United States · United States Congress · 6 October 1983
Food Safety Modernization Act of 1983 - Title I: Amendments to the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act - Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to define "safe", as applied to food additives, color additives, pesticide residues, and other specified substances, to mean a reasonable certainty that the risks of a substance under the intended conditions of use are negligible. Authorizes the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to permit, under specified conditions, the gradual elimination or phase-out of substances from the food supply if the FDA determines that there will be no unreasonable risk to the public health from continued use of a substance while it is phased out and there is no practicable substitute. Permits an extension for up to an additional five years. Provides that certain cancer-causing substances shall not be banned (and may be approved) if the proponent of use demonstrates on the basis of credible experimental evidence that the risks to humans under the intended conditions of use are negligible. Authorizes the FDA to consider the benefits to human health from a long-used additive with no practicable substitute before prohibiting its use on the basis of risks to human health. Permits continued use of an additive if the risks to human health are acceptable on account of the benefits to human health, such as the effects of its use on the nutritional value and availability of food and uses for dietary management and other health-related purposes. Directs the FDA to establish an independent scientific peer review committee to study and give advice on substantial scientific issues related to food safety. Requires the FDA, within two years of enactment of this Act, to establish by regulations standards to determine under what circumstances the use of a substance in a food contact situation (i.e., an indirect additive) meets the food additive definition of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. Directs the FDA, in issuing regulations, to consider the extent of human exposure to a substance under its intended conditions of use and the toxicological characteristics of the substance. Title II - Amendments to the Poultry Products Inspection Act, the Federal Meat Inspection Act, and the Egg Products Inspection Act - Amends the Poultry Products Inspection Act, the Federal Meat Inspection Act and the Egg Products Inspection Act to provide that a meat, poultry or egg product is adulterated because it contains an added poisonous or added deleterious substance when the presence of the substance renders the food unsafe within the meaning of the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. Authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to issue regulations for added poisonous or added deleterious substances in meat, poultry and egg products but only if the FDA has not already done so. Authorizes the Secretary to phaseout the use of substances in meat, poultry, and egg products for which the Department of Agriculture has primary responsibility. Directs the Secretary to establish an independent scientific peer review system. Title III - Effective Date - Provides that the Act shall become effective upon enactment.
United States · United States Congress · 6 October 1983
Declares that it should be U.S. policy to: (1) support the people of Afghanistan in their struggle to be free from foreign domination; (2) provide the Afghans, upon request, with material assistance; and (3) pursue a negotiated settlement of the war in Afghanistan based on the total withdrawal of Soviet troops and the recognition of the right of the Afghans to choose their own destiny.
United States · United States Congress · 30 September 1983
Amends the National School Lunch Act and the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 to increase Federal school meal (lunch and breakfast) reimbursement. Amends the National School Lunch Act to provide funds to the States for donated commodity storage and transportation. Eliminates the tie between eligibility for such program and for the food stamp program. Delays the requirement that local school authorities verify application information until the completion of an Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1981 pilot study. Excludes certain medical expenses from household income for program eligibility purposes. Lowers the student cost of reduced-price lunches. Increases the number of reimbursable meals and snacks under the child care food program. Amends such Acts to eliminate private school tuition eligibility limits. Amends the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 to permit all kindergarten children in nonprofit schools to participate in the special milk program. Increases reimbursement amounts for breakfast nutrition improvement. Lowers the student cost of reduced-price breakfasts. Makes the existing nutrition education authorization permanent.
United States · United States Congress · 29 September 1983
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that the President should: (1) urge the Council of European Community Ministers to reject their Commission's proposals that seek to shift to other countries the financial burden of disposing of their agricultural surpluses; and (2) continue to oppose proposed Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) modifications that would adversely affect the access of U.S. agricultural exports to European Community markets. States, also, that if the European Community adopts such proposed CAP modifiestions, then it is the House's sense that measures should be implemented to protect U.S. trade interests.
United States · United States Congress · 29 September 1983
Condemns the Soviet Union's systematic disregard for human life and liberties and urges the President to: (1) proclaim May 28, 1984, as a day to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the introduction of the original resolution on the Ukrainian famine in the House of Representatives; (2) call the attention of the world to the Soviet policies which caused Ukrainian deaths by famine during 1932 through 1933; and (3) urge the Soviet Union to remove restrictions on the shipment of food and other necessities to Soviet citizens by private individuals and charitable organizations.
United States · United States Congress · 28 September 1983
Requires that use of the nine-digit ZIP code remain voluntary. Allows the United States Postal Service to offer a voluntary rate incentive for use of a nine-digit ZIP code in efforts to hold down postal costs through automated processing of mail using such code. Prohibits the Postal Service from: (1) publicly urging household mailers to use such codes; or (2) making any mass mailing to advise household addresses of their nine-digit codes. Directs the Postal Service to maintain systems to enable mailers to obtain information about such codes. Requires the Postal Service to: (1) strive to maintain the same speed of mail service for mail bearing the five-digit ZIP code as obtained for mail bearing the nine-digit code; and (2) maintain public information to monitor any difference in service speed.
United States · United States Congress · 26 September 1983
Expresses the sense of Congress that the Secretary of Transportation should make available for civilian use the Global Positioning System (a system which provides navigational information to aircraft).
United States · United States Congress · 20 September 1983
Amends the Agricultural Act of 1949 as amended by the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1982 to require the Secretary of Agriculture to announce the 1984 feed grain program by September 30, 1983, the 1985 feed grain program by September 30, 1984, and the 1985 wheat program by July 1, 1984 (under present law announcement deadlines are November 15 for feed grains, and August 15 for wheat). Authorizes the Secretary to make adjustments in the program announcement within 30 days if a significant supply change occurs.
United States · United States Congress · 14 September 1983
Title I: Short Title - Declares that this Act may be cited as the National Productivity and Innovation Act of 1983. Title II: Joint Research and Development Ventures - Provides that no joint research and development program shall be deemed illegal per se in any action under the antitrust laws. Limits to actual damages, interest thereon, and the cost of suit the amount that any person or State may recover in an antitrust action based on conduct that is part of such a program and that has been disclosed to the Attorney General and the Federal Trade Commission. Authorizes any individual participating in such a program to file with the Attorney General and the Commission a notification describing the program and specifying conduct to be performed under the program. Directs the Commission to publish in the Federal Register a notice of each such notification, including a description of the participants, the program, and its objectives. Declares that material submitted as part of such notification shall be available to the public upon request, unless the Attorney General or the Commission determines that the individual who submitted the notification shows good cause for not disclosing certain material. Allows an individual to withdraw a filed notification before it is published and accompanying material is made publicly available. Exempts actions and determinations of the Attorney General or the Commission concerning such notifications or antitrust actions or investigations from judicial review. Title III: Intellectual Property Licensing Under the Antitrust Laws - Amends the Clayton Act to provide that agreements to convey rights to use, practice, or sublicense patented inventions, copyrights, trade secrets, trademarks, know-how, or other intellectual property shall not be deemed illegal per se in actions under the antitrust laws. Limits to actual damages, interest thereon, and the cost of suit the amount that any person or State may recover in an antitrust action based on such an agreement. Title IV: Patent and Copyright Misuse - Prohibits a patent or copyright owner who is entitled to relief for patent or copyright infringement from being denied relief or being deemed guilty of misuse or illegal extension of the patent right or copyright by reason of doing any of the following, unless such conduct violates the antitrust laws: (1) licensing the patent or copyright under terms that affect commerce outside the scope of its claims; (2) restricting a licensee in the sale of a patented or copyrighted product; (3) obligating a licensee to pay excessive royalties, royalties that differ from those paid by other licensees, or royalties not related to a licensee's sale of the patented or copyrighted product; (4) refusing to license a patent or copyright to any person; or (5) otherwise using the patent or copyright allegedly to suppress competition. Title V: Process Patents - Requires a process patent to grant the patentee the right to exclude others from using or selling products produced by that process. Includes as patent infringement the unauthorized use or sale of a product of a patented process. Places the burden of proving that a product was not produced by the patented process on the defendant in a patent infringement action if the court finds that: (1) a substantial likelihood exists that the product was produced by that process; and (2) the claimant has exhausted all reasonable means of determining the process used and was unable to make such determination.
United States · United States Congress · 4 August 1983
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow the establishment of tax-exempt trusts for investments in mortgages (TIM). Defines a TIM as a corporation, trust, or association: (1) which is managed by one or more trustees or directors; (2) the beneficial ownership of which is evidenced by registered transferable shares or by transferable certificates of beneficial interest; (3) which would otherwise be taxable as a domestic corporation; and (4) which is not a financial institution or an issuance company. Sets forth special rules and investment requirements for qualification as a TIM. Excludes such trusts from taxation. Requires that a TIM shall: (1) use the cash method of accounting; and (2) use the calendar year as its accounting period. Requires that a TIM shareholder shall be treated as if the TIM was partnership and the shareholder was a partner. Sets forth rules for the treatment of dispositions of qualified obligations. Sets forth rules for the treatment of 20 percent or more shareholders. Sets forth rules for the recognition of gains and losses by shareholders. Prohibits certain transactions by TIM'S. Imposes an excise tax on any such prohibited transactions.
United States · United States Congress · 4 August 1983
Secondary Mortgage Market Enhancement Act of 1983 - Title I: Securities Laws Amendments - Amends the Securities Act of 1933 to exempt from the securities registration requirements securities backed by second mortgages, cooperative housing loans, and manufactured home loans. Expands the type of allowable security to include mortgage-related payment bonds. Exempts from the securities registration requirements securities originated by any Department of Housing and Urban Development approved mortgagee (principally mortgage bankers) in addition to financial institutions. Requires that the current minimum transaction amount of $250,000 be applied only to the initial purchase amount. Permits a 120 day time limit on the cash payment for the security (currently 60 days). Permits broker-dealers to extend credit to buyers of mortgage-related securities on the same basis as they may for government agency securities. Amends the net capital requirements applied to broker-dealers to direct the Securities and Exchange Commission to require for investment grade mortgage securities held in a dealer's inventory only the same amount of capital as government securities of a comparable maturity. Amends the Home Owner's Loan Act of 1933 and the Federal Credit Union Act to allow Federally-chartered financial institutions, including credit unions, to invest in mortgage-related securities subject only to limitations that the appropriate regulating board might impose. Permits national banks to underwrite and deal in investment grade mortgage-related securities. Preempts State blue sky and legal investment laws and regulations so that investment grade mortgage-related securities may be purchased by State-chartered and regulated financial institutions, insurance companies, pension funds, trustees or other regulated entities. Permits a State to reassert limitations on investments in mortgage securities within two years of enactment of these provisions if it finds such regulation necessary. Directs the Securities and Exchange Commission to extend its experimental self registration rule beyond the current September 1983 expiration date. Title II: Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation and Federal National Mortgage Association Amendments - Requires that any issuance of preferred stock by the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (FHLMC) or the Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA) must comply with the New York Stock Exchange rules and procedures regarding the rights of preferred stockholders. Permits the FHLMC to purchase or deal in junior lien mortgages on the same basis as FNMA. Revises FHLMC's manufactured home loan authority to cover such loans even where the security property is real, personal, or mixed. Allows the FHLMC to purchase State agency insured mortgages. Prohibits the FHLMC from guaranteeing mortgage-backed securities issued by another entity.
United States · United States Congress · 4 August 1983
Fringe Benefits Tax Act of 1983 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from gross income any fringe benefit which qualifies as a: (1) no-additional-cost service or discount property; (2) working condition fringe; or (3) de minimis fringe. Provides definitions and sets forth special rules for such tax exclusion. Excludes from gross income reductions in tuition provided by an employer to employees, their spouses and dependent children. Excludes from gross income the value of lodging furnished by certain educational institutions to employees, their spouses and dependent children.
United States · United States Congress · 4 August 1983
Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act to provide that disability insurance benefits for an individual having a terminal illness shall begin with the first month during which such individual has such illness.
United States · United States Congress · 4 August 1983
Agribusiness Loan Act of 1983 - Amends the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act to require the Secretary of Agriculture to make and insure loans to small farm supply businesses which have been adversely affected by the payment-in-kind program. Requires the Secretary to issue implementing regulations within 60 days. Limits such loans to $75,000. Terminates such program at the end of FY 1984.
United States · United States Congress · 4 August 1983
Declares that the Commissioner of Social Security and the Secretary of Health and Human Services should develop and present to Congress a plan to correct the benefit disparity caused by the 1977 changes in the social security retirement benefit formula.
United States · United States Congress · 3 August 1983
Coin-Operated Phonorecord Player Copyright Act of 1983 - Revises the scope of the limitations on the performance of a nondramatic musical work on a coin-operated phonorecord player (jukebox) to require: (1) the manufacturer or importer of the player, rather than the operator, to register and pay a one-time only compulsory licensing fee of $50, rather than an adjusted annual fee, to the Copyright Royalty Tribunal for distribution to the copyright holders; and (2) the operator of a currently-owned player to pay a compulsory licensing fee of up to $25 based upon the number of years of useful life remaining in the player. Directs the Register of Copyright to keep a list of all registered players. Restates the royalty distribution procedures.
United States · United States Congress · 3 August 1983
Amends the National Labor Relations Act to provide that membership in a labor organization is not required as a condition of employment in Federal areas located within a State or territory (thus allowing the application of State right-to-work laws).
United States · United States Congress · 3 August 1983
Prohibits the Secretary of Agriculture from implementing before November 1, 1983, the second scheduled 50-cent milk producer assessment (otherwise effective September 1, 1983, under the Agricultural Act of 1949, as amended by the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1982).
United States · United States Congress · 1 August 1983
Public Safety Officers Protection Act - Amends the Federal criminal code to include within the protected class, for purposes of the prohibition against arson, public safety officers injured or killed within the course of their duty.
United States · United States Congress · 28 July 1983
Requires the Commodity Credit Corporation to accept under certain conditions during FY 1984 and FY 1985 offers to exchange needed strategic and critical materials for surplus dairy stocks. Requires six-month reports to Congress during such period.
United States · United States Congress · 28 July 1983
Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide Medicare coverage of hepatitis B vaccination and its administration for end stage renal disease patients.
United States · United States Congress · 28 July 1983
Establishes a temporary Special Committee on Family, Youth, and Children to make a study and investigation of matters pertaining to family, childhood, and adolescence. Requires a final report to the Senate by November 30, 1984, and terminates the committee 30 days after such date.
United States · United States Congress · 27 July 1983
Amends the Agricultural Act of 1949 as amended by the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1982 to require the Secretary of Agriculture to make an earlier announcement than is required under current law of any acreage limitation or set-aside program established for the 1984 or 1985 crop of feed grains or the 1985 crop of wheat.
United States · United States Congress · 25 July 1983
Voting Rights for the Handicapped and the Elderly Act - Directs the Attorney General to promulgate guidelines to assure that registration and polling place facilities used for Federal elections are readily accessible to handicapped and elderly individuals. Sets forth minimum requirements for these guidelines. Requires States to make available registration and voting aids for handicapped and elderly individuals in Federal elections. Authorizes the Attorney General and aggrieved persons to bring actions in Federal court to enforce this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 21 July 1983
Universal Telephone Service Preservation Act of 1983 - Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to direct the Federal Communications Commission to establish a system of exchange access charges in order to: (1) achieve equal treatment among all inter-local access and transport area (LATA) carriers and other customers using the services of exchange companies through direct or indirect connection; (2) assure that payments and assignments of costs relating to exchange access are carried out in a manner which is open for public examination; (3) achieve flexibility in accommodating changes in market conditions and technology; (4) establish incentives for efficient investment decisions and technological choices; and (5) ensure that exchange carriers are compensated for their costs of providing exchange access. Directs the Universal Telephone Service Joint Board (established by this Act) to establish a universal service charge schedule to insure that basic telephone service will be available at reasonable rates throughout the United States. Requires such schedule to designate universal service costs to be allocated to a Federal jurisdiction and to provide for their collection by means of a universal service charge that is payable by any interLATA carrier or any provider of interLATA services or any private system that connects directly or indirectly to any exchange carrier or any local exchange switched network used to provide basic telephone service. Entitles each exchange company qualifying for payments to 90 percent of its reasonably incurred universal service costs which are directly related to the efficient and economic provision of such service. States that universal service costs shall consist of an exchange company's costs for basic intraLATA telephone service to any points within a LATA which exceed 110 percent of the average cost of providing comparable basic intraLATA telephone service throughout the United States. Provides that, notwithstanding the above provisions, any company which qualifies for payments and whose costs for basic intraLATA telephone service to any points exceed 250 percent of the average cost of providing comparable basic intraLATA telephone service throughout the United States shall be entitled to receive 100 percent of its reasonably incurred universal service costs over 250 percent of the national average. Defines: (1) "basic telephone service" as residential service; (2) "basic intraLATA telephone service" as that portion of basic telephone service provided within a local access and transport area, including access to such service; and (3) "exchange company" as a company that offers basic telephone service and other services within one or more service areas recognized by any State regulatory commission. Authorizes the Commission to assert jurisdiction over all nontraffic sensitive subscriber loop costs to a Federal jurisdiction, in order to achieve consistency and uniformity of policy in regard to interstate and intrastate access charges. Authorizes the Commission to delegate to a State commission some or all of the Commission's authority with respect to: (1) intrastate interLATA toll service; and (2) access charges for the interconnection of exchange communications service with interstate or intrastate interLATA toll service upon a finding that such delegation would promote the purposes of this Act. Directs the Universal Telephone Service Joint Board to establish guidelines binding a State commission in the exercise of any delegated authority. Directs the Commission to establish the Universal Telephone Service Joint Board which shall be composed of five commissioners of the Commission and four commissioners nominated by the national organization of State commissions. Directs the Commission to adopt as final any decisions of the Board. Establishes a fine applicable to anyone who, with the intent to deprive any exchange company of any revenue in connection with access charges, transmits telecommunications so as to avoid accessing a local exchange in order to avoid such charges. Directs the Commission and each State regulatory authority to take action to ensure access to basic telephone lifeline service.
United States · United States Congress · 20 July 1983
Expresses the sense of the Congress that further expansion of cargo preference requirements, either for commercial or other trade, should not be imposed.
United States · United States Congress · 14 July 1983
Commercial Aircraft Fire Safety Act of 1984 - Amends the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 to require fire equipment on certain passenger-carrying aircraft in the lavatory and galley areas.
United States · United States Congress · 12 July 1983
Prohibits the Secretary of Labor from issuing a special certificate for the employment of a handicapped individual at wages lower than the minimum wage if such individual's sole handicap is blindness or visual impairment.
United States · United States Congress · 11 July 1983
Expresses the sense of Congress that the States (including the District of Columbia), working through the National Governors' Association, should establish a cooperative program to mutually recognize the legitimate parking privileges of the disabled and handicapped.
United States · United States Congress · 29 June 1983
Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to set the cap amount for hospice care at $6,500, to be increased or decreased annually according to the consumer price index.
United States · United States Congress · 23 June 1983
Authorizes the President to present on behalf of Congress a gold medal to Danny Thomas in recognition of his humanitarian efforts and outstanding work as an American. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to strike a gold medal with suitable emblems, devices, and inscriptions to be determined by said Secretary. Provides, effective October 1, 1983, funds not to exceed $22,000 to carry out the purposes of the Act. Provides that the Secretary may cause bronze duplicates of the medal to be coined and sold under regulations prescribed by the Secretary at a price sufficient to cover the costs of producing the gold medal. Directs that the appropriation used to carry out the provisions of the Act shall be reimbursed out of the proceeds from such coin sales. Provides that the medals are to be national medals.
United States · United States Congress · 21 June 1983
Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to permit a hospice to contract out for nursing services with a Medicare certified agency if the hospice: (1) was licensed before September 2, 1982; (2) is located in a rural area; or (3) is located in an area with a medical manpower shortage.
United States · United States Congress · 21 June 1983
Expresses the support of the Senate for the conclusions of the National Commission on Excellence in Education and the need to reverse the decline in educational excellence in the Nation.
United States · United States Congress · 16 June 1983
Abraham Lincoln One Hundred and Seventy-fifth Anniversary Act - Establishes a Commission on the One Hundred and Seventy-fifth Anniversary for Abraham Lincoln to plan and conduct activities to commemorate the birth of Abraham Lincoln. Authorizes appropriations. Designates the week of February 12-18, 1984, as National Recognition of Abraham Lincoln Week.
![Official portrait of Sen. Jepsen, Roger W. [R-IA]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/j000101_200.jpg)