United States · United States Congress · 6 June 1985
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend the targeted jobs income tax credit for five years from 1985 to 1990. Includes as members of a targeted group handicapped individuals who are eligible to receive rehabilitative services. (Present law limits such group to handicapped individuals who have completed rehabilitative services.) Increases the eligibility period for supplemental security income (SSI) recipients and general assistance recipients to be included as members of a targeted group.
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
Renewable Energy and Conservation Transition Act of 1985 - Title I: Extension of Business Energy Credits - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend the energy investment tax credit for solar energy property from 1985 to 1990. Sets the amount of such credit during such period at 15 percent for low temperature solar property and 25 percent for all other solar property. Extends the energy investment tax credit for wind property from 1985 to 1988. Sets the amount of such credit at: (1) ten percent during 1986 and 1987; and (2) five percent during 1988. Extends the energy investment tax credit for geothermal property and biomass property from 1985 to 1988. Extends the energy investment tax credit for ocean thermal property from 1985 to 1990. Revises the definition of "solar property" for purposes of such tax credit. Sets forth special rules for geothermal equipment to qualify for such credit. Title II: Affirmative Commitment Rule to Extend the Business Credit for Certain Long-Term Projects - Extends the time period during which an affirmative commitment must be made in order for long-term energy projects to be eligible for the energy investment tax credit. Allows such an extension: (1) from 1990 to 1993 for solar energy property; (2) from 1988 to 1990 for geothermal energy property; and (3) from 1985 to 1990 for hydroelectric generating property. Title III: Extension of Residential Energy Credits - Extends the residential energy income tax credit for solar renewable energy property from 1985 to 1990. Phases out such credit over such period of time. Provides that solar hot water systems and active space heating systems must meet certain additional standards in order to qualify for such credit. Extends the residential energy income tax credit for wind renewable energy property from 1985 to 1988. Phases out such credit over such period of time. Extends the residential energy income tax credit for geothermal renewable energy property from 1985 to 1988. Phases out such credit over such period of time. Revises the definition of geothermal deposits for purposes of such credit. Revises the definition of energy conservation expenditures for purposes of the residential energy income tax credit to limit the amounts taken into account to $700. Limits the energy conservation income tax credit to taxpayers with an adjusted gross income of less than $30,000. Title IV: Effective Date - Sets forth the effective date of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 24 May 1985
Softwood Lumber Stabilization Act of 1985 - Limits imports of softwood lumber during any calendar quarter to an amount equal to the product of the historical percentage of imports for such quarter multiplied by the total quantity of softwood lumber that the Secretary of Commerce (the Secretary) estimates will be consumed in the United States during such quarter. Directs the Secretary to allocate the limitation among foreign countries. Sets forth factors to be considered in making such allocation. Requires the Secretary to publish in the Federal Register every quarter specified information relating to such limitation. Directs the Secretary and the Secretary of the Treasury to take the actions necessary to enforce this Act. Authorizes the President during the five years following enactment of this Act to enter into trade agreements providing for limitations on imports of softwood lumber into the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 24 May 1985
Authorizes the Black Revolutionary War Patriots Foundation to establish a memorial on Federal land in the District of Columbia to honor the courageous slaves and free black persons of the American Revolution. Directs the Secretary of the Interior, with the approval of the Commission of Fine Arts and the National Capital Planning Commission, to select the site, approve the design and plans, and provide for maintenance. Prohibits the use of any Federal funds for the memorial's construction. Terminates the Foundation's authority to establish such memorial five years from the date of enactment of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 23 May 1985
National Commission to Prevent Infant Mortality - Establishes the National Commission to Prevent Infant Mortality (Commission). States the duties of the Commission, which include: (1) identifying and examining Federal, State, local, and private resources which affect infant mortality; (2) identifying barriers to the health care needed to prevent high infant mortality; and (3) reviewing and carrying forward appropriate recommendations that promote the health status of childbearing women and their infants. Directs the Commission to: (1) recommend a national policy designed to improve the current approach to preventing infant mortality; (2) recommend specific changes needed in Federal laws and programs; and (3) present such recommendations to the President, the Speaker of the House, and the majority leader of the Senate within one year of enactment of this Act. Sets forth the powers of the Commission. States that the provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act shall not apply to the Commission. Provides for the termination of the Commission. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 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
Amends the Black Lung Benefits Act to direct the Secretary of Labor to reduce, within two years after enactment of this Act, the number of cases pending and awaiting review by: (1) administrative law judges to not more than 6,000; and (2) the Benefits Review Board to not more than 800. Allows such reduction to be accomplished by employing or obtaining the services of additional administrative judges and using other measures. Directs the Secretary to notify the Congress of the measures being taken to comply with this Act within 30 days after its enactment.
United States · United States Congress · 16 May 1985
Directs the Administrator of General Services to provide for the distribution within the United States of the U.S. Information Agency film "Hal David: Expressing a Feeling."
United States · United States Congress · 15 May 1985
Rulemaking Procedures Reform Act of 1985 - Makes provisions for a Federal agency to promulgate an emergency rule, which shall terminate 120 days after its effective date. Requires agencies, after general notice in the Federal Register, to give interested parties not less than 60 days to participate in any rulemaking, except those for emergency rules. Requires an agency to transmit to the appropriate congressional committees an agenda listing all areas in which the agency intends to propose rules during the next 12-month period. Requires an agency, on the day it forwards a recommended final rule to the Federal Register, to transmit a copy to the Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk of the House of Representatives for referral to the appropriate congressional committee. Subjects recommended final rules to the congressional veto procedure. Prohibits major rules from taking effect before 90 days, and nonmajor rules before 45 days, after submission to the Congress. Allows recommended final rules to become effective after the day on which either House of Congress rejects a joint resolution of disapproval. Requires the resubmission to the next Congress of any recommended final rule which is subject to the veto procedure at the time the current Congress adjourns sine die. Allows an agency to issue a recommended final rule which relates to the same acts or practices as a rule which did not become effective. Sets forth general requirements for such an amended rule. Declares that congressional inaction or rejection of a joint resolution of disapproval with respect to a recommended final rule shall not be deemed an expression of approval of such rule. Sets forth procedures for consideration of such joint resolutions of disapproval. Makes it out of order in the House or Senate to vote on final passage of any bill or resolution making appropriations for an agency which has issued a rule that the Congress has disapproved, unless such bill or resolution prohibits the use of appropriations to carry out such rule.
United States · United States Congress · 15 May 1985
Reenacts and amends the Equal Access to Justice Act to declare that whether or not the position of an agency in an adjudicative proceeding was substantially justified shall be determined on the basis of the administrative record, as a whole, in the adversary adjudication for fees and expenses. Provides that the decision on the award of legal fees and other expenses by the adjudicative officer of a Federal agency that conducts an adversary proceeding shall be the final administrative decision. Bars any such decision when the Government appeals the underlying merits of an adversary adjudication until a final and unreviewable decision is rendered by the court on appeal or until the underlying merits of the case have been finally determined pursuant to the appeal. Amends the definition of a "party" which is eligible to be awarded legal expenses to exclude any individual whose net worth exceeds $2,000,000 (currently $1,000,000) and any entity whose net worth exceeds $7,000,000 (currently $5,000,000), including any local government. Redefines an "adversary adjudication" for which such expenses may be awarded to include any appeal before an agency board of contract appeals under the Contract Disputes Act of 1978. Authorizes a party or the United States, if dissatisfied with an adjudicative officer's determination of such expenses, to appeal the determination to the appropriate U.S. court within 30 days after such determination is made. Requires a court's determination on such an appeal to be based solely on the factual record made before the agency. Authorizes a court to modify the determination only if it finds that the failure to make an award of expenses or the calculation of the amount of the award was unsupported by substantial evidence. Requires agencies to pay litigation expenses to prevailing parties from funds made available to the agency by appropriation or otherwise. Defines "civil action" to include any appeal by a party other than the United States from a decision of a contracting officer on a dispute in a Federal contract. Provides that a person shall be a prevailing party in eminent domain proceedings if the person obtains a final judgment which is at least as close to the highest valuation of the property attested to at trial on behalf of the property owner as it is to the highest valuation of the property attested to at trial on behalf of the Government. Amends the Equal Access to Justice Act to provide that certain provisions of the Social Security Act limiting attorney fees in OASDI benefit actions shall not apply with respect to the award of legal expenses to the prevailing party. Repeals the termination dates of the Equal Access to Justice Act. Authorizes awards for fees and expenses in incurred before October 1, 1981, in an adversary adjudication commenced on or after such date.
United States · United States Congress · 14 May 1985
Space Tax Investment Equity Act of 1985 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow an investment tax credit for any tangible property which is predominantly used or operated in space and which is either a qualified spacecraft (a craft predominantly used or operated in space and controlled from locations within the United States) or is used or operated upon such a spacecraft. Treats any tangible property used in space as five-year depreciable property for purposes of the accelerated cost recovery system (ACRS). Allows an income tax credit for increasing research activities for research conducted in space. Treats income derived from commercial activity in space aboard a qualified spacecraft as income derived from sources within the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 7 May 1985
Agricultural Patent Reform Act of 1984 - Amends the patent laws to extend the terms of patents which encompass specified products or methods for using a product, including methods of manufacturing which primarily use recombinant DNA technology, any of which are subject to certain nonpatent regulatory review periods. Sets forth the terms and conditions of such extension, including a five-year limitation on the extension and a 25-year maximum patent term for the earliest filing. Directs the Commissioner of Patents to notify the appropriate Federal agency upon receipt from the product sponsor of a notice of extension to determine the applicable regulatory review period and whether, within that period, the sponsor acted with due diligence. Provides for notice and informal hearings for persons interested in such determinations. Permits the setting of fees to cover the costs of review. Directs the Commissioner, upon a final determination of the applicable regulatory review period, to issue to the owner of record of a patent a certificate of extension stating the fact and length of the extension and identifying the product and the use and the claim to which such extension is applicable. Makes such certificate a part of the original patent. Limits the application of such patent term extension to patents for: (1) any new animal drug or antibiotic subject to regulation under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act; (2) any veterinary biological product subject to regulation under the Virus-Serum-Toxin Act; (3) any pesticide subject to regulation under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act; and (4) any chemical substance or mixture subject to regulation under the Toxic Substances Control Act.
United States · United States Congress · 7 May 1985
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
Southern Agriculture Act of 1985 - Title I: Cotton - Amends the Agricultural Act of 1949 to establish for the 1986 through 1989 cotton crops: (1) loan rates; (2) target prices; (3) disaster payments; and (4) acreage reduction and land diversion provisions. Suspends base acreage allotment and marketing quota provisions. Extends specified skiprow provisions through 1989. Title II: Peanuts - Amends the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938 to establish for the 1986 through 1989 peanut crops: (1) farm poundage quotas; (2) sale, lease, or transfer provisions; (3) marketing penalties; and (4) price support levels. Suspends specified marketing quota and acreage allotment provisions. Title III: Miscellaneous - Amends the Agricultural Act of 1949 to authorize the Secretary to make advance deficiency payments available to producers of 1986 through 1989 upland crops.
United States · United States Congress · 1 May 1985
Relieves a named college in Alabama of the liability to pay to the United States and to the National Direct Student Loan Fund of the college specified sums representing inadvertent payments and student loans made under the Higher Education Act of 1965.
United States · United States Congress · 30 April 1985
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the President should: (1) ensure that U.S. officials carry out the pledge to resolve the issue of the Americans still missing and unaccounted for in Indochina; (2) work for the immediate release of any Americans still held captive and the return of the remains of those who died in Southeast Asia; and (3) make every effort to secure the further cooperation of Laos and Vietnam in resolving this issue.
United States · United States Congress · 29 April 1985
Commends the Rural Electrification Administration and dedicated individuals for their contributions to the progress made by the Nation during the past 50 years in achieving the electrification of rural America.
United States · United States Congress · 26 April 1985
Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) the United States should pay honor to the memories of the innocent civilians and American and Allied soldiers who died at the hands of the Nazis; (2) it is fitting and appropriate for the President, in a gesture of reconciliation, to visit the Federal Republic of Germany; (3) the President should recognize the importance of the relationship between the two countries; and (4) the President should reassess his planned itinerary for his forthcoming trip to the Federal Republic of Germany.
United States · United States Congress · 25 April 1985
Veterans' Health Care Promotion Act of 1985 - Directs the Administrator of Veterans Affairs to carry out a pilot program to determine the most cost-effective method of acquiring medical facilities for the Veterans Administration (VA) using certain specified methods. Requires the Administrator, not later than January 1, 1987, to enter into contracts to carry out the pilot program. Requires such contracts to be with an appropriate entity to construct and operate a nursing home for the VA. Requires the Administrator to enter into a contract with an appropriate entity to plan for, design, and construct a medical facility for the VA and to lease or sell such facility to the VA as directed by the Administrator. Directs the Administrator to also acquire two existing medical facilities. Requires the Administrator to provide the Committees on Veterans' Affairs of the Senate and the House of Representatives an annual report on the administration of the pilot program and a final report promptly after the termination of such program. Requires the Administrator, within 90 days after enactment of this Act, to report to the same such Committees on: (1) the extent to which the VA furnishes respite care to elderly veterans and disabled veterans; (2) the VA's plans for furnishing such care in the future; and (3) an estimate of the cost of increasing community-based nursing home beds available to the VA by specified percentages. Limits the amount of working reserve funds available to the VA for FY 1986 for the purchase of an urban medical facility. Directs the President to include in the budget submitted to the Congress a statement of the estimated expenditures and appropriations required to carry out the pilot program.
United States · United States Congress · 3 April 1985
Appalachian Regional Development Act Amendments of 1985 - Amends the Appalachian Regional Development Act of 1965 to authorize appropriations for the administrative expenses of the Appalachian Regional Commission, not to exceed $2,300,000 in any fiscal year, for FY 1986 through FY 1988. Permits the Commission to lease office space through FY 1988. Authorizes appropriations for the construction of highways in the Appalachian region for FY 1986 through FY 1992. Increases from 70 percent to 80 percent the maximum Federal share of such highway construction costs. Allows for Federal supplements to the Federal grant-in-aid programs to continue through FY 1988. Permits the Commission to provide assistance for demonstration projects showing the development of the region's economic resources. Authorizes appropriations through FY 1988. Sets forth an October 1, 1988, termination date for specified sections of such Act.
United States · United States Congress · 3 April 1985
Amends the Federal criminal code to make it a Federal offense for any person to operate or direct the operation of a common carrier while under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Imposes a fine of not more than $10,000 or imprisonment for not more than five years for violations of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 3 April 1985
Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act, the Internal Revenue Code, and other Federal law to provide that the pensions received by retired judges who are assigned to active duty shall not be treated as wages for purposes of title II.
United States · United States Congress · 3 April 1985
Proclaims October 23, 1985, as A Time of Remembrance for all victims of terrorism. Urges Americans to wear a purple ribbon in honor of the sacrifices made in pursuit of peace and freedom. Authorizes and requests the President to call upon U.S. departments, agencies, and other interested parties to fly U.S. flags at half staff.
United States · United States Congress · 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.
United States · United States Congress · 2 April 1985
Deems a named veteran to be suffering from a service-connected disability resulting from service in Nagasaki, Japan, for purposes of entitlement to disability compensation.
United States · United States Congress · 2 April 1985
Makes reviewable by the Supreme Court by writ of certiorari (instead of by appeal, as currently authorized): (1) Federal district court decisions invalidating acts of Congress (where the United States is a party); (2) U.S. court of appeal decisions which hold a State statute invalid because it violates the Constitution, treaties, or laws of the United States; and (3) those cases where the highest court of a State has either held a Federal treaty or statute invalid, or has upheld the validity of a State statute in the face of a constitutional challenge.
United States · United States Congress · 1 April 1985
Authorizes the Secretary of the Army, acting through the Chief of Engineers, to replace the Oliver Lock at the Black Warrior-Tombigbee Rivers, Alabama.
United States · United States Congress · 28 March 1985
Farm Emergency Credit Act of 1985 - Amends the Agricultural Act of 1949 to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to make advance (recourse) price support loans available for 1985 to producers unable to secure sufficient credit elsewhere. Makes up to one-third of such crop eligible for advance payments. Permits loan conversion to nonrecourse status upon harvest and availability as loan collateral. Administers such program through the Commodity Credit Corporation and the local farmer committees. Requires a participating producer to: (1) obtain crop insurance if available; and (2) use his crop as loan collateral. Limits loans to any single person to $30,000. Directs the Secretary to take immediate steps to make personnel and other Department of Agriculture resources available to improve the administration of such program.
United States · United States Congress · 20 March 1985
Intercircuit Panel of the United States Act - Establishes an Intercircuit Panel of the United States Courts of Appeals composed of nine circuit judges and four alternate judges designated by the Supreme Court. Directs the Chief Justice to designate the presiding judge of the Panel. Places the principal office of such Panel in the District of Columbia. Grants the Panel jurisdiction over cases referred to it by the Supreme Court. Declares that decisions of the Panel shall be binding on all U.S. courts unless modified or overruled by the Supreme Court. Directs the Panel, in consultation with the Director of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts, to submit to the Supreme Court, the Judicial Conference of the United States, the President, and the Congress a comprehensive report on its activities. Authorizes appropriations. Terminates the Panel five years after the date of its first referral.
United States · United States Congress · 20 March 1985
Mail Order Drug Paraphernalia Control Act - Makes it a Federal criminal offense for any person to use the U.S. Postal Service or any private parcel service in interstate commerce as part of a scheme to sell drug paraphernalia. Imposes a penalty of imprisonment for not more than three years and a fine of not more than $100,000. Provides for the seizure and forfeiture of any paraphernalia involved in a violation of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 20 March 1985
Designates March 21, 1985, as Afghanistan Day. Condemns the Soviet Union for the attempted subjugation of Afghanistan. Calls upon the Soviet Union to commit itself to a negotiated political settlement for Afghanistan.
![Official portrait of Sen. Heflin, Howell [D-AL]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/h000445_200.jpg)