United States · United States Congress · 16 May 1985
Revises the concurrent resolution on the budget for FY 1985 and sets forth the first concurrent resolution on the budget for FY 1986 and the appropriate budgetary levels for FY 1987 and 1988. Recommends levels of Federal revenues of $736,200,000,000 for FY 1985, $794,200,000,000 for FY 1986, $866,000,000,000 for FY 1987, and $954,200,000,000 for FY 1988. Sets the amounts by which the aggregate levels of Federal revenues should be increased at zero for FY 1985, $1,500,000,000 for FY 1986, $1,700,000,000 for FY 1987, and $1,700,000,000 for FY 1988. Sets the amounts for Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) revenues for hospital insurance within the recommended levels of Federal revenues at $44,800,000,000 for FY 1985, $50,900,000,000 for FY 1986, $56,100,000,000 for FY 1987, and $61,200,000,000 for FY 1988. Sets the amount for FICA revenues for old-age, survivors, and disability insurance within the recommended levels of Federal revenues at $186,200,000,000 for FY 1985, $200,400,000,000 for FY 1986, $216,800,000,000 for FY 1987, and $248,000,000,000 for FY 1988. Sets the appropriate levels of total new budget authority at $1,055,500,000,000 for FY 1985, $1,060,000,000,000 for FY 1986, $1,119,800,000,000 for FY 1987, and $1,189,300,000,000 for FY 1988. States that the appropriate levels of total budget outlays are $949,300,000,000 for FY 1985, $970,800,000,000 for FY 1986, $1,018,500,000,000 for FY 1987, and $1,064,300,000,000 for FY 1988. Sets the amounts of the deficits in the budget which are appropriate in the light of economic conditions and all other relevant factors at $213,100,000,000 for FY 1985, $176,600,000,000 for FY 1986, $152,500,000,000 for FY 1987, and $110,100,000,000 for FY 1988. States that appropriate levels of the public debt are $1,849,800,000,000 for FY 1985, $2,085,900,000,000 for FY 1986, $2,308,400,000,000 for FY 1987, and $2,512,300,000,000 for FY 1988. Sets the amounts by which the statutory limits on such limit should be increased at $26,000,000,000 for FY 1985, $236,100,000,000 for FY 1986, $222,500,000,000 for FY 1987, and $203,900,000,000 for FY 1988. Sets forth the appropriate levels of total Federal credit activity as follows: (1) $51,937,223,000 for new direct loan obligations, $68,805,405,000 for new primary loan guarantee commitments, and $41,251,600,000 for new secondary loan guarantee commitments for FY 1985; (2) $34,258,541,000 for new direct loan obligations, $74,036,665,000 for new primary loan guarantee commitments, and $43,107,900,000 for new secondary loan guarantee commitments for FY 1986; (3) $34,376,759,000 for new direct loan obligations, $76,966,574,000 for new primary loan guarantee commitments, and $44,964,200,000 new primary loan guarantee commitments, and $46,061,800,000 for new secondary loan guarantee commitments for FY 1987; and (4) $34,172,944,000 for new direct loan obligations, $81,175,571,000 for new secondary loan guarantee commitments for FY 1988. Sets forth the levels of budget authority, budget outlays, new direct loan obligations, and new loan guarantee commitments for each major functional category for FY 1985 through 1988. Requires certain Senate and House committees to report changes in laws within their jurisdictions sufficient to achieve savings of specified amounts of budget authority and outlays in FY 1986. Sets forth decreases in budget authority and outlays under laws within such committees' jurisdictions which the Congress finds necessary in FY 1987 and 1988 to achieve budget levels under this resolution. Requires such committees to submit their recommendations to the Committees on the Budget of their respective Houses not later than 30 days after adoption of this resolution. Requires the Budget Committees to report to the House and Senate a reconciliation bill carrying out such recommendations without any substantive revision. Declares that, effective October 1, 1985, this concurrent resolution shall be deemed to be the second concurrent budget resolution for FY 1986 required to be reported under the Congressional Budget Act of 1974. Permits the enrollment of any bill or resolution providing new discretionary budget authority or new spending authority for FY 1986 if it would not cause the appropriate allocation for a committee to be exceeded. Terminates such provisions when the Congress completes action on a subsequent concurrent resolution on the budget for FY 1986. Prohibits the House of Representatives from considering any measure providing new budget authority, new entitlement authority, or new credit activity for FY 1986 within the jurisdiction of a committee until such committee makes the allocations or subdivisions required by the Congressional Budget Act. Declares that such prohibition shall not apply until 21 days of continuous session after the Congress completes action on this concurrent resolution.
United States · United States Congress · 15 May 1985
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow 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.
United States · United States Congress · 13 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.) Social Services and Child Care Assistance Act of 1985 - Title II: Dependent Care - 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 which fulfill certain conditions with respect to the licensing, regulation, and monitoring of child care services; and (3) the provision of services in accordance with title XX. Provides that, of the amounts allotted for the provision of services, specified 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 operators; 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 the Higher Education Act of 1965 to add a new title XII, School-Based Child Care Programs. (Redesignates the current title XII as title XIII.) Authorizes 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 three 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 the State has terminated all proceedings under State law. 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; (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 - Requires the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to: (1) conduct research for identifying and measuring wage discrimination; (2) assist any public or private entity in eliminating discriminatory pay practices; and (3) implement policies and procedures to prohibit employment discrimination. Requires the Commission to determine the number and nature of all charges filed under the Civil Rights Act of 1954 and to report to the Congress with a summary prepared pursuant to this Act. Requires the Commission to conduct a study in consultation with organizations representing Federal employees and analyze: (1) the procedures established by the Director of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to establish classifications of positions in the competitive service; and (2) the actual practices of the Director and the heads of Federal agencies in complying with the principle of equal pay for work of equal value when establishing job classifications for employees. Requires the Commission to report to the President and the Congress on its findings and provide a copy to the Director of OPM. Directs the Director to submit his comments on the report to the President and the Congress. Directs the Secretary of Labor, acting through the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, to report to the President and the Congress on actions taken to enforce the prohibitions contained in Executive Order Numbered 11246 against discrimination by Federal contractors. Requires the Attorney General, acting through the Office of Civil Rights, to report to the President and the Congress on actions taken to enforce the prohibitions against sex discrimination in compensation contained in title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Executive Order Numbered 11246, and other Federal laws. Requires Federal agencies responsible for submitting equal employment opportunity plans to include in such plans: (1) a review and identification of any discriminatory pay practices and any violation of the principle of equal pay for jobs of equal value; and (2) a plan for eliminating any such practices and remedying any such violation. Directs the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to provide, by contract with a consultant, for a report on discriminatory wage-setting practices and discriminatory wage differentials within the Federal position classification system and the prevailing rate (job grading) system. Defines "discriminatory wage-setting practices" as a practice resulting from lower rates of pay for female employees doing work comparable to that of higher-paid males. Requires OPM, within one month of receiving such report, to transmit a copy to the President and specified congressional committees, with written comments. Requires the consultant to submit such report to OPM and the Pay Equity Study Council (established by this Act) within six months after entering into its contract. Requires OPM, within ten days after the effective date of this Act, to establish a Pay Equity Study Council to assist in the selection of a consultant and comment on the final report. Requires that Council membership consist predominantly of representatives of labor organizations representing Federal female employees. Terminates the Council after it submits comments on the final report. Establishes a Commission on Employment Discrimination in the Legislative Branch. Directs the Commission to: (1) employ a nongovernmental consultant to study the compensation paid to Library of Congress personnel and analyze personnel policies of the Library; (2) evaluate the compensation system of the Library for compliance with title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and make any recommendations needed to achieve compliance; (3) develop a plan for the application of title VII through the legislative branch; and (4) make recommendations to the Congress for improvement of personnel policies and practices in the legislative branch. Directs the Commission to submit a final report to the Congress 18 months after enactment of this Act. Terminates the Commission 30 days after submission of the final report. Amends part A (General Provisions) of title XI of the Social Security Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to invite each State having an approved plan under part A (Aid to Families with Dependent Children) of title IV of the Social Security Act to submit an application to establish and conduct a demonstration project for the purpose of testing whether the provision of mandatory education or vocational training (or both) for the caretaker parents of dependent children under six years of age in families receiving AFDC would enable such families to leave the AFDC rolls quickly and assist such parents in securing long-term gainful employment at earnings levels sufficient to maintain their families without public assistance. Requires any State desiring to establish and conduct such a demonstration project to submit an application to the Secretary within six months after the enactment of this Act. Directs the Secretary to approve ten of the proposed projects. Requires six of the approved projects to be located in urban areas and four to be located in predominantly rural areas. Prohibits the approval of a project unless: (1) it is of sufficient size and scope to demonstrate program and cost effectiveness and to permit the drawing of valid inferences for evaluation and policy recommendations; (2) it will be conducted for a period of not less than three nor more than five years; (3) it covers all caretaker parents in families which are eligible for aid under the applicable State plan and which include one or more children under six years of age; (4) it provides for participation by caretaker parents on a voluntary basis; and (5) it complies fully with all other requirements and will contribute to the purposes of this Act. Defines "caretaker parent". Directs a State, in conducting an approved demonstration project, to: (1) offer each caretaker parent in a jurisdiction involved an opportunity to participate in the project; (2) establish an individualized program for the education or vocational training of each participating caretaker parent; (3) permit such parent to receive education or training under the program so established (from the time the youngest child in the care of such parent is six months old, or earlier with a physician's written permission) until either the parent is employed and self-sufficient, the parent is no longer a caretaker parent, or the family has become ineligible for aid; and (4) require the project to maintain support services, including child care, transportation, and health care services for each participant. Directs the Secretary to pay each State with an approved demonstration project 90 percent of the costs incurred by the State in establishing and carrying out such project. Requires the remainder of the costs incurred to be paid from non-Federal sources. Requires the education or training for caretaker parents in such program to meet the following requirements: (1) for caretaker parents without a high school diploma the education must lead to such diploma; (2) after receipt of such diploma (or in the case of an individual already having a high school diploma or better), the caretaker parent must participate in an approved post-secondary education program, an approved vocational education program, or a program of employment and training under auspices of the Job Training Partnership Act; (3) the award of an academic scholarship to a caretaker parent shall not result in any loss of eligibility or benefits under AFDC or any other public assistance program, so long as the scholarship payments are made directly to the appropriate educational institution; (4) the education and training must include instruction in family management and life skills, employment and job search training, career counseling, and community-supported recreational activities; (5) appropriate English language and adjustment training must be provided for caretaker parents from immigrant groups who have language or cultural adjustment difficulties; (6) special training must be provided for physically handicapped participants; (7) education and training for each participant in the project must be provided for at least 20 hours per week and must be coordinated with available child care services; and (8) any caretaker parent who has completed all of the education and training required by this Act shall remain a participant in the project for 20 hours a week of job search and placement assistance (with coordinated child care) until either the parent is employed and self-sufficient or the family has become ineligible for AFDC. Provides that in the case of a caretaker parent who ceases to be a participant in the project because he or she has completed all of the education and training required by this Act and has become employed: (1) the parent will be provided with child care services, as necessary, without charge for a six-month period, and thereafter for a certain period subject to the payment of a gradually increasing portion of the cost of such services; and (2) the parent shall be considered for a 15-month period to be still a project participant for purposes of receiving Medicaid (title XIX of the Social Security Act) and shall thereafter be similarly considered to still be a participant for such purposes but subject to stated conditions. Requires all of the child care and transportation which is necessary for a caretaker parent to participate in a demonstration project to be included, without charge to the caretaker parent, as a part of the project. Requires each approved project to be designed so as to provide an effective demonstration of: (1) the planning and design of quality and cost-effective approaches to child and infant care; (2) the cost-effective utilization of existing publicly-funded educational, vocational, and other training programs; (3) coordination with other community service providers, including job developers; and (4) cost-effective and creative approaches to the utilization of transportation facilities. Prohibits participation in an approved project by a caretaker parent from resulting in any loss of eligibility or benefits under AFDC or any other public assistance program. Permits a State to make participation mandatory if: (1) it is necessary to operate a project in a cost-effective manner; (2) participants would not be disadvantaged financially or otherwise; and (3) children in need of assistance would not be disadvantaged. Provides that if any caretaker parent who is required to participate in a project refuses to undergo any education or training required by this Act or otherwise fails to participate in an approved demonstration project, without a reasonable basis for such refusal or failure as determined on medical, psychological, psychiatric, or other grounds by an appropriate licensed practitioner in accordance with regulations prescribed by the Secretary (subject to a State being granted a waiver): (1) such parent's needs shall not be taken into account in determining need under AFDC with respect to the parent's family; and (2) any AFDC payments shall be made in the form of protective payments. Requires each approved demonstration project to have a voluntary advisory group to assist in developing the program and in monitoring the project. Sets forth reporting requirements (including reports to the Congress). Requires each State in which a demonstration project is located to submit to the Secretary such information as the Secretary may require concerning a project. 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 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 $2,000 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 · 9 May 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 · 9 May 1985
Amends the Arms Control and Disarmament Act to increase the authorized appropriations for FY 1985. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1986 and 1987. Provides that the Deputy Director of the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency shall be compensated at level III on the Executive Schedule. Provides that the Assistant Directors of such Agency shall be compensated at level IV on the Executive Schedule.
United States · United States Congress · 8 May 1985
National Nutrition Monitoring and Related Research Act of 1985 - Title I: Nutrition Monitoring and Related Research - Establishes a ten-year coordinated program, to be known as the National Nutrition Monitoring and Related Research Program, which will be implemented by the Secretary of Health and Human Services. Establishes an Intergovernmental Science Board for Nutrition Monitoring and Related Research to facilitate the management and implementation of such program. Directs the Secretary to appoint an Administrator of Nutrition Monitoring and Related Research Program to coordinate such program. Sets forth the functions of the Secretary with respect to such program including: (1) establishing a National Science Foundation administered matching grant program for specified nutritional and dietary purposes; and (2) submitting an annual report to the President and the Congress. Requires the Secretary to prepare and implement a comprehensive National Nutrition Monitoring and Related Research Plan which shall: (1) assess and report on U.S. nutritional and dietary trends; (2) assess and report on low-income food and household expenditures; (3) sponsor and conduct research; and (4) develop and update a national dietary and nutritional status data bank; (5) assist State and local agencies in developing procedures and networks for nutrition monitoring and surveillance; and (6) focus the activities of Federal agencies. Requires the plan to allocate the project functions and activities among the various Federal agencies and offices involved. Requires the Secretary to provide for and coordinate such scientific research and development as may be necessary to support the coordinated program and comprehensive plan. Authorizes appropriations. Title II: National Nutrition Monitoring Advisory Council - Establishes a 15-member Advisory Council to: (1) provide scientific and technical advice on the development and implementation of all components of the coordinated program and the comprehensive plan; (2) evaluate such program and plan; and (3) submit an annual report to the Secretary.
United States · United States Congress · 8 May 1985
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that the administration should comply with the automatic appropriation and earmarking provisions of the Wallop/Breaux Sport Fish Restoration Trust Fund. States that funds owed to the States from such Fund should not be withheld or delayed.
United States · United States Congress · 7 May 1985
Beekeeper Protection 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 · 6 May 1985
Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide that nursing care and home health aid services may be provided on a daily basis as home health services for up to 90 days with monthly physician certification of the need for such services, and after the 90 day period on a physician certification of exceptional circumstances.
United States · United States Congress · 2 May 1985
Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) a specified U.S.-Canada trade declaration should be supported as a first step toward settling trade differences with Canada; (2) the President and his trade representative should augment their efforts to negotiate with Canada in order to achieve a reciprocal trade relationship between the United States and Canada; and (3) the United States and Canada should resolve the specific impediments to trade within one year of the trade declaration. Declares that the President should report to the Congress by March 18, 1986, on the steps taken to achieve a reciprocal fair trade relationship between the United States and Canada.
United States · United States Congress · 2 May 1985
Establishes a Commission on Employment Discrimination in the Legislative Branch. Directs the Commission to: (1) employ a nongovernmental consultant to study the compensation paid to Library of Congress personnel and analyze personnel policies of the Library; (2) evaluate the compensation system of the Library for compliance with title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and make any recommendations needed to achieve compliance; (3) develop a plan for the application of title VII through the legislative branch; and (4) make recommendations to the Congress for improvement of personnel policies and practices in the legislative branch. Directs the Commission to submit a final report to the Congress 18 months after enactment of this Act. Terminates the Commission 30 days after submission of the final report.
United States · United States Congress · 1 May 1985
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that it will not allow any reduction in benefits under the Social Security Act by any method, or any downward adjustment, freeze, or delay in cost-of-living increases.
United States · United States Congress · 29 April 1985
Designates the week beginning on April 13, 1986, as National Garden Week. Urges the wearing of garden flowers during that week as a symbol of appreciation for the contributions of the Nation's gardeners.
United States · United States Congress · 25 April 1985
States that on the occasion of President Jose Napoleon Duarte's trip to the United States, the House of Representatives applauds him and the Government of El Salvador and expresses its appreciation for his leadership in the campaign to immunize the children of El Salvador.
United States · United States Congress · 24 April 1985
Amends the Federal criminal code to impose a penalty of one to five years' imprisonment for any parent who transports or entices his or her child from a State in violation of or with intent to violate a child custody order.
United States · United States Congress · 24 April 1985
Establishes in the legislative branch of the Government the Perot Commission on Americans Missing in Southeast Asia to conduct an investigation and report to the Congress its findings with respect to the existence and the release of prisoners of war in Southeast Asia. Sets forth specified administrative procedures and powers of the Commission. Requires the Commission to terminate 30 days after the filing of its report to the Congress or on January 3, 1987, whichever occurs first.
United States · United States Congress · 23 April 1985
Amends title XVI (Supplemental Security Income) of the Social Security Act to: (1) double the maximum amount of the personal expense allowance provided for eligible individuals and eligible spouses who are in medical institutions; and (2) provide that subsequent annual increases in such amounts include cost of living adjustments.
United States · United States Congress · 23 April 1985
Authorizes the President, on behalf of the Congress, to present a gold medal honoring George Gershwin to his sister, Frances Gershwin Godowsky, and a gold medal honoring Ira Gershwin to his widow, Lenore Gershwin. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to provide for the sale of bronze duplicates of the medal. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 18 April 1985
Prohibits any agency of the government from obligating or appropriating funds for the production of lethal chemical weapons. Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) the President should intensify efforts to achieve agreement with the Soviet Union and other countries to stop the production, proliferation, and stockpiling of lethal chemical weapons; (2) the Department of Defense should protect the armed forces against the use of lethal chemical weapons in attacks; (3) an agreement with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization must be concluded on the prepositioning of any new chemical weapons; and (4) funding of new lethal chemical weapons is unwarranted in light of the Federal budget deficit.
United States · United States Congress · 18 April 1985
Amends title XX (Block Grants to States for Social Services) of the Social Security Act to prohibit using title XX grants for any child care services unless: (1) the State has established and is enforcing appropriate out-of-home child care standards; and (2) such services meet the standards so established. Sets forth specific areas of concern that a State's standards must address.
United States · United States Congress · 18 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 · 18 April 1985
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the President should cancel his planned visit to the Bitburg Cemetery out of respect for the millions who suffered and died at the hands of the SS and the Nazis.
United States · United States Congress · 17 April 1985
Title I: Department of State: - Department of State Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 1986 and 1987 - Authorizes appropriations for FY 1986 and 1987 for the Department of State for: (1) administration of foreign affairs; (2) international organizations and conferences; (3) international commissions; (4) migration and refugee assistance; (5) U.S. bilateral science and technology agreements; (6) the Asia Foundation; and (7) Soviet-East European research and training. Directs the Secretary of State to notify specified congressional committees whenever the Secretary submits to the Congress a request for appropriations pursuant to authorizations for certain nondiscretionary costs and for certain Foreign Service benefits. Authorizes the Secretary, to the extent funds are authorized and appropriated, to pay the U.S. share of the expenses of the United Nations peacekeeping forces in the Middle East. (Current law authorizes such funds as may be necessary to make such payments to the Department of State.) Earmarks specified amounts of the authorization for administration of foreign affairs for: (1) the National Commission on Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Cooperation; and (2) special religious sensitivity instruction for Foreign Service officers to be assigned abroad. Earmarks specified amounts of the migration and refugee assistance funds for: (1) refugees resettling in Israel; (2) African refugee assistance; and (3) anti-piracy actions in the Gulf of Thailand. Prohibits using migration and refugee assistance funds to provide reception and placement grants which are conditioned on a grantee accepting the responsibility for meeting the basic food, clothing, or shelter needs of refugees or for transporting to job interviews or training of refugees during the refugees' first 90 days in the United States. Limits the amount of migration and refugee assistance funds that may be used for enhanced reception and placement services. Amends the Migration and Refugee Assistance Act of 1962 to authorize the President to furnish aid under such Act notwithstanding any law which restricts aid to foreign countries. Increases the number of Assistant Secretaries of State. Provides that the Director General of the Foreign Service and the Inspector General of the Department of State and the Foreign Service shall be compensated at level IV of the Executive Pay Schedule. Amends the Department of State Appropriations Authorizations Act of 1973 to repeal the provision providing for reimbursement of the Department of State for personnel detailed to other agencies. Amends the Migration and Refugee Assistance Act of 1962 to authorize using migration and refugee assistance to pay for contracting for personal services abroad. Amends the State Department Basic Authorities Act of 1956 to authorize the State Department to employ and compensate aliens for services abroad, except for purposes relating to compensation for work injuries and certain tort claims. Amends the Foreign Service Act of 1980 to change the limit on the total amount of performance pay awarded to members of the Senior Foreign Service. Authorizes the Secretary of Commerce to appoint an individual to a limited appointment in the Senior Foreign Service for a specific position abroad if: (1) no qualified career member of the Foreign Service is available; and (2) the individual appointed has unique qualifications for the specific position. Amends the State Department Basic Authorities Act of 1956 to authorize special agents of the Department of State and the Foreign Service to: (1) conduct investigations concerning illegal passport or visa issuance or use; (2) serve search warrants, arrest warrants, subpoenas, and summonses to conduct such investigations; (3) protect heads of foreign states, distinguished visitors to the United States, the Secretary of State, foreign missions, and other specified persons; (4) carry firearms if qualified and authorized to do so; and (5) make arrests without warrants for specified offenses. Directs the Secretary to prescribe regulations, which shall be approved by the Attorney General, with respect to the use of firearms by special agents. Provides that the Secret Service is not affected by the provisions dealing with special agents. Requires the Secretary, the Attorney General, and the Secretary of the Treasury to enter into an interagency agreement with respect to their law enforcement functions. Directs the Secretary to transmit all the regulations governing such special agents to specified congressional committees 20 days before they go into effect. Authorizes the Secretary to provide extraordinary protective services for foreign missions to the extent necessary. Authorizes the Secretary to provide funds to a State or local authority for protective services only if the Secretary has determined that circumstances exist which require extraordinary security measures which exceed those which local law enforcement agencies can reasonably be expected to take. Authorizes obligating funds for such purposes only after regulations have been issued after consultation with the appropriate congressional committees. Limits the amount of such funds that may be obligated for protective services within any single State. Requires that at least 15 percent of such funds shall be kept in reserve for protective services provided by the Secretary or for expenditures in local jurisdictions not otherwise covered by an agreement for protective services. Limits an agreement with a State or local authority for the provision of protective services to 90 days subject to renewal. Directs the Secretary to consider matters relating to the protection of U.S. interests in determining the treatment to be accorded a foreign mission in the United States. Authorizes the Secretary to require a foreign mission to forego the acceptance, use, or relation of a benefit. Authorizes the Secretary to require a foreign mission to divest itself of or forego the use of real property if the Secretary determines it is necessary to protect the interests of the United States. Authorizes the Secretary to use funds available to the Secretary to pay for U.S. participation in arbitrations: (1) for the peaceful resolution of disputes under treaties or other international agreements; and (2) arising under contracts authorized by law for the performance of services or acquisition of property abroad. Directs the Secretary to establish the Consular and Passport Services Fund which shall be funded by fees collected for passport and consular services and which shall be available for specified expenses related to providing passport and consular services. Directs the Secretary to report to specified congressional committees at least twice a year on the management plans for using the Fund. Limits transfers of amounts out of the Fund. Authorizes the Secretary to make a grant from funds authorized for administration of foreign affairs to the American-Australian Bicentennial Foundation in support of its programs to prepare for U.S. participation in the Australian Bicentennial celebration. Expresses the sense of the Congress that it is imperative and in the national interest that each U.S. mission to a foreign country provide such support as may be necessary to U.S. citizens seeking to do business in that country. Directs the Secretary to report to the Congress within 90 days of enactment of this Act on proposals to improve the staffing and personnel management in the Bureau of International Narcotics Matters, specifically whether a narcotics specialist personnel category in the Foreign Service is an appropriate mechanism. Requires the Department of State, in order to ensure that foreign narcotics traffickers are denied visas, to cooperate with U.S. law enforcement agencies in establishing a comprehensive information system on all drug arrests of foreign nationals in the United States so such information can be sent to the appropriate U.S. embassies. Directs the Secretary and the Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration to agree on uniform guidelines which would permit the sharing of information on drug traffickers. Directs the Secretary to report to the Congress, within six months of enactment of this Act, on steps taken to implement such information network. Directs the Secretary to increase U.S. efforts to negotiate updated extradition treaties relating to narcotics offenses with each major drug-producing country. Directs the Secretary to issue a travel advisory warning U.S. citizens of the dangers of traveling in Mexico. Requires the travel advisory to remain in effect until those responsible for the murder of Drug Enforcement Agent Enrique Camarena Salazar have been brought to trial and a verdict has been obtained. Prohibits using any funds other than State Department funds to change the facilities of the Coordinating Committee on Export Controls. Prohibits any Federal employees other than State Department employees from: (1) being assigned as members of the U.S. delegation to the Coordinating Committee on Export Controls; or (2) being assigned to the Coordinating Committee as advisers to the U.S. delegation to the Coordinating Committee. Title II: United States Information Agency - United States Information Agency Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 1986 and 1987 - Authorizes appropriations for FY 1986 and 1987 for the U.S. Information Agency (USIA). Earmarks specified portions of such authorization for essential modernization of the Voice of America. Requires an amount not less than the amount requested by the USIA in its presentation to the Congress for increases in TV WORLDNET to be used for increases in the world wide book program initiative and related support for the Educational and Cultural Exchange Bureau. Amends the National Endowment for Democracy Act to direct the National Endowment for Democracy to make its proposals, grant agreements, and other official documents available to the public upon request. Prohibits using Endowment funds to finance political campaigns. Prohibits using Endowment funds granted to political party institutes to finance activities of the Republican National Committee or the Democratic National Committee. Requires the Endowment to require its grantees to consult with the U.S. Chief of Mission to a foreign country before funds provided by the Endowment are made available by the grantee for a project in that country. Requires amounts made available by the Endowment in FY 1986 and 1987 to the institutes established by the Democrats and Republicans to be used, to the maximum extent feasible, for projects jointly implemented by those institutes. Earmarks specified amounts of the amounts made available to the Endowment for FY 1986 and 1987 to the Free Trade Union Institute and the Center for International Private Enterprise. Authorizes the USIA to audit the financial transactions of the Endowment under specified conditions. Title III: Board for International Broadcasting - Board for International Broadcasting Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 1986 and 1987 - Amends the Board for International Broadcasting Act of 1973 to authorize appropriations for the Board for International Broadcasting for FY 1986 and 1987. Earmarks a specified amount of such authorization for radio modernization. Expresses the sense of the Congress that Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Incorporated (RFE/RL) should: (1) reestablish the procedure the primary emphasis of which is the daily oversight of RFE/RL program content and quality; (2) strengthen pre- and post-broadcast review and controls; and (3) improve its personnel management system. Expresses the sense of the Congress that the Board for International Broadcasting should: (1) periodically review and update the program policy guidelines of RFE/RL; and (2) ensure that the distinctions between the Board and RFE/RL remain clear and that these two entities continue to operate within the framework established by law.
United States · United States Congress · 4 April 1985
Hazardous Waste Reduction Act of 1985 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to impose a tax on the receipt of: (1) taxable hazardous waste in any qualified hazardous waste management unit; and (2) taxable hazardous waste for export or for disposal in the ocean pursuant to a permit. Provides that the tax rate for all forms of land and ocean waste disposal, except underground injection wells, shall be $20 for each ton of hazardous waste. Provides that the tax rate for each ton of hazardous waste placed in underground injection wells shall be five dollars per ton. Authorizes the Secretary of Treasury to increase the rates of tax on such hazardous waste where the tax revenue falls below projections for any year. Requires the tax to be paid by the owner or operator of the qualified waste management unit at which the taxable waste is received or by the person exporting the taxable hazardous waste or the person holding the permit for transport for ocean disposal. Requires the tax to be paid at the close of the calendar quarter during which the taxable hazardous waste became subject to tax. Imposes a tax of $20 per ton on hazardous waste placed in a facility other than a qualified hazardous waste management unit or pursuant to a permit for export or ocean dumping. Makes the person placing the hazardous material in the facility or location liable for the tax. Provides that such tax will not apply with respect to small quantity generator waste, or with respect to the placement of taxable hazardous waste in any facility, vehicle, or location if such placement is not required to comply with permit, interim status, or manifest requirement under the Solid Waste Disposal Act. Provides that the tax does not apply to the placement of taxable hazardous waste in a vehicle which is required to transport such taxable hazardous waste. Exempts from the tax waste removed from a Superfund site or a closed interim status facility or waste required to be studied. Exempts from the tax qualified wastewater treatment facilities. Provides that the exemption for qualified wastewater treatment facilities shall not apply after November 8, 1988, unless the facility is in compliance with certain minimum technological requirements or meets certain interim status surface impoundments requirements. Permits a tax credit where the taxable hazardous waste is moved from one unit or facility to another. Provides that where the taxable waste is moved from a surface impoundment to an underground injection well, the credit is the difference between the tax on the surface impoundment and the tax on the underground injection. Permits a tax credit for all waste rendered nonhazardous by reason of treatment or conversion within 12 months of receipt at the unit or facility. Prohibits the tax credit for treatment or conversion at a qualified wastewater treatment facility. Prohibits the tax credit for land treatment. Provides that the tax credit will not apply to any treatment or conversion which violates any requirement of Federal or State law relating to the management of hazardous taxable waste. Provides that this tax shall apply for the period from January 1, 1986, through September 30, 1990. Requires every person subject to this tax to keep records, render such statements, make such returns, and comply with such rules and regulations as the Secretary of the Treasury may require. Provides that the revenues from this tax shall be deposited in the Hazardous Substance Superfund. Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to make various reports to the Congress concerning different aspects of this tax on hazardous waste disposal.
United States · United States Congress · 4 April 1985
Amends part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide coverage for outpatient occupational therapy services.
United States · United States Congress · 3 April 1985
Trade Law Modernization Act of 1985 - Title I: National Trade Policy and Negotiating Objectives; Negotiation Authority - Sets forth national trade policy objectives that shall guide U.S. trade policy and domestic economic policy. Directs the Administering Authority (the U.S. Trade Representative) to submit by March 1 of each year to specified congressional committees a statement of the actions the Administering Authority proposes to take during such year to achieve such objectives. Requires the committees to hold hearings on such proposals and to advise the Administering Authority on such proposals. Declares that U.S. objectives in any trade negotiations shall be: (1) to obtain more open and equitable market access abroad for U.S. products and services, the reduction and elimination of the adverse effects of certain foreign trade practices, and improved effectiveness of the rules governing international trade; (2) to develop internationally accepted rules which meet certain needs; and (3) to promote international cooperation in trade and monetary policies. Directs the Administering Authority to seek to obtain fair and equitable market opportunities through consultations on negotiations with foreign countries or instrumentalities in order to remedy the harmful efforts on U.S. trade of discriminatory procurement practices and regulatory requirements of such countries or instrumentalities. Authorizes the Administering Authority to: (1) suspend or withdraw benefits under any trade agreement with such countries or instrumentalities; (2) direct customs officers to impose import restrictions on the goods of such countries or instrumentalities and to impose fees or restrictions on the services of such countries or instrumentalities; (3) make available analysis and information to other U.S. agencies and courts for the purpose of ensuring consideration by such agencies and courts of the competitive impact of pending administrative or judicial decisions of such agencies or courts that could significantly enlarge the access of foreign products and services to the U.S. market; and (4) recommend action to the President with respect to service sector access authorization (a Federal authorization that gives a foreign supplier of services access to U.S. markets). Directs the Administering Authority, if there is a significant denial of market opportunities in a foreign country for U.S. products and services in an economic sector where the United States has increased market opportunities for such country's products and services, to: (1) act to obtain fair and equitable market opportunities in the markets of such foreign country; and (2) pending achievement of such opportunities, impose equivalent conditions of market access. Authorizes action to be taken under this Act upon motion of the Administering Authority or after investigation upon the filing of a petition. Title II: Transfer of Authority to Administering Authority; Amendments to Title I of Trade Act of 1974 - Amends the Trade Act of 1974 to transfer from the President to the Administering Authority the authority to: (1) take action in cases of market disruption; and (2) extend tariff preferences under the Generalized System of Preferences. Amends the Tariff Act of 1930 to transfer from the President to the Administering Authority the authority to make the final review of actions to prevent unfair practices in the importation of articles into the United States. Amends the Trade Act of 1974 to direct the Secretary of Commerce to establish a program to evaluate the industrial and trade policies of other countries and the effects of such policies on U.S. industries, trade, and employment. Requires the Secretary to report to the Congress annually on such program. Directs the Secretary in conjunction with the U.S. Trade Representative, to establish special industry sector advisory panels to assess the actual or potential dislocation, challenge, or opportunity for the industry sectors involved and to formulate recommendations for responses by business, government, and labor. Requires the industry and labor advisory committees established by the Trade Act of 1974 to hold joint meetings at the call of the respective committee chairs and to meet at the call of the Administering Authority before and during trade negotiations to provide policy and technical advice and advice on any other factors relevant to U.S. positions in such trade negotiations. Authorizes the President to impose a temporary import surcharge at a level which the President determines to be necessary to assist in restoring equilibrium in the balance of payments in certain circumstances. (Currently such surcharge may not exceed 15 percent.) Limits the duration of such surcharge or limits imposed on imports to improve the balance of payments to one year. (Currently such measures may be imposed for only 150 days.) Deletes certain restrictions on imposing import limitations for such purposes. Authorizes one year extensions of such measures. Title III: Relief from Injury Caused by Import Competition - Transfers from the President to the Administering Authority the authority to take certain actions following import relief investigations by the International Trade Commission (ITC). Authorizes a petition for import relief to include within its statement of reasons for requesting import relief the desire to facilitate the orderly transfer of resources to enhance competitiveness. Changes the scope of the ITC's import relief investigation to include determining whether an article is being imported into the United States in such increased quantities as to be a cause (currently substantial cause) of serious injury or threat of serious injury to any domestic industry that produces an article like or directly competitive with the imported article or that produces materials, parts, components, or subassemblies irrevocably destined for incorporation in an article like or directly competitive with the imported article. Changes one of the factors that must be considered in making such determination with respect to serious injury in order to cover the inability of a significant number of firms to operate domestic production facilities at a reasonable profit. (Current law refers to the inability of firms to operate at a reasonable profit.) Changes the factors that must be considered in making such determination with respect to the threat of serious injury in order to cover: (1) a decline in sales or market share in the domestic industry; (2) a higher and growing inventory in the domestic industry; (3) a downward trend in production, profits, wages, or employment (or increasing under employment) in the domestic industry; (4) any combination of coordinated government actions that are bestowed on a specific enterprise, industry, or group thereof the effect of which is to assist the beneficiary to become more competitive in the export of any class or kind of merchandise and that causes or threatens to cause serious injury to the domestic industry; (5) the extent to which the U.S. market is the focal point for diversion of exports of the article concerned because of restraints on exports of such article to, or imports of such articles into, third country markets; and (6) in the case of an industry that has developed an industry assessment and competitiveness strategy, the inability of producers in the domestic industry to generate adequate capital to finance the modernization of plant and equipment or to otherwise enhance competitiveness. Requires (currently authorizes) the ITC to make certain determinations with respect to determining the domestic industry producing an article like or directly competitive with an imported article. Defines "cause" for purposes of determining whether imports are a cause of injury to mean a cause which is important. Declares that a cause may be important even though other causes are of equal or greater importance. Requires the ITC, if it finds that serious injury or the threat of serious injury exists for a domestic industry, to: (1) find the amount of the increase in, or imposition of, any duty or import restriction necessary to prevent or remedy such injury; and (2) if it determines that adjustment assistance can assist in remedying such injury, recommend the provision of such assistance. Directs the Administering Authority, if during an import relief investigation it finds that critical circumstances exist, to impose provisional measures (increase in tariff, tariff-rate quotas, quantitative restrictions, orderly marketing agreements or a combination of such actions). Requires such measures to remain in effect until the later of the date: (1) on which the President revokes such measures; (2) on which the ITC makes a negative determination of injury; or (3) which is 60 days after the date on which the ITC makes an affirmative determination of injury. Declares that critical circumstances exist if a significant increase in imports over a short time has led to circumstances in which delay in relief would cause damage that would be difficult to repair. Requires the ITC, if it finds that serious injury has resulted from imports, to determine: (1) whether trade in the article concerned has been affected by coordinated government actions that are bestowed on a specific enterprise, industry, or group and that assist the beneficiary in becoming more competitive in exporting a class or kind of merchandise; and (2) the extent to which the U.S. market is the focal point for diversion of exports of such article because of restraints on exports of such article to, or on imports of such article into, third country markets. Directs the Administering Authority, if it determines to provide import relief and the ITC has found that trade in the article has been affected by such coordinated government actions, to consult and negotiate with other countries that produce or consume such article to seek the establishment of a multilateral framework to maintain and develop fair, equitable, and nondisruptive patterns of trade in such article. Directs the Administering Authority, after the ITC begins an import relief investigation based on a petition, to establish, upon request, an industry advisory group. Requires such an advisory group to prepare for the industry concerned an assessment of current problems and a strategy to enhance competitiveness. Directs the Administering Authority to try to obtain, on a confidential basis, information from the individual members of such advisory group on: (1) how such members intend to act upon the recommendations in such assessment and strategy; and (2) any other actions such members intend to take which will foster the objectives of the strategy. Requires the Administering Authority, the ITC, the Secretary of Labor, and the Secretary of Commerce to consider such assessment and strategy in making any import relief determination or taking any import relief actions. Requires the Administering Authority, if it determines to provide import relief and if an industry assessment and competitiveness strategy was submitted to the Administering Authority, to publish notice of the availability of, and a summary of, such assessment and strategy. Requires a review committee, if such summary is published, to: (1) monitor actions taken by the petitioners to improve the competitive position of the industry; (2) make recommendations for administrative action; and (3) submit recommended legislation to the Congress. Requires the review committee to consult with the advisory group members if the review committee determines that the firms or workers are not implementing or are implementing unsatisfactorily: (1) the recommended objectives and actions in the industry assessment and competitiveness strategy; or (2) the actions declared in the confidential information obtained by the advisory group. Requires the Administering Authority to request the ITC to issue a report on the probable economic effect on the industry of import relief if, after consultations with the advisory group members, the review committee determines that the failure to implement or failure to implement satisfactorily such actions is not justified by changed circumstances and has adversely affected overall implementation of the objectives of the industry assessment and competitiveness strategy. Requires the Administering Authority, if it decides to provide import relief, to consult with petitioners and representatives of workers and firms in the affected industry on the advisability and desirability of taking appropriate action under countervailing or antidumping duty provisions of the Tariff Act of 1930 or under title III of the Trade Act of 1974 if the Administering Authority has reason to believe that a foreign government or firm is engaged in any action or practice for which such relief is available. Title IV: Relief from Injurious Industrial Targeting and Unfair Trade Practices - Provides that injurious industrial targeting may trigger import relief actions. Defines injurious industrial targeting to mean any combination of coordinated government actions: (1) which are bestowed on a specific enterprise, industry, or group thereof; (2) which assist such enterprise, industry, or group to become more competitive in the export of any class or kind of merchandise; and (3) which cause or threaten to cause material injury. Transfers from the President to the Administering Authority the authority to take certain actions to enforce U.S. rights under trade agreements and to respond to certain foreign trade practices. Authorizes the Administering Authority to: (1) suspend, withdraw, or prevent application of the benefit of trade agreement concessions with the foreign country or instrumentality involved; (2) direct customs officers to assess duties or impose other import restrictions on the products of such country or instrumentality or to assess fees or impose restrictions on the services of such country or instrumentality for such time, in such amount, and to such degree as the Administering Authority deems appropriate; (3) negotiate agreements to offset the burden or restrictions on U.S. commerce; (4) submit proposed administrative actions and legislation to implement any other government action which would restore or improve the international competitive position of the injured or threatened industry; (5) recommend action by the President; or (6) any combination of such actions. Transfers to the Administering Authority from the President the authority to impose certain limits on service sector access authorizations (authorizations that permit a foreign supplier of services access to the U.S. market). Authorizes the President, upon recommendation of the Administering Authority, to: (1) restrict the terms and conditions of any service sector access authorization; or (2) deny the issuance of any such authorization. Directs the Administering Authority to consult with representatives of domestic firms and workers that may be affected by any import relief investigation which is initiated by petition filed with the Administering Authority regarding any determination which is required to be made by the Administering Authority. Directs the Administering Authority, upon written request, to make confidential business information obtained by it in connection with an import relief investigation available under a protective order. Prohibits release of information classified for national security reasons. Requires the Administering Authority to act upon requests for such information within ten days of the request. Requires the Administering Authority, in conducting an import relief investigation initiated by petition to the Administering Authority, to present detailed questionnaires to the foreign government or enterprise involved in order to obtain information concerning the allegations in the petition. Directs the Administering Authority to verify any such information which the Administering Authority relied upon in making any determinations. Provides for relying on the best information available, which may be the information contained in the petition, if the foreign government fails to provide information or provides insufficient or unsatisfactory information. Requires the Administering Authority to make a preliminary determination within five months of the start of such an import relief investigation on whether there is reason to believe that import relief is warranted. Authorizes the Administering Authority to take certain actions based on the preliminary finding. Requires the final determination to be made within 11 months of the start of the investigation. Requires the Administering Authority to determine what actions to take if the final determination is that import relief is warranted except that specific actions are required if injurious industrial targeting is found to exist. Requires the Administering Authority to consult with the petitioner and representatives of the affected domestic firms and workers if the final determination is affirmative. Requires the Administering Authority to report to the Congress if the final determination is affirmative and the Administering Authority declines to take any action. Terminates any preliminary import relief if the final determination is negative. Requires publication in the Federal Register of such preliminary and final determinations. Requires the Administering Authority, if it makes a preliminary finding that injurious industrial targeting exists, to: (1) establish an advisory committee; and (2) formulate, in consultation with such advisory committee, proposals which would restore or improve the competitive position of affected domestic industries. Requires the Administering Authority to notify the ITC when it initiates an investigation of injurious industrial targeting. Requires the ITC to make a preliminary determination within 60 days of receiving such notice of whether there is a reasonable indication that because of sales or likely sales of the merchandise which is the subject of the investigation: (1) an industry in the United States is materially injured or is threatened with material injury; or (2) the establishment or growth of an industry in the United States is materially retarded. Requires the ITC to make a final determination of whether such circumstances exist by: (1) 45 days after the affirmative final determination of the Administering Authority if the Administering Authority's preliminary determination is affirmative; or (2) 75 days after an affirmative final determination of the Administering Authority if the Administering Authority's preliminary determination is negative. Makes the ITC's determination subject to review by the U.S. Court of International Trade if such determinations were made under the countervailing or antidumping duty provisions of the Tariff Act of 1930. Defines material injury and threat of material injury. Requires the Administering Authority to submit to the President any proposed administrative action and any proposed legislation to restore or improve the competitive position of the injured industry if the preliminary and final determinations are that injurious industrial targeting has occurred. Provides for expedited consideration of such legislation. Requires the Administering Authority to report to the Congress on the actions the Administering Authority will take to offset the material injury or threat of material injury from the injurious industrial targeting. Authorizes the Administering Authority to enter into a settlement agreement with the foreign country or entity involved in lieu of taking other actions if: (1) such agreement completely eliminates the material injury or threat of material injury from the injurious industrial targeting; and (2) such agreement is approved by the petitioner if the investigation began because of a petition. Authorizes the Administering Authority to take actions to compensate a foreign country or entity if the contracting parties to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) disapprove of actions taken in response to injurious industrial targeting. Directs the Administering Authority to consult with the petitioner and the representatives of affected domestic firms and workers if, in the course of an investigation, the Administering Authority has reason to believe that a foreign government engaged in dumping or other actions for which relief is available under specified provisions of the Tariff Act of 1930. Title V: Countervailing and Antidumping Duties - Amends the Tariff Act of 1930 to add requirements for a country to be considered a "country under the Agreement" for purposes of the countervailing duty provisions of such Act. Requires such a country to have made a commitment under the GATT to: (1) eliminate its export subsidies within one year (five for least developed countries); (2) not increase, extend, or add export subsidies; and (3) eliminate immediately export subsidies on those products in which such country is competitive. Requires the ITC, upon request, to investigate whether the merchandise is already competitive in the U.S. market and whether the merchandise would be competitive in the absence of export subsidies. Directs the Administering authority to review the status of, and compliance with, specified agreements at least once during each 12-month period. Directs the Administering Authority to publish such determinations. Imposes penalties for failure of a foreign country to honor any term of such agreements. Includes natural resource subsidies within the definition of subsidy for purposes of such Act. Declares that a natural resource subsidy exists if: (1) a natural resource product is provided or sold by a government-controlled entity within a country for use in the manufacture or production in such country of merchandise which is the subject of a countervailing duty investigation at a domestic price that is lower than the fair market value of the natural resource product in such country and that is not freely available to U.S. producers for purchase of that product for export to the United States; and (2) such natural resource product would, if sold at the fair market value, constitute a significant portion of the total cost of the manufacture or production of such merchandise. Changes the definition of foreign market value for purposes of countervailing duty investigations. Requires the Administering Authority to include in calculating the cost of producing the merchandise the value of any benefit the producer or manufacturer has received from government research and development programs. Requires sales made at less than cost of production to be disregarded in the determination of foreign market value if such sales were made over an extended period of time and in substantial quantities. Sets forth a special rule for determining cost of production and constructed value if imports of the merchandise into the home market have been unreasonably restrained. Requires the ITC, in determining whether a U.S. industry is threatened with material injury because of imports, to consider: (1) any combination of coordinated government actions that are bestowed on a specific enterprise, industry, or group thereof the effect of which is to assist the beneficiary to become more competitive in the export of any merchandise and to cause or threaten to cause material injury to the United States; and (2) the extent to which the United States is the focal point for exports of the merchandise by reason of restraints on exports of the merchandise to, or on imports of the merchandise into, third country markets.
United States · United States Congress · 3 April 1985
Extended Daylight Savings Act of 1985 - Amends the Uniform Time Act of 1966 to start daylight savings time the first Sunday in March rather than the last Sunday of April. Continues a State's rights to preempt such time changes. Directs the Federal Communications Commission to make necessary adjustments in the operation of daytime standard amplitude modulation broadcast stations.
United States · United States Congress · 3 April 1985
Title I: Department of State - Department of State Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 1986 and 1987 - Authorizes appropriations for FY 1986 and 1987 for the Department of State for: (1) administration of foreign affairs; (2) international organizations and conferences; (3) international commissions; (4) migration and refugee assistance; (5) U.S. bilateral science and technology agreements; (6) the Asia Foundation; and (7) Soviet-East European research and training. Directs the Secretary of State (the Secretary) to notify specified congressional committees whenever the Secretary submits to the Congress a request for appropriations pursuant to authorizations for certain nondiscretionary costs and for certain Foreign Service benefits. Authorizes the Secretary, to the extent funds are authorized and appropriated, to pay the U.S. share of the expenses of the United Nations peacekeeping forces in the Middle East. (Current law authorizes such funds as may be necessary to make such payments to the Department of State.) Earmarks specified amounts of the authorization for administration of foreign affairs for: (1) the National Commission on Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Cooperation; and (2) special religious sensitivity instruction for Foreign Service officers to be assigned abroad. Prohibits using migration and refugee assistance funds to provide reception and placement grants which are conditioned on a grantee accepting the responsibility for meeting the basic food, clothing, or shelter needs of refugees or for transporting to job interviews or training of refugees during the refugees' first 90 days in the United States. Limits the amount of migration and refugee assistance funds that may be used for enhanced reception and placement services. Amends the Migration and Refugee Assistance Act of 1962 to authorize the President to furnish aid under such Act notwithstanding any law which restricts aid to foreign countries. Increases the number of Assistant Secretaries of State. Provides that the Director General of the Foreign Service and the Inspector General of the Department of State and the Foreign Service shall be compensated at level IV of the Executive Pay Schedule. Amends the Department of State Appropriations Authorizations Act of 1973 to repeal the provision providing for reimbursement of the Department of State for personnel detailed to other agencies. Amends the Migration and Refugee Assistance Act of 1962 to authorize using migration and refugee assistance to pay for contracting for personal services abroad. Amends the State Department Basic Authorities Act of 1956 to authorize the State Department to employ and compensate aliens for services abroad, except for purposes relating to compensation for work injuries and certain tort claims. Amends the Foreign Service Act of 1980 to change the limit on the total amount of performance pay awarded to members of the Senior Foreign Service. Authorizes the Secretary of Commerce to appoint an individual to a limited appointment in the Senior Foreign Service for a specific position abroad if: (1) no qualified career member of the Foreign Service is available; and (2) the individual appointed has unique qualifications for the specific position. Amends the State Department Basic Authorities Act of 1956 to authorize special agents of the Department of State and the Foreign Service to: (1) conduct investigations concerning illegal passport or visa issuance or use; (2) issue search warrants, arrest warrants, subpoenas, and summonses to conduct such investigations; (3) protect both in the United States and abroad heads of foreign states, distinguished visitors to the United States, the Secretary of State, foreign missions, and other specified persons; (4) carry firearms if qualified and authorized to do so; and (5) make arrests without warrants for any offense against the United States committed in their presence or if they have reasonable grounds to believe the arrested person has committed specified offenses and is fleeing the area. Directs the Secretary to consult with the Attorney General before prescribing regulations with respect to the use of firearms by special agents. Provides that the Secret Service is not affected by the provisions dealing with special agents. Directs the Secretary to transmit all the regulations governing such special agents to the Congress 20 days before they go into effect. Authorizes the Secretary to provide extraordinary protective services for foreign missions to the extent necessary. Authorizes the Secretary to provide funds to a State or local authority for protective services only if the Secretary has determined that circumstances exist which require extraordinary security measures which exceed those which local law enforcement agencies can reasonably be expected to take. Authorizes obligating funds for such purposes only after regulations have been issued after consultation with the appropriate congressional committees. Limits the amount of such funds that may be obligated for protective services within any single State. Requires that at least 15 percent of such funds shall be kept in reserve for protective services provided by the Secretary or for expenditures in local jurisdictions not otherwise covered by an agreement for protective services. Limits an agreement with a State or local authority for the provision of protective services to 90 days subject to renewal. Directs the Secretary to consider matters relating to the protection of U.S. interests in determining the treatment to be accorded a foreign mission in the United States. Authorizes the Secretary to require a foreign mission to forego the acceptance, use, or relation of a benefit. Authorizes the Secretary to require a foreign mission to divest itself of or forego the use of real property if the Secretary determines it is necessary to protect the interests of the United States. Authorizes the Secretary to use funds available to the Secretary to pay for U.S. participation in arbitrations: (1) for the peaceful resolution of disputes under treaties or other international agreements; and (2) arising under contracts authorized by law for the performance of services or acquisition of property abroad. Directs the Secretary to establish the Consular and Passport Services Fund which shall be funded by fees collected for passport and consular services and which shall be available for specified expenses related to providing passport and consular services. Directs the Secretary to report to specified congressional committees at least twice a year on the management plans for using the Fund. Limits transfers of amounts out of the Fund. Amends the Foreign Service Act of 1980 to authorize the Secretary to acquire such property and equipment as necessary to provide training for Foreign Service personnel and to acquire a consolidated training facility within reasonable proximity to the State Department. Earmarks specified amounts of funds authorized for administration of foreign affairs for such training facility. Amends the International Center Act to authorize the Secretary, in consultation with the Administrator of General Services, to construct facilities in the International Center, including facilities for security and maintenance. Authorizes the Secretary to make a grant from funds authorized for administration of foreign affairs to the American-Australian Bicentennial Foundation in support of its programs to prepare for U.S. participation in the Australian Bicentennial celebration. Expresses the sense of the Congress that it is imperative and in the national interest that each U.S. mission to a foreign country provide such support as may be necessary to U.S. citizens seeking to do business in that country. Directs the Secretary to report to the Congress within 90 days of enactment of this Act on proposals to improve the staffing and personnel management in the Bureau of International Narcotics Matters, specifically whether a narcotics specialist personnel category in the Foreign Service is an appropriate mechanism. Requires the Department of State, in order to ensure that foreign narcotics traffickers are denied visas, to cooperate with U.S. law enforcement agencies in establishing a comprehensive information system on all drug arrests of foreign nationals in the United States so such information can be sent to the appropriate U.S. embassies. Directs the Secretary and the Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration to agree on uniform guidelines which would permit the sharing of information on drug traffickers. Directs the Secretary to report to the Congress, within six months of enactment of this Act, on steps taken to implement such information network. Directs the Secretary to increase U.S. efforts to negotiate updated extradition treaties relating to narcotics offenses with each major drug-producing country. Directs the Secretary to issue a travel advisory warning U.S. citizens of the dangers of traveling in Mexico. Requires the travel advisory to remain in effect until those responsible for the murder of Drug Enforcement Agent Enrique Camarena Salazar have been brought to trial and a verdict has been obtained. Title II: United States Information Agency - United States Information Agency Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 1986 and 1987 - Authorizes appropriations for FY 1986 and 1987 for the U.S. Information Agency (USIA). Earmarks specified portions of such authorization for essential modernization of the Voice of America. Requires an amount not less than the amount requested by the USIA in its presentation to the Congress for increases in TV WORLDNET to be used for increases in the world wide book program initiative and related support for the Educational and Cultural Exchange Bureau. Amends the National Endowment for Democracy Act to direct the National Endowment for Democracy to make its proposals, grant agreements, and other official documents available to the public upon request. Prohibits using Endowment funds to finance political campaigns. Prohibits using Endowment funds granted to political party institutes to finance activities of the Republican National Committee or the Democratic National Committee. Requires the Endowment to require its grantees to consult with the U.S. Chief of Mission to a foreign country before funds provided by the Endowment are made available by the grantee for a project in that country. Requires amounts made available by the Endowment in FY 1986 and 1987 to the institutes established by the Democrats and Republicans to be used, to the maximum extent feasible, for projects jointly implemented by those institutes. Earmarks specified amounts of the amounts made available to the Endowment for FY 1986 and 1987 to the Free Trade Union Institute and the Center for International Private Enterprise. Authorizes the USIA to audit the financial transactions of the Endowment under specified conditions. Title III: Board for International Broadcasting - Board for International Broadcasting Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 1986 and 1987 - Amends the Board for International Broadcasting Act of 1973 to authorize appropriations for the Board for International Broadcasting for FY 1986 and 1987. Earmarks a specified amount of such authorization for radio modernization. Expresses the sense of the Congress that Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Incorporated (RFE/RL) should: (1) reestablish the procedure the primary emphasis of which is the daily oversight of RFE/RL program content and quality; (2) strengthen pre- and post-broadcast review and controls; and (3) improve its personnel management system. Expresses the sense of the Congress that the Board for International Broadcasting should: (1) periodically review and update the program policy guidelines of RFE/RL; and (2) ensure that the distinctions between the Board and RFE/RL remain clear and that these two entities continue to operate within the framework established by law.
United States · United States Congress · 3 April 1985
American Footwear Industry Recovery Act of 1985 - Limits the imports of nonrubber footwear into the United States to 450,000,000 pairs per 12 month period for eight years. Directs the Secretary of Commerce (the Secretary) to allocate the import limitations among foreign countries, taking into consideration: (1) average levels of imports for the period 1978 through 1982; (2) findings of unfair trade practices with respect to nonrubber footwear products; (3) recent market trends; and (4) such other considerations as the Secretary deems appropriate. Directs the Secretary and the Secretary of the Treasury to take all necessary actions to enforce this Act. Authorizes the Secretaries to issue such implementing regulations as necessary to effect the purposes of this Act and to enforce its provisions.
United States · United States Congress · 2 April 1985
Indian Gaming Control Act - Establishes Federal standards for gaming activities within Indian reservations and on Indian lands. Defines "gaming." Makes gaming illegal within such reservations and on such lands unless conducted pursuant to a tribal ordinance or resolution adopted by an Indian tribal government and approved by the Secretary of the Interior. Requires the Secretary, under specified conditions, to approve any tribal ordinance or resolution concerning the conduct, licensing, or regulation of gaming activity within the tribe's jurisdiction. Provides for the tribal licensing and regulation of gaming owned, operated, or conducted by individuals or entities other than a tribe as long as such regulations and requirements are at least as restrictive as those established by State law. Prohibits such a tribal license to any individual or entity who is not otherwise eligible to receive a State license to conduct such activities. Permits a tribe, subject to approval by the Secretary, to enter into contracts for the operation and management of a tribal gaming enterprise for a fee. Sets forth certain information and contract requirements. Prohibits the Secretary from approving such contracts unless specified conditions are met. Permits the Secretary to not approve or to void such contracts where there is knowledge of specified facts. Sets forth the time within which existing gaming operations within an Indian reservation or on Indian lands must comply with the requirements of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 2 April 1985
Youth Suicide Prevention Act of 1985 - Title I: Commission for the Study of Youth Suicide - Establishes the Commission for the Study of Youth Suicide. Directs the Commission to conduct a study that will: (1) examine the causes of suicide among children and youth; (2) identify the most promising strategies for intervening in and preventing suicide; and (3) analyze the options available for assisting States and communities in implementing youth suicide prevention programs. Directs the Commission to prepare both a short- and long-range national plan for the prevention of youth suicide. Directs the Commission, within 15 months after the date of its initial meeting, to transmit to the President and the Congress a report containing a detailed statement of the findings, conclusions, and recommendations of the study. Provides for the membership of the Commission, including the Secretaries of Health and Human Services and of Education, or their delegates, and citizen leaders including some chosen from lists submitted by the American Association of Suicidology, the American Medical Association, the American Psychological Association, and the American Psychiatric Association. Provides for a Commission Director and staff and for Commission powers. Terminates the Commission 90 days after its report is transmitted. Authorizes appropriations to carry out this title for FY 1986 and 1987. Title II: Grants for Programs to Prevent Suicide among Children and Youth - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (the Secretary), in cooperation with the Secretary of Education, to make grants for establishment and operation of youth suicide prevention projects to each applicant whose application is approved. Provides a list of the types of such projects which may be eligible for such grants (including youth school programs, community resources (such as 24-hour "teen hot-lines"), educational materials and public service announcements, and national and international conferences on youth suicide prevention. Requires that such grants be made under terms and conditions prescribed by the Secretary, in cooperation with the Secretary of Education. Limits the amount of such grant award to any one applicant to not more than: (1) a total of $500,000 for FY 1986 through 1988; and (2) 50 percent of the estimated cost of the project for any fiscal year. Makes States, local governments, and private nonprofit agencies eligible to apply for such grants. Directs the Secretary to approve an application if the applicant qualifies under specified provisions and meets such other requirements as the Secretary may prescribe by regulation. Requires that applications contain such information and assurances as the Secretary considers necessary. Sets forth qualification requirements for grant applicants. Requires an applicant that is a State or local government to have in effect and be implementing a primary suicide prevention program directed at children and youth. Requires an applicant that is a private nonprofit agency to demonstrate, in a manner prescribed by regulation by the Secretary, that the agency is cooperating with other private agencies and with Federal, State, and local governments to help prevent suicide among children and youth. Directs the Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of Education, to submit to the President and the Congress an annual report evaluating the types and effectiveness of programs and activities assisted under this Act during the preceding fiscal year. Requires that the last such report transmitted contain recommendations on the desirability of continuing such grants. Sets forth auditing provisions. Terminates the grants program established by this title three years after the first grant is awarded. Authorizes appropriations to the Secretary for grants under this title in specified limited amounts for FY 1986 through 1988.
United States · United States Congress · 2 April 1985
Provides that, for taxable years prior to 1985, rural letter carriers are permitted to compute the amount of the deduction for the use of their automobile in performing services involving the collection and delivery of mail on a rural route by: (1) using the amount received as equipment maintenance allowances from the United States Postal Service; or (2) using the form entitled "Worksheet for Use of Rural Carrier in Reporting Equipment Allowance and Claiming Transportation Expense Deduction." Provides that, for taxable years beginning after 1984, rural letter carriers are permitted to compute the amount of their deduction for use of their automobile in performing such services: (1) by using a standard mileage rate for all such miles of such use equal to 150 percent of the basic standard rate; or (2) by calculating the equipment allowance deduction equal to the operating expenses. Removes the 50 percent of business use limitation contained in the Internal Revenue Code for rural letter carriers who claim the investment tax credit and the depreciation deduction for their automobiles.
United States · United States Congress · 2 April 1985
Amends the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 to limit participation in the special supplemental food program for women, infants, and children (WIC) to States in which State or local sales taxes are not collected on purchases of food under such program.
United States · United States Congress · 2 April 1985
Prohibits obligating or spending FY 1985 or 1986 funds for the purpose of introducing U.S. armed forces into or over El Salvador or Nicaragua for combat unless: (1) the Congress has declared war or enacted specific authorization for such introduction; or (2) such introduction is necessary to meet a clear and present danger of hostile attack upon the United States, or to meet such a danger to and to protect the U.S. embassy, or to meet such a danger to and to protect and evacuate U.S. Government personnel or U.S. citizens.
United States · United States Congress · 27 March 1985
International Narcotics Control Act of 1985 - Directs the Secretary of State (the Secretary), acting through the Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics Matters, to study the feasibility of establishing a regional organization in Latin America which would combat narcotics production and trafficking through regional information-sharing and a regional enforcement unit. Requires the Secretary to report to specified congressional committees on the advisability of encouraging the establishment of such an organization. Directs the Secretary to issue a travel advisory warning U.S. citizens of the dangers of traveling in Mexico. Requires the travel advisory to remain in effect until those responsible for the murder of Drug Enforcement Administration agent Enrique Camarena Salazar have been brought to trial and a verdict has been obtained. Directs the President to report to the Congress, within 60 days of enactment of this Act, on why the U.S. armed forces should not exert greater effort in facilitating and supporting interception of narcotics traffickers and in gathering narcotics-related intelligence outside the United States. Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to require each report on international narcotics control pursuant to this Act to describe the involvement during the preceding fiscal year of the governments of communist countries in illicit drug trafficking. Provides that the ban on involvement of U.S. personnel in arrest actions and interrogations in narcotics control efforts abroad shall not apply to the extent that the Secretary of State and the government of another country agree. Requires the Secretary to report any such agreement to the Congress before the agreement takes effect. Directs the Secretary to enter into negotiations with Brazil in order to establish a bilateral narcotics control agreement that shall have as a goal a ten percent reduction in illicit coca production in Brazil in 1986. Directs the President to consider, if such an agreement is not reached within three months of enactment of this Act, reassigning ten percent of the U.S. sugar quota for Brazil to designated Caribbean countries. Authorizes providing U.S. narcotics control assistance to Bolivia for FY 1986 and 1987 only if specified conditions relating to limitations on coca production and relating to yearly eradication targets are met by Bolivia. Authorizes making FY 1987 development assistance funds for the Agency for International Development (AID) project in the Upper Huallaga Valley of Peru only if the Administrator of AID, after consultation with the Congress, determines that a comprehensive review of that project has been completed which establishes the effectiveness of that project in reducing coca leaf production, distribution, and marketing. Requires that a specified portion of the Economic Support Fund allocation for Jamaica for FY 1986 shall be withheld until the President certifies to the Congress that Jamaica is committed to a plan for reducing the illicit cultivation and distribution of marijuana. Directs the President to reprogram funds intended for Bolivia, Peru, or Jamaica for other countries if conditions set forth in this Act are not met. Authorizes contributing narcotics control assistance funds to the United Nations Fund for Drug Abuse Control only if that organization includes in its crop substitution projects a plan for cooperation with the law enforcement forces of the host country. Prohibits using foreign assistance funds to reimburse persons whose illicit drug crops are eradicated. Authorizes providing a country with narcotics control assistance only if the country agrees to provide at least 25 percent of the costs of any narcotics control program. Permits using narcotics control assistance funds to purchase defensive arms for aircraft used in narcotic control efforts if: (1) the use of funds for that purpose is justified to the Congress in the annual report on international narcotic control assistance; or (2) specified congressional committees are notified of the use of such funds at least 15 days in advance. Directs the Secretary of State to report to the Congress, within 90 days of enactment of this Act, on proposals to improve the staffing of the Bureau of International Narcotics Matters. Provides for information sharing between the Department of State and the Federal law enforcement agencies to ensure that foreign narcotics traffickers are denied visas to enter the United States. Directs the Secretary to report to specified congressional committees on steps taken to share such information. Directs the Secretary to increase U.S. efforts to negotiate updated extradition treaties relating to narcotics offenses with each major drug-producing country. Amends the Controlled Substances Act to impose mandatory life sentences for persons who engage in continuing criminal enterprises relating to drug trafficking. Amends the Federal criminal code to increase the penalties for currency reporting violations.
United States · United States Congress · 27 March 1985
Satellite Television Viewing Amendments - Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to prohibit the encryption of satellite cable programming for two years after enactment of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 27 March 1985
Amends the Mutual Security Act of 1954 to add the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives to the list of those who can authorize Members and staff of the House to obtain local currency for foreign travel expenses.
![Official portrait of Sen. Snowe, Olympia J. [R-ME]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/s000663_200.jpg)