United States · United States Congress · 20 May 1994
National Community Service Commemorative Coin Act - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to issue one-dollar silver coins to commemorate students who volunteer to perform community service. Mandates that all surcharges received from such coin sales be paid to the National Community Service Trust to fund innovative community service programs at American universities, including the service, research, and teaching activities of the faculty and students involved in such programs.
United States · United States Congress · 12 May 1994
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Amendments to Magnuson Fishery Conservation and Management Act Title II: Amendments to the Atlantic Tunas Convention Act Marine Fish Conservation Amendments of 1994 - Title I: Amendments to Magnuson Fishery Conservation and Management Act - Amends the Magnuson Fishery Conservation and Management Act to declare that it is the policy of the Congress to: (1) assure that the national fishery conservation and management program encourages development of practical measures that reduce bycatch (the incidental catch, take, or harvest of certain fish, marine mammals, and other specified animals) to insignificant levels approaching zero; and (2) ensure that all State and Federal actions are consistent with the conservation and management of fisheries under such Act. (Sec. 105) Revises national standards for fishery conservation and management to require conservation and management measures to: (1) provide an adequate margin of safety to act as a buffer against overfishing; and (2) reduce bycatch to the lowest level practicable and avoid unnecessary waste of fish. (Sec. 106) Revises requirements for Regional Fishery Management Councils to direct the Secretary of Commerce to ensure that at least 25 percent of the appointed members of each Council are persons selected for their fisheries expertise, as demonstrated by university, environmental organization, or other non-user group affiliation and by past actions and accomplishments. Provides for removal of a Council member for cause upon the Secretary's determination of a conflict of interest. Requires that each Council decision be recorded by roll call vote registered and forwarded to the Secretary for review. Authorizes each Council to request the Secretary to initiate consultation with a Federal agency about certain agency activity which may affect the essential fishery habitat of a fishery under its jurisdiction designated in a fishery management plan. Revises financial disclosure requirements for Council members to include financial interests held by children, grandchildren, parents, or siblings. Requires any Council member holding a financial interest requiring disclosure to recuse him or herself from voting on or participating in all Council actions that would affect such interest. Authorizes Council members and the public to challenge, in writing to the Secretary, any vote of a Council member alleged to have been made in violation of such recusal requirement. (Sec. 107) Requires any fishery management plan to: (1) specify an objective definition of overfishing for each fish species or population involved in the fishery; (2) contain a recovery plan for any overfished fishery; (3) specify allowable gear types for the fishery, requiring the use of types which minimize bycatch and associated mortality; (4) provide for the stationing on U.S. fishing vessels of observers to gather reliable data; (5) establish a system of fees to pay for plan implementation; (6) assess the bycatch of all gear types used in the fishery; and (7) contain conservation and management measures to minimize or eliminate the adverse impacts of fishing gear and practices on habitat for fish. Requires the Secretary to review each existing fishery management plan for compliance with the definition of overfishing in this Act. (Sec. 108) Specifies plan review, plan preparation, and overfishing determination duties of the Secretary. Mandates the contents of regulations establishing a system to collect fees to pay for fishing vessel observers. Establishes a National Fishery Observer Fund. Directs the Secretary to publish in the Federal Register a list of fish species, populations, and population complexes that are overfished and the objective definition of overfishing used to make that determination. Requires the Secretary to develop a research plan to identify and gather needed data on fish species, populations, and population complexes for which information is insufficient. Revises the approval voting requirements for a management plan for any fishery under the authority of more than one Council. Declares that any Secretary-prepared fishery management plan or amendment addressing a highly migratory species fishery, which was in effect on July 1, 1993, shall remain in effect until superseded by a plan or amendment prepared by the appropriate Councils and approved by the Secretary. Sets forth procedures for adoption of a recovery plan addressing overfishing with respect to fish species, populations, or population complexes subject to a fishery management plan. Directs the Secretary to provide for the elimination of bycatch through fees and incentive programs, including cooperative efforts with the Federal Government on research and development of selective fishing gear and other technological devices for the reduction of bycatch. Directs the Secretary to publish in the Federal Register and submit to the Congress a report on the cumulative impacts on fishery habitats of the actions authorized, funded, or carried out by Federal agencies, including an assessment of how fishery habitats identified in approved fishery management plans are affected. Directs the Secretary to review: (1) the feasibility of establishing a risk sharing pool through a reasonable fee to provide coverage for vessels and vessel owners against liability from civil suits by observers; and (2) the availability of comprehensive commercial insurance for vessel and owner liability against such suits. Requires the Secretary to establish such a pool unless such insurance is available to all fishing vessels and U.S fish processors required to have observers, and it will provide a greater measure of coverage at a lower cost. Requires the Secretary to establish an alternative observation program for vessels on which facilities for quartering of an observer, or for carrying out observer functions, are inadequate to ensure the health or safety of the observer or the safe operation of the vessel. (Sec. 109) Authorizes the Secretary or the appropriate Council (subject to the Secretary's approval) to adopt regulations as an interim measure in the absence of a fishery management plan. Prescribes general requirements for such regulations. Requires the Secretary to comment on and make recommendations concerning any actual or proposed action authorized, funded, or carried out by a State or Federal agency that may result in the destruction or adverse modification of the essential habitat designated in a fishery management plan. Prescribes guidelines for Federal agency response to such comments or recommendations. Authorizes the Secretary to prohibit any such Federal agency actions. Provides for: (1) citizen suits to enforce such Act; and (2) citizen petitions to compel the Secretary to make a finding or determination or take any other action authorized by such Act. Title II: Amendments to the Atlantic Tunas Convention Act - Amends the Atlantic Tunas Convention Act of 1975 to require the Director of the National Marine Fisheries Service (or his or her designee) to be one of the three U.S. Commissioners on the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas. (Sec. 201) Prohibits any U.S. Commissioner from having a financial interest or from serving as an officer, director, trustee, partner, or employee with an organization with a financial interest in any catching, harvesting, processing, or marketing activity undertaken within any fishery over which the Commission has jurisdiction. Repeals certain knowledge and experience requirements, with respect to commercial and recreational fishing, for non-governmental Commissioners. Allows regulations to carry out Commission recommendations which may have the effect of decreasing any allocation or quota of fish to the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 12 May 1994
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: National Environmental Response Training Program Subtitle A: Certification, Training, and Accreditation Program Subtitle B: Health and Safety Program Title II: National Environmental Response Employment Program Title III: Federal Environmental Coordination Committee and Related Provisions Title IV: Administration and Enforcement National Environmental Training and Employment Act of 1994 - Provides for training, health and safety, employment opportunities, and certification for environmental response employees and employers, emergency responders, and environmental training providers. Authorizes appropriations to carry out the various titles of this Act. Allows other funds to be used to carry out this Act from appropriations for programs, projects, or activities administered by the Departments of Defense, of Energy, of Housing and Urban Development, of the Interior, of Labor, and of Health and Human Services (HHS), and the Environmental Protection Agency. Title I: National Environmental Response Training Program - Subtitle A: Certification, Training, and Accreditation Program - Directs the Secretary of Labor (the Secretary) to establish a National Environmental Training Program to: (1) certify environmental response employers (through a National Certification Program in the Department of Labor); (2) train and certify environmental response employees and emergency responders; and (3) accredit environmental training providers. Subtitle B: Health and Safety Program - Directs the Secretary to establish a national safety and health program covering environmental response employees and emergency responders. Allows such program to be implemented and managed, at the Secretary's discretion, by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. Requires such program to include minimum standard medical examination protocols, a medical surveillance program, and a national injury/illness/fatality surveillance system. Title II: National Environmental Response Employment Program - Directs the Secretary to establish: (1) a program to ensure employment of minorities and women in activities covered by this Act; and (2) in cooperation with the Secretary of Defense, a program to ensure availability of training and employment in activities covered by this Act for displaced military personnel. Directs the Secretary to provide grants to: (1) public agencies and nonprofit employee organizations qualifying as accredited providers to train environmental emergency responders; (2) joint labor-managed training trust funds and labor organizations accredited as providers for training and related activities for environmental workers subject to this Act; (3) nonprofit veterans' organizations for recruitment and counseling services for recently separated members of the military and other veterans, in connection with environmental response training; and (4) nonprofit minority and women's organizations for recruitment and counseling services for minority and female applicants, in connection with environmental response training. Title III: Federal Environmental Coordination Committee and Related Provisions - Establishes the Federal Environmental Coordination Committee, including the heads of the aforementioned Federal departments and agencies. Provides for: (1) enforcement of this Act through Federal contracting procedures; (2) cooperation with States; (3) accreditation and certification/licensure fees; and (4) environmental workforce research and studies. Title IV: Administration and Enforcement - Directs the Secretary to promulgate regulations to carry out this Act. Authorizes the Secretary to seek judicial relief and civil penalties for failure to comply with this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 12 May 1994
Senior Citizens Against Marketing Scams Act of 1994 - Amends the Federal criminal code to provide for enhanced penalties for telemarketing fraud that targets or victimizes persons over age 55. Directs the court to order offenders to: (1) pay restitution to persons who sustained losses as a result of the fraudulent activity; and (2) forfeit to the United States property constituting or derived from proceeds obtained as a result of the offense. Requires the U.S. Sentencing Commission to review and, if necessary, amend the sentencing guidelines to ensure that victim related adjustments for fraud offenses against persons over age 55 are adequate. Authorizes the Attorney General to make awards for furnishing information leading to the prosecution and conviction of telemarketing fraud offenders. Authorizes appropriations. Makes the mail fraud statute applicable to matter sent or delivered by any private or commercial interstate carrier. Sets forth provisions regarding fraud and related activity in connection with access devices. Directs the Attorney General to establish a national, toll-free telemarketing fraud hotline.
United States · United States Congress · 11 May 1994
Veterans' Persian Gulf War Benefits Act - Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to: (1) develop and expeditiously implement a uniform case assessment protocol that will ensure thorough assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of all Persian Gulf War veterans suffering from illnesses attributed to service in the Persian Gulf theater of operations during the Persian Gulf War; (2) expedite efforts to develop case definitions or diagnoses for illnesses associated with such service; and (3) develop and implement a comprehensive outreach program to inform such veterans and their families of health-care services, including comprehensive medical evaluations, that may be available through the Department of Veterans Affairs or the Department of Defense. Directs the Secretary to pay compensation to Persian Gulf War veterans suffering from a chronic disability resulting from an undiagnosed illness that became manifest to a degree of ten percent or more within one year after completion of active duty in the Gulf War, with exceptions. Terminates compensation payments three years after the date of enactment of this Act. Authorizes appropriations to the Department of Veterans Affairs for: (1) FY 1995 through 1997 for conducting research of the health risk and effects of service during the Gulf War and the treatment of such effects; and (2) FY 1995 for a survey of Persian Gulf veterans as to the incidence and nature of health problems occurring in such veterans and their families.
United States · United States Congress · 10 May 1994
Farm Credit System Agricultural Export and Risk Management Act - Amends the Farm Credit Act of 1971 to permit banks for cooperatives to participate in agricultural export financing arrangements with domestic or foreign businesses. Prohibits the financing of a U.S. facility's foreign relocation. Authorizes a Farm Credit Bank or direct lender association to participate in loans to similar but non-Farm Credit System entities for entities for risk management purposes.
United States · United States Congress · 10 May 1994
Chile Free Trade Agreement Negotiating Act of 1994 - Amends the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988 to authorize the President, before January 1, 1997, to enter into a trade agreement with Chile that provides for the elimination or reduction of duties imposed by the United States, or the elimination or reduction of barriers to, or other distortions of, international trade between Chile or the United States. Subjects the trade agreement to congressional "fast track" procedures only if the President certifies to the Congress, when submitting implementing legislation, that such agreement: (1) requires the parties to adhere to internationally recognized worker rights; (2) requires the enforcement of environmental laws and the adoption of higher environmental standards; and (3) includes dispute resolution mechanisms.
United States · United States Congress · 5 May 1994
Expresses the sense of the Congress that any legislation enacted to provide for national health care reform should: (1) prohibit the denial of health insurance coverage to, or limitation of coverage or benefits for, any individual or family on the basis of a preexisting medical condition; (2) prohibit charging an unreasonable amount for such coverage and benefits on the basis of a preexisting medical condition; and (3) include among the individuals and families protected by such prohibitions those who wish to acquire health insurance coverage and benefits from an entity other than their current health care provider.
United States · United States Congress · 21 April 1994
Instructs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to revise Medicare regulations governing payment of anesthesia services to compensate: (1) certified registered nurse anesthetists (CRNAs) for their services; and (2) physician supervision of CRNAs. Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide guidelines for split payments for anesthesia services furnished jointly by a physician and a CRNA.
United States · United States Congress · 13 April 1994
Full Employment Opportunity and Infrastructure Improvement Act of 1994 - Amends the Job Training Partnership Act to establish a public works and public service job training program. Sets forth provisions for allotment to States, allocation to service delivery areas, program conduct and project requirements, individual eligibility, wages, benefits, and supportive services, waiver of education requirements, and linkages to other programs. Requires that private industry councils include representatives of the State apprenticeship council.
United States · United States Congress · 13 April 1994
Infrastructure Jobs Act of 1993 - Authorizes the Secretary of Commerce, acting through the Economic Development Administration, to make grants to State and local governments for infrastructure projects in distressed areas. Provides for direct grants for construction and improvement and for completion of planning. Provides for supplemental grants for other Federal grant programs and for State and local programs. Sets forth general grant requirements and requires the Secretary to prescribe appropriate rules, regulations, and procedures. Sets forth formulas for allocation of funds. Sets aside two and one-half percent for Indian tribes and Alaska Native villages. Provides public works project priorities, with the highest priority for projects of local governments. Provides an additional priority for areas of high unemployment (six percent or more). Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 24 March 1994
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Credit for Rural Business Enterprises Title II: Credit for Rural Infrastructure Title III: Credit for Rural Housing Rural Credit and Development Act of 1994 - Title I: Credit for Rural Business Enterprises - Amends the Farm Credit Act of 1971 to permit farm credit banks and production credit associations to purchase loans and loan interests from non-Farm Credit System institutions. Enlarges the scope of farm-related business for credit availability purposes. Authorizes banks for cooperatives to provide loans and other financial services to entities providing certain farm-related services or products under specified conditions. Title II: Credit for Rural Infrastructure - Authorizes Farm Credit banks to make community facility loans. Authorizes banks for cooperatives to finance utility-related services. Title III: Credit for Rural Housing - Enlarges rural housing credit availability by: (1) increasing eligible population areas; (2) increasing farm credit bank and production credit association loan portfolios for non-farmer rural housing loans; and (3) authorizing loans to rural residents for personal, family, or household needs other than housing finance.
United States · United States Congress · 23 March 1994
Governors Island Reinforcement Act of 1994 - Sets forth trade, assistance, and air transport sanctions against Haiti, and against other nations not cooperating with U.S. or international sanctions. Terminates such sanctions upon the reinstatement of the democratically elected President of Haiti and the military's meeting its obligation under the Governors Island Agreement. States congressional support for: (1) the return of human rights observers to Haiti; (2) the creation of a multinational border patrol between Haiti and the Dominican Republic; and (3) socioeconomic and peacekeeping assistance to Haiti. Directs the President to terminate the bilateral migrant interdiction agreement with Haiti. Provides for the nonrefoulement of Haitians by the United States. Grants temporary protected status under the Immigration and Nationality Act to qualifying Haitians. Excludes from U.S. admission, and blocks U.S. assets of, certain Haitians connected with the military or related activities.
United States · United States Congress · 16 March 1994
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Comprehensive Program for Worker Reemployment Title II: Retraining Income Support and Flexibility in Unemployment Compensation Title III: One-Stop Career Center System Title IV: National Labor Market Information System Title V: Reinvention Labs for Job Training for the Economically Disadvantaged Reemployment Act of 1994 - Establishes: (1) a comprehensive program for worker reemployment; (2) retraining income support and flexibility in unemployment compensation; (3) a one-stop career center system; (4) a national labor market information system; and (5) reinvention labs for job training for the economically disadvantaged. (Sec. 4) Authorizes appropriations for titles I, III, and IV of this Act. Title I: Comprehensive Program for Worker Reemployment - Allots funds among States and reserves certain funds for national activities. (Sec. 103) Makes certain permanently laid-off workers and long-term unemployed individuals (as well as workers facing imminent plant shutdowns and self-employed individuals unemployed because of community economic conditions or natural disasters) eligible for services under this title. Makes dislocated homemakers eligible if a State Governor deems this appropriate and certain conditions are met. Part A: State and Substate Delivery System - Makes States responsible for administrative and management systems under this title. (Sec. 112) Requires the Governor to designate or establish a dislocated worker unit at the State level, with specified rapid response, information, and coordination functions. Directs such unit to coordinate with substate grantees and career centers, and to promote worker-management transition assistance committees. Provides for rapid response coverage of certain layoffs, State funding of preliminary assessments of worker buyouts of plants, prohibition of State transfer of rapid response functions, and Federal oversight of such functions. (Sec. 113) Requires the Governor to develop and maintain a comprehensive labor market information system in the State that meets certain requirements relating to the national system of effective labor market information. (Sec. 114) Requires the Governor to coordinate programs under this title with the worker profiling system under the Social Security Act and the retraining income support program under this Act. (Sec. 115) Authorizes the Governor to award supplementary grants to eligible entities to provide authorized services to eligible individuals in areas of the State experiencing substantial increases in numbers of such individuals due to plant closures, base closures, and mass layoffs. Allows such grant funds to be used to establish additional service centers, including on-site transition centers. (Sec. 116) Authorizes the Governor to award job retention project grants for: (1) upgrading skills of workers at risk of permanent layoff; and (2) retraining workers in new technologies and work processes to help convert or restructure businesses into high performance work organizations and avert plant closings or substantial layoffs. Requires State and employer contributions. Requires consultation with unions. (Sec. 117) Requires establishment of substate area administrative structures. (Sec. 118) Requires each designated substate grantee to establish one or more career centers in that area. Allows additional, temporary on-site transition centers. (Sec. 119) Authorizes the use of substate area funds for the following services for eligible individuals: (1) basic reemployment services; (2) intensive reemployment services; (3) education and training services; (4) retraining income support; (5) supportive services; and (6) supplemental wage allowances for older workers. (Sec. 120) Allows a career center to issue a certificate of continuing eligibility for services to eligible individuals who are accepting employment at a significantly lower wage than their previous one or in an occupation significantly different from their previous one. Part B: Federal Service Delivery System - Directs the Secretary of Labor to establish a program of national discretionary grants to address large-scale economic dislocations resulting from plant closures, base closures, or mass layoffs. Allows the use of such grants to: (1) provide comprehensive planning services to assist communities in addressing and reducing the impact of an economic dislocation; and (2) establish on-site transition centers. (Sec. 132) Directs the Secretary to make funds available for disaster relief employment assistance to States for substate allocation. (Sec. 133) Directs the Secretary to provide for: (1) evaluation of programs under this title; (2) research on addressing economic dislocation, facilitating the transition of permanently laid-off workers to reemployment, and upgrading skills of employed workers; and (3) demonstration projects to develop and improve methods of addressing economic dislocation and promoting worker adjustment. (Sec. 134) Directs the Secretary to provide staff training and technical assistance to various entities to enhance their capacity to develop and deliver adjustment assistance services to workers, and to avert plant closings or substantial layoffs. Requires integration of such activities with those of the Capacity Building and Information and Dissemination Network. (Sec. 135) Directs the Secretary to provide for delivery of programs, activities, and services under this title in any State that chooses not to participate. Part C: Performance Standards and Quality Assurance Systems - Directs the Secretary to establish a process, including an annual meeting, in each State to promote development of a customer service compact among parties administering programs under this title. (Sec. 152) Directs the Secretary to prescribe performance standards relating separately to the substate grantees and the career centers. Directs Governors to prescribe adjustments to such standards and award incentive grants to grantees and centers exceeding such standards. (Sec. 153) Requires each substate grantee to establish methods for obtaining customer feedback from eligible individuals and employers who have received services from a career center. (Sec. 154) Makes providers of education and training services eligible to receive funds under this title if they are eligible to participate under student aid provisions of the Higher Education Act of 1965 or are determined eligible under alternative procedures established by Governors, and if they provide performance-based information. Exempts on-the-job training providers from such requirements. Part D: General Requirements - Sets forth general requirements for programs under this title, including provisions for benefits, labor standards, and grievance procedures. Part E: Fiscal Administrative Provisions - Sets forth various administrative provisions, including ones for program year, prompt allocation of funds, monitoring, fiscal controls and sanctions, reports, recordkeeping, and investigations, administrative adjudication, nondiscrimination, judicial review, nondiscrimination, and criminal provisions. Part F: Miscellaneous Provisions - Provides for transition, on July 1, 1995, to programs authorized under this title from the following programs, which this Act repeals, under employment and training assistance for dislocated workers provisions of the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA): (1) Economic Dislocation and Worker Adjustment Assistance program; (2) Defense Conversion Adjustment Program; (3) Defense Diversification Program; and (4) Clean Air Employment Transition Assistance Program. Terminates the Disaster Relief Employment Assistance program under JTPA. Title II: Retraining Income Support and Flexibility in Unemployment Compensation - Part A: Retraining Income Support Program - Establishes a retraining income support program to assist permanently laid-off individuals participating in long-term training programs. (Sec. 202) Sets forth eligibility requirements for tenured workers (who have been employed for more than three years before being permanently laid off) and for trade-impacted workers. Provides, at a later date, for additional eligibility coverage for workers who have been employed for more than one year but less than three years before being permanently laid-off. (Sec. 203) Sets forth formulae for determining weekly amounts of such assistance. (Sec. 204) Limits the maximum duration of such assistance to: (1) 52 weeks for individuals with three years or more of job tenure; and (2) 26 weeks for individuals with less than three years of job tenure. Provides for coordination with the extended unemployment compensation benefit program. (Sec. 205) Provides for agreements with States, administration absent State agreement, liabilities of certifying and disbursing officers, fraud and recovery of overpayments, and penalties. Part B: Retraining Income Support Account - Amends the Social Security Act to establish a Retraining Income Support Account in the Unemployment Trust Fund. Provides for transfers to such Account and transfers to States. (Sec. 222) Provides for funds to assist States in administering cash benefits for retraining income support. Part C: Financing Provisions - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to raise the rate of the Federal unemployment tax. (Sec. 232) Provides for voluntary withholding of Federal individual income tax on unemployment and other benefits, including retraining income support. Requires States to provide for a system for deduction and withholding of Federal individual income tax from unemployment compensation upon the recipient's voluntary request. Part D: Integration of Trade-Impacted Workers into the Comprehensive Reemployment System - Phases out the trade adjustment assistance program. (Sec. 242) Establishes within the Department of Labor a temporary, transitional certification program to integrate trade-impacted workers into the comprehensive system of worker reemployment and retraining income support. Part E: Unemployment Compensation Flexibility - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow States, under their unemployment compensation programs, to conduct: (1) short-time compensation programs; (2) reemployment bonus programs. (Sec. 253) Amends the North American Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act to repeal a sunset provision which would terminate the self-employment assistance program after five years. (Thus this Act extends such program indefinitely.) Title III: One-Stop Career Center System - Part A: Components of Voluntary One-Stop Career Center System - Requires a State's one-stop career center system, in order to receive a grant or waiver under this title, to include: (1) local workforce investment boards; (2) one-stop career centers established in accordance with specified procedures; (3) provision of specified services; (4) participation of specified Federal programs; (5) operating agreements for such centers; (6) quality assurance systems; and (6) a State Human Resource Investment Council. (Sec. 312) Directs the Governor to designate one-stop service areas within the State. Directs local officials to establish a workforce investment board for each such area. (Sec. 313) Directs the Governor and local officials to jointly select a consortium option or a multiple independent operator option as the method for establishing one-stop career centers for each service area. (Sec. 314) Requires each center to make available: (1) certain basic services to the public free of charge; and (2) certain intensive services to participants in the title I comprehensive program for worker reemployment who are unable to obtain employment through the basic services (and, optionally, to other individuals in accordance with the written agreement). Authorizes each center to provide specialized services to employers and additional services specified in the agreement. Authorizes charging fees under specified conditions, with all program income to be used to expand or enhance services. (Sec. 315) Requires the following programs to be made available to participants through the centers (and to participate in operation of such centers as parties to the agreement): (1) comprehensive programs for worker reemployment under title I of this Act; (2) Wagner-Peyser Act programs (employment services); (3) job counseling, training, and placement for veterans; (4) training services for the disadvantaged under title II of JTPA; (5) community service employment for older Americans programs under title V of the Older Americans Act; and (6) programs authorized under Federal and State unemployment compensation laws. Allows other human resource programs to provide services through and participate in operation of the centers, under specified conditions, including the Job Opportunities and Basic Skills program for AFDC recipients, the Food Stamp Employment and Training program, the Job Corps, veterans' employment programs under JTPA, and programs under the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Education Act, Adult Education Act, Vocational Rehabilitation Act, and School-to-Work Opportunities Act. (Sec. 316) Sets forth requirements for operating agreements and quality assurance systems. (Sec. 318) Requires each State to establish a State human resource investment council that meets specified JTPA requirements and carries out certain additional functions including advising on development and implementation of the one-stop career center system. Part B: Grants and Waivers to Promote the Development and Implementation of One-Stop Career Center System - Authorizes the Secretary to establish programs of competitive grants to States for planning and development and for implementation of comprehensive statewide networks of one-stop career centers. (Sec. 333) Allows a State, at any point during such development or implementation, to request from the Secretary a waiver of one or more statutory or regulatory provisions. Sets forth waiver criteria. Subjects to such waiver authority the mandatory participating programs of the centers. (Sec. 334) Provides for pooling of administrative resources. Part C: Additional Activities in Support of One-Stop Career Center Systems - Directs the Secretary to establish a process, with each State implementing the one-stop career center system, including an annual meeting, to promote development of a customer service compact among the parties administering the system. (Sec. 335) Makes each State implementing such a system responsible for administration, management, monitoring, and technical assistance. (Sec. 336) Makes the Secretary responsible for monitoring compliance, staff training and technical assistance (integrated with the Capacity Building and Information Dissemination Network under JTPA), a national logo and name, and evaluation of one-stop career center programs. Part D: Effective Date - Sets forth effective dates for this title and for performance standards. Title IV: National Labor Market Information System - Directs the Secretary to develop, in coordination with other Federal, State, and local entities, a strategy to establish a nationwide system of local labor market information. (Sec. 403) Directs the Secretary, in cooperation with such other entities and public-private partnerships, to develop such system to make available specified types of information. Requires certain technical standards, consumer reports, and evaluation. (Sec. 404) Directs the Secretary to provide for coordination and integration of such system and appropriate dissemination of information. Title V: Reinvention Labs for Job Training for the Economically Disadvantaged - Amends the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) to establish a five-year Reinvention Labs program to: (1) encourage innovative program designs to improve provision of services to and labor market outcomes for economically disadvantaged youth and adults; (2) develop, through service delivery areas (SDAs) and States, knowledge of effective approaches to providing employment and training to the economically disadvantaged; and (3) provide SDAs with increased flexibility in operating job training programs, in exchange for greater accountability. (Sec. 501) Sets forth requirements for SDA applications for waivers of Federal requirements relating to JTPA programs for employment and training of the economically disadvantaged. Authorizes the Secretary to waive certain of such requirements under specified conditions and to provide technical assistance to SDAs, States, and service providers for Reinvention Labs programs. (Sec. 502) Modifies the definition of tuition under JTPA.
United States · United States Congress · 16 March 1994
Secure Assurance for Families Everywhere (SAFE) Act - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to establish in the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) a national registry of all child support orders maintaining an abstract of each order containing certain specified information. (Sec. 2) Amends part D (Child Support and Establishment of Paternity) of title IV of the Social Security Act (SSA) to require certain State procedures, including procedures for ensuring that: (1) a copy of each child support order issued, modified, or being enforced in the State is transmitted to the national registry; and (2) a notice of court or administrative review and, under certain conditions, a statement of arrears owed are included with each order transmitted. Requires the national registry, upon the receipt from an employer of a W-4 form completed by an employee, to report to the employer information on: (1) whether the employee is subject to a child support order for wage withholding; and (2) the aggregate amount of support involved. (Sec. 3) Requires the Secretary to establish a system for enabling such information, as well as information identifying the person to whom any child support is owed, to be obtained at the workplace via W-4 form reporting by employees. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) require employers to deduct and withhold child support obligations from employee wages, pay withholdings to the Secretary, forward individual W-4 forms to the national registry, and include withheld obligations on the employee's W-2 form; (2) require individuals with monthly shortfalls in child support payments because of inadequate wage withholding to make payments directly to the Secretary, with the full amount due by the end of the applicable tax year subject to the same collection process and penalties applicable to back taxes; and (3) provide for a tax credit for withholdings and payments in excess of applicable obligations. (Sec. 5) Directs the Secretary to pay to the appropriate payee on a monthly basis a portion of the amount of child support received on account of an obligation payable to such payee, plus a child support assurance benefit for payees cooperating in establishing the support order and child paternity. Disregards the first $100 of such benefit for purposes of AFDC (Aid to Families with Dependent Children) benefits. (Sec. 7) Amends SSA title IV part D to require: (1) individuals applying for child support collection or paternity determination services under the State part D plan who are not otherwise eligible for such services to use a new Federal application form in applying for such services; (2) such plans to provide for ongoing outreach programs to persons eligible for plan services; and (3) the separate organizational unit under the direction of the Secretary of Health and Human Services' designee to issue regulations for ensuring State plans for serving underserved populations and accommodations for assisting non-English speaking persons and the hearing impaired. (Sec. 8) Establishes the Commission on Child Support Guidelines to recommend to the Congress national child support guidelines to be followed by State courts and administrative bodies in setting child support award amounts. (Sec. 9) Directs the Secretary to: (1) establish by a certain deadline the requirements already required to be established under current law for the staffing of State child support programs; (2) streamline the process for conducting child support audits; and (3) jointly issue with the Secretary of the Treasury regulations governing coordination of State child support collection activities with those of the IRS. Provides for an increase in the Federal matching rate as an incentive for States increasing paternity establishment and meeting staffing requirements with regard to their child support programs. Adds: (1) maintenance of effort requirements for State child support and AFDC programs; and (2) additional specified requirements with respect to procedures for paternity establishment and paternity acknowledgment affidavits.
United States · United States Congress · 16 March 1994
Expresses the sense of the Congress that any national health care reform legislation should cover syringes for those individuals with diabetes who require the administration of insulin by syringe.
United States · United States Congress · 11 March 1994
National Community Health Advisor Act - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services, for each State or State-designated entity that submits an appropriate application, to award financial assistance for the development and operation of community health advisor (CHA) programs. Requires such States to: (1) operate a clearinghouse to maintain and disseminate information on CHA programs; (2) provide technical assistance for training CHAs; and (3) coordinate all CHA activities carried out by the State under the award. Limits administrative costs to 15 percent of the total award. Provides CHA program objectives and goals. Requires funding agreements for such awards to give priority to developing and operating CHA programs for medically underserved communities (poor rural and inner city areas). Requires a State to provide matching funds of 25 percent of award amounts toward such programs. Requires a CHA program in a State to be carried out in at least one urban area and one rural area. Requires ongoing supervision of CHAs involved in the program. Allows for expenditures under the award for training and continuing education programs. Requires reports from State applicants to the Secretary assessing the effectiveness of CHA programs. Provides for the determination of the amount allotted to each chosen applicant, taking into account the population and poverty level of the area involved. Directs the Secretary to establish guidelines for quality assurance and cost-effectiveness of the CHA programs, requiring evaluations of each such program. Prohibits this Act from being construed to require the Secretary to modify or terminate the Community Health Representative Program of the Indian Health Service.
United States · United States Congress · 11 March 1994
Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to extend the student loan default rate exemption for historically Black colleges, tribally controlled community colleges, and Navajo community colleges.
United States · United States Congress · 11 March 1994
Small Business Defense Conversion Loan Guarantee Act of 1994 - Amends the Small Business Act to: (1) authorize the Administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA) to make loans on a guaranteed basis (currently, authorized but not guaranteed) to small businesses adversely affected by the closure of military bases or reductions or terminations of defense contracts; (2) allow such loans to small businesses that experience a substantial reduction in revenues due to such factors; and (3) authorize the SBA to make no more than $4 billion in deferred participation loans to such small businesses for each of FY 1995 and 1996.
United States · United States Congress · 3 March 1994
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Initiatives Within the Department of the Interior Title II: Initiatives Within the Department of Energy Lower Mississippi Delta Initiatives Act of 1994 - Title I: Initiatives Within the Department of the Interior - Establishes within the Department of the Interior an Office of Education to: (1) promote education in selected areas of environmental, natural, historic, and cultural resources; and (2) establish initiatives at minority schools of higher education. Directs the Secretary of the Interior to: (1) submit annual status reports to the Congress regarding the inventory and coordination of Departmental education programs; (2) report annually to certain congressional committees on opportunities for minority schools of higher education to participate in Departmental programs; (3) establish a scholarship program for degrees in natural resource and environmental related fields at minority schools of higher learning in the Lower Mississippi Delta Region; (4) encourage pre-college education programs in designated subject areas; (5) implement a volunteer educational enrichment program in cooperation with State departments of education and local school districts in the Delta Region; (6) establish a Center for Excellence in the Sciences and a Center for Aquaculture to encourage women and minority students in the Delta Region to pursue careers in the sciences and in aquaculture; and (7) coordinate the educational programs under this Act with those of other Federal agencies. (Sec. 103) Directs the Secretary to transmit to the Congress: (1) a study of nationally significant sites within the Delta Region; (2) recommendations for a transportation network linking such sites; and (3) a study outlining recommendations for funding a Delta Region Native American Heritage Corridor and Heritage and Cultural Center, and a Delta Region African American Heritage Corridor and Heritage and Cultural Center (including a Music Heritage Program). Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to State Humanities Councils to assist minority and rural museums and related associations in the Delta region. (Sec. 105) Directs the Secretary to provide technical and financial assistance to historically Black colleges and universities to undertake: (1) a survey of historic and prehistoric structures on campus; and (2) their preservation. (Sec. 106) Directs the Secretary to: (1) transmit to the Congress a feasibility study regarding the establishment of a Delta Antiquities Trail or Delta Antiquities Heritage Corridor; and (2) conduct a research and preservation program of significant historic and archaeological resources in the Delta. (Sec. 108) Authorizes appropriations. Title II: Initiatives Within the Department of Energy - Directs the Secretary of Energy (the Secretary) to establish the Delta Energy Technology and Business Development Center (the Center). Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to the Center. (Sec. 203) Amends the Energy Policy and Conservation Act to require the Secretary to make grants to schools or hospitals for energy conservation projects, and to provide supplemental Federal financing for energy conservation projects at schools and hospitals in the Delta Region. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 204) Requires the Secretary to: (1) report annually to certain congressional committees regarding opportunities for minority colleges and universities to participate in Department of Energy (DOE) activities and laboratories; (2) establish scholarship programs for students pursuing energy-related and/or technical disciplines either at minority colleges or universities in the Delta Region; (3) encourage pre-college programs in energy-related and/or technical disciplines; (4) implement a volunteer program for education at DOE; and (5) implement a program to encourage women and minority students in the Delta Region to pursue careers in technical disciplines. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 205) Directs the Secretary to conduct a research and demonstration program to determine the economic viability of integrated biomass energy systems within the Delta Region. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 206) Amends the Energy Conservation and Production Act to direct the Secretary to make grants to States and Indian tribal organizations in the Delta Region for weatherization of low-income dwelling units. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 207) Amends the Energy Policy Act of 1992 to qualify for incentive payments certain renewable energy facilities owned by the Tennessee Valley Authority.
United States · United States Congress · 3 March 1994
Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to exclude from coverage any fire fighters or rescue squad members during the period in which they volunteer their services at a location where they are not employed. Waives overtime compensation requirements when fire fighters or rescue squad members volunteer their services to their employer and sign a legally binding waiver. Prohibits employer coercion of such volunteering.
United States · United States Congress · 3 March 1994
Amends the Depository Institution Management Interlocks Act to repeal the 15-year expiration date for (and thereby indefinitely extending) the exemption of certain grandfathered management officials from the prohibition against dual service in unaffiliated Federal depository institutions or depository holding companies in specified circumstances.
United States · United States Congress · 3 March 1994
Amends Federal law (the Miller Act) to increase from $25,000 to $100,000 the threshold value of contracts for Federal buildings or works requiring the payment of performance and payment bonds.
United States · United States Congress · 24 February 1994
Southern Rural Development Commission Act - Establishes the Southern Rural Development Commission and authorizes it to provide grants for rural development in specified counties and parishes in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 11 February 1994
Amends the Interstate Commerce Act to direct the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) to require a fair and equitable arrangement for protection of the interests of railroad employees who may be affected by an ICC order approving an application for construction or acquisition and operation of a railroad line. Requires such arrangement to be no less fair and beneficial to the interests of such employees than those established under specified provisions for employee protective arrangements in transactions involving rail carriers.
United States · United States Congress · 22 November 1993
Corinth, Mississippi, Battlefield Act of 1993 - Directs the Secretary of the Interior to acquire lands in the vicinity of the Corinth Battlefield in Mississippi for the construction of an interpretive center to commemorate and interpret the 1862 Civil War Siege and Battle of Corinth and to be administered as part of the Shiloh National Military Park. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 22 November 1993
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Health Policy Title II: Health Services Title III: Health Professions Title IV: Research and Data Collection Title V: Miscellaneous Minority Health Improvement Act of 1993 - Title I: Health Policy - Amends the Public Health Service Act to establish the Advisory Committee on Minority Health to advise the Secretary of Health and Human Services on the development of the goals of the Office of Minority Health for each racial and ethnic group. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1994 through 1998. (Sec. 102) Provides for the establishment of an Office of Minority Health at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Health Resources and Services Administration, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration, and the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research. Requires such Offices to develop and implement health programs that target racial and ethnic minority populations. (Sec. 103) Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to States for the purpose of improving the health status in minority communities, through the operation of State offices of minority health established to monitor and facilitate the achievement of the Health Objectives for the Year 2000 as they affect minority populations. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1995 through 1997. (Sec. 104) Establishes in the Department of Health and Human Services an Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, who shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. Title II: Health Services - Extends authorized appropriations for grants to States for the community scholarship program until FY 1996. Revises the eligibility requirements for such program. (Sec. 202) Extends the authorized appropriations for the grant program for health services for residents of public housing to FY 1996. (Sec. 203) Amends the Disadvantaged Minority Health Improvement Act of 1990 to allow substance abuse services under the grant program for health service for Pacific Islanders. Extends authorized appropriations for such program through FY 1996. Requires a report to the Congress on the effectiveness of projects funded under such program. Title III: Health Professions - Extends authorized appropriations until FY 1996 for: (1) loans for disadvantaged students; (2) the Cesar Chavez Scholarship Program (currently known as the Exceptional Financial Need Program); (3) the Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Program (currently known as the Scholarship for Disadvantaged Students program); (4) loan repayments and fellowships regarding faculty positions at health professions schools; (5) Centers of Excellence; and (6) educational assistance regarding undergraduates. Exempts from certain residency training requirements: (1) students from disadvantaged backgrounds who are underrepresented in the health professions; and (2) historically black colleges. (Sec. 305) Requires Centers of Excellence (health professions schools) to carry out community-based training programs to prepare students in secondary schools and institutions of higher education for attendance at such schools. Requires such schools to provide training to students to enable them to provide health service to minorities at community-based health facilities. Allows such schools to establish consortia. Allows schools of pharmacy and clinical psychology to be Centers of Excellence. Allows Centers of Excellence to collaborate with the National Institutes of Health. Title IV: Research and Data Collection - Requires the Director of the Office of Minority Health to ensure that activities address the most prevalent morbidity and mortality concerns of the various racial and ethnic minority groups. Establishes the Advisory Subcommittee on Research on Minority Health to advise the Advisory Committee to the Director of the National Institutes of Health. (Sec. 402) Extends authorized appropriations through FY 1997 for the National Center for Health Statistics. (Sec. 403) Requires that research, demonstration projects, and evaluations be carried out on the health status of, and the delivery of, health care to racial and ethnic minority groups residing in medically underserved urban and rural areas and low-income groups, including the elderly, women, and children with low incomes. Title V: Miscellaneous - Directs the Secretary to study and report to the Congress on the need to combine the designations of medically underserved area and health professional shortage area. (Sec. 502) Establishes in the Department of Health and Human Services the Office of Urban Health Policy to collect and disseminate information on health care issues, research findings, and innovative approaches to deliver health care to such areas. Authorizes the making of grants to States to improve health care in underserved urban areas. (Sec. 503) Authorizes the making of grants and contracts regarding organ and bone marrow transplantation for minority populations. (Sec. 504) Extends the demonstration project for grants to States for Alzheimer's disease through FY 1998. Requires improved access for individuals with Alzheimer's disease, particularly racial and ethnic minorities and individuals living in isolated rural areas, to services that are home-based or community-based. (Sec. 505) Waives individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds who are underrepresented in the health professions from certain obligations regarding training or practicing in primary health care.
United States · United States Congress · 22 November 1993
President Harry S Truman Congressional Gold Medal Act - Authorizes the President, on behalf of the Congress, to present a gold medal to Margaret Truman Daniel in recognition of the accomplishments of President Harry S Truman on the 50th anniversary of his first inauguration. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to provide for the sale of bronze duplicates of the medal.
United States · United States Congress · 22 November 1993
Haitian Refugee Fairness Act - Expresses the sense of the Congress with respect to U.S. obligations in support of the international law requirement of nonrefoulement. Prohibits the U.S. Government from returning or causing to be returned to Haiti any Haitian national (with specified exceptions for certain felons and persons who participated in persecutions) outside U.S. territorial waters, or inside territorial waters of another country, unless the Government has first determined the individual not to be a refugee. (Sec. 3) Provides: (1) temporary protected status for qualifying Haitians; and (2) reimbursement for related State and local costs. (Sec. 5) Obligates specified funds for: (1) the Community Relations Service; and (2) primary and secondary resettlement services for paroled Cubans and Haitians. (Sec. 6) Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to authorize appropriations for a Cuban/Haitian Entrant Emergency Fund to be established in the Treasury. Requires the Attorney General to provide an annual estimation of Cuban and Haitian parolees.
United States · United States Congress · 22 November 1993
Public Finance and Infrastructure Investment Act of 1993 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code with respect to private activity bonds to repeal: (1) the disproportionate private business use test; and (2) the lower private business test for certain output facilities. Increases the private loan financing test for such bonds. Increases the annual issuance limit for small issuers whose governmental bonds are not subject to rebate. Repeals the $100,000 limitation on unspent proceeds under the one-year exception from arbitrage rebate requirements. Repeals the debt service-based limitation on investment in certain nonpurpose investments. Exempts the following bonds from the arbitrage rebate requirements under specified circumstances: (1) tax-exempt bonds; (2) bonds which are not private activity bonds; and (3) private activity bonds issued to finance property to be owned by a governmental unit or a tax-exempt organization. Increases the amount of tax-exempt obligations excepted from the pro rata allocation of interest expense of financial institutions to tax-exempt interest for qualified small issuers. Lowers the State ceiling on the volume cap for private activity bonds and provides an inflation adjustment. Provides a tax-exemption for distressed community economic development bonds. Excepts 50 percent of such bonds from the volume cap. Allows a deduction for such bonds as qualified tax-exempt obligations.
United States · United States Congress · 20 November 1993
Movement Disorders Research Amendments of 1993 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to authorize the Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), acting through the Directors of the appropriate national research institutes, to make grants to, or enter into contracts with, public or nonprofit private entities for the development and operation of centers to conduct basic and clinical research on movement disorders. Requires this Act to be carried out with funds otherwise appropriated for NIH activities.
United States · United States Congress · 18 November 1993
Code of Conduct on Arms Transfers Act of 1993 - Prohibits U.S. military assistance and arms transfers to a foreign government unless the President certifies to the Congress that the government: (1) meets specified conditions regarding democracy, including that it was chosen in free and fair elections and promotes civilian control of the military, the rule of law, and respect for individual rights; (2) does not engage in human rights violations, investigates and prosecutes those responsible for human rights violations, permits access to political prisoners by international organizations, and provides access to such organizations in situations of conflict or famine; (3) is not engaged in acts of armed aggression in violation of international law; and (4) is participating in the United Nations Register of Conventional Arms by annually reporting to the Register the number and type of conventional weapons possessed by, and transferred to and from, the country during the preceding year. Authorizes an exemption from such prohibition for a fiscal year if: (1) the President requests an exemption from the Congress stating that it is in the national security interest to provide military assistance and arms transfers to a government; and (2) the Congress enacts a law approving such request. Requires the President to submit initial certifications and requests for exemptions in conjunction with the submission of the annual request for enactment of authorizations and appropriations for foreign assistance. Expresses the sense of the Congress that the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee should hold hearings on controversial certifications and all requests for exemptions.
United States · United States Congress · 17 November 1993
Bank Deposit Insurance Amendments of 1993 - Amends the Federal Deposit Insurance Act to provide separate Federal deposit insurance for funds deposited by a minority- or women-owned insured depository institution pursuant to the Bank Deposit Financial Assistance Program of the Department of Energy.
United States · United States Congress · 15 November 1993
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to recognize as a tax-exempt organization any legal entity created by a State or political subdivision to establish a risk pool to provide health insurance coverage for certain persons who are unable to obtain private health insurance.
United States · United States Congress · 8 November 1993
Bank Deposit Insurance Amendments of 1993 - Amends the Federal Deposit Insurance Act to provide continued Federal deposit insurance for trust funds held on deposit by a minority- or women-owned insured depository institution as trustee pursuant to any revocable trust established under the Bank Deposit Financial Assistance Program of the Department of Energy.
![Official portrait of Rep. Thompson, Bennie G. [D-MS-2]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/t000193_200.jpg)