United States · United States Congress · 14 June 2000
Recognizes that the Birmingham Pledge has made a significant contribution in fostering racial harmony and reconciliation in the United States and around the world. Commends the people involved with the Pledge's creation and signatories to it for the steps they are taking to make the Nation and the world a better place for all people. Expresses the sense of Congress that a National Birmingham Pledge Week should be established.
United States · United States Congress · 9 June 2000
Debt Buy-Down Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow individuals with adjusted income tax liability to designate on their tax returns that a portion of such liability (not to exceed ten percent) be used to reduce the public debt. Establishes a Public Debt Reduction Trust Fund for the deposit of designated amounts. Makes amounts in such Trust Fund available only to pay at maturity, or to redeem or buy before maturity, any obligation of the Federal Government included in the public debt (other than an obligation of the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund, the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund, or the Department of Defense Military Retirement Fund). Prohibits the reissuance of any obligation which is paid, redeemed, or bought with amounts from the Trust Fund. Amends the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act) to provide for the sequestration of amounts designated to the Trust Fund. Specifies accounts exempt from such sequestration. Includes aggregated amounts designated to the Trust Fund and amounts sequestered to reduce the public debt in sequestration preview and final reports.
United States · United States Congress · 8 June 2000
National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act of 2000 - Amends the National Historic Preservation Act to prescribe guidelines under which the Secretary of the Interior (Secretary) shall implement a national historic light station program. Directs the Secretary and the Administrator of General Services (Administrator) to establish a process and policy for identifying and selecting an eligible entity for: (1) conveyance of historic light stations for preservation purposes; and (2) monitoring the use of such stations. Prescribes application review and conveyance procedures. States that the conveyance recipient shall not be required to maintain any Federal aid to navigation associated with a historic light station (except certain statutorily permitted private aids). Precludes submerged lands from any such conveyance. Mandates offer for sale of any historic light station for which no applicants for conveyance are approved. Sets forth guidelines under which net sale proceeds shall be distributed to either the National Maritime Heritage Grant Program or the Coast Guard's Operating Expenses appropriation account. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 8 June 2000
Debt Reduction Reconciliation Act of 2000 - Amends Federal public finance provisions to establish the Public Debt Reduction Payment Account in the Treasury. Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to use amounts in the Account to pay at maturity, or redeem or buy before maturity, any Government obligation held by the public and included in the public debt. Provides that any obligation which is paid, redeemed, or bought with amounts from the Account shall be canceled and retired and prohibits its reissuance. Provides that if the Congressional Budget Office estimates an on-budget surplus for FY 2000 in a report submitted to the congressional budget committees pursuant to the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 that exceeds the amount of the surplus for such fiscal year set forth in the concurrent resolution on the budget for FY 2001 (H. Con. Res. 290, 106th Congress), then an amount equal to that excess is appropriated into the Account for FY 2000. Prohibits such appropriation from being considered as direct spending for purposes of pay-as-you-go provisions of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act). Reduces the public debt limit by the amount appropriated into the Account. Bars Account receipts and disbursements from being counted as new budget authority, outlays, receipts, or deficit or surplus for purposes of : (1) the Federal Government budget as submitted by the President; (2) the congressional budget; or (3) the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act. Requires the Secretary to report to Congress on the Account.
United States · United States Congress · 7 June 2000
Declares that Congress: (1) condemns the use of children as soldiers by governmental and nongovernmental armed forces worldwide; (2) welcomes the optional protocol on the use of child soldiers as a critical first step in ending such use; and (3) applauds the decision by the U.S. Government to support such protocol. Calls on: (1) President Clinton to sign such protocol and the Senate to ratify it as quickly as possible; (2) the President and Congress to work together to enact a law that establishes a fund for the rehabilitation and reintegration into society of child soldiers; and (3) the Departments of State and Defense to undertake all possible efforts to persuade and encourage other governments to ratify and endorse such protocol.
United States · United States Congress · 6 June 2000
Citizen Legislature Empowerment through Access to Resources (CLEAR) Act - Instructs the Director of the Congressional Research Service (CRS) to make the following Congressional Research Service information available to the public through a centralized electronic database: (1) Issue Briefs; (2) CRS Reports which are available to Members of Congress through the Congressional Research Service; and (3) Authorization of Appropriations Products and Appropriations Products. Expresses the sense of Congress that each standing and special committee of the House of Representatives and Senate, and each joint committee of Congress, should provide access to the public through the Internet to publicly available committee information, documents, and proceedings, including bills, reports, and transcripts of committee meetings which are open to the public.
United States · United States Congress · 25 May 2000
Redesignates the United States Postal Service facility known as the Kensington Station, at 1602 Frankford Avenue in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as the Joseph F. Smith Post Office Building.
United States · United States Congress · 25 May 2000
Providing Annual Pap Tests to Save Women's Lives Act of 2000 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to extend coverage of screening pap smears and screening pelvic exams to annual examinations regardless of whether a woman is of childbearing age or at high-risk.
United States · United States Congress · 25 May 2000
Steel and Metal Consumers Radioactivity Protection Act - Directs the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to establish a standard that controls the free release of radioactively contaminated scrap metal from the Department of Energy or nuclear fuel cycle facilities. Prohibits the NRC and agreement States from taking any action to facilitate, implement, promulgate, or issue any administrative guidance that would allow the free release into commerce of radioactively contaminated scrap metal until such standard has been established. Mandates that: (1) radioactively contaminated equipment, devices, commodities, and other materials approved for release to persons exempt from NRC licensing requirements be released only pursuant to regulations governing the release of byproduct and source material under the Atomic Energy Act of 1954; and (2) the Departments of Defense and of Energy and all other agencies that oversee or control the release of radioactively contaminated metals adopt standards no less stringent than those established by the NRC. Directs the U.S. Customs Service to monitor and enforce such standards at U.S. borders. Instructs the Secretary of State to work with international standard-writing bodies to adopt standards consistent with those of the NRC. Sets forth interim certification guidelines governing scrap metal imported into the United States. Sets forth civil penalties for violations of this Act. Instructs the Secretary of Commerce to present an annual violations list to Congress.
United States · United States Congress · 25 May 2000
Tax Fairness for Tribal Governments Act of 2000 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to treat employment by federally recognized tribal governments, for unemployment compensation tax purposes, in the same manner as employment by State or local units of government or nonprofit organizations.
United States · United States Congress · 25 May 2000
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to revise the definition of electing small business trust to permit as a beneficiary, in addition to the current permitted beneficiaries, a State, a U.S. possession, or the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 25 May 2000
Amends Internal Revenue Code provisions concerning designated settlement funds to exempt from tax any designated settlement fund established for the principal purpose of resolving and satisfying present and future claims relating to asbestos. Sets forth special rules concerning asbestos liability losses.
United States · United States Congress · 25 May 2000
Amends the Internal Revenue Code respecting tax exempt mortgage issues to include a specified median family income-based alternative purchase price limitation.
United States · United States Congress · 24 May 2000
New Markets Venture Capital Program Act of 2000 - Amends the Small Business Investment Act of 1958 to direct the Small Business Administration (SBA) to establish a New Markets Venture Capital Program, under which the SBA may: (1) enter into participation agreements with approved new market venture capital companies (companies) for the making of developmental venture capital investments in smaller enterprises in low or moderate income geographic areas; (2) guarantee debentures issued by companies; and (3) make operational assistance grants to such companies. Makes eligible as a participating company in the Program one which: (1) is a newly formed for-profit entity or newly formed for-profit subsidiary of an existing company; (2) has a management team with experience in community development financing or relevant venture capital financing; and (3) has a primary objective of economic development of low or moderate income geographic areas. Outlines application requirements and SBA selection criteria, requiring the SBA to ensure that companies are chosen so that investments under the Program will be made nationwide. Outlines conditions to be met by each company before final approval, including: (1) a capital investment requirement of at least $5 million from investors who meet SBA-established criteria; and (2) binding commitments with non-SBA sources for Program operational assistance. Authorizes the SBA to: (1) guarantee the timely payment of principal and interest on debentures issued by companies, not to exceed 150 percent of the company capital; (2) issue trust certificates representing ownership of all or a fractional part of SBA-guaranteed debentures; (3) make grants to companies and to other entities such as specialized small business investment companies to provide operational assistance for the benefit of smaller enterprises financed by such companies or other entities; and (4) charge fees with respect to any guarantee or grant issued. Authorizes any national bank, member bank of the Federal Reserve System, and any other insured bank to invest in any company or in any entity established to invest solely in such companies. Limits such investment to five percent of such bank's capital and surplus. Requires each company to provide the SBA with any required information. Subjects each company to examinations made at the direction of the Investment Division of the SBA. Authorizes the SBA to obtain injunctions and other relief against companies violating requirements of this Act, which shall include: (1) voiding an operative participation agreement; and (2) a finding of breach of fiduciary duty in unlawful acts and omissions by company officers, directors, employees, or agents. Authorizes appropriations for FY 2000 through 2005 to carry out this Act. (Sec. 4) Revises provisions concerning the determination of the maximum amount of outstanding leverage made available to a company after March 31, 1993, for purposes of the Small Business Investment Act of 1958 to direct the SBA Administrator, in calculating such amount, to exclude any equity investment made by a company in a smaller enterprise located in a low or moderate income geographic area, to the extent that such amount does not exceed 50 percent of the company's private capital. (Sec. 5) Exempts a company from debtor status under Federal bankruptcy law. (Sec. 6) Amends the Home Owners' Loan Act to authorize a Federal savings association to invest in company securities, with an investment limit of five percent of the association's capital and surplus.
United States · United States Congress · 19 May 2000
Water Pollution Program Improvement Act of 2000 - Requires the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to make arrangements with the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) to conduct a study on the: (1) scientific basis underlying the development and implementation of total maximum daily loads for pollutants in waters for which effluent limitations under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act are not stringent enough to implement applicable water quality standards; (2) costs of implementing measures to comply with such loads; and (3) availability of alternative programs or mechanisms to reduce the discharge of pollutants from point sources and nonpoint source pollution to achieve water quality standards. Requires the NAS to report on the study to the Administrator and specified congressional committees. Provides for Federal, State, and private sector comments on such report. Authorizes appropriations. Requires the Administrator, before making a final determination with respect to the Proposed Revisions to the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Program and Federal Antidegradation Policy and the Proposed Revisions to the Water Quality Planning and Management Regulations Concerning Total Maximum Daily Loads of August 1999, to: (1) review the NAS report and incorporate recommendations into the proposed revisions; and (2) publish in the Federal Register and receive public comment on incorporated recommendations and those that weren't incorporated, with an explanation why they were not incorporated. Bars the Administrator from making such final determination until the conclusion of the public notice and comment period. Prohibits the Administrator, for purposes of ensuring that States continue to have exclusive authority to regulate nonpoint sources of pollution, from: (1) taking any action to affect any definition of, or distinction made between, point and nonpoint sources of pollution contained in an EPA rule in effect on June 1, 2000; and (2) requiring approval of any measures set forth by a State to control nonpoint sources of pollution pursuant to the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, except as authorized under specified provisions regarding nonpoint source management programs.
United States · United States Congress · 19 May 2000
Prohibits the Secretary of Transportation and the Administrator of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) from taking any action to finalize, implement, or enforce the proposed rule entitled "Hours of Service of Drivers" published by FMCSA in the Federal Register on May 2, 2000. Requires the Administrator to extend by 90 days the period for public comment on such rule.
United States · United States Congress · 18 May 2000
Protecting America's Wolves Act - Directs the Secretary of the Interior to prepare and publish a recovery plan for the Eastern Timber Wolf in the Northeastern United States, including a plan for releasing such wolves in the Catskill Mountains, New York. Requires that such Plan include: (1) goals for biological recovery of such wolf; (2) a process and method for obtaining such wolves from Canada; (3) an outline of how releases will proceed; (4) a determination of the number of such wolves that should be released to ensure a self-sustaining population; (5) a process for compensating New York residents for depredation of livestock by such wolves, including establishment of the Protecting Eastern Timber Wolf Restoration Mitigation Fund; and (6) a study of the feasibility of releasing such wolves in other parts of New York and of reducing road densities in certain areas of New York to provide for wolf dispersal corridors. Prohibits applying the exception under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 with respect to experimental populations to any population of such wolves released under this Act. Authorizes the Secretary to acquire land for sites for releases of such wolves. Requires the Secretary to begin releasing such wolves on such land by the latest of: (1) the date that is three years after this Act's enactment date; (2) the date on which the Secretary has obtained such wolves; or (3) the date on which the Secretary has obtained such land for that release. Directs the Secretary to designate areas in New York as critical habitat of such wolf for purposes of such Act.
United States · United States Congress · 18 May 2000
Amends Federal law to direct the Postal Service to establish a special (semipostal) postage rate for first-class mail in order to afford the public a convenient way to contribute to funding for the establishment of the World War II Memorial. Expresses the sense of Congress that nothing in this Act should: (1) directly or indirectly cause a net decrease in total funds received by the American Battle Monuments Commission below the level that would otherwise have been received but for the enactment of this section; or (2) affect regular first-class rates of postage or any other regular rates of postage.
United States · United States Congress · 17 May 2000
Amends part A (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) (TANF) of title IV of the Social Security Act (SSA) to restore the authority of States to transfer up to ten percent of TANF funds to carry out State programs pursuant to SSA title XX (Block Grants to States for Social Services). Amends SSA title XX to restore funds to States and territories for FY 2001 and each fiscal year thereafter and to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to compile the information submitted by the States and report it annually to Congress.
United States · United States Congress · 16 May 2000
Prohibits the President from regulating or prohibiting, directly or indirectly, travel to or from Cuba by U.S. citizens or legal residents, or any of specified transactions incident to such travel. Declares that: (1) this prohibition does not authorize the importation into the United States of any goods for personal consumption acquired in Cuba; and (2) the restrictions on authority contained in this Act do not apply in a case in which the United States is at war with Cuba, armed hostilities between the two countries are in progress, or there is imminent danger to the public health or the physical safety of U.S. travelers.
United States · United States Congress · 16 May 2000
Child Support Distribution Act of 2000 - Title I: Distribution of Child Support - Amends part A (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) (TANF) of title IV of the Social Security Act to: (1) modify the rule requiring assignment of support rights to the State as a condition for receiving TANF; (2) revise child support payment and distribution guidelines; and (3) mandate that State plans for child and spousal support ban the use of TANF to recover Medicaid costs for the birth of a child for whom support rights have been assigned. (Sec. 101) Amends the Foster Care Independence Act of 1999 to accelerate from September 30, 2001, to September 30, 2000, the repeal of hold harmless provisions governing the increased State share of distribution of collected child support. Title II: Review and Adjustment of Child Support Orders - Requires State plans to prescribe mandatory triennial review and update of child support orders for TANF recipients, including certification that the child support enforcement program will receive notice when certain families leave the TANF program. Title III: Expanded Information and Enforcement - Instructs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make a public report containing separate sets of recommendations regarding participation of certain public and private child support enforcement agencies in child support enforcement, including privacy safeguards, data security, and due process rights. Subtitle A: State Option to Provide Information and Enforcement Mechanisms to Public Non-IV-D Child Support Enforcement Agencies - Requires State plans for child and spousal support to set forth a State plan option to provide information and enforcement mechanisms to public non-IV-D child support enforcement agencies, including all information in the State Directory of New Hires and information obtained through certain information comparisons. (Sec. 312) Authorizes a State agency implementing such option to use certain enforcement mechanisms, including: (1) Federal tax refund intercepts; (2) reports of arrearages to credit bureaus, (3) passport sanctions; (4) financial institution data matches; and (5) use of income withholding for unemployment insurance benefits. Subtitle B: State Option to Provide Information and Enforcement Mechanisms to Private Child Support Enforcement Agencies - Requires State plans for child and spousal support to set forth a State plan option to provide the same information and enforcement mechanisms to private child support enforcement agencies as apply to their public non-IV-D child support enforcement agency counterparts. Title IV: Expanded Enforcement - Decreases the amount of child support arrearage which will trigger passport denial. Sets forth limitations upon garnishment of compensation paid to veterans for service-connected disabilities in order to enforce child support obligations. (Sec. 403) Authorizes use of the tax refund intercept program to collect past-due child support on behalf of children who are not minors. Title V: Fatherhood Programs - Subtitle A: Fatherhood Grant Program - Sets forth the parameters of a fatherhood grant program to promote marriage, parenting and employment building skills. Subtitle B: Fatherhood Projects of National Significance - Instructs the Secretary to award a grant to a nationally recognized, nonprofit fatherhood promotion organization to develop and promote marriage and responsible fatherhood, including a national clearinghouse to disseminate information regarding media campaigns and fatherhood programs. Title VI: Financing - Amends the Welfare-to-Work Grants Program to repeal the set-aside of welfare-to-work funds for successful performance bonus. Title VII: Miscellaneous - Instructs the Secretary to: (1) report to certain congressional committees on undistributed child support payments; and (2) disclose to a State unemployment compensation agency the putative employer of an individual listed in the National Directory of New Hires. (Sec. 704) Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to: (1) declare that nonimmigrant aliens are ineligible to receive visas and excluded from admission for nonpayment of adjudicated child support; and (2) authorize immigration officers to serve an alien applicant for admission to the United States with legal process with respect to any action to enforce or establish a legal obligation to pay child support. Makes conforming amendments to the TANF program to authorize the Secretary to share child support enforcement information to enforce Immigration and Naturalization law. (Sec. 705) Amends the Welfare-to-Work Grants Program to correct errors in conforming amendments in the Welfare-to-Work and Child Support Amendments of 1999. Title VIII: Effective Date - Sets forth the effective date of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 16 May 2000
Expresses the sense of the Congress that U.S. policy should: (1) support the restoration of democracy in Burma, including implementation of the results of the 1990 elections; (2) continue to call upon the military regime in Burma known as the State Peace and Development Council to guarantee freedoms of assembly, movement, speech, and the press for all Burmese citizens, to accept a political dialogue with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the National League for Democracy, and ethnic leaders to advance peace, to release all detained Members elected to the 1990 parliament and other political prisoners, and to uphold the terms and conditions of all human rights and related resolutions passed by the United Nations General Assembly, the Commission on Human Rights, the International Labor Organization, and the European Union; and (3) sustain current economic and political sanctions against Burma as the appropriate means of securing the restoration of democracy, human rights, and civil liberties and of supporting U.S. national security counternarcotics interests.
United States · United States Congress · 3 May 2000
United States Capitol Fire Protection Act of 2000 - Establishes in the Office of the Architect of the Capitol the position of Director of Fire Safety and Protection to assume responsibility for all fire safety and protection activities of the Architect of the Capitol. Directs the Architect of the Capitol to assign at least 12 full-time employees to the Director.
United States · United States Congress · 2 May 2000
East Timor Repatriation and Security Act of 2000 - Declares the sense of Congress that the U.S. Government should utilize all diplomatic and economic means to press for: (1) the safe repatriation to East Timor of all East Timorese in West Timor and elsewhere who wish to return; (2) an end to border incidents, infiltration of militias, and to any other violent actions by militias and the armed forces of the Republic of Indonesia against the people or territory of East Timor; (3) processes and prosecutions leading to justice for the victims of the 1999 violence in East Timor; (4) rapid reconstruction of East Timor, including maximum consultation with and inclusion of local personnel; and (5) a significant increase in employment for East Timorese in all internationally-sponsored reconstruction and United Nations efforts relating to East Timor. Prohibits resumption of U.S. military relations with, and military assistance for, the armed forces of the Republic of Indonesia suspended by the President on September 9, 1999, until the President certifies to Congress that the Government and armed forces of Indonesia provide for: (1) the territorial integrity of East Timor; (2) the security and safe return of refugees; and (3) have brought to justice those individuals who have committed murder, rape, torture, and other crimes against humanity in East Timor and elsewhere. Recognizes and salutes those members of the U.S. Armed Forces who have assisted the international peacekeeping operation in East Timor.
United States · United States Congress · 13 April 2000
ICCVAM Authorization Act of 2000 - States that the Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Validation of Alternative Methods (ICCVAM) shall be sustained as a permanent standing committee administered by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. Sets forth ICCVAM objectives, including: (1) increasing the efficiency of Federal test method review; and (2) reducing animal testing. Directs the Institute to establish a Scientific Advisory Committee. Requires each Federal agency to: (1) identify and forward to ICCVAM those guidelines or regulations it follows requiring or recommending animal testing; (2) promote valid alternatives to animal testing; and (3) adopt ICCVAM recommendations unless such recommendations are inadequate or unsatisfactory.
United States · United States Congress · 13 April 2000
National Science Education Act - Amends the National Science Foundation Act of 1950 (NSFA) to establish and expand programs relating to science, mathematics, engineering, and technology education. (Sec. 3) Provides that nothing in this Act may be construed to authorize any Federal department, agency, officer, or employee to exercise any direction, supervision, or control over the curriculum, program of instruction, administration, or personnel of any educational institution or school system. (Sec. 4) Requires the NSF Director to make grants to State or local educational agencies (SEAs or LEAs) or private elementary or middle schools to hire master teachers. Requires grant applicants to describe their requirements for master teachers and how professional development will be integrated with their mathematics or science program. Requires such master teachers to: (1) provide support for not more than ten teachers at public and private schools in mathematics, science, engineering, or technology programs for students in kindergarten through the eighth grade; and (2) be responsible for in-classroom assistance and oversight of hands-on inquiry materials, equipment, and supplies, including supplying and repairing such materials. Requires such grants to be made out of funds available for the NSF for Education and Human Resources Activities. (Sec. 5) Authorizes the Director to make competitive grants to secondary school and college students working with university faculty, software developers, and experts in educational technology, or to such faculty, developers, and experts working with such students, to develop high-quality educational software and Internet web sites. Requires the Director to: (1) designate official judges to recognize outstanding educational software and Internet web sites, developed with such assistance, that focus on core curriculum areas; (2) issue a certificate signed by the President and Director to each student and faculty member who develops such recognized software and sites; and (3) give priority to awarding grants to develop such software or sites in the areas of mathematics, science, engineering, and technology. (Sec. 6) Establishes in NSF a working group to review and coordinate regular and supplemental curricula in kindergarten through the 12th grade for science, mathematics, engineering, and technology. (Sec. 7) Requires the Director, subject to appropriations, to make demonstration project grants to eligible LEAS, which may use such funds to: (1) develop an information technology program that builds or expands mathematics, science, and information technology curricula; (2) purchase equipment necessary to establish such program; and (3) provide professional development in such fields. Requires such LEAs to enter into conditional agreements with representatives of the private sector which will participate by providing services and funds, including: (1) donating computer hardware and software; (2) establishing internship and mentoring opportunities for student participants in such program; and (3) donating higher education scholarship funds for eligible students who have participated in such program. Sets forth requirements for program applications, guidelines, assessment, study, and report. Authorizes appropriations to NSF for such program. Limits the maximum amount of such a grant award to any eligible LEA. (Sec. 8) Requires the Director, with the Secretary of Education, to compile and disseminate information on: (1) standard prerequisites for middle school and high school students who seek to enter a course of study at an institution of higher education in science, mathematics, engineering, or technology education for purposes of teaching in an elementary or secondary school; and (2) the licensing requirements in each State for science, mathematics, engineering, or technology elementary or secondary school teachers. (Sec. 9) Requires the Director to enter into an agreement with the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) for NAS to compile and evaluate studies on the effectiveness of technology in the classroom on learning and student performance, as measured by State standardized tests. Authorizes appropriations to NSF for such study-evaluation. (Sec. 10) Requires the Director to establish a grant program under which grants may be made for instruction of teachers for grades kindergarten through the 12th grade in the use of technology in the classroom. (Sec. 11) Authorizes the Director to award grants to assist States in reaching the goal of making all middle school graduates technology-literate. Requires such grants to be used for teacher training in technology, with an emphasis on programs that prepare one or more teachers in each middle school in the State to become technology leaders who then serve as experts and train other teachers. Requires States to encourage schools that receive such assistance to provide matching funds. (Sec. 12) Requires the Director to convene, as the National Science Education Forum, a conference of representatives from Federal, State, and local governments, private industries, professional organizations, educators, science, mathematics, engineering, and technology educational resource providers, students, and other stakeholders. (Sec. 13) Authorizes the Director to make grants to SEAs or LEAs or private elementary, middle, or secondary schools, under any grant program administered by the Director using funds appropriated for the NSF for Education and Human Resources Activities, for activities in which distance learning is integrated into the education process in kindergarten through the 12th grade. (Sec. 14) Requires the Director to make available through the Internet at no cost a complete field-test version of any curricular program for which the NSF provided development funds. (Sec. 15) Directs the President, acting through the NSF, to provide scholarships to teachers at public and private schools in kindergarten through the 12th grade to participate in Federal, State, or private research programs. Requires the Director to establish an Internet web site which may be used by students and teachers participating in such program to incorporate research knowledge and techniques into the educational process.
United States · United States Congress · 13 April 2000
Digital Divide Access to Technology Act of 2000 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide that computers and Internet access provided by an employer to employees shall be treated as a "de minimis fringe" benefit (and thus excluded from gross income) provided specified requirements are met.
United States · United States Congress · 13 April 2000
National Science Education Incentive Act of 2000 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) permit an eligible science, engineering, math, or technology teacher a limited credit for undergraduate tuition; and (2) permit an elementary and secondary science, mathematics, engineering, and technology credit (SMET) credit for qualified contributions of property or service to qualified elementary and secondary schools.
United States · United States Congress · 13 April 2000
Great Lakes Protection and Restoration Act of 2000 - Title I: Sediment Remediation Grant Program - Great Lakes Legacy Act of 2000 - Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to authorize the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, acting through the Great Lakes National Program Office, to make grants to States, Indian tribes, regional agencies, and local governments to carry out qualified projects that: (1) remediate contaminated sediment; (2) prevent further or renewed contamination of sediment; or (3) monitor or evaluate contaminated sediment. Sets forth limitations on projects. Requires the non-Federal share of project costs to be at least 35 percent and 100 percent for project operation and maintenance costs. Conditions grants on a grantee achieving a specified maintenance of effort requirement with respect to expenditures from other sources for remediation programs. Requires grant applicants to demonstrate that project remedial actions have been selected only after consideration of specified health and environmental risks, benefits, impacts, implementation likelihood, and costs. Authorizes appropriations. Title II: Moratorium on Exports of Bulk Fresh Water - Prohibits the export from the United States of bulk fresh water from the Great Lakes Basin. Makes such prohibition inapplicable on the earlier of: (1) December 31, 2001; or (2) the effective date of an Act of Congress approving an agreement among the Great Lakes States to implement a mechanism that provides for a common conservation standard to make decisions concerning the withdrawal and use of water from the Basin. Defines "bulk fresh water" as fresh water extracted in amounts intended for transportation by tanker or similar form of mass transportation without further processing.
United States · United States Congress · 13 April 2000
Amends the Federal criminal code (the code) to prohibit any person from operating a motor vehicle at land border ports of entry with a drug or alcohol in his or her body in violation of applicable State law. Deems any individual who operates a motor vehicle at a land border port of entry to have given consent to submit to a test of the driver's blood, breath, or urine for drugs or alcohol by an officer or employee (officer) of the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). Directs the Attorney General to notify the State or foreign state that issued an individual's motor vehicle license or that is the residence of such individual of any refusal by such individual to submit to such a test and of any conviction of an individual under this Act for violating this Act. (Sec. 2) Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) to authorize an INS officer who: (1) inspects a driver at a land border port of entry and who has reasonable grounds to believe that the driver may be operating a motor vehicle in violation of State laws to require the driver to submit to a breath test to determine the presence or concentration of the alcohol; and (2) arrests a driver for such prohibited operation of a motor vehicle to require the driver to submit to a drug or alcohol test. (Sec. 3) Amends the INA to require the Attorney General, at each point where motor vehicles regularly enter a land border port of entry, to post a notice that operation of a motor vehicle with a drug or alcohol in the driver's body at a land border port of entry is an offense under Federal law. (Sec. 4) Directs the Attorney General to issue regulations authorizing an INS officer to impound a vehicle if the individual who operates it refuses to submit to such a test.
United States · United States Congress · 13 April 2000
Fishable Waters Act of 2000 - Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (the Act) to require States, in order to be eligible for assistance under the Fishable Waters Act of 2000, to establish programs for the protection and restoration of fresh water, estuarine, and marine fisheries habitat and for the enhancement of access for fisheries uses through watershed planning and the implementation of projects and measures that meet such Act's requirements. Establishes minimum program requirements. Authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture (the Secretary), upon approval of a program submitted by a State, to: (1) make grants to the State for program administration; and (2) enter into a memorandum of understanding with the State under which the State may make grants to designated watershed councils for development of comprehensive fisheries habitat protection, restoration, and enhancement plans and interim recommendations that address high priority factors causing imminent adverse impacts or threats to fisheries habitat located in high priority portions of waters within a watershed. Permits States to designate watershed councils to carry out comprehensive fisheries habitat protection, restoration, and enhancement plans that meet specified minimum requirements. Sets forth council requirements. Requires States, in designating such councils, to give preference to existing councils or similar bodies organized under other authorities for purposes similar to those under this Act. Makes designated councils eligible to receive funding to carry out planning functions. Requires councils to collect and consider the best available scientific information and develop additional data and information as necessary. Provides for revisions or updates of comprehensive fisheries plans at least once every five years. Requires submission of plans or interim recommendations to the State for approval. Makes projects and measures that support or implement specific recommendations contained in a plan or interim recommendation eligible for financial support from a State's fisheries habitat account established pursuant to this Act. Authorizes States to provide funds from a fisheries habitat account to persons who enter into binding contracts for implementation of projects and measures recommended by councils pursuant to approved plans or interim recommendations. Prohibits expenditures from such accounts for the planning, engineering, design, or construction of dams or of roads on public lands. Requires States to establish a system of limits on the maximum percentage of total costs for a project that may be provided from such accounts based on a priority ranking of recommendations. Permits expenditures from such accounts for the payment of up to 15 percent of required non-Federal shares under certain Federal environmental, agriculture, forestry, wildlife, flood control, and water resources programs if recommended in a plan or interim recommendations. Authorizes, if specifically recommended in a plan or interim recommendations, increases in expenditures pursuant to Federal programs for flood damage compensation for loss of crops, livestock, or structures with respect to specifically designated lands within a watershed that would be subject to increased flooding due to certain recommended projects. Requires the baseline jurisdictional status of any agricultural lands on which wetlands may be created or expanded as a result of flooding or altered drainage pursuant to such projects to revert to their baseline jurisdictional status upon termination of any project agreement. Provides that a permit under the Act shall not be required for discharges from any wetlands created or expanded for agricultural pollution control purposes if pollutants entering such wetlands result only from normal agricultural practices such as crop production, raising of livestock, or silvicultural activities. Directs the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Director of the Fish and Wildlife Service, to establish a community fisheries habitat revitalization program. Requires the Secretary of the Interior, pursuant to such program, to provide funding and technical assistance to State fish and wildlife agencies for development and construction of projects designed to improve urban watersheds and public access to the waters of such watersheds in order to restore fisheries habitat or enhance fisheries uses and to provide recreational opportunities. Describes eligible projects and project priorities. Requires the Secretary of the Interior to report annually to Congress on the program. Directs the Secretary of the Interior to establish a community fisheries habitat clearinghouse to support local implementation of projects under the program. Sets forth limitations on funding under the program. Authorizes appropriations. Requires the Secretary to publish a report at least biennially on the progress of watershed council programs. Directs the Secretary of the Interior to publish a report at least biennially describing the state of the Nation's fishery habitats as well as the overall progress being achieved in protecting and restoring such habitats. Requires the Secretary of the Interior to compile and provide scientific information for consideration by State fish and wildlife agencies in developing fisheries-related indicators and associated habitat characteristics and for consideration by councils in characterizing waters and establishing watershed objectives pursuant to this Act. Authorizes such factors to be established by such agencies to set forth the appropriate factors, indicators, measurements, and other considerations which will be indicative of a healthy, resilient, diverse, and productive aquatic system and may distinguish among general categories of fisheries based upon natural variations. Requires the Secretary to make grants to States for fisheries programs approved under this Act. Authorizes appropriations. Requires States with approved programs to establish fisheries habitat accounts for providing financial support for projects and measures recommended by watershed councils. Authorizes appropriations for grants to States to enable States to provide funds to any person, through a fisheries habitat account, for implementation of: (1) any measures for restricting livestock access to waters within a designated watershed and for providing alternative water supplies for such livestock; and (2) approved recommendations. Requires the Secretary to provide Congress with an annual survey of projected funding needs for States with approved fisheries programs. Authorizes appropriations to the Secretary, the Secretary of the Interior, and the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to carry out responsibilities under this Act. Requires the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Directors of the Fish and Wildlife Service and the Geological Survey, to establish a national planning program for protection and restoration of fisheries habitat through improved floodplain management practices on major waterways. Directs the Secretary of the Interior to issue information describing methodologies for identifying instream flows necessary to protect fisheries habitat. Requires the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Directors of the Geological Survey and the Fish and Wildlife Service, to provide technical assistance and prepare and disseminate technical information on fisheries-related needs for instream flows to the public. Authorizes appropriations for expenditures related to support the maintenance of designated instream flows or volumes. Treats Indian tribes as States for purposes of this Act. (Sec. 4) Reauthorizes appropriations for FY 2002 through 2006 under the Act for grants for: (1) implementation of nonpoint source pollution control management programs; and (2) groundwater quality protection activities to advance States toward implementation of comprehensive nonpoint source pollution control programs. Authorizes appropriations for such years to carry out this Act as well.
United States · United States Congress · 13 April 2000
Identity Theft Prevention Act of 2000 - Amends the Truth In Lending Act to prescribe obligations of a credit card issuer with respect to: (1) confirmation of cardholder change of address; and (2) notification to the cardholder of a request for additional cards. (Sec. 3) Amends the Fair Credit Reporting Act to require a consumer reporting agency to submit notification of potential fraud to each creditor using a consumer report whenever the agency learns of a card application bearing a different address for the consumer than the one in the consumer's file. States that compliance with this Act shall be enforced by the following agencies with respect to entities under their jurisdiction that are also issuers of credit cards: (1) the Federal Trade Commission (FTC); (2) the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency; (3) the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve Board; (4) the Board of Directors of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation; (5) the Director of the Office of Thrift Supervision; and (6) the Administrator of the National Credit Union Administration. (Sec. 4) Amends the Fair Credit Reporting Act to require a consumer reporting agency and users of consumer credit information to comply with certain fraud alert procedures. Sets forth penalties for noncompliance. (Sec. 5) Directs the FTC to promulgate regulations to require each consumer reporting agency to investigate discrepancies between certain information contained in its files with information supplied by the user of the consumer report. (Sec. 6) Amends the Fair Credit Reporting Act to mandate, upon request, one free annual disclosure to a consumer by a consumer reporting agency. (Sec. 8) Requires an individual reference services provider to disclose, upon request and proper identification of the consumer, all information contained in its files pertaining to such consumer. (Sec. 9) Directs the FTC to develop model forms and standard procedures for consumers to inform creditors and credit reporting agencies of identity fraud.
United States · United States Congress · 13 April 2000
National Science Education Enhancement Act - Provides that nothing in this Act may be construed to authorize any Federal department, agency, officer, or employee to exercise any direction, supervision, or control over the curriculum, program of instruction, administration, or personnel of any educational institution or school system. Title I: Amendments to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 - Revises the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) with respect to teacher professional development activities to include support for mentoring activities for science, mathematics, engineering, and technology teachers. (Sec. 101) Includes information on model science, mathematics, engineering, and technology teacher mentoring programs among the information which the Eisenhower National Clearinghouse for Mathematics and Science Education (Clearinghouse) is required to disseminate. Requires States, in their plans in applications for teacher professional development grants, to describe how they will: (1) administer a mentoring system to ensure consistent implementation of mentoring programs for science, mathematics, engineering, and technology teachers; (2) provide a structure for local mentoring program evaluation; (3) provide technical assistance to local mentoring programs; (4) ensure compliance by local mentoring programs with State teacher training requirements; and (5) provide incentives for local educational agencies (LEAs) to take mentoring into consideration in assessing instructional staff hiring needs. Requires local activities under the teacher professional development program to include mentoring programs for novice teachers of science, mathematics, engineering, and technology. Requires States to include, in their accountability reports under the teacher professional development program, the impact of State and local mentoring programs on teaching quality and teacher retention rates. (Sec. 102) Revises ESEA provisions for the allocation and use of funds for the Clearinghouse. Requires such funds to be used to: (1) solicit and gather qualitative and evaluative materials and programs, review their evaluation, rank their effectiveness, and distribute results of reviews, as well as excerpts of materials and links to Internet sites and information on on-line communities of users to teachers; and (2) establish an Internet site offering a search mechanism to assist site visitors in identifying information on science, mathematics, engineering, and technology education instructional materials and programs, including electronic links to information on classroom demonstrations and experiments, teachers who have used materials or participated in programs, vendors, curricula, and textbooks. Directs the Clearinghouse to give particular attention to the effective use of materials and technology in science, mathematics, engineering, and technology education. Directs the National Academy of Sciences to study and report on the Clearinghouse. (Sec. 103) Authorizes the Secretary of Education to make competitive grants, from specified ESEA funds, for summer professional development institutes for teachers. Provides for such grants to be awarded to State agencies for higher education, working in conjunction with the State educational agency (if such agencies are separate). Requires the grantees to: (1) make subgrants to or cooperative agreements with various entities working in conjunction with an LEA or consortium of LEAs; and (2) give priority to applicants assuring use of a curriculum recognized by the working group established under specified provisions of the National Science Foundation Act of 1950. Sets forth requirements relating to such institutes and their activities and curricula. Requires peer review of grant applications under a process established by the Director of the National Science Foundation. Requires participants in such institutes to earn credit toward State continuing education requirements for teachers or a post-baccalaureate degree program at an institution of higher education. Revises provisions for allocation of certain appropriated amounts. Reserves specified funds for the summer institute program. (Sec. 104) Includes providing technology training software and instructional materials to teachers among local uses of ESEA school technology resource grants. (Sec. 105) Requires grant applicants, under the ESEA 21st Century Community Learning Centers program, to assure that they will use at least five percent of the grant amount to provide after-school day care services that focus on science activities. (Sec. 106) Includes after-school day care services that focus on science activities for children in kindergarten through sixth grade among uses of grants under the ESEA 21st Century Community Learning Centers program. Title II: Other Provisions - Revises the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) to treat technology training, tutoring teachers in the uses of classroom technology, as community service by college students under the work-study program. Increases funding for such program and reserves the amount of such increase to compensate students employed in technology training or tutoring teachers in the uses of classroom technology. (Sec. 202) Directs the Secretary of Commerce to study: (1) the feasibility and effectiveness of various incentives, including tax credits, for businesses to provide personnel with regular compensation for time spent as volunteers engaged in the technological training of teachers and facilities for such training; (2) alternative methods of providing financial support, through income tax credits, loan forgiveness, or otherwise, to individuals seeking training or retraining in mathematics, science, and technology education; (3) the effectiveness of higher education institutions in training teachers who can use technology and integrate it into lesson plans, curricula, and distance learning; (4) methods to coordinate working alliances at various levels of government between the business and academic community; and (5) other means of improving the efficiency of the technological training of teachers. (Sec. 203) Directs the Secretary of Commerce to report to Congress on such study, including proposals for a comprehensive approach to providing technologically competent teachers to the Nation's schools.
United States · United States Congress · 12 April 2000
National Museum of the American Indian Commemorative Coin Act of 2000, or American Buffalo Coin Commemorative Coin Act of 2000 - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to mint and issue a maximum of 500,000 $1 dollar coins in commemoration of the opening of the National Museum of the American Indian of the Smithsonian Institution. Expresses the sense of Congress that the United States Mint Facility in Denver, Colorado, should strike such coins unless the Secretary determines that it would be technically or cost-prohibitive. Mandates that the proceeds from sales surcharges be paid promptly to the National Museum of the American Indian of the Smithsonian Institution to: (1) commemorate the opening of the Museum; and (2)supplement the Museum's endowment and educational outreach funds. Subjects the Museum to certain Federal audit requirements. Instructs the Secretary to take actions to ensure that coin minting and issuance will not result in any net cost to the Government.
United States · United States Congress · 12 April 2000
Law Enforcement Quality Procurement Act - Prohibits: (1) the use of Federal funds to give or withhold a preference to a marketer or vendor of firearms or ammunition based on whether the manufacturer or vendor is a party to a covered agreement (an agreement requiring a person engaged in a business licensed under Federal firearms provisions to abide by a designated code of conduct, operating practice, or product design respecting importing, manufacturing, or dealing in firearms or ammunition); or (2) the provision of Federal funds to a State or local entity that gives or withholds such a preference or that receives firearms or ammunition purchased for that State or local entity subject to such a preference.
United States · United States Congress · 12 April 2000
Armed Services Educational Relief Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from gross income Federal student loan payments made on behalf of members of the Armed Forces and the National Health Service Corps.
United States · United States Congress · 12 April 2000
Working and Reacting (WAR) Against Meth Act of 2000 - Amends the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) and the Controlled Substances Import and Export Act (CSIEA) to make current penalties with respect to violations involving the manufacturing, distribution, importation, and exportation of specified amounts of methamphetamine applicable to such amounts of amphetamine. (Sec. 4) Modifies CSA provisions regarding endangering human life while illegally manufacturing a controlled substance to: (1) set penalties for harm to the environment, if the controlled substance consists of methamphetamine; (2) provide for imprisonment for up to 40 years, as well as a possible fine, for violations; and (3) make any penalty under provisions regarding the establishment of controlled substance manufacturing operations in addition to any penalty under such provisions regarding harm to human life or to the environment. Specifies that in any case where the conduct at issue is, relates to, or involves the manufacture of amphetamine or methamphetamine, such conduct shall, by itself, be rebuttably presumed to constitute the creation of a substantial risk of harm to human life or to the environment. (Sec. 5) Provides that the El Paso Intelligence Center (EPIC) and the Los Angeles County Regional Criminal Information Clearinghouse (LA Clearinghouse), at the direction of the Attorney General, shall jointly and in concert constitute the National Center for Methamphetamine Clandestine Laboratory Information. Requires: (1) EPIC's National Clandestine Laboratory Seizure Intelligence database to provide for the nationwide electronic reporting, capture, and retrieval of clandestine laboratory seizure information; and (2) such information to be analyzed by the LA Clearinghouse, in concert and coordination with EPIC, and disseminated to appropriate law enforcement agencies in a timely manner. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 12 April 2000
Farm Income Fairness Act of 2000 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from net earnings from self-employment: (1) certain farm rental income; and (2) payments under the environmental conservation acreage reserve program.
United States · United States Congress · 12 April 2000
Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) the presence of brain activity and spontaneous cardiac activity should be considered conclusive evidence for all legal purposes of the presence of human life, without regard to age, health, defects, or condition of dependency; (2) the absence of such activity, other than an irreversible cessation of these activities, should not be considered conclusive evidence for legal purposes that a human life is not present; and (3) the Constitution protects all human life in the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 6 April 2000
Home Health Fairness Act of 2000 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to eliminate a specified 15 percent reduction in cost and per beneficiary limits with respect to payment rates for home health services under the Medicare prospective payment system. Makes this Act effective as if included in the Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP Balanced Budget Refinement Act of 1999.
United States · United States Congress · 6 April 2000
Date Certain Tax Code Replacement Act - Prohibits the imposition of any tax by the Internal Revenue Code: (1) for any taxable year beginning after December 31, 2004; and (2) in the case of any tax not imposed on the basis of a taxable year, on any taxable event or for any period after December 31, 2004. Excepts the: (1) tax on self-employment income (chapter 2 of the Code); (2) Federal Insurance Contributions Act (chapter 21 of the Code); and (3) Railroad Retirement Tax Act (chapter 22 of the Code). Establishes the National Commission on Tax Reform and Simplification to review: (1) the present structure and provisions of the Code; (2) whether the tax systems of other countries could provide more efficient and fair methods of funding government revenue requirements; (3) whether the income tax should be replaced with a tax imposed in a different manner or on a different base; and (4) whether the Code can be simplified, absent wholesale restructuring or replacement. Requires a Commission report to Congress on review results, with recommendations for Code reform and simplification. Terminates the Commission 90 days after such report. Authorizes appropriations (with interim funding). Declares that any new Federal tax system should be approved by Congress in its final form before July 4, 2004.
United States · United States Congress · 6 April 2000
Consumer Mortgage Protection Act of 2000 - Amends the Truth in Lending Act to: (1) reformulate annual percentage rates and total points and fees in connection with certain credit transactions secured by to the consumer's principal dwelling (high-cost mortgage); (2) repeal disclosure requirements with respect to prepayment penalties; (3) revise requirements for permissible prepayment penalties; (4) prohibit mandatory prepaid payments on such mortgages; (5) place limitations upon the charging of closing costs; and (6) proscribe creditor encouragement of consumer's default. (Sec. 3) Requires a creditor to report a consumer's mortgage payment history to a nationally recognized credit bureau at least quarterly. Prohibits creditor profit from the sale at foreclosure of property securing a high-cost mortgage. Requires a high-cost mortgage creditor to respond within three business days to a request for a written statement setting forth the amounts necessary to fully satisfy the debt obligation. Redraws creditor liability guidelines. (Sec. 4) Amends the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act to revise guidelines for: (1) standard Federal forms for the statement of settlement costs; and (2) information booklets that advise the consumer of certain sources of mortgage broker compensation. (Sec. 5) Establishes Federal preemption of State law concerning subject matter under this Act. Empowers the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System to interpret Federal preemption issues under this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 6 April 2000
Armed Forces Educational Relief Act of 2000 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from gross income certain payments on student loans of members of the Armed Forces.
United States · United States Congress · 6 April 2000
Constitutional Amendment - Requires any legislative measure changing the internal revenue laws to require the concurrence of two-thirds of the Members of each House voting and present, unless the legislative measure is determined not to increase the internal revenue by more than a de minimis amount. States that for the purposes of determining any increase in the internal revenue, there shall be excluded any increase resulting from the lowering of an effective rate of any tax. Permits Congress to waive such requirements when: (1) a declaration of war is in effect; or (2) the United States is engaged in military conflict which causes an imminent and serious threat to national security and is so declared by an adopted joint resolution. Prohibits any increase in the internal revenue enacted under such a waiver from being effective for longer than two years.
United States · United States Congress · 6 April 2000
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that local, State, and Federal statistics should be kept on the number of babies abandoned in public places.
United States · United States Congress · 5 April 2000
Great Lakes Ecology Protection Act of 2000 - Amends the Nonindigenous Aquatic Nuisance Prevention and Control Act of 1990 to direct the Secretary of Transportation to issue regulations to prevent the introduction and spread of aquatic nuisance species within the Great Lakes. Calls upon such regulations to require, among other things, the use of environmentally sound treatment methods for ballast water and ballast sediments, such as sterilization, in preventing and controlling infestations of aquatic nuisance species. Sets forth provisions requiring maximum public participation in, and advance notice of, proposed rulemaking with respect to such regulations.
United States · United States Congress · 4 April 2000
Taxpayer Bill of Rights 2000 - Title I: Penalties and Interest - Amends the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) to move the failure to pay tax estimated tax penalty provisions from chapter 68 (Additions to the Tax, Additional Amounts, and Assessable Penalties) to chapter 67 (Determination of Interest Rate; Compounding of Interest) of the IRC while converting such current tax penalty provisions into interest provisions. Exempts from the interest penalty an underpayment of less than $2,000. (Sec. 102) Excludes from gross income interest paid on any tax overpayment. (Sec. 103) Repeals the failure-to-pay penalty. Imposes a five percent service charge for late-paying taxpayers not entering into an installment agreement. (Sec. 104) Permits the abatement of interest if a gross injustice would otherwise result. (Sec. 105) Permits making cash bond deposits to offset potential tax underpayments. Title II: Confidentiality and Disclosure - Makes the IRC the exclusive law governing the disclosure of returns and return information. Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to prescribe related regulations. Sets forth related rules. (Sec. 202) Revises provisions concerning the definition of "Chief Counsel advice." (Sec. 203) Eliminates the requirement that a former spouse must make a written request to obtain collection information from a joint return. (Sec. 204) Prohibits examining the return of the representative of a taxpayer solely on the basis of the representative relationship. (Sec. 205) Limits disclosure of a nonparty's return information to that information relating to the resolution of a proceeding. (Sec. 206) Prohibits the public disclosure of a taxpayer's address and tax identification number with respect to accepted offers-in-compromise. (Sec. 207) Prohibits the disclosure of returns and return information to contractors unless specified requirements are met, including an annual review of a contractor to determine compliance. (Sec. 208) Establishes additional consent-to-disclose requirements, including requiring that such a consent designate a specific recipient. (Sec. 209) Requires a taxpayer to be notified by the Secretary if it is determined that the taxpayer's return has been disclosed without authorization. (Sec. 210) Permits the Secretary to use any means of mass communication to notify a taxpayer of an undelivered refund. Title III: Other Requirements - Exempts from the church-tax-inquiry provisions information disclosures related to tax exemption standards. (Sec. 302) Expands the availability of declaratory judgment procedures to tax-exempt organizations. (Sec. 303) Requires the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration's semi-annual report to list the ten most common employee misconduct complaints by category. (Sec. 304) Doubles the threshold for reporting refunds to the Joint Committee on Taxation. (Sec. 305) Requires reports concerning: (1) awards of costs and fees in administrative court proceedings; (2) penalty abatement; and (3) alternative means of communicating with taxpayers.
![Official portrait of Rep. English, Phil [R-PA-3]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/e000187_200.jpg)