The world's political record
Person
![Official portrait of Rep. Wise, Robert E., Jr. [D-WV-2]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/w000654_200.jpg)
United States · Official source
2,448 records where Rep. Wise, Robert E., Jr. [D-WV-2] is listed as a sponsor, author, or other actor. Search with topics and years
United States · United States Congress · 20 February 1985
Prohibits ending the voluntary restraint on imports of Japanese autos until U.S. exports to Japan are substantially increased and the U.S. trade deficit with Japan is substantially reduced.
United States · United States Congress · 19 February 1985
Prohibits a Federal agency from procuring by contract any services performed by Federal employees in the competitive service positions of guards, elevator operators, messengers, and custodians if such procurement would: (1) cause the involuntary separation of a preference eligible from any such position; or (2) preclude the performance of any such service by a qualified preference eligible. Provides that neither an involuntary reassignment within the same agency nor an involuntary transfer to another agency shall be considered to be an involuntary separation if such reassignment or transfer is to a vacant position which is the same type, at the same or higher pay, within the same commuting area, and for which the preference eligible is qualified. Allows the procurement of such services by contract: (1) when qualified preference eligibles are not available; and (2) for positions held by employees other than preference eligibles. Requires that any such procurement be conducted in accordance with applicable Federal procurement laws, including specified provisions requiring certain procurements of services from qualified nonprofit agencies for the blind and for other severely handicapped.
United States · United States Congress · 19 February 1985
Liberty Double-Eagle Bullion Coin Act - Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to mint and issue gold double-eagle coins. Sets forth specifications for and the design of such coins. Makes such coins legal tender. Permits the sale of such coins at a price equal to the cost of minting and issuing such coins plus a surcharge equal to the amount by which the fair market value of gold bullion held by the United States and used in the minting of the coins exceeds the statutory maximum value of any gold certificates outstanding against the bullion. Requires the revenue from such surcharges to be used to reduce the national debt. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 19 February 1985
Information Dissemination and Research Accountability Act - Establishes in the National Library of Medicine a National Center for Research Accountability to assist in eliminating duplication of effort in Federal research proposals involving live animals. Directs the President to appoint as members of the Center 20 experts in the biomedical information sciences who are currently employed by a Federal agency in a capacity which qualifies them to make determinations as to whether research proposals involving live animals are duplicative of other research efforts. Sets forth provisions for a Director of the Center. Prohibits Federal agencies from carrying out or funding any research proposal involving live animals unless the proposal is submitted to the Center following agency approval. Prohibits Federal funding of any such proposal which the Center determines would duplicate other research completed or in process. Authorizes the Center to contract with private entities to assist in the conduct of comprehensive full-text literature searches. Directs the President to establish rules to preclude any conflict of interest in the awarding of such contracts. Authorizes the President to appoint uncompensated advisors to the Members of the Center. Directs the Center to report annually to the President and the Congress. Provides for modernization of biomedical information storage and dissemination by the National Library of Medicine. Directs the Library to: (1) acquire, in full-text form, all biomedical information owned or available for use by Federal agencies (except information already in the Library or classified for national security reasons); (2) transcribe and store in full-text all such information in its collection, using modern technologies; (3) translate into English all foreign-language biomedical information owned or used by the Library; (4) make available through modern technologies, at cost, to medical libraries all full-text biomedical information in its collection; (5) support, by grants and contracts, the creation of new information for teaching and demonstrations, including audiovisual aids and computer graphics technologies; (6) make available, at cost, such new information to research and teaching institutions; and (7) increase the number of persons trained in modern methods of biomedical information storage and dissemination technologies by making available stipends, awards, and grants to persons engaged in such training. Provides that the cost to those requesting such biomedical or such teaching and demonstration information shall include the Federal expenses incurred in acquiring and making it available. Authorizes the Library to award contracts to the private-sector data recording industry to improve: (1) the development of technologies for storage and dissemination of full-text biomedical information; and (2) dissemination of such information to medical libraries for research use. Authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services to appoint uncompensated advisors to the Library for purposes of this Act. Requires the Library to report annually to the Congress on its progress. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1986 and thereafter.
United States · United States Congress · 7 February 1985
Made in America Act - Limits the total number of new imported motor vehicles that may be introduced into interstate commerce for retail sale during any calendar year after 1985 to 15 percent of the aggregate number of new domestic and imported motor vehicles that were introduced into interstate commerce for retail sale during the base year. Defines the "base year" as the second calendar year preceding a calendar year for which such restrictions are established. Directs the Secretary of Commerce to allocate the number of new imported motor vehicles among foreign vehicle manufacturers on the basis of their respective shares of the U.S. market during the base year. Requires the Secretary to determine the limits for each calendar year at least four months before the beginning of the year. Requires the Secretary to publish the limits and the allocations for foreign manufacturers in the Federal Register. Imposes civil penalties for violations of the quantitative restrictions on imports. Requires each foreign vehicle manufacturer that produces more than 25,000 new imported vehicles that were introduced into interstate commerce for retail sales during any calendar year after 1982 to provide the Secretary with production, importation, distribution, and sales information. Terminates the quantitative limitations any time after December 31, 1990, if the Secretary finds that injury to the domestic industry has been prevented or remedied. Requires the Secretary to report annually to Congress on actions taken under this Act and on the impact of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 7 February 1985
Summer Youth Employment, Training, and Education Act of 1985 - Amends the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) to require the addition of an education component to the summer youth employment and training programs under part B of title II (Training Services for the Disadvantaged) of JTPA. Requires that each service delivery area (SDA) be allotted an amount equal to at least 90 percent of the amount available to such area for the summer youth program in the preceding fiscal year. Requires ratable reductions in the allocation to each SDA if appropriations are not sufficient to provide such amount to each SDA. Requires that allotments to States and allocations to SDAs be: (1) made in accordance with provisions for prompt allocation of funds; and (2) available for planning purposes before the beginning of the summer months for which allotted and allocated. Requires that summer youth program funds be used so that participants spend a portion of their time on individualized, self-paced, remedial and basic academic and functional competency development and achieve specified types of performance standards established and developed in each SDA. Requires that the portion of a participant's time spent on such competency development be in addition to, and not in place of, regular employment under the summer youth program. Prohibits summer youth program funds from being used to provide employment to any individual who fails to comply with attendance standards established by the SDA with respect to such education components. Prohibits summer youth program funds from being used to compensate or reward participants for attendance at such education components, except under specified provisions which require that a portion of matching funds be used to provide bonuses to participants for achievement of academic and functional competence. Specifies that planning for summer youth programs does not have to be conducted during the summer months. Sets forth matching fund requirements for summer youth programs. Requires each private industry council (PIC), for each program year beginning after June 30, 1987, to make available from non-Federal sources an amount for use in such programs equal to at least one and one-half percent of the amount made available under JTPA for such programs in that SDA for the applicable program year. Allows each PIC, for program years beginning July 1, 1985, and July 1, 1986, to make available such matching amounts. Limits, for any program year beginning after June 30, 1987, such matching amounts to not less than $20,000 and not more than $100,000 per SDA. Requires each PIC to notify the State of the PIC's matching amount by April 1 of the preceding program year. Requires each State, for program years beginning after June 30, 1987, to provide to each PIC an amount equal to the PIC matching amount. Allows States to provide such State matching amount from non-Federal sources or to use funds available to them under part A (Adult and Youth Programs) of title II of JTPA and under chapter 2 (Consolidation of Federal Programs for Elementary and Secondary Education) of the Educational Consolidation and Improvement Act of 1981. Requires each State, for program years beginning July 1, 1985, and July 1, 1986, to reserve one and one-half percent of its State allotment under part A, to be allocated to PICs in proportion to the matching amounts made available by such PICs for such program years. Requires that such matching amounts be used to: (1) support the education and training components of the summer youth programs; (2) provide bonuses to participants for achievement of academic and functional competence; and (3) after complying with (1) and (2), create additional employment opportunities under the summer youth programs. Allows matching amounts to be in cash or in-kind, but requires that in-kind matching amounts be in the form of state-of-the-art basic and remedial education materials and equipment suitable for use for summer youth programs for the applicable program year. Requires each SDA to maintain complete records on the improvements in academic and functional competency attained by participants in the summer youth programs. Requires that such records be compiled by reference to State and locally determined general education diploma and basic education competency requirements. Requires each SDA to submit summaries of such records to the State. Requires States to submit annual reports on such summaries to the Secretary of Labor. Directs the Secretary to include an analysis of such reports in the Secretary's annual report to the Congress on employment and training programs. Provides that a specified portion of the State allotment under JTPA which is currently available for State education programs shall also be available to carry out matching requirements for summer youth programs.
United States · United States Congress · 7 February 1985
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that no action should be taken to reduce or alter the funding for the Legal Services Corporation in any way that would reduce the availability of legal services to older individuals.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 1985
Amends the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966 to authorize any person to file a petition with the Secretary of Transportation which: (1) questions standards provided by manufacturers (or distributors); and (2) requests an investigation regarding such certification. Requires the Secretary to: (1) grant or deny such petition within a specified time; (2) publish the reasons for any denial in the Federal Register; or (3) investigate the validity of a certificate or the basis on which it was made, if the petition is granted. Authorizes the Secretary to restrict importation into the United States or into interstate commerce of motor vehicles whose certification is under investigation.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 1985
Fair Trade in Ferroalloys Act - Amends the Tariff Schedules of the United States to replace the current tariff on certain ferroalloys with a tariff equal to the fair price differential. Defines fair price differential. Directs the Secretary of Commerce to publish annually the fair price for such ferroalloys.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 1985
Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to exempt arrest actions and interrogations in the Bahamas from the ban on participation by U.S. officers and employees in certain foreign drug arrest actions and interrogations.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 1985
Designates the month of October 1985 as National High-Tech Month.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 1985
Authorizes and requests the President to designate the week of March 10 through March 16, 1985, as National Employ-the-Older-Worker Week.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 1985
Requires that funds be made available from appropriations under the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education and Related Agencies Appropriation Act, 1985 to enable the National Institutes of Health to award 6,500 new and competing research grants in FY 1985.
United States · United States Congress · 4 February 1985
Pension Plan South African Investments Reporting Act of 1985 - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 to require each employee pension benefit plan to report annually to the Secretary of Labor describing the plan's investments in the Republic of South Africa and its administrative satellite countries, including the Transkei, Bophuthatswana, Ciske, and Venda. Prohibits, with respect to such reporting requirement: (1) any exemption for small plans; and (2) any alternative method of compliance. Sets forth provisions for civil enforcement of such reporting requirement.
United States · United States Congress · 4 February 1985
South African Labor Relations Reform Act of 1985 - Directs the Secretary of Labor to investigate: (1) South African labor practices and policies in terms of the extent to which such policies and practices vary from certain internationally accepted standards; (2) the extent to which U.S. policies can promote such standards in South Africa; and (3) the extent to which South African labor policies and practices cause the export of U.S. capital and jobs. Directs the Secretary to report on such investigation to the Congress. Lists specified statutory revisions to be analyzed in such report.
United States · United States Congress · 31 January 1985
Establishes a presumption of service-connection for disability purposes for former prisoners of war suffering from the following conditions, manifest to a degree of ten percent or more after active service: (1) chronic liver disease; (2) organic residuals of hypothermia; (3) gastro-intestinal disorders; (4) arthritis; (5) cardiovascular conditions; (6) peripheral neuropathy; (7) immunological dysfunctions; or (8) chronic pulmonary disease. Decreases from six months to 30 days the amount of time a former prisoner of war must have been incarcerated to be eligible for outpatient dental services.
United States · United States Congress · 31 January 1985
Amends the Federal Supplemental Compensation Act of 1982 to extend the Federal supplemental unemployment compensation program for an additional 18 months, through September 28, 1986.
United States · United States Congress · 31 January 1985
Amends the Food Stamp Act to allow a deduction from household income for expenses incurred by household members for books and transportation incidental to attending school.
United States · United States Congress · 31 January 1985
Deems a named individual to be an immediate relative within the meaning of the Immigration and Nationality Act. Authorizes the granting of a visa and admission to the United States for permanent residence to such individual.
United States · United States Congress · 31 January 1985
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to waive issue date requirements and volume limitations for qualified veterans' mortgage bonds issued by a State that adopted a resolution relating to the Veterans Mortgage Bond Program on March 9, 1984, and ratified such resolution in 1984.
United States · United States Congress · 30 January 1985
Title I: General Accounting Office Investigation and Report - Directs the General Accounting Office to investigate the situation of displaced nationals of El Salvador, including determinations of those Salvadorans in Central America, unlawfully in the United States, or returned from the United States to El Salvador. Requires a report to the Congress. Title II: Congressional Review - Provides that such report shall be referred to the appropriate committees for hearings and committee reports. Title III: Temporary Stay of Deportation - Provides for a temporary stay of detention and deportation for specified Salvadorans presently in the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 30 January 1985
Social Security Reorganization Act of 1985 - Title I: Establishment of the Social Security Administration - Amends title VII (Administration) of the Social Security Act to establish as an independent executive agency a Social Security Administration, headed by a Social Security Board. Provides that it shall be the duty of the Administration to administer the programs established by titles II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) and XVI (Supplemental Security Income) of the Social Security Act. Establishes in the Administration a General Counsel and an Inspector General. 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; and (3) 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. Specifies the authorities which are to be delegated to the Board from the Administrator of the General Services Administration. 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. Title II: Miscellaneous and Conforming Amendments - Sets forth a contributor and beneficiary bill of rights under which: (1) all individuals are required to be treated fairly by the Board and the Secretary; (2) the Secretary and the Board are prohibited from discriminating on the basis of age, sex, race, creed, color, handicap, national origin, or economic condition; and (3) the Board and the Secretary should maintain prompt, professional, and effective service which is responsive to the community. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Board to report to 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. Title III: Effective Dates and Transitional Rules - Sets forth effective date and transitional rule provisions.
United States · United States Congress · 30 January 1985
Fair Tax Act of 1985 - Title I: Reduction of Individual and Corporate Tax Rates - Subtitle A: Reduction of Rates - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to revise individual tax rates. Imposes a flat tax rate of 14 percent on the taxable income of individuals. Imposes a surtax of 12 and 16 percent of the amount by which adjusted gross income exceeds specified levels. Imposes a flat tax rate of 30 percent on the taxable income of estates and trusts. Imposes a flat tax rate of 30 percent on the taxable income of corporations. Subtitle B: Increase in Personal Exemption for Taxpayer and Standard Deduction - Increases the personal exemption to $1,600 for an individual taxpayer and spouse and to $1,800 for an individual who is a head of a household. Raises the standard deduction to $6,000 in the case of a joint return or a surviving spouse or $3,000 in the case of an individual or a married individual filing a separate return. Subtitle C: Repeals Related to Reduction in Rates - Repeals provisions relating to: (1) tax tables for individuals; (2) minimum tax for tax preferences; (3) personal service corporations; (4) special averaging rules for lump-sum distributions; (5) accumulated corporate surplus; (6) personal holding companies; (7) income averaging; and (8) graduated corporate tax rates. Repeals the indexing of tax rates. Applies the trust throwback rules only to amounts distributed from foreign trusts. Title II: Base Broadening-Subtitle A: Credits - Repeals the general tax credit, the investment tax credit, the possessions tax credit and the income tax credits relating to: (1) the elderly and the permanently and totally disabled; (2) contributions to candidates for public office; (3) home purchases; (4) residential energy conservation; (5) producing fuel from a nonconventional source; (6) alcohol used as fuel; (7) increasing research activities; (8) employee stock ownership; and (9) clinical testing for certain drugs. Allows an income tax deduction for household and dependent care expenses necessary for employment. (Present law allows an income tax credit for such expenses.) Subtitle B: Exclusions - Repeals the partial income tax exclusion for interest and dividends. Repeals the exclusion for: (1) qualified transportation furnished by an employer; (2) cafeteria plans furnished by an employer; (3) dependent care assistance programs; (4) dividend reinvestment in public utilities; (5) payments to encourage mining for defenses purposes; (6) earned income of citizens living abroad; (7) certain allowances; (8) income earned from sources within possessions of the United States; and (9) income earned from sources within Puerto Rico. Treats as taxable income: (1) amounts paid by an employer for group-term life insurance; (2) unemployment compensation; (3) the annual increase in the cash surrender value of life insurance policies; (4) interest on industrial development bonds and mortgage subsidy bonds; and (5) amounts contributed by an employer to accident and health plans. Provides a limited exclusion from income for scholarships and fellowships. Imposes the surtax on the gain from the sale of a principal residence. Amends the Merchant Marine Act to repeal the tax exemption for deposits into, and withdrawals from, a capital construction fund. Subtitle C: Deductions - Repeals the deduction for two-earner married couples and the deduction for adoption expenses. Limits the amount of the interest deduction for individuals. Repeals the deduction for State and local personal property and sales taxes. Restricts the charitable contribution for corporations to 50 percent of the charitable contributions made during the year. Increases the floor on the deduction for medical and dental expenses from five percent to ten percent. Subtitle D: Repeal of Special Capital Gains Treatment - Repeals the alternative tax on capital gains for corporations and the deduction for individuals for capital gains. Limits the amount of the capital loss deduction without regard to distinctions between short term and long term capital losses. Eliminates the distinction between short-term and long-term gains and losses. Title III: Capital Cost Recovery-Subtitle A: Simplified Cost Recovery Systems - Allows individuals and corporations a deduction from gross income for a percentage of the balance in a recovery account for each year. Includes in the recovery account the cost of recovery property which is depreciable property used in a trade or business or held for the production of income which is placed in service after December 31, 1986. Establishes six classes of recovery property and specifies a class life for each. Assigns property to each class according to the class life of the property. Sets forth rules for the calculation of the recovery percentage on the basis of the class life of the property. Allows individuals and corporations a deduction for depletable property determined as a percentage of the balance in a recovery account for each year. Establishes six classes of depletable property and assigns a class life to each. Assigns a ten-year class life for oil, gas, and geothermal wells. Subtitle B: Other Changes - Repeals the income tax deductions for: (1) intangible drilling and development costs for oil, gas, and geothermal wells; (2) depreciation; (3) amortization of pollution control facilities; (4) improvements made by a lessee on a lessor's property; (5) certain depreciable assets; (6) amortization of reforestation expenditures; (7) percentage depletion; (8) development expenditures; and (9) mining and exploration expenditures. Allows a ten-year period for the amortization of construction period interest and taxes. Allows a deduction of circulation expenses for a newspaper, magazine, or other periodical ratably over a ten-year period. Excludes amounts chargeable to a capital account from such treatment. Provides for the deduction of 50 percent of tertiary injectant expenses in the taxable year and 50 percent of such expenses in the succeeding taxable year. Title IV: Miscellaneous Provisions - Subtitle A: Foreign Income - Requires an individual who owns stock in a corporation which is a controlled foreign corporation to include in income a pro rata share of the corporations's earnings and profits for such year. Reduces such amount by any amount required to be included in income by reason of the amount being foreign personal holding company income. Repeals the foreign sales corporations (FSC) provisions for taxable years beginning after December 31, 1986. Repeals the domestic international sales corporations (DISC) provisions for taxable years beginning after December 31, 1986. Subtitle B: Other Miscellaneous Provisions - Repeals the tax exemption for credit unions. Reduces the limit on benefits which may be paid to a participant under defined benefit plans and defined contribution plans. Repeals the cost-of-living adjustment for defined benefit plans. Continues the cost-of-living adjustment for purposes of calculating a participant's average compensation for his or her high three years. Requires farmers to compute their taxable income using the accrual method of accounting with the capitalization of preproduction expenses. Exempts taxpayers who do not have gross receipts exceeding $1,000,000. Requires farming syndicates to use the accrual method of accounting without regard to gross receipts. Provides that farmers who must use the accrual method cannot expense the following: (1) soil and water conservation expenditures; (2) fertilizer; and (3) expenses for clearing land. Requires the deferral of income or loss must be taken into account in determining tax liability under completed contract method of accounting. Requires that the taxpayer with adjusted gross income in excess of $100,000 must make estimated payments equal to 90 percent of current year tax. Requires the recognition of the gain or loss on distributions of property by corporations. Eliminates the special bad debt reserves of financial institutions. Title V: Effective Dates - Sets forth the effective dates for the provisions of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 30 January 1985
Conrail Privatization Act of 1985 - Cancels all Federal interest in debentures, contingent interest notes and series A and B preferred stock of the Consolidated Rail Corporation (Conrail). Directs the Secretary of Transportation to sell to Conrail (for a specified price) all Conrail common stock shares held by the United States. Requires the cancellation of such shares after the sale. Prohibits the carryforward of investment tax credits or net operating loss deductions for Conrail for any taxable year after December 31, 1985. Directs Conrail to issue new common and preferred stock. Restricts the ownership or control of Conrail voting securities by any one person to ten percent. Requires the Secretary of Transportation to serve on the Conrail Board of Directors. Provides that the Secretary may only vote as a member of the Board on questions of overriding public interest. Grants the Secretary exclusive power to determine which Conrail actions raise questions of overriding public interest. Maintains the geographic location of Conrail headquarters as of the day prior to the stock sale.
United States · United States Congress · 30 January 1985
Prohibits the importation of any South African krugerrands or any other gold coin minted in or sold by South Africa. Establishes penalties for violations of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 30 January 1985
Extends through FY 1989 the revenue sharing program for local governments.
United States · United States Congress · 30 January 1985
Designates August 1985 as Polish American Heritage Month.
United States · United States Congress · 30 January 1985
Directs the President to: (1) secure from the Indochina nations a full accounting of Americans captured or missing as a result of the Vietnam conflict; and (2) work for the release of captive Americans and the return of the remains of those American servicemen and civilians who died in Southeast Asia. Requires the President to submit two reports to Congress on American POW/MIAs in Southeast Asia.
United States · United States Congress · 30 January 1985
Directs the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives to conduct an investigation into the murders of U.S. citizens in El Salvador and report to the House with findings and conclusions.
United States · United States Congress · 28 January 1985
Effective Schools Development in Education Act of 1985 - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to establish a grants program to promote more effective schools and excellence in education. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1986 through 1990 for such grants program. Allows program grants to be used to: (1) promote State educational agency (SEA) and local educational agency (LEA) awareness of effective schools information through conferences at schools and district and multidistrict offices and through onsite visits to model effective schools; (2) develop and implement systems of data collection, analysis, interpretation, and communication; (3) plan, review, and revise program activities; (4) support related effective schools efforts; (5) obtain technical assistance and consultant services from regional educational laboratories, research and development centers, institutions of higher education, and other nonprofit educational organizations; (6) design, develop, and publish educational materials on effective schools programs; (7) conduct program evaluations; and (8) otherwise identify, document, and disseminate information concerning exemplary effective schools programs. Requires that program grant applications by SEAs or LEAs demonstrate that: (1) the applicant has an effective schools improvement program in effect; (2) grant funds would be used to pay not more than one-half of the cost of any program or activity; (3) grant funds would be supplementary; and (4) independent annual evaluations will be conducted and reported. Directs the Secretary of Education, in selecting grant recipients, to: (1) consider the extent to which grant funds would be used to improve schools in districts with the greatest numbers or percentages of educationally deprived children and the extent to which the applicant's ongoing effective schools program has demonstrated the capacity to improve student achievement or behavior; (2) ensure reasonable geographic distribution of grants; and (3) designate grants as being available for a period of at least one but not more than three years. Sets forth provisions for technical assistance and program evaluation. Requires the Secretary to report to the Congress by September 1, 1987.
United States · United States Congress · 28 January 1985
Biennial Budgeting Act of 1985 - Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to establish a two-year cycle for the presidential and congressional budget process. Requires each standing committee of Congress to review the laws and programs under its jurisdiction every other year and to consider the desirability of new legislation in such areas. Eliminates provisions requiring a second concurrent resolution on the budget. Permits revisions only in new spending authority, revenues, and the public debt limit through the reconciliation process.
United States · United States Congress · 24 January 1985
Civil Rights Restoration Act of 1985 - Amends the Education Amendments of 1972, the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Age Discrimination Act of 1975, and the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to provide a definition of the phrase "program or activity." Defines such term as all of the operations of: (1) a department or agency of a State or of a local government; (2) the entity of such State or local government that distributes Federal assistance and each such department or agency to which the assistance is extended; (3) a university or a system of higher education; (4) a local educational agency or other school system; (5) a corporation, partnership, or other private organization; or (6) any other entity consistent with the coverage provided above.
United States · United States Congress · 24 January 1985
Grants a Federal charter to the 82d Airborne Division Association, Incorporated.
United States · United States Congress · 24 January 1985
Congressional and Judicial Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1985 - Amends the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to require that personnel actions affecting employees or applicants in the legislative and judicial branches of the Government be free from any discrimination based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, handicap, or age. Allows Members of Congress to take into consideration an individual's domicile and political affiliation. Establishes within the judicial branch an Employment Review Board. Provides that members of the board be appointed from the retired judges of the Supreme Court and Courts of Appeals. Authorizes an aggrieved individual to file a written complaint with the Board. Establishes procedures for the Board to investigate, settle, hear, and determine the claims alleged. Provides that if a violation is found an order for relief may compel the defendant to: (1) employ or reinstate such individual on such terms and conditions as may be appropriate; (2) pay compensatory damages; (3) pay punitive damages; and (4) pay fees and allowances of witnesses and reasonable attorneys' fees. Authorizes the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to review, enjoin, set aside, suspend, modify, or enforce orders of the Board. Requires members of the Board to submit written reports to the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct of the House of Representatives and the Senate Select Committee on Ethics describing complaints during the reporting period involved.
United States · United States Congress · 24 January 1985
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the President should: (1) ensure that U.S. officials carry out the pledge to resolve the issue of the Americans still missing and unaccounted for in Indochina; (2) work for the immediate release of any Americans still held captive and the return of the remains of those who died in Southeast Asia; and (3) make every effort to secure the further cooperation of Laos and Vietnam in resolving this issue.
United States · United States Congress · 22 January 1985
Veterans' Administration Adjudication Procedure and Judicial Review Act - Title I: Adjudication Procedures - Codifies for Veterans Administration (VA) adjudication purposes the burden of proof and reasonable doubt standards currently provided for by VA regulation. States that a claimant has the burden of submitting sufficient evidence to justify his or her claim, and that if an approximate balance of positive and negative evidence exists regarding the merits of a claim, the VA is to resolve such doubt in favor of the claimant. States that VA subpoenas may be served either by personal delivery or by registered or certified mail. Requires the chairman of the Board of Veterans' Appeals to submit an annual report to the appropriate congressional committees concerning the Board's current handling of cases and projections for the subsequent fiscal year. Requires the Board to: (1) provide notice to a claimant and an opportunity for a hearing before a decision may be based on "additional official information" received after a Board decision has previously been made; and (2) make its decision exclusively on evidence and material of record in the proceeding. Removes the requirement that new material sufficient to allow the Board to reopen a previously disallowed claim be in the form of official reports. Provides that the Board's discretionary authority to reopen a claim will not be diminished by a judicial decision following an appeal as provided for by this Act. Requires the Board to mail to the claimant notice of its decision and the reasons for such decision. Provides that, upon the request of a claimant, the Board shall provide an independent advisory medical opinion when there exists substantial medical disagreement with respect to a material issue in a veteran's appeal. Sets forth new procedural rules for adjudication hearings regarding: (1) oaths, affirmations, and witness examination; (2) admissibility of evidence; (3) procedural rights of claimants; (4) disqualification of a hearing officer; (5) the record of the proceedings and the claimant's right to examine and obtain a copy of such record; and (6) the exclusiveness of veterans' adjudication procedures and rights prescribed by the Administrator. Requires the Administrator to provide at each stage of the appeal proceedings written notice to a claimant of the claimant's procedural rights. Directs the Administrator to conduct a study of two alternative claims resolution methods: one a new intermediate-level adjudication process; the other an enhanced schedule of formal Appeals Board hearings. Directs the Administrator to report to the Congress on such studies. Title II: Veterans Administration Rule Making - Includes the VA's rulemaking procedures under the relevant provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act. Title III: Judicial Review - Provides for judicial review of VA decisions in the Federal court system. States with regard to jurisdiction: (1) the definition of final decision; (2) that judicial review of a final decision in a claim for benefits may be obtained in a civil action brought within 180 days of the Board's mailing of notice of its decision, and that such action shall be brought in Federal district court; (3) that the VA shall file the various materials constituting the record in a case together with its answer to the claimant's complaint; (4) that the court may render a decision on the pleadings; and (5) that the judicial review procedures established under this Act shall not apply to insurance and home loans. States, with regard to the reviewing court's scope of review, that such court: (1) shall decide questions of law and interpret constitutional, statutory, and regulatory provisions, but that questions of fact (unless unsupported by substantial evidence) will not be subject to a trial de novo; and (2) in reviewing a final decision of the VA which is adverse to a party solely because such party failed to comply with VA procedures, may only review questions concerning such procedures. Sets out provisions regarding remand, survival of actions, and appellate review. Title IV: Attorneys' Fees - Authorizes the Administrator to allow attorneys' fees above the present $10 maximum if the appealing party's claim is allowed by the VA after an initial denial. States that such fee shall be the lesser of: (1) the fee agreed upon by the party and attorney; (2) $500, unless the Administrator approves a greater amount; or (3) if the party and attorney have entered into a contingent-fee agreement, not more than 25 percent of the total of any past-due benefits awarded on the basis of such party's claim. Provides for the approval of attorneys' fees in successful veterans' claims brought before a court as provided for under this Act. States that such fees shall be determined by such court, and in contingent-fee agreements such fees shall not exceed 25 percent of the total of any past-due benefits awarded on the basis of such claim. Authorizes attorneys' fees of up to $750 in certain unsuccessful veterans' claims. Prohibits the VA from authorizing payment to a claimant's attorney based on past-due benefits unless such benefits are owed as of the date of the VA's or a court's award. States that such provisions regarding attorneys' fees shall only apply to claims for benefits under the laws administered by the VA and shall not apply in cases in which the VA is the plaintiff or in which other attorneys' fees statutes are otherwise controlling. Title V: Effective Dates - Sets forth the effective dates for this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 22 January 1985
Repeals the requirement added by the Tax Reform Act of 1984 relating to the maintenance of contemporaneous records with respect to: (1) business travel expenses, including automobile expenses; (2) business entertainment expenses; and (3) expenses for gifts.
United States · United States Congress · 22 January 1985
National Commission on Neurofibromatosis Act - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish within 60 days a National Commission on Neurofibromatosis which shall formulate a plan to identify the research needed to develop an effective treatment and a cure for neurofibromatosis. Sets forth operating and related provisions. Authorizes the Commission to transmit interim reports. Requires the Commission to make a final report to the President and to each House of the Congress within two years. Terminates the Commission three months after submission of the final report. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 22 January 1985
Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act to provide that disability insurance benefits for an individual having a terminal illness shall begin with the first month such individual has such illness.
United States · United States Congress · 22 January 1985
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to make permanent the deduction for charitable contributions by taxpayers who do not itemize deductions.
United States · United States Congress · 22 January 1985
Designates October 26, 1985, as Mule Appreciation Day.
United States · United States Congress · 22 January 1985
Constitutional Amendment - Authorizes the Congress to enact laws regulating the amounts of contributions and expenditures intended to affect Federal elections. Authorizes the States to enact laws regulating the amounts of contributions and expenditures intended to affect State and local elections.
United States · United States Congress · 21 January 1985
Repeals the requirement added by the Tax Reform Act of 1984 relating to the maintenance of contemporaneous records with respect to: (1) business travel expenses, including automobile expenses; (2) business entertainment expenses; and (3) expenses for gifts.
United States · United States Congress · 21 January 1985
Amends the Interstate Commerce Act to revise the Federal rail transportation policy to allow competition among carriers to provide transportation services to establish rates. (Currently competition and the demand for services establish such rates.) Removes provisions which require the maintenance of reasonable rates where rail rates provide excessive revenues. Sets forth factors for the Interstate Commerce Commission to consider when determining the reasonableness of rail rates. Revises standards and procedures for establishing revenue levels for rail carriers. Requires the Commission to assist carriers in attaining such revenue levels, while recognizing the need to maintain reasonable rates where there is market dominance. Revises factors which determine whether or not a rail carrier establishing a challenged rate has market dominance over transportation. Directs the Commission, in determining the existence or absence of effective competition, to consider only transportation competition for the same commodity.
United States · United States Congress · 21 January 1985
Amends the Steel Import Stabilization Act to direct the U.S. Trade Representative, in negotiating with Japan and South Korea on steel products import limits, to negotiate the apportionment of the aggregate limit among specified subcategories of steel products. Directs the U.S. Trade Representative to apportion the aggregate limit if such negotiations are not successfully concluded within 30 days of the enactment of this Act. Sets forth such subcategories.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1985
State and Local Narcotics Control Assistance Act of 1985 - Authorizes the Attorney General to make grants to States to assist States and local governments to increase their drug enforcement activities. Requires such grants to be based on the relative needs of the States, taking into consideration the severity of drug trafficking and abuse and the availability of State and local resources to resolve such problems. Establishes a procedure for grant applications. Requires such an application to include a State-wide strategy for the enforcement of State drug laws. Imposes limitations on the use of such grants, including a maximum ten percent allocation for administrative purposes. Requires each State which receives a grant to submit a yearly report to the Attorney General, who shall in turn report to the Congress with respect to such grants. Allows the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make grants to States for developing more effective drug abuse prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation programs. Establishes a procedure for grant applications. Authorizes appropriations for both grant programs for FY 1986 through 1990.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1985
Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders Treatment Act of 1985 - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to designate 20 centers for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease and related disorders. Requires such centers to: (1) provide a central facility for diagnosis, evaluation, and counseling; (2) develop standards of treatment and methods of delivering cost-effective services; (3) train professionals and nonprofessionals in diagnosing and treating such disorders; and (4) develop a comprehensive acute and long-term treatment program. Authorizes FY 1986 through 1990 appropriations. Directs the Secretary to make $1,000,000 available to each center for each of at least five years for teaching, training, research, and staffing. Permits eligible persons to elect to receive benefits as provided for by this Act rather than under titles XVIII (Medicare), XIX (Medicaid), or XX (Grants to States for Service) of the Social Security Act, or under the Older Americans Act of 1965.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1985
Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish a program of grants to: (1) identify women who received diethylstilbestrol (DES) while pregnant and their children; (2) establish a voluntary registry of such women and children; (3) provide them with periodic cancer screening; and (4) provide health personnel and the public with information respecting the health hazards of such drug. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1985
National Observance Advisory Act - Establishes the President's Advisory Commission on National Observances to establish criteria for recommending to the President that a proposed national observance be approved or disapproved.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1985
Amends the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act to require that any attorney who collects debts on behalf of a client be subject to the provisions of such Act.