United States · United States Congress · 3 March 1978
Civil Service Reform Act - Title I: Merit System Principles - Enumerates the principles of the merit system in the Federal work force. Prohibits the taking of personnel actions to discriminate against a Federal employee on such bases as race, religion, sex, age, or handicapping condition. Prohibits, generally, taking or influencing personnel actions for political or other nonmerit reasons. Title II: Civil Service Functions; Performance Appraisal; Adverse Actions - Abolishes the Civil Service Commission. Establishes within the Executive Branch the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to which the President is authorized to delegate authority for personnel management functions, and which, in turn, is authorized to delegate such authority to the heads of Federal agencies. Establishes the Merit Systems Protection Board made up of members appointed to seven-year terms who may be removed only for cause (as contrasted with the present Civil Service Commissioners who serve at the will of the President). Grants to the Board the power to subpena witnesses and evidence. Authorizes the Special Counsel of the Board to investigate complaints concerning personnel practices which violate this Act. Authorizes the Board to discipline violators by requiring removal, demotion, suspension, a fine up to $1,000, or by issuing a reprimand or barring the violator from Federal employment for up to five years. Authorizes the Special Counsel to investigate incidents of reprisal against employees who have lawfully disclosed agency violations of laws. Establishes new procedures for the appraisal of the performance of employees covered by this Act. Entitles any employee to 30 days' notice, a hearing attended by counsel, and a written decision if he is to be removed, or have his grade reduced, or pay a specified amount. Permits specified adverse personnel actions to be appealed to the Board. Requires appeals from Board decisions to be taken to the Court of Claims or a United States court of appeals. Requires such courts to sustain the Board's decision if supported by substantial evidence. Title III: Staffing - Authorizes agencies to accept voluntary uncompensated service by a student who does not displace a Federal employee. Authorizes agencies to make noncompetitive appointments of any disabled veteran with a 50 percent or more disability or who is enrolled in or has completed a course of job related training prescribed by the Veterans' Administration. Limits the veterans' preference for employment to a maximum of ten years following military separation for nonretirees and to a maximum of three years for persons who retired from the military below the rank of major or lieutenant commander. Provides for no such preference for persons retiring at or above such rank. Changes the nature of the preference in connection with a Federal reduction-in-force. Authorizes specified employees to retire before they are affected by a major reorganization. Authorizes agencies to retrain for positions in other agencies those employees whose positions are eliminated by a reduction-in-force. Title IV: Senior Executive Service - Establishes a Senior Executive Service which includes government managers classified above GS-15 and below Executive Level III who are not Presidential appointees and Foreign Service Officers of equivalent rank, provided such managers supervise employees or are responsible for the success of programs. Permits the transfer of a career Senior Executive to any Government agency. Directs the Office of Personnel Management to encourage Senior Executives to improve their skills by serving in a variety of agencies and by accepting placements in State or local governments or in the private sector. Authorizes agencies to grant such persons a sabbatical period of up to 11 months to be taken not more than once in any ten-year period to study or engage in uncompensated work experience. Provides for the periodic appraisal of Senior Executives. Authorizes the removal of career Executives for any reason during the first year of appointment as a Senior Executive and for less than fully successful managerial performance or misconduct anytime thereafter. Grants persons removed for reasons other than misconduct to be appointed to a Federal position outside the Service. Requires a Senior Executive to serve at the pleasure of the appointing agency and states that removal from the Senior Executive Service for less than fully successful performance does not constitute a disciplinary action and is, therefore, not appealable. Authorizes the Office of Personnel Management to name no more than 15 percent of active duty members of the Service to the rank of Meritorious Executive and not more than one percent of such persons to the rank of Distinguished Executive. Entitles persons receiving the Meritorious rank to a five-year stipend of $2,500 per year and persons receiving the Distinguished rank to a five-year stipend of $5,000 per year in addition to their normal salary. Authorizes the appointing agency to establish the pay rate for each member of the Service in such agency at a rate not to exceed a specified maximum. Authorizes each agency to pay a lump-sum performance award to not more than half of all Senior Executives employed by such agency of an amount not exceeding 20 percent of such Executive's annual salary. Entitles persons serving presently in positions to be designated as Senior Executive Service positions when this Act becomes effective to choose to convert to a Senior Executive Service appointment or remain in such position under the current pay system. Title V: Merit Pay - Requires the OPM to establish a merit pay system applicable to all managerial or supervisory persons related at grades GS-13 through GS-15. Limits the pay for such grades to the minimum and maximum rates for each such grade. Requires the OPM to determine the extent to which the annual pay adjustments for other civil service employees shall be permitted for employees in the merit pay system. Makes sums attributable to the difference between such allotted adjustments and the increases in pay which would have been allowed had such employees been entitled to the entire adjustment permitted other civil servants to be made available to the agencies for merit pay raises. States that the award of such merit pay raises may be made on the basis of individual as well as organizational performance. Authorizes agency heads and the President to make cash awards to such employees of up to $25,000 for contributions to the efficiency of Government Operations. Title VI: Research, Demonstration, and Other Programs - Requires the OPM to establish and maintain research and development projects concerning Federal personnel management. Authorizes the OPM to conduct and evaluate demonstration projects relating to personnel management issues such as recruitment, promotion, and employee discipline pursuant to a plan which is agreeable to the agency involved in such project. Requires such plan to be published in the Federal Register and submitted to a public hearing. Limits the size of such demonstration project to the involvement of not more than 5,000 employees. Limits the life of such a project to not more than five years. Title VII: Miscellaneous - Makes technical and conforming amendments. States that the powers of the President not expressly limited by this Act shall remain unaffected by the Act.
United States · United States Congress · 2 March 1978
Declares the sense of the Congress that the President and the Secretary of State should take all necessary steps to bring the Baltic States question before the United Nations and to urge the United Nations to request the Soviet Union to withdraw all non-native troops, agents, colonists, and controls from the Republics of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia, and to return all Baltic exiles from Siberia and from prisons and labor camps in the Soviet Union. Requires the Secretary of State to do his utmost to bring the matter of the Baltic States to the attention of all nations by means of special radio programs and publications. Declares that the United States should not agree to the recognition of the Soviet Union's annexation of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia. Directs the President to take steps to provide that all maps of Europe show the Republics of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia as independent states. Calls for a return of self-determination to the peoples of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia through free elections conducted under the auspices of the United Nations.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 1978
Social Security Refinancing Act - Amends Title II (Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance) and XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act, and the Internal Revenue Code to finance the payment of disability insurance benefits and hospital insurance benefits through general tax revenues, rather than through employment and self-employment tax revenues. Reduces employment and self-employment tax rates below the rates established by the Social Security Financing Amendments of 1977.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 1978
Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act with respect to information to be supplied to the Environmental Protection Agency by owners and operators of any point source to restrict such information to matters that are necessarily and directly involved in carrying out the provisions of the Act. Excludes from required information financial statements or similar comprehensive financial information, investment data, tax information, or general production costs.
United States · United States Congress · 2 February 1978
Beef Import Act - Title I: Import Quotas - 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. Title II: Customs Duties - Amends the Tariff Schedules of the United States to increase the customs duties on beef whenever domestic production is too low to trigger the imposition of import quotas.
United States · United States Congress · 1 February 1978
Extends the commendation of the Senate to the Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University football team for attaining a perfect, unbeaten and untied record for the 1977 season.
United States · United States Congress · 25 January 1978
International Development Cooperation Act - Chapter I: Policy - Sets forth the United States' development assistance goals. Establishes the International Development Cooperation Administration (IDCA) to achieve such goals. Chapter II: Bilateral Development Assistance - Title I: Grant and Loan Assistance - Sets forth the United States bilateral development policy. Authorizes the Administrator of IDCA to furnish agricultural, rural development, and nutrition assistance. Authorizes appropriations for such purposes for fiscal year 1979. Declares that such assistance shall be primarily used for activities which increase the productivity or income of the rural poor. Requires, in the allocation of such funds, that special attention be given to increasing agricultural production in "food priority countries" or "relatively least developed countries." Encourages the Administrator of IDCA to take certain actions to improve the nutritional benefits accruing from such assistance. Requires the Administrator to consider the impact on development policies of commodity sales under the Agricultural Trade Development and Assistance Act of 1954. Declares that local currency proceeds from such commodity sales which are owned by foreign governments shall be used whenever practicable to furnish agricultural, rural development, and nutrition assistance. Sets forth United States international population control and health assistance policy. Authorizes the Administrator of IDCA to furnish population planning assistance, emphasizing motivation for small families. Authorizes appropriations for such assistance for fiscal year 1979. Directs such assistance to give particular attention to the relationship between population growth and living standards improvements. Authorizes the Administrator to study factors affecting population growth and family planning. Prohibits funds available for such assistance to be used for abortions or involuntary sterilizations. Authorizes the Administrator of IDCA to furnish health, health education, disease prevention, and sanitation assistance, emphasizing low-cost integrated delivery systems to rural areas and to the poorest people. Authorizes appropriations for such assistance for fiscal year 1979. Sets forth United States education and human resources development assistance policy. Authorizes the Administrator of IDCA to furnish such assistance. Authorizes appropriations for such assistance for fiscal year 1979. Authorizes the Administrator of IDCA to furnish assistance for programs relating to (1) energy problems, (2) natural resources management, (3) development research, (4) intermediate technology, (5) urban development, (6) disaster reconstruction, (7) special problems of "relatively least developed countries," especially transportation and communications systems, and (8) technical cooperation among development organizations. Authorizes appropriations for such assistance for fiscal year 1979. Authorizes a certain amount of funds available under this chapter to assist research and educational institutions in the United States to develop and implement development programs for developing countries. Prohibits the furnishing of assistance under this chapter until the recipient country provides assurances that it will make a significant contribution to the cost of the entire program. Prohibits the disbursing of grant assistance for a specific project for more than four years without further justification to Congress and increasing the recipient country contribution. Authorizes the Administrator of IDCA to make assistance available to "relatively least developed countries" on a grant basis to the maximum extent possible. Permits the Administrator with respect to such countries (1) to waive interest payments on past indebtedness; (2) to accept repayment in local currencies; (3) to accept "in kind" contributions for the recipient share of assistance costs; and (4) to waive certain procurement requirements. Exempts "relatively least developed countries" from the cost-sharing and funding limitations of this Act. Requires the Administrator to report to Congress on a concerted procurement policy with donors of the Overseas Economic Cooperation and Development countries, and its impact on the United States economy. Authorizes the Administrator to furnish long-term development assistance for the Sahel region, to be supplied under a multi-donor system. Requires the Administrator to prepare an annual report on Sahel development. Authorizes appropriations for such assistance beginning with fiscal year 1978. Title II: Strengthening Institutional Capacity for Agricultural Development - Declares that the United States (1) should strengthen the capacity of certain universities in program-related agricultural development and research, (2) should improve the participation of such universities in efforts to increase world-wide food production, and (3) should support research into the food and nutritional problems of developing countries. Authorizes the Administrator to furnish assistance to eligible universities for specified purposes related to such research goals. Directs the President to establish a Board for International Food and Agricultural Development to assist in the administration of such research assistance programs. Authorizes the Board to establish a Joint Research Committee to develop collaborative food research programs, and a joint committee on Country Programs to implement certain research support programs. Permits such research support programs to be funded with appropriations for agricultural, rural development, and nutrition assistance. Requires the Administrator to report to Congress on such research activities. Title III: Agricultural Commodities for Peace and Development - Affirms the continuing intent of Congress that United States agricultural commodities shall be used to combat hunger and to encouarge economic development in developing countries. Authorizes the Administrator of IDCA to carry out specified food donation and development programs under the Agricultural Trade and Development Assistance Act of 1954. Chapter III: Access to Private Capital and Technical Expertise - Title I: General Policy - Expresses the Congressional finding that the reduction of the dependence of developing countries upon concessional assistance to reliance upon private sector resources can be facilitated by loan and investment guarantees and reimbursable services. Title II: Overseas Private Investment Corporation - Makes the Overseas Private Investment Corporation a constituent element of the International Development Cooperation Administration to facilitate the participation of United States private capital in the economic development of developing countries and areas. Sets forth the factors which shall be considered by the Corporation for furnishing insurance, financing, or reinsurance of private sector projects in developing countries or areas. Specifies the functions of the Corporation. Declares that the capital stock of the Corporation shall remain at its present level. Stipulates the organizational and management structure of the Corporation. Authorizes the Corporation to insure private investments against specified risks, to guarantee private loans and other investments, to make loans to private firms, and to make incentive grants. Specifies restrictions upon and procedures for such functions. Authorizes the Corporation to furnish financial and advisory support, private technical, professional, or managerial assistance. Authorizes the Corporation to enter into certain risk sharing agreements. Establishes limitations upon the amount of outstanding guarantees which can be made by the Corporation. Establishes a Direct Investment Fund to finance the direct investment undertakings of the Corporation. Establishes in the Treasury of the United States an insurance and guaranty fund to discharge liabilities incurred by the Corporation with respect to its insurance and guaranty authority. Authorizes appropriations to the corporation for such fund. Imposes conditions on such appropriations and stipulates procedures for discharging investment insurance liability. Stipulates the purposes for which the income and revenues earned by or transferred to the corporation may be spent without limitations. Sets forth limitations on such investment programs, including investment safeguard provisions, duration, and prohibits insuring investors responsible for bribery as defined in this title. Sets forth the powers of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation. Requires the Auditor- General of the International Development Cooperation Administration to audit the Corporation and conduct its security functions. Establishes an Advisory Council to the Corporation, composed of representatives of the American business community, for consultation regarding the Corporations' objectives. Declares that no laws, with the exception of this title, shall be construed to prohibit investment insurance activities in Yugoslavia or Romania, if the President determines such programs to be in the national interest. Requires the Corporation to establish criteria to minimize the potential environmental impact of insured projects. Requires the Corporation to report to Congress annually with respect to its operations. Title III: Housing Investment Guarantees - Sets forth Congressional findings with respect to the role of the United States in assisting worldwide housing investment. Authorizes the Administrator of the International Development Corporation (IDCA) to guarantee loans incurred in connection with such housing investment. Sets forth (1) limitations upon such guarantees and (2) the types of housing programs which shall be emphasized in making such guarantees. Authorizes appropriations to carry out this title. Imposes upon housing guarantees authorized by subsequently repealed statutes the laws and fees which were originally applicable to such guarantees. Prohibits guarantee payments for any loss arising from fraud or misrepresentation. Imposes limitations upon such guarantees with respect to housing for the poor and amounts for projects within any single country (exempting Israel, Portugal, and Lebanon through fiscal year 1979). Title IV: Agricultural and Productive Credit and Self-Help Development Communities Programs - Declares it the sense of Congress that the purpose of this program is the stimulation of private participation in the establishment of pilot programs in not more than five Latin American countries. Authorizes the IDCA to guarantee loans for agricultural credit and self-help community development programs. Limits the total dollar amount of such guarantees. Requires consultation with the Inter-American Foundation in developing eligibility criteria for such guarantees. Title V: Reimbursable Services and Commodities - Authorizes any agency of the United States to furnish services and commodities on an advance-of-funds or reimbursable basis to friendly countries, international organizations, the American Red Cross, and certain volunteer nonprofit relief agencies, when the Administrator determines it to be in furtherance of the purposes of this Act. Authorizes the Administrator to use a specified amount to stimulate reimbursable aid programs consistent with chapter I of this Act. Sets forth procedures governing excess property and advance acquisition of property pursuant to this Act. Chapter IV: Multilateral Development Assistance - Title I: General Multilateral Development Assistance Policy - Sets forth Congressional findings and policy with respect to United States participation in international development assistance agencies. Declares that the United States should encourage (1) equitable contributions to such agencies by participant countries, and (2) the participation of women in the economies of member and recipient countries of such aid and in such agencies. Requires the Administrator to ensure that United States bilateral development programs are coordinated with multilateral programs. Title II: International Financial Institutions - Sets forth Congressional policy with respect to United States participation in international financial institutions. Makes the Administrator of IDCA responsible for formulating the positions of and instructing the representatives of the United States to such institutions. Title III: United Nations Programs - Authorizes the Administrator to make contributions to international organizations in furtherance of this chapter, when the President determines it to be in the national interest. Authorizes appropriations for such purposes for fiscal year 1979. Makes the the Administrator responsible for formulating the positions of and instructing the representatives of the United States to the International Fund for Agricultural Development. Authorizes the President to permit United States participation in the International Fertilizer Development Center. Chapter V: Special Programs - Title I: Economic Support Fund - Authorizes the President to furnish assistance to countries and organizations to promote economic or political stability. Declares it the sense of Congress that assistance to the Middle East should promote respect, security, and economic development in that area. Authorizes appropriations to the President for fiscal year 1979 for economic support funds in the Middle East, Israel, Egypt, Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon (including technical and scientific cooperation programs and special requirements). Expresses Congressional support of an internationally recognized settlement of the Rhodesian conflict leading to majority rule. Declares it the intent of Congress to support a Zimbabwe Development Fund. Declares it the sense of Congress that the United States should furnish economic support to Zambia, Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland, and Mozambique to strengthen their economies and minimize their dependence on minority-ruled regimes. Authorizes appropriations to the President for fiscal year 1979 for economic dislocation and refugee assistance in South Africa. Prohibits the use of such funds for military or paramilitary purposes. Declares it the sense of Congress that such funds shall not be furnished to any country which restricts emigration. Title II: International Disaster Assistance - Authorizes the President to furnish international disaster relief and rehabilitation assistance, including assistance relating to disaster prediction and preparedness. Authorizes appropriations for fiscal year 1979 for such purposes. Authorizes the President to appoint a Special Coordinator for International Relief to coordinate aid by United States agencies and foreign donors. Chapter VI: Private Initiative In Development - Title I: General Policy to encourage the participation of private voluntary organizations in overseas development. Authorizes the Administrator of IDCA to furnish assistance for public and private voluntary initiatives in development, under specified principles. Directs the Administrator to draw upon the resources of such organizations to the maximum extent practicable in implementing programs authorized by this Act. Authorizes the Administrator to pay transportation charges on contributions for development and relief of needy people by the American Red Cross and certain United States volunteer agencies. Establishes within the Administration an International Development Institute to finance, implement, and coordinate development activities involving private and voluntary agencies. Establishes an Advisory Board to the Institute to advise on the planning and administration of programs authorized by this chapter. Authorizes appropriations to the Administrator for fiscal year 1979 to carry out this title, of which a specified amount shall be available for the Peace Corps to carry out the purpose of the Peace Corps Act. Transfers the Peace Corp to the International Development Institute. Chapter VII: Administrative - Title I: Organization - Stipulates the organizational structure of the International Development Cooperation Administration. Directs the President to establish a Development Coordination Committee to advise the President with respect to the coordination of United States policies and programs affecting developing countries. Declares that nothing in this Act shall be construed as infringing upon the powers or functions of the Secretary of State. Sets forth the organizational powers of the Administrator with respect to functions transferred to the IDCA. Transfers to the IDCA the functions and property of the Agency for International Development. Permits the President to transfer to the IDCA functions of other agencies which primarily relate to the functions of the IDCA under this Act. Specifies the procedures for such transfer. Stipulates the formula for computing the annuity of any AID employee who is eligible for retirement under the Foreign Service system who retires during fiscal year 1979. Authorizes appropriations for fiscal year 1979 for the operating expenses of the IDCA. Title II: Personnel - Establishes a career personnel system of officers of the IDCA who shall be known as International Development Officers to formulate and implement programs authorized by this Act. Sets forth the qualifications, compensation, and duty assignments of such officers. Prohibits discrimination or the use of a political test with respect to such officers. Requires the Administrator to pay particular attention to the recruitment and promotion of women as International Development Officers. Authorizes the President to appoint the representative of the United States to the Inter-American Economic and Social Council. Authorizes the employment of experts and consultants to carry out this Act. Authorizes the Administrator to assign any IDCA employee to any office with a foreign government or international organization. Authorizes the Administrator to maintain special missions or staffs abroad. Authorizes the President to appoint the Chair of the Development Assistance Committee or any successor committee thereto of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Transfers to the IDCA the personnel of the Agency for International Development. Title III: Administrative Requirements - Prohibits entering into obligations upon the United States in excess of $100,000 for grant and loan assistance or economic support prior to the completion of project plans and cost estimates, legislative action in the recipient country, and certification by the chief IDCA officer in the recipient country that such country can effectively maintain and utilize such project. Sets forth procurement requirements. Prohibits funds under this Act from being used for the procurement of any agricultural commodity when the commodity's domestic price is below parity. Permits recipients of loan and grant or economic support assistance to use such funds to pay shipping differentials owed to the United States under the Merchant Marine Act, 1936. Exempts the ocean transport between foreign countries (1) of commodities purchased with foreign currencies made available under this Act or the Agricultural Trade Development and Assistance Act of 1954, or (2) of fresh fruit and products under this Act, from requirements that cargoes procured by the United States be transported in United States flag vessels. Sets forth protections for United States patents and technical information in furnishing grant and loan or economic support assistance. Regulates the use of foreign currencies, procurement, and the use of funds for support purposes, to carry out this Act. Directs the Administrator, so far as is practicable, to assist in the equitable participation of American small business in furnishing goods and services to the IDCA. Establishes an Office of Small Business in the IDCA to carry out this purpose. Title IV: General Provisions - Authorizes the President to utilize a limited amount of funds authorized under this Act each year in furtherance of the purposes of this Act, when the President determines such authorization to be important to the security of the United States. Authorizes the Administrator to transfer not more than 15 percent of funds authorized for grant and loan assistance for other purposes under this Act. Sets forth procedures for Congressional oversight of such authority. Sets forth procedures for the termination of assistance, the payment of assistance and contracts, and related financial matters. Prohibits assistance under this Act to any government which engages in a consistent pattern of gross violations of human rights. Sets forth procedures for Congressional oversight of such prohibition. Prohibits the Administrator from considering the race, religion, national origin, or sex of any employee of the United States in making overseas assignments to carry out this Act. Prohibits assistance to any country which objects to the presence of any such United States employee on such grounds. Prohibits assistance to any country which is more than six momths in default on loans under this Act or the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 except in certain circumstances. Prohibits relieving recipients of such loans of liability thereunder. Requires the Administrator to terminate for one year assistance to any country which aids or abets international terrorism, unless the President finds that national security requires otherwise. Prohibits furnishing assistance under this Act to any Communist country, unless the President finds that such assistance is vital to the security of the United States and will promote the independence of such country. Limits the amount of assistance under this Act which may be furnished for the construction of any productive enterprise. Title V: Reporting Requirements - Requires the Chair of the Development Coordination Committee to transmit an annual report to Congress with respect to foreign assistance for the previous fiscal year. Permits legislative veto of program changes under this Act. Title VI: Miscellaneous Provisions - Sets forth the effective date, statutes repealed, savings provisions, definitions, severability, exclusions, and amendments to other laws, under this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 23 January 1978
National Alcohol Fuels Commission Act - Establishes the National Alcohol Fuels Commission to study the use of alcohol as an alternative fuel source. Charges the Commission with the duty to study the short and long-term potential of alcohol fuels derived from plant, animal and industrial sources and wastes, and from coal. Directs the Commission to study alternative feedstocks and desirability of converting present feedstocks into alcohol fuels. Requires the Commission to identify and study technical, economic, legal, environmental and social factors involved with the production, manufacture, distribution and use of alcohol fuels. Directs relevant Federal agencies to appoint a liaison officer and to cooperate closely with the Commission. Requires the Committee to file a final report with the President and the Congress no later than December 31, 1980.
United States · United States Congress · 19 January 1978
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from the gross income of an employee, amounts paid or expenses incurred by the employer for educational assistance to the employee. Limits to 25 percent the amount of payments which may be made by such programs to shareholders or owners (or their spouses or dependents), each of whom owns more than five percent of the stock or of the capital or profits interest in the employer.
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 · 29 November 1977
Permits the Department of Transportation to proceed with a highway project in Lee County, Florida, without following required procedures with respect to historic sites.
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 · 10 October 1977
Provides for the distribution, investment, and use of funds appropriated in satisfaction of the judgment awarded to the Seminole Indians in dockets 73 and 151 before the Indian Claims Commission.
United States · United States Congress · 7 October 1977
Declares it the sense of the Congress that the President should instruct the Secretary of State to request the Secretary General of the United Nations to work through existing United Nations agencies to secure a full accounting of Americans listed as missing in Southeast Asia.
United States · United States Congress · 6 October 1977
Directs the Administrator of Veterans' Affairs to establish and maintain a clinic for outpatient medical services and treatment in an area comprised of certain counties in northwest Florida.
United States · United States Congress · 5 October 1977
Directs the Administrator of Veterans' Affairs to construct a new 500-bed general medical, surgical, and psychiatric Veterans' Administration hospital in Broward County, Florida. Authorizes such appropriations as may be necessary.
United States · United States Congress · 5 October 1977
Directs the Administrator of Veterans' Affairs to provide an outpatient dispensary facility in Broward County, Florida, for veterans entitled to medical services.
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
Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to exempt a person from the requirement of an understanding of the English language, if such person is 50 years of age, has been living in the United States for periods totaling at least five years, and was admitted or granted asylum in the United States because of persecution or fear of persecution on account of race, religion, or political opinion.
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 · 22 September 1977
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) remove the adjusted gross income limitation on the credit for the elderly; (2) increase the amount of the credit; and (3) provide an annual cost-of-living adjustment for the credit.
United States · United States Congress · 4 August 1977
Requires the Office of Management and budget to provide information on the formulas and assumptions used in the distribution of Federal domestic assistance.
United States · United States Congress · 3 August 1977
Expresses the sense of the Senate that the President should instruct the United States delegation to the United Nations to work with the delegations of other nations at the United Nations to call for a World Assembly on Aging and a World Year on Aging not later than 1982.
United States · United States Congress · 2 August 1977
Waives the statute of limitations with regard to any action for damages filed within six months of enactment by a certain individual for injuries sustained by him as a result of the diagnosis and treatment he received at a certain Air Force hospital.
United States · United States Congress · 1 August 1977
Regulatory Flexibility Act - Requires Federal agencies to: (1) assess the costs of private information collection and compliance which are or would be imposed by existing or proposed agency rules; (2) compare such impositions with the importance of the public policy achieved or to be achieved by such rules; and (3) determine whether such rules should apply to the same extent to individuals, and organizations of various sizes and resources. Requires, in the event that it is determined that such proposed rules, will have a substantial effect on any significant number of small businesses, that such rules be submitted to the Office of Advocacy of the Small Business Administration. Requires such Office to comment on the impact of such proposed rules on smaller enterprises. Requires such comments to be made public and available to Federal personnel responsible for reviewing such rules. Directs that proposed rules be issued in two or more parts when the analysis of such rules indicates the desirability of applying varying requirements for performance or reporting depending on the resources of the organization or individual required to comply with such rules.
United States · United States Congress · 1 August 1977
Amends Title II (Old Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act to require States having agreements for coverage of their employees under the system of insurance established by such Title to make payments and reports on a calendar-quarter basis.
United States · United States Congress · 27 July 1977
Foreign Surveillance Prevention Act - Directs the President, whenever an individual with diplomatic immunity is engaged in electronic surveillance for a foreign power: (1) to inform certain Members of Congress; (2) to inform the targets of the surveillance unless to do so would compromise intelligence gathering by the United States; (3) to demand that such surveillance cease unless to do so would compromise intelligence gathering by the United States; and (4) to declare such individual to be persona non grata if the surveillance is not ceased and to demand that such individual leave the United States unless to do so would seriously damage national security.
United States · United States Congress · 13 July 1977
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to declare that a religious or charitable organization deemed to have filed a certificate providing social security coverage for its employees shall not be required to pay retroactively social security taxes it ceased to pay during a specified period, with respect to any remuneration paid to any employee, if such employee concurs in the failure to pay such taxes.
United States · United States Congress · 12 July 1977
Fair Representation for Small Business Act - Declares the finding of Congress that economic, governmental, and other pressures are mounting on small businesses, that small and medium-sized businesses should be taken into account when Federal agencies formulate policy, and such businesses are essential to the health and well-being of the Nation's economy. Requires, under the Federal Advisory Committee Act, that all advisory bodies of the Federal Government which are concerned with matters affecting the economy or business must contain a fair representation of the small business sector of the economy.
United States · United States Congress · 12 July 1977
Requires the head of each Executive agency to designate at least one employee in such agency to act as liaison with the small and independent business community and the Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy, and to conduct an analysis of the differential effects of agency policies on new- and medium-sized independent business.
United States · United States Congress · 22 June 1977
ERISA Small Business Paperwork Reduction and Investment Act - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 to require the Secretaries of Labor and the Treasury and the Executive Director of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation to designate a single agency to which annual reports and registrations and certain other information required to be filed under such Act may be forwarded. Revises requirements for annual statements to employee benefit plan beneficiaries. Provides for small business representation on the Advisory Council on Employee Welfare and Pension Benefit Plans. Specifies deadlines by which requested administrative action must be taken. Revises guidelines for fiduciaries investing employee benefit plan funds. Directs that consultations be held for the purpose of implementing certain recommendations of the Commission on Federal Paperwork.
United States · United States Congress · 20 June 1977
Drug Sentencing and Seizure Act - Title I: Sentencing Guidelines - Amends the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970 to set forth mandatory minimum terms of imprisonment for individuals; (1) manufacturing, distributing, or dispensing specified narcotic drugs, stimulants, or counterfeits thereof; (2) possessing such a substance with intent to distribute or dispense; (3) illegally importing or exporting such a substance; or (4) attempting or conspiring to commit any of the above offenses. Authorizes a court to sentence an individual to a shorter term of imprisonment or parole ineligibility where certain mitigating circumstances are present. Title II: Conditions of Release - Instructs a judicial officer, in setting the conditions of release pending trial, to consider whether a person charged with an offense encompassed by title I of this Act poses a threat to the community or will commit similar offenses. Authorizes a judicial officer to deny pretrial release to a person charged with such an offense upon making any of specified findings in a separate hearing. Title III: Forfeiture of Proceeds of Illegal Drug Transactions - Subjects to forfeiture all proceeds of offenses under the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970 and all moneys, negotiable instruments, and securities used or intended to be used in committing such crimes. Sets forth guidelines for the disposition of property so forfeited.
United States · United States Congress · 13 June 1977
Declares the sense of the Congress that the services and contributions of school volunteers be recognized, and requests the President of the United States to issue a proclamation in recognition of this fact.
United States · United States Congress · 9 June 1977
Removes the power of any United States court to issue school transportation orders based on race, color, or national origin unless the court first determines that a discriminatory purpose in education was a principal motivating factor in the constitutional violation for which such transportation is proposed as a remedy. Stipulates that any court order requiring the transportation of any student based on race, color, or national origin must be promulgated by a three judge district court. Restricts such transportation of students to that which is reasonably necessary to have the student composition reflect what it otherwise would have been if a constitutional violation had not occurred. Requires any court before entering a transportation order to hold a hearing and make specific findings of the discriminatory purpose of the violation and the degree to which the concentration in the student composition by race, color, or national origin has been altered from its normal course by such violation. Stipulates that any transportation order on the basis of a constitutional violation shall be stayed until all appeals have been exhausted. Specifies that any transportation order for a constitutional violation which is not yet final before the date of enactment of this Act must meet the requirements imposed by this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 24 May 1977
Grants a Federal charter to the American Ex-Prisoners of War, Incorporated. Stipulates that the purposes of such organization are to assist the widows and orphans of deceased ex-prisoners of war and to assist ex-prisoners of war who have been injured or handicapped as a result of their service.
United States · United States Congress · 24 May 1977
Requires a study of certain segments of the Oklawaha River in Florida for potential addition to the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System. Adjusts the boundary of the Ocala National Forest, Florida.
United States · United States Congress · 24 May 1977
White House Conference on Energy Conservation Resolution - Requests the President to convene a White House Conference on Energy Conservation as soon as practicable, but not later than December 31, 1978. Establishes a National Energy Conservation Planning and Advisory Council to plan and conduct the Conference. Directs the Council to prepare and submit a final report to the President and to transmit recommendations for administrative and legislative action to the President and the Congress. Authorizes the appropriation of $5,000,000 to carry out this resolution.
United States · United States Congress · 23 May 1977
Protection of Children Against Sexual Exploitation Act - Prohibits the sexual exploitation of children by making it unlawful for any person to knowingly use or cause any minor to engage in or assist in any sexual act for the purpose of promoting any film, photograph or other visual medium. Makes it unlawful for any parent, guardian or person having control over a minor to knowingly permit such minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct. Imposes a fine of $10,000 and/or imprisonment up to ten years for a violation of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 18 May 1977
Directs the Secretary of the Navy to accept any claim filed within six months after enactment by a certain individual for retired pay he failed to receive due to administrative error, and to pay such individual such retired pay.
United States · United States Congress · 16 May 1977
Amends the Small Business Act to establish the position of Associate Administrator for Women's Business Enterprise within the Small Business Administration. Lists among the duties of such Administrator: (1) increasing participation of women in Small Business Administration programs; and (2) reporting to the Administrator on proposals for implementing policy objectives.
United States · United States Congress · 11 May 1977
Prohibits commerce in contraband cigarettes. Defines "contraband cigarettes" as a quantity of more than 20,000 cigarettes, bearing no evidence of payment of applicable State cigarette taxes, which are in the possession of any person other than (1) a person licensed by the State where the cigarettes are found or by the Internal Revenue Service, (2) a common or contract carrier, or (3) a government agent in the performance of duties. Subjects dealers in cigarettes to such reporting requirements as the Secretary of the Treasury may prescribe.
United States · United States Congress · 11 May 1977
Authorizes the Administrator of General Services to enter into multiyear contracts for the procurement, maintenance, and operation of automatic data processing equipment (including hardware, software, and related equipment and supplies) financed through the automatic data processing fund, and to incur obligations in amounts which exceed the amount in the fund provided that the amount of unfunded obligation incurred during any fiscal year does not exceed the amount appropriated in such year, sufficient cash is maintained in the fund for needed disbursements, and the term for the performance of any such contract does not exceed ten years.
United States · United States Congress · 11 May 1977
Amends the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act to authorize any Federal agency head to procure janitorial, protective, trash removal, and similar services for periods not exceeding four years.
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