United States · United States Congress · 9 April 1981
Amends the Controlled Substances Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish a temporary heroin program under which confiscated heroin shall be made available to pharmacies of qualified hospitals for dispensing to cancer patients for the relief of pain. Sets forth application requirements for such program for qualified hospitals designed to protect against the diversion of distributed heroin into illicit channels. Authorizes the Secretary to import opium to manufacture heroin, if amounts confiscated are insufficient to meet the needs of qualified hospitals. Amends specified provisions of law to conform to provisions of this Act. Requires the Secretary to report to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce and the Senate Committee on Labor and Human Resources within specified time periods on the activities under the temporary heroin program.
United States · United States Congress · 8 April 1981
Amends title II (Administration) of the Public Health Service Act to permit the Surgeon General to: (1) be appointed from outside the Regular Corps of the Health Service; and (2) serve beyond the retirement age of 64.
United States · United States Congress · 7 April 1981
Quiet Communities Act - Amends the Noise Control Act of 1972 to retitle such Act the "Quiet Communities Act." Repeals specified provisions of such Act relating to: (1) noise emission standards for products distributed in commerce; (2) labeling; (3) imports; (4) prohibited acts; (5) enforcement; (6) records, reports, and information; (7) railroad noise emission standards; and (8) motor carrier noise emission standards. Replaces a finding that Federal action is necessary to control major noise sources in commerce with a finding that Federal action must promote and assist effective State and local programs. Eliminates an authorization to establish Federal noise emission standards for products distributed in commerce. Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to develop and publish data and information (currently criteria) with respect to noise. Authorizes appropriations to carry out such Act for fiscal years 1982 and 1983.
United States · United States Congress · 25 March 1981
State and Local Government Financing Reform Act of 1981 - Excludes from the Federal law limiting and restricting the corporate powers of national banking associations to deal in and underwrite investment securities, specified dealings in and underwriting of all other nongeneral obligations issued or guaranteed by or on behalf of a State or any political subdivision thereof (except special assessment obligations and industrial revenue bonds) which are at the time eligible for purchase by a national bank for its own account, subject to specified limitations. Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to submit an annual report to the Congress showing the extent to which the business of underwriting and dealing in State and local obligations is being carried on by commercial banks as compared with other banking institutions with a view to determining the effect of the provisions of this Act on the institutional distribution of such business.
United States · United States Congress · 19 March 1981
Amends the Controlled Substances Act to permit specified practitioners to register to dispense heroin for an inpatient who has been diagnosed as being terminally ill with cancer.
United States · United States Congress · 19 March 1981
Constitutional Amendment - Prohibits the adoption of any Federal budget in which expenditures exceed receipts unless approved by a roll call vote of three-fifths of the Members of each House of Congress directed solely to that subject. Prohibits the Congress from passing and the President from signing any appropriation bill which would cause the total expenditures of the Federal Government to exceed its total receipts in any fiscal year. Permits the Congress to waive such provisions with respect to any single year in which a declaration of war is in effect. Prohibits any annual increase in the proportion of Federal receipts to the national income unless passed by a roll call vote, directed solely to such purpose, of each House of Congress.
United States · United States Congress · 18 March 1981
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend tax-exempt status to veterans' organizations at least 75 percent of whose membership consists of past or present members of the armed forces of the United States (combat or noncombat veterans) and whose remaining membership consists substantially of cadets or spouses, widows, or widowers of armed forces personnel or cadets.
United States · United States Congress · 18 March 1981
Amends the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949 to revise contracting procedures and contract supervision practices of the Federal Government. Requires every person entering into a contract with the Government for the procurement, transfer, or disposition of property or services to certify that: (1) all material information required by the Administrator of General Services has or will be furnished; and (2) such information is not false or misleading. Sets forth a penalty assessment schedule for false certifications and violations of certification requirements. Directs the Administrator, before issuing an order to assess such a penalty against any person, to provide such person an opportunity for an agency hearing. Authorizes only the Administrator to modify any penalty assessed. Empowers the Administrator to subpoena witnesses and records for the purposes of an investigation leading to a hearing. Permits any person who is aggrieved by a final order assessing a penalty to petition for judicial review of such order. Directs the Attorney General to bring an action in an appropriate district court against any person who fails to pay an assessment. Directs the Administrator to notify the Attorney General of any intention to initiate a proceeding against a contractor. Authorizes the Administrator to initiate the proceeding unless the Attorney General objects within 120 days. Requires the Administrator to debar an individual found to have violated certification requirements from participation in Government contracts for a period of between one month and five years depending on the amount of the assessment against such individual. Requires any contract for property or services exceeding $10,000 in value to contain the certification requirements set forth in this Act, an agreement to abide by the assessment procedures, and a notice of such assessments. Directs the Administrator to establish and maintain a system for control of all contracts and agreements for procurement of property or services. Specifies that such system require the Administrator and any agency head with contracting authority to: (1) review for approval any contract exceeding $10,000 in value; (2) keep accurate records of transactions involving Federal funds; and (3) impose a system of accounting and internal controls to assure that (a) the Administrator or agency head authorizes all such transactions, (b) transactions are recorded as necessary to maintain accountability of funds, and (c) accounts are balanced regularly. Requires the Administrator to establish a system which requires the preparation, for each significant decision for a contract, of a memorandum which: (1) specifies the date of and parties to such decision; (2) describes the nature of and actions resulting from such decision; and (3) includes the personal signature or endorsement of the Federal employee responsible for such decision. Directs the Inspector General of the agency of a contracting authority to investigate any allegations of failure to make such a memorandum. Permits the Administrator, after consulting the Inspector General of the General Services Administration (GSA), to exempt contracts involving a Federal expenditure of under $10,000 from such requirements. Requires the Administrator to: (1) review regularly the contracting activities of the GSA and other agencies; (2) inform Congress of any deficiencies in such activities; and (3) prescribe regulations to eliminate contracting practices which result in fraud, waste, or abuse. Directs the Administrator, after consultation with the Inspector General, to: (1) establish a procedure for reviewing negotiated contracts exceeding $10,000 in value to determine whether such contracts can be secured more economically and efficiently by advertised bids or other means; and (2) report annually to the President and Congress and make recommendations for changes in procurement procedures. Requires the Administrator to establish a uniform system of contract audits which shall: (1) include a schedule of regular and random audits of major negotiated contracts; and (2) establish audit procedures necessary to ensure a significant probability that any negotiated contract, or any advertised contract receiving three or fewer bids, with a cost exceeding $10,000 will be audited. Requires at least 20 percent of the negotiated contracts in each classification to be audited. Requires the Administrator and each agency head with contracting authority to maintain abstracts of such audits available for public inspection. Authorizes the Administrator and the Inspector General to obtain access to the contract records of any contractor or subcontractor. Makes the auditing powers of the Administrator subject to the Accounting and Auditing Act of 1950 and the Inspector General Act of 1978. Prohibits the Administrator from altering a leased facility if the cost of such alteration exceeds 25 percent of the annual rent of such facility unless: (1) such alteration is authorized specifically by Congress; (2) a statement describing the overall work has been provided in advance to the Congressional committees with oversight responsibility for such alteration; or (3) the work would not alter more than 5,000 square feet of the leased space.
United States · United States Congress · 17 March 1981
Debt Collection Improvement Act of 1981 - Title I: Information Practices: Use of Consumer Reporting Agencies - Amends the Privacy Act of 1974 to permit a Federal agency to disclose records pertaining to an individual to a consumer reporting agency. Authorizes a Federal agency attempting to collect a claim under the Federal Claims Collection Act of 1966 to notify a consumer reporting agency that a person is responsible for a claim if: (1) the agency has sent a written notice informing the person that a consumer reporting agency will be contacted, describing the information to be disclosed, and explaining the person's right to dispute the agency's claim; (2) the person has not agreed to repay the claim or filed for review of the claim; (3) the agency has reviewed the claim, if requested; and (4) the agency has obtained assurances that the consumer reporting agency complies with Federal laws governing the provision of consumer credit information. Requires the Director of the Office of Management and Budget to establish regulations requiring each agency with outstanding debts to submit annual reports on the amount and number of such debts, the interest charged on such debts, the cost to the agency of collecting debts, and other information on the agency's debt collection activities. Requires the Director to report annually to Congress on the management of agency debt collection activities. Title II: Collection Practices for Defaulted Student Loans - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1954 to require the Secretary of Education to analyze, quarterly, the collection status of defaulted Federal, federally-guaranteed, and federally-insured student loans. Directs the Secretary: (1) to notify the borrower of a defaulted loan of the consequences of not repaying the loan; (2) to attempt to enter into a repayment agreement with the borrower; and (3) if such attempt is not successful within 180 days of the loan becoming defaulted, to engage a nonprofit collection agency to service the loan. Directs the Secretary to refer any loan which is not under a repayment agreement within one year after being placed with a collection agency, to: (1) the Attorney General if the projected outstanding balance exceeds $600; or (2) the Secretary of the Treasury for collection. Requires the Attorney General to establish procedures for the efficient collection of such loans. Amends the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 to require any borrower of a defaulted loan referred to the Secretary of the Treasury to pay the amount owed: (1) with income tax imposed for the year of the referral; or (2) by other methods prescribed by the Secretary of the Treasury. Grants the Secretary of the Treasury the same powers to assess and collect such defaulted loans as if such amounts were imposed income taxes, the collection of which would be jeopardized by delay. Exempts any such collection or assessment from review by a Federal court. Directs the Comptroller General to analyze the systems for collecting student loans established under this Act, and to submit to Congress recommendations for the application of these systems to the collection of other loans made, insured, or guaranteed by the Government. Title III: Collection of Child-Support Obligations - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to certify the amount of child support obligations assigned to a State for collection by the Secretary of the Treasury without regard to whether a State agrees to reimburse the United States for collection costs. Shortens the period that collection of such an obligation is stayed after service of the notice and demand for payment in the case of the first delinquency assessment against an individual. Title VI: Higher Interest Charges During Periods of Default for All Federal Loan Programs - Requires each agency which administers a program providing direct Federal loans to include in any such loan a provision stating that the interest rate on the loan for each month during which the loan is in default may be increased to a rate equal to the Federal borrowing cost. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to promulgate regulations for the uniform implementation of this title. Title V: Other Provisions Relating to the Collection of Federal Claims - Amends the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 to direct the Secretary of the Treasury, by January 15 of each year, to notify any person owing a debt (excluding student loans) to a Federal agency for the preceding year of the amount and method of payment of such debt. Requires such person to pay the debt with his or her income taxes or as prescribed by the Secretary. Grants the Secretary the same powers to assess and collect such debts as if such amounts were imposed income taxes, the collection of which would be jeopardized by delay. Permits the head of an agency to garnish an employee's wages to pay any debt owed to the United States because of an erroneous payment to the individual by another agency. Declares that the statute of limitations for actions brought by the United States for money damages shall not bar the Government from collecting money payable to an individual by administrative offset if the individual is provided with an opportunity for an administrative hearing subject to judicial review. Authorizes the Secretary to disclose a taxpayer's address to an agency or an agency contractor engaged in a proceeding to collect a Federal claim. Permits such agency or contractor to redisclose such information. Authorizes appropriations for the employment in the Internal Revenue Service of sufficient personnel to collect all Federal tax liabilities.
United States · United States Congress · 17 March 1981
Allows the special use valuation of farms and business real property for estate tax purposes for real property which is put to any use by a qualified heir pursuant to a rental by such heir. Revises rules for the revocation of an election to use such valuation.
United States · United States Congress · 17 March 1981
Health Maintenance Organization Amendments of 1981 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to eliminate specified health maintenance organization (HMO) funding provisions including: (1) feasibility studies; (2) planning and initial development; (3) ambulatory health facility construction; (4) program evaluation; and (5) annual reports. Eliminates HMO grant or contract authority (continues current loan authority). Makes HMO application requirements applicable to the National Health Maintenance Organization Intern Program. Extends loans and loan guarantees for initial operating costs through fiscal year 1986. Permits interest rates to be adjusted for HMO loans. Authorizes specified appropriations for fiscal years 1982-1984. Authorizes specified appropriations for training (including the National Health Maintenance Organization Intern Program) and technical assistance for fiscal years 1982-1984. Eliminates certain mental health and alcohol and drug abuse services from the definition of "basic health services" and includes them in the definition of "supplemental health services" for HMO-related purposes. Repeals specified policymaking body membership requirements. Permits nonmetropolitan HMOs to provide certain basic health services outside their service areas if such services are not otherwise available. Removes certain restrictions on contracting with individual physicians. Revises HMO dual choice provisions.
United States · United States Congress · 12 March 1981
Amends the highway safety programs uniform standards to include: (1) comprehensive alcohol-traffic safety programs; and (2) penalties to deter motorists from driving while under the influence of alcohol.
United States · United States Congress · 12 March 1981
Prohibits the Federal Trade Commission or any administrative law judge from issuing antitrust decisions, findings, or cease-and-desist orders in concentrated market structure or shared monopoly proceedings until Congress establishes and defines the elements of such a violation. Declares that this Act shall apply to any proceeding pending on March 10, 1981. Vacates any decision or order issued in such proceeding before the enactment of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 12 March 1981
Saturday Mail Delivery Act of 1981 - Requires the Postal Service to maintain the frequency of mail delivery service in effect on March 5, 1981 (six days each week).
United States · United States Congress · 9 March 1981
Federal Lending Oversight and Control Act - Declares that the purpose of this Act is to provide a statutory basis for controlling loans and loan guarantees under Federal credit programs through the congressional budget process. Title I: Reports Regarding Federal Credit Activity - Requires the Secretary of the Treasury, not later than February 1 and August 1 of each year, in consultation with the Council of Economic Advisors, to transmit a report to both Houses of Congress regarding Federal credit activity during the previous six month period. Requires each such report to examine the relationship between Federal credit activity during the previous six-month period and: (1) the condition of the economy; (2) the availability and cost of credit in the private sector; and (3) the exercise of monetary and fiscal policy by the Federal Government. Amends the Federal Reserve Act to direct the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, in their biannual reports to Congress concerning recent developments affecting economic trends in the Nation, to examine the effects of Federal credit activity on the availability and cost of credit in the private sector and on the exercise of monetary policy by the Board and the Federal Open Market Committee. Amends the Budget and Accounting Act of 1921 to require the President, in his annual budget statement to the Congress, to include all essential facts regarding direct lending by the Government and guarantees by the Government of the repayment of indebtedness incurred by another person or government. Title II: Changes in Congressional Budget Procedures - Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to require the first concurrent resolution on the budget for each fiscal year to set forth the appropriate level of total gross obligations for the principal amount of direct loans and the appropriate level of total commitments to guarantee loans and to allocate such totals among the major functional categories of the budget. Directs each standing committee of the House and Senate to submit its estimates of direct loan obligations and loan guarantee commitments provided for in legislation under its jurisdiction by March 15 of each year for consideration of the Budget Committee in formulating the budget resolution. Directs the House and Senate Banking Committees to submit recommendations to the Budget Committees for the aggregate levels of direct loans and loan guarantees in each fiscal year. Requires the joint explanatory statement accompanying a conference report on the concurrent resolution on the budget to include an estimate allocation of the total levels of direct loan obligations and loan guarantee commitments among the committees of the House and Senate. Directs the Committees on Appropriations to provide such an allocation among their subcommittees as soon as practicable after a budget resolution has been agreed to. Requires the House Committee on Appropriations, before reporting any regular appropriations bills, to submit a summary report to the House comparing the credit authority contained in such bills to the levels agreed to in the budget resolution. Requires any report accompanying legislation conferring new budget authority or increasing tax expenditures to include information on direct loan obligations and loan guarantee commitments. Establishes a deadline for the completion of action on legislation providing credit authority. Requires the second concurrent resolution on the budget in any fiscal year and the reconciliation process to take into account Federal obligations and commitments on loans and loan guarantees. Declares out of order any measure brought up for consideration in either House which would increase the level of loan obligations and guarantee commitments agreed to in the budget process. Requires any authority to guarantee the payment of any indebtedness to be contingent on provisions in appropriation Acts. Title III: Amendments to House Rules - Amends rule X of the Rules of the House of Representatives to require each standing committee (other than the Committee on Appropriations and the Committee on the Budget) to review and make appropriate recommendations with respect to the consistency and uniformity of the different definitions, default provisions, policies, interest rates, and other terms and conditions relating to direct loan, loan insurance, and loan guarantee activities included in any laws of which the subject matter is within the jurisdiction of that committee. Title IV: Construction and Effective Dates - Sets forth the effective dates of the titles of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 4 March 1981
Law Enforcement Officers' Protection Act of 1981 - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to: (1) conduct a study to determine the capacity of handgun bullets to penetrate bulletproof vests and the risk posed to law enforcement officers by the availability of handgun bullets; and (2) report the findings and legislative recommendations to the President and Congress within one year after funds are made available under this Act. Authorizes appropriations to carry out this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 4 March 1981
Committee Improvement Amendments of 1981 - Amends the Rules of the House of Representatives to require each standing committee, not later than 60 days after the Congress convenes, to submit an oversight agenda to the Committee on Government Operations. Directs such committee to hold hearings at which the chairman and ranking minority member of each standing committee shall testify on the oversight accomplishments of the preceding Congress and the proposed oversight agenda for the new Congress. Requires the Committee on Government Operations, not later than 90 days after the Congress convenes, to report to the House an oversight agenda resolution which incorporates such agendas of all standing committees, and additional recommendations of the committee. Directs the House to complete action on such resolution not later than 90 days after the Congress convenes, to report to the House an oversight agenda resolution which incorporates such agendas of all standing committees, and additional recommendations of the committee. Directs the House to complete action on such resolution not later than 180 days after the Congress convenes. Directs the Speaker of the House to initially refer each bill, resolution, or other matter to one committee of principal jurisdiction. Eliminates the authority of the Speaker to refer any such matter to two or more committees for concurrent consideration. Requires the membership of each committee, select committee, and conference committee (and each subcommittee, task force, or subunit thereof) to reflect the ratio of majority to minority Members. Provides that such ratio be reflected for standing committees at the beginning of each Congress, and for select and conference committees at the time of appointment. Prohibits any standing committee to establish more than six subcommittees, and any Member to serve at any one time on more than four subcommittees. Defines subcommittee as any subunit of a standing committee established for a period of more than six months. Prohibits the vote by any member of any committee or subcommittee to be cast by proxy. Provides that a majority of members of each committee or subcommittee shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of any business. Prohibits the House to consider any primary expense resolution until the Committee on House Administration has reported and the House has adopted a resolution establishing committee staff personnel ceilings for that year. Requires such committee to specify in any primary or supplemental expense resolution the number of staff positions authorized therein. Authorizes the House to consider any supplemental expense resolution in excess of such ceiling by a vote of two-thirds of the Members present.
United States · United States Congress · 3 March 1981
Fish Restoration Act of 1981 - Title I: Fish Restoration Program - Directs that Federal moneys apportioned to a coastal State for aid in fish restoration and management be equitably allocated by such a State between marine and fresh water fish projects. Amends the Federal Aid in Sport Fish Restoration Act to: (1) define the term "coastal State" for the purposes of such Act; (2) authorize appropriations in the amount equal to the revenue accruing from taxes relating to sport fishing equipment and certain recreational boats and boating equipment during fiscal year 1980 and each fiscal year thereafter; (3) increase the percentage of the annual appropriation deducted for administrative expenses; (4) eliminate the notification by a State of intent to accept such apportionment funds requirements; (5) authorize the Secretary of the Interior to finance up to 75 percent of the costs of the acquisition of lands or interests therein and the construction of structures or facilities; and (6) permit each State to utilize up to ten percent of its apportionment for an aquatic resource education program. Title II: Tax on Sale of Sport Fishing Equipment and Certain Recreational Boats and Boating Equipment - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to impose a tax on the sale by the manufacturer, producer, or importer of any article of sport fishing equipment, recreational boats, and boating equipment.
United States · United States Congress · 3 March 1981
Soil Conservation Act of 1981 - Title I: Special Areas Conservation Program - Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to provide assistance to farm and ranch owners or operators and public entities to identify and correct erosion or irrigation management problems in special areas (as designated under this Act). Prohibits assistance to: (1) public lands unless they are an integral part of a farm or ranch; and (2) nonfarm or nonranch land unless such land has a serious erosion problem which threatens farm or ranch land. Authorizes the Secretary to enter into cost-sharing contracts with such persons for: (1) conservation measures as set forth under this Act; and (2) continuing established conservation measures. Requires a recipient to provide the Secretary with a plan that: (1) incorporates practices to prevent land erosion; (2) outlines a schedule for implementing cropping system changes or other conservation methods; (3) considers local, social, economic, and environmental conditions; (4) allows for varying levels of conservation application as appropriate; (5) allows for wildlife and recreation measures; and (6) identifies methods to improve vegetative conditions, reduce erosion, and conserve water on rangeland. Permits financial assistance to cover the loss of income resulting from cultivated crops to permanent vegetative cover adjustments. Requires the Secretary to: (1) prepare a report respecting the designation of an area as a special area; and (2) submit such report to the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry and to the House Committee on Agriculture. Prohibits the Secretary from entering into any contracts (involving such land) until the Committees approve such report. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to States to evaluate the impact of local and State tax structures on the acceptance and implementation of conservation measures. Requires the Secretary to report to Congress by January 1, 1986, and at five-year intervals thereafter. Title II: Matching Grants for Conservation Activities - Directs the Secretary to make annual matching grants to county conservation boards for: (1) soil erosion control; (2) cropland, forest, pasture, or rangeland improvements; (3) water conservation and quality improvement; (4) agricultural land preservation; and (5) demonstration projects. Permits such grants for: (1) fish and wildlife habitat improvement; (2) animal waste management; (3) watershed and flood protection; (4) sediment and stormwater control in urbanizing areas; and (5) natural resources aspects of rural planning. Prohibits a county conservation board from receiving a grant unless it: (1) has a current long-range program; (2) has a current annual work plan; and (3) has arranged for equal matching funds or in kind services. Provides that grants may be given for two years to develop such a program and plan. Requires not more than 25 percent of State or local funds for a component of the work plan determined by the Secretary to have a national objective. Sets forth the composition of such county conservation boards. Authorizes long-term agreements of up to ten years. Requires a recipient board to maintain records as the Secretary prescribes and to provide access to them for audits or examinations. Authorizes necessary appropriations. Prohibits appropriations after fiscal year 1992. Directs the Secretary to report to the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry and to the House Committee on Agriculture by January 1, 1986, and again by January 1, 1991. Title III: Conservation Loan Program - Amends the Commodity Credit Corporation Charter Act to direct the Corporation, beginning October 1, 1981, to make loans (up to ten years) to agricultural producers for conservation measures recommended by the applicable county and State committees. Requires loans in excess of $10,000 to be secured. Limits: (1) loans to any one producer in a fiscal year to $25,000; and (2) the total amount of loans in a fiscal year to $200,000,000. Title IV: Volunteers for Conservation - Directs the Secretary to establish a volunteer program. States that such volunteers shall not be considered Federal employees except for provisions relating to compensation for injury and tort claims. Authorizes necessary appropriations. Title V: Reservoir Sedimentation Reduction Program - Authorizes the Secretary to develop a reservoir sediment reduction program to be implemented on no more than five public reservoirs with surrounding soil erosion problems. Requires the Secretary to: (1) prepare a plan with the assistance of interested State and local entities for each such reservoir; and (2) submit such plan to the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry and to the House Committee on Agriculture. Prohibits implementation of any such plan without the Committees' approval. Authorizes appropriations for fiscal years 1983-1987. Requires the Secretary to report to Congress by January 1, 1987.
United States · United States Congress · 3 March 1981
Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to: (1) investigate using the protein byproduct resulting from the production of fuel alcohol from agricultural commodities to meet the food needs of developing countries through the Food for Peace programs and the Export Credit Sales Program; (2) investigate using such protein byproduct in the distribution of food products under a specified commodity donation program; (3) report to Congress on the results of such investigations; and (4) provide Congress annually with a description of the efforts being made to make such protein byproduct available as part of the Food for Peace programs, the Export Credit Sales Program, and the commodity donation program. Authorizes the Commodity Credit Corporation to purchase such protein byproduct for donation for certain domestic and foreign purposes despite the fact that the byproduct does not meet the otherwise mandatory percentage of grain in products donated.
United States · United States Congress · 26 February 1981
Consumer Product Safety Amendments of 1981 - Requires the Consumer Product Safety Commission, before promulgating any consumer product safety rule, to prepare a regulatory impact analysis, including costs, benefits, and a description of alternative approaches. Requires the Commission, before promulgating any rule relating to a risk of injury with respect to which persons have adopted a voluntary safety standard, to find that: (1) compliance with the voluntary standard is not likely to eliminate or reduce the risk; or (2) substantial compliance with such standard is unlikely. Directs the Commission to assist public and private organizations in developing safety standards and test methods. Authorizes the Commission to offer training in product safety investigation and test methods. Establishes a Congressional veto procedure for consumer product safety rules. Provides that a rule not take effect if: (1) both houses of Congress adopt a concurrent resolution of disapproval within 90 calendar days of its promulgation; or (2) one House adopts such a resolution within 60 days and such resolution is not disapproved by the other House within 30 days of its transmittal. Prohibits the Commission from making a contribution to the cost of developing a proposed consumer product safety standard unless the contribution is made under an agreement. Imposes a ceiling of $15,000 on such payments per fiscal year. Eliminates the current provision which prohibits a product safety standard from requiring or incorporating a sampling plan. Requires any order of the Commission requiring a person to submit reports or answer questions prescribed by the Commission to contain a complete statement of the reason such information is required to carry out a function under the Act. Requires that such order place the least practicable burden on the recipient. Extends the authorization of appropriations for the Commission through fiscal year 1983.
United States · United States Congress · 26 February 1981
Employee Retirement Savings Contribution Act of 1981 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow employees who are participants in tax-qualified employer retirement plans an income tax deduction for contributions to such plans or to individual retirement accounts. Limits the amount of such deduction to the lesser of 15 percent of the employee's compensation for the taxable year or $1,500. Disallows such deduction for individuals otherwise claiming a deduction for contributions for retirement savings. Limits the deduction for government employees to the amount of plan contributions which exceeds the amount of employment tax which such employees would pay if they were subject to the employment tax.
United States · United States Congress · 25 February 1981
Expresses the sense of Congress that the Secretary of the Army should construct and place in Arlington National Cemetery a plaque honoring members of the United States Armed Forces who died attempting to rescue the American hostages in Iran.
United States · United States Congress · 23 February 1981
Balanced Budget and Deficit Control Act of 1981 - Amends the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 to make a Congressional declaration that it is essential to provide for a balanced Federal budget. Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to require that the first concurrent resolution on the budget, on which Congress must complete action on or before May 15 of each year, provide a balanced budget for such year and for the succeeding fiscal year. Specifies that if changes in laws, bills, or resolutions are necessary in connection with any such concurrent resolution on the budget in order to assure that there is no deficit in the budget for either of the fiscal years to which such concurrent resolution relates, such concurrent resolution shall appropriately direct the legislative committees involved to determine and recommend such changes. Makes it out of order in either the House of Representatives or the Senate to consider or adopt any concurrent resolution on the budget, to consider or adopt any amendment to such a concurrent resolution, or to adopt a conference report on such concurrent resolution, if at the time of such consideration or adoption the level of total budget outlays which is set forth in such concurrent resolution for either of the two fiscal years to which it relates exceeds the recommended level of Federal revenues for that year. Permits the suspension of such provisions: (1) upon a Presidential request, approved by Congress; (2) upon a recommendation by the Budget Committee of either the House or the Senate and approval of the Congress; and (3) with respect to any fiscal year in which the United States is at war pursuant to a declaration of war by the Congress. Permits revisions of the first concurrent resolution on the budget at any time after it has been agreed to pursuant to such Act before the end of the first fiscal year to which such resolution relates. Requires such revision to meet the same balanced budget requirements as the original concurrent resolution and provide for the same suspension of such requirements. Requires the second concurrent resolution on the budget to be for the fiscal year beginning on October 1 of such year and the succeeding fiscal year. Makes it out of order in either the House or the Senate to receive or consider any amendment to a reconciliation bill or reconciliation resolution if such amendment would have the effect of increasing any specific budget outlays above the level of such outlays contained in the bill or resolution as reported, or would reduce any specific Federal revenues below the level of such revenues as reported, unless it includes or is accompanied by an amendment which assures that total budget outlays are not increased and that total Federal revenues are not reduced by making an equivalent reduction in other specific budget outlays or an equivalent increase in other specific Federal revenues. Makes it out of order in either the House or the Senate, at any time after the Congress has completed action on the first concurrent resolution on the budget, and if a reconciliation bill or resolution is required to be reported in connection with such resolution after that bill has been enacted into law or such resolution has been agreed to, to consider any bill or resolution or amendment which provides for budget outlays, new budget authority in excess of the appropriated allocation, or new spending authority. Amends the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 to state that any references to "a fiscal year" or "the fiscal year" with respect to a concurrent resolution on the budget shall be treated as references made separately to each of the two fiscal years to which such concurrent resolution relates. Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to require each committee required by such Act to report on a concurrent resolution on the budget to make such report within ten legislative days after the concurrent resolution is agreed to. Amends the Budget and Accounting Act, 1921, to require the President, from time to time during the fiscal year, to ensure that the budget complies with the requirements of the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974. Requires such budget to be balanced, but permits the President to recommend alternative balanced budgets with outlays and revenues at higher or lower levels to take account of possible changes in economic conditions or other circumstances. Requires such budget transmitted by the President to be accompanied by a projected budget for the succeeding fiscal year. Permits a suspension of such requirements upon a Presidential request or if the United States is at war pursuant to a declaration of war by Congress. Requires the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, with respect to any fiscal year beginning on or after October 1, 1983, to analyze the level of Federal revenues and budget outlays during the fiscal quarter beginning October 1 and ending December 31 in that year for the purpose of determining the levels of total revenues and budget outlays which may be anticipated for such fiscal year and whether such revenues will be sufficient to equal or exceed such outlays. Requires the Director to report to the President and Congress not later than January 3 if he determines that such revenues will not be sufficient to equal or exceed such outlays and to identify the amount of any such insufficiency and the percentage of total controllable expenditures which such insufficiency represents. Requires the President, upon receipt of such a report, to issue an order sequestering such amounts of budget authority as are necessary to reduce each such controllable expenditure by that percentage and to transmit to Congress a message identifying: (1) the total amount of budget authority which is to be sequestered; (2) the annuity budget authority which is to be sequestered with respect to each such controllable expenditure in order to reduce it by the required percentage; and (3) the account, department, or establishment from which each amount of budget authority is available for obligation and the specific project or governmental functions involved. Makes such an order effective from and after the date of its issuance except to the extent revised or abrogated by the Congress pursuant to this Act. Sets forth the procedure to be followed by Congress in reviewing such an order. Permits the Budget Committee of the House or the Senate, at any time after the promulgation of such an order, to report a concurrent resolution suspending, in whole or in part, the operation of such order. Defines the term "controllable expenditures" as expenditures which may be reduced without breaching any obligation, contractual or otherwise, of the United States to make payments. Requires the Congressional Budget Office to submit to the House and Senate Budget Committee recommendations concerning further refinement in the definition and identification of controllable expenditures.
United States · United States Congress · 18 February 1981
Patent Term Restoration Act of 1981 - Amends the patent law to extend the terms of patents which encompass specified products or a method for using a product any of which are subject to certain nonpatent regulatory review periods. Sets forth the terms and conditions of such extension, including a seven year limitation. Directs the Commissioner of Patents to issue to the owner of record of a patent a certificate of extension stating the fact and length of the extension and identifying the product and the use and the claim to which such extension is applicable. Makes such certificate a part of the original patent. Limits the application of such patent term extension to patents for products subject to regulation under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, the Public Health Service Act, the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, the Toxic Substances Control Act, and the Act of March 4, 1913 (relating to virus, serum, toxin, and analogous products).
United States · United States Congress · 17 February 1981
Amends the Clean Air Act to direct the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to: (1) continue ozone protection studies and research while increasing actual measurements of stratospheric ozone and improving methods of monitoring potential trends in such measurements; and (2) contract with the National Academy of Sciences, in consultation with the Administrators of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, to (a) continue review and research, (b) determine the extent, nature, and causes of changes in stratospheric ozone concentration (with particular attention to the effects of chlorofluorocarbons), (c) investigate unreasonable effects on health and the environment, and (d) report to the Administrator and the Congress. Directs the Administrator to report, with recommendations, to the Congress at the end of a 24-month period. Prohibits the commencement or continuation of rulemaking by the Administrator with respect to regulations for the control in the United States of any chlorofluorocarbon until: (1) the Administrator, the Academy, and the President have submitted specified reports to the Congress; or (2) the Administrator determines that stratospheric ozone depletion by chlorofluorocarbons at a rate eventually harmful to human health and the environment has actually been detected. Directs the Administrator to withdraw any such rulemaking commenced after January 1, 1981, and before the date of enactment of this Act, and declares that such rulemaking has no force or effect. Requires that such final regulations be submitted to the Congress and only take effect if both Houses of Congress do not adopt a concurrent resolution of disapproval within a specified period. Sets forth procedures relating to such resolutions. Requires that continuing research and monitoring programs be expanded to determine the extent, nature, causes, effects, and associated uncertainties of stratospheric ozone concentration changes. Directs the President, within two years from the date of enactment of this Act and annually thereafter, to report to the Congress and the public on efforts to reach international agreements among the major free-world countries producing chlorofluorocarbons as to the nature, extent, and implications of any threat to the concentration of ozone in the stratosphere and the appropriate regulatory action to be taken. Prohibits States or local governments from adopting or attempting to enforce any regulations (except ones controlling halocarbon use as an aerosol propellant) respecting the control of chlorofluorocarbons to protect the stratosphere or stratospheric ozone until the Administrator has promulgated such regulations for such control in the United States. Provides that this Act shall not affect the validity of regulations concerning aerosol propellants containing chlorofluorocarbons promulgated by the Administrator before January 1, 1981.
United States · United States Congress · 17 February 1981
Research Revitalization Act of 1981 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to permit business an income tax credit of 25 percent of the cash contributions made to a reserve fund established to finance business-related research or experimentation. Limits the total amount of such credit to five percent of taxable business income. Exempts such reserve fund from income taxation. Allows an income tax deduction for research expenses paid out of the reserve fund during the taxable year. Specifies that research financed pursuant to this Act shall be performed by an institution of higher education. Prescribes tax penalties for the use of funds from the research reserve for purposes other than research and experimentation.
United States · United States Congress · 5 February 1981
Administrative Rulemaking Reform Act - Directs a Federal agency preparing to hold a rulemaking session to make a reasonable effort to inform those likely to be affected by the proposed rulemaking. Requires the notice of rulemaking to include: (1) the projected effective date of the rules; (2) the purpose of the rulemaking; (3) the text of the proposed rules; and (4) the studies on which the agency intends to rely in the rulemaking proceedings. Requires public notice and public opportunity for comment on all rulemaking proceedings unless the agency finds that proposed rules are emergency rules or are of routine or insignificant impact. Requires Federal agencies to give interested persons at least 45 days to participate in the rulemaking. Provides for agency hearings to receive oral comments, and procedures to resolve significant controversies over factual issues. Requires each agency to maintain a public file of all relevant material and required statements for each rulemaking. Prohibits adoption of a proposed rule that has been revised substantially unless interested persons are provided an opportunity to comment on such revisions. Sets forth an expedited rulemaking procedure for rules to replace emergency rules. Directs each agency to submit a copy of each promulgated rule to each House of Congress. Declares that no rule, excluding an emergency rule, shall become effective if: (1) both Houses of Congress adopt a concurrent resolution disapproving it within 90 days of continuous session of Congress; or (2) one House adopts such a resolution within 60 such days and the other House does not disapprove such resolution within 30 days thereafter. Authorizes either House to adopt a resolution directing an agency to reconsider and repromulgate a newly promulgated rule or an existing rule within a specified period. Provides that if such agency fails to act such rule shall lapse. Directs the Administrative Conference of the United States to study and report on the effects on rulemaking of the Congressional review provisions of this Act. Authorizes appropriations for such study. Directs a court reviewing an agency rule to set aside any rule found to be unwarranted by material in the rulemaking file.
United States · United States Congress · 5 February 1981
Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the National Institute of Arthritis, Metabolism, and Digestive Diseases, to: (1) conduct a clinical investigation of the safety and efficacy of dimethyl sulfoxide as a drug to be used by persons with arthritis; and (2) report to Congress within one year of enactment of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 5 February 1981
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to permit married individuals filing separate income tax returns an election to be taxed at rates applicable to unmarried individuals.
United States · United States Congress · 5 February 1981
Requests the President to designate the week of May 10 to May 16, 1981, as "CARE Week" in observance of the thirty-fifth anniversary of CARE (the Cooperative for American Relief Everywhere, Inc.).
United States · United States Congress · 4 February 1981
Family Enterprise Estate and Gift Tax Equity Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to increase the unified credit against the estate and gift taxes from $47,000 to $155,800 by specified annual increments through 1985. Increases from $175,000 to $500,000, by specified annual increments through 1985, the minimum gross estate requirement for filing of a return. Repeals the existing limitations on the marital deduction for gift and estate taxes. Increases from $3,000 to $6,000 the annual gift tax exclusion. Qualifies estates of decedents who were disabled or retired for the special valuation of certain farms based on use if such decedents materially participated in the operation of the farm for five out of eight years preceding the year in which they became disabled or eligible for disability benefits, under title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act. Permits the spouse of a decedent to use such valuation if the spouse has managed the farm or business for ten years preceding the decedent's death or takes over active management upon the decedent's death. Qualifies the owner of a woodland for the special use valuation if the owner or a member of the owner's family actively managed the property for ten years prior to the owner's death. Reduces from 15 to ten years the length of time a qualified property must be held and put to a qualified use following the decedent's death before it can be disposed of without incurring a recapture of estate tax benefits. Permits active management rather than material participation as a test for qualification of the estate for spouses, children under 21, students, and disabled individuals who receive property from a decedent who qualified for special use valuation. Repeals the $500,000 limitation on the reduction of the value of qualified real property permitted by the special use valuation. Allows the like kind exchange of property without loss of special use valuation eligibility. Allows valuation based on net crop share rentals as an alternative method of valuing farms. Repeals the requirement that an heir elect special treatment for involuntary conversions of qualified real property, thus making such treatment automatic upon such conversion. States that gifts made within three years of a decedent's death shall be valued as of the time of transfer rather than as of the date of death. Authorizes an individual to elect to pay a gift tax rather than use the unified tax credit. Modifies the alternate extension of time for payment of the estate tax where the estate consists largely of an interest in a closely held business to: (1) allow an installment payment election if the value of the interest in the closely held business is either 35 percent of the value of the gross estate or 50 percent of the taxable estate; (2) increase to 50 percent the value of an interest disposed of which will accelerate the payment of tax; and (3) permit payment, but with a penalty, of an installment within six months after the due date. Allows a disclaimer of an interest in property for estate tax purposes in specified circumstances where such disclaimer does not result in the passing of the interest concerned under the applicable State law.
United States · United States Congress · 28 January 1981
Amends the Powerplant and Industrial Fuel Use Act of 1978 to permit local distribution companies to provide natural gas service to residential customers for use in outdoor lighting fixtures installed and receiving natural gas before the enactment of such Act. Requires each local distribution company, in accordance with rules established by the Secretary of Energy, to: (1) periodically inform its customers of the amount of natural gas consumed by outdoor lighting; and (2) report such information method to the Secretary.
![Official portrait of Rep. Madigan, Edward R. [R-IL-15]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/m000041_200.jpg)