United States · United States Congress · 4 June 1985
Improved Standards for Laboratory Animals Act - Amends the Animal Welfare Act to revise the humane standards for animals transported in commerce. Requires the Secretary of Agriculture to promulgate standards to govern the humane handling, care, treatment, and transportation of animals by dealers, research facilities, and exhibitors. Requires each research facility to establish an institutional animal committee with sufficient expertise to assess the appropriateness of animal care and treatment in experimental research. Requires the committee at each facility to: (1) inspect at least semiannually all animal study areas and animal facilities at the research facility; (2) file an inspection certification report of each inspection at the research facility; (3) notify the administrative representative of the research facility of any deficiencies; and (4) notify the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service and the funding Federal agency if such deficiencies remain uncorrected. Requires each research facility to provide for annual training in the humane treatment of animals for scientists, animal technicians, and other personnel involved with animal care and treatment in such facility. Directs the Secretary to establish an information service at the National Agricultural Library to provide information on improved methods of animal experimentation, including: (1) employee training; (2) preventing unnecessary duplication of animal experimentation; (3) reducing or replacing animal use; and (4) minimizing pain and distress. Requires a funding Federal agency to suspend or revoke Federal Support for a project if it is determined that conditions of animal care, treatment, or practice in a particular project have not been in compliance with standards promulgated under this Act. Requires the Secretary to inspect each research facility at least once each year. Requires such follow-up inspections as may be necessary until all deficiencies which may be found are corrected. Imposes penalties for the release of any confidential information or trade secrets by any member of an Institutional Animal Committee. Increases penalties for violations of the Animal Welfare Act.
United States · United States Congress · 4 June 1985
Expresses the sense of the Senate that the United States: (1) should not sell advanced weapons to Jordan; (2) should ensure that Israel retains its qualitative military edge in the Middle East; and (3) should focus its efforts on bringing Jordan into direct peace negotiations with Israel.
United States · United States Congress · 24 May 1985
Korean War Veterans Memorial Act of 1985 - Authorizes the American Battle Monuments Commission to erect a memorial on Federal land in the District of Columbia or its environs to honor members of the U.S. Armed Forces who served in the Korean war. Subjects the selected site, design, and plans for the construction of such memorial to the approval of the National Commission of Fine Arts and the National Capital Planning Commission. Directs that, upon its completion, the memorial shall be turned over to the Department of the Interior which shall then be solely responsible for its maintenance. Authorizes appropriations.
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
Calls for a celebration of the bicentenary of the Northwest Ordinance. Expresses congressional approval of the efforts of the Northwest Ordinance Bicentennial Planning Committee to encourage commemorative activities.
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 · 23 May 1985
Federal Field Office Report Act of 1985 - Prohibits a Federal field office from being restructured, reorganized, consolidated, or realigned during the 270 days after the date of enactment of this Act. Prohibits employees in such field office from being transferred or reassigned during such period, except in the course of routine agency activities. Requires the Director of the Office of Management and Budget to study all agency plans to restructure, reorganize, consolidate, or realign Federal field offices and report to the Congress on the results of such study.
United States · United States Congress · 23 May 1985
Indoor Air Quality Research Act of 1985 - Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to carry out a research program with respect to indoor air quality. Requires that such program be designed to: (1) gather data and information on all aspects of indoor air quality in order to contribute to the understanding of health problems associated with the existence of air pollutants in the indoor environment; and (2) coordinate Federal, State, local and private research, development, and demonstration efforts relating to the improvement of indoor air quality. Authorizes the Administrator to establish committees of representatives of appropriate Federal agencies and advisory groups of representatives of the scientific community, industry, and public interest organizations as may be necessary to assist in carrying out such indoor air quality research program. Directs the Administrator to consult and coordinate with State and local officials and other interested parties having concerns related to such program. Directs the Administrator to submit to the Congress an indoor air quality research implementation plan within 90 days after enactment of this Act and a final report, after consultation with the National Academy of Sciences, within two years of such enactment. Requires such report to assess the risks to human health associated with indoor pollution including the known or potential effects of radon and other naturally occurring chemical elements. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1986 and 1987.
United States · United States Congress · 23 May 1985
Health Equity and Fairness Act of 1985 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to limit the amount of an employer's contribution to a health benefit plan which may be excluded from an employee's gross income. Provides that the limit above which employer paid premiums would be taxable for individuals would be $100 per month for an employee with single coverage and $250 per month for an employee with family coverage. Requires this limit to be adjusted yearly to reflect the change in the implicit price deflater of the gross national product (the change in the GNP adjusted for inflation). Sets forth definitions and special rules relating to the operation of this contribution limitation. Provides that any amount considered to be an excess employer contribution to a health plan for an employee shall be treated as paid in cash to such employee at the close of such month, and shall not be treated as paid under a health or similar plan to the employer. Provides rules for safe harbor provisions for employers with self-insured health plans. Requires an employer to withhold, and be liable for, payment of any tax required to be withheld or paid with respect to excess employer contributions. Allows a deduction for payment to a qualified health benefit plan by individuals who are not covered by any health benefit plan. Limits the deductions to $100 per month for individual coverage and $250 per month for family coverage. Requires the qualified health benefit plan to include payment for physician and hospital inpatient and outpatient services reasonable and necessary for the diagnosis and treatment of illness or injury. Prohibits the plan from including exclusions or restrictions on coverage based upon prior medical conditions. Requires the qualified plan to provide catastrophic expense protection. Prohibits the cancellation of coverage for any reason based on the status or action of the covered individual, other than non-payment of premiums. Must provide subscribers the option to cover dependents. Permits non-itemizing taxpayers to deduct the qualified health benefit plan payments in arriving at adjusted gross income. Requires an employer health benefit plan to provide catastrophic expenses protection and continuity of coverage protection. Sets forth the requirements for the catastrophic coverage and the continuity of coverage requirements. Subjects employers who are required to pay minimum wages, have 25 or more employees, and contribute to a health benefit plan for employees to these requirements. Exempts churches from these requirements. Imposes civil penalties on employers who knowingly fail to comply with these requirements.
United States · United States Congress · 23 May 1985
Lake Superior Band of Chippewa Indians in Minnesota Distribution of Judgment Funds Act - Provides for the abrogation of any prior plan for the distribution and use of judgment funds awarded to the Lake Superior Band of Chippewa Indians who are members of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe. Sets forth a formula for the division and distribution of such funds: (1) among the community groups of the Lake Superior Band of Chippewa Indians affiliated with specified reservations in the State of Minnesota; and (2) on a per capita basis. Exempts such funds from: (1) Federal, State or local income tax; and (2) being considered as income or resources regarding eligibility for assistance under Federal assistance programs (including the Social Security Act). Requires the Secretary of the Interior to update the roll of members of the Lake Superior Band of Chippewas who are members of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe.
United States · United States Congress · 20 May 1985
Economic Equity Act of 1985 - Title I: Retirement - Pension Vesting, Integration, and Portability Act of 1985 - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to revise provisions relating to maximum age conditions under pension plans to provide for continued coverage for certain workers over the normal retirement age. Provides that pension plans may only exclude from participation, on the basis of age, an employee who has attained the normal retirement age under the plan if: (1) the plan is a defined benefit plan or a target benefit plan (as under current law); and (2) the employee's accrued benefit under the plan is greater than the normal retirement benefit to which the employee would be entitled at the normal retirement age if the employee commenced participation at the earliest possible entry age under the plan and served continuously until attaining the normal retirement age under the plan. Revises provisions relating to minimum vesting standards to reduce, from ten years to five years, the number of years of service which a pension plan participant must complete in order to earn a nonforfeitable right to 100 percent of the participant's accrued benefit derived from employer contributions. Permits multiemployer pension plans to retain the ten-year minimum vesting standard if such plans meet certain conditions, including complete reciprocity for workers who move from one regional pension plan to another within the same industry. Repeals a certain "class year plan" rule. Permits participants with three (currently five) years of service to elect within a specified period to have their nonforfeitable percentage computed under the plan without regard to any plan amendment changing the vesting schedule. Revises minimum participation standards, minimum vesting standards, and benefit accrual requirements to provide for pension plan coverage of part-time workers. Revises the definition of "year of service," for purposes of minimum participation and vesting standards, to treat 500 to 1,000 hours of service per year by a part-time employee as one-half of a year of service. Provides that the date on which such employee completes such one-half of one year of service shall be the latest date until which the plan participation of such employee may be delayed. Includes service of at least 500 (currently 1,000) hours in determinations of years of plan participation, for purposes of benefit accrual requirements. Establishes minimum benefit rules for integrated pension plans. Requires such plans to offer a minimum benefit without taking into account contributions or benefits under specified provisions of the Social Security Act, the Internal Revenue Code, or any other Federal or State law. Sets forth formulas, based on specified percentages of employee compensation, for determining such minimum benefit in the case of: (1) an integrated defined benefit plan; and (2) an integrated defined contribution plan or an integrated simplified employee pension. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to prescribe necessary or appropriate regulations to carry out the purposes of such minimum benefit rules for integrated plans in any case in which the employer has two or more plans. Provides for distributions of accrued benefits of less than $7,000 to portable pension accounts (individual retirement accounts or individual retirement annuities). Requires a pension plan to distribute a participant's nonforfeitable benefit to a portable pension account if: (1) the plan is a defined benefit plan, or an individual account plan subject to specified funding standards; (2) the present value, as of the date of separation from service, of such benefit is less than $7,000; and (3) the participant elects in writing, after receiving a required notice, to have such benefit distributed to such portable pension account in a distribution which is excluded from gross income under specified Internal Revenue Code provisions. Directs the Secretary of Labor to prescribe by regulation the manner and form in which such election is to be made. Requires the plan administrator, upon being informed by a participant that the participant wishes to make an election pursuant to these provisions, to provide notice to the participant of: (1) the present value, as of the date of separation, of the participant's nonforfeitable benefit (with such present value to be deemed equal to the actuarial equivalent, as of such date, of the normal form of benefit under the plan); (2) the amount of the participant's benefit on the date of the participant's retirement payable under the pension plan at normal retirement age expressed in the form of a single life annuity under a defined benefit plan or in the normal form of payment under an individual account plan; and (3) the additional tax (under specified Internal Revenue Code provisions as revised by this Act) on distributions from, or disqualification, of the portable pension account before the date on which the participant attains age 59 1/2. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to revise provisions relating to pension plans. Makes such revisions similar to those made to ERISA by title I of this Act with respect to: (1) continued coverage for certain workers over the normal retirement age; (2) a minimum vesting standard of five years of service (reduced from ten years), with the exception of multiemployer plans meeting certain conditions (including reciprocity); (3) repeal of the class year plan rule; (4) protection from changes in the vesting schedule for participants with three years of service; (5) coverage for part-time workers under minimum participation standards, minimum vesting standards, and benefit accrual requirements; (6) establishment of minimum benefit rules for integrated plans; and (7) distributions of accrued benefits to portable pension accounts. Revises provisions relating to additional tax on certain amounts included in gross income before age 59 1/2. Requires, in cases of early distributions or disqualification involving portable pension accounts to which accrued benefits from a pension plan have been distributed as provided under this Act, that the additional tax (for the taxable year in which the early distribution is received or the disqualification occurs) shall be equal to the amount of the early distribution, or of the disqualification, which is includible in gross income for such taxable year. Directs the Secretary of Labor to: (1) conduct a study of the feasibility and ramifications of requiring private employee pension benefit plans to provide cost-of-living adjustments to benefits payable under such plans; (2) compile data and analyze the effect inflation is having and may be expected to have on retirement benefits provided under such plans; and (3) submit study results, with recommendations, within two years after enactment of this Act. Social Security Modernization Act - Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act to provide that the combined earnings of a married couple which are attributable to the period of their marriage shall be shared equally between them for purposes of determining the eligibility for and amount of OASDI benefits to which each spouse is or may become separately entitled. Credits the survivor of the marriage with 100 percent of the combined total wages for the period of the marriage. Provides that this Act shall not apply in specified cases where it would result in a reduction of OASDI benefits. Provides full benefits for disabled widows and widowers without regard to age. Enables an insured individual's spouse who has attained the age of 50 and is not entitled to any other monthly benefits to obtain a transition benefit for four months upon the death of the insured individual. Establishes the amount of such transition benefit at 71.5 percent of the primary insurance amount of the insured individual or, if it is higher, 71.5 percent of the primary insurance amount of the spouse. Repeals the separate definition of disability applicable to widows and widowers. Permits the months of a widow's or widower's entitlement to Supplemental Security Income benefits (title XVI of the Social Security Act) on the basis of a disability to be counted towards the 24 months needed to become entitled to hospital insurance benefits under Medicare (title XVIII of the Social Security Act) on that basis. Uniformed Services Former Spouses' Equity Act - Provides that a former spouse of a member of the uniformed services shall be entitled, unless expressly provided by a spousal agreement or court order, to an annuity: (1) equal to 50 percent of the retired or retainer pay of the member if married to the member throughout the creditable service of the member; or (2) equal to a pro rata share of 50 percent of such pay if not married to the member throughout the entire creditable service of the member. Requires that an election by a member not to participate, or to participate at a reduced level, in the Survivor Benefit Plan or to provide an annuity for a dependent child only must be made jointly with the member's spouse. Provides that such an election must be in writing. Allows a member who has a former spouse to jointly elect a spousal agreement with such former spouse or as provided under a court order to provide a survivor to the former spouse or to waive such an annuity. Treats a former spouse as a spouse for purposes of eligibility as a beneficiary, computation of annuities, and reductions in retired or retainer pay under the Survivor Benefit Plan if the member elects such treatment. (Present law treats a former spouse as a person with an "insurable interest" subject to certain restrictions and requiring larger reductions in retired or retainer pay.) Establishes a 24 month period during which members who were already divorced before the effective date of this Act may elect to have a former spouse covered under the Survivor Benefit Plan. Provides that a former spouse's share of retired or retainer pay shall be based on the gross amount of such pay. (Present law bases such share on the net amount of such pay after specified deductions.) Title II: Dependent Care - Social Services and Child Care Assistance Act of 1985 - Amends title XX (Block Grants to States for Social Services) of the Social Security Act to set allotment amounts for FY 1984, 1985, and 1986 and each succeeding fiscal year. Allocates from the allotment set for FY 1986 and available for any fiscal year, specified amounts for: (1) funding for a National Resource Center on Family Day Care; (2) grants to States for training and child care services. Specifies amounts shall be used: (1) for the training and retraining of human services personnel; (2) for the training and retraining in the prevention of child abuse of licensed child care operations; and (3) for the provision of child day care services to children who are abused or neglected, who are members of families receiving aid under title IV (Aid to Families with Dependent Children) of such Act, or children who are members of specified low-income groups. Amends title XX (Block Grants to States for Services) of the Social Security Act to require the Governor of each State, as a condition of the State's eligibility for receiving title XX Federal payments, to establish or designate a State Advisory Committee on Child-Care Standards which shall: (1) examine, investigate, and study the State's laws, regulations, and procedures for licensing, regulating, and monitoring child-care services and programs within the State; and (2) prepare a report outlining the committee's findings and recommendations, including a description of the current status of child-care licensing, regulating, or monitoring within the State to be submitted to each State's Governor for transmittal, along with the Governor's comments, to the Secretary of Health and Human Services. Establishes a National Advisory Committee on Child-Care Standards in order to assist and provide guidance to the States in improving the quality of child-care services. Requires each State Advisory Committee and the National Advisory Committee to review the options for child-care standards published by the Department of Health and Human Services in January 1985 and the final 1980 HEW Day Care Regulations. Directs the National Advisory Committee to issue recommended standards for child-care programs, after first publishing proposed standards and receiving comments. Terminates the National Advisory Committee 90 days after the publication of the final recommended standards. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1986 through 1988 for grants to States to carry out their plans for correcting the deficiencies in or improving the licensing, regulating, or monitoring of child-care programs. Requires each State, in order to receive a grant, to submit a plan to the Secretary of Health and Human Services to carry out the recommendations contained in its report. Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to authorize appropriations for FY 1986 through 1990 for grants to institutions of higher education for: (1) construction, reconstruction, and renovation of facilities, located at such institutions, to be used to provide child care services (free for students from families with incomes less than 150 percent of the poverty level, and with a sliding-scale of fees based on income for other students participating); (2) child care services through vouchers for disadvantaged college students (with two-thirds of the participants to be low-income students who are first generation college students, and the remainder to be either low-income or first generation college students); and (3) child care personnel work-experience programs (which provide experience for students by arranging part-time employment for them in licensed child care programs). Requires the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to provide grants to public housing authorities to assist them in providing child care services for lower income families. Requires a program report to the Congress within two years. Authorizes FY 1986 through 1988 appropriations. Title III: Insurance - Nondiscrimination in Insurance Act - Prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin in the consideration of applications for, or the granting of, insurance policies and the terms of such policies. Permits insurers who regularly provide insurance solely to persons of a single religious affiliation to continue to do so. Prohibits any insurer from establishing auto insurance rates for women or any particular group of women which are higher or lower in relation to the rates offered men or any similarly situated group of men, except for non-gender related risk-based reasons. Grants to States having insurance discrimination laws the primary opportunity to enforce the prohibitions of this Act. Permits an aggrieved person to file a civil action in State or Federal court against an insurer, if a State which has received notice of a complaint fails to act within 60 days (120 days in certain circumstances) or has terminated all proceedings under State law without any final resolution. Authorizes the Attorney General to bring a civil action in district court when there is reasonable cause to believe that a person or group is engaged in a pattern or practice of resistance to the rights granted by this Act and that such denial raises an issue of general public importance. Authorizes the Court to: (1) order the defendant to amend any relevant contract to comply with the provisions of this Act (no premium payment may be increased and no benefits may be reduced); (2) require the defendant to pay punitive damages in addition to actual damages; and (3) award the aggrieved person reasonable attorneys' fees. Continued Access to Group Health Insurance Act of 1985 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to require continuation coverage under group health plans for certain spouses, former spouses, and dependent children of employees insured under such plans. Makes such continuation coverage a requirement for the allowance of a tax deduction for employer contributions to group health plans. Provides that the spouse and dependent children of an insured employee may be entitled to five years of continuation coverage under a group health plan if the insured employee: (1) dies; (2) becomes separated or divorced from his or her spouse; or (3) becomes entitled to Medicare. Makes such coverage available only if it is elected within a specified period by or on behalf of the spouse or child to be covered. Sets forth notification requirements. Sets forth a special rule relating to collective bargaining agreements. Title IV: Employment - Establishes the Commission on Compensation Equity to provide, by contract with a consultant, for a report on whether executive agencies are in compliance with laws and regulations prohibiting sex-based wage discrimination. Requires submission of the results of such study to the appropriate congressional committees and the Director of the Office of Personnel Management within 18 months after the effective date of this Act. Requires the Director to submit to such committees and the Commission, 90 days after receipt of such report, a response specifying plans for carrying out the report's recommendations and reasons for not carrying out any recommendation. Allows the Commission to comment on the Director's response. Terminates the Commission 90 days after submission of its comment. Directs the Comptroller General to submit a list of at least five consultants to the Commission from which the Commission shall make its selection. Declares that nothing in this Act shall be construed to limit the rights or remedies provided under the Civil Rights Act of 1964, or the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, or any other provision of law relating to discrimination. Provides funding for the Commission from sums appropriated to the Office of Personnel Management for general operating expenses for FY 1986 and 1987. Amends part A (Aid to Families with Dependent Children) of title IV of the Social Security Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make grants to States to assist in carrying out programs which: (1) prevent long-term dependency upon AFDC; (2) permit pregnant teenagers and teenage mothers to remain in school; (3) provide job counseling, employment readiness, job placement, and academic and vocational education services to pregnant teenagers and teenage mothers; and (4) integrate and coordinate services otherwise available to pregnant teenagers and teenage mothers. Sets forth: (1) requirements a State must meet in order to receive a grant; and (2) reporting requirements. Directs the Secretary to establish a systematic reporting system capable of yielding comprehensive data on which service figures and program evaluations shall be based. Requires the Secretary to report annually to Congress. Authorizes appropriations. Women's Business Ownership Act of 1985 - Establishes the National Commission on Women's Business Ownership to review: (1) the status of women owned small businesses nationwide; (2) the role of the Federal Government in aid to and the promotion of women owned small businesses; (3) data collection procedures and the availability of data relating to women owned businesses, women owned small businesses, and small businesses owned and controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged women; (4) other Federal initiatives relating to women owned small businesses, including those relating to Federal procurements; and (5) special impediments suffered by small businesses owned and controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged women. Directs the Commission to recommend: (1) new private sector initiatives which would provide management and technical assistance to women owned small businesses; (2) ways to promote greater access to financing and procurement opportunities for such businesses; and (3) other measures relating to small businesses owned and controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged women. Terminates the Commission on the date that it transmits its final report to the President and to each House of the Congress. Authorizes appropriations. Title V: Tax Reform - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide that the zero bracket amount for heads of households shall be the same as the zero bracket amount for joint returns and surviving spouses. Increases the amount of the earned income tax credit from 11 percent to 16 percent of the first $5,000 of earned income. Provides for a phaseout of such credit for taxpayers with adjusted gross incomes between $11,000 and $16,000. Provides that governmental payments shall be disregarded for purposes of determining support and maintenance of a household. Provides that any refund of Federal income taxes or advance payment made to an individual by reason of the earned income credit shall not be taken into account as income for purposes of determining eligibility for benefits or assistance under any Federal program or any State or local program financed in whole or part with Federal funds. Provides for cost-of-living adjustments for the amount of the earned income credit and the phase-out thresholds of such credit beginning in 1987. Allows a refundable income tax credit for: (1) employment related dependent care expenses, plus (2) expenses for the respite care of a dependent. Sets the amount of such credit at 50 percent of the sum of such expenses. Reduces such percentage (but not below 20 percent) by one percent for each full $1,000 amount by which the taxpayer's adjusted gross income exceeds $11,000. Provides for cost-of-living adjustments to such adjusted gross income amount. Limits the amount of employment-related expenses and respite care expenses which may be taken into account for purposes of such credit. Allows such credit for expenses incurred for the care of: (1) a dependent of the taxpayer who is under the age of 15; (2) a dependent of the taxpayer who is physically or mentally incapable of caring for himself; or (3) a spouse who is incapable of caring for himself. Repeals present provisions relating to the income tax credit for dependent care expenses necessary for gainful employment. Increases the amount individuals may contribute on behalf of their spouses for purposes of the deduction for retirement savings. Provides that no deduction from gross income shall be allowed to a taxpayer for entertainment expenses for food, beverages, lodging, or entertainment incurred in connection with a facility which discriminates on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. Exempts facilities operated by a religious organization where access is limited to members of a particular religion. Treats dues and fees paid to discriminatory facilities as nondeductible expenses. Requires the submission of a statement to the Secretary of the Treasury that a facility not open to the public does not discriminate in order for amounts paid to such facility to qualify for the entertainment expense deduction. Requires the posting of a public notice in the facility stating the nondiscriminatory policy. Permits the Secretary to revoke the acceptance of the statement of nondiscrimination. Requires the taxpayer to report on his or her income tax return any amounts paid or incurred for food, beverages, lodging, or entertainment in any facility which is not open to the public or does not serve the public in order to deduct such amounts from gross income.
United States · United States Congress · 16 May 1985
Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to freeze Medicare payments for one year for approved educational activities at hospitals. Provides that following the freeze Medicare will only fund residencies or internships for the lesser of five years or the number of years required for initial board eligibility in a specialty. Prohibits, after July 1, 1986, Medicare funding for any intern or resident who is neither a graduate of a U.S. or Canadian medical school nor a U.S. or Canadian citizen. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to conduct a study of and report to the Congress with respect to approved educational activities relating to nursing and other health professions for which Medicare reimburses hospitals. Directs the Comptroller General to conduct a study of and report to the Congress with respect to the difference between the amounts of payments made under Medicare for inpatients treated in a teaching hospital and the amounts of such payments which are made for comparable patients treated in a nonteaching hospital.
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
Authorizes appropriations to the Environmental Protection Agency for FY 1986 for environmental research, development, and demonstration activities authorized under: (1) the Clean Air Act; (2) the Federal Water Pollution Act; (3) the Safe Drinking Water Act; (4) the Solid Waste Disposal Act; (5) the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (Superfund) (hazardous waste activities); (6) the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act; (7) the Public Health Service Act (radiation activities); (8) interdisciplinary activities provisions; (9) the Toxic Substances Control Act; (10) energy research programs; and (11) program management and support.
United States · United States Congress · 14 May 1985
Amends the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 regarding urban development action grant criteria to include the following: (1) the production of goods or services from the applicant's local economy; (2) job retention and retraining; and (3) project location. Prohibits the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development from awarding such a grant unless: (1) the project will have a substantial physical development and fiscal impact; (2) the project is likely to be accomplished in a timely fashion; and (3) the city or urban area has demonstrated performance in housing and community development programs. Provides for the use of repaid grant funds. Requires an applicant to provide the Secretary with an annual statement of the projected receipt and use of repaid grant funds and an audited report of any previous fund use. Requires a report to the Congress by March 15, 1986.
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
Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to authorize appropriations for FY 1986 through 1988 to be used by the Secretary of Commerce to assist in the planning and construction of public telecommunications facilities. Repeals a provision that requires 75 percent of the funds appropriated for such purposes in a fiscal year to be available to extend delivery of public telecommunications services to areas not receiving such services. Authorizes appropriations, to match up to a specified amount of non-Federal contributions to public broadcasting entities, for the Public Broadcasting Fund for FY 1987 through 1990. Repeals a provision that requires that a specified portion of the amount made available to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting from the Fund be earmarked for expenses of research, training, technical assistance, engineering, instructional support, and the payment of interest on indebtedness. Repeals provisions requiring a public telecommunications entity to refund to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting an amount of Federal funds equal to the amount of any unrelated business income tax paid by such entity.
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 · 1 May 1985
Former Presidents Facilities and Services Reform Act of 1985 - Title I: Presidential Libraries - Authorizes the Archivist of the United States to accept gifts offered to make physical or material changes or additions to presidential archival depositories. Directs the Archivist to promulgate architectural and design standards for such depositories. Requires the Archivist to report to the President of the Senate and Speaker of the House prior to accepting title to any land, facility, or equipment for a presidential depository, and prior to accepting any gifts to make changes to such depositories. Authorizes the Archivist to solicit gifts and bequests of money or other property to maintain a depository. Directs the Archivist to establish in the National Archives Trust Fund separate endowments to maintain each presidential depository. Prohibits the Archivist from accepting or taking title to land, facilities, or equipment to create a depository, or from accepting gifts to change a depository, unless there is an endowment sufficient to maintain such land, facility, or equipment. Makes such prohibitions effective for any President who takes the oath of office after May 9, 1984. Title II: Former Presidents - Changes the amount of the annual allowance to which the spouse of a deceased former President is entitled from $20,000 to two-thirds of the allowance to which a former President is entitled. Repeals the requirement that the spouse must waive the right to any other Government annuity or pension to qualify for such allowance. Authorizes the Administrator to provide to each former President, upon request: (1) one office; (2) compensation, without an aggregate ceiling, for members of an office staff who shall be subject to certain provisions of civil service laws; (3) payment for the travel and subsistence allowances for specified office employees; (4) communications services; (5) printing and binding expenses; and (6) appropriate equipment for such office. Allows any Federal employee to be detailed to the office staff of a former President with the consent of the employee's agency head. Declares that the cost of providing transportation by Government aircraft to former Presidents shall be paid from appropriations for such purpose. Authorizes the Administrator to provide a former Vice President with necessary services and facilities for concluding his or her office affairs which are similar to the services and facilities provided to a former President under this title. Prohibits the use of funds provided for necessary services and facilities of a former President or Vice President for partisan political activities or income generating activities. Permits a former President to use such funds to prepare his or her memoirs if the former President signs an agreement providing that the Public Printer will print and distribute such memoirs. Prohibits the expenditure of such funds for a former President any time beyond 90 days after the former President dies. Requires each former President to submit to Congress an annual report concerning activities carried out with the assistance of such funds. Authorizes appropriations to carry out the provisions of this title concerning the services and facilities to be provided for former Presidents and Vice Presidents. Repeals specified provisions of the Presidential Transition Act of 1963. Title III: Protection of Former Presidents, Former Vice Presidents, and Their Families - Prohibits the United States Secret Service from protecting a former President, former Vice President, or the spouse, widow, widower, or minor child of a former President, except as authorized under this title. Authorizes the Secret Service to protect: (1) a former President for five years after the individual becomes a former President; (2) the spouse or minor child of a former President to the extent that such protection is incidental to the protection of the former President; and (3) the widow or widower of a former President for six months after the former President dies. Permits the Secretary of the Treasury to reinstate the Secret Service protection of a former President for one year and of a spouse or minor child for six months after the original protection has been terminated upon finding that a serious threat warranting such protection exists. Authorizes additional extensions of such periods of protection if the Secretary has submitted a request for an extension to the Congress and 60 days of continuous session have expired after the date of such request. Authorizes the President to direct the Secret Service to protect a former President, or a spouse or child of a former President, if a threat warrants emergency action. Permits the Secretary to authorize Secret Service protection for a former Vice President for a period beginning on the last day of the individual's term and ending on the last day of the fiscal year in which the term expires, and upon finding that a threat exists which warrants such protection.
United States · United States Congress · 30 April 1985
Veterans' Career Development Training and Job Bank Act of 1985 - Amends the Emergency Veterans' Job Training Act of 1983 to change the title of such Act to the "Veterans' Career Development and Training Act" and to restate and revise the purposes of such Act. Revises eligibility requirements for participation in a job training program to provide that a veteran must be a Korean conflict or Vietnam-era veteran: (1) whose employment has been terminated or who has been laid off from employment, is eligible for unemployment compensation, and is unlikely to return to work in the same occupation; (2) whose employment has been terminated due to permanent closure of a plant or facility; (3) who is unemployed in the same occupation or area in which the veteran resides; (4) who in underemployed and has a service-connected disability; (5) who served in Indochina and is underemployed and whose personal income is below the lower living standard income level; or (6) whose income and employment status is significantly below the level that would be reasonably expected of such a veteran. Revises requirements for employment counseling services and other assistance. Requires the Administrator of Veterans Affairs to provide such resources and personnel as may be necessary to carry out the counseling assessment and jobs matching functions authorized under the veterans' job bank and job matching program. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1986 through 1988. Authorizes not more than ten percent of the funds appropriated for FY 1986 and not more than five percent of the funds appropriated for FY 1987 and 1988 to be used by the Administrator to provide counseling, job matching, or supportive services or to pay outreach or necessary and appropriate administrative expenses directly related to the implementation of this Act. Authorizes the Assistant Secretary of Labor for Veterans' Employment to establish and carry out a nationwide computerized job bank and job matching program. Sets forth requirements for such job bank program. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1986 to carry out such program. Increases to GS-11 the level to which veterans may be appointed for veterans readjustment appointments and career-conditional appointments (currently to GS-9). Eliminates the disability requirement as a condition for appointments of Vietnam-era veterans.
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 · 26 April 1985
Continental Scientific Drilling and Exploration Act - Directs the Secretary of Energy, the Secretary of the Interior through the the United States Geological Survey, and the Director of the National Science Foundation to implement the policies of the proposed Continental Scientific Drilling Program of the United States relating to earth science research and technological development. Prescribes guidelines for such implementation, including: (1) taking action to assure an effective cooperative effort in furtherance of the Program; (2) taking administrative and financial measures to assure the effective functioning of the Interagency Accord on Continental Scientific Drilling; (3) assuring the continuing operation of the Interagency Coordinating Group; and (4) assuring that the Interagency Coordinating Group receives appropriate Federal agency cooperation. Requires a report to the Congress within 180 days of enactment which describes: (1) policy objectives; (2) projected schedules of scientific and engineering events that would advance Program objectives; (3) resources and funding levels needed for projected schedules of events and Program policy objectives; and (4) cooperation with the international community.
United States · United States Congress · 26 April 1985
Intergenerational Education Volunteer Network Act of 1985 - Authorizes the Secretary of Education to make grants to local educational agencies (LEAs), or to public agencies and private nonprofit organizations applying jointly with one or more LEAs, to establish and operate intergenerational volunteer network programs, using senior citizen volunteers to help educationally disadvantaged children. Provides that such volunteers will tutor such children in their elementary and secondary schools and homes and will serve as liaisons between their schools and families. Provides that such funds may also be used to: (1) train volunteers, teachers, and other school personnel involved in such programs; (2) develop curricula materials; and (3) assist volunteers to pay for program-related expenses. Requires that each such grant shall be made to provide 90 percent of the cost of establishing and operating the program involved for a period of two to three years. Requires the remaining cost of such program to be provided from non-Federal sources. Provides that at least 90 percent of the amount appropriated to carry out this Act in any fiscal year may be used to make such grants. Limits to ten percent of such appropriations the amount which may be used by the Secretary for: (1) administrative costs; (2) the preparation of a biennial report to the Congress on such programs; (3) leadership training for project directors and other designated project personnel; and (4) ongoing technical assistance for such programs. Limits to ten percent that portion of such a grant which may be used by the grantee for administrative costs. Prohibits any part of such a grant from being used to: (1) pay the cost of any program established before the enactment of this Act; or (2) supplant any funds that would be available to the grantee in the absence of such grant. Requires that eligible applicants submit grant applications which describe the program and which provide assurances that: (1) local senior citizen groups and parent groups, and State agencies on education and on aging, are involved in program design; (2) local senior citizen groups and parent groups are involved in program operation; (3) good faith efforts will be made to locate for program participation senior citizen volunteers through programs under the Domestic Volunteer Service Act of 1973; and (4) only elementary and secondary schools and families eligible for assistance under title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 may receive assistance under this Act. Directs the Secretary, before approving any such application, to transmit a copy of it to the Director of the Action Agency for review or recommendation. Prohibits the Secretary from approving such application until: (1) receipt of the Director's recommendation; or (2) 30 days after such application is so transmitted. Directs the Secretary, in approving such applications, to assure equitable distribution of such grants among the States. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1986 through 1990.
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 · 24 April 1985
Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide for the appointment of two additional members to the Prospective Payment Assessment Commission.
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 · 16 April 1985
Authorizes the President to call a White House Conference on Library and Information Services, to be held not later than 1989, to develop recommendations for improvement of such services and their public use. Requires that the Conference be planned and conducted by the National Commission on Libraries and Information Sciences. Authorizes the Librarian of Congress, the Director of the National Library of Medicine, and the Director of the National Agricultural Library, upon request, to detail personnel to the Commission. Requires the Conference to submit a final report to the President within 120 days following its close. Directs that the final report be made public, and within 90 days after receipt by the President, transmitted to the Congress with recommendations. Establishes an advisory committee to assist in planning and conducting the Conference. Includes among its appointed members the Secretary of Education and the Librarian of Congress. Authorizes appropriations as necessary.
United States · United States Congress · 15 April 1985
Water Research Foundation Act of 1985 - Establishes the Water Research Foundation to: (1) promote and support water research; (2) assist in the determination of long term national priorities for the preservation and use of the Nation's water resources; (3) support scientific and social research; (4) foster the interchange of water resource information; and (5) encourage the establishment of non-governmental water research programs. Establishes within the Foundation a Water Research Planning Center to: (1) support studies in cooperation with other institutions, universities, and Federal and non-Federal agencies; (2) correlate water-related studies; (3) determine additional research needs; (4) recommend long term research priorities; and (5) provide funding for research and related efforts approved by the Board. Establishes within the Foundation a Water Information Clearinghouse to: (1) provide information to user groups; (2) analyze water resources information; (3) develop an information retrieval system; and (4) support educational programs and activities about water. Requires the Foundation to report to the Congress five years after the appointment of the Board. Authorizes appropriations through FY 1990.
United States · United States Congress · 4 April 1985
Interstate Compact - Grants congressional approval to the Midwest Interstate Compact on Low-Level Radioactive Waste Management, which provides for cooperation among the States of Iowa, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, and Wisconsin in the management of low-level radioactive waste. States that eligible parties to the compact are the States of Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Virginia, and Wisconsin. Permits any State not eligible for membership in the compact to petition for eligibility.
United States · United States Congress · 4 April 1985
Economic Equity Act of 1985 - Title I: Tax and Retirement Matters - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide that the maximum deduction for contributions to an individual retirement plan: (1) shall be computed separately for each individual who is married; and (2) in the case of a married individual who has no compensation or less compensation than that of the spouse, shall be determined as if such compensation were the same as that of the individual's spouse. Treats alimony as compensation for purposes of determining an individual's income tax deduction for retirement savings. Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) and the Internal Revenue Code to require that a retirement plan that provides an annuity to a participant with at least ten years of creditable service shall provide a survivor's annuity for the spouse of a participant who dies before the annuity starting date in an amount not less than the amount that would have been made under the survivor's annuity if the participant had survived and retired on such annuity date. Provides that a participant's election not to take a joint and survivor's annuity shall not be effective unless the spouse of the participant consents in writing to such an election. Requires a retirement plan to treat an individual who was the spouse of the participant on the annuity starting date and who survives the participant as if such individual were the spouse of the participant on the date of death of the participant whether or not divorced after the annuity starting date. Allows the assignment of the benefits of a qualified retirement plan in the case of a judgment decree or order relating to child support, alimony payments, or marital property rights pursuant to a State domestic relations law. Amends ERISA to lower the age limitation for participation in a qualified retirement plan from age 25 to age 21. Amends ERISA and the Internal Revenue Code to provide for accruals of creditable service to continue while an individual is on approved maternity or paternity leave at the rate of 20 hours service for each week of approved leave. Entitles former spouses of civil service employees or Members of Congress who were married to an employee or Member for at least ten years' during creditable service to an annuity based upon a portion of retired or retainer pay unless otherwise provided by a spousal agreement or a State court decree of divorce or annulment. Entitles former spouses to survivor's benefits under the civil service plan unless the former spouse remarries before becoming 60 years of age or the employee or Member and former spouse elect to waive such benefit. Requires that such waiver be jointly made in writing. Includes displaced homemakers as a targeted group for purposes of the targeted jobs tax credit. Defines "displaced homemaker" as a person who: (1) has not worked, except in the home, for a substantial number of years; (2) has been dependent on public assistance or on the income of a family member but is no longer supported by that income; and (3) is a member of an economically disadvantaged family and is experiencing difficulty obtaining or upgrading employment. Increases the zero bracket amount for heads of households from $2,300 to $3,400. Title II: Dependent Care Program - Increases the income tax credit for household and dependent care services from a maximum of 30 percent of amounts paid to a maximum of 50 percent of amounts paid. Reduces such percentage to a minimum of 20 percent based on the taxpayer's adjusted gross income. Makes such income tax credit refundable. Treats as tax-exempt organizations certain organizations which provide nonresidential dependent care to the general public. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services (through the Commissioner of the Administration of Children, Youth, and Families) to establish a grant program to assist nonprofit organizations in the establishment or operation of community-based child care information centers. Title III: Nondiscrimination in Insurance - Nondiscrimination in Insurance Act of 1983 - Prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin in the consideration of applications for, or the granting of, insurance policies and the terms of such policies. Permits insurers who regularly provided insurance solely to persons of a single religious affiliation to continue to do so. Grants to State or local governments having insurance discrimination laws the primary opportunity to enforce this Act. Permits an aggrieved person to file a civil action in State or Federal court against an insurer if a State or local authority: (1) has received notice of a complaint and fails to act within 60 days; or (2) has no insurance discrimination laws. Authorizes the Attorney General to bring a civil action in district court when there is reasonable cause to believe that a person or group is engaged in a pattern or practice of resistance to the rights granted by this Act and that such denial raises an issue of general public importance. Title IV: Regulatory Reform and Sex Neutrality - Requires the head of each Federal agency to: (1) conduct an ongoing review of the rules, regulations, programs, and policies of the agency to identify any which result in different treatment based on sex; and (2) submit annually a report to the Congress on such review. Sets forth rules of statutory construction relating to gender. Title V: Child Support Enforcement - Amends the Social Security Act to specify that the purpose of the child support enforcement program is to assure compliance with obligations to pay child support to each child in the United States living with one parent. Allows offsets of income tax refunds of an absent parent on behalf of children not receiving Aid to Families with Dependent Children. (Present law permits such offsets only in the case of children receiving AFDC payments.) Requires States to establish a child support clearinghouse through which child support payments can be paid, recorded, and forwarded. Revises State child support enforcement procedures. Allows allotments for child and spousal support to be taken from the pay of Federal employees.
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
Provides, for taxable years prior to 1985, that rural letter carriers are permitted to compute the amount of the deduction for the use of their automobile in performing services involving the collection and delivery of mail on a rural route by: (1) using the amount received as equipment maintenance allowances from the United States Postal Service; or (2) using the form entitled "Worksheet for Use of Rural Carrier in Reporting Equipment Allowance and Claiming Transportation Expense Deduction." Provides, for taxable years beginning after 1984, that rural letter carriers are permitted to compute the amount of their deduction for use of their automobile in performing such services: (1) by using a standard mileage rate for all such miles of such use equal to 150 percent of the basic standard rate; or (2) by calculating the equipment allowance deduction equal to the operating expenses. Removes the 50 percent of business use limitation contained in the Internal Revenue Code for rural letter carriers who claim the investment tax credit and the depreciation deduction for their automobiles.
United States · United States Congress · 3 April 1985
Peace Corps Amendments of 1985 - Amends the Peace Corps Act to establish a Peace Corps National Advisory Council which shall advise and consult with the President and the Director of the Peace Corps on policies and programs designed to further the purposes of the Act and shall report periodically to the Congress. Requires members of the Council to inspect Peace Corps' activities in the United States and abroad. Requires the Council to submit a report to the President and to the Director of the Peace Corps once every two years. Declares that it is a U.S. policy and a purpose of the Peace Corps to provide to the maximum extent appropriate sufficient opportunities for service to maintain a volunteer corps of at least 10,000 individuals. Prohibits using any political test or qualification in selecting persons for enrollment as a volunteer or in taking any other action with respect to volunteers.
United States · United States Congress · 3 April 1985
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to permit U.S. businesses with operations in foreign countries to treat all of their domestic research and experimental expenditures as deductions against U.S. source income. (Current IRS regulations require the allocation of a portion of such expenses against foreign source income.)
United States · United States Congress · 3 April 1985
Expresses the sense of the Senate that the administration should comply with the automatic appropriation and earmarking provisions of the Wallop/Breaux Sport Fish Restoration Trust Fund and support adequate appropriation for the Boating Safety Account in such Fund. States that funds owed to the States from such Fund should not be withheld or delayed.
![Official portrait of Sen. Durenberger, Dave [R-MN]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/d000566_200.jpg)