CONGRESSIONAL RECORD- HOUSE December 30, 1980

H.R. 2111. An act to extend the service area

for the Sacramento Valley Canals, Central

Valley project, Calif., and for other purposes;

H.R. 2145. An act for the relief of Florette

Ivoree Gayle and Keisha Dajaran Karr;

H.R. 2170. An act to provide for the reimbursement of legal expenses incurred by the

city of Fairfax with respect to a 1971 entry

and search by employees of the Federal Government;

H.R. 2432. An act for the relief of Ronald

Regespi Doliente;

H.R. 2533. An act for the relief of Mrs.

Kerry Ann Wilson;

H.R. 3396. An act for the relief of George

David Maxwell, doctor of medicine;

H.R. 4032. An act for the relief of Mahumud All Khan Fazal Dad;

H.R. 4793. An act for the relief of Simon

Ifergan Mears;

H.R. 4941. An act to name a dam and reservoir on the San Gabriel River, Tex., as the

"North San Gabriel Dam" and "Lake Georgetown," respectively;

H.R. 4966. An act for the relief of the estate Philip H. Ward;

H.R. 5016. An act for the relief of David

Roland Weaver;

H.R. 5487. An act to designate certain National Forest System lands in the States of

Colorado, South Dakota, Missouri, South

Carolina, and Louisiana for inclusion in the

National Wilderness Preservation System,

and for other purposes;

H.R. 6000. An act for the relief of Campanella Construction Co., Inc.;

H.R. 6011. An act for the relief of William

H. Koss;

H.R. 6044. An act for the relief of Woo Jung

He;

H.R. 6069. An act for the relief of I Wen

Chen;

H.R. 6739. An act to confer U.S. citizenship posthumously upon Leopoldine Marie

Schmid;

H.R. 6836. An act for the relief of James A.

Schultz;

H.R. 7175. An act for the relief of the

Woodstock Daily Sentinel;

H.R. 7217. An act to establish the Kalaupapa National Historical Park in the State

of Hawaii, and for other purposes;

H.R. 7865. An act to provide for an accelerated and coordinated program of light water nuclear reactor safety research, development, and demonstration, to be carried out

by the Department of Energy; and

H.R. 8345. An act to name the U.S. Customs

House in Ogensburg, N.Y., the "Robert C.

McEwen United States Customs House."

On December 23, 1980:

H.R. 6796. An act to amend and extend

title VII of the Comprehensive Employment

and Training Act;

H.R. 7306. An act to provide for the orderly

disposal of certain Federal lands in Nevada

and for the acquisition of certain other lands

in the Lake Tahoe Basin, and for other purposes;

H.R. 7626. An act to amend title 37, United

States Code, to improve certain special pay

and allowance benefits for members of the

uniformed services, and for other purposes;

H.R. 7682. An act to amend title 10, United

States Code, to provide greater flexibility for

the Armed Forces in ordering Reserves to

active duty, and for other purposes;

H.R. 7709. An act to amend the Tariff

Schedules of the United States to increase

the quality of cigarettes that may be accorded duty-free treatment if acquired in

the insular possessions and entered by returning U.S. residents;

H.R. 7814. An act to designate certain

lands of the Fire Island National Seashore

as the "Otis Pike Fire Island High Dune

Wilderness," and for other purposes; and

H.R. 8195. An act to amend the Railroad

Retirement Act of 1974 to extend certain

cost-of-living increases.

On December 24, 1980:

H.R. 1196. An act to revise and improve

the laws relating to the documentation of

vessels, and for other purposes;

H.R. 3317. An act to amend the Internal

Revenue Code of 1954 with respect to excise

tax refunds in the case of certain uses of

tread rubber, and for other purposes;

H.R. 3637. An act to carry out the obligations of the United States under the International Coffee Agreement 1976, signed at New

York on February 27, 1976, and entered into

force for the United States on October 1,

1976, and for other purposes;

H.R. 4698. An act to amend the Internal

Revenue Code of 1954 with respect to net

operating loss carryovers of taxpayers who

cease to be real estate investment trusts, to

increase interest rates on certain United

States retirement bonds, and for other purposes;

H.R. 4774. An act to amend the National

Labor Relations Act to provide that any

employee who is a member of a religious

sect historically holding conscientious objeotion to joining or financially supporting a

labor organization shall not be required to

do so:

H.R. 5043. An act to amend the Internal

Revenue Code of 1954 to provide for the tax

treatment of bankruptcy, insolvency, and

similar proceedings, and for other purposes;

H.R. 5391. An act to amend the Internal

Revenue Code of 1954 with respect to the

determination of second tier taxes, and for

other purposes;

H.R. 5505. An act to simplify certain provisions of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954,

and for other purposes;

H.R. 6671. An act to unify the rules for

preventing collisions on the inland waters

of the United States. and for other purposes;

H.R. 7694. An act to authorize the Secretary of Defense to provide civilian career

employees of the Department of Defense who

are residents of Guam, the Virgin Islands,

or the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico the

same relative rotation rights as apply to other career employees, to authorize the

Delegates in Congress from Guam and the

Virgin Islands to have two appointments at

a time, rather than one appointment, to each

of the service academies, and to authorize

the establishment of a National Guard of

Guam; and

H.R. 8444. An act to authorize appropriations for certain Insular areas of the United

States, and for other purposes.

On December 28, 1980:

H.R. 4155. An act to amend the Internal

Revenue Code of 1954 to simplify private

foundation return and reporting requirements, and for other purposes;

H.R. 5047. An act to provide for the temporary suspension of certain duties, to extend certain existing suspensions of duties,

and for other purposes;

H.R. 5737. An act to amend the International Claims Settlement Act of 1949 to allow recovery by U.S. nationals for losses incurred in Vietnam;

H.R. 5973. An act to amend the Internal

Revenue Code of 1954 to waive in certain

cases the residency requirements for deductions or exclusions of individuals living

abroad, to allow the tax-free rollover of certain distributions from money purchase pension plans, and for other purposes;

H.R. 7112. An act to authorize an extension and amendment of the revenue sharing program to provide general purpose fiscal aosistance to local governments, and for

other purposes;

H.R. 7171. An act to make certain miscellaneous changes in the tax laws;

H.R. 7956. An act to make various changes

in the tax laws; and

H.R. 8406. An act to amend title XVIII of

the Social Security Act to provide for medicare coverage of pneumococcal vaccine and

its administration.

BILLS DISAPPROVED AFTER SINE

DIE ADJOURNMENT

The President announced his disapproval of the following bills with memorandums of disapproval as follows:

H.R. 5888

MEMORANDUM OF DISAPPROVAL

I am withholding my approval of H.R.

5888, a bill that provides for payment of a $50,000 lump-sum death benefit to

survivors of Federal law enforcement officers, firefighters, and certain other employees killed in the line of duty. This

benefit would be paid in addition to the

regular death benefits available to all

Federal employees, and would be retroactive to September 26, 1976.

I am not approving H.R. 5888 because

the special benefits it would provide are

preferential and unwarranted, and because the bill would become a precedent

for extension of similar benefits to other

Federal employees.

My disapproval of this bill in no way

reflects on the bravery and dedication

of Federal employees in law enforcement and firefighting occupations. Nor

does it in any way diminish the gratitude that I and this Nation feel for those

who sacrifice their lives in the perform- ance of their duty.

H.R. 5888 is objectionable because it

would single out certain groups of employees for preferential treatment under

the Federal employee workers' compensation law (FECA). Survivor benefits

provided by the Federal Government

should be adequate in all instances to

ease the financial burden resulting from an employee's death, regardless of occupation. Moreover, there are many

civilian employees outside the areas of

law enforcement and firefighting who

are also exposed to special hazards in

their work. It is inequitable and unfair

to provide a greater benefit to a select

group of Federal employees based only

on the nature of their employment. Such

preferred treatment is directly contrary

to the evenhandedness that must be

basic to a workers' compensation system.

Under the existing FECA program, the

Federal Government already pays generous death benefits to survivors of employees who die on the job. These benefits are tax-free and are adjusted annually for increases in the cost of living.

Depending on family size, such benefits

can be as high as 75 percent of the employee's salary while alive, and are limited in total amount and duration only

by changed family circumstances. The

Government's Group Life Insurance Program, which was recently liberalized for

younger employees, also provides substantial protection in the event of an

employee's death.

The proponents of H.R. 5888 argue that

this legislation is needed to assure parity

with State and local police and firefighters, who receive a $50,000 death

benefit under a law passed in 1976. However, one of the main reasons for enactment of that law was that States and

localities' compensation systems were

inadequate or nonexistent and that life

insurance coverage was often unavailable. The Congress at that time expressly decided against granting the

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December 30, 1980 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD - HOUSE

$50,000 death benefit to Federal firefighters and law enforcement officers because the benefits provided under FECA

are comparatively generous and would

in many cases exceed the $50,000 payment authorized for State-local public

safety officers.

Although the costs entailed in H.R.

5888 are not large, the special treatment

provided by the bill would inevitably set

a precedent for extension of its benefits

to other, If not all, Federal employees

who die in the line of duty. This would

result in an unwarranted and costly

added burden on the taxpayers of this

Nation.

Finally, the retroactive provision in

the bill is objectionable by arbitrarily

excluding employees whose deaths occurred before the effective date.

For all of these reasons, I cannot approve H.R. 5888.

JIMMY CARTER.

THE WHITE HOUSE, December 23, 1980.

H.R. 4386

MEMORANDUM OF DISAPPROVAL

I am withholding my approval from

H.R. 4386, a bill "For the relief of Mr.

and Mrs. Clarence Oveson."

H.R. 4386 would direct the Secretary

of the Treasury to pay $50,000 to Mr.

and Mrs. Clarence Oveson of Saint Louis

and Koochiching Counties, Minnesota.

The payment would be for full settlement of the Oveson's claims arising from

the assumption of management by the

United States of certain real property

owned by the United States but occupied

by the Ovesons. The payment would not

affect any claims that the Ovesons might

have arising from the loss of any structures affixed to the land. The Ovesons

apparently purchased the land in question from another individual in good

faith though title to the land actually

rests with the U.S. Government as part

of the Voyageurs National Park.

I am withholding my approval from

H.R. 4386 because it would provide com- pensation to individuals who have occu- pied Federal lands without authority.

Approval of this legislation would set a precedent of rewarding unauthorized users of Federal lands. It would not only

undermine ongoing efforts by all Federal

land management agencies to eliminate

such uses but could also invite additional unauthorized use.

While I sympathize with the plight of

the Ovesons, I cannot support the payment of taxpayers' funds to them to

remedy a problem they have with other

private individuals in a situation in

which the United States Government was in no way at fault. I understand

that there may be legal remedies available to the Ovesons against the person

who improperly sold them land to which

he did not have clear title.

JIMMY CARTER.

THE WHITE HOUSE, December 24, 1980.

H.R. 6257

MEMORANDUM OF DISAPPROVAL

'I am withholding my approval of H.R.

6257, a bill to authorize the Secretary of

Agriculture to convey certain National

Forest System lands and for other purposes. As originally introduced in Congress, this was a noncontroversial bill

providing a simplified procedure for conveying small parcels of land within the

National Forest System. Sections one

through seven of the bill would accomplish this purpose. However, during the

closing hours of the 96th Congress, a new

section 8 was added that would adversely

affect the Alaska Railroad, an agency of

the Department of Transportation.

Section 8 would require the Secretary

of 'Transportation to is-sue regulations for

the rental of Alaska Railroad lands

under terms that would result in a loss

of revenue to the Railroad, provide for

inequitable treatment of different tenants, and create a complicated method

for determining rents that would be extremely difficult to administer. It would

further delay the Railroad's effort to

raise its lease land rents to fair market

value, and it would lock into statute past

practices that have been criticized by the

General Accounting Office and the Department of Transportation. It would

also inhibit the Railroad's ability to establish a modern lease land development program consistent with normal

commercial practice.

The Railroad is operated as a self-sustaining business by the Federal Government, to the benefit of the State of

Alaska and its citizens. Rental income

from rail lands is used to pay part of its

operating costs. The loss of revenue resulting from this bill may force the Railroad to curtail service or require a new federal operating subsidy to make up the

difference. A curtailment of service

would injure those shippers and residents

of Alaska who use the Railroad, and an increase in federal funds for the Railroad is unacceptable.

For these reasons, I am vetoing H.R.

6257. However, I support those provisions

in the bill that would give the Secretary

of Agriculture authority to dispose of

small tracts of National Forest lands

that have become difficult to administer

efficiently. This authority, which the Department of Agriculture has been seeking for several years, would greatly facilitate the disposal of approximately 200,-

000 acres of National Forest lands that

present special management problems

and would eliminate the need for a case- by-case authorization from the Congress

before such lands can be sold or exchanged. Therefore, I urge the 97th Congress to enact similar authority early

next year.

JIMMY CARTER.

THE WHITE HOUSE, December 28, 1980.

RESIGNATION FROM THE HOUSE OF

REPRESENTATIVES

The SPEAKER received the following

resignation from the House of Representatives:

CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES,

HOUSE O REPRESENTATIVES,

Washington, D.C. December 18, 1980. The Honorable BRENDAN T. BYRNE,

Office of the Governor,

Executive State House,

Trenton, N.J.

DEAR GOVERNOR BYRNE: In accordance with

the law, I hereby resign as the Representstive of the Fourth District of New Jersey effective midnight, December 29, 1980.

Sincerely yours,

FRANK THOMPSON, Jr.

Copies: Hon. Edmund L. Henshaw, Jr.,

Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives;

Hon. Benjamin J. Guthrle, Sergeant at

Arms; Hon. Thomas P. O'Neill, Jr., Speaker

of the House.

REPORTS OF COMMITTEES ON PUBLIC BILLS AND RESOLUTIONS

Under clause 2 of rule XIII, reports of

committees were delivered to the Clerk

for printing and reference to the proper

calendar, as follows:

[Pursuant to the order of the House on

Dec. 4, 1980, the following report was filed

on Dec. 19, 19801

Mr. BROOKS: Committee on Government

Operations. Report on Veterans Administration pays scant thought to medicaid computer needs (Rept. No. 96-1538). Referred to

the Committee of the Whole House on the

State of the Union.

Mr. DELLUMS: Committee on the District

of Columbia. Activities and summary report

of the Commmittee on the District of Columbia (Rept. No. 96-1539). Referred to the

Committee of the Whole House on the State

of the Union.

[Pursuant to the order of the House on

Dec. 16, 1980, the following report was filed on Dec. 22, 19801

Mr. BROOKS: Committee on Government

Operations. Report on the Government's

classification of private ideas (Rept. No. 96-

1540). Referred to the Committee of the

Whole House on the State of the Union.

[Pursuant to the order of the House on Dec. 4, 1980, the following report was filed

on Dec. 22, 1980]

Mr. BROOKS: Committee on Government

Operations. Report on allocation of budget

totals by program (Rept. No. 96-1541). Referred to the Committee of the Whole House

on the State of the Union.

Mr. SMTTH of Iowa: Committee on Small

Business. Report on summary of activities of

the Committee on Small Business, 96th Congress (Rept. No. 96-1542). Referred to the

Committee of the Whole House on the State

of the Union.

[Pursuant to the order of the House on

Dec. 4, 1980, the following report was filed

on Dec. 29, 19801

Mr. HANLEY: Committee on Post Office

and Civil Service. Report pursuant to Section

302(b) of the Congressional Budget Act of

1974 (Rept. No. 96-1544). Referred to the

Committee of the Whole House on the State

of the Union.

Mr. GIATMO: Committee on the Budget.

Report on activities of the Committee on the

Budget, 96th Congress (Rept. No. 96-1545).

Referred to the Committee of the Whole

House on the State of the Union.

Mr. PERKNS: Committee on Education

and Labor. Report on the activities of the

Committee on Education and Labor during

the 96th Congress (Rept. No. 96-1546). Referred to the Committee of the Whole House

on the State of the Union.

Mr. WOLFF: Select Committee on Narcotics Abuse and Control. Annual report for

the year 1980 of the Select Committee on

Narcotics Abuse and Control (Rept. No. 96-

1547). Referred to the Committee of the

Whole House on the State of the Union.

Mr. BENNETT: Committee on Standards

of Official Conduct. Report on activities of

the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct during the 96th Congress (Rept. No.

96-1548). Referred to the Committee of the

Whole House on the State of the Union.

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