United States · United States Congress · 11 June 1986
Establishes a formula for determining the allocation of official mail costs for Members of Congress for any fiscal year beginning with FY 1987. Directs the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration and the House Committee on House Administration to determine, and provide written notice to each Member of, the allocation of such Member. Requires the Committees to prescribe regulations to carry out this resolution. Requires the Committees to publish a quarterly statement on official mail costs.
United States · United States Congress · 10 June 1986
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that unless the Health Care Financing Administration allocates sufficient funds and and takes other action to ensure prompt payment of Medicare claims, the House of Representatives shall 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
National Organ and Tissue Donor Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to encourage and assist States in enacting and implementing State laws requiring hospitals to establish protocols for identifying and assisting human organ and tissue donors. Directs the Secretary to report to the Congress within one year on such activities.
United States · United States Congress · 4 June 1986
Amends the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 to prohibit smoking on passenger aircraft if: (1) the flight is scheduled for two hours or less; or (2) seating is not assigned on such flight.
United States · United States Congress · 3 June 1986
Expresses the sense of the Congress that State and local governments and local educational agencies should require quality daily physical education programs for all children from kindergarten through grade 12.
United States · United States Congress · 22 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 · 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 · 21 May 1986
Amends the Urban Mass Transportation Act of 1964 to increase from 2.93 percent to five percent the amount allocated in any fiscal year for public transportation projects in non-urbanized areas.
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 · 15 May 1986
Amends the Energy Policy and Conservation Act to authorize the President to establish a petroleum production rate from specified Naval Petroleum Reserves that is less than the maximum efficient rate and that takes into account energy security, petroleum price fluctuations, and long-term Federal revenue implications. Directs the President to establish a minimum sales price for such petroleum reserves based on a formula designed to prevent petroleum sales for prices: (1) significantly below prevailing market prices; or (2) below the petroleum acquisition cost for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
United States · United States Congress · 15 May 1986
Energy Independence Act of 1986 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to impose an excise tax on: (1) the first sale within the United States of any crude oil or any petroleum product imported into the United States; and (2) the use within the United States of any crude oil or any petroleum product imported into the United States if no such tax has been imposed prior to such use. Sets a fluctuating rate for such tax dependent upon the world price of crude oil.
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 · 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 · 28 April 1986
Authorizes the Secretary of the Army to issue a permit under the Clean Water Act and the River and Harbor Act of 1899 for the Stacy Dam, Reservoir, and Pipeline Project of the Colorado River Municipal Water District, Texas, not later than November 30, 1986, notwithstanding any pending threatened species proposals by the Secretary of the Interior.
United States · United States Congress · 23 April 1986
Amends the Powerplant and Industrial Fuel Use Act of 1978 to repeal prohibitions against the use of natural gas or petroleum as a primary energy source in new and existing electric powerplants and major fuel-burning installations.
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
Amends Federal armed forces provisions to direct the Secretary of the military department concerned to conduct an independent operational test and evaluation with respect to a major defense acquisition program under which a major system is to be acquired. Requires such test and evaluation to be conducted before the program may proceed into the production stage. Requires side-by-side testing as part of such test and evaluation. Requires the Director of Operational Test and Evaluation to independently analyze the results of each such operational test and evaluation, and to report such analyses to the Secretary of Defense. Prohibits the operational testing to be conducted until the Director approves in writing the adequacy of the plans for such operational test and evaluation. Authorizes the Secretary of Defense or the Secretary concerned to contract for low-rate initial production of a program only for the purpose of acquiring items for use in operational tests and evaluations. Prohibits a final decision from being made to proceed with full production of a program until 30 days after the congressional defense committees have received the report of the Director. Authorizes the President to suspend any provision of this Act in time of a declared war.
United States · United States Congress · 22 April 1986
Authorizes the Secretary of the Army to issue a permit under the Clean Water Act and the River and Harbor Act of 1899 for the Stacy Dam, Reservoir, and Pipeline Project of the Colorado River Municipal Water District, Texas, not later than November 30, 1986, notwithstanding any pending threatened species proposals by the Secretary of the Interior.
United States · United States Congress · 22 April 1986
Expresses the sense of the Congress that a Children's Challenge Center for Space Science should be established in conjunction with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration at the Johnson Space Center as a memorial to the seven Challenger astronauts and others who gave their lives exploring space.
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 · 16 April 1986
Natural Gas Policy Act Amendments of 1986 - Title I: Open Access to Transportation - Amends the Natural Gas Policy Act of 1978 to authorize the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (the Commission) to: (1) allow any pipeline to transport natural gas on behalf of any person; (2) require pipelines to transport gas without discrimination; and (3) require pipelines which receive gas to provide nondiscriminatory transportation services. Requires the Commission (upon request by any person) to direct an interstate pipeline to provide transportation service (without discrimination) unless such pipeline demonstrates to the Commission that it is incapable of providing such service. Title II: Removal of Wellhead Price Controls and Repeal of Jurisdiction Over First Sales - Removes wellhead price controls over all natural gas first sales beginning April 1, 1987. Removes such control for certain gas sales contracts executed after March 1, 1986. Removes Commission jurisdiction over first sales of natural gas committed or dedicated as of the day before enactment of this Act. Repeals Commission authority to specify the minimum duration of certain natural gas contracts (thus removing all non-price regulation of first sales of natural gas). Declares that, with respect to ceiling prices of certain natural gas sales, the last price paid for such gas shall be considered a federally established rate for purposes of an area rate clause. Title III: Repeal of Certain Restrictions on the Use of Natural Gas and Petroleum Use and Pricing - Amends the Powerplant and Industrial Fuel Use Act of 1978 to: (1) repeal the prohibitions against the use by electric powerplants and major fuel-burning installations of petroleum and natural gas as primary energy sources; (2) remove the restrictions placed upon Federal major fuel-burning installations against the use of natural gas and petroleum as primary energy sources; and (3) repeal the guidelines for the emergency use of natural gas or petroleum as a primary energy source by any person operating a peakload powerplant or a major fuel-burning installation. Revokes the authority of the Secretary of Energy to require any major fuel-burning installation to furnish certain information regarding the use of primary energy sources of fuel. Amends the Natural Gas Policy Act of 1978 to repeal the natural gas incremental pricing provisions. States that incremental pricing rules promulgated by the Commission shall continue in effect only with respect to the flow-through of costs incurred before enactment of this Act, including any surcharges based on such costs.
United States · United States Congress · 10 April 1986
Amends the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 to prohibit air carriers from providing alcoholic beverages to individuals under 21 years of age. Imposes a civil penalty for a violation of such proscription.
United States · United States Congress · 10 April 1986
Secure Energy Supply Act of 1986 - Title I: Deduction and Special Net Operating Loss Treatment for Producers for Certain Losses On Crude Oil - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to permit crude oil producers to deduct as a qualified loss 100 percent of the amount by which the removal price of the oil is below the adjusted base price of such oil plus the amount of the severance tax adjustment with respect to such oil, in the case of independent producer oil, and 80 percent of such amount for all other domestic crude oil. Prohibits the aggregate loss deductions from exceeding the aggregate amount of windfall profit tax paid by such producer. Allows the qualified losses with respect to domestic crude oil to be carried back to each of the six taxable years preceding the taxable year of such loss. Repeals the windfall profit tax. Title II: Increase in Tariffs on Petroleum and Petroleum Products - Amends the Tariff Schedules of the United States to increase the duties on crude petroleum and fuel oils, crude shale oil, motor fuels, kerosene, and napthas imported into the United States (by specified amounts plus applicable offset amounts per barrel). Defines "applicable offset amount." Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to refund the applicable offset amount if the petroleum product on which such duty was paid: (1) was used as heating fuel or in the production of heating fuel; or (2) is necessary to the manufacturing process for products destined for export. Provides that revenues from the increased duties imposed by this Act shall be allocated to the Petroleum Tariff Account. Authorizes and directs the Secretary of the Treasury to pay out of such account any refunds which are allowed under this Act. Expresses the sense of the Congress that any funds in such account that are not needed to make such refunds should be used to reduce the Federal budget deficit. Title III: Filling Strategic Petroleum Reserve with Stripper Well Oil - Amends the Energy Policy and Conservation Act to require the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to be filled with crude oil produced in the United States from stripper wells or crude oil exchanged for stripper well oil. Requires the oil to be purchased at an adjusted base price level established under the Windfall Profit Tax Act. Authorizes appropriations for the purpose of filling the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Title IV: Removal of Wellhead Price Controls and Repeal of Natural Gas Act Jurisdiction Over Certain First Sales of Natural Gas - Amends the Natural Gas Policy Act to remove the wellhead price controls on certain natural gas. Repeals Natural Gas Policy Act jurisdiction over certain sales of committed or dedicated natural gas. Repeals provisions relating to: (1) allowing the reimposition of price controls; and (2) reports to the Congress. Title V: Repeal of Certain Restrictions On the Use of Natural Gas and Petroleum - Repeals certain provisions of the Powerplant and Industrial Fuel Use Act of 1978 pertaining to restrictions on the use of natural gas and petroleum, including the restrictions on the construction of gas-burning electric power plants. Title VI: Repeal of Incremental Pricing Requirements - Repeals the incremental pricing requirements contained in the Natural Gas Policy Act. Title VII: Flexibility in Rescheduling or Marking Down Troubled Loans - Directs the chairmen of the Federal Reserve Board and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation to promulgate regulations granting financial institutions with energy-related loans greater flexibility in rescheduling or marking down troubled loans.
United States · United States Congress · 9 April 1986
Bilingual Education Act Amendments of 1986 - Amends the Bilingual Education Act (the Act) to add to the statement of policy the declaration that, regardless of the method of instruction, programs which serve children of limited English proficiency have the equally important goals of developing both academic achievement and English proficiency. Removes a requirement that the Secretary of Education (the Secretary) reserve limited portions of funds under the Act for special alternative instructional programs and related activities. Removes a requirement that the Secretary reserve at least 75 percent of funds under part A (Financial Assistance for Bilingual Education Programs) of the Act for transitional bilingual education programs.
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
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 · 25 March 1986
Federal Financial Management Improvement Act - Establishes: (1) the Office of the Chief Financial Officer of the United States in the Executive Office of the President; (2) an Assistant Secretary for Financial Management in each executive department; and (3) a Controller in each executive agency. Requires officers to be appointed to such positions by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. Requires the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) to: (1) provide central direction and monitoring of the executive agencies in the management of their financial activities; (2) ensure that the President and the Congress are fully informed of the Government's financial management condition; and (3) maintain the central accounting and reporting records of the Government. Requires each Assistant Secretary and Controller to: (1) maintain a strategic financial management plan for his or her department or agency; and (2) participate in the appointment, development, and evaluation of financial managers of such department or agency. Requires the budget of each department and agency to contain a line item for its Assistant Secretary or Controller based on its strategic financial management plan. Establishes in the executive branch the Federal Finance Council, which shall consist of the CFO and the Assistant Secretaries, as an advisory body on financial management objectives, information requirements, plans, operations, and activities. Directs the President to transfer to the Office of the CFO: (1) such functions of the executive agencies as the President determines are properly related to the functions of the Office; and (2) such personnel, property, and records of such agencies as are related to the transferred functions.
United States · United States Congress · 21 March 1986
Emergency Energy Act of 1986 - Title I: Amendments of Internal Revenue Code of 1954 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a credit against the income tax for crude oil producers 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 for more than $5.00 per barrel). Provides for a carryback of unused excess credits for any year. Allows a credit for 15 percent of the costs of exploring for oil or natural gas in the United States. Provides for a carryback of unused excess exploration cost credits. 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. Revises the minimum tax rules to allow a taxpayer to elect to carry over any portion of a percentage depletion deduction to the succeeding taxable year. Revises the definition of intangible drilling and development costs eligible for annual deduction as business expenses when paid or incurred to include geological, geophysical, and surface casing costs paid or incurred for the purpose of ascertaining the existence, location, extent, or quality of any domestic deposit of oil or gas. Repeals the tax preference cutback which currently requires integrated oil and gas producers to reduce (and thereby capitalize) the amount of intangible drilling and development costs eligible for a tax deduction by 20 percent. Repeals the rule that limits percentage depletion for oil or gas properties to 50 percent of a taxpayer's net income from the property. Revises the rule regarding an election to treat operating mineral interests as separate properties to allow such an election without regard to whether one or more of the operating mineral interests participated, under a voluntary or compulsory unitization or pooling agreement, in a single cooperative or unit plan of operation. 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 profits tax. Revises the special rules for the windfall profits tax to declare that a return shall not be treated as required if the amount of windfall profit tax withheld from the purchase payment to an oil producer equals or exceeds the amount required to be withheld as shown on the first purchaser's return. (The statute of limitations on assessments for windfall profits tax liability will thus begin to run concurrently with the statute of limitations on the taxpayer's income tax return.) Limits such rule revision to returns filed after February 29, 1980. Repeals the windfall profits tax. Declares that it is the sense of the Congress that the provisions relating to oil and gas taxation contained in H.R. 3838, the Tax Reform Act of 1985 (as passed by the House of Representatives), or any similar provisions in any other legislation, shall not be enacted. Title II: Removal of Wellhead Price Controls and Repeal of Natural Gas Act Jurisdiction Over Certain First Sales of Natural Gas - Amends the Natural Gas Policy Act of 1978 to: (1) remove wellhead price controls over natural gas prices; (2) repeal the jurisdiction of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) over natural gas exempt from wellhead price controls; (3) repeal the President's standby price control authority; and (4) repeal congressional review of natural gas price controls. Title III: Repeal of Certain Restrictions on the Use of Natural Gas and Petroleum - Amends the Powerplant and Industrial Fuel Use Act of 1978 to: (1) repeal the prohibitions against the use by electric powerplants and major fuel-burning installations of petroleum and natural gas as primary energy sources: (2) remove the restrictions placed upon Federal major fuel-burning installations against the use of natural gas and petroleum as primary energy sources; (3) repeal the guidelines for the emergency use of natural gas or petroleum as a primary energy source by any person operating a peakload powerplant or a major fuel-burning installation. Revokes the authority of the Secretary of Energy to require any major fuel-burning installation to furnish certain information regarding the use of primary energy sources of fuel. Title IV: Repeal of Incremental Pricing Requirements - Amends the Natural Gas Policy Act of 1978 to repeal the natural gas incremental pricing provisions. States that incremental pricing rules promulgated by FERC shall continue in effect only with respect to the flow-through of costs incurred before enactment of this section, including any surcharges based on such costs. Title V: Strategic Petroleum Reserve - Amends the Energy Policy and Conservation Act to direct the Secretary of Energy to fill the Strategic Petroleum Reserve only with crude oil produced in the United States. Prohibits the disposition of the Federal share of crude oil in the Elk Hills Naval Petroleum Reserve unless: (1) the minimum quantity of crude oil in storage in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve is 750,000,000 barrels (currently, 500,000,000 barrels). Title VI: Plugging of Abandoned Oil and Gas Wells - Declares it is the sense of the Congress that: (1) no State should impose less than a one year waiting period before requiring the permanent plugging of abandoned oil and gas wells; and (2) States should encourage limited plugging of such wells for reopening at a later date at minimal cost. Title VII: Separability - Sets forth separability provisions.
United States · United States Congress · 19 March 1986
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that Federal excise taxes and tariffs when incurred by business in the production of income should remain deductible for Federal income tax purposes.
United States · United States Congress · 18 March 1986
Telephone Decency Act of 1986 - Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to prohibit any obscene or indecent telephone communication for commercial purposes to any person in the District of Columbia or in interstate or foreign communication. (Current law prohibits such communication to any person without his or her consent or to any person under 18 years of age.)
United States · United States Congress · 12 March 1986
Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act - Requires States to provide by law for elections for Federal office: (1) absentee registration and absentee voting for uniformed services voters and overseas voters; and (2) the use of alternative write-in absentee ballots by overseas voters. Directs the President to designate the head of an executive department to have primary responsibility for the administrative functions of this Act, including: (1) prescribing an official postcard form containing a voter registration and an absentee ballot application; (2) prescribing an alternative write-in ballot for overseas voters; (3) prescribing forms and designs for balloting materials; (4) distributing election materials; and (5) reporting to the Congress in even-numbered years on its effectiveness. Provides for the distribution of official postcards. Sets forth recommendations to the States in carrying out provisions of this Act. Authorizes the use of the alternative write-in ballots in lieu of absentee ballots under specified circumstances. Directs the Postmaster to expedite the transport of election materials and declares such materials free of postage.
United States · United States Congress · 12 March 1986
Terrorist Prosecution Act of 1985 - Amends the Federal criminal code to make it an offense to commit or attempt to commit murder or manslaughter against any U.S. national abroad, or conspire to do so. (Murder is punishable by capital punishment, a life sentence, or for any term of years and voluntary manslaughter is punishable by imprisonment up to ten years and involuntary manslaughter by imprisonment up to three years and/or a fine up to $1,000.) Makes it an offense to (or to attempt to) assault, wound, strike, imprison, endanger, or make any other violent attack upon the person or liberty of any U.S. national in any foreign country (or make violent attack on his or her business premises, private accommodation or means of transport). Provides for a fine of not more than $5,000 and/or imprisonment for not more than three years. Increases the fine to $10,000 and/or imprisonment to ten years if a deadly or dangerous weapon is used. Makes it an offense to conspire, outside the United States, to murder any U.S. national within the United States. Prohibits an indictment under this Act without the written approval of the Attorney General or his designee.
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.
![Official portrait of Rep. Stenholm, Charles W. [D-TX-17]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/s000851_200.jpg)