United States · United States Congress · 24 February 1983
Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) the Soviet Union should fulfill obligations undertaken in certain international agreements relating to human rights by pursuing a more humane emigration policy and by ceasing harassment of Jews and others seeking to emigrate; (2) Soviet fulfillment of internationally recognized emigration rights would significantly promote improved relations with the United States; (3) the President should convey these concerns of Congress to the Soviet Union at every appropriate opportunity; and (4) the President should also convey these concerns to U.S. allies.
United States · United States Congress · 23 February 1983
Former Presidents Facilities and Services Reform Act of 1983 - Title I: Presidential Libraries - Directs the Administrator of General Services, in consultation with the Archivist of the United States and the Commissioner of the Public Buildings Service, to promulgate architectural and design standards for Presidential archival depositories. Authorizes the Administrator to accept, as private gifts or pursuant to agreements with State or local governments, institutes, or foundations, only such land, buildings, and equipment as are necessary to establish one depository in one building of a specified size for each President or former President. Requires the Administrator to submit a prospectus for each proposed depository to specified congressional committees. Prohibits the Administrator from accepting a gift or entering into an agreement to establish a depository if: (1) such committees adopt a resolution disapproving such prospectus within a specified period; or (2) the land, buildings, and equipment do not meet the architectural and design standards, unless Congress adopts a concurrent resolution approving the establishment of such depository regardless of noncompliance with such standards. Establishes similar restrictions governing changes to a depository. Requires the President, while holding office, to dispose of his or her Presidential records which have no administrative, historical, informational, or evidentiary value after obtaining the views of the Archivist of the United States concerning such disposal, unless the Archivist notifies the President that the Archivist intends to request advice from certain congressional committees. Title II: Former Presidents - Changes the amount of the annual allowance to which the spouse of a deceased former President is entitled from $20,000 to two-thirds of the allowance to which a former President is entitled. Repeals the requirement that the spouse must waive the right to any other Government annuity or pension to qualify for such allowance. Terminates the allowance when the spouse remarries, at any age. Authorizes the Administrator to provide to each former President, upon request: (1) one office; (2) compensation, without an aggregate ceiling, for members of an office staff who shall be subject to certain provisions of civil service laws; (3) payment for the travel and subsistence allowances for specified office employees; (4) communications services; and (5) printing and binding expenses. Allows any Federal employee to be detailed to the office staff of a former President with the consent of the employee's agency head. Authorizes the Administrator to provide a former Vice President with necessary services and facilities for concluding his or her office affairs which are similar to the services and facilities provided to a former President under this title. Prohibits the use of funds provided for necessary services and facilities of a former President or Vice President for partisan political activities or income generating activities. Permits a former President to use such funds to prepare his or her memoirs if the former President signs an agreement providing that the Public Printer will print and distribute such memoirs. Prohibits the expenditure of such funds for a former President any time beyond 90 days after the former President dies. Requires each former President to submit to Congress an annual report concerning activities carried out with the assistance of such funds. Authorizes appropriations to carry out the provisions of this title concerning the services and facilities to be provided for former Presidents and Vice Presidents. Repeals specified provisions of the Presidential Transition Act of 1963. Title III: Protection of Former Presidents, Former Vice Presidents, and Their Families - Prohibits the United States Secret Service from protecting a former President, former Vice President, or the spouse, widow, widower, or minor child of a former President, except as authorized under this title. Authorizes the Secret Service to protect: (1) a former President for eight years after the individual becomes a former President; (2) the spouse or minor child of a former President to the extent that such protection is incidental to the protection of the former President; and (3) the widow or widower of a former President for six months after the former President dies. Permits the Secretary of the Treasury to reinstate the Secret Service protection of a former President for one year and of a spouse or minor child for six months after the original protection has been terminated upon finding that a serious threat warranting such protection exists. Authorizes additional extensions of such periods of protection upon the individual's written request and with the approval of an existing advisory committee established to determine whether protection should be furnished to certain presidential or vice presidential candidates. Establishes the Advisory Panel on Secret Service Protection to review requests for extended protection and to make recommendations on such requests to such advisory committee. Permits the Secretary to authorize Secret Service protection for a former Vice President for a period beginning on the last day of the individual's term and ending on the last day of the fiscal year in which the term expires, upon the former Vice President's written request, and upon finding that a threat exists which warrants such protection.
United States · United States Congress · 23 February 1983
Authorizes the Administrator of Veterans Affairs to reimburse eligible veterans for reasonable charges for chiropractic services. Directs the Administrator to establish a schedule of reasonable charges. Requires the Administrator to make annual reports to the Veterans Affairs Committees for four years concerning the use and reimbursement of chiropractic services.
United States · United States Congress · 22 February 1983
National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases Act of 1983 - Amends title IV (National Research Institutes) of the Public Health Service Act to establish a National Institute (Institute) of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases in the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Redesignates the existing National Institute of Arthritis, Diabetes, and Digestive and Kidney Diseases as the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. States that the Institute shall conduct research and related activities concerning arthritis and musculoskeletal diseases, including sports-related disorders and skin diseases. Requires the Director of the Institute, with the advice of the National Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases Advisory Council, to establish within 180 days a national plan to coordinate such activities. Requires an annual evaluation of the skin diseases programs. Establishes within the Institute: (1) the National Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases Data System; and (2) the National Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases Information Clearinghouse. Authorizes appropriations through FY 1986. Establishes within the Institute: (1) an Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Diseases Interagency Coordinating Committee; and (2) a Skin Diseases Interagency Coordinating Committee. Requires annual reports to the Secretary of Health and Human Services and to the Director of NIH. Establishes within the Institute a National Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases Advisory Council. Authorizes appropriations through FY 1986 for arthritis and musculoskeletal demonstration projects and multipurpose disease centers. Requires the Institute to submit a biennial report. Transfers arthritis-related functions (including data system, advisory functions, coordinating functions, demonstration project, and multipurpose center), funds, personnel, and assets to the Institute from the existing National Institute of Arthritis, Diabetes, and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. Requires the Secretary to report to the appropriate congressional committees and to the Comptroller General within 60 days regarding such transfers. Requires the Comptroller General to report to the appropriate congressional committees within 80 days regarding such transfers. Terminates the National Arthritis Advisory Board. Makes conforming amendments. Requires the Secretary, through NIH, to conduct a study of the existing combinations of disease research programs within the institutes and of the standards to be followed in establishing new or realigning existing institutes. Requires a report to the appropriate congressional committees within 18 months. Prohibits the establishment of any new institutes within six months of such report's submission. Directs the Secretary to conduct and complete within 60 days a review of the disease research programs of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (as redesignated by this Act) to determine if any of these programs could be more effectively managed by other national research institutions.
United States · United States Congress · 22 February 1983
Shopping Center Tenant Bankruptcy Protections Improvements Act of 1983 - Amends the Bankruptcy Code to require a trustee in bankruptcy to perform all of the obligations of a tenant arising from an order for bankruptcy relief under an unexpired shopping center lease (including payment of the rent and other charges specified in the lease) until such lease is assumed or rejected. Permits the court to extend the time for performance of any obligation of rent or other charges due upon an unexpired lease. Declares that acceptance of such performance shall not constitute a waiver or relinquishment of the lessor's rights under the lease or under this Act. Imposes a 60 day limit (with additional time, if the court so orders) on a trustee's acceptance or rejection of an unexpired lease in all bankruptcy cases, after which time the lease will be deemed rejected. Requires the trustee to assure that an assignee of such a lease has a financial standing similar to the original tenant's at the time of execution of the lease. Revises the condition that assignment or assumption of the lease not cause a substantial disruption of any tenant mix in the center by deleting the qualifier "substantial". Permits the lessor, if an unexpired lease is assigned pursuant to this Act, to require a deposit or other security for the performance of the obligations under the lease. Declares that the property of the estate does not include any property subject to a lease which has expired by virtue of its own terms without regard to the bankruptcy proceedings.
United States · United States Congress · 16 February 1983
Imitation Controlled Substances Act of 1983 - Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to make it unlawful to manufacture, advertise, distribute, or possess a drug which is an imitation of a controlled substance. Excludes professional or research uses from such prohibition. Establishes criminal penalties for violation of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 16 February 1983
Prohibits the delivery by mail of: (1) drug abuse oriented advertisements; or (2) imitation controlled substances shipped in response to such advertisements. Provides an exemption from such prohibition with respect to such a substance: (1) used under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act for research or as a placebo in the professional practice of a registered practitioner; or (2) mailed in connection with an application for approval under such Act.
United States · United States Congress · 15 February 1983
Prohibits the Secretary of Commerce from transferring the ownership or management of any civil land remote sensing space satellite system until a comprehensive plan for such a transfer is approved by Congress.
United States · United States Congress · 3 February 1983
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide that for taxpayers who receive agricultural commodities under a Federal payment-in-kind program: (1) no income shall be treated as realized by receipt of such commodities; but, (2) any gain realized from the sale or exchange of such commodities shall be included in gross income and shall be treated as ordinary income. Treates such commodities as commodities produced on acreage divested from agricultural use for purposes of the estate tax valuation of farm property.
United States · United States Congress · 3 February 1983
National Heritage Resource Act of 1983 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow creators of artistic properties an income tax deduction for the current fair market value of literary, musical, or artistic compositions which they contribute to charitable organizations. Requires: (1) that the artistic property be created by the taxpayer at least one year prior to the time of such contribution; (2) that the fair market value of such property be appraised within one year of the date of contribution; and (3) that the donee of such property show that the use of the property will be related to the charitable purpose or function of his organization. Denies a fair market value deduction for contributions of any letter, memorandum or similar property produced by a Federal or State employee which arose out of the performance of such employee's official duties. Exempts such fair market value deduction from the application of the minimum tax.
United States · United States Congress · 3 February 1983
Acidic Deposition Mitigation and Research Act of 1983 - Amends the Clean Air Act to provide for a program of acidic deposition analysis and mitigation. Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to study and report, within the five-fiscal- year period following the submission of the final comprehensive National Acid Precipitation Assessment plan under the Energy Security Act of 1980, to the Congress and the President on acidic deposition. Sets forth required inclusions and procedures for such report. Authorizes the Administrator to make grants to any State or interstate agency to develop and implement on-site methods of mitigating the harmful effects on ecosystems resulting from high acidity which may be due to acidic deposition. Limits such grants to 75 percent of project costs. Authorizes appropriations to the Administrator for the five fiscal years following the enactment date of this Act for the preparation of such report and the making of such grants.
United States · United States Congress · 3 February 1983
Expresses the sense of the Senate that the President should propose to the Soviet Union immediate adherence by both countries to the principle of a guaranteed strategic build-down of nuclear forces, subject to agreed upon procedures of verification and compliance.
United States · United States Congress · 27 January 1983
Comprehensive Mining Reclamation Reserve Act of 1983 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow surface mine operators to establish a reserve for mining land reclamation costs and to deduct additions to such reserve.
United States · United States Congress · 27 January 1983
Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act to prohibit entitlement to title II benefits in the case of an individual who is not a .U.S. citizen or national if such individual: (1) is not a permanent resident of the United States; or (2) is outside the United States. Prohibits the payment of title II benefits to any dependent or survivor of such an individual on the basis of such individual's wages and self-employment income. Makes such prohibition inapplicable if the benefit involved is payable to such an individual as the dependent or survivor of: (1) a U.S. citizen or national; (2) a permanent resident of the United States; or (3) a U.S. citizen or national residing outside the United States if the relationship required for such individual's entitlement already existed at the time such national or citizen reached age 50. Authorizes the payment of title II benefits to an individual who is not entitled to benefits pursuant to this Act until the total amount of such benefits equals the total amount of any taxes paid on the wages and self-employment income on which the benefits are based.
United States · United States Congress · 27 January 1983
Repeals provisions of the Energy Security Act which establish the U.S. Synthetic Fuels Corporation. Requires projects and funds transferred to the Corporation pursuant to the Supplemental Appropriations and Rescission Act, 1980 or initiated through contractural agreements by the Corporation to be transferred to the Department of Energy. Authorizes the Director of the Office of Management and Budget to terminate the affairs of the Corporation.
United States · United States Congress · 27 January 1983
Expresses the sense of Congress that the Railroad Retirement Board and representatives of railroad employees and carriers should jointly or independently study methods of financing the railroad retirement program. Requires a report to Congress by October 1, 1983, on the alternatives studied. Urges railroad labor and management to agree on how to best solve the financial difficulties of such program.
United States · United States Congress · 26 January 1983
Housing Finance Opportunity Act of 1983 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to permit the continued issuance of mortgage revenue bonds after December 31, 1983.
United States · United States Congress · 26 January 1983
Product Liability Act - Preempts State product liability laws. States that this Act governs any civil action for harm caused by a product which would have been based on: (1) strict or absolute liability in tort; (2) negligence or gross negligence; (3) breach of express or implied warranty and; (4) failure to discharge a duty to warn or instruct. Makes a manufacturer liable if the claimant establishes by a preponderance of the evidence that a product was unreasonably dangerous: (1) in construction or design; (2) because the manufacturer failed to provide adequate warnings of danger; or (3) because the product did not conform to an express warranty. Specifies the requisite findings which must be made for such proof of unreasonable danger to be determined. Subjects a product seller to liability if the claimant proves by a preponderance of the evidence that the claimant's harm was proximately caused by such seller's failure to use reasonable care with respect to the product. Enumerates circumstances under which such a seller is also subject to the liability of a manufacturer. Provides that all claims under this Act shall be governed by the principles of comparative responsibility. Sets forth rules with respect to conduct affecting comparative responsibility, including misuse, alteration or modification of a product. Specifies the manner in which damages are to be apportioned. Requires that damages in any product liability claim be reduced by an amount paid as workers' compensation benefits. Precribes a statute of limitation for recovery. Allows punitive damages to be awarded if the claimant proves by clear and convincing evidence that the harm suffered was the result of the product manufacturer's or sellers's reckless disregard for the safety of product users, consumers, or others who might be harmed by the product. Provides that evidence of corrective measures taken by a product seller after a harm has occurred would not be admissible in court to prove liability.
United States · United States Congress · 26 January 1983
Retirement Equity Act of 1983 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 to lower the age limitation for participation in a qualified retirement plan from 25 to 21. Allows a limited amount of maternity or paternity leave to be taken by an individual without being treated as a break in service for purposes of computing creditable service towards retirement benefits. Requires spousal consent in order for a retirement plan participant to elect not to take a joint and survivor annuity. Requires that such consent must be in writing and must be witnessed by either a plan representative or a notary public. Allows the assignment of the benefits of a qualified retirement plan in the case of a judgment, decree or order relating to child support, alimony payments, or marital property rights pursuant to a State's domestic relations law. Requires the continuation of benefits to a surviving former spouse in cases where payments of joint and survivor benefits began prior to a divorce. Sets forth requirements relating to the method of distribution of divorce distributions. Sets forth rules for the tax treatment of divorce distributions. Increases the allowable mandatory distributions from a retirement plan from $1,750 to $3,500. Requires that a plan participant must be notified that benefits may be forfeitable if the participant dies before a certain date.
United States · United States Congress · 26 January 1983
Amends the Tax Reform Act of 1976 to extend for two years, until 1985, the allowance of the deduction for eliminating architectural and transportation barriers to the handicapped and elderly.
United States · United States Congress · 26 January 1983
Domestic Commodity Distribution and Food Assistance Act - Requires the Secretary of Agriculture to distribute surplus Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) stocks to eligible agencies (as defined in this Act). Requires the CCC to pay for commodity processing with funds or with in-kind payments to the processor. Requires the Secretary to publish an annual announcement of such anticipated surplus stocks for the coming three-year period. Provides that up to 2,000,000 metric tons of wheat available under the Food Security and Wheat Reserve Act of 1980 may be used for domestic purposes. Requires the CCC to use any additional reserves to replenish such stocks. Provides for State distribution of commodities under this Act. States that if a State agency cannot meet the requests for a given commodity such agency shall give special consideration to organizations that serve low income and unemployed persons. Provides administrative money to the States to run such program. Prohibits States from charging recipient agencies for related program costs. Requires States to pay the distribution costs of organizations serving low income and unemployed persons. Requires the Secretary and the States to work with private companies and recipient agencies to make it easier for recipients to process such commodities into end use products. Directs the Secretary to use moneys saved on storage and spoilage to process commodities into food products for agencies serving low income and unemployed persons.
United States · United States Congress · 26 January 1983
Directs the United States Postal Service to issue, during the calendar year 1983, a commemorative postage stamp to honor the dedication of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.
United States · United States Congress · 26 January 1983
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to increase the maximum tax deduction allowed for amounts contributed to retirement savings plans by a married couple where one spouse has no earned income from $2,250 to $4,000. Increases the maximum deduction allowed for certain divorced individuals from $1,125 to $2,000.
United States · United States Congress · 26 January 1983
Capital Gains Tax Act of 1983 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to decrease the holding period for capital gains tax treatment from one year to six months.
United States · United States Congress · 26 January 1983
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow an individual taxpayer an income tax deduction for contributions to a savings account established to pay the educational expenses (tuition, supplies, meals and lodging) of such taxpayer or the taxpayer's child at an institution of higher education or a vocational school. Limits the amount of such deduction to $750 (adjusted for inflation) for each account per year, up to a maximum of $3,000 for all accounts that are established. Specifies that no account may have more than one beneficiary and that no individual may be a beneficiary of more than one account. Permits the deferral of income tax on income accumulated in such educational savings accounts as long as such amounts are used exclusively for educational expenses. Specifies penalties for the use of account funds for other than educational purposes. Excludes from the gross income of account beneficiaries any distributions from the account made on their behalf which are used for educational expenses.
United States · United States Congress · 26 January 1983
Constitutional Amendment - Requires Congress, prior to each fiscal year, to adopt a statement of receipts and outlays for that year in which total outlays are no greater than total receipts. Permits Congress in such statement to provide for a specific excess of outlays over receipts by a three-fifths vote directed solely to that subject. Prohibits total receipts for any fiscal year set forth in such statement from increasing by a rate greater than the rate of increase in national income in the last calendar year ending before such fiscal year, unless Congress passes a bill directed solely to approving specific additional receipts and such bill has become law. Permits Congress to waive the provisions of this Act with respect to any fiscal year in which a declaration of war is in effect. Declares that total receipts shall include all receipts of the United States, except those derived from borrowing and total outlays shall include all outlays of the United States except those for repayment of debt principal.
United States · United States Congress · 26 January 1983
Constitutional Amendment - Defines "person" to include the unborn for the purpose of the right to life guarantee. Makes such amendment inapplicable to laws permitting medical procedures required to prevent the death of the mother.
United States · United States Congress · 10 December 1982
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the national security policy should reflect a national strategy of peace through strength. Sets forth the principles and goals of such a policy.
United States · United States Congress · 6 December 1982
Expresses the sense of the Senate that: (1) the Senate condemns and abhors the suppression of civil liberties and human rights by the Polish martial law government; (2) Americans respect the commitment to ideals manifested by the Polish people and Lech Walesa in particular; (3) Americans hope that Polish authorities will take steps to return to the Polish people their rights and liberties; and (4) the President is urged to proclaim December 12, 1982, as a national day of solidarity and prayer for Poland.
United States · United States Congress · 3 December 1982
Reaffirms the commitment of Congress to locating and repatriating Americans unaccounted for in Southeast Asia. Expresses congressional appreciation to the Lao Government for its expressed willingness to help. Supports the President's actions to locate and return missing Americans. Urges the President to respond to the indicated willingness of the Lao Government to cooperate in this effort.
United States · United States Congress · 2 December 1982
Federal Public Transportation Act of 1982 - Amends the Urban Mass Transportation Act of 1964 to prohibit the Secretary of Transportation from making a discretionary capital grant or loan unless the applicant has sufficient capability to maintain the facilities and equipment purchased with such grant or loan. Sets forth the Federal share for grants to assist projects under this Act, including projects for the construction of certain fixed guideway systems. Prohibits alteration of Federal share commitments before enactment of this Act, including projects within the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area transit system. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1983 through 1985 for: (1) grants or loans to States and local public agencies; (2) long-range planning and technical studies; (3) grants and loans to meet the needs of the elderly and handicapped; and (4) the grant program for areas other than urbanized areas. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1983 through 1985 for: (1) research, development, and demonstration projects; (2) grants for managerial, technical and professional training programs; (3) grants for research and training in urban transportation problems; and (4) the establishment and operation of transportation centers at nonprofit institutions of higher learning. Limits the amounts available for appropriations under this Act for FY 1983 and 1984. Establishes a formula capital and operating assistance program to finance the planning, acquisition, construction, improvement, and operating costs of facilities, equipment, and maintenance items in mass transportation service. Sets forth the apportionments of such funds for urbanized areas, and the Federal share payable for such projects. Allows States to transfer apportionments between urbanized areas of different sizes. Sets forth requirements for entities to receive such grants. Requires the Secretary to notify the appropriate congressional committees before issuing letters of intent to obligate funds under this Act. Directs the Secretary to give priority to such commitments approved before enactment of this Act. Makes funds available under the urban mass transit program available for expenditure through 1985. Revises the definition of construction to include any bus rehabilitation project which extends the economic life of a bus by five or more years. Revises the definition of fixed guideway to include any transportation facility which utilizes a right-of-way rail usable by other forms of transportation and a public transit facility which utilizes a fixed catenary system. Repeals the intercity bus service/terminal development program and safety authority provisions of the National Mass Transportation Assistance Act of 1974. Terminates funding for the waterborne transportation demonstration project. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1983 through 1985 for the transit capital infrastructure program. Sets forth requirements for receiving grants under such program.
United States · United States Congress · 1 December 1982
Amends the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act to extend for not more than three years, beginning October 1, 1982, the additional period for congressional consideration of portions of the following rivers which have been designated for potential addition to the national wild and scenic rivers system: (1) the Illinois River in Oregon; (2) the Pine Creek River in Pennsylvania; (3) the Youghiogheny River in Maryland and Pennsylvania; (4) the Encampment River in Colorado; (5) the Kettle River in Minnesota; (6) the Owyhee River, South Fork, in Oregon; (7) the Shepaug River in Connecticut; (8) the Upper Mississippi River in Minnesota; (9) the Wisconsin River in Wisconsin; and (10) the Housatonic River in Connecticut. Provides that the additional period for congressional consideration of portions of the Tuolumne River in California designated for potential addition to the national wild and scenic rivers system may be extended beginning October 1, 1982, for an additional period of not more than one year.
United States · United States Congress · 1 October 1982
Designates 1983 as the "Tricentennial Anniversary Year of German Settlement in America". Expresses congressional support for the President's Youth Exchange Initiative, and especially the concept of a United States-German teenage exchange sponsored by the Congress and the West German Bundestag.