United States · United States Congress · 11 March 1992
Black Bear Protection Act of 1992 - Directs the Secretary of Commerce under the Export Administration Act of 1979 to prohibit the export of American black bear viscera. Requires the Secretary of the Interior to report to the Congress on the American black bear viscera trade. Requires the United States Trade Representative to discuss issues involving such trade with countries that are the leading importers of such products.
United States · United States Congress · 5 March 1992
Medicare Geographic Data Accuracy Act of 1992 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to consult with State medical societies in revising the geographic adjustment factors used to determine reimbursements for physician services under part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) of Medicare. Requires the Secretary to base geographic-cost-of-practice indices under Medicare upon the most recent available data.
United States · United States Congress · 3 March 1992
Directs the Secretary of the Navy to establish a second homeport on the east coast of the United States for nuclear-powered aircraft carriers. Outlines the development work to be performed at the site selected for such homeport.
United States · United States Congress · 26 February 1992
Authorizes and urges the President to designate April 9, 1992, as Day of Recognition of Filipino War Veterans (the 50th anniversary of the fall of Bataan). Expresses the sense of the Congress that a copy of this resolution be presented to Filipino veterans and the Filipino people in Manila on April 9, 1992, during the observance of such anniversary, as an expression of goodwill and reaffirmation of the continuing regard of the United States and the American people for a lasting Filipino-American friendship.
United States · United States Congress · 19 February 1992
Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to establish a nonimmigrant (but not permanent resident) status for the spouse and minor children of a lawful permanent resident alien. Prohibits such spouse from working in the United States. Terminates such status upon termination of the marriage.
United States · United States Congress · 19 February 1992
Wetlands Reform Act of 1992 - Title I: Amendments to the Federal Water Pollution Control Act - Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to make any pollutant discharge or alteration of navigable waters unlawful. Revises certification requirements for persons seeking to conduct activities which may result in discharges or other alterations of navigable waters to provide State certifications that such activities will allow for the protection, achievement, and maintenance of designated uses included in water quality standards. Authorizes the issuance of permits for other alterations of navigable waters. Defines "other alterations" as activities which impair the flow, reach, or circulation of surface water, or which result in changes in the hydrologic regime, bottom contour, or configuration of the waters or in the type, distribution, or diversity of vegetation. Revises provisions concerning general permits for the discharge of dredged or fill material into, or other alteration of, navigable waters. Prohibits authorization for an activity within a State that has denied or revoked a water quality certification for such activity. Provides for biennial review of permits and revision or revocation to avoid or minimize adverse effects on navigable waters and for reports to the Congress. Directs the Secretary of the Army, acting through the Chief of Engineers, to establish a special Fast Track team in each district office to expedite the review and processing of minor permits. Prohibits the issuance of permits if there is a practical alternative to the proposed activity that would have less adverse impact on navigable waters. Requires all adverse impacts to wetlands and other U.S. waters to be fully mitigated to achieve full restoration of the functions and values lost. Applies exemptions from permit requirements for agricultural and certain other activities to other alterations of navigable water that occur as a result of such activities. Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Secretary of the Army to promulgate final regulations determining the circumstances under which discharges of dredged or fill material or other alterations of navigable waters which were converted to production of commodity crops prior to December 23, 1985, shall be exempt from permit requirements. Authorizes citizen suits for violations of general permits or permit conditions. Title II: Other Provisions - Directs the Comptroller General to submit to the Congress an analysis of needs of the Corps of Engineers and EPA for additional personnel, administrative resources, and funding to improve implementation of the wetlands permit program. Requires funds to be used for: (1) the training and certification of wetlands delineators authorized by the Water Resources Development Act of 1990; and (2) the improvement of existing education and outreach programs of the Corps of Engineers or EPA regarding wetlands permitting. Requires the Director of the Fish and Wildlife Service to use funds for wetlands mapping and for the delineation of wetlands in watersheds and ecosystems for which the need for delineation is particularly acute. Provides for the update of existing maps at least once every 15 years. Directs the Administrator to contract for an independent study of the scientific basis for wetlands identification and delineation to be conducted by the National Academy of Sciences. Requires such study to specifically address the scientific bases of certain Federal manuals for identifying and delineating wetlands and to recommend appropriate scientific methods and procedures for identification and delineation. Provides for the submission of study results to specified congressional committees. Prohibits revisions to or clarifications of the Federal Manual for Identifying and Delineating Jurisdictional Wetlands or regulations related to the definition, delineation, or identification of wetlands until the study has been completed. Title III: Wetlands Restoration Pilot Program - Directs the Secretary to initiate a pilot program of wetlands restoration.
United States · United States Congress · 19 February 1992
Creates the Congressional Office of Inspector General (Office), independent of the executive departments and under the control and direction of the Speaker and minority leader of the House of Representatives. Sets forth the functions of the Office. Makes an Inspector General (Inspector), to be appointed by the Speaker and minority leader, head of the Office for a seven-year term, unless removed by the Speaker and minority leader for cause. Makes the Inspector ineligible for reappointment. Requires the Inspector to appoint: (1) an Assistant Inspector General for Auditing to supervise the auditing of the office procedures and operations of each Member or committee of the House and any other House office whose employees are paid by the Clerk; and (2) an Assistant Inspector General for Investigations to supervise investigations of such office procedures and operations. Sets forth the duties and responsibilities of the Inspector. Requires each Inspector General to report annually to the Speaker and minority leader of the House. Authorizes the Inspector to receive and investigate complaints or information from a House employee concerning the possible existence of a violation of law or the Rules of the House, mismanagement, gross waste of funds, abuse or authority, or a substantial and specific danger to the public health and safety. Prohibits the Inspector, upon receiving the complaint or information, from disclosing the complainant's identity without the employee's consent, unless such disclosure is unavoidable during the course of the investigation. Prohibits any employee who has authority to take, directs others to take, or recommends or approves any personnel action, from taking action against an employee as reprisal for making a complaint or disclosing information to an Inspector, unless the complaint was false and the complainant knew this or willfully disregarded truth or falsity.
United States · United States Congress · 18 February 1992
Declares that the Congress: (1) commemorates the 50th anniversary of the Battle of Midway on June 4, 1992; (2) salutes the vision and dedication of those Americans who planned and participated in this heroic battle; (3) reveres the memory, bravery, and spirit of those who fought and perished in it; and (4) honors the sacrifices and devotions of those gallant men who fought in such battle and who, in a single master stroke, reversed the tide of war in the Pacific.
United States · United States Congress · 11 February 1992
State Care: State-Based Comprehensive Health Care Act of 1992 - Amends the Social Security Act (SSA) to add a new title XXI under which the Secretary of Health and Human Services is required to select States to participate in health coverage demonstration projects. Establishes the Universal Health Care Advisory Board to make recommendations to the Secretary regarding approval of applications of States to participate in a demonstration project. Requires a State, in order to participate in a demonstration project, to submit to the Secretary and the Advisory Board an application containing information and assurances that the State has enacted a comprehensive health care plan and established a State Health Care Authority. Requires the State Health Care Authority to develop such plan. Provides that in order for a State to have its application approved, it must develop and enact a plan that: (1) is in effect in all political subdivisions of the State; (2) provides benefits and services that are at least equal to those provided under Medicare (SSA title XVIII), and for individuals entitled to Medicaid (SSA title XIX) benefits as of the date of the enactment of this Act, equal to the benefits and services provided under Medicaid; (3) ensures that all individuals in the State who are citizens or lawful residents have access to health coverage through a single State administered plan, a plan that requires employers to cover employees through either a public or private insurance plan, or any other plan approved by the State and determined appropriate by the Advisory Board; (4) provides for appropriate cost-control mechanisms; (5) requires providers of services and insurance policies to meet licensure, certification, and other appropriate standards; (6) provides for budgetary procedures to ensure that a statewide health care budget is established with respect to plan benefits and services; and (7) includes quality control procedures. Prohibits payments under Medicare or Medicaid for services provided under a demonstration project if payment for such services may be made under the State's comprehensive health care plan. Directs the Secretary to pay to each State participating in a demonstration project an amount equal to the amount of any payments that, as a result of such prohibition, were not made under Medicare or Medicaid because payment was made under such comprehensive plan.
United States · United States Congress · 11 February 1992
Designates April 14, 1992, as Education and Sharing Day, U.S.A., the birthday and the start of the 91st year of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, leader of the worldwide Lubavitch movement.
United States · United States Congress · 5 February 1992
Reduces specified appropriations for FY 1992. Expresses the sense of the Congress that any money returned to the Treasury as a result of this Act should be deposited in the General Fund for application against expenses associated with servicing the national debt.
United States · United States Congress · 5 February 1992
Anti-Recession Infrastructure Jobs Act of 1992 - Authorizes the Secretary of Commerce, acting through the Economic Development Administration, to make grants to State and local governments for infrastructure projects in distressed areas. Provides for direct grants for construction and improvement and for completion of planning. Provides for supplemental grants for other Federal grant programs and for State and local programs. Prohibits the use of grants to acquire real property or to cover maintenance costs. Requires assurance that on-site labor can begin within 90 days of project approval. Requires: (1) contracting out construction or improvement work on grant projects; (2) competitive bidding; (3) acceptance of the lowest responsive bid; (4) advertised specifications covering all requirements or obligations preceding contract award; (5) Buy American conditions; (6) minority participation; and (7) applicability of specified Federal laws regarding individuals with disabilities. Directs the Secretary, in carrying out this Act, to prescribe rules, regulations, and procedures that assure adequate consideration is given to the relative needs of various sections of the country, including consideration of these factors in proposed project areas: (1) severity and duration of unemployment; (2) income levels and extent of underemployment; (3) extent of proposed project contribution to reducing unemployment; and (4) amount of unemployment or underemployment in the construction and construction-related industries. Requires a final determination on each grant application within 60 days after the Secretary receives it (or else the grant will be deemed approved). Sets forth formulas for allocation of funds. Sets aside two and one-half percent for Indian tribes and Alaska Native villages. Sets minimum and maximum allocation limits for any one State and for specified U.S. territories. Requires the Secretary, in making such grants, to give priority and preference to public works: (1) projects of local governments; (2) projects requested by a State or special purpose unit of local government and endorsed by a general purpose local government; and (3) projects requested by school districts. Requires the Secretary, if the average national unemployment rate is six percent or above for the most recent 12 consecutive months, to: (1) expedite and give priority to applications from State or local governments with rates for that period above the national rate; and (2) give priority thereafter to those from any State or local governments having rates for that period above six percent but below the national rate. Requires State and local prioritization of applications. Requires (if the applicant so requests) that the local government's unemployment rate be based on the rate of any community or neighborhood within such local government's jurisdiction. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 4 February 1992
Job Opportunities to Benefit Society (JOBS) Act of 1992 - Title I: Programs for the Unemployed - Directs the Secretary of Labor (the Secretary) to establish in the Department of Labor a program of grants to States to create employment programs for certain unemployed individuals in States where the unemployment rate is five percent or more. Requires State Governors, in order to receive fund allotments, to submit annual State plans detailing programs and activities to be assisted and indicating compliance with specified program requirements. Requires a State program to limit such employment to persons within the State who have been unemployed for at least six months and would otherwise qualify for unemployment compensation. Authorizes appropriations. Establishes in the Treasury a Jobs Opportunity to Benefit Society (JOBS) Account, consisting of donations by private individuals and/or corporations to help fund such grants. Allows a State, upon the Secretary's approval of its plan, to receive annual grants based on the number of individuals it expects to employ under the program. Provides that the Secretary will determine the amount of such grants. Terminates the authorization for this Act 36 months from its enactment date. Title II: Deficit Reduction - Requires any grant funds not expended by the Secretary at the end of each fiscal year to be converted to the Treasury for deficit reduction.
United States · United States Congress · 28 January 1992
Authorizes the Secretary of Transportation to carry out a highway construction project to replace or repair the Fuller Warren Bridge in Jacksonville, Florida. Authorizes appropriations. Provides that the Federal share of the cost of the project shall be 80 percent.
United States · United States Congress · 22 January 1992
Amends Federal law to prohibit a Member of the House of Representatives from sending any franked mass mailing outside the Member's congressional district. Authorizes a Member of Congress to mail franked mail with a simplified form of address for delivery within his or her congressional district only. (Current law permits such mailings throughout the Member's State.) Prohibits the Committee on House Administration from approving any payment for, and a Member from making any expenditure from, any allowance of the House or any other official funds if any portion is for any cost related to a mass mailing by a Member of the House outside his or her congressional district.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1992
Directs the President to carry out a program to acquire additional quantities of those strategic and critical materials identified as being in deficient supply in the National Defense Stockpile requirements report submitted in 1992 by the Secretary of Defense pursuant to the Strategic and Critical Materials Stock Piling Act in order to eliminate such deficiencies by September 30, 1999. Specifies that the quantity of each material acquired under such program during each of FY 1993 through 1999 shall be approximately equal, except that acquisition may occur at a faster rate to take advantage of purchase or barter opportunities that may arise. Requires the President to acquire such strategic and critical materials by using funds in the National Defense Stockpile Transaction Fund or by barter, subject to limitations provided in appropriations Acts.
United States · United States Congress · 26 November 1991
Endangered Species Act Amendments of 1992 - Title I: Recovery Plans - Amends the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to require the Secretary (either the Secretary of the Interior or the Secretary of Commerce, as program responsibilities are vested) to: (1) develop and implement recovery plans by December 31, 1996, for listed endangered and threatened species for which such plans have not been developed as of December 31, 1992; and (2) do the same for such non-listed species as of December 31, 1992, within two years after the species is listed. Title II: Penalties and Enforcement - Waives the 60-day notice requirement with respect to the filing of a civil suit by an individual in the case of an action against any person respecting an emergency posing a significant risk to the well-being of any listed species of fish or wildlife. Authorizes the Secretary, the Secretary of the Treasury, and the Secretary of the Department in which the Coast Guard is operating to promulgate regulations to carry out the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora and the resolutions of its parties as well as to enforce this Act. Title III: Habitat Conservation Plans - Authorizes the Secretary to enter into a cooperative agreement with any State, municipality, county, or local government to assist in the development of a plan for the conservation of any threatened or endangered species. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants and loans, under specified conditions, to any such entities: (1) in the development of such plans; (2) to carry out biological and other studies in connection with it; and (3) related tasks. Establishes the Habitat Conservation Planning Fund for the deposit of all appropriated sums to assist in the development of conservation plans. Title IV: Authorization of Appropriations - Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 26 November 1991
Amends Federal law to require certain procedures for the imposition of a fee for a service or thing of value provided by an agency for a vessel used for the carriage of goods or passengers for hire.
United States · United States Congress · 26 November 1991
Equal Remedies Act of 1991 - Amends Federal law relating to damages in cases of intentional employment discrimination to remove provisions limiting the dollar amount of damages awarded for pecuniary and nonpecuniary losses and punitive damages.
United States · United States Congress · 26 November 1991
Amends the Rules of the House of Representatives to add a new rule LII that requires, before consideration, each reported bill or amendment that establishes or increases any tax, assessment, duty, tariff, user fee, or other charge imposed upon specified cargo, persons, or vessels to be accompanied by a report setting forth: (1) the economic impact on such persons and vessels; (2) the effect on international trade; (3) the amount of revenue that will be raised; and (4) an identification of the entities that will benefit from the revenue raised and those who will be adversely affected for the first five fiscal years that the bill applies. Requires the Congressional Budget Office to compile and report to the chairman and ranking minority member of certain standing committees an itemized list of all Federal taxes, assessments, duties, tariffs, user fees, and other charges currently imposed upon such cargo, persons, and vessels.
United States · United States Congress · 26 November 1991
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the United States should continue to support the full protection of the African elephant through the unqualified listing of all populations of the African elephant on Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna.
United States · United States Congress · 22 November 1991
Commission on the Soviet Republics and Eastern Europe Act - Establishes the Commission on the Soviet Republics and Eastern Europe to assist the Soviet republics and Eastern European nations during their transition to market economies, democracy, and stable governments. Requires the Commission to: (1) evaluate the economic, political, and governmental institutions of the Soviet republics and Eastern European nations; and (2) submit specified recommendations, at the request of such governments, concerning restructuring of economies, conversion of military industries to promote production of consumer products, the contribution of natural resources to economic growth and development, and the use of barter and exchanges as substitutes for hard currency transactions.