United States · United States Congress · 17 June 1987
Constitutional Amendment - Requires the Congress and the President, prior to each fiscal year, to agree, by enactment of a joint resolution, on an estimate of total receipts for that fiscal year. Prohibits outlays for that year from exceeding such estimated receipts unless the Congress, by a three-fifths rollcall vote of each House, provides for a specific excess of outlays over receipts. Requires the Congress, whenever actual outlays exceed actual receipts for any fiscal year, to provide by law for the repayment of such excess in the ensuing fiscal year. Requires a three-fifths rollcall vote of each House to increase the public debt. Directs the President to submit to the Congress a proposed budget for each fiscal year in which total outlays do not exceed total receipts. Requires the approval by a majority of the total membership of each House by rollcall vote before any bill to increase revenue may become law. Waives this article for any fiscal year in which a declaration of war is in effect. Declares that total receipts shall include all receipts of the United States, except those derived from borrowing, and total outlays shall include all outlays of the United States, except those for repayment of debt principal.
United States · United States Congress · 11 June 1987
Designates the two week period of July 13 through July 26, 1987, as United States Olympic Festival-1987 Celebration. Designates July 17, 1987, as United States Olympic Festival-1987 Day.
United States · United States Congress · 3 June 1987
Designates the week beginning October 18, 1987, as Financial Independence Week. Urges all citizens to pursue financial independence through sound planning and management of their individual resources.
United States · United States Congress · 19 May 1987
Medicare Catastrophic Protection Act of 1987 - Title I: Provisions Relating to Part A of Medicare Program - Amends part A (Hospital Insurance) of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to require that an inpatient hospital deductible be paid only for the first period of continuous hospitalization in a calendar year. (Currently, such deductible must be paid for each "spell of illness" requiring inpatient hospital services.) Removes durational limitations on the coverage of inpatient hospital services, except with respect to inpatient psychiatric hospital services. Eliminates the coinsurance requirement for inpatient hospital services. Sets the inpatient hospital deductible for 1987 at $520, requiring cost-of-living adjustments to such deductible for succeeding years. Establishes the monthly part A premium, required of individuals who wish to buy into the Hospital Insurance program, at the monthly actuarial value of part A services provided to beneficiaries age 65 and over. Imposes a coinsurance rate, equal to 20 percent of the average per diem cost of post-hospital extended care services, for the first seven days of an individual's receipt of such services in a calendar year. Provides coverage for post-hospital extended care services for 150 days in each calendar year. (Currently, such coverage is limited to 100 days for each "spell of illness.") Drops restrictions on the coverage of extended care services which are not post-hospital extended care services. Creates an extension period of hospice care for terminally ill beneficiaries which is to follow the two 90-day periods and the subsequent 30-day period of hospice care coverage currently provided in an individual's lifetime. Reduces the deductible imposed under part A on the first three pints of blood furnished to an individual during a calendar year to the extent such blood is replaced or a blood deductible has been imposed on the individual under part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) of the Medicare program within such year. Provides part A coverage for home health services only when an individual is not entitled to part B benefits. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to impose an annual supplemental Medicare premium on part A Medicare beneficiaries pursuant to a table which bases the amount of such premium due on the size of a beneficiary's gross income. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make returns setting forth certain information regarding part A Medicare beneficiaries. Title II: Provisions Relating to Part B of the Medicare Program - Amends part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) of the Medicare program to cover all of the out-of-pocket part B expenses a beneficiary incurs in excess of $1,043 in 1989, adjusting such ceiling annually thereafter to reflect cost-of-living increases. Provides for the adjustment of Medicare payments to organizations providing health care on a prepaid basis so as to reimburse them for such excess out-of-pocket costs incurred on behalf of enrollees. Covers nursing care and home health aide services as home health services if such services are needed less than seven days each week or are needed for an initial period of up to 35 consecutive days and for a subsequent period on a physician's certification of exceptional circumstances. Increases the maximum Medicare payment allowed for outpatient mental health services. Directs the Secretary to: (1) mail a notice annually to Medicare beneficiaries of the extent to which Medicare coverage is provided for health care services and Medicare and Medicaid (title XIX of the Act) coverage is provided for long-term care services; and (2) send participating physician directories to part B enrollees. Amends title XVI (Supplemental Security Income) of the Act to provide Medicaid coverage to part A Medicare beneficiaries whose income does not exceed the Federal poverty level applicable to a family of one or two individuals which includes an individual age 65 or older. Amends the Medicare program to make permanent the provisions authorizing a State to arrange for Medicare coverage of individuals covered by certain other titles of the Act. Provides for the adjustment of Medicare part B premiums to take into account the costs of additional benefits provided by this Act's catastrophic coverage. Directs the Secretary to report to the Congress within 150 days of this Act's enactment on recommended changes in the certification requirements for Medicare supplemental policies. Requires a Medicare supplemental policy to: (1) mail notice to beneficiaries before 1989 of improved Medicare benefits contained in legislation of the 100th Congress and the effect such legislation will have on such policy; and (2) submit a copy of each of its advertisements to the State Commissioner of Insurance for his or her review. Extends, through September 30, 1992, certain projects demonstrating the concept of a social health maintenance organization. Directs the Comptroller General to report to the Congress within six months of this Act's enactment on the need for, and cost of, including within the Medicare program: (1) annual preventive care visits; (2) routine eye care; (3) dental services; (4) hearing aids for those with a significant hearing loss and biannual hearing testing; (5) comprehensive long-term care services; and (6) prescription drugs and biologicals. Requires the Secretary to provide for research on issues relating to the delivery and financing of Medicare long-term care services. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1988 through 1992 for such research.
United States · United States Congress · 14 May 1987
Designates the westernmost point of Guam as Point Udall in honor of Morris Udall, a Member of the House of Representatives. Directs the Secretary of the Interior to place and maintain a plaque on Federal land near such point to honor the service and accomplishments of Morris Udall. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 30 April 1987
Directs the head of each Federal department or agency holding records relating to sightings of U.S. military personnel in Southeast Asia since 1973 to make available to the public, within 30 days after the enactment of this Act, all such records. Provides exceptions to such disclosures for information revealing intelligence sources and methods or the names of such personnel.
United States · United States Congress · 29 April 1987
Energy Independence Act of 1987 - Amends the Energy Policy and Conservation Act to direct the Secretary of Energy (Secretary), for the purpose of obtaining petroleum products for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) and to the extent that amounts are credited to the SPR Petroleum Account (Account), to purchase either U.S. stripper well oil or crude oil exchanged for U.S. stripper well oil. Requires that such purchases be made on a competitive bid basis, subject to a minimum price of $25 per barrel, adjusted annually for inflation. Makes available to the Secretary, for SPR development, in any quarter at the beginning of which there is the equivalent of less than 1,000,000,000 barrels of crude oil in the SPR, funds from the Account in an amount equal to 25 percent of the aggregate amount of revenue collected during the previous quarter from the excise tax imposed by this Act on imported crude oil and petroleum products. Limits the use of such funds for SPR petroleum acquisition to periods when: (1) the SPR contains less than 1,000,000,000 barrels of crude oil; and (2) the world price of crude oil is $25 or less per barrel, adjusted for inflation. Provides for alternative energy security uses of such tax revenue when the world oil price exceeds the reference price of $25 for a specified time. Directs the President, to the maximum extent practicable, to take the steps necessary to: (1) enter into international voluntary agreements in connection with the international energy program (IEP) in the interest of developing parity with respect to oil import fees; and (2) enforce certain existing agreements with other IEP countries. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to impose, until 1993, an excise tax on the first sale within the United States of imported crude oil and petroleum products. Sets a variable rate for such tax, as follows: (1) for crude oil, the greater of 50 cents per barrel or the difference between the world price per barrel of crude oil and $25 (the reference price, to be adjusted annually for inflation); and (2) for petroleum products, in accordance with a specified formula based on the amount of tax per barrel of crude oil, the barrel-of-oil equivalent of the particular product attributable to crude oil, and a three dollar per barrel environmental outlay adjustment. Places liability for the payment of such tax on the first person selling the imported oil or petroleum product within the United States. Requires such person to register with the Secretary of the Treasury before incurring liability. Exempts from the import tax: (1) any sale of crude oil or petroleum product destined for export, upon proof that it has been exported within six months of the first sale within the United States; and (2) the sale or use of any petroleum product during any period when the President determines that it is in the national interest to refrain from such taxation. Applies to the import tax the same procedures and penalties that currently govern the windfall profit tax. Permits the imported oil tax payments as an income tax deduction.
United States · United States Congress · 29 April 1987
Energy Security Tax Act of 1987 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to impose an excise tax on the first sale within the United States of imports of: (1) crude oil; (2) refined petroleum products; and (3) petrochemical feedstocks or other derivatives. Sets the rate of such tax as the difference between $24 per barrel ($26.50 for petroleum and petrochemical products) and the most recently published average price of a barrel of internationally traded oil, as determined by the Secretary of the Treasury in accordance with a specified formula. Permits an income tax deduction for oil import tax payments. Repeals the windfall profit tax on domestic crude oil.
United States · United States Congress · 28 April 1987
Rural Letter Carriers Tax Simplification Act - Provides that, for taxable years beginning after 1986, rural mail carriers are permitted to compute the amount of the income tax deduction for use of their automobiles in performance of mail services: (1) by using a standard mileage rate for all miles of such use equal to 150 percent of the basic standard rate; or (2) without applying the limitation on deductions generally applicable in cases when the business use of the automobile accounts for 50 percent, or less, of its use. Prohibits the use of 150 percent of the basic standard mileage rate in determining the allowable deduction if the taxpayer claims an investment tax credit or depreciation deduction for such automobile.
United States · United States Congress · 22 April 1987
Designates the week beginning August 2, 1987, as International Special Olympics Week and designates August 3, 1987, as International Special Olympics Day.
United States · United States Congress · 6 April 1987
Makes permanent the income tax credit for qualified research expenditures by repealing the provisions of the Internal Revenue Code that would terminate such credit for expenses incurred or paid after 1988.
United States · United States Congress · 25 March 1987
Acknowledges the magnanimity of the Marshall plan and the efforts of the Marshall Foundation in Lexington, Virginia, to continue the values for which George C. Marshall stood, and asks all Americans to rededicate themselves to the ideals which George C. Marshall represented. Welcomes the publication on June 5, 1987, of the fourth volume of the official biography of George C. Marshall. Designates the month of June 1987 as George C. Marshall Month.
United States · United States Congress · 19 March 1987
Marine Resources Investment and Economic Competitiveness Act of 1987 - Expands coverage of the National Sea Grant College and Program Act to include Great Lakes resources. (Current law covers ocean and coastal resources.) Authorizes the Secretary of Commerce (the Secretary) to establish a marine policy fellowship program for the placement of qualified graduate students with the legislative or executive branches of the U.S. Government. Amends the Sea Grant Improvement Act of 1976 to authorize the Secretary to make grants of up to 100 percent to carry out the strategic marine research program. Prohibits granting more than ten percent of the total funds appropriated for any fiscal year to persons in any one State, except for centers of excellence designated as provided in this Act. Requires the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere (the Under Secretary), within one year of enactment of this Act, and every three years thereafter, to develop and publish a report identifying and describing priority areas for strategic marine research. Requires submission of the report to the Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries in the House of Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation in the Senate. Prohibits the Under Secretary from making such grants until 45 days after receipt of such report by the committees. Authorizes the Secretary, upon making certain findings, to designate centers of excellence in strategic marine research. Requires the Secretary to establish and administer a program of strategic marine research postdoctoral fellowships. Prohibits, except for such centers of excellence, more than ten percent of the fellowship awards being in use at any one sea grant program in the same fiscal year. Prohibits use of a fellowship to support an individual at the institution where that individual received a graduate degree. Authorizes the Secretary to enter into contracts and make grants for specified purposes. Sets eligibility requirements. (Current law requires the Secretary to support a sea grant fellowship program.) Establishes an independent committee to be known as the sea grant review panel, superseding the existing sea grant review panel, within 90 days after the enactment of this Act. Provides for the duties, membership, terms, and powers of such panel. Authorizes appropriations of specified amounts for each of FY 1988 through 1992. Provides for reversion of unused grant funds to the Secretary for use in other grants under the same provision as the original grant. Requires the Secretary, within one year of the enactment of this Act, to prescribe rules and regulations necessary to carry out provisions of this Act regarding the strategic marine research program. Repeals the provision of the current law dealing with the sea grant international program. Repeals provisions relating to a biennial report by the Secretary to the Congress and the President regarding the national sea grant program.
United States · United States Congress · 19 March 1987
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that: (1) the President should take appropriate actions under the Trade Act of 1974 to remedy and prevent further violation of the U.S.-Japan agreement on semiconductors by Japan, to induce compliance, to compensate the United States for the harm suffered because of non-compliance by Japan, and to prevent further injury to the United States; (2) such actions should serve to increase international semiconductor trade and help enforce commitments and achieve the objectives of the agreement; (3) such actions should penalize those who have acted inconsistently with the agreement; and (4) such actions may be directed at products which contain semiconductors.
United States · United States Congress · 17 March 1987
Endangered Species Act Amendments of 1987 - Amends the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to ban the importation of shrimp and shrimp products from any country whose commercial fishing activities may result in the incidental taking of threatened or endangered species and whose enforcement of restrictions on such incidental taking is not equivalent to that of the United States. Directs the Secretary of Commerce to evaluate each nation exporting shrimp to the United States for compliance.
United States · United States Congress · 12 March 1987
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the corporate, legal, labor, and academic communities should pursue establishment of an organization to provide pro bono legal assistance to small businesses in cases involving foreign unfair trade practices. Urges such organization to: (1) develop an outreach program to inform businesses of remedies available under U.S. trade laws; and (2) provide pro bono legal assistance to those businesses lacking resources to seek such remedies.
United States · United States Congress · 10 March 1987
Coal Pipeline Act of 1987 - Amends the Mineral Lands Leasing Act of 1920 to authorize a person who has secured specified water rights under applicable State law to apply to the Secretary of the Interior for certification that it is in the national interest to construct, operate, or extend a coal pipeline. Prescribes guidelines under which the Secretary will make such a certification, including the decision to grant rights-of-way across Federal lands upon such pipeline's request. Conditions such certification upon an applicant's reservation of a specified portion of total pipeline capacity for small, independent producers located in the geographic region served by such pipeline. Makes all Federal and State environmental laws applicable to the issuance or denial of such certification. Outlines the procedures for granting rights-of-way across Federal lands. Proscribes the granting of any right-of-way through lands: (1) designated as wilderness areas; (2) administered as part of the national park system; or (3) which are part of a historic site (unless there is no reasonable alternative and reasonable planning is made to minimize the harm of such site). Prohibits any person or entity (including the United States) from claiming any right or interest in water within any State for a coal pipeline unless such claim takes place under the law of the affected State. Delegates to the States all power regarding water rights for a coal pipeline in spite of any otherwise impermissible burden which may thereby be imposed upon interstate commerce. States that this Act does not: (1) impair the validity of any State law (or interstate compact) regarding any claim to water rights; (2) alter the rights of any State to its apportioned share of water under past or future allocation or interstate compact; (3) affect any Indian water rights; or (4) preempt or otherwise affect any State or Federal law or interstate compact regarding water quality or disposal. Prohibits any State acting under authority of this Act from restricting the movement through such State of water acquired in another State and within a coal pipeline. Authorizes certain persons who have received a certification from the Secretary that it is in the national interest to operate or extend a coal pipeline to acquire rights-of-way through private lands by the power of eminent domain. States this Act shall not be construed to permit any person (including the United States) to acquire any water rights through the power of eminent domain. Prohibits the acquisition of any right-of-way through the power of eminent domain if such right-of-way is upon land which is part of a historic site of national, State, or local significance, unless there is no prudent alternative and reasonable planning is made to minimize harm to such site. Provides for an antitrust review of applications for certification by the Attorney General. Sets forth certification guidelines under which the Secretary shall determine whether construction, operation, or extension of a coal pipeline is in the national interest. Requires each pipeline carrier for which a certification has been issued to provide service on reasonable request. Prohibits such carriers from unreasonably discriminating or refusing to enter into contracts with coal shippers under similar conditions in a contemporaneous period. Requires the Secretary to publish notice of coal pipeline certifications in the Federal Register. States that this Act shall not be construed to modify or preempt the ratemaking authority of any State utility regulatory agency. Requires the Secretary to establish uniform Federal standards for coal pipeline safety. Establishes penalties for failure to comply with such safety standards.
United States · United States Congress · 5 March 1987
Medicare and Medicaid Patient and Program Protection Act of 1987 - Amends part A (General Provisions) of title XI of the Social Security Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to exclude from participation in programs under title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act and to require the prohibition from participation in any State health care program of any individual or entity: (1) convicted of a criminal offense related to the delivery of an item or service under title XVIII or under titles XIX (Medicaid), V (Maternal and Child Health Block Grant), or XX (Block Grants to States for Social Services) of such Act; or (2) convicted of a criminal offense related to neglect or abuse of patients in connection with the delivery of a health care item or service. Authorizes the Secretary to exclude from Medicare participation and to require the prohibition from participation in any State health care program of any individual or entity: (1) convicted of fraud with respect to any Federal, State, or locally financed health care program; (2) convicted of interfering with the investigation of health care fraud or patient abuse; (3) convicted of a felony for manufacturing, distributing, or dispensing a controlled substance; (4) whose health care license has been suspended or revoked; (5) suspended or excluded from participation in a Federal health care program; (6) claiming excessive charges or providing unnecessary services; (7) committing certain acts prohibited under title XI; (8) owned or controlled by an individual convicted of health care-related crimes, fined for health care abuses, or excluded from Medicare or a State health care program; (9) failing to supply certain information; and (10) defaulting on health education loans or scholarship obligations made or secured by the Secretary. Authorizes the Secretary to exclude any hospital failing to comply with corrective action required under title XVIII. Sets forth provisions relating to notice requirements, judicial review, and period of exclusion. Directs the Secretary to promptly notify each appropriate State agency administering or supervising the administration of a State health care program of each exclusion and the period of exclusion. Permits an excluded individual or entity to apply, following a period of exclusion, to the Secretary for reinstatement. Sets forth provisions providing for civil and criminal penalties for acts involving Medicare or State health care programs abuse, including penalties for physician misrepresentations. Requires a State, as a condition of Medicaid plan approval, to provide for the following: (1) a system of reporting any type of adverse action concluded against any health care practitioner or entity by the State or a local licensing authority; and (2) such access to documents as may be necessary by the Secretary. Requires the Secretary to provide suitable safeguards for the confidentiality of such information. Requires any health care provider providing health care services for which payment may be made under the Act to assure that services or items furnished: (1) will be provided economically and only when, and to the extent, medically necessary; (2) will be quality services which meet professionally recognized standards of health care; and (3) will be supported by evidence of medical necessity and quality in such form and fashion and at such time as may reasonably be required by a reviewing peer review organization in the exercise of its duties and responsibilities. Permits a State to exclude from Medicaid participation any individual or entity excluded under Medicare pursuant to the patient and program protection provisions. Requires a State, in order to receive Federal payments with respect to a health maintenance organization (HMO), to exclude any HMO that: (1) could be excluded because of the conviction of the owners or managers of certain crimes; or (2) contracts with any individual or entity convicted of such crimes. Prohibits Federal payments with respect to any amount expended for items or services furnished by or at the direction of any individual or entity excluded from Medicaid participation because of the patient and program protection provisions. Prohibits a State from making payments under title V with respect to any amount expended for items or services furnished by or at the direction of any individual or entity excluded from participation pursuant to the patient and program protection provisions of title XI. Prohibits Federal payments with respect to any amount expended for items or services furnished by or at the direction of any individual or entity excluded from Medicare because of the patient and program protection provisions of title XI. Prohibits using a grant under title XX for payment for any item or service furnished by or at the direction of a person excluded from title XX participation because of the patient and program protection provisions of title XI. Revises disclosure requirements under part A of title XI. Revises Medicare provisions concerning agreements with providers. Modifies the Medicaid moratorium provisions of the Deficit Reduction Act of 1984 to consider a State's Medicaid plan to include any plan change and any policy or guideline delineated in the State Medicaid operation or program manuals submitted to the Secretary either before or after the enactment of that Act and whether or not approved or disapproved by the Secretary. Requires the Secretary to restore, for the duration of the moratorium, the policy in effect at the beginning of the moratorium regarding the period when homeownership by an institutionalized individual is permitted and the time permitted for the sale of a home. Amends the Medicare program to provide payment to beneficiaries for services rendered by an individual or entity which has been excluded from Medicare participation if such beneficiary did not know or have reason to know of the exclusion. Revises the definition under title XI of a "person with an ownership or control interest" in a provider of services under title V, XVIII, or XIX to limit reporting on ownership interests to those interests at or exceeding five percent of the entity's assets. Authorizes the Secretary to impose an intermediate sanction on a renal disease facility whose noncompliance with regulations the Secretary prescribes does not immediately jeopardize patient health and safety by denying it Medicare payments for services it provides after receiving notice of the sanction and before correcting its deficiencies. Provides that individuals who knowingly and willfully (currently, the intent must be knowing or willful) make a false statement or misrepresent a material fact in the sale of Medicare supplemental health insurance shall be guilty of a felony. Directs the Secretary to promulgate final regulations within two years of enactment of this Act specifying payment practices which shall not be considered as violations of the Social Security Act's anti-kickback provisions. Sets forth effective date provisions.
United States · United States Congress · 4 March 1987
Consumer Rail Equity Act - Reaffirms the intent of the Congress that the Railroad Revitalization and Regulatory Reform Act of 1976 and the Staggers Rail Act of 1980 be implemented in a manner which provides both greater competitive alternatives and adequate railroad revenues. Directs the Interstate Commerce Commission, when determining the existence or absence of effective competition, to consider only transportation competition for movement of the same commodity from the same point of origin to the same destination. States that a presumption of overall effective competition is not established by the fact that a railroad faces effective competition with respect to either a point of destination or a point of origin. Shifts the burden of proof regarding transportation rate reasonableness from the shipper to the rail carrier establishing the challenged rate. Declares that it is Federal policy to encourage and promote competitive transportation rates for domestically produced coal and other commodities in order to increase their competitive position in domestic and export markets. Directs the Commission to establish a rail cost adjustment factor which includes changes in railroad productivity, volume, and output mix. Directs the Commission to recompute and republish the Rail Cost Adjustment Factor according to prescribed guidelines. Provides that certain rail carrier rates shall be reduced to the extent of any subsequent decreases in rail cost adjustment factors. Confirms the Commission's authority to promulgate rates set forth in a specified adjudication. Includes within the standards used to determine railroad revenue adequacy: (1) identification of revenues, expenses, and investment base reasonably related to rail transportation service; (2) straight-line depreciation of assets reasonably related to rail transportation service, minus deferred tax reserves resulting from accelerated depreciation; and (3) actual cost of debt capital and reasonable estimates of the current cost of equity capital. Requires the Commission, when making revenue adequacy determinations, to consider specified indicators of a rail carrier's financial status. Requires the Commission to determine, on an annual basis, which rail carriers are earning adequate or inadequate revenues and to determine for each rail carrier the revenues required to achieve or maintain revenue adequacy. Allows (current law requires) the Commission to exempt persons from application of this Act when: (1) such application is not necessary to implement Federal transportation policy; and (2) the Commission finds there is no market dominance involved in the affected transaction. Mandates that the rates and practices application to such exempt persons shall not be considered a matter subject to the jurisdiction of the Commission. Requires any rail carrier providing service under certain line rates to participate in competitive joint rail rates through practicable interchange connections (or publish a competitive proportional rate) if requested to do so by a rail carrier (or shipper or receiver) who has an actual or practicable interchange connection. Directs the Commission, upon petition of any interested party, to require certain terminal facilities owned by a rail carrier in interstate or foreign commerce to be used by another rail carrier if the Commission finds: (1) it is in the public interest to do so; and (2) that the owner of such terminal facility will not suffer substantial impairment of its own business interests. Directs the Commission to require, upon petition by an interested party, that rail carriers enter into reciprocal switching agreements if such an agreement is in the public interest or necessary to provide alternative competitive rail service. Directs the Commission to establish reciprocal switching compensation at a level not to exceed the current percentage of the actual variable costs for such service (unless the carrier demonstrates that a higher level is reasonable and necessary). Revises railroad line abandonment procedures to provide that a rail carrier must wait one year before resubmitting a previously denied abandonment application, unless a substantial change in circumstances can be shown. Requires the Commission to hold hearings in communities affected by a proposed railroad line abandonment if requested to do so by community protestants. Requires the Commission to base its abandonment determination upon financial data regarding the facility proposed to be abandoned rather than upon financial data regarding industry-wide averages. Directs the Commission, when considering any application for a certificate of abandonment or discontinuance, to disregard the impact on traffic volume of any surcharge imposed under specified parts of this Act (unless the surcharge improves the financial performance of the line). Subjects to Commission review any State decision regarding intrastate rates, rules, and practices if a party to such State proceedings petitions for Commission review. Requires the Commission to take action on such petition within 120 days of its receipt. Authorizes the Commission to vacate a State decision found inconsistent with this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 2 March 1987
Anti-Piracy and Market Access Act - Title I: Actions to Increase International Intellectual Property Protection - Requires the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) to publish annually: (1) a list of all foreign countries and instrumentalities that deny adequate and effective protection of intellectual property rights to U.S. persons; and (2) a list of the above countries that the USTR identifies as priority foreign countries. Sets forth factors for determining whether a country is a priority foreign country. Authorizes the USTR to make additions to the list of priority foreign countries in certain circumstances. Requires the President to enter into negotiations with priority foreign countries to establish protection for intellectual property rights for U.S. persons in such countries. Grants the President the authority to enter into compensation agreements in order to maintain the general level of reciprocal and mutually advantageous concessions. Sets forth the objectives of such negotiations, including the improvement of foreign protection of intellectual property and the development of international rules to protect such property. Requires the President, if the United States is unable to enter into an agreement with a priority foreign country, to take some action, including but not limited to suspension of certain trade agreements and changes in the tariff treatment of imports from such country. Requires the trade measures imposed by the President to have a material economic impact on the priority foreign country in question. Authorizes the President to defer action for six months if the President's negotiations are making substantial progress. Requires the President to consult with interested parties, including Members of the Congress, on such negotiations. Title II: Actions to Open Foreign Markets - Requires the USTR to publish annually: (1) a list of all foreign countries and instrumentalities that deny fair and equitable market access to U.S. companies that rely on intellectual property protection; and (2) a list of the above countries that the USTR identifies as priority foreign countries. Sets forth factors for determining whether a country is a priority foreign country. Authorizes the USTR to make additions to the list of priority foreign countries in certain circumstances. Requires the President to enter into negotiations with such priority foreign countries on agreements setting specific terms to provide U.S. companies that rely on intellectual property protection with fair and equitable market access in such countries. Grants the President the authority to enter into compensation agreements in order to maintain the general level of reciprocal and mutually advantageous concessions. Requires the objectives of such market access negotiations to be to: (1) provide for fair and equitable market access in all priority foreign countries to U.S. companies that rely on intellectual property protection; (2) obtain agreements that provide such companies fair and equitable market access in all substantial foreign markets; and (3) prevent foreign restrictions from causing continued harm to such companies. Requires the President, if the United States is unable to enter into an agreement with a priority foreign country, to take some action, including but not limited to suspension of certain trade agreements and changes in tariff treatment of imports from such country. Requires the trade measures imposed by the President to have a material economic impact on such country. Authorizes the President to defer action for 30 days if the President certifies to the Congress that negotiations are making substantial progress. Requires the President to consult with interested parties, including Members of Congress, on such market access negotiations. Title III: Generalized System of Preferences - Amends the Trade Act of 1974 to require the President to withdraw, suspend, or limit the application of duty-free treatment to country under the Generalized System of Preferences if such country does not provide adequate protection of intellectual property or adequate market access unless the President certifies to the Congress that such country has taken substantial action toward providing intellectual property protection and market access for U.S. persons. Prohibits the President from granting tariff preferences to, or requires the President to remove tariff preferences from, an import which a court or Federal agency has determined infringes a patent, copyright, trademark, mask work, or trade secret. Title IV: Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act - Amends the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act to authorize the President to withdraw, suspend, or limit the application of the duty-free treatment to any country under such Act. Requires the President to take such action against a beneficiary country if the country does not provide adequate and effective intellectual property protection or fair and equitable market access to U.S. persons, unless the President certifies to the Congress that such country has taken substantial action toward providing such protection and access for U.S. persons.
United States · United States Congress · 19 February 1987
United States - Mexico Border Health Education and Training Act of 1987 - Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services, from amounts allotted to each State, to make grants to and enter into contracts with schools of medicine and osteopathy to establish and operate health education and training center (border center) programs along the border with Mexico (in Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Texas). Requires such border center programs to be cooperative programs between such schools and one or more private or public health education centers located along the border. Requires each border center to have an advisory board. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1988 through 1990.
United States · United States Congress · 18 February 1987
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to require deductions for research and experimental expenditures to be allocated to income from sources within the United States. Repeals a provision of the Tax Reform Act of 1986 which establishes a one-year requirement that 50 percent of such expenditures be allocated to U.S. income and the remainder on the basis of gross sales or gross income.
United States · United States Congress · 11 February 1987
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a charitable contribution income tax deduction for amounts paid to or for the benefit of an institution of higher education in cases where the taxpayer receives the right to seating or the right to purchase seating for athletic events at such institution.
United States · United States Congress · 10 February 1987
Thrift Forbearance and Supervisory Reform Act - Amends the Home Owners' Loan Act of 1933 to authorize a qualified Federal savings and loan association to amortize on its financial statements over five to ten years any loss it would otherwise be required to reflect in its financial statement for a calendar year through 1991. Defines a "qualified association" as any association: (1) that is located in a region which the Federal Home Loan Bank Board has designated as economically depressed; or (2) if a significant portion of all the loans held by such association are loans to borrowers in such regions or loans secured by real property in such regions. Directs the Board to allow an association which engages in troubled debt restructuring involving only modification of the terms of the original debt instrument, under certain conditions and to the extent consistent with generally accepted accounting principles, to: (1) account for the effects of the debt restructuring prospectively; and (2) continue to account for such association's investment in the original debt instrument in the amount recorded before such restructuring. Requires the Board to prescribe regulations that: (1) require accurate disclosure of the status of such troubled debt restructuring in the association's reports of condition; and (2) may provide for the classification of restructured assets as "Restructured and in Compliance with Modified Terms." Provides that any Board regulation which prescribes procedures and standards for appraising the value of association loans for accounting purposes, classifying association loans, or establishing reserves or allowances for possible losses on association loans shall not be effective to the extent it is inconsistent with generally accepted accounting principles. Prohibits the Board from implementing or enforcing any such standard or procedure not promulgated by regulation. Requires any amount which an association holds as a general or unallocated reserve or allowance for possible loan losses to be treated as capital for purposes of determining regulatory capital and regulatory net worth for such association. Amends the National Housing Act to make the same amendments with respect to the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation (FSLIC) and FSLIC-insured institutions. Amends the Federal Home Loan Bank Act to direct the Board to establish a procedure under which and association, insured institution, or member institution may appeal for and obtain a review by the principal supervisory agent for its Federal home loan bank district of any determination by any examiner or other employee of the Board, the FSLIC, or the Federal Home Loan Bank for such district concerning the appraisal of an association's or institution's loan, the classification of a loan, or any requirement to establish or add to a reserve or allowance for a possible loss on any loan. Requires such procedures to provide for the appointment by the supervisory agent, at the request of the association or institution, of a panel of independent arbiters who shall review the appealed determination and report its recommendations to the supervisory agent. Requires the requesting association or institution to pay all panel expenses. Requires the Board to establish procedures for periodically reviewing the regulations prescribed by the Board and the FSLIC and the regulatory responsibilities shared by the Board, the FSLIC, and the Federal Home Loan Banks to ensure that the Board's overall regulatory structure remains responsive and sufficiently coordinated under changing conditions. Directs the Board to ensure that: (1) associations and institutions have the flexibility to renegotiate acquisition, development, and construction loans without incurring unnecessary regulatory delays in receiving approval or having such renegotiated loans treated as new loans for regulatory purposes if such treatment would not be required under generally accepted accounting principles; (2) examiners and other employees of the Board, the FSLIC, and the Federal Home Loan banks have sufficient flexibility in classifying loans held by the institutions they supervise to take into account differences in the types of institutions, the types of loans examined, and local economic conditions; and (3) such examiners and employees have sufficient flexibility to take into account other sources of credit of a borrower, in addition to the financial assets pledged to secure a loan, in classifying the assets of the institution holding the loan. Authorizes the Board to allow such supervisory agents to waive the requirement that any loan renegotiation be approved by such an agent, if a supervisory agreement between the appropriate Federal Home Loan Bank and the association or institution, which provides adequate guidelines for such renegotiations, is in effect at the time of the renegotiation. Directs the Board to establish guidelines for determining when a reappraisal of property shall be required upon any foreclosure on such property by an association or institution. Requires the Board to prohibit the amount of any association or institution loan, secured by real property, for the acquisition, development, or construction of commercial real estate, from exceeding the lesser of: (1) the sum of the appraised value of such property at the time the loan is made and the expected value of improvements to be financed by the loan; or (2) the sum of the purchase price of the property, the aggregate amount of expenditures incurred by the borrower for property improvements as of the time the loan is made, and the expected aggregate amount of expenditures to be incurred for improvements and financed with loan proceeds. Provides for the waiver of such limitation for certain property. Provides that the estimated expenditures and receipts of the FSLIC included in the annual Federal budget submitted to the Congress by the President shall be submitted to the President before October 16 of each year and included in the President's budget without change. Exempts the FSLIC, the Financial Institutions Examination Council, the Federal Reserve Board, Federal reserve banks, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency from fiscal, budget, appropriation, and fund apportionment requirements. Excludes the FSLIC and its officers and employees from coverage under the civil service laws. Amends the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act) to exempt FSLIC funds from reduction under any sequestration order. Provides that the number of employees of the FSLIC shall not be subject to any limitation imposed by any executive branch officer outside such agency. Directs the FSLIC to: (1) establish a procedure for transferring officers or employees out of the civil service in response to changes made by this Act and for compensating such employees for resulting losses in rights or benefits; and (2) take appropriate steps to establish health, welfare, retirement, and other benefit programs for employees and their dependents. Subjects the FSLIC to audits by the Comptroller General. Establishes the FSLIC as a mixed-ownership Government corporation (currently listed as a wholly-owned Government corporation). Directs the Board to: (1) study the feasibility of establishing an asset acquisition corporation as a subsidiary of the Federal Assets Disposition Association to relieve thrift institutions of the burden of holding and maintaining real estate assets by acquiring such assets in exchange for debt securities; and (2) report its findings and appropriate legislative recommendations to specified congressional committees within four months after enactment of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 5 February 1987
Social Security Administrative and Investment Reform Act of 1987 - Title I: Establishment of the Social Security Administration - Amends title VII (Administration) of the Social Security Act to establish as an independent executive agency a Social Security Administration, headed by a Social Security Board. Provides that it shall be the duty of the Administration to administer the programs established by titles II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) and XVI (Supplemental Security Income) of the Social Security Act. Requires the Board to study and make recommendations as to the most effective methods of providing economic security through social insurance and as to legislation and matters of administrative policy. Establishes in the Administration: (1) a Commissioner of Social Security; (2) a Deputy Commissioner of Social Security; (3) a General Counsel; (4) an Inspector General; and (5) an Office of the Beneficiary Ombudsman, to be headed by a Beneficiary Ombudsman who shall represent the interests of beneficiaries under the Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance program and the Supplemental Security Income Program within the Administration. Requires the annual report of the Board to include a description of the activities of the Beneficiary Ombudsman. Requires the Board to make annual budgetary recommendations relating to the Administration. Requires that appropriations requests by the Administration for staffing and personnel be based upon a comprehensive workforce plan as established by the Board. Provides for the apportionment of administrative costs. Requires the annual report of the Board to include a section reflecting the use of budget authority provided to the Administration. Requires that authority for automated data processing procurement and facilities construction be provided in the form of contract authority covering the total cost of such acquisitions. Makes amounts needed for the liquidation of contract authority so provided available from the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund and the Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund to the extent that such amounts are not needed to meet current obligations for benefit payments. Requires the Board and the Director of the Office of Personnel Management to implement demonstration projects relating to personnel matters. Directs the Board and the Administrator of General Services to implement such projects relating to delegations from the Administrator. Specifies the authorities which are to be delegated to the Board from the Administrator and the Director. Requires the Comptroller General to report to specified congressional committees concerning such projects, including an evaluation of the Board's readiness to assume full and permanent authority. Requires the Board to cause a seal of office to be made and judicial notice taken thereof. Provides for the transfer to the Administration of all functions carried out by the Secretary of Health and Human Services with respect to the programs and activities to be carried out by the Administration under this Act. Abolishes the position of Commissioner of Social Security in the Department of Health and Human Services. Sets forth effective date and transitional rule provisions. Title II: Conforming Amendments and Rules of Construction - Requires the Secretary and the Board to report to the Congress within 120 days after the beginning of each regular session on their administration under this Act. Requires the Secretary to study and make recommendations on the most effective methods of providing economic security and on the administrative policy for the programs. Directs the Board to appoint, quadrennially, an Advisory Council on the Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance Program and an Advisory Council on Health and Supplementary Medical Insurance to review the relation of the trust funds supporting the OASDI program and the Medicare program and the long-term commitments of those programs. Requires each council to submit a report to the Board for transmittal to the Congress and the Board of Trustees of each Trust Fund. Title III: Management of the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund, the Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund and the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund - Amends the OASDI and Medicare (title XVIII of the Act) programs to direct the Managing Trustees of the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund, Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund, and Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund (trust funds) to immediately invest that portion of the trust funds which is not required for current withdrawals. Requires the investment of amounts in the OASDI trust funds to be made in accordance with policies established by the Social Security Board. Prohibits the sale and redemption of trust fund assets or the expenditure of trust fund amounts for purposes other than those specified in titles II and XVIII of the Act. Requires members of such trust funds' Boards of Trustees to faithfully execute their duties, but does not impose a fiduciary duty. Requires that, in consideration of the public debt limit, required investment of funds or amounts over which the Secretary of the Treasury has investment authority occur prior to the issuance of other obligations. Directs that tax receipts earmarked for the OASDI program be immediately transferred (currently, monthly transfers are made) from the general fund of the Treasury to the OASDI trust funds. Requires the Boards of Trustees of the trust funds to meet at least twice each year. Sets forth provisions requiring reports by the Board of Trustees and the Managing Trustees to the Congress regarding the operation and status of the trust funds.
United States · United States Congress · 5 February 1987
Designates August 12, 1988, as National Civil Rights Day and requests the President to issue a proclamation calling for the ringing of church bells during a moment of silence.
United States · United States Congress · 3 February 1987
Plastic Pollution Research and Control Act - Title I: Regulation of Disposal of Certain Materials at Sea - Directs the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating to enforce specified regulations promulgated under the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, 1973 (the Annex V Regulations) and also to prescribe any regulations necessary to carry out this Act. Prohibits a person from disposing of any material from a ship of U.S. registry, or nationality, or operated under the authority of the United States, in violation of Annex V. Prohibits such disposal from a foreign vessel when such disposal is made from within a specified distance from the United States as enumerated under the Annex V Regulations. Requires any disposal violations to be immediately reported to the Secretary, and sets forth penalties for such violations. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury, upon the request of the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating, to refuse or revoke the clearance or the permit to proceed of a ship liable for a penalty under this Act. Directs the Secretary to undertake inspections and investigations to enforce the provisions of this Act. Directs the President to ensure public-vessel compliance with the provisions of this Act. Title II: Negotiations, Research, and Regulation Regarding Fishing With Plastic Driftnets - Directs the President, acting through the Secretary of State and in consultation with the Secretaries of Commerce and of the Interior, to promptly initiate negotiations with each foreign government that conducts driftnet fishing operations that result in the taking of marine resources of the United States: (1) to arrange for cooperative monitoring of such operations; and (2) to agree on methods to reduce the unintended mortality of marine resources during such operations. Directs the Secretary of Commerce, in consultation with the Secretary of the Interior, to conduct a study on the impacts of driftnet fishing on marine resources of the United States. Directs the Secretary to assess the need for developing a system for the marking, registration, and identification of driftnets in order to determine the origin of lost, discarded, or abandoned driftnets or fragments of driftnets. Directs the Secretary to evaluate the feasibility of developing decomposable material for use as fishnets. Establishes the Aleutian Island Seabird Protection Zone surrounding the Aleutian Islands off Alaska within which no driftnet fishing is permitted. Provides for the enforcement of such prohibition and penalties for its violation. Directs the Secretary of Commerce, in consultation with the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, to conduct a study on the impacts of discarded plastic materials on the marine environment, together with recommendations. Directs the President, within one year after the enactment of this Act, to report to the Congress the results of negotiations regarding driftnet fishing by foreign vessels. Directs the Secretary of Commerce, within 18 months after the enactment of this Act, to report to the Congress regarding various studies required under this Act. Authorizes appropriations to the Department of Commerce for FY 1988 and 1989 to carry out this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 3 February 1987
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the Social Security Administration should not take actions which impair the ability of the staff of the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) program to make eligibility determinations in accordance with the Social Security Disability Benefits Reform Act of 1984. Urges the Social Security Administration to place a higher priority on assisting States in both complying with the 1984 reforms and improving the accuracy of SSDI eligibility determinations.
United States · United States Congress · 26 January 1987
Ocean Incineration Research Act of 1987 - Amends the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act of 1972 to prohibit the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency from issuing a permit for the incineration of hazardous waste off the coast of Maryland until a hazardous waste reduction management feasibility report from the Office of Technology Assessment is completed and the Administrator promulgates final regulations. Requires the submission of such report to the Congress within three years and requires public participation in the drafting of the regulations. Authorizes appropriations.
![Official portrait of Rep. Pickle, J. J. [D-TX-10]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/p000328_200.jpg)