United States · United States Congress · 23 January 1979
Intergovernmental Antirecession and Supplementary Fiscal Assistance Amendments of 1979 - Amends the Public Works Employment Act of 1976 to add to the congressional findings under such Act that both an antirecession fiscal assistance program and a supplementary fiscal assistance program which aid governments requiring fiscal relief are essential elements of a sound Federal fiscal policy. Extends the authorization of appropriations for antirecession fiscal assistance through September 30, 1980. Provides for the suspension of such assistance in certain circumstances if the unemployment rate does not exceed six percent. Requires the Secretary of Labor to calculate the unemployment rate for specified units of local governments, within or encompassing standard metropolitan statistical areas, using the population survey methodology used prior to January 1, 1978, if such rates are higher then under the current methodology. Requires the Secretary of Commerce to reallocate any undistributed excess amounts among the States and local governments. Repeals the requirement that States and local governments file statements with the Secretary containing certain reporting assurances. Authorizes the Secretary to make supplemental payments to local governments whose allocation would be reduced as a result of calculating unemployment rates by a new formula. Directs the Secretary of Labor to provide the Secretary of Commerce with necessary information and to determine unemployment rates for each State and local government. Authorizes the Secretary of Commerce to pay supplementary fiscal assistance to local governments with unemployment rates above six percent whenever the unemployment rate for the United States is five percent or more. Authorizes appropriations for such assistance through September 30, 1980. Provides for the suspension of such assistance if antirecession fiscal assistance is being paid or U.S. unemployment rates are less than five percent. Specifies the formula to be used in determining payments under this Act. Requires the Secretary of Commerce to combine certain supplementary payments with the general revenue sharing payment and make a single payment to the local governmental unit. Provides for the reallocation of any undistributed excess amounts among the local governmental units. Requires local governments receiving supplementary fiscal assistance to comply with those provisions applicable to antirecession fiscal assistance.
United States · United States Congress · 23 January 1979
Amends the Comprehensive Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism Prevention, Treatment, and Rehabilitation Act of 1970 by adding Title VII: National Commission on Alcoholism and Other Alcohol-Related Problems, to establish a National Commission on Alcoholism and Other Alcohol-Related Problems. Directs the Commission to study alcoholism and alcohol-related problems, including enumerated areas, and to report its findings to the President and Congress within two years of the funding of the Commission.
United States · United States Congress · 23 January 1979
Establishes a Joint Committee on National Health Insurance to make continuing studies of a national health insurance plan. Refers all Senate and House of Representatives bills and resolutions pertaining to national health insurance to the joint committee and directs the joint committee to make recommendations on such matters. Authorizes the joint committee to hold hearings and investigations in order to carry out its duties under this resolution. Directs the joint committee to keep a complete record of all committee actions.
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 1979
Sunset Act of 1979 - Title I: Reauthorizations of Government Programs - Sets forth a ten-year schedule for reauthorization of all Federal programs according to budget function and subfunction as set forth in the Budget of the United States Government for Fiscal Year 1979. Sets forth the procedure in the House of Representatives and the Senate for the consideration of any bill, resolution, or amendment which authorizes new budget authority. States that it is not in order for either House to consider any legislation which authorizes the enactment of new budget authority for a program for a period of more than ten years, for an indefinite period, or for any fiscal year beginning after the next reauthorization date applicable to such program. Provides that before the Congress can appropriate funds for any program, after its first reauthorization date, there must be a specific authorization in law to support the appropriation. Requires the committees of the Senate and House of Representatives to conduct a sunset review of programs during the Congress in which such programs are scheduled for review. Requires that the report accompanying such reauthorization contain specified information, and that the report be completed during the Congress in which the program is scheduled for reauthorization. Exempts from the requirements of this Act specified programs such as interest on Federal debts, health care services, general retirement and disability payments, as well as litigation activities which have as their objectives the protection and implementation of civil rights guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States and specified retirement pay and benefits. Allows the reauthorization schedule set forth in this Act to be changed by concurrent resolution of the two Houses of Congress and sets forth the procedure for such change. Requires all legislation and other matters related to changes in the dates for programs under this Act to be referred to the committee with legislative jurisdiction over any program affected by the proposal and, sequentially, to the Committee on Rules in the House of Representatives and to the Committee on Rules and Administration in the Senate. Requires such committees to report any concurrent resolution or bill referred to it by a committee of legislative jurisdiction within 30 days, with a statement on each of its recommendations. Makes provisions for any proposed change which has been reported by a committee before June 1, 1980. Title II: Program Inventory - Directs the Comptroller General and the Director of the Congressional Budget Office, in cooperation with the Director of the Congressional Research Service, to prepare an inventory of Federal programs. Declares that the purpose of such program inventory is to advise and assist Congress in carrying out the reauthorization and reexamination requirements and to link such reauthorization and review process with the budget process. Requires the Comptroller General to submit such program inventory to each House of Congress no later than January 1, 1980. Sets forth the contents of the inventory program, including the type of authorization provided for such programs' new budget authority, and the manner in which related program areas may be grouped for evaluation and review. Permits the congressional committees, the Congressional Budget Office, and the Congressional Research Service to review the program inventory and suggest revisions. Requires that the program inventory be revised at the end of each session of Congress, and that such revisions be reported to each House. Requires that periodic reports tabulate the progress of congressional action on bills and resolutions authorizing budget authority for programs in the inventory. Requires the Comptroller General and the Director of the Congressional Budget Office to submit periodic reports to the Congress on the adequacy of the functional and subfunctional categories for grouping programs of like missions or objectives. Title III: Program Reexamination - Requires each committee of the Senate and the House of Representatives to reexamine selected programs or groups of programs over which it has jurisdiction. Sets forth procedures for such review, and criteria for selection of program areas for evaluation. Directs each Senate committee to consult with the appropriate committees of either the House of Representatives or the Senate in order to achieve coordination of program reevaluation and inform itself of the related activities of or available assistance from the General Accounting Office, the Congressional Budget Office, the Congressional Research Service, the Office of Technology Assessment, and appropriate instrumentalities in the executive and judicial branches. Requires each Senate committee to deliver a report on the reexamination to the Secretary of the Senate at the date specified in the funding resolution first reported by such committee in 1981, and thereafter reported for the first session of each Congress. Allows two or more committees which have legislative jurisdiction over the same programs or portions of the same programs to examine such programs jointly and submit a joint report. Stipulates that such report: (1) contain the findings, recommendations, and justifications of the program; and (2) include specified information including, but not limited to, an assessment of the cost-effectiveness of the program and an identification of any trends, developments, and emerging conditions which are likely to affect the nature and extent of the problems or needs which the program is intended to address. Requires each executive department or agency which is responsible for a program selected for reexamination to submit a report to the Office of Management and Budget and to the appropriate committees of the Congress on its findings, recommendations, and justifications of specified aspects of the program. Title IV: Citizens' Commission on the Organization and Operation of Government - Establishes, as an independent instrumentality of the United States, the Citizens' Commission on the Organization and Operation of Government to conduct a nonpartisan study and investigation of the organization and methods of operation of all departments, agencies, independent instrumentalities, and other authorities of the executive branch of the Government, and to make such recommendations as it determines are necessary to promote economic, efficient and improved services in the transaction of public business. Requires the Commission to submit interim reports to the President and the Congress, and to submit a final report with its findings and recommendations. Requires the Comptroller General to report once a year for two years after submission of the Commission's final report on the status of actions taken as a result of the report. Specifies the composition of the 15-member Commission and sets forth the duties and powers of the Commission. States that the Commission shall cease to exist 90 days after submission of its final report. Authorizes to be appropriated until September 30, 1984, without fiscal year limitations, $4,000,000 to carry out the provisions of this Title. Title V: Regulatory Impact - Requires the President to submit, at the beginning of each of the five Congresses beginning with the 97th Congress, an analysis of the purpose, function, and efficiency of 16 specified regulatory agencies. Requires the President to submit legislative plans, based on such analyses, for the improvement of operations of such agencies. Establishes a schedule according to which plans for specified agencies will be submitted early in each of the five Congresses for which the required analyses are submitted. Directs the President, with each plan, to submit a report on the cumulative impact of government regulatory activity on specific industry groupings. Directs the Comptroller General and the Director of the Congressional Budget Office to assess each of the agencies included in the President's plans and to analyze such plans, and submit such information to the Congress. Title VI: Government Accountability - Requires the President, beginning with the first year of the 97th Congress, to submit biennially, as a part of the budget, a report on the management of the executive branch. Requires the Director of the Office of Management and Budget to provide an evaluative report on Federal programs to the President to be included with the President's report. Title VII: Miscellaneous - Amends the Budget and Accounting Act of 1921 to permit the committees of Congress to obtain from the agencies of the government estimates or requests for appropriations or requests for increases in an item of any such estimate or request, and recommendations as to how the revenue needs of the government should be met. Declares that nothing shall require the public disclosure of records which are specifically authorized under criteria established by an Executive order to be kept secret in the interest of national defense or foreign policy and are in fact properly classified pursuant to such Executive order, or which are otherwise specifically protected by law. Provides that the committees of the Senate or the House of Representatives shall not be required to publicly disclose any such records, except as otherwise provided by the rules of either House. Sets forth administrative procedures and requirements. Directs the President, with the cooperation of the head of each appropriate agency, to submit to the Congress a "Regulatory Duplication and Conflicts Report" for all programs scheduled for reauthorization in the next Congress. Stipulates that each such report identify duplicative or conflicting rules and regulations promulgated by executive departments, independent agencies, and State and local governments and contain recommendations which address such conflicts or duplications. Defines the term "required authorization waiver resolution" for purposes of this Act. Sets forth the procedure which the chairman of the committee of the Senate or the House of Representatives having legislative jurisdiction over programs must follow in order to introduce a required authorization waiver resolution. Makes it the duty of the Committees on Governmental Affairs and on Rules and Administration of the Senate and the Committees on Government Operations and on Rules of the House of Representatives to review the operation of the procedures established by this Act and to submit a report every five years beginning December 31, 1986. Authorizes to be appropriated through fiscal year 1990 such sums as may be necessary to carry out the review requirements and for the compilation of the inventory of Federal programs.
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 1979
Child Care Act of 1979 - States the purposes of this Act to be to: (1) provide assistance to the States in improving the quality and coordination in child-care programs; (2) assess the need for child-care services in the Nation; (3) provide assistance to families who cannot pay the full cost of child-care services; and (4) strengthen the functioning of families by seeking to assure that parents are not forced by lack of available programs or financial resources to place a child in an undesirable facility. States that nothing in this Act shall be construed to authorize any public agency or private individual or organization to interfere with parental authority. Requires States to submit a plan to the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare in order to participate in the program authorized under this Act. Requires State plans to include provisions regarding: (1) the designation of a responsible State agency; (2) distribution of funds with priority to be given to child-care providers that provide priority for services on the basis of family need; (3) the establishment of fee schedules for services based on family need and size; (4) information and referral services; (5) child-care personnel training; (6) licensing of child-care providers; (7) parental involvement in the planning and evaluating of child-care programs; (8) maximum allowable administrative costs; and (9) the establishment of a State Advisory Panel to advise the State on child-care matters. Stipulates that the Secretary shall approve any plan that complies with the requirements under this Act. Requires the Secretary to first provide notice and a hearing before disapproving any State plan. Directs the Secretary to designate an administrative unit and an individual in charge of such unit within the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare to carry out the provisions of this Act and to coordinate other child-care activities within such Department. Provides for the establishment of a National Advisory Panel on Child Care Needs and Services within the Office of the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare. Directs the Secretary, with the assistance of the National Advisory Panel, to develop standards for programs under this Act. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to and enter into contracts with public and private entities for innovative demonstrative child-care projects. Directs participating States to submit a report to the Secretary outlining the current status of child-care licensing within the State. Directs the Secretary to develop a Model State Licensing of Child Care Providers Act to be used by the States as a guide to improving licensing of child-care providers. Authorizes the Secretary to provide training and technical assistance to the States. Limits allotments of funds appropriated under this Act to not more than one percent for Guam, American Samoa, the Virgin Islands, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands. Establishes an allotment priority system for the States based on the number of children living in homes in which (1) both parents are employed; or (2) the child resides with only one parent and that parent is employed. Authorizes the Secretary, after reasonable notice and opportunity for hearing, to withhold payments to any State where there has been a substantial failure to comply with requirements of such State's plan or other applicable provisions under this Act. Directs the Secretary to: (1) review and evaluate programs carried out under this Act; and (2) submit a report on national child-care needs to the President and the Congress not later than four years after enactment of this Act. Authorizes necessary appropriations for fiscal years 1980-1984 to carry out the provisions of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 1979
Constitutional Amendment - Provides that the people of the several States, and the District constituting the seat of Government of the United States shall elect the President and Vice President. Requires each elector to cast a single vote for two persons who shall have consented to the joining of their names as candidates for the offices of President and Vice President. Requires the electors of President and Vice President in each State to have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the State legislature, except that for electors of President and Vice President, the legislature of any State may prescribe less restrictive residence qualifications and for electors of President and Vice President the Congress may establish uniform residence qualifications. Provides that the pair of persons having the greatest number of votes for President and Vice President shall be elected, if such number is at least 40 percent of the whole number of votes cast. Provides that if no pair of persons has such number, a runoff election shall be held in which the choice of President and Vice President shall be made from the two pairs of persons who received the highest numbers of votes. Requires the days for such elections to be determined by Congress and to be uniform throughout the United States. Requires Congress to prescribe by law the time, place, and manner in which the results for such elections shall be ascertained and declared. Allows Congress to provide for the case of the death, inability, or withdrawal of any candidate for President or Vice President before a President and Vice President have been elected, and for the case of the death of both the President-elect and Vice President-elect.
United States · United States Congress · 12 October 1978
Expresses the sense of the Senate that the President should explore with Egypt, Israel, and other Western industrial nations the opportunity for an economic development plan for the Middle East.
United States · United States Congress · 30 September 1978
Urban Park and Recreation Recovery Act - Authorizes the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to establish an urban park and recreation recovery program to provide financial assistance to local governments for rehabilitation of recreation areas and facilities and for development of improved recreation programs. Directs the Secretary to establish: (1) criteria for determining eligibility for assistance under this program; and (2) funding priority criteria for project selection and approval. Requires the Secretary to coordinate this program with the total urban recovery effort and to cooperate with other State and Federal departments and agencies which administer urban programs and policies. Authorizes the appropriation of $170,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 1979 through 1980 to carry out the purposes of this Act, such sums to remain available until expended. Prohibits the use of such funds for the acquisition of land or interests in land.
United States · United States Congress · 28 September 1978
Deplores and condemns the activity of Syrian forces in Lebanon. Appeals to Syria to cease persecuting the Lebanese Christians. Appeals to all countries to assist in bringing the Palestinian violence to an end. Urges the Attorney General to allow the emergency immigration of refugees from Lebanon.
United States · United States Congress · 23 August 1978
Privacy Act Amendments - Amends the Privacy Act of 1974 to declare the purpose of this Act to be to: (1) define the circumstances under which confidential medical information of an individual will be available, and to whom; (2) provide procedures to allow individuals access to such records; (3) balance the privacy of the individual with the legitimate need of certain governmental and private organizations' access to confidential medical information. Provides that no person subject to this Act may release any confidential medical information without the authorization of the patient. Defines for purposes of this Act: (1) confidential information as any medical information individually identifiable transferred to a patient's service provider or placed in a patient's medical dossier; and (2) service provider as certain non-Federal medical facilities receiving medicare or medicaid funds. Requires a service provider to notify a patient of any disclosures under this Act that may be made without such patient's authorization. Authorizes an individual over 12 years of age (or the parents or legal guardian of a minor under 12 years of age) to consent to the release of confidential medical information. Requires such consent to: (1) be written and signed by the individual; (2) be specific as to the information to be disclosed, who may disclose it, and to whom; (3) be specific as to the use of such information; and (4) be specific as to expiration date. Provides that such consent may be withdrawn at any time by the individual. Authorizes disclosure of confidential medical information without an individual's authorization in specified situations. Provides that prescriptions for drugs shall be considered confidential medical information for purposes of this Act. Declares that nothing in this Act shall be construed to limit State or Federal authority to monitor the handling and dispensing of prescription drugs. Requires all written disclosures of confidential medical information to contain a statement setting forth the statutory authorization for disclosure. Provides for civil and criminal penalties for violation of this Act. Provides for an individual's access to his medical records.
United States · United States Congress · 17 August 1978
Amends Title XX (Grants to States for Services) of the Social Security Act to increase the ceiling imposed upon payments for services under such Title for the fiscal years 1979, 1980, 1981 and maintains the 1981 level for succeeding years.
United States · United States Congress · 16 August 1978
Congressional Award Program Act - Establishes the Congressional Award Program in the United States and its territories to recognize and promote youth leadership and excellence in the areas of expedition fitness, personal creative development, and public service. Creates a Congressional Award Board with a Director to supervise such program. Authorizes the appointment of State award directors under this Act. Creates three Congressional Award Medals to be awarded under this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 31 July 1978
Establishes a Joint Committee on National Health Policy to make continuing studies of a national health insurance program, and to receive all bills, resolutions, and other matters in the Senate or the House relating primarily to the creation or implementation of such a program.
United States · United States Congress · 13 July 1978
Expresses the support of the Senate for the nomination of the Public Groups to Promote Observance of the Helsinki Agreement in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics for the 1978 Nobel Peace Prize.
United States · United States Congress · 12 July 1978
National Institute of Justice Act - Establishes an independent agency to be known as the National Institute of Justice. Authorizes and directs the Institute to: (1) make evaluations of the effectiveness and quality of justice and administration of law; (2) conduct research concerning justice and administration of law; (3) conduct experimental programs; and (4) conduct training and educational programs in law and judicial procedures.
United States · United States Congress · 11 July 1978
Expresses the sense of the Congress that (1) the trials of Antoly Shcharansky, Viktoras Petkus, and Aleksandr Ilyich Ginzburg are matters of deep concern to the American people that adversely affect Soviet-American relations; and (2) the U.S.S.R. Supreme Soviet should seek a humanitarian resolution to these cases and work toward improving such relations.
United States · United States Congress · 10 July 1978
Justice System Improvement Act - Restates and amends in its entirety Title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (Law Enforcement Assistance). Sets forth the purposes of the title. Retains within the Department of Justice a Law Enforcement Assistance Administration, and within the Administration, the Office of Community Anti-Crime Programs. Renames the National Institute of Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice the National Institute of Justice. Establishes a 21 member National Institute of Justice Advisory Board to develop research policy for the Institute. Establishes within the Department a Bureau of Justice Statistics. Sets forth the responsibilities of the Bureau, including collecting national crime statistics. Establishes a Bureau of Justice Statistics Advisory Board to recommend policy and priorities for the Bureau. Restructures the existing program of grants and assistance to State and local units of government into three categories, formula grants, national priority grants, and discretionary grants. Sets forth the purposes for which such grants may be made and the procedures to be followed in making the grants. Continues the authority of the LEAA to conduct training, recruiting and career development programs for law enforcement officials. Establishes within the Department of Justice an Office of Justice Assistance, Research and Statistics to provide staff support, set policy, and coordinate the activities of the National Institute of Justice, the Bureau of Justice Statistics, and the LEAA. Establishes an advisory board to the Office. Sets forth the powers and administrative procedures of the offices established by this Act. Authorizes appropriations to carry out the programs and grants established by this Act. Continues the existing program of public safety officers' death benefits.
United States · United States Congress · 29 June 1978
Directs the Administrator of General Services, in conjunction with the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, and the Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, and the National Endowment for the Humanities, to develop plans and a budget for the restoration of the Pension Building in the District of Columbia. Requires the Administrator to insure that such plans are consistent with proposals prepared by the Committee for a National Museum of Building Arts, Incorporated. Provides the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation an opportunity to comment on the plans. Specifies that designs, plans and cost estimates be submitted to the Committee on Public Works and Transportation of the House and the Committee on Environment and Public Works of the Senate not later than October 1, 1978. Authorizes appropriations necessary to carry out the purposes of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 22 June 1978
Postal Service Amendments Act - Requires the Postal Service to maintain through October 1, 1982, a postal rate not to exceed 15 cents for the first ounce and 13 cents for each additional ounce for ordinary letters sealed against inspection which are mailed by individuals. Subjects violators of usage of such postal rate to a civil penalty not to exceed $500. Empowers the President to designate the Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Postal Service. Sets forth the duties of the Board which include providing the public with an annual report of the costs and revenues received for each class of mail. Requires the Postal Service to submit to Congress a plan for a research and development program for improving operations by January 15, 1979. Directs the Postal Service and the Postal Rate Commission to transmit a copy of any proposal or recommendation for a change in postal rates or services to the appropriate congressional committees. Defines "attributable costs" as used to determine postal rates. Requires the Postal Rate Commission to: (1) study alternative methods of apportioning postal costs; (2) prepare a system of accounts for identifying the costs of each class of mail; and (3) report its findings to Congress by September 30, 1980. Establishes the Task Force on the Mail and Communications to study and make recommendations on the application of new technologies to postal services. Authorizes appropriations to the Postal Service for fiscal years 1979 - 1982.
United States · United States Congress · 25 May 1978
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide that the payment of interest and principal with respect to federally guaranteed obligations for the assistance of New York City shall be subject to Federal taxation. Sets forth rules for the exchange of guaranteed obligations which lapse under the New York City Loan Guarantee Act of 1978. Excludes such obligations from treatment as capital assets.
United States · United States Congress · 25 May 1978
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide that the payment of interest and principal with respect to federally guaranteed obligations for the assistance of New York City shall be subject to Federal taxation.
United States · United States Congress · 24 May 1978
Performing Artists Fair Representation Act - Amends the National Labor Relations Act to provide that it shall not be an unfair labor practice for an employer engaged primarily in the performing arts (other than an employer in the broadcasting or motion picture industries) to make an agreement with a labor organization covering employees engaged in the performing arts even though (1) the majority status of such labor organization was established other than by election or (2) such agreement provides for a union shop.
United States · United States Congress · 24 May 1978
Expresses the sense of the Senate that the Secretary of State: (1) make every effort to negotiate an agreement with Canada to preserve our mutual airshed, protect air resources, and maintain air quality; and (2) take whatever diplomatic actions necessary to reduce or eliminate any undesirable impact on both countries resulting from air pollution from any source.
United States · United States Congress · 23 May 1978
Medicare Mental Illness Non-Discrimination Act - Makes findings that mental illness is more prevalent in elderly persons than in younger adults and that the social security coverage for mental illness is not on an equal basis with coverage for other types of illnesses. Amends Title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to: (1) eliminate the 190 day lifetime limit for in-patient psychiatric care; and (2) limit the amount which a provider of services may charge a Medicare patient for mental health care services to 20 percent of the amount customarily charged for such services.
United States · United States Congress · 19 May 1978
Formula and Projects Grants for Preventive Health Services and Resources for Disease Prevention and Health Promotion Act - Title I: Formula and Project Grants for Preventive Health Services - Amends the Public Health Service Act to direct the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare to make grants to States to assist them in planning for and in meeting the costs of providing preventive health services. States that an application for such a grant shall provide for a detailed plan of a program to reduce, through the prevention of causative conditions, the mortality rates, and, at the option of the applying State, the burden of illness associated with the five leading causes of death in the State. Sets forth specified information to be included in applications for such grants. Requires the Secretary to review annually the activities undertaken by each State pursuant to an approved application. Sets forth a procedure for determining the amount of grants which each State shall receive for planning, providing, and operating preventive health services programs. Requires that all information obtained about any individual under any program that is being carried out with respect to such grants shall not be disclosed without such individual's consent. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to States, political subdivisions of States, other public entities, or private entities to assist them in meeting the costs of establishing and maintaining: (1) programs for the screening, detection, diagnosis, prevention, referral for treatment, and follow-up on compliance with treatment of hypertension; (2) programs to immunize children against diseases; (3) community and school-based floridation programs; (4) programs designed to prevent illness caused by factors in the immediate living environment of people; (5) programs to prevent diseases borne by rodents; and (6) comprehensive physical fitness programs. Sets forth specified information to be included in applications for such grants. Requires the Secretary to review annually the activities undertaken by each State pursuant to an approved application. Requires that all information obtained about any individual under any program carried out with respect to such grants shall not be disclosed without such individual's consent. Directs the Secretary to establish standards for comprehensive physical fitness programs. Authorizes appropriations through fiscal year 1982 for lead-based paint poisoning prevention programs. Sets forth a new method for determining the total amount of grants received by State health and mental health authorities for comprehensive public health services under the Public Health Service Act. Authorizes appropriations for such grants through fiscal year 1982. Title II: Resources for Disease Prevention and Health Promotion - Directs the Secretary to make grants to meet the costs of planning and developing new centers, and operating existing and new centers, for multidisciplinary health promotion. Directs the Secretary to undertake or support five intensive and comprehensive community based programs to demonstrate and evaluate optimal methods for organizing and delivering comprehensive preventive health services to defined populations. Requires the Secretary, acting through the National Center for Health Statistics or its equivalent, to submit to Congress on January 1, 1981, and on January 1 of every third year thereafter, a national disease prevention data profile in order to provide a data base for the effective implementation of this Act and to increase public awareness of the prevalence, incidence, and any trends in the preventable causes of death and disability in the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 19 May 1978
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide that an individual's allowable charitable contributions shall be deducted when determining the individual's adjusted gross income, thereby allowing the deduction to individuals who do not itemize.
United States · United States Congress · 18 May 1978
International Health Act - Declares it to be the purpose of this Act to establish mechanisms to coordinate and support health activities at the international level. Adds the following new title to the Public Health Service Act, Title XVIII - International Health. Directs the President to establish an Intra-Governmental Coordinating Committee on International Health. Requires the Committee to identify and coordinate all international health activities by any entity of the Federal Government. Establishes within the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare an Office of International Health. Requires the Office to be responsible for the identification and coordination of all training, service, and research activities in international health within the Department. Sets forth such activities. Establishes within the Office of International Health a center to be known as the Fogarty International Center for Health Training and Research. Requires the Fogarty Center to be responsible for: (1) the development and coordination of international health manpower training and research programs within the Department; and (2) the development and operation of specified international health manpower development and institutional support programs. Directs the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare to provide for an initiative within the Department. Requires the initiative to involve increased activity in research and control of selected tropical diseases. Establishes the Hubert H. Humphrey International Health Development Center. States that the goals of the Humphrey Center are to initiate, encourage, support, and sponsor field research and demonstration projects specifically directed toward the implementation of improved health care programs in foreign nations. Authorizes the Humphrey Center, among other things, to: (1) establish, maintain, and operate information and data centers and facilities for health services research; (2) initiate and carry out health services research and technical development; and (3) sponsor or support conferences, seminars, and other meetings. Establishes an Advisory Board to the Center to perform such duties as the Board of Directors may assign. Establishes in the Treasury of the United States the International Health Development Fund to be administered by the Humphrey Center, without the requirement of annual authorizations. States that the purpose of such Fund is to provide capital to make grants to private voluntary organizations within and without the United States and to foreign governmental agencies for projects in international health. Authorizes the Director, in order to carry out the purposes of the Fund, to determine amounts to be withdrawn from the Fund. Requires the Director to deposit moneys of the Fund with any Federal Reserve bank, or in such manner as the Secretary of the Treasury determines. Amends the Public Health Service Act to authorize the Secretary to: (1) make grants and contracts to institutions in the United States and cooperating foreign countries and to multilateral international organizations to assist in the conduct of cooperative programs in health research; and (2) pay the cost of health insurance for foreign participants and accompanying dependents in any program authorized under this Act while such participants and dependents are in the United States. Requires the General Accounting Office to conduct a study of all Federal international health expenditures. Directs the Office to develop and implement in each Federal entity a system for the continuing identification and accounting for all international health expenditures.
United States · United States Congress · 11 May 1978
Investment Incentive Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to restore part of the pre-1969 tax treatment of capital gains by repealing the capital gains item of tax preference for the minimum tax; lowering the corporate alternative tax to 25 percent of net capital gain; and lowering the alternative individual tax to 25 percent of net capital gain.
United States · United States Congress · 11 May 1978
New York City Financial Assistance Act - Title I: Emergency Assistance - Authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to guarantee, under stated conditions, obligations of the City of New York or of its financing agent. Limits the total amount of guarantees that may be outstanding at any time to $2,000,000,000. Title II: Amendments to the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 - Makes interest income received on any obligation guaranteed under Title I of this Act after the date of the enactment of this title taxable under the Internal Revenue Code of 1954.
United States · United States Congress · 11 May 1978
National Workers' Compensation Standards Act - Establishes minimum standards for State workers' compensation laws. Provides that the employers in any State in which the laws do not meet the minimum standards shall be required to pay to any employee the difference between the State payments and the payments the Federal standards would require. Authorizes grants to States to assist them in achieving compliance with the minimum standards set forth in this Act. Vests administrative responsibility for these provisions in the Department of Labor. Establishes a National Workers' Compensation Advisory Commission to monitor the progress of the States in meeting the standards established by this Act. Directs the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare to establish, by rule making proceedings, standards for determining whether diseases arise out of the course of employment and cause death or disability. Requires any such standard to be a minimum standard for State workers' compensation laws for that disease.
United States · United States Congress · 9 May 1978
Expresses the sorrow of the Senate for the death of Aldo Moro. Condemns the Red Brigade for this murder. Declares it the sense of the Senate that Italy deserves the praise of the United States for its efforts to prevent this murder. Declares it the sense of the Senate that the President should instruct the Ambassador to the United Nations to press for consideration of proposals to end terrorism.
United States · United States Congress · 3 May 1978
Solar Access Alternatives Act - Authorizes the Secretary of Energy to make grants to States for the purpose of conducting Solar Access Reviews to identify legal alternatives to assure access to direct sunlight and methods of encouraging adoption of such alternatives. Sets forth grant eligibility requirements. Allows the Secretary to make grants to Regional Solar Energy Centers (organizations for accelerated introduction of commercial solar energy technology).
United States · United States Congress · 1 May 1978
ERISA Improvements Act - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury and the Secretary of Labor to submit to Congress within 90 days of the passage of this Act any changes in the Internal Revenue Code and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) which are necessitated by the provisions of this Act. Title I: Consolidation of Federal Agency Responsibilities for Employee Benefit Plans - Creates two new positions, one within the Department of the Treasury and the other within the Department of Labor, entitled special liaison officer to the Employee Benefits Commission. Establishes the Employee Benefits Commission within the Executive branch to formulate policy with regard to Federal laws affecting employee benefit plans, to administer and enforce titles I and IV of (ERISA), and to administer and seek compliance with specified provisions of the Internal Revenue Code relating to qualification of employee benefit plans. Grants to the Commission specified powers to enable it to carry out its assigned duties, including the power toinitiate court actions to enforce titles I and IV of ERISA and to certify to the Secretary of the Treasury that an employee benefit plan does or does not satisfy the requirements of the Internal Revenue Code for qualified plans. Transfers all functions of the Secretary of Labor with regard to ERISA, most functions of the Secretary of the Treasury, and all functions of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation to the Commission. Title II: Amendments to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 - Amends ERISA to provide that it shall be an additional purpose of such Act to foster the establishment and maintenance of employee benefit plans. Redefines the term "employees' beneficiary association" in order to clarify whether multiple employer interests are employee benefit plans subject to ERISA. Narrows the definition of the term "party in interest." Redefines "multiemployer plan" to mean a plan which is maintained pursuant to one or more collective bargaining agreements between an employee organization and more than one employer and to which ten or more employers contribute, or to which more than one and fewer than ten employers contribute if the Commission finds that treating such a plan as a multiemployer plan is appropriate. Amends the reporting and recordkeeping requirements imposed on employers maintaining plans. Authorizes the Secretary of Labor to exempt any plan from any of the reporting or disclosure requirements of ERISA upon making certain findings. Makes substantive changes in the minimum requirements for a qualified plan with regard to participation, accrual of benefits in a multiemployer plan, suspension of benefits because of reemployment, reduction in retirement or disability benefits, and joint and survivor annuities. Allows the funding method of a plan to take account of all plan provisions, including future benefit reductions. Redefines the contents of a general asset account in the case of plans which have guaranteed benefit policies with an insurer. Imposes a legal obligation to make contributions to a plan upon an employer who has an obligation under a collective bargaining agreement to make contributions to the plan. Permits a multiemployer plan to return an employer contribution within one year after the plan administrator knows that the contribution was made as a result of a mistake of fact. Defines "knowledge" of a fiduciary (who is not a person) for purposes of awareness of a fellow fiduciary's breach of duty. Limits the responsibility of any co-fiduciary with respect to the failure of an employer who is a fiduciary to make contributions to a collectively bargained plan. Subjects every uninsured welfare plan which is a multiple employer trust to such solvency and reserve standards as the Secretary of Labor may require by regulation. Provides that where a judgment has been awarded in an action to collect contributions owed to an employee benefit plan, the court shall allow a reasonable attorney's fee and costs of the action, to be paid by the defendant. Stipulates that with regard to any employee benefit plan other than an eligible individual account plan in which participation is voluntary, no person or employee benefit plan shall be liable in a cause of action alleging explicitly or implicitly that the interest of an employee in such a plan is a security under Federal or State securities laws. Requires that one of the members of the Advisory Council on Employee Welfare and Pension Benefit Plans shall be a representative of employers maintaining small plans. Directs the Secretary to conduct a study of the feasibility of requiring pension plans to provide cost of living adjustments to benefits payable under such plans. Title III: Amendments to the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 - Provides that in the case of a multiemployer plan, defined benefit plans shall be considered separately from defined contribution plans for purposes of lump sum distributions. Permits a multiemployer plan to deem an employee who has not worked in service covered under the plan for six months as having separated from the service for purposes of lump sum distributions. Allows an income tax deduction for contributions made by employees to qualified retirement plans. Limits the deduction to the lesser of 10 percent of compensation or $1,000, but reduces the allowable deduction by 20 percent of the amount by which the employee's adjusted gross income exceeds $30,000. Requires plans to accept these contributions and sets forth the administrative framework for treatment of the contributions by the plan. Allows an income tax credit for small employers who establish retirement plans that meet ERISA's requirements. Allows such credit in addition to the allowable deduction for employer contributions to a qualified plan. Limits the amount of the credit and phases it down and out over the first five years of each new plan. Allows an income tax credit of five percent of an employer's allowable deductions for contributions to a qualified plan for any year in which the Employee Benefits Commission determines that the plan is an improved plan. Defines an "improved plan" as one which has standards on specified matters which exceed the minimum standards of ERISA and the standards of the plan in the prior year. Prohibits sole proprietors and partners or shareholders with a more than ten percent interest in a business from establishing individual retirement accounts for themselves. Title IV: Special Master or Prototype Plans - Amends ERISA to create a new type of individual account employee pension benefit plan, all the assets of which are controlled by one or more investment managers. Relieves an employer who establishes such a plan of many of the administrative requirements of ERISA.
United States · United States Congress · 26 April 1978
Declares it the sense of the Senate that (1) the President recognize the severity of the international monetary crisis; (2) the President undertake discussions with the other industrialized countries to develop a common approach to this crisis; and (3) the approach should focus on a long-term solution to the crisis caused by exclusive reliance on the dollar as the key international monetary reserve asset.
United States · United States Congress · 26 April 1978
Declares it the sense of the Senate that the President undertake discussions with the other industrialized countries with a view toward establishing, in cooperation with the member countries of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) which are in current account surplus, a major capital pool for productive investment in the developing countries.
United States · United States Congress · 20 April 1978
Lobbying Reform Act - Requires annual registration of any organization which expends at least $1,250 per calendar quarter for lobbying purposes, employs any person as a lobbyist for 24 hours or more per quarterly filing period, or two or more such persons for at least 12 hours each per such period, or which expends in excess of $5,000 per quarter to engage any other person as a lobbyist. Requires such organizations to file quarterly lobbying reports disclosing the identity of paid lobbyists, amounts paid to such lobbyists, and the issues such lobbyists sought to influence during the quarter. Requires the annual registration of organizations acting through their own paid officers or employees engaging in 15 or more oral lobbying communications in any quarterly filing period. Permits the filing of abbreviated quarterly filing reports for organizations required to file solely because of the number of oral lobbying communications made by their own personnel. Requires organizations which have submitted any bid or proposal for any Government contract valued at $10,000,000 or more to file annual reports until such contract or grant is awarded disclosing any attempts such organization has made to influence such award. Specifies the required contents of such reports including: (1) identity of any employee seeking to influence such award who, during the past five years, was a Federal employee of the agency responsible for the award who was paid in excess of the highest rate specified for pay grades GS-11, O-4, or W-2, as the case may be; (2) specified gifts made to Federal officers or employees in excess of $35; and (3) an itemized listing of each expenditure for any reception, dinner, or similar event where the total cost of such event exceeds $500. Specifies recordkeeping and report preparation requirements for any organization required to file under this Act. Requires the Comptroller General, with whom such registrations and reports must be filed, to investigate possible violations of this Act and to establish cross-indexing systems to reveal the identity of individuals employed as lobbyists by more than one organization, and to establish similar cross-indexing systems with the Federal Election Commission and the Department of Justice to identify persons mentioned in reports filed under this Act and the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 or the Foreign Agents Registration Act. Directs the Comptroller General to make available to the public copies of reports filed under this Act and summaries of data in such reports. Forbids the use of information secured under this Act for commercial purposes. Imposes upon the Comptroller General the duty to render advisory opinions with respect to the requirements of this Act upon which seekers of such opinions may justifiably rely. Directs the Comptroller General to refer to the Attorney General any actions or omissions which it is believed constitute violations of this Act. Authorizes the Attorney General to institute civil actions where appropriate and requires the prosecution of criminal actions where appropriate. Imposes civil and criminal sanctions for the violation of this Act. Repeals the Federal Regulation of Lobbying Act.
United States · United States Congress · 20 April 1978
Eliminates the requirement that States have a program of matching the Federal amounts of veterans' accelerated educational assistance payments in order for a veteran to be eligible for such accelerated payments. Increases the rate at which such accelerated assistance payments may be paid per school term.
United States · United States Congress · 19 April 1978
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to permit a married individual to file a separate income tax return calculated according to the same tax rate as an unmarried individual. Permits a married individual making this election to take advantage of the child care credit and other credits for employment-related expenses, in the same way as a single taxpayer.
United States · United States Congress · 18 April 1978
Amends the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 to authorize the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to make grants for the following: (1) administrative costs of State and local governments incurred in carrying out urban homesteading programs and (2) facilitation of homesteading of properties acquired by communities as a result of abandonment or tax foreclosure. Authorizes the Secretary to acquire from the Administrator of Veterans' Affairs title to any property which is suitable for inclusion in the urban homesteading program. Amends the Housing Act of 1964 to coordinate the urban homesteading program and the rehabilitation loan program.
![Official portrait of Sen. Javits, Jacob K. [R-NY]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/j000064_200.jpg)