United States · United States Congress · 30 April 1981
Regulatory Reform Act - Amends the Administrative Procedure Act to require the notice of proposed agency rulemaking to include: (1) a statement of the Congressional intent behind the rule; (2) a solicitation for public proposals for alternative methods; (3) a description of the data used in the rulemaking; and (4) a determination of whether the rule is a "major rule," as defined in this Act. Directs each agency to publish with such notice: (1) a description of the costs and benefits of and alternatives to the proposed rule; and (2) a justification for proposing the rule and selecting it over the alternatives. Requires agencies to give interested persons at least 60 days to submit written comments on any proposed rule and to make oral comments on major rules. Provides for a 30-day extension of such period. Directs each agency to publish with each final rule a statement of its basis and purpose, including an assessment of the public comments and a comparison of the costs, benefits, and adverse effects of the rule. Requires an agency officer or employee to prepare the rulemaking notice and the statement of the basis and purpose. Directs each agency to maintain, for judicial review, a public file of the paperwork and comments pertaining to each rulemaking proceeding. Allows an agency to promulgate an emergency rule without meeting the notice and comment requirements. Directs such agency: (1) to publish an explanation of the situation requiring the emergency rule and a justification of the emergency rule selected; and (2) to comply with normal rulemaking requirements as soon as practicable. Requires each agency to review its major rules every ten years. Directs each agency to: (1) publish and submit to the President a proposed review schedule; and (2) publish a final schedule within one year after enactment of this Act. Permits the President to select additional rules for review. Directs each agency to publish a notice of its proposed action regarding a reviewed rule. Requires that the notice: (1) assess the costs, benefits, and adverse effects of the rule; and (2) invite public proposals for modifications or alternatives to the rule. Requires an agency to follow normal rulemaking procedures when amending or rescinding a rule. Specifies procedures for renewing a rule without amendment. Directs a court reviewing an agency action to: (1) set aside any agency rule found to lack substantial support in the rulemaking file; (2) determine the authority or jurisdiction of the agency on the basis of the language of the authorizing statute or other evidence of legislative intent; and (3) accord no presumption in favor of or against agency action. Declares that when proceedings for review of the same agency action are instituted in two or more courts of appeals within ten days, the Administrative Office of the United States Courts shall select the court in which the record shall be filed by a system of random selection. Authorizes the courts not selected to grant preliminary relief pending transfer of their proceedings. Requires each agency to publish in the Federal Register, semiannually, an agenda of the rules the agency expects to propose, promulgate, renew, or withdraw within the next 12 months, including a schedule of the significant actions pertaining to each rule. Directs the President to publish, semiannually, a Calendar of Federal Regulations, listing each of the major rules included in the agenda.
United States · United States Congress · 28 April 1981
Coastal Barrier Resources Act - Declares the findings and intentions of Congress in regard to the fish, wildlife, and other natural resources associated with the coastal barriers along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the United States. Establishes the Coastal Barrier Resources System (System) which shall consist of specified undeveloped coastal barriers on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts. Requires that certain coastal barrier maps shall be available for public inspection through the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. Directs the Secretary of the Interior to provide copies of such maps to the chief executive officer of: (1) each State and political subdivision in which a System unit is located, and (2) each affected Federal agency. Directs the Secretary to make necessary modifications to such maps and to notify specified Congressional committees of the same. Limits, to specified projects, Federal expenditures on such projects or financial assistance for purposes within the System. Lists those projects eligible for financial assistance. Requires the Director of the Office of Management and Budget to certify annually to Congress that the Federal agencies concerned have complied with the provisions of this Act. Declares that no provision of this Act shall be construed to invalidate any provision of State or local law. Sets forth the contents of reports to be filed by the Secretary with specified Congressional committees. Authorizes appropriations to the Department of the Interior for fiscal years 1982 through 1986 for the purposes of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 28 April 1981
Housing and Community Development Amendments of 1981 - Title I: Community and Economic Development - Amends the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 to authorize combined appropriations for block grants for community development activities and urban development action grants for fiscal years 1982 and 1983. Eliminates application requirements for block grants to metropolitan cities and urban counties. Directs any such city or county (entitlement community) and any State seeking a grant to submit to the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development: (1) a final statement on community development objectives and the projected use of funds; and (2) certifications that the grant will be administered in accordance with the Civil Rights Acts of 1964 and 1968, and that the projected use of funds gives priority to activities to benefit low and moderate income families or to prevent blight. Directs grantees to publish proposed grant statements for public comment, and to make the final statement available to the public. Permits grants to be made to an entitlement community only if such community certifies that it is following a current housing assistance plan approved by the Secretary. Requires grantees (entitlement communities and States) to submit performance reports. Directs the Secretary to review the performance of grantees annually to determine: (1) whether each entitlement community has carried out its activities, housing assistance plan, and certifications in a timely manner; and (2) whether each State grantee has distributed funds to local governments in a timely manner and conducted appropriate reviews of the performance of such local governments. Authorizes the Secretary to adjust, reduce, or withdraw grants to local governments on the basis of such reviews. Directs State grantees to perform actions of the Secretary concerning the release of funds to units of local government to carry out the purpose of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1974. Provides grantees authority to receive grant payments in one lump sum to establish a revolving fund in a private institution to finance rehabilitation activities. Eliminates certain restrictions on the use of block grant funds for the provision of public services not provided by a local government within the last 12 months. Authorizes the use of such funds for the provision of assistance to private, for-profit entities to carry out an economic development project. Limits to ten percent the amount of any grant which may be used for public service activities. Permits the Secretary to waive such limitation. Revises the formula for the allocation of funds appropriated for community development block grants. Allocates 70 percent of such funds for entitlement communities and 30 percent of such funds to States for nonentitlement areas. Requires the reallocation of funds which are not received by an entitlement community for a fiscal year or which become available as a result of an adjustment of grant amounts following reviews according to the existing dual formula. Requires that the funds allocated to States be distributed by the States to units of local government located in nonentitlement areas according to each State's final statement projecting the use of such funds. Permits States to elect not to receive an allocation of funds for fiscal year 1982 in which case the Secretary shall administer the allocation of funds for local governments in accordance with provisions existing prior to enactment of this Act. Reduces the amounts of appropriations which may be set aside for the Secretary's discretionary fund for fiscal years 1982 and 1983. Eliminates uses of the funds for making grants for: (1) areawide community development programs; (2) disaster assistance; and (3) correcting inequities resulting from the block grant allocation formula. Reduces the amount of appropriations authorized for urban development action grants for fiscal year 1982. Modifies the contents of grant applications to eliminate requirements for: (1) documentation of results in providing housing for persons of low and moderate income and in providing housing and employment for minorities; (2) an urban development action plan consistent with the community development program, the housing assistance plan, and the overall economic development plan of the area; and (3) preparation of a citizen participation plan and publication of information on fund availability and eligible activities. Revises grant selection criteria to include: (1) the extent to which the grant will stimulate economic recovery by leveraging private investment; (2) the number of jobs to be created; and (3) the extent to which State or local government funding has been committed. Eliminates a requirement that the Secretary allocate such grants equally among programs to restore deteriorated neighborhoods, to reclaim real property for industrial purposes, and to review commercial employment centers. Directs the Secretary to assure that the amount of any grant is the least necessary to make the project feasible. Prohibits the Secretary from making any such grant unless the applicant provides assurances that its program will be conducted in conformity with the Civil Rights Acts of 1964 and 1968. Prohibits discrimination on the basis of age or with respect to a handicapped individual under any program or activity funded under the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974. Extends the deadline for submission of the Secretary's annual report to Congress on activities under such Act. Authorizes appropriations for fiscal year 1983 to carry out the urban homesteading program. Repeals: (1) the Neighborhood Self-Help Development Act of 1978; (2) provisions of the Housing Act of 1954 governing comprehensive planning grants; (3) the rehabilitation loan program under the Housing Act of 1964; and (4) the weatherization assistance program under the Energy Conservation and Production Act. Title II: Housing Assistance Programs - Increases the Secretary's annual contributions contract authority for low-income housing projects for fiscal years 1982 and 1983 and the corresponding budget authority. Requires the Secretary to allocate a specific portion of the additional contract authority for fiscal year 1982 for public housing modernization. Restricts the allocation of the remaining contract authority between existing and newly constructed or substantially rehabilitated units. Authorizes appropriations for fiscal years 1982 and 1983 for operating subsidies for public housing projects. Amends the United States Housing Act of 1937 and the National Housing Act to establish the rent for housing units assisted under such Acts at the highest of: (1) 30 percent of the family's monthly adjusted income; (2) 10 percent of the family's monthly income; or (3) the portion of any welfare assistance designated for the family's housing costs. Establishes uniform definitions for the rental assistance program of the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Redefines the term "lower income families" for purposes of the United States Housing Act of 1937 to exclude families whose incomes exceed 80 percent of the median area income. Requires that at least 30 percent (currently 20 percent) of the units available for initial occupancy in a public housing project in a fiscal year be occupied by very low income families. Requires the Secretary to review the incomes of families living in public housing projects and rental housing projects designed for lower-income families annually (currently biennially). Establishes the amount of monthly assistance payments to owners who provide housing for lower-income families as the difference between the maximum rent the owners may charge under terms of the assistance contract and the rent established for tenants of assisted units. Amends the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1965 to establish the rent supplement for units provided for lower-income tenants at the lesser of: (1) 70 percent of the fair market rent; or (2) the amount by which the fair market rent exceeds 30 percent (currently 25 percent) of the tenant's adjusted income. Provides for delayed application of such revised supplement where immediate application would violate existing leases or cause extraordinary hardship. Amends the Housing and Community Development Amendments of 1978 to authorize appropriations for fiscal years 1982 and 1983 for operating assistance for troubled multifamily housing projects. Authorizes the Secretary to utilize additional budget authority provided for contributions contracts under the United States Housing Act of 1937 for rent supplements under the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1965. Eliminates provisions authorizing only the public housing agency to evict a tenant in an assisted unit. Declares that the tenant's rights shall be determined by the lease and applicable State and local law. Increases the mortgage purchase authority of the Government National Mortgage Association for fiscal year 1982. Authorizes the Secretary to borrow from the U.S. Treasury such sums as may be necessary to finance the loan program for housing for the elderly and handicapped for fiscal year 1983. Amends the National Housing Act to eliminate the requirement that the Secretary recapture assistance provided to a homeowner when the homeowner fails to make mortgage payments for 90 days or more. Title III: Program Amendments and Extensions - Amends the National Housing Act to extend the Secretary's authority to insure loans for mortgages and home improvement. Extends the Secretary's authority to establish the maximum interest rates for certain mortgage insurance programs. Amends the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1970 to authorize appropriations for research for the Department of Housing and Urban Development in fiscal years 1982 and 1983. Amends the National Housing Act to increase the amount of funds authorized to be appropriated to cover losses sustained by the General Insurance Funds. Increases the maximum amounts of property improvement loans eligible for Federal insurance with respect to existing single family structures or manufactured homes, apartment buildings or dwellings for two or more families, and historic structures. Provides for higher loans where financing of a solar energy system is involved. Increases maximum loan amounts for financing the purchase of single and multi-module manufactured homes and lots for such homes. Permits the Secretary to increase such amounts by a specified sum when necessary to meet higher area costs. Eliminates the distinction between an undeveloped and developed lots. Increases the maximum loan terms for: (1) property improvement loans where installation of a solar energy system is involved; (2) loans to purchase single-module manufactured homes; and (3) historic preservation loans. Increases the maximum loan amount which the Secretary may insure in connection with a manufactured home park. Amends the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968 to authorize the Secretary to provide low and moderate income tenants with default and delinquency counseling. Title IV: Multifamily Mortgage Foreclosure - Multifamily Mortgage Foreclosure Act of 1981 - Authorizes the Secretary to foreclose on multifamily mortgages held by the Secretary encumbering real estate located in any State. Sets forth procedures for the designation of a foreclosure commission or commissioners by the Secretary. Designates the Secretary as a guarantor of payment of any judgment against such commissioners. Permits a foreclosure by the Secretary to commence upon the breach of a covenant or condition in the mortgage agreement for which foreclosure is authorized under such mortgage. Specifies procedures for: (1) notice of default and foreclosure sale; (2) service of such notice; (3) presale reinstatement and cancellation of foreclosure; (4) conduct of a foreclosure sale; (5) disposition of foreclosure costs and sale proceeds; (6) transfer of title and possessions; and (7) recording the foreclosure and sale. Authorizes the Secretary to require, as a condition and term of sale, that the purchaser at a foreclosure sale under this Act agree to the continued operation of the security property in accordance with the appropriate loan program.
United States · United States Congress · 27 April 1981
Declares the sense of the Congress that the President shall take steps to: (1) call upon the Soviet Union to permit the resurrection of the Ukrainian Orthodox and Catholic Churches; (2) contact the officials of the Soviet Union to secure freedom of worship in the Ukraine; and (3) bring to the attention of national and international religious councils Soviet violations of basic human rights.
United States · United States Congress · 9 April 1981
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide that bonds issued by a volunteer fire department to finance the acquisition, construction, reconstruction, or improvement of firefighting property shall be treated as obligations of a local government and the interest on such bonds shall be excluded from gross income. Provides that a volunteer fire department qualifies for such tax treatment of its bonds if it: (1) is organized and operated to provide firefighting services in an area which does not have any other firefighting services; (2) is required by a local government to furnish firefighting services; (3) receives over half of its funding from local government; and (4) makes no charge for its services.
United States · United States Congress · 9 April 1981
Natural Gas Utilization Act - Amends the Powerplant and Industrial Fuel Use Act of 1978 to repeal certain prohibitions on the use of natural gas as a primary energy source in existing electric powerplants and major fuel-burning installations. Permits local distribution companies to provide natural gas service to residential customers for use in outdoor lighting fixtures installed, and receiving natural gas, before the enactment of the Powerplant and Industrial Fuel Use Act of 1978. Requires each local distribution company, in accordance with rules established by the Secretary of Energy, to: (1) periodically inform its customers of the amount of natural gas consumed by outdoor lighting; and (2) report such information method to the Secretary. Permits the Secretary to grant a permanent exemption from the prohibitions on the use of natural gas in a gas-coal mixture in a new powerplant or installation if: (1) emissions would be reduced; and (2) disregarding any variances, the proportion of natural gas in a mixture complies with applicable environmental requirements. Repeals the Federal requirement of incremental pricing under the Natural Gas Policy Act of 1978.
United States · United States Congress · 8 April 1981
Directs the Secretary of the Interior to permit the National Committee of American Airmen Rescued by General Mihailovich to construct and maintain a monument to General Draza Mihailovich in recognition of the role he played in saving the lives of approximately five hundred United States airmen in Yugoslavia during World War II. Provides that such monument shall be located on Federal public land within the District of Columbia or environs. Directs that private funds shall be the sole source for the construction and maintenance of such monument.
United States · United States Congress · 8 April 1981
Proclaims Raoul Wallenberg an honorary citizen of the United States. Requests the President to ascertain his whereabouts from the Soviet Union and to secure his freedom.
United States · United States Congress · 7 April 1981
Small Business Innovation Research Act of 1981 - Amends the Small Business Act to direct the Small Business Administration (SBA) to: (1) maintain an information program to provide small businesses an opportunity to participate in Federal small business innovation research (SBIR) programs; (2) coordinate a schedule for release of agency SBIR solicitations and prepare a master release schedule; (3) monitor SBIR programs within Federal agencies; and (4) report annually to the Congressional Small Business Committees on the SBIR programs. Requires each Federal agency with a research and development budget in excess of $100,000,000 in fiscal year 1982 or any subsequent fiscal year to spend a specified percentage of its budget in connection with an SBIR program. Requires each Federal agency with a research and development budget in excess of $20,000,000 for fiscal year 1982 or any subsequent fiscal year to establish specific goals for funding research and development agreements with small businesses. Directs each Federal agency with an SBIR program to report annually to the SBA the number of awards over $10,000 in amount made under the SBIR program and to concerns other than small business concerns. Directs the Administrator of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy, in conjunction with the SBA, to promulgate regulations for the conduct of the SBIR programs. States that this Act does not authorize the appropriation of funds.
United States · United States Congress · 7 April 1981
Title I: Tax Treatment of Loans Secured by Shares of Stock in Cooperative Housing Corporations - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to qualify loans secured by stock in a cooperative housing corporation for the tax treatment accorded losses on certain real property loans. Revises the definition of "domestic building and loan association" to include associations at least 60 percent of the total assets of which consists of such loans. Title II: Tax Treatment of Investment by Real Estate Investment Trusts in Loans Secured by Stock in Cooperative Housing Corporations - Includes stock in a cooperative housing corporation in the amount of real estate assets and in the amount of interests in real property used for determining the status of a real estate investment trust.
United States · United States Congress · 7 April 1981
Regulatory Reduction and Congressional Control Act of 1981 - Amends the Administrative Procedure Act to require Federal agencies to provide interested persons at least 60 days after publication of the general notice of a proposed rulemaking to participate in the rulemaking. Allows an agency to adopt an emergency rule, temporarily, without regard to specified time constraints. Provides expedited procedures for the adoption of a rule to replace such a temporary emergency rule. Subjects interpretive agency rules and general policy statements which will have general applicability and affect the rights of persons outside the agency to notice and public comment requirements for agency rulemaking. Directs each agency, upon publishing a recommended final rule, to transmit to Congress a copy of the rule with a summary of the problem requiring Government regulation and a statement of the estimated costs imposed by the rule. Prohibits such a rule from becoming effective if one House adopts a resolution disapproving the rule within 60 days of continuous session of Congress and the other House does not disapprove such resolution within 30 days thereafter. Specifies factors to be considered by a Congressional committee when determining whether or not to report such a resolution. Allows an agency to issue a modified rule relating to the same area as a disapproved rule. Authorizes each Congressional committee having legislative jurisdiction over an existing agency rule to review such rule periodically to determine whether: (1) provisions of the rule seriously injure the public interest; or (2) the rule violates or is inconsistent with other rules, existing law, judicial decisions, congressional intent, or its statutory authority. Authorizes such a committee or any Member of Congress to report or introduce a resolution requiring that an agency reconsider and repromulgate an existing rule or else the rule shall lapse within 180 days. Requires any agency repromulgating a rule to hold a hearing for oral presentations.
United States · United States Congress · 2 April 1981
Commends Secret Service Agents Timothy McCarthy and Jerry Parr and Metropolitan Police Officer Thomas Delahanty for their performance in the line of duty with respect to the assassination attempt on the life of the President of the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 27 March 1981
Constitutional Amendment - Requires Congress to adopt for each year a budget which sets forth the total receipts and outlays of the United States. Prohibits the adoption of any budget in which outlays exceed total receipts, unless three-fifths of each House of Congress approve such budget. Prohibits Congress from passing and the President from signing any bill which would cause the total outlays for any year to exceed the total expenditures in the budget for such year. Prohibits the retention of receipts in any year for use of the Treasury in an amount which exceeds as a proportion of the national income, the amount retained for the prior year, unless a bill directed at approving a specific increase in such proportion has been passed by a majority of each House. Permits Congress to waive the provisions of this Act with respect to any single year in which a declaration of war is in effect.
United States · United States Congress · 26 March 1981
Amends the Clayton Act to prohibit any foreign government from suing for damages for an injury caused by a violation of United States antitrust laws unless: (1) similar conduct was a violation of the laws of the foreign government during the same period and such laws were enforced; and (2) the United States may recover damages for a similar injury to its business property under the laws of the foreign government. Limits the amount that a foreign government may recover to actual damages and the cost of the suit.
United States · United States Congress · 19 March 1981
Requests the President to designate the week of May 10 to May 16, 1981, as "CARE Week" in observance of the thirty-fifth anniversary of CARE (the Cooperative for American Relief Everywhere, Inc.).
United States · United States Congress · 18 March 1981
Title I: Export Trading Companies - Export Trading Company Act of 1981 - Directs the Secretary of Commerce to promote export trading companies by providing information and by facilitating contacts between producers of exportable goods and export trading companies. Authorizes any banking organization to invest specified amounts in export trading companies upon notifying, but without obtaining the prior approval of, the appropriate Federal banking agency, if such investment does not cause an export trading company to become a subsidiary of such organization. Allows greater investment by Edge Act Corporations not engaged in banking. Permits any banking organization to invest beyond such limitations with prior approval of the appropriate Federal banking agency. Requires prior notification of such agencies in specified circumstances. Sets forth further limitations on export trading companies and investments by banking organizations. Specifies factors to be taken into consideration by the banking agencies. Permits such agencies to impose conditions in approving applications to invest in export trading companies. Requires such agencies to report to the appropriate Congressional committees with their recommendations concerning implementation of this Act, related changes in U.S. law, and effects of ownership of U.S. banks by foreign banking organizations. Authorizes the appropriate Federal banking agency to exempt from specified requirements of the Federal Reserve Act any loan or extension of credit made by a national or State bank to an export trading company affiliate if such exemption is necessary to finance an affiliated export trading company and does not expose the bank to undue financial risks. Provides for judicial review of denial orders in the appropriate U.S. Court of Appeals. Sets forth the grounds for disapproval. Provides for a remand for further consideration by the banking agency. Directs the Economic Development Administration and the Small Business Administration to give special weight to export-related benefits when considering applications for loans and guarantees by export trading companies. Authorizes up to $10,000,000 to be appropriated for initial investments and operating expenses for each of fiscal years 1982-1986. Directs the Export-Import Bank of the United States to provide loan guarantees for expansion to export trading companies or exporters when adequate financing is not otherwise available. Requires such loan guarantees to be secured by accounts receivable or inventories. Directs the Board of Directors to try to insure that a major share of such guarantees promotes exports from small, medium-size, and minority businesses or agricultural concerns. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to subsidize the employment of export managers by small business manufacturing firms which have not previously been substantial exporters. Limits such grants to the lesser of: (1) 50 percent of the expenses related to employing a full-time export manager for one year; or (2) $40,000. Sets forth the requirements for an application by a firm for such grant and the factors the Secretary shall consider in making such grants. Authorizes appropriations for each of fiscal years 1982-1984 to carry out this grant program. Directs the Secretary to evaluate this program and to submit such evaluation and any recommendation to Congress by a specified date. Title II: Export Trade Association - Export Trade Association Act of 1981 - Amends the Webb-Pomerene Act to exempt the trade, activities and methods of operation of certified export trade associations and export trading companies from the antitrust laws. Delays the effectiveness of any certificate upon the notification of the Secretary of Commerce by the Attorney General or the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) of disagreement with the decision to issue a certificate. Sets forth the procedure to be followed by any association or export trading company seeking certification under this Act and by the Secretary in issuing such certificates. Permits automatic certification for existing associations. Provides for appeal of the Secretary's denial of certification. Requires firms to report changes in membership, export trade activities, or methods of operation to the Secretary and to apply for an amendment of their certificates. Directs the Secretary to revoke a firm's certificate if it does not comply with the requirements for an antitrust exemption or to amend such certificate so that it does comply with such requirements. Authorizes the Attorney General or the FTC to bring an action to invalidate certification. Provides for judicial review of such actions. Requires the Secretary, in consultation with the Attorney General and the FTC, to publish certification guidelines. Requires certified associations and export trading companies to submit annual reports to the Secretary. Directs the Secretary to establish within the Department of Commerce an Office of Export Trade. Requires such Office to report annually to the appropriate Congressional committees on all East-West trade transactions requiring validated licenses and on the role of U.S. export trading companies in such trade. Requires, with specified exceptions, that all applications for certification be kept confidential. Authorizes the Secretary to require an association or trading company to modify its operation to be consistent with international obligations of the United States. Directs the President to appoint, with the Senate's advice and consent, a task force, seven years after enactment, to examine the effect of this Act and to make recommendations. Makes the amendments of the Webb-Pomerene Act set forth in this Act effective with regard to existing associations only at such time as such associations elected to be certified.
United States · United States Congress · 12 March 1981
Census Data Reform Act - Directs the President to report to Congress within a specified time after tabulation of each decennial census on the population in each State and on the number of Representatives to which each State is entitled under the Hamilton-Vinton formula for apportionment (currently apportionment of Representatives is determined by the method of equal proportions).
United States · United States Congress · 12 March 1981
Business Accounting and Foreign Trade Simplification Act - Changes the name of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977 (FCPA) to the Business Practices and Records Act. Amends the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to require securities issuers to maintain an internal accounting system that provides reasonable assurance that specified accountability and accuracy goals are met. Establishes the degree of previous knowledge necessary to find liability for violations of the accounting standards. Requires only good faith efforts at ensuring compliance by issuers who hold 50 percent or less of the equity of domestic or foreign firms. Transfers from the Security and Exchange Commission to the Department of Justice jurisdiction to enforce the antibribery prohibitions of the FCPA with respect to issuers. Changes the jurisdictional basis of the current corrupt practices prohibition to prohibit bribery "with respect to activities in interstate or foreign commerce" (currently, the basis is use of the mails or interstate commerce "in furtherance" of bribery). Prohibits payments or promises made "directly or indirectly" by a domestic concern to a foreign official in order to obtain business. Prohibits such payments that are made to influence a foreign official's act or induce such an official to violate a legal duty. Prohibits domestic concerns from directing or authorizing such payments. Exempts from such prohibition any payment to a foreign official to facilitate or expedite performance of official duties and which is customary in the country where made. Enumerates additional exemptions, including items of value given in return for hospitality or in token of regard and esteem, and marketing or demonstration expenses pertaining to the business presentation. Empowers the Attorney General to undertake any civil investigation which is necessary to enforce the Act. Makes the provision in the Business Practices and Records Act the exclusive Federal law authorizing Federal proceedings against a domestic concern for using the mails or any instrumentality of interstate commerce to violate such Act. Requires an interagency task force to issue guidelines specifying: (1) permissible conduct and arrangements associated with common types of export sales arrangements; and (2) business contracts and precautionary procedures which would create a rebuttable presumption of compliance. Provides for the establishment of a Business Practices and Records Act Review Procedure to answer specific inquiries concerning enforcement of such Act. Requires the Attorney General to issue opinions regarding compliance. Makes such opinions final and binding on all parties if the conduct does not involve a violation. Requires annual reports to Congress by: (1) the Attorney General concerning actions taken pursuant to such Act; and (2) the Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission concerning the reporting requirements. Expresses the sense of the Congress that the President should negotiate agreements establishing standards of conduct for international business practices, a resolution procedure, and rates of commissions. Directs the President to report to Congress concerning the progress of such negotiations. Requires Congress to review the Business Practices and Records Act after receiving the President's report. Directs the President to report to Congress on the legal and practical consequences of specific action that the United States could take under existing law to: (1) promote international cooperation to prevent bribery of foreign officials, candidates, or parties in third countries; and (2) encourage persons or businesses operating in foreign countries to refrain from bribing foreign officials, candidates, or parties to the disadvantage of U. S. industry. Requires the report to contain recommendations for new legislation and an analysis of the potential effect on U. S. interests of the corruption of foreign officials and political leaders.
United States · United States Congress · 10 March 1981
Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981 - Title I: Individual Tax Rate Cuts - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to reduce individual and estate and trust income tax rates for 1981, 1982, 1983, and 1984, lowering the maximum rate to 50 percent in 1984. Repeals the 50 percent maximum tax rate on personal service income. Reduces the alternative minimum tax for noncorporate taxpayers. Title II: Incentives for Plant, Equipment, and Real Property - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to revise the method for determining useful lives of business assets for purposes of computing allowable depreciation deductions. Replaces the asset depreciation range (ADR) method with a schedule of capital cost recovery periods for three classes of business property. Establishes cost recovery periods for the following classes of business property: (1) Ten-year property, including owner-used buildings and their structural components and certain public utility property; (2) five-year property, including tangible property, and (3) three-year property, including automobiles, light-duty trucks, and certain tangible property used in connection with research and experimentation. Excludes from the category of recovery property: (1) property placed in service before January 1, 1981; (2) certain property eligible for amortization; and (3) certain depreciable real property. Requires the recapture of depreciation amounts and investment tax credit amounts applicable to assets which are sold or otherwise disposed of prior to the expiration of the capital cost recovery period. Revises the treatment of progress expenditure property with respect to the investment tax credit and the allowance for depreciation. Includes as recovery property, property which would have been depreciated using the retirement-replacement-betterment method. Provides special rules for recovery property predominantly used outside of the United States. Establishes definite useful lives for certain types of real property, (e.g., buildings, low-income housing, owner-occupied industrial and commercial buildings) which are not subject to change by the Internal Revenue Service upon audit. Allows current depreciation of any qualified progress expenditure property not yet placed in service. Revises the applicable percentage for determination of the investment tax credit to make eligible for such credit: (1) 100 percent of the basis of ten-year or five-year recovery property; and (2) 60 percent of the basis of three-year recovery property. Revises the progress expenditure rules to eliminate the useful life requirement for depreciable property being constructed by or for a taxpayer for use in trade or business (qualified progress expenditure property) and to apply to such property the revised percentages for determining the investment tax credit under this Act. Revises rules for the recapture of tax benefits upon the disposition of property eligible for the investment tax credit. Prescribes recapture percentages for each of the three classes of recovery property. Limits the amount of the investment tax credit to the amount that the taxpayer has at risk. Disqualifies capital cost recovery property from the allowance for first year depreciation. Repeals the retirement-replacement- betterment methods of depreciation allowed for certain types of property. Specifies that such property shall be depreciated using a ratable method. Requires the recapture as ordinary income of excess depreciation from recovery property which is subsequently sold or exchanged. Exempts accelerated depreciation on real property with a shortened audit-proof life and recovery property from classification as an item of tax preference for purposes of computing the minimum tax. Sets forth rules for treatment of the depreciation allowance for any recovery property under real property with a shortened audit-proof life in computing the earnings and profits of a corporation. Extends the carryover period for the net operating loss deduction, the investment tax credit, the work incentive program credit, and the new employee credit. Sets forth a method of computing the recovery allowance for recovery property and certain real property in the case of certain corporate acquisitions.
United States · United States Congress · 10 March 1981
Constitutional Amendment - Prohibits the adoption of any Federal budget in which expenditures exceed receipts unless approved by a roll call vote of three-fifths of the Members of each House of Congress directed solely to that subject. Prohibits the Congress from passing and the President from signing any appropriations bill which would cause the total expenditures of the Federal Government to exceed its total receipts in any fiscal year. Permits the Congress to waive such provisions with respect to any single year in which a declaration of war is in effect. Prohibits any annual increase in the proportion of Federal receipts to the national income unless passed by a roll call vote, directed solely to such purpose, of each House of Congress.
United States · United States Congress · 6 March 1981
Artists Tax Equity and Donation Act of 1981 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow an income tax deduction for the current fair market value of a literary, musical, or artistic composition created by the taxpayer and contributed to a charitable organization. Disallows a fair market value deduction for a contribution of property which was produced while the taxpayer was a Government officer or employee if such property arose out of the performance of the taxpayer's duties. Permits the executor of an estate, in calculating the gross estate, to elect to value any copyright or any literary, musical, or artistic work created by the decedent at an amount equal to the decedent's adjusted basis in such property.
United States · United States Congress · 3 March 1981
Equal Access to Communications Act of 1981 - Title I: Access to Government - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services, after consultation with specified organizations with special knowledge of the problems of deaf persons, to select at least five Federal agencies with which deaf persons have the greatest need for communication and have installed in each such agency and its regional offices a device which permits two-way communication of textual messages in alphanumeric form by telephone lines. Directs the Secretary to select an additional 100 locations for installation of such devices which shall be available to deaf people for their use in communicating with the agencies selected under this Act and with Members of Congress who choose to install such a device. Directs the Secretary to disseminate information about the availability of such devices as widely as possible to local organizations of the deaf. Directs that at least one employee be available during normal working hours at each location where such devices are located to assist deaf persons in the use of such devices. Authorizes appropriations for the above activities. Authorizes the Secretary to make a grant to any State or local government for installing telecommunications devices for the deaf in government agencies and other locations in a program to be identical to the Federal program established by this Act. Sets the level of such grants at 75 percent of the cost of installing and operating such devices. Authorizes annual continuing grants for such purposes. Requires the Secretary to seek the cooperation of the Administrator of General Services in having transferred to States any telecommunications devices for the deaf categorized as Federal surplus property. Authorizes appropriations for such grant and transferral programs. Requires that any Member of Congress making a written request for a telecommunications device for the deaf be provided with one. Directs the Architect of the Capitol to install such a device at the central switchboard in the United States Capitol. Requires at least one employee trained in the use of such device for the deaf to be available during normal working hours to provide assistance to deaf persons. Authorizes appropriations. Requires the Secretary to report to Congress within two years after the installation of the first device under this Act describing the effectiveness of the programs established by this Act and making recommendations on the continuation and expansion of such programs. Title II: Amendments to the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a refundable income tax credit for an amount not to exceed $200 equal to 75 percent of the expenses paid by deaf or speech-impaired individuals for the use of toll telephone service by means of teletypewriters. Allows an income tax deduction for 50 percent of the expenses incurred by blind, deaf, or speech impaired individuals in purchasing or installing a teletypewriter. Limits the amount of such deduction to $200 for each teletypewriter.
United States · United States Congress · 3 March 1981
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow the special use valuation of farms for estate tax purposes for real property which is put to a qualified use by a member of the decedent's family.
United States · United States Congress · 26 February 1981
Soil and Water Conservation Incentives Act of 1981 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a taxpayer engaged in the business of farming an investment tax credit for soil and water conservation expenditures not treated as deductible expenses.
United States · United States Congress · 26 February 1981
Debt Collection Act of 1981 - Amends the Privacy Act of 1974 to permit a Federal agency to disclose individual records to a consumer reporting agency. Authorizes a Federal agency attempting to collect a claim under the Federal Claims Collection Act of 1966 to notify a consumer reporting agency that a person is responsible for a claim if: (1) the agency has sent a written notice informing the person that a consumer reporting agency will be contacted, describing the information to be disclosed, and explaining the person's right to dispute the agency's claim; (2) the person has not agreed to repay the claim or filed for review of the claim; (3) the agency, upon request, has reviewed the claim; and (4) the agency has obtained assurances that the consumer reporting agency complies with Federal laws governing the provision of consumer credit information. Authorizes an agency to deduct installment payments from the pay of an employee or member of the Armed Forces or Armed Forces Reserve to offset any debts owed to the Government. Limits the amount deducted to one-half of the individual's pay. Permits such deduction only after the agency has notified the employee of: (1) the agency's intention to garnish the employee's pay; and (2) the employee's rights to inspect the agency's records, to a review of the agency's determination of indebtedness, and to enter into a written repayment agreement with the agency. Amends the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 to authorize: (1) the Secretary of the Treasury to disclose a taxpayer's address to an agency collecting a Federal claim against the taxpayer; (2) the agency to redisclose such information to a consumer reporting agency; and (3) the redisclosure of such information by the consumer reporting agency. Requires the Director of the Office of Management and Budget to establish regulations requiring each agency with outstanding debts to submit annual reports on the amount and number of such debts, the cost to the agency of collecting debts, and other information on the agency's debt collection activities. Requires the Director to report annually to Congress on the management of agency debt collection activities.
United States · United States Congress · 26 February 1981
Expresses the sense of Congress that Congress shall work its will and take final action no later than May 31, 1981, on the economic recovery proposals which President Reagan presented to the Congress on February 18, 1981.
United States · United States Congress · 24 February 1981
Amends the Clean Air Act, with regard to State implementation plans for a national primary ambient air quality standard, to authorize the President, as well as a Governor, to issue a temporary emergency suspension of any part of such plan applicable to a fuel burning stationary source. Requires either the President or the Governor to issue such an emergency suspension if either finds that foreign imports of fuels used by such source have reached an excessive level and that such imports can be reduced by the emergency suspension. Requires such suspension to be effective for a maximum of five years, or longer if reasonable; except suspensions violating a national ambient air quality standard are limited to not more than four months. Allows the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency in a disapproval order to require a lesser period if the suspension is issued by a Governor. Allows for revocation of a suspension if after four months the fuel burning stationary source in question has not changed to an alternate fuel.
United States · United States Congress · 24 February 1981
Amends the Clean Air Act to prohibit, for ten-years, the application of a more stringent emission limitation or standard of performance to: (1) any existing major stationary source which comes into compliance with all emission limitations in the applicable implementation plan; or (2) any new or modified major stationary source the construction or modification of which meets all applicable emission limitations and standards of performance. Sets such ten-year period to run from the date of completion of compliance, construction, or modification, or during the period of depreciation or amortization of such facility (for Internal Revenue Code purposes), whichever period ends first. Exempts from the application of this Act any source to which a substantial imminent threat to public health can be attributed, as determined by the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.
United States · United States Congress · 24 February 1981
Amends the Clean Air Act to provide coequal treatment, under Federal law, for a stationary source voluntarily converting from oil or natural gas to an alternate fuel and a stationary source mandated to convert.
United States · United States Congress · 24 February 1981
Amends the joint resolution of October 10, 1980 (requesting the President to designate the week beginning with the third Monday in February 1981 as "National Patriotism Week") to request the President to make such designation annually.
United States · United States Congress · 24 February 1981
Revises the congressional budget in order to: (1) reduce budget authority by $10.7 billion, and outlays by $4,8 billion, in fiscal year 1981; (2) reduce budget authority by $61.3 billion, and oulays by $41.4 billion, in fiscal year 1982; and (3) reduce budget authority by $88.4 billion, and outlays by $79.7 billion, in fiscal year 1983.
United States · United States Congress · 17 February 1981
Expresses the sense of the Senate that the United States will cease to participate in the activities of, or make support payments to, the United Nations General Assembly or any other U.N. body which rejects the credentials of the Israeli delegation.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 1981
Prohibits the application of Revenue Ruling 80-274, which deals with the tax treatment of group single-premium retirement annuity contracts held by federally insured savings and loan associations.
![Official portrait of Sen. Lugar, Richard G. [R-IN]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/l000504_200.jpg)