United States · United States Congress · 26 June 1980
Amends the United States Grain Standards Act to exempt from official weighing requirements: (1) intracompany shipments of grain into an export elevator by any mode of transportation; (2) grain transferred into an export elevator by transportation modes other than barges if waived by mutual agreement between shipper and receiver; and (3) grain transferred out of an export elevator to destinations within the United States if similarly waived by mutual agreement between shipper and receiver. Defines "intracompany shipments" as including shipments of grain lots: (1) between facilities owned or controlled by the person owning the grain; or (2) from a facility owned by a grain-owning cooperative to an export facility which such cooperative jointly owns with other cooperatives.
United States · United States Congress · 25 June 1980
Farm Labor Contractor Registration Act Amendments of 1980 - Amends the Farm Labor Contractor Registration Act of 1963 to revise the definition of "farm labor contractor" to: (1) broaden specified exclusions from such definition (thus broadening certain exemptions from coverage under such Act); and (2) exclude from such definition (and such coverage) any nonprofit or cooperative association of farmers, growers, ranchers, duly incorporated under appropriate State laws, and operated solely for the mutual benefit of the members thereof, and any full-time or regular employee of such association or cooperative who engages in such activity solely for such employer. Adds other definitions relating to such revisions. Revises the definition of "agricultural employment" to specify that listed activities take place on a farm or ranch. Limits the definition of "migrant worker" to only those workers who cannot regularly return to their domicile each day after working hours, or who are transported from and to their domicile each workday by the person who recruits, solicits, hires, or furnishes such worker for agricultural employment on a farm or ranch owned or operated by another person.
United States · United States Congress · 25 June 1980
Tax Reduction - Job Creation Act - Title I: Individual Tax Rates - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to reduce income tax rates for each category of individual taxpayers. Title II: Incentives for New Plant and Equipment - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to revise the method for determining useful lives of business assets for purposes of computing allowable depreciation deductions. Replaces the asset depreciation range (ADR) method with a schedule of capital cost recovery periods for three classes of business property. Establishes capital cost recovery periods for the following classes of business property: (1) buildings and their structural components, ten years; (2) tangible property, five years; and (3) automobiles, taxis, and light-duty trucks (up to $100,000), three years. Allows a ten percent investment tax credit for buildings and tangible property, and a six percent credit for automobiles, taxis, and light duty trucks. Requires the recapture of depreciation amounts and investment tax credit amounts applicable to assets which are sold or otherwise disposed of prior to the expiration of the capital cost recovery period. Permits taxpayer to deduct less than the full allowance for capital cost recovery in any taxable year. Permits a carryover to succeeding taxable years of any unused depreciation amounts. Disqualifies capital cost recovery property from the allowance for first year depreciation. Treats amounts claimed as the capital cost recovery of noncorporate lessors as an item of tax preference for purposes of the minimum tax. Adopts as an accounting practice the "half year convention" under which investments eligible for capital cost recovery treatment or the investment tax credit which are made at any time during the taxable year are deemed to be made in the middle of such year.
United States · United States Congress · 25 June 1980
Urges the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System to dismantle consumer credit controls and to discourage the provision of credit for speculative, nonproductive purposes.
United States · United States Congress · 24 June 1980
Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to convey to the Mammoth Unified School District, Mono County, and the Mono County Water District specified lands in Mono County, California.
United States · United States Congress · 24 June 1980
Expresses the sense of the Senate that the inclusion of a separate agenda item on Palestinian women presents an intrusion of political issues into the Mid-Decade Conference for women. Declares that the U.S. delegation to the Conference should be instructed to oppose any resolutions which do not relate directly to the goals of the Conference.
United States · United States Congress · 24 June 1980
Deplores the Soviet violations with respect to Afghanistan. Joins calls for the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan. Supports the imposition of penalties on the Soviet Union for its aggression. Urges continued action to draw attention to the Soviet violations and to prevent further Soviet incursions.
United States · United States Congress · 19 June 1980
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exempt a certain portion of royalty owner oil production from the windfall profit tax. Limits the amount so exempted per quarter to ten barrels per day. Requires proportionate allocation of any production in excess of ten barrels per day between tier 1 oil, tier 2, and tier 3 oil, and within any tier on the basis of removal prices. Requires allocation of the ten barrel amount among royalty owners who are members of the same related group.
United States · United States Congress · 17 June 1980
Amends the Act reauthorizing the Central Valley project to include those portions of Yolo County within the boundaries of the Colusa County, Dunnigan, and Yolo-Zamora water districts within the service area for the Sacramento Valley Canals, California.
United States · United States Congress · 17 June 1980
Designates October 19, 1981, as a Day of National Celebration of the 200th Anniversary of the victory of General George Washington at Yorktown, Virginia.
United States · United States Congress · 17 June 1980
Disapproves a specified portion of the proposed deferral of budget authority (D80-65) for Environmental Protection Agency grants for waste treatment works.
United States · United States Congress · 16 June 1980
Expresses the sense of the Senate that the Secretary of Energy, in consultation with other Federal agencies, should establish a program to use energy efficient and viable alternatives to halocarbon based technologies for cooling.
United States · United States Congress · 10 June 1980
Expresses the sense of the Senate that the President instruct the Attorney General to prosecute all persons who violate the Logan Act and the executive order prohibiting travel to Iran, thereby giving color of right to illegal actions by the Government of Iran.
United States · United States Congress · 6 June 1980
School Lunch and Child Nutrition Amendments Act of 1980 - Amends the National School Lunch Act to reduce the national average value of donated foods or alternative cash payments by one cent per lunch. Eliminates the updating of the income poverty guidelines for the purpose of determining eligibility for participation in the school lunch program. Permits the Secretary of Agriculture, the State, and local school authorities to seek verification of the data submitted in an application for participation in such program. Requires as a condition of participation in such program that the social security account numbers of all members of an applying household be furnished to such authorities. Permits the use of such numbers for the vertification of submitted data. Prescribes the income guidelines for free lunches at 20 percent (rather then 25 percent) above the applicable family size income levels in the income poverty guidelines prescribed by the Secretary. Prescribes the income guidelines for reduced price lunches at 75 percent (rather than 95 percent) above such guidelines. Modifies the income poverty guidelines for the purposes of this Act. Reformulates the computation of special assistance payments. Directs the Secretary to prescribe annually (rather than semiannually) adjustments in the national average rates for lunches served and the special-assistance factor for lunches served under the National School Lunch Act and the national average rates for breakfasts served under the Child Nutrition Act of 1966. Excludes Job Corps Centers from the definition of school for the purposes of the National School Lunch Act. Requires claims for reimbursement for meals served under the National School Lunch Act or the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 to be submitted to the State agency within a specified period of time. Authorizes appropriations for the commodity distribution program through fiscal year 1983. Requires each State agency that distributes commodities and other foods to schools under such program to establish procedures to permit a school to receive the desired amounts and types of commodity assistance, including the delivery of alternative commodities when available. Directs the Secretary to adjust annually (rather than semiannually) the national average payment rate to the States for the child care food program. Requires the average payment rate for supplements to be three cents lower than such adjustment. Reduces the amount available to the Secretary to provide equipment assistance to enable institutions to establish, maintain, and expand the child care food program. Permits the Secretary to establish special procedures for the conduct of audits of participating institutions. Authorizes the Secretary to require each State to establish a standard form of contract for use by institutions in purchasing meals. Requires regulations issued under the National School Lunch Act or the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 to be submitted to Congress before becoming effective. Amends the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 to establish the rate of reimbursement per half-pint of milk served to children not eligible for free milk under the special milk program at five cents. Requires whole milk to be also offered in the school lunch program whenever other milks are required to be offered. Requires annual rather than semiannual adjustments in the maximum payment for each free breakfast served at schools that are in severe need. Extends through fiscal year 1983 the authorization of appropriations for the food service equipment assistance program. Directs the Secretary to reapportion unused funds. Directs the Secretary to allocate funds for State administrative expenses to the agencies responsible for the administration of the programs authorized under the National School Lunch Act and the Child Nutrition Act of 1966, excepting the special supplemental food program. Permits the States to use the allocated funds as needed in meeting the administrative costs of such programs. Extends the authorization of appropriations for State administrative expenses through fiscal year 1983. Excludes Job Corps Centers from the definition of school for the purposes of the Child Nutrition Act. Grants the Secretary the power to determine the amount of and settle and adjust any claim arising under the provisions of such Acts. Extends the authorization of appropriations for the special supplemental food program through fiscal year 1983. Prohibits the dual receipt of benefits under such program and the commodity supplemental food program authorized under the Food and Agriculture Act of 1977. Reformulates the income eligibility guidelines for such program. Extends the authorization of appropriations for the nutrition education and training program through fiscal year 1983. Directs the Secretary to give special emphasis to high protein foods when providing commodity assistance. Limits Federal reimbursement to the combined operating costs for both the lunch and breakfast programs. Modifies the formula for determining the amount of special assistance payments.
United States · United States Congress · 6 June 1980
Expresses the sense of the Senate that the President instruct the Attorney General to prosecute all persons who violate the Logan Act, thereby giving color of right to illegal actions by the Government of Iran.
United States · United States Congress · 29 May 1980
National Export Policy Act of 1980 - Title I: General Findings and Purposes - Sets forth congressional findings and the purposes of this Act. Title II: Export Financing - Amends the Export - Import Bank Act of 1945 to direct the Export-Import Bank to adopt export finance programs comparable in structure to those extraordinary measures of official export credits offered by competing countries, until such financing is limited by international agreements. Requires the Bank to report annually to Congress as to whether any additional appropriations or any increases in its commitment authority or ceiling levels are necessary to carry out this Act. States that this Act shall not take effect until six months after enactment, unless the President defers the effective date for an additional six months. Declares it to be the policy of the Congress that the Export-Import Bank of the United States should facilitate, particularly in the presence of foreign officially-supported export credit competition, exports to countries: (1) having insufficient access to international credit facilities; (2) demonstrating reasonable economic progress; and (3) offering adequate formal assurances of repayment (currently, must offer sufficient likelihood of repayment). Increases the aggregate amount of loans and contractual liability of guarantees and insurance which may be outstanding at any one time. Requires such activities to be carried out through the Export Expansion Facility. Provides for the capitalization of such Facility. Establishes staggered, ten-year terms of office for the Bank directors. Declares that the House and Senate Appropriations Committees should consider limitations on Bank activities when considering appropriations for international trade activities rather than when considering foreign assistance activities. Title III: Export - Related Tax Policy - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to increase the earned income exclusion for United States citizens working abroad, who are bona fide residents of a foreign country, from an annual rate of $20,000 to: (1) $50,000; or (2) $65,000, if such persons qualify as bona fide residents for certain specified periods. Allows separate exclusions to married individuals who are both working overseas, although one's excess exclusion cannot be used against income earned by the other. Waives the residency requirements to qualify for such exclusion for those required to leave a foreign country because of civil unrest, war, or similar adverse conditions precluding the normal conduct of business. Reduces from 17 to 11 months the foreign residency requirement with respect to the deduction for certain housing expenses of living abroad. Revises the formula for determining the base housing amount with regard to such deduction to make it 16 percent of the salary of a GS-14, step 1. Repeals similar deductions for cost-of-living differential, schooling expenses, home leave travel expenses, and residence in a hardship area. Provides that the foreign bad debt loss deduction shall not exceed the greater of 15 percent of the taxpayer's taxable income from exports, or two percent of the taxpayer's export receivables outstanding at the close of the taxable year. Provides that the amount of bad debt losses that may be added to a bad debt reserve shall not exceed five percent of the taxpayer's export receivables outstanding as of the close of the taxable year. Permits the amortization, based on a period of 60 months, of: (1) foreign market studies; (2) foreign marketing expenses; and (3) foreign patents. Permits an income tax deduction for currency fluctuation losses on export credit which have not been repaid by the end of the taxable year. Authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to extend the six-month deadline for exempting exports from the manufacturer's excise tax for an additional 12 months if it is determined, after consultation with the Secretary of State, that exports were delayed because of war, civil unrest, or similar adverse conditions in a foreign nation. Amends the Foreign Trade Zones Act to authorize the Secretary of Commerce to approve the duty-free entry of machinery, materials, and fuels to be used for the production of goods in a foreign trade zone if such goods are not subsequently entered into U.S. customs territory. Sets forth requirements before applications for such treatment will be approved. Makes such approval valid for six years. Requires the Foreign Trade Zones Board to include in its annual report to Congress a summary of activities and proposals to increase the use of foreign trade zones to expand U.S. exports. Makes banking organizations which have invested in an export trading company eligible for treatment as domestic international sales corporations (DISC). Includes the gross receipts from the export of services produced in the United States and from export trade services as qualified export receipts, in the case of a DISC which is an export trading company. Directs the Secretary of Commerce, with the Secretary of the Treasury, to develop and distribute information concerning the utilization of the DISC provisions. Makes export trading companies eligible for Subchapter S treatment if the shareholders of such companies are otherwise small business corporations. Exempts such companies from restrictions on the amount of foreign income they can receive and still be eligible for Subchapter S tax treatment. Title IV: Antitrust - Amends the Webb-Pomerene Act to exempt the export trade, export trade activities, and methods of operation of certified export trade associations and export trading companies from the antitrust laws. Delays the effectiveness of any certificate upon the notification of the Secretary of Commerce by the Attorney General or the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) of disagreement with the decision to issue a certificate. Sets forth the procedure to be followed by any association, company, or export trading company seeking certification under this Act and by the Secretary in issuing such certificates. Provides for appeal of the Secretary's denial of certification. Authorizes the Attorney General or the FTC to bring an action to invalidate a certification. Requires the Secretary, in consultation with the Attorney General and the FTC, to publish guidelines for determining whether an association or export trading company will meet the certification requirements. Requires certified associations and export trading companies to submit annual reports to the Secretary. Directs the Secretary to establish within the Department of Commerce an office to promote export trade associations and trading companies. Provides for automatic certification of existing associations. Requires that all applications for certification be kept confidential with specified exceptions. Authorizes the Secretary to require an association or trading company to modify its operation to be consistent with international obligations of the United States. Directs the President to appoint, with the Senate's advice and consent, a task force seven years after enactment to examine the effect of this Act and to make recommendations. Directs the Attorney General to study whether: (1) U.S. business conduct to expand exports conflicts with basic antitrust principles; and (2) a more liberal enforcement policy for overseas activities would impede implementation of the antitrust laws. Requires the Attorney General to identify such conduct which would not warrant prosecution under the antitrust laws. Sets forth the procedures for describing such permissible conduct and disclosing such descriptions. Authorizes the Secretary of Commerce to intervene in such suits and to provide legal assistance to exporters. Prohibits prosecution under the antitrust laws of exporters who: (1) have notified the Attorney General of their intention to engage in such designated conduct; or (2) receive an approval, or no objection, from the Attorney General concerning proposed transactions. Requires the Attorney General and the Secretary of Commerce to report to Congress concerning implementation of this section. Title V: Amendments to Other Laws That Hinder Exports - Amends the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977 to change the name of such Act to the Business Practices and Records Act. Amends the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to require issuers of securities to keep their books and maintain a system of internal accounting controls in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. Makes issuers liable for knowingly falsifying any books or for the intentionally wrongful maintenance or circumvention of the system of internal accounting controls. Requires only good faith efforts by issuers holding 50 percent or less of the equity capital to use their influence to cause transactions and dispositions of assets to be carried out consistent with such provisions. Repeals the provisions specifying prohibited foreign corrupt practices by issuers. Amends the Business Practices and Records Act to include issuers within the provisions specifying prohibited foreign corrupt practices by domestic concerns. Permits items of value to be given to foreigners in specified circumstances, including courtesy items, demonstration expenses, and payments lawful under the laws of the country of the intended recipient. Directs the Attorney General to issue guidelines specifying permissible conduct and arrangements associated with common types of export sales arrangements and business contracts and precautionary procedures creating a rebuttable presumption of compliance. Provides for the establishment of a Business Practices and Records Act Review Procedure to answer specific inquiries concerning enforcement of such Act. Requires the Attorney General to issue opinions regarding compliance. Makes such opinions final and binding on all parties if the conduct does not involve a violation. Requires annual reports to Congress by: (1) the Attorney General concerning actions taken pursuant to such Act; and (2) the Securities and Exchange Commission concerning the reporting requirements. Expresses the sense of the Congress that the President should negotiate agreements establishing standards of conduct for international business practices, a resolution procedure, and rates of commissions. Directs the President to report to Congress concerning the progress of such negotiations. Requires Congress to review the Business Practices and Records Act after receiving the President's report. Requires an export competitiveness impact statement from any issuing authority taking significant action which could affect adversely U.S. exports or the international competitive position of the United States and its exporters. Expresses the sense of Congress that export paperwork must be reduced to encourage export sales. Requires all agencies to minimize paperwork and reporting requirements. Title VI: Export Awareness and Export Promotion Programs - Export Trading Company Act of 1980 - Directs the Secretary of Commerce to promote export trading companies and facilitate contracts between producers of exportable goods and export trading companies. Authorizes any banking organization to invest up to specified amounts in export trading companies upon notifying, but without obtaining the prior approval of, the appropriate Federal banking agency, if such investment does not cause an export trading company to become a subsidiary of such organization. Allows greater investment by Edge Act Corporations not engaged in banking. Permits any banking organization to invest beyond such limitations with the prior approval of the appropriate Federal banking agency. Requires prior notification of such agencies in specified circumstances. Sets forth further limitations on export trading companies and investments by banking organizations. Specifies factors to be taken into consideration by the banking agencies. Permits such agencies to impose conditions in approving applications to invest in export trading companies. Requires such agencies to report to the appropriate congressional committees concerning implementation of this Act and any recommendations. Provides for judicial review of denial orders in the appropriate U.S. Court of Appeals. Sets forth the grounds for disapproval. Provides for remand for further consideration by the banking agency. Directs the Economic Development Administration and the Small Business Administration to give special weight to export-related benefits when considering applications for loans and guarantees by export trading companies. Directs the Export-Import Bank of the United States to provide loan guarantees to export trading companies or exporters to be secured by accounts receivable or inventories when adequate financing is not otherwise available and such guarantees will facilitate expansion of exports. Small Business Export Expansion Act of 1980 - Amends the Small Business Act to authorize the Administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA) to permit participating lending institutions to take actions on behalf of the Administrator with respect to deferred participation loans. Empowers the SBA either directly or in cooperation with lending institutions, to extend credit for export purposes to enable small business concerns to develop foreign markets. Limits the extension of such credit to periods of 18 months or less. Sets a maximum of $750,000 which may be committed to any borrower from the business loan and investment revolving fund. Establishes within the Administration an Office of International Trade to promote sales opportunities for small business goods and services abroad. Requires such Office to: (1) provide small businesses with access to current and complete export information; (2) encourage greater small business participation in trade fairs, shows, missions, and other domestic and overseas export development activities of the Department of Commerce; and (3) assign full-time export development specialists to each Administration regional office. Directs the Administrator, after consultation with specified agencies, to establish an export promotion center in each of two regional offices of the Administration where field offices of the Department of Commerce and the Internal Revenue Service exist. Requires each such center to serve as a one- stop information center on Federal Government export assistance, financing programs available to small business, and other provisions of law governing exporting for small business. Requires: (1) a progress report on the implementation of such centers to the appropriate Congressional committees within six months of enactment of this Act; and (2) an evaluation, within two years after enactment, of the effectiveness of such centers in developing and expanding small business exports. Authorizes the Secretary of Commerce to make grants to qualified applicants to encourage the development and implementation of small business international marketing programs. Sets forth eligibility requirements for applicants. Prohibits the use of any Federal funds to directly underwrite any small business participation in foreign trade missions abroad. Requires each small business international marketing program to: (1) have a full-time staff director to manage program activities; (2) have access to export specialists to counsel and assist small business clients; and (3) establish an advisory board. Directs the Secretary to require, as a condition to any grant, that an additional amount equal to twice the amount of such grant be provided from sources other than the Federal Government. Directs the Secretary to develop a plan to evaluate such programs to: (1) determine the impact of such programs on the small businesses assisted; (2) determine the amount of export sales generated by such businesses; and (3) make recommendations concerning continuation and/or expansion of the program. Requires the establishment of at least one small business international program within each region of the Department of Commerce. Directs the Secretary of Commerce, through the International Trade Administration, to maintain a central clearinghouse for the collection, dissemination, and exchange of information between such programs. Directs the Secretary to enter into cooperative agreements with industrial corporations to develop foreign markets for their products. Requires the Secretary to direct specific market research for the products involved in foreign markets upon entering such agreements. Permits interested industrial corporations to submit a proposal incorporating specific marketing actions to the Secretary. Authorizes the Secretary to enter into a marketing agreement after approving any such proposal. Requires repayment of the Federal share of the costs by the entity entering into such an agreement. International Education Programs Act - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to direct the Secretary of Education to make grants to, and contracts with, institutions of higher education to pay the Federal share of the cost of programs designed to promote linkages between such institutions and the American business community engaged in international economic activities. Requires higher education institutions to apply for such grants and contracts. Limits the amount of Federal assistance. Provides for an advisory board to consider the grants made, or contracts entered into, and to review programs established under this section. Directs each Federal agency and U.S. representative to any international organization to: (1) identify programs affecting the export of U.S. firms' services; (2) make available information concerning such programs; (3) establish programs to publicize export-related programs for services; and (4) modify those programs with an adverse effect on the export of services. Makes the Secretary of Commerce responsible for coordinating such programs. Directs the Department of Treasury to report to Congress concerning the feasibility of extending DISC treatment to the export of services. Title VII: Agricultural Exports - Amends the Commodity Credit Corporation Charter Act to establish the Agricultural Export Credit Revolving Fund to be available for: (1) the export of, or aid in the development of foreign markets for, agricultural commodities; and (2) loans for the acquisition of facilities in foreign countries to improve the countries' capacities to handle agri-commodities exported from the United States. Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to report to Congress annually concerning the export credit sales program. Abolishes such fund effective October 1, 1983. Amends the Export-Import Bank Act of 1945 to require the ratio of credit extended by the Export-Import Bank for agricultural exports in comparison with the total amount extended be at least equivalent to the value of agricultural exports in comparison with total value of exports. Specifies exceptions to this requirement. Requests the President to take action to establish an International Wheat Exporting Commission which would establish an annual minimum world market price for wheat and prescribe export quotas. Requires the President to keep Congress informed about the establishment of such Commission and to report annually once such Commission is established. Title VIII: International Agreements - Expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) the multilateral trade agreement be strongly implemented; and (2) the efforts must continue to secure a freer world trading environment. Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to implement a special export subsidy program for agricultural commodities to neutralize the effects of foreign export subsidy programs. Specifies the circumstances required before such program may be implemented. Expresses the sense of Congress that the President should enter negotiations for international codes of: (1) official export financing; (2) business conduct; (3) reciprocity of antitrust enforcement; and (4) fair trade in services. Requires the President to report to Congress concerning the progress of such negotiations. Title IX: Government Support of Export Goals - Overseas Private Investment Corporation Act of 1980 - Establishes the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) as an independent agency. Sets forth the duties of OPIC. Provides for the capital of OPIC to be paid in through the appropriation process and through transfer from OPIC's earned income. Sets forth the structure of OPIC with a Board of Directors, a President of the Corporation, an Executive Vice President of the Corporation, other officers and staff, and consultants. Authorizes OPIC to issue insurance to eligible investors covering new or existing investments protecting against specified risks. Authorizes OPIC to make arrangements with foreign governments or multilateral organizations for sharing liabilities. Limits the insurance that may be issued to a single investor. Authorizes OPIC to issue guarantees of loans and other investments. Sets forth limitations on such guarantees. Authorizes OPIC to make direct loans to privately owned or mixed publicly and privately owned firms for projects sponsored by or significantly involving United States small businesses or cooperatives. Limits the circumstances under which OPIC may acquire stock in any other corporation. Authorizes OPIC to initiate and support the identification, assessment, and promotion of private investment opportunities, with specified exceptions. Authorizes OPIC to administer special projects to provide private technical, professional, or managerial assistance in the development of human resources, skills, technology, capital savings, and intermediate financial institutions and cooperatives. Authorizes OPIC to engage in other insurance, reinsurance, and risk sharing activities with other insurance companies, financial institutions, persons, or groups. Limits the amount of reinsurance of liabilities which OPIC may issue. Limits the amount of maximum contingent liability pursuant to insurance or guarantees issued under this Act which may be outstanding at any one time. Establishes the: (1) Direct Investment Fund as a revolving fund to be available for direct investments; and (2) Insurance Reserve and Guaranty Reserve to be available for discharging liabilities. Authorizes appropriations to the investment and guaranty fund in specified circumstances. Authorizes OPIC to issue obligations in specified circumstances in order to discharge liabilities. Requires that all revenues and income transferred to or earned by OPIC be available to carry out OPIC's purposes. Directs OPIC to determine that suitable arrangements exist for protecting OPIC's interests in connection with any insurance, guaranty, or reinsurance issued under this Act. Pledges the full faith and credit of the United States for the full payment and performance of previous obligations. Sets forth conditions with respect to insurance, guaranty, and reinsurance coverage under this Act concerning fees, time limits, fraud, and settlement of disputes. Sets forth administrative provisions and duties applicable to OPIC. Requires OPIC to undertake to broaden the participation of United States small business, cooperatives, and other small investors in the development of small private enterprise in less developed friendly countries or areas. Directs OPIC to report annually to Congress concerning its operations. Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to define "eligible investor" in terms of this Act with respect to housing guarantees. Repeals provisions: (1) prohibiting the transfer of OPIC funds between accounts; (2) authorizing the President to deny assistance to any less developed country which fails to enter into an agreement to institute the investment guaranty program; and (3) establishing OPIC. Stipulates that nothing in this part shall be construed as terminating any of OPIC's statutory authority. Requires the President to submit to the appropriate congressional committees any necessary technical or conforming amendments. Declares that the potential for U.S. exports shall be a primary decisionmaking factor in considering which projects to include in U.S. foreign aid programs. Requires the Director of the International Development Cooperation Agency (IDCA) to transfer the functions of the Office of Reimbursable Development from the Agency for International Development to an independent functional status within the IDCA. Declares that the Office of Management and Budget should assure that adequate budget allocations are made available to carry out the programs prescribed in this Act. Declares that the Department of Justice should do what it can to facilitate procedures for exporters. Declares that the Small Business Administration should: (1) be aware of the benefits of export to small business development; and (2) use every opportunity to provide information and assistance to potential exporters. Declares that the U.S. ability to export coal, nuclear power fuels, and other energy materials in a reliable manner should be a key consideration. Directs congressional committees to include in their reports the effect of the bill or resolution on the international competitiveness of the United States. Creates a National Export Council to: (1) serve as a national advisory body on matters relating to United States export trade; (2) act as a liaison among the communities represented by its membership; and (3) provide advice on Federal plans and actions that affect export promotion and development policies which have an impact on those communities represented by its membership. Requires the Council to make an annual report to the President and the Congress on its activities. Authorizes the Secretary of Commerce to appoint commercial ministers, counselors, and attaches with the rank and privileges of other ministers, counselors, and attaches in U.S. embassies and consulates, to: (1) provide trade and commercial services; (2) engage in the promotion of U.S. exports; (3) file semiannual reports to the Secretary on market, industrial, and commodity conditions in their districts and on the implementation of multilateral and bilateral trade agreements; and (4) maintain current data on the commercial standing and capacity of foreign firms within their districts. Provides for domestic assignment, office logistics, allowances and benefits of such ministers, counselors, and attaches. Directs the Comptroller General to report to Congress with any recommendations concerning: (1) the organization of international trading and financing programs in the United States; (2) the effectiveness of foreign export promotion programs; and (3) the trade activities of specified Federal agencies. Expresses the sense of Congress that the appropriate congressional committees should review periodically the trade organization of the U.S. Government.
United States · United States Congress · 28 May 1980
Business Accounting and Foreign Trade Simplification Act - Amends the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977 to change the name of such Act to the Business Practices and Records Act. Amends the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to require issuers of securities to keep their books and maintain a system of internal accounting controls in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. Makes issuers liable for knowingly falsifying any books or for the intentionally wrongful maintenance or circumvention of the system of internal accounting controls. Requires only good faith efforts by issuers holding 50 percent or less of the equity capital to use their influence to cause transactions and dispositions of assets to be carried out consistent with such provisions. Repeals the provisions specifying prohibited foreign corrupt practices by issuers. Amends the Business Practices and Records Act to include issuers within the provisions specifying prohibited foreign corrupt practices by domestic concerns. Permits items of value to be given to foreigners in specified circumstances, including courtesy items, demonstration expenses, and payments lawful under the laws of the country of the intended recipient. Directs the Attorney General to issue guidelines specifying permissible conduct and arrangements associated with common types of export sales arrangements and business contracts and precautionary procedures creating a rebuttable presumption of compliance. Provides for the establishment of a Business Practices and Records Act Review Procedure to answer specific inquiries concerning enforcement of such Act. Requires the Attorney General to issue opinions regarding compliance. Makes such opinions final and binding on all parties if the conduct does not involve a violation. Requires annual reports to Congress by: (1) the Attorney General concerning actions taken pursuant to such Act; and (2) the Securities and Exchange Commission concerning the reporting requirements. Expresses the sense of the Congress that the President should negotiate agreements establishing standards of conduct for international business practices, a resolution procedure, and rates of commissions. Directs the President to report to Congress concerning the progress of such negotiations. Requires Congress to review the Business Practices and Records Act after receiving the President's report.
United States · United States Congress · 20 May 1980
Authorizes and requests the President to designate the week beginning October 5, 1980, as "National Port Week." Requires the Secretary of Commerce to report to Congress on the conditions of U.S. public ports.
United States · United States Congress · 16 May 1980
Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (formerly, the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare) to conduct a clinical investigation of the safety and efficacy of dimethyl sulfoxide as a drug to be used by persons with arthritis.
United States · United States Congress · 15 May 1980
Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act to prohibit the payment of disability insurance benefits to: (1) any individual for any month during which such individual is an inmate of a penal institution after being convicted of a crime or a facility for the criminally insane or other psychiatric facility after having been found (a) not guilty of a crime by reason of insanity or (b) mentally incompetent to stand trial; and (2) any individual otherwise entitled to benefits on the basis of the wages and income of such inmate for the same period.
United States · United States Congress · 15 May 1980
Title I: Export Trading Companies - Export Trading Company Act of 1980 - Directs the Secretary of Commerce to promote export trading companies and facilitate contacts between producers of exportable goods and export trading companies. Authorizes any banking organization to invest up to specified amounts in export trading companies upon notifying, but without obtaining the prior approval of, the appropriate Federal banking agency, if such investment does not cause an export trading company to become a subsidiary of such organization. Allows greater investment by Edge Act Corporations not engaged in banking. Permits any banking organization to invest beyond such limitations with the prior approval of the appropriate Federal banking agency. Requires prior notification of such agencies in specified circumstances. Sets forth further limitations on export trading companies and investments by banking organizations. Specifies factors to be taken into consideration by the banking agencies. Permits such agencies to impose conditions in approving applications to invest in export trading companies. Requires such agencies to report to the appropriate congressional committees concerning implementation of this Act and any recommendations. Provides for judicial review of denial orders in the appropriate U.S. Court of Appeals. Sets forth the grounds for disapproval. Provides for remand for further consideration by the banking agency. Directs the Economic Development Administration and the Small Business Administration to give special weight to export-related benefits when considering applications for loans and guarantees by export trading companies. Directs the Export-Import Bank of the United States to provide loan guarantees to export trading companies or exporters to be secured by accounts receivable or inventories when adequate financing is not otherwise available and such guarantees will facilitate expansion of exports. Title II: Export Trade Associations - Export Trade Association Act of 1980 - Amends the Webb-Pomerene Act to exempt the export trade, export trade activities, and methods of operation of certified export trade associations and export trading companies from the antitrust laws. Delays the effectiveness of any certificate upon the notification of the Secretary of Commerce by the Attorney General or the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) of disagreement with the decision to issue a certificate. Sets forth the procedure to be followed by any association, company, or export trading company seeking certification under this Act and by the Secretary in issuing such certificates. Provides for appeal of the Secretary's denial of certification. Authorizes the Attorney General or the FTC to bring an action to invalidate a certification. Requires the Secretary, in consultation with the Attorney General and the FTC, to publish guidelines for determining whether an association or export trading company will meet the certification requirements. Requires certified associations and export trading companies to submit annual reports to the Secretary. Directs the Secretary to establish within the Department of Commerce an office to promote export trade associations and trading companies. Provides for automatic certification of existing associations. Requires that all applications for certification be kept confidential with specified exceptions. Authorizes the Secretary to require an association or trading company to modify its operation to be consistent with international obligations of the United States. Directs the President to appoint, with the Senate's advice and consent, a task force seven years after enactment to examine the effect of this Act and to make recommendations. Title III: Taxation of Export Trading Companies - Amends the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 to make banking organizations which have invested in an export trading company eligible for treatment as domestic international sales corporations (DISC). Includes the gross receipts from the export of services produced in the United States and from export trade services as qualified export receipts, in the case of a DISC which is an export trading company. Directs the Secretary of Commerce, with the Secretary of the Treasury, to develop and distribute information concerning the utilization of the DISC provisions. Amends the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 to make export trading companies eligible for Subchapter S treatment if the shareholders of such companies are otherwise small business corporations. Exempts such companies from restrictions on the amount of foreign income they can receive and still be eligible for Subchapter S tax treatment.
United States · United States Congress · 14 May 1980
National Ridesharing Act - Directs the Secretary of Transportation to establish within the Department of Transportation a National Office of Ridesharing to develop a national program to assist State, regional, and local governments and others in developing and implementing ridesharing programs. Directs the Office to coordinate programs authorized under this Act with other Federal ridesharing activities. Sets forth ridesharing services and programs for which funding shall be made available. Prohibits the use of such funding for the construction of high occupancy vehicle facilities and the purchase or operation of public transit vehicles. Directs that the national ridesharing program shall be administered in a flexible manner to ensure participation of State departments of transportation, metropolitan planning organizations, counties, municipalities, providers of ridesharing services, publicly owned operators of mass transportation services, other local transportation planning and implementation agencies, and the private sector. Directs the Secretary of Transportation, in making discretionary apportionments to eligible recipients, to give special consideration to those applicants who have shown particular commitment to ridesharing by virtue of their use of non-Federal funds or eligible Federal highway funds in their ridesharing programs. Directs the Secretary to conduct an investigation of the performance of the Office and report to the President, Congress, and the public on such investigation by September 30, 1983. Authorizes appropriations for the purposes of this Act for fiscal years 1981 through 1984.
United States · United States Congress · 6 May 1980
Declares that it is the sense of the Congress that the enactment of a withholding tax on interest and dividend payments would be detrimental to the economic well-being of the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 1 May 1980
Amends the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 to redefine the term mobile home to mean a structure, transportable in one or more sections, which is more than eight body feet in width, is more than 40 body feet in length in the traveling mode, or contains 400 or more square feet in interior space when erected on site. Amends the National Housing Act, the United States Housing Act of 1937, and the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 to change the classification of mobile home to manufactured housing.
United States · United States Congress · 1 May 1980
Extends the condolences of the Senate to the families of the eight American servicemen who lost their lives during the mission to rescue the hostages in Iran. Declares the sense of the Senate that the President order the American flag to be flown at half-mast on all government grounds from May 4 through May 11, 1980, as a mark of respect for such servicemen.
United States · United States Congress · 29 April 1980
Small Business Export Expansion Act of 1980 - Title I: Small Business Export Financing Assistance - Amends the Small Business Act to empower the Small Business Administration, either directly or in cooperation with lending institutions, to extend credit for export purposes to enable small business concerns to develop foreign markets. Limits the extension of such credit to periods of 18 months or less. Sets a maximum of $750,000 outstanding and committed to any borrower from the business loan and investment revolving fund. Allows the Administrator to authorize participating lending institutions to take certain actions on his or her behalf with respect to deferred participation loans. Establishes within the Administration an Office of International Trade to promote sales opportunities for small business goods and services abroad. Requires such Office to: (1) provide small businesses with access to current and complete export information; (2) encourage greater small business participation in trade fairs, shows, missions, and other domestic and overseas export development activities of the Department of Commerce; and (3) assign full-time export development specialists to each Administration regional office. Directs the Secretary of Commerce, after consultation with specified agencies, to establish an export promotion center in each of two regional offices of the Administration where field offices of the Department of Commerce and the Internal Revenue Service exist. Requires each such center to serve as a one-stop information center on Federal Government export assistance, financing programs available to small business, and other provisions of law governing exporting for small business. Requires: (1) a progress report on the implementation of such centers to the appropriate congressional committees within six months of enactment of this Act; and (2) an evaluation, within two years after enactment, of the effectiveness of such centers in developing and expanding small business exports. Title II: Small Business Export Expansion Assistance - Authorizes the Secretary of Commerce to make grants to qualified applicants to encourage the development and implementation of small business international marketing programs. Limits the grant amount to each applicant to a maximum of $150,000 annually for three years. Sets forth eligibility requirements for applicants. Prohibits the use of any Federal funds to directly underwrite any small business participation in foreign trade missions abroad. Requires each small business international marketing program to: (1) have a full-time staff director to manage program activities; (2) have access to export specialists to counsel and assist small business clients; and (3) establish an advisory board of nine members appointed by the staff director. Sets forth operational procedures for such a board. Directs the Secretary to require, as a condition to any grant, that an additional amount equal to twice the amount of such grant be provided from sources other than the Federal Government. Excludes from such additional amount indirect costs or in-kind contributions paid for under any Federal program. Prohibits any such indirect costs or in-kind contributions from exceeding 50 percent of the non-Federal additional amount. Directs the Secretary to develop a plan to evaluate such programs to: (1) determine the impacts of such programs on the small businesses assisted; (2) determine the amount of export sales generated by such businesses; and (3) make recommendations concerning continuation and/or expansion of the program. Requires the establishment of at least one small business international program within each region of the Department of Commerce. Directs the Secretary of Commerce, through the International Trade Administration, to maintain a central clearinghouse for the collection, dissemination, and exchange of information between such programs. Authorizes appropriations for such programs through fiscal year 1983. Title III: National Export Council - Creates a National Export Council, composed of the Secretaries of State, Treasury, Agriculture, Commerce, Labor, and others, to serve as a national advisory body on matters relating to United States export trade. Requires the Council to: (1) evaluate the export promotion and development activities of the communities represented by its membership; (2) examine specific problems which business, industrial, and agricultural practices may cause for export trade; (3) examine the needs of business, industry, and agriculture to expand their efforts; and (4) recommend specific legislative and administrative solutions to these problems and needs. Directs the Council to: (1) act as a liaison among the communities represented by its membership; and (2) encourage the business, industrial, and agricultural communities to enter new foreign markets and to expand existing export programs. Sets forth administrative provisions for the Council. Requires an annual report to be submitted to the President and to Congress regarding the Council's activities. Requires the Council to make an annual report to the President and the Congress on its activities. Title IV: Commerce Department--Commercial Officers Overseas - Authorizes the Secretary of Commerce to appoint commercial ministers, commercial counselors, and commercial attaches with the rank and privileges of other ministers, counselors, and attaches in the United States embassies and consulates, to: (1) provide trade and commercial services, such as the protection and promotion of United States trade and commercial interests and investments in their districts; (2) engage in promotion of United States exports; (3) file semiannual reports to the Secretary on market, industrial, and commodity conditions in their districts and on the implementation of multilateral and bilateral trade agreements; and (4) maintain current data on the commercial standing and capacity of foreign firms within their districts. Provides for domestic assignment, office logistics, allowances and benefits of such ministers, counselors, and attaches.
United States · United States Congress · 29 April 1980
Grants a Federal charter to the United States Submarine Veterans of World War II. Declares that the purpose of such corporation is to establish memorials to those who served aboard United States submarines and gave their lives during World War II.
United States · United States Congress · 28 April 1980
Declares that it is the sense of the Senate that no Federal withholding tax be imposed on dividends and interest received by any citizen or resident of the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 28 April 1980
Expresses the gratitude and commendation of the Senate to the military personnel who participated in the rescue attempt of the American hostages in Iran. Extends the condolences of the Senate to the families of those who sacrificed their lives in such attempt.
United States · United States Congress · 28 April 1980
Condemns the slaying of the Liberian President, William Tolbert, the summary nature of military trials in Liberia, and the executions resulting from such trials. Expresses the sense of Congress that the President should communicate such condemnation and that congressional concern over a continued disregard for internationally recognized standards of justice will seriously affect U.S.-Liberian relations.
United States · United States Congress · 24 April 1980
Office of Strategic Trade Act of 1980 - Establishes the Office of Strategic Trade as an independent executive agency. Transfers to the Office specified export control functions and authorities of: (1) the Secretary of Commerce; (2) the Office of Munitions Control of the Department of State; and (3) the United States Customs Service. Requires the Director of the Office or his or her designee to act as the chairman of an Interagency Operating Committee consisting of representatives from: (1) the Departments of Commerce, State, Defense, Energy and Treasury; (2) the Central Intelligence Agency; and (3) the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Creates within the Office: (1) an Exporter Services Facility to act as liaison with business and the public; (2) an Operations Division to process applications for export licenses; (3) a Compliance Division to carry out functions performed before enactment of this Act by the Compliance Division of the Office of Export Administration; (4) the CoCom Division to perform functions relating to the representation of technical positions in connection with the Coordinating Committee for Multilateral Export Controls; (5) a Licensing Division to establish policy concerning the commodity control list, the munitions control list, foreign policy controls, and short supply controls; and (5) a General Counsel. Authorizes and directs the Director of the Office of Management and Budget to make such incidental transfers of functions, funds, personnel, and property as may be necessary to accomplish the purposes of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 22 April 1980
Veterans' Education Assistance Act of 1980 - Establishes a Peacetime Veterans' Educational Assistance Program for persons who enter military service after September 30, 1980, and serve on active duty for a period of two years or more, or are discharged or released from such duty for a service-connected disability. Entitles eligible veterans to 36 months of educational assistance under such program. Makes such veterans eligible to participate in the Predischarge Education Program and eligible for education loans. Provides that such veterans are eligible for educational assistance for the ten-year period following their discharge or release date. Sets forth procedures extending any applicable time period for such veterans who are prevented from initiating or completing a program of education under certain circumstances. Directs the Administrator of Veterans' Affairs to pay tuition costs and a subsistence allowance to eligible veterans in the program. Makes technical and conforming amendments to existing laws relating to veterans educational assistance. Terminates the Post-Vietnam Era Veterans' Educational Assistance program after September 30, 1982.
United States · United States Congress · 17 April 1980
Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to authorize the Attorney General to correct the birthdates on naturalization certificates of individuals admitted as immigrants between December 22, 1945, and November 1, 1954, if such original misrepresentation was predicated upon a fear of persecution if repatriated rather than to evade the existing immigration quotas.
United States · United States Congress · 3 April 1980
Amends the Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Act to authorize the construction of measures to mitigate fish and wildlife habitat losses as part of the salinity control program established under such Act. Specifies that the technical assistance provided to water users on means and measures for limiting excess water applications to irrigated lands, as an element of the Grand Valley salinity control unit, shall be available, after December 31, 1989, only to those lands that participate in the Department of Agriculture programs to improve onfarm water management. Requires the Secretary of the Interior, from time to time, to review the plans for implementation of the units authorized by such Act, and, based upon his findings, make recommendations to the appropriate Congressional committees regarding the desirability of continuing to implement such units or portions thereof. Requires the Secretary to notify the Governors of the Colorado River Basin States of such recommendations. Authorizes appropriations for the construction of works necessary to accomplish the purposes of this Act. Specifies the portion of such funds that are to be used for mitigation of fish and wildlife habitat losses.
United States · United States Congress · 3 April 1980
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from gross income interest on industrial development bonds the proceeds of which are to be used to provide for the construction, reconstruction, erection, or acquisition of a beverage container facility used in connection with a law prohibiting or discouraging the sale of beverages in nonreturnable containers.
United States · United States Congress · 2 April 1980
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exempt a certain portion of royalty owner oil production from the windfall profit tax. Limits the amount so exempted per quarter to ten barrels per day. Requires proportionate allocation of any production in excess of ten barrels per day between tier 1 oil and tier 2 oil, and within any tier on the basis of removal prices. Requires allocation of the ten barrel amount among royalty owners who are members of the same related group.
United States · United States Congress · 2 April 1980
Expresses the sense of the Senate that the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall not approve any portion of the Model State Adoption Act and Procedures prepared under the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment and Adoption Reform Act of 1978 which: (1) confers upon all biological fathers of children born out of wedlock, without distinction, the right to veto adoption of the child upon mere proof of paternity; (2) sets less stringent standards for the placement of children by unlicensed intermediaries than by licensed child-placing agencies; (3) gives parents the right to revoke relinquishments which have not been obtained through fraud, duress, or undue influence; (4) requires automatic opening at the request of an adult adoptee of confidential birth records, court records, and adoption agency records; and (5) requires agencies to notify adult adoptees that a birth parent desires to meet the adoptee even if the adoptee has not expressed a desire to meet with his birth parents.
United States · United States Congress · 19 March 1980
American Sovereignty Protection Act - Amends the Alien Enemies Acts to include within the definition of a predatory act against the United States; (1) the seizure of a diplomatic mission; or (2) the seizure of such premises together with the taking of diplomatic hostages.
United States · United States Congress · 4 March 1980
Food Stamp Accountability Act of 1980 - Amends the Food Stamp Act of 1977 to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to adjust the costs of the thrifty food plan and the amount of the standard deduction annually rather than semiannually. Disqualifies from the food stamp program any individual enrolled in an institution of higher education. Requires that each State agency determine the eligibility of each applicant household by verifying specified income in part through the use of information obtained from other government agencies' records. Permits the State agency to verify prior to certification the size of any applicant household and any factors of eligibility involving households which fall within such agency's error-prone household profiles. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to permit the Commissioner of Social Security to disclose to the Department of Agriculture and to a State food stamp agency information from individual income tax returns with respect to net earnings from self-employment and payments of retirement income which have been disclosed to the Social Security Administration, but only to the extent necessary to determine an individual's eligibility for food stamp benefits. Requires the appropriate State agency to disclose to the Secretary of Agriculture or to any State food stamp agency specified information respecting wages, unemployment compensation, and whether an individual has refused an offer of employment to the extent necessary to determine an individual's eligibility for benefits. Directs the Secretary of Labor to withhold payments from a State which does not substantially comply with such requirements. Requires each State agency to issue a photographic identification card to be presented by any member of a household when utilizing the household authorization card to receive coupons when such household is located in a city of a specified size. Directs the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of Labor to reimburse specified agencies and organizations operating specified pilot projects involving work for 50 percent of all administrative costs. Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to study and report to the appropriate committees of Congress the feasibility of issuing coupons bearing the identification number ascribed to the participating household.
United States · United States Congress · 4 March 1980
Expresses the sense of the Senate that the first concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 1981 reported by the Committee on the Budget shall limit budget outlays to 21 per cent of the gross national product.
United States · United States Congress · 28 February 1980
Amends the Food Stamp Act of 1977 to reduce the value of the allotment received by a household containing members who have available to them meals provided under the national school lunch program.
United States · United States Congress · 26 February 1980
Congratulates the members of the 1980 U.S. Winter Olympic team, its coaches and officials for a job well done. Recognizes the International Olympic Committee, the U.S. Olympic Committee, the Lake Placid Olympic Organizing Committee and the people of the Lake Placid area for their successful efforts in organizing and producing the XIII Winter Olympic Games.
![Official portrait of Sen. Hayakawa, Samuel Ichiye [R-CA]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/h000384_200.jpg)