the National Council for Trade and International Economic Policy in the Executive Office of the President to provide advice with respect to: (1) the integration of national and international policies relating to international trade, business policy, and other issues affecting the competitiveness of American industry; and (2) coordinating the functions of all departments and agencies of the U.S. Government to accomplish a more consistent international economic policy. Requires the Council to transmit to the Congress annual reports on the international trade and economic position of the United States. Requires the President to submit an impact statement to specified congressional committees 60 days before the effective date of any regulation, executive order, or executive agreement which may have a significant impact on domestic industries' ability to compete in domestic and international markets against foreign products. Allows the President to waive such requirement in order to serve the national interest or deal with emergency situations. Requires the respective committees of the Senate and the House of Representatives to include an impact statement with any reported bill or resolution which may have a significant impact on domestic industries' ability to compete in domestic and international markets against foreign products. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 11 March 1987
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a tax deduction for interest on refinanced indebtedness secured by a qualified residence, when the indebtedness was incurred and secured on or before August 16, 1986, but such refinancing occurred after August 16, 1986. Requires that the principal amount after refinancing not exceed the principal amount before refinancing (even though the latter, when originally incurred, exceeded the cost basis for the residence plus improvements).
United States · United States Congress · 10 March 1987
Great Smoky Mountains Wilderness Act - Designates specified lands in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in North Carolina and Tennessee as the Great Smoky Mountains Wilderness. Sets forth requirements with respect to the management of the wilderness area, including rights and easements. Provides for the settlement of all claims of Swain County, North Carolina, against the United States under the agreement of July 30, 1943, providing for construction of a road along the north shore of Fontana Reservoir. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 10 March 1987
Designates October 6, 1987, as German-American Day.
United States · United States Congress · 10 March 1987
Designates April 4, 1987, as National Catfish Day.
United States · United States Congress · 5 March 1987
Merchant Marine Decorations and Medals Act - Authorizes the Secretary of Transportation to award decorations and medals for individual acts or service in the U.S. merchant marine. Permits the Secretary of Transportation to award: (1) a Merchant Marine Distinguished Service Medal for outstanding acts beyond the line of duty; (2) a Merchant Marine Meritorious Service Medal for meritorious acts, but lacking the outstanding character required for the Merchant Marine Distinguished Service Medal; (3) a decoration or medal for service during a war or operations outside the United States under conditions of danger to life; and (4) a decoration or medal to an individual for acts of conspicuous gallantry. Permits the Secretary of Transportation to issue a Gallant Ship Award for actions during marine disasters aimed at saving lives or property. Requires consultation with the Secretary of State before issuance of an award or citation to a foreign-flag vessel. Prohibits the Secretary of Transportation from awarding more than one of any type of decoration or medal to an individual. Authorizes the Secretary of Transportation to provide at cost or authorize for manufacture and sale at reasonable prices: (1) decorations an medals for individual acts or service in the merchant marine; and (2) replacements for decorations and medals issued under a prior law. Permits the Secretary of Transportation to issue without cost a U.S. flag and a grave marker to the family of a deceased individual who served in the merchant marine in World War II or in support of the armed forces in subsequent wars or national emergencies. Establishes a civil penalty of $2,000 for unauthorized display, manufacture, possession, or sale of a decoration or medal. Repeals the Merchant Marine Medals Act.
United States · United States Congress · 5 March 1987
Amends specified provisions of Federal law relating to the refinancing of veterans' home loans to remove the requirement that a veteran must actually occupy the home in order to qualify for such refinancing.
United States · United States Congress · 5 March 1987
Directs the President to designate May 1987 as Older Americans Month.
United States · United States Congress · 5 March 1987
Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) the promotion of unrestricted family visits between related people of the United States and the Soviet Union is an essential part of American policy toward the Soviet Union; and (2) the President, the Secretary of State, and other administration members should raise the issue of family visitation at all appropriate opportunities in discussions with leaders of the Communist Party and the Government of the Soviet Union.
United States · United States Congress · 4 March 1987
Military Whistleblowers Protection Act - Amends Federal armed forces provisions relating to communications with a Member of Congress to also prohibit any person from restricting a member of the armed forces in communicating with an Inspector General, except for communications that are prohibited by statute. Prohibits retaliatory personnel actions against a member for making or preparing to make such a communication. Directs the Inspector General of the Department of Defense (or of the Department of Transportation, with respect to the Coast Guard when it is not operating as a service in the Navy) to promptly investigate any allegation that a prohibited personnel action has taken place or been threatened with respect to any communication to a Member of Congress or Inspector General complaining or disclosing information reasonably believed to evidence a violation of law, mismanagement, a gross waste of funds, an abuse of authority, or a substantial and specific danger to public health or safety. Requires the Inspector General, within ten days after completing such an investigation, to report the results to the Secretary of Defense. Allows a member, within 30 days after receipt of a copy of such investigative report, to petition the appropriate military board for correction of his or her military record concerning the matter. Entitles members to legal assistance by a judge advocate in any such matter before a military corrections board. Provides administrative procedures for the hearing of such petitions, together with appropriate corrective and disciplinary action to be taken. Provides for judicial review of any order resulting from such hearing, if petitioned for within 60 days after notice of the hearing's result. Provides a statute of limitations for the bringing of any such action by a member of the armed forces.
United States · United States Congress · 4 March 1987
Nuclear Waste Disposal Act of 1987 - Amends the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 to prohibit the Secretary of Energy from implementing nuclear waste disposal activities with respect to more than one repository. Declares that any such activities commenced (or decisions made by the Secretary) before the date of enactment of this Act shall be rescinded or terminated. Prohibits the Nuclear Regulatory Commission from authorizing the construction of more than one repository under such Act. Removes the deadlines by which the Secretary and the President must submit candidate site nominations for second repository site characterizations. Instructs the Secretary of Energy to revise the repository mission plan to reflect the provisions of this Act and to submit such revisions within six months after enactment of this Act. Amends the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 to prohibit the Secretary from expending funds from the Nuclear Waste Fund for any activity relating to a second or subsequent repository. Prohibits the Secretary from nominating any crystalline rock site for site characterization.
United States · United States Congress · 4 March 1987
Consumer Rail Equity Act - Reaffirms the intent of the Congress that the Railroad Revitalization and Regulatory Reform Act of 1976 and the Staggers Rail Act of 1980 be implemented in a manner which provides both greater competitive alternatives and adequate railroad revenues. Directs the Interstate Commerce Commission, when determining the existence or absence of effective competition, to consider only transportation competition for movement of the same commodity from the same point of origin to the same destination. States that a presumption of overall effective competition is not established by the fact that a railroad faces effective competition with respect to either a point of destination or a point of origin. Shifts the burden of proof regarding transportation rate reasonableness from the shipper to the rail carrier establishing the challenged rate. Declares that it is Federal policy to encourage and promote competitive transportation rates for domestically produced coal and other commodities in order to increase their competitive position in domestic and export markets. Directs the Commission to establish a rail cost adjustment factor which includes changes in railroad productivity, volume, and output mix. Directs the Commission to recompute and republish the Rail Cost Adjustment Factor according to prescribed guidelines. Provides that certain rail carrier rates shall be reduced to the extent of any subsequent decreases in rail cost adjustment factors. Confirms the Commission's authority to promulgate rates set forth in a specified adjudication. Includes within the standards used to determine railroad revenue adequacy: (1) identification of revenues, expenses, and investment base reasonably related to rail transportation service; (2) straight-line depreciation of assets reasonably related to rail transportation service, minus deferred tax reserves resulting from accelerated depreciation; and (3) actual cost of debt capital and reasonable estimates of the current cost of equity capital. Requires the Commission, when making revenue adequacy determinations, to consider specified indicators of a rail carrier's financial status. Requires the Commission to determine, on an annual basis, which rail carriers are earning adequate or inadequate revenues and to determine for each rail carrier the revenues required to achieve or maintain revenue adequacy. Allows (current law requires) the Commission to exempt persons from application of this Act when: (1) such application is not necessary to implement Federal transportation policy; and (2) the Commission finds there is no market dominance involved in the affected transaction. Mandates that the rates and practices application to such exempt persons shall not be considered a matter subject to the jurisdiction of the Commission. Requires any rail carrier providing service under certain line rates to participate in competitive joint rail rates through practicable interchange connections (or publish a competitive proportional rate) if requested to do so by a rail carrier (or shipper or receiver) who has an actual or practicable interchange connection. Directs the Commission, upon petition of any interested party, to require certain terminal facilities owned by a rail carrier in interstate or foreign commerce to be used by another rail carrier if the Commission finds: (1) it is in the public interest to do so; and (2) that the owner of such terminal facility will not suffer substantial impairment of its own business interests. Directs the Commission to require, upon petition by an interested party, that rail carriers enter into reciprocal switching agreements if such an agreement is in the public interest or necessary to provide alternative competitive rail service. Directs the Commission to establish reciprocal switching compensation at a level not to exceed the current percentage of the actual variable costs for such service (unless the carrier demonstrates that a higher level is reasonable and necessary). Revises railroad line abandonment procedures to provide that a rail carrier must wait one year before resubmitting a previously denied abandonment application, unless a substantial change in circumstances can be shown. Requires the Commission to hold hearings in communities affected by a proposed railroad line abandonment if requested to do so by community protestants. Requires the Commission to base its abandonment determination upon financial data regarding the facility proposed to be abandoned rather than upon financial data regarding industry-wide averages. Directs the Commission, when considering any application for a certificate of abandonment or discontinuance, to disregard the impact on traffic volume of any surcharge imposed under specified parts of this Act (unless the surcharge improves the financial performance of the line). Subjects to Commission review any State decision regarding intrastate rates, rules, and practices if a party to such State proceedings petitions for Commission review. Requires the Commission to take action on such petition within 120 days of its receipt. Authorizes the Commission to vacate a State decision found inconsistent with this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 4 March 1987
Directs the Postal Service to restore the reduced rates applicable to mailings of fewer than 5,000 copies of publications to counties adjacent to the county of publication. Limits to 20,000 the number of copies of such publications which may be mailed under reduced rates within the county of publication.
United States · United States Congress · 4 March 1987
Designates the honeybee as the national insect of the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 4 March 1987
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that Federal excise tax rates should not be increased.
United States · United States Congress · 4 March 1987
Expresses the sense of the Congress that volunteer work should be listed on employment application forms and taken into account by employers when hiring.
United States · United States Congress · 4 March 1987
Declares that the Congress applauds the recent initiative by the heads of state of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras and congratulates them on the significant contribution made by such initiative toward ending armed conflict and reinforcing democracy in Central America. Declares that the Congress supports such initiative and looks forward to the summit meeting in Guatemala as the next phase in this effort of the Central American heads of state to forge a lasting peace in Central America.
United States · United States Congress · 4 March 1987
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the Vatican should grant recognition to and establish diplomatic relations with Israel.
United States · United States Congress · 3 March 1987
Agricultural Loan Assistance Act of 1987 - Amends the Federal Deposit Insurance Act to require Federal banking agencies to permit an agricultural bank to: (1) amortize over ten years any loss on a qualified agricultural loan that the bank would otherwise be required to show on an annual financial statement for 1987 through 1991; and (2) reappraise the value of any real estate or other real or personal property that the bank acquired coincident to making a qualified agricultural loan and that it owned on January 1, 1987, and any additional property that it acquired before January 1, 1992, and to amortize over ten years any loss resulting from such reappraisal that it would otherwise be required to show on its annual financial statements. Allows such amortization only if there is no evidence that fraud or criminal abuse by the bank led to such losses.
United States · United States Congress · 3 March 1987
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a deduction for expenses related to preparation of withholding certificates. Requires that a person who filed such certificate knew it to be false or fraudulent before the imposition of civil penalties. Establishes a transition period for imposition of such penalties.
United States · United States Congress · 3 March 1987
Designates jazz as a national American treasure.
United States · United States Congress · 2 March 1987
Medicare Diabetic Foot Disease Prevention Act - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide coverage under part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) of the Medicare program for therapeutic shoes furnished to individuals with severe diabetic foot disease.