United States · United States Congress · 15 March 1988
Postal Reorganization Act of 1988 - Declares that the receipts and disbursements of the Postal Service Fund: (1) shall not be included in the totals of the Federal budget or the congressional budget; (2) shall be exempt from Federal budget limitations on expenditures and net lending; and (3) shall not be counted for purposes of calculating the Federal deficit. Repeals certain limitations on postal borrowing authority. Increases the limitations on postal borrowing authority.
United States · United States Congress · 10 March 1988
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the Secretary of Transportation (the Secretary) should: (1) investigate the management of Texas Air Corporation and Eastern Air Lines since the acquisition of Eastern by Texas Air to determine (according to prescribed guidelines) the effect of such management upon the public interest; (2) use the investigation findings as a basis for decisions in pending and future cases involving proposed changes in domestic and international operations of Eastern; (3) not authorize the operation of any entity as a subsidiary of Texas Air in performing any air transportation operations until completion of a review to determine whether such performance is consistent with the public interest; (4) not authorize any Texas Air subsidiary to engage in air transportation until the application for such certificate has been reviewed; (5) not authorize Orion Air to provide contract services with Eastern unless Orion establishes conclusively its capability of conducting such operations with the highest degree of safety; (6) not expedite consideration of Orion's request to operate under contract with Eastern by diverting employees of the Department of Transportation or the Federal Aviation Administration from their responsibilities of ensuring the safety of previously authorized operations; and (7) require, as a condition of any approval of Orion's request to operate under contract with Eastern, that purchasers of tickets for such service must be informed at the time of making reservations of the identity of the carrier having operational responsibility for such service.
United States · United States Congress · 9 March 1988
Amends the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 to prohibit the issuance of an airman's certificate to any person whose certificate has been revoked for activities relating to controlled substances. (Current law limits such prohibition to a five-year period beginning on the date of revocation.)
United States · United States Congress · 9 March 1988
American Heritage Trust Act of 1988 - Title I: American Heritage Trust - Establishes the American Heritage Trust, comprised of the Land and Water Conservation Fund and the Historic Preservation Fund, to provide funding for the preservation of America's natural, historical, cultural, and outdoor recreational areas. Title II: Land and Water Conservation Fund - Amends the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act to require the Secretary of the Treasury to invest a portion of the Land and Water Conservation Fund in public debt securities. Requires that the interest from such investments be used to provide for the preservation of the Nation's recreational areas. Sets forth a formula for the allocation of such interest income to the Federal Government and the States. Sets forth specified requirements with respect to the apportionment of such income to local and State governments. Repeals a specified section concerning publicity and signing provisions. Title III: Historic Preservation Fund - Amends the National Historic Preservation Act to extend the Historic Preservation Fund through 2015. Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to invest a portion of such Fund in public debt securities. Requires that the interest from such investments be used for the preservation of historic sites. Title IV: Miscellaneous Provisions - Requires the owner of any site that benefits from moneys derived from the American Heritage Trust to install a sign indicating that fact.
United States · United States Congress · 9 March 1988
Children's Television Act of 1988 - Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to exempt from Federal antitrust laws any joint discussion, consideration, review, action, or agreement (unless a boycott results) by or among television networks, television trade associations, and other persons in the television industry for the limited purpose of developing and disseminating voluntary guidelines designed to promote the educational and informational impact of children's television broadcasting and to avoid abusive advertising during such programs. Authorizes the Federal Communications Commission to consider, in the context of television broadcast license renewals, compliance with any voluntary guidelines resulting from such discussions.
United States · United States Congress · 9 March 1988
Employer Reversion Moratorium Act of 1988 - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 to prohibit distributions to an employer, before October 1, 1989, of plan assets in connection with any single-employer defined benefit plan termination announced on or after March 9, 1988. Makes plan fiduciaries jointly and severally liable for breach of fiduciary duty unless assets distributed upon plan termination are either distributed to plan participants and beneficiaries or paid into a trust whose terms provide for final disposition in accordance with applicable law in effect on October 1, 1989. Requires the dissolution of such a trust and the distribution of its assets during the month of October 1989.
United States · United States Congress · 9 March 1988
Declares that the President should: (1) posthumously award the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Charles E. Thornton, Lee Shapiro, and Jim Lindelof in honor of their efforts to document the Afghan struggle for freedom; and (2) present the award to those individuals' families on March 21, 1988, the start of the new year in Afghanistan.
United States · United States Congress · 3 March 1988
Natural Gas Transition Act of 1988 - Prohibits the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission) from permitting natural gas distribution service which would displace existing service provided by a local distribution company (or which could be provided by such local company) if: (1) the State or local regulatory authority certifies to the Commission that the displacing service would prejudice the interests of such distribution company's customers; or (2) the proponent of such displacing service fails to demonstrate that the local distribution company protesting the proposed service is unwilling to provide transportation service on terms in effect or acceptable to the State or local commission. Precludes the Commission from permitting such displacing service until 30 days after it has published notice of such service in the Federal Register. Applies this Act to all service not provided before its date of enactment, regardless of whether the Commission had granted permission to provide such service before such date.
United States · United States Congress · 3 March 1988
Amends the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act of 1972 to prohibit any person from dumping municipal sludge into the ocean without having obtained from the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency a permit imposing a special disposal fee for each dry ton dumped. Requires permittees to: (1) deposit 75 percent of such fees in a trust account for subsequent use on projects to eliminate ocean dumping after 1991; and (2) pay 25 percent of such fees to the Administrator for sludge disposal enforcement, research, reporting, and permit activities. Authorizes the Administrator to waive all or part of the fee requirement for permittees who have entered into and are adhering to a binding, enforceable agreement for the phasing out and termination of the ocean dumping of municipal sludge by 1992. Directs the Administrator to report to the Congress at six-month intervals on land-based disposal options for municipal sludge and the progress made by permittees toward the cessation of ocean dumping of such sludge. Outlaws the ocean dumping of municipal sludge after 1991. Imposes penalties for each day of noncompliance with this Act's requirements.
United States · United States Congress · 3 March 1988
Designates the week of June 26 through July 2, 1988, as National Safety Belt Use Week. Authorizes and requests the President to: (1) urge the people to wear safety belts and use child safety seats; and (2) encourage State and local governments and concerned organizations and officials to promote greater use of these safety devices.
United States · United States Congress · 1 March 1988
Community Revitalization Tax Act of 1988 - Amends Internal Revenue Code income tax accounting rules limiting passive activity losses and credits to eliminate the disallowance of credits in this context. Revises the limitation on the general business credit to allow a maximum annual credit equal to the first $20,000 of an individual taxpayer's income tax liability plus 20 percent of any excess liability. Amends provisions that reduce the investment credit base by nonqualified nonrecourse financing amounts to apply them to certain qualified rehabilitation property as if the property were subject to the at-risk rules associated with the low-income housing credit. Permits a tax-exempt organization to offset the amount of any general business credit against its unrelated business income tax liability. Revises the definition of "qualifying distribution" for purposes of the tax on a private foundation's failure to distribute income. Includes as qualifying any amount of interest foregone on a below-market loan made to a tax-exempt organization to operate a qualified low-income building. Includes as a qualified rehabilitation expenditure for tax credit purposes any expenditure in connection with the rehabilitation of a low-income building leased to a tax-exempt entity. Permits a pooled income fund having substantially all of its assets invested exclusively in qualified low-income buildings to have one or more corporations as income beneficiaries, each with a 20-year life.
United States · United States Congress · 24 February 1988
ATV User Safety and Equity Act - Provides that three-wheeled all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) shall be considered to be banned hazardous products under the Consumer Product Safety Act. Permits the sale of three-wheeled ATVs by other than manufacturers, distributors, or dealers. Requires the manufacturers of three-wheeled ATVs to provide refunds to persons who purchased such vehicles before the effective date of this Act (in accordance with regulations promulgated by the Consumer Product Safety Commission). States that the failure of a manufacturer to comply with the refund requirements of this Act shall be considered a violation of the Consumer Product Safety Act. Directs the Commission to promulgate a consumer product safety rule which will require: (1) manufacturers to offer free training in the operation of ATVs to all purchasers; (2) manufacturers to offer helmets and other protective equipment with the sale of ATVs; (3) manufacturers to provide notice (warning labels and other appropriate means) of the risk of injury or death presented by ATVs; (4) manufacturers and distributors to establish programs to ensure compliance by dealers with the safety requirements of the rule; and (5) retail dealers to provide purchasers with safety information respecting the operation of such vehicles. Directs the Commission to promulgate a consumer product safety rule to improve the safety of ATVs by prescribing: (1) appropriate performance standards for ATVs; and (2) design characteristics. Sets forth a consumer product safety rule to be placed into effect in the event that the Commission does not promulgate a final rule within the prescribed time period.
United States · United States Congress · 24 February 1988
Medical Rehabilitation Research Act of 1988 - Amends title IV (National Research Institutes) of the Public Health Service Act to establish the National Center for Medical Rehabilitation Research (Center) as an agency of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to conduct research, research training, the dissemination of information, and other programs with respect to the rehabilitation of individuals with physical disabilities resulting from diseases or disorders of the neurological, musculoskeletal, or cardiovascular system (medical rehabilitation). Requires the NIH Director to develop and annually review a comprehensive plan for the conduct and support of medical rehabilitation research. Requires the Director to establish the Medical Rehabilitation Coordinating Committee to make recommendations with regard to the plan. Requires establishment of the Medical Rehabilitation Advisory Council to assist and make recommendations to the NIH Director and the Center Director. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1989 through 1991. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the heads of other Federal agencies to jointly review programs concerning medical rehabilitation research and, not later than one year after the effective date of this Act, enter into agreements for preventing duplication.
United States · United States Congress · 24 February 1988
Expresses disapproval of the refusal of the U.S.S.R. to recognize the sovereignty of the Baltic Republics. Designates June 14, 1988, as Baltic Freedom Day. Authorizes and requests the President to submit the issue of the Baltic Republics to the United Nations.
United States · United States Congress · 24 February 1988
Designates March 29, 1988, the birthday of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, as Education Day, U.S.A. Calls on heads of state of the world to join the President of the United States in this tribute by signing an international scroll of honor.
United States · United States Congress · 2 February 1988
Child Protection and Obscenity Enforcement Act of 1988 - Title I: Child Pornography - Amends the Federal criminal code to make it illegal to use a computer to transport information in interstate or foreign commerce concerning the visual depiction of minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct (child pornography). Establishes criminal penalties for buying, selling, or transferring the custody of a minor: (1) knowing that, as a consequence of the sale or transfer, the minor will be used in child pornography; or (2) with the intent to promote child pornography. States that such sale or transfer must involve: (1) the minor or other actor traveling in interstate or foreign commerce; (2) communications in interstate or foreign commerce; or (3) conduct in a territory or possession of the United States. Requires any person who produces a book, magazine, periodical, film, videotape, or other matter which contains any visual depiction of sexually explicit conduct (which is shipped or intended for shipment in interstate or foreign commerce, or contains material shipped in interstate or foreign commerce) to maintain certain records regarding the performers portrayed in such conduct. Directs the Attorney General to issue regulations regarding the maintenance and availability of such records. Includes the sexual exploitation of children as a predicate offense to the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) statute. Title II: Obscenity - Makes it a Federal criminal offense to receive or possess, with the intent to distribute, obscene matter which has been transported in interstate or foreign commerce. Makes it a Federal criminal offense to knowingly use a facility or means of commerce to sell or distribute obscene matter in interstate or foreign commerce. Establishes a rebuttable presumption, with respect to Federal criminal offenses involving obscene matter, that obscene matter produced in one State (or outside the United States) which is subsequently located in another State (or in the United States) was transported, shipped, or carried in interstate (or foreign) commerce. Establishes criminal and civil forfeiture procedures with respect to Federal offenses involving obscene material and child pornography. Includes communications by means of cable or subscription television within the prohibition against broadcasting obscene language. Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to modify the penalty provisions of such Act with respect to obscene telephone communications. Amends the Federal criminal code to establish criminal penalties for the possession or sale of obscene matter on Federal property. Adds obscenity offenses to the list of crimes for which the Government may obtain wiretaps.
United States · United States Congress · 27 January 1988
Declares the belief of the House of Representatives that Americans who cannot afford local residential telephone service should have access to free local service at central locations. Commends the Pacific Northwest Bell Telephone Company for providing such service in Oregon and urges other telephone operating companies to establish similar programs.
United States · United States Congress · 27 January 1988
Commends the President, Secretary of State, and Administrator of the Agency for International Development for their response to the drought and food emergency in Ethiopia and other nations of sub-Saharan Africa, and urges them to continue efforts to preclude the onset of famine and to ensure the timely delivery of medical and other emergency relief supplies. Declares that: (1) the Government response to these food emergencies should include initiatives to prevent the dislocation of large numbers of persons across national borders and/or into relief camps; and (2) the plight of the refugees or displaced should be addressed by emphasizing the provision of basic human needs, such as food, water, and shelter.
United States · United States Congress · 10 December 1987
Amends Federal veterans' benefits provisions to direct the American Battle Monuments Commission to establish a memorial and museum on Federal land in the District of Columbia or its immediate area to honor World War II veterans and to commemorate U.S. participation in that conflict. Directs the Commission to plan, design, construct, and oversee the operation of the memorial and museum. Establishes the World War II Memorial and Museum Advisory Board to: (1) promote the establishment of the memorial and museum and encourage the donation of private funds for construction and maintenance; and (2) recommend the site and select the design for the memorial and museum, subject to the approval of the Commission. Authorizes the Commission to solicit private contributions for such memorial and museum. Authorizes Federal funding, in addition to such private funds, for preparation, planning, establishment, construction, and maintenance of the memorial and museum. Authorizes assistance from specified Federal departments and agencies. Authorizes Federal property to be transferred to the Commission, or authorizes the Commission to purchase suitable property within the District of Columbia for the establishment of such memorial and museum.
United States · United States Congress · 9 December 1987
Expresses the sense of the Congress that railroad retirement benefits are exempt from reduction under the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act) and that supplemental annuities payable under the Railroad Retirement Act of 1974 and sequestered under a specified presidential order should be restored.
United States · United States Congress · 8 December 1987
Amends the Internal Revenue Code with respect to the targeted jobs income tax credit. Extends the credit to employees who begin work in 1989 through 1991. (Current law terminates the credit for employees who begin work after December 31, 1988.) Includes as a targeted group individuals aged 65 or older who are members of economically disadvantaged families. Revises the minimum employment period requirement for purposes of this credit.
United States · United States Congress · 8 December 1987
Expresses the sense of the Congress that, in celebration of the millennium of the Christianization of Kievan-Rus', the Soviet Union should: (1) comply with its international obligations and allow Christians to practice their faith without harassment; (2) grant a general amnesty for all Christians who have been imprisoned because of their religious beliefs; (3) allow religious believers to practice their faith freely; (4) permit unlimited publication, distribution, and importation of religious materials; and (5) allow closed churches to reopen, new churches to be built, and theological seminaries to open or expand.
United States · United States Congress · 20 November 1987
Includes service of at least one year but less than two years in the Cadet Nurse Corps during World War II as creditable service for purposes of civil service retirement. (Current law provides for individuals with two or more years of service.) Requires affected individuals to: (1) file appropriate written application to the Office of Personnel Management within 14 months of enactment of this Act; and (2) make required deposits to the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund with respect to service in the Corps.
United States · United States Congress · 18 November 1987
Dwight David Eisenhower Commemorative Coin Act of 1987 - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to mint and issue not more than a specified number of one dollar silver coins in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the birth of Dwight David Eisenhower. Sets forth certain features of such coins and provides for their design, issuance, and sale. Terminates the minting of the coins after December 31, 1990. Requires the Secretary to deposit in the Treasury all surcharges received from the sale of the coins, to be used to reduce the national debt.
United States · United States Congress · 17 November 1987
Raoul Wallenberg Monument Resolution - Authorizes the Raoul Wallenberg Tribute Committee to establish a monument to honor Raoul Wallenberg on Federal land in the District of Columbia or its environs. Prohibits the United States from paying any expense of the establishment of the monument.
United States · United States Congress · 10 November 1987
Authorizes the Vietnam Women's Memorial Project, Inc., to establish a commemorative statue within the Vietnam Veterans Memorial to recognize and honor the women of the U.S. armed forces who served in the Vietnam war. Expresses the sense of the Congress that after the addition of such statue, no further commemorative works should be added to the Memorial. Directs the Secretary of the Interior to select a site for the statue within the Memorial. Makes the design proposal subject to the approval of the Secretary and the National Capital Planning Commission. Prohibits the United States and the District of Columbia from paying any expense of establishing the statue.
United States · United States Congress · 10 November 1987
Amends the Tariff Act of 1930 by providing for the determination of the national origin of a good based on the cost of manufacture of the article. Confers origin upon the last country of significant growth, processing, or manufacture where that good originates or provides inputs representing manufacturing costs of 35 percent or more of the value of the end product. Defines the end product, for purposes of imported goods, as the product entered into the United States, and the total value of the product against which that calculation is compared as the appraised, entered value as normally determined under such Act. Confers origin upon the last country satisfying the requirement, prior to the importation of the merchandise into the United States. Determines the national origin of goods subject to significant growth, processing, or manufacturing within the United States based upon comparable principles, and replaces the appraised, entered value with the total cost of manufacture of the end product. Makes this Act inapplicable for purposes of determining whether articles are eligible for duty-free treatment under: (1) the Trade Act of 1974; (2) the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act; or (3) the U.S.-Israel Free Trade Area Implementation Act. Prohibits any cost of significant processing or manufacture permitted to be included in determining the origin of imported goods from being excluded for any purposes of determining the origin of end product which is subjected to significant processing or manufacture within, and offered for sale within, the United States. Provides that in the case of articles imported, and subjected to any process of manufacture within the United States, the total cost of manufacture within the United States shall be the total cost derived by combining costs of growth, processing, or manufacture prior to exportation from the United States consistent with the formula for setting duties under the Tariff Schedules, with those costs incurred in the United States after importation. Considers the United States to be the last country of manufacture where the total of such costs represents not less than 35 percent of the value of the end product offered for sale within the United States. Exempts articles imported into the United States to be used exclusively in the processing or manufacture of other articles, which will result in the United States becoming the country of origin, from requirements that they be labeled or marked as to country of origin upon importation, except as is necessary to inform the U.S. manufacturer utilizing such imports as input products. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury and other authorities to promulgate marking and labeling requirements necessary to ensure compliance with this Act. Directs the Secretary to ensure that articles imported for use in significant processing or manufacturing within the United States are not diverted to proscribed uses.
United States · United States Congress · 10 November 1987
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the President, the Secretary of State, and the Permanent Representative of the United States to the United Nations should be commended for, and should continue, their efforts to place Cuba on the human rights agenda of the United Nations. Commends specified countries for their votes in favor of considering human rights violations in Cuba. Urges specified countries to reconsider their positions with respect to this issue. Urges the United States to: (1) take the votes into account in determining U.S. bilateral and other assistance to all countries which are members of the United Nations Human Rights Commission; and (2) continue to emphasize how other countries vote on fundamental issues, such as human rights, in determining financial support for the United Nations and for the Commission. Urges the Commission to include among the highest priorities of its human rights agenda at its 44th session in Geneva, Switzerland, in 1988, consideration of human rights violations in Cuba.
United States · United States Congress · 9 November 1987
Visually Impaired Voters Assistance Act of 1987 - Requires each State to make enlarged print voting aids and ballots available to visually impaired voters in Federal elections. Requires the chief election officer of each State to provide public notice, adapted to reach visually impaired voters, of the availability of materials under this Act. Directs the Federal Election Commission to report to the Congress, not later than one year after enactment of this Act, on the voting aids available to blind voters with respect to Federal elections in each State.
United States · United States Congress · 30 October 1987
Expresses the sense of the Congress that before November 18, 1987, the Secretary of State should inform the Soviet Government that the United States supports the right of the Latvian people to peacefully assemble to commemorate important dates in their history and should urge the Soviet Government to: (1) allow the Latvian people to publicly commemorate November 18, the anniversary of the founding of the independent Republic of Latvia, without reprisal; (2) allow the Western media access to Riga, Latvia, to report on that day's events; (3) halt harassment of Latvian human rights groups; and (4) release all Latvian prisoners of conscience, including human rights activists Linards Grantins and Gunars Astra, before such date. Urges the President to direct U.S. Government agencies to closely monitor the events of November 18, and to send an appropriate representative to observe that day's events. Urges the President and the Secretary to raise the issue of human rights and self-determination in the Baltic states during the next U.S.-Soviet summit.
United States · United States Congress · 28 October 1987
Amends the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 to prohibit the takeoffs and landings of subsonic aircraft exceeding certain noise levels at U.S. airports. States that this prohibition applies only to an airport during the three-year period beginning on the effective date of this Act if the number of individuals residing within five miles of it exceeds 100,000.
United States · United States Congress · 28 October 1987
Designates the week of May 2 through May 8, 1988, as National Drinking Water Week to enhance awareness of drinking water issues and recognition of the difference that drinking water makes to health, safety, and quality of life.
United States · United States Congress · 20 October 1987
Infectious Waste Regulation Act of 1987 - Amends the Solid Waste Disposal Act to direct the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to promulgate regulations for the management of infectious waste which: (1) define infectious waste; (2) establish handling, treatment, storage, and disposal requirements; and (3) include other necessary requirements to protect human health and the environment. Requires the Administrator to consult with the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control on matters relating to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) when promulgating such regulations. Authorizes exemptions for small quantities of such waste. Requires that facilities where such waste is handled be open for Federal inspection and that handlers of such waste provide information and samples as necessary.
United States · United States Congress · 20 October 1987
Amends the Tax Reform Act of 1986 to delay for one year, from 1987 until 1988, implementation of the increase from 80 percent to 90 percent in the current year liability test for estimated tax payments by individuals.
![Official portrait of Rep. Rinaldo, Matthew J. [R-NJ-7]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/r000262_200.jpg)