United States · United States Congress · 24 March 1994
Calls for the United States, at the International Conference on Population and Development, to: (1) place the highest priority on the success of the Conference by actively participating, particularly through the President's personal participation; (2) propose or support an initiative concerning the financing of global cooperation on efforts to slow rapid population growth that takes into account the costs of slowing growth and the basic development goals of developing countries and that increases accountability for the use of funds provided for family planning purposes; (3) seek to initiate a process of regular high-level intergovernmental consultations on the issues under consideration at the Conference and establish improved organizational and procedural means to implement its objectives; (4) support the effective implementation of a global action plan to raise the economic, educational, and leadership status of women and programs that provide maternal and child health care, education, and training for women and voluntary family planning; and (5) promote public participation, especially by women, at all levels of formulation and implementation of family planning and sustainable development policy and programs.
United States · United States Congress · 24 March 1994
Applauds the President for maintaining the U.S. nuclear testing moratorium and for taking a leadership role toward negotiation of a comprehensive test ban treaty. Encourages all nuclear powers to refrain from conducting nuclear explosions prior to conclusion of such a treaty. Urges the Conference on Disarmanent to make all possible progress toward a comprehensive test ban treaty by the end of 1994.
United States · United States Congress · 24 March 1994
A Child is Waiting Resolution - Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) any health care reform legislation include guaranteed full funding for the special supplemental food program for women, infants, and children (WIC); and (2) specified amounts should be made available to move toward such full funding goal.
United States · United States Congress · 23 March 1994
Governors Island Reinforcement Act of 1994 - Sets forth trade, assistance, and air transport sanctions against Haiti, and against other nations not cooperating with U.S. or international sanctions. Terminates such sanctions upon the reinstatement of the democratically elected President of Haiti and the military's meeting its obligation under the Governors Island Agreement. States congressional support for: (1) the return of human rights observers to Haiti; (2) the creation of a multinational border patrol between Haiti and the Dominican Republic; and (3) socioeconomic and peacekeeping assistance to Haiti. Directs the President to terminate the bilateral migrant interdiction agreement with Haiti. Provides for the nonrefoulement of Haitians by the United States. Grants temporary protected status under the Immigration and Nationality Act to qualifying Haitians. Excludes from U.S. admission, and blocks U.S. assets of, certain Haitians connected with the military or related activities.
United States · United States Congress · 22 March 1994
Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) all women should have the opportunity to make decisions about their own reproductive health; (2) any national comprehensive health benefit package should cover the full range of reproductive health services; (3) every woman should be able to decide whether or not to have an abortion; and (4) any health care practitioner should be able to exempt himself or herself from participating in an abortion based on a religious or moral belief.
United States · United States Congress · 21 March 1994
Limits to no more than two vessels (designated SSN-21 and SSN-22) the number that may be constructed under the Seawolf attack submarine program. Limits the cost of procurement for such vessels.
United States · United States Congress · 18 March 1994
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Victims of Crime Subtitle A: Victims of Crime Subtitle B: Crime Victims' Fund Subtitle C: Report on Battered Women's Syndrome Title II: Applicability of Mandatory Minimum Penalties in Certain Cases Title III: Assaults Against Children Title IV: Consumer Protection Title V: Mandatory Life Imprisonment for Persons Convicted of Certain Felonies Title VI: Violent Repeat Offender Incarceration Title VII: Death Penalty Title VIII: Habeas Corpus Reform Title IX: Racially Discriminatory Capital Sentencing Title X: Crime Prevention and Community Justice Subtitle A: Model Intensive Grant Programs Subtitle B: Ounce of Prevention Grant Programs Subtitle C: Police Partnerships for Children Subtitle D: Midnight Sports Subtitle E: Drug Courts Subtitle F: Assistance for Delinquent and At-Risk Youth Subtitle G: Police Recruitment Subtitle H: National Triad Program Subtitle I: Local Partnership Act Subtitle J: Employment and Skills Crime Prevention Subtitle K: Miscellaneous Title XI: Youth Violence Title XII: Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Act of 1994 Title XIII: Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against Children Registration Act Title XIV: Community Policing Title XV: DNA Identification Title XVI: Violence Against Women Subtitle A: Safe Streets for Women Subtitle B: Safe Homes for Women Subtitle C: Domestic Violence Subtitle D: Miscellaneous Provisions Subtitle E: Equal Justice for Women in the Courts Title XVII: Hate Crimes Sentencing Enhancement Title XVIII: Use of Formula Grants to Prosecute Persons Driving While Intoxicated Title XIX: Youth Handgun Safety Title XX: Substance Abuse Treatment in Federal Prisons Title XXI: Alternative Punishments for Young Offenders Title XXII: Juvenile Drug Trafficking and Gang Prevention Grants Title XXIII: Residential Substance Abuse Treatment for State Prisoners Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 - Title I: Victims of Crime - Subtitle A: Victims of Crime - Amends Rule 32 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure to give victims of violent crimes and sexual abuse the right to address the court concerning the sentence to be imposed on convicted offenders. Permits such right to be exercised by a parent or guardian if the victim is under 18, or by one or more family members if the victim is deceased or incapacitated. Subtitle B: Crime Victims' Fund - Amends the Victims of Crime Act of 1984 to revise the formula for allocation of sums in the Crime Victims Fund for costs and grants. Requires the retention of any portion of the Fund that was deposited during a fiscal year that is in excess of 110 percent of the total amount deposited in the Fund during the preceding fiscal year as a reserve for use in a year in which the Fund falls below the amount available in the previous year. Limits such reserve to $20,000,000. Allows any sums awarded as part of a grant that remains unspent at the end of a fiscal year in which the grant is made to be expended for grant purposes at any time during the succeeding two fiscal years, at the end of which year any remaining unobligated funds shall be returned to the Fund. (Sec. 112) Provides that if the compensation paid by an eligible crime victim compensation program would cover costs that a Federal, or a federally financed State or local, program would otherwise pay: (1) such victim compensation program shall not pay such compensation; and (2) the other program shall make its payments without regard to the existence of the crime victim compensation program. (Sec. 113) Limits to five percent of: (1) a grant the amount that may be used for the administration of the State crime victim compensation program receiving the grant; and (2) sums received for the State crime victim assistance program for the administration of such program. (Sec. 114) Authorizes grants for demonstration projects. (Sec. 116) Requires each entity receiving sums made available under the Act for administrative purposes to certify that such sums will not be used to supplant State or local funds, but to increase the amount of such funds that would, in the absence of Federal funds, be made available for such purposes. Subtitle C: Report on Battered Women's Syndrome - Directs the Attorney General and the Secretary of Health and Human Services to report to specified congressional committees on the medical and psychological basis of "battered women's syndrome" and the extent to which evidence of the syndrome has been considered in a criminal trial. Title II: Applicability of Mandatory Minimum Penalties in Certain Cases - Amends the Federal criminal code to require the court, with respect to specified drug-related offenses, to impose a sentence pursuant to U.S. Sentencing Commission guidelines, without regard to any statutory minimum sentence, if the court finds at sentencing that: (1) the defendant does not have more than one criminal history point under the Commission's Guidelines Manual; (2) the defendant did not use violence or credible threats of violence, or possess a firearm or other dangerous weapon (or induce another participant to do so), in connection with the offense; (3) the offense did not result in death or serious bodily injury to any person; (4) the defendant was not an organizer, leader, manager, or supervisor of others (as determined under the Manual) in the offense; and (5) no later than the time of the sentencing hearing, the defendant has provided to the Government all information the defendant has concerning the offense or offenses that were part of the same course of conduct or of a common scheme or plan (without regard to whether the defendant has relevant or useful information). Authorizes the Commission to: (1) make such amendments as deemed necessary to harmonize the sentencing guidelines and policy statements with, and the amendment made by, such provisions; and (2) promulgate policy statements to assist in the application of such provisions and such amendment. (Sec. 202) Directs the Commission to promulgate or amend existing sentencing guidelines with respect to cases where statutory minimum sentences would apply but for such provisions to carry out the purposes of such provisions, so that the lowest sentence in the guideline range is not less than two years in those cases where a five-year minimum would otherwise apply. (Sec. 203) Specifies that, with respect to a prisoner the court determines has demonstrated good behavior while in prison, the changes in sentencing made as a result of this Act shall be deemed to be changes in the sentencing ranges by the Commission pursuant to provisions of the Federal judicial code regarding revision of the sentencing guidelines. Title III: Assaults Against Children - Increases penalties for simple assault. Sets penalties for assault resulting in substantial bodily injury. Removes dollar limitations on various types of assaults. Includes assaults against individuals under age 16 committed in Indian country among offenses which are subject to the same law and penalties as all other persons committing such offenses within the exclusive jurisdiction of the United States. Title IV: Consumer Protection - Sets penalties for insurance industry crimes, including embezzling from insurance companies, making false entries in insurance company books with intent to deceive, and corruptly influencing or obstructing proceedings before State insurance regulatory agencies or insurance examiners. Prohibits persons convicted of criminal felonies involving dishonesty or breach of trust from engaging in the insurance business without the written consent of an insurance regulatory official authorized to regulate the insurer. Title V: Mandatory Life Imprisonment for Persons Convicted of Certain Felonies - Requires that a person convicted in a court of the United States of a serious violent felony be sentenced to life imprisonment if: (1) the person has been convicted (and those convictions have become final) on two or more prior occasions in a court of the United States or of a State of a serious violent felony, or of one or more serious violent felonies and one or more serious drug offenses; and (2) each serious violent felony or serious drug offense used as a basis for sentencing under such provision, other than the first, was committed after the defendant's conviction of the preceding serious violent felony or serious drug offense. (Sec. 502) Limits the authority of a court to modify an imposed term of imprisonment to include a requirement that the defendant be at least age 70 and have served at least 30 years in prison for the offense or offenses for which the defendant is currently imprisoned, and that a determination has been made by the Director of the Bureau of Prisons that the defendant is not a danger to the safety of any other person or the community. Title VI: Violent Repeat Offender Incarceration - Authorizes the Attorney General to make grants to individual States and to States organized as multi-State compacts to develop, expand, modify, or improve correctional facilities and programs to ensure that prison cell space is available for the confinement of violent repeat offenders. Sets forth provisions regarding State eligibility and matching requirements, technical assistance and training, and evaluation. Authorizes appropriations. Title VII: Death Penalty - Amends the Federal criminal code to provide for the imposition of the death penalty for specified drug-related offenses committed as part of a continuing criminal enterprise, and where a defendant has been found guilty of treason or espionage, or of specified other offenses involving the intentional: (1) killing of the victim; (2) infliction of serious bodily injury resulting in death; (3) participation in an act contemplating that the life of a person would be taken or intending that lethal force would be used and the victim died as a direct result; or (4) specifically engaging in an act of violence, knowing that the act created a grave risk of death, that constituted a reckless disregard for human life and the victim died as a direct result of the Act. Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) mitigating and aggravating factors to be considered in determining whether a sentence of death is justified; (2) the conduct of a special hearing to make such determination; (3) procedures for the imposition, review, and implementation of such sentence; (4) use of State facilities to carry out such sentence; and (5) special provisions for Indian country. (Sec. 703) Authorizes the death penalty for various offenses, including, where death results: (1) hostage taking; (2) murder for hire; (3) racketeering; (4) genocide; (5) carjacking; (6) rape and child molestation murders; (7) sexual exploitation of children; (8) homicides involving firearms in Federal facilities; (9) murder of Federal witnesses; (10) foreign murder of U.S. nationals; (11) civil rights murders; (12) murder by a Federal prisoner, or by escaped prisoners; (13) drive-by shootings; (14) gun murders during Federal crimes of violence and drug trafficking crimes; (15) murder of State or local officials assisting Federal law enforcement officials and State correctional officers; (16) use of weapons of mass destruction; (17) violence at international airports; (18) violence against maritime navigation or fixed platforms; (19) torture; and (20) genocide. (Sec. 715) Makes an exception to the requirement that the court furnish to a defendant a list of the veniremen and witnesses if the court finds by a preponderance of the evidence that providing the list may jeopardize the life or safety of any person. Title VIII: Habeas Corpus Reform - Amends the Federal judicial code to impose a one-year period for the filing of Federal habeas corpus petitions for applicants under sentence of death, beginning after the date of: (1) denial of a writ of certiorari, if a petition for such writ to the highest court of the State on direct appeal or unitary review of the conviction and sentence is filed, within the time limits established by law, in the Supreme Court; (2) issuance of the mandate of the highest court of the State on direct appeal or unitary review of the conviction and sentence, if a petition for a writ of certiorari is not filed within such time limits in such Court; or (3) issuance of the mandate of the Supreme Court, if on a petition for a writ of certiorari the Supreme Court grants the writ and disposes of the case in a manner that leaves the capital sentence undisturbed. Tolls such time limits during: (1) any period in which the State has failed to provide counsel as required by this Act; (2) the period from the date the applicant files an application for State postconviction relief until final disposition of the application by the State appellate courts, if all filing deadlines are met; and (3) an additional period not to exceed 90 days, if counsel moves for an extension in the district court that would have jurisdiction of a habeas corpus application and makes a showing of good cause. (Sec. 802) Provides an automatic stay of execution through the consideration of the first Federal habeas corpus petition. Permits a stay of execution to be granted thereafter only if the petition on its face satisfies the requirements for successive petitions. (Sec. 803) Prohibits a Federal court from applying a new rule to grant relief to a habeas corpus petitioner, except where the new rule places the claimant's conduct beyond the power of the criminal law-making authority to proscribe or punish with the sanction imposed or requires the observance of procedures without which the likelihood of an accurate conviction or valid capital sentence is seriously diminished. (Sec. 804) Prohibits the court from either presuming a finding of fact made in a State court proceeding to be correct or declining to consider a claim on the ground that it was not raised in such proceeding at the time or in the manner prescribed by State law unless: (1) the relevant State maintains a mechanism for providing legal services to indigents which meets specified requirements; (2) the applicant was eligible for the appointment of counsel and did not waive such appointment, and the State actually appointed counsel to represent the applicant in the State proceeding in which the finding of fact was made or the default occurred; and (3) the attorney or attorneys so appointed substantially met specified qualification and performance standards. Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) State establishment of a counsel authority; (2) claims of the ineffectiveness or incompetence of counsel; and (3) attorney compensation, reimbursement for expenses incurred in representing clients, and support services for staff attorneys of a defender organization or resource center. (Sec. 805) Requires that a claim presented in a second or successive application be dismissed unless: (1) the applicant shows that the basis of the claim could not have been discovered by the exercise of reasonable diligence before the applicant filed the prior application, or the failure to raise the claim in the prior application was due to action by State officials in violation of the U.S. Constitution; and (2) the facts underlying the claim would be sufficient, if proven, to undermine the court's confidence in the applicant's guilt of the offense or offenses for which the capital sentence was imposed, or in the validity of that sentence under Federal law. (Sec. 806) Prohibits an appeal from being taken to the court of appeals from the final order in a habeas corpus proceeding where the detention complained of arises out of process issued by a State court, unless the justice or judge who rendered the order or a circuit justice or judge issues a certificate of probable cause. Grants an applicant under sentence of death a right of appeal without a certification of probable cause, except after denial of a second or successive application. (Sec. 807) Sets forth duties of the district court in adjudicating the merits of claims, in handling claims of innocence, and in declining to consider claims under specified circumstances. Title IX: Racially Discriminatory Capital Sentencing - Amends the Federal judicial code to prohibit the execution of a sentence of death imposed on the basis of race. Specifies that: (1) an inference that race was the basis of a death sentence is established if valid evidence is presented demonstrating that, at the time the sentence was imposed, race was a statistically significant factor in decisions to seek or to impose the death sentence in the jurisdiction in question; and (2) evidence relevant to establish such an inference may include proof that death sentences were, at the pertinent time, being imposed significantly more frequently in the jurisdiction in question upon, or as punishment for capital offenses against, persons of one race than persons of another race. Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) validity of evidence presented to establish such inference, and rebuttal of such inference; and (2) access to data on death eligible cases. Title X: Crime Prevention and Community Justice - Subtitle A: Model Intensive Grant Programs - Authorizes the Attorney General to award grants to not more than 15 chronic high intensive crime areas to develop comprehensive model crime prevention programs that: (1) involve and utilize a broad spectrum of community resources and appropriate State and Federal agencies; (2) attempt to relieve conditions that encourage crime; and (3) provide meaningful and lasting alternatives to involvement in crime. (Sec. 1002) Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) uses of grant funds; and (2) program, application, and reporting requirements. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle B: Ounce of Prevention Grant Programs - Part I: Ounce of Prevention Grant Programs - Directs: (1) the Secretary of Health and Human Services (Secretary) to convene an interagency task force to be known as the Ounce of Prevention Council, chaired by the Attorney General, the Secretary of Education, and the Secretary; (2) the Council to advise and counsel the Secretary regarding administration of the programs established by this title; and (3) the Secretary to adopt regulations or guidelines to ensure that funding under this title shall be used primarily for assistance in distressed communities and for individuals in any area who are particularly in need of assistance. (Sec. 1011) Requires the Secretary to make grants to States, local governments, and other public and private entities for: (1) summer and after-school programs; (2) mentoring, tutoring, and other programs involving participation by adult role models; (3) programs assisting and promoting employability and job placement; and (4) substance abuse treatment and prevention, including outreach programs for at-risk families. Part II: Family and Community Endeavor Schools Grant Program - Authorizes grants for community-based organizations to assist in carrying out programs in public school facilities, where appropriate, and in certain other locations, for specified uses, including: (1) supervised sports programs and extracurricular and academic programs, offered after school and on weekends and holidays during the school year, and as daily full-day or part-day programs, during the summer months, including curriculum-based supervised education programs, health education and service programs, tutorial and mentoring programs, and other related activities (required use of funds by such organizations); and (2) renovation of facilities and development or expansion of school programs designed to improve academic and social development of at-risk children (permissible use of such funds). (Sec. 1017) Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) eligible community identification (to be eligible to receive a grant, a community-based organization shall identify an eligible community to be assisted, meeting criteria such as significant poverty and juvenile delinquency); (2) application requirements and priorities in awarding grants; and (3) participant eligibility. (Sec. 1020) Directs the Secretary of Education to: (1) establish a peer review panel comprised of individuals with demonstrated experience in designing and implementing community-based programs; and (2) conduct such investigations and inspections as necessary to ensure compliance under this part. (Sec. 1022) Sets forth provisions regarding the Federal share and regarding program evaluation. Part III: Administration - Authorizes the Secretary of Education to: (1) provide technical assistance, training, and evaluations to further the purposes of this subtitle through grants, contracts, or other cooperative agreements with other entities; and (2) conduct or support evaluations of programs that receive support under this subtitle. (Sec. 1026) Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle C: Police Partnerships for Children - Authorizes the Attorney General to make grants to partnerships (defined as cooperative arrangements or associations involving one or more law enforcement agencies (LEAs), and one or more public or private agencies that provide child or family services) for: (1) teams or units involving participants from both the law enforcement and child or family services components of the partnership that respond to or deal with violent incidents in which a child is involved as a perpetrator, witness, or victim; (2) training for law enforcement officers in behavior, psychology, family systems, and community culture and attitudes that is relevant to dealing with children who are involved in violent incidents or at risk of involvement in such incidents, or with families of such children; and (3) programs for children and families that are designed jointly by the law enforcement and child or family services components of the partnership. Authorizes the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to make grants to units of State or local government, public housing authorities, owners of federally assisted housing, and owners of housing in high crime areas in order to provide dwelling units to law enforcement officers without charge or at or substantially reduced rent for the purpose of providing greater security for residents of high crime areas. (Sec. 1032) Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) administration; and (2) technical assistance, training, and evaluation. (Sec. 1033) Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle D: Midnight Sports - Directs the Secretary of HUD to make grants, to the extent that sums are approved in appropriations Acts pursuant to this subtitle, to eligible entities (i.e., certain entities under the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act, and nonprofit organizations providing crime prevention, employment counseling, job training, or other educational services, or federally-assisted low-income housing) to assist such entities in carrying out midnight sports league programs. Sets forth program, application, selection, and reporting requirements. Directs the Secretary of HUD to make a grant to one qualified entity to carry out a study of the effectiveness of midnight sports league programs and require such entity to report its conclusions and recommendations to the Congress, the Secretary of HUD, and the Attorney General. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle E: Drug Courts - Authorizes the Attorney General to make grants to units of State and local government, and to other public and private entities, for programs that involve continuing judicial supervision over specified categories of persons with substance abuse problems, and that involve the integrated administration of other sanctions and services including: (1) testing for the use of controlled substances or other addictive substances; (2) substance abuse treatment; (3) diversion, probation, or other supervised release involving the possibility of prosecution, confinement, or incarceration based on noncompliance with program requirements or failure to show satisfactory progress; and (4) programmatic or health related aftercare services. (Sec. 1043) Authorizes the Attorney General to provide technical assistance and training in furtherance of the purposes of, and to carry out or make arrangements for evaluations of programs that receive support under, this subtitle. (Sec. 1044) Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle F: Assistance for Delinquent and At-Risk Youth - Authorizes the Attorney General to make grants to public or private nonprofit organizations to support the development and operation of projects to provide residential services to youth aged 11 to 19 who have dropped out of school, come into contact with the juvenile justice system, or are at risk of doing so. Requires that such services include, with respect to such youth, activities designed to increase self-esteem, assist in making healthy and responsible choices, improve academic performance pursuant to a plan jointly developed by the applicant and the school which each such youth attends or should attend, and provide vocational and life skills. Sets forth application and reporting requirements. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle G: Police Recruitment - Authorizes the Attorney General to make grants to qualified community organizations to assist in meeting the costs of qualified programs designed to recruit and retain applicants of police departments. Sets forth requirements regarding qualified community organizations, qualified programs, applications, grant disbursement, grant period, and grantee reporting. Directs the Attorney General to prescribe guidelines on content and results for programs receiving grants under this subtitle. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle H: National Triad Program - Requires the Director of the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) to conduct a qualitative and quantitative national assessment of: (1) the nature and extent of crimes committed against older Americans and the effect of such crimes on the victims; (2) the numbers, extent, and impact of violent crimes and nonviolent crimes against older Americans and the extent of unreported crimes; (3) the collaborative needs of law enforcement, health, and social service organizations, focusing on prevention of crimes against older Americans, to identify, investigate, and provide assistance to victims of those crimes; and (4) the development and growth of strategies to respond effectively to such matters. (Sec. 1068) Requires the Director of the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) to make grants to coalitions of local LEAs and older Americans to assist in the development of programs and execute field tests of particularly promising strategies for crime prevention and related services based on the Triad model (which calls for the participation of the sheriff, at least one police chief, and a representative of at least one older Americans' organization within a county, and which may include participation by general service coalitions of law enforcement, victim service, and senior citizen advocate second service organizations), which can then be evaluated and serve as the basis for further demonstration and education programs. Sets forth provisions regarding application requirements, distribution of grant awards, and post-grant period reporting. (Sec. 1069) Requires, in conjunction with the national assessment, the Director of: (1) the BJA to make awards to organizations with demonstrated ability to provide training and technical assistance in establishing crime prevention programs based on the Triad model for purposes of aiding in the establishment and expansion of pilot programs under this subtitle, and to public service advertising coalitions for purposes of mounting a program of public service advertisements to increase public awareness and understanding of the issues surrounding crimes against older Americans and promoting ideas or programs to prevent them; and (2) NIJ to make awards to research organizations for purposes of evaluating the effectiveness of selected pilot programs and conducting the research and development identified through the national assessment as being critical. (Sec. 1070) Sets forth reporting requirements. (Sec. 1071) Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle I: Local Partnership Act - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to make specified payments to units of local government to carry out programs related to education to prevent crime or substance abuse treatment to prevent crime. Requires that, of such payments, not less than ten percent of the total combined amounts obligated by the unit for contracts and subcontracts be expended with small business concerns controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals and women, and colleges and universities which are historically Black and which have a student body in which more than 20 percent of the students are Hispanic Americans or Native Americans, with exceptions. Authorizes appropriations to a Local Government Fiscal Assistance Fund of the Department of the Treasury. Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) qualification for payment; (2) State area allocations, and allocations and payments to territorial governments; (3) local government allocations; (4) income gap multipliers; (5) State variation of local government allocations; (6) adjustments of local government allocations; (7) information used in allocation formulas; (8) public participation; (9) prohibited discrimination; (10) discrimination proceedings and related issues (including enforcement by the Attorney General of prohibitions against discrimination and civil actions by adversely affected persons); (11) judicial review; (12) audits, investigations, and reviews; and (13) reporting requirements. Subtitle J: Employment and Skills Crime Prevention - Authorizes the Secretary of Labor to make grants to local governments to fund targeted youth employment and skills development projects to help reduce crime in target areas (defined as neighborhoods which are high crime areas with high unemployment among young adults and other serious economic and social problems). (Sec. 1084) Makes young adults residing or attending school in target areas eligible to participate in programs funded under this subtitle if they are between 16 and 25 years of age (and, in certain circumstances, young adults up to age 30 and youth age 14 and 15). Sets conditions for continued participation in such programs, including avoiding crime, regular attendance and satisfactory performance at work, paying child support when paternity has been established and the participant has income, in-school young adults remaining in school until graduation, and requiring young adults ages 16-17 who have dropped out of high school and who have not obtained a General Equivalency Diploma to return to school or an alternative education program. (Sec. 1085) Authorizes the expenditure of funds for crime prevention related activities (subject to specified requirements), such as: (1) apprenticeship programs linking work and learning; (2) youth conservation and service corps; (3) work experience in private nonprofit organizations and public agencies; (4) initiatives to increase educational attainment, occupational skills, and career aspirations of target area young adults; and (5) job placement and related case management, followup, and other supportive services. (Sec. 1086) Sets forth requirements regarding: (1) grant applications; (2) award priorities; and (3) grant duration and number. (Sec. 1087) Directs the Secretary of Labor to establish a system of performance measures for assessing programs established pursuant to this subtitle. Authorizes the Secretary to provide appropriate technical assistance to carry out youth employment and skills crime prevention programs under this subtitle. (Sec. 1090) Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 1091) Authorizes the Secretary of Labor to terminate or suspend financial assistance, in whole or in part, to a recipient or refuse to extend a grant for a recipient, if the Secretary determines that the recipient has failed to meet specified requirements. (Sec. 1092) Makes labor standards under the Job Training Partnership Act applicable to programs under this subtitle. (Sec. 1093) Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) regulations or guidelines; (2) waivers; (3) private rights of action; and (4) acceptance of gifts. Subtitle K: Miscellaneous - Amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (Omnibus Act) to permit the award of drug control and system improvement grants to State and local governments for the purpose of participating in multijurisdictional gang task forces. Title XI: Youth Violence - Amends the Federal criminal code to provide for the prosecution as adults of juveniles age 13 or older for specified crimes of violence and crimes where the juvenile possessed a firearm during the offense, with exceptions regarding persons subject to the criminal jurisdiction of an Indian tribal government. Repeals restrictions on the Attorney General proceeding in Federal court against such juveniles with respect to such crimes. (Sec. 1102) Specifies that a juvenile shall not be transferred to adult prosecution nor shall a hearing be held under section 5037 (disposition after a finding of juvenile delinquency) (currently, proceedings against a juvenile or as an adult shall not be commenced) until specified conditions are met. (Sec. 1103) Provides that no juvenile committed, whether pursuant to an adjudication of delinquency or conviction for an offense (currently, no juvenile committed) to the custody of the Attorney General may be placed or retained in an adult jail or correctional institution in which he has regular contact with adults incarcerated because they have been convicted of a crime or are awaiting trial on criminal charges. Title XII: Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Act of 1994 - Sets penalties for: (1) international trafficking in child pornography; and (2) traveling in interstate or foreign commerce with intent to engage in a sexual act with a juvenile. (Sec. 1202) Expresses the sense of the Congress that each State that has not yet done so should enact legislation prohibiting the production, distribution, receipt, or simple possession of materials depicting a person under age 18 engaging in sexually explicit conduct and providing for a maximum imprisonment of at least one year and for the forfeiture of assets used in the commission or support of, or gained from, such offenses. Title XIII: Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against Children Registration Act - Directs the Attorney General to establish guidelines for State programs requiring any person convicted of a criminal offense against a victim who is a minor to register a current address with a designated State law enforcement agency for ten years after release from prison, or being placed on parole, supervised release, or probation. Subjects to criminal penalties a person required to register under a State program who knowingly fails to register and keep such registration current. Title XIV: Community Policing - Amends the Omnibus Act to authorize the Attorney General to make grants and provide technical assistance to units of State and local government, and to other public and private entities, to increase police presence (including the rehiring of law enforcement officers laid off as a result of State and local budget reductions, as well as the hiring and training of new, additional career law enforcement officers, for deployment in community-oriented policing), expand and improve cooperative efforts between LEAs and members of the community, and otherwise enhance public safety. Sets forth matching fund, application, and related requirements. Authorizes appropriations. Title XV: DNA Identification - DNA Identification Act of 1994 - Amends the Omnibus Act to authorize the use of drug control and system improvement grants to develop or improve in a forensic laboratory a capability to analyze deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) for identification purposes. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 1503) Requires the Director of the FBI to appoint in advisory board on DNA quality assurance methods and issue standards for quality assurance. Authorizes the Director to establish an index of DNA identification records of persons convicted of crimes, and of analyses of DNA samples recovered from crime scenes and from unidentified human remains. (Sec. 1505) Sets forth proficiency testing and privacy protection requirements, and penalties for violations. (Sec. 1506) Authorizes appropriations. Title XVI: Violence Against Women - Violence Against Women Act of 1994 - Subtitle A: Safe Streets for Women - Safe Streets for Women Act of 1994 - Amends the Omnibus Act to: (1) authorize the Director of the BJA to make grants to reduce the rate of violent crime against women to States, Indian tribes, units of local government, tribal organizations, and nonprofit nongovernmental domestic violence and sexual assault victims services programs in the States or Indian country; and (2) the Attorney General to request any Federal agency, with or without reimbursement, to use its authorities and resources to support such State, tribal, and local efforts. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 1603) Specifies that no State is entitled to funds under this title unless the State: (1) incurs the full cost of forensic medical exams for victims of sexual assault; (2) certifies that their laws, policies, and practices do not require, in connection with the prosecution of any domestic violence offense, that the abused bear costs associated with the filing of criminal charges or with the issuance or service of a warrant, protection order, or witness subpoena; and (3) can certify that its laws and policies treat sex offenses committed by offenders who are known to, cohabitants or social companions of, or related by blood or marriage to, the victim no less severely than sex offenders committed by offenders who are strangers to the victim. (Sec. 1606) Authorizes the Director to make education and prevention grants to reduce sexual assaults against women. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 1607) Directs: (1) the NIJ to establish criteria and develop training programs to assist probation and parole officer and other personnel who work with released sex offenders in the areas of case management, supervision, and relapse prevention; and (2) the Attorney General to compile information regarding sex offender treatment programs and ensure that information regarding treatment programs in the community into which a convicted sex offender is released is made available to persons imprisoned in Federal penal or correctional institutions for sexual abuse offenses, including halfway houses and psychiatric institutions. (Sec. 1609) Amends the Federal criminal code to require that a court order restitution for violations of Federal sexual abuse laws, with exceptions. (Sec. 1610) Directs the Attorney General to provide for a baseline study to examine the scope of the problem of campus sexual assaults and the effectiveness of institutional and legal policies in addressing such crimes and protecting victims. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle B: Safe Homes for Women - Safe Homes for Women Act - Amends the Federal criminal code to establish penalties for traveling across a State line with intent to: (1) contact that person's spouse or intimate partner and, in the course of such contact, intentionally committing a crime of violence causing bodily injury to such spouse or partner; and (2) engage in conduct that violates a protection order, any portion of which involves protection against credible threats of violence, repeated harassment, or bodily injury, to the person or persons for whom the protection order was issued and violates that portion of such order, or that would violate such order if the conduct occurred in the jurisdiction in which the order was issued and engaging in such conduct. Requires that, in any proceeding for the purpose of determining whether a defendant charged shall be released pending trial, or the conditions of such release, the alleged victim be given an opportunity to be heard regarding the danger posed by the defendant. Mandates that a court order restitution to the victim of an offense under this Act, with exceptions. Requires, provided that certain conditions are met, that a protection order issued by the court of one State or Indian tribe be accorded full faith and credit by the court of another State or tribe. (Sec. 1623) Amends the Omnibus Act to authorize the Director to make grants to eligible States, Indian tribes, or units of local government to encourage arrest policies in domestic violence cases, including mandatory arrest programs for protective order violations and improving judicial handling of such cases. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle C: Domestic Violence - Amends the Federal criminal code to prohibit the sale or other disposal of firearms or ammunition to, or the receipt of firearms of ammunition by, persons convicted of offenses involving domestic abuse. (Sec. 1626) Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to allow an alien spouse to self-petition for immediate relative or second preference status if the alien demonstrates to the Attorney General that the alien is residing in the United States: (1) the marriage between the alien and the spouse was entered into in good faith by the alien, and during the marriage the alien or child of the alien has been battered by or has been the subject of extreme cruelty perpetrated by the alien's spouse; or (2) with the alien's spouse, the alien has been married to and residing with the spouse for not less than three years, and the alien's spouse has failed to file such a petition on behalf of the alien. Provides that, in the case of abused spouses and abused children who are self-petitioning, divorce may not be the basis for revocation of the petition. (Under current law and regulations, divorce results in the automatic revocation of an immediate relative and a second preference petition.) (Sec. 1627) Directs the Attorney General, in acting on spousal waiver applications, to consider any credible evidence submitted in support of the application (whether or not the evidence is supported by an evaluation of a licensed mental health professional). Specifies that the determination of what evidence is credible and the weight to be given the evidence shall be within the sole discretion of the Attorney General. (Sec. 1628) Waives the current seven-year residence requirement to apply for suspension of deportation. Makes suspension of deportation available to alien spouses and children who have been battered or subjected to extreme cruelty in the United States by a spouse or parent who is a citizen or lawful permanent resident, provided that the alien spouse or child proves that he or she is a person of good moral character and that deportation would result in extreme hardship. Subtitle D: Miscellaneous Provisions - Directs the Attorney General to: (1) conduct a study of the means by which abusive spouses may obtain information concerning the addresses or locations of estranged or former spouses, and transmit to the Congress a report based on the study; and (2) submit to the Congress a report and recommendations on problems of recordkeeping of criminal complaints involving domestic violence. (Sec. 1643) Directs the Attorney General to establish an Attorney General's Task Force on Violence Against Women to review Federal, State, and local strategies for preventing and punishing violent crimes against women and to make recommendations to improve the response to such crimes. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 1652) Amends the Victims' Rights and Restitution Act of 1990 to direct the Attorney General to authorize the Director of the Office of Victims of Crime to provide for the payment of the cost of up to two tests of the victim for sexually transmitted diseases during the 12 months following sexual assaults that pose a risk of transmission, and the cost of a counseling session by a medically trained professional on the accuracy of such tests and the risk of transmission of such diseases to the victim as the result of the assault. (Sec. 1653) Directs the Attorney General to provide a grant to a nonprofit private organization to establish and operate a national, toll-free telephone hotline to provide information and assistance to victims of domestic violence. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 1654) Amends the Omnibus Act to require the Director of the BJA to provide grants to establish projects in local communities involving many sectors of each community to coordinate intervention and prevention of domestic violence. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle E: Equal Justice for Women in the Courts - Authorizes the State Justice Institute (SJI) to award grants for the purpose of developing, testing, presenting, and disseminating model programs to be used by States in training judges and court personnel in the laws of the State on rape, sexual assault, domestic violence, and other crimes of violence motivated by gender. (Sec. 1663) Directs the SJI to ensure that such model programs are developed with the participation of law enforcement officials, public and private nonprofit victim advocates, legal experts, prosecutors, defense attorneys, and recognized experts on gender bias in the courts. (Sec. 1664) Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 1665) Encourages the circuit judicial councils to conduct studies of the instances of gender bias in their respective circuits. Directs the: (1) Judicial Conference of the United States to designate an entity within the judicial branch to act as a clearinghouse to disseminate any reports and materials issued by gender bias task forces; and (2) Federal Judicial Center to disseminate information on issues relating to gender bias in the courts. (Sec. 1666) Authorizes appropriations to the: (1) Salaries and Expenses Account of the Courts of Appeals, District Courts, and other Judicial Services; (2) Federal Judicial Center; and (3) Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. Directs the Judicial Conference to allocate funds to Federal circuit courts that undertake their own studies of gender bias or implement reforms recommended as a result of such studies in their own or other circuits. Expresses the sense of the Congress that the executive branch, working through the SJI, should examine programs which would allow the States to consider whether expert testimony regarding battered women's syndrome should be admissible by the defendant in criminal trials and specified related issues. Title XVII: Hate Crimes Sentencing Enhancement - Directs the Sentencing Commission to promulgate or amend existing guidelines to provide sentencing enhancements of not less than three offense levels for offenses that the finder of fact at trial determines beyond a reasonable doubt are hate crimes (assuring reasonable consistency with other guidelines, avoiding duplicative punishments for substantially the same offense, and taking into account any mitigating circumstances which might justify exceptions). Title XVIII: Use of Formula Grants to Prosecute Persons Driving While Intoxicated - Amends the Omnibus Act to permit the use of drug control and system improvement grant funds for programs for the prosecution of driving while intoxicated and the enforcement of other laws relating to alcohol use and the operation of motor vehicles. Title XIX: Youth Handgun Safety - Amends the Federal criminal code to prohibit the possession of a handgun or ammunition by, or the private transfer of a handgun or ammunition to, a juvenile, with exceptions. Sets penalties for violations. Directs the Attorney General to: (1) evaluate existing and proposed juvenile handgun legislation in each State; (2) develop model juvenile handgun legislation that is constitutional and enforceable; (3) prepare and disseminate to State authorities the findings made as the result of the evaluation; and (4) report to the Congress findings and recommendations concerning the need or appropriateness of further Federal action. Title XX: Substance Abuse Treatment in Federal Prisons - Amends the Federal criminal code to direct the Bureau of Prisons to provide residential substance abuse treatment for not less than 50 percent of eligible prisoners by the end of FY 1995, for not less than 75 percent by the end of FY 1996, and for all eligible prisoners by the end of 1997 and thereafter. Grants priority for such treatment based on an eligible prisoner's proximity to release date. Permits sentence reductions of up to a year for a prisoner's successful completion of a residential substance abuse treatment program. Sets forth reporting requirements. Authorizes appropriations. Title XXI: Alternative Punishments for Young Offenders - Amends the Omnibus Act to authorize the Director of the BJA to make grants to States, for use by States and local government, for the purpose of developing alternative methods of punishment for young offenders to traditional forms of incarceration and probation. Sets forth provisions regarding State and local applications, review of State applications, allocation and distribution of funds, and evaluation. (Sec. 2102) Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 2103) Expresses the sense of the Congress that States should impose mandatory sentences for crimes involving the use of a firearm or other weapon on, or within a 100-yard radius of, school property. Title XXII: Juvenile Drug Trafficking and Gang Prevention Grants - Amends the Omnibus Act to authorize the Director of the BJA to make grants to States and units of local government, or combinations thereof, to assist them in planning, establishing, operating, coordinating, and evaluating projects for the development of more effective programs to reduce the formation or continuation of juvenile gangs and the use and sale of illegal drugs by juveniles. Sets forth provisions regarding permissible uses of grant funds and application requirements. Authorizes appropriations. Title XXIII: Residential Substance Abuse Treatment for State Prisoners - Amends the Omnibus Act to authorize the Director of the BJA to make grants to States, for use by States and local government, for the purpose of developing and implementing residential substance abuse treatment programs within State correctional facilities in which inmates are incarcerated for a period of time sufficient to permit substance abuse treatment. Sets forth provisions regarding State application requirements, review of applications, allocation and distribution of funds, and evaluation. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 17 March 1994
Youth Development Block Grant Act of 1993 - Establishes a youth development block grant program. Authorizes appropriations. Sets forth formulas for allocation of funds to States and for distribution of funds through State commissions to local boards for community-based youth development services. Requires establishment of county or multicounty Local Youth Development Boards to receive such assistance. Requires establishment of a State Youth Development Commission in each State desiring to receive such assistance. Establishes a National Youth Development Commission to advise the Assistant Secretary for Children and Families of the Department of Health and Human Services on implementation of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 16 March 1994
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Comprehensive Program for Worker Reemployment Title II: One-Stop Career Center System Title III: National Labor Market Information System Title IV: Reinvention Labs for Job Training for the Economically Disadvantaged Reemployment Act of 1994 - Establishes: (1) a comprehensive program for worker reemployment; (2) a one-stop career center system; (3) a national labor market information system; and (4) reinvention labs for job training for the economically disadvantaged. (Sec. 4) Authorizes appropriations for titles I, III, and IV of this Act. Title I: Comprehensive Program for Worker Reemployment - Allots funds among States and reserves certain funds for national activities. (Sec. 103) Makes certain permanently laid-off workers and long-term unemployed individuals (as well as workers facing imminent plant shutdowns and self-employed individuals unemployed because of community economic conditions or natural disasters) eligible for services under this title. Makes dislocated homemakers eligible if a State Governor deems this appropriate and certain conditions are met. Part A: State and Substate Delivery System - Makes States responsible for administrative and management systems under this title. (Sec. 112) Requires the Governor to designate or establish a dislocated worker unit at the State level, with specified rapid response, information, and coordination functions. Directs such unit to coordinate with substate grantees and career centers, and to promote worker-management transition assistance committees. Provides for rapid response coverage of certain layoffs, State funding of preliminary assessments of worker buyouts of plants, prohibition of State transfer of rapid response functions, and Federal oversight of such functions. (Sec. 113) Requires the Governor to develop and maintain a comprehensive labor market information system in the State that meets certain requirements relating to the national system of effective labor market information. (Sec. 114) Requires the Governor to coordinate programs under this title with the worker profiling system under the Social Security Act and the retraining income support program under this Act. (Sec. 115) Authorizes the Governor to award supplementary grants to eligible entities to provide authorized services to eligible individuals in areas of the State experiencing substantial increases in numbers of such individuals due to plant closures, base closures, and mass layoffs. Allows such grant funds to be used to establish additional service centers, including on-site transition centers. (Sec. 116) Authorizes the Governor to award job retention project grants for: (1) upgrading skills of workers at risk of permanent layoff; and (2) retraining workers in new technologies and work processes to help convert or restructure businesses into high performance work organizations and avert plant closings or substantial layoffs. Requires State and employer contributions. Requires consultation with unions. (Sec. 117) Requires establishment of substate area administrative structures. (Sec. 118) Requires each designated substate grantee to establish one or more career centers in that area. Allows additional, temporary on-site transition centers. (Sec. 119) Authorizes the use of substate area funds for the following services for eligible individuals: (1) basic reemployment services; (2) intensive reemployment services; (3) education and training services; (4) retraining income support; (5) supportive services; and (6) supplemental wage allowances for older workers. (Sec. 120) Allows a career center to issue a certificate of continuing eligibility for services to eligible individuals who are accepting employment at a significantly lower wage than their previous one or in an occupation significantly different from their previous one. Part B: Federal Service Delivery System - Directs the Secretary of Labor to establish a program of national discretionary grants to address large-scale economic dislocations resulting from plant closures, base closures, or mass layoffs. Allows the use of such grants to: (1) provide comprehensive planning services to assist communities in addressing and reducing the impact of an economic dislocation; and (2) establish on-site transition centers. (Sec. 132) Directs the Secretary to make funds available for disaster relief employment assistance to States for substate allocation. (Sec. 133) Directs the Secretary to provide for: (1) evaluation of programs under this title; (2) research on addressing economic dislocation, facilitating the transition of permanently laid-off workers to reemployment, and upgrading skills of employed workers; and (3) demonstration projects to develop and improve methods of addressing economic dislocation and promoting worker adjustment. (Sec. 134) Directs the Secretary to provide staff training and technical assistance to various entities to enhance their capacity to develop and deliver adjustment assistance services to workers, and to avert plant closings or substantial layoffs. Requires integration of such activities with those of the Capacity Building and Information and Dissemination Network. (Sec. 135) Directs the Secretary to provide for delivery of programs, activities, and services under this title in any State that chooses not to participate. Part C: Performance Standards and Quality Assurance Systems - Directs the Secretary to establish a process, including an annual meeting, in each State to promote development of a customer service compact among parties administering programs under this title. (Sec. 152) Directs the Secretary to prescribe performance standards relating separately to the substate grantees and the career centers. Directs Governors to prescribe adjustments to such standards and award incentive grants to grantees and centers exceeding such standards. (Sec. 153) Requires each substate grantee to establish methods for obtaining customer feedback from eligible individuals and employers who have received services from a career center. (Sec. 154) Makes providers of education and training services eligible to receive funds under this title if they are eligible to participate under student aid provisions of the Higher Education Act of 1965 or are determined eligible under alternative procedures established by Governors, and if they provide performance-based information. Exempts on-the-job training providers from such requirements. Part D: General Requirements - Sets forth general requirements for programs under this title, including provisions for benefits, labor standards, and grievance procedures. Part E: Fiscal Administrative Provisions - Sets forth various administrative provisions, including ones for program year, prompt allocation of funds, monitoring, fiscal controls and sanctions, reports, recordkeeping, and investigations, administrative adjudication, nondiscrimination, judicial review, nondiscrimination, and criminal provisions. Part F: Miscellaneous Provisions - Provides for transition, on July 1, 1995, to programs authorized under this title from the following programs, which this Act repeals, under employment and training assistance for dislocated workers provisions of the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA): (1) Economic Dislocation and Worker Adjustment Assistance program; (2) Defense Conversion Adjustment Program; (3) Defense Diversification Program; and (4) Clean Air Employment Transition Assistance Program. Terminates the Disaster Relief Employment Assistance program under JTPA. Title II: One-Stop Career Center System - Part A: Components of Voluntary One-Stop Career Center System - Requires a State's one-stop career center system, in order to receive a grant or waiver under this title, to include: (1) local workforce investment boards; (2) one-stop career centers established in accordance with specified procedures; (3) provision of specified services; (4) participation of specified Federal programs; (5) operating agreements for such centers; (6) quality assurance systems; and (6) a State Human Resource Investment Council. (Sec. 212) Directs the Governor to designate one-stop service areas within the State. Directs local officials to establish a workforce investment board for each such area. (Sec. 213) Directs the Governor and local officials to jointly select a consortium option or a multiple independent operator option as the method for establishing one-stop career centers for each service area. (Sec. 214) Requires each center to make available: (1) certain basic services to the public free of charge; and (2) certain intensive services to participants in the title I comprehensive program for worker reemployment who are unable to obtain employment through the basic services (and, optionally, to other individuals in accordance with the written agreement). Authorizes each center to provide specialized services to employers and additional services specified in the agreement. Authorizes charging fees under specified conditions, with all program income to be used to expand or enhance services. (Sec. 215) Requires the following programs to be made available to participants through the centers (and to participate in operation of such centers as parties to the agreement): (1) comprehensive programs for worker reemployment under title I of this Act; (2) Wagner-Peyser Act programs (employment services); (3) job counseling, training, and placement for veterans; (4) training services for the disadvantaged under title II of JTPA; (5) community service employment for older Americans programs under title V of the Older Americans Act; and (6) programs authorized under Federal and State unemployment compensation laws. Allows other human resource programs to provide services through and participate in operation of the centers, under specified conditions, including the Job Opportunities and Basic Skills program for AFDC recipients, the Food Stamp Employment and Training program, the Job Corps, veterans' employment programs under JTPA, and programs under the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Education Act, Adult Education Act, Vocational Rehabilitation Act, and School-to-Work Opportunities Act. (Sec. 216) Sets forth requirements for operating agreements and quality assurance systems. (Sec. 218) Requires each State to establish a State human resource investment council that meets specified JTPA requirements and carries out certain additional functions including advising on development and implementation of the one-stop career center system. Part B: Grants and Waivers to Promote the Development and Implementation of One-Stop Career Center System - Authorizes the Secretary to establish programs of competitive grants to States for planning and development and for implementation of comprehensive statewide networks of one-stop career centers. (Sec. 233) Allows a State, at any point during such development or implementation, to request from the Secretary a waiver of one or more statutory or regulatory provisions. Sets forth waiver criteria. Subjects to such waiver authority the mandatory participating programs of the centers. (Sec. 234) Provides for pooling of administrative resources. Part C: Additional Activities in Support of One-Stop Career Center Systems - Directs the Secretary to establish a process, with each State implementing the one-stop career center system, including an annual meeting, to promote development of a customer service compact among the parties administering the system. (Sec. 235) Makes each State implementing such a system responsible for administration, management, monitoring, and technical assistance. (Sec. 236) Makes the Secretary responsible for monitoring compliance, staff training and technical assistance (integrated with the Capacity Building and Information Dissemination Network under JTPA), a national logo and name, and evaluation of one-stop career center programs. Part D: Effective Date - Sets forth effective dates for this title and for performance standards. Title III: National Labor Market Information System - Directs the Secretary to develop, in coordination with other Federal, State, and local entities, a strategy to establish a nationwide system of local labor market information. (Sec. 303) Directs the Secretary, in cooperation with such other entities and public-private partnerships, to develop such system to make available specified types of information. Requires certain technical standards, consumer reports, and evaluation. (Sec. 304) Directs the Secretary to provide for coordination and integration of such system and appropriate dissemination of information. Title IV: Reinvention Labs for Job Training for the Economically Disadvantaged - Amends the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) to establish a five-year Reinvention Labs program to: (1) encourage innovative program designs to improve provision of services to and labor market outcomes for economically disadvantaged youth and adults; (2) develop, through service delivery areas (SDAs) and States, knowledge of effective approaches to providing employment and training to the economically disadvantaged; and (3) provide SDAs with increased flexibility in operating job training programs, in exchange for greater accountability. (Sec. 401) Sets forth requirements for SDA applications for waivers of Federal requirements relating to JTPA programs for employment and training of the economically disadvantaged. Authorizes the Secretary to waive certain of such requirements under specified conditions and to provide technical assistance to SDAs, States, and service providers for Reinvention Labs programs. (Sec. 402) Modifies the definition of tuition under JTPA.
United States · United States Congress · 16 March 1994
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Comprehensive Program for Worker Reemployment Title II: Retraining Income Support and Flexibility in Unemployment Compensation Title III: One-Stop Career Center System Title IV: National Labor Market Information System Title V: Reinvention Labs for Job Training for the Economically Disadvantaged Reemployment Act of 1994 - Establishes: (1) a comprehensive program for worker reemployment; (2) retraining income support and flexibility in unemployment compensation; (3) a one-stop career center system; (4) a national labor market information system; and (5) reinvention labs for job training for the economically disadvantaged. (Sec. 4) Authorizes appropriations for titles I, III, and IV of this Act. Title I: Comprehensive Program for Worker Reemployment - Allots funds among States and reserves certain funds for national activities. (Sec. 103) Makes certain permanently laid-off workers and long-term unemployed individuals (as well as workers facing imminent plant shutdowns and self-employed individuals unemployed because of community economic conditions or natural disasters) eligible for services under this title. Makes dislocated homemakers eligible if a State Governor deems this appropriate and certain conditions are met. Part A: State and Substate Delivery System - Makes States responsible for administrative and management systems under this title. (Sec. 112) Requires the Governor to designate or establish a dislocated worker unit at the State level, with specified rapid response, information, and coordination functions. Directs such unit to coordinate with substate grantees and career centers, and to promote worker-management transition assistance committees. Provides for rapid response coverage of certain layoffs, State funding of preliminary assessments of worker buyouts of plants, prohibition of State transfer of rapid response functions, and Federal oversight of such functions. (Sec. 113) Requires the Governor to develop and maintain a comprehensive labor market information system in the State that meets certain requirements relating to the national system of effective labor market information. (Sec. 114) Requires the Governor to coordinate programs under this title with the worker profiling system under the Social Security Act and the retraining income support program under this Act. (Sec. 115) Authorizes the Governor to award supplementary grants to eligible entities to provide authorized services to eligible individuals in areas of the State experiencing substantial increases in numbers of such individuals due to plant closures, base closures, and mass layoffs. Allows such grant funds to be used to establish additional service centers, including on-site transition centers. (Sec. 116) Authorizes the Governor to award job retention project grants for: (1) upgrading skills of workers at risk of permanent layoff; and (2) retraining workers in new technologies and work processes to help convert or restructure businesses into high performance work organizations and avert plant closings or substantial layoffs. Requires State and employer contributions. Requires consultation with unions. (Sec. 117) Requires establishment of substate area administrative structures. (Sec. 118) Requires each designated substate grantee to establish one or more career centers in that area. Allows additional, temporary on-site transition centers. (Sec. 119) Authorizes the use of substate area funds for the following services for eligible individuals: (1) basic reemployment services; (2) intensive reemployment services; (3) education and training services; (4) retraining income support; (5) supportive services; and (6) supplemental wage allowances for older workers. (Sec. 120) Allows a career center to issue a certificate of continuing eligibility for services to eligible individuals who are accepting employment at a significantly lower wage than their previous one or in an occupation significantly different from their previous one. Part B: Federal Service Delivery System - Directs the Secretary of Labor to establish a program of national discretionary grants to address large-scale economic dislocations resulting from plant closures, base closures, or mass layoffs. Allows the use of such grants to: (1) provide comprehensive planning services to assist communities in addressing and reducing the impact of an economic dislocation; and (2) establish on-site transition centers. (Sec. 132) Directs the Secretary to make funds available for disaster relief employment assistance to States for substate allocation. (Sec. 133) Directs the Secretary to provide for: (1) evaluation of programs under this title; (2) research on addressing economic dislocation, facilitating the transition of permanently laid-off workers to reemployment, and upgrading skills of employed workers; and (3) demonstration projects to develop and improve methods of addressing economic dislocation and promoting worker adjustment. (Sec. 134) Directs the Secretary to provide staff training and technical assistance to various entities to enhance their capacity to develop and deliver adjustment assistance services to workers, and to avert plant closings or substantial layoffs. Requires integration of such activities with those of the Capacity Building and Information and Dissemination Network. (Sec. 135) Directs the Secretary to provide for delivery of programs, activities, and services under this title in any State that chooses not to participate. Part C: Performance Standards and Quality Assurance Systems - Directs the Secretary to establish a process, including an annual meeting, in each State to promote development of a customer service compact among parties administering programs under this title. (Sec. 152) Directs the Secretary to prescribe performance standards relating separately to the substate grantees and the career centers. Directs Governors to prescribe adjustments to such standards and award incentive grants to grantees and centers exceeding such standards. (Sec. 153) Requires each substate grantee to establish methods for obtaining customer feedback from eligible individuals and employers who have received services from a career center. (Sec. 154) Makes providers of education and training services eligible to receive funds under this title if they are eligible to participate under student aid provisions of the Higher Education Act of 1965 or are determined eligible under alternative procedures established by Governors, and if they provide performance-based information. Exempts on-the-job training providers from such requirements. Part D: General Requirements - Sets forth general requirements for programs under this title, including provisions for benefits, labor standards, and grievance procedures. Part E: Fiscal Administrative Provisions - Sets forth various administrative provisions, including ones for program year, prompt allocation of funds, monitoring, fiscal controls and sanctions, reports, recordkeeping, and investigations, administrative adjudication, nondiscrimination, judicial review, nondiscrimination, and criminal provisions. Part F: Miscellaneous Provisions - Provides for transition, on July 1, 1995, to programs authorized under this title from the following programs, which this Act repeals, under employment and training assistance for dislocated workers provisions of the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA): (1) Economic Dislocation and Worker Adjustment Assistance program; (2) Defense Conversion Adjustment Program; (3) Defense Diversification Program; and (4) Clean Air Employment Transition Assistance Program. Terminates the Disaster Relief Employment Assistance program under JTPA. Title II: Retraining Income Support and Flexibility in Unemployment Compensation - Part A: Retraining Income Support Program - Establishes a retraining income support program to assist permanently laid-off individuals participating in long-term training programs. (Sec. 202) Sets forth eligibility requirements for tenured workers (who have been employed for more than three years before being permanently laid off) and for trade-impacted workers. Provides, at a later date, for additional eligibility coverage for workers who have been employed for more than one year but less than three years before being permanently laid-off. (Sec. 203) Sets forth formulae for determining weekly amounts of such assistance. (Sec. 204) Limits the maximum duration of such assistance to: (1) 52 weeks for individuals with three years or more of job tenure; and (2) 26 weeks for individuals with less than three years of job tenure. Provides for coordination with the extended unemployment compensation benefit program. (Sec. 205) Provides for agreements with States, administration absent State agreement, liabilities of certifying and disbursing officers, fraud and recovery of overpayments, and penalties. Part B: Retraining Income Support Account - Amends the Social Security Act to establish a Retraining Income Support Account in the Unemployment Trust Fund. Provides for transfers to such Account and transfers to States. (Sec. 222) Provides for funds to assist States in administering cash benefits for retraining income support. Part C: Financing Provisions - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to raise the rate of the Federal unemployment tax. (Sec. 232) Provides for voluntary withholding of Federal individual income tax on unemployment and other benefits, including retraining income support. Requires States to provide for a system for deduction and withholding of Federal individual income tax from unemployment compensation upon the recipient's voluntary request. Part D: Integration of Trade-Impacted Workers into the Comprehensive Reemployment System - Phases out the trade adjustment assistance program. (Sec. 242) Establishes within the Department of Labor a temporary, transitional certification program to integrate trade-impacted workers into the comprehensive system of worker reemployment and retraining income support. Part E: Unemployment Compensation Flexibility - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow States, under their unemployment compensation programs, to conduct: (1) short-time compensation programs; (2) reemployment bonus programs. (Sec. 253) Amends the North American Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act to repeal a sunset provision which would terminate the self-employment assistance program after five years. (Thus this Act extends such program indefinitely.) Title III: One-Stop Career Center System - Part A: Components of Voluntary One-Stop Career Center System - Requires a State's one-stop career center system, in order to receive a grant or waiver under this title, to include: (1) local workforce investment boards; (2) one-stop career centers established in accordance with specified procedures; (3) provision of specified services; (4) participation of specified Federal programs; (5) operating agreements for such centers; (6) quality assurance systems; and (6) a State Human Resource Investment Council. (Sec. 312) Directs the Governor to designate one-stop service areas within the State. Directs local officials to establish a workforce investment board for each such area. (Sec. 313) Directs the Governor and local officials to jointly select a consortium option or a multiple independent operator option as the method for establishing one-stop career centers for each service area. (Sec. 314) Requires each center to make available: (1) certain basic services to the public free of charge; and (2) certain intensive services to participants in the title I comprehensive program for worker reemployment who are unable to obtain employment through the basic services (and, optionally, to other individuals in accordance with the written agreement). Authorizes each center to provide specialized services to employers and additional services specified in the agreement. Authorizes charging fees under specified conditions, with all program income to be used to expand or enhance services. (Sec. 315) Requires the following programs to be made available to participants through the centers (and to participate in operation of such centers as parties to the agreement): (1) comprehensive programs for worker reemployment under title I of this Act; (2) Wagner-Peyser Act programs (employment services); (3) job counseling, training, and placement for veterans; (4) training services for the disadvantaged under title II of JTPA; (5) community service employment for older Americans programs under title V of the Older Americans Act; and (6) programs authorized under Federal and State unemployment compensation laws. Allows other human resource programs to provide services through and participate in operation of the centers, under specified conditions, including the Job Opportunities and Basic Skills program for AFDC recipients, the Food Stamp Employment and Training program, the Job Corps, veterans' employment programs under JTPA, and programs under the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Education Act, Adult Education Act, Vocational Rehabilitation Act, and School-to-Work Opportunities Act. (Sec. 316) Sets forth requirements for operating agreements and quality assurance systems. (Sec. 318) Requires each State to establish a State human resource investment council that meets specified JTPA requirements and carries out certain additional functions including advising on development and implementation of the one-stop career center system. Part B: Grants and Waivers to Promote the Development and Implementation of One-Stop Career Center System - Authorizes the Secretary to establish programs of competitive grants to States for planning and development and for implementation of comprehensive statewide networks of one-stop career centers. (Sec. 333) Allows a State, at any point during such development or implementation, to request from the Secretary a waiver of one or more statutory or regulatory provisions. Sets forth waiver criteria. Subjects to such waiver authority the mandatory participating programs of the centers. (Sec. 334) Provides for pooling of administrative resources. Part C: Additional Activities in Support of One-Stop Career Center Systems - Directs the Secretary to establish a process, with each State implementing the one-stop career center system, including an annual meeting, to promote development of a customer service compact among the parties administering the system. (Sec. 335) Makes each State implementing such a system responsible for administration, management, monitoring, and technical assistance. (Sec. 336) Makes the Secretary responsible for monitoring compliance, staff training and technical assistance (integrated with the Capacity Building and Information Dissemination Network under JTPA), a national logo and name, and evaluation of one-stop career center programs. Part D: Effective Date - Sets forth effective dates for this title and for performance standards. Title IV: National Labor Market Information System - Directs the Secretary to develop, in coordination with other Federal, State, and local entities, a strategy to establish a nationwide system of local labor market information. (Sec. 403) Directs the Secretary, in cooperation with such other entities and public-private partnerships, to develop such system to make available specified types of information. Requires certain technical standards, consumer reports, and evaluation. (Sec. 404) Directs the Secretary to provide for coordination and integration of such system and appropriate dissemination of information. Title V: Reinvention Labs for Job Training for the Economically Disadvantaged - Amends the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) to establish a five-year Reinvention Labs program to: (1) encourage innovative program designs to improve provision of services to and labor market outcomes for economically disadvantaged youth and adults; (2) develop, through service delivery areas (SDAs) and States, knowledge of effective approaches to providing employment and training to the economically disadvantaged; and (3) provide SDAs with increased flexibility in operating job training programs, in exchange for greater accountability. (Sec. 501) Sets forth requirements for SDA applications for waivers of Federal requirements relating to JTPA programs for employment and training of the economically disadvantaged. Authorizes the Secretary to waive certain of such requirements under specified conditions and to provide technical assistance to SDAs, States, and service providers for Reinvention Labs programs. (Sec. 502) Modifies the definition of tuition under JTPA.
United States · United States Congress · 16 March 1994
Secure Assurance for Families Everywhere (SAFE) Act - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to establish in the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) a national registry of all child support orders maintaining an abstract of each order containing certain specified information. (Sec. 2) Amends part D (Child Support and Establishment of Paternity) of title IV of the Social Security Act (SSA) to require certain State procedures, including procedures for ensuring that: (1) a copy of each child support order issued, modified, or being enforced in the State is transmitted to the national registry; and (2) a notice of court or administrative review and, under certain conditions, a statement of arrears owed are included with each order transmitted. Requires the national registry, upon the receipt from an employer of a W-4 form completed by an employee, to report to the employer information on: (1) whether the employee is subject to a child support order for wage withholding; and (2) the aggregate amount of support involved. (Sec. 3) Requires the Secretary to establish a system for enabling such information, as well as information identifying the person to whom any child support is owed, to be obtained at the workplace via W-4 form reporting by employees. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) require employers to deduct and withhold child support obligations from employee wages, pay withholdings to the Secretary, forward individual W-4 forms to the national registry, and include withheld obligations on the employee's W-2 form; (2) require individuals with monthly shortfalls in child support payments because of inadequate wage withholding to make payments directly to the Secretary, with the full amount due by the end of the applicable tax year subject to the same collection process and penalties applicable to back taxes; and (3) provide for a tax credit for withholdings and payments in excess of applicable obligations. (Sec. 5) Directs the Secretary to pay to the appropriate payee on a monthly basis a portion of the amount of child support received on account of an obligation payable to such payee, plus a child support assurance benefit for payees cooperating in establishing the support order and child paternity. Disregards the first $100 of such benefit for purposes of AFDC (Aid to Families with Dependent Children) benefits. (Sec. 7) Amends SSA title IV part D to require: (1) individuals applying for child support collection or paternity determination services under the State part D plan who are not otherwise eligible for such services to use a new Federal application form in applying for such services; (2) such plans to provide for ongoing outreach programs to persons eligible for plan services; and (3) the separate organizational unit under the direction of the Secretary of Health and Human Services' designee to issue regulations for ensuring State plans for serving underserved populations and accommodations for assisting non-English speaking persons and the hearing impaired. (Sec. 8) Establishes the Commission on Child Support Guidelines to recommend to the Congress national child support guidelines to be followed by State courts and administrative bodies in setting child support award amounts. (Sec. 9) Directs the Secretary to: (1) establish by a certain deadline the requirements already required to be established under current law for the staffing of State child support programs; (2) streamline the process for conducting child support audits; and (3) jointly issue with the Secretary of the Treasury regulations governing coordination of State child support collection activities with those of the IRS. Provides for an increase in the Federal matching rate as an incentive for States increasing paternity establishment and meeting staffing requirements with regard to their child support programs. Adds: (1) maintenance of effort requirements for State child support and AFDC programs; and (2) additional specified requirements with respect to procedures for paternity establishment and paternity acknowledgment affidavits.
United States · United States Congress · 15 March 1994
Urban Recreation and At-Risk Youth Act of 1994 - Amends the Urban Park and Recreation Recovery Act of 1978 to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to provide, through the urban park and recreation recovery program, at-risk youth recreation grants in neighborhoods and communities with a high prevalence of crime, particularly violent crime or crime committed by youth, for purposes including the provision of lighting, emergency phones, or other capital improvements for the security of urban parks. Directs the Secretary to give grant priority to local government programs meeting specified criteria, including: (1) targeting youth at the greatest risk of becoming involved in violence and crime; (2) teaching important values and life skills; (3) offering education and counseling in addition to recreation opportunities; and (4) showing the greatest potential of being continued with non-Federal funds or serving as models. Requires local governments, to be eligible for such grants, to include strategies to reduce crime and juvenile delinquency in their five-year action programs for park and recreation recovery. Requires no more than 25 percent of Federal grant funds made available under such Act to be used for program support. Repeals provisions limiting the duration of the urban park and recreation recovery program to five years.
United States · United States Congress · 15 March 1994
Amends the Federal criminal code to establish criteria for the imposition of the death penalty for Federal crimes where a defendant has been found guilty of treason or gathering or delivering defense information to aid a foreign government or of an offense for which the death sentence is provided if the defendant intentionally: (1) killed the victim; (2) inflicted serious bodily injury that resulted in the victim's death; (3) participated in an act, contemplating that the life of a person would be taken or intending that lethal force would be used and the victim died as a direct result of the act; or (4) engaged in an act of violence, knowing that the act created a grave risk of death, such that participation in the act constituted a reckless disregard for human life and the victim died as a direct result of the act (subject to specified limitations). Requires: (1) the Government, for any offense punishable by death, to serve notice upon the defendant a reasonable time before trial or acceptance of a plea, of its intention to seek the death penalty and of the aggravating factors upon which it will rely; and (2) a separate sentencing hearing before a jury, or the court upon motion by the defendant, when the defendant is found guilty or pleads guilty to an offense punishable by death. Allows the defendant and the Government to present any information relevant to sentencing, without regard to the rules of evidence, but permits information to be excluded where its probative value is substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice, confusion of the issues, or misleading the jury. Sets forth mitigating factors and aggravating factors for treason, espionage, and homicide. States that no person who was less than 18 years of age at the time of the offense may be sentenced to death. Prohibits the execution of mentally retarded persons, persons who as a result of mental disability lack the mental capacity to understand the death penalty and why it was imposed on them, or pregnant women. Requires the court to instruct the jury not to consider the race, color, national origin, creed, or sex of the defendant or any victim in its consideration of the sentence. Specifies that the jury or the court is never required to impose a death sentence. Establishes procedures for the imposition and implementation of, and appeal from, a death sentence. Prohibits requiring any employee of any State department of corrections, the U.S. Department of Justice, the Marshals Service, the Bureau of Prisons, or any provider of services under contract to participate in any prosecution or execution if participation is contrary to his or her moral or religious convictions. Bars the imposition of a death sentence for a death-eligible offense committed in Indian country unless the Indian tribe having criminal jurisdiction over land and persons subject to such jurisdiction has elected to have this Act apply in such cases.
United States · United States Congress · 11 March 1994
Habeas Corpus Revision Act of 1994 - Amends the Federal judicial code to revise provisions governing habeas corpus procedures, particularly in capital cases. Establishes a statute of limitations of one year for the filing of an application for habeas corpus relief from a sentence of death. Prescribes periods during which such time requirement shall be tolled, including any period during which the applicant is not represented by counsel. Provides for dismissal of an application for failure to comply with such time requirement, except where the waiver of such requirement is warranted by exceptional circumstances. (Sec. 3) Specifies requirements for stays of execution in capital cases. (Sec. 4) Prohibits the court from applying a new rule representing a clear break from precedent announced by the U.S. Supreme Court that could not have reasonably been anticipated at the time the claimant's sentence became final in State court, unless such rule: (1) places the claimant's conduct beyond the power of the criminal law-making authority to proscribe or punish with the sanction imposed; or (2) requires the observance of procedures without which the likelihood of an accurate conviction or valid capital sentence is seriously diminished. (Sec. 5) Bars the court from presuming a finding of fact made in certain State court proceedings to be correct or from declining to consider a claim on the ground that it was not raised in such a proceeding at the time or in the manner prescribed by State law, unless: (1) the relevant State maintains a mechanism for providing legal services to indigents in capital cases which meets specified requirements; (2) the State actually appointed an attorney to represent an applicant who was eligible for and did not waive such appointment in the State proceeding in which the finding of fact was made or the default occurred; and (3) any attorney so appointed substantially met specified qualification standards and the performance standards established by the appointing authority. (Sec. 6) Requires that, in the case of an applicant for Federal habeas corpus relief under sentence of death, a claim presented in a second or successive application be dismissed unless the applicant shows that: (1) the basis of the claim could not have been discovered by the exercise of reasonable diligence before the applicant filed the prior application, or the failure to raise the claim in the prior application was due to action by State officials in violation of the U.S. Constitution; and (2) the facts underlying the claim would be sufficient, if proven, to undermine the court's confidence in the applicant's guilt of the offense for which the capital sentence was imposed, or in the validity of that sentence under Federal law. (Sec. 7) Grants an applicant under sentence of death the right to appeal without a certification of probable cause, except after denial of a second or successive application. (Sec. 8) Requires the district court, in adjudicating habeas corpus cases, to: (1) exercise independent judgment in ascertaining the pertinent Federal legal standards and in applying those standards to the facts when adjudicating the merits of a particular ground (rather than deferring to a previous State court judgment regarding a Federal legal standard or its application); (2) issue habeas corpus relief at any time on behalf of an applicant under sentence of death imposed either in Federal or State court who offers newly discovered evidence which, had it been presented to the trier of fact or sentencing authority at trial, would probably have resulted in an acquittal of the offense for which the death sentence was imposed or a sentence other than death; and (3) decline to consider a habeas corpus claim under specified circumstances.
United States · United States Congress · 11 March 1994
Racial Justice Act - Amends the Federal judicial code to prohibit putting a person to death under color of State or Federal law in the execution of a sentence that was imposed based on race. Specifies that an inference that race was the basis of a death sentence is established if valid evidence is presented demonstrating that, at the time the sentence was imposed, race was a statistically significant factor in decisions to seek or to impose the sentence of death in the jurisdiction in question. Allows evidence relevant to establish an inference that race was the basis of a death sentence to include evidence that, at the pertinent time, death sentences were being imposed in the jurisdiction significantly more frequently: (1) upon persons of one race compared to another; or (2) against persons of one race compared to another as punishment for capital offenses. Directs the court, to determine the validity of statistical evidence presented to establish an inference that race was the basis of a sentence of death. Specifies that to the extent it is compiled and publicly made available, evidence must take into account the statutory aggravating factors of the crimes involved, including comparisons of similar cases involving persons of different races. Prohibits the death sentence from being carried out if an inference that race was the basis of a death sentence is established unless the government rebuts the inference by a preponderance of the evidence. Bars the government from relying on mere assertions that it did not intend to discriminate or that the cases in which death was imposed fit the statutory criteria for imposition of the death penalty unless it can show that such penalty was sought in all cases fitting such criteria. Requires that all data collected by public officials concerning factors relevant to the imposition of the death sentence be made publicly available.
United States · United States Congress · 9 March 1994
Condemns the Hebron massacre and all acts of terror intended to disrupt the peace process or for any other purposes. Commends the Government of Israel for its strong condemnation of the Hebron killings, for reaching out to the victims' families, for taking swift and appropriate action to respond to the threat posed by the extremists, and for pledging its commitment to proceed immediately with resuming the peace talks. Supports President Clinton's efforts to reinvigorate the peace process. Urges all parties and others involved in the Middle East peace talks to apply renewed energy to achieve their prompt and just conclusion within the framework of the September 13, 1993, Declaration of Principles.
United States · United States Congress · 3 March 1994
Honors James Norman Hall for his outstanding contributions to the United States, France, Tahiti, and the South Pacific. Requests the President to provide for the presentation of a copy of this concurrent resolution to the President of Tahiti Nui (French Polynesia) to be publicly displayed at the James Norman Hall Museum in Tahiti.
United States · United States Congress · 24 February 1994
Fair Market Access Act of 1994 - Directs the Secretary of Commerce to report annually to the Congress an assessment of the access to the Japanese market of goods and services produced or originating in the United States in each sector specifically identified in the Japan-United States Framework for a New Economic Partnership signed on July 10, 1993 (Framework Agreement). Specifies contents of such access assessments. Authorizes the President to enter into agreements or other understandings with Japan for the purpose of obtaining the market access opportunities described in such assessments. Requires the United States Trade Representative (USTR) to determine for which sectors identified in each assessment to pursue negotiations in order to conclude such agreements or understandings. Directs the Secretary to monitor compliance with each agreement or understanding between the United States and Japan reached under this Act, as well as with existing trade agreements between both countries. Deems an unreasonable and discriminatory act, policy, or practice burdening or restricting U.S. commerce each barrier to access to the Japanese market that is the subject of negotiations under this Act which fail to conclude an agreement or understanding. Requires the USTR to determine what "Super 301" sanction to impose in response to such acts, policies, or practices, as well as in instances of material noncompliance with new or existing agreements or understandings.
United States · United States Congress · 24 February 1994
Higher Education Accumulation Program Act of 1994 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a deduction for amounts paid to a Higher Education Accumulation Program (HEAP) account established to accumulate funds to pay the educational expenses of a child of the taxpayer. Declares such accounts exempt from tax. Allows the deduction in arriving at adjusted gross income. Imposes an excise tax on excess contributions and prohibited transactions. Imposes a penalty for failure to meet reporting requirements.
United States · United States Congress · 24 February 1994
Commends: (1) the President of Guatemala, Ramiro de Leon Carpio, and the leaders of the Guatemalan National Revoluntionary Union for establishing a framework for formal negotiations to bring an end to the internal armed conflict and set Guatemala on the road to democracy; and (2) the leaders of the various segments of civilian society, under the leadership of Bishop Rodolfo Quezada Toruno, for their role in articulating the concerns of all sectors of Guatemalan society and for bringing critical issues onto the agenda of the peace negotiations. Calls on: (1) the Group of Friends of the peace negotiations (Colombia, Mexico, Spain, Venezuela, Norway, and the United States) to continue and intensify their support of such negotiations; (2) President de Leon Carpio to develop a measurable and substantive plan to end human rights abuses and disband the Civil Self-Defense Patrols, to ensure the safety of the returnees, and to recognize the civilian character of the Communities of Populations in Resistance; and (3) the executive branch of the U.S. Government to condition all assistance to Guatemala, except for humanitarian and development assistance, on full compliance with recommended measures of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, on continuation of the peace process, on substantive improvement in the protection of human rights, on the dissolution of the Patrols, on the guaranteed safety of refugees, returnees, and the internally displaced, on verifiable resolution of the Devine, Ortiz, and Mack cases, and on the strengthening of the various segments of civilian society.
United States · United States Congress · 23 February 1994
1995 Special Olympics World Games Commemorative Coin Act - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to issue one-dollar silver coins emblematic of the 1995 Special Olympics World Games. Mandates that the surcharges collected from the sale of such coins be paid to the 1995 Special Olympics World Games Organizing Committee, Inc.
United States · United States Congress · 23 February 1994
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that: (1) any comprehensive benefits package under health care reform should include mammography screenings for women under the age of 50 (as well as those over 50); (2) there be a copayment for such screenings, except for low-income families; and (3) there should be a randomized clinical trial to determine the benefits of mammography and other screening technologies.
United States · United States Congress · 22 February 1994
Urban Watershed Restoration Act of 1994 - Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to require the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to establish a National Urban Watershed Restoration Program to be administered by each State which has a demonstrated successful urban river restoration program or by the Regional EPA Administrator in States without such programs. Allocates at least 25 percent of funds made available for nonpoint source pollution management to the Program. Provides for grants and technical assistance for projects meeting this Act's requirements. Limits the Federal share of a project's cost to 60 percent of the total cost. Sets forth conditions for project selection. Gives priority to projects that assist in the: (1) meeting of municipal stormwater discharge and combined sewer overflow permit program requirements; (2) implementation of national estuary plans; and (3) development and implementation of stream protection measures and monitoring. Establishes other factors with respect to priority consideration, including that a project will be carried out in a low-income area and will correct a problem which contributes to economic, social, and environmental degradation. Lists projects eligible for funding under the Program.
United States · United States Congress · 8 February 1994
World War II Peace Accords Commemorative Coin Act - Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) the 50th anniversary of the signing of the World War II peace accords on the U.S.S. Missouri should not go unrecognized at the national level; and (2) the United States should recognize such anniversary by minting and issuing a commemorative coin. Sets forth specifications for half dollar clad coins. Mandates that the surcharges received from the sale of such coins be paid by the Secretary of the Treasury to the Admiral Nimitz Foundation for the purpose of preserving the Pacific War heritage of the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 26 January 1994
Emergency Supplemental Appropriations for Disaster Assistance Because of the Los Angeles Earthquake Act of 1994 - Makes emergency supplemental appropriations for FY 1994 for disaster assistance activities resulting from the January 1994 earthquake in Southern California and other disasters. Makes additional funds available to: (1) the Small Business Administration for the disaster loans program account; (2) the Department of Education for impact aid and student financial assistance; (3) the Department of Transportation for the Federal Highway Administration; (4) the Department of Veterans Affairs for medical care; (5) the Department of Housing and Urban Development for housing programs and community development; (6) the Federal Emergency Management Agency for disaster relief; and (7) the President for unanticipated needs.
United States · United States Congress · 22 November 1993
Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to provide that community college employees in classified positions are not required to receive overtime compensation for additional service, on their own volition, in certified or academic positions.
United States · United States Congress · 22 November 1993
Tobacco Education and Child Protection Act - Declares it to be unlawful to manufacture, package, distribute for sale, or advertise tobacco products without specified health warning labels. Repeals the Federal Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act and the Comprehensive Smokeless Tobacco Health Education Act of 1986 one year after the effective date of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 22 November 1993
Amends the Export Administration Act of 1979 to grant the Secretary of Commerce exclusive authority to control exports of all computer hardware, software, and technology for information security (including encryption), except any specifically designed or modified for military use. Exempts specified items from license requirements. Instructs the Secretary to authorize the export or reexport under specified circumstances of software with encryption capabilities for nonmilitary end-uses.
United States · United States Congress · 22 November 1993
Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) the President shall not enter into any trade agreement requiring changes in U.S. antidumping laws which would reduce their effectiveness as a remedy against injurious dumped imports; (2) the U.S. Government shall not condone distorting subsidies by foreign governments, including development subsidies, that cause material injury to U.S. industries; and (3) the United States not enter into any trade agreement on dispute settlement contained in the Draft Final Act embodying the Results of the Uruguay Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations (Negotiations) of December 21, 1991, unless, with respect to the review of countervailing duty and antidumping duty actions taken by General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) members, the settlement mechanisms and procedures shall not allow specified review actions. Expresses the sense of the Congress that the principal U.S. negotiating objective regarding situations of global structural excess capacity is to negotiate multilateral rules to permit rapid realignment of capacity to demand. Urges the President to review antidumping duty provisions contained in the Negotiations and to seek changes in such provisions that are necessary to maintain the effectiveness of U.S. antidumping laws, including, but not limited to, changes proposed by the United States in December 1992, any changes needed to clarify the right to cumulate and cross-cumulate imports under investigation, and the prohibition of procedures to sunset dumping and countervailing duty orders.
United States · United States Congress · 22 November 1993
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the national policy of the United States should be to: (1) increase energy efficiency, as specified; (2) increase renewable energy technologies to 20 percent of the overall national energy mix by 2010; and (3) achieve these goals by adopting a specified national strategy.
United States · United States Congress · 21 November 1993
Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to: (1) establish the California Urban Environmental Research and Training Center; and (2) enter into a cooperative agreement with California State University, Hayward, to establish the Center if the university agrees and meets a specified matching fund requirement. Authorizes universities in California to become members of the Center. Requires the Center to: (1) develop an ongoing program of environmental research, education, and outreach to ensure that future government policies to encourage economic development in California are grounded on sustainable environmental and economic policies; (2) foster public-private partnerships to find solutions to the environmental problems of California; (3) bring together researchers to focus on the most important environmental problems related to sustainable economic development; (4) support specified activities, including collaborative university research, analysis of public policy implications of economic development programs, the conduct of seminars and conferences, the development of educational programs, the preparation of minority students for environmental professions, and the development of a repository of information on key environmental and economic development issues; (5) assist small businesses in meeting environmental regulations by providing short courses and conferences; (6) work on alternative uses for military installations to assist in planning the environmental aspects of conversion and clean-up; and (7) develop a plan to extend its activities throughout the State within two years. Authorizes the Center to provide: (1) undergraduate scholarships for individuals studying in environmental fields at universities that are members of the Center; and (2) graduate assistantships and fellowships to encourage study in fields related to sustainable economic development and research grants to faculty. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 20 November 1993
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Health Care Security Subtitle A: Universal Coverage and Individual Responsibility Subtitle B: Benefits Subtitle C: State Responsibilities Subtitle D: Health Alliances Subtitle E: Health Plans Subtitle F: Federal Responsibilities Subtitle G: Employer Responsibilities Subtitle J (sic): General Definitions; Miscellaneous Provisions Title II: New Benefits Subtitle A: Medicare Outpatient Prescription Drug Benefit Subtitle B: Long-Term Care Title III: Public Health Initiatives Subtitle A: Workforce Priorities Under Federal Payments Subtitle B: Academic Health Centers Subtitle C: Health Research Initiatives Subtitle D: Core Functions of Public Health Programs; National Initiatives Regarding Preventive Health Subtitle E: Health Services for Medically Underserved Populations Subtitle F: Mental Health; Substance Abuse Subtitle G: Comprehensive School Health Education; School-Related Health Services Subtitle H: Public Health Service Initiative Subtitle I: Coordination With COBRA Continuation Coverage Title IV: Medicare and Medicaid Subtitle A: Medicare and the Alliance System Subtitle B: Savings in Medicare Program Subtitle C: Medicaid Subtitle D: Increase in SSI Personal Needs Allowance Title V: Quality and Consumer Protection Subtitle A: Quality Management and Improvement Subtitle B: Information Systems, Privacy, and Administrative Simplification Subtitle C: Remedies and Enforcement Subtitle D: Medical Malpractice Subtitle E: Fraud and Abuse Subtitle F: McCarran-Ferguson Reform Title VI: Premium Caps; Premium-Based Financing; and Plan Payments Subtitle A: Premium Caps Subtitle B: Premium-Related Financing Subtitle C: Payments to Regional Alliance Health Plans Title VII: Revenue Provisions Subtitle A: Financing Provisions Subtitle B: Tax Treatment of Employer-Provided Health Care Subtitle C: Employment Status Provisions Subtitle D: Tax Treatment of Funding of Retiree Health Benefits Subtitle E: Coordination with COBRA Continuing Care Provisions Subtitle F: Tax Treatment of Organizations Providing Health Care Services and Related Organizations Subtitle G: Tax Treatment of Long-term Care Insurance and Services Subtitle H: Tax Incentives for Health Services Providers Subtitle I: Miscellaneous Provisions Title VIII: Health and Health-Related Programs of the Federal Government Subtitle A: Military Health Care Reform Subtitle B: Department of Veterans Affairs Subtitle C: Federal Employees Health Benefits Program Subtitle D: Indian Health Service Subtitle E: Amendments to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 Subtitle F: Special Fund for WIC Program Title IX: Aggregate Government Payments to Regional Alliances Subtitle A: Aggregate State Payments Subtitle B: Aggregate Federal Alliance Payments Subtitle C: Borrowing Authority to Cover Cash-Flow Shortfalls Title X: Coordination of Medical Portion of Workers Compensation and Automobile Insurance Subtitle A: Workers Compensation Insurance Subtitle B: Automobile Insurance Subtitle C: Commission on Integration of Health Benefits Subtitle D: Federal Employees' Compensation Act Subtitle E: Davis-Bacon Act and Service Contract Act Subtitle F: Effective Dates Title XI: Transitional Insurance Reform Health Security Act - Title I: Health Care Security - Subtitle A: Universal Courage and Individual Responsibility - Entitles each eligible individual to: (1) the benefit provided under subtitle B through the applicable health plan in which the individual is enrolled; and (2) a health security card to be issued by the alliance or other entity that offers the applicable health plan in which the individual is enrolled. Defines an eligible individual as an individual who resides in the United States and is: (1) a citizen or national of the United States; (2) an alien permanently residing in the U.S. under color of law; or (3) a long-term nonimmigrant. Entitles a Medicare-eligible individual to benefits under Medicare instead of the above provisions of this Act. (Sec. 1002) Requires each eligible individual to enroll in an applicable health plan and pay any required premium. Prohibits disenrollment of an eligible individual until the individual is either enrolled in another plan or in Medicare. (Sec. 1003) States that nothing in this Act shall be construed as prohibiting: (1) an individual from purchasing any health services; (2) an individual from purchasing supplemental insurance; (3) an individual who is not an eligible individual from purchasing health insurance; or (4) employers from providing additional coverage. (Sec. 1004) States that a regional alliance health plan is the applicable plan for a family, unless a family member is eligible for a corporate alliance health plan. Allows military personnel, veterans, and Indians to enroll either with an alliance or with a military, veteran, or Indian plan respectively. (Sec. 1005) Prohibits an undocumented alien from enrolling in a health plan under this Act. (Sec. 1011) Defines a family as an eligible individual's eligible spouse and children. Defines couple as meaning an individual and the individual's spouse. Defines a child as being under age 18, or under age 24 in the case of a full-time student. Subtitle B: Benefits - Includes the following terms and services in the comprehensive benefit package: (1) hospital services; (2) services of health professionals; (3) emergency and ambulatory medical and surgical services; (4) clinical preventive services; (5) mental illness and substance abuse services; (6) family planning services and services for pregnant women; (7) hospice care; (8) home health care; (9) extended care services; (10) ambulance services; (11) outpatient laboratory, radiology, and diagnostic services; (12) outpatient prescription drugs and biologicals; (13) outpatient rehabilitation services; (14) durable medical equipment and prosthetic and orthotic devices; (15) vision care; (16) dental care; (17) health education classes; and (18) investigational treatments. Describes such items and services. (Sec. 1131) Requires each health plan to offer to its enrollees only one of the following cost sharing schedules: (1) lower cost sharing; (2) higher cost sharing; or (3) combination cost sharing. Provides that the annual maximum out-of-pocket expenses for an individual in any of the plans shall be $1500 and for a family the annual maximum shall be $3000. (Sec. 1135) Sets forth a table of copayments and coinsurance. (Sec. 1141) Excludes the following items and services: (1) an item or service that is not medically necessary or appropriate; (2) an item or service that the National Health Board may determine is not medically necessary or appropriate; (3) custodial care, except hospice care; (4) surgery performed solely for cosmetic purposes, unless required to correct a congenital anomaly or performed to correct a part of the body injured by either disease or accident; (5) hearing aids; (6) eyeglasses and contact lenses for individuals at least 18 years of age; (7) in vitro fertilization; (8) sex change surgery and related services; (9) private duty nursing; (10) personal comfort items, except in the case of hospice care; and (11) any dental procedures involving orthodontic care, inlays, gold or platinum fillings, bridges, crowns, pin/post retention, dental implants, surgical periodontal procedures, or the preparation of the mouth for the fitting or continued use of dentures, except as specified. (Sec. 1151) Gives the National Health Board the authority to promulgate such regulations or establish such guidelines as necessary to assure uniformity in the application of the comprehensive benefit package across all health plans. Permits the Board to expand the benefit package. (Sec. 1162) Permits a health professional or facility to refuse to provide a benefit if the professional or facility objects on the basis of a religious belief or moral conviction. Subtitle C: State Responsibilities - Requires a State, in order to be approved as a participating State, to submit a document describing the State's health care system. (Sec. 1201) Requires a participating State to: (1) establish one or more regional alliances; (2) establish and publish the criteria used in the certification of its health plan; (3) meet minimum financial solvency requirements for health plans established by the National Health Board; (4) designate an agency or official to coordinate State responsibilities under this Act; (5) conform State laws to meet the requirements of title X of this Act with respect to workers' compensation and automobile insurance; and (6) carry out all the responsibilities of a participating State specified in this Act. (Sec. 1221) Permits a State, with the Board's approval, to operate a single-payer system if specified requirements are met. Subtitle D: Health Alliances - Provides for regional alliances and corporate alliances. (Sec. 1302) Requires a regional alliance to be governed by a Board of Directors consisting of: (1) employers, including self-employed individuals; and (2) members who represent individuals purchasing coverage. Requires each regional alliance to establish a provider advisory board consisting of health care providers and professionals. (Sec. 1311) Includes in a corporate alliance an eligible sponsor who is either a large employer (more than 5,000 full-time employees) or a multiemployer plan (a plan with more than 5000 active participants). Excludes: (1) an employer whose primary business is employee leasing; (2) the Federal Government (other than the U.S. Postal Service); and (3) a State or local government. Excludes from corporate alliance eligibility the following classes of individuals: (1) AFDC recipients; (2) SSI recipients; (3) military personnel and families, veterans, and Indians who elect to enroll in specified plans specifically designed for them; and (4) seasonal or temporary employees. (Sec. 1321) Directs each regional alliance to enter into a contract with any State-certified health plan to contract with the alliance for the enrollment under the plan of eligible individuals. (Sec. 1322) Requires each regional alliance to offer a choice of health plans, including at least one fee-for-service plan. (Sec. 1326) Requires each regional alliance to establish and maintain an office of an ombudsman to assist consumers in dealing with problems that arise with health plans and the alliance. (Sec. 1329) Permits a regional alliance to adjust payments to plans or use other financial incentives to encourage health plans to expand into areas that have inadequate health services. (Sec. 1341) Set forth provisions concerning the collection of funds by regional alliances from individuals, employers, and others. (Sec. 1351) Requires each regional alliance to compute a blended plan per capita payment amount for each regional alliance health plan for enrollment in the alliance. (Sec. 1353) Requires each regional alliance to make payments to the Federal Government for academic health centers and graduate medical education. (Sec. 1361) Requires each regional alliance to comply with specified standards relating to the management of finances, maintenance of records, accounting practices, auditing procedures, financial reporting, and employer payments. (Sec. 1371) Provides for a reduction in cost sharing for low-income families. (Sec. 1373) Provides for premium discounts and reduction in liabilities for low-income families. (Sec. 1381) Permits each corporate alliance to: (1) offer coverage under either an appropriate self-insured health plan; or (2) negotiate with a State-certified plan to enter into a contract with the plan. (Sec. 1382) Requires each corporate alliance to provide a choice of health plans, including at least one fee-for-service plan and two health plans that are not fee-for-service plans. (Sec. 1385) Requires each corporate alliance to make an additional contribution towards the enrollment in health plans of the alliance by certain low-wage families. (Sec. 1386) Sets forth provisions relating to corporate alliances concerning: (1) consumer information and marketing; (2) plan and information requirements; (3) management of funds; (4) cost control; (5) payments by corporate alliance employers to corporate alliances; (6) ERISA; (7) disclosure and reserve requirements; (8) trusteeship of insolvent corporate alliance health plans; (9) imposition and collection of periodic assessments on self-insured corporate alliance plans; and (10) payments to the Federal Government by multiemployer corporate alliances for academic health centers and gradual medical education. Subtitle E: Health Plans - Requires a health plan to: (1) be either a self-insured plan (meaning a group health plan as defined by a the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974) or a State-certified plan (meaning a plan certified by a State or the National Health Board); and (2) meet the applicable regulatory requirements. (Sec. 1402) Requires each health plan offered by either a regional or corporate alliance to accept for enrollment every alliance eligible individual, unless the plan has reached its enrollment limit. Prohibits the limit from being imposed on the basis of any personal characteristics of enrollees such as health status, need for health care, age, occupation, or affiliation with any person or entity. Prohibits a plan from: (1) restricting or terminating coverage for any reason, including nonpayment of premiums; (2) cancelling coverage for any eligible individual until that individual is enrolled in another plan; (3) excluding an eligible individual because of an existing medical condition; (4) imposing a waiting period before coverage begins; or (5) imposing a rider that excludes the coverage of particular eligible individuals. Prohibits discrimination by a health plan on the basis of race, national origin, sex, language, socio-economic status, age, disability, health status, or anticipated need for health services. (Sec. 1405) Requires each plan to have a grievance procedure. (Sec. 1421) Permits an entity to offer a supplemental insurance policy if the policy and the entity meet specified requirements. (Sec. 1431) Requires each health plan, with respect to each electing essential community provider located within the plan's service area, to either: (1) enter into a written provider participation agreement; or (2) enter into a written agreement under which the plan will make payment to the provider as specified. Provides a special rule for providers of school health services. Makes the provisions of the proceeding sentence applicable only to health plans offered by a health alliance during the five year period beginning with the first year in which any health plan is offered by the alliance. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to study essential community providers and to make recommendations concerning such providers to the Congress. Provides that such recommendations shall apply unless a joint resolution of disapproval is enacted by the Congress. (Sec. 1441) Requires each health plan to meet specified requirements of title X of this Act with respect to workers' compensation and automobile medical liability services. Subtitle F: Federal Responsibilities - Establishes the National Health Board in the Executive Branch. Directs the President to appoint the Board's seven members. (Sec. 1503) Directs the Board to: (1) interpret the comprehensive benefit package; (2) adjust the delivery of preventive services; (3) take steps to assure that the comprehensive benefit package is available on a uniform national basis; (4) recommend to the President and the Congress appropriate revisions to the package; (5) oversee cost containment requirements; (6) develop and implement eligibility standards; (7) establish a performance based system of quality management; (8) develop and implement standards for a national health information system; (9) establish State requirements and monitor State compliance; (10) establish premium class factors; (11) develop a methodology for the risk-adjustment of premium payments; (12) establish financial requirements for guaranty funds; (13) establish standards for health plan grievance procedures; and (14) report annually to the President and the Congress. (Sec. 1506) Authorizes appropriations for the Board. (Sec. 1511) Requires the Board to approve a State health care system if the system meets the applicable requirements of this Act. Prohibits approval of a State health care system prior to 1996. (Sec. 1512) Provides for sanctions for States failing to meet conditions for compliance. (Sec. 1515) Provides for planning grants to States for implementation assistance. (Sec. 1521) Provides for the Federal assumption of responsibilities in the absence of a State system. Provides for increased premiums of 15 percent during Federal operation of a State system to provide reimbursement for the Federal cost of operating the system. (Sec. 1541) Directs the Board to develop a risk adjustment and reinsurance methodology. Sets forth guidelines for developing such methodology. (Sec. 1543) Directs the Board to establish an advisory committee to provide technical advice and recommendations regarding the risk adjustment and reinsurance methodology. (Sec. 1551) Directs the Board to establish minimum capital requirements for regional alliance health plans under which at least $500,000 of capital must be maintained for each plan in the area. Permits the Board to require additional capital. (Sec. 1552) Requires the Board to establish standards for guaranty funds established by the States. (Sec. 1571) Sets forth the responsibilities of the Secretary of Health and Human Services. Directs the Secretary to administer and implement all provisions of this Act, except those duties delegated to the Board, any other executive agency, or to any State. (Sec. 1572) Directs the Secretary to appoint an Advisory Council on Breakthrough Drugs that will examine the reasonableness of launch prices of new breakthrough drugs. (Sec. 1581) Provides for the certification of essential community providers. Sets forth the following categories of providers automatically certified (under provisions of the Public Health Service Act): (1) migrant health centers; (2) community health centers; (3) homeless program providers; (4) public housing providers; (5) family planning clinics; and (6) AIDS providers under the Ryan White Act. Includes as automatically certified (under other Acts) following: (1) Indian health programs under the Indian Health Act; and (2) maternal and child health providers and a federally qualified health center or rural health clinic under the Social Security Act. Includes as automatically certified (under provisions of this Act) the following: (1) providers of school health services; and (2) a qualified community practice network. Provides for the setting of standards for additional health providers. (Sec. 1591) Sets forth the responsibilities of the Secretary of Labor. Includes among those responsibilities the following: (1) enforcement requirements applicable to employers; (2) elections to become corporate alliances; (3) temporary assumption of insolvent self-insured corporate alliance health plans; (4) establishment and administration of the Corporate Alliance Health Plan Insolvency Fund; and (5) administering title I of ERISA as it relates to group health plans maintained by corporate alliances. Subtitle G: Employer Responsibilities - Requires employers to provide for the payments required under title VI of this Act. Sets forth other employer responsibilities including: (1) information reporting requirements; (2) requirements relating to new employees; (3) recordkeeping requirements; and (4) antidiscrimination requirements. (Sec. 1606) Prohibits self-funding of cost sharing benefits by regional alliance employers. (Sec. 1607) Requires an employer to make equal employer premium payments to all qualifying employees, if a voluntary premium payment is made. Places a limit on such voluntary employer premium payments. (Sec. 1608) Sets forth an employer's obligation to a qualifying retired beneficiary where the employer, as of October 1, 1993, was providing a threshold payment. (Sec. 1609) Authorizes the Secretary of Labor to impose a civil penalty of up to $10,000 for each violation of this subtitle with respect to each individual. Subtitle J (sic): General Definitions; Miscellaneous Provisions - Sets forth the definitions and rules used in this Act. Subtitle B: Miscellaneous Provisions (sic) - (Sec. 1911) Grants the National Health Board, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, and the Secretary of Labor authority to issue regulations as necessary to permit the timely implementation of this Act. Title II: New Benefits - Subtitle A: Medicare Outpatient Prescription Drug Benefit - (Secs. 2001 through 2005) Amends title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for: (1) Medicare coverage of covered outpatient prescription drugs and biologicals as well as home infusion drug therapy services; (2) payment rules and related requirements, such as those pertaining to deductibles, for covered outpatient prescription drugs; (3) manufacturer rebates to the Secretary under Medicare part B for covered outpatient prescription drugs; and (4) determination of the Medicare part B premium attributable to covered outpatient prescription drugs. Subtitle B: Long-Term Care - Establishes requirements for State plans for home and community-based services to individuals with disabilities. Includes among those requirements the following: (1) a prohibition of limiting eligibility of individuals with disabilities based on income, age, geography, severity of disability, residential setting, or other grounds specified by the Secretary; (2) a requirement to serve low-income individuals; (3) a requirement to specify how Federal and State funds will be managed; (4) quality assurance requirements; and (5) reporting requirements. Requires a State to consult with individuals and groups of individuals with disabilities when developing the plan in order to have the plan approved. (Sec. 2103) Defines "individuals with disabilities" to mean any individual within one or more of the following four categories: (1) individuals requiring help with the activities of daily living; (2) individuals with severe cognitive or mental impairment; (3) individuals with severe or profound mental retardation; and (4) severely disabled children. (Sec. 2104) Requires a State plan to specify the services available. Requires each individualized plan to be developed in close consultation with the individual and the individual's family. Prohibits a State plan from covering: (1) room and board; (2) services furnished in a hospital, nursing facility, intermediate care facility for the mentally retarded, or other specified institutional setting; or (3) items or services to the extent coverage is provided for an individual under a health plan or Medicare. (Sec. 2105) Sets forth provisions relating to: (1) cost sharing; (2) quality assurance and safeguards; (3) advisory groups; (4) payments to States; and (5) the total Federal budget for State plans and allotments to States. (Sec. 2301) directs the Secretary, with the advice and assistance of the National Long-Term Care Insurance Advisory Council to promulgate regulations as necessary to implement provisions concerning private long-term care insurance. Directs the Secretary to make appointments to such Council. Authorizes appropriations for such Council. (Sec. 2321) Directs the Secretary, after considering the Council's recommendations to promulgate regulations designed to: (1) standardize formats and terminology used in long-term care policies; (2) require insurers to provide information to customers on the range of public and private long-term care coverage available; and (3) establish other requirements promoting consumer understanding of benefits. (Sec. 2322) Directs the Secretary to promulgate regulations establishing requirements with respect to the terms of and benefits under long-term care policies, which shall include the following requirements that the policy may not: (1) limit coverage based on a preexisting condition, subject to an exception for a six month period; (2) condition eligibility for benefits based on the need or receipt of any other service; (3) condition eligibility for any benefit on any particular diagnosis; (4) condition eligibility for benefits by providers on compliance with requirements not required by State or Federal law; and (5) condition coverage of any service by a provider on the provision of such service at a higher level of care than required by the insured individual. Prohibits discrimination by diagnosis in the treatment of: (1) Alzheimer's disease; (2) any organic or inorganic mental illness; (3) mental retardation or any other cognitive or mental impairment; or (4) HIV infection or AIDS. Sets forth other requirements for such policies, including requirements related to: (1) premiums; (2) sales practices; (3) continuation, renewal, replacement, conversion, and cancellation of policies; and (4) payment of benefits. (Sec. 2342) Provides for grants to States to enforce the Federal standards concerning long-term care policies. Sets forth requirements for receiving such grants. Authorizes appropriations. Prohibits the sale of a long-term care policy in a State without a regulatory program. (Sec. 2361) Authorizes the Secretary to make grants for the development and implementation of long-term care information, counseling, and other programs to: (1) States; (2) regional alliances (at the option of States within which such alliances are located; and (3) national organizations representing insurance consumers, long-term care providers, and insurers. Authorizes appropriations for such grants. (Sec. 2601) Authorizes the Secretary to conduct a demonstration program to test the effectiveness of various approaches to financing and providing integrated acute and long-term care services for the chronically ill and disabled. Sets forth the services and benefits to be provided, including: (1) all benefits of the comprehensive benefit package provided under title I of this Act; (2) transitional benefits, including assessment and home care; (3) long-term care benefits, including adult day care, home-delivered meals, and nursing facility services in specialized care units; and (4) habilitation services. Permits any of the following to be eligible for such services under criteria to be established by the Secretary: (1) individuals with disabilities under a State program; (2) individuals entitled to benefits under the Medicare program; and (3) individuals entitled to Medicaid and who are also either entitled to Medicare or Supplemental Security Income benefits. Requires reports to the Congress on the demonstration program. Title III: Public Health Initiatives - Subtitle A: Workforce Priorities Under Federal Payments - Establishes within the Department of Health and Human Services the National Council on Graduate Medical Education. Directs the National Council to designate for each academic year the number of individuals nationwide who are authorized to be enrolled in each specified approval physician training program for each medical specialty. Sets forth provisions specifying: (1) Federal formula payments to approved physician training programs; (2) application for payments; and (3) amount of payments. (Sec. 3061) Directs the Secretary to carry out a program with respect to graduate nurse training programs that is equivalent to the program for approved physician training programs. Establishes a National Council on Graduate Nurse Education. (Sec. 3071) Authorizes appropriations for the following programs: (1) primary care physician and physician assistant training; (2) training of underrepresented minorities and disadvantaged persons; and (3) nurse training. (Sec. 3072) Authorizes appropriations for the following programs: (1) a program of skill upgrading and occupational retraining for health care workers; (2) a demonstration program to assist workers in health care institutions in obtaining advanced career positions; (3) a program to develop and operate health-worker job banks in local employment services agencies, subject to certain conditions; (4) a program to provide joint labor-management decision-making in the health care sector on workplace matters related to the restructuring of the health care delivery system of this Act; and (5) a program to facilitate the comprehensive workforce adjustment initiative. (Sec. 3073) Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Secretary of Labor to jointly establish the National Institute for Health Care Workforce Development. States that the Director of the Institute shall make recommendations to the Secretaries regarding: (1) the supply of health care workers; (2) the impact of this Act; and (3) the development and implementation of high-performance, high-quality health care delivery systems. Directs the Secretaries to establish an advisory board to assist in the development of such recommendations. Subtitle B: Academic Health Centers - Directs the Secretary to make payments to a qualified academic health center or qualified teaching hospital in order to assist such eligible institutions with costs that are not routinely incurred by other entities in providing health services, but are incurred by such institutions by virtue of the academic nature of such institutions. States that such costs include: (1) costs resulting from reduced staff productivity due to teaching responsibilities; (2) the uncompensated costs of clinical research; and (3) exceptional costs associated with an institutions specialized expertise. Provides that the funding for such payments will come from transfers from the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund, payments made by regional alliances to the Federal government for academic health centers and graduate medical education, and payments from corporate alliances. (Sec. 3131) Provides for the access of regional and corporate alliance patients to academic health centers. Subtitle C: Health Research Initiatives - Amends the Public Health Service Act to ensure that the National Institutes of Health conducts and supports biomedical and behavioral research on promoting health and preventing diseases, disorders, and other health conditions. Provides for health services research. Authorizes appropriations for such research. Subtitle D: Core Functions of Public Health Programs; National Initiatives Regarding Preventive Health - Authorizes appropriations for the core functions of public health programs and national initiatives regarding health promotion and disease prevention. (Sec. 3312) Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to States to carry out one or more of the following core functions: (1) data collection; (2) activities to protect the environment and to assure the safety of housing, workplaces, and food and water; (3) investigation and control of adverse health conditions; (4) public information and education programs to reduce risks to health such as use of tobacco, alcohol, and drugs, sexual activities that increase the risk of HIV transmission and other sexually transmitted diseases, poor diet, physical inactivity, and low childhood immunization levels; (5) accountability and quality assurance activities; (6) provision of public health laboratory services to complement private clinical laboratory services that screen for diseases and conditions; (7) training and education to assure provision of care by all health professionals; and (8) leadership policy development and administrative activities. (Sec. 3331) Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to agencies of State or local government, private nonprofit organizations, and coalitions that link two or more of these groups for the purpose of carrying out projects to develop and implement innovative community-based strategies to provide for health promotion and disease prevention activities for which there is a significant need. Subtitle E: Health Services for Medically Underserved Populations - Directs the Secretary to make grants to migrant health centers and community health centers, which shall be in addition to other funds available to such centers. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 3412) Authorizes appropriations for: (1) grants and contracts for the development of qualified community health plans and practice networks; and (2) loans and guaranteeing the principal and interest to Federal and non-Federal lenders on behalf of public and private entities for the capital costs of developing qualified community health plans and practice networks. (Sec. 3461) Authorizes the Secretary to make grants and enter into contracts with qualified community health groups to provide enabling services such as transportation, community and patient outreach, patient education, and translation services in order to increase the capacity of individuals to utilize the items and services under title I of this Act. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 3471) Authorizes appropriations for: (1) the National Health Service Corps; and (2) such amounts as are necessary to ensure that at least 20 percent of participants in the Scholarship Program or the Loan Repayment Program of the Corps are nurses. (Sec. 3481) Entitles a hospital with a low-income utilization rate in a base year of at least 25 percent to a payment as specified. Requires 75 percent of the total available to be allocated to hospitals for low-income assistance. Requires 25 percent of the total available to be allocated to hospitals for assistance in furnishing inpatient hospital services that are not covered services under title I of this Act. Subtitle F: Mental Health; Substance Abuse - Authorizes appropriations to carry out this part. Provides for grants to: (1) increase access to mental health and substance abuse services; (2) improve State and local capacity to coordinate and monitor such services; (3) provide incentives to integrate public and private service systems; and (4) supplement any activity under part B (Alcohol and Drug Abuse and Mental Services Block Grant) of title XIX of the Public Health Service Act. (Sec. 3503) Authorizes the Secretary to make loans for the capital costs incurred in the development of non-acute, residential treatment centers and community-based ambulatory clinics. (Sec. 3521) Requires the establishment of a pilot program demonstrating the integration of the mental illness and substance abuse services of the States with the services included under title I of this Act. Subtitle G: Comprehensive School Health Education; School-Related Health Services - Authorizes appropriations for the programs of this subtitle. States that the purposes of the programs shall be to: (1) support, in kindergarten through grade 12, the provision of comprehensive health educator programs; (2) establish a national framework within which States can create comprehensive school health education programs that target the health risk behaviors of youth, including tobacco use, alcohol and drug abuse, sexual behaviors resulting in infections, injury prevention, dietary patterns, and sedentary lifestyles; (3) pay the initial costs of planning and establishing such programs; (4) support related Federal demonstrations and training; (5) motivate youth to stay in school, avoid teen pregnancy, and strive for success; (6) improve the knowledge of health education among youth; and (7) further the National Education Goals set forth in title I of the Goals 2000: Educate America Act. Defines "comprehensive school health education program." Requires such programs to be sensitive to cultural and ethnic issues, promote involvement by families, and promote personal responsibility. Sets forth requirements for applying for grants and selection of grantees. Subtitle H: Public Health Service Initiative - Establishes a Public Health Service Initiative consisting of specified amounts authorized to be appropriated for the Initiative. States that: (1) the Initiative includes the programs of subtitles C through G of this title and the programs of subtitle D of title VIII; and (2) amounts appropriated to carry out the Initiative, including subtitles A through F of this title, are available to carry out specific programs for which the amounts are appropriated. Subtitle I: Coordination with COBRA Continuation Coverage - Amends title XXII (Requirements for Certain Group Health Plans for Certain State and Local Employees) of the Public Health Service Act to provide for coordination with COBRA continuation coverage. Repeals such title XXII upon implementation of this Act. Title IV: Medicare and Medicaid - Subtitle A: Medicare and the Alliance System - Amends title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for optional State integration of Medicare beneficiaries into regional alliance plans. (Sec. 4002) Allows individuals to elect to remain in certain plans. (Sec. 4003) Provides for payments to regional alliances on behalf of certain Medicare-eligible individuals. (Sec. 4004) Extends protections for working aged and disabled individuals to group health plans of all employers. Repeals the limitation on the period of protection for individuals with end stage renal disease. Prohibits Medicare payment for items and services provided under any health plan under this Act. Simplifies Medicare benefit coordination in cases where the individual is also eligible for benefits under this Act's health plans. (Sec. 4011) Makes various changes concerning eligible organization and Medicare supplemental policy enrollment and comparative informational materials, eligible organization outlier payments, and participating provider point-of-service networks. (Sec. 4022) Provides for expanded Medicare coverage for physician assistant, nurse practitioner, and clinical nurse specialist services. (Sec. 4031) Amends title XI of the Social Security Act to: (1) provide for termination of the separate Medicare peer review program upon adoption of the National Quality Management Program above under subtitle A of title V of this Act; and (2) repeal provisions on surgical procedure review and second opinions. (Sec. 4032) Amends title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for mandatory assignment for all Medicare part B services. (Sec. 4033) Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to take such steps as may be necessary to consolidate administration of Medicare parts A and B and supersedes certain conflicting requirements to the extent required to achieve such purpose. (Sec. 4035) Prohibits the Secretary from implementing any change in procedures for billing and processing Medicare claims within six months of implementing any previous change. Adds advanced notification to providers as a requirement for carriers and fiscal intermediaries under Medicare. (Sec. 4041) Amends title XI of the Social Security Act to: (1) provide for civil monetary penalties for kickback violations under Medicare and State health care programs (the programs); (2) make other penalty-related changes, including increases in criminal and civil monetary penalties, a new criminal penalty exception for certain providers, additional civil monetary penalty offenses related to alliance systems, and requirements for the deposit of penalties collected into the All-Payer Account established above under title V of this Act; (3) revise exclusion provisions, with changes establishing a minimum period of exclusion for certain individuals and entities subject to permissive exclusion from the programs, and providing for program exclusions based on actions under alliance systems; and (4) modify sanction provisions, with changes removing certain conditions for imposing sanctions and setting specified civil money penalties for use in lieu of authorized sanctions. (Sec. 4042) Amends title XVIII of the Social Security Act to revise the limitations on physician self-referrals. (Sec. 4051) Provides for the termination of payments under Medicare for medical education costs and directs the Secretary to make specified transfers from certain Medicare trust funds to the new accounts established above for funding physician training programs and academic health centers. (Sec. 4061) Amends title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for the treatment of: (1) uniformed services and VA health plans as eligible organizations under Medicare; and (2) health care facilities of the Department of Veterans Affairs as providers under Medicare. Subtitle B: Savings in Medicare Program - Amends title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for: (1) reductions in the update for inpatient hospital services and the adjustment for indirect medical education costs, in payments for capital-related costs for inpatient hospital services; (2) revisions to payment adjustments for disproportionate share hospitals in States participating under this Act; and (3) an extension of the freeze on updates to routine service costs of skilled nursing facilities. (Sec. 4111) Amends title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for: (1) establishment of cumulative expenditure goals for physician services; (2) use of real gross domestic product for volume adjustments; (3) repeal of restrictions on the maximum reduction permitted in default update; (4) reduction in the conversion factor for the physician fee schedule for 1995; (5) place limitations on payment for physicians' services furnished by high-cost hospital medical staffs; (6) requirements for physicians to identify the hospital at which the service was furnished; (7) an increase in practice expense relative value units for certain services while assuring budget neutrality; (8) a study and report to the Congress by the Secretary on a resource-based system for determining practice expense relative value units for each physician's service; (9) an increase in work relative value units for office visits while assuring budget neutrality; (10) a reduction in relative values for office consultations; (11) adjustment of outlier intensity of relative values; (12) changes in underserved area bonus payments; (13) elimination of formula-driven payments for certain outpatient hospital services; (14) copayments for laboratory services; and (15) competitive acquisition procedures for Medicare part B items and services (including clinical diagnostic laboratory tests). (Sec. 4131) Makes changes with respect to: (1) Medicare as secondary payer; (2) payments for health maintenance organizations and competitive medical plans with risk-sharing contracts; and (3) routine cost limits and copayments for, respectively, home health services and visits. (Sec 4135) Directs the Secretary to use a competitive process to contract with centers of excellence for cataract surgery, coronary artery by-pass surgery, and such other services as the Secretary determines to be appropriate. (Sec. 4141) Amends title XVIII of the Social Security Act to revise Medicare part B premium provisions. (Sec. 4151) Requires the Secretary to submit a report to the Congress on the growth in spending under Medicare for FY 2000 through 2003. Subtitle C: Medicaid - Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to provide that if a State Medicaid plan provides for payment to regional alliances of the amounts required above it is not required to provide payment for items and services covered under the comprehensive benefit package for alliance eligible individuals and will receive no Federal financial assistance with respect to such items and services. (Sec. 4211) Provides for: (1) spenddown eligibility and increased income and resource disregard for nursing facility residents; and (2) informing such residents about the availability of assistance for home and community-based services. (Sec. 4221) Provides for: (1) treatment of items and services not covered under the comprehensive benefit package; and (2) establishment of a program under Medicare of noncovered items and services for poor children. (Sec. 4231) Discontinues certain payment policies under Medicaid. (Sec. 4241) Limits the frequency of changes in a State's billing and claims processing system, and provides for advance notification to providers of any major billing change. (Sec. 4251) Establishes the Medicaid Commission to study, report, and make recommendations with respect to options involving block grant use, integration of long-term care services, and consolidation of institutional and home- and community-based long-term care in relation to the Medicaid program. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle D: Increase in SSI Personal Needs Allowance - Amends title XVI (Supplemental Security Income) (SSI) to provide for an increase in the SSI personal needs allowance. Title V: Quality and Consumer Protection - Subtitle A: Quality Management and Improvement - Requires the National Health Board to establish and oversee a performance-based program of quality management and improvement designed to enhance the quality, appropriateness, and effectiveness of heath care services and access to such services which will be called the National Quality Management Program. (Sec. 5002) Establishes the National Quality Management Council which shall: (1) administer the National Quality Management Program; (2) perform any other duty specified in this subtitle; and (3) advise the National Health Board with respect to its duties under this subtitle. Requires the Council to develop a set of national measures of quality performance to be used in the assessment of and the provision of access to health care services. Requires the Council, in addition, to: (1) recommend to the Board establishing goals for performance by health plans and health care providers on a subset of national measures of quality performance; (2) direct the Administrator for Health Care Policy and Research to develop, review, and disseminate practice guidelines to determine how diseases can most effectively be prevented, diagnosed, treated, and managed; and (3) direct the Administrator for Health Care Policy and Research to support research related to a five year priority list of performance measures. (Sec. 5008) Directs the National Health Board to: (1) establish and oversee regional professional foundations to perform such duties as develop lifetime learning programs for health professionals and conduct research on health care quality; and (2) establish the National Quality Consortium to perform such duties as establishing continuing education for health professionals and provide advice on research priorities. (Sec. 5012) Requires each regional alliance and each corporate alliance to: (1) disseminate specified information to consumers; and (2) ensure that performance and quality standards are continually improved. Subtitle B: Information Systems, Privacy, and Administrative Simplification - Directs the National Health Board to develop and implement a health information system, in consultation with Federal agencies, States, employers, health plans, and others, by which the Board shall collect, report, and regulate the collection and dissemination of health care information which shall be used for: (1) health care planning by Federal, State, and local government; (2) establishing and monitoring payments for health services; (3) assessing and improving the quality of health care; (4) managing and containing costs at the alliance and plan levels; and (5) other specified purposes. Requires the establishment of an electronic data network to collect, compile, and transmit information. (Sec. 5120) Sets forth provisions providing for health information privacy standards. (Sec. 5130) Directs the National Health Board to develop the following standard health care benefit forms: (1) an enrollment and disenrollment form; (2) a clinical encounter record; and (3) a claim form. (Sec. 5140) Establishes the National Privacy and Health Data Advisory Council in order to advise the National Health Board with respect to its duties under this subtitle. (Sec. 5141) Sets forth monetary penalties for violating health information system standards. Subtitle C: Remedies and Enforcement - Sets forth provisions with respect to the review of benefit determinations for enrolled individuals, including provisions: (1) regulating the time limits for notice of disposition of a claim; (2) governing a plan's duty to review claim denials; (3) concerning urgent requests for preauthorization; and (4) concerning other time limits with respect to time limits and notice. (Sec. 5202) Requires each State to establish a complaint review office for each regional alliance established by a State. Permits aggrieved individuals to file complaints with the appropriate review office. (Sec. 5205) Provides for a Federal Health Plan Review Board to review the decisions of complaint review office hearing officers. (Sec. 5207) Sets monetary penalties for a plan which unreasonably denies or delays payment or provision of benefits. (Sec. 5211) Directs each State to establish and maintain an Early Resolution Program in each complaint review office. Requires a program to include: (1) forums for mediation disputes; and (2) other forums of alternative dispute resolution as may be prescribed. Establishes guidelines for the eligibility of cases for submission to the Early Resolution Program. States that conclusions of the mediation proceedings shall be treated as nonbinding and shall not affect any rights to review. (Sec. 5231) Sets forth additional remedies and enforcement provisions. Subtitle D: Medical Malpractice - Prohibits any medical malpractice liability action until the final resolution of the claim under alternative dispute resolution. Requires each regional alliance health plan and corporate alliance health plan to adopt at least one specified method of alternative dispute resolution. Prohibits an individual from bringing a medical malpractice liability action unless the individual submits an affidavit that includes a report by a qualified specialist that states that there is a meritorious cause for filing the action. (Sec. 5311) Directs the Secretary to establish: (1) a project to demonstrate whether substituting liability for medical malpractice on the part of the health plan in which a physician participates for the personal liability of the physician will result in improvements in the quality of care, reductions in defense medical practices, and better risk management; (2) a pilot program under which the Secretary provides funds to one or more eligible States to determine the effect of applying practice guidelines in the resolution of medical malpractice liability actions. Subtitle E: Fraud and Abuse - Directs the Secretary and the Attorney General to establish a program: (1) to coordinate the functions of the Attorney General, the Secretary, and other organizations with respect to the prevention, detection, and control of health care fraud and abuse; (2) to conduct investigations, audits, evaluations, and inspections relating to the delivery of and payment for health care; and (3) to facilitate the enforcement of this and other statutes applicable to health care fraud. (Sec. 5402) Creates, in the Treasury, the All-Payer Health Care Fraud and Abuse Control Account which shall consist of: (1) gifts and bequests; (2) administrative penalties and assessments and portions of civil monetary penalties imposed under provisions of the Social Security Act; (3) all criminal fines imposed in cases involving a Federal health care offense; (4) penalties imposed under the False Claims Act involving claims related to the provision of health care items and services; and (5) amounts resulting from the forfeiture of property by reason of Federal health care offense. States that amounts in the fund may be used to cover costs incurred in operating the Program. (Sec. 5411) Excludes from participation in any health plan any individual or entity excluded from participation in a public program under provisions of the Social Security Act. (Sec. 5413) Sets forth physician self-referral limitations. (Sec. 5431) Amends the Federal criminal code to set penalties for knowingly executing a scheme or artifice to: (1) defraud any health alliance, health plan, or other person (alliance) in connection with the delivery of, or payment for, health care benefits, items, or services (benefits); and (2) obtain, by false or fraudulent means, money or property owned by, or under the custody of control of, any such alliance in connection with the delivery of, or payment for, health care benefits. (Sec. 5432) Amends: (1) the Federal criminal code to require the court, in imposing sentence on a person convicted of a Federal health care offense that poses a serious threat to the health of any person or has a significant detrimental impact on the health care system, to order such person to forfeit property used in the commission of the offense or that constitutes, or is derived from, proceeds traceable to the commission of the offense which is of a value proportionate to the seriousness of the offense; and (2) the Federal judicial code to require that all proceeds of forfeiture relating to Federal health care offenses be deposited into the Department of Justice Assets Forfeiture Fund. (Sec. 5433) Amends the Federal criminal code to set penalties for: (1) knowingly and willfully falsifying, concealing, or covering up a material fact, making any false, fictitious, or fraudulent statements or representations, or making or using any false writing or document knowing it to contain any false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or entry, in any matter involving a health alliance or health plan; and (2) bribery of, and graft by, a health care official. (Sec. 5435) Authorizes: (1) the Attorney General to commence a civil action in Federal court to enjoin a Federal health care offense; and (2) a person privy to certain grand jury information concerning a health law violation to disclose that information to an attorney for the Government to use in any civil proceeding related to a Federal health care offense. (Sec. 5437) Sets penalties for: (1) theft or embezzlement in connection with a health alliance, health plan, or fund connected with such alliance or plan; and (2) misuse of a health security card issued, or unique identifier provided, pursuant to this Act. (Sec. 5441) Makes provisions of the Civil False Claims Act applicable to the use of false records or statements made to a health plan. Includes within the definition of "claim" for purposes of such Act any request or demand for money or property which is made or presented to a health plan. Subtitle F: McCarran-Ferguson Reform - Amends the McCarran-Ferguson Act to repeal the exemption under specified antitrust laws for the business of insurance to the extent that such business relates to the provision of health benefits. Title VI: Premium Caps; Premium-Based Financing; and Plan Payments - Subtitle A: Premium Caps - Sets forth provisions which provide for the computation of factors that limit the growth of premiums for the comprehensive benefit package in regional alliance health plans, including the computation of a: (1) regional alliance inflation factor; and (2) general health care inflation factor. (Sec. 6002) Directs the Board to determine: (1) a national per capita baseline premium target; (2) the national average per capita current coverage health expenditures; and (3) current health care expenditures. (Sec. 6003) Directs the Board to determine a regional alliance per capita premium. (Sec. 6004) Requires a regional alliance to annually obtain premium bids from each plan seeking to participate as a regional alliance health plan with respect to the alliance. (Sec. 6005) Permits any participating State to assume responsibility for containment of health care expenditures in the State consistent with this Act. (Sec. 6006) Directs the chair of the Board to establish an advisory commission on regional variations in health expenditures. Requires the commission to examine methods of eliminating variation in regional alliance per capita premium targets due to variation in practice patterns, not due to other factors. Requires the Board to submit its recommendations to the Congress. Requires such recommendations to apply unless a joint resolution of disapproval is passed. (Sec. 6011) Subjects each noncomplying regional alliance health plan for a year to a reduction in plan payment as specified, in order to assure that payments to regional alliance health plans by a regional alliance are consistent. Defines a noncomplying plan to include a plan in which the final accepted bid exceeds the maximum complying bid for the per capita target premium. Defines "maximum complying bid." (Sec. 6021) Directs the Board to develop a methodology for calculating an annual per capita expenditure equivalent for amounts paid for coverage for the comprehensive benefit package within a corporate alliance. (Sec. 6022) Terminates a corporate alliance with two excess years in a three year period. Provides that employers that were corporate alliance employers with respect to a terminated alliance shall become regional alliance employers. Defines an excess year as one in which the rate of increase for the corporate alliance exceeds the national corporate inflation factor. Defines rate of increase and national corporate inflation factor. (Sec. 6031) Sets forth special rules for a single-payer State. (Sec. 6041) Directs the Secretary to establish a program to monitor prices and expenditures in the U.S. health care system. Subtitle B: Premium-Related Financings - Makes each family enrolled in a regional health alliance plan or in a corporate alliance health plan in a class of family enrollment responsible for payment of the family share of premium payable for enrollment. Provides for income related discounts and specified credits. (Sec. 6102) Establishes the formula for determining the premiums. (Sec. 6111) Provides for the repayment of credit by certain families. (Sec. 6114) Provides for the special treatment of certain retirees and qualified spouses and children. (Sec. 6121) Requires each regional alliance employer to pay a monthly premium to the regional alliance for a qualifying employee. Sets forth provisions for determining such premium. Varies the premium depending upon such factors as the employer's size and average wages paid. (Sec. 6126) Sets forth provisions applicable to self-employed individuals. (Sec. 6131) Sets forth provisions for determining the corporate employer premium. Subtitle C: Payments to Regional Alliance Health Plans - Sets forth provisions to determine the computation of: (1) the blended plan per capita payment amount; and (2) the plan bid, AFDC, and SSI proportions. Title VII: Revenue Provisions - Subtitle A: Financing Provisions - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to increase the excise taxes on cigarettes and other tobacco products. (Sec. 7113) Imposes an excise tax on the manufacture or importation of roll-your-own tobacco. (Sec. 7121) Imposes an assessment on each corporate alliance employer and a temporary assessment on employers with retiree health benefit costs. Requires such assessments to be paid in the same manner as employment taxes. (Sec. 7131) Provides for the recapture of certain health care subsidies received by high-income individuals. Transfers such amounts to the Supplemental Medical Insurance Trust Fund. (Sec. 7141) Requires certain shareholders of S corporations and limited partners who materially participate in corporate activities to include their share of income or loss from such corporation when determining net earnings from self-employment. (Sec. 7142) Provides for extending Medicare coverage and applying the hospital insurance tax to all State and local government employees. Subtitle B: Tax Treatment of Employer-Provided Health Care - Provides exceptions to the exclusion of employer-provided contributions to an accident or health plan from the gross income of an employee. (Sec. 7202) Prohibits the provision of health benefit under cafeteria plans. (Sec. 7203) Makes permanent the deduction for health insurance costs of self-employed individuals. Increases such deduction to 100 percent of the basic coverage purchased from a health alliance with limitations. Subtitle C: Employment Status Provisions - Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to prescribe regulations defining an employee for employment tax purposes. (Sec. 7302) Increases the penalty for failure to file correct returns involving payments for services. (Sec. 7303) Sets forth rules to limit retroactive employment tax reclassifications. Subtitle D: Tax Treatment of Funding of Retiree Health Benefits - Requires additional reserves for post-retirement medical and life insurance benefits to cover not less than ten years of the working lives of covered employees and to be maintained as separate accounts. (Sec. 7402) Terminates the authority of pension plans to maintain health benefits accounts. Subtitle E: Coordination with COBRA Continuing Care Provisions - Repeals provisions concerning continuation coverage requirements of group health plans upon implementation of this Act. Subtitle F: Tax Treatment of Organizations Providing Health Care Services and Related Organizations - Provides for the tax treatment of charitable organizations providing health care services, insurance provided by health maintenance organizations, and certain private foundations. (Sec. 7602) Sets forth transitional rules for taxing certain organizations providing health insurance and other prepaid health care services as insurance companies other than life insurance companies. (Sec. 7603) Exempts regional alliances from income tax. Subtitle G: Tax Treatment of Long-term Care Insurance and Services - Treats qualified long-term care services as medical care for purposes of the medical expense deduction. (Sec. 7702) Provides for the treatment of long-term care insurance as accident and health insurance. (Sec. 7703) Allows accelerated death benefits under life insurance contracts to be paid to terminally ill individuals. Subtitle H: Tax Incentives for Health Service Providers - Allows a tax credit for certain qualified individuals who provide primary health services full time in a health professional shortage area. (Sec. 7802) Increases the allowable depreciation deduction for expensing certain medical equipment. Subtitle I: Miscellaneous Provisions - Allows a tax credit for the cost of personal assistance services required by an employed individual who for medical reasons is unable to engage in substantial gainful activity. (Sec. 7902) Denies tax-exempt status for private activity bonds of regional alliances, corporate alliances, or guaranty funds established under this Act. Title VIII: Health and Health-Related Programs of the Federal Government - Subtitle A: Military Health Care Reform - Directs the Secretary of Defense to establish one or more uniformed services health plans in order to provide health care services to members of the armed forces on active duty for 30 or more days as well as their covered beneficiaries. Requires conformity of such plans with health plan requirements set forth in this Act. (Sec. 8001b) Allows any such plan to rely upon the use of military health care facilities, supplemented by civilian health care providers or health plans under agreements entered into by the Secretary. Requires at least the items and services in the comprehensive benefit package under this Act to be included in each such plan. Preempts any conflicting State health plan requirements. Provides for plan enrollment, effect of failure to enroll, and choosing between a uniformed services health plan and other available plans. Prohibits the imposition of plan charges to an active-duty member other than subsistence charges, but allows the Secretary to impose limited charges for covered beneficiaries. Establishes in the Department of Defense a financial account for payments received in connection with a uniformed services health plan, allowing such funds to be used only for purposes directly related to the delivery and financing of health care services under this Subtitle. Subtitle B: Department of Veterans Affairs - Allows each veteran who is an eligible individual under this Act and individuals currently enrolled in a health plan under the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Uniformed Services (CHAMPUS) to be enrolled with a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) health plan. Requires conformity of such plans with health plan requirements set forth in this Act, with all the items and services of the comprehensive benefit package under this Act included. Allows such plans to offer supplemental health benefits and cost-sharing policies as consistent with this Act. Provides a limitation with regard to veterans enrolled with health plans outside the VA. Prohibits the imposition of any plan enrollment charges upon service-connected disabled veterans, veterans receiving disability compensation from the VA, former prisoners of war, and veterans unable to defray the costs of such care. Allows the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish plan charges for other veterans. Deems a VA facility to be a Medicare provider for purposes of any program administered by the Secretary of Health and Human Services. Allows for the recovery of certain care and services provided under a VA plan in the case of an individual who has coverage under another plan. Establishes in the Treasury the Department of Veterans Affairs Health Plan Fund to be used for VA health plan payments and services. Preserves existing benefits for VA facilities not operating within a health plan certified under this Act. (Sec. 8102) Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to organize health plans and operate VA facilities as, or within, health plans under this Act. Preempts existing State health plan standards or requirements. Authorizes the Secretary to contract for the provision of services by a VA health plan when cost-effective, or to share resources with other health care plans, providers, or organizations. Authorizes appropriations to the VA for FY 1995 through 1997 for VA health plans under this Subtitle, subject to availability of appropriations. Requires a report from the Secretary to the Congress concerning the operation of the VA health care system within the requirements of this Act. Authorizes the Secretary to accept and use grants for health care services provided to special populations if used by the VA while operating under a VA health plan. Subtitle C: Federal Employees Health Benefits Programs - (Secs. 8202 through 8204) Provides for termination of the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHB) and treatment of Federal employees, annuitants, and other individuals (including those residing abroad) who would otherwise have been eligible for FEHBP under this Act's health plans. Subtitle D: Indian Health Service - Makes qualifying Indians eligible to enroll in a comprehensive benefits health program of the Indian Health Service. (Sec. 8303) Authorizes appropriations for supplemental Indian health care benefits. (Sec. 8305) Exempts tribal governments and organizations from making employer payments. (Sec. 8306) Sets forth provisions regarding health service to non-enrollees and non-Indians. (Sec. 8311) Requires each health program of the Indian Health Service to establish a comprehensive benefit package fund. (Sec. 8313) Authorizes appropriations for the Indian Health Service programs. Subtitle E: Amendments to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to revise and limit the coverage of group health plans under ERISA. Makes certain ERISA provisions inapplicable with respect to State-certified health plans. Provides for an exception from ERISA civil action provisions where review is otherwise available under the Health Security Act (this Act, HSA). (Sec. 8402) Establishes ERISA requirements for expeditious reporting and disclosure applicable to group health plans, through special rules consistent with ERISA and HSA purposes. Excludes plans maintained by regional alliances from treatment as multiple employer welfare arrangements. (Sec. 8403) Revises certain ERISA provisions relating to continuation coverage under group health plans. Repeals such provisions upon implementation of HSA. (Sec. 8404) Makes ERISA standards for group health plans regarding: (1) cases of adoption applicable except to the extent otherwise provided in regulations of the National Health Board under HSA; and (2) coverage of pediatric vaccines inapplicable to a group health plan upon its becoming a corporate alliance health plan under HSA. (Sec. 8405) Requires group health plans under ERISA to comply with HSA requirements relating to health plan claims procedure. Subtitle F: Special Fund for WIC Program - Authorizes appropriations through FY 2000 for the special supplemental food program for women, infants, and children under the Child Nutrition Act of 1966. Title IX: Aggregate Government Payments - Subtitle A: Aggregate State Payments - Sets forth provisions which have formulas for determining each participating State's payment to regional alliances within the State. Provides two different formulas. Establishes one payment formula for non-cash assistance recipients. Establishes another formula relating to cash assistance recipients. Defines a non-cash assistance adult as an individual who is: (1) over 21 years; (2) a U.S. citizen or lawful alien; and (3) is not an AFDC or SSI recipient or a Medicare-eligible individual. (Sec. 9022) Directs the National Health Board to review appropriateness of such payments. Subtitle B: Aggregate Federal Alliance Payments - Sets forth the formula for determining Federal payments to regional alliances for cash assistance recipients. (Sec. 9102) States that this section constitutes budget authority in advance of appropriation Acts and obligates the Federal Government to provide for the payment to regional alliances of a capped Federal alliance payment amount. Defines "capped Federal alliance payment amount." Subtitle C: Borrowing Authority to Cover Cash-flow Shortfalls - Authorizes the Secretary to make available loans to regional alliances to cover any period of temporary cash-flow shortfall attributable to: (1) any estimation discrepancy; (2) a period of temporary cash-flow shortfall attributable to an administrative error; or (3) a period of temporary cash-flow shortfall relating to the relative timing during the year in which amounts are received and payments are required. Sets forth loan terms and conditions. Title X: Coordination of Medical Portion of Workers Compensation and Automobile Insurance - Subtitle A: Workers Compensation Insurance - Requires each health plan that provides services to enrollees through participating providers to make arrangements to provide workers compensation to such enrollees. (Sec. 10002) Requires each workers' compensation carrier that is liable for payment for workers' compensation services furnished by or through a health plan, regardless of whether or not the services are included in the comprehensive benefit package, to make payment for such services. (Sec. 10011) Sets forth requirements for participating States. (Sec. 10031) Authorizes demonstration projects in one or more States with respect to the treatment of work-related injuries and illnesses. Subtitle B: Automobile Insurance - Requires an individual entitled to automobile insurance medical benefits and enrolled in a health plan to receive automobile insurance medical services through the provision of such services by the health plan. (Sec. 10102) Requires each automobile insurance carrier that is liable for payment for automobile insurance medical services furnished by or through a health plan, regardless of whether or not the services are included in the comprehensive benefit package, to make payment for such services. (Sec. 10111) Requires each participating State to develop a fee schedule applicable to payment for automobile insurance medical services for which a fee is not included in the applicable fee schedule. Subtitle C: Commission on Integration of Health Benefits - Establishes the Commission on Integration of Health Benefits which shall study and report on the feasibility and appropriateness of transferring financial responsibility for all medical benefits, including those currently covered by workers compensation and automobile insurance, to health plans. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle D: Federal Employees' Compensation Act - Requires the Federal Employees' Compensation Act to be interpreted and administered consistent with the provisions of subtitle A. Subtitle E: Davis-Bacon Act and Service Contract Act - Amends the Davis-Bacon Act and the Service Contract Act of 1965 to require Health Security Act benefits. Subtitle F: Effective Dates - Sets forth effective date provisions. Title XI: Transitional Insurance Reform - Sets forth transitional provisions concerning: (1) enforcement; (2) preservation of current coverage; (3) restrictions on premium increases during transition; (4) portability requirements; (5) restrictions limiting benefit reductions; and (6) the establishment of the National Transitional Health Insurance Risk Pool.
United States · United States Congress · 19 November 1993
Subjects the payment of separation pay under either the special separation benefits program or the voluntary separation incentive program of the uniformed services to a court order treating such pay as property of the member and the member's spouse, in the same manner as regular retired pay is currently treated. Allows a former spouse continued use of military commissary or exchange stores during the two-year period following the member's involuntary separation from the armed forces.
United States · United States Congress · 18 November 1993
Code of Conduct on Arms Transfers Act of 1993 - Prohibits U.S. military assistance and arms transfers to a foreign government unless the President certifies to the Congress that the government: (1) meets specified conditions regarding democracy, including that it was chosen in free and fair elections and promotes civilian control of the military, the rule of law, and respect for individual rights; (2) does not engage in human rights violations, investigates and prosecutes those responsible for human rights violations, permits access to political prisoners by international organizations, and provides access to such organizations in situations of conflict or famine; (3) is not engaged in acts of armed aggression in violation of international law; and (4) is participating in the United Nations Register of Conventional Arms by annually reporting to the Register the number and type of conventional weapons possessed by, and transferred to and from, the country during the preceding year. Authorizes an exemption from such prohibition for a fiscal year if: (1) the President requests an exemption from the Congress stating that it is in the national security interest to provide military assistance and arms transfers to a government; and (2) the Congress enacts a law approving such request. Requires the President to submit initial certifications and requests for exemptions in conjunction with the submission of the annual request for enactment of authorizations and appropriations for foreign assistance. Expresses the sense of the Congress that the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee should hold hearings on controversial certifications and all requests for exemptions.
United States · United States Congress · 18 November 1993
Computer Equipment and Technology Export Control Reform Act - Amends the Export Administration Act of 1979 to direct the Secretary of Commerce to: (1) conduct annual reviews of export controls on computer equipment and technology; (2) increase certain export control thresholds if warranted by the review; and (3) report review findings to the Congress and the Computer Systems Technical Advisory Committee. Exempts from license requirements for export or reexport to any controlled country digital computers valued at less than $5,000. Directs the Secretary to: (1) identify specified items that will be installed for end-use outside the United States; and (2) publish in the Federal Register the name and specified license requirements for exports to a proliferation end-user (any entity engaged in the design, development, or production of nuclear, chemical, or biological weapons or missiles which is located in a country that is not party to an agreement, to which the United States is a party, to limit the spread of such weapons and activities). Prohibits the Secretary from requiring a license applicant to supply information about proliferation-related activities of an end-user, as a condition of granting a license for export of goods or technology to such end-user, unless the Secretary has: (1) identified the end-user's country as engaged in proliferation activities; or (2) determined there is a specific risk that the exports will be diverted to a country for use in such activities.
United States · United States Congress · 17 November 1993
Prohibits the shipment in interstate or foreign commerce of steel jaw leghold traps and of articles of fur derived from animals trapped in such traps. Prescribes criminal penalties for violations of this Act. Directs the Secretary of the Interior to reward nongovernment informers for information leading to a conviction under this Act. Empowers enforcement officials to detain, search, and seize suspected merchandise or documents and to make arrests with and without warrants. Subjects seized merchandise to forfeiture.
United States · United States Congress · 9 November 1993
Apollo 11 Moon Landing 25th Anniversary Commemorative Coin Act - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to: (1) issue coins emblematic of humans first landing on the moon 25 years ago; and (2) pay surcharges received from coin sales to the Aerospace Education Alliance to develop and implement a math and science skills program for America's teachers in grades kindergarten through eight.
United States · United States Congress · 3 November 1993
Establishes within the Department of the Interior the Presidio Corporation to manage the leasing, maintenance, rehabilitation, repair, and improvement of the following properties within the Presidio in California leaseholds to which shall be transferred under this Act to the Corporation by the Secretary of the Interior: (1) the Letterman-LAIR complex; (2) Fort Scott; (3) Main Post; (4) Cavalry Stables; (5) Presidio Hill; (6) Wherry Housing; (7) East Housing; (8) the structures at Crissy Field; and (9) such other buildings within the Presidio as the Secretary determines appropriate. Requires the Corporation to establish competitive bidding procedures for issuance of leases and contracts under this Act. Reverts all interests and assets of the Corporation to the United States in the event the Corporation fails or defaults. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 3 November 1993
Smoke-Free Environment Act of 1993 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to add a new title on smoke free environments. Requires the responsible entity for each public facility to adopt, implement, and post a policy prohibiting smoking in the facility and on facility property in the immediate vicinity of the facility's entrance. Allows designated smoking areas if: (1) the area is ventilated to exhaust directly to the outside; and (2) nonsmoking individuals do not have to enter the area for any purpose. Allows enforcement actions by any aggrieved person, any State or local government agency, or the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. Provides for civil monetary penalties.
United States · United States Congress · 26 October 1993
Guam and the Northern Marianas Commemorative Coin Act - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to issue one-dollar coins emblematic of the American forces that liberated Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands in World War II. Requires payment of surcharges received from the coin sales to the Secretary of the Interior to construct a visitors center and museum at: (1) the War in the Pacific National Historical Park on Guam; and (2) the American Memorial Park on Saipan.
United States · United States Congress · 26 October 1993
Cites conditions for the adjustment of immigration status for Haitian nationals who are the unmarried children of a citizen or permanent resident of the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 21 October 1993
Establishes a toll-free number to inform consumers regarding: (1) whether a product is made in America; (2) where products may be purchased; and (3) the purchase of products. Allows registration of American-made products.
United States · United States Congress · 21 October 1993
Amends the Federal criminal code to prohibit a common or contract carrier from knowingly delivering in interstate or foreign commerce a firearm to a licensed importer, manufacturer, dealer, or collector unless the carrier identifies and maintains a record of the identity of the recipient. Increases license application fees for firearms dealers. Repeals a provision requiring the Secretary of the Treasury to approve or deny an application for a license to deal in firearms or ammunition within 45 days and related requirements. Adds as a requirement for approval of such a license that the business to be conducted under the license not be prohibited by State or local law and that the applicant has complied with all requirements of applicable State and local law. Authorizes the Secretary to inspect the inventory and records of a licensed importer, manufacturer, dealer, or collector without reasonable cause or warrant to ensure compliance with firearms-related recordkeeping requirements (currently, limited to not more than once during any 12-month period). Requires each licensee to: (1) report the theft or loss of a firearm within 24 hours after it is discovered to the Secretary and appropriate local authorities; and (2) respond within 24 hours after receipt of a request from the Secretary for information contained in required firearms records for determining the disposition of a firearm. Requires each applicant desiring to be licensed as a dealer to permit the Secretary to photograph and obtain the fingerprints of the applicant.
![Official portrait of Rep. Edwards, Don [D-CA-10]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/e000064_200.jpg)