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United States · Official source
2,710 records where Rep. de la Garza, E. [D-TX-15] is listed as a sponsor, author, or other actor. Search with topics and years
United States · United States Congress · 9 December 1987
Amends the Federal judicial code to allow Federal judges who have attained the age of 60 and completed 20 years of service to retire from regular active service.
United States · United States Congress · 9 December 1987
Amends the Federal Financing Bank Act of 1973 to state that specified loan guarantee agreements between the Rural Electrification Administration and the Federal Financing Bank shall remain in effect, notwithstanding their effective dates, until superseded by other such agreements.
United States · United States Congress · 9 December 1987
Designates May 1988 as Neurofibromatosis Awareness Month.
United States · United States Congress · 8 December 1987
Amends the Internal Revenue Code with respect to the targeted jobs income tax credit. Extends the credit to employees who begin work in 1989 through 1991. (Current law terminates the credit for employees who begin work after December 31, 1988.) Includes as a targeted group individuals aged 65 or older who are members of economically disadvantaged families. Revises the minimum employment period requirement for purposes of this credit.
United States · United States Congress · 8 December 1987
Designates the United States Livestock Insects Laboratory of the Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service in Kerrville, Texas, as the Knipling-Bushland Research Laboratory.
United States · United States Congress · 3 December 1987
Middle-Income Family Higher Education Savings Act of 1987 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow an individual an income tax deduction for contributions to a savings account established to pay the educational expenses (tuition, supplies, meals, and lodging) of the taxpayer's child at an institution of higher education or a vocational school. Limits the deduction to $1,000 per year per child. Provides that no account may have more than one beneficiary. Permits a deduction with respect to only one account in cases of multiple accounts for the same beneficiary. Disallows the deduction for contributions made to an account after the beneficiary either attains age 25 or graduates from an eligible educational institution. Permits the exclusion from the gross income of the recipient beneficiary of payments and distributions from an education savings account as long as such amounts: (1) are used for the educational expenses of that individual; or (2) are rolled over into an education savings account established for a sibling of that individual. Exempts the education savings accounts themselves from taxation unless they cease to be proper education savings accounts because either the contributor taxpayer or the beneficiary engages in prohibited transactions or the beneficiary pledges the account as security. Establishes penalties in the form of additional tax when account funds or distributions are improperly used. Requires that the trustee of an education savings account report to the Secretary of the Treasury and to the account's benefactor on the maintenance of the account. Identifies the criteria and requirements applicable to an education savings account. Provides that contributions to an education savings account shall not be subject to gift tax. Establishes: (1) a five percent excise tax on amounts connected with any prohibited transaction with respect to an education savings account; and (2) a penalty for failure to file required reports concerning the education savings account.
United States · United States Congress · 20 November 1987
Youth Employment Services Act of 1987 - Amends the Job Training Partnership Act to establish a demonstration program for employment opportunities for severely disadvantaged youth. Authorizes the Secretary of Labor to carry out such programs with specified funds. Defines an eligible severely disadvantaged youth as one who: (1) is between 16 and 20 years old; (2) is economically disadvantaged; (3) has dropped out of elementary or secondary school, or has received a secondary school degree but whose reading and mathematics skills are both below the eighth grade level; (4) has not participated in an education or training program in nine months preceding the month in which he or she enrolls in the program under this Act; and (5) has less than 150 hours work experience in a specified nine-month period. Requires program grant applicants to form eligible partnerships, which shall include a public agency or private nonprofit organization and a business concern or association. Allows program funds to be used for: (1) individual assessment; (2) intensive basic skills training combined with vocational training and/or work experience; (3) support services; (4) job development and placement services; (5) a monitoring period after program completion, with support services to assist in retaining employment or advancing toward an educational degree; and (6) other appropriate services to further job placement. Sets forth provisions relating to the allocation and number of demonstration grants. Set forth program agreement requirements. Sets forth provisions for program payments and the Federal share of program costs. Directs the Secretary to evaluate services provided by eligible partnerships funded under this Act. Directs the Secretary to report to the Congress on such evaluation. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1988 through 1990 to carry out this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 20 November 1987
Designates March 16, 1988, as Freedom of Information Day.
United States · United States Congress · 20 November 1987
Approves the location of the Korean War Veterans Memorial in the portion of the District of Columbia known as Area I.
United States · United States Congress · 16 November 1987
Family Welfare Reform Act of 1987 - Declares that, hereafter, the Aid to Families with Dependent Children program (part A of title IV of the Social Security Act ) shall be known as the Family Support Program (FSP) and the aid paid to needy families with dependent children shall be called family support supplements. Title I: National Education, Training, and Work (Network) Program - Amends the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program to require States to establish an education, training, and work program (Program) which helps needy children and parents avoid long-term welfare dependence. Requires private sector involvement in planning and Program design to assure that participants are trained for jobs that will actually be available in the community. Requires adult recipients of family support supplements to participate in the Program if it is available in the political subdivision where he or she resides and State resources otherwise permit. Directs the State to fully inform such recipients of the opportunities offered under the Program. Lists recipients who are exempt from mandatory participation in the Program, including individuals who: (1) are ill, incapacitated, pregnant, or age 60 or older; (2) are needed at home due to the illness or incapacity of another family member; (3) work 20 or more hours a week; (4) are children under age 16 or attending, full time, an elementary, secondary, or vocational school, except in the case of certain minor parents; or (5) care for a child under age three, but such exception shall apply to only one parent in two-parent families. Prohibits States from requiring the participation of a parent or relative of a child under age six unless day or infant care is guaranteed by the State and participation is on a part-time basis. Authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services to permit States to require the participation of a parent or relative of a child who has attained age one but not age three if infant care is guaranteed by the State, within certain dollar limitations, and participation is on a part-time basis and emphasizes education and training. Provides that if the caretaker relative or dependent child is attending a school or a course of vocational or technical training designed to lead to employment when he or she would otherwise commence participation in the Program, such attendance may constitute satisfactory participation in the Program, though the costs of such schooling or training shall not be covered by the FSP. Directs States to give priority in Program participation to families: (1) with teenage parents and parents who were under age 18 when their first child was born; (2) that have been receiving family support supplements continuously for two or more years; (3) with parents who lack a high school diploma or its equivalent; and (4) whose youngest child is within two years of being ineligible for family support supplements. Requires States to make an initial assessment of the educational, child care, and other supportive service needs as well as the skills, prior work experience, and employability of each Program participant and on that basis negotiate a family support plan with each participant which, to the maximum extent possible, reflects the participant's preferences. Requires each participant to then negotiate a contract with the State which specifies the duration of his or her participation as well as the activities the State will conduct and services it will provide in the course of such participation. Directs the State to assign a case manager to each participating family who is responsible for: (1) obtaining, on the family's behalf, any other services which may assure the family's effective participation; (2) monitoring a participant's progress; and (3) periodically reviewing and renegotiating the family support plan and the participant's contract with the State. Requires State Programs to provide a broad range of services and activities. Authorizes any State to institute a work supplementation program under which such State reserves sums which would otherwise be payable to program participants as family support supplements and uses such sums instead to subsidize jobs for such participants. Authorizes any State to establish a community work experience program to provide experience and training for individuals who have not been employed during the preceding six months and are not otherwise able to obtain employment. Limits such programs to projects which serve a useful public purpose utilizing, if possible, the participant's prior training, experience, and skills. Prohibits Program participants from filling established unfilled position vacancies. Limits community work program participants to work or training (or both) for up to six months or unpaid work experience or training for up to three months. Requires that: (1) a reassessment be made and a new employability plan developed for participants who do not obtain employment after participation in a community work program; and (2) other Program activities be coordinated with the community work program so that job placement has priority over participation in such program. Prohibits an individual from participating in job search without participating in one or more other Program services or activities if job search has continued for eight weeks or longer without the individual obtaining a job. Provides that when a mandatory Program participant fails without good cause to comply with any requirement imposed on his or her participation in such Program: (1) such participant's needs shall not be taken into account in determining the family support supplement; and (2) if such participant's spouse is not participating in the Program, the spouse's need shall not be taken into account in determining the family support supplement. Continues sanctions for a minimum of three months if the participant failed to comply on a previous occasion. Directs States, after three months of a participant's noncompliance, to remind the participant in writing of his or her option to end the sanction. Prohibits a State from requiring an individual to accept a Program position which would result in a loss of income to such individual or his or her family. Sets the Federal matching rate at 90 percent of the expenditures for education and training under the Program to the extent such expenditures do not exceed allotments to the State under part C (Work Incentive Programs) of title IV of the Act for FY 1987, 65 percent of such expenditures which do exceed FY 1987 allotments, and 50 percent of the administrative costs of such Program. Amends part A (General Provisions) of title XI of the Act to authorize up to five States to conduct demonstration projects testing whether eliminating durational standards, used in defining unemployment for family support supplement eligibility purposes, and requiring parents to accept reasonable job offers while preserving their eligibility for supplement payments would encourage their entrance into the permanent work force and thereby reduce FSP costs. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to States to assist in financing such projects. Amends part C (Work Incentive Program) of title IV of the Act to create a new part C entitled "Education, Training, and Work Program." Requires that each State FSP plan contain specified provisions and assurances, including assurances that: (1) Program activities are coordinated and not duplicative of existing activities; and (2) local governments and the private sector are involved in Program planning and design so that participants are trained for jobs that are likely to be available in the community. Requires that Program activities be coordinated with Job Training Partnership Act programs and any relevant employment, training, and education programs available in the State. Requires that the proposed State plan be made available to the public and the State job training coordinating council for review and comments before being submitted to the Secretary of Labor. Authorizes the State job training coordinating council to appeal to the State Governor for acceptance of its recommendations when they differ from proposed State plan provisions. Sets forth the range of services and activities which State Programs may provide, including: (1) high school or equivalent education; (2) remedial education; (3) job search, training, and placement services; (4) counseling, information, and referral for participants experiencing personal and family problems which may be affecting their ability to work; and (5) supportive services. Gives any participant lacking a high school diploma the opportunity to participate in a program addressing the education needs identified in the participant's initial assessment without interference from required participation in other programs and activities. Requires that children in participating families be encouraged to engage in the education or training activities available under the Program and be provided with additional services and incentives designed to keep them in school and help them obtain marketable job skills. Deems an individual who attends an accredited postsecondary institution to be satisfactorily participating in the Program for so long as such individual is making satisfactory progress in a vocational or undergraduate education or training program consistent with his or her employment goals. Requires each work assignment to be consistent with the physical capacity, skills, experience, health, family responsibilities, and place of residence of each participant. Prohibits work assignments which displace a currently employed worker or position, impair existing contracts for services or collective bargaining agreements, fill the job of a worker who has been laid off or fired, or infringe on the promotional opportunities of a currently employed worker. Requires that the wage rate for any position to which a participant is assigned be at least equal to the highest of the applicable Federal or State minimum wage or the pay rates of individuals employed in the same or similar occupations by the same employer. Establishes a grievance procedure for complaints about the Program which are received from participants, subgrantees, subcontractors, and other interested persons. Requires the Secretary to: (1) issue performance standards, within one year of this Act's enactment, for the Programs; (2) develop a legislative proposal for modifying the Federal AFDC matching rate so that it reflects the relative effectiveness of the various States in carrying out the Programs; (3) provide for the continuing evaluation of State Programs and the conduct of research on making such Programs more effective; and (4) establish uniform reporting requirements requiring each State to periodically furnish specified Program information to the Secretary. Sets forth transitional provisions. Requires each State, within six months of this Act's enactment, to: (1) evaluate its welfare population demographics, giving particular attention to the demands of the State labor market, the training needed to meet those demands, and necessary changes in current service delivery systems; and (2) submit such evaluation to the Secretary. Authorizes appropriations under part C for FY 1988 and 1989. Authorizes States to provide individuals who have been Program participants for at least six months and have been unable to secure unsubsidized employment with transitional subsidized employment with a public or nonprofit private employer for a period which does not exceed six months, unless an extension is determined to be necessary in a review and modification of the family support plan. Amends title XI (General Provisions) of the Act to authorize States to conduct demonstration projects testing: (1) financial incentives and interdisciplinary approaches to reducing school dropouts, encouraging skill development, and avoiding the welfare dependence of children receiving family support supplements; (2) the effect of in-home early childhood development and pre-school center-based development programs on families receiving family support supplement payments and participating in this Act's Program; (3) the effectiveness of private organizations and nonprofit community development corporations in creating employment opportunities for supplement recipients; and (4) more effective methods of ensuring long-term family self-sufficiency through community-based comprehensive family support services. Requires each State to institute a program providing grants for training child care personnel. Authorizes States to institute a program providing grants to: (1) local nonprofit child care programs to establish or renovate child care centers and family day care homes; or (2) local child care agencies to recruit, train, and provide other essential supports to new family day care providers. Authorizes appropriations for such demonstration and grant programs. Title II: Day Care, Transportation, and Other Work-Related Expenses - Requires States to either: (1) provide day care for dependent children and incapacitated individuals living in the same home as a dependent child; or (2) reimburse the caretaker relative for the cost of such care, if and to the extent such care is directly related to an individual's participation in the Program, reasonably necessary for such participation, and cost-effective. Requires entities providing such care to ensure parental access and post in clear public view the telephone number for filing complaints regarding child care quality or health or safety violations. Provides coverage for certain transportation and other work-related costs. Continues day care coverage for at least one year after a family's eligibility for support supplements ceases, but permits States to reduce such coverage on the basis of a family's ability to pay and exclude it altogether when the family's income equals or exceeds 150 percent of the Federal poverty level. Authorizes State demonstration projects testing: (1) whether the employment of parents receiving family support supplements as day care providers for children receiving such aid will make additional day care services available while creating employment opportunities for such parents; and (2) the effect of increasing the maximum excludable value of automobiles for FSP eligibility purposes. Directs States to regularly assess the availability and reliability of child care services available to Program participants, and when necessary, develop new child care resources and coordinate FSP child care with other child care programs. Authorizes States to use FSP child care funds to supplement early childhood development programs. Title III: Real Work Incentives - Excludes, in determining a family's eligibility for supplement payments: (1) the earned income of students who are not full-time employees; (2) $100 plus 25 percent of any family member's monthly earned income; (3) $50 of monthly child support payments; and (4) earned income credits payable to the family under the Internal Revenue Code. Authorizes States to disregard certain of the income of dependent children or minor parents applying for family support supplements if the dependent children are full-time students or the income is derived from a Job Training Partnership Act program. Prohibits application of the $100 and 25 percent earned income exclusion in the case of individuals who, without good cause: (1) terminate their employment or reduce their income; (2) refuse a bona fide offer of employment; or (3) fail to make a timely report of their monthly earned income. Authorizes States to increase the amount of an individual's earned income excluded under this Act in making family support supplement eligibility determinations. Title IV: Transitional Services for Families; Extension of Medicaid Eligibility - Extends a family's eligibility for coverage under title XIX (Medicaid) of the Act when the family becomes ineligible for family support supplements due to the caretaker's employment and such family has received supplements in at least three of the preceding six months. Increases the period of extended Medicaid coverage, from four to six months, for families who lose supplement eligibility as the result of the collection or increased collection of child or spousal support under part D (Child Support and Establishment of Paternity) of title IV of the Act. Title V: Child Support Enforcement Amendments - Amends part D (Child Support and Establishment of Paternity) of title IV of the Act to direct States to establish binding guidelines for child support award amounts. (Currently, such guidelines need not be binding.) Creates a rebuttable presumption in any judicial or administrative proceeding that the child support award which results from the application of such guidelines is correct. Requires States to review and, if necessary, update such guidelines once every three years and review and update all child support orders at least once every two years to ensure that they continue to comply with child support award guidelines. Requires States to abide by State due process requirements when updating child support awards. Directs States to: (1) determine the paternity of every child within the State whose family receives family support supplements as soon as possible after the child's birth but in no event later than its 18th birthday; and (2) require the parties in a contested paternity case to submit to genetic tests upon the request of a party in such case, using a 95 percent probability index from blood tests as a rebuttable presumption of paternity. Encourages States to establish and implement simple civil processes for voluntarily acknowledging paternity and a civil procedure for establishing paternity in contested cases. Sets performance standards for paternity determinations from FY 1989 through 1993. Alters the formula for determining the incentive payment to be paid to a State for its child support collection efforts to take into account cases in which a child's paternity has been established but support collection has not begun or amounts to less than $100 a month. Amends part A (General Provisions) of title XI of the Act to authorize States to conduct demonstration projects identifying and testing possible solutions to problems arising in connection with visitation by absent parents and child custody. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to States to assist in financing such projects. Requires the Department of Health and Human Services to establish time limits within which a State must respond to requests for assistance in locating absent parents or establishing paternity, and begin proceedings to establish child support awards. Requires States to have an operational automatic data processing and information retrieval system for the child support enforcement and establishment of paternity determination process by October 1, 1992. Excludes the cost of certain interstate child support enforcement projects from the computation of the incentive payment to a State for its child support collection efforts. Lowers the Federal matching rate for part D expenses to 66 percent for States which are not fully in compliance with the Child Support Enforcement Amendments of 1984 at any time after the expiration of six months after this Act's enactment. Requires States, with specified exceptions, to immediately withhold court-ordered child support from the wages of parents residing in the State. Establishes a commission to examine the problems of interstate child support enforcement and develop a new model interstate law to facilitate and strengthen such enforcement. Requires such commission to report its findings to the President and the Congress within one year of this Act's enactment. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary to conduct a study of the patterns of expenditures on children in two-parent families, in single-parent families following divorce, and in single-parent families in which the parents were never married, giving particular attention to the relative standards-of-living in households in which both parents and all of the children do not live together. Directs the Secretary to report to the Congress on such study within two years of this Act's enactment. Authorizes appropriations for such study. Requires the Secretary to make grants to States for demonstration projects under which absent parents who owe child support, but whose income is insufficient to pay such support, are encouraged to participate in work, education, and training activities available in the State. Directs the Secretary to collect and maintain up-to-date child support enforcement data. Requires the Secretary of Labor to make the name, social security number, current address, and place of employment of any specified individual available to the Parent Locator Service and State child support enforcement agencies which request such information. Title VI: Pro-Family Welfare Policies - Requires States to pay family support supplements with respect to dependent children of unemployed parents in two-parent families. Includes within the definition "quarter of work," for the purpose of determining a family's eligibility for assistance, the parent's: (1) full-time attendance as an elementary or secondary school student; (2) full-time attendance in a vocational or technical training course; and (3) participation in a Job Training Partnership Act education or training program. Directs the Comptroller General to conduct a study of State FSP administration in cases involving unemployed parents and recommend changes to the Congress, within six months of this Act's enactment, which would make such administration less cumbersome and prone to error. Directs States to assign an individual case manager to each family receiving family support supplements which is headed by a minor parent. Requires unmarried minor parents to live with a parent, legal guardian, other adult relative, or in a foster home, maternity home, or other supportive living arrangement, unless the State determines that, given specified circumstances, it is impossible or inappropriate for them to do so. Treats the minor parent and minor parent's children as a family separate from the parent and parent's children with whom the minor parent resides in determining the minor parent's eligibility for supplement payments. Authorizes States to condition a minor parent's eligibility on his or her: (1) part-time school attendance; or (2) training in parenting and family living skills. Repeals the requirement that part of the income of the parent of a minor parent with whom such minor parent resides be attributed to the dependent child in a minor parent family. Title VII: Benefit Improvements - Directs each State to re-evaluate annually its FSP need and payment standard, giving particular attention to whether the amount it has assumed to be necessary for shelter is adequate. Sets forth reporting requirements. Increases by 25 percent the Federal share of family support supplements which represent an increase in the supplement level in effect on September 30, 1988. Requires the National Academy of Sciences to conduct a study of a new national system of welfare benefits for low-income families with children giving particular attention to what an appropriate national minimum benefit might be and how it should be calculated. Directs the Academy to report its recommendations to the Secretary (for prompt transmittal to the Congress) within two years of this Act's enactment. Title VIII: Miscellaneous Provisions - Establishes a Commission on the Coordination of Family Support and Food Stamp Policies to conduct a study and make recommendations to the President and the Congress within one year of this Act's enactment regarding the coordination of the food stamp program under the Food Stamp Act of 1977 and the Family Support Program. Directs the Secretary to establish uniform reporting requirements requiring each State to periodically furnish the Secretary with information regarding FSP implementation. Amends title XX (Block Grants to States for Social Services) to require each State to submit an annual report to the Secretary containing specified information regarding the use of such funds. Directs the Secretary to convene an Interagency Panel to design, implement, and monitor a series of implementation and evaluation studies to assess the methods and effects of the programs initiated under this Act. Requires the Panel to report to the President and the Congress annually over the five year period beginning with this Act's enactment on such studies. Establishes a program providing grants to States selected to conduct demonstration projects testing whether FSP housing costs can be reduced by constructing and rehabilitating permanent housing for rental to FSP families who would otherwise require FSP emergency assistance in the form of temporary housing. Provides that, to be eligible for selection as one of three States authorized to conduct such a project, a State must: (1) be currently providing FSP emergency housing assistance; (2) have an acute need for Federal assistance by virtue of the large number of homeless FSP families, and shortages of low-income housing, in the jurisdiction(s) where such project would be conducted; and (3) submit a plan to achieve significant cost saving over a ten-year period through the conduct of such project. Requires that such grants be used to provide permanent housing which is: (1) owned by the State, an instrumentality of the State, or a nonprofit organization; (2) available to families who have been unable to find decent housing at rents that can be paid with FSP aid for shelter; and (3) located in jurisdictions experiencing a critical shortage of such housing. Requires that: (1) the most costly temporary housing be retired from use in the emergency assistance program as permanent housing becomes available for occupancy, unless temporary housing is demonstrably needed; and (2) the costs of providing permanent housing be lower than costs which would be incurred if, instead, the State made FSP emergency assistance payments providing temporary housing. Sets the State contribution for the cost of constructing or rehabilitating such housing at not less than the current State FSP share increased by ten percent. Authorizes appropriations for the grant program for each of the first five fiscal years following FY 1987. Authorizes the Secretary to approve, as alternatives to the Family Support Program: (1) a five-year demonstration project testing New York State's Child Support Supplement Program; and (2) a five-year demonstration project testing Washington State's Family Independence Program. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to establish an interagency working group to conduct a study and report to the Congress within six months of this Act's enactment on the housing problems faced by FSP families. Provides that in determining a family's support supplement level the needs of a family member who is a drug addict or alcoholic shall not be taken into account if such individual terminates his or her enrollment in a treatment program before such treatment is completed and does not resume treatment. Amends part A (General Provisions) of title XI of the Act to include American Samoa in the Family Support Program. Limits Federal funding for American Samoa's program to $1,000,000 for any fiscal year. Increases the total amount of Federal payments which may be made to Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Virgin Islands in any fiscal year under titles I (Grants to States for Old-Age Assistance for the Aged), X (Grants for States for Aid to the Blind), XIV (Grants to States for Aid to the Permanently and Totally Disabled), XVI (Grants to States for Aid to the Aged, Blind, or Disabled), and parts A (Aid to Families with Dependent Children) and E (Foster Care and Adoption Assistance) of title IV of the Act. Title IX: Funding Provisions - Amends the Deficit Reduction Act of 1984 to extend for three years the authority of the Internal Revenue Service to offset against any refund of Federal taxes the amount of certain non-tax debts owed to Federal agencies. (The extension would make the offset provisions applicable to refunds payable before January 1, 1991.) Expresses the congressional intent that such offset provisions extend to all Federal agencies and not be construed as exempting any debts. Directs the Comptroller General to report to the Congress by April 1, 1989, on a study into the operation and effectiveness of such offset provisions. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude the expenses of overnight camps from the income tax credit for employment-related dependent care expenses. Reduces the dependent care tax credit available to individuals whose income exceeds $65,000. Eliminates such credit when an individual's income equals or exceeds $95,000. Prohibits tax credits or deductions for expenditures made in connection with a trade or business consisting of criminal activities. Title X: Food Stamp Program - Food Stamp Family Welfare Reform Act of 1987 - Amends the Food Stamp Act of 1977 to make food stamp program (program) eligibility permanent for households made up solely of members who receive aid to dependent children, supplemental security income assistance or aid to the aged, blind, or disabled under the provisions of the Social Security Act. Excludes from income for purposes of program eligibility: (1) educational assistance for training programs and secondary school equivalency programs; (2) child support payments received under the aid to families with dependent children program (AFDC); (3) certain agricultural commodity two-party payments; (4) advance earned income tax credit payments; and (5) dependent care payments received under specified employment and training programs. Sets maximum monthly dependent care deductions at $200 for each dependent under two years old and $175 for each other dependent. (Current deduction is $160 per month regardless of age.) Provides for annualizing self-employment farm income and expenses. Prohibits the use of post self-employment farm income as an indicator of anticipated income if income changes have occurred or are anticipated. Excludes certain property (including land, equipment, and supplies) from financial resources determinations for one year after a person ceases to be self-employed in farming. Permits higher education students living in households receiving food stamps to retain their program benefits under specified conditions. Sets maximum monthly dependent care reimbursements for employment and training program participants at $200 for each dependent under two years old and $175 for each other dependent. Increases individual maximum transportation and related reimbursable employment and training costs. Revises performance standards criteria, including the requirement that the Office of Technology Assessment develop model performance standards. Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to develop an incentives payment proposal. Authorizes: (1) outreach activities for farm households; and (2) special training for personnel who certify farm households. Requires the Secretary of Agriculture to publish training materials annually. Requires State food stamp offices and points of issuance to be open sufficient hours and at sufficient locations to ensure access by participants who work or study. Requires State agencies to insure that each participating household receive a notice of expiration prior to the start of the last month of certification. Requires coordination of applications for program and AFDC benefits. Authorizes a five-year Family Independence Demonstration Project in the State of Washington as an alternative to providing benefits under the food stamp program. Sets forth Project provisions, including: (1) a combination of AFDC and program benefits into a basic cash grant; (2) assistance to the homeless; (3) minimum cash assistance for food at not less than program equivalents; (4) outreach services; (5) employment and training requirements; (6) assurances that the State will permit continued program participation; (7) audit and congressional reporting requirements by the Comptroller General of the United States; (8) a Project evaluation requirement by the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of Health and Human Services; and (9) the ineligibility of persons receiving only child care or medical benefits under the Project from receiving Project food assistance (although they may continue to receive program benefits). Authorizes up to ten State projects under the terms and conditions of the Washington Project, except that such projects could not replace food stamps with cash payments. Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to issue implementing rules by January 1, 1988. Provides for the severability of amendments under this Title. Sets forth effective dates.
United States · United States Congress · 9 November 1987
Forgotten Widows and Survivor Benefits Improvements Act of 1987 - Amends armed forces annuity payment provisions to provide that $165 a month shall be the minimum benefit payable to a surviving spouse eligible for such annuity. Provides that any amount in excess of $165 of an annuity payment shall be considered income under laws administered by the Veterans Administration. Provides the same monthly annuity to certain widows and widowers of persons who became entitled to retired or retainer pay before their death before a certain date, or who chose not to provide their spouse with an annuity and died before a certain date. Prohibits a monthly annuity from being reduced to less than $165 a month when such annuity is reduced because there is no longer a dependent child or because the widow or widower attains age 62.
United States · United States Congress · 5 November 1987
Infrastructure Improvement Act of 1987 - Authorizes the Secretary of Commerce to make loans to States (from accounts established by this Act) to enable them to make loans to units of local government to carry out eligible public works construction projects. Sets forth formulae for determining State eligibility for such loans. Requires States to repay such loans, with interest, over a ten-year period. Requires the Secretary to adjust such repayments as required to reflect any deferrals granted or amounts forgiven. Makes a unit of local government eligible for loans under this Act if it has a population of at least 50,000 and can demonstrate at least one economic distress requirement. Describes such requirements. Requires each unit of local government seeking a loan to apply to the chief executive officer of the State specifying the amount to be borrowed and an economic plan for its use. Describes an eligible public works project as one which involves construction of publicly owned facilities located on publicly owned lands. Prohibits the use of loans to local governments to replace funding for infrastructure projects or to provide the non-Federal share of any project under any other Federal law. Requires a State to give priority to projects: (1) which maximize use of the existing pool of labor in the jurisdictional area; (2) for which most employees will be economically disadvantaged, dislocated workers, or certified unemployed; (3) where the employees will reside within the jurisdictional area; (4) which contribute to the creation and maintenance of new jobs and businesses in the area; and (5) which provide retraining and employment opportunities for the economically disadvantaged and dislocated workers. Requires a local government to repay such loans over a ten-year period, with interest. Sets forth circumstances under which repayments may be deferred or 25 percent of the total amount of loans may be forgiven. Establishes in the Treasury the Nondiscretionary Infrastructure Loan Account, for allocations of 95 percent of amounts appropriated to carry out this Act, consisting of: (1) the Above-Average Unemployment Loan Account; (2) the High Unemployment Loan Account; and (3) the Business Failures Loan Account. Establishes the Discretionary Infrastructure Loan Account for allocations of five percent of any amounts appropriated to carry out this Act. Requires the Secretary, not later than 90 days after enactment of this Act, to transmit to the Congress a schedule: (1) for collecting information necessary to carry out this Act, including information regarding unemployment and business failures; and (2) for making loans under this Act. Requires the General Accounting Office to report annually to the Congress and the President on a review of activities carried out by States and units of local governments under this Act. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1989 through 1993.
United States · United States Congress · 4 November 1987
Designates February 4, 1988, as National Women in Sports Day.
United States · United States Congress · 2 November 1987
Amends the Commodity Exchange Act to direct the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to study the nature and effects of trading in futures contracts on equity indices, options and options on futures on such indices, and securities, during the period of high volatility beginning the week of October 12, 1987, with particular attention given to October 19, 1987. Lists specific topics to be addressed in the study. Requires that the Commission complete the study and report its findings to the Congress by June 1, 1988. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 29 October 1987
Agricultural Extended Retirement Credit Act of 1987 - Extends creditable service under the Civil Service Retirement System for periods of service in certain Federal-State cooperative programs which had agricultural or related purposes. Establishes a hiring limitation period of three fiscal years after 60 days following enactment of this Act on the replacement of retirees in the United States Department of Agriculture. Prohibits the obligation or expenditure of any budget authority or outlays saved in any fiscal year by reason of reduced pay and personnel resulting from implementation of this Act. Requires that the budget authority and outlays thus saved be credited against pay and other personnel costs required to be sequestered under the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act). Requires the Comptroller General to notify the Congress, in writing, of each instance of noncompliance with the requirement of this Act. Directs the Director of the Office of Personnel Management to report to the Congress on an evaluation of the extended credit retirement program and the limitation on replacement of retirees provided under this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 29 October 1987
Designates the week beginning September 11, 1988, as Total Education Awareness Week, recognizing that the educational experience should address the total needs of children, including their intellectual, psychological, social, and physical needs.
United States · United States Congress · 28 October 1987
Grants a Federal charter to the National Academies of Practice, honoring persons of the health care professions.
United States · United States Congress · 28 October 1987
Designates the month of June 1988 as National Recycling Month.
United States · United States Congress · 28 October 1987
Designates the week of May 2 through May 8, 1988, as National Drinking Water Week to enhance awareness of drinking water issues and recognition of the difference that drinking water makes to health, safety, and quality of life.
United States · United States Congress · 28 October 1987
Designates April 9, 1988, as National Former Prisoner of War Recognition Day.
United States · United States Congress · 27 October 1987
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend the ten percent energy investment tax credit for geothermal property from December 31, 1988, until July 31, 1991.
United States · United States Congress · 22 October 1987
Designates the week of June 5 through June 11, 1988, as National NHS-NeighborWorks Week.
United States · United States Congress · 21 October 1987
Colonia Water and Sewage Service Act - Amends the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to make grants to public bodies and private nonprofit organizations for the installation or improvement of the operation or maintenance of facilities (and necessary related equipment) for the storage, treatment, purification, or distribution of water, and the collection, treatment, or disposal of waste, in rural areas in the United States within 30 miles of the Mexican border. Amends the Housing Act of 1949 to direct the Secretary of Housing to make loans, grants, and combined loans and grants to eligible very-low income families or persons (including the nonelderly) in rural areas in the United States within 30 miles of the Mexican border for the cost of repairs, improvements, and additions to provide sanitary waste facilities and convenient and sanitary water supplies. Authorizes appropriations for such purposes.
United States · United States Congress · 20 October 1987
Designates March 25, 1988, as Greek Independence Day: A National Day of Celebration of Greek and American Democracy.
United States · United States Congress · 15 October 1987
Rural Crisis Recovery Program Act of 1987 - Amends the Rural Development Act of 1972 to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to provide grants for educational, retraining, and counseling assistance to farmers and rural families who have been adversely affected by the current rural economic crisis. Includes the following services among such assistance: (1) clinical outreach counseling and crisis management assistance; (2) financial planning; (3) vocational counseling and job search assistance; (4) literacy skills training; and (5) tuition and educational assistance. Encourages the Agricultural Extension Service to work with State, local, and nonprofit organizations to develop a comprehensive grant plan. Terminates grant authority on December 23, 1990.
United States · United States Congress · 15 October 1987
Designates the period of August 1 through August 8, 1988, as National Harness Horse Week.
United States · United States Congress · 15 October 1987
Designates March 27, 1988, as National Black American Inventors Day.
United States · United States Congress · 15 October 1987
Designates March 18, 1988, as National Energy Education Day to promote and enhance energy education programs at all grade levels of public and private schools.
United States · United States Congress · 14 October 1987
Veterans' Agent Orange Disabilities Act of 1987 - Creates a non-rebuttable presumption that, for the purposes of wartime disability compensation for Vietnam veterans, the following diseases shall be considered to have been incurred in, or aggravated by, active military, naval, or air service in Vietnam during the Vietnam era: (1) non-Hodgkin's lymphoma; (2) lung cancer becoming manifest within 25 years of service; and (3) a disease that, in accordance with this Act, is determined to be reasonably associated with damage to or suppression of the immune system resulting from exposure to dioxin or any other toxic herbicide used in Vietnam and that is listed in regulations prescribed by the Administrator of Veterans Affairs. Requires the Administrator to enter into an agreement with an appropriate nonprofit private scientific organization to: (1) conduct a survey of all scientific studies of the effects of dioxin and other toxic herbicides used by the United States in Vietnam on humans or animals; and (2) determine what (if any) diseases are reasonably associated with damage to or suppression of the human immune system as a result of exposure to such herbicides. Designates the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) as the appropriate nonprofit organization, unless: (1) the NAS does not enter into such an agreement with the Administrator; (2) the Administrator has notified the veterans' committees of an alternative organization; and (3) 90 days have elapsed since such notification. Requires that the scientific organization report to the Administrator and the veterans' committees on the name of each disease determined to be reasonably associated with human immune system damage or suppression within one year after enactment of this Act. Directs that the Administrator prescribe regulations listing each such disease within 90 days of receipt of such report, unless a disease is specifically excluded by law. Directs the Administrator to periodically (but not less than annually) survey additional completed studies to determine whether any diseases should be added to the list. Requires that the Administrator: (1) compile and analyze, on a continuing basis, all clinical data obtained by the VA in connection with physical examinations and treatment furnished after November 3, 1981, to veterans who were exposed to dioxin or any other such toxic substance; and (2) submit to the Senate and House Committees on Veterans' Affairs a semiannual report containing such compilation and analysis, along with a discussion of the disabilities identified or treated by the VA, the Administrator's explanation for the incidence of such disabilities, and other reasonable explanations for the incidence of such disabilities.
United States · United States Congress · 14 October 1987
Designates November 1, 1987, as National Volunteer Appreciation Day.
United States · United States Congress · 13 October 1987
Designates May 1988 as National Trauma Awareness Month.
United States · United States Congress · 8 October 1987
Authorizes the Indian American Forum for Political Education to establish a memorial to Mahatma Gandhi in the District of Columbia and its environs. Prohibits the United States from paying any expense of establishing the memorial.
United States · United States Congress · 8 October 1987
Medicaid Home and Community Quality Services Act of 1987 - Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to require States to provide Medicaid coverage of community and family support services for severely disabled individuals who became disabled before age 22 and are living in a family home, foster family home, or community living facility. Requires that such services be provided in accordance with a written habilitation plan developed by an interdisciplinary team on the basis of a comprehensive assessment of the individual's strengths and the services and support necessary to: (1) enable such individual to attain or retain capabilities for independence or self-care; (2) promote interaction between disabled and nondisabled individuals within the community; and (3) enable disabled individuals who are over age 18 to engage in paid employment. Increases the age at which newly disabled individuals will be eligible for this Act's coverage so that eventually individuals who become disabled between age 22 and 50 will be covered. Lists the services which may comprise community and family support services, requiring that such services include at a minimum: (1) case management services; (2) individual and family support services; (3) specialized vocational services; and (4) protective intervention services. Excludes from such services: (1) room and board, other than room and board provided for less than six consecutive weeks and less than 12 weeks per year; (2) cash payments as a service; (3) aversive behavior intervention, management, or therapies; (4) services provided to a disabled individual living in a hospital, or skilled nursing or intermediate care facility; (5) educational services which the State makes generally available to its residents without cost and without regard to their income; and (6) services for which payment is made under title XVIII (Medicare), or part A (Aid to Families with Dependent Children) or B (Child Welfare Services) of title IV of the Act. Requires each State to make certain assurances regarding their provision of community and family support services and submit an implementation strategy to the Secretary of Health and Human Services. Requires that such implementation strategies: (1) describe the extent and scope of community and family support services provided to the severely disabled and the extent and scope of services provided to the severely disabled who are institutionalized; (2) set forth the objectives and a five-year strategy for expanding community and family support services for the severely disabled; (3) include certain procedures for transferring severely disabled, institutionalized individuals to family homes, foster family homes, or community living facilities; (4) set forth standards for the provision of community and family support services and a program for licensing and certifying all facilities and programs providing such services; (5) provide for assessments of the provision and affect of community and family support services and the correction of service deficiencies; (6) provide the public with an adequate opportunity to comment on the strategies; (7) set forth methods ensuring that the personnel providing community and family support services receive adequate training and are competent to provide such services; (8) provide that the State has in effect a management information system capable of collecting, storing, and retrieving data on the severely disabled who receive community and family support services; (9) provide an opportunity for an appeal and hearing before a hearing officer to individuals who believe themselves to be inappropriately served or denied an appropriate service, or who are being scheduled for an involuntary transfer from one living arrangement to another; (10) describe the methods to be used in administering community and family support services; and (11) set forth procedures to protect the interests of public employees who will be affected by the transfer of the severely disabled from public institutions. Allows States to provide any new community and family support service for up to three years without meeting the Medicaid requirements that they provide a service on a statewide basis and that the service be comparable in all parts of the State. Requires that intermediate care facility services for the mentally retarded include the ascertainment of the individual needs of each newly admitted individual by an interdisciplinary team within 30 days and the development of a written habilitation plan for each individual. Limits Medicaid payments to States for skilled nursing and intermediate care facility services furnished to individuals under age 65 who became disabled before age 22 to the amount payable for such services in the fiscal year ending after the enactment of this Act, increased if and by the extent to which the percentage increase in the consumer price index exceeds six percent. Makes such limitation inapplicable to facilities which have less than 16 beds or meet the size and location requirements for a community living facility. Requires States to have in effect a system to protect and advocate those rights of the severely disabled who are eligible for medical assistance which relate to the provision of such assistance. Provides Federal Medicaid matching funds for such system. Gives individuals who are adversely affected by a violation of this Act's requirements the right to bring an action to enjoin such violation. Allows States to set payment rates for community and family support services for the severely disabled. Authorizes States to treat severely disabled individuals under age 19 who are not in a medical institution as receiving benefits under title XVI (Supplemental Security Income) (SSI) of the Act for Medicaid eligibility purposes if they would be eligible for SSI benefits if institutionalized. Requires States to establish a uniform income standard for the severely disabled regardless of whether or not they are in a medical institution. Authorizes States to provide Medicaid coverage of disabled spouses and children who, except for the resources deemed to them, would be eligible for SSI benefits. Removes certain limitations on the Secretary's approval of reduction and correction plans for deficient intermediate care facilities for the mentally retarded. Makes individuals who are severely disabled and receiving or deemed to be receiving SSI benefits eligible for Medicaid as long as such qualifications continue to be satisfied. Directs the Secretary to establish, within the Health Care Financing Administration, a Bureau of Developmental Disabilities Services responsible for administering Medicaid programs for the severely disabled. Requires the Secretary to: (1) develop standards and a program for training Federal and State personnel who perform surveys of skilled nursing and intermediate care facilities to determine whether such facilities meet Medicaid participation requirements; and (2) periodically conduct studies of the reliability of such surveys and make the changes necessary to improve such reliability. Directs the Secretary to support the development of: (1) instruments to assess outcomes in the provision of this Act's services; and (2) competency-based personnel standards for agencies and organizations providing services to the severely disabled pursuant to this Act. Requires the Secretary to: (1) conduct an annual assessment of each State's compliance with this Act's requirements; and (2) issue final regulations regarding this Act's amendments prior to the first fiscal year beginning after this Act's enactment. Sets forth reporting requirements.
United States · United States Congress · 8 October 1987
Designates the week beginning November 22, 1987, as American Indian Week.
United States · United States Congress · 1 October 1987
Corporation for Small Business Investment Charter Act - Amends the Small Business Investment Act of 1958 to establish timetables to govern the promulgation of regulations by the Small Business Administration (SBA) and the qualification of licensees to do business with the Corporation for Small Business Investment and the special-purpose trust established by this Act. Establishes the Corporation for Small Business Investment as a Government-sponsored private corporation. Requires the President to appoint its interim Board of Directors. Sets forth procedures for selection of the permanent Board and describes Board duties. Sets out the Corporation's stock structure. Permits only small business investment companies to hold voting common stock. Requires the Corporation to mandate certain contributions from these companies in order to accumulate capital surplus funds from private sources. Includes depository institutions as eligible contributors entitled to receive stock and dispose of it. Authorizes the Corporation to issue obligations and securities, within prescribed limits. Permits the Secretary of the Treasury to purchase such obligations but sets amount and yield restrictions. Makes all obligations issued by the Corporation acceptable as security for any fiduciary, trust, and public funds controlled by the United States. Exempts Corporation issues from the regulatory framework of the Securities and Exchange Commission. Authorizes the Corporation to issue commitments or otherwise deal in small business investment securities after the permanent Board has been duly constituted. Sets forth the procedure for perfecting a security or ownership interest in small business investment securities created by the Corporation. Authorizes the Corporation to guarantee specified securities. Directs the Corporation to establish criteria, including private capital amount requirements, for the qualification of small business investment companies to conduct business with it. Instructs the Corporation to enter into agreements with small business investment companies, which are authorized to provide equity capital and loans to small businesses. Restricts the financing activities of the investment companies, setting time limits, aggregate securities acquisition limits, and use restrictions with respect to loan funds. Prohibits the Corporation from purchasing or guaranteeing securities in excess of ten percent of its assets. Provides for both financial and compliance audits of small business investment companies. Exempts loans made by small business investment companies from State usury law, unless the State expressly enacts overriding legislation. Directs the Corporation to adopt independent criteria in connection with the qualification of a special type of small business investment company to invest solely in disadvantaged small businesses. Establishes a special-purpose trust to benefit special small business investment companies. Provides for its operation in accordance with a trust agreement with the Corporation. Sets forth procedures for appointing the trustees. Requires the trustees to establish separate accounting for all preferred securities, debentures, loss reserves, and other funds acquired and to make an annual accounting of trust operations to the Secretary of the Treasury. Sets forth the powers of the trustees. Provides for SBA conveyance to the Corporation of all right, title, and interest to all securities and outstanding debentures issued by small business investment companies that are not in liquidation. Requires the trust to apply all of the funds held in trust and income to: (1) cover any losses realized on debentures purchased or guaranteed by the Corporation; (2) reduce the interest rate on debentures issued by special small business investment companies or purchase their preferred securities; and (3) pay administrative costs. Authorizes the trustees to purchase preferred securities and the Corporation to purchase or guarantee the payment of principal and interest on debentures issued by special small business investment companies. Sets forth the terms and conditions for these purchases. Authorizes a special small business investment company to request that the Corporation purchase or guarantee its debentures. Provides that such debentures shall be subordinate to any other obligations of such companies. Sets forth restrictions on the interest rate on and total amount of such debentures. Requires that all outstanding preferred securities purchased by the trust from special small business investment companies be redeemed and transferred to the Treasury 50 years after the effective date of this Act. Gives the SBA review authority over the Corporation and requires annual reporting in connection with this review. Mandates an annual independent audit of the Corporation's accounts, with reporting to the Secretary of the Treasury, who must subsequently report to the President and to the House and Senate Small Business Committees. Subjects Corporation books and records to audit by the General Accounting Office and by the Office of the Inspector General of the SBA under specified conditions. Requires annual Corporation reporting to the President, the SBA, and relevant congressional committees. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to sell to the Corporation on September 30, 1988, all the right and interest in small business investment company securities guaranteed by the SBA and held by the Federal Financing Bank, providing such securities are due in FY 1989 or later. Sets a minimum final purchase price of $720,000,000, a specified amount of which must be in preferred stock in the Corporation. Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to propose a sale price for the securities that the Corporation is to purchase. Sets forth procedures for determining the purchase price if the Board finds the Secretary's proposal unacceptable. Establishes criteria to govern the preferred stock issued by the Corporation as part of the purchase price. Directs the Corporation to issue to the SBA warrants to purchase nonvoting common stock equivalent to a 28 percent interest in the Corporation. Requires the Corporation to report, within 30 days of the completion of the purchase of the securities, to the House and Senate Committees on Small Business. Prohibits the SBA from: (1) making any payments to the Department of the Treasury on debentures guaranteed under the Small Business Investment Act after they are sold to the Corporation; or (2) selling or encumbering loans or debentures it has made or issued, except as specified in this Act. Requires the General Accounting Office, by January 1, 1993, to prepare a report for the House and Senate Small Business Committees on the Corporation's effectiveness in achieving the purposes of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 1 October 1987
Federal Employees' Political Activities Act of 1987- Prohibits an employee from using or attempting to use official authority or influence to interfere with or affect the result of any election. Prohibits an employee from using or attempting to use official authority to intimidate, threaten, coerce, command, or influence: (1) any individual for the purpose of interfering with the right of any individual to vote as the individual may choose, or of causing any individual to vote, or not to vote, for any candidate or measure in any election; (2) any person to give or withhold any political contribution; or (3) any person to engage, or not to engage, in any form of political activity. Prohibits an employee from using or attempting to use, or permitting the use of, any official information unless such information is available to the general public. Prohibits an employee from: (1) giving or offering to give a political contribution to any individual either to vote or refrain from voting, or to vote for or against any candidate or measure, in any election; (2) soliciting, accepting, or receiving a political contribution to vote or refrain from voting, or to vote for or against any candidate or measure, in any election; or (3) giving or handing over a political contribution to a superior of the employee. Prohibits an employee from soliciting, accepting, or receiving, or from being in any manner concerned with soliciting, accepting, or receiving, a political contribution: (1) from another employee (or a member of another employee's immediate family) with respect to whom the employee is a superior; or (2) in any room or building occupied in the discharge of official duties by a Federal employee or official or an individual receiving salary or compensation from the Treasury. Prohibits an employee from soliciting, accepting, or receiving a political contribution from, or giving a political contribution to, any person who: (1) has, or is seeking to obtain, contractual or other business or financial relations with the employing agency; (2) conducts operations or activities which are regulated by that agency; or (3) has interests which may be substantially affected by the performance of the employees' official duties. Directs the Special Counsel of the Merit Systems Protection Board to prescribe regulations which exempt employees from such prohibitions. Prohibits an employee from engaging in political activity: (1) while on duty; (2) in any room or building occupied in the discharge of official duties by a Federal employee or official; (3) while wearing a uniform or official insignia identifying the office or position of the employee; or (4) while using any vehicle owned or leased by the Government. Exempts certain high level political appointees from such prohibitions if the costs associated with the political activity are not paid for by money derived from the Treasury. Describes such a political appointee as one: (1) whose duties and responsibilities continue outside normal duty hours and while away from the normal duty post; (2) who is paid from an appropriation for the Executive Office of the President; (3) whose position is located within the United States; and (4) who determines policies to be pursued by the United States in its relations with foreign powers or in the nationwide administration of Federal laws. Authorizes leave without pay or accrued annual leave to an employee who is a candidate, upon request, to allow such employee to engage in activities relating to that candidacy. Declares that such request may be denied if the exigencies of the public business so require. Declares that such employee may be required to take leave without pay or accrued annual leave in order to be a candidate if activities relating to the candidacy interfere with the employee's performance of duties. Directs the Special Counsel to prescribe rules and regulations to implement this Act. Applies this Act to postal employees and employees of the Postal Rate Commission.
United States · United States Congress · 1 October 1987
Federal Child Support Enforcement Act - Amends the Federal criminal code to make it a Federal criminal offense to leave or remain outside a State for the purpose of avoiding payment of arrearages in child support.
United States · United States Congress · 1 October 1987
Designates the week of November 8 through November 14, 1987, as National Food Bank Week.
United States · United States Congress · 29 September 1987
National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders Act - Amends title IV (National Research Institutes) of the Public Health Service Act to establish the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (Institute) as an agency of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Removes communicative disorders from the title and purpose of the National Institute of Neurological and Communicative Disorders and Stroke. Requires the Director of the Institute, with the advice of the Institute's advisory council, to establish a National Deafness and Other Communications Disorders Program (Program). Requires the Director to prepare and transmit to the Director of NIH a plan to initiate, expand, intensify, and coordinate activities of the Institute respecting disorders of hearing, balance, voice, speech, taste, and smell. Requires activities under the Program to be coordinated with other national research institutes and describes the minimum activities of the Program. Requires the Director to establish a National Deafness and Other Communication Disorders Data System for the collection, storage, analysis, retrieval, and dissemination of data and a National Deafness and Other Communication Disorders Information Clearinghouse. Requires the Director, after consultation with the advisory council, to provide for the development, modernization, and operation of new and existing centers for studies of disorders of hearing and other communication processes. Sets forth requirements for the centers, including conducting research, training programs and information and continuing education programs for health professionals, and public information programs. Authorizes centers to provide stipends for health professionals in their training programs. Describes other programs the centers may undertake. Requires the Director to provide for an equitable geographical distribution of centers and to give appropriate consideration to the need for centers for the elderly and for children. Limits support of a center to seven years, with one or more additional periods of not more than five years, if recommended by a peer review group established by the Director, with the advice of the advisory council. Authorizes appropriations. Sets forth transitional and savings provisions.
United States · United States Congress · 29 September 1987
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that Federal estate and gift taxes should not be changed in order to increase Federal revenues as part of deficit reduction.
United States · United States Congress · 23 September 1987
Crimes Against Older Americans Information and Coordination Act of 1987 - Directs the Attorney General to modify the uniform crime reporting program in the Federal Bureau of Investigation to include data on the age, sex, ethnicity, living arrangements, and other characteristics of the victim and the perpetrator, including any relationship between them, for crimes against the elderly. Directs the Attorney General to establish and maintain within the Justice Department's Office of Justice Programs a National Reference Center on Crimes Against Older Americans which shall: (1) publish an annual report of research conducted on crimes against the elderly; (2) develop and maintain an information reference service on all private and public initiatives for the prevention and identification of such crimes; (3) study the national incidence of such crimes, comparing rural and urban areas; (4) serve as a liaison with the various Federal agencies that carry out programs for the elderly; and (5) provide technical assistance to individuals and to private and public organizations to reduce and prevent crimes against the elderly.
United States · United States Congress · 16 September 1987
Children's Television Advertising Practices Act of 1987 - Requires the Federal Communications Commission to prescribe standards for commercial television broadcast licensees with respect to advertising in programs for children. Requires the standards to: (1) limit the duration of advertising to a specified number of minutes per hour; (2) assure adequate separation between program content and commercial messages; and (3) eliminate the use of program characters to promote products.
United States · United States Congress · 16 September 1987
Designates April 8, 1988, as Senator Dennis Chavez Day in recognition of the first American-born, Hispanic person elected to the Senate.
United States · United States Congress · 15 September 1987
Diabetes Prevention Act of 1987 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make grants to assist States in preventing or reducing morbidity and premature mortality resulting from diabetes, with particular emphasis on Hispanics and other populations at risk. Sets forth criteria for such grants. Authorizes appropriations. Amends provisions of the Public Health Service Act relating to block grants to state that allotments under certain provisions for preventive health services may be used for services relating to the prevention of diabetes and related complications among Hispanics and other populations at risk for diabetes.
United States · United States Congress · 7 August 1987
Comprehensive Alcohol Abuse, Drug Abuse, and Mental Health Amendments Act of 1987 - Amends title XIX (Block Grants) of the Public Health Service Act to revise and reorganize provisions relating to mental health and substance abuse programs, replacing the current part B (Alcohol and Drug Abuse and Mental Health Services Block Grant) and part C (Primary Care Block Grants) with a new part B (Community Mental Health Services), part C (State Comprehensive Mental Health Service Plans), part D (Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention, Treatment, and Rehabilitation Services), and part E (General Provisions). Directs, in the new part B, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the Administrator of the Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Mental Health Administration, to make allotments and payments each fiscal year to each State for planning, developing, and providing community mental health services and related support services. Specifies application procedures and requirements, including a requirement that a State, in order to receive payments, agrees to establish and maintain a State mental health planning council with specified duties. Sets forth a formula for determining the amount of allotments, including special provisions for direct payment to an Indian tribe or tribal organization. Provides transition rules for States for FY 1988 and 1989 and separate transition rules for territories for FY 1988 and 1989. Directs the Secretary, acting through the Director of the National Institute of Mental Health, to develop and evaluate community mental health programs and services. Authorizes the use of grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements for such programs. Authorizes the Director of the National Institute of Mental Health to establish research centers to carry out the evaluations. Directs the Secretary, acting through the Director of the National Institute of Mental Health, to develop and make available a model plan for a community-based system for the care of chronically mentally ill individuals. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1988 through 1990 for: (1) mental health programs and services; (2) general provisions under part E; and (3) data collection, as provided in this Act, regarding mental health and substance abuse. Directs the Secretary, in the new part C, to make grants to the States for the development of State comprehensive mental health services plans, apportioned among the the States from appropriated funds according to the relative population of the States. Authorizes appropriations for each of the FY 1988 and 1989. Requires, starting in FY 1988, each State to submit to the Secretary a State comprehensive mental health services plan covering that fiscal year and the succeeding two fiscal years, and meeting specified requirements. Requires the State, in developing the plan, to consult with representatives of employees of State institutions and public and private nursing homes who care for seriously mentally ill individuals. Directs the Secretary to provide technical assistance to States in the development and implementation of the plans. Provides for enforcement measures the Secretary is directed to take against a State which has not taken certain steps by the end of specified fiscal years. Directs, in the new part D, the Secretary, acting through the Administrator of the Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Mental Health Administration, to make allotments and payments each fiscal year to States for establishing and carrying out programs of prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation with respect to substance abuse and related activities. Specifies application procedures and requirements, including a requirement that a State must agree to use not less than specified portions of the payments for programs and activities related to: (1) alcoholism and alcohol abuse; (2) drug abuse; (3) prevention and early intervention regarding the abuse of alcohol and drugs; and (4) such programs and services designed for women. Sets forth a formula for determining the amount of allotments, including special provisions for direct payment to an Indian tribe or tribal organization. Provides transition rules for States for FY 1988 and 1989 and separate transition rules for territories for FY 1988 and 1989. Directs the Secretary, acting through the Director of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism and the Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, to develop and evaluate alcohol and drug abuse treatment programs. Authorizes the use of grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements for such programs. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1988 through 1990 for: (1) alcohol and drug abuse programs; (2) general provisions under part E; (3) the Office of Substance Abuse Prevention; (4) model projects for the prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation of drug abuse and alcohol abuse among high risk youth; (5) data collection, as provided in this Act, regarding mental health and substance abuse; (6) alcohol abuse and alcoholism demonstration project grants; and (7) drug abuse demonstration project contracts. Sets forth, in the new part E, general provisions, including: (1) a requirement that, in order for the Secretary to make payments under specified provisions of this Act, a State must submit a description of the purposes for which the State intends to expend such payments; (2) the content such statement must have for specified provisions of this Act; (3) a requirement of public notice and opportunity for comment; (4) restrictions on the use of payments, including restrictions on the portion used for administrative expenses; (5) agreements a State must make in order for the Secretary to make payments; (6) annual reports a State is required, for payments under specified provisions, to prepare and submit to the Secretary; (7) availability of the reports to the public; (8) evaluations, by the Comptroller General of the United States, of expenditures by States under specified provisions; (9) repayment of payments for failure to comply with agreements; (10) a prohibition against certain false statements; and (11) a prohibition of discrimination. Directs the Secretary to provide technical assistance to a State receiving payments under specified provisions of this Act, or entities designated by the State, without charge. Authorizes the Secretary to provide supplies and services in lieu of grant funds. Requires the Secretary, no later than October 1, 1989, to report to the Congress on the activities of the States carried out under specified provisions of this Act. Amends the Public Health Service Act to direct the Secretary, acting through the Director of the National Institute of Mental Health (Director), to develop and publish information regarding the causes of suicide and the means of preventing suicide, especially among individuals under 24 years of age. Directs the Secretary, acting through the Director, to make grants and enter into cooperative agreements for research on mental illness. Authorizes the Secretary, acting through the Director, to make grants for mental health services demonstration projects, including self-help services, for the planning, coordination, and improvement of community services for chronically mentally ill individuals, seriously emotionally disturbed children and youth, elderly individuals, and homeless chronically mentally ill individuals, and for the conduct of research concerning such services. Authorizes the Secretary, acting through the Director, to make grants for prevention services demonstration projects for the provision of prevention services for individuals who are at risk of developing mental illness. Limits the duration of such a grant and the portion of the grant which may be used for administrative expenses. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1988 and 1989. Amends the Public Health Service Act to direct the Secretary, acting through the Administrator of the Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Mental Health Administration, to collect data on the incidence of the various forms of mental illness and substance abuse. Specifies the types of data to be included. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1988 through 1990 to carry out specified provisions of the Public Health Service Act relating to: (1) alcohol abuse and alcoholism; and (2) research with respect to drug abuse. Amends the Public Health Service Act to state that the Office of Substance Abuse Prevention is an entity of the Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Mental Health Administration (Administration). Changes from annual to not less than once each three years the requirement that the Administrator, acting through the Associate Administrator for Prevention, report to the Congress regarding prevention activities undertaken by the Administration. Directs the Administrator to establish a process for responding to reports of scientific misconduct in connection with projects using funds under title V of the Public Health Service Act. (Current law requires such a process for scientific fraud.) Authorizes the Administrator to: (1) accept voluntary and uncompensated services; and (2) conduct and support certain research training. Amends the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986 to require the Secretary to report to the Congress with respect to the results of a study regarding insurance coverage of drug abuse treatment, within 18 months after the execution of the contract for the study. (Current law requires such a report within one year of the enactment of that Act.)
United States · United States Congress · 7 August 1987
Authorizes appropriations to the Department of Energy for FY 1988 and subsequent fiscal years for the Superconducting Super Collider Program.
United States · United States Congress · 7 August 1987
Designates September 27, 1987, as Gold Star Mothers Day.
United States · United States Congress · 7 August 1987
Designates January 14, 1988, the 60th anniversary of the release of the first sound cartoon, "Steamboat Willie," as "Steamboat Willie" Recognition Day.
United States · United States Congress · 7 August 1987
Designates the week of April 10 through April 16, 1988, as National Telecommunicators' Week.
United States · United States Congress · 7 August 1987
Designates October 31, 1987, as National Child Identification and Safety Information Day.