United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1993
Radio Free Asia Act of 1993 - Amends the Board for International Broadcasting Act of 1973 to grant authority to the Board for International Broadcasting to operate a Radio Free Asia broadcasting service for the peoples of Asia. Revises the composition of the Board to add two additional members to be selected by the President. Allows funds made available to Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty to be used by Radio Free Asia. Authorizes appropriations. Requires the Board to report to the Congress on the desirability of the geographic expansion of funded broadcasts, particularly to Africa and the Middle East.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1993
Includes in the definition of a veteran (therefore eligible for all veterans' benefits) all persons considered to be Commonwealth Army veterans by reason of service with the armed forces during World War II in the Philippines.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1993
Employee Educational Assistance Act of 1993 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to make permanent the income tax exclusion of amounts paid under employee educational assistance programs.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1993
Establishes in the House of Representatives the Select Committee on Children, Youth, and Families to conduct a continuing comprehensive study and review of the problems of children, youth, and families.
United States · United States Congress · 5 October 1992
Provides for the withdrawal of nondiscriminatory treatment (most-favored-nation treatment) with respect to products imported from the Republic of Turkey. Authorizes the President to restore nondiscriminarty treatment to Turkish goods 30 days after certifying to the Congress that Turkey has: (1) released and accounted for the Americans abducted by Turkish forces during the invasion of Cyprus in 1974 and the Greek Cypriots who have been missing since that invasion; (2) restored to original condition for Christian worship churches that were converted to mosques; (3) withdrawn from Cyprus all Turkish military forces in excess of those permitted by the 1960 Treaty of Alliance and all Turkish colonists; (4) returned the area of Famagusta/Varosha to Cyprus; (5) returned property of U.S. citizens that was illegally taken by Turkish forces and the Denktash Turkish Cypriot regime; (6) undertaken negotiations that have resulted in progress toward establishing democracy in Cyprus; (7) halted its violations of the human rights of its Kurdish citizens; and (8) complied with the United Nations Charter, specified United Nations resolutions, and the North Atlantic Treaty, and is not engaged in human rights violations or ethnic cleansing.
United States · United States Congress · 30 September 1992
Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to provide that the minimum wage rate under such Act will be indexed to the cost of living in the same manner as benefits are indexed under specified provisions of the Social Security Act.
United States · United States Congress · 24 September 1992
Medicare Respite Care Coverage Act of 1992 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide for coverage of respite care services for a chronically dependent individual under Medicare part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance).
United States · United States Congress · 22 September 1992
Authorizes the Coalition for a National Memorial to Mahatma Gandhi to establish a memorial on Federal land in the District of Columbia or its environs to honor Mahatma Gandhi. Prohibits the United States from paying any expense of establishing the memorial.
United States · United States Congress · 17 September 1992
Family Investment Act of 1992 - Title I: Family and Medical Leave - Subtitle A: Short Title; Findings and Purposes - Family and Medical Leave Act of 1992 - Sets forth the short title of this title I, along with findings and purposes. Subtitle B: General Requirements for Leave - Establishes certain requirements for family and medical leave for permanent employees. Makes employees eligible for such leave if they have been employed, by the employer from whom leave is sought, for at least: (1) a total of 12 months; and (2) 1,250 hours of service during the previous 12-month period. (Excludes from such coverage: (1) employees at worksites at which the employer employs less than 50 persons, if the total number of employees of that employer within 75 miles of that worksite is less than 50; and (2) Federal officers and employees covered under subtitle C of this title.) Entitles employees to 12 workweeks of leave during any 12-month period because of: (1) the birth and care of their child; (2) the placement of a child for their adoption or foster care; (3) their care of a child, spouse, or parent who has a serious health condition; or (4) their own serious health condition which makes them unable to perform the functions of their position. Conditions such leave for the birth or placement of a child as follows: (1) the entitlement ends 12 months after the birth or placement; (2) such leave may not be taken intermittently unless employee and employer agree otherwise. Allows intermittent leave for necessary medical treatment of an employee or family member. Allows the employer to require a temporary transfer to an equivalent alternative position that better accommodates such intermittent leave. Allows all leave to which an employee is entitled under this subtitle: (1) to be taken on a reduced leave schedule, upon agreement with the employer; and (2) to consist of unpaid leave, except under specified conditions when substitution of certain types of paid leave may be elected or required. Declares that nothing in this Act shall require an employer to provide paid sick or medical leave in any situation in which the employer would not normally provide any such paid leave. Requires employees to: (1) give at least 30 days' notice of the need for leave to which they are entitled under this Act, when foreseeable; and (2) make a reasonable effort to schedule medical treatment or supervision so as not to disrupt unduly the employer's operations, subject to approval of the health care provider. Allows limitation of the dual aggregate leave entitlement to 12 weeks in any 12-month period, in the case of spouses employed by the same employer, if such leave is for the birth or placement of a child or for the care of a sick parent. Sets forth conditions of certification for leave entitlements under this title, including provisions relating to: (1) sufficient certification; (2) explanation of inability to perform job functions; (3) dates and duration of planned medical treatment in the case of intermittent leave; (4) second opinion; (5) resolution of conflicting opinions; and (6) subsequent recertification. Sets forth employment and benefits protections relating to leave entitlements under this title. Requires restoration of the employee to his or her position or an equivalent position upon return from such leave. Allows an employer to deny such restoration to certain highly compensated employees (i.e. those among the highest paid ten percent of the employer's employees within 75 miles of the facility at which the employee works), under specified conditions, if necessary to prevent substantial and grievous economic injury to the employer's operations. Requires maintenance of employee health benefits during such leave. Allows the employer to recover premiums paid for such coverage if the employee fails to return to work after the leave period has expired for reasons other than a certified serious health condition or other circumstances beyond the employee's control. Prohibits employers or other persons from: (1) interfering with employee rights under this title; or (2) from discriminating against any individual because of participation in proceedings or inquiries under this subtitle, or because the individual opposes any practice made unlawful by this subtitle. Sets forth the investigative authority of the Secretary of Labor (the Secretary) under this subtitle. Provides for enforcement of this title. Provides for administrative action by the Secretary to resolve complaints of violations under this subtitle in the same manner as under specified provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938. Provides for civil actions by employees, and by the Secretary on their behalf. Makes an employer who violates this subtitle's prohibitions against interfering with employee exercise of rights or discriminating against employees liable for damages in the amount of: (1) any wages, salary, employment benefits, or other compensation denied or lost to the employee by reason of the violation; (2) (in any case where such compensation has not been denied or lost) any actual monetary losses sustained by the employee as a direct result of the violation, such as the cost of providing care, up to the amount of 12 weeks' wages or salary; (3) interest on such losses; and (4) an additional amount of liquidated damages equal to the sum of such losses and the interest (except that the court may reduce or eliminate such additional liquidated damages in cases where the employer can show good faith and reasonable grounds for believing that the act or omission was not a violation). Makes such employers also liable for appropriate equitable relief, including, without limitation, employment, reinstatement, and promotion. Requires the court to allow attorney's fees and other costs of the action to be paid by the defendant in addition to any judgment awarded to the plaintiff. Sets forth provisions for limitations of such civil actions. Sets forth provisions for action for injunction by the Secretary. Sets forth special rules concerning employees of local educational agencies and of private elementary and secondary schools, including provisions relating to intermittent leave for instructional employees, periods near the completion of an academic term, and reduction of liability. Requires employers to post notice of the pertinent provisions of this subtitle. Requires fines for willful violations of such requirement. Directs the Secretary of Labor to prescribe regulations to carry out this subtitle. Subtitle C: Leave for Civil Service Employees - Amends specified Federal law to entitle civil service employees to family and temporary medical leave for specified periods. Makes such employees eligible for such leave if they have been employed by an employing agency for at least 12 months on other than a temporary or intermittent basis. Allows such employees up to 12 administrative workweeks in any 12-month period for: (1) family leave (i.e., leave because of the birth or placement of a child or care of a sick spouse, child, or parent), but such leave may not be used at a time more than 12 months after such birth or placement; or (2) temporary medical leave for a serious health condition that makes the employee unable to perform the functions of their position. Provides that such leave shall be without pay. Allows employees to substitute other types of paid leave for any part of such leave. Sets forth requirements for employees to give prior notice of the need for such leave, when foreseeable, and to schedule medical treatments, if possible, so as to not unduly disrupt the employing agency's operations. Sets forth certification provisions. Provides for protection for job position and health insurance benefits of employees using such leave. Sets forth prohibitions against coercion. Requires the Office of Personnel Management to prescribe regulations for administration of this title which are consistent with the regulations prescribed by the Secretary of Labor under subtitle B of this title. Subtitle D: Commission on Leave - Establishes the Commission on Leave. Requires the Commission to conduct a comprehensive study of: (1) existing and proposed policies relating to leave; (2) the potential costs, benefits, and impact on productivity of such policies on employers; and (3) alternative and equivalent State enforcement of this title with respect to employees of local educational agencies and private schools. Requires the Commission to report on such study to the Congress within two years after the Commission first meets. Terminates the Commission within 30 days after its report to the Congress. Subtitle E: Miscellaneous Provisions - Sets forth the effect of this title on other laws and existing employment benefits. Provides that nothing in this title shall be construed to discourage employers from adopting more generous leave policies. Directs the Secretary of Labor to prescribe regulations to carry out this subtitle within 60 days. Subtitle F: Coverage of Congressional Employees - Applies the rights and protections established under specified provisions of subtitle B of this title to Senate employees and any employing office of the Senate. Makes specified provisions of the Government Employee Rights Act of 1991 applicable, with certain exceptions including limitations on the period for requests for counseling. Provides that allegations shall be considered by the Office of Senate Fair Employment Practices or another entity designated by the Senate. Requires such Office to ensure that Senate employees are informed of their rights under this title. Applies the rights and protections under subtitle B of this title to employees of the House of Representatives, except for the exemption concerning highly compensated employees. Requires that the remedies and procedures under the Fair Employment Practices Resolution be applied in administering such coverage. Title II: Head Start, Child Immunization, and WIC Programs as Emergency Funding for Budget Purposes - Amends the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act) to treat as emergency funding requirements not subject to discretionary spending limits the costs of carrying out Head Start programs under the Head Start Act, child immunizations under the Public Health Service Act, and the special supplemental food program (WIC) under the Child Nutrition Act of 1966. Title III: Parents as Teachers - Parents as Teachers: the Family Involvement in Education Act of 1992 - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to establish a Parents as Teachers program. Authorizes the Secretary of Education (the Secretary) to make grants to States for parents as teachers programs, with special consideration for hard-to-serve populations. Makes eligible for such a grant any State which operates a parents as teachers program associated with the Parents as Teachers National Center in Missouri. Sets forth program requirements, limiting services to families during the period from the last three months of a mother's pregnancy to the child's attaining age three. Directs the Secretary to: (1) establish a Parents as Teachers National Center for information dissemination and technical and training assistance for States with such programs; and (2) evaluate such programs within four years. Provides for a declining Federal share in such program from 100 percent in the first year to 25 percent in the fifth year. Authorizes appropriations. Title IV: Family Preservation - Subtitle A: References to Social Security Act - States that, except as otherwise expressly provided, all amendments in this title are to the Social Security Act. Subtitle B: Child Welfare Services - Amends part B (Child Welfare Services) of title IV of the Social Security Act (SSA) to create an entitlement program for specialized child welfare services designed to keep together or reunify families in crises due to substance abuse, and prevent the need for placement in foster care. Repeals provisions for incentive payments to States which maintain a foster care inventory, information system, and case review system; but requires States to provide such protections and other services designed to keep families together or reunify them, or to place children for adoption, with a legal guardian, or in some other planned, permanent living arrangement. Requires States to submit the following types of reports on child welfare services and expenditures: (1) pre-expenditure reports; (2) post-expenditure reports; and (3) comparative financial contributions reports. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to transmit annually to specified congressional committees a summary of the information in such contributions reports. Reserves funds for entitlement grants to State court systems to assess and improve procedures in child welfare cases, in carrying out SSA title IV parts B and E (Foster Care and Adoption Assistance). Sets forth application requirements and formulas for determining the amount of such grants for FY 1994 through 1998. Directs the Secretary to submit interim and final reports to the Congress on the information obtained from assessments conducted with such grants and the impact of such grant program on State court procedures and functions. Requires each State to compile biennially a detailed directory of programs designed to keep families together or reunify them or place children permanenty, identifying which of such programs provides specialized child welfare services to families in crisis due to substance abuse. Requires State part B plans to contain a description of the measures taken by the State to comply with the Indian Child Welfare Act. Subtitle C: Foster Care and Adoption Assistance - Amends SSA title IV to add a new part C, Comprehensive Service Projects to grant States the flexibility and resources to develop comprehensive and coordinated services designed to: (1) preserve and strengthen families with children at risk of placement outside their homes; (2) reunite children with their families expeditiously if an out-of-home placement is found to be necessary; and (3) place children in adoptive homes or other permanent arrangements in a timely fashion if reunification with their families is not appropriate. Permits any State to apply to the Secretary for permission to: (1) conduct a comprehensive service project in a selected area or areas; and (2) suspend certain child welfare services and foster care and adoption assistance requirements with respect to State activities in such area or areas during the project. Sets forth: (1) application requirements and administrative provisions for such projects; (2) requirements with which such a project must comply; (3) provisions for determining project grant amounts; and (4) requirements for notification to States of such amounts, and for grant payments in equal quarterly installments. Places restrictions on the manner in which a State may carry out such projects. Requires States to report annually on funds expended under such projects to the Secretary and the Advisory Commission on Children and Families. Provides for project termination. Permits foster care and adoption assistance payments to be made in certain cases involving abandoned children and children whose adoption has been set aside by a court. Makes technical changes in the foster care maintenance and adoption assistance programs with respect to the removal from home requirement. Gives States the option of providing for respite care for foster parents with children who have special needs. Expands the definition of children with special needs for purposes of the adoption assistance program. Requires each States to submit to the Secretary the factors and conditions it uses to identify children with special needs, for purpsoes of such program, and any modifications to such factors and conditions. Directs the Secretary to establish an Advisory Committee on Foster Care Placement to study and report to the Secretary and the Congress on reasonable efforts requirements under State part E plan provisions. Covers specified percentages of State costs in developing, installing, and operating statewide mechanized data collection and information retrieval systems which: (1) the Secretary determines are likely to enhance the administrations of programs under parts B and E; and (2) meet other specified requirements. Requires State part E plans to provide for: (1) a triennial review of the amounts paid as foster care maintenance payments and adoption assistance to assure their continuing appropriateness; and (2) a report to the Secretary on the results. Requires that the dispositional hearing to determine the final status of a foster child occur within 12 months of his or her original placement, rather than the current 18 months. Revises: (1) the definition of "case review system"; and (2) the time frame for judicial determinations on voluntary placements. Sets forth case plan requirements for placement of children in out-of-State foster care. Requires annual review of the status of children in out-of-State foster care placements with the child present, except under certain circumstances. Requires States to collect data on the numbers of children in out-of-State foster care placements. Requires a State, in order to receive payments for expenditures after FY 1994 for foster care maintenance payments with respect to children placed in foster care outside the State, to conduct and submit to the Secretary a study identifying the number and common characteristics of such children and the reason why they were not placed in foster care in the State. Permits States to allow foster children making the transition from foster care to independent living to accumulate assets for the purpose of establishing a household. Eliminates: (1) the ceilings on Federal foster care payments to States; and (2) the States' authority to transfer unused foster care funds to the Child Welfare Services program. Directs the Secretary to: (1) establish an advisory committee; and (2) after consultation with it, issue final regulations for training of staff of agencies responsible for administering foster care and adoption assistance programs and for training of foster and adoptive parents. Directs the Secretary to publish annually information, on a State-by-State basis, on expenditures for, and the operations of, the Child Welfare Services program, the Foster Care and Adoption Assistance program, and Comprehensive Service Projects. Amends SSA title IV to add a new part G, Child Welfare Review System, under which the Secretary is required to: (1) establish a new system for reviewing State child welfare program compliance with SSA requirements; and (2) take certain actions in cases of noncompliance, which include imposing financial penalties. Subtitle D: Social Services Block Grant - Amends SSA title XX (Block Grants to States for Social Services) to authorize increased appropriations under such grant program. Provides for the allocation of funds to Indian tribes and tribal organizations. Subtitle E: Research, Demonstration, and Evaluation Activities - Amends part A (General Provisions) of SSA title XI to require the Director of the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) to establish an Advisory Commission on Children and Families. Requires the Commission to collect and assess specified types of information in order to identify cost-effective approaches to protect and enhance the physical, mental, emotional, and financial well-being of children and their families. Directs OTA to report annually to the Congress on the Commission and its assessment. Requires the Commission to conduct, directly or through contracts with independent research organizations, the following research and evaluation projects: (1) an evaluation of child welfare service programs, including intensive family preservation programs; (2) foster care evaluations; (3) longitudinal child welfare data bases, and studies of child welfare population dynamics; and (4) comprehensive service projects evaluations. Requires the Commission to study child separation guidelines. Directs the Secretary to contract with independent organizations to conduct the following research and evaluations: (1) a study to assess the prevalence and nature of risks to the safety of employees of child welfare systems; and (2) a three-year study to examine methodologies for measuring the workloads of providers of child welfare services and community mental health services. Directs the Secretary to authorize the following types of child welfare demonstration projects: (1) expeditious permanent placement of children; (2) child welfare worker training to deliver culturally sensitive and special needs services in U.S. areas that border on Mexico; (3) child welfare worker recruitment and retention strategies; and (4) joint training of child welfare workers and staff of mental health and juvenile justice agencies. Permits the Secretary to authorize foster care and adoption assistance demonstration projects to test the feasibility of eliminating certain SSA income and resources requirements, and allowing States to receive reimbursement for foster care and adoption assistance payments made with respect to children without regard to such income and resources. Directs the Secretary to provide technical assistance to States for: (1) implementing child welfare services, comprehensive service projects, and foster care and adoption assistance programs; (2) disseminating information on innovative child welfare agencies; (3) correcting problems identified through Federal audits and reviews and carrying out corrective action plans under foster care and adoption assistance programs; (4) implementing the foster care and adoption data collection system; and (5) addressing other matters identified by the Secretary. Subtitle F: Miscellaneous Human Resources Amendments - Amend SSA title IV part A (Aid to Families with Dependent Chidren) (AFDC) to: (1) give States the option to use retrospective budgeting without monthly reporting under the AFDC program; and (2) increase the stepparent income disregarded under the AFDC program. Amends the Family Support Act of 1988 to provide for an extension of the period for demonstration projects for evaluating model procedures for reviewing child support awards. Title V: Safe Children and Communities - Safe Children and Communities Act of 1992 - Authorizes the Secretary to make grants for projects to improve the safety of families with children in low-income, violent communities. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 9 September 1992
Waives the time limitations with respect to a claim for the disbursement of pay due by the Department of the Navy to a named individual as represented by payroll checks issued to, but not negotiated by, her before March 31, 1991.
United States · United States Congress · 12 August 1992
States that the criminal act of stalking other persons is of deep concern. Directs the Attorney General, acting through the Director of the National Institute of Justice, to: (1) evaluate anti-stalking legislation and proposed legislation in the States; (2) develop model anti-stalking legislation that is constitutional and enforceable; (3) prepare and disseminate to State authorities the findings made as a result of the evaluation; and (4) report to the Congress on the need for further Federal action.
United States · United States Congress · 12 August 1992
Authorizes the President, on behalf of the Congress, to present a gold medal to John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie in recognition of his accomplishments as a musician. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to provide for the sale of bronze duplicates of the medal.
United States · United States Congress · 12 August 1992
Filipino Veterans' Equity Act of 1992 - Amends the Immigration Act of 1990 to extend the naturalization application deadline for certain Filipino veterans of World War II. States that military service records authenticated by the Government of the Philippines shall be accepted to certify qualifying military service. Permits the naturalization examination and oath to be given in the Philippines. Grants special immigrant status for spouses and sons and daughters of such veterans.
United States · United States Congress · 12 August 1992
Women Veterans Health Programs Act of 1992 - Title I: Sexual Trauma Services - Requires that a veteran who is diagnosed by a Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) health professional designated by the Chief Medical Director (following an examination of the veteran by such professional) to be in need of counseling or treatment for sexual trauma resulting from events that occurred during the period of the veteran's service on active duty be furnished such care and services, even though such trauma has not been determined to be service-connected. Authorizes the Secretary of the DVA to enter into contracts with appropriate non-DVA facilities to furnish veterans with such care and services. Sets forth reporting requirements. Directs the Secretary to provide information and referrals concerning care and services related to sexual trauma that are available to veterans in the communities in which such veterans reside, including care and services available under programs of the DVA and from non-DVA agencies or organizations, by means of a telephone information system using a toll-free number. Requires the Secretary to ensure that such system: (1) is operated by DVA personnel who are trained in the provision of information and referrals to persons who have experienced sexual trauma; (2) is operated in a manner that protects the confidentiality of persons who place telephone calls to the system; (3) operates at all times; and (4) is visibly posted in DVA medical facilities and advertised through public service announcements, pamphlets, and other means. Directs the Secretary to commence a study of the needs of veterans for counseling, medical care, and other services for sexual trauma, including: (1) the extent to which women service members have experienced rape, sexual assault, sexual harassment, or other acts of sexual violence while on active military, naval, or air service; (2) the extent of any under-reporting of incidents of sexual violence among women members of the armed forces and the extent to which the rate of such under-reporting differs from the rate of under-reporting of such incidents among the general population of women in the United States; (3) the extent to which women members of the armed forces and women veterans who have experienced sexual trauma have used counseling, medical care, and other services furnished by the Department of Defense and the DVA in order to respond to such experiences; and (4) the same types of information with respect to men who are members of the armed forces and men who are veterans. Sets forth reporting requirements with respect to such study and the care and services furnished by DVA to veterans who have experienced sexual trauma. Directs the Secretary and the Secretary of Defense to jointly carry out a program to ensure that persons who are being separated from active military, naval, or air service are provided information on: (1) the counseling, medical care, and other services and assistance relating to sexual trauma that are available to veterans under programs carried out by the DVA; and (2) the requirements of eligibility for or entitlement to, and the procedures for applying for, such counseling, medical care, and other services and assistance. Requires the Secretaries to ensure that such information is provided in both a written and oral form through an in-person interview conducted by trained personnel with each person being separated. Requires the Secretary to submit to the Senate and House Committees on Veterans' Affairs a report relating to determinations of service connection for sexual trauma. Title II: Health Care for Women Veterans - Includes the term "well-women care services" within the definition of medical services for purposes of Federal veterans' provisions. Defines such term to mean health care services provided to women, including counseling and services relating to: (1) papanicolaou tests (pap smear); (2) breast examinations and mammography; (3) general reproductive health care and contraceptives; (4) the management of infertility and sexually transmitted diseases; (5) menopause; and (6) physical or psychological conditions arising out of acts of sexual violence. Authorizes contracts for hospital care and medical services with non-DVA facilities to furnish well-women care services for veterans on an ambulatory or outpatient basis, but only under contracts that expire not later than December 31, 1994. Directs the Secretary to: (1) submit to the Congress a report on the provision of health care services to women veterans; and (2) foster and encourage the initiation and expansion of research into matters relating to women's health. Requires the Comptroller General to carry out a study to determine: (1) the percentage of all admissions of women veterans to DVA facilities that are based on a diagnosis of psychotic illness; (2) the percentage of all admissions of men veterans to such facilities that are based on such diagnosis; and (3) an explanation of the difference, if any, in such percentages. Authorizes appropriations. Requires the Secretary, to the extent that the quantity and nature of information available to DVA personnel with respect to issues relating to health care for women veterans permit such personnel to carry out research relevant to the health care needs of women veterans, to take actions to ensure that medical research carried out by the Secretary gives consideration to issues relating to the health of the general population of adult women in the United States. Directs the Secretary to conduct an ongoing study to determine the needs of women veterans for health-care services. Sets forth reporting requirements. Authorizes appropriations. Requires the Secretary to submit to the Senate and House Committees on Veterans' Affairs a report on research relating to women veterans. Directs the Secretary to take appropriate actions to ensure that: (1) sufficient funding is provided to each DVA facility to permit the women veterans coordinator to carry out the functions of the coordinator at the facility; (2) sufficient clerical and communications support is provided to each such coordinator for that purpose; and (3) each such coordinator has direct access to the Director or Chief of Staff of the facility to which the coordinator is assigned. Directs the Secretary to appoint a full-time regional women veterans coordinator to serve in each regional office of the Veterans Health Administration. Sets forth responsibilities of such coordinators. Requires the Secretary to provide funds to be used for the members of the Advisory Committee on Women Veterans for: (1) travel in connection with a reasonable number of visits to DVA facilities to permit such members to carry out the responsibilities of the Advisory Committee; and (2) the conduct of meetings of the Advisory Committee.
United States · United States Congress · 11 August 1992
Preventing Our Kids from Inhaling Deadly Smoke (PRO-KIDS) Act of 1992 - Prohibits, notwithstanding any other provision of law, any Federal funds or financial assistance from being provided to or used by any person for services for children under five without an enforced policy prohibiting smoking in each portion of an indoor facility used for the services, with exceptions only for portions in which the services are not normally provided to children and that are ventilated separately. Allows waivers in certain circumstances.
United States · United States Congress · 11 August 1992
Supports the President's statement of August 6, 1992, and commends him for taking decisive steps to put pressure on Serbia to stop the conflict in Bosnia-Hercegovina, including through: (1) the diplomatic and political isolation of Serbia; (2) the strict enforcement of sanctions provided for in United Nations (UN) Security Council Resolution 757; (3) the implementation of the Security Council-endorsed plan to place heavy weapons belonging to all factions in Bosnia-Hercegovina under UN supervision; (4) the resumption of peace talks among all parties to the conflict; and (5) urging the Security Council to authorize measures, including the use of military force, necessary to ensure the provision of humanitarian relief to the people of Bosnia-Hercegovina. Urges the Security Council to consider means by which: (1) UN and International Committee of the Red Cross personnel shall be granted immediate, unimpeded, and continuous access to all refugee camps, prisoners-of-war camps, internment camps, and other places of detention in all of the republics of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia; and (2) civilians in Bosnia-Hercegovina shall be protected from the use of force and violations of the laws of war. Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that an international tribunal should be convened to: (1) investigate allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed within the territory of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia; and (2) accumulate evidence against, charge, and otherwise prepare the basis for trying any individual whom the tribunal has probable cause to believe is responsible for or committed such a crime.
United States · United States Congress · 5 August 1992
Expresses the sense of the Congress that effective follow-up to achieve the goals of the agreements reached at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) will depend on the following actions by the President and the U.S. Government: (1) adoption of a national strategy for environmentally sustainable development, based on an extensive process of nationwide consultations with all interested organizations and individuals; (2) the Government encouraging and facilitating means for adopting individual Agenda 21 plans of action, including the establishment of local, county, State, business, and other boards and commissions for achieving sustainable development; (3) the President establishing an effective mechanism to plan, initiate, and coordinate U.S. policy for implementing Agenda 21; and (4) policies being formulated for foreign policy and assistance to help developing countries, and for domestic actions to assure appropriate action to implement Agenda 21. Supports: (1) pursuing the research and policy initiatives urged in Agenda 21, including research on sustainable consumption and production patterns, creation of a policy framework for sustainable consumption patterns, identification of a strategy to eliminate or reduce subsidies for unsustainable natural resource exploitation, and improving pricing policies; (2) the Congress adopting a plan to reallocate an appropriate amount of savings from reduced defense spending to achieve its goals of global environmental protection and sustainable development over the next decade; and (3) the effective establishment of a high-level United Nations (UN) Commission on Sustainable Development. Urges the United States to call for periodic international meetings to continue the process toward developing and advancing international agreement to facilitate sustainable economic development. Calls on the President to: (1) urge and actively participate in multilateral efforts aimed at creating a more favorable international economic climate for developing countries to practice sustainable development; (2) affirm strong U.S. commitment to the Commission by appointing a high-level representative to the Commission and by encouraging the UN Secretary General to appoint an Under Secretary General for Sustainable Development; (3) submit and encourage all UN members to submit a national report to the Commission on activities the United States has undertaken to implement Agenda 21 both domestically and internationally, on progress made toward fulfilling other commitments undertaken at UNCED, and on other relevant environmental and developmental issues; and (4) submit an annual report to the Congress on the steps taken by the United States to implement Agenda 21 and the recommendations made by this Act and make information regarding such steps available to Members of the Congress upon request.
United States · United States Congress · 4 August 1992
Commends: (1) the many heroic individuals who acted at great risk to save Jews from death during the Holocaust; and (2) the Jewish Foundation for Christian Rescuers for its work in recognizing, honoring, and encouraging the people of the world to show the altruism and moral courage of such heroic individuals.
United States · United States Congress · 31 July 1992
Health Choices Freedom Act of 1992 - Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to define "dietary supplement." Declares that a supplement is not: (1) a drug solely because of its potency or because its labeling or advertising contains certain material; or (2) a food additive if certain requirements are met. Regulates supplement labeling and advertising.
United States · United States Congress · 31 July 1992
Emergency Community Development Loan Guarantee Act - Directs the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to enter into additional annual housing loan guarantee commitments under section 108 of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974.
United States · United States Congress · 21 July 1992
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the Secretary of the Treasury should release to Leona Benten the dosage of the drug RU-486 that was seized from her on July 1, 1992, for her personal use under the supervision of a physician of her choice.
United States · United States Congress · 9 July 1992
Children's Initiative - Family Preservation Act of 1992 - States that titles I through V of this Act may be cited as the Family Preservation Act of 1992 - Title I: Child Welfare Services - Amends part B (Child Welfare Services) of title IV of the Social Security Act (SSA) to create a capped entitlement program to provide child welfare services designed to strengthen and preserve families. Provides for allotments, reallotments, and payments to States of entitlement funds. Requires use of part of such funds to develop or expand specialized child welfare service programs for families in crisis due to substance abuse. Requires uses of remaining funds to develop or expand certain family and child service programs. Repeals provisions for incentive payments to States which maintain a foster care inventory, information system, and case review system; but requires States to provide such protections and other services designed to keep families together or reunify them, or to place children for adoption, with a legal guardian, or in some other planned, permanent living arrangement. Requires States to submit the following types of reports on child welfare services and expenditures: (1) pre-expenditure reports; (2) post-expenditure reports; and (3) comparative financial contributions reports. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to transmit to specified congressional committees annual summaries of the information in such comparative financial contributions reports. Requires such information to be made available to the public. Reserves entitlement funds for grants to State court systems to assess and improve procedures in child welfare cases in carrying out parts B and E (Foster Care and Adoption Assistance) of SSA title IV. Sets forth application requirements and formulas for determining the amount of such grants for FY 1994 through 1998. Directs the HHS Secretary to submit interim and final reports to the Congress on the information obtained from assessments conducted with such grants and the impact of such grant program on State court procedures and functions. Requires each State to compile periodically a detailed directory of programs designed to keep families together or reunify them or place children permanently, identifying which of such programs provides specialized child welfare services to families in crisis due to substance abuse. Requires States to report on measures taken to comply with the Indian Child Welfare Act. Title II: Foster Care And Adoption Assistance - Amends SSA title IV to add a new part C, Comprehensive Service Projects to grant States flexibility and resources to develop comprehensive and coordinated services designed to: (1) preserve and strengthen families with children at risk of placement outside their homes; (2) reunite children with their families expeditiously if an out-of-home placement is found to be necessary; and (3) place children in adoptive homes or other permanent arrangements in a timely fashion if reunification with their families is not appropriate. Permits any State to apply to the HHS Secretary for permission to: (1) conduct a comprehensive service project in a selected area or areas; and (2) suspend certain child welfare services and foster care and adoption assistance requirements with respect to State activities in such area or areas during the project. Sets forth application requirements and administrative provisions for such projects. Prohibits the HHS Secretary from requiring as a condition of approval of a project application: (1) the State to select any area or areas in which to conduct the project; or (2) the project to comply with any requirements not specified in the project authorization. Sets forth those requirements with which such a project must comply. Provides for determining the expenses for which a State might properly seek reimbursement, for purposes of calculating such grant amount. Authorizes the HHS Secretary to increase such grant amount, to the extent appropriate, by taking specified factors into account. Sets forth requirements for notification to States of grant amounts, and for grant payments in equal quarterly installments. Prohibits a State from carrying out such a project in a manner that impairs the entitlement of any child to: (1) the foster care benefits he or she would have receive if the HHS Secretary had approved the State plan and had not authorized the State to conduct such a project; or (2) any other benefit to which the child is legally entitled. Deems a State to have in effect an approved foster care and adoption assistance plan during the period in which it conducts such a project for purposes of State plan requirements under part A (Aid to Families with Dependent Children) (AFDC) of SSA title IV. Requires States to report annually on project funds expended to the HHS Secretary and the Advisory Commission on Children and Families. Provides for administrative remedies for unsuccessful projects. Provides for project termination. Makes abandoned children entering foster care eligible for foster care maintenance payments. Makes the adoptive parents of any such child with respect to whom foster care maintenance payments may be made eligible for adoption assistance payments. Makes technical revisions to the foster care maintenance payments program and the adoption assistance program to expand the removal from home requirement to include removal from legal custody. Provides for retroactive application of such new requirement under the adoption assistance program. Makes children whose adoption has been set aside by a court eligible for foster care maintenance payments. Makes the adoptive parents of any such child with respect to whom foster care maintenance payments may be made eligible for adoption assistance payments. Establishes a respite care program for foster parents with children who have special needs. Limits the expenses eligible for reimbursement under such program. Expands the definition of children with special needs, for purposes of the adoption assistance program, to include: (1) those children for whom information is known and available about their genetic or social history indicating a high risk of medical conditions or physical, mental, or emotional handicaps which makes it reasonable to conclude that they cannot be placed for adoption without providing part E adoption assistance or Medicaid (SSA title XIX) medical assistance; and (2) those children that have been adopted, that were under the care and responsibility of the State agency responsible for administering the State's part E programs immediately before adoption, and that have a mental, physical, or emotional handicap that either existed before the adoption but was not diagnosed until afterwards, or first manifests itself after the adoption but is congenital or was caused beforehand. Extends to relatives (as well as foster parents) who are prospective adoptive parents, and with whom the child has significant emotional ties while in their care, the exception to the requirement that an effort be made to place special needs children with appropriate adoptive parents without providing adoption or Medicaid assistance. Requires each State to submit to the HHS Secretary the factors and conditions it uses to identify children with special needs for purposes of the adoption assistance program, and any modifications to such factors and conditions. Directs the HHS Secretary to establish an Advisory Committee on Foster Care Placement to study and report to the Secretary and the Congress on the implementation of specified requirements, under State plans for foster care and adoption assistance, that reasonable efforts be made: (1) before placement of a child in a foster home, to prevent or eliminate the need for removal of the child from the child's home; and (2) to make it possible for the child to return to the child's home. Provides Federal coverage of 90 percent of State costs in developing and installing certain statewide mechanized data collection and information retrieval systems. Covers 50 percent of State costs for operation of such systems. Provides that all State expenditures for development, installation, and operation of such systems shall be treated as necessary for proper and efficient administration of the State plan, without regard to whether the systems may be used with respect to foster or adoptive children other than those on behalf of whom payments may be made for foster care maintenance or adoption assistance. Reduces, after three years, from 90 to 50 percent the Federal matching payment for development and installation of such systems. Defers a deadline for implementation of automated systems until one year after certain regulations are promulgated. Directs the Secretary to establish a work group to advise on planning and implementation of the system to be used for collection of data relating to adoption and foster care in the United States. Requires the State plan to provide for: (1) a triennial review of the amounts paid as foster care maintenance payments and adoption assistance to assure their continuing appropriateness; and (2) a report to the HHS Secretary on the results. Sets forth requirements concerning dispositional hearings to determine the final status of a foster child. Revises the time frame for judicial determinations on voluntary placements. Sets forth case plan requirements for placement of children in out-of-State foster care. Requires annual review, with the child present, of the status of children in out-of-State foster care placements. Requires States to collect data on the numbers of children in out-of-State foster care placements. Requires a State, in order to receive payments for expenditures after FY 1994 for foster care maintenance payments made with respect to children placed in foster care outside the State, to conduct and submit a study to the HHS Secretary, by the end of such fiscal year, identifying the number and common characteristics of such children and the reasons why they were not placed in foster care in the State. Provides for the treatment of assets of youth participating in the independent living program. Eliminates the ceilings on Federal foster care payments to States and the State's authority to transfer unused foster care funds to child welfare services programs. Directs the HHS Secretary to: (1) establish an advisory committee; and (2) issue final regulations for training of staff of agencies responsible for administering foster care and adoption assistance programs, and for training of foster care and adoptive parents. Directs the Secretary annually to publish information, on a State-by-State basis, on expenditures for, and the operation of, the Child Welfare Services program, the Foster Care and Adoption Assistance program, and Comprehensive Service Projects. Amends SSA title IV to add a new part G, Child Welfare Review System. Directs the HHS Secretary to establish such system to: (1) review each State child welfare program to assess whether the requirements of the Act are being carried out; (2) impose financial penalties in cases of substantial failure to comply; and (3) provide technical assistance to any such program. Sets forth provisions relating to effects of noncompliance, suspension and rescission of financial penalties, and administrative and judicial review. Requires that all State child welfare programs be reviewed at least once by the end of FY 1997. Prohibits the Secretary from reducing or withholding any payment, or seeking any repayment from any State under part B or E, by reason of a determination made in connection with specified reviews or audits for certain periods. Prohibits suspension of payments with respect to any claim for reimbursement 30 days after the HHS Secretary receives the quarterly statement of expenditures that contains the report of the claim. Provides that within ten months after the Secretary takes any action to suspend payment with respect to such a claim, the Secretary shall: (1) determine the allowability of the claim; or (2) if unable to make such a determination, make payment with respect to the claim, subject to a later determination of allowability. Title III: Social Services Block Grant - Amends SSA title XX (Block Grants to States for Social Services) to authorize increased appropriations for title XX programs. Provides for the allocation to tribal organizations of program funds otherwise allotted to the State in which the Indians represented by such an organization reside. Title IV: Research, Demonstration, and Evaluation Activities - Amends part A (General Provisions) of SSA title XI to require the Director of the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) to establish an Advisory Commission on Children and Families. Requires the Commission to collect and assess specified types of information in order to identify cost-effective approaches to protect and enhance the physical, mental, emotional, and financial well-being of children and their families. Directs OTA to report annually to the Congress on the Commission and its assessment. Requires the Commission to conduct, through contracts with independent research organizations, the following research and evaluation projects: (1) the evaluation of child welfare service programs, including intensive family preservation programs; (2) foster care evaluations; (3) longitudinal child welfare data bases, and studies of child welfare population dynamics; and (4) comprehensive service projects evaluations. Requires the Commission to study child separation guidelines. Directs the HHS Secretary to conduct the following research and evaluations: (1) a study (under contract with an independent research organization) to assess the prevalence and nature of risks to the safety of employees of child welfare systems; and (2) a three-year study (under contract with an organization with demonstrated appropriate experience) to examine methodologies for measuring the workloads of providers of child welfare services and community mental health services. Directs the HHS Secretary to make grants to States or localities for child welfare demonstration projects concerning abandoned child permanent placement. Directs the HHS Secretary to authorize eligible institutions to conduct demonstration projects to train eligible individuals to deliver culturally sensitive and bilingual child welfare services in U.S. areas that border on Mexico. Directs the HHS Secretary to make grants to eligible institutions to conduct projects to train eligible institutions to deliver culturally sensitive and bilingual welfare services in urban centers which have a high proportion of historically unserved or underserved populations. Authorizes the HHS Secretary to make grants to State or local government agencies to conduct demonstration projects designed to: (1) develop and implement innovative recruitment or retention strategies for trained staff in public and private nonprofit agencies working with children and adolescents at risk of being placed in foster care; and (2) test the effect of joint training programs for the staff of child welfare, mental health, and juvenile justice agencies, and for judicial personnel and judges. Authorizes the HHS Secretary to conduct demonstration projects designed to test the feasibility of eliminating income and resource requirements respecting foster care and adoption assistance payments. Directs the HHS Secretary to provide technical assistance to States for: (1) interpreting and implementing parts B, C, and E; (2) disseminating information on innovative child welfare agencies; (3) correcting problems identified through Federal audits and reviews and carrying out corrective action plans under part E; (4) implementing the foster care and adoption data collection system; and (5) addressing other matters identified by the HHS Secretary. Title V: Miscellaneous Human Resources Amendments - Amends the AFDC program to give States the option of using retrospective budgeting without monthly reporting under AFDC. Increases the amount of stepparent income disregarded under AFDC. Amends the Family Support Act of 1988 to extend demonstration projects for evaluating model procedures for reviewing child support awards. Amends the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1989 and the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990 to make technical corrections relating to human resource and income security provisions. Title VI: Childhood Hunger Relief - Mickey Leland Childhood Hunger Relief Act - Subtitle A: Ensuring Adequate Food Assistance - Amends the Food Stamp Act of 1977 to remove the excess shelter deduction cap for purposes of food stamp program eligibility. (Sets forth transitional caps through 1996.) Eliminates food stamp reductions for households reapplying for program reinstatement within 30 days. Excludes 100 percent (currently only a specified portion) of third party payments for transitional housing for the homeless from consideration as program income. Increases funding for the nutrition assistance program in Puerto Rico. Excludes general assistance vendor payments from consideration as program income. Excludes the income of high school students from consideration as program income. (Current law excludes income until a student's eighteenth birthday.) Subtitle B: Promoting Self-Sufficiency - Excludes from consideration as program income: (1) the first $50 a month received as child support; and (2) child support payments to non-household members. Increases annually the fair market value limit of vehicles that program recipients may own. Subtitle C: Simplifying the Provision of Food Assistance - Permits related adults living in the same household to apply for separate program benefits under specified conditions. Repeals provisions authorizing benefit reductions due to insufficient funding. Subtitle D: Commodity Distribution to Needy Families - Amends the Emergency Food Assistance Act of 1983 to provide for increased allotments in FY 1993 for commodity purchases under the emergency food assistance program. Subtitle E: Implementation and Effective Dates - Sets forth the effective dates for provisions of this title. Title VII: Funding - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to impose a surtax on individuals with incomes over $1,000,000.
United States · United States Congress · 9 July 1992
Declares that it is U.S. policy to encourage the enhancement and creation of wetlands whenever possible. Directs the Secretary of the Army, in carrying out navigation projects involving the disposal of dredged materials, to include the option of wetlands enhancement or creation whenever possible. Requires the Secretary, in cases in which he plans to use dredged materials from such projects in wetlands enhancement or creation, to include as a benefit in determining a project's cost-benefit ratio the value of enhancement and creation. Directs the Secretary to consider the costs of wetlands enhancement and creation in Federal projects and the costs of federally permitted wetlands mitigation activities in the vicinity of Federal projects using approved habitat evaluation procedures.
United States · United States Congress · 9 July 1992
Supports the planting of 500 redwood trees from California on the northwest coast of Spain in commemoration of the quincentenary of the voyage of Christopher Columbus to the New World. Designates such trees as a gift to the people of Spain made in the name of the people of the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 9 July 1992
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that the President should seek the consent of the Senate to the ratification of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, adopted by the United Nations on November 20, 1989.
United States · United States Congress · 7 July 1992
International Kidnapping and Extradition Treaty Enforcement Act of 1992 - Prohibits the prosecution by any U.S. governmental authority of persons forcibly abducted from a foreign place which has in effect an extradition treaty with the United States by agents of a U.S. governmental authority for purposes of a criminal prosecution in violation of international law.
United States · United States Congress · 2 July 1992
San Francisco Bay-Delta Estuary Restoration Act of 1990 - Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to direct the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to establish an Executive Council of the San Francisco Bay-Delta Estuary and an Office of the San Francisco Bay-Delta Estuary. Directs the Executive Council to oversee and coordinate implementation of the Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan for the San Francisco Estuary. Requires the Director of the Office to: (1) support implementation of the Management Plan; (2) conduct or commission research and other activities necessary for strengthened implementation of the Management Plan; (3) coordinate grant, research, and planning programs; (4) coordinate activities with other Federal agencies which have jurisdiction over the Estuary, the federally approved State coastal management program for San Francisco Bay, and national and regional marine monitoring and research programs; (5) carry out the Council's public education program; and (6) convene conferences for purposes of coordinating Federal, State, and local legislative efforts to facilitate the environmental restoration of the Estuary and implementation of the Management Plan. Authorizes the Administrator, acting through the Director, to make grants for projects to implement the Management Plan. Sets forth limitations on Federal funding. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 2 July 1992
Denounces the sexual misconduct that occurred at the annual Navy Tailhook Association symposium in September 1991. Calls on the Secretary of Defense to ensure that the ongoing Department of Defense investigation of such misconduct is full and uncompromising. Urges the Secretary of the Navy to recommend and initiate full disciplinary procedures against any culpable individuals. Recognizes the importance of equality of opportunity for women and men in the armed forces to achieving mutual respect between the sexes. Urges the Secretary of Defense to make available to female military personnel the same opportunities available to male personnel, to the extent consistent with the protection and security of the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 1 July 1992
Directs the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the National Park Service and utilizing the lands and facilities of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, to establish a technical assistance program in cooperation with the Secretary of Commerce (acting through the Paul F. Romberg Tiburon Center in Marin County, California), to assist universities and nonprofit organizations in the development and implementation of projects to use drought resistant plant species which require minimal watering and upkeep in landscaping applications where the use of such species will be compatible with native plant species and will conserve scarce water resources. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 1 July 1992
Birth Defects Prevention Act of 1992 - 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 award grants to, enter into cooperative agreements with, or provide direct technical assistance in lieu of cash to, States, State health authorities, or health agencies of political subdivisions of a State 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, to include information regarding gender and different racial and ethnic groups, including Hispanics, non-Hispanic whites, African Americans, Native Americans, and Asian Americans. Authorizes the Secretary, acting through the Director of the 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 and generated from birth defects monitoring programs developed under this Act. Directs the Secretary, acting through the Director of the CDC, to award grants to or enter into cooperative agreements with State departments of health, universities, or other private, or nonprofit entities to develop, evaluate, and implement prevention strategies designed to reduce the incidence and effects or (sic) birth defects. Directs the Secretary to establish an Advisory Committee for Birth Defects Prevention to provide advice and recommendations on prevention and amelioration of birth defects to the Secretary and the Director of the CDC. Requires the Secretary to report biennially to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce and the Senate Committee on Labor and Human Resources regarding the incidence of birth defects, the contribution of birth defects to infant mortality, the outcome of implementation of prevention strategies, and identified needs for research and policy development to include information regarding the various racial and ethnic groups, including Hispanic, non-Hispanic whites, African Americans, Native Americans, and Asian Americans. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 25 June 1992
National Institutes of Health Revitalization Amendments of 1992 - Title I: General Provisions Regarding title IV of Public Health Service Act - Subtitle A: Research Freedom - Part I: Review of Proposals for Biomedical and Behavioral Research - Amends the Public Health Service Act to prohibit the Secretary of Health and Human Services from approving certain research or financial assistance to conduct research unless specified review has taken place and the review entity has recommended approval. Prohibits the Secretary from withholding, on ethical grounds, funding for research that has received such review approval unless: (1) an ethics advisory board recommends the withholding; or (2) such a board recommends against withholding, but the Secretary finds that the recommendation is arbitrary and capricious. Part II: Research on Transplantation of Fetal Tissue - Permits the Secretary to conduct or support research on the transplantation of human fetal tissue for therapeutic purposes regardless of whether the tissue is obtained from a spontaneous or induced abortion or a stillbirth, in accordance with State and local law. Requires the researcher, if the tissue bank established under a specified executive order is in operation, to obtain the tissue from that bank, unless the bank does not provide requested tissue within a specified time of a request. Requires certain statements by the woman providing the tissue, the researcher, and the donee. Imposes criminal penalties for certain commercial transactions involving the transfer or directed donation of human fetal tissue. Prohibits: (1) any official of the executive branch from imposing a policy prohibiting the Department of Health and Human Services from conducting or supporting any research on the transplantation of human fetal tissue for therapeutic purposes; and (2) the Secretary from withholding funds for research which is in accordance with this Act. Deems a specified report of the Human Fetal Tissue Transplantation Research Panel to be a report issued by an ethics advisory board finding, on a basis that is neither arbitrary nor capricious, that there are no ethical grounds for withholding funds for such research. Part III: Miscellaneous Repeals - Removes certain provisions of the Public Health Service Act relating to: (1) biomedical ethics; (2) a study by the Biomedical Ethics Advisory Committee on waiver of a specified risk standard; and (3) the construction of title IV (National Research Institutes) of the Act. Subtitle B: Clinical Research Equity Regarding Women and Minorities - Part I: Women and Minorities as Subjects in Clinical Research - Requires that women and minorities be included as subjects in each clinical research project under such title IV. Requires projects to be designed and carried out so as to provide for an analysis of whether the variables being tested affect women or minorities differently than other subjects. Requires the establishment of inclusion guidelines. Requires that technical and scientific peer review conducted under existing provisions include an evaluation of the merit of the proposal regarding women and minorities. Part II: Office of Research on Women's Health - Establishes in the National Institutes of Health (NIH) the Office of Research on Women's Health. Requires the Director of the Office to establish: (1) the Coordinating Committee on Research on Women's Health; and (2) the Advisory Committee on Research on Women's Health. Mandates: (1) a determination of the extent to which women are represented among senior physicians and scientists of the national research institutes and among those conducting research supported by the institutes; and (2) as appropriate, activities to increase the extent of such representation. Requires establishment of: (1) a data system, available to the public, for the collection, analysis, and dissemination of information regarding research on women's health conducted or supported by the institutes; and (2) a program to provide information on research and prevention activities of the institutes relating to women's health research. Subtitle C: Scientific Integrity - Replaces provisions relating to protection against scientific fraud with provisions establishing as an independent entity in the Department of Health and Human Services the Office of Scientific Integrity. Requires: (1) applicants for a grant, contract, or cooperative agreement under the Act for biomedical or behavioral research to have an administrative process to review reports of scientific misconduct and agree to report any investigation of such reports; and (2) a response process for the Office. Establishes the Commission on Scientific Integrity. Provides for employee whistle blower protection. Mandates measures for identifying, responding to, and reporting the existence of a financial interest that will or may create a bias in favor of obtaining results, in a project to evaluate the safety or effectiveness of a drug, medical device, or treatment, that are consistent with the interest. Title II: Protection of Health Facilities - Prohibits stealing or otherwise converting personal property or damaging real property of a health facility assisted under the Public Health Service Act, or deterring, through physical restraint, any individual from entering or exiting the facility. Includes in the prohibitions various acts interfering with the use of animals for research. Provides for fines, imprisonment, restitution, and private civil actions. Title III: National Institutes of Health in General - Modifies the duties of the NIH's Associate Director for Prevention. Establishes a program to enhance the competitiveness of research entities in States which have historically had low success in obtaining funds from the national research institutes for biomedical and behavioral research. Mandates activities, consistent with the global Children's Vaccine Initiative, to develop affordable new and improved vaccines. Authorizes appropriations. Requires a plan regarding research methods that do not require the use of animals, reduce the number of animals used, and produce less distress in the animals. Establishes the Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Use of Animals in Research. Repeals similar provisions. Authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services to conduct and support research, research training, recruitment, and other activities to increase the number of women and individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds in biomedical and behavioral research. Requires that any survey of human sexual behavior conducted or supported through NIH: (1) undergo review in accordance with specified provisions; and (2) have been determined by the Secretary to assist in reducing the incidence of infectious disease or improve health conditions. Establishes a fund for use by the NIH Director to carry out NIH activities. Authorizes appropriations. Modifies the term of office of members of advisory councils of the national research institutes. Requires that at least half of all new or revised health education and promotion materials developed or funded by NIH be in a form that does not exceed a level of functional literacy. Authorizes a program to provide day care service for NIH employees. Title IV: General Provisions Respecting National Research Institutes - Requires that the Secretary receive from the President and the Office of Management and Budget directly all funds appropriated by the Congress for obligation and expenditure by the Institute. Removes provisions authorizing the Director of the National Cancer Institute to directly receive such funds. Modifies the authority of the directors of the national research institutes to establish and appoint the members of technical and scientific peer review groups in addition to those appointed under specified provisions. Makes the Federal Advisory Committee Act inapplicable to such additional groups. Requires expansion and intensification of programs of research and related activities concerning osteoporosis, Paget's disease, and related bone disorders. Provides for the establishment, through a grant, cooperative agreement, or contract, of a clearinghouse to enhance knowledge and understanding of professionals, patients, and the public. Authorizes appropriations. Establishes: (1) a comprehensive program of conducting basic and clinical research on trauma, including diagnosis, treatment, rehabilitation, and general management of trauma; and (2) the Trauma Research Interagency Coordinating Committee. Title V: National Cancer Institute - Requires expanding, intensifying, and coordinating the activities of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) regarding breast and ovarian cancer, other cancers of the reproductive system of women, and prostate cancer. Requires inclusion of the conduct and support of research and demonstration centers. Authorizes appropriations. Removes provisions authorizing appropriations for NCI and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI). Title VI: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute - Requires NHLBI to conduct intramural training and education. Authorizes development of three centers for basic and clinical research into, training in, and demonstration of, advanced diagnosis, prevention, and treatment for cardiovascular diseases in children. Authorizes appropriations for NHLBI. Title VII: National Institute on Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases - Establishes a program of conducting and supporting research, training, health information dissemination, and other activities regarding nutritional disorders, including obesity. Provides for the development or substantial expansion of centers for research and training. Title VIII: National Institute on Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases - Removes provisions stating that the purpose of the National Institute on Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMSD) includes sports-related injuries. Requires NIAMSD to place emphasis on arthritis affecting children. Establishes a multipurpose arthritis and musculoskeletal disease center focusing on children. Modifies the composition of the National Arthritis Advisory Board and its annual report requirements. Title IX: National Institute on Aging - Transfers to the Public Health Service Act provisions of the Health Research Extension Act of 1985 authorizing a grant to develop a registry for epidemiological data on Alzheimer's disease and related data collection training. Removes the existing authorization of appropriations. Mandates research into the aging processes of women, with particular emphasis on menopause and into the diagnosis, disorders, and complications related to aging and loss of ovarian hormones. Authorizes appropriations for the National Institute on Aging. Title X: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases - Includes programs regarding tropical diseases in the purposes of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Authorizes grants or contracts for centers to conduct basic and clinical research on chronic fatigue syndrome. Establishes an extramural study section for the syndrome. Title XI: National Institute of Child Health and Human Development - Subtitle A: Research Centers with Respect to Contraception and Research Centers with Respect to Infertility - Mandates grants or contracts for three centers to conduct activities to improve methods of contraception and two centers to conduct activities to improve methods of diagnosis and treatment of infertility. Authorizes appropriations. Establishes a program of agreements with health professionals, including graduate students, to conduct research on contraception or infertility in consideration of the Government repaying a limited amount of the educational loans of the professionals. Subtitle B: Program Regarding Obstetrics and Gynecology - Establishes in the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHHD) an intramural laboratory and clinical research program in obstetrics and gynecology. Subtitle C: Child Health Research Centers - Mandates development of and support for centers for conducting research on child health. Subtitle D: Study Regarding Adolescent Health - Mandates a longitudinal, large-scale study on the general health and well-being of adolescents in the United States. Allocates funding from amounts appropriated to NICHHD. Title XII: National Eye Institute - Authorizes not more than three grants for the establishment and support of centers for clinical research on eye care for individuals with diabetes. Allows grant funds to be used for equipment and for construction and modification of facilities. Title XIII: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke - Mandates the conduct and support of research on multiple sclerosis. Title XIV: National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences - Establishes the Applied Toxicological Research and Testing Program. Title XV: National Library of Medicine - Subtitle A: General Provisions - Directs the Secretary to promote the use of computers and telecommunications by health professionals. Increases the dollar limit on grants to medical libraries and related instrumentalities. Authorizes appropriations for the National Library of Medicine (NLM). Subtitle B: Financial Assistance - Mandates grants for research on, and development and demonstration of, new educational technologies. Requires recipient institutions to make grant projects available for: (1) training health professions students; and (2) enhancing the capabilities of health professionals regarding research and teaching. Authorizes appropriations to carry out provisions relating to medical libraries and related matters. Subtitle C: National Center for Biotechnology Information - Authorizes appropriations to carry out provisions relating to the National Center for Biotechnology Information. Subtitle D: National Information Center on Health Services Research and Health Care Technology - Establishes in NLM the National Information Center on Health Services Research and Health Care Technology to collect, analyze, and disseminate information on health services research and health care technology. Authorizes appropriations. Requires the Administrator of the existing information center on health care technologies and health care technology assessment and the NLM Director to enter into an agreement on the implementation of these provisions. Title XVI: Other Agencies of National Institutes of Health - Subtitle A: Division of Research Resources - Redesignates the Division of Research Resources as the National Center for Research Resources. Authorizes grants to alter existing or construct new research facilities. Establishes the Scientific and Technical Review Board on Biomedical and Behavioral Research Facilities to advise the Center director and the existing advisory council. Conditions grant approval on Board approval. Authorizes appropriations. Requires the NIH Director to reserve a specified sum from amounts appropriated under this authorization for grants and contracts to construct or improve regional centers for research on primates. Subtitle B: National Center for Nursing Research - Redesignates the National Center for Nursing Research as the National Institute for Nursing Research and adds the Institute to the list of NIH's national research institutes. Subtitle C: National Center for Human Genome Research - Adds the National Center for Human Genome Research to the list of NIH agencies. Declares the purpose of the Center to be to characterize the structure and function of the human genome, including the mapping and sequencing of individual genes. Title XVII: Awards and Training - Subtitle A: National Research Service Awards - Directs the Secretary to carry out provisions relating to National Research Service Awards in a manner that will recruit into biomedical or behavioral research, and provide research training to, women and individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds. Subtitle B: Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome - Modifies a program of agreements (under which certain health professionals conduct research regarding acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) as NIH employees in consideration of Government repayment of educational loans) to remove provisions requiring a minimum of three years as an NIH employee. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes the Commissioner of Food and Drugs to carry out a similar program regarding the review of applications concerning AIDS. Subtitle C: Loan Repayment for Research Generally - Mandates a program of agreements with health professionals who have a substantial amount of educational loans relative to income and who meet other requirements to conduct research, as NIH employees, in consideration of Government repayment of a limited amount of the educational loans of the professionals. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle D: Scholarship and Loan Repayment Programs Regarding Professional Skills Needed by Certain Agencies - Authorizes a program of contracts with individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds for scholarships for undergraduate programs for professions needed by NIH in consideration of service by the individuals as NIH employees. Authorizes a program of contracts with health professionals from disadvantaged backgrounds who have a substantial amount of educational loans relative to income to conduct clinical research as NIH employees in consideration of the Government repaying a limited amount of the educational loans of the professionals. Subtitle D: (SIC) Funding - Authorizes appropriations for making payments under National Research Service Awards and under grants for such Awards. Modifies set-aside amounts and requires a set-aside for provisions relating to residency programs in the general practice of dentistry. Title XVIII: National Foundation for Biomedical Research - Excludes from voting rights the ex officio members of the National Foundation for Biomedical Research. Authorizes appropriations. Title XIX: Research with Respect to Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome - Modifies the duties of the AIDS Clinical Research Review Committee, including requiring the Committee to: (1) give advice to other agencies of NIH as well as to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID); and (2) make recommendations on research projects regarding diagnosing immune deficiency and predicting, diagnosing, preventing, and treating opportunistic cancers and infectious diseases. States that the requirement that the clinical evaluation units at the National Cancer Institute and NIAID conduct evaluations of treatments for acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) includes evaluations of methods of: (1) diagnosing immune deficiency; and (2) predicting, diagnosing, preventing, and treating opportunistic cancers and infectious diseases. Modifies provisions relating to the support of international efforts to add to the purpose of grants, cooperative agreements, and contracts for such efforts provisions promoting and expediting: (1) international training; (2) research and training concerning the natural history and pathogenesis of the human immunodeficiency virus; and (3) the development and evaluation of vaccines and treatments for opportunistic infections. Authorizes appropriations for each fiscal year. Requires that model protocols (developed with grants under existing provisions) for the clinical care of individuals infected with the etiologic agent for AIDS include treatment and prevention of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and related conditions among women. Authorizes appropriations. Adds collection of data on the natural history of infection with the etiologic agent to the purposes of the epidemiological data base mandated by current provisions. Authorizes appropriations for each fiscal year. Requires the Director of NIH to develop and implement a comprehensive plan for the conduct and support of AIDS research by NIH agencies. Authorizes appropriations for each fiscal year for fellowship and training programs relating to AIDS under existing provisions. Title XX: Certain Authorities of Centers for Disease Control - Authorizes grants to States and local health departments for programs for specified activities relating to prostate cancer, including screening, public information, and improving professional training. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes: (1) grants or contracts for population-based, statewide cancer registries; (2) grants for developing plans that meet the requirements of specified provisions; and (3) technical assistance to States, either directly or through grants and contracts. Mandates a study on the factors contributing to elevated breast cancer mortality rates in specified States. Authorizes appropriations. Requires a survey to determine which entities collect data on traumatic brain injuries and the nature of their data collection systems. Authorizes cooperation and assistance to establish traumatic brain injury as a specific reportable condition or disability. Authorizes appropriations. Title XXI: Studies - Mandates studies on: (1) the impact, with regard to acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), of parallel-track drug-release mechanisms on clinical research and on the activities of the Commissioner of Food and Drugs regarding drug approval; (2) third-party payor policies regarding payment of costs incident to the participation of individuals as subjects in AIDS drug clinical trials; and (3) whether AIDS advisory committees in NIH are being sufficiently coordinated. Requires a plan for the inclusion of HIV-infected women, infants, and children in HIV vaccine studies conducted by or through NIH. Authorizes appropriations. Mandates an annual report on the leading causes of death in the United States and related spending by the Department of Health and Human Services for research, prevention, and education. Requires three-year studies on: (1) nutrition screening and intervention regarding the elderly; and (2) the extent of malnutrition in hospitals, in long-term care facilities, and among those living independently. Establishes an advisory panel to oversee the studies. Mandates a report on the feasibility of developing a plan for the conduct of research at NIH on the prevention of traumatic injuries. Directs the Secretary to: (1) review existing data and research concerning whether there is a relationship between legal and illegal drug use; and (2) if necessary, conduct additional research. Mandates reports on: (1) research conducted or supported by NIH on chronic fatigue syndrome; (2) the appropriateness and impact of NIH assuming responsibility for the conduct of all Federal research, development, testing, and evaluation relating to medical countermeasures against biowarfare threat agents. Requires a study on the potential for, the prevalence of, and the issues related to the contamination of worker's homes with substances from their work places. Requires: (1) establishment of the Worker's Family Protection Task Force to take specified actions, including developing an investigative strategy for obtaining any needed additional data; and (2) each Federal department or agency to fulfill the role assigned by the strategy. Authorizes appropriations. Mandates studies: (1) of the retention, recruitment, vacancy and turnover rates of NIH support staff, including fire fighters, law enforcement, procurement officers, technicians, nurses, and clerical employees; and (2) to develop a streamlined procurement system for NIH. Title XXII: Miscellaneous Provisions - Redesignates the Senior Biomedical Research Service as the Silvio Conte Senior Biomedical Research Service and increases the limit on the number of its members. Renames the AIDS Clinical Research Review Committee as the AIDS Research Advisory Committee. Prohibits the Secretary from conducting or supporting the SHARP survey of adult sexual behavior. Requires that a report on carcinogens be submitted biennially (currently, annually). Mandates a report analyzing the report of the National Committee on Sleep Disorders Research and presenting a plan for the conduct and support of sleep disorders research at NIH. Mandates presentation to the Congress of a master plan to provide for the replacement or refurbishment of less than adequate buildings, utility equipment and distribution systems, roads, walkways, parking areas, and grounds of NIH laboratory and clinical facilities. Allows the plan to make recommendations for the undertaking of new projects consistent with the objectives of these provisions. Title XXIII: Effective Date - Sets forth the effective date of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 17 June 1992
Establishes the Commission on Environment and Development. Requires the Commission to: (1) monitor the actions of the signatories to documents of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) that reflect compliance with or violations of the goals of the Articles of Agenda 21 of UNCED, the Statement of Principles on the Maintenance, Conservation, and Development of All Forests, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, and the Convention on Biological Diversity; and (2) monitor and encourage the development of U.S. Government and private programs with a view toward advancing the objectives of UNCED. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 16 June 1992
Free Trade in Ideas Act of 1992 - Amends the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, the Export Administration Act of 1979, the Trading With the Enemy Act, the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, and the United Nations Participation Act of 1945 to declare that the authority granted the President under such Acts does not include the authority to regulate or prohibit: (1) the importation from or exportation to any country, or the communication or telecommunication or other form of transmission to any country, of publications, films, posters, phonograph records, photographs, microfilms, microfiche, audiotapes and video tapes, artworks, telephone conversations, other voice or data communications, telecasts, and news wire feeds; (2) other forms of telecommunications; (3) other materials which in the United States would be protected by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution; (4) information that is not otherwise controlled under the Export Administration Act of 1979; (5) travel related to importation, exportation, communication, telecommunication, or transmission; (6) transactions for the creation or circulation concerning such information, or rights to such information, whether commercial or otherwise; (7) other transactions incidental to the above-mentioned activities or transactions; (8) any transactions ordinarily incident to travel to and from any country; (9) any transactions ordinarily incident to travel and maintenance within any country; (10) any transactions incident to the arrangement, promotion, or facilitation of travel to, from, or within a country; (11) any transactions incident to nonscheduled flights or voyages to and from any country; (12) normal banking transactions incident to travel to and from any country; (13) the importation or exportation of publications or other informational materials from any country; (14) financial or other transactions, or travel, incident to activities of scholars, other educational or academic activities, cultural activities and exchanges, or public exhibitions by nationals of one country in another country; or (15) financial or other transactions related to the establishment of U.S. news bureaus in foreign countries, or the establishment of foreign news bureaus in the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 16 June 1992
Foreign Aid Reform Act of 1992 - Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to declare that economic support assistance should be provided principally through commodity import programs, project assistance, sector programs, or the provision of U.S. goods and services. Permits such assistance to be provided to a foreign government as a cash transfer only pursuant to an agreement requiring the recipient government to spend the cash transfer to purchase U.S. goods and services to the extent that the recipient government purchases goods and services not produced in that country. Exempts from this Act any recipient government that: (1) receives less than $25,000,000 cash transfer assistance for a fiscal year; or (2) as of April 1, 1989, was receiving such assistance and has an agreement with the United States under which it agrees to spend an amount equal to the amount of the cash transfer on U.S. goods and services, to carry 50 percent of all bulk shipments of U.S. grain on privately-owned U.S.-flag commercial vessels, to purchase U.S. grain at levels comparable to those purchased in prior years, and to comply with such requirements in any fiscal year in which it receives such assistance. Authorizes the President to waive the requirements of this Act if it is in the national interest to do so.
United States · United States Congress · 16 June 1992
Designates August 1, 1992, as Helsinki Human Rights Day. Authorizes and requests the President to: (1) reassert American commitment to the Helsinki Accords; (2) raise the issue of noncompliance with such Accords with any signatory nation which may be in violation; (3) convey to all signatories of such Accords that respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms is vital to progress in the ongoing Helsinki process; and (4) develop new proposals to advance the human rights objectives of the Helsinki process.
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