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United States · Official source
3,529 records where Rep. Gallegly, Elton [R-CA-24] is listed as a sponsor, author, or other actor. Search with topics and years
United States · United States Congress · 15 July 1999
Designates the U.S. Post Office building located at 3101 West Sunflower Avenue in Santa Ana, California, as the Hector G. Godinez Post Office Building.
United States · United States Congress · 13 July 1999
Cardiac Arrest Survival Act of 1999 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to: (1) assist in providing for an improvement in the survival rates of individuals who experience cardiac arrest in Federal buildings by publishing in the Federal Register for public comment recommendations with respect to placing automatic external defibrillators in such buildings; and (2) assist Federal agencies in implementing programs for such placement. Requires the Secretary to determine criteria for: (1) the selection of the Federal public buildings in which defibrillators should be placed; (2) defibrillator maintenance; and (3) the coordination of the use of the defibrillators in public buildings with emergency medical services providers for the geographic areas in which the buildings are located. Provides that any person who provides emergency medical care through the use of a defibrillator, any person who maintained, tested, or provided training in the use of the device, any physician who provided medical oversight of the device, and the person who acquired the device (if specified conditions have been met) is immune from civil liability for any personal injury or wrongful death resulting from the provision of such care, unless the person engaged in gross negligence or willful or wanton misconduct under the applicable circumstances.
United States · United States Congress · 13 July 1999
Congratulates the United States Women's Soccer Team on its winning championship performance in the World Cup tournament. Recognizes the important contribution of each individual team member to the United States and to the advancement of women's sports. Invites the members of the team to the U.S. Capitol to be honored and recognized by the House of Representatives for their achievements.
United States · United States Congress · 1 July 1999
Internet Freedom and Broadband Deployment Act of 1999 - Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to define "high speed data service" as a service capable of transmitting electronic information at a rate generally not less than 384 kilobits per second in at least one direction. Prohibits the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and each State, except as expressly provided in this Act, from regulating the rates, charges, terms or conditions for, or entry into the provision of, any high speed data service or Internet access service, or to regulate the facilities used in the provision of such service. Prohibits the FCC from requiring an incumbent (established) local exchange carrier to: (1) provide unbundled access to any network elements used in the provision of any high speed data service, other than those elements described in FCC regulations; or (2) offer for resale at wholesale rates any high speed data service. States that nothing in this Act shall: (1) limit or affect the authority of any State to regulate voice telephone exchange services; (2) affect the ability of the FCC to retain or modify the exemption from interstate access charges for enhanced service providers; or (3) prohibit the FCC from modifying the regulation concerning the number of networks subject to its unbundling requirement. Requires each incumbent local exchange carrier to provide: (1) Internet users with the ability to subscribe to and have access to any Internet service provider that interconnects with such carrier's high speed data service; (2) any Internet service provider with the right to acquire necessary facilities and services to facilitate such interconnection; and (3) any Internet service provider with the ability to collocate equipment in order to achieve such interconnection. Includes high speed data service or Internet access service within the definition of "incidental interLATA services" permitted for a Bell operating company (BOC). States that, until the date a BOC is authorized to offer interLATA services originating in an in-region State, such BOC offering any high speed data service or Internet access service may not, in such State, bill or collect for interLATA voice telecommunications service obtained by means of such high speed data or Internet access service provided by such company.
United States · United States Congress · 1 July 1999
Medicare+Choice Risk Adjustment Amendments of 1999 - Amends part C (Medicare+Choice) of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to: (1) require that the new risk adjustment methodology for Medicare+Choice payment rates be implemented in a budget neutral manner; and (2) eliminate any further adjustment in the national per capita Medicare+Choice growth percentage.
United States · United States Congress · 29 June 1999
Commends: (1) the Colombian people for their continued demonstration of support for the democratic process as well as for an end to internal conflict; (2) President Andres Pastrana for his commitment to seek an end to the guerilla insurgency and paramilitary violence in Colombia and for his efforts to begin a peace process; and (3) the Colombian Government and military leadership for their initial steps toward removing from the armed forces officers found to be linked to illegal and unacceptable activities of paramilitaries. Condemns the violations of human rights, including murder and kidnappings, that continue in Colombia, particularly the murder by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrillas of three U.S. citizens, the disappearance of three U.S. missionaries of the New Tribes Mission in territory controlled by FARC, and the recent mass kidnappings and hijackings by the National Liberation Army (ELN) which resulted in two U.S. citizens being taken hostage. Urges: (1) the leaders of FARC and ELN, and the leaders of the paramilitary groups, to end the violence, agree to suspend all kidnappings, release all hostages, renounce their relationships with the narcotics trade, and negotiate a meaningful peace accord with the Government of Colombia; and (2) the Colombian Government to rapidly implement a program to help protect threatened human rights workers. Encourages FARC and the Government of Colombia to agree to the establishment of an international observer group that would monitor the "despeje" zone and report on illegal narcotics activities and human rights abuses in that zone. Urges FARC to demonstrate its renunciation of the narcotics trade by eradicating coca cultivation in 10,000 hectares of that zone and by cooperating with the Government of Colombia in converting those hectares to the cultivation of legal crops. Welcomes the agreement between FARC and the Government of Colombia to create a commission to investigate and provide a final report on the fate of the three U.S. missionaries. Calls upon the international community to play a more active role in helping to resolve the internal conflict in Colombia by encouraging all sides to participate in the peace process. Declares that the House of Representatives reaffirms U.S. support for the peace process, commits the United States to assist the Government of Colombia in finding a peaceful resolution to the internal conflict, continues to support U.S. assistance to help strengthen political stability and economic growth, and continues to cooperate with all segments of Colombian society who demonstrate a clear and unequivocal commitment to combating the drug trade within Colombia.
United States · United States Congress · 23 June 1999
Makes the American Battle Monuments Commission and the World War II Memorial Advisory Board eligible to use nonprofit standard mail rates of postage: (1) for official mail sent to promote establishment of the Memorial and encourage private donations; or (2) for the Commission to solicit and accept such private contributions.
United States · United States Congress · 22 June 1999
History of the House Awareness and Preservation Act - Directs the Librarian of Congress to: (1) prepare a new and complete written history of the U.S. House of Representatives; (2) in preparing the history, consult, commission, or engage the services or participation of eminent historians and Members or former Members of the House; (3) arrange for the printing of the history and the dissemination of excerpts of the history over the Internet; (4) make the history available for sale to the public; and (5) make available, free of charge, a limited number of copies to each Member of the House of Representatives and to the Senate. Sets forth guidelines for the history. Authorizes the Librarian to solicit and accept private funding for the publication, marketing, and public distribution of the history. Directs the Librarian to accept for deposit, preserve, maintain, and make accessible, an oral history of the House as told by its Members and former Members, compiled and updated (on a voluntary or contract basis) by the U.S. Association of Former Members of Congress or other outside organization. Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) orientation programs for freshman Members of the House should contain a seminar on the history of the House; and (2) the Speaker of the House should conduct a series of forums on the topic of such history.
United States · United States Congress · 22 June 1999
Forest Access Immediate Relief Act of 1999 - Terminates the authority of the Secretary of Agriculture to impose or collect any fee under the authority of the Forest Service recreational fee demonstration program authorized under the Department of the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1996. Prohibits the Forest Service from using Federal funds to provide engineering support for the timber sales program, including support of timber purchaser-funded roadwork.
United States · United States Congress · 18 June 1999
Designates all unreserved and unappropriated ocean islands within three miles off the Pacific coast of California that are under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Land Management as the California Coastal Rocks and Islands Wilderness. Declares that the Wilderness shall remain under the Bureau's jurisdiction, is managed by the California Department of Fish and Game under a memorandum of understanding, and shall be administered by the Secretary of the Interior.
United States · United States Congress · 18 June 1999
Spaceport Investment Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide the same treatment for spaceports as is provided for airports under the exempt facility bond rules.
United States · United States Congress · 17 June 1999
Pain Relief Promotion Act of 1999 - Title I: Use of Controlled Substances Consistent With the Controlled Substances Act - Amends the Controlled Substances Act to provide that for purposes of such Act, alleviating pain or discomfort in the usual course of professional practice is a legitimate medical purpose for the dispensing, distributing, or administering of a controlled substance consistent with public health and safety even if the use of such a substance may increase the risk of death. Declares that nothing in this Act authorizes intentionally dispensing or administering a controlled substance for purposes of causing death or assisting another person in causing death. Prohibits the Attorney General, in determining whether a controlled substance manufacturer, distributor, or dispenser registration is consistent with the public interest under the Act, from giving force and effect to State law permitting assisted suicide or euthanasia. Authorizes certain educational and research programs carried out by the Attorney General under the Act to include educational and training programs for local, State, and Federal personnel on the necessary and legitimate use of controlled substances in pain management and palliative care and means by which investigation and enforcement actions by law enforcement personnel may accommodate such use. Title II: Promoting Palliative Care - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Administrator of the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research to carry out a program to: (1) develop and advance scientific understanding of palliative care; and (2) collect and disseminate protocols and evidence-based practices regarding such care, with priority given to pain management for terminally ill patients, and make such information publicly available. Defines "palliative care" as the active total care of patients whose prognosis is limited due to progressive, far-advanced disease. Authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services, to award grants, cooperative agreements, and contracts to health professions schools, hospices, and other entities for programs to provide education and training to health care professionals in palliative care. Sets forth requirements for grant applicants. Provides for the evaluation of such programs to determine their effect on knowledge and practice regarding palliative care. Makes funds available for such grants and contracts.
United States · United States Congress · 10 June 1999
Bear Protection Act of 1999 - 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, or purchasing, possessing, transporting, delivering, or receiving it in interstate or foreign commerce. Subjects persons who violate such prohibitions to specified penalties. Waives such prohibition for wildlife law enforcement purposes where a valid permit has been issued. Requires the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of State to discuss issues involving such trade with the appropriate representatives of countries that are the leading importers, exporters, or consumers of such products. Requires the Secretary of the Interior to report to Congress on the progress of efforts to end illegal trade in bear viscera.
United States · United States Congress · 8 June 1999
Amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to extend the retroactive eligibility dates for financial assistance for higher education for spouses and dependent children of law enforcement officers who are killed in the line of duty.
United States · United States Congress · 8 June 1999
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that all fire fighters who risk their lives and die in the line of duty should be honored and recognized.
United States · United States Congress · 27 May 1999
Export Enhancement Act of 1999 - Sets forth policy recommendations for the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) and the International Trade Administration (ITA). Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to extend through FY 2003 OPIC's authority to issue investment insurance and guarantees. Revises the purposes of the Trade and Development Agency to include, with respect to the promotion of U.S. private sector participation in development projects in developing and middle-income countries, special emphasis on economic sectors with significant U.S. export potential, such as energy, transportation, telecommunications, and environment. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes appropriations to the ITA for its Market Access and Compliance program, Trade Development program, and Commercial Service program. Directs the Secretary of Commerce to take steps to ensure the appointment of United States and Foreign Commercial Service employees in no fewer than ten sub-Saharan African countries, including the adequate appointment of personnel for South and Central America and the Caribbean, in order that U.S. businesses are made aware of existing market opportunities for goods and services. Directs the ITA to undertake the Global Diversity and Urban Export Initiative in order to increase exports from minority-owned businesses, focusing on businesses in under-served areas, including inner-city urban enterprise zones. Authorizes the ITA to advertise in newspapers, business journals, and other relevant publications and related media to inform businesses about ITA services. Revises the composition of the OPIC Board of Directors. Amends the Export Enhancement Act of 1988 to require the Trade Promotion Coordinating Committee (TPCC) to develop a Federal trade promotion plan that, among other things, shall: (1) ensure that all export promotion activities of the U.S. Agency for International Development are fully coordinated and consistent with those of other agencies; (2) identify the means for providing more coordinated export promotion services to small and medium-sized businesses; and (3) establish a set of priorities to promote U.S. exports to, and free market reforms in, the Middle East, Africa, Latin America, and other emerging markets, that are designed to stimulate job growth both in the United States and those regions and emerging markets. Requires the TPCC to: (1) report on actions taken to eliminate the areas of overlap and duplication identified among Federal export promotion activities; (2) coordinate efforts to sponsor or promote any trade show or trade fair; (3) work with all relevant State and national organizations, including the National Governors' Association, that have established trade promotion offices; and (4) report to Congress on actions taken to promote better coordination among State, Federal, and private sector export promotion activities.
United States · United States Congress · 27 May 1999
Military Survivor Benefits Improvement Act of 1999 - Amends Federal provisions concerning the military Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) to adjust the basic SBP annuity amount for surviving spouses age 62 or over of former military personnel to: (1) 35 percent of the retired pay of the decedent, for months beginning on or before the enactment of this Act (current law); (2) 40 percent of such pay, for months beginning after the date of enactment of this Act until October 2004; and (3) 45 percent of such pay, for months beginning on or after October 2004. Adjusts similarly the percentage amounts of SBP supplemental annuity authorized to be provided for such surviving spouses. Directs the Secretary of Defense to ensure appropriate adjustments in the computation of retired pay reductions for such supplemental annuities made necessary by this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 26 May 1999
Calls for the Citizens Stamp Advisory Committee to recommend and the Postal Service to issue a commemorative postage stamp honoring the U.S. Submarine Force on its 100th anniversary.
United States · United States Congress · 25 May 1999
Father Theodore M. Hesburgh Congressional Gold Medal Act - Authorizes the President to present, on behalf of Congress, a congressional gold medal to Father Theodore M. Hesburgh in recognition of his outstanding and enduring contributions to civil rights, higher education, the Catholic Church, the Nation, and the global community. Authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to strike and sell bronze duplicates. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 24 May 1999
American Inventors Protection Act of 1999 - Title I: Inventors' Rights - Inventors' Rights Act - Amends Federal patent law to oblige any invention promoter, when entering into a contract for invention promotion services, to disclose to a customer in writing: (1) whether the promoter's usual business practice is to seek more than one contract in connection with an invention, or seek to perform promotion services in one or more phases, with the performance of each phase covered in one or more subsequent contracts; and (2) a summary of the promoter's usual business practices, including the usual business terms of contracts, and the approximate amount of the usual fees or other consideration for each of the services provided. (Sec. 102) Prescribes a standard cover notice for every invention promotion services contract, including: (1) the procedure for contract cancellation; (2) the total number of inventions evaluated by the promoter for commercial potential in the past five years, including the number of positive and of negative evaluations; (3) the total number of customers who have contracted with the promoter in the past five years; (4) the total number of customers known by the promoter to have received a net financial profit as a direct result of the invention promotion services provided; (5) the total number of customers known by the invention promoter to have received license agreements for their inventions as a direct result of such services; and (6) the names and addresses of all previous invention promotion companies with which the promoter or its officers have collectively or individually been affiliated in the previous ten years. Sets forth mandatory contract terms and remedies for certain prohibited contract practices. Establishes a Federal cause of action for inventors injured by material false or fraudulent statements or representations, or any omission of material fact, by an invention promoter, or by the promoter's failure to make the required written disclosures. Sets minimum damages at $5,000, leaving the court discretion to treble actual damages, taking into account past complaints against the same invention promoter. Makes it a misdemeanor for an invention promoter to make fraudulent representations to a customer. Title II: First Inventor Defense - First Inventor Defense Act - Amends Federal patent law to declare that it shall be a defense to an infringement action with respect to any subject matter that would otherwise infringe one or more claims asserting a process or method in the patent being asserted against a person, if such person had, acting in good faith, actually reduced the subject matter to practice at least one year before the effective filing date of such patent, and commercially used the subject matter before the effective filing date of such patent. (Sec. 202) Deems a commercial use, in the case of activities performed by a nonprofit research laboratory, or nonprofit entity such as a university, research center, or hospital, any use for which the public is the intended beneficiary, except that such use: (1) may be asserted as a defense only for continued use by and in the laboratory or nonprofit entity; and (2) may not be asserted as a defense with respect to any subsequent commercialization or use outside such laboratory or nonprofit entity. States that the sale or other disposition of a useful end product produced by a patented method, by a person entitled to assert such a defense with respect to that useful end result, shall exhaust the patent owner's rights under the patent to the extent such rights would have been exhausted had such sale or other disposition been made by the patent owner. Limits the defense to inventions for processes or methods. Prohibits the defense if the subject matter on which the defense is based was derived from the patentee or persons in privity with the patentee. Declares that this defense is not a general license under all claims of the patent at issue, but extends only to the specific subject matter claimed in the patent with respect to which the person can assert a defense. Extends the defense, however, to variations in the quantity or volume of use of the claimed subject matter, and to improvements that do not infringe additional specifically claimed subject matter of the patent. Requires a person asserting the defense to establish it by clear and convincing evidence. Prohibits any person who has abandoned commercial use of subject matter from relying on activities performed before the date of abandonment in establishing a defense with respect to actions taken after such date. Limits assertion of the defense to the person who performed the acts necessary to establish it. Prohibits licensing, assignment, or transfer to any person but the patent owner of the right to assert the defense, except as an ancillary and subordinate part of a good faith assignment or transfer for other reasons of the entire enterprise or line of business to which the defense relates. Restricts the site of use of a subject matter for which the defense may be asserted if the defense has been acquired as part of such a good faith assignment or transfer. Title III: Patent Term Guarantee - Patent Term Guarantee Act of 1999 - Amends Federal patent law to extend the term of a patent one day for each day lost as a result of delay created by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) when the agency fails to: (1) make notifications within 14 months after filing of a non-provisional application about the rejection of any patent claim, or objections to or requirements for it, or of allowance of the application; (2) respond within four months to a reply to a rejection, objection, or requirement, or to an appeal of a twice-rejected claim; (3) act on an application within four months after the date of a decision by the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences, or a decision by a Federal court in a case in which allowable claims remain in the application; or (4) issue a patent within four months after the date on which the issue fee was paid and all outstanding requirements were satisfied. (Sec. 302) Requires a day-for-day extension of a patent term if: (1) a patent is not issued within three years after the filing of the application; or (2) issue is delayed by interferences, secrecy orders, or appeals. Specifies limitations to such an extension, as well as grounds for its reduction. Requires the USPTO Director to prescribe regulations establishing procedures for the application for and determination of patent term extensions and adjustments. (Sec. 303) Authorizes the Commissioner of Patents to: (1) prescribe regulations for the continued examination, at the applicant's request, of a patent application notwithstanding a final rejection; and (2) establish appropriate fees for continued examination proceedings, with a mandatory 50% fee reduction for qualifying small entities. Title IV: United States Publication of Patent Applications Published Abroad - Publication of Foreign Filed Applications Act - Requires the USPTO Director to publish each patent application 18 months after the earliest filing date for which a benefit is sought, unless the applicant requests earlier publication. Makes final and unreviewable the Director's determination to release or not to release information concerning a published patent application. Prohibits publication of any application: (1) no longer pending; (2) subject to a secrecy order; (3) which is provisional; (4) for a design patent; or (5) for an invention the applicant certifies has not and will not be the subject of an application filed in another country, or under a multilateral international agreement, that requires publication of applications 18 months after filing. Requires any applicant, in the latter instance, who subsequently files, in a foreign country or under a multilateral international agreement, an application directed to the invention disclosed in the application filed in the PTO, to notify the Director. (Sec. 402) Allows an applicant to submit a redacted copy of the PTO-filed application, eliminating any part or description of the invention that is not also contained in any of the corresponding applications the applicant has filed in one or more foreign countries whose applications require a less extensive description of the invention than the application or description of the invention in the application filed in the PTO. Requires the USPTO Director to publish only the redacted copy of the application, unless it is not received within 16 months after the earliest effective filing date. Requires the USPTO Director to establish appropriate procedures to ensure that no protest or other form of pre-issuance opposition to the grant of a patent on an application may be initiated after publication of the application without the express written consent of the applicant. Directs the Comptroller General to study and report to specified congressional committees on applicants who file only in the United States on or after the effective date of this subtitle. (Sec. 403) Amends Federal patent law with respect to the option of an applicant seeking patent protection in the United States to claim the filing date of an application for the same invention filed in another Convention country, provided the subsequent application is filed in the United States within 12 months of the earlier filing in the foreign country. Revises requirements for claiming such priority. Authorizes the Director to: (1) consider an applicant's failure to file a timely claim for priority to be a waiver of any such priority claim; and (2) establish procedures (including the payment of a surcharge) to accept an unintentionally delayed priority claim. (Sec. 404) Amends Federal patent law to state that a patent shall contain a (provisional) right to obtain a reasonable royalty for applicants whose applications are published under this title, or international applications designating the United States filed under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT). Entitles the applicant to obtain a reasonable royalty from any person who between publication of the application and issuance of the patent: (1) makes, uses, offers for sale, or sells the invention in, or imports it into, the United States; or (2) if the invention claimed is a process, makes, uses, offers for sale, sells, or imports a product made by that process in the United States; and (3) had actual notice of the published application, including a translation into English if it was filed in a non-English language under the PCT designating the United States. Denies availability of such right unless the invention as claimed in the patent is substantially identical to the invention as claimed in the published application. Sets a six-year statute of limitations from the date of patent issuance in which an action for reasonable royalties must be brought. Authorizes an applicant to request issuance of a patent incorporating one or more claims the USPTO Director has indicated allowable. Permits incorporation into the patent, or issuance of a separate patent, of any subsequently allowed claims. (Sec. 405) Grants a published application prior art effect as of its earliest effective U.S. filing date against any subsequently filed U.S. applications. States that any foreign filing date to which the published application is entitled will not be the effective filing date of the U.S. published application for prior art purposes, unless it is an international application designating the United States published in English under the PCT. (Sec. 406) Requires the USPTO Director to recover the cost of early publication required by this title by charging a separate publication fee after a notice of allowance is given. Title V: Patent Litigation Reduction Act - Patent Litigation Reduction Act - Revises requirements with respect to prior art citations. Repeals the authority to exclude, on request, the prior art citator's identity from the patent file, and keep it confidential. (Sec. 503) Revises the procedure for the conduct of reexamination proceedings, adding specified procedures for a third-party requester. Transfers authority to conduct such proceedings and issue orders from the Commissioner of Patents to the USPTO Director. Requires reexamination proceedings and appeals to the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences to be conducted with special dispatch within the USPTO. Authorizes a third-party requester to: (1) appeal any final decision favorable to the patentability of any original or proposed amended or new claim of the patent; or (2) be a party to any appeal taken by the patent owner. Declares that any third-party requester whose request for a reexamination results in a reexamination order is estopped from asserting at a later time, in any civil action, the invalidity of any claim finally determined to be valid and patentable on any ground which the third-party requester raised or could have raised during the reexamination proceedings, except newly discovered prior art unavailable at the time of such proceedings. Sets forth prohibitions with respect to subsequent requests for reexamination of a patent and final decisions in civil actions. Authorizes a patent owner to obtain a stay of any pending litigation involving an issue of patentability once an order for reexamination has been issued, unless the court determines a stay would not serve the interests of justice. Requires the USPTO Director to report to Congress on whether the reexamination proceedings established under this title are inequitable to any of the parties in interest, as well as any related legislative recommendations. Title VI: Patent and Trademark Office - Patent and Trademark Office Efficiency Act - Subtitle A: United States Patent and Trademark Office - Amends Federal patent law to reorganize the Patent and Trademark Office in the Department of Commerce into a U.S. agency within the Department, called the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), subject to the general policy direction of the Secretary of Commerce but exercising independent control of its budget, personnel, procurements, and other administrative and management functions. (Sec. 613) Vests the enumerated powers and duties of the USPTO in an Under Secretary of Commerce and Director of the USPTO (currently, the Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks). Requires the Director to appoint a Commissioner of Patents and a Commissioner of Trademarks. (Sec. 614) Prescribes personnel requirements, including mandatory written agreements with labor organizations. Requires the USPTO Director to establish a performance management system according to specified guidelines. Authorizes the Director to establish one or more broad-banded systems covering all or any portion of the USPTO workforce. (Sec. 615) Establishes a Patent Public Advisory Committee and a Trademark Public Advisory Committee. (Sec. 618) Revises the composition of the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board and the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences to reflect the changes of this Act. Repeals the current authority (of the Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks) to designate any patent examiner of the primary examiner grade or higher to serve as examiner-in-chief for a six-month period, and act as a member of the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences. Subtitle B: Effective Date; Technical Amendments - Sets forth the effective date of this title, as well as specified technical amendments to Federal patent law. Subtitle C: Miscellaneous Provisions - Sets forth specified administrative requirements with respect to the USPTO and transfers of functions under this title. Title VII: Miscellaneous Patent Provisions - Amends Federal patent law to permit the conversion, upon applicant request, of a provisional application into a non-provisional application. Repeals the requirement that a provisional application be pending on the filing date of a non-provisional application in order for the provisional application to be relied upon in any proceeding in the USPTO. (Sec. 702) Permits persons who filed an application for patent first in a World Trade Organization (WTO) member country to claim the right of priority in a subsequent patent application filed in the United States, even if such country does not yet afford similar privileges on the basis of applications filed in the United States. Provides for the right of priority in the United States on the basis of an application for a plant breeder's right first filed in a WTO member country or in a foreign member of the International Convention for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV Contracting Party). (Sec. 703) Makes certain limitations on remedies for patent infringement applicable only to applications filed on or after September 30, 1996. (Sec. 704) Declares that papers filed in the USPTO may be required to be on an electronic medium. (Sec. 705) Directs the Comptroller General to study and report to Congress on the potential risks to the U.S. biotechnological industry relating to biological deposits in support of biotechnology patents. Requires the USPTO to consider the Comptroller General's recommendations when drafting regulations affecting biological deposits. (Sec. 706) Specifies that an inventor involved in a USPTO interference proceeding who establishes a date of invention is subject to certain requirements, including the one that the invention was not abandoned, suppressed, or concealed. (Sec. 707) Revises the condition of patentability that subject matter developed by another person which qualifies as prior art only in certain circumstances shall not preclude the granting of a patent on an invention with only obvious differences where the subject matter and claimed invention were, at the time the invention was made, owned by the same person or subject to an obligation of assignment to the same person. Adds to such qualifying prior art circumstances that the invention was described in another patent granted on an application filed before the applicant's date of invention. (Thus allows an applicant to receive a patent when an invention with only obvious differences from the applicant's invention was described in a patent granted on an application filed before the applicant's invention, provided the inventions are commonly owned or subject to an obligation of assignment to the same person.)
United States · United States Congress · 20 May 1999
Amends the Federal criminal code to prohibit, and set penalties for, knowingly creating, selling, or possessing a depiction of animal cruelty with the intention of placing that depiction in interstate or foreign commerce for commercial gain.
United States · United States Congress · 20 May 1999
Citizen Campaign Control Act of 1999 - Amends the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to prohibit any candidate for election to the House of Representatives or the Senate from accepting more than half of his or her contributions from persons other than local individual residents of the district or State involved. Exempts from this prohibition any opponent of a candidate who makes expenditures of more than $250,000 from personal funds. Revises pertinent reporting requirements. Specifies a fine for any candidate violating this prohibition.
United States · United States Congress · 20 May 1999
Disapproves the rule submitted by the U.S. Postal Service relating to delivery of mail to a commercial mail receiving agency (as published in the Federal Register on March 25, 1999). Declares that such rule shall have no force or effect.
United States · United States Congress · 19 May 1999
Interstate Class Action Jurisdiction Act of 1999 - Grants the district courts original jurisdiction of any civil action which is brought as a class action in which any member of a proposed plaintiff class is: (1) a citizen of a State different from any defendant; (2) a foreign state and any defendant is a citizen of a State; or (3) a citizen of a State and any defendant is a citizen or subject of a foreign state. Prohibits the district courts from exercising jurisdiction over such a civil action if the action is an intrastate case, a limited scope case, or a State action case. Makes such prohibition inapplicable to any claim concerning a covered security. Provides that, for purposes of a determination of diversity of citizenship, a member of a proposed class shall be deemed to be a citizen of a State different from a defendant corporation only if that member is a citizen of a State different from all States of which the defendant corporation is deemed a citizen. (Sec. 4) Allows a class action to be removed to a U.S. district court, except that such action may be removed by: (1) any defendant without the consent of all defendants; or (2) any plaintiff class member who is not a named or representative class member of the action for which removal is sought, without the consent of all members of such class. Specifies that this section shall apply to any class action before or after the entry of any order certifying a class. Makes provisions relating to a defendant removing a case applicable to a plaintiff removing a case under this section. Specifies that the requirement relating to the 30-day filing period shall be met if a plaintiff class member who is not a named or representative class member of the action for which removal is sought files notice of removal no later than 30 days after receipt by such class member of the initial written notice of the class action provided at the court's direction. Makes this section inapplicable to any claim concerning a covered security. Provides that if the case stated by the initial pleading is not removable, a notice of removal may be filed within 30 days after receipt by the defendant of a copy of an amended paper from which it may first be ascertained (current law) by exercising due diligence that the case is one which is or has become removable, with an exception. Requires the court to dismiss the action if, after removal, it determines that no aspect of an action that is subject to its jurisdiction solely under this Act may be maintained as a class action under rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Permits an action so dismissed to be filed again in a State court, but allows any such re-filed action to be removed again if it is an action of which the U.S. district courts have original jurisdiction. Specifies that in any action dismissed pursuant to this section, the period of limitations for any claim that was asserted in the action on behalf of any named or unnamed member of a proposed class shall be deemed tolled to the full extent provided under Federal law.
United States · United States Congress · 19 May 1999
Mother Teresa Religious Worker Act of 1999 - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to provide permanent authority for U.S. special immigrant entry by certain religious workers.
United States · United States Congress · 18 May 1999
Medicare Rehabilitation Benefit Improvement Act of 1999 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide certain Medicare beneficiaries with an exemption to the financial limitations imposed on physical, speech-language pathology, and occupational therapy services under Medicare part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance). Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to conduct a study of specified effects of this Act for a report to Congress.
United States · United States Congress · 18 May 1999
Commends the people of Israel for reaffirming, in the May 17 election, Israel's dedication to democratic ideals. Congratulates Ehud Barak on his election as Prime Minister of Israel. Pledges that Congress will work with the President of the United States and the new Israeli Government to strengthen the bonds between the United States and Israel and to advance the cause of peace in the Middle East.
United States · United States Congress · 13 May 1999
Social Security Surplus Preservation and Debt Reduction Act - Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to make it out of order in the House of Representatives or the Senate to consider a concurrent budget resolution (or amendment thereto or conference report thereon) that violates a provision of the Budget Enforcement Act of 1990 that provides that the receipts and disbursements of the Federal Old-Age and Survivors and Disability Insurance Trust Funds (social security trust funds) shall not be counted for purposes of the presidential or congressional budget or the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act). Makes it out of order in the House or the Senate to consider any legislation that would: (1) increase the limit on the public debt under the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act; or (2) provide additional borrowing authority that would result in such limit being exceeded. Makes it out of order in the House or the Senate to consider a concurrent budget resolution (or amendment thereto or conference report thereon) that sets forth a deficit for any fiscal year. Makes such point of order inapplicable if: (1) the public debt limit is suspended; or (2) the deficit for a fiscal year results solely from the enactment of retirement security reform legislation or provisions designated as emergency requirements. Includes the level of public debt in the required content of the concurrent budget resolution. Requires the budget resolution to specify the amounts by which the limit on such debt is to be changed and direct the committee having jurisdiction to recommend such change. Amends the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act to set forth: (1) limits on the public debt for specified periods through April 30, 2010; and (2) estimated levels of social security surpluses through FY 2009. Provides for adjustments to the public debt limit based on actual social security surpluses and emergency requirements. Prohibits such adjustments if those for the current year are less than the on-budget surplus for the year before the current year. Suspends the public debt limit in cases of low economic growth or war. Provides for an adjustment to the public debt limit if retirement security reform legislation is enacted. Sunsets this Act on April 30, 2010.
United States · United States Congress · 12 May 1999
Illegal Alien Employment Disincentive Act of 1999 - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to not count work experience as an unauthorized alien for purposes of admission as an employment-based immigrant or an H-1B nonimmigrant.
United States · United States Congress · 6 May 1999
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that Yugoslavian President Slobodan Milosevic should provide the necessary security assurances to the United Nations interagency mission to the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia to permit them to safely and accurately provide the international community with an objective, first-hand assessment of the condition of refugees inside of Kosovo and Yugoslavia. Encourages member nations of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to weigh the value of this humanitarian mission toward ending human suffering in Kosovo, and to consider reasonable measures to enhance the safety of this international delegation during its mission within Yugoslavia.
United States · United States Congress · 5 May 1999
K-12 Education Excellence Now Act of 1999 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a limited tax credit for the expenses of attending elementary and secondary schools (including qualifying home schooling and teacher-provided materials) and for contributions to charitable organizations which provide scholarships for children to attend such schools.
United States · United States Congress · 5 May 1999
Congratulates: (1) the Government and the people of Panama for completing democratic multiparty elections for President and Vice- President held on May 2, 1999; and (2) President-elect Mireya Moscoso on her recent victory and her continued commitment to democracy and a free market-oriented economy. Commends all Panamanian citizens and political parties for their efforts to work together to take risks for democracy and to pursue national reconciliation. Supports Panamanian attempts to continue cooperation to ensure democracy, national reconciliation, and economic prosperity. Reaffirms that the United States is unequivocally committed to encouraging democracy and peaceful development throughout Latin America.
United States · United States Congress · 4 May 1999
National Medal of Honor Memorial Act - Designates the memorial being constructed at the Riverside National Cemetery in Riverside, California, to honor Medal of Honor recipients as the National Medal of Honor Memorial.
United States · United States Congress · 4 May 1999
Expresses that the House of Representatives: (1) honors and recognizes the unique and important achievements of America's teachers; and (2) urges all Americans to take a moment to thank and pay tribute to our Nation's teachers.
United States · United States Congress · 28 April 1999
Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) of the Social Security Act to restore the link ended by the Senior Citizens' Freedom to Work Act of 1995 between the rules relating to substantial gainful activity for blind individuals and the rules relating to excess earnings under the social security earnings test for individuals who have attained retirement age (thus allowing blind individuals, once again, to earn up to the social security excess earnings threshold without being regarded as having demonstrated an ability to engage in substantial gainful activity and without losing entitlement to OASDI benefits). Makes this Act effective with respect to taxable years ending after 1995.
United States · United States Congress · 27 April 1999
Prohibits the import, export, or shipment in interstate commerce of conventional steel jawed leghold traps and of articles of fur derived from animals trapped in such traps. Prescribes criminal penalties for violations of this Act. Directs the Secretary of the Interior to reward informers (other than Government employees performing official duties) for information leading to a conviction under this Act. Empowers enforcement officials to detain, search, and seize suspected merchandise or documents and to make arrests with and without warrants. Subjects seized merchandise to forfeiture.
United States · United States Congress · 27 April 1999
Children's Hospitals Education and Research Act of 1999 - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make payment as specified to each children's hospital for each hospital cost reporting period under Medicare (title XVIII of the Social Security Act (SSA)) for FY 2000 and 2001 for the direct and indirect expenses associated with operating approved medical residency training programs. Provides that such payments are in lieu of certain Medicare payments to hospitals for inpatient hospital services, but shall not affect the amounts otherwise payable to such hospitals under a State Medicaid (SSA title XIX) plan. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 26 April 1999
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Satellite Competition and Consumer Protection Title II: Secondary Transmissions By Satellite Carriers Within Local Markets Satellite Copyright, Competition, and Consumer Protection Act of 1999 - Title I: Satellite Competition and Consumer Protection - Satellite Competition and Consumer Protection Act - Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to allow television broadcasting stations the option of electing must-carry status as provided in this title for satellite carriers providing local service and retransmitting the station's signals, as an alternative to the current authority to grant retransmission consent. (Sec. 102) Exempts from such retransmission consent requirement (in addition to noncommercial television broadcast stations) superstations that existed as superstations on May 1, 1991, were retransmitted by satellite carriers under satellite compulsory license as of July 1, 1998, and whose retransmissions were in compliance with Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rules governing network nonduplication, syndicated exclusivity, and sports blackout. Terminates seven months after the enactment of this Act the retransmission consent exemption for satellite-delivered distant network signals. Requires the FCC to commence a rulemaking proceeding to revise the regulations governing the exercise by television broadcasting stations of the right to grant retransmission consent and such other regulations as are necessary to administer the limitations contained in this Act. Requires such regulations to: (1) establish election time periods for must-carry retransmission consent rights that correspond with those regulations adopted under this Act; and (2) prohibit (through January 1, 2006) television broadcast stations that provide retransmission consent from engaging in discriminatory practices, understandings, arrangements, and activities, including exclusive contracts for carriage, that prevent a multichannel video programming distributor from obtaining retransmission consent from such stations. Provides that, if an originating television station elects to exercise its right to grant retransmission consent under this Act with respect to a satellite carrier, the must-carry provisions shall not apply to the carriage of such station's signal by the satellite carrier. (Sec. 103) Requires satellite carriers that retransmit a television broadcast signal to subscribers located within the signal's local market to carry, upon request, beginning January 1, 2002, all television broadcast stations located within the local market (must- carry requirement), subject to the retransmission consent election by such stations. Requires a television broadcast station asserting its right to such carriage to bear costs associated with delivering a good quality signal to the satellite carrier's designated local receive facility or to another facility that is acceptable to at least one-half the stations asserting the right to carriage in the local market. Provides that a satellite carrier shall not be required: (1) to carry upon request the signal of any local commercial television broadcast station that substantially duplicates the signal of another local commercial television broadcast station which is secondarily transmitted by the satellite carrier within the same local market; or (2) to carry upon request the signals of more than one local commercial television broadcast station in a single local market that is affiliated with a particular television network. Requires the FCC to prescribe regulations that provide the same degree of carriage by satellite carriers of multiple local noncommercial television broadcast stations as is provided by cable systems. Declares that no satellite carrier shall be required to provide a local television broadcast station signal to subscribers in that station's local market on any particular channel number, or to provide the signals in any particular order, except that the satellite carrier shall retransmit the signal of the local stations to subscribers in the stations' local market on contiguous channels, and provide access to such signals at a nondiscriminatory price and in a nondiscriminatory manner on any navigational device, on screen program guide, or menu. Prohibits a satellite carrier from accepting or requesting monetary payments or other valuable consideration in exchange either for carriage of local television broadcast stations in fulfillment of the requirements of this Act or for channel positioning rights provided to such stations. Allows any such station, however, to be required to bear the costs associated with delivering a good quality signal to the satellite's local receive facility. Provides an administrative procedure by which stations may seek redress from the FCC for violations of the must-carry obligations for satellite carriers. (Sec. 104) Sets a deadline by which the FCC must commence a single rulemaking proceeding to establish regulations (modeled after those currently applicable to the cable industry) that apply network nonduplication protection, syndicated exclusivity protection, and sports blackout protection to retransmission of broadcast signals by satellite carriers to subscribers. Directs the FCC to establish a signal intensity Network Nonduplication Signal Standard (until revised, the Grade B field strength standard prescribed by specified FCC regulations) for purposes of determining the network nonduplication rights of local television broadcast stations. Directs the FCC to take all actions necessary to develop and prescribe by rule a point-to-point predictive Network Nonduplication Reception Model for reliably and presumptively determining the ability of individual locations to receive signals in accordance with the Network Nonduplication Signal Standard. Requires the network nonduplication requirements to allow a television network station to assert certain nonduplication rights. Prescribes procedures: (1) for subscriber requests for waiver of network nonduplication requirements; and (2) for verification of inability to receive a standard-meeting signal, if a waiver is denied. Prescribes conditions for deeming a subscriber with satellite reception equipment in a recreational vehicle to be outside a station's local market and Reception Model Area. Requires the FCC to review and, if necessary, revise such Standards and Models. (Sec. 105) Requires the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) to certify annually to the Board of Directors of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and notify each pertinent satellite carrier, that a majority of its membership supports or does not support the secondary transmission of the PBS satellite feed. (Sec. 107) Requires the FCC to complete the biennial review required by the Telecommunications Act of 1996. (Sec. 108) Provides that until the FCC issues regulations, if a subscriber's network service is terminated, the satellite carrier shall, upon request, provide the subscriber free of charge an over- the-air television broadcast receiving antenna that will provide the subscriber with an over-the-air signal of Grade B intensity for those network stations that were terminated as a result of a finding of copyright infringement. (Sec. 109) Prohibits a subscriber whose household is located outside the Grade A contour of a network station from having his or her satellite service of another network station affiliated with that same network terminated as a result of an infringement finding, until the FCC has issued and implemented a new predictive model under this Act. Title II: Secondary Transmissions by Satellite Carriers Within Local Markets - Satellite Copyright Compulsory License Improvement Act - Amends Federal copyright law to cite circumstances under which the secondary transmission by a satellite carrier of a primary transmission of a television broadcast station into the station's local market shall be subject to statutory (compulsory) licensing. Requires the carrier: (1) within 90 days after commencing such secondary transmission, to submit to the network that owns or is affiliated with the network station a list identifying all subscribers to which the satellite carrier currently makes such transmission; and (2) on the 15th day of each month, to submit a subsequent list identifying any subscribers who have been added or dropped since submission of the last list. (Sec. 202) Restricts the use of the subscriber information to monitor compliance by the satellite carrier. Applies the submission requirements to a satellite carrier only if the network to which the submissions are to be made places on file with the Register of Copyrights a document identifying the name and address of the person to whom such submissions are to be made. Precludes any royalty obligation for such secondary transmission. Makes actionable as an act of infringement fully subject to copyright remedies a satellite carrier's willful or repeated secondary transmission into a television broadcast station's local market of the station's primary transmission embodying a performance or display of a work to a subscriber outside the station's local market, if the satellite carrier has not complied with FCC rules, regulations, or authorizations concerning signal carriage. Applies the same infringement liability and copyright remedies to a satellite carrier if: (1) the content of a particular program in which the performance or display is embodied or any commercial advertising or station announcement transmitted by the primary transmitter during, or immediately before or after, the transmission of such program, is in any way willfully altered by the satellite carrier through changes, deletions, or additions, or is combined with programming from any other broadcast signal; or (2) such transmission is made to a subscriber outside the station's local market who is not subject to compulsory licensing or a private licensing agreement, unless the satellite promptly withdraws service from the ineligible subscriber. Sets forth additional remedies for willful and repeated patterns or practices of such violations. Places on the satellite carrier the burden of proof in any action brought under this Act that its secondary transmission of a station's primary transmission is made only to subscribers within the station's local market or subscribers being served in compliance with compulsory licensing requirements. Provides that, with respect to any actionable secondary transmission by a satellite carrier of a primary transmission embodying the performance or display of a work, a television broadcast station holding a copyright or other license to transmit or perform the same version of that work shall be treated as a legal or beneficial owner if such secondary transmission occurs within the local market of that station. (Sec. 203) Amends the Satellite Home Viewer Act of 1994 to extend until December 31, 2004, the sunset of the satellite compulsory license. (Sec. 204) Revises the formula used to compute the rate of royalty fees for satellite carriers in effect on January 1, 1998, by reducing the $.27 rate for retransmission of: (1) superstation signals by 30 percent; and (2) network stations by 45 percent. Provides that, for purposes of copyright arbitration royalty panels, the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) shall be the agent for all public television copyright claimants and all PBS member stations with respect to royalty fees paid by satellite carriers for retransmitting the PBS satellite feed. (Sec. 205) Subjects to compulsory license a copyrighted programming carried upon the PBS national satellite feed. Conditions such license, after certain circumstances take place, or two years after the effective date of this Act, whichever is earlier, on the annual PBS certification that a majority of PBS membership supports the secondary transmission of the PBS satellite feed. Defines "Public Broadcasting Service satellite feed" as the national satellite feed distributed by PBS consisting of educational and informational programming intended for private home viewing, to which PBS holds national terrestrial broadcast rights. (Sec. 206) Limits the compulsory license to secondary transmissions of network stations to persons who are unable to receive a signal of the intensity specified as the Network Nonduplication Signal Standard (currently, limited to secondary transmissions to persons who reside in unserved households). Makes use of the compulsory license contingent upon compliance with the FCC nonduplication requirements of title I of this Act. (Sec. 207) Makes satellite carrier eligibility for the compulsory license contingent upon full compliance with all FCC signal carriage requirements. (Sec. 208) Requires the Register of Copyrights and the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information jointly to study and report to Congress on the technical and economic impact of must-carry requirements on delivery of local signals.
United States · United States Congress · 22 April 1999
Child Status Protection Act of 1999 - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to give priority in the allotment of family-sponsored immigrant visas to: (1) unmarried children of U.S. citizens and permanent residents; and (2) aliens who are sons and daughters of U.S. citizens and who were married but under age 21 when the marriage was terminated.
United States · United States Congress · 22 April 1999
Smokeless Tobacco Warning Label Act - Amends the Comprehensive Smokeless Tobacco Health Education Act of 1986 to revise smokeless tobacco product warning label requirements. Includes among alternative warning statements: (1) "Smokeless Tobacco Is Addictive"; and (2) "This Product Contains Cancer Causing Chemicals." States that the Secretary of Health and Human Services may revise by a rulemaking such required statements.
United States · United States Congress · 21 April 1999
Consequences for Juvenile Offenders Act of 1999 - Amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to replace provisions regarding grants to develop alternative methods of punishment for young offenders with provisions authorizing the Attorney General to provide grants to promote greater accountability in the juvenile justice system, including grants to: (1) develop, implement, and administer graduated sanctions for juvenile offenders; (2) build, expand, renovate, or operate temporary or permanent juvenile correction, detention, or community corrections facilities; (3) provide funding to enable prosecutors to address drug, gang, and youth violence problems more effectively and for technology, equipment, and training to assist prosecutors in identifying and expediting the prosecution of violent juvenile offenders; and (4) establish and maintain accountability-based programs that are designed to enhance school safety. Sets forth State and local eligibility requirements, including assurances that the State and local governmental unit have in effect(or, within one year, shall have in effect) laws, policies, and programs that provide for a system of graduated sanctions. Directs that such sanctions, which may be discretionary (subject to specified limitations), ensure at a minimum that: (1) sanctions are imposed on juvenile offenders for every offense and escalate in intensity with each subsequent, more serious delinquent or criminal offense; (2) there is sufficient flexibility to allow for individualized sanctions and services suited to the individual juvenile offender; and (3) appropriate consideration is given to public safety and victims of crime. Requires that 75 percent of the funding received by a State be provided to units of local government, with an exception. Provides for direct grants to specially qualified units if a State does not qualify or apply for funds reserved for allocation by the application deadline. Directs the Attorney General to issue regulations establishing procedures under which a State or local governmental unit that receives funds is required to provide notice to the Attorney General regarding the proposed use of grant funds, including a requirement for the establishment and convening of an advisory board to review the proposed uses of such funds. Sets forth payment requirements. Limits the amount of funds received that a State or local government may use for administrative costs to five percent. Authorizes appropriations. Sets forth provisions regarding oversight accountability and administration.
United States · United States Congress · 20 April 1999
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Improvement of Classroom Services and Activities Title II: Miscellaneous Provisions Dollars to the Classroom Act - Title I: Improvement of Classroom Services and Activities - Authorizes the Secretary of Education award grants to States for use by States and local educational agencies (LEAs) to improve classroom services and activities for students. (Sec. 102) Requires reservation of specified portions of title I funds for: (1) outlying areas, to be distributed on the basis of their relative need; and (2) the Secretary of the Interior for programs in schools operated or funded by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Sets forth a formula for distribution of title I funds to States, including a hold harmless provision with respect to amounts received in FY 1999 under current formula grant programs (which are under specified Acts and programs repealed by this Act). Requires States to distribute at least 95 percent of allotted funds to LEAs. Requires States and LEAs to use title I funds to supplement and not to supplant funds from non-Federal sources. Requires State annual reports to the Secretary and specified congressional committees to be made available to parents and the public. (Sec. 103) Requires States to consider certain factors when distributing funds within the State. Sets forth hold-harmless provisions for LEAs with respect to: (1) funds received for FY 1999 under current formula grant programs; and (2) funds the LEA is eligible to receive during FY 1999 through 2003 under multiyear awards made prior to enactment of this Act. Lists local uses of title I funds. Requires LEAs to involve parents and members of the public in planning for the use of title I funds. (Sec. 104) Provides for participation of private school children and teachers in title I activities and services. (Sec. 106) Declares that nothing in this title shall be construed to authorize any Federal officer or employee to require, direct, or control a State, LEA, or school's specific instructional content of pupil performance standards and assessments, curriculum, or program of instruction as a condition of eligibility to receive funds under this title. Prohibits the Secretary from issuing any regulation regarding the type of classroom activities or services that may be assisted under this title. Provides that LEAs shall not be required to provide services under this title through a particular instructional method or in a particular instructional setting in order to receive funding under this title. (Sec. 107) Repeals the following programs under the Goals 2000: Educate America Act: (1) State and local education systemic improvement; (2) parental assistance; and (3) international education exchange and study. Repeals the following programs under the School-to-Work Opportunities Act of 1994: (1) school-to-work opportunities system development and implementation grants to States; (2) Federal implementation grants to local partnerships; and (3) national programs. Repeals the following programs under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA): (1) demonstrations of innovative practices; (2) innovative elementary school transition projects; (3) Dwight D. Eisenhower Professional Development Program, including national programs and State and local activities; (4) Technology for Education, including national programs, State and local programs for school technology resources, Star Schools, Ready-to-Learn Television, telecommunications demonstration project for mathematics, elementary mathematics and science equipment, and elementary and secondary school library media resources; (5) Magnet Schools Assistance; (6) Women's Educational Equity; (7) Innovative Education Program Strategies; (8) Native Hawaiians Education; (9) Alaska Native Education; (10) Fund for the Improvement of Education; (11) Gifted and Talented Education; (12) Arts in Education; (13) Civic Education; (14) Allen J. Ellender Fellowship Program (Close-Up programs for middle and secondary school students and teachers); (15) 21st Century Community Learning Centers; (16) Urban and Rural Education Assistance; (17) National Writing Project; (18) Extended Time for Learning and Longer School Year; (19) Comprehensive Regional Assistance Centers; and (20) Eisenhower Math and Science Regional Consortia. Repeals the Education for Homeless Children program under the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act. (Sec. 108) Authorizes appropriations. Title II: Miscellaneous Provisions - Authorizes the Secretary to waive statutory or regulatory requirements for a State educational agency (SEA), LEA, or school under certain conditions for specified programs under ESEA and the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Education Act. (Sec. 201) Education Flexibility Partnership Demonstration Act - Authorizes the Secretary to allow all 50 States to participate in the Education Flexibility Partnership Demonstration Act program (currently under title III of the Goals 2000: Educate America Act, which is repealed by this Act). Directs the Secretary to: (1) review the progress of agencies or schools affected by waivers under title II; and (2) publish and disseminate the decision to grant, or to authorize SEAs to issue, such waivers. (Sec. 202) Amends ESEA to eliminate criteria which a school must meet in order for its LEA to use funds for schoolwide programs at that school.
United States · United States Congress · 15 April 1999
Employee Ownership Act of 1999 - Declares the policy of the United States that, by the year 2010, 30 percent of all U.S. corporations shall be owned and controlled by their employees. (Sec. 3) Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide for tax-exempt employee-owned and employee-controlled corporation (EOECC) trusts whose primary assets consist of the employer securities of an EOECC in which: (1) more than 50 percent of the voting stock is held by a trust for the benefit of the corporation's employees; (2) in all matters requiring the vote of stock, including the election of the corporate board of directors, the trustee of such trust is obligated to vote the stock held in trust and allocated to participants in the trust in the manner in which the participants direct, on the basis of one-employee one-vote (and vote any stock not so allocated as if it were so allocated); (3) at least 25 employees of such corporation are participants in and beneficiaries of such trust; (4) a minimum of 90 percent of the employees who work at least 1,000 hours annually for such corporation are participants in such trust; and (5) the trustee administers the trust for the benefit of the corporation's employees, complying with all Code requirements for employee stock ownership plans which pertain to independent appraisal of shares not readily tradable, and distribution of those shares. Declares that: (1) there shall be no tax on the corporate income of an EOECC; and (2) the gross income of an employee owner shall not include any proceeds from the qualified sale of EOECC securities. Exempts from inclusion in gross income of property transferred in connection with performance of services any transfer (in lieu of compensation) of EOECC securities during the three years following a corporation's election to become an EOECC. Mandates nonrecognition of gain in the case of the sale or transfer of EOECC securities to an EOECC trust. Establishes a credit against the estate tax for the amount of EOECC securities considered to have been acquired from or to have passed from a decedent to an EOECC trust. (Sec. 4) Directs the Comptroller General to study and report to Congress on Federal regulations and policies affecting EOECCs. (Sec. 5) Directs the President to establish a Presidential Commission on Employee Ownership to study and report on all issues that affect ownership of businesses in the United States, with a primary focus on the issues that affect employee ownership of such businesses.
United States · United States Congress · 14 April 1999
Increases the number of authorized sites for the Medicare subvention demonstration project for certain Medicare-eligible military retirees and their dependents (a project established by the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 under title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act). Provides for the future repeal of the limitation on the number of such sites (thus allowing the project to be conducted at any site designed by the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Secretary of Defense acting jointly). Makes the project permanent, with its cap on the aggregate amount of calendar year reimbursement that may be made under the project to end after calendar year 2000. Makes further changes regarding the project, permitting payment under it to be made on a fee-for-service basis for certain project enrollees, and eliminating certain restrictive project participation policy. Applies to certain Medigap (Medicare supplemental health insurance policy) enrollees the same protections (prohibitions against issuer discrimination) as apply to enrollment (and termination of enrollment) with a Medicare+Choice organization in a Medicare+Choice plan under Medicare part C (Medicare+Choice).
United States · United States Congress · 13 April 1999
Amends the Clean Air Act to suspend certain requirements for the use of reformulated gas and oxygenated fuels in nonattainment areas, and any such provisions under California law regarding such gas and fuels, upon a determination by the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency that, during the calendar month prior to such determination, the statewide average retail price of gasoline has been more than five percent above the baseline average price for California due to costs of complying with such requirements. Terminates such suspension upon the Administrator's determination that the statewide average retail price has been more than five percent below such baseline average price. Defines "baseline average gasoline price" as a statewide average price for gasoline sold at retail, for any calendar month, that is 120 percent of the statewide average retail price within California during the three-calendar year period preceding the calendar year in which such month occurs. Bars the retail sale of gasoline refined outside, and imported into, the United States in California during any suspension period.
United States · United States Congress · 25 March 1999
Quality Health-Care Coalition Act of 1999 - Entitles any health care professionals negotiating with a health plan regarding contract terms under which they provide health care items or services for which plan benefits are provided to the same treatment under antitrust laws as that accorded to a collective bargaining unit recognized under the National Labor Relations Act.
United States · United States Congress · 25 March 1999
Fairness in Asbestos Compensation Act of 1999 - Title I: Asbestos Resolution Corporation - Establishes the Asbestos Resolution Corporation which shall: (1) have exclusive authority to adopt rules for cost recovery, physician qualifications, alternative dispute resolution, exceptional medical cases, and disease eligibility; and (2) appoint a Medical Advisory Board. Title II: Medical Eligibility Determinations - Sets forth claimant medical eligibility determination criteria for: (1) nonmalignant conditions; (2) mesothelioma; (3) lung cancer; and (4) other cancer. (Sec. 205) Sets forth procedures for Corporation determination of a claimant's certificate of medical eligibility. (Sec. 206) Directs the Corporation to establish one or more exceptional medical claims panels. Sets forth application and acceptance provisions. (Sec. 207) Provides for: (1) confidentiality; and (2) U.S. district court review, following exhaustion of administrative remedies, of Corporation determinations that a claimant fails to meet medical criteria or that a claim does not qualify as an exceptional medical claim. Title III: Alternative Dispute Resolution - Directs the Board to establish procedural rules for an alternative dispute resolution process. Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) motions officers; (2) respondent notification; (3) additional respondents; (4) grace period; (5) mediation and arbitration; and (6) subpoena powers. Title IV: Civil Actions - Prohibits: (1) a civil asbestos action unless the plaintiff has obtained a certificate of medical eligibility and release from mediation; and (2) a class action or other collective action without the consent of each defendant. (Sec. 404) Requires a penalty for a final offer made by a respondent in mediation if such offer is below a certain amount assigned by the jury or fact-finder. Title V: Rules Applicable to Arbitrations and Civil Actions - Sets forth arbitration and civil action rules with respect to: (1) relief; (2) timeliness defenses; (3) attorney's fees; and (4) nonpreclusion of nonmalignant claims upon subsequent malignancy claims. Title VI: Funding - Directs the Corporation to estimate its annual medical review and administrative and overhead costs and allocate proportionate cost shares among the previous year's respondents. Provides monetary penalties for noncooperation with the Corporation. (Sec. 602) Provides for mediation and arbitration costs to be charged on a per capita basis to participating respondents. (Sec. 603) Directs the Corporation to establish procedures for informal resolution of cost assessment disputes. Provides for U.S. district court review of cost assessment disputes. Title VII: Applicability; Pending Civil Actions - Makes this Act applicable to any civil asbestos action that has not resulted in a final, nonappealable judgment, with specified conditions applicable to pending civil actions. Title VIII: Miscellaneous Provisions - Defines specified terms. (Sec. 804) Makes this Act inapplicable to: (1) existing asbestos trusts, with an elective trust exception; and (2) any settlement agreement or related agreement concerning asbestos claims entered into by claimants, defendants, or their counsel.
United States · United States Congress · 25 March 1999
Internet Access Charge Prohibition Act of 1999 - Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to prohibit the Federal Communications Commission from imposing on any interactive computer service or other information service provider any access charge for the support of universal service that is based on a measure of the time that telecommunications services are used in the provision of such interactive computer or information service.
United States · United States Congress · 25 March 1999
Troops-to-Teachers Program Improvement Act of 1999 - Transfers from the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Transportation with respect to the Coast Guard to the Secretary of Education (Secretary) jurisdiction over a program (to be known as the Troops-to-Teachers Program (program)) to assist eligible members of the armed forces after their discharge, release, or retirement to: (1) obtain certification or licensing as elementary or secondary school teachers or vocational or technical teachers; and (2) facilitate the employment of such members by local educational agencies identified under this Act. Makes eligible for such program members who applied for the current teacher placement program and otherwise satisfy eligibility criteria. Requires the Secretary to provide information concerning the program, and make program applications available, to such members as part of their preseparation counseling. Directs the Secretary to pay a stipend of $3,000 to each program participant, with a limit of 5,000 such stipends in a fiscal year. Authorizes the Secretary, in lieu of such stipend amount, to pay a bonus of $5,000 to each participant who agrees to accept full-time employment as a teacher for not less than four years in a high need school. Limits to 1,000 the number of such bonuses in a fiscal year. Mandates that provision of assistance under the program shall not reduce or affect entitlement to benefits under the Montgomery GI Bill. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to States, or consortia of States, for operating offices for recruiting eligible members for program participation and facilitating employment of such participants in the schools of such States. Limits to $4 million the total amount of grants in a fiscal year. Requires the Secretaries involved to complete the jurisdictional transfer of the program not later than October 1, 1999. Requires program reports from the Secretary and the Comptroller General. Authorizes appropriations to the Department of Education for FY 2000 through 2004. Limits to five percent of program funds the amount authorized for management infrastructure.
United States · United States Congress · 25 March 1999
After-School Children's Education (ACE) Act - Amends the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 to provide for grants, a national clearinghouse, and a report to improve the quality and availability of after-school programs. (Sec. 3) Increases the amount authorized to be appropriated for child care programs under the Act. Requires States to use at least one percent of each fiscal year's funds, in coordination with child care resource and referral centers to the extent practicable, for activities designed to improve the quality and availability of after-school programs, including: (1) informational assistance; (2) coordination of after-school programs; (3) development of innovative, age-appropriate, age-appealing, and enriching after-school programs; or (4) development of creative funding strategies to make after-school programs affordable for all parents. (Sec. 4) Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services, through the Commissioner on Children, Youth, and Families, to establish a clearinghouse for after-school program technical assistance and models. Requires the clearinghouse to be available to the public, including via Internet. (Sec. 5) Directs the General Accounting Office to report to the Congress on after-school programs in each State: (1) describing types of programs, unmet needs, and barriers to participation, quality, and improvement; and (2) analyzing in detail such programs in 15 communities selected to represent a variety of regional, population, and demographic profiles. Includes among after-school programs in such report those sponsored by the Boys and Girls Clubs of America, the Boy Scouts of America, the Girl Scouts of America, YMCAs, and athletic and other programs operated by public schools and other State and local agencies.