United States · United States Congress · 9 May 1995
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act, the assault weapons ban, and the restrictions on the transfer of handguns to juveniles are reasonable, important, and effective measures to help reduce crimes of violence and create safer communities.
United States · United States Congress · 2 May 1995
Family Viewing Cable Television Act of 1995 - Amends the Federal criminal code to impose a fine and up to two years' imprisonment on any person who knowingly disseminates any indecent material on any channel provided to all subscribers as part of a basic cable television package.
United States · United States Congress · 7 April 1995
Consumer Fraud Prevention Act of 1995 - Amends the Federal criminal code to subject to civil forfeiture any property constituting, derived from, or traceable to any proceeds obtained as a result of telemarketing fraud. Directs that any such property or proceeds be used to the extent needed, as determined by the Attorney General, for the national telemarketing fraud information hotline (established under the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994) and other enforcement of telemarketing fraud provisions. Directs the court, in sentencing for telemarketing fraud, to order that the offender forfeit to the United States any property constituting or derived from proceeds obtained as a result of the offense. Specifies that the payment of an amount due pursuant to mandatory restitution for telemarketing fraud shall have priority over the payment of fines or the forfeiture of property under criminal forfeiture provisions. Directs the U.S. Sentencing Commission to amend the sentencing guidelines to increase by two levels: (1) the vulnerable victim adjustment; and (2) the level for any fraud offense if the defendant conducted activities to further the fraud from a foreign country in order to impede prosecution. Requires any presentence report required under the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure to include information about the age of each victim of each fraud offense for which a defendant is convicted.
United States · United States Congress · 7 April 1995
Hmong Veterans' Naturalization Act of 1995 - Waives the English language naturalization requirement for certain aliens (or their spouses or widows) who served with special guerilla units in Laos. Provides for naturalization under the Immigration and Nationality Act through such service.
United States · United States Congress · 7 April 1995
Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) Taiwan deserves full participation, including a seat, in the United Nations (UN) and its related agencies; and (2) the U.S. Government should immediately encourage the UN to take action by considering the unique situation of Taiwan in the international community and adopting a comprehensive solution to accommodate Taiwan in the UN and its related agencies.
United States · United States Congress · 6 April 1995
Amends the Taiwan Relations Act to prohibit the democratically elected leadership of Taiwan from being excluded from the United States based on a determination by the Secretary of State that the entry or proposed activities of such individuals would have potentially adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 6 April 1995
Amends rule XI of the Rules of the House of Representatives to: (1) require that any committee report on a measure include a disclosure of whether any part of the report or measure is written by any individual other than a Member or Federal employee and the name of each such employee; and (2) prohibit a measure or recommendation from being reported from any committee unless the chair discloses, prior to entertaining a motion to order the measure reported, the measure's author if it was written in whole or in part by any individual other than a Member or Federal employee. Amends rule XVI to require any Member offering an amendment in the House, in the Committee of the Whole, or in any committee, on the demand of any Member, to identify the author of all or any part of that amendment unless it was written by any Member or Federal employee, in which case the offeror shall so state.
United States · United States Congress · 4 April 1995
Middle Class Flexible Savings Act of 1995 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to increase from $2,000 to $3,000 the maximum deduction allowed to individuals for contributions to individual retirement accounts (IRAs). Increases the income phaseout limits on the deduction for active participants in employer-maintained pension plans. Provides an inflation adjustment for deductible amounts and the phaseout limits beginning after 1995. Allows the full IRA deduction to a spouse who had less than $1,000 of compensation and who has a child under the age of six who is the taxpayer's dependent. Allows distributions from qualified retirement plans without penalty to: (1) pay higher education expenses or business start-up expenditures; (2) pay for certain medical expenses; (3) assist certain unemployed individuals; and (4) purchase first homes. Imposes a minimum tax on certain foreign-owned and foreign corporations.
United States · United States Congress · 28 March 1995
Extends through December 31, 2003, the eligibility of veterans for: (1) inpatient care for exposure to toxic substances and ionizing radiation during military service; and (2) inpatient and outpatient care for exposure to a toxic substance or environmental hazard during the Persian Gulf War. Extends eligibility for such outpatient care for any disability to veterans who, during the period before December 31, 2003, either: (1) served on active duty in Vietnam and may have been exposed to dioxins or other toxic substances during such duty; or (2) were exposed during active duty to ionizing radiation during atomic testing or during the American occupation of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
United States · United States Congress · 28 March 1995
Disadvantaged Minority Health Improvement Authorization Extension Act of 1995 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to authorize appropriations for: (1) the Office of Minority Health in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health; (2) health statistical and epidemiological activities of the National Center for Health Statistics; (3) grants for surveys or studies, data analysis, and research regarding ethnic and racial populations; (4) grants to States for demonstration programs to increase the availability of primary health care in health professional shortage areas; (5) grants to provide public housing residents with primary health services and health counseling and education services; (6) Federal capital contributions to student loan funds for individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds; (7) grants to schools of medicine, osteopathic medicine, and dentistry for scholarships for students of exceptional financial need; (8) grants to health professions schools for scholarships; (9) educational loan repayments for those agreeing to serve as members of the faculties of specified types of health professions schools; (10) grants and contracts with health or educational entities to assist in increasing the number of underrepresented minority faculty members; (11) grants to health professions schools to support programs of excellence in health professions education for minority individuals; and (12) grants and contracts to assist individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds to undertake education to enter a health profession. Declares that provisions of the National Health Service Corps Loan Repayment Program, except as inconsistent, shall apply to provisions regarding educational loan repayments of health professionals who agree to conduct clinical research as employees of the National Institutes of Health. (Current law applies some but not all of the provisions that would be applied under the amendment made by this Act.)
United States · United States Congress · 28 March 1995
State Medicaid Savings Incentive Act of 1995 - Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to authorize incentive payments to States that achieve a rate of growth for Medicaid expenditures for a fiscal year which is less than a baseline rate for such year determined by the Secretary of Health and Human Services. Makes an incentive payment equal to the amount that is 20 percent of the difference between the amount that the Federal Government would have paid if State expenditures had increased by the baseline rate and the amount paid using the actual growth rate.
United States · United States Congress · 23 March 1995
Honors the memory of the victims of the Armenian genocide. Calls for the United States to encourage the Republic of Turkey to acknowledge and commemorate the atrocity committed against the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire from 1915 to 1923.
United States · United States Congress · 22 March 1995
Newborn Infant HIV Notification Act - Requires a State, if it requires that the results of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) testing of an infant be reported to it (or if the State conducts an HIV test of the infant), to disclose such results to: (1) the biological mother of the infant if the mother is the legal guardian; or (2) specified State agencies if the State is the legal guardian of the infant. Directs the State, in disclosing such results (other than to State agencies), to ensure that appropriate counseling on HIV is provided to the individual.
United States · United States Congress · 22 March 1995
Franking Reform Act of 1995 - Prohibits any: (1) Member of Congress from sending any unsolicited franked mail (currently, franked mass mailings) postmarked fewer than 60 days immediately before any primary or general election in which such Member is a candidate; and (2) Representative who is a candidate for any other public office from sending unsolicited franked mail outside his or her congressional district.
United States · United States Congress · 21 March 1995
Corporate Welfare Reduction Act of 1995 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code, with respect to determining the foreign tax credit, to replace the formula for reducing the amount of oil and gas extraction taxes taken into account. Disallows as creditable amounts: (1) any taxes paid or accrued to a foreign country with respect to foreign oil and gas income (including extraction income) which are not imposed under the country's generally applicable income tax law; and (2) any other taxes on such income to the extent that the country's law is structured or operates so that the tax amount imposed will generally be materially greater, over a reasonable period, than the amount generally imposed on other income. Separates such income, for purposes of certain limitations on the application of the credit, into foreign oil and gas extraction income and foreign oil related income. Removes the deferral, for purposes of taxation of controlled foreign corporations, of tax on extraction income or income from consumption in the foreign country. Provides that the Secretary of the Treasury's authority, in allocating income, deductions, credits, and allowances among taxpayers owned or controlled by the same interests, shall not be limited by any restriction on the ability of the entities to transfer or receive money or property. Terminates, effective with taxable years beginning January 1, 1996, the exclusion of foreign earned income and the housing cost amounts of U.S. citizens or residents living abroad. Treats the gain or loss of a nonresident alien individual or foreign corporation that is a ten-percent shareholder in a domestic corporation upon disposition of such a corporation's stock as if the taxpayer were engaged during the taxable year in a trade or business within the United States and such gain or loss attributable to a permanent U.S. trade or business establishment. Imposes a 26-percent minimum tax on nonresident alien individuals. Provides for the withholding of tax on such dispositions, except in the case of stock which is not regularly traded. Excepts such gain from the branch profits tax imposed on foreign corporations. Requires notice to the Secretary upon distributions by a U.S. person to a foreign person in redemption of stock or complete liquidation of a subsidiary. Removes the exemption of ten-percent shareholders from the tax on interest of nonresident alien individuals received from portfolio debt investments. Redefines portfolio interest as only interest paid on obligations issued by governmental entities. Provides special rules for determining the source of income from the sale of inventory property.
United States · United States Congress · 21 March 1995
Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) if Department of Defense (DOD) commissary and exchange systems are reduced or eliminated, derived funds should be used to increase other forms of compensation for current and retired military personnel in order to offset the decrease in indirect pay for such personnel; and (2) if exchange stores are reduced, eliminated, or privatized, funds should be provided to DOD to upgrade and avoid the erosion of morale, welfare, and recreation activities and other facilities provided to current and retired military personnel and their dependents.
United States · United States Congress · 16 March 1995
Requires nonlethal excess supplies of the Department of Defense to be made available to a State, local government, territory, or possession, upon request, before being made available for humanitarian relief purposes.
United States · United States Congress · 15 March 1995
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Improving Aid to Families with Dependent Children Title II: Making Work Pay Title III: Improving Child Support Enforcement Title IV: Reauthorization of Child Care and Development Block Grant Title V: Amendments to the Internal Revenue Code Title VI: Effective Date Family Stability and Work Act of 1995 - Title I: Improving Aid To Families With Dependent Children - Amends parts A (Aid to Families with Dependent Children) (AFDC) and F (Job Opportunities and Basic Skills Training Program) (JOBS) of title IV of the Social Security Act (SSA) to make various specified changes with regard to AFDC benefits, including changes: (1) increasing the standard earned income disregard under AFDC and State flexibility regarding recipient participation in the JOBS program; (2) eliminating the different treatment of two-parent families; (3) extending the transitional child care guarantee under AFDC; (4) increasing the Federal matching rates for child care under AFDC; (5) increasing JOBS program funding; (6) adding requirements for State JOBS program participation rates; (7) increasing JOBS and transitional child care matching rates for States whose recipients leave AFDC for paid employment; (8) increasing at-risk child care funding; and (9) establishing a jobs creation and work experience program under JOBS. Title II: Making Work Pay - Amends Medicaid and the Food Stamp Act of 1977 to provide for transitional Medicaid benefits and the continuation of food stamps in order to make work pay for former AFDC recipients. (Sec. 202) Provides for the temporary exclusion of earned income for purposes of determining rent paid for units in federally assisted housing. Title III: Improving Child Support Enforcement - Amends SSA title IV part D (Child Support and Establishment of Paternity) to make various specified changes with regard to: (1) State obligations to provide paternity establishment and child support enforcement services; (2) distribution of payments; (3) due process rights; (4) privacy safeguards; (5) program administration and funding, including funding for Secretarial assistance to State programs; (6) locate and case tracking, including providing for centralized collection and disbursement of support payments and an expanded Federal Parent Locator Service; and (7) State law requirements, including interstate enforcement of child support orders, expedited administrative and judicial procedures, and paternity establishment. (Sec. 351) Establishes a National Child Support Guidelines Commission to develop a national child support guideline for consideration by the Congress that is based on a study of various guideline models, the benefits and deficiencies of such models, and any needed improvements. (Sec. 361) Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide for a change in the order of refund distributions and make other specified changes with regard to the enforcement of support orders, including providing for the Internal Revenue Service to collect child support arrears and revising the authority for support collection with respect to Federal employees. (Sec. 364) Provides for the enforcement of child support obligations of members of the armed forces through the establishment of a centralized personnel locator service. (Sec. 365) Makes other specified changes with regard to child support enforcement matters, including establishing State procedures for: (1) placing liens for arrears of child support on motor vehicle titles of individuals owing such arrears; (2) voiding fraudulent transfers in cases where a debtor transferred income or property to avoid payment of a child support creditor; (3) suspending driver's and other types of licenses in arrearage cases; and (4) charging for the collection of interest and penalties on arrearages. (Sec. 368) Modifies arrearage reporting to credit bureaus. (Sec. 389) Extends the statute of limitations for collection of arrearages. (Sec. 371) Provides for the denial of passports for nonpayment of child support. (Sec. 372) Expresses the sense of the Congress that the United States should ratify the United Nations Convention of 1956. Provides for the treatment of international child support cases as interstate cases. (Sec. 381) Makes a technical correction to the definition of medical child support order under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974. Title IV: Reauthorization of Child Care And Development Block Grant - Amends the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 to reauthorize the child care and development block grant program. Title V: Amendments to the Internal Revenue Code - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to increase from 35 percent to 36.25 percent of a corporation's taxable income over $10 million the top marginal corporate tax rate. Title VI: Effective Date - Sets forth the effective date of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 14 March 1995
Capital Budgeting Act of 1995 - Amends Federal law to require that the budget the President submits to the Congress be a unified budget comprising an operating budget and a capital budget, each presented separately for unified, general, trust, and enterprise funds. Restricts the capital budget to the major activities and programs supporting the acquisition, construction, alteration, and rehabilitation of capital assets and includes all other items in the operating budget. Requires the President to present certain additional information, including the capital investments by State and local governments not financed by the Federal Government. Requires the House Committee on the Budget to submit legislation to establish additional deficit targets under the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act) beginning in FY 1996 which would require the eventual elimination of deficits in the operating account. Requires the House Committee on Government Reform and Oversight to report legislation directing the Comptroller General to evaluate the value and usefulness of: (1) capital investments in the capital account on an annual basis; and (2) proposed capital investments submitted to the House after enactment of this Act. Requires the House Committee on Rules to report legislation establishing rules to facilitate the enforcement of amendments made by this Act. Amends the Public Works and Economic Development Act of 1965 to require reports to specified congressional committees on the actual, estimated, and proposed appropriations, receipts, and expenditures for capital and operating activities associated with certain transportation, water, and public buildings projects.
United States · United States Congress · 10 March 1995
Amends the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to: (1) reduce certain Federal election contribution limits; and (2) limit contributions in House of Representatives elections from persons other than individual in-State residents.
United States · United States Congress · 7 March 1995
Expresses the sense of the Congress that U.S. economic cooperation projects in China or Tibet should adhere to specified principles, including to: (1) suspend the use of merchandise manufactured by convict or forced labor; (2) seek to ensure political and religious freedom without fear of one's employment status; (3) ensure that methods of production do not pose a danger to project employees and the surrounding environment; (4) strive to use business enterprises that are not controlled by China; and (5) promote specified freedoms in China. Requires the Secretary of State to forward a copy of such principles to member nations of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and encourage them to promote such principles. Requires each U.S. parent company conducting an economic cooperation project in China or Tibet to register with the Secretary and indicate whether they agree to implement such principles. Sets forth specified reporting requirements. Authorizes Federal agencies to intercede with a foreign government or national regarding export marketing activity in China or Tibet on behalf of such a parent company only if such company adheres to such principles.
United States · United States Congress · 7 March 1995
Ocean Radioactive Dumping Ban Act of 1995 - Amends the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act of 1972 to remove the definition for, and certain references to, "high-level radioactive waste" (thus expanding the current ban on dumping high-level radioactive waste to cover dumping of all radioactive waste). Removes provisions which prohibit the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency from issuing a permit for the disposal of radioactive waste in the ocean until the permit applicant prepares a Radioactive Material Disposal Impact Assessment. Provides that nothing in this Act shall affect the transportation of material containing de minimis levels of radioactivity for purposes of dumping it into ocean waters under the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act of 1972.
United States · United States Congress · 6 March 1995
Filipino Veterans Equity Act of 1995 - Amends Federal veterans' benefits provisions to include certain service in the organized military forces of the Philippines and service as Philippine Scouts within the definition of active U.S. military service for purposes of eligibility for various veterans' benefits for former active-duty military personnel.
United States · United States Congress · 3 March 1995
Amends the National Trails System Act to designate the route from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama (traveled by the march dramatizing the need for voting rights legislation), as a National Historic Trail.
United States · United States Congress · 1 March 1995
Federal Election Law Reform Commission Act - Establishes the Federal Election Law Reform Commission to recommend Federal election law reform. Requires a Federal election bill to be introduced in the House and the Senate within a specified time of the Commission's submittal of draft legislation. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 1 March 1995
Directs the Secretary of the military department concerned to pay an annuity to the qualified surviving spouse of any member of the armed forces who: (1) died before March 21, 1974, and was entitled to retired or retainer pay on the date of death; or (2) was a member of the reserves, died during the period beginning on September 21, 1972, and ending on October 1, 1978, and at the time of death would have been entitled to retired or retainer pay but for the fact that the member was under 60 years of age. Defines a qualified surviving spouse as one who has not remarried and who is not eligible for an annuity under the Survivor Benefit Plan. Provides the annuity amount and reduces such amount by the amount of any dependency and indemnity compensation to which the survivor is entitled.
United States · United States Congress · 28 February 1995
Amends part B (Supplemental Medical Insurance) of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to include within Medicare coverage the use of blood-testing strips for individuals with Type I or II diabetes. Requires such strips to be included within a payment methodology covering inexpensive and routinely purchased equipment.
United States · United States Congress · 28 February 1995
First-Time Homebuyers Assistance Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to set forth the conditions under which builders will be allowed to compute on the installment sales method income from the sale of newly constructed one-family residential real property.
United States · United States Congress · 28 February 1995
Authorizes the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity to establish a memorial on Federal land in the District of Columbia or its environs to honor Martin Luther King, Jr. Prohibits the United States from paying any expense of establishing the memorial.
United States · United States Congress · 27 February 1995
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: National Advisory Board on Adoption Title II: Adoption Data Collection System Title III: Adoption Education Programs Title IV: Adoption Benefits for Federal Employees and Military Personnel Title V: Adoption Tax Credit Title VI: Maternal Health Certificates Program Title VII: Rehabilitation Grants for Maternity Housing and Services Facilities Title VIII: Sense of Congress Regarding Changes in State Adoption Laws Omnibus Adoption Act of 1995 - Title I: National Advisory Board on Adoption - Establishes the National Advisory Board on Adoption to monitor program implementation under this Act and make recommendations to the Congress. Title II: Adoption Data Collection System - Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services (the Secretary) to submit a status report to the Congress on implementation of a certain data collection system required under the Social Security Act. Title III: Adoption Education Programs - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to direct the Secretary of Education to award social work graduate school fellowships for work in innovative programs on the effects of adoption on the parties involved. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary of Education to award grants to the States for implementation of adoption education programs. Authorizes appropriations. Title IV: Adoption Benefits for Federal Employees and Military Personnel - Amends Federal law to set forth adoption benefits for Federal employees and military personnel. Directs the Director of the Office of Personnel Management, the Secretary of Defense, and the Secretary of Transportation to coordinate their efforts in implementing this Act and to consult with the National Advisory Board on Adoption. Title V: Adoption Tax Credit - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow adoption expenses as a credit against the individual income tax. Requires married couples to file jointly in order to receive such credit. Title VI: Maternal Health Certificates Program - Directs the Secretary to establish a maternal health certificates program to cover maternity and housing services facility expenses incurred by eligible pregnant women. Authorizes appropriations. Title VII: Rehabilitation Grants for Maternity Housing and Services Facilities - Directs the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to implement a grant program to assist eligible nonprofit entities to rehabilitate buildings for use as housing and services facilities for eligible pregnant women. Authorizes appropriations. Title VIII: Sense of Congress Regarding Changes in State Adoption Laws - Expresses the sense of the Congress that the States should adopt a specified statutory adoption scheme, including certain health plan benefits.
United States · United States Congress · 27 February 1995
Amends part A (General Provisions) of title XI of the Social Security Act to extend the Supplemental Security Income program to Guam and the Virgin Islands.
United States · United States Congress · 24 February 1995
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Political Relationship Title II: Applicability of Federal Law Title III: Foreign Affairs and Defense Title IV: Courts Title V: Trade Title VI: Taxation Title VII: Immigration Title VIII: Labor Title IX: Transportation and Telecommunications Title X: Land, Natural Resources and Utilities Title XI: United States Financial Assistance Title XII: Technical Amendments and Interpretation Guam Commonwealth Act - Title I: Political Relationship - Creates the Commonwealth of Guam. Grants the people of Guam the right of full self-government through adoption of a Constitution and within specified guidelines. (Sec. 102) Recognizes the right of self-determination of the people of Guam. Directs the U.S. Government to promote preservation of the Chamorro culture, enhanced economic, social, and educational opportunities for Chamorros, and training of Chamorros for employment. Directs Guam to establish a land trust for the benefit of the indigenous Chamorro people and to establish residency requirements under the Constitution of Guam for voting and holding elective office. (Sec. 103) Allows this Act to be modified only with the mutual consent of the Governments of the United States and Guam. Title II: Applicability of Federal Law - Makes specified provisions of, and amendments to, the U.S. Constitution applicable to Guam. (Sec. 202) Makes Federal laws, rules, or regulations passed after the date of this Act inapplicable unless mutually consented to by the Governments of the United States and Guam. (Sec. 203) Creates the Joint Commission on the Applicability of Federal Law. (Sec. 204) Authorizes the President to delegate to the Governor of Guam performance of functions now vested in Federal administrative agencies. Title III: Foreign Affairs and Defense - Grants the United States responsibility for authority with respect to matters relating to foreign affairs and defense that affect Guam. (Sec. 302) Prohibits the establishment of military security zones or the stationing of foreign military personnel on the Island of Guam without the approval of the Government of Guam except in time of declared war, or the establishment of military bases without consultation with the Governor. (Sec. 304) Prohibits the United States from using Guam or the water surrounding it for the dumping or storage of nuclear waste or hazardous chemicals. Provides for the cleanup by the United States of chemical dump sites used by the military. Requires the United States to compensate any person injured as a result of hazardous materials stored, used, or disposed of by the U.S. Government in Guam or its waters. Title IV: Courts - Specifies provisions governing the relations between U.S. courts and the local courts of Guam, the jurisdiction of the District Court of Guam, and the applicable district court rules. (Sec. 404) Provides for the appointment of a judge for the District Court of Guam, a U.S. attorney, and a U.S. marshal for Guam. Title V: Trade - Establishes a Guam-United States free trade area. Authorizes Guam to impose, increase, reduce, or eliminate duties and other restrictions on certain imports and exports. Title VI: Taxation - Makes U.S. income tax laws applicable to Guam. Deems such laws to impose a separate tax to be known as the Guam Commonwealth income tax. (Sec. 603) Allows the Government of Guam to provide for the rebate or reduction of taxes in order to assist new industries or economic development. (Sec. 604) Grants Guam the power to determine the nature and amount of taxes imposed upon the income and property of persons within its jurisdiction. Repeals applicable U.S. tax laws one year after Guam has enacted a replacement comprehensive local income tax. (Sec. 605) Exempts all bonds or other obligations issued by Guam from taxation by Federal, State, or local governments of the United States. Title VII: Immigration - Applies the Immigration and Nationality Act and pertinent Federal regulations to Guam for two years from enactment of this Act. Directs Guam to enact a comprehensive law on immigration to become effective at the end of the two-year period. (Sec. 702) Authorizes U.S. consular officials to issue visas for travel only to Guam for any alien seeking to enter Guam as a non-immigrant in order to encourage investors and tourists to come to Guam. Title VIII: Labor - Grants preference to qualified residents of Guam in all Federal civil service vacancies occurring in Guam. (Sec. 802) Grants Guam the authority to enact and enforce all laws regulating or affecting employment in Guam. Title IX: Transportation and Telecommunications - Precludes application of any U.S. law barring the U.S. registration and use of any foreign-built vessel within the waters around Guam for any purpose. Exempts from the coastwise laws of the United States any shipment of fish or fish products from Guam to any U.S. coastwise destination. Directs the Commission to examine the applicability of such laws and to recommend their termination upon determining that such laws constrain Guam's economic development. (Sec. 902) Authorizes the Governor of Guam to sponsor any qualified air service carrier to come to Guam, subject to presidential consultation concerning U.S. foreign policy and security interests. Exempts Guam from all bilateral treaties between the United States and foreign states with respect to scheduling and technical specifications of aircraft, other than safety requirements. (Sec. 903) Defines Guam as "domestic" for Federal Communications Commission rate setting purposes. Title X: Land, Natural Resources and Utilities - Grants the Government of Guam the power of eminent domain. Sets limits on U.S. acquisition of real property on Guam. Exempts Guam from Federal regulations governing the transfer or sale of excess Federal real property. Provides for the transfer of all excess Federal property to Guam, with specified exceptions. (Sec. 1003) Provides for access and use by the residents of Guam of certain retained Federal property, subject to military security requirements. (Sec. 1004) Directs the United States to transfer ownership of island utilities to Guam. Title XI: United States Financial Assistance - Provides for the return of U.S. revenues from taxes and fees collected in Guam to the Government of Guam. Makes U.S. laws providing Federal benefits and financial assistance which are applicable to the States equally applicable to Guam. (Sec. 1104) Directs the Governor of Guam, in preparing an annual budget, to identify the costs and benefits to Guam brought about by its role as one of the principal U.S. military bases. (Sec. 1105) Provides for assistance to aid Guam's transition to a Commonwealth. Title XII: Technical Amendments and Interpretation - Makes technical and conforming amendments. (Sec. 1204) Requires this Act to be submitted to the registered voters of Guam for ratification after being passed by the Congress. Repeals the Organic Act of Guam.
United States · United States Congress · 23 February 1995
Amends part A (Aid to Families With Dependent Children) (AFDC) of title IV of the Social Security Act to require State procedures under which liens arise by operation of law and are imposed and executed against real and personal property for amounts of overdue child support owed by an absent parent who resides or owns property in the State. Requires State agencies to accord full faith and credit to such liens arising in other States.
United States · United States Congress · 22 February 1995
Birth Defects Prevention Act of 1995 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to establish birth defects prevention and research programs. Authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), to provide for collection, analysis, and reporting of birth defects statistics from birth certificates, infant death certificates, hospital records, or other sources and to collect and disaggregate such statistics by gender and racial and ethnic group. Directs the Secretary to establish at least five regional birth defects monitoring and research programs to collect and analyze information on the number, incidence, correlation, and causes of birth defects. Authorizes the Secretary, acting through the Director of CDC, to award grants or enter into cooperative agreements with specified entities to serve as Centers of Excellence for Birth Defects Prevention Research. Requires one of the Centers to focus on birth defects among ethnic minorities. Requires the CDC to establish a clearinghouse for the collection and storage of data generated from birth defects monitoring programs developed under this Act. Directs the Secretary, acting through the Director of the CDC, to provide for the evaluation, and implementation of prevention strategies designed to reduce the incidence and effects of birth defects. Directs the Secretary to establish an Advisory Committee for Birth Defects Prevention. Requires the Secretary to report biennially to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce and the Senate Committee on Labor and Human Resources regarding birth defects. Subjects the provisions of this Act to requirements of the Privacy Act. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 21 February 1995
Regulatory Sunset and Review Act of 1995 - Provides that the effectiveness of a regulation issued by a Federal agency shall terminate on the applicable termination date (specified in this Act) unless the head of the agency: (1) reviews the regulation; (2) submits to the Congress and publishes in the Federal Register a preliminary report on findings and proposed recommendations; (3) reviews and considers comments regarding the preliminary report that are transmitted to the agency by the Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs in the Office of Management and Budget and by appropriate congressional committees; and (4) submits to the Congress and publishes a final report on the review and a notice extending the effectiveness of the regulation, with or without modifications, within a specified time frame. Sets forth termination dates of regulations (seven years after this Act's enactment for existing regulations, three years after the regulation takes effect for new regulations, and seven years after publication of a notice for an extension for a regulation that is extended under this Act). Provides for temporary extensions. Requires the head of each agency to: (1) conduct thorough and systematic reviews of all regulations issued by the agency to determine if those regulations are obsolete, inconsistent, or duplicative or impede competition; (2) issue reports on the findings of those reviews, with recommendations for terminating, extending, modifying, or consolidating regulations; and (3) solicit comments from the public (including the private sector) before making determinations and sending a report regarding a regulation. Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) criteria for review; (2) preliminary and final reports on reviews of regulations; (3) reports on the schedule for reviewing existing regulations; (4) functions of the Administrator; (5) designation of agency Regulatory Review Officers; and (6) judicial review. Prohibits an agency from modifying, terminating, or extending a regulation unless the agency head, within specified time frames: (1) submits to the Congress notice of the proposal and notice of the final determination to take that action; and (2) reviews and considers comments submitted to the agency by appropriate congressional committees.
United States · United States Congress · 21 February 1995
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to restore the business meal expense deduction to 80 percent (currently 50 percent) for individuals subject to the hours of service limitations of the Department of Transportation.
United States · United States Congress · 21 February 1995
Marina Relief Act of 1995 - Amends the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 to exempt marinas from financial responsibility requirements applicable to offshore facilities with respect to liability for oil pollution.
United States · United States Congress · 16 February 1995
Trident II (D-5) Missile Production Termination Act - Prohibits funds appropriated to the Department of Defense for fiscal years after 1995 from being obligated or expended for production of additional Trident II (D-5) missiles. Allows amounts appropriated to the Department to be expended for such missile only to complete production of those missiles commenced with funds appropriated before FY 1996.
United States · United States Congress · 15 February 1995
Airliner Cabin Air Quality Act of 1995 - Amends Federal transportation law to prohibit smoking on all scheduled airline flight segments (currently, just on certain airline flight segments) in interstate or intrastate air transportation. Directs the Secretary of Transportation to require all domestic and foreign air carriers to prohibit smoking on any scheduled airline flight within the United States or between a place in the United States and a place outside of it.
United States · United States Congress · 15 February 1995
Missing Service Personnel Act of 1995 - Requires the military commander of the unit, facility, or area to which the following persons are assigned to conduct an investigation as to their whereabouts after receiving factual information that their status is uncertain: (1) military personnel who disappear during a period of war, national emergency, or hostilities; and (2) any civilian Federal employee (including an employee of a Federal contractor) who serves with or accompanies an armed force in the field during such a period. Requires such persons to be placed in a missing status and requires notification of such status to either the officer having general court-martial authority over the person (for military personnel) or the Secretary of the military department employing such person (for civilian and contractor employees). Requires such officials to be kept informed (specifies deadlines) as to all information and inquiries concerning efforts to locate such missing personnel. Requires such officials to appoint a board to conduct an inquiry into the whereabouts and status of such persons. Provides for: (1) board composition, activities, and access to information; (2) inquiry proceedings (requiring the appointment of counsel, with specified duties, to represent the missing person); (3) a board recommendation as to the official status of a person following such an inquiry; (4) board reports to the officials involved as to board conclusions (prohibiting public availability of such reports for a one-year period); (5) report review by the official; (6) a report from such official to interested persons; and (7) an additional investigation and inquiry by an additional board upon receipt of new information within one year after the date of the first official notice of a person's disappearance. Allows interested persons (family members, dependents, next of kin) to participate at the proceedings of the board during such additional inquiry. Provides for the availability of appropriate information to board personnel conducting investigations and inquiries. Provides similar procedures for the second board with respect to meetings (open to the public, with exceptions), recommendations, reports, review by the Secretary of the military department concerned, and reports to interested persons. Directs the Secretary concerned: (1) if information becomes available on the whereabouts or status of a missing person within three years after the first official notice of the person's disappearance, to appoint a board to conduct an inquiry into such information; and (2) to appoint a board to conduct an inquiry as to the status of any missing person on or about three years after the first official notice of the disappearance of such person and not later than every three years thereafter until a total of 12 years after the first official notice. Allows certain interested persons to request the Secretary to appoint a board to review the status of a person declared dead before five years after the enactment of this Act. Limits the review subjects to those whose deaths were declared to have occurred on or after December 7, 1941. Provides for the conditions under which an appointed board may recommend that a person be declared dead. Requires the Secretary concerned to ensure that the personnel file of each person covered contains all information in possession of the Government relating to the disappearance and whereabouts or status of such person. Provides for judicial review of a person's declared status under this Act. Requires a person in a missing status or previously declared dead who is subsequently found alive to be paid for the full time of their absence. Requires the Secretary concerned, upon the enlistment of a person in an armed force, to require such person to specify in writing the individual(s) to whom information on their whereabouts or status shall be provided in the event of an investigation under this Act. Allows for revision of such choice by the enlisting individual.
United States · United States Congress · 15 February 1995
Older Women's Breast Cancer Detection Act of 1995 - Amends part B (Supplemental Medical Insurance) of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to revise the breast cancer screening benefit to cover on an annual (currently, biennial) basis routine breast cancer screening for women age 65 and older (thus covering them on the same basis as those age 49 through 64).
United States · United States Congress · 13 February 1995
Volunteer Protection Act of 1995 - Prescribes circumstances under which volunteers working for nonprofit organizations or government entities shall be immune from personal financial liability for acts on behalf of the organization or entity. Sets forth exceptions and conditions that a State may impose on the granting of such immunity. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to increase by one percent the fiscal year allotment which would otherwise be made to a State to carry out the Social Services Block Grant Program under title XX of the Social Security Act if such State has, within two years, certified to the Secretary that it has enacted a State law which provides such immunity. Provides for the continuation of such increase based on an annual recertification.
United States · United States Congress · 13 February 1995
Expresses the sense of the Congress that any U.S. national conducting a commercial cooperation project in Vietnam should adhere to specified principles regarding: (1) nondiscrimination in employment; (2) worker and environmental safety; (3) partnerships with businesses not controlled by the Vietnamese Government; (4) prohibitions on a military presence and political indoctrination programs on project premises; (5) freedoms of association and expression; and (6) the promotion of a full accounting of all Americans missing in action from the Vietnam conflict. Directs the Secretary of State to encourage member nations of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development to promote similar principles. Requires U.S. nationals conducting commercial cooperation projects in Vietnam to: (1) register with the Secretary and indicate whether they agree to implement such principles; and (2) report annually to the Department of State on adherence to such principles. Permits Federal agencies to intercede with a foreign government or national on behalf of such a U.S. national regarding export marketing activities in Vietnam only if such individual adheres to the principles.
United States · United States Congress · 13 February 1995
Directs the Secretary of State to establish guidelines which U.S. nationals should use in conducting business operations in any foreign country. Requires such guidelines to be based on principles contained in guidelines or standards of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the International Labor Organization, and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade as well as on the MacBride, Sullivan, Minnesota or Caux, and Slepak Principles. Directs U.S. nationals conducting business operations in any foreign country to submit a statement to the Secretary indicating whether they are complying with such guidelines and to register with the Secretary. Authorizes Federal agencies to intercede with foreign governments or nationals regarding export marketing activities on behalf of a U.S. national only if such national is in compliance with the guidelines.
United States · United States Congress · 10 February 1995
Directs the Secretary of the Navy to provide for the retroactive award of the Navy Combat Ribbon with respect to participation in ground or surface combat during any period after July 4, 1943, and before March 1, 1961.
United States · United States Congress · 9 February 1995
Wounded Knee National Tribal Park Establishment Act of 1995 - Directs the Secretary of the Interior to establish the Wounded Knee National Tribal Park consisting of a North and South unit at which national monuments should be erected to memorialize the Indian victims of the 1890 Wounded Knee Massacre. Directs the Secretary to enter into cooperative agreements with the Cheyenne River Sioux (for the North unit) and the Oglala Sioux (for the South unit) tribes to carry out planning, design, construction, operation, maintenance, and replacement activities at monument sites at their respective unit. Authorizes the Secretary to provide technical assistance to both tribes, as well as training and employment to tribal members in the operation and maintenance of both units. (Sec. 5) Authorizes each such tribe to acquire lands for inclusion in the North or South unit of the Park. Allows the Secretary to provide financial assistance for such purchases. Directs each tribe to manage its respective unit. (Sec. 7) Directs the Secretary to plan, design, and construct the national monuments on each Park unit after consultation with an advisory committee established under this Act. Requires the Secretary to complete and report to the Congress on feasibility studies to: (1) establish and mark the route taken by Chief Big Foot and his band from the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation to Wounded Knee as a national historic trail; and (2) establish a visitor information and orientation center on the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation. (Sec. 8) Establishes the Wounded Knee National Tribal Park Advisory Commission. (Sec. 9) Authorizes either tribe or its designated agency or authority to enter into an agreement with a nonprofit corporation to raise funds from private sources to be used in lieu of, or to supplement, any Federal funds made available by appropriations for Park purposes. (Sec. 11) Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 9 February 1995
Child Care Availability Incentive Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a tax credit (as part of the general business credit) for employers who provide qualified day care centers for the use of their employees.
United States · United States Congress · 8 February 1995
Firefighters Pay Fairness Act of 1995 - Amends Federal law to provide that, for Federal fire fighters, the annual rate of basic pay shall be calculated on the basis of 26 administrative biweekly work periods of up to 106 hours each. Prescribes a formula for computing the basic biweekly pay of Federal employees who are not fire fighters but perform fire fighting duties. Extends existing biweekly pay period and pay computation requirements to Federal fire fighters and employees in and under the judicial branch. Removes employees of the District of Columbia government from coverage by such requirements. Repeals the current exception from such requirements for employees on the Isthmus of Panama in the service of the Panama Canal Commission. Requires compensation at time-and-a-half per hour for any hours worked in excess of 106 during a biweekly pay period by fire fighters subject to the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938. Prescribes basic rates of pay for fire fighters: (1) promoted to a supervisory position; and (2) selected and assigned for training. Adds certain pay retention rights for Federal firefighters subject to a reduction or termination of a rate of pay established under this Act. Authorizes a Federal agency to pay cash awards of up to five percent of basic pay to fire fighters or other employees performing fire fighting duties who make substantial use of: (1) special skills, such as handling hazardous materials; or (2) a certification or license, such as certification as an emergency medical technician. Requires the Office of Personnel Management to report to the Congress with respect to transition and funding increase plans and regulatory or legislative modifications necessary to prevent diminution in retirement benefits under this Act.
![Official portrait of Del. Underwood, Robert A. [D-GU-At Large]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/u000014_200.jpg)