United States · United States Congress · 17 October 2000
Calls upon the President to: (1) take all appropriate action to provide relief from injury caused by steel imports; and (2) immediately request the U.S. Trade Commission to commence an expedited investigation for positive adjustment of such steel imports under section 201 of the Trade Act of 1974.
United States · United States Congress · 12 October 2000
Bring Our Children Home Act - Amends the Federal judicial code to provide that a contestant may bring an action in district court to determine which of conflicting State court child custody determinations shall prevail. Directs the Attorney General (AG) to establish a registry for all custody orders entered by State courts. Authorizes law enforcement officers of a State or local government to hold, for no more than 24 hours, any child listed as missing for proper disposition under the latest valid custody determination. Requires the Secretary of State to prepare a report on progress made by the United States in negotiating and entering into bilateral treaties relating to international child abduction with countries that are not contracting parties under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to require information on each country's efforts to prohibit international child abduction. Requires the AG to prepare a report describing the status of each case involving a request for extradition in cases involving international kidnaping by parents.
United States · United States Congress · 4 October 2000
RU-486 Patient Health and Safety Protection Act - Restricts the prescribing of the drug mifepristone (commonly referred to as RU-486, to be marketed as Mifeprex) to physicians who meet specified requirements.
United States · United States Congress · 29 September 2000
Taxpayers' Choice Debt Reduction Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to permit an individual to designate three dollars on his or her income tax return (six dollars on a joint return) to be used to reduce the public debt of the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 28 September 2000
Patients Before Paperwork Medicare Red Tape Reduction Act of 2000 - Establishes the Patients Before Paperwork Medicare Red Tape Commission to: (1) review existing paperwork burdens and related regulations under title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act, with the goal of reducing the paperwork burdens under the Medicare program; (2) analyze whether existing and proposed paperwork requirements and related regulations have proven benefits, including a positive health benefit for Medicare beneficiaries; (3) make recommendations regarding methods to streamline and simplify the coding method for items and services for which reimbursement is provided under Medicare; (4) make recommendations regarding the facilitation of electronic filing of Medicare claims for reimbursement and the elimination of paperwork of paperwork; (5) develop a standard form that will minimize any duplication of data and that relies on less paperwork than the current system; (6) determine the effect of Medicare paperwork requirements on relationships between doctors and patients; and (7) review and analyze other appropriate matters relating to paperwork reduction. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 26 September 2000
Scouts Honor Act - Prohibits the use of Federal funds: (1) to discriminate against, investigate, or deny or withdraw access to public property for, the Boy Scouts of America on the basis of beliefs promoted by that organization or that organization's constitutionally protected expression of beliefs or exercise of associational rights; or (2) to compel the Boy Scouts of America to employ, enroll, or accept as a member or volunteer an individual whose sexual orientation, sexual behavior, religious beliefs, or absence of religious beliefs is determined by the Boy Scouts of America to be inconsistent with the organization's policies, programs, morals, or mission.
United States · United States Congress · 19 September 2000
Veterans' Oral History Project Act - Requires the Director of the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress to establish an oral history program to collect video and audio recordings of personal histories and testimonials of American war veterans.
United States · United States Congress · 19 September 2000
Calls on the Russian Federation to immediately release Edmond Pope and to ensure that proper and qualified medical attention is provided to him. Expresses the sense of Congress that if Pope is not released immediately, the President should continue efforts to secure his release, including consideration of: (1) terminating all assistance to the Government of the Russian Federation under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 and the annual Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and Related Programs Appropriations Act for purposes of preparing the Russian Federation's entrance or accession to the World Trade Organization; and (2) opposing any further debt relief of obligations owed to the U.S. Government from the Government of the Russian Federation. Urges the President to increase efforts to secure appropriate medical attention for Pope.
United States · United States Congress · 14 September 2000
Needlestick Safety and Prevention Act - Revises the bloodborne pathogens standard, in effect under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (OSHA), to include safer medical devices, such as sharps with engineered sharps injury protections and needleless systems, as examples of engineering controls designed to eliminate or minimize occupational exposure to bloodborne pathogens through needlestick and other percutaneous injuries. Requires certain employers to: (1) review and update exposure control plans to reflect changes in technology that eliminate or reduce such exposure, and document their consideration and implementation of appropriate commercially available and effective safer medical devices for such purpose; (2) maintain a sharps injury log, noting the type and brand of device used, where the injury occurred, and an explanation of the incident (exempting employers who are not required to maintain specified OSHA logs); and (3) seek input on such engineering and work practice controls from the affected health care workers (exempting employers who are not required to establish exposure control plans). Requires such modifications of the standard to: (1) be in force until superseded by regulations promulgated by the Secretary of Labor under OSHA; and (2) take effect without regard to specified procedural requirements.
United States · United States Congress · 14 September 2000
Congratulates and honors home educators and home schooled students for their contributions to educational quality. Supports the goals of National Home Education Week.
United States · United States Congress · 13 September 2000
Home Health Refinement Amendments of 2000 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to: (1) eliminate the 15 percent reduction in payment rates under the Medicare prospective payment system (PPS) for home health services; (2) provide for additional payments for outliers; (3) provide for additional payments under the PPS for home health services furnished in a rural area; (4) provide for exclusion of nonroutine medical supplies under the PPS for home health services; and (5) set forth a rule of construction relating to telehomehealth services. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to report to Congress on the feasibility and advisability of including home health services furnished by telecommunications systems as a home health service.
United States · United States Congress · 12 September 2000
Transportation Information Recall Enhancement Act - Declares it is the purpose of this Act to ensure that defects in motor vehicles or replacement equipment in foreign countries are quickly, accurately, and truthfully reported to the Secretary of Transportation in cases in which: (1) motor vehicles or replacement equipment are manufactured for export to the United States; or (2) such vehicles or equipment are manufactured in the United States using a manufacturing process that is the same as, or similar to, the manufacturing process used in the foreign country, with the result that U.S. manufactured motor vehicles or replacement equipment may also be defective. Amends Federal transportation law to require a manufacturer, not later than 48 hours after determining, or learning that a government of a foreign country has determined, that a foreign motor vehicle product contains a defect that could be related to motor vehicle safety, to report such determination to the Secretary of Transportation. Sets forth similar requirements with respect to the reporting of possible defects in such vehicle or equipment that have resulted in a significant number of serious injuries or fatalities in a foreign country. Sets forth both criminal and civil penalties for manufacturers of foreign motor vehicle products who falsify information with respect to, or otherwise violate, the reporting requirements contained in this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 27 July 2000
Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to allow a State to preempt the Federal minimum wage if the State: (1) sets a minimum wage rate of at least $5.15 per hour (the current Federal minimum wage); and (2) applies that rate to as many workers in the State as would otherwise be covered by the Federal minimum wage rate. Exempts employers in such a State from Federal minimum wage rate requirements.
United States · United States Congress · 24 July 2000
TMDL Regulatory Accountability Act of 2000 - Requires the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to: (1) solicit public comment on revisions to regulations pertaining to the national pollutant discharge elimination system (NPDES) program and the water quality planning and management program published in the Federal Register on July 13, 2000; (2) solicit State comments on the impact of such revisions on implementation and effectiveness of State programs; and (3) maintain a record of public comments and publish a response in the Federal Register. Directs the Administrator to transmit to Congress an analysis of the monitoring data needed for development and implementation of total maximum daily loads (TMDLs) which shall address data gaps identified by the Comptroller General in a March 2000 report entitled "Water Quality, Key EPA and State Decisions Limited By Inconsistent and Incomplete Data." Requires the Administrator to make arrangements with the National Academy of Sciences to study and report on the scientific bases underlying the development of TDMLs. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Administrator, with respect to the economic analysis performed on regulatory changes identified by the Comptroller General in the June 2000 report entitled "Clean Water Act: Proposed Revisions to EPA Regulations to Clean Up Polluted Waters," to prepare certain statements and analyses required under the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 with respect to: (1) significant regulatory actions that may result in expenditures by State, local, and tribal governments or the private sector of $100 million or more annually; and (2) selection of a least costly, most cost-effective, or least burdensome alternative. Requires the Administrator to conduct analyses of the effects of the revisions to the regulations pertaining to the NPDES and water quality planning and management on small entities. Directs the Administrator to review the information provided or developed under this Act and consider whether the revisions to such regulations should be changed. Requires an explanation to Congress of the decision to change or not to change such revisions.
United States · United States Congress · 18 July 2000
Disapproves a specified rule submitted by the Environmental Protection Agency relating to water pollution under the total maximum daily load program. Declares that such rule shall have no effect.
United States · United States Congress · 13 July 2000
Railroad Retirement and Survivors' Improvement Act of 2000 - Title I: Amendments to the Railroad Retirement Act of 1974 - Amends the Railroad Retirement Act of 1974 to increase benefits to railroad employees and their beneficiaries and to revise financing of the pension part (tier II) of the railroad retirement system. (Sec. 101) Increases benefits for widows and widowers by guaranteeing to them all of the tier II annuity the employee was entitled to at the time of the death. (Sec. 102) Makes employees with 30 years of service eligible to retire at age 60 with unreduced tier I and tier II annuities. Makes spouses of such employees eligible for unreduced annuities at age 60. (Sec. 103) Reduces the vesting requirement for tier II retirement annuities from ten years to five years of service after December 1995. Makes employees with at least five years of such service, but less than ten years of total service, eligible for a tier I disability annuity if their combined railroad retirement and social security earnings credits would satisfy social security eligibility requirements. Makes spouses, divorced spouses, and survivors of employees with at least five years of such service, but less than ten years of total service, eligible for a tier I annuity if they would have been entitled to a social security benefit based on combined service. (Sec. 104) Repeals a limit on the total amount of monthly railroad retirement benefits payable to an employee and spouse at the time the employee's annuity begins. (Sec. 105) Establishes a Railroad Retirement Trust Fund (the Fund) and a Railroad Retirement Investment Trust (RRIT) to manage and invest the assets of the Fund. Declares that RRIT is not an agency, department, or instrumentality of the U.S. Government. Requires RRIT to be administered by a Board of Trustees (the Trustees) with seven members (three representing labor, three representing employers, and one representing the general public) with experience and expertise in the management of financial investments and pension plans. Requires the Trustees to be appointed by a unanimous vote of the Railroad Retirement Board (RRB). Prohibits RRB members from being Trustees. Applies specified reporting requirements and fiduciary standards to the RRIT. Requires the Trustees to diversify investments so as to minimize the risk of large losses. Authorizes the Trustees to invest Fund assets in non-Governmental assets. (Sec. 106) Abolishes the Railroad Retirement Supplemental Annuity Account and provides for transfer of its funds to the Fund. (Sec. 107) Requires the RRB, upon the establishment of the Fund, to determine the portion of the Railroad Retirement Account not needed to pay current administrative expenses and direct the Secretary of the Treasury to transfer that amount into the Fund. Requires the Fund to transfer the necessary amount of funds to pay benefits and related administrative expenses to the disbursing agent. Transfers to the Fund Social Security Equivalent Benefit account funds not needed to pay current benefits, but requires that such funds only be used to pay benefits or to invest in U.S. Government or Government-guaranteed securities. Transfers to the disbursing agent from the Dual Benefit Account the amount necessary to make dual benefit payments. Requires the Trustees to consult with the Secretary of the Treasury to develop an appropriate method for transferring or converting existing account obligations. (Sec. 108) Requires the RRB to calculate the ratio of assets to benefits to determine annual tier II tax rates for employers, employee representatives, and employees. Establishes schedules for: (1) decreasing tax rates if the average account benefits ratio, based on the ratios for the ten most recent fiscal years, is above six; and (2) increasing employer and employee representatives' tax rates if the ratio is below four. Title II: Amendments to the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exempt the Railroad Retirement Trust Fund (the Fund) from taxation. (Sec. 203) Repeals a supplemental annuity tax that railroad employers pay to finance a benefit for long-time rail employees. (Sec. 204) Provides for adjustments to railroad employers, employee representatives, and employee tier II tax rates. Decreases such rates in 2001 and in 2002 for employers and employee representatives. Provides in the years after 2002 for tax rate schedules, based on the ten-year average account benefit ratio, for employers, employee representatives, and employees.
United States · United States Congress · 13 July 2000
Expresses support for and encourages the public display of the national motto of the United States "In God we Trust" in all public buildings, public schools, and other government institutions.
United States · United States Congress · 29 June 2000
Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act, with regard to requirements to qualify as a disproportionate share (DSH) hospital, to waive the obstetrician requirement when it prevents DSH designation in the case of certain critical access hospitals or essential rural health care providers.
United States · United States Congress · 28 June 2000
Minor Animal Species Health and Welfare Act of 2000 - Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to define: "minor species" as animals other than cattle, horses, swine, chickens, turkeys, dogs, and cats; and (2) "minor use" as use on minor species or on other species for a disease or condition that occurs infrequently or in limited geographic areas. Provides for the designation of new animal drugs as being for minor use and mandates approval exclusivity for seven or ten years. Allows marketing of unapproved drugs for minor species with no human food safety concern. Authorizes grants for minor use drug clinical testing and manufacturing. Modifies new animal drug approval requirements. Establishes the Office of Minor Use Animal Drug Development in the Center of Veterinary Medicine, Food and Drug Administration. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a business research tax credit (not applicable to grant funds) for minor use clinical research spending.
United States · United States Congress · 23 June 2000
Calls for the immediate release of Edmond Pope from prison in Russia on humanitarian reasons. Declares that no funds should be provided for: (1) assisting the Government of the Russian Federation to prepare for or adjoin or accede to the World Trade Organization; or (2) Overseas Private Investment Corporation programs for activities within Russia. Urges the President to oppose further loans to the Russian Government by any international funding institution of which the United States is a member.
United States · United States Congress · 21 June 2000
Illegal Pornography Prosecution Act of 2000 - Authorizes appropriations to the Department of Justice for FY 2001 to be used by the Criminal Division, Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, for the hiring and training of staff, travel, and other necessary expenses to prosecute obscenity cases.
United States · United States Congress · 15 June 2000
Amends the Agricultural Credit Act of 1987 to revise State agricultural loan mediation program provisions regarding eligibility, mediation services, and grant use. Authorizes permanent appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 15 June 2000
Health Care Access and Rural Equality Act of 2000 - Title I: Increase in Market Basket Percentage Adjustment for Rural Hospitals - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to provide for an increase in the market basket percentage adjustment for rural hospitals. Title II: Capital Relief for Rural Health Care Infrastructure - Amends part A (Determination of Benefits) of SSA title XVI (Supplemental Security Income) (SSI) to establish a Capital Infrastructure Revolving Loan Program under which the Secretary of Health and Human Services may make loans up to a specified amount from the loan and loan guarantee fund to any rural entity for projects for capital improvements. Title III: Refinement of the Medicare Dependent, Small Rural Hospital Program - Amends SSA title XVIII to make the Medicare-dependent, small rural hospital program permanent and to give any hospital under such program the option of basing eligibility for payment on discharges during any of the three most recent audited cost reporting periods in lieu of the current basing of eligibility for payment on discharges during the cost reporting period beginning in FY 1987. Title IV: Exemption for Medicare Swing Bed Hospitals - Amends SSA title XVIII to exempt Medicare swing bed hospitals from the prospective payment system for skilled nursing facilities. Amends the Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP Balanced Budget Refinement Act of 1999 to make January 1, 2001, the effective date of the elimination of certain restrictions with respect to the hospital swing bed program. Title V: Treatment of Physician Pathology Services - Provides for the treatment of certain physician pathology services under Medicare. Title VI: Medicaid Payment Correction for Certain Rural Health Clinics - Prohibits a State plan approved under SSA title XIX (Medicaid) from recouping or denying certain alleged plan overpayments for rural health clinic services furnished on or after January 1, 1998, and before October 1, 2000. Prohibits the Secretary from withholding, suspending, disallowing, or denying Federal financial participation under Medicaid with respect to such overpayments. Requires the State or the Secretary, as the case may be, to pay to the rural health clinic or the State, as the case may be, any amounts recouped, denied, withheld, suspended, or disallowed. Title VII: Technical Corrections to the Balanced Budget Refinement Act - Amends SSA title XVIII with regard to: (1) payments to critical access hospitals for clinical diagnostic laboratory tests; (2) the all-inclusive payment option for outpatient critical access hospital services; and (3) the option to use rebased target amounts to all sole community hospitals. Makes technical corrections to the Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP Balanced Budget Refinement Act of 1999 with regard to clinical diagnostic laboratory services furnished by a critical access hospital and other specified matters. Amends Medicare part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) to authorize the Secretary to make grants of up to a specified amount to applicant hospitals to assist eligible small rural hospitals in meeting the costs of establish data systems required to meet requirements established under Medicare pursuant to the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 25 May 2000
Internet Minors Protection and Cyberspace Technology Act - Requires any elementary or secondary school or public library that has received Federal funds for the acquisition or operation of any computer accessible to minors, and that has access to the Internet (or received universal service assistance under the Communications Act of 1934 for accessing the Internet on any computer accessible to minors) to: (1) install software on that computer adequately designed to prevent minors from obtaining access to any obscene information or child pornography; and (2) ensure that such software is operational whenever that computer is used by minors. Allows temporary interruption of software operation to permit a minor, under the direct supervision of an adult designated by the school or library, to have access to information that is not obscene, is not child pornography, or is otherwise unprotected by the Constitution. Requires determinations of adequate design to be made by an agency or official designated by the State Governor. Authorizes Federal agency heads to respond to violations of this Act by seeking remedies, in the same manner as under the General Education Provisions Act, including withholding of further payments, issuing a complaint to compel compliance through a cease and desist order, or entering into a compliance agreement with the recipient of funds. Prohibits seeking recovery of funds from the recipient.
United States · United States Congress · 25 May 2000
Amends the Internal Revenue Code respecting tax exempt mortgage issues to include a specified median family income-based alternative purchase price limitation.
United States · United States Congress · 19 May 2000
Water Pollution Program Improvement Act of 2000 - Requires the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to make arrangements with the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) to conduct a study on the: (1) scientific basis underlying the development and implementation of total maximum daily loads for pollutants in waters for which effluent limitations under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act are not stringent enough to implement applicable water quality standards; (2) costs of implementing measures to comply with such loads; and (3) availability of alternative programs or mechanisms to reduce the discharge of pollutants from point sources and nonpoint source pollution to achieve water quality standards. Requires the NAS to report on the study to the Administrator and specified congressional committees. Provides for Federal, State, and private sector comments on such report. Authorizes appropriations. Requires the Administrator, before making a final determination with respect to the Proposed Revisions to the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Program and Federal Antidegradation Policy and the Proposed Revisions to the Water Quality Planning and Management Regulations Concerning Total Maximum Daily Loads of August 1999, to: (1) review the NAS report and incorporate recommendations into the proposed revisions; and (2) publish in the Federal Register and receive public comment on incorporated recommendations and those that weren't incorporated, with an explanation why they were not incorporated. Bars the Administrator from making such final determination until the conclusion of the public notice and comment period. Prohibits the Administrator, for purposes of ensuring that States continue to have exclusive authority to regulate nonpoint sources of pollution, from: (1) taking any action to affect any definition of, or distinction made between, point and nonpoint sources of pollution contained in an EPA rule in effect on June 1, 2000; and (2) requiring approval of any measures set forth by a State to control nonpoint sources of pollution pursuant to the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, except as authorized under specified provisions regarding nonpoint source management programs.
United States · United States Congress · 18 May 2000
Amends Federal law to direct the Postal Service to establish a special (semipostal) postage rate for first-class mail in order to afford the public a convenient way to contribute to funding for the establishment of the World War II Memorial. Expresses the sense of Congress that nothing in this Act should: (1) directly or indirectly cause a net decrease in total funds received by the American Battle Monuments Commission below the level that would otherwise have been received but for the enactment of this section; or (2) affect regular first-class rates of postage or any other regular rates of postage.
United States · United States Congress · 16 May 2000
Emergency Methamphetamine Response Act of 2000 - Authorizes the Attorney General: (1) acting through the Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), to reimburse States, units of local government, Indian tribal governments, other public entities, and multi- jurisdictional or regional consortia thereof, for expenses incurred to clean up and safely dispose of substances associated with clandestine methamphetamine laboratories which may present a danger to public health or the environment; and (2) to hire up to five additional DEA personnel to administer this Act. Directs the Attorney General to make specified unobligated balances available to the Department of Justice for FY 2000 available to carry out this Act. Authorizes appropriations for FY 2001.
United States · United States Congress · 13 April 2000
Born-Alive Infants Protection Act of 2000 - Directs that, in determining the meaning of any Act of Congress, or of any ruling, regulation, or interpretation of the various U.S. administrative bureaus and agencies, the words "person," "human being," "child," and "individual" shall include every infant member of the species homo sapiens who is born alive (as defined in this Act) at any stage of development.
United States · United States Congress · 13 April 2000
National Institutes of Health EPSCoR Program Act of 2000 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to revise the program for enhancing the competitiveness of entities conducting biomedical and behavioral research in obtaining funds from the National Research Institutes. Establishes a new experimental program to stimulate competitive research (EPSCoR) to enhance the research competitiveness of a non-Federal entity located in an EPSCoR State (as defined in this Act). Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 13 April 2000
Reservists Tax Relief Act of 2000 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow the deduction, as a trade or business expense, of certain expenses of members of a reserve component of the U.S. Armed Forces incurred while away from home in connection with such service.
United States · United States Congress · 12 April 2000
National Museum of the American Indian Commemorative Coin Act of 2000, or American Buffalo Coin Commemorative Coin Act of 2000 - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to mint and issue a maximum of 500,000 $1 dollar coins in commemoration of the opening of the National Museum of the American Indian of the Smithsonian Institution. Expresses the sense of Congress that the United States Mint Facility in Denver, Colorado, should strike such coins unless the Secretary determines that it would be technically or cost-prohibitive. Mandates that the proceeds from sales surcharges be paid promptly to the National Museum of the American Indian of the Smithsonian Institution to: (1) commemorate the opening of the Museum; and (2)supplement the Museum's endowment and educational outreach funds. Subjects the Museum to certain Federal audit requirements. Instructs the Secretary to take actions to ensure that coin minting and issuance will not result in any net cost to the Government.
United States · United States Congress · 12 April 2000
Law Enforcement Quality Procurement Act - Prohibits: (1) the use of Federal funds to give or withhold a preference to a marketer or vendor of firearms or ammunition based on whether the manufacturer or vendor is a party to a covered agreement (an agreement requiring a person engaged in a business licensed under Federal firearms provisions to abide by a designated code of conduct, operating practice, or product design respecting importing, manufacturing, or dealing in firearms or ammunition); or (2) the provision of Federal funds to a State or local entity that gives or withholds such a preference or that receives firearms or ammunition purchased for that State or local entity subject to such a preference.
United States · United States Congress · 12 April 2000
Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) the presence of brain activity and spontaneous cardiac activity should be considered conclusive evidence for all legal purposes of the presence of human life, without regard to age, health, defects, or condition of dependency; (2) the absence of such activity, other than an irreversible cessation of these activities, should not be considered conclusive evidence for legal purposes that a human life is not present; and (3) the Constitution protects all human life in the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 6 April 2000
Methyl Bromide Fairness Act of 2000 - Amends provisions of the Clean Air Act that prohibit the production of certain substances to provide an exemption for the production, importation, and consumption of methyl bromide to fumigate commodities or articles or facilities where such commodities or articles may be processed or stored for purposes of compliance with Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service requirements or with any international, Federal, State, or local sanitation or food protection standard. (Current law provides for the use of methyl bromide to fumigate commodities entering or leaving the United States to the extent consistent with the Montreal Protocol.) Prohibits the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency from terminating production of methyl bromide prior to January 1, 2015 (currently, January 1, 2005). Requires the Administrator to promulgate rules for reductions in, and terminate the production, importation, and consumption of, methyl bromide under a schedule that is in accordance with, but not more stringent than, the Montreal Protocol phaseout schedule for developing countries (currently, the Montreal Protocol phaseout schedule in effect on October 21, 1998).
United States · United States Congress · 6 April 2000
Noncommercial Broadcasting Freedom of Expression Act of 2000 - Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to allow a nonprofit organization or entity to hold a noncommercial educational radio or television license (license) if the station is used primarily to broadcast material that such organization or entity determines serves an educational, instructional, or cultural purpose (such purposes) in that community, unless such determination is arbitrary or unreasonable. Prohibits the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) from: (1) imposing or enforcing any requirement on such licenses based on the number of hours of programming that serve such purposes; (2) preventing religious programming from being determined to serve one of such purposes; or (3) imposing or enforcing any other programming content requirement that is not imposed on a licensee, permittee, or applicant for a commercial radio or television license. Prohibits the FCC from establishing, expanding, or otherwise modifying requirements relating to the service obligations of noncommercial educational radio or television stations except by means of agency rulemaking.
United States · United States Congress · 6 April 2000
Date Certain Tax Code Replacement Act - Prohibits the imposition of any tax by the Internal Revenue Code: (1) for any taxable year beginning after December 31, 2004; and (2) in the case of any tax not imposed on the basis of a taxable year, on any taxable event or for any period after December 31, 2004. Excepts the: (1) tax on self-employment income (chapter 2 of the Code); (2) Federal Insurance Contributions Act (chapter 21 of the Code); and (3) Railroad Retirement Tax Act (chapter 22 of the Code). Establishes the National Commission on Tax Reform and Simplification to review: (1) the present structure and provisions of the Code; (2) whether the tax systems of other countries could provide more efficient and fair methods of funding government revenue requirements; (3) whether the income tax should be replaced with a tax imposed in a different manner or on a different base; and (4) whether the Code can be simplified, absent wholesale restructuring or replacement. Requires a Commission report to Congress on review results, with recommendations for Code reform and simplification. Terminates the Commission 90 days after such report. Authorizes appropriations (with interim funding). Declares that any new Federal tax system should be approved by Congress in its final form before July 4, 2004.
United States · United States Congress · 6 April 2000
Armed Forces Educational Relief Act of 2000 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from gross income certain payments on student loans of members of the Armed Forces.
United States · United States Congress · 6 April 2000
Constitutional Amendment - Requires any legislative measure changing the internal revenue laws to require the concurrence of two-thirds of the Members of each House voting and present, unless the legislative measure is determined not to increase the internal revenue by more than a de minimis amount. States that for the purposes of determining any increase in the internal revenue, there shall be excluded any increase resulting from the lowering of an effective rate of any tax. Permits Congress to waive such requirements when: (1) a declaration of war is in effect; or (2) the United States is engaged in military conflict which causes an imminent and serious threat to national security and is so declared by an adopted joint resolution. Prohibits any increase in the internal revenue enacted under such a waiver from being effective for longer than two years.
United States · United States Congress · 30 March 2000
Amends the Water Resources Research Act of 1984 to authorize appropriations through FY 2005 for: (1) carrying out certain provisions relating to water resources research and technology institutes; and (2) for reimbursement of the direct cost expenses of additional research or synthesis of research by the institutes which focuses on water problems and issues of a regional or interstate nature beyond those of concern only to a single State and which relate to specific program priorities identified jointly by the Secretary of the Interior and the institutes.
United States · United States Congress · 30 March 2000
Expresses the sense of Congress that the settlement process and claims of African-American farmers against the Department of Agriculture should be resolved expeditiously.
United States · United States Congress · 23 March 2000
Cybermolesters Enforcement Act of 2000 - Amends the Federal criminal code to provide for a five year mandatory minimum sentence for: (1) transportation in interstate or foreign commerce of a person under age 18 with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity; and (2) travel in interstate or foreign commerce with intent to engage in a sexual act with a person under age 18.
United States · United States Congress · 23 March 2000
Deposit Insurance Fairness and Economic Opportunity Act - Amends the Federal Deposit Insurance Act to set forth a schedule under which the Board of Directors of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation shall transfer annually to the Financing Corporation (FICO), for payment of FICO interest obligations, such amounts as exceed 1.40 percent of the total estimated deposits insured by the Bank Insurance Fund and the Savings Association Insurance Fund, respectively, when amounts in both Funds exceed that percentage.
United States · United States Congress · 23 March 2000
Urges all contracting parties to the Hague Convention: (1) particularly Austria, Germany and Sweden, to comply fully with their international obligations; (2) to ensure their compliance by enacting effective implementing legislation and educating their judicial and law enforcement authorities; (3) to honor their commitments and return abducted or wrongfully retained children to their place of habitual residence without reaching the merits of any underlying custody dispute and to remove obstacles to the exercise of parental access rights; and (4) to further educate their central authority and local law enforcement authorities regarding the Convention, the severity of the problem of international child abduction, and the need for immediate action when a parent of an abducted child seeks their assistance. Urges the Secretary of State to disseminate to all Federal and State courts the Department of State's annual report to Congress on Convention compliance and related matters.
United States · United States Congress · 22 March 2000
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from self-employment net income certain conservation reserve program payments. Amends the Social Security Act to exclude such payments from the definition of "net earnings from self-employment."
United States · United States Congress · 21 March 2000
Privacy Commission Act - Establishes the Commission for the Comprehensive Study of Privacy Protection to study and report to Congress and the President on issues relating to protection of individual privacy and the appropriate balance to be achieved between protecting such privacy and allowing appropriate uses of information. Requires the Commission to conduct at least four hearings in each of the five geographical regions of the United States. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 14 March 2000
Affordable Drinking Water Act - Amends the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act to authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to make grants to nonprofit organizations to assist eligible individuals obtain financing for construction, refurbishing, and servicing of individual household water well systems in rural areas.
![Official portrait of Rep. Dickey, Jay [R-AR-4]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/d1319ff729dfebe302f8e88dd48c88a8_200.jpg)