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United States · Official source
1,821 records where Rep. Richmond, Frederick W. [D-NY-14] is listed as a sponsor, author, or other actor. Search with topics and years
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 1979
Soft Drink Interbrand Competition Act - Declares that exclusive territorial arrangements made as a part of a licensing agreement for the manufacture, distribution, or sale of a trademarked soft drink product are lawful under the antitrust laws provided such product is in substantial and effective competition with other products of the same general class.
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 1979
Handgun Crime Control Act of 1979 - Makes it unlawful for any person to import, manufacture, sell, buy, transfer, receive, or transport any handgun. Authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to exempt from this prohibition handguns: (1) required for the operation of licensed pistol clubs; (2) utilized by Federal, State, and local agencies; or (3) which are unserviceable and intended for use as collector's items. Establishes procedures for the reimbursement of persons voluntarily delivering handguns to a law enforcement agency. Specifies procedures for the licensing of pistol clubs, including conditions for approval of applications by the Secretary of the Treasury and administrative and judicial review of a license denial or revocation. Sets forth requirements for the operation of licensed pistol clubs, including record keeping of the receipt, sale, or other disposition of handguns. Allows the Secretary, upon request of any State or local government, to release information about the identity of pistol club members and their handguns. Imposes criminal penalties on persons violating the provisions of this Act, including those persons making misrepresentations in required records or license applications. Subjects to seizure and forfeiture any handgun used, or intended to be used, in violation of this Act or any other Federal criminal law.
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 1979
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow an individual age 62 or over an exclusion from gross income of up to $3,000 of interest income that would otherwise be includible. Reduces the amount of the exclusion by one-half of the amount by which the individual's adjusted gross income exceeds $5,500.
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 1979
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow an income tax deduction of up to $1,500 for household expenses to any taxpayer who maintains a household in which a dependent aged 65 or over resides.
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 1979
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to qualify expenditures for woodburning stoves for the 15 percent residential energy conservation credit.
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 1979
Congressional Award Program Act - Establishes the Congressional Award Program in the United States and its territories to recognize and promote youth leadership and excellence in the areas of expedition fitness, personal creative development, and public service. Creates a Congressional Award Board with a Director to supervise such program. Authorizes the appointment of State award directors under this Act. Creates three Congressional Award Medals to be awarded under this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 1979
Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to require that a statement of the steps that have been or will be taken to reduce unobligated balances of budget authority under Federal programs and an estimate of the level of unobligated balances of budget authority that will exist at the end of the fiscal year be included in: (1) the report accompanying the first concurrent resolution on the budget each year; (2) the annual reports submitted by other committees to the Budget Committees of the House of Representatives and the Senate; and (3) the President's annual budget.
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 1979
Stipulates that income received from post-1974 Social Security cost-of-living increases shall be excluded in determining the eligibility of an individual for benefits under: (1) title XVI (Supplemental Security Income) of the Social Security Act; (2) title XI (Aid to Families with Dependent Children) of such Act; (3) dependency and indemnity compensation plans for veteran's service connected deaths; (4) veterans' pension plans; (5) the Food Stamp Act of 1964; (6) the United States Housing Relief Act of 1937; or (7) any other Federal assistance program which conditions eligibility upon the income or resources of the applicant.
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 1979
Prohibits any creditor from discriminating against any applicant on the basis of the geographical location of the applicant's residence except when the credit is secured by the applicant's residence.
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 1979
Antirecession Supplementary Fiscal Assistance Amendments of 1979 - Amends the Public Works Employment Act of 1976 to establish a supplementary antirecession fiscal assistance program to aid local governments which have an average unemployment rate during a calendar quarter above six percent. Authorizes appropriations through fiscal year 1980 for the purposes of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 1979
Amends the Trade Act of 1974 to reserve textiles and textile products from trade negotiations to reduce duties or import restrictions.
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 1979
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exempt government chartered air museums operated exclusively for the care or use of antique, custom-built, racing, military or other special types of aircraft from the excise taxes on special fuels and the use of civil aircraft.
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 1979
Nuclear Energy Reappraisal Act - Directs the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to cease the granting of licenses or construction authorizations for nuclear fission powerplants pending the outcome of a comprehensive study by the Office of Technology Assessment. Continues such termination until Congress determines that safety and environmental hazards have been adequately studied and that nuclear fission plants are acceptable in comparison to other energy sources. Authorizes a resumption of licensing under limited conditions which shall be specified by Congress. Requires a five-year independent study of the nuclear fuel cycle by the Office of Technology Assessment. Empowers the Office to compel delivery of any information necessary for conducting such study. Directs all government agencies to cooperate fully with the Office. Requires the preparation of a final report with recommendations at the end of five years and annual progress reports. Requires the following specific issues to be considered in the final report: (1) safety and environmental hazards, including an analysis of reported malfunctions; (2) genetic effects of low level radiation; (3) economic implications of a long-term nature; (4) proliferation dangers; (5) economical and technical capabilities of utilities; and (6) licensing procedures of past regulatory agencies. Stipulates that existing nuclear fission powerplants shall operate at less than licensed core power level and be annually derated should Congress fail to determine that the licensing of fission plants may continue after conclusion of the study. Requires the Federal Government, to the maximum extent possible, to expend funds for employment creation programs in areas where unemployment has been caused by the implementation of this Act. Authorizes the appropriation of $15,000,000 per year for each of the five fiscal years following the date of enactment of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 1979
Title I: Domestic Oil Pollution Liability, Compensation, and Fund - Establishes in the Treasury of the United States the Comprehensive Oil Spill Liability Fund for the purposes of paying for otherwise uncompensated losses resulting from oil pollution. Enumerates the sources of monies to be deposited in such fund, including a fee not to exceed three cents per barrel of oil, imposed upon owners of facilities receiving oil. Obligates owners of such oil to reimburse the refinery or terminal the full amount of the fee levied on such person's oil. Imposes a civil penalty on any person required to pay or collect such fees who fails to do so. Authorizes the Secretary of Transportation to issue obligations to the Secretary of the Treasury at times when fund assets are insufficient to meet fund liabilities. Lists the types of injuries which may be compensated under this Act and the potential claimants who have standing to assert claims involving each such type of damage. Imposes joint, several, and strict liability on the owners and operators of each pollution source. Specifies liability limits, except in cases of gross negligence or willful misconduct, for ships and other vessels. Directs the Secretary of Transportation to establish limits on the liability of classes of facilities used for transporting, producing, processing, storing, or transferring oil. Requires the owner or operator: (1) of any such facility; or (2) of any vessel which uses such facility or navigable waters of the United States, to establish and maintain evidence of financial responsibility in an amount sufficient to satisfy applicable liability limits. Directs the person in charge of a vessel or facility to immediately notify the Secretary of Transportation of any pollution incident in which the vessel or facility is involved. Specifies procedures whereby the Secretary may, in the absence of such an admission, designate and advertise pollution sources. Directs the Secretary, in instances in which (1) the owner and operator of a vessel or facility designated by the Secretary deny such vessel's or facility's involvement; (2) the source of the discharge is a public vessel; or (3) the Secretary is unable to designate the pollution source, to advertise claims with limited exceptions to be presented initially to the owner or operator, or to such person's guarantor. Permits claimants either to present a claim to the fund or to bring an action in an appropriate United States court if liability is denied or the claim is not settled within a specified period. Sets forth procedures for the disposition and appeal of claims submitted to the fund. Requires both the plaintiff and the defendant in a court action brought against an owner, operator, or guarantor to forward copies of all pleadings to the fund. Permits the fund to intervene in such actions. Subrogates any person or government entity, including the fund, paying compensation to all the claimant's claims and rights under this Act. Specifies procedures for and the measure of recovery in actions brought by the fund against owners, operators, or guarantors of alleged pollution sources. Declares that the rights and remedies under this Act shall be exclusive with respect to economic loss caused by oil pollution. Sets penalties for persons failing to comply with specified provisions in this Act. Directs the President to conduct a study to determine whether adequate private oil pollution protection is reasonably available to owners and operators of vessels and facilities. Title II: Effective Dates; Conforming Amendments - Specifies the effective date of this Act. Amends specified laws, including the Deepwater Port Act of 1974, the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, and the Trans-Alaska Pipeline Act, to conform with the the provisions of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 1979
Title I: Authorizations and Miscellaneous Amendments - Amends the Small Business Act to authorize appropriations for specified programs and expenses of the Small Business Administration. States that all appropriations, whether specifically or generally authorized, shall remain available until expended. Authorizes the Administration to make disaster loans available to small business concerns affected by a shortage of energy-producing resources caused by a strike, boycott, or embargo unless such strike, boycott or embargo is directly against such small business concern. Makes specified low-interest disaster loans available until October 1, 1982. Amends the Small Business Investment Act of 1958 to repeal the authority of the Administration to invest sums from the revolving fund for surety bond guarantees in Treasury bonds, obligations, and other guaranteed debt securities. Authorizes such investments from the revolving fund for qualified contract guarantees. Transfers specified provisions of the Act which established an Office of Advocacy within the Small Business Administration to the Small Business Act. Title II: Small Business Development Centers - Authorizes the Small Business Administration to make grants to States, State agencies, regional entities, State-chartered development credit corporations, and institutions of higher learning to assist in establishing Small Business Development Centers. Requires such grants to be matched in equal amounts by funds from non-Federal sources. Establishes additional restrictions on such grants for fiscal years 1979 through 1982. States that Small Business Development Centers shall have a full-time staff, business and technology analysts, information and professional specialists, and access to laboratory and engineering facilities. Requires such Centers to provide small businesses with business and technology counseling, information on government regulations, library services, and comprehensive studies and surveys. Directs federally funded laboratories and innovation centers to cooperate with the Small Business Development Centers. Requires the Administrator of the Small Business Administration to appoint a Deputy Associate Administrator for Management and Technical Assistance to administer the Small Business Development Center program. Establishes a National Small Business Development Center Advisory Board consisting of nine civilian members. Sets forth provisions governing the appointment of members, a Chairman, meetings, and compensation of the Board. Directs the Small Business Administration to conduct an evaluation of the Development Center program and to submit a report to the appropriate committees of Congress within three years. Title III: White House Conference on Small Business - White House Conference on Small Business Act - Directs the President to convene a White House Conference on Small Business by June 30, 1980, to identify the problems of small business concerns and to make recommendations for executive and legislative action. Requires the Conference to submit a report to the President and the Congress within one year of the date it convenes. Requires the Small Business Administration to report to the Congress within three years on the status and implementation of the findings and recommendations of the Conference. Authorizes appropriations for the expenses of the Conference.
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 1979
Humane Methods of Research Act - Authorizes the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare to make grants for research and development of new methods of research, experimentation, and testing which minimize the use of, and the pain inflicted upon, live animals. Authorizes appropriations to carry out the purposes of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 1979
Handgun Control Act of 1979 - Makes it unlawful for any person to import, manufacture, sell, buy, transfer, receive, transport, own, or possess any handgun or handgun ammunition. Authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to exempt from this prohibition handguns: (1) required for the operation of licensed pistol clubs; (2) utilized by Federal, State, and local agencies or by licensed security guard services; or (3) manufactured before 1890 and which are unserviceable and intended for use as collector's items. Specifies procedures for the licensing of pistol clubs, including conditions for approval of applications by the Secretary of the Treasury and administrative and judicial review of a license denial or revocation. Sets forth requirements for the operation of licensed pistol clubs, including record keeping of the receipt, sale, or other disposition of handguns. Imposes criminal penalties on persons violating the provisions of this Act, including those persons making misrepresentations in required records or license applications. Subjects to seizure and forfeiture any handgun used, or intended to be used, in violation of this Act or any other Federal criminal law. Establishes procedures for the reimbursement of persons voluntarily delivering handguns to a law enforcement agency.
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 1979
Electric Utilities Rate Reform Act of 1979 - Directs State and local electric utility regulatory authorities to implement and maintain rate schedules which distribute costs to consumer classes in accordance with consumption patterns. Requires that rate schedules accurately reflect long-run incremental costs of service and that price differentials between consumer classes reflect actual document differentials in cost of service. Prohibits regulatory authorities from allowing recoupment of promotional and advertising expenses, unless such expenses finance efforts encouraging the conservation of electricity or the shifting of electricity consumption from peak load periods to off-peak load periods. Establishes standards to regulate monthly changes in rates by the use of fuel adjustment clauses. Establishes standards of determining the effective date of proposed changes in rates and schedules. Authorizes the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to provide financial assistance to non-Federal regulatory authorities as necessary to meet additional costs incurred as a result of complying with provisions of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 1979
Sludge Management Act of 1979 - Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to study the environmental, health, and economic effects of subsurface landfilling sludge on soils and ground water, and alternate methods of sludge disposal. Directs the Administrator to develop guidelines for sludge disposal and land-spreading in order to protect the public health and welfare. Authorizes the Administrator to make grants to States and localities of up to 40 percent of the cost of removal of sludge from navigable waters of the United States or any adjacent shoreline. Directs the Administrator to establish an Environmental Protection Agency Task Force on sludge removal. Authorizes the establishment of programs of training, demonstration, and surveys relating to the restoration of water quality where degraded by sludge. Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to prohibit grants for treatment works, unless the applicant demonstrates that adequate, confined sludge disposal methods will be provided.
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 1979
Personal Safety Firearms Act of 1979 - Title I: Registration - Makes it unlawful to possess a firearm not registered as provided by this title. Exempts from this prohibition firearms, previously unregistered, which are: (1) held by a licensed dealer for sale; (2) continuously possessed by an individual up to 180 days after the effective date of this Act; or (3) possessed by Federal, State, or local governments. Requires a purchaser of a firearm from a person other than a licensed dealer to make application with the Secretary of the Treasury for the registration of the firearm. Directs a seller of a registered firearm to return the certificate of registration to the Secretary. Requires a licensed dealer to accept from a purchaser a completed application for registration of the firearm and to file such application with the Secretary. Specifies data to be included in such application. Prohibits a licensed dealer from: (1) receiving firearms by pledge or pawn without a registration certificate; and (2) selling ammunition without seeing a purchaser's certificate. Requires the possessor of a firearm to notify the Secretary within ten days of loss, theft, or destruction of the firearm. Imposes criminal penalties for violation of the registration requirements and for the knowing falsification of information required by this title. Authorizes the Secretary to pay reasonable value for the voluntary relinquishment of firearms. Title II: Licensing - Specifies requirements for an adequate permit system for the possession of firearms, and directs the Secretary of the Treasury to determine which States have adopted such systems. Makes it unlawful to transfer any firearm or ammunition to any person who does not have a valid State or Federal permit. Specifies qualifications which must be met before a licensed dealer shall issue a Federal gun license. Requires dealers to maintain records of all licenses issued. Title III: Specifications for Approved Handguns - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to not approve for sale or delivery by a licensed dealer, importer, manufacturer, or collector any handgun model unless samples of such model are evaluated and found to meet certain standards. Specifies standards for pistols and revolvers, including dimensions, frame construction, weight, caliber, and safety features. Authorizes the Secretary to issue additional standards made necessary by changes in the technology or manufacture of handguns. Directs the Secretary to compile and publish annually in the Federal Register a list of approved handgun models, and to furnish such list to approved licensees. Sets forth procedures where handgun models are found not to comply with the relevant standards. Makes it unlawful for any person to reduce the length of a previously approved handgun if, as a result of such reduction, the handgun no longer meets the approved standards.
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 1979
Amends the Arms Export Control Act to extend the period of time during which Congress can adopt a concurrent resolution objecting to a proposed arms sale.
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 1979
Press Protection Act - Prohibits any person acting under color of law, without a prior adversary court proceeding, from searching any place or seizing any things in the possession, custody, or control of any person engaged in the gathering or dissemination of news for the print or broadcast media, unless with a warrant issued by a court upon probable cause that such person has committed or is committing a criminal offense. Establishes a criminal fine of not more than $10,000 for violation of this Act, and creates a civil cause of action for any person aggrieved by a violation. Allows punitive damages of up to $10,000, and reasonable attorneys' fees.
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 1979
Amends titles XI, part A (General Provisions) and XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to increase the dollar limitations on Medicaid payments to Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Virgin Islands, and to eliminate the 50 percent limitation on the Federal medical assistance percentage applicable to the Medicaid programs of such territories and to raise such limitation to the same level as that in the States.
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 1979
Senior Citizens Health Insurance Standards Act of 1979 - Directs each State to submit to the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare a plan specifying certain minimum standards applicable for the sale of health insurance to the elderly. Amends Title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to direct the Secretary to conduct studies for the purpose of making recommendations to Congress concerning: (1) a uniform approach for regulating all private health insurance offered to the aged and disabled; and (2) the feasibility of health insurance coverage under title XVIII in addition to the coverage now provided under parts A (Hospital Insurance) and B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) of such title.
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 1979
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to deny an income tax deduction for any expenses paid or incurred to advertise alcoholic beverages.
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 1979
Nondiscrimination in Insurance Act of 1979 - Prohibits any discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin regarding contracts for, or terms of, insurance policies. Permits insurers, who regularly provide insurance solely to persons of a single religious affiliation, to continue to do so. Authorizes the Federal Trade Commission to administer and enforce this Act. Requires aggrieved persons to file such discrimination charges with State or local agencies in certain circumstances. Sets forth the procedures on charges filed with the Commission. Requires insurers to keep records and make reports as the Commission shall prescribe. Provides penalties for disclosure of information by employees of the Commission. Authorizes civil actions in U.S. district courts by the Commission if a conciliation agreement cannot be secured from the insurer. Allows an aggrieved person to institute a civil action against the insurer if the Commission has not instituted a civil action within certain time periods. Specifies the judicial relief available, if the court determines that the insurer has committed a discriminatory action.
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 1979
Age Discrimination in Employment Amendments of 1979 - Amends the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 to remove the existing 70-year upper age limit to which the prohibitions of such Act apply, thereby extending the protection of such Act to all individuals who are at least 40 years of age. Specifies that there shall be no exceptions to the prohibitions of such Act because of the nature of employment of an individual, or retirement benefits to which an individual may be entitled. Repeals provisions restricting the employment or compensation of an individual in the Federal civil service, Government of the District of Columbia, Foreign Service, or Army Corps of Engineers after such individual retires with an annuity or reaches retirement age. Repeals automatic separation requirements based on age and length of service which relate to employees of the Alaska Railroad, the Panama Canal Company, the Canal Zone Government, and to air traffic controllers and Federal law enforcement officers and firefighters.
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 1979
Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1979 - Title I: Findings, Policy, and Definitions - Declares it the purpose of this Act to preserve for the benefit of present and future generations certain lands in the State of Alaska in order to: (1) preserve unrivaled scenic, geologic, and wildlife values; (2) perpetuate significant and diverse eecosystems; (3) protect and preserve cultural values of Native and non-Native people; (4) provide recreation; (5) maintain wilderness resource values; (6) preserve rivers; (7) maintain opportunities for research; and (8) utilize natural resources, consistent with sound ecological principals. Provides that: (1) intangible values should be considered on an equal basis with tangible values; (2) the management policies should cause the least adverse impact possible to people who depend on subsistence uses of resources; (3) the interests of the State of Alaska and the Native Corporations shall be continually considered in carrying out provisions of this Act to maintain a viable economy and provide employment for citizens of Alaska. Title II: National Park System - Designates as units of the National Park System: (1) Ainakchak National Monument; (2) Bering Land Bridge National Monument; (3) Cape Krusenstern National Monument; (4) Gates of the Arctic National Monument; (5) Kenai Fjords National Monument; Kobuk Valley National Monument; (7) Lake Clark National Monument; (8) Noatak National Monument; Wrangell-Saint Elias National Monument; (10) Yukon-Charley National Monument; and (11) Katmai National Monument. Expands and redesignates: (1) Mount McKinley National Park by the addition of Denali National Monument to be redesignated as Denali National Park; and (2) Glacier Bay National Monument by the addition of 40,000 acres to be redesignated as Glacier Bay National Park. Establishes as units of the National Park System: (1) Aniakchak National Preserve; (2) Lake Clark National Preserve; and (3) Noatak National Preserve. Establishes and designates as units of the National Wilderness Preservation System certain lands in: (1) Aniakchak National Park and Preserve; (2) Bering Land Bridge National Park; (3) Cape Krusenstern National Park; (4) Denali National Park; (5) Gates of the Arctic National Park; the Arctic Wilderness; (6) Glacier Bay National Park; (7) Katmai National Park; (8) Kenai Fjords National Park; (9) Kobuk Valley National Park; (10) Lake Clark National Park and Preserve; (11) Noatak National Park; (12)Wrangell-Saint Elias National Park; and (13) Yukon-Charley National Park. Directs the Secretary of the Interior to study the nondesignated areas within the boundaries of the National Park System and report to the President and Congress on the suitability of all roadless areas for preservation as wilderness. Directs the Secretary of the Interior to administer all Alaska lands, waters, and interests in accordance with applicable laws and this Act. Incorporates the redesignated national monuments specified in this Act as part of the appropriate national park. Makes available for the appropriate national park any funds that were available for the corresponding monument. Subjects the portion of the Alaska Railroad right-of-way within Denali National Park to the applicable laws and regulations. Permits the continuation of reindeer grazing within Bering Land Bridge National Park. Prohibits the Secretary, generally, from acting to restrict unreasonably the exercise of valid commercial fishing rights or privileges obtained pursuant to State or Federal law, with respect to the Malaspina Glacier area of Wrangell-Saint Elias National Park and the Dry Bay area of Glacier Bay National Park. Title III: National Wildlife Refuge System - Redesignates Becharof National Monument as Becharof National Wildlife Monument and Yukon Flats National Monument as Yukon Flats National Wildlife Monument. Designates as units of the National Wildlife Refuge System: (1) Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge; (2) Alaska Peninsula National Wildlife Refuge; (3) Copper River National Wildlife Refuge; (4) Iliamna National Wildlife Refuge; (5) Innoko National Wildlife Refuge; (6) Kanuti National Wildlife Refuge; (7) Koyukuk National Wildlife Refuge; (8) Nowitna National Wildlife Refuge; (9) Selawik National Wildlife Refuge; (10) Teshekpuk National Wildlife Refuge; (11) Tetlin National Wildlife Refuge; and (12) Utukok National Wildlife Refuge. Expands the following units of the National Wildlife Refuge System: (1) Arctic National Wildlife Range; (2) Cape Newenham National Wildlife Refuge; (3) Clarence Rhode National Wildlife Range and Hazen Bay National Wildlife Refuge; and (4) Kenai National Moose Range. Designates as wilderness and components of the National Wilderness Preservation System certain lands in: (1) Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge (to be known as Alaska Maritime Wilderness, Aleutian Islands Wilderness, Unimak Wilderness and Semidi Wilderness); (2) Alaska Peninsula National Wildlife Refuge (to be known as Pavlof wilderness and Chiginagak Wilderness); (3) Arctic National Wildlife Range; (4) Becharof National Wildlife Monument; (5) Copper River National Wildlife Refuge; (6) Innoko National Wildlife Refuge; (7) Izembek National Wildlife Range; (8) Kanuti National Wildlife Refuge; (9) Kenai National Wildlife Range; (10) Kodiak National Wilderness Refuge; (11) Koyukuk National Wildlife Refuge; (12) Nowitna National Wildlife Refuge; (13) Nunivak National Wildlife Refuge; (14) Selawik National Wildlife Refuge; (15) Tetlin National Wildlife Refuge; (16) Togiak National Wildlife Range; (17) Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge (to be known as Andreafsky Wilderness and Kisaralik Wilderness); and (18) Yukon Flats National Wildlife Monument (to be known as Hodzana Wilderness and White Mountain Wilderness). Directs the Secretary of the Interior to review all areas within the National Wildlife Refuge System established or expanded by this Act as to their suitability for preservation as wilderness. Directs the President to advise Congress as to the Secretary of the Interior's recommendations. Declares that all Executive orders and other administrative actions which were in effect on the day before the date of enactment of this Act will remain in force, except to the extent that they are inconsistent with this Act or the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. Makes available for the purposes of any conservation unit established under this Act all funds that were previously available. Directs the Secretary of the Interior to administer each wildlife refuge subject to valid existing rights and in accordance with applicable law and this Act. Prohibits the Secretary from permitting uses or granting easements in the above-designated refuges which are not compatible with the major purposes of the refuge. Withdraws, subject to valid existing rights, all public lands in each refuge from all forms of appropriation under the mining laws and from operation of the mineral leasing laws. Authorizes the Secretary to permit oil and gas development under a leasing program. Directs the Secretary to undertake to enter into cooperative management agreements with Native Corporations, the State, or persons owning land within or adjacent to a refuge. States that each such agreement shall provide that the land subject to the agreement shall be managed by the owner in a manner compatible with the major purposes of the refuge, and in a manner which will not diminish opportunities for subsistence uses in the refuge. Sets forth terms and conditions for such agreements. States that the Congress finds that barren-ground caribou are a migratory species deserving special protection and that the Western Arctic and Porcupine herds of such caribou are of national and international significance. Directs the Secretary to conduct a study of the barren-ground caribou herds north of the Yukon River, and, acting through the Secretary of State, to initiate negotiations with the Government of Canada in order to enter into a treaty to protect the Porcupine caribou herd and its habitat. Directs the Secretary of the Interior to conduct an assessment of the bald eagle in the Chilkat River area in order to determine habitat use, dynamics of salmon runs on which the eagles feed, seasonal movement patterns, and effects on the eagle population of developments by man. Directs the Secretary to develop a proposal to conserve bald eagles and other wildlife in the region, insure compatible land uses, provide for land lease agreements to facilitate the proposal. Title IV: National Forest System - Expands as units of the National Forest System the Tongass National Forest and the Chugach National Forest. Designates as wilderness and components of the National Wilderness Preservation System certain lands in: (1) Chugach National Forest, to be known as Nellie Juan Wilderness, College Fjord Wilderness, Red Peak Wilderness, and Tonki Cape Wilderness); (2) Admiralty Island National Monument; (3) Tongass National Forest, (to be known as Endicott Wilderness, Etolin Island Wilderness, Idaho Inlet Wilderness, Karta Wilderness, and King Salmon Capes Wilderness; (4) Misty Fjords National Monument; (5) Tongass National Forest, to be known as Petersburg Creek-Duncan Canal Wilderness, Prince of Wales Wilderness, Rocky Pass Wilderness, Russell Fjord Wilderness, Stikine- LeConte Wilderness, South Baranof Wilderness, Tebenkof Wilderness, Tracy-Arms-Ford Terror Wilderness, and West Chichagof-Yakobi Wilderness). Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to study and report to the President and Congress in accordance with the Wilderness Act recommendations as to the suitability of the Western Prince William Sound for preservation as wilderness. Specifies that the provisions of this Act apply only to the lands within Alaska and nothing in this Act shall be interpreted to expand, diminish, or modify provisions of the Wilderness Act with respect to lands outside of Alaska. Allows the Secretary of Agriculture to permit fishery research, management, enhancement, and rehabilitation activities within national forest wilderness areas designated by this Act in accordance with the goal of restoring and maintaining anadromous fish production in the Tongass National Forest. Sets forth factors to be considered in allowing such activity. Directs that previously existing public use cabins within national forest wilderness may be permitted to continue subject to necessary restrictions deemed to preserve the wilderness character of the area. Authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to construct and maintain a limited number of new cabins and shelters. Authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to permit commercial fishery activities within national forest wilderness in accordance with principles of sound fisheries management. Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to modify any existing national forest timber sale contracts applying to lands designated by this Act as wilderness by substituting other national forest lands of corresponding quality, quantity, and access, to the extent practicable. Authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to acquire timber rights to those lands selected for the village of Angoon under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act by purchase or exchange for timber rights elsewhere within the Tongass National Forest. Allows, at the election of the shareholders of Kootznoowoo, Inc., the conveyance of timber rights to lands selected by the corporation to the Secretary of Agriculture, and within one year after such a conveyance the conveyance to Kootznoowoo, Inc. of timber rights which are of equal value to those conveyed to the Secretary. Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to designate alternative lands, of equal or greater timber value, for the benefit of Shee Atika, Inc., in satisfaction of the rights of the Natives of Sitka as provided by the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. Specifies that such lands shall be located in southeast Alaska other than Admiralty Island. Sets forth procedures for conveyance of surface and subsurface rights, and the release of such rights. Directs the Secretary of the Interior to reimburse Shee Atika, Inc., Goldbelt, Inc., and Kootznoowoo, Inc. for reasonable and necessary land selection costs. Specifies that permits issued by the Forest Service, before the enactment of this Act, for a dwelling or campsite in the Admiralty Island National Monument, Misty Fjords National Monument, or any wilderness area, shall expire not later than ten years after the enactment of this Act. Provides a limited exception to such permit expiration for Thayer Lake Lodge. Amends the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act to prohibit land conveyed to a Native Corporation pursuant to this Act or the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, which is within a contingency area designated in a U.S. timber sale contract, to be subject to such contract or to entry or timbering by the contractor. Prohibits a timber contractor form entering or cutting timber from land in a contingency area that has been withdrawn or selected by a Native Corporation until such Corporation has received all conveyances. Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to improve timber production from high quality timber growing sites in the Tongass National Forest through a program of precommercial thinning. Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to establish an insured or guaranteed loan program for purchasers of national forest materials in Alaska to assist such purchasers in the acquisition of equipment to use wood products which might not otherwise be utilized. Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to carry out a study and report to Congress to identify opportunities to increase timber yields on national forest lands in Alaska, and to reduce inefficient timber uses or waste of national forest produced fiber. Title V: National Wild and Scenic Rivers System - Amends the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act by adding to the Wild and Scenic Rivers System the following rivers (or segments thereof) which are outside the boundaries of other conservation system units: Birch Creek, Colville, Copper, Delta, Etivluk-Nigu, Fortymile, Gulkana, Alagnak, Killik, Nowitna, Stony, Unalakleet, and Yukon (Ramparts section). Adds to the system the following rivers (or segments thereof) which form the boundary of, or are within, any national preserves in Alaska: Aniakchak (including its major tributaries), Chilikadrotna, Mulchatna, Stonu, and Telaquana. Adds to the system portions of the following rivers which form the boundary of, or are within, any national wildlife refuge in Alaska: Nowitna, Porcupine, Sheenjek, Andreafsky, Ivishak, Kanektok, Kisaralik, Wind, Beaver Creek, Copper, Selawik, Squirrel, and Utukok. Requires that detailed boundaries and development plans be established for specified rivers within one to three years of the date of enactment of this Act. Designates the following rivers to be studied for possible inclusion in the system: Holitna-Hoholitna, Ikpikpuk, Koyuk, Kuskokwim, Melozitna, Mulchatna, Nelchina-Tazlina, Nuyakuk, Situk, Susitna. Sets forth time requirements for completion of such studies. Authorizes the Secretary to seek cooperative agreements with the owners of non-Federal lands adjoining rivers which are newly designated units of the Wild and Scenic Rivers System. Permits the Secretary to establish a river protection zone extending two miles from the banks of such rivers. Withdraws the minerals in Federal lands within the boundaries of such rivers and within each such river protection zone from all forms of appropriation under United States mining laws. Authorizes the Secretary to permit the use of snowmobiles for customary purposes by local residents and by authorized subsistence users, if such use was occurring on or before January 1, 1979. Authorizes the Secretary to promulgate regulations to protect the quality and quantity of water in the Wulik River. Allows the Secretary to grant rights-of-way for oil and gas pipelines across the Iditarod Trail or a wild and scenic river when there exists no alternative route. Sets forth the requirements for obtaining a permit for an oil or gas pipeline. Title VI: Federal-State Coordination - Establishes the Alaska Advisory Coordinating Council, cochaired by the Secretary of the Interior and the Governor of Alaska and composed of the Alaska field directors of the Federal land managing and planning agencies; the Commissioners of the Alaska Departments of Natural Resources, Fish and Game, and Environmental Conservation; and representatives from a Village Corporation and a Regional Corporation. Requires that all Council meetings be open to the public, with at least 15 days prior notice in the Federal Register and in newspapers of general circulation in Alaska. Directs the Council to conduct studies and advise the Secretary, other Federal agencies, the State, and Native Corporations regarding land and resource uses in Alaska, including natural resource management, economic development, and other land administration programs. Authorizes the Council to recommend cooperative planning and management zones where the management of lands or resources of one member materially affects another. Authorizes Federal members of the Council to enter into cooperative agreements with Federal agencies, with State and local agencies, and with Native Corporations for mutual consultation, review, and coordination of resource management plans within such zones. Authorizes the Secretary to provide technical and other assistance to landowners whose lands or resources are subject to a cooperative agreement, for fire control, trespass control, law enforcement, resource use, and planning. States that such assistance may be provided without reimbursement if the Secretary determines that doing so would further the purposes of the cooperative agreement and would be in the public interest. Provides that the Council will terminate in ten years, unless extended by Congress. Directs the Council to establish a citizens' advisory committee of land-use advisors. Establishes the Alaska Land Bank Program to facilitate the coordinated management and protection of Federal, State, and Native and other private lands. Authorizes certain private landowners to enter into agreements with the Secretary for ten years, with five year renewal periods, concerning the management of the affected lands. Sets forth required terms of such agreements, as well as benefits to private landowners. Provides, as to Native corporations and other persons or groups that have received or will receive lands or interests therein pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act on this title, immunity from adverse possession, Federal and State taxation, and judgment in any action at law or equity to recover sums owed or penalties incurred by any Native Corporation, or any officer, director, or stockholder of any such Corporation. Title VII: Subsistence - Declares the first priority of this Act to be consumptive uses of fishing and other renewable resources for nonwasteful subsistence uses by local rural residents. Stipulates that restrictions on the taking of populations of fish and wildlife on such lands for subsistence uses in order to protect the continued viability of such populations, or to continue such uses, shall be based on: (1) customary and direct dependence upon the populations as the mainstay of livelihood; (2) local residency; and (3) the availability of alternative resources. Directs the Secretary, if the State fails to do so, to establish: (1) at least seven Alaska subsistence resource regions which, taken together, include all public lands; (2) such local advisory committees within each region, as necessary, based upon a finding that the existing State fish and game advisory committees do not adequately assist in the preparation of the reports required of the regional councils; and (3) a regional advisory council in each subsistence region, to be composed of residents of the affected region. Sets forth the duties of such regional councils in regard to subsistence uses of fish and wildlife within the regions, including the preparation of annual reports to the Secretary. Requires that such reports contain identifications, evaluations and recommended strategies for the management of fish and wildlife populations within the regions, as well as recommendations concerning policies, standards, guidelines, and regulations to implement such strategies. Directs the Secretary to follow the advice of such councils unless he determines in writing that such advice is not supported by substantial evidence, violates recognized principles of fish and wildlife conservation, or would be detrimental to the satisfaction of subsistence needs. Directs the Secretary to take certain administrative action if it is determined that the program or implementation is not in compliance with this Act. Gives the Secretary authority to close public areas to all consumptive uses except subsistence uses by local residents. Sets forth procedures for hearings and appeal by the State. Gives the Secretary emergency authority to temporarily close any public land to subsistence uses if necessary for public safety, administration, or to insure the natural stability and continued productivity of one or more fish or wildlife populations. Authorizes the Secretary to enter into cooperative agreements or to otherwise cooperate with other Federal agencies, the State of Alaska, Native Corporations, and other appropriate persons and organizations, (including, through coordination with the Secretary of State, other nations) in order to protect subsistence resources and uses. Prohibits the appropriate Federal agency from withdrawal, reservation, lease, permit, or other use, occupancy or disposition of lands within their jurisdiction if the effect would be to significantly restrict the subsistence uses unless the head of the agency: (1) gives notice to the appropriate State agency, local committees and regional councils; (2) gives notice of, and holds, a hearing in the vicinity of the area involved; and (3) makes specific determinations regarding the purpose and the effect of the restriction. Directs the Secretary to insure the access to subsistence resources on public lands to persons engaged in subsistence uses. Directs the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and National Park Service to undertake research on fish and wildlife subsistence activities on the public lands. Title VIII: Administrative and Miscellaneous Provisions - Authorizes the Secretary to acquire by purchase, donation, or exchange any lands within the boundaries of any conservation system unit. Stipulates that land owned by the State, a political subdivision or a Native Corporation may only by acquired with their consent. Sets forth administrative provisions relating to such acquisitions. Allows the Secretary to permit on conservation system units the use of snow machines, motorboats, airplanes, and nonmotorized transportation methods, subject to reasonable regulation. Directs the Secretary to authorize and permit temporary access by the State or a private landowner to any conservation system unit, the Alaskan National Petroleum Reserve, or public lands for the purposes of survey and geophysical study and adequate access State or privately owned land and valid mining claims. Removes certain restrictions from sections of the North Slope Haul Road. Authorizes the Secretary to acquire up to 7,500 acres of archaeological or paleontological sites outside of the Cape Krusenstern National Park, Bering Land Bridge National Park, Kobuk Valley National Park, and the Yukon-Charley Rivers National Park. Requires the Secretary, prior to acquiring any such property in excess of 100 acres to submit notice of the proposed acquisition to the appropriate committees of the Congress, and publish notice of such proposed acquisition in the Federal Register. Directs the Secretary to provide advice, assistance, and technical expertise to an applying Native Corporation or Native Group for the purpose of preserving cultural resources, without regard to whether title to such resources is in the United States. Authorizes the Secretary to establish an information and education center for visitors to Alaska, on no more than 1,000 acres of land adjacent to the Alaska Highway. Authorizes the Secretary to establish such centers in Anchorage and Fairbanks, and authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to establish such a center in Juneau, Ketchikan, or Sitka. Sets forth provisions relating to program planning, construction, operation and administration of such centers. Authorizes the Secretary to establish administrative sites and visitor facilities within the conservation units, if compatible, or outside the units. Directs the Secretary to locate such sites and facilities on Native lands where practicable and desirable. Sets forth the authorities of the Secretary in regard to establishing such sites and facilities. Directs the Secretary, under reasonable terms, to permit a person who on or before January 1, 1979, was adequately providing any type of visitor service to a conservation system unit, to continue providing the services if they are consistent with the purposes of the unit. Requires that the Secretary, in selecting persons to provide visitor services, give preference to Native Corporations most directly affected by the conservation system unit, and local residents. Directs the Secretary to establish a local-hire program, under which the Secretary will consider for selection qualified local residents to positions in any of the units, without regard to civil service regulations which require minimum periods of formal training or experience, other preference provisions, or numerical limitations on personnel. Requires the Secretary to submit annual reports and recommendations to Congress on such program. Requires the Secretary to prepare detailed management plans for national park and wildlife refuge units and submit them to Congress within five years of the date of enactment of this Act. Sets forth requirements for such plans, factors which must be considered, public hearings requirements, and requirements for reports to the appropriate committees of Congress. Closes all areas of the National Park System in Alaska to the taking of fish and wildlife, except for authorized subsistence use, fishing, and sport hunting as the Secretary may permit within national preserves. Stipulates that other conservation units will be subject to applicable Federal and State law. Requires that the boundary maps described in this Act shall be on file and available for public inspection in the office of the Secretary of Interior and Secretary of Agriculture. Specifies that in the event of discrepancies between the acreages stated in this Act and those depicted on such maps, the maps shall be controlling. Prohibits the boundaries of areas added to the national systems to extend beyond the mean high tide line to include lands owned by the State unless the State concurs. Directs that a map and legal description of each change in land management status effected by this Act be published in the Federal Register and filed with the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President of the Senate, and that each such description shall have the same force as if included in this Act. Directs that the Secretary shall make each such map and description available for public inspection. Authorizes the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture to make minor adjustments in the boundaries or areas added to or established by this Act, as appropriate, following reasonable notice in writing to Congress. Permits reasonable access to and operation and maintenance of existing air and navigation aids and facilities for weather, climate, and fisheries research and monitoring in accordance with applicable law. Authorizes reasonable access to and operation and maintenance of, existing facilities for national defense purposes, notwithstanding any other provision of this Act. Permits the establishment of new facilities for national defense purposes within any conservation unit after consultation with the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture by the head of the applicable Federal department, in accordance with terms and conditions as may be mutually agreed in order to minimize the adverse effects within such unit. Amends the Act to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to establish the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park to provide that lands owned by the State or any political subdivision may be acquired by exchange or donation and that the State may include minerals in any such transaction. Withdraws all public lands within a specified area near the Denali National Park from all forms of entry or appropriation under the mining laws and from operation of mineral leasing laws of the United States, for the purpose of establishing Denali Scenic Highway. Directs the Secretary to study the desirability of establishing a Denali Scenic Highway and within three years after the date of enactment to report to the President, who shall advise the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives of any legislation to create such a scenic highway (if so recommended). Stipulates that a holder of a permit to use any conservation system shall be strictly liable for damage to any lands, fish, wildlife or other renewable resource, unless such damage was caused by an act of war or the negligence of the United States. Limits damages for such strict liability to $50,000,000 for any one incident. Exempts the State from strict liability. Withdraws all public lands within the conservation system units in Alaska, subject to valid existing rights, from the mining and mineral leasing laws of the United States. Directs any holder of a valid existing mineral claim or lease to exercise their rights in accordance with regulations promulgated by the Secretary to assure such activities are compatible with the conservation unit. Denies valid lease status to certain noncompetitive oil and gas leases. Allows any holder of a mining claim who feels he has suffered loss to bring an action against the United States in the U.S. District Court for Alaska. Directs the Secretary to assess the oil, gas, and other mineral potential on all public lands in the State of Alaska in order to expand the data base with respect to mineral potential of such lands. Title IX: Improvements in Administration of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act - Amends the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act to cancel all stock issued previous to December 18, 1991, and to issue shares of appropriate class stock to each stockholder. Makes further provisions for permissible restrictions on stockholders; amendments to the articles of incorporation; and stock alienation, annual audits, and transfer of stock ownership. Includes provisions for: (1) the Secretary waiving the whole section requirement at the request of a Village Corporation in certain specified situations; (2) the selection of land by Regional Corporations where the public lands consist only of the mineral estates; (3) the conveyance of title to the Federal or State Government or the proper municipal corporation to the surface estate for existing airport sites; and (4) the conveyance of fee title of existing cemetery and historical places to the appropriate Regional Corporation. Dissentitles any Regional Corporation which asserts a claim with the Secretary to certain subsurface estate of lands selected under such Act which are in a Wildlife Refuge, to any in lieu surface or subsurface estate. Requires that any such claim must be asserted within 180 days after enactment. Amends the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act to exempt from Federal, State, and local taxation the receipt of land or any interest pursuant to this Act to equalize the values of properties. Stipulates the manner to determine the taxable basis of such interests for the purpose of future taxable dispositions. Exempts from taxation real property interests conveyed pursuant to this Act to a Native individual or Native Corporation which are not developed or leased to third parties. States that fire protection of Native land provided by the Department of the Interior shall cover "wildland." Makes provisions for the conveyance of real property by a Village Corporation to a shareholder of such Corporation to provide homesites. Authorizes the Secretary to withdraw twice the amount of unfulfilled entitlement where lands selected and conveyed to a Village Corporation is insufficient to fulfill the Corporation's entitlement. Withdraws from further entry all lands located in patented townsites or which are the subject of an application for patent on the date of enactment of this Act. Provides for the conveyance of unoccupied townsite lands. Requires the Secretary to act on any pending townsite entry and to issue patent, if appropriate, to the townsite trustee. Approves Alaska Native allotment applications which were pending before the Department of the Interior on December 18, 1971, and which describe land that was unreserved on December 13, 1968, except when provided otherwise by the applicable provisions of this Act. Makes exceptions to such approval for: (1) allotment applications describing land within the boundaries of a conservation system unit established before or by this Act and the described land not withdrawn; (2) allotment applications describing land patented or deeded to the State of Alaska, or land selected by, or tentatively approved or confirmed to the State of Alaska as of December 18, 1971 and not withdrawn; (3) allotment applications where a Native Corporation files a protest stating the applicant is not entitled and the land is withdrawn for selection by the Corporation; (4) allotment applications where the State of Alaska files a protest stating the land in the allotment application is necessary for access to public lands; (5) allotment applications where a person or entity files a protest and the land is a situs of an improvement by that person or entity; and (6) an allotment application that was pending before the Department of the Interior on December 18, 1971, which was knowingly and voluntarily relinquished by the applicant. Sets forth procedures for the Secretary to adjust descriptions of lands in allotment applications to eliminate conflicts. Allows the allotment applicant to amend the land description in the allotment if such description describes land that the applicant did not intend to claim. Directs the Secretary to notify the State and all interested parties of such intended correction and gives parties an opportunity to file a protest. Deems vacant, unappropriated and unreserved land described in an allotment application pending before the Department of the Interior on December 18, 1971, which was at such time withdrawn, reserved, or classified for powersite or power-project purposes unless the described land is included as part of a project under the Federal Power Act or is presently utilized for purposes of transmitting or generating electrical power. Reserves such land to be alloted subject to a right or reentry for a 20-year period after the effective date of this Act. Directs the Secretary to identify and adjudicate any record entry or application for title made under an Act other than the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, the Alaska Statehood Act, or the Act of May 17, 1906, prior to issuing a certificate for an allotment subject to this Act. Directs the Secretary to determine whether such entry or application represents a valid existing right. Disallows the affecting of existing rights acquired by actual use of the described lands prior to its withdrawal or classification. Sets forth fiscal year adjustments for appropriation of funds. Directs the Secretary to pay by grant to each of the Native Group Corporations $50,000 to $100,000 depending on the population of each group, to be used for planning, development, and other authorized purposes. Subjects the decisions made by the Secretary under this title or the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act to judicial review only if an action is initiated before a court of competent jurisdiction within two years after the Secretary's decision has become final and after the party seeking review has exhausted any administrative appeal rights. Subjects the decisions made by a Village Corporation to reconvey land under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act to judicial review only if the action is initiated before a court of competent jurisdiction within one year after the date of the filing of the map of the boundaries under applicable law.
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 1979
Health Security Act - Title I: Health Security Benefits - Makes every resident of the United States, and every nonresident citizen when in the United States, eligible for covered services. Authorizes the Health Security Board to enter into reciprocal agreements for coverage of (1) nonresident aliens when in the United States, and (2) U.S. citizens residing abroad. Entitles every eligible person to have payment made by the Health Security Board for any covered service provided within the United States by a participating provider, if such service is necessary or appropriate for the maintenance of health or for the diagnosis or treatment of, or rehabilitation following, injury, disability, or disease. Extends coverage to: (1) professional physician services, wherever furnished, including primary and specialized services, and psychiatric services to outpatients under specified conditions; (2) dental services, including preventive, diagnostic, and therapeutic services (exclusive of most orthodontic services), for children under age 15, with the covered age group increasing annually by two years until all persons under age 25 are covered; (3) institutional services, including inpatient and outpatient hospital services, skilled nursing home services, the services of home health service agencies, and other necessary services, including pathology and radiology services, with specified limitations; and (4) pharmaceutical benefits, including two categories of drug use: (A) prescribed medicines administered to inpatients or outpatients within participating hospitals, or to enrollees of comprehensive health service organizations; and (B) drugs necessary for the treatment of certain chronic illnesses or conditions requiring long or expensive drug therapy. Directs the Board to establish, disseminate, and review annually: (1) a list of drugs for use in participating institutions, organizations, and associations; (2) a list of diseases and drugs for use outside such organizational settings, which shall include drug therapy for chronic conditions; and (3) lists of therapeutic devices, appliances, and equipment (including eyeglasses, hearing aids, and prosthetic appliances), and the conditions under which such items are covered benefits. Requires drugs to be listed by their established names as defined in the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, and also, to the extent the Board deems appropriate, by trade names. Extends coverage to other professional and supporting services, including: (1) the professional services of optometrists and podiatrists; (2) diagnostic and therapeutic services of independent pathology laboratories and radiology services; (3) mental health day care services under specified conditions; (4) alcoholism and drug abuse treatment in free-standing ambulatory centers; (5) family planning and rehabilitation services in certain free-standing centers; (6) emergency and nonemergency transportation services which are essential to overcome problems of access to covered services; and (7) other supporting services, such as psychological, physiotherapy, nutrition, social work, or health education services, which are furnished on behalf of certain approved organizations. Excludes from coverage: (1) health services furnished or paid for under Federal or State workmen's compensation laws; (2) primary or secondary school health services to the extent specified by regulation; (3) cosmetic surgery; (4) the furnishing of unapproved drugs and appliances; (5) certain medical or surgical procedures which the Board finds are experimental or too costly or scarce to provide on a nationwide basis; (6) certain services which are already furnished or available from another provider; and (7) services of a professional practitioner which are furnished in a non-participating hospital. Makes professional practitioners who are licensed on the effective date of enactment of this title eligible providers, but requires practitioners after such date to meet national standards established by the Board in addition to existing State standards. Specifies general eligibility requirements for participating providers, including the filing with the Board of an agreement (1) not to discriminate in providing services to eligible persons; (2) not to make unauthorized charges; and (3) to comply with reporting requirements. Sets forth specific eligibility requirements for various types of participating providers, including (1) general and psychiatric hospitals; (2) skilled nursing homes; (3) home health service agencies; (4) group practice organizations; (5) individual practice associations; and (6) other health service organizations and providers, including independent pathology laboratories and radiological services, ambulance services, and providers of drugs, devices, appliances, and equipment. Sets forth criteria for the utilization review of hospitals and skilled nursing homes. Requires such homes to have in effect an agreement with at least one participating hospital for the transfer of patients and medical and other information as appropriate. Limits the eligibility of providers operating newly constructed or enlarged facilities which are unnecessary for the furnishing of adequate services. Prohibits damages in malpractice judgments to be awarded for the cost of remedial services which the injured party is entitled to receive under this Act. Excludes institutions and employees of the Department of Defense, Veterans Administration, and institutions and employees of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare serving merchant seamen, Indians, or Alaskan Natives, from serving as participating providers, but allows reimbursement for services furnished by such institutions to eligible persons who are not part of their normal clientele. Permits a physician, dentist, optometrist, or podiatrist licensed in one State, and meeting the national standards, to furnish Health Security benefits in any other State. Grants similar authority to other professional and nonprofessional health personnel. Establishes the Health Security Trust Fund, to receive the net assets of existing (Medicare) funds taken over by the Health Security program, the yield of the Health Security taxes, and the Government's contribution from general revenues amounting to 100 percent of the yield from these taxes. Directs the Board to fix for each fiscal year the maximum amount which may be obligated for expenditure from the trust fund, subject to a ceiling determined by specified formulas. Establishes in the Trust Fund a health services account, a health resources development account, an administration account, and a residual general account. Provides for the allocation of the health services account among the regions of the country, based on the aggregate expenditures for covered services in each region during the most recent 12-month period, and: (1) adjusted to reflect changes in the consumer price index and the expected numbers of eligible beneficiaries and participating providers; and (2) modified by the Board to reduce inequalities in per capita expenditures, to the extent that the quality of services are unimpaired. Directs the Board to divide for each fiscal year the allocation to each region into available funds to pay: (1) institutional services, (2) physician services, (3) dental services, (4) the furnishing of drugs, (5) the furnishing of devices, appliances, and equipment, and (6) other professional and miscellaneous services. Directs the Board to allot such funds among the health service areas established in each region under this title. Provides that payments for covered services furnished to eligible persons by participating providers shall be made from the health services account in the Trust Fund. Sets forth specific payment requirements for the various types of participating providers. Entitles every independent professional practitioner to elect to be paid by the fee-for-service method. Entitles every independent practitioner in the general practice of medicine, and every dentist furnishing covered dental services, to elect to be paid by the capitation method upon the filing of an agreement with the Board. Authorizes the Board to pay independent practitioners full-time or part-time stipends instead of, or in addition to, these methods of compensation. Allows the Board to experiment with other methods of reimbursement which do not increase service costs or encourage the overutilization or underutilization of services. Provides that hospitals, skilled nursing homes, and home health service agencies shall be paid approved operating costs as set forth in an annual budget approved by the Board. Provides that health organizations shall be paid for covered services by the capitation method. Directs the Board to determine from time to time a maximum price for the cost of a drug to a provider. States that payments for a drug furnished by an independent pharmacy shall consist of its cost to the pharmacy, not to exceed the maximum price, plus a dispensing fee, which shall be established by the Board after consultation with representatives of the pharmaceutical profession. Provides for the reduction of payments to providers for unnecessary capital expenditures. Authorizes the Board to: (1) assist in the establishment, expansion, and operation of group practice organizations, other public or nonprofit health service agencies, and nonprofit organizations furnishing comprehensive dental services; and (2) provide for the recruitment, education, and training of needed health personnel, including practitioners who will agree to practice in urban or rural areas of acute shortage. Authorizes special improvement grants: (1) to any public or other nonprofit health agency or institution to establish improved coordination and linkages with other providers of services; and (2) to organizations providing comprehensive ambulatory care, to improve their utilization review, budget, statistical, or records and information retrieval systems, to acquire equipment needed for those purposes, or to acquire equipment useful for mass screening or for other diagnostic or therapeutic purposes. Authorizes grants for the development and conduct of programs of personal care services. Authorizes appropriations for the purposes of the health services development fund. Creates an administrative structure within the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare with exclusive responsibility for the administration of the Health Security Program. Establishes a five-member, full-time Health Security Board serving under the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare. Sets forth the responsibilities and duties of the Board and the Secretary with respect to this title and the provision of comprehensive health care. Provides that this title shall be administered by the Board through the regions of the Department and, within each region, through health service areas, which shall be the same as those areas established by the Secretary under the Public Health Service Act. Establishes a National Health Security Advisory Council, with the Chairman of the Board serving as the Council's Chairman and 20 additional members not in the employ of the Federal Government. Authorizes the Advisory Council to appoint professional or technical committees to assist in its functions. Directs the Advisory Council to advise the Board on matters of general policy in the administration of the program, the formulation of regulations and the allocation of funds for services. Directs the Board to appoint regional and local advisory councils for each region and each health service area. Provides for the participation of appropriate State agencies in the administration of the Health Security program. Specifies responsibilities of the Board, including: (1) informing the public and providers about the administration and operation of the Health Security program; (2) making a continuing study and evaluation of the program, including the adequacy, quality, and costs of services; (3) making detailed statistical and other studies on a national, regional, or local basis of any aspect of the title; (4) developing and testing records and information retrieval systems; (5) developing, in collaboration with the pharmaceutical profession, improved administrative practices for the reimbursement of independent pharmacies; and (6) developing and testing incentive systems for improving the quality of care, and methods of peer review of drug utilization and of other service performances. Directs the Board to make evaluations and issue guidelines with respect to health manpower education and training. Requires the Board, in accordance with regulations, to make determinations of: (1) entitlement to benefits; (2) who are participating providers; (3) whether services are covered; and (4) amounts to be paid to providers. Entitles a provider or other aggrieved person to an administrative appeal from such determinations, and authorizes judicial review of a final decision. Sets forth procedures for the suspension or termination of participating providers. Authorizes the Board to issue to any participating provider, other than an individual professional provider, a directive with respect to the discontinuous of services for the purpose of payment, or the initiation of covered services. Authorizes the Board, with the advice and assistance of the Commission on the Quality of Health Care, to issue and review regulations assuring the quality of care furnished under this Act. Directs the Board to establish reasonable continuing education requirements for physicians, dentists, optometrists, and podiatrists. Sets forth conditions under which major surgery and other specialized services designated in regulations are covered under this program. Authorizes the Board, on recommendation of the Commission on the Quality of Health Care, to contract with Professional Standards Review Organizations to monitor the quality of institutional and other services. Establishes the positions of a Deputy Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, and an Under Secretary for Health and Science. Authorizes appropriations for the purposes of this title. Stipulates that no provision of this Act shall alter any contractual obligation of an employer to provide health services to his employees and their dependents. Title II: Health Security Taxes - Converts the existing Medicare hospital insurance payroll taxes into Health Security taxes, and raises the rates to one percent on employees and 3.5 percent on employers. Excludes from the gross income of employees, for income tax purposes, payment by their employers of part or all of the Health Security taxes on the employees. Converts the existing Medicare self-employment tax into a Health Security self-employment tax, raising the rate to 2.5 percent. Adds a new 2.5 percent tax on health security unearned income (unless such income is less than $400 a year), subject to the same maximum on taxable income as is applicable to the employee and self-employment taxes. Title III: Commission on the Quality of Health Care - Amends the Public Health Service Act to establish in the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare a Commission on the Quality of Health Care, with the primary responsibilities of: (1) initiating and continuing development of methods of assessing the quality of health care furnished under this Act; and (2) submitting to the Secretary and the Health Security Board appropriate findings and recommendations. Directs the Commission to give special consideration to care furnished for those illnesses and conditions which have relatively high incidence in the population and which are relatively amenable to medical or other care. Title IV: Repeal or Amendment of Other Acts - Makes conforming and technical amendments to specified Acts. Repeals the Medicare program. Stipulates that after the effective date of benefits received under this Act no State shall be required to furnish any service covered under Health Security as a part of its State plan for participation under Medicaid. Title V: Studies Related to Health Security - Directs the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare in consultation with the Secretary of State and the Secretary of the Treasury to study the practicability of extending the coverage of health services for U.S. residents in other countries. Directs the Secretary to study the means of coordinating the Federal health benefit programs for merchant seamen and Indians and Alaskan Natives, veterans, and members of the Armed Forces with the Health Security benefit program.
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 1979
Handgun Control Act of 1979 - Makes it unlawful for any person to import, manufacture, sell, buy, transfer, receive, transport, own, or possess any handgun or handgun ammunition. Authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to exempt from this prohibition handguns: (1) required for the operation of licensed pistol clubs; (2) utilized by Federal, State, and local agencies or by licensed security guard services; or (3) manufactured before 1890 and which are unserviceable and intended for use as collector's items. Specifies procedures for the licensing of pistol clubs, including conditions for approval of applications by the Secretary of the Treasury and administrative and judicial review of a license denial or revocation. Sets forth requirements for the operation of licensed pistol clubs, including record keeping of the receipt, sale, or other disposition of handguns. Imposes criminal penalties on persons violating the provisions of this Act, including those persons making misrepresentations in required records or license applications. Subjects to seizure and forfeiture any handgun used, or intended to be used, in violation of this Act or any other Federal criminal law. Establishes procedures for the reimbursement of persons voluntarily delivering handguns to a law enforcement agency.
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 1979
Amends the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to add Title V: Financing of General Election Campaigns for the House of Representatives. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to maintain, in the Presidential Election Campaign Fund, the House of Representatives Election Campaign Account. Sets forth eligibility requirements to be met by candidates for election to the House of Representatives seeking payments from such Account. Limits expenditures from personal funds which may be made by candidates meeting such eligibility requirements. Entitles eligible candidates to matching payments and sets forth the procedure for determining the amounts of these payments. Stipulates that the aggregate payments to all candidates in an election shall not exceed three times the maximum amount payable in matching funds. Suspends certain expenditure limitations on eligible candidates if any candidate not eligible to receive payments pursuant to this Act makes expenditures or receives contributions in excess of specified amounts. Sets forth the procedure for requesting matching payments. Sets forth procedures to be followed by the Secretary of the Treasury in maintaining the House of Representatives Election Campaign Account. Directs the Federal Elections Commission to conduct examinations and audits of the campaign accounts of ten percent of the eligible candidates. Provides for the participation of the Commission in judicial proceedings arising under this Act. Authorizes appropriations necessary to carry out the purposes of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 1979
Older Americans Employment Rights Act of 1979 - Defines the term "age" for purposes of equal employment opportunities under the Civil Rights Act of 1964, to mean a person's being considered too old, but only if such person has attained the age of 40 years. Prohibits employment discrimination because of age, under the Civil Rights Act.
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 1979
Sunset Act of 1979 - Title I: Reauthorization of Government Programs - Sets forth a ten-year schedule for reauthorization of all Federal programs according to budget function and subfunction as set forth in the Budget of the United States Government for Fiscal Year 1979. Sets forth the procedure in the House of Representatives and the Senate for the consideration of any bill, resolution, or amendment which authorizes new budget authority. States that it is not in order for either House to consider any legislation which authorizes the enactment of new budget authority for a program for a period of more than ten years, for an indefinite period, or for any fiscal year beginning after the next reauthorization date applicable to such program. Provides that before the Congress can appropriate funds for any program, after its first reauthorization date, there must be a specific authorization in law to support the appropriation. Requires the committees of the Senate and House of Representatives to conduct a sunset review of programs during the Congress in which such programs are scheduled for review. Requires that the report accompanying such reauthorization contain specified information, and that the report be completed during the Congress in which the program is scheduled for reauthorization. Exempts from the requirements of this Act specified programs such as interest on Federal debts, health care services, general retirement and disability payments, as well as litigation activities which have as their objectives the protection and implementation of civil rights guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States and specified retirement pay and benefits. Allows the reauthorization schedule set forth in this Act to be changed by concurrent resolution of the two Houses of Congress and sets forth the procedure for such change. Requires all legislation and other matters related to changes in the dates for programs under this Act to be referred to the committee with legislative jurisdiction over any program affected by the proposal and, sequentially, to the Committee on Rules in the House of Representatives and to the Committee on Rules and Administration in the Senate. Requires such committees to report any concurrent resolution or bill referred to it by a committee of legislative jurisdiction within 30 days, with a statement on each of its recommendations. Makes provisions for any proposed change which has been reported by a committee before June 1, 1980. Title II: Program Inventory - Directs the Comptroller General and the Director of the Congressional Budget Office, in cooperation with the Director of the Congressional Research Service, to prepare an inventory of Federal programs. Declares that the purpose of such program inventory is to advise and assist Congress in carrying out the reauthorization and reexamination requirements and to link such reauthorization and review process with the budget process. Requires the Comptroller General to submit such program inventory to each House of Congress no later than January 1, 1980. Sets forth the contents of the inventory program, including the type of authorization provided for such programs' new budget authority; and the manner in which related program areas may be grouped for evaluation and review. Permits the congressional committees, the Congressional Budget Office, and the Congressional Research Service to review the program inventory and suggest revisions. Requires that the program inventory be revised at the end of each session of Congress, and that such revisions be reported to each House. Requires that periodic reports tabulate the progress of congressional action on bills and resolutions authorizing budget authority for programs in the inventory. Requires the Comptroller General and the Director of the Congressional Budget Office to submit periodic reports to the Congress on the adequacy of the functional and subfunctional categories for grouping programs of like missions or objectives. Title III: Program Reexamination - Requires each committee of the Senate and the House of Representatives to reexamine selected programs or groups of programs over which it has jurisdiction. Sets forth procedures for such review, and criteria for selection of program areas for evaluation. Directs each committee to consult with the appropriate committees of either the House of Representatives or the Senate in order to achieve coordination of program reevaluation and inform itself of the related activities of or available assistance from the General Accounting Office, the Congressional Budget Office, the Congressional Research Service, the Office of Technology Assessment, and appropriate instrumentalities in the executive and judicial branches. Requires each committee to deliver a report on the reexamination to the Secretary of the Senate or the Clerk of the House at the date specified in the funding resolution first reported by such committee in 1981 and thereafter for the first session of each Congress. Allows two or more committees which have legislative jurisdiction over the same programs or portions of the same programs to examine such programs jointly and submit a joint report. Stipulates that such report: (1) contain the findings, recommendations, and justifications of the program; and (2) include specified information including, but not limited to, an assessment of the cost-effectiveness of the program and an identification of any trends, developments, and emerging conditions which are likely to affect the nature and extent of the problems or needs which the program is intended to address. Requires each executive department or agency which is responsible for a program selected for reexamination to submit a report to the Office of Management and Budget and to the appropriate committees of the Congress on its findings, recommendations, and justifications of specified aspects of the program. Title IV: Citizens' Commission on the Organization and Operation of Government - Establishes, as an independent instrumentality of the United States, the Citizens' Commission on the Organization and Operation of Government to conduct a nonpartisan study and investigation of the organization and methods of operation of all departments, agencies, independent instrumentalities, and other authorities of the executive branch of the Government, and to make such recommendations as it determines are necessary to promote economic, efficient and improved services in the transaction of public business. Requires the Commission to submit interim reports to the President and the Congress, and to submit a final report with its findings and recommendations. Requires the Comptroller General to report once a year for two years after submission of the Commission's final report on the status of actions taken as a result of the report. Specifies the composition of the 15-member Commission and sets forth the duties and powers of the Commission. States that the Commission shall cease to exist 90 days after submission of its final report. Authorizes to be appropriated until September 30, 1984, without fiscal year limitations, $4,000,000 to carry out the provisions of this Title. Title V: Regulatory Impact - Requires the President to submit, at the beginning of each of the five congresses beginning with the 97th Congress, an analysis of the purposes, function, and efficiency of 16 specified regulatory agencies. Requires the President to submit legislative plans, based on such analyses, for the improvement of operations of such agencies. Establishes a schedule according to which plans for specified agencies will be submitted early in each of the five congresses for which the required analyses are submitted. Directs the President, with each plan, to submit a report on the cumulative impact of government regulatory activity on specific industry groupings. Directs the Comptroller General and the Director of the Congressional Budget Office to assess each of the agencies included in the President's plan and to analyze the plan, and submit such information to the Congress. Title VI: Government Accountability - Requires the President, beginning with the first year of the 97th Congress, to submit biennially, as part of the budget, a report on the management of the executive branch. Requires the Director of the Office of Management and Budget to provide an evaluative report on Federal programs to the President to be included with the President's report. Title VII: Tax Expenditures - Requires the Director of the Congressional Budget Office, after consultation with the Joint Committee on Taxation of the Congress, to prepare an inventory of tax expenditure provisions and to submit a report on such inventory to the Committee on Ways and Means of the House and the Senate Finance Committee. Defines the term "tax expenditure provision" as any provision of Federal law which allows a special exclusion, exemption, or deduction in determining liability for any tax or which provides a special credit against any tax, a preferential rate of tax, or a deferral of tax liability. Specifies the contents of the report which include an estimate of the revenue loss from each tax provision. Requires the Director to: (1) submit a revised inventory to each House of Congress by December 1, 1980; (2) revise the inventory after the close of each session of Congress and report such revisions to Congress; and (3) periodically report on congressional action on bills and resolutions which create or affect tax provisions. Directs the House Committee on Ways and Means and the Senate Committee on Finance to prepare a reauthorization schedule for all tax provisions similar to the schedule set out for Federal programs in title I of this Act. Requires Congress to take final action on the reauthorization schedule for tax provisions before the end of the 96th Congress. Provides that each tax expenditure provision shall expire unless it is reauthorized by a law enacted during the Congress in which it is scheduled for review. Sets forth procedures and restrictions for the consideration of bills reauthorizing tax provisions, which are similar to the restrictions and procedures governing bills authorizing new budget authority for Federal programs as described in title I. Requires that the report accompanying a reauthorization bill include specified information. Permits Congress to prescribe technical rules as may be necessary to mitigate adverse effects which might result for taxpayers who rely on a certain tax provision. Title VIII: Miscellaneous - Amends the Budget and Accounting Act of 1921 to permit the committees of Congress to obtain from the agencies of the Government estimates or requests for appropriations or requests for increases in an item of any such estimate or request, and recommendations as to how the revenue needs of the Government should be met. Declares that nothing shall require the public disclosure of records which are specifically authorized under criteria established by an Executive order to be kept secret in the interest of national defense or foreign policy and are in fact properly classified pursuant to such Executive order, or which are otherwise specifically protected by law. Sets forth administrative procedures and requirements. Directs the President, with the cooperation of the head of each appropriate agency, to submit to the Congress a "Regulatory Duplication and Conflicts Report" for all programs scheduled for reauthorization in the next Congress. Stipulates that each such report identify duplicative or conflicting rules and regulations promulgated by executive departments, independent agencies, and State and local governments and contain recommendations which address such conflicts or duplications. Defines the term "required authorization waiver resolution" for purposes of this Act. Sets forth the procedure which the chairman of the committee of the Senate or the House of Representatives having legislative jurisdiction over programs must follow in order to introduce a required authorization waiver resolution. Makes it the duty of the Committees on Governmental Affairs and on Rules and Administration of the Senate and the Committees on Government Operations and on Rules of the House of Representatives to review the operation of the procedures established by this Act and to submit a report every five years beginning December 31, 1986. Authorizes to be appropriated through fiscal year 1990 such sums as may be necessary to carry out the review requirements and for the compilation of the inventory of Federal programs.
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 1979
Designates the birthday of Martin Luther King, Junior, as a legal public holiday.
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 1979
Authorizes and requests the President to designate November 4, 1979, as "Will Rogers Day."
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 1979
Authorizes and requests the President to designate the week of September 16 through 22, 1979, as "National Lupus Week."
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 1979
Authorizes and requests the President to designate the month of March, 1979, as "Youth Art Month."
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 1979
Establishes the Claude Pepper Senior Citizen Congressional Intern program which authorizes each Member of Congress to hire each year one senior citizen intern to serve within the District of Columbia for one of two two-week periods. Specifies that such intern shall be compensated at a rate not to exceed $300 per week.
United States · United States Congress · 13 October 1978
Expresses the sense of Congress that the Postal Service should issue a postage stamp commemorating the Jewish holiday of Chanukah.
United States · United States Congress · 12 October 1978
Congressional Award Program Act - Establishes the Congressional Award Program in the United States and its territories to recognize and promote youth leadership and excellence in the areas of expedition fitness, personal creative development, and public service. Creates a Congressional Award Board with a Director to supervise such program. Authorizes the appointment of State award directors under this Act. Creates three Congressional Award Medals to be awarded under this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 12 October 1978
Newspersons' Privilege Act - Prohibits Congress, or any Congressional committee or subcommittee, or any court, grand jury, or administrative body of the United States or any State, from requiring that any newsperson reveal information or sources of information which such newsperson received while acting in a journalistic capacity.
United States · United States Congress · 5 October 1978
Establishes the Claude Pepper Senior Citizen Congressional Intern program which authorizes each Member of Congress to hire each year one senior citizen intern to serve within the District of Columbia for one of two two-week periods. Specifies that such intern shall be compensated at a rate not to exceed $300 per week.
United States · United States Congress · 4 October 1978
Authorizes and requests the President to designate the seven-day period beginning on May 28, 1979, as "Vietnam Veterans Week."
United States · United States Congress · 20 September 1978
Expresses the concern of Congress for the safety of the residents of the South African black community known as "Crossroads." Urges the South African Government: (1) to reconsider its plan to destroy Crossroads; and (2) to recognize the right of the residents to continue to live in Crossroads.
United States · United States Congress · 8 September 1978
Court Interpreters Act - Establishes, through the Director of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts, a program to: (1) compile and make available lists of qualified interpreters for non-English speakers and hearing impaired persons (whether or not also speech impaired) and; (2) provide the services of such interpreters free in criminal actions and civil actions initiated by the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 8 September 1978
Excludes from the Federal law limiting and restricting the corporate powers of national banking associations to deal in and underwrite investment securities specified dealing in and underwriting of all other nongeneral obligations issued or guaranteed by or on behalf of a State or any political subdivision thereof or agency of a State or any political subdivision thereof (except special assessment obligations and industrial revenue bonds) which are at the time eligible for purchase by a national bank for its own account, subject to specified limitations. Requires the Secretary of Treasury to submit an annual report to the Congress showing the extent to which the business of underwriting and dealing in State and local obligations is being carried on by commercial banks as compared with other banking institutions with a view to determining the effect of the amendment made by the first section of this Act on the institutional distribution of such business.
United States · United States Congress · 7 September 1978
Court Interpreters Act - Establishes, through the Director of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts, a program to: (1) compile and make available lists of qualified interpreters for non-English speakers and hearing impaired persons (whether or not also speech impaired) and; (2) provide the services of such interpreters free in criminal actions and civil actions initiated by the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 17 August 1978
American Constitution Bicentennial Commission Act - Establishes the American Constitution Bicentennial Commission to plan observances to commemorate the bicentennial of the Constitution of the United States. Requires the Commission to transmit an annual report to the President and to each House of the Congress.
United States · United States Congress · 17 August 1978
Authorizes and requests the President to designate September 3, 1978, as "Working Mothers' Day."
United States · United States Congress · 17 August 1978
Urges the President to communicate with the Soviet Union concerning its obligation in accordance with the Helsinki accords to allow Isaac Zlotver to emigrate from the Soviet Union.