Federal assistance to housing for low-income families began with the United States Housing Act of 1937 (P.L. 75-412) which provided funds for construction and administration of low-rent projects by local, State-chartered public housing agencies (PHA). This report is concerned with those subsidy programs administered by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and whether as presently constituted they best serve the housing needs of the Nation's low-income families.
The right of satellite dish owners to tune into cable programs being relayed by satellite signals has been the subject of extensive consideration by the 98th Congress. On October 30, 1984, enactment of Public Law No. 98-549, effective on December 29, 1984, provided a statutory right of backyard dish owners to watch cable programming being carried by the unencrypted satellite signals. However, if the owners to the rights of such programming establish a marketing system for the sale of such viewing rights, the dish owners are obligated to purchase such rights at the agreed upon price. The report briefly discusses the provisions and context of this new law. A more in-depth analysis of the subject area is contained in the CRS report entitled Unauthorized Reception of Communications Satellite Signals Carrying Video Programs dated August 6, 1984 (before passage of the new law).