United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1991
Drug Testing Quality Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to establish a program for the certification of laboratories for the performance of toxicological urinalysis for drug testing programs. Requires the program, as much as practicable, to conform to specified mandatory guidelines for Federal workplace drug testing programs published by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS guidelines). Mandates regulations to ensure the integrity of drug testing programs. Requires the regulations to conform, as much as practicable, to the HHS guidelines. Provides for the inclusion of additional drugs and classes of drugs for which test methods and cutoff levels are provided. Requires taking into consideration any special factors applicable to amateur athletics. Sets forth specimen collection procedures. Prohibits performing urinalysis for drug testing without certification. Provides for criminal penalties, administrative remedies, injunctions, and certain civil actions. Supersedes less stringent statutes, rules, regulations, orders, and laws. Preempts State or local requirements regarding drug testing laboratory certification or the conduct of testing programs. Requires fees for certification and recertification to cover costs.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1991
Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act - Prohibits a State from sponsoring, operating, advertising, authorizing, licensing, or promoting any lottery, sweepstake, or other betting, gambling, or wagering scheme based, directly or indirectly, on any game or games engaged in or conducted or scheduled by any professional or amateur sports organization, or on any performance or performance in such games.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1991
Amends the National Labor Relations Act and the Railway Labor Act to make it an unfair labor practice for an employer to offer or grant: (1) permanent replacement employee status during a labor dispute; or (2) any employment preference to an individual who worked or indicated a willingness to work during a labor dispute over an employee who exercised specified rights during such dispute and who is working for, or has unconditionally offered to return to work for, the employer.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1991
Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act - Makes it unlawful for any licensed importer, manufacturer, or dealer to sell, deliver, or transfer a handgun to an unlicensed individual unless: (1) after the most recent proposal of such transfer by the individual, the transferor has received a statement of eligibility from the individual, has notified the chief law enforcement officer for such individual's place of residence about the proposed transfer, and either has received a response indicating that such transfer is not prohibited by law or has not received a response indicating otherwise within seven days; (2) the individual has presented to the transferor a statement from the officer, issued in the past ten days, that the individual requires a handgun because of a threat to him or his family; (3) the individual has presented to the transferor a permit to possess a handgun that has been issued in the past five years by the State in which the transfer is to take place under a State law which requires law enforcement verification of the individual's legal qualification to possess a handgun; (4) State law either requires a waiting period of at least seven days or requires that an authorized government official verifies that the information available to such official does not indicate that possession of a handgun by the purchaser would be unlawful; or (5) the transferor has received a report from any system of felon identification established by the Attorney General under the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988 that the individual's possession or receipt of the handgun would not violate Federal, State, or local law. Requires the statement of eligibility to include a statement that the individual: (1) is not under indictment for and has not been convicted of a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year; (2) is not a fugitive; (3) is not an unlawful user of, or addicted to, a controlled substance; (4) has not been adjudicated as a mental defective or committed to a mental institution; (5) is not an alien who is illegally in the United States; (6) has not been dishonorably discharged from the armed forces; and (7) is not a person who has renounced U.S. citizenship. Requires any transferor who, after a transfer, receives a report from such officer that receipt or possession of the handgun by the individual violates the law, to: (1) furnish information about the transfer and the individual to the chief law enforcement officer of the transferor's place of business and the individual's place of residence; and (2) keep confidential any information received which is not otherwise available to the public, with exceptions. Requires a transferor to retain a copy of the individual's statement. Requires the law enforcement officer to destroy any copy of the individual's sworn statement and any record containing information derived from such statement within 30 days, unless such officer determines that the transaction would violate Federal, State, or local law.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1991
Airline Bankruptcy Passenger Protection Act of 1991 - Amends the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 to direct the Secretary of Transportation to issue an order authorizing a covered air carrier to develop an air transportation plan which protects airline ticket holders in the event it becomes a debtor in bankruptcy proceedings after the ticket purchase date. Provides that if satisfactory plans have not been submitted by a specified deadline, the Secretary must promulgate regulations requiring all covered air carriers to provide air transportation for such ticket holders.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1991
Amends the Civil Service Retirement Spouse Equity Act of 1984 to eliminate the requirement of a post-September 15, 1978, divorce for certain former spouses of Federal employees in order for such spouses to be eligible for a survivor annuity. Extends from May 7, 1989, to May 7, 1993, the deadline for applying for such annuity. Authorizes the Director of the Office of Personnel Management to waive such deadline under certain circumstances. Makes such spouses eligible for Federal health benefits.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1991
Federal Bureau of Investigation First Amendment Protection Act of 1991 - Prohibits the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) from initiating or conducting any investigation that may involve the collection of information about the exercise by a U.S. person of first amendment rights, except as specified. Requires the Attorney General to issue guidelines for investigations covered by this Act. Sets forth standards to be followed by the FBI in the conduct of an investigation, the disposition of any records obtained, and the periodic review of open investigations. Provides a civil remedy for any person aggrieved by a violation of this Act. Waives the provisions of this Act with respect to background investigations conducted with the consent of the subject regarding: (1) nominees to judicial and executive branch positions requiring the advice and consent of the Senate; (2) employees of the Department of Justice; or (3) the granting or retention of security clearances.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1991
Ovarian Cancer Research Act of 1991 - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services, through the Director of the National Institutes of Health and the Director of the National Cancer Institute, to conduct or support basic research on certain aspects of ovarian cancer. Prohibits the Secretary from conducting or supporting clinical research on the same matters. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1991
United States Commission on Obesity Act - Establishes the United States Commission on Obesity which shall: (1) conduct research regarding the causes and treatment of obesity; (2) study the fast-food industry's influence on obesity and diet habits; and (3) engage in public education programs regarding the health and social effects of obesity and promoting exercise and diet as a means of preventing and controlling obesity. Authorizes the Commission to make grants to institutions of higher education or public or private research institutions to research the metabolic differences between obese and nonobese individuals and among ethnic groups and the acquisition of healthy diet habits and attitudes in young persons.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1991
National Health Insurance Act - Title I: Benefits and Eligibility - Makes medical, dental, podiatric, home-nursing, hospital, and auxiliary services available as benefits to eligible individuals and defines such services. Directs the National Health Insurance Board, established by this Act, to survey the resources and needs of each State and to develop in each State a program to assure maximum participation and use of health personnel and facilities. Authorizes the Board to limit health services when personnel, facilities, or funds are inadequate to ensure the provision of all services. Allows every individual eligible for personal health services available under this Act to select the physician, dentist, podiatrist, nurse, medical group, or hospital to render services and to change such selection under certain circumstances. Sets forth eligibility requirements. States that the United States shall be subrogated to all rights of an individual who receives benefits under this Act with respect to any workers' compensation injury or disability. States that Federal grants to States under title XIX (Medicaid) and part A of title IV (Aid to Families with Dependent Children) of the Social Security Act shall be available to the States for provision of personal health services for noninsured needy individuals. Title II: Participation of Physicians, Dentists, Nurses, Hospitals, and Others - Prescribes criteria to govern which physicians, dentists, podiatrists, nurses, hospitals, or providers of auxiliary services will be deemed qualified to perform services under this Act. Authorizes specified State agencies to enter into agreements with qualified individuals or with organizations for the provision of personal health services. Lists provisions to be included in such agreements, including methods of payment for services. Sets standards applicable to rates or amounts of payment for services rendered as benefits under this Act. Directs that such rates and amounts be adapted to take into account relevant regional, State, or local conditions and practices. Authorizes patient limits. Allows health care providers entering into an agreement under this title to accept or reject patients. Title III: Local Administration - Decentralizes the responsibility for administration of this Act's benefit provisions to local administrative committees or local administrative officers within health-service areas designated by each State. Lists the duties of such local administrative committees or officers. Requires the establishment in each health-service area of: (1) a local area committee; and (2) local professional committees representative of the health care providers in the area to assist local administrative committees and officers. Title IV: State Administration - Expresses the intent of the Congress that this Act's benefit provisions be administered by each of the several States, in accordance with an approved plan of operations. Catalogs provisions that must be included in such a plan. Describes procedures to be followed if a State: (1) fails to submit a plan; or (2) fails to comply with an approved plan. Title V: National Health Insurance Board; National Advisory Medical Policy Council; General Administrative Provisions - Establishes in the Department of Health and Human Services a National Health Insurance Board to administer the provisions of this Act. Establishes a National Advisory Medical Policy Council to advise the Board regarding matters of general policy, the formulation of regulations, and the establishment of professional standards. Requires the Board to undertake certain studies and to make reports to the Congress at specified times. Title VI: Eligibility Determinations, Complaints, Hearings, and Judicial Review - Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to determine benefit eligibility. Describes procedures for complaint investigation and adjudication. Title VII: Application of Act to Individuals Covered Under Medicare Program - States that when an individual is entitled to hospital insurance benefits under Medicare, the personal health services available as benefits under this Act shall be limited to those services for which the individual is ineligible under the Medicare program. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to carry out a study of the interrelationship between the program of national health insurance under this Act and the Medicare program. Requires that the Secretary submit to the President and to the Congress, within one year of this Act's enactment, a report of such study, along with certain findings and detailed recommendations. Title VIII: Fiscal Provisions - Declares that funds in the National Health Care Trust Fund, created by this Act, shall be available, subject to exception, for all expenditures necessary or appropriate to carry out this Act. Directs the Board to determine: (1) amounts to be made available from the Fund during a given fiscal year for the provision of various classes of personal health services benefits; and (2) allotments to be made to the States for the provision of such benefits. Sets standards to govern the Board's determinations. Authorizes the Board to make grants to: (1) certain educational institutions or agencies in order to fund endeavors that show promise of making valuable contributions to the training of personnel providing or administering benefits under this Act; and (2) certain individuals participating in courses relating to the provision or administration of personal health services benefits. Authorizes appropriations. Title IX: Miscellaneous Provisions - Defines terms used in this Act. States that personal health services shall first become available as benefits under this Act on October 1, 1992. Title X: Value Added Tax and National Health Care Trust Fund - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to impose a five-percent tax on the taxable amount of each taxable transaction (the sale of property, performance of services, and importing of property by a taxable person in a commercial-type transaction). Sets the tax rate at zero for: (1) retail food, principal residence housing (sale and rental), and medical care; (2) certain transactions involving governmental entities; (3) in certain circumstances, specified tax-exempt organizations. Allows as a tax credit the aggregate tax which has been paid by sellers to the taxpayer of property and services which the taxpayer uses in the business to which the transaction relates. Makes the person selling the property or services liable for the tax. Requires the seller to give the purchaser a tax invoice if the seller has reason to believe that the purchaser is a taxable person. Allows a person whose aggregate taxable transactions for the current calendar year and the next calendar year do not exceed specified amounts to elect to be treated as a non-taxable person for the next calendar year, except for: (1) sale or leasing of real property; and (2) importing. Allows the taxpayer to elect, in certain circumstances, to treat: (1) two taxable businesses as one taxable person; and (2) separate divisions of the same business as separate taxable persons. Mandates notification to the Secretary of the Treasury of any change in the form of a business which might affect the administration of taxes under this Act. Sets forth special rules relating to: (1) coordination with subtitle A of the Internal Revenue Code; (2) sales which include incidental services and services which include incidental transfers of property; (3) zero rating de minimis transactions; (4) treating importing as both selling and purchasing; (5) treating subchapter S corporations as not corporations; and (6) property and services held for use. Treats as a taxable transaction: (1) personal use by an owner of business property or services; and (2) any gift of business property or services. Sets forth special rules regarding: (1) dispositions of nonbusiness real property; and (2) insurance contracts. Establishes in the Treasury the National Health Care Trust Fund. Appropriates to the Fund amounts equivalent to the amounts received from the value added tax. Allows the Fund to be used only to carry out the program of health benefits under this Act. Title XI: Study and Development of Cost Control Mechanisms - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to: (1) conduct a study on controlling costs of benefits under this Act, including the effects of the costs on medical malpractice claims and malpractice insurance; (2) report to the Congress; and (3) implement recommendations in the report.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1991
Comprehensive Health Care for All Americans Act (Claude Pepper Comprehensive Health Care Act) - Division A: Comprehensive Health Care Act - Comprehensive Health Care Act - Title I: Universal Eligibility and Enrollment - Makes a U.S. resident who is a lawful resident alien or a U.S. citizen or national eligible to enroll in a health plan approved by the Comprehensive Health Care (CHC) program of the State in which he or she resides. Allows the National CHC Board to make classes of nonimmigrant aliens eligible for coverage. Makes the enrollment of Medicare (title XVIII of the Social Security Act) beneficiaries applicable only to benefits not covered by the Medicare program. Title II: Benefits and Providers - Lists the basic health services which health plans must provide, to which Federal funding will be limited, and which may not include items or services for which Medicare coverage is unavailable. Permits States or health plans to offer additional health care benefits. Prohibits private health insurance from duplicating basic health service coverage. Restricts limitations on the amount, duration, or scope of basic health services to be provided to enrollees. Makes Medicare provider standards applicable to providers of basic health services. Authorizes the National CHC Board to impose additional conditions on providers of high-risk, high-cost, elective, or over-utilized items or services. Title III: Financing - Sets forth the procedure for determining CHC program budgets and the formula for determining the Federal share of expenditures. Establishes a Health Security Partnership Fund for each State into which revenues to finance the CHC program shall be placed. Requires each State CHC program to make monthly payments to health plans equal to their adjusted average per capita costs for required services provided to each class of enrollee they serve. Requires providers to accept payment from health plans on an assigned basis. Directs the National CHC Board to develop financial incentives in payment methods to promote a continuum of care. Pays institutional providers pursuant to a biennial prospective budgeting system to be developed by each State. Pays physicians pursuant to payment schedules based on a national relative value scale to be developed by the National CHC Board, but allows alternative payment mechanisms if they are no more costly than the payment schedules. Makes CHC payment methodologies established in a State applicable to Medicare payments for services furnished in such State. Provides States with Federal funds for implementing their CHC programs. Limits the cost-sharing amounts health plans may charge enrollees. Bans the imposition of any cost-sharing requirements on individuals whose family income is less than 200 percent of the Federal poverty level. Establishes the Federal Long-Term Care Trust Fund from which Federal payments to States for long-term care benefits in the State shall be made. Title IV: Administration - Establishes a National CHC Board as an independent agency responsible for the overall administration of the Comprehensive Health Care Act. Directs each State to submit its CHC program to the National CHC Board for review of the program's compliance with specified requirements. Imposes sanctions against States whose program fails to meet such requirements and who fail to take corrective action within 90 days of a finding of noncompliance. Requires the National CHC Board to establish a National Commission on Quality to establish, evaluate, and update national minimum standards to assure the quality of CHC services and to monitor State CHC Boards' quality assurance efforts. Requires each State CHC Board to establish a State Commission on Quality to implement national minimum standards in each State. Directs the National CHC Board to establish a National Advisory Commission on Technology Assessment and Clinical Effectiveness to make recommendations related to the effectiveness of health care items and procedures, and the possible coverage of new drugs and technological procedures and discontinuance from coverage of inefficient procedures. Establishes a National Resources Equalization Fund to be administered by the National CHC Board and used to augment the capability of medically underdeveloped areas to provide CHC services and to strengthen their abilities to provide local services. Authorizes appropriations for such Fund. Title V: Effective Dates; Transition; Relation to Other Programs - Makes the CHC program applicable to health care services furnished during the third calendar year beginning after this Act's enactment. Authorizes appropriations for the planning and development of State CHC programs. Requires Federal Employee Health Benefit Plans to be CHC-approved. Establishes the CHC program's relationship to other health care programs, making the Medicare program the primary payor in the event of duplicative CHC program coverage and the Medicaid program (title XIX of the Social Security Act) inapplicable in States having an operative State CHC program. Division B: Life Care Long-Term Care Protection Act - Lifecare Long-Term Care Protection Act - Adds a new title to the Social Security Act: Lifecare Long-Term Care Protection Program. Requires Long-Term Care Screening Agencies to assess individuals' eligibility for home and community-based care and Long-Term Care Case Management Agencies to conduct comprehensive needs assessments of eligible individuals, develop plans of care for such individuals, review such plans at least once every three months, and maintain a registry of qualified providers of home and community-based and nursing home care to assist individuals in choosing qualified providers to carry out their care plan. Sets the method for determining State fund contributions. Requires that the family be treated as a partner in the provision of long-term care. Sets forth eligibility requirements for home and community-based care services, including requirements that the individual be: (1) 65 or older, under age 19, or eligible for benefits under part A (Hospital Insurance) of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act as the result of a disability; and (2) dependent, cognitively impaired, or unable to perform daily living activities without assistance or supervision. Enumerates the criteria for receipt of respite care benefits. Lists those entities considered to be qualified service providers, including adult day health care centers certified by the State. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (the Secretary) to make monthly payments to each case management agency equal to amounts allotted by the screening agency for eligible individuals in the case management agency's jurisdiction. Requires such agencies to make direct payments to qualified providers of home and community-based care which shall be accepted as payment in full for such services. Limits payments for home health and community-based care for the next three years to 65 percent of the average amount payable for Medicare nursing home care and, for subsequent years, to the costs of nursing home care minus the costs of room and board. Allots payments among individuals on the basis of severity of need with chronically ill individuals receiving amounts equivalent to Medicaid (title XIX of the Social Security Act) payments for institutional care. Establishes the Home and Community-Based Care Advisory Council to review and assist the Secretary in the implementation of home and community-based care. Requires States to establish quality assurance boards to monitor quality of care and a community advisory board for each case management agency. Establishes a home and community-based care consumers' bill of rights. Imposes quality assurance requirements on providers of such care, including the requirement that they implement consumer grievance review mechanisms, ensure that their employees and other providers whom they have under contract have received adequate training, and annually evaluate the care furnished by such employees and providers. Establishes certification procedures for a survey of home care agencies, home health agencies, and adult day care health centers to determine eligibility for participation in the program under this Act. Outlines reimbursement procedures. Provides, subject to certain limitations, for nursing facility services for up to six months for individuals who are eligible for home and community-based care services. Allows additional nursing home coverage if: (1) the individual has not been an inpatient for at least six consecutive months; (2) the diagnosis is different; or (3) there has been a substantial worsening of the individual's condition since the latest discharge. Directs the Secretary to establish an optional insurance program for individuals 45 and over to cover nursing home stays that exceed six months. Prescribes procedures for setting premium rates and requires annual rate revisions by the Secretary. States that the rates are expected to cover 45 percent of the estimated nursing home costs of stays exceeding six months. Covers a portion of a low-income individuals' premium and room and board costs. Requires the Secretary to give individuals the option of purchasing coverage of nursing home stays exceeding six months without regard to age. Requires the Secretary, to the extent feasible, to establish a prospective payment mechanism for payment of nursing home services that takes into account the expected resource utilization of the patient based on the degree of disability and other factors. Requires the making of grants to schools of nursing, social work, allied health, and public health of universities to develop training programs for the provision of home and community-based care and nursing home care for the elderly, the disabled, and chronically ill children, and in the administration of such programs. Authorizes appropriations. Requires that grants be made to State-approved programs to train individuals in the provision of home health aide services. Authorizes appropriations. Requires the making of grants to university schools of nursing to develop model consumer training programs regarding the delivery of home care services. Authorizes appropriations. Requires that grants or contracts be made to assist public and private nonprofit entities in meeting the costs of developing centers for multidisciplinary health planning development and assistance. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary to conduct demonstration projects to determine the relative effectiveness, cost, and impact on quality of long-term home care of using different models of providing and reimbursing long-term home care services for seriously mentally ill individuals and family caregivers. Authorizes appropriations from the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund. Mandates demonstration projects on the feasibility of providing long-term home care benefits for working-age individuals with severe functional limitations. Directs the Secretary to make specified amounts available from such Fund. Division C: Grants to States for Establishment and Implementation of State Health Objectives Plans - Health Objectives 2000 Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to authorize appropriations for allotments to States for developing and implementing a plan to develop and collect data on the public health needs and status of State residents. Requires the plan to provide, for FY 1993 and thereafter, for use of the allotments for additional purposes described in specified provisions relating to preventive health and health services block grants. Requires the State plan to contain, among other elements, a set of at least five State health objectives chosen from the National Health Priorities described by the Secretary under this Act. Directs the Secretary to establish: (1) the National Health Objectives Advisory Committee; (2) National Health Priorities (NHPs) to form the basis for all activities that receive assistance under this Act; (3) from the NHPs, a set of Core Priorities that shall be included in each State Plan; and (4) an estimate of the personnel and training needed to accomplish the NHPs. Directs the Secretary, from the amounts made available for allotments, to use: (1) a limited amount for the professional training of public health personnel; and (2) remaining amounts to assist research, pilot and demonstration projects, and programs the Secretary determines to show the potential impact of regional or national significance with respect to NHPs. Repeals specified provisions relating to preventive health and health services block grants. Division D: Independence for Older Americans - Independence for Older Americans Act - Title I: Geriatric Research and Training Centers - Amends the Public Health Service Act to modify the purposes, affiliations, and activities of Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Centers (formerly centers of geriatric research and training). Title II: Availability of Information to Health Professionals, Older Americans, and the General Public - Directs the Secretary to prepare a comprehensive plan for a National Independence for Older Americans Information Program. Provides for the establishment of an information clearinghouse, a toll-free telephone communications system, and public information campaigns concerning the maintenance and improvement of the health and independence of older Americans. Authorizes appropriations to carry out this title. Title III: Prevention of and Recovery from Chronic Illness - Requires the National Institute on Aging to support research, and report to the Congress on the most effective: (1) techniques of geriatric assessment; (2) method of targeting comprehensive geriatric assessment to appropriate populations of older persons to determine their health care needs; and (3) means of providing for such needs to maximize health and independence. Directs the Secretary to develop: (1) model techniques to aid in the prevention and rehabilitation of older persons from frailty and other mobility problems; and (2) model curricula for the health professions for training in the use of such techniques. Authorizes the National Institute on Aging to establish up to five demonstration programs at Comprehensive Independence Research Training and Demonstration Centers to prevent the loss of mobility and to help frail older persons regain independence, using existing and experimental techniques. Directs the Secretary to conduct research on the extent to which falls are associated with the loss of an individual's confidence in functioning independently and his or her need for long-term care. Requires the Secretary to develop and report to the Congress on the development of: (1) model techniques to aid in the recovery and rehabilitation of older persons from chronic and debilitating illness; and (2) model curricula for the health professions for training in the use of such techniques. Authorizes appropriations to carry out this title. Title IV: Research on Health, Retirement, and Independence - Directs the Secretary to: (1) commence a ten-year health and retirement history survey; and (2) establish an advisory panel on data collection to review existing government surveys and census data to coordinate information on the health and retirement status of older Americans. Requires the National Center for Health Statistics to: (1) include persons age 75 and over in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey; (2) develop questions related to health promotion and disease prevention for older persons for inclusion in the National Health Interview Survey and the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey; and (3) develop questions related to the health promotion and disease prevention practices of health care providers with special relevance to older persons for inclusion in the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey. Directs the National Institute on Aging to request proposals from individual and team investigators on behavioral, social, and environmental mechanisms for promoting the health and independence of older Americans. Authorizes appropriations for carrying out this title. Title V: Authorization of Appropriations for NIH - Authorizes appropriations to be added to the National Institute on Aging and other institutes in proportion to their current spending levels on aging research. Division E: Authorization of Additional Funds for Research for AIDS, Hypertension, Sickle Cell Anemia, Infant Mortality, and Breast Cancer - Authorizes additional appropriations for research for acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), hypertension, sickle cell anemia, infant mortality, and breast cancer.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1991
Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to permit the deferral of payments on student loans during professional internships of any duration (by removing a two-year limitation).
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1991
Veterans' Compensation Amendments of 1991 - Increases the rates of: (1) veterans' disability compensation; (2) additional compensation for veterans' dependents; (3) the clothing allowance for certain disabled veterans; (4) dependency and indemnity compensation for surviving spouses and children; and (5) supplemental dependency and indemnity compensation for disabled adult children. Authorizes the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to adjust administratively the rates of disability compensation payable to persons who are not in receipt of compensation for service-connected disability or death.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1991
Guam Commonwealth Act - Title I: Political Relationship - Creates the Commonwealth of Guam. Grants the people of Guam the right of full self-government through adoption of a Constitution, consistent with U.S. sovereignty over Guam and the supremacy of U.S. law applicable to Guam, and within specified guidelines. Recognizes the right of self-determination of the people of Guam. Directs the U.S. Government, through additional federally-funded programs, to promote preservation of the Chamorro culture, enhanced economic, social, and educational opportunities for Chamorros, and training of Chamorros for employment. Provides that nothing in this Act or the Constitution of Guam shall impair the U.S. citizenship of the residents of Guam or their descendants or their rights and privileges as U.S. citizens under the 14th amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Directs Guam to establish a land trust for the benefit of the indigenous Chamorro people and to establish residency requirements under the Constitution of Guam for voting and holding elective office. Allows this Act to be modified only with the mutual consent of the Governments of the United States and Guam. Title II: Applicability of Federal Law - Makes specified provisions of, and amendments to, the U.S. Constitution applicable to Guam, in addition to those portions which currently apply. Makes Federal laws, rules, or regulations passed after the date of this Act inapplicable unless mutually consented to by the Governments of the United States and Guam. Creates the Joint Commission on the Applicability of Federal Law. Specifies its duties, including: (1) participating in consultations between the Governments of the United States and Guam; (2) studying existing statutes and regulations affecting the U.S.-Guam relationship; (3) reviewing policies and procedures of Federal agencies relating to such relationship; (4) compiling data; (5) drafting modifications in existing laws, regulations, policies, and procedures and obtaining such modifications by negotiation and mediation concerning issues such as land claims and war claims; and (6) seeking to obtain maximum economic development and political autonomy for Guam, consistent with U.S. security interests. Provides that the United States will bear the cost of the work of the Commission. Authorizes the President or his designee to delegate to the Governor of Guam total or partial performance of functions now vested in Federal administrative agencies. Title III: Foreign Affairs and Defense - Grants the United States responsibility for authority with respect to matters relating to foreign affairs and defense that affect Guam. Provides for U.S. consultation with Guam in advance of negotiations toward any treaties or international or executive agreements affecting Guam, and with respect to proposals to increase or decrease Department of Defense activities within Guam. Prohibits the establishment of military security zones or the stationing of foreign military personnel on the Island of Guam without the approval of the Government of Guam except in time of declared war, or the establishment of military bases without consultation with the Governor. Provides for U.S. assistance to Guam in the establishment of offices in the United States and abroad, in becoming a member or participant in appropriate regional and international organizations, and in obtaining from other countries favorable treatment for exports. Prohibits the United States from using the Island of Guam or the water surrounding it for the dumping or storage of nuclear waste or hazardous chemicals. Provides for the clean up by the United States of chemical dump sites used by the military in the past. Requires the United States to compensate any person injured as a result of hazardous materials stored, used, or disposed of by the U.S. Government in Guam or its waters. Title IV: Courts - Specifies provisions governing the relations between U.S. courts and the local courts of Guam, the jurisdiction of the District Court of Guam, and the applicable district court rules. Provides for the appointment of a judge for the District Court of Guam, a U.S. attorney, and a U.S. marshal for Guam. Title V: Trade - Establishes a Guam-United States free trade area, under which neither party may impose duties, quotas, or other restrictions on each other's products, nor shall the United States treat products of Guam as having originated in any other country. Defines "products of Guam" to mean articles that contain at least 30 percent value added in Guam, and specifies costs included in value added. Authorizes Guam to impose, increase, reduce, or eliminate duties and other restrictions on: (1) products that originate outside the customs territory of the United States and that are imported into Guam; and (2) exports from Guam, whether or not products of Guam. Requires the Governor of Guam to certify that the origin of "products of Guam" is, in fact, Guam, and provides for customs inspections of products brought into the United States. Title VI: Taxation - Makes U.S. income tax laws applicable to Guam. Deems such laws to impose a separate tax, payable to the Government of Guam, to be known as the Guam Commonwealth income tax. Grants the Governor the same administrative and enforcement powers and remedies with regard to such tax (pursuant to the laws of Guam) as the Secretary of the Treasury and other executive branch officials have with respect to the U.S. income tax. Sets forth similar enforcement authority with respect to criminal violations, tax liens, and suits to recover erroneously or illegally assessed taxes. Grants the District Court of Guam exclusive jurisdiction over all judicial proceedings in Guam, both criminal and civil, with respect to such tax. Allows the Government of Guam to provide for the rebate or reduction of taxes in order to assist new industries or economic development. Grants Guam the power to determine the nature and amount of taxes imposed upon the income and property of persons within its jurisdiction. Repeals applicable U.S. tax laws one year after Guam has enacted a replacement comprehensive local income tax. Exempts all bonds or other obligations issued by Guam from taxation by Federal, State, or local governments of the United States. Title VII: Immigration - Applies the Immigration and Nationality Act and pertinent Federal regulations to Guam for two years from enactment of this Act. Directs Guam to enact a comprehensive law on immigration to become effective at the end of the two-year period. Provides that such law shall not impair the free movement of U.S. citizens to and from Guam, include the authority to naturalize aliens for U.S. citizenship, or alter the Governor's authority to issue U.S. passports. Authorizes U.S. consular officials to issue visas for travel only to Guam for any alien seeking to enter Guam as a non-immigrant in order to encourage investors and tourists to come to Guam. Title VIII: Labor - Grants preference to qualified residents of Guam in all Federal civil service vacancies occurring in Guam. Grants Guam the authority to enact and enforce all laws regulating or affecting employment in Guam. Provides that all pertinent U.S. laws regulating employment on Guam on the effective date of this Act shall remain applicable until replaced by duly enacted law of the Guam Legislature. Title IX: Transportation and Telecommunications - Precludes application of any U.S. law barring the U.S. registration and use of any foreign-built vessel within the waters around Guam for any purpose. Exempts from the coastwise laws of the United States any shipment of fish or fish products from Guam to any U.S. coastwise destination. Directs the Commission periodically to examine the applicability of such laws and to recommend termination of their applicability upon determining that such laws constrain Guam's economic development. Authorizes the Governor of Guam to sponsor any qualified air service carrier to come to Guam, subject to presidential consultation concerning U.S. foreign policy and security interests. Exempts Guam from all bilateral treaties between the United States and foreign states with respect to scheduling and technical specifications of aircraft, other than safety requirements. Provides that Guam shall remain an "eligible point" for purposes of being ensured essential air transportation to and from the United States. Defines Guam as "domestic" for Federal Communications Commission rate setting purposes. Title X: Land, Natural Resources and Utilities - Grants the Government of Guam the power of eminent domain. Grants Guam jurisdiction over all natural resources of the seabed, subsoil, tidelands, and adjacent territorial waters of the Island of Guam. Sets limits on U.S. acquisition of real property on Guam. Exempts Guam from Federal regulations governing the transfer or sale of excess Federal real property. Provides for the transfer of all excess Federal property to Guam, with specified exceptions. Provides for access and use by the residents of Guam of certain retained Federal property, subject to military security requirements. Authorizes the granting of easements on such property to the Government of Guam in specified circumstances. Directs the United States to transfer ownership of island utilities to Guam. Title XI: United States Financial Assistance - Provides for the return of U.S. revenues from taxes and fees collected in Guam or from its residents or products to the Government of Guam. Makes U.S. laws providing Federal benefits and financial assistance which are applicable to the States likewise applicable to Guam on an equal basis. Directs the Governor of Guam, in preparing an annual budget, to identify the costs and benefits to Guam brought about by its role as one of the principal U.S. military bases. Requires the Governor to submit such information to the Guam Legislature and the Office of Management and Budget for use in reviewing the Governor's request for appropriations for the annual Federal payment to Guam, which request the Governor shall submit to the President for transmission to the Congress each year. Provides for assistance to aid Guam's transition to a Commonwealth, including: (1) U.S. financing of the costs of institutional changes connected with the change in Guam's political relationship with the United States; (2) help in meeting the capital needs of Guam necessary for long-term, self-sustaining development; and (3) establishing an economic development fund to assist expansion of the private sector. Title XII: Technical Amendments and Interpretation - Makes technical and conforming amendments. Calls for this Act to be interpreted liberally to accomplish its purpose of providing for complete, internal self-government for Guam. Requires this Act to be submitted to the registered voters of Guam for ratification after being passed by the Congress. Repeals the Organic Act of Guam.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1991
Decennial Census Accuracy Improvement Act of 1991 - Amends Federal census law to require the Secretary of Commerce to determine whether the tabulations of population of the respective States should be adjusted in order to correct for any under- or over-counting. Provides that the tabulation for a State shall not be complete unless: (1) the Secretary determines that no adjustment is required in the tabulation of population for any State; or (2) appropriate adjustments for each State have been made, if it is determined that adjustment would improve the accuracy of census counts. Requires that any incomplete tabulation reported to a State to be identified as preliminary and subject to adjustment. States that if the deadline cannot be met to complete and report such data to the respective States the Secretary shall: (1) provide advance written notice to the Congress (including a statement of reasons and the anticipated compliance date); and (2) have until the second July 15th after the decennial census date to complete and report the tabulation of population to the respective States. Applies this Act to data obtained from the 1990 decennial census or any to follow. Deems as a reference to such tabulation in its completed form as determined by this Act, any requirement under Federal law that a tabulation of population for a State (as obtained in the 1990 or a later decennial census) be used. Requires the Secretary to report on the data obtained from the 1990 decennial census to the appropriate congressional committees. Declares that the authority to use the "sampling" statistical method shall be governed by this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1991
Requires any request by the President for a declaration of war, and any declaration of war by the Congress, to include a cost/benefit statement that identifies risks and uncertainties in terms of the cost in dollars as well as human misery.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1991
Federal Employees' Political Activities Act of 1991 - Prohibits an employee from using or attempting to use official authority or influence to interfere with or affect the result of any election. Prohibits an employee from using or attempting to use official authority to intimidate, threaten, coerce, command, or influence: (1) any individual for the purpose of interfering with the right of any individual to vote as the individual may choose, or of causing any individual to vote, or not to vote, for any candidate or measure in any election; (2) any person to give or withhold any political contribution; or (3) any person to engage, or not to engage, in any form of political activity. Prohibits an employee from using, attempting to use, or permitting the use of any official information, unless such information is available to the general public. Prohibits an employee from: (1) giving or offering to give a political contribution to any individual either to vote or to refrain from voting, or to vote for or against any candidate or measure, in any election; (2) soliciting, accepting, or receiving a political contribution to vote or refrain from voting, or to vote for or against any candidate or measure, in any election; or (3) giving or handing over a political contribution to a superior of the employee. Prohibits an employee from soliciting, accepting, or receiving, or from being in any manner concerned with soliciting, accepting, or receiving, a political contribution: (1) from another employee (or a member of another employee's immediate family) with respect to whom the employee is a superior; or (2) in any room or building occupied in the discharge of official duties by a Federal employee or official or an individual receiving salary or compensation from the Treasury. Prohibits an employee from soliciting, accepting, or receiving a political contribution from, or giving a political contribution to, any person who: (1) has, or is seeking to obtain, contractual or other business or financial relations with the employing agency; (2) conducts operations or activities which are regulated by that agency; or (3) has interests which may be substantially affected by the performance of the employee's official duties. Directs the Special Counsel of the Merit Systems Protection Board to prescribe regulations which exempt employees from such prohibitions. Prohibits an employee from engaging in political activity: (1) while on duty; (2) in any room or building occupied in the discharge of official duties by a Federal employee or official; (3) while wearing a uniform or official insignia identifying the office or position of the employee; or (4) while using any vehicle owned or leased by the Government. Exempts certain high level political appointees from such prohibitions if the costs associated with the political activity are not paid for by money derived from the Treasury. Authorizes leave without pay or accrued annual leave to an employee who is a candidate, upon request, to allow such employee to engage in activities relating to that candidacy. Declares that such request may be denied if the exigencies of the public business so require. Declares that such employee may be required to take leave without pay or accrued annual leave in order to be a candidate if activities relating to the candidacy interfere with the employee's performance of duties. Applies this Act to postal employees and employees of the Postal Rate Commission.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1991
Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act to eliminate the requirement that the amount of monthly benefits payable to a spouse, surviving spouse, or parent be reduced by the amount such individual receives in monthly payments from a Federal or State pension plan.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to make permanent the exclusion from gross income of amounts received under qualified group legal services plans. (Under current law the exclusion expired as of September 30, 1990.)
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide that payment under a life insurance contract to an insured who is terminally ill be treated as a death benefit, making such payment eligible for exclusion from gross income. Provides that any reference to life insurance shall be treated as referring to a qualified terminal illness rider. Provides for the tax treatment of such riders. Describes such a rider as one which provides for payments to an insured upon the insured's becoming terminally ill.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow an employer a tax credit for 20 percent of qualified mammography screening costs. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish standards to assure the safety and accuracy of such mammography screening.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1991
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 · 3 January 1991
Provides that the United States shall continue to support multinational efforts to maintain economic sanctions against Iraq until all Iraqi forces and personnel are withdrawn from Kuwait. Bars the U.S. armed forces from engaging in offensive military action against nonmilitary or military targets or forces in Iraq or Kuwait for at least one year.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1991
Constitutional Amendment - Declares that equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State on account of sex.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1991
Establishes in the House of Representatives the Select Committee on Narcotics Abuse and Control to conduct continuing oversight and review of the problems of narcotics, drug, and polydrug abuse and control.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1991
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the President should fundamentally reassess the necessity of underground nuclear explosions and instruct his representatives to the Limited Test Ban Treaty Amendment Conference to support a comprehensive test ban amendment.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1991
Supports the President's actions to defend Saudi Arabia and his diplomatic and economic initiatives to resolve the Persian Gulf crisis. Demands that Iraq immediately withdraw from Kuwait. Finds that the Constitution vests all power to declare war in the Congress. Declares that any offensive action against Iraq must be explicitly approved in advance by the Congress.
United States · United States Congress · 24 October 1990
Amends the Poison Prevention Packaging Act of 1970 to require that prescription drug samples distributed by manufacturers to prescribing practitioners meet special packaging standards if they are intended to be dispensed to consumers in the same packages.
United States · United States Congress · 23 October 1990
Designates the room numbered H-235 in the House of Representatives wing of the Capitol as the Lindy Claiborne Boggs Congressional Women's Reading Room.
United States · United States Congress · 20 October 1990
Declares that it is the sense of the Congress that the United States should: (1) give highest national priority to developing a national child health policy; (2) establish a universal national children's health insurance program; and (3) devote sufficient resources to achieving, by the year 2000, the Surgeon General's Maternal and Child Health Objectives.
United States · United States Congress · 17 October 1990
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to impose a 100 percent tax on income from frozen Iraqi assets. Authorizes the President to modify such tax if the armed forces of Iraq withdraw from Kuwait within the time and in the manner determined by the President.
United States · United States Congress · 17 October 1990
Prohibits the proposed sales to Saudi Arabia of armored vehicles (including M1A2 tanks and Bradley Fighting Vehicles), AH-64 APACHE attack helicopters, PATRIOT guided missile units, and related defense articles and services, that were reported to the Congress pursuant to the Arms Export Control Act on September 27, 1990.
United States · United States Congress · 16 October 1990
Salutes and congratulates the people of Poland as they commemorate the 200th anniversary of the adoption of the Polish Constitution on May 3, 1991. Directs the Library of Congress to commemorate the anniversary with appropriate ceremonies.
United States · United States Congress · 16 October 1990
Requires Federal employees furloughed as a result of the lapse in appropriations from midnight October 5, 1990, until the enactment of House Joint Resolution 666 to be compensated at their standard rate of compensation for the period during which the lapse in appropriations occurred.
United States · United States Congress · 10 October 1990
Urban Schools of America (USA) Act of 1990 - Title I: Urban School Improvement - Directs the Secretary of Education (the Secretary) to reserve specified funds for: (1) national activities to evaluate urban school improvement programs; and (2) competitive grant awards to exemplary school programs. Directs the Secretary to allot, from remaining amounts, to each eligible local educational agency (LEA) with an approved application an amount based on relative numbers of students enrolled in the LEA's jurisdiction. Makes an LEA eligible if it: (1) serves the largest city in a State; or (2) enrolls 30,000 or more students as of October 1, 1987, and serves a city with a population of at least 200,000 in a metropolitan statistical area. Requires LEAs to use such funds to: (1) increase the academic achievement of urban school children to at least the national average; (2) prepare all urban children for school; (3) increase the graduation rates of urban students to at least the national average; (4) prepare urban school graduates to enter higher education, pursue careers, and exercise their responsibilities as citizens; (5) recruit and retain qualified teachers; and (6) decrease the use of drugs and alcohol by urban students, enhancing their physical and emotional health. Sets forth program requirements: (1) in general, for initial grants, renewal grants, and renewal of school participation; (2) for achievement, including demonstration of improvement; and (3) data collection. Authorizes the Secretary to reserve funds for competitive awards to schools participating in projects assisted under this title that demonstrate exemplary progress in meeting program requirements. Directs the Secretary, by January 1, 1991, to report on the effects of Federal and State education regulations on urban public schools. Requires LEAs desiring to receive a grant under this Act to establish a local advisory group to: (1) design and conduct a needs assessment for participating schools; (2) assist in planning for community-wide collaboration in service delivery for youths in participating schools; (3) advise the LEA and the community on how they can work together to use multiple service providers; and (4) monitor program implementation and oversee program evaluation. Allows use of a comparable existing local advisory group to comply with such requirement. Sets forth special rules relating to ranking of schools to determine relative needs, in general, on the basis of achievement, poverty, and number of minority students. Requires each LEA receiving a grant to serve between ten and 20 percent of its schools. Requires eligible LEAs to have flexibility to serve homeless children, desegrating students, immigrants, migrants, or other highly mobile populations, even if they do not attend a project school. Deems certain approved programs under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 for education of disadvantaged children to be sufficient to meet plan and criteria requirements of this Act. Authorizes appropriations. Title II: Repair and Renovation of Urban School Buildings - Authorizes the Secretary to make three-year grants to eligible LEAs for: (1) repair and renovation of school buildings; and (2) improvements related to environmental concerns and safety. Directs the Secretary to allocate funds for both such types of grants on the basis of the number of: (1) children from families below the poverty line; (2) school buildings used for instructional purposes; and (3) school buildings more than 25 years old used for instructional purposes. Requires annual grant review by the Secretary. Authorizes appropriations. Title III: Urban School Research - Directs the Secretary to reserve specified funds for the National Urban Research Center established under this title. Allows programs and projects assisted under this title to include: (1) collaborative and coordinated research and evaluation of educational techniques or approaches in multiple cities served by eligible LEAs; (2) evaluation of projects assisted under title I; (3) dissemination of information on successful projects and approaches under title I; (4) design and implementation of programs for LEA provision of technical assistance to individual schools and teachers involved in title I projects; (5) data and information management services for schools participating in a title I program; (6) staff training in such schools; and (7) evaluation of progress in meeting national educational goals by LEAs receiving assistance under this Act. Directs the Secretary to establish and operate a National Urban Research Center to: (1) evaluate, monitor, and disseminate activities assisted under this title; (2) conduct independent research in urban education; and (3) serve as a clearinghouse on urban education research fundings, policies, and practices. Authorizes appropriations. Title IV: Equalization of State Spending for Public Education - Requires any State, after January 1, 1996, in order to receive Federal assistance to support its public schools under any program administered by the Secretary: (1) to certify that the Secretary has reviewed and determined that the State's method of financing its public elementary and secondary schools is equitable; or, in the alternative, (2) to have in operation a State equalization plan that meets specified requirements. Requires such State equalization plans to: (1) be submitted within one year after the State receives notice that its public school financing method is inequitable; (2) describe how the State will equalize such method within five years; and (3) be approved by the Secretary. Directs the Secretary annually to: (1) review each State's public school financing method; and (2) certify each State determined to have an equitable method. Sets forth review standards, requiring consideration of: (1) relative numbers of children from families dependent on public assistance or with below poverty level income, with limited English proficiency, and with disabilities; (2) the municipal overburden of the residents of the eligible city in relation to the statewide average burden; and (3) the amount of taxes paid by residents within the LEA to support schools relative to their capacity to pay such taxes, as compared to the statewide average. Mandates that Federal funds prohibited to a noncomplying State be distributed to LEAs within that State on a basis determined to carry out the purposes for which they were made available and to meet the equalized spending standards. Title V: General Provisions - Establishes the Interagency Council on Urban Schools to: (1) review Federal programs to determine effects on urban schools' ability to meet national education goals; (2) track school progress toward such goals; (3) solicit advice and information for urban education experts and urban school representatives on improvement of Federal programs; (4) review Federal regulations for duplication or contradiction; (5) report annually to the Congress and the President on urban school progress; (6) review and recommend improvement or streamlining of Federal data collection in urban schools; and (7) conduct research to help urban school practitioners improve school performance. Directs the President to conduct a White House Conference on Urban Education before October 30, 1992. Requires the Conference to advise on development of: (1) recommendations and strategies for improving urban education; (2) methods for combining forces of the private sector, governmental agencies at all levels, parents, teachers, communities, and education officials to assist urban schools in meeting national goals; and (3) a permanent national advisory commission on urban education. Requires a report to the President. Authorizes appropriations. Establishes a National Commission on Urban Education as an independent agency within the executive branch. Directs the Commission to: (1) study specified issues relating to urban schools; and (2) report, and recommend changes in Federal legislation, to the President and appropriate congressional committees. Terminates the Commission three years after its first meeting. Authorizes appropriations. Requires eligible LEAs to use Federal funds received under this Act only to supplement but not supplant non-Federal funds.
United States · United States Congress · 28 September 1990
Medicaid Substance Abuse Treatment Act of 1990 - Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to provide federally reimbursed Medicaid coverage of alcoholism and drug dependency residential treatment services for pregnant women whose family income is below 185 percent of the Federal poverty level and for their Medicaid-eligible children and spouses. Lists the required services included in such coverage as: (1) culturally appropriate individual, group, and family counseling and addiction education and treatment provided pursuant to individualized treatment plans; (2) room and board in a structured environment with on-site supervision 24 hours a day; (3) therapeutic child care or counseling for children of individuals in treatment; (4) parental assistance in obtaining developmental assistance for their preschool children and public education for themselves and their school-age children; (5) easier access to other health and social services; (6) planning and assistance in reentering society; (7) supervision of children when their mother is in therapy; and (8) continuing specialized training of residential treatment facility staff members in the most recent and effective treatment techniques. Requires that such coverage continue for at least 12 months, except that the coverage of pregnant women must continue for one year following the end of pregnancy. Limits the size of a residential treatment facility to a facility with no more than 40 beds or with modular units of no more than 40 beds unless the Secretary of Health and Human Services issues a waiver for a larger facility after finding that its residents will receive services that provide therapeutic benefit equal to or greater than that provided in a smaller facility.
United States · United States Congress · 27 September 1990
Account Fraud and Deception Prevention Act of 1990 - Amends the Electronic Fund Transfer Act to prohibit preauthorized transfers from a consumer's account which are made on the basis of: (1) any form of negotiation of any check by the consumer; and (2) a provision contained on any check negotiated by a consumer.
United States · United States Congress · 25 September 1990
Declares that it is the sense of the House of Representatives that the full realization of the rights of women is vital and the President should seek the advice and consent of the Senate to ratification of the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women adopted by the United Nations.
![Official portrait of Rep. Pelosi, Nancy [D-CA-11]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/p000197_200.jpg)