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99th Congressional Congress



Legislation 
 * Title || Date || Summary ||
 * Balanced Budget and Emergency Act || December 12,1985 || The act was aimed towards cutting the nations budget deficit since at the time it was the highest. ||
 * Gold Bullion Act of 1985 || December 17,1985 || The GBC Act helped push the American Eagle Gold Coin to be one of the world’s leading gold bullion coins. ||
 * Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 (COBRA) - including Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act. || April 7, 1986 || The COBRA Act primarily known as Title Act was aimed towards providing group health benefits to workers who lost their health benefits. ||
 * Goldwater-Nichols Act of 1986 || October 1, 1986 || This act changed the structure of the military in order to get rid of inter-service rivalry that was due to its emergence in the Vietnam War. ||
 * Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act || October 2, 1986 |||||| The CAA banned all links to South Africa including trade, investment, and airlines. This was due to the plight of blacks in South Africa. ||
 * Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 || <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">November 6, 1986 |||| <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Made it illegal to recruit or hire illegal immigrants knowingly. ||
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986 || <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">October 21, 1986 |||||| <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">The ECPA’s purpose was to access, use, disclose, intercept and protect the privacy of electronic communications. ||
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">Tax Reform Act of 1986 || <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">October 22, 1986 || <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">The TFA narrowed down the income tax code, expanded tax base, and got rid of tax shelters. ||
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">Anti-Drug Abuse Act || <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">October 27, 1986 || <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Strengthened federal enforcement on drug trafficking and expanded federal support for drug abuse treatment. ||
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">Age Discrimination in Employment Act || <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">October 31, 1986 || <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Prohibited employment discrimination against anyone over the age of 40. ||
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act || <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">October 17, 1986 || <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Influenced emergency planning efforts on local, state, and national levels. ||

<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Summary > Meanwhile, the President of the Senate was George H.W. Bush while the President Pro Tempore was James Strom Thurmond. The Senate majority leader was Robert Joseph “Bob” Dole while the Senate minority leader was Robert C. Byrd. The Senate majority whip was Alan K. Simpson while the Senate minority whip was Alan M. Cranston.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">During the 99th session of congress, in the Senate the majority party was the Republican Party with 53 seats and the minority party was the Democratic Party with 47 seats. In the House of Representatives the majority party was the Democratic Party with 253 seats and the minority party was the Republican Party with 182 seats. The Speaker of the House was Tip O’Neil. The House majority leader was James C. Wright, Jr. while the House minority leader was Robert H. Michel. The House majority whip was Thomas S. Foley while the House minority whip was Chester Trent Lott.

> Another highlight of 1986 was the War on Drugs, which Reagan supported by signing a bill to fund penalties for drug use. Reagan was highly criticized though because the bill did nothing to stop the wide availability of drugs on the streets. > A pitfall of the time was the Libya bombing in Berlin which injured 63 Americans in the military. Reagan responded well though by ordering an air strike against Libya. Another pitfall was the Iran-Contra Affair in 1986. America agreed to exchange the sale of arms to Iran for the release of hostages and the help for Nicaraguan Costas.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">The 99th congressional session was somewhat stagnant. The major highlight of the time was the general elections of congress in 1986. Since President Reagan was conservative, one would expect the majority of the House and the Senate to be conservative. This, however, was not the case. The Democrats kept control of the House of Representatives and regained control in the Senate. Accordingly, this showed that the people must have been criticizing the Reagan administration to switch Congress to a Democratic majority.


 * <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">The 99th congress had an easy-going personality, making few major decisions. The Repbulican party controlled the majority in the Senate while the Democratic Party controlled the majority in the House of Representatives. Congress got along well with the President and found it hard not to support a President so popular, having won in a landside in his re-election, taking 49 of 50 states. In 1986 Reagan appointed William Rehnquist to Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and Antonin Scalia to Justice of the Supreme Court. Scalia is currently still a justice on the Supreme Court while Rehnquist is deceased.


 * <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">During this era in the U.S. there were certain changes that took place in order to foster efficient lifestyles in the U.S. Congress impacted this change by passing certain pieces of legislation that impacted the nation in a positive way. One major piece of legislation that brought change from to the 80's era was the Anti-Drug Abuse Act. The Anti-Drug Abuse Act helped cut down the trends of frequent drug use that had carried over into the early 80's from the 70's drug use era.Along with the fight against drugs, Congress made changes in the work industry by keeping American jobs legal after the Immigration Reform and Control Act was passed. Also there was a more fair treatment produced in the work industry when the Age Discrimination in Employment Act was passed, since it prohibited employment discrimination against anyone over the age of forty. Aside from the change in ethical issues in the U.S there was a surge on the economic side when Congress passed the Gold Bullion Act 1985. The Gold Bullion Act turned the U.S Gold Coin into one of the leading gold bullion coins in the world.

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