United States · United States Congress · 3 August 1983
Economic Conversion Act of 1983 - Authorizes the Secretary of Defense to make weekly assistance payments to employees whose employment is terminated as a result of the cancellation or reduction in a defense contract. Limits assistance payments to a maximum period of two years. Sets a maximum amount for such payments. Reduces the weekly payments by amounts received as unemployment compensation payments, earned income, or public assistance. Requires the Secretary of Defense to maintain the level of health insurance coverage the employee had prior to termination of employment.
United States · United States Congress · 2 August 1983
Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act to require: (1) the equitable distribution of lump-sum death benefits if there is no widow or widower who was living in the same household with an insured individual at the time of his or her death; or (2) the payment of such sum to the person assuming responsibility for the burial expenses of the deceased individual if there are no persons to whom such sum should be paid pursuant to title II requirements. Provides that the amount of the lump-sum death payment shall be equal to the amount of the average monthly old-age insurance benefit during the calendar year preceding the calendar year in which an insured individual dies. (Under current law, the lump-sum death payment is equal to the smaller of three times the insured individual's primary insurance amount or $255.)
United States · United States Congress · 2 August 1983
Political Tax Credit Reform Act of 1983 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to repeal the income tax credit for contributions made to candidates for President, candidates for State and local offices, political action committees, and newsletter funds. Allows an income tax credit for one-half of the amount contributed to a political party and the full amount contributed to a congressional candidate. Amends the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to require any candidate or committee receiving contributions eligible for such tax credit to include in its required report the number and aggregate amount of all eligible contributions.
United States · United States Congress · 1 August 1983
Fair Trade in Steel Act of 1983 - Title I: Steel Tripartite Advisory Council - Directs the President to establish within the Executive Office of the President a Steel Tripartite Advisory Council which shall: (1) advise the President and Congress on problems within the basic steel industry; (2) provide advice and make recommendations on certain international and domestic issues; and (3) perform other duties required by title II of this Act. Requires other Federal agencies to cooperate with the Council. Directs the Council to report to the President and Congress on its activities. Title II: Quantitative Restrictions on Imports of Certain Steel Products - Limits annual imports of steel mill product categories to 11 percent of the expected apparent consumption for that year. Defines steel mill product categories to mean specified categories of carbon and alloy steel articles and stainless steel articles identified in the Tariff Schedules of the United States. Directs the Secretary of Commerce to announce on October 1, and April 1, of each year the quantitative limitation on imports for the six months beginning on the following January 1, and July 1. Prohibits imposing limits on any steel product category unless the Secretary finds that the sector of the domestic steel industry which produces like or competitive articles has, and is engaging in, a verifiable investment plan to modernize that sector. Imposes additional quantitative limits on imports of steel mill product categories. Declares that it is the intent of this title to ensure, to the extent practicable, that the entry of articles in all steel mill product categories that are products of a foreign nation be equalized on a monthly basis. Provides for imposing additional limitations on imports from a foreign nation if imports from such nation, in any two consecutive months, exceed five percent of an amount equal to one-sixth of the total permissible imports for such nation for the year concerned. Terminates this title on December 31, 1988, unless extended by the President. Title III: Quantitative Restrictions on Iron Ore Imports - Imposes limits on the imports of iron ore for the last six months of 1983, and for calendar years 1984 and 1985. Authorizes the Secretary to permit imports of iron ore in excess of such limits in order to insure continued operation of domestic steelmaking facilities. Permits such waiver only on a plant-by-plant basis and only if the Secretary makes specified determinations.
United States · United States Congress · 1 August 1983
Adopts the conference report on S. 272 (small business access to Federal procurement information) and a concurrent resolution (S. Con. Res. 58) making corrections in the enrollment of such bill.
United States · United States Congress · 28 July 1983
Amends the Public Health Service Act to authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the Centers for Disease Control, to make grants and enter into contracts for State and local public health emergency prevention and treatment programs. Establishes in the Treasury a Public Health Emergency Fund for such purposes. Authorizes $60,000,000 for FY 1984 and for subsequent years such sums as necessary to have $60,000 in the Fund at the beginning of each fiscal year. Requires a report to the appropriate congressional committees on any such expenditures made during a fiscal year.
United States · United States Congress · 28 July 1983
Amends the Uniformed Survivors Benefits Amendments of 1980 to entitle certain individuals who were widowed on or before September 21, 1972, and who are not covered by the Military Survivor Benefit Plan to an annuity.
United States · United States Congress · 28 July 1983
Establishes a Commission on the Eleanor Roosevelt Centennial to encourage and coordinate Federal observance of October 11, 1984, the centennial of Eleanor Roosevelt's birth. Directs the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Director of the National Park Service, to complete the renovation of the Eleanor Roosevelt National Historic Site at Val-Kill in Hyde Park, New York, in FY 1984, sufficiently to open it to full public visitation. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 27 July 1983
Federal Correctional Education Assistance Act - Declares the purpose of this Act to be to provide financial assistance to the States to carry out educational programs for criminal offenders in juvenile and adult correctional institutions. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1984 through 1986 to enable the Secretary of Education to make grants to States under this Act. Allows such appropriations to remain available until expended. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to State educational agencies and grants for programs of national significance. Sets forth formulas for the allocation of funds under this Act. Prohibits the use of funds for purposes inconsistent with the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974. Sets forth permissible uses of grants made to States under this Act, including: (1) academic programs for basic education, special education, bilingual or bicultural study, secondary school credit, postsecondary study, fine arts, recreation and health, and curriculum development; (2) vocational training; (3) library development and services; (4) teacher training; (5) educational release programs; (6) guidance; (7) supportive services; and (8) job training. Sets forth requirements for State applications for assistance under this Act. Authorizes the Secretary to make, from specified reserved funds, grants to State and local educational agencies, institutions of higher education, State correctional agencies, and other public and nonprofit organizations and institutions to meet the costs of programs of national significance which the Secretary determines give promise of improving the education of criminal offenders. Sets forth provisions for payment and withholding of funds under this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 27 July 1983
Limits the total number of U.S. Government personnel in Honduras, Nicaragua, and El Salvador to the number of such personnel in each such country on June 1, 1983. Prohibits U.S. military personnel from conducting or participating in any blockade or quarantine by air, land, or sea of Nicaragua or El Salvador. Authorizes amendment or repeal of such limitation and prohibition by a joint resolution of Congress.
United States · United States Congress · 27 July 1983
Urges the United States to support the Contadora initiative, calling for: (1) the cessation of arms shipments and the withdrawal of foreign military advisers from Central America; and (2) a guarantee that the territory of any Central American state will not be used as a base for aggression against any other such state. States that the United States should: (1) announce its willingness to pursue negotiations with Central American nations and to stop U.S. arms shipments; (2) offer technical assistance to the Contadora Group to verify any agreements; and (3) exert diplomatic efforts to persuade other involved governments to participate in the Contadora negotiations and to cease activities aimed at destablizing the existing Central American governments.
United States · United States Congress · 26 July 1983
Consumer Communications Act of 1983 - Requires that in administering access charges (in relation to telephone usage): (1) the End User Common Line charge assessed for each single line residential subscriber shall be equal to 33 percent of such charge assessed for each single-line business subscriber; (2) one-tenth of the Basic Factor Portion of the Carrier Common Revenue Requirement shall be recovered through End User Common Line charges each year, increasing by one-tenth per year for each of the ten years beginning on January 1, 1984; and (3) Carrier Common Line revenue recovered shall be used to fund the Lifeline Service Fund and the High Cost Service Fund. Directs the Federal Communications Commission to establish a system of charges comparable to the Carrier Common Line charges to be recovered from interexchange carriers or other persons who indirectly interconnect with the facilities of an exchange carrier. Requires amounts recovered to be allocated to the Lifeline Service Fund and the High Cost Service Fund. Amends the Communications Act to require each State commission to establish rules for the provision of lifeline telephone service by exchange carriers. Prohibits any lifeline telephone service from including any charges based on time of day of any call placed, or the duration of distance of the call. Defines "lifeline telephone service" as telephone service made available to low-income residential subscribers for a single discounted charge under which a subscriber can make a limited number of calls within the exchange area. Makes eligible for lifeline telephone service any individual who is obtaining benefits under part A (Aid to Families With Dependent Children) of title IV of the Social Security Act or title XVI (Supplemental Security Income) of such Act, or the Food Stamp Act of 1977. Prohibits the lifeline telephone service rate from recovering less than 30 percent of an exchange carrier's average cost of providing telephone exchange service to residential subscribers. Revises the purposes of the Communications Act of 1934 to state that, in addition to the present purposes, the Commission is created for the purpose of regulating interexchange commerce. States that the Act shall not be construed to give the Commission jurisdiction with respect to charges, classifications, practices, services, facilities, or regulations for or in connection with exchange communication service by wire or radio of any carrier. Establishes the Lifeline Service Fund in order to assure the availability of affordable telephone service for all Americans, both rural and urban. Directs the Commission to provide for a fund, the High Cost Service Fund, in order to assure the continued availability of universal telephone service, including service in high cost areas. Requires the collection and distribution of funds for such Fund to be in accordance with the final order of the Commission in the Common Carrier Docket numbered 78-72 and the final recommended decision of April 15, 1983, of the Joint Board in the Common Carrier Docket numbered 80-286. Directs the Commission to: (1) initiate an inquiry for the investigation and evaluation of the impact of changes in the structure and regulation of the telecommunications industry or the continued universal availability of telephone service at reasonable charges; and (2) report its findings to Congress and the State commissions. Authorizes the Commission to provide financial assistance for the direct costs of participation by any person in any communications proceeding if: (1) the person applying for assistance represents an interest which would not otherwise be represented adequately in the proceeding and which needs to be represented for a fair disposition of the proceeding; and (2) the person applying for assistance does not have sufficient resources available to participate effectively in the absence of assistance. Authorizes a State commission to require any exchange common carrier to lease and maintain on request a single basic one-line telephone instrument to any subscriber within the State on the basis of a tariff that includes all costs of providing and maintaining the instrument. Prohibits a carrier or exchange carrier from using revenues from regulated communications services to defray any costs associated with its entry into or engaging in unregulated commercial activities. Prohibits the Commission or any State commission from considering the revenues or profits derived from the offering of any unregulated products or services by any carrier or exchange carrier in determining the revenue requirements of any common carrier service of such carrier.
United States · United States Congress · 26 July 1983
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that it should not be U.S. foreign policy to overthrow governments with which the United States disagrees politically. Urges the President to indicate U.S. support for the Contadora Group initiative by endorsing specified proposals of the Group. States that the United States should: (1) announce its willingness to pursue negotiations with all Central American nations and to stop U.S. arms shipments; (2) offer technical assistance to the Group to assist in the verification of such a freeze on arms traffic in the region; (3) stop funding guerrilla forces seeking to overthrow Nicaragua; and (4) exert diplomatic efforts to persuade other involved governments to cease activities aimed at destabilizing the existing Central American governments.
United States · United States Congress · 25 July 1983
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that: (1) legislation is immediately required to protect Medicare and Medicaid (titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act); and (2) an urgency exists to assure affordable health care for older Americans. States that Congress should enact legislation to reduce and control the rising cost of health care.
United States · United States Congress · 21 July 1983
Imitation Controlled Substances Act of 1983 - Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to make it unlawful to manufacture, distribute, or possess a drug which is an imitation of a controlled substance. Excludes professional or research uses from such prohibition. Establishes criminal penalties for violations of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 21 July 1983
Amends the wartime disability compensation provisions to deem as service-connected the disease of transverse myelitis developed to a degree of at least ten percent disability in a wartime veteran within seven years from the date of such veteran's discharge or release.
United States · United States Congress · 21 July 1983
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that the United States should: (1) expedite and increase assistance that would facilitate the transporting of food to famine-stricken areas in Ethiopia; (2) reinstate the food program for Ethiopia for FY 1984; and (3) respond to pending and future appeals from international and private relief organizations for seed, food, medical supplies, and shelter supplies to relieve the needs created by the famine in Ethiopia.
United States · United States Congress · 20 July 1983
Authorizes the President to present, on behalf of Congress, a gold medal to Margaret Truman Daniel, daughter of Harry S. Truman, in recognition of the lifetime of outstanding public service he gave to the United States. Commemorates his one hundredth birthday which will be celebrated on May 8, 1984. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 19 July 1983
Amends the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to direct the Secretary of the Interior to give equal weight in making oil and gas leasing decisions to the potential for environmental damage, potential for the discovery of oil and gas, and the potential for adverse impact on the coastal zone. (Currently, the Secretary is to strike the proper balance between the three.) Requires the Secretary and the Secretary of the Department in which the Coast Guard is operating to require the use of the best available and safest technologies and operating procedures on all new drilling and production operations and, wherever practicable, on existing operations wherever failure of equipment or procedures would have significant effect on safety, health, or the environment.
United States · United States Congress · 19 July 1983
Sales Representation Contractual Relations Act - Title I: General Provisions - Sets forth findings and definitions. Title II: Contracts Between Sales Representatives and Principals - Subjects a principal to an indemnification action by a sales representative where a written contract exists between them under which the sales representative solicits orders from accounts and prospective accounts for the merchandise of the principal. Enumerates items to be included in any such written contract in order to conform with this Act. Title III: Indemnification - Exempts a principal from any indemnification action brought under this Act where: (1) a contract exists between the principal and sales representative which meets the requirements of Title I; or (2) the conduct of the principal for which indemnification is sought occurred before the sales representative had solicited orders on behalf of the principal for a period of 18 months. Permits a sales representative to bring an action for indemnification against a principal in any U.S. district court or State court where the principal: (1) terminates, without good cause, a sales representative from the assignment to solicit orders; or (2) reduces the size of any geographical territory assigned, the rate of commission paid, or the number of accounts assigned to a sales representative. Sets forth a formula for the computation of the amount of indemnification a principal shall pay in such an action. Provides that in an indemnification brought under this Act, the burden of proof shall be placed on the principal to show that the termination or reduction was for good cause if the sales representative presents certain evidence.
United States · United States Congress · 14 July 1983
Amends the Federal Supplemental Compensation Act of 1982 to extend the payment of benefits under the Federal supplemental unemployment compensation program for an additional six months, through March 31, 1984. Provides that the rate of insured unemployment for any period, for purposes of such Act, shall be determined in the same manner as under the Federal-State Extended Unemployment Compensation Act of 1970, except that individuals filing claims for any type of compensation (whether regular, extended, additional, or Federal supplemental compensation) shall be taken into account.
United States · United States Congress · 14 July 1983
National Rebuilding and Development Bank Act - Title I: The National Rebuilding and Development Bank - Establishes the National Rebuilding and Development Bank which shall make and guarantee loans by other financial institutions for the National Rebuilding and Development Programs established by this Act. Authorizes the Bank to make commitments to purchase, and to purchase, service, or sell any State or local government bonds. Authorizes the Bank to issue obligations. Requires the Bank to transmit to Congress a statement of its intent to issue any additional obligations not less than 60 days prior to such issuance. Deems such issuance approved if neither House of Congress adopts a resolution of disapproval within that time. Authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to make annual payments to the Bank for the difference between the amount of interest paid by the Bank on account of its obligations and the amount of interest received by the Bank on its loans made under this Act. Exempts the Bank from Federal, State, and local taxes with specified exceptions. Authorizes the Bank to provide technical assistance to State and local governments in the preparation of comprehensive development projects and programs. Provides for audits of the financial transactions of the Bank and an annual audit report to Congress. Requires the Bank to send the President and the Congress an annual report on its operations and activities. Title II: National Rebuilding and Development Program - Authorizes the Bank to make loans and loans guarantees for the construction of housing and community facilities and to obtain, sell, or lease property on such terms as will effectuate the purposes of this Act. Permits the Governor of any State and the highest elected official of any local government to deposit with the Bank a written request that loans or guarantees for construction in the State or locality under this title be withheld. Permits the revocation of such request at any time. Declares that it is the intent of this Act that the private sector be involved in efforts to further the objectives of this Act to the maximum possible extent. Requires the Bank, in exercising its powers under this Act, to consult citizens in the areas to be affected and afford them maximum feasible participation in decisions affecting them. Requires the Board of Directors of the Bank to establish an environmental advisory panel to consider the environmental aspects of all construction to be financed or assisted in whole or in part under this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 13 July 1983
Amends the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1981 to remove the requirement under the food stamp program that all household income other than migrant worker household income be calculated on a retrospective basis. Amends the Food Stamp Act of 1977 to allow State agencies to shorten or lengthen household certification periods to improve program administration. Allows State agencies to calculate on a prospective basis the earned income of specified households. Provides for supplementing, at the option of a State agency, allotments of households that experience significant losses of income. Requires households subject to retrospective accounting to file periodic reports of household circumstances.
United States · United States Congress · 13 July 1983
States the intent of Congress that the Secretary of Labor shall not require as a condition for approval of State plans under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 that States maintain higher staffing levels to enforce such Act than the Federal Government maintains to enforce such Act.
United States · United States Congress · 13 July 1983
Expresses the sense of Congress that the States should: (1) adopt the International Symbol of Access to identify vehicles carrying the physically handicapped and grant only to such vehicles access to special parking privileges; and (2) enter into agreements of reciprocity relating to special parking privileges granted to handicapped persons.
United States · United States Congress · 12 July 1983
Changes the amount a Federal employee or Member of Congress must pay to receive civil service retirement credit for certain military service. Requires such individuals to pay the same percentage of basic military pay as would have been payable had such pay been provided for civilian service. Delays by one year the deadline after which such individuals must include interest on such amounts paid to receive retirement credit.
United States · United States Congress · 11 July 1983
Aid to Families With Dependent Children Cost Control and Management Improvement Act of 1983 - Amends part A (Aid to Families With Dependent Children) of title IV of the Social Security Act to specify that "earned income" shall mean the total amount of earnings prior to taking a payroll or any other deduction when used to determine income disregards. Disregards from income, for AFDC purposes, any amount received as an earned income tax credit. Authorizes a State which does not now have a plan for providing AFDC to families where the principal wage earner is unemployed to establish an experimental program under which the State must meet the present requirements for such a program, except that the State may: (1) limit aid to six months; (2) eliminate the child care deduction; (3) impose stricter work requirements; or (4) take any two or more of the above three actions. Authorizes a full-time secondary school student to receive AFDC until age 21. Exempts pregnant women in their third trimester of pregnancy from registering for manpower services, training, and employment. Makes optional with a State the present requirements of: (1) a monthly report by each AFDC family; and (2) the determination of benefits based upon the previous month's income and resources. Provides Federal funding for State supplementary payments. Authorizes a State to recalculate the period of ineligibility in any case where changes in family composition, income, resources, or other circumstances have increased the financial need of a family, in the situation where a family receives nonrecurring lump sum income. Authorizes the direct reimbursement of AFDC recipients for transportation and day care costs attributable to participation in community work experience programs. Excludes from income and resources: burial plots, funeral agreements, and real property which the family is making a good-faith effort to sell. Authorizes a State to forego seeking recovery of an overpayment if the State reasonably expects that the cost of recovery will equal or exceed the amount of overpayment involved. Grants a State agency discretion in choosing the manner of a protective payment (a payment to someone other than a child's parent). Provides for a demonstration program of five States (selected from applications submitted to the Secretary of Health and Human Services) under which a State will develop for the AFDC, food stamp, and Medicaid (title XIX of the Act) programs: (1) a common set of terms and definitions; (2) uniform application and eligibility determinations; (3) a unified budgeting process; (4) a single-family case file; and (5) a common administrative structure that allows for unified planning and evaluation. Requires reports by each State with a demonstration project. Makes any alien whose sponsor was a public or private agency ineligible for AFDC during the three years following the alien's entry into the United States, unless the sponsoring agency ceases to exist or is unable to meet the alien's needs. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1984 in order to assist States to provide emergency shelter and related assistance to homeless individuals and families. Defines "homeless individuals and families" so as to include: (1) individuals and families who are without any form of regular shelter and who need emergency shelter and related assistance; and (2) individuals who have been battered or otherwise abused and as a result have found it necessary to leave their homes. Directs the Secretary to develop and publish regulations with respect to this Act. Sets forth the effective date of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 11 July 1983
Amends the Social Security Amendments of 1983 to exclude from coverage under the Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance program those individuals who, on December 31, 1983, are employees of nonprofit organizations which do not have in effect a certificate under the Internal Revenue Code which waives the exemption of their employees from the Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance program.
United States · United States Congress · 30 June 1983
Victims of Crime Act of 1983 - Title I: Crime Victim Compensation - Directs the Attorney General to make grants to qualified state programs for the compensation of victims of crimes. Provides that such grants shall total: (1) 50 percent of allowable compensation paid to victims of State crimes designated by the State to be appropriate for compensation; and (2) 100 percent of allowable compensation to victims of crimes which would constitute designated crimes but are subject to exclusive Federal jurisdiction. Specifies criteria for a State plan to qualify for grants, including that the program: (1) offer compensation for medical expenses and loss of wages; (2) condition compensation on cooperation with law enforcement officials; and (3) deny or reduce recovery where the claimant contributed to the injury. Title II: Crime Victim Assistance - Allows the Attorney General to make grants to the chief executive of each State for the financial support of crime assistance programs. States that such program must provide crisis intervention and mental health counseling services to victims and their families. Title III: Crime Victims Fund - Establishes within the U.S. Treasury the Crime Victims Fund. Provides that the Fund shall consist of: (1) fines collected in Federal criminal cases; (2) proceeds of all forfeitures in Federal criminal cases; and (3) taxes imposed on pistols and revolvers. Title IV: Changes in Criminal Fine Levels and Related Matters - Amends the Federal criminal code to establish alternative, increased fines for any person convicted of a Federal offense. Requires the Federal courts to impose a penalty assessment on all persons convicted of Federal offenses. Title V: Effective Dates - Establishes effective dates.
United States · United States Congress · 30 June 1983
Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1983 - Enacts into law the short titles "Civil Rights Act of 1968" and "Fair Housing Act". Amends the Fair Housing Act to expand the definition of "discriminatory housing practice" to include any violation under such Act (thus codifying case law which holds that the obligation of Federal agencies to administer programs affirmatively to further the purposes of fair housing and the prohibition against interference with rights under the Act are separately actionable). Adds new definitions of "handicap", "aggrieved person", and "familial status". Excludes from the meaning of "handicap" any impairment consisting of alcohol or drug abuse which would be a direct threat to the property or safety of others. Defines "familial status" as one or more minors being domiciled with their parent or guardian. Retains the two current exemptions from the prohibition against the discriminatory sale or rental of housing which are given to: (1) an owner of three or fewer single-family houses; and (2) the owner of a dwelling consisting of four or fewer family units who also resides in such dwelling (the "Mrs. Murphy" exemption). Makes it unlawful to: (1) refuse to sell or rent to a handicapped person unless such handicap would prevent a prospective occupant from conforming to specified non-discrimination rules and practices; and (2) discriminate against a handicapped person in the conditions of sale or rental, or in the provision of related services or facilities. Includes within such discrimination a refusal to: (1) permit reasonable modifications to permit access to the premises (but only if a renter agrees to restore the premises to their original condition); and (2) make reasonable accommodations in policies, services, or facilities to afford handicapped persons equal enjoyment of the premises. States that such discrimination shall not include a refusal to: (1) make alterations at the expense of sellers, landlords, owners, or persons acting on their behalf; (2) make modifications which would unreasonably inconvenience others; and (3) allow architectural modifications which materially decrease the value of a building or alter its intended use. Prohibits discrimination against families with children. Makes it unlawful for an insurer to discriminate in the provision or terms of insurance against hazards to a dwelling because of the race, color, religion, sex, handicap, national origin or familial status of persons owning or residing in or near the dwelling. Adds handicapped persons as a protected class under other existing prohibitions on discriminatory activities. Modifies the housing financing discrimination provision to prescribe all conduct which denies or "otherwise makes unavailable" financial assistance because of race, color, religion, handicap, national origin or familial status. Includes within such prohibition persons in the business of selling, brokering, or appraising real property. States that nothing in this Act is to be construed to defeat any reasonable local, State or Federal restrictions on the maximum number of persons permitted to occupy a dwelling unit. Provides that familial status does not apply to any State or Federal programs aimed at assisting elderly persons. Establishes the Fair Housing Review Commission, composed of three members appointed by the President for staggered six year terms. Stipulates that no more than two members may be of the same political party. Directs the Commission to: (1) appoint administrative law judges and other employees as necessary to carry out its functions (2) promulgate a code of ethics to assure the independence of such judges; (3) promulgate rules of discovery for its proceedings consistent insofar as practicable with the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure; and (4) consider appeals from the proposed orders of the administrative law judges upon application of a party. Includes Federal agencies having regulatory authority over financial institutions within the executive departments and agencies which are currently required to administer their housing programs in an affirmative manner. Authorizes the Department of Housing and Urban Development to provide financial as well as technical assistance to public and private organizations seeking to remedy housing discrimination. Establishes a new administrative enforcement procedure within the Department of Housing and Urban Development in addition to the current enforcement provisions of title VIII (allowing civil actions by private parties and the Attorney General). Directs the Secretary to make an investigation of all alleged discriminatory housing practice on his or her own initiative or upon the filing of a charge by an aggrieved person within one year of the alleged discrimination. Requires the Secretary to attempt to correct the discriminatory practice by informal methods of conciliation. Requires the Secretary, if the aggrieved person and respondent consent to binding arbitration, to refer the charge to an arbitrator made available by the Community Relations Service of the Department of Justice. Continues the current authority of the Secretary to utilize discovery measures. Retains the current penalty for failing to produce information (up to a $1,000 fine and/or one year's imprisonment). Makes certain changes in the current requirements for referring charges to State or local agencies for investigation and enforcement. Specifies, with respect to the rights and remedies provided by such agencies, the elements of "substantial equivalency" which permit certification and referrals of discrimination charges. Eliminates the Secretary's authority to recall referrals in the interest of justice or to protect the rights of the parties. Prohibits further action by the Secretary unless the agency fails to act in a timely fashion (current law gives the agency 30 days to commence proceedings). Requires the Secretary and other Federal agencies to cooperate to avoid duplication of their housing discrimination authority. Authorizes the Secretary to enter into agreements to permit other agencies to carry out such responsibilities within their jurisdictions. Directs the Secretary to enter into agreements with specified Federal agencies for such purpose with respect to depository institutions. Permits an action for temporary or preliminary relief to be brought on behalf of the Secretary in accordance with rule 65 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure when the Secretary establishes that voluntary compliance is unobtainable and prompt judicial action is necessary. Permits the Secretary to file an administrative complaint or refer the matter to the Attorney General for civil action if the investigation supports a finding of reasonable cause, except with respect to matters involving land use controls, which must be referred. Specifies the hearing procedures to be utilized if an administrative complaint is issued. Permits the administrative law judge to award appropriate relief and a civil penalty of up to $10,000. Permits the filing of a petition for judicial review of a final order in an appropriate court of appeals within 60 days after entry of such order. Provides that the findings of fact shall be conclusive if supported by substantial evidence in the record considered as a whole. Authorizes the administrative law judge to assess civil penalties for noncompliance with a final administrative order. Makes certain revisions in the private right of action for aggrieved persons under the Fair Housing Act. Extends the statute of limitations from 180 days to two years. Disallows simultaneous administrative and judicial proceedings involving the same charge. Permits the Attorney General to intervene upon certification that the civil action is of general public importance. Continues the current provision permitting the appointment of counsel. Removes the existing $1,000 limit on punitive damages for willful violations. Continues the authority of the Attorney General to initiate civil actions where there is reasonable cause to believe that a pattern or practice of resistance to title VIII rights has occurred. Permits the intervention of aggrieved persons in such actions. Permits the award of costs, including reasonable attorney's fees, to prevailing parties in court and administrative proceedings (current law permits an award of attorney's fees only to prevailing parties who are financially unable to assume them). Authorizes appropriations for this Act, effective October 1, 1983.
United States · United States Congress · 30 June 1983
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the President should: (1) renew the agreement between the United States and the Soviet Union on space cooperation for peaceful purposes; (2) initiate talks with the Soviet Union and other interested governments on opportunities for cooperative East-West space ventures as an alternative to an arms race in space; and (3) submit to the Congress a report detailing the provisions of such agreement.
United States · United States Congress · 29 June 1983
Small Business Independent Inventor Patent Fee Assistance Act of 1983 - Exempts independent inventors and nonprofit organizations from payment of patent fees. Prohibits the Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks from adjusting such fees for independent inventors, nonprofit organizations, and small business concerns. (Current law provides for the adjustment of such fees by the Commissioner.)
United States · United States Congress · 29 June 1983
Northern Ireland Fair Employment Practices Act - Requires any U.S. person who has or controls an enterprise in Northern Ireland which employs more than 20 people to insure that in operating such enterprise the following employment principles are implemented: (1) desegregation in any employment facility; (2) equal employment for all employees; (3) equal pay for equal work; and (4) increase in the representation of individuals from underrepresented religious groups in managerial, supervisory, administrative, clerical, and technical jobs. Directs the Secretary of State to establish an Advisory Council in Northern Ireland to advise the Secretary with respect to the implementation of such employment principles and to review the annual reports which each U.S. person covered by this Act must submit to the Secretary on the progress made in implementing such principles. Directs the Secretary to establish in the United States an American Advisory Council to make policy recommendations regarding labor practices of U.S. persons in Northern Ireland and to review such persons' progress in implementing such employment practices. Directs the Secretary: (1) to take specified actions to insure compliance with the implementation of such employment principles; and (2) to review the compliance of such persons at least biennially. Sets forth penalties for noncompliance. Authorizes the President to waive compliance with the implementation of such principles if such compliance would harm U.S. national security, unless Congress adopts a concurrent resolution disapproving the waiver. Provides for expedited consideration of such resolution. Requires that other Federal agencies cooperate in carrying out this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 29 June 1983
Inventory Simplification and Reform Tax Act of 1983 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to eliminate the qualification requirement for the last-in, first-out (LIFO) method of accounting that a taxpayer use no inventory method for financial reporting or credit purposes other than the LIFO method. Allows a taxpayer who adopts the LIFO method to spread increases in taxable income attributable to such change over a ten-year period. Increases from $2,000,000 to $8,000,000 the average annual gross receipts a small business which uses the LIFO method may receive over a three year period in order to qualify for the election to use one inventory pool for any trade or business. Permits a wholesaler or retailer who uses such method to elect the use of inventory pools based on applicable Government price index categories for all items of inventory. Allows the use of such index categories in the pricing of inventories under such dollar-value methods. Allows an election to use a link chain or index method to compute the LIFO value of dollar-value pool without regard to suitability or practicality of any other method. Limits the amount of the LIFO benefit which is subject to recapture to the extent price increases do not exceed the rate of inflation. Allows an election by small businesses which are at least half-owned by active participants in the trade or business and which have average annual gross receipts of 2,000,000 or less for the three taxable years ending with the year of election to use the cash receipts and disbursements method of accounting without regard to any inventory requirements. Permits a taxpayer to reduce the value of a portion of excess inventory items held for more than 12 months. Sets forth a schedule for such reductions.
United States · United States Congress · 28 June 1983
Amends the Federal Supplemental Compensation Act of 1982 to extend the Federal supplemental unemployment compensation program for an additional six months, through March 31, 1984.
United States · United States Congress · 28 June 1983
Requires any Federal court to: (1) expedite hearings on any civil matter if a party who is 65 years or older so requests; and (2) render a decision within one year after the date the action is brought. Specifies exceptions. Requires appeals or petitions for review to be expedited in the same manner.
United States · United States Congress · 27 June 1983
Secondary Mortgage Market Equity Act - Amends the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation Act and the Federal National Mortgage Association Charter Act to set forth a formula for increasing the maximum mortgage limitation for a one- to four- family residence in certain areas where high prevailing housing sales prices have limited housing opportunities.
United States · United States Congress · 27 June 1983
Expresses the sense of the Congress that use of the five year quantitative restrictions recommended by the domestic specialty steel industry on imported specialty steel will: (1) eliminate unfair competition; and (2) provide time for plant modernization and for research and development projects. Urges the President to implement such import relief for the domestic industry in lieu of the restrictions recommended by the United States International Trade Commission.
United States · United States Congress · 23 June 1983
National Acid Deposition Control Act of 1983 - Title I: Acid Deposition Control and Assistance Program - Amends the Clean Air Act to establish new requirements for acid deposition control. Sets forth direct federally mandated emission reductions and retrofit technology for the 50 fossil fuel fired electric utility generating plants which had the largest total emissions of sulfur dioxide during the calendar year 1980. Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to: (1) identify each such plant which emitted sulfur dioxide during calendar year 1980 at an annual average rate equal to or exceeding three pounds per million Btu; (2) within two months after enactment of this Act, publish a list of the 50 plants which have the largest total emissions; (3) notify the owner or operator of each of the 50 plants listed; and (4) within four months after such enactment, and after notice and opportunity for comment, publish a final list of the 50 plants with the largest total emissions. Requires the owner or operator of each plant on the final list to submit to the Administrator, by January 1, 1985, a compliance schedule, including increments of progress. Directs the Administrator to approve or disapprove such schedule, within one year after submission, and after notice and opportunity for hearing. Directs the Administrator, if such schedule is not submitted by the deadline or is not approved, to promulgate a compliance schedule for such plant on January 1, 1986. Provides for modification and publication of such schedules. Requires that each compliance schedule provide that: (1) a technological system of continuous emission reduction be used for each steam generating unit in the fossil fuel fired electric utility generating plant concerned; and (2) sulfur dioxide emissions from such plant for the calendar year 1990 and each calendar year thereafter shall not exceed 1.2 pounds per million Btu heat input and ten percent of the total annual sulfur dioxide emissions during calendar year 1980 (90 percent reduction) or 0.6 pounds per million Btu and 30 percent of the total annual sulfur dioxide emissions during the calendar year 1980 (70 percent reduction). Sets forth procedures for determining plant compliance with such emission limitation. Requires that: (1) contracts be entered into for the purchase and installation of the technological systems of continuous emission reduction by January 1, 1988; (2) such systems be installed and in operation by January 1, 1990; and (3) the emission limitation be achieved for each calendar year after 1989. Directs the Administrator, from the Acid Deposition Control Fund established under this Act, to pay for 90 percent of the costs of construction and installation of the technological system of continuous emission reduction necessary for each such plant to comply with the emission limitation. Directs the Administrator, after consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury, to promulgate regulations under which such payments: (1) may be made to utilities only if they will be used entirely to reduce those electric rate increases which would otherwise result from such construction and installation; and (2) shall be made at such times as will minimize rate increases. Sets forth requirements for State plans for additional emission reductions of sulfur dioxide. Directs the Administrator, within four months after the enactment of this Act, to compute a State share, for each of the 48 contiguous States, of a 10,000,000 ton reduction in annual emissions of sulfur dioxide by 1993 below that of 1980. Sets forth a formula for computation of State shares. Permits the Governors of two or more States to reallot State shares among agreeing States, if there is an equal or greater total reduction in annual emissions of sulfur dioxide through such reallotment. Sets deadlines and procedures for submission and approval of State plans for such State shares. Directs the Administrator to promulgate a State plan on January 1, 1988, if no State plan has been: (1) submitted by June 1, 1985; or (2) approved by January 1, 1988. Requires State plans for State shares to provide for emission limitations applicable to any stationary sources in the State for which the actual annual sulfur dioxide emission rates have been calculated by the Administrator for the calendar year 1980, other than a source which is one of the listed 50 electric utility plants subject to direct federally mandated emission reductions. Requires that the emission limitations for each stationary source subject to the State plan establish an allowable average annual sulfur dioxide rate at a level such that the total reduction would equal the State share, with specified credits for States in which any of the 50 listed plants are located. Permits State plans for State shares to provide for compliance with emission limitations through use of technological systems of continuous emission reduction or any other appropriate requirements. Directs the Administrator, from the Acid Deposition Control Fund (established within this Act), to pay for 90 percent of the costs of the construction and installation at an electric utility generating plant of any technological system of continuous emission reduction necessary to comply with requirements under a State plan for a State share of sulfur dioxide emission reductions. Subjects such payments to regulations relating to reduction of increases in utility rates. Establishes a trust fund in the Treasury of the United States to be known as the Acid Deposition Control Fund, consisting of amounts generated by fees imposed under this Act. Directs the Administrator to make payments from the fund first to facilities covered by direct federally mandated emission reductions and then to facilities covered by State share plan requirements. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to be the trustee of the Fund and to report to the Congress for each fiscal year ending on or after September 30, 1984, on its financial condition and the results of its operation during such fiscal year and on its expected condition and operations during the next five fiscal years. Sets forth Fund investment duties of the Secretary. Imposes, under regulations promulgated by the Administrator, a fee of one mill for each kilowatt hour of electric energy: (1) generated in the contiguous 48 States by an electric utility; and (2) imported into the contiguous 48 States. Exempts from such fee electric energy: (1) used at the electric generating facility concerned; or (2) generated by a nuclear generating facility. Makes such fee effective with respect to electric energy generated, or imported, after December 31, 1984. Makes the fee cease to apply on the earlier of: (1) December 31, 1995; or (2) the date on which all payments required under this Act have been made. Authorizes the Administrator to terminate the fee at an earlier date upon estimation that sufficient funds have been collected to fund all such required payments. Directs the Administrator to promulgate within six months after enactment of this Act regulations setting forth the time and manner required for payment of such fee and related reporting requirements. Establishes civil penalties for: (1) electric utilities (or importers of electric energy) which fail or refuse to pay such fees or to file required reports; and (2) any person who makes false or misleading statements in such required documents. Directs the Administrator to bring civil actions in such cases. Establishes additional criminal penalties for electric utilities (or importers of electric energy) which knowingly commit such violations. Makes conforming amendments. Title II: Control of Nitrogen Oxide Emissions - Directs the Administrator to revise standards of performance for new stationary sources for emissions of nitrogen oxides from electric utility steam generating units which burn bituminous or subbituminous coal and which commence construction after the enactment of this Act. Prohibits the emission of nitrogen oxides from such units at a rate which exceeds: (1) 0.30 pounds per million Btu, in the case of subbituminous coal; and (2) 0.40 pounds per million Btu, in the case of bituminous coal. Adds to provisions relating to emissions from mobile sources to set the following nitrogen oxide emission standards for model year 1986 and after truck and truck engines: (1) gross vehicle weight of 6,000 pounds or less - 1.2 grams per vehicle mile; (2) 6,000 to 8,500 pounds - 1.7 grams per vehicle mile; and (3) more than 8,500 pounds - 4.0 grams per brake horsepower-hour.
United States · United States Congress · 23 June 1983
State Justice Institute Act of 1982 - Establishes the State Justice Institute as a tax-exempt private nonprofit corporation to further the development of improved judicial administration in State courts in the United States. Permits the Institute to be incorporated in any State or the District of Columbia. Directs the Institute to: (1) direct a national assistance program to assure persons ready access to a fair and effective system of justice; (2) foster coordination and cooperation with the Federal judiciary; (3) make recommendations concerning the proper allocation of responsibility between the State and Federal court systems; (4) promote recognition of the importance of the separation of powers doctrine to an independent judiciary; and (5) encourage education for State court judges and support personnel. Authorizes the Institute to award grants and enter into cooperative agreements or contracts to: (1) conduct research, demonstrations, or special projects relating to the purposes of this Act; (2) serve as a clearinghouse of information regarding State judicial systems; (3) participate in joint projects with other agencies, including the Federal Judicial Center; (4) evaluate the impact of programs carried out under this Act upon the quality of criminal, civil, and juvenile justice; (5) encourage judicial education; (6) serve in a consulting capacity to State and local justice systems; and (7) be responsible for the certification of national programs to improve State judicial systems. Prescribes uses and limitations on uses of grant and contract funds. Specifies restrictions on activities of the Institute. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1984 through 1986.
United States · United States Congress · 22 June 1983
World War II Civil Liberties Redress Act - Directs the Attorney General to make redress payments to residents of the United States of Japanese, Aleut, or other ancestry who were interned, detained, or forcibly relocated by the United States during World War II. Provides that such payments shall not be considered income or receipts for purposes of Federal taxes or for determining eligibility for Federal benefits or assistance. Establishes within the Treasury the Japanese-American and Aleut Trust Fund to be administered by the Secretary of the Treasury. Establishes a board of directors responsible for making disbursements from the Fund. Provides that funds from the trust be distributed to benefit communities populated by eligible individuals for assisting in community services in education, health, housing, and cultural service. Authorizes appropriations. Requires the Attorney General and the Secretary of the Treasury to prescribe regulations as may be necessary to carry out this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 22 June 1983
Urban Grant University Act - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to extend through FY 1990 the authorization of appropriations to carry out the Urban Grant University Program under title XI of such Act. Revises grant application provisions to direct the Secretary of Education to consider the degree to which there is evidence in the application of a commitment by any entities within the community, which may include the applicant university, to pay a specified non-Federal share of project costs. (Current law requires consideration only of the loal government's commitment to pay such non-Federal share.)
United States · United States Congress · 21 June 1983
Telecommunications Regulation Reform Act of 1983 - Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to direct the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to revise, reduce, or eliminate telecommunication regulatory requirements with respect to: (1) any communication service or facility as competition develops and the need for regulation diminishes; or (2) any carrier that does not have the ability to affect any market price significantly. Directs the Commission to consider the extent to which a facility faces competition from alternative facilities that provide comparable service at comparable cost and that have sufficient capacity to ensure competitive pricing in the absence of regulation when establishing the appropriate level of regulation. Prohibits the FCC or any State commission from: (1) considering the revenues derived from any unregulated products or services offered by any common carrier in determining the revenue requirements of any service of such carrier, unless such carrier has filed a tariff with the FCC or such State commission that includes any cost of providing such unregulated products or services; (2) restricting the resale or shared use of any interexchange or enhanced service other than an international communication; or (3) regulating the manufacture, sale, or supply of any enhanced service, product, terminal equipment, or inside wiring, except that the FCC or a State commission shall have authority over the conduct of business between the regulated operations of common carriers and exchange common carriers and the unregulated operations of such carriers to ensure that the users of such service do not bear any costs associated with entry into such enhanced service market and to prevent any anticompetitive practice by carriers between offerings of enhanced services and offerings of common carrier or exchange services. Requires every exchange common carrier by the later of January 1, 1986, 30 days after receiving any written request, or the date specified by the FCC, to offer to all interexchange customers an element-by-element tariff for exchange access which is equal to access provided by such exchange common carrier to the interchange services that it or any other carrier offers. Directs the FCC to postpone the application of such requirements to any carrier which lacks appropriate electronic switching equipment or to any rural exchange if such postponement will avoid undue burdens on the carrier or its customers. Declares that no such postponement shall relieve any carrier from the terms of any judgment under Federal antitrust laws. Requires every exchange carrier to allow customers to interconnect to transmission services or facilities which it offers any terminal equipment, inside wiring, or transmission services or facilities. Prohibits any exchange common carrier from discriminating between affiliated and unaffiliated persons or among unaffiliated persons in providing communication services used in connection with terminal equipment, enhanced services, information publication services, or any other service. Requires any carrier to allow interconnection between any communication service it offers and any terminal equipment, inside wiring, or communication service or facility upon reasonable request. Directs any person which controls and offers inside wiring to promptly allow persons making reasonable requests to interconnect such wiring with any terminal equipment, inside wiring, or communication service or facility that meets FCC technical standards.
United States · United States Congress · 21 June 1983
Telecommunications Competition Act of 1983 - Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to require that any telephone operating company shall retain any terminal equipment which it provided on the effective date of this Act and shall continue to make the equipment available to customers under tariffs in force as of such date until the equipment is fully depreciated except that: (1) State commissions shall permit increases in such tariffs to reflect any reasonable increases in the costs of providing such equipment; and (2) the customer may purchase such equipment for a price fixed by the State commission. Authorizes operating companies to offer other terminal equipment to the public at any time after January 1, 1984, if the equipment: (1) is manufactured by unaffiliated persons; and (2) is offered through a separate subsidiary which meets specified requirements. Permits an operating company to offer an enhanced service to the public only through a separate subsidiary which meets such requirements. Prohibits an operating company from discriminating between the products, services, and requirements of a dominant carrier and those of other persons in the: (1) procurement of facilities, products, and services; (2) establishment and dissemination of technical standards and specifications for procurement and interconnection; (3) interconnection and use of the facilities of the operating company or in the charges for each element of such use; and (4) provision of new services and planning for and implementation of the construction or modification of facilities used to provide exchange access. Sets forth a schedule according to which an operating company shall be required to purchase a specified percentage of its requirements in each product category from manufacturers who are unaffiliated with a dominant carrier. Directs the Federal Communications Commission, ten years after enactment of this Act, to review the effectiveness of this schedule in establishing and maintaining a policy of competitive procurement. Defines an operating company as a carrier owned or controlled by a dominant carrier on January 1, 1983.
United States · United States Congress · 21 June 1983
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a refundable income tax credit for the amount of contributions made to the Federal retirement system by Federal employees newly covered under the social security system after December 31, 1983. Disallows such credit for contributions made to a Federal retirement system: (1) established after the enactment of this Act; or (2) modified after the enactment of this Act for purposes of coordinating such system with the social security system. Terminates such credit after December 31, 1985.
United States · United States Congress · 21 June 1983
Consumer Telecommunications Act of 1983 - Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to direct the Federal Communications Commission to establish a system of charges to: (1) compensate exchange carriers (carriers that provide telephone exchange service on a universal basis) for exchange access (the provision of services and facilities for interexchange communication); and (2) reform the system of jurisdictional separation of property and expenses. Declares the purposes of such system to be to: (1) achieve equal treatment among all interexchange carriers with regard to exchange access; (2) compensate exchange carriers for the costs of distributing interexchange transmissions; (3) continue the universal availability of basic communications service provided by exchange carriers at reasonable charges; (4) assure that exchange access costs are determined in a manner that ensures public accountability; (5) achieve flexibility in accommodating changes in technology and market conditions; and (6) establish incentives for investment and technological development and avoid uneconomic incentives that discourage reliance by interexchange carriers upon exchange carriers as distributors of interexchange transmissions. Directs the Commission to: (1) ascertain the costs incurred by exchange carriers to provide exchange access; and (2) apportion such costs between exchange (local) service and interexchange (long distance) service in a manner that ensures the universal availability of basic communications service at reasonable rates. Directs the Commission to ensure that the costs of non-traffic-sensitive facilities used to provide exchange access are allocated to interexchange services based on their relative use of such facilities; and (2) the costs allocated to interexchange service are recovered from interexchange carriers and customers of interexchange services. Establishes the Universal Service Fund to subsidize and thereby ensure basic communications service in rural or remote areas at reasonable charges. Directs the Commission to establish practices to determine amounts to be contributed to the Fund by interexchange carriers and customers. Entitles to Fund payments any exchange carrier whose statewide costs for exchange service per customer line, or for connecting lines to interexchange carriers, exceed 115 percent of the national average costs. Permits an eligible carrier to recover up to 60 percent of such excess costs from the Fund. Authorizes a State commission to require any exchange carrier to lease and maintain on request a single basic one-line telephone instrument to any subscriber in such State for a tariff that includes all costs of providing and maintaining such instrument. Entitles any person who makes a written request to: (1) receive a nonexclusive license to any patent held for a dominant carrier upon paying a reasonable royalty; and (2) use any patent held by a common carrier for purposes of interconnecting with such carrier's teminal equipment or transmission services. Requires the tariffs for such services to include a reasonable royalty for the use of such services. Requires that technical information relating to such patents be provided to such persons for a reasonable charge, except that such person may be required to agree not to use such technical information for products not manufactured in the United States. Requires any such royalties derived from any patent held for a dominant carrier to benefit common carriers, exchange common carriers, and their ratepayers to the extent that such entities bore the costs of developing or acquiring such patent. Authorizes the Commission and each State commission to: (1) ensure that the customers of regulated communications services do not bear any costs of entry into or participation in unregulated markets by common carriers or exchange carriers; and (2) prevent any anticompetitive practice by any carrier.