Act to improve the Foreign Service personnel system, was referred to the committee, and then to the subcommittee. Testimony was heard on this legislation on March 24, 1977. On March 29 and April 21, 1977, the subcommittee held open markup sessions on the various executive branch requests and on April 21 ordered reported to the full committee an omnibus bill authorizing fiscal year 1978 appropriations for the Department of State, the U.S. Information Agency, and the Board for International Broadcasting, making certain changes in the Foreign Service personnel system, and continuing other various provisions. On April 21, a clean bill was introduced as H.R. 6531. On April 27, the full committee held an open markup session on H.R. 6531, adopted amendments to the bill, and ordered that a clean bill be introduced. This bill, H.R. 6689 was ordered favorably reported by the committee on April 28, 1977 by voice vote. In addition to authorizing appropriations other major provisions of H.R. 6689 included: (1) Establishing a career candidate program to improve procedures for on-the-job training of Foreign Service career aspirants prior to their commissioning. (2) Providing for additional educational and cultural exchanges to carry out U.S. obligations under the final act of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe. (3) Permitting the first steps to be taken to implement the President's recommendations to Congress to upgrade transmitter facilities for the Voice of America and for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. (4) Providing a permanent authorization for the Inter-American Foundation. (5) Permitting employment of retired members of the uniformed services by foreign governments subject to the approval of the Secretary of State and the Secretary of the Department from which the individual has retired. (6) Providing benefits to foreign citizen employees of the United States who are killed in the line of duty or who are imprisoned because of their employment in the United States. (7) Elevating the Coordinator for Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs in the State Department to the position of Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights. (8) Changing the title of the State Department's Administrator of the Bureau of Security and Consular Affairs to Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs. H.R. 6689 passed the House, amended, by a vote of 285 to 111 on May 4, 1977, and the Senate, amended, by a vote of 64 to 21 on June 16, 1977. Upon the insistence by the Senate on their amendments and a request for a conference, the House complied and on July 21, 1977, conferees met and agreed to file a conference report. Members appointed to the conference committee by the House included: Representatives Zablocki, Fascell, Diggs, Wolff, Ryan, Meyner, Fowler, Broomfield, Buchanan, and Burke of Florida. Members appointed by the Senate were: Senators Sparkman, McGovern, Pell, Biden, Case, Percy, and Baker. The table below illustrates the authorization figures agreed to by the conference committee for fiscal year 1978: 1 Beyond the executive branch request for administration of foreign affairs, the conference substitute provides $19,559,000 in additional foreign building funding in order to acquire certain rental properties, $441,000 for new passport field agencies, $165,000 for 6 new positions in the Department's Bureau of Oceans and International and Scientific Affairs, and $20,000 for 2 consular positions. See United States-European Community Interparliamentary Group. Beyond the executive branch request for migration and refugee assistance, the conference substitute provides and earmarks an additional $20,000,000 for assistance to refugees from the Soviet Union and countries in Eastern Europe, and allows an additional $7,000,000 for African refugees, $6,000,000 for the resettlement of refugees in the United States, and an additional $500,000 contribution to the International Committee for the Red Cross. See currency fluctuations and RFE/RL operations. Other major provisions listed above remained relatively the same. The House conferees did accept a Senate provision which amended the Foreign Gifts and Decorations Act. The Senate agreed to the conference report by voice vote on July 28, 1977, and the House by voice vote on August 3. H.R. 6689 became Public Law 95-105 on August 17, 1977 when it was signed by the President. Legislative history Apr. 21, 1977-H.R. 4915, H.R. 4916, H.R. 4917 (bills introduced by request subsequent to receiving the executive branch proposals) considered by Subcommittee on International Operations, and a clean bill, H.R. 6531, was approved for full committee action. Apr. 27, 1977-H.R. 6531 considered in open markup session by full committee, amended, and clean bill ordered introduced. Apr. 28, 1977-H.R. 6689 considered in open markup session by full committee and ordered favorably reported by voice vote. Apr. 29, 1977-Reported. House Report 95–231. Apr. 29, 1977-Rule Requested. May 3, 1977-Hearing on request for rule. Rule granted. H. Res. 537. May 4, 1977-Passed House, amended, by a vote of 285 yeas to 111 nays. May 16, 1977-Reported in Senate. Senate Report 95-194. June 21, 1977-House disagreed to Senate amendments, agreed to a con- July 21, 1977-Conferees met and agreed to file conference report. Aug. 17, 1977-Approved. Public Law 95-105. 5. Arms Control and Disarmament Act Amendments of 1977—H.R. 6179 (by Mr. Zablocki, for himself, and Representatives Broomfield, Fountain, Bingham, Studds, Beilenson, and Winn) On March 14, 1977, the Speaker of the House referred to the Committee on International Relations Executive Communication 999, which contained draft legislation providing for a 2-year authorization of appropriations for the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, and amending the Arms Control and Disarmament Act. Chairman Zablocki, on March 23, introduced by request the draft legislation as H.R. 5553. The bill was then referred to the committee and subsequently, to the Subcommittee on International Security and Scientific Affairs. Hearings were held by the subcommittee on April 4, 5, and on April 6 the bill was considered by the subcommittee in an open markup session. After amending H.R. 5553, the subcommittee voted out a clean bill incorporating the amendments to the full committee. On April 6, Chairman Zablocki introduced the clean bill as H.R. 6179 on behalf of the subcommittee, and it was referred to the Committee on International Relations that same day. The full committee met in open session on April 20 to markup H.R. 6197, and ordered the bill favorably reported by unanimous voice vote without amendment. The Arms Control and Disarmament Agency was established by Congress in 1961. For fiscal year 1975 the Congress provided a 1-year authorization to allow for a major indepth study and review of the Agency. As a result of that review, which was carried out by the Committee on International Relations, major changes were made in 1975 to the Arms Control and Disarmament Act. Consideration of legislation authorizing the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency's appropriations for fiscal year 1978 was guided by the committee's continued concern that the Agency play the central role in the formulation and execution of U.S. arms control policies. H.R. 6179, a result of the committee's review of the effectiveness of the Agency, was threefold in purpose: (1) The bill authorized an appropriation of $14.6 million to fund operation of the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency for fiscal year 1978. (2) The bill extended the Arms Control and Disarmament Act to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the Arms Control and Disarmanent Agency's operations in two areas: (a) The bill eliminated the requirement that all research funded by the Agency be carried out by U.S. research institutions or individuals. (b) H.R. 6179 permitted the Agency to grant access to restricted data to individuals and organizations that have been granted access to restricted data by other Government agencies. (3) The bill created a new executive level IV position of Special Representative for Arms Control Negotiations. On May 3, H.R. 6179 passed the House, amended, by a recorded vote of 395 to 15. The Senate amended and passed the bill by a vote of 82 to 0 on June 16, 1977. Upon insisting on their amendments and requesting a conference with the House, a conference was agreed to June 20. The House appointed as members to the conference committee: Representatives Zablocki, Fountain, Fascell, Hamilton, Bingham, Studds, Beilenson, Broomfield, Derwinski, and Winn. Senate conferees appointed were: Senators Sparkman, Pell, McGovern, Humphrey, Case, Percy, and Griffin. The conferees agreed to file a conference report on August 3, 1977. The major change in H.R. 6179 which was agreed to in conference was the acceptance of the Senate provision relating to the authorization funding level for the Agency. Authorized for fiscal year 1978 was $16.6 million including $2 million for International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards research and related activities, and $1 million to be divided between the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency's own research and public information activities. The conference report was agreed to by both the House and the Senate by voice vote on August 4, 1977. The President signed the bill on August 17, 1977, designating it as Public Law 95-108. Legislative history Mar. 15, 1977-House Document 95-98 (Arms Control and Disarma- Mar. 23, 1977-H.R. 5553 referred to Subcommittee on International Apr. 4, 5, 1977-H.R. 5553 considered in open session by subcommittee. Apr. 20, 1977-H.R. 6179 considered in open markup session by full committee, and ordered favorably reported by unanimous voice vote. Apr. 25, 1977-Reported. House Report 95–219. Apr. 26, 1977-Rule requested. Apr. 28, 1977-Hearing on request for rule. Rule granted. House Resolu- May 3, 1977-Passed House, amended, by a vote of 395 yeas to 15 nays. May 16, 1977-Reported in Senate. Senate Report 95-193. June 16, 1977-Passed Senate, amended, by a vote of 82 yeas to 0 nays. June 20, 1977-House disagreed to Senate amendment, agreed to a Aug. 3, 1977-Conferees agreed to file conference report. Report filed in Aug. 4, 1977-Senate agreed to conference report by voice vote. 6. To Authorize Appropriations for the Peace Corps for Fiscal Year 1978-H.R. 6967 (by Mr. Harrington, for himself, and Representatives Bonker, Pease, and Whalen) On March 10, 1977, the Speaker of the House referred to the Committee on International Relations Executive Communication 1021 which contained draft legislation providing for the authorization of appropriations for the Peace Corps for fiscal years 1978 and 1979. The draft bill was referred to the Subcommittee on International Development on March 16, 1977. A hearing on the authorization legislation was held by the subcommittee on March 17. On May 5, the subcommittee met in open markup session and approved an authorization of $81 million for the Peace Corps for fiscal year 1978 by voice vote. On the same day, a clean bill was introduced by the chairman of the subcommittee, Mr. Harrington. This bill, H.R. 6967 was considered by the full committee on May 10, and ordered favorably reported without amendment by a voice vote. The principle purpose of H.R. 6967 was to authorize an appropriation of $81 million for the Peace Corps for fiscal year 1978. The bill also authorized to be appropriated for fiscal year 1978 such sums as may be necessary for increases in salary, pay, retirement, or other employee benefits authorized by law. On May 26, the Senate passed by voice vote their companion bill, S. 1235 which differed from H.R. 6967 in the authorization amount. S. 1235 authorized $84.8 million for fiscal year 1978. On June 1, 1977, the House considered H.R. 6967 and passed the measure by a recorded vote of 305 to 43. Immediately thereafter, the passage was vacated, and S. 1235 was passed in lieu after being amended to contain the language of H.R. 6967 as passed by the House. On August 3, the Senate agreed to the House amendments, but further amended the bill to increase the fiscal 1978 funding level from $81 million to $82.9 million, and to also authorize an additional $1 million for salaries, retirement and other employee benefits. On the same day, the House agreed to the Senate amendment to S. 1235 by voice vote, which cleared the measure for Presidential action. S. 1235 became Public Law 95-102 on August 15, 1977. Legislative history Mar. 15, 1977-Executive Communication 1021: A letter from the Director of ACTION, transmitting a draft of proposed legislation to further amend the Peace Corps Act. Mar. 16, 1977-Executive Communication 1021 referred to the Subcommittee on International Development. Mar. 17, 1977-Executive Communication 1021 considered in open session by subcommittee May 5, 1977-Executive Communication 1021 considered by subcommittee and approved for full committee action. May 10, 1977-H.R. 6967 considered in open markup session by full committee, and ordered favorably reported by voice vote. May 12, 1977-H.R. 6967 reported. House Report 95–296. May 13, 1977-H.R. 6967: Rule requested. May 16, 1977-S. 1235 reported in Senate. Senate Report 95-168. May 24, 1977-H.R. 6967: Hearing on request for rule. House Resolu May 26, 1977-S. 1235 passed Senate, amended by voice vote. Aug. 3, 1977-S. 1235: Senate agreed to House amendments with an Aug. 3, 1977-House agreed to the Senate amendment to the House amendments. Aug. 15, 1977-Approved. Public Law 95-102. |