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United States · Official source
5,795 records where Rep. Bonior, David E. [D-MI-10] is listed as a sponsor, author, or other actor. Search with topics and years
United States · United States Congress · 7 May 1998
Medicare Insulin Pump Coverage Act of 1998 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to cover insulin infusion pumps as items of durable medical equipment.
United States · United States Congress · 7 May 1998
Amends the 1998 Supplemental Appropriations and Rescissions Act to repeal a certain limitation on the use of appropriations to issue a notice of final rulemaking with respect to crude oil valuation for royalty purposes.
United States · United States Congress · 5 May 1998
Library of Congress Bicentennial Commemorative Coin Act of 1998 - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to mint and issue five-dollar gold coins and one-dollar silver coins emblematic of the Library of Congress. Authorizes the Secretary to mint and issue $10 bimetallic coins of gold and platinum in lieu of the gold coins. Requires payment of coin sale surcharges to the Library of Congress Trust Fund Board to support Library activities.
United States · United States Congress · 5 May 1998
Congratulates the Diocese of the Armenian Church in America on the occasion of its 100th anniversary in the United States. Welcomes His Holiness Karekin I, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, upon his visit to the United States. Commends Armenian-Americans for their contributions to U.S. society and culture.
United States · United States Congress · 30 April 1998
States that the House of Representatives: (1) recognizes that the creation of a better America depends in large part on the active involvement of fathers in the raising and development of their children; (2) urges each father to accept his full share of responsibility for the lives of his children, and to be actively involved in raising them, and to encourage their academic, moral, and spiritual development; (3) encourages each father to devote time, energy, and resources to his children, recognizing that they need not only material support, but more importantly a secure, affectionate, family environment; and (4) expresses its support for a national summit on fatherhood.
United States · United States Congress · 30 April 1998
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that the President and the Senate should act to prohibit the sale or diversion of Great Lakes water to foreign countries, businesses, corporations, and individuals.
United States · United States Congress · 29 April 1998
Bank Merger Money Laundering Prevention Act - Amends the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956 to require the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, upon receipt of a bank holding company's acquisition or merger application, to: (1) consider a company's effectiveness in combating and preventing money laundering activities; (2) refrain from considering the application of any company which is the subject of a pending Federal investigation or prosecution for money laundering or related financial crimes until such Federal proceeding is completed; and (3) disapprove the application of any company found criminally or civilly liable for money laundering or related financial crime during the five-year period preceding the Board's consideration of its application.
United States · United States Congress · 29 April 1998
Expresses the sense of the Congress that all colleges and universities in the United States should adopt rigorous educational merchandise licensing codes of conduct, including specified elements, to assure that university and college licensed merchandise is not made by sweatshop and exploited adult or child labor either domestically or abroad.
United States · United States Congress · 23 April 1998
Healthy Start Initiative Continuation Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to mandate continuance of the Healthy Start Initiative of grants to reduce infant mortality. Authorizes carrying out the Initiative on a national basis. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 22 April 1998
Charles Butler McVay and U.S.S. INDIANAPOLIS Relief Act - Exonerates the late rear admiral Charles Butler McVay III, United States Navy (retired), from responsibility for the sinking of the U.S.S. INDIANAPOLIS on July 30, 1945, while under his command. Expresses the sense of the Congress that the subsequent court-martial conviction of McVay was a grave injustice. Urges the President to grant McVay a posthumous pardon. Expresses the sense of the Congress that the President should award a Presidential Unit Citation to the final crew of the INDIANAPOLIS in recognition of their courage and fortitude displayed in the face of tremendous adversity after their ship was torpedoed and sunk by the Japanese navy.
United States · United States Congress · 22 April 1998
Veterans' Access to Emergency Health Care Act of 1998 - Authorizes the provision of emergency hospital or medical care in non-Department of Veterans Affairs facilities for veterans who are enrolled in the system of annual patient enrollment established by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs. Includes such emergency care within authorized Department medical services. Authorizes the Secretary to reimburse veterans for the cost of services provided for any medical emergency which poses a serious threat to the life or health of an enrolled veteran.
United States · United States Congress · 1 April 1998
School Construction Act of 1998 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) allow a limited tax credit to holders of qualified public school construction bonds as an incentive for public school construction; (2) include in gross income the amount of such credit, which shall be treated as interest income; and (3) establish a national qualified school construction bond limitation for each calendar year, to be allocated among the States with projected enrollment increases.
United States · United States Congress · 1 April 1998
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Amendments to the National School Lunch Act Title II: Amendments to the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 Title III: Amendments to the Commodity Distribution Reform Act and WIC Amendments of 1987 Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Amendments of 1998 - Title I: Amendments to the National School Lunch Act - Amends the National School Lunch Act (NSLA) with respect to direct expenditures for agricultural commodities and other foods to repeal requirements for: (1) interim sources of funds pending supplemental appropriations; and (2) State matching funds for such interim funds and for cash donations in lieu of commodity donations. (Sec. 102) Allows State agencies to retain up to one-half of any program funds recovered during State-conducted audits or reviews of school food authorities, institutions, and service institutions participating in food assistance programs authorized under NSLA and the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (CNA). Requires State agencies to use such funds for otherwise allowable program costs to improve management operations of such programs within the State, including by providing funds to school food authorities, institutions, and service institutions participating in such programs. (Sec. 103) Repeals a prohibition against requiring a State to match Federal funds for meals in private schools if the State educational agency is prohibited by law from disbursing State appropriated funds to private schools. Sunsets the Secretary of Agriculture's authority to disburse NSLA program funds to schools directly at the end of FY 2000. Requires the Secretary to provide training and technical assistance to State agencies which assume program administration from the Secretary on or before October 1, 2000. (Sec. 104) Requires all schools participating in the National School Lunch Program (lunch program) under NLSA or the School Breakfast Program (breakfast program) under CNA in which meals are prepared on site to obtain inspections twice during each school year that indicate food service operations meet State or local health and safety standards. (Sec. 105) Repeals the Secretary's authority, acting through the Administrator of the Food and Nutrition Service or through the Extension Service, to award grants for food and nutrition demonstration projects. Requires schools participating in the lunch program or breakfast program to make every effort to establish meal service periods that provide children adequate time to fully consume their meals in an environment conducive to eating. (Sec. 106) Directs the Secretary to require that schools in the contiguous United States purchase for the lunch program and breakfast program, whenever possible, only food products that are produced in the United States. (Sec. 107) Revises the NLSA summer food service program to apply to suppers and supplements the Secretary's authority to establish adjustments to reimbursement rates in the States of Alaska and Hawaii, and in specified territories, to reflect differences in costs from those in all other States. Revises the eligibility criteria for private nonprofit institutions under the summer food service program to increase from five to 25 the number of sites they may operate. Repeals certain summer food service program requirements relating to: (1) a March 1st deadline for indication of interest; (2) restrictions on meal contracting; and (3) vendor registration. Extends through FY 2002 the authorization of appropriations for the NLSA summer food service program. (Sec. 108) Reauthorizes through FY 2002 the NSLA commodity distribution program, which may use Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) and other specified funds to purchase agricultural commodities for use in programs under NLSA, CNA, and the Older Americans Act of 1965. (Sec. 109) Revises NLSA child and adult care food program requirements for licensing and alternate approval for schools and outside school hours child care. Reinstates categorical eligibility, under the NLSA child care food program, for participants in the Even Start program of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. (Extends such eligibility through FY 2002; it had ended with FY 1997.) Revises conditions for child and adult care program participation by institutions moving toward compliance with the requirement for tax exempt status. Repeals a notification requirement for incomplete applications. Requires State agencies, at least once every two years, to provide notification of child and adult care program availability, participation requirements, and application procedures to each nonparticipating institution or family or group day care home that is located in a needy area within the State, and has Federal, State, or local licensing or approval or receives funds under Social Security Act block grants to States for social services. Repeals the requirement that a participating State provide sufficient training, technical assistance, and monitoring to facilitate effective program operation. Repeals the Secretary's mandate to make funds available each fiscal year for State audits of participating institutions in the child care food program. Directs the Secretary to provide State agencies with increased levels of training and technical assistance for their management and oversight of the child and adult care program. Allows institutions that provide care to at-risk school children during after-school hours, weekends, or holidays during the regular school year to participate in the child care food program. Defines as at-risk any children who: (1) are age 12 through 18; and (2) live in a geographical area served by a school enrolling elementary students in which at least 50 percent of the total number of children enrolled are certified eligible to receive free or reduced price school meals under NSLA or CNA. Allows such institutions to claim reimbursements, at the free supplement rate, only for: (1) supplements served without charge to at-risk school children during after-school hours, weekends, or holidays during the regular school year; and (2) one supplement per child per day. Directs the Secretary to provide State agencies with information concerning the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC program) under CNA. Requires State agencies to ensure that each participating child care center (other than institutions providing care to school children outside of school hours) receives certain WIC program informational materials and updates, and provides such information to parents of enrolled children annually. Repeals specified termination dates to grant permanent authorization to demonstration projects for child care food program qualification of private for-profit organizations providing nonresidential day care services. (Sec. 110) Allows emergency shelter homeless programs to participate in the child and adult care food program. Allows shelters to claim reimbursements, at the free supplement rate, only for: (1) supplements served without charge to resident children through age 12; and (2) not more than three meals or two meals and a supplement per child per day. (Sec. 111) Repeals authority for certain demonstration projects involving: (1) meals and supplements outside of school hours; (2) fortified fluid milk; (3) fruits, vegetables, legumes, cereals, and grain-based products; (4) low-fat dairy products and lean meat and poultry products; and (5) reduced paperwork and application requirements and increased participation. (Sec. 112) Extends through FY 2002 the authorization of appropriations for training and technical assistance under the child and adult care food program. (Sec. 113) Extends through FY 1999 authority to fund the food service management institute, including mandatory and discretionary activities. (Sec. 114) Extends through FY 2002 the authorization of appropriations for compliance and accountability activities under the child and adult care food program. (Sec. 115) Extends through FY 1999 authority to fund an information clearinghouse for nongovernmental groups on food assistance and self-help activities for low-income individuals and communities. Makes the Secretary's authority to contract for such a clearinghouse discretionary rather than mandatory. Waives competition requirements for a contract with any organization that has performed satisfactorily under a previous clearinghouse contract. (Sec. 116) Repeals the requirement that the Secretary provide guidance and grant assistance to eligible entities for accommodating special dietary needs of individuals with disabilities who participate in covered programs under NSLA and CNA. Authorizes the Secretary to carry out accommodation activities, including guidance, technical assistance, training, and grants for State agencies and eligible entities. Title II: Amendments to the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 - Amends the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (CNA) to Sunsets the Secretary of Agriculture's authority to disburse CNA program funds to schools directly at the end of FY 2000. Requires the Secretary to provide training and technical assistance to State agencies which assume program administration from the Secretary on or before October 1, 2000. (Sec. 202) Repeals specified requirements for reallocation of State administrative expense funds. Eliminates the ten percent limitation on the transfer of administrative expense funds under CNA and NSLA. Extends through FY 2002 the authorization of appropriations for State administrative expenses under CNA. (Sec. 203) Establishes additional program application requirements, involving physical presence, income documentation, and verification, for the special supplemental nutrition program for women, infants and children (WIC program). Authorizes the Secretary to provide bulk quantities of WIC program nutrition education materials to State agencies administering the Commodity Supplemental Food Program under the Agriculture and Consumer Protection Act of 1973 at no cost to that program. Extends through FY 2002: (1) the authorization of appropriations for the WIC program and for the WIC farmers market nutrition program; and (2) requirements to use certain WIC funds for allocations to State agencies for costs of nutrition services and administration, and for program infrastructure and information, projects of regional or national significance, and breastfeeding promotion and support activities. Revises WIC program requirements relating to: (1) infant formula procurement; (2) spend-forward authority; (3) matching funds requirement; (3) ranking criteria for farmers market nutrition program State plans; and (4) disqualification of certain vendors convicted of trafficking or illegal sales. (Sec. 204) Authorizes appropriations in necessary amounts (currently gives a specified amount for each fiscal year) for FY 1999 through 2002 for the nutrition education and training program under CNA. Title III: Amendments to the Commodity Distribution Reform Act and WIC Amendments of 1987 - Amends the Commodity Distribution Reform Act and WIC Amendments of 1987 to revise provisions relating to applicability and customer acceptability information. (Sec. 302) Adds to such Act food distribution requirements relating to the Secretary of Agriculture's authority to: (1) transfer commodities between programs; (2) resolve claims; (3) use specified funds to make payment of costs associated with management of commodities which pose a health or safety hazard; and (4) accept commodities donated by Federal sources.
United States · United States Congress · 1 April 1998
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Violence Against Women Act of 1994 Title II: Family Violence Prevention and Services Act Title III: Older Americans Act of 1965 Title IV: Public Health Service Act Title V: Right to Financial Privacy Act of 1978 Older Women's Protection From Violence Act of 1998 - Title I: Violence Against Women Act of 1994 - Amends the Violence against Women Act of 1994 to direct the Attorney General to: (1) make grants to law school clinical programs to fund the inclusion of cases addressing issues of elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation, including domestic violence, and sexual assault against older individuals; and (2) develop curricula and provide for the offering of training programs regarding such issues for law enforcement officers, prosecutors, and relevant Federal, State, and local court officials. Authorizes appropriations. Title II: Family Violence Prevention and Services Act - Amends the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act to include elder domestic abuse and adult protective services within its ambit of services, grants, and demonstration grants for community initiatives. Title III: Older Americans Act of 1965 - Amends the Older Americans Act of 1965 to direct the Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services for Aging to consider the importance of research about the sexual assault of older women when establishing research priorities for grants or contracts for research and demonstration projects on elder abuse. (Sec. 303) Authorizes appropriations without fiscal year limitation for grants to implement a State long-term care ombudsman program. (Sec. 304) Directs the Assistant Secretary, when making grants and contracts, to give special consideration to projects designed to: (1) expand access to domestic violence shelters and programs for older individuals and encourage the use of certain facilities as emergency short-term shelters; and (2) promote research on legal, organizational, or training impediments to providing services to older individuals through shelters and programs. (Sec. 305) Authorizes appropriations without fiscal year limitation for the ombudsman program and for the elder abuse prevention program. (Sec. 306) Directs the Secretary to make grants to: (1) nonprofit private organizations to support projects in local communities to coordinate activities for intervention in and prevention of elder abuse, including domestic violence and sexual assault; and (2) develop outreach programs for assisting victims of elder abuse, including some for assisting individuals in certain senior housing facilities. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 307) Directs the Secretary to develop curricula and implement continuing education training programs for certain providers of health care and social services to improve their ability to recognize and address elder abuse situations. Title IV: Public Health Service Act - Elder Abuse Identification and Referral Act of 1998 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to instruct the Secretary, when awarding grants or contracts, to give preferences to health professions schools or programs that condition the awarding of their degrees or certificates upon significant student training in specified areas of elder abuse identification and treatment. Title V: Right to Financial Privacy Act of 1978 - Amends the Right to Financial Privacy Act of 1978 to permit a financial institution to report suspected financial exploitation of an older individual to law enforcement entities, or government-regulated adult protective services entities. Shields such institution from liability for making such disclosure.
United States · United States Congress · 1 April 1998
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: National Food Safety Program Title II: Research and Education Title III: Enforcement Title IV: Authorization Consumer Food Safety Act of 1998 - Title I: National Food Safety Program - Declares that persons who produce or process food for human consumption are responsible for preventing or minimizing food safety hazards. Mandates a national program to protect human health by ensuring that the food industry has effective safety programs for food consumed in the United States. Includes in required program elements: (1) oversight procedures; and (2) health-based standards for possible food contaminants and safety and sanitation in food processing and handling. (Sec. 102) Requires that any food processing facility and importer register. (Sec. 103) Mandates regulations: (1) setting standards for sanitation and tolerances for biological, chemical, and physical hazards; (2) requiring process controls, recordkeeping, and sampling; and (3) providing for agency records access. (Sec. 104) Mandates unannounced inspections at least quarterly of processing and importing facilities. (Sec. 105) Mandates tolerances (including indicators) for contaminants, except for pesticide residues regulated under specified provisions of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA). (Sec. 106) Authorizes assistance to a State in planning and implementing a food safety program (including advice, technical and laboratory assistance and training, and financial aid). Authorizes, under agreements with Federal, State, or local agencies, on a reimbursable basis or otherwise, use of the personnel, services, and facilities of such agencies. (Sec. 107) Mandates a comprehensive and efficient system to ensure imported food safety, including routine inspections of processing facilities in exporting nations and of imports at ports of entry. Prohibits importing, or withdrawing from a warehouse for U.S. consumption, of a food that appears unsafe, adulterated, or misbranded, is not marked or labeled as required, or does not comply with this section. Deems foods not so prohibited to be, and requires that they be treated (except for origin labeling) as, domestic. Authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services to enter into an agreement with any nation desiring to export food to the United States. Sets forth requirements for the agreement, including that the exporting nation agree to reciprocity regarding the treatment of food imports and exports between the United States and the exporting nation. Title II: Research and Education - Mandates: (1) inclusion of food in an active surveillance system and more accurate assessment of the frequency and sources of U.S. human illness associated with food; (2) establishment of guidelines for a sampling system; and (3) ranking of food categories based on their hazard to human health and identification of industry and regulatory approaches to minimize hazards. (Sec. 202) Requires: (1) a national food safety public education program; (2) regional and national food safety advisories; (3) standardized written and broadcast advisory formats; and (4) incorporation of State and local advisories into the national program. (Sec. 203) Mandates research to assist in the implementation of this Act. Title III: Enforcement - Amends the FDCA to require any person (other than an intended consumer) with a reasonable basis for believing that any food in interstate commerce (or held for sale after interstate shipment) may be in violation of this Act to notify the Secretary of the food's identity and location. Provides, if the Secretary finds that there is a reasonable probability that the food, if consumed, would present a public health threat, for voluntary and mandatory recalls. Authorizes civil monetary penalties for violations of this Act. Prohibits retaliation against employee or other whistleblowers or against a person who refuses to violate a law, rule, or regulation. Applies specified FDCA provisions to this Act for this Act's administration and enforcement. Authorizes the Secretary to impose traceability requirements on a type or class of food when necessary to assure the protection of public health. Allows any person to commence a civil action against: (1) any person who violated any rule, tolerance, order, or other action of the Secretary to ensure food safety; or (2) the Secretary for alleged failure to perform any nondiscretionary act or duty. Title IV: Authorization - Authorizes appropriations to carry out this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 1 April 1998
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Assistance for Sub-Saharan Africa Title II: Worldwide Food Assistance and Agricultural Programs Subtitle A: Non-Emergency Food Assistance Programs Subtitle B: Bill Emerson Humanitarian Trust Act of 1998 Title III: Miscellaneous Provisions Africa: Seeds of Hope Act of 1998 - Declares it to be U.S. policy to support governments of sub-Saharan African countries, U.S. and African nongovernmental organizations, U.S. and African businesses, and international agencies to ensure secure livelihoods and adequate nutrition for all sub-Saharan individuals, through sustainable agricultural and rural development. Title I: Assistance for Sub-Saharan Africa - Directs the Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development (AID), in providing development assistance under the Africa Food Security Initiative, or any comparable or successor program, to: (1) use resources for programs and projects that improve the food security of children, women, or food-insecure households, or that improve the agricultural productivity, incomes, and marketing of the rural poor in Africa; (2) to solicit and take into consideration the views and needs of intended beneficiaries and program participants during the selection, planning, implementation, and evaluation phases of projects; and (3) ensure that program objectives and interventions are primarily developed and conducted by African and U.S. private and voluntary organizations and other such organizations, including cooperatives and local producer-owned cooperative marketing associations, that have a demonstrated expertise in addressing the needs of the poor, small-scale farmers, entrepreneurs, and rural workers, including women. (Sec. 101) Expresses the sense of the Congress that the Administrator of AID should increase resources to the Africa Food Security Initiative, or any comparable or successor program, for FY 2000 and subsequent fiscal years in order to meet the needs of the countries participating in such Initiative. (Sec. 102) Directs the Administrator of AID to provide, through bilateral and multilateral assistance, microenterprise assistance (including credit) to improve the efficiency of agricultural production in sub-Saharan Africa (specifically targeting the needs of women, small-scale farmers, and small rural entrepreneurs). (Sec. 103) Directs the President, acting through the Administrator of AID, to utilize foreign assistance programs and initiatives for sub-Saharan Africa to support producer-owned cooperative marketing associations there, including rural business associations that are owned by farmer shareholders. (Sec. 104) Expresses the sense of the Congress that the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) should: (1) issue loans, guaranties, and insurance, and utilize existing equity funds and loan and insurance funds, to support agricultural and rural development in sub-Saharan Africa (particularly intermediary organizations that directly serve the needs of women, small-scale farmers, small rural entrepreneurs, and rural producer-owned cooperative marketing associations); and (2) jointly cooperate with AID to ensure that adequate administrative funds are available to carry out such activities. (Sec. 105) Directs the Administrator of AID to develop a comprehensive plan to coordinate the activities of AID-funded international agricultural research centers, U.S. land grant universities, and national agricultural research and extension centers in order that research and extension activities will respond to the needs of small-scale farmers while developing the potential and skills of researchers, extension agents, farmers, and agribusiness persons, and increasing the agricultural productivity, in sub-Saharan Africa. Expresses the sense of the Congress that the Administrator of AID: (1) has disproportionately reduced funding for international agriculture and rural development activities and the number of agricultural specialists who carry out such activities; and (2) should devote more resources and staff to such activities. Title II: Worldwide Food Assistance and Agricultural Programs - Subtitle A: Non-Emergency Food Assistance Programs - Sets forth general requirements for the administration of non-emergency assistance programs under title II of the Agricultural Trade Development and Assistance Act of 1954. Subtitle B: Bill Emerson Humanitarian Trust Act of 1998 - Bill Emerson Humanitarian Trust Act of 1998 - Amends the Food Security Commodity Reserve Act of 1996 to rename specified provisions of the Food for Development Program as the Bill Emerson Humanitarian Trust Act. (Sec. 212) Includes, as part of the established trust stock of wheat, rice, corn, or sorghum used to meet emergency humanitarian food needs in developing countries, certain funds for Commodity Credit Corporation programs under the Agricultural Trade Development and Assistance Act of 1954 that are available to acquire such eligible commodities through purchases from producers or in the market to replenish the trust. Authorizes the release of eligible commodities from the trust for emergency food assistance to developing countries, provided such release is at levels consistent with maintaining the long-term value of the trust. Makes permanent the authority for the trust. Subtitle C: International Fund for Agricultural Development - Expresses the sense of the Congress that the United States should maintain its leadership in support for the activities of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). (Sec. 221) Directs the Administrator of AID and the Secretary of State to review the effectiveness of the current six-year agreement between AID and the Department of State as it relates to U.S. contributions to IFAD. Directs the Administrator of AID and the Secretary to determine the extent to which the Fund has made progress toward management reforms, self-sufficiency, and poverty reduction in determining the amount of future U.S. contributions to it. Title III: Miscellaneous Provisions - Directs the Administrator of AID to report to the Congress on AID's plans for meeting the goals and objectives of the Africa Food Security Initiative.
United States · United States Congress · 1 April 1998
Food Banks Relief Act of 1998 - Amends the Emergency Food Assistance Act of 1983 to authorize appropriations for additional commodities purchase. Obligates specified amounts for emergency feeding organizations' distribution expenses.
United States · United States Congress · 31 March 1998
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Health Insurance Bill of Rights Subtitle A: Access to Care Subtitle B: Quality Assurance Subtitle C: Patient Information Subtitle D: Grievance and Appeals Procedures Subtitle E: Protecting the Doctor-Patient Relationship Subtitle F: Promoting Good Medical Practice Subtitle G: Definitions Title II: Application of Patient Protection Standards to Group Health Plans and Health Insurance Coverage Under Public Health Service Act Title III: Amendments to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 Title IV: Application to Group Health Plans Under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 Title V: Effective Dates; Coordination in Implementation Patients' Bill of Rights Act of 1998 - Title I: Health Insurance Bill of Rights - Subtitle A: Access to Care - Requires any group health plan, or health insurance coverage offered by a health insurance issuer, providing emergency services benefits to cover emergency services furnished: (1) without the need for any prior authorization determination; (2) whether or not the health care provider furnishing such services is a participating health care provider; and (3) without regard to any other term or condition of such coverage (other than exclusion or coordination of benefits, or an affiliation or waiting period, permitted under the Public Health Service Act, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), or the Internal Revenue Code, and other than applicable cost-sharing). Requires such coverage in a manner so that, if the emergency services are provided by a nonparticipating health care provider: (1) the participant, beneficiary, or enrollee is not liable for amounts exceeding the liability that would be incurred if the services were provided by a participating provider; and (2) the plan or issuer pays an amount that is not less than the amount paid to a participating provider for the same services. Prescribes the same coverage for maintenance care or post-stabilization care (subject to certain guidelines) by nonparticipating health care providers. (Sec. 102) Requires a plan or coverage that provides benefits only through participating providers to offer a participant the option to purchase point-of-service coverage for benefits provided by a nonparticipating provider, unless the plan offers the participant: (1) a choice of health insurance coverage through more than one health insurance issuer; or (2) two or more coverage options that differ significantly with respect to the use of participating providers or the networks of such providers that are used. (Sec. 103) Requires any plan and any health insurance issuer to permit each participant, beneficiary, and enrollee to receive: (1) primary care from any participating primary care provider available to accept such individual; and (2) (unless the plan or issuer clearly declares choice limitations) medically necessary or appropriate specialty care, pursuant to appropriate referral procedures, from any qualified participating provider available to accept such individual for such care. (Sec. 104) Requires any plan or issuer that requires or provides for designation of a participating primary care provider to permit a female participant, beneficiary, or enrollee to designate a participating physician who specializes in obstetrics and gynecology as the individual's primary care provider. Prohibits the plan or issuer, in the absence of such a designation, from requiring authorization or a referral by the individual's primary care provider or otherwise for coverage of routine gynecological care (such as preventive women's health examinations) and pregnancy-related services provided by a participating specialist in obstetrics and gynecology to the extent such care is otherwise covered. Permits a plan or issuer to treat the ordering of other gynecological care by such a participating physician as the primary care provider's authorization of such care. Requires the plan or issuer to refer to an available and accessible specialist any participant, beneficiary, or enrollee with a condition or disease of sufficient seriousness and complexity to require treatment by a specialist, and benefits for such treatment are covered. Requires a plan or issuer to refer an individual to a nonparticipating specialist: (1) only if a participating specialist is not available and accessible; and (2) only at no additional cost to the individual. Requires a plan or issuer to have a procedure by which an individual with an ongoing special condition (life-threatening, degenerative, or disabling) may be referred to a specialist who shall be responsible for and capable of providing and coordinating the individual's primary and specialty care, without referral from the individual's primary care provider. Requires standing referrals to a specialist for any condition requiring ongoing specialist care. (Sec. 105) Prescribes requirements for continuity of care for participants, beneficiaries, or enrollees in the event of a termination of a health care provider or of the contract between a plan and an issuer. (Sec. 106) Prescribes requirements for participation in approved clinical trials of individuals with life-threatening or serious illnesses for which no standard treatment is effective. Prohibits denial of participation in such trials, or discrimination against participants. Limits plan or issuer payments to routine patient costs. (Sec. 107) Requires any plan or issuer that provides prescription drug benefits limited to drugs included in a formulary to: (1) ensure participation of participating physicians and pharmacists in the development of the formulary; (2) disclose to providers, and upon request to participants, beneficiaries, and enrollees, the nature of the formulary restrictions; and (3) consistent with the standards for a utilization review program, provide for exceptions from the formulary limitation when a non-formulary alternative is medically indicated. Prohibits a plan or issuer from denying coverage of such a drug or device on the basis that the use is investigational, if certain labeling requirements are met. (Sec. 108) Requires each plan and issuer to have (in relation to the coverage) a sufficient number, distribution, and variety of qualified participating providers to ensure that all covered health care services, including specialty services, will be available and accessible in a timely manner to all participants, beneficiaries, and enrollees. Permits inclusion among such providers of federally qualified health centers, rural health clinics, migrant health centers, and other essential community providers located in the service area. Requires inclusion of such providers if necessary to meet such number, distribution, and variety requirements. (Sec. 109) Prescribes nondiscrimination requirements. Subtitle B: Quality Assurance - Directs each plan and issuer to establish an ongoing, internal quality assurance and continuous quality improvement program meeting specified requirements. (Sec. 112) Requires each plan and issuer to: (1) collect uniform quality data, including a minimum uniform data set specified by the Secretary of Health and Human Services; (2) have a written process for the selection of participating health care professionals, including minimum professional requirements; and (3) establish and maintain, as part of any internal quality assurance and continuous quality improvement program including prescription drug benefits, a drug utilization program which encourages appropriate drug use and takes appropriate action to reduce the incidence of improper drug use and adverse drug reactions and interactions. (Sec. 115) Requires each plan and issuer to conduct (or arrange for qualified outside agents to conduct) benefit utilization review activities only in accordance with a utilization review program that meets certain requirements. Prohibits a program from permitting or providing contingent compensation arrangements with its employees, agents, or contractors in a manner that: (1) provides incentives, direct or indirect, for such persons to make inappropriate review decisions; or (2) is based, directly or indirectly, on the quantity or type of adverse determinations rendered. Requires a utilization review program to make determinations and notifications concerning: (1) prior authorization services within three business days after receiving any necessary information; (2) authorization for continued or extended health care services within one business day after receipt of such information; and (3) retrospective review of services previously provided, within 30 days of such receipt. (Sec. 116) Directs the President to establish an advisory board to provide information to Congress and the administration on issues relating to quality monitoring and improvement in the health care provided under group health plans and health insurance coverage. Subtitle C: Patient Information - Specifies benefits, access, emergency coverage, prior authorization, grievance and appeals, and other pertinent information which plans and issuers shall provide to participants and beneficiaries at the time of initial coverage, annually, within a reasonable period before or after the date of significant changes, and upon request. (Sec. 122) Requires plans and issuers to establish procedures to: (1) safeguard the privacy of any individually identifiable enrollee information; (2) maintain records and information in an accurate and timely manner; and (3) assure individuals timely access to such records and information. (Sec. 123) Provides for grants to States for creation and operation of a Health Insurance Ombudsman. Requires any State receiving such a grant to contract for such an Ombudsman with a not-for-profit organization that operates independent of group health plans and health insurance issuers. Requires the Secretary to provide through such a contract for an Ombudsman in any State that does not provide for one. Makes such an Ombudsman responsible to: (1) assist consumers in choosing among health insurance coverage or among coverage options offered within group health plans; and (2) provide counseling and assistance to enrollees dissatisfied with their treatment by issuers and plans, and with respect to grievances and appeals of coverage or plan determinations. Subtitle D: Grievances and Appeals Procedures - Requires each plan and issuer to establish a system for the presentation and resolution of oral and written grievances brought by participants, beneficiaries, or enrollees, or health care providers or other individuals acting on behalf of an individual and with the individual's consent. Requires the system to include grievances regarding access to and availability of services, quality of care, choice and accessibility of providers, network adequacy, and compliance with the requirements of this title. (Sec. 132) Requires each plan and issuer to establish an internal appeals process, and provide for an external appeals process, which meet certain requirements. Specifies the appeal rights of participants, beneficiaries, and their representatives, as well as the kinds of decisions which are appealable. Subtitle E: Protecting the Doctor-Patient Relationship - Prohibits any contract or agreement between a plan or issuer and a health care provider from: (1) prohibiting or restricting the provider from engaging in medical communications with the provider's patient; or (2) containing any provision purporting to transfer to the health care provider by indemnification or otherwise any liability relating to activities, actions, or omissions of the plan, issuer, or agent (as opposed to the provider). Declares null and void any such contract or agreement provisions. (Sec. 142) Prohibits any plan or issuer from operating any physician incentive plan that does not meet certain requirements under title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act. (Sec. 143) Requires any plan or issuer to establish reasonable procedures relating to the participation of health care professionals, including notice of participation rules, written notice of adverse participation decisions, and a process for appealing adverse decisions. (Sec. 144) Prohibits a plan or an issuer from retaliating against a participant, beneficiary, enrollee, or health care provider based on use of, or participation in, a utilization review or a grievance process. Prohibits a plan or an issuer from retaliating or discriminating against a protected health care professional because the professional in good faith: (1) discloses information relating to the care, services, or conditions affecting one or more participants, beneficiaries, or enrollees to an appropriate public regulatory agency, private accreditation body, or management personnel of the plan or issuer; or (2) initiates, cooperates, or otherwise participates in an investigation or proceeding by such an agency with respect to such care, services, or conditions. Defines good faith action. Subtitle F: Promoting Good Medical Practice - Prohibits a plan or issuer from arbitrarily interfering with or altering the decision of the treating physician regarding the manner or setting in which particular covered services are delivered if they are medically necessary or appropriate for treatment or diagnosis. Allows a plan or issuer to limit the delivery of services to one or more providers within a network. (Sec. 152) Prescribes standards for benefits for certain breast cancer treatments. Prohibits a plan or issuer from restricting benefits for any hospital length of stay: (1) in connection with a mastectomy to less than 48 hours; or (2) in connection with a lymph node dissection for the treatment of breast cancer to less than 24 hours. Prohibits a plan or issuer from requiring a provider to obtain its authorization for prescribing any such length of stay. Permits a discharge before expiration of the minimum length of stay otherwise required, if the decision is made by the attending provider in consultation with the woman involved, or in a case involving a partial mastectomy without lymph node dissection. Prohibits a plan or issuer from: (1) denying to a woman eligibility to enroll or renew coverage solely for the purpose of avoiding the requirements of this title; (2) providing monetary payments or rebates to encourage women to accept less than the minimum protections available under this title; (3) penalizing or otherwise reducing or limiting reimbursement because an attending provider gave care to a participant or beneficiary in accordance with this title; (4) providing incentives (monetary or otherwise) to induce an attending provider to provide care to a participant or beneficiary in a manner inconsistent with this title; or (5) restricting benefits (other than imposing deductibles, coinsurance, or other cost-sharing) for any portion of a period within a required hospital length of stay in a manner less favorable than the benefits provided for any preceding portion of such stay. (Sec. 153) Requires a plan or issuer to provide coverage for reconstructive breast surgery resulting from a mastectomy, including coverage: (1) for all stages of reconstructive breast surgery performed on a nondiseased breast to establish symmetry with the diseased when reconstruction on the diseased breast is performed; and (2) of prostheses and complications of mastectomy, including lymphedema. Prohibits denial of coverage on the basis that it is for cosmetic surgery. Subtitle G: Definitions - Sets forth definitions. Title II: Application of Patient Protection Standards to Group Health Plans and Health Insurance Coverage Under Public Health Service Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require each plan and issuer to comply with the patient protection requirements of this Act. (Sec. 202) Requires each health insurance issuer to comply with such requirements with respect to individual health insurance coverage. Title III: Amendments to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 - Amends ERISA to require each plan and issuer to comply with the patient protection requirements of this Act. (Sec. 302) Provides that nothing in ERISA shall be construed to invalidate, impair, or supersede any cause of action under State law to recover damages resulting from personal injury or wrongful death against any person (except employers and other plan sponsors): (1) in connection with the provision of insurance, administrative services, or medical services by that person to or for a group health plan; or (2) that arises out of the arrangement by that person for the provision of insurance, administrative services, or medical services by other persons. Allows such an action against an employer or other plan sponsor only if it is based on the employer's or sponsor's exercise of discretionary authority to decide a claim for covered benefits, and such exercise resulted in personal injury or wrongful death. Title IV: Application to Group Health Plans Under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to require a group health plan to comply with this Act. Deems this Act to be incorporated into the Internal Revenue Code. Title V: Effective Dates; Coordination in Implementation - Sets forth effective dates for provisions of this Act. (Sec. 502) Amends the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 to provide for coordination in the implementation of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 30 March 1998
Designates the Federal building at 700 East San Antonio Street in El Paso, Texas, as the Richard C. White Federal Building.
United States · United States Congress · 26 March 1998
Medicare Home Health Equity Act of 1998 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide for: (1) restoration of the per visit cost limit to 112 percent of the mean of costs with regard to payments to home health agencies under Medicare; and (2) revision of the interim payment system for home health services.
United States · United States Congress · 26 March 1998
Medicare Social Work Equity Act of 1998 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to exclude clinical social worker services from coverage under the Medicare skilled nursing facility prospective payment system.
United States · United States Congress · 26 March 1998
Urges the President to: (1) launch an initiative to resolve the situation in Cyprus based on parameters and principles set forth in specified resolutions of the House of Representatives, the Senate, and the United Nations Security Council; and (2) continue bimonthly reports to the Congress on the active engagement of the United States in efforts to find a solution to such situation.
United States · United States Congress · 25 March 1998
Central American and Caribbean Refugee Adjustment Act of 1998 - Amends the Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act to make certain nationals of Nicaragua, Cuba, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Haiti eligible for permanent resident status adjustment under such Act. (Current law applies to nationals of Nicaragua and Cuba.) Makes conforming amendments to the Immigration and Nationality Act, as amended by the Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act.
United States · United States Congress · 24 March 1998
Affordable Health Insurance Act of 1998 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to limit the premiums an insurer may charge for new or renewal individual enrollment for an individual who is eligible because of prior group coverage. Adds the same limit to provisions relating to State flexibility in individual market reforms.
United States · United States Congress · 24 March 1998
Expresses the sense of the Congress that substantial amounts of the proceeds received by the United States under any congressionally approved tobacco settlement should be allocated to the Department of Veterans Affairs.
United States · United States Congress · 19 March 1998
Authorizes the President to present, on behalf of the Congress, a gold medal to Gerald and Betty Ford in recognition of their dedicated public service and outstanding humanitarian contributions to the people of the United States. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to strike and sell duplicate medals in bronze. Declares such medals to be national medals.
United States · United States Congress · 19 March 1998
Agricultural Credit Restoration Act - Amends the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act to exclude from "debt forgiveness": (1) loan rescheduling, consolidation, deferral, or reamortization; (2) one debt forgiveness due to natural disaster or family medical condition; and (3) loan restructuring, write-down, or buy-out as part of the resolution of a discrimination complaint against the Secretary of Agriculture (thus excluding such situations from the ban on lending program eligibility for producers with restructured farm debt). Increases the number of permitted loan (including direct operating and guaranteed loan) write-downs or buy-outs per borrower from one to two. Eliminates the aggregate limitation on per borrower debt forgiveness. Authorizes interstate allocation of unused funds for socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers.
United States · United States Congress · 19 March 1998
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Continuing the Commitment of the Violence Against Women Act Subtitle A: Law Enforcement and Prosecution Grants to Combat Violence Against Women Subtitle B: National Domestic Violence Hotline Subtitle C: Battered Women's Shelters and Services Subtitle D: Community Initiatives Subtitle E: Education and Training for Judges and Court Personnel Subtitle F: Grants to Encourage Arrest Policies Subtitle G: Rural Domestic Violence and Child Abuse Enforcement Subtitle H: National Stalker and Domestic Violence Reduction Subtitle I: Federal Victims' Counselors Subtitle J: Education and Prevention Grants to Reduce Sexual Abuse of Runaway, Homeless, and Street Youth Subtitle K: Victims of Child Abuse Programs Title II: Limiting the Effects of Violence of Children Subtitle A: Safe Havens for Children Subtitle B: Violence Against Women Prevention Among Youth in Schools Subtitle C: Family Safety Subtitle D: Domestic Violence and Children Subtitle E: Child Welfare Worker Training on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Subtitle F: Child Abuse Accountability Title III: Sexual Assault Prevention Subtitle A: Rape Prevention Education Subtitle B: Standards, Practice and Training for Sexual Assault Examinations Subtitle C: Prevention of Custodial Sexual Assault by Correction Staff Subtitle D: Hate Crimes Prevention Title IV: Domestic Violence Prevention Subtitle A: Domestic Violence Victims' Housing Subtitle B: Full Faith and Credit for Protection Orders Subtitle C: Victims of Abuse Insurance Protection Subtitle D: National Summit on Sports and Violence Subtitle E: Keeping Firearms From Intoxicated Persons Subtitle F: Access to Safety and Advocacy Subtitle G: Federal Witness Protection for Victims of Domestic Violence Title V: Violence Against Women in the Military System Subtitle A: Civil Jurisdiction for Crimes of Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence Subtitle B: Transitional Compensation and Health Care for Abused Dependents of Members of the Armed Forces Title VI: Preventing Violence Against Women in Traditionally Underserved Communities Subtitle A: Older Women's Protection From Violence Subtitle B: Protection Against Violence and Abuse for Women with Disabilities Subtitle C: Battered Immigrant Women Subtitle D: Conforming Amendments to the Violence Against Women Act Title VII: Violence Against Women and the Workplace Subtitle A: National Clearinghouse on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault and the Workplace Grant Subtitle B: Victims' Employment Rights Subtitle C: Workplace Violence Against Women Prevention Tax Credit Subtitle D: Battered Women's Employment Protection Subtitle E: Education and Training Grants to Promote Responses to Violence Against Women Subtitle F: Workers' Compensation Title VIII: Educational Institutions and Violence Against Women Subtitle A: Grants to Reduce Violent Crimes Against Women on Campus Subtitle B: Student Safety Subtitle C: Violence against Women Training for Health Professions Subtitle D: Campus Hate Crimes Right to Know Title IX: Violence Against Women Intervention, Prevention, and Education Research Violence Against Women Act of 1998 - Title I: Continuing the Commitment of the Violence Against Women Act - Subtitle A: Law Enforcement and Prosecution Grants to Combat Violence Against Women - Amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (the Act) to authorize appropriations for grants to combat violent crimes against women. (Sec. 102) Revises grant allocation guidelines governing prosecution grants, victims' services and State court systems. Expands grant purposes to include training that addresses sexual assault, domestic violence, and stalking for State, local, and tribal judicial personnel. Directs the Attorney General to deny State grant applications that fail to provide documentation of collaborative efforts with other agencies or organizations. Redefines "victims' services" to include advocacy and assistance for victims seeking legal, social, and health care services. (Sec. 103) Directs the Attorney General to make grants to State domestic violence and sexual assault coalitions for purposes of coordinating with: (1) victim services activities; and (2) Federal, State, and local entities engaged in violence-against-women activities. Subtitle B: National Domestic Violence Hotline - Amends the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act (FVPSA) to authorize increased appropriations for the national domestic violence hotline grant. Requires grantees to submit a grant evaluation report to the Secretary of Health and Human Services (the HHS Secretary) for publication and public comment as a prerequisite to a grant award or renewal. Subtitle C: Battered Women's Shelters and Services - Battered Women's Shelters and Services Act - Amends the FVPSA to authorize appropriations for State grants. Modifies guidelines governing: (1) allotment of appropriations; (2) grants for information and technical assistance centers; and (3) authorization of appropriations. (Sec. 123) Instructs the HHS Secretary to award grants for: (1) State domestic violence coalitions and local domestic violence programs providing shelter or related assistance, in order to develop model strategies to address domestic violence in underserved populations; (2) each State domestic violence coalition for an emergency assistance fund for domestic violence victims; and (3) technical assistance and training for State and local domestic violence programs. Subtitle D: Community Initiatives - Authorizes appropriations for demonstration grants for community initiatives. Subtitle E: Education and Training for Judges and Court Personnel - Amends the Equal Justice for Women in the Courts Act of 1994 to permit training grants for judges and court personnel to include: (1) child custody, visitation, and safety issues raised by domestic violence and child sexual assault; and (2) the extent to which addressing domestic violence and victim safety contributes to the efficient administration of justice. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle F: Grants to Encourage Arrest Policies - Amends the Act to reauthorize appropriations to implement the functions of the Bureau of Justice Statistics. (Sec. 153) Mandates that at least five percent of appropriated funds be used for grants to Indian tribal governments to treat domestic violence as a serious violation of criminal law. Subtitle G: Rural Domestic Violence and Child Abuse Enforcement - Amends the Safe Homes for Women Act of 1994 to authorize appropriations for rural domestic violence and child abuse enforcement. Mandates that five percent of such funds be used for grants to Indian tribal governments. Subtitle H: National Stalker and Domestic Violence Reduction - Amends the Safe Homes for Women Act of 1994 to authorize appropriations for grants to enter stalking and domestic violence data into crime information databases. Subtitle I: Federal Victims' Counselors - Amends the Safe Streets for Women Act of 1994 to authorize appropriations for the United States Attorneys to appoint Victim-Witness counselors for the prosecution of domestic violence and sexual assault crimes. Subtitle J: Education and Prevention Grants to Reduce Sexual Abuse of Runaway, Homeless, and Street Youth - Amends the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act to authorize appropriations for street-based outreach and education to prevent sexual abuse and exploitation. Subtitle K: Victims of Child Abuse Programs - Amends the Victims of Child Abuse Act of 1990 to authorize appropriations for: (1) the court-appointed special advocate program; and (2) child abuse training programs for judicial personnel and practitioners. (Sec. 191-3) Amends the Act to authorize appropriations for grants for closed-circuit televising of testimony of child abuse victims. Title II: Limiting the Effects of Violence on Children - Subtitle A: Safe Havens for Children - Authorizes the Attorney General to award grants to public or private nonprofit nongovernmental entities to establish and operate supervised visitation centers. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle B: Violence Against Women Prevention Among Youth in Schools - Authorizes appropriations for the Secretary of Education to implement a program in primary, middle, and secondary schools to educate young people about violence against women. Subtitle C: Family Safety - Family Safety Act - Amends the Parental Kidnapping Prevention Act of 1980 to include among its purposes: (1) the promotion of cooperation between State and tribal courts to protect parents and children from domestic violence or sexual assault; (2) the promotion of realistic and protective standards for interstate relocation when parents dispute custody; (3) the avoidance of jurisdictional conflicts between State courts in matters of child custody and visitation consistent with not endangering or inappropriately punishing parents who are victims of domestic violence, or children who are victims of sexual assault. (Sec. 233) Amends Federal criminal law to provide as a defense to prosecution of either a criminal custodial interference or parental abduction charge, or criminal contempt of court relating to an underlying child custody or visitation determination, that the defendant was fleeing an incident or pattern of domestic violence or sexual assault of the child, or would otherwise have a defense under the International Parental Kidnapping Prevention Act. Directs the Attorney General to issue guidelines to assist U.S. Attorneys and the Federal Bureau of Investigation to determine whether to initiate or terminate an action due to the potential availability of such defense. (Sec. 234) Amends the Judicial Code to declare that the intent of full faith and credit doctrine in child custody determinations is to preempt inconsistent State law. Declares that a protection order regarding custody and visitation of a minor child that is consistent with this Act shall be given full faith and credit by the courts of any State where the party who sought the order seeks enforcement. Modifies State court jurisdiction guidelines governing: (1) relocation of the child due to domestic violence or sexual assault; and (2) court authority to decline to exercise jurisdiction on behalf of parents engaged in specified conduct. Subtitle D: Domestic Violence and Children - Expresses the sense of the Congress that for purposes of determining child custody: (1) it is in the best interest of children to have a presumption that their main physical residence should be with their primary caretaker parent unless such parent is unfit; (2) child abuse and sexual abuse allegations should be fully investigated regardless of when raised, or whether the child has withdrawn the allegation; (3) States should not order specified measures if they may endanger either parent or child; and (4) States should provide training to all relevant professionals on how domestic violence and sexual assault affects determinations of custody, child support, and visitation. Subtitle E: Child Welfare Worker Training on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault - Directs the Attorney General to make grants jointly with the HHS Secretary to enable child welfare service agencies to train their staffs and modify their policies, procedures, programs, and practices in order to make them consistent with specified principles and goals. Sets forth grantee eligibility criteria. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle F: Child Abuse Accountability - Child Abuse Accountability Act - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) and the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to permit the assignment or alienation of any pension benefit payable to a participant pursuant to a qualified child abuse order. Exempts qualified child abuse orders from preemption by ERISA. Title III: Sexual Assault Prevention - Subtitle A: Rape Prevention Education - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the use of certain State funds for rape prevention and education programs conducted by rape crisis centers and nonprofit State sexual assault coalitions for specified programs. (Sec. 301) Instructs the HHS Secretary to establish a National Resource Center on Sexual Assault to provide resource information, policy, training, and technical assistance to Federal, State, and Indian tribal agencies, State and local sexual assault coalitions and programs, and to other interested parties. Mandates that State grantors ensure that at least 25 percent of the funds are devoted to educational programs targeted for middle school, junior high, and high school aged students. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle B: Standards, Practice, and Training for Sexual Assault Examinations - Standards, Practice, and Training for Sexual Assault Examinations Act - Directs the Attorney General to: (1) evaluate standards of training and practice for licensed health care professionals performing sexual assault forensic examinations, and develop a national recommended training standard; (2) recommend sexual assault examination training for health care students to improve recognition of injuries suggestive of rape and sexual assault; and (3) establish a mechanism for nationwide dissemination of a national protocol on sexual assault for forensic examinations. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle C: Prevention of Custodial Sexual Assault by Correctional Staff - Prevention of Custodial Sexual Assault by Correctional Staff Act - Directs the Attorney General to establish and disseminate to the States certain guidelines regarding the prevention of custodial sexual misconduct by correctional staff. Requires withholding of specified correctional facilities funds from any State that fails to implement: (1) such guidelines; or (2) criminal penalties explicitly prohibiting custodial sexual misconduct by correctional staff against prisoners. (Sec. 335) Directs the Attorney General to create a national, confidential, toll-free telephone hotline to collect data, and to provide information and assistance to prisoners who have experienced custodial sexual misconduct by corrections staff. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle D: Hate Crimes Prevention - Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 1998 - Amends Federal criminal law to establish criminal penalties for willfully causing bodily injury because of a person's race, color, religion, or national origin. (Sec. 345) Directs the United States Sentencing Commission to study the issue of adult recruitment of juveniles to commit hate crimes, and, where appropriate, to amend Federal sentencing guidelines to provide sentencing enhancements for adult defendants who do such recruiting. (Sec. 346) Directs the Administrator of the Department of Justice Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention to make grants to State and local programs to combat hate crimes committed by juveniles. (Sec. 347) Authorizes appropriations for the Department of the Treasury and the Department of Justice (including the Community Relations Service), to increase the number of personnel to prevent and respond to such hate crimes. Title IV: Domestic Violence Prevention - Subtitle A: Domestic Violence Victims' Housing - Domestic Violence Victims Housing Act - Authorizes appropriations under the United States Housing Act of 1937 solely for public housing agencies and qualified nonprofit organizations to provide tenant-based rental assistance for families leaving a residence due to domestic violence. Subtitle B: Full Faith and Credit for Protection Orders - Amends Federal criminal law to require the Attorney General to reduce the amount of certain grants to any State that fails to comply with Federal full faith and credit requirements for protection orders. (Sec. 412) Authorizes the Attorney General to provide grants to assist governmental entities to develop and strengthen law enforcement and recordkeeping strategies to enforce protective orders issued by other governmental entities. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle C: Victims of Abuse Insurance Protection - Victims of Abuse Insurance Protection Act - Prohibits an insurer from denying or restricting insurance coverage on the basis that the applicant or insured (or any employee or associated person) is, has been, or may be the subject of abuse or has incurred or may incur abuse-related claims. Confers enforcement jurisdiction upon the Federal Trade Commission. Authorizes a private cause of action by an applicant or insured adversely affected by a violation of this Act. Subtitle D: National Summit on Sports and Violence - Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) a national summit should be promptly convened to develop a multifaceted action plan to deter acts of violence, especially domestic violence and sexual assault; (2) the members of such summit should include sports, community, political, and media leaders, as well as Members of Congress and other governmental and community leaders with relevant expertise; and (3) summit members should assume leadership roles deterring acts of domestic violence and sexual assault. Subtitle E: Keeping Firearms from Intoxicated Persons - Amends Federal criminal law to declare unlawful the transfer of a firearm or ammunition to any person reasonably believed to be intoxicated. Subtitle F: Access to Safety and Advocacy - Access to Safety and Advocacy Act - Authorizes the Attorney General to make grants to designated grantees and services to improve legal assistance to victims of domestic violence through access to the justice system, legal advocacy, and representation. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle G: Federal Witness Protection for Victims of Domestic Violence - Amends Federal criminal law to include victims of domestic violence within the Federal Witness Protection Program. Title V: Violence Against Women in the Military System - Subtitle A: Civilian Jurisdiction for Crimes of Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence - Amends Federal criminal law to declare that domestic violence and sexual assault offenses committed by persons formerly serving with, or presently employed by or accompanying the armed forces outside of the United States shall be subject to prosecution in the Federal District Court of the jurisdiction of origin of the person arrested. Provides for concurrent jurisdiction with other military tribunals and foreign governments. (Sec. 502) Amends Federal law governing separation from the armed forces to mandate that: (1) a copy of records of any penal action taken against the departing member of the armed forces be transmitted to the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI); and (2) any member convicted by court-martial of an offense of a sexual nature provide whatever specimen is necessary to conduct DNA analysis for inclusion in the Combined DNA Identification System of the FBI. Subtitle B: Transitional Compensation and Health Care for Abused Dependents of Members of the Armed Forces - Revises Federal guidelines governing transitional compensation and health care for abused dependents of former members of the armed forces. Mandates that an abused dependent of a former member be furnished with medical, dental, and mental health care in uniformed services' facilities with the same eligibility and benefits as were applicable during the former member's active service. Title VI: Preventing Violence Against Women in Traditionally Underserved Communities - Subtitle A: Older Women's Protection From Violence - Older Women's Protection From Violence Act - Chapter 1: Violence Against Women Act of 1994 - Amends the Violence Against Women Act of 1994 to direct the Attorney General to: (1) make grants to law school clinical programs to fund the inclusion of cases addressing issues of elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation, including domestic violence, and sexual assault against older individuals; and (2) develop curricula and provide for training programs in those issues for law enforcement officers and prosecutors. Authorizes appropriations. Chapter 2: Family Violence Prevention and Services Act - Amends the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act to require federally-funded State domestic violence coalitions to include within their scope of activities programs targeted to older individuals, including outreach, support groups, and counseling. (Sec. 604-3) Authorizes entities eligible for a community initiatives demonstration grant to include representatives of adult protective services entities. Chapter 3: Older Americans Act of 1965 - Amends the Older Americans Act of 1965 to direct the Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services for Aging to consider the importance of research about the sexual assault of older women when establishing research priorities for grants or contracts for research and demonstration projects on elder abuse. (Sec. 605-3) Authorizes appropriations without fiscal year limitation for grants to implement a State long-term care ombudsman program. (Sec. 605-4) Directs such Assistant Secretary to develop curricula and implement continuing education training programs to improve the ability of health care and social services providers to recognize and address instances of elder abuse. (Sec.605-5) Directs the Assistant Secretary, when making grants and contracts, to give special consideration to projects designed to: (1) expand access to domestic violence shelters and programs for older individuals and encourage the use of certain facilities as emergency short-term shelters; and (2) promote research on legal, organizational, or training impediments to providing services to older individuals through shelters and programs. (Sec. 605-6) Authorizes appropriations for the ombudsman and the elder abuse prevention program. (Sec. 605-7) Directs the HHS Secretary to make grants to: (1) nonprofit private organizations to support projects in local communities to coordinate activities for intervention in and prevention of elder abuse, including domestic violence and sexual assault; and (2) develop outreach programs for assisting victims of elder abuse, including some for assisting individuals in certain senior housing facilities. Authorizes appropriations. Chapter 4: Public Health Service Act - Elder Abuse Identification and Referral Act of 1998 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to instruct the HHS Secretary, when awarding grants or contracts, to give preferences to health professions schools or programs that condition the awarding of their degrees or certificates upon significant student training in specified areas of elder abuse identification and treatment. Subtitle B: Protection Against Violence and Abuse for Women with Disabilities - Protections Against Violence and Abuse for Women with Disabilities Act - Makes the protection of women with disabilities eligible for grants and research under the following Acts: (1) the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968; (2) Public Health and Human Services Act; (3) Family Violence Prevention and Services Act; (4) Safe Homes for Women Act of 1994; and Equal Justice for Women in the Courts Act of 1994. (Sec. 617) Authorizes the HHS Secretary to: (1) develop curricula and implement training programs to improve the ability of social service and health providers to recognize and address domestic violence directed against women with disabilities; and (2) make grants and enter into contracts for such training programs for health professionals. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 619) Directs the HHS Secretary to consider the importance of research about the sexual assault of, and violence against, women with disabilities in establishing certain research priorities. (Sec. 619-1) Authorizes the Attorney General to establish a grants program for States and nongovernmental private entities to provide education and technical assistance for information dissemination on abuse and violence against women with disabilities. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle C: Battered Immigrant Women - Battered Immigrant Women's Protection Act - Expresses the sense of the Congress that it is contrary to the law enforcement purposes of the Violence Against Women Act for State law enforcement officers, prosecutors, or judges to: (1) inquire into the immigration status of a domestic violence victim who is seeking protection from crimes of domestic violence, battering, or extreme cruelty to herself or her children; and (2) report such victims to the Immigration and Naturalization Service. (Sec. 623) Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to revise guidelines governing a battered spouse or child with respect to: (1) cancellation of removal and adjustment of status; (2) ineligibility for visas or admission; (3) procedures for granting immigrant status; (4) general classes of deportable aliens; (5) status adjustment of nonimmigrant to that of person admitted for permanent residence; (6) removal proceedings; and (7) married persons and employees for certain nonprofit organizations. (Sec. 630) Authorizes the Attorney General to grant certain battered applicants documentation signifying authorization of employment during the pendency of their application. (Sec. 631) Amends the Privacy Act of 1974 to permit Federal agency disclosure of records to the spouse or child of a naturalized citizen or lawful permanent resident who requests information from the Immigration and Naturalization Service regarding the immigration status of their spouse or parent, or who needs to obtain documentation for an immigration case or domestic violence-related judicial procedure. Excludes from such disclosure the records of victims of battering or extreme cruelty by a spouse or parent. (Sec. 632) Amends the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 to redefine "qualified alien" to include certain battered aliens for purposes of welfare and public benefits eligibility. Amends the Housing and Community Development Act of 1980, the Social Security Act, and the United States Housing Act of 1937, to declare restrictions on the use of assisted housing inapplicable to certain battered aliens. (Sec. 633) Amends the Departments of Commerce, Justice, and State, the Judiciary and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1998 to provide that requirements and restrictions placed upon Legal Services Corporation funding shall not be construed to prohibit a recipient from providing related legal assistance to certain aliens who have been battered or subjected to extreme cruelty. (Sec. 634) Amends the Act to require each branch of the U.S. military to train its supervisory military officers in domestic violence dynamics in military families, and the protections available for battered immigrant women and children. Expands the purposes of training grants to combat violent crimes against women to include: (1) training immigration and asylum officers and judges; and (2) training justice system personnel on the judicial ramifications of the Violence Against Women Act, and the potential immigration consequences for perpetrators of domestic violence. (Sec. 635) Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to express the intent of the Congress that statutory constraints upon the powers of immigration personnel not be construed as discouraging crime and domestic violence victims from reporting crimes to the police, from cooperating in criminal prosecutions, or from obtaining the legal relief needed for protection from ongoing violence. Subtitle D: Conforming Amendments to the Violence Against Women Act - Amends the Act to make technical and conforming amendments with respect to law enforcement and prosecution grants. Title VII: Violence Against Women and the Workplace - Subtitle A: National Clearinghouse on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault and the Workplace Grant - Authorizes the Attorney General to award a grant to a private non-profit entity, including one operating within the boundaries of an Indian reservation, to provide for establishment of a national clearinghouse and resource center to disseminate information and assistance to employers and labor organizations responding to victims of domestic violence and sexual assault. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle B: Victims' Employment Rights - Victims' Employment Rights Act - Prohibits an employer from taking any adverse job action against an employee based upon such employee's status, experience, or condition as a victim of crime, even if the crime alleged does not result in criminal prosecution or conviction. Prohibits any adverse job action for an employee's participation in related judicial proceedings requiring absence from work. Prescribes enforcement guidelines, including civil action by an affected employee for actual and treble punitive damages. Subtitle C: Workplace Violence Against Women Prevention Tax Credit - Workplace Violence Against Women Prevention Tax Credit Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow an employer a workplace safety program tax credit for 40 percent of the costs of implementing workplace safety and education programs to combat violence against women. Subtitle D: Battered Women's Employment Protection - Battered Women's Employment Protection Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide for unemployment compensation for separation from employment as a direct result of an employee's experience of domestic violence. (Sec. 743) Amends the Social Security Act to provide for the training of claims reviewers and hearing personnel in the nature and dynamics of domestic violence, and in methods of ascertaining and keeping confidential information about domestic violence experiences so that employment separations stemming from such violence are identified and adjudicated while full confidentiality is provided for the employee's claim and submitted evidence. (Sec. 744) Amends the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 and the provisions concerning Federal employees to establish an entitlement for leave resulting from certain domestic violence situations. Prescribes confidentiality guidelines for an employee's situation of domestic violence. Requires that employees, under State law, be permitted to use existing leave for domestic violence situations. Empowers the Secretary of Labor to enforce the entitlement for leave due to an employee's domestic violence situation. Subtitle E: Education and Training Grants to Promote Responses to Violence Against Women - Authorizes the Attorney General to award grants to public and private nonprofit, nongovernmental organizations for the education and training of individuals who, as a result of their employment responsibilities, are likely to come into contact with victims of domestic violence or sexual assault. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle F: Workers' Compensation - Expresses the sense of the Congress that State workers' compensation laws should: (1) provide benefits to eligible female victims of workplace violence, including full compensation for physical and nonphysical injuries; and (2) permit the employee to pursue an action at law (other than statutory workers' compensation benefits) against an employer's role in the act of workplace violence. Title VIII: Educational Institutions and Violence Against Women - Subtitle A: Grants to Reduce Violent Crimes Against Women on Campus - Amends the Act to authorize Department of Education grants to institutions of higher education for campus personnel and student organizations, and nonprofit, nongovernmental victim services programs to provide personnel, training, technical assistance, data collection, and other equipment for the more widespread apprehension, investigation, and adjudication of persons committing violent crimes against women on campus. (Sec. 801) Authorizes the Secretary of Education to request any Federal agency to use its authorities and resources in support of campus security, investigation, and victim services efforts. (Sec. 802) Directs the Secretary to provide for, and report to the Congress on, a national baseline study of university campus procedures when receiving a sexual assault report. Subtitle B: Student Safety - Student Safety Act - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to: (1) revise guidelines governing crime logs and annual statistics of criminal offenses on campus; (2) exclude from educational records open to parental review specified records of campus disciplinary proceedings or criminal activity; and (3) modify eligibility criteria for Federal student financial aid services to require institution certification of comprehensive and accurate crime statistics. (Sec. 815) Requires the Attorney General and the Secretary of Education to publish annually and transmit to certain congressional committees and the general public a report identifying model programs for improving campus safety. Subtitle C: Violence Against Women Training for Health Professions - Violence Against Women Training for Health Professions Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to direct the HHS Secretary, when making health care grants for rural areas, to give preference to a health professions entity that requires, as a condition of receiving a degree or certificate, each student to have had significant training in identification, examination, treatment, and referral of victims of domestic violence and sexual assault. Subtitle D: Campus Hate Crimes Right to Know - Campus Hate Crimes Right To Know Act - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to mandate the separate collection and categorization of on-campus criminal offenses statistics that manifest prejudice based on race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, ethnicity, or disability. Title IX: Violence Against Women Intervention, Prevention, and Education Research - Amends the Violence Against Women Act of 1994 to direct the HHS Secretary and the Attorney General to establish a multi-agency task force coordinating research on violence against women. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 901) Directs the Department of Health and Human Services to make grants to entities to: (1) support research to further the understanding of the causes of violent behavior against women; and (2) evaluate education, prevention, and intervention programs. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Departments of Health and Human Services and of Justice to make grants to domestic violence and sexual assault organizations, research organizations and academic institutions to expand knowledge about violence against women, with a particular emphasis on exploring such issues as they affect underserved communities. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the United States Sentencing Commission to study and report to the Congress on specified aspects of domestic violence. Directs the Secretary to award grants to designated entities to gather data on the experiences of women and girls who become pregnant as a result of sexual assault within State health care, judicial, and social services systems. Authorizes appropriations. Instructs the Attorney General to conduct a national study and report to the Congress on laws regarding rape and sexual assault offenses and their effectiveness in addressing those crimes and protecting the victims. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary and the Attorney General to establish three research centers to: (1) support the development of research and training programs that focus on violence against women; (2) provide collaboration mechanisms between researchers and practitioners; and (3) provide technical assistance for integrating research into service provision. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 19 March 1998
Fair Minimum Wage Act of 1998 - Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to increase the Federal minimum wage (currently $5.15 per hour) to: (1) $5.65 an hour during the year 1999; and (2) $6.15 an hour during the year 2000.
United States · United States Congress · 19 March 1998
Health Care Claims Guidance Act - Amends Federal law relating to claims against the U. S. Government to prohibit any action under such provisions based on a claim submitted: (1) under a federally funded health care program unless the amount of damages alleged is a material amount; (2) in reliance on erroneous information supplied by a Federal agency or in reliance on written statements of Federal policy which affects such claim provided by a Federal agency; or (3) by a person that is in substantial compliance with a model compliance plan issued by the Secretary of Health and Human Services (in consultation with the Secretary of Defense). Requires that the Government prove an allegation of a false health care claim by clear and convincing evidence. Defines, for the amendments made by this Act, "federally funded health care program" to mean a program that provides health benefits, directly or otherwise, established under Social Security Act titles XVIII (Medicare), XIX (Medicaid), or XXI (Children's Health Insurance) or provisions of Federal law relating to the armed forces.
United States · United States Congress · 19 March 1998
Stamp Out Diabetes Act of 1998 - Amends Federal law to require the Postal Service to establish a special rate of postage for first class mail that is up to 25 percent higher than the regular rate as a voluntary alternative that the public may use to contribute to funding for diabetes research. Requires collected amounts to be paid to the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Expresses the sense of the Congress that nothing in this Act should: (1) cause a net decrease in total funds received by NIH below the level that would have otherwise been received but for this Act's enactment; or (2) affect first-class or other regular postage rates. Requires special postage stamps to be made available to the public. Terminates this Act two years after such stamps are first made available.
United States · United States Congress · 17 March 1998
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Access to Medicare Benefits for Individuals 62-to- 65 Years of Age Title II: Access to Medicare Benefits for Displaced Workers 55-to-62 Years of Age Title III: COBRA Protection for Early Retirees Subtitle A: Amendments to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 Subtitle B: Amendments to the Public Health Service Act Subtitle C: Amendments to the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 Title IV: Financing Medicare Early Access Act of 1998 - Title I: Access to Medicare Benefits for Individuals 62-to-65 Years of Age - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to add a new part D (Purchase of Medicare Benefits by Certain Individuals Age 62-to-65 Years of Age). Makes eligible to enroll in Medicare during a specified period individuals between the ages of 62 and 65 who: (1) are not eligible for coverage under group health plans or Federal health insurance; but (2) would be Medicare-eligible if age 65. Requires prior notification of each individual seeking to enroll of the deferred monthly premium amount for which the individual will be liable upon attaining age 65. (Sec. 101) Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to determine rates for: (1) the base monthly premium; (2) the base annual premium for individuals age 62 or older; and (3) the deferred premium for such individuals. Limits the maximum annual premium in a premium area to assure participation in all areas of the country. Directs the Secretary to provide for payment and collection of the base monthly premium. Makes the enrollee liable for the deferred monthly premium payment. Requires collection of both premiums in the same manner as for the payment of monthly premiums under Medicare part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance). Creates in the Treasury the Medicare Early Access Trust Fund (Trust Fund) to hold collected premiums as well as the savings from new fraud and abuse initiatives under the Medicare Fraud and Overpayment Act of 1998 which are transferred to it out of the Medicare trust funds. Directs: (1) the Trust Fund's Board of Trustees to report annually to the Congress on the need for adjustments in the new program in order to maintain its financial solvency; and (2) the Comptroller General to report periodically to the Congress on the adequacy of program financing along with appropriate recommendations to accomplish such end. Requires: (1) individuals enrolled under the new part D program to be treated for Medicare purposes as though they were entitled to benefits under Medicare part A (Hospital Insurance) and enrolled under Medicare part B; and (2) new part D program benefits to be payable under Medicare to such individuals in the same manner as if they were so entitled and enrolled. Provides that the new part D program shall not be treated as Medicare for purposes of the Medicaid program under SSA title XIX, including the provision of Medicare cost-sharing assistance, nor for purposes of COBRA continuation requirements of the Public Health Service Act. Title II: Access to Medicare Benefits for Displaced Workers 55-to-62 Years of Age - Amends SSA title XVIII part D to rename the newly established part D program the Purchase of Medicare Benefits by Certain Individuals Age 55-to-65 Years of Age. Provides for part D coverage for certain displaced workers and spouses between the ages of 55 and 62 under arrangements similar to those in title I. Directs the Secretary to provide for continued enrollment of displaced workers who attain 62 years of age. Title III: COBRA Protection for Early Retirees - Subtitle A: Amendments to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 to extend specified group health plan insurance continuation coverage under COBRA (Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985) to qualified retirees and their dependents, in cases of substantial reduction or termination of a retiree group health plan. Sets forth a special rule for certain dependents in case of termination or substantial reduction of retiree health coverage. Permits an increased level of premiums in the case of an individual provided continuation coverage by reason of the qualifying event. Subtitle B: Amendments to the Public Health Service Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to extend specified group health plan insurance continuation coverage under COBRA to qualified retirees and their dependents, in cases of substantial reduction or termination of a retiree group health plan. Sets forth a special rule for certain dependents in case of termination or substantial reduction of retiree health coverage. Permits an increased level of premiums in the case of an individual provided continuation coverage by reason of the qualifying event. Subtitle C: Amendments to the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend specified group health plan insurance continuation coverage under COBRA to qualified retirees and their dependents, in cases of substantial reduction or termination of a retiree group health plan. Sets forth a special rule for certain dependents in case of termination or substantial reduction of retiree health coverage. Permits an increased level of premiums in the case of an individual provided continuation coverage by reason of the qualifying event. Title IV: Financing - Requires any increase in payments under the Medicare program that results from the enactment of this Act to be offset by reductions in Medicare payments pursuant to the anti-fraud and -abuse provisions of the Medicare Fraud and Overpayment Act of 1998.
United States · United States Congress · 17 March 1998
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Healthy Kids Trust Fund Subtitle A: General Provisions Subtitle B: Payments Title II: FDA Jurisdiction Over Tobacco Products Title III: Youth Smoking Reduction Targets and Incentives to Reduce Youth Smoking Rates Title IV: Tobacco Transition Assistance for Producers, Communities, and Other Persons Title V: Standards to Reduce Involuntary Exposure to Tobacco Smoke Title VI: Public Health and Other Programs Subtitle A: Research Programs Subtitle B: Education and Prevention Programs Subtitle C: Miscellaneous Programs Title VII: Liability Protection; Consent Decrees; National Protocol Subtitle A: Liability Protection and Attorney Fees Subtitle B: Consent Decrees Subtitle C: National Tobacco Control Protocol Title VIII: Miscellaneous Provisions Title IX: Provisions Relating to Native Americans Title X: Tobacco Asbestos Trust Healthy Kids Act - Title I: Healthy Kids Trust Fund - Subtitle A: General Provisions - (Sec. 101) Establishes the Health Enhancement and Lowered Tobacco Hazards for Young Kids Trust Fund (HEALTHY Kids Trust Fund) (Fund). Appropriates to the Fund the initial payment under section 102 of this Act and 75 percent of annual assessments under section 102, fines or penalties under section 103, and amounts repaid or recovered under title III. Authorizes appropriations to the Fund as repayable advances. Makes specified percentages of Fund amounts available without further appropriation for carrying out provisions of this Act, for the Hospital Insurance Trust Fund, and for reducing the Federal debt subject to limit. Excludes amounts for the Hospital Insurance Trust Fund and the debt from consideration for the Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985, the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, and House Concurrent Resolution 67 of the 104th Congress. (Sec. 102) Requires each tobacco product manufacturer (including repackers, labelers, and relabelers) to make an initial payment to the Fund based on that manufacturer's stock market capitalization as compared to the average stock market capitalization of all manufacturers. Mandates subsequent annual payments by each manufacturer based on that manufacturer's gross domestic tobacco sales during the year. Provides for floor stock treatment. Makes the initial capitalization-based payment and any penalties under title III not tax deductible. Amends the Federal bankruptcy code regarding the priority of unsecured Federal claims for payments, assessments, or penalties to be paid into the Fund. Prohibits manufacturers from using any liability insurance to make payments into the Fund. Mandates regulations regarding placing a Healthy Kids Stamp on each tobacco product package for which an assessment has been paid. Exempts a manufacturer who has consent decrees with more than 25 States before 1998 from the initial payment and certain portions of annual payments. (Sec. 103) Establishes a tobacco manufacturer licensing program. Requires a manufacturer or importer to be licensed to manufacture, distribute, or import tobacco products and to be eligible for protections under subtitle A of title VII. Mandates, for assessment nonpayment, manufacturer and importer license ineligibility and license revocation or suspension. (Sec. 104) Imposes a minimum monetary penalty for noncompliance with section 102. Subtitle B: Payments - Chapter 1: To States - Requires that funds under section 101 be made available to: (1) reimburse each eligible State for State expenditures under title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act for the treatment of individuals with tobacco-related conditions or any other State expenses incurred in providing treatment for tobacco-related conditions; and (2) provide funds to local governments. Requires States, in order to receive the funds, to: (1) agree to resolve any State civil action against a tobacco manufacturer, distributor, or retailer; and (2) submit a plan regarding payments to local governments. Prohibits the Secretary from approving a State plan unless the Secretary makes an explicit written finding that local entities will receive an equitable portion. Chapter 2: Federal Health Programs - Establishes the National Institutes of Health Trust Fund for Health Research (Research Fund), transferring to it amounts made available under section 101. Sets forth the portions of Research Fund amounts to be used for specified purposes. Chapter 3: Investments for Children - Requires use of amounts under section 101: (1) working through the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990, to improve child care, early childhood development, school-aged care, parent education and supportive services, health services, and services for children with disabilities; and (2) for grants to State and local educational agencies to train, recruit, and hire elementary school teachers, thus reducing average class size for certain grades. Requires States to ensure that: (1) teachers are qualified; and (2) when qualifications are temporarily waived, unqualified teachers are not disproportionately employed in high poverty schools. (Sec. 133) Amends Medicaid provisions regarding presumptive eligibility for children to include in the definition of "qualified entity" elementary or secondary schools, child care resource and referral agencies, agencies and contractors under title IV, part A (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) (TANF) of the Social Security Act, Medicaid agencies, certain public housing agencies and contractors, and agencies authorized to determine child eligibility for health assistance under title XXI (Children's Health Insurance) of the Social Security Act. Modifies requirements regarding certain Medicaid expenditures that are counted against individual State allotments. Makes eligible for Medicaid children lawfully present in the United States who would, but for specified provisions of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (relating to a five-year means-tested public benefit waiting period), be eligible under other provisions. Allows a State to include such children in the term "targeted low-income child." Makes the above amendments of this section effective as if they had been included in the Balanced Budget Act of 1997. Authorizes an increase in the Federal medical assistance percentage to reward a State for certain increases in the number of Medicaid-enrolled children. (Sec. 134) Mandates a demonstration project providing for payment under title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act of routine patient care costs that are provided to an individual with cancer and enrolled in Medicare as part of the individual's participation in a clinical trial and that are not otherwise eligible for Medicare payment. Requires use of amounts available under section 101 to carry out this section. Title II: FDA Jurisdiction Over Tobacco Products - Deems specified regulations to have been promulgated under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA) as amended by this title. (Sec. 203) Amends the FDCA to include nicotine in tobacco products in the definition of "drug" and tobacco product delivery components in the definition of "device." Authorizes regulation of any tobacco product as a drug, device, or both. Deems tobacco misbranded if it: (1) states or implies that it presents a reduced health risk unless the product will achieve the best public health result; or (2) violates the FDCA or its regulations. Makes noncompliance with specified provisions added to the FDCA by this Act a prohibited act under the FDCA. Makes provisions preempting State and local requirements inapplicable to tobacco product devices. (Sec. 204) Exempts tobacco products from device Class II special controls if the Secretary of Health and Human Services finds that special controls will achieve the best public health result. Declares that, for the purposes of listed provisions, the safety and effectiveness of a tobacco product device need not be found if the action to be taken under any such provision would achieve the best public health result. Authorizes a tobacco product recall if the best public health result would be achieved. (Sec. 205) Establishes the Scientific Advisory Committee to assist the Secretary, examine the effects of tobacco product nicotine yield level alteration, examine whether there is a nicotine threshold below which dependence is not produced, and review other safety, dependence, or health issues regarding tobacco products. Authorizes the Secretary to adopt a tobacco product performance standard regardless of whether the product has been classified under device classification provisions. Allows the standard to include: (1) reduction or elimination of nicotine; or (2) reduction or elimination of other constituents. Authorizes the Secretary to require that a manufacturer test, report, and disclose tobacco and tobacco smoke constituents, including in labeling and advertising. Requires manufacturers to annually submit: (1) an ingredient list for each brand it manufactures; and (2) a safety assessment for each new ingredient it desires to make a part of the product, with current ingredients receiving a safety assessment within five years after enactment of this Act. Requires that the safety assessment demonstrate that the ingredient will not present any risk to consumers or the public in the intended quantities. Mandates regulations to prohibit any ingredient if: (1) no safety assessment has been submitted as required; or (2) the Secretary finds that safety has not been demonstrated. Requires tobacco product packages to disclose: (1) all ingredients; and (2) the percentages of domestic and foreign tobacco. Authorizes the Secretary to require disclosure of an ingredient that relates to a trade secret if the Secretary determines that the disclosure will promote the public health. Mandates specified warnings and related symbols on cigarette and smokeless tobacco packages and advertising. Preempts related State or local requirements. Declares that nothing in this paragraph relieves any person from liability to any other person at common law or under State statutory law. Makes it unlawful to advertise tobacco products on electronic communications subject to Federal Communications Commission jurisdiction. Directs the Secretary to restrict the access of minors to tobacco products. Requires States, in order to receive amounts under section 111 of this Act, to have a program meeting or exceeding the requirements of the model State program under which a retailer would be required to obtain a State or local license to distribute tobacco products. Includes in minimum model program requirements: (1) licensing fees to defray program administration; (2) prohibiting retail distribution without a license; (3) prohibiting distribution to minors; (4) monetary penalties for violations; and (5) suspension and revocation for repeated distribution to minors or violation of State or local law. Provides for specified penalties for distribution to minors, including penalties imposed on employees of retailers, minors (including loss of driving privileges), and retailers. Authorizes enforcement grants to States. Authorizes the Secretary to enforce the prohibition of distribution to minors. Declares that the provisions of this paragraph do not preempt State or local laws providing greater restrictions than these provisions. Mandates a Federal tobacco licensing program regarding military installations, U.S. embassies, Federally-owned facilities, duty-free shops, and any other Federal entity or Federal property. Treats an Indian tribe or tribal organization as a State for applying and enforcing the provisions of this paragraph regarding Indian reservations. Requires each manufacturer to submit to the Secretary each document in the manufacturer's possession: (1) relating to tobacco-caused health effects in humans or animals (including addiction), control of nicotine, tobacco sale or marketing, or research involving safer tobacco products; or (2) produced, or ordered to be produced, in any health-related civil or criminal proceeding, including attorney-client and other documents produced, or ordered to be produced, for in camera inspection. Directs the Secretary to make the documents available to the public. Exempts from public disclosure trade secrets and attorney-client privilege materials unless the Secretary determines disclosure is necessary to promote the public health. Authorizes any individual to begin a civil action: (1) against any person allegedly in violation of these provisions; or (2) against the Secretary or the Commissioner of Food and Drugs for alleged failure to perform as required. Prohibits regulations having the effect of placing burdens on tobacco producers in excess of the burdens generally placed on other agricultural commodity producers. Declares that any authority granted to the Secretary for regulation of any tobacco product as a drug or device is not intended to include the authority to make regulations applicable to persons who grow or cure raw tobacco. Repeals the Federal Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act and the Comprehensive Smokeless Tobacco Health Education Act of 1986. Title III: Youth Smoking Reduction Targets and Incentives to Reduce Youth Smoking Rates - Mandates an annual survey of the percentage of individuals under 18 (and the percentage of each ethnic group of such individuals) who identify each manufacturer's tobacco product as the usual product used. (Sec. 303) Requires annual determinations of whether the required percentage reduction in underage tobacco use has been achieved. Specifies the required reductions in cigarette and smokeless tobacco products. (Sec. 304) Mandates individual manufacturer monetary penalties if targets are not met for a year. Multiplies the penalties for consecutive failure years. Requires regulations to prohibit the sale of single packs of a manufacturer's tobacco products in cases of repeated noncompliance with required reductions and to require generic packaging in severe repeated noncompliance. Authorizes regulations requiring reductions in the use of other tobacco products by individuals under 18, including manufacturer monetary penalties for reduction failures. Title IV: Tobacco Transition Assistance for Producers, Communities, and Other Persons - Requires each cigarette manufacturer to purchase a minimum quantity of Flue-cured tobacco and Burley tobacco grown in the United States as determined under specified provisions. Authorizes, for a failure to make the minimum purchases, a monetary penalty and a prohibition of further sales until the penalty is paid. Requires penalty deposit in the No Net Cost Tobacco Fund of, or the No Net Cost Tobacco Account for, the producer-owned cooperative marketing associations handling the domestic tobacco that is the subject of the shortage producing the collection. (Sec. 402) Establishes the Tobacco Transition Trust Fund and transfers to it amounts available under section 101. Authorizes appropriations to the Fund as repayable advances as necessary for Fund expenditures. Makes the Fund available for: (1) transition payments to tobacco quota holders and quota lessees to compensate for lost crop value resulting from reduced demand for tobacco; (2) economic development assistance to producing communities; (3) producer, factory worker, and warehousemen retraining; (4) producer scholarships; (5) tobacco crop insurance; and (6) administrative costs of the Secretary of Agriculture associated with a tobacco price support program. Makes those amounts available only if a law is enacted by January 1, 2000, specifically prescribing Fund authorized uses, but allows administration of a price support program if all administrative costs are paid from the Fund. Declares that this title constitutes budget authority in advance of appropriations Acts. Terminates the authority of this title unless such a prescribing law is enacted. Title V: Standards to Reduce Involuntary Exposure to Tobacco Smoke - Amends the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 to require the responsible entity for each non-residential public building (regularly entered by at least ten individuals at least one day per week (except certain types of facilities)) to implement a smoke-free environment policy. Allows designated smoking areas meeting specified requirements. Sets forth special rules for: (1) schools and other facilities serving children; and (2) public transportation. Requires States, in order to receive funds under this Act, to demonstrate enforcement. Title VI: Public Health and Other Programs - Subtitle A: Research Programs - Mandates programs (through grants, contracts, or otherwise) to: (1) promote expanded research concerning specified aspects of tobacco and health; and (2) for the conduct of research on the cultural, social, behavioral, neurological, and psychological reasons that individuals refrain from, begin, continue, or quit using tobacco products. (Sec. 603) Mandates surveillance and evaluation to monitor patterns of tobacco use and determine the effectiveness of various anti-tobacco programs funded under this Act. Requires that funding be made available for the activities under this subtitle. Subtitle B: Education and Prevention Programs - Mandates a program of grants to States for: (1) school-, college-, or university-based education programs concerning tobacco product use dangers; and (2) community-based prevention programs. Requires that funding be made available. Subtitle C: Miscellaneous Programs - Requires a program to reduce tobacco use through national and local media-based (such as counter-advertising campaigns) and nonmedia-based education, prevention, and cessation campaigns. Requires that funding be made available. (Sec. 622) Establishes the National Tobacco Cessation Program. Authorizes grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements. Requires making funding available. (Sec. 623) Establishes a program to provide assistance and compensation to individuals (and entities providing services to individuals) suffering from tobacco-related conditions, targeting uninsured or underinsured individuals who can demonstrate financial hardship. Requires making funding available. (Sec. 624) Authorizes multilateral assistance to foreign countries to assist in reducing and preventing the use of tobacco in foreign countries, focusing on preventing use by minors. Requires making funding available. Establishes in the District of Columbia a private, nonprofit corporation to be known as the American Center on Global Health and Tobacco (ACT). Requires that an International Advisory Council advise ACT. Mandates the annual transfer of a specified amount to carry out this paragraph. Makes ACT and its grantees subject to the oversight and supervision of the Congress. (Sec. 625) Mandates the National Event Sponsorship Program, authorizing grants for the sponsorship of athletic or other social or cultural events that, before enactment of this Act, was provided by a tobacco manufacturer or distributor. Requires making funding available. Terminates the Program ten years after enactment of this Act. (Sec. 626) Requires a program of grants to States to augment existing programs to reduce alcohol and illicit drug use by individuals under 18. Requires making funding available. Title VII: Liability Protection; Consent Decrees; National Protocol - Subtitle A: Liability Protection and Attorney Fees - Requires that, in order to receive funds under section 111, a State resolve any existing, and agree not to start any new, civil claim seeking recovery for expenditures attributable to tobacco-related conditions commenced by the State against a manufacturer, distributor, or retailer and pending at enactment of this Act. Bars the Federal Government from starting any such claim. Prohibits construing these provisions to limit: (1) an individual's right to start a civil claim for past, present, or future conduct by tobacco product manufacturers, distributors, or retailers; or (2) criminal prosecution of tobacco manufacturers, distributors, or retailers. (Sec. 702) Establishes an Arbitration Panel to award attorney's fees and expenses relating to litigation affected by, or legal services resulting in, this Act. Prohibits any Panel award from affecting fee payments required under any provision of this Act. Declares that it is the sense of the House of Representatives that: (1) the legal services in the class actions filed by the Castano Plaintiffs Legal Committee provided public benefits on which the programs in title IV of this Act are modeled; and (2) such programs do not constitute an exclusive remedy for claims based on addiction or dependence on tobacco products. Subtitle B: Consent Decrees - Requires that, in order to receive funds under section 111 a State, and in order to receive liability protections under subtitle A a tobacco manufacturer, enter into consent decrees under this subtitle. Allows a State to qualify with good faith but unsuccessful efforts. Requires that the decrees resolve State actions for claims associated with manufacturer conduct before this Act. Sets forth required terms, conditions, and limitations. Makes the decrees enforceable by the signatories and the Attorney General. Requires, prior to decree entry by a court, that the decrees be: (1) approved by the Secretary and the Attorney General; (2) fair and reasonable; and (3) in the public interest. Subtitle C: National Tobacco Control Protocol - Chapter 1: Establishment - Requires that a tobacco manufacturer, in order to receive liability protections under subtitle A, enter into a National Tobacco Control Protocol with the U.S. Attorney General and the attorney general of each State that does not opt out. Requires that the Protocol be a binding contract embodying the terms of this subtitle and designed to be enforceable in Federal or State courts. Chapter 2: Terms and Conditions - Declares that this chapter is a part of the Protocol. (Sec. 726) Prohibits tobacco advertising: (1) outdoors; (2) except as allowed in this Act, in any arena or stadium where athletic or other social or cultural activities occur; (3) using a human image or cartoon character; (4) on the Internet, unless inaccessible in or from the United States; and (5) subject to exception, at the point of sale. (Sec. 727) Prohibits a manufacturer from using a trade or brand name of a non-tobacco product for a cigarette or smokeless tobacco product, unless in use before 1998. Sets forth situations in which tobacco brand names or other identification indicia may, with prior notice to the Secretary, be used in advertising and labeling. Prohibits payment for the placement of tobacco products in television programs, motion pictures, or videos or on video game machines. Prohibits direct or indirect payment or consideration for promoting tobacco product image or use through print, film, or broadcast media that appeals to individuals under 18 or through a live performance artist that appeals to such individuals. (Sec. 728) Allows, subject to exceptions, tobacco product labeling and advertising to use only black text on a white background. Limits audio (alone or with video) to words only, prohibiting music and sound effects. (Sec. 729) Prohibits: (1) the use of a tobacco product brand name, logo, symbol, motto, selling message, recognizable color or pattern of colors, or any other indicia of product identification on any service or nontobacco item; (2) offering tobacco purchasers any non-tobacco item in consideration of purchase; and (3) manufacturers, distributors, and retailers from sponsoring any athletic or other social or cultural event in which any indicia of product identification is used (but allows sponsorship under the corporate name, if in use before 1995 and if the corporate name does not include any indicia of product identification). Chapter 3: Enforcement - Allows the Attorney General to bring an action for enforcement, or restrain a breach, of the Protocol. Allows restraining orders, orders of specific performance, civil monetary penalties, and (for officers of manufacturers who knowingly violate the Protocol) criminal penalties, including incarceration. Authorizes grants and contracts for State enforcement. Authorizes use of amounts from the HEALTHY Kids Trust Fund and Department of Justice funds for Attorney General enforcement. (Sec. 732) Authorizes the attorney general of a State to bring an action for enforcement, or to restrain a breach, of the Protocol if the alleged violation occurred in that State. Provides for concurrent Federal and State court jurisdiction in such actions. Allows the remedies specified in section 731. (Sec. 733) Authorizes a manufacturer to file an action seeking a declaration of its Protocol rights and obligations. Authorizes any person to bring an action to enforce the Protocol, with any damages remitted to the Treasury. Entitles any manufacturer to intervene as a matter of right in any Federal or State Attorney General enforcement action. Title VIII: Miscellaneous Provisions - Prohibits the use of funds made available by appropriations or otherwise for specified actions, including: (1) promoting the export, reexport, sale, manufacture, advertising, or use of tobacco products to or in a foreign country; or (2) subject to exception, seeking the removal or reduction of any foreign restriction on the importation, export, sale, manufacture, advertising, use, imposition of tariffs, or taxation of tobacco products. (Sec. 802) Prohibits reprisals against a whistleblower employee of any tobacco product manufacturer, distributor, or retailer for disclosing to specified Federal agencies or State or local authorities information regarding a violation of law related to this Act or related State or local laws. Allows the whistleblower to receive a portion of a payment to the Government resulting from the whistleblower's disclosure. (Sec. 803) Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA) to make it unlawful for any domestic concern, directly or through a foreign subsidiary or affiliate, to use the mails or interstate commerce to contribute to: (1) the foreign sale or distribution of tobacco products to children or the foreign advertising of tobacco products in a way that appeals to children; and (2) the tobacco product export from any country without a package warning label in the primary language or languages of the country of sale or distribution that complies with domestic labeling requirements. Adds the unlawful acts of this section to the FDCA list of prohibited acts and entitles a person who provides information leading to a related criminal conviction to a portion of the criminal fine collected. (Sec. 804) Allows State or local measures to further this Act's purposes not less stringent than the requirements of this Act. Title IX: Miscellaneous Provisions - Declares that the provisions of this Act shall apply to the manufacture, distribution, and sale of tobacco products in any area in tribal or tribal organization jurisdiction, with exceptions for religious practices. Mandates regulations applying the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act requirements regarding tobacco products to such areas. Provides for the treatment of tribes and tribal organizations under various provisions of this Act. Prohibits manufacturers from engaging in any activity in such areas that is prohibited under the Protocol. Requires that amounts made available under certain portions of section 101 be provided to the Indian Health Service for anti-tobacco-related consumption and cessation activities. Allows tribes and tribal organizations to: (1) take measures to further this Act's purposes in addition to the requirements of this Act; and (2) have rules or practices providing greater protection from the health hazards of environmental tobacco smoke. Prohibits a State from imposing requirements regarding the application of this Act to Indian tribes and tribal organizations. Title X: Tobacco Asbestos Trust - Establishes the Tobacco Asbestos Trust Fund consisting of amounts appropriated or credited to it under section 102. (Sec. 1002) Transfers to the Fund, without further appropriation, amounts from manufacturer assessments under this section. Authorizes appropriations to the Fund as repayable advances. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to assess each tobacco manufacturer an amount sufficient to provide the Fund with specified amounts in certain years. (Sec. 1003) Divides the Fund into Fund I and Fund II. Requires that each Fund be established as Qualified Settlement Funds (as permitted by the Internal Revenue Code). Declares that Fund I represents some portion of the amount of smoking-caused harm paid by asbestos trusts and defendants in the past. Requires that Fund I payments be used to provide credits to asbestos trusts and asbestos defendants who settled and paid asbestos claims of persons who had exposure to tobacco, for the sole purpose of making payment to asbestos claimants by Fund I trustees. Declares that the purpose of Fund II is to pay asbestos tobacco claims brought after enactment of this Act for the tobacco-caused portion of the claimant's harm. (Sec. 1004) Declares that no tobacco company shall be liable: (1) in any civil suit for harm caused by exposure to tobacco or exposure to asbestos to any person who receives compensation from Fund II; or (2) to any asbestos trust or defendant who receives credits from Fund I on any claim arising from payments or obligations to asbestos claimants made or incurred before enactment of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 17 March 1998
Requires approval by the House of Representatives before amounts may be paid from the reserve fund established for unanticipated expenses of House committees.
United States · United States Congress · 17 March 1998
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the Secretary of Commerce should ensure that: (1) the 2000 decennial census of population include the administration of a long-form questionnaire; (2) the content of such questionnaire include, at a minimum, specified subjects sent to the Congress by the Census Bureau on March 31, 1997; and (3) a sufficient number of households receive such questionnaire to ensure the availability of reliable data for small geographic areas.
United States · United States Congress · 16 March 1998
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to establish, for the use of clean-fuel vehicles by enterprise zone businesses, an empowerment zone clean fuels credit equal to the sum of the: (1) empowerment zone clean-fuel property credit; and (2) empowerment zone clean-burning fuel use credit.
United States · United States Congress · 12 March 1998
Disabled Children's Fairness Act of 1998 - Amends title XVI (Supplemental Security Income) (SSI) of the Social Security Act with respect to disability eligibility redeterminations for SSI recipients who attain age 18. Repeals the requirement for application of the criteria used in determining the initial eligibility for individuals who are age 18 or older. Requires the application of medical improvement and other current law standards previously not applied in SSI disability eligibility redeterminations for 18-year-olds. Provides for expanded use of dedicated savings account funds for food, clothing, shelter, utility, and personal items for disabled children. Directs the Commissioner of Social Security to provide reasonable notice and, upon request, opportunity for a hearing and review to an eligible individual or representative payee who disagrees with any expense disallowance with regard to such an account. Makes this Act applicable to expenditures made before, on, or after the enactment of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 5 March 1998
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Child Care and Development Services Title II: Strengthening the 21st Century Community Learning Centers Act Title III: Crime Prevention Program America After School Act - Title I: Child Care and Development Services - Amends the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 to authorize appropriations for FY 1999 through 2003 for new and expanded programs for child care and development services, including direct services provided outside of normal school hours, to promote the health and academic achievement of school age children, and assist the children in avoiding high risk behaviors. (Sec. 103) Requires each State that receives a block grant under such Act to make grants to elementary or secondary schools or community-based organizations to expand the availability and affordability of quality child care and development services, especially direct services provided outside of normal school hours (including before- and after-school care and weekend, holiday, and summer care) for school age children. Requires grant preference to entities that: (1) serve communities with a high rate of poverty and a high incidence of at-risk children; and (2) propose programs that make certain transportation services available to the children served. Requires the use of grant funds for direct services outside of normal school hours, related quality services, and indirect services. Title II: Strengthening the 21st Century Community Learning Centers Act - Amends the 21st Century Community Learning Centers Act to require that discretionary grants be awarded to local educational agencies (LEAs) for supporting certain programs of public elementary schools or secondary schools, including middle schools, that serve communities with substantial needs for expanded learning opportunities for children and youth. (Sec. 201) Increases the maximum duration of such a grant from three to five years. (Sec. 202) Requires the LEA to demonstrate that it will provide specified portions of the annual costs of project-assisted activities from sources other than such grant funds. (Sec. 203) Requires the use of grant funds to establish or expand community learning centers that provide activities that offer expanded learning opportunities for children and youth in the community (such as activities conducted before or after school), and which may include any of the currently authorized activities. (Sec. 204) Authorizes continuation awards of FY 1998 grants. (Sec. 205) Extends through FY 2003 the authorization of appropriations for such Act. Title III: Crime Prevention Program - Amends the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 to establish the After School Crime Prevention program. Directs the Administrator of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention to make grants to public and private agencies to fund effective after school juvenile crime prevention programs. Requires grantees to make available non-Federal matching funds in percentages determined by the Administrator. Requires grant priority to programs that: (1) are targeted to high crime neighborhoods or at-risk juveniles; (2) operate during the period immediately following normal school hours; (3) provide educational or recreational activities designed to encourage law-abiding conduct, reduce the incidence of criminal activity, and teach juveniles alternatives to crime; and (4) coordinate with State or local juvenile crime control and juvenile offender accountability programs. (Sec. 301) Authorizes appropriations for FY 1999 through 2003 for such grants.
United States · United States Congress · 5 March 1998
Patient Safety and Health Care Whistleblower Protection Act of 1998 - Prohibits retaliation or discrimination against a health care worker because the worker disclosed information, advocated for patients, or initiated, cooperated with, or participated in any governmental investigation or proceeding regarding the care, services, or conditions of a health care entity if: (1) the information is true; and (2) the information disclosed evidences a violation of a law, rule, or professional standard or relates to matters endangering patients, workers, or the public. Prohibits contracts, policies, and procedures restricting the actions for which retaliation or discrimination is prohibited. Declares that these provisions do not protect disclosures violating confidentiality law. Prohibits disclosing the identity of the worker, subject to exception. Provides for enforcement through private civil actions and, for certain willful and repeated violations, criminal penalties. Declares that this Act does not preempt other laws and allows States to enforce laws providing equivalent or greater worker protections.
United States · United States Congress · 4 March 1998
Comprehensive One-Call Notification Act of 1998 - Provides for the establishment of a State one-call notification program to protect underground facilities from excavation damage. Outlines required elements of the program, including minimum standards and provisions for implementation and enforcement. Authorizes a State to maintain an alternate one-call notification program if it provides protection for public safety, the environment, or excavators that is equivalent to, or greater than, protection under a program that meets the minimum standards of this Act. Directs the Secretary of Transportation to study damage prevention practices associated with existing one-call notification systems in order to determine which systems practices appear to be the most effective in preventing damage to underground facilities and in protecting the public, the environment, excavators, and public service disruption. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to assist qualifying States in improving their one-call notification programs. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 4 March 1998
Public School Modernization Act of 1998 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to revise current incentives for education zones into incentives for qualified public school modernization bonds, including (currently existing) qualified zone academy bonds and (newly established) qualified school construction bonds. Allows a limited tax credit, computed according to a specified formula, to taxpayers holding such public school modernization bonds. Raises the national zone academy bond limitation from $400 million to $1.4 billion for calendar 1999 (and 2000), and eliminates the limitation after 2000. Prescribes requirements for national qualified school construction bonds, with a national limitation of $9.7 billion each for calendar 1999 and 2000 and no limit after 2000.
United States · United States Congress · 4 March 1998
Calls upon the Government of Japan to: (1) live up to the standards it has set for open competitive markets; and (2) fully implement the representations that it made to a dispute settlement panel of the World Trade Organization regarding deregulation, transparency, nondiscrimination, open distribution systems, and vigorous enforcement of competition laws with respect to consumer photographic film and paper as well as other sectors, such as autos and auto parts, glass, and telecommunications, that face similar market access barriers there. Urges the President, the United States Trade Representative, and other appropriate officers of the executive branch to exercise fully existing authority to achieve these objectives. Requests the President to report periodically to the Congress on progress in eliminating market restrictions in Japan for consumer photographic film and paper.
United States · United States Congress · 3 March 1998
Calls for the Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee to recommend and the Postmaster General to issue a postage stamp to honor: (1) the 150th anniversary of the emigration of more than one million people from Ireland to the United States to escape the Irish Potato Famine; and (2) the contributions of these immigrants and their descendants to the history, society, culture, and security of the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 26 February 1998
Persian Gulf Veterans Act of 1998 - Presumes to be service-connected (and therefore compensable or treatable under Federal veterans' benefits provisions) a disease or disability occurring in a Persian Gulf War veteran that: (1) the Secretary of Veterans Affairs determines to have a positive association with exposure to a biological, chemical, or other toxic agent or environmental or wartime hazard (agent or hazard) associated with service in the southwest Asia theater of operations during the Persian Gulf War; and (2) becomes manifest in a Gulf War veteran within a period to be prescribed by the Secretary. Requires such presumption even though there is no record of evidence of such disease or disability in the veteran during the period of service. Provides the same presumption for diseases and disabilities determined to be positively associated with such service by reason of having a prevalence among Persian Gulf veterans greater than such prevalence among matched peers who are veterans or active duty servicemembers of the same era who were neither deployed nor vaccinated for deployment (and which becomes manifest within the prescribed period). Requires the Secretary to make the above determinations based on sound medical and scientific evidence and within 60 days after receipt of reports submitted by the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) as required under this Act. (Sec. 3) Directs the Secretary to enter into an agreement under which NAS shall: (1) identify the agents or hazards to which Gulf War veterans may have been exposed; (2) identify the diseases that are manifest in such members; and (3) determine whether a disease occurs in a Persian Gulf veteran with a greater prevalence than in matched peers who were neither deployed nor vaccinated for deployment. Directs NAS to determine whether a statistical association exists between exposure to such agent or hazard and the disease, separately review potential treatment models and evolving technologies to identify such diseases, make recommendations for additional studies, perform subsequent reviews of available evidence and data, and report to the Secretary, the Secretary of Defense, and the veterans and defense committees (designated committees) concerning NAS activities under this Act. Terminates requirements and activities under this Act ten years after NAS submits its first report. Requires the Secretary to enter into an agreement with an alternative scientific organization if agreement cannot be reached with NAS. (Sec. 4) Directs the Secretary to develop and implement a plan for the establishment and operation of a single computerized information database for the collection, storage, and analysis of information on diseases of, and treatment provided to, Gulf War veterans. Requires such plan to be submitted to the Secretary of Defense, NAS, and the designated committees. Directs NAS to evaluate and report on such plan. Requires the Secretary to: (1) continually compile and analyze all appropriate clinical data contained in the database; and (2) report annually, along with the Secretary of Defense, to the designated committees with respect to such data analysis. (Sec. 5) Directs the Secretary to carry out a research program of the evolving technologies available to measure the exposure to certain agents or hazards associated with Gulf War service, as well as the diagnosis of diseases resulting from such exposure. Directs the Secretary and the Secretaries of Defense and Health and Human Services to jointly report to the designated committees on research results. (Sec. 6) Directs the Secretary and the Secretary of Defense to carry out an ongoing program to provide Gulf War veterans with information relating to: (1) any health risks determined to be associated with Persian Gulf service; and (2) any services or benefits available with respect to such health risks.
United States · United States Congress · 26 February 1998
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: International Monetary Fund Title II: New Arrangements to Borrow Title III: Policy Provisions Title IV: Reports to Congress International Monetary Fund Reform and Authorization Act of 1998 - Title I: International Monetary Fund - Amends the Bretton Woods Agreement Act to authorize the U.S. Governor of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to consent, subject to appropriations, to a specified increase in the U.S. IMF quota of Special Drawing Rights. Title II: New Arrangements to Borrow - Sets forth conforming amendments for Federal participation in new arrangements to borrow. Title III: Policy Provisions - Amends the International Financial Institutions Act to direct the Secretary of the Treasury to instruct the U.S. Executive Director of the IMF to advocate specified policies whose goal, among other things, is to: (1) make the IMF a more effective mechanism for implementation of specified international banking and trade principles; (2) assist the IMF to avoid becoming a lender of last resort for private investors and commercial banks; (3) structure IMF programs and assistance so that recipient governments commit to specified internationally recognized worker rights; (4) structure IMF programs and assistance so as not to exacerbate or precipitate ethnic strife within a recipient country; (5) work with the IMF to adopt appropriate environmental policies supporting macroeconomic stability; and (6) facilitate IMF transparency and accountability. Directs the Secretary to coordinate with other Executive Departments in order to achieve realization of such policies. Conditions Federal funding for the IMF upon establishment of an IMF Advisory Committee within the Department of the Treasury to review individual IMF country programs and advise the Secretary on the extent to which such programs address the policies advocated under this Act. Mandates that each Committee meeting be chaired by the Secretary or the Secretary's designee. Title IV: Reports to Congress - Instructs the Secretary to report semi-annually to the Congress on the status of IMF programs linked to official Federal financing, addressing specified questions.
United States · United States Congress · 26 February 1998
Investment in Children Act of 1998 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) to increase the credit for dependent care services necessary for gainful employment. Provides for an "increased dependent care credit equivalent amount" (as defined) if the taxpayer has a child under the age of four, but only if the taxpayer elects not to use the credit for dependent care services necessary for gainful employment. (Sec. 3) Allows for an employer-provided child care credit of up to 25 percent of qualified child care expenditures (not to exceed $150,000), which can include the costs of acquiring or expanding property to be used as a qualified day care facility. (Sec. 4) Amends part A ( Block Grants to States for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) of title IV of the Social Security Act to provide for grants to States: (1) to improve the quality and safety of child care; (2) for the provision of child care assistance for low-income working families; and (3) for the provision of child care services before and after regular school hours. (Sec. 5) Authorizes appropriations through FY 2003 for part I (21st Century Community Learning Centers Act) of title X of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. Sets forth provisions concerning the distribution of assistance under part I. (Sec. 6) Revises IRC provisions concerning the aggregate amount of nonrefundable personal credits allowed to provide that the aggregate amount of such credits allowed shall not exceed the sum of: (1) the taxpayer's regular tax liability; plus (2) the alternative minimum tax.
United States · United States Congress · 26 February 1998
Women's Higher Education Opportunity Act of 1998 - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) with respect to the access of women to higher education opportunities. (Sec. 2) Provides that the following shall remain in effect during FY 1999 through 2004: (1) part-time student eligibility for Pell grants; and (2) the exclusion of HEA student aid from eligibility determinations for other programs. (Sec. 3) Increases the dependent care allowance for Pell Grant recipients. (Sec. 4) Child Care Access Means Parents in School Act - Authorizes the Secretary of Education to award grants to assist institutions of higher education in providing campus-based child care services to low-income students. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 5) Requires: (1) each institution of higher education to provide the Secretary with information regarding men's and women's athletic programs; and (2) the Secretary to prepare a report based on such information, which shall be made available on the Internet. Requires the Secretary to establish a toll-free telephone service to provide the public with information regarding such reports and respond to inquiries about title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 and athletic opportunities for girls and women. (Sec. 6) Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to institutions of higher education to combat violent crimes against women on campuses. Requires the Secretary to provide for a national baseline study and report on university campus procedures in cases of reports of sexual assault. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 7) Revises and renames HEA title IX as the National Graduate Fellowship Program (currently, Graduate Programs). Authorizes the Secretary to carry out such national graduate fellowship program either directly or by contract with a nongovernmental organization which demonstrates the capacity to administer such programs. Sets forth fellowship conditions for recipients and for institutional applications. Requires award of fellowships: (1) in areas of national need; (2) in the humanities, social sciences, and arts; and (3) for scholars from underrepresented groups. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 8) Revises campus security policy reporting and crime statistics disclosure requirements. Includes other campus officials (as well as campus security or law enforcement, or local law enforcement) among those officials that must report, for statistical disclosure purposes, if specified types of criminal offenses are reported to them. Specifies additions to the list of such offenses. Makes annual submission of campus crime statistics mandatory for all institutions participating in any student aid program under HEA title IV (participating institutions). (Currently such submissions are only required upon the request of the Secretary.) Directs the Secretary to report each set of such statistics, clearly identifying each institution and campus, not only to specified congressional committees but also to each participating institution and to the public via printed and electronic means. Requires each official charged with compiling such statistics to certify their accuracy and to disseminate certain statistics and information without identifying the victims or the accused. Requires any participating institution which maintains a police or security department to make a monthly report of specified crime information for public inspection. (Sec. 9) Amends the General Education Provisions Act to exclude allegations of criminal activities from the education records subject to family access. (Sec.10) Requires, under HEA student aid program agreements, that the campus security policies and crime statistics disclosed be comprehensive and accurate. (Sec. 11) Directs the Attorney General and the Secretary to report annually to specified congressional committees on model programs for improving campus safety and complying with specified HEA requirements, including an identification of programs at institutions of varying sizes and purposes. Requires the provision of such report to each participating institution and the public through Internet, print, and other means.
United States · United States Congress · 26 February 1998
Designates minority membership on the House Committee on Small Business.
United States · United States Congress · 26 February 1998
Calls for the Citizens Stamp Advisory Committee to recommend and the Postal Service to issue a commemorative postage stamp honoring the U.S. Submarine Force on its 100th anniversary.
United States · United States Congress · 25 February 1998
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Remedy Title II: Community Participation and Human Health Subtitle A: Community Participation Subtitle B: Human Health Subtitle C: General Provisions Title III: Right to Know Title IV: Environmental Justice Title V: Children's Environmental Health Title VI: Brownfield Remediation and Environmental Cleanup Subtitle A: Brownfields Subtitle B: Innocent Landowners and Prospective Purchaser Liability Subtitle C: Department of Housing and Urban Development Brownfield Grants Title VII: Natural Resource Damages Title VIII: Federal Facilities Title IX: Liability Title X: Funding Title XI: Miscellaneous Children's Protection and Community Cleanup Act of 1998 - Title I: Remedy - Amends the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA) to revise general rules for the selection of remedial cleanup actions. Removes a provision requiring the President to specifically address the long-term effectiveness of various alternative treatment or resource recovery technologies. Requires remedial actions to: (1) make contaminated property available for beneficial use to the maximum extent practicable; and (2) protect uncontaminated groundwater and surface water, wherever technically feasible, and restore such water to beneficial uses in a reasonable time period given the circumstances of the release of the hazardous substance concerned. Lists minimum factors to be taken into account by the President in assessing alternative remedial actions and selecting remedial actions. Requires selected remedial actions, unless the President determines that a risk-based standard for a contaminant is based on data and assumptions adequate to assure protection of children's health, to reduce contamination to background levels (where more stringent) with respect to such contaminant, to the maximum extent technically feasible. Prohibits the selection of an action that allows hazardous substances to remain on site above levels that would be protective for unrestricted use unless institutional controls are incorporated into the action to achieve protection of human health and the environment during and after completion of the action. Requires remedial actions for hazardous substances that remain on site to comply with any more stringent and legally applicable tribal standard. Directs the President to ensure that a remedial action attains standards of control protective of human health in the environment in cases where: (1) no Federal, State, or tribal standard has been established for the specific hazardous substance present at the facility where the action is being undertaken; or (2) there are multiple hazardous substances present and the remedial action is not protective even though applicable requirements would be attained. Removes a provision which requires the President to conform a remedial action to a State standard in cases where a State has initiated a law suit against the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) prior to May 1, 1986. Eliminates a provision which allows the President to select a remedial action that does not attain a standard equivalent to a legally applicable standard if compliance with requirements is technically impracticable from an engineering perspective. Sets forth minimum requirements for remedies for contaminated groundwater or surface water in cases where a legally applicable standard for a hazardous substance is waived. Authorizes the President to use institutional controls as a supplement to, but not as a substitute for, other response measures under CERCLA. Lists requirements for actions that rely on institutional controls. Provides for funds to be established for facilities for which the selected remedy is containment or at which hazardous substances remain on site above levels that would allow for unrestricted use of the facility. Requires such funds to be sufficient to guarantee successful performance of a remedy and, to the extent technically feasible, future beneficial reuse. Directs the EPA Administrator (Administrator) to report annually to the Congress, for each record of decision signed during the previous fiscal year, on the type of institutional controls and media affected and the institution designated to monitor, enforce, and ensure compliance with such controls. Makes procedural requirements of State laws inapplicable to the portion of any removal or remedial action conducted entirely on site, except for recordkeeping and reporting. (Sec. 102) Sets forth criteria for institutional control instruments. Requires the President, if such an instrument is adopted, to record a notice of property use restriction in the public land records for the jurisdiction in which the affected property is located. Makes such instruments enforceable in perpetuity (unless terminated and released) against holders of interest in an affected property and all persons who subsequently acquire such interest. Directs the President to maintain a registry of all property at which institutional controls have been established in connection with response actions. Describes types of institutional control instruments, including easements. Authorizes the President, in order to respond to a release or threatened release of a hazardous substance, to acquire an easement to limit or control the use of land or other natural resources. Permits easements to be used whenever institutional controls have been selected as a component of a response action. Sets forth provisions regarding the President's authority to assign easements to other parties, issue orders imposing restrictions on land or natural resources, and include State institutional controls in response actions. (Sec. 103) Requires the President to ensure that a removal action is not undertaken in lieu of a long-term remedial action. Title II: Community Participation and Human Health - Subtitle A: Community Participation - Revises provisions regarding grants for technical assistance to make such grants available to Community Advisory Groups or affected communities (defined as two or more individuals affected by the release or threatened release of a hazardous substance at a covered facility. Defines a "covered facility" as a facility: (1) that has been listed or proposed for listing on the National Priorities List (NPL); (2) at which the Administrator is undertaking an action anticipated to exceed one year or a specified funding limit; or (3) with respect to which the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) Administrator has accepted a petition requesting a health assessment or related health activity. Expands the list of authorized grant activities and increases the maximum amount of such grants. Requires the President to take specified actions to provide for meaningful public participation in every significant phase of response activities under CERCLA. Permits Community Advisory Groups, affected Indian tribes and communities, and local government and health officials to propose remedial alternatives to the President. Requires the President to make records relating to response actions at a covered facility available to the public throughout all phases of an action. Sets forth additional requirements with respect to public notice of certain removal actions. (Sec. 203) Requires States or Indian tribes with covered facilities to establish Community Information and Access Offices. Provides funding for such Offices. Directs the Administrator to establish Offices for States or tribes that fail to do so. (Sec. 204) Requires the President to provide the opportunity for the establishment of a Community Advisory Group, a representative public forum, to achieve direct, regular, and meaningful consultation with all interested parties throughout all stages of a response action whenever: (1) the President determines such a group will be helpful; or (2) ten individuals residing in the area in which the covered facility is located, or ten percent of the population of a locality in which the covered facility is located, whichever is fewer, petition for a Group to be established. Directs the President to adopt any consensus recommendation of a Group on land use as part of the remedy selected for the facility, with exceptions. Authorizes the President to provide administrative support for such Groups. Directs the Administrator to submit to the Congress a community study that includes an analysis of: (1) the speed of listing; (2) the speed and nature of response actions; (3) the degree to which public views are reflected in response actions; (3) use of institutional controls; and (4) the population, race, ethnicity, and income characteristics of communities affected by facilities listed or proposed for listing on the NPL. Requires periodic updates of such study. Directs the Administrator to institute necessary improvements or modifications to address any deficiencies identified by the study. (Sec. 205) Requires the Administrator to conduct a program to assist in the recruitment and training of individuals in affected communities for employment in response activities. Subtitle B: Human Health - Directs the President to notify State and local public health authorities and tribal health officials whenever there is reason to believe that a release (or threat of release) of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant has occurred, is occurring, or is about to occur. Requires the ATSDR Administrator to perform a health assessment for each facility listed, or proposed for listing, on the NPL, including Federal facilities. Permits related health activities to be performed in lieu of assessments for facilities that are so listed or proposed for ecological reasons only. Requires the ATSDR Administrator to develop and distribute educational materials on human health effects of hazardous substances to the public. (Sec. 213) Provides for research on exposure or tolerance limits for hazardous substances found commonly at NPL facilities in cases where adequate information on health effects of a substance is not available. Expands the duties of the ATSDR Administrator to require the Administrator to establish an inventory of exposure or tolerance limits for such substances. (Sec. 215) Directs the President, in any case in which a person is relocated in order to reduce exposure and eliminate health risks from hazardous substances, to provide to the individual the replacement value of the individual's residence. (Sec. 216) Authorizes and directs the ATSDR Administrator, pursuant to specified grants and contracts, to provide health services to communities affected by the release of hazardous substances. Makes funds available for such services for FY 2000 through 2004. (Sec. 217) Provides for cooperation with Indian tribes with respect to certain ATSDR activities. Requires the ATSDR Administrator to include in a biennial report on ATSDR activities the health impacts on Indian tribes of hazardous substances from covered facilities. Subtitle C: General Provisions - Sets forth effective dates for provisions of this title. Title III: Right to Know - Requires the annual disclosure of certain information by potentially responsible parties at NPL facilities and owners or operators of facilities subject to toxic chemical release reporting requirements under the Emergency Planning and Community Right-To-Know Act of 1986 (EPCRA). Includes within such required disclosures information on quantities of certain hazardous substances and potential exposure of facility employees. Directs the Administrator to consolidate all annual reporting pursuant to title I of CERCLA and other Federal environmental laws to the extent not prohibited by such laws. Prescribes penalties for noncompliance with disclosure requirements. Amends EPCRA to permit the withholding of portions of information required to be disclosed under CERCLA for purposes of protecting trade secrets. (Sec. 302) Requires owners or operators of facilities subject to EPCRA reporting requirements to submit to the Administrator and State officials annual unstudied chemical release forms for each chemical subject to this section that was manufactured, processed, or used in quantities exceeding thresholds during the preceding year at the facility. Permits the Administrator to: (1) apply such requirements to other facilities that use unstudied chemicals, as appropriate; and (2) exclude a class of facilities in a Standard Industrial Classification Code that is required to report under EPCRA if unstudied chemicals will not cause certain adverse human health or environmental effects. Makes subject to the requirements of this section an unstudied chemical: (1) for which the information needed to complete a preliminary assessment of potential toxicity is not available; and (2) that is a compound containing at least carbon, hydrogen, and one or more of the elements chlorine, fluorine, or bromine or is a compound included on the 1990 High Production Volume List issued pursuant to the Toxic Substances Control Act. Authorizes the addition of chemicals subject to such requirements based on health or environmental effects or presence in human tissues, food stuffs, or drinking water. Excludes from reporting requirements chemicals: (1) that are listed under EPCRA; (2) that are high molecular weight polymers; or (3) for which information is publicly available. Sets forth provisions regarding information needed for preliminary assessment of potential toxicity of unstudied chemicals. Establishes threshold amounts of unstudied chemicals which trigger reporting requirements. Makes release form information publicly available. Authorizes petitions to the Administrator to compel certain actions under this title, including the exemption from reporting, addition of chemicals subject to reporting, and revision of thresholds. Requires the Administrator to establish a national unstudied chemicals inventory based on submitted data. Makes violations of this title subject to civil and administrative penalties under EPCRA. Provides trade secret protection for information disclosed under this title in the same manner as provided under EPCRA. Title IV: Environmental Justice - Directs the President, acting through the Secretary of Commerce, to publish a list of special priority areas which shall be geographic areas in which residents face a high degree of economic distress or social disenfranchisement. Provides for updates to such list no later than two years after each official census count on social and economic characteristics. Describes areas to be included on such list. Requires the President to advertise the right of petition for assessment of a hazardous substance release in such areas. Directs the President to publish a list of special priority facilities which shall be those facilities located in special priority areas that are: (1) listed in the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Information System; (2) the subject of a petition; or (3) those the President considers appropriate. Establishes deadlines for completing preliminary assessments, site inspections, and hazard ranking of such facilities and for listing them on the NPL. Requires the President to ensure that a remedial action for any such facility on the NPL is completed within three years of placement on the NPL. Provides exceptions from placing such facilities on the NPL. Title V: Children's Environmental Health - Requires the ATSDR Administrator and the Administrator to create a scientifically peer-reviewed list of environmental pollutants commonly found at facilities listed or proposed for listing on the NPL with known or suspected health risks to which fetuses and children are especially susceptible. Provides for a toxicological profile for each listed substance. each listed substance. Directs the Administrator or the Secretary of Health and Human Services, as appropriate, to review and revise, where necessary, environmental and public health regulations, risk assessment policies and procedures, and guidance documents issued under CERCLA to determine whether they consider and fully protect fetal and children's health. Incorporates fetal and children's health concerns into all health research initiatives under CERCLA. Requires the ATSDR Administrator to develop: (1) guidelines for addressing fetal and children's health issues in health studies and research programs; and (2) criteria for determining when and what type of child-specific health study shall be conducted based on the results of a health assessment. Expresses the sense of the Congress that the costs of such research programs should be borne by the manufacturers and processors of the hazardous substance in question. Directs the ATSDR Administrator to: (1) establish an exposure registry for all children exposed to hazardous substances as the result of a release at an NPL facility where levels of exposure are significant for children's health; and (2) implement specified children's environmental health education and training programs. Requires all lists, profiles, studies, and research results conducted under this title to be reported or adopted only after appropriate peer review. Sets forth requirements for peer reviews. Title VI: Brownfield Remediation and Environmental Cleanup - Subtitle A: Brownfields - Directs the Administrator to establish a program to award grants to local governments to inventory and conduct site assessments of brownfield sites and provide training in the cleanup of such sites. Defines a "brownfield site" as land that contains or contained abandoned or under-used commercial or industrial facilities, the expansion or redevelopment of which may be complicated by the presence of hazardous substances, pollutants, or contaminants. Sets forth grant application requirements and grant conditions. Requires States to submit information to the Administrator on brownfield sites. Directs the Administrator to compile a National Brownfields Registry. Directs the Administrator to establish a program to award grants to be used by local governments to capitalize revolving loan funds for the cleanup of brownfield sites, including associated rivers and streams. Authorizes local governments to provide such loans to finance cleanups by such governments or by owners or prospective purchasers of affected brownfield sites. Sets forth grant application and agreement requirements. Requires grant recipients to report to the Administrator on the extent of local citizen involvement in funded projects. Authorizes the Administrator to award a grant to a State if necessary to facilitate the receipt of funds by local governments that do not have the capabilities to manage grants. Makes certain facilities ineligible for the grant program, including facilities that are the subject of response actions and Federal facilities. Authorizes the President to make exceptions for excluded facilities and allow grants on a facility-by-facility basis. Makes amounts available from the Hazardous Substance Superfund (Superfund) to carry out the grant programs. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1999 through 2003. (Sec. 602) Authorizes the Administrator to award grants to, and enter into cooperative agreements with, States, Indian tribes, municipalities, and other specified agencies and organizations for training, technology transfer, and information dissemination programs to strengthen environmental response activities. (Sec. 603) Requires the Administrator to provide grants and other forms of assistance for brownfields workforce training programs in communities that contain brownfield sites. Subtitle B: Innocent Landowners and Prospective Purchaser Liability - Amends CERCLA, with respect to defenses to liability of an owner of after-acquired property, to deem a person to have made (under current law, "undertaken") appropriate inquiry into the property's previous ownership and uses if the person establishes that an environmental site assessment was conducted which meets specified requirements (compliance with an American Society for Testing and Materials standard or with standards issued by the President) and the person fulfills certain responsibilities concerning information compilation, exercise of appropriate care with respect to hazardous substances at the facility, and cooperation with those conducting response actions. (Sec. 622) Absolves from liability for response actions bona fide prospective purchasers to the extent liability at a facility for a release or threat thereof is based solely on ownership or operation of a facility. Gives a lien upon a facility to the United States for unrecovered response costs in any case in which there are such unrecovered costs for which the owner is not liable by reason of this section and the facility's fair market value has increased above that which existed 180 days before the action was taken. (Sec. 623) Exempts certain contiguous property owners from liability. Subtitle C: Department of Housing and Urban Development Brownfield Grants - Amends the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 to direct the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to make grants, in connection with the authority to guarantee obligations to finance certain community development activities, to eligible public entities for projects and activities for economic redevelopment of brownfield sites. Title VII: Natural Resource Damages - Adds the reasonable costs of recovering natural resource damages to the list of recoverable damages for which liable parties are responsible under CERCLA. (Sec. 703) Eliminates the damage assessment rebuttable presumption and prescribes revised procedures for natural resource damage assessments. (Sec. 704) Authorizes a trustee for natural resources to establish an administrative record on which the trustee will base the selection of a plan for restoration of the resource. Provides for participation of interested persons in the development of an administrative record. (Sec. 705) Provides that the presence of hazardous substances in sediments of U.S. waters above background or reference levels shall be sufficient to establish injury to natural resources for purposes of determining liability. Directs the Administrator and the appropriate natural resource trustees to report to the Congress on how response, remedial, and restoration actions are restoring and protecting natural resources affected by the facilities of: (1) Hudson River, New York; (2) Newark and New York Bays, New York and New Jersey; (3) Housatonic River, Connecticut and Massachusetts; (4) New Bedford Harbor, Massachusetts; (5) Clark Fork River, Montana; (6) Lavaca Bay, Texas; (7) Palos Verdes, California; (8) Fox River, Wisconsin; (9) Coeur d'Alene, Idaho; and (10) Hanford, Washington. (Sec. 706) Requires natural resource trustees to conduct a program to assist in the recruitment and training of individuals in affected communities for employment in restoration activities. (Sec. 707) Revises provisions regarding the statute of limitations on natural resource damage actions. (Sec. 708) Adds archaeological resources to the definition of "natural resources" under CERCLA. (Sec. 709) Authorizes citizen suits to recover natural resources damages. Title VIII: Federal Facilities - Revises provisions regarding the applicability of CERCLA to the U.S. Government. Makes Federal agencies subject to all Federal, State, interstate, and local requirements regarding response actions and damages related to, or management of, hazardous substances, pollutants, or contaminants in the same manner as any nongovernmental entity. Waives immunity of the United States with respect to the enforcement of injunctive relief. Makes Federal employees subject to criminal sanctions under State or Federal response laws. Authorizes the Administrator to issue an abatement order to a Federal agency and requires initiation of an administrative enforcement action in the same manner as action would be initiated against any other person. Requires all funds collected by a State from the Federal Government from penalties imposed under this section to be used only for projects to improve or protect the environment or to defray costs of environmental protection or enforcement unless a State law requires such funds to be used differently. Requires Federal agencies to notify States and the Administrator of removal actions. Sets forth additional conditions under which a Federal property may be transferred to any other person without a covenant warranting that all remedial action has been taken on the property. Establishes additional assurances to be contained in deeds governing such transfers with regard to hazardous substances releases for which a Federal agency is potentially responsible. Title IX: Liability - Provides exemptions to liability (including liability for contribution) for response costs for pre-July 1997 acts if liability is based solely on arranging for disposal, treatment, or transport of, or accepting, a specified limited amount of hazardous substances. Absolves certain small parties of liability based on arrangement or acceptance provisions if the substance involved was municipal solid waste or sewage sludge. Removes a provision which excludes petroleum from the definition of "hazardous substance" under CERCLA. Provides that persons liable for willful releases of hazardous substances or threats thereof may be liable to the United States for punitive damages in an amount of up to two times the costs incurred by Superfund as a result of such a release. Title X: Funding - Extends the authorization of appropriations to carry out specified Superfund authorities through FY 2003. (Sec. 1007) Amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend the environmental income tax to taxable years beginning after December 31, 1998, and before January 1, 2004. Extends specified provisions regarding: (1) Superfund's financing rate; (2) limits on tax if the unobligated balance in Superfund exceeds a specified amount; and (3) the repayment deadline for advances made to Superfund. Title XI: Miscellaneous - Increases the ceiling on certain penalties under CERCLA. Prescribes penalties for specified additional violations. (Sec. 1103) Considers a remedial action that attains applicable requirements to be protective of human health and the environment unless the President determines otherwise. Directs the President to establish additional requirements to ensure such protection, as necessary. Provides that the decontamination regulations for site termination issued by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) on July 21, 1997, shall not be considered sufficiently protective. Revises the definition of "federally permitted release" under CERCLA with respect to releases of source, special nuclear, or byproduct material in compliance with licenses, permits, regulations, or orders pursuant to the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 to apply such definition only if such licenses, permits, regulations, or orders adequately protect groundwater. Applies requirements of this Act pertaining to Federal facilities to facilities subject to licenses or decontamination regulations for license termination issued by the NRC. Amends environmental excise tax provisions to treat uranium dioxide as a taxable chemical only if it is used as a fuel in a nuclear reactor.