United States · United States Congress · 28 February 1991
Denies entry to Federal lands to persons found guilty of spiking trees on such lands. Amends the Federal criminal code to increase fines and terms of imprisonment for tree spiking. Sets forth criminal penalties for placing hazardous or injurious devices on non-Federal lands to obstruct or harass timber harvesting. Specifies that provisions concerning tree spiking or other hazardous or injurious devices to obstruct timber harvesting do not affect the extraction of renewable materials from trees or any tree stand, platform, or man-made support intended for recreational or hunting purposes. Directs the Attorney General to pay rewards of up to $5,000 for information leading to a conviction with respect to a violation under this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 28 February 1991
Calls for the President to proclaim a National Welcome Home Day for U.S. forces that shall be marked by a celebration in all the States, towns, and cities and by a National Welcome Home Parade in Washington, D.C.
United States · United States Congress · 28 February 1991
Acclaims the President for his decisive leadership, unerring judgment, and sound decisions with respect to the Persian Gulf crisis. Commends and expresses appreciation to the members of the U.S. armed forces and other members of the international coalition who participated in Operation Desert Storm. Conveys sympathy and condolences to the families and friends of coalition and U.S. forces who were injured or killed during such operation. Expresses compassion for the families of noncombatants who suffered hardship and personal losses during the Persian Gulf War. Supports continued efforts to promote peace and stability in the Persian Gulf.
United States · United States Congress · 27 February 1991
Directs the heads of Federal departments or agencies which hold or receive records and information which have or could possibly have been correlated to U.S. personnel listed as prisoners of war or missing in action after 1940, including from World War II and the Korean and Vietnam conflicts, to publicly disclose such records and information, except where such disclosure would compromise national security. Requires the Department of Defense to publicly disclose a complete list of such personnel including those killed in action (body not returned) with each service member's current classification as well as any changes in such classification occurring during or after such hostilities.
United States · United States Congress · 26 February 1991
Condemns the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN) for shooting down a U.S. helicopter and murdering the survivors. Considers the FMLN to be a terrorist organization. Urges that all FMLN representatives, delegates, and staff be expelled from the United States. Calls upon all private organizations in the United States currently financing the FMLN to stop such financing. Demands that the FMLN immediately deliver to the Government of El Salvador for trial the FMLN guerillas implicated in the murder of U.S. citizens.
United States · United States Congress · 21 February 1991
Declares that, with regard to assistance to nations in transition from communism to democracy, it is U.S. policy to provide foreign aid directly to democratic governments at the republic level in countries that include a ruling communist majority in other republic governments or at the Federal level.
United States · United States Congress · 21 February 1991
Radio Free Asia Act of 1991 - Amends the Board for International Broadcasting Act of 1973 to grant authority to the Board for International Broadcasting to operate a Radio Free Asia broadcasting service for the peoples of Asia. Revises the composition of the Board to add two additional members to be selected by the President. Allows funds made available to Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty to be used by Radio Free Asia. Authorizes appropriations. Requires the Board to report to the Congress on the desirability of the geographic expansion of funded broadcasts, particularly to Africa, the Middle East, and North Korea.
United States · United States Congress · 21 February 1991
Constitutional Amendment - Prohibits Federal expenditures from exceeding revenues for any fiscal year and from exceeding 19 percent of the gross national product for the last calendar year ending before the beginning of such fiscal year. Provides for a suspension of such prohibitions for any fiscal year for which three-fifths of the House of the Congress provides, by rollcall vote, for a specific excess of outlays over estimated revenues.
United States · United States Congress · 21 February 1991
Establishes the House Commission on Legislative Process Reform to conduct a full investigation of the current structure and operation of the legislative process in the House of Representatives. Terminates the Commission within 90 days after submission of its final report to the House, at which time, its records and files shall be transferred to the Committee on Rules.
United States · United States Congress · 20 February 1991
Amends rule XLVIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives to require members and employees of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence to take a secrecy oath. Authorizes the Select Committee to refer cases of unauthorized disclosure and violations of the required oaths to the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct for investigation. Specifies possible sanctions.
United States · United States Congress · 19 February 1991
Human Rights in India Act - Directs the President to report to the Congress on whether the Government of India is preventing human rights organizations from visiting India to monitor human rights conditions. Terminates development assistance to India (except for specified health projects) if the President reports that the Government of India is implementing such policy. Provides for the resumption of assistance if the President reports to the Congress that India is no longer implementing such policy.
United States · United States Congress · 19 February 1991
Older Americans' Freedom to Work Act of 1991 - Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act to remove the limitation on the amount of outside income which beneficiaries who have attained retirement age may earn without incurring a reduction in benefits.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 1991
Reclamation Drought Response Act of 1991 - Authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to: (1) prepare and implement cooperative drought contingency plans for the prevention or mitigation of the adverse effects of drought; (2) make loans for certain prevention or mitigation activities; (3) purchase water for Federal reclamation project and nonproject water users; (4) provide technical assistance to certain States and U.S. territories for drought contingency planning; and (5) conduct a Precipitation Management Technology Transfer Program to help alleviate problems caused by precipitation variability and droughts in the West. Authorizes establishment of the Reclamation Drought Response Fund for defraying expenses necessary to implement cooperative drought contingency plans and to make loans for prevention or mitigation activities. Outlines provisions regarding operational costs for the delivery of water under cooperative drought contingency plans. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 1991
Comprehensive Recycling Act of 1991 - Establishes as national goals: (1) the recycling of municipal waste; and (2) the creation and strengthening of markets for recycled materials. Requires the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to provide technical assistance and guidance to States on recycling methods and opportunities. Directs States to develop and implement comprehensive multimaterial recycling programs. Requires such programs to be designed to provide at least 20 percent of a State's population with an opportunity to participate in such programs within two years of this Act's enactment. Provides that such programs must be available to an additional 20 percent of a State's population every two years, until the entire population is provided with such opportunity. Sets forth minimum program requirements. Deems a State or its municipalities to be in compliance with this Act if they have in place an alternative program that meets this Act's requirements. Requires States to include recycling programs in the regional solid waste plan required by the Solid Waste Disposal Act. Makes States with approved plans eligible for Federal assistance for recycling infrastructures. Amends the Solid Waste Disposal Act to require the Administrator to make grants to States for the development of programs to promote the use of recycling techniques by businesses, local governments, or regional waste management authorities.
United States · United States Congress · 5 February 1991
Amends rule X of the Rules of the House of Representatives to establish the Committee on Drug Abuse and Control. Terminates the Select Committee on Narcotics Abuse and Control.
United States · United States Congress · 31 January 1991
Repeals provisions of the Rural Development, Agriculture, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1991 to prohibit a specified rural development grant for the restoration of the birthplace of Lawrence Welk.
United States · United States Congress · 30 January 1991
National Literacy Act of 1991 - Title I: Literacy: Strategic Planning, Research, and Coordination - Establishes an Interagency Task Force on Literacy. Amends the Department of Education Organization Act to direct the Assistant Secretary for Vocational and Adult Education to coordinate literacy-related programs. Establishes the National Institute for Literacy and the National Institute Board. Authorizes the Institute to award Literacy Leader Fellowships. Authorizes appropriations. Amends the Adult Education Act (AEA) to authorize the Secretary of Education (the Secretary) to make grants to establish a network of State or regional adult literacy resource centers. Authorizes appropriations. Title II: Workforce Literacy - Establishes in the Department of Labor a National Workforce Literacy Assistance Collaborative. Authorizes appropriations. Amends the Adult Education Act (AEA) to revise provisions for national workforce literacy strategies grants to business, industry, labor, and education partnerships for workplace literacy. Requires the Secretary of Education (the Secretary), in awarding grants for exemplary demonstration partnerships for workplace literacy, to: (1) give priority to partnerships which include small businesses; and (2) limit such grant awards to not more than three years. Directs the Secretary to reserve a specified amount, whenever appropriations for workforce literacy partnership grants exceed a certain level, to establish a program of grants for large-scale national workforce literacy strategies. Authorizes appropriations for AEA workforce literacy programs. Title III: Investment in Literacy - Extends through FY 1995 the authorization of appropriations for programs under the Adult Education Act (AEA). Revises the use of funds under the AEA basic State grants program. Requires that basic grants to States also be used for competitive two-year Gateway Grants to public housing authorities for literacy programs and related activities. Requires biennial evaluations and reports on such Gateway Grants. Revises AEA to give State advisory councils, plans, and evaluations literacy-related responsibilities. Requires States to report biennially to the Interagency Task Force on meeting literacy goals, coordinating workplace literacy services, and building a high quality delivery system for adult literacy programs. Provides for training educators to recognize and serve illiterate individuals more effectively. Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) to revise targeted assistance programs under ESEA to include training programs to enhance the ability of teachers and school counselors to identify, particularly in the early grades, students with reading and related problems which place them at risk for adult illiteracy. Renames the Even Start program under ESEA as the Even Start Family Literacy Program. Revises the program to expand eligibility to include community-based organizations or other nonprofit organizations of demonstrated quality applying in collaboration with a local educational agency (LEA) (as well as LEAs and LEA consortia). Sets minimum grant amounts. Makes individual children eligible from birth through age seven (currently from age one through age seven). Provides for continuation of eligibility for certain participants until the parents become ineligible due to educational achievement or until all children in the family attain age eight. Gives priority to applicants demonstrating that the area to be served has a high percentage or a large number of children and adults in need of program services. Authorizes appropriations for the Even Start Family Literacy Program. Establishes a Family Literacy Public Broadcasting Program. Authorizes the Secretary of Education, subject to availability of appropriations, to contract with the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) for production and dissemination of family literacy programming and accompanying materials to assist parents in improving family literacy skills and languages development. Requires CPB to: (1) cooperate with local public broadcasting stations; (2) arrange for distribution of audio and video instructional media materials for use, and distribution on loan, to families at sites chosen from among State and local libraries with literacy programs and nonprofit entities serving hard-to-serve populations; and (3) report to the Congress. Authorizes appropriations for the Family Literacy Public Broadcasting Program. Title IV: Business Leadership for Employment Skills - Amends the Adult Education Act (AEA) to provide for education programs for commercial drivers. Authorizes the Secretary of Education to make competitive matching grants for adult education programs which increase the literacy skills of eligible commercial drivers so that they may successfully complete the knowledge test requirements under the Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1986. Requires grantees to refer individuals identified as having literacy skill problems to appropriate adult education programs. Authorizes appropriations. Title V: Books for Families - Revises the ESEA inexpensive book distribution program to require that priority be given in selection of additional local programs to those which serve children and students with special needs. Requires the program contractor (Reading is Fundamental) to report to the Secretary of Education annually on such additional programs. Amends the Library Services and Construction Act to direct the Secretary of Education, in awarding grants for library literacy programs and services, to give priority to those that: (1) will be delivered in areas of greatest need with highest concentrations of adults without secondary education or its equivalent, and which either have few community or financial resources or have low per capita income, unemployment, or underemployment; and (2) coordinate with literacy organizations and community-based organizations providing literacy services. Title VI: Students for Literacy - Amends HEA to authorize appropriations for Student Literacy Corps programs. Requires individual students in such programs, as a condition of course credit, to perform at least 60 hours of voluntary, uncompensated service as tutors in a public community agency's educational or literacy program. Title VII: Volunteers for Literacy - Amends the Domestic Volunteer Service Act of 1973 to establish a Literacy Challenge Grants program. Authorizes the Director of the ACTION Agency to award such grants to eligible public and private entities to pay the Federal share of costs of establishing, operating, or expanding community or employee literacy programs that include the use of full- or part-time volunteers. Authorizes appropriations for Literacy Challenge Grants, but only if there are specified levels of funding for the VISTA Program and the VISTA Literacy Corps. Title VIII: Literacy for Incarcerated Individuals - Amends the Adult Education Act (AEA) to establish requirements for mandatory functional literacy programs for incarcerated adults in State correctional systems and local jails or detention centers. Requires such a program to be in effect in at least one major correctional facility, for each State correctional system and each local jail or detention center with an inmate population, within two years after enactment of this Act. Requires, if adequate funds are available, each State correctional system and each local jail or detention center with over 150 inmates to have such a program in effect within five years after enactment of this Act. Sets forth required components of such programs, including inmate mandatory participation any individual who is serving a life sentence without parole, or terminally ill, or under a sentence of death. Requires annual reports. Encourages: (1) parole agencies to make educational recommendations for those being released who do not have a marketable job skill or a high school diploma; and (2) jails with less than 150 inmates to develop such mandatory functional literacy programs.
United States · United States Congress · 30 January 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow an income tax deduction for interest on certain indebtedness incurred to pay the educational expenses of the taxpayer, spouse, or dependent. (Under current law, such a loan must be secured by an interest in real property.)
United States · United States Congress · 29 January 1991
Health Care Savings Account Act of 1991 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow employees and employers, including self-employed individuals, a 60 percent tax credit for contributions to a health care savings account for the benefit of the employee or self-employed individual. Limits total contributions to an account to the aggregate amount of hospital insurance tax paid with respect to the account beneficiary. Describes conditions that must be met by the account. Excludes from the gross income of the beneficiary any account contributions made by an employer. Exempts an account from taxation (except for the tax on unrelated business income of a charitable organization) unless the distributee engages in specified transactions in connection with it. Excludes from gross income any account distributions used to pay the eligible medical expenses of the beneficiary or qualifying spouse. Imposes a ten percent surtax on account distributions used for other than health care purposes or made before the distributee is aged 65 or older. Imposes penalty taxes in connection with: (1) excess contributions or prohibited transactions associated with an account; (2) distributions from an account that reduce a distributee's account level below a specified amount; and (3) failure to effect spousal rollover of an account upon the spouse's death. Imposes penalties for failure to make required reports concerning an account. Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to reduce the Medicare benefits of a health care savings account beneficiary by 60 percent of the maximum amount of Medicare-related expenditures that could be reasonably underwritten (by an insurance company) for the average Medicare beneficiary, given certain assumptions. Establishes special rules for individuals who cannot obtain insurance to cover their added deductible at the standard premium rates. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish rules in connection with recalculations of deductibles when a qualifying spouse becomes eligible for Medicare. Establishes catastrophic health care expense protection for certain individuals who qualify for Medicare and have met specified contribution requirements with respect to one or more health care savings accounts. Describes conditions under which a qualifying spouse becomes eligible for this protection.
United States · United States Congress · 29 January 1991
Condemns Iraq's eco-terrorism. Demands that Iraq immediately halt and refrain in the future from deliberately pumping oil into the Persian Gulf and other forms of environmental warfare. Holds Iraq fully responsible for all economic and environmental damages caused by the spill. Calls upon the President and the leaders of other allied nations to demand adequate compensation from Iraq for economic losses, environmental damages, and clean-up costs resulting from the spill.
United States · United States Congress · 22 January 1991
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that the U.S. Government should: (1) suspend all trade assistance and benefits for the Soviet Union (including commodities credits and export-import credits) until all Soviet troops have been removed from Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia; and (2) reaffirm its recognition of such countries as sovereign nations and establish diplomatic relations with them.
United States · United States Congress · 18 January 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend the targeted jobs credit permanently. Increases the maximum age requirement for economically disadvantaged youth from 23 to 25.
United States · United States Congress · 18 January 1991
Constitutional Amendment - Proclaims the English language to be the official language of the United States. Prohibits the United States or any State from requiring the use of any other language. Declares that this article shall not prohibit educational instruction in a language other than English for the purpose of making students proficient in English. Authorizes the Congress and the States to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
United States · United States Congress · 18 January 1991
Imposes upon the Soviet Union the trade and assistance restrictions described in this resolution unless and until the President certifies to the Congress that the Soviet Union has: (1) ceased all interference with freedom of the press in Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia; (2) ceased the threat and use of force against the people of such states; (3) ceased its military occupation of all buildings and facilities in such states seized during the crackdown that commenced in March 1990; and (4) entered into meaningful negotiations with the democratically elected leaders of such states for the purposes of establishing the formal recognition of their independence. Specifies as such restrictions: (1) prohibiting the Export-Import Bank and the Commodity Credit Corporation from issuing or paying any insurance or credit guarantee with respect to financing exports to the Soviet Union; (2) making ineffective the U.S.-Soviet trade agreement concluded on June 1, 1990; (3) denying authority to the Secretary of the Treasury and the U.S. executive director of the International Monetary Fund and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development to support any grant of special association status; and (4) requiring the United States to oppose any waiver or modification of restrictions contained in the Charter of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development applicable to the provision of loans to the Soviet Union and to oppose loans by such bank to the Soviet Union.
United States · United States Congress · 11 January 1991
Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act to provide that a beneficiary shall be entitled to a prorated benefit for the month in which he or she dies.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1991
Veterans Compensation Amendments of 1991 - Title I: Compensation Rate Increases - Increases the rates of: (1) veterans' disability compensation; (2) additional compensation for veterans' dependents; (3) the clothing allowance for certain disabled veterans; (4) dependency and indemnity compensation for surviving spouses and children; and (5) supplemental dependency and indemnity compensation for disabled adult children. Authorizes the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to adjust administratively the rates of disability compensation payable to persons who are not in receipt of compensation for service-connected disability or death. Title II: Future Cost-Of-Living Adjustments - Requires the Secretary to increase such rates at the same time and by the same percentage as any increase in social security benefit amounts paid under title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1991
Budget Process Reform Act - Title I: Statement of Congressional Purpose - Declares that the purpose of this Act is to facilitate rational, informed, and timely decisions by the Congress. Expresses the sense of the Congress that the Federal budget process should focus the attention of policymakers and the public on the aggregate impact of Federal spending on the economy, and on the tradeoffs that must be made among priorities in order to control overall levels of spending. Declares that the budget process should contain safeguards against delay and inaction, so that temporary shut-downs of the Government may be avoided. Title II: Binding Budget Law - Requires the Congress to enact a binding budget law, in the form of a joint resolution, by April 15 of the calendar year before that in which the fiscal period commences. Requires the budget law to fit on a single page, which sets forth specific budget ceilings in major functional categories. Makes it out of order in the House of Representatives or the Senate to consider any spending bill affecting spending in a major functional category unless and until a joint resolution on the budget is enacted. Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to prohibit baseline budgeting. Requires the budget to include comparisons of current fiscal year and proposed subsequent fiscal year spending. Requires the President to submit to the Congress on or before the fifteenth day after a joint resolution on the budget is enacted a detailed budget for the fiscal period beginning on October 1 of the current calendar year. Title III: Enforcement Mechanics - Subtitle A: Supermajority Required to Break Budget Law - Requires a two-thirds majority vote in the House and the Senate to consider any spending bill prior to the enactment of the budget law. Requires the Congressional Budget Office to provide to the Congress an estimate of the costs in each major functional category of any spending bill as soon as practicable after its introduction. Limits such estimates to those bills likely to result in costs of more than $10,000,000. Requires a two-thirds affirmative vote in the House and the Senate to consider over-budget spending bills. Requires a two-thirds affirmative vote in the House and the Senate to waive any provision of this Act. Subtitle B: Limited Enhanced Rescission Authority - Amends the Impoundment Control Act of 1974 to limit the President's rescission authority to spending that is above the limits of the budget law. Subtitle C: "Blank Check" Appropriations Prohibited - Declares the intent of the Congress to end open-ended, "blank check" appropriations which typically authorize spending "such sums as may be necessary." Requires fixed-dollar appropriations for every account except social security and interest on the debt. Prohibits open-ended appropriations. Requires Executive agencies to adjust benefit levels to ensure that appropriations for entitlement programs are not exceeded. Restricts budget authority and entitlement authority to one fiscal period. Subtitle D: "Pay As You Go" Requirement for New Spending - Prohibits the Congress from considering any legislation which exceeds the budget ceiling unless it offsets such increased spending with an equal amount of reductions. Requires a two-thirds affirmative vote in the House and the Senate to waive such prohibition. Title IV: Sustaining Mechanism - Makes appropriations to provide for an automatic continuing resolution if for any account an appropriation for a fiscal period does not become law before the beginning of such period. Restricts legislation providing funding to the Committees on Appropriations. Title V: Protection of Social Security - Provides that no reduction in benefits under title II of the Social Security Act (Old Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance) shall be made as a consequence of this Act. Title VI: Timetable - Revises the timetable for the congressional budget process. Title VII: Conforming Amendments - Makes various technical and conforming amendments, including changing references to a concurrent resolution on the budget to references to a joint resolution on the budget. Title VIII: Definitions and Rules of Interpretation - Sets forth definitions for specified terms. Title IX: Effective Date - Declares the effective date of this Act to be January 1, 1993, applicable to fiscal years beginning after September 30, 1993. Applies to FY 1993 certain provisions of Federal law, including the Congressional Budget Impoundment Control Act of 1974 and the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act).
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1991
Financial Industry Reform and Capital Enforcement Act - Title I: Creation and Control of Depository Institution Holding Companies - Sets forth the terms and conditions under which a depository institution holding company (DIHC) can be established and must be operated. Requires any DIHC seeking to acquire control of an insured bank, an insured institution, a bank holding company, a savings and loan holding company, or a depository institution holding company to comply with the requirements of the Change in Bank Control Act. Permits the appropriate Federal regulatory agency (the Comptroller of the Currency, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Board of Directors of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, or the Federal Home Loan Bank Board) to adopt rules and regulations to prevent an insured bank or institution that is controlled by a DIHC from engaging in unsafe or unsound practices. Subjects DIHCs to the same restrictions on affiliate transactions that are imposed upon member banks (banks which are members of a Federal Reserve bank) under the Federal Reserve Act. Requires the appropriate Federal regulatory agency to notify a DIHC immediately upon finding that an insured depository institution under its control is not in compliance with minimum capital adequacy requirements. Authorizes such agency to require the DIHC to: (1) provide a bond or guarantee; (2) maintain a segregated account of cash or investment securities earmarked for such noncomplying institution; or (3) contribute to the noncomplying institution's surplus capital an amount necessary to bring it into compliance. Prohibits an insured depository institution that has been notified of its noncompliant status from declaring or paying out any dividends. Requires the DIHC to return to the noncomplying institution immediately any dividends received during a specified period before receipt of such notification. Prescribes guidelines for the appointment of a Federal conservator or for divestiture if a DHIC does not bring a noncomplying institution within Federal guidelines. Authorizes judicial review of a Federal conservatorship or divestiture order. Prohibits Federal regulatory agencies from imposing requirements pertaining to the capitalization of a DIHC. Subjects interstate acquisitions: (1) of an insured bank by a DIHC to the same restrictions applicable to bank holding companies under the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956; and (2) of an additional savings association by a DIHC to the same restrictions applicable to savings and loan companies. Prohibits Federal and State governments from enacting laws that discriminate against DIHCs. Prohibits insured banks and institutions that are associated with a DIHC from: (1) dealing in or underwriting securities; (2) underwriting insurance; or (3) investing in or developing real estate. Subjects DIHCs to the tying provisions of the Bank Holding Company Act Amendments of 1970 and to the insider lending prohibitions of the Federal Reserve Act. Makes conforming amendments to the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956. Amends the Federal Reserve Act to provide that, for the purpose of restricting loans or extending credit to affiliates, a loan or extension of credit shall not be deemed to be made to an affiliate if: (1) the approval of such loan or extension of credit was in accordance with the same standards and procedures and on substantially the same terms that apply to similar loans or extensions of credit; and (2) such loan or extension of credit was not made for the purpose of evading any of the requirements of such Act. Amends the Banking Act of 1933 to make certain provisions which prohibit member banks from becoming affiliated with securities corporations inapplicable to member banks which are controlled by DIHCs. Makes conforming amendments to the Federal Deposit Insurance Act and the National Housing Act. Requires the acquisitions of DIHCs controlling insured institutions to be in accordance with the procedures of such Acts. Amends the Clayton Act to exempt acquisitions of insured banks and institutions by DIHCs from the premerger notification requirements of the Depository Institution Affiliation Act, the Federal Deposit Insurance Act, and the National Housing Act. Makes conforming amendments to the Community Reinvestment Act. Title II: Supervisory Improvements - Establishes a National Financial Services Oversight Committee to: (1) establish uniform principles and standards for the examination and supervision of financial services providers; (2) report to the Congress recommendations for an improved examination process and whether the number or compensation of Federal examiners should be increased; and (3) make recommendations to Federal regulatory agencies to maintain uniformity in Federal regulations.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1991
Requires the United States Postal Service to study and report to the Congress, in writing, on ways to encourage mailers of second-class and third-class mail to use recycled paper or other recycled materials, including lower postage rates for such use.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1991
Permits certain veterans with service-connected disabilities who are retired members of the uniformed services to receive compensation concurrently with retired pay, without deduction from either.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1991
Inflation Tax Relief Act of 1991 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to require indexing, based on the gross national product deflator, of the adjusted basis of certain assets (corporate stock and tangible property that is a capital asset of property used in a trade or business) that have been held for more than one year at the time of sale or other transfer, solely for the purpose of determining gain or loss.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1991
Enterprise Zone Jobs-Creation Act of 1991 - Title I: Designation of Enterprise Zones - Authorizes the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (Secretary) to designate enterprise zones for purposes of providing tax and regulatory relief and improving local services. Limits choices to areas nominated by States and local governments. Limits the total number of areas that may be designated, and the time period of the designation. Authorizes the Secretary to designate a zone only if the area meets certain locational, demographic, unemployment, and poverty criteria. Requires nominating local governments, as a condition of the Secretary's designation, to agree in writing to follow a course of action that may include reducing tax rates, improving local services, simplifying or streamlining regulation of business, and providing job training to area residents. Describes areas to which the Secretary must give preference in selecting areas for designation. Requires the Secretary to report to the Congress every four years on the effects of such enterprise zones' designation in accomplishing the purposes of this Act. Title II: Federal Income Tax Incentives - Allows a nonrefundable income tax credit to enterprise zone employees for five percent of any wages earned as do not exceed a specified amount. Phases out such credit. Provides for the nonrecognition of capital gain on the sale of enterprise zone property. Allows a taxpayer a deduction on the aggregate amount paid for the purchase of enterprise stock on its original issue by a qualified issuer. Requires any gain from the disposition of the stock to be treated as ordinary income. Title III: Regulatory Flexibility - Amends Federal law to revise the definition of "small entity" for purposes of the analysis of regulatory functions to include qualified business, government, and nonprofit enterprises operating within enterprise zones. Authorizes Federal agencies, upon request by a designating government, to waive or modify rules and regulations pertaining to the implementation of projects or activities within an enterprise zone. Requires agencies to approve the request if the resulting benefits of job creation, community development, or economic revitalization outweigh the public interest in retaining the rule unchanged. Disallows waiver or modification of a rule that would directly violate a statutory requirement or present a danger to the public health and safety. Title IV: Establishment of Foreign-Trade Zones in Enterprise Zones - Requires the Foreign-Trade Zone Board to consider on a priority basis and to expedite the processing of applications for the establishment of foreign-trade zones within enterprise zones. Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to give priority to, and expedite applications for, the establishment of ports of entry necessary to establish such zones. Title V: Repeal of Title VII of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1987 - Repeals title VII (enterprise zone development) of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1987.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1991
Legislative Line Item Veto Act of 1991 - Amends the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 to grant the President legislative line item veto rescission authority. Authorizes the President to rescind all or part of any budget authority if the President determines that such rescission: (1) would help balance the Federal budget, reduce the Federal budget deficit, or reduce the public debt; (2) will not impair any essential Government functions; and (3) will not harm the national interest. Requires the President to notify the Congress of such a rescission by: (1) special message not later than 20 calendar days after enactment of appropriations legislation; or (2) special message accompanying the budget when such rescissions have not been proposed previously for that fiscal year. Makes such a rescission effective unless the Congress, during a review period of 20 calendar days, enacts a rescission disapproval bill. Describes: (1) information to be included in the President's message; and (2) procedures to govern consideration of rescission disapproval legislation in the Senate and the House of Representatives.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1991
National Commemorative Advisory Act - Establishes the President's Advisory Commission on National Commemoratives to: (1) establish criteria for recommending to the President that a proposed national observance be approved or disapproved; (2) review proposals for national observances submitted in accordance with procedures published by the Commission; and (3) issue recommendations to the President concerning each proposal reviewed.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to impose a 100 percent tax on income from frozen Iraqi assets. Authorizes the President to modify such tax if the armed forces of Iraq withdraw from Kuwait within the time and in the manner determined by the President.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code with respect to the corporate income tax exclusion of contributions to the capital of the taxpayer. Includes as a qualifying contribution any amount of money or property received by a regulated public utility (a utility required to provide electric energy, gas, water, or sewage disposal services) that: (1) is a contribution in aid of construction (as defined by regulations to be promulgated by the Secretary of the Treasury); (2) meets certain expenditure requirements; and (3) is not included in the taxpayer's rate base. Excludes amounts paid as customer connection fees.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1991
Demands that the Iraqi Government: (1) comply fully with specified United Nations Security Council resolutions concerning Iraq's aggression against Kuwait; (2) withdraw from Kuwait; and (3) be responsible for all financial losses resulting from the invasion. Commends the President for his actions in responding to Iraq's invasion of Kuwait and threat to the region. Supports U.N. Security Council Resolution 678 regarding the use of "all necessary means" to uphold and implement such other U.N. resolutions, should Iraq fail to withdraw from Kuwait on or before January 15, 1991.
United States · United States Congress · 27 October 1990
Budget Process Reform Act - Title I: Statement of Congressional Purpose - Declares that the purpose of this Act is to facilitate rational, informed, and timely decisions by the Congress. Expresses the sense of the Congress that the Federal budget process should focus the attention of policymakers and the public on the aggregate impact of Federal spending on the economy, and on the tradeoffs that must be made among priorities in order to control overall levels of spending. Declares that the budget process should contain safeguards against delay and inaction, so that temporary shut-downs of the Government may be avoided. Title II: Binding Budget Law - Requires the Congress to enact a binding budget law, in the form of a joint resolution, by April 15 of the calendar year before that in which the fiscal period commences. Requires the budget law to fit on a single page, which sets forth specific budget ceilings in major functional categories. Makes it out of order in the House of Representatives or the Senate to consider any spending bill affecting spending in a major functional category unless and until a joint resolution on the budget is enacted. Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to prohibit baseline budgeting. Requires the budget to include comparisons of current fiscal year and proposed subsequent fiscal year spending. Title III: Enforcement Mechanisms - Subtitle A: Super majority Required to Break Budget Law - Requires a two-thirds majority vote in the House and the Senate to consider any spending bill prior to the enactment of the budget law. Requires the Congressional Budget Office to provide to the Congress an estimate of the costs in each major functional category of any spending bill as soon as practicable after its introduction. Limits such estimates to those bills likely to result in costs of more than $10,000,000. Requires a two-thirds affirmative vote in the House and the Senate to consider over-budget spending bills. Requires a two-thirds affirmative vote in the House and the Senate to waive any provision of this Act. Subtitle B: Limited Enhanced Rescission Authority - Amends the Impoundment Control Act of 1974 to limit the President's rescission authority to spending that is above the limits of the budget law. Subtitle C: "Blank Check" Appropriations Prohibited - Declares the intent of the Congress to end open-ended, "blank check" appropriations which typically authorize spending "such sums as may be necessary." Requires fixed-dollar appropriations for every account except social security and interest on the debt. Prohibits open-ended appropriations. Requires Executive agencies to adjust benefit levels to ensure that appropriations for entitlement programs are not exceeded. Subtitle D: "Pay As You Go" Requirement for New Spending - Prohibits the Congress from considering any legislation which exceeds the budget ceiling unless it offsets such increased spending with an equal amount of reductions. Requires a two-thirds affirmative vote in the House and the Senate to waive such prohibition. Title IV: Sustaining Mechanism - Makes appropriations to provide for an automatic continuing resolution if for any account an appropriation for a fiscal period does not become law before the beginning of such period. Restricts legislation providing funding to the Committees on Appropriations. Title V: Protection of Social Security - Provides that no reduction in benefits under title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act shall be made as a consequence of this Act. Title VI: Timetable - Revises the timetable for the congressional budget process. Title VII: Conforming Amendments - Makes various technical and conforming amendments, including changing references to a concurrent resolution on the budget to references to a joint resolution on the budget. Title VIII: Definitions and Rules of Interpretation - Sets forth definitions for specified terms. Title IX: Effective Date - Declares the effective date of this Act to be January 1, 1991, applicable to fiscal years beginning after September 30, 1991.
United States · United States Congress · 23 October 1990
Civil Rights Act of 1990 - Amends the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to provide for the burden of proof which the complaining party and the respondent must meet in certain situations relating to unlawful employment practices based on disparate impact. Allows a rule barring employment of an individual who currently and knowingly uses or possesses an illegal drug unless the rule is adopted or applied with intent to discriminate. Allows establishment of an unlawful employment practice on a demonstration that a certain basis was a motivating factor for a practice, even though other factors also motivated the practice. Prohibits certain types of relief on a demonstration that the respondent would have taken the same action in the absence of any discrimination. Allows, on such a showing, declaratory and injunctive relief, attorney's fees, and costs. Provides for the finality of litigated or consent judgements or orders, barring actions (challenging an employment practice required by a judgment or order) by persons who had certain types of notice and opportunity. Declares that an alleged unlawful employment practice occurs, with regard to a seniority system, when: (1) the system is adopted; (2) an individual becomes subject to the system; or (3) a person is injured by application of the system or provision, adopted for an intentionally discriminatory purpose, whether or not the discriminatory purpose is apparent on the face of the provision. Allows a court, in fashioning remedies for unlawful intentional employment discrimination, to require the respondent to pay a specified amount if: (1) needed to deter the respondent from engaging in such practices; and (2) otherwise justified by the equities, consistent with the purposes of the equal employment opportunities provisions of the Act, and in the public interest. Requires all employment discrimination cases to be heard and determined by a judge, except that, if the court determines that the claims presented may require the payments authorized by this paragraph and that a jury trial is constitutionally required for such relief, a jury may be empaneled to determine such issues and no others. Allows expert fees to be included in attorney's fees awarded to the prevailing party in an employment discrimination case. Extends the time limit for an aggrieved employee or employment applicant to file a civil action after notice of final action by a department, agency, or unit of the Federal Government. Requires the same interest to compensate for delay in payment by the Government as in cases involving non-public parties. Amends Federal law to declare that: (1) for purposes of provisions relating to equal rights under the law, the right to make and enforce contracts includes the making, performance, modification, and termination of contracts, and the enjoyment of all benefits, privileges, terms, and conditions of the contract; and (2) the rights protected by the amended provisions are protected against impairment by non-governmental discrimination as well as against impairment under color of State law. Amends the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 to require the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to notify the person aggrieved if an age discrimination charge is dismissed by the Commission. Allows a civil suit to be brought within a specified time limit after the dismissal. Provides for the application of this Act, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 to the Senate, the House of Representatives, and instrumentalities of the Congress. Prohibits construing the amendments made by this Act, or any statute amended by this Act, so as to require, permit, or result in the adoption or implementation of quotas. Encourages the use of alternative means of dispute resolution to resolve disputes arising under the Acts amended by this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 19 October 1990
Private Sector Capital Incentive Act of 1990 - Amends the Federal Deposit Insurance Act to authorize, with prior written approval from the responsible Federal banking agency, specified conversion transactions by savings associations insured by the Savings Association Insurance Fund (SAIF) with banks insured by the Bank Insurance Fund (BIF) and vice versa, notwithstanding the moratorium on such conversions imposed under the Federal Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989 (FIRREA) (which does not expire until August 1994). Prescribes guidelines for assessments on deposits attributable to depository institutions that were former members of either the BIF or the SAIF. Revises the guidelines for: (1) semi-annual assessments; and (2) Federal Reserve Board approval of conversion transactions. Provides that losses incurred by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) due to the default of a depository institution that has engaged in a conversion transaction shall be allocated between the BIF and the SAIF to reflect the amount of insured deposits of the resulting institution which were assessed by the respective Funds. Prohibits approval of any transaction that amounts to transfer of an institution's Federal deposit insurance from one fund to the other. Requires disapproval of any application for a transaction unless the acquiring, assuming, or resulting depository institution meets all applicable capital standards. Provides for post-moratorium FDIC approval of conversion transactions by any acquiring, assuming, or resulting depository institution after payment of prescribed entrance and exit fees. Amends the Revised Statutes of the United States and the Home Owners' Loan Act to authorize the acquisition of a Federal savings association by any insured depository institution. Amends the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956 to revise the guidelines for savings associations acquisitions by certain companies which control banks but are not treated as bank holding companies.
![Official portrait of Rep. Dreier, David [R-CA-26]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/d000492_200.jpg)