United States · United States Congress · 15 May 1986
Amends the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 with respect to air carrier mergers or acquisitions to require the Secretary of Transportation to impose, as a condition of approval of such transactions, labor protective conditions that are calculated to mitigate possible adverse effects upon air carrier employees' employment, wages, or working conditions.
United States · United States Congress · 8 May 1986
Rural Health Care Improvement Act of 1986 - Amends part A (General Provisions) of title XI of the Social Security Act to require that whenever the Secretary of Health and Human Services proposes a regulation or promulgates a final version of a regulation under titles XVIII (Medicare), XIX (Medicaid), or part B (Peer Review) of title XI of the Act which will have a substantial impact on small rural hospitals, the Secretary make a regulatory impact analysis available to the public. Amends the Medicare program to continue, beyond FY 1986, current law regarding Medicare payment to sole community hospitals for capital-related costs, treating such costs as distinct from operating costs of inpatient hospital services. Provides certain small sole community and rural hospitals with payment for extremely high cost cases (outlier payments) which represent five or six percent of the total payments made to such hospitals. Sets aside ten percent of amounts expended by the Secretary on certain experiments and demonstration projects for projects relating exclusively to rural health issues. Requires fiscal intermediaries to pay certain small rural hospitals for Medicare claims, at the latest, 30 days after receiving the request for such payment. Amends title VII (Administration) of the Act to establish an Office of Rural Health Policy in the Office of the Administrator of the Health Care Financing Administration to: (1) advise the Administrator regarding the effects of changes in the Medicare and Medicaid programs on rural health; and (2) oversee compliance with provisions of this Act requiring regulatory impact analysis and rural health demonstration projects.
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 · 23 April 1986
Processed Products Inspection Improvement Act of 1986 - Amends the Federal Meat Inspection Act to redescribe the manner and frequency of inspection of meat food products to include the requirement that the Secretary of Agriculture take into account for each establishment: (1) the nature and frequency of processing operations; (2) the adequacy and reliability of processing controls and sanitary procedures; and (3) the history of inspection compliance. Changes the requirement that condemned meat food products be destroyed for "food purposes," to a requirement that they be destroyed for "human food purposes." Provides that amendments made by this Act shall not be construed to authorize the Secretary to refuse to provide inspection solely because an establishment does not participate in a total plant quality-control program.
United States · United States Congress · 23 April 1986
Nuclear Waste Policy Act Amendments of 1986 - Removes the statutory requirements and deadlines for second (and subsequent) nuclear waste repositories, thus eliminating Department of Energy authority to site such repositories. Removes the volume limitations placed upon first repositories. Instructs the Secretary of Energy to revise the repository mission plan to reflect the provisions of this Act and to submit such revisions within six months after enactment of this Act. Amends the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 to prohibit the Secretary from expending funds from the Nuclear Waste Fund for any activity relating to a second or subsequent repository.
United States · United States Congress · 22 April 1986
Nuclear Waste Policy Reform Amendments Act of 1986 - Amends the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 to prohibit the Secretary of Energy from implementing nuclear waste disposal activities with respect to more than one repository. Declares that any such activities commenced (or decisions made by the Secretary) before the date of enactment of this Act shall be rescinded or terminated. Prohibits the Nuclear Regulatory Commission from authorizing the construction of more than one repository under such Act. Provides that if the Secretary does not meet the January 31, 1998, deadline for high-level radioactive waste disposal then the Secretary must cease all repository activities until: (1) the Nuclear Waste Repository Review Commission (established by this Act) submits a certain report to the Congress; and (2) the Congress specifically authorizes the continuation of such repository activities (thus imposing a moratorium on repository development). Removes the deadlines by which the Secretary and the President must submit candidate site nominations for second repository site characterizations. Prohibits the Secretary from nominating or recommending any crystalline rock site for site characterization for a repository. Removes the volume limitation placed upon a first repository. Establishes the Nuclear Waste Repository Review Commission (if a repository moratorium takes effect) to: (1) review scientific data regarding repository suitability; and (2) compare the use of repositories for radioactive waste disposal with alternative technologies for the permanent isolation of such waste. Requires the Review Commission to report to the Congress by a certain date regarding its activities and recommendations. Authorizes appropriations. Terminates such Commission upon submission of its report. Sets deadlines for draft revisions of the Secretary's mission plan under such Act.
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
Nuclear Waste Policy Reform Amendments Act of 1986 - Amends the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 to prohibit the Secretary of Energy from implementing nuclear waste disposal activities with respect to more than one repository. Declares that any such activities commenced (or decisions made by the Secretary) before the date of enactment of this Act shall be rescinded or terminated. Prohibits the Nuclear Regulatory Commission from authorizing the construction of more than one repository under such Act. Provides that if the Secretary does not meet the January 31, 1998, deadline for high-level radioactive waste disposal then the Secretary must cease all repository activities until: (1) the Nuclear Waste Repository Review Commission (established by this Act) submits a certain report to the Congress; and (2) the Congress specifically authorizes the continuation of such repository activities (thus imposing a moratorium on repository development). Removes the deadlines by which the Secretary and the President must submit candidate site nominations for second repository site characterizations. Prohibits the Secretary from nominating or recommending any crystalline rock site for site characterization for a repository. Removes the volume limitation placed upon a first repository. Establishes the Nuclear Waste Repository Review Commission (if a repository moratorium takes effect) to: (1) review scientific data regarding repository suitability; and (2) compare the use of repositories for radioactive waste disposal with alternative technologies for the permanent isolation of such waste. Requires the Review Commission to report to the Congress by a certain date regarding its activities and recommendations. Authorizes appropriations. Terminates such Commission upon submission of its report. Sets deadlines for draft revisions of the Secretary's mission plan under such Act.
United States · United States Congress · 17 April 1986
Anti-Terrorism Act of 1986 - Declares that any person who organizes, attempts, commits, procures, or supports acts of terrorism shall be considered to have committed an act of aggression against the United States and may be pursued with deadly force. Defines terrorism to mean activity directed against U.S. persons which: (1) is committed by a non-U.S. national or permanent resident alien; (2) involves violent or dangerous acts which would be crimes in the United States; and (3) is intended to intimidate a civilian population, to influence government policy, or to affect the conduct of a government by assassination or kidnapping. Authorizes the President, subject to the provisions of the Constitution, to protect U.S. persons from terrorism through the use of all antiterrorism and counterterrorism measures that the President deems necessary. Requires the President's authority to apply: (1) to all terrorists wherever they may be; and (2) until the President determines that no terrorist poses a threat to U.S. persons. Prohibits this Act from being construed as granting any authority to use deadly force within the United States which would not exist in the absence of this Act. Requires the President to report to the Congress within ten days of taking any action under this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 16 April 1986
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that the Veterans Administration should reconsider its internal report which proposes to close the Veterans Administration Insurance Center at Fort Snelling, Minnesota.
United States · United States Congress · 15 April 1986
Imposes a moratorium on imports of Canadian beef from the 15th day after enactment of this Act until it is determined that such imports do not cause or threaten serious injury to U.S. beef industries. Requires the International Trade Commission (ITC) to determine, within six months of enactment of this Act, whether increased imports of Canadian beef are a substantial cause of serious injury or threat of serious injury to the U.S. beef industries. Ends the moratorium if the ITC finds that such imports are not a substantial cause of, or threat of, serious injury. Requires the ITC to update the study periodically if the ITC finds that serious injury has been caused or threatened. Terminates the moratorium, under such circumstances, when an update shows that the injury or threat of injury is no longer serious.
United States · United States Congress · 15 April 1986
Farm Tax Relief Act of 1986 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from the gross income of a qualified farmer any income which would be includible in gross income by reason of a discharge of an indebtedness of the farmer, regardless of whether the farmer is insolvent immediately before the discharge. Defines a "qualified farmer" as one who, immediately before the discharge of the indebtedness: (1) had a debt to asset ratio exceeding 70 percent; and (2) earned at least 50 percent of gross income in the preceding taxable year in the trade or business of farming.
United States · United States Congress · 14 April 1986
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that the Secretary of Agriculture should acknowledge the serious economic depression in the beef and pork industries and take the steps to alleviate such condition, including increasing Government meat purchases, restricting imports, and administering the milk production termination program in an orderly fashion.
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 · 8 April 1986
Establishes the Insurance Availability Crisis Commission of 1986 to: (1) coordinate the intergovernmental examination of the tort law system and its relationship with insurance availability and cost; (2) bring representatives of industry, government, and consumers together to perform an examination of the issue of insurance availability; (3) make recommendations for reform of the tort system and insurance industry practices; and (4) raise funds to cover the costs of the Commission's activities. Directs the Commission to report its findings and recommendations to the President, the Congress, and the executive officer of each State. Provides for the Commission's termination upon the transmission of such report. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 8 April 1986
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to deny the tax exclusion for interest on industrial development bonds used to finance the acquisition of farm property by foreign persons. Defines a "foreign person" as: (1) any individual who is not a citizen or national of the United States; (2) any foreign corporation, foreign partnership, foreign trust, or foreign estate; (3) any domestic corporation more than ten percent of the value of the stock of which is held by one or more foreign persons; (4) any domestic partnership more than ten percent of the capital or profits interest in which is held by one or more foreign persons; or (5) any domestic trust more than ten percent of the beneficial interests in which is held by one or more foreign persons.
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.
United States · United States Congress · 8 April 1986
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the Farm Credit Administration and its associated agencies and institutions should take additional actions to alleviate the agricultural financial situation, including restructuring, rather than foreclosing, loans.
United States · United States Congress · 8 April 1986
Expresses the sense of the Congress that Federal telecommunications policy should maintain universal telephone service, retain nationwide toll rate averaging for interstate long distance calls, and reduce regulatory and administrative burdens on small telephone systems. Provides that any Federal access charge plan should: (1) support rural telephone systems through a universal service fund designed to ensure affordable rural telephone rates; (2) allocate to interstate long distance service no less than the proportion of the local telephone system access costs currently allocated to such service; (3) retain the current arrangement for the pooling of such costs; and (4) avoid collecting all of such costs by means of flat rate access charges.
United States · United States Congress · 19 March 1986
Amends the Agricultural Act of 1949 to repeal the provision basing deficiency payments for the 1986 through 1990 wheat and feed grain crops on the entire marketing year.
United States · United States Congress · 18 March 1986
Amends the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 to authorize interim funding for the Hazardous Substance Response Trust Fund (Superfund).
United States · United States Congress · 12 March 1986
Amends Federal veterans' benefits provisions to exempt from any sequestration of funds under the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act) certain benefits of veterans and their dependents and survivors which are based upon the service-connected disability or death of such veterans.
United States · United States Congress · 12 March 1986
Federal Radioactive Waste Liability Act of 1986 - Amends the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 to require the Secretary of Energy to enter into indemnification agreements with contractors regarding the transportation and disposal of radioactive waste to which the United States holds title. Requires such agreements to provide for the indemnification of persons against claims for public liability for nuclear incidents arising out of a contractual activity. Directs the Secretary to: (1) make certain indemnification payments out of the Nuclear Waste Fund; and (2) enter into specified borrowing terms with the Secretary of the Treasury for purposes of paying nuclear liability claims. Provides for Federal indemnification of a precautionary State activity undertaken as a result of a federally contracted radioactive waste disposal incident. (Defines such a precautionary activity as any action to evacuate the public in order to protect the public health and safety from a real or imminent danger.) Applies the waiver of specified defenses to indemnity agreements entered into by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission regarding radioactive waste to which the United States holds title.
United States · United States Congress · 6 March 1986
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a deduction for amounts paid by or on behalf of an individual to an individual health services account. Limits the amount of the allowable deduction to any individual for any taxable year to $2,000. Defines "individual health services account" as a trust created or organized exclusively to pay qualified health expenses of the distributee. Sets forth various requirements for the trust. Defines "qualified health expenses" as amounts paid for: (1) care of the distributee at a skilled nursing facility; (2) care of the distributee at an intermediate care facility; (3) care at any other long-term facility which provides nursing or custodial care; (4) home health care of the distributee prescribed by, and under the supervision of, a qualified physician; (5) Medicare supplemental policies for the distributee; or (6) health services supplemental policies for the distributee. Defines a "health services supplemental policy" as a health insurance policy or other health benefit plan offered by a private entity to an individual which provides reimbursement for expenses incurred, or services for, catastrophic and long-term care. Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to establish minimum requirements and standards for the certification of health services supplemental policies and procedures for the Secretary to certify policies submitted to the Secretary. Requires any amount distributed from an individual health services account to be included in the gross income of the distributee for the taxable year in which the distribution is received. Imposes a ten percent penalty on distributions which are not used exclusively for qualified health expenses. Permits the exclusion of ten percent of a distribution from an individual health services account where the distribution is used exclusively to pay qualified health expenses of the distributee, if the distributee has attained the age of 59 and one-half. Provides that only 80 percent of any distribution used exclusively to pay for Medicare supplemental policies or health services supplemental policies shall be included in income of the distributee, regardless of the age of the distributee. Provides that an individual health services account will be exempt from taxation unless the distributee engages in prohibited transactions with the account. Treats as a distribution from the account any portion of the account used as security for a loan. Provides that the individual health services account will terminate on the death of the distributee. Allows the deduction for amounts paid to a health services savings account to be taken in arriving at adjusted gross income. Imposes a tax penalty on excess contributions to an individual health services account, on prohibited transactions, and on failure to file certain information reports. Directs the Secretary, in consultation with various interested groups, to report to the Congress, not later than one year after the date of enactment of this Act, on a regulatory program to provide for the application of minimum standards with respect to health services supplemental policies. Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide Medicare benefits for catastrophic care. Provides that each individual enrolled under Medicare shall be deemed to have elected this coverage unless the individual files a notice that such coverage is not wanted. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to determine the monthly actuarial rate for enrollees for the catastrophic coverage option. Provides that the monthly premiums for each individual covered under this month shall be the amount equal to the monthly actuarial rate for enrollees.
United States · United States Congress · 6 March 1986
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that: (1) the aspirations of the Angolan people deserve U.S. support; (2) the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) and its leader, Dr. Jonas Malheiro Savimbi, have the right to play a role in the political life of Angola; and (3) the Marxist Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) has violated the rights of the Angolan people. Declares that the MPLA should agree to negotiations which will include UNITA, end the presence of Soviet and Cuban forces in Angola, result in national reconciliation within Angola, and facilitate the independence of Namibia. Urges the President to provide assistance to UNITA in order to promote a political solution and withdrawal of outside forces, and to help UNITA deter and resist continued Soviet, Cuban, and MPLA military escalation.
United States · United States Congress · 4 March 1986
Provides that any requirement to substantiate a deduction under the Internal Revenue Code with respect to the business use of a vehicle must be based on regulations in effect before the Tax Reform Act of 1984.
United States · United States Congress · 27 February 1986
Long-Term Care Patients' Rights Act of 1986 - Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to require States to establish written standards and procedures protecting and enforcing the rights of residents of long-term care facilities. Lists residents' rights encompassing: (1) medical care and treatment rights, including the right to be fully informed of one's condition and treatment, if such knowledge is not medically detrimental, and participate in planning such treatment; (2) the right to privacy during treatment and visits; (3) the right of confidentiality regarding one's personal records and mail; (4) freedom of association, including both the right to organize and to refuse to participate in group activities; (5) medical experimentation rights, requiring residents to give informed, voluntary, and written consent before involvement in such experimentation; (6) freedom from physical and mental abuse, including the right to refuse to work for the facility and the right to retain personal possessions; and (7) the right to manage, and remain informed of, one's personal financial affairs. Prohibits long-term care facilities from denying admission to, transferring, or discharging residents on the basis of the residents' source of payment for services, or medical history or condition (if the facility can adequately care for such condition). Prohibits resident transfers or discharge for nonmedical reasons without the resident's consent and reasonable notice, unless the resident is a threat to others or does not pay charges. Directs each long-term care facility, at specified times, to provide each resident with an oral, written, and understandable explanation of: (1) the resident's rights and responsibilities; (2) facility rules and regulations; and (3) services available in the facility. Requires public notice of such information as well as information concerning State procedures for enforcing residents' rights. Requires States to annually submit a written plan to the Secretary of Health and Human Services concerning State procedures for protecting and enforcing residents' rights. Specifies the State and community organizations responsible for developing the State plans. Requires State plans to provide for: (1) a procedure for the expeditious review and resolution of residents' complaints by each long-term care facility and by the State, when complaints are not satisfactorily resolved by the facility; (2) a process by which residents and facilities may appeal adverse complaint decisions; (3) a State ombudsman with the responsibility to receive, file, and investigate residents' complaints; (4) programs by which facilities educate their staff regarding residents' rights, facility rules and regulations, and complaint review procedures; and (5) a statewide uniform reporting and recording system of all rights violation complaints and their disposition, as well as a system for reporting cases of resident abuse or neglect so that designated State officials can redress such abuse. Provides that the rights and recourses set forth in this Act are nonexclusive. Requires States to prohibit Medicaid providers from discriminating against, or giving preference to, individuals merely because they receive Medicaid assistance. Creates a private right of action whereby Medicaid applicants and recipients may enforce, in Federal district courts, Federal laws and regulations protecting their welfare and rights.
United States · United States Congress · 27 February 1986
Amends part B (Peer Review) of title IX of the Social Security Act to require peer review organizations receiving a Medicare beneficiary's request, while such beneficiary is still a hospital inpatient, for reconsideration of a determination denying payment for continuing inpatient hospital care to give the beneficiary notice of its reconsidered determination within two days of receiving the request.
United States · United States Congress · 25 February 1986
Amends the Agricultural Adjustment Act, as reenacted by the Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act of 1937, to repeal the minimum adjustments to fluid milk prices under marketing orders.
United States · United States Congress · 19 February 1986
Amends the Agricultural Act of 1949 to provide that, notwithstanding the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act) and the sequestration order issued by the President (under such Act) on February 1, 1986, FY 1986 dairy expenditure reductions shall be implemented through a reduction in the price received by milk producers rather than through a reduction in Commodity Credit Corporation payments for dairy product purchases. States that such reductions shall be no greater than needed to equal the reduction in milk support expenditures required by such order.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 1986
General Aviation Tort Reform Act of 1986 - Amends the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure to provide uniform rules for negligence and products liability claims arising from general aviation accidents. Allows any person claiming damages from such an accident to bring a products liability action against the general aviation manufacturer if: (1) the product was defective when it left the control of the manufacturer; (2) the defective condition was the proximate cause of the harm; (3) the condition would not have been corrected by actions described in directives issued by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) or the manufacturer; and (4) the aircraft was being used for a purpose and in a manner for which it was manufactured. Provides an alternative method to establish manufacturer liability where the manufacturer failed to provide reasonable warnings (unless such warnings would not have affected the conduct of the product user). Provides a third method to establish manufacturer liability where: (1) the manufacturer made an express warranty with respect to the product; (2) the warranty related to that aspect of the product which caused the harm; (3) the product failed to conform to the warranty; and (4) such failure was the proximate cause of the harm. States that all actions for damages arising from a general aviation accident shall be governed by the principles of comparative responsibility. Provides that defendants in such actions are severally but not jointly liable for damages (except that manufacturers of airframes and systems or components of aircraft may be jointly and severally liable under certain circumstances). Provides a 12-year limitation on liability of manufacturers. States that express warranties running for a longer period of time and the duty to provide additional warnings shall not be affected by such limitations. Allows awards of punitive damages. Prescribes a statute of limitations for such actions. Preempts State laws to the extent that this Act establishes applicable rules or procedures. Grants Federal district courts (concurrently with State courts) original jurisdiction (without regard to the amount in controversy) in all civil actions for damages arising out of a general aviation accident. Allows the removal of State actions to an appropriate Federal district court by any defendant. Prescribes venue restrictions. Expresses the intent of the Congress that orders to pay reasonable expenses, including attorney's fees, be enforced.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 1986
Milk Marketing Control Act of 1986 - Amends the Agricultural Act of 1949 to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to conduct a referendum among milk producers to determine whether to implement an alternative milk price support program through 1990 based on individual milk marketing bases and a 70 percent of parity support level.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 1986
Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) the United States, in cooperation with other members of the international donor community, should call upon the Ethiopian Government to recognize that resources donated for famine relief should be used for that purpose and not diverted to resettlement efforts; (2) such forced resettlements by the Ethiopian Government should be halted and monitored by the United Nations (U.N.); (3) the Ethiopian Government should commit sufficient resources to move food and relief goods to meet the needs of its people; and (4) the U.N. should insist on free access to resettlement sites for international observers and the news media and report on conditions in the resettlement camps.
United States · United States Congress · 4 February 1986
Amends the Agricultural Act of 1949 to establish 1986 and 1987 minimum farm payment yields at 1985 levels for wheat, feed grains, upland cotton, and rice.
United States · United States Congress · 30 January 1986
Consumer Rail Equity Act - Reaffirms the intent of the Congress that the Railroad Revitalization and Regulatory Reform Act of 1976 and the Staggers Rail Act of 1980 be implemented in a manner which provides both greater competitive alternatives and adequate railroad revenues. Establishes a rebuttable presumption of rail market dominance if a person challenging a transportation rate shows that the railroad charging such rate does not face effective transportation competition. Shifts the burden of proof regarding transportation rate reasonableness from the shipper to the rail carrier establishing the challenged rate. Declares that it is Federal policy to encourage and promote competitive transportation rates for domestically produced coal and other commodities in order to increase their competitive position in domestic and export markets. Directs the Commission to establish a rail cost adjustment factor which includes changes in railroad productivity, volume, and output mix. Provides that certain rail carrier rates shall be reduced to the extent of any subsequent decreases in rail cost adjustment factors. Includes within the standards used to determine railroad revenue adequacy: (1) identification of revenues, expenses, and investment base reasonably related to rail transportation service; (2) straight-line depreciation of assets reasonably related to rail transportation service, minus deferred tax reserves resulting from accelerated depreciation; and (3) actual cost of debt capital and reasonable estimates of the current cost of equity capital. Requires the Commission, when making revenue adequacy determinations, to consider specified indicators of a rail carrier's financial status. Requires the Commission to determine, on an annual basis, which rail carriers are earning adequate or inadequate revenues and to determine for each rail carrier the revenues required to achieve or maintain revenue adequacy. Allows (current law requires) the Commission to exempt persons from application of this Act when: (1) such application is not necessary to implement Federal transportation policy; and (2) the Commission finds there is no market dominance involved in the affected transaction. Requires any rail carrier providing service under certain line rates to participate in competitive joint rail rates through practicable interchange connections (or publish a competitive proportional rate) if requested to do so by a rail carrier (or shipper or receiver) who has an actual or practicable interchange connection. Directs the Commission, upon petition of any interested party, to require certain terminal facilities owned by a rail carrier in interstate or foreign commerce to be used by another rail carrier if the Commission finds: (1) it is in the public interest to do so; and (2) that the owner of such terminal facility will not suffer substantial impairment of its own business interests. Directs the Commission to require, upon petition by an interested party, that rail carriers enter into reciprocal switching agreements if such an agreement is in the public interest or necessary to provide alternative competitive rail service. Directs the Commission to establish reciprocal switching compensation at a level not to exceed the current percentage of the actual variable costs for such service (unless the carrier demonstrates that a higher level is reasonable and necessary). Revises railroad line abandonment procedures to provide that a rail carrier must wait one year before resubmitting a previously denied abandonment application, unless a substantial change in circumstances can be shown. Requires the Commission to hold hearings in communities affected by a proposed railroad line abandonment if requested to do so by community protestants. Requires the Commission to base its abandonment determination upon financial data regarding the facility proposed to be abandoned rather than upon financial data regarding industry-wide averages. Subjects to Commission review any State decision regarding intrastate rates, rules, and practices if a party to such State proceedings petitions for Commission review. Requires the Commission to take action on such petition within 120 days of its receipt. Authorizes the Commission to vacate a State decision found inconsistent with this Act.
![Official portrait of Rep. Stangeland, Arlan [R-MN-7]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/s000795_200.jpg)