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United States · Official source
2,300 records where Sen. Melcher, John [D-MT] is listed as a sponsor, author, or other actor. Search with topics and years
United States · United States Congress · 17 July 1985
Expresses the Senate's concern about Doctor Yury Orlov and calls upon the Soviet Union to release him from exile and allow him and his wife to emigrate. Urges the President to instruct the Secretary of State to raise this issue with the Soviet Union privately and at specified forums.
United States · United States Congress · 15 July 1985
Designates July 16, 1985, as National Atomic Veterans' Day.
United States · United States Congress · 11 July 1985
Declares three named individuals to have been lawfully admitted to the United States for permanent residence under the Immigration and Nationality Act.
United States · United States Congress · 11 July 1985
Designates the rose as the national floral emblem.
United States · United States Congress · 27 June 1985
Indian Education Technical Amendments Act of 1985 - Amends title XI (Indian Education) Education Amendments of 1978 (the Act) to revise provisions relating to Indian education. Directs the Secretary of the Interior (the Secretary) to establish revised academic standards for the basic education of Indian children in Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) schools when such standards are submitted by the tribal governing body or the designated school board, unless the Secretary: (1) specifically rejects such standards for good cause; and (2) notifies in writing each affected tribe and local school board of such rejection. Makes such rejection final and not reviewable. Revises the deadline for contract school compliance with such minimum academic standards or alternative or modified standards. Prohibits the Secretary from rescinding or failing to renew a contract because of noncompliance with such standards until at least one year after notifying the school of a failure to comply. Requires the Secretary, during such one-year period, to give technical assistance to help the school to comply. Allows the BIA, in fulfilling its duty to establish uniform fiscal control and fund accounting procedures for all contract schools, to do so either directly or through contract with an Indian organization. Deletes certain references to personnel actions based on failure to implement or meet such standards. Prohibits the closing, consolidation, or substantial curtailment of program of any school or peripheral dormitory operated by the BIA, except where the plant conditions constitute an immediate hazard to health or safety. Deletes references to parents under requirements for notification and consultation during consideration or review of such closures, consolidations, or curtailments. Requires, when a formal decision is made to close, consolidate, or substantially curtail a school, that notification be given to the affected tribe, tribal governing body, and designated school board at least six months prior to the end of the school year preceding the proposed effective date. Revises requirement for studies and reports relating to such closures, consolidations, or curtailments. Directs the Secretary to report to the Congress, the affected tribe, and the designated local school board describing the process of active consideration or review. Requires such report to include specified information on the impact of such action on the students especially with particular educational and social needs and the consultation regarding such students conducted between the various service providers, parents, certain tribal groups, and the Director of the Office of Indian Education within the BIA. Specifies that a prohibition against actions within a specified time period in furtherance of such proposed closures, consolidations, or curtailments refers to irreversible actions. Revises provisions relating to BIA school boundaries. Prohibits any change (as well as any establishment) of any attendance area with respect to any BIA school unless the tribal governing body (or the designated local school board) has been given: (1) at least six months notice; and (2) the opportunity to propose alternative boundaries. Allows any tribe to petition the Secretary for revision of existing attendance area boundaries. Directs the Secretary to accept such proposed alternative or revised boundaries unless the Secretary finds, after consultation with the affected tribe or tribes, that such revised boundaries do not reflect the needs of the Indian students to be served or do not provide adequate stability to all of the affected programs. Repeals provisions which require that the Director of the Office of Indian Education (the Director) supervise all contract functions relating to education. Directs the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs (the Assistant Secretary) to provide for the adequate coordination between the affected BIA Offices and the Office of Indian Education to facilitate the consideration of all contract functions relating to education, but requires the Secretary to review the applications for the new school starts which were filed with the BIA before October 1, 1984, under the rules and guidelines in effect on the date the application was filed. Requires inclusion of a five-year plan for capital improvements for Indian education in the annual Budget. Revises provisions relating to the BIA program for the operation and maintenance of Indian education facilities. Deletes a reference to the Director as responsible for implementation of such program. Includes, under required components of such program, a system for the conduct of routine preventive maintence. Prohibits program funds from being authorized for expenditure by specified officials unless certain conditions relating to necessary maintenance are met. Repeals a requirement that the Director supervise all BIA education facilities. Extends the deadline for implementation of such program until 270 days following the enactment of this Act. Deletes a reference to costs associated with operating education and recreational programs on a 12-month basis among those special factors to be considered in the establishment of an allotment formula for a minimum annual amount of funds for each BIA or contract school. Deletes reference to a separate fund, a part from such allotments, for payment of monetary awards and quality step increases to such school employees. Requires that any supplemental appropriations enacted to meet increased pay costs attributable to school-level personnel be distributed under specified allotment provisions. Revises provisions for uniform direct funding and support of all BIA and contract schools. Sets forth provisions relating to the availability of appropriations for such purpose. Directs the Secretary to publish specified notices of allotments to the affected schools. Directs the Assistant Secretary to establish guidelines for school supervisors' authority to expend (with school board approval) no more than $25,000 annually for supplies and equipment, with or without competitive bidding. Authorizes the Secretary to approve applications for funding tribal divisions of education and the development of tribal codes of education from funds appropriated pursuant to self-determination grant provisions of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act. (Current law requires the Secretary to institute a program for such funding). Removes references to audits of the BIA and the Office of Indian Education from requirements for audits of BIA schools. Repeals the authority of an officer or employee of the BIA or the Office of Indian Education to accept voluntary services on behalf of BIA and contract schools. Grants such authority to the Secretary, still subject to the approval of the local school board. Declares that an individual providing such volunteer services is a Federal employee only for specified purposes under Federal law. Redesignates certain provisions of the Act. Revises provisions relating to extracurricular activities. Authorizes (currently requires) the Secretary to provide, for each BIA area, a stipend in lieu of overtime pay or compensatory time off. Deletes a requirement for area-level determination of the amount of such stipends. Lowers the maximum amount of the rental housing cost waiver for educators at such schools from 90 to 40 percent of the rental rate. Provides that such waiver is to aid isolated schools in recruiting and retaining educators. Provides that the waivers of all rents for such educators (during periods when schools are not in session) may be given only to those educators whose non-pay status is involuntary and who have not obtained employment.
United States · United States Congress · 27 June 1985
Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency and the Secretary of Agriculture to jointly conduct a study of the use of unleaded fuel in agricultural machinery and to report to the Congress on such study. Prohibits any reduction in the permitted lead level in gasoline below a specified level until after the Congress receives such report. Authorizes appropriations
United States · United States Congress · 27 June 1985
Declares that the Senate agrees to cooperate with the Jacob K. Javits Senate Fellowship Program. Directs the Senate to provide assistance as may be necessary for the success of this fellowship program.
United States · United States Congress · 18 June 1985
Federal Communications Commission Network Acquisition Approval Act of 1985 - Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to require the Federal Communications Commission to take specified actions before granting any application proposing the acquisition of ownership or control of a television network whose board of directors has not approved the acquisition. Directs the Commission to require the applicant to file specified information, including: (1) the identities, managerial expertise, and financial resources of the persons involved in the acquisition; (2) the sources of funds and the details of financial arrangements involved in the acquisition, as well as any plan to liquidate assets; (3) any reduction in service to any community that would result from the acquisition; and (4) the reasons that the acquisition would benefit the public interest, convenience, and necessity. Directs the Commission to: (1) issue a public notice indicating that such information is available for public inspection; (2) allow a party 30 days after such notice is issued to file a petition to deny the application; and (3) conduct a full evidentiary hearing on such application.
United States · United States Congress · 13 June 1985
Indian Juvenile Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention Act - Title I: Inter-Departmental Agreement - Directs the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Health and Human Services to enter into an agreement to coordinate specified efforts of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (Bureau) and the Indian Health Service relating to alcohol and drug abuse programs for Indian youth. Provides for the biennial review of such agreement by the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Health and Human Services. Requires the Secretary of the Interior, upon a tribe's request, to coordinate resources and services related to alcohol and drug abuse with any Indian tribe. Title II: Education - Requires Bureau schools and schools operated under the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act to provide instruction on alcohol and drug abuse to students in kindergarten and grades one through 12. Requires the Secretary of the Interior to publish, on a quarterly basis, an alcohol and drug abuse newsletter and to circulate it to specified Government agencies that provide such alcohol and drug abuse-related services to Indian people. Title III: Family and Social Services - Requires any initial training program for new community health representatives and community health aids funded under the Bureau to include not less than two weeks of training on the problems of alcohol and drug abuse, including instruction in crisis intervention, family relations, juvenile alcohol and drug abuse, and the causes and effects of fetal alcohol syndrome. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to provide training in alcohol and drug abuse problems to specified schools, Indian Health Service personnel, and others. Title IV: Law Enforcement - Requires the Secretary of the Interior, in consultation with the U.S. Attorney General, to promulgate guidelines under which any tribal or Federal law enforcement officer may place an Indian juvenile who has been arrested for alcohol or drug abuse in a facility other than an emergency shelter or a community-based alcohol or drug abuse treatment facility. Requires such guidelines to be made available to any State which exercises criminal jurisdiction over Indian country. Requires the Secretary of the Interior, with the concurrence of the Secretary of Health and Human Services, to establish temporary emergency shelters to house Indian juveniles who have been arrested for offenses related to alcohol or drug abuse. Requires the Bureau to prescribe standards by which such shelters shall become licensed. Title V: Juvenile Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment and Rehabilitation - Requires the President to include in the budget submitted to the Congress a request for funds to establish a program that provides alcohol and drug abuse treatment services (including detoxification and counseling services, and follow-up care in Indian Health Service facilities and in facilities operated under the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act) to Indian juveniles. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to report to relevant congressional committees on the progress of such treatment to Indian juveniles. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to complete a study to determine: (1) the size of the Indian population in need of residential alcohol and drug abuse treatment; (2) the location of facilities at which such treatment is available or could be made available; and (3) the cost of providing such treatment. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services, in consultation with Indian tribes and the Secretary of the Interior, to identify and utilize existing facilities owned by the Government or an Indian tribe, or local community or private hospitals, for use as residential alcohol and drug abuse treatment centers for Indian juveniles. Title VI: Definitions, Effective Date, and Authorization of Appropriations - Sets forth definitions and the effective date. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 13 June 1985
Amends the Tariff Act of 1930 to include in the definition of "subsidy" (for countervailing duty purposes) any resource input subsidy as provided for under the provisions of this Act. States that a "resource input subsidy" is found to exist if: (1)(a) a product is provided or sold by a government-regulated or controlled entity within a country for input use within such country at a domestic price that is lower than the fair market value of the input product and is not freely available to U.S. producers; and (b) a product would, if sold at the fair market value, constitute a significant portion of the total cost of the manufacture or production of the merchandise in or for which the input product is used; or (2) under specified circumstances, the right to remove or extract such product is provided or sold by a government or a government-regulated or controlled entity within a country. Sets forth the method of calculation for the amount of a resource input subsidy. Defines "fair market value" and "input use" for purposes of this Act. Requires injury determinations by the U.S. International Trade Commission to be made in all countervailing duty investigations relating to the existence of resource input subsidies.
United States · United States Congress · 11 June 1985
Medicaid Home and Community-Based Services Improvement Act of 1985 - Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to provide coverage for home or community-based services provided to an individual with respect to whom there has been a determination that but for the provision of such services the individuals would require the level of care provided in a skilled nursing facility or intermediate care facility, the cost of which would be reimbursed under Medicaid. Repeals provisions which required a State to apply for and receive a waiver in order to provide such services.
United States · United States Congress · 7 June 1985
Entitles individuals who performed service as National Guard technicians before January 1, 1969, to credit for such service when determining length of service for purposes of civil service retirement, leave, employee death and disability compensation, group life and health insurance, severance pay, tenure, and status.
United States · United States Congress · 4 June 1985
Expresses the sense of the Senate that the United States: (1) should not sell advanced weapons to Jordan; (2) should ensure that Israel retains its qualitative military edge in the Middle East; and (3) should focus its efforts on bringing Jordan into direct peace negotiations with Israel.
United States · United States Congress · 24 May 1985
Korean War Veterans Memorial Act of 1985 - Authorizes the American Battle Monuments Commission to erect a memorial on Federal land in the District of Columbia or its environs to honor members of the U.S. Armed Forces who served in the Korean war. Subjects the selected site, design, and plans for the construction of such memorial to the approval of the National Commission of Fine Arts and the National Capital Planning Commission. Directs that, upon its completion, the memorial shall be turned over to the Department of the Interior which shall then be solely responsible for its maintenance. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 24 May 1985
Softwood Lumber Stabilization Act of 1985 - Limits imports of softwood lumber during any calendar quarter to an amount equal to the product of the historical percentage of imports for such quarter multiplied by the total quantity of softwood lumber that the Secretary of Commerce (the Secretary) estimates will be consumed in the United States during such quarter. Directs the Secretary to allocate the limitation among foreign countries. Sets forth factors to be considered in making such allocation. Requires the Secretary to publish in the Federal Register every quarter specified information relating to such limitation. Directs the Secretary and the Secretary of the Treasury to take the actions necessary to enforce this Act. Authorizes the President during the five years following enactment of this Act to enter into trade agreements providing for limitations on imports of softwood lumber into the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 24 May 1985
Authorizes the Black Revolutionary War Patriots Foundation to establish a memorial on Federal land in the District of Columbia to honor the courageous slaves and free black persons of the American Revolution. Directs the Secretary of the Interior, with the approval of the Commission of Fine Arts and the National Capital Planning Commission, to select the site, approve the design and plans, and provide for maintenance. Prohibits the use of any Federal funds for the memorial's construction. Terminates the Foundation's authority to establish such memorial five years from the date of enactment of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 23 May 1985
Amends the Black Lung Benefits Act to direct the Secretary of Labor to reduce, within two years after enactment of this Act, the number of cases pending and awaiting review by: (1) administrative law judges to not more than 6,000; and (2) the Benefits Review Board to not more than 800. Allows such reduction to be accomplished by employing or obtaining the services of additional administrative judges and using other measures. Directs the Secretary to notify the Congress of the measures being taken to comply with this Act within 30 days after its enactment.
United States · United States Congress · 23 May 1985
Expresses the sense of the Senate that the Congress should oppose the Social Security Administration's "Draft Service Delivery Methodology" proposal which, if implemented, would result in the closing or downgrading of specified Social Security Administration offices.
United States · United States Congress · 21 May 1985
Indian Reservation Special Magistrate and Law Enforcement Act of 1984 - Amends the judicial code to provide for the presidential appointment of special magistrates to serve on Indian reservations and within specified Indian areas which are under Federal criminal jurisdiction. Sets forth the qualification and compensation of such magistrates. Specifies their jurisdiction and powers. Prescribes procedural guidelines for defendants appearing before such special magistrates. Authorizes certain law enforcement officers, including tribal police and Bureau of Indian Affairs police, to execute orders issued by the special magistrate in criminal cases within Indian country. Provides special magistrates with periodic training conducted by the Federal Judicial Center. Authorizes appropriations. Requires the Attorney General to appoint: (1) additional U.S. attorneys to prosecute crimes committed within any Indian Reservation or portion of Indian country over which the United States exercises criminal jurisdiction; and (2) at least one assistant U.S. attorney for each special magistrate appointed to serve on Indian reservations.
United States · United States Congress · 21 May 1985
Home and Community Based Services for the Elderly Act of 1985 - Amends title XIX (Block Grants) of the Public Health Service Act to authorize a block grant program for home and community based services for the elderly. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1986 through 1988. Allots State funding based on a State's elderly population as compared with the elderly population of the United States. Makes Indian tribes and tribal organizations eligible grant recipients. States that grants may be used to: (1) identify elderly individuals who are eligible for services; (2) plan and manage services to be provided; (3) educate the public and medical and social professionals concerning the availability of services; (4) encourage the participation of families and voluntary organizations; (5) train personnel; and (6) coordinate long-term care services. Permits States to provide services for the elderly through grants to eligible organizations. Prohibits the use of funds for: (1) inpatient services; (2) cash payments to intended recipients; (3) land purchase or construction; (4) purchases of major medical equipment; or (5) satisfying any requirement for the expenditure of non-Federal funds. Set forth State application provisions.
United States · United States Congress · 20 May 1985
Amends the Small Reclamation Projects Act of 1956 to authorize additional appropriations for assistance to non-Federal organizations for developing reclamation projects.
United States · United States Congress · 20 May 1985
Economic Equity Act of 1985 - Title I: Retirement - Pension Vesting, Integration, and Portability Act of 1985 - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to revise provisions relating to maximum age conditions under pension plans to provide for continued coverage for certain workers over the normal retirement age. Provides that pension plans may only exclude from participation, on the basis of age, an employee who has attained the normal retirement age under the plan if: (1) the plan is a defined benefit plan or a target benefit plan (as under current law); and (2) the employee's accrued benefit under the plan is greater than the normal retirement benefit to which the employee would be entitled at the normal retirement age if the employee commenced participation at the earliest possible entry age under the plan and served continuously until attaining the normal retirement age under the plan. Revises provisions relating to minimum vesting standards to reduce, from ten years to five years, the number of years of service which a pension plan participant must complete in order to earn a nonforfeitable right to 100 percent of the participant's accrued benefit derived from employer contributions. Permits multiemployer pension plans to retain the ten-year minimum vesting standard if such plans meet certain conditions, including complete reciprocity for workers who move from one regional pension plan to another within the same industry. Repeals a certain "class year plan" rule. Permits participants with three (currently five) years of service to elect within a specified period to have their nonforfeitable percentage computed under the plan without regard to any plan amendment changing the vesting schedule. Revises minimum participation standards, minimum vesting standards, and benefit accrual requirements to provide for pension plan coverage of part-time workers. Revises the definition of "year of service," for purposes of minimum participation and vesting standards, to treat 500 to 1,000 hours of service per year by a part-time employee as one-half of a year of service. Provides that the date on which such employee completes such one-half of one year of service shall be the latest date until which the plan participation of such employee may be delayed. Includes service of at least 500 (currently 1,000) hours in determinations of years of plan participation, for purposes of benefit accrual requirements. Establishes minimum benefit rules for integrated pension plans. Requires such plans to offer a minimum benefit without taking into account contributions or benefits under specified provisions of the Social Security Act, the Internal Revenue Code, or any other Federal or State law. Sets forth formulas, based on specified percentages of employee compensation, for determining such minimum benefit in the case of: (1) an integrated defined benefit plan; and (2) an integrated defined contribution plan or an integrated simplified employee pension. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to prescribe necessary or appropriate regulations to carry out the purposes of such minimum benefit rules for integrated plans in any case in which the employer has two or more plans. Provides for distributions of accrued benefits of less than $7,000 to portable pension accounts (individual retirement accounts or individual retirement annuities). Requires a pension plan to distribute a participant's nonforfeitable benefit to a portable pension account if: (1) the plan is a defined benefit plan, or an individual account plan subject to specified funding standards; (2) the present value, as of the date of separation from service, of such benefit is less than $7,000; and (3) the participant elects in writing, after receiving a required notice, to have such benefit distributed to such portable pension account in a distribution which is excluded from gross income under specified Internal Revenue Code provisions. Directs the Secretary of Labor to prescribe by regulation the manner and form in which such election is to be made. Requires the plan administrator, upon being informed by a participant that the participant wishes to make an election pursuant to these provisions, to provide notice to the participant of: (1) the present value, as of the date of separation, of the participant's nonforfeitable benefit (with such present value to be deemed equal to the actuarial equivalent, as of such date, of the normal form of benefit under the plan); (2) the amount of the participant's benefit on the date of the participant's retirement payable under the pension plan at normal retirement age expressed in the form of a single life annuity under a defined benefit plan or in the normal form of payment under an individual account plan; and (3) the additional tax (under specified Internal Revenue Code provisions as revised by this Act) on distributions from, or disqualification, of the portable pension account before the date on which the participant attains age 59 1/2. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to revise provisions relating to pension plans. Makes such revisions similar to those made to ERISA by title I of this Act with respect to: (1) continued coverage for certain workers over the normal retirement age; (2) a minimum vesting standard of five years of service (reduced from ten years), with the exception of multiemployer plans meeting certain conditions (including reciprocity); (3) repeal of the class year plan rule; (4) protection from changes in the vesting schedule for participants with three years of service; (5) coverage for part-time workers under minimum participation standards, minimum vesting standards, and benefit accrual requirements; (6) establishment of minimum benefit rules for integrated plans; and (7) distributions of accrued benefits to portable pension accounts. Revises provisions relating to additional tax on certain amounts included in gross income before age 59 1/2. Requires, in cases of early distributions or disqualification involving portable pension accounts to which accrued benefits from a pension plan have been distributed as provided under this Act, that the additional tax (for the taxable year in which the early distribution is received or the disqualification occurs) shall be equal to the amount of the early distribution, or of the disqualification, which is includible in gross income for such taxable year. Directs the Secretary of Labor to: (1) conduct a study of the feasibility and ramifications of requiring private employee pension benefit plans to provide cost-of-living adjustments to benefits payable under such plans; (2) compile data and analyze the effect inflation is having and may be expected to have on retirement benefits provided under such plans; and (3) submit study results, with recommendations, within two years after enactment of this Act. Social Security Modernization Act - Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act to provide that the combined earnings of a married couple which are attributable to the period of their marriage shall be shared equally between them for purposes of determining the eligibility for and amount of OASDI benefits to which each spouse is or may become separately entitled. Credits the survivor of the marriage with 100 percent of the combined total wages for the period of the marriage. Provides that this Act shall not apply in specified cases where it would result in a reduction of OASDI benefits. Provides full benefits for disabled widows and widowers without regard to age. Enables an insured individual's spouse who has attained the age of 50 and is not entitled to any other monthly benefits to obtain a transition benefit for four months upon the death of the insured individual. Establishes the amount of such transition benefit at 71.5 percent of the primary insurance amount of the insured individual or, if it is higher, 71.5 percent of the primary insurance amount of the spouse. Repeals the separate definition of disability applicable to widows and widowers. Permits the months of a widow's or widower's entitlement to Supplemental Security Income benefits (title XVI of the Social Security Act) on the basis of a disability to be counted towards the 24 months needed to become entitled to hospital insurance benefits under Medicare (title XVIII of the Social Security Act) on that basis. Uniformed Services Former Spouses' Equity Act - Provides that a former spouse of a member of the uniformed services shall be entitled, unless expressly provided by a spousal agreement or court order, to an annuity: (1) equal to 50 percent of the retired or retainer pay of the member if married to the member throughout the creditable service of the member; or (2) equal to a pro rata share of 50 percent of such pay if not married to the member throughout the entire creditable service of the member. Requires that an election by a member not to participate, or to participate at a reduced level, in the Survivor Benefit Plan or to provide an annuity for a dependent child only must be made jointly with the member's spouse. Provides that such an election must be in writing. Allows a member who has a former spouse to jointly elect a spousal agreement with such former spouse or as provided under a court order to provide a survivor to the former spouse or to waive such an annuity. Treats a former spouse as a spouse for purposes of eligibility as a beneficiary, computation of annuities, and reductions in retired or retainer pay under the Survivor Benefit Plan if the member elects such treatment. (Present law treats a former spouse as a person with an "insurable interest" subject to certain restrictions and requiring larger reductions in retired or retainer pay.) Establishes a 24 month period during which members who were already divorced before the effective date of this Act may elect to have a former spouse covered under the Survivor Benefit Plan. Provides that a former spouse's share of retired or retainer pay shall be based on the gross amount of such pay. (Present law bases such share on the net amount of such pay after specified deductions.) Title II: Dependent Care - Social Services and Child Care Assistance Act of 1985 - Amends title XX (Block Grants to States for Social Services) of the Social Security Act to set allotment amounts for FY 1984, 1985, and 1986 and each succeeding fiscal year. Allocates from the allotment set for FY 1986 and available for any fiscal year, specified amounts for: (1) funding for a National Resource Center on Family Day Care; (2) grants to States for training and child care services. Specifies amounts shall be used: (1) for the training and retraining of human services personnel; (2) for the training and retraining in the prevention of child abuse of licensed child care operations; and (3) for the provision of child day care services to children who are abused or neglected, who are members of families receiving aid under title IV (Aid to Families with Dependent Children) of such Act, or children who are members of specified low-income groups. Amends title XX (Block Grants to States for Services) of the Social Security Act to require the Governor of each State, as a condition of the State's eligibility for receiving title XX Federal payments, to establish or designate a State Advisory Committee on Child-Care Standards which shall: (1) examine, investigate, and study the State's laws, regulations, and procedures for licensing, regulating, and monitoring child-care services and programs within the State; and (2) prepare a report outlining the committee's findings and recommendations, including a description of the current status of child-care licensing, regulating, or monitoring within the State to be submitted to each State's Governor for transmittal, along with the Governor's comments, to the Secretary of Health and Human Services. Establishes a National Advisory Committee on Child-Care Standards in order to assist and provide guidance to the States in improving the quality of child-care services. Requires each State Advisory Committee and the National Advisory Committee to review the options for child-care standards published by the Department of Health and Human Services in January 1985 and the final 1980 HEW Day Care Regulations. Directs the National Advisory Committee to issue recommended standards for child-care programs, after first publishing proposed standards and receiving comments. Terminates the National Advisory Committee 90 days after the publication of the final recommended standards. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1986 through 1988 for grants to States to carry out their plans for correcting the deficiencies in or improving the licensing, regulating, or monitoring of child-care programs. Requires each State, in order to receive a grant, to submit a plan to the Secretary of Health and Human Services to carry out the recommendations contained in its report. Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to authorize appropriations for FY 1986 through 1990 for grants to institutions of higher education for: (1) construction, reconstruction, and renovation of facilities, located at such institutions, to be used to provide child care services (free for students from families with incomes less than 150 percent of the poverty level, and with a sliding-scale of fees based on income for other students participating); (2) child care services through vouchers for disadvantaged college students (with two-thirds of the participants to be low-income students who are first generation college students, and the remainder to be either low-income or first generation college students); and (3) child care personnel work-experience programs (which provide experience for students by arranging part-time employment for them in licensed child care programs). Requires the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to provide grants to public housing authorities to assist them in providing child care services for lower income families. Requires a program report to the Congress within two years. Authorizes FY 1986 through 1988 appropriations. Title III: Insurance - Nondiscrimination in Insurance Act - Prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin in the consideration of applications for, or the granting of, insurance policies and the terms of such policies. Permits insurers who regularly provide insurance solely to persons of a single religious affiliation to continue to do so. Prohibits any insurer from establishing auto insurance rates for women or any particular group of women which are higher or lower in relation to the rates offered men or any similarly situated group of men, except for non-gender related risk-based reasons. Grants to States having insurance discrimination laws the primary opportunity to enforce the prohibitions of this Act. Permits an aggrieved person to file a civil action in State or Federal court against an insurer, if a State which has received notice of a complaint fails to act within 60 days (120 days in certain circumstances) or has terminated all proceedings under State law without any final resolution. Authorizes the Attorney General to bring a civil action in district court when there is reasonable cause to believe that a person or group is engaged in a pattern or practice of resistance to the rights granted by this Act and that such denial raises an issue of general public importance. Authorizes the Court to: (1) order the defendant to amend any relevant contract to comply with the provisions of this Act (no premium payment may be increased and no benefits may be reduced); (2) require the defendant to pay punitive damages in addition to actual damages; and (3) award the aggrieved person reasonable attorneys' fees. Continued Access to Group Health Insurance Act of 1985 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to require continuation coverage under group health plans for certain spouses, former spouses, and dependent children of employees insured under such plans. Makes such continuation coverage a requirement for the allowance of a tax deduction for employer contributions to group health plans. Provides that the spouse and dependent children of an insured employee may be entitled to five years of continuation coverage under a group health plan if the insured employee: (1) dies; (2) becomes separated or divorced from his or her spouse; or (3) becomes entitled to Medicare. Makes such coverage available only if it is elected within a specified period by or on behalf of the spouse or child to be covered. Sets forth notification requirements. Sets forth a special rule relating to collective bargaining agreements. Title IV: Employment - Establishes the Commission on Compensation Equity to provide, by contract with a consultant, for a report on whether executive agencies are in compliance with laws and regulations prohibiting sex-based wage discrimination. Requires submission of the results of such study to the appropriate congressional committees and the Director of the Office of Personnel Management within 18 months after the effective date of this Act. Requires the Director to submit to such committees and the Commission, 90 days after receipt of such report, a response specifying plans for carrying out the report's recommendations and reasons for not carrying out any recommendation. Allows the Commission to comment on the Director's response. Terminates the Commission 90 days after submission of its comment. Directs the Comptroller General to submit a list of at least five consultants to the Commission from which the Commission shall make its selection. Declares that nothing in this Act shall be construed to limit the rights or remedies provided under the Civil Rights Act of 1964, or the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, or any other provision of law relating to discrimination. Provides funding for the Commission from sums appropriated to the Office of Personnel Management for general operating expenses for FY 1986 and 1987. Amends part A (Aid to Families with Dependent Children) of title IV of the Social Security Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make grants to States to assist in carrying out programs which: (1) prevent long-term dependency upon AFDC; (2) permit pregnant teenagers and teenage mothers to remain in school; (3) provide job counseling, employment readiness, job placement, and academic and vocational education services to pregnant teenagers and teenage mothers; and (4) integrate and coordinate services otherwise available to pregnant teenagers and teenage mothers. Sets forth: (1) requirements a State must meet in order to receive a grant; and (2) reporting requirements. Directs the Secretary to establish a systematic reporting system capable of yielding comprehensive data on which service figures and program evaluations shall be based. Requires the Secretary to report annually to Congress. Authorizes appropriations. Women's Business Ownership Act of 1985 - Establishes the National Commission on Women's Business Ownership to review: (1) the status of women owned small businesses nationwide; (2) the role of the Federal Government in aid to and the promotion of women owned small businesses; (3) data collection procedures and the availability of data relating to women owned businesses, women owned small businesses, and small businesses owned and controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged women; (4) other Federal initiatives relating to women owned small businesses, including those relating to Federal procurements; and (5) special impediments suffered by small businesses owned and controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged women. Directs the Commission to recommend: (1) new private sector initiatives which would provide management and technical assistance to women owned small businesses; (2) ways to promote greater access to financing and procurement opportunities for such businesses; and (3) other measures relating to small businesses owned and controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged women. Terminates the Commission on the date that it transmits its final report to the President and to each House of the Congress. Authorizes appropriations. Title V: Tax Reform - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide that the zero bracket amount for heads of households shall be the same as the zero bracket amount for joint returns and surviving spouses. Increases the amount of the earned income tax credit from 11 percent to 16 percent of the first $5,000 of earned income. Provides for a phaseout of such credit for taxpayers with adjusted gross incomes between $11,000 and $16,000. Provides that governmental payments shall be disregarded for purposes of determining support and maintenance of a household. Provides that any refund of Federal income taxes or advance payment made to an individual by reason of the earned income credit shall not be taken into account as income for purposes of determining eligibility for benefits or assistance under any Federal program or any State or local program financed in whole or part with Federal funds. Provides for cost-of-living adjustments for the amount of the earned income credit and the phase-out thresholds of such credit beginning in 1987. Allows a refundable income tax credit for: (1) employment related dependent care expenses, plus (2) expenses for the respite care of a dependent. Sets the amount of such credit at 50 percent of the sum of such expenses. Reduces such percentage (but not below 20 percent) by one percent for each full $1,000 amount by which the taxpayer's adjusted gross income exceeds $11,000. Provides for cost-of-living adjustments to such adjusted gross income amount. Limits the amount of employment-related expenses and respite care expenses which may be taken into account for purposes of such credit. Allows such credit for expenses incurred for the care of: (1) a dependent of the taxpayer who is under the age of 15; (2) a dependent of the taxpayer who is physically or mentally incapable of caring for himself; or (3) a spouse who is incapable of caring for himself. Repeals present provisions relating to the income tax credit for dependent care expenses necessary for gainful employment. Increases the amount individuals may contribute on behalf of their spouses for purposes of the deduction for retirement savings. Provides that no deduction from gross income shall be allowed to a taxpayer for entertainment expenses for food, beverages, lodging, or entertainment incurred in connection with a facility which discriminates on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. Exempts facilities operated by a religious organization where access is limited to members of a particular religion. Treats dues and fees paid to discriminatory facilities as nondeductible expenses. Requires the submission of a statement to the Secretary of the Treasury that a facility not open to the public does not discriminate in order for amounts paid to such facility to qualify for the entertainment expense deduction. Requires the posting of a public notice in the facility stating the nondiscriminatory policy. Permits the Secretary to revoke the acceptance of the statement of nondiscrimination. Requires the taxpayer to report on his or her income tax return any amounts paid or incurred for food, beverages, lodging, or entertainment in any facility which is not open to the public or does not serve the public in order to deduct such amounts from gross income.
United States · United States Congress · 16 May 1985
Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide Medicare coverage for anesthesia services and related care provided by a registered nurse anesthetist.
United States · United States Congress · 16 May 1985
Amends the Small Business Act to treat businesses owned by economically disadvantaged Indian tribes (including any Alaskan Native village or regional or village corporation) as socially and economically disadvantaged small businesses for purposes of the Small Business Administration's (SBA) business development program. Sets forth specified factors to be considered by the SBA in determining the economic disadvantage of an Indian tribe.
United States · United States Congress · 10 May 1985
Expresses the sense of the Senate that the President should appoint a bipartisan Commission to consider the urgent needs of agriculture and make recommendations to the President and the appropriate congressional committees.
United States · United States Congress · 9 May 1985
Agricultural and Food Assistance Act of 1985 - Title I: Food Aid and Trade - Amends the Agricultural Act of 1949 to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to furnish to nonprofit voluntary agencies and the World Food Program for distribution in developing countries at least ten percent of the available amount of each surplus eligible commodity in any fiscal year. Makes conforming amendments to the Agricultural Trade Development and Assistance Act of 1954 (Public Law 480). Extends such Act and the Food Security Wheat Reserve Act of 1980 through FY 1989. Directs the Secretary to carry out a program under which commodities acquired by the Commodity Credit Corporation through its price support operations are made available to United States exporters, processors, and foreign purchasers. Amends the Food for Peace Act of 1966 regarding intermediate credit for agricultural exports. Declares that it is the sense of Congress that the President should negotiate long-term bilateral and multilateral agreements to promote the free trade of agricultural commodities and products between the United State and other countries. Directs the President to designate a Special Assistant to the President for Food Aid and Trade. Title II: Natural Resources Conservation - Declares that it is the sense of Congress that full support and funding for the Soil Conservation Service be continued. Soil Conservation Act of 1985 - Disqualifies from agricultural program benefits, with specified exceptions, any person who produces during any crop year an agricultural commodity on highly erodible land. Directs the Secretary to carry out a conservation reserve program under which farmers agreeing to perform long-term (seven to 15 year) conservation measures on highly erodible land shall receive payments to help offset the cost of such measures. Soil and Water Conservation Fund Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to establish in the Treasury a Soil and Water Conservation Fund into which taxpayers may designate transfer of $5 of the taxes they pay. Title III: Wool and Mohair - Amends the National Wool Act of 1954 to extend the current price support program for wool and mohair through FY 1989. Title IV: Wheat - Amends the Agricultural Act of 1949 to set forth price supports, loan rates, target prices, disaster payment rates, acreage reduction, and set-aside program and land diversion goals for the 1986 through 1989 crops of wheat. Title V: Feed Grains - Amends the Agricultural Act of 1949 to set forth price supports, loan rates, target prices, disaster payment rates, acreage reduction, and set-aside program and land diversion goals for the 1986 through 1989 crops of corn and other feed grains. Title VI: Rice - Amends the Agricultural Act of 1949 to set forth price supports, loan rates, target prices, disaster payment rates, acreage reduction, and set-aside program and land diversion goals for the 1986 through 1989 crops of rice. Title VII: Cotton - Amends the Agricultural Act of 1949 to set forth price supports, loan rates, target prices, disaster payment rates, acreage reduction and set-aside program and land diversion goals for the 1986 through 1989 crops of upland cotton. Title VIII: Peanuts - Amends the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938 and the Agricultural Act of 1949 to set forth national and farm poundage quotas and price supports for the 1986 through 1989 crops of peanuts. Title IX: Sugar - Amends the Agricultural Act of 1949 to set forth price supports for the 1986 through 1989 crops of sugarcane and sugar beets. Title X: Soybeans - Amends the Agricultural Act of 1949 to set forth price supports for the 1986 through 1989 crops of soybeans. Title XI: Dairy - Amends the Agricultural Act of 1949 to set forth formulae for the determination of dairy price supports for FY 1986 through 1989. Title XII: Miscellaneous - Amends the Agricultural Act of 1949 to extend through 1989 the current limitation ($50,000) on total payments to any person under the wheat, feed grain, upland cotton, and rice programs. Authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to make advance deficiency payments available for wheat, feed grains, upland cotton, or rice if acreage limitation or set-aside programs are established and it is determined that deficiency payments are likely to be made. Title XIII: Agricultural Credit - Agricultural Credit Act of 1985 - Amends the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act to authorize the Secretary to make grants to States for use in buying down the interest rates charged by commercial or cooperative lenders to farmers and ranchers whose debts are restructured by such lenders. Provides for Federal buy-downs where it is not practicable for States to provide matching funds. Authorizes the Farmers Home Administration (FmHA) to use special terms, including leases with options to buy and low-interest, long-term financing, to dispose of farm property in inventory to limited resource farmers. Directs the Secretary to study the administrative appeals procedure of the FmHA and report findings to the Congress by September 1, 1986. Directs the Secretary to hire personnel needed to process FmHA farm loan applications expeditiously. Revises requirements for speedy designation of approved lenders. Agricultural Credit Task Force Act of 1985 - Establishes a National Task Force on Agricultural Credit to study the credit problems confronting U.S. agricultural producers and related businesses. Requires a final report to the President and the Congress by July 1, 1986. Amends the Farm Credit Act of 1971 to make certain revolving funds available to the Governor of the Farm Credit Administration to alleviate the impairment of stock of Federal land bank associations and production credit associations. Title XIV: Agricultural Research and Extension - National Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching Policy Act Amendments of 1985 - Extends through FY 1989 certain provisions of the National Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching Policy Act of 1977. Title XV: Food Stamps - Food Stamp Act of 1977 Amendments of 1985 - Amends the Food Stamp Act of 1977 to extend its provisions through FY 1989. Title XVI: Commodity Distribution - Amends the Agriculture and Consumer Protection Act of 1973 to extend through FY 1989 the commodity distribution program and the commodity supplemental feeding program. Extends through FY 1987 the Temporary Emergency Food Assistance Act of 1983.
United States · United States Congress · 8 May 1985
Methanol Vehicle Incentives Act of 1985 - Amends the Motor Vehicle Information and Cost Savings Act to set forth the manner of determining the fuel economy of methanol powered automobiles. Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, for certain labeling purposes, to determine the fuel economy of a methanol powered automobile to be 15 percent of the prescribed fuel economy as calculated.
United States · United States Congress · 7 May 1985
Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to authorize appropriations for FY 1986 through 1988 to be used by the Secretary of Commerce to assist in the planning and construction of public telecommunications facilities. Repeals a provision that requires 75 percent of the funds appropriated for such purposes in a fiscal year to be available to extend delivery of public telecommunications services to areas not receiving such services. Authorizes appropriations, to match up to a specified amount of non-Federal contributions to public broadcasting entities, for the Public Broadcasting Fund for FY 1987 through 1990. Repeals a provision that requires that a specified portion of the amount made available to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting from the Fund be earmarked for expenses of research, training, technical assistance, engineering, instructional support, and the payment of interest on indebtedness. Repeals provisions requiring a public telecommunications entity to refund to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting an amount of Federal funds equal to the amount of any unrelated business income tax paid by such entity.
United States · United States Congress · 7 May 1985
Recognizes the 20th anniversary of the enactment of the Older Americans Act of 1965, and reaffirms congressional support for such Act.
United States · United States Congress · 6 May 1985
Designates the week of June 2 through June 8, 1985, as Future Problem Solving Program Week.
United States · United States Congress · 3 May 1985
Expresses, on the 40th anniversary of V-E Day, the Nation's deep gratitude and recognizes the enormous debt owed to the American servicemen who fought in World War II.
United States · United States Congress · 2 May 1985
Title I: Recognition of Injustice and an Apology on Behalf of the Nation - States that the Congress accepts the findings of the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians and recognizes that a grave injustice was done to both citizens and resident aliens of Japanese ancestry by the evacuation, relocation, and internment of civilians during World War II. Title II: United States Citizens of Japanese Ancestry and Resident Japanese Aliens - Requests the President to offer pardons to those convicted of violating laws during the internment period whose conduct was based on a refusal to accept racially or ethnically discriminatory treatment. Provides that Federal departments and agencies that review applications for restitution of positions, status, or entitlement lost during the internment period shall review such applications giving full consideration to the findings of the Commission. Establishes within the Treasury a Civil Liberties Public Education Fund. Authorizes appropriations for the Fund. Requires the Attorney General to pay $20,000 from the Fund in compensation to each surviving internee. Establishes a Board of Directors which shall be responsible for making disbursements from the Fund. Provides that disbursements from the Fund shall be used to: (1) sponsor research and public educational activities dealing with the internment; (2) fund studies of similar civil liberties abuses; (3) prepare and distribute hearings and findings of the Commission; and (4) promote the general welfare of the ethnic Japanese community in the United States. Title III: Aleutian and Pribilof Islands Restitution - Aleutian and Pribilof Islands Restitution Act - Establishes within the Treasury the Aleutian and Pribilof Islands Restitution Fund. Directs the Administrator of the Fund (the Aleutian/Pribilof Islands Association) to make restitution for certain Aleut losses sustained in World War II. Requires the Administrator to establish a trust of $5,000,000 and to distribute the interest of such trust for: (1) the benefit of the elderly, disabled, or seriously ill; (2) students in need of scholarship assistance; (3) preservation of Aleut cultural heritage and historical records (4) the improvement of community centers of affected Aleut villages; and (5) other purposes to improve Aleut life. Authorizes the Administrator to rebuild and restore churches and church property damaged or destroyed in Aleut villages during World War II. Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to make payments of $12,000 from the fund to eligible Aleuts for any uncompensated personal property losses. Provides that such payments shall not be considered income or receipts for purposes of Federal taxes or determining eligibility for Federal benefits or assistance. Authorizes appropriations. Requires the Secretary of the Army to implement a program for the removal and disposal of live ammunition, obsolete buildings, abandoned machinery, and other hazardous debris remaining in populated areas of the lower Alaska Peninsula and the Aleutian Islands. States that the authority contained in this Act shall be supplemental to the authority of the Secretary of Defense in administering the Environmental Restoration Defense Account and shall be exercised only in the event that such account is inadequate to eliminate hazardous military debris from populated areas of the Lower Alaska Peninsula and the Aleutian Islands. Authorizes appropriations. Provides that bidding rights for surplus Federal property might be exercised by the Aleut Corporation in lieu of conveyance of Attu Island to the Aleut people, such island having been designated as wilderness. States that the bidding rights shall be exercised by the Aleut Corporation without any preference over any other bidder. Provides that an amount equal to $500 for each acre traditionally occupied by the Aleut people on Attu Island shall be transferred to the Corporation account established by this Act and made available to the Corporation for such bidding.
United States · United States Congress · 2 May 1985
National Diffusion Network Act - Directs the Secretary of Education to carry out a program to promote the use of exemplary educational programs, products, and practices to interested elementary and secondary schools. Requires the Secretary to provide information, materials, training, technical assistance, and evaluations. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to, and contracts with, public and nonprofit private educational institutions and organizations to carry out such program. Declares that such program shall be deemed to be a continuation of the National Diffusion Network for which provision is made under the Education Consolidation and Improvement Act of 1981. Directs the Secretary to allocate funds available under such Act to such program. Authorizes additional appropriations, if necessary, to carry out such program in FY 1986 through 1989.
United States · United States Congress · 2 May 1985
Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act to revise the benefit levels of individuals becoming eligible for benefits in or after 1979 so that they are equal to the benefit levels of individuals who became eligible for benefits before 1979.
United States · United States Congress · 30 April 1985
Designates May 7, 1985, as Vietnam Veterans Recognition Day.
United States · United States Congress · 29 April 1985
Beekeeper Preservation Act of 1985 - Requires the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC), within 90 days of enactment of this Act, to investigate and report to the President on the effects of honey imports on certain domestic programs and on the amount of products processed in the United States from honey. Requires the President, if the ITC recommends that fees or limitations be imposed on honey imports, to: (1) impose such fees or limitations; or (2) deny the existence of the facts justifying such fees or limitations. Requires the President to take such action within 60 days of the issuance of the ITC report.
United States · United States Congress · 29 April 1985
Commends the Rural Electrification Administration and dedicated individuals for their contributions to the progress made by the Nation during the past 50 years in achieving the electrification of rural America.
United States · United States Congress · 26 April 1985
Beekeeper Preservation Act of 1985 - Requires the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC), within 90 days of enactment of this Act, to investigate and report to the President on the effects of honey imports on certain domestic programs and on the amount of products processed in the United States from honey. Requires the President, if the ITC recommends that fees or limitations be imposed on honey imports, to: (1) impose such fees or limitations; or (2) deny the existence of the facts justifying such fees or limitations. Requires the President to take such action within 60 days of the issuance of the ITC report.
United States · United States Congress · 26 April 1985
Designates the week of June 23 through June 29, 1985, as Helen Keller Deaf-Blind Awareness Week.
United States · United States Congress · 26 April 1985
Gives special recognition to the achievements of John James Audubon and the work he has inspired.
United States · United States Congress · 26 April 1985
Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) the United States should pay honor to the memories of the innocent civilians and American and Allied soldiers who died at the hands of the Nazis; (2) it is fitting and appropriate for the President, in a gesture of reconciliation, to visit the Federal Republic of Germany; (3) the President should recognize the importance of the relationship between the two countries; and (4) the President should reassess his planned itinerary for his forthcoming trip to the Federal Republic of Germany.
United States · United States Congress · 24 April 1985
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide that no deductions shall be allowed for advertising or other promotion expenses with respect to arms sales.
United States · United States Congress · 24 April 1985
Grants a Federal charter to the organization known as the Daughters of Union Veterans of the Civil War.
United States · United States Congress · 23 April 1985
Extends through the school year ending June 30, 1987, a school district's eligibility under the school lunch program to continue receiving all cash or all letters of credit in lieu of commodities. Makes such districts eligible for bonus commodities on the same basis as other districts participating in the school lunch program. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to enter into agreements with private companies for processing donated commodities into end food products at the expense of the eligible recipient agencies.
United States · United States Congress · 22 April 1985
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to revise the method of calculating the alternative minimum tax on corporations. Sets the rate of such tax at 15 percent of the corporate alternative minimum taxable income exceeding $100,000. Provides that such tax shall be imposed only if the amount of such tax is greater than regular tax liability and shall be in lieu of regular tax. Defines "corporate alternative minimum taxable income" as taxable income: (1) reduced by the corporate alternative minimum tax net operating loss deduction; and (2) increased by the amount of alternative minimum tax preference items. Specifies the tax preference items for purposes of the alternative minimum tax on corporations as: (1) accelerated depreciation of real property; (2) mining exploration and development costs; (3) reserves for losses on bad debts of financial institutions; (4) depletion; (5) intangible drilling costs; (6) accelerated cost recovery deductions; (7) amortization of pollution control facilities; (8) certain research and experimental expenditures; (9) construction period carrying charges; (10) trade name and trademark expenditures; (11) circulation expenditures; (12) certain organizational expenditures; (13) completed contract method of accounting; (14) certain interest expenses; (15) exempt foreign trade income; (16) certain life insurance company deductions; and (17) certain shipping income. Revises the method of calculating the minimum tax net operating loss deduction. Disallows any income tax credits to be taken against the corporate alternative minimum tax except the foreign tax credit. Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to prescribe corporate tax rates designed to reduce regular tax rates by an amount equal to revenues raised by the alternative minimum tax on corporations.
United States · United States Congress · 18 April 1985
Grants a Federal charter to the National Association of State Directors of Veterans Affairs, Incorporated.
United States · United States Congress · 17 April 1985
High Technology Morrill Act - Establishes the Technology Education Trust Fund in the Treasury. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to be the trustee of the Fund and to report to the Congress annually on the Fund's operation. Directs the Secretary to transfer from the Treasury's general fund to the Fund, for FY 1987 through 1991, three percent of the rents, royalties, and other sums paid to the United States under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, the Mineral Leasing Act of 1920, and any other Federal statute authorizing payments for mineral resource development designated by the Secretary for the purpose of this Act. Limits the amount of such transfers to $250,000,000 in any one fiscal year. Provides that amounts in the Fund shall be available for making payments in accordance with this Act as provided in advance by appropriation Acts, and without fiscal year limitation on availability unless specifically enacted. Prohibits the Secretary from making transfers to the Fund after FY 1991. Directs the Secretary to pay into the Treasury's general fund any amounts remaining in the Fund after FY 1993. Authorizes the Secretary of Education (the Secretary) to make grants to education institutions (including vocational schools), private for-profit business concerns, and State agencies making application jointly to pay the Federal share of the cost of technology education programs. Allows private nonprofit organizations and State agencies to submit applications jointly if the nonprofit private organization represents an educational institution and a for-profit business concern, or a group of such institutions and concerns. Requires that such applications be consistent with State economic development and educational policies and with private sector priorities and educational institution needs. Requires the State and local public sources pay 30 percent, and for-profit businesses pay 20 percent, of total program costs. Sets forth other application requirements. Allows grants made under this Act to be used for: (1) laboratory equipment and facilities in educational institutions; (2) improving science and mathematics education and computer literacy in elementary and secondary schools through teacher training, equipment improvement, and curricula development; (3) research/education centers for training new scientific, engineering, and technical employees while carrying out applied research or stimulating innovation, technology transfer, and the application of new technologies; (4) mathematics, science, and engineering faculty development through support for graduate students who enter teaching, faculty exchange with industry, teaching retraining, and other faculty retention programs; (5) lifelong learning and cooperative education activities for the scientific, engineering, and technical work force; (6) development of new educational methods and equipment such as computer-based educational aids and telecommunication instructional technologies; (7) expansion of technical training programs and initiation of programs at institutions of higher education (including postsecondary vocational education institutions) designed to retrain workers for jobs requiring more technical skills; (8) improving the access of women, minorities, and handicapped to technical, engineering, and scientific fields; and (9) cooperative programs between the humanities and the sciences. Sets forth provisions for grant payments, distribution of funds, withholding, administration, and audit. Authorizes the Secretary to establish advisory committees for purposes of this Act. Directs the Secretary to consult with the Secretary of Defense to coordinate technical training programs supported by the Department of Defense and activities assisted under this Act. Authorizes the Secretary of Defense to transfer Department of Defense funds for technical training programs to the Secretary to carry out programs under this Act. Directs the Secretary to consult with the Secretaries of Commerce, Labor, and Education and the heads of other appropriate Federal agencies in carrying out this Act. Directs the Secretary to report annually to the Congress on activities assisted by this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 16 April 1985
Authorizes the President to call a White House Conference on Library and Information Services, to be held not later than 1989, to develop recommendations for improvement of such services and their public use. Requires that the Conference be planned and conducted by the National Commission on Libraries and Information Sciences. Authorizes the Librarian of Congress, the Director of the National Library of Medicine, and the Director of the National Agricultural Library, upon request, to detail personnel to the Commission. Requires the Conference to submit a final report to the President within 120 days following its close. Directs that the final report be made public, and within 90 days after receipt by the President, transmitted to the Congress with recommendations. Establishes an advisory committee to assist in planning and conducting the Conference. Includes among its appointed members the Secretary of Education and the Librarian of Congress. Authorizes appropriations as necessary.
United States · United States Congress · 3 April 1985
National Commission on Illiteracy Act - Establishes a National Commission on Illiteracy. Provides for Commission members to be appointed by the President and by specified congressional officers. Directs the Commission to conduct a full and complete study of the causes of illiteracy, including a study of methods of teaching reading and of methods of teacher training relating to classroom reading instruction. Directs the Commission to: (1) assess the factors which contribute to illiteracy; (2) recommend programs and policies for, and the appropriate local, State, and Federal role in, illiteracy prevention; and (3) assemble, analyze, and publicize its findings. Directs the Commission to submit to the President and the Congress: (1) such interim reports as it deems advisable; and (2) within 12 months after its first meeting, a final report of the study and investigation, with recommendations. Sets forth provisions relating to Commission administration, member compensation, and powers. Terminates the Commission 90 days after the submission of its final report. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 3 April 1985
Expresses the sense of the Senate that the administration should comply with the automatic appropriation and earmarking provisions of the Wallop/Breaux Sport Fish Restoration Trust Fund and support adequate appropriation for the Boating Safety Account in such Fund. States that funds owed to the States from such Fund should not be withheld or delayed.