  We present a new sample of distant ultraluminous infrared galaxies. The
sample was selected from a positional cross--correlation of the IRAS Faint
Source Catalog with the FIRST database. Objects from this set were selected for
spectroscopy by virtue of following the well-known star-forming galaxy
correlation between 1.4 GHz and 60 micron flux, and by being optically faint on
the POSS. Optical identification and spectroscopy were obtained for 108 targets
at the Lick Observatory 3m telescope. Most objects show spectra typical of
starburst galaxies, and do not show the high ionization lines of active
galactic nuclei. The redshift distribution covers 0.1 < z < 0.9, with 13
objects at z > 0.5 and an average redshift of 0.31. K-band images were obtained
at the IRTF, Lick, and Keck observatories in sub-arcsec seeing of all optically
identified targets. About 2/3 of the objects appear to be interacting galaxies,
while the other 1/3 appear to be normal. Nearly all the identified objects have
far-IR luminosities greater than 10^11 L_sun, and ~25% have L_FIR > 10^12
L_sun.
