United States · United States Congress · 18 June 1987
Authorizes and requests the President to declare June 27, 1987, as National Sokol Day in the United States, commemorating the Sokol, an association of Americans of Czech ancestry dedicated to gymnastics and democracy.
United States · United States Congress · 9 June 1987
Amends the Federal criminal code to allow the National Association of State Racing Commissioners, State racing commissions, and authorities that regulate parimutuel wagering to: (1) use the facilities of the National Crime Information Center to receive, share, store, and disseminate criminal identification records; and (2) submit fingerprints to the Attorney General for identification and a criminal history records check.
United States · United States Congress · 9 June 1987
Rural Letter Carriers Automobile Expense Act - Provides that, for taxable years beginning after 1986, rural mail carriers are permitted to compute the amount of the income tax deduction for use of their automobiles in performance of mail services: (1) by using a standard mileage rate for all miles of such use equal to 150 percent of the basic standard rate; or (2) without applying the limitation on deductions generally applicable in cases when the business use of the automobile accounts for 50 percent, or less, of its use. Prohibits the use of 150 percent of the basic standard mileage rate in determining the allowable deduction if the taxpayer claims an investment tax credit or depreciation deduction for such automobile.
United States · United States Congress · 2 June 1987
Amends the Tariff Schedules of the United States to lower the tariff on: (1) non-woven disposable apparel designed for use in hospitals, clinics, laboratories, or contaminated areas; and (2) coveralls, overalls, jumpsuits, certain types of women's dresses, swimming suits, infants' sets, and parts of trousers, slacks, and shorts. Makes permanent the tariff on certain types of surgical gowns and drapes. Provides that the staged reduction in the duty on applicable products of Israel shall apply to specified textile products.
United States · United States Congress · 2 June 1987
Designates August 1, 1987, as Helsinki Human Rights Day. Requests the President to: (1) reassert the American commitment to the Helsinki Accords; (2) raise the issue of noncompliance with such Accords with the Soviet Union, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, the German Democratic Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Romania; (3) convey to all signatories of such Accords that respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms is vital to progress in the ongoing Helsinki process; (4) convey to U.S. allies the necessity of unity regarding such Accords; (5) continue his efforts to achieve the release of political prisoners of the Soviet Union, an increase in Soviet emigration, resolution of family reunification cases, and cessation of radio transmission jamming; (6) seek the inclusion, in any concluding document agreed to in Vienna, of a mechanism to sustain human rights progress after the Vienna Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe; and (7) convey to signatory states the desire of the United States for a result at Vienna that will not favor military security at the expense of human rights.
United States · United States Congress · 29 May 1987
De Soto National Trail Study Act of 1987 - Amends the National Trails System Act to designate the De Soto Trail, extending through Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Texas, and Louisiana, for study for inclusion in such System.
United States · United States Congress · 29 May 1987
Authorizes and directs the Secretary of the Treasury to pay a specified sum to a named Alabama bank in full satisfaction of all claims against the United States for losses arising from the cancellation of a Government loan guarantee due to actions and misrepresentations of the Defense Logistics Agency of the Department of Defense.
United States · United States Congress · 29 May 1987
Designates the week beginning October 18, 1987, as Financial Independence Week. Urges all citizens to pursue financial independence through sound planning and management of their individual resources.
United States · United States Congress · 28 May 1987
Amends the Tennessee Valley Authority Act of 1933 to increase the membership of the board of directors of the Tennessee Valley Authority (Corporation) from three members to nine members. Requires that: (1) two members be residents of any State; (2) three be residents of Tennessee; (3) one each be a resident of Alabama, Kentucky, and Mississippi; and (4) one be a resident of either Georgia, North Carolina, or Virginia. Requires the President, in making appointments to the Corporation, to consider recommendations of individuals in the service area and seek directors from such area. Provides that the terms of office of directors shall be three years. Provides that directors shall receive: (1) a stipend, if not otherwise employed by the Corporation or the Federal Government; (2) compensation at level V of the Executive Schedule for each day of actual performance, limited to 60 days a year (80 days for the Chairman); and (3) travel expenses. Directs the board to appoint a person to serve as chief executive officer for the conduct of management duties not specifically reserved to the board. Directs the board to create an electric rate review committee, composed of board members, to hold public hearings on electric power rates and make recommendations to the board for rate adjustments. Directs the board to create an audit committee, composed of board members independent of the management of the Corporation, to recommend to the board an external auditor, review such auditor's reports, and make recommendations to the board as necessary. Authorizes the board to create such other committees as deemed appropriate. Requires the board to conduct public hearings on issues that would have a substantial effect on the electric rate payers in the region or the economic, environmental, social, or physical well-being of the people of the region. Authorizes the board to: (1) establish an annual fund of a fixed amount from which the board may grant awards to employees in recognition of superior performance or meritorious acts; and (2) authorize supplements on an annual basis to the basic pay of individual employees when recruitment or retention problems are caused by substantially higher pay for comparable levels of work in the Federal Government, or for which no similar positions are found in the Federal Government. Establishes the Office of Inspector General of the Tennessee Valley Authority to: (1) conduct and supervise audits and investigations relating to the Corporation's programs and operations; (2) recommend policies to promote economy, efficiency, and effectiveness, and to prevent and detect fraud and abuse, in such programs and operations; and (3) keep the board and the Congress fully informed about problems and deficiencies relating to such programs and operations. Applies specified provisions of the Inspector General Act of 1978 to the Corporation. Transfers the authority to appoint staff from the board to the chief executive officer.
United States · United States Congress · 21 May 1987
Appalachian Regional Development Act Amendments of 1987 - Amends the Appalachian Regional Development Act of 1965 to include as a purpose of such Act public investment in severely distressed and underdeveloped counties or areas lacking resources for basic services. Authorizes appropriations for the Appalachian Regional Commission for FY 1988 through 1992. Permits the Commission to lease office space through FY 1992. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1988 through 1992 for construction of the Appalachian development highway system and local access roads. Increases from 70 percent to 80 percent the maximum Federal share of such highway construction costs. Allows for Federal supplements to the Federal grant-in-aid programs to continue through FY 1992. Removes the restriction on financial assistance for the cost of industrial facilities. Requires that energy enterprise development loan funds established with grants previously approved by the Commission be made available for authorized purposes. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1988 through 1992. Terminates specified provisions of the Appalachian Regional Development Act of 1965 on October 1, 1992.
United States · United States Congress · 19 May 1987
Requires the Director of the Office of Management and Budget to consider designation of Morgan and Lawrence Counties, Alabama, as a single metropolitan statistical area, without regard to the portion of the Bankhead National Forest in Lawrence County.
United States · United States Congress · 19 May 1987
Veterans' Beneficiary Travel Act of 1987 - Amends Federal veterans' benefits provisions to direct (current law authorizes) the Administrator of Veterans Affairs to pay travel expenses of certain veterans to or from a Veterans Administration facility or other authorized place in connection with rehabilitation, counseling, or medical treatment or care. Defines those veterans entitled to such payment, including: (1) those veterans financially unable to meet such travel costs; and (2) those veterans unable to bear the cost of special transportation necessitated due to a medical disability. Limits such payments in the case of travel by a privately-owned vehicle to the cost of similar public transportation for such travel. Limits, in any event, such payment to the actual cost incurred for such travel.
United States · United States Congress · 19 May 1987
Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide coverage for services performed by a physician assistant outside institutional settings.
United States · United States Congress · 14 May 1987
Title I: Process Patent Amendments Act of 1987 - Amends the patent laws to make it an infringement of patent to use, sell, or import into the United States without authority a product produced by a process patented in the United States. Excludes products materially changed by subsequent processes or products which become a minor or nonessential component of another product. States that no modification of remedies is available to any person who practiced the patented process, is controlled by or controls the person who practiced the process, or who had knowledge before the infringement that a patented process was being used in violation of this Act. Requires an infringer to have actual knowledge of infringement or sufficient information as to the likelihood of infringement before remedies are available to the patent holder. Makes remedies contingent upon the good faith practiced by both parties, as well as the need to restore exclusive patent rights. Requires a party to show good faith by requesting or responding to a request for disclosure by a manufacturer of all process patents owned or licensed to such manufacturer at the time of the request which could reasonably be believed to be infringed if imported, used, or sold in the U.S. by an unauthorized party. Limits requests to persons regularly engaged or about to be regularly engaged in the business. Requires requests to be made before a notice of infringement and to include a representation that the requester will submit identified patents to the manufacturer or supplier to obtain a written statement that these patents are not being violated. Requires notices of infringement to specify the patent allegedly infringed and the reasons why such infringement is suspected. Places the burden of proof in an infringement action to show that product was not produced by the patented process on the defendant. Makes this provision effective prospectively only, except where a specific product is already in substantial and continuous sale or use by a person in the U.S. or for which substantial preparation has been made, by May 15, 1987, to the extent equitable. Directs the Secretary of Commerce to report annually to the Congress for five years on the effect of this provision on the importation of manufacturing ingredients in certain domestic industries. Title II: Patent Misuse Doctrine Reform - States that a patent owner's licensing practices cannot constitute patent misuse unless such practices violate the antitrust laws. Title III: Licensee Challenges to Patent Validity - States that a patentee cannot be estopped from challenging the validity of a patent to which it is licensed.
United States · United States Congress · 14 May 1987
Anti-Terrorism Act of 1987 - Expresses the determination of the Congress that the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO): (1) is a terrorist organization; (2) is a threat to the interests of the United States, its allies, and to international law; and (3) should not benefit from operating in the United States. Prohibits, if the purpose is to further the interests of the PLO: (1) the receipt of anything of value except informational material from the PLO; (2) the expenditure of funds from the PLO; (3) the establishment or maintenance of a PLO office within the jurisdiction of the United States. Provides that the provisions of this Act shall cease to have effect if the President certifies to the Congress that the PLO no longer practices or supports terrorist actions.
United States · United States Congress · 14 May 1987
Expresses the sense of the Congress commending the Department of Agriculture on its 125th anniversary. Authorizes and requests the President to issue a proclamation commemorating such event.
United States · United States Congress · 13 May 1987
Marine Science, Technology, and Resource Development Act of 1987 - Amends the National Sea Grant College Program Act to declare the need for a national ocean policy and to revise definitions under such Act. Expands coverage of such Act to include Great Lakes resources. (Current law covers ocean and coastal resources.) Requires the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Administrator) to develop and publish every three years the Sea Grant Strategic Research Plan (Plan) identifying and describing a limited number of priority areas for strategic marine research. Requires the Plan to be submitted to specified congressional committees. Describes the priority area on which the Plan shall concentrate, including: (1) critical resource and environmental areas of national or global scope where adequate funding is otherwise precluded under other provisions of the National Sea Grant College Program Act; and (2) areas where sustained programmatic research and technology transfer can be utilized. Authorizes the Secretary of Commerce (Secretary) to make grants to carry out such strategic marine research to sea grant colleges, programs, regional consortia, and individuals meeting certain criteria. Authorizes appropriations for such purposes for FY 1988 through 1992. Describes the academic, congressional, Federal, and postdoctoral fellowships which may be awarded. Adds to the duties of the sea grant review panel the responsibility of giving advice with respect to applications, proposals, performance, grants, and contracts awarded under the Sea Grant Strategic Research Plan. Authorizes appropriations for the National Sea Grant College Program for FY 1988 through 1992. Amends provisions of the Sea Grant Program Improvement Act of 1976 relating to the purposes of the Sea Grant International program to authorize grants and contracts to enhance international research, promote marine activities with foreign universities, encourage technology transfer, and promote foreign data exchanges. Authorizes appropriations for such purposes for FY 1988 through 1992. Allows additional funding to be provided through other Federal program elements with a marine science or technology transfer component, or both.
United States · United States Congress · 12 May 1987
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a tax-exempt organization all of whose members primarily coach football as full-time employees of four-year colleges or universities to have a pension plan with a qualified cash or deferred arrangement, provided such organization was in existence on September 18, 1986. Requires such a plan to be treated as a multiemployer plan.
United States · United States Congress · 8 May 1987
Designates the lock and dam on the Tombigbee River in Pickens County, Alabama, commonly known as the Aliceville Lock and Dam, as the Tom Bevill Lock and Dam. Designates the resource management and visitor center at Aliceville Lake on the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway as the Tom Bevill Resource Management and Visitor Center at Aliceville Lake on the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway.
United States · United States Congress · 7 May 1987
Federal Employees Health Care Freedom-of-Choice Act of 1987 - Amends provisions of law relating to Federal employee health benefits to authorize direct payment or reimbursement for services performed by licensed health practitioners in the State where they practice.
United States · United States Congress · 6 May 1987
Mowa Band of Choctaw Indians Recognization Act - Extends Federal recognition and associated services and benefits to the Mowa Band of Choctaw Indians of Alabama. Restores Federal rights and privileges abrogated by earlier statutes. Provides that nothing in this Act shall diminish any rights or privileges of the Band that existed prior to its enactment and that nothing in this Act alters any obligations: (1) with respect to property; (2) under any contract; or (3) to pay a tax levied before the date of enactment. Transfers all interests in lands held by the Band to the United States to be held in trust for the benefit of the Band. Requires the Band to transfer to the United States any interest in lands acquired after enactment of this Act. Provides that such lands shall constitute the Band's reservation. Authorizes the Band to adopt a constitution that will take effect only after being filed with the Secretary of the Interior. Limits membership in the Band, until a constitution is adopted, to every individual who: (1) is named in the tribal membership roll in effect on the date of enactment of this Act; or (2) is a descendant of any such individual. Provides that membership will be determined according to the constitution after its adoption.
United States · United States Congress · 30 April 1987
Provides for the appointment of a delegation of Members of Congress to participate in ceremonies to be held in New York City in April 1989 commemorating the 200th anniversaries of: (1) the implementation of the Constitution as the form of government of the United States; (2) the inauguration of George Washington as the first President; and (3) the proposal of the Bill of Rights as the first ten amendments to the Constitution. Invites the President to join the delegation in participating in the ceremonies.
United States · United States Congress · 29 April 1987
Prohibits the percentage of aliens employed by any U.S. diplomatic mission and consular post in a Warsaw Pact country from exceeding the percentage of American nationals employed by the diplomatic mission and consular posts of such country in the United States. Permits exceptions to such prohibition if the Secretary of State determines and certifies that the admission of additional foreign nationals in any U.S. diplomatic or consular post is essential to its operation.
United States · United States Congress · 23 April 1987
Requires the United States Trade Representative to initiate an investigation under the Trade Act of 1972 regarding unfair trade barriers of entities owned, controlled, and financed by the Government of Japan against U.S. architectural, engineering, construction, and consulting services.
United States · United States Congress · 21 April 1987
Authorizes and directs the Secretary of the Treasury to pay a named individual a specified sum in full satisfaction of all claims against the United States arising from erroneous advice given him by the Department of the Army.
United States · United States Congress · 10 April 1987
Prohibits importation into the United States of any products grown, produced, or manufactured (in whole or in part) in Afghanistan and exported by the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan or any other faction supported by the Soviet Union. Prohibits exports to Afghanistan for the benefit of such a faction of any goods or technology subject to the jurisdiction of the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 9 April 1987
Makes congressional findings concerning rural and urban poor in developing countries. Requires the Administrator of the agency responsible for administering the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to make assistance available to financial intermediaries in developing countries to enable them to provide loans and other assistance for micro and small enterprises of the poorest people. Specifies that such assistance may be made available for use by such financial intermediaries: (1) in extending credit for micro and small enterprises; (2) in extending credit for such purposes as food processing and production of cloth and clothing; (3) for the start-up costs incurred by a nongovernmental organization in becoming a financial intermediary; (4) for expenses incurred by financial intermediaries in providing training and technical assistance for micro and small enterprises; and (5) to provide other assistance necessary to the successful functioning of micro and small enterprises. Requires the Administrator to issue guidelines for financial intermediaries providing such assistance. Requires the Administrator to place primary emphasis on the development of the capacity of and use of indigenous nongovernmental organizations (especially those representing women, tribal people, and other minorities) which will provide credit and other assistance to micro and small enterprises. Requires the Administrator to conduct a benchmark survey to determine the total amount of assistance made available during FY 1987 for credit and other assistance for micro and small enterprises under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 and the Agricultural Trade Development and Assistance Act of 1954 and to report to the Congress on the results of such survey. Sets forth the total amounts of assistance to be provided for such programs for FY 1988 and 1989. Specifies that such amounts shall be made available from: (1) funds made available under provisions of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 relating to development assistance, Africa famine recovery and development, and economic support; (2) foreign currencies generated from specified sources; and (3) amounts paid to the United States on loans made to financial intermediaries. Specifies that at least 80 percent of such amounts shall be used in support of micro enterprises. Authorizes the Administrator to use economic assistance funds to provide assistance to the governments of developing countries on a loan basis repayable in foreign currencies. Requires notification to the Congress of the reprogramming of economic assistance funds made available to financial intermediaries under this Act. Requires the Administrator to encourage economic policies which promote micro and small enterprises in policy dialogues concerning economic policies with, and efforts to reform economic policies of, countries receiving economic assistance from the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 9 April 1987
Constitutional Amendment - Prohibits the total amount of money expended by the United States in any fiscal year from exceeding the total amount of revenue received by the United States during such year, except revenue received from the issuance of bonds, notes, or other obligations. Prohibits the total amount of money expended by the United States in any fiscal year from exceeding the amount equal to 20 percent of the gross national product during the last calendar year ending before the beginning of such fiscal year. Permits the suspension of such prohibitions during any fiscal year during any part of which the United States is at war as declared by the Congress.
![Official portrait of Sen. Shelby, Richard C. [R-AL]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/s000320_200.jpg)