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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 · 20 April 1983
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide that tax-exempt interest shall not be taken into account in determining the amount of social security benefits subject to tax.
United States · United States Congress · 20 April 1983
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow taxpayers to value excess inventory at its net realizable value. Defines "excess inventory" as that part of inventory which the taxpayer reasonably expects will be disposed of at less than full realization of cost. Allows taxpayers to spread over ten years any increases in inventory value due to a change from the first in, first out (FIFO) to the last in, first out (LIFO) method of accounting.
United States · United States Congress · 19 April 1983
National Outdoor Recreation Resources Review Act of 1983 - Establishes a National Outdoor Recreation Resources Review Commission to evaluate existing and potential public outdoor recreation policies, programs, and opportunities and to recommend outdoor recreation policies and activities which should be instituted at the Federal, State, and local levels and by the private sector in order to protect existing recreation resources and to meet future recreation needs. Requires the Commission to report its findings and recommendations to the President and Congress within 18 months after its establishment. Terminates the Commission six months after submission of its report. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 19 April 1983
High-Technology Training Act - Amends the Vocational Education Act of 1963 to establish a program of high-technology training grants. Directs the Secretary of Education to make such grants to States to stimulate vocational education programs to train individuals as high-technology technicians, in accordance with five-year State plans and annual program plans. Requires States to commit specified percentages of their basic grants under such Act to high-technology training programs. Directs States to consider specified factors in evaluating training program proposals of eligible recipients. Requires eligible recipients to provide specified assurances before receiving such training program funds. Authorizes appropriations for high-technology training program grants for FY 1984 and succeeding fiscal years. Makes conforming amendments to allotment provisions under such Act.
United States · United States Congress · 19 April 1983
Regulatory Reform Act - Amends the Administrative Procedure Act to exempt from its applicability any rule involving public property, contracts, or general policy statements of the Tennessee Valley Authority. Repeals the current exemption provided for matters relating to loans, grants, and benefits. Requires a notice of proposed rulemaking to include: (1) a statement of need and objectives; (2) a statement that the agency seeks proposals of alternative methods from the public and from State and local governments; (3) a description of the information on which the agency plans to rely in the rulemaking; and (4) a statement specifying where copies of the rulemaking file may be obtained. Allows an agency to adopt a rule before publishing notice, providing a period for public comment, or establishing a rulemaking file, when notice or hearing is not required by another statute, if: (1) it publishes its findings that compliance with such procedures before the rule becomes effective would be impracticable and contrary to the public interest; and (2) it completes such procedures as soon as practicable after the rule is promulgated. Requires an agency to publish a notice and allow a period for comment on any final rule which is substantially different from the original rule as proposed. Directs each agency to give interested persons at least 60 days to submit written comments on a proposed rule. Permits an agency to use any appropriate procedure to elicit full and representative public comment on the significant issues of a rulemaking. Requires an agency to provide an opportunity for oral presentations at informal public hearings in a rulemaking for a "major rule," as defined by this Act. Requires agencies to publish with each final rule a notice of its effective date and a statement of its basis and purpose, including: (1) a discussion of significant issues and alternative approaches raised by public comments; and (2) an explanation of how the agency's factual determinations are substantially supported in the rulemaking file. Prohibits an agency promulgating a rule from relying on any material not placed in the rulemaking file in time to afford an adequate period for public comment. Directs each agency to give interested persons the right to petition for an interpretation of, or exemption from, a rule. Requires an agency to respond promptly and in writing to such a petition. Requires that each agency maintain a public file of the paperwork, data, and comments pertaining to each rulemaking which shall constitute the rulemaking record for purposes of judicial review. Allows an agency to exclude from the file material exempted from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act, if the agency includes a summary of such material or a notice of the existence of such material. Prohibits an agency rule from substantially changing the requirement of any existing contract, agreement, or grant between a Federal agency and a State or local government for one year after the rule takes effect, unless the agency publishes a finding that delaying the rule's effect would be contrary to the public interest. Provides for the judicial review of agency compliance with rulemaking requirements under this Act. Requires each agency: (1) prior to publishing a rulemaking notice, to determine whether a proposed rule is a "major rule" and (2) to include an explanation of such determination in the notice. Authorizes the President or a selected officer to determine that a rule is a major rule within 30 days after publication of the rulemaking notice and to designate not more than 75 rules as major rules during any fiscal year. Requires an agency to issue, to enter into the rulemaking file, and to publish in summary form a preliminary rulemaking analysis of each proposed major rule, with specified exceptions. Provides 60 days for public comment on such analysis. Lists the contents of such analysis, including: (1) a description of quantifiable and nonquantifiable costs and benefits; (2) a description of reasonable alternatives; (3) a statement identifying the source of Federal funds, if any, to pay costs imposed on State and local governments; (4) a description of agency action to verify data; and (5) an explanation of why the rule chosen is more cost effective than the alternatives. Directs the agency to issue a final regulatory analysis upon publishing a final major rule, to place such analysis in the rulemaking file, and to summarize such analysis in the statement of the basis and purpose of the rule. Establishes guidelines for the evaluation and description of benefits and costs in the preparation of such analysis. Limits judicial review over: (1) the designation of a major rule; or (2) any regulatory analysis. Authorizes the President to establish procedures for agency compliance with the regulatory analysis and sunset review requirements under this Act and to monitor and enforce agency implementation of such procedures, except for rules issued by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Directs the President to report to Congress annually on agency compliance with regulatory analysis requirements. Requires each agency to publish for public comment a proposed schedule for the review of its existing major rules and other rules selected for review by the agency or the President. Directs each agency to publish a final schedule with its responses to public comments within one year of enactment of this Act. Requires each agency to review major rules within ten years after enactment of this Act, or within ten years after such a rule is promulgated, amended, or renewed, whichever is later. Directs each agency to publish a notice of its proposed action regarding a reviewed rule. Requires that the notice: (1) assess the costs and benefits of the rule; and (2) invite public proposals for modifications or alternatives. Requires an agency to follow normal rulemaking procedures when amending or rescinding a rule. Specifies procedures for renewing a rule without amendment. Provides for: (1) extension of the review period to not to exceed 15 years; (2) revision of the review schedule; and (3) expedited agency action if a review deadline is not met. Requires each agency to publish in the Federal Register, semiannually, an agenda of the rules the agency expects to propose, promulgate, renew, or repeal within the next twelve months, including a schedule of the agency actions pertaining to each rule. Directs the President to publish, semiannually, a Calendar of Federal Regulations, listing each of the major rules included in such agenda. Allows an agency to promulgate a major rule not listed in such agenda only if it publishes an explanation of why the rule was omitted. Requires each agency to include in the notice of a proposed rulemaking the date by which it intends to complete action or each major portion of action on the rule. Directs an agency that fails to complete action by such date and that expects a delay of more than 30 days to announce a new deadline for action. Directs the President to report to Congress annually on the regulatory activities of the Government. Requires that the report include estimates of the costs and benefits to each major sector of the economy of all major rules promulgated during the preceding year, included in the regulatory agenda for the preceding year, or scheduled for review. Directs a court reviewing an agency action to: (1) determine the authority or jurisdiction of the agency on the basis of the language of the authorizing statute or other evidence of legislative intent; (2) accord no presumption in favor of or against agency action, but to give an agency's interpretation of a statutory provision such weight as it warrants; and (3) determine whether the factual basis of an agency rule has substantial support in the rulemaking file. Declares that when proceedings for review of the same agency action are instituted in two or more courts of appeals within five days, the Administrative Office of the United States Courts shall select, by a system of random selection, the court in which the record shall be filed. Authorizes the courts to postpone the effective date of the agency action until after such selection is made. Amends the Federal Advisory Committee Act to exclude from the definition of "advisory committee" for purposes of such Act any committee which is composed wholly of elected State or local officials or their representatives. Grants Federal district courts original jurisdiction of any civil action or proceeding to resolve a controversy between two or more regulatory agencies not of the same State concerning jurisdiction to regulate a public utility, unless the courts of appeals have exclusive original jurisdiction to review actions of one of the regulatory agencies involved. States that a declaratory judgment in such a proceeding shall not be withheld: (1) on the ground that a controversy over matters other than jurisdiction to regulate may exist between the parties; (2) because of failure to exhaust administrative remedies; or (3) because of inconsistent provisions of other statutes providing for judicial review of agency action. Declares that any Federal or State agency may join or be joined as a party to such action and the district court may issue its processes without regard to territorial limitations. Establishes venue for such a proceeding. Prohibits the use of appropriated funds to pay the expenses of persons participating or intervening in agency proceedings, except as expressly authorized by statute. Authorizes each Federal agency to adopt as a Federal rule with respect to a State or locality any State or local rule which duplicates or is substantially equivalent to or more stringent than such Federal rule. Declares that any final agency rule, with specified exceptions including an emergency rule, shall be considered to be a recommendation to Congress and shall have no effect unless it is reviewed and not disapproved by Congress. Directs each agency to transmit each final rule to Congress on the day the rule is transmitted for publication to the Federal Register. Prohibits the rule from becoming effective if: (1) within 45 days of continuous session of Congress after the rule is received by Congress, either committee of the House or the Senate having primary legislative jurisdiction over it reports or is discharged from consideration of a resolution disapproving it; (2) within 30 days after such resolution is reported or discharged, either House adopts it; and (3) within 30 days after the adopted resolution is transmitted to the other House, such other House agrees to it. Permits a final rule to become effective at any time after either House rejects a resolution of disapproval. Authorizes an agency to issue and submit to Congress for review a recommended final rule relating to the same acts or practices as a disapproved rule. Sets forth expedited congressional procedures for the consideration of resolutions of disapproval. Declares that the provisions of this Act supercede any other provision of law requiring action by both Houses of Congress for congressional review and disapproval of agency rules, but not any other provisions requiring action by only one House. Amends the Government in the Sunshine Act to include the Chrysler Corporation Loan Guarantee Board as an agency subject to such Act.
United States · United States Congress · 19 April 1983
Amends the Interstate Commerce Act to revise the Federal rail transportation policy to allow competition among carriers to provide transportation services to establish rates. (Currently competition and the demand for services establish such rates.) Removes provisions which require the maintenance of reasonable rates where rail rates provide excessive revenues. Sets forth factors for the Interstate Commerce Commission to consider when determining the reasonableness of rail rates. Revises standards and procedures for establishing revenue levels for rail carriers. Requires the Commission to assist carriers in attaining such revenue levels, while recognizing the need to maintain reasonable rates where there is market dominance. Revises factors which determine whether or not a rail carrier establishing a challenged rate has market dominance over transportation. Directs the Commission, in determining the existence or absence of effective competition, to consider only transportation competition for the same commodity. Requires the Comptroller General to make appointments to the Railroad Accounting Principals Board within 120 days of enactment of this Act. Terminates the Board three years after its members have been appointed.
United States · United States Congress · 19 April 1983
Strategic and Critical Materials Stock Piling Revision Act of 1983 - Amends the Strategic and Critical Materials Stockpiling Revision Act of 1979 to direct the President to appoint an interagency advisory committee to determine: (1) which materials are strategic and critical to the United States; (2) how much of such material should be stockpiled; and (3) what classification such material should be assigned. Sets forth a formula for determining the quantities of each classification of material to be imported. Requires that each stockpile goal be reviewed at least every four years by the interagency committee. Requires the head of an agency, upon the committee's determination, to notify Congress of any proposed new formula for computing the stockpile goal for a particular material. Makes such formula effective 90 days after such notification unless either House of Congress, within such period, agrees to a resolution of disapproval.
United States · United States Congress · 15 April 1983
Expresses the sense of the Senate that rural community fire protection grants provided under the Cooperative Forestry Assistance Act of 1978 and rural fire prevention and control activities of the Forest Service of the Department of Agriculture should receive a level of funding for FY 1984 which is at least as high as the level of funding provided for such programs for FY 1983.
United States · United States Congress · 14 April 1983
Expresses the sense of Congress that the month of May 1983 should be appropriately observed as Older Americans Month.
United States · United States Congress · 13 April 1983
Dairy Production Act of 1983 - Title I: Dairy Compliance Program - Amends the Agricultural Act of 1949, as amended by the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1982, to eliminate the scheduled 50-cent milk assessments. Sets milk support levels at $13.10 per hundredweight for FY 1984 through FY 1985 for those farmers producing at or below their 1981-1982 marketing history levels. Sets forth provisions for farmers with less than full, or no 1981-1982 production levels. Establishes a reduced dairy compliance price (of up to $12.00, resulting in a blend price of not less than $12.10 per hundredweight) for overproduction as determined annually by the Secretary of Agriculture. Provides that funds represented by such reduced payments shall be remitted to the Commodity Credit Corporation and credited to the Dairy Stabilization Settlement Fund to be used to: (1) keep down program costs; and (2) make diversion payments ($10.00 per hundredwight) to farmers reducing production below their marketing histories. Prohibits the transfer of marketing histories. Requires farmers to get marketing history certifications from their county committees. Provides civil penalties for program violations. Title II: Dairy Promotion Program - Provides for the creation of a National Dairy Promotion and Research Board made up of milk producers appointed by the Secretary from nominations provided by certified (as provided for in this Act) dairy organizations. Empowers such Board to budget, develop, and administer dairy promotion and nutrition programs. Funds such program through mandatory 15-cent per hundredweight producer assessments. Terminates such program after its initial September 30, 1985 period unless approved by 50 percent by a producer referendum. Provides civil penalties for program violations. Authorizes appropriations. Stipulates that appropriated funds shall not be used to cover Board expenses.
United States · United States Congress · 13 April 1983
Directs the President to limit milk protein product imports through 1986.
United States · United States Congress · 13 April 1983
Designates October 16, 1983, as World Food Day.
United States · United States Congress · 12 April 1983
Amends the Small Business Act to treat businesses owned by 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 business development program.
United States · United States Congress · 7 April 1983
Correctional Facility Development Act of 1983 - Amends the Federal criminal code to authorize the Board of the National Institute of Corrections (Institute) to appoint a committee to advise it on innovative methods of constructing new correctional facilities. Directs the Institute to encourage States and local governments to develop innovative methods for the construction, acquisition, and renovation of correctional facilities. Provides the Institute with authority to make grants to States for up to one-third of the total construction costs of such projects. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 7 April 1983
Federal Employees Health Benefits Plan Amendments of 1983 - Requires the Federal employees service benefit health plan and the indemnity benefit plan to include, in addition to all types of benefits currently authorized: (1) nervous and mental disorder benefits; and (2) alcoholism and substance abuse treatment and rehabilitation benefits. Prohibits the Office of Personnel Management from contracting for or approving either such plan or any employee organization plan that does not provide for: (1) 50 outpatient visits and 60 inpatient days of nervous and mental disorder benefits; and (2) two 28-day alcoholism or substance abuse treatment and rehabilitation benefits for individuals who have not previously received such treatment. Provides that limits on nervous and mental disorder benefits under the service benefit plan and the indemnity benefit plan shall be exceeded on a case-by-case basis to the extent determined necessary and appropriate by an established peer review mechanism. Requires a specified percentage of such catastrophic benefits to be paid out of the Employees Health Benefits Fund. Earmarks for such payments whatever funds remain from one percent of all contributions to the Fund after deducting the expenses of administering the Federal employees health benefits program.
United States · United States Congress · 7 April 1983
Prohibits U.S. agencies from spending money to produce lethal binary chemical munitions. Expresses the sense of the Congress that the President should continue and intensify efforts at the Disarmament Talks in Geneva to achieve with the Soviet Union a mutual and verifiable ban on the production and stockpiling of such munitions.
United States · United States Congress · 6 April 1983
Controlled Substances Amendments Act of 1983 - Amends the Controlled Substances Act to increase penalties for illegal distribution (including subsequent offenses) of schedules I and II nonnarcotic drugs (to make them the same as penalties that apply to narcotic drugs).
United States · United States Congress · 6 April 1983
Amends the Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 1982 to repeal the employer reporting requirements with respect to tips.
United States · United States Congress · 6 April 1983
Authorizes and requests the President to designate the week of July 24 through July 31, 1983, as National Animal Agriculture Week.
United States · United States Congress · 24 March 1983
Repeals Federal law providing that entitlement lands (those lands eligible for payments in lieu of taxes) located within two local government units shall be treated, for specified purposes, as being within the jurisdiction of the smaller of such units. Redefines "unit of local government" to limit the meaning to the principal provider of local governmental services affecting the use of public lands. Includes within such meaning: (1) a county, townships, parish, or borough existing in the State of Alaska on October 20, 1976; or (2) a city which is not within the boundaries of any other local governmental unit. Invokes the sovereign immunity of the United States to preclude any legal actions regarding specified payment distributions made before January 1, 1983.
United States · United States Congress · 24 March 1983
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from gross income interest earned on industrial development bonds if the proceeds of such bonds are used to finance railroad rehabilitation or the acquisition of land or rights-of-way in connection with such rehabilitation.
United States · United States Congress · 23 March 1983
National Archives and Records Administration Act of 1983 - Establishes the National Archives and Records Administration as an independent establishment in the executive branch. Requires the Administration to be directed by the Archivist of the United States who shall be appointed by the President for a ten-year term. Directs the Archivist to appoint a Deputy Archivist. Sets forth the administrative duties and authority of the Archivist. Requires the Archivist to submit to Congress an annual report concerning the administration of functions of the Archivist and the Administration. Transfers to the Administration and the Archivist the functions, duties, and authority of the General Services Administration (GSA) and its Administrator, respectively, concerning: (1) congressional printing and binding; (2) the Federal Register and the Code of Federal Regulations; (3) the distribution and sale of public documents; (4) archival administration; (5) presidential records; (6) the National Archives Trust Fund Board; (7) the National Historical Publications Commission; (8) records management; (9) the disposal of records; (10) official territorial papers; (11) Indian records placed with the Oklahoma Historical Society; (12) public laws, Constitutional amendments, and the United States Statutes at Large; and (13) electoral credentials and certificates. Transfers to the Administration the National Archives and Records Service and the office of Office Information Services of the Office of Information Resources Automated Data and Management (presently within GSA).
United States · United States Congress · 23 March 1983
Title I: Amendments to Title 18, United States Code (18 U.S.C. 921-928) - Amends the Gun Control Act of 1968 to redefine: (1) "manufacturer" to mean any person engaged in the "business of manufacturing" (instead of "manufacture" of) firearms or ammunition; and (2) "dealer" to exclude dealers in ammunition. Adds a new definition "engaged in the business" with respect to manufacturers, dealers, and importers. Defines as a manufacturer, dealer, or importer of firearms a person who manufacturers or deals in a regular course of trade or business with the principal objective of livelihood and profit. Excludes as dealers persons making occasional sales or repairs of firearms. Eliminates certain activities involving ammunition from the coverage of the current prohibitions. Makes it unlawful for any person to transfer any firearm to a person who does not reside in the same State, if the transferor has reasonable cause to believe that acquisition of the firearm by such person would violate any State or local law or ordinance. Requires such transfer to be face to face. Presumes a licensee to have actual knowledge of the published laws of the State. Revises the current prohibition against certain classes of persons transporting a firearm or ammunition in interstate commerce to extend such prohibition to possession or receipt in commerce or affecting commerce of any firearm or ammunition. Includes as additional categories illegal aliens, dishonorably discharged members of the Armed Forces, and U.S. citizens who renounce their citizenship. Excludes ammunition dealers from the current licensing requirements. Declares that a licensed dealer's personal collection of firearms shall not be subject to recordkeeping requirements, under specific circumstances. Permits the Secretary of the Treasury to revoke a license only where the holder "willfully" violates a provision of the Act. Bars the Secretary from denying or revoking a license on the basis of violations which are alleged in criminal proceedings instituted against a licensee, where such individual is not convicted of such charges. Allows the government to voluntarily dismiss criminal charges prior to trial and still proceed with revocation. Imposes as a condition for the inspection or examination of records, documents, firearms, or ammunition that the Secretary has reasonable cause to believe that a violation has occurred and that evidence may be found on the premises. Requires a warrant be issued for such search. Restricts the firearms information obtained from licensees which the Secretary may make available to State or local governments. Establishes a limited recordkeeping requirement for firearms collectors. Establishes a "willful" scienter (knowledge) requirement with respect to general violations of the Act. Revises the current offense of using or carrying a firearm during commission of a Federal felony to: (1) include use of a destructive device; (2) delete the act of "carrying" a firearm to commit a felony; and (3) limit such offense to felonies over which the Federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction. Retains the current penalty (one to ten years) for first offenses. Increases the penalty for second or subsequent offenses to five to 25 years imprisonment (currently, two to 25 years). Extends to first offenders the requirement, currently applicable only to second offenders, that the court not suspend any sentence or grant probation. Prohibits the granting of parole to first and subsequent offenders. Declares that no person shall be subject to the additional, mandatory penalties if use of the firearm or destructive device was to protect persons or property. Amends the forfeiture provision to subject to seizure any firearm or ammunition "involved in or used" in any violation of the Gun Control Act (instead of "involved in or used or intended to be used"). Directs the court to award attorney fees to the prevailing party (other than the United States) in a proceeding for the return of seized firearms or ammunition. Requires the court to award such fees in any other action upon a finding that the action was without foundation or was initiated in bad faith. Limits seizure to firearms individually identified as involved in the violation. Revises the current procedure allowing persons who have been convicted of a crime to apply to the Secretary for relief from the firearms prohibitions. Permits any person prohibited from possessing, shipping, transporting, or receiving firearms or ammunition to apply for relief. Requires, instead of permits, the Secretary to grant release, unless the applicant will be likely to act in a manner dangerous to public safety. Permits any person who is denied relief to seek de novo judicial review in Federal court. Imposes on the applicant the burden of proof. Makes the authority of the Secretary to permit importation of certain types of firearms and ammunition nondiscretionary. Extends the types of sporting firearms which may be imported. Amends the rulemaking authority of the Secretary to provide that no regulation may require the transfer of records required under this Act to a facility owned, managed, or controlled by the United States or any State or the establishment of any system of registration of firearms, firearms owners, or firearms transactions. Requires a 90-day public comment period for proposed regulations (no period is currently specified). Prohibits the Secretary from prescribing regulations which require purchasers of black powder to complete affidavits or forms attesting to their exemption from certain provisions of the Federal criminal code. Declares any law or regulation promulgated by any State prohibiting the transfer of an unloaded and not readily accessible firearm or ammunition null and void. Title II: Amendments to Title VII of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 - Repeals title VII of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act (relating to the receipt, possession, or transportation of firearms by felons, veterans dishonorably discharged, mental incompetents, illegal aliens, and persons renouncing their United States citizenship).
United States · United States Congress · 23 March 1983
Declares a named individual to have been lawfully admitted to the United States for permanent residence under the Immigration and Nationality Act.
United States · United States Congress · 23 March 1983
Economic Equity Act of 1983 - Title I: Tax and Retirement Matters - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide that the maximum deduction for contributions to an individual retirement plan: (1) shall be computed separately for each individual who is married; and (2) in the case of a married individual who has no compensation or less compensation than that of the spouse, shall be determined as if such compensation were the same as that of the individual's spouse. Treats alimony as compensation for purposes of determining an individual's income tax deduction for retirement savings. Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) and the Internal Revenue Code to require that a retirement plan that provides an annuity to a participant with at least ten years of creditable service shall provide a survivor's annuity for the spouse of a participant who dies before the annuity starting date in an amount not less than the amount that would have been made under the survivor's annuity if the participant has survived and retired on such annuity date. Provides that a participant's election not to take a joint and survivor's annuity shall not be effective unless the spouse of the participant consents in writing to such an election. Requires a retirement plan to treat an individual who was the spouse of the participant on the annuity starting date and who survives the participant as if such individual were the spouse of the participant on the date of death of the participant whether or not divorced after the annuity starting date. Allows the assignment of the benefits of a qualified retirement plan in the case of a judgment decree or order relating to child support, alimony payments, or marital property rights pursuant to a State domestic relations law. Amends ERISA to lower the age limitation for participation in a qualified retirement plan from age 25 to age 21. Amends ERISA and the Internal Revenue Code to provide for accruals of creditable service to continue while an individual is on approved maternity or paternity leave at the rate of 20 hours service for each week of approved leave. Entitles former spouses of civil service employees or Members of Congress, who were married to an employee or Member for at least ten years during creditable service, to an annuity based upon a portion of retired or retainer pay unless otherwise provided by a spousal agreement or a state court decree of divorce or annulment. Entitles former spouses to survivor's benefits under the civil service plan unless the former spouse remarries before becoming 60 years of age or the employee or Member and former spouse elect to waive such benefit. Requires that such waiver be jointly made in writing. Includes displaced homemakers as a targeted group for purposes of the targeted jobs tax credit. Defines "displaced homemaker" as a person who: (1) has not worked, except in the home, for a substantial number of years; (2) has been dependent on public assistance or on the income of a family member but is no longer supported by that income; and (3) is a member of an economically disadvantaged family and is experiencing difficulty obtaining or upgrading employment. Increases the zero bracket amount for heads of households from $2,300 to $3,400. Title II: Dependent Care Program - Increases the income tax credit for household and dependent care services from a maximum of 30 percent of amounts paid to a maximum of 50 percent of amounts paid. Reduces such percentage to a minimum of 20 percent based on the taxpayer's adjusted gross income. Makes such income tax credit refundable. Treats as tax-exempt organizations certain organizations which provide nonresidential dependent care to the general public. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services (through the Commissioner of the Administration of Children, Youth, and Families) to establish a grant program to assist nonprofit organizations in the establishment or operation of community-based child care information. Title III: Nondiscrimination in Insurance - Nondiscrimination in Insurance Act of 1983 - 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. Grants to State or local governments having insurance discrimination laws the primary opportunity to enforce this Act. Permits an aggrieved person to file a civil action in State or Federal court against an insurer, if a State or local authority: (1) has received notice of a complaint and fails to act within 60 days; or (2) has no insurance discrimination laws. 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. Title IV: Regulatory Reform and Sex Neutrality - Requires the head of each Federal agency to: (1) conduct an ongoing review of the rules, regulations, programs, and policies of the agency to identify any which result in different treatment based on sex; and (2) submit annually a report to the Congress on such review. Sets forth rules of statutory construction relating to gender. Title V: Child Support Enforcement - Amends the Social Security Act to specify that the purpose of the child support enforcement program is to assure compliance with obligations to pay child support to each child in the United States living with one parent. Allows offsets of income tax refunds of an absent parent on behalf of children not receiving Aid to Families with Dependent Children (present law permits such offsets only in the case of children receiving AFDC payments). Requires States to establish a child support clearinghouse through which child support payments can be paid, recorded and forwarded. Revises State child support enforcement procedures. Allows allotments for child and spousal support to be taken from the pay of Federal employees.
United States · United States Congress · 23 March 1983
Directs the Secretaries of Agriculture for national forest lands and of the Interior for other public lands to terminate, at the purchaser's request: (1) specified quantities of estimated and cumulative timber volume as specified in such purchaser's contract bid prior to January 1, 1982; and (2) other specified contracts for estimated timber volumes. Requires purchasers to pay for the costs incurred by the appropriate Secretary in terminating such contracts and for re-offering the terminated timber for resale. Specifies the maximum amount to be paid per terminated contract. Authorizes the purchaser to transfer, retain or assign timber sale appraisal allowances according to stated guidelines. Directs the Secretaries of Agriculture and of the Interior to adjust, without penalty, certain contract termination dates for a specified period, upon the purchaser's written request. Declares that contracts with termination dates adjusted for four years or more shall require: (1) payment by the purchaser according to a specified schedule; or (2) removal of a certain percentage of estimated timber volume by a certain date. Assures specified purchasers continued eligibility to bid on the resale of timber included in a terminated contract. Establishes guidelines for termination, payment schedules, bidding, and timber resales. Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to permit the transfer of unused purchaser credit for road construction on specified contracts. Directs the Secretary to treat credit earned on specified contracts as transferable earned purchaser credit. Emergency National Forest Productivity Act of 1983 - Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to establish a special program to remove dead or diseased timber on national forest system lands. Authorizes the Secretary to enter into contracts, or conduct the work within the Department of Agriculture, under certain conditions. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes the Secretary to use regular national forest system and construction accounts subject to approval by the congressional appropriations committees.
United States · United States Congress · 23 March 1983
Designates the week of April 17, 1983 as National Building Safety Week.
United States · United States Congress · 22 March 1983
Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to prohibit the Federal Communications Commission from restricting the hours of operation or reducing the operating power of any AM broadcast station if: (1) such restriction or reduction would prevent the station from operating at full daytime power from two hours before sunrise until two hours after sunset; and (2) operation during such period would not interfere with the protected signal of an existing station. Prohibits the Commission from denying an application for a license to operate a new AM station or an application to expand the hours of operation of an existing station solely on the grounds that: (1) the area has adequate broadcasting service; or (2) an FM channel is available for the area. Prohibits the Commission from placing an applicant for a station license or construction permit at a disadvantage because that applicant is licensed to operate a station with restricted hours in the area if such applicant certifies that it will relinquish the restricted license if its application is approved. Exempts any application to alter the hours of operation of a standard broadcast station from public notice and comment requirements.
United States · United States Congress · 22 March 1983
Authorizes and requests the President to designate July 16, 1983, as National Atomic Veterans' Day.
United States · United States Congress · 21 March 1983
Expresses the sense of the Senate that the President should: (1) report to Congress on his intention to begin negotiations on a new long-term agricultural trade agreement with the Soviet Union; (2) seek, in such a new agreement, higher minimum and maximum supply guarantees and a provision for the export of value-added products; (3) report to Congress, by a specified date, on the potential economic and employment impacts of such a new agreement on U.S. agriculture and related industries; and (4) take appropriate measures to assure free movement of increased quantities of U.S. agricultural products to the Soviet Union.
United States · United States Congress · 18 March 1983
Prohibits the reduction of a rating of permanent total disability which has been continuously in force for ten years until a decision making such a reduction is final.
United States · United States Congress · 18 March 1983
Amends the Export-Import Bank Act of 1945 to prohibit the Bank from extending credit to establish or enhance the capacity of any country other than the United States to produce a commodity for export if: (1) such commodity is or is likely to be surplus on the world market; and (2) the resulting productive capacity will substantially injure U.S. producers of the same, similar, or competing commodity.
United States · United States Congress · 18 March 1983
Grants a Federal charter to the National Association of State Directors of Veterans Affairs, Incorporated.
United States · United States Congress · 18 March 1983
Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to prohibit the furnishing of assistance under such Act to establish or enhance the capacity of any foreign country to produce a commodity for export if: (1) the commodity is in surplus or is likely to be in surplus on the world market at the time the resulting productive capactiy is expected to become operative; and (2) such assistance will cause substantial injury to U.S. producers of the same, similar, or competing commodity (surplus competing commodities). Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to instruct the U.S. executive directors of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, International Development Association, International Monetary Fund, International Finance Corporation, Inter-American Development Bank, Asian Development Bank, and the African Development Bank to oppose assistance by these institutions (using any funds made available under U.S. law) to establish or enhance the capacity of any country to produce surplus competing commodities. Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to report to Congress on all applications for assistance which have been filed with the aforementioned institutions at 30-day intervals beginning 30 days after the enactment of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 17 March 1983
National Diffusion Network Act - Directs the Secretary of Education to carry out a program to promote the spread of exemplary educational programs, products, and practices to interested elementary and secondary schools. Requires the Secretary to provide for evaluation, information, materials, training, and technical assistance. 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 1983 through 1986.
United States · United States Congress · 17 March 1983
Amends the Commodity Credit Corporation Charter Act to require the Commodity Credit Corporation to pay a rate for the storage of grain on farms which is no less than the rate the Corporation pays for storage of grain in commercial storage facilities.
United States · United States Congress · 17 March 1983
Designates the week of May 15 through May 21, 1983, as National Parkinson's Disease Week.
United States · United States Congress · 17 March 1983
Declares that Congress: (1) condemns the violence in Northern Ireland; (2) urges U.S. citizens to refrain from any action which contributes to the violence there; (3) urges an early political settlement there that secures the rights of both sides and that achieves Irish unity; (4) believes that a reconciliation can be found between the two Irish political traditions and between Britain and Ireland; and (5) requests the President to convey to Britain and to Ireland the desire of Americans for lasting peace in Northern Ireland.
United States · United States Congress · 16 March 1983
Age Discrimination in Employment Amendments of 1983 - Amends the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 to remove the existing 70-year upper age limit of the class to which the discrimination prohibitions apply, thus extending coverage to all individuals who are at least 40 years of age. Allows compulsory retirement of tenured faculty of an institution of higher learning until July 1, 1998. Delays the effect of this Act for employees under a collective bargaining contract until January 1, 1987, or the termination of such contract, if earlier.
United States · United States Congress · 15 March 1983
Expresses the sense of the Senate that Anatoly Shcharansky should be released from prison in the Soviet Union and permitted to emigrate to Israel. Urges the President and the Secretary of State to express U.S. opposition to the imprisonment of Anatoly Shcharansky.
United States · United States Congress · 11 March 1983
Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Amendments of 1983 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to replace the existing Office of Health Information, Health Promotion, and Physical Fitness and Sports Medicine (within the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health of the Department of Health and Human Services) with an Office of Health Promotion, to be headed by a Director. Directs such Office to: (1) coordinate Department and private health information, promotion, and prevention services; (2) establish a national information clearinghouse; and (3) support projects, conduct research, and disseminate information relating to preventive medicine, health promotion, physical fitness and sports medicine. Authorizes appropriations through FY 1986. Repeals specified provisions regarding: (1) program models; (2) physical fitness grants; and (3) sports medicine (transferred under this Act). Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make grants to academic health centers to establish Centers for Research and Demonstration of Health Promotion and Disease Prevention. Sets forth related operating provisions. Requires three such centers to be established in FY 1984, and five centers in each of the subsequent two fiscal years. Authorizes appropriations through FY 1986. Requires an annual health promotion and preventive medicine report to the appropriate congressional committees, with the first report due by January 1, 1984. Establishes an Assistant Director for Prevention position in the National Institutes of Health (NIH), to coordinate and promote NIH health promotion and disease prevention programs. Revises full-time student enrollment requirements for schools of public health seeking capitation grants to require that enrollment equal (presently must exceed) 1976 levels.
United States · United States Congress · 11 March 1983
Vietnam Veterans Agent Orange Relief Act - Establishes a presumption of service-connected disability for veterans exposed to herbicides during service in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam era who suffer from specified diseases which may be caused by exposure to such herbicides, developed to a ten percent degree of disability. Permits the Administrator of Veterans Affairs to determine what other diseases may be due to exposure to herbicides, chemicals or environmental hazards. Directs the Administrator to promulgate regulations within one year of enactment incorporating such determinations and setting forth the standards used to reach them.
United States · United States Congress · 10 March 1983
Amends the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 to declare congressional policy with respect to the marketing and sale of passenger air transportation. Directs the Civil Aeronautics Board to vacate Order 82-12-85, adopted on December 16, 1982, and to adopt as its final decision in docket numbered 36595 the recommended order of an administrative law judge dated June 1, 1982.
United States · United States Congress · 9 March 1983
Designates the month of August 1983 as National Child Support Enforcement Week.
United States · United States Congress · 8 March 1983
Amends the Tribally Controlled Community College Assistance Act of 1978 to revise definitions and purposes. Directs the Secretary of the Interior, subject to appropriations, to make grants for defraying, at the determination of the tribally controlled community college, expenditures for the operation and maintenance of the college (including administrative, academic, community, and student service programs, and technical assistance). Requires that grant applications include a description of recordkeeping procedures for expenditure of funds received under the Act. Directs the Secretary to establish a program of grants to tribes and tribal entities for planning and development of proposals for the establishment of tribally controlled community colleges, or for determining the need and potential for such colleges. Directs the Secretary to reserve a specified amount from appropriations for title I of the Act to make such planning grants available to as many as five approved applicants. Revises provisions relating to technical assistance contracts. Replaces requirements for "feasibility studies" with requirements for "eligibility studies". Reduces the percentage of title I funds which may be used to carry out such studies. Revises formulas for determining the amount of each grant to a tribally controlled community college on the basis of the "Indian student count" at such colleges. Prohibits the alteration of grant amounts under this Act because of funds also received under the Snyder Act. Prohibits denial of Snyder Act funds because of funds received under this Act. Provides that any Indian student who receives a student assistance grant from the Bureau of Indians Affairs (BIA) for postsecondary education shall be deemed to have received such assistance under the Pell Grants program of the Higher Education Act of 1965, for purposes of such Act. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1985 through FY 1987 to carry out provisions for: (1) technical assistance contracts; (2) grants to tribally controlled colleges; and (3) construction of new facilities. Provides for a transition to the forward funding method of timing appropriation action. Revises provisions for grant adjustment. Directs the Administrator of General Services to: (1) study facilities available for use by tribally controlled community colleges; (2) report study results to the Congress by September 30, 1985; and (3) in consultation with the BIA, conduct a program of renovation, alteration, repair, and reconstruction of BIA facilities. Directs the Secretary to provide grants for construction of new facilities for any tribally controlled community college for which the report of the Administrator of General Services identifies such a need. Sets forth requirements for eligibility and for the college's share of such construction costs. Authorizes the Secretary to waive such requirements. Directs the Secretary to establish a program of endowment grants to tribally controlled community colleges which are current recipients of specified assistance under the Act or under the Navajo Community College Act. Sets forth agreement requirements for receipt of such endowment grants. Sets forth provisions for the use and allocation of such endowment grant funds and for compliance with a matching funds requirement. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1985 through 1987 to carry out such endowment grant program.
United States · United States Congress · 8 March 1983
Eliminates the social security offset against annuities provided under the Survivor Benefit Plan of the armed service when the benefits received are based on the annuitant's own employment.
United States · United States Congress · 8 March 1983
Recognizes the pause for the Pledge of Allegiance as part of the celebration of National Flag Day.
United States · United States Congress · 8 March 1983
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the national security policy should reflect a national strategy of peace through strength. Sets forth the principles and goals of such a policy.
United States · United States Congress · 7 March 1983
Veterans' Educational Assistance Act of 1983 - Establishes a peacetime veterans' educational assistance program. Excludes graduates of service academies from eligibility for such assistance. Entitles veterans who are graduates of a secondary school and who have served in the armed forces on continuous active duty for at least two years to basic educational assistance. Entitles veterans of the Selected Reserve who are graduates of secondary school and who have served at least two years of continuous active duty in the armed forces and at least four years of continuous duty in the Selected Reserve to basic educational assistance. Sets forth the formula for determining the length of such assistance based on the length of time served. Entitles such veterans to a monthly assistance allowance of $300 for a full-time approved program of education. Permits the Secretary concerned to establish a higher rate of assistance, but not more than $600 a month, for individuals possessing a skill or specialty designated as being in critical shortage. Permits enrollment, if eligible, in a program of education while an individual continues to perform his duties. Establishes a ten year delimiting period for educational assistance. Excludes time spent as a prisoner of war subsequent to discharge and time spent physically or mentally disabled. Limits educational assistance to individuals being furnished subsistence to the amount an institution would charge similarly circumstanced nonveterans. Prohibits participation in more than one program of educational assistance. Requires that the Administrator receive a certificate of attendance from both the individual and the educational institution before paying the educational assistance allowance for any period. Allocates the administration and costs of such programs to the Veterans Administration, the Department of Transportation, and the Department of Defense. Requires the Secretary of Defense and the Administrator to submit to Congress a biennial report on the operations of such programs. Establishes a Career Members' Supplemental Educational Assistance Program for veterans who have served on active duty for a period of more than ten years. Requires enrollees to participate in such program for at least 12 consecutive months except as specified by this Act. Requires participants to agree to a monthly deduction from their military pay as a contribution to such program for deposit in the Career Member's Dependents Education Account established in the Treasury. Provides for a refund of such contributions upon disenrollment, discharge, release, or death. Authorizes the Secretary to contribute to the fund account, in addition to matching funds, any amounts necessary to encourage persons to remain in the armed forces. Entitles each participant to 36 monthly benefit payments. Sets forth the formula for computing the amount of such payments. Permits eligible veterans to transfer any educational benefits to such veterans' spouse or children. Establishes a delimiting period of ten years after discharge or release for educational assistance benefits. Requires the Administrator of Veterans Affairs and the Secretary of Defense, within 90 days of enactment of this Act, to submit a joint report to the Congress on their respective plans for implementation of programs provided by this Act. Directs them to make annual reports on the operation of such programs thereafter. Directs the Administrator to deposit military pay deductions in the Fund and maintain accounts showing contributions by participants and the Secretary as well as disbursements. States that appropriations to carry out this program shall be considered as part of the Department of Defense budget. Amends the Post-Vietnam Era Veterans' Educational Assistance Act of 1977 to terminate the right to enroll in the Post-Vietnam Era Veterans' Educational Assistance Program after December 31, 1981. Directs the Secretary to report to Congress annually on the educational assistance program, including the number of participants from the Selected Reserve. Permits the Secretary concerned to grant an eligible member a leave of absence of not more than two years for such member to pursue a program of education. Sets forth the terms and conditions for such leave. Requires the Secretary concerned to provide individual predischarge counseling which includes a discussion of educational benefit entitlements. States that there shall be no increase in pay for members in pay grade E-1 in FY 1984 and 1985.
United States · United States Congress · 3 March 1983
Authorizes the Secretary of the Army, acting through the Chief of Engineers, to construct a navigation project at the Bonneville lock and dam, Oregon and Washington.