United States · United States Congress · 2 February 2000
Keep Our Promise to America's Military Retirees Act - Includes as an employee, for purposes of Federal provisions authorizing enrollment under the Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) Program: (1) a member of the armed forces who began service before June 7, 1956, and retired after a minimum of 20 years of such service or by reason of a service-connected disability; and (2) the surviving widow or widower of such member. Directs the Secretary of Defense to enter into an agreement with the Office of Personnel Management to provide FEHB coverage to the following eligible beneficiaries: (1) a member or former member entitled to military retired or retainer pay; (2) an unremarried former spouse who was married to a member for at least 20 years, during which such member performed at least 20 years of retirement-creditable military service; (3) a dependent of a deceased qualifying member or former member; (4) a dependent of a living member or former member; and (5) a family member of such member. Repeals a provision prohibiting coverage under the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Uniformed Services for persons entitled to hospital insurance benefits under part A of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Act.
United States · United States Congress · 1 February 2000
Recognizes the 50th anniversary of the Korean War, and expresses the gratitude of the American people for the service of members of the armed forces during such War.
United States · United States Congress · 27 January 2000
Pope John Paul II Congressional Gold Medal Act - Authorizes the presentation of a gold medal to Pope John Paul II in recognition of his contributions to peace and religious understanding. Authorizes appropriations. Mandates that proceeds from duplicate bronze medal sales be deposited in the Numismatic Public Enterprise Fund.
United States · United States Congress · 22 November 1999
Chimpanzee Health Improvement, Maintenance and Protection Act - Amends title IV of the Public Health Service Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to provide for the establishment and operation of a national sanctuary system for all surplus federally owned chimpanzees that are no longer needed in research conducted or supported by the National Institutes of Health, the Food and Drug Administration, or other Federal agencies. Mandates that any surplus chimpanzee that is not owned by the Federal Government be accepted into the system if the owner transfers title to the chimpanzee to the sanctuary system. Provides for standards for permanent retirement of chimpanzees into the system. Requires such standards to empower the Secretary to authorize imposition of a fee (except in certain circumstances) for accepting a non-Federal chimpanzee into the system. Directs the Secretary to contract with a nonprofit private entity to establish and operate the system. Provides for funding. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants or contracts for the operation of facilities that provide for the retirement of chimpanzees in accordance with the same standards that apply to the sanctuary system.
United States · United States Congress · 18 November 1999
United States Training on and Commemoration of the Armenian Genocide Resolution - Calls upon the President: (1) to provide for appropriate training and materials to all Foreign Service officers, officials of the Department of State, and any other executive branch employee involved in responding to issues related to human rights, ethnic cleansing, and genocide by familiarizing them with the U.S. record relating to the Armenian Genocide and the consequences of the failure to enforce the judgments of the Turkish courts against the responsible officials; and (2) in his annual message commemorating the Armenian Genocide issued on or about April 24, to characterize the systematic and deliberate annihilation of 1.5 million Armenians as genocide and to recall the proud history of U.S. intervention in opposition to the Armenian Genocide.
United States · United States Congress · 17 November 1999
Calls upon the United States Trade Representative: (1) to consider the issues of runaway film production and market access for American-filmed entertainment as part of the discussion at the World Trade Organization (WTO) talks in Seattle; (2) to ensure that the United States enters into discussions with its trading partners and take steps to address issues that threaten employment and trade in the film industry; and (3) as a top U.S. priority at the WTO talks in Seattle, to make effective use of trade agreements to liberalize cultural content restrictions while addressing countries' cultural content and cultural sovereignty concerns.
United States · United States Congress · 16 November 1999
Requires the Secretary of Defense to report to Congress on the results of a study of production alternatives for the Joint Strike Fighter aircraft program and the effects on the tactical fighter aircraft industrial base of each alternative considered.
United States · United States Congress · 16 November 1999
Amends rule XVIII of the House of Representatives, with regard to deliberation of proposed Federal private sector mandates in the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, to repeal the limitation of unfunded mandates to certain Federal intergovernmental mandates, and thus extend the definition of "unfunded mandate" to mean any Federal mandate, including a Federal private sector mandate, the direct costs of which exceed the threshold otherwise specified for a reported bill or joint resolution in provisions of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974.
United States · United States Congress · 16 November 1999
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that the President should immediately transmit to Congress a report containing: (1) the President's certification as to whether the U.S. Government has ever requested the Government of Russia to provide information on the specific sites in the United States at which either the Russian or Soviet Government placed weapons or military equipment for use in a possible conflict with the United States; and (2) depending on such certification, either a full accounting of why such a request has not been made or detailed information on when and to whom each such request was transmitted and what information was provided by Russia in response. Calls for the President to provide to Congress a report describing in detail the President's plan to find and remove any military equipment or bombs (such as those identified in the so-called Mitrokhin files) that have been placed by the Russian or Soviet Government on U.S. territory.
United States · United States Congress · 10 November 1999
Authorizes the American Battle Monuments Commission to place within the Vietnam Veterans Memorial a plaque to honor those Vietnam veterans who died after service in the Vietnam War, but as a direct result of such service, and whose names are not otherwise eligible for placement on the Memorial wall.
United States · United States Congress · 10 November 1999
Veterans Health Fairness Resolution - Expresses the sense of Congress that the President's budget for Department of Veterans Affairs health care for FY 2001 and thereafter should include amounts necessary to ensure that all veterans, including those in priority group 7, are able to benefit from the broad array of Department health care services, including preventive care, primary care, and inpatient and outpatient services.
United States · United States Congress · 8 November 1999
State Flexibility Clarification Act - Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to require a congressional committee report on a public bill or joint resolution that includes a Federal intergovernmental mandate that reduces the Federal Government's responsibility to provide funding to State, local, or tribal governments under the then-existing program, to include in such report a statement of how the committee specifically intends the States to implement the reduction and to what extent the legislation provides additional flexibility, if any, to offset it. Requires the Director of the Congressional Budget Office to include in the estimate statement required with respect to such legislation: (1) if no additional flexibility is provided in the legislation, a description of whether and how the States can offset the reduction under existing law; or (2) if additional flexibility is provided, whether the resulting savings would offset the reductions in that program, assuming the States fully implement such flexibility.
United States · United States Congress · 5 November 1999
National Police Athletic League Youth Enrichment Act of 1999 - Directs the Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Justice Programs of the Department of Justice, for each of FY 2000 through 2004, to award a grant to the Police Athletic League (PAL) for the purposes of establishing PAL chapters to serve public housing projects and other distressed areas and expanding existing chapters to serve additional youths. Requires PAL, in order to be eligible to receive a grant, to submit to the Assistant Attorney General an application which shall include: (1) a long-term strategy to establish 250 additional chapters and a detailed summary of those areas in which new chapters will be established, or in which existing chapters will be expanded to serve additional youths, during the next fiscal year; (2) a plan to ensure that there are a total of not less than 570 chapters in operation before January 1, 2003; (3) a certification that there will be appropriate coordination with those communities where new chapters will be located; and (4) an explanation of the manner in which new chapters will operate without additional, direct Federal financial assistance once assistance under this Act is discontinued. Directs the Assistant Attorney General to review, and take action on, an application within 120 days after the date of submission. (Sec. 6) Directs that amounts made available under a grant awarded under this Act be used by the PAL to provide funding for the establishment of PAL chapters serving public housing projects and other distressed areas, or the expansion of existing PAL chapters. Requires that each new or expanded PAL chapter assisted carry out not less than four programs during non-school hours, of which: (1) not less than two programs shall provide mentoring assistance, academic assistance, recreational and athletic activities, or technology training; and (2) any remaining programs shall provide drug, alcohol, and gang prevention activities; health and nutrition counseling; cultural and social programs; conflict resolution training, anger management, and peer pressure training; job skill preparation activities; or Youth Police Athletic League Conferences or Youth Forums. (Sec. 7) Sets forth reporting requirements. (Sec. 8) Authorizes appropriations. Sets aside specified percentages of grant sums for research and evaluation, technical assistance, and management and administration.
United States · United States Congress · 3 November 1999
International Extradition Enforcement Act of 1999 - Directs the Secretary of State to report annually to Congress on efforts between the United States and a government of a foreign country to extradite to the United States an individual being held in custody by such government and whom the United States: (1) has charged with a major extraditable offense; (2) has found guilty of committing a major extraditable offense; or (3) is seeking to extradite to complete a judicially pronounced penalty of deprivation of liberty for a major extraditable offense. Defines "major extraditable offense" as murder, attempted murder, manslaughter, aggravated assault, kidnaping, abduction, or other false imprisonment, or rape. Prohibits the provision of development and security assistance to, or the issuance of a visa to any alien who is a high-ranking official of, a government of a country uncooperative in extradition efforts with the United States. Provides for the waiver of such prohibitions if it is in the vital national interests of the United States. Directs the Attorney General to establish procedures under which a State, which is requesting extradition of one or more individuals from a foreign country failing to comply with such request, may file a formal complaint with the Attorney General for purposes of determining whether or not such country has failed to extradite to the United States during the preceding two- year period five or more individuals (involving unrelated extradition requests) in accordance with this Act. Amends Federal criminal law to increase the criminal penalty for individuals who flee to avoid prosecution or give testimony in the United States. Imposes both civil and criminal penalties for persons who knowingly transfer from the United States anything of value to a person in a foreign country with the intent to assist such person in resisting extradition to the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 2 November 1999
Duty to Assist Veterans Act of 1999 - Requires the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, with respect to any veterans' benefits claim filed on or after July 14, 1999, to assist such claimant in developing information pertinent to a decision on the claim, including by informing the claimant of any medical or lay evidence needed and by providing a medical examination to determine the current disability of the veteran concerned.
United States · United States Congress · 25 October 1999
Food and Medicine for the World Act - Prohibits the President from imposing a unilateral agricultural sanction or unilateral medical sanction against a foreign country, except in specified circumstances, unless: (1) not less than 60 days before the sanction is proposed to be imposed, the President makes a specified report to Congress; and (2) Congress enacts a joint resolution approving the report.
United States · United States Congress · 25 October 1999
Providing Reliable Officers, Technology, Education, Community Prosecutors, and Training In Our Neighborhoods Act of 1999 or PROTECTION Act - Modifies provisions of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (the Act) regarding public safety and community policing ("cops on the beat" program, COPS) to authorize the Attorney General to use funding under COPS grants to: (1) increase prosecutor presence and to enhance law enforcement access to new technologies; (2) pay overtime to existing career law enforcement officers to the extent that such overtime is devoted to community policing efforts; and (3) promote higher education among in-service State and local law enforcement officers by reimbursing them for the costs associated with seeking a college or graduate school education. Includes among permitted additional grant projects: (1) specialized integrity and ethics training; (2) innovative proactive crime control and prevention programs involving school officials and religiously-affiliated organizations; (3) school-based partnerships between local law enforcement agencies and local school systems by using school resource officers who operate in and around elementary and secondary schools (current law) to serve as a law enforcement liaison with other Federal, State, and local law enforcement and regulatory agencies and to combat gang membership and criminal activity, firearms and explosives-related incidents, illegal use and possession of alcohol, and the illegal possession, use, and distribution of drugs; and (4) innovative programs that bring together a community's sheriff, police chief, and elderly residents to address the public safety concerns of older citizens. Authorizes the Attorney General to use up to five percent of appropriated funds for technical assistance and training to States, local governments, Indian tribal governments, and other public and private entities. Requires the technical assistance provided by the Attorney General to include the establishment and operation of regional community policing institutes training centers or facilities. Permits the functions of the centers or facilities to include instruction and seminars for specified individuals, including representatives of police labor and management organizations and community residents. Repeals provisions of the Act regarding: (1) termination of grants for hiring officers; and (2) preferential consideration of applications for certain grants. Allows grants to be used to assist: (1) police departments in employing specified professional, scientific, and technological advancements; and (2) State, local, or tribal prosecutors' offices in implementation of community-based prosecution programs that build on local community policing efforts. Reserves specified funds for units of local government with a population of less than 50,000. Authorizes the Attorney General to use no more than 50 percent of grant renewal funds to award grants targeted specifically for retention of police officers to grantees in good standing, with preference to those that demonstrate financial hardship or severe budget constraint that impacts the entire local budget and may result in the termination of employment for officers. Redefines: (1) "career law enforcement officer" to include sheriffs' deputies charged with supervising offenders who are released into the community but also engaged in local community policing efforts; and (2) "school resource officer" to mean a career law enforcement officer deployed in community-oriented policing and assigned to work in collaboration with schools and community-based organizations (as under current law) to engage in specified activities, including serving as a law enforcement liaison with other Federal, State, and local law enforcement and regulatory agencies to address and document crime and disorder problems, training students in conflict resolution and crime awareness, and assisting school administrators with the preparation of an annual report on the number of students expelled per year for bringing a weapon, firearm, or explosive to school. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 19 October 1999
Holocaust Education Assistance Act - Authorizes the Secretary of Education to make competitive grants to educational organizations to carry out educational programs about the Holocaust. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 14 October 1999
Wage and Employment Growth Act of 1999 - Title I: Amendments to Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 - Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to increase the Federal minimum wage (currently, $5.15 per hour) to: (1) $5.48 an hour during the year beginning on April 1, 2000; (2) $5.81 an hour during the year beginning on April 1, 2001; and (3) $6.15 an hour during the year beginning on April 1, 2002. (Sec. 101) Repeals the exclusion from (thus includes in) the meaning of regular rate of remuneration any sums paid as gifts, or in the nature of gifts made at Christmas time or on other special occasions (bonuses). (Sec. 102) Exempts from minimum wage and overtime requirements: (1) certain network or database analysts, designers, and developers, including any whose primary duty is the management or training of employees performing specified duties related to computer systems or software design, or development; (2) certain sales employees with specialized or technical product or service knowledge and a detailed understanding of customer needs, who earn at least one-and-a-half times the minimum wage, plus commissions, and meet other specified requirements; and (3) licensed funeral directors and embalmers. Title II: Small Business Provisions - Amends the Internal Revenue Code (the Code) to increase a self-employed individual's deduction for the health insurance costs of self and family to 100 percent. Denies such deduction only for any month the individual actually participates in an employer-subsidized health plan (currently, for any month the individual is eligible to participate). (Sec. 202) Increases to $30,000 the aggregate cost taken into account for the option to expense certain depreciable business assets of small businesses. (Sec. 203) Increases from 50 percent to: (1) 55 percent in 2001 and after 2001 to 60 percent the deduction for meal and entertainment expenses for small businesses; and (2) 80 percent the deduction of business meal expenses for individuals subject to Federal limitations on hours of service. (Sec. 205) Repeals specified occupational taxes relating to distilled spirits, wine, and beer. Revises the record-keeping requirements for wholesale and retail liquor dealers. Makes it unlawful for any liquor dealer (except one selling beer exclusively) to purchase distilled spirits from any person but a wholesale liquor dealer (excluding a wholesale dealer exclusively in beer) subject to specified record-keeping requirements. Title III: Pension Provisions - Subtitle A: Expanding Coverage - Increases limits on benefits and contributions under qualified pension plans. (Sec. 302) Amends the Code and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) with regard to the tax on prohibited transactions, and in particular certain transactions involving trusts which are part of an owner-employee plan, and which are not exempted from the tax. Limits the meaning of owner-employee, with respect to any non-exempt loan of any part of the corpus or income of a plan to an owner-employee or family member (subchapter S owner, partner, or sole proprietor), to: (1) a participant or beneficiary of an individual retirement plan; or (2) an employer or association of employees which establishes such a plan. (Sec. 303) Modifies top-heavy rules. Redefines certain key employees to: (1) eliminate the ten employees each of whom earns over $30,000 per year and owns the largest interests in the employer; and (2) include an officer of the employer earning more than $150,000 per year. Provides that employer matching contributions shall be taken into account for minimum contribution requirements. Declares that aggregate distributions during the last year (or, for in-service distributions, during the past five years) shall be taken into account when determining: (1) the present value of the cumulated accrued benefit for any employee; or (2) the amount of any employee's account. Excludes from the meaning of top-heavy plan any plan which consists solely of: (1) a cash or deferred arrangement using certain alternative methods of meeting nondiscrimination requirements; and (2) matching contributions which meet certain requirements of a specified additional alternative method of satisfying nondiscrimination tests. Exempts from the minimum benefit requirement, and determination of any employee's years of service with an employer, any service with an employer occurring during a plan year when the plan benefits no current or former employee (frozen plan). Declares that, with respect to top-heavy plans, determination of constructive stock ownership by a five-percent owner shall disregard family attribution requirements. (Sec. 304) Exempts elective deferrals of employer contributions not includable in an employee's gross income from specified limitations on an employer's deductions for such contributions to an employees' trust or annuity plan and compensation under a deferred payment plan. (Sec. 305) Repeals coordination requirements for deferred compensation plans of State and local governments and tax-exempt organizations. (Sec. 306) Eliminates the user fee for requests to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for determination letters with respect to the qualified status of any pension plan maintained solely by one or more eligible employers or any trust which is a part of the plan. (Sec. 307) Subjects participant's compensation to specified limits on deductions for employer contributions. (Sec. 308) Establishes an option to treat employee elective deferrals as qualified plus contributions (which shall not, however, be excludable from gross income). (Sec. 309) Amends ERISA to set the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) insurance premium rate at $5 for each individual plan participant in the case of a new single-employer plan maintained by a small employer. (Sec. 310) Provides for reductions of additional PBGC premiums for new and small plans. Subtitle B: Enhancing Fairness for Women - Amends the Code to allow eligible participants age 50 or over to make additional elective deferrals (catch-up contributions) in any plan year according to a schedule of percentage increments (from ten percent to 50 percent) between 2001 and 2005 and thereafter. (Sec. 322) Increases from 25 percent to 100 percent of compensation (up to $30,000) the maximum allowable annual addition to a participant's plan account. (Sec. 323) Provides for faster vesting of certain employer matching contributions. (Sec. 324) Directs the Secretary of the Treasury (Secretary) to simplify and finalize the regulations relating to specified minimum distribution requirements, and modify them to: (1) reflect current life expectancy; and (2) revise the required distribution methods so that, under reasonable assumptions, the amount of the required minimum distribution does not decrease over a participant's life expectancy. (Sec. 325) Amends the Code to provide for distribution or payment (division of benefits) from an eligible deferred compensation plan upon divorce. (Sec. 326) Directs the Secretary to revise the hardship distribution regulations to provide that six months is the period an employee is prohibited from making elective and employee contributions in order for a distribution to be deemed necessary to satisfy financial need (safe harbor relief for hardship withdrawals from cash or deferred arrangements). Subtitle C: Increasing Portability for Participants - Amends the Code to provide for rollovers among various specified kinds of plans. Revises the requirements for tax-exempt rollovers of individual retirement accounts (IRAs) into eligible (workplace) retirement plans. (Sec. 333) Exempts from certain limitations on the amount of a tax-exempt rollover from an exempt trust: (1) any portion of a distribution transferred in a direct trustee-to-trustee transfer to a qualified trust in a defined contribution plan, which is also separately accounted for; and (2) any portion transferred to an eligible retirement plan. (Sec. 334) Provides a hardship exception to the requirement that a tax-exempt rollover be made within 60 days after distribution. (Sec. 335) Amends the Code and ERISA to revise the treatment of a plan as failing to meet minimum vesting standards if a participant's accrued benefit is decreased by amendment of the plan. Declares that a defined contribution plan shall not be treated as failing to meet such requirements merely because the transferee plan does not provide some or all of the forms of distribution previously available under another defined contribution plan in specified circumstances. (Sec. 336) Revises certain restrictions on distributions from qualified cash or deferred arrangements. Eliminates a corporation's disposition of assets or of an interest in a subsidiary as events for which lump-sum distributions are covered (while retaining termination of a plan as a covered event). Changes separation from service to severance from employment as a threshold event for the covered distribution of amounts from a qualified cash or deferred arrangement. (Sec. 337) Excludes from gross income any amount transferred to a defined benefit governmental plan in a direct trustee-to-trustee transfer if it is for: (1) purchase of a permissive service credit; or (2) a repayment of cash-outs to which certain limitations on contributions do not apply. (Sec. 338) Amends the Code and ERISA with respect to restrictions on certain mandatory distributions to allow employers to disregard rollover contributions when determining the present value of nonforfeitable accrued benefits for cash-out purposes. (Sec. 339) Amends the Code, with respect to deferred compensation plans of State and local governments and tax-exempt organizations, to repeal certain additional minimum distribution requirements. Revises requirements for inclusion of deferred compensation in a participant's gross income to limit the taxable year: (1) to the taxable year in which the compensation or income is paid to the participant in the case of a State or local government; and (2) to the taxable year in which the compensation or income is paid or otherwise made available to the participant or other beneficiary in the case of a tax-exempt organization. Subtitle D: Strengthening Pension Security and Enforcement - Amends the Code and ERISA, with respect to the full-funding limitation, to repeal the 155 percent of current liability funding limit in the case of plan years beginning in 1999 or 2000. Sets the applicable percentage of current liability at 160 percent in 2001, 165 percent in 2002, 170 percent in 2003, and nothing afterwards. (Sec. 342) Revises the special rule for an employer's maximum deductible contribution to change the minimum amount, for plans with more than 100 participants, from the unfunded current liability to the unfunded termination liability. Excludes from termination liability, for plans with under 100 participants, any liability attributable to benefit increases for highly compensated employees resulting from a plan amendment made or effective within the last two years before the termination date. (Sec. 343) Amends ERISA with respect to transfer to the PBGC of a missing participant's benefits upon termination of a single-employer plan. Requires the PBGC to prescribe for ipmultiemployer plans missing participant benefit transfer rules similar to those for single-employer plans. Authorizes the plan administrator of a pension plan not otherwise subject to ERISA to elect to transfer to the PBGC a missing participant's benefits upon plan termination. (Sec. 344) Revises the requirements for periodic pension benefits statements. (Sec. 345) Changes from mandatory to discretionary the Secretary of Labor's authority to assess civil penalties against fiduciaries or other persons. Changes the penalty amount from 20 percent of the applicable recovery amount to any amount up to 20 percent of the applicable recovery amount. Revises the meaning of applicable recovery amount. Makes a person jointly and severally liable for the penalty to the same extent that such person is jointly and severally liable for the applicable recovery amount on which the penalty is based. Conditions the assessment of any penalty upon notice to the person and the opportunity for a hearing on the violation and the applicable recovery amount. (Sec. 346) Amends the Code with respect to the excise tax on nondeductible contributions to a qualified employer plan. Allows an employer, in determining the amount of nondeductible contributions, to elect not to take into account any contributions to a defined benefit plan except to the extent they exceed the full-funding limitation. (Sec. 347) Establishes an excise tax (of $100 per applicable individual per day) on a defined benefit plan for failing to give notice to participants of any plan amendment providing for a significant reduction in the rate of future benefit accrual. (Sec. 348) Amends the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997 with respect to certain limitations on investment in employer securities and employer real property by cash or deferred arrangements. Exempts from such limitations any elective deferral invested in assets consisting of qualifying employer securities, qualifying employer real property, or both, if such assets were acquired before January 1, 1999. (Sec. 350) Amends ERISA to require the convening of a National Summit on Retirement Income Savings at the White House in September 2009. Authorizes the Secretary of Labor to enter into a cooperative agreement with the American Savings Education Council with respect to the planning and operation of such Summit. Revises and adds to the list of required participants in the Summit. Repeals the limitation of additional Summit participants to 200. Provides for presidential appointment of over 100 participants, according to specified rules. Grants the Secretary of Labor reception and representation authority limited specifically to Summit events. (Sec. 351) Directs the Secretary of Labor to develop model language for: (1) the spousal consent required to waive the qualified joint and survivor annuity benefit or qualified preretirement survivor annuity benefit; and (2) a qualified domestic relations order with regard to alternate payees. (Sec. 352) Bars the Secretary of Labor, in certain circumstances (except when the Secretary files a complaint before final court approval of a settlement), from litigating class action or derivative action claims already resolved by a court-approved settlement agreement. Subtitle E: Reducing Regulatory Burdens - Amends the Code and ERISA, with respect to annual valuation of a plan's liability, to require actual valuation only once every three years of a plan whose assets are at least 125 percent of its current liability. Permits use of prior year valuations for any two consecutive plan years, so long as an actual valuation takes place in the third year. (Sec. 362) Amends the Code to allow the reinvestment in qualifying employer securities of any employee stock ownership plan dividend paid by a C corporation, without loss of the corporation's deduction from gross income. (Sec. 363) Amend the Tax Reform Act of 1986 to repeal the transition rule relating to certain highly compensated employees. (Sec. 364) Directs the Secretary to modify Treasury Regulations to provide that employees of tax-exempt organizations who are eligible to make contributions under a salary reduction agreement may be treated as excludable from a 401 (k) plan or 401 (m) plan if: (1) no such employee is eligible to participate in such 401(k) plan or 401(m) plan; and (2) 95 percent of other employees are eligible to participate in such a plan. (Sec. 365) Amends the Code to make a fringe benefit exclusion from gross income of any qualified retirement planning services provided to an employee and his spouse by an employer maintaining a qualified employer plan. (Sec. 366) Directs the Secretary to modify the annual return filing requirements for one-participant retirement plans (covering only the employer and spouse where the employer owns the entire business, or only one or more partners and spouses in a business partnership) to ensure that any plans with assets of $250,000 or less as of the close of the plan year need not file a return for that year. (Sec. 367) Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to continue to update and improve the Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System (or any successor program), giving special attention to certain tasks. (Sec. 368) Amends ERISA, with respect to limitations on the guarantee of single-employer plan benefits, to rename a "substantial owner" a "majority owner," who owns either the entire interest in an unincorporated trade or business, or: (1) 50 percent or more (currently more than ten percent) of either the capital interest or the profits interest in a partnership; or (2) 50 percent or more (currently more than ten percent) in value of either the voting stock of a corporation or all its stock. Revises the formula for the amount of benefits guaranteed for a majority owner of a plan which is in effect for less than 60 months when the plan terminates. Prescribes priorities for the allocation of assets to benefits when the assets available for the initial allocation are insufficient to satisfy in full the accrued benefits of all the individuals derived from their contributions. (Sec. 369) Amends the Code to repeal the restriction to situations where vouchers are not available of the exclusion from gross income of cash reimbursements as a qualified transportation fringe. (Sec. 370) Repeals the Secretary is mandate, with respect to the nondiscrimination test for matching contributions and employee contributions, to prescribe regulations to prevent the multiple use of the alternative limitation for any highly compensated employee. (Sec. 371) Directs the Secretary to provide that a plan shall be deemed to satisfy nondiscrimination requirements if it satisfies the facts and circumstances test as in effect before January 1, 1994, but only if: (1) it satisfies conditions prescribed by the Secretary to appropriately limit the availability of such test; and (2) it is submitted to the Secretary for a determination of whether it satisfies such test. Revises minimum coverage requirements to allow a plan that otherwise fails to meet such requirements to constitute a qualified plan if it meets certain requirements that were in effect immediately before enactment of the Tax Reform Act of 1986. (Such requirements stated that the plan must at least benefit employees qualifying under a classification set up by the employer and found by the Secretary not to be discriminatory in favor of employees who are officers, shareholders, or highly compensated.) Directs the Secretary to modify certain existing regulations with respect to employers operating separate lines of business to expand the ability of a pension plan to demonstrate compliance with the line of business requirements based upon the facts and circumstances surrounding the design and operation of the plan, even though the plan is unable to satisfy the mechanical tests currently used to determine compliance. (Sec. 372) Amends the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997 to extend to international organizations the moratorium on application of certain nondiscrimination rules applicable to State and local governmental plans. (Sec. 373) Increases from 90 to 180 days certain notice and consent periods regarding distributions. Directs the Secretary to modify certain consent regulations to provide that the description of a participant's right, if any, to defer receipt of a distribution shall also describe the consequences of failing to defer such receipt. (Sec. 374) Amends ERISA to revise the requirement that a plan administrator furnish an annual report to each participant to permit the administrator to furnish such reports only upon each participant's request. (Sec. 375) Revises the definition of excess benefit plan. (Sec. 376) Directs the Secretary of Labor to modify a certain regulation to provide that, except in the case of employment, after commencement of benefit payments, with a former employer, any required benefit suspension notice: (1) may be included in the summary plan description rather than in a separate notice; and (2) need not include a copy of the relevant plan provisions. (Sec. 377) Declares that, for purposes of determining the status under State insurance law of a church plan that is a welfare plan, such church plan (and any trust under it) shall be deemed a single-employer plan that: (1) reimburses costs from general church assets; (2) purchases insurance coverage with general church assets; or (3) both. Defines the term "reimbursing costs from general church assets" to mean engaging in a practice that does not have the effect of transferring or spreading risk. Subtitle F: Plan Amendments - Presribes application requirements for plan or contract amendments. Title IV: Extension of Work Opportunity Credit and Welfare-to-Work Credit - Amends the Code to extend from June 30, 1999, through December 31, 2001, the employer's work opportunity credit and welfare-to-work credit. (Sec. 401) Revises the exclusion from the work opportunity credit of wages paid to an employer's nonqualifying rehires to repeal the restriction of such exclusion to individuals previously employed by the employer at any time during which the individual was not a member of a targeted group (thus extending such exclusion to any individuals previously employed by the employer, regardless of whether they were or were not members of a targeted group.) Title V: Estate Tax Relief - Subtitle A: Reductions of Estate and Gift Tax Rates - Amends the Code to repeal the two highest estate tax brackets and replace them with a top bracket of "Over $2,500,000", for which the estate tax rate shall be $1,025,800, plus 50% of the excess over $2,500,000. Repeals the phase out of graduated rates and the unified credit. Requires additional reductions in estate and gift tax rates of one percent for calendar year 2003 and two percent for calendar year 2004 and thereafter. Subtitle B: Unified Credit Replaced With Unified Exemption Amount - Repeals the unified credits against the estate and gift taxes, and replaces them with a unified exemption amount, determined by specified formulae involving amounts ranging from $675,000 in calendar 2001 up to $1 million in calendar 2006 and thereafter. Grants a $60,000 exemption to the estate of a nonresident, non-U.S. citizen, with specified variations for residents of U.S. possessions. Subtitle C: Modifications of Generation-skipping Transfer Tax - Declares that, if any individual makes an indirect skip during such individual's lifetime, any unused portion of such individual's generation-skipping transfer (GST) exemption shall be allocated to the property transferred to the extent necessary to make the inclusion ratio for such property zero. Requires allocation to the property transferred of the entire unused portion if the amount of the indirect skip exceeds such unused portion. (Sec. 522) Declares that, if a trust is severed in a qualified severance, the trusts resulting from such severance shall be treated as separate trusts thereafter. (Sec. 523) Revises valuation rules for gifts for which a gift tax return was filed or deemed allocation made. Provides that, if an allocation of the GST exemption to any transfers of property is deemed to have been made at the close of an estate tax inclusion period, the value of the property shall be its value at such time. (Sec. 524) Directs the Secretary to prescribe circumstances and procedures under which extensions of time will be granted to make an allocation of GST exemption or an election not to apply specified allocation requirements to certain lifetime direct skips, indirect skips, or transfers to a particular trust. Subtitle D: Conservation Easements - Redefines land subject to a qualified conservation easement to mean land, on the decedent's date of death, located in or within: (1) 50 miles (currently, 25 miles) of a metropolitan area; (2) 50 miles (currently, 25 miles) of a national park or wilderness area.; or (3) 25 miles (currently, ten miles) of an Urban National Forest. Title VI: Tax Relief for Distressed Communities and Industries - Subtitle A: American Community Renewal Act of 1999 - American Community Renewal Act of 1999 - Title I: Designation of and Tax Incentives for Renewal Communities - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to authorize the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to designate (upon local or State nomination) up to 15 renewal communities, of which at least three shall be in rural areas. (Sec. 602) Requires for nomination purposes that: (1) the area be experiencing high rates of poverty and unemployment and general distress; and (2) State and local governments enter into written contracts with community organizations to promote specified economic growth and employment activities. Excludes from gross income capital gains on the sale or exchange of a qualified community asset (stock, business property, or partnership interest) held for more than five years. Allows a specified deduction for amounts paid into a family development account on behalf of an individual or another qualified individual who is a renewal community resident. Excludes from gross income account distributions used for qualified family development expenses (postsecondary education, first-home purchase, business capitalization, medical, and rollovers). Provides a penalty (with exceptions) in addition to inclusion as gross income for nonqualifying distributions. Authorizes: (1) designation of earned income tax credit payments for family development account deposit; (2) a commercial building revitalization tax deduction; (3) increased first year expensing for renewal community businesses; (4) extension of environmental remediation cost expensing and the work opportunity credit for renewal communities; and (5) similar tax treatment of renewal communities and enterprise zones for specified youth residence requirements. (Sec. 605) Permits a deduction for contributions to a family development account whether or not a taxpayer itemizes. Makes conforming amendments to provisions respecting: (1) tax on excess contributions and prohibited transactions; (2) trust and annuity information; (3) tax exemption applications; and (4) the commercial revitalization credit. Subtitle B: Timber Incentives - Amends the Code, with respect to the deductible amortization of reforestation expenditures, to increase the limitation on the aggregate amount of amortizable basis acquired during the taxable year from $10,000 to $25,000 (and from $5,000 to $12,5000 in the case of a separate return by a married individual) but suspends the application of such limitation between December 31, 1999 and January 1, 2004. Title VII: Real Estate Provisions - Subtitle A: Improvements in Low-Income Housing Credit - Amends the Code, with respect to the low-income housing credit, to revise the formula for the State housing credit ceiling. Replaces the set multiplicand of $1.25 (to be multiplied by the State population) with a graduated applicable multiplicand rising from $1.35 for calendar year 2000 to $1.75 for calendar year 2004 and thereafter, and a maximum product of $2 million. Provides for cost-of-living adjustments to the State ceiling. (Sec. 702) Revises the housing priority selection criteria a housing credit agency must use to develop a qualified plan for allocating housing credit dollar amounts among projects. Requires such criteria to include: (1) whether the project would use exisitng housing as part of a community revitalization plan; (2) tenant populations of individuals with children; and (3) projects intended for eventual tenant ownership. Drops from such criteria participation of local tax-exempt organizations. Requires a qualified allocation plan to: (1) give preference in making allocations to projects located in qualified census tracts whose development contributes to a concerted community revitalization plan; and (2) provide a procedure for agency monitoring for noncompliance with habitability standards through regular site visits. (Sec. 703) Requires housing credit agencies to: (1) provide for a comprehensive market study (by a disinterested party, at the developer's expense) of the housing needs of low-income individuals in the area to be served by the project before the credit allocation is made; and (2) make public a written explanation for any allocation of a housing credit dollar amount not made in accordance with the agency's established priorities and selection criteria. (Sec. 704) Revises special rules for the determination of the adjusted basis of buildings eligible for the low-income housing credit. Requires adjusted basis to include property used throughout the taxable year in providing any community service facility designed to serve primarily individuals (even if they are not tenants) whose income is 60 percent or less of area median income. Declares that assistance under the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act of 1996 shall be disregarded in determining whether a building is federally subsidized for purposes of the low-income housing credit. (Sec. 705) Revises the definition of a qualified building (placed in service not later than the second calendar year following a housing credit dollar amount allocation) with respect to which the amount of a low-income housing credit may exceed the credit amount allocated to the building. Sets an alternative date for valuation of the taxpayer's actual basis in the project of which the building is a part (where the actual basis is more than ten percent of the taxpayer's reasonably expected basis). Allows the valuation of the actual basis to be as of the later of the date which is six months after the date that the allocation was made or (as currently) the close of the calendar year in which the allocation is made. Revises the formula for determination of the amount of State housing credit ceiling returned in a calendar year to include the dollar amount previously allocated to a project which fails to meet the ten percent test on a date after the close of the calendar year in which the allocation was made. Revises special rules for the increased basis of a building located in certain high cost areas to redefine a qualified census tract to include, as an alternative to existing criteria, a tract with a poverty rate of at least 25 percent. (Sec. 706) Revises the formula for determining unused housing credit carryovers allocated among certain States. Subtitle B: Provisions Relating to Real Estate Investment Trusts - Amends the Code with respect the real estate investment trusts (REITs). Modifies the asset diversification test for a REIT to disregard in calculating the permissible 25 percent of total assets represented by securities any straight debt meeting specified requirements. (Sec. 712) Excludes from impermissible tenant service income (thus including as rents from real property meeting the requirements of a REIT) any amount received or accrued by the REIT for services furnished or rendered, or management or operation provided, through a taxable REIT subsidiary. Sets forth a special rule including in rents from real property, if specified rental and lodging facility requirements are met, any amounts paid to a REIT by a taxable REIT subsidiary. (Sec. 713) Defines taxable REIT subsidiary. (Sec. 714) Disqualifies for the corporate deduction for interest on indebtedness any interest paid or accrued (directly or indirectly) by a taxable REIT subsidiary to the REIT (earnings stripping). (Sec. 715) Imposes on a REIT a tax equal to 100 percent of redetermined rents, redetermined deductions, and excess interest. (Sec. 721) Sets forth a special foreclosure rule for health care properties acquired by a REIT as the result of the termination of a lease of such property (other than a termination by reason of a default, or the imminence of a default, on the lease). Requires disregard of income derived or received by a REIT from an independent contractor to the extent it is attributable to: (1) any lease of property in effect on the date the REIT acquired the qualified health care property; or (2) any lease of property entered into after such date if a lease of such property from the trust was in effect on such date, and under the terms of the new lease, the REIT receives a substantially similar or lesser benefit in comparison to the first kind of lease. (Sec. 731) Reduces from 95 percent to 90 percent of REIT income and of the excess of the net income from foreclosure property over the tax on foreclosure property specified components of the formula for determination of the amount of dividend deductions which help establish the taxability of REIT income. Reduces from 95 percent to 90 percent of REIT gross income a specified component of the formula for determining the amount of tax imposed on a REIT for failure to meet certain requirements. (Sec. 741) Requires that only persons who own, directly or indirectly, more than five percent of a certain class of stock regularly traded on an established securities market be taken into account as owning any of the stock of such class for purposes of the 35-percent ownership rule determining whether a person is (under 35-percent ownership) or is not (over 35-percent ownership) an independent contractor for purposes of determining rents from real property, and of the special rules for foreclosure property, with respect to REIT taxation. (Sec. 751) Declares that any distribution by a regulated investment company (RIC) made in order to comply with certain tax requirements shall be treated as made from the earliest earnings and profits accumulated in any taxable year to which certain other requirements did not apply (non-RIC year) rather than the most recently accumulated earnings and profits. Subtitle C: Private Activity Bond Volume Cap - Provides for an accelerated phase-in of specified increases in the volume cap on private activity bonds. Subtitle D: Exclusion From Gross Income for Certain Forgiven Mortgage Obligations - Excludes from gross income the discharge of qualified residential indebtedness, that is, the excess (if any) of the outstanding principal amount of such indebtedness (immediately before discharge), over the sum of any sales proceeds and any other outstanding principal indebtedness secured by such property. Title VIII: Miscellaneous Provisions - Amends the Code with respect to the credit for expenditures to provide access to disabled individuals to include in such credit 50 percent of so much of the eligible bus access expenditures for the taxable year with respect to each eligible bus as exceed $250 but do not exceed $30,250. (Sec. 802) Excludes from an employee's gross income as a scholarship up to $2,000 per taxable year of certain educational benefits provided by an employer to the employee's child. (Sec. 803) Allows a tax credit for 20 percent (up to $20,000) of the qualified wages paid or incurred to each qualified employee during the calendar year (ending with or within the taxable year) by each qualified U.S. independent film and television production.
United States · United States Congress · 14 October 1999
Amends the Act authorizing construction of the San Luis unit of the Central Valley Project, California, to eliminate certain restrictions on water service for lands in that unit's service area. Directs the Secretary of the Interior to: (1) revise current water agreements between the United States and California to reflect such amendment; and (2) not enforce any such restriction pending such amendment.
United States · United States Congress · 7 October 1999
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that: (1) the Federal Government has a responsibility to continue to increase diabetes research funding, endeavor to raise awareness of the importance of the early detection and proper treatment, and consider ways to improve access to, and the quality of, health care services for diagnosing and treating diabetes; (2) all Americans should take an active role in fighting diabetes by using all the means available; and (3) national and community organizations and health care providers should endeavor to promote awareness of diabetes and its complications, and encourage early detection.
United States · United States Congress · 5 October 1999
Russian Economic Restoration and Justice Act of 1999 - Amends the Bretton Woods Agreements Act to direct the Secretary of the Treasury to instruct the U.S. Executive Director at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to use the U.S. vote to urge the IMF to: (1) not provide any assistance to the Russian Federation government until there is in effect a Russian federal law that implements specified economic reforms; and (2) provide assistance to the Russian Federation only to aid in implementation of such reforms. Establishes a Russian-American financial oversight commission to monitor the use of Western resources in Russia. Expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) there should be established joint United States-Russian business, economics, and agricultural education programs in which Russian Federation students on completion of their studies in the United States be required to return to the Russian Federation and work for the federal or regional government in Russia; and (2) the United States and the government of the Russian Federation should create a program which would link successful U.S. business leaders with their Russian Federation counterparts so that Russian Federation companies will be better able to access a pool of resources and knowledge to assist them in their transition to successfully competing in a market-based economy. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to instruct the U.S. Executive Director at the IMF to use the U.S. vote to urge the IMF to create a commission, composed of prominent international financial experts, to draw up recommendations for reforming the IMF, with a view to achieving more transparency in the structures of the IMF and increasing the effectiveness of its programs while decreasing financial risk. Establishes a pilot housing loan program (to be administered through a nonprofit corporation) in which the average Russian citizen may attain affordable home ownership.
United States · United States Congress · 1 October 1999
Expresses the sense of Congress that the Brooklyn Museum of Art should not receive Federal funds unless it closes its exhibit featuring works of a sacrilegious nature.
United States · United States Congress · 28 September 1999
Hass Avocado Promotion, Research, and Information Act of 1999 - Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to issue a marketing order, subject to producer and importer referendum approval, providing for research and promotion of Hass avocados. Sets forth marketing order terms and related provisions, including establishment of a Hass Avocado Board. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 28 September 1999
Keep Our Promise to America's Military Retirees Act - Amends Federal employee provisions to include the following as an employee, for purposes of authorized enrollment under the Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) Program: (1) a member of the armed forces who began service before June 7, 1956, and retired after a minimum of 20 years of such service or by reason of a service-connected disability; and (2) the surviving widow or widower of such member. Directs the Secretary of Defense to enter into an agreement with the Office of Personnel Management to provide FEHB coverage to the following eligible beneficiaries: (1) a member or former member entitled to military retired or retainer pay who is also entitled to hospital insurance benefits under part A of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act; (2) an unremarried former spouse who was married to a member for at least 20 years, during which such member performed at least 20 years of retirement-creditable military service; (3) a dependent of a deceased qualifying member or former member; (4) a dependent of a living member or former member who is entitled to Medicare hospital insurance benefits; and (5) a family member of such member. Repeals a provision prohibiting coverage under the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Uniformed Services for persons entitled to hospital insurance benefits under part A of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Act.
United States · United States Congress · 27 September 1999
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow businesses a limited reclamation credit of 20 percent of the basis of each qualified reclamation property placed in service during the taxable year. Defines qualified reclamation property as, among other things, qualified recycling property or qualified remanufacturing property.
United States · United States Congress · 23 September 1999
Captive Elephant Accident Prevention Act of 1999 - Prohibits, and sets penalties for, knowingly making available an elephant for use in a traveling show or circus, or for the purpose of allowing individuals to ride that elephant.
United States · United States Congress · 23 September 1999
Declares it is the sense of the House of Representatives that the House should: (1) not consider legislation that would spend any of the social security surplus; (2) resist any effort to spend the on-budget surplus should Congress and the administration not reach an agreement on the issue of taxes; and (3) continue to pursue efforts to continue to reduce the $3.618 trillion in debt held by the public.
United States · United States Congress · 22 September 1999
Calls upon the President: (1) not to participate in any international negotiation in which antidumping or antisubsidy rules are part of the negotiating agenda; (2) to refrain from submitting for congressional approval agreements that require changes to the current antidumping and countervailing duty laws and enforcement policies of the United States; and (3) to enforce the antidumping and countervailing duty laws vigorously in all pending and future cases.
United States · United States Congress · 15 September 1999
Constitutional Amendment - Declares that, to secure the people's right to acknowledge God according to the dictates of conscience: (1) neither the United States nor any State shall establish any official religion; (2) the people's right to pray and to recognize their religious beliefs, heritage, or traditions on public property, including schools, shall not be infringed; and (3) neither the United States nor any State shall require any person to join in prayer or other religious activity, prescribe school prayers, discriminate against religion, or deny equal access to a benefit on account of religion.
United States · United States Congress · 8 September 1999
Authorizes the President, on behalf of the Congress, to present congressional gold medals to astronauts Neil A. Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins, in recognition of their monumental and unprecedented feat of space exploration, as well as their achievements in the advancement of science and promotion of the space program. Authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to strike and sell bronze duplicates. Requires receipts from such sales to be deposited in the U.S. Mint Public Enterprise Fund.
United States · United States Congress · 8 September 1999
Wildland Firefighters Pay Equity Act of 1999 - Amends Federal Civil Service provisions regarding the computation of overtime pay to provide that: (1) the overtime hourly rate of pay for U.S. Forest Service employees in the Departments of Agriculture and Interior engaged in emergency wildland fire suppression is an amount equal to one and one-half times the hourly rate of such employees' basic pay, whether such pay falls below, equals, or exceeds the minimum rate of basic pay for GS-10; and (2) all that amount is premium pay.
United States · United States Congress · 5 August 1999
Pacific Salmon Recovery Act of 1999 - Authorizes the Secretary of Commerce, subject to appropriations, to provide financial assistance for salmon habitat restoration activities to: (1) Alaska, Washington, Oregon, and California; and (2) tribal governments or Alaska native regional corporations of Indian tribes on behalf of which lands located within, or on the border of, such States are held in trust by the United States and that the Secretary determines have economic or other interests in salmon habitat restoration. Allocates shares equally to States and treats all tribal governments collectively as a State. Provides for a memorandum of understanding regarding use of the assistance between the Secretary and a State or tribal government seeking assistance under this Act. Permits the use of assistance outside the jurisdiction of the recipient if the assisted activity will provide conservation benefits to naturally produced salmon in streams of concern to the recipient. Requires: (1) States to match grants provided under this Act; and (2) tribal governments to pay certain administrative costs. Directs States and tribal governments seeking assistance under this Act to establish citizens advisory committees or other similar fora for the public to participate in obtaining and using assistance under this Act. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 5 August 1999
AIDS Marshall Plan Fund for Africa Act - Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to establish the AIDS Marshall Plan Fund for Africa Corporation (AMPFA Corporation) which shall carry out a program to provide assistance for HIV-AIDS research, prevention, and treatment activities in Africa. Establishes the AIDS Marshall Plan Fund for Africa which shall consist of contributions from private sources and from foreign governments, including the governments of other G-8 countries (France, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Italy, and Russia). Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 2 August 1999
Authorizes the President, on behalf of the Congress, to present a congressional gold medal to General Henry H. Shelton in recognition of his exemplary performance as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in coordinating the planning, strategy, and execution of the United States and NATO combat action and his invaluable contributions to the United States and to the successful return to peace in the Balkans. Authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to strike and sell bronze duplicates. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 29 July 1999
Federal Employee Retirement Contributions Act of 1999 - Amends Federal retirement provisions to reduce to seven percent after December 31, 1999, the required retirement contribution by Federal employees participating under the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) (such contribution currently is scheduled to be 7.4 percent for calendar year 2000, and 7.5 percent for 2001). Reduces similarly the required percentage contribution under CSRS for Members of Congress and congressional employees, law enforcement or firefighting personnel, certain judges and magistrates, and nuclear material couriers. Makes similar reductions for participants in the Federal Employees' Retirement System (FERS). Makes conforming reductions with respect to military and volunteer service under FERS. Amends the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 and the Foreign Service Act of 1980 to make similar employee retirement contribution reductions under the Central Intelligence Agency Retirement and Disability System, the Foreign Service Retirement and Disability System, and the Foreign Service Pension System.
United States · United States Congress · 27 July 1999
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Domestic Uses of Encryption Title II: Government Procurement Title III: Exports of Encryption Title IV: Liability Limitations Title V: International Agreements Title VI: Miscellaneous Provisions Encryption for the National Interest Act - Declares that it is U.S. policy to protect public computer networks through the use of strong encryption technology, promote the export of encryption products developed and manufactured in the United States, and preserve public safety and national security. Title I: Domestic Uses of Encryption - Makes it lawful for any person within any State and for any United States person to use any encryption product, regardless of encryption algorithm selected, encryption bit length chosen, or implementation technique or medium used, except as otherwise provided by this Act or by law. Defines "United States person" to mean any U.S. citizen, any other person organized under the laws of any State, and any person organized under the laws of any foreign country who is owned or controlled by such individuals. (Sec. 103) Amends the Federal criminal code to prohibit, and set penalties for, knowingly using encryption in furtherance of the commission of a criminal offense for which the person may be prosecuted in a U.S. district court. Prohibits the court from placing on probation any person convicted of such a violation and prohibits the term of imprisonment imposed from running concurrently with any other term imposed for the underlying criminal offense. Specifies that the use of encryption by itself shall not establish probable cause to believe that a crime is being or has been committed. Makes it unlawful for any person to intentionally: (1) obtain or use decryption information without lawful authority for the purpose of decrypting data, including communications; (2) exceed lawful authority in decrypting data; (3) break the encryption code of another person without lawful authority for the purpose of violating the privacy or security of that person or depriving that person of any property rights; (4) impersonate another person for the purpose of obtaining decryption information of that person without lawful authority; (5) facilitate or assist in the encryption of data, knowing that such data are to be used in furtherance of a crime; or (6) disclose decryption information in violation of code provisions. Sets penalties for violations. Requires a court of competent jurisdiction to issue an order ex parte granting an investigative or law enforcement officer (officer) timely access to the plaintext of encrypted data, or requiring any person in possession of decryption information to provide such information to a duly authorized officer: (1) upon the application by a Government attorney that is made under oath and that provides a factual basis establishing the relevance of the information sought to a law enforcement, foreign counterintelligence, or international terrorism investigation; and (2) if the court finds that the information being sought is relevant to an ongoing investigation and the officer is entitled to such information. Directs that the order issued by the court: (1) be placed under seal, except that a copy may be made available to the officer authorized to obtain access to the information sought in the application; and (2) subject to notification procedures, be made available to the person responsible for providing the information to the officer. Bars disclosure of an application made or order issued under this section, except as specifically permitted by this section or another court order. Directs that there be created an electronic or similar type of record of each instance in which an officer, pursuant to an order under this section, gains access to the plaintext of otherwise encrypted information, or is provided decryption information, without the knowledge or consent of the owner of the data who is the user of the encryption product involved. Authorizes the court issuing the order to require that the record be maintained in a place and manner that is not within the officer's custody or control. Requires: (1) the record to be tendered to the court, upon notice from the court; and (2) the court to make the original and a certified copy of the record available to the Government attorney and to the attorney for, or directly to, the owner of the data who is the user of the encryption product, pursuant to specified notification procedures. Specifies that nothing herein shall be construed to enlarge or modify the circumstances or procedures under which a Government entity is entitled to intercept or obtain oral, wire, or electronic communications or information. Directs the court, within a reasonable time but not later than 90 days after the filing of an application for such an order which is granted, to cause to be served to specified parties an inventory which shall include notice of: (1) the entry of the order or application; (2) the date of the entry of the application and issuance of the order; and (3) the fact that the person's decryption information or plaintext data has been provided or accessed by an officer. Allows the court, upon the filing of a motion, to make available for inspection to that person or that person's counsel such portions of the plaintext, applications, and orders as the court determines to be in the interest of justice. Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) postponement of inventory for good cause; (2) admission of encrypted information into evidence; (3) contempt; (4) motions to suppress; (5) appeal by the United States; (6) a civil action for violations; (7) a statute of limitations; (8) exclusive remedies; (9) technical assistance by a provider of encryption technology or network service; and (10) reporting requirements. Authorizes an officer to whom plaintext or decryption information is provided to use such information only for purposes of conducting a lawful criminal investigation, foreign counterintelligence, or international terrorism investigation and for purposes of preparing for and prosecuting any criminal violation of law. Bars any such information provided to an officer from being disclosed, except by court order, to any other person for use in a civil proceeding that is unrelated to a criminal investigation and prosecution for which the information is so authorized. Allows such order to issue only upon a showing by the party seeking disclosure that there is no alternative means of obtaining the information being sought where the court also finds that the interests of justice would not be served by nondisclosure. Prohibits an officer from using decryption information to determine the plaintext of any data unless it has obtained lawful authority to obtain such data under other lawful authorities. Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) the return of decryption information; (2) other disclosure of such information; (3) identification of material that discloses such information; and (4) responsibility of the officer to reasonably assure that inadvertent disclosure does not occur. Title II: Government Procurement - Authorizes the President to require an encryption product or service procured to provide the security service of data confidentiality for a computer system owned and operated by the Government to include recoverability features or functions that enable the timely decryption of encrypted data or timely access to plaintext by an authorized party without the knowledge or cooperation of the person using such products or services. Requires the President to ensure that all encryption products purchased or used by the Government are supportive of and consistent with: (1) all statutory obligations to protect sources and methods of intelligence collection and activities; and (2) those needs required for military operations and the conduct of foreign policy. (Sec. 202) Authorizes the President to direct that any communications network established for the purpose of conducting the business of the Government use encryption products that: (1) include features or functions that enable the timely decryption of encrypted data or timely access to plaintext by an authorized party without the knowledge or cooperation of the person using such products or services; and (2) are supportive of and consistent with all statutory obligations to protect sources and methods of intelligence collection and activities and those needs required for military operations and the conduct of foreign policy. (Sec. 203) Authorizes the President to require as a condition of any Government contract that any encryption product used by a private vendor in carrying out the contract include features or functions that enable the timely decryption of encrypted data or timely access to plaintext by an authorized party without the knowledge or cooperation of the person using such products or services. (Sec. 204) Permits an encryption product to be labeled to inform Government users that the product is authorized for sale to or for use by Government agencies or Government contractors in transactions and communications with the Government under this title. (Sec. 205) Bars the Government from requiring the use of encryption standards for the private sector, except as otherwise authorized by section 204. (Sec. 206) Makes this title inapplicable to encryption products and services used solely for access control, authentication, integrity, nonrepudiation, digital signatures, or other similar purposes. Title III: Exports of Encryption - Directs the President to control the export of all dual-use encryption products. Authorizes the President to deny the export of any encryption product on the basis that its export is contrary to national security. Provides that any decision made by the President or his designee regarding the export of encryption products under this title shall not be subject to judicial review. (Sec. 302) Makes encryption products with encryption strength of 64 bits or less eligible for export under a license exception if: (1) such encryption product is submitted for a one-time technical review, does not require licensing under otherwise applicable regulations, and is not intended for a country, end user, or end use that is by regulation ineligible to receive such product and is otherwise qualified for export; (2) the exporter, within 180 days after the export of the product, submits a certification identifying the intended end use and intended recipient of the product and provides the names and addresses of its distribution chain partners; and (3) the exporter, at the time of submission of the product for technical review, provides proof that its distribution chain partners have contractually agreed to abide by all U.S. laws and regulations concerning the export and reexport of encryption products designed or manufactured within the United States. Requires the technical review to be completed within 45 days after submission of all required information. Directs the President to specify the information that must be submitted for the one-time technical review. Prohibits the exportation of an encryption product during the technical review of that product. Provides for: (1) periodic review of the license exception eligibility level; and (2) an export license exception for an encryption product whether or not it contains a method of decrypting encrypted data. (Sec. 303) Authorizes the President to permit the export of encryption products with an encryption strength exceeding the maximum level eligible for a license exception if the export is consistent with national security. (Sec. 304) Directs the President to establish procedures for the expedited review of commodity classification requests, or export license applications, involving encryption products that are specifically approved by regulation for export. (Sec. 305) Authorizes the President to grant an export license for encryption products with an encryption strength exceeding the maximum level eligible for a license exception which are designed or manufactured within the United States (with an exception) under the following conditions: (1) there shall not be any requirement, as a basis for an export license, that a product contains a method of gaining timely access to plaintext or decryption information; and (2) the export license applicant shall submit the product for technical review, a certification under oath identifying the intended use of the product and the expected end user or class of end users of the product, proof that its distribution chain partners have contractually agreed to abide by all U.S. laws and regulations concerning the export and reexport of encryption products designed or manufactured within the United States, and the names and addresses of its distribution chain partners. Requires the technical review to be completed within 45 days after submission of all required information. Bars exportation of an encryption product during the technical review. Requires all exporters of encryption products designed or manufactured within the United States to: (1) submit a report to the Secretary of Commerce (the Secretary) at any time the exporter has reason to believe any such exported product is being diverted to a use or a user not approved at the time of export; (2) report any pirating of their technology or intellectual property to the Secretary as soon as practicable after discovery; and (3) submit to the Secretary a report specifying the particular product sold, the name and address of the ultimate end user of the product (if known), or the name and address of the next purchaser in the distribution chain, and the intended use of the product sold. Authorizes the Secretary, the Secretary of Defense, and the Secretary of State to exercise the authorities they have under other provisions of law to carry out this title. Grants the President specified waiver authority. (Sec. 306) Establishes an Encryption Industry and Information Security Board, which shall undertake an advisory role for the President. Sets forth provisions regarding the Board's purposes, membership, meetings, findings and recommendations, and termination. Specifies that the Board shall have no authority to review any export determination made under this title and that the consideration of foreign availability by the Board include computer software that is distributed over the Internet or advertised for sale, license, or transfer. Title IV: Liability Limitations - Provides that, except for a person who provides plaintext or decryption information to another in violation of this Act, no civil or criminal liability shall attach to anyone for disclosing or providing: (1) the plaintext of encrypted data; (2) the decryption information of such data; or (3) technical assistance for access to the plaintext of, or decryption information for, such data. (Sec. 402) Makes compliance with this Act a complete defense for any civil action for damages based upon activities covered by this Act, other than an action founded on contract. (Sec. 403) Specifies that an objectively reasonable reliance on the legal authority provided by this Act authorizing access to the plaintext of otherwise encrypted data or to decryption information that will allow the timely decryption of data that is otherwise encrypted shall be an affirmative defense to any criminal or civil action that may be brought under the laws of the United States or any State. Title V: International Agreements - Expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) the President shall conduct negotiations with foreign governments for purposes of establishing binding export control requirements on strong non-recoverable encryption products; and (2) such agreements should safeguard the privacy of U.S. citizens, prevent economic espionage, and enhance U.S. information security needs. (Sec. 502) Authorizes the President to consider a government's refusal to negotiate such agreements when considering U.S. participation in any cooperation or assistance program with that country. (Sec. 503) Sets forth reporting requirements. Title VI: Miscellaneous Provisions - Directs the Attorney General to compile, and maintain in classified form, data on: (1) the instances in which encryption has interfered with, impeded, or obstructed the ability of the Department of Justice (DOJ) to enforce U.S. law; and (2) the instances where DOJ has been successful in overcoming any encryption encountered in an investigation. Requires that such information, including an unclassified summary, be submitted to Congress annually beginning October 1, 2000. (Sec. 603) Authorizes appropriations for the Technical Support Center of the Federal Bureau of Investigation for FY 2000-2003.
United States · United States Congress · 15 July 1999
Immigration Reorganization and Improvement Act of 1999 - Establishes in the Department of Justice: (1) the Bureau of Immigration Services; and (2) the Bureau of Immigration Enforcement. Sets forth provisions respecting the transfer of functions, personnel, and appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 15 July 1999
Designates the U.S. Post Office building located at 3101 West Sunflower Avenue in Santa Ana, California, as the Hector G. Godinez Post Office Building.
United States · United States Congress · 14 July 1999
Fair Tax Act of 1999 - Title I: Repeal of the Income Tax, Payroll Taxes, and Estate and Gift Taxes - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to repeal subtitle A (Income Taxes), B (Estate and Gift Taxes), and C (Employment Taxes) of the Internal Revenue Code. Title II: Sales Tax Enacted - Imposes a tax on the use or consumption in the United States of taxable property or services. Sets the tax rate at 23 percent for the calendar year 2001. Sets the rate, for years after 2001, at the combined sum of the general revenue rate (14.91 percent), the old-age survivors and disability rate, and the hospital insurance rate. Sets forth provisions concerning, among other things; (1) imports and exports; (2) definitions; (3) credits and refunds; (4) a "family consumption allowance"; (5) Federal and State cooperative tax administration; (6) administrative matters; (7) collections, appeals, and taxpayer rights; (8) special rules (hobbies, gaming, government purchases, non-profits, and etc.); (9) financial intermediation services; and (10) additional matters. Title III: Other Matters - Sets forth provisions concerning the: (1) phase-out of administration of repealed taxes; (2) administration of other taxes (establishes an Excise Tax Bureau and a Sales Tax Bureau); and (3) sales tax inclusive social security benefits indexation.
United States · United States Congress · 1 July 1999
Authorizes the President to present, on behalf of the Congress, a gold medal to General Wesley Clark in recognition of his exemplary performance as a military leader in coordinating the planning, strategy, and execution of the United States and NATO combat action and his invaluable contributions to the United States and to the successful return to peace in the Balkans as Supreme Allied Commander, Europe, and Commander-in-Chief, United States European Command. Authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to strike and sell bronze duplicates. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 1 July 1999
Genetic Nondiscrimination in Health Insurance and Employment Act of 1999 - Title I: Prohibition of Health Insurance Discrimination on the Basis of Predictive Genetic Information - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) (regarding a group health plan, and a health insurance issuer offering group insurance through a group plan), the Public Health Service Act (PHSA) (regarding such a plan or issuer, and with regard to an issuer offering health insurance in the individual market), the Internal Revenue code (IRC) (regarding a group health plan), and title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA) (regarding Medicare supplemental policies) to prohibit, with respect to genetic information: (1) discriminating in individual enrollment; (2) discriminating in group eligibility or group premium or contribution rates; (3) requesting or requiring test performance; and (4) requesting, requiring, collecting, purchasing, or disclosing information, unless authorized by the individual. Allows a plan or issuer: (1) regarding payment for genetic services, to request evidence that the services were performed; and (2) regarding payment for other benefits, to request predictive genetic information in certain circumstances. Allows a court, for violations, to award any appropriate legal or equitable relief, attorney's fees and costs, and expert witness costs. Allows civil monetary penalties. Applies the requirements of this paragraph to plans that have fewer than two participants who are current employees. Amends ERISA and the PHSA to: (1) declare that the provisions of paragraph above do not preempt any provision of State law that protects genetic information confidentiality or privacy, or prohibits genetic discrimination, more completely than ERISA's and the PHSA's group health plan provisions; and (2) apply the requirements of the paragraph above to Medicare supplemental health insurance and similar supplemental coverage, if provided under a separate policy, certificate, or contract of insurance. Amends the IRC to apply the requirements of this title to apply the requirements of this title to any governmental plan. Title II: Prohibition of Employment Discrimination on the Basis of Predictive Genetic Information - Makes it an unlawful employment practice for an employer, employment agency, labor organization, or training program to discriminate because of predictive genetic information, including making it unlawful to request, require, collect, or purchase such information. Allows an employer to request, require, collect, or purchase such information: (1) where used for genetic monitoring of biological effects of workplace toxic substances; or (2) with consent of the employee, if results are received only by the employee (or the employee's family). (Sec. 206) Requires employers possessing such information to treat and maintain the information as part of the employee's confidential medical records. Prohibits disclosure, subject to exception. (Sec. 207) Empowers one or more employees, labor organization members, or training participants to bring an action in Federal or State court for violations. Applies to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), for enforcement of this title, the powers, remedies, and procedures under specified provisions of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Allows a court to award any appropriate legal or equitable relief, attorney's fees and costs, and costs of experts. (Sec. 209) Authorizes appropriations to carry out this title.
United States · United States Congress · 1 July 1999
Internet Freedom and Broadband Deployment Act of 1999 - Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to define "high speed data service" as a service capable of transmitting electronic information at a rate generally not less than 384 kilobits per second in at least one direction. Prohibits the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and each State, except as expressly provided in this Act, from regulating the rates, charges, terms or conditions for, or entry into the provision of, any high speed data service or Internet access service, or to regulate the facilities used in the provision of such service. Prohibits the FCC from requiring an incumbent (established) local exchange carrier to: (1) provide unbundled access to any network elements used in the provision of any high speed data service, other than those elements described in FCC regulations; or (2) offer for resale at wholesale rates any high speed data service. States that nothing in this Act shall: (1) limit or affect the authority of any State to regulate voice telephone exchange services; (2) affect the ability of the FCC to retain or modify the exemption from interstate access charges for enhanced service providers; or (3) prohibit the FCC from modifying the regulation concerning the number of networks subject to its unbundling requirement. Requires each incumbent local exchange carrier to provide: (1) Internet users with the ability to subscribe to and have access to any Internet service provider that interconnects with such carrier's high speed data service; (2) any Internet service provider with the right to acquire necessary facilities and services to facilitate such interconnection; and (3) any Internet service provider with the ability to collocate equipment in order to achieve such interconnection. Includes high speed data service or Internet access service within the definition of "incidental interLATA services" permitted for a Bell operating company (BOC). States that, until the date a BOC is authorized to offer interLATA services originating in an in-region State, such BOC offering any high speed data service or Internet access service may not, in such State, bill or collect for interLATA voice telecommunications service obtained by means of such high speed data or Internet access service provided by such company.
United States · United States Congress · 1 July 1999
Amends the Clean Air Act to remove a limitation on the amount of funds authorized to be allocated to any one State for air pollution control programs under provisions regarding grants for air pollution planning and control.
United States · United States Congress · 1 July 1999
Help for America's Uninsured Act of 1999 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to permit an individual to designate a portion of any tax overpayment to be paid into the Health Coverage for the Uninsured Trust Fund. Establishes such Trust Fund. Permits expenditures from such fund only to carry out a program which provides health coverage for catastrophic illnesses and injuries of individuals who otherwise have no health coverage.
United States · United States Congress · 30 June 1999
Paycheck Fairness Act - Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA) to revise remedies for and enforcement of prohibitions against sex discrimination in the payment of wages. (Such FLSA prohibitions are also known as the Equal Pay Act). (Sec. 3) Amends FLSA to provide for enhanced enforcement of equal pay requirements, adding a nonretaliation requirement. Increases penalties for such violations. Provides for the Secretary of Labor to seek additional compensatory or punitive damages in such cases. (Sec. 4) Requires the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs to train EEOC employees and affected individuals and entities on matters involving wage discrimination. (Sec. 5) Directs the Secretary to conduct studies and provide information to employers, labor organizations, and the general public concerning the means available to eliminate pay disparities between men and women, including convening a national summit and carrying out other specified activities. (Sec. 6) Directs the Secretary to: (1) develop guidelines for employer evaluations of job categories based on objective criteria, to be used voluntarily by employers to compare wages for different jobs to determine if pay scales adequately and fairly reflect each job's educational and skill requirements, independence, working conditions, and responsibility, in order to eliminate unfair pay disparities between occupations traditionally dominated by men or women; and (2) establish a program to recognize employers who use such guidelines to ensure that women are paid fairly in comparison to men without lowering men's wages. Authorizes the Secretary to provide technical assistance for employers to carry out such evaluations. (Sec. 7) Establishes the Robert Reich National Award for Pay Equity in the Workplace, which shall be evidenced by a medal. Sets forth criteria for specified types of entities to receive such an award. (Sec. 8) Amends the Civil Rights Act to direct the EEOC to: (1) complete a survey of data currently available to the Government relating to employee pay information for use in the enforcement of Federal laws prohibiting pay discrimination, and identify additional data collections to enhance enforcement of such laws; and (2) based on survey results and consultations with other relevant Federal agencies, issue regulations for the collection of pay information data from employers as described by the sex, race, and national origin of employees. (Sec. 9) Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 29 June 1999
Expresses that the House of Representatives: (1) condemns the crimes that occurred in Sacramento, California, at Congregation B'Nai Israel, Congregation Beth Shalom, and Kenesset Israel Torah Center on June 18, 1999; (2) interprets such attacks as an attack on all Americans; (3) is committed to using Federal law enforcement personnel and resources to bring the persons who committed these attacks to justice; (4) recognizes the residents of the Sacramento, California, area who have so quickly joined together to lend support and assistance to the victims and who remain committed to preserving the freedom of religion of all members of the community; and (5) calls upon all Americans to categorically reject similar crimes of hate and intolerance.
![Official portrait of Rep. Condit, Gary A. [D-CA-18]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/c000670_200.jpg)