United States · United States Congress · 23 March 1978
Radioactive Waste Management Regulatory Reform Act - Amends the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974 to expand the licensing and related regulatory authority of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission concerning long-and short- term storage and disposal of nuclear material. Amends the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 to permit State-issued licenses for the long-term disposal of nuclear material to remain in effect for three years from the enactment of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 22 March 1978
Rural Health Assistance Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to authorize the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare to make grants and contracts to conduct projects for the development and demonstration of innovative methods for the delivery of health and dental care to medically underserved rural populations.
United States · United States Congress · 20 March 1978
Expresses the condemnation of the Senate of the kidnapping of Aldo Moro. Declares it the sense of the Senate that (1) Italy deserves the support of the United States, and (2) the President should instruct the Permanent Representative to the United Nations to press for consideration of solutions to the problem of terrorism in all appropriate forums.
United States · United States Congress · 17 March 1978
Provides for full State participation in the planning, siting, and licensing of nuclear storage and disposal facilities. Authorizes the States, through their legislatures, to disapprove the site selection of any nuclear storage or disposal facility within their boundaries.
United States · United States Congress · 16 March 1978
Condemns recent terrorism in Egypt, Israel, and Jordan. Extends Congressional condolences to victims of these attacks. Declares that the President should (1) intensify efforts of the executive branch to counter international terrorism, (2) report to Congress on the implementation of laws regarding terrorism; (3) report to Congress on the activities of the Palestine Liberation Organization office in New York; and (4) report to specified Congressional committees the names of nations which furnish assistance to such Organization.
United States · United States Congress · 14 March 1978
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow employers and employees an income tax credit for a portion of the social security taxes paid during the taxable year.
United States · United States Congress · 14 March 1978
Small Business Simplification Reform Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to permit a taxpayer, in calculating depreciation allowances of property, to apply a 36-month useful life computed under the straight-line method for up to $100,000 of basis of property.
United States · United States Congress · 13 March 1978
Amends the Small Business Act to provide "energy independence loan," under specified conditions to individuals or firms that provide energy conservation or solar energy related services or that manfacture, distribute, retail, or install energy conservation or solar energy products or measures.
United States · United States Congress · 13 March 1978
Tax Indexation Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to subject zero bracket amounts, personal exemptions, the corporate surtax exemption, limitations on individual retirement accounts and Keough contributions, the gift exclusion, the unified estate and gift tax credits, and the basis of assets to an annual cost-of- living adjustment, whereby each currently listed dollar amount shall be increased by an amount equal to such dollar amount multiplied by two-thirds of the increase in the Consumer Price Index over the two preceding years. Grants the President power to suspend such adjustments, subject to veto by either House of Congress.
United States · United States Congress · 13 March 1978
Directs the Architect of the Capitol to study the feasibility of using solar energy for heating the hot water in the Phillip A. Hart Office Building now under construction. Directs the Architect to make cost comparisons between solar and conventional energy systems over specified periods of time and report such findings to the Senate.
United States · United States Congress · 10 March 1978
Amends the Emergency School Aid Act to make local educational agencies in which more than 50 percent of the enrollment consists of minorities as a result of geographic location eligible for assistance under such Act.
United States · United States Congress · 10 March 1978
Amends the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to authorize appropriations for the Securities and Exchange Commission for fiscal years 1979, 1980, and 1981.
United States · United States Congress · 9 March 1978
Community Schools and Comprehensive Community Education Act - Authorizes the Commissioner of Education to make grants to State and local educational agencies to pay the Federal share of establishing community education programs. Defines "community education program" as a program operated by a local educational agency providing educational, recreational, health care, cultural, and other related services for the community. Establishes a Community Education Advisory Council to advise the National Institute of Education concerning community education programs.
United States · United States Congress · 9 March 1978
Authorizes the Administrator of the General Services to dispose of up to 45,000 long tons of tin presently held in the national and supplemental stockpiles. Stipulates that: (1) up to 26,000 long tons of such tin, or the proceeds from the sale thereof, shall be used to obtain up to 225,000 short tons of copper; (2) the proceeds from the sale of the first 5,000 long tons of tin sold pursuant to this Act in fiscal year 1978 and the proceeds from the sale of the first 10,000 long tons of such tin sold in fiscal year 1979 shall be covered into the Treasury as miscellaneous receipts; and (3) 4,000 long tons of such tin, or the proceeds from the sale thereof, shall be used to acquire strategic and critical materials which are needed on a priority basis. Authorizes the Administrator to use any quantity of tungsten, or the proceeds from the sale thereof, which is available for disposal to aid in the acquisition of the 225,000 short tons of copper (except that the proceeds from the sale of the first 3,000,000 pounds of tungsten for each of the fiscal years 1978 and 1979 may not be used for such purpose. Stipulates that the copper acquired pursuant to this Act shall be placed in the national stockpile.
United States · United States Congress · 9 March 1978
Indian Program Evaluation and Needs Assessment Act - Makes findings that Federal agencies dealing with Indian affairs have not adequately furnished Congress with the information necessary to assess the needs of Indians and Alaskan Natives and that such lack of information has hampered Congress in determining such needs and responding to them. Title I: Program Expenditure Data - Requires the head of each Federal agency to develop procedures for compiling, maintaining, keeping current and reporting to Congress information concerning (1) the agency's annual expenditures for programs and services for which Indians are eligible; (2) services or programs specifically for the benefit of Indians; and (3) the agency's method of delivery of services and funding. Requires further that each Federal agency which administers programs which are specifically directed to or for the benefit of Indians and other programs for which Indians are eligible maintain and report to Congress information on the relative amounts expended for the administration of such programs and for actual services and funding to Indians and individual Indian organizations. Directs the Bureau of Indian Affairs to provide Congress with a comprehensive record of land holdings and use patterns of Indian land. Requires the head of each Federal agency, in coordination with the Federal Interagency Council on Indian Affairs established by this Act, to conduct every five years a needs assessment program aimed at determining the actual needs and problems of Indians and Indian organizations that are eligible for the programs and services administered by each such agency. Title II: Federal Interagency Council On Indian Affairs - Establishes a Federal Interagency Council on Indian Affairs. Sets forth the duties of such Council in the development of a uniform format to be used by all Federal agencies in assessing the needs of Indians.
United States · United States Congress · 8 March 1978
Congregate Housing Services Act - Authorizes the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to enter into contracts with public housing agencies for the establishment of congregate housing projects which are supplemented by supportive services for frail and physically impaired residents. Requires assisted public housing authorities to maintain any financial effort they were making in furtherance of congregate services prior to contract authority approval, unless the Secretary waives such requirement. Amends the United States Housing Act of 1937 to permit the provision of congregate services in existing public housing. Makes provisions for the administration of services and requires assisted public housing agencies to employ elderly and physically disabled residents to the maximum extent practicable. Sets forth application procedures, requirements for eligibility for services, and rules for the setting of fees for congregate services. Directs assisted public housing agencies to review this program with eligible residents and with the professional assessment committee within the 12 month period prior to the submission of an application for renewed funding.
United States · United States Congress · 8 March 1978
Emergency Agricultural Act - Amends the Agricultural Act of 1949, with respect to 1978 crops only, to direct the Secretary of Agriculture, through the Commodity Credit Corporation, to make payments to cotton, feed grains, soybean, and wheat producers for setting aside acreage to approved conservation uses in addition to required set-asides. Requires a minimum acreage set-aside, under this program, of: (1) 15 million acres for wheat; (2) 10 million acres for feed grains; and (3) 3 million acres each for cotton and soybeans. Authorizes additional payments for set-aside acreage opened to the general public for hunting, trapping, fishing, and hiking. Requires the Secretary to make up to 50 percent of any such payment immediately, in advance of determination of performance. Amends the Commodity Credit Corporation Charter Act to increase the Corporation's borrowing authority from $14,500,000,000 to $25,000,000,000. Amends the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act to make private domestic corporations and partnerships controlled by farmers and ranchers, and engaged primarily in farming or ranching, eligible for real estate and operating loans. Increases the maximum allowable total principal indebtedness for real estate loans which may be outstanding by any one borrower to $200,000, or $300,000 in the case of a guaranteed loan. Increases the amount of indebtedness which may be outstanding for operating loans for an individual from $50,000 to $100,000, or in the case of a guaranteed loan, $200,000.
United States · United States Congress · 2 March 1978
Amends Title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide payment for orthopedic shoes or other supportive devices prescribed by a physician for correction or treatment of abnormalities of the feet or legs which cause serious detrimental medical effects.
United States · United States Congress · 2 March 1978
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to direct the Secretary of the Treasury to issue regulations corresponding to the principles set forth in a certain private letter ruling relating to the exclusion from gross income of amounts deferred by participants in public deferred compensation plans.
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 · 28 February 1978
Older Americans Amendments - Amends the Older Americans Act of 1965 to make the Commissioner on Aging directly responsible to the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare. Abolishes the Federal Council on the Aging. Directs the Commissioner on Aging to continually review all requests for information under this Act and to take such action as necessary to reduce paperwork. States that the program of grants to States and communities for programs on aging should encourage and assist the development of multipurpose senior centers which shall serve as focal points for the delivery of services, including health, social, educational, and nutritional services, and recreation facilities. Includes in the definition of social services, provided by State and local agencies, health screening and preretirement and second career counseling. Extends the authorizations of appropriations through fiscal year 1981 for grants to area planning and social service programs for the aged. Extends for each of the four succeeding fiscal years allotments to States for such programs. Encourages States to include, if feasible, all portions of an Indian reservation within a single planning, and service area for services to the aged. Requires each State to provide, in its plan for services to the aged, for the acquisition, alteration, or renovation of existing facilities to serve as multipurpose senior centers. Requires a State, in order to be eligible for grants, under the Act, to submit to the Commissioner on Aging a State plan for a three-year period. Authorizes appropriations for four succeeding years after fiscal year 1977 for model projects which will expand or improve social services to older persons. Authorizes the Commissioner to make grants to State agencies for model projects designed to insure: (1) that long-term care needs of individual elderly persons are identified; (2) that such persons are referred to appropriate community-based and institutional services for such care; and (3) that the continued appropriateness of such services be tested through follow-up services and evaluation. Authorizes appropriations through fiscal year 1981 for such projects. Authorizes the Secretary to insure any mortgage for a multipurpose senior center in accordance with the provisions set forth in this Act. Creates a Multipurpose Senior Center Insurance Fund to be used by the Secretary as a revolving fund for carrying out all insurance provisions with respect to such mortgages. Authorizes the Secretary to make annual interest grants to assist nonprofit private agencies in reducing the cost of borrowing from other sources for the acquisition, alteration, or renovation of facilities for multipurpose senior centers. Extends the authorization of appropriations for the four fiscal years following 1977 for training, research, and secretarial programs for personnel in the field of aging. Amends the Older Americans Act of 1965 to establish the National Older American Volunteer Programs. Authorizes the Commissioner to make grants to State agencies or grants to or contracts with other public and nonprofit private agencies and organizations to establish volunteer service programs to help retired persons avail themselves of opportunities for volunteer service in their community. Authorizes the Commissioner to make grants or contracts with public and nonprofit private agencies and organizations to finance projects designed for the purpose of providing opportunities for low-income persons aged 60 or over to provide supportive person-to-person services in health, education, welfare, and related settings to children having exceptional needs, including services by individuals serving as "foster grandparents" to children receiving care in hospitals, homes for dependent and neglected children, or other establishments providing care for children with special needs. Directs the Commissioner to coordinate the volunteer programs with other relevant programs at the State and local levels. Requires the Commissioner to insure that special efforts are made to have qualified individuals over 60 from minority groups serve as volunteers. Extends the authorization of appropriations through fiscal year 1981 for nutrition programs for the elderly. Authorizes the Commissioner, under the Act, to make grants to eligible tribal organizations, as defined in this Act, to pay all of the costs for the delivery of social and nutritional services for Indians who are age 60 and over. Sets forth criteria for applications for such grants. Authorizes the Commissioner to delegate to the Secretary of the Interior or to the head of the Bureau of Indian Affairs any functions under this title. Authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to make available surplus Indian educational facilities for use as multipurpose senior centers. Extends the authorization of appropriations for the program through fiscal year 1981. Directs the Commissioner to prepare a White House Conference on Aging. Establishes a National Planning and Advisory Council to provide guidance and counseling for the White House Conference on Aging.
United States · United States Congress · 24 February 1978
Directs that the funds which may be deposited in the United States Treasury to the credit of the Mescalero Apache Tribe and certain constituent groups of such Tribe on the Mescalero Reservation, to pay judgments from proceedings before the Indian Claims Commission, shall be consolidated and credited to the account of the Apache Tribe of the Mescalero Reservation, New Mexico.
United States · United States Congress · 24 February 1978
Declares that the United States holds certain lands in New Mexico in trust for the Pueblo Indians of Santa Ana. States that the trust includes all rights of the United States in the minerals underlying that land. Allows existing mineral leases to remain in force. States that receipts relating to said lands acquired by the United States after acquisition of these lands shall be deposited to the credit of the Pueblo of Santa Ana. Declares that such lands shall be exempt from Federal, State and local taxation for so long as they are held in trust by the United States. States that distribution of receipts to tribal members shall not be considered as income for the purposes of taxation or federally assisted programs. Authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to acquire, by purchase or exchange, all State school lands in a certain area of New Mexico.
United States · United States Congress · 24 February 1978
National Home Delivered Meals Act - Amends the Older Americans Act of 1965 to establish a nutrition project for the elderly which, five or more days per week, provides at least one home-delivered hot meal which assures a minimum of one-third the daily recommended dietary allowances. Requires the State agencies administering the grant programs under which such nutrition projects are established to give preference in designating projects and awarding contracts or subcontracts, to the extent feasible, to existing meals-on-wheels projects. Directs the Commissioner on Aging to conduct a study of the effectiveness of the national home-delivered meals program. Directs the Commissioner to conduct a demonstration project involving at least three States to determine the feasibility of using shelf-stable and/or frozen meal systems for the elderly as a component or as a substitute in emergencies for regular nutrition projects assisted under this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 8 February 1978
Amends the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 to provide that allotment management plans incorporated in permits and leases for domestic livestock grazing on public lands shall be developed in consultation with permittees, lessees, the District Grazing Advisory Boards, and with the cooperation and consent of other lessors involved on intermingled land.
United States · United States Congress · 7 February 1978
Expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) the Secretaries of Agriculture and the Interior coordinate development of the National Wilderness Preservation System; (2) interested persons participate in the present roadless area reviews; and (3) future uses of roadless lands be decided as rapidly as possible.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 1978
Rural Health Needs Planning Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare to include in the national guidelines for health planning separate guidelines for nonurbanized areas. Requires to be included on the National Council on Health Planning and Development consumers of health care who are representative of nonmetropolitan areas. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to health systems agencies on the basis of square mileage served by the agency, for the development and operation of subarea councils and requires health systems agencies to consider the views of such councils. Changes the formula by which the size of grants to health systems agencies shall be determined. Requires the inclusion of members from nonmetropolitan areas on Statewide Health Coordinating Councils. Requires centers for health planning to disseminate to health systems agencies planning approaches and methodologies with special emphasis on the needs of medically underserved populations.
United States · United States Congress · 2 February 1978
Flexible Parity Act - Title I: Wheat - Amends the Agricultural Act of 1949 to provide for the 1978 crop of wheat a sliding-scale of established prices, keyed to voluntary five percent increments above the required acreage set-aside level, ranging from $3.00 per bushel for a 20 percent set-aside up to $5.04 per bushel for a 50 percent set-aside. Title II: Feed Grains - Amends the Agricultural Act of 1949 to provide for the 1978 crop of feed grains a sliding-scale of established prices, keyed to voluntary five percent increments above the required acreage set-aside level, ranging from $2.10 for a ten percent set-aside up to $3.45 for a 50 percent set-aside. Title III: Upland Cotton - Amends the Agricultural Act of 1949 to provide for the 1978 crop of upland cotton a sliding-scale of established prices, keyed to voluntary five percent increments above the required acreage set-aside level, ranging from 54 cents per pound for a 20 percent set-aside up to 84 cents per point for a 50 percent set-aside. Title IV: Grain Release Prices - Amends the Agricultural Act of 1949: (1) to prohibit the Secretary of Agriculture from providing for the redemption of stored wheat and feed grains loans unless the market price for such commodities is not less than parity; (2) to prohibit the Secretary from calling such loans until the market price for wheat and feed grains is at least 105 percent of parity; and (3) to prohibit the Commodity Credit Corporation from selling its stocks of wheat and feed grains for less than the parity price of such commodities.
United States · United States Congress · 2 February 1978
More Adequate Title I, Public Law 480 Program Act - Amends the Agricultural Trade Development and Assistance Act of 1954 to require the Secretary of Agriculture to provide Commodity Credit Corporation financing for a minimum of $1,000,000,000 for the purchase of United States farm commodities under dollar agreements to be entered into in fiscal year 1978 with friendly developing nations.
United States · United States Congress · 2 February 1978
Amends the Agricultural Act of 1949 with respect to price support loans in the producer storage program for wheat and feed grains: (1) to require a minimum cost of storage payment to producers of 25 cents per bushel annually; and (2) to set as a ceiling on the interest rate for such loans the rate of interest charged the Commodity Credit Corporation by the United States Treasury, adjusted quarterly.
United States · United States Congress · 31 January 1978
Authorizes expenditures of $321,000 by the Senate Special Committee on Aging for specialized training of professional staff members, and for investigations and studies.
United States · United States Congress · 31 January 1978
Amends Senate Resolution 4 (95th Congress) to make specified sections of the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946, relating to committee procedures, powers, and staffs, applicable to the Senate Special Committee on Aging.
United States · United States Congress · 26 January 1978
Authorizes appropriations for fiscal years 1979, 1980, 1981, and 1982 to the Secretary of the Army to develop and implement a national dam safety program. Stipulates the formula for allocation of such appropriations. Directs the Secretary to furnish financial and training assistance to any State which establishes a dam safety program which meets specified criteria. Directs the Secretary to guarantee any dam failure liability insurance of a dam owner. Establishes a Federal Dam Safety Review Board: (1) to review the procedures and standards in dam design and safety analysis; and (2) to monitor State implementation of this Act. Directs the Secretary to study techniques of dam inspection.
United States · United States Congress · 26 January 1978
Highway Improvement Act - Title I: Authorizations and Apportionment - Amends the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 to authorize the use of funds appropriated for the Interstate Highway System for highway assistance substitution projects. Reduces the authorization of appropriations for the Interstate System for the fiscal years 1980 through 1990. Directs the Secretary of Transportation to apportion the authorization for fiscal year 1980 in a specified manner. Authorizes appropriations out of the Highway Trust Fund for specified Federal-aid highway programs through fiscal year 1982. Title II: Extension of Highway Trust Fund and Certain Related Provisions - Amends the Highway Revenue Act of 1956 to extend the authorization for appropriations under such Act for the Highway Trust Fund through fiscal year 1978. Amends the Land and Water Conservation Fund of 1965 to extend the transfers of specified nonhighway use gasoline taxes from such fund to the general fund of the Treasury. Postpones specified transportation related excise tax reduction under the Internal Revenue Code of 1954. Title III: Amendments Regarding the Interstate System - Prohibits the Secretary from approving substitute State mass transportation projects in lieu of an interstate project after fiscal year 1984. Revises the funding mechanism for such substitute projects. Establishes a cutoff date at the end of fiscal year 1982 for approval of interstate projects not complying with the National Environmental Policy Act and for approval of State requests for withdrawal from interstate projects. Stipulates that by the end of fiscal year 1986 all routes or portions of routes on the Interstate System must be completed or under contract for construction and construction must have commenced. Authorizes the Secretary beginning with funds apportioned for fiscal year 1980 to approve resurfacing projects for lanes more than five years old on the Interstate System. Sets forth the Federal share for completing the essential gaps in the Interstate System for the fiscal years 1980 through 1990. Stipulates that State apportionments for interstate projects for such years may only be obligated for completing essential gaps within the System. Directs the Secretary effective with the apportionment for fiscal year 1981 for the Interstate System to revise the cost estimate for completing the System to include an estimate of completing the System's essential gaps. Authorizes a State in the event that it has obligated all the funds available to it in any fiscal year for the Interstate System to obligate its apportionment for the following fiscal year. Authorizes the Secretary to reapportion funds for the Interstate System not used by a State within the fiscal year for which it was apportioned. Title IV: Amendments Regarding Urban, Rural, and Other Non-Interstate-Highway Projects - Authorizes the transfer of certain apportionments for a State from one purpose to another under specified circumstances. Increases the Federal share for specified Federal-aid highway projects. Amends the Appalachian Regional Development Act of 1965 to increase the Federal share for projects on the Appalachian development highway system. Establishes a small urban and rural transportation assistance program to finance public transportation projects or specified highway projects for such areas. Establishes an apportionment formula for highway projects in urbanized areas other than projects on the Federal-aid primary or Interstate Systems. Authorizes the Secretary to approve the use of funds from specified apportionments for projects designed to encourage the use of carpools and vanpools. Directs the Secretary to establish a highway safety improvement programs for Federally aided highways. Requires each State to develop and implement a Highway Safety Improvement Program in order to identify and correct highway hazards. Requires each State to identify rail-highway crossings which may require separation, relocation, or protective devices, and to establish and implement a schedule of projects for such purposes. Requires that as a minimum such schedule provide for signs at all public railway-highway crossings. Authorizes the Secretary to approve Federal financial assistance for such projects. Increases the Federal share for compensating individuals for removal of outdoor advertising signs in areas adjacent to the Interstate System and the primary system. Authorizes the Secretary to approve Federal participation in State projects for replacing or rehabilitating highway bridges which are not on a priority or Federal-aid system. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to States and local governments in urbanized areas on a matching basis for transportation research and planning. Title V: Planning and Reorganization - Directs the Secretary to prepare a plan to consolidate the Urban Mass Transportation Administration and the Federal Highway Administration. Establishes a single fund for funding specified mass transportation programs.
United States · United States Congress · 24 January 1978
Nurse Training Amendments - Amends Title VIII (Nurse Training) of the Public Health Service Act to extend for two fiscal years, through fiscal year 1980, the program of financial assistance for nurse training.
United States · United States Congress · 23 January 1978
Architectural Excellence Act - Amends the Public Buildings Act of 1959, as amended, to require the Administrator of General Services to conduct competitions for determining the design of certain public buildings.
United States · United States Congress · 19 January 1978
Amends the Clayton Act to entitle any foreign sovereign government to sue for actual damages and the cost of suit (but not for treble damages) when injured in its business or property by reason of any action forbidden in the antitrust laws.
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 · 15 December 1977
Declares certain lands owned by the United States in Sandoval County, New Mexico, to be held by the United States in trust for the benefit and use of the Pueblo of Zia.
United States · United States Congress · 15 December 1977
Agricultural Trade Expansion Act - Amends the Food for Peace Act of 1966 to permit the Commodity Credit Corporation to finance export sales of agricultural commodities on credit terms in excess of three years, but not more than ten years. Exempts such sales from the requirement that exports be transported on privately owned United States - flag commercial vessels.
United States · United States Congress · 15 December 1977
Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to extend for fiscal year 1979 the Commissioner of Education's authority to approve grants to local education agencies participating in experimental compensatory education programs.
United States · United States Congress · 15 December 1977
Amends the Tax Reform Act of 1976 to provide that the changes in the sick pay exclusion made by that Act shall only apply to taxable years beginning after December 31, 1977.
United States · United States Congress · 15 December 1977
Equal Access to Courts Act - Entitles a party which: (1) prevails in any civil action, including an action for judicial review of agency actions; and (2) is a small business as defined by the Small Business Act or an individual or entity having assets or income below specified amounts to a judgment for costs and an award for attorney fees, witness fees, and necessary studies and reports. Directs an agency to pay costs and fees to a party meeting the criteria of (2) above if such a party: (1) successfully defends the imposition of an agency sanction; (2) successfully opposes the issuance or amendments of certain agency orders; or (3) successfully appeals agency action or is subject to agency action which is appealed or reviewed. Entitles a party partially prevailing against the United States to costs and fees to the extent to which it prevailed. Authorizes, where in the interest of justice, an award of cost and fees to a party which fails to prevail in a civil action instituted by or against the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 15 December 1977
States that it shall be the policy of the United States to protect and preserve for American Indians their inherent right of freedom to believe, express, and exercise their traditional religions. Directs the various Federal executive agencies responsible for administering laws which interfere with the exercise of these religions to evaluate their policies and procedures in order to determine the changes necessary to protect and preserve American Indian religious cultural rights and practices.
United States · United States Congress · 15 December 1977
Declares it the sense of Congress that the national health planning guidelines should include sufficient flexibility to allow a health systems agency to recognize special characteristics in rural areas and, on the basis of those special characteristics, to establish a health systems plan that varies from the national guidelines, in order to provide necessary health care services to rural residents.
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.
![Official portrait of Sen. Domenici, Pete V. [R-NM]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/d000407_200.jpg)