United States · United States Congress · 10 July 1979
Declares it the sense of Congress that the Postmaster General and the Citizens Stamp Advisory Committee should give favorable consideration to the issuance of a commemorative postage stamp in honor of Americans of Italian descent and the 250th anniversary of the birth of Philip Mazzei on December 25, 1980, or as soon as possible thereafter. States that the Postmaster General and the Committee should honor other foreign-born contributors to the revolutionary cause, from countries which have not yet been commemorated, prior to the conclusion of the American Bicentennial celebration in 1983.
United States · United States Congress · 28 June 1979
Smaller Enterprise Regulatory Improvement Act - Amends the Small Business Act to require each Federal agency to publish semiannually an agenda of those rules which may be proposed during the upcoming six-month period affecting a substantial number of small business concerns and small organizations. Defines "small organizations" to include unincorporated businesses, sheltered workshops, nonprofit enterprises which are not dominant in their fields and such other groups and enterprises as each Federal agency shall establish by rule. Requires each published agenda to be transmitted to the Office of Advocacy of the Small Business Administration for comments. Directs each Federal agency to endeavor to provide notice of each agenda to affected small enterprises by means other than publication in the Federal Register. Directs each Federal agency to publish a written analysis prior to the issuance of any rule affecting a substantial number of small business concerns and organizations which considers: (1) the effect of such rule on small enterprises and competition; (2) whether an exemption could be provided such small enterprises; (3) whether lesser compliance standards could be adopted for small enterprises; and (4) the expected nature of reporting and recordkeeping requirements necessitated by such rule. Requires each Federal agency to issue a rule containing an exemption or differing compliance standards for such small business concerns and organizations if it is lawful, desirable, and feasible to do so. States that such small enterprises shall be given an opportunity to participate in agency rulemaking. Requires each agency to review its existing rules and prepare an analysis for purposes of eliminating those rules which are most burdensome to small businesses and organizations. Permits any agency to perform the analyses required by this Act in conjunction with any other analysis required by law. Declares that such other analysis shall not in itself satisfy the requirements of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 28 June 1979
Appropriates $513,000,000 to the Administrator of General Services for fiscal year 1980 for purchasing silver for stock piling under the Strategic and Critical Materials Stock Piling Act.
United States · United States Congress · 27 June 1979
Capital Cost Recovery Act of 1979 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to revise the method for determining useful lives of business assets for purposes of computing allowable depreciation deductions. Replaces the asset depreciation range (ADR) method with a schedule of capital cost recovery periods for three classes of business property. Establishes capital cost recovery periods for the following classes of business property: (1) buildings and their structural components, ten years; (2) tangible property, five years; and (3) automobiles, taxis, and light-duty trucks (up to $100,000), three years. Allows a ten percent investment tax credit for buildings and tangible property, and a six percent credit for automobiles, taxis, and light duty trucks. Requires the recapture of depreciation amounts and investment tax credit amounts applicable to assets which are sold or otherwise disposed of prior to the expiration of the capital cost recovery period. Permits taxpayer to deduct less than the full allowance for capital cost recovery in any taxable year. Permits a carryover to succeeding taxable years of any unused depreciation amounts. Disqualifies capital cost recovery property from the allowance for first year depreciation. Treats amounts claimed as the capital cost recovery of noncorporate lessors as an item of tax preference for purposes of the minimum tax. Adopts as an accounting practice the "half year convention" under which investments eligible for capital cost recovery treatment or the investment tax credit which are made at any time during the taxable year are deemed to be made in the middle of such year.
United States · United States Congress · 27 June 1979
Amends the Fishery Conservation and Management Act of 1976 to establish a ninth Regional Fishery Management Council, the California Pacific Council, which shall consist of the State of California and have authority over the fisheries in the Pacific Ocean seaward of such State.
United States · United States Congress · 26 June 1979
Authorizes the President, on behalf of the Congress, to present a gold medal of appropriate design to Bryan Lewis Allen, the first aviator to cross the English Channel in a self-powered plane. Authorizes appropriations of up to $15,000 to strike such medal. Authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to strike bronze duplicates of such medal for sale to the public.
United States · United States Congress · 21 June 1979
Amends the Powerplant and Industrial Fuel Use Act of 1978 to permit local distribution companies to provide natural gas service to residential customers for use in outdoor lighting fixtures installed before the enactment of such Act.
United States · United States Congress · 13 June 1979
Amends the Saccharin Study and Labeling Act to extend until June 30, 1981, the period during which the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare may not take specified actions to restrict the continued use of saccharin or of any food, drug, or cosmetic containing saccharin.
United States · United States Congress · 11 June 1979
Declares the sense of the Congress that the President and the Secretary of State should take all necessary steps to bring the Baltic States question before the United Nation and the 1980 Madrid Conference on the Helsinki Agreements to urge both such bodies to request the Soviet Union: (1) to withdraw all non-native troops, agents, colonists, and controls from the Republics of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia; and (2) to return all Baltic exiles from Siberia and from prisons and labor camps in the Soviet Union. Requires the Secretary of State to do his utmost to bring the matter of the Baltic States to the attention of all nations by means of special radio programs and publications. Declares that the United States should not agree to the recognition of the Soviet Union's annexation of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia. Directs the President to take steps to provide that all maps of Europe show the Republics of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia as independent states. Calls for a return of self-determination to the peoples of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia through free elections conducted under the auspices of the United Nations.
United States · United States Congress · 24 May 1979
Directs the President to furnish to the House of Representatives certain information related to the current oil situation, including data on: (1) shortages, supplies, demand, and allocation of crude oil; and (2) refinery yield reductions and capacity utilization.
United States · United States Congress · 7 May 1979
Amends the Rural Development Act of 1972 to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to provide up to $180,000,000 in guaranteed loans for additional pilot projects (already four are mandated) for the production of industrial hydrocarbons and alcohols from agricultural commodities and forest products.
United States · United States Congress · 1 May 1979
Affirms that farmer cooperatives are a vital and necessary element in maintaining and promoting the family farm system of food production. States that the Department of Agriculture and all appropriate budget appropriation review groups should recognize the need to reinforce and expand programs of cooperative research, service, education, and other cooperative assistance. Declares that the Department should: (1) establish an Office of Farmer Cooperatives as an independent agency within the Department to coordinate such programs; and (2) take other aggressive leadership toward expanding resources for cooperative work.
United States · United States Congress · 30 April 1979
Amends the Uniform Time Act of 1966 to change the date on which daylight saving time begins from the last Sunday in April to the last Sunday in February.
United States · United States Congress · 30 April 1979
Repeals the requirement under part A (General Provisions) of title XI of the Social Security Act for hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, intermediate care facilities, home health agencies, health maintenance organizations, and other types of health services facilities and organizations to which payment may be made under the Social Security Act to report: (1) the aggregate cost of operation and the aggregate volume of services; (2) the costs and volume of services for various functional accounts and subaccounts; (3) rates, by category of patient and class of purchaser; (4) capital assets; and (5) discharge and bill data.
United States · United States Congress · 10 April 1979
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to tax income of married individuals filing tax returns separate from their spouses at the same rates applicable to unmarried individuals.
United States · United States Congress · 10 April 1979
Soft Drink Interbrand Competition Act - Declares that exclusive territorial arrangements made as a part of a licensing agreement for the manufacture, distribution, or sale of a trademarked soft drink product are lawful under the antitrust laws provided such product is in substantial and effective competition with other products of the same general class. Prohibits recovery in private actions under the Clayton Act based on territorial provisions in a trademark licensing agreement prior to a final determination that such provisions are unlawful.
United States · United States Congress · 22 March 1979
Export Administration Reform Act of 1979 - Amends the Export Administration Act of 1969 to make the Secretary of Defense responsible for identifying technologies and goods which shall be controlled for national security purposes. Directs the Secretary to establish an Office of Technology Export to assist the Secretary. Directs the President to issue rules and regulations limiting the export of critical technologies and goods and significant technologies and goods. Prohibits the President from restricting the export of significant technologies or goods which are available from foreign sources. Directs the President to negotiate with foreign countries to eliminate the availability for export of technologies and goods detrimental to U.S. national security. Prohibits the President from modifying the Secretary's classification of technologies and goods and findings as to availability unless (1) the President submits a national security impact statement to Congress and (2) Congress does not disapprove. Requires the appropriate Federal agency to submit national security impact statements upon the request of Congress. Provides for the appointment of technical advisory committees by the Secretary of Defense (instead of the Secretary of Commerce).
United States · United States Congress · 21 March 1979
Domestic Oil Production Policy Act of 1979 - Amends the Emergency Petroleum Allocation Act to exempt the first sale of new crude oil, and the first sale of market incentive crude oil, from regulation under such Act. Sets forth provisions for the establishment of a ceiling price on old crude oil. Exempts the first sale of tertiary crude oil from regulation under such Act. Exempts the first sale of: (1) deep stripper well crude oil; (2) stripper well crude oil; (3) high water cut crude oil; and (4) marginal offshore crude oil from regulation under such Act. Stipulates that to qualify for such exemptions a property must be producing crude oil at a maximum feasible rate throughout a 12-month qualifying period.
United States · United States Congress · 21 March 1979
Expresses the sense of Congress that the United Nations Commission on Human Rights should include a description of the Armenian genocide in their study of the prevention and punishment of genocide.
United States · United States Congress · 13 March 1979
Amends the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 to revise certain financial disclosure requirements for Federal employees. Exempts persons who are not expected to perform the duties of office for more than 60 days per year from provisions requiring new or terminated employees to file financial disclosure reports. Permits the House and the Senate to require a legislative branch employee, whose employment is terminated prior to the annual reporting date, to file a report covering such individual's period of employment. Authorizes the appropriate committees of Congress, the Judicial Ethics Committee, and the Office of Government Ethics to waive any reporting requirement under such Act for employees performing their duties less than 130 days a year when such disclosure is deemed not necessary. States that gifts or reimbursements received in a period when the reporting individual was not a Federal employee need not be reported. Exempts certain gifts from inclusion in the aggregate amount of gifts from one source when a publicly available request for a waiver is granted. Requires a candidate for President, Vice President, or Member of Congress to file an annual disclosure report only until the election for such office takes place. Includes in a "qualified blind trust" for purposes of the Act any trust in which the trustee is an investment adviser. Revises the definition of "income" for purposes of titles I, II, and III to allow an individual to elect to include net income derived from business. Makes certain technical and conforming changes in other disclosure provisions of such Act.
United States · United States Congress · 13 March 1979
Amends the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 to change the effective date of title V of such act (concerning the post employment contacts of Federal employees with their former agencies) from July 1, 1979 to July 1, 1980.
United States · United States Congress · 13 March 1979
Declares that Zimbabwe Rhodesia has (1) demonstrated its willingness to negotiate in good faith at an all parties conference and (2) approved a constitution transferring power to a black majority government. Expresses the sense of Congress that the President (1) should determine that Zimbabwe Rhodesia is in substantial compliance with the International Security Assistance Act of 1978 and (2) should not enforce sanctions against Zimbabwe Rhodesia.
United States · United States Congress · 8 March 1979
Voting Rights Act Repealer Amendments Act of 1979 - Amends the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to repeal the prohibitions against voting qualifications, prerequisites, tests, or devices which abridge the right of a citizen to vote who is a member of a language minority. Repeals bilingual election requirements that States and other political subdivisions make available registration and voting materials, and voting assistance in languages other than English in areas where more than five percent of the citizens belong to a single language minority.
United States · United States Congress · 6 March 1979
Alcohol Production Incentive Act of 1979 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a taxpayer to elect an income tax deduction with respect to the amortization, based on a 60-month period, of any qualified facility producing alcohol from coal or biomass for primary use as a substitute for fuel.
United States · United States Congress · 6 March 1979
Amends the Clean Air Act to direct that any regulations which require a gasoline station to offer unleaded gasoline be amended to require the sale of a blend of unleaded gasoline and alcohol which contains not less than ten percent alcohol. Provides that such requirement shall apply only if it is determined that supplies of such a blend are reasonably available to filling stations. Directs the Secretary of Energy and the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to take cooperative action to facilitate expanded production and distribution of alcohol for use as a motor vehicle fuel and fuel additive.
United States · United States Congress · 5 March 1979
Amends the Trade Act of 1974 to direct the Special Representative for Trade Negotiations, upon receiving information that a foreign country or instrumentality is engaged in an unfair trade practice with respect to certain goods, to inquire into such practice to determine whether an investigation is warranted. Directs the Special Representative to investigate such practice if the inquiry shows the need for an investigation. Requires the Special Representative to make public any determinations within 150 days after publishing notice of the investigation. Requires the Special Representative to provide for appropriate public hearings. Directs the Special Representative to provide for the presentation of views or for a public hearing after the President takes expedited action in the national interest.
United States · United States Congress · 22 February 1979
Product and Professional Design Liability Insurance Tax Equity Act of 1979 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exempt from the income tax, trusts established for the payment of product liability claims, professional design liability claims, and related expenses. Allows a tax deduction for contributions to such trusts only to the extent they do not exceed the reasonable costs of product and professional liability insurance for the deducting taxpayer.
United States · United States Congress · 15 February 1979
Robert A. Taft Institute of Government Trust Fund Act - Establishes in the United States Treasury the Robert A. Taft Institute Trust Fund. Authorizes the Commissioner of Education to make grants from such fund to develop the Robert A. Taft Institute of Government, New York, New York. Authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to invest portions of the Fund not required to meet current withdrawals. Appropriates $15,000,000 to the Fund.
United States · United States Congress · 15 February 1979
Illegal Alien Control Act of 1979 - Directs the Attorney General to establish a border patrol force of not less than 3,800 officers. Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to exclude from the definition of the term "immigrant" those persons entering the United States for a period of not more than one year to perform temporary services or labor if the Secretary of Labor has determined and certified to the Attorney General that there are not sufficient workers available at the aliens' destination who are willing and able to perform such services. Directs the Secretary to refer to employers who request such certification, workers in the number desired, able and qualified, and who agree to present themselves to commence employment on the date and for the period specified. Stipulates that a person who knowingly hires an illegal alien shall be fined or imprisoned, or both. Revises the penalties provisions of Federal law for fraud and misuse of certain immigration documents, to make the fine for such conduct not less than $250 and not more than $10,000 (currently not more than $2,000). Increases penalties for illegal entry into the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 15 February 1979
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to disallow income tax deductions for salaries paid to illegal aliens. Amends Title IV, part A (Aid to Families with Dependent Children) and Title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to limit benefits under such titles to citizens of the United States and lawfully admitted aliens.
United States · United States Congress · 13 February 1979
Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to authorize payment for specified services performed by chiropractors, including x-rays and diagnostic laboratory tests.
United States · United States Congress · 13 February 1979
Amends title V (Post Employment Conflict of Interest) of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 to repeal those provisions which establish criminal penalties for executive schedule and certain other high-ranking Government officials who represent, or make communications on behalf of, persons on matters pending before their former agency within one year after their Government employment ends. Modifies the scope of the provision barring certain activity by Government employees on behalf of other persons within a two-year period after their Government employment ends, to eliminate the express application of such provision to executive schedule and certain other high-ranking Government officials who knowingly aid, counsel, advise, consult, or assist in representing such persons.
United States · United States Congress · 8 February 1979
Shale Oil Production Tax Incentive Act of 1979 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a nonrefundable income tax credit equal to $3 for each barrel of shale oil produced by the taxpayer during the taxable year, plus the production credit carryovers and carrybacks for that year. Reduces the standard $3 per barrel credit proportionately by: (1) the amount of Federal grant funds, if any, used by the taxpayer in the production of shale oil; and (2) the amount by which the adjusted reference price (average daily market price per barrel during the preceding calendar year for certain Arabian light crude oil) exceeds $20.50. Authorizes the President to adjust the amount of the credit (but not higher than $3) when such action is in the national interest. Requires, as a condition of eligibility for the credit, that the shale oil be produced within the United States or its possessions. Sets forth rules for the Secretary of Energy in computing the adjusted reference price. Requires the Secretary to publish the adjusted reference price, and an explanation of the method and data used in computing it, if such price exceeds $20 per barrel.
United States · United States Congress · 8 February 1979
Taxpayer Relief Amendments to Panama Treaty Legislation - Specifies that all expenses incurred implementing the Panama Canal Treaty of 1977 shall be treated as an expense of the Panama Canal Commission. Prohibits payments to Panama out of U.S. Treasury revenues. Requires the Panama Canal Company to pay its cash assets to the U.S. Treasury to be applied against its debt. Directs the Commission to continue repaying its debt to the United States. Amends the Panama Canal Code to require the Commission to pay: (1) all canal operating revenues to the U.S. Treasury; and (2) the payments required under the Treaty to Panama only with express congressional authorization. Directs the General Accounting Office to monitor all costs incurred by the Commission and report annually to Congress on the differences in costs to the U.S. taxpayer. Prohibits unless expressly authorized by Congress: (1) the use of U.S. funds to implement the Treaty; (2) the transfer of U.S. property in the Canal Zone to Panama; and (3) the cessation of the Panama Canal Company and the Canal Zone Government.
United States · United States Congress · 8 February 1979
Repeals the Davis-Bacon Act, which requires the rate of wages for workers employed on Federal public buildings by contractors and subcontractors to be based upon the prevailing wages for corresponding classes of workers employed on similar projects in the same area.
United States · United States Congress · 8 February 1979
Requires the Administrator of Veterans' Affairs to pay a monthly pension at a rate not to exceed $150 to: (1) each veteran of World War I who meets specified service requirements and whose annual income does not exceed $10,000; (2) certain qualified surviving spouses of each such veteran (whose own annual income does not exceed $10,000); or (3) the child or children of each such veteran.
United States · United States Congress · 5 February 1979
Directs the Federal Communications Commission to examine the use of the AM radio broadcasting band and to assign such spectrum and distribute licenses so as to ensure that each community, regardless of size, is provided with the maximum local full-time radio broadcasting service.
United States · United States Congress · 29 January 1979
Spending Limitation Act - Amends the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 to limit the total Federal outlays agreed to in the second or any further concurrent resolution on the Budget to the following percentages of the gross national product: 21 percent in fiscal year 1980; 20 percent in fiscal year 1981; 19 percent in fiscal year 1982; and 18 percent in the fiscal year 1983. Authorizes the Congress to waive such limitations by a two-thirds vote of each House.
United States · United States Congress · 29 January 1979
Tax Rate Reduction and Indexing Act of 1979 - Title I: Individual Tax Rates - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to reduce the income tax rates for individuals for the taxable years 1980 through 1982. Title II: Inflation Adjustment - Requires the Secretary of the Treasury, not later than December 15 of each calendar year beginning in 1982, to prescribe individual income tax rate tables: (1) by increasing the maximum dollar amount on which no tax is imposed under each table, and the minimum and maximum dollar amounts for each rate bracket for which a tax is imposed, by the cost-of-living adjustment for such year; (2) by not changing the rate applicable to any rate bracket as adjusted; and (3) by adjusting the amounts setting forth the tax to the extent necessary to reflect the adjustments in the rate brackets. Declares the cost-of-living adjustment for any calendar year as the percentage by which the Department of Labor's Consumer Price Index for all-urban consumers for the preceding calendar year exceeds the Consumer Price Index for calendar year 1981. Requires cost-of-living adjustments in zero bracket amounts, personal tax exemptions, and withholding taxes. Sets the minimum gross income for which an income tax return is required from certain individuals at an amount less than the sum of the exemption amount plus the applicable zero bracket amount.
United States · United States Congress · 25 January 1979
Amends the Bail Reform Act of 1966 to require consideration of the safety of other persons and the community in setting conditions for pretrial release, but provides that conditions imposed to such end may not be financial. Permits the Government to appeal orders of release in specified circumstances. Modifies the current requirement that a person, who has been convicted of an offense and sentenced to imprisonment or death and has filed an appeal or petition for a writ of certiorari, be treated for release purposes as a person charged with a noncapital offense prior to trial, to require that such person be detained unless the judicial officer finds by clear and convincing evidence that: (1) the person is not likely to flee or pose a danger to others; and (2) the appeal or writ raises a substantial question of law or fact. Applies the procedures for appealing conditions of release to appeals of such detention orders, with a specified exception. Sets forth sanctions for violating release conditions, threatening witnesses or jurors while on release, and committing serious offenses while on release.
United States · United States Congress · 25 January 1979
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow certain individuals to compute the amount of the income tax deduction for retirement savings on the basis of the earned income of their spouses.
United States · United States Congress · 24 January 1979
Directs the Secretary of Commerce to make a loan, in a specified amount and with specified conditions, to a named corporation under the Trade Act of 1974.
United States · United States Congress · 18 January 1979
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide that the tax exemption of certain charitable organizations and the allowance of an income tax deduction for contributions to such organizations shall not be construed as the provision of Federal assistance.
![Official portrait of Rep. Moorhead, Carlos J. [R-CA-22]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/m000926_200.jpg)