United States · United States Congress · 28 January 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend the tax exemption for qualified small issue industrial bonds (bonds issued to finance manufacturing facilities and farm property) through 1996.
United States · United States Congress · 28 January 1991
Persian Gulf War Cost-Sharing Resolution - Requires the President to impose additional duties on the imports of any of the following countries that fails to enter into, by July 1, 1991, or fails to comply with, a Gulf War mandatory cost-sharing agreement with the United States: (1) Japan; (2) Germany; (3) Saudi Arabia; and (4) Kuwait. Requires the President to consult with any other countries about entering into similar agreements if he determines a contribution from such a country is justified. Provides for termination or suspension of such duties and the determination of a country's contribution. Directs the President to submit to the Congress a report containing a description of each agreement. Requires the Congressional Budget Office to: (1) determine, and revise from time to time, U.S. Gulf War costs; and (2) make such determinations and revisions available to the Congress and the executive branch.
United States · United States Congress · 24 January 1991
Requires the Secretaries of Defense and Veterans Affairs to each submit semiannual reports to the Congress concerning rehabilitative services available to members of the armed forces participating in the Persian Gulf conflict who experience post-traumatic stress disorder.
United States · United States Congress · 23 January 1991
Authorizes the appointment of chiropractors as commissioned officers in the Army, Navy, or Air Force Medical Service Corps. Provides special pay to chiropractic officers on active duty for not less than one year. Increases such special pay with service. Authorizes the payment of additional special pay for any 12-month period during which such an officer is not undergoing chiropractic internship training, with appropriate increases for years of service. Requires such an officer, to receive such additional special pay, to execute a written agreement to remain on duty for no less than one year. Authorizes the Secretary of the military department concerned to terminate the payment of such additional special pay at any time, with an appropriate refund required from the officer concerned for any period paid but unserved. Requires an officer who voluntarily terminates service for a period for which a special payment was made to refund the proper amount to the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 23 January 1991
Baltic Republics Freedom Act of 1991 - Prohibits any Federal agency from extending credit with respect to the export of U.S. goods or services to the Soviet Union, unless the President certifies that the overall Soviet military presence in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania does not exceed its overall presence on January 1, 1991.
United States · United States Congress · 23 January 1991
Calls on the Soviet Government to cease its military intimidation of the freely-elected Baltic Governments and to respect freedom of speech, assembly, and the press and all internationally-recognized standards of human rights. Urges the President to instruct the U.S. representative to the United Nations (U.N.) to: (1) address the issue in the U.N. Security Council; and (2) raise the issue of human rights violations in the Baltic States and urge the U.N. Commission on Human Rights to take action on this issue during its February 1991 meeting. Calls upon member states of the U.N. to exercise their diplomatic influence with the Soviet Union to bring about a prompt resolution of the Baltic conflict and a restoration of peaceful relations with the Republics of Estonia, Lithuania, and Lativa. Requests the U.N. Secretary General to keep the situation in the Baltic States under constant surveillance and to report to the Security Council and the Commission on Human Rights on further developments.
United States · United States Congress · 22 January 1991
Rape and Incest Victims' Choice Resolution - Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that Federal Medicaid (title XIX of the Social Security Act) funding should be available for the abortion of pregnancies resulting from rape or incest if such acts, considering the physical and mental state of the women involved, are reported promptly.
United States · United States Congress · 18 January 1991
Amends the Trade Act of 1974 to make granting independence to the Republics of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania as an additional condition for the extension of most-favored-nation treatment to the Soviet Union.
United States · United States Congress · 18 January 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend the targeted jobs credit permanently. Increases the maximum age requirement for economically disadvantaged youth from 23 to 25.
United States · United States Congress · 18 January 1991
Imposes upon the Soviet Union the trade and assistance restrictions described in this resolution unless and until the President certifies to the Congress that the Soviet Union has: (1) ceased all interference with freedom of the press in Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia; (2) ceased the threat and use of force against the people of such states; (3) ceased its military occupation of all buildings and facilities in such states seized during the crackdown that commenced in March 1990; and (4) entered into meaningful negotiations with the democratically elected leaders of such states for the purposes of establishing the formal recognition of their independence. Specifies as such restrictions: (1) prohibiting the Export-Import Bank and the Commodity Credit Corporation from issuing or paying any insurance or credit guarantee with respect to financing exports to the Soviet Union; (2) making ineffective the U.S.-Soviet trade agreement concluded on June 1, 1990; (3) denying authority to the Secretary of the Treasury and the U.S. executive director of the International Monetary Fund and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development to support any grant of special association status; and (4) requiring the United States to oppose any waiver or modification of restrictions contained in the Charter of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development applicable to the provision of loans to the Soviet Union and to oppose loans by such bank to the Soviet Union.
United States · United States Congress · 16 January 1991
Directs the Secretary of Defense, upon request, to relieve the following members of the armed forces from performing duty in a region designated as an area of hostile fire or imminent danger: (1) the husband or wife if both are assigned to duty in such region and they have a minor child; and (2) a single parent with a minor child who is assigned to duty in such a region. Directs the Secretary to endeavor to reassign a person relieved of such duty to another assignment which does not require the separation of the member from such minor child. Authorizes the Secretary to delay the date of discharge or retirement of a member so relieved, as appropriate.
United States · United States Congress · 16 January 1991
Adolescent Nutritional Equity Act - Amends the National School Lunch Act to restore eligibility for food supplement benefits under the dependent care food program to adolescent youth 18 years of age or under. Makes children with disabilities eligible for such benefits at any age.
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 1991
Amends Federal law to change the name of the Boys' Clubs of America to the Boys and Girls Clubs of America. Updates the board members of the organization.
United States · United States Congress · 12 January 1991
Directs the Administrator of General Services to transfer all personal property of the Lower Mississippi Delta Development Commission existing on the date of the termination of such Commission to the Lower Mississippi Delta Development Center. Authorizes appropriations for the Center.
United States · United States Congress · 12 January 1991
Finds that the Constitution vests all power to declare war in the Congress. Declares that any offensive action against Iraq must be explicitly approved in advance by the Congress.
United States · United States Congress · 11 January 1991
Christopher Columbus Coin and Fellowship Act - Title I: Christopher Columbus Quincentenary Coins - Christopher Columbus Quincentenary Coin Act - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to mint and issue not more than a specified number of five-dollar gold coins, one-dollar silver coins, and half-dollar clad coins emblematic of the quincentenary of the discovery of America. Sets forth certain features of such coins and provides for their design, issuance, and sale. Terminates the minting of such coins after June 30, 1993. Requires the Secretary to deposit surcharges from the sale of such coins in the Christopher Columbus Fellowship Fund for use by the Christopher Columbus Fellowship Foundation. Declares that no law governing procurement or public contracts shall be applicable to the procurement of goods and services necessary for carrying out this Act, except that this provision shall not relieve any person from complying with any law relating to equal employment opportunity. Mandates that all amounts received from coin sales be deposited in the coinage profit fund. Title II: Christopher Columbus Fellowship Foundation - Christopher Columbus Fellowship Act - Establishes the Christopher Columbus Fellowship Foundation to award fellowships to outstanding individuals to encourage new discoveries in all fields of endeavor for the benefit of mankind. Establishes the Christopher Columbus Fellowship Fund. Directs the Foundation to report to the President and to the Congress annually on its operations.
United States · United States Congress · 11 January 1991
Youthbuild Act of 1990 - Authorizes the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to provide grants for Youthbuild projects which shall employ economically and educationally disadvantaged youth to help construct or rehabilitate rental and transitional housing for homeless persons and low-income families. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 11 January 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to change from mandatory to discretionary the authority to deny unemployment benefits between academic terms to employees serving educational institutions in nonprofessional positions.
United States · United States Congress · 10 January 1991
Employee Educational Assistance Act of 1991 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to make permanent the income tax exclusion of amounts paid under employee educational assistance programs. (Under current law the exclusion expires for taxable years beginning after December 31, 1991.)
United States · United States Congress · 9 January 1991
Extends the time for performing certain tax-related acts postponed by reason of service in a combat zone to individuals in the Armed Forces serving in the Persian Gulf region as part of Operation Desert Shield.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1991
Federal Government Foreign Travel Accountability Act of 1991 - Prohibits the obligation or expenditure for foreign travel by Federal employees and officials (including Members of Congress) of funds not specifically appropriated for such travel. Requires such employees and officials to travel by the most economical means possible and to travel aboard U.S. commercial carriers, unless an alternative means of foreign travel is more economical. Directs Federal agency heads to designate foreign travel supervisors. Requires each supervisor and each congressional committee to: (1) approve foreign travel of employees and officials in advance; (2) establish guidelines for such travel to prevent unnecessary trips; and (3) file quarterly reports with respect to such travel which shall be made available for public inspection. Requires such reports to: (1) specify the purpose and agenda of the trip; (2) identify each such employee or official and any other person who accompanies them at Government expense; and (3) describe any determination by a supervisor or congressional committee that such travel could be accomplished by a more economical alternative means when such travel is not aboard such a carrier. Requires such reports to be destroyed six years after being filed unless they are required in an ongoing investigation.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1991
Fairness in Medicaid Funding Act of 1991 - Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to change the Federal medical assistance percentage used under the Medicaid program.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1991
Hunger Emergency Assistance and Relief Trust Act of 1991 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow individuals to designate on their income tax returns a contribution of all or part of their tax refund to the Hunger Emergency Assistance and Relief Trust. Establishes in the Treasury the Hunger Emergency Assistance and Relief Trust (trust fund) to distribute hunger relief funds to qualified nonprofit hunger relief services organizations. Describes standards and procedures for the distribution of trust fund monies. Specifies a number of restrictions with respect to the activities of recipient organizations, including limitations on administrative expenses. Requires the Hunger Commission to submit to specified congressional committees an annual report detailing trust fund expenditures. Establishes a Hunger Commission to administer the distribution of funds to qualified hunger relief services organizations on a matching grant basis. Permits a maximum award of $100,000 to any single qualified organization in any fiscal year. Requires that: (1) at least 50 percent of amounts received into the trust fund in any year be paid to qualified organizations; and (2) monies in the trust fund be distributed within 180 days of their receipt. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1991
Defense Economic Adjustment Act - Title I: Defense Economic Adjustment Council - Establishes in the Executive Office of the President the Defense Economic Adjustment Council to be co-chaired by the Secretaries of Commerce and Labor. Establishes in the Executive Office an Office of Economic Adjustment, headed by a Director, to provide staff support to the Council. Directs the Council to disseminate information from the Secretary of Defense to Federal, State, and local agencies concerning proposed or pending changes in defense spending which would affect employment in the defense industry. Requires the Council to perform other duties, including: (1) encouraging the preparation of plans for non-defense-related public projects; (2) coordinating and developing information on priority, federally-funded projects and programs pertaining to defense economic adjustment; (3) monitoring job services information banks; and (4) determining criteria for eligibility for assistance under this Act. Directs the Secretary of Defense to provide the pertinent information to the Council a year in advance of any change and to furnish the Council with projected future defense spending levels. Directs the Council to prepare and distribute a Conversion Guidelines Handbook to outline requirements of programs for professional retraining of personnel. Title II: Community Economic Adjustment Planning - Makes eligible for Federal assistance for economic adjustment planning any community which is substantially affected by reduction or elimination of Government defense facilities or curtailment or conclusion of defense contracts. Directs the Council to make available to alternative use committees information on economic development programs of any Federal instrumentality which provides funds that may be used for planning. Requires the Council to report to the Congress at least annually on any such economic development program. Directs the Council to use data from other departments to develop criteria which ensures that assistance is directed to those communities that are most vulnerable economically to reductions in defense expenditures. Requires the Council to publish a semiannual list of eligible communities. Requires excess property resulting from a closing or reduction in a Government-owned facility to be appraised for purposes of resale to the community. Title III: Alternative Use Committees - Requires the establishment of alternative use committees at defense facilities to plan for economic conversion in the event of closure or reduction. Directs such committees to: (1) evaluate the assets of the facilities and the resources and requirements of the local community; (2) develop at least biennially a detailed plan for conversion of the facility to non-defense-related productive activity; and (3) provide retraining and reemployment counseling services. Requires conversion plans to maximize the pool of skills of available personnel and specify in detail the composition of the work force and plant, material, and financing requirements. Penalizes any contractor who fails to submit an alternative use plan or carry out one approved by the Council by making such contractor ineligible for future defense contracts for three years. Title IV: Economic Adjustment Assistance for Workers - Makes displaced workers certified by the local alternative use committees to the Council eligible for benefits for two years under this Act. Includes among such benefits: weekly compensation, vested pension credit, maintenance of health insurance, retraining for civilian work, job search allowance, and reimbursement for relocation expenses. Requires completion of a program of professional retraining before certain employees are eligible for assistance. Directs the Council to enter into agreements with a State or agency in the State administering the unemployment compensation law to disburse benefits under this Act. Requires displaced workers to accept any employment determined by the State agency or Secretary of Labor to be comparable to the former job, or benefits will terminate. Excludes these benefits from other determinations of eligibility for unemployment compensation under any Federal or State law. Title V: Economic Adjustment Fund - Establishes in the Treasury a Workers Economic Adjustment Reserve Trust Fund. Requires defense contractors to pay a specified percentage into the Fund. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to deposit a percentage of the projected savings resulting from a cancellation or cutback in defense spending. Title VI: Use of Certain Research Funds - Requires the Council to define urgent national requirements for nondefense sectors of the economy in any determination of the Secretary of Defense as to how certain research and development funds are to be spent. Title VII: Authorization of Appropriations - Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1991
Financial Incentives Going to Help Towns Fighting Drugs Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow taxpayers to designate that one dollar of their tax liability be paid to the Local Anti-Drug Program Trust Fund. Establishes such Fund for grants to counties for: (1) law enforcement activities regarding drug-related crimes; (2) education, prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation programs regarding drug abuse; and (3) grants to units of general local government.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1991
Act for Micro-Enterprise - Amends the Social Security Act to exclude from income for purposes of the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) programs business assets received primarily for micro-enterprise business purposes. Extends public assistance benefits (including AFDC, SSI, Medicaid, and Medicare) for persons with income from or resources in a micro-enterprise (any commercial enterprise with five or fewer employees, one or more of whom own the enterprise). Amends the Internal Revenue Code to make eligible for unemployment compensation an individual who starts a micro-enterprise. Amends the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 to make financial assistance available under the Community Development Block Grant and Urban Development Action Grant programs to lending institutions and public and private organizations to provide loans, counseling, and training for micro-enterprises. Amends the Small Business Act to urge that when implementing business loan programs the Administrator of the Small Business Administration consider the needs of micro-enterprises, and the institutions which offer them credit or services. Amends the Home Owners' Loan Act to treat savings association loans to micro-enterprises as qualified thrift investments. Mandates that each Federal banking agency establish a Micro-Enteprise Technical and Operations Office (Me-Too) to promote micro-enterprises through technical assistance, outreach, and training.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1991
Telephone Consumer Assistance Act - Directs the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to establish a system to regulate audiotext services to protect consumers. Prohibits interstate telecommunications carriers from carrying audiotext services that fail to include: (1) specified disclosure messages describing the service, cost, and option to hang up; (2) a requirement that any bypass mechanism allowing frequent callers to avoid listening to the disclosure message be disabled after any significant price change; (3) equipment that stops the assessment of charges upon disconnection, automatically disconnects after one cycle of the program, and automatically disconnects interactive programs if no activity occurs within a specified time period; and (4) arrangements with local exchange carriers to prohibit disconnection of telephone service because of nonpayment of audiotext charges. Requires such carriers to: (1) grant callers the option to avoid audiotext charges caused by unauthorized use or misunderstanding of the charges applied; (2) offer callers the option of blocking access to audiotext services; (3) include a signal alerting callers to the passage of time; (4) establish a toll-free telephone number to answer questions and provide information on callers' rights and obligations with respect to such services and to provide the names and addresses of audiotext providers for which such callers have been customers; (5) include a specified disclosure statement to telephone subscribers; (6) state the charges for audiotext services in a separate section of the bill; (7) notify the appropriate State regulatory commission of the intent to provide audiotext services in the State and make available all audiotext access numbers; and (8) obtain from audiotext providers that solicit charitable contributions proof of the tax-exempt status of the person or organization for which such contributions are solicited. Sets forth requirements concerning advertising for audiotext services. Directs the Secretary of Commerce, through the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, to study the use by audiotext providers of technologies that permit the identification of callers' telephone numbers to generate, compile, and sell or lease lists of such numbers. Requires the Secretary to report the results of such study to the FCC and the Congress, together with any recommendations to prevent abuses in the use of such technologies.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1991
Tourism Policy and Export Promotion Act of 1991 - Declares it to be the national goal to increase U.S. export earnings from U.S. tourism and transportation services and to maintain a travel and tourism export surplus in order to help eliminate the overall U.S. trade deficit. Requires the Secretary of Commerce (Secretary) to publish on a monthly basis a statistical report on U.S. international travel receipts and payments. Requires the Secretary to: (1) identify foreign trade barriers to U.S. travel and tourism; (2) estimate the trade-distorting impact of such barriers on U.S. commerce; and (3) estimate the value of U.S. travel and tourism exports that would have been exported to a foreign country if such barriers did not exist. Requires the Secretary to submit to specified congressional committees a report on such barriers. Directs the Secretary to take appropriate action to ensure that foreign tourists are not unnecessarily delayed when entering the United States. Amends the International Trade Act of 1961 to require each annual tourism trade development plan to focus on those countries in which tourism trade development has the greatest potential for increasing travel and tourism export revenues. Declares that the Congress finds that increased efforts directed at the promotion of rural tourism will contribute to the economic development of rural America. Establishes the Rural Tourism Development Foundation. Requires the Secretary to report to the Congress on: (1) economic effects of the identification and promotion of scenic byways as tourist attractions; and (2) techniques for incorporating scenic byways into tourism development programs. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1991
Title X Pregnancy Counseling Act of 1990 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to prohibit the Secretary of Health and Human Services from making a grant for the provision of family planning methods or services unless the applicant agrees to provide complete information and counseling regarding pregnancy, and for a pregnant woman who requests information on options for an unintended pregnancy, to provide: (1) nondirective counseling on prenatal care and delivery, infant care, foster care and adoption, and termination of pregnancy; and (2) referrals for the services that are appropriate to the decision of the woman.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1991
Authorizes to be appropriated, in addition to sums already authorized, a certain amount to the National Cancer Institute for breast cancer research other than research which involves treatment or clinical trials.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1991
Medicaid Infant Mortality Amendments of 1991 - Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to phase-in mandatory State coverage of pregnant women and infants whose family income is below 185 percent of the Federal poverty level. Deducts child and medical care costs from the income eligibility test. Authorizes States to provide Medicaid coverage of prenatal home visitation services for high-risk pregnant women and/or postpartum home visitation services for high-risk infants.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1991
Diversity in Media Act of 1991 - Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to require holders of mass communications licenses to submit to the Federal Communications Commission an annual report describing the proportion of the ownership and control of such holder that is held by minorities and women. Requires the Commission, in a hearing on two or more mutually exclusive license applications: (1) to determine if an applicant is entitled to prevail, primarily, on the basis of increasing diversification of media ownership or, secondarily, on the extent to which the ownership and management are functionally integrated; and (2) if an applicant is not so entitled to prevail, to determine which applicant will best promote the public interest based on such factors. Requires the Commission, in evaluating applicants, to award a demerit based on ownership of other media and enhancement credits based on the extent to which the applicant is owned or controlled by minorities or women, past local residence and participation in civic affairs, and previous broadcast or other business experience transferable to broadcasting. Amends the definition of "media of mass communications" for purposes of random selection provisions to include instructional television fixed service, operational fixed and fixed satellite services, and other services without regard to whether the services are distributed for a fee or the reception system is individually addressed. Defines "system of random selection" to include any system that uses chance to select one applicant from a group of qualified applicants. Requires the Commission, when using selection criteria with a random system to select among mutually exclusive applicants for licenses, to grant a significant preference or enhancement to any applicant owned or controlled by members of a minority group or women. Requires the Commission to issue a tax certificate for assignment of a license or transfer of control of a corporate licensee for a broadcast, common carrier, private radio, or other telecommunications facility to an assignee or transferee owned or controlled by members of a minority or women if such action is consistent with increasing the participation of minorities and women as employees or owners of telecommunications facilities. Requires the Commission to allow a licensee holding a license designated for a revocation hearing or a license renewal application hearing to transfer the license to an eligible applicant owned or controlled by members of a minority or by women if there has been no final ruling by the Commission and if the amount to be paid by the transferee does not exceed a specified percentage of the fair market value of the license. Prohibits discrimination in employment by: (1) licensees of commercially operated or public broadcast stations; (2) commercially operated and public broadcast station networks; (3) common carriers; (4) satellite operators; and (5) the headquarters operations of any of these entities. Requires any such entity with five or more employees to establish a program to ensure equal opportunity in every aspect of its employment policy. Requires the Commission to prescribe rules specifying program requirements. Requires the filing with the Commission of an equal employment opportunity program by applicants for a construction permit, assignment of a license, transfer of control, or renewal of any license. Provides an exemption from such requirement: (1) for applicants with fewer than five full-time employees; and (2) with respect to any minority group representing less than one percent of the population recruitment area. Requires entities covered by this Act to file with the Commission annual statistical reports identifying by race and sex the number of employees in specified job categories. Requires the Commission to include in its report to the Congress information on the participation of women and minorities as employees and owners of telecommunications facilities. Requires the Commission, when determining criteria for applications for new licenses for media of mass communications, to include provisions that will increase the diversity of the ownership among the new licenses granted. Requires the Commission, when specifying application acceptance requirements for AM clear-channel stations, to accept all technically qualified applications owned or controlled by members of a minority or by women.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1991
Amends the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) to establish a Youth Opportunities Unlimited Program. Authorizes the Secretary of Labor to establish such national program of Youth Opportunities Unlimited (YOU) grants to pay 50 percent of the cost of comprehensive services for youth in high poverty areas in cities and rural areas. Requires such grants to be awarded to the local service delivery area (on behalf of the participating community) in which the target area is located (or to designated grantees if the target area is in a farmworker community, Indian reservation, or Alaskan native village). Authorizes the Secretary to select as grant recipients up to 25 communities in the first year after the program is in effect. Requires that at least one, but not more than three, of such grants be awarded to designated representatives of Indian reservations and Alaskan native villages. Makes such grants cover a three-year period, with each year conditional upon compliance. Authorizes participating communities to apply for such grants for use on behalf of target areas. Requires that a designated target area have not more than 25,000 population, except in the case of single school districts. Makes all youth aged 14 to 22 in the target area eligible to participate in assisted programs and activities. Requires each participating community to develop an integrated service delivery system in each target area which meets specified minimum criteria for services. Requires such programs to also have an education component, outreach and recruitment efforts, youth program models, and measurable goals and outcomes. Sets forth requirements for maintenance of State and local funding levels, limitations on use of program funds, applications, and Federal and local shares. Directs the Secretary to provide for technical assistance, independent evaluations, and a report to the President and the Congress by March 31, 1995. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1991
Sport Hunting Safety and Preservation Act of 1991 - Prescribes civil penalties for knowingly interfering with the conduct of a lawful hunt in a national forest or on other Federal lands. Authorizes injunctive relief, the recovery of actual and punitive damages, and the awarding of attorney's fees. Grants hunting and sportsman's organizations standing to sue under this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1991
Permits certain veterans with service-connected disabilities who are retired members of the uniformed services to receive compensation concurrently with retired pay, without deduction from either.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1991
Desert Shield Burden-Sharing Act of 1991 - Directs the President to determine whether each foreign country that receives trade benefits from the United States is making a commensurate contribution to the multinational military mobilization carried out in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Requires the President to impose an additional duty to dutiable products and a duty to duty-free products of countries that are found not to be contributing to the mobilization. Provides for the termination of such duties. Establishes the Desert Shield Reimbursement Fund to receive duties collected under this Act. Makes the Fund available solely to reimburse appropriations made to support U.S. participation in the mobilization.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1991
Minority Business Development Act of 1991 - Redesignates the Minority Business Development Agency in the Department of Commerce as the Minority Business Development Administration, to be headed by an Assistant Secretary of Commerce appointed by the President, with the advice and consent of the Senate. Requires the Secretary of Commerce to report to the Congress on the organizational structure within the Administration and its organizational position in the Department of Commerce. Title I: Market Development - Empowers the Administration to: (1) assist disadvantaged businesses in penetrating domestic and foreign markets by making available to them management and technological assistance, a skilled labor pool, and financial and marketing services; and (2) encourage disadvantaged firms to establish joint ventures and projects to increase their share of the market. Allows the Assistant Secretary of the Administration, if certain conditions are met, to approve any agreement between disadvantaged firms or public or private sector organizations providing for a joint program for market development. Exempts from the antitrust laws and the Federal Trade Commission Act any act within the scope of any approved joint program for approved market development. Requires that at least one party to each agreement be a small business concern and that the majority of parties be small businesses if there are more than two parties to an agreement. Authorizes the Administration to provide financial assistance to public and private sector organizations to carry out this Act, unless the assistance is intended primarily to facilitate the use by disadvantaged businesses of federally-administered programs not established under this Act. Requires the Administration to consult with State and local governments for the purpose of leveraging local resources and recommending local administrative and legislative initiatives to promote the position of disadvantaged businesses. Authorizes the Administration to provide financial assistance to States and cities. Requires the Administration to publish in the Federal Register: (1) amounts available for financial assistance and proposed allocations; (2) responses to public comments in connection with the allocation scheme; and (3) changes in allocation methodology. Title II: Capital Formation - Authorizes the Administration to defray all or part of the costs of pilot projects conducted by public or private organizations and designed to assist disadvantaged businesses in obtaining equity capital. Directs the Securities and Exchange Commission to cooperate with the Administration to promote access to securities markets for disadvantaged businesses. Directs the Administration to study and report to the congressional Small Business Committees on alternatives for providing capital formation assistance to qualified disadvantaged businesses, including the possibility of a revolving fund and a surety bond referral assistance program. Title III: Management Educational Development - Requires the Administration to: (1) encourage universities, business leaders, and other public and private entities to offer scholarships, sponsor seminars, and provide internships for the benefit of disadvantaged individuals; and (2) accelerate curriculum design in support of disadvantaged business development. Title IV: Research and Information - Requires the Administration to submit to the Congress a report describing the resources needed to advance and represent disadvantaged businesses in all levels of the economic system in numbers that would have existed were it not for past discrimination. Authorizes the Administration to: (1) provide financial assistance to public and private organizations to assist the Administration in collecting data on the causes for success and failure of disadvantaged businesses and in conducting research on how economic conditions affect their development; (2) develop and maintain a data bank on disadvantaged businesses; and (3) establish an information clearinghouse for data pertinent to disadvantaged businesses. Title V: Administrative and Miscellaneous Powers of the Administration - Sets forth the administrative powers of the Administration. Requires: (1) recipients of assistance to keep records for audit purposes; (2) the Comptroller General to review and report to the Congress on programs authorized by this Act; and (3) the Assistant Secretary to submit to the Congress an annual report on the Administration's activities. Excludes the Administration from the coordination functions of the Small Business Administration's Associate Administrator for Minority Small Business and Capital Ownership Development. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1991
Repeals provisions of the Tax Reform Act of 1986 that restrict the types of scholarships and fellowship grants that may be excluded from gross income for income tax purposes. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow an income tax deduction for interest on a qualified educational loan incurred to pay the educational expenses of the taxpayer, spouse, or dependent. Eliminates the current requirement that such indebtedness be secured by an interest in real property.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1991
Enterprise Zone Jobs-Creation Act of 1991 - Title I: Designation of Enterprise Zones - Authorizes the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (Secretary) to designate enterprise zones for purposes of providing tax and regulatory relief and improving local services. Limits choices to areas nominated by States and local governments. Limits the total number of areas that may be designated, and the time period of the designation. Authorizes the Secretary to designate a zone only if the area meets certain locational, demographic, unemployment, and poverty criteria. Requires nominating local governments, as a condition of the Secretary's designation, to agree in writing to follow a course of action that may include reducing tax rates, improving local services, simplifying or streamlining regulation of business, and providing job training to area residents. Describes areas to which the Secretary must give preference in selecting areas for designation. Requires the Secretary to report to the Congress every four years on the effects of such enterprise zones' designation in accomplishing the purposes of this Act. Title II: Federal Income Tax Incentives - Allows a nonrefundable income tax credit to enterprise zone employees for five percent of any wages earned as do not exceed a specified amount. Phases out such credit. Provides for the nonrecognition of capital gain on the sale of enterprise zone property. Allows a taxpayer a deduction on the aggregate amount paid for the purchase of enterprise stock on its original issue by a qualified issuer. Requires any gain from the disposition of the stock to be treated as ordinary income. Title III: Regulatory Flexibility - Amends Federal law to revise the definition of "small entity" for purposes of the analysis of regulatory functions to include qualified business, government, and nonprofit enterprises operating within enterprise zones. Authorizes Federal agencies, upon request by a designating government, to waive or modify rules and regulations pertaining to the implementation of projects or activities within an enterprise zone. Requires agencies to approve the request if the resulting benefits of job creation, community development, or economic revitalization outweigh the public interest in retaining the rule unchanged. Disallows waiver or modification of a rule that would directly violate a statutory requirement or present a danger to the public health and safety. Title IV: Establishment of Foreign-Trade Zones in Enterprise Zones - Requires the Foreign-Trade Zone Board to consider on a priority basis and to expedite the processing of applications for the establishment of foreign-trade zones within enterprise zones. Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to give priority to, and expedite applications for, the establishment of ports of entry necessary to establish such zones. Title V: Repeal of Title VII of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1987 - Repeals title VII (enterprise zone development) of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1987.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1991
Merchant Mariners Fairness Act of 1991 - Provides that certain qualified service of a member of the U.S. merchant marine, including a vessel crewmember of the U.S. Army Transport Service, during World War II constituted active military service for purposes of eligibility for various veterans' benefits under the GI Bill Improvement Act of 1977. Requires the Secretary of Defense to issue an honorable discharge under such Act to each merchant marine member whose qualified service warrants such a discharge. Defines "qualified service." Prohibits the payment of any retroactive benefits under this Act. Mandates a processing fee of a specified amount for any benefit application for such qualified service. Amends the Merchant Marine Act, 1936 to add references to components or ingredients of equipment, materials, or commodities in certain cargo preference provisions.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1991
Freedom of Choice Act of 1991 - Provides that a State may not restrict the right of a woman to choose to terminate a pregnancy: (1) before fetal viability; or (2) at any time, if such termination is necessary to protect the life or health of the woman. Allows a State to impose requirements medically necessary to protect the life or health of such women.