United States · United States Congress · 28 February 1991
Medicare Skilled Nursing Facility and Home Health Benefit Act of 1991 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to: (1) eliminate the requirement that extended care services be provided within a certain period following hospitalization in order to be covered under the Hospital Insurance Program; and (2) cover nursing care and home health aide services provided or needed on an intermittent basis.
United States · United States Congress · 28 February 1991
Authorizes the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity to establish a memorial to Martin Luther King, Jr., on Federal land in the District of Columbia and its environs. Makes the Fraternity solely responsible for acceptance of contributions for, and payment of expenses of, the memorial. Prohibits the use of Federal funds for its establishment. Requires the Fraternity to deposit excess funds into the Treasury.
United States · United States Congress · 27 February 1991
Amends the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Uniformed Services (CHAMPUS) to include under such coverage otherwise eligible persons who are also entitled to Medicare benefits. Prohibits a benefit from being paid under CHAMPUS to the extent that it is also a covered benefit for such individual under title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act.
United States · United States Congress · 27 February 1991
Requires that, except in specified instances, Federal financial assistance be taken into account when determining losses or bad debts of savings and loans institutions (thus denying income tax deductions for losses or bad debts to the extent Federal assistance has compensated for them).
United States · United States Congress · 27 February 1991
Requires every educational institution that offers courses of study approved for armed forces' or veterans' educational assistance programs under the Montgomery GI Bill to: (1) credit or reimburse each member of the Selected Reserve the entire amount of tuition and fees paid by the reservist to the institution with respect to a course which the reservist is unable to complete because of being ordered to active duty; and (2) provide, upon request, for the readmission of such reservist after completion of such active duty in the same status held before such withdrawal.
United States · United States Congress · 26 February 1991
Nursing Home Access to Respiratory Therapy Act of 1991 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to include respiratory therapy within covered extended care services.
United States · United States Congress · 25 February 1991
Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to design and strike a silver commemorative medal for members of the U.S. armed forces who serve in a combat zone in connection with the Persian Gulf conflict.
United States · United States Congress · 21 February 1991
Individual Retirement Options Improvement Act of 1991 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exempt from the ten percent penalty tax on early distributions from qualified retirement plans: (1) first-time homebuyer distributions; (2) qualified higher education expenses; and (3) qualified catastrophic illness expenses. Allows an additional deduction for 50 percent of the contributions made to individual retirement plans.
United States · United States Congress · 21 February 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to permanently extend the period during which qualified mortgage bonds and mortgage credit certificates may be issued.
United States · United States Congress · 20 February 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from gross income the value of any subsidy provided by an electric utility to a customer for the purchase or installation of energy conservation measures.
United States · United States Congress · 20 February 1991
Agricultural Water Conservation Act of 1991 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a tax credit for 90 percent of the water conservation system expenses for the purchase and installation of materials or equipment to substantially conserve water on farm land.
United States · United States Congress · 19 February 1991
Human Rights in India Act - Directs the President to report to the Congress on whether the Government of India is preventing human rights organizations from visiting India to monitor human rights conditions. Terminates development assistance to India (except for specified health projects) if the President reports that the Government of India is implementing such policy. Provides for the resumption of assistance if the President reports to the Congress that India is no longer implementing such policy.
United States · United States Congress · 19 February 1991
Older Americans' Freedom to Work Act of 1991 - Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act to remove the limitation on the amount of outside income which beneficiaries who have attained retirement age may earn without incurring a reduction in benefits.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 1991
Social Security Notch Adjustment Act of 1991 - Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act to establish a new formula for computing the primary insurance amount of individuals who attain age 65 in or after 1982 and would otherwise be subject to the benefit computation rules of the Social Security Amendments of 1977. Extends the application of such transitional benefit computation rules to those who become eligible for benefits before 1989. (Currently those who become eligible after 1983 are subject to the benefit computation rules of the Social Security Amendments of 1977.)
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 1991
Volunteer Protection Act of 1991 - Prescribes circumstances under which volunteers working for nonprofit organizations or government entities shall be immune from personal financial liability for acts on behalf of the organization or entity. Sets forth exceptions and conditions that a State may impose on the granting of such immunity. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to increase by one percent the fiscal year allotment which would otherwise be made to a State to carry out the Social Services Block Grant Program under title XX of the Social Security Act if such State has, within two years, certified to the Secretary that it has enacted a State law which provides such immunity. Provides for the continuation of such increase based on an annual recertification.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 1991
Nontraditional Employment for Women Act - Amends the Job Training Partnership Act (the Act) to define "nontraditional employment", as applied to women, to refer to occupations or fields of work where women comprise less than 25 percent of the individuals employed. Requires service delivery area (SDA) job training plans to include: (1) goals for the training of women in nontraditional employment and the training-related placement of women in nontraditional employment and apprenticeship; (2) a description of efforts to be undertaken to accomplish such goals, including efforts to increase awareness of such training and placement opportunities; and (3) procedures for annual reporting of the extent to which the SDA has met such goals and of a statistical breakdown of women trained and placed in nontraditional occupations, including specified types of information. Requires the State Governor's coordination and special services plan to include such goals and descriptions of efforts for training and placement of women in nontraditional employment under the Act and the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Education Act. Directs the State job training coordinating council to: (1) review, summarize, and annually disseminate the results of SDAs' and Governor's efforts to train and place women in nontraditional employment; and (2) obtain from the sex equity coordinator under the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Education Act a summary of activities and an analysis of results under that Act and disseminate such summary annually. Requires State education coordination grant recipients to provide statewide coordinated approaches, including model programs, to train, place, and retain women in nontraditional employment. Allows the use of funds under title II (Training Services for the Disadvantaged) for outreach activities relating to education, training, work experience, and retention of women in nontraditional employment. Directs the Secretary of Labor to use a specified portion of funds for national activities under the Act for FY 1992 through 1995 to make grants to States to develop demonstration and exemplary programs to train and place women in nontraditional employment. Limits such grants to no more than six per fiscal year. Allows States receiving such assistance to award grants to service providers and SDAs under specified conditions. Directs the Secretary of Labor to report, with recommendations, to the Congress within five years on the extent of success of States and SDAs, and the effectiveness of such demonstration programs, in training, placing, and retaining women in nontraditional employment. Declares that nothing in this Act shall be construed to mean that the Congress is taking a position on the issue of comparable worth. Provides that failure to meet the goals in this Act shall not itself constitute a violation of title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 or any other Federal law prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, handicap, or age.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 1991
Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to permit alternative methods to testing for qualifying "ability-to-benefit" students for Federal student financial aid. Restores certain options (involving receiving a general education diploma (GED) or certain counseling and remedial or developmental education, or involving a State determination process) for the qualification of ability-to-benefit students. Continues the testing requirement for such students at proprietary institutions (as mandated by the Student Default Initiative Act of 1990). Separates institutional eligibility requirements under student aid programs from compliance with ability-to-benefit provisions.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 1991
Tire Recycling Incentives Act - Amends the Solid Waste Disposal Act to require tire producers or importers to recycle an amount of scrap tires equal to at least the amount determined by multiplying the amount of tires produced or imported that year by the recycling percentage established by the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. Authorizes compliance by: (1) recycling scrap tires through reintroducing the recovered rubber into a manufacturing process to produce new tires or retread old tire casings; or (2) purchasing recycling credits under this Act. Requires such individuals to report annually to the Administrator on the amount of tires produced or imported. Directs the Administrator to establish a recycling percentage that is five percentage points higher than the existing recycling rate for tires. Provides for increases in such percentage of five points annually in the ten years following the date of enactment of this Act. Requires the Administrator to promulgate regulations allowing recyclers to create credits for tire recycling and tire producers or importers to purchase such credits. Sets forth: (1) specified recordkeeping requirements for owners or operators of tire sale and installation facilities, scrap tire collection facilities, and tire producers and importers; and (2) the amount of credits allowed for scrap tires. Directs the Attorney General to determine the effects of the credit system on competition within the tire and scrap tire recycling industries and to report annually to the Congress. Sets the recycling percentage at 60 percent if the Administrator fails to promulgate regulations. Prescribes civil penalties for violations of recycling requirements. Considers a scrap tire recycling or disposal facility to be a solid waste disposal facility for purposes of Internal Revenue Code provisions concerning exempt facility bonds. Directs the Administrator to: (1) publish in the Federal Register minimum requirements for State scrap tire management and procedures under which such requirements shall be incorporated into State solid waste management plans; (2) provide for expedited review of State plans which include specified scrap tire recycling measures; and (3) establish standards to minimize health and environmental damages from the improper disposal and storage of tires. Requires such standards to provide for: (1) bans on the disposal of tires in land disposal facilities and on the intentional infliction of damage on tire casings to preclude casings from being used in retreading; (2) State inventories of scrap tire collection facilities, tire advisory boards, and scrap tire abatement plans; (3) agreements between facilities which distribute more than 1,000 tires annually and licensed tire haulers for the exclusive hauling of scrap tires by licensed haulers; and (4) prohibitions on the transportation of scrap tires by transporters without transportation identification numbers, with specified exceptions. Directs the Administrator to publish guidelines for States for the issuance of permits to scrap tire collection facilities. Provides for: (1) limits on the size of scrap tire piles at such facilities; (2) bans on open burning within 50 feet of a scrap tire pile; (3) regulations on vegetation, rodent, and mosquito control at such facilities; and (4) different requirements for collection facilities located in 100-year flood plains or other areas where water resources are critical. Requires the Administrator to promulgate guidelines for States for facility emergency plans. Directs facility owners or operators to maintain and update emergency preparedness manuals. Requires facility owners or operators to notify the State immediately in the event of an emergency with potential offsite impacts. Sets forth specified emergency and operational recordkeeping, reporting, and inspection requirements. Requires all regulated facilities to have appropriate financial responsibility or insurance to maintain the facility for at least five years after closure. Exempts specified persons from permitting requirements. Directs the Administrator to promulgate regulations for the State to use to issue permits to scrap tire recycling facilities. Requires the Secretary of the Interior, together with the heads of agencies responsible for public lands or military installations, to implement a plan to remediate tire piles. Applies plan requirements to the National Railroad Passenger Corporation. Directs the Administrator to develop a guideline for procuring items that make use of scrap or used tires. Requires Federal departments, if the Administrator fails to promulgate such guideline, to procure items containing at least 75 percent of post-consumer scrap rubber from scrap tires if the rubber is available within a reasonable amount of time at a reasonable price and meets performance standards. Directs the Secretary of Commerce, acting through the Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, to publish standards to determine the life-cycle costs and benefits of items that make use of rubber from scrap or used tires as compared with items that make use of rubber other than from scrap or used tires. Requires such standards to be used by Federal departments covered by the procurement guideline. Directs the Secretary of Transportation to determine and report to the Congress on: (1) direct worker environmental health effects relating to asphalt made from crumb rubber from scrap tires; (2) the recyclability of asphalt road surfaces made from crumb rubber from scrap tires; and (3) the estimated life of existing asphalt road surfaces made from crumb rubber from scrap tires. Permits States to: (1) enter into consent agreements with owners and operators of scrap tire collection facilities for proper management and abatement of scrap tires; and (2) levy fines on facilities for noncompliance. Imposes fines on tire facilities and landfills for specified violations of this Act. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 1991
Expresses the sense of the Congress that any Federal agency that utilizes the Draize rabbit eye irritancy test should develop and validate alternative ophthalmic testing procedures that do not require the use of animal test subjects.
United States · United States Congress · 4 February 1991
Extends the immediate retirement provisions applicable to Federal law enforcement officers to: (1) revenue officers for the Internal Revenue Service; (2) customs inspectors for the U.S. Customs Service; (3) customs canine enforcement officers for the U.S. Customs Service; and (4) inspectors for the Immigration and Naturalization Service.
United States · United States Congress · 31 January 1991
Amends title XVI (Supplemental Security Income) (SSI) of the Social Security Act to require States which supplement SSI benefits to pass along Federal cost of living adjustments in such benefits in order to be eligible to receive Federal funds under title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act.
United States · United States Congress · 30 January 1991
Directs the Secretaries of the Army and the Air Force to prescribe regulations to ensure that National Guard technicians are protected from certain adverse employment actions (i.e. removal, suspension, grade reduction, or furlough) in the same manner as are Federal employees.
United States · United States Congress · 30 January 1991
Amends Federal provisions relating to the National Guard to include positions held by civilian technicians of the National Guard within the competitive service. Provides that service performed by such technicians prior to the effective date of this Act shall be considered competitive service for purposes of eligibility for certain Federal benefits.
United States · United States Congress · 30 January 1991
National Literacy Act of 1991 - Title I: Literacy: Strategic Planning, Research, and Coordination - Establishes an Interagency Task Force on Literacy. Amends the Department of Education Organization Act to direct the Assistant Secretary for Vocational and Adult Education to coordinate literacy-related programs. Establishes the National Institute for Literacy and the National Institute Board. Authorizes the Institute to award Literacy Leader Fellowships. Authorizes appropriations. Amends the Adult Education Act (AEA) to authorize the Secretary of Education (the Secretary) to make grants to establish a network of State or regional adult literacy resource centers. Authorizes appropriations. Title II: Workforce Literacy - Establishes in the Department of Labor a National Workforce Literacy Assistance Collaborative. Authorizes appropriations. Amends the Adult Education Act (AEA) to revise provisions for national workforce literacy strategies grants to business, industry, labor, and education partnerships for workplace literacy. Requires the Secretary of Education (the Secretary), in awarding grants for exemplary demonstration partnerships for workplace literacy, to: (1) give priority to partnerships which include small businesses; and (2) limit such grant awards to not more than three years. Directs the Secretary to reserve a specified amount, whenever appropriations for workforce literacy partnership grants exceed a certain level, to establish a program of grants for large-scale national workforce literacy strategies. Authorizes appropriations for AEA workforce literacy programs. Title III: Investment in Literacy - Extends through FY 1995 the authorization of appropriations for programs under the Adult Education Act (AEA). Revises the use of funds under the AEA basic State grants program. Requires that basic grants to States also be used for competitive two-year Gateway Grants to public housing authorities for literacy programs and related activities. Requires biennial evaluations and reports on such Gateway Grants. Revises AEA to give State advisory councils, plans, and evaluations literacy-related responsibilities. Requires States to report biennially to the Interagency Task Force on meeting literacy goals, coordinating workplace literacy services, and building a high quality delivery system for adult literacy programs. Provides for training educators to recognize and serve illiterate individuals more effectively. Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) to revise targeted assistance programs under ESEA to include training programs to enhance the ability of teachers and school counselors to identify, particularly in the early grades, students with reading and related problems which place them at risk for adult illiteracy. Renames the Even Start program under ESEA as the Even Start Family Literacy Program. Revises the program to expand eligibility to include community-based organizations or other nonprofit organizations of demonstrated quality applying in collaboration with a local educational agency (LEA) (as well as LEAs and LEA consortia). Sets minimum grant amounts. Makes individual children eligible from birth through age seven (currently from age one through age seven). Provides for continuation of eligibility for certain participants until the parents become ineligible due to educational achievement or until all children in the family attain age eight. Gives priority to applicants demonstrating that the area to be served has a high percentage or a large number of children and adults in need of program services. Authorizes appropriations for the Even Start Family Literacy Program. Establishes a Family Literacy Public Broadcasting Program. Authorizes the Secretary of Education, subject to availability of appropriations, to contract with the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) for production and dissemination of family literacy programming and accompanying materials to assist parents in improving family literacy skills and languages development. Requires CPB to: (1) cooperate with local public broadcasting stations; (2) arrange for distribution of audio and video instructional media materials for use, and distribution on loan, to families at sites chosen from among State and local libraries with literacy programs and nonprofit entities serving hard-to-serve populations; and (3) report to the Congress. Authorizes appropriations for the Family Literacy Public Broadcasting Program. Title IV: Business Leadership for Employment Skills - Amends the Adult Education Act (AEA) to provide for education programs for commercial drivers. Authorizes the Secretary of Education to make competitive matching grants for adult education programs which increase the literacy skills of eligible commercial drivers so that they may successfully complete the knowledge test requirements under the Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1986. Requires grantees to refer individuals identified as having literacy skill problems to appropriate adult education programs. Authorizes appropriations. Title V: Books for Families - Revises the ESEA inexpensive book distribution program to require that priority be given in selection of additional local programs to those which serve children and students with special needs. Requires the program contractor (Reading is Fundamental) to report to the Secretary of Education annually on such additional programs. Amends the Library Services and Construction Act to direct the Secretary of Education, in awarding grants for library literacy programs and services, to give priority to those that: (1) will be delivered in areas of greatest need with highest concentrations of adults without secondary education or its equivalent, and which either have few community or financial resources or have low per capita income, unemployment, or underemployment; and (2) coordinate with literacy organizations and community-based organizations providing literacy services. Title VI: Students for Literacy - Amends HEA to authorize appropriations for Student Literacy Corps programs. Requires individual students in such programs, as a condition of course credit, to perform at least 60 hours of voluntary, uncompensated service as tutors in a public community agency's educational or literacy program. Title VII: Volunteers for Literacy - Amends the Domestic Volunteer Service Act of 1973 to establish a Literacy Challenge Grants program. Authorizes the Director of the ACTION Agency to award such grants to eligible public and private entities to pay the Federal share of costs of establishing, operating, or expanding community or employee literacy programs that include the use of full- or part-time volunteers. Authorizes appropriations for Literacy Challenge Grants, but only if there are specified levels of funding for the VISTA Program and the VISTA Literacy Corps. Title VIII: Literacy for Incarcerated Individuals - Amends the Adult Education Act (AEA) to establish requirements for mandatory functional literacy programs for incarcerated adults in State correctional systems and local jails or detention centers. Requires such a program to be in effect in at least one major correctional facility, for each State correctional system and each local jail or detention center with an inmate population, within two years after enactment of this Act. Requires, if adequate funds are available, each State correctional system and each local jail or detention center with over 150 inmates to have such a program in effect within five years after enactment of this Act. Sets forth required components of such programs, including inmate mandatory participation any individual who is serving a life sentence without parole, or terminally ill, or under a sentence of death. Requires annual reports. Encourages: (1) parole agencies to make educational recommendations for those being released who do not have a marketable job skill or a high school diploma; and (2) jails with less than 150 inmates to develop such mandatory functional literacy programs.
United States · United States Congress · 28 January 1991
Directs the U.S. Postal Service to ensure that: (1) any changes in the nature of postal service implemented on a nationwide or substantially nationwide basis, beginning after July 27, 1990, and before the enactment of this Act, are rescinded; and (2) any practices, standards, or other related matters (including standards as to the maximum length of time for the delivery of classes or types of mail) which were modified or replaced as a result of those changes are restored.
United States · United States Congress · 24 January 1991
Terrorist Death Penalty Act of 1991 - Amends the Federal criminal code to authorize the imposition of the death penalty for any individual who kills a U.S. national while such national is outside the United States, if the killing is a first degree murder. Increases penalties for killings other than first degree murders. Sets forth procedures for the imposition of the death penalty. Requires that a defendant be sentenced to death for a death-eligible offense if, after consideration of specified mitigating and aggravating factors, the defendant is found beyond a reasonable doubt, at a special hearing, to have: (1) intentionally killed the victim; (2) intentionally participated in an act, contemplating that the life of a person would be taken or intending that lethal force would be used in connection with a person, other than one of the participants in the offense, and the victim died as a result of the act; or (3) acting with reckless disregard for human life, engaged or substantially participated in conduct which the defendant knew would create a grave risk of death to another person or persons and death resulted from such conduct. Sets forth provisions with respect to notice by the Government that it intends to seek the death penalty if the defendant is convicted, the conduct of a special hearing to determine whether a sentence of death is justified, mitigating and aggravating factors to be considered, proof of such factors, the return of findings, and procedures for appeal and review of a sentence of death. Requires the court, in a hearing held before a jury, to instruct the jury that, in considering whether a death sentence is justified, it shall not consider the race, color, religious beliefs, national origin, or sex of the defendant or any victim. Authorizes the use of State or local facilities and employees to carry out the death penalty. Prohibits requiring any employee of a State department of corrections or the Federal Bureau of Prisons, or an employee providing services to such department or bureau under contract, as a condition of such employment or contractual obligation, to be in attendance at or to participate in any execution carried out under this title if such participation is contrary to the employee's moral or religious convictions. Specifies that where a sentence of death is not imposed, the court may impose a sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of release or furlough. Prohibits carrying out a death sentence upon a person who: (1) was under age 18 at the time the crime was committed; (2) is mentally retarded; (3) as a result of mental disability, cannot understand the nature of the pending proceedings, what such person was tried for, or the reason for or nature of the punishment; or who lacks the capacity to recognize or understand facts which would make the punishment unjust or unlawful, or lacks the ability to convey such information to counsel or to the court; or (4) is a pregnant woman. Sets forth provisions with respect to the appointment of counsel for indigent defendants in Federal capital cases. Establishes standards for the competence of counsel. Specifies that the ineffectiveness or incompetence of counsel during habeas corpus proceedings in a capital case shall not be a ground for relief from the judgment or sentence in any proceeding (but does not preclude the appointment of different counsel at any stage of the proceedings). Sets forth additional provisions with respect to: (1) the appointment of counsel in State capital cases; (2) time limits for a collateral attack on a judgment imposing a sentence of death; and (3) stays of execution.
United States · United States Congress · 23 January 1991
Declares that: (1) Saddam Hussein should be held legally and morally responsible for the brutal treatment by Iraq of American and other allied prisoners of war and should be tried by an international tribunal for his crimes against such prisoners of war; and (2) under no circumstances should the nations allied against Iraq agree to an arrangement whereby Hussein would resign as president of Iraq in exchange for his not being prosecuted for such crimes.
United States · United States Congress · 22 January 1991
Constitutional Amendment - Declares that the Congress and the States shall have power to prohibit the act of desecration of the U.S. flag and to set criminal penalties for such act.
United States · United States Congress · 18 January 1991
National Energy Policy Act of 1991 - Title I: Provisions Related To Fuel Economy Standards - Amends the Motor Vehicle Information and Cost Savings Act to prescribe minimum average fuel economy standards for passenger and non-passenger automobiles manufactured in model years 1996 through 2000, and 2001 and beyond. Requires a 20 percent increase in average fuel economy over model year 1988 by 2000, and a 40 percent increase thereafter. Prescribes guidelines under which the Secretary of Transportation may consider petitions to modify such standards. Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (the Administrator) to conduct an ongoing study of the accuracy of fuel economy testing of passenger automobiles as compared to actual performance under average driving conditions. Requires the Administrator to report study results annually to certain congressional committees. Requires the Secretary of Energy to annually distribute at least 100 fuel economy data booklets to each dealer, and as many as are additionally requested. Requires the Secretary of Transportation to report to the Congress the results of a National Academy of Sciences: (1) review of the current state of research and development in the fuel economy of light trucks and passenger automobiles; and (2) assessment of the remaining potential for improving their fuel efficiency and reducing their energy consumption. Doubles the civil penalties for repeated violations of average fuel economy standards. Title II: Other Provisions Related to Energy Conservation and Provisions Related to Energy Research and Development - Amends the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 to provide that the rates allowed to be charged by a State-regulated electric utility shall be such that its investments in and expenditures for energy conservation, energy efficiency resources, and other demand side management measures are at least as profitable as its investments in and expenditures for the construction of new generation facilities. Requires the Secretary of Energy to report to the Congress and the President regarding a survey of State rules and policies under which State regulatory authorities: (1) require or permit gas and electric utilities to recover their investments in end-use energy efficiency improvements and their lost net revenues from the reduced energy sales caused by such improvements; and (2) assign a positive dollar value to environmental costs and benefits when evaluating gas and electric utilities' resource planning and acquisition processes. Requires such report to evaluate to what extent each State has adopted regulatory and incentive policies to ensure that end-use energy efficiency improvements will compete on equal terms with additional energy production for gas and electric utilities' future investments in energy supply. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1992 through 1996 for: (1) energy conservation; (2) solar and alternative energy; (3) enhanced oil recovery; and (4) fuel cells. Amends the Energy Policy and Conservation Act to authorize appropriations for the alternative fuels bus program from for FY 1992 through 1996. Directs the Secretary of Energy to provide funding for the purchase of alternative-fueled vehicles by State and local government agencies as well as by private entities. Sets forth a percentage schedule for Federal purchase of alternative-fueled vehicles. Requires the President to report annually to the Congress on implementation of the alternative-fueled vehicle purchase program. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1992 through 1996 for: (1) energy conservation programs for schools and hospitals; and (2) the weatherization assistance program. Amends the National Energy Conservation Policy Act to direct the Secretary of Energy to establish a revolving loan fund for loans to Federal agencies to implement the Federal energy management program. Requires loan recipients to give priority to reducing the use of refined petroleum products. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1992 through 1996. Title III: Provisions Related to Increased Petroleum Production Capacity - Amends the Energy Policy and Conservation Act to direct the Secretary of Energy to: (1) take expedited measures so that the Strategic Petroleum Reserve will have an increased petroleum storage capacity for one billion barrels of petroleum product by September 30, 1996 (including the acquisition and leasing of private capacity); and (2) continue acquisition, transportation, storage, and injection activities until the quantity of petroleum product in the Reserve is two billion barrels by the end of FY 2002. Directs the President to report to the Congress on Western Hemisphere cooperation in energy production and conservation. Title IV: Provisions Related to Duties and Taxes - Amends the Additional U.S. Notes to chapter 27 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States to direct the Administrator of the Energy Information Administration of the Department of Energy to determine offset amounts (the difference between $16 and any lower weighted average international price of a barrel of crude petroleum), according to prescribed guidelines. Authorizes the President to exempt petroleum goods from any Western Hemisphere country from offset amounts if the President considers that the exemption would foster cooperation among the other Western Hemisphere countries with respect to energy resources development and utilization. (This provides for an automatic increase in import duties on petroleum and petroleum products to make up for any drops in the weighted average international price of a barrel of crude petroleum below $16.) Amends the Internal Revenue Code to direct the Secretary of the Treasury to prescribe gasoline tax rates in lieu of certain fuel deficit reduction rates for any month in which certain gasoline tax rates are in effect. Sets forth rate guidelines. (This provides for a standby contingency gasoline conservation tax if the price of crude oil falls below a certain average real price of crude petroleum. Sets a ceiling on any such tax increase equal to one-half of the price fall.) Imposes a tax for the removal of crude oil from specified Federal and State Outer Continental Shelf, submerged lands, or other lands subject to competitive lease. Excepts the Strategic Petroleum Reserve from such tax. Declares that gross income shall not include certain energy and water conservation subsidies provided consumers by public utilities. Establishes the Energy Security Trust Fund to implement this Act. Establishes as a separate account in such Fund the "Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Account" to implement the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Act of 1981.
United States · United States Congress · 18 January 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend the targeted jobs credit permanently. Increases the maximum age requirement for economically disadvantaged youth from 23 to 25.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1991
National Dividend Act of 1991 - Establishes a program for the distribution of certain corporate tax revenues to the registered voters of each State in the form of dividend payments. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to pay to the chief financial officer of each State, in accordance with a prescribed schedule, an amount equal to the National Dividend Payment, as computed under this Act, multiplied by the number of registered voters in the State. Sets forth criteria and procedures to govern: (1) the chief financial officer's selection of an incorporated bank to act as the State's disbursing agent; and (2) payments to qualified voters. Establishes in the Treasury the National Dividend Payment Trust Fund. Authorizes payment into the Fund of specified amounts from revenue received from: (1) the corporate income tax; (2) the tax on the unrelated business income of certain tax-exempt organizations; (3) the capital gains tax; (4) the tax on insurance company income; and (5) the alternative minimum tax on corporations. Establishes a National Dividend Review Board to review the manner in which payments are made from the Fund and to make investments of Fund amounts. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from gross income, for income tax purposes, all dividend income received by a taxpayer from domestic corporations, including dividends received under this Act. Increases the corporate income tax deduction for dividends received by a corporation on the preferred stock of a public utility. Prohibits corporate income tax rates from exceeding 34 percent. Amends the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 to declare it out of order in either the House of Representatives or the Senate to consider budget resolutions for fiscal years 1993 and thereafter that would increase the level of total budget outlays beyond those budgeted for FY 1992.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1991
Amends the Reclamation States Drought Assistance Act of 1988 to extend: (1) through March 1, 1993, the period for completion of studies to augment, make use of, or conserve water supplies available to Federal reclamation projects and Indian water resources development; and (2) through 1992, authorized construction, management, and conservation activities to mitigate damages resulting from drought conditions. Authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to purchase water from willing sellers and to make such water available to reclamation project and nonproject water users at rates sufficient to repay the Secretary for the cost of such water. Extends, through 1992, the general and contract authority of the Secretary to make available water or canal capacity at existing Federal reclamation projects to water users and others on a temporary basis to mitigate damages due to drought conditions. Requires that the cost of water made available by the Secretary to protect fish and wildlife resources, even during drought conditions, be nonreimbursable. Authorizes the Secretary to store and convey nonproject water utilizing Federal reclamation project facilities for purposes other than irrigation and for use outside the authorized project service area at a rate sufficient to repay the cost of storing and conveying such water. Extends through 1992 the authority of the Secretary to make emergency loans for mitigating drought damages. Authorizes the Secretary to defer without penalty the payment of any charge as the Secretary deems necessary because of financial hardship caused by drought. Provides that actions taken under such Act in response to emergency conditions shall not be subject to provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 and the Federal Paperwork Reduction Act. Extends through 1992 the emergency drought program. Increases the total amount authorized to be appropriated to carry out the Reclamation States Drought Assistance Act of 1988.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1991
Amends Federal law to prohibit any State from imposing an income tax on the pension income of any individual who is not a resident or domiciliary of that State.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1991
Congressional Recycling Act of 1991 - Requires the Clerk of the House of Representatives and the Secretary of the Senate to purchase recycled paper and paper products for use to the greatest extent practicable in the operations of the House and the Senate. Directs the Public Printer to assure that the Government Printing Office uses recycled paper in providing services to the House. Directs the Clerk of the House and the Secretary of the Senate to determine the price or range of prices to be considered unreasonable for purposes of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1991
Permits certain veterans with service-connected disabilities who are retired members of the uniformed services to receive compensation concurrently with retired pay, without deduction from either.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1991
Desert Shield Burden-Sharing Act of 1991 - Directs the President to determine whether each foreign country that receives trade benefits from the United States is making a commensurate contribution to the multinational military mobilization carried out in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Requires the President to impose an additional duty to dutiable products and a duty to duty-free products of countries that are found not to be contributing to the mobilization. Provides for the termination of such duties. Establishes the Desert Shield Reimbursement Fund to receive duties collected under this Act. Makes the Fund available solely to reimburse appropriations made to support U.S. participation in the mobilization.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1991
Enterprise Zone Jobs-Creation Act of 1991 - Title I: Designation of Enterprise Zones - Authorizes the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (Secretary) to designate enterprise zones for purposes of providing tax and regulatory relief and improving local services. Limits choices to areas nominated by States and local governments. Limits the total number of areas that may be designated, and the time period of the designation. Authorizes the Secretary to designate a zone only if the area meets certain locational, demographic, unemployment, and poverty criteria. Requires nominating local governments, as a condition of the Secretary's designation, to agree in writing to follow a course of action that may include reducing tax rates, improving local services, simplifying or streamlining regulation of business, and providing job training to area residents. Describes areas to which the Secretary must give preference in selecting areas for designation. Requires the Secretary to report to the Congress every four years on the effects of such enterprise zones' designation in accomplishing the purposes of this Act. Title II: Federal Income Tax Incentives - Allows a nonrefundable income tax credit to enterprise zone employees for five percent of any wages earned as do not exceed a specified amount. Phases out such credit. Provides for the nonrecognition of capital gain on the sale of enterprise zone property. Allows a taxpayer a deduction on the aggregate amount paid for the purchase of enterprise stock on its original issue by a qualified issuer. Requires any gain from the disposition of the stock to be treated as ordinary income. Title III: Regulatory Flexibility - Amends Federal law to revise the definition of "small entity" for purposes of the analysis of regulatory functions to include qualified business, government, and nonprofit enterprises operating within enterprise zones. Authorizes Federal agencies, upon request by a designating government, to waive or modify rules and regulations pertaining to the implementation of projects or activities within an enterprise zone. Requires agencies to approve the request if the resulting benefits of job creation, community development, or economic revitalization outweigh the public interest in retaining the rule unchanged. Disallows waiver or modification of a rule that would directly violate a statutory requirement or present a danger to the public health and safety. Title IV: Establishment of Foreign-Trade Zones in Enterprise Zones - Requires the Foreign-Trade Zone Board to consider on a priority basis and to expedite the processing of applications for the establishment of foreign-trade zones within enterprise zones. Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to give priority to, and expedite applications for, the establishment of ports of entry necessary to establish such zones. Title V: Repeal of Title VII of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1987 - Repeals title VII (enterprise zone development) of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1987.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1991
Merchant Mariners Fairness Act of 1991 - Provides that certain qualified service of a member of the U.S. merchant marine, including a vessel crewmember of the U.S. Army Transport Service, during World War II constituted active military service for purposes of eligibility for various veterans' benefits under the GI Bill Improvement Act of 1977. Requires the Secretary of Defense to issue an honorable discharge under such Act to each merchant marine member whose qualified service warrants such a discharge. Defines "qualified service." Prohibits the payment of any retroactive benefits under this Act. Mandates a processing fee of a specified amount for any benefit application for such qualified service. Amends the Merchant Marine Act, 1936 to add references to components or ingredients of equipment, materials, or commodities in certain cargo preference provisions.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1991
Legislative Line Item Veto Act of 1991 - Amends the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 to grant the President legislative line item veto rescission authority. Authorizes the President to rescind all or part of any budget authority if the President determines that such rescission: (1) would help balance the Federal budget, reduce the Federal budget deficit, or reduce the public debt; (2) will not impair any essential Government functions; and (3) will not harm the national interest. Requires the President to notify the Congress of such a rescission by: (1) special message not later than 20 calendar days after enactment of appropriations legislation; or (2) special message accompanying the budget when such rescissions have not been proposed previously for that fiscal year. Makes such a rescission effective unless the Congress, during a review period of 20 calendar days, enacts a rescission disapproval bill. Describes: (1) information to be included in the President's message; and (2) procedures to govern consideration of rescission disapproval legislation in the Senate and the House of Representatives.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1991
Civil Rights Act of 1991 - Amends the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to provide for the burdens of proof which must be met by the various parties when an allegation of an unlawful employment practice is based on disparate impact. ( Wards Cove Packing Co. Inc. v. Atonio, 1989, held that, in cases brought under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, the burden is on the plaintiff to prove an employer had no business necessity for a practice with discriminatory effects.) Allows a rule barring employment based on illegal discriminatory intent. Declares that, when an employment practice is alleged to have mixed motives, an unlawful employment practice is established when it is shown that a discriminatory basis was a contributing factor, even though other factors also contributed. Bars certain types of relief and limits damages to the injury that is attributable to the unlawful practice. Provides for the finality of litigated or consent judgments or orders resolving an employment discrimination claim, barring actions (challenging an employment practice that implements and is within the scope of a judgment or order) by persons who had certain types of notice and opportunity. Modifies the time limitations within which certain actions must be taken in alleged employment discrimination cases. (In Lorance v. AT&T Technologies, the Supreme Court held that seniority plans cannot be challenged as discriminatory unless complaints are filed soon after the plans are adopted.) Declares the application of a seniority system, if the system was included in a collective bargaining agreement with discriminatory intent, an unlawful employment practice. Allows punitive damages, certain types of compensatory damages, and jury trials only in connection with certain claims of intentional discrimination under the Act or under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. Allows any party, if compensatory or punitive damages are sought, to demand a jury trial. Includes expert fees and other litigation expenses in attorney's fees which may be awarded in certain circumstances. Prohibits consent orders or judgments settling a claim, or stipulations of dismissal, unless the parties or their counsel attest that a waiver of all or substantially all attorney's fees was not compelled as a condition of the settlement.( Independent Federation of Flight Attendants v. Zipes held that attorneys' fees can be recovered under Title VII against losing intervenors only if the intervenor's action is frivolous, unreasonable, or without foundation.) Allows the court, in its discretion to promote fairness, in a proceeding in which a judgment or order granting relief under employment discrimination provisions is challenged, to allow the prevailing party in the original action to recover attorney's fees and costs incurred in defending the judgment or order. Extends the time limit for filing against the Government a civil action involving employment discrimination. Requires, except for prejudgment interest on compensatory damages, the same interest payment by the Government as in cases involving non-public parties. Requires all Federal civil rights laws to be interpreted broadly to provide equal opportunity and provide effective remedies. Prohibits, except as expressly provided, interpreting any Federal civil rights law to repeal or amend by implication any other such law. Prohibits using this Act as a basis for limiting civil rights laws not expressly amended by this Act. Amends Federal law to declare that: (1) for purposes of provisions relating to equal rights under the law, the right to make and enforce contracts includes the making, performance, modification, and termination of contracts, and the enjoyment of all benefits, privileges, terms, and conditions of the contract; and (2) the rights protected by the amended provisions are protected against impairment by non-governmental discrimination as well as against impairment under color of State law. (In 1989, the Supreme Court ruled, in Patterson v. McLean Credit Union, that an 1866 law forbidding discrimination in contracts applies only to hiring agreements, not on-the-job bias.) Prohibits construing the amendments made by this Act to: (1) require or encourage an employer to adopt hiring or promotion quotas; or (2) affect court-ordered remedies, affirmative action, or conciliation agreements that are otherwise in accordance with the law. Amends the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to apply equal employment opportunities provisions to the Congress, with enforcement as determined by each House of the Congress. Amends the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 to modify requirements, including time limitations, regarding filing of a civil action. Requires the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to notify the person aggrieved if an age discrimination charge is dismissed by the Commission. Allows a civil suit to be brought within a specified time limit after the dismissal. Encourages the use of alternative means of dispute resolution to resolve disputes arising under the Acts amended by this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1991
Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act - Prohibits a State from sponsoring, operating, advertising, authorizing, licensing, or promoting any lottery, sweepstake, or other betting, gambling, or wagering scheme based, directly or indirectly, on any game or games engaged in or conducted or scheduled by any professional or amateur sports organization, or on any performance or performance in such games.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1991
Amends the National Labor Relations Act and the Railway Labor Act to make it an unfair labor practice for an employer to offer or grant: (1) permanent replacement employee status during a labor dispute; or (2) any employment preference to an individual who worked or indicated a willingness to work during a labor dispute over an employee who exercised specified rights during such dispute and who is working for, or has unconditionally offered to return to work for, the employer.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1991
Establishes the Commission on National Fiscal Priorities to report to the President and the Congress within six months of appointment on: (1) the functions that the national Government is required by the Constitution to perform, such as defense, highways, and international affairs; (2) those functions which have become so firmly established in national appropriations that they cannot be reasonably expected to end, such as welfare, harbors, and national parks; and (3) those other functions of government which the Constitution does not require the national government to provide, such as sewers, city streets, railroads, community development, and local mass transit. Requires the Commission to report within one year of its appointment on recommendations to abolish Federal programs in order to balance the budget consistent with constitutional requirements. Authorizes appropriations.
![Official portrait of Rep. Condit, Gary A. [D-CA-18]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/c000670_200.jpg)