United States · United States Congress · 26 June 1986
Amends the Temporary Emergency Food Assistance Act of 1983 to require that excess cheese held by the Commodity Credit Corporation be made available, at the request of the chief executive officer of a State, upon a showing of need, and without charge, for distribution by eligible agencies in the State.
United States · United States Congress · 19 June 1986
Satellite Television Programming Access Act - Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to direct the Federal Communications Commission to prohibit scrambling of any satellite cable programming not readily available for private viewing at competitive prices. Authorizes the Commission, in lieu of such prohibition, to require activation of home satellite receiver decoding equipment for private viewing of such programming without charge in areas where such programming is not readily available but where surveys indicate a substantial number of home satellite receivers use such decoding equipment. Directs the Commission to monitor, evaluate, and report to the Congress on the availability at competitive prices of satellite cable programming for private viewing in a geographically diverse sample of urban and rural areas. Requires the Commission to expedite the processing of any application for a license for a television translator station filed by an affiliate of a commercial television network prior to nine months after enactment of this Act, if the proposed station will: (1) serve an area not receiving national commercial network television programming from a network affiliate; and (2) alleviate reductions in such programming availability caused by scrambling. Directs the Commission to study and report to the Congress on the extent to which expediting such applications and other Commission and industry actions have increased the availability of commercial network television. Establishes penalties for willful or malicious interference with satellite transmissions and operations. Directs the Commission to conduct an inquiry into equipment, methods, and systems for detecting and preventing interference with satellite communications. Terminates this Act after five years.
United States · United States Congress · 18 June 1986
Amends generally Federal law relating to veterans and veterans' benefits to eliminate gender-based references currently contained in such provisions, and to make other technical corrections to such provisions.
United States · United States Congress · 18 June 1986
Social Security Administrative and Investment Reform Act of 1986 - Title I: Establishment of the Social Security Administration - Amends title VII (Administration) of the Social Security Act to establish as an independent executive agency a Social Security Administration, headed by a Social Security Board. Provides that it shall be the duty of the Administration to administer the programs established by titles II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) and XVI (Supplemental Security Income) of the Social Security Act. Requires the Board to study and make recommendations as to the most effective methods of providing economic security through social insurance and as to legislation and matters of administrative policy. Establishes in the Administration: (1) a Commissioner of Social Security; (2) a Deputy Commissioner of Social Security; (3) a General Counsel; (4) an Inspector General; and (5) an Office of the Beneficiary Ombudsman, to be headed by a Beneficiary Ombudsman who shall represent the interests of beneficiaries under the Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance program and the Supplemental Security Income Program within the Administration. Requires the annual report of the Board to include a description of the activities of the Beneficiary Ombudsman. Requires the Board to make annual budgetary recommendations relating to the Administration. Requires that appropriations requests by the Administration for staffing and personnel be based upon a comprehensive workforce plan as established by the Board. Provides for the apportionment of administrative costs. Requires the annual report of the Board to include a section reflecting the use of budget authority provided to the Administration. Requires that authority for automated data processing procurement and facilities construction be provided in the form of contract authority covering the total cost of such acquisitions. Makes amounts needed for the liquidation of contract authority so provided available from the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund and the Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund to the extent that such amounts are not needed to meet current obligations for benefit payments. Requires the Board and the Director of the Office of Personnel Management to implement demonstration projects relating to personnel matters. Directs the Board and the Administrator of General Services to implement such projects relating to delegations from the Administrator. Specifies the authorities which are to be delegated to the Board from the Administrator and the Director. Requires the Comptroller General to report to specified congressional committees concerning such projects, including an evaluation of the Board's readiness to assume full and permanent authority. Requires the Board to cause a seal of office to be made and judicial notice taken thereof. Provides for the transfer to the Administration of all functions carried out by the Secretary of Health and Human Services with respect to the programs and activities to be carried out by the Administration under this Act. Abolishes the position of Commissioner of Social Security in the Department of Health and Human Services. Sets forth effective date and transitional rule provisions. Title II: Conforming Amendments and Rules of Construction - Requires the Secretary and the Board to report to the Congress within 120 days after the beginning of each regular session on their administration under this Act. Requires the Secretary to study and make recommendations on the most effective methods of providing economic security and on the administrative policy for the programs. Directs the Board to appoint, quadrennially, an Advisory Council on the Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance Program and an Advisory Council on Health and Supplementary Medical Insurance to review the relation of the trust funds supporting the OASDI program and the Medicare program and the long-term commitments of those programs. Requires each council to submit a report to the Board for transmittal to the Congress and the Board of Trustees of each Trust Fund. Title III: Management of the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund and the Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund - Amends the OASDI program to direct the Managing Trustee of the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund and the Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund (OASDI trust funds) to immediately invest that portion of the OASDI trust funds which is not required for current withdrawals. Requires the investment to be made in accordance with policies established by the Social Security Board. Prohibits the sale and redemption of OASDI trust fund assets or the expenditure of OASDI trust fund amounts for purposes other than those specified in title II of the Act. Requires members of such trust funds' Board of Trustees to faithfully execute their duties, but does not impose a fiduciary duty. Requires that, in consideration of the public debt limit, required investment of trust fund amounts occur prior to the issuance of other obligations. Directs that tax receipts earmarked for the OASDI program be immediately transferred (currently, monthly transfers are made) from the general fund of the Treasury to the OASDI trust funds. Requires the Board of Trustees of the OASDI trust funds to meet at least twice each year. Sets forth provisions requiring reports by the Board of Trustees and the Managing Trustees to the Congress regarding the operation and status of the OASDI trust funds. Title IV: Additional Matters - Amends the OASDI program to prohibit the payment of OASDI benefits to individuals who have been deported pursuant to the Immigration and Nationality Act because of activities conducted under the direction of or in association with the Nazi government of Germany or its allies. Requires individuals to be paid interim benefits in cases where an administrative law judge has determined their entitlement to certain OASDI or SSI (Supplementary Security Income) benefits, but the Secretary's final decision has not been issued within 90 days of the judge's decision. Excludes any representative of the Department of Health and Human Services, the Social Security Administration, any other agency of such department, or an involved State agency from appearing as a party at an OASDI or SSI benefit hearing or participating in the development of the record of such hearing, unless, in the latter case, the presiding officer requests such participation.
United States · United States Congress · 17 June 1986
Amends the National Housing Act to extend authority through FY 1987 for: (1) title I financial institution insurance for housing renovation and modernization; (2) general mortgage insurance; (3) low and moderate income and displaced families mortgage insurance; (4) homeownership for lower income families including mortgage insurance authority and housing stimulus authority; (5) mortgage co-insurance, including rental rehabilitation and development projects; (6) graduated payment and indexed mortgage insurance; (7) the demonstration mortgage reinsurance program; (8) mortgage insurance for armed forces' civilian employees and defense housing for impacted areas; (9) mortgage insurance for land development; and (10) mortgage insurance for medical and dental group practice facilities. Sets forth specified limits on FY 1986 and 1987 insured housing loans and on FY 1987 guaranteed mortgage-backed securities. Amends the Housing Act of 1964 to extend urban rehabilitation loan authority through FY 1987. Amends the Housing Act of 1949 to extend Farmers Home Administration authority through FY 1987 for: (1) insured loans for rental and cooperative housing and related facilities for elderly persons and families in rural areas; (2) rural communities with 10,000 to 20,000 population to participate in rural housing programs; and (3) mutual and self-help housing grant and loan authority. Amends the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 to extend authority for national flood insurance, including emergency implementation and flood-risk zones through FY 1987. Amends the National Housing Act to extend authorities for the national crime insurance program and existing contracts through FY 1987. Amends the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 to extend community development block grant entitlement authority for certain metropolitan city and urban county areas through FY 1987. Amends the Housing and Urban-Rural Recovery Act of 1983 to extend for 30 days the maximum interest rate limitation on loans for housing and related facilities for elderly or handicapped families through FY 1987. Extends the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act through FY 1987.
United States · United States Congress · 12 June 1986
Corporation for Small Business Investment Charter Act - Amends the Small Business Investment Act of 1958 to include in the terms "small business investment company," "company," and "license" any company that is qualified to conduct business with the Corporation for Small Business Investment. Defines "small business concern" with respect to the Small Business Investment Act of 1958. Sets forth procedures for the qualification of small business investment companies (licensees) to conduct business with the Corporation for Small Business Investment and the termination, suspension, or revocation of the license of such companies that do not qualify under the provisions of this Act. Establishes the Corporation for Small Business Investment. Requires the President, within 60 days after enactment of this Act, to appoint an interim Board of Directors of the Corporation. Authorizes the Corporation to issue common and preferred stock and certain other obligations to small business investment companies. Authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to purchase obligations issued by the Corporation. Exempts from U.S. securities laws all stocks and obligations issued by the Corporation. Deems the Corporation to be a U.S. agency. Authorizes the Corporation to: (1) make loans to small business investment companies; (2) purchase preferred securities, debentures, and guarantee debentures issued by such companies; and (3) act as issuer of such securities. Requires the Corporation to establish criteria for the qualification of: (1) small business investment companies to conduct business with such Corporation; and (2) special small business investment companies whose investments will be made solely in disadvantaged small businesses. Establishes a special-purpose trust for the benefit of special small business investment companies. Authorizes: (1) the trustees to purchase preferred securities; and (2) the Corporation to purchase or to guarantee debentures issued by special small business investment companies. Permits the purchase of ownership interests in small business investment companies by national banks. Authorizes small business investment companies to: (1) purchase stock issued by the Corporation; (2) borrow money; and (3) issue debenture bonds, promissory notes, or other obligations under conditions as prescribed by the Corporation. Authorizes the Corporation to enter into agreements regarding the operation of small business investment companies. Authorizes small business investment companies to provide equity capital and loans to small businesses. Requires the Corporation to adopt rules on conflicts of interest which may be detrimental to: (1) small businesses; (2) small business investment companies; or (3) the Corporation. Provides that the Small Business Administration shall have review authority over the Corporation. Requires the accounts of the Corporation to be audited annually. Requires a report of each audit to be: (1) furnished to the Secretary of the Treasury; and (2) made by the Secretary to the President and the Small Business Committees of the Congress not later than six months following the close of each fiscal year. Requires the Corporation, after the end of each fiscal year, to transmit to the President, the Small Business Committees of the Congress, and the Small Business Administration a report of its operations and activities during each year. Transfers to the Corporation all title to small business investment company securities that are guaranteed by the SBA and held by the Federal Financing Bank.
United States · United States Congress · 12 June 1986
Amends part E (Foster Care and Adoption Assistance) of title IV of the Social Security Act to require States to annually furnish, and the Secretary of Health and Human Services to annually publish, statistical data on adoptions finalized in the States during the preceding calendar year. Requires that such data include: (1) the number of adoptions finalized; (2) information pertaining to the adopted children as well as their biological mothers and adoptive parents; and (3) the manner in which such children were placed for adoption.
United States · United States Congress · 12 June 1986
Equity in Interstate Competition Act of 1986 - Authorizes States and the District of Columbia to require a person to collect a State sales tax imposed with respect to the sale of tangible personal property if: (1) the destination of sale is in such State; and (2) such person engages in regular or systematic soliciting of sales in such State and has gross receipts of certain amounts from sales within the State. Sets forth certain requirements which will qualify certain local sales taxes to be treated as State sales taxes. Prohibits a State from requiring any person who collects a State sales tax to make an accounting for the receipts of such tax on the basis of the geographical location at which the taxable transaction occurs. Limits the authority of the State to require a taxpayer to: (1) file more than four tax returns reporting the amount of such tax collected or required to be collected in any one-year period; or (2) file a return and remit the receipts of such tax more frequently than once in a calendar quarter, or before the expiration of the 20-day period beginning on the last day of the period for which such return is required to be filed. Provides that any person required by a State to collect a State sales tax shall be subject to the laws of such State relating to such sales tax.
United States · United States Congress · 11 June 1986
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that unless the Health Care Financing Administration allocates sufficient funds and takes other action to ensure prompt payment of Medicare claims, the House of Representatives should adopt legislation ensuring prompt claims payment.
United States · United States Congress · 10 June 1986
Honors the late Portuguese diplomat, Dr. Aristides de Sousa Mendes do Amarel e Abranches, for his extraordinary acts of mercy and justice during World War II.
United States · United States Congress · 5 June 1986
Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986 - Title I: Interception of Communications and Related Matters - Amends the Federal criminal code to extend the prohibition against the unauthorized interception of communications to include specific types of electronic communications. (Present law prohibits the interception of wire and oral communications only.) Specifies certain exceptions with respect to electronic communications. Extends such prohibition to the communications of any provider of wire or electronic communication services. (Present law extends only to communications common carriers.) Provides for reduced criminal penalties where the unauthorized access to the electronic communication is not for a tortious or illegal purpose or private commercial gain. States that the interception of certain satellite transmissions is not an offense unless it is for the purposes of direct or indirect commercial advantage or private financial gain. Prohibits any person or entity providing an electronic communication service, with specified exceptions, from knowingly divulging the contents of any communication carried on that service. Allows any person whose wire, oral, or electronic communication is intercepted, disclosed, or willfully used to bring a civil action to recover damages. (Present law allows such a civil action only for the interception or use of wire or oral communications.) Revises the amount of damages which may be recovered in such actions. Specifies a two-year statute of limitations for the commencement of such actions. Specifies additional crimes for which the interception of wire, oral, or electronic communications can be authorized in the course of the investigation of such crimes. Sets forth additional requirements for applications, court orders, and the implementation of court orders for the interception of such communications. Provides that certain intelligence activities approved by the Attorney General shall not be affected by certain provisions of Federal law. Allows a court-authorized mobile tracking device to be used outside the jurisdiction of that court. Makes it a criminal offense to warn a person that he or she is the subject of surveillance. Allows the Attorney General to initiate a civil action to obtain an injunction to prevent felony level illegal interceptions of communications. Title II: Stored Wire and Electronic Communications and Transactional Records Access - Makes it a criminal offense to: (1) willfully access, without authorization, a facility through which an electronic communications service is provided; or (2) willfully exceed an authorized access to such facility. Prohibits the provider of an electronic communication service or remote computing service, except under certain circumstances, from divulging the contents of any communication stored, carried, or maintained by such service. Sets forth the procedural requirements for a governmental entity to obtain access to electronic communications in electronic storage, including court-ordered back-up copies of the contents of such communications. Allows any subscriber or customer of a communication service who is aggrieved by a willful or intentional violation of this Act to initiate a civil action to recover appropriate relief. Grants the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) access to telephone or communication service information and records relevant to any authorized foreign counterintelligence investigation. Prohibits any official or employee of a communications common carrier or service provider from disclosing to any person that the FBI has sought or obtained such access. Requires the Director to inform specified congressional committees of all such requests. Title III: Pen Registers - Prohibits the installation or use of a pen register or a tracking device without a court order pursuant to this Act or under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978. Establishes criminal penalties for violations of such prohibition. Authorizes Government attorneys and State law enforcement officers to apply for a court order allowing the installation and use of a pen register or tracking device. Allows the issuance of such an order if the attorney or law enforcement officer certifies that information likely to be obtained by such installation is relevant to an ongoing criminal investigation. Requires providers of wire communications, landlords, custodians, and other persons to furnish all information, facilities, and technical assistance necessary to accomplish the installation of a pen register if such assistance ordered by the court. Requires that anyone providing such assistance be compensated for any reasonable expenses incurred. Requires the Attorney General to report annually to the Congress on the number of pen register orders applied for by law enforcement agencies of the Department of Justice.
United States · United States Congress · 22 May 1986
Sub-Saharan Africa Natural Resource and Environmental Management Training and Education Act of 1986 - Requires the President, in order to promote a long-term development program for sub-Saharan Africa, to establish and provide assistance for a training and education program to encourage the development and utilization of appropriate natural resources and environmental management techniques. Requires particular emphasis to be placed on local-level training in techniques using smaller, cost-saving, community-based technologies. Sets forth elements to be included in such program. Requires the training under this program to incorporate women's needs in appropriate proportions to their traditional participation in the targeted activity. Requires each Agency for International Development (AID) development strategy statement for each sub-Saharan African country to include a plan to assist that country in the development of an effective natural resource and environmental management training and education program. Requires program activities to include close consultation with, and involvement of, community and local organizations. Requires the objectives of this Act to be accomplished whenever practicable through private and voluntary organizations or national nongovernmental organizations. Requires AID to make available funds for training and education activities in sub-Saharan African countries in accordance with this Act for FY 1987. Urges AID to request technical assistance from other Federal agencies where appropriate. Requires AID to review and report to the Congress on the effectiveness of existing indigenous capabilities for natural resource and environmental management training.
United States · United States Congress · 22 May 1986
Constitutional Amendment - Requires the President, prior to each fiscal year, to transmit to the Congress a proposed Federal budget in which total outlays do not exceed total estimated revenues. Permits the President to recommend an alternative budget in which outlays exceed revenues with a detailed explanation of the need for such excess. Prohibits the Congress from making any law which would cause outlays to exceed revenues in a fiscal year. Permits the Congress to suspend such prohibition in time of war or national emergency by passing a concurrent resolution by a three-fifths vote of both Houses. Prohibits enactment of a bill to increase revenue unless it passes each House of Congress by a majority rollcall vote.
United States · United States Congress · 20 May 1986
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow homeowners to deduct the full amount of prepaid interest in connection with the refinancing of their principal residences for the taxable year in which paid.
United States · United States Congress · 14 May 1986
Requests the President to establish a cooperative international research program concerning the greenhouse effect of increased concentration of carbon dioxide and greenhouse gases in the Earth's atmosphere. Requires any such program established by the President to be started during or before 1990.
United States · United States Congress · 13 May 1986
Amends the Trade Agreements Act of 1979 to repeal the authority in such Act to waive the Buy American Act. Requires Federal agencies to take tax losses and unemployment costs into account in determining the costs of awarding a contract to foreign competitors.
United States · United States Congress · 8 May 1986
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow an income tax credit for crude oil producers for maintaining economically unproductive oil wells. Sets the amount of such credit as the amount equal to the excess of an oil well's operating costs allocable to a barrel of oil over the sales price of the barrel (but in no event more than $3.50 per barrel). Provides for a ten-year carryback and a five-year carryover of such credit. Repeals the rule that limits the percentage depletion allowance for oil and gas properties to 50 percent of a taxpayer's net income from the property. Revises the minimum tax treatment rules for insolvent oil producers to provide that an insolvent taxpayer who transfers property used in the active conduct of a trade or business of exploring for or producing crude oil is not required to treat the net capital gain on a transfer as a tax preference if the transfer was made to a creditor in cancellation of indebtedness or to a third party under a threat of foreclosure. Limits such treatment revision to persons who have derived at least 50 percent of the gross income from an oil exploration or production business. Repeals specified rules which currently disqualify certain properties from: (1) the percentage depletion allowance deduction; and (2) the stripper well oil exemption from the windfall profit tax.
United States · United States Congress · 7 May 1986
Amends Federal law relating to veterans' home loans to exempt such loans from any spending reduction order issued under the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act) or any other such legislation. Revises provisions concerning the definition and treatment of certain administrative expenses in connection with the Veterans' Administration Loan Guaranty Revolving Fund.
United States · United States Congress · 7 May 1986
Directs the Secretary of Defense to recover from Ferdinand Marcos certain expenses incurred by the Department of Defense in connection with the transportation of Marcos, his family, and his associates from the Republic of the Philippines and all subsequent expenses incurred by the Department on their behalf.
United States · United States Congress · 7 May 1986
Expresses the sense of the Congress that relations between the United States and China would be enhanced if the Government of People's Republic of China continued its progress toward a more open economic and political system with greater protection of human rights.
United States · United States Congress · 6 May 1986
Torture Victim Protection Act of 1986 - Amends the United Nations Participation Act of 1945 to impose civil liability on anyone who, under actual or apparent authority of any foreign nation, subjects any person to torture or extrajudicial killing. Grants jurisdiction over such cases to U.S. district courts only after claimants have exhausted all available remedies in the place in which the conduct giving rise to the claim occurred.
United States · United States Congress · 6 May 1986
Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to oppose the admittance of Poland as a member of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) until the Secretary determines that the Government of Poland, with participation of the Solidarity movement, has formulated an economic program that determines how IMF funds will: (1) provide the basis for correcting Poland's balance of payments deficits; (2) reduce the severe constraints on Polish labor and capital mobility; and (3) establish social, political, and economic freedom in Poland.
United States · United States Congress · 6 May 1986
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the President and the Secretary of State should insist at the Vienna Review Meeting of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe, and in discussions with Communist Party and Soviet leaders, that imprisoned and exiled members of the Ukrainian and other Helsinki Monitoring Groups be released and allowed to emigrate to the countries of their choice. Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) the Secretary of State should ensure that the U.S. consulate in Kiev reports on Soviet human rights violations in the Ukraine; and (2) such information should be included in reports on compliance with the Helsinki Final Act.
United States · United States Congress · 1 May 1986
Education and Training for American Competitiveness Act - Title I: Education for American Competitiveness - Authorizes appropriations to carry out this title for FY 1987 and each succeeding year. Makes available 80 percent of such funds for subtitle A and 20 percent for subtitle B. Subtitle A: Education and Training to Strengthen the Competitiveness of Domestic Industry - Directs the Secretary of Education (the Secretary for purposes of this title) to make grants to State educational agencies (SEAs) for programs to improve the education and skills of our current and future workers in those areas that will enhance their productivity and competitiveness. Allots subtitle A funds among States on the basis of relative numbers of unemployed individuals and of adults without high school degrees. Sets forth requirements for submission, contents, and approval of State plans under this subtitle. Encourages States to coordinate services under this subtitle with those provided under the Training for Industrial Competitiveness provisions added by this Act to the Job Training Partnership Act. Allows funds under this subtitle to be used for programs of literacy training, vocational training services, and elementary and secondary education in mathematics, science, or foreign languages. Makes such literacy training available to unemployed or underemployed individuals, displaced workers, illiterate adults, and illiterate out-of-school youth. Make such vocational training services available to: (1) workers who have been or who are about to be adversely affected by foreign competition; (2) unemployed or underemployed individuals, for employment in new, expanding, or export-related industries or businesses; (3) current employees, in order to make their existing industries and business more competitive; and (4) individuals in order to assist their entry into or advancement in high technology occupations or to meet the technological demands of other industries or businesses. Provides that such elementary or secondary level instruction in mathematics, science, or foreign languages be through programs to: (1) meet needs not being met under the Education for Economic Security Act (through activities such as education partnerships with business, industry, and labor, interdisciplinary programs, and after-school and summer advanced or supplementary programs); (2) begin preparation for advanced courses and careers in mathematics, science, engineering, and technology; and (3) develop the specific technological and foreign language skills required by local industries and businesses. Sets forth eligible service providers under this subtitle. Limits administrative costs under this subtitle. Subtitle B: Postsecondary Education Programs to Improve Instruction in Mathematics, Science, and Foreign Languages - Directs the Secretary to make grants to institutions of higher education for: (1) summer language institutes and science and mathematics workshops; and/or (2) special equipment acquisition and workshops. Provides for competitive selection of grant recipients. Limits the amounts of grant awards. Sets forth grant application requirements. Requires the institution, or consortium of such institutions, to assure that it will obtain at least one-half of the cost of the programs with non-Federal funds. Provides that the grants for summer institutes (either here or abroad) for intensive training in foreign languages and cultures shall be for: (1) secondary and postsecondary school students (with stipends provided); (2) language teachers and faculty (with stipends provided) to improve their language proficiency and pedagogical techniques; and (3) American international business persons, on a cost reimbursement basis, to improve their effectiveness in doing business abroad. Provides that the grants for intensive workshops for preservice and inservice mathematics and science teachers and faculty shall be to demonstrate the most recent developments in science, mathematics, and technology, and their application to improve our economic development, especially in export and foreign trade businesses and industries. Encourages the involvement of State and local governments, labor, business, and industry in planning for such workshops. Provides that the equipment grants shall be for: (1) the purchase of laboratory and other special equipment suitable for use in providing undergraduate classroom instruction in mathematics and/or science; and (2) workshops for secondary and vocational school teachers and postsecondary institution faculty on the use of such equipment. Title II: Training for Industrial Competitiveness - Authorizes appropriations to carry out this title for FY 1987 and succeeding fiscal years, to fund programs added by this Act to the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA). Allocates such funds as follows: (1) 60 percent for trade-impacted worker assistance programs; (2) 20 percent for joint labor-management training programs; (3) nine percent for demonstration programs (for FY 1987 and 1988 only); (4) ten percent for State job bank systems (for FY 1987 and 1988 only); and (5) one percent for certain studies under this Act. Reallocates such funds after the FY 1987 and 1988 limited purposes are completed. Amends title IV (Federally Administered Programs) of the JTPA to add a new part H: Training for Industrial Competitiveness. Directs the Secretary of Labor (the Secretary, for purposes of this title) to: (1) provide training and employment assistance to trade-impacted workers; (2) provide financial and technical assistance to labor-management committees; and (3) establish demonstration programs to improve worker adjustment to changing world markets. Sets forth requirements for trade-impacted worker assistance programs. Directs the Secretary to provide, on a competitive basis, financial assistance to eligible public or private nonprofit programs for training and employment assistance to eligible workers in industries that the Secretary determines have been adversely affected by international trade. Allows eligible individuals to be provided with: (1) intensive job search assistance; (2) basic skills training and other educational assistance; (3) job training; (4) job development; (5) training in job skills for which demand exceeds supply; (6) supportive services, including commuting assistance and financial and personal counseling; (7) pre-layoff assistance; and (8) relocation assistance. Authorizes subsistence stipends if the enrolled individual is not currently receiving unemployment compensation or trade readjustment assistance. Requires that such services shall: (1) be in addition to, and coordinated with, those provided under title III (Employment and Training Assistance for Dislocated Workers) of JTPA; and (2) supplement and not supplant any other federally-assisted training assistance or services. Includes specified considerations under criteria for determining if an industry has been adversely affected by international trade. Sets forth requirements for joint labor-management training programs. Directs the Secretary to award, on a competitive basis, grants to labor-management committees to provide not more than one-half of the cost of programs of training, retraining, and education for eligible workers. Sets forth grant eligibility requirements for labor-management committees and program eligibility requirements for workers. Allows committees to use grant funds to provide the following services to eligible workers: (1) early warning adjustment services in the event of mass layoffs or plant closings (including personal and financial counseling, referral to community services, career counseling, job search assistance, job development, retraining, and relocation assistance); (2) aptitude testing and career counseling; (3) on-the-job training; (4) institutional training; (5) tuition assistance; (6) upgrading of skills; and (7) education, including basic skills, literacy training, and more advanced education. Sets forth requirements for cooperative agreements for such committees. Sets forth requirements for demonstration programs. Directs the Secretary, within six months after enactment of this Act, to establish programs to demonstrate the feasibility of providing worker retraining payments to workers who: (1) are or were employed in an industry determined to have been adversely affected by international trade; and (2) meet specified criteria for dislocated workers. Limits such payments to $4,000 each, to enable such workers to purchase their own job search, education, training, and retraining services from certified providers. Sets forth program evaluation requirements. Directs the Secretary to report to the Congress on such programs. Adds to JTPA new provisions for State job bank systems. Directs the Secretary to make funds from this Act available through the U.S. Employment Service for the development and implementation of computerized job bank systems in each State, for purposes such as: (1) identification of, and referral to, job openings; (2) information on occupational supply and demand; and (3) use by career information, including school counseling, programs. Encourages compatibility of such systems with other systems used in employment and training program administration. Requires special consideration to be given to the advice of State occupational coordinating committees and other users of such systems. Directs the Secretary, within six months after enactment of this Act, to commence a study of the feasibility of providing portability for pensions and health benefits for dislocated workers. Requires such study to also evaluate the benefits of providing early retirement benefits without penalty for older dislocated workers. Requires a report of such study to be submitted to the Congress within 18 months after enactment of this Act. Includes among the data which the Secretary is required to maintain under JTPA data on the mass layoffs or closings that are caused by or substantially related to international trade. Directs the Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of State, to conduct a study to identify the countries that fail to recognize and enforce, and the foreign producers that fail to comply with, basic labor rights. Requires an annual report of such study to be submitted to the Congress.
United States · United States Congress · 1 May 1986
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that, in order to encourage the continued improvement of relations between the United States and Romania, the Romanian Government should consider taking specified humanitarian actions in light of the upcoming Bern Human Contacts Experts Meeting of Helsinki signatory states. Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that the Secretary of State should: (1) pursue such humanitarian concerns at every possible opportunity, including at the Bern meeting of Helsinki signatory states; and (2) convey to the Romanian Government the importance of progress on such matters so that the Congress may take such progress into account during the 1986 Most Favored Nation deliberations.
United States · United States Congress · 30 April 1986
Provides that, for taxable years beginning after 1984, rural letter carriers are permitted to compute the amount of their deduction for use of their automobiles in performance of such services: (1) by using a standard mileage rate for all such miles of such use equal to 150 percent of the basic standard rate; or (2) without applying the limitation on deductions rules where the business use of the automobile used in performing such services is not greater than 50 percent of the time. Prohibits the use of 150 percent of the basic standard mileage rate in determining the allowable deduction where the taxpayer claimed an investment tax credit or depreciation deduction for such automobile.
United States · United States Congress · 29 April 1986
Manufacture and Public Distribution of Certain Copyrighted Material Act - Amends the copyright law to extend indefinitely the manufacturing clause, which prohibits the importation of certain English language books not manufactured in the United States or Canada. Eliminates the Canadian exemption, per se, after 1988. Permits exemptions from such restriction if a foreign country, including Canada, is certified by the United States Trade Representative as providing adequate copyright protection for U.S. nationals and such country freely trades in printed matter with the United States or adheres to a bilateral or multilateral agreement with the United States and supports internationally recognized workers' rights.
United States · United States Congress · 29 April 1986
Declares that the House of Representatives calls upon the President to open multilateral negotiations aimed at opening all nuclear power reactors of the world for safety inspection by the International Atomic Energy Agency.
United States · United States Congress · 29 April 1986
Declares that the House of Representatives: (1) condemns the Soviet Union's failure to provide notification and information about the nuclear accident at Chernobyl; and (2) calls upon the Soviet Union to permit outside nuclear experts to assist with the accident and to allow the international press corps to cover the situation.
United States · United States Congress · 29 April 1986
States that the Congress: (1) commends the courage of the West Berliners in making that part of the city a showcase of Western values; and (2) condemns the existence of the Berlin Wall. Declares that the Congress reaffirms the U.S. commitment to Berlin and its people.
United States · United States Congress · 23 April 1986
Directs the President to seek in multilateral trade negotiations: (1) the adoption of international trade standards that will promote the use of environmentally sound production and manufacturing processes; and (2) the development and adoption of incentives and disincentives to implement such standards. Prohibits the President from entering into any trade agreement negotiations unless the President first reports to the Congress on the actions that will be taken to promote such standards. Prohibits any trade agreement from taking effect unless the President consults with specified congressional committees regularly regarding the progress being made toward adoption of such standards. Requires the President to report periodically to the Congress on those foreign countries and instrumentalities which either refuse to negotiate, or to negotiate in good faith, regarding the adoption of such standards. Directs the President to establish an Interagency Advisory Committee on International Environmental Protection.
United States · United States Congress · 21 April 1986
Social Security Reorganization Act of 1986 - Title I: Establishment of the Social Security Administration - Subtitle A: Establishment - Amends title VII (Administration) of the Social Security Act to establish as an independent executive agency a Social Security Administration, headed by a Social Security Board. Provides that it shall be the duty of the Administration to administer the programs established by titles II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) and XVI (Supplemental Security Income) of the Social Security Act. Requires the Board to study and make recommendations as to the most effective methods of providing economic security through social insurance and as to legislation and matters of administrative policy. Establishes in the Administration: (1) a Commissioner of Social Security; (2) a Deputy Commissioner of Social Security; (3) a General Counsel; (4) an Inspector General; and (5) an Office of the Beneficiary Ombudsman, to be headed by a Beneficiary Ombudsman who shall represent the interests of beneficiaries under the Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance program and the Supplemental Security Income Program within the Administration. Requires the annual report of the Board to include a description of the activities of the Beneficiary Ombudsman. Requires the Board to make annual budgetary recommendations relating to the Administration. Requires that appropriations requests by the Administration for staffing and personnel be based upon a comprehensive workforce plan as established by the Board. Provides for the apportionment of administrative costs. Requires the annual report of the Board to include a section reflecting the use of budget authority provided to the Administration. Requires that authority for automated data processing procurement and facilities construction be provided in the form of contract authority covering the total cost of such acquisitions. Makes amounts needed for the liquidation of contract authority so provided available from the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund and the Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund to the extent that such amounts are not needed to meet current obligations for benefit payments. Requires the Board and the Director of the Office of Personnel Management to implement demonstration projects relating to personnel matters. Directs the Board and the Administrator of General Services to implement such projects relating to delegations from the Administrator. Specifies the authorities which are to be delegated to the Board from the Administrator and the Director. Requires the Comptroller General to report to specified congressional committees concerning such projects, including an evaluation of the Board's readiness to assume full and permanent authority. Requires the Board to cause a seal of office to be made and judicial notice taken thereof. Provides for the transfer to the Administration of all functions carried out by the Secretary of Health and Human Services with respect to the programs and activities to be carried out by the Administration under this Act. Abolishes the position of Commissioner of Social Security in the Department of Health and Human Services. Sets forth effective date and transitional rule provisions. Subtitle B: Conforming Amendments and Rules of Construction - Requires the Secretary and the Board to report to the Congress within 120 days after the beginning of each regular session on their administration under this Act. Requires the Secretary to study and make recommendations on the most effective methods of providing economic security and on the administrative policy for the programs which he or she administers. Directs the Board to appoint, quadrennially, an Advisory Council on the Old-Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance Program and an Advisory Council on Health and Supplementary Medical Insurance to review the relation between the trust funds supporting the Old-Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance program and the Medicare program and the long-term commitments of those programs. Requires each council to submit a report to the Board for transmittal to the Congress and the Board of Trustees of each Trust Fund. Sets forth the effective dates of this title. Title II: Social Security Court - Establishes, under article I of the Constitution, a Social Security Court (Court) having exclusive jurisdiction over cases arising under titles II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance), XVI (Supplemental Security Income), XVIII (Medicare), and XI of the Social Security Act. Amends title VII (Administration) of the Act to provide for the President's appointment of 20 judges to the Court. Authorizes review by the Court by means of hearings conducted before filed panels of one or more judges and held in a manner and at locations which the Court's chief judge prescribes as providing claimants with a reasonable opportunity to appear before the Court without great inconvenience. Allows the Court, within certain guidelines, to prescribe its procedural rules and punish, by fine or imprisonment, contempt of its authority. Requires the claimant and Secretary to be given notice and the opportunity to be heard upon a proceeding in the Court. Provides that within 60 days of a field panel's decision such decision shall be the decision of the Court, unless, within that period, a party petitions the Court's chief judge, or the chief judge makes his own motion, for the Court's review of the decision. Requires the publication for public use of precedential decisions. Authorizes any individual who has exhausted administrative remedies and was a party to a final decision rendered after a hearing under title II, XI, XVI, or XVIII of the Act to bring a timely action for review of such decision in the Court. Authorizes the Court to affirm, modify, or reverse the Secretary's decision, but restricts the Court's authority to reconsider factual findings. Subjects the Court's review to regulations of the Secretary or Social Security Board. Gives the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit exclusive jurisdiction to review Social Security Court decisions upon a party's appeal, but prohibits such appeal until the Social Security Court has reviewed or denied a petition for review of its decision. Grants the district courts of the United States exclusive jurisdiction to review any final decision rendered after a hearing under titles II, XI, XVI, or XVIII of the Act if the claim arises under the Constitution or challenges the validity of any regulation of the Secretary or Social Security Board, but requires that the parties stipulate that there is no dispute as to material facts. Authorizes any party to the hearing (other than the Secretary or Social Security Board) to bring such claims to the district courts. Gives the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit exclusive jurisdiction to review the final decisions of the district courts. Requires, when a district court decision necessitates regulatory change, that the Secretary and Social Security Board either make regulations conform to such decision or appeal such decision to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Abolishes the Department of Health and Human Services' Appeals Council one year after enactment of this Act. Title III: Disability Benefit Entitlement Review Procedures - Amends the OASDI and SSI programs of the Social Security Act to set forth a separate procedure for review of the Secretary's determination that the disability on which a benefit claim is based does not exist. Requires the Secretary, where such a determination is made, to issue a statement of the reasons for such decision and give interested parties notice of their right to an evidentiary hearing before a hearing officer who is not the individual who made the initial determination. Subjects the hearing officer's decision to court review only after an interested party (which may include the Secretary) makes a timely application for review by an administrative law judge. Permits the administrative law judge to modify or reverse the decision only if it is contrary to law or the case presents a novel question of law, though the judge may order additional evidence to be taken before the hearing officer. Authorizes the Secretary to review disability denials when the individual fails to meet time limits on filing for review, but considers a decision by an administrative law judge to be the Secretary's final decision. Alters the method for determining when a period of disability begins. Requires the payment of interim benefits under the OASDI and SSI programs where the Secretary appeals a decision rendered by a hearing officer or administrative law judge which is favorable to the applicant for or recipient of benefits and 60 days pass without resolution of the appeal.
United States · United States Congress · 17 April 1986
Readjustment Counseling Program Amendments of 1986 - Amends Federal veterans' benefits provisions to remove the requirement that veterans readjustment counseling be administered solely at Veterans Administration (VA) health-care facilities as of October 1, 1988. Establishes the Veterans Administration Readjustment Counseling Professional Fellowship Program (the Program) to assist in providing an adequate supply of trained professionals to furnish readjustment counseling services to veterans for the VA. Requires an individual, in order to be eligible to participate in the Program, to: (1) be a Vietnam-era veteran; and (2) be accepted in an accredited educational program which leads to a degree in a field appropriate to furnishing readjustment counseling services. Requires a written contract between the Administrator of Veterans Affairs and any veteran participating in the Program. Requires any veterans participating in the Program to also be full-time employees of the VA: (1) on the date on which their application for such Program is submitted; and (2) on the date on which they become particpants in the Program. Authorizes the Administrator to award a scholarship to each veteran accepted into the Program. Requires the Administrator, in accepting applicants into the Program, to give priority to members of groups determined to be disadvantaged minority groups. Requires the Administrator to include in the annual report submitted to the Congress a report on the Program.
United States · United States Congress · 17 April 1986
Hazardous Materials Transportation Safety Amendments of 1986 - Transfers to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA): (1) the motor carrier safety functions of the Federal Highway Administration; and (2) the hazardous materials transportation functions of the Research and Special Programs Administration. Establishes in the NHTSA the Bureau of Motor Carrier Safety (the Bureau), headed by an Associate Deputy Administrator for Motor Carrier Safety who shall be appointed by the Secretary of Transportation (the Secretary). Outlines the motor carrier safety functions of the Associate Deputy Administrator. Establishes in the NHTSA the Office of Hazardous Materials Transportation, headed by an Associate Administrator for Hazardous Materials Transportation. Outlines the functions of such Associate Administrator. Requires the Associate Deputy Administrator for Motor Carrier Safety to: (1) notify each motor carrier of the safety rating for such carrier; and (2) publish such ratings annually. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1987 through 1988: (1) for motor carrier safety functions; (2) to increase to 150 the number of motor carrier safety inspectors; and (3) for the hazardous materials transportation program. Amends the Surface Transportation Assistance Act of 1982 to increase the authorizations used to reimburse the States' pro rata share of costs incurred to implement Federal motor vehicle safety rules. Amends the Surface Transportation Act of 1982 to direct the Secretary to make grants to States and political subdivisions for the designation of: (1) hazardous materials transportation routes; and (2) hazardous materials parking sites. Authorizes appropriations. Amends the Hazardous Materials Transportation Act to require registered carriers of hazardous materials to maintain records of the routes followed in the transportation of such materials. Requires persons engaged in the commercial transportation of certain hazardous materials to prepare an annual registration statement. Authorizes appropriations to make emergency response personnel (police and fire fighters) training grants available to States and local subdivisions for FY 1987 through 1991. Requires the Secretary to: (1) establish guidelines for emergency response training programs; (2) publish emergency response procedures; and (3) establish minimum qualifications for the licensing by the States of drivers of motor vehicles transporting hazardous materials. Prescribes guidelines for: (1) such licensing qualifications; and (2) training and retraining programs for personnel engaged in hazardous materials transportation. Requires the Secretary to: (1) conduct a hazardous materials flow study and to report the results of such study to the Congress; and (2) conduct a risks analysis regarding the transportation of high level nuclear waste and spent nuclear fuel to geologic repository sites and monitored retrievable storage sites, and report the results to the Congress and the Secretary of Energy. Nullifies certain truck brake regulations permitting front brake disconnections. Prohibits the Secretary from issuing new regulations to the same effect. Requires the Secretary to conduct public information programs regarding truck brakes safety.
United States · United States Congress · 17 April 1986
Declares that the House of Representatives, on behalf of the U.S. people, expresses its gratitude to the Government and people of the United Kingdom who assisted the United States in its exercise of self-defense against Libya and in the fight against state-sponsored international terrorism.
United States · United States Congress · 15 April 1986
Expresses the sense of the Congress that, in light of specified international human rights agreements, the Soviet Union should approve the exit visa applications of Doctor Naum Meiman and his wife, Inna Kitrosskaya, and arrange for them to go to the country of their choice. Urges the President to: (1) protest the Soviet Government's refusal to consider the exit visa applications of Dr. Meiman and his wife; (2) call upon all other signatory nations of the Helsinki Accords to join in such protest; and (3) instruct the U.S. delegation to the meeting of experts on human contacts organized under the auspices of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe, to be held in Bern, Switzerland, to pursue this matter.
United States · United States Congress · 10 April 1986
Amends the Tariff Schedules of the United States to increase the tariff on certain alloyed iron and steel pipes. Imposes a duty on non-alloyed iron and steel pipes. Increases the duty on non-alloyed steel pipes that meet certain oil well casing requirements. Increases the duty on certain finished steel conduits.
United States · United States Congress · 10 April 1986
Acid Deposition Control Act of 1986 - Title I: Stationary Sources - Amends the Clean Air Act to require States to develop and submit to the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) an emissions limitation compliance schedule for sulfur dioxide and oxides of nitrogen from fossil-fuel-fired electric utility steam generating units. Requires a two-phase reduction in such emissions, the first to be achieved by 1993, the second by 1997. Requires each State to develop and submit to the Administrator a plan to achieve emissions reductions from other fossil-fuel-fired steam generating units by 1977. Directs the Administrator to conduct and update a comprehensive annual inventory of emissions of sulfur dioxide and oxides of nitrogen from stationary sources, identifying achievable reductions which could be made by 1997. Requires States to submit to the Administrator for approval a plan for achieving such reductions. Grants States discretion in their choice of compliance measures. Requires the Administrator to report to the Congress by July 1, 1993, on phase I reductions and the feasibility of meeting phase II reductions. States that phase II reductions will not take effect if the Congress enacts legislation to that effect. Sets forth emissions rates a State without an approved reductions plan must follow. Authorizes the Administrator to impose a fee on the generation and importation of electric energy between December 31, 1988, and December 31, 1996, to subsidize the interest on qualified pollution control debt incurred by the utility. Establishes civil penalties for fee violations. Establishes in the Treasury the Acid Deposition Control Fund to receive such fees and provide interest subsidy payments for pollution control systems meeting specified standards. Revises the standards for nitrogen oxides emissions for new electric utility steam generating units which burn bituminous or subbituminous coal and for certain fossil-fuel-fired steam generating units. Requires certain smelters to be in compliance with the applicable emissions reduction standard by January 2, 1988, without extension or delay. Title II: Control of Emission from Mobile Sources - Sets oxides of nitrogen emission standards for motor vehicles for model years 1988, 1989, and beyond. Modifies hydrocarbon standards for trucks after model year 1989. Directs the Administrator to regulate sulfur in diesel fuel for 1989 and beyond. Requires either the use of onboard hydrocarbon control technology or the use of gasoline vapor recovery of hydrocarbon emissions emanating from fueling motor vehicles. Title III: International Cooperation - Expresses the concern of the Congress over transboundary pollution between the United States and Mexico and directs the Secretary of State and the Administrator to conclude an agreement within three months of enactment. Requires such an agreement to cover specified copper smelters. Requires the Secretary and the Administrator to report to the Congress within six months on negotiating such agreement. Requires EPA to perform atmospheric field experiments to determine the effects of sulfur dioxide emissions, before and after pollution controls, of the Nacozaria smelter, Mexico, on specified western States. Directs the Secretary to establish an international agency, or utilize an existing agency, to report on the effects of transboundary air pollution from copper smelters on public health and welfare in the United States and in Mexico.
United States · United States Congress · 10 April 1986
Designates May 21, 1986, as National Andrei Sakharov Day. Authorizes and requests the President to urge the Soviet Union to permit Andrei Sakharov and Elena Bonner to freely choose their place of residence.
United States · United States Congress · 10 April 1986
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that Federal funds for the Department of Agriculture's Cooperative Extension Service should be maintained at a level sufficient to prevent the reduction of benefits provided by such Service.
United States · United States Congress · 10 April 1986
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the Secretary of Defense should defer the final award of a specified contract (for crawler tractors) until the Congress completes consideration of the Department of Defense Authorization Act, 1987.
United States · United States Congress · 9 April 1986
Designates August 13, 1986, the 25th anniversary of the construction of the Berlin Wall, as Berlin Freedom Day. Urges the East German Government to dismantle the Berlin Wall.
United States · United States Congress · 9 April 1986
Prohibits the issuance of a letter of offer with respect to specified proposed sales of Sidewinder, Stinger, and Harpoon missiles and services to Saudi Arabia, as described in the April 8, 1986, certifications from the President to the Congress under the Arms Export Control Act.
United States · United States Congress · 8 April 1986
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that the Secretary of Agriculture should take immediate steps to investigate alternative animal identification procedures in lieu of hot-iron cheek branding.
![Official portrait of Rep. Robinson, Tommy F. [D-AR-2]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/r000354_200.jpg)