United States · United States Congress · 3 June 1987
Medical Device Improvements Act of 1987 - Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to require medical facilities to inform the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the manufacturer whenever they believe a medical device could have contributed to a death, illness, or injury, or may have seriously malfunctioned. Establishes civil penalties for knowing violations. Requires manufacturers to maintain records of such information. Authorizes the Secretary to waive application requirements for premarket approval for a class III device. Defines "substantially identical" for purposes of classifying devices, requiring same intended use and same technological characteristics. Requires the submission of clinical data demonstrating the substantial equivalence of a device, defined as having the same intended use as another device, but different technological characteristics. Requires a person seeking substantial identity or equivalence to a class III device to certify that a search of published information on such device has been concluded and may be required to include relevant adverse safety and effectiveness data. Requires the Secretary within five years to reclassify class III devices into class I or into class II or to state that the classification is appropriate. Revises existing standards to designate as class II devices those devices for which it can be determined whether or not a performance standard is appropriate rather than requiring a performance standard as under current law. Authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services to reclassify class III devices (devices requiring premarket approval) into class I (devices requiring general controls) or class II as appropriate to assure the safety and effectiveness of such devices. Revises the procedures for establishing performance standards for devices. Removes the non-state-of-the-art design and manufacture basis for repair, replacement, or refund remedy. Eliminates devices from the color additives regulation. Requires the Secretary to support education and training activities to minimize the exposure of people to health hazards associated with devices. Makes it discretionary rather than mandatory to refer device applications to a panel for evaluation. Amends the Orphan Drug Act to include medical devices.
United States · United States Congress · 3 June 1987
Designates the week beginning October 18, 1987, as Financial Independence Week. Urges all citizens to pursue financial independence through sound planning and management of their individual resources.
United States · United States Congress · 2 June 1987
Economic Equity Act of 1987 - Title I: Work - Subtitle A: Pay Equity - Federal Equitable Pay Practices Act of 1987 - Establishes the Commission on Equitable Pay Practices to determine whether the Government's position-classification system and prevailing rate system are designed and administered in accordance with the general policy that sex, race, and ethnicity should not be among the factors considered in determining pay rates. Requires the Commission to conduct, by contract with a consultant selected under this Act, a study under which job-content analysis and economic analysis shall be applied to a representative sample of occupations in which: (1) either sex is numerically predominant; or (2) any race or ethnic group is disproportionately represented. Directs the Commission to report to the Congress and the President on the results of such study not later than 18 months after the Commission's date of establishment. Declares that such study shall be considered of an advisory nature only. Terminates the Commission 90 days after its submission of the required report. Makes sums appropriated to the Office of Personnel Management for general operating expenses available to carry out this Act. Establishes the Commission on Employment Discrimination in the Legislative Branch to carry out similar duties with respect to job classification and the personnel policies and practices in the Library of Congress. Requires the Commission to submit its final report to the Congress within 18 months. Terminates the Commission 30 days after submission of the report. Subtitle B: Women in Business - Amends the Equal Credit Opportunity Act to prohibit the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System from exempting from such Act any class of credit transactions that are primarily for personal, family, or household purposes. Permits the Board to exempt (for five years) a type or class of business or commercial transaction only after determining that application of such Act to such transaction would not contribute substantially to effecting the purposes of such Act. Subtitle C: Part-Time and Temporary Workers - Part-Time and Temporary Workers Protection Act of 1987 - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to bring certain part-time employees within the participation, vesting, and accrual rules governing pension plans. Addresses any employee who, within a relevant 12-month period: (1) has customarily completed more than 500 but fewer than 1,000 hours of service; or (2) is employed in a type of position in which employment customarily consists of such a number of hours. Provides that completion of such hours of service will be treated as completion of 1,000 hours of service (thereby bringing the employee within the ERISA benefit framework). Permits a reduction in the employer-provided premium under a group health plan in the case of a part-time employee only when such employee: (1) has customarily completed fewer than 30 hours of service per week; or (2) is employed in a type of position in which employment customarily consists of such a number of hours. Limits such a premium reduction, when permissible, to not less than a ratable portion of the premium ordinarily provided in the case of an employee who completes 30 hours of service per week. Revises the ERISA definition of "employee" to include non-employees who, pursuant to a contract or agreement, provide employee-like service to an employer for at least one year at the rate of 500 or more hours per year. Subtitle D: Economic Security - Social Security Modernization Act - Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act to provide that the combined earnings of a married couple which are attributable to the period of their marriage shall be shared equally between them for purposes of determining the eligibility for, and amount, of OASDI benefits to which each spouse is or may become separately entitled. Credits the survivor of the marriage with 100 percent of the combined total wages for the period of the marriage. Provides that these provisions shall not apply in specified cases when it would result in a reduction of OASDI benefits. Repeals the separate definition of disability applicable to widows and widowers. Permits the months of a widow's or widower's entitlement to Supplemental Security Income benefits (title XVI of the Social Security Act) on the basis of a disability to be counted toward the 24 months needed to become entitled to hospital insurance benefits under Medicare (title XVIII of the Social Security Act) on that basis. Pension Reform Act of 1987 - Amends the Tax Reform Act of 1986 to extend to all accrued benefits existing in plan year 1989 and thereafter the amendments made with regard to the nondiscriminatory coordination of defined contribution plans with Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance (OASDI). Amends the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) to repeal provisions that permit a certain disparity in simplified employee pension plan contributions with respect to nondiscriminatory coordination with OASDI. Provides for the repeal, effective for plan year 2000 and thereafter, of IRC rules relating to: (1) the nondiscriminatory coordination of defined contribution plans with OASDI; and (2) pension integration exceptions. Amends the IRC to establish distinct minimum employee coverage requirements applicable in cases when an employer with respect to a plan is treated as operating a single line of business. Requires such a plan to benefit all the employer's employees. Limits the exception to minimum coverage requirements available to employers treated as operating separate lines of business for a year. Amends the IRC and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 to eliminate the special vesting requirements governing multiemployer plans. Directs the Comptroller General of the United States, as soon as possible after this Act's enactment, to undertake thorough studies with respect to: (1) possible methods of requiring employee pension plans to provide cost of living and other adjustments to plan benefits; and (2) potential pension portability mechanisms, including ways to preserve and enhance the real value of deferred vested pension benefits. Lists specific items to be addressed in each study. Requires submission of the studies to specified congressional committees within two years of this Act's enactment. Medicaid Community Property and Respite Care Act of 1987 - Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to provide that in determining an institutionalized spouse's Medicaid eligibility the income and resources held by either or both the institutionalized spouse and the community spouse shall (with specified exceptions) be divided equally. Furnishes the community spouse with a monthly income allowance from the institutionalized spouse's income to the extent the community spouse's income falls short of a minimum monthly needs allowance set by the States to equal at least 200 percent of one-twelfth of the Federal poverty level. Gives the institutionalized spouse the right to a hearing to establish that the allowance is not adequate to support the community spouse without duress, so that an adequate amount of support will be substituted for the allowance. Prohibits the allowance from being less than court-ordered support payments. Authorizes the institutionalized spouse to transfer resources to the community spouse to the extent the median net worth of male householders age 65 or older, as determined by the Bureau of the Census, exceeds the amount of resources otherwise available to the community spouse. Authorizes States to provide Medicaid coverage for up to 30 days of respite care per year. Nondiscrimination in Insurance Act - Bans discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin in the consideration of applications for, or the granting of, insurance policies and the terms of such policies. Prohibits the use of any statistical table as a basis for action banned by this section, and discrimination in any manner against a person because that person has opposed any practice made unlawful under this section. Grants to States having insurance discrimination laws the primary opportunity to enforce the pertinent prohibitions. Permits a civil action against the insurer to be filed in State or Federal court by or on behalf of an aggrieved person. Authorizes the Attorney General to bring a civil action in district court (without regard to the amount in controversy) when there is reasonable cause to believe that a person or group is engaged in a pattern or practice of violating these rights and that such violation raises an issue of general public importance. Directs the Court to: (1) order the defendant to amend any relevant contract to comply with these provisions; (2) award actual damages for the period of noncompliance; and (3) award the aggrieved person reasonable attorney fees. Authorizes an award of punitive damages, in addition to actual damages. Describes rights, liabilities, premiums, benefits, and insurance coverages that are not to be affected by these antidiscrimination provisions. 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. Title II: Family and Dependent Care - Subtitle A: Quality of Dependent Care - Amends the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1981 to: (1) authorize FY 1988 appropriations for allotments to the States for certain dependent care services; and (2) permit grants to eligible non-profit training and technical assistance to family day care providers and associated individuals. Amends the Social Security Act to increase authorizations for FY 1988 and thereafter for block grants to the States for social services. Earmarks a specified portion of such funds for grants to improve State child-care licensing and regulatory systems. Requires as a condition of eligibility for such grants, with limited exceptions specified in this Act, the establishment of a State Advisory Committee on Child-Care Standards to review a State's child-care licensing and regulatory systems. Requires reports by such committees. Establishes a National Advisory Committee on Child-Care Standards to assist and provide guidance to the States in improving the quality of child-care services. Requires the National Advisory Committee to submit to the Secretary of Health and Human Services proposed recommended standards for child-care programs within 14 months after the enactment of this Act. Terminates the National Advisory Committee 90 days after the publication by the Secretary of final recommended standards. Subtitle B: Access to Dependent Care for All Families - Amends Internal Revenue Code provisions relating to the income tax credit for employment-related dependent care expenses to: (1) make the credit refundable; (2) increase the amount of the credit from 30 percent to 50 percent of the relevant expenses, reduced (but not below 20 percent) by one percent for each full $1,000 amount by which the taxpayer's adjusted gross income (AGI) exceeds $15,000, subject to an annual adjustment for inflation (the current reduction is one percent for each $2,000 in excess of $10,000 AGI with no provision for a cost of living adjustment); and (3) apply the credit to expenses for certain respite care of qualifying dependents of the taxpayer. Permits credit for up to $1,200 ($2,400 in cases involving more than one qualifying individual) of respite care expenses incurred in the care of: (1) a dependent of the taxpayer who is under the age of 15; or (2) a spouse or other dependent of the taxpayer who is physically or mentally incapable of self-care. Amends the Federal National Mortgage Association Charter Act and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation Act to bring within their respective frameworks loans or advances secured by a single residential property occupied as a single family residence in which community child care service is provided (thus making such loans eligible for purchase under each Act). Subtitle C: Supply of Dependent Care for Lower-Income Families - Amends the Social Security Act to: (1) increase the amount of funds available for FY 1987 and thereafter for block grants to the States for social services; (2) require States to file annual (rather than biennial) reports on fund use; and (3) detail mandatory contents for such reports. State Dependent Care Grants Amendments Act of 1987 - Amends the State Dependent Care Development Grants Act to require that amounts paid to States for use in the operation of child care services be designed to enable children whose families lack adequate financial resources to participate in before or after school child care programs. Requires State Governors to include specified information in their grant reports. Extends from September 30, 1987, to September 30, 1991, the time until which necessary revisions of grant program descriptions must be submitted. Directs the Secretary of Housing and Urban Urban Development to: (1) make grants to public housing agencies to contract for lower-income resident child care services; and (2) design such program to determine the extent to which it facilitates resident employability. Requires a report to the Congress within three years. Authorizes FY 1988 appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 2 June 1987
Foreign Ownership of United States Banks Limitation Act - Amends the Federal Deposit Insurance Act to require the appropriate Federal banking agency to disapprove any proposed acquisition of an insured bank by a prohibited foreign national. States that such foreign national may be: (1) any country that appears on the list of controlled countries (which includes communist countries) of the Export Administration Act of 1979; (2) any national, agency, or instrumentality of such a country; or (3) any person who such Federal banking agency has reason to believe is an agent of such country, national, agency, or instrumentality. Requires a proposed acquirer of an insured bank to notify such Federal banking agency of the acquirer's nationality. Imposes a criminal penalty for willful failure to provide such information. Extends from 60 to 90 days the period for issuing a notice of disapproval if such Federal banking agency has reason to believe that the proposed acquisition may result in the ownership or control of an insured bank by a prohibited foreign national. Prohibits the responsible Federal banking agency from approving a proposed merger or consolidation of an insured bank if the responsible agency has reason to believe that the resulting bank would be owned or controlled by such a prohibited foreign national. Amends the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956 to prohibit the Federal Reserve Board from approving any acquisition, merger, or consolidation which the Federal Reserve Board has reason to believe would result in the ownership or control of a bank by a prohibited foreign national. Extends for 90 days the period for issuing notice of disapproval if the agency has reason to believe that the proposed acquisition may result in the ownership or control of an insured bank by such a prohibited foreign national. Prohibits the Comptroller of the Currency from issuing a certificate of banking authority to any national banking association which the Comptroller has reason to believe is owned or controlled by a prohibited foreign national. Prohibits the Comptroller from approving the conversion of any bank if the Comptroller has reason to believe that the bank is owned or controlled by any such prohibited foreign national. Amends the Federal Reserve Act to prohibit the Federal Reserve Board from approving an application to become a member of the Federal Reserve System by a bank which the Board has reason to believe is owned or controlled by any such prohibited foreign national. Amends the Federal Deposit Insurance Act to prohibit approval by the Board of Directors of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) of an application for insurance by any bank if such bank is owned or controlled by a prohibited foreign national. Requires the appropriate Federal banking agency to require each insured bank to include in the first report of condition filed by such bank after enactment of this Act the nationality of any person who controls such bank. Amends the National Housing Act to require the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation (FSLIC) to disapprove any proposed acquisition if the FSLIC has reason to believe that the proposed acquisition would result in ownership or control of an institution by a prohibited foreign national. Requires a proposed acquirer of a depository institution to notify the FSLIC of the acquirer's nationality. Imposes a criminal penalty for willful failure to provide such information. Extends from 60 to 90 days the period for issuing a notice of disapproval if the FSLIC has reason to believe that the proposed acquisition may result in the ownership or control of an insured institution by such a prohibited foreign national. Prohibits the FSLIC from approving any acquisition that would result in the ownership or control of any savings and loan holding company, insured institution, or uninsured institution by a prohibited foreign national. Amends the Home Owners' Loan Act of 1933 to prohibit the Federal Home Loan Bank Board from granting a charter if the grant of such charter would result in the control of an institution by a prohibited foreign national. Prohibits the conversion of any association that is a member of the Federal Home Loan Bank, any Federal savings and loan association, any Federal savings bank, or any State-chartered savings bank into certain types of institutions if, after such conversion, such resulting institution would be controlled by a prohibited foreign national. Prohibits the FDIC from approving certain mergers and consolidations if the FDIC has reason to believe that the resulting bank, association, or institution would be owned or controlled by a prohibited foreign national. Amends the Federal Home Loan Bank Act to prohibit any building and loan association, savings and loan association, cooperative bank, homestead association, insurance company, or savings bank from becoming a member of, or a non-member borrower of, a Federal Home Loan Bank if such institution is controlled by a prohibited foreign national. Requires the Federal Home Loan Bank Board and the FSLIC to require each institution that is required to file reports of conditions with such Board or FSLIC to include in the first such report filed after enactment of this Act the nationality of any person who controls such institution.
United States · United States Congress · 21 May 1987
Anti-Terrorism Sanctions Act of 1987 - Provides certain sanctions against countries determined by the Department of State, under provisions of the Export Administration Act of 1979, as countries that repeatedly provide support for international terrorism. Specifies such sanctions as: (1) the termination, withdrawal, or suspension of any portion of any trade agreement or treaty that relates to the provision of nondiscriminatory (most-favored-nation) trade treatment to such country; (2) the denial of nondiscriminatory (most-favored-nation) trade treatment by the United States; (3) the nonapplication of the Generalized System of Preferences with respect to the products of such country; (4) the nonapplication of the provisions of the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act with respect to the products of such country; and (5) the nonapplication of the provisions of the International Travel and Tourism Act of 1961 instructing the Secretary of Commerce to consult with other nations regarding international travel and tourism. Authorizes the President to waive any or all of such sanctions with respect to any foreign country if the President determines that such a waiver would be in the best interests of the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 20 May 1987
Federal Employees Leave Act of 1987 - Directs the Office of Personnel Management to establish a program under which the annual leave of a Federal employee may be transferred to the annual leave of any other Federal employee if such other employee requires additional leave because of a personal emergency. Describes the requirements for receiving and using transferred leave and for donating annual leave. Requires agencies to establish procedures to ensure that a leave recipient is not permitted to use or receive transferred leave after the personal emergency ceases to exist. Provides for restoring unused transferred leave to leave donors on a prorated basis. Prohibits an employee from being coerced into donating, receiving, or using annual leave under the voluntary leave transfer program. Makes postal employees eligible to participate in such program. Authorizes the exclusion from such program of employees working under negotiated contracts and agencies for which such program would cause substantial disruption. Requires such program to terminate five years after its commencement. Requires the Office of Personnel Management to report to the President and the Congress on the program not later than six months before its termination. Authorizes the Office to establish general guidelines for agencies to conduct experimental programs to determine the desirability and feasibility of providing additional leave as a means of recognizing outstanding performance or other achievements by Federal employees. Terminates such experimental programs five years after the date of enactment of this Act. Requires the Office to report to the President and the Congress on such programs not later than six months after their termination.
United States · United States Congress · 20 May 1987
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the United States should review its foreign policy toward and its relationship with the Government of China in light of the continued violation of human rights in Tibet. Requires any certification to the Congress pursuant to the Arms Export Control Act with respect to the sale of arms to China to be accompanied by a presidential determination that the Government of China is acting in good faith and in a timely manner to resolve human rights issues in Tibet. Requires the Secretary of State to submit a report to the Congress on the human rights situation in Tibet. Provides financial assistance for Tibetan refugees for FY 1988 and 1989. Provides scholarships for Tibetan exiles for FY 1988 and 1989.
United States · United States Congress · 18 May 1987
Designates August 1, 1987, as Helsinki Human Rights Day. Requests the President to: (1) reassert American commitment to the Helsinki Accords; (2) raise the issue of noncompliance with such Accords with the Soviet Union, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, the German Democratic Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Romania; (3) convey to all signatories of such Accords that respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms is vital to progress in the ongoing Helsinki process; (4) convey to U.S. allies the necessity of unity regarding such Accords; (5) continue his efforts to achieve the release of political prisoners of the Soviet Union, increase in Soviet emigration, resolution of family reunification cases, and cessation of radio transmission jamming; (6) seek the inclusion, in any concluding document agreed to in Vienna, of a mechanism to sustain human rights progress after the Vienna Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe; and (7) convey to signatory states the desire of the United States for a result at Vienna that will not favor military security at the expense of human rights.
United States · United States Congress · 14 May 1987
Designates the westernmost point of Guam as Point Udall in honor of Morris Udall, a Member of the House of Representatives. Directs the Secretary of the Interior to place and maintain a plaque on Federal land near such point to honor the service and accomplishments of Morris Udall. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 13 May 1987
Diplomatic Reciprocity and Security Act - Title I: Soviet Embassy in the United States and United States Embassy in the Soviet Union - Declares that the United States withdraws from the agreement with the Soviet Union concerning embassies in Moscow and Washington. Authorizes the President to waive such withdrawal if he determines, and reports to the Congress, that: (1) it is vital to the national security of the United States not to withdraw from the embassy agreement; (2) the U.S. Embassy in Moscow can be safely and securely occupied by the United States and used for its intended purposes; and (3) steps have been or will be taken to eliminate, no later than October 1, 1989, the damage to U.S. national security due to electronic surveillance from Soviet facilities at the Mount Alto site in Washington, D.C., and from other Soviet facilities in the United States. Provides that if the withdrawal from the embassy agreement takes effect the Mount Alto site may not be available for use by a foreign mission for any purpose. Expresses the sense of the Congress that the current arbitration process between the United States and the Soviet Union should be expanded to include Soviet reimbursement of the full costs incurred by the United States as a result of the intelligence activities of the Soviet Union directed at the new United States Embassy in Moscow. Requires the Secretary of State to achieve, by October 1, 1989, reciprocity in certain matters for U.S. diplomatic and consular posts in the Soviet Union. Specifies such matters as: (1) the payment of fair market value for goods and services in the Soviet Union; (2) full access to goods and services in the Soviet Union, including utilities; and (3) obtaining real property in the Soviet Union which is equivalent in terms of quantity and quality to the real property used by diplomatic and consular posts of the Soviet mission to the United States. Authorizes the Secretary to take certain measures, including the closing of Soviet diplomatic or consular offices, in order to achieve reciprocal treatment concerning real property. Requires the Secretary to report annually to the Congress concerning actions taken or planned to achieve such objectives. Requires the Secretary to submit to the Congress a report discussing whether the number of personnel of Soviet state trading enterprises in the United States should be reduced. Title II: Improving State Department Personnel Practices and Organization to Counter Hostile Intelligence Threats - Requires the Secretary of State to require periodic counterintelligence scope polygraph interviews of the Diplomatic Security Service. Requires the Secretary to develop and implement a special personnel security program for personnel of the Department of State assigned to U.S. diplomatic and consular posts in high intelligence threat countries who are responsible for security at those posts and for any individuals performing guard functions at those posts. Requires the Secretary to convene an Accountability Review Board in any case of a serious breach of security involving intelligence activities of a foreign government directed at a U.S. mission abroad. Prohibits, after September 30, 1989, employment of any national of a Communist country as a foreign national employee at U.S. diplomatic and consular missions in any Communist country. Exempts from such prohibition any foreign national employee who is not permitted access to: (1) U.S. Embassy or consulate grounds, vehicles, or buildings located in the compound of the Embassy or consulate; and (2) the residence, wherever located, of the chief of mission or the deputy chief of mission. Expresses the willingness of the Congress to provide additional funds to the Department of State for the expenses of employing U.S. citizens to replace foreign nationals dismissed as a result of such prohibition. Requires the Secretary to terminate the retirement benefits of foreign national employees who the Secretary reasonably believes engaged in intelligence activities directed against the United States. Allows the Secretary to waive such requirement on a case-by-case basis if he determines that it is vital to U.S. national security to do so and reports such waiver in advance to the appropriate committees of the Congress. Requires the Secretary to submit to the Congress a report discussing the advisability of employing foreign nationals at foreign service posts abroad. Establishes within the Department of State the position of Under Secretary of State for Security, Communications, Construction, and Missions. Provides that such Under Secretary shall be responsible for: (1) the Bureau of Diplomatic Security; (2) the Office of Communications; (3) the Office of Foreign Buildings; and (4) the Office of Foreign Missions. Replaces the current position of Director of the Office of Foreign Missions with the position of Assistant Secretary of State for Foreign Missions. Title III: Additional Measures to Protect Against Hostile Intelligence Threats - Authorizes additional appropriations for the Department of State to carry out the diplomatic security program. Requires the Secretary of State to conduct periodic surveys to determine the weaknesses in the programs, practices, and procedures for protecting classified information at U.S. diplomatic and consular posts, giving priority attention to posts in Communist countries. Amends the State Department Basic Authorities Act of 1956 to prohibit the acquisition of real property by or on behalf of the foreign mission of an unfriendly country if: (1) in the judgment of the Secretary of Defense, the acquisition of that property might improve the capability of that country to intercept communications involving U.S. diplomatic, military, or intelligence matters; or (2) if in the judgment of the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the acquisition of that property might improve the capability of that country to engage in intelligence activities directed against the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 7 May 1987
Amends Federal veterans' benefits provisions to direct (current law authorizes) the Administrator of Veterans Affairs to pay travel expenses of certain veterans and their eligible dependents to or from a Veterans Administration facility or other authorized place in connection with rehabilitation, counseling, or medical treatment or care. Defines those veterans entitled to such payment, including: (1) those veterans financially unable to meet such travel costs; and (2) those veterans unable to bear the cost of special transportation necessitated due to a medical disability. Limits such payments in the case of travel by a privately-owned vehicle to the cost of similar public transportation for such travel. Limits such payment to the actual cost incurred for such travel.
United States · United States Congress · 5 May 1987
Economic Diversification Act - Title I: Defense Economic Diversification-Adjustment Council - Establishes in the Executive Office of the President the Defense Economic Diversification-Adjustment Council (Council) in the interest of: (1) assisting affected persons in defense-dependent communities to make plans for nondefense economic alternatives to minimize dislocation in the event of a closure of a military installation or cancellation of a major defense contract; (2) providing incentives for business, industry, and the vocational education community to develop programs to retrain workers affected by such closures or terminations; and (3) notifying communities in advance of anticipated events that will require economic adjustments to nondefense alternatives. Directs the Council, among other things, to: (1) establish within the Executive Office of the President an Office of Economic Diversification-Adjustment to provide staff support for its work; (2) disseminate pertinent information to the appropriate Federal, State, and local authorities and to diversification-alternative use committees; (3) develop and coordinate data relating to defense economic diversification and adjustments; (4) serve as a resource for civilian job information for workers displaced from defense-related employment; (5) prepare and distribute a Diversification and Conversion Guidelines Handbook in accordance with prescribed content specifications outlined in this Act; and (6) make available for appropriate use information with respect to funds that could be used for diversification and conversion planning. Directs the Secretary of Defense to: (1) notify the Council one year in advance of any pending or proposed change in defense spending that would affect employment in the defense industry; and (2) furnish annually to the Council data with respect to future defense spending levels and contract progress. Title II: Community Economic Diversification - Adjustment Program - Directs the Council to establish a grant program to provide funds to be used for: (1) planning for economic diversification or conversion to avoid substantial dislocations; or (2) economic adjustment, in certain cases. Permits the awarding of grants to: (1) any community that is in the process of reducing a heavy dependency on defense-oriented activities or that is substantially affected by the reduction or elimination of Federal defense facilities or curtailment of defense contracts; (2) labor unions, business representatives, and private nonprofit economic development, job training, or education agencies located near or within such communities; and (3) the base management and civilian employees of a Federal military installation being closed or realigned. Directs the Council to establish grant eligibility criteria that will ensure assistance to the most vulnerable communities. Limits a community to a single grant for each major defense contract cancellation or military installation realignment. Instructs the Council to publish semiannually a listing of the currently eligible local government units. Permits any community not on such a listing to petition for inclusion. Requires every grantee to establish a diversification-alternative use committee to: (1) develop and review plans for the economic diversification of the defense-dependent area and for the alternative use of a major defense facility for other activity in the event of a Government decision affecting its continued role in defense; (2) review the industry-education partnership for training and retraining in defense-dependent areas and evaluate the particular manpower, environmental, and economic needs of the particular community; and (3) ensure that proper education and assistance are provided to employees displaced by defense-related facility closings. Sets forth criteria with respect to the contents of diversification and alternative use plans. Title III: Industry-Education Partnership - Amends the Carl D. Perkins Vocational Education Act to establish a program of grants to the States to carry out industry-education partnership vocational education programs designed to train and retrain workers in defense-related facilities or defense-dependent communities to allow them to find nondefense-related employment. Sets forth general guidelines for such grant program. Authorizes the use of grant funds for: (1) necessary administrative costs; (2) the training and retraining of instructional and guidance personnel; and (3) curriculum development and acquisition. Title IV: Miscellaneous - Authorizes FY 1988 through 1990 appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 5 May 1987
Atomic Safety Act of 1987 - Declares that it is the sense of the Congress that full emergency planning is an essential element of the nuclear enterprise and that no plant should operate without assurance from Federal experts on emergency preparedness that the public health and safety can and will be protected. Prohibits the Nuclear Regulatory Commission from issuing a utilization facility operating license unless the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has issued a finding regarding whether such facility has in place an offsite emergency plan which will provide assurance that the public health and safety will be protected. Revokes upon enactment of this Act any license issued by the Commission that is not based upon such a finding by FEMA.
United States · United States Congress · 30 April 1987
Directs the head of each Federal department or agency holding records relating to sightings of U.S. military personnel in Southeast Asia since 1973 to make available to the public, within 30 days after the enactment of this Act, all such records. Provides exceptions to such disclosures for information revealing intelligence sources and methods or the names of such personnel.
United States · United States Congress · 30 April 1987
Amends the Railroad Retirement Act of 1974 to remove specified accounts related to railroad retirement funds, taxes, and revenues from inclusion in the Federal budget totals submitted by the President or the Congress, and to exempt such accounts from any general budget limitation imposed by law on Federal expenditures and net lending (budget outlays). Amends the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act to prohibit from inclusion in the Federal budget totals submitted by the President or the Congress certain railroad unemployment insurance accounts, taxes, and funds, and to exempt them from any general statutory budget limitations imposed upon Federal expenditures and budget outlays. Amends the Railroad Retirement Act of 1974 to direct the Railroad Retirement Board (the Board) to submit an annual budget program to the Office of Management and Budget which shall include separate statements of the Board's requested appropriations. Directs the President to include such requested amounts (without revision) in the budget transmitted to the Congress. Amends the Railroad Retirement Act of 1974 and the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act to provide that the Board's authority to determine the number of individuals it shall employ shall not be subject to review by other Federal administrative or accounting personnel. Precludes regulations promulgated by the Board from being subject to review by other Federal administrative or accounting personnel.
United States · United States Congress · 30 April 1987
Urges the President to restructure U.S. policy with respect to the countries of Indochina in order to secure the release of any American prisoners of war and an accounting of Americans missing in action. Recommends that: (1) the President assign to the Secretary of State the responsibility to develop and direct the implementation of this new policy; (2) an ambassador be appointed to represent the U.S. Government in all its relations with the governments of Indochina; and (3) all departments and agencies of the U.S. Government support the implementation of such policy.
United States · United States Congress · 28 April 1987
Rural Letter Carriers Tax Simplification Act - Provides that, for taxable years beginning after 1986, rural mail carriers are permitted to compute the amount of the income tax deduction for use of their automobiles in performance of mail services: (1) by using a standard mileage rate for all miles of such use equal to 150 percent of the basic standard rate; or (2) without applying the limitation on deductions generally applicable in cases when the business use of the automobile accounts for 50 percent, or less, of its use. Prohibits the use of 150 percent of the basic standard mileage rate in determining the allowable deduction if the taxpayer claims an investment tax credit or depreciation deduction for such automobile.
United States · United States Congress · 27 April 1987
Farmers Home Administration Guaranteed Loan Improvements Act of 1987 - Amends the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act to permit leaders and subsequent loan holders to sell the guaranteed portion of certain Farmers Home Administration (FmHA) loans provided that: (1) all related fees due the Secretary of Agriculture are fully paid; and (2) the loan has been fully disbursed to the borrower. Authorizes the issuing of pool certificates representing ownership of the guaranteed portion of such FmHA loans. Directs the Secretary to: (1) provide for the central collection of registration information; (2) provide for specified seller-buyer disclosure; (3) regulate market makers in pool certificates; (4) require market makers to service all pools and provide the Secretary with payment and default information; and (5) report annually to the appropriate congressional committees regarding secondary market operations.
United States · United States Congress · 23 April 1987
National Nutrition Monitoring and Related Research Act of 1987 - Title I: Nutrition Monitoring and Related Research - Establishes a ten-year coordinated program, to be known as the National Nutrition Monitoring and Related Research Program, which will be implemented by the Secretaries of Health and Human Services and Agriculture. Establishes an Interagency Board for Nutrition Monitoring and Related Research to facilitate the implementation of such program. Authorizes the Secretaries to appoint an Administrator of Nutrition Monitoring and Related Research to coordinate such program. Sets forth the functions of the Secretaries with respect to such program, including: (1) establishing matching grants programs for specified nutritional and dietary purposes; and (2) submitting an annual report to the President for transmittal to the Congress. Requires the Secretaries to prepare and implement a comprehensive national nutrition monitoring and related research plan which shall: (1) assess and report on U.S. nutritional and dietary trends; (2) assess and report on low-income food and household expenditures; (3) sponsor and conduct research; (4) develop and update a national dietary and nutritional status data bank; (5) assist State and local agencies in developing procedures and networks for nutrition monitoring and surveillance; and (6) focus the activities of Federal agencies. Requires the plan to allocate the project functions and activities among the various Federal agencies and offices involved. Provides that the comprehensive plan shall be carried out during the period ending with the close of the ninth fiscal year following the fiscal year in which the final comprehensive plan is submitted. Requires the Secretaries to provide for and coordinate such scientific research and development as may be necessary to support the coordinated program and comprehensive plan. Authorizes appropriations. Title II: National Nutrition Monitoring Advisory Council - Establishes an 11-member Advisory Council to: (1) provide scientific and technical advice on the development and implementation of all components of the coordinated program and the comprehensive plan; (2) evaluate such program and plan; and (3) submit an annual report to the Secretaries. Title III: Dietary Guidance -Directs the Secretaries, by the start of 1990 and every five years thereafter, to publish and review dietary guidelines for the general public.
United States · United States Congress · 22 April 1987
Government Patent Policy Amendments of 1987 - Amends the patent laws to extend to all contractors, assignees, and exclusive licensees under Federal funding agreements the requirement that the manufacture of products using patents arising from federally supported research be significantly performed in the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 22 April 1987
Designates the week beginning August 2, 1987, as International Special Olympics Week and designates August 3, 1987, as International Special Olympics Day.
United States · United States Congress · 9 April 1987
Farmers Home Loan Buy Back Act of 1987 - Directs the Secretary of Agriculture, in administering the sale of specified Farmers Home Administration rural development obligations as provided for under the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1986, to give the issuers the right of first refusal. Sets forth sale price provisions.
United States · United States Congress · 9 April 1987
Ethanol Motor Fuel Act of 1987 - Mandates that in any calendar year beginning with calendar year 1988, the total quantity of motor fuel sold annually in U.S. commerce by wholesale distributors shall contain, on the average, not less than a specified percentage of ethanol by volume. Sets forth a computation formula for measuring the percentage of ethanol in motor fuel sold by a wholesale distributor. Requires wholesale distributors of motor fuel to report to the Secretary of Energy regarding ethanol sales and credits. Imposes a civil penalty on wholesale distributors for violation of the ethanol-blended fuel requirements. Directs the Secretary of Energy to establish a program to promote ethanol use in motor fuel.
United States · United States Congress · 9 April 1987
Stratospheric Ozone Protection Act of 1987 - Amends the Clean Air Act to direct the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to promulgate regulations controlling aggregate emissions of fully halogenated alkanes from the United States, setting a schedule which ultimately requires a 95 percent reduction from 1986 levels within seven years of enactment. Sets forth an emissions calculation formula which multiplies each fully halogenated alkane by its ozone depletion weight, adjusting aggregate amounts for imports, exports, production, and destruction or encapsulation. Requires the Administrator to establish a monitoring network to detect or predict modifications in the ozone layer. Requires the Administrator to conduct a detailed scientific assessment before implementing each stage of required reductions, adjusting the control measures as necessary. Prohibits, within one year of enactment, the import of fully halogenated alkanes in bulk from any nation without sufficiently stringent control measures. Prohibits, within three years of enactment, the import of all products containing fully halogenated alkanes from any nonequivalent nation. Sets forth a schedule of trade restrictions concerning the import or export of such alkanes, the technologies used to produce them, and the products produced by them. Requires the Administrator to report to the Congress annually on aggregate emissions and compliance. Sets forth enforcement provisions, including provisions allowing citizen suits.
United States · United States Congress · 9 April 1987
Amends the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 to permit Rural Electrification Administration borrowers to prepay Federal Financing Bank loans without penalties if: (1) private capital is used to replace such loans; and (2) any savings will be used to avoid future rate increases, passed on to customers, or used to improve the borrower's financial strength.
United States · United States Congress · 8 April 1987
Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) the Congregate Housing Services program should be permanently reauthorized; and (2) FY 1988 and 1989 funding should be set at specified levels.
United States · United States Congress · 6 April 1987
Makes permanent the income tax credit for qualified research expenditures by repealing the provisions of the Internal Revenue Code that would terminate such credit for expenses incurred or paid after 1988.
United States · United States Congress · 6 April 1987
Amends the Federal criminal code to make it unlawful for an employer to monitor an employee's work phone call unless a repeating audible warning tone is utilized. Allows any person whose call is monitored in violation of this Act to recover civil damages.
United States · United States Congress · 31 March 1987
Satellite Television Fair Marketing Act - Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to prohibit the encrypting of satellite programming from the Public Broadcasting Service and the Armed Forces Radio and Television Service. Requires anyone who encrypts satellite delivered programming for private viewing to: (1) make it available for private viewing by home satellite antenna users; (2) establish reasonable character and financial criteria for distributors of satellite delivered programming and not discriminate in prices, terms, or conditions among distributors offering similar distribution services; and (3) conduct such encryption according to Federal Communications Commission (FCC) - approved standards designed to comply with specified criteria. Requires the FCC-approved standards to provide the public interest benefits of a universal encryption system permitting decryption by cable television subscribers and home satellite users. Authorizes aggrieved persons to commence civil actions to enforce this Act. Requires the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to conduct a study of pricing and distribution terms of satellite television programming to determine whether the programming market is developing competitively. Authorizes the FTC to establish remedies necessary to produce adequate competition. Requires the FCC to begin a rulemaking proceeding on improving access to network signals for rural Americans.
United States · United States Congress · 26 March 1987
Minimum Wage Restoration Act of 1987 - Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to provide for specified annual increases in the minimum wage. Provides, after such increases reach a certain level, for annual indexing of the minimum wage to 50 percent of the average hourly rate in the private sector.
United States · United States Congress · 25 March 1987
Atomic Veterans Compensation Act of 1987 - Amends Federal veterans' benefits provisions to establish (for purposes of eligibility for such benefits) a presumption of service-connection for the following diseases suffered by any radiation-exposed veteran: (1) all forms of leukemia, except chronic lymphatic leukemia; (2) polycythemia vera; (3) thyroid cancer; (4) bronchogenic carcinoma; and (5) female breast cancer. Requires all of the above diseases, in order to be considered service-connected, to have become manifest to a degree of ten percent or more within 30 years after the last date on which the veteran participated in a radiation-risk activity. Defines "radiation-exposed veterans" and "radiation-risk activity" for purposes of this Act.
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.
![Official portrait of Rep. McCloskey, Frank [D-IN-8]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/m000342_200.jpg)