United States · United States Congress · 3 June 1997
Directs the Secretary of Defense to ensure that any program to make prescription pharmaceuticals available by mail to covered beneficiaries under the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Uniformed Services (CHAMPUS) does not exclude covered beneficiaries who are also entitled to hospital insurance benefits under part A of of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act.
United States · United States Congress · 30 May 1997
Amends the Economic Espionage Act of 1996 to require the Director of the Bureau of Justice Assistance, for FY 1997 through 2001, to make grants to the Boys and Girls Clubs of America (BGCA) to establish and extend club facilities where needed, with particular emphasis on establishing clubs in and extending services to public housing projects and distressed areas. Directs the Attorney General to accept and approve an application for such a grant submitted by BGCA if the application: (1) includes a long-term strategy to establish 1,000 additional clubs and a detailed summary of those areas in which new facilities will be established or existing facilities expanded to serve additional youths during the next fiscal year; (2) includes a plan to insure that there are a total of not less than 2,500 BGCA facilities in operation before January 1, 2000; (3) certifies that there will be appropriate coordination with those communities where clubs will be located; and (4) explains the manner in which new facilities will operate without additional, direct Federal financial assistance. Earmarks specified funds to provide a grant to BGCA for administrative, travel, and other costs associated with a national role-model speaking tour program.
United States · United States Congress · 22 May 1997
Medical Device Regulatory Modernization Act of 1997 - Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA) to set forth the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) mission and to mandate annual FDA and Comptroller General reports to specified congressional committees. (Sec. 3) Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services, when there is a scientific controversy between a regulated person and the Secretary, to establish a procedure under which the regulated person may request a review of the disputed subject matter. (Sec. 4) Revises or imposes requirements regarding: (1) investigational device exemptions; (2) premarket approval requirements (mandating a device review priority); (3) humanitarian device exceptions; (4) safety and effectiveness performance standards (allowing recognition of self-certifiable consensus standards); (5) effectiveness determinations (as used in classifying devices); (6) reliance on postmarket controls to expedite classification; (7) substantial equivalence; (8) labeling (as affecting premarket approval); (9) supplemental applications; (10) promotional material representations; (11) premarket notification; (12) initial classification; (13) classification panels; and (14) premarket approval application review (allowing review by accredited persons). (Sec. 12) Mandates accreditation of persons to review and initially classify devices. (Sec. 13) Mandates publication of a list of types of class III devices that are not subject to regulation under specified provisions and for which the Secretary has determined that premarket approval is unnecessary, requiring each to be regulated as class III subject to general and appropriate special controls. (Sec. 14) Modifies requirements regarding: (1) device tracking; (2) postmarket surveillance; and (3) good manufacturing practice regulations (including foreign harmonization) and inspections (including adding references to accredited entities and post-inspection procedural requirements). (Sec. 17) Removes distributors from recordkeeping and reporting requirements. Removes reporting requirements regarding certain certification and removals and corrections. Mandates new user reporting regulations limiting user reporting to a user subset to create a representative profile of user reports. (Sec. 18) Prohibits subjecting a person to penalties if the person acted in good faith and had no reason to believe the acts violated the law. (Sec. 19) Mandates an information system to track the status of each submission requesting FDA action. (Sec. 20) Prohibits actions by the Secretary of Health and Human Services under the FDCA from requiring the preparation of an environmental assessment or impact statement. (Sec. 22) Regulates communications to non-FDA persons regarding certain matters before completion of related investigations.
United States · United States Congress · 22 May 1997
Access to Women's Health Care Act of 1997 - Amends the Public Health Service Act and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 to establish standards requiring that group and individual health insurance coverage and group health plans provide adequate access to services provided by obstetrician-gynecologists.
United States · United States Congress · 22 May 1997
Managed Care Plan Accountability Act of 1997 - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 and the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) with respect to accountability for violations of requirements for managed care group health plans, especially failure to provide health benefits due to improper cost-driven delivery policy decisions. Imposes joint and several liability for actual (including compensatory and consequential) damages, and, in the court's discretion, for punitive damages, on a group health plan, or a plan health insurance issuer, for failure to provide a benefit in accordance with plan terms, insofar as such failure occurs pursuant to a clinically or medically inappropriate decision or determination resulting from application of any cost containment technique, related utilization review, or any other medical care delivery policy decision which restricts the ability of medical care providers to use their full discretion for treatment of patients. Provides for an action for damages in either a State or Federal court. Requires managed care group health plans to provide for full indemnification of medical care providers bound by plan restrictions for any liability incurred for such a failure if it is the direct result of a plan restriction on medical communications. Amends the IRC to establish an excise tax for such cost-driven violations of plan terms.
United States · United States Congress · 22 May 1997
Missing and Exploited Children Act of 1997 - Authorizes appropriations to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children for FY 1998 through 2002 to operate a national resource center and clearinghouse designed to: (1) provide information regarding free or low-cost legal, restaurant, lodging, and transportation services for the benefit of missing children and their families and information on Federal programs to assist such persons; (2) coordinate public and private programs which locate or reunite missing children with their legal guardians; (3) disseminate information about innovative and model missing children's programs, services, and legislation; and (4) provide technical assistance and training in the prevention, investigation, prosecution, and treatment of missing and exploited child cases and in locating and recovering missing children.
United States · United States Congress · 22 May 1997
Small Business Remediation Act of 1997- Requires the maximum level of remediation of dry cleaning solvents in soil, surface water, groundwater, and other environmental media that a Federal, State, local agency, or court may require of a person engaged in dry cleaning, or of the owner of land or a facility in which such a person is conducting dry cleaning, to be one-tenth the equivalent exposure of the workplace standard for such solvents established by the Secretary of Labor under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970. Requires: (1) the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences to publish in the Federal Register its computation, based on realistic scientific assumptions, of equivalent exposure by ingestion, inhalation, and absorption indices for the general public, for environmental media in nonoccupational circumstances; and (2) the equivalent exposure to be calculated from the workplace standard for dry cleaning solvents which assures that no employee will suffer material impairment of health or functional capacity even if such employee has regular exposure for the employee's entire working lifetime. Specifies that nothing in this Act shall: (1) preempt or otherwise prevent a Federal, State, or local government or private party from remediating environmental media to a lower level than the maximum level of remediation at its own cost and expense; or (2) alter or affect the Federal drinking water standards under the Public Health Service Act.
United States · United States Congress · 22 May 1997
Teenage Pregnancy Reduction Act of 1997 - Mandates evaluation (directly or through grants or contracts) of a wide variety of existing promising programs to prevent adolescent pregnancy, including programs that do not receive Federal grants. Mandates scientific peer review of evaluation proposals. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes an operating grant to a program found (by the evaluation under this Act) to be effective. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 22 May 1997
Church Insurance Protection Act - Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) any arson attacks against churches should be condemned; and (2) houses of worship and their congregations should be held harmless for any acts of arson and insurance companies should be prohibited from taking punitive measures against them because of such acts. Prohibits an insurer from canceling, declining to renew, or requiring a higher premium or contribution for fire insurance for a religious property based on: (1) the race, color, religion, or national origin of property users; (2) the status of the property as religious property; (3) any previous arson against the property; or (4) any perceived arson threat. Places authority and responsibility for investigating violations of, and enforcing, this Act in the Attorney General. Authorizes the Attorney General to begin a civil action. Authorizes preventive relief and mandates civil monetary damages.
United States · United States Congress · 22 May 1997
Single Parent Protection Act of 1997 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow an individual a credit in an amount equal to the unpaid child support of such individual for the taxable year. Requires the taxpayer to identify each individual required to pay support. Increases the tax of the individual failing to make required support payments by the amount of such credit. Prohibits treating any such increase in tax as a tax for purposes of determining a credit or the minimum tax.
United States · United States Congress · 22 May 1997
Child Care Infrastructure Act of 1997 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow an employer-provided child care credit for qualified expenses to build, rehabilitate, or expand a qualified child care facility, or subsidize or contract for such services, for an employer's employees. Terminates such credit by a specified date.
United States · United States Congress · 21 May 1997
School-Based Children Health Insurance Act of 1997 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to establish an income-based, refundable tax credit for the purchase of school-based health insurance coverage for qualified children. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to provide financial assistance to States for health insurance outreach and information programs. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 21 May 1997
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Juvenile Offender Control and Prevention Grants Title II: Violent Juvenile Offenders Title III: Gang Violence Title IV: Prevention and Treatment of Youth Drug Addiction Title V: Improving Juvenile Crime and Drug Prevention Families First Juvenile Offender Control and Prevention Act of 1997 - Title I: Juvenile Offender Control and Prevention Grants - Juvenile Offender Control and Prevention Grant Act of 1997 - Amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to replace provisions regarding alternative methods of punishment for young offenders with a juvenile offender control and prevention grant program. Authorizes the Director of the Bureau of Justice Assistance to make grants to qualifying units of local government, according to a specified formula, to be used for one of several specified activities, such as building or expanding secure juvenile correction or detention facilities for violent juvenile offenders. Sets forth provisions regarding prohibited uses of grant funds, repayment of unexpended amounts, and matching funds. Authorizes appropriations. Makes specified sums available to the Attorney General for studying effectiveness and efficiency, assuring compliance, and for administrative costs. Directs the Attorney General to establish and execute an oversight plan for monitoring the activities of grant recipients. Requires the Director to: (1) issue regulations establishing procedures under which a unit of local government is required to provide notice to the Director regarding the proposed use of grant funds; and (2) establish a process for the ongoing evaluation of projects developed with such funds. Sets forth provisions regarding sanctions for noncompliance and maintenance of effort requirements. (Sec. 103) Directs the Administrator of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention to provide information and technical assistance to community-based organizations and units of local government to assist in the establishment, operation, and replication of model programs designed to prevent juvenile delinquency. Title II: Violent Juvenile Offenders - Amends Federal criminal code (code) provisions regarding the transfer of a juvenile for criminal prosecution in Federal court to require that the transfer decision be made not later than 90 days after the first day of the hearing. (Sec. 202) Eliminates the statute of limitations for a Class A felony involving murder. (Sec. 203) Provides that, except for capital offenses and Class A felonies involving murder, no person shall be prosecuted, tried, or punished for a Class A felony that is a crime of violence or a drug trafficking crime unless the indictment is returned or the information is filed within ten years after the commission of the offense. (Sec. 204) Modifies provisions regarding dispositional hearings to: (1) require that the probation officer prepare a predisposition report and promptly provide a copy to the juvenile, the attorney for the juvenile, and the attorney for the Government; and (2) require the court to order restitution; and (3) authorize the court, upon suspending the findings of juvenile delinquency, to impose any fine that would be authorized if the juvenile had been tried and convicted as an adult. Specifies that for a juvenile found to be delinquent the term for which: (1) probation may be ordered may not extend beyond the maximum term that would be authorized if the juvenile had been tried and convicted as an adult; (2) official detention may be ordered may not extend beyond the lesser of the maximum term of imprisonment that would be authorized if the juvenile had been tried and convicted as an adult, ten years, or the date on which the juvenile achieves age 26; and (3) supervised release may be ordered may not extend beyond five years. Authorizes the court, with respect to any juvenile prosecuted and convicted as an adult, pursuant to guidelines promulgated by the United States Sentencing Commission, to determine to treat the conviction as an adjudication of delinquency and impose any disposition authorized. Directs the Commission to promulgate such guidelines within a year. Requires that a juvenile detained pending juvenile proceedings or a criminal trial, or detained or imprisoned pursuant to an adjudication or conviction, be substantially segregated from any prisoners convicted for crimes who have attained age 21. (Sec. 205) Amends the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act to increase penalties for: (1) juvenile handgun possession; and (2) knowingly receiving a firearm with an obliterated serial number. (Sec. 207) Directs the Commission to amend the Federal sentencing guidelines to increase the base offense level for certain offenses relating to the transfer of firearms or ammunition to prohibited persons. (Sec. 208) Modifies code provisions regarding the use of juvenile records to direct that a juvenile who has been adjudicated delinquent for an act that, if committed by an adult, would be a felony or for a violation of juvenile handgun possession provisions shall be fingerprinted and photographed and the results sent to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Directs the court to also transmit to the FBI information concerning the adjudication. Specifies that if the law of the State in which a Federal juvenile delinquency proceeding takes place permits or requires the reporting, retention, disclosure, or availability of records or information relating to a juvenile or to a juvenile delinquency proceeding or adjudication in certain circumstances, then such reporting, retention, disclosure, or availability is permitted under the code whenever the same circumstances exist. Title III: Gang Violence - Increases the penalty for, and the scope of provisions regarding, the use of physical force to tamper with witnesses, victims, or informants. (Sec. 302) Sets penalties for interstate: (1) travel to engage in witness intimidation or obstruction of justice; and (2) franchising of criminal street gangs. (Sec. 303) Expands pretrial detention eligibility for serious gang and other violent criminals. (Sec. 304) Establishes a conspiracy penalty for obstruction of justice offenses involving victims, witnesses, and informants. Title IV: Prevention and Treatment of Youth Drug Addiction - Expresses the sense of the Congress that appropriations for State grants (for drug and violence prevention programs) and national programs under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act should increase by specified amounts. (Sec. 402) Amends: (1) the National Narcotics Leadership Act of 1988 to reauthorize the Office of National Drug Control Policy; and (2) the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) to authorize the Attorney General to reschedule certain drugs posing an imminent danger to public safety. (Sec. 403) Directs the Attorney General to add ketamine hydrochloride and gamma hydroxybutyrate to schedule III of the CSA. Title V: Improving Juvenile Crime and Drug Prevention - Directs the Attorney General to enter into a contract with a public or nonprofit private entity for the purpose of conducting a study or studies to: (1) evaluate the effectiveness of federally funded programs for preventing juvenile violence and juvenile substance abuse and criminal victimization of juveniles; (2) identify specific Federal programs and programs that receive Federal funds that contribute to reductions in juvenile violence, juvenile substance abuse, and risk factors among juveniles that lead to violent behavior and substance abuse and specific programs that have not achieved their intended results; and (3) make specific recommendations on programs that should receive continued or increased funding or that should have their funding terminated or reduced. Requires the Attorney General to request the National Academy of Sciences to enter into such contract, and if it declines, to carry out this title through other public or nonprofit private entities. Allows the contracting party to request assistance from the Department of Justice and any other appropriate Federal agency. Sets forth reporting requirements. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 21 May 1997
Women's Business Centers Act of 1997 - Amends the Small Business Act to: (1) authorize the Administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA) to provide financial assistance to private organizations to conduct five-year (currently, three-year) demonstration projects to benefit small businesses owned and controlled by women; (2) adjust the level of cash contributions required from Federal and non-Federal sources for each of the five years of the projects; (3) require each assistance applicant to submit a five-year (currently, three year) plan on proposed fund raising and training activities under a project; (4) allow each recipient to receive such assistance for five years (in lieu of three); (5) establish within the SBA the Office of Women's Business Ownership to administer SBA's women's business enterprise programs; (6) require the SBA to report biennially to the small business committees on the effectiveness of projects conducted under this Act; and (7) increase the annual authorization of appropriations for such programs.
United States · United States Congress · 20 May 1997
Cardiac Arrest Survival Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require that certain permitted field studies, large-scale testing and evaluation, and demonstrations of the National Heart, Blood Vessel, Lung, and Blood Diseases and Blood Resources Program include: (1) the development and dissemination of a core content for a model State cardiac arrest training program for inclusion in emergency medical services educational curricula and training programs addressing lifesaving interventions; and (2) related matters. Establishes as an independent executive branch agency the Commission on Cardiac Arrest Survival. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 20 May 1997
Airline Passenger Safety Act of 1997 - Amends Federal aviation law to require each air carrier to establish procedures, including specified steps, to be followed in the event of an in-flight medical emergency. Requires each air carrier to provide, upon request, a copy of such procedures to each air passenger. (Sec. 2) Requires: (1) each aircraft to be equipped with certain life-saving equipment, including first-aid and medical kits; (2) each member of the flight crew to have access to such items; (3) each air carrier, with respect to cardiac emergencies, to train flight crew members in cardiopulmonary resuscitation and operation of an automated external defibrillator; (4) each air carrier to establish an in-flight emergency procedures manual, including cardiac medical emergency response procedures; (5) each aircraft to be equipped with such manual; (6) each air carrier to take certain actions in providing emergency medical care; (7) each air carrier to enter into a contract with a clinic, hospital, or other medical care provider to provide it with medical advice (including the solicitation of assistance of medically-qualified passengers) in the case of in-flight medical emergencies; and (8) the flight crew to check on any passenger who is inside an aircraft lavatory for more than ten minutes. Directs the Secretary to establish certain procedures to ensure that appropriate medical personnel, including a coroner in the event of a passenger's death, are present to meet an aircraft upon the notification of an air traffic controller of an in-flight medical emergency. Directs the Secretary to establish procedures for in-flight medical emergencies requiring an emergency landing, including: (1) establishing a medical facility to be contacted after an in-flight medical emergency; and (2) designating an airport ground crew that will meet the plane, including medical personnel assigned to the airport. Prohibits an air carrier from purchasing or leasing an aircraft that is not equipped with an emergency call button in each aircraft lavatory. Requires specified reports on in-flight medical emergencies. Directs an air carrier to notify the family of a passenger as soon as practicable after an in-flight medical emergency involving such passenger. Directs the Secretary to appoint an individual within the Department of Transportation to serve as a liaison to family members of the passenger. Directs the Secretary to review: (1) the compliance of each air carrier with the requirements of this Act; and (2) the procedures established at each airport for meeting passengers with medical emergencies. Requires the Secretary to: (1) keep statistics on the number of in-flight medical emergencies that occur each year; and (2) study the feasibility of using satellite communications of Global Position Satellites as a method of improving communications between pilots, ground medical personnel, and air traffic controllers. Limits the liability of air carriers and individuals in providing medical assistance in the case of an in-flight medical emergency.
United States · United States Congress · 20 May 1997
Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against Children and Sexually Violent Offenders Registration Improvements Act of 1997 - Amends the Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against Children and Sexually Violent Offender Registration Act (Title XVII, Subtitle A, of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994) regarding State sex offender registration programs to require that a determination that a person is or is no longer a sexually violent predator be made by the sentencing court after considering the recommendations of the appropriate State board or boards or of the State under certain circumstances. Directs each State, within two years, to establish one or more State boards. Authorizes the Attorney General to waive such requirement under specified circumstances. Modifies requirements regarding release, parole, supervised release, and probation of such persons to require specified actions by a designated agency, court, or other responsible official under an approved State registration program, including reporting address changes as provided by State law. Requires such agency to forward the registration information to the agency responsible for registration under State law, in accordance with State procedures that meet specified requirements. Requires that any person who is: (1) required to register in that person's State of residence also register in accordance with the law that governs the registration, verification, and notification of sex offenders of each State in which that person is employed or carries on a vocation or is enrolled as a student; and (2) serving a sentence of probation, parole, or other supervised release for conviction of an offense that requires registration, and who is residing in any State other than that in which that person was sentenced, to register in accordance with the law of the State of residence of the offender. Sets forth notification requirements. Requires a State, by July 1, 1999, to submit a report to the Attorney General that sets forth existing or proposed laws regarding stalking crimes against individuals 16 years old or younger. Prohibits the sale or exchange of information collected under a State registration program for profit or remuneration. Includes independent contractors acting at the direction of law enforcement agencies and State officials within immunity for good faith conduct. Expands registration requirements to include certain Federal offenders and military offenders. Expresses the sense of the Congress that each State should have in effect a law that makes it a crime to stalk an individual under age 16 without requiring that such individual be physically harmed before a stalker is restrained or punished.
United States · United States Congress · 20 May 1997
Married Couples Home Sale Equity Act of 1997 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a husband and wife to make separate elections regarding the one-time exclusion of gain from the sale of a principal residence. Modifies the dollar limitations.
United States · United States Congress · 20 May 1997
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude up to $250,000 ($500,000 jointly) of gain on the sale of a principal residence if owned and used as the principal residence for periods aggregating at least two years during the five-year period prior to sale or exchange. Sets forth special rules relating to: (1) jointly held property; (2) a deceased spouse; (3) a cooperative housing tenant-stockholder; (4) partial principal residence use; (5) determination of marital status; (6) acquisition after involuntary conversion; and (6) periods of out-of-residence health care.
United States · United States Congress · 16 May 1997
Secure Assets For Employees (SAFE) Plan Act of 1997 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow an eligible employer, if specified requirements are met, to establish and maintain a SAFE annuity (an individual retirement annuity) or a SAFE trust (a trust forming part of a defined benefit plan), both to be funded by the employer. Makes the employer contributions deductible without limitation and otherwise provides for the treatment of contributions and distributions. Mandates a penalty for early withdrawals. Requires simplified employer reports for SAFE annuities and simplified actuarial reports for SAFE trusts. Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 to exempt SAFE trusts from coverage requirements and SAFE annuities from certain employer reporting requirements.
United States · United States Congress · 16 May 1997
Authorizes the President to present, on behalf of the Congress, a gold medal to Mother Teresa of Calcutta in recognition of her contributions to humanitarian and charitable activities. Instructs the Secretary of the Treasury to strike a suitable gold medal. Authorizes the Secretary to strike and sell bronze duplicates. Declares these medals to be national medals. Authorizes appropriations. Mandates deposit of sale proceeds in the Numismatic Public Enterprise Fund.
United States · United States Congress · 16 May 1997
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the surviving post-World War II, pre-1965 Basketball Association of America, National Basketball League, and National Basketball Association players with a minimum of three years of eligible service should be entitled to pension benefits.
United States · United States Congress · 15 May 1997
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to with respect to the income exclusion for employer-provided educational assistance programs to: (1) make such exclusion permanent; and (2) include graduate school assistance. Provides an income-based deduction for interest on qualified education loans incurred on behalf of a taxpayer or spouse (excludes dependents). Sets forth reporting requirements for persons in the business of receiving interest from such loans.
United States · United States Congress · 15 May 1997
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Children's Environmental Protection Subtitle A: Disclosure of Industrial Releases That Present a Significant Risk to Children Subtitle B: Disclosure of High Health Risk Chemicals in Children's Consumer Products Title II: Public Right to Know About Toxic Chemical Use Children's Environmental Protection and Right to Know Act of 1997 - Title I: Children's Environmental Protection - Subtitle A: Disclosure of Industrial Releases That Present a Significant Risk to Children -Amends the Emergency Planning and Community Right-To-Know Act of 1986 to require the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to establish thresholds for toxic chemicals which may present significant risks to children's health or the environment. Includes lead, mercury, dioxin, cadmium, chromium and other specified bioaccumulative chemicals as substances subject to such thresholds. Makes dioxin and specified bioaccumulative chemicals subject to toxic chemical release form reporting requirements under such Act. Authorizes citizen suits against the Administrator for failures to establish thresholds under this Act. Subtitle B: Disclosure of High Health Risk Chemicals in Children's Consumer Products - Amends the Federal Hazardous Substances Act to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the National Toxicology Program, to publish a list of substances which are toxic due to carcinogenic, neurotoxic, or reproductive toxic effects. Directs the Secretary to identify those substances to which infants and young children are exposed. Requires manufacturers or importers of eligible products (defined as toys or other articles intended for use by children) which contain such substances to report specified information to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, including information supporting that a substance is not a misbranded or banned hazardous substance. Authorizes exemptions from such reporting requirements if a substance would not cause substantial personal injury or illness as a result of foreseeable handling, including ingestion by children. Permits citizen suits with respect to certain violations under the Federal Hazardous Substances Act and against the Commission for failure to perform duties under this Act. Title II: Public Right to Know About Toxic Chemical Use - Expands information to be included in toxic chemical release forms, including the number of employees and occupational exposures at reporting facilities as well as materials accounting information. Requires the Administrator to take certain actions to: (1) standardize data and obtain and integrate information regarding toxic chemicals; (2) consolidate all annual reporting requirements of Federal environmental laws for small businesses and entities subject to toxic chemical release reporting; and (3) provide the public with one point of contact for access to information gathered by EPA. Requires disclosures on the uses of toxic chemicals by reporting facilities. Permits the withholding of portions of materials accounting information reported by covered facilities for purposes of protecting trade secrets.
United States · United States Congress · 15 May 1997
Medicare Cancer Clinical Trial Coverage Act of 1997 - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish a demonstration project which provides for payment under title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act of routine patient care costs for Medicare beneficiaries with cancer who are enrolled in an approved clinical trial program, while still applying the beneficiary cost sharing provisions of such program to project participants. Directs the Secretary to study and report to the Congress on the impact on Medicare of covering such costs as well as the cost of extending routine patient care coverage to Medicare beneficiaries with a diagnosis other than cancer.
United States · United States Congress · 15 May 1997
National Energy Security Act of 1997 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to repeal provisions relating to a limitation regarding the percentage depletion in the case of oil and gas wells. Amends provisions relating to an enhanced oil recovery credit to include hydro injection in the definition of "qualified enhanced oil recovery project." Allows an election to treat geological and geophysical expenses incurred in connection with the exploration for, or development of, domestic oil or gas as expenses which are not chargeable to capital account. Allows an election to treat delay rental payments (amounts paid for the privilege of deferring development of an oil or gas well) incurred in connection with the development of domestic oil or gas as payments that are not chargeable to capital account, allowing any payments so treated as a deduction. Requires, in the case of a tax shelter, treating economic performance regarding amounts paid during the taxable year for drilling an oil or gas well as having occurred within a taxable year if drilling commences before the close of the 180th (currently, the 90th) day after the close of the taxable year.
United States · United States Congress · 15 May 1997
National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Act of 1997 - Requires the Secretary of the Interior to establish in the National Park Service (NPS) a program to be known as the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom under which the Secretary shall: (1) produce and disseminate educational materials about the Railroad; (2) provide technical assistance to other government agencies, private entities, or the Governments of Canada, Mexico, or any appropriate Caribbean country to ensure coordination of Federal and non-Federal elements of the Network; and (3) regulate use of an official symbol for the Network. Includes within the Network: (1) NPS units or programs pertaining to the Railroad; (2) Federal, State, local, or privately-owned properties pertaining to the Railroad that have a verifiable connection to it and that are included or eligible for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places; and (3) governmental or nongovernmental facilities or programs of educational, research, or interpretive natures that are directly related to such Railroad. Prohibits amounts from being appropriated for the purposes of this Act except to the Secretary for carrying out his or her responsibilities.
United States · United States Congress · 15 May 1997
Military Health Care Choice Act of 1997 - Amends Federal law concerning Government organizations and employees to direct the Office of Personnel Management, in consultation with the appropriate Secretaries, to take such steps as may be necessary in order to make benefits under the health benefits program for Federal employees available to military retirees, military dependents, and others, in accordance with this Act. Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) elections of coverage available; (2) benefits; (3) charges; and (4) contributions. Limits the total number of elections that may be in effect at any time during the first three contract years.
United States · United States Congress · 15 May 1997
Federal Procurement and Assistance Integrity Act - States that the purpose of this Act is to improve the efficiency and effectiveness and protect the integrity of the Federal procurement and assistance systems by ensuring that the Federal Government does business with responsible contractors and participants. Authorizes the Secretary of Labor to debar or suspend a person from procurement or nonprocurement activities upon a finding, in accordance with procedures developed under this Act, that the person violated any of the following: (1) the National Labor Relations Act; (2) the Fair Labor Standards Act; (3) the Occupational Safety and Health Act; or (4) Federal requirements for employment emphasis under Federal contracts to be given to special disabled veterans and veterans of the Vietnam era. Directs the Secretary and the National Labor Relations Board to jointly develop procedures to determine whether a violation of a law listed above is serious enough to warrant debarment or suspension. Mandates a report by the Secretary and the National Labor Relations Board to the Congress on the implementation of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 15 May 1997
Reaffirms the view that the status quo on Cyprus is unacceptable and detrimental to U.S. interests. Considers that lasting peace and stability on Cyprus could be best secured by a process of complete demilitarization leading to the withdrawal of all foreign occupation forces, the cessation of foreign arms transfers to Cyprus, and providing for alternative internationally acceptable and effective security arrangements as negotiated by the parties. Supports the commitment by President Clinton to give increased attention to Cyprus and make the search for a solution a priority of U.S. foreign policy. Encourages the President to launch an early substantive initiative, in close coordination with the United Nations, the European Union, and interested governments to promote a speedy resolution of the Cyprus problem on the basis of international law, the provisions of relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions, democratic principles, including respect for human rights, and in accordance with the norms and requirements for accession to the European Union. Calls upon the parties to lend their full support and cooperation to such an initiative. Requests the President to report actions taken to give effect to the objectives set forth in this Act in the bimonthly report on Cyprus transmitted to the Congress.
United States · United States Congress · 15 May 1997
Declares that the Congress: (1) maintains that the standard for the "Made in USA" label should continue to be that a product was all or virtually all made in the United States; and (2) urges the Federal Trade Commission to refrain from lowering the standard at the expense of consumers and jobs in the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 14 May 1997
Authorizes the Pyramid of Remembrance Foundation to establish a memorial on Federal land within the District of Columbia or its environs to honor members of the armed forces killed while engaged in a military operation, other than a declared war, which involved conflict with an opposing foreign force. Prohibits the use of Federal funds in establishing such memorial.
United States · United States Congress · 14 May 1997
Permits the performance of honor guard functions by members of the National Guard at funerals for veterans to be treated as Federal functions for which appropriated funds may be used.
United States · United States Congress · 8 May 1997
Lewis and Clark Expedition Bicentennial Commemorative Coin Act - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to mint and issue one-dollar and half-dollar coins emblematic of the expedition of Lewis and Clark. Allocates surcharges from coin sales between the National Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Council and the National Park Service for activities associated with the bicentennial commemoration of the expedition.
United States · United States Congress · 8 May 1997
Establishes as a nonprofit corporation the National Military Museum Foundation to: (1) preserve military artifacts having historical or technological significance; (2) facilitate research on military history; (3) promote partnerships between the Federal Government and the private sector for the preservation of such artifacts; (4) engage in related military history documentation and preservation activities; and (5) recognize and honor the individuals who have served in the armed forces. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 8 May 1997
American Cities Investment Act of 1997 - Amends the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 to: (1) set limitations on maximum outstanding loan guarantees issued by the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development; (2) authorize the Secretary to guarantee advances from Federal Home Loan Banks; and (3) expand the community participation requirements to include major stakeholders (as defined by this Act). Amends the Federal Home Loan Bank Act to authorize advances to metropolitan cities, urban counties, or their public agencies for certain extraordinary, nonusual community development purposes pursuant to such loan guarantees. Prohibits the use of such funds to supplant Federal or non-federal fund sources. Sets forth amount limit and repayment provisions.
United States · United States Congress · 8 May 1997
Leave Equity for Adoptive Families Act of 1997 - Entitles any employee who needs it, because of placement of a child with the employee for adoption or foster care, to any leave benefit provided by the employer for care of an employee's newborn biological child or for recovery from the employee's own illness, injury, or disability. Requires that such leave commence no later than 12 months after such placement. Authorizes civil actions to enforce this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 8 May 1997
Women and AIDS Research Initiative Amendments of 1997 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to mandate a program to conduct biomedical and behavioral research (directly or through grants) on cases of infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in women. Sets forth requirements regarding the existing Women's Interagency HIV Study. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 8 May 1997
Flag Protection Act of 1997 - Amends the Federal criminal code to revise provisions regarding desecration of the flag to set penalties with respect to persons who: (1) destroy or damage a U.S. flag with intent to provoke, and in circumstances reasonably likely to produce, imminent violence or a breach of the peace; (2) steal or knowingly convert to their use, or the use of another, a U.S. flag belonging to the United States and intentionally destroy or damage that flag; and (3) within any lands reserved for the use of the United States, or under the exclusive or concurrent jurisdiction thereof, steal or knowingly convert to their use, or the use of another, a U.S. flag belonging to another person and intentionally destroy or damage that flag. Expresses the sense of the Congress that the States should enact prohibitions similar to the provisions of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 7 May 1997
Harold Hughes-Bill Emerson Commission on Alcoholism Act - Establishes the Harold Hughes-Bill Emerson Commission on Alcoholism. Includes among the duties of the Commission: (1) promoting the development of a national consensus on policy issues related to alcoholism; (2) evaluating the interest of the provider and medical communities in new medications related to alcoholism and the barriers to the communities in obtaining such medications; (3) in conjunction with the National Institute on Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse, conducting a study to identify the current state-of-the-art alcohol research, unmet alcohol research needs, and appropriate research funding in view of the size and scope of the alcoholism problem; (4) evaluating and making recommendations regarding the education of physicians in American medical schools concerning alcoholism and the certification of other individuals trained to provide alcoholism prevention and treatment services; and (5) making recommendations designed to reduce and prevent alcoholism, including recommendations concerning appropriate roles for the Federal, State, and local governments and the private sector and changes needed to Federal laws and programs. Requires the Commission to report to the President and the Congress on its findings. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 7 May 1997
Commends 25 specified States for their efforts with respect to prison time served by criminal offenders. Encourages all remaining States to adopt legislation to increase the time served by violent felons. Reemphasizes that individuals who commit violent crime should serve at least 85 percent of their sentence.
United States · United States Congress · 7 May 1997
Expresses the sense of the Congress that any exclusion from taxation of capital gains on the sale of a primary residence enacted during the 105th Congress should take effect on January 1, 1997.
United States · United States Congress · 6 May 1997
Private Property Rights Implementation Act of 1997 - Amends the Federal judicial code to provide that whenever a district court has jurisdiction in civil rights cases it shall not abstain from exercising or relinquishing its jurisdiction to a State court in an action where no claim of a violation of a State law, right, or privilege is alleged. Authorizes the district court, in such cases that cannot be decided without resolution of a significant but unsettled question of State law, to certify such question to the highest appellate court of that State (and after the State appellate court resolves the question certified to it, the district court shall proceed with resolving the merits). Bars the district court from certifying a question of State law unless such question will significantly affect the merits of the injured party's Federal claim and is so unclear and obviously susceptible to a limiting construction as to render premature a decision on the merits of the constitutional or legal issue in the case. Requires that any claim or action brought to redress the deprivation of a property right or privilege secured by the Constitution be ripe for adjudication by the district courts upon a final decision rendered by any person acting under color of any statute, ordinance, regulation, custom, or usage, of any State or territory of the United States, that causes actual and concrete injury to the party seeking redress. Provides that any claim brought under provisions regarding the United States as defendant and regarding the jurisdiction of the Court of Federal Claims that is founded upon a property right or privilege secured by the Constitution, but allegedly infringed or taken by the United States, shall be ripe for adjudication upon a final decision rendered by the United States that causes actual and concrete injury to the party seeking redress. Sets guidelines for what constitutes a "final decision" for purposes of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 6 May 1997
Keep the Government Open Act of 1997 - Amends Federal law to allow an officer or employee of the United States or of the District of Columbia to make a contract or obligation before an appropriation is made if the President determines that an appropriation is likely for that purpose before the end of the fiscal year in an amount exceeding the contract or obligation. Allows a U.S. officer or employee to continue to supply personal services before an appropriation or continuing resolution is enacted if the President determines that an appropriation is likely for that purpose before the end of the fiscal year in an amount exceeding the cost to the government. Requires payment for those services even if no appropriation is enacted if the President so determines. Appropriates funds to pay salaries for each day on which funds are not available (unless an appropriations measure is enacted for the applicable department or agency and the measure makes no appropriation for that salary).
United States · United States Congress · 6 May 1997
Expresses support for: (1) the work of the National Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Council and all the Federal, State, and local entities and other interested groups that are preparing bicentennial activities to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the Lewis and Clark Expedition; and (2) the events to be held in observance of the Expedition at Council Bluff near present-day Fort Calhoun, Nebraska, at St. Louis, Missouri, and at Bismarck, North Dakota, and many other cities during such observance. Calls upon the President, the Secretary of the Interior, the Director of the National Park Service, American Indian tribes, other public officials, and U.S. citizens to support, promote, and participate in the many bicentennial activities being planned to commemorate the Expedition.
United States · United States Congress · 5 May 1997
Amends the Federal judicial code to make an exception to the jurisdictional immunity of a foreign state in certain cases where money damages are sought for the personal injury of a U.S. citizen caused by an act of genocide occurring during World War II in the predecessor states of the Federal Republic of Germany, or in any territories or areas occupied, annexed, or otherwise controlled by those states. Sets the venue for such cases. Makes an exception to immunity from attachment with respect to such claims.
![Official portrait of Rep. Frost, Martin [D-TX-24]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/f000392_200.jpg)