United States · United States Congress · 26 November 1991
Health Care Protection Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to impose an excise tax on: (1) a group health plan that denies, limits, or conditions the coverage of an individual based on health status, claims experience, receipt of health care, medical history, or lack of evidence of insurability; and (2) any person who has provided coverage to an individual and fails to disclose such coverage to a group health plan that requests such information.
United States · United States Congress · 26 November 1991
Oil Recycling and Safe Handling Act of 1991 - Amends the Solid Waste Disposal Act to revise provisions concerning the management of used oil. Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to list as a hazardous waste any used oil and any product derived from such oil that fails to meet certain specifications for flashpoint, lead, arsenic, chromium, cadmium, halogens, and polychlorinated biphenyls. Prohibits compliance with such specifications by blending used oil with virgin oil or other materials. Permits fuel containing used oil that meets specifications without treatment to be marketed as containing ingredients that are not hazardous wastes if the oil and fuel are analyzed to demonstrate compliance. Exempts used oil generated by petroleum refining or production facilities which is to be refined along with normal process streams from requirements for hazardous waste under the Solid Waste Disposal Act if it is inserted into the refining process or production pipeline. Directs the Administrator to promulgate regulations for the management of used oil classified as a hazardous waste. Exempts from such regulation generators of used oil which is household waste or State or local government curbside collection programs collecting such oil. Exempts certain used oil generators and collectors from hazardous waste regulations under the Solid Waste Disposal Act (other than those under this Act) if they have: (1) recycled or burned used oil at a permitted hazardous waste management facility or have arranged for the periodic transport of such oil by a licensed transporter to a permitted facility; (2) not disposed of such oil except as provided under this Act or mixed the oil with other hazardous wastes; and (3) maintained specified records with respect to the volume of such oil. Applies standards for hazardous waste transporters and facilities to hazardous used oil transporters and facilities. Permits the modification of transporter requirements for used oil that contains less than a specified concentration of halogens. Requires hazardous used oil facilities to obtain hazardous waste management permits. Directs the Administrator to require producers and importers of lubricating base stock to guarantee the reuse of an annually increasing percentage of used lubricating oil. Requires States to encourage used oil collection by providing incentives to retailers and others who accept and collect used oil. Imposes fees on lubricating base stock sold at retail and provides for the use of such fees for State and local used oil collection efforts. Requires agencies procuring recycled goods to report on the effectiveness of the re-refined oil procurement program. Amends the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act to prohibit any person from bringing an action against (currently, recovering response costs or damages from) service station dealers for response costs or damages resulting from releases of used (currently, recycled) oil, subject to certain conditions.
United States · United States Congress · 26 November 1991
Local Government Interstate Waste Control Act - Amends the Solid Waste Disposal Act to prohibit owners or operators of landfills, incinerators, or other waste disposal facilities in a State from receiving municipal solid waste generated outside of the State for disposal or incineration unless they obtain authorization from the affected local government. Exempts from such prohibition: (1) owners or operators of landfills that on November 26, 1991, met all State regulations relating to design standards, leachate collection, groundwater monitoring, and financial assurance for closure and post-closure care and corrective action and before such date accepted municipal solid waste generated outside the State or obtained authorization to accept such waste from the affected local government; (2) persons who are planning to own or operate a landfill, incinerator, or other waste disposal facility and before such date obtained authorization from the affected local government to accept such waste; and (3) owners or operators of incinerators or other waste disposal facilities that before such date accepted such waste or obtained authorization to accept such waste from the affected local government. Terminates such waivers for landfills that fail to comply with State standards. Considers expansions of landfills, incinerators, or waste disposal facilities to be separate facilities requiring authorization. Exempts owners or operators of such facilities from the requirement to obtain additional authorizations if: (1) at the time they obtained authorization, they owned or possessed an option to purchase the land on which the expansion is proposed to occur; and (2) the area of expansion was indicated in documents filed with the affected local government before obtaining authorization. Prohibits the receipt of municipal solid waste generated in another State if such State does not have an approved solid waste management plan. Authorizes the receipt of municipal solid waste generated in another State without the authorization of the affected local government if the State in which the recipient facility is located does not have an approved plan.
United States · United States Congress · 26 November 1991
Equal Remedies Act of 1991 - Amends Federal law relating to damages in cases of intentional employment discrimination to remove provisions limiting the dollar amount of damages awarded for pecuniary and nonpecuniary losses and punitive damages.
United States · United States Congress · 26 November 1991
Recognizes the rights of the citizens of the Slovak and Czech republics to determine their own political future. Supports a unified Czech and Slovak Federal Republic. Calls on the peoples, political parties, and parliaments of the Czech and Slovak republics to make unity of the common state the highest priority.
United States · United States Congress · 26 November 1991
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the United States Trade Representative must negotiate a multilateral trade agreement: (1) that provides the U.S. steel industry with a level of protection equal to those enforced under the Steel Import Stabilization Act; (2) that does not include provisions that would weaken U.S. antidumping or countervailing duty laws; and (3) before March 31, 1992.
United States · United States Congress · 25 November 1991
Defense Nuclear Workers' Bill of Rights Act - Considers an individual employed at a defense nuclear facility (DNF) of the Department of Energy an employee for purposes of the Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act. Requires compensation to be payable under such Act if the disability or death of an individual employed in a DNF results from an injury arising out of and in the course of employment. Provides that, in any proceeding for the enforcement of a compensation claim under such Act, if the injured employee is suffering or suffered from one of specified cancers and received ionizing radiation of a specified amount while employed at a DNF, or was employed for five years or more in a facility or building where radioactive materials were stored, handled, processed, or disposed of, then there shall be a rebuttable presumption that the disease is work-connected for purposes of coverage under such Act. Excludes certain persons covered by Federal workers compensation provisions from this Act. Provides for the handling of pending and prior claims. Directs the Secretary of Energy to provide for reinsurance for former Department employees who received such ionizing radiation while so employed or who worked for five years or more in a facility which regularly stored, processed, handled, or disposed of radioactive materials. Requires such reinsurance to cover all reasonable expenses for certain health-care services incurred above a specified dollar-amount. Directs the Secretary to develop a plan for restructuring of the work force of Department DNFs. Outlines principles to be included in such restructuring plan, including placing a high priority on retraining current employees for jobs in cleanup and decommissioning.
United States · United States Congress · 25 November 1991
Primary Health Care Investment Act of 1991 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to authorize appropriations to carry out specified provisions relating to migrant and community health centers, the National Health Service Corps scholarship and loan repayment programs, and health services for the homeless. Amends provisions of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act relating to payment to hospitals for inpatient services to modify requirements regarding the determination of approved FTE (Full-Time Equivalent) resident amounts.
United States · United States Congress · 25 November 1991
Armed Career Criminal Clarification Act - Establishes as a predicate offense under the armed career criminal statute any offense under State law which would have been punishable by a maximum term of imprisonment of ten years or more because of the type and quantity of the controlled substance involved if the offense had been prosecuted as a violation of the Controlled Substances Act.
United States · United States Congress · 25 November 1991
Urges the President to propose to Canada and Mexico an expanded rule of origin for the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) which will: (1) require a higher level of North American content for manufactured goods qualifying for a reduced tariff benefit under the United States-Canada Free Trade Agreement; (2) measure such content using only manufacturing costs, and in accordance with generally accepted accounting practices; (3) expand the benefits available to North American firms whose goods meet specified NAFTA rule of origin requirements to include significantly preferential relief from Canadian and Mexican nontariff barriers; (4) assure an equitable distribution of NAFTA economic benefits to U.S., Canadian, and Mexican workers, consumers, and firms by stipulating a further qualification in the NAFTA rule of origin that specifies a minimum and levels of national and industry value-added within the overall North American content standard; and (5) engender higher confidence for free trade agreements among North American workers and consumers, provide greater certainty to North American firms, and maximize economic growth in the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
United States · United States Congress · 25 November 1991
Waives, with respect to any resolution reported by the Committee on Rules on or before November 27, 1991, to provide for the consideration of the conference report on H.R. 2212 (most-favored-nation-treatment), provisions of rule XI of the Rules of the House of Representatives that require a two-thirds vote to consider a report from such committee on the same day it is presented to the House.
United States · United States Congress · 23 November 1991
Considers S. 543 (banks and banking) to be taken from the Speaker's table with an amendment that strikes out all after the enacting clause and inserts in lieu thereof the provisions of H.R. 3768 (banks and banking) as passed by the House. Considers the House to have requested a conference with the Senate as soon as S. 543 passes.
United States · United States Congress · 22 November 1991
American Jobs Protection Act - Requires employers to provide specified notice and employee benefits (including severance pay, continuation of health care benefits, reimbursement for retraining, and accelerated eligibility for early retirement) to employees who are subject to a plant closing or mass layoff because their work is transferred to another country which has specified levels of lower wages or less effective employment standards for overtime compensation, child labor, and employee safety. Provides for enforcement of this Act by investigative and administrative actions by the Secretary of Labor, civil actions by employees and the Secretary, and actions for injunctions. Provides for application under this Act of definitions under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, with exceptions for the terms employer, plant closing, mass layoff, and employment loss.
United States · United States Congress · 22 November 1991
Low-Income Housing Revitalization Act - Amends Internal Revenue Code (IRC) provisions relating to the low-income housing credit to increase the credit from four percent to nine percent with respect to new buildings that are federally subsidized. Extends the low-income housing credit permanently. Amends IRC accounting provisions to exempt low-income housing credit activities from limitations on passive losses. Revises the accelerated cost recovery system in connection with low-income residential rental property to reduce the applicable recovery period from 27.5 to 20 years. Disallows an income tax deduction for any expense relating to residential rental units unless such units are suitable for occupancy. Excludes deductions for business expenses, interest on indebtedness, and taxes from calculations to determine the passive loss limitation in connection with rental real estate activity relating to a qualified low-income housing project in which a noncorporate taxpayer actively or materially participates.
United States · United States Congress · 22 November 1991
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that if the Croatian Government adheres in good faith to the terms of ceasefires negotiated by the European Community (EC) and if those parties conducting military operations against the Republic of Croatia refuse to comply, U.S. policy should be to: (1) consult promptly with the EC, other countries, and the United Nations (UN) on recognition requested by those republics (such as Slovenia and Croatia) that have declared their sovereignty and independence and have agreed to cooperate with EC efforts; (2) take steps to bring the United States into conformity with sanctions and other measures agreed to by the EC, and take positive compensatory measures towards parties cooperating with EC proposals; (3) offer other emergency humanitarian assistance to those republics in light of conflict taking place on their territories; (4) place the Republic of Serbia on notice that continued military action will cause the United States to support EC efforts to call for mandatory UN Security Council measures as a response to an act of aggression; (5) require a clear and binding commitment by authorities to protect the rights of minorities living within the borders mutually recognized by the republics and provinces of Yugoslavia in 1974 and seek their formal commitment to accept international inspection and, if necessary, arbitration to protect those rights; and (6) lend strong support to all EC and other international activities aimed at restoring peace.
United States · United States Congress · 21 November 1991
Directs the Secretary of Education to provide demonstration grants to secondary schools to extend the length of the academic year for three consecutive years at such schools to not fewer than 200 academic days, with each such day consisting of not fewer than seven hours of actual instruction. Allows such grants to extend over a period of not more than three fiscal years. Makes grant payments subject to annual approval by the Secretary and availability of fiscal year appropriations. Sets forth application requirements, including a 20 percent non-Federal match with good-faith exceptions. Sets forth selection requirements, including, to the extent practicable, schools that: (1) have a high percentage of students from single-parent homes or homes where both parents work; (2) are located in economically depressed communities with high percentages of individuals with alcohol and other drug abuse problems and individuals involved in gang activities; and (3) are equitably distributed among various regions and among rural and urban areas. Provides for selection of replacement schools in cases of noncompliance. Requires notification of the participating secondary schools' State and local education agencies. Directs the Secretary to study the effects of such academic year extension under such program, including: (1) a test to measure learning retention; (2) effects on the learning process in general, including increased daily attendance, parental involvement, postsecondary attendance, positive behavorial and social skills, and reduced alcohol and other drug abuse, gang-related activities, and drop-out rate; and (3) the extent the program is believed to be successful by the participating students, teachers, parents, and State and local educational agencies. Requires the Secretary to submit a preliminary and a final report to the Present, the Congress, and each State educational agency of secondary schools receiving such grants. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 21 November 1991
Satellite Home Viewer Act Amendments of 1991 - Amends Federal copyright law to grant satellite distributors standing to sue satellite carriers for price discrimination practiced against home dish distributors for superstation and network station programming. Sets forth unlawful discrimination standards.
United States · United States Congress · 21 November 1991
Calls upon the President, as part of the Uruguay Round General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) talks, to initiate negotiations to make GATT compatible with the Marine Mammal Protection Act and other U.S. health, safety, labor, and environmental laws, including laws to protect the environment outside of the United States. Declares that the Congress will not approve legislation to implement any trade agreement (including the Uruguay Round of the GATT and the U.S.-Mexico Free Trade Agreement) that jeopardizes such laws, including the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and the Clean Air Act.
United States · United States Congress · 20 November 1991
Medicare Cancer Coverage Improvement Act of 1991 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to cover: (1) any use of a drug in an anticancer chemotherapeutic regimen if such use has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration, published in peer-review medical literature, or included in one or more of three specified medical compendia; and (2) an oral form of a drug prescribed for such a use in an anticancer chemotherapeutic regimen if the drug contains the same active ingredients as a drug that would be covered if administered as incident to a physician's service. Requires a study and report to specified congressional committees on Medicare coverage of patient care costs associated with clinical trials of new cancer therapies.
United States · United States Congress · 19 November 1991
National Fallen Firefighters Foundation Act - Establishes the National Fallen Firefighters' Foundation. Declares that the Foundation is: (1) a charitable and nonprofit corporation to be organized under the laws of the State of Maryland; and (2) not an agency or establishment of the United States. Provides that the Foundation is to: (1) primarily encourage, accept, and administer private gifts of property for the benefit of the National Fallen Firefighters' Memorial and its annual memorial service; (2) provide financial assistance to the families of firefighers who die in the line of duty; and (3) assist in the recognition of such firefighters. Sets forth provisions for establishment and membership of a Board of Directors of the Foundation. Makes the Administator of the U.S. Fire Administration of the Federal Emergency Management Agency an ex officio nonvoting member of the Board, who shall appoint Directors of the Board. Sets forth rights and obligations of the Foundation, including having its principal offices in the State of Maryland. Authorizes the Administrator to: (1) provide, and accept reimbursements for, personnel, facilities, and other administrative services to the Foundation; and (2) accept the services of the Foundation, the Board, and the Board's officers and employees as volunteers in performing functions authorized under this Act. Sets forth requirements relating to audits and annual reports. Provides for relief for certain Foundation acts or failures to act. Provides that the United States is not liable for any debts, defaults, acts, or omissions of the Foundation. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 19 November 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide an investment tax credit for manufacturing and other productive equipment. Provides for determining such credit.
United States · United States Congress · 18 November 1991
Federal Court Settlements Sunshine Act of 1991 - Amends the Federal judicial code to require public disclosure of settlements of civil actions to which the United States is a party, with exceptions.
United States · United States Congress · 18 November 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from gross income the qualified military benefits of retired military personnel employed as administrators or instructors in the Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps.
United States · United States Congress · 14 November 1991
Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) the President should suspend all International Military Educational Training Program funds to the Government of Indonesia, request a report by the United Nations (UN) Rapporteur on Torture on the November 12, 1991, massacre of civilians in East Timor by Indonesia security forces to the UN General Assembly, support the introduction of a resolution in the General Assembly instructing the UN Commission on Human Rights to appoint a Special Rapporteur for East Timor, and request that the Indonesian Government permit an investigation by the UN Special Rapporteur on Summary and Arbitrary Executions of the situation in East Timor and elsewhere in Indonesia and establish an independent commission to investigate the cause of the atrocity and to assist the prosecution of those responsible; (2) the American Ambassador to Indonesia should visit East Timor to investigate reports of the atrocity and of additional repression by Indonesian authorities; and (3) the American policy of de facto acceptance of Indonesia's incorporation of East Timor should be reassessed.
United States · United States Congress · 12 November 1991
Melaleuca Control Act of 1991 - Treats melaleuca quinquenervia as a noxious weed for quarantine and control purposes under the Federal Noxious Weed Act. Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to propose regulations to add melaleuca, the Brazilian pepper, and the Australian pine to the Federal Noxious Weed List. Directs the Secretary of the Army to construct a research and quarantine facility in Broward County, Florida, to deal with melaleuca and other exotic plants that threaten native Florida ecosystems. Authorizes FY 1993 appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 12 November 1991
Justice for Wards Cove Workers Act - Amends the Civil Rights Act of 1991 to remove a provision excluding from application of the Act any disparate impact case filed before March 1, 1975, and decided after October 30, 1983. (Wards Cove Packing Co. Inc. v. Atonio, 1989, held that, in cases brought under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, the burden is on the plaintiff to prove an employer had no business necessity for a practice with discriminatory effects.)
United States · United States Congress · 7 November 1991
Budget Process Reform Act of 1991 - Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to: (1) eliminate the division of discretionary appropriations into three categories (defense, international, and domestic) for purposes of discretionary spending limits for FY 1993; and (2) consolidate them into a single limit for budget authority and outlay. Directs the Office of Management and Budget to recalculate any adjustments made to such spending limits before enactment of this Act under the sequestration provisions of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act). Requires the President to report revised discretionary spending limits for FY 1993 to the Congress by the fifth day after enactment of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 7 November 1991
Enterprise Capital Formation Act of 1991 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a deduction for gain on investments in new small business stock (seed capital) held for at least five years. Establishes special rules for such investments. Provides for determining the maximum capital gains rate for small business net capital gain or seed capital gain. Treats capital gains on the sale of such stock as a preference item for purposes of the minimum tax.
United States · United States Congress · 7 November 1991
Commends the film industry for its commitment to making films more accessible to the hearing-impaired. Urges such industry to continue to make the development of open-captioning and other technology to aid the hearing-impaired an integral part of the film production and distribution process. Encourages: (1) filmmakers to produce and distribute versions of some films that are open-captioned or have advanced amplification systems; and (2) movie theatres to have at least some preannounced screenings of versions of featured films that are open-captioned.
United States · United States Congress · 6 November 1991
States that U.S. policy to foster banking and thrift institution stability shall be consistent with the preservation of credit in order to create employment and promote economic recovery. Directs the Department of the Treasury and other Federal instrumentalities to review and change as appropriate related policies and procedures.
United States · United States Congress · 5 November 1991
Office of Noise Abatement and Control Establishment Act of 1991 - Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to establish an Office of Noise Abatement and Control within EPA. Repeals current provisions of the Clean Air Act that provide for the establishment of such office. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 4 November 1991
Prohibits the President from recommending for a 12-month period in 1992 continuation of a waiver of human rights and emigration requirements for nondiscriminatory treatment (most-favored-nation treatment) for the Soviet Union under the Trade Act of 1974 unless a specified report is submitted to the Congress stating that the Soviet Union has: (1) terminated all military and economic aid to Cuba; or (2) will terminate such aid to it within a reasonable time. Provides for the termination of such waiver if such requirements are not met.
United States · United States Congress · 31 October 1991
Makes the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November in each even numbered year a legal public holiday known as Democracy Day (exept for purposes of statutes relating to pay and leave of Federal employees).
United States · United States Congress · 30 October 1991
Child Support Enforcement Improvements Act of 1991 - Makes depository institutions not liable under any Federal or State law to any person for disclosing any financial record of an individual to a State child support enforcement agency attempting to establish, modify, or enforce a child support obligation of such individual. Prohibits such an agency from disclosing such a record for any other purpose and provides for civil damages for unauthorized disclosures. Amends the Fair Credit Reporting Act to permit credit reporting agencies to grant access to certain consumer reports to a State child support enforcement agency that is seeking to establish, modify, or enforce a child support obligation against the consumer. Amends the Social Security Act to revise requirements for State statutorily prescribed procedures to improve the effectiveness of child support enforcement. Requires such procedures to require, if a State court or administrative agency issues a support order requiring an absent parent to obtain medical insurance coverage for one or more children of a custodial parent, that the absent parent: (1) within 30 days after receiving notice of such order, provide to the custodial parent written documentation that such insurance coverage has been obtained or applied for; (2) upon failure to apply for, obtain, or maintain such coverage, be liable for any reasonable and necessary health or dental expenses, including medical insurance premiums of the child or children incurred by the custodial parent. Sets forth requirements for the insurer if such coverage is obtained. Includes under the incentive payments program any dependent medical insurance coverage which is provided due to the successful application of such enforcement procedures. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to study, and report to specified congressional committees how the successful efforts of States in enforcing obligations of absent parents to pay (and obtain medical insurance coverage with respect to) health and dental expenses of children should be rewarded through an incentive payments program. Amends Social Security Act provisions for collection of past-due child support from Federal tax refunds to require: (1) any State that has a centralized system for collection, recording, and distribution of child support to use such system to verify the existence of all past-due child support (in addition to other support verified by the system); and (2) any State that does not have such a system to make a good faith effort to collect all such past-due child support. Directs the Office of Child Support Enforcement of the Department of HHS to report to the Congress annually on State compliance with specified standards establishing time limits within which the State must respond to requests to provide certain child support assistance, under the Social Security Act. Requires States to assess a $1,000 penalty against any employer who fails to make a payment of withheld wages to pay child support obligations of an employee within the ten-day period required under the Social Security Act. Requires States to expend all such penalties collected for State plan operation within a specified period. Allows delay in such additional requirements if State legislation is required. Directs the Office of Child Support Enforcement of the Department of HHS to develop a national parent locator network which would build on the comprehensive statewide child support enforcement systems and which would allow States to carry on specified parent locator activities.
United States · United States Congress · 29 October 1991
1996 Atlanta Centennial Olympic Games Commemorative Coin Act - Provides for the minting and sale of commemorative gold and silver coins to support the 1996 Atlanta Centennial Olympic Games and the programs of the United States Olympic Committee.
United States · United States Congress · 29 October 1991
Amends the Public Health Service Act to give, to States adopting measures relating to medical malpractice liability that give incentives to health care providers to provide services to individuals unable to pay, priority for assistance under provisions relating to: (1) migrant and community health centers; and (2) health services for the homeless and residents of public housing. Amends the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act to give priority to such States for assistance under provisions relating to: (1) comprehensive homeless assistance plans; and (2) discretionary allocations for urgent needs of homeless persons.
United States · United States Congress · 29 October 1991
Amends the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act to give homeless housing assistance priority to recipients in States that allow space at National Guard facilities to be used as overnight homeless shelters.