United States · United States Congress · 18 April 1990
Congressional Recycling Act of 1990 - Requires the Clerk of the House of Representatives and the Secretary of the Senate to purchase recycled paper and paper products for use to the greatest extent practicable in the operations of the House and the Senate. Directs the Public Printer to assure that the Government Printing Office uses recycled paper in providing services to the House.
United States · United States Congress · 4 April 1990
High Speed Rail Transportation Policy and Development Act - Amends the Rail Safety and Service Improvement Act of 1982 to require the Administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration to submit to specified congressional committees a study of the commercial feasibility of constructing one or more high speed rail transportation systems in the United States. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Administrator to establish a National High Speed Rail Transportation Policy to promote the design, construction, and operation of high speed rail transportation systems in the United States. Authorizes the Secretary of Transportation to guarantee loans made by a State or local government (including loans from a public employee pension fund) for the construction or purchase of related equipment and facilities to demonstrate the commercial and technical feasibility of high speed rail transportation technologies. Authorizes appropriations. Establishes a High Speed Rail Transportation Loan Guarantee Fund to be used to carry out such loan guarantee program.
United States · United States Congress · 4 April 1990
Commends the Runnin' Rebels of the University of Nevada at Las Vegas for winning the 1990 National Collegiate Athletic Association Men's Basketball Championship.
United States · United States Congress · 27 March 1990
Superconducting Super Collider Project Authorization Act of 1990 - Amends the Department of Energy Organization Act to establish the position of Under Secretary for the Superconducting Super Collider (SSC) to facilitate the management and decisionmaking of the Federal Government regarding the SSC and to ensure responsibility and accountability. Requires the establishment of an SSC Project Office at the site of the SSC. Abolishes the Under Secretary position two years after completion of the construction of the SSC. Authorizes the Secretary of Energy to enter into arrangements with persons or consortia for participation in the research and development, design, construction, or operation of the SSC. Establishes in the Treasury the Superconducting Super Collider Fund to contain unexpended balances of appropriations made for the SSC before enactment of this Act as well as State, international, and other non-Federal cash contributions received under this Act, plus appropriations under this Act. Authorizes appropriations to the Fund. Authorizes appropriations from the Fund to the Secretary for expenditures in accordance with this Act. Authorizes the Secretary to make expenditures from the Fund, as provided in appropriations Acts, for construction and associated activities, including equipment procurement and research and development. Directs the Secretary to negotiate with the State selected as the SSC site (Texas) to mutually agree on a schedule for making cash and in-kind contributions to the SSC and on the composition of the contributions. Requires, if Federal support is withdrawn before October 1, 1995, a refund of cash payments and in-kind contributions made by the State from amounts available to the Secretary. Directs the Secretary to secure commitments for international contributions covering between 20 and 33 percent of the SSC cost. Authorizes the Secretary to accept contributions from other non-Federal sources. Directs the Secretary to try to devise creative funding mechanisms that minimize SSC construction costs. Sets forth SSC contract eligibility requirements for domestic and foreign firms. Prohibits use of funds authorized under this Act for any activity not directly related to the construction of the SSC.
United States · United States Congress · 27 March 1990
Expresses the sense of the Congress that in determining the future of Taiwan the will and wishes of the people on the island should be taken into account through effective democratic mechanisms, such as a plebiscite.
United States · United States Congress · 21 March 1990
American Technology Preeminence Act - Title I: Department of Commerce Research and Technology - Technology Administration Authorization Act of 1990 - Authorizes appropriations to the Secretary of Commerce to carry out the following activities of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST): (1) measurement research and standards; (2) materials science and engineering; (3) engineering measurements and standards; (4) computer science and technology; (5) research support activities; (6) cold neutron source facility; and (7) technology services. Earmarks specified amounts for: (1) steel technology; (2) the Center for Building Technology; (3) the Center for Fire Research; (4) the technical competence fund; (5) the evaluation of nonenergy-related inventions and related technology extension activities; and (6) Regional Centers for the Transfer of Manufacturing Technology. Permits transfers of funds among activities under specified conditions. Prohibits the merger of the Center for Building Technology and the Center for Fire Research. Authorizes the use of certain funds to pay the Federal share of the cost of a pilot program to assist in the development of comprehensive industrial standards for countries that have requested such assistance, if other conditions are met. Authorizes additional appropriations for FY 1990 through 1992 for: (1) the Office of the Under Secretary of Commerce for Technology; (2) carrying out the Japanese Technical Literature Act of 1986; (3) modernization of the National Technical Information Service (NTIS); (4) the Clearinghouse for State and Local Initiatives on Productivity, Technology, and Innovation; and (5) adjustments in salary, pay, retirement, and other employee benefits which may be provided for by law. Requires NTIS operating costs, associated with the acquisition and storage of information, to be recovered through the collection of fees. Amends Federal law to remove the cap on expenditures for construction and improvement of NIST buildings and facilities, but retains the requirement that such expenditures be within the limits of funds appropriated to NIST. Amends Federal law to authorize appropriations for the Regional Centers for the Transfer of Manufacturing Technology (Centers). Amends the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988 to authorize appropriations to carry out provisions mandating a nationwide study of current State technology extension services. Amends Federal law to establish within NIST an Office of Technology Services to supervise the Centers Program, NIST's assistance to State technology programs, and other activities or programs as the Secretary or the NIST Director may specify. Prohibits funds appropriated for NIST activities from being expended unless the activities have been specifically authorized by law. Title II: Advanced Technology Program Amendments - Emerging Technology Research and Development Act of 1990 - Amends Federal law to authorize the Secretary of Commerce, through the Director of NIST, to support joint ventures to identify and solve generic technology and manufacturing problems in emerging technology fields including high resolution information systems and advanced materials research and development so as to speed commercialization of products and services based on these technologies, and to establish procedures for technology sharing and technology transfer among members of the joint venture while protecting against transfer of intellectual properties, trade secrets, or proprietary data overseas. Requires that awards to joint ventures be based on competitive or other merit-based procedures. Directs the Secretary, through the Director, to negotiate an agreement with any joint venture participants: (1) delineating their activities and responsibilities; and (2) specifying a period of time during which the Federal Government shall receive payments from any profits of the venture in proportion to the Federal share of the cost or, as an alternative, an option to pay an amount determined by the Secretary to be equal to the full Federal investment plus a reasonable return on such investment. Sets forth criteria for determining whether a company shall be considered a U.S. business and other eligibility criteria. Authorizes the Secretary, the Under Secretary of Commerce for Technology, and the Director to organize such industry advisory committees as appropriate. Authorizes the use of up to a specified percentage of the funds appropriated for carrying out provisions relating to the Advanced Technology Program (ATP) for standards development in support of those provisions. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants for research and development of new or advanced technology of significant long-term value to the civilian U.S. economy, or for research and development concerning the generic commercial adaptation of such technology. Requires grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements under the ATP to be designed to support projects which are high risk and which have potential for eventual substantial widespread commercial application. Authorizes appropriations for the ATP. Title III: Amendments to Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980 - Amends the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980 (Stevenson-Wydler Act) to remove fiscal year limitations from provisions requiring that each Federal agency transfer an amount to NIST for the Federal Laboratory Consortium for Technology Transfer. Adds references to intellectual property to provisions defining "cooperative research and development agreement." Amends the definition of "Federal agency" to include any agency of the legislative branch. Amends the Stevenson-Wydler Act to authorize the Secretary of Commerce to use appropriated funds to carry out the Secretary's responsibilities under the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Improvement Act of 1987. Title IV: Office of Science and Technology Policy - Amends Federal law to add the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy to the list of positions at level I of the Executive Schedule. Adds the Director of the Office of Science and Technology to the list of positions at level II of the Executive Schedule. Requires the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy to report annually to the Congress on all major science and technology proposals involving more than one country and having a total estimated cost greater than a specified sum. Amends the National Science and Technology Policy, Organization, and Priorities Act of 1976 (STPOP) to add a new title to be cited as the National High Performance Computer Technology Program Act of 1990. Directs the President, through the Federal Coordinating Council for Science, Engineering, and Technology, to develop a National High Performance Computer Technology Plan containing recommendations for a five-year national effort. Mandates that the plan include: (1) funding requirements; and (2) the establishment of a multi-gigabit-per-second research and education computer network by 1996, to be known as the National Research and Education Network, to link government, industry and the higher education community, to provide computer users with access to supercomputers, data bases, and other research facilities, and to meet other goals. Requires the Plan to define the organizational arrangement for managing the operation of the Network. Requires the Council to develop the Plan, coordinate the high performance computing research and development activities of Federal agencies, and establish an advisory board. Amends the STPOP to establish a Presidential Commission on Reducing Capital Costs for Emerging Technology to develop recommendations to increase the competitiveness of U.S. industry by encouraging investment in quality, product and process improvements, and new product development and marketing. Terminates the Commission six months after submission of its final report. Authorizes appropriations. Sets forth the sense of the Congress that the research and experimentation tax credit be permanently extended and raised to 25 percent, and the research and development costs allocation rules for deduction of expenses from foreign income be revised so as to not discourage activities in the United States and not penalize companies exporting U.S. made products or providing services through U.S. citizens stationed abroad. Requires the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy to establish within that office a Presidential Commission on Procurement and Technology to develop recommendations for changes to Federal procurement laws, procedures, and policies with respect to the development of advanced technologies. Terminates the Commission six months after submission of its final report. Authorizes appropriations. Title V: Information Collection and Dissemination - Directs the Secretary of Commerce to report to specified congressional committees on the feasibility of establishing and operating a Federal Online Information Product Catalog (FEDLINE) at the National Technical Information Service (NTIS). Amends the National Technical Information Act of 1988 to add producing and disseminating products in electronic format to the duties of the NTIS. Title VI: High Resolution Information Systems - Requires the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy to establish within that office a High Resolution Information Systems Board to foster and monitor the development of U.S. based high resolution information systems industries. Includes high definition television in the definition of such systems. Title VII: Reports - Amends the National Science and Technology Policy, Organization, and Priorities Act of 1976 (STPOP) to require that the biennial national critical technologies report include the most economically important emerging civilian technologies during the ten-year period following the report, together with the estimated current and future size of domestic and international markets for products derived from these technologies. Allows a product or process technology to be considered to be a national critical technology if it is essential for U.S. long-term national security or (currently, and) economic prosperity. Requires each report to identify technology base gaps between the United States and its major trading partners and list the technologies and markets targeted by major trading partners for development or capture. Directs the Secretary of Commerce to report to the Congress on the feasibility and advisability of establishing, in affiliation with NIST, a Quality Institute and privately-funded foundation to support that Institute. Requires the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy to propose to the Congress a strategy for improving the university research capabilities of those States which historically have received relatively little Federal research and development funding. Requires the Director of the National Science Foundation to enter into a contract with the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis for the development of a methodology or approach that can be used in the establishment of international product standards. Authorizes the use of a specified sum of the amounts authorized under the National Science Foundation Authorization Act of 1988 to carry out such requirement.
United States · United States Congress · 21 March 1990
Calls for the United States to: (1) continue to give the highest priority to accounting for Americans still missing or unaccounted for in Southeast Asia and to securing the return of Americans still held captive; (2) ensure cooperation with Vietnam and Laos to achieve credible answers for the families of such Americans, including primary-next-of-kin access to all records and information resulting from joint investigations, surveys, and excavations; (3) develop a means of accounting for Americans unaccounted for in Cambodia that is consistent with U.S. efforts to obtain a political settlement to the Cambodian situation; and (4) heighten responsible public awareness of Americans unaccounted for in Southeast Asia through the dissemination of factual data.
United States · United States Congress · 20 March 1990
Great Lakes Water Quality Improvement Act of 1990 - Amends the Clean Water Act to extend from five to seven years the period for conducting study and demonstration projects on the removal of toxic pollutants from the Great Lakes. Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to develop: (1) specific numerical water quality criteria for the Great Lakes; and (2) guidance for the use of such criteria by States and local governments in implementing pollution prevention procedures. Requires the Great Lakes States (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin) to adopt water quality standards which incorporate such criteria. Directs the Administrator to promulgate standards for Great Lakes States which fail to adopt such standards. Requires the Great Lakes States to develop and submit to the International Joint Commission remedial action plans for places designated as areas of concern pursuant to the Great Lakes Agreement between the United States and Canada. Directs the Great Lakes National Program Office to provide technical assistance to such States for plan development. Requires remedial actions to be included in such States' water quality plans. Directs the Administrator to develop and submit to the Commission a lakewide management plan for each of the Great Lakes. Provides for the revision of such plans and of remedial action plans, as necessary. Requires the Administrator to establish a program for making grants to Great Lakes States for the implementation of the Great Lakes Agreement and this Act. Directs the Administrator to develop consistent methods of reporting water quality data to the Commission. Authorizes and allocates appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 15 March 1990
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to increase the excise tax on cigarettes. Allows a credit against such tax or refund to a cigarette manufacturer or importer of a portion of State and local sales taxes on their retail sale. Provides a tax deduction for health insurance costs to employees whose employer does not offer subsidized health insurance.
United States · United States Congress · 15 March 1990
Congratulates: (1) the people of Lithuania on their recent multiparty elections; (2) the new Government on its decision to restore Lithuanian independence; and (3) the new Supreme Council of the Republic of Lithuania. Urges the Soviet Government to enter into negotiations with the new Lithuanian Government on an equal basis and to refrain from acts of political and economic intimidation against Lithuania. Urges the President to: (1) strengthen and seek ways to demonstrate his commitment to an independent and democratic Lithuania; (2) take steps toward normalizing diplomatic relations with the Lithuanian Government; (3) seek effective political support among our allies as Lithuania attempts to negotiate credits in Western markets; and (4) seek ways to make appropriate technical assistance available to the Lithuanian people.
United States · United States Congress · 14 March 1990
Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to cover colon cancer preventive screening examinations, an annual physical examination performed by a physician or nurse practitioner, and verbal and written mental health screening examinations if a demonstration project to be conducted by the Secretary of Health and Human Services proves such examinations to be cost-effective or of moderate cost but measurably health enhancing.
United States · United States Congress · 5 March 1990
Designates April 6, 1990, the 88th birthday of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, as Education Day, U.S.A. Calls on heads of state of the world to join the President of the United States in this tribute by signing scrolls of honor commemorating the 40th anniversary of Schneerson's leadership of the Lubavitch movement. Welcomes the cooperation of the Department of State in extending the good office of the U.S. missions to the Lubavitcher emissaries.
United States · United States Congress · 1 March 1990
Human Services Reauthorization Act of 1990 - Extends authorized appropriations from FY 1991 through 1994 to carry out programs under the following Acts: (1) the Head Start Act; (2) the Follow Through Act; (3) the State Dependent Care Development Grants Act; (4) the Community Services Block Grant Act; (5) the Child Development Associate Scholarship Assistance Act; and (6) the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Act of 1981. Amends the Human Services Reauthorization Act of 1986 to extend authorized appropriations from FY 1991 through 1994 to carry out the grant program relating to demonstration partnership agreements addressing the needs of the poor.
United States · United States Congress · 1 March 1990
Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) the 25th anniversary of the enactment of the Older Americans Act of 1965 and its successful implementation should be recognized; (2) contributions at all levels of the aging network should be acknowledged and commended; and (3) support for the Act and its primary goal should be reaffirmed.
United States · United States Congress · 28 February 1990
Global Elementary Education Act of 1990 - Authorizes the Secretary of Education (the Secretary) to make matching grants to States, through their State educational agencies, for foreign language institutes for professional development and retraining of elementary and secondary school teachers for elementary school teaching of foreign languages and cultures, geography, and international studies. Requires such institutes to allow teachers from other fields to retrain as foreign language teachers. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to institutions of higher education to develop innovative and model program in preservice elementary teacher education in the areas of foreign language and culture, geography, and international studies. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes the Secretary to make competitive grants to State and local educational agencies, institutions of higher education, nonprofit international exchange organizations, nonprofit educational associations, or consortia thereof, for reciprocal elementary teacher exchange programs. Requires that preference be given to nontraditional language study sites and to programs providing exchanges for teachers who have never been abroad. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary to assign to the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education responsibility for: (1) coordinating development and dissemination of foreign language and culture instructional material; and (2) expanding use of technology in teaching foreign languages and culture in elementary school. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary to prescribe regulations under this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 28 February 1990
Designates the week of June 24 through June 30, 1990, as National Sheriffs' Week in honor of the 50th anniversary of the National Sheriffs' Association.
United States · United States Congress · 22 February 1990
Civil Rights Protections Act of 1990 - Amends specified provisions of Federal law relating to equal protection under the law to declare that: (1) the rights protected by those provisions are protected against nongovernmental discrimination as well as against impairment under color of State law; and (2) those provisions afford the same protection against discrimination in the performance, breach, or termination of a contract, or in the setting of the terms or conditions thereof, as it does in the making or enforcement of the contract. Amends the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to declare that an unlawful employment practice occurs when a seniority system is adopted, an individual becomes subject to it, or a person is injured by the application of the system or a provision thereof, if it was adopted for an intentionally discriminatory purpose, whether or not that discriminatory purpose is apparent on the face of the provision.
United States · United States Congress · 22 February 1990
Benjamin Franklin Memorial Fire Service Bill of Rights Act - Title I: Minting of Benjamin Franklin National Memorial Commemorative Coin - Benjamin Franklin National Memorial Commemorative Coin Act - Provides for the sale of Benjamin Franklin commemorative coins at a surcharge of which 25 percent shall be paid to the Benjamin Franklin National Memorial and the remainder be distributed in specified percentages to the National Fire Center and Museum Account, the National Hero Scholarship Account, the Firefighter Tuition Assistance Account, the Hazardous Materials Response Computer Account, the Research and Education Account, and the Burn Research Grant Account of the Firefighter Assistance Trust Fund (Fund). Prohibits the issuance of such coins from resulting in any net cost to the Federal government. Title II: Fire Service Bill of Rights - Fire Service Bill of Rights Act - Amends the Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974 to establish a fire service bill of rights. Establishes the National Fire Center and Museum in the District of Columbia to provide information about the fire service and safety to the public and fire services. Establishes a National Hero Scholarship to fund the higher education of a child, spouse, or dependent parent of a deceased firefighter. Establishes a scholarship providing tuition assistance to firefighters for higher education in fire safety or protection. Authorizes the Administrator of the United States Fire Administration to use amounts in the Research and Education Account of the Fund to fund other specified programs under the Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974 and the provision of information concerning surplus Federal property and infectious diseases pursuant to this Act. Establishes the Firefighter Assistance Trust Fund. Places the National Academy for Fire Prevention and Control within the United States Fire Administration. Directs the Administrator to provide States with funds from the Hazardous Materials Response Computer Account of the fund for distribution to local fire services that wish to purchase computer equipment. Directs the Administrator to make a grant from the Burn Research Grant Account of the Fund to one national firefighter's burn foundation dedicated to reducing burn injuries. Requires the Administrator to prepare and make available to fire services, upon request, a manual describing Federal procedures for disposing of surplus property and highlighting how fire services could obtain such property. Directs the Administrator to distribute to such marshals information on the infectious diseases to which firefighters are particularly vulnerable. Permits the Administrator, in certain circumstances, to award to a domestic firm a contract that, under the use of competitive procedures, would be awarded to a foreign firm.
United States · United States Congress · 21 February 1990
Sugar Equity and Reform Act of 1990 - Title I: Sugar Price Support Program - Amends the Agricultural Act of 1949 to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to support the price of each of the 1991 through 1995 crops of domestically grown sugarcane through six-month nonrecourse loans, with the loan rate for raw cane sugar at 95 percent of the rate announced for the preceding crop year. Requires the loan rate for sugar beets to be fair and reasonable in relation to the rate for sugarcane. Title II: Regulation of Sugar Imports - Prescribes policy for the regulation of sugar imports, including quotas and lowest tariff rates. Directs the Secretary to announce a market stabilization price and a threshold price for raw sugar no later than 30 days before the beginning of the October 1, 1991, sugar marketing year. Requires the President to maintain the market price for raw sugar at or near the market stabilization price through imposition of tariff rate import quotas on various sugar products. Amends the Food Security Act of 1985 to repeal the mandate to operate the sugar program at no cost to the Government by preventing the accumulation of sugar acquired by the Commodity Credit Corporation through sugar loan forfeitures. Repeals the requirement that a sugar exporting country verify that it does not import Cuban sugar for reexport to the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 21 February 1990
Designates October 14, 1990, as Dwight D. Eisenhower Day, commemorating the 100th anniversary of Eisenhower's birth. Requests Members of Congress who are members of the Dwight David Eisenhower Centennial Commission to make arrangements for a joint meeting of the Congress in commemoration of the centennial of the birth of Dwight David Eisenhower.
United States · United States Congress · 20 February 1990
Supports the right of citizens to conduct peaceful and lawful demonstrations. Condemns the acts of physical violence of demonstrators who, on January 31, 1990, threw blood on the columns and steps of the U.S. Capitol and, on February 17, 1990, threw blood on the entrance gate to the White House. Urges that such demonstrators be prosecuted and charged with a felony.