United States · United States Congress · 14 March 1989
Declares that: (1) the Congress condemns the Art Institute of Chicago and its school for poor judgment in permitting the display of an exhibit that encourages disrespect for the U.S. flag; and (2) it is the sense of the Congress that the insensitivity of the Institute and School and their decision to defend the exhibit as a constitutionally protected form of expression threaten to erode understanding and tolerance of such expression.
United States · United States Congress · 9 March 1989
Amends the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938 to declare that a foreign principal shall be considered to control a person in major part if: (1) such principal holds more than 50 percent of equitable ownership in such person; or (2) such principal, subject to rebuttal evidence, holds at least 20 percent but not more than 50 percent of equitable ownership in such person. Requires agents of foreign principals who have filed registration statements to file supplements to such statements with the Attorney General on January 31 and July 31 of each year. Repeals a provision exempting agents of foreign principals who are qualified to practice law from filing registration statements. Imposes civil penalties upon persons who have: (1) failed to file such registration statements; or (2) omitted a material fact or made false statements on such registration statements.
United States · United States Congress · 9 March 1989
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow an individual nonrefundable 25 percent income tax credit of up to $250 for amounts paid or incurred for new security devices for the taxpayer's residence, including locks, alarms, and security lighting. Permits a 100 percent credit of up to $500 for taxpayers aged 65 or older. Disallows the credit if the property is eligible for the investment credit.
United States · United States Congress · 9 March 1989
Truth in Transportation Trust Funds Act - Excludes the receipts and disbursements allocable to the transportation-related operations of the Highway Trust Fund, the Airport and Airway Trust Fund, and the Inland Waterways Trust Fund from totals of the Federal budget as submitted by the President and from the congressional budget. Exempts the same amounts from any general statutory budget limitation on Government outlays. Amends the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 to: (1) include these same amounts in fiscal year total revenues and outlays for deficit calculation purposes; and (2) adjust the maximum deficit amount to reflect this new treatment of the affected trust funds. Makes it out of order in both the Senate and the House of Representatives, in the context of the congressional budget process, to consider changes or recommendations with respect to these trust funds.
United States · United States Congress · 9 March 1989
Fetal Tissue Regulation Act of 1989 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to prohibit the Secretary of Health and Human Services from: (1) using human fetal tissue from an induced abortion for research or therapy; and (2) providing a grant, contract, or cooperative agreement unless the recipient agrees not to expend the assistance for such purposes. Requires the Secretary to terminate assistance to any recipient who violates the agreement.
United States · United States Congress · 9 March 1989
Recognizes the National Fallen Firefighters' Memorial at the National Fire Academy in Emmitsburg, Maryland, as the official national memorial to volunteer and career firefighters who die in the line of duty.
United States · United States Congress · 9 March 1989
Expresses disapproval of the refusal of the U.S.S.R. to recognize the sovereignty of the Baltic Republics. Designates June 14, 1989, as Baltic Freedom Day. Authorizes and requests the President to call upon the Soviet Union, the Federal Republic of Germany, and the Democratic Republic of Germany to renounce the acquisition or absorption of the Baltic Republics by the Soviet Union as a result of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact.
United States · United States Congress · 9 March 1989
Committee Process Reforms of 1989 - Amends rule X of the Rules of the House of Representatives to require each standing committee, not later than March 1 in the first session of a Congress, to adopt its oversight plans in a meeting open to the public. Requires the committees to submit such plans to the Committee on House Administration, which shall, not later than March 15 in the first session of a Congress, report such plans to the House with recommendations. Authorizes the Speaker of the House to appoint special ad hoc oversight committees to review specific matters within the jurisdiction of two or more committees. Amends rule XI to require each committee to include in its biennial report to the House a separate section summarizing its legislative and oversight activities during that Congress. Directs the Speaker of the House initially to refer each bill, resolution, or other matter to one committee of principal jurisdiction. Eliminates the Speaker's authority to refer any such matter initially to two or more committees for concurrent consideration, however the Speaker continues to have authority to make sequential referrals to multiple committees. Requires standing committees to be elected by the House within seven legislative days (currently, seven calendar days) after the commencement of a Congress. Requires standing committees to hold organizational meetings not later than three legislative days after election. Requires the membership of each committee (except the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct), select committee, and conference committee (and each subcommittee, task force, or subunit thereof) to reflect the ratio of majority to minority Members. Provides that such ratio be reflected for standing committees at the beginning of each Congress, and for select and conference committees at the time of appointment. Prohibits any standing committee from establishing more than six subcommittees, and any Member serving at any one time on more than four subcommittees. Defines subcommittee as any subunit of a standing committee established for a period of more than six months. Prohibits the vote by any member of any committee or subcommittee from being cast by proxy. Requires open meetings unless disclosure of matters to be considered would endanger national security, tend to defame, degrade, or incriminate any person, or otherwise violate any law or rule of the House, or involve committee personnel. Provides that a majority of members of each committee or subcommittee shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of any business. Requires committee rollcall votes on a motion to report any bill or resolution of a public character to include the names of members voting for and against. Requires each nonrecord vote to include the names of those Members actually present at the time the bill or resolution is ordered reported. Requires that a draft copy of each report of a measure or recommendation be made available to the Members of the appropriate committee at least one legislative day prior to the date such measure is scheduled to be reported. Makes an exception for the Committee on Rules in specified cases. Requires prior committee or subcommittee approval before the public dissemination of any print, document, or other material intended for such public dissemination, other than reports on measures or recommendations. Requires the printing of a specified disclaimer in boldface type on the cover of such materials if committee members are not afforded the opportunity to include views. Lists the types of materials for which such requirements do not apply. Provides for the consideration of any order of business resolution from the Committee on Rules which provides for the consideration of unreported bills. Prohibits the House from considering any primary expense resolution until the Committee on House Administration has reported and the House has adopted a resolution establishing the committee staff personnel ceiling for the year. Requires such committee to specify in any primary or supplemental expense resolution the number of staff positions authorized therein. Authorizes the House to consider any supplemental expense resolution in excess of such ceiling by a vote of two-thirds of the Members present. Prohibits the overall staff ceiling of the 101st Congress from exceeding 90 percent of the total committee staff personnel employed at the end of the 100th Congress.
United States · United States Congress · 8 March 1989
General Aviation Standards Act of 1989 - Amends the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 (with respect to aviation accident investigations) to apply such Act, with specified exceptions, to any action for damages for harm arising out of a general aviation accident brought against a manufacturer, owner, or operator of a general aviation aircraft, or a person who supports or maintains such aircraft or any other person or governmental entity. Establishes guidelines for uniform standards of liability of general aviation manufacturers for such accidents. States that all actions for harm arising out of a general aviation accident shall be governed by the principles of comparative responsibility. Establishes, with specified exceptions, a limitation of actions period of 12 years from delivery of aircraft or harm-causing part to the purchaser for general aviation civil liability brought against a general aviation manufacturer. Declares admissible as evidence certain income tax and payroll tax liability for purposes of establishing financial harm arising out of a general aviation accident. Permits the award of punitive damages if a claimant establishes by clear and convincing evidence that the harm suffered was the direct result of conduct manifesting conscious, flagrant indifference to safety. Establishes a two-year limitation of actions period for actions arising out of such an accident. Confers original jurisdiction upon the Federal district courts, concurrently with State courts, for all civil actions for harm arising out of a general aviation accident. Provides procedures for removal from State to Federal district courts of such actions. Declares that this Act supersedes any State law regarding recovery of damages for harm arising out of a general aviation accident. Declares the intent of the Congress that sanctions be strictly enforced for violations of Rule 11 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, including orders to pay to the other party the reasonable costs of legal fees. Requires the Secretary of Transportation to report to the Congress, within one year after the date of enactment of this Act, the results of a study determining whether persons awarded damages for general aviation accidents under this Act are unable to collect such damages, and the amount of any uncollectible damages.
United States · United States Congress · 7 March 1989
Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to provide special immigrant status for certain aliens (and their dependents) who have served, or are serving, on active duty for a 12 year-period in the U.S. armed forces.
United States · United States Congress · 7 March 1989
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to eliminate the age (55 or older) and dollar ($125,000) restrictions with respect to the one-time income tax exclusion of gain on the sale of a principal residence.
United States · United States Congress · 7 March 1989
Designates April 16, 1989, the 87th birthday of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, as Education Day, U.S.A. Calls on heads of state of the world to join the President of the United States in this tribute by signing scrolls of honor commemorating the 40th anniversary of Schneerson's leadership of the Lubavitch movement. Welcomes the cooperation of the Department of State in extending the good office of the U.S. missions to the Lubavitcher emissaries.
United States · United States Congress · 7 March 1989
Requires the Architect of the Capitol to establish and implement a voluntary program for recycling paper disposed of in the operation of the House of Representatives.
United States · United States Congress · 6 March 1989
Calls upon the Soviet Union and its allies to withhold further military assistance to the Republic of Nicaragua and to withdraw military advisors and support personnel from that country. Calls upon the Republic of Nicaragua to: (1) reverse significantly the growth of its armed forces; (2) work toward a stabilization of the regional military balance and prevent the introduction of advanced weapon systems; and (3) separate the armed forces from the Sandinista political party.
United States · United States Congress · 2 March 1989
Directs the Secretary of Energy to establish three Centers for Metal Casting Competitiveness Research as part of the Department of Energy's energy conservation programs.
United States · United States Congress · 2 March 1989
Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Expansion Act of 1989 - Amends the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act (the Act) to repeal the termination date for duty-free treatment of beneficiary countries. Amends the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States to grant duty-free treatment to articles (not over $600 in value) acquired in a beneficiary country. Increases from $800 to $1200 the personal exemption from customs duties of articles acquired in the U.S. insular possessions and from other countries. Amends the Act to require the United States Trade Representative (USTR), upon request of a beneficiary country, to enter into a bilateral agreement with that country establishing guaranteed access levels for textile products assembled in such country from qualifying fabrics (fabrics formed and cut in the United States and certain fabrics of foreign manufacture which are cut in the United States). Makes such products eligible for duty-free treatment. Provides that textile products that are assembled in a beneficiary country from qualifying fabric and incorporate findings and trimmings of foreign origin are eligible for guaranteed access and duty-free treatment if such findings and trimmings do not exceed 25 percent of the cost of the components of the assembled product. Directs the Secretary of Commerce to establish an advisory committee to provide to the Secretary descriptions of those fabrics that the committee recommends to be included on the list of fabrics likely to be utilized in the manufacture of textile products in beneficiary countries which: (1) are not formed in the United States; or (2) are formed in the United States but are in critical shortage. Expresses the sense of the Congress that the USTR, when negotiating bilateral textile agreements, should seek to obtain greater fairness, transparency, and stability in the administration by foreign countries of their obligations under such agreements, especially in the allocation of export certifications between U.S. and foreign firms. Sets forth provisions concerning "general duty-free quotas" and "national duty-free quotas" with respect to specified articles imported from beneficiary countries. Provides that duty-free treatment provided under the Act shall not apply to: (1) textile and apparel articles; (2) certain leather articles; (3) canned tuna; (4) petroleum and petroleum products; and (5) watches and watch parts. Requires the President to submit a specified report to the Congress every three years. Amends the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States with respect to the allocation of quotas on sugars imported from beneficiary countries. Prohibits the USTR, in allocating any limitation on such imports, from: (1) reducing the percentage allocation made to the Philippines; (2) making an allocation to the Republic of South Africa; and (3) allowing the aggregate of the amounts of the base quota allocations to Caribbean Basin Initiative (CBI) countries for any quota year beginning after December 31, 1988, to be less than 371,449 metric tons, raw value. Requires any allocation for any quota of imported sugar from specified foreign countries for any year to be reallocated on a pro-rata basis among the CBI countries receiving allocations for that year if such allocation is suspended or terminated due to a threat to U.S. national security or foreign policy. Authorizes the President to enter into trade agreements with foreign governments for the purpose of granting compensation if the United States takes specified action inconsistent with its international obligations (including the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade). Amends the Tariff Act of 1930 to require the International Trade Commission, when making determinations as to material injury with respect to antidumping and countervailing duty cases, to assess cumulatively the volume and effect of imports from a country designated as a beneficiary country under the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act with respect to imports of like products from beneficiary countries. Directs the Commissioner of Customs to implement a pilot preclearance program during FY 1990 and 1991 to assess the extent to which the availability of preclearance operations can assist in the development of tourism in the Caribbean Basin. Prohibits the commencement of such operations unless the Commissioner of Customs and the Commissioner of Immigration and Naturalization make a specified joint certification. Requires the Commissioner to submit to the Congress a report regarding such program.
United States · United States Congress · 2 March 1989
High Definition Television Competitiveness Act of 1989 - Title I: Tax Incentives for Research and Development - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to repeal: (1) the termination date of the tax credit for increasing research activities; and (2) provisions denying the tax deduction for amounts allowed as a research credit. Title II: Authority to Engage in Joint Actions to Promote Development - Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to prohibit the application of antitrust laws to any cooperative high definition television (HDTV) enterprise engaged in a joint research, development, or production venture with respect to which certain notification has been given. Title III: Federal Support for Development Initiatives - Requires the Secretary of Commerce to establish: (1) a program to provide general financial assistance to cooperative HDTV enterprises to promote the discovery, development, and commercialization of HDTV technology; and (2) a separate program to provide financial assistance to support pilot manufacturing projects and experimental community demonstration related to HDTV technology. Requires the Secretary to award such financial assistance competitively. Requires the Secretary to submit to each House of the Congress and the President: (1) quarterly reports on the state of progress of the research, development, and commercialization assisted under this title; and (2) a comprehensive report on the results of the financial assistance provided under this title. Authorizes appropriations. Title IV: Coordination of Federal Procurement of HDTV Technology - Requires the Secretary to submit to each House of the Congress recommendations for establishing a mechanism to coordinate procurements of HDTV technology by specified Federal agencies. Title V: International Trade - Requires the Secretary to submit a report to the President and the Congress on the implications for international trade of HDTV technology. Title VI: HDTV Broadcast Standard - Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to authorize to be appropriated to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) $500,000 for FY 1989 to enable the FCC to prescribe a broadcast standard for HDTV.
United States · United States Congress · 2 March 1989
Places additional prohibitions on individuals convicted of felonies in connection with Department of Defense (DOD) contracts. Disallows such individuals from having any contact with defense subcontracts or subcontractors during such prohibition. Prohibits the Secretaries of the military departments from allowing (current law prohibits the approval of) the award of DOD subcontracts to suspended or debarred contractors. Directs the heads of defense agencies, in awarding contracts, to require each subcontractor to certify that he or she: (1) is not, at the time of such award, debarred, suspended, proposed for debarment, or declared ineligible for the award of subcontracts by any Federal agency; and (2) has not been convicted of any felony arising out of a DOD contract during the five years preceding such certification.
United States · United States Congress · 2 March 1989
Rural Electrification Administration Lending Assistance Improvements Act of 1989 - Amends the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 to limit after September 30, 1989, the Rural Electrification Administration's (REA) authority to guarantee loans to 70 percent for electric distribution and subtransmission facilities and telephone facilities and 80 percent for electric generation and transmission facilities. Prohibits REA guarantees of loans from any Federal lending agency after such date. Revises guaranteed loan and direct or insured loan prepayment provisions. Reduces the maximum amount of funds that a borrower may invest. Prohibits the REA from guaranteeing loans after such date to certain metropolitan area borrowers for: (1) recreation purposes; or (2) telephone service improvement if the borrower's gross revenues exceed specified amounts. Repeals the provision creating a telephone bank reserve for losses due to interest rate changes. Requires the telephone bank to retire all Treasury-held debentures by September 30, 1995. Prohibits the further issuance of such debentures. Provides for the privatization of the telephone bank.
United States · United States Congress · 1 March 1989
Federal Law Enforcement Officers Death Penalty Act of 1989 - Amends the Federal criminal code to subject any person who is found guilty of the first degree murder of a Federal law enforcement officer, or certain other Federal officials or employees, to the penalty of death. Establishes procedures for the imposition of the death penalty in such cases. Provides that no person who was less than 18 years of age at the time of the offense may be sentenced to death. Sets forth mitigating and aggravating factors to be considered by the jury in determining whether the death sentence will be imposed. Requires the Government to serve notice upon the defendant a reasonable time before trial or acceptance of a plea that it intends to seek the death penalty, as well as notice of the aggravating factors upon which it will rely. Provides that no presentence report shall be prepared in such cases. Requires a separate sentencing hearing before a jury or the court (upon motion by the defendant) when the defendant is convicted and the Government has filed notice that it intends to seek the death penalty. Allows the Government and the defendant to present any information relevant to a mitigating or aggravating factor without regard to the rules of evidence, but permits information to be excluded where its probative value is substantially outweighed by the danger of creating unfair prejudice, confusing the issues, or misleading the jury. Conditions imposition of the death penalty on a unanimous finding by the jury or, if there is no jury, the court, that: (1) the aggravating factors found to exist sufficiently outweigh any mitigating factor found to exist; or (2) in the absence of a mitigating factor, the aggravating factors alone are sufficient to justify a sentence of death. Specifies that: (1) the jury or the court, regardless of its findings with respect to aggravating and mitigating factors, is never required to impose a death sentence; and (2) the jury shall be so instructed. Requires the court to instruct the jury not to consider the race, color, national origin, creed, or sex of the defendant in its consideration of the death sentence. Directs the court to impose the death sentence upon a finding that such sentence is justified. Establishes procedures for appeal from a death sentence. Requires the court of appeals, upon consideration of the record and the information and procedures of the sentencing hearing, and any special finding, to affirm the decision if: (1) the sentence was not imposed under influence of passion, prejudice, or arbitrariness; and (2) the information supports the special finding of the existence of an aggravating factor. Requires the court to provide a written explanation of its determination. Establishes procedures for the implementation of the death sentence.
United States · United States Congress · 1 March 1989
Imposes a civil penalty upon any person who mails to any individual or group of individuals at their place of residence: (1) any unsolicited sexually oriented advertisement; or (2) any unsolicited obscene, lewd, lascivious, indecent, filthy, or vile article, matter, thing, device, or substance.
United States · United States Congress · 1 March 1989
Science, Mathematics, and Research Technologies Scholarships Act - Requires the Director of the National Science Foundation to establish a Science, Mathematics, and Research Technologies Scholarship Program to make awards to students in undergraduate and graduate higher education programs for life or physical science, mathematics, or engineering. Requires a panel of scholars to screen applications and make award recommendations. Requires recipients to serve in a capacity related to their study, in the employ of the United States or an organization funded by and performing functions for the United States, for specified periods after completion of study. Requires those who withdraw from the program to repay their scholarships. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1990 through 1993.
United States · United States Congress · 1 March 1989
Prohibits the Department of Defense from entering into a contract for transportation services with countries which are signatories to the Warsaw Pact, or with contractors who are citizens of such countries, with specified exceptions for natural minerals, nonavailability of other qualified contractors, and emergency procurement.
United States · United States Congress · 1 March 1989
Rural Enterprise Zone Act of 1989 - Title I: Designation of Enterprise Zones - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to authorize the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (Secretary) to designate rural enterprise zones for purposes of providing tax and regulatory relief and improving local services. Limits choices to areas nominated by States and local governments. Limits to 100 the total number of areas that may be designated, and the time period of the designation. Authorizes the Secretary to designate a zone only if the area meets certain locational, demographic, unemployment, and poverty criteria. Requires nominating local governments, as a condition of the Secretary's designation, to agree in writing to follow a course of action that may include reducing tax rates, improving local services, simplifying or streamlining regulation of business, and providing job training to area residents. Describes areas to which the Secretary must give preference in selecting areas for designation. Requires the Secretary to report to the Congress every four years on the effects of such enterprise zones' designation in accomplishing the purposes of this Act. Title II: Federal Income Tax Incentives - Subtitle A: Credits for Employers and Employees - Allows employers located in enterprise zones a nonrefundable income tax credit for qualified increased employment expenditures and employment of the disadvantaged. Sets the credit amount at ten percent of the increase in payroll plus a specified percentage of wages paid to certain disadvantaged workers through the first 20 years of the enterprise zone designation. Allows a nonrefundable income tax credit to enterprise zone employees for five percent of wages earned. Phases out both credits in the last four years of the enterprise zone designation. Subtitle B: Credits for Investment in Tangible Property in Enterprise Zones - Allows businesses an additional investment tax credit for investments made in certain enterprise zone construction property. Limits the credit to ten percent for new property, including rental property. Requires the recapture of credit amounts upon the early disposition of the property. Subtitle C: Nonrecognition of Qualified Enterprise Zone Capital Gain Where Acquisition of Enterprise Zone Business Property - Provides for the nonrecognition of capital gain on the sale of enterprise zone property if, within one year after the sale, the taxpayer acquires qualified replacement property (generally defined as property related to an enterprise zone or to a business within a zone). Subtitle D: Deduction for Purchase of Enterprise Stock - Allows a taxpayer to deduct up to $100,000 of the aggregate amount paid for the purchase of enterprise stock on its original issue by a qualified issuer. Requires any gain from the disposition of the stock to be treated as ordinary income. Subtitle E: Rules Relating to Industrial Development Bonds - Declares that: (1) limitations on the cost recovery deductions for property financed with tax-exempt bonds shall not apply to enterprise zone property; and (2) the termination of the small issue exemption shall not apply to bonds whose proceeds are used to finance facilities in enterprise zones. Requires that five percent of the private activity bond volume cap for a State that has one or more enterprise zones be set aside exclusively for use in such zones. Subtitle F: Ordinary Loss Deduction for Securities of Enterprise Zone Business Which Become Worthless - Permits an ordinary loss deduction for securities of enterprise zone business that become worthless during the taxable year. Subtitle G: Increase in Research Credit for Research Conducted in Enterprise Zones - Increases from 20 percent to 30 percent the tax credit for increasing research conducted in enterprise zones. Applies this subtitle retroactively to taxable years 1987 and thereafter. Subtitle H: Sense of the Congress with Respect to Tax Simplification - Expresses the sense of the Congress that the Secretary of the Treasury should simplify the administration and enforcement of any provision of the Internal Revenue Code affected by this Act. Subtitle I: Regulations - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to issue regulations to carry out the provisions of this Act not later than six months after enactment. Title III: Regulatory Flexibility - Amends Federal law to revise the definition of "small entity" for purposes of the analysis of regulatory functions to include qualified business, government, and nonprofit enterprises operating within enterprise zones. Authorizes Federal agencies, upon request by a designating government, to waive or modify rules and regulations pertaining to the implementation of projects or activities within an enterprise zone. Requires agencies to approve the request if the resulting benefits of job creation, community development, or economic revitalization outweigh the public interest in retaining the rule unchanged. Disallows waiver or modification of a rule that would directly violate a statutory requirement or present a danger to the public health and safety. Amends the Department of Housing and Urban Development Act to direct the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to promote the coordination of all enterprise zone programs and to consolidate all periodic reports required under such programs into one summary report. Title IV: Establishment of Foreign-Trade Zones in Enterprise Zones - Requires the Foreign-Trade Zone Board to consider on a priority basis and to expedite the processing of applications for the establishment of foreign-trade zones within enterprise zones. Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to give priority to, and expedite applications for, the establishment of ports of entry necessary to establish such zones. Title V: Enterprise Zone Business Incubator Program - Directs the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to establish a business incubator program to provide loans and grants to State and local governments to give start-up assistance to small businesses in distressed rural areas.
United States · United States Congress · 1 March 1989
Amends Federal law to prohibit any State from imposing an income tax on the pension income of any individual who is not a resident or domiciliary of that State.
United States · United States Congress · 1 March 1989
National Plumbing Products Efficiency Act of 1989 - Title I: Water Use Standards for Plumbing Products - Requires the Secretary of Commerce to prescribe test procedures for classified products. Directs the Secretary to establish water use performance standards for plumbing products classified as covered products. Requires such standards to be designed to achieve the maximum water efficiency which the Secretary determines is technologically feasible and economically justified. Sets forth maximum water use standards for the following products: (1) water closets; (2) urinals; (3) showerheads; and (4) faucets. Directs the Secretary to prescribe water use standards for any product that is classified as a covered product and manufactured and sold on or after the date that is three years after such product receives its classification. Describes the procedure for prescribing water use standards. Directs the Secretary to reevaluate such standards at the end of each five-year period after the date of enactment of this title. Requires the Secretary to publish the existing water use standards in the Federal Register and to allow a specified period for comment by interested persons. Directs the Federal Trade Commission to prescribe labeling and marking rules for each classified product. Directs the Secretary to study the feasibility of determining coverage for additional consumer products. Establishes a procedure for testing plumbing products and for maintaining test data. Directs the National Institute of Standards and Technology to assist the Secretary as necessary. Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to prescribe rules for any covered product offered for importation. Sets forth provisions for prohibited acts, enforcement procedures, and the commencement of civil actions under this title. Declares that standards, procedures, or rules under this title supersede State or river basin commission regulations. Provides for a waiver of Federal preemption over such State or river basin commission regulations. Directs the Secretary of Commerce to establish an advisory committee to report annually to the Congress on the implementation of this title by the Secretary and the Commission. Directs the Secretary to report annually to the Congress and the President on activities under this title. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1990 through 1994. Title II: Water Use Standards for Dishwashers and Clothes Washers - Amends the Energy Policy and Conservation Act to provide for the establishment of standards for water use by dishwashers and clothes washers.
United States · United States Congress · 1 March 1989
Patient Identifying Information Confidentiality Act of 1989 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services, before disclosing to the Congress any medical record acquired or created by the Public Health Service, to delete identifying information in the record, unless the individual identified gives written consent. Directs the Secretary, for the purposes of cross-referencing the medical records pertaining to a particular individual, to establish by rule a system by which such records may be identified without using identifying information.
United States · United States Congress · 1 March 1989
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend through 1992 the period during which qualified mortgage bonds and mortgage credit certificates may be issued. (Under current law, authority for these programs is due to expire as of 1990.)
United States · United States Congress · 1 March 1989
Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) the Government of Poland should comply with the basic human rights agreements of the Helsinki Accords; (2) the Government of Poland should comply with the pledges made to, and the social accords made with, the people of Poland; (3) the Government of Poland should initiate a genuine policy of national reconciliation; (4) continued improvement in the treatment of the people of Poland would improve relations between the United States and Poland; and (5) the President should raise with Soviet authorities the matter of suppression of independent speech and political activity in Poland.
United States · United States Congress · 28 February 1989
Amends Federal law to continue appropriations automatically if a regular appropriations bill covering a project or activity does not become law by the beginning of a fiscal year. Continues appropriations at the funding level of the preceding fiscal year or, if the relevant Act did not become law, in accordance with criteria prescribed in this Act. Declares it to be out of order in the House of Representatives or in the Senate to consider or to vote on the question of agreeing to any continuing appropriations legislation. Permits a waiver of this restriction in the Senate by a three-fifths vote.
United States · United States Congress · 28 February 1989
Family Leave Benefits Assistance Act of 1989 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow an employer an income tax deduction of 50 percent of salary or wages and other employee benefit costs incurred with respect to an employee temporarily absent from work on account of the birth or adoption of a child or because of a serious health condition of a child, spouse, or parent. Prescribes criteria to be met by the employer plan that permits the parental or medical leave in question.
United States · United States Congress · 28 February 1989
Nursing Shortage and Nurse Reimbursement Incentive Act of 1989 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide direct Medicare reimbursement for nurse practitioner and clinical nurse specialist services, whether or not the practitioner or specialist is under the supervision of, or associated with, another health provider, if such services would otherwise be covered if furnished by a physician or as an incident to a physician's service. Provides payments for nurse practitioner, clinical nurse specialist, and certified nurse midwife services under part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) of the Medicare program on the basis of a fee schedule to be established by the Secretary of Health and Human Services. Requires the Administrator of the Health Care Financing Administration to establish a toll-free telephone hotline for nursing payment inquiries under the Medicare program and, to the extent feasible, under the Medicaid program. Amends part B (Peer Review) of title XI of the Act to require peer review of nursing services. Directs the Secretary to: (1) contract for studies evaluating nursing costs, and gathering and disseminating data on obstacles nurses face in receiving direct reimbursement for their services; and (2) report the results of such studies to the Congress in January of 1992, 1993, and 1994. Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Act to require direct Medicaid reimbursement for certified nurse midwife, certified registered nurse anesthetist, nurse practitioner, and clinical nurse specialist services, whether or not such nurse is under the supervision of, or associated with, another health care provider, if such services would otherwise be covered if furnished by a physician or as an incident to a physician's services. Requires that such payments be equal to payments for such services under the Medicare program and not vary on the basis of the type of nurse involved.
United States · United States Congress · 28 February 1989
Declares that, in celebration of Law Day U.S.A., May 1, 1989, special emphasis should be given by grateful people to all law enforcement personnel for their service in preserving domestic tranquility and guaranteeing rights under law.
United States · United States Congress · 28 February 1989
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the United States and the Soviet Union should each issue a postage stamp recognizing the desire for peaceful relations. Urges the Postmaster General to seek to discuss the Soviet stamp with the appropriate Soviet authorities. Directs the Postmaster General to issue the U.S. stamp.
United States · United States Congress · 28 February 1989
Authorizes the National Committee of American Airmen Rescued by General Mihailovich to establish a monument to General Draza Mihailovich in the District of Columbia or its environs in recognition of the role he played in saving the lives of more than 500 U.S. airmen in Yugoslavia during World War II. Directs the Secretary of the Interior to select, with the approval of the National Commission of Fine Arts and the National Capital Planning Commission, a suitable site on public grounds for such memorial. Subjects the design and any plans for the memorial to the approval of the Secretary, the National Commission of Fine Arts, and the National Capital Planning Commission. Declares that, except for specified items, neither the United States nor the District of Columbia shall bear any expense in the establishment of such memorial. Directs the Secretary to permit groundbreaking for construction of the monument only after determining that sufficient funds are available for completion of the monument. Directs that the maintenance and care of the monument shall be the responsibility of the National Committee of American Airmen Rescued by General Mihailovich.
United States · United States Congress · 28 February 1989
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that individual school districts should incorporate youth service programs as course electives in secondary school curricula.
![Official portrait of Rep. Bentley, Helen Delich [R-MD-2]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/b000392_200.jpg)