United States · United States Congress · 24 May 1985
Softwood Lumber Stabilization Act of 1985 - Limits imports of softwood lumber during any calendar quarter to an amount equal to the product of the historical percentage of imports for such quarter multiplied by the total quantity of softwood lumber that the Secretary of Commerce (the Secretary) estimates will be consumed in the United States during such quarter. Directs the Secretary to allocate the limitation among foreign countries. Sets forth factors to be considered in making such allocation. Requires the Secretary to publish in the Federal Register every quarter specified information relating to such limitation. Directs the Secretary and the Secretary of the Treasury to take the actions necessary to enforce this Act. Authorizes the President during the five years following enactment of this Act to enter into trade agreements providing for limitations on imports of softwood lumber into the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 24 May 1985
Authorizes the Black Revolutionary War Patriots Foundation to establish a memorial on Federal land in the District of Columbia to honor the courageous slaves and free black persons of the American Revolution. Directs the Secretary of the Interior, with the approval of the Commission of Fine Arts and the National Capital Planning Commission, to select the site, approve the design and plans, and provide for maintenance. Prohibits the use of any Federal funds for the memorial's construction. Terminates the Foundation's authority to establish such memorial five years from the date of enactment of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 23 May 1985
National Commission to Prevent Infant Mortality - Establishes the National Commission to Prevent Infant Mortality (Commission). States the duties of the Commission, which include: (1) identifying and examining Federal, State, local, and private resources which affect infant mortality; (2) identifying barriers to the health care needed to prevent high infant mortality; and (3) reviewing and carrying forward appropriate recommendations that promote the health status of childbearing women and their infants. Directs the Commission to: (1) recommend a national policy designed to improve the current approach to preventing infant mortality; (2) recommend specific changes needed in Federal laws and programs; and (3) present such recommendations to the President, the Speaker of the House, and the majority leader of the Senate within one year of enactment of this Act. Sets forth the powers of the Commission. States that the provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act shall not apply to the Commission. Provides for the termination of the Commission. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 22 May 1985
Requires 75 percent of the official mail of the Congress and 50 percent of the mail of Federal agencies to contain a photograph and biographical information of a missing child.
United States · United States Congress · 21 May 1985
Amends the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 to require the Administrator of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention in the Department of Justice (Administrator) to make grants to States for the purpose of establishing, operating, or expanding Missing Children Information Clearinghouses. Limits the grants to 50 percent of the costs of establishing and operating the Clearinghouse. Provides that no State shall be entitled to a grant in excess of $75,000. Requires any State Clearinghouse to: (1) work in conjunction with the National Crime Information Center; (2) educate parents, children, and community agencies; (3) provide public information to assist in locating missing children; (4) publish a directory of organizations that provide assistance in locating missing children; (5) establish an in-State toll-free line for reporting missing children; (6) work with other public and private organizations; and (7) work with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Allows the Administrator to prescribe rules necessary to carry out this Act. Grants the Comptroller General of the United States access to any books, documents, or records of any State receiving assistance for the purpose of audit. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 16 May 1985
Child Victim Witness Protection Act of 1985 - Amends the Comprehensive Crime Control Act of 1984 to authorize the Attorney General to make additional annual grants and other payments from the Crime Victims Fund to States for the protection of victims of child abuse. Makes a State eligible for assistance if such State has enacted statutes with respect to the investigation and adjudication of child abuse which: (1) minimize the additional trauma to the child victim; and (2) improve the chances of successful criminal prosecution or legal action. Requires that such assistance be used to implement these statutes. Establishes a formula based on State population to determine the amount of the States allotment. Requires the Attorney General to use up to $10,000,000 from the Crime Victims Fund each fiscal year for this purpose. Amends the Victims of Crime Act of 1984 to increase the level of the Crime Victims Fund.
United States · United States Congress · 15 May 1985
Rulemaking Procedures Reform Act of 1985 - Makes provisions for a Federal agency to promulgate an emergency rule, which shall terminate 120 days after its effective date. Requires agencies, after general notice in the Federal Register, to give interested parties not less than 60 days to participate in any rulemaking, except those for emergency rules. Requires an agency to transmit to the appropriate congressional committees an agenda listing all areas in which the agency intends to propose rules during the next 12-month period. Requires an agency, on the day it forwards a recommended final rule to the Federal Register, to transmit a copy to the Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk of the House of Representatives for referral to the appropriate congressional committee. Subjects recommended final rules to the congressional veto procedure. Prohibits major rules from taking effect before 90 days, and nonmajor rules before 45 days, after submission to the Congress. Allows recommended final rules to become effective after the day on which either House of Congress rejects a joint resolution of disapproval. Requires the resubmission to the next Congress of any recommended final rule which is subject to the veto procedure at the time the current Congress adjourns sine die. Allows an agency to issue a recommended final rule which relates to the same acts or practices as a rule which did not become effective. Sets forth general requirements for such an amended rule. Declares that congressional inaction or rejection of a joint resolution of disapproval with respect to a recommended final rule shall not be deemed an expression of approval of such rule. Sets forth procedures for consideration of such joint resolutions of disapproval. Makes it out of order in the House or Senate to vote on final passage of any bill or resolution making appropriations for an agency which has issued a rule that the Congress has disapproved, unless such bill or resolution prohibits the use of appropriations to carry out such rule.
United States · United States Congress · 15 May 1985
Orphan Drug Amendments of 1985 - Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to repeal the requirement that exclusive marketing rights may only be granted to an orphan drug (a drug used in the treatment of a rare disease or condition) if the drug is not patentable. Establishes a National Commission on Orphan Diseases. Requires the Commission to assess the activities of the National Institutes of Health, the Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Mental Health Administration, the Food and Drug Administration, other public agencies, and private entities in connection with: (1) basic research relating to rare diseases; (2) the use in research on rare diseases of knowledge developed in other research; (3) applied and clinical research relating to the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of rare diseases; and (4) the dissemination of knowledge developed in research relating to rare diseases. Requires the Commission to submit a report by September 30, 1987, to the Secretary of Health and Human Services and to each House of the Congress containing the Commission's findings, conclusions, and recommendations. Makes funds available to the Commission. Terminates the Commission 90 days after the date of such report. Amends the Orphan Drug Act to allow Federal grants and contracts for preclinical and human clinical testing of orphan drugs. Authorizes appropriations for such grants and contracts for FY 1986 through 1988. Makes technical corrections to the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Appropriation Act, 1985 in order to allow the expenditure of funds for personnel training under the Education of the Handicapped Act until September 30, 1985.
United States · United States Congress · 15 May 1985
Reenacts and amends the Equal Access to Justice Act to declare that whether or not the position of an agency in an adjudicative proceeding was substantially justified shall be determined on the basis of the administrative record, as a whole, in the adversary adjudication for fees and expenses. Provides that the decision on the award of legal fees and other expenses by the adjudicative officer of a Federal agency that conducts an adversary proceeding shall be the final administrative decision. Bars any such decision when the Government appeals the underlying merits of an adversary adjudication until a final and unreviewable decision is rendered by the court on appeal or until the underlying merits of the case have been finally determined pursuant to the appeal. Amends the definition of a "party" which is eligible to be awarded legal expenses to exclude any individual whose net worth exceeds $2,000,000 (currently $1,000,000) and any entity whose net worth exceeds $7,000,000 (currently $5,000,000), including any local government. Redefines an "adversary adjudication" for which such expenses may be awarded to include any appeal before an agency board of contract appeals under the Contract Disputes Act of 1978. Authorizes a party or the United States, if dissatisfied with an adjudicative officer's determination of such expenses, to appeal the determination to the appropriate U.S. court within 30 days after such determination is made. Requires a court's determination on such an appeal to be based solely on the factual record made before the agency. Authorizes a court to modify the determination only if it finds that the failure to make an award of expenses or the calculation of the amount of the award was unsupported by substantial evidence. Requires agencies to pay litigation expenses to prevailing parties from funds made available to the agency by appropriation or otherwise. Defines "civil action" to include any appeal by a party other than the United States from a decision of a contracting officer on a dispute in a Federal contract. Provides that a person shall be a prevailing party in eminent domain proceedings if the person obtains a final judgment which is at least as close to the highest valuation of the property attested to at trial on behalf of the property owner as it is to the highest valuation of the property attested to at trial on behalf of the Government. Amends the Equal Access to Justice Act to provide that certain provisions of the Social Security Act limiting attorney fees in OASDI benefit actions shall not apply with respect to the award of legal expenses to the prevailing party. Repeals the termination dates of the Equal Access to Justice Act. Authorizes awards for fees and expenses in incurred before October 1, 1981, in an adversary adjudication commenced on or after such date.
United States · United States Congress · 8 May 1985
Amends the Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act and the Walsh-Healey Act to require overtime compensation only for hours of employment in excess of 40 hours in a workweek for employees of Federal Government contractors or subcontractors.
United States · United States Congress · 7 May 1985
Agricultural Patent Reform Act of 1984 - Amends the patent laws to extend the terms of patents which encompass specified products or methods for using a product, including methods of manufacturing which primarily use recombinant DNA technology, any of which are subject to certain nonpatent regulatory review periods. Sets forth the terms and conditions of such extension, including a five-year limitation on the extension and a 25-year maximum patent term for the earliest filing. Directs the Commissioner of Patents to notify the appropriate Federal agency upon receipt from the product sponsor of a notice of extension to determine the applicable regulatory review period and whether, within that period, the sponsor acted with due diligence. Provides for notice and informal hearings for persons interested in such determinations. Permits the setting of fees to cover the costs of review. Directs the Commissioner, upon a final determination of the applicable regulatory review period, to issue to the owner of record of a patent a certificate of extension stating the fact and length of the extension and identifying the product and the use and the claim to which such extension is applicable. Makes such certificate a part of the original patent. Limits the application of such patent term extension to patents for: (1) any new animal drug or antibiotic subject to regulation under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act; (2) any veterinary biological product subject to regulation under the Virus-Serum-Toxin Act; (3) any pesticide subject to regulation under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act; and (4) any chemical substance or mixture subject to regulation under the Toxic Substances Control Act.
United States · United States Congress · 7 May 1985
Cable-Porn and Dial-a-Porn Control Act - Amends the Federal criminal code to include communication by means of television or cable television within the prohibition against broadcasting obscene language. Prohibits the distribution or the production of any indecent or profane material by means of radio, television, or cable television. Raises the fine to not more than $50,000. Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to revise the provisions prohibiting obscene phone calls. Permits a civil penalty to be imposed of not more than $50,000. Allows a court, upon petition and a proper showing, to issue a preliminary injunction against such communications. Eliminates as a defense to a violation that access to the prohibited communications was restricted to persons 18 years of age or older.
United States · United States Congress · 3 May 1985
Expresses, on the 40th anniversary of V-E Day, the Nation's deep gratitude and recognizes the enormous debt owed to the American servicemen who fought in World War II.
United States · United States Congress · 2 May 1985
Title I: Recognition of Injustice and an Apology on Behalf of the Nation - States that the Congress accepts the findings of the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians and recognizes that a grave injustice was done to both citizens and resident aliens of Japanese ancestry by the evacuation, relocation, and internment of civilians during World War II. Title II: United States Citizens of Japanese Ancestry and Resident Japanese Aliens - Requests the President to offer pardons to those convicted of violating laws during the internment period whose conduct was based on a refusal to accept racially or ethnically discriminatory treatment. Provides that Federal departments and agencies that review applications for restitution of positions, status, or entitlement lost during the internment period shall review such applications giving full consideration to the findings of the Commission. Establishes within the Treasury a Civil Liberties Public Education Fund. Authorizes appropriations for the Fund. Requires the Attorney General to pay $20,000 from the Fund in compensation to each surviving internee. Establishes a Board of Directors which shall be responsible for making disbursements from the Fund. Provides that disbursements from the Fund shall be used to: (1) sponsor research and public educational activities dealing with the internment; (2) fund studies of similar civil liberties abuses; (3) prepare and distribute hearings and findings of the Commission; and (4) promote the general welfare of the ethnic Japanese community in the United States. Title III: Aleutian and Pribilof Islands Restitution - Aleutian and Pribilof Islands Restitution Act - Establishes within the Treasury the Aleutian and Pribilof Islands Restitution Fund. Directs the Administrator of the Fund (the Aleutian/Pribilof Islands Association) to make restitution for certain Aleut losses sustained in World War II. Requires the Administrator to establish a trust of $5,000,000 and to distribute the interest of such trust for: (1) the benefit of the elderly, disabled, or seriously ill; (2) students in need of scholarship assistance; (3) preservation of Aleut cultural heritage and historical records (4) the improvement of community centers of affected Aleut villages; and (5) other purposes to improve Aleut life. Authorizes the Administrator to rebuild and restore churches and church property damaged or destroyed in Aleut villages during World War II. Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to make payments of $12,000 from the fund to eligible Aleuts for any uncompensated personal property losses. Provides that such payments shall not be considered income or receipts for purposes of Federal taxes or determining eligibility for Federal benefits or assistance. Authorizes appropriations. Requires the Secretary of the Army to implement a program for the removal and disposal of live ammunition, obsolete buildings, abandoned machinery, and other hazardous debris remaining in populated areas of the lower Alaska Peninsula and the Aleutian Islands. States that the authority contained in this Act shall be supplemental to the authority of the Secretary of Defense in administering the Environmental Restoration Defense Account and shall be exercised only in the event that such account is inadequate to eliminate hazardous military debris from populated areas of the Lower Alaska Peninsula and the Aleutian Islands. Authorizes appropriations. Provides that bidding rights for surplus Federal property might be exercised by the Aleut Corporation in lieu of conveyance of Attu Island to the Aleut people, such island having been designated as wilderness. States that the bidding rights shall be exercised by the Aleut Corporation without any preference over any other bidder. Provides that an amount equal to $500 for each acre traditionally occupied by the Aleut people on Attu Island shall be transferred to the Corporation account established by this Act and made available to the Corporation for such bidding.
United States · United States Congress · 2 May 1985
National Diffusion Network Act - Directs the Secretary of Education to carry out a program to promote the use of exemplary educational programs, products, and practices to interested elementary and secondary schools. Requires the Secretary to provide information, materials, training, technical assistance, and evaluations. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to, and contracts with, public and nonprofit private educational institutions and organizations to carry out such program. Declares that such program shall be deemed to be a continuation of the National Diffusion Network for which provision is made under the Education Consolidation and Improvement Act of 1981. Directs the Secretary to allocate funds available under such Act to such program. Authorizes additional appropriations, if necessary, to carry out such program in FY 1986 through 1989.
United States · United States Congress · 1 May 1985
Anti-Fraudulent Adoption Practices Act of 1985 - Amends the Federal criminal code to make it a Federal offense for any person to knowingly make any false statement or use any false document or conceal any material fact in connection with any interstate or foreign adoption. Makes it unlawful, except in specified circumstances, for any person to solicit or receive money for arranging for an adoption. Provides for imprisonment for not more than five years or a fine of not more than $250,000, or both. Makes it a Federal offense for any person to use force or threats to cause any other individual to travel in foreign commerce in connection with an adoption or placement of a child in a home for permanent free care. Provides for imprisonment for not more than ten years and/or a fine of not more than $250,000. Amends the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment and Adoption Reform Act of 1978 to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to: (1) review model adoption legislation and procedures and propose necessary changes to insure against fraudulent practices; (2) coordinate with national, State, and volunteer organizations to improve State adoption legislation; and (3) assist States in the development of improved procedures for controlling illegal adoption practices. Imposes a deadline of January 1, 1987, for the Secretary to establish a national adoption data-gathering and analysis system. Provides that the Secretary's study of unlicensed or unregulated adoption placements shall be ongoing and that the Secretary shall issue biannual reports on the findings of the study. Grants the Federal district courts jurisdiction to hear any civil action involving fraudulent adoption practices regardless of the amount in controversy. Authorizes the Attorney General to institute proceedings to prevent and restrain violations of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 1 May 1985
Relieves a named college in Alabama of the liability to pay to the United States and to the National Direct Student Loan Fund of the college specified sums representing inadvertent payments and student loans made under the Higher Education Act of 1965.
United States · United States Congress · 30 April 1985
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the President should: (1) ensure that U.S. officials carry out the pledge to resolve the issue of the Americans still missing and unaccounted for in Indochina; (2) work for the immediate release of any Americans still held captive and the return of the remains of those who died in Southeast Asia; and (3) make every effort to secure the further cooperation of Laos and Vietnam in resolving this issue.
United States · United States Congress · 29 April 1985
Commends the Rural Electrification Administration and dedicated individuals for their contributions to the progress made by the Nation during the past 50 years in achieving the electrification of rural America.
United States · United States Congress · 26 April 1985
Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) the United States should pay honor to the memories of the innocent civilians and American and Allied soldiers who died at the hands of the Nazis; (2) it is fitting and appropriate for the President, in a gesture of reconciliation, to visit the Federal Republic of Germany; (3) the President should recognize the importance of the relationship between the two countries; and (4) the President should reassess his planned itinerary for his forthcoming trip to the Federal Republic of Germany.
United States · United States Congress · 26 April 1985
States that the Congress condemns: (1) Nicaraguan actions that hinder freedom of religion; and (2) the association of the Nicaraguan Government with international terrorist organizations, including the Palestine Liberation Organization. Calls upon the President, in communications with Nicaragua, to raise the issues of religious persecution and compensation for members of the Jewish, Miskito, and other communities who have been forced to leave because of interference with freedom of religion.
United States · United States Congress · 25 April 1985
Veterans' Health Care Promotion Act of 1985 - Directs the Administrator of Veterans Affairs to carry out a pilot program to determine the most cost-effective method of acquiring medical facilities for the Veterans Administration (VA) using certain specified methods. Requires the Administrator, not later than January 1, 1987, to enter into contracts to carry out the pilot program. Requires such contracts to be with an appropriate entity to construct and operate a nursing home for the VA. Requires the Administrator to enter into a contract with an appropriate entity to plan for, design, and construct a medical facility for the VA and to lease or sell such facility to the VA as directed by the Administrator. Directs the Administrator to also acquire two existing medical facilities. Requires the Administrator to provide the Committees on Veterans' Affairs of the Senate and the House of Representatives an annual report on the administration of the pilot program and a final report promptly after the termination of such program. Requires the Administrator, within 90 days after enactment of this Act, to report to the same such Committees on: (1) the extent to which the VA furnishes respite care to elderly veterans and disabled veterans; (2) the VA's plans for furnishing such care in the future; and (3) an estimate of the cost of increasing community-based nursing home beds available to the VA by specified percentages. Limits the amount of working reserve funds available to the VA for FY 1986 for the purchase of an urban medical facility. Directs the President to include in the budget submitted to the Congress a statement of the estimated expenditures and appropriations required to carry out the pilot program.
United States · United States Congress · 25 April 1985
Amends the Davis-Bacon Act to require the Secretary of Labor to base the determination of the prevailing wage for a class of laborers or mechanics or helpers on the wage paid to 50 percent or more of the corresponding class employed on private industry projects of a character similar to the contract work in the urban or rural civil subdivision of the State in which the work is to be performed. Requires that such determination be based on a weighted average if the same wage is not paid to at least 50 percent of such corresponding class. Increases from $2,000 to $1,000,000 the threshold dollar amount subjecting certain contracts to such Act and requiring them to specify the minimum wages to be paid to laborers, mechanics, and helpers. Establishes a separate classification for helpers of laborers or mechanics, for purposes of such Act.
United States · United States Congress · 22 April 1985
Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) the English language is the official language of the United States; and (2) no language other than the English language is recognized as the official language of the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 17 April 1985
Amends the Tariff Schedules of the United States to add Afghanistan to the list of communist countries the imports from which are subject to the column two rate of duty. Prohibits granting nondiscriminatory (most-favored-nation) treatment to the products of Afghanistan. Prohibits entering into a commercial agreement with Afghanistan pursuant to the Trade Act of 1974. Prohibits Afghanistan from participating in any program under which the United States extends credit, credit guarantees, or investment guarantees.
United States · United States Congress · 4 April 1985
Authorizes the Secretary of Defense to provide to the Soviet Union, on a reimbursable basis, equipment and services for the improvement of the United States/Soviet Union Direct Communication Link for crisis control.
United States · United States Congress · 3 April 1985
Fairness for Adopting Families Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to remove the dollar limitation on the income tax deduction for adoption expenses. Expands such deduction to include all reasonable and necessary expenses which do not violate a Federal or State law and which are directly related to a legal adoption of any child if such adoption has been arranged by a State or local agency, a nonprofit agency, or through a private placement. (Current law restricts expenses to those incurred in the adoption of a child with special needs.) Disallows such deduction for expenses in connection with artificial insemination, embryo transplantation, in vitro fertilization, or surrogate parenthood. Disallows such deduction for expenses incurred for travel outside the United States unless such travel is required as a condition of the child's adoption, to assess the health and status of the child, or to escort the child back to the United States. Excludes from an employee's gross income any amounts paid on his behalf by an employer pursuant to an adoption assistance program.
United States · United States Congress · 3 April 1985
Amends the Federal criminal code to make it a Federal offense for any person to operate or direct the operation of a common carrier while under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Imposes a fine of not more than $10,000 or imprisonment for not more than five years for violations of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 3 April 1985
Proclaims October 23, 1985, as A Time of Remembrance for all victims of terrorism. Urges Americans to wear a purple ribbon in honor of the sacrifices made in pursuit of peace and freedom. Authorizes and requests the President to call upon U.S. departments, agencies, and other interested parties to fly U.S. flags at half staff.
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
Youth Employment Opportunity Wage Act of 1985 - Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to authorize employers to pay employees under 20 years of age 75 percent of the minimum wage rate between May and September of each year. Exempts such employees from special certificate requirements. Restricts such authorization to: (1) hours worked by eligible employees in compliance with applicable child labor laws; and (2) youth employed after May 1 of each year. Prohibits the removal of employees ineligible for the subminimum wage rate in order to replace them with employees who are eligible. Makes technical and conforming amendments to the Job Training Partnership Act. Directs the Secretary of Labor to monitor the implementation of this Act and to report to the Congress concerning the employment effects of this Act. Terminates such minimum wage rate exception after September 30, 1987.
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 · 26 March 1985
Amends the Agriculture and Food Act of 1981 to provide that a buyer in the ordinary course of business who buys farm products from a seller engaged in farming operations shall take free of any seller-created security interest even though the interest is perfected and the buyer knows of its existence, unless within 12 months before the sale the buyer: (1) received notice of the security interest and of any payment obligations imposed by the secured party as conditions for waiver or release of the security interest; and (2) has failed to perform such obligations. Sets forth parallel provisions for commission merchants or selling agents.
United States · United States Congress · 26 March 1985
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to establish an applicable test rate of nine percent for determining whether there is imputed interest in the case of seller-financed property. Permits a lower test interest rate of 80 percent of the Federal Treasury rate where such rates are lower than the nine percent test rate. Provides for a blended test rate for instances where the loan amount exceeds $4,000,000. Authorizes the imputation of interest in seller-financed property sales of $4,000,000 or less of ten percent or 110 percent of the Federal Treasury rates, whichever is less, where the test interest rates have not been met. Allows for a blended imputed interest rate where the debt amount exceeds $4,000,000. Requires that all loan amounts from a single transaction or series of related transactions be aggregated for purposes of determining the loan amount. Provides that the imputed interest rules will not apply to assumptions of loans unless the terms and conditions of such debt obligations are modified in connection with the assumption. Repeals the provisions of the Code limiting the amount of interest expense a purchaser of personal use property may deduct for tax purposes. Excepts debt instruments arising from the sale or exchange of a residence from the imputed interest provisions where the obligor of the instrument uses the property as his residence. Provides that the imputed interest rules shall not apply in the case of sales or exchanges of property where the borrowed amount does not exceed $4,000,000. Requires the interest on the obligation issued in connection with such sales or exchanges to be taken into account by both the buyer and the seller on the cash receipts and disbursement method of accounting unless both buyer and seller agree to use the accrual receipts and disbursement method of accounting.
United States · United States Congress · 26 March 1985
Retiree Protection Act of 1985 - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) and the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) to revise provisions relating to employee benefit plan fiduciary duties. Gives priority to maximization of investment returns in the description of employee benefit plan fiduciary duties. Requires employee benefit plan fiduciaries to avoid the selection, for the purpose, in whole or in part, of achieving or furthering any political, ideological, or social goal, of any investment or class of investments otherwise suitable for the plan's portfolio over any other suitable investment or class of investments if such selection would reasonably be expected to yield a financial return less than that which would reasonably be expected from the other investment or class of investments. Revises provisions relating to the granting of exemptions from prohibited transactions. Provides that such an exemption shall not by itself bar, or constitute a defense to, any civil or criminal action brought against any fiduciary under any other law of the United States. Prohibits the Secretary of Labor from granting any such exemption without an explicit determination, on the basis of clear and convincing evidence on the record as a whole, that such an exemption meets specified conditions. Specifies in such conditions that the rights of plan participants and beneficiaries which must be otherwise protected under such conditions are their rights under ERISA and IRC and any other law of the United States. Adds to such conditions that an exemption must be: (1) for the exclusive purpose of providing benefits to plan participants and beneficiaries and defraying reasonable administrative expenses; and (2) otherwise fully consistent with the duties of every fiduciary with respect to such plan under ERISA and IRC and any other law of the United States. Requires that the publication of notice of the pendency of such an exemption be at least 30 days prior to its being granted. Revises language relating to the opportunity for a public hearing on the determination to make an exemption. Provides that, within 90 days after the date of a determination to make an exemption, any aggrieved person may initiate a civil action in any U.S. district court, not withstanding specified provisions and without regard to the amount in controversy, for declaratory judgment and injunctive relief against the Secretary with respect to such an exemption. Sets forth procedures relating to such actions. Requires the district court and any other court acquiring jurisdiction of such action to stay implementation of the challenged exemption during the pendency of any such action. Places the burden of proof on the Secretary regarding the sufficiency of the findings relating to required conditions for such exemptions. Requires the court to award all costs and reasonable attorney fees to any complaining party who prevails, in whole or part, in such action, but prohibits any such award to the Secretary under any circumstances. Adds to the liability of fiduciaries for breaches of duty under ERISA. Makes fiduciaries subject to punitive damages (in addition to their personal liability under current law) for each breach of any of the responsibilities, obligations, or duties imposed upon fiduciaries by ERISA. Limits the amount of such punitive damages to no more than the amount involved in the breach. Adds to criminal penalties under ERISA. Makes any person who willfully violates any fiduciary responsibility provision of ERISA, or any regulation or order issued under any such provision, subject, upon conviction, to a fine up to $10,000 or imprisonment for up to five years, or both. Provides for a fine of up to $100,000 in the case of any such violation by a person not an individual.
![Official portrait of Sen. Denton, Jeremiah [R-AL]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/d000259_200.jpg)