United States · United States Congress · 18 January 1977
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow limited income tax credit for the higher education expenses paid for the taxpayer, his spouse, and his dependents.
United States · United States Congress · 18 January 1977
Authorizes the conveyance of specified public and acquired lands in the State of Nevada to Mineral County, Nevada, upon payment to the United States of the appraised value of the land. Stipulates that any of the property not purchased within five years will remain in the property of the United States. States that the county shall have six months from the date of notification to purchase the tract.
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 1977
Directs the Secretary of the Interior to permit the National Committee of American Airmen Rescued by General Mihailovich to construct and maintain a monument to General Draza Mihailovich. Sets forth the procedure to be followed in raising funds and constructing the monument on public land within the District of Columbia.
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 1977
Directs the President to call a National Leadership Conference on Energy Policy during 1977. Declares that the purpose of the Conference shall be to develop specific proposals to increase supplies of energy with minimum impact on the environment while decreasing energy demand without harming America's economic recovery. Stipulates that representatives of various groups shall be included in the Conference. Establishes procedures for preparations for the Conference, including the appointment of a 15-member committee by the President.
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 1977
Constitutional Amendment - Makes a person who is constitutionally ineligible for the office of President ineligible for the office of Vice President. Requires the voters for President and Vice President in each State to have the qualifications requisite for voters of the most numerous branch of the State legislature, unless such legislature prescribes lesser qualifications with respect to residence therein. Authorizes Congress to prescribe voter qualifications for voters in the District of Columbia. Continues electoral vote allotments to States and the District of Columbia. Grants to the District of Columbia the number of electoral votes equal to the whole number of Senators and Representatives in Congress to which such District would be entitled if it were a State, but in no event more than the least populous State. Directs the official custodian of the election returns of each State, within 45 days after the election, to make lists of all persons for whom votes were cast, the number of votes cast, and the total votes cast by the voters. Requires that each person for whom votes were cast in each State receive such proportion of the electoral votes as he received of the total votes cast in such State. Declares the person receiving the greatest aggregate number of electoral votes, if at least 40 percent of the total, to be President. Requires in case of a tie or no one receiving 40 percent or more that the Senate and House of Representatives choose, by ballot, the President and Vice President from the two highest electoral vote getters. Allows Congress to provide the method for choosing a President or Vice President whenever the right of choice had fallen upon the Congress.
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 1977
Declares it the sense of the Congress that the United States should oppose United Nations membership of Vietnam and deny diplomatic recognition to Vietnam until that country cooperates in securing a satisfactory accounting of Americans missing in action and unaccounted for in the territory under Vietnamese control.
United States · United States Congress · 11 January 1977
Amends Title II (Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act to decrease from 72 to 65 the age at which earnings limitations are no longer applicable.
United States · United States Congress · 10 January 1977
Authorizes the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, subject to the consent of the Shoshone Paiute Tribes, to utilize the facilities of the United States Public Health Service Owyhee Indian Hospital on the Duck Valley Indian Reservation to provide nonemergency medical care on a fee-for-service basis to non- Indians living within an approximately 50-mile radius of such hospital.
United States · United States Congress · 10 January 1977
Postal Reorganization Act Amendments - Requires that all revenues and fees collected by the Postal Service be deposited in the general fund of the United States Treasury. Authorizes appropriations to the Postal Service for its operation and requires that such sums be deposited in the Postal Service Fund. Requires the Postal Service to present specified budgetary and financial information to the appropriate Congressional committees when requesting appropriations. Reclassifies income as revenue for purposes of the Act. Sets limitations on the amounts and purposes for which obligations may be issued by the Postal Service. Places the United States Postal Service within the executive branch of the Government. Abolishes the Board of Governors. Makes the Postmaster General the head of the Postal Service, and requires that such individual and the Deputy Postmaster General be appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate. Sets forth the staff structure for Assistant Postmasters General and judicial officers. Gives the Postmaster General power to delegate authority to other Postal Service employees. Requires the Postmaster General to transmit an annual report to the President and Congress. Sets forth the duties and powers of the Postal Rate Commission, and procedures for appellate review of decisions.
United States · United States Congress · 10 January 1977
Allows the copyrighting of four publications concerning the history of the Northern Paiute, Southern Paiute, Washoe and Western Shoshone Indian tribes of Nevada by their author, the Inter-Tribal Council of Nevada.
United States · United States Congress · 10 January 1977
Directs the Veterans' Administration to establish a national cemetery in the State of Nevada, and to acquire not less than 5,000 acres of land for this purpose.
United States · United States Congress · 10 January 1977
Suspends until July 1, 1980, the requirement that $100 worth of labor or improvements be performed annually on all mining claims filed under applicable mineral leasing laws.
United States · United States Congress · 10 January 1977
Amends Title XI (General Provisions) of the Social Security Act to require that psychologists be included in any Professional Standards Review Organization appointed under such title.
United States · United States Congress · 10 January 1977
Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to convey the property comprising the Lee Canyon Youth Camp, Toiyabe National Forest, Nevada, to Clark County, Nevada.
United States · United States Congress · 10 January 1977
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to increase the limitation on the excise tax credit for State gaming taxes on coin- operated devices from 80 to 95 percent.
United States · United States Congress · 10 January 1977
Authorizes the Director of the Bureau of Mines to establish and carry out a program of financial and other assistance to small, independent operators engaged in mineral exploration and development.
United States · United States Congress · 10 January 1977
Amends Title II (Old-Age, Survivors', and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act to increase to $4,800 the amount of outside earnings which is permitted an individual each year without any deduction from benefits.
United States · United States Congress · 10 January 1977
Allows the inclusion of clauses which require payment in gold or any particular kind of coin or currency in contracts entered into on or after the date of enactment of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 10 January 1977
Sunset Act - Title I: Authorizations of New Budget Authority - Sets forth a five-year schedule for review and reauthorization of all Federal programs according to budget function and subfunction as set forth in the Budget of the United States Government for fiscal year 1977. States that no program not specifically reauthorized by Congress pursuant to this Act shall continue to function after the review date set forth in such schedule. Excepts from the requirements of this Act specified programs such as health care services, general retirement and disability insurance, and Federal employment retirement and disability payments. Permits legislation authorizing Federal program review more often than every five years as required by this Act. Requires the Comptroller General to identify for Congress for each program being reviewed the type of budget authority such program has and those inactive programs for which no outlays have been made during fiscal years 1976 and 1977. Title II: Review of Programs - Requires the authorizing committees of the Senate and House of Representatives to conduct "sunset reviews" of all programs prior to the review date applicable to such program and to issue a report on the findings of such review. Sets forth guidelines for the content of such sunset reviews including the identification of programs with duplicative objectives and an assessment of the impact of eliminating the program or funding it at a lower level. Provides the authorizing committees with assistance from the Government Accounting Office, the Congressional Budget Office, and the Congressional Research Service in carrying out such sunset reviews. Title III: Citizens' Commission on the Organization and Operation of Government - Establishes a Citizens' Commission on the Organization and Operation of Government to study and make recommendations on ways to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the Federal Government. Requires the Commission to submit its final report together with its findings and recommendations no later than September 30, 1980. Requires the Comptroller General to report once a year for two years after submission of the Commission's final report the status of actions taken as a result of the report. Terminates the Commission 90 days after submission of its final report. Authorizes to be appropriated $12,000,000 to carry out the provisions of this title. Title IV: Tax Expenditures - Requires the Joint Committee on Taxation, after consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury and the Budget Committees of the House and Senate, to prepare a reauthorization schedule for all tax expenditures, similar to the schedule set out in Title I for Federal programs, and to report its recommendations to the Committees on Ways and Means and Finance. Requires the Congress to take final action before the end of the 95th Congress on the schedule for tax expenditures. States that, following the adoption of the schedule, the Committees on Ways and Means and Finance are required to conduct "sunset" reviews of tax expenditures according to the schedule. Sets forth guidelines for such reviews similar to those set out in Title II for such programs. Title V: Miscellaneous - Requires executive department agency heads to submit to Congress (after the President has submitted his budget) a statement of that agency's request for new budget authority as transmitted to the Office of Management and Budget. Requires agency heads to furnish the authorizing committees of Congress information regarding supplemental budget requests and supplemental estimates of outlays. Provides for a one-year grace period for programs which have not been specifically reauthorized by the scheduled time.
United States · United States Congress · 10 January 1977
Authorizes the Secretary of Labor, under the Occupational Safety and Health Act, to make visits to the work place of any employer, upon the request of the employer, to consult with and advise the employer concerning the obligations of the employer under such Act. Directs the Secretary to give priority to small business and hazardous workplaces. Stipulates that no consultative visit made under this Act may serve as an inspection or investigation as otherwise provided for by the Occupational Safety and Health Act, except: (1) in the case of an employer who fails to eliminate a danger disclosed during such a visit: or (2) if conditions are found during such a visit which indicate the probability that death or serious harm could result to employees therefrom, the Secretary may notify the employer of such conditions and afford him a reasonable time to eliminate such conditions. Prohibits the transmission of information obtained during a consultative visit to representatives of the Secretary engaged in enforcement. Directs the Secretary to establish education programs to inform employers and employees of the hazards in particular industries. Authorizes the appropriation of funds through fiscal year 1978 for the purposes of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 4 January 1977
Calls for and sets forth procedures for the counting on January 6, 1977, of the electoral votes for the President and Vice President of the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 29 September 1976
Authorizes the Administrator of General Services to dispose from the National stockpile established pursuant to the Strategic and Critical Materials Stock Piling Act and the supplemental stockpile established pursuant to the Agricultural Trade Development and Assistance Act of 1954: (1) 28,000 long tons of tin; (2) 10,000 short tons of antimony; and (3) 2,500,000 carats of industrial diamond stones. Requires the Administrator, in disposing such materials, to take steps to protect the United States against available loss and to protect producers, processors and consumers against disruptions in the markets of such materials.
United States · United States Congress · 29 September 1976
Authorizes the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration to expend funds for the purchase of 52,000 calendars whose aggregate cost shall not exceed $21,580.
United States · United States Congress · 20 September 1976
Government Economy and Spending Reform Act - Title I: Authorizations of New Budget Authority - Terminates all budget authority for Federal programs on specified dates according to the functional or subfunctional category of each program as set forth in the fiscal year 1977 budget. Requires the Comptroller General to report to Congress by April 1, 1977, on specified programs with respect to the laws under which such program is carried on, the amount of new budget authority received by such program during the four fiscal years ending before April 1, 1977, and to identify programs for which no outlays have been made during the last two fiscal years ending before April 1, 1977. Prohibits providing new budget authority after the applicable review date set forth in this Act unless the provision of such budget authority is specifically authorized by law or the standing rules of either House of Congress. Title II: Zero-Base Program Review - Sets forth a timetable for Congressional zero-base review of new budget authority. Defines "zero-base review" as an evaluation of a given program to determine the merits of its continuation at a level less than, equal to, or more than its existing level. Requires each congressional committee conducting a zero-based program review to adopt tentative and final review plans, receive reports from the Comptroller General and Federal agencies on the program being reviewed, and report to their respective House the results of such zero-base review of the program. Sets forth minimum objectives of inquiry for such reviews. Requires that any committee reporting pursuant to this Act recommend the extent to which any program reviewed should be continued or eliminated. Title III: Continuing Review - Amends the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1970 to require, whenever the Comptroller General issues a report which discloses any substantial deficiency in the achievement of the objectives of any Federal program, the agency conducting such program to report to specified congressional committees 60 days after such report and every six months thereafter to deliniate the actions taken with respect to such deficiency. Requires that such agency continue to issue such reports until such time as the Comptroller General determines that no purpose is served by their submission. Amends the Budget and Accounting Act, 1921, to require the inclusion in the Budget of a statement of the specific objectives of each Government program, and a comparison, in each subsequent Budget, of the achievement of such objectives for the last completed fiscal year with the planned objectives of such year. Title IV: Citizens Bicentennial Commission on the Organization and Operation of Government - Establishes the Citizens' Bicentennial Commission on the Organization and Operation of Government, an independent agency of 18 members to study Federal agencies. Directs the Commission to make recommendations to the President and Congress for the restructuring of such agencies to improve their efficiency. Requires the Commission to submit its final report by September 30, 1979, and terminate it 90 days thereafter. Authorizes to be appropriated without fiscal year limitation $12,000,000 to carry out the provisions of this title. Title V: Miscellaneous - Requires the Director of Management and Budget to study the feasibility of zero-base budgeting for Federal agencies. Requires the Director of the Congressional Budget Office to study the feasibility of personnel ceilings on employees of the United States and their relationships to alternative methods of carrying out the activities of such employees. Requires that such reports be submitted to Congress. Requires Federal agency heads to report requests for new budget authority to Congress. Requires specified committees to study the effectiveness of the zero-base review procedures required by this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 20 September 1976
Aviation Improvement Act - Amends the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 to direct the Civil Aeronautics Board, in the exercise and performance of its powers and duties with respect to interstate and overseas air transportation, to consider the phased and progressive transition to an air transportation system which relies on competitive market forces and the provision of a variety of adequate, economic, and low-cost services as being in the public interest. Prohibits any governmental unit from enacting any law, regulation, or standard relating to air transportation rates, routes, or services. Requires the Board to issue certificates authorizing scheduled or charter interstate or overseas air transportation to qualified applicants unless such transportation is not required by the public convenience and necessity (previously the Board could only grant such applications upon a finding that such transportation was required by the public convenience and necessity). Places the burden of proof upon the Board to show that the transportation for which the certificate is sought is not required by the public convenience and necessity. Requires the Board to give weight in favor of an applicant if it finds that the transportation applied for would: (1) involve new and innovative methods; (2) provide reduced rates, fares, or charges; (3) achieve increased efficiency over existing services; or (4) be offered in markets which have rates, fares, or charges which are significantly higher than economically comparable markets. Requires the Board to issue certificates to qualified applicants to engage in scheduled air transportation if the present carrier holding such authority has not exercised it by providing a minimum of five round trips a week for at least six months during the preceding 12 month period. Requires the Board to issue such certificate within a specified time period. Prohibits the Board from imposing closed door restrictions on operating certificates. Eliminates all present closed door restrictions within 30 days after the effective date of this Act. Directs the Board to eliminate all other conditions or limitations which are obsolete or inconsistent with the policies of this Act. Authorizes air carriers, other than charter air carriers, to engage in charter air service in any calendar year up to three percent of the total number of revenue plane miles operated by such carriers. Prohibits the Board from disapproving transfers of operating authority unless it finds that the effect of such a transfer would substantially lessen competition or would tend to create a monopoly. Allows air carriers to terminate any interstate or overseas air service to a community upon a minimum of 90 days notice filed with the Board and the community involved. Authorizes the Board to suspend such termination for a period of up to 360 days in order to allow arrangements to be made for alternative service. Repeals the Board's present authority to approve or disapprove any proposed consolidation, merger, or acquisition of control agreements involving an air carrier. Requires any such proposal to be filed with the Attorney General at least 30 days prior to the effective date of such transaction. Permits the Attorney General, upon a reasonable belief that such a transaction would violate antitrust laws, to stay such transaction for 60 days or until the disposition of any court proceedings the Attorney General may institute. Authorizes the Attorney General, by regulation, to exempt certain types of transactions from the notification requirement if such a class of transactions does not affect the control of an air carrier directly engaged in air transportation, will not create a monopoly, and will not tend to restrain competition. Makes the present requirement that pooling agreements and other contracts and agreements affecting air transportation be filed with the Board applicable only to those agreements affecting foreign air transportation. Authorizes the Board to exempt any person or class of persons from the provisions of the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 or any regulation prescribed thereunder if such exemption would be justified by special and unusual circumstances or by reason of the limited extent of the activity sought to be exempted and such exemption would not be inconsistent with the public interest. Repeals the President's present authority to approve or disapprove orders of the Board regarding foreign air transportation. Prohibits the Board from disapproving air transportation rate increases on the basis that such increase is too high unless the rate is more than 20 percent higher than that in effect one year earlier. Prohibits the Board from disapproving a rate reduction unless it finds the proposed rate would be predatory. Sets forth time limitations during which the Board must act on applications regarding interstate or overseas air transportation. Stipulates that if the Board fails to make a decision within such period the application shall be deemed granted as applied for. Authorizes the Board to extend such time period under specified circumstances.
United States · United States Congress · 17 September 1976
Expresses the Senate's gratitude to Mike Mansfield of Montana for his participation in the Government and his service on behalf of the Nation's people.
United States · United States Congress · 9 September 1976
Authorizes the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration to expend an additional $10,000 from the contingent fund of the Senate for routine purposes.
United States · United States Congress · 8 September 1976
Authorizes printing as a Senate document the prayers by the Rev. Edward L. R. Elson, S.T.D., the Chaplain of the Senate, at the opening of the daily sessions of the Senate during the Ninety-fourth Congress along with any prayers offered by him during that period in his official capacity as Chaplain of the Senate.
United States · United States Congress · 27 August 1976
Designates the extension of the Senate Office Building presently under construction pursuant to the Supplemental Appropriations Act, 1973, as the "Philip A. Hart Office Building."
United States · United States Congress · 30 July 1976
Amends the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 to permit air carriers to hold both scheduled and supplemental certificates of public convenience and necessity.
United States · United States Congress · 23 June 1976
Directs the President to establish an Office of Hispanic Affairs within specified executive departments and agencies. Provides that such office shall participate in all policy planning and development for all programs which affect the Hispanic communities. Authorizes the President to take such measures as he determines are necessary to instruct the chairpersons of the ten Federal regional councils to insure that the problems and needs of Hispanics are taken into consideration in decisions related to Federal assistance to State and local governments. Provides that the Secretary of Commerce shall establish and maintain a Hispanic Information Clearinghouse which shall collect, analyze, and disseminate information concerning the social, economic, employment, health, and housing needs and conditions of Hispanics.
United States · United States Congress · 23 June 1976
Increases from $522,000 to $572,000 authorized expenditures by the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration for inquiries and investigations. Provides that $371,900 shall be available for a study of computer services for the Senate (presently $321,900 is available).
United States · United States Congress · 17 June 1976
National Meals-on-Wheels Act - Amends the Older Americans Act of 1965 to allow States to distribute Federal funds for the establishment of: (1) projects to provide home-delivered meals to qualified homebound elderly persons; (2) an information and referral system for homebound individuals receiving such meals; and (3) an operation to seek volunteer personnel for the delivery of such meals and to compensate such personnel for related transportation expenses. Authorizes the appropriation of specified sums in fiscal years 1977 and 1978 for the purpose of providing home-delivered meals under this Act. Directs the Commissioner of the Administration on Aging to conduct a demonstration project involving at least three States to determine the feasibility of using the meals system designed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration for the elderly as a component of, or substitute for, regular nutrition projects assisted under the Older Americans Act of 1965. Authorizes the appropriation of such sums as may be necessary in fiscal year 1977 to carry out this project.
United States · United States Congress · 8 June 1976
Amends the National Trails System Act to direct the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture to conduct a study of the feasibility and desirability of designating the Desert Trail, extending from the Canadian border of Idaho through Washington, Oregon, Nevada, California, and Arizona to the Mexican border, as a national scenic trail.
United States · United States Congress · 8 June 1976
Federal Aviation Act Amendments - Amends the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 to define "charter trip" for purposes of such Act and to eliminate the terms "supplemental air carrier" and "supplemental air transportation." Directs the Civil Aeronautics Board, in the exercise and performance of its duties and powers to regard a phased transition to an air transportation system which relies on competitive market forces as being in the public interest. Prohibits States or subdivisions thereof from enacting any legislation or regulation relating to any rates, routes or services in air transportation covered under such Act. Creates an additional operating authority for air carriers termed a "license" in addition to the present "certificates of public convenience and necessity." Directs the Board to issue such licenses to applicants for all-cargo and overseas charter air transportation if such applicant is fit, willing, and properly able to perform such transportation. Exempts air carriers which operate aircraft solely below a specified passenger or cargo capacity from being required to obtain a certificate or license to engage in air transportation if such carrier conforms to the liability insurance requirements the Board may adopt. Authorizes the Board to increase such passenger or payload capacities in the public interest. Provides for a two-year period during which the Board may impose geographic or other restrictions or licenses issued pursuant to this Act to engage in all-cargo air transportation. States that such limitations shall terminate at the end of such period. Repeals the requirement that the Board conduct a hearing for applications for or modifications of certificates or licenses. Allows an air carrier to terminate any service required by its certificate by filing a 90 day notice of such proposed action with the Board and upon each community directly affected by such termination. Empowers the Board to temporarily suspend such termination in order to provide for arrangements for substitute service. States that no license to engage in air transportation shall be issued unless the applicant or air carrier involved complies with insurance regulations issued by the Board. Provides that any certificate in effect on the effective date of this Act which authorizes supplemental or all-cargo air transportation shall be deemed a license to engage in such transportation. Directs the Board to adopt rules establishing expedited procedures for the processing of applications for or modifications of certificates or licenses. States that such rules may include the automatic granting of applications for certificates to engage in interstate or overseas air transportation in specified types of situations to applicants of demonstrated fitness if such action is consistent with a progressive transition to a more competitive air transportation system. Directs the Board to establish procedural deadlines for the determination of certificates and licenses. Requires the Board to issue a public notice to all parties concerned setting forth the reasons for any inability to reach a decision by such deadline and to mandate new deadlines. Requires all air carriers to file tariffs with the Board and specifies the information to be included in such tariffs. Requires tariff changes to be filed 45 days before the proposed date of such change. Makes it the duty of certified air carriers to provide and furnish interstate and overseas air transportation of persons, property, and mail upon reasonable request therefor and to provide reasonable air service in connection with other air carriers. Prohibits any undue or unreasonable preference or discrimination regarding any particular person, port, or locality. Requires the filing of mail schedules with the Board and the Postmaster General. Prohibits any change in such schedules except upon ten days notice to the Postmaster General. Eliminates the Postmaster General's authority to require additional carrier schedules for the transportation of mail. Sets forth procedures for determining applications for approval of a consolidation, merger, purchase, lease, or acquisition of control for specified types of air carriers and individuals. Prohibits the Board from approving such transaction if it would restrain competition. Grants antitrust immunity to persons affected by specified types of orders issued by the Board. Authorizes the Board to exempt any person from the requirements of the Federal Aivation Act under specified circumstances. Authorizes the Board to dispense with oral evidentiary hearings required under this Act if there are no significant issues of material fact in the case which requires such a hearing. States that before such action is taken the Board shall issue a show cause order requiring any individual opposing such dispensation to show why such action should not be taken. Empowers the Board to establish maximum and minimum fares for scheduled passenger service and mail transportation and to prescribe classifications and practices regarding air transportation rates. Specifies criteria which the Board is to consider in exercising its powers with respect to air passenger and mail transportation fares. Authorizes the Board to take immediate action regarding the economic regulation of air transportation without a hearing if it is of the opinion that an emergency exists requiring such action. Authorizes the Post Office to contract with air carriers for mail transportation if the service currently provided between any two points is inadequate.
United States · United States Congress · 3 June 1976
Directs that a revised edition of Senate Document Numbered 93-84, entitled "Election Law Guidebook", be printed as a Senate document, and that there be printed 1,600 additional copies of such document for the use of the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration.
United States · United States Congress · 20 May 1976
Stipulates that no provision of law shall be construed to prohibit the exhibition of the drawings entered in the 1793 architectural competition for the design of the United States Capitol Building in such building during the Bicentennial year.