United States · United States Congress · 23 May 1978
International Unfair Trade Laws Procedural Reform Act - Title I: Antidumping Act Amendments - Amends the Antidumping Act, 1921, to require the Secretary of the Treasury to conduct a preliminary investigation upon being informed that a particular class of merchandise is being, or is likely to be sold at less than its fair value (dumping). Requires that possible margins of dumping be published in the Federal Register along with notice of the investigation. Prescribes procedures for reporting information on dumping injuries to the Secretary and the United States International Trade Commission. Requires the Commission to conclude whether injury exists. Makes mandatory the Secretary's currently discretionary authority to suspend liquidation retroactively to cover merchandise entering after the publication of the notice of initiation of a full-scale investigation. Reduces the time limits allowed for agency investigations. Adds, to those circumstances under current law following which a hearing will be available, the notice of tentative discontinuance of an antidumping investigation or notice of a tentative modification or revocation of a dumping finding. Authorizes the Secretary to cauculate the foreign market value for purposes of assessing antidumping duties through the use of weighted averages on a manufacturer-by-manufacturer basis over a period of no longer than six months. Requires payment of estimated dumping duties upon entry following a finding of dumping. Provides for review no less than once a year of the amount of estimated duty, with adjustments based on the most recent data available. Provides for return of excess duties. Changes the bonding requirements to require additional information. Requires the liquidation of merchandise subject to a dumping finding within 15 months of entry into the country, or within 18 months if the Secretary concludes that it cannot reasonably be performed within 15 months. Requires information developed in connection with the assessment and liquidation of antidumping duties to be made available in accordance with the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act. Title II: 1930 Tariff Act Amendments - Amends the Tariff Act of 1930 with respect to countervailing duties to require initiation of investigations as to whether a bounty or grant is being paid or bestowed and to shorten the time limit for making determinations. Changes the requirements for suspension of liquidation as to merchandise. Revises procedures governing the Secretary's actions following the issuance of an order directing the assessment and collection of countervailing duties. Imposes civil penalties for violations of cease and desist orders of the Commission. Specifies standards for review of actions contesting determinations by the Secretary or the Commission in countervailing duty and antidumping cases. Enumerates the decisions which may be challenged in the United States Customs Court. Title III: Study of Transferring Treasury Investigative Responsibilities to International Trade Commission - Directs the General Accounting Office to undertake a one-year study of the need for and feasibility of a transfer of the duties of the Treasury Department under the Antidumping Act, 1921, and the countervailing duty statutes of the Tariff Act of 1930, to the International Trade Commission, or to an independent section of a department of international trade. Title IV: Amendments to the Revenue Act of September 8, 1916 - Amends existing law to redescribe behavior which constitutes dumping to make it unlawful to manufacture in a foreign country and sell in the United States (whether through a related or unrelated importer) merchandise for which the purchase or exporter's sales price is less than the foreign market value, where the effect of such sale has been to substantially lessen competition, restrain trade, or monopolize commerce within the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 18 May 1978
Expresses the sense of Congress that (1) the Congress intended the National air ambient quality standards set by the Environmental Protection Agency EPA pursuant to the Clean Air Act and subsequent amendments to be reasonable and attainable; (2) the EPA reconsider and revise the National ambient air quality standards for photochemical oxidents, and (3) reasonable air pollution control measures be applied during such consideration.
United States · United States Congress · 15 May 1978
Federal Aid-Highway Act - Amends the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 to decrease authorizations for the Interstate Highway System for fiscal years 1980 and 1981. Prohibits the use of interstate construction funds apportioned to a State to expand or clear areas adjacent to Interstate routes designed prior to February, 1967. Specifies the method by which the Secretary of Transportation is to apportion interstate highway funds for fiscal year 1980. Authorizes appropriations for various highway programs for fiscal years 1979 and 1980. Establishes a minimum apportionment for each of the States at one-half of one percent of the total apportionment for the Interstate System. Authorizes appropriations for the resurfacing of lanes on the Interstate System which have been in use for more than five years. Stipulates that the Federal share of such a project shall not exceed 70 percent of its cost. Increases the Federal matching share for any State transit or highway project which is substituted for an Interstate System project. Prohibits the Secretary from redesignating any State withdrawn mileage from the Interstate System as an Interstate project. Limits the Federal-aid urban highway system to areas having a population of 50,000 or more. Prohibits the Secretary from approving a withdrawal of Interstate mileage and transfer of funds to public transportation or other highway purposes after September 30, 1982. Stipulates that after such date the Secretary may not approve any Interstate project unless the environmental impact statement has been completed. Requires all Interstate projects and substitute projects to be under construction by September 30, 1986, or be removed from Interstate designation. Revises the Interstate System apportionment formula to give added weight to the cost to complete essential gaps in the System. Revises the Interstate System resurfacing apportionment. Revises the population factor in the apportionment formula for secondary highway systems to include areas with a population of between 5,000 and 50,000. Authorizes a State to transfer up to 50 percent of its primary, urban or secondary highway program apportionment from one of these programs to another. Stipulates that urban system funds allocated to areas of 200,000 or more may not be transferred without the approval of local officials. Authorizes States which have obligated all of their present Interstate apportionments to obligate advances against their next annual apportionment. Directs the Secretary in making such advances to give priority to applications involving a completion of essential gaps in the System. Requires the Secretary to insure that the States commit adequate resources to the maintenance of Interstate routes. Requires that such a program contain minimum standards by which the condition of Interstate routes shall be judged and that Interstate routes which are more than five years old be inspected annually. Directs the Secretary to withhold approval of a State's primary system projects if deficiencies were found in an Interstate route and the State had not made adequate commitments to repair such deficiencies within a year. Requires the Secretary to report to the Congress by October 1, 1980, regarding such maintenance program. Reduces the time period during which States may use their Interstate apportionments. Stipulates that at the end of such period the Secretary may allocate such sums to States with ready-to-commence Interstate projects. Requires that preference be given in such allocation to projects to complete essential gaps in the System. Authorizes States to use Interstate Funds to pay both principal and interest on bonds issued after the enactment of this Act for Interstate construction under certain circumstances (previously such funds could only be used for the payment of the principal of such bonds). Stipulates that Federal financial assistance for emergency repairs and reconstruction of roads on the Federal-aid system shall be entirely funded from the Highway Trust Fund. Directs the Secretary to undertake a study of the costs of highway construction, rehabilitation, and maintenance attributable to various classes of highway users and to the environment. Directs the Congressional Budget Office to evaluate the distribution of tax burdens among highway users and to report its findings to the Secretary. Directs the Secretary to report to the Congress by January 15, 1982, the results of such study and to recommend alternative tax structures which will more equitably allocate highway costs among highway users. Directs the Secretary to investigate the need for uniform maximum truck sizes and weights throughout the country including an evaluation of the economic effects of reducing vehicle weight limits in States with legal limits higher than the national maximum. Requires the Secretary to report to Congress on the results of such study by January 15, 1981. Authorizes the Secretary to approve the use of Federal-aid highway funds to relocate segments of railways to eliminate hazardous rail-highway crossings where this method is the least expensive way of eliminating the hazard. Authorizes the Secretary to approve the use of secondary highway system funds by a State for public transportation projects. Expands the special bridge replacement program to authorize the use of such funds for highway bridge rehabilitation projects. Authorizes a State to use up to 30 percent of such funds to repair or replace highway bridges which are not on any Federal-aid system. Decreases the Federal share of such projects. Authorizes the Secretary to use Federal-aid highway funds to fund carpool and vanpool demonstration projects. Exempts such projects from specified Interstate Commerce Commission regulations and requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Requires States to allocate Federal urban system funds for urbanized areas of 200,000 or more population according to population unless the State chooses to use an alternative formula approved by approved by the Secretary. Requires States to distribute funds to urbanized areas of less than 200,000 population on a fair and equitable basis. Directs the Secretary to establish a highway safety improvement program for projects on any public road or street in urban or rural areas. Directs each State to develop a highway safety improvement program. Requires States to use at least 30 percent of its highway safety apportionment for projects not on a Federal-aid system. Requires States to submit specified data regarding the percentage of vehicles exceeding the 55 mile per hour national maximum speed limit. Reduces Federal-aid highway funds to States which fail to achieve a specified level of compliance with such limit. Repeals the following categories of highway projects: (1) priority primary routes; (2) access highways to public recreation areas or certain lakes; (3) highways crossing Federal projects; and (4) safer off-system roads. Establishes a grant program for the construction of bikeways, and the improvement of existing roads and transportation systems for bicycle and pedestrian traffic. Directs the Secretary to establish standards for the design and construction of bicycle projects. Prohibits the Secretary from approving any Federal-aid project which would reduce present bicycle or pedestrian access to a greater extent than automobile access unless a comparable route is provided or already exists. Authorizes the imposition of tolls on urban highways where the tolls are part of a State implementation plan required under the Clean Air Act. Authorizes appropriations for projects to eliminate rail-highway crossing hazards. Amends the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1973 to authorize appropriations for railroad relocation demonstration projects. Amends the Federal-Aid Highway Amendments of 1974 to increase the authorization for construction of the Overseas Highway in the Florida Keys. Directs the Secretary, in cooperation with the States of New Mexico and Texas, to carry out a demonstration project to upgrade primary routes between Los Cruces, New Mexico, and Amarillo, Texas, and between Lubbock, Texas, and Interstate Route 10. Authorizes a new bridge program for the construction or replacement of primary system bridges over major bodies of water. Authorizes the State of Maine to repay to the Highway Trust Fund funds received and expended for interchanges along the Maine Turnpike. Directs the Secretary to study and report to Congress by January 15, 1980, on the desirability of designating Interstate routes in Alaska and Puerto Rico. Prohibits the Secretary from obligating funds authorized by this Act for any project exceeding $1,000,000 unless the materials used in construction are produced in the United States. Specifies exceptions to such requirement. Authorizes appropriations for fiscal years 1979 and 1980 for a traffic management demonstration project.
United States · United States Congress · 11 May 1978
Investment Incentive Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to restore part of the pre-1969 tax treatment of capital gains by repealing the capital gains item of tax preference for the minimum tax; lowering the corporate alternative tax to 25 percent of net capital gain; and lowering the alternative individual tax to 25 percent of net capital gain.
United States · United States Congress · 4 May 1978
Requires that Revenue Rulings issued by the Internal Revenue Service on or after December 1, 1975, relating to the definition of the term "employee" be disregarded in applying the Federal Insurance Contributions Act, the Federal Unemployment Tax Act, and income tax withholding requirements to real estate salespeople.
United States · United States Congress · 27 April 1978
Establishes the President's Commission on the Victims of the Holocaust for the purpose of considering and developing plans for the design, construction, and location of a permanent memorial in the United States to the victims of the Holocaust. Terminates the Commission within one year after the submission of its final report. Requires that such report be submitted to the Congress and the President within 18 months after the effective date of this resolution. Authorizes appropriations of $750,000 to carry out the provisions of this joint resolution.
United States · United States Congress · 26 April 1978
Amends the Public Works and Economic Development Act of 1965 to direct the Southwest Border Regional Commission to make grants to local educational agencies for the construction of school facilities to assist such agencies in educating immigrant children. Defines the term immigrant child for purposes of this Act as a child born in Mexico and who has legally immigrated to the United States, or a child whose parents are legal immigrants from Mexico, and who is provided free public education.
United States · United States Congress · 26 April 1978
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to permit a credit against tax equalling ten percent of the expenditures in rehabilitating residential, commercial, and industrial structures which are at least 20 years old and have a useful life of five years or more. Limits the allowable credit to $2,000 in any taxable year. Requires that expenditures for rehabilitation exceed $3,000 over a period of two consecutive years. Permits a carryback and carryover of the credit to other years if ten percent of the expenditures for rehabilitation in any taxable year exceeds $2,000. Increases the tax liability of a non-residential owner of a rehabilitated structure who sells such structure by the amount of the credit allowed for rehabilitation in the taxable year of the sale and the prior two taxable years.
United States · United States Congress · 26 April 1978
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to require the Secretary of the Treasury to promulgate uniform standards for calculating and reporting the assets and liabilities of tax-exempt employee pension funds and for disclosing the actuarial assumptions used in such calculations.
United States · United States Congress · 25 April 1978
Sugar Stabilization Act - Sets forth the policy of the Congress with respect to foreign trade in sugar. Title I: International Sugar Agreement - Authorizes the President to prohibit the importation of sugar from any country not a member of the International Sugar Organization, and to otherwise regulate foreign trade in sugar to implement the International Sugar Agreement. Establishes civil penalties for the violation of such regulations. Requires the President to submit to Congress an annual report on the Agreement. Title II: Domestic Sugar Program - Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to make an annual estimate of the sugar consumption needs of the United States. Establishes a formula for determining the price objectives of domestic sugar. Authorizes the Secretary to establish a quota for the importation of sugar, and to adjust such quota. Authorizes the Secretary to impose an import fee in order to attain the price objective for sugar. Prohibits the established quota from being filled by direct-consumption sugar, except in specified circumstances. Permits the Secretary to suspend such quota and fees under specified circumstances. Authorizes the Secretary to impose a quota on the importation of "sugar-containing products. Prohibits the importation of sugar, liquid sugar, or "sugar-containing products" after the import quotas have been filled. Prohibits the importation of certain sugar or liquid sugar into the Virgin Islands in excess of 100 pounds annually. Prohibits the exportation of certain sugar from the United States. Regulates the exportation of sugar. Sets forth items to which the sugar quota shall not apply. Title III: General Provisions - Authorizes the Secretary to issue regulations to carry out this Act. Establishes penalties for the violation of such regulations. Requires certain information to be furnished to the Secretary by persons engaged in the manufacture, marketing, transport, or industrial use, of sugar. Prohibits officials engaged in the administration of this Act to invest in sugar. Establishes penalties for the violation of such prohibition. Authorizes the President to suspend the operation of Title II of this Act in a national emergency. Authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture (1) to conduct surveys and investigations to carry out this Act, and (2) to announce a "daily spot price" for raw sugar in specified circumstances. Terminates the authority of the Secretary under this Act on December 31, 1982.
United States · United States Congress · 12 April 1978
Beef Import Act - Subjects specified kinds of preserved beef and veal products to the policy of Congress related to the restriction of beef imports. Revises the formula for the determination of beef and veal import quotas. Directs the President to limit beef imports at any one port of entry in order to insure the geographical distribution of such imports. Revises the criteria under which the President may suspend a proclamation limiting beef and veal imports to permit such suspension only during a national emergency or when the supply of such products are inadequate to meet domestic supply at reasonable prices.
United States · United States Congress · 7 April 1978
Solar Power Satellite Research, Development, and Demonstration Program Act - Directs the Secretary of Energy and the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to initiate a Solar Power Satellite Research, Development, and Demonstration Program to study technical problems regarding the viability of the solar power satellite concept. Requires the Secretary to cooperate with the Administrator in the submission to Congress, by September 30, 1978, of a comprehensive plan to implement the Program.
United States · United States Congress · 7 April 1978
Uniformed Services Survivor Benefit Plan Amendments Act - Amends the Survivor Benefit Plan to permit members and former members of the uniformed services who have completed the number of years of service required for eligibility for retired pay but who have not yet, because of age, become entitled to such pay to participate in such plan. Entitles dependents of such members or former members who die before becoming entitled to retired pay to certain medical and dental benefits at facilities of the uniformed services.
United States · United States Congress · 6 April 1978
Designates the Veterans' Administration hospital located at 1901 South First Street, Temple, Texas, as the "Olin E. Teague Veterans' Hospital" effective January 4, 1979.
United States · United States Congress · 22 March 1978
PCP Criminal Laws and Procedures Act - Sets forth penalties for the manufacture, distribution, or possession with intent to manufacture or distribute phencyclidine (PCP) and its salts. Requires, with respect to each transfer of piperidine, that the seller report certain information about the buyer to the Attorney General and that the buyer present positive identification. Requires importers to report each shipment of piperidine received. Specifies guidelines for searches of sellers' premises. Prescribes and sets forth penalties for certain other piperidine-related transactions including sales to minors, or sales to or by fugitives or mental defectives, and commerce in stolen piperidine.
United States · United States Congress · 16 March 1978
Condemns recent terrorism in Egypt, Israel, and Jordan. Extends Congressional condolences to victims of these attacks. Declares that the President should (1) intensify efforts of the executive branch to counter international terrorism, (2) report to Congress on the implementation of laws regarding terrorism; (3) report to Congress on the activities of the Palestine Liberation Organization office in New York; and (4) report to specified Congressional committees the names of nations which furnish assistance to such Organization.
United States · United States Congress · 10 March 1978
Interstate Land Sales Full Disclosure Amendments - Exempts the following transactions from the terms of the Interstate Land Sales Full Disclosure Act: (1) sale or lease of any improved land on which there is a condominium; (2) sale or lease of real estate by a developer who is engaged in a sales operation which is predominantly intrastate in nature; and (3) the sale or lease of real estate by a developer who has fulfilled specified conditions to the resident of another State when the principal residence of the purchaser is within a radius of 100 miles from the property. Directs the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to conduct all actions brought under the Interstate Land Sales Full Disclosure Act in accordance with the Administrative Procedures Act.
United States · United States Congress · 1 March 1978
Tertiary Recovery Incentives Act - Amends the Emergency Petroleum Allocation Act of 1973 to provide incentives for increased petroleum production through the use of tertiary recovery processes. Defines tertiary recovery processes to be those processes which are determined by an appropriate regulatory body to increase recovery of petroleum over waterflooding techniques. Specifies the relevant State or Federal agency which will make the determination of whether a qualified tertiary recovery process is being utilized. Makes such determination final unless there is a showing of fraud. Suspends ceiling price controls on crude oil produced from a property utilizing a qualified tertiary recovery process. Specifies that such suspension shall occur within 60 days of the enactment of this Act. Excludes from the weighted average first sale price, and from the composite price of all domestic crude oil production, all crude oil produced by a qualified tertiary recovery method.
United States · United States Congress · 1 March 1978
Beef Import and Labeling Act - Title I: Import Quotas and Customs Duties - Revises the quotas on the importation of beef. Requires the Secretary of Agriculture to determine the domestic production quantity of beef each quarter in order that the import quota may be determined. Directs the Secretary to establish a system for the equitable distribution of such quota among importers. Repeals current beef import quotas, and the authority of the President to suspend or increase such quota. Title II: Meat Import Labeling - Amends the Federal Meat Inspection Act to require that any imported meat or meat food product made in whole or in part of imported meat be labeled "imported", "imported in part", or with the name of the country of origin. Authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to assess exporters of meat to the United States for the cost of such labeling.
United States · United States Congress · 28 February 1978
Reclamation Reform Act - Replaces the existing maximum Federal reclamation law acreage limitation of 160 acres of reclaimed land per individual with a maximum farm size limit of 1,280 acres, owned or leased by any combination of persons. Restricts the number of persons who may join in such combination to 25 or fewer. Authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to limit the number of landholdings that any person, firm, or business may manage for the benefit of a qualified recipient. Directs the Secretary of the Interior to designate by rule appropriate increases in the acreage limitation for lands of lesser productive potential. Abolishes the requirement that a qualified recipient must be resident on or near a landholding in order for such landholding to be eligible to receive water. Prohibits any qualified recipient from leasing a landholding acquired after January 1, 1978, unless he or she has derived nonrental income from such landholding for agricultural production for a period of not less than ten years. Provides for the removal of acreage limitations upon repayment of construction charges of the reclamation project required under contracts with the Secretary relating to the delivery of water supplies to such landholding for agricultural use. Prohibits the delivery of water to landholders whose lands do not comply with the federal reclamation law acreage limitation one year after the passage of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 28 February 1978
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide that the current deduction for 50 percent of the amount of capital gain realized from the sale or exchange of an asset held for one year shall be increased by two percent for each additional year the asset is held, but not above 80 percent. Applies this rule to long-term capital losses. Repeals the alternative capital gains tax for individuals.
United States · United States Congress · 21 February 1978
Office of Energy Security Act - Establishes within the Department of Energy the Office of Energy Security to coordinate Federal activities related to the maintenance of security of the trans-Alaska pipeline and other oil and gas resources of the nation. Requires the Director of the Office of Energy Security to submit to the Secretary of Energy and to Congress an annual report the first of which shall be submitted within one year of the enactment of this Act. Requires the Director to include in the first annual report findings and recommendations concerning the need for a centralized security force, identification of security problems, recommendations for Congressional action and an evaluation of the progress and achievements of the office. Requires the Director to seek and the relevant Federal agencies to render such help as the Director may deem necessary in the fulfillment of duties.
United States · United States Congress · 21 February 1978
Expresses Congressional disapproval of the Presidential denial of import relief to the producers of nuts, bolts, and large screws, under the Trade Act of 1974, transmitted to the Congress on February 10, 1978.
United States · United States Congress · 7 February 1978
Authorizes the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution to acquire the Museum of African Art. Establishes within the Smithsonian Institution a bureau to be known as the Museum of African Art. Sets forth the functions of such bureau. Establishes a Commission for the Museum of African Art to assist the Board in the operation and development of the Museum. Authorizes appropriations to carry out the purposes of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 2 February 1978
Flexible Parity Act - Title I: Wheat - Amends the Agricultural Act of 1949 to provide for the 1978 crop of wheat a sliding-scale of established prices, keyed to voluntary five percent increments above the required acreage set-aside level, ranging from $3.00 per bushel for a 20 percent set-aside up to $5.04 per bushel for a 50 percent set-aside. Title II: Feed Grains - Amends the Agricultural Act of 1949 to provide for the 1978 crop of feed grains a sliding-scale of established prices, keyed to voluntary five percent increments above the required acreage set-aside level, ranging from $2.10 for a ten percent set-aside up to $3.45 for a 50 percent set-aside. Title III: Upland Cotton - Amends the Agricultural Act of 1949 to provide for the 1978 crop of upland cotton a sliding-scale of established prices, keyed to voluntary five percent increments above the required acreage set-aside level, ranging from 54 cents per pound for a 20 percent set-aside up to 84 cents per point for a 50 percent set-aside. Title IV: Grain Release Prices - Amends the Agricultural Act of 1949: (1) to prohibit the Secretary of Agriculture from providing for the redemption of stored wheat and feed grains loans unless the market price for such commodities is not less than parity; (2) to prohibit the Secretary from calling such loans until the market price for wheat and feed grains is at least 105 percent of parity; and (3) to prohibit the Commodity Credit Corporation from selling its stocks of wheat and feed grains for less than the parity price of such commodities.
United States · United States Congress · 2 February 1978
More Adequate Title I, Public Law 480 Program Act - Amends the Agricultural Trade Development and Assistance Act of 1954 to require the Secretary of Agriculture to provide Commodity Credit Corporation financing for a minimum of $1,000,000,000 for the purchase of United States farm commodities under dollar agreements to be entered into in fiscal year 1978 with friendly developing nations.
United States · United States Congress · 2 February 1978
Amends the Agricultural Act of 1949 with respect to price support loans in the producer storage program for wheat and feed grains: (1) to require a minimum cost of storage payment to producers of 25 cents per bushel annually; and (2) to set as a ceiling on the interest rate for such loans the rate of interest charged the Commodity Credit Corporation by the United States Treasury, adjusted quarterly.
United States · United States Congress · 26 January 1978
Highway Improvement Act - Title I: Authorizations and Apportionment - Amends the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 to authorize the use of funds appropriated for the Interstate Highway System for highway assistance substitution projects. Reduces the authorization of appropriations for the Interstate System for the fiscal years 1980 through 1990. Directs the Secretary of Transportation to apportion the authorization for fiscal year 1980 in a specified manner. Authorizes appropriations out of the Highway Trust Fund for specified Federal-aid highway programs through fiscal year 1982. Title II: Extension of Highway Trust Fund and Certain Related Provisions - Amends the Highway Revenue Act of 1956 to extend the authorization for appropriations under such Act for the Highway Trust Fund through fiscal year 1978. Amends the Land and Water Conservation Fund of 1965 to extend the transfers of specified nonhighway use gasoline taxes from such fund to the general fund of the Treasury. Postpones specified transportation related excise tax reduction under the Internal Revenue Code of 1954. Title III: Amendments Regarding the Interstate System - Prohibits the Secretary from approving substitute State mass transportation projects in lieu of an interstate project after fiscal year 1984. Revises the funding mechanism for such substitute projects. Establishes a cutoff date at the end of fiscal year 1982 for approval of interstate projects not complying with the National Environmental Policy Act and for approval of State requests for withdrawal from interstate projects. Stipulates that by the end of fiscal year 1986 all routes or portions of routes on the Interstate System must be completed or under contract for construction and construction must have commenced. Authorizes the Secretary beginning with funds apportioned for fiscal year 1980 to approve resurfacing projects for lanes more than five years old on the Interstate System. Sets forth the Federal share for completing the essential gaps in the Interstate System for the fiscal years 1980 through 1990. Stipulates that State apportionments for interstate projects for such years may only be obligated for completing essential gaps within the System. Directs the Secretary effective with the apportionment for fiscal year 1981 for the Interstate System to revise the cost estimate for completing the System to include an estimate of completing the System's essential gaps. Authorizes a State in the event that it has obligated all the funds available to it in any fiscal year for the Interstate System to obligate its apportionment for the following fiscal year. Authorizes the Secretary to reapportion funds for the Interstate System not used by a State within the fiscal year for which it was apportioned. Title IV: Amendments Regarding Urban, Rural, and Other Non-Interstate-Highway Projects - Authorizes the transfer of certain apportionments for a State from one purpose to another under specified circumstances. Increases the Federal share for specified Federal-aid highway projects. Amends the Appalachian Regional Development Act of 1965 to increase the Federal share for projects on the Appalachian development highway system. Establishes a small urban and rural transportation assistance program to finance public transportation projects or specified highway projects for such areas. Establishes an apportionment formula for highway projects in urbanized areas other than projects on the Federal-aid primary or Interstate Systems. Authorizes the Secretary to approve the use of funds from specified apportionments for projects designed to encourage the use of carpools and vanpools. Directs the Secretary to establish a highway safety improvement programs for Federally aided highways. Requires each State to develop and implement a Highway Safety Improvement Program in order to identify and correct highway hazards. Requires each State to identify rail-highway crossings which may require separation, relocation, or protective devices, and to establish and implement a schedule of projects for such purposes. Requires that as a minimum such schedule provide for signs at all public railway-highway crossings. Authorizes the Secretary to approve Federal financial assistance for such projects. Increases the Federal share for compensating individuals for removal of outdoor advertising signs in areas adjacent to the Interstate System and the primary system. Authorizes the Secretary to approve Federal participation in State projects for replacing or rehabilitating highway bridges which are not on a priority or Federal-aid system. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to States and local governments in urbanized areas on a matching basis for transportation research and planning. Title V: Planning and Reorganization - Directs the Secretary to prepare a plan to consolidate the Urban Mass Transportation Administration and the Federal Highway Administration. Establishes a single fund for funding specified mass transportation programs.
United States · United States Congress · 15 December 1977
Authorizes a $543,000,000 appropriation for reimbursing States for expenditures made with respect to services provided by such States under specified titles of the Social Security Act. Sets forth procedures and time limitations for making claims for reimbursement and maximums amounts which a State may receive for providing services under the Social Security Act.
United States · United States Congress · 15 December 1977
Venture Capital Tax Reform Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide special tax benefits relating to the treatment of gains and losses from the sale of venture capital stock which is defined as the first $5,000,000 of stock issued by a newly formed corporation engaged in manufacturing, research or extraction. Makes the current reduced corporate income tax rate permanent and increases the corporate surtax exemption. Imposes an excise tax on pension managers of pension funds with assets above a certain size for investing in certain large corporations if the result of the investment is to increase the holdings of the fund to more than five percent of any class of security of the corporation.
United States · United States Congress · 6 December 1977
Authorizes and requests the President to annually designate the Sunday following Fire Service Recognition Day as "Memorial Sunday" for firefighters disabled or killed in the line of duty during the preceeding year.
United States · United States Congress · 28 October 1977
Alien Adjustment Act - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to authorize the Attorney General to create a record of lawful admission for permanent residence in the case of an alien who entered the United States prior to January 1, 1970 (updated from June 30, 1948 by this Act) provided that such alien is not inadmissible because of past criminal or otherwise proscribed behavior. Prohibits the creation of such a record for an alien who assisted in the prosecution of any person on account of race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group. Authorizes the Attorney General to permit any alien who entered the United States on or before January 1, 1977 to reside in the United States for a period of up to five years if specified criteria are met and such person is not otherwise inadmissible under provisions of the Act excluding criminals, and other immoral persons. Prohibits temporary resident aliens admitted under this Act from receiving Medicaid, Aid to Families with Dependent Children, Supplemental Security Income, or Food Stamps. Prohibits any person from employing or assisting illegal aliens in procuring or retaining employment in the United States. Sets penalties for violating such prohibition.
United States · United States Congress · 27 October 1977
Amends Title II (Old-Aged, Survivors, and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act to eliminate the waiting periods for disability benefits and hospital insurance benefits for any individual who becomes disabled as a result of a traumatic spinal cord injury.
United States · United States Congress · 25 October 1977
Omnibus Antiterrorism Act - Title I: Reorganization of Executive Office of the President - Establishes a Council to Combat Terrorism in the Executive Office of the President. Includes among the Council's functions (1) assisting the President to implement this Act, (2) assisting in the preparation of lists of countries aiding terrorist enterprises and of dangerous foreign airports, and (3) coordinating Federal efforts to combat terrorism. Directs the President to: (1) report to Congress on each act of terrorism which involves or affects United States citizens; and (2) impose sanctions against countries on the list of countries aiding terrorists and against airports on the list of dangerous foreign airports. Title II: Reorganization of the Department of State - Establishes a Bureau for Combating International Terrorism in the Department of State. Urges the President to seek international agreements which assure cooperation in combating terrorism. Lists provisions which should be given priority in negotiating such agreements. Requires the President to: (1) develop programs to insure full implementation of the Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts Against the Safety of Civil Aviation; (2) approve all defense article sales and credits made to any individual or group; and (3) include the names of all types of explosives on the United States Munitions List. Title III: Reorganization of the Department of Justice - Establishes an Office for Combating Terrorism in the Department of Justice. Directs the President to extend existing safety and security requirements to supplemental means of air transportation. Requires that all explosives contain identification and detection taggants. Title IV: Aircraft Sabotage and Piracy - Amends provisions of title 18, U.S. Code, that specify prohibited acts regarding the destruction of aircraft or aircraft facilities to, among other revisions, set forth penalties for committing violence against a passenger which is likely to endanger an aircraft in service and for communicating false information which results in endangering the safety of an aircraft in flight. Sets forth penalties for a person found in the United States who has committed against or aboard a foreign aircraft an offense in violation of the Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts Against the Safety of Civil Aviation. Authorizes civil penalties for carrying an accessible weapon aboard an aircraft and for imparting or conveying information known to be false regarding one of specified crimes aboard an aircraft. Specifies minimum penalties for threatening to commit air piracy or any other of certain crimes aboard an aircraft.
United States · United States Congress · 25 October 1977
Expresses the sense of the Senate that the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development should not implement the proposed reorganization of the field and insuring offices of the Department of Housing and Urban Development prior to the time when the appropriate committees of the Congress have had an opportunity to hold hearings on such reorganization.
United States · United States Congress · 19 October 1977
Aquaculture Policy Act - Requires the Secretary of Agriculture to make a comprehensive assessment of aquaculture in the United States. Directs the Secretary to develop and implement a national aquaculture development strategy, and to furnish leadership for Federal activities relating to the development of aquaculture. Requires the Secretary to alleviate constraints on aquacultural development, furnish assistance regarding aquaculture to public and private organizations and persons, compile production data, arrange for information exchanges with foreign nations, and coordinate the national aquaculture effort. Authorizes the Secretary to carry out any function under this Act through grants to or contracts with Federal or State agencies, colleges and universities, or individuals. Amends the Federal Crop Insurance Act to authorize the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation to insure, or reinsure insurers of, aquatic species propagated and reared in aquaculture operations. Authorizes appropriations necessary to carry out the purposes of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 19 October 1977
States that during the year following the enactment of this Act the Secretary of the Interior shall neither withhold water delivery from any beneficiary of a Federal reclamation project nor initiate any proceeding intended to require the sale of privately owned bonds within any project, for purposes of achieving conformity with acreage limitations or residency requirements of reclamation law. Prohibits the Secretary from approving the sale of excess lands during the year following the enactment of this Act unless final excess land regulation become effective.
United States · United States Congress · 6 October 1977
Authorizes the President to contribute up to 5,000 long tons of tin to the Tin Buffer Stock established under the Fifth International Tin Agreement. Authorizes the Administrator of the General Services Administration to transfer to the International Tin Council an amount of tin specified by the President. Specifies disposition procedures for any proceeds or amount of tin accruing to the United States as a result of the Tin Buffer Stock.
United States · United States Congress · 3 October 1977
Designates the South Portal Federal Office Building of the United States Department of Health, Education, and Welfare at 200 Independence Avenue Southwest, Washington, D. C., as the "Hubert H. Humphrey Building."
United States · United States Congress · 27 September 1977
Declares that the President should establish a Commission on Domestic and International Hunger and Malnutrition which should: (1) collect and generate information and resources on food, hunger, malnutrition and related concerns; (2) assess current programs affecting domestic and international hunger and malnutrition; (3) analyze and report its findings and recommendations to the President, the Congress, and the public; and (4) assist the President and the Congress in implementing its recommendations.
United States · United States Congress · 26 September 1977
Tuition Tax Credit Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a credit against an individual's income tax in an amount equal to 50 percent of the sum of the amounts paid by him to educational institutions as tuition (though no more than $500 for any single individual) for the attendance of the taxpayer, the taxpayer's spouse, or any of his dependents with respect to whom he is entitled to a personal exemption.
United States · United States Congress · 21 September 1977
Deems the service performed by a certain individual, at the age of twelve, in the United States Navy during World War II, to have been served under a lawful enlistment. Authorizes the Secretary of the Navy to issue such individual an honorable discharge.
United States · United States Congress · 16 September 1977
Amends the Emergency Petroleum Allocation Act of 1973 to establish special first sale prices for crude oil which is owned by a State or political subdivision thereof.
United States · United States Congress · 5 August 1977
Amends the definition of "employee" under the Longshoremen's and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act to specify the coverage of such Act with respect to persons engaged in the manufacture, sale, repair, or service of recreational or fishing boats.
![Official portrait of Sen. Bentsen, Lloyd M. [D-TX]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/b000401_200.jpg)