United States · United States Congress · 28 January 1981
Commends former President Jimmy Carter, former Secretary of State Edmund Muskie, and former Deputy Secretary of State Warren Christopher for their success in securing the release of the American hostages held in Iran. Conveys appreciation to the Algerian negotiators for the role they played in resolving the hostage crises. Pays tribute to the eight servicemen killed in the April 1980 effort to rescue the American hostages. Commends President Reagan for designating former President Carter to officially greet the freed hostages.
United States · United States Congress · 22 January 1981
Authorizes the President to present on behalf of the Congress specially struck gold medals to fifty-three individuals held hostage in the United States Embassy in Iran. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to: (1) strike fifty-three gold medals with suitable emblems, devices and inscriptions; and (2) coin and sell bronze duplicates of such medals. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 6 January 1981
Authorizes the Secretary of the Army to contract with the Tarrant County Water Control and Improvement District and the city of Weatherford, Texas, for the use of water supply storage in Benbrook Reservoir, until such storage is needed for navigation purposes.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1981
Limitation on Government Recordkeeping Requirements and Actions Act of 1981 - Prohibits any Federal agency from: (1) requiring any person to maintain, prepare, or produce records (other than records relating to a dangerous material) of an event more than four years after the event has occurred; and (2) commencing an action against a person for a violation of a regulation more than four years after such violation has occurred, except as otherwise provided by the Internal Revenue Code.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1981
Includes as creditable service for purposes of determining the amount of an individual's civil service annuity payment, any military service performed by that individual after December, 1956, regardless of that individual's eligibility for Social Security benefits for such military service.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1981
Intelligence Identities Protection Act - Amends the National Security Act of 1947 to establish criminal penalties for any person who knowingly discloses information which identifies a U.S. covert intelligence agent. Establishes a maximum penalty of ten years' imprisonment and/or a $50,000 fine for any person who, having had authorized access to classified information which identifies a covert agent, intentionally discloses such information. Establishes a maximum penalty of five years' imprisonment and/or a $25,000 fine for any person who, having had authorized access to classified information, learns the identity of a covert agent and intentionally discloses such information. Establishes a maximum penalty of three years' imprisonment and/or a $15,000 fine for any person who, in the course of an effort to identify covert agents "with intent to impair" U.S. foreign intelligence activities, discloses information identifying an agent. Directs the President to establish procedures requiring Federal agencies to provide assistance in concealing the identity of U.S. intelligence agents.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1981
Adopts the Rules of the House of Representatives for the Ninety-sixth Congress, after amendments, as the Rules for the Ninety-seventh Congress. Authorizes the Speaker of the House to sign enrolled bills whether or not the House is in session. Includes among the questions that the Speaker may postpone for further proceedings: (1) questions of ordering the previous question on privileged resolutions reported from the Rules Committee; and (2) questions of agreeing to motions to suspend the rules. Authorizes the Clerk of the House to receive messages from the President and the Senate whenever the House is not in session. Prohibits a Member from casting a vote or recording another Member's presence in the House or Committee of the Whole. Increases the membership of the Committee on the Budget. Requires the use of the scheduling service provided by the Committee on House Administration to resolve scheduling conflicts. Eliminates the requirement for publication of factual descriptions prepared by the Congressional Research Service for each bill or resolution in the Congressional Record and the Digest of Public General Bills. Allows the referral of bills or resolutions to the Joint Committee on Atomic Energy. Requires each committee, except the Rules Committee, to announce the date, place, and subject matter of any hearing and promptly enter such notice into the committee scheduling service of the House Information Systems. Allows the Committee on Ways and Means to sit without special leave during the five-minute rule for amendments. Exempts from the ordinary restrictions on floor consideration, any government agency decision, determination, or action which would become or remain effective unless congressionally disapproved. Includes the government of the District of Columbia as a government agency for such purposes. Authorizes the Committee on Appropriations to report at any time joint resolutions continuing appropriations for a fiscal year if reported after September 15 of the preceding year. Exempts reports from committees where a cost estimate and comparison has been prepared by the Director of the Congressional Budget Office from being referred to a House calendar. Provides that the Chairman of the Committee of the Whole may refuse to entertain a point of order that a quorum is not present only during general debate. Authorizes a motion in the Committee of the Whole to dispense with the reading of an amendment if such amendment has been printed in the reported bill or in the Congressional Record. Sets forth a procedure for response to subpoenas for Members, officers, and employees of the House prior to seeking a judicial determination of whether the subpoena is a proper exercise of the court's jurisdiction and whether compliance with such subpoena is consistent with the rights and privileges of the House.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1981
Notifies the President of the election of the Honorable Thomas P. O'Neill, Jr., of Massachusetts, as Speaker of the House of Representatives, and Edmund L. Henshaw, Jr., as Clerk of the House.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1981
Notifies the Senate that: (1) a quorum of the House of Representatives has assembled; (2) the Honorable Thomas P. O'Neill, Jr., of Massachusetts, has been elected Speaker of the House; and (3) Edmund L. Henshaw, Jr. has been elected Clerk of the House.
United States · United States Congress · 21 November 1980
Authorizes the United States Secret Service to furnish protection to the former Vice President or, if the President determines that such person may be in significant danger, his spouse. Stipulates that such protection shall continue for a period determined by the President, but not beyond July 20, 1981.
United States · United States Congress · 19 September 1980
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the peaceful resolution of the Polish workers' strike contributes to international peace. Encourages implementation of the strike settlement without outside interference.
United States · United States Congress · 4 September 1980
Establishes the United States Holocaust Memorial Council which shall: (1) provide and encourage appropriate ways for the Nation to observe the Days of Remembrance to commemorate the holocaust; (2) plan, erect, and oversee the operation of a memorial museum to the victims of the holocaust; and (3) develop a plan for carrying out the recommendations of the report submitted to the President on September 27, 1979, by the President's Commission on the Holocaust. Authorizes the Council to receive public land in the District of Columbia on which it may erect the memorial. Terminates the Council's authority to construct a memorial if the erection of the memorial has not commenced within five years of enactment of this Act and sufficient funds to ensure completion of the memorial have not been certified to be available. Authorizes appropriations to carry out this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 27 August 1980
Urges the peaceful resolution of issues raised by Polish workers in accordance with international agreements. Requests the Polish government to release persons unjustly imprisoned during recent worker unrest. Asks all signatories to observe the Declaration on Principles Guiding Relations between Participating States.
United States · United States Congress · 20 August 1980
Declares that the people of Poland should be allowed to settle their own affairs, including the formation of independent trade unions and the right to strike, without foreign interference.
United States · United States Congress · 1 August 1980
Amends the Home Energy Assistance Act of 1980 to require that the allotment of home energy grant funds be based on the number of heating degree days or cooling degree days, whichever is greater (currently based solely on the number of heating degree days). Repeals the medical need requirement for household cooling grants.
United States · United States Congress · 19 June 1980
Expresses the sense of Congress regarding the domestic automotive and truck industry. Declares it to be a goal of the United States to achieve technological superiority in the world automobile and truck industry. Advocates changes in economic, fiscal, and import policies in order to create adequate capital and produce a more favorable climate for the domestic automobile and truck industry.
United States · United States Congress · 5 June 1980
Limitation on Government Recordkeeping Requirements and Actions Act of 1980 - Prohibits any Federal agency from: (1) requiring any person to maintain, prepare, or produce any record (other than a record relating to a dangerous material) of an event after four years have expired since the event occurred; and (2) commencing an action against a person who violated a regulation if four years or more have expired since such violation occurred, except as otherwise provided by the Internal Revenue Code or a regulation promulgated thereunder.
United States · United States Congress · 21 May 1980
Provides for the adjournment of the House of Representatives from Thursday, May 22, 1980, to Wednesday, May 28, 1980, and the recess of the Senate from Friday, May 23, 1980, to Wednesday, May 28, 1980.
United States · United States Congress · 29 April 1980
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exempt a certain portion of royalty owner oil production from the windfall profit tax. Limits the amount so exempted per quarter to ten barrels per day. Requires proportionate allocation of any production in excess of ten barrels per day between tier 1 oil, tier 2, and tier 3 oil, and within any tier on the basis of removal prices. Requires allocation of the ten barrel amount among royalty owners who are members of the same related group.
United States · United States Congress · 1 April 1980
Proclaims October 19, 1981, a national day of celebration as the two hundredth anniversary of the victory of General George Washington at Yorktown, Virginia.
United States · United States Congress · 13 March 1980
Title I: Northeast Corridor - Northeast Corridor Redirection Act of 1980 - Amends the Railroad Revitalization and Regulatory Reform Act of 1976 (the Act) to extend the time period within which: (1) regularly scheduled and dependable intercity rail passenger service is to be established between Boston and New York, and New York and Washington, D.C.; and (2) the Secretary of Transportation must submit to Congress an updated, comprehensive report on the financial and operating results of such service. Adds as a new goal of the Act, the elimination of congestion in rail traffic at the Baltimore and Potomac Tunnel in Baltimore, Maryland. Increases the authorization of appropriations for the Boston-Washington, D.C. passenger service required by the Act. Authorizes the Secretary to acquire necessary real estate interests to effectuate the goals of this Act. Authorizes the Secretary to enter into agreements with cost-sharing State, local, or regional transportation authorities, providing for the Secretary to carry out such improvements and requiring reimbursement by the cost-sharing parties. Authorizes the Secretary to transfer to the National Railroad Passenger Corporation excess real or personal property from the Northeast Corridor improvement project. Requires that such property be subject to the mortgage entered into pursuant to the Act. Declares that it shall be a goal of the Corporation to manage its operating costs, pricing policies, and other factors so that annual revenues derived from the operation of intercity rail passenger service over the Northeast Corridor route between Washington, D. C., and Boston, Massachusetts, shall equal or exceed the annual operating costs of providing such service. Establishes a goal of self-sufficiency for such intercity passenger service within five years of the completion of such project. Requires the Corporation to submit to the President for transmission to the Congress a report on the success of the Corporation in attaining such goal. Title II: National Rail Passenger Corridor Projects - National Rail Passenger Corridors Act of 1980 - Amends the Rail Passenger Service Act to declare that it is the purpose of this title to provide for the development of high-speed intercity rail passenger service in corridors throughout the United States. Directs the Secretary, under such Act, to establish improvement projects in 13 specified rail passenger corridors. Sets forth a deadline for meeting specified service goals for such projects. Directs the Corporation to develop design and engineering plans for each corridor improvement project. Directs the Corporation to consult with the States and rail carriers to be affected by the provision of such rail passenger service. Authorizes the Corporation to undertake specified improvements in tracks and facilities. Directs the Corporation to acquire specified new equipment. Requires the Corporation to submit: (1) by January 1, 1981, a report to Congress concerning preliminary cost estimates of such improvement; and (2) by July 1, 1981, a report to Congress setting forth final estimates in regard to such costs in each corridor. Directs the Corporation to enter into contracts and agreements with other rail carriers for the improvement of such tracks and facilities. Authorizes the Corporation to apply to the Secretary for an order directing such rail carrier to make the requested improvements. Permits the Secretary to order such improvements under certain conditions and including specified terms. Directs the Secretary to use certain criteria in establishing compensation for such required improvements. Directs the Corporation, under certain conditions, to undertake improvements in service between corridors in order to maximize ridership. Directs the Corporation to report to the Secretary any deterioration suffered by a track improved under this title. Directs the Secretary to investigate such track and, if necessary, order the rail carrier which owns such track to make the appropriate repairs by a specified date. Sets forth a civil penalty and an affirmative defense for a failure to comply with such order of the Secretary. Directs the Comptroller General to conduct annual audits, using the records of the Corporation, and to report on each audit to Congress. Directs the Corporation to identify restrictions imposed by a State or local government on the speed of Amtrak trains and to consult with such governments for purposes of evaluating alternatives to such restrictions. Directs the Corporation to include in its annual report to Congress certain information with respect to each corridor improvement project. Authorizes appropriations for the purposes of this title. Directs the Secretary, under specified conditions, to order a rail carrier to permit Amtrak trains over its lines for compensation agreed upon by the Corporation and such carrier or ordered by the Interstate Commerce Commission.
United States · United States Congress · 27 February 1980
Budget Deficit Control Act - Declares it the policy of the Congress to balance the Federal budget annually. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to determine, during the first quarter of each fiscal year, whether anticipated Federal revenues will cover the level of budget outlays set forth in the concurrent resolution on the budget for such fiscal year. Requires the President, if the Secretary anticipates a deficit, to issue an order sequestering controllable expenditures to effect a pro rata reduction which would balance the budget. Renders such orders effective within 15 days, unless revised or abrogated by the Congress. Sets forth expedited procedures for congressional review of such orders. Authorizes the Congress, on its own motion or upon request of the President, to suspend the operation of an order which has taken effect.
United States · United States Congress · 11 February 1980
Sets forth venue provisions applicable to the National Environmental Policy Act or any Act of Congress relating to environmental quality, including Acts relating to nonstatutory Federal water rights, in which the impact or injury alleged is less than nationwide in scope, requiring such actions to be brought only in a judicial district in which a substantial portion of the impact or injury occurs. Requires appeals from any agency decision arising under such Acts to be appealed to the court of appeals for the judicial circuit in which a substantial portion of the impact or injury occurs.
United States · United States Congress · 5 February 1980
Expresses the sense of Congress that the Soviet Union should release Andrei Sakharov from internal exile immediately. Urges the President to: (1) protest Sakharov's exile and the continued suppression of human rights in the Soviet Union; (2) call upon other nations to join in such protests and impose sanctions against the Soviet Union; and (3) inform Helsinki signatory governments that the U.S. delegation intends to raise these violations at the 1980 Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe review meeting.
United States · United States Congress · 31 January 1980
Establishes a Commission on More Effective Government to study and recommend ways of promoting economy, efficiency, and improved service within the Federal Government. Directs the Commission to recommend methods to improve the relationship between Federal, State, and local governments. Provides for the appointment of members of the Commission by the President, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the President pro tempore of the Senate. Sets forth provisions governing the organization and compensation of the Commission and its staff. Empowers the Commission to establish advisory councils and committees as it deems appropriate without regard to the provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act. Sets forth the powers of the Commission enabling it to gather information free from subsequent review or comment by any Federal agency. Directs the Commission to submit its final report to the Congress ten days after the Ninety-eighth Congress convenes. Terminates the Commission 90 days after such date. Authorizes the appropriation of funds necessary to carry out this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 30 January 1980
Authorizes the President to present, on behalf of the Congress, a gold medal of appropriate design to Ambassador Kenneth Taylor in recognition of his efforts to secure the return of six American Embassy officials in Tehran. Authorizes and directs the Secretary of the Treasury to cause to be struck such gold medal with suitable emblems, devices, and inscriptions.
United States · United States Congress · 30 January 1980
Expresses appreciation to Canada for: (1) its historic close relations and cooperation with the United States in conducting foreign policy; (2) its support for U.S. efforts to obtain the safe release of the hostages in Iran; and (3) its efforts to protect and arrange the safe departure of certain U.S. citizens from Iran.
United States · United States Congress · 28 January 1980
Fusion Energy Research, Development, and Demonstration Act of 1980 - Directs the Secretary of Energy to establish research, development, and demonstration programs involving magnetic fusion energy systems to: (1) construct and operate a fusion engineering test facility by 1986; (2) construct and operate a magnetic fusion demonstration facility before the end of this century; (3) maintain and expand the base programs for fusion energy research and the development and testing of appropriate alternative confinement technologies; (4) maintain a strong research and development program in advanced fusion fuels; and (5) ensure an uninterrupted source of scientific and engineering talent from institutions of higher learning to support such effort. Requires such programs to include a study of the potential of using fusion energy for the production of synthetic fuels and the electrification of ground transportation systems. Directs the Secretary to disseminate information promoting the practical uses of fusion energy.
United States · United States Congress · 24 January 1980
African Development Foundation Act - Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to establish the African Development Foundation to strengthen the bonds of friendship between the people of Africa and the United States and to assist in the development of Africa. Requires such Foundation to cooperate with indigenous organizations representative of Africa and other private, regional, and international organizations. Authorizes such Foundation to make grants, loans, and loan guarantees to African entities for developmental purposes. Requires the Foundation to give priority to community self-help projects with the maximum feasible participation of the poor. Sets forth the corporate powers of such Foundation. Provides for the appointment of a Board of Directors to manage such Foundation. Requires the Board to consult with a Council composed of individuals knowledgeable about development activities in Africa.
United States · United States Congress · 23 January 1980
Expresses the sense of Congress to condemn Soviet actions taken against Andrei Sakharov which further show the lack of the Soviet Union's fitness to host the Olympics.
United States · United States Congress · 22 January 1980
Requires the Speaker of the House to appoint a committee of three Members of the House of Representatives to join with a committee on the part of the Senate to notify the President that a quorum of each House has been assembled and that Congress is ready to receive any communication that he may be pleased to make.
United States · United States Congress · 22 January 1980
Urges: (1) the U.S. Olympic Committee to propose the transfer or cancellation of the 1980 summer Olympic games; (2) the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to adopt such proposal; and (3) the U.S. Olympic committee and other nations' Olympic committees to not participate in such summer games, if the IOC rejects such proposal, and conduct alternative games.