United States · United States Congress · 20 March 1997
Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to allocate amounts appropriated to the Secretary for FY 1998 and 1999 for medical care so that the amount allocated to each element of the Department of Veterans Affairs designated as a Veterans Integrated Service Network is not less than the amount allocated to that element from amounts appropriated for FY 1996. (Such elements are currently designated for an allocation reduction from FY 1996 amounts under the Veterans Equitable Resource Allocation System developed by the Secretary and submitted to the Congress in March 1997.) Provides an exception on a pro rata basis with respect to any general appropriations reductions. Directs the Secretary, effective with FY 2000, to ensure that each such Network is allocated an amount for medical care that is not less than 90 percent of the product of: (1) the number of veterans residing in the geographic area of that Network; and (2) the national medical services and administrative cost per veteran.
United States · United States Congress · 19 March 1997
Provides that amounts recovered or collected with respect to the cost of furnishing care or services at a Department of Veterans Affairs medical center shall be credited to amounts currently available for the furnishing of care and services at that center.
United States · United States Congress · 19 March 1997
Merchant Mariners Fairness Act of 1997 - Provides that certain qualified service of a member of the U.S. merchant marine, including a vessel crewmember of the U.S. Army or Naval 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. Prohibits the payment of any retroactive benefits under this Act. Mandates a processing fee for any benefit application of a member possessing such qualified service.
United States · United States Congress · 18 March 1997
Birth Defects Prevention Act of 1997 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to establish birth defects prevention and research programs. Authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), to provide for collection, analysis, and reporting of birth defects statistics from birth certificates, infant death certificates, hospital records, or other sources and to collect and disaggregate such statistics by gender and racial and ethnic group. Directs the Secretary to establish at least five regional birth defects monitoring and research programs to collect and analyze information on the number, incidence, correlation, and causes of birth defects. Authorizes the Secretary, acting through the Director of CDC, to award grants or enter into cooperative agreements with specified entities to serve as Centers of Excellence for Birth Defects Prevention Research. Requires one of the Centers to focus on birth defects among ethnic minorities. Requires the CDC to establish a clearinghouse for the collection and storage of data generated from birth defects monitoring programs developed under this Act. Directs the Secretary, acting through the Director of the CDC, to provide for the evaluation, and implementation of prevention strategies designed to reduce the incidence and effects of birth defects. Requires the Secretary, acting through the CDC, to consult with State and local governmental agencies, managed care organizations, nonprofit organizations, physicians, and other health professionals and organizations. Directs the Secretary to establish an Advisory Committee for Birth Defects Prevention. Requires the Secretary to report biennially to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce and the Senate Committee on Labor and Human Resources regarding birth defects. Subjects the provisions of this Act to requirements of the Privacy Act. Applies all Federal laws relating to the privacy of information to the data and information that is collected under this Act. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 18 March 1997
State Occupancy Standards Affirmation Act of 1997 - Prohibits the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development from establishing a national occupancy standard (as defined by this Act, with an exception for health and safety protection purposes). Provides that: (1) a State standard shall be considered reasonable for purposes of determining familial status discrimination; and (2) the Secretary, in the absence of a State standard, shall take no action respecting a two-person per bedroom standard established by a housing provider.
United States · United States Congress · 13 March 1997
Michael Gillick Childhood Cancer Research Act - Directs the Administrator of the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry to conduct dose-reconstruction modeling and an epidemiological study of childhood cancer in Dover Township, New Jersey. Authorizes the Administrator to make one or more grants to New Jersey to carry out the study. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 11 March 1997
Constitutional Amendment - Requires that a bill to increase the internal revenue shall laws shall require for final adoption in each House the concurrence of two-thirds of the whole of the number of that House, unless the bill does not increase the internal revenue by more than a de minimis amount. Permits the waiver of such requirement, for up to two years, if there is a declaration of war or if the United States is engaged in a military conflict which causes an imminent and serious threat to national security and is so declared by a joint resolution which becomes law.
United States · United States Congress · 11 March 1997
Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 should be preserved and not radically overhauled; (2) the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program and the Bridge Program are important national programs that should not be substantially changed; (3) mass transportation programs should remain a national priority supported by Federal funds; (4) a dedicated source of funding for Amtrak, and legislation to reform it, should be included in any law to reauthorize the Intermodal Surface Transportation Act of 1991; and (5) transportation safety programs should not be diminished.
United States · United States Congress · 6 March 1997
Brownfields Remediation and Economic Development Act of 1997 - Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to certify and, where appropriate, provide technical assistance to any State program for brownfields (abandoned industrial sites in need of hazardous waste remediation before they may be returned to productive use) if the program: (1) covers only sites that have been contaminated prior to enactment of this Act and are not listed on the National Priorities List; (2) provides for public participation prior to a landowner's release from liability upon completion of site remediation (carried out under a certified program) under State law and under abatement and response provisions of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA); (3) provides for a reopening of a cleanup proposal under specified conditions; (4) contains standards for the sites that protect public health and the environment; and (5) includes coordination among State agencies for environmental protection and economic development. Provides (in addition to the release of landowners from liability described above) for the release from liability under State law and under CERCLA, upon completion of remediation, of lenders and developers (except with respect to pollution directly caused by them), prospective purchasers, and local governments not involved in the management of a site. Allows the Administrator to waive Federal permit requirements if the State program includes a waiver of State permit requirements. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow an income tax deduction for payments into a tax-exempt Hazardous Waste Remediation Reserve to be used exclusively to pay costs of the taxpayer to: (1) assess the extent of a site's environmental contamination and its expected remediation cost; and (2) remediate the contamination.
United States · United States Congress · 6 March 1997
Northern Forest Stewardship Act - Authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture, at the request of the Governor of Maine, New Hampshire, New York, or Vermont, to: (1) provide technical assistance for sustainable forest management; (2) assist in coordinating ecological and economic research and implementation of interstate and Northern Forest Lands Council policies; (3) provide technical and financial assistance for State conservation land planning and acquisition (authorizes appropriations), and rural community assistance. Expresses the sense of the Congress regarding: (1) the need to address certain tax policies that work against Northern Forest conservation; (2) liability exemption for private landowners who permit public use of their land; and (3) nongame conservation funding. Authorizes the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, at the request of the Governor of Maine, New Hampshire, New York, or Vermont, to provide technical and financial assistance for Northern Forest water quality assessment. Authorizes specified appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 6 March 1997
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to repeal the post-1987 reduction in the State ceiling on private activity bonds. Provides, beginning in 1999, for cost-of-living adjustments in the State ceiling on such bonds.
United States · United States Congress · 6 March 1997
Calls for the Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee to recommend and the Postal Service to issue a postage stamp to honor law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty.
United States · United States Congress · 5 March 1997
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Interstate Waste Title II: Flow Control Title III: Ground Water Monitoring Title IV: State or Regional Solid Waste Plans Title V: General Provisions Title I: Interstate Waste - Interstate Transportation of Municipal Solid Waste Act of 1997 - Amends the Solid Waste Disposal Act to authorize State Governors, if requested by an affected local government, to prohibit the disposal of out-of-State municipal solid waste in landfills or incinerators subject to their jurisdiction. Permits Governors to limit the quantity of out-of-State waste received at landfills and incinerators excepted from such prohibition to an annual amount equal to or greater than the quantity received during 1993. Authorizes States that imported more than 750,000 tons of out-of-State municipal solid waste in 1993 to limit the amount of such waste received for disposal at landfills and incinerators in the importing State as follows: (1) in 1998, 95 percent of the amount exported to the State in 1993; (2) in 1999 through 2004, 95 percent of the amount exported to the State in the previous year; and (3) in 2005 and each succeeding year, 65 percent of the amount exported in 1993. Establishes limitations on waste exports to landfills or incinerators not covered by host community agreements or permits authorizing receipt of out-of-State municipal solid waste. Prohibits Governors from exercising authorities under this Act: (1) if such action would result in the violation of a host community agreement or a permit issued from the State to receive out-of-State municipal solid waste; or (2) except as otherwise provided, in a manner that would require landfills or incinerators covered by the exception to reduce the amount of out-of-State municipal solid waste received from any State to an annual quantity less than that received during 1993. Makes the authority to prohibit the disposal of out-of-State municipal solid waste inapplicable to landfills and incinerators that: (1) received documented shipments of such waste during 1993; (2) in the case of landfills, are in compliance with all applicable Federal and State laws and regulations relating to operation, design and location, leachate collection, groundwater monitoring, and financial assurance for closure and corrective action; or (3) in the case of incinerators, are in compliance with applicable requirements of the Clean Air Act and State laws and regulations relating to facility design and operations. Permits disposal of such waste at facilities that are not in compliance with applicable Federal and State laws and regulations unless disposal of waste that is generated within the State is also prohibited. Lists conditions under which host community agreements are prohibited. Authorizes States that imposed a special fee on the processing or disposal of out-of-State municipal waste on or before April 3, 1994, to continue to impose cost recovery surcharges for such activities subject to certain conditions. States conditions relating to demonstration of local or regional need under which a Governor may accept, deny, or modify an application for a municipal solid waste management facility permit. Title II: Flow Control - Municipal Solid Waste Flow Control Act of 1997 - Authorizes States and political subdivisions to exercise flow control authority for municipal solid waste and recyclable materials voluntarily relinquished by the owner or generator (recyclables), directing such waste and materials to particular waste management or recyclables facilities designated as of May 16, 1994, if: (1) the waste and recyclables are generated within the jurisdictional boundaries of the State or subdivision, determined as of May 16, 1994; (2) such authority is imposed through the adoption or execution of a law, regulation, or other legally binding provision or official act that was in effect on May 16, 1994, or was in effect prior to the issuance of an injunction or other court order based on a ruling that the law or provision violated the Commerce Clause of the Constitution, or was in effect immediately prior to suspension of the law by legislative or administrative action expressly because of such a court order; and (3) the State or political subdivision has for one or more such designated facilities, on or before May 16, 1994, presented eligible bonds for sale or executed a legally binding contract or agreement for delivery of, and payment for, a minimum quantity of waste or recyclables. Imposes identification and volume restrictions on the exercise of flow control authority to the classes or categories of materials to which such authority was applicable on May 16, 1994, or immediately before the effective date of an order described in (2), above. Sets dates for expiration of such authority. Prohibits a State or political subdivision from requiring any generator or transporter to transport, or deliver for transportation, such waste or materials to any site listed on the National Priorities List established under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980, unless the generator or transporter has been indemnified by the government or the owner-operator against all liability under that Act with respect to such materials. Disqualifies facilities for exercise of flow control authority pursuant to an ordinance on the basis of specified declarations of unconstitutionality, location characteristics, and environmental regulation compliance. Imposes limitations on the use of revenues derived by a State or political subdivision from the exercise of flow control authority. Provides for the enforceability under State law of certain legally binding interim contracts. Allows a State to exercise flow control authority over solid waste if, on or before January 1, 1984, the State: (1) adopted regulations under a State law that required or directed the transportation, management, or disposal of such waste from residential, commercial, institutional, or industrial sources to specifically identified waste management facilities and applied those regulations to every political subdivision; and (2) subjected the facilities to the jurisdiction of a State public utilities commission. Allows a State or political subdivision of the State meeting the requirements of the above paragraph to exercise flow control authority over all classes and categories of solid waste that were subject to flow control by the State or subdivision on May 16, 1994, by directing it from any existing waste management facility that was designated as of such date, or any proposed facility to any other such facility, existing or proposed. Sets dates for expiration of such authority. Requires application of flow control authority to the public sector as well as the private sector. Urges that anyone engaged in recycling activities should strive to meet standards for reuse of recyclable materials. Title III: Ground Water Monitoring - Makes certain groundwater monitoring requirements inapplicable to new or existing municipal solid waste landfill units or lateral expansions of such units that dispose of fewer than 20 tons of municipal solid waste daily, based on an annual average, if: (1) there is no evidence of groundwater contamination from such units or expansions; and (2) the units or expansions serve a community that experiences an annual interruption of at least three consecutive months of surface transportation that prevents access to a regional waste management facility or that has no practicable waste management alternative and such units are located in an area that annually receives 25 inches of precipitation or less. Permits States to require monitoring of units that would otherwise be exempt if necessary to protect groundwater resources and ensure compliance with a State groundwater protection plan. Allows the State of Alaska to exempt units of Alaska Native villages or in or near small, remote Alaska villages from some or all of such requirements if such requirements would be infeasible, would not be cost-effective, or would be inappropriate because of the unit's remote location. Applies this exemption only to landfills that dispose of less than 20 tons of municipal solid waste daily. Allows the suspension of groundwater monitoring requirements if a landfill operator demonstrates that there is no potential for migration of hazardous constituents from the unit to the uppermost aquifer during the active life of the unit and the post-closure care period. Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to promulgate revisions allowing States to promulgate alternate design, operating, landfill gas monitor, financial assurance, and closure requirements for landfills which receive no more than 20 tons of municipal solid waste daily, provided such requirements are sufficient to protect human health and the environment. Declares that it is the intent of this title to reinstate Environmental Protection Agency rules promulgated on October 9, 1991, regarding groundwater monitoring at municipal solid waste landfill units. Title IV: State or Regional Solid Waste Plans - Amends the Solid Waste Disposal Act to state the finding that the Nation's improved standard of living has resulted in an increase in the amount of solid waste generated per capita, and the Nation has not given adequate consideration to solid waste reduction strategies. States as an objective of the Act (and the State and regional solid waste planning provisions in particular) the promotion of local and regional planning for effective solid waste collection and disposal and reduction of the amount generated per capita through the use of waste reduction strategies. Includes expeditious reduction and elimination of solid waste generation as a national policy. Allows a State to include in its plan provisions for establishment of a State per capita solid waste reduction goal and a program that ensures that local and regional plans are consistent with State plans developed for landfills, dumps, and regional solid waste management. Title V: General Provisions - Authorizes the Administrator to study and report to the Congress on: (1) solid waste management issues associated with increased border use resulting from implementation of the North American Free Trade Agreement; and (2) the effect on the U.S.-Canada border region of solid waste border traffic resulting from implementation of the United States-Canada Free Trade Agreement. Directs the Administrator to study and report to the Congress on the quantities of hazardous waste and sludge (including sewage sludge) being transported across State lines and the ultimate disposition of such waste and sludge.
United States · United States Congress · 5 March 1997
Municipal Solid Waste Flow Control Act of 1997 - Authorizes States and political subdivisions to exercise flow control authority for municipal solid waste and recyclable materials voluntarily relinquished by the owner or generator (recyclables), directing such waste and materials to particular waste management or recyclables facilities designated as of May 16, 1994, if: (1) the waste and recyclables are generated within the jurisdictional boundaries of the State or subdivision, determined as of May 16, 1994; (2) such authority is imposed through the adoption or execution of a law, regulation, or other legally binding provision or official act that was in effect on May 16, 1994, or was in effect prior to the issuance of an injunction or other court order based on a ruling that the law or provision violated the Commerce Clause of the Constitution, or was in effect immediately prior to suspension of the law by legislative or administrative action expressly because of such a court order; and (3) the State or political subdivision has for one or more such designated facilities, on or before May 16, 1994, presented eligible bonds for sale or executed a legally binding contract or agreement for delivery of, and payment for, a minimum quantity of waste or recyclables. Imposes identification and volume restrictions on the exercise of flow control authority to the classes or categories of materials to which such authority was applicable on May 16, 1994, or immediately before the effective date of an order described in (2), above. Sets dates for expiration of such authority. Prohibits a State or political subdivision from requiring any generator or transporter to transport, or deliver for transportation, such waste or materials to any site listed on the National Priorities List established under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980, unless the generator or transporter has been indemnified by the government or the owner- operator against all liability under that Act with respect to such materials. Disqualifies facilities for exercise of flow control authority pursuant to an ordinance on the basis of specified declarations of unconstitutionality, location characteristics, and environmental regulation compliance. Imposes limitations on the use of revenues derived by a State or political subdivision from the exercise of flow control authority. Provides for the enforceability under State law of certain legally binding interim contracts. Allows a State to exercise flow control authority over solid waste if, on or before January 1, 1984, the State: (1) adopted regulations under a State law that required or directed the transportation, management, or disposal of such waste from residential, commercial, institutional, or industrial sources to specifically identified waste management facilities and applied those regulations to every political subdivision; and (2) subjected the facilities to the jurisdiction of a State public utilities commission. Allows a State or political subdivision of the State meeting the requirements of the above paragraph to exercise flow control authority over all classes and categories of solid waste that were subject to flow control by the State or subdivision on May 16, 1994, by directing it from any existing waste management facility that was designated as of such date, or any proposed facility to any other such facility, existing or proposed. Sets dates for expiration of such authority. Requires application of flow control authority to the public sector as well as the private sector. Urges that anyone engaged in recycling activities should strive to meet standards for reuse of recyclable materials.
United States · United States Congress · 27 February 1997
Biomaterials Access Assurance Act of 1997 - Provides that, in any civil action, a biomaterials supplier (one who supplies components or raw materials used to manufacture implants) may raise any defense provided under this Act. Exempts a biomaterials supplier from liability for harm to a claimant caused by an implant, with exceptions in the case of a supplier who: (1) is a registered manufacturer of the implant; (2) is a seller of the implant and who held title to the implant at the time of sale (or is related by common ownership or control to such a seller); or (3) furnishes raw materials or components that fail to meet applicable contractual requirements or specifications. States that a supplier may be considered a manufacturer of an implant, for purposes of such civil actions, only if the supplier has registered with the Secretary of Health and Human Services and included the implant on a list of devices filed pursuant to the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. Requires claimant payment of attorney's fees if the court finds the claim to be without merit and frivolous.
United States · United States Congress · 27 February 1997
Amends the Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1992 to repeal restrictions on certain plumbing products and appliances, including showerheads, faucets, water closets, and urinals.
United States · United States Congress · 25 February 1997
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee of the U.S. Postal Service should recommend to the Postmaster General that a postage stamp be issued to commemorate the 350th anniversary of the Volunteer Fire Service.
United States · United States Congress · 13 February 1997
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow an individual to designate a specified portion (but not less than $1) of any income tax overpayment and any cash contributions to be used for the benefit of units of the National Park System. Establishes a National Parks Trust Fund into which appropriated or credited amounts are received. Authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to pay, not less often than quarterly, specified expenditures from the Trust Fund to the Director of the National Park Service. Requires that expenditures from such Fund be used only for operations, maintenance, and construction within the units of the National Park System. Prohibits the use of such expenditures for the purposes of land acquisition.
United States · United States Congress · 13 February 1997
Fairness in Musical Licensing Act of 1997 - Revises Federal copyright law to provide that communication by electronic device of a transmission embodying a performance or display of a nondramatic musical work by the reception of a broadcast, cable, satellite, or other transmission shall not be a copyright infringement unless: (1) an admission fee is charged to see or hear the transmission at a particular time or on a particular date or dates; or (2) the transmission is not properly licensed. Applies the infringement exemption for the performance of a nondramatic musical work at an annual agricultural or horticultural fair or exhibition to such performance at agricultural or horticultural fairs, exhibitions, conventions, meetings, and events. Excludes as a copyright infringement the performance of a nondramatic musical work: (1) by a commercial establishment at no charge when a purpose of the performance is to promote audio, video, or other devices utilized in such performance; and (2) at an organized children's camp if the children in attendance sing, dance, or participate in all or a portion of such work, or when the performance is of an instructional nature. (Sec. 3) Specifies that if a general music user and a performing rights society are unable to agree on the appropriate fee to be paid for the user's past or future performance of musical works in the society's repertoire, the user shall be entitled to binding arbitration of such disagreement pursuant to the rules of the American Arbitration Association in lieu of any other dispute-resolution mechanism established by any judgment or decree governing the operation of such society. Requires the arbitrator to determine a fair and reasonable fee for the user's past and future performance of works in such society's repertoire and to impose a penalty for infringement if the user's past performance infringed the copyright of such works. Makes an arbitrator's determination binding on both parties. Sets forth provisions regarding civil actions for infringement that may be submitted to arbitration if the license fee for a performance is contested. (Sec. 4) Requires a performing rights society, at the request of any radio broadcaster, to offer the broadcaster a per programming period license to perform nondramatic musical works in its repertoire. Directs that such license be offered on terms and conditions that provide an economically and administratively viable alternative to the society's blanket license for all such broadcasters. Sets forth provisions regarding prices of such licenses. Authorizes radio broadcasters entitled to a per programming period license to bring actions to require compliance with such requirements. (Sec. 5) Directs each performing rights society to make available free online computer access to copyright and licensing information for each work in its repertoire as well as a semiannual printed directory of each title in its repertoire. Requires such society, upon request, to provide to any person who may perform musical works in its repertoire copies of documentation establishing the society's right to license the public performance of such works. Bars a society from instituting or being a party to any action alleging infringement in, or charging a fee under any per programming period license for, any work in the repertoire that is not identified or documented as described above, with exceptions. (Sec. 6) Requires the Attorney General to report annually to the Congress on the activities of the Department of Justice relating to the continuing supervision and enforcement of specified consent decrees of the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers and Broadcast Music, Inc. (Sec. 7) Sets forth conditions under which landlords, organizers of conventions, or others making space available to another party are exempt from liability under any theory of vicarious or contributory infringement with respect to an infringing public performance of a copyrighted work by a tenant, lessee, or other user of such space.
United States · United States Congress · 12 February 1997
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exempt certain small businesses from the required use of the electronic fund transfer system for depository taxes. Revises specified deposit phase-in provisions.
United States · United States Congress · 11 February 1997
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Commemorative Coins Title II: Circulating Coins Thomas Alva Edison Sesquicentennial Commemorative Coin Act - Title I: Commemorative Coins - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to mint one-dollar silver coins emblematic of the inventions of Thomas Alva Edison in commemoration of the sesquicentennial of his birth. Directs the Secretary to conduct an open design competition for the design of the obverse and reverse of the coins. Terminates the authority to mint such coins after December 31, 1997. Requires that certain surcharges received from coin sales be distributed to specified entities. Title II: Circulating Coins - Amends Federal law to declare that half-dollar coins minted between specified dates shall have the same design as the commemorative coins minted under this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 11 February 1997
Leaking Underground Storage Tank Trust Fund Amendments Act of 1997- Amends the Solid Waste Disposal Act to require the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to distribute to States at least 85 percent of the funds appropriated to EPA from the Leaking Underground Storage Tank Trust Fund each fiscal year for the reasonable costs under cooperative agreements of: (1) State actions under the EPA program for petroleum release responses; (2) necessary administrative expenses directly related to corrective action and compensation programs under State financial responsibility requirements; (3) such programs in any instance, as determined by the State, in which an owner's or operator's financial resources (excluding resources provided by such programs) are inadequate to pay the costs of a corrective action without significantly impairing the ability to continue in business; (4) enforcement of an approved State or local underground storage tank (UST) program or similar provisions; and (5) State and local corrective actions pursuant to regulations regarding corrective action in response to UST releases. Prohibits use of such funds to provide financial assistance to an owner or operator in meeting regulatory requirements for upgrading of existing UST systems. Sets forth requirements for allocation of funds to States. Makes inapplicable to Trust Fund amounts provided to owners or operators under programs described in (2), above, provisions for recovery of petroleum release corrective or enforcement action costs.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 1997
Federal Open Space Acquisition and Preservation Act of 1997 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a credit against estate taxes for certain transfers of real property to Federal agencies for conservation purposes. Disallows a deduction under estate tax provisions for a transfer for which such credit has been taken.
United States · United States Congress · 5 February 1997
Patient Right to Know Act - Prohibits any contract or agreement, or the operation of any contract or agreement, between an entity operating a health plan (including any partnership, association, or other organization that enters into or administers such a contract or agreement) and a health care provider (or group of health care providers) from prohibiting or restricting the provider from engaging in medical communications with his or her patient. Requires that each State shall enforce this Act with respect to health insurance issuers that sell, renew, or offer health plans in the State. Provides for enforcement of this Act by the Secretary of Health and Human Services if the Secretary, after consultation with the chief executive officer of a State and the insurance commissioner or chief insurance regulatory official of the State, determines that the State has failed to substantially enforce the requirements. Mandates a civil money penalty. Allows State requirements equal to or more protective of medical communications than the requirements of this Act. Defines "medical communication" as a communication between a provider and a patient (or the patient's guardian or legal representative) regarding the patient's health status, medical care, or treatment options.
United States · United States Congress · 5 February 1997
Women's Health and Cancer Rights Act of 1997 - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 and the Public Health Service Act to require certain group health plans, and health insurance issuers providing coverage under a group plan, to ensure specified minimum coverage regarding: (1) breast cancer mastectomies, lumpectomies, and lymph node dissections; (2) post-mastectomy breast reconstruction on both breasts; and (3) secondary consultations by specialists. Prohibits: (1) changing coverage terms and conditions based on a participant's or beneficiary's decision to request less than the minimum coverage; and (2) certain penalties or incentives to providers or specialists. Amends: (1) the Public Health Service Act to apply the same requirements to health insurance issuers in the individual market; and (2) the Internal Revenue Code to apply those requirements to group health plans.
United States · United States Congress · 5 February 1997
Bear Protection Act - Prohibits any person from: (1) importing bear viscera into, or exporting it from, the United States; or (2) selling bear viscera, bartering, offering it for sale or barter, purchasing, or possessing it with intent to sell or barter, transporting, acquiring, or receiving it in interstate or foreign commerce. Subjects persons who violate such prohibitions to specified penalties. Requires the Secretary of the Interior and the United States Trade Representative to discuss issues involving such trade with representatives of countries that are the leading importers, exporters, or consumers of such products. Requires the Secretary to report to the Congress on the progress of efforts to end illegal trade in bear viscera.
United States · United States Congress · 5 February 1997
Tennessee Valley Authority First Step Reform Act of 1997 - Amends the Tennessee Valley Authority Act of 1933 to prohibit appropriations after FY 1998. Instructs the Director of the Office of Management and Budget to report to the Congress on: (1) the historical and current costs to the Federal Government of Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) subsidies; and (2) how TVA plans to make the transition from receiving Federal subsidies to an organization generating, transmitting, and distributing electric power on an open and competitive market.
United States · United States Congress · 5 February 1997
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) repeal the credit for alcohol used as fuel; (2) tax fuel alcohol to the same extent as gasoline and diesel fuel; and (3) repeal specified incentives for alcohol fuels.
United States · United States Congress · 4 February 1997
Directs the Secretary of the Navy to provide for the award of the Navy Combat Ribbon with respect to participation in ground or surface combat during any period after July 4, 1943, and before March 1, 1961.
United States · United States Congress · 4 February 1997
Quiet Communities Act of 1997- Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to reestablish an Office of Noise Abatement and Control, which shall be responsible for coordinating Federal noise abatement activities, updating or developing noise standards, providing technical assistance to local communities, and promoting research and education. Requires the Administrator, with funds provided for the Office, to conduct a study of airport noise, examining the Federal Aviation Administration's selection of noise measurement methodologies, health impact thresholds, and abatement program effectiveness. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 4 February 1997
Expresses the sense of the Congress that a model curriculum should be developed which is designed to educate elementary and secondary school-aged children about the famine in Ireland in the mid-19th century and its effects.
United States · United States Congress · 21 January 1997
Freedom of Passport Information Act of 1997 - Directs the Secretary of State to provide to the public free of charge a U.S. passport information telephone inquiry service.
United States · United States Congress · 21 January 1997
Downed Animal Protection Act - Amends the Packers and Stockyards Act, 1921 to make it unlawful for any stockyard owner, market agency, or dealer to buy, sell, give, receive, transfer, market, hold, or drag any nonambulatory livestock unless such livestock has been humanely euthanized. Imposes civil and criminal penalties for violations.
United States · United States Congress · 21 January 1997
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: House of Representatives Election Spending Limits and Benefits Title II: Reduction of Special Interest Influence Subtitle A: Limitations on Political Action Committees and Large Contributions of Individuals Subtitle B: Provisions Relating to Soft Money of Political Parties Subtitle C: Soft Money of Persons Other than Political Parties Subtitle D: Contributions Subtitle E: Additional Prohibitions on Contributions Subtitle F: Coordinated and Independent Expenditures Title III: Enforcement and Disclosure Title IV: Miscellaneous Provisions Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 1997 - Title I: House of Representatives Election Spending Limits and Benefits - Amends the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (FECA) to make candidates for election to the House of Representatives eligible to receive benefits under this Act if they declare that they will not exceed expenditure or contribution limits. Sets forth expenditure limits of $600,000 by a candidate and authorized committees, allowing additional expenditures for: (1) runoffs and contested primaries; and (2) complying candidates running against noncomplying candidates. Entitles eligible candidates to receive certain broadcast media rates and reduced postage rates. Directs the Federal Election Commission (Commission) to certify a candidate who has met the requirements of this title as eligible for benefits under such title. Requires repayment of benefits by a candidate whose certification has been revoked. Sets forth laddered civil penalties for excess expenditures. (Sec. 102) Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to: (1) provide for preemption only in situations beyond a station's control; and (2) extend the license revocation provision for failure to provide cable access. (Sec. 104) Amends FECA to set contribution limits for eligible House candidates. (Sec. 105) Sets forth expenditure reporting requirements. Title II: Reduction of Special Interest Influence - Subtitle A: Limitations on Political Action Committees and Large Contributions of Individuals - Amends FECA to modify political action committee contribution limits. Prohibits leadership committees. (Sec. 202) Limits the aggregate amount of large contributions to congressional campaigns. Subtitle B: Provisions Relating to Soft Money of Political Parties - Amends FECA with respect to "soft money" to: (1) prohibit a national committee of a political party (including specified related entities) from soliciting or receiving contributions or making expenditures not subject to such Act; (2) require a State, district, or local committee of a political party to make Federal election year expenditures (with exceptions) from funds subject to such Act; (3) prohibit a national, State, district, or local committee from soliciting or donating funds to a nonprofit organization; and (4) prohibit an incumbent or candidate for Federal office from soliciting or receiving funds not subject to such Act, or solicit or receive funds for a non-Federal election in excess of certain limits or from prohibited sources (with exceptions for State or local candidates in compliance with State law). (Sec. 212) Increases limits on individual contributions to national political parties. (Sec. 213) Imposes or modifies political committee reporting requirements. (Sec. 214) Removes the exclusion of office facility construction or purchase contributions from the definition of "contribution." Subtitle C: Soft Money of Persons Other Than Political Parties - Imposes reporting requirements regarding disbursements over $2,000 by a person other than a political party committee or a candidate. Subtitle D: Contributions - Revises requirements regarding contributions made through an intermediary or conduit. Subtitle E: Additional Prohibitions on Contributions - Prohibits: (1) a person not eligible to register to vote in a Federal election from contributing or promising to contribute in such an election; and (2) a person from accepting or soliciting such a contribution. Subtitle F: Coordination and Independent Expenditures - Revises the definition of "independent expenditure." (Sec. 252) Treats: (1) payments coordinated with a candidate, agent, or committee, as contributions; and (2) certain payments and communications containing express advocacy as expenditures. (Sec. 254) Sets forth related reporting requirements. Title III: Enforcement and Disclosure - Amends FECA to provide for: (1) random compliance audits; (2) certain reporting on an election cycle rather than a calendar year basis; (3) consulting service disclosure; (4) injunction and litigation authority for the Commission; (5) Commission member term limits; (6) expedited Commission procedures and increased penalties for violations of such Act; and (7) mandatory (with exceptions) electronic filing of Commission reports. Title IV: Miscellaneous Provisions - Amends FECA to restrict the use of campaign funds for personal purposes. (Sec. 402) Sets forth political advertising provisions for print and broadcast or cablecast communications. (Sec. 406) Restricts political committee insolvency actions to Commission proceedings. (Sec. 407) Directs the Commission to promulgate regulations concerning the use of non-Federal money. (Sec. 408) Prohibits franked mass mailings by a Member in his or her election year. (Sec. 411) Provides for expedited and mandatory Supreme Court review of any appeal of any interlocutory order or final court action on the constitutionality of any provision of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 21 January 1997
Telemarketing Fraud Prevention Act of 1997 - Amends the Federal criminal code to provide for civil and criminal forfeiture of the proceeds of telemarketing fraud. Directs that any property forfeited, or the proceeds of such property, be used to the extent needed, as determined by the Attorney General, for the national information hotline established under the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 and other telemarketing fraud enforcement. Grants the payment of mandatory restitution for telemarketing fraud priority over the payment of restitution in connection with the commission of a Federal health care offense. Directs the United States Sentencing Commission to amend the sentencing guidelines to increase: (1) by two levels the vulnerable victim adjustment; and (2) the offense level for any fraud offense by two levels if the defendant conducted activities to further the fraud from a foreign country in order to impede prosecution for the offense. Requires any presentence report required under the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure to include information about the age of each victim of each fraud offense for which a defendant is convicted.
United States · United States Congress · 9 January 1997
Restores Federal armed forces provisions relating to the status of missing persons as in effect before amendments made by the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1997.
United States · United States Congress · 9 January 1997
Prostate Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment Act of 1997 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide for coverage of services for the early detection of prostate cancer and certain drug treatments for such cancer. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish fee schedules for such services. Amends Federal law to cover such detection and treatment services for veterans as a preventive health service. Amends the Public Health Service Act to authorize appropriations for certain public health programs related to prostate cancer research and education. Directs the Administrator of the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research to: (1) conduct and support research on prostate cancer health services and procedures; and (2) provide for the development, periodic review, and updating of clinically relevant guidelines, standards of quality, performance measures, and medical review criteria.
United States · United States Congress · 9 January 1997
Expresses the sense of the Congress with respect to the significance of maintaining the health and stability of coral reef ecosystems by: (1) promoting comprehensive stewardship for coral reef ecosystems; (2) encouraging research and education on such ecosystems; and (3) improving the coordination of coral reef activities which take place within Federal agencies, academic institutions, nongovernmental organizations, and industry.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Homeowners' Insurance Availability Act of 1997 - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to carry out a program under this Act to make reinsurance coverage available to eligible State insurance programs. Requires that such program shall be designed to improve the availability of homeowners' insurance for the purpose of facilitating the pooling, and spreading the risk, of catastrophic financial losses from natural disasters and to improve the solvency of homeowners' insurance markets. Directs the Secretary to offer reinsurance coverage through contracts with eligible purchasers which shall: (1) provide coverage based solely on insurance industry losses within the State of the eligible purchaser purchasing the contract; (2) not interfere in private markets; and (3) minimize the administrative costs of the Federal Government. (Sec. 4) Makes the following entities qualified to purchase contracts for reinsurance coverage made available under this Act: (1) State insurance programs; and (2) State reinsurance programs. (Sec. 5) Sets forth: (1) qualified lines of coverage; (2) covered perils; and (3) terms and conditions of the reinsurance contracts. (Sec. 9) Establishes, within the Treasury, the Disaster Reinsurance Fund. Specifies: (1) the amounts with which the Fund shall be credited; and (2) the uses of the amounts in the Fund. (Sec. 10) Directs the Secretary to establish the National Commission on Catastrophe Risks and Insurance Loss Costs. Requires the Commission to meet for the sole purpose of advising the Secretary regarding the estimated loss costs associated with the reinsurance contracts. Authorizes appropriations. Provides for an offset amount to be obtained from purchasers of reinsurance coverage and deposited in the Fund. (Sec. 11) Mandates a specified report by the Secretary to the Congress.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Ratepayer Protection Act - Amends the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 to declare its provisions governing cogeneration and small power production inapplicable to any facility placed in service after enactment of this Act, except with respect to power purchase contracts entered into pursuant to such provisions which were in effect on the repeal date. Declares that after January 7, 1997, no electric utility shall be required to enter into a new contract or obligation to purchase or sell electric energy or capacity pursuant to the provisions of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 governing cogeneration and small power production. Directs the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to promulgate and enforce regulations to assure that no utility shall be required to absorb the costs associated with electric energy or capacity purchases from a qualifying facility executed prior to January 7, 1997, and governed by such provisions (thus assuring such utilities recovery of all costs associated with such purchases). Provides that such regulations shall be treated as a rule enforceable under the Federal Power Act.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1997 - Provides that a veterans' preference eligible (PE) or an individual who has been separated from military service under honorable conditions after three or more years of active duty shall not be denied the opportunity to compete for a vacant position within a Federal agency, either in the competitive or excepted service, by reason of: (1) not having acquired competitive status; or (2) not being an employee of such agency. Requires each agency to notify the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and U.S. employment offices of each vacant position for which competition is restricted to employees or individuals having competitive service. Requires OPM, at least every two years, to submit to the Congress and the President a report detailing for the prior period the number of such vacant positions in the Federal Government and the number of PE or separated individuals hired for such positions. Directs OPM to establish and keep current a comprehensive list of all announcements of vacant positions within each agency for which competition is so restricted. Applies such PE requirements to the Postal Service, with exceptions for certain collective bargaining positions. Prohibits, during a Federal reduction in force (RIF), a position occupied by a PE from being placed in a single-position competitive level if the PE is qualified to perform the essential functions of any other position at the same grade in the competitive area (defined as being able to perform such functions within 150 days). Entitles a PE whose current or latest performance rating is at least fully successful to be assigned during a RIF to any position for which he or she is qualified that is within: (1) the PE's commuting area and is currently occupied by an individual placed in such position within six months before the RIF; or (2) the PE's competitive area that is not more than three grades below the position from which the PE was released (with an exception). Authorizes a PE to challenge the classification of any position to which the PE asserts assignment rights in an action before the Merit Systems Protection Board. Requires each agency to establish an agency-wide priority placement program to facilitate employment placement for PEs who are scheduled to be or who are separated from service due to a RIF and who have received a rating of at least fully successful at their last performance evaluation or who occupy positions excluded from a performance appraisal system. Authorizes the use of nearby commuting areas in order to provide reemployment to such individuals when there are no alternative positions within his or her most local commuting area. Allows an individual to designate a different local commuting area if there are no alternative positions within the most local area. Requires an agency to place qualified present and former employees in retention order by PE subgroup and tenure group. Makes an individual eligible for reemployment for two years after a RIF. Provides conditions under which an individual loses eligibility for such reemployment. Provides administrative and judicial redress and remedies for any PE or other individual who alleges that an agency has violated such individual's veterans' preference or related rights. Extends the veterans' preference to: (1) employment within the General Accounting Office; (2) appointments made to the Office of the President (with an exception when the President certifies that the position is a confidential, policy-making, or political position); and (3) appointments to the legislative branch (with specified exclusions). Establishes administrative remedies and procedures for PE and separated individuals with respect to appointments within the legislative or judicial branches of the Federal Government. Extends the veterans' preference to RIFs in the Federal Aviation Administration. Includes among PE veterans those who served during a military operation in a qualified hazardous duty area under requirements prescribed by the Secretary of Defense. Prohibits any employee authorized to take personnel actions from knowingly taking, or failing to take, any personnel action if taking or failing to take such action would violate a PE requirement. Repeals inconsistent prior Federal law.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Postal Service Core Business Act of 1997 - Prohibits the Postal Service from making available to the public any commercial nonpostal service except to the extent that such service was made available nationwide by the Postal Service to the public (whether under the Domestic Mail Manual or otherwise) as of January 1, 1994.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Uniformed Services Medicare Subvention Demonstration Project Act - Directs the Secretaries of Defense and Health and Human Services (HHS) to jointly establish a demonstration project to provide the Department of Defense (DOD) with reimbursement, under provisions of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act, for health services provided to Medicare-eligible covered military beneficiaries who participate in the project and receive such services through the managed care option of the TRICARE program (a DOD managed health care program). Requires the project to be conducted during the three-year period beginning on January 1, 1998, in no more than five geographic regions designated by the Secretaries. Makes project enrollment voluntary. Requires the Secretary of Defense to waive the TRICARE enrollment fee for project participants for whom Medicare reimbursement may be made. Requires inclusion in the project of a provision for expansion to incorporate health care services provided to such beneficiaries under the fee-for-services options of the TRICARE program if the Secretaries determine that such expansion is feasible and advisable. Directs the HHS Secretary to make monthly payments to DOD from the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund and the Federal Supplementary Medical Insurance Trust Fund representing appropriate reimbursement amounts. Provides for the determination of such amounts. Directs the Secretary of Defense to: (1) maintain the DOD health care efforts for Medicare-eligible covered military beneficiaries; (2) estimate the amount expended by DOD for FY 1997 for providing health care items and services to such beneficiaries; and (3) establish monthly targets for the number of such beneficiaries enrolled in the project necessary to meet DOD maintenance of health care efforts for such individuals. Limits to $65 million the annual payments to DOD for the project. Requires the Comptroller General, for each project year, to submit to the Secretaries and the Congress a report on the extent to which costs under the TRICARE program and the Medicare program have increased as a result of the project. Directs the Secretaries to modify the project at the end of each year to correct for any discrepancy between cost targets and actual spending under the project. Directs the Secretaries to submit to the Congress an interim and final report on various project aspects.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Capital Gains Tax Reduction Act of 1997 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to reduce the maximum capital gains tax rates for both individuals and corporations. Provides for the indexing of assets for determining gain or loss.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Medicare Diabetes Education and Supplies Amendments of 1997 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide for Medicare coverage of diabetes outpatient self-management training services and blood-testing strips for individuals with diabetes.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Constitutional Amendment - Prohibits outlays for a fiscal year (except those for repayment of debt principal) from exceeding total receipts (except those derived from borrowing) for that fiscal year unless the Congress, by a three-fifths roll call vote of each House, authorizes a specific excess of outlays over receipts. Requires a three-fifths roll call vote of each House to increase the public debt. Directs the President to submit a balanced budget to the Congress. Requires the approval of a majority of each House by roll call vote before any bill to increase revenue may become law. Authorizes the Congress to waive these provisions when: (1) a declaration of war is in effect; or (2) the United States is engaged in a military conflict which poses a threat to national security as declared by a joint resolution adopted by a majority of each House. Makes this article effective beginning with FY 2002 or with the second fiscal year beginning after its ratification, whichever is later.
United States · United States Congress · 28 September 1996
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Statement of Congressional Purpose Title II: Binding Budget Law Title III: Enforcement of Budget Discipline Subtitle A: Supermajority Required to Break Budget Law Subtitle B: Line Item Reduction Subtitle C: "Blank Check" Appropriations Prohibited Subtitle D: "Pay-as-You-Go" Requirement for New Spending Subtitle E: "Lock-Box" for Savings From Spending Reductions Title IV: Sustaining Mechanism Title V: Protection of Social Security Title VI: Technical Amendments to Federal Law to Carry Out This Act Title VII: Definitions and Rules of Interpretation Budget Process Reform Act - Title I: Statement of Congressional Purpose - Expresses the sense of the Congress that the Federal budget process should focus the attention of policymakers and the public on the aggregate impact of Federal spending on the economy, and on the tradeoffs that must be made among priorities in order to control overall levels of spending. Declares that the budget process should contain safeguards against delay and inaction, so that temporary shut-downs of the Government may be avoided. Title II: Binding Budget Law - Requires the Congress to enact a binding budget law, in the form of a joint resolution, by April 15 of the calendar year before that in which the fiscal period commences. (Sec. 202) Makes it out of order in the House of Representatives or the Senate to consider any spending bill affecting spending in a major functional category unless and until a joint resolution on the budget is enacted. Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (CBA) to require a two-thirds majority vote in the House and the Senate to consider any spending bill prior to the enactment of the budget law. Repeals authority for consideration of spending bills prior to adoption of the budget resolution. (Sec. 203) Prohibits baseline budgeting. Requires objective year- to-year comparisons under budget law, with the starting point for both Presidential and congressional budgets the levels of budget outlays for the current fiscal year. (Sec. 204) Amends the CBA to establish a rainy day fund for natural disasters. Requires budget law to include a major functional category for natural disasters, under specified conditions. (Sec. 205) Amends Federal law relating to the contents of the President's annual budget submission to the Congress to require the President to submit: (1) a budget of the U.S. Government for the following fiscal period on a single page, which sets forth specific budget ceilings in each major functional category, by the first Monday in February of each year before that in which a fiscal period commences; and (2) a detailed budget for that fiscal period, on or before the 15th day after a joint resolution on the budget for the following budget period is enacted. Title III: Enforcement of Budget Discipline - Subtitle A: Supermajority Required to Break Budget Law - Amends CBA to require the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to provide to the Congress an estimate of the costs in each major functional category of each spending bill before being voted on by the Senate or the House. (Sec. 301) Requires a two-thirds affirmative vote in the House and the Senate to consider over-budget spending bills. (Sec. 302) Requires a two-thirds affirmative vote in the House and the Senate to waive any provision of this Act. Subtitle B: Limited Enhanced Rescission Authority - Amends the Impoundment Control Act of 1974 to authorize the President to exercise line-item reduction authority if the Congress exceeds the budget ceilings in the binding budget law or an automatic continuing resolution for a fiscal period. Declares that such authority shall permit the reduction of over-budget spending in a major functional category to the level established in the binding budget law or automatic continuing resolution. Sets forth procedures for congressional introductions of line-item bills after the President transmits a special message to rescind an item of budget authority. Prohibits amendments to such bills. Subtitle C: "Blank Check" Appropriations Prohibited - Declares the intent of the Congress to end open-ended, "blank check" appropriations which typically authorize spending "such sums as may be necessary." (Sec. 306) Amends CBA to require fixed-dollar appropriations for every account except Social Security and interest on the debt. Prohibits open-ended appropriations. (Sec. 307) Requires Executive agencies to adjust expenditures, including program eligibility requirements and benefit levels, to ensure that appropriations for entitlement programs are not exceeded. (Sec. 308) Restricts budget authority and entitlement authority to one fiscal period. Subtitle D: "Pay As You Go" Requirement for New Spending - Amends CBA to prohibit the Congress from considering any legislation which exceeds the budget ceiling unless it offsets such increased spending with an equal amount of reductions. Requires a two-thirds affirmative vote in the House or in the Senate to waive such prohibition. Sets forth special rules in the case of legislation that exceeds a budget ceiling for the natural disaster functional category. Repeals a CBA provision for an exemption in the House from pay-as- you-go rules. Subtitle E: "Lock-Box" for Savings From Spending Reductions - Amends CBA to: (1) establish "lock-box" procedures to ensure budget savings from House and Senate amendments to appropriations bills result in actual spending cuts; (2) require Congressional Budget Office (CBO) reports on such procedures; and (3) mandate reduction of spending allocations to House and Senate committees and subcommittees to meet "lock-box" levels. Title IV: Sustaining Mechanism - Makes appropriations to provide for an automatic continuing resolution if for any account an appropriation for a fiscal period does not become law before the beginning of such period. (Sec. 402) Provides for contingency regulations for automatic continuing resolutions. Grants each State the option of receiving an aggregate amount for the fiscal period for social safety net programs equal to the allocation to the State for such programs in the preceding fiscal period. (Sec. 403) Restricts consideration of legislation providing budget or spending authority to only that reported by the Committees on Appropriations. Makes such restriction inapplicable in the case of Social Security benefits. Title V: Protection of Social Security - Provides that nothing in this Act shall be construed to require or permit reductions in otherwise payable Social Security benefits. (Sec. 502) Provides that no reduction in benefits under title II of the Social Security Act (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) shall be made as a consequence of this Act. Title VI: Technical Amendments to Federal Law to Carry Out This Act - Makes various technical and conforming amendments, including changing references to a concurrent resolution on the budget to references to a joint resolution on the budget. Title VII: Definitions and Rules of Interpretation - Sets forth definitions for specified terms. Changes the definition of budget authority to exclude offsetting receipts.
![Official portrait of Rep. Frelinghuysen, Rodney P. [R-NJ-11]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/f000372_200.jpg)