United States · United States Congress · 9 February 1984
States that the President should: (1) renew the agreement between the United States and the Soviet Union on space cooperation for peaceful purposes; (2) initiate talks with the Soviet Union and other interested governments on opportunities for cooperative East-West space ventures as an alternative to an arms race in space; and (3) submit to the Congress a report detailing the steps taken in pursuance of these goals.
United States · United States Congress · 9 February 1984
Authorizes the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration, from March 1, 1984, through February 28, 1985, to: (1) make expenditures from the contingent fund; (2) employ personnel; (3) utilize, on a reimbursable basis, the services of department or agency personnel; (4) procure consultant services; and (5) provide for the training of its professional staff.
United States · United States Congress · 1 February 1984
Expresses the appreciation of Congress to the descendants of blacks who contributed to American independence. Encourages State and local governments and private organizations to conduct activities during Black History Month 1985 in honor of black involvement in the American Revolution.
United States · United States Congress · 26 January 1984
Repeals a limitation on increases in the salaries of Federal judges and Justices. Requires that all salary adjustment rates of certain Federal judges be paid, as of January 1, 1984, in accordance with the presidential recommendation of August 31, 1983 (Presidential Message No. 74) (thus granting Federal judges the same cost-of-living pay raise Federal officers and employees received on January 1, 1984).
United States · United States Congress · 18 November 1983
Job Opportunity Act of 1983 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend the expiration date for the targeted jobs tax credit from December 31, 1984, to December 31, 1989.
United States · United States Congress · 18 November 1983
Amends the Supplemental Appropriations Act, 1973, to revise the categories of Senators' official office expenses. Removes the limitation on expenses for certain congressional employees.
United States · United States Congress · 18 November 1983
National Commission on the Public Lending of Books Act of 1983 - Establishes in the Library of Congress a National Commission on the Public Lending of Books. Directs the Commission to: (1) evaluate, report upon, and assess the relevance to the United States of systems, either, in operation or under consideration in foreign countries for compensating authors for the public lending of their books; and (2) study and compile data on the various types of lending of books and similar publications by libraries and other lending institutions. Directs the Commission, if it recommends the establishment of a compensation system for public lending of books or similar publications, to also: (1) consider the advantages or disadvantages of establishing such compensation by legislation and/or administrative action; (2) consider, evaluate, and identify appropriate criteria for determining the amount of compensation; (3) identify procedures for determining and paying such compensation without imposing burdensome administrative requirements on public libraries; (4) assess whether eligibility to receive compensation should be subject to specific limitations, such as the copyright status of the work or the nationality or domicile of the author; and (5) recommend whether a compensation system should be administered by an existing Government agency or by a new agency. Sets forth provisions for Commission membership. Requires that the Librarian of Congress be a Commission member. Directs the President to select the other members from authors, publishers, librarians, and the public. Authorizes the Commission to appoint a staff which shall be an administrative part of the Library of Congress and which shall be headed by an Executive Director. Authorizes the Commission to procure temporary and intermittent services. Authorizes appropriations to carry out this Act. Directs the Commission to submit to the President and the Congress: (1) a preliminary report, within one year after its first meeting; and (2) a final report, within two years after its first meeting, with recommendations and any proposals for legislation and/or administrative action. Authorizes the Commission to publish interim reports. Sets forth provisions for Commission hearings and meetings. Terminates the Commission, and all offices and employment under it, 60 days after the submission of its final report.
United States · United States Congress · 17 November 1983
World Peace Tax Fund Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to permit conscientious objectors to designate their income, estate, or gift tax payments for nonmilitary purposes. Establishes within the Treasury a World Peace Tax Fund to receive such tax payments. Defines a conscientious objector as an individual who is opposed to war in any form and who has been exempted from combat training in the Armed Forces under the Military Selective Service Act, or who satisfactorily demonstrates that he is conscientiously opposed to war in any form. Requires tax forms to contain a checkoff for taxpayers who wish to claim conscientious objector status and designate their tax payments for the World Peace Tax Fund. Permits the setting aside of criminal or civil penalties imposed upon a taxpayer for nonpayment of tax prior to 1979 if the taxpayer pays the tax and satisfactorily establishes that the nonpayment was due to his religious beliefs. Directs the Comptroller General to determine the percentage of actual appropriations made by the United States from the Federal budget during the preceding fiscal year for military purposes. Requires the publication of such information in the Congressional Record. Establishes a World Peace Tax Fund Board of Trustees. Sets forth the membership structure and duties of the Board. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 17 November 1983
Expresses the sense of the Senate that the President should: (1) be commended for his efforts to negotiate a multilateral agreement banning chemical weapons; and (2) propose the resumption of negotiations between the United States and the Soviet Union to achieve a verifiable ban on chemical weapons.
United States · United States Congress · 16 November 1983
Authorizes and directs the Secretary of the Treasury to pay a specified sum to four named individuals in full satisfaction of all claims for unpaid judgment awards to such individuals for legal services in Philippine widows veterans benefits cases litigated between 1965 and 1972.
United States · United States Congress · 11 November 1983
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend until January 1, 1994, the rules relating to depreciation of expenditures to rehabilitate low-income rental housing.
United States · United States Congress · 1 November 1983
Authorizes the printing of a revised edition of the Senate document entitled "Senate Election Law Guidebook," including additional copies for the use of the Committee on Rules and Administration.
United States · United States Congress · 1 November 1983
Directs the Committee on Rules and Administration to prepare a revised edition, to be printed as a Senate document, of the Senate Rules and Manual for the use of the 98th Congress. Authorizes additional printing of such document for the use of the Senate and the Committee.
United States · United States Congress · 27 October 1983
Missing Children's Assistance Act of 1983 - Amends the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 to require the Administrator of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention to establish and maintain a national toll-free telephone line for reporting information regarding the location of missing children. Directs the Administrator to establish a national resource center and clearinghouse to: (1) provide technical assistance to State and local governments and agencies in locating missing children; (2) coordinate public and private efforts to recover missing children; and (3) disseminate information on innovative missing childrens' programs, services, and legislation. Requires the Administrator to publish an annual summary of research on missing children and prepare a comprehensive plan for coordinating activities of all agencies and organizations responsible for missing children. Authorizes the Administrator, in consultation with the Advisory Board on Missing Children, to make grants for research or demonstration or service programs designed to: (1) educate parents and community agencies on ways to prevent the abduction of children; (2) assist in the recovery or tracking of missing children; (3) aid communities in collecting material to assist parents in the identification of their children; (4) demonstrate the psychological consequences of a child's abduction; and (5) collect data on investigative practices utilized by law enforcement agencies. Requires the Administrator to appoint an Advisory Board on Missing Children to assist the Administrator in coordinating programs and activities relating to missing children. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1984 through 1988.
United States · United States Congress · 26 October 1983
Expresses the sense of the Congress that on the President's visit to Japan, he should express to Japan that: (1) action must be taken to reduce the current balance-of-trade deficit; (2) the reduction of the trade imbalance is critical to future U.S.-Japan trade relations; and (3) Japan should announce its commitment to purchase one-third of its metallurgical and steam coal from the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 25 October 1983
Commission on Civil Rights Resolution - Establishes within the legislative branch an eight member Commission on Civil Rights (Commission). Provides rules of procedure for Commission hearings. Requires the Commission to: (1) investigate allegations of citizens' being denied their right to vote by reason of their color, religion, sex, age, handicap or national origin; (2) study and collect information concerning discrimination or a denial of equal protection; (3) appraise Federal laws and policy with respect to discrimination and the denial of equal protection; and (4) serve as a national clearinghouse for such information. Prohibits the Commission from investigating any membership practice or internal operation of any fraternal organization, college or university fraternity or sorority, private club or religious organization. Prohibits the Commission from collecting or studying information with respect to abortion. Directs the Commission to appraise the laws and policies of the Federal Government with respect to denials of equal protection involving Americans who are members of eastern - and southern - European ethic groups.
United States · United States Congress · 19 October 1983
Retirement Equity Act of 1983 - Title I: Amendments Relating to the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to lower the age requirement for participation in a tax- deferred retirement plan from 25 to 21. Lowers the minimum age at which years of employment begin to be credited for retirement plan vesting purposes from 22 to 18. Provides that nonvested participants in a retirement plan with a break in service of up to five years will not lose credit for pre-break periods of service. Permits limited breaks in service for paternity or maternity leave without loss of vesting credits. Requires tax-deferred retirement plans to offer survivor benefits to plan participants who have attained age 45 and have ten years of creditable service. 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 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. Sets forth rules for the tax treatment of retirement plan distributions pursuant to a divorce decree. Increases the amount of allowable mandatory distributions from a retirement plan from $1,750 to $3,500. Requires that a plan participant must be notified that benefits under the plan may be forfeited if the participant dies before a certain date. Title II: Amendments Relating to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to incorporate into such Act the changes made by Title I of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 19 October 1983
Criminal Fine Collection Act of 1983 - Amends the Federal criminal code with respect to the imposition, payment, and collection of fines. Lists factors that the court must consider in determining whether to impose a fine, including: (1) the ability of the defendant to pay; (2) the burden that payment will impose on the defendant; and (3) any restitution or reparation made by the defendant. States that payment of a fine is due immediately unless the court requires payment by installment or by any date certain. Permits a sentence to pay a fine to be stayed while an appeal is taken. Makes a fine delinquent if any portion of such fine is not paid within 30 days of when it is due. Provides that a fine is in default if it is more than 90 days delinquent. Allows for the modification or remission of a sentence to pay a fine. Requires the clerk to forward each fine payment to the U.S. Treasury and notify the Attorney General of its receipt. Requires the court to certify to the Attorney General when a fine exceeding $100 is imposed, modified, or remitted. Makes the Attorney General responsible for the collection of any unpaid fine for which certification has been issued. Allows the court to impose interest and monetary penalties for any willful nonpayment. Establishes civil remedies for the satisfication of an unpaid fine. Provides that a judgment imposing a fine may be enforced by execution against the property of the person fined as are judgments in civil cases. Allows the court to resentence a person upon willful failure to pay a fine to any sentence which might originally have been imposed. Provides for a statute of limitations on the liability to pay a fine of 20 years or upon death of the person fined. Provides penalties for criminal default of a fine. Makes payment of a fine a condition of probation or parole in certain circumstances. Requires the Attorney General to include in the annual crime report steps taken to implement this Act and any progress achieved in criminal fine collection.
United States · United States Congress · 20 September 1983
Amends the District of Columbia Self-Government and Governmental Reorganization Act to modify the procedure by which Congress reviews an Act passed by the District of Columbia City Council or an amendment to the District of Columbia Charter. Makes an amendment to the Charter effective after 35 days following its submission to Congress unless a joint resolution of disapproval has been enacted and presented to the President. Makes an act of the City Council effective after 30 days following transmittal to Congress unless a joint resolution of disapproval has been enacted and presented to the President. (Currently, an act of the Council becomes effective only if both Houses of Congress do not adopt a concurrent resolution of disapproval.) Authorizes the City Council to adopt resolutions to approve or disapprove, when specifically authorized by an act, proposed actions designed to implement a Council act. Repeals provisions of the District of Columbia Retirement Reform Act which permit either House of Congress by a concurrent resolution to reject any report submitted by the Retirement Board.
United States · United States Congress · 19 September 1983
Calls for special recognition during 1987, the bicentennial year of the United States Constitution, of the constitutional foundation for patent and copyright laws.
United States · United States Congress · 14 September 1983
Title I: Short Title - Declares that this Act may be cited as the National Productivity and Innovation Act of 1983. Title II: Joint Research and Development Ventures - Provides that no joint research and development program shall be deemed illegal per se in any action under the antitrust laws. Limits to actual damages, interest thereon, and the cost of suit the amount that any person or State may recover in an antitrust action based on conduct that is part of such a program and that has been disclosed to the Attorney General and the Federal Trade Commission. Authorizes any individual participating in such a program to file with the Attorney General and the Commission a notification describing the program and specifying conduct to be performed under the program. Directs the Commission to publish in the Federal Register a notice of each such notification, including a description of the participants, the program, and its objectives. Declares that material submitted as part of such notification shall be available to the public upon request, unless the Attorney General or the Commission determines that the individual who submitted the notification shows good cause for not disclosing certain material. Allows an individual to withdraw a filed notification before it is published and accompanying material is made publicly available. Exempts actions and determinations of the Attorney General or the Commission concerning such notifications or antitrust actions or investigations from judicial review. Title III: Intellectual Property Licensing Under the Antitrust Laws - Amends the Clayton Act to provide that agreements to convey rights to use, practice, or sublicense patented inventions, copyrights, trade secrets, trademarks, know-how, or other intellectual property shall not be deemed illegal per se in actions under the antitrust laws. Limits to actual damages, interest thereon, and the cost of suit the amount that any person or State may recover in an antitrust action based on such an agreement. Title IV: Patent and Copyright Misuse - Prohibits a patent or copyright owner who is entitled to relief for patent or copyright infringement from being denied relief or being deemed guilty of misuse or illegal extension of the patent right or copyright by reason of doing any of the following, unless such conduct violates the antitrust laws: (1) licensing the patent or copyright under terms that affect commerce outside the scope of its claims; (2) restricting a licensee in the sale of a patented or copyrighted product; (3) obligating a licensee to pay excessive royalties, royalties that differ from those paid by other licensees, or royalties not related to a licensee's sale of the patented or copyrighted product; (4) refusing to license a patent or copyright to any person; or (5) otherwise using the patent or copyright allegedly to suppress competition. Title V: Process Patents - Requires a process patent to grant the patentee the right to exclude others from using or selling products produced by that process. Includes as patent infringement the unauthorized use or sale of a product of a patented process. Places the burden of proving that a product was not produced by the patented process on the defendant in a patent infringement action if the court finds that: (1) a substantial likelihood exists that the product was produced by that process; and (2) the claimant has exhausted all reasonable means of determining the process used and was unable to make such determination.
United States · United States Congress · 12 September 1983
Preservation of Telephone Service for Disabled Ratepayers Act of 1983 - Declares that no telephone operation serving the disabled that was affiliated with a Bell operating company on the effective date of this Act shall be affiliated with the American Telephone and Telegraph Company after the date of divestiture or transferred to any entity not affiliated with a Bell operating company, unless the Federal Communications Commission determines that such affiliation or transfer will not impair the ability of disabled persons to obtain specialized terminal equipment at affordable rates.
United States · United States Congress · 12 September 1983
Lebanon Peacekeeping Resolution - Authorizes the President to maintain U.S. armed forces in Lebanon as part of a multinational peacekeeping force for 120 days from the expiration of the 60 day period authorized under the War Powers Resolution.
United States · United States Congress · 4 August 1983
Provides civil service retirement credit for certain employees and former employees of noncommercial nonappropriated fund instrumentalities of the Armed Forces.
United States · United States Congress · 4 August 1983
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide for the nonrecognition of gain from the sale of farmland development rights under a qualified State farmland preservation program if the taxpayer purchases qualified farming property within 18 months of such sale. Excludes from gross income up to $100,000 of gain from the sale of farmland development rights by an individual who is age 55 or older. Allows a charitable contribution deduction for gain from the sale of farmland development rights to a State to the extent that the fair market value of such rights exceeds the amount actually received by the taxpayer.
United States · United States Congress · 4 August 1983
Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) the Republic of South Africa should cease its "blackspot" policy and allow relocated South Africans to remain on or return to their legally acquired lands; (2) U.S. nonrecognition of South African "homeland" sovereignty should continue; (3) travel to the United States should be denied to "homeland" officials who seek to enter this country unless they hold a valid passport recognized by the United States; and (4) the President should send a copy of this resolution to the Republic of South Africa.
![Official portrait of Sen. Mathias, Charles McC., Jr. [R-MD]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/m000241_200.jpg)