United States · United States Congress · 27 October 1990
Budget Process Reform Act - Title I: Statement of Congressional Purpose - Declares that the purpose of this Act is to facilitate rational, informed, and timely decisions by the Congress. Expresses the sense of the Congress that the Federal budget process should focus the attention of policymakers and the public on the aggregate impact of Federal spending on the economy, and on the tradeoffs that must be made among priorities in order to control overall levels of spending. Declares that the budget process should contain safeguards against delay and inaction, so that temporary shut-downs of the Government may be avoided. Title II: Binding Budget Law - Requires the Congress to enact a binding budget law, in the form of a joint resolution, by April 15 of the calendar year before that in which the fiscal period commences. Requires the budget law to fit on a single page, which sets forth specific budget ceilings in major functional categories. Makes it out of order in the House of Representatives or the Senate to consider any spending bill affecting spending in a major functional category unless and until a joint resolution on the budget is enacted. Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to prohibit baseline budgeting. Requires the budget to include comparisons of current fiscal year and proposed subsequent fiscal year spending. Title III: Enforcement Mechanisms - Subtitle A: Super majority Required to Break Budget Law - Requires a two-thirds majority vote in the House and the Senate to consider any spending bill prior to the enactment of the budget law. Requires the Congressional Budget Office to provide to the Congress an estimate of the costs in each major functional category of any spending bill as soon as practicable after its introduction. Limits such estimates to those bills likely to result in costs of more than $10,000,000. Requires a two-thirds affirmative vote in the House and the Senate to consider over-budget spending bills. Requires a two-thirds affirmative vote in the House and the Senate to waive any provision of this Act. Subtitle B: Limited Enhanced Rescission Authority - Amends the Impoundment Control Act of 1974 to limit the President's rescission authority to spending that is above the limits of the budget law. Subtitle C: "Blank Check" Appropriations Prohibited - Declares the intent of the Congress to end open-ended, "blank check" appropriations which typically authorize spending "such sums as may be necessary." Requires fixed-dollar appropriations for every account except social security and interest on the debt. Prohibits open-ended appropriations. Requires Executive agencies to adjust benefit levels to ensure that appropriations for entitlement programs are not exceeded. Subtitle D: "Pay As You Go" Requirement for New Spending - Prohibits the Congress from considering any legislation which exceeds the budget ceiling unless it offsets such increased spending with an equal amount of reductions. Requires a two-thirds affirmative vote in the House and the Senate to waive such prohibition. Title IV: Sustaining Mechanism - Makes appropriations to provide for an automatic continuing resolution if for any account an appropriation for a fiscal period does not become law before the beginning of such period. Restricts legislation providing funding to the Committees on Appropriations. Title V: Protection of Social Security - Provides that no reduction in benefits under title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act shall be made as a consequence of this Act. Title VI: Timetable - Revises the timetable for the congressional budget process. Title VII: Conforming Amendments - Makes various technical and conforming amendments, including changing references to a concurrent resolution on the budget to references to a joint resolution on the budget. Title VIII: Definitions and Rules of Interpretation - Sets forth definitions for specified terms. Title IX: Effective Date - Declares the effective date of this Act to be January 1, 1991, applicable to fiscal years beginning after September 30, 1991.
United States · United States Congress · 23 October 1990
Civil Rights Act of 1990 - Amends the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to provide for the burden of proof which the complaining party and the respondent must meet in certain situations relating to unlawful employment practices based on disparate impact. Allows a rule barring employment of an individual who currently and knowingly uses or possesses an illegal drug unless the rule is adopted or applied with intent to discriminate. Allows establishment of an unlawful employment practice on a demonstration that a certain basis was a motivating factor for a practice, even though other factors also motivated the practice. Prohibits certain types of relief on a demonstration that the respondent would have taken the same action in the absence of any discrimination. Allows, on such a showing, declaratory and injunctive relief, attorney's fees, and costs. Provides for the finality of litigated or consent judgements or orders, barring actions (challenging an employment practice required by a judgment or order) by persons who had certain types of notice and opportunity. Declares that an alleged unlawful employment practice occurs, with regard to a seniority system, when: (1) the system is adopted; (2) an individual becomes subject to the system; or (3) a person is injured by application of the system or provision, adopted for an intentionally discriminatory purpose, whether or not the discriminatory purpose is apparent on the face of the provision. Allows a court, in fashioning remedies for unlawful intentional employment discrimination, to require the respondent to pay a specified amount if: (1) needed to deter the respondent from engaging in such practices; and (2) otherwise justified by the equities, consistent with the purposes of the equal employment opportunities provisions of the Act, and in the public interest. Requires all employment discrimination cases to be heard and determined by a judge, except that, if the court determines that the claims presented may require the payments authorized by this paragraph and that a jury trial is constitutionally required for such relief, a jury may be empaneled to determine such issues and no others. Allows expert fees to be included in attorney's fees awarded to the prevailing party in an employment discrimination case. Extends the time limit for an aggrieved employee or employment applicant to file a civil action after notice of final action by a department, agency, or unit of the Federal Government. Requires the same interest to compensate for delay in payment by the Government as in cases involving non-public parties. Amends Federal law to declare that: (1) for purposes of provisions relating to equal rights under the law, the right to make and enforce contracts includes the making, performance, modification, and termination of contracts, and the enjoyment of all benefits, privileges, terms, and conditions of the contract; and (2) the rights protected by the amended provisions are protected against impairment by non-governmental discrimination as well as against impairment under color of State law. Amends the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 to require the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to notify the person aggrieved if an age discrimination charge is dismissed by the Commission. Allows a civil suit to be brought within a specified time limit after the dismissal. Provides for the application of this Act, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 to the Senate, the House of Representatives, and instrumentalities of the Congress. Prohibits construing the amendments made by this Act, or any statute amended by this Act, so as to require, permit, or result in the adoption or implementation of quotas. Encourages the use of alternative means of dispute resolution to resolve disputes arising under the Acts amended by this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 17 October 1990
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the President should declare November 2, 1990, a national day of prayer for: (1) members of American military forces and American citizens stationed or held hostage in the Middle East, and for their families; and (2) American and Iraqi authorities to bring about a just resolution of the Persian Gulf crisis.
United States · United States Congress · 16 October 1990
Salutes and congratulates the people of Poland as they commemorate the 200th anniversary of the adoption of the Polish Constitution on May 3, 1991. Directs the Library of Congress to commemorate the anniversary with appropriate ceremonies.
United States · United States Congress · 27 September 1990
Aviation Security Improvement Act of 1990 - Title I: Aviation Security - Amends Federal law to establish an Assistant Secretary for Transportation Security and Intelligence for the development of transportation security. Requires the Secretary of Transportation (Secretary) to report annually to the Congress on transportation security. Amends the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 to require the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) (Administrator) to report annually (currently, semiannually) to the Congress on the effectiveness of screening procedures for passengers boarding aircraft. Establishes in the FAA an Assistant Administrator for Civil Aviation Security. Requires the Assistant Administrator to review and develop measures to strengthen air transportation security, including: (1) controls over checked baggage in air transportation; (2) control over individuals with access to aircraft; (3) testing of security systems; (4) use of modern x-ray equipment; and (5) preflight screening of passengers. Directs the Administrator to establish the position of: (1) Federal Security Manager for each U.S. airport that needs one; and (2) Foreign Security Liaison officer for each such airport outside of the United States. Directs the Administrator to issue regulations that subject to employment investigation, including criminal history record checks, all air carrier personnel, and individuals applying for air carrier positions, with unescorted access to domestic and foreign aircraft or to secured areas of domestic airports serving U.S. or foreign air carriers. Directs the Administrator to prescribe standards for the hiring, continued employment, and contracting of air carrier and airport security personnel. Requires foreign air carriers to adopt and use a security program approved by the Administrator. Requires the Administrator and the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation to conduct an assessment of current and potential threats to the domestic air transportation system, including the security of individual airports. Directs the Administrator to establish a program to accelerate and expand the research, development, and implementation of technologies and procedures to counteract terrorist acts against civil aviation. Requires the Administrator to: (1) complete a review of threats to civil aviation; and (2) establish a scientific advisory panel, as a subcommittee of the Research, Engineering and Development Advisory Committee, to review and advise on the progress of such program, including the need for long-range research programs to detect and prevent catastrophic damage to commercial aircraft by the next generation of terrorist weapons. Authorizes appropriations. Prohibits the deployment or purchase of explosive detection equipment unless the Administrator certifies that it can reliably detect explosive material which can cause catastrophic damage to commercial aircraft with 60 or more passenger seats. Requires air carriers, airport operators, travel agents, and employees who receive information of a threat to civil aviation to provide such information to: (1) an official of the FAA; (2) the Assistant Secretary of Transportation for Transportation Security and Intelligence; or (3) other appropriate officials. Requires the Administrator to cancel flights in the event that passenger safety from such a threat cannot be ensured. Requires the Administrator to develop guidelines to ensure notification to the public and to the flight and cabin crews of an air carrier flight of any threats to its security. Directs the Administrator to develop guidelines for airport design and construction to allow for maximum security enhancement. Directs the heads of the agencies of the intelligence community to promulgate policies and procedures to ensure that intelligence reports concerning international terrorism are made available to other members of the intelligence community, the Department of Transportation, and the FAA. Directs the Director of Central Intelligence to designate at least one intelligence officer of the Central Intelligence Agency to serve in a senior staff position in the Office of the Secretary of the Department of Transportation. Requires the Administrator to study whether additional requirements should be imposed to enhance the security requirements for the transportation of mail and cargo by passenger aircraft. Title II: United States Response to Terrorism Affecting Americans Abroad - Declares that the Department of State (the Department) shall be responsible for negotiating aviation security agreements with foreign countries concerning implementation of U.S. rules and regulations which affect the foreign operations of U.S. air carriers, foreign air carriers, and foreign international airports. Directs the Secretary of State to enter into negotiations for bilateral and multilateral agreements: (1) to enhance aviation security; (2) to implement the Foreign Airport Security Act and the foreign airport assessment program; and (3) to achieve improved availability of passenger manifest information. Makes the Coordinator for Counterterrorism responsible for the coordination of international aviation security for the Department. Requires the Administrator to require all U.S. air carriers to provide a passenger manifest of any flight to appropriate representatives of the Department within three hours after the carrier is notified of an aviation disaster outside the United States involving such flight. Authorizes the use of passport fees collected by the Department for the acquisition and production of machine-readable U.S. passports and visas and compatible reading equipment. Declares it to be the policy of the Department to notify promptly the families of victims of aviation disasters abroad, including timely written notice. Directs the Secretary of State to issue guidelines to provide that in the event of a disaster, particularly an aviation tragedy, involving U.S. citizens abroad, the Department will assign a specific individual, and an alternate, as the Department liaison for the family of each such citizen. Requires the Secretary to ensure that a toll-free telephone number is reserved for the use of the families of citizens who have been involved in such disasters. Requires the Secretary to institute a supplemental program of training in disaster management for all consular officers. Directs the Secretary to issue guidelines to provide in the event of an international aviation disaster involving U.S. citizens that at least: (1) one senior officer from the Bureau of Consular Affairs of the Department shall be dispatched to the disaster site; and (2) one Department employee shall be dispatched to such site to provide assistance and to act as an ombudsman with foreign local authorities for the victims' families. Requires the Secretary to promulgate: (1) criteria for Department staffing of disaster sites abroad; and (2) procedures for the deployment of a crisis team. Declares it to be the policy of the Department to provide arrangements for the preparation and transport to the United States of the remains of citizens who die abroad, as well as for disposition of personal effects. Requires the Secretary to compile an assessment of the Department response to the Pan American Airways Flight 103 disaster over Lockerbie, Scotland, together with guidelines for future response to such disasters, for distribution to Embassy and consular posts abroad. Requires the Secretary to promulgate guidelines with respect to recognition for the families of U.S. citizens who are killed through acts of terrorism abroad. Expresses the sense of the Congress that the United States should take appropriate action to increase limits on carrier liability established by the Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules Relating to International Transportation by Air (Warsaw Convention). Directs the President to submit to the Congress a legislative proposal to authorize the United States to provide monetary and tax relief as compensation to U.S. citizens who are victims of terrorism. Exempts the victims of the Lockerbie air disaster from income tax liability for any taxable year including December 21, 1988, and the prior year. Requires the Secretary to issue regulations to establish, under the Bureau of Consular Affairs, an electronic bulletin board accessible to the general public. Authorizes appropriations for antiterrorism assistance. Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to authorize training services, including short term refresher training, with respect to antiterrorism, to be conducted, under specified circumstances, outside of the United States. Directs the Secretary of State to develop and publish guidelines for thwarting efforts by international terrorists to enlist unwitting assistance of international aviation travelers in terrorist activities. Requires the Secretary of State to publish U.S. rewards for information on international terrorist-related activities. Expresses the sense of the Congress that the Secretary should take measures to utilize and train U.S. employees at U.S. airports and abroad in the detection of explosives and firearms which could threaten international civil aviation. Requires the Secretary of State to propose to the International Civil Aviation Organization the establishment of a security program which includes: (1) training for airport security personnel; (2) grants for security equipment acquisition for certain nations; and (3) expansion of canine teams in the detection of explosive devices in all airports, including passenger screening areas and nonpublic baggage assembly and processing areas.
United States · United States Congress · 26 September 1990
Authorizes the President, in order to protect health and safety of human life, to decrease the sequester amounts specified in the order issued August 25, 1990, under the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act). Requires an increase in the sequester amount in other accounts, programs, projects, or activities to the extent amounts were decreased in such order.
United States · United States Congress · 13 September 1990
Revises provisions extending free mailing privileges to members of the armed forces to: (1) grant such privileges to members who are engaged in temporary military operations under arduous circumstances; and (2) include video-recorded communications as material subject to free delivery.
United States · United States Congress · 11 September 1990
Amends the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act) to subject the pay of the Vice President, Members of Congress, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, and heads of cabinet departments of the executive branch to sequestration. Expresses the sense of Congress that the President forgo pay equal to the percentage reduction in effect under an order relating to the budget account for the Office of the President.
United States · United States Congress · 11 September 1990
Amends the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act) to subject the pay of Members of Congress to sequestration.
United States · United States Congress · 3 August 1990
Sole Source Aquifer Protection Act of 1990 - Amends the Safe Drinking Water Act to prohibit construction of landfills or land treatment facilities within a critical aquifer protection area unless the State or local government having jurisdiction over such area has adopted a management plan for the area. Requires the plan to provide for: (1) the maintenance of groundwater quality to protect human health, the environment, and groundwater resources; and (2) public hearings for receiving comments on the plan. Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to declare that it is national policy that such a plan be promulgated before such facilities are constructed over a critical aquifer.
United States · United States Congress · 3 August 1990
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that the Congress should retain the current Federal tax deduction for State and local income and property taxes.
United States · United States Congress · 2 August 1990
Airline Passengers Defense Act of 1990 - Directs the Secretary of Transportation to establish in the Department of Transportation an Office of Airline Passenger Advocacy. Establishes the Office of Airline Passenger Advocacy Advisory Group. Amends the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 to prohibit air carriers from cancelling a flight within 72 hours of its scheduled departure time for any reason, except for safety reasons or the absence of any passengers at such departure time. Requires air carriers which cancel such flights for safety-related reasons to report to the Secretary on the cancellation, the reasons for it, and actions taken to resolve the safety-related problem. Requires air carriers to notify their passengers of any delays of 15 minutes or more in the departure or arrival of scheduled flights. Requires an air carrier which cancels a flight in violation of this Act, or alters stopping places of such flight for any reason other than safety, to compensate passengers. Prohibits on-time performance of regularly scheduled flights from being 30 percent or less in any consecutive three-month period. Requires the Secretary to establish in the Office of Airline Passenger Advocacy a toll-free telephone number system for receiving passenger complaints relating to air service. Sets forth requirements relating to: (1) ticket information; and (2) lost or damaged baggage claims. Sets forth civil penalties for economic cancellations and consistently delayed flights by air carriers.
United States · United States Congress · 2 August 1990
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that October 1990 should be designated as National Ellis Island Month, in recognition of Ellis Island's upcoming centennial.
United States · United States Congress · 24 July 1990
Financial Crimes Prosecution and Recovery Act of 1990 as Reported By the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives - Title I: Enhanced Criminal Penalties - Amends Federal criminal law to establish criminal penalties (including imprisonment) for the concealment of assets from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) (acting as conservator or receiver) and the Resolution Trust Corporation (RTC) acting as conservator or receiver. Amends the Federal Deposit Insurance Act to prohibit certain felons convicted of dishonesty or breach of trust from controlling or participating in the affairs of a depository institution for a minimum ten-year period. Amends Federal criminal law to establish criminal penalties (including imprisonment) for obstructing any examination of a financial institution. Increases to 30 years (currently, 20 years) the maximum prison term for bank fraud and embezzlement. Establishes a ten-year statute of limitations for the prosecution of racketeering offenses involving financial institutions. Extends money laundering prohibitions to include funds from specified bank crimes. Directs the U.S. Sentencing Commission to promulgate guidelines for increased penalties for certain bank crime convictions in which the defendant derived more than $1,000,000 in gross receipts from the offense. Provides for restoration of forfeited property and for restitution to bank crime victims. Sets forth maximum criminal fines and minimum imprisonment terms for certain continuing financial crime enterprises (i.e., certain violations committed by at least four persons acting in concert). Title II: Protecting Assets from Wrongful Disposition - Authorizes the Attorney General to obtain a court order enjoining or restraining the alienation of disposition of property obtained as a result of a banking law violation. Amends the Federal Deposit Insurance Act to set forth attachment procedures. Amends Federal bankruptcy law to provide that the trustee shall be deemed to have assumed a debtor's commitment to a Federal depository institution regulatory agency to maintain the capital of an insured depository institution (thus precluding the trustee from rejecting such commitment as an executory contract which can be avoided as a discharge in bankruptcy). Exempts a Federal depository institution regulatory agency acting as conservator for an insured depository institution from the requirement of proving reasonable reliance upon a false writing supplied by a debtor who is an institution-affiliated party. Prohibits a discharge in bankruptcy for debts resulting from the debtor's failure to fulfill a commitment to a Federal financial institution regulatory agency to maintain the capital of an insured depository institution. Exempts a Federal depository institution regulatory agency acting as conservator for an insured depository institution from the requirement of a timely nondischargeability request (including notice and hearing) when seeking to recover a debt relating to malfeasance. Declares that for specified cases of deceitful conduct, any institution-affiliated party of an insured depository institution (or credit union) shall be deemed to have been acting in a fiduciary capacity with respect to any debt owed to a Federal banking regulatory agency (thus making such debt nondischargeable in bankruptcy). Makes it a prerequisite of a bankruptcy reorganization plan that the debtor will: (1) maintain any commitment to a Federal banking regulatory agency to maintain the capital of an insured depository institution; and (2) continue to be obligated for any debt to such agency for failure to fulfill such commitment. Makes certain debts owed by an institution-affiliated party to an insured depository institution under Federal receivership nondischargeable under a consumer debt bankruptcy plan. Amends the Federal Deposit Insurance Act to empower the FDIC (acting as conservator) to avoid fraudulent conveyances by a debtor institution-affiliated party. Prohibits an insured depository institution which does not meet minimum Federal capitalization requirements from making golden parachute payments, covered benefit payments, or certain payments in anticipation of insolvency to an institution-affiliated party without prior written Federal agency approval. Cites conditions under which insured depository institutions may make golden parachute payments and covered benefits payments with FDIC approval. Amends the Federal criminal code to revise civil and criminal forfeiture guidelines for: (1) property affecting a financial institution; and (2) fraudulent offenses involving the sale of assets held by Federal banking regulatory agencies. Amends the Federal Deposit Insurance Act to prohibit certain convicted felony debtors whose default to an insured financial institution in receivership will cause substantial loss from acquiring any asset of the institution (except with respect to repayment). Title III: Improved Procedures for Handling Banking-Related Cases - Amends Federal criminal law to authorize wiretaps for bank fraud and related offenses. Amends the Federal Deposit Insurance Act to set forth reciprocal assistance guidelines for foreign investigations by Federal banking agencies and investigations on behalf of foreign banking authorities. Amends the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989 (FIRREA) to extend to ten years (currently, five years) the statute of limitations for commencing a civil action for Federal bank law violations. Amends the Federal Deposit Insurance Act and the National Credit Union Act to grant the FDIC, the RTC, and the NCUA subpoena authority. Title IV: Structural Reforms to Improve the Federal Response to Crimes Affecting Financial Institutions - Establishes within the Office of the Deputy Attorney General in the Department of Justice a Financial Institutions Fraud Unit, headed by a Special Counsel who shall report directly to the Deputy Attorney General. Terminates such Office five years after enactment of this Act. Empowers the Special Counsel to investigate and prosecute criminal activity involving the financial services industry. Directs the Attorney General to establish: (1) financial institutions fraud task forces; and (2) a senior interagency group to assist in identifying the most significant financial institution fraud cases, to allocate investigative and prosecutorial resources, and to expedite interagency coordination and prosecution of financial institutions fraud. Amends Federal criminal law to authorize the Secret Service (under the direction of the Secretary of the Treasury) to detect and arrest persons who violate banking laws with respect to financial institutions and the Resolution Trust Corporation (RTC). Title V: Reporting Requirements - Directs the Attorney General to report quarterly to the Congress regarding financial institution crimes. Requires the Director of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts to present annual statistical tables to the Congress on the business imposed on the Federal courts by the savings and loan crisis. Title VI: National Commission on Financial Institution Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement - Establishes the National Commission on Financial Institution Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement to make investigations and recommendations regarding specified aspects of the savings and loan crisis. Requires the Commission to submit a final report to the President and the Congress within one year after enactment of this Act. Terminates the Commission 30 days after the submission of such final report. Authorizes appropriations. Title VII: Authorizations - Amends the FIRREA to authorize appropriations to the Attorney General and the Federal Court System for bank crime cases.
United States · United States Congress · 20 July 1990
Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to enter into an agreement with the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) for a study and report to the Congress on: (1) mechanisms for supporting training in the environmental sciences and environmental research through an umbrella research arm, the National Institutes of the Environment, considering research in a wide variety of disciplines; (2) the current state of extramural research support and undergraduate and graduate training relevant to tropical deforestation, species extinction, ecosystem degradation, biological restoration, use of underutilized resources and sustainable resource use, economic consequences of environmental change, and the impacts of humans and the environment on one another; and (3) mechanisms that can be used to advance environmental research and training, their relationship to existing research programs, and appropriate levels and resources of funding. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 19 July 1990
State Thrift Deposit Insurance Premium Act of 1990 - Amends the Federal Deposit Insurance Act to direct the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation to determine and apportion among the States the cumulative cost of Federal assistance provided to State-chartered savings associations for case resolutions. Declares as "high risk" any State whose share of State resolution costs exceeds twice its share of 1980 State deposits. Mandates that each high risk State pay to the Savings Association Insurance Fund prescribed premiums reflecting such risk. Sets forth insurance termination procedures if a State fails to pay the required premium. Requires depositor notification of such insurance termination.
United States · United States Congress · 11 July 1990
Designates August 1, 1990, as Helsinki Human Rights Day. Authorizes and requests the President to: (1) reassert American commitment to the Helsinki Accords; (2) raise the issue of noncompliance with such Accords with any signatory nation which may be in violation; (3) convey to all signatories of such Accords that respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms is vital to progress in the ongoing Helsinki process; and (4) develop new proposals to advance the human rights objectives of the Helsinki process, including the self-determination of peoples.
United States · United States Congress · 10 July 1990
Designates September 16 through 22, 1990, as National Rehabilitation Week. Urges each State Governor and local government chief executive to issue proclamations calling upon their citizens to observe such week with appropriate ceremonies and activities.
United States · United States Congress · 28 June 1990
Aviation Security Improvement Act of 1990 - Title I: Aviation Security - Establishes as a position within the Department of Transportation an Assistant Secretary for Transportation Security and Intelligence, appointed by the President for a term of five years, who shall be responsible for the development of transportation security. Requires the Secretary of Transportation to report annually to the Congress on transportation security, including appropriate recommendations. Amends the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 to establish the position of Assistant Administrator for Civil Aviation Security. Requires the Assistant Administrator to review and prescribe measures to strengthen: (1) controls over checked baggage in air transportation, including measures to ensure baggage reconciliation with respect to passengers who meet Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) criteria as possibly having explosive devices in such baggage; (2) control of individuals with access to aircraft; (3) testing of security systems; (4) use of modern x-ray equipment; and (5) prescreening of passengers. Directs the Administrator of the FAA (Administrator) to establish the position of Federal Security Manager and initiate placement of such managers at U.S. airports. Sets forth the duties of such managers. Requires the Administrator to establish the position of Foreign Security Liaison Officer, who shall be stationed outside the United States and be liaison of the Assistant Administrator with foreign security authorities concerning implementation of Federal Security requirements. Directs the Administrator to issue regulations that subject air carrier personnel with unescorted access to domestic and foreign aircraft or secured areas of domestic airports serving U.S. or foreign air carriers to preemployment and postemployment investigations, including fingerprinting. Requires the Administrator and the Attorney General to establish fees to cover expenses incurred in carrying out this Act. Directs the Administrator of the FAA to prescribe standards for the hiring, continued employment, and contracting of air carrier and airport security personnel. Requires the Administrator to conduct an assessment of current and potential threats to the domestic air transportation system, including the security of individual airports. Directs the Administrator to establish a program to accelerate and expand the research, development, and implementation of technologies and procedures to counteract terrorist acts against civil aviation. Requires the Administrator to: (1) complete a review of threats to civil aviation; and (2) establish a scientific advisory board to review and advise on the progress of such program. Authorizes appropriations. Prohibits the deployment or purchase of explosive detection equipment unless the Administrator certifies that it can reliably detect explosive material which can cause catastrophic damage to commercial aircraft with 60 or more passenger seats. Requires air carriers, airport operators, travel agents, and employees who receive information of a threat to civil aviation to provide such information to: (1) an official of the FAA; (2) the Assistant Secretary of Transportation for Transportation Security and Intelligence; or (3) other appropriate officials. Requires the Administrator to cancel flights in the event that passenger safety from such a threat cannot be ensured. Requires the Postmaster General to issue regulations to permit the screening by air carriers of mail not sealed against inspection. Requires the Administrator to require screening of mail and cargo by air carriers or their agents before the transport of such materials. Directs the Administrator to develop model standards for airport design and construction to allow for maximum security enhancement. Directs the heads of the agencies of the intelligence community to promulgate policies and procedures to ensure that intelligence reports concerning international terrorism are made available to other members of the intelligence community and the FAA. Directs the Director of Central Intelligence to designate at least one intelligence officer of the Central Intelligence Agency to serve in a senior staff position in the Office of the Secretary of the Department of Transportation. Requires the intelligence community and the FAA to review and revise all memoranda of understanding and other agreements between them. Title II: United States Response to Terrorism Affecting Americans Abroad - Declares that the Department of State (the Department) shall be responsible for negotiating aviation security agreements with foreign countries concerning implementation of U.S. rules and regulations which affect the foreign operations of U.S. air carriers, foreign air carriers, and foreign airports. Establishes within the Department the position of Coordinator for International Aviation Security. Requires the Administrator to require all air carriers, including foreign air carriers, to provide a passenger manifest of any flight to appropriate representatives of the Department not more than one hour after such carrier is notified of an aviation disaster outside the United States involving such flight. Authorizes the use of passport fees collected by the Department for the purchase and installation of machines able to read U.S. passports and facilitate the collection of specified data. Declares it to be the policy of the Department to notify promptly the families of victims of aviation disasters abroad, including timely written notice. Directs the Secretary of State (Secretary) to issue guidelines to provide that in the event of an aviation disaster involving U.S. citizens abroad, the Department will assign a specific individual, and an alternate, as the Department liaison for the family of each such citizen. Requires the Secretary to ensure that a toll-free telephone number is reserved for the use of the families of citizens who have been involved in such disasters. Requires the Secretary to institute a supplemental program of training in disaster management for all consular officers. Directs the Secretary to issue guidelines to provide that in the event of an international aviation disaster involving U.S. citizens abroad at least: (1) one senior officer from the Bureau of Consular Affairs of the Department shall be dispatched to the disaster site; and (2) one Department employee shall be dispatched to such site to provide assistance and to act as an ombudsman with foreign local authorities for the victims' families. Requires the Secretary to promulgate: (1) criteria for Department staffing of disaster sites abroad; and (2) procedures for the deployment of a crisis team. Declares it to be the policy of the Department to provide arrangements for the preparation and transport to the United States of the remains of citizens who die abroad, as well as for disposition of personal effects. Requires the Secretary to compile an assessment of the Department response to the Pan American Airways Flight 103 aviation disaster over Lockerbie, Scotland, together with guidelines for future response to such disasters, for distribution to Embassy and consular posts abroad. Requires the Secretary to promulgate guidelines with respect to recognition for the families of U.S. citizens who are killed through acts of terrorism abroad. Expresses the sense of the Congress that the United States should propose a protocol to the Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules Relating to International Transportation by Air (the Warsaw Convention) which would raise the limit on carrier liability above the $130,000 limit set under Montreal Protocol Three. Directs the President to submit to the Congress a legislative proposal to authorize the United States to provide monetary and tax relief as compensation to U.S. citizens who are victims of terrorism. Requires the Secretary to issue regulations to establish, under the Bureau of Consular Affairs, an electronic bulletin board accessible to the general public.
United States · United States Congress · 21 June 1990
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that the memory of Walt Disney should be honored on the 35th anniversary of his contribution to the American dream (the opening of Disneyland).
United States · United States Congress · 14 June 1990
Financial Crimes Prosecution and Recovery Act of 1990 - Title I: National Commission on Financial Crimes - Establishes the National Commission on Financial Crimes to investigate fraud and abuse in the financial services industry and to recommend procedures for improving interagency cooperation and tactics for law enforcement officers in the investigation and prosecution of financial crimes. Sets forth provisions with respect to the membership, powers, pay, reporting requirements, and termination of the Commission. Title II: Improvements in Administration of the Department of Justice - Directs the Attorney General to establish a financial crimes strike force in each Federal judicial district which is in the top quartile of such districts with respect to the total number of criminal referrals filed with the Attorney General by the appropriate Federal banking agencies relating to residents of, or persons located in, such district. Provides for local control of each such strike force, through the U.S. Attorney for such district, except as otherwise provided by the Attorney General. Sets forth provisions regarding pay for attorneys on financial crimes strike forces. Directs the Attorney General to: (1) establish a merit system to recognize and reward outstanding efforts of individuals engaged in the investigation and prosecution of financial crimes; (2) prohibit any U.S. attorney or any other attorney employed by the Department of Justice from taking into account the dollar amount of any loss incurred in connection with any financial crime in making a determination with respect to the investigation or prosecution of such crime; and (3) prescribe by regulation that the investigation of any referral from an appropriate Federal banking agency related to a financial crime involving an insured depository institution in default or in danger of default, or of any troubled institution, be given priority in case management. Amends the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989 to make specified civil money penalties collected under such Act available to the Attorney General to carry out any provision of law. Amends the Federal criminal code to grant specified officials of the Federal Bureau of Investigation administrative subpoena authority regarding specified financial crimes. Sets forth provisions: (1) with respect to standards governing production of items subpoenaed; and (2) granting persons complying in good faith with a summons or order issued under this Act and producing the materials sought immunity from civil liability to the consumer for such production or nondisclosure of such production. Title III: Improvements in the Administration of the FDIC and the RTC - Amends the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (FDIA) to grant subpoena authority to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the Resolution Trust Corporation (RTC) as a conservator or receiver or for carrying out authority with respect to an insured depository institution. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to grant the FDIC and the RTC access to Internal Revenue Service returns and return information upon written requests by the respective Board of Directors and upon certification by the Board that it has a substantial need for such returns or return information. Amends the FDIA to authorize Federal banking agencies, in conducting any investigation, examination, or enforcement action under such Act, to: (1) request the assistance of any foreign banking authority; (2) maintain an office outside the United States for such purposes; (3) provide assistance to a foreign banking authority, upon request, if the requesting authority is conducting an investigation involving a violation of laws or regulations relating to banking matters that the requesting authority administers or enforces; and (4) conduct such an investigation as is necessary to collect information and evidence pertinent to such a request without regard to whether the facts stated in the request also constitute a violation of U.S. law. Authorizes the FDIC and the RTC, as conservator or receiver of any insured depository institution, to request the assistance of any foreign banking authority and provide assistance to any such authority in accordance with this Act. Requires the FDIC and the RTC to each maintain a permanent office to coordinate foreign investigations or investigations on behalf of foreign banking authorities. Authorizes the Board of Directors of the FDIC to act in its own name and through its own attorneys in any action or proceeding in which the FDIC is an interested party, whether in its corporate capacity or as conservator or receiver for any insured depository institution. Grants priority to the FDIC over certain claims or actions filed or begun against an affiliated party of the insured depository institution by depositors, creditors, or shareholders of the institution after enactment of this Act. Authorizes the FDIC, as conservator or receiver for any insured depository institution, to avoid any transfer of interest of an institution-affiliated party or any transfer of interest or obligation of person determined to be a debtor of the institution that was made within five years of appointment of the FDIC as conservator or receiver, if such party made such transfer or incurred such liability with intent to hinder, delay, or defraud the insured depository institution. Specifies circumstances under which the FDIC may recover the property transferred or the value of such property. Sets forth provisions regarding prejudgment attachments of assets where an institution-affiliated party may be required to provide restitution to the institution or where the party is a debtor of the institution, and where the assets will be dissipated or otherwise placed beyond the jurisdiction of the court or FDIC before any recovery may be completed unless a trustee is appointed. Establishes criminal penalties for knowingly concealing assets or property from the FDIC or the RTC as a conservator or receiver for any insured depository institution. Requires each Federal banking agency to require directors of depository institutions to complete an educational course on their duties as directors every three years. Authorizes a court or the Attorney General to direct disclosures of matters occurring before a grand jury during an investigation of a banking law violation to identified personnel of a financial institution regulatory agency upon a finding of substantial need, subject to specified conditions. Excludes the payment of restitution under specified Acts including the FDIA from discharge under bankruptcy provisions. Amends the Federal criminal code to subject to civil forfeiture property which constitutes or is derived from proceeds traceable to mail fraud, or fraud by wire, radio, or television, affecting a financial institution. Amends the FDIA, the Federal Credit Union Act, the Revised Statutes, the Federal Reserve Act, the Bank Holding Company Acts of 1956 and 1970, and the Home Owners' Loan Act to permit the appropriate Federal banking agency, the FDIC, or, in the case of the latter statute, the Director, to apply to specified courts to recover from a depository institution administrative costs arising out of actions taken to recover a civil penalty. Title IV: Taxpayer Recovery Act - Taxpayer Recovery Act of 1990 - Makes an exception to a discharge in bankruptcy for: (1) restitution that the debtor has been ordered to pay by a State or Federal court in any criminal proceeding arising from an act that caused a loss to any bank, savings association, or credit union (bank); or (2) damages provided in any judgment, order, or consent decree entered in any State or Federal court, or in any settlement agreement entered into by the debtor, arising from any act involving fraud or reckless disregard for the law committed with respect to any such institution. Requires that any individual acting as a director, officer, or institution-affiliated party of a bank be considered to be acting in a fiduciary capacity with respect to such institution for purposes of a provision making an exception to a discharge from bankruptcy involving fraud or defalcation while acting in such capacity. Specifies that reliance by a creditor will not be required to establish an exception to discharge if the creditor is a financial regulatory agency that is a successor to a bank. Sets forth time limits for the filing of a complaint objecting to the discharge of a debt owed to: (1) a bank that is closed, is in receivership or conservatorship, or is sold to another bank in a transaction assisted by a financial regulatory agency; or (2) such an agency. Specifies that an individual debtor who has committed an act involving fraud or reckless disregard for the law or is subsequently adjudicated to have committed such an act during the pendency of his bankruptcy proceeding with respect to any bank that is in receivership or conservatorship or that is sold to another bank assisted by a financial regulatory agency shall not be exempt from: (1) more than $7,500 in value of the debtor's aggregate interest in any real property that the debtor uses as a residence: and (2) the debtor's interest in any insurance policy or annuity.
United States · United States Congress · 14 June 1990
Korean War Veterans Memorial Thirty-Eighth Anniversary Commemorative Coin Act - Expresses the sense of the Congress that the United States should recognize the 38th anniversary of the Korean War by minting and issuing a silver dollar coin. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to issue one-dollar silver coins to commemorate the 38th anniversary of the ending of the Korean War. Terminates such authority after December 31, 1991. Mandates that surcharges from the sale of such coins be used for the Korean War Veterans Memorial.
United States · United States Congress · 13 June 1990
Amends the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to revise the definition of a "contribution or expenditure" by a national bank, corporation, or labor organization to: (1) include communications to influence any election for Federal office by a corporation to its stockholders and executive or administrative personnel and their families or by a labor organization to its members and their families; and (2) repeal provisions excluding non-partisan registration and get-out-the-vote campaigns. Requires any payments by corporations or labor organizations for all other communications and for the establishment of, and solicitation of contributions for, a separate segregated fund for purposes relating to any such election to be disclosed to the Federal Election Commission in the same manner as for contributions or expenditures. Amends the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to subject to the limitations and reporting requirements for expenditures any payment for a mixed political activity (an activity, such as a voter registration program, for both influencing an election for Federal office and for other purposes) by a national or State committee of a political party. Requires such a payment to be made only from an account subject to the requirements of that Act.
United States · United States Congress · 13 June 1990
Amends the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to: (1) require unauthorized political advertising that advocates the election or defeat of a clearly identified candidate or solicits any contribution to contain a statement at the beginning and end that is easily readable or audible which identifies the person who paid for such advertising and specifies that the advertising is not authorized by any candidate; (2) allow House candidates to certify to the Federal Election Commission (FEC) their intention to limit to $100,000 their total expenditures from personal funds and the personal funds of their immediate family; (3) provide that the opponent of a candidate who spends more than such amount or who does not make such a certification shall no longer be subject to the limitations on contributions; and (4) direct the FEC to prescribe regulations for making such certifications.
United States · United States Congress · 13 June 1990
Amends the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to prohibit candidates for the House of Representatives from accepting contributions from persons other than local individual residents totaling in excess of the total contributions accepted from local individual residents.
United States · United States Congress · 13 June 1990
Amends the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to: (1) require any individual required to file a statement of independent expenditures in an aggregate amount or value in excess of $250 during a calendar year to certify that such expenditures are from personal funds and to identify the financial institution from which any instrument is drawn to make such expenditures; (2) prohibit States from making any contribution or expenditure with respect to a Federal election or acting as an intermediary or conduit with respect to such contribution; (3) require disclosure of debt settlement and loan security agreements; (4) include as contributions any gift, subscription, loan, or deposit of money or anything of value made by any person to draft or encourage a clearly identified individual as a candidate for Federal office; and (5) treat such a contribution as a contribution to a candidate whether or not the individual actually becomes a candidate, for purposes of the limitations on contributions to any candidate for Federal office. Requires Members of, or Members-elect to, the House of Representatives to account for all franked mail excluding franked mail with a simplified form of address for delivery within the Member's congressional district.
United States · United States Congress · 13 June 1990
Amends rule XLVI of the Rules of the House of Representatives to exempt a notice of appearance or a scheduled itinerary from the franked mailing limitations only if: (1) it is in the form of a post card; (2) it is sent to addresses within specified travel distance from the event which the Member will attend; (3) the Member attends the event; and (4) an advisory opinion is obtained from the House Commission on Congressional Mailing Standards. Establishes an Official Mail Allowance for franked mailing by Members of the House of Representatives within specified guidelines and limitations. Amends rule XLVI of the Rules of the House of Representatives to: (1) reduce from six to two the number of franked mailings per year per addressee to which a Member after December 31, 1990, is entitled; (2) reduce from six to two, after such date, the number of franked mailings per year per addressee relating solely to a notice of appearance of a scheduled itinerary of a Member; (3) require a Member, before making any mass mailing (including direct response to communications from constituents), to submit a sample or description of the mail matter involved to the House Commission on Congressional Mailing Standards for a statutory compliance advisory opinion; (4) require the Clerk of the House of Representatives to make available for public inspection, semi-annually, a mass mailing report compiled from data provided by the House Committee on Administration; and (5) require that a mass mailing by a Member contain a specified notice on the cover page of the document.
United States · United States Congress · 13 June 1990
Amends the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to: (1) exclude from the annual limitation on total individual contributions those contributions to national, State, and local committees of political parties that, in the aggregate, do not exceed $25,000 in a calendar year; (2) remove the limitations on contributions by the national or State committee of a political party or by a House or Senate campaign committee of a political party to candidates in general elections for Federal office; (3) allow national and State committees of a political party to match the total amount of independent expenditures made against their respective candidates in congressional elections; (4) establish guidelines for determining the Federal election portion of amounts paid by national and State committees of a political party for a mixed political activity (an activity, such as a voter registration program, for both influencing an election for Federal office and for other purposes); (5) subject such payments to the limitations and reporting requirements for expenditures; (6) require such payments to be made only from an account subject to the requirements of that Act; (7) repeal provisions excluding funds for constructing or purchasing office facilities from the definition of a "contribution"; (8) define "local committee" as an organization that is responsible for the daily operation of a political party at the local level; and (9) allow such local committees to make contributions and expenditures without limitation to any candidate who is affiliated with the party the committee represents and who is a candidate for Senator or Representative in the State involved. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a tax credit for qualified political contributions to candidates for State or Federal office. Limits such credit to $250 for a taxable year.
United States · United States Congress · 13 June 1990
Amends the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to: (1) establish a separate limitation of $1,000 with respect to nonparty multicandidate political committee contributions to any candidate for Federal office (currently, all multicandidate political committee contributions to such candidates are subject to a $5,000 limitation); (2) prohibit separate segregated funds established by corporations or labor organizations for political purposes from acting as intermediaries or conduits with respect to contributions to such a candidate; (3) prohibit a political committee that is not an authorized committee of such a candidate and is not a political committee of a political party from transferring funds to any other such political committee; (4) prohibit such a candidate from establishing, maintaining, financing, or controlling a political committee, other than the principal campaign committee of the candidate; and (5) prohibit a principal campaign committee of such a candidate from making any contribution to any other principal campaign committee (other than the principal campaign committee of the same individual as a candidate for another Federal office).
United States · United States Congress · 13 June 1990
Amends the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to prohibit labor organizations from using dues or agency fees for political purposes, unless the employee paying the dues or fees approves of such use. Permits employees to revoke their approval. Requires labor organizations using such dues or fees to notify annually the employees paying dues or agency fees of such prohibition and of their right to revoke their approval.