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United States · Official source
1,954 records where Rep. Nowak, Henry [D-NY-33] is listed as a sponsor, author, or other actor. Search with topics and years
United States · United States Congress · 20 January 1981
Urges the President to continue the embargo of agricultural commodities to the Soviet Union.
United States · United States Congress · 19 January 1981
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from gross income up to $500 ($1,000 for joint returns) of the interest earned on savings accounts in banks, savings and loan associations, or credit unions.
United States · United States Congress · 19 January 1981
Defense Economic Adjustment Act - Title I: Defense Economic Adjustment Council - Establishes in the Office of the President the Defense Economic Adjustment Council. Establishes an Office of Economic Adjustment to provide necessary staff support for the Council. Sets forth the duties of the Council which include: (1) disseminating information to Federal, State, and local agencies and authorities concerning changes in defense spending affecting employment in defense industries; (2) oversight of programs providing assistance to areas adversely affected by such changes; (3) reviewing local alternative use plans; and (4) preparing and distributing a Conversion Guidelines Handbook. Title II: Alternative Use Committees - Requires the establishment, at every defense facility employing at least 100 persons, of Alternative Use Committees representing management and labor to undertake economic conversion planning and preparation for the employment of the personnel and utilization of the facilities in the event of a reduction or elimination of any defense facility or the curtailment, conclusion, or disapproval of any defense contract. Provides that defense contractors that fail to submit an alternative use plan to the Council or refuse or fail to carry out the provisions of a plan approved by the Council shall lose eligibility for future contracts for a period of three years as well as losing contract termination payments and eligibility for tax credits. Requires Alternative Use Committees to periodically review plans for the conversion of the facility to civilian-oriented production and to send periodic reports to the Council regarding the progress of such plans. Directs the committees to provide occupational retraining and reemployment counseling services for employees who are displaced by the implementation of a conversion plan or the closing of a defense facility. Specifies provisions which are to be included in each alternative use plan. Title III: Economic Adjustment Fund - Establishes within the Treasury a Workers Economic Adjustment Reserve Trust Fund. Requires defense contracts to contain a provision under which the defense contractor is to pay into such Fund an amount equal to one and one quarter percent per year of the value of the contractor's gross revenues on sales under such contract. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to deposit ten percent of the projected savings from defense cutbacks into the Fund. Authorizes appropriations in such amounts as may be necessary to such Fund to enable the Secretary to make payments and disbursements authorized by this Act. Title IV: Economic Adjustment Assistance for Workers - Entitles certified workers who are displaced because of defense cutbacks to specified benefits for a two-year period, including: (1) compensation sufficient to maintain the employee's income at a level equal to 90 percent of the first $20,000 per year and 50 percent of the next $5,000 in excess of $20,000 of that worker's regular annual wage; (2) vested pension credit under any applicable pension plan; (3) maintenance of any medical, disability, or life insurance coverage which such an individual had by reason of employment by the defense contractor; and (4) retraining, job search, and relocation expenses. Provides for agreements with States to make the payments and provide the benefits authorized by this title. Requires that in order to be eligible for benefits under this Act a displaced worker must agree to maintain an active registration with the Secretary of Labor or an appropriate State employment agency and to accept any employment determined by the Secretary or the agency to be of the same skill or work of a similar nature at the same pay as such worker was receiving before being displaced. Provides that adjustment benefits under this Act shall not be taken into account in determining an individual's eligibility for unemployment compensation. Provides that adjustment benefits shall terminate when a displaced worker obtains employment providing 90 percent of the first $20,000 per year and 50 percent of the next $5,000 in excess of $20,000 of the worker's previous wage or two years after displacement, whichever occurs sooner. Title V: Community Economic Adjustment Planning - Entitles communities which are substantially and seriously affected by the reduction or elimination of military facilities or curtailment or conclusion of defense contracts to Federal assistance for economic adjustment to avoid substantial dislocations and for economic adjustment assistance should such dislocation occur. Directs the Council to develop guidelines by which the criteria for eligibility for planning assistance are to be applied. Authorizes the sale of excess defense capital property or facilities where such a facility is reduced or closed to the affected community at a public benefit discount. Title VI: Industrial Economic Adjustment - Authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to make or guarantee low-interest, long-term loans to assist contractors in carrying out an approved alternative use plan to convert a plant or facility to civilian purposes. Prohibits making any such loan or loan guarantee if financing for such plan is available from any other source. Title VII: Use of Certain Research Fund - Authorizes the use of Department of Defense research and development funds for work which has a potential relationship to an urgent national requirement in a designated non-defense sector of the economy. Directs the Defense Economic Adjustment Council to define urgent national requirements for non-defense sectors of the economy. Title VIII: Authorization of Appropriations - Authorizes appropriations in such amounts as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 19 January 1981
Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to authorize grants to any State, municipal, intermunicipal, or interstate agency to assist in paying the cost of operating and maintaining a publicly owned treatment works if: (1) such works were constructed with a grant made under such Act; (2) such works provide at least secondary treatment; (3) the cost of providing such secondary treatment in any fiscal year is more than twice the cost incurred during the last fiscal year the applicant provided such area with primary treatment only; and (4) such cost is due in whole or in part to the implementation of any international agreement. Authorizes appropriations to cover such costs for fiscal years 1982 and 1983.
United States · United States Congress · 19 January 1981
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow State or local charges for waste treatment services necessitated by requirements of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to be treated as deductible State or local real property taxes.
United States · United States Congress · 19 January 1981
Requests the President to designate the first Sunday of October in every year as "National Choir Recognition Day."
United States · United States Congress · 16 January 1981
Requests the President to designate the week of October 4 through October 10, 1981, as "National Diabetes Week."
United States · United States Congress · 13 January 1981
Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation Refinancing Act of 1981 - Amends the Act establishing the Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation to require such Corporation to pay excess revenues into the general fund of the Treasury. States that the Corporation shall establish tolls so that the rate of return on the United States investment in the Saint Lawrence Seaway will be equal to the rate of return on the Canadian investment in the Seaway. Terminates the balance owed by the Corporation from bonds issued to the Secretary of the Treasury.
United States · United States Congress · 9 January 1981
Declares a named individual to have been lawfully admitted to the United States for permanent residence under the Immigration and Nationality Act. Authorizes the granting of a visa and admission to the United States for permanent residence to four named individuals.
United States · United States Congress · 9 January 1981
Designates January 15th, the birthday of Martin Luther King, Junior, as a legal public holiday.
United States · United States Congress · 9 January 1981
Declares a named individual to have been lawfully admitted to the United States for permanent residence under the Immigration and Nationality Act.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1981
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to permit taxpayers who do not itemize income tax deductions to claim a deduction from gross income for charitable contributions.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1981
Declares it the public policy of the United States to prohibit the manufacture, sale, and use of leg-hold and steel-jaw traps in the United States and abroad. Prohibits the shipment in interstate or foreign commerce of fur or leather products from animals trapped in a State or foreign country which has not banned such traps. Requires the Secretary of Commerce to publish a list of States and foreign countries which have not banned such traps. Sets forth penalties for violations of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1981
Job Expansion and Urban Development Tax Act of 1981 - Title I: Designation of Eligible Areas and Businesses - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to define a job expansion area as any area in the United States designated by one or more local governments as such. Limits eligibility for such designation to areas with a population of at least 5,000 whose rates of poverty and unemployment exceed specified national averages, and whose rates of per capita income growth fall below specified levels. Defines a "job expansion business" as one: (1) at least 50 percent of whose hours of service are performed by employees working in one or more job expansion areas; and (2) except in extenuating circumstances, at least 50 percent of such qualified employees are residents of a job expansion area. Title II: Tax Incentives - Subtitle A: New Investment - Provides for an election of an additional $40,000 ($80,000 in the case of married individuals filing jointly) first-year depreciation for machinery and equipment purchased by a qualified job expansion business. Requires recapture of the tax that would otherwise have been paid if the property concerned ceases to be used predominantly inside a job expansion area. Allows an additional five percent investment tax credit for new buildings placed in service by a qualified job expansion business. Subtitle B: Investment in Used Equipment and Rehabilitated Buildings - Allows the election by a qualified job expansion business of an investment tax credit of an additional $400,000 of cost for used equipment used predominantly in a job expansion area. Provides for recapture of the tax benefit in the event such property ceases to be used predominantly in such area. Allows a 25 percent investment tax credit for expenditures paid or incurred for rehabilitation of a building located in a job expansion area. Subtitle C: Limited Refund of Investment Tax Credit - Provides for the refundability of the investment tax credit for job expansion area property of up to $100,000. Subtitle D: Increases in Targeted Jobs Credit - Allows the targeted jobs credit for employment of residents of a job expansion area. Increases the amount of such credit for the employment of such individuals: (1) from 50 percent to 60 percent of the first-year wages; and (2) from 25 percent to 35 percent of the second-year wages. Title III: Effective Date - States the effective date of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1981
Grants a Federal charter to the United States Submarine Veterans of World War II.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1981
Amends the Omnibus Crime Control Act of 1970 to revise and increase the mandatory penalties for using or carrying a firearm during commission of a Federal felony. Defines such offense as using a firearm to commit a felony over which the district courts have exclusive jurisdiction or carrying a firearm during such a felony involving violence. Deletes the requirement that the firearm be carried "illegally." Increases the additional penalty imposed for such offense from one to ten years' imprisonment to five to ten years' imprisonment for a first offender and from two to 25 years to ten years to life imprisonment for a second or subsequent offender. Extends to first offenders the directions, currently applicable only to second offenders, that the court not suspend any sentence or grant probation and that the additional sentence not run concurrently with any term of imprisonment imposed for the offense itself. Makes a first offender ineligible for parole for five years and a second or subsequent offender ineligible for ten years. Expresses the sense of Congress that the executive prosecute vigorously such offenses.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1981
Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act to prohibit the taxation of any title II benefits.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1981
Sunset Act of 1981 - Title I: Reauthorization of Government Programs - Sets forth a ten-year schedule for reauthorization of all Federal programs according to budget function and subfunction as set forth in the Budget of the United States Government for fiscal year 1979. Sets forth the procedure in the House of Representatives and the Senate for the consideration of any bill, resolution, or amendment which authorizes new budget authority. States that it is not in order for either House to consider any legislation which authorizes the enactment of new budget authority for a program for a period of more than ten years, for an indefinite period, or for any fiscal year beginning after the next reauthorization date applicable to such program. Provides that before the Congress can appropriate funds for any program, after its first reauthorization date, there must be a specific authorization in law to support the appropriation. Requires the committees of the Senate and House of Representatives to schedule and conduct a sunset review of programs to be reauthorized. Requires that the report accompanying such reauthorizations contain specified information and be completed during the Congress in which the program is scheduled for reauthorization. Exempts from the requirements of this Act specified programs such as interest on Federal debts, health care services, general retirement and disability payments, as well as litigation activities which have as their objectives the protection and implementation of civil rights guaranteed by the Constitution, and specified retirement pay and benefits. Allows the reauthorization schedule set forth in this Act to be changed by concurrent resolution of the two House of Congress and sets forth the procedure for such change. Requires all legislation and other matters related to changes in the dates for programs under this Act to be referred to the committee with legislative jurisdiction over any program affected by the proposal and, sequentially, to the Committee on Rules in the House Representatives and to the Committee on Rules and Administration in the Senate. Requires such committees to report any concurrent resolution or bill referred to it by a committee of legislative jurisdiction within 30 days, with a statement on each of its recommendations. Makes provisions for any proposed change which has been reported by a committee before June 1, 1982. Title II: Program Inventory - Directs the Comptroller General and the Director of the Congressional Budget Office, in cooperation with the Director of the Congressional Research Service, to prepare an inventory of Federal programs. Declares that the purpose of such program inventory is to advise and assist Congress in carrying out reauthorization and reexamination requirements and to link such reauthorization and review process with the budget process. Requires the Comptroller General to submit such program inventory to each House of Congress no later than January 1, 1982. Sets forth the contents of the inventory program, including the type of authorization provided for such programs' new budget authority and the manner in which related program areas may be grouped for evaluation and review. Permits the Congressional committees, the Congressional Budget Office, and the Congressional Research Service to review the program inventory and to suggest revisions. Requires that the program inventory be revised at the end of each session of Congress, and that such revisions be reported to each House. Requires that periodic reports tabulate the progress of Congressional action on bills and resolutions authorizing budget authority for programs in the inventory. Requires the Comptroller General and the Director of the Congressional Budget Office to submit periodic reports to the Congress on the adequacy of the functional and subfunctional categories for grouping programs of like missions or objectives. Title III: Program Reexamination - Requires each committee of the Senate and the House of Representatives to reexamine selected programs or groups of programs over which it has jurisdiction. Sets forth procedures for such review, and criteria for selection of program areas for evaluation. Directs each committee to consult with the appropriate committees of either the House of Representatives or the Senate in order to achieve coordination of program reevaluation. Directs each Committee to inform itself of the related activities of or available assistance from the General Accounting Office, the Congressional Budget Office, the Congressional Research Service, the Office of Technology Assessment, and other appropriate instrumentalities in the executive and judicial branches. Requires each committee to deliver a report on the reexamination to the Secretary of the Senate or the Clerk of the House at the date specified in the funding resolution first reported by such committee in 1983 and thereafter for the first session of each Congress. Allows two or more committees which have legislative jurisdiction over the same programs or portions of the same programs to examine such programs jointly and submit a joint report. Stipulates that such report: (1) contain the findings, recommendations, and justifications of the program; and (2) include specified information including, but not limited to, an assessment of the cost-effectiveness of the program and an identification of any trends, developments, and emerging conditions which are likely to affect the nature and extent of the problems or needs which the program is intended to address. Requires each executive department or agency which is responsible for a program selected for reexamination to submit a report to the Office of Management and Budget and to the appropriate committees of the Congress on its findings, recommendations, and justifications of specified aspects of the program. Title IV: Tax Expenditures - Requires the Director of the Congressional Budget Office, after consultation with the Joint Committee on Taxation of the Congress, to prepare an inventory of tax expenditure provisions and to submit a report on such inventory to the Committee on Ways and Means of the House and the Senate Finance Committee. Defines the term "tax expenditure provision" as any provision of Federal law which allows a special exclusion, exemption, or deduction in determining liability for any tax or which provides a special credit against any tax, a preferential rate of tax, or a deferral of tax liability. Specifies the contents of the report, which include an estimate of the revenue loss from each tax provision. Requires the Director to: (1) submit a revised inventory to each House of Congress by December 1, 1982; (2) revise the inventory after the close of each session of Congress and report such revisions to Congress; and (3) periodically report on Congressional action on bills and resolutions which create or affect tax provisions. Directs the House Committee on Ways and Means and the Senate Committee on Finance to prepare a reauthorization schedule for all tax provisions similar to the schedule set out for Federal programs in title I of this Act. Requires Congress to take final action on the reauthorization schedule for tax provisions before the end of the 97th Congress. Provides that each tax expenditure provision shall expire unless it is reauthorized by a law enacted during the Congress in which it is scheduled for review. Sets forth procedures and restrictions for the consideration of bills reauthorizing tax provisions, which are similar to the restrictions and procedures governing bills authorizing new budget authority for Federal programs as described in title I. Requires that the report accompanying a reauthorization bill include specified information. Permits Congress to prescribe technical rules necessary to mitigate adverse effects which might result for taxpayers who rely on a certain tax provision. Title V: Miscellaneous - Amends the Budget and Accounting Act of 1921 to permit the committees of Congress to obtain from the agencies of the Government estimates or requests for appropriations, or requests for increases in an item of any such estimate or request, and recommendations as to how the revenue needs of the Government should be met. Sets forth administrative procedures and requirements. Directs the President, with the cooperation of the head of each appropriate agency, to submit to the Congress a "Regulatory Duplication and Conflicts Report" for all programs scheduled for reauthorization in the next Congress. Requires that each such report identify duplicative or conflicting rules and regulations promulgated by executive departments, independent agencies, and State and local governments and contain recommendations which address such conflicts or duplications. Directs the chairmen of the House and Senate committees having jurisdiction over a program scheduled for reauthorization during a Congress, to introduce a bill constituting a reauthorization within 15 days of the beginning of the second session of that Congress. Declares that it shall be in order to discharge a committee from consideration of such a bill if the committee fails to report the bill by a specified date. Makes it the duty of the Committees on Governmental Affairs and on Rules and Administration of the Senate and the Committees on Government Operations and Rules of the House of Representatives to review the operation of the procedures established by this Act and to submit a report every five years beginning December 31, 1988. Authorizes appropriations through fiscal year 1992.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1981
Regulation Reform Act of 1981 - Title I: The Analysis, Management, and Organization of Agency Functions - Requires the head of each Federal agency to publish for each proposed major rule a preliminary regulatory analysis which describes: (1) the need for the rule; (2) the reasonable alternative approaches; (3) regional differences; (4) the projected benefits, adverse economic effects, and effectiveness of the proposed rule and alternatives; (5) the estimated effect on small businesses, organizations, and governmental jurisdictions and competition in interstate and foreign commerce; and (6) the advantages and disadvantages of adopting performance standards rather than design standards. Requires each agency to provide interested persons 60 days after the preliminary analysis is issued to submit written comments and to provide 20 additional days for persons to respond to such comments. Requires that each agency publish for each final major rule a final regulatory analysis which includes: (1) a justification over alternatives which are more cost-effective or which have less adverse economic effects; (2) a summary of the significant issues raised by public comments; (3) a statement on the possibilities of providing requirement exemptions or less burdensome compliance standards for small businesses, organizations, or governmental jurisdictions; and (4) the total costs of the agency of the preliminary and final regulatory analysis. Directs each agency to: (1) include in the notice of each proposed and final major rule instructions of how the public may obtain copies of such analyses; and (2) send a copy of such analyses to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Authorizes an agency to delay completing such analyses by publishing a finding that the rule is being adopted in response to an emergency that makes completion of such analyses impossible. Terminates any such emergency rule if such analyses are not completed within 180 days of the publication of the rule. Bars judicial review of such regulatory analyses. Directs an agency to issue a rule providing exemptions or less burdensome compliance standards to small businesses, organizations, or governmental jurisdictions when it has indicated in the final regulatory analysis that such regulatory flexibility is lawful, feasible, and desirable. Requires the Director of OMB and the Comptroller General to report to Congress on agency compliance with the requirements of this title. Requires each agency to publish in the Federal Register, semiannually, a regulatory agenda containing a list of major and other rules for the next year and certain specified information concerning such rules. Directs each agency to submit its proposed major rules to the President for incorporation, semiannually, into the Calendar of Federal Regulations. Requires the Director of OMB to review and publish a list of rules submitted which potentially duplicate or conflict with other proposed or existing rules. Directs each agency to: (1) include in the notice of rulemaking or adjudicatory proceeding the date by which the agency intends to complete such proceeding; and (2) prepare and publish in the first regulatory agenda of the year a report on such proceedings which includes the number of proceedings the agency failed to complete by the established deadline and the reasons for such failure. Requires that such report also disclose specified information concerning the use of funds by the agency for procuring services for the preparation of any report in connection with such a proceeding. Requires each agency, within six months of the effective date of this act, to: (1) establish an office, within such agency, to be responsible for regulatory planning and management; (2) issue guidelines for determining which rules are significant rules according to specified standards; and (3) issue guidelines to insure that an adopted major or significant rule meets certain criteria including requirements that: (a) the rule is written to be easily understood; (b) there has been full consideration with affected State and local governments; and (c) the public has been given a full opportunity to participate in the rulemaking process. Directs each agency to publish and report to Congress on the costs of performing regulatory analyses and of reviewing its rules during the preceding year. Requires that each agency submit to OMB and publish in the Federal Register a draft schedule for the review, over a ten-year period, of its major rules and practices. Sets forth guidelines for such review. Directs each agency to publish a final review schedule within one year. Requires that each agency announce the review date for each major rule upon its publication. Requires each agency to publish an assessment of each precept reviewed. Declares that such review requirements shall not apply to precepts involving the internal revenue laws of the United States. Title II: Reorganizing and Improving Agency Proceedings - Requires that the general notice of a proposed rule include: (1) a statement that the agency seeks proposals from the public of alternative methods; and (2) a statement of where the file of the rulemaking proceeding may be inspected or how file copies may be obtained. Subjects rules concerning public property, loans, grants, benefits, or contracts to notice and comment rulemaking procedures. Directs each agency to maintain a file of each rulemaking proceeding. Requires each agency to prepare, semiannually, and transmit to the appropriate Congressional committees an agenda listing all areas in which the agency intends to propose major rules during the following year. Directs each agency to transmit a copy of each final rule to each House of Congress and to such committees on the day the rule is published. Prohibits the rule from becoming effective: (1) within 30 days after it is received by such committees; (2) until the earlier of the expiration of 60 days after the date on which a committee reports a resolution disapproving the rule or the date on which such resolution is rejected; or (3) if such a resolution is enacted. Exempts from such time constraints any major rule promulgated in response to an emergency situation. Prohibits an agency from promulgating a new rule substantially the same as a disapproved rule. Requires agencies to respond in an appropriate manner to good faith requests from interested persons for interpretations of agency rules. Creates a new procedure for administrative proceedings required by statute. Establishes an "expedited procedure" which applies to any proceeding predominantly concerning policy issues of a general character, including rulemaking and initial licensing. Requires "trial-type procedures" for proceedings concerning specific factual questions, including proceedings to assess a civil penalty or fine or to determine a claim for certain individual benefits. Enumerates the powers and responsibilities of a presiding employee at proceedings under trial-type procedure. Directs the agency, in such a proceeding, to conduct a hearing to afford parties an opportunity to submit written data, arguments, and responses, and an opportunity for oral argument. Authorizes the presiding employee to designate disputed questions for formal cross-examination. Sets forth procedures for issuing subpoenas in formal proceedings under the expedited or trial-type procedures. Allows an agency to designate an appropriate employee to recommend a decision for a proceeding under expedited procedure when the presiding employee submits a record of the proceeding without a recommended decision. Authorizes each agency to establish employee boards to review the decisions of presiding employees. Directs each agency to specify conditions under which it will accept an appeal of a decision of a presiding employee or such a board and conditions under which it will exclude a decision from the jurisdiction of a review board. Requires an action to be brought in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the review of an agency rule for which there is no applicable special statutory review procedure. Prohibits a court reviewing an agency action involving a rule from making any presumption in favor of the agency action if either the House of Representatives or the Senate has agreed to a resolution finding that the rule exceeded the agency's statutory authority or is inconsistent with legislative intent. Title III: Organizational and Program Improvements - Amends the Administrative Conference Act to repeal a requirement that the public members of the Conference be attorneys, scholars in government, or otherwise especially informed about Federal administrative procedure. Prohibits an agency from providing financial assistance for the costs of public participation in agency proceedings without specific statutory authority. Limits the maximum amount of such assistance. Requires any person awarded such assistance to enter into an agreement with the Chairman which outlines the representation to be provided by such person in the proceeding and permits the Chairman to examine expenditures from such assistance. Directs the Chairman to examine expenditures from such assistance. Directs the Chairman and the Director of OMB to report to Congress on the identity of applicants for such assistance and the amounts of assistance provided for fiscal years 1981 through 1984. Directs the Comptroller General to audit and report to Congress regarding the financial assistance procedures. Title IV: Congressional Review of Agency Regulations - Establishes the Committee on Regulatory Affairs as a permanent select committee of the House of Representatives to monitor the rulemaking activities of Federal agencies on a continuing basis. Requires each agency, upon proposing and upon promulgating a rule, to notify the Committee of certain information about the rule. Authorizes the Committee to investigate any such rule and report to the House. Specifies grounds for objections. Requires the Committee to transmit copies of such a report to the House committees with jurisdiction over the rule and to the promulgating agency. Directs the agency head to submit to the Speaker of the House within 30 days a statement indicating that the report has been reviewed, responding to issues raised by the Committee, and describing any accommodative agency actions. Precludes the House from considering any legislation appropriating funds to promulgate or implement such rule if the agency fails to submit such statement. Authorizes the Committee to report a joint resolution to prevent the promulgation of, postpone the effectiveness of, or repeal any rule on which it has issued a report. Permits the Speaker of the House to refer to the Committee: (1) any bill or resolution which authorizes an agency to issue rules which carry civil or criminal penalties for noncompliance; and (2) any resolution other than a joint resolution introduced pursuant to a provision of law authorizing Congressional disapproval of an agency rule. Directs the Committee to submit to the Ninety-eighth Congress a report on its activities during the Ninety-seventh Congress.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1981
Authorizes the President, subject to specified conditions, to negotiate agreements with foreign governments limiting imports of automobiles, trucks, and their parts. Restricts such authorization and such agreements to a specified period of time. Requires consultation with the private sector. Prohibits treating actions taken pursuant to such agreements as violations of U.S. laws.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1981
Establishes in the House of Representatives a Select Committee on Narcotics Abuse and Control to review problems of narcotics abuse, including enforcement, international trafficking, organized crime, and the criminal justice system with respect to narcotics law violations.
United States · United States Congress · 1 October 1980
Job Expansion and Urban Development Tax Act of 1980 - Title I: Designation of Eligible Areas and Businesses - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to define a job expansion area as any area in the United States designated by one or more local governments as such. Limits eligibility for such designation to areas of at least 5,000 population whose rates of poverty and unemployment exceed specified national averages, and whose rate of per capita income growth falls below specified levels, Defines a "job expansion business" as one: (1) at least 50 percent of whose hours of service are performed by employees working in one or more job expansion areas; and, except in extenuating circumstances; and (2) at least 50 percent of such qualified employees are residents of a job expansion area. Title II: Tax Incentives - Subtitle A: New Investment - Provides for an election of an additional $40,000 ($80,000 in the case of married individuals filing jointly) first-year depreciation for machinery and equipment purchased by a qualified job expansion business. Requires recapture of the tax that would otherwise have been paid if the property concerned ceases to be used predominantly inside a job expansion area. Allows a five percent investment tax credit for new buildings placed in service by a qualified job expansion business. Subtitle B: Investment in Used Equipment and Rehabilitated Buildings - Allows the election by a qualified job expansion business of an investment tax credit for an additional $400,000 of cost for used equipment used predominantly in a job expansion area. Provides for recapture of the tax benefit in the event such property ceases to be used predominantly in such area. Allows a 25 percent investment tax credit for expenditures paid or incurred for rehabilitation of a building located in a job expansion area. Subtitle C: Limited Refund of Investment Tax Credit - Allows refund of the investment tax credit for job expansion area property up to $100,000. Subtitle D: Increases in Targeted Jobs Credit - Allows the targeted jobs credit for employment of residents of a job expansion area. Increases the amount of such credit for the employment of such individuals: (1) from 50 percent to 60 percent of the first-year wages; and (2) from 25 percent to 35 percent of the second-year wages. Title III: Effective Date - States the effective date of this Act
United States · United States Congress · 1 October 1980
Small Business Inventory Simplification Act of 1980 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a qualified small business to elect the cash method of accounting regardless of any requirement to use inventories if: (1) the average annual gross receipts for the three preceding taxable years do not exceed $1,500,000; and (2) such small business was qualified for each of the two preceding taxable years.
United States · United States Congress · 30 September 1980
Declares a specified portion of the Erie Basin in the Buffalo Harbor, New York, to be a nonnavigable water of the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 22 September 1980
Declares that the Congress accepts the gift of a red oak tree as a symbol of American hopes for the immediate release of the hostages in Iran. Dedicates the tree to the principles of individual freedom and world peace.
United States · United States Congress · 19 September 1980
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the peaceful resolution of the Polish workers' strike contributes to international peace. Encourages implementation of the strike settlement without outside interference.
United States · United States Congress · 18 September 1980
Amends the Trade Act of 1974 to include any period of authorized sick leave or absence from work due to work-related injury as a period of employment in determining whether a worker meets the required weeks of employment to qualify for trade adjustment assistance. Directs the Secretary of Labor to reconsider any refiled application in light of such amendment, if the original application was denied.
United States · United States Congress · 15 September 1980
Residential Rental Housing Tax Incentive Act of 1980 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a taxpayer election to depreciate new residential rental property under the straight line method based on a period of 120 months. Exempts residential property, residential rental property, and low-income housing from the requirement that construction period interest and taxes related to such property be amortized instead of deducted currently. Expands eligibility for accelerated depreciation of rehabilitation expenditures for all types of rental housing, not just low-income rental housing. Increases the amount of depreciable rental housing rehabilitation expenditures to $30,000.
United States · United States Congress · 5 September 1980
Welfare and Medicaid Fiscal Assistance Program Act of 1980 - Amends Title IV (Aid to Families with Dependent Children) (AFDC) and Title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to increase the Federal medical assistance percentage payable to a State with a medical assistance plan approved by the Secretary of Health and Human Services under such Act. Directs a State to pay on a pro rata basis any Federal funds received in excess of the old Federal medical assistance percentage to any political subdivision of such State which contributed under the State medical assistance plan for such quarter. Limits such payment to 100 percent of of such political subdivision's contribution.
United States · United States Congress · 27 August 1980
Designates March 16 of each year as "Freedom of Information Day."
United States · United States Congress · 27 August 1980
Urges the peaceful resolution of issues raised by Polish workers in accordance with international agreements. Requests the Polish government to release persons unjustly imprisoned during recent worker unrest. Asks all signatories to observe the Declaration on Principles Guiding Relations between Participating States.
United States · United States Congress · 26 August 1980
Extends from 50 years to 80 years the period for repayment of revenue bonds issued by the Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation (the Corporation) to the Secretary of the Treasury. Directs the Corporation and the Secretary to make all revenue bonds outstanding on the effective date of this Act payable in equal annual amounts over the remainder of the 80 year period established by this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 20 August 1980
Authorizes the President to negotiate agreements with foreign governments limiting exports of automobiles and trucks to the United States. Terminates such authority and any agreements pursuant to such authority on July 1, 1985. States that action taken pursuant to such agreements shall not be treated as violating U.S. laws.
United States · United States Congress · 20 August 1980
Declares that the people of Poland should be allowed to settle their own affairs, including the formation of independent trade unions and the right to strike, without foreign interference.
United States · United States Congress · 19 August 1980
Designates the week of October 6 through October 12, 1980, as "National Productivity Improvement Week."
United States · United States Congress · 19 August 1980
Condemns the Soviet Union for its persecution of Yuriy Shukhevych. Urges the President to protest the internment of Shukhevych.
United States · United States Congress · 18 August 1980
Authorizes and requests the President to designate September 18, 1980, as "Constantino Brumidi Day."
United States · United States Congress · 28 July 1980
Retailer Inventory Reform Act of 1980 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to permit retail stores to use price indexes published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics when reporting income under the LIFO method of accounting. Requires the Bureau of Labor Statistics to prepare such price indexes in the same manner as they were prepared in 1979. Prohibits the use of unappropriated funds for the preparation and publication of such indexes.
United States · United States Congress · 28 July 1980
Requests the President to designate October 11, 1980, as "National Jogging Day."
United States · United States Congress · 28 July 1980
Reaffirms congressional support for full implementation of the Helsinki Final Act. Expresses the sense of Congress that human rights concerns should be given serious attention at the Madrid meeting to review such Act. Declares that any new measures should be balanced among all sections of the Final Act. Directs the U.S. delegation to seek another review meeting within two years.
United States · United States Congress · 27 June 1980
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide homebuilders with an income tax credit for the construction of residences which incorporate a passive solar energy system. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury, after consultation with the Secretaries of Energy and Housing and Urban Development, to prescribe regulations setting forth a solar construction credit table for purposes of determining the amount of the credit for which the incorporator of the solar energy system is eligible. Limits the dollar amount of such credit to $2,000 for calendar years prior to 1986 and phases out the amount of the credit by $500 decrements until 1989 when such credit terminates. Defines "passive solar energy system" as a system which contains a solar collection area, an absorber, a storage mass, a heat distribution method, and heat regulation devices. Requires such system to be installed in a new residence after September 30, 1980 and before January 1, 1989.
United States · United States Congress · 26 June 1980
Bus Regulatory Modernization and Improvement Act of 1980 - Amends the Interstate Commerce Act to promote and maintain a sound privately owned motor bus system in the United States. Directs the Interstate Commerce Commission to consider the need for specified revenue levels in the exercise of its ratemaking powers as regards common carriers of passengers by motor vehicle. Prohibits the Commission from finding any fare or rate for the transportation of passengers to be unreasonable on the basis that it is too high or too low if it is within a specified standard fare range. Authorizes the Commission to suspend interstate passenger fares and express rates under specified conditions. Directs the Commission to adjust such rates and charges periodically. Directs that such findings, suspensions, or adjustments shall not apply to excursion, special, or charter fares. Authorizes a motor common carrier of passengers to enter into a rate agreement with one or more other carriers. Directs the Commission to approve such agreement subject to specified criteria. Sets forth requirements with which an organization established or continued under such agreement must comply. Grants the Commission exclusive authority to prescribe an intrastate rate for transportation provided by a rail carrier or motor carrier of passengers (formerly rail only). Makes conforming amendments to specified Acts as regards the issuance of securities by motor carriers of property. Sets forth procedures for a consolidation, merger, or an acquisition of control involving a motor carrier of passengers. Expands the scope of certificates authorizing the transportation of passengers in charter or special operations. Directs the Commission, under specified conditions, to issue a certificate to a person authorizing that person to provide transportation as a motor common carrier of passengers. Directs that such certificates issued to persons not holding authority from the Commission shall be for a maximum of three years. Prohibits a motor carrier of passengers from: (1) engaging in interstate or foreign commerce; or (2) receiving a certificate or permit unless such carrier has filed a surety bond or certificate of insurance with the Commission. Sets forth requirements to be met by publicly owned or government owned motor carriers of passengers which apply for such certificate or permit for special or charter operations. Prohibits a carrier from protesting an application for such certificate or permit unless it has met specified conditions. Prohibits a State, political subdivision thereof, or an interstate agency from enacting any law, rule, regulation, or other provision relating to the discontinuance of regular-route service by a motor common carrier of passengers. Directs the Commission to promulgate rules for the discontinuance of essential intrastate and interstate regular route service by such carriers. Specifies criteria for such rules and sets forth procedures for the investigation of proposed discontinuance of service. Directs the Commission to take final action within 90 days on an application by a motor carrier of passengers for temporary authority to provide certain transportation. Directs that proceedings begun by the Commission under this Act shall be dismissed automatically unless they are concluded with administrative finality within three years after they were initiated.
United States · United States Congress · 25 June 1980
Expresses the sense of Congress that the present level of the trade deficit with Japan is intolerable and threatens the future of trade between our nations. Urges Japan to cooperate in correcting such deficit.
United States · United States Congress · 24 June 1980
Title I: Surplus School Conversion Grants - Surplus School Conversion Act - Authorizes the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to make grants to local educational agencies to provide up to 80 percent of the costs of renovating underutilized school buildings. Directs the Secretary to give priority to grant applications to renovate buildings for educational or social service purposes. Prohibits grants for renovation of buildings which will be used for storage purposes only. Permits the inclusion of planning costs among the expenses which such grants cover. Directs the Secretary to make available planning and technical assistance to agencies utilizing such funds. Sets forth grant application requirements. Directs the Secretary to consider certain factors in approving applications. Provides for the recapture of such payments by the United States. Sets forth reporting requirements. Title II: Amendment to the Energy Policy and Conservation Act - Amends the Energy Policy and Conservation Act to include among guidelines which the Secretary of Energy must prescribe for State plans for the implementation of energy conservation projects in schools and hospitals a requirement that State energy agencies in making grants for such projects for school facilities give priority to facilities in local educational agency jurisdictions with a student enrollment for the school year in which the application is submitted of not more than 90 percent of the enrollment for the second preceding school year.
United States · United States Congress · 19 June 1980
Expresses the sense of Congress regarding the domestic automotive and truck industry. Declares it to be a goal of the United States to achieve technological superiority in the world automobile and truck industry. Advocates changes in economic, fiscal, and import policies in order to create adequate capital and produce a more favorable climate for the domestic automobile and truck industry.
United States · United States Congress · 17 June 1980
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide for the nonrecognition of gain from the sale of small business stock to an employee stock ownership plan if the proceeds from such a sale are reinvested in small business stock within 18 months of the date of the sale. Specifies that gain will be recognized to the extent that the proceeds of the sale exceed the cost of the subsequently purchased small business stock.
United States · United States Congress · 13 June 1980
Trade Procedures Simplification Act of 1980 - Requires the Attorney General, in consultation with other Federal agency heads, to determine whether: (1) U.S. business conduct and arrangements in various countries to expand exports conflict with basic antitrust principles; and (2) a more liberal enforcement policy for overseas activities would impede implementation of the antitrust laws. Directs the Attorney General to identify conduct and arrangements associated with particular types of export sales which the Attorney General determines would not warrant prosecution under the antitrust laws. Sets forth the procedures for describing such permissible conduct and disclosing such descriptions. Authorizes the Secretary of Commerce to intervene in such suits and to provide legal assistance to exporters. Prohibits prosecution under the antitrust laws of exporters who: (1) have notified the Attorney General of their intention to engage in such designated permissible conduct; or (2) receive an approval, or no objection, from the Attorney General concerning proposed transactions. Requires the Attorney General and the Secretary of Commerce to report to Congress concerning implementation of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 12 June 1980
Urban Jobs and Enterprise Zone Act of 1980 - Title I: Designation of Private Jobs and Enterprise Zones - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide for the designation of private jobs and enterprise zones, for a ten-year period, by local governments, or by State governments on behalf of local governments subject to the approval of the Secretary of Commerce, for purposes of extending the tax incentives provided by title II of this Act to employers and employees within designated zones. Specifies that the Secretary may only approve the designation of such zones if: (1) the area is within the jurisdiction of the designating local government; (2) the boundary of the area is continuous; (3) the area has a population of at least 4,000, or is an Indian reservation; and (4) the area meets specified unemployment and poverty requirements. Requires designating local governments, as a condition of the Secretary's approval, to effect a permanent real property tax reduction in their respective jurisdictions, which is not less than 20 percent of the current effective rate. Requires any such property tax reduction to be disregarded for the purpose of determining the eligibility of a State or local government for Federal assistance or benefits. Expresses the sense of the Congress that in the case of any application for designation of an area in a private jobs and enterprise zone as a foreign trade zone: (1) the Foreign Trade Zone Board should expedite the application process; (2) the Board, in evaluating such application, should consider not only the current economic conditions within the zone, but also future development to be expected as a result of the incentives provided by this Act; and (3) the Board should provide technical assistance to the applicants. Title II: Tax Incentives - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to reduce social security payroll taxes in designated private jobs and enterprise zones. States that such tax rate reductions shall not affect an individual's eligibility for social security benefits. Appropriates to the Federal Disability and Hospital Insurance Trust Funds general revenue amounts equivalent to the amount by which such taxes are reduced. Reduces the rate of tax on the capital gains of individuals and corporations in such zones. Exempts gain from the sale or exchange of property used in a business in a private jobs and enterprise zone from the computation of the minimum tax. Reduces the rate of tax on the income of corporations whose workforce comprises at least 50 percent of individuals working in a private jobs and enterprise zone (qualifying businesses). Authorizes accelerated depreciation for qualifying businesses (straight line method based on a three year useful life). Limits the basis for depreciation to $500,000. Allows a full investment tax credit for such property despite election of such accelerated depreciation. Permits qualifying businesses to elect to use a cash method of accounting if their gross receipts do not exceed $1,500,000 in any prior taxable year. Allows a ten year carryover of net operating losses for qualifying businesses. Title III: Effective Date - Specifies effective dates for provisions of this Act which apply to income tax, provisions which apply to social security payroll taxes, and provisions which apply to tax procedure and administration.
United States · United States Congress · 29 May 1980
Extends the congratulations of the House of Representatives to members of the 1980 handicapped Olympic team and recognizes specified organizations for their efforts in producing the second winter Olympics for the physically handicapped.
United States · United States Congress · 22 May 1980
Authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to establish the Boston African American National Historic Site in Boston, Massachusetts. Authorizes the Secretary to accept any gift or bequest of any property within the boundaries of such site and to enter into cooperative agreements with the city of Boston, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, or any of their political subdivisions, or any private person or organization for such activities as may be necessary for the preservation of any such properties. Authorizes the Secretary to assist with maintenance of those properties owned by the city of Boston, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, their political subdivisions, or not-for-profit organizations. Specifies that if any fees are charged for the use of a property covered by any such cooperative agreement, and Federal funds are committed in the cooperative agreement, the income from such fees shall be applied to the costs of maintenance and renovation of such property. Permits the Secretary, in cooperation with other interested groups, to identify other significant sites relating to the nineteenth century free African American community on Beacon Hill, Boston, and, with the consent of the owners thereof, to mark them appropriately and make reference to them in any interpretive literature.