United States · United States Congress · 6 February 1985
Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to exempt arrest actions and interrogations in the Bahamas from the ban on participation by U.S. officers and employees in certain foreign drug arrest actions and interrogations.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 1985
Caribbean Infrastructure Assistance Act - Authorizes appropriations for FY 1986 through 1989 to provide for the implementation of Peace Corps technical training programs aimed at the infrastructure needs of specified countries in the Caribbean region. Lists the infrastrucutre needs of such countries.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 1985
Requires that funds be made available from appropriations under the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education and Related Agencies Appropriation Act, 1985 to enable the National Institutes of Health to award 6,500 new and competing research grants in FY 1985.
United States · United States Congress · 4 February 1985
Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) the President should urge Canada to discontinue imposing taxes on travel literature imported from the United States; and (2) a reciprocal tax imposed on imported Canadian literature may be appropriate if Canada continues to impose such taxes.
United States · United States Congress · 30 January 1985
Authorizes and requests the President to designate January 28, 1985 and 1986, as Day of Marti, Apostle of Liberty. (Jose Marti is remembered as "The Apostle of Cuban Independence.")
United States · United States Congress · 30 January 1985
Expresses the United States' determination to: (1) prevent the aggressive activities of the Soviet Union and Cuba in the western hemisphere; (2) prevent the creation of an externally supported Cuban military capability; and (3) work with the Organization of American States for hemisphere security.
United States · United States Congress · 30 January 1985
Directs the President to: (1) secure from the Indochina nations a full accounting of Americans captured or missing as a result of the Vietnam conflict; and (2) work for the release of captive Americans and the return of the remains of those American servicemen and civilians who died in Southeast Asia. Requires the President to submit two reports to Congress on American POW/MIAs in Southeast Asia.
United States · United States Congress · 28 January 1985
Effective Schools Development in Education Act of 1985 - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to establish a grants program to promote more effective schools and excellence in education. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1986 through 1990 for such grants program. Allows program grants to be used to: (1) promote State educational agency (SEA) and local educational agency (LEA) awareness of effective schools information through conferences at schools and district and multidistrict offices and through onsite visits to model effective schools; (2) develop and implement systems of data collection, analysis, interpretation, and communication; (3) plan, review, and revise program activities; (4) support related effective schools efforts; (5) obtain technical assistance and consultant services from regional educational laboratories, research and development centers, institutions of higher education, and other nonprofit educational organizations; (6) design, develop, and publish educational materials on effective schools programs; (7) conduct program evaluations; and (8) otherwise identify, document, and disseminate information concerning exemplary effective schools programs. Requires that program grant applications by SEAs or LEAs demonstrate that: (1) the applicant has an effective schools improvement program in effect; (2) grant funds would be used to pay not more than one-half of the cost of any program or activity; (3) grant funds would be supplementary; and (4) independent annual evaluations will be conducted and reported. Directs the Secretary of Education, in selecting grant recipients, to: (1) consider the extent to which grant funds would be used to improve schools in districts with the greatest numbers or percentages of educationally deprived children and the extent to which the applicant's ongoing effective schools program has demonstrated the capacity to improve student achievement or behavior; (2) ensure reasonable geographic distribution of grants; and (3) designate grants as being available for a period of at least one but not more than three years. Sets forth provisions for technical assistance and program evaluation. Requires the Secretary to report to the Congress by September 1, 1987.
United States · United States Congress · 28 January 1985
International Advisory Commission for the Caribbean Region Act - Requests the President to invite specified Western countries and Caribbean countries to participate in an International Advisory Commission for the Caribbean Region. Expresses the sense of the Congress that the Commission should: (1) examine various issues which affect the Caribbean region; and (2) consult with Caribbean leaders and representatives of public and private organizations involved in Caribbean issues. Authorizes the United States to participate in the Commission. Directs the U.S. Commissioner to report to the Congress and to the President every six months. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 24 January 1985
Designates the U.S. Post Office Building, Flushing, New York, as the Benjamin S. Rosenthal Post Office Building. Requires the Postmaster General to install an appropriate plaque indicating such designation.
United States · United States Congress · 24 January 1985
Civil Rights Restoration Act of 1985 - Amends the Education Amendments of 1972, the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Age Discrimination Act of 1975, and the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to provide a definition of the phrase "program or activity." Defines such term as all of the operations of: (1) a department or agency of a State or of a local government; (2) the entity of such State or local government that distributes Federal assistance and each such department or agency to which the assistance is extended; (3) a university or a system of higher education; (4) a local educational agency or other school system; (5) a corporation, partnership, or other private organization; or (6) any other entity consistent with the coverage provided above.
United States · United States Congress · 24 January 1985
Amends the Federal criminal code to establish penalties for damaging or destroying any cemetery, religious building, or any religious article contained in such a building or interfering with any person freely exercising his or her religion.
United States · United States Congress · 24 January 1985
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that no changes be enacted in current law that would reduce or delay cost-of-living adjustments for beneficiaries under the Social Security Act.
United States · United States Congress · 24 January 1985
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the President should: (1) ensure that U.S. officials carry out the pledge to resolve the issue of the Americans still missing and unaccounted for in Indochina; (2) work for the immediate release of any Americans still held captive and the return of the remains of those who died in Southeast Asia; and (3) make every effort to secure the further cooperation of Laos and Vietnam in resolving this issue.
United States · United States Congress · 24 January 1985
Expresses the sense of the Congress that no law should be enacted which would: (1) increase the costs to be incurred by beneficiaries under titles XVIII (Medicare) or XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act; or (2) make more restrictive the eligibility requirements under such titles.
United States · United States Congress · 22 January 1985
Amends the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 to require the Administrator of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention in the Department of Justice (Administrator) to make grants to States for the purpose of establishing, operating, or expanding Missing Children Information Clearinghouses. Limits the grants to 50 percent of the costs of establishing and operating the Clearinghouse. Requires any State Clearinghouse to: (1) work in conjunction with the National Crime Information Center; (2) educate parents, children, and community agencies; (3) provide public information to assist in locating missing children; (4) publish a directory of organizations that provide assistance in locating missing children; (5) establish an in-State toll-free line for reporting missing children; (6) work with other public and private organizations; and (7) work with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Allows the Administrator to prescribe rules necessary to carry out this Act. Grants the Comptroller General of the United States access to any books, documents, or records of any State receiving assistance for the purpose of audit. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 22 January 1985
Veterans' Administration Adjudication Procedure and Judicial Review Act - Title I: Adjudication Procedures - Codifies for Veterans Administration (VA) adjudication purposes the burden of proof and reasonable doubt standards currently provided for by VA regulation. States that a claimant has the burden of submitting sufficient evidence to justify his or her claim, and that if an approximate balance of positive and negative evidence exists regarding the merits of a claim, the VA is to resolve such doubt in favor of the claimant. States that VA subpoenas may be served either by personal delivery or by registered or certified mail. Requires the chairman of the Board of Veterans' Appeals to submit an annual report to the appropriate congressional committees concerning the Board's current handling of cases and projections for the subsequent fiscal year. Requires the Board to: (1) provide notice to a claimant and an opportunity for a hearing before a decision may be based on "additional official information" received after a Board decision has previously been made; and (2) make its decision exclusively on evidence and material of record in the proceeding. Removes the requirement that new material sufficient to allow the Board to reopen a previously disallowed claim be in the form of official reports. Provides that the Board's discretionary authority to reopen a claim will not be diminished by a judicial decision following an appeal as provided for by this Act. Requires the Board to mail to the claimant notice of its decision and the reasons for such decision. Provides that, upon the request of a claimant, the Board shall provide an independent advisory medical opinion when there exists substantial medical disagreement with respect to a material issue in a veteran's appeal. Sets forth new procedural rules for adjudication hearings regarding: (1) oaths, affirmations, and witness examination; (2) admissibility of evidence; (3) procedural rights of claimants; (4) disqualification of a hearing officer; (5) the record of the proceedings and the claimant's right to examine and obtain a copy of such record; and (6) the exclusiveness of veterans' adjudication procedures and rights prescribed by the Administrator. Requires the Administrator to provide at each stage of the appeal proceedings written notice to a claimant of the claimant's procedural rights. Directs the Administrator to conduct a study of two alternative claims resolution methods: one a new intermediate-level adjudication process; the other an enhanced schedule of formal Appeals Board hearings. Directs the Administrator to report to the Congress on such studies. Title II: Veterans Administration Rule Making - Includes the VA's rulemaking procedures under the relevant provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act. Title III: Judicial Review - Provides for judicial review of VA decisions in the Federal court system. States with regard to jurisdiction: (1) the definition of final decision; (2) that judicial review of a final decision in a claim for benefits may be obtained in a civil action brought within 180 days of the Board's mailing of notice of its decision, and that such action shall be brought in Federal district court; (3) that the VA shall file the various materials constituting the record in a case together with its answer to the claimant's complaint; (4) that the court may render a decision on the pleadings; and (5) that the judicial review procedures established under this Act shall not apply to insurance and home loans. States, with regard to the reviewing court's scope of review, that such court: (1) shall decide questions of law and interpret constitutional, statutory, and regulatory provisions, but that questions of fact (unless unsupported by substantial evidence) will not be subject to a trial de novo; and (2) in reviewing a final decision of the VA which is adverse to a party solely because such party failed to comply with VA procedures, may only review questions concerning such procedures. Sets out provisions regarding remand, survival of actions, and appellate review. Title IV: Attorneys' Fees - Authorizes the Administrator to allow attorneys' fees above the present $10 maximum if the appealing party's claim is allowed by the VA after an initial denial. States that such fee shall be the lesser of: (1) the fee agreed upon by the party and attorney; (2) $500, unless the Administrator approves a greater amount; or (3) if the party and attorney have entered into a contingent-fee agreement, not more than 25 percent of the total of any past-due benefits awarded on the basis of such party's claim. Provides for the approval of attorneys' fees in successful veterans' claims brought before a court as provided for under this Act. States that such fees shall be determined by such court, and in contingent-fee agreements such fees shall not exceed 25 percent of the total of any past-due benefits awarded on the basis of such claim. Authorizes attorneys' fees of up to $750 in certain unsuccessful veterans' claims. Prohibits the VA from authorizing payment to a claimant's attorney based on past-due benefits unless such benefits are owed as of the date of the VA's or a court's award. States that such provisions regarding attorneys' fees shall only apply to claims for benefits under the laws administered by the VA and shall not apply in cases in which the VA is the plaintiff or in which other attorneys' fees statutes are otherwise controlling. Title V: Effective Dates - Sets forth the effective dates for this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 22 January 1985
National Commission on Neurofibromatosis Act - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish within 60 days a National Commission on Neurofibromatosis which shall formulate a plan to identify the research needed to develop an effective treatment and a cure for neurofibromatosis. Sets forth operating and related provisions. Authorizes the Commission to transmit interim reports. Requires the Commission to make a final report to the President and to each House of the Congress within two years. Terminates the Commission three months after submission of the final report. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 22 January 1985
Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act to provide that disability insurance benefits for an individual having a terminal illness shall begin with the first month such individual has such illness.
United States · United States Congress · 22 January 1985
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the Federal Home Loan Bank Board should delay until June 30, 1985, the effective date of its proposed regulations regarding limitations on direct investment in real estate, service corporations, and equity securities by federally insured savings and loan associations. Directs the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Banking, Finance, and Urban Affairs of the House of Representatives to examine alternatives to the proposed regulations which will ensure safety and sound investment activities.
United States · United States Congress · 21 January 1985
Title I: Amendments to the Reorganization Act of 1977 - Reorganization Extension Act of 1985 - Extends the authority of the President to reorganize the executive branch until December 31, 1986 (currently December 31, 1984). Revises the congressional veto procedure to conform to such extension. Title II: Improvements in Congressional Oversight of Federal Regions - Oversight of Federal Regions Act of 1985 - Establishes, by law, the Federal regions into which the departments and agencies are divided for administrative purposes as in effect on December 31, 1984. Allows any reorganization plan to provide for the abolition or consolidation of such regions.
United States · United States Congress · 21 January 1985
Amends the Steel Import Stabilization Act to direct the U.S. Trade Representative, in negotiating with Japan and South Korea on steel products import limits, to negotiate the apportionment of the aggregate limit among specified subcategories of steel products. Directs the U.S. Trade Representative to apportion the aggregate limit if such negotiations are not successfully concluded within 30 days of the enactment of this Act. Sets forth such subcategories.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1985
State and Local Narcotics Control Assistance Act of 1985 - Authorizes the Attorney General to make grants to States to assist States and local governments to increase their drug enforcement activities. Requires such grants to be based on the relative needs of the States, taking into consideration the severity of drug trafficking and abuse and the availability of State and local resources to resolve such problems. Establishes a procedure for grant applications. Requires such an application to include a State-wide strategy for the enforcement of State drug laws. Imposes limitations on the use of such grants, including a maximum ten percent allocation for administrative purposes. Requires each State which receives a grant to submit a yearly report to the Attorney General, who shall in turn report to the Congress with respect to such grants. Allows the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make grants to States for developing more effective drug abuse prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation programs. Establishes a procedure for grant applications. Authorizes appropriations for both grant programs for FY 1986 through 1990.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1985
Age Discrimination in Employment Amendments of 1985 - Amends the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 to remove the existing 70-year upper age limit to which the discrimination prohibitions apply, thus extending coverage to all individuals who are at least 40 years of age. Allows compulsory retirement of tenured faculty of an institution of higher learning until July 1, 2000. Delays the effect of this Act for employees under a collective bargaining contract until January 1, 1989, or the termination of such contract, if earlier.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1985
Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders Treatment Act of 1985 - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to designate 20 centers for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease and related disorders. Requires such centers to: (1) provide a central facility for diagnosis, evaluation, and counseling; (2) develop standards of treatment and methods of delivering cost-effective services; (3) train professionals and nonprofessionals in diagnosing and treating such disorders; and (4) develop a comprehensive acute and long-term treatment program. Authorizes FY 1986 through 1990 appropriations. Directs the Secretary to make $1,000,000 available to each center for each of at least five years for teaching, training, research, and staffing. Permits eligible persons to elect to receive benefits as provided for by this Act rather than under titles XVIII (Medicare), XIX (Medicaid), or XX (Grants to States for Service) of the Social Security Act, or under the Older Americans Act of 1965.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1985
National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Diseases Act of 1985 - Amends title IV (National Research Institutes) of the Public Health Service Act to establish a National Institute (Institute) of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Diseases in the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Redesignates the existing National Institute of Arthritis, Diabetes, and Digestive and Kidney Diseases as the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. States that the Institute shall conduct research and related activities concerning arthritis, musculoskeletal diseases and skin diseases. Requires the Director of the Institute, with the advice of the National Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Advisory Council, to establish a national plan to coordinate such activities. Establishes within the Institute: (1) the National Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Diseases Data System; and (2) the National Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Diseases Information Clearinghouse. Authorizes appropriations through FY 1988. Establishes within the Institue: (1) an Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Diseases Interagency Coordinating Committee; and (2) a Skin Diseases Interagency Coordinating Committee. Requires annual reports to the Secretary of Health and Human Services and to the Director of NIH. Establishes within the Institute a National Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Diseases Advisory Council. Authorizes appropriations through FY 1988 for arthritis and musculoskeletal demonstration projects and multipurpose disease centers. Requires the Institute to submit a biennial report. Transfers arthritis-related functions (including data system, advisory functions, coordinating functions, demonstration project, and multipurpose center), funds, personnel, and assets to the Institute from the existing National Institute of Arthritis, Diabetes, and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. Requires the secretary to report to the appropriate congressional committees and to the Comptroller General within 60 days regarding such transfers. Requires the Comptroller General to report to the appropriate congressional committees within 80 days regarding such transfers. Terminates the National Arthritis Advisory Board. Makes conforming amendments. Requires the Secretary, through NIH, to conduct a study of the existing combinations of disease research programs within the institutes and of the standards to be followed in establishing new or realigning existing institutes. Requires a report to the appropriate congressional committees within 18 months. Prohibits the establishment of any new institutes within six months of such report's submission. Directs the Secretary to conduct and complete within 60 days a review of the disease research programs of the National Institute of diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (as redesignated by this Act) to determine if any of these programs could be more effectively managed by other national research institutions.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1985
Establishes the Medicare Financing and Benefit Review Commission to study and make recommendations concerning the financial problems and benefit structure of the programs established under title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act. Terminates the Commission on June 1, 1986. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1985
Amends the Tax Reform Act of 1984 to provide that an individual who, as of September 12, 1984, was performing services for one member of a corporate group and was eligible for nontaxable air travel benefits provided by a corporate affiliate shall continue to be eligible for such benefits if as of that date: (1) the primary business of the affiliated group was air transportation of passengers; and (2) at least 50 percent of the persons performing services for the corporation for which the individual is currently performing services were employees of or had previously performed services for the second such corporation.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1985
Requires the Secretary of the Interior to establish the Jimmy Carter National Historic Site in Georgia. Specifies those properties which the Secretary is authorized to acquire for the establishment of such site. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1985
National Drug and Alcohol Education Act of 1985 - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make grants to States to assist local educational agencies (LEAs) in establishing and improving drug, alcohol, and tobacco education programs for elementary and secondary school students. Directs the Secretary to make such grant payments to States in amounts based on relative numbers of children in average daily attendance in elementary and secondary schools. Authorizes States to reserve up to seven percent of such grant payment for State administration of drug, alcohol, and tobacco education programs. Sets forth requirements for State applications for such grants. Requires State educational agencies (SEAs) to assure that LEAs will retain autonomy and flexibility in planning such programs. Requires SEAs to contribute, in cash, 20 percent of the cost of each program approved by the State. Directs the SEA to allocate grant funds to LEAs on the basis of relative numbers of children in daily attendance in elementary and secondary schools. Directs the SEA, from the amount allocated to an LEA, to pay up to 75 percent of the cost of the approved program. Provides for reallocation of amounts not spent by LEAs within a specified time period. Sets forth requirements for LEA applications for such allocations. Requires an LEA to pay five percent of the total program cost, in cash or in services, equipment, or facilities. Requires LEA planning for cooperation and coordination with Federal, State, and local police departments and agencies. Requires assurances that the LEA program will meet any special needs of low income and minority students. Sets forth provisions for program participation of children from private schools. Sets forth administrative provisions for audits and withholding of program payments to States. Directs the Secretary to report annually to the Congress on activities assisted under this Act. Authorizes appropriations to the Secretary of Education to carry out this Act for FY 1985 through 1987.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1985
Construction Industry Labor Law Amendments of 1985 - Amends the National Labor Relations Act to provide that in the construction industry two or more business entities engaged in the same or similar work with common ownership or control shall be deemed a single employer. Applies the terms of a collective bargaining agreement regarding employees of such business entities to all other business entities comprising the same single employer within the geographical area covered by the agreement. States that collective bargaining agreements may only be repudiated after the National Labor Relations Board certifies election results in which a majority of the employees select a bargaining representative other than the representative with whom such agreement was made.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1985
Requires the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to: (1) conduct research for identifying and measuring wage discrimination; (2) assist any public or private entity in eliminating discriminatory pay practices; and (3) implement policies and procedures to prohibit employment discrimination. Requires the Commission to determine the number and nature of all charges filed under the Civil Rights Act of 1954 and to report to the Congress with a summary prepared pursuant to this Act. Requires the Commission to conduct a study in consultation with organizations representing Federal employees and analyze: (1) the procedures established by the Director of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to establish classifications of positions in the competitive service; and (2) the actual practice of the Director and the heads of Federal agencies in complying with the principle of equal pay for work of equal value when establishing job classifications for employees. Requires the Commission to report to the President and the Congress on its findings and provide a copy to the Director of OPM. Directs the Director to submit his comments on the report to the President and the Congress. Directs the Secretary of Labor, acting through the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, to report to the President and the Congress on actions taken to enforce the prohibitions contained in Executive Order Numbered 11246 against discrimination by Federal contractors. Requires the Attorney General, acting through the Office of Civil Rights, to report to the President and the Congress on actions taken to enforce the prohibitions against sex discrimination in compensation contained in title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Executive Order Numbered 11246, and other Federal laws. Requires Federal agencies responsible for submitting equal employment opportunity plans to include in such plans: (1) a review and identification of any discriminatory pay practices and any violation of the principle of equal pay for jobs of equal value; and (2) a plan for eliminating any such practices and remedying any such violation.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1985
Amends the Board for International Broadcasting Act of 1973 to direct the Board for International Broadcasting to require Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Incorporated, to establish a Russian language program, to be known as Radio Maccabee, for the Jewish population of the Soviet Union. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1986 and 1987 for such program.
![Official portrait of Rep. Pepper, Claude [D-FL-18]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/p000218_200.jpg)