United States · United States Congress · 18 June 1991
Maternal and Early Childhood Health Care Act of 1991 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to provide for the use of certain funds appropriated for migrant health centers (MHCs), community health centers (CHCs), and programs for health services for the homeless for: (1) the development and operation of Comprehensive Perinatal and Early Childhood Health Programs (CPECHPs); and (2) expanding services for pregnant women and children where MHCs and CHCs are already operating Comprehensive Perinatal Care Programs. Provides for grants to MHCs, CHCs, and homeless health service programs for the CPECHPs. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services, through the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), to provide vaccines to the health department of each State or large city operating an immunization project. Amends the Vaccine and Immunization Amendments of 1990 to direct the Secretary, through the CDC, to: (1) make grants to States (currently, to public and nonprofit private entities) for demonstration projects to provide, without administrative charge (currently, without charge), immunizations to children not over two years old; and (2) provide immunizations related to certain programs under the Public Health Service Act and the Child Nutrition Act of 1966; and (3) maintain private physician participation in immunization services and to encourage private physicians to provide such services to infants and children enrolled under title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 7 June 1991
Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) a system of at least 200,000 miles of highways of national significance should be established; (2) in authorizing the construction of highway projects due consideration should be given to the fact that the topography of a rural area causes the costs of construction to exceed such costs in an urban area; and (3) formulas established to apportion funds under the national highway program should be responsive to rural transportation needs and should emphasize the number of miles of highways in a State.
United States · United States Congress · 6 June 1991
Federal Aid Surface Transportation Act of 1991 - Title I: Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1991 - Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1991 - Authorizes appropriations out of the Highway Account of the Highway Trust Fund (HTF) for: (1) the National Highway and Bridge System; (2) the Urban and Rural Highway and Bridge Program; (3) emergency relief; (4) the Federal Lands Highway Program; (5) the University Transportation Centers Program; (6) the Right-of-Way Revolving Fund; and (7) the Territorial Highway Program. Specifies that unobligated balances of funds apportioned or allocated to a State under Federal highway provisions before October 1, 1991, shall be available for obligation in such State under the law, regulations, policies, and procedures relating to the obligation and expenditure of those funds in effect on September 30, 1991. Repeals the FY 1993 authorization under the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956. Authorizes appropriations for Interstate construction to complete the Interstate System out of the Highway Account of the HTF for each of FY 1992 through 1995. Provides for certain allocations for Massachusetts for such fiscal years. Sets forth a formula for the apportionment of authorized funds for such fiscal years among the States. Authorizes appropriations out of the Highway Account of the HTF for highway projects for the Interstate Substitution Program. Sets forth provisions with respect to obligation ceilings for Federal-aid highway programs, distribution of and limitations on obligation authority, and redistribution of unused obligation authority. Declares that national resources should be focused upon preserving the nation's investment in its Interstate systems, that broad national defense, economic, safety, and international policy goals are advanced by efficient transportation systems, that national transportation investments should increasingly encourage domestic and international commerce and trade, and that, based on congressionally established national transportation policy and objectives, a new Federal high priority highway network should be designated. Establishes the National Highway and Bridge System, to consist of all currently designated Interstate highways, an appropriate portion of the rural and urban principal arterial routes, including toll facilities, and national defense highways, and routes which meet specified criteria (including nationally significant truck routes, routes that provide nationally significant commodities with access to markets, access points to significant national parks, facilities that will provide logical connection between major population centers and the National Highway and Bridge System, and major urban corridors). Specifies that the National Highway System shall be based on a functional reclassification of roads and streets in each State which shall be designated not later than September 30, 1993, in accordance with guidelines issued by the Secretary of Transportation, and that the Secretary may add segments to the National Highway System as necessary to meet National Highway Program objectives. Directs the Secretary to establish criteria for reviewing projects to be funded as part of the National Highway and Bridge System which: (1) define eligible projects to include rehabilitation, resurfacing, restoration, capacity expansion, operational improvement, safety, and new highway construction; (2) ensure as a first priority for the use of available funds the protection of investments made in the Interstate highways in each State and the provision of suitable traveling quality by such highways; (3) permit funding in urbanized areas to be used to improve highway and transit systems, where it can be shown that the improvement will increase the level of service within the corridor of the National Highway and Bridge System; and (4) permit the use of such funds for intercity rail projects and projects for access to ports, airports, and related facilities. Sets forth additional provisions with respect to the discharge of responsibilities by the Secretary for National Highway and Bridge System projects. Directs the Secretary to establish an Urban and Rural Highway and Bridge Program to provide a category of funds that minimizes Federal requirements and provides flexibility in the use of available funds for either highway or transit projects. Specifies: (1) that the Urban and Rural Highway and Bridge Program shall consist of all public highways (including bridges) functionally classified as arterials, urban collectors, and rural collectors other than those designated as part of the National Highway and Bridge System; (2) that each State shall establish guidelines for implementing this program; and (3) eligible highways and projects. Sets forth provisions with respect to the obligation of funds, and the Federal share of projects, for the construction of toll roads, bridges, tunnels, and ferries. Requires the Secretary, in each fiscal year, to allocate among the States amounts sufficient to ensure that: (1) the total of apportionments and minimum allocation for each State in each such fiscal year shall not be less than 90 percent (currently, 85 percent) of the percentage of estimated tax payments into the Highway Account of the HTF attributable to highway users in the State of total apportionments in each such fiscal year and allocations for the prior year; and (2) each State's total apportionment from the Highway Account of the HTF for the year is not less than that made during FY 1991 (excluding any Interstate construction funds in excess of FY 1992 one-half percent minimum, Interstate substitution, and amounts for demonstration or discretionary funding programs or projects). Directs the Secretary to cooperate with State and local officials in urbanized areas in the development of transportation plans and programs which are formulated with due consideration to comprehensive long-range land use plans, development objectives, innovative financing mechanisms, overall social, economic, environmental, and system performance, energy conservation goals and objectives and with due consideration to their probable effect on the future development of the area. Specifies that the transportation planning process, at a minimum, shall cover the existing urbanized area and the area expected to become urbanized within the forecast period, and that it may encompass the entire Metropolitan Statistical Area/Consolidated Metropolitan Statistical Area at the discretion of the Governor and the affected units of local government. Requires that transportation plans and programs in urbanized areas of more than 200,000 population be based on a continuing transportation planning process which: (1) is carried out by a metropolitan planning organization and is comprehensive to the degree appropriate based on the complexity of transportation problems in the area, including transportation-related air quality problems; and (2) considers all modes of transportation, including intermodal connectivity, the balance between future development and transportation needs, and an areawide multimodal congestion management system. Specifies that in nonattainment areas for transportation-related pollutants the multimodal congestion management system shall address air quality considerations and be coordinated with the process for development of the transportation element of the State Implementation Plan required by the Clean Air Act. Requires that the costs and impacts of proposed action on both mobility and air quality be evaluated. Bars the Secretary from approving any highway project in urbanized areas of more than 200,000 population that by reconstruction or new construction significantly increases the vehicle carrying capacity of a transportation corridor unless the project is consistent with the congestion management system. Directs the metropolitan planning organization to cooperate with the State in the development of a congestion management, bridge management, pavement management, safety management, and traffic monitoring system. Requires that: (1) a metropolitan planning organization be designated in each urbanized area by agreement among the units of general purpose local government and the Governor to carry out such transportation planning process; (2) such organization develop a transportation improvement program that includes all projects proposed for funding within the study area under the National Highway and Bridge Program, the Urban and Rural Highway and Bridge Program, and the Bridge Program; and (3) in urbanized areas of 200,000 population or less, such organization, the State, and transit operators, at a minimum, meet the requirements of this Act by the development of such a transportation improvement program (including consideration of transportation-related air quality problems.) Requires the Federal highway research program to include coordinated long-term programs of research: (1) on Intelligent Vehicle Highway Systems; and (2) for the development, use, and dissemination of performance indicators to measure the performance of the surface transportation system. Requires such program to continue those portions of the Strategic Highway Research Program that the Secretary deems important. Directs the Secretary to create and administer the Dwight David Eisenhower Transportation Fellowship Program, a program to attract qualified students to the field of transportation engineering and research. Provides for the funding of such program. Directs the Secretary to cooperate with the States in carrying out: (1) statewide transportation planning; and (2) State highway research. Sets forth provisions regarding State matching fund requirements and waiver of such requirements. Directs the Secretary: (1) in the Secretary's reports regarding future highway needs of the nation, to report as well on the condition and performance of the existing system and on the bridge needs of the nation; and (2) beginning with the report due in January 1995, to include the results of studies of the air quality impacts of transportation programs including the air quality benefits realized from transportation control measures required under the Clear Air Act. Establishes within the Department of Transportation a Bureau of Transportation Statistics, which shall pursue a comprehensive, long-term program for the collection and analysis of data relating to the performance of the national transportation system. Requires the Director of such Bureau to: (1) produce annually unbiased and comparable estimates of factors including productivity in the various portions of the transportation sector, traffic flow, travel times, travel costs of intracity commuting and intercity trips, frequency of vehicle and transportation facility repairs, accidents, and collateral damage to the human and natural environment; and (2) submit reports beginning on October 1, 1992, and every 12 months thereafter, to specified congressional committees describing the status of the U.S. transportation system. Authorizes the Secretary to: (1) undertake, on a cost-shared basis, collaborative research and development with non-Federal entities, including State, local, and foreign governments; and (2) enter into cooperative research and development agreements, except that the average Federal share in such agreements shall not exceed 50 percent (but allows the Secretary to approve a higher Federal level of participation where there is substantial public interest or benefit). Authorizes the Secretary to withhold project approvals on National Highway and Bridge Program projects for failure of a State to have a bridge management, pavement management, safety management, and congestion management system. Requires each State to have a traffic monitoring system to provide statistically-based traffic data. Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) acquisition of rights-of-way; (2) private, State, and local donations; (3) access to rights-of-way to accommodate needed passenger or commuter rail, high speed ground transportation systems (including magnetic levitation systems), and highway and nonhighway public mass transit facilities; and (4) the definition and scope of the Interstate System. Declares that: (1) the nation must redirect its efforts toward moving people, information, and goods rather than moving vehicles; (2) the new Federal program shall refocus national policies to respond to increasing inter-regional travel, relieving urban congestion, improving rural access, fostering intermodalism, enhancing air quality, conserving energy, and giving priority to projects that offer the best solutions to the transportation problems and environmental considerations of each region; and (3) the essential element for an effective future program is a new Federal, State, and local partnership that provides more funding, greater program flexibility, and greater program management and resource contribution responsibilities at the State and local levels. Sets forth provisions with respect to the apportionment of funds, including apportionment formulas under the: (1) National Highway and Bridge Program, based on the State's rural and urban lane miles, rural vehicle miles traveled, and diesel fuel consumption; and (2) Urban and Rural Highway and Bridge Program, in the ratio of tax payments of the Highway Account of the HTF attributable to the highway users of each State. Sets forth provisions with respect to: (1) project agreements and obligations of funds; (2) availability of funds; (3) the Federal share payable with respect to certain projects; (4) project litigation expenses; and (5) the allocation and administration of Federal lands highways funds, and the establishment of a coordinated Federal Lands Highways Program. Authorizes (subject to specified limitations): (1) States to use Federal highway funds to construct improved lanes, paths, or shoulders, traffic control devices, shelters, and parking facilities for bicycles and pedestrians, and carry out nonconstruction projects related to safe bicycle and pedestrian use; (2) the Secretary, where a highway bridge deck being replaced or rehabilitated with Federal financial participation is located on a highway on which bicycles or pedestrians are permitted to operate at each end of the bridge and the Secretary determines that the safe accommodation of bicycles or pedestrians can be provided at reasonable cost, to replace or rehabilitate such bridge, making such accommodations; (3) Federal lands highways funds to be used for the construction of pedestrian walkways and bicycle routes; and (4) a State to expend Urban and Rural Highway and Bridge Program funds for such construction. Provides for: (1) a functional reclassification of all public roads; (2) the transfer of funds for transit projects to, for administration by, the Urban Mass Transportation Administration; and (3) a recodification of Federal highway-related provisions. Requires that construction standards adopted for the National Highway and Bridge System be those approved by the Secretary in cooperation with the State highway departments and the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (currently, with respect to construction standards for the Interstate System, cooperation with such Association is not required). Directs the Secretary to issue guidelines for minimizing soil erosion from highway construction. Bars the Secretary from approving projects that will result in the severance or destruction of an existing major route for nonmotorized transportation traffic and light motorcycles, unless the project provides a reasonable alternative route or an alternative route exists. Requires: (1) projects for resurfacing, restoring, or rehabilitating specified highways to be constructed in accordance with standards to preserve and extend highway service life and enhance highway safety; and (2) States to charge, at a minimum, fair market value for the sale, use, lease, or lease renewals of right-of-way airspace acquired as a result of a project funded in whole or in part with Federal assistance made available from the Highway Account of the HTF, with exceptions. Provides that: (1) Indian contractors certified by State transportation or highway departments shall receive preference in the award of contracts on Indian reservations to the maximum extent practicable; and (2) contracts for Urban and Rural Highway and Bridge Program projects may be entered into with the prior concurrence of the Secretary in the award. Authorizes: (1) the State transportation or highway department to include warranty or guarantee provisions in construction contracts which, if used, shall be for a specified construction product or feature and may not include routine maintenance; and (2) projects (currently, requires projects) approved to include the amount of any interest earned and payable on bonds issued by the State to the extent that the proceeds of the bonds have actually been expended in the construction of the project. Authorizes the Secretary, except for projects administered under the Urban and Rural Highway and Bridge Program, to make payments to a State for costs incurred on a project. (Current law authorizes payment to States for construction.) Specifies that total payments shall not exceed total costs incurred by the State for the project. Requires any State transportation or highway (currently, highway) department which submits plans for a National Highway and Bridge Program or Interstate System project (currently, Interstate System project) to make its certification and report, indicating that consideration was given to the economic, social, environmental, and other effects of the plan, highway location or design, and various alternatives which were raised during the hearing or which were otherwise considered (current law does not mention the latter requirement). Authorizes the Secretary to approve for Federal financial assistance from National Highway and Bridge Program funds: (1) projects designed to encourage the use of carpools, subject to specified limitations; and (2) the construction of exclusive or preferential high occupacy vehicle (HOV) lanes, highway traffic control devices, intercity and urban bus passenger loading areas and facilities, and fringe and transportation corridor parking to serve HOV, intercity bus, and public transportation passengers. Specifies that if fees are charged for the use of any carpool or other publicly owned parking facility constructed pursuant to Federal highway provisions, the revenue in excess of that required for maintenance and operation of the facility and the cost of providing shuttle service to and from the facility including compensation to any person for operating the facility and for providing shuttle service shall be used for purposes authorized under Federal highway provisions. Requires that National Highway and Bridge System funds be made available to finance the Federal share of projects for exclusive or preferential HOV, truck, and emergency vehicle routes or lanes. Permits such routes on the Interstate System to have less than four lanes of traffic. Prohibits the approval of HOV projects unless the Secretary has received assurances from the owner or operator of the facility that HOV vehicles will fully utilize the proposed project and that essential operations and enforcement support of the facility will be provided. Specifies that, in any case where sufficient land exists within the publicly acquired rights-of-way of the National Highway System to accommodate needed nonhighway public mass transit facilities and where the accommodation can be accomplished without impairing automotive safety or future highway improvements, the Secretary may authorize a State to make those lands and rights-of-way available without charge to a publicly owned mass transit authority for such purposes wherever the public interest will be served. Directs the Secretary to require assurance from any State desiring to avail itself of benefits under Federal highway provisions that employment in connection with proposed projects be provided without discrimination based on race, color, religion, national origin, age, disability, or sex (currently, specifies "without regard to race, color, creed, national origin, or sex"). Requires that not to exceed one fourth of one percent of the funds apportioned to a State be available for highway construction training. Prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex under programs or activities receiving Federal assistance. Repeals a requirement that each State certify that it is enforcing all speed limits on public highways and that the Secretary not approve projects in States failing to make such certification. Requires each State to establish a procedure to certify that highway bridge inspectors meet national qualifications. (Current law requires that standards established by the Secretary include a procedure for national certification of such inspectors.) Directs the Secretary to withhold ten percent of the amount to be appropriated to any State on the first day of each fiscal year in which the purchase or public possession in that State of any alcoholic beverage by a person who is less than 21 years of age is lawful (current law specifies five percent on the first day of the fiscal year succeeding the first fiscal year beginning after September 30, 1985, and ten percent after the second fiscal year beginning after such date). Specifies that funds withheld from apportionment shall be apportioned to the other States in compliance and remain available for the period of time applicable to the category of funds withheld (currently, treatment of such funds varies based on whether funds were withheld on or before September 30, 1988). Directs that construction estimated to cost $50,000 (currently, $15,000) or more per mile or per project for projects with a length of less than one mile on forest development roads and trails be advertised and let to contract, and allows projects with less than such cost, if no acceptable bid is received, to be done by the Secretary of Agriculture. Repeals provisions under the Territorial Highway Program: (1) that Federal financial assistance be granted on the basis of a Federal contribution of 100 percent of the cost of any project; and (2) under which the Governor must agree not to impose any toll, or permit any such toll to be charged, for use by vehicles or persons of any portion of the facilities constructed or operated to qualify for funding. Provides that, in addition to a specified percentage, sums provided (currently, two percent) for each fiscal year may be expended upon request of the Governor with the Secretary's approval under such Program. Requires (currently, authorizes the Secretary to make) expenditures with respect to the reconstruction of the Alaska-Canada international highway. Authorizes the Secretary to give priority of approval to, and expedite the construction of, projects that are recommended as important to the national defense. Modifies provisions regarding the National Highway Institute to: (1) require that private agencies and individuals pay the full cost of any education and training received by them; and (2) authorize the Institute to engage in all phases of contract authority for training purposes authorized under Federal highway provisions and to carry out its authority independently or in cooperation with any other branch of Government, authority, association, or person. Authorizes the Institute to establish and collect fees from any entity and place them in a special account.
United States · United States Congress · 4 June 1991
Disaster Assistance Act of 1991 - Title I: Emergency Livestock Assistance - Amends the Agricultural Act of 1949 to prohibit a person from receiving emergency feed assistance under this title and disaster assistance for the same 1991 weather damaged crops. Subjects eligible recipients to specified combined payments and benefits limitations. Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to implement an emergency forage program to reseed 1991 weather damaged forage crops. Limits: (1) Federal cost-sharing to 50 percent; and (2) individual payments to $3,500. Funds such program through the Commodity Credit Corporation (with a $50,000,000 limit). Title II: Emergency Crop Loss Assistance - Subtitle A: Annual Crops - Directs the Secretary to make 1991 disaster payments to producers of wheat, feed grains, upland cotton, extra long staple cotton, rice, peanuts, sugar, tobacco, oilseeds, and other nonprogram crops. Extends crop quality reduction disaster assistance through the 1991 crop year. Reduces disaster assistance payments in relation to Federal crop insurance payments. Requires producers to obtain Federal crop insurance for 1992 in order to be eligible for disaster payments and other specified assistance for 1991 crop losses. Sets forth exempted circumstances. Requires the Secretary to announce within a specified time the conditions for establishing a 1990 farm yield for forage-use-crops. Limits assistance under this subtitle to $100,000. Prohibits double payments on replanted acreage. Authorizes: (1) the substitution of crop insurance program yields for 1991 disaster assistance eligibility purposes; and (2) the Secretary to determine a de minimis yield for each crop eligible for reduced yield disaster payments. Subtitle B: Administrative Provisions - Makes a person with qualifying annual gross income (as defined by this Act) in excess of $2,000,000 ineligible for assistance under this title. Places a specified pro rata cap on 1991 wheat, feed grain, upland cotton, extra long staple cotton, and rice deficiency payments if corn planted in 1991 exceeds a specified acreage. Subtitle C: Sense of Congress - Expresses the sense of the Congress regarding disaster payments' purposes of preserving farm livelihoods and the financial health of rural communities. Title III: Other Emergency Provisions - Directs the Secretary to provide loan guarantees through the Rural Development Insurance Fund to rural businesses (including Indian tribes) who have suffered 1991 disaster damage. Limits: (1) individual guarantees to 90 percent of $500,000; and (2) aggregate guarantees to $200,000,000.
United States · United States Congress · 29 May 1991
Medicaid Family Care Act of 1991 - Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to provide federally reimbursed Medicaid coverage of alcoholism and drug dependency residential treatment services for pregnant women whose family income is below 185 percent of the Federal poverty level and for their Medicaid-eligible children and spouses. Lists the required services included in such coverage as: (1) individual, group, and family counseling and addiction education and treatment; (2) room and board in a structured environment with on-site supervision 24 hours a day; (3) child day health services; (4) parental assistance in obtaining developmental assistance for their preschool children and public education for themselves and their school-age children; (5) easier access to apppropriate health, social, and child care services; and (6) planning and assistance in reentering society. Requires that such coverage continue for at least 12 months (unless such coverage is found to be no longer therapeutically necessary, except that the coverage of pregnant women must continue for one year following the end of pregnancy. Limits the size of a residential treatment facility to no more than 40 beds, except under prescribed conditions.
United States · United States Congress · 23 May 1991
National Institute of Nursing Research Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to redesignate the National Center for Nursing Research as the National Institute of Nursing Research. Includes the Institute in the list of national research institutes of the National Institutes of Health.
United States · United States Congress · 22 May 1991
Independent Older Blind Individuals Amendments of 1991 - Amends the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 to revise the program for independent living services for older blind individuals. Provides, under such program, for formula grants to States regarding services for older blind individuals. Requires ten percent non-Federal contributions for program costs. Revises provisions relating to such services. Extends through FY 1995 the authorization of appropriations for such program.
United States · United States Congress · 20 May 1991
Farm Animal and Research Facilities Protection Act of 1991 - Amends title XIV of the Food Security Act of 1985 to add a new subtitle prohibiting (and establishing criminal penalties for) specified acts of destruction, theft, or damage to farm animal, research, and educational facilities. Directs the Secretary of Agriculture and the Attorney General to jointly conduct a study of the extent and effect of terrorism on animal research, production, and processing facilities. Grants jurisdiction for cases arising under these provisions to U.S. district courts. Establishes a private right of action.
United States · United States Congress · 20 May 1991
Rural Clinical Laboratory Personnel Shortage Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to establish a program of contracts under which allied health professionals agree to serve in technical positions as employees in clinical laboratories that serve rural areas with shortages of employees in such positions in consideration of the Federal Government paying a limited amount of the principal and interest of the educational loans of the professionals. Authorizes appropriations. Mandates grants and contracts for the education and training of clinical laboratory personnel. Authorizes appropriations. Requires a program for the accreditation of entities engaged in the certification of clinical laboratory personnel. Provides, until establishment of accreditation standards, for a competency-based examination to determine the proficiency of individuals who do not meet formal educational qualifications.
United States · United States Congress · 20 May 1991
Hospital Antitrust Fairness Act - Exempts from the antitrust laws combinations of, or contracts to allocate hospital services by, two or more hospitals if: (1) each such hospital is located outside of a city or in a city of less than 125,000 inhabitants; (2) in the most recently concluded calendar year, each such hospital received more than 40 percent of its gross revenue from payments made under Federal programs; and (3) there is in effect with respect to each such hospital a certificate issued by the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) specifying that HCFA has determined that Federal expenditures would be reduced, and consumer costs would not increase, if such hospitals merge or allocate the services specified in the request.
United States · United States Congress · 15 May 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow farmers' cooperatives to elect to treat as ordinary income or loss certain capital gains and losses from the disposition of assets used in conducting business with or for patrons.
United States · United States Congress · 7 May 1991
Federally Assisted Health Clinics Legal Protection Act of 1991 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to include entities receiving Federal funds under provisions relating to migrant health centers, community health centers, or health services for the homeless, and officers, employees, or contractors of such entities who are licensed health care practitioners, in the coverage of provisions regulating civil actions for injury resulting from medical or related functions against commissioned officers or employees of the Public Health Service. Subrogates to the United States any insurance claim such an entity or person has. Prohibits grants under provisions relating to migrant or community health centers or health services for the homeless unless the applicant has: (1) implemented policies and procedures to assure against malpractice; and (2) no history of claims against it under such provisions relating to officers and employees of the Public Health Service.
United States · United States Congress · 7 May 1991
Rural Physicians' Incentives Act of 1991 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a deduction on medical education loan interest of a physician which accrues while the physician is living in and providing primary care to residents of a medically underserved rural area. Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to exempt services furnished in a rural area from a special fee schedule applicable to new physicians. Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to extend beyond the normal two-year limit, for borrowers serving an internship or residency program in preparation for practice in an area of primary care, the deferral of payments on: (1) insured student loans (Stafford Loans), including those eligible for interest subsidies; and (2) low-interest student loans (Perkins Loans). Amends titles XVIII (Medicare) and XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to modify provisions setting forth requirements concerning billing by one physician for services rendered by another physician in specified circumstances.
United States · United States Congress · 7 May 1991
Rural Health Leadership Education Act of 1991 - Amends the Rural Development Act of 1972, as amended by the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990, to authorize grants for rural health leadership development education programs.
United States · United States Congress · 7 May 1991
Rural Health Statistics Act of 1991 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require that the geographic area description and analysis in a currently-mandated annual report on the health of the Nation's people include a description and analysis by rural area and urban area.
United States · United States Congress · 7 May 1991
Rural Medical Emergencies Air Transport Act of 1991 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make grants to at least seven States to assist in the creation or enhancement of air medical transport systems that provide victims of medical emergencies in rural areas with access to treatments. Requires: (1) preference for States with plans to integrate the proposed air medical system into a comprehensive network or plan for regional or statewide emergency medical services; and (2) the grant to be administered by the State agency responsible for medical emergency or trauma services programs. Allows the State to award grant funds to public and private entities. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 7 May 1991
Rural Mental Health Initiatives Act of 1991 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to establish, in the National Institute of Mental Health, the Office of Rural Mental Health. Mandates grants for demonstration projects to improve the availability of rural mental health services through providing such services in the same facilities as other health or social services, and otherwise integrating mental health, other health, and social services. Requires reports to the Congress. Requires that funds be made available to carry out these provisions from amounts appropriated under the Act for mental health research. Requires State comprehensive mental health services plans to describe how mental health services will be provided to rural residents.
United States · United States Congress · 7 May 1991
Amends the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1987 to allow a consortium including one or more rural hospitals (including at least a small rural hospital and/or one or more rural health clinics) to participate in the rural health medical education demonstration project of the Department of Health and Human Services. Authorizes appropriations as necessary to pay costs of such project which are attributable to travel and living expenses of medical residents and travel expenses of supervising physicians, to the extent such costs are not reimbursed under the Medicare program.
United States · United States Congress · 7 May 1991
Rural Access to Obstetrical Care Act of 1991 - Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to: (1) provide for demonstration projects to reduce infant mortality by improving access in rural, underserved areas to obstetric services for eligible pregnant women under title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act; (2) develop and make available to the public each year a compendium of State initiatives to address the obstetric access crisis in rural areas; and (3) provide funding for a study, and report to the Congress on, obstetrical malpractice claims payment by Medicaid and private insurance companies.
United States · United States Congress · 7 May 1991
Amends the Public Health Service Act to require that between 25 and 50 percent (currently, at least 50 percent) of certain block grant funds be used for prevention and treatment with respect to intravenous drug abuse.
United States · United States Congress · 7 May 1991
Primary Care Training Amendments of 1991 - Amends provisions of the Public Health Service Act authorizing grants and contracts for training, traineeships, and fellowships in general internal medicine and general pediatrics to require that a school, hospital, or other entity, in order to receive a grant or contract, provide certain types of training related to family medicine. Adds demonstration of a commitment to family medicine to the criteria for establishing priority in making the grants and contracts.
United States · United States Congress · 7 May 1991
Improving Access to Health Care Through Telecommunications Act - Mandates grants to rural health care consortia for acquisition and operation of interactive telecommunications systems to improve delivery of health care services. Allows information uses to include consultations, x-ray transfers, professional education programs, patient record transfers, and claims processing. Limits grants to one consortium per State, subject to waiver for consortia serving two or more States. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 7 May 1991
Provides for the awarding of the Purple Heart to former prisoners of war held captive before April 25, 1962, on the same basis at it may be awarded former prisoners of war captured on or after such date.
United States · United States Congress · 7 May 1991
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the Departments of Veterans Affairs and Health and Human Services should explore, expand, and promote opportunities for shared services in all areas, including alcohol and drug treatment, gerontology, mental health, pharmacy services, radiology, and other diagnostic specialties.
United States · United States Congress · 1 May 1991
Expedited Consideration of Proposed Rescissions Act of 1991 - Amends the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 to require a special message, in the case of budget authority proposed to be rescinded or reserved, to include language amending the law authorizing such programs to allow them to continue to function at the proposed new level of budget authority. Allows the President to transmit to both Houses of the Congress, for expedited consideration, one or more special messages proposing to rescind all or part of any item of budget authority provided in an appropriation bill. Requires that such special message be transmitted not later than three days after the President approves the appropriation bill and be accompanied by a draft bill or joint resolution that would, if enacted, rescind the budget authority proposed to be rescinded. Sets forth House and Senate procedures for the expedited consideration of such a proposal.
United States · United States Congress · 24 April 1991
Circle of Poison Prevention Act of 1991 - Title I: Exported Pesticides - Amends the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) to require pesticide producers operating registered establishments to inform the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency of: (1) the types and quantities of pesticides and active ingredients used in producing pesticides for export to a foreign country; and (2) the date of export and quantity of such materials exported to each foreign country to which the producer has exported during the past 365-day period. Provides that specified information on exported pesticides shall not be entitled to confidential trade secret treatment. Makes it unlawful to export a pesticide or device in violation of FIFRA export requirements. Prohibits the exportation of a pesticide or device unless: (1) such materials are prepared and packaged according to the specifications of the foreign purchaser and the legal requirements of the country of use; and (2) the label of the pesticide is written in the official language of the country of use and contains all information required to be included in the labeling for such pesticide in the United States. Prohibits the exportation of a pesticide to a country of use if: (1) the registrations for pesticides containing an active ingredient that is included in such pesticide that account for nearly all of the uses of such ingredient have been canceled; (2) the tolerances for an active ingredient in such pesticide that account for nearly all the uses of such ingredient have been revoked; or (3) an active ingredient of the pesticide is ineligible for reregistration. Prohibits such exports (including pesticides used for agricultural production) unless: (1) the pesticide is registered; or (2) all of the active ingredients in the pesticide are the subject of a food tolerance. Requires exporters, prior to the shipment of certain pesticides, to provide specified information to the Administrator. Prohibits the exportation of any pesticide to a country of use that: (1) has refused consent; or (2) has given conditional consent unless the conditions on which the consent was given are met. Prohibits refusals to consent unless the country certifies that it is not producing or importing and will not produce or import the pesticide or a similar product with the same active ingredient. Waives certain requirements, upon the request of a country of use and subject to certain determinations by the Administrator, to permit the export of pesticides not meeting FIFRA requirements to: (1) prevent or arrest the spread of a communicable disease; or (2) stop or prevent the spread of a pest that is destroying or will destroy quantities of the country's food supply so as to result in widespread famine. Permits the export of pesticides for experimental use in foreign countries if specified conditions are met. Directs the Administrator to submit information to the Secretary of Health and Human Services concerning inspections for pesticide residues in imported foods conducted by the Department of Health and Human Services. Requires the Administrator to notify foreign countries and the International Register of Potentially Toxic Chemicals whenever regulatory action is taken with respect to a pesticide. Directs the Administrator to: (1) convene meetings with foreign governments and other interested parties to promote the implementation of improved research and regulatory programs for pest management and strategies for sustainable agriculture and to encourage the adoption of a multilateral convention requiring standard notice and pesticide export control measures; and (2) provide foreign countries with technical assistance to develop pesticide regulatory programs. Permits persons to bring civil actions to secure the imposition of penalties on persons who violate pesticide export requirements. Prohibits civil actions from being initiated on the basis of the same unlawful acts that form the basis of existing proceedings for criminal violations. Requires the Comptroller General to report to the Congress every four years on: (1) the operation and effect of this Act; and (2) how exported pesticides and their containers are used and disposed of and on their impact on the public health and the environment of countries of use. Title II: Pesticide Residue Monitoring - Amends the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988 to direct the Food and Drug Administration to summarize the volume of each food product subject to the requirements of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act imported into the United States in quantities determined by the Secretary of Health and Human Services to be commercial quantities (currently, products having an entry value exceeding an amount established by the Secretary). Requires the summary to: (1) be made by food product, country of origin, port of entry, pesticides monitored by the Secretary, pesticide residues detected, and the quantity of each pesticide exported from the United States for agricultural use; and (2) indicate the volume of each type of food tested for pesticide residues, arranged by pesticide, food, and country of origin. Title III: Pesticide Tolerances - Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to require the Administrator, if a registration under FIFRA for a pesticide to be used on food is canceled or modified to prohibit its use in connection with food, to revoke any tolerance or exemption that permits the presence of the pesticide on the food. Suspends tolerances or exemptions for pesticides used on food if such use is suspended under FIFRA. Authorizes the Administrator, if a residue of a canceled or suspended pesticide will persist in the environment and be present on a food, to establish a tolerance for the pesticide at a level that permits the residue to remain and will protect public health. Requires the Administrator to reduce the tolerance for any suspended or canceled pesticide annually if any decrease in the pesticide's residual environmental contamination or residues on food has occurred. Prohibits the Administrator from establishing or continuing a tolerance for a pesticide chemical residue unless the best available, practical method for detecting and measuring the levels of the residue on a food exists. Title IV: Pesticide Information - Prohibits the importation of a raw agricultural commodity into U.S. customs territory unless the commodity importer files with the Secretary and the Secretary of the Treasury a document identifying each pesticide chemical used in connection with the commodity. Requires such importers, if unreported pesticides are detected in such commodities, to submit residue analyses for such pesticides. Waives reporting requirements for unreported pesticides if the presence of such pesticides is attributable to long-term environmental persistence and does not pose a health risk. Amends the Federal Meat Inspection Act, the Poultry Products Inspection Act, and the Egg Products Inspection Act to apply such requirements to importers of meat, poultry, and eggs. Amends the Agricultural Act of 1954 to add to the list of annual reporting requirements of agricultural attaches a report on the customary use of pesticides in the production of agricultural commodities in foreign countries. Title V: Effective Dates - Sets forth the effective dates for provisions of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 24 April 1991
Designates September 20, 1991, as National POW/MIA recognition Day. Requires the display of the National League of Families POW/MIA flag: (1) at all national cemeteries and the National Vietnam Veterans Memorial on May 30, 1991 (Memorial Day), September 20, 1991 (National POW/MIA Recognition Day), and November 11, 1991 (Veteran's Day); and (2) on, or on the grounds of, the White House, and the buildings containing the primary offices of the Secretaries of State, Defense, and Veterans Affairs, and the Director of the Selective Service Commission on September 20, 1991 (National POW/MIA Recognition Day).
United States · United States Congress · 23 April 1991
Designates May 22, 1991, as National Desert Storm Reservists Day to commemorate the accomplishments of the men and women of the reserve components of the U.S. Armed Forces who proudly served the United States during Operation Desert Storm.
United States · United States Congress · 17 April 1991
National Commemorative Events Advisory Act - Establishes the President's Advisory Commission on National Commemorative Events to: (1) establish criteria for recommending to the President that a proposed commemorative event be approved or disapproved; (2) review proposals for national commemorative events submitted in accordance with procedures published by the Commission; and (3) issue recommendations to the President concerning each proposal reviewed. Terminates the Commission within five years after the date of its first meeting.
United States · United States Congress · 17 April 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code with respect to the tax-exempt status of a cooperative telephone company to provide for the tax treatment of income received from a nonmember telephone company for services by the cooperative which are indirectly paid for by members of the cooperative. Includes billing and collection services for a nonmember telephone company under such treatment.
United States · United States Congress · 17 April 1991
Constitutional Amendment - Declares that the Congress shall have the power to set reasonable limits on campaign expenditures by, in support of, or in opposition to any candidate in any primary or other election for Federal office. Declares that the States shall have such power with respect to State or local elections.
United States · United States Congress · 11 April 1991
Amends the Federal criminal code to require a minimum sentence of five years' imprisonment, without an opportunity for parole, for the unlawful possession of a firearm by any person: (1) who has been convicted of a crime punishable by more than one year's imprisonment; (2) who is a fugitive from justice; (3) who is an unlawful user of or addicted to any controlled substance; (4) who has transported in interstate commerce any stolen firearm; or (5) who has received any stolen firearm. Increases from $5,000 to $10,000 and from five years to ten years the fine and term of imprisonment, respectively, for violation of Federal firearm laws. Increases the penalties for possession of a firearm in connection with a crime of violence or drug trafficking.
United States · United States Congress · 10 April 1991
Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act to exclude from OASDI coverage any service performed on an election day by State and local election officials and workers.
United States · United States Congress · 9 April 1991
Urban Schools of America (USA) Act of 1991 - Title I: Urban School Improvement - Authorizes appropriations for this title. Directs the Secretary of Education (the Secretary) to reserve five percent of specified funds for competitive grant awards to exemplary school programs. Directs the Secretary to allot, from remaining amounts, to each eligible local educational agency (LEA) with an approved application an amount based on that LEA's relative allocation under certain provisions of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 for education of disadvantaged children (ESEA title I chapter 1). Provides for annual payments to eligible LEAs with approved applications if they comply with certain data collection requirements to monitor progress toward meeting national education goals, and demonstrate such progress. Requires each such LEA to reserve up to five percent of its allotment to make as many grants as practicable, for authorized activities, to community-based organizations or nonprofit partnerships between the LEA and a city-wide collaborative of private sector businesses. Sets limits on the time and the amount of funds to be used for planning purposes. Requires LEAs to use funds under this title to meet national education goals through programs designed to: (1) increase the academic achievement of urban school children to at least the national average; (2) prepare all urban children for school; (3) increase the graduation rates of urban students to at least the national average; (4) prepare urban school graduates to enter higher education, pursue careers, and exercise their responsibilities as citizens; (5) recruit and retain qualified teachers; and (6) decrease the use of drugs and alcohol by urban students, and enhance their physical and emotional health. Sets forth program accountability requirements: (1) in general, for initial grants, renewal grants, and renewal of school participation; (2) for achievement, including demonstration of improvement; and (3) for data collection to monitor progress in achieving national education goals. Authorizes the Secretary to make, from reserved funds, competitive incentive awards to individual schools participating in projects assisted under this title that demonstrate exemplary progress in meeting specified program requirements. Directs the Secretary, by January 1, 1993, to report on the impact of Federal regulations, guidelines, and policies on urban public schools. Requires LEAs desiring to receive an allotment under this Act to establish a local advisory group to: (1) advise on design and conduct of a needs assessment for participating schools; (2) assist in planning for community-wide collaboration in service delivery for youths in participating schools; (3) advise the LEA and the community on how they can work together to use multiple service providers; (4) advise and assist program implementation and review program evaluation; (5) review and approve community-based organizations' applications; (6) advise on strategies for increasing parental involvement and the number of school volunteers and role models; and (7) review community-based programs' progress or national education goals. Allows use of a comparable existing local advisory group to comply with such requirement. Sets forth special rules relating to ranking of schools to determine relative need, in general, on the basis of achievement, poverty, and racial isolation. Requires each LEA receiving a grant to serve between ten and 20 percent of its schools. Requires eligible LEAs to have flexibility to serve homeless children, desegregating students, immigrants, migrants, or other highly mobile populations, within the program assisted under this title. Deems any approved program for any school served under certain ESEA title I chapter 1 provisions to be sufficient to meet the application and program accountability requirements of this title. Title II: School Building Repair and Renovation - Authorizes appropriations to assist eligible LEAs in repairing and renovating instructional facilities in city schools. Directs the Secretary to reserve one percent of such funds for monitoring activities under this title. Directs the Secretary to allot the remainder to eligible LEAs, which shall use such allotment for programs for school building repair and renovation and for programs for school environmental concerns and safety improvement. Directs the Secretary to allocate such funds on the basis of the number of: (1) children from families below the poverty line; (2) school buildings used for instructional purposes; and (3) school buildings more than 25 years old used for instructional purposes. Limits the period covered by a grant application to three years, and requires annual review by the Secretary. Lists types of programs eligible LEAs must conduct with their allotments for: (1) repair and renovation of school buildings; and (2) improvements related to environmental concerns and safety. Title III: Urban School Research - Authorizes appropriations, to carry out this title, for the National Institute for Urban Education (the Institute), established in the Department of Education by this title. Amends the Department of Education Organization Act to create an Assistant Secretary for Urban Education (the Assistant Secretary), who is to establish the Institute in the Department. Directs the Assistant Secretary to: (1) reserve 20 percent of funds for this title for operation of the Institute; and (2) from the remainder of such funds, make allotments to eligible LEAs on the basis of numbers of students. Directs the Institute to: (1) evaluate and disseminate results of activities under title I; (2) conduct research in urban education; (3) serve as a clearinghouse on urban education research findings, policies, and practices; (4) assist LEAs in developing research and evaluation to assess progress toward meeting national education goals; (5) provide training in research and evaluation; (6) design a research and evaluation strategy for assessing progress under this Act; and (7) design and test both common indicators and new multiple-measures of progress toward national education goals. Provides for an Institute Governing Board. Allows LEAs to use of funds under this title for: (1) collaborative and coordinated research and evaluation of educational techniques or approaches in multiple cities served by eligible LEAS; (2) evaluation of projects assisted under title I; (3) dissemination of information on successful projects and approaches under title I; (4) design and implementation of programs for LEA technical assistance to individual schools and teachers involved in title I projects; (5) data and information management services for schools participating in a title I program; (6) staff training in such schools; and (7) evaluation of progress in meeting national educational goals by LEAs receiving assistance under this Act; (8) staff training in test interpretation and use for diagnostic purposes; (9) information for parents on test results and interpretation; (10) research and evaluation technology and training; (11) tools for assessment of students in individualized instruction; (12) research on school policies and practices that may be barriers to student success; and (13) new, multiple, alternative assessments of student progress. Title IV: General Provisions - Establishes the Interagency Council on Urban Schools to: (1) review Federal programs to determine effects on urban schools' ability to meet national education goals; (2) track school progress toward such goals; (3) solicit advice and information for urban education experts and urban school representatives on improvement of Federal programs; (4) review Federal regulations for duplication or contradiction; (5) report annually to the Congress and the President on urban school progress; (6) review and recommend improvement or streamlinig of Federal data collection in urban schools; and (7) conduct research to help urban school practitioners improve school performance. Directs the President to conduct a White House Conference on Urban Education before October 30, 1992. Requires the Conference to: (1) develop recommendations and strategies for improving urban education; (2) marshal the forces of the private sector, governmental agencies at all levels, parents, teachers, communities, and education officials to assist urban schools in meeting national goals; and (3) conduct initial planning for a permanent national advisory commission on urban education. Requires a report to the President. Authorizes appropriations for such Conference. Establishes a National Commission on Urban Education (the Commission). Directs the Commission to: (1) study specified issues relating to urban schools; and (2) report, and recommend changes in Federal legislation, to the President and appropriate congressional committees. Terminates the Commission three years after its first meeting. Authorizes appropriations for the commission. Requires eligible LEAs to use Federal funds received under this Act only to supplement but not supplant non-Federal funds.
United States · United States Congress · 22 March 1991
Directs the American Battle Monuments Commission to establish a memorial on Federal land in the District of Columbia or its environs to honor World War II veterans and to commemorate U.S. participation in that conflict. Directs the Commission to plan, design, construct, and oversee the operation of the memorial. Specifies that such design shall provide for accessibility by, and accommodations for, the physically handicapped. Establishes the World War II Memorial Advisory Board to: (1) promote the establishment of the memorial and encourage the donation of private funds for construction and maintenance; (2) assist and cooperate with the Commission in the selection of the site and design for the memorial; and (3) transmit annual reports on its activities to the Congress. Authorizes the Commission to solicit private contributions for such memorial. Establishes a fund in the Treasury which shall be made available to the Commission to carry out this Act. Authorizes Federal funding, in addition to such private funds, for: (1) site preparation, design, planning, and associated administrative costs for establishment of the memorial; and (2) construction, maintenance, and operation of the memorial. Authorizes assistance from specified Federal departments and agencies, including the Library of Congress. Authorizes the transfer of Federal property to the Commission. Authorizes the Commission to purchase suitable property within the District of Columbia for the establishment of such memorial. Urges the Government to encourage 50th anniversary commemorations of the U.S. role in World War II. Urges the Smithsonian Institution and other Federal museums to develop commemorative exhibitions to be shared with academic institutions.
United States · United States Congress · 22 March 1991
World War II 50th Anniversary Commemorative Coin Act - Expresses the sense of the Congress that the United States should recognize the 50th anniversary of World War II by minting and issuing commemorative coins. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to issue and mint such coins in five dollar, one dollar, and half dollar denominations. Mandates that surcharges received from the sale of such coins be deposited in a coinage profit fund and allocated, upon separate congressional authorization, to the American Battle Monuments Commission to establish a World War II memorial. Directs the Secretary to report semiannually to the Congress regarding implementation of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 22 March 1991
World Summit for Children Implementation Act of 1991 - Provides for assistance in implementing the plan of action adopted by the World Summit for Children. Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) the U.S. Government should commit to increasing participation in the special supplemental food program for women, infants, and children under the Child Nutrition Act (the WIC program) by 20 percent per year in FY 1992 through 1996, to reach full participation by the end of FY 1996; and (2) specified minimum amounts should be appropriated for the WIC program in FY 1992 and 1993 to reach such full participation goal. Expresses the sense of the Congress that the commitment to provide full funding for the Head Start Program, contained in the Human Services Reauthorization Act of 1990, should be implemented in order that the goal of full participation of all eligible three- and four-year-old children can be reached by FY 1994. Amends the Public Health Service Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to undertake a Children's Vaccine Initiative. Requires that the Director of the National Vaccine Program: (1) plan and coordinate the Initiative; and (2) ensure that the Public Health Service conducts vaccine research, production, and delivery activities under the Initiative in collaboration with non-governmental institutions and with other Federal agencies to ensure the full use of U.S. scientific and industrial capacity to prevent infectious disease. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1992 and 1993. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1992 and 1993 for contributions to the United Nations Children's Fund for activities to promote child health and other assistance programs for children (to carry out specified provisions of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961). Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (the Act) to authorize appropriations for FY 1992 and 1993 for special health needs of children and mothers under the Child Survival Fund. Requires that specified minimum amounts of funds under various provisions for FY 1992 and 1993 be reserved only for such specified child survival activities. Expresses the sense of the Congress that authorization, in such amounts as may be required, should be granted to the President to exercise the (Public Law 480) debt authority with respect to least developed countries that are pursuing reforms to promote long-term economic development (as provided in specified provisions of the Agricultural Trade Development and Assistance Act of 1954, as amended by the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990). Amends the Act to establish a Vitamin A Deficiency Program. Reserves for such Program specified amounts in FY 1992 and 1993 from funds for development assistance for agriculture, rural development, and nutrition. Amends the Act to direct the President, in carrying out provisions for development assistance for health-related activities, to promote, encourage, and undertake activities relating to research on, and treatment and control of, acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) in developing countries. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1992 and 1993, for such purpose, to the International AIDS Prevention and Control Fund. Provides that such amounts shall be in addition to other amounts available for such purpose. Amends the Act to reserve specified amounts in FY 1992 and 1993, from funds for development assistance for education and under other provisions of the Act, for international basic education, including early childhood education, primary education, teacher training, other support activities, and adult literacy training. Expresses the sense of the Congress that at least specified minimum amounts should be appropriated for the Migration and Refugee Assistance account, and that at least specified minimum portions of such funds should be reserved for programs of refugee assistance overseas (in addition to amounts available for programs for Soviet, Eastern European, and other refugees resettling in Israel). Amends the Act to replace provisions for certain disadvantaged children in Asia with provisions for assistance to children in exceptionally difficult circumstances. Includes among such children street children, AIDS orphans, other orphaned and abandoned children, and children displaced by armed conflict, poverty, famine, or other disasters. Reserves specified minimum portions of certain funds under the Act in FY 1992 and 1993 for assistance for such children. Requires that such assistance be made available in accordance with policies and general authorities under certain disaster assistance provisions. Directs the President to report annually to the Congress on U.S. contributions to the achievement of the goals of the World Summit for Children, including U.S. efforts to achieve such goals in the United States and in other countries, with an analysis of past, current, and planned funding levels.
United States · United States Congress · 22 March 1991
Agricultural Extended Retirement Credit Act of 1991 - Extends creditable service under the Civil Service Retirement System for periods of service in certain Federal-State cooperative programs which had agricultural or related purposes. Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to transfer to the Department of Agriculture's Surplus Fund the savings resulting from the expedited retirement of those employees of the Department who have been extended such credit. Prohibits the obligation or expenditure of any budget authority or outlays saved in any fiscal year by reason of implementation of this Act. Requires the surplus budget authority and outlays transferred to the fund to be: (1) deposited by the Secretary in the Treasury to the credit of the Civil Service Retirement Fund, as a Government contribution; and (2) credited against pay and other personnel costs required to be sequestered under the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act). Requires the Comptroller General to notify the Congress of each instance of noncompliance with the requirements of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 22 March 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to deny a deduction for any tax imposed by a State on the pension income of a resident if the State imposes, assesses, or takes action to collect any tax on the pension income of a nonresident. Sets forth rules for allowable taxation of nonresident pension income.
United States · United States Congress · 21 March 1991
Private Property Rights Act of 1991 - Prohibits any regulation issued by an executive agency from becoming effective until that agency is certified by the Attorney General as being in compliance with Executive Order 12630 or similar procedures to assess the potential for, and minimize, the taking of private property by regulatory activity. Limits judicial review of an action taken pursuant to this Act to the question of certification. Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to: (1) study the effect this Act will have on the farm economy and agricultural production; and (2) report to specified congressional comittees on necessary actions to limit that effect and on Department of Agriculture procedures to minimize the taking of private property in regulatory procedures.
United States · United States Congress · 21 March 1991
Educational Equity Act of 1991 - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to revise the formula for determining the amount of grants to States under the chapter 1 title I program for educationally disadvantaged children. Replaces the State per pupil expenditure with the national per pupil expenditure, in such formula.
United States · United States Congress · 20 March 1991
Violence Against Women Act of 1991 - Title I: Safe Streets for Women - Safe Streets for Women Act of 1991 - Subtitle A: Mandatory Restitution, Treatment, and Rehabilitation for Sex Offenses - Requires that a court order restitution, treatment, and rehabilitation for violations of Federal sexual abuse laws, including participation in a psychotherapeutic treatment program by a licensed therapist for specified persons who committed sexual or sexual-related offenses. Specifies that: (1) the treatment program shall be designed to rehabilitate the affected person and to deter such person from committing a sexual offense after being released from the institution; and (2) treatment for a substance abuse-related condition shall be made available to such person in addition to, but not as a substitute for, counseling under such program. Sets forth provisions with respect to the period of treatment, the requirement of a complete forensic psychological assessment prior to the commencement of the treatment program, termination of treatment, supplemental chemical treatment (but the affected person may refuse to participate, or continue to participate, in supplementary chemical treatment), and the responsibilities of the Attorney General (such as contracting for treatment and documenting subsequent criminal sexual abuse). Directs the Attorney General to establish an advisory committee on therapeutic treatment for sex offenders. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle B: Law Enforcement and Prosecution Grants to Reduce Violent Crime Against Women - Amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to require the Director of the Bureau of Justice Assistance to make grants to areas of high intensity crime against women. Requires that the grants be used for personnel, training, technical assistance, data collection, and other equipment for the more widespread apprehension, prosecution, and adjudication of persons committing violent crimes against women. Authorizes the Director to make grants to States, for use by States and their subdivisions, to be used for the same purposes as the high intensity area grants and to reduce the rate of violent crimes against women. Authorizes the Director to make general grants to: (1) States to reduce violent crimes against women; and (2) Indian tribes to reduce violent crimes against women in Indian country. Authorizes the Director, in addition to the grants under this subtitle, to direct any Federal agency, with or without reimbursement, to use its authorities and resources in support of State and local assistance efforts. Authorizes appropriations. Bars any State or other grantee (recipient) from receiving funds under this title unless such recipient incurs the full cost of forensic medical exams for victims of sexual assault when such exams are required under this title. Specifies that a recipient does not incur the full medical cost of such exams if it chooses to reimburse the victim after the fact unless the reimbursement program waives any minimum loss or deductible requirement, provides victim reimbursement within a reasonable time (90 days), permits applications for reimbursement within one year from the date of the exam, and provides information to all subjects of such exams about how to obtain reimbursement. Subtitle C: Safety for Women in Public Transit and Public Parks - Directs the Secretary of Transportation, from funds authorized under existing provisions, to make capital grants for the prevention of crime and to increase security in existing and future public transportation systems. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants and loans to States and local public bodies to increase the safety of public transportation through lighting, camera surveillance, security phones, or other projects. Sets the Federal share of each project at 90 percent of the net cost. Directs the Secretary to provide grants and loans to study ways to reduce violent crimes against women in public transit through better design or operation of public transit systems. Amends the National Park System Improvements in Administration Act to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to provide assistance to reduce violent crime in the National Park System (NPS). Provides for the compilation of a list of areas within the NPS with the highest rates of violent crime. Allows funds to be used, around public parks and recreation areas, for increasing lighting, providing emergency phone lines, increasing security or law enforcement personnel, and any other project to increase security and safety. Amends the Land and Water Conservation Act of 1965 to direct the Secretary of the Interior to provide grants for capital improvements and other measures to increase safety in public parks and recreation areas. Subtitle D: National Commission on Violent Crime Against Women - Establishes the National Commission on Violent Crime Against Women to promote a national policy on violent crime against women and to make recommendations on reducing such crime. Authorizes appropriations. Terminates the Commission after submission of its final report, subject to extension by the President for up to one more year. Subtitle E: New Evidentiary Rules - Amends the Federal Rules of Evidence to exclude, notwithstanding any other provision of law and in criminal cases other than a sex offense case, reputation or opinion evidence of the past sexual behavior of a victim from admission into evidence. Allows other types of evidence of a victim's past sexual behavior in accordance with specified procedures if its probative value outweighs the danger of unfair prejudice. Makes reputation or opinion evidence of the plaintiff's past sexual behavior, notwithstanding any other provisions of law, inadmissible in a civil action involving allegations of actionable sexual misconduct. Makes other types of evidence of a plaintiff's past sexual behavior admissible in accordance with specified procedures if its probative value outweighs the danger of unfair prejudice. Defines actionable sexual misconduct to include sex harassment or discrimination claims under title VII (Equal Employment Opportunity) of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and gender bias claims under title III of this Act. Makes evidentiary rulings made under specified Federal Rules of Evidence relating to sex offense cases and the relevance of a victim's past behavior subject to interlocutory appeal by the Government or by the alleged victim. Allows the alleged victim to waive those rules if the prosecution seeks to offer evidence of prior sexual history. Makes evidence of an alleged victim's clothing, notwithstanding any other provision of law and in a criminal case under Federal laws relating to sexual abuse, inadmissible to show the victim incited or invited the offense. Subtitle F: Assistance to Victims of Sexual Assault - Amends the Public Health Service Act (PHSA) to allow States to use amounts transferred by the State under block grant provisions for rape prevention and education programs conducted by rape crisis centers or similar nongovernmental nonprofit entities. Authorizes appropriations. Removes a requirement that a minimum amount from the block grants under the PHSA be allotted to States on the basis of population. Authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services (Secretary) to make grants for research and service demonstration projects to develop and evaluate techniques for lowering the overall incidence of rape by 20 percent by the year 2000 and for reducing the trauma and long-term impact of rape. Authorizes appropriations. Title II: Safe Homes for Women - Safe Homes for Women Act - Subtitle A: Interstate Enforcement - Provides for a Federal term of imprisonment or fine, in addition to any State penalties, for any person who travels or causes another (including the intended victim) to travel across State lines or in interstate commerce with intent to injure a spouse or intimate partner and who, during the travel or thereafter, injures his or her spouse or intimate partner in violation of a criminal law of the State where the injury occurs, or in violation of a State protection order. Provides for temporary protection orders while a case under these provisions is pending. Mandates that a court order restitution to the victim of an offense under this Act. Requires, provided certain conditions are met, that a protection order issued by the court of one State be accorded full faith and credit by the court of another State. Makes a protection order issued against a person who filed a written pleading for protection not entitled to full faith and credit if no cross or counter petition, complaint, or other written pleading was filed seeking such a protection order or, if a cross or counter petition was filed, the court did not specifically find each party entitled to such an order. Subtitle B: Arrest in Spousal Abuse Cases - Amends the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act (FVPSA) to authorize the Secretary to make grants, with regard to spousal abuse, to: (1) implement pro-arrest programs and policies in police departments and improve case tracking; (2) centralize and coordinate police enforcement, prosecution, or judicial responsibility for cases in one group of officers, prosecutors, or judges; and (3) educate judges to improve judicial handling of cases. Directs the Secretary to delegate to the Attorney General responsibility to carry out these provisions. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle C: Funding for Shelters - Amends the FVPSA to authorize appropriations to carry out that Act, earmarking at least 85 percent of funds appropriated for States, and at least ten percent for Indian tribes and tribal organizations, for grants (under current law, demonstration grants) to prevent family violence and provide immediate shelter and related assistance. Limits the percentage which may be used to provide training and technical assistance to State, Indian tribal, and local domestic violence programs and to other professionals who provide services to victims of domestic violence. Subtitle D: Family Violence Prevention and Services Act Amendments - Amends the FVPSA to: (1) specify that the purpose of such Act is to increase public awareness of, as well as to prevent, family violence, and to provide for training to the courts, and legal, social service, and health professionals (current law specifies only local public agencies, nonprofit private organizations, and others seeking such assistance); and (2) grant preference in the distribution of funds to States that give special emphasis to projects including counseling and self-help services to victims and their children (current law covers counseling, alcohol and drug abuse treatment, and self-help services to abusers and victims.) Directs the Secretary to provide for the funding of domestic violence coalitions that shall further the purposes of domestic violence intervention and prevention through activities such as: (1) working with judicial and law enforcement agencies to encourage appropriate response to domestic violence cases and specified issues, such as the use of mandatory arrest of accused offenders and the use of interstate extradition in cases of domestic violence crimes; (2) working with family law judges, Child Protective Services agencies, and children's advocates to develop appropriate responses to child custody and visitation issues in domestic violence cases, and where domestic violence and child abuse are both present; and (3) conducting public education campaigns regarding domestic violence through the use of public service announcements and informative materials designed for print and electronic broadcast media, billboards, and public transit advertising. Authorizes appropriations. Sets forth provisions with respect to the allotment of funds. Requires: (1) that any State domestic violence coalition have standing to challenge whether a grantee is in compliance with the eligibility requirements, or to seek enforcement, of provisions of the FVPSA; and (2) that each such coalition submit a report to the Secretary detailing the coordination, training, technical assistance, and public education services performed, and evaluating the effectiveness of such services. Raises the limit on funding of grants in any fiscal year to any single entity (other than to a State) to $75,000 (currently, $50,000, and a $150,000 limit on the total amount of such grants to any such single entity). Modifies provisions with respect to grants to entities other than States to require that the local share as a proportion of the total amount of funds provided under such Act to the project involved be 35 percent for new programs for the first year of the program and 20 percent for each year therafter for existing programs. (Current law specifies 35 percent in the first year such project receives a grant under such Act, 55 percent in the second such year, and 65 percent in the third such year.) Repeals a provision requiring that a specified portion of State demonstration grant funds for preventing, and assisting victims of, family violence be distributed to provide shelter for victims. Includes shelter as "related assistance" that may be funded under grants for such purposes, as well as medical services, legal assistance, technical assistance with respect to obtaining financial assistance under Federal and State programs, employment training, and educational and preventive health services. Increases the minimum allotment to States for grants under the FVPSA. Requires the General Accounting Office, within 120 days, to complete a study of, and submit to the Congress a report and recommendations on, problems of recordkeeping of criminal complaints involving domestic violence. Directs the Secretary to: (1) award to not less than ten States model State leadership grants for domestic violence intervention; and (2) provide grants or contracts with public or private nonprofit organizations for the establishment and maintenance of a national resource center and six specialty resource centers focusing on one or more specified issues of concern to domestic violence victims. Sets forth eligibility requirements, funding provisions, and, with respect to the latter, reporting requirements. Subtitle E: Confidentiality for Abused Persons - Requires the Postmaster General to promulgate regulations to secure the confidentiality of abused persons' addresses. Title III: Civil Rights - Declares that all persons within the United States shall have the same rights, privileges, and immunities in every State as are enjoyed by all other persons to be free from crimes of violence motivated by the victim's gender (defined as any crime of violence, including rape, sexual assault, sexual abuse, abusive sexual contact, or any other crime of violence committed because of or on the basis of gender). Makes any person, including a person who acts under color of any statute, ordinance, regulation, custom, or usage of any State, who deprives another of the rights, privileges, and immunities secured by the Constitution and laws as enumerated by this Act liable to the injured party in an action for compensatory and punitive damages, injunctive and declaratory relief, or other relief as the court deems appropriate. Amends the Civil Rights Attorney's Fees Awards Act of 1976 to allow the awarding of attorney's fees in actions to enforce this title. Title IV: Safe Campuses for Women - Safe Campuses for Women Act - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to authorize the Secretary of Education to make, on a competitive basis, grants to and contracts with institutions of higher education for rape education and prevention programs. Requires that the grants be used to educate and provide support services to student victims of rape or sexual assault, with 25 percent of the funds available for model demonstration programs for rape prevention and education curricula and for local programs to provide services to student rape victims. Authorizes appropriations to carry out title X (Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education) of the Act. Amends the General Education Provisions Act to add sexual assault to the list of criminal offenses about which statistics must be disclosed by institutions participating in certain programs. Title V: Equal Justice for Women in the Courts - Equal Justice for Women in the Courts Act - Subtitle A: Education and Training for Judges and Court Personnel in State Courts - Authorizes the State Justice Institute to make grants for model programs to be used by States in training judges and court personnel in State laws on rape, sexual assault, domestic violence, and other crimes of violence motivated by the victim's gender. Authorizes appropriations. Requires the State Justice Institute to expend at least: (1) 40 percent of appropriated funds on programs regarding domestic violence; and (2) 40 percent on programs regarding rape and assault. Subtitle B: Education and Training for Judges and Court Personnel in Federal Courts - Directs the Federal Judicial Center to study and report on the nature and extent of gender bias in the Federal courts. Requires the Center to develop and disseminate model programs to be used in training Federal judges and court personnel in the laws on rape, sexual assault, domestic violence, and other crimes of violence motivated by the victim's gender. Authorizes appropriations. Requires between 25 and 40 percent of such funds to be used for the study required by this subtitle.
United States · United States Congress · 20 March 1991
Fairness for Adopting Families Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to permit an individual income tax deduction for qualified adoption expenses. Includes as deductible reasonable and necessary expenses that are directly related to a legal adoption of any child if the adoption has been arranged by a State, local, or other nonprofit agency, or through a private placement. Excludes from an employee's gross income any amounts paid on behalf of the employee by an employer pursuant to a qualified adoption assistance program. Limits both the deduction and the exclusion to $5,000 ($7,000 in the case of an international adoption). Reduces the amount when the taxpayer's income exceeds $60,000. Permits an employer to treat an adoption assistance program as a statutory employee benefit plan, thus making the employer's contributions to such a program tax deductible as business expenses.
United States · United States Congress · 20 March 1991
Student Counseling and Assistance Network Act of 1991 - Directs the Secretary of Education (the Secretary) to award two-year technical assistance grants to local educational agencies (LEAs) to obtain specialized training for guidance counselors, teachers, and principals to counsel students about college opportunities, precollege requirements, college admissions procedures, and financial aid opportunities. Gives priority to LEAs serving school districts with significantly high proportions of students who do not continue on to higher education and who are educationally disadvantaged. Sets forth planning, evaluation, and reporting requirements. Directs the Secretary to award grants to develop model programs for: (1) counseling students about college opportunities, precollege requirements, college admissions procedures, and financial aid opportunities, in ways designed or customized for use in specific geographic, social, and cultural environments; or (2) stimulating community partnerships with schools by providing tutoring, mentoring, work experiences, and other support services to make postsecondary education a realistic goal for all students. Gives priority to model programs directed at areas with a high proportion of minority, economically disadvantaged, or at-risk students. Sets forth requirements for: (1) either tailoring to a specific environment or community partnership with local businesses, labor organizations, or community groups; and (2) measurement of goals and outcomes. Directs the Secretary to collect, and disseminate through the National Diffusion Network, information on: (1) successful programs for counseling students about college and for early intervention to help them stay in school and pursue postsecondary education; and (2) model programs for counseling students in specific environments and for community partnership support services to make postsecondary education a realistic goal. Directs the Secretary to award a contract to establish and maintain: (1) a computerized database of all public and private student financial assistance programs, accessible to schools and libraries through modems or toll-free telephone lines; and (2) a toll-free information line to provide individualized student financial assistance information. Directs the Secretary to encourage private nonprofit agencies and organizations to work with video producers to develop and deliver public service announcements and paid advertising messages encouraging economicaly disadvantaged, minority, or at-risk individuals to seek higher education and education and student aid counseling at public schools and libraries. Directs the Secretary to keep the appropriate congressional committees informed of such efforts and recommend any additional legislative authority to serve such purposes. Sets forth administrative authority under this Act. Authorizes appropriations for technical assistance grants, model program grants, dissemination activities, and the data base and information line.
United States · United States Congress · 20 March 1991
Requires a National Conference on Aging to be conducted by a joint commission appointed by the Congress to bring together representatives of Federal, State, and local governments, individuals involved in the field of aging, and representatives of the general public to: (1) identify the problems of older individuals; (2) develop recommendations for the coordination of Federal policy with State and local needs; and (3) develop specific and comprehensive recommendations for maintaining and improving the well-being of older individuals. Authorizes appropriations.