United States · United States Congress · 16 October 1985
Dedicates the Cumberland terminus of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park to J. Glenn Beall, Sr., in recognition of his outstanding efforts to protect the canal and tow path from development. Directs the Secretary of the Interior to design, locate, erect, and maintain a memorial to J. Glenn Beall, Sr., within the exterior boundaries of the park. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 10 October 1985
Declares that the Congress calls upon the President to direct the Agency for International Development (AID) to work in a global effort to provide support toward achieving the goal of universal access to childhood immunization by the year 1990. Sets forth specified actions to be taken by AID, in conjunction with the World Health Organization and UNICEF, in reaching such goal. Urges the President to seek both private and public assistance in the United States to achieve universal access to childhood immunization.
United States · United States Congress · 7 October 1985
Pornography Forfeiture Proceedings Venue Act of 1985 - Amends the Tariff Act of 1930 to require the appropriate customs officer, upon the discovery of the attempted importation into the United States or seizure of books or matter containing obscene material, to transmit such information to the appropriate U.S. attorney who shall institute proceedings for the forfeiture, confiscation, and destruction of such books or matter. Requires a court, upon motion of the United States, to stay such forfeiture proceedings pending the completion of any related criminal proceedings.
United States · United States Congress · 24 September 1985
Prohibits the Securities and Exchange Commission from promulgating or enforcing any rule that: (1) requires that tender offers made by an issuer for its own shares be made to all of its shareholders; or (2) otherwise negates the decision of the Delaware Supreme Court in Unocal Corporation against Mesa Petroleum Company.
United States · United States Congress · 20 September 1985
National Security and Trade Act of 1985 - Amends the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 to require the President to implement the recommendations contained in a certain report by the Secretary of Commerce with respect to imports that threaten national security if the President has made no determination and taken no action on such report within 90 days of receiving it. Requires the President to issue a proclamation on the date of enactment of this Act that implements the recommendations of the Secretary in such report if: (1) the President did not by September 26, 1985, make a specified determination with respect to such a report that was received before March 15, 1984; (2) the President did not take any action on such report before September 20, 1985; and (3) the President has not, before the enactment of this Act, negotiated an agreement restraining imports of the articles that are the subjects of such report with any country whose exports to the United States during the year preceding enactment of this Act exceeded 30 percent of the total value of such articles imported by all countries into the United States during such year.
United States · United States Congress · 19 September 1985
School Excellence and Reform Act - Authorizes appropriations for FY 1987 through 1991 to make payments for programs of: (1) general improvement and excellence in education; and (2) reform and equity in education. Provides that no funds are authorized to carry out this Act for any fiscal year in which the amount appropriated to carry out each of the following provisions of law does not equal or exceed the amount appropriated for such purpose in the preceding fiscal year: (1) chapter 1 of the Education Consolidation and Improvement Act of 1981; (2) chapter 2 of the Education Consolidation and Improvement Act of 1981; (3) title VII of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, relating to bilingual education; (4) the Carl D. Perkins Vocational Education Act; and (5) the Education of the Handicapped Act. Sets forth (after reserving specified amounts for certain U.S. territories and possessions) formulas for State and local allocation of payments for general improvement and excellence in education. Provides, under such local allocation formula, for certain increases in the amount of such payments on the basis of numbers of children eligible to be counted for purposes of special needs funding under specified provisions of subpart 1 (Basic Grants) part A (Programs Operated by Local Educational Agencies) of title I (Financial Assistance to Meet Special Educational Needs of Children) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA). Sets forth (after reserving specified amounts for payments to certain U.S. territories and possessions) formulas for State and local allocation for reform and equity in education. Provides, under such State allocation formula, for certain increases in payments based on numbers of children eligible to be counted under the aforementioned ESEA provisions for special educational needs funding. Authorizes the State educational agency to establish the relative weights of factors under such local allocation formula, but requires that such formula be composed of only the following factors: (1) the number of children aged five to 17, inclusive, who are eligible to be counted under the aforementioned ESEA provisions for special educations needs funding; (2) the graduation rate; (3) the absentee rate; and (4) the number of low-achieving students. Permits those general improvement and excellence funds which are allocated to local educational agencies to be used for: (1) pursuit of general educational excellence and improvement of instruction in mathematics, the sciences, communications skills, foreign languages, and technology; and (2) where necessary, for guidance and counseling. Permits those reform and equity funds which are retained by a State under specified provisions of this Act to be used to administer and carry out categorical programs and projects. Permits those reform and equity funds which are allocated to local educational agencies to be used for the development, expansion, or improvement of any of the following categorical programs and projects: (1) early childhood education; (2) school day care; (3) in-service teacher training; (4) dropout prevention; (5) effective schools; and (6) improvement of secondary schools basic skills instruction. Requires State applications for allocations of general improvement and excellence payments and reform and equity payments for any fiscal year under this Act to: (1) meet specified requirements under the General Education Provisions Act; and (2) in the case of reform and equity payment allocations, describe the intended use of funds to be retained by the State to enhance State reform efforts. Allows a local educational agency, in any fiscal year, to submit a single application for an allocation of general improvement and excellence funds or an allocation of reform and equity funds, or both. Permits two or more local educational agencies that propose to conduct joint programs and projects from funds for general improvement and excellence to file such application as a consortium or other combination. Prohibits a local educational agency from applying for an allocation of reform and equity funds unless the total number of children age five to 17, inclusive, in the schools of such agency who are eligible to be counted under the aforementioned ESEA provisions for special educational needs funding exceeds the lesser of 5,000 or 20 percent of the total enrollment of such schools. Requires local educational agencies, in order to receive either general improvement and excellence or reform and equity allocations, to have on file with the State educational agency an application which includes a description of the programs and projects to be funded and a plan for the improvement of the selected educational areas covered by such programs and projects. Requires such local educational agency or consortium applications, or application renewals, to also contain assurances that: (1) the programs and project are designed and implemented in consultation with the parents and classroom teachers of the children to be served; (2) the funds received under this Act will supplement and not supplant non-Federal funding; and (3) the local educational agency will comply with specified maintenance of effort requirements which the State educational agency must enforce. Requires each local educational agency receiving an allocation under this Act for any fiscal year to submit to the State educational agency evidence of progress in particular areas for which funds were expended or evidence of general improvement in the educational system, such as: (1) reductions in, or maintenance of acceptable levels of, absenteeism, discipline problems, and dropouts at the secondary level; (2) more instructional time; and (3) smaller class size. Authorizes the State educational agency, at the State's discretion, to conduct audits on a sampling basis to verify the accuracy of such submissions. Terminates a local educational agency's eligibility to obtain an allocation under this Act for more than three fiscal years, unless the evidence submitted demonstrates progress as verified by the State. Authorizes the Secretary, from specified amounts reserved from reform and equity funds, to make business involvement matching grants to local educational agencies. Sets the maximum amount of any such grant at 50 percent of the fair market value of any donation by local business concerns to the local educational agency for the conduct of programs and projects under this Act. Allows such donations to be in cash or in kind, and may consist of equipment, the services of business personnel, or training provided to the local educational agency.
United States · United States Congress · 19 September 1985
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exempt from the excise tax on transportation by air any transportation by helicopter if such helicopter: (1) does not use federally assisted facilities; (2) is primarily used for purposes of providing emergency medical services; and (3) is owned or leased by a nonprofit health care facility and is operated exclusively under the control of such facility.
United States · United States Congress · 18 September 1985
Unfair Foreign Competition Act of 1985 - Amends the Clayton Act to include a specified antidumping provision among U.S. antitrust laws. Amends such antidumping provision of the Unfair Competition Act of 1916 to allow any person who is injured in her or his property or business by the sale or importation of an article made in a foreign country to bring a civil action against the manufacturer, exporter, or related importer of such article if: (1) the article is imported or sold in the United States at less than its foreign market or constructed value; and (2) such sale or importation causes or threatens material injury to U.S. industry or labor or prevents the establishment or modernization of U.S. industry. (Currently, the cause of such an action is predicated on the intent of the importer to injure or prevent the establishment of U.S. industry or to monopolize trade.) Restricts the court jurisdiction of such an action to the district court of the District of Columbia or the Court of International Trade. Entitles a prevailing plaintiff in such an action to appropriate equitable relief or, if such relief is inadequate, to compensatory damages, and legal expenses (currently, treble damages and legal expenses). Declares that the standard of proof in such an action is a preponderance of the evidence. Places the burden of proof for rebutting a prima facie case on the defendant. Includes within the meaning of prima facie case a finding by the International Trade Commission (ITC) that dumping exists. Authorizes the court to: (1) issue subpoenas to be enforced in any judicial district; (2) enjoin importation of articles allegedly dumped pending the defendant's compliance with any court order; (3) review, in camera, confidential or privileged material; (4) accept material under seal; and (5) disclose such material. Requires expedited treatment of such actions. Sets a four-year statute of limitations for actions under this Act. Requires the foreign market value or constructed value of an article to include the amount of any subsidy provided to the manufacturer, producer, or exporter of the article. Expresses the sense of the Congress that this Act is consistent with the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. Allows any person who is injured in his or her business or property by the fraudulent, grossly negligent, or negligent entry or introduction of merchandise into U.S. commerce to bring a civil action in the district court of the District of Columbia or the Court of International Trade, without respect to the amount in controversy. Entitles a person prevailing in such an action to appropriate equitable relief or, if such relief is inadequate, compensatory damages, and legal expenses. Permits the United States to intervene in an action under this Act as a matter of right. Subjects any court order under this Act to nullification by the President pursuant to authority under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
United States · United States Congress · 12 September 1985
Requires the Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency to: (1) update the publication entitled "Protecting Mobile Homes from High Winds"; and (2) distribute such publication through mobile home dealers to all purchasers of new mobile homes.
United States · United States Congress · 12 September 1985
Amends the Disaster Relief Act of 1974 to raise from $25,000 to $50,000 the limitation on Federal grants for improving, maintaining, and updating State disaster assistance plans. Requires the Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency to report to the Congress on the adequacy of State resources.
United States · United States Congress · 12 September 1985
Authorizes appropriations in a specified amount for the next generation weather radar (NEXRAD) development, to enable the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in the Department of Commerce to carry out its public warning and forecast service duties under the law.
United States · United States Congress · 1 August 1985
Authorizes the Administrator of Veterans Affairs to assist certain disabled veterans in acquiring a residence already adapted with special features deemed necessary due to the veteran's disability.
United States · United States Congress · 1 August 1985
Amends the False Claims Act to increase the civil penalty for false claims. Provides that "knowing," for purposes of the prohibition, means the defendant: (1) had actual knowledge; or (2) had constructive knowledge, in that the defendant acted in reckless disregard of the truth. Allows an action to be brought in the judicial district where the defendant (or, in the case of multiple defendants, where any one defendant) is found, resides, transacts business, or where the violation allegedly occurred. Authorizes the Government to intervene in a civil action for false claims after the 60-day notice period has expired if the Government can demonstrate that it came into possession of new material evidence or information. Requires the Court to dismiss an action brought by an individual under this section, unless the Government proceeds with its own action within 60 days after notification, if it finds that: (1) the action is based on specific information the Government disclosed as a basis for allegations made in prior administrative, civil, or criminal proceedings; or (2) the action is based on information disclosed during a congressional investigation or disseminated by the news media. Establishes minimum award portions from the proceeds of an action or settlement to individuals who bring claims under such Act. Entitles an employee retaliated against by an employer for his or her participation under such Act to full relief, including: (1) reinstatement with seniority rights; (2) backpay with interest; and (3) full compensation for any special damages. Allows the court to grant punitive damages as appropriate. Establishes as the burden of proof in civil false claim cases proof by a preponderance of the evidence. Amends the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure with regard to the exceptions from the prohibition against disclosure of grand jury proceedings. Allows disclosure in certain circumstances for enforcement of Federal criminal and civil law and State criminal law. Authorizes disclosure to any Federal department or agency for the enforcement of Federal civil law or for a matter within the jurisdiction of such department or agency. Amends the Federal criminal code to increase the penalties for the criminal offense of conspiring to defraud the Government with respect to false claims.
United States · United States Congress · 1 August 1985
Low-Level Radioactive Waste Policy Amendments Act of 1985 - Amends the Low-Level Radioactive Waste Policy Act to confer responsibility upon: (1) each State for the disposal of specified low-level radioactive waste either by itself or in cooperation with other States; and (2) the Federal Government for ensuring the safe disposal of specified high-level and low-level radioactive waste materials. Directs the Secretary of Energy to submit to the Congress a comprehensive report regarding the safe disposal of certain radioactive waste. Authorizes the States to enter into regional compacts to establish and operate regional low-level radioactive waste disposal facilities. Declares such compacts and regional activities inapplicable to: (1) low-level radioactive waste activities generated by the Secretary; or (2) low-level radioactive waste disposal facilities operated exclusively for federally produced waste. Subjects low-level radioactive waste generated by the Federal Government to the same conditions as any such waste which is not generated by Federal activities. Requires each compact to provide that every five years the Congress may by law withdraw its consent. Requires each State in which a regional disposal facility is located to make disposal capacity available for low-level radioactive waste generated by certain commercial nuclear power reactors. Requires the States of South Carolina, Washington, and Nevada to enter into an agreement with each other to establish which disposal facility shall accept low-level radioactive waste from which generators of such waste. Sets limitations upon: (1) the availability of disposal capacity for low-level radioactive waste from specified sources; and (2) the allocations of disposal capacity for certain commercial nuclear power reactors. Sets requirements for access to regional disposal facilities by non-sited compact regions or by non-compact member States that do not have an operating regional disposal facility. Authorizes the suspension or denial of access to regional disposal facilities if such requirements are not met. Specifies disposal capacity allocations during a three-year licensing and construction period for low-level radioactive waste generators located within a non-sited compact region, or within a State that is not a member of a compact region. Sets guidelines for the assignment of disposal capacity allocations among eligible commercial nuclear power reactors. Directs the States of South Carolina, Washington, and Nevada to enter into an agreement with each other for the allocation of additional disposal capacity among commercial nuclear power reactors whose allocations have been inadequate for specified reasons. Sets forth guidelines under which low-level radioactive waste disposal limitations or requirements are suspended due to emergency conditions. Authorizes the State in which a regional disposal facility is located to impose a surcharge upon low-level radioactive waste disposal. Directs the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and each agreement State to ensure that low-level radioactive waste disposal facilities licensed by the Commission or agreement State are bonded or covered by other financial assurance for a safe and environmentally sound radioactive waste disposal operation. Requires the Secretary of Energy to furnish technical and financial assistance to compact regions and to States seeking assistance under this Act. Requires the Secretary to submit a comprehensive report to the Congress regarding the operation of the national system for the management and disposal of low-level radioactive waste. Directs the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to promulgate criteria for: (1) the licensing of low-level radioactive waste disposal facilities that use disposal methods other than shallow land burial; and (2) the disposal of certain material classified as low-level radioactive waste.
United States · United States Congress · 1 August 1985
Fair Medicare Appeals Act of 1985 - Amends part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to permit an administrative hearing if the amount in controversy is more than $500 and judicial review if the amount in controversy is more than $1,000.
United States · United States Congress · 1 August 1985
Amends the Social Security Amendments of 1983 to accelerate the removal from the unified budget of the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund, the Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund, and the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund. Amends title VII (Administration) of the Social Security Act to prohibit the inclusion in any concurrent resolution on the budget adopted on or after October 1, 1985, of any specifications and directions with respect to such Trust Funds.
United States · United States Congress · 1 August 1985
Amends the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (Superfund) to permit a defendant in a Government enforcement action under Superfund to file a claim for contribution against other defendants as third-party defendants. States that the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure shall govern such proceedings. Excludes from claims for contribution any party which enters into a judicially approved good faith settlement or judgment with a State or the United States. Permits recovery from other potential defendants, either through a claim for contribution filed by a settling or already judged defendant or through direct action by a State or the United States, whenever a partial settlement or judgment has been secured.
United States · United States Congress · 31 July 1985
Process Patent Amendment of 1985 - Amends the patent laws to make it an infringement of patent to use, sell, or import into the United States without authority a product produced by a patented process. Directs the Department of Commerce to report to the Congress annually for five years on the effect such restriction has on the importation of ingredients for U.S. manufacturing.
United States · United States Congress · 31 July 1985
Trade Adjustment Assistance Reform and Extension Act of 1985 - Amends the Trade Act of 1974 to add as a condition for receiving a trade readjustment allowance the requirement that the adversely affected worker is enrolled in, or has completed, a training program for which a voucher is available. Suspends payment of such allowance to an adversely affected worker who has failed to begin, or has ceased to participate in, such a program when there is no justifiable cause for such failure or cessation, until the worker begins or resumes participation in a training program. Increases the maximum trade readjustment allowance to an amount equal to 78 (currently 52) times the amount of one week's trade readjustment allowance. Extends the coverage for trade readjustment allowances to 78 weeks. Deletes the provisions that permits an additional 26 weeks of trade readjustment allowances to finish a training program. Changes the provision dealing with job training. Makes each adversely affected worker covered by a certification eligible for a job training voucher. Declares that such voucher shall be in the amount of $4,000. Requires it to be used to defray the cost of any of the following training programs: (1) a training program provided by the State pursuant to the Job Training Partnership Act; (2) a training program provided by a private entity if it has been approved by a private industry council established under the Job Training Partnership Act; (3) training provided by an employer who agrees to employ the worker upon completion of the training for at least 26 weeks; (4) a training program approved by the Secretary of Labor (the Secretary) if the Secretary determines that there is a reasonable expectation that the adversely affected worker will obtain employment upon completion of the program. Authorizes the State or the operator of the training program to redeem the training voucher from the Secretary when the adversely affected worker completes the training program. Prohibits an employer who provided training, and agreed to employ the worker for 26 weeks, from redeeming the training voucher if such employer: (1) is engaged in the same occupation from which the employee was separated and which was certified as an adversely affected occupation; (2) has not provided the worker with training and employment for at least 26 weeks; or (3) has terminated the employment of an employee in order to hire and train such worker. Requires any entity which redeems a training voucher pursuant to a training program purportedly approved by a private industry council to repay the amount of such voucher plus ten percent if the entity's training program was not in fact approved by a private industry council. Prohibits disqualifying a worker for unemployment insurance or for trade adjustment benefits because: (1) the individual is in training for which a voucher is provided; (2) the individual terminated employment which was not suitable employment to enter such training; or (3) of the application of certain State or Federal laws relating to availability for work, active search for work, or refusal to accept work to any week in which the worker participates in such training. Limits the amounts of subsistence expenses and travel expenses reimbursable under the job search allowance provision of such Act. Provides that adjustment assistance for firms shall be in the form of technical assistance only. (Current law provides for technical and financial aid.) Prohibits making any direct loans or loan guarantees for adjustment assistance for firms after enactment of this Act. Extends trade adjustment assistance programs for six years after enactment of this Act. Extends funding for adjustment assistance for workers and firms through FY 1988. Establishes within the Treasury a Trade Adjustment Assistance Trust Fund to carry out trade adjustment assistance for workers and firms. Provides for funding the Trust Fund. Directs the President to undertake negotiations to change the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade to allow countries to impose a small uniform duty on all imports in order to use the revenue from such duty to fund trade adjustment assistance programs. Directs the President to report to the Congress six months after enactment of this Act on the progress of such negotations. Authorizes the President to submit a bill to the Congress that delays the imposition of such negotiations. Authorizes the President to submit a bill to the Congress that delays the imposition of such an import duty and that extends the funding of trade adjustment assistance for workers and firms for an additional year. Provides for expedited consideration of such a bill. Directs the President to report to the Congress as soon as the GATT allows the imposition of such a duty. Imposes an additional duty on all imports into the United States, including those imports granted duty-free treatment. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exempt from tax a job training voucher received under a trade adjustment assistance program.
United States · United States Congress · 31 July 1985
Radon Relief Act of 1985 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow an income tax credit for radon-reduction expenditures incurred with respect to a principal residence of the taxpayer. Sets the amount of such credit at 40 percent of radon-reduction expenditures incurred during the taxable year as does not exceed $5,000. Defines "radon-reduction expenditure" as an expenditure made by the taxpayer for property installed in or on a dwelling unit if such property: (1) is designed to reduce the radon in the air inside the residence; (2) can reasonably be expected to remain in operation, or continue to have effect, for at least three years; and (3) meets certain appropriateness, performance, and quality standards.
United States · United States Congress · 30 July 1985
Dropout Prevention and Reentry Act of 1985 - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) to add a new title X, the Dropout Prevention and Reentry Act of 1985. (Redesignates the current title X as title XI.) Authorizes appropriations for FY 1987 through 1990 for such new title X. Directs the Secretary of Education, from such title X funds for any fiscal year, to allot 20 percent to each of five categories of local educational agencies (LEAs) (based on total elementary and secondary school student enrollments). Directs the Secretary, from the amounts allotted to such categories of LEAs, to award as many grants as practicable within each such category to LEAs whose applications: (1) have been approved; and (2) propose a program of sufficient size and scope to be of value as a demonstration. Limits an LEA to no more than one such grant in each of three fiscal years. Requires the amount of a grant to be, to the extent practicable, proportionate to the extent and severity of the local dropout problem. Limits the amount of a grant to 90 percent of the total cost of a project during its first fiscal year, 80 percent in the second, and 70 percent in the third. Sets forth grant application requirements (including plans for addressing the needs of pregnant minors and school-age parents). Directs the Secretary to give first priority within each category of LEA to applicants with either very high numbers or very high percentages of school dropouts. Sets forth requirements for review of LEA second or third year projects. Requires such grants to be used to carry out plans set forth in the applications. Lists activities such grants may also be used for (including counseling, remedial education, work-study, community-organization service, curriculum review, and school staff training). Requires at least 30 percent of each grant to be used for dropout prevention activities, and another 30 percent for dropout reentry activities (i.e. persuading dropouts to return to school and assisting former dropouts with specialized services once they return to school). Directs the Secretary, from amounts appropriated for FY 1986, to use a specified limited amount to conduct a one-year study of the nature and extent of the dropout program. Sets forth requirements for such study (including development of a model dropout information collection and reporting system and minimum reporting system requirements). Sets forth general provisions for title X, including provisions relating to withholding payments, annual reports, and audits. Requires that title X grants supplement other funds.
United States · United States Congress · 30 July 1985
Police Corps Training Act of 1985 - Amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to authorize the Secretary of Education to make contracts and payments to institutions of higher education for loans to full-time undergraduate or graduate students who are in an eligible police corps of a State or local government. Limits the amount of such a loan to not more than $7,000 per academic year. Provides that such loans shall be on such terms and conditions as the Secretary and the police corps involved may determine. Requires that the total amount of any such loan, plus interest, shall be cancelled for services as a full-time officer or employee of a police department at the following rates: (1) 20 percent for the first complete year (or its equivalent) of such service; (2) 30 percent for the second such year; and (3) 50 percent for the third such year. Authorizes the Attorney General to approve a police corps as eligible for purposes of this Act for a period not longer than seven years if: (1) participants are to undergo the same training as regular police officers before taking up police duties; (2) the program will be used to supplement but not supplant existing police workers, and the force level will be maintained at no less than the average of the three years before police corps workers are made available; (3) police corps workers are likely to be used for "on-line" duties, and their pay scales are set at a fixed percentage of regular pay and benefits which can be known before such workers decide to participate in the police corps; and (4) participants undertake to engage in police work for three years after graduation, and any participants retained after such period will be subject to collective bargaining agreements to the same extent as police workers who were not participants. Authorizes appropriations for such police corps program payments to institutions of higher education for FY 1987 through 1993.
United States · United States Congress · 30 July 1985
Expresses the sense of the Senate that there must be a concerted effort on the part of Federal agencies with flood control mandates to cooperate with State and local governments to mitigate the consequences of the high water levels on the Great Lakes.
United States · United States Congress · 29 July 1985
States that the Congress: (1) reaffirms the Helsinki Final Act and the Madrid Concluding Document; (2) condemns Eastern Bloc violations of specified international human rights agreements; and (3) requests the President to direct the Department of State to convey U.S. concerns with regard to such violations to the Soviet Union and its allies. Calls upon the President to use every opportunity to stress the link between respect for human rights and the achievement of peace.
United States · United States Congress · 26 July 1985
Terrorist Death Penalty Act of 1985 - Amends the Federal criminal code to establish criteria for the imposition of the death penalty for any person found guilty of first degree murder in connection with hostage taking. Requires the Government, for such offense, to serve notice upon the defendant a reasonable time before trial or acceptance of a plea that it intends to seek the death penalty and the aggravating factors upon which it will rely. Requires a separate sentencing hearing before a jury, or the court upon motion by the defendant, when the defendant is found guilty or pleads guilty to such offense. Allows the defendant and the Government to present any information relevant to sentencing, without regard to the rules of evidence, but permits information to be excluded where its probative value is substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice, confusion of the issues, or misleading of the jury. Specifies mitigating factors which the defendant must establish by a preponderance of the information and aggravating factors which the Government must prove beyond a reasonable doubt. Includes as aggravating factors that the defendant: (1) has previously been convicted of another offense for which a life sentence or death is authorized; or (2) knowingly created a grave risk of death to another person. Includes among the mitigating factors that the defendant was less than 18 years old at the time of the crime. Directs the court, or the jury by unanimous vote, to impose the death penalty upon a finding that such sentence is justified based on consideration of both the aggravating and mitigating factors. Requires the court to instruct the jury not to consider the race, color, national origin, creed, or sex of the defendant in its consideration of the sentence. Establishes procedures for appeal from a death sentence. Requires the Court of Appeals, upon considering the record and the information and procedures of the sentencing hearing, to affirm the decision if: (1) the sentence was not imposed under influence of passion, prejudice, or arbitrariness; and (2) the information supports the finding of aggravating factors or the absence of mitigating factors. Requires the court to provide a written explanation of its determination.
United States · United States Congress · 25 July 1985
Black Lung Benefits Amendments Act of 1985 - Amends the Black Lung Benefits Act to provide that all administrative law judges making determinations under such Act shall receive compensation at a rate not less than the GS-16 level. Makes such amendment applicable to determinations for benefits pending before the Department of Labor on the date of enactment of this Act as well as to claims brought after such date.
United States · United States Congress · 25 July 1985
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to treat as long-term capital gain amounts actually paid to a taxpayer with respect to a small business participating debenture which constitute the distribution of a share of earnings of the issuer. Defines "small business participating debenture" (SBPD) as a written debt instrument issued by a qualified small business which: (1) is a general obligation of such business; (2) bears interest at a rate not less than specified by the Secretary of the Treasury; (3) has a fixed maturity; (4) grants no voting or conversion rights in the business to the purchaser; and (5) provides for the payment of a share of the issuer's total earnings. Defines "qualified small business" as one: (1) whose paid-in capital does not exceed $1,000,000 immediately before the small business participating debenture is issued; (2) the face value of whose outstanding SBPD's does not exceed $1,000,000; (3) which has no securities outstanding subject to regulation by the Securities and Exchange Commission; (4) which derived more than 50 percent of its aggregate gross receipts from sources other than royalties, rents, dividends, interest, annuities, sales and exchanges of stocks or securities, and transactions in real estate; and (5) which is not under foreign control. Allows an interest expense deduction for interest and share-of-earnings payments made on such debentures. Treats losses on small business participating debentures as ordinary loss.
United States · United States Congress · 23 July 1985
Amends the Equal Credit Opportunity Act to prohibit the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System from exempting from such Act any class of credit transactions that are primarily for personal, family, or household purposes. Permits the Board to exempt (for five years) a type or class of business or commercial transactions only after determining that application of such Act to such transactions would not contribute substantially to effecting the purposes of such Act.
United States · United States Congress · 17 July 1985
Establishes a presumption of service-connection for disability purposes for former prisoners of war suffering from the following conditions, manifest to a degree of ten percent or more after active service: (1) chronic liver disease; (2) organic residuals of hypothermia; (3) gastro-intestinal disorders; (4) arthritis; (5) cardiovascular conditions; (6) peripheral neuropathy; (7) immunological dysfunctions; or (8) chronic pulmonary disease. Decreases from six months to 30 days the amount of time a former prisoner of war must have been incarcerated to be eligible for outpatient dental services.
United States · United States Congress · 16 July 1985
'Designer Drug' Enforcement Act of 1985 - Amends the Controlled Substances Act to establish criminal penalties for the manufacture or possession with intent to distribute or the distribution of unregulated drugs with a chemical structure or effect substantially similar to that of a controlled substance.
United States · United States Congress · 15 July 1985
Expresses the sense of the Senate that any tax reform legislation adopted by the Senate should not impose a tax on the annual increase in the value of permanent life insurance.
United States · United States Congress · 11 July 1985
Gives the consent of Congress to an amendment to the Susquehanna River Basin Compact among New York, Pennsylvania, and Maryland which allows the Susquehanna River Basin Commission to determine the rate of interest on bonds it issues.
United States · United States Congress · 11 July 1985
Terrorist Prosecution Act of 1985 - Amends the Federal criminal code to punish whoever in an act of international terrorism kills or attempts to kill any national of the United States. Requires any such person who is found guilty of murder in the first degree to be sentenced to imprisonment for life and anyone found guilty of attempted murder shall be imprisoned for not more than 20 years. Makes it an offense for any person in an act of international terrorism to assault, wound, strike, imprison, endanger, or make any other violent attack upon the person or liberty of any U.S. national in any foreign country (or make violent attack on his or her premises, private accommodation or means of transport). Provides for a fine of not more than $5,000 and/or imprisonment for not more than three years. Increases the fine to $10,000 and/or imprisonment to ten years if a deadly or dangerous weapon is used. Grants the United States jurisdiction over the offense if the alleged offender is present in the United States, irrespective of the place where the offense was committed or the nationality of the victim or the alleged offender. Authorizes the Attorney General to receive assistance of any Federal, State, or local agency (including the military) in enforcing this provision.
United States · United States Congress · 11 July 1985
Elderly Veterans Care Act of 1985 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow an income tax credit for elderly care expenses paid for the care of a qualifying veteran. Sets the amount of such credit at 30 percent of such expenses reduced by one percent for each $2,000 by which the adjusted gross income of the taxpayer exceeds $10,000. Disallows such credit for a taxpayer with an adjusted gross income of $50,000 or more ($25,000 or more in the case of a married individual filing a separate return). Limits the amount of elderly care expenses which may be taken into account for such credit to an aggregate of $7,000 and not more than $3,500 for any one qualifying veteran. Defines a 'qualifying veteran' as an individual who is a veteran related to the taxpayer and who is at least 65 years of age and has a family income of $15,000 or less for the taxable year. Defines 'qualified elderly care expenses" as payments by the taxpayer for home health agency services, homemaker services, adult day care, respite care, or health care equipment and supplies which are provided to the veteran by an organization or individual not related to the taxpayer or the veteran and which are not compensated for by insurance or otherwise.
United States · United States Congress · 10 July 1985
Authorizes appropriations for FY 1986 for the Federal Bureau of Investigation to carry out counterterrorism activities, including the purchase of additional vehicles. Authorizes the Attorney General to pay in advance for expenses arising out of contractual and reimbursable agreements with State and local law enforcement agencies while engaged in cooperative activities related to terrorism.
![Official portrait of Sen. Specter, Arlen [R-PA]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/s000709_200.jpg)