United States · United States Congress · 28 February 1985
Amends the United States Code to insert: (1) "Part C - Load Lines of Vessels;" and (2) "Part J - Measurement of Vessels." Combines the requirements of specified statutes regarding load line criteria and applies such criteria to American vessels on international voyages and domestic ocean voyages. (Applies to American-flag vessels the load line criteria of the 1966 Load Line Convention to which the United States is a signatory. Authorizes the Secretary of Transportation (Secretary of the Navy in time of war) to: (1) consider local conditions when making load line determinations; and (2) exempt vessels which operate under equivalent safety conditions. Implements the International Convention on Tonnage Measurement of Ships, 1969 to apply to American vessels the international standards of vessel measurement. (Such Convention was ratified by the United States in 1982.) Requires applicable vessels to be measured by the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating in accordance with the International Convention on Tonnage Measurement of Ships, 1969 (Convention) and this Act. Directs the Secretary to issue such vessels an International Tonnage Certificate (1969) upon completion of the measurement. Requires the Secretary to accept the tonnage and certificate of vessels of any country that complies with or approximates the provisions of the Convention. Authorizes the Secretary to inspect any vessel to verify compliance with such provisions. Sets forth civil penalties for violations of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 28 February 1985
Expresses the sense of the Congress that, in order to honor the Camp David Accords, Egypt should: (1) return its Ambassador to Israel; (2) take steps to increase trade and tourism with Israel; and (3) take steps to curb anti-Semitic statements.
United States · United States Congress · 27 February 1985
Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act to remove the limitation on the amount of outside income which a beneficiary may earn without incurring a reduction in benefits.
United States · United States Congress · 26 February 1985
Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) veterans' disability compensation payments should remain exempt from Federal income taxation; and (2) the President should reject any proposals to tax such payments.
United States · United States Congress · 25 February 1985
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to reduce the threshold amount applicable to the allowance of the deduction for medical expenses from five percent to three percent of adjusted gross income.
United States · United States Congress · 25 February 1985
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that the President should: (1) continue to express U.S. opposition to the exile of Igor Ogurtsov; and (2) urge the Soviet Union to provide Igor Ogurtsov with medical care, grant his release from exile, and accept his application for an exit visa and allow him to emigrate without forcing him to renounce his views.
United States · United States Congress · 21 February 1985
Comprehensive Oil Pollution Liability and Compensation Act - Title I: Oil Pollution Liability and Compensation - States that this title is inapplicable to the United States regarding oil pollution damages during any period in which both the International Convention on Civil Liability for Oil Pollution Damage, 1984 and the International Convention on the Establishment of an International Fund for Compensation for Oil Pollution Damage, 1984 are in force with respect to the United States and compensation is available. Permits claims for damages for economic loss arising from oil pollution for: (1) removal costs; (2) injury to or destruction of real or personal property; (3) reasonable costs incurred in assessing injury or destruction of natural resources and in planning, restoring, or acquiring the equivalent of the damaged resources; (4) loss of subsistence use of natural resources; (5) loss of profits or impairment of earning capacity due to such injury or destruction; and (6) loss of tax revenue for a period of one year due to injury to real or personal property. Specifies the potential claimants who have standing to assert claims involving such damages. Imposes joint, several, and strict liability on the party responsible for the source of oil pollution. Specifies liability limits (except in cases of gross negligence or willful misconduct) for vessels. Sets forth defenses to liability. Makes the Marine Oil Pollution Insurance Corporation, established under Title II of this Act (the Corporation), liable for damages not otherwise compensated. Requires the responsible party for certain vessels over 300 gross tons and the party responsible for offshore facilities to establish and maintain evidence of financial responsibility in an amount sufficient to satisfy applicable liability limits. Limits the liability of a guarantor to the aggregate amount of financial responsibility that the guarantor provided. Specifies procedures whereby the Secretary of Transportation shall designate and advertise oil pollution sources. Directs the Secretary to advertise claims to be presented initially to the responsible party or to such person's guarantor, in instances in which: (1) the responsible party and guarantor both deny involvement; (2) the source of the discharge is a public vessel; or (3) the Secretary is unable to designate the pollution source. Permits claimants either to present a claim to the Corporation or to bring an action in an appropriate U.S. court if liability is denied or the claim is not settled within a specified period. Sets forth procedures for the disposition and appeal of claims submitted to the Corporation. Requires both the plaintiff and the defendant in a court action brought against a responsible party or guarantor to forward copies of all pleadings to the Corporation. Permits the Corporation to intervene in such actions. Requires a claim to be presented within three years of discovery of an economic loss, or within six years of the date of the incident, whichever is earlier. Subrogates any person, including the Corporation, to all the claimant's claims and rights under this title. Sets forth the measure of recovery for actions brought by the Corporation against any responsible party or guarantor. Grants U.S. district courts exclusive original jurisdiction over all controversies arising under titles I, II, and III of this Act, without regard to the citizenship of the parties or the amount in controversy. Makes the rights and remedies under this title exclusive with respect to economic loss caused by oil pollution (but does not preclude State imposition of taxes or fees to finance the purchase and prepositioning of oil pollution cleanup and removal equipment). Sets penalties for persons failing to comply with specified provisions in this Act. Authorizes appropriations for this title. Title II: Marine Oil Pollution Insurance Corporation and Compensation Fund - Establishes the Marine Oil Pollution Insurance Corporation as a wholly owned Government corporation under the supervision of the Secretary of Transportation. Vests management of such Corporation in an Administrator to be appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate. Establishes the Marine Oil Pollution Compensation Fund (the Fund) to be administered by the Corporation. Makes the Fund available for purposes of: (1) removal costs incurred under specified laws; (2) costs incurred by the President or a State Governor (as trustee) in assessing damaged natural resources and preparing a restoration and acquisition plan regarding such damaged resources; (3) certain uncompensated damage claims; (4) implementing certain laws regarding oil pollution; and (5) contributions to the International Fund. Directs the Secretary of Transportation to set guidelines for the collection of premiums for deposit into the Fund. Sets a premium of 1.3 cents per barrel of crude oil or other petroleum products for payment into the Fund. Limits payment on any claim (except removal costs) to the extent that payment would result in the Fund having less than $30,000,000. Establishes a liability limit per incident for the Corporation. Sets a maximum civil penalty for failure to pay premiums into the Marine Oil Pollution Compensation Fund. Provides that if the balance of any fund is to be transferred to the Fund, any claim arising before the effective date of this Act shall be paid from the Fund. Provides that if the Secretary determines that there is a Trans-Alaska Pipeline (TAP) fund deficit, then the premium imposed on oil first transported through such Pipeline shall be increased by a certain amount until the total amount of increased premiums equals the deficit. Title III: Regulations, Effective Dates, and Savings Provisions - Specifies the effective dates of specified provisions of this Act. Eliminates the Trans-Alaska Pipeline Liability Fund and provides that all unused assets of such Fund shall be rebated directly to the operator of the Trans-Alaska oil pipeline for pro-rata payments to those owners who had paid into such Fund. Amends specified laws, including the Deepwater Port Act of 1974, the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, the Intervention on the High Seas Act, the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act Amendments of 1978 and the Trans-Alaska Pipeline Authorization Act, to conform with the provisions of this Act. Transfers to the Fund amounts remaining in the Deepwater Port Liability Fund and the Offshore Oil Pollution Compensation Fund (both having been eliminated by the above repeals). Title IV: Implementation of Conventions - Recognizes the International Oil Pollution Compensation Fund (International Fund) as a legal person under the laws of the United States. Requires, in any action brought in the United States against the owner of a ship or his guarantor under the International Convention on Civil Liability for Oil Pollution Damage, that the International Fund and the Marine Oil Pollution Compensation Fund be served a copy of the complaint and any subsequent pleading. Entitles the International Fund to intervene as a party in any such action. Exempts the International Fund from all direct taxation in the United States. Requires any contribution to the International Fund to be paid from the Marine Oil Pollution Compensation Fund. Sets forth the jurisdiction of the U.S. district courts for controversies arising under the Civil Liability Convention or the International Fund Convention. Requires U.S. courts to recognize final judgments of courts of nations which are a party to the Civil Liability Convention or the International Fund Convention. Requires the owner of each U.S. documented ship, or any ship, wherever registered, which enters or leaves a U.S. port or terminal carrying more than 2,000 tons of oil in bulk as cargo to establish and maintain evidence of financial responsibility in amounts sufficient to cover the maximum liability arising from one incident under the Civil Liability Convention. Imposes a civil penalty for noncompliance with such financial responsibility requirement. States that the United States waives all defenses based on its status as a sovereign state with respect to any controversy arising under the Civil Liability Convention or the International Fund Convention relating to any ship owned by the United States and used for commercial purposes.
United States · United States Congress · 21 February 1985
Emergency Wetlands Resources Act of 1985 - Title I: Revenues for Migratory Bird Conservation Fund - Directs the Secretary of the Interior to charge fees for admission permits to designated units of the National Wildlife Refuge System. Requires deposit of such fees into the migratory bird conservation fund. Authorizes the Secretary to sell, at designated units, Golden Eagle Passports. Directs the Secretary to treat the revenues accruing from such sales in the same manner as fees collected for admission permits. Describes the kinds of admission permits which may be purchased, including individual, group, and special free permits for the blind or disabled and those over age 62. Prohibits the Secretary from requiring an admission permit, or charging a fee, with respect to entry to any designated unit by any individual: (1) with a valid Golden Eagle Passport, Golden Age Passport, or any other lifetime admission permit issued under the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act of 1965; (2) who has a valid duck stamp; (3) who is related to an individual described in clause (1) or (2); or (4) who has been issued a special free permit as described in the preceding sentence. Directs the Secretary to issue regulations necessary to carry out this paragraph. Requires the Secretary to submit annual reports to specified congressional committees. Increases the price of the migratory bird hunting and conservation stamp. Title II: Federal and State Wetlands Conservation - Directs the Secretary to establish, and periodically review and revise, a national wetlands priority conservation plan specifying, on a region-by-region or other appropriate basis, the types of wetlands to which priority should be given for wetlands acquisition and the implementation of preservation and enhancement projects. Prescribes formulae for the allocation and apportionment of appropriations among the States and the Secretary for wetlands acquisitions. Sets forth eligibility requirements and conditions relating to such apportionment. Declares that no property acquired or developed with assistance under this title shall, without the approval of the Secretary, be converted to other than wetland conservation uses. Directs the Secretary to approve such conversion only if he or she finds it to be in accord with the existing comprehensive wetlands conservation plan and only upon such conditions as he or she deems necessary to assure the substitution of other property of at least equal fair market value or a reasonably equivalent usefulness and location. States that no enhancement project or preservation project shall be approved unless the State holds an interest in perpetuity on the wetlands being conserved. Sets forth the treatment of unobligated funds. Directs the Secretary to issue regulations to carry out this title. Establishes the Wetlands Conservation Fund, consisting of amounts to be transferred annually from the Land and Water Conservation Fund for expenditures to carry out this title. Amends the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act of 1965 to conform with this Act. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1985 through 1995. Title III: Wetlands Inventory and Trend Analysis and Miscellaneous Provisions - Directs the Secretary, acting through the Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, to continue the National Wetlands Inventory Project and to: (1) produce final National Wetlands Inventory maps for the entire United States (specifies dates at which different maps are to be completed); and (2) produce, by March 31, 1987, and at ten year intervals thereafter, reports to update and improve the information contained in the report dated September 1982 and entitled "Status and Trends of Wetlands and Deepwater Habitat in the Coterminous United States, 1950's to 1970's." Authorizes appropriations for the above maps and reports. Directs the Secretary, by March 31, 1987, to prepare and submit to specified committees a report regarding wetlands losses in the United States. Authorizes appropriations for such report. Amends the Wetlands Loan Act to repeal the requirement that after expiration of an advance of appropriations to the migratory bird conservation fund, repayment must be made each year in the amount of three-quarters of the annual Duck Stamp receipts until the debt is paid off. Amends the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act of 1965 to allow the use of Fund monies to acquire migratory waterfowl areas even if acquisition of such areas is also authorized by the Migratory Bird Conservation Act of 1929.
United States · United States Congress · 21 February 1985
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that: (1) the President should express to the Soviet Union U.S. opposition with respect to the harassment and arrests of Hebrew teachers and Jewish activists in the Soviet Union; and (2) the Soviet Union should comply with its commitments under specified international human rights agreements and cease its persecution of individuals on the basis of their Jewish faith.
United States · United States Congress · 21 February 1985
Authorizes expenditures by the House Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries for the first session of the 99th Congress, including assistance for specialized training for its professional staff.
United States · United States Congress · 21 February 1985
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration should rescind the Distinguished Service Medal awarded to Arthur Rudolph in 1969 (with such recission to be based in part on such person's renouncing U.S. citizenship and returning to West Germany rather than facing deportation charges stemming from allegations of war crimes brought by the Department of Justice).
United States · United States Congress · 19 February 1985
Liberty Double-Eagle Bullion Coin Act - Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to mint and issue gold double-eagle coins. Sets forth specifications for and the design of such coins. Makes such coins legal tender. Permits the sale of such coins at a price equal to the cost of minting and issuing such coins plus a surcharge equal to the amount by which the fair market value of gold bullion held by the United States and used in the minting of the coins exceeds the statutory maximum value of any gold certificates outstanding against the bullion. Requires the revenue from such surcharges to be used to reduce the national debt. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 7 February 1985
Authorizes reduced postal rates (one-half of the usual rate) during FY 1986 and 1987 for parcels of food, medicine, or clothing sent to Poland or the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 1985
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend the targeted jobs income tax credit from 1985 to 1990. Increases the amount of wages which may be taken into account for such credit from $6,000 to $10,000 per year. Revises the definition of "members of economically disadvantaged families" to increase from 70 percent to 80 percent of the Bureau of Labor Statistics' lower living standard the amount of income a family may have in order to qualify as a member of a targeted group.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 1985
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide that tax-exempt interest shall not be taken into account in determining the amount of social security benefits subject to tax.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 1985
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide that fishermen who are treated as self-employed for social security tax purposes shall be treated as self-employed for pension plan purposes.
United States · United States Congress · 31 January 1985
Establishes a presumption of service-connection for disability purposes for former prisoners of war suffering from the following conditions, manifest to a degree of ten percent or more after active service: (1) chronic liver disease; (2) organic residuals of hypothermia; (3) gastro-intestinal disorders; (4) arthritis; (5) cardiovascular conditions; (6) peripheral neuropathy; (7) immunological dysfunctions; or (8) chronic pulmonary disease. Decreases from six months to 30 days the amount of time a former prisoner of war must have been incarcerated to be eligible for outpatient dental services.
United States · United States Congress · 30 January 1985
Surplus School Conservation Act of 1983 - Authorizes the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to make grants to local agencies to renovate closed school buildings for educational and social purposes. Provides that no more than ten percent of such grants shall go to local agencies in any particular State. Directs the Secretary to: (1) serve local agencies as a national clearinghouse on alternative uses of such buildings; and (2) report to the President and the Congress on such grants program.
United States · United States Congress · 30 January 1985
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide that the medical expenses of handicapped individuals and individuals who have attained age 65 shall be deductible without regard to the requirement that only medical care expenses in excess of certain percentages of adjusted gross income are deductible.
United States · United States Congress · 30 January 1985
Establishes a working spouse's benefit under title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act. Provides that any individual who receives both old-age benefits or a disability insurance benefit and wife's, husband's, widow's, widower's, mother's, or father's insurance benefits shall be entitled to such new benefit. States that such new benefit shall be a percentage of the smaller of the two benefits to which the recipient was entitled. Limits the receipt of such new benefit to one member of a married couple when both members are eligible.
United States · United States Congress · 30 January 1985
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow individuals or married couples aged 65 or over a $10,000 exclusion from gross income for any amounts received as annuities, pensions, or other retirement benefits.
United States · United States Congress · 30 January 1985
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow individual taxpayers an income tax deduction from gross income for commuting expenses incurred on public mass transit, including rail and bus service. Limits the amount of such deduction to $250 per year.
United States · United States Congress · 30 January 1985
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide that tax-exempt interest shall not be taken into account in determining the amount of social security benefits subject to tax.
United States · United States Congress · 30 January 1985
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow certain low and middle-income individuals a refundable income tax credit for the property taxes and rent paid on their principal residences. Requires, for purposes of eligibility, that the taxes and rent paid by such individuals exceed five percent of their adjusted gross income. Limits such credit to $500 for the taxable year. Reduces the credit by five percent of the amount by which the taxpayer's adjusted gross income exceeds $10,000 in 1982, $15,000 in 1983, and $20,000 in taxable years beginning after December 31, 1984.
United States · United States Congress · 30 January 1985
Constitutional Amendment - Prohibits the total appropriations of the Congress from exceeding estimated revenues. Authorizes the suspension of such prohibition in time of war or national emergency. Prohibits any increase in the national debt as it exists on the date this article is ratified. Sets forth a schedule for repayment of the national debt.
United States · United States Congress · 30 January 1985
Directs the President to: (1) secure from the Indochina nations a full accounting of Americans captured or missing as a result of the Vietnam conflict; and (2) work for the release of captive Americans and the return of the remains of those American servicemen and civilians who died in Southeast Asia. Requires the President to submit two reports to Congress on American POW/MIAs in Southeast Asia.
United States · United States Congress · 30 January 1985
Directs the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives to conduct an investigation into the murders of U.S. citizens in El Salvador and report to the House with findings and conclusions.
United States · United States Congress · 30 January 1985
Declares that the Commissioner of Social Security and the Secretary of Health and Human Services should immediately study and report to the Congress on ways to correct the benefit disparity caused by the 1977 changes in the social security benefit formula.
United States · United States Congress · 24 January 1985
Amends the Federal criminal code to establish criteria for the imposition of the death penalty for treason and espionage. Requires the Government, for an offense punishable by death, to serve notice upon the defendant a reasonable time before trial or acceptance of a plea that it intends to seek the death penalty, as well as notice of the aggravating factors upon which it will rely. Requires a separate sentencing hearing before a jury or the court upon motion by the defendant when the defendant is found guilty or pleads guilty to an offense punishable by death. Provides that no presentence report shall be prepared in such cases. Allows the defendant and the Government to present any information relevant to sentencing, without regard to the rules of evidence, but permits information to be excluded where its probative value is substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice, confusion of the issues, or misleading of the jury. Specifies mitigating factors which the defendant must establish by a preponderance of the information and aggravating factors which the Government must prove beyond a reasonable doubt. Sets forth special aggravating factors with respect to the crimes of treason and espionage. Includes among the mitigating factors that the defendant was less than 18 years old at the time of the crime. Conditions imposition of the death penalty on a unanimous finding by the jury that: (1) some aggravating factor exists in addition to a threshold factor; and (2) the aggravating factor sufficiently outweighs any mitigating factor found to exist. Directs the court to impose the death penalty upon a finding that such sentence is justified. Requires the court to instruct the jury not to consider the race, color, national origin, creed, or sex of the defendant in its consideration of the death sentence. Limits the circumstances under which the offense of delivering defense information to aid foreign governments is punishable by death. Establishes procedures for appeal from a death sentence. Requires the court of appeals, upon considering the record and the information and procedures of the sentencing hearing, and any special finding, to affirm the decision if: (1) the sentence was not imposed under influence of passion, prejudice, or arbitrariness; and (2) the information supports the finding of aggravating factors or the absence of mitigating factors. Requires the court to provide a written explanation of its determination.
United States · United States Congress · 24 January 1985
Constitutional Amendment - States that the right to life is the paramount and most fundamental right of a person. Defines "person" to include the unborn for the purposes of the right to life guarantee. Makes such amendment inapplicable to laws permitting medical procedures required to prevent the death of the mother.
United States · United States Congress · 24 January 1985
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the President should: (1) ensure that U.S. officials carry out the pledge to resolve the issue of the Americans still missing and unaccounted for in Indochina; (2) work for the immediate release of any Americans still held captive and the return of the remains of those who died in Southeast Asia; and (3) make every effort to secure the further cooperation of Laos and Vietnam in resolving this issue.
United States · United States Congress · 24 January 1985
States that the Congress adopts as an objective the release of all Americans still held captive in Southeast Asia and the full accounting of those still missing. Supports the President's leadership with respect to those Americans and efforts in impressing upon the Southeast Asian nations the determination of the United States to resolve this issue. Encourages the President to continue to use all means to secure a full accounting of those Americans still missing and to inform the Congress of the progress regarding this matter.
United States · United States Congress · 22 January 1985
Amends the Federal criminal code to provide a mandatory life sentence for any person who kidnaps an individual under the age of 18. Imposes the death penalty in any case where such a victim dies as the result of the kidnapping.
United States · United States Congress · 22 January 1985
National Commission on Neurofibromatosis Act - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish within 60 days a National Commission on Neurofibromatosis which shall formulate a plan to identify the research needed to develop an effective treatment and a cure for neurofibromatosis. Sets forth operating and related provisions. Authorizes the Commission to transmit interim reports. Requires the Commission to make a final report to the President and to each House of the Congress within two years. Terminates the Commission three months after submission of the final report. Authorizes appropriations.
![Official portrait of Rep. Lent, Norman F. [R-NY-4]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/l000243_200.jpg)