United States · United States Congress · 17 February 1981
Cigarette Safety Act - Directs the Consumer Product Safety Commission to promulgate, within 24 months, final performance standards for cigarettes and little cigars ensuring a minimum capacity for igniting smoldering fabric fires. Authorizes the Commission to prohibit manufacturers from stockpiling such products to which such standards apply. Provides for judicial review of such standards in an appropriate U.S. court of appeals. Declares such cigarette safety standards to be subject to all remedial and penalty provisions of the Consumer Product Safety Act. Authorizes appropriations necessary to carry out this Act for the first three fiscal years beginning after enactment.
United States · United States Congress · 17 February 1981
Refundable Investment Tax Credit Act of 1981 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide for the refunding of investment tax credit amounts which exceed tax liability.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 1981
Export Trading Company Act of 1981 - Establishes within the Department of Commerce an office to: (1) promote the formation of export trade associations and export trading companies; (2) provide information; and (3) facilitate contacts between producers of exportable goods and firms offering export trade services. Title I: Export Trading Companies - Authorizes any banking organization to invest up to specified amounts in export trading companies upon notifying, but without obtaining the prior approval of, the appropriate Federal banking agency, if such investment does not cause an export trading company to become a subsidiary of such organization. Allows greater investment by Edge Act Corporations not engaged in banking. Permits any banking organization to invest beyond such limitations with the prior approval of the appropriate Federal banking agency. Requires prior notification of such agencies in specified circumstances. Sets forth further limitations on export trading companies and investments by banking organizations. Specifies factors to be taken into consideration by the banking agencies. Permits such agencies to impose conditions in approving applications to invest in export trading companies. Requires such agencies to report to the appropriate Congressional committees with their recommendations concerning implementation of this Act, related changes in U.S. law, and effects of ownership of U.S. banks by foreign banking organizations. Provides for judicial review of denial orders in the appropriate U.S. Court of Appeals. Sets forth the grounds for disapproval. Provides for remand for further consideration by the banking agency. Directs the Economic Development Administration and the Small Business Administration to give special weight to export-related benefits when considering applications for loans and guarantees by export trading companies. Authorizes appropriations for initial investments and operating expenses for fiscal years 1982 through 1985. Directs the Export-Import Bank of the United States to provide loan guarantees to export trading companies or exporters to be secured by accounts receivable or inventories when adequate financing is not otherwise available and such guarantees will facilitate expansion of exports. Title II: Antitrust Provisions - Amends the Webb-Pomerene Act to exempt the export trade, activities, and methods of operation of certified export trade associations and export trading companies from the antitrust laws. Sets forth the procedure to be followed by any association or trading company seeking certification under this Act and by the Secretary in issuing such certificates. Provides for appeal of the Secretary's denial of certification. Authorizes the Attorney General or the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to bring an action to invalidate a certification. Requires the Secretary, in consultation with the Attorney General and the FTC, to publish guidelines for determining whether an association or export trading company will meet the certification requirements. Requires certified associations and export trading companies to submit annual reports to the Secretary. Requires, with specified exceptions, that all applications for certification be kept confidential. Authorizes the Secretary to require an association or trading company to modify its operation to be consistent with international obligations of the United States. Directs the President to appoint, with the Senate's advice and consent, a task force seven years after enactment to examine the effect of this Act and to make recommendations. Applies, with a specified exception, the antitrust laws in effect before enactment of this Act to any existing export trade association and its trading activities. Provides for automatic certification of existing associations. Title III: Taxation of Export Trading Companies - Amends the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 to make banking organizations which have invested in an export trading company eligible for treatment as domestic international sales corporations (DISC). Includes the gross receipts from the export of services produced in the United States and from export trade services as qualified export receipts, in the case of a DISC which is an export trading company. Directs the Secretary of Commerce, with the Secretary of the Treasury, to develop and distribute information concerning the utilization of the DISC provisions. Amends the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 to make export trading companies eligible for Subchapter S treatment if the shareholders of such companies are otherwise small business corporations. Exempts such companies from restrictions on the amount of foreign income they can receive and still be eligible for Subchapter S tax treatment.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 1981
Amends Federal law to require all polling places (except in Hawaii and Alaska) to close at eight post meridiem eastern standard time for the 1984 Presidential elections. Makes Election Day, 1984, a legal public holiday.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 1981
Declares that the President should not reestablish an official U.S. presence in Bolivia nor furnish any military or economic assistance to Bolivia until: (1) civil rights and the democratic process are restored; (2) a commitment has been made by the regime not to harass U.S. citizens; and (3) Bolivian drug involvement is assessed.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 1981
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the United States should provide immediate humanitarian assistance to help Somalia cope with the massive influx of refugees. Urges Executive branch officials to call upon other nations to aid the Somali refugees.
United States · United States Congress · 5 February 1981
Administrative Rulemaking Reform Act - Directs a Federal agency preparing to hold a rulemaking session to make a reasonable effort to inform those likely to be affected by the proposed rulemaking. Requires the notice of rulemaking to include: (1) the projected effective date of the rules; (2) the purpose of the rulemaking; (3) the text of the proposed rules; and (4) the studies on which the agency intends to rely in the rulemaking proceedings. Requires public notice and public opportunity for comment on all rulemaking proceedings unless the agency finds that proposed rules are emergency rules or are of routine or insignificant impact. Requires Federal agencies to give interested persons at least 45 days to participate in the rulemaking. Provides for agency hearings to receive oral comments, and procedures to resolve significant controversies over factual issues. Requires each agency to maintain a public file of all relevant material and required statements for each rulemaking. Prohibits adoption of a proposed rule that has been revised substantially unless interested persons are provided an opportunity to comment on such revisions. Sets forth an expedited rulemaking procedure for rules to replace emergency rules. Directs each agency to submit a copy of each promulgated rule to each House of Congress. Declares that no rule, excluding an emergency rule, shall become effective if: (1) both Houses of Congress adopt a concurrent resolution disapproving it within 90 days of continuous session of Congress; or (2) one House adopts such a resolution within 60 such days and the other House does not disapprove such resolution within 30 days thereafter. Authorizes either House to adopt a resolution directing an agency to reconsider and repromulgate a newly promulgated rule or an existing rule within a specified period. Provides that if such agency fails to act such rule shall lapse. Directs the Administrative Conference of the United States to study and report on the effects on rulemaking of the Congressional review provisions of this Act. Authorizes appropriations for such study. Directs a court reviewing an agency rule to set aside any rule found to be unwarranted by material in the rulemaking file.
United States · United States Congress · 5 February 1981
Stipulates that the payment of retired or retainer pay which would otherwise be made to a member of the armed forces shall be paid by the Secretary concerned to another person to the extent provided for in the terms of any court decree of divorce, annulment, or legal separation.
United States · United States Congress · 5 February 1981
Authorizes the Administrator of Veterans' Affairs to furnish a memorial headstone or marker to commemorate any veteran whose remains are unavailable because of a donation to science, a burial at sea, or other causes. Directs the Administrator to set aside suitable areas in national cemeteries to honor such veterans.
United States · United States Congress · 5 February 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. Establishes a mandatory term of imprisonment of five years for a first offender (currently, one to ten years) and eight years for a second or subsequent offender (currently, two to 25 years). Extends to first offenders the stipulations, currently applicable only to second offenders, that the court not suspend any sentence, grant probation, or impose the additional sentence concurrently with the sentence imposed for the felony. Prohibits the granting of parole to an offender.
United States · United States Congress · 5 February 1981
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 during which such individual has such illness.
United States · United States Congress · 5 February 1981
Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the National Institute of Arthritis, Metabolism, and Digestive Diseases, to: (1) conduct a clinical investigation of the safety and efficacy of dimethyl sulfoxide as a drug to be used by persons with arthritis; and (2) report to Congress within one year of enactment of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 5 February 1981
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow individuals a nonrefundable income tax credit for 50 percent of the expenses paid or incurred to make alterations to their residences for the purpose of making such residences more accessible to, and usable by, a handicapped individual who is either the taxpayer, his spouse, or a dependent of the taxpayer. Limits the amount of such credit, for each such handicapped individual, to the lesser of $1,000 or an amount which, when added to previous year's credits, does not exceed $5,000. Reduces the amount of such credit by one-half of the amount by which the adjusted gross income of the taxpayer exceeds $20,000 ($35,000 in the case of married individuals filing jointly). Defines "handicapped individual" as any individual who has a medically identifiable mental or physical impairment which can be expected to result in death or which can be expected to last for a continuous period of at least 12 months, and which severely limits one or more of the major life activities of such individual. Requires the handicapped individual to live in the principal residence for which the alterations are made for not less than a nine month period during the taxable year.
United States · United States Congress · 5 February 1981
Urges the President to extend for three years the orderly marketing agreements between the United States and Taiwan and between the United States and South Korea which limit the exportation from Taiwan and South Korea of nonrubber footwear to the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 4 February 1981
Private Pension Reform Act of 1981 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow to a married individual whose compensation is less than that of his or her spouse the same deduction for retirement savings. Includes as compensation, for purposes of calculating such deduction, alimony and separate maintenance payments. Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) and the Internal Revenue Code to require pension plans which pay benefits in the form of an annuity to provide a survivor's annuity for the spouse of a participant who dies before the annuity starting date. Specifies that such annuity shall not be less than the payment to which the surviving spouse would be entitled if the participant had died after the annuity starting date. Requires, for the election by a participant not to take a joint and survivor annuity, the written consent of the participant's spouse. Allows the assignment of pension plan benefits pursuant to a specific court order relating to child support, alimony, or marital property rights. Lowers from 25 to 21 the minimum age of participation by employees in a pension plan. Includes approved maternity or paternity leave in the determination of an employee's years of service with an employer, calculated according to a formula which grants 20 hours of service for each week of such leave.
United States · United States Congress · 4 February 1981
Establishes within the National Institutes of Health the Office of Drugs of Limited Commercial Value under the direction of the Director of the National Institutes of Health. Establishes within the Office an advisory council to advise the Director and make recommendations to the Secretary of Health and Human Services respecting the time required for drug approval under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. Authorizes the Director to provide financial assistance to entities for the development of drugs of limited commercial value, defined as a drug for a condition or disease of low incidence, to undertake the development of such drugs, undertake studies to determine the potential and need for specific drugs, and coordinate the efforts of public and private entities engaged in the development of such drugs. Requires the submission and approval of an application containing the scientific basis for the development and the proposed therapeutic use of the drug and other specified information before financial assistance is provided. Requires each entity receiving funds to keep specified records. Requires the Director to report to Congress within two years on the effectiveness of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 4 February 1981
Title I: Export Trading Companies - Export Trading Company Act of 1981 - Directs the Secretary of Commerce to promote export trading companies by providing information and by facilitating contacts between producers of exportable goods and export trading companies. Authorizes any banking organization to invest up to specified amounts in export trading companies upon notifying, but without obtaining the prior approval of, the appropriate Federal banking agency, if such investment does not cause an export trading company to become a subsidiary of such organization. Allows greater investment by Edge Act Corporations not engaged in banking. Permits any banking organization to invest beyond such limitations with prior approval of the appropriate Federal banking agency. Requires prior notification of such agencies in specified circumstances. Sets forth further limitations on export trading companies and investments by banking organizations. Specifies factors to be taken into consideration by the banking agencies. Permits such agencies to impose conditions in approving applications to invest in export trading companies. Requires such agencies to report to the appropriate Congressional committees with their recommendations concerning implementation of this Act, related changes in U.S. law, and effects of ownership of U.S. banks by foreign banking organizations. Provides for judicial review of denial orders in the appropriate U.S. Court of Appeals. Sets forth the grounds for disapproval. Provides for remand for further consideration by the banking agency. Directs the Economic Development Administration and the Small Business Administration to give special weight to export-related benefits when considering applications for loans and guarantees by export trading companies. Authorizes up to $20,000,000 to be appropriated for initial investments and operating expenses for each of the fiscal years 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, and 1985. Directs the Export-Import Bank of the United States to provide loan guarantees to export trading companies or exporters, to be secured by accounts receivable or inventories, when adequate financing is not otherwise available and such guarantees will facilitate expansion of exports. Directs the Board of Directors to try to insure that a major share of such guarantees promotes exports from small, medium-size, and minority businesses or agricultural concerns. Title II: Export Trade Associations - Export Trade Association Act of 1981 - Amends the Webb-Pomerene Act to exempt the trade activities and methods of operation of certified export trade associations and export trading companies from the antitrust laws. Delays the effectiveness of any certificate upon the notification of the Secretary of Commerce by the Attorney General or the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) of disagreement with the decision to issue a certificate. Sets forth the procedure to be followed by any association or export trading company seeking certification under this Act and by the Secretary in issuing such certificates. Permits automatic certification for existing associations. Provides for appeal of the Secretary's denial of certification. Authorizes the Attorney General or the FTC to bring an action to invalidate a certification. Requires the Secretary, in consultation with the Attorney General and the FTC, to publish guidelines for determining whether an association or export trading company will meet the certification requirements. Requires certified associations and export trading companies to submit annual reports to the Secretary. Directs the Secretary to establish within the Department of Commerce an Office of Export Trade to promote export trade associations and trading companies. Requires such Office to report annually to the appropriate Congressional committees on all East-West trade transactions requiring validated licenses and on the role of U.S. export trading companies in East-West trade. Grants a temporary exemption from the Sherman Act antitrust provisions for existing associations. Requires that all applications for certification be kept confidential with specified exceptions. Authorizes the Secretary to require an association or trading company to modify its operation to be consistent with international obligations of the United States. Directs the President to appoint, with the Senate's advice and consent, a task force seven years after enactment to examine the effect of this Act and to make recommendations.
United States · United States Congress · 4 February 1981
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that all internal revenue bills reported from the Committee on Ways and Means which decrease revenues should be made a part of the first reconciliation bill reported from the Committee on the Budget. States that the aggregate revenue loss from such bills shall not exceed the aggregate net spending reductions under such reconciliation bill.
United States · United States Congress · 3 February 1981
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow individual taxpayers an income tax deduction from gross income for adoption expenses. Includes within the category of "adoption expenses" adoption agency fees, court costs, attorney fees, and other expenses directly related to the legal adoption of a child.
United States · United States Congress · 3 February 1981
Elementary School Guidance and Counseling Incentive Act - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to authorize appropriations: (1) in fiscal years 1983 through 1987 for comprehensive elementary school guidance and counseling programs, supplemental grants to States for such programs and research and demonstration programs; (2) through fiscal year 1988 for employment of one new and/or additional elementary guidance counselor per school district, evaluation of programs, and in-service counselor training; and (3) for teacher and counselor centers. Provides formulas, based on the population of elementary school children, for determining allotments to States for such programs. Directs the Assistant Secretary of Elementary/Secondary Education to administer State allotments and State plans through the Office of Guidance and Counseling of the Department of Education. Requires that each State, to be eligible for such allotments, submit to the Assistant Secretary a State plan for providing comprehensive elementary school guidance and counseling programs for a five-year period, with necessary annual revisions, which meets such criteria as the Assistant Secretary may by regulation prescribe. Sets forth required provisions of such plans and programs. Provides for appeal by a State of a final action of the Assistant Secretary to a circuit court of appeals. Authorizes the Assistant Secretary, through the Office of Guidance and Counseling, to make supplemental grants to States with approved plans for distribution to local educational agencies and for support of States with approved plans for distribution to local educational agencies and for support of State agency leadership activities on the basis of statewide needs and priorities in elementary school guidance and counseling. Sets forth approved uses of such grants. Directs the Assistant Secretary to carry out a research and demonstration program relating to elementary and secondary school guidance and counseling. Directs the Assistant Secretary to make an annual evaluation report to the appropriate Congressional committees. Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to include training for counselors under the teacher centers program. Provides for a program of in-service training for elementary school guidance counselors. Requires the designation of professionally trained counselors: (1) at the Federal level, to provide information on, and to administer, such programs; and (2) at the State, local school district and intermediate administrative unit levels, to supervise such programs.
United States · United States Congress · 3 February 1981
Amends titles XVIII (Medicare) and XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to require automatic sprinkler systems in all skilled nursing facilities and intermediate care facilities certified for participation in the Medicare or Medicaid programs unless a waiver is granted. Establishes a program of low-interest Federal loans to assist such facilities in constructing or purchasing and installing automatic sprinkler systems.
United States · United States Congress · 3 February 1981
Amends the Flammable Fabrics Act to direct the Consumer Product Safety Commission to require any article of interior furnishing to be made fire-resistant to the extent necessary to adequately protect the public against unreasonable risk of fire leading to death, injury, or significant property damage. Makes the manufacture, sale, or delivery into commerce of any article of interior furnishing which has not been processed in accordance with such requirements and which may reasonably be expected to be used in places of assembly other than homes a prohibited transaction.
United States · United States Congress · 3 February 1981
Small Business Tax Relief Act of 1981 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to limit recognition on the gain from the sale or exchange of an unincorporated trade or business prior to the time that the taxpayer attains age 55 by providing that such gain shall be recognized only to the extent that it exceeds the cost of reinvesting in replacement property for another small business venture. Provides for the taxation of such gain, after age 55, as ordinary income according to the ten year averaging rules applicable to lump sum distributions from employee benefit plans. Increases the additional first year depreciation allowance for small businesses. Permits a taxpayer election to amortize over a 36 month period expenses for depreciable property which is acquired to put a small business in compliance with Federal regulations and which does not have any economic usefulness for the business. Exempts domestic international sales corporations (DISC) which have an adjusted taxable income of $1,000,000 or less from the limitations on deferral of base period export gross receipts which are applicable to larger corporations. Permits businesses with gross receipts of less than $1,000,000 to elect the cash method of accounting in reporting income. Allows a credit or refund to employers of their proportionate share of excess social security taxes paid on behalf of employees who were employed by two or more employers during the taxable year. Permits an income tax credit of $5 for each form or document which a small business is required to file pursuant to Federal law.
United States · United States Congress · 3 February 1981
Presidential Nomination Commission Resolution - Establishes the Commission of Presidential Nominations to make an investigation regarding the presidential nominating process. Directs the Commission to report to the President and Congress respecting such investigation including recommendations for the 1984 presidential elections. Terminates the commission 60 days after submission of such report. Sets forth the powers of such Commission, and related administrative provisions. Authorizes necessary appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 3 February 1981
Expresses the sense of Congress that the President should seek the establishment of an International Office of Diplomatic Security within the United Nations to: (1) monitor compliance with international agreements concerning the protection of diplomats and diplomatic property; (2) conduct inspections in countries where there are indications of potential danger to diplomatic missions; (3) issue warnings if it determines that a country is unable or unwilling to provide adequate protection for diplomatic missions; and (4) refer such cases to the U.N. Security Council for consideration of international sanctions or security assistance.
United States · United States Congress · 3 February 1981
Expresses the sense of Congress that the President should convey Congressional concern about the Soviet Union's deprivation of the rights of Christians, particularly the Pentecostals living in the U.S. Embassy in Moscow. Directs the President to report to Congress on the prospects for religious freedom in the Soviet Union.
United States · United States Congress · 3 February 1981
Declares the sense of Congress that the President shall take steps to: (1) call upon the Soviet Union to permit the resurrection of the Ukrainian churches of various Jewish and Christian denominations; (2) contact the officials of the Soviet Union to secure freedom of worship in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe; and (3) raise in the United Nations the question of Stalin's liquidation of such churches.
United States · United States Congress · 3 February 1981
Expresses the sense of Congress that, in accordance with specified international agreements, the Soviet Union should provide proper medical care for Viktor Brailovsky and permit him to emigrate to Israel with his family. Urges the President to: (1) continue to express U.S. opposition to the imprisonment and treatment of Brailovsky; and (2) inform the Soviet Union that the United States, in evaluating its relations with other countries, will consider the extent to which those countries honor their commitments to human rights under international law.
United States · United States Congress · 2 February 1981
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to increase to $1,000 ($2,000 in the case of a joint return) the amount of interest and dividend income which may be excluded from gross income. Increases such exclusion to $5,000 ($10,000 in the case of a joint return) for individuals who are 65. Amends the Crude Oil Windfall Profit Tax Act of 1980 to repeal the termination date for such exclusion.
United States · United States Congress · 2 February 1981
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a nonrefundable income tax credit of 25 percent of the qualified research and experimental expenditures paid or incurred by a taxpayer in carrying on a trade or business. Defines "qualified research and experimental expenditures" as those business-related expenditures which are deductible under current provisions of the Internal Revenue Code. Limits the scope of such expenditures, for both the tax credit and tax deduction, to technological research designed to develop or improve products or services. Excludes expenditures for research or experimentation in the social sciences or humanities, government-funded research, and certain applied research. Limits the amount of expenditures eligible for the credit to those which exceed the annual average of such expenditures for the immediately preceding three years. Requires taxpayers under common control to aggregate such expenditures for purposes of computing the credit. Sets forth rules for adjusting such expenditure amounts when there is a change in business ownership. Provides for a three-year carryback and seven-year carryover of unused credits.
United States · United States Congress · 30 January 1981
Social Security Modernization Act - Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act to provide that the combined earnings of a married couple, which are attributable to the period of their marriage, shall be shared equally between them for purposes of determining the eligibility for and amount of OASDI benefits to which each spouse is or may become separately entitled. Credits the survivor of the marriage with 100 percent of the combined total wages for the period of the marriage. Declares that this Act shall not apply in specified cases where it would result in a reduction of OASDI benefits.
United States · United States Congress · 30 January 1981
Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act to enable an insured individual's spouse, who has attained the age of 50 and is not entitled to any other monthly benefits, to obtain a transition benefit for four months upon the death of the insured individual. Establishes the amount of such transition benefits at 71.5 percent of the primary insurance amount of the insured individual or, if it is higher, 71.5 percent of the primary insurance amount of the spouse.
United States · United States Congress · 30 January 1981
Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act to provide that the combined earnings of a married couple, which are attributable to the period of their marriage, shall be shared equally between them for purposes of determining the eligibility for and amount of old- age or disability insurance benefits to which each spouse is or may become separately entitled if: (1) their marriage lasted at least three years; (2) they are divorced; and (3) either of them elects to have such combined earnings so shared. Makes this Act inapplicable to a surviving divorced spouse if it would result in a reduction in OASDI benefits.
United States · United States Congress · 30 January 1981
Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act to provide full benefits for disabled widows and widowers without regard to age.
United States · United States Congress · 30 January 1981
Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act to require that, upon the death of an individual who was married at least three years prior to the date of death or was divorced after at least five years of marriage, the surviving spouse or surviving divorced spouse shall inherit all of the wages and self-employment income credited to such individual during their marriage.
United States · United States Congress · 29 January 1981
Government Contractors' Product Liability Act of 1981 - Includes periods of military service in computing any period of limitation on the filing of an action by or against any person in military service to enforce any liability of a supplier of a product to the Government with respect to such product. Directs the Government to indemnify a supplier for product liability unless a court determines that such liability is a result of the supplier's negligence. Declares that the United States consents to be sued for indemnity under this Act. Permits the indemnification of a supplier only if the settlement or compromise of a product liability claim is approved by the Attorney General or an appropriate court adjudicating an action seeking indemnification. Requires any product supplied to a foreign government under a Federal program to be considered a product supplied to the United States Government for purposes of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 29 January 1981
Anti-Arson Act of 1981 - Establishes an Interagency Committee on Arson Prevention and Control to coordinate Federal anti-arson programs and to provide assistance to State and local governments for the prevention, detection, and control of arson. Directs the Committee to report to Congress on the success of its activities within 18 months of enactment. Terminates the Committee two years from the date of enactment. Requires the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation to: (1) classify arson as a major crime in the Uniform Crime Reports; and (2) develop a special statistical report for arson in cooperation with the National Fire Data Center. Directs the Administrator of the United States Fire Administration to: (1) conduct a research program for the development of techniques and equipment for use by State and local fire fighting and law enforcement personnel for arson prediction, prevention, and control; (2) establish anti-arson educational and training programs for State and local government; (3) develop materials for community awareness programs; and (4) provide information relative to the prevention, prediction, occurrence, and control of arson. Authorizes appropriations for the Administration for such purpose. Amends the National Housing Act to require that FAIR (fair access to insurance requirements) plans be issued only after insurers obtain information from a prospective policyholder with respect to arson.
United States · United States Congress · 29 January 1981
Amends the Internal Revenue Code with respect to a person entitled to notice of a summons to a third-party recordkeeper to produce records of such person: (1) to repeal the current right of such person to stay compliance with the summons; and (2) to authorize such person to move to quash the summons within 14 days after notice is given. Requires accompaniment of such motion by an affidavit stating the reasons that the records sought are not relevant to a legitimate tax inquiry or any other legal basis for quashing the summons. Requires any third party upon receipt of a summons to proceed to assemble the records requested and to be prepared to deliver them at the required time.
United States · United States Congress · 29 January 1981
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to revise the definition of "return information." Defines as "nonreturn information" identifying information: (1) collected by the Secretary of the Treasury with respect to a taxpayer or return relating to liability for any penalty; and (2) any part of any written determination or any background file document closed to public inspection. Allows disclosure of return information to an officer or employee of the Department of Justice for use in preparing any administrative, judicial, or grand jury proceedings involving the enforcement of a specific Federal criminal statute (but not involving tax administration) or in an investigation which may result in such a proceeding. Authorizes such disclosure only by ex parte order of a Federal district court judge or magistrate. Sets forth grounds for the granting of such order. Permits further disclosure by the Government attorney who has authorized the application for the ex parte order to Government personnel required to assist in a criminal investigation. Requires the Secretary to disclose nonreturn information (other than nonreturn information which would identify a confidential informant or seriously impair a tax investigation), upon written request of the head or the Inspector General of a Federal agency or the Attorney General or his designee, to such officers and employees directly engaged in administrative, judicial, or grand jury proceeding involving the enforcement of a specific Federal criminal statute (but not involving tax administration) or in an investigation which may result in such a proceeding. Permits further disclosure of such information to other Government personnel required to assist in a criminal investigation. Directs the Secretary to disclose, as soon as practicable, nonreturn information (other than information which would identify a confidential informant or seriously impair a tax investigation) which may constitute evidence of a violation of Federal criminal laws to the extent necessary to apprise the head of the appropriate Federal agency responsible for enforcing such laws. Authorizes the Secretary, upon recommendation to the Department of Justice for prosecution for violation of the Internal Revenue Code, to disclose to the Department return information reviewed, developed, or obtained during a tax investigation which constitutes evidence of a violation of Federal criminal laws. Allows information disclosed pursuant to this Act to be entered into evidence in a proceeding not involving tax administration or in an ancillary proceeding to which the United States is a party. Limits such disclosure to the extent required by applicable discovery requirements. Prohibits admission of such information into evidence if the Secretary determines that it would identify a confidential informant or seriously impair a tax investigation, unless a court otherwise directs disclosure. Permits the Secretary or his designee, in specified emergency circumstances, to disclose information to the extent necessary to apprise the appropriate Federal agency of such emergency. Permits the Internal Revenue Service to assist the Department of Justice or any other Federal agency in joint tax and nontax investigations of criminal matters which may involve tax violations. Allows a Federal official authorized to apply to a district court judge or magistrate for an ex parte order to disclose to the appropriate State attorney general or district attorney any return or nonreturn information in his possession which is relevant to the violation of a State felony statute. Authorizes the disclosure of return or nonreturn information to a competent authority of a foreign government which has a convention relating to the exchange of tax information with the United States. Provides a procedure for the disclosure of return or nonreturn information sought pursuant to a treaty on mutual assistance in criminal matters for use in an investigation or proceeding unrelated to the tax laws of the foreign country. Adds as an affirmative defense to a prosecution for the unauthorized disclosure of return or nonreturn information that such disclosure resulted from a good faith, but erroneous, interpretation of this Act. Permits a taxpayer aggrieved by the knowing or negligent disclosure by a Federal employee of return or nonreturn information in violation of this Act to bring a civil action for damages exclusively against the particular Federal agency.
United States · United States Congress · 29 January 1981
First-Home Ownership Act of 1981 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow individuals who have never owned a home an income tax credit for certain amounts contributed to an individual housing account. Limits the cash amount of such credit to $2,500 for any taxable year, and $10,000 during the taxpayer's lifetime. Requires contributions made to an individual housing account to remain in such account for at least 12 months. Establishes a schedule of percentages, graduated downward according to adjusted gross income, for purposes of determining the amount of contribution to an individual housing account which may be credited against income tax liability. Exempts individual housing account trusts from income taxation. Imposes tax penalties on amounts distributed from an individual housing account for purposes other than the purchase of a principal residence. Requires the trustee of an individual housing account to report to the Internal Revenue Service with respect to contributions to and distributions from such account. Imposes fines for failure to make such report.
United States · United States Congress · 29 January 1981
Urges the United States Postal Service to issue a commemorative postage stamp to honor the sixty-six Americans who were taken hostage in Iran, the six Americans who escaped with the assistance of the Canadian Government, and the eight American servicemen who died in the attempt to rescue the hostages.
![Official portrait of Rep. Pepper, Claude [D-FL-18]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/p000218_200.jpg)