United States · United States Congress · 21 September 1983
Amends titles XVIII (Medicare) and XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to provide for the coverage of personal emergency response services. Defines such services as the provision and maintenance of communication equipment in an individual's home which signals a personal emergency monitoring agency.
United States · United States Congress · 20 September 1983
Regulatory Oversight and Control Act of 1983 - Title I: Agency Rulemaking Improvements - Requires each executive agency and each independent regulatory agency to include in the notice of a proposed rule an explanation of the agency's determination as to whether the rule is a major rule. Directs each agency, before or upon publishing notice of a proposed rulemaking proceeding for a major rule, to issue statements concerning: (1) the need for the rule; (2) the reasonable alternative approaches; (3) regional differences; (4) the benefits, costs, and effectiveness of the proposed rule and alternatives; (5) the advantages and disadvantages of adopting performance standards rather than design standards; (6) the technical information the agency will rely on in making the rule; and (7) the statutory authority of the agency to regulate any areas previously regulated only by State law. Requires that each agency issue additional statements upon providing notice of the promulgation of a major rule, including a statement of its determination that the benefits of the rule will justify the costs of the rules and that the rule will achieve rulemaking objectives in a more cost effective manner than the alternatives. Directs each agency to: (1) include in the notice of each proposed and final major rule, instructions on how the public may obtain copies of agency statements on such rule; (2) send a copy of all statements required at the notice and publication of a major rule to the President; and (3) include such statements and any technical information considered in the rulemaking file. Requires agencies to provide for oral presentations at informal public hearings as part of the rulemaking proceedings for major rules. Directs agencies to allow cross-examination of persons presenting information if necessary to resolve significant issues of fact. Directs agencies to regulate such public hearings so as to ensure orderly and expeditious proceedings. Allows an agency to delay completing the rulemaking requirements of this Act if it publishes a finding that complying with such requirements before making the rule would be impracticable, unnecessary, or contrary to the public interest. Requires an agency to complete such requirements as soon as practicable after promulgating the rule unless the rule will expire within two years. Sets forth provisions governing the judicial review of agency compliance with rulemaking and rule review requirements of this Act and the President's compliance with oversight requirements. Directs the President to: (1) establish procedures for agency implementation of the requirements of this title; (2) afford the public an opportunity to comment on such procedures before adoption; and (3) monitor, review, and comment on agency compliance with such requirements. Permits the Comptroller General to review agency compliance with this Act. Requires each agency to publish in the Federal Register, semiannually, a regulatory agenda containing a list of all rules the agency expects to propose, promulgate, repeal, modify, or review in the next year and specified information concerning such rules. Requires publication of the agendas of all agencies in a single issue of the Federal Register. Directs each agency to publish for public comment a proposed schedule for the review of its existing major rules and other rules that may be added by the agency or the President. Declares that each such rule shall cease to be effective not more than ten years after the date the final schedule is published. Directs each agency to publish its responses to public comments upon publishing the final schedule. Requires an agency to include with the publication of a major rule the date, within ten years, on which the rule will expire and the date by which the rule must be reviewed. Directs each agency to: (1) publish a notice of the initiation of the review of a rule; (2) describe the costs, benefits, problems, and alternatives to the rule; (3) provide a period for public comment; and either (4) conduct a rulemaking proceeding to reissue or amend the rule; or (5) publish an explanation of its decision to allow the rule to expire. Allows agencies to alter review schedules if the President agrees. Amends the Administrative Procedure Act to eliminate the exemption of rules concerning loans, grants, and benefits from notice and comment rulemaking requirements. Requires that the notice of a proposed rulemaking include: (1) a statement of the objectives of the rule; (2) a statement that the agency seeks proposals from the public of alternative methods; and (3) a statement of where the file of the rulemaking proceeding may be inspected or how file copies may be obtained. Requires an agency to: (1) provide a period of at least 60 days after publishing a notice of proposed rulemaking for the public to submit comments on a proposed rule; and (2) include the agency's response to such comments in the statement published with the adopted rule. Prohibits an agency from relying on any material of central relevance in a rulemaking if the material is not included in the rulemaking file or the public has not had an opportunity to comment on the material. Directs each agency to maintain a public file on each rulemaking proceeding. Allows an agency to exclude from such file any material relied upon which is exempt from public disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act, if a statement of the basis for such exclusion is included. Requires a court reviewing an agency action: (1) not to accord any presumption in favor of or against agency action; (2) in determining questions of law other than statutory jurisdiction, to give the agency's interpretation such weight as it warrants considering the agency's authority under law; (3) in making determinations concerning statutory jurisdiction, to determine whether the action is within the agency's jurisdiction on the basis of the statutory language or other indications of legislative intent; and (4) in determining whether the adoption of a rule is in accordance with law, to consider whether there is substantial support in the rulemaking file for the agency's factual determinations. Declares that when proceedings for review of the same agency action are instituted in two or more courts of appeals within ten days, the Administrative Office of the United States Courts shall select, by a system of random selection, the court in which the record shall be filed. Authorizes the courts to postpone the effective date of the agency action as necessary to permit designation of the court of record. Prohibits agencies from paying expenses of persons participating or intervening in agency proceedings except as specifically authorized by statute. Title II: Congressional Review of Agency Proceedings - Requires each agency to transmit a copy of each rule it promulgates to the House of Representatives and the Senate. Declares that such rule shall be considered only as a recommendation of the agency to Congress. Prohibits a major rule from taking effect unless a joint resolution approving the rule is enacted within 90 days. Prohibits a rule other than a major rule from taking effect if a joint resolution disapproving the rule is enacted within 90 days. Prohibits an agency from promulgating a new rule that is substantially the same as a major rule that was not approved or any other rule that was disapproved. Directs the Comptroller General, at the request of a committee of either House which has primary legislative jurisdiction over a rule or on his or her own initiative, to inform such committee as to whether the rule is consistent with the statutory authority under which it was promulgated. Exempts an emergency rule from such congressional review requirements if the agency submits to the appropriate congressional committees a written notice of: (1) its determination that the rule is an emergency rule; (2) the time period (limited to 210 days) during which the rule will be effective; and (3) its intention to issue a final rule, if necessary, when such emergency rule expires. Sets forth House and Senate procedure for the consideration of such resolutions of approval or disapproval. Declares that: (1) congressional inaction on or rejection of a resolution disapproving a rule shall not be deemed an expression of approval of that rule; and (2) enactment of a resolution approving a major rule shall not be construed to create any presumption of validity with respect to such rule and shall not affect the judicial review of such rule. Title III: Regulatory Oversight and Control Amendments to House Rules - Amends the rules of the House of Representatives to establish a Regulatory Review Calendar to which all resolutions for the approval or disapproval of agency rules shall be referred. Provides for the consideration of the resolutions on such Calendar on the first and third Monday and the second and fourth Tuesday of each month. Declares that it shall be in order during the reading of a general appropriation bill to consider any germane amendment proposing a limitation restricting the implementation of an agency rule, other than a major rule, for which a resolution of disapproval has not been considered by the House, or has been passed by the House but not enacted, within the time required under this Act. Requires each standing committee of the House to consider and adopt its oversight plans in a meeting which is open to the public by March 1 of the first session of a Congress. Directs each such committee to: (1) consult with other congressional committees with jurisdiction over the same areas to assure that such areas are reviewed in the same Congress and that there is maximum coordination and cooperation between such committees in conducting such review; (2) give priority to the review of programs under permanent budget or statutory authority; and (3) attempt to ensure that all laws, programs, activities, and agencies within its jurisdiction are reviewed at least once every ten years. Requires each committee to submit its final plans to the Committee on Government Operations which shall report all such plans to Congress with recommendations to assure the effective coordination of such plans. Authorizes the Speaker of the House, with the approval of the House, to appoint special ad hoc committees to review specific matter within the jurisdiction of two or more standing committees. Requires each committee to include in its biennial report to the House separate sections summarizing the legislative and oversight activities of that committee. Declares that it shall not be in order in the House to consider a primary expense resolution for any committee that has not submitted its oversight plans to the Committee on Government Operations.
United States · United States Congress · 14 September 1983
Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act to increase primary insurance amounts and the maximum amount of benefits payable on the basis of any primary insurance amount under title II to the amounts they would have been under the computation provisions in effect immediately before the enactment of the Social Security Amendments of 1977.
United States · United States Congress · 13 September 1983
Authorizes the Veterans Administration to furnish each veteran with a compensable service-connected disability such drugs and medicines as may be prescribed by any licensed physician for treatment of the service-connected disability.
United States · United States Congress · 13 September 1983
Designates the week beginning February 12, 1984, as a time to recognize the contributions of volunteers who become Big Brothers and Big Sisters to single parent youths.
United States · United States Congress · 13 September 1983
States that the United States: (1) condemns the Soviet destruction of Korean Air Lines flight 7; (2) calls for an explanation from the Soviets; (3) extends its sympathies to the families who lost loved ones and supports their rights to obtain reparations from the Soviets; (4) calls on the Soviets to assist in the recovery of the remains of the victims; (5) calls for an international investigation by the International Civil Aviation Organization; (6) declares its intention to demand that the Soviets modify their air defense procedures to assure the safety of commercial airliners; (7) finds that this incident will make it difficult for the U.S. and other nations to accept the Soviets as responsible members of the international community; and (8) urges our allies and other nations to cooperate with specified demands on the Soviets.
United States · United States Congress · 4 August 1983
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide that for calendar years 1985 through 1990 the cost-of-living adjustment for the individual income tax rates and the personal tax exemption shall take into account only inflation in excess of two percent per year. Provides a similar limitation on cost-of-living adjustments to benefits for the following programs for FY 1985 through 1990: (1) old age, survivors and disability benefits; (2) armed service retirement and retainer pay; (3) retired pay and retainer pay of members and former members of the Coast Guard; (4) retired pay of commissioned officers of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration or the Public Health Service; (5) civil service retirement benefits; (6) foreign service retirement benefits; (7) Central Intelligence Agency retirement benefits; (8) Federal workers' compensation; and (9) benefits under the Railroad Retirement Act of 1974.
United States · United States Congress · 4 August 1983
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a refundable income tax credit for expenses incurred in the care of elderly family members. Sets such credit at 30 percent of the expenses incurred for taxpayers with incomes of $25,000 or less. Reduces the rate of such credit, but not below 20 percent, by one percent for each $2,000 of taxpayer income in excess of $25,000. Limits such credit to taxpayers with an adjusted gross income of less than $75,000. Imposes a maximum $7,000 limit on the amount of elderly care expenses that can be taken into account. Defines "qualified family member" as any individual who: (1) is related to the taxpayer by blood or marriage; (2) is at least 70 years of age (or diagnosed with senile dementia); and (3) has a family income of $15,000 or less. Defines "qualified elderly care expenses" as payments for: (1) home health agency services; (2) homemaker services; (3) adult day care; (4) respite care; or (5) certain health care equipment and supplies.
United States · United States Congress · 4 August 1983
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide for the reporting of tips by large food or beverage establishments in lieu of allocation requirements if reported tips do not equal eight percent of gross receipts. Allows for a reduction of such percentage under certain circumstances.
United States · United States Congress · 3 August 1983
Interstate Compact - Grants congressional approval to the Southeast Interstate Compact on Low-Level Radioactive Waste Management, which provides for cooperation among the States of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia in the management of low-level radioactive waste on a continuing basis.
United States · United States Congress · 25 July 1983
Establishes the Kamehameha National Monument in Hawaii. Requires the Secretary of the Interior to provide facilities to commemorate the historical significance of the monument. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 19 July 1983
Sales Representation Contractual Relations Act - Title I: General Provisions - Sets forth findings and definitions. Title II: Contracts Between Sales Representatives and Principals - Subjects a principal to an indemnification action by a sales representative where a written contract exists between them under which the sales representative solicits orders from accounts and prospective accounts for the merchandise of the principal. Enumerates items to be included in any such written contract in order to conform with this Act. Title III: Indemnification - Exempts a principal from any indemnification action brought under this Act where: (1) a contract exists between the principal and sales representative which meets the requirements of Title I; or (2) the conduct of the principal for which indemnification is sought occurred before the sales representative had solicited orders on behalf of the principal for a period of 18 months. Permits a sales representative to bring an action for indemnification against a principal in any U.S. district court or State court where the principal: (1) terminates, without good cause, a sales representative from the assignment to solicit orders; or (2) reduces the size of any geographical territory assigned, the rate of commission paid, or the number of accounts assigned to a sales representative. Sets forth a formula for the computation of the amount of indemnification a principal shall pay in such an action. Provides that in an indemnification brought under this Act, the burden of proof shall be placed on the principal to show that the termination or reduction was for good cause if the sales representative presents certain evidence.
United States · United States Congress · 18 July 1983
Provides for the commemoration of the life of the late President Calvin Coolidge. Designates the week of August 1 through August 7, 1983, as the First Annual President Calvin Coolidge Week.
United States · United States Congress · 14 July 1983
Amends the Federal- State Extended Unemployment Compensation Act of 1970 and the Federal Supplemental Compensation Act of 1982 to provide alternative State triggers for the extended and the supplemental unemployment compensation programs based on specified total unemployment rates. Directs the Secretary of Labor to study alternatives to the insured unemployment rate which would be available with respect to all States and which might provide a more accurate measurement of the employment and labor market situation in each State. Directs the Secretary to report the results of such study to Congress within two months after the enactment of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 13 July 1983
National Archives Foundation Act of 1983 - Authorizes the establishment of the National Archives Foundation as a nonprofit foundation incorporated under the laws of the District of Columbia. States that such Foundation is not an entity of the U.S. Government. Requires the Foundation to be governed by a Board of Directors. Directs the Foundation to raise funds to support activities which increase understanding of U.S. history and the documents pertaining thereto. Authorizes the Foundation to accept and administer gifts. Requires the Foundation to report annually to: (1) the National Archives Trust Fund Board; (2) the Administrator of General Services; (3) the President; and (4) Congress.
United States · United States Congress · 13 July 1983
States the intent of Congress that the Secretary of Labor shall not require as a condition for approval of State plans under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 that States maintain higher staffing levels to enforce such Act than the Federal Government maintains to enforce such Act.
United States · United States Congress · 30 June 1983
Patent Term Restoration Act of 1983 - Amends the patent laws to extend the terms of patents which encompass specified products or a method for using a product, any of which are subject to certain nonpatent regulatory review periods. Sets forth the terms and conditions of such extension, including a seven year limitation. Directs the Commissioner of Patents to issue to the owner of record of a patent a certificate of extension stating the fact and length of the extension and identifying the product and the use and the claim to which such extension is applicable. Makes such certificate a part of the original patent. Limits the application of such patent term extension to patents for products subject to regulation under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, the Public Health Service Act, the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, the Toxic Substances Control Act, and the Act of March 4, 1913 (relating to virus, serum, toxin, and analogous products).
United States · United States Congress · 27 June 1983
Expresses the sense of the Congress that use of the five year quantitative restrictions recommended by the domestic specialty steel industry on imported specialty steel will: (1) eliminate unfair competition; and (2) provide time for plant modernization and for research and development projects. Urges the President to implement such import relief for the domestic industry in lieu of the restrictions recommended by the United States International Trade Commission.
United States · United States Congress · 2 June 1983
Authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to accept the donation of suitable markers for placement along the Daniel Boone Trail to commemorate the contributions of Daniel Boone.
United States · United States Congress · 1 June 1983
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the continuing possibility that the provisions of the Internal Revenue Code relating to withholding of tax from interest and dividends will be repealed is creating, for all payors, an undue hardship within the meaning of the Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 1982, and that the Secretary of the Treasury should exercise his authority under such Act to delay the effective date of such provisions until December 31, 1983.
United States · United States Congress · 24 May 1983
Hazardous Waste Reduction Act of 1983 - Title I - Amends the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (the Superfund Act) to authorize the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to make grants to States to assist States in: (1) carrying out hazardous waste enforcement programs under the Solid Waste Disposal Act; (2) carrying out remedial actions and other response measures necessary with respect to the release, or substantial threat of release, of any pollutant or contaminant from a facility not on the 400 top priority known response targets list but which the State determines may present an imminent and substantial danger to the public health or welfare; and (3) providing technical assistance to companies engaged in the recycling of hazardous substances. Requires that at least $200,000,000 of the amounts appropriated to the Hazardous Substance Response Trust Fund shall be reserved to make such grants to States. Revises provisions for audits by each Inspector General of each department or agency delegated responsibility to obligate money in the Hazardous Substance Response Trust Fund. Directs each such Inspector General to report annually to the President and the Congress on such auditing of the Fund and to specifically identify any improper uses of the Fund. Provides for reimbursement to the Fund for any improper expenditures. Extends through FY 1995 the authorization of appropriations for the Fund. Increases the yearly amount of such authorization of appropriations for FY 1986 through 1995 (above the yearly amount currently authorized through FY 1985). Amends the hazardous waste management provision of the Solid Waste Disposal Act (as amended by the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976) to establish a hazardous waste quantity assessment program. Directs the Administrator, in cooperation with the Secretary of the Treasury and the States, to develop and implement methods to estimate the quantities of hazardous waste which are generated in each calendar year, on the basis of specified data. Directs the Administrator to report at least annually to the Congress, comparing the quantities of hazardous waste estimated to have been generated during the preceding calendar year and the quantities of waste on which the recycling incentive tax on disposal of hazardous wastes was paid. Title II - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to replace (effective October 1, 1985) the environmental taxes on petroleum and chemical feedstocks with a recycling incentive tax on disposal of hazardous wastes (effective for FY 1985 through 1995). Sets forth tables for determining the amount of such tax. Distinguishes between: (1) toxic and nontoxic hazardous waste; (2) waste disposal before and after the end of FY 1990; and (3) disposal of waste and storage of waste for more than one year. Imposes such tax on the person disposing of such waste. Sets forth requirements for records, statements, and returns relating to such tax. Authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to prescribe any such requirements, as necessary, for persons involved in the treatment, storage, or disposal of hazardous wastes. Extends through FY 1995 the authority to collect taxes conferred by the Superfund Act.
United States · United States Congress · 23 May 1983
Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to: (1) remove the minimum wage floor for handicapped workers; and (2) link such workers' wages with worker productivity.
United States · United States Congress · 23 May 1983
Revises the definition of "food" under the Food Stamp Act of 1977 to increase from 16 to 25 the number of blind and disabled persons receiving social security benefits who may reside in a group-living arrangement for purposes of food stamp eligibility.
United States · United States Congress · 19 May 1983
Renewable Energy Incentive Act of 1983 - Title I: Certain Renewable Energy Source Incentives - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend for five years from 1985 to 1990 the investment tax credit for: (1) solar, wind, or geothermal property; (2) ocean thermal property; (3) hydroelectric generating property; and (4) biomass property. Allows an investment tax credit for cogeneration energy property until 1990. Increases the energy percentage for solar, wind, or geothermal energy and ocean thermal property from 15 percent to 25 percent. Increases the energy percentage for hydroelectric generating property from 11 percent to 15 percent. Allows an energy percentage of ten percent for cogeneration property. Extends the residential energy income tax credit from 1985 to 1990. Allows the regular investment tax credit for energy property which is considered to be a structural component of a building and is used as air or water heating equipment for such building. Allows an investment tax credit until 1995 for affirmative commitments made for projects concerning: (1) solar, wind, or geothermal property; (2) ocean thermal property; (3) biomass property; and (4) cogeneration property. Extends for seven years from 1988 to 1995 the investment tax credit for affirmative commitments made for certain hydroelectric generating property. Increases from two to five the number of possible sites for ocean thermal property. Allows an investment tax credit for ocean thermal property which produces energy used in a possession of the United States. (Present law requires that such energy be used in the continental United States.) Title II: Biomass Incentive - Treates as biomass property methane-containing gas produced by anaerobic digestion from nonfossil waste materials. Title III: Effective Date - Sets forth the effective date of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 18 May 1983
Rural Electrification and Telephone Revolving Fund Self-Sufficiency Act of 1983 - Amends the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 (REA) to eliminate the requirement for a State certificate of convenience and necessity before the Administrator may make loans to provide rural telephone service. Revises the liabilities and uses of the Rural Electrification and Telephone Revolving Fund established under the REA to provide that notes of the Administrator to the Secretary of the Treasury to obtain funds for loans shall be equity capital of the Fund. States that assets of the Fund shall be available only for: (1) payment of interest and principal on loans to the Administrator from the Secretary of the Treasury; and (2) for certificates of beneficial ownership issued to such Secretary or in the private market. Requires the Administrator to maintain two separate accounts within the fund: (1) the Electrification Account; and (2) the Telephone Account. Lists the items that shall be accounted for in each Account respectively, and restricts the purposes for which the assets of each Account shall be available. Authorizes the Administrator to repurchase specified certificates of beneficial ownership under certain conditions affecting their interest rates. Establishes guidelines for interest-bearing insured loans made by the Administrator to electric and telephone borrowers. Requires the Secretary of Agriculture to request in each annual supplemental budget estimate the amount needed to replenish the Fund for anticipated and actual costs resulting from loans made at less than a specified rate during the preceding fiscal year. Directs the Administrator to guarantee loans to specified borrowers or to accommodate or subordinate liens or mortgages held in the Fund, according to prescribed rules and regulations. Directs the Administration to promulgate such rules and regulations within 90 days after the effective date of this Act. Prescribes guidelines under which certain lenders are authorized to adjust interest rates on loans guaranteed by the Administrator. Requires rural electrification borrowers to obtain concurrent supplemental financing according to prescribed guidelines in any fiscal year in which the minimum loan level for insured rural electrification loans is less than $1,000,000,000. Repeals the loan-making authority of the Governor of the Rural Telephone Bank which require approval by the Secretary of Agriculture of facilities or lines to be acquired with such loans. Eliminates loan restrictions placed upon potential borrowers whose net worth exceed their assets by twenty percent.
United States · United States Congress · 11 May 1983
Church Audit Procedures Act of 1983 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to restrict the Secretary of the Treasury from investigating or auditing churches unless the Secretary possesses evidence causing him to believe that a church: (1) is carrying on an unrelated trade or business; or (2) should not be granted tax-exempt status. Restricts the Secretary from beginning any investigation unless he has first provided the church with written notice that an investigation is being commenced. Sets forth the requirements of such notice. Requires that the Secretary must first approve an application by the regional counsel of the internal revenue region for examination of church records and religious activities before beginning any such examination. Requires the Secretary, prior to the approval of any such application, to offer in writing an opportunity for a conference to discuss facts, evidence, and issues relevant to the investigation. Requires the Secretary to notify the church in writing of the approval of the application for examination at least 15 days prior to the commencement of such examination. Limits the examination of religious activities to that necessary to determine whether an organization is a church or convention or association of churches. Limits the examination of church records to that necessary to determine the amount of tax imposed. Allows an organization which claims that the Secretary has violated the provisions of this Act to bring a civil action for injunctive relief against the Secretary. Reduces the statute of limitations for collection after assessment of tax to three years in the case of any organization which is a church or convention or association of churches.
![Official portrait of Rep. Quillen, James H. (Jimmy) [R-TN-1]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/q000013_200.jpg)