United States · United States Congress · 28 February 1979
Requires that whoever uses or carriers a firearm during the commission of any felony which may be prosecuted in a United States court shall, in addition to the punishment provided for the commission of such offense, be sentenced to a term of imprisonment of five years. Requires in the case of a second or subsequent conviction the imposition of a term of eight years imprisonment. Stipulates that the imposition of any term of imprisonment under this section: (1) may not be suspended; (2) may not run concurrently; and (3) may not include parole.
United States · United States Congress · 27 February 1979
Amends the program of medical and dental care for members and certain former members of the uniformed services and for their dependents to include former spouses of members of the uniformed services. Establishes length of marriage and other requirements of eligibility.
United States · United States Congress · 26 February 1979
Regulatory Reform Act of 1979 - Requires the President to submit to Congress a plan recommending reforms with respect to the regulation of: (1) energy, the environment, housing, and occupational health and safety by specified Federal agencies by April 30, 1981; (2) transportation and communications by specified Federal agencies by April 30, 1983; (3) banking and finance, international trade, and Government procurement by specified Federal agencies by April 30, 1985; and (4) food, consumer health and safety, economic trade practices, and labor- management concerns by specified Federal agencies by April 30, 1987. States that each such plan shall include recommendations for reform of such specified agencies and shall report on the cumulative impact of all Government regulatory activity reviewed, up to that date, on specific industry groupings. States that if the President fails to submit such plans by the specified dates, the Senate and House Committees on Government Operations shall draft their own plans to be submitted to Congress for action. Requires the Comptroller General and the Congressional Budget Office, contemporaneously with the development of the President's plan, to submit a report assessing the purpose, effects, efficiency, and cost effectiveness of each agency included in the plans submitted by the President. States that if no comprehensive regulatory reform legislation is enacted by August 1 of the year following the year in which a comprehensive plan has been submitted by the President, then all agencies affected thereby shall have no authority to issue any new rules not essential for preserving the public health and safety; if such reform is not enacted by October 1 of such year, such agency shall have no authority to enforce any rule not essential for preserving the public health and safety; if no such reform is enacted by December 31 of such year, such agency shall be terminated on such date. States that all rules of such terminated agency essential for preserving the public health and safety shall remain effective and shall be enforced by the Department of Justice. Requires the President to submit subsequent plans in the manner and in the order and frequency set forth by this Act every ten years.
United States · United States Congress · 21 February 1979
Requires that veterans receiving hospital, nursing home, or outpatient medical care from the Veterans Administration (VA) for non-service-connected disabilities be charged for such care to the extent that they have health insurance or similar contracts or rights with respect to such care, or have entitlement to private medical care under workers' compensation or automobile accident reparation statutes of any State. Provides that where such non-VA coverage is less than the total charge for such medical care provided to an eligible veteran, the veteran shall not be responsible for the difference.
United States · United States Congress · 15 February 1979
Allows eligible veterans to receive certain educational assistance during the six-year period following their last discharge or release from active duty even if such period extends beyond December 31, 1989.
United States · United States Congress · 15 February 1979
Amends the Selective Service Act to remove the requirement that armed forces Reserve officers ordered to active duty for training be so order for not less than three months.
United States · United States Congress · 15 February 1979
Constitutional Amendment - Provides that total expenditures in any fiscal year shall not exceed the net amount of revenue received by the Government in that year. Authorizes the suspension of such prohibition in time of war declared by Congress or by a concurrent resolution passed by a two-thirds vote of both Houses of Congress. Stipulates that any unanticipated deficit in any fiscal year shall be considered an expenditure for the succeeding fiscal year. Directs the Congress to provide an appropriate increase in the level of total receipts if the amount of such deficit exceeds two percent of the total expenditures for the succeeding fiscal year. Authorizes the Congress to apportion any deficit over the four following fiscal years or, by a two-thirds vote of both Houses, to include such deficit in the debts of the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 8 February 1979
Amends the financial assistance program for members of the two-year Senior Reserve Officers' Training Corps course appointed in any year as cadets or midshipmen, removing the limitation on the percent of members eligible.
United States · United States Congress · 8 February 1979
Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide payment for optometric and medical vision care under the supplementary medical insurance program.
United States · United States Congress · 8 February 1979
Taxpayer Relief Amendments to Panama Treaty Legislation - Specifies that all expenses incurred implementing the Panama Canal Treaty of 1977 shall be treated as an expense of the Panama Canal Commission. Prohibits payments to Panama out of U.S. Treasury revenues. Requires the Panama Canal Company to pay its cash assets to the U.S. Treasury to be applied against its debt. Directs the Commission to continue repaying its debt to the United States. Amends the Panama Canal Code to require the Commission to pay: (1) all canal operating revenues to the U.S. Treasury; and (2) the payments required under the Treaty to Panama only with express congressional authorization. Directs the General Accounting Office to monitor all costs incurred by the Commission and report annually to Congress on the differences in costs to the U.S. taxpayer. Prohibits unless expressly authorized by Congress: (1) the use of U.S. funds to implement the Treaty; (2) the transfer of U.S. property in the Canal Zone to Panama; and (3) the cessation of the Panama Canal Company and the Canal Zone Government.
United States · United States Congress · 5 February 1979
Department of Defense Supplemental Appropriation Authorization Act, 1979 - Title I: Procurement - Authorizes additional appropriations in specified amounts for use by the Air Force, Navy, and Army in fiscal year 1979 for the procurement of aircraft, missiles, naval vessels, and other weapons. Authorizes the Department of Defense to implement until concluded the Multilateral Memorandum of Understanding Between NATO Ministers of Defense on the NATO E-3A Cooperative Programme. Authorizes the Department to make a commitment to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization for the United States share of estimated termination liability. Title II: Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation - Authorizes additional appropriations for use during fiscal year 1979 by the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Defense Agencies, for research, development, test, and evaluation.
United States · United States Congress · 5 February 1979
Department of Defense Appropriation Authorization Act, 1980 - Title I: Procurement - Authorizes appropriations in specified amounts for fiscal year 1980 for use by the armed forces for the procurement of aircraft, missiles, naval vessels, tracked combat vehicles, torpedoes, and other weapons. Title II: Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation - Authorizes appropriations in specified amounts for fiscal year 1980 in specified amounts for fiscal year 1980 for use by the armed forces and defense agencies for research, development, test, and evaluation purposes. Title III: Active Forces - Sets forth the authorized end strength level for active duty personnel for each of the armed forces for fiscal year 1980. Title IV: Reserve Forces - Sets forth the minimum average strength levels for each of the reserve components of the armed forces for fiscal year 1980. Title V: Civilian Personnel - Sets forth the authorized end strength for civilian personnel within the Department of Defense for fiscal year 1980. Stipulates that such personnel shall be apportioned among the various military departments in such numbers as the Secretary of Defense may prescribe. Requires the Secretary to report to the Congress regarding such allocation. Authorizes the Secretary to increase such prescribed strength level for civilian personnel by one and one quarter percent where such action is necessary in the national interest. Requires the Secretary to notify the Congress of any such increase. Title VI: Military Training Student Loads - Sets forth the authorized military training student load for each component of the armed forces for fiscal year 1980. Title VII: General Provisions - Amends the Department of Defense Appropriation Authorization Act, 1976, to direct the Secretary of Defense to submit to Congress a quarterly written acquisition reports for those major defense systems which are estimated to require a total cumulative financing for research, development, test, and evaluation in excess of $75,000,000 or a cumulative production investment in excess of $300,000,000. Amends the Department of Defense Appropriation Authorization Act, 1978 to repeal the provision in such Act which places a ceiling on the numbers of commissioned officers on active duty above a specified rank and which reduces Department of Defense Civilian personnel in specified grade levels. Authorizes appropriations in specified amounts for fiscal year 1980 for the purpose of providing assistance for the 1980 Olympic winter games as authorized by the Department of Defense Appropriation Authorization Act, 1979. Places limitations on the use of such funds.
United States · United States Congress · 1 February 1979
Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to make a lump-sum payment to a named individual of an amount equal to that portion of mother's insurance benefits under the Social Security Act not received by such individual because another named individual's creditable service for a specified period has erroneously not been included in the original computation.
United States · United States Congress · 1 February 1979
Relieves a named individual of liability for the payment to the United States of a specified sum. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to pay to such individual any part of such sum which has been received or withheld from such individual in connection with such liability.
United States · United States Congress · 31 January 1979
Requests the Secretary of Defense to rescind that portion of the Department of Defense directive which permits deserters from military service to receive in absentia discharges.
United States · United States Congress · 29 January 1979
Spending Limitation Act - Amends the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 to limit the total Federal outlays agreed to in the second or any further concurrent resolution on the Budget to the following percentages of the gross national product: 21 percent in fiscal year 1980; 20 percent in fiscal year 1981; 19 percent in fiscal year 1982; and 18 percent in the fiscal year 1983. Authorizes the Congress to waive such limitations by a two-thirds vote of each House.
United States · United States Congress · 29 January 1979
Tax Rate Reduction and Indexing Act of 1979 - Title I: Individual Tax Rates - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to reduce the income tax rates for individuals for the taxable years 1980 through 1982. Title II: Inflation Adjustment - Requires the Secretary of the Treasury, not later than December 15 of each calendar year beginning in 1982, to prescribe individual income tax rate tables: (1) by increasing the maximum dollar amount on which no tax is imposed under each table, and the minimum and maximum dollar amounts for each rate bracket for which a tax is imposed, by the cost-of-living adjustment for such year; (2) by not changing the rate applicable to any rate bracket as adjusted; and (3) by adjusting the amounts setting forth the tax to the extent necessary to reflect the adjustments in the rate brackets. Declares the cost-of-living adjustment for any calendar year as the percentage by which the Department of Labor's Consumer Price Index for all-urban consumers for the preceding calendar year exceeds the Consumer Price Index for calendar year 1981. Requires cost-of-living adjustments in zero bracket amounts, personal tax exemptions, and withholding taxes. Sets the minimum gross income for which an income tax return is required from certain individuals at an amount less than the sum of the exemption amount plus the applicable zero bracket amount.
United States · United States Congress · 29 January 1979
Amends the Federal Mine Safety and Health Amendments Act of 1977 to provide that provisions of such Act shall not apply to stone mining or sand and gravel mining operations.
United States · United States Congress · 25 January 1979
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow certain individuals to compute the amount of the income tax deduction for retirement savings on the basis of the earned income of their spouses.
United States · United States Congress · 25 January 1979
Amends the Saccharin Study and Labeling Act to extend to January 3, 1981 (or to the enactment, if earlier, of any law changing the conditions under which a food additive shall not be deemed safe) of the period during which the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare is prohibited from taking specified actions restricting the continued use of saccharin as a food, drug, or cosmetic. Declares void of all legal force or effect any such prohibited action which the Secretary may have taken after the expiration of the initial 18-month prohibition period.
United States · United States Congress · 18 January 1979
Authorizes the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare to pay for medical services and treatment for any physical illness suffered by a United States citizen or permanent resident, which is directly attributable to the atomic explosions on Japan in August, 1945. Limits such assistance to medical services provided in the United States on or after the date of enactment.
United States · United States Congress · 18 January 1979
Foreign Intelligence Information Protection Act of 1979 - Amends the National Security Act of 1947 by adding a new Title V: Protection of Foreign Intelligence Information. Authorizes the Director of Central Intelligence to designate information as sensitive intelligence information or to remove such designation. Establishes a maximum criminal penalty of life imprisonment and/or a $20,000 fine for the offense of espionage, defined as an unauthorized and knowing act to (1) communicate classified information to a foreign power, or (2) obtain and collect such information on behalf of a foreign power. Establishes a maximum criminal penalty of ten years imprisonment and/or a $10,000 fine for anyone who, having had lawful access to classified information, knowingly acts to disclose such information without authority. Establishes as a separate offense the knowing disclosure of sensitive intelligence information, with a penalty up to 20 years imprisonment and/or a $10,000 fine. Establishes a maximum criminal penalty of five years imprisonment and/or a $5,000 fine for anyone who without authority discloses information which identifies or could identify any individual or entity as being or having been associated with a United States agency engaged in foreign intelligence or counterintelligence activities, where such disclosure could prejudice the physical safety of the individual or entity identified. Allows prosecution for the offenses of espionage or unauthorized disclosure of sensitive intelligence information only if the Attorney General and the Director of Central Intelligence certify in writing that at the time of the commission of the offense the information allegedly disclosed was properly designated.
United States · United States Congress · 18 January 1979
Amends rule X of the Rules the House of Representatives to establish a standing Committee on Internal Security to investigate and report on Communist and other subversive activities affecting the internal security of the United States, including activities intended to overthrow or alter the form of government in the United States by unlawful means or which incite or employ violence or any unlawful means to obstruct the lawful authority of the government.
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 1979
Directs the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating to cause a named vessel to be documented as a vessel of the United States so as to permit such vessel to engage in the coastwide trade and fishing.
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 1979
Entitles surviving spouses of members of the uniformed services who were widowed before the effective date of the Survivor Benefit Plan and whose spouse was entitled to retired or retainer pay at time of death, to an annuity as computed under this Act, regardless of whether such individual is entitled to other specified death benefits with the exception of the Survivor Benefit Plan.
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 1979
Provides an alternative method for computing dependency and indemnity compensation in order that in certain instances the survivors of deceased veterans may elect to receive an amount of compensation equal to that which they would have been entitled if such veterans had been civil service employees killed while performing job-related functions.
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 1979
Amends title III of the Public Health Service Act (General Powers and Duties of Public Health Service) to allow a medical facility which provides emergency medical treatment to any alien who is unlawfully in the United States and who is not eligible for any other public assistance, to receive reimbursement for the value of such treatment upon the approval of the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare.
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 1979
Revises the method of computing the retired pay of regular enlisted military personnel to include time spent in non-regular service if such an individual was entitled to retired pay for such service.
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 1979
Repeals the requirement, under the Social Security Amendments of 1977, that the amount of monthly benefits payable to a spouse or surviving spouse under title II (Old-Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act be reduced by the amount such spouse or surviving spouse receives in monthly payments from a Federal or State pension fund.
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 1979
Permits certain veterans with service-connected disabilities who are retired members of the uniformed services to receive compensation concurrently with retired pay, without deduction from either.
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 1979
Authorizes advance payments of station housing allowances for members of the uniformed services assigned to duty outside of the continental United States.
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 1979
Revises the method of computing the retired pay of regular enlisted military personnel to include time spent in non-regular service if such an individual was entitled to retired pay for such service.
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 1979
Amends the Federal Civil Defense Act of 1950 to authorize appropriations in specified amounts to carry out the provisions of such Act for fiscal years 1980 through 1986.
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 1979
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to require an annual cost-of-living adjustment, based on the Consumer Price Index, to the individual income tax rates and the personal exemption.
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 1979
Directs the Secretary of the Interior to permit the National Committee of American Airmen Rescued by General Mihailovich to construct a monument to General Mihailovich on Federal public land within the District of Columbia or its environs.
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 1979
Authorizes the inclusion of military service performed by an individual after December, 1956 in the aggregate period of service on which a civil service annuity is based. Stipulates that this Act applies only to individuals becoming eligible for such annuity after the date of enactment. Directs the Civil Service Commission, upon request, to recompute the annuity of an individual receiving such annuity before the date of enactment.
![Official portrait of Rep. Wilson, Robert C. [R-CA-41]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/w000610_200.jpg)