United States · United States Congress · 30 April 1997
Gift of Life Congressional Medal Act of 1997 - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to design and strike a bronze medal to commemorate organ donors and their families. Makes any organ donor, or the family of any organ donor, eligible for the medal. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to direct the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) to arrange for medal presentation to eligible individuals. Declares the medals to be national medals. Authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to enter into agreements with the OPTN to collect funds to offset expenditures relating to medal issuance. Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to deposit all solicited donations into the Numismatic Public Enterprise Fund.
United States · United States Congress · 30 April 1997
Community Environmental Equity Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to define "covered substance" to mean hazardous contaminants, chemicals, materials, wastes, and substances listed, identified, or defined in specified laws or designated by the President. Prohibits any entity that handles, manages, treats, releases, disposes, stores, transports, or delivers covered substances from disproportionately exposing any individual or community, on the ground of race, color, or national origin, to any covered substance. Authorizes enforcement: (1) by denial or termination of authorization to handle, manage, etc., covered substances; (2) by any other means authorized by law; and (3) for entities receiving Federal financial assistance, through specified compliance provisions of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
United States · United States Congress · 30 April 1997
Work for Real Wages Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide, with respect to an individual, that the term earned income credit shall include a specified portion of benefits received under part A (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) (TANF) of title IV of the Social Security Act if: (1) as a condition of receiving any TANF payment or amount, the individual is required to perform services for any person or governmental unit; and (2) such individual receives no compensation (other than such payment or amount) for performing such services.
United States · United States Congress · 29 April 1997
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to set forth a special rule for the donation by a corporation, as a charitable deduction, of computer equipment and software, as well as related training, to elementary and secondary schools and to qualified organizations providing assistance to disabled individuals. Directs the Comptroller General to report concerning such deductions. Expresses the sense of the Congress that one of the main purposes of such enhanced charitable deduction is to encourage the donation of computer equipment and software to: (1) schools serving low income communities; (2) schools with budgets below applicable norms; and (3) schools with student test scores below the norm.
United States · United States Congress · 24 April 1997
Insular Fair Wage and Human Rights Act of 1997 - Amends Federal law to prohibit the affixation of the "Made in the USA" label to a textile fiber product from the Northern Mariana Islands unless: (1) each worker producing such product was paid a minimum wage equal to or greater than a specified amount; and (2) the product was manufactured in compliance with all Federal labor laws, including, but not limited to, the National Labor Relations Act, the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, and the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938. Applies to the Northern Mariana Islands: (1) the Immigration and Nationality Act; and (2) the minimum wage provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, as modified by this Act. Requires a minimum wage through December 31, 1997, of $3.55 per hour, adjusted semiannually thereafter in $.50 increments until it equals the minimum wage required by the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938. Requires a study of the extent of human and labor rights violations in the Northern Mariana Islands, which shall be included in the Secretary of the Interior's annual Federal-CNMI Initiative on Labor Immigration, and Law Enforcement report to the Congress. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 24 April 1997
Tobacco Subsidy Reduction Act of 1997 - Amends the Federal Crop Insurance Act to prohibit the Commodity Credit Corporation from providing Federal crop insurance or reinsurance for tobacco. Amends the Agricultural Market Transition Act to prohibit the Secretary of Agriculture from providing noninsured crop disaster assistance for tobacco.
United States · United States Congress · 24 April 1997
Zero to Three Resolution for Early Childhood Development - Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that sufficient funding should be provided to meet the needs of infants and toddlers through: (1) the Healthy Start program under the Public Health Service Act; (2) the special supplemental nutrition program for women, infants, and children (WIC) under the Child Nutrition Act of 1966; (3) Head Start programs and programs under the Head Start Act that provide services for families with infants and toddlers; (4) programs for infants and toddlers with disabilities under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act; and (5) programs under the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990. Declares that legislation should be enacted during the 105th Congress to expand health insurance to provide coverage for all uninsured children.
United States · United States Congress · 23 April 1997
Patient Access to Responsible Care Act of 1997 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require a health insurance issuer to: (1) assure that covered items and services are available and accessible to each enrollee; (2) assure the availability and accessibility of emergency services and urgent care 24 hours a day, 7 days a week; (3) not require prior authorization for emergency services; and (4) cover emergency and urgent (and related ancillary) services. Requires an issuer offering network coverage to show that enrollees have access to specialized treatment. Regulates network incentive plans. Requires an issuer to: (1) permit each network enrollee to select a personal health professional from participating professionals; (2) cover nonparticipating providers, regulating premiums and cost sharing; (3) avoid undue enrollee burden from care coordination and cost control processes; (4) ensure direct specialist access; (5) provide for continuity of care for those with special needs or a chronic condition; and (6) provide for continued coverage in certain circumstances. Prohibits issuer discrimination on the basis of specified factors against individuals or providers. Prohibits any issuer-professional agreement from restricting the professional from engaging in medical communications with the professional's patient. Sets forth requirements regarding utilization review, an appeals process, and the process by which health professionals and providers become participants. Requires issuers to: (1) disclose certain information to enrollees and prospective enrollees; (2) comply with Federal and State confidentiality laws; (3) meet State solvency-related requirements; and (4) establish a quality improvement program. Requires issuers to comply with this Act regarding group and individual coverage. Declares that the requirements of this Act do not preempt any State law providing equivalent or stricter protections for individuals. Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 to require a group health plan and an issuer offering coverage under such a plan to comply with the requirements of this Act. Declares that this Act does not preempt any State: (1) law providing equivalent or stricter protections for individuals; or (2) cause of action for personal injury or wrongful death damages that provides insurance or administrative services to or for an employee welfare benefit plan maintained to provide health benefits.
United States · United States Congress · 23 April 1997
Expresses the sense of the Congress that certain provisions of the Merchant Marine Act, 1920 relating to transportation of merchandise between U.S. points in other than domestically built or rebuilt and documented vessels and to incineration of hazardous waste at sea (those provisions popularly known as the Jones Act) and related statutes are critically important components of our Nation's economic and military security and should be fully and strongly supported.
United States · United States Congress · 17 April 1997
Defense of the Environment Act of 1997 - Requires any report of a congressional committee or committee of conference accompanying a public bill or joint resolution that includes any provision that reduces environmental protection to contain: (1) an identification and description of the provision; (2) an assessment of the extent of such reduction; (3) a description of any actions to avoid such reduction; and (4) any statement received from the Comptroller General, upon request of the committee or a majority of either the minority or majority members of the committee, assessing the reduction. Deems a provision to reduce environmental protection if it may: (1) allow increased pollution; (2) adversely affect the environmental quality of public lands or diminish protection of species that may be endangered; (3) increase children's exposure to environmental contaminants and other environmental risks; or (4) have the effect of shielding environmental law violators or limiting judicial review of agency action under authority of any environmental law. Provides for consultation and assistance of the Comptroller General at the request of any committee. Requires the Director of the Office of Management and Budget to ensure that each Federal agency: (1) collects and catalogs available information that would assist in assessing whether any bill, joint resolution, amendment, or conference report provision would reduce environmental protection; (2) facilitates the availability of such information for Congress' use; and (3) makes such information readily available to the Comptroller General for purposes of fulfilling the assessment and consultation duties described above. Requires such information to be made publicly available. Makes out of order in the House of Representatives and the Senate the consideration of any reported bill or joint resolution, or conference report, unless the committee has complied with the identification and assessment provisions of this Act. Makes any rule waiving these provisions out of order in the House. Amends the Rules of the House of Representatives with respect to the consideration and striking of provisions reducing environmental protection within the meaning of this Act. Provides Senate procedures for the striking of such provisions.
United States · United States Congress · 17 April 1997
Medicare Medical Nutrition Therapy Act of 1997 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide for Medicare coverage of medical nutrition therapy services of registered dieticians and nutrition professionals.
United States · United States Congress · 17 April 1997
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Early Learning and Opportunity Grants Title II: Amendment to Internal Revenue Code of 1986 Title III: Amendment to Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 Title IV: Amendments to the Head Start Act Early Learning and Opportunity Act of 1997 - Title I: Early Learning and Opportunity Grants - Authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make grants to eligible States to improve the quality and increase the availability of child care services, and of family support services, for families with children less than three years of age. (Sec. 103) Directs the Secretary to: (1) develop a voluntary model training program for employees of child care providers; (2) make available to Head Start agencies and child care providers the code developed for such model training program; and (3) provide technical assistance to such agencies and providers to implement it. (Sec. 105) Authorizes appropriations. Title II: Amendment to Internal Revenue Code of 1986 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to include imported property income (except for foreign oil and gas related income, or property subsequently exported) as foreign base company income in the gross income of a U.S. shareholder of a controlled foreign corporation. Title III: Amendment to Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 - Amends the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 to extend its coverage to employers with more than 20 employees (current law applies only to employers with more than 50 employees). Title IV: Amendment to the Head Start Act - Amends the Head Start Act to extend the authorization of appropriations. (Sec. 402) Revises a formula for allotment of certain training and technical assistance funds under such Act. Increases the amount of funds reserved for services to families with children less than three years of age (programs for families with infants and toddlers).
United States · United States Congress · 16 April 1997
Expanded War Crimes Act of 1997 - Amends the Federal criminal code to apply the criminal penalties prescribed for a grave breach of the Geneva Convention, inside or outside the United States, by a U.S. national or member of the armed forces to additional war crimes defined to include conduct: (1) prohibited by Articles 23, 25, 17, or 28 of the Annex to the Hague Convention IV, Respecting the Laws and Customs of War on Land, signed October 18, 1907; (2) which constitutes a violation of common Article 3 of the conventions and which deals with non-international armed conflict; or (3) of a person who willfully kills or causes serious injury to civilians in relation to an armed conflict and contrary to the provisions of the Protocol on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Mines, Booby-Traps and Other Devices as amended at Geneva on May 3, 1996, when the United States is a party to such Protocol.
United States · United States Congress · 16 April 1997
National Drug Policy Act of 1997 - Establishes the Commission on National Drug Policy to study and report to the President and the Congress on the unlawful production, distribution, and use of controlled substances.
United States · United States Congress · 15 April 1997
Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide for coverage of drugs approved by the Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of individuals with multiple sclerosis.
United States · United States Congress · 15 April 1997
Amends Federal tort claims provisions to repeal the exception from coverage for any claim arising in a foreign country. Authorizes a Federal officer or employee to bring an action against the United States which is based on the gross negligence of another U.S. officer or employee.
United States · United States Congress · 10 April 1997
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Child Labor Free Labeling Standards Title II: Child Labor Free Commission Title III: Recognition of Exemplary Corporate Efforts Title IV: Definitions Child Labor Free Consumer Information Act of 1997 - Title I: Child Labor Free Labeling Standards - Directs the Secretary of Labor to issue regulations to ensure that a label using any term or symbol denying the use of child labor does not make a false statement or suggestion that the article or section of wearing apparel or sporting good was not made with child labor. Requires such standards to encourage the use of an easily identifiable symbol or term indicating that the article or section of wearing apparel or sporting good was not made with child labor. (Sec. 101) Requires a producer, importer, exporter, distributor, or other person intending to use any such label to notify the Child Labor Free Commission (CLFC, established under title II of this Act) specified source information. Requires the Commission to review the notification and inform the Secretary, whose permission is required for use of such label. Authorizes the Secretary to charge a fee to cover the CLFC's notification review expenses. Makes it a violation of the Federal Trade Commission Act (FTCA) for any producer, importer, exporter, distributor, or seller of any article or section of wearing apparel or sporting good that is exported from or offered for sale in the United States to falsely indicate on the label or the packaging, or in the advertising, or otherwise falsely claim or suggest, that the item was not made with child labor. Amends FTCA to prescribe civil penalties for such violations. Establishes in the Treasury the Free the Children Fund for receipt of such penalties. Authorizes annual appropriations from the Fund for educational and other programs to eliminate child labor. Authorizes the CLFC to: (1) develop labeling standards similar to the labeling standards developed for any industry that is not otherwise covered under this Act; and (2) recommend their promulgation to the Secretary, so that this Act and the FTCA shall also apply to the labeling covered by those standards. (Sec. 102) Directs the CLFC to assist the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) by reviewing petitions alleging violations of the labeling standards under this Act. Provides, on the basis of CLFC violation reports, for: (1) the Secretary's temporary withdrawal of permission to use such labels; and (2) the FTC's issuance of cease and desist orders. Title II: Child Labor Free Commission - Establishes the Child Labor Free Commission (CLFC) to: (1) assist the Secretary in developing child labor free labeling standards, and in developing and implementing a compliance system; and (2) commence developing an easily identifiable labeling standard that the Secretary of Labor may issue to encourage the use of voluntary labels informing consumers that an article of wearing apparel or sporting good was made without the use of sweatshop or exploited adult labor. Title III: Recognition of Exemplary Corporate Efforts - Directs the Secretary to: (1) report annually on companies making exemplary progress in ensuring that products they make, sell, or distribute are not made with abusive and exploitative child labor; and (2) develop and implement, with the CLFC, other methods of recognizing such exemplary company programs. Title IV: Definitions - Defines child as an individual who has not attained the age of: (1) 15 years, as measured by the Julian calendar; or (2) 14 such years, for a resident of a country that, by law, so defines a child.
United States · United States Congress · 10 April 1997
Mammography Quality Standards Reauthorization Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to authorize appropriations to carry out provisions relating to the certification of mammography facilities. Requires that appeals from certification denials follow procedures in effect at that time (currently, in effect on a specified date). Modifies mammogram record retention requirements. Allows inspection of facilities (currently, certified facilities) for compliance with certification requirements and mammography quality standards (currently, compliance with mammography quality standards). Allows inspections to be conducted by a local agency on behalf of the Secretary of Health and Human Services. Empowers the Secretary to require a facility to notify patients who received mammograms if the Secretary determines the quality was so inconsistent with standards as to present a significant risk to the individual or public health. Authorizes civil money penalties for failure to comply. Allows certificate suspension or revocation for a failure to comply with an accreditation body's requests for records or materials. Modifies requirements for certification suspension before holding a hearing.
United States · United States Congress · 10 April 1997
Fair Pay Act of 1997 - Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to prohibit discrimination in the payment of wages on account of sex, race, or national origin. (Allows payment of different wages under seniority systems, merit systems, or systems that measure earnings by quantity or quality of production.) Prohibits the discharge of or any other discrimination against an individual for opposing any act or practice made unlawful by this Act, or for assisting in an investigation or proceeding under it. Directs courts, in any action brought under this Act for violation of such prohibition, to allow expert fees as part of the costs awarded to prevailing plaintiffs. Allows any such action to be maintained as a class action. Requires employers subject to such prohibition to: (1) preserve records which document and support the method, system, calculations, and other bases used by the employer in establishing, adjusting, and determining the wages paid to their employees, for periods of time prescribed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC); and (2) make reports to the EEOC. Directs the EEOC to: (1) undertake studies and provide information and technical assistance to employers, labor organizations, and the general public concerning effective means available to implement this Act; (2) carry on a continuing program of research, education, and technical assistance with specified components related to the purposes of this Act; and (3) include a separate evaluation and appraisal regarding the implementation of this Act in its annual report to the Congress.
United States · United States Congress · 10 April 1997
Medicare Medically Necessary Dental Care Act of 1997 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide for coverage under part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) of medically necessary dental procedures which are cost-effective.
United States · United States Congress · 10 April 1997
Congratulates the residents of Jerusalem and the people of Israel on the 30th anniversary of the reunification of that city. Calls upon the President and the Secretary of State to affirm publicly as a matter of U.S. policy that Jerusalem must remain the undivided capital of Israel. Urges U.S. officials to refrain from any actions that contradict this policy.
United States · United States Congress · 9 April 1997
Child Health Insurance and Lower Deficit Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to authorize each State to establish a children's health insurance program. Requires participating States to contract with insurance issuers, ensure that policies are available to all eligible children, and provide certain premium and cost sharing payments. Mandates coverage equivalent to the medical assistance available under title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act. Requires each participating State, for each area served by a health center, to contract directly with the health center for direct services. Bases eligibility on family income (as a percentage of the poverty line), with assistance paid to the issuer (or, for a child receiving direct services, to the provider). Regulates the amount of grants to States. Provides for taking into account cost variations among States. Authorizes appropriations. Allows a State to use up to a specified percentage of the grants to meet the needs identified in the statewide needs assessments prepared under provisions of the Social Security Act relating to preventive and primary care services for pregnant women, mothers, and infants up to age one. Prohibits an employer that elects to make health coverage contributions from conditioning or varying the contributions because of an individual's eligibility for assistance under provisions of this Act. Provides for the application of specified provisions of title XXVII (Assuring Portability, Availability, and Renewability of Health Insurance Coverage) of the Public Health Service Act relating to preexisting conditions, portability, eligibility, guaranteed availability, and network plans and financial capacity. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to increase the tax on cigarettes, cigars, cigarette papers, cigarette tubes, smokeless tobacco, and pipe tobacco. Imposes a tax on floor stocks of tobacco products and cigarette papers and tubes.
United States · United States Congress · 9 April 1997
Morris K. Udall Parkinson's Research Act of 1997 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to mandate a program for the conduct and support of research and training regarding Parkinson's disease. Directs the Director of the National Institutes of Health to provide for coordination of the program among all the national research institutes conducting Parkinson's research. Requires coordination to include the convening of a research planning conference at least once every two years. Provides for each such conference to prepare and submit to certain congressional committees a report concerning the conference. Requires Core Center Grants to encourage the development of innovative multidisciplinary research and provide training concerning Parkinson's, designating each grant recipient as a Morris K. Udall Center for Research on Parkinson's Disease. Establishes a grant program to support investigators with a proven record of excellence and innovation in Parkinson's research and who demonstrate potential for significant breakthroughs in the understanding of the pathogenesis, diagnosis, and treatment of Parkinson's. Limits the availability of grants for a period not to exceed five years. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 9 April 1997
Federal Electronic and Information Technology Accessibility Compliance Act of 1997 - Amends the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 to require Federal agencies to provide certification of compliance with electronic and information technology accessibility guidelines for individuals with disabilities. Requires the Director of the Office of Management and Budget to establish uniform certification procedures. Requires that States continue to comply with such guidelines.
United States · United States Congress · 9 April 1997
Dolphin-Safe Fishing Act - Amends the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 to modify the requirements for the importation into the United States of yellowfin tuna harvested with purse seine nets in the eastern tropical Pacific ocean. Makes it unlawful to: (1) intentionally chase and net any dolphin in any tuna fishing operation (currently, intentionally set a purse seine net on or to encircle any marine mammal during tuna fishing), subject to exception; or (2) import any fish or fish product in violation of an importation ban under provisions relating to the practices used on the voyage involved (currently, a ban under provisions relating to imports from a country that fails to implement certain tuna-harvesting commitments). Changes the circumstances in which tuna or a tuna product is dolphin safe and the circumstances in which, under the Federal Trade Commission Act, it may be so labeled. Amends the Atlantic Tunas Convention Act of 1975 to mandate actions to ensure adoption of a bycatch reduction program. Declares that it is the sense of the Congress that each nation participating in the International Dolphin Conservation Program should contribute an equitable amount to the expenses of the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission and that the United States is currently paying an inequitable share. Directs the Secretary of State, in determining the U.S. amount, to consider certain factors.
United States · United States Congress · 8 April 1997
Veterans American Dream Homeownership Assistance Act of 1997 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code concerning the eligibility of veterans for State-financed veterans' home mortgages.
United States · United States Congress · 21 March 1997
Amends Federal civil service law to include as Federal law enforcement officers eligible under Civil Service Retirement System and Federal Employees' Retirement System provisions for early retirement (at age 50 after 20 years of Federal service) revenue officers in the Internal Revenue Service, customs inspectors and canine enforcement officers in the U.S. Customs Service, and inspectors in the Immigration and Naturalization Service.
United States · United States Congress · 21 March 1997
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: General Programs Regarding Prevention of HIV Infection Title II: Preventive Health Programs Regarding Women and HIV Infection Title III: General Provisions William A. Bailey Comprehensive HIV Prevention Act of 1997 - Title I: General Programs Regarding Prevention of HIV Infection - Amends the Public Healht Service Act to replace title XXV (Prevention of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) with a new title (Prevention of HIV Infection). Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to plan, coordinate, and evaluate human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection prevention activities of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDCP), the Health Resources and Services Administration, the Indian Health Service, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (designated agencies). Directs the Secretary to establish the Secretary's Advisory Council on HIV Prevention. Mandates, for each designated agency, a comprehensive plan and certain implementation activities regarding the conduct and support of all HIV prevention activities. Requires annual budget requests by the Secretary and each designated agency. Requires each designated agency (except NIH) to establish an office to carry out HIV prevention activities. Requires that the remainder of this title be carried out through the CDCP. Authorizes HIV epidemiology and surveillance activities. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes financial assistance to health departments of States and subdivisions for HIV prevention projects in communities of at-risk individuals. Mandates local and statewide HIV community planning groups. Allows use of assistance for: (1) certain counseling and testing; and (2) counseling and treatment for any victim of a crime involving force or the threat of force to compel sexual activity. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes the Secretary, directly or through financial assistance, to carry out HIV public education. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes HIV prevention activities regarding specific populations identified by the Secretary. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes HIV prevention activities regarding adolescents, including through school-based programs. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes, directly or through financial assistance, the conduct of HIV prevention research and the carrying out of demonstration projects. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes, directly or through financial assistance, HIV prevention activities in addition to those specified above in this Act. Authorizes appropriations. Title II: Preventive Health Programs Regarding Women and HIV Infection - Women and HIV Outreach and Prevention Act - Amends Public Health Service Act provisions (as amended by title I of this Act) relating to the CDCP to authorize grants, with regard to women (and their partners) and HIV, for preventive health services, referrals, follow-ups, outreach, and training on the effective provision of such services. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes grants to provide HIV prevention education to women. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes grants, cooperative agreements, and contracts to provide: (1) substance abuse treatment to women; (2) counseling to women who engage in substance abuse on the prevention of infection with, and the transmission of, the etiologic agent for AIDS; and (3) such counseling to women who are the partners of individuals who abuse substances. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes appropriations for grants under existing provisions to provide early intervention services for women and related technical assistance. Title III: General Provisions - Authorizes technical assistance to applicants and recipients under provisions of this Act relating to the CDCP.
United States · United States Congress · 21 March 1997
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 · 20 March 1997
Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act of 1997 - Provides collective bargaining rights for public safety officers employed by States or local governments. Requires States to grant public safety employees the right to form and join a labor organization which excludes management and supervisory employees, and which is, or seeks to be, recognized as the exclusive bargaining agent for such employees. Specifies related requirements for public safety employers. Requires the Director the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) to issue regulations establishing collective bargaining procedures for public safety employers and employees in States that fail to comply with the requirements of this Act. Gives the FMCS the same authority as a State Labor Relations Board (or of the National Labor Relations Board where no such State Board exists) for public safety employers and employees covered by this Act. Grants a public safety employer, employee, or labor organization the right to seek enforcement of such regulations through appropriate State courts. Prohibits public safety employers, employees, and labor organizations from engaging in lockouts or strikes. Provides that existing collective bargaining units and agreements shall not be invalidated by this Act. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 20 March 1997
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Establishment of a State-Based American Health Security Program; Universal Entitlement; Enrollment Title II: Comprehensive Benefits, Including Preventive Benefits and Benefits for Long Term Care Title III: Provider Participation Title IV: Administration Subtitle A: General Administrative Provisions Subtitle B: Control Over Fraud and Abuse Title V: Quality Assessment Title VI: National Health Security Budget; Payments; Cost Containment Measures Subtitle A: Budgeting and Payments to States Subtitle B: Payments by States to Providers Subtitle C: Mandatory Assignment and Administrative Provisions Title VII: Promotion of Primary Health Care; Development of Health Service Capacity; Programs to Assist the Medically Underserved Subtitle A: Promotion and Expansion of Primary Care Professional Training Subtitle B: Direct Health Care Delivery Subtitle C: Primary Care and Outcomes Research Subtitle D: School-Related Health Services Title VIII: Financing Provisions; American Health Security Trust Fund Subtitle A: American Health Security Trust Fund Subtitle B: Taxes Based on Income and Wages Subtitle C: Increase in Excise Taxes on Tobacco Products Title IX: Conforming Amendments to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 Title X: Additional Conforming Amendments American Health Security Act of 1997 - Title I: Establishment of a State-Based American Health Security Program; Universal Entitlement; Enrollment - Establishes the American Health Security Program (AHSP), to be administered by the States. Requires a State to establish a State health security program (program) to receive Federal health care funding. (Sec. 102) Entitles every individual who is a U.S. resident and is a U.S. citizen or national or a lawful resident alien to benefits. (Sec. 103) Requires each State program to provide an enrollment mechanism and issue a health security card to each enrollee. (Sec. 104) Makes benefits portable. Prohibits a minimum residence or waiting period in excess of a specified period. Allows reciprocal arrangements for coverage of border region enrollees. (Sec. 106) Supersedes titles XVIII (Medicare) and XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act, the Federal Employee Health Benefits Program, and the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Uniformed Services (CHAMPUS). Title II: Comprehensive Benefits, Including Preventive Benefits and Benefits for Long Term Care - Entitles all eligible individuals to payment items and services specified by the American Health Security Standards Board (Board) (established by title IV of this Act). Prohibits: (1) deductibles, coinsurance, or copayments for acute care and preventive benefits, subject to exception; (2) providers from charging a patient for covered services; and (3) duplicative private insurance. (Sec. 203) Covers a percentage of home and community-based long-term care services. (Sec. 204) Sets forth special delivery requirements for mental health and substance abuse treatment services provided to at-risk children. Directs the Board to make national determinations on coverage of experimental services. Title III: Provider Participation - Requires providers, to receive payment, to agree: (1) not to discriminate based on race, national origin, income, religion, age, sex or sexual orientation, disability, handicapping condition, or (subject to the qualifications of the provider) illness; (2) not to charge patients for covered services; (3) to furnish necessary information to the Board or program; (4) not to employ excluded providers; and (5) to submit bills within a specified time. (Sec. 302) Considers a health care provider to be qualified if the provider is licensed or certified and meets State law requirements, Federal requirements, and additional standards specified by the Board. Requires: (1) establishment of national minimum quality assurance standards and related monitoring; and (2) an exchange of information among programs regarding quality assurance and cost containment. (Sec. 303) Defines a "comprehensive health service organization" (CHSO) as a public or private organization that, in return for a capitated payment, furnishes or arranges for a full range of health services and out-of-area coverage for urgently needed services. Regulates CHSOs. (Sec. 304) Extends current Medicare prohibitions on physician self-referrals and applies the prohibitions to AHSP. Title IV: Administration - Subtitle A: General Administrative Provisions - Establishes the American Health Security Standards Board to develop policies and procedures for enrollment, benefits, provider participation, national and State funding levels, assisting programs with planning for capital expenditures and service delivery, and other functions. Mandates uniform reporting standards. (Sec. 402) Mandates an American Health Security Advisory Council. (Sec. 404) Requires: (1) each State to submit a plan for a program for providing health care services to residents; (2) the Board to provide States incentives to develop regional planning mechanisms; (3) State programs to meet Federal standards; and (4) each State to appoint a State Health Security Advisory Council. Allows: (1) programs not meeting Federal requirements to be placed in receivership; and (2) States to use fiscal agents to process claims. Subtitle B: Control Over Fraud and Abuse - Authorizes provider exclusion, civil monetary penalties, and criminal prosecution for fraud or abuse, based on current Medicaid standards. (Sec. 412) Requires each program to establish and maintain a health care fraud and abuse unit. Title V: Quality Assessment - Establishes the American Health Security Quality Council. (Sec. 502) Mandates: (1) methods for profiling practice patterns and for identifying those with quality deficiencies; (2) guidelines for procedures performed only at tertiary centers; and (3) standards for education and sanctions regarding those with quality deficiencies. (Sec. 503) Requires each participating State to establish an entity to conduct quality reviews. (Sec. 504) Expresses the intent to replace random utilization controls with a systematic review of patterns of practice. Supersedes all existing Federal utilization review programs. Title VI: Health Security Budget; Payments; Cost Containment Measures - Subtitle A: Budgeting and Payments to States - Directs the Board to establish a national health security budget specifying the total expenditures to be made by the Federal Government and the States for covered health care services. (Sec. 602) Provides for the allocation of funds in the budget by the Board to the States. (Sec. 604) Provides for programs to receive Federal funds equal to a weighted average of a specified percentage of their population-based share of the budget. (Sec. 605) Requires each program to establish a separate budget account for health professional education expenditures. Subtitle B: Payments by States to Providers - Directs that: (1) payment for operating expenses for institutional and facility-based care under State programs be made directly to each institution or facility; and (2) facility budgets be adjusted to reflect payments made by CHSOs. Allows programs to permit institutions and facilities to raise funds from private sources for specified purposes. (Sec. 612) Requires: (1) State programs to pay individual practitioners on a fee-for-service basis; and (2) the Board to establish models for such payment and for global fee payment methodologies. Permits States to require electronic billing. (Sec. 613) Authorizes programs to pay CHSOs based on annual budgets or risk-adjusted capitation payments, reduced by the costs of covered services not provided by the CHSO. (Sec. 614) Directs that programs pay for community-based primary health services based on global budgets, basic primary care capitation amounts for enrollees, or fee-for-service. (Sec. 615) Requires: (1) the Board to establish a list of approved prescription drugs and to determine maximum prices; and (2) each program to pay for such drugs based on such maximum prices and to pay separate dispensing fees to pharmacies. (Sec. 616) Directs: (1) the Board to establish a list of approved durable medical equipment and therapeutic devices and equipment; and (2) programs to pay for such items based on maximum prices determined by the Board. (Sec. 617) Requires State programs to pay for other items and services based on methodologies adopted by the Board. (Sec. 618) Directs the Board to establish model payment methodologies and other incentives that promote the provision of services in medically underserved areas. (Sec. 619) Authorizes programs to use alternative payment methodologies, provided certain requirements are met. Subtitle C: Mandatory Assignment and Administrative Provisions - Requires that participating providers accept program payment as full payment. Permits provider exclusion and civil penalties for violations. (Sec. 632) Requires a provider payment appeals process. Title VII: Promotion of Primary Health Care; Development of Health Service Capacity; Programs to Assist the Medically Underserved - Subtitle A: Promotion and Expansion of Primary Care Professional Training - Sets forth Board responsibilities regarding the education of health professionals. Sets as national goals that: (1) at least 50 percent of graduate medical residencies be in primary care within five years of this Act's enactment; and (2) there be a certain number, specified by the Board, of midlevel primary care practitioners employed in the health care system by a specified date. (Sec. 702) Mandates an Advisory Committee on Health Professional Education. (Sec. 703) Requires transfer of specified revenues from the American Health Security Trust Fund (Fund) for certain existing programs supporting health professional education and nursing education and for the National Health Service Corps. Subtitle B: Direct Health Care Delivery - Mandates transfer of specified Fund revenues to the Public Health Service for maternal and child health block grants, prevention and treatment of tuberculosis, prevention and treatment of sexually transmitted diseases, preventive health block grants, grants to States for community mental health services and the prevention and treatment of substance abuse, grants for HIV health care services, public health formula grants, and primary care service expansion grants. (Sec. 713) Mandates grants to primary care centers to plan, develop, and deliver primary care to medically underserved populations. Subtitle C: Primary Care and Outcomes Research - Mandates transfer of specified Fund revenues to the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research for health outcomes research. (Sec. 722) Amends the Public Health Service Act to establish in the National Institutes of Health an Office of Primary Care and Prevention Research and a national data system and clearinghouse on primary care and prevention research. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle D: School-Related Health Services - Authorizes appropriations for this subtitle. Mandates grants to State health agencies or to local community partnerships to develop and operate school health service sites. Title VIII: Financing Provisions; American Health Security Trust Fund - Subtitle A: American Health Security Trust Fund - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to create the American Health Security Trust Fund (Fund). Appropriates to the Fund the increase in tax liabilities attributable to the application of amendments made by this title and receipts from: Medicare, Medicaid, Federal employees' health benefits program, CHAMPUS, Maternal and Child Health program (under title V of the Social Security Act), vocational rehabilitation programs, drug abuse and mental health services programs under the Public Health Service Act, programs providing general hospital or medical assistance, and certain other Federal programs. Transfers to the Fund amounts in the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund and the Federal Supplementary Medical Insurance Trust Fund. Subtitle B: Taxes Based on Income and Wages - Imposes a health care excise tax on every employer and on the self-employed, railroad employers, and railroad employee representatives. Imposes an individual health care income tax. Prohibits credits against the tax and any effect on the minimum tax in relation to the individual health care income tax. Subtitle C: Increase in Excise Taxes on Tobacco Products - Increases the excise taxes on tobacco products. Title IX: Conforming Amendments to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 - Makes the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) inapplicable to health coverage arrangements under State health security programs. Exempts State health security programs from ERISA preemption. Prohibits employee benefits duplicating State health security program benefits and requires that a liable workers' compensation carrier reimburse the State health security plan. Repeals ERISA continuation coverage requirements. Title X: Additional Conforming Amendments - Repeals specified provisions of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, ERISA, and the Public Health Service Act.
United States · United States Congress · 20 March 1997
Prohibits the import, export, or shipment in interstate commerce of steel jaw leghold traps and of articles of fur derived from animals trapped in such traps. Prescribes criminal penalties for violations of this Act. Directs the Secretary of the Interior to reward nongovernment informers for information leading to a conviction under this Act. Empowers enforcement officials to detain, search, and seize suspected merchandise or documents and to make arrests with and without warrants. Subjects seized merchandise to forfeiture.
United States · United States Congress · 20 March 1997
Captive Exotic Animal Protection Act of 1997- Amends the Federal criminal code to prohibit and set penalties for knowingly transferring, transporting, or possessing a confined exotic animal for purposes of allowing the killing or injuring of that animal for entertainment or the collection of a trophy.
United States · United States Congress · 20 March 1997
Prohibits the United States from supporting the admission of China into the World Trade Organization (WTO) unless the Congress passes a joint resolution, according to specified procedures, allowing the United States to support such admission. Directs the President to: (1) notify the Congress if China becomes a member of the WTO without the support of the United States; and (2) submit notice of the withdrawal of the United States from the WTO Agreement. Makes a conforming amendment to the Uruguay Round Agreements Act.
United States · United States Congress · 20 March 1997
Firefighters Pay Fairness Act of 1997 - 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 fire fighters 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.
United States · United States Congress · 20 March 1997
Credit Union Membership Access Act - Amends the Federal Credit Union Act to limit Federal credit union membership to one or more groups each of which has a common bond within such group.
United States · United States Congress · 20 March 1997
Constitutional Amendment - Declares that equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State on account of sex.
United States · United States Congress · 20 March 1997
Honors Cesar E. Chavez for his commitment to improve the plight of farm workers and the poor. Urges that a Federal holiday be recognized throughout the United States in his honor. Encourages all Americans to commit themselves to working for justice through nonviolence in their communities.
United States · United States Congress · 19 March 1997
Colorectal Cancer Screening Act of 1997 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to prescribe frequency and payment limits under Medicare part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) for screening fecal-occult blood tests, flexible sigmoidoscopies, barium enemas, and colonoscopy.
United States · United States Congress · 19 March 1997
Indonesia Military Assistance Accountability Act - Prohibits U.S. military assistance and arms transfers to the Government of Indonesia unless the President certifies to the Congress that the Government of Indonesia: (1) permits opposition parties to freely choose their own party leaders and candidates; (2) provides for independent election- monitoring organizations to observe national elections without interference by Government or armed forces personnel; (3) provides protection for both domestic and international nongovernmental organizations; (4) has investigated the attack on the headquarters of the Democratic Party of Indonesia on July 26, 1996, and prosecuted those responsible for such attack; (5) has released specified political prisoners; (6) has entered into discussions toward resolution of the conflict in East Timor; and (7) has taken actions to improve labor rights there. Waives such limitations if the President determines and notifies the Congress that: (1) an emergency exists requiring such assistance or arms transfers; or (2) it is in the national security interest of the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 19 March 1997
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Pension Access and Coverage Subtitle A: Improved Access to Individual Retirement Savings Subtitle B: Improved Fairness in Retirement Plan Benefits Subtitle C: Improving Retirement Plan Coverage Subtitle D: Simplifying Plan Requirements Title II: Security Subtitle A: General Provisions Subtitle B: ERISA Enforcement Title III: Portability Title IV: Comprehensive Women's Pension Protection Subtitle A: Pension Reform Subtitle B: Protection of Rights of Former Spouses to Pension Benefits Under Certain Government and Government-Sponsored Retirement Programs Subtitle C: Modifications of Joint and Survivor Annuity Requirements Subtitle D: Spousal Consent Required for Distributions From Section 401(k) Plans Subtitle E: Women's Pension Toll-Free Phone Number Title V: Date for Adoption of Plan Amendments Retirement Security Act of 1997 - Title I: Pension Access and Coverage - Subtitle A: Improved Access to Individual Retirement Savings - Chapter 1: Contributions To Individual Retirement Plans Through Payroll Deductions - Amends the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) to require a private contractor with the Secretary of Labor to establish a system under which: (1) eligible employees, through employer payroll deductions, may make contributions to individual retirement plans; and (2) amounts in the individual retirement plans are invested according to certain requirements. (Sec. 103) Provides for: (1) contributions to individual retirement plans; (2) investment options; (3) accounting and information; (4) administrative costs; (5) fiduciary responsibilities, liability and penalties, bonding, and investigative authority; and (6) selection of contractor. (Sec. 108) Authorizes appropriations for: (1) the Secretary of Labor to design and award the contract for such system; and (2) the contractor to begin operations. Chapter 2: Nonrefundable Tax Credit for Contributions to Individual Retirement Accounts - Amends IRC to allow a nonrefundable tax credit for a portion of contributions to individual retirement plans, calculated according to a specified scale. Chapter 3: Expanded Individual Retirement Accounts to Increase Coverage and Portability - Subchapter A: IRA Deduction - Raises the income limitations for the individual retirement account (IRA) tax deduction, with a corresponding adjustment to the formula for the phaseout of such limitations. (Sec. 122) Prescribes an inflation adjustment for the IRA deductible amount and income limitations. Subchapter B: Distributions and Investments - Allows the use of distributions from individual retirement plans, without additional tax, to: (1) purchase first homes; (2) pay higher education expenses; or (3) pay financially devastating medical expenses. (Sec. 132) Allows the use without penalty of distributions from certain plans during periods of unemployment. (Sec. 133) Requires that contributions to individual retirement plans (other than special individual retirement accounts) be held for at least five years in certain cases before they may be distributed without specified tax consequences. Chapter 4: Periodic Pension Benefits Statements - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) with respect to periodic pension benefits statements in cases of defined benefit plans, defined contribution plans, and multiemployer plans. Subtitle B: Improved Fairness in Retirement Plan Benefits - Amends IRC to require a specified minimum employer contribution to simple retirement accounts. Provides for an employer option to suspend contributions with 30-days' notice. Amends ERISA with respect to fiduciary duties in the case of such accounts. (Sec. 152) Amends IRC to set forth various nondiscrimination rules for qualified cash or deferred arrangements and matching contributions. (Sec. 153) Increases from $75,000 to $80,000 per year specified compensation criteria for a highly compensated employee. Excludes specified categories of employees with respect to age, short length of service, and part-time service from the meaning of highly compensated employee. Subtitle C: Improving Retirement Plan Coverage - Allows a tax credit for up to a maximum $500 of the qualified start-up costs of eligible small employers in establishing a qualified pension plan or qualified employer payroll deduction system. (Sec. 162) Limits annual benefits under governmental and multiemployer plans to $90,000, eliminating the alternative 100 percent of high three-year average compensation limitation. Exempts from the $7,500 or one third of includible compensation limit for annual benefits certain excess benefit arrangements under deferred compensation plans of State and local governments and tax-exempt organizations. Prohibits such arrangements from being taken into account in determining whether any other plan is an eligible deferred compensation plan. (Sec. 163) Declares that compensation deferred under a mirror plan shall not be taken into account in applying certain limits (with respect to deferred compensation plans of State and local governments and tax-exempt organizations) to compensation deferred under any other deferred compensation plan. (Sec. 164) Sets forth special rules to treat contributions by self-employed individuals as matching contributions. (Sec. 165) Amends specified Federal law relating to Federal employees to allow immediate participation in the Thrift Savings Plan for Federal employees by eliminating certain waiting periods. (Sec. 166) Amends the IRC to revise the limits on contributions excluded from the calculation of non-deductible contributions for purposes of the tax on non-deductible contributions to a qualified employer plan. (Sec. 167) Excludes from gross income any workers' compensation received by former police officers or fire fighters for heart disease or hypertension. Subtitle D: Simplifying Plan Requirements - Amends IRC and ERISA to set a full funding limitation for multiemployer plans. (Sec. 172) Eliminates IRC partial termination rules for multiemployer plans. (Sec. 173) Revises IRC nondiscrimination and minimum participation rules with respect to governmental plans. (Sec. 174) Eliminates specified ERISA requirements for plan descriptions and for filing of summary plan descriptions and descriptions of material modifications to a plan. (Sec. 175) Replaces the 150 percent of current liability factor in the calculation of the full-funding limit with an incremental scale from 155 percent in 1998 to 170 percent in 2001, followed by zero in 2002 and succeeding years. (Sec. 176) Directs the Secretaries of the Treasury and of Labor to expand their efforts to examine existing guidance regarding notice, recordkeeping, and operational requirements for retirement plans, in order to permit the use of new technologies by plan sponsors and administrators in ways which maintain the protection of the rights of participants and beneficiaries. Title II: Security - Subtitle A: General Provisions - Amends ERISA to provide investment protection for specified plans that include qualified cash or deferred arrangements under IRC ("401(k) plans") by setting limitations on investment in employer securities and employer real property by cash or deferred arrangements. Provides a transition rule for plans holding excess securities or property. (Sec. 202) Applies an ERISA requirement for annual, detailed investment reports to certain IRC 401(k) plans. Directs the Secretary of Labor, in prescribing regulations for required information in such reports, to consider including specified types of information. (Sec. 203) Directs the Secretary of Labor to study and report to the Congress on: (1) the extent to which pension plans invest in collectibles; and (2) whether such investments present a risk to the pension security of the participants and beneficiaries of such plans. (Sec. 204) Amends IRC to prohibit qualified employer plans from making loans through credit cards and other intermediaries. (Sec. 205) Increases the amounts of multiemployer plan benefits guaranteed under ERISA. (Sec. 206) Increases the maximum amount of the civil penalty which may be assessed administratively for certain prohibited transactions. (Sec. 207) Amends ERISA with respect to substantial owner benefits to revise the phase-in of guarantee and the allocation of assets. (Sec. 208) Directs the Secretary of Labor to report annually to the President and the Congress on plans from which residual assets were distributed to employers (reversion report). (Sec. 209) Expresses the sense of the Congress that the Secretary of the Treasury should: (1) review existing correction mechanisms to determine whether modifications might facilitate additional utilization by sponsors, improve voluntary compliance, and hasten the correction of pension plans; (2) consider whether additional means of addressing nonegregious violations should be explored; and (3) make appropriate legislative recommendations. Subtitle B: ERISA Enforcement - Amends ERISA enforcement provisions to repeal a limited scope audit requirement for employee pension benefit plans. Requires an accountant, in offering an opinion in the case of an employee pension benefit plan, to rely, to the extent consistent with generally accepted auditing standards, on the work of any independent public accountant of any bank or similar institution or insurance carrier that holds assets or processes transactions of the employee pension benefit plan, provided that such bank, institution, or insurance carrier is regulated, supervised, and subject to periodic examination by a State or Federal agency. (Sec. 212) Sets forth additional ERISA requirements for qualified public accountants. (Sec. 213) Amends ERISA and the IRC to exempt from the prohibition against assignment or alienation of an accrued pension benefit offsets for certain civil and criminal judgments against fiduciaries. Changes from mandatory to discretionary the imposition and amount of civil penalties for breach of fiduciary responsibilities. Title III: Portability - Amends ERISA and the IRC to provide for faster vesting of employer matching contributions. (Sec. 302) Revises certain restrictions on distributions from IRC 401(k) plans. (Sec. 303) Amends ERISA and IRC with respect to an accrued benefit not to be decreased by plan amendment to revise the treatment of transfers between defined contribution plans. (Sec. 304) Amends ERISA rules requiring transfer of benefits of missing participants to direct the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) to prescribe similar rules for multiemployer plans that terminate. Requires transfer of missing participants' plan benefits to the PBGC by certain plans not otherwise subject to ERISA enforcement provisions. Title IV: Comprehensive Women's Pension Protection - Subtitle A: Pension Reform - Makes certain new rules for pension integration under the Tax Reform Act of 1986 applicable to all existing accrued benefits. (Sec. 401) Amends IRC to: (1) disallow integration for simplified employee pensions; and (2) provide for eventual repeal of certain pension integration rules. (Sec. 402) Sets forth rules regarding the application of minimum coverage requirements with respect to separate lines of business. (Sec. 403) Amends IRC and ERISA with respect to division of pension benefits upon divorce, at the former spouse's election, to deem any State divorce decree to be a domestic relations order specifying that half of the marital share of the participant's accrued benefit is to be provided to such former spouse. (Sec. 404) Amends the Railroad Retirement Act of 1974 (RRA) to entitle divorced spouses to railroad retirement annuities independent of the employee's actual entitlement. Subtitle B: Protection of Rights of Former Spouses to Pension Benefits Under Certain Government and Government-Sponsored Retirement Programs - Amends RRA to extend Tier II railroad retirement benefits to surviving former spouses pursuant to divorce agreements. (Sec. 412) Amends Federal civil service law with respect to survivor annuities for widows, widowers, and former spouses of Federal employees who die before attaining the age for deferred annuity under the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS). (Sec. 413) Amends Federal law relating to the armed forces to terminate a two-tier annuity computation and social security offset under the military survivor benefit plan. (Sec. 414) Amends Federal civil service law with respect to payment of lump-sum benefits to former spouses of Federal employees under CSRS and the Federal Employees' Retirement System (FERS). Subtitle C: Modifications of Joint and Survivor Annuity Requirements - Modifies ERISA and IRC requirements for joint and survivor annuities to provide for an alternative joint and two-thirds survivor annuity payable while both the participant and the spouse are alive. Subtitle D: Spousal Consent Required for Distributions From Section 401(k) Plans - Amends IRC to require spousal consent for distributions from section 401(k) plans. Subtitle E: Women's Pension Toll-Free Phone Number - Directs the Secretary of Labor to contract with an independent organization to create a women's pension toll-free phone number and contact. Authorizes appropriations. Title V: Date for Adoption of Plan Amendments - Sets forth dates for adoption of plan amendments.
United States · United States Congress · 19 March 1997
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Brownfield Remediation and Environmental Cleanup Title II: State Voluntary Response Programs Title III: Innocent Landowners and Prospective Purchaser Liability Community Revitalization and Brownfield Cleanup Act of 1997 - Title I: Brownfield Remediation and Environmental Cleanup - Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to establish a program to provide grants to local governments to inventory and conduct site assessments of brownfield sites. Defines a "brownfield site" as a parcel of land that contains or contained abandoned, idled, or under-used commercial or industrial facilities, the expansion or redevelopment of which is complicated by the presence or potential presence of hazardous substances, pollutants, or contaminants. (Sec. 103) Directs the Administrator to establish a program of grants to local governments for capitalization of loan programs for brownfield site cleanup by the locality or owner or prospective purchaser. (Sec. 104) Makes amounts in the Hazardous Substance Superfund (the Fund) available to carry out the grant programs of this Act. Authorizes appropriations from the Fund. (Sec. 105) Requires reports to the Congress regarding the site assessment and loan capitalization programs. (Sec. 106) Imposes funding limitations, including a restriction on use of funds to meet Federal cost-sharing requirements and a prohibition on the use of grants to pay fines or penalties. (Sec. 109) Authorizes appropriations to carry out the site assessment and loan capitalization programs. Title II: State Voluntary Response Programs - Amends the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA) to add provisions requiring the Administrator to provide technical and other assistance to States to establish and expand qualifying State voluntary response programs, comprised of elements including public participation opportunities, oversight and enforcement authorities, and certification mechanisms. Title III: Innocent Landowners and Prospective Purchaser Liability - Amends CERCLA, with respect to defenses to liability of an owner of after-acquired property, to deem a person to have made (under current law, "undertaken") appropriate inquiry into the property's previous ownership and uses if the person establishes that an environmental site assessment was conducted which meets specified requirements (compliance with an American Society for Testing and Materials standard or with standards issued by the President) and the person fulfills certain responsibilities concerning information compilation, exercise of appropriate care with respect to hazardous substances at the facility, and cooperation with those conducting response actions. (Sec. 302) Absolves from liability for response actions bona fide prospective purchasers to the extent liability at a facility for a release or threat thereof is based solely on ownership or operation of a facility. Gives a lien upon a facility to the United States for unrecovered response costs in any case in which there are such unrecovered costs for which the owner is not liable by reason of this Act and the facility's fair market value has increased above that which existed 180 days before the action was taken. (Sec. 303) Adds CERCLA provisions governing owner-operator status of persons owning or operating property contiguous to a release site.
United States · United States Congress · 19 March 1997
Merchant Mariners Fairness Act of 1997 - Provides that certain qualified service of a member of the U.S. merchant marine, including a vessel crewmember of the U.S. Army or Naval Transport Service, during World War II constituted active military service for purposes of eligibility for various veterans' benefits under the GI Bill Improvement Act of 1977. Requires the Secretary of Defense to issue an honorable discharge under such Act to each merchant marine member whose qualified service warrants such a discharge. Prohibits the payment of any retroactive benefits under this Act. Mandates a processing fee for any benefit application of a member possessing such qualified service.
United States · United States Congress · 18 March 1997
Subjects veterans' benefits claim decisions made by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs or the Board of Veterans' Appeals to revision on the grounds of clear and unmistakable error. Requires reversal or revision of such decision, by the same party making the original decision, if evidence establishes such error. Allows review requests for determining the existence of such error to be instituted by the Secretary, the Board, or the claimant.
United States · United States Congress · 18 March 1997
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Research on Lupus Title II: Delivery of Services Regarding Lupus Lupus Research and Care Amendments of 1997 - Title I: Research on Lupus - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Director of the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases to expand and intensify research and related activities of the Institute with respect to lupus. Requires the Director to: (1) coordinate such activities with similar activities conducted by other national research institutes and agencies of the National Institutes of Health; and (2) conduct or support research to expand the understanding of the causes of, and to find a cure for, lupus, including research to determine the reasons underlying the elevated prevalence of the disease among African-American and other women. Authorizes appropriations. Title II: Delivery of Services Regarding Lupus - Mandates grants for the establishment, operation, and coordination of effective and cost-efficient systems for the delivery of essential services to individuals with lupus and their families. Regulates fees imposed by grantees on service recipients. Authorizes technical assistance. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 18 March 1997
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: School Construction Assistance Program Title II: General Provisions Partnership to Rebuild America's Schools Act of 1997 - Title I: School Construction Assistance Program - Part 1: Program Authorized - Establishes a program to provide Federal funds to help States and local school districts finance the repair, renovation, modernization, and construction of their school facilities. (Sec. 104) Makes appropriations and specifies their allocation. Part 2: Grants to States - Provides for allocation of funds for formula grants to States by the Secretary of Education, on a proportional basis similar to that for Basic Grants for disadvantaged students under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. Sets forth requirements relating to: (1) eligible State agencies; (2) allowable uses of funds; (3) eligible construction projects; (4) period for project initiation; (5) selection of localities and projects; (6) State applications; (7) amount of Federal subsidy; (8) separate funds or accounts; (9) prudent investment; and (10) State reports. Part 3: Direct Grants to Local Educational Agencies - Provides for direct grants both formula and competitive) to local educational agencies (LEAs) by the Secretary of Education. (Sec. 121) Makes eligible for grants the LEAs with the largest numbers of children aged five through 17 from families living below the poverty level. Makes LEAs for Hawaii and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ineligible for such grants. Sets forth requirements relating to: (1) grantees; (2) allowable uses of funds; (3) eligible construction projects; (4) redistribution of funds; (5) local applications; (6) formula grants; (7) competitive grants; (8) amount of Federal subsidy; (9) separate funds or accounts; (10) prudent investment; and (11) local reports. Title II: General Provisions - Sets forth requirements relating to: (1) technical employees; (2) wage rates; (3) no liability of the Federal Government; and (4) consultation with Secretary of the Treasury by the Secretary of Education.
United States · United States Congress · 18 March 1997
Victims of Abuse Insurance Protection Act - Prohibits insurers and health carriers from engaging in specified acts (such as denying, terminating, or limiting coverage) on the basis that the applicant or insured (or any person with whom the applicant or insured is associated) is, has been, or may be the subject of abuse involving a current or former household or family member, intimate partner, or caretaker. Prohibits insurers from using, disclosing, or transferring information about an applicant's or insured's abuse status or abuse-related medical condition for any purpose unrelated to the direct provision of health care unless required by an order of an insurance regulatory entity or a court order. Prohibits disclosure or transfer of an applicant's or insured's location or telephone number. Requires insurers to develop and follow written procedures to protect the safety and privacy of an abuse subject. Requires an insurer that takes any adverse action regarding an abuse subject to advise the individual of the specific reasons for the action. Prohibits subrogation of claims resulting from abuse without the consent of the abuse subject. Empowers the Federal Trade Commission to examine and investigate any insurer regarding compliance with this Act. Provides for a private cause of action against an insurer in Federal or State court by an abuse subject applicant or insured claiming to be adversely affected by an act or practice of the insurer.
United States · United States Congress · 13 March 1997
Internet Tax Freedom Act - Prohibits a State or local government from imposing, assessing, or attempting to collect any tax or fee on the Internet or interactive computer services (ICs) or on their use. Preserves State and local taxing authority with respect to income, license, and sales taxes. Directs the Secretaries of the Treasury, Commerce, or State to: (1) undertake an examination of U.S. and international taxation of the Internet and ICs, as well as commerce conducted thereon; and (2) jointly submit to the President appropriate policy recommendations concerning such taxation. Directs the President to transmit to the appropriate congressional committees policy recommendations on the taxation of sales and other transactions effected on the Internet or through ICs. Requires all such recommendations to be consistent with policy statements of the Telecommunications Act of 1996. Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to state that the Federal Communications Commission or any equivalent State commission shall have no regulatory authority or jurisdiction with respect to charges paid by subscribers for ICs or information services transmitted through the Internet, except for the requirement that such services be provided at affordable rates to rural health care providers, schools, and libraries. Expresses the sense of the Congress that the President should seek bilateral and multilateral agreements through various international forums to establish that activity on the Internet and ICs be free from tariff and taxation.
United States · United States Congress · 13 March 1997
Breast Cancer Research Extension Act of 1997 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to extend the authorization of appropriations for breast cancer research.
United States · United States Congress · 13 March 1997
Domestic Violence Legal Services Eligibility Act - Amends the Legal Services Corporation Act to require the Legal Services Corporation, in establishing income levels to determine if a client who is the victim of domestic violence is eligible for assistance, to prescribe that only that client's income will be considered in making such determination.
![Official portrait of Rep. Pelosi, Nancy [D-CA-11]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/p000197_200.jpg)