United States · United States Congress · 3 November 1983
Condominium Cost Reduction Act of 1983 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to permit the owner of residential rental property to elect to treat the gain from the conversion of such property into condominium units as capital gain. Limits such treatment to owners of structures which were used in the trade or business of the owner for five years prior to conversion. Treats any gain from the sale of such units as ordinary income to the extent that such gain exceeds the allocable capital gain amount.
United States · United States Congress · 25 October 1983
Life Insurance Tax Act of 1983 - Title I: Life Insurance Provisions - Subtitle A: Taxation of Life Insurance Companies - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to set the rate of tax on a life insurance company at the corporate rate on its life insurance company taxable income (LICTI). Sets forth an alternative tax in the case of capital gains. Defines life insurance company taxable income as life insurance gross income reduced by life insurance deductions. Defines life insurance gross income as the sum of: (1) premiums; (2) decreases in certain reserves; and (3) other amounts generally includible by a taxpayer in gross income. Allows three types of deductions: (1) general life insurance deductions; (2) the special life insurance deduction; and (3) the small life insurance company deduction. Sets forth definitions and special rules for each type of deduction. Sets forth rules for the calculation of net increases and decreases in reserves. Requires life insurance companies to use either the accrual method of accounting or a method permitted under regulations which combines an accrual method with another recognized method. Sets forth rules for the amortization of premiums and accrual of discount. Sets forth rules for the computation of a company's share and the policyholders' share of investment income. Sets forth rules for the tax treatment of foreign life insurance companies. Requires an adjustment to LICTI where a required surplus held in the United States is less than a specified amount. Sets forth rules for the tax treatment of contiguous country branches of domestic life insurance companies. Provides that life insurance company taxable income which has an existing policyholders surplus account shall be increased by any direct or indirect distribution to shareholders from such account. Defines "life insurance company" as an insurance company which is engaged in the business of issuing life insurance and annuity contracts or noncancellable contracts of health and life insurance if its life insurance reserves plus unearned premiums and unpaid losses comprise more than 50 percent of its total reserves. Sets forth rules for the tax treatment of variable contracts. Sets forth rules relating to capital gains and losses of a life insurance company. Sets forth the effective date for the provisions of this Act. Provides transitional rules. Subtitle B: Taxation of Life Insurance Products - Redefines "life insurance contract" for purposes of the Internal Revenue Code. Defines such a contract as any contract, which is a life insurance contract under applicable State or foreign law, but only if the contract meets either of two alternatives: (1) a cash value accumulation test; or (2) a test consisting of a guideline premium requirement and a cash value corridor requirement. Specifies requirements of each such test. Sets forth rules for contracts not meeting the life insurance definition. Sets forth transitional rules. Treats as distributed to a contract holder any amount of an annuity contract held by an individual who dies before the annuity starting date. Exempts any such amounts from the five-percent penalty tax on a premature distribution from an annuity. Limits the amount of the interest deduction allowed in the case of life insurance loans. Sets forth rules for the calculation of such limit. Extends to former employees and key employees the limitations on group-term life insurance purchased for employees. Subtitle C: Nondeductible Contributions to Individual Retirement Plans - Allows certain nondeductible contributions to individual retirement accounts and annuities. Limits such contributions to the least of: (1) $1,750; (2) the excess of compensation includible in gross income over the amount allowable as a deduction under present rules; or (3) an amount designated by the taxpayer as a nondeductible contribution. Subtitle D: Studies - Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to report annually to specified committees of the Congress on the revenues received by this Act and to compare the amount of such revenues and the amount anticipated by reason of changes made by the Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 1982 and this Act. Requires the Secretary to make annual reports in the years 1986, 1987, 1988, and 1989 concerning the impact of this Act on specified segments and products of the life insurance industry.
United States · United States Congress · 19 October 1983
Criminal Fine Collection Act of 1983 - Amends the Federal criminal code with respect to the imposition, payment, and collection of fines. Lists factors that the court must consider in determining whether to impose a fine, including: (1) the ability of the defendant to pay; (2) the burden that payment will impose on the defendant; and (3) any restitution or reparation made by the defendant. States that payment of a fine is due immediately unless the court requires payment by installment or by any date certain. Permits a sentence to pay a fine to be stayed while an appeal is taken. Makes a fine delinquent if any portion of such fine is not paid within 30 days of when it is due. Provides that a fine is in default if it is more than 90 days delinquent. Allows for the modification or remission of a sentence to pay a fine. Requires the clerk to forward each fine payment to the U.S. Treasury and notify the Attorney General of its receipt. Requires the court to certify to the Attorney General when a fine exceeding $100 is imposed, modified, or remitted. Makes the Attorney General responsible for the collection of any unpaid fine for which certification has been issued. Allows the court to impose interest and monetary penalties for any willful nonpayment. Establishes civil remedies for the satisfication of an unpaid fine. Provides that a judgment imposing a fine may be enforced by execution against the property of the person fined as are judgments in civil cases. Allows the court to resentence a person upon willful failure to pay a fine to any sentence which might originally have been imposed. Provides for a statute of limitations on the liability to pay a fine of 20 years or upon death of the person fined. Provides penalties for criminal default of a fine. Makes payment of a fine a condition of probation or parole in certain circumstances. Requires the Attorney General to include in the annual crime report steps taken to implement this Act and any progress achieved in criminal fine collection.
United States · United States Congress · 7 October 1983
Authorizes the President to present, on behalf of Congress, a gold medal to Lady Bird Johnson in recognition of her humanitarian efforts and contributions to the beautification of America. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to provide for the striking of such medal and bronze duplication for sale to the public. Declares such medals to be national medals. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 6 October 1983
Authorizes and directs the Secretary of the Treasury to pay certain sums to be determined to three named individuals as compensation for their losses as surviving family members of a U.S. District Court judge who was assassinated while serving on the bench.
United States · United States Congress · 6 October 1983
Food Safety Modernization Act of 1983 - Title I: Amendments to the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act - Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to define "safe", as applied to food additives, color additives, pesticide residues, and other specified substances, to mean a reasonable certainty that the risks of a substance under the intended conditions of use are negligible. Authorizes the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to permit, under specified conditions, the gradual elimination or phase-out of substances from the food supply if the FDA determines that there will be no unreasonable risk to the public health from continued use of a substance while it is phased out and there is no practicable substitute. Permits an extension for up to an additional five years. Provides that certain cancer-causing substances shall not be banned (and may be approved) if the proponent of use demonstrates on the basis of credible experimental evidence that the risks to humans under the intended conditions of use are negligible. Authorizes the FDA to consider the benefits to human health from a long-used additive with no practicable substitute before prohibiting its use on the basis of risks to human health. Permits continued use of an additive if the risks to human health are acceptable on account of the benefits to human health, such as the effects of its use on the nutritional value and availability of food and uses for dietary management and other health-related purposes. Directs the FDA to establish an independent scientific peer review committee to study and give advice on substantial scientific issues related to food safety. Requires the FDA, within two years of enactment of this Act, to establish by regulations standards to determine under what circumstances the use of a substance in a food contact situation (i.e., an indirect additive) meets the food additive definition of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. Directs the FDA, in issuing regulations, to consider the extent of human exposure to a substance under its intended conditions of use and the toxicological characteristics of the substance. Title II - Amendments to the Poultry Products Inspection Act, the Federal Meat Inspection Act, and the Egg Products Inspection Act - Amends the Poultry Products Inspection Act, the Federal Meat Inspection Act and the Egg Products Inspection Act to provide that a meat, poultry or egg product is adulterated because it contains an added poisonous or added deleterious substance when the presence of the substance renders the food unsafe within the meaning of the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. Authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to issue regulations for added poisonous or added deleterious substances in meat, poultry and egg products but only if the FDA has not already done so. Authorizes the Secretary to phaseout the use of substances in meat, poultry, and egg products for which the Department of Agriculture has primary responsibility. Directs the Secretary to establish an independent scientific peer review system. Title III - Effective Date - Provides that the Act shall become effective upon enactment.
United States · United States Congress · 6 October 1983
Declares that it should be U.S. policy to: (1) support the people of Afghanistan in their struggle to be free from foreign domination; (2) provide the Afghans, upon request, with material assistance; and (3) pursue a negotiated settlement of the war in Afghanistan based on the total withdrawal of Soviet troops and the recognition of the right of the Afghans to choose their own destiny.
United States · United States Congress · 27 September 1983
Emergency Feed Assistance Act of 1983 - Amends the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act to permit farmers and ranchers to qualify for disaster assistance whether or not their counties have been designated as disaster areas. States that during the period July 1, 1983 through September 30, 1984, findings of the Secretary of Agriculture under such Act that a natural disaster exists in an area shall be deemed as determinations that an emergency exists for purposes of: (1) reserve wheat and feed grain inventories under the Agricultural Act of 1970; (2) the livestock and poultry emergency feed program under the Food and Agriculture Act of 1977; and (3) Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) surplus feed sales. Directs the Secretary to make such disaster assistance available for the preservation of foundation herds of livestock and poultry until September 30, 1984, or earlier as the Secretary may determine.
United States · United States Congress · 22 September 1983
Expresses the sense of the Senate that: (1) U.S. negotiators, in negotiations with Japan, should insist that Japan dismantle all nontariff barriers to imports of beef; and (2) if progress is not made toward the dismantling of such nontariff barriers by a specified time, the U.S. Trade Representative should seek appropriate relief under U.S. and international trade law.
United States · United States Congress · 19 September 1983
Amends the Tariff Act of 1930 to exempt vessels designed and used primarily for transporting passengers or property from the duty on equipment and repairs made in a foreign country on a U.S. flag vessel unless the vessel left the United States for the sole purpose of obtaining such equipment or repairs.
United States · United States Congress · 14 September 1983
Title I: Short Title - Declares that this Act may be cited as the National Productivity and Innovation Act of 1983. Title II: Joint Research and Development Ventures - Provides that no joint research and development program shall be deemed illegal per se in any action under the antitrust laws. Limits to actual damages, interest thereon, and the cost of suit the amount that any person or State may recover in an antitrust action based on conduct that is part of such a program and that has been disclosed to the Attorney General and the Federal Trade Commission. Authorizes any individual participating in such a program to file with the Attorney General and the Commission a notification describing the program and specifying conduct to be performed under the program. Directs the Commission to publish in the Federal Register a notice of each such notification, including a description of the participants, the program, and its objectives. Declares that material submitted as part of such notification shall be available to the public upon request, unless the Attorney General or the Commission determines that the individual who submitted the notification shows good cause for not disclosing certain material. Allows an individual to withdraw a filed notification before it is published and accompanying material is made publicly available. Exempts actions and determinations of the Attorney General or the Commission concerning such notifications or antitrust actions or investigations from judicial review. Title III: Intellectual Property Licensing Under the Antitrust Laws - Amends the Clayton Act to provide that agreements to convey rights to use, practice, or sublicense patented inventions, copyrights, trade secrets, trademarks, know-how, or other intellectual property shall not be deemed illegal per se in actions under the antitrust laws. Limits to actual damages, interest thereon, and the cost of suit the amount that any person or State may recover in an antitrust action based on such an agreement. Title IV: Patent and Copyright Misuse - Prohibits a patent or copyright owner who is entitled to relief for patent or copyright infringement from being denied relief or being deemed guilty of misuse or illegal extension of the patent right or copyright by reason of doing any of the following, unless such conduct violates the antitrust laws: (1) licensing the patent or copyright under terms that affect commerce outside the scope of its claims; (2) restricting a licensee in the sale of a patented or copyrighted product; (3) obligating a licensee to pay excessive royalties, royalties that differ from those paid by other licensees, or royalties not related to a licensee's sale of the patented or copyrighted product; (4) refusing to license a patent or copyright to any person; or (5) otherwise using the patent or copyright allegedly to suppress competition. Title V: Process Patents - Requires a process patent to grant the patentee the right to exclude others from using or selling products produced by that process. Includes as patent infringement the unauthorized use or sale of a product of a patented process. Places the burden of proving that a product was not produced by the patented process on the defendant in a patent infringement action if the court finds that: (1) a substantial likelihood exists that the product was produced by that process; and (2) the claimant has exhausted all reasonable means of determining the process used and was unable to make such determination.
United States · United States Congress · 12 September 1983
States that the United States: (1) condemns the Soviet destruction of Korean Air Lines Flight 7 and calls for an explanation from the Soviets; (2) extends its sympathies to the families who lost loved ones and supports their rights to obtain compensation from the Soviets; (3) calls on the Soviets to assist in the recovery of the remains of the victims; (4) reaffirms the actions against Aeroflot and calls for an international investigation by the International Civil Aviation Organization; (5) urges the international community to demand that the Soviets modify its air defense procedures to assure the safety of commercial airliners; (6) urges other nations to join the United States in applying sanctions against Soviet civil aviation; (7) notes that Soviet refusal of responsibility raises doubts among the world community over the Soviet's willingness to behave as a responsible member of the international community; and (8) urges our allies to cooperate with the United States in implementing additional sanctions against the Soviet's until certain conditions are met.
United States · United States Congress · 4 August 1983
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow the establishment of tax-exempt trusts for investments in mortgages (TIM). Defines a TIM as a corporation, trust, or association: (1) which is managed by one or more trustees or directors; (2) the beneficial ownership of which is evidenced by registered transferable shares or by transferable certificates of beneficial interest; (3) which would otherwise be taxable as a domestic corporation; and (4) which is not a financial institution or an issuance company. Sets forth special rules and investment requirements for qualification as a TIM. Excludes such trusts from taxation. Requires that a TIM shall: (1) use the cash method of accounting; and (2) use the calendar year as its accounting period. Requires that a TIM shareholder shall be treated as if the TIM was partnership and the shareholder was a partner. Sets forth rules for the treatment of dispositions of qualified obligations. Sets forth rules for the treatment of 20 percent or more shareholders. Sets forth rules for the recognition of gains and losses by shareholders. Prohibits certain transactions by TIM'S. Imposes an excise tax on any such prohibited transactions.
United States · United States Congress · 4 August 1983
Secondary Mortgage Market Enhancement Act of 1983 - Title I: Securities Laws Amendments - Amends the Securities Act of 1933 to exempt from the securities registration requirements securities backed by second mortgages, cooperative housing loans, and manufactured home loans. Expands the type of allowable security to include mortgage-related payment bonds. Exempts from the securities registration requirements securities originated by any Department of Housing and Urban Development approved mortgagee (principally mortgage bankers) in addition to financial institutions. Requires that the current minimum transaction amount of $250,000 be applied only to the initial purchase amount. Permits a 120 day time limit on the cash payment for the security (currently 60 days). Permits broker-dealers to extend credit to buyers of mortgage-related securities on the same basis as they may for government agency securities. Amends the net capital requirements applied to broker-dealers to direct the Securities and Exchange Commission to require for investment grade mortgage securities held in a dealer's inventory only the same amount of capital as government securities of a comparable maturity. Amends the Home Owner's Loan Act of 1933 and the Federal Credit Union Act to allow Federally-chartered financial institutions, including credit unions, to invest in mortgage-related securities subject only to limitations that the appropriate regulating board might impose. Permits national banks to underwrite and deal in investment grade mortgage-related securities. Preempts State blue sky and legal investment laws and regulations so that investment grade mortgage-related securities may be purchased by State-chartered and regulated financial institutions, insurance companies, pension funds, trustees or other regulated entities. Permits a State to reassert limitations on investments in mortgage securities within two years of enactment of these provisions if it finds such regulation necessary. Directs the Securities and Exchange Commission to extend its experimental self registration rule beyond the current September 1983 expiration date. Title II: Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation and Federal National Mortgage Association Amendments - Requires that any issuance of preferred stock by the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (FHLMC) or the Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA) must comply with the New York Stock Exchange rules and procedures regarding the rights of preferred stockholders. Permits the FHLMC to purchase or deal in junior lien mortgages on the same basis as FNMA. Revises FHLMC's manufactured home loan authority to cover such loans even where the security property is real, personal, or mixed. Allows the FHLMC to purchase State agency insured mortgages. Prohibits the FHLMC from guaranteeing mortgage-backed securities issued by another entity.
United States · United States Congress · 3 August 1983
Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to convey to the Sabine River Authority of Texas specified Federal lands located within the Sabine National Forest in Texas and within the project boundary of the Toledo Bend Dam and Reservoir, Louisiana and Texas. Conditions conveyance upon use of such lands only for purposes of the Toledo Bend project. Reverts ownership to the United States if such lands are used for any other purpose. Reserves all mineral rights in such lands to the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 3 August 1983
Competitive Savings Incentive Act of 1983 - Amends the Federal Reserve Act to provide that reserves held by the following may be in the form of vault cash, or as deposits in an Earnings Participation Account at a Federal Reserve Bank which shall receive earnings to be paid each month at the rate earned on the securities portfolio of the Federal Reserve System during that month: (1) any bank, savings and loan association or mutual or stock savings bank against accounts authorized by the Garn-St Germain Depository Institutions Act of 1982 or transaction accounts authorized after December 1, 1982; or (2) any insured credit union against any comparable accounts. Requires the earnings on such portfolio to be passed through on a prorated basis to the depository institutions which maintain reserves.
United States · United States Congress · 3 August 1983
Amends the Social Security Disability Amendments of 1980 to make permanent the provisions of title XVI (Supplemental Security Income) of the Social Security Act concerning benefits for individuals who perform substantial gainful activity despite a severe medical impairment.
United States · United States Congress · 26 July 1983
Barter Promotion Act of 1983 - Directs the President to coordinate Federal barter policy through the Executive Office of the President. Amends the Agricultural Trade Development and Assistance Act of 1954, the Agricultural Act of 1954, and the Commodity Credit Corporation Charter Act to require utilization of private U.S. trading companies in barter transactions. Amends the Agricultural Trade Development and Assistance Act of 1954 to eliminate the restriction on multilateral bartering. Amends the Agricultural Act of 1954 and the Commodity Credit Corporation Charter Act to eliminate certain Commodity Credit Corporation barter reimbursement requirements. Requires the Secretary to report to Congress within 60 days on the activities of the administration's interagency barter committee.
United States · United States Congress · 25 July 1983
Expresses the sense of the Senate that travel by Senators to the Soviet Union serves the interests of the United States and that such travel is encouraged.
United States · United States Congress · 21 July 1983
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide that a percentage depletion rate of 15 percent (up to 1,000 barrels a day) for secondary and tertiary production shall be allowed independent producers and royalty owners after 1983.
United States · United States Congress · 21 July 1983
Authorizes the Attorney General to make contracts retaining private counsel to furnish collection services in the case of any claim of indebtedness owed the United States. Permits the head of an executive or legislative agency to refer to a private counsel so retained any claims of indebtedness owed the United States arising out of such agency's activities. Declares that for the purposes of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, a private counsel performing collection services under this Act shall be considered a debt collector. Requires the Attorney General to transmit to Congress a quarterly report on the activities of the Department of Justice to recover such indebtedness. Requires the Attorney General to transmit to Congress a report on the actions taken under this Act within 60 days after the date of enactment.
United States · United States Congress · 21 July 1983
Universal Telephone Service Preservation Act of 1983 - Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to direct the Federal Communications Commission to establish a system of exchange access charges in order to: (1) achieve equal treatment among all inter-local access and transport area (LATA) carriers and other customers using the services of exchange companies through direct or indirect connection; (2) assure that payments and assignments of costs relating to exchange access are carried out in a manner which is open for public examination; (3) achieve flexibility in accommodating changes in market conditions and technology; (4) establish incentives for efficient investment decisions and technological choices; and (5) ensure that exchange carriers are compensated for their costs of providing exchange access. Directs the Universal Telephone Service Joint Board (established by this Act) to establish a universal service charge schedule to insure that basic telephone service will be available at reasonable rates throughout the United States. Requires such schedule to designate universal service costs to be allocated to a Federal jurisdiction and to provide for their collection by means of a universal service charge that is payable by any interLATA carrier or any provider of interLATA services or any private system that connects directly or indirectly to any exchange carrier or any local exchange switched network used to provide basic telephone service. Entitles each exchange company qualifying for payments to 90 percent of its reasonably incurred universal service costs which are directly related to the efficient and economic provision of such service. States that universal service costs shall consist of an exchange company's costs for basic intraLATA telephone service to any points within a LATA which exceed 110 percent of the average cost of providing comparable basic intraLATA telephone service throughout the United States. Provides that, notwithstanding the above provisions, any company which qualifies for payments and whose costs for basic intraLATA telephone service to any points exceed 250 percent of the average cost of providing comparable basic intraLATA telephone service throughout the United States shall be entitled to receive 100 percent of its reasonably incurred universal service costs over 250 percent of the national average. Defines: (1) "basic telephone service" as residential service; (2) "basic intraLATA telephone service" as that portion of basic telephone service provided within a local access and transport area, including access to such service; and (3) "exchange company" as a company that offers basic telephone service and other services within one or more service areas recognized by any State regulatory commission. Authorizes the Commission to assert jurisdiction over all nontraffic sensitive subscriber loop costs to a Federal jurisdiction, in order to achieve consistency and uniformity of policy in regard to interstate and intrastate access charges. Authorizes the Commission to delegate to a State commission some or all of the Commission's authority with respect to: (1) intrastate interLATA toll service; and (2) access charges for the interconnection of exchange communications service with interstate or intrastate interLATA toll service upon a finding that such delegation would promote the purposes of this Act. Directs the Universal Telephone Service Joint Board to establish guidelines binding a State commission in the exercise of any delegated authority. Directs the Commission to establish the Universal Telephone Service Joint Board which shall be composed of five commissioners of the Commission and four commissioners nominated by the national organization of State commissions. Directs the Commission to adopt as final any decisions of the Board. Establishes a fine applicable to anyone who, with the intent to deprive any exchange company of any revenue in connection with access charges, transmits telecommunications so as to avoid accessing a local exchange in order to avoid such charges. Directs the Commission and each State regulatory authority to take action to ensure access to basic telephone lifeline service.
United States · United States Congress · 16 July 1983
Alien Education Assistance Act - Title I: General Provisions - Defines "alien children" as aliens to whom State or local educational agencies (SEAs or LEAs) provide educational services, including Cuban and Haitian refugee children (as defined under the Refugee Education Assistance Act of 1980). Authorizes appropriations for FY 1984 through 1986 for payments to which SEAs are entitled under this Act and payments for State administrative costs. Reserves up to one percent of such funds for grants to specified territories and possessions of the United States in amounts to be determined by the Secretary of Education. Reserves up to one percent of such funds for payments for State administrative costs. Sets forth provisions relating to withholding of payments. Permits classroom facilities obtained by an LEA with assistance under specified provisions of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to be used in any fiscal year for educational services of alien children if the number of alien children enrolled in the elementary or secondary public schools under the jurisdiction of such agency during that fiscal year is equal to at least 500 or at least five percent of the total number of students enrolled in such schools. Title II: General Assistance for Local Educational Agencies - Directs the Secretary to make payments to SEAs for FY 1984 through 1986 to assist LEAs to provide basic education for alien children. Bases the amount of such a grant to an SEA on the number of alien children in the public schools multiplied by the average per pupil exepnditure in the State, or $1,000, whichever is less. Sets forth requirements for applications by SEAs for such grants and for payments by the Secretary to SEAs having applications approved.
United States · United States Congress · 16 July 1983
Provides that at least 20 percent of enterprise zones designated under any Federal law must be areas that are adversely affected by the devaluation of the Mexican peso.
United States · United States Congress · 16 July 1983
Amends the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 to direct the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to make technical assistance available to assist cities located on the border between the United States and Mexico which have populations of less than 50,000 to develop, apply for assistance for, and implement programs that are eligible for urban development action grants. Requires the Secretary to give full consideration to grant applications from such cities, especially with regard to applications involving industrial or commercial facilities other than hotels or transient housing.
United States · United States Congress · 16 July 1983
Provides that if a borrower is located in an area of economic distress resulting from the drastic fluctuation in the value of the currency and in the adjustment of monetary regulations of a foreign country, then the Small Business Administration may utilize its authority under the Small Businss Act to suspend the payments on loans made under the Act which the borrower has used to finance the sale of goods or services to an individual or business located outside the contiguous United States.
United States · United States Congress · 14 July 1983
National Commission on Neurofibromatosis Act - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish within 60 days a National Commission on Neurofibromatosis which shall formulate a plan to identify the research needed to develop an effective treatment and a cure for neurofibromatosis. Sets forth operating and related provisions. Authorizes the Commission to transmit interim reports. Requires the Commission to make a final report to the President and to each House of Congress within two years. Terminates the Commission three months after submission of the final report.
United States · United States Congress · 12 July 1983
First Time Homebuyer Assistance Act of 1983 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow an income tax credit to first time homebuyers for interest on home mortgages in specified circumstances where State or local governments elect to participate in a mortgage credit program rather than issue mortgage subsidy bonds. Sets forth requirements for a State or local government to participate in such a mortgage credit program.
United States · United States Congress · 21 June 1983
Oil and Gas Exploration Incentive Restoaration Act of 1983 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to restore percentage depletion for oil and gas exploration to 27 1/2 percent. Makes percentage depletion fully available to both integrated and independent oil producers. Removes the intangible drilling cost deduction from the list of tax-preference items subject to the alternative minimum tax. Restores full deductibility for intangible drilling costs incurred by integrated oil companies.
United States · United States Congress · 20 June 1983
Provides that the United States relinquishes to the respective States all right, title, and interest of the United States with respect to historical shipwrecks and structures on the seabed or in the subsoil of lands beneath the navigable waters within the boundaries of such States. Provides that the U.S. maritime law of salvage shall not apply to such shipwrecks or structures.
United States · United States Congress · 14 June 1983
Amends the Federal criminal code dealing with the sexual exploitation of children. Prohibits the distribution of material involving the sexual exploitation of minors even if the material is not found to be "obscene" and is transferred without sale. Increases the criminal fines for violation of this section by individuals from $10,000 to $75,000 (from $15,000 to $150,000 for a second or subsequent offense). Sets a fine of $250,000 for organizations. Provides for both criminal and civil forfeiture. Requires the Attorney General to report annually to Congress on the number of cases and convictions, and the dollar amount received in forfeiture, under this section.
United States · United States Congress · 6 June 1983
Exempts from State and local ad valorem taxation: (1) tangible personal property imported from outside the United States and held in a foreign-trade zone for certain purposes; and (2) tangible personal property produced in the United States and held in a zone for exportation.
United States · United States Congress · 6 June 1983
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exempt holdings in an independent local newspaper business from the tax on excess business holdings of private foundations. Defines an "independent local newspaper business" as: (1) a proprietorship which publishes an independent local newspaper; (2) a partnership which publishes such a newspaper and which has none of its outstanding partnership interests traded in an established securities market; and (3) a corporation which publishes such a newspaper and which has none of its outstanding capital stock traded in an established securities market.
United States · United States Congress · 17 May 1983
Rural Electrification and Telephone Revolving Fund Self-Sufficiency Act of 1983 - Amends the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 (REA) to eliminate the requirement for a State certificate of convenience and necessity before the Administrator may make loans to provide rural telephone service. Revises the liabilities and uses of the Rural Electrification and Telephone Revolving Fund established under the REA to provide that notes of the Administrator to the Secretary of the Treasury to obtain funds for loans shall be equity capital of the Fund. States that assets of the Fund shall be available only for: (1) payment of interest and principal on loans to the Administrator from the Secretary; and (2) for certificates of beneficial ownership issued to the Secretary or in the private market. Requires the Administrator to maintain two separate accounts within the Fund: (1) the Electrification Account; and (2) the Telephone Account. Lists the items that shall be accounted for in each Account respectively, and restricts the purposes for which the assets of each Account shall be available. Authorizes the Administrator to repurchase specified certificates of beneficial ownership under certain conditions affecting their interest rates. Establishes guidelines for interest-bearing insured loans made by the Administrator to electric and telephone borrowers. Requires the Secretary of Agriculture to request in each annual supplemental budgets estimate the amount needed to replenish the Fund for anticipated and actual costs resulting from loans made at less than a specified rate during the preceding fiscal year. Directs the Administrator to guarantee loans to specified borrowers or to accommodate or subordinate liens or mortgages held in the Fund, according to prescribed rules and regulations. Directs the Administrator to promulgate such rules and regulations within ninety days after the effective date of this Act. Prescribes guidelines under which certain lenders are authorized to adjust interest rates on loans guaranteed by the Administrator. Requires rural electrification borrowers to obtain concurrent supplemental financing according to prescribed guidelines in any fiscal year in which the minimum loan level for insured rural electrification loans is less than $1,000,000,000. Repeals certain provisos governing the loan-making authority of the Governor of the Rural Telephone Bank which require approval by the Secretary of Agriculture of facilities or lines to be acquired with such loans. Eliminates loan restrictions placed upon potential borrowers whose net worth exceeds their assets by twenty percent.
United States · United States Congress · 17 May 1983
Patent Term Restoration Act of 1983 - Amends the patent law to extend the terms of patents which encompass specified products or methods for using or producing a product, any of which are subject to certain nonpatent regulatory review periods. Sets forth the terms and conditions of such extension, including a seven year limitation. Directs the Commissioner of Patents to issue to the owner of record of a patent a certificate of extension stating the fact and length of the extension and identifying the product and the use and the claim to which such extension is applicable. Makes such certificate a part of the original patent. Limits the application of such patent term extension to patents for products subject to regulation under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, the Public Health Service Act, the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, the Toxic Substances Control Act, and the Act of March 4, 1913 (relating to virus, serum, toxin, and analogous products).
United States · United States Congress · 17 May 1983
Amends the Commodity Credit Corporation Charter Act to authorize the Commodity Credit Corporation to use its grain stocks as guarantees for agreements between grain farmers and alcohol fuel processing plants.
United States · United States Congress · 17 May 1983
Expresses the support of the Senate for Lebanon's and Israel's agreement on arrangements for the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanon. Calls upon other nations to work toward the withdrawal of all foreign forces from Lebanon. Emphasizes the need of all nations to recognize the sovereignty of Lebanon. Urges Syria and the Palestine Liberation Organization to agree to the arrangements for the withdrawal of their forces from Lebanon.
United States · United States Congress · 11 May 1983
Church Audit Procedures Act of 1983 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to restrict the Secretary of the Treasury from investigating or auditing churches unless the Secretary possesses evidence causing him to believe that a church: (1) is carrying on an unrelated trade or business; or (2) should not be granted tax-exempt status. Restricts the Secretary from beginning any investigation unless he has first provided the church with written notice that an investigation is being commenced. Sets forth the requirements of such notice. Requires that the Secretary must first approve an application by the regional counsel of the internal revenue region for examination of church records and religious activities before beginning any such examination. Requires the Secretary, prior to the approval of any such application, to offer in writing an opportunity for a conference to discuss facts, evidence and issues relevant to the investigation. Requires the Secretary to notify the church in writing of the approval of the application for examination at least 15 days prior to the commencement of such examination. Limits the examination of religious activities to that necessary to determine whether an organization is a church or convention or association of churches. Limits the examination of church records to that necessary to determine the amount of tax imposed. Allows an organization which claims that the Secretary has violated the provisions of this Act to bring a civil action for injunctive relief against the Secretary. Reduces the statute of limitations for collection after assessment of tax to three years in the case of any organization which is a church or convention or association of churches.
![Official portrait of Sen. Tower, John G. [R-TX]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/t000322_200.jpg)