United States · United States Congress · 16 October 1986
Grants the consent of the Congress to specified amendments offered by the State of Maryland, the Commonwealth of Virginia, and the District of Columbia to certain sections of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Regulation Compact relating to public hearing requirements, investments, procurement, and public safety. Reserves the right of the Congress to alter or repeal this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 15 October 1986
Declares that the United States extends its sympathies to the people and Government of El Salvador with regard to the recent earthquake. Urges the President to provide appropriate relief to help prevent further loss of life in El Salvador. Declares that the United States is prepared to cooperate with El Salvador in long-term efforts to recover from the effects of the earthquake.
United States · United States Congress · 2 October 1986
Prohibits Senate offices from incurring official mail costs for FY 1987 in excess of the amounts allocated to such offices in accordance with this resolution. Requires the Committee on Rules and Administration to determine such costs. Urges the House of Representatives to make similar expenditure limitations. Directs the Committee to prescribe: (1) a recordkeeping system to ensure that allocated amounts are not exceeded; and (2) a procedure to transfer portions of an allocation from one Senate office to another. Directs the Committee, during the 100th Congress, to study the feasibility of revising the manner in which funds for official mail costs are appropriated, expended, and accounted for, and report findings and recommendations to the Senate.
United States · United States Congress · 1 October 1986
Berne Convention Implementation Act of 1986 - Amends the copyright law to implement the Berne Convention, the Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works signed at Berne on September 9, 1886. Extends copyright protection to architectural works in conformance with such Convention. Extends comparable copyright protection to protectable works of nationals of Berne Union members. Removes the requirement of registration as a prerequisite to instituting an action for copyright infringement. Eliminates copyright notice provisions. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 1 October 1986
Amends rule XXXV of the Standing Rules of the Senate, regarding Member or employee travel to a foreign country to participants in an educational program, to remove the requirement that a list of participants be placed in the Congressional Record prior to the beginning of such program.
United States · United States Congress · 29 September 1986
Global Climate Protection Act of 1986 - Directs the President to establish a Task Force on the Global Climate to research, develop, and implement a coordinated national strategy on global climate. Requires such Task Force to transmit a United States Strategy on the Global Climate to the President within a year. Requires the President to then report to specified members of Congress on such report. Directs the President to appoint an ambassador at large to coordinate Federal efforts in multilateral activities relating to global warming. Directs the Secretary of State to promote the early designation of an International Year of Global Climate Protection. Urges the President to give climate protection high priority on the agenda of U.S.-Soviet relations.
United States · United States Congress · 15 August 1986
Amends the Christopher Columbus Quincentenary Jubilee Act to authorize the Christopher Columbus Quincentenary Jubilee Commission to expend a specified amount of authorized funds to entertain foreign representatives. Removes caps on donations the Commission may accept. Authorizes the Commission to permit commercial use of the Christopher Columbus Quincentenary Jubilee logo.
United States · United States Congress · 15 August 1986
Government Printing Office Inspector General Act of 1986 - Establishes an Office of Inspector General in the Government Printing Office to: (1) conduct and supervise audits and investigations; (2) recommend policies to promote efficiency and economy; and (3) provide a means of keeping the Public Printer and the Joint Committee on Printing fully and currently informed. Provides for the appointment by the Public Printer of an Inspector General, an Assistant Inspector General for Audits, and an Assistant Inspector General for Investigations. Authorizes the designation of employees of the Office as special agents for the conduct of audits and investigations. Requires the Inspector General to report annually to the Public Printer on the activities of the Office. Directs the Public Printer to transmit such report to the Joint Committee on Printing together with any comments deemed appropriate. Makes such report available to the public.
United States · United States Congress · 14 August 1986
Amends the Supplemental Appropriations Act, 1984 to remove the restrictions which prohibited furnishing Senators' State offices with telecommunications services for which a charge is based on the amount of time the service is used.
United States · United States Congress · 13 August 1986
Amends the Rules of Procedure and Practice in the Senate When Sitting on Impeachment Trials to make various technical and procedural changes, including: (1) that an article of impeachment shall not be divisible for the purpose of voting at any time during the trial; and (2) that once voting has commenced on an article of impeachment, it shall continue until completed unless the Senate adjourns for one day or less or adjourns sine die.
United States · United States Congress · 9 August 1986
Railroad Service Retirement Credit Act of 1985 - Presents guidelines under which credits for employment service under the Railroad Retirement Act will apply to individuals who first became employees of the Department of Transportation, the Interstate Commerce Commission, the National Mediation Board, the National Transportation Safety Board, or the Railroad Retirement Board on or before December 31, 1983. States that Federal civil service retirement deposits may not be required for certain creditable service. Denies any annuity entitlement under the Railroad Retirement Act to an individual eligible to receive an annuity under a civil service retirement plan.
United States · United States Congress · 23 July 1986
Interstate Compact - Grants congressional approval to the Appalachian States Low-Level Radioactive Waste Compact, which provides for cooperation between the States of Maryland, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and West Virginia in the management of low-level radioactive waste.
United States · United States Congress · 22 July 1986
Amends the American Folklife Preservation Act to extend through FY 1989 the authorization of appropriations for the American Folklife Center, located at the Library of Congress.
United States · United States Congress · 16 July 1986
Amends the Senate resolution governing broadcast coverage of Senate proceedings to prohibit the use of tape duplications of such proceedings for commercial purposes. (Previously such use was prohibited only for political purposes.) Removes the prohibition on the use of tapes of television coverage for any purpose outside the Senate.
United States · United States Congress · 19 June 1986
Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986 - Title I: Interception of Communications and Related Matters - Amends the Federal criminal code to extend the prohibition against the unauthorized interception of communications to include specific types of electronic communications. (Present law prohibits the interception of wire and oral communications only.) Specifies certain exceptions with respect to electronic communications. Extends such prohibition to the communications of any provider of wire or electronic communication services. (Present law extends only to communications common carriers.) Provides for reduced criminal penalties where the unauthorized access to the electronic communication is not for a tortious or illegal purpose or private commercial gain. States that the interception of certain satellite transmissions is not an offense unless it is for the purposes of direct or indirect commercial advantage or private financial gain. Prohibits any person or entity providing an electronic communication service, with specified exceptions, from knowingly divulging the contents of any communication carried on that service. Allows any person whose wire, oral, or electronic communication is intercepted, disclosed, or willfully used to bring a civil action to recover damages. (Present law allows such a civil action only for the interception or use of wire or oral communications.) Revises the amount of damages which may be recovered in such actions. Specifies a two-year statute of limitations for the commencement of such actions. Specifies additional crimes for which the interception of wire, oral, or electronic communications can be authorized in the course of the investigation of such crimes. Sets forth additional requirements for applications, court orders, and the implementation of court orders for the interception of such communications. Provides that certain intelligence activities approved by the Attorney General shall not be affected by certain provisions of Federal law. Allows a court-authorized mobile tracking device to be used outside the jurisdiction of that court. Makes it a criminal offense to warn a person that he or she is the subject of surveillance. Allows the Attorney General to initiate a civil action to obtain an injunction to prevent felony level violations of this Act. Title II: Stored Wire and Electronic Communications and Transactional Records Access - Makes it a criminal offense to: (1) willfully access, without authorization, a facility through which an electronic communication service is provided; or (2) willfully exceed an authorized access to such facility. Prohibits the provider of an electronic communication service or remote computing service, except under certain circumstances, from divulging the contents of any communication stored, carried, or maintained by such service. Sets forth the procedural requirements for a governmental entity to obtain access to electronic communications in electronic storage, including court-ordered back-up copies of the contents of such communications. Allows any subscriber or customer of a communication service who is aggrieved by a willful or intentional violation of this Act to initiate a civil action to recover appropriate relief. Grants the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) access to telephone or communication service information and records relevant to any authorized foreign counterintelligence investigation. Prohibits any official or employee or a communications common carrier or service provider from disclosing to any person that the FBI has sought or obtained such access. Title III: Pen Registers - Prohibits the installation or use of a pen register or a tracking device without a court order pursuant to this Act or under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978. Imposes criminal penalties for violations of such prohibition. Authorizes Government attorneys and State law enforcement officers to apply for a court order allowing the installation and use of a pen register or tracking device. Allows the issuance of such an order if the attorney or law enforcement officer certifies that information likely to be obtained by such installation is relevant to an ongoing criminal investigation. Requires providers of wire communications, landlords, custodians, and other persons to furnish all information, facilities, and technical assistance necessary to accomplish the installation of a pen register if such assistance is ordered by the court. Requires that anyone providing such assistance be compensated for any reasonable expenses incurred. Requires the Attorney General to report annually to the Congress on the number of pen register orders applied for by law enforcement agencies of the Department of Justice.
United States · United States Congress · 18 June 1986
Expresses the sense of the Senate that: (1) it is against the national security interests of the United States to abandon existing strategic offensive arms agreements by exceeding the numerical sublimits of such agreements as long as the Soviet Union remains within such sublimits; (2) the Soviet Union should take steps to resolve U.S. concerns about Soviet violations of existing strategic arms agreements and to negotiate a new agreement; and (3) the Congress and the President should continue to review the policy of mutual adherence to the numerical sublimits on launchers of strategic nuclear delivery systems and the significance of both Soviet compliance and noncompliance with existing strategic offensive arms agreements.
United States · United States Congress · 17 June 1986
Amends the Controlled Substances Act to include cocaine freebase as a schedule I substance. Establishes criminal penalties of up to 20 years in prison, or up to a $250,000 fine, or both, for manufacturing, distributing, dispensing, or possessing cocaine freebase.
United States · United States Congress · 6 June 1986
Intellectual Property Rights Improvement Act of 1986 - Title I: Technology Licensing Under the Antitrust Laws - Amends the Clayton Act to permit licensing agreements for patented inventions, trade secrets, knowhow, or rights in protected mask works. Title II: Elimination, in Certain Section 337 Cases, of Requirement of Injury to a United States Industry - Amends the Tariff Act of 1930 to declare that acts of importation into, or sale in, the United States of articles that infringe a valid U.S. patent, copyright, trademark, U.S. maskwork, or trade secret are unlawful whether or not they have the effect of destroying or substantially injuring a U.S. industry or impairing the establishment of such industry. Permits any person to petition the International Trade Commission (ITC) for the issuance of an order to exclude such articles, during its investigation, from entry into the United States. Sets forth: (1) civil penalties for violations under this Act; and (2) procedures for the modification or recision of an ITC order under this Act. Repeals a specified section of the Tariff Act of 1930 relating to the importation of products produced under a process covered by claims of an unexpired patent. Title III: Process Patents - Amends the patent laws to prohibit the use, sale, or importation of products made through the unauthorized use of a patented process. Title IV: Patent Term Restoration for Certain Agricultural and Chemical Products - Amends the patent laws to extend the terms of patents which encompass specified products or methods for using a product, any of which are subject to certain nonpatent regulatory review periods. Sets forth the terms and conditions of such extension, including a five year limitation on the extension and a 25 year maximum patent term from the earliest filing. Directs the Commissioner of Patents to notify the appropriate Federal agency upon receipt from a product sponsor of a notice of extension. Requires the notified agency to determine the applicable regulatory review period. Permits the appropriate Secretary or Administrator to establish fees to cover review costs. Directs the Commissioner, upon a final determination of the applicable regulatory review period, to issue to the owner of record of a patent a certificate of extension stating the fact and length of the extension and identifying the product and the use and the claim to which such extension is applicable. Makes such certificate a part of the original patent. Restricts the disclosure of any data submitted during the regulatory review period which is designated as a trade secret or confidential. Limits the application of such patent term extension to patents for: (1) any new animal drug or antibiotic subject to regulation under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act; (2) any veterinary biological product subject to regulation under the Virus-Serum-Toxin Act; (3) any pesticide subject to regulation under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act; and (4) any chemical substance or mixture subject to regulation under the Toxic Substances Control Act. Title V: Patent Misuse - Amends the patent laws to specify conduct which does not interfere with a patent owner's entitlement to relief for patent infringement, including refusal to license, excessive or inconsistency in royalty fees, and other anticompetitive activities. Title VI: Licensee Challenges to Patent Validity - States that a licensee shall not be estopped from asserting in a judicial action the invalidity of any patent to which it is licensed.
United States · United States Congress · 5 June 1986
Recognizes and supports the historic and educational purposes to be served by the museum and study center in Normandy, France, and the efforts of the U.S. Committee for the Battle of Normandy Museum to encourage understanding of and support among Americans for such memorial.
United States · United States Congress · 21 May 1986
Medicare Home Health Care Improvement Act of 1986 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to set limits on Medicare payments for home health services, but requires that such limits be applied on an aggregate rather than a discipline-specific basis for home health agencies. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to take all current cost data into account when computing costs to which payment limits are applied. Requires that Medicare regulations be open to public notice and comment to the same extent to which rulemaking is subject to such procedures by the Administrative Procedure Act. Directs hospitals to implement a discharge planning process which meets guidelines and standards, to be established by the Secretary, ensuring patients a timely and smooth transition to the most appropriate type of, and setting for, post-hospital or rehabilitative care.
![Official portrait of Sen. Mathias, Charles McC., Jr. [R-MD]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/m000241_200.jpg)