United States · United States Congress · 4 June 1987
Amends the Federal criminal code to allow the National Association of State Racing Commissioners, State racing commissions, and authorities that regulate parimutuel wagering to: (1) use the facilities of the National Crime Information Center to receive, share, store, and disseminate criminal identification records; and (2) submit fingerprints to the Attorney General for identification and a criminal history records check.
United States · United States Congress · 4 June 1987
Public Rangelands Fee Act of 1987 - Sets forth a formula, beginning with grazing year 1988, for determining fees for domestic livestock grazing on public rangelands. Bases the formula on appraised base value, expressed in dollars per head or per month, and the forage value index. Prohibits annual fee adjustments greater or less than 25 percent for grazing years 1988 through 1990. Amends the Public Rangelands Improvement Act of 1978 to: (1) decrease the percent of range improvement funding that must be used for range improvement and rehabilitation; (2) increase the percent of such funds available for personnel training; and (3) obligate a specified percent of such funds for riparian habitat improvement. Amends the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 to obligate a specified percent of funds under such Act for riparian habitat improvement.
United States · United States Congress · 3 June 1987
Retirement and Survivor Annuities for Bankruptcy Judges and Magistrates Act of 1987 - Establishes a new retirement system for bankruptcy judges and magistrates with 14 or more years of service, or at least eight years of service, upon attaining age 65. Entitles a bankruptcy judge or magistrate who has served at least five years to disability retirement. Provides for cost-of-living adjustments in such retirement system. Requires each bankruptcy judge or magistrate who elects an annuity under this Act to notify the Director of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts. Declares that such judge or magistrate shall not be entitled to an annuity under the civil service systems. Declares this Act applicable to service on or after October 1, 1979. Establishes transition provisions for incumbent judges and magistrates. Provides survivors' annuities for bankruptcy judges, magistrates, and incumbents. Authorizes the recall of retired bankruptcy judges and magistrates into service.
United States · United States Congress · 3 June 1987
Prohibits the proposed enhancement or upgrade in the sensitivity of technology of, or the capacity of, Maverick missiles for Saudi Arabia, as described in the May 29, 1987, certification from the President to the Congress under the Arms Export Control Act.
United States · United States Congress · 3 June 1987
Designates the week beginning October 18, 1987, as Financial Independence Week. Urges all citizens to pursue financial independence through sound planning and management of their individual resources.
United States · United States Congress · 3 June 1987
Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) the Congress strongly opposes the transfer of Railroad Retirement benefits to the Social Security Administration (as proposed by the executive branch); and (2) such a transfer should not occur.
United States · United States Congress · 21 May 1987
Depositor Protection Act of 1987 - Prohibits a bankruptcy trustee from avoiding as a preferential transfer certain withdrawal transactions made by depositors or investors from accounts with certain financial institutions which issue savings obligations or accept deposits in the ordinary course of business. Applies such prohibition to bankruptcy cases filed on or after March 9, 1983.
United States · United States Congress · 20 May 1987
Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to study and report on the effectiveness of current laws, regulations, and licensing standards for commercial breeders of dogs and puppies in protecting such animals raised for sale in retail pet stores from inhumane treatment.
United States · United States Congress · 19 May 1987
Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide coverage for services performed by a physician assistant outside institutional settings.
United States · United States Congress · 18 May 1987
Designates August 1, 1987, as Helsinki Human Rights Day. Requests the President to: (1) reassert American commitment to the Helsinki Accords; (2) raise the issue of noncompliance with such Accords with the Soviet Union, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, the German Democratic Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Romania; (3) convey to all signatories of such Accords that respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms is vital to progress in the ongoing Helsinki process; (4) convey to U.S. allies the necessity of unity regarding such Accords; (5) continue his efforts to achieve the release of political prisoners of the Soviet Union, increase in Soviet emigration, resolution of family reunification cases, and cessation of radio transmission jamming; (6) seek the inclusion, in any concluding document agreed to in Vienna, of a mechanism to sustain human rights progress after the Vienna Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe; and (7) convey to signatory states the desire of the United States for a result at Vienna that will not favor military security at the expense of human rights.
United States · United States Congress · 12 May 1987
Amends the Consumer Product Safety Act with regard to the definition of the term "consumer product" to remove the exception excluding tobacco and tobacco products.
United States · United States Congress · 12 May 1987
Star Schools Program Assistance Act - Amends the Education for Economic Security Act to add a title establishing a star schools program. Cites the new title as the Star Schools Program Assistance Act. Empowers the Secretary of Education to make demonstration grants of up to a fiscal year maximum of $20,000,000 per grant to eligible telecommunications partnerships for the development, construction, and acquisition of telecommunications facilities and equipment and for technical assistance. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1988 through 1992, subject to fiscal year limitations. Mandates that at least 50 percent of funds under this Act for any fiscal year be used for the cost of facilities, equipment, teacher training or retraining, technical assistance, or programming for certain local educational agencies. Sets forth eligibility criteria to identify eligible telecommunications partnerships, which must be organized on a statewide or multistate regional basis and be either: (1) a public agency or corporation established to provide education-related telecommunications networks to certain educational or health institutions or to industries; or (2) a partnership that will provide a telecommunications network and whose membership includes certain specified educational entities (especially elementary and secondary schools eligible for funds under title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 or such eligible schools operated by the Department of the Interior for Indian children) or public or private organizations experienced with telecommunications. Authorizes eligible partnerships to submit a grant application: (1) describing the telecommunications facilities, equipment, and technical assistance for which aid is being sought; (2) demonstrating that the services offered will increase the availability of courses of instruction in mathematics, science, and foreign languages; (3) describing teacher training policies to be implemented to ensure the effective use of the relevant facilities; (4) providing assurances that the financial interest of the United States in the telecommunications facilities and equipment will be protected for their useful life; (5) assuring that a significant portion of the facilities, equipment, technical assistance, and programming will be made available within local educational agencies having a high percentage of educationally deprived students; (6) describing how traditionally underserved students will participate in the benefits of such technology; and (7) containing other assurances and information as required by the Secretary. Directs the Secretary, in approving applications, to assure an equitable geographic distribution of grants and to give priority to certain applicants, including those partnerships that: (1) have the capacity to serve the broadest range of targeted institutions; (2) have substantial academic and teaching capabilities; (3) will serve a multistate area; and (4) demonstrate strength in mathematics, science, and foreign language resources which by distribution through the partnership will offer new educational opportunities, especially to traditionally underserved populations and to areas with limited access to such resources; and (5) will meet the needs of individuals traditionally excluded from careers in mathematics and science because of discrimination, inaccessibility, or economically disadvantaged backgrounds. Requires each grantee to report to the Secretary concerning courses and materials to be transmitted by satellite to educational institutions and teacher training centers and to specify the locus and time of such transmissions. Directs the Secretary to: (1) compile and prepare for dissemination a listing and description of the courses and materials submitted by each grantee; and (2) distribute such list to all State educational agencies. Authorizes the Office of Technology Assessment, upon request, to: (1) conduct a thorough evaluation of the use of the telecommunications system supported by the grants awarded under this Act and report to the Congress on such evaluation; and (2) study and evaluate the cost of designing, building, and launching a satellite for educational purposes, including an analysis of potential users' ability to repay such costs. Requires a report to the Congress if such study indicates that potential users would be able to repay such costs within ten years.
United States · United States Congress · 29 April 1987
Hearing Aid Compatibility Act of 1987 - Requires that all telephones sold, rented, or otherwise distributed in the United States be hearing aid compatible, except telephones that are manufactured before the effective date of this Act or that are not required to be registered with the Federal Communications Commission.
United States · United States Congress · 23 April 1987
Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to require foods to include on their labeling the presence and amount of any palm, palm kernel, or coconut oil along with a statement that such oil(s) is a saturated fat.
United States · United States Congress · 23 April 1987
National Policy and Technology Foundation Act of 1987 - Establishes, as an independent agency, the National Policy and Technology Foundation to develop and coordinate the collection, analysis, and dissemination through existing information systems of information as it relates to national and international economies, economic and industrial trends, technological advances, and related matters. Requires the Foundation to become a repository of such information and to provide a full array of informational and statistical services as well as monitor the quality of U.S. life through economic and other indicators. Establishes in the Foundation, in order to facilitate its purposes: (1) a National Policy and Technology Board; (2) an Office of Director of the Foundation; (3) a National Information Office; (4) an Office of National Policy, Analysis, and Assessment; (5) an Office of National Programs; (6) an Office of the Professions; (7) an Office of Institutional and Human Resource Development; (8) an Office of Small Business; and (9) an Office of Intergovernmental Technology and Professions Delivery Systems. Transfers to the Foundation: (1) the National Bureau of Standards; (2) the Patent and Trademark Office; (3) the National Technical Information Service; (4) the Office of Small Business Research and Development; (5) the Directorate for Engineering; (6) the Division of Industrial Science and Technological Innovation (exclusive of the nonengineering programs of the industry/university cooperative research projects program element) of the National Science Foundation; (7) the Intergovernmental Programs section of the National Science Foundation; (8) the Office of Industrial Technology; (9) the Center for the Utilization of Federal Technology; (10) the Division of Policy Research and Analysis of the National Science Foundation; and (11) functions of the Departments of Energy and Defense, of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and of the Public Printer which relate to the sale of Government information to the public. Transfers to the Foundation all the functions and authorities of the National Science Foundation and the Secretary of Commerce under the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980. Requires the Foundation to monitor and assess such information, developing indicators and evaluating the impact of such information on current or proposed policy and the impact of policy upon economic indicators. Requires the Foundation to support research and professional development. States that advisory councils covering the full range of Foundation responsibilities shall be appointed by the Director. Requires the Director to coordinate Foundation programs with other government and private programs. States that a National Foundation Coordinating Board shall be appointed. Authorizes the Foundation to award scholarships and graduate scholarships. Requires the foundation to report biennially to the Congress and the President on the activities, issues, and recommendations of the Council. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1987.
United States · United States Congress · 22 April 1987
Nuclear Regulatory Commission Inspector General and Investigations Act of 1987 - Amends the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974 to establish in the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (the Commission) the Office of Inspector General. Prescribes the oversight responsibilities of the Inspector General regarding Commission implementation of nuclear power safety regulations. Requires the Inspector General to appoint an Assistant Inspector General for Investigations and an Assistant Inspector General for Auditing with responsibility for supervising the performance of investigative and auditing activities. Requires the Inspector General to submit semiannual reports to the Commission (which in turn shall submit them to the Congress) summarizing the activities of the Office of Inspector General. Authorizes the Inspector General to investigate information received from Commission employees regarding violations, fraud, gross waste of funds, or a danger to the public safety. Prohibits any reprisal action taken against an employee for making a complaint or disclosing information to an Inspector General. Establishes in the Commission the Office of Investigations of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Prescribes the oversight responsibilities of the Director regarding the investigation of non-compliance with radiological health and safety laws on the part of Commission licensees, permittees, applicants, contractors, and vendors. Requires the Director to appoint a Deputy Director and an Assistant Director. Confers responsibility upon the Assistant Director for supervising investigations conducted by the Commission's regional offices. Requires the Director to submit semiannual reports to the Commission (which in turn shall submit them to the Congress) summarizing the activities of the Office of Investigations. Transfers the Commission's Office of Inspector and Auditor to the Office of Inspector General of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. States that no person may restrict the communication of any Commission employee with a member of Congress or the Inspector General regarding: (1) possible violations of law; or (2) mismanagement, gross waste of funds, abuse of authority, or danger to the public safety. Prohibits retaliatory personnel actions against Commission employees for making such a protected communication. Requires the Inspector General to: (1) investigate any allegations by a Commission employee regarding such violations or retaliatory actions; and (2) report investigation results to the Commission. Sets forth remedies for victims of retaliatory actions.
United States · United States Congress · 22 April 1987
PRO Due Process and Equity Amendments of 1987 - Amends part B (Peer Review) of title XI of the Social Security Act to give Medicare (title XVIII of the Act) providers 30 days to request a hearing, and such time as is thereafter needed to exhaust administrative and judicial remedies, before the decision of the Secretary of Health and Human Services to exclude the provider from Medicare participation takes effect, provided that such delay does not pose a severe and immediate threat to the health of Medicare beneficiaries. Provides that where the Secretary finds such an immediate threat to exist, the provider shall be immediately excluded from Medicare participation and be given a hearing within 30 days. Directs the Secretary to act upon the recommendations regarding a provider's noncompliance with title XI requirements within five days of their submission if the PRO finds such noncompliance to pose an immediate threat to the health of Medicare beneficiaries, and, in any other case, within 120 days of the submittal of the recommendations. Entitles Medicare providers to a reconsideration by PRO of that organization's denial of payment for services provided, and to further review where such reconsideration is adverse to the provider and certain jurisdictional criteria are satisfied. Requires PROs to notify providers regarding any changes in the services reviewed or the review standards applied by PROs at least 30 days before such changes take effect. Requires the Secretary to emphasize PRO educational activities as much as its sanctioning activities when entering into, reviewing, or terminating PRO contracts. Directs PROs to make at least 50 percent of their review of small rural hospitals on-site reviews and take into account professionally recognized local health care standards as well as national and State standards in conducting such reviews. Prohibits the finalization of a provider payment denial until at least 30 days after the PRO gives the provider reasonable notice of the proposed denial and a reasonable opportunity to discuss such denial. Requires a PRO to include at least one hospital representative on its governing body. Requires the random review of physician care to be conducted so that there is an equal likelihood and intensity of review for each physician sampled.
United States · United States Congress · 22 April 1987
Medicare Rural Hospital Amendments of 1987 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to extend, until October 1990, the adjustment of payments made to sole community hospitals which experience a five percent decrease in patient volume over two successive cost reporting periods, unless such decrease in patient volume is due to hospital actions taken to reduce capacity or case load. Requires the Prospective Payment Assessment Commission (Commission) to report to the Congress on March 1, 1988, on a study into the appropriateness of the criteria used in designating hospitals as sole community hospitals. Directs the Secretary to report to the Congress on a study into the feasibility and impact of eliminating separate urban and rural prospective payment rates for hospital services. Requires the Commission to collect information and report to the Congress on March 1, 1988, concerning whether an adjustment to the area wage index (used to adjust prospective payment rates to account for the wage differential between urban and rural areas) is warranted to account for variations in the occupational mix of hospital employees. Requires information on the wages and hours of employment for employees in hospital occupational categories to be collected for purposes of the annual update of the area wage index. Bases outlier payments for a fiscal year on a percentage of the total prospective payment system (PPS) payments made for the second previous fiscal year. (Currently, outlier payments represent a percentage of the total PPS payments estimated to be made for the same fiscal year). Directs the Commission to report to the Congress by FY 1989 on a study into the impact on urban and rural hospitals of the criteria used to determine eligibility for outlier payments. Requires the Secretary to analyze the appropriateness of different annual percentage changes in prospective payment rates for urban and rural hospitals. Authorizes the Secretary, beginning in FY 1989, to provide for different annual percentage changes in prospective payment rates for urban and rural hospitals. Sets forth certain factors that a rural hospital which is adjacent to an urban area must establish in order to have the urban wage index applied in the determination of its prospective payments. Sets aside 25 percent of the funds appropriated pursuant to the Social Security Act, beginning with FY 1988, for research and demonstration projects relating to the delivery of or access to health care, to projects relating to the delivery of or access to health care in rural areas.
United States · United States Congress · 22 April 1987
Rural Health Care Preservation Act of 1987 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to create a new title, Title XXIII: Preservation of Rural Health Care. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services (Secretary) to appoint a Deputy Under Secretary for Rural Health Care to coordinate public and private activities to strengthen the rural health care system, including regional analyses and an information clearinghouse. Requires the Director of the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment to appoint a Rural Health Care Advisory Commission to report annually to the Congress, the Secretary, and the Deputy Under Secretary on access to community-based rural health care. Declares that certain provisions of the Social Security Act relating to staffing, administration, and reporting shall apply in the same way to the Commission as they apply to the Prospective Payment Assessment Commission. Authorizes appropriations to carry out the provisions of this Act relating to the Rural Health Care Advisory Commission for FY 1988 through 1990. Requires the Secretary to include with the publication of certain regulations an analysis of the impact of each regulation on access to rural health care. Amends the Public Health Service Act to authorize the Secretary to make grants for mental health services demonstration projects relating to rural residents. Increases the amount authorized to be appropriated for such projects in FY 1988 and authorizes such increased amount for FY 1989 and 1990. Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Secretary to provide that not less than 25 percent of funds set aside for research and demonstration projects relating to health services delivery or access be used in projects relating to rural areas, except for funds appropriated for the National Institutes of Health or funds first made available before FY 1988.
United States · United States Congress · 22 April 1987
Designates the week beginning August 2, 1987, as International Special Olympics Week and designates August 3, 1987, as International Special Olympics Day.
United States · United States Congress · 22 April 1987
Expresses the sense of the Congress that Medicare (title XVIII of the Social Security Act) reconciliation legislation should take into account the special needs of rural hospitals which are not currently taken into account under the Medicare hospital prospective payment system.
United States · United States Congress · 9 April 1987
Amends the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 to permit Rural Electrification Administration borrowers to prepay Federal Financing Bank loans without penalties if: (1) private capital is used to replace such loans; and (2) any savings will be used to avoid future rate increases, passed on to customers, or used to improve the borrower's financial strength.
United States · United States Congress · 8 April 1987
United States Olympic Checkoff Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow taxpayers to designate on their income tax returns a contribution of one dollar of their income tax refunds and any voluntary cash contributions for use by the U.S. Olympic Committee. Establishes in the Treasury a U.S. Olympic Trust Fund. Appropriates to such trust fund amounts equal to the amounts designated on tax returns. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to pay such amounts to the U.S. Olympic Committee at least quarterly. Allows specified administrative expenses of the Department of the Treasury to be paid from such trust fund.
United States · United States Congress · 8 April 1987
Declares that the House of Representatives: (1) calls for the immediate release of all the children detained under state of emergency regulations in South Africa; and (2) pending the release of the children, calls on South Africa to permit parental access to the children, make public their names and their location, provide them with adequate food, clothing, and protection, and permit an international organization to verify the above and make sure that such children are not abused or tortured.
United States · United States Congress · 7 April 1987
Encourages State and local governments and local educational agencies to provide quality daily physical education programs for all children from kindergarten through grade 12.
United States · United States Congress · 6 April 1987
Makes permanent the income tax credit for qualified research expenditures by repealing the provisions of the Internal Revenue Code that would terminate such credit for expenses incurred or paid after 1988.
United States · United States Congress · 6 April 1987
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. Applies the provisions of this Act only to the contiguous 48 States and the District of Columbia. Prohibits the construction or operation of any new electric powerplant as a base load powerplant without the capability to use coal or another alternate fuel as a primary source. States that an electric powerplant has the capability to use coal or another alternate fuel if: (1) it has sufficient inherent design characteristics to permit the addition of equipment necessary to render it capable of using coal or another alternate fuel as its primary energy source; and (2) it is not technologically or structurally precluded from using coal or another alternate fuel as its primary energy source. Makes the coal utilization requirements inapplicable to peakload powerplants or to intermediate load powerplants. Requires the owner or operator of any new baseload electric powerplant proposing to use natural gas or petroleum as its primary energy source to certify to the Secretary of Energy prior to construction or operation that such powerplant has the requisite coal-using capability. States that any permanent exemption from the proscription against the construction of new electric powerplants without coal or alternate fuel capability shall not take effect until all approvals required by State regulatory authorities relating to construction have been obtained.
United States · United States Congress · 6 April 1987
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that for each nuclear power plant that does not currently possess a full-power operating license, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission should apply its regulations so that such a license may be issued only if all of the Commission's emergency planning requirements are met. Includes in such requirements: (1) submission of off-site emergency plans to the Commission by State and local governments; and (2) a finding by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and a determination by the Commission, that such plans and emergency preparedness are deemed adequate to protect the public safety in the event of a serious reactor accident.
United States · United States Congress · 2 April 1987
Fairness in Broadcasting Act of 1987 - Expresses the findings of the Congress that the Fairness Doctrine: (1) fairly reflects the statutory obligations of broadcasters; (2) received statutory approval from the Congress in 1959; and (3) reasonably balances first amendment rights. Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to require broadcast licensees to provide a reasonable opportunity for the discussion of conflicting views on issues of public importance. Requires enforcement and application of such requirement to be consistent with the rules and policies of the Federal Communications Commission in effect on January 1, 1987.
United States · United States Congress · 25 March 1987
Defense Black Programs Oversight Act - Directs the Secretary of Defense to submit to the defense committees of the House of Representatives and of the Senate, at the same time each year as the President's annual budget is submitted, an unclassified report setting forth the total amount requested for special access programs of the Department of Defense (a program of the Department that is designated in such a manner as to conceal from public disclosure the existence or scope of the program). Directs the Secretary, no later than November 1 of each year, to provide to specified members of the defense committees notice of and justification for such special access programs. Outlines information to be included in such notice and provides access to such information by other members of the committees. Requires the Secretary to respond to any questions or concerns raised by any such committee member within 30 days. Directs the Secretary to notify the defense committees of any changes in the criteria used for making special access program designations no later than 30 days before such changes are to take effect. Requires the total amount requested and appropriated for the previous five fiscal years for such special access programs to be included in the first report to the committees required under this Act. Directs the Secretary, no later than 60 days after the enactment of this Act, to submit to the defense committees a report on the criteria used for designating a program of the Department of Defense as a special access program.
![Official portrait of Rep. Synar, Mike [D-OK-2]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/s001139_200.jpg)