United States · United States Congress · 6 January 1981
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide that the standard mileage rate used in computing the charitable deduction for expenses incurred in the operation of a motor vehicle shall be the same as the standard mileage rate for the business related deduction.
United States · United States Congress · 6 January 1981
Regulatory Procedure Act of 1981 - Title I: The Analysis, Management, and Organization of Agency Functions - Requires the head of each Federal agency to publish for each proposed major rule a preliminary regulatory analysis which describes: (1) the need for the rule; (2) the reasonable alternative approaches; (3) regional differences; (4) the projected benefits, adverse economic effects, and effectiveness of the proposed rule and alternatives; and (5) the advantages and disadvantages of adopting performance standards rather than design standards. Requires that each agency publish for each final major rule a final regulatory analysis which includes: (1) an explanation of the selection of the rule considering its adverse economic effects; (2) a summary of the significant issues raised by public comments; and (3) the total costs to the agency of the preliminary and final regulatory analysis. Directs each agency to: (1) include in the notice of each proposed and final major rule, instructions of how the public may obtain copies of such analyses; and (2) send a copy of such analyses to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Authorizes an agency to delay completing such analyses by publishing a finding that the rule is being adopted in response to an emergency that makes completion of such analyses impossible. Terminates any such emergency rule if such analyses are not completed within 180 days of the publication of the rule. Bars judicial review of such regulatory analyses. Requires the Director of OMB and the Comptroller General to report to Congress on agency compliance with the requirements of this title. Requires each agency to publish in the Federal Register, semiannually, a regulatory agenda containing a list of major and other rules for the next year and certain specified information concerning such rules. Directs each agency to submit its proposed major rules to the President for incorporation into a semiannual Calendar of Federal Regulations. Requires the Director of OMB to review and publish a list of rules submitted which potentially duplicate or conflict with other proposed or existing rules. Directs each agency: (1) include in the notice of a rulemaking or adjudicatory proceeding the date by which the agency intends to complete such proceeding; and (2) to prepare and publish in the first regulatory agenda of the year a report on such proceedings which includes the number of proceedings the agency failed to complete by the established deadline and the reasons for such failure. Requires that such report also disclose specified information concerning the use of funds by the agency for procuring services for the preparation of any report in connection with such a proceeding. Requires each agency, within 6 months of the effective date of this Act, to: (1) establish an office, within such agency, to be responsible for regulatory planning and management; (2) issue guidelines for determining which rules are significant rules; and (3) issue guidelines to insure that an adopted major or significant rule meets certain criteria including requirements that: (a) the rule is written to be easily understood; (b) there has been full consideration with affected State and local governments; and (c) the public has been given a full opportunity to participate in the rulemaking process. Requires that each agency submit to OMB and publish in the Federal Register a draft schedule for the review, over a ten-year period, of its major rules and practices. Sets forth guidelines for such review. Directs each agency to publish a final review schedule within one year. Requires that each agency announce the review date for each major rule upon its publication. Requires each agency to publish an assessment of each precept reviewed. Declares that such review requirements shall not apply to any rule or practice involving the internal revenue laws of the United States. Title II: Reorganizing and Improving Agency Proceedings - Requires that the general notice of a proposed rule include: (1) a statement that the agency seeks proposals from the public of alternative methods; and (2) a statement of where the file of the rulemaking proceeding may be inspected or how file copies may be obtained. Subjects rules concerning public property, loans, grants, benefits, or contracts to notice and comment rulemaking procedures. Directs each agency to maintain a file of each rulemaking proceeding. Requires each agency to transmit semiannually to the appropriate Congressional committees an agenda listing all areas in which the agency intends to propose major rules during the following year. Directs each agency to transmit a copy of each final rule to each House of Congress and to such committees on the day the rule is published. Prohibits the rule from becoming effective: (1) until 30 days after it is received by such committees; (2) until the earlier of the expiration of 60 days after the date on which a committee reports a resolution disapproving the rule or the date on which such resolution is rejected; or (3) if such a resolution is enacted. Exempts from such time constraints any major rule promulgated in response to an emergency situation. Prohibits an agency from promulgating a new rule substantially the same as a disapproved rule. Requires agencies to respond in an appropriate manner to good faith requests from interested persons for interpretations of agency rules. Creates a new procedure for administrative proceedings required by statute. Establishes an "expedited procedure" which applies to any proceeding predominantly concerning policy issues of a general character, including rulemaking and initial licensing. Requires "trial-type procedures" for proceedings which predominantly concern specific factual questions, including proceedings to assess a civil penalty or fine or to determine a claim for certain individual benefits. Directs the agency to conduct a hearing in such a proceeding to afford parties an opportunity to submit written data, arguments, and responses, and, at the request of any party, an opportunity for oral argument. Requires the presiding employee to designate a disputed question for formal cross-examination upon determining, at the conclusion of the hearing, that there is a substantial dispute of fact which can be resolved sufficiently only by formal cross-examination and upon which the decision of the agency is likely to depend. Sets forth procedures for issuing subpoenas in formal proceedings under the expedited or trial-type procedures. Enumerates the powers and responsibilities of a presiding employee at proceedings under trial-type procedure. Allows an agency to designate an appropriate employee to recommend a decision for a proceeding under expedited procedure when the presiding employee submits the record of the proceeding without a recommended decision. Authorizes each agency to establish employee boards to review the decisions of presiding employees. Directs each agency to specify conditions under which it will accept an appeal of a decision of a presiding employee or such a board, and the conditions under which it will exclude a decision from the jurisdiction of a review board. Requires an action to be brought in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the review of an agency rule for which there is no applicable special statutory review procedure. Prohibits a court reviewing an agency action involving a rule from making any presumption in favor of or against the agency action. Requires such court to determine the agency's jurisdiction on the basis of the language of the authorizing statute or other evidence of legislative intent.
United States · United States Congress · 6 January 1981
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to reduce from 70 percent to 50 percent the maximum rate of income tax for individuals. Requires separate computation of personal service income and nonpersonal service (unearned) income, applying each category to the lowest tax rates initially. Prohibits separate computations in the case of any taxpayer with more than $10,000 in tax preference items.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1981
Research Modernization Act - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish within the National Institutes of Health a National Center for Alternative Research to develop and coordinate alternative methods of research and testing which do not involve the use of live animals. States that the Center shall be managed by a Director appointed by the Secretary of Health and Human Services and that the head of any Federal agency which conducts or sponsors research or testing involving the use of live animals appoint one employee to serve as a member of the Center. Directs the Secretary to establish within the Center an Advisory Committee to advise the Center. Requires the Secretary to make and publish in the Federal Register descriptions of alternative methods of testing which meet the regulatory scientific needs of the agencies and which have been reported in summary or plan. Prohibits the use of Federal funds to sponsor research or testing involving the use of live animals if alternative methods have been published in the Federal Register or if such work duplicates work performed by another agency. Requires each agency conducting research involving the use of live animals to: (1) implement a program to develop and utilize alternative methods of research and testing that would reduce or eliminate reliance on the use of live animals; and (2) make grants and enter into contracts with educational institutions to establish courses for the training of scientists in methods of research and testing which do not involve the use of live animals. Requires the Secretary to submit to Congress annually a summary of the Director's annual report of the performance of the Center.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1981
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from gross income a corporate stock distribution to a stockholder based upon the reinvestment of stock dividends in the corporation by such stockholder pursuant to his election to participate in a qualified dividend reinvestment plan, as defined in this Act. Limits the amount of such exclusion to $1,500 per year. Establishes a rebuttable presumption that a distribution made by a corporation which purchases its common stock within one year of such distribution shall not be deemed a distribution pursuant to a qualified dividend reinvestment plan.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1981
Small Business and Family Farm Preservation Act of 1981 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to increase the unified credit against estate and gift taxes from $47,000 to $155,800. Increases the amount of the annual gift tax exclusion from $3,000 to $6,000.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1981
National Science Council Act of 1980 - Establishes in the National Science Board the National Science Council to decide, after a hearing on the record, any question of scientific fact arising in an agency adjudication referred to such Council which involves the harm any substance may cause to human health. Authorizes the voting members of the Council to elect the Chairman. Directs the Chairman of the Council to give notice of the initial information hearing to all persons participating in such adjudication. Authorizes the Chairman to establish advisory hearing panels to hold such hearing. Permits those persons participating in the adjudication to present relevant oral and written information. Directs the advisory hearing panel to submit to the Council a written report containing the decision of such panel. Sets forth the requirements for reports on questions involving an evaluation of the risk of harm to human health presented by a substance, including a summary of effects observed, the quality of the information presented, and an advisory opinion of such panel. Sets forth Council procedures for final decisions with respect to any question of scientific fact referred to an advisory panel. Requires the agency presiding over the adjudication from which the question is referred to attempt to narrow and resolve such question by stipulations. Requires the Council to respond to the agency within 90 days after a question is referred. Sets forth the requirements of such a response, including written specific findings and hearing transcripts. Makes a determination of the Council with respect to a scientific question binding on subsequent adjudications referred to the council unless the information presented differs substantially from that previously presented. Makes all hearings open unless it is necessary to close a hearing to preserve the confidentiality of any trade secret or otherwise privileged information. Requires all agencies to provide the Council with whatever information it may require. Sets forth the composition of and manner of appointment to the Council. Amends the Consumer Product Safety Act to direct the Consumer Product Safety Commission to refer to the National Science Council, upon the request of any interested person, any question of scientific fact which involves the harm any chemical in or on any consumer product may cause to human health and which is relevant to determining whether such consumer product presents a substantial product hazard. Makes the final decision of the Council the final decision of the Commission with respect to such question. Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to refer to the Council, upon request, any question of scientific fact arising in an adjudication under such Act which involves the harm any food, drug, device, pesticide chemical, food additive, or color additive may cause to human health and which is relevant to determining whether an application is approvable, the approval of an application should be withdrawn, or whether a prohibited act has been committed. Makes the decision of such Council the final decision of the agency with respect to such question. Amends the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act to direct the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to refer to the Council, upon request, any question of scientific fact which involves the harm a pesticide or an active ingredient may cause to human health and which is relevant to determining whether the classification of such pesticide should be changed or the registration of such pesticide should be refused, suspended, or canceled. Makes the decision of such Council the final decision of such agency with respect to such question. Amends the Federal Meat Inspection Act to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to refer to the Council, upon request, any question of scientific fact which involves the harm any meat, meat food product, or carcass may cause to human health and which is relevant to determining whether such meat, meat product, or carcass is adulterated or misbranded. Makes the decision of such Council the final decision of such agency with respect to such question. Amends the Poultry Products Inspection Act to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to refer to the Council, upon request, any question of scientific fact which involves the harm any poultry product may cause to human health and which is relevant to determining whether such poultry or poultry product is adulterated or misbranded. Makes the decision of such Council the final decision of such agency with respect to such question. Amends the Occupational Health and Safety Act to direct the Occupational Health and Safety Commission to refer to the Council, upon request, any question of scientific fact which involves the harm a chemical may cause to human health and which is relevant to determining the validity of any citation. Makes the decision of the Council the final decision of such Commission with respect to such question. Amends the Toxic Substances Control Act to direct the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to refer to the Council, upon request, any question of scientific fact which involves the harm a chemical substance or mixture may cause to human health and which is relevant to making specified determinations under such Act. Makes the decision of the Council the final decision of such agency with respect to such question.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1981
Limitation on Government Recordkeeping Requirements and Actions Act of 1981 - Prohibits any Federal agency from: (1) requiring any person to maintain, prepare, or produce records (other than records relating to a dangerous material) of an event more than four years after the event has occurred; and (2) commencing an action against a person for a violation of a regulation more than four years after such violation has occurred, except as otherwise provided by the Internal Revenue Code.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1981
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to permit taxpayers who do not itemize income tax deductions to claim a deduction from gross income for charitable contributions.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1981
Child Care Agency Tax Amendments of 1981 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exempt from the windfall profit tax oil produced from interests held by or for a residential child care agency. Defines such an agency as a tax-exempt charitable organization operated primarily for the residential placement, care, or treatment of delinquent, dependent, neglected, or handicapped children.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1981
Amends the Federal criminal code to establish mandatory minimum two-year terms of imprisonment for the Federal crimes of burglary, aggravated assault, second degree murder, commission of an offense with a firearm or destructive device, rape, and robbery (including bank robbery). Increases the minimum term to four years for repeat offenders. Stipulates that the execution or imposition of sentences: (1) may not be suspended; (2) may not include probation or parole; and (3) is not subject to good time provisions or the Federal Youth Corrections Act. Specifies mitigating circumstances for the imposition of such mandatory sentences. Requires a sentencing hearing to determine if such circumstances are applicable.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1981
Declares it the public policy of the United States to prohibit the manufacture, sale, and use of leg-hold and steel-jaw traps in the United States and abroad. Prohibits the shipment in interstate or foreign commerce of fur or leather products from animals trapped in a State or foreign country which has not banned such traps. Requires the Secretary of Commerce to publish a list of States and foreign countries which have not banned such traps. Sets forth penalties for violations of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1981
Financial Integrity Act of 1981 - Amends the Accounting and Auditing Act of 1950 to require the head of each Executive agency to prepare and transmit to the President an annual report on the adequacy of the agency's systems of internal accounting and administrative control. Requires the report to include detailed plans for correcting any inadequacy. Directs the Comptroller General of the United States to: (1) establish guidelines for evaluating such systems; and (2) define internal auditing and administrative controls to prevent waste or misuse of agency funds or property and to assure accountability of assets.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1981
Anti-Inflation Tax Act of 1981 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to require annual cost of living adjustments, based on the Consumer Price Index, to individual income tax rates, the personal tax exemption, withholding requirements, and minimum income tax return amounts.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1981
Amends the Omnibus Crime Control Act of 1970 to revise and increase the mandatory penalties for using or carrying a firearm during commission of a Federal felony. Defines such offense as using a firearm to commit a felony over which the district courts have exclusive jurisdiction or carrying a firearm during such a felony involving violence. Deletes the requirement that the firearm be carried "illegally." Increases the additional penalty imposed for such offense from one to ten years' imprisonment to five to ten years' imprisonment for a first offender and from two to 25 years to ten years to life imprisonment for a second or subsequent offender. Extends to first offenders the directions, currently applicable only to second offenders, that the court not suspend any sentence or grant probation and that the additional sentence not run concurrently with any term of imprisonment imposed for the offense itself. Makes a first offender ineligible for parole for five years and a second or subsequent offender ineligible for ten years. Expresses the sense of Congress that the executive prosecute vigorously such offenses.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1981
Youth Fair Labor Standards Amendments of 1981 - Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to permit employers, without prior certification by the Secretary of Labor, to pay 85 percent of the minimum wage: (1) to youths under age 20, for a 365-day period; and (2) to full-time students, with proof of enrollment at an institute of higher education, for part-time work up to 20 hours per week or full-time work during vacation periods. Directs the Secretary to insure against specified violations of requirements for such special minimum wages for youths and students. Makes employers liable for unpaid wages and overtime compensation for such violations.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1981
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a deduction for cash and other personal property contributions to a savings account created or organized exclusively for the purpose of paying the educational expenses of the taxpayer or the taxpayer's child. Limits the amount of such deduction to $1,000 per year, adjusted for inflation. Limits eligibility for such deduction to the taxpayer or the taxpayer's dependent child unless such child has attained age 21 or has attended an institution of higher education as a full-time student for more than four weeks in the year of his twenty-first birthday. Excludes distributions from such an account from the gross income of the payee so long as such distributions are used to defray the beneficiary's tuition, fees, books and supplies, and reasonable living expenses. Specifies sanctions for the use of account funds for other than such educational purposes. Treats qualified distributions as income to the beneficiary for the taxable year in which the beneficiary attains age 25, and for each of the following nine years, in successive apportionments equal to ten percent of the total amount of such distributions. Allows a deduction for cash and other personal property contributions to a savings account created or organized for the benefit of the taxpayer (or the taxpayer and spouse if married) for the exclusive purpose of purchasing such individual's first residence. Limits the maximum annual deduction to $1,500 ($3,000 in the case of married individuals filing jointly), with a maximum lifetime deduction of $15,000 ($30,000 in the case of married individuals filing jointly). Provides for annual inflation adjustment of such amounts. Excludes distributions from such account from gross income so long as they are used exclusively for the purchase of a first residence. Provides for recapture of such distribution upon a subsequent sale of such first residence if another house is not purchased with the proceeds. Requires reduction of the $100,000 exclusion from gross income of proceeds from the sale of a principal residence by a taxpayer 55 years of age or older if such residence had been purchased with distributions from a tax-exempt housing savings account. Limits the amount of such reduction to the amount of any such distribution excluded from gross income.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1981
Longshoremen's and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act Amendments of 1981 - Amends the Longshoremen's and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act to revise the definition of "employee" to exclude (in addition to the currently excluded masters, or crew members, of any vessel) persons who at the time of injury were: (1) officers or employees of any government; (2) engaged in any employment which is not a direct or integral part of vessel loading, unloading, repairing, building, or breaking; or (3) providing services on or for any vessel less than 65 feet in length, while covered by a State workers' compensation program. Conforms specified conditions, under which compensation for disability or death shall be payable, to the revised definitions made by this Act. Sets the maximum rate of compensation, with specified exceptions, at the lesser of: (1) an amount equal to 80 percent of the employee's spendable earnings; or (2) an amount equal to 200 percent of the applicable national average weekly wage. Defines "spendable earnings" as the employee's average weekly wage reduced by amounts required to be withheld under Federal and State tax laws. Directs the Secretary of Labor to publish tables in the Federal Register showing the amount of such "spendable earnings" for various wage levels. Entitles an employee to choose an attending physician from an applicable listing established by the deputy commissioner. Directs the deputy commissioner to actively supervise such medical care. Requires an attending physician who refers an employee to a medical specialist or consulting physician to notify the employer and submit a report, with reasons for such referral, to the employer and the deputy commissioner. Requires such specialist or consultants to submit reports in order to collect fees. Requires an employee seeking recovery of expenses for medical treatment or services to obtain such treatment in a specified manner and to provide written notice to the employer within ten days after the first treatment or services. Establishes procedures for providing independent medical examinations when medical questions arise. Entitles employees to specified relief in cases where the workplace injury is the sole cause of an impairment or disability. Provides for reexaminations of such estimates of the degree of impairment due to the work place injury. Repeals specified provisions which made certain physicians ineligible for employment as independent medical examiners unless otherwise agreed to. Requires that 80 percent of spendable earnings be paid to an employee during the continuance of permanent total disability, subject to specified limitations. Requires, for a determination of total disability, that an employee prove by substantial evidence that as a result of the injury, in cases other than ones of loss of two or more specified body parts, he or she is permanently unable to earn any wages in employment. Requires that 80 percent of spendable earnings be paid to an employee during the continuance of temporary total disability, subject to specified limitations. Prohibits such compensation from being paid after the employee attains the retirement age for the appropriate industry and geographical region. Sets the compensation rate for permanent partial disability at 80 percent of the spendable earnings of the employee, subject to specified limitations. Extends such limitations to the "other cases" category of permanent partial disability compensation and terminates such compensation after the employee attains the appropriate retirement age. Deletes a provision subjecting such compensation to reconsideration of the degree of impairment by the deputy commissioner. Bars employees suffering injuries in specified categories from seeking additional compensation in this "other cases" category. Allows employers to reduce permanent partial disability compensation when an employee's actual wages or wage earning capacity have increased or to suspend such compensation when such wages equal or exceed average weekly wages before the injury. Requires the approval of the deputy commissioner for such reductions or suspensions, with such approval to be reviewable by an administrative law judge. Allows employees whose actual wages or wage earning capacity decrease, solely as a result of the injury, to less than their average weekly wage before the injury to request reviews of their compensation payments. Eliminates a provision for death benefits for the survivors of an employee who had been receiving "other cases" category permanent partial disability compensation and who dies from causes other than the original injury. Retains the current compensation rate for temporary partial disability, but subjects such rate to specified limitations. Provides for the designation by the Secretary of an attorney to serve as a special fund representative, with specified powers, upon recommendation by an employer and insurance carrier. Revises provisions relating to: (1) compensation for employees undergoing vocational rehabilitation; (2) the wage earning capacity of injured employees in partial disability cases; and (3) approval of settlements by the deputy commissioner and the manner of payment of such settlements. Eliminates a provision for death benefits if the employee who sustains permanent total disability due to the injury thereafter dies from causes other than the injury. Revises methods of determination of the average weekly wages of injured employees at the time of injury. Revises the formula for determining yearly increases in specified compensation for permanent total disability or death. Makes revisions relating to: (1) failure to give notice; (2) the period of installment payments; (3) the right to compensation controverted; (4) penalties for overdue compensation; and (5) notice of payment. Repeals provisions concerning the deputy commissioner's authority: (1) in cases of suspended payments; and (2) to discharge the employer's liability for compensation. Limits the total money allowance payable to an employee or dependent survivors. Provides for preliminary rulings by the deputy commissioner with respect to claims to become final orders if the parties do not request a hearing. Makes other revisions in claims procedures. Repeals provisions relating to the review of compensation orders and the Benefits Review Board. Establishes a new Benefits Review Board to be appointed by the President, with the advice and consent of the Senate (the former Board was appointed by the Secretary). Transfers to such Board all officers, assets, liabilities, contracts, property, and records of the Benefits Review Board in the Department of Labor. Revises the procedures, functions, powers, and duties of such Board. Revises provisions relating to: (1) powers of the deputy commissioner or an administrative law judge in proceedings under such Act; (2) fees for services; (3) institution of proceedings by a person entitled to compensation; and (4) compromises obtained by a person entitled to compensation. Prohibits the Secretary from: (1) furnishing specified information and assistance in processing claims to persons covered under such Act (formerly permitted such information and assistance upon request); and (2) participating, except as an intervenor, in proceedings relating to this Act which are before any court. Repeals provisions relating to an administration fund and to the availability of appropriations. Establishes an Advisory Committee on Longshoremen's and Harbor Workers' Compensation to evaluate whether this Act provides an adequate, prompt, equitable, and insurable system of compensation. Declares that the Committee shall not be subject to the Federal Advisory Committee Act. Provides that nothing contained in the amendments made by this Act shall be construed to reduce the amount of any benefits being received under the Longshoremen's and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act by any individual on the date of enactment of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1981
Establishes a Commission on More Effective Government to study and recommend ways of promoting economy, efficiency, and improved service within the Executive branch of Government. Directs the Commission to recommend methods to improve the relationship between Federal, State, and local governments. Directs the Commission to submit a final report to the Congress ten days after the Ninety-eighth Congress convenes. Terminates the Commission 90 days after such date. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1981
Capital Investment Incentive Act of 1980 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to increase from 60 percent to 70 percent the noncorporate capital gains deduction from gross income. Reduces from 28 percent to 21 percent the corporate alternative minimum tax rate on capital gains.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1981
Establishes in the House of Representatives a Select Committee on Narcotics Abuse and Control to review problems of narcotics abuse, including enforcement, international trafficking, organized crime, and the criminal justice system with respect to narcotics law violations.
United States · United States Congress · 1 December 1980
Directs the President, 60 days after the end of the meeting of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe held in Madrid, to: (1) declare that the United States will no longer be bound by the terms of the Final Act; and (2) urge friendly countries to make similar declarations, unless the President certifies that the Soviet Union has made substantial progress toward compliance with and implementation of the principles set forth in the Final Act.
United States · United States Congress · 2 October 1980
Expresses the sense of the Congress that each department, agency, or instrumentality of the United States that utilizes the Draize rabbit eye irritancy test should develop and validate alternative testing procedures that do not require the use of animal test subjects.
United States · United States Congress · 30 September 1980
Directs that, for the purpose of determining the eligibility of a named individual to receive a military annuity, such individual's husband shall be deemed to have died on a specified date.
United States · United States Congress · 25 September 1980
Deplores the recent curtailment of Jewish emigration from the Soviet Union. Urges executive branch officials to express U.S. opposition to such repression. Urges the President to instruct the U.S. delegation to the Madrid meeting of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe to seek an explanation of Soviet emigration policies and protest violations of the family reunification provisions of the Helsinki Final Act.
United States · United States Congress · 22 September 1980
Industrial Energy Conservation Incentive Tax Act of 1980 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to increase the investment tax credit energy percentage from ten to 20 percent for alternative energy property, specially defined energy property, and recycling equipment. Makes such credit refundable. Provides for a refundable 20 percent investment tax credit for qualified conservation property. Defines "qualified conservation property" as property which is used by a taxpayer as an energy-saving modification to an existing industrial facility. Excludes public utility property from such definition.
United States · United States Congress · 19 September 1980
Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act to increase to $24,000 in 1981 the amount of outside earnings which a beneficiary age 65 or over may have without a reduction of benefits.
United States · United States Congress · 19 September 1980
Honors Raoul Wallenberg for his work in Hungary during World War II. Expresses the sense of Congress that the U.S. delegation to the Madrid meeting of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe should urge the consideration of the Wallenberg case. Requests the State Department to discover the whereabouts of Raoul Wallenberg from the Soviet Union and secure his return to Sweden.
United States · United States Congress · 16 September 1980
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow an income tax deduction for certain expenses incurred in the rental of a dwelling unit as a residence to a member of the taxpayer's family.
United States · United States Congress · 5 September 1980
Credit Control Sunset Act of 1980 - Amends the Credit Control Act to require the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System to report to Congress periodically on its operations under such Act. Terminates such Act on July 1, 1981.
United States · United States Congress · 4 September 1980
Establishes the United States Holocaust Memorial Council which shall: (1) provide and encourage appropriate ways for the Nation to observe the Days of Remembrance to commemorate the holocaust; (2) plan, erect, and oversee the operation of a memorial museum to the victims of the holocaust; and (3) develop a plan for carrying out the recommendations of the report submitted to the President on September 27, 1979, by the President's Commission on the Holocaust. Authorizes the Council to receive public land in the District of Columbia on which it may erect the memorial. Terminates the Council's authority to construct a memorial if the erection of the memorial has not commenced within five years of enactment of this Act and sufficient funds to ensure completion of the memorial have not been certified to be available. Authorizes appropriations to carry out this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 3 September 1980
Exempts from the jurisdiction of the Interstate Commerce Commission transportation by motor vehicle of food and other edible products intended for human consumption (including edible byproducts but excluding alcoholic beverages and drugs).
United States · United States Congress · 22 August 1980
Financial Integrity Act of 1980 - Amends the Accounting and Auditing Act of 1950 to require the head of each executive agency to prepare and transmit to the President an annual report on the adequacy of the agency's systems of internal auditing and administrative control. Directs the Comptroller General of the United States: (1) in consultation with the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, to establish a method of reporting and a general framework to guide the agencies in evaluating their systems of internal accounting and administrative control, and to modify such method or framework as necessary; and (2) to define internal accounting and administrative controls to provide assurances that: (a) obligations and costs were in compliance with applicable law; (b) funds, property, and other assets were safeguarded against waste, loss, unauthorized use, or misappropriation; and (c) agency revenues and expenditures were properly accounted for and recorded. Requires any inadequacy in the agency's systems which prevents the systems from achieving such assurances to be identified, and a plan for correcting such an inadequacy to be described in detail. Requires the Inspector General or the head of the internal audit staff of each agency to receive and investigate any allegation that an agency employee provided false or misleading information in connection with an evaluation or report concerning the agency's accounting or control systems. Directs the head of an agency to take action against such an employee as necessary.
United States · United States Congress · 21 August 1980
Capital Investment Tax Incentive Act of 1980 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to increase the deduction for net capital gain from 60 to 70 percent in the case of individual taxpayers. Reduces the capital gains tax rate for corporations from 28 to 21 percent.
United States · United States Congress · 20 August 1980
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow an income tax credit of 25 percent of the qualified research and experimental expenditures paid or incurred by a taxpayer in connection with his trade or business. Defines "qualified research and experimental expenditures" as those business-related expenditures which are currently deductible under provisions of the Internal Revenue Code, but limits the scope of such expenditures 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, or research carried on in the taxpayer's behalf. Limits the amount of expenditures eligible for the credit to those which exceed 100 percent of the annual average of such expenditures for the immediately preceding three years. Provides for a three-year carryback and seven-year carryover of unused credits.
United States · United States Congress · 20 August 1980
Expresses the sense of the Congress that aliens who engage in unlawful or disorderly activities in the United States should be promptly deported in accordance with provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act.
United States · United States Congress · 20 August 1980
Declares that the people of Poland should be allowed to settle their own affairs, including the formation of independent trade unions and the right to strike, without foreign interference.
United States · United States Congress · 20 August 1980
Expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) the President should express to the Soviet Government U.S. concern for the fate of Raoul Wallenberg; and (2) the U.S. delegation to the Madrid meeting of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe should urge the consideration of the Wallenberg case.
United States · United States Congress · 18 August 1980
Exempts blood fractions used in immunoaugmentative therapy by the Immunology Researching Centre, Limited, of Freeport, Grand Bahama Island, Bahamas from the definition of drug under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act for a period of five years.
United States · United States Congress · 30 July 1980
Biomass Research and Development Act of 1980 - Declares it to be the purpose of this Act to: (1) make the cost of energy produced by biomass systems competitive; (2) increase the efficiency of biomass energy production; (3) encourage the development of biomass energy resources on land unsuited for cultivating food; and (4) assure the production of at least three quadrillion British thermal units of energy per year from biomass by 1986. Directs the Secretary of Energy, in consultation with the Secretary of Agriculture, to establish a six-year biomass energy system research and development program to carry out the purposes of this Act. States that the program shall consist of: (1) a feedstocks program; (2) a conversion program; and (3) an end uses program. Authorizes the Secretary of Energy to establish procedures to permit any public or private entity wishing to install a biomass energy system to apply for and receive assistance in purchasing such a system. Directs the Secretary, after the termination of the six year program, to promulgate by rule voluntary performance standards for biomass energy systems. Directs the Secretary to initiate a three-year national biomass resource assessment program. Directs the Secretary to prepare and submit to Congress a comprehensive program management plan for the conduct of the programs established under this Act. Sets forth criteria for program selection. Directs the Secretary to monitor the performance and operation of biomass energy systems assisted or installed under this Act. Directs the Secretary to study and evaluate specified matters related to the development of biomass energy systems and report the findings to Congress. Establishes a biomass energy utilization program for the accelerated procurement and installation of biomass energy systems for power production for Federal facilities. Requires the Secretary to take steps to assure that small business will have adequate opportunities to participate in the programs established under this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 28 July 1980
Noise Abatement Act of 1980 - Repeals specified provisions of the Aviation Safety and Noise Abatement Act of 1979 concerning exemptions for aircraft from certain aviation noise standards. Directs the Secretary of Transportation to determine and establish for specified aircraft the lowest noise level which could be achieved by retrofitting such aircraft. Prohibits, on and after January 1, 1983, domestic operation of aircraft that do not comply with such noise standards. Directs that, on and after January 1, 1982, specified aircraft that are operated in air transportation by an air carrier or a foreign air carrier shall be in compliance with such noise standards. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to aircraft owners for retrofitting such aircraft. Authorizes appropriations from the Airport and Airway Trust Fund for fiscal year 1981 and beyond.
United States · United States Congress · 28 July 1980
Air Safety Reorganization Act of 1980 - Title I: Air Safety Administration - Establishes the Air Safety Administration as an independent regulatory agency. Sets forth requirements for and duties of an Air Safety Administrator and a Deputy Administrator. Transfers specified functions, powers, and duties of the Secretary of Transportation and the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration concerning air carrier economic and safety regulation to the Air Safety Administrator (the Administrator). Directs the Administrator of the Aviation Operations Administration, in consultation with the Administrator, to prescribe rules for the prevention of collisions involving aircraft. Specifies administrative procedures to be carried out by the Administrator. Authorizes the Administrator to establish a working capital fund for administrative expenses. Authorizes each department, agency, and instrumentality of the executive branch to furnish to the Administrator information or other data deemed necessary to carry out duties under this Act. Authorizes the Administrator: (1) to provide for participation of military personnel in the performance of his or her functions; (2) to utilize, on a reimbursable basis, the services of personnel made available by a department, agency, or instrumentality of the Federal Government; and (3) to establish advisory boards in accordance with the provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act. Directs the Administrator to report annually to Congress on the activities of the Air Safety Administration. Title II: Aviation Operations Administration - Amends the Department of Transportation Act to replace the Federal Aviation Administration with the Aviation Operations Administration within the Department of Transportation. Assigns all functions, powers, and duties of the Secretary of Transportation and the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration under specified Acts concerning airport development and noise abatement to the Administrator of the Aviation Operations Administration. Title III: Transitional, Saving, Conforming, and Miscellaneous Provisions - States that an agency or governmental body that transferred all functions or programs affected by this Act to a governmental entity or officer shall lapse. Lists transitional provisions to be carried out by the Secretary, the Air Safety Administrator, and the Administrator of the Aviation Operations Administration. Authorizes the Director of the Office of Management and Budget to make incidental dispositions of personnel, assets, and liabilities in connection with functions transferred or assigned by this Act. Directs the Administrator of the Aviation Operations Administration and the Air Safety Administrator, within one year of the effective date of this Act, to submit jointly to Congress a proposed codification of all laws that contain the functions, powers, and duties transferred to or vested in both of them or their respective Administrations by this Act. Sets forth procedures for initial appointments to both Administrations. Directs the Administrator of the Aviation Operations Administration, within one year of the date of this Act, to develop and report to Congress on a comprehensive, long-term plan to improve aviation safety.
![Official portrait of Rep. Porter, John Edward [R-IL-10]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/p000444_200.jpg)