United States · United States Congress · 2 April 1985
National Childhood Vaccine Injury Compensation Act of 1985 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to establish the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program as an elective alternative remedy to judicial action for specified vaccine-related injuries. Prescribes the contents of any petition for compensation. Grants sole authority to determine eligibility and compensation to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Sets forth injuries deemed vaccine-related for compensation purposes. Sets compensation limits. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to conduct studies on pertussis and rubella vaccines, and develop related information materials. Establishes an Advisory Commission on Childhood Vaccines to advise the Secretary on the implementation of such program and recommend research priorities and changes in vaccine-related injury standards. Establishes in the Treasury a National Vaccine Injury Compensation Trust Fund. Authorizes FY 1985 funds. Requires the Secretary to establish annual surcharges on vaccine manufacturers to finance the Fund. Authorizes the Secretary to establish an insurance pool to cover injury claims relating to vaccines for which adequate general liability and product liability insurance is unavailable. Provides for Federal reinsurance of insurance companies participating in such a pool. Prescribes a procedure for determining the necessity of and for establishing such a pool. Authorizes the Secretary to establish in the Treasury a National Childhood Vaccine Fund to pay reinsurance claims. Requires health care providers who vaccinate patients and the manufacturers of specified vaccines to keep specified records. Requires the Secretary to: (1) make a pediatric vaccine-risk study; (2) determine the circumstances under which any such vaccine should be delayed or not given; and (3) direct pediatric health care providers to distribute such information to parents and legal guardians. Directs the Secretary to: (1) encourage the development of vaccines that result in fewer major adverse reactions than those currently on the market; and (2) assure improvements in the vaccine industry to reduce the risks of major adverse reactions. Directs the Secretary to provide grants for the education, treatment, and care of multiple handicapped persons, with priority given to the needs of persons with vaccine-related neurological impairments. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1985 through FY 1990. Entitles any person to commence a civil action against the Secretary where the Secretary allegedly has failed to perform a duty under this Act. Provides for judicial review of the Secretary's regulatory actions in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.
United States · United States Congress · 28 March 1985
Financial Export Control Act - Amends the Export Administration Act of 1979 to declare it is U.S. policy to use export controls to restrict the export of capital, the extension of credit, or the transfer of financial resources to countries subject to national security export controls. Authorizes the President to restrict the export or transfer of money or other financial assets to the government of a country subject to national security export controls. Provides for negotiations with other countries to obtain their cooperation with such export controls on capital. Requires export license applications for the export of capital to be submitted to the Secretary of the Treasury who shall make all determinations with respect to such application. Requires the annual report on the administration of the Export Administration Act of 1979 to include a report on actions taken to carry out export controls on capital.
United States · United States Congress · 28 March 1985
Great Lakes Management Act of 1985 - Establishes within the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) the Great Lakes National Program Office (Program Office), to be headed by a Director. Lists as responsibilities of the Program Office, the following: (1) developing the long-term, comprehensive environmental, resource, and economic data bases required for assessing the impact of proposed decisions on the environmental health, productivity, and economic well-being of the Great Lakes; (2) conducting an inventory of all State, Federal, tribal, and international agencies with management responsibility for the Great Lakes system, and updating such information biennially; (3) identifying priority management needs to protect and rehabilitate the Great Lakes and their resources and developing management plans where needed; (4) developing a five-year plan and program for reducing the input of nutrients into the Great Lakes; (5) carrying out a five-year study and demonstration projects relating to the control and removal of toxic pollutants in the Great Lakes; (6) identifying lead agencies with primary responsibilities for each specific issue relating to the Great Lakes; (7) developing an annual report on the status of the Great Lakes; (8) promoting the adoption and execution of the management and rehabilitation plans; (9) serving as the source of issues which the Federal Government refers to the International Joint Commission for study; and (10) hosting a meeting (at least annually) for officials of the Federal, State, and tribal agencies involved with the Great Lakes. Requires the Administrator of EPA, in the agency's annual budget submission to the Congress,to include a funding request for the Program Office as a separate budget line item. Requires the Program Office to be located in a Great Lakes State. Establishes within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration the Great Lakes Research Office (Research Office), to be headed by a Director. Lists as responsibilities of the Research Office the following: (1) annually identifying Federal, State, and tribal research programs relating to the Great Lakes system; (2) establishing a Great Lakes research exchange; (3) identifying priority Great Lakes research needs; (4) conducting research and monitoring activities which address priority issues and current needs of the Great Lakes; and (5) cooperating with EPA in monitoring the water quality of the Great Lakes. Provides for the coordination of certain activities between the Program Office and the Research Office. Allows the Administrator of EPA to provide financial assistance in the form of grants or contracts for research, monitoring, and planning projects and activities necessary to address Great Lakes priorities. Allows any person, institution of higher education, or instrumentality of the Federal, State, or local government, or any tribe to apply for such assistance. Requires the Administrator to act upon each grant or contract application within six months of its receipt. Permits the grants to cover, in the discretion of the Administrator, up to 100 percent of the total project costs. Directs the head of each department or agency of the Federal Government which is in any way connected with the enhancement of the Great Lakes to: (1) cooperate with the Administrators of EPA and NOAA; (2) make available such personnel, services, or facilities as may be necessary to achieve the purposes of this Act; and (3) furnish, upon written request, such data or information deemed necessary to fulfill such purposes. Directs the Chief of Engineers of the Army, the Chief of the Soil Conservation Service, the Commandant of the Coast Guard, the Director of the Fish and Wildlife Service and the Administrator of NOAA to submit annual reports to the Administrator of EPA regarding their efforts to comply with the Water Quality Agreement of 1972. States that this Act does not affect the jurisdiction or powers of any Federal or State department or agency or of any tribe or international body created by treaty with authority relating to the Great Lakes. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1986 through 1990.
United States · United States Congress · 28 March 1985
Health Care Coordination Act of 1985 - Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to authorize any State, subject to a waiver being granted, to establish as a component of its State plan a comprehensive program under which individuals who are eligible for benefits under Medicaid and under title XVIII (Medicare) of the Act (other than an individual having end stage renal disease) shall be furnished health care and other services as described by such program. Requires any such program to provide at least the following services: (1) all services for which payment would be made under title XVIII; (2) all medical assistance for which an individual would otherwise be eligible under the State Medicaid plan; (3) case management, including assessments and periodic reassessments; and (4) to the extent the State determines such services to be required by an individual enrolled in the program, homemaker and home health aid services, and adult day health care services. Authorizes a State to provide, in addition, any other community-based services necessary to maintain an enrolled individual in the community who would otherwise be institutionalized. Provides that: (1) a program established under this Act need not be in effect statewide; and (2) in any case in which more than one program is in effect in a State, each program shall be considered independently for purposes of meeting program requirements. Requires all services provided under the program to be provided by providers qualified under title XVIII or XIX. Makes any individual eligible for coverage under the program who is eligible for both Medicaid and Medicare (excluding those with end stage renal disease). Makes enrollment optional with the individual. Prohibits enrollment of any individual who is an inpatient in a skilled nursing or intermediate care facility if more than 25 percent of the individuals enrolled in the program already are inpatients in such facilities. Requires the percentage of individuals enrolled in a program who are disabled or frail elderly individuals to be approximately equal to or greater than the percentage of the population of such individuals eligible under Medicare and Medicaid in the area served by the program. Provides that the amounts and methods of payment under the program may be any one of several specified methods used under titles XVIII and XIX. Authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services to grant a waiver of Medicaid and Medicare requirements to any State as may be necessary to establish a program or programs if such State provides satisfactory assurances that: (1) the total cost to State and Federal governments will not exceed the total cost which would have been incurred if the program were not in effect; (2) quality of and access to health care under the program will be maintained; and (3) the program meets the requirements of this paragraph. Permits a waiver of: (1) the skilled care, intermittent care, and homebound requirements for the provision of home health services under Medicare; (2) the skilled care and post hospital requirement for extended care under Medicare; (3) Medicaid requirements relating to state coverage, comparability of services, and freedom of choice of providers; (4) any Medicaid or Medicare provision relating to methods and amounts of reimbursement; and (5) specified other Medicare and Medicaid requirements relating to amount and duration of covered services, enrollment fees, premiums, deductions, cost sharing, and similar charges. Requires a State to provide for quality assurance review of any program established under this Act. Directs the Secretary to make payments to a State on a per capita basis with respect to each individual enrolled in a program. Provides that the amount of such payment shall be 95 percent of the adjusted average per capita cost of institutionalized individuals as determined for purposes of Medicare health maintenance organization reimbursements in the case of any individual who is an inpatient in a skilled nursing facility or intermediate care facility, or who: (1) has been determined to require the level of care provided in a skilled nursing facility or intermediate care facility, but for the provision of home or community-based services under this program; and (2) is dependent on personal assistance on a daily basis for at least two of the following activities: eating, bathing, use of the toilet, transferring to and from bed, or dressing. Requires the State to pay the premium under part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) of title XVIII for each individual enrolled in the program. Requires: (1) each State with a program under this Act to report to the Secretary at least annually; and (2) the Secretary to report to the Congress one year after enactment, and then again three years after enactment.
United States · United States Congress · 28 March 1985
Family Care Act of 1985 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a refundable income tax credit for expenses incurred for qualified elderly care expenses for a qualifying family member. Allows an income tax credit of 30 percent of the expenses incurred for taxpayers with incomes of $10,000 or less. Reduces the rate of such credit, but not below 20 percent, by one percent for each $2,000 of taxpayer income in excess of $10,000. Limits such credit to taxpayers with an adjusted gross income of less than $50,000. Imposes a maximum $7,000 limit on the amount of elderly care expenses taken into account. Defines "qualified family member" as any individual who: (1) is related to the taxpayer by blood or marriage; (2) is at least 75 years of age (or diagnosed with senile dementia of the Alzheimer type); and (3) has a family income of $15,000 or less. Defines "qualified elderly care expenses" as payments for: (1) home health agency services; (2) homemaker services; (3) adult day care; (4) respite care; or (5) certain health care equipment and supplies.
United States · United States Congress · 28 March 1985
Home Care Protection Act of 1985 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide that nursing care and home health aid services may be provided on a daily basis as home health services for up to 60 days with monthly physician certification of the need for such services, and after the 60-day period on a physician certification of exceptional circumstances.
United States · United States Congress · 28 March 1985
Brokered Deposits Act of 1985 - Amends the National Housing Act and the Federal Deposit Insurance Act to prohibit the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, respectively, from promulgating regulations providing different deposit insurance for brokered deposits than for other deposits. Prohibits an insured institution from accepting or maintaining short-term insured deposits placed through a broker in excess of the lesser of: (1) 200 percent of the institution's unimpaired capital and unimpaired surplus; or (2) 15 percent of total deposits. Prohibits an insured institution which does not satisfy minimum net worth requirements established by the appropriate Federal banking agency from accepting any additional insured accounts placed through a deposit broker.
United States · United States Congress · 28 March 1985
Prohibits U.S. aid to Bolivia, beginning in FY 1986, unless the President certifies to the Congress that coca production in Bolivia is at least ten percent less than the level during the preceding fiscal year. Permits a carryover of the amount of reduction if it exceeds ten percent. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to instruct the U.S. Executive Directors of specified international financial institutions to oppose aid by such institutions to Bolivia during FY 1986 or thereafter unless the President certifies that Bolivian coca production has been reduced.
United States · United States Congress · 28 March 1985
Cocaine and Health Report Act of 1985 - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to transmit a report to the Congress by September 30, 1986, regarding: (1) the health consequences of cocaine use; (2) the number of cocaine users; (3) specified consequences and effects of cocaine use; and (4) appropriate recommendations.
United States · United States Congress · 28 March 1985
States that the Congress condemns the passage of Resolution 3379 by the United Nations General Assembly, which equates Zionism with racial discrimination and urges the U.S. Ambassador and the U.S. delegation to the United Nations to take appropriate actions to erase such resolution from the U.N. record.
United States · United States Congress · 26 March 1985
Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services, in consultation with specified agencies, to conduct at least ten demonstration projects to determine the feasibility of providing for alternative benefits for individuals entitled to Medicare benefits who are diagnosed as suffering from Alzheimer's disease or a related memory disorder. Directs the Secretary, in conducting such projects, to consider providing alternative benefits: (1) that encompass a range of outpatient services; and (2) in a manner that is analogous to the manner in which benefits for hospice care are made available under Medicare. Limits the cost of each such project.
United States · United States Congress · 26 March 1985
Alzheimer's Disease Research Coordination Act of 1985 - Redesignates the National Institute on Aging as the National Institute on Aging and Alzheimer's Disease. Amends the Public Health Service Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to coordinate, support, and encourage research into Alzheimer's disease and related disorders. Directs the Secretary to: (1) insure that each specialized research center for Alzheimer's disease expends a portion of its budget on multidisciplinary research; and (2) report annually to the Congress.
United States · United States Congress · 26 March 1985
Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to promote the establishment of family support groups to assist individuals with Alzheimer's disease or a related disorder and their family members and to provide for a national coordinating network of such groups. Requires a report to the Congress within one year.
United States · United States Congress · 26 March 1985
Federal Industrial Mortgage Association Act - Establishes the Federal Industrial Mortgage Association. Authorizes the Association to purchase, hold, deal with, and sell industrial mortgages used to finance facilities and equipment for productive activities of qualifying businesses in the United States. Sets forth other requirements for such mortgages. Directs the Association to establish standards regarding the maximum principal amount of a mortgage it will buy, seller participation requirements, seller repurchase or exchange requirements for mortgages in default, and financial institutions from which it will purchase mortgages. Authorizes the Association to: (1) establish requirements and impose fees for different classes of sellers; and (2) issue and sell securities backed by mortgages that it may set aside. Directs the Comptroller General to conduct and report to the Congress on an annual audit of the Association. Terminates the Association ten years after the effective date of this Act. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 26 March 1985
National Home Health Care Clearinghouse Act of 1985 - Establishes in the Department of Health and Human Services a Home Health Care Clearinghouse to gather and disseminate information concerning the various public and private agencies providing home health care and related services to the elderly. Directs the Clearinghouse to: (1) establish a computerized system for such purposes; and (2) publish current descriptions of home health care services and benefits available to the elderly under the Social Security Act, the Older Americans Act of 1965, and other related laws. Requires a cost report to the Congress within one year. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 20 March 1985
Designates March 21, 1985, as Afghanistan Day. Condemns the Soviet Union for the attempted subjugation of Afghanistan. Calls upon the Soviet Union to commit itself to a negotiated political settlement for Afghanistan.
United States · United States Congress · 20 March 1985
Directs that funds be made available from appropriations under the Department of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1985 to enable the National Institutes of Health and the Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Mental Health Administration to award 7,083 new competitive research grants in FY 1985.
United States · United States Congress · 19 March 1985
Textile and Apparel Trade Enforcement Act of 1985 - Limits the total quantity of 1985 imports of textiles and textile products from a major exporting country to the lesser of an amount equal to 101 percent: (1) of the total quantity of textile products imported from such country if the total had increased by six percent annually during 1981 through 1984; or (2) if the United States has an agreement with such country providing for an annual growth rate of less than six percent, of the total quantity of such products from such country imported during 1984. Limits the total quantity of 1985 imports of textiles and textile products from an exporting country to an amount equal to the total quantity of such products imported from such country during 1984 plus: (1) 15 percent of such quantity in the case of a category that is not an import sensitive category; or (2) one percent in the case of an import sensitive category. Provides for changing the classification of a country, except for a Caribbean country, from an exporting country to a major exporting country if the total textile imports from such country equals or exceeds one and one-quarter percent of all textiles imported into the United States. Sets forth a formula for adjusting the growth of textile imports annually. Sets forth certain minimum quantities of textile imports that all countries shall be allowed to export to the United States. Requires the Secretary of Commerce to enforce this Act. Directs the Secretary, within six months of enactment of this Act, to establish an import licensing system under which an importer of textiles will be required to present an import permit as a condition of entry of such textiles. Directs the President to report to the Congress annually on the administration of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 14 March 1985
Correctional Facility Development Act - Authorizes the advisory board of the National Institute of Corrections to appoint a technical advisory committee to advise it on the development of innovative methods for the construction of new correctional facilities. Amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to increase the authorization for State and local prison construction programs.
United States · United States Congress · 14 March 1985
Performing Arts Labor Relations Amendments - Amends the National Labor Relations Act to exclude specified types of employers and performers in the performing arts from coverage under unfair labor practice provisions prohibiting specified contracts or agreements between employers and labor organizations and prohibiting specified actions of labor organizations to force or require cessation of dealings with others, joining of labor or employer organizations, or recognition of or negotiation with labor organizations not certified as representative. Permits such employers, excluding employers in the broadcasting or motion picture industries, to: (1) agree with a labor organization to make membership in such organization a condition of performing arts employment; and (2) make agreements with a labor organization covering performing artists even if the majority status of the organization has not yet been established. Defines "employer" to include purchasers of musical performance services. Defines "employee" to include independent contractors engaged to perform musical services.
United States · United States Congress · 14 March 1985
Amends the Comprehensive Forfeiture Act of 1984 to make funds available to the Secretary of Health and Human Services from the Department of Justice Assets Forfeiture Fund and the Customs Forfeiture Fund for the ACTION Drug Prevention Program through FY 1987.
United States · United States Congress · 14 March 1985
Establishes the Veterans Administration as an executive department redesignated as the Department of Veterans' Affairs. Makes technical and conforming changes, including the redesignation of the Administrator as the Secretary of Veterans' Affairs.
United States · United States Congress · 7 March 1985
Amends the National Housing Act to extend the Federal Crime Insurance program from FY 1985 through 1987 (and its reinsurance program from FY 1986 through 1988).
United States · United States Congress · 7 March 1985
Amends the Garn-St Germain Depository Institutions Act of 1982 to extend by three years the expiration date of the Net Worth Certificate Act. Amends the National Housing Act and the Federal Deposit Insurance Act to define "operating losses," for purposes of determining the value of net worth certificates that the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation or the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation may purchase from a qualified financial institution, to include losses from the sale of financial assets. Authorizes the Corporations to permit a qualified institution, in conjunction with a submitted business plan, to have a net worth of less than one-half of one percent of assets after the purchase of its certificates. Authorizes the Corporations to purchase certificates equal to 100 percent (currently 70 percent) of the operating losses of a qualified institution having a net worth of less than one percent of assets.
United States · United States Congress · 6 March 1985
Community Right to Know Act of 1985 - Requires the owner or operator of any facility generating, treating, or storing any hazardous substance to notify at least annually the appropriate local officials within a ten-mile radius of the nature and amount of and emergency procedures applicable to each such substance. Requires such owners or operators to notify such officials as soon as possible in case of any health- or environment-threatening accident involving such substances. Exempts quantities below 100 kilograms from these requirements unless their inclusion is necessary to protect the environment or human health or safety. Establishes criminal penalties for the knowing violation of the emergency notification procedures. Permits States to establish more stringent requirements. Requires the coordination of these provisions with other applicable Federal law.
United States · United States Congress · 5 March 1985
Authorizes the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution to plan and construct facilities for the Cooper-Hewitt Museum. Authorizes appropriations for such purposes effective October 1, 1988. Prohibits any such funds from being obligated or expended until there is available to the Board, from private donations or other non-Federal sources, a sum which, when combined with such appropriated funds, is sufficient to carry out the purposes of this Act. Provides for transfer of any portion of such funds to the General Services Administration to carry out such purposes. Provides that, effective on enactment of this Act, the Cooper-Hewitt Museum shall also be known as the National Museum of Design.
United States · United States Congress · 5 March 1985
Drug Money Seizure Act - Amends the Currency and Foreign Transactions Reporting Act to authorize the Secretary of the Treasury, in order to investigate the compliance of financial institutions with recordkeeping and reporting requirements with respect to monetary instruments transactions, to: (1) examine the books, papers, and records of such institutions; and (2) summon and take testimony from an institution officer or employee or other person possessing relevant reports or records. Increases the civil penalty for violations of such Act to: (1) the full amount of the transaction where the violation involves a transaction reporting requirement; or (2) $10,000 for any other violation. Creates a civil penalty of up to the amount of the transaction or account involved for any violation of a reporting or recordkeeping requirement for a transaction with a foreign financial agency.
United States · United States Congress · 5 March 1985
Money Laundering Crimes Act - Amends the Federal criminal code to establish money laundering as a Federal criminal offense. Sets forth fines and penalties to be imposed against anyone who conducts transactions involving monetary instruments through a financial institution engaged in or affecting interstate commerce: (1) with the intention of carrying out specified types of unlawful activity; or (2) with knowledge that such monetary instruments represent income derived from such unlawful activity. Requires investigation of such an offense by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Internal Revenue Service, as appropriate. Establishes extraterritorial jurisdiction over such prohibited conduct.
United States · United States Congress · 27 February 1985
Readiness Enhancement of Air Force Reserve Special Operations Act of 1985 - Authorizes appropriations for FY 1986 for the operation and maintenance of: (1) a Special Operations Wing of the Air Force Reserve; and (2) the Directorate of the Department of Defense Task Force on Drug Law Enforcement. Directs the Secretary of Defense, not later than September 30, 1985, to report to specified congressional committees concerning the expenditure of funds authorized by this Act. Outlines information to be included in such report.
United States · United States Congress · 26 February 1985
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to permit a charitable organization to own stock in a small business corporation (S corporation). Provides that a charitable organization which owns an interest in a partnership or owns stock in an S corporation must include its share of the unrelated trade or business income of the partnership or the S corporation in computing the charitable organization's unrelated trade or business income for the taxable year.
United States · United States Congress · 26 February 1985
Bulgarian Interrelation Review Act - Directs the President to conduct a review of U.S. policies with respect to Bulgaria's involvement in narcotics trafficking, arms smuggling, and terrorism. Provides that such review include the options of: (1) suspending U.S. diplomatic relations; (2) terminating U.S. bilateral agreements, including the maritime transport agreement; (3) imposing stricter controls on exports to Bulgaria; (4) requesting the United Nations Security Council to place on its agenda Bulgaria's involvement in arms trafficking, drug smuggling, and terrorist acts; and (5) submitting a request to the Secretary General of the United Nations that a review conference be convened to determine what steps should be taken to end Bulgaria's abuses of the Customs Convention on the International Transport of Goods under Cover of TIR Carnets. Directs the President to report to the Congress on the results of such review.
United States · United States Congress · 26 February 1985
Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) the United States should request, in accordance with the Customs Convention on the International Transport of Goods under Cover of TIR Carnets, that the Secretary General of the United Nations convene a review conference to determine what steps should be taken to end Bulgaria's abuses of that Convention in facilitating the transportation of illicit narcotics, arms, and terrorists; and (2) the President should encourage other parties to the TIR Convention to use procedures provided in the Convention to end such abuses by Bulgaria.
United States · United States Congress · 20 February 1985
Amends the Saccharin Study and Labeling Act to extend to May 1, 1988, the period during which the Secretary of Health and Human Services may not take certain actions to restrict the continued use of saccharin or of any food, drug, or cosmetic containing saccharin.
United States · United States Congress · 7 February 1985
Electric Consumers Protection Act of 1985 - Amends the Federal Power Act to require the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to issue a new license to an existing licensee for a hydroelectric project authorized under such Act if the United States does not, upon the expiration of the existing license, exercise its right to take over, maintain, and operate such licensee's project, unless the Commission determines that such licensee's project will not meet the licensing standards under such Act. Provides that if the Commission determines that such licensee's project does not meet such standards, the Commission is authorized to issue a new license to a new licensee which may cover the existing licensee's project provided that the new licensee pays just compensation determined by the Commission and enters into any contracts required under the Federal Power Act. (Under current law, the Commission is authorized to issue a new license to the original licensee or to a new licensee if the United States does not exercise its rights with respect to an expired license.)
United States · United States Congress · 7 February 1985
Business Accounting and Foreign Trade Simplification Act - Changes the name of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977 (FCPA) to the Business Practices and Records Act. Amends the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to require securities issuers to maintain an internal accounting system that provides reasonable assurance that specified accountability and accuracy goals are met. Prohibits imposing criminal liability for failing to maintain such an accounting system. Prohibits imposing civil injunctive relief with respect to: (1) an issuer who fails to maintain the required accounting system if the issuer tried in good faith to meet the requirements; or (2) any person other than an issuer in connection with an issuer's failure to comply with such requirements, unless such person knowingly caused the issuer to fail to comply. Prohibits anyone from knowingly circumventing such an accounting system for a purpose inconsistent with the accountability and accuracy goals of such system. Requires only good faith efforts at ensuring compliance by issuers who hold 50 percent or less of the equity of domestic or foreign firms. Transfers from the Securities and Exchange Commission to the Department of Justice jurisdiction to enforce the bribery prohibitions of the FCPA with respect to issuers. Revises the prohibition against domestic concerns using any means of interstate commerce to further payments to obtain business with a foreign official. States that such a payment made "directly or indirectly" to a foreign official is illegal. Prohibits such payments that are made to: (1) influence a foreign official's act or induce such an official to violate a legal duty; or (2) induce a foreign official to affect a foreign government's act. Prohibits domestic concerns from using interstate commerce to direct or authorize an agent to further such a payment to a foreign official. Exempts from such prohibitions: (1) payments to foreign officials to expedite or to secure the performance of routine governmental action; (2) payments to such officials that are lawful under the foreign country's laws; (3) payments which constitute tokens of regard or esteem; (4) expenditures associated with selling, purchasing, or demonstrating goods; or (5) ordinary expenditures associated with performing a contract with a foreign government. Revises the fines and criminal penalties for violations of such Act. Empowers the Attorney General to undertake all civil investigations necessary to enforce the Act. Prohibits prosecution of a domestic concern or specified agents of such concern for violating the Federal mail or wire fraud provisions by making a payment to a foreign official if the prosecution is based on the theory that the official, by receiving the payment, violated a duty to or defrauded the foreign government or the citizens of a foreign country. Authorizes the Attorney General to issue guidelines specifying: (1) permissible conduct associated with common types of export sales arrangements; and (2) precautionary procedures which would create a rebuttable presumption of compliance. Provides for the establishment of a Business Practices and Records Act Review Procedure to answer specific inquires concerning enforcement of such Act. Requires the Attorney General to issue opinions regarding compliance. Makes such opinions final and binding on all parties if the opinion states that the conduct does not involve a violation. Directs the Attorney General to protect the confidentiality of materials submitted in the review procedure. Requires annual reports to the Congress by: (1) the Attorney General concerning actions taken pursuant to such Act; and (2) the Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission concerning the reporting requirements. Expresses the sense of the Congress that the President should negotiate an international agreement on illicit payments, including a dispute resolution procedure. Directs the President to report to the Congress on: (1) the progress of such negotiations; (2) the steps the United States could take if the negotiations fail to eliminate the competitive disadvantage of U.S. business; and (3) possible methods of promoting international cooperation to prevent bribery in third world countries. Requires the report to contain recommendations for new legislation and an analysis of the potential effect on U.S. interests of the corruption of foreign officials and political leaders.
![Official portrait of Sen. D'Amato, Alfonse [R-NY]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/d000018_200.jpg)