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United States · Official source
3,243 records where Rep. Gingrich, Newt [R-GA-6] is listed as a sponsor, author, or other actor. Search with topics and years
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1993
Designates March 25, 1993, as Greek Independence Day: A National Day of Celebration of Greek and American Democracy.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1993
Constitutional Amendment - Declares that nothing in the Constitution shall be construed to prohibit individual or group prayer in public schools or other public institutions. States that no person shall be required by the United States or any State to participate in prayer. Provides that neither the United States nor any State shall prescribe the content of any such prayer.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1993
Designates April 9, 1993, and April 9, 1994, as National Former Prisoner of War Recognition Day.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1993
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that any change in the current policy regarding homosexuals in the armed forces (stating that homosexuality is incompatible with military service and requiring the separation from the armed forces of homosexual military personnel) should be made by law, rather than by executive order.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1993
Amends rule XXIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives to make it out of order to put the question upon final passage of any bill or resolution until printed copies of the measure have been available for all Members for at least one day. Provides for the suspension of this Act for a particular bill or resolution in a national emergency upon the joint request of the Speaker and Minority Leader and with an affirmative two-thirds vote.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1993
Directs the Clerk of the House of Representatives to contract with a private entity for the random mandatory testing of House Members for the illegal use of controlled substances. Outlines the procedures for conducting such drug testing, which include providing the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct the results of such tests. Directs the Committee to take action under House rules in the case of positive test results.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1993
Declares that the Congress opposes any attempt to lower the estate tax exemption or raise the effective rate of taxes on estates because such measures contradict the fundamental goal of the United States Government of encouraging long-term private saving through which productive investment that promotes economic growth can be realized.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1993
Recognizes the benefits of cultural diversity and the contributions that many languages have made to American society. Encourages citizens whose native language is other than English to maintain fluency in their language and heritage, to pass it down from generation to generation, and to learn English as well. Commends efforts to maintain one language common to all people in addition to preserving and maintaining the many languages and cultures existing in the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1993
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the current Federal income tax deduction for interest paid on debt secured by a first or second home should not be further restricted.
United States · United States Congress · 6 October 1992
Tax Fairness Restoration and Economic Growth Act - Title I: Tax Reductions - Subtitle A: Capital Gains Provisions - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude capital gain from gross income and exempt capital gain from tax. Makes such exemption applicable to computing the alternative minimum tax. Subtitle B: Restoration of Income Averaging - Sets forth provisions to restore income averaging. Subtitle C: Elimination of Double Tax on Dividends - Allows a shareholder credit (for taxpayers other than corporations) for dividends from domestic corporations. Provides for determining such credit based on the corporation's post-1992 Federal income taxes and post-1992 undistributed earnings. Includes such credit in the determination of gross income. Allows corporations a 100 percent deduction for amounts received as dividends from domestic corporations. Revises computations on dividends received by corporations on the preferred stock of a public utility. Subtitle D: Permanent Extension of Research Credit - Makes permanent law the credit for increasing research activities. Subtitle E: Reduction of Individual Tax Rate - Reduces individual income tax rates by eliminating the highest tax bracket. Subtitle F: Retirement Savings Incentives - Part I Restoration of IRA Deduction - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to remove the limitations on deductions for individual retirement plans and provides a cost-of-living adjustment for deductible amounts. Part II: Nondeductible Tax-Free IRAs - Establishes special individual retirement accounts that are nondeductible. Makes such accounts nontaxable if earnings on contributions are held for at least five years. Applies the early withdrawal penalty to distributions made before the end of the five year-period. Part III: Penalty-Free Distributions - Provides exemptions from the ten-percent penalty on early withdrawals from individual retirement plans for: (1) first home purchases; (2) higher education expenses; and (3) financially devastating medical expenses. Subtitle G: Repeal of Excise Penalty Taxes on Autos - Repeals the excise tax on luxury items (passenger vehicles, boats, aircraft, jewelry, and furs). Subtitle H: Repeal of Limitation On Itemized Deductions - Repeals the overall limitation on itemized deductions. Subtitle I: Repeal of Passive Loss Limitations - Repeals passive loss limitations. Subtitle J: Restoration of 10-Percent Investment Credit - Restores the ten percent investment tax credit for property placed in service after enactment of this Act. Subtitle K: Restoration of Accelerated Cost Recovery System - Restores the accelerated cost recovery system as in effect on the day after the enactment of the Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981. Subtitle L: Credit for First-Time Homebuyer - Allows a credit for a first-time homebuyer of ten percent of the price of the principal residence. Limits such credit to $2,500. Requires the residence to be acquired on or after February 1, 1992, and before January 1, 1993. Title II: Taxpayer Bill of Rights - Subtitle A: Additional Safeguards to Protect Taxpayers' Rights - Part I: Taxpayers' Advocate - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to establish in the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) the Office of Taxpayers' Advocate, headed by the Taxpayers' Advocate, appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. Requires the Office to: (1) assist taxpayers in resolving problems with the IRS; (2) identify areas in which taxpayers have problems in dealings with the IRS; (3) propose changes in the administrative practices of the IRS to mitigate such problems; and (4) identify potential legislative changes which may be appropriate to mitigate such problems. Requires the Taxpayers' Advocate to annually report to specified congressional committees on Office activities. Requires the Commissioner of Internal Revenue to establish procedures requiring a formal response to all recommendations submitted to the Commissioner by the Taxpayers' Advocate. Authorizes the terms of a Taxpayer Assistance Order to require the Secretary of the Treasury to take certain actions (currently, only to cease or refrain from taking such actions). Part II: Modifications to Installment Agreement Provisions - Requires prior notification to taxpayers under an installment agreement to pay tax liability before altering, modifying, or terminating such an agreement. Provides for administrative review of denials of requests for installment agreements. Suspends the failure to pay penalty during any period an installment agreement is in effect. Part III: Interest - Extends from ten days to 21 days the period for which interest will not be imposed after notice and demand for payment, if such payment is less than $100,000. Provides for the abatement of interest in the case of an assessment due to the error or delay of an IRS managerial act. Increases the interest rate for overpayment of tax from two percent to three percent (making such rate equal to the interest rate for underpayment of tax). Waives interest on all overpayments refunded within 45 days after a return is filed. Part IV: Joint Returns - Requires separate deficiency notices in the case of a joint income tax return if the most recent data available to the IRS shows that such spouses did not file a joint return with each other. Allows the disclosure of collection activities to an individual requesting such information in the case of a joint return where such individual is no longer married to or resides in the same household as the other joint filer. Removes limitations on filing a joint return after filing separate returns. Part V: Collection Activities - Authorizes the Secretary, if it is determined to be in the best interest of the taxpayer and the United States, to: (1) withdraw a notice of a lien; (2) return property that has been levied upon; and (3) offer compromises in civil or criminal cases. Requires the Secretary, at the request of the taxpayer, to make reasonable efforts to notify credit reporting agencies and financial institutions of such withdrawal notice. Part VI: Erroneous and Fraudulent Information Returns - Requires payee statements to provide the phone number of the person providing payment. Establishes civil damages for the fraudulent filing of information returns. Requires the Secretary to take reasonable steps to corroborate the accuracy of an information return when making a determination of a deficiency by a third party, when such return is disputed by the taxpayer. Part VII: Modifications to Penalty for Failure to Collect and Pay Over Tax - Declares that a person shall not be liable for any penalty for failure to collect and pay over tax if such person: (1) is not a significant owner, or highly compensated employee of the trade or business; (2) notifies the Secretary within ten days after such failure; and (3) such notification was before any notice by the Secretary with respect to such failure. Requires the Secretary to disclose certain information where more than one person is liable for a penalty. Part VIII: Awarding of Costs and Certain Fees - Repeals the "substantially justified" test for determining whether a taxpayer may recover costs and fees incurred as part of an administrative or court proceeding. Provides for the awarding of reasonable litigation or administrative costs to a prevailing party who represents himself in an administrative or court proceeding. Makes IRS employees personally liable in certain cases. Provides that any failure to agree to an extension of time for the assessment of any tax shall not be taken into account in determining whether a prevailing party has exhausted all administrative remedies. Part IX: Other Provisions - Revises provisions on the required content of tax due, deficiency, and other notices. Provides for the treatment of returns prepared for or executed by the Secretary for purposes of certain tax penalties. Provides protection for taxpayers who rely on certain guidance published by the IRS. Subtitle B: Form Modifications - Directs the Secretary to: (1) ensure that taxpayers are aware of permission to pay tax in installments, extensions of time for payment of tax, and compromises of tax liability; (2) improve procedures for taxpayers to notify the Secretary of changes in names and addresses; (3) include in a specified publication a section on the rights and responsibilities of divorced individuals; (4) ensure that employees are aware of their responsibilities under the Federal tax system and that the public is aware of penalties for failure to collect and pay over tax; and (5) notify taxpayers of any payments that cannot be associated with any outstanding tax liability. Subtitle C: Additional Improvements - Requires the Secretary to report to the tax-writing committees on: (1) a pilot program for appeals of certain enforcement actions (including lien, levy, and seizure actions); (2) a study on ways to assist the elderly, physically impaired, foreign-language speaking, and other taxpayers with special needs to comply with IRS laws; (3) the scope and content of the IRS taxpayer-rights education program for its officers and employees; and (4) cases involving complaints about misconduct of IRS employees and the disposition of such complaints. Requires the Comptroller General to report to the tax-writing committees on: (1) a study of notices of deficiency; (2) the accuracy and clarity of 25 of the most commonly used IRS forms, notices, and publications; and (3) a study of IRS employee-suggestion programs.
United States · United States Congress · 2 October 1992
Bipartisan Commission on Total Quality Government Act of 1992 - Establishes the Bipartisan Commission on Total Quality Government to: (1) provide for the education of Members of Congress, their staff, and congressional instrumentalities about Total Quality (TQ) (a structured management approach first used in private industry); (2) make recommendations to the President and the Congress regarding the application of TQ principles to the organization and operations of the legislative and executive branches of the Federal Government; (3) establish a formal focus group of high-level Federal employees personally involved in TQ efforts in order to provide information and insights on issues and obstacles related to creating a TQ Government; (4) sponsor forums with various Government customers and suppliers and provide opportunities for affected groups to communicate their satisfaction with Government services or their recommendations for improvement; and (5) survey U.S. citizens about the quality of Government services in order to ensure that the major customers of the Government have input into efforts to improve the Government. Requires the Commission to submit an initial report to the President and the Congress with recommendations for the application of TQ principles to the organization and operation of the legislative and executive branches of the Government, with additional annual reports to follow. Requires the President, after receiving such a report from the Commission, to submit to the Commission and the Congress separate reports containing the President's recommendations for restructuring and improving the operation of all executive branch organizations recommended for reform by the Commission. Requires House and Senate leadership, after receiving such a report from the Commission, to submit to the Commission and the President separate reports with recommendations for restructuring and improving the operation of all legislative branch organizations recommended for reform by the Commission.
United States · United States Congress · 2 October 1992
Taxpayer Debt Buy-Down Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow individuals with adjusted income tax liability to designate on their tax returns that a portion of such liability (not to exceed ten percent) be used to reduce the public debt. Establishes a Public Debt Reduction Trust Fund for the deposit of designated amounts. Makes amounts in such Trust Fund available only to pay at maturity, or to redeem or buy before maturity, any obligation of the Federal Government included in the public debt. Prohibits the reissuance of any obligation which is paid, redeemed, or bought with amounts from the Trust Fund. Amends the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act) to provide for the sequestration of amounts designated to the Trust Fund. Specifies accounts exempt from such sequestration. Includes aggregated amounts designated to the Trust Fund and amounts sequestered to reduce the public debt in sequestration preview and final reports.
United States · United States Congress · 25 September 1992
Expresses the sense of the Congress that if Saudi Arabia acquires F-15 aircraft from the United States it should demonstrate its peaceful intentions by lifting its economic boycott against Israel and against U.S. companies that trade with Israel.
United States · United States Congress · 24 September 1992
Designates the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Augusta, Georgia, as the Doug Barnard, Jr., Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center.
United States · United States Congress · 23 September 1992
Redesignates the Springer Mountain National Recreation Area in the Chattahoochee National Forest, Georgia, as the Ed Jenkins National Recreation Area.
United States · United States Congress · 23 September 1992
Family Leave Tax Credit Act of 1992 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow an employer an income tax credit for 20 percent of qualified employee compensation with respect to an employee who is on family leave. Defines family leave as leave in connection with the birth of a child, the placement of a child with the employee for adoption or foster care, the care of a child, spouse, or parent with a serious health condition, or the treatment of a serious health condition which makes the employee unable to perform the functions of his or her position. Limits such credit to employers with 500 or fewer employees, the amount of qualified compensation, and the maximum period for the use of such leave.
United States · United States Congress · 22 September 1992
Authorizes the Coalition for a National Memorial to Mahatma Gandhi to establish a memorial on Federal land in the District of Columbia or its environs to honor Mahatma Gandhi. Prohibits the United States from paying any expense of establishing the memorial.
United States · United States Congress · 16 September 1992
Sexual Assault Prevention Act of 1992 - Title I: Sexual Violence - Subtitle A: Penalties and Remedies - Amends the Federal criminal code to provide for pretrial detention in sex offense cases. Makes murder a Class A felony, mandating the death sentence, when done in the course of certain sex offenses, sexual assault, or child molestation, or when the defendant has previously been convicted of sexual assault or child molestation, subject to specified mitigating factors. Requires instructing the jury not to: (1) be influenced by prejudice or bias relating to the race, color, religion, national origin, or sex of the defendant or any victim; and (2) recommend a death sentence unless it concludes that it would recommend such sentence regardless of such factors. Requires each juror to sign a certification to that effect. Prohibits: (1) carrying out a death sentence on a woman while she is pregnant; and (2) requiring any employee of, or any person under contract to provide services to, a State corrections department, the Federal Bureau of Prisons, or the U.S. Marshals Service, to attend or participate in any execution. Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) the appointment of counsel for indigent capital defendants; (2) representation after finality of judgment; (3) standards for competence of counsel; (4) claims of ineffectiveness of counsel in collateral proceedings; (5) time limits for collateral attack on a death sentence; (6) stays of execution; and (7) finality of the decision on review. Increases penalties for: (1) recidivist sex offenders; and (2) sex offenses against victims under age 16. Directs the U.S. Sentencing Commission: (1) to amend the sentencing guidelines to increase by at least four levels the base level for offenses relating to sexual, and aggravated sexual, abuse; (2) to consider whether any other changes applicable to such offenses are warranted; (3) in amending the guidelines in conformity with this provision, to review the appropriateness and adequacy of existing offense characteristics and adjustments applicable to such offenses; and (4) in any subsequent amendment to the guidelines, to maintain minimum guideline sentences for such offenses which are at least equal to those required by this provision. Amends the Federal criminal code to require that a person charged with an offense under provisions relating to sexual abuse be tested for the human immunodeficiency virus: (1) before release pending trial; and (2) six months and twelve months after the initial test. Requires results to be provided to the judicial officer or court and disclosed only to the victim, the attorney for the Government, and the person tested. Requires the U.S. Sentencing Commission to amend the sentencing guidelines to enhance the sentence of an offender who had reason to know that he was infected, except where the offender did not engage or attempt to engage in conduct creating a risk of transmission. Amends: (1) the Victims' Rights and Restitution Act of 1990 to require a governmental department or agency to pay for up to two tests for a sexual assault victim in the twelve months following the assault and a counseling session regarding the tests and the risk of transmission as the result of the assault; and (2) the Controlled Substances Act to provide for increased penalties for distribution of a controlled substance to a woman while she is pregnant. Amends the Federal criminal code to authorize the restitution of victims of sex offenses, including reimbursement for lost income and necessary child care, transportation, and other expenses related to participation in the investigation or prosecution of, or attendance at proceedings related to, the offense. Requires the court to issue an order requiring restitution of the full amount of the victims's losses and expenses for which restitution is authorized in imposing sentence, unless the Government and the victim do not request such restitution. Provides for the enforcement of restitution orders through the suspension of Federal benefits. Provides that whoever, in violation of the Constitution or laws of the United States, engages in sexual violence against another, shall be liable to the injured party in a civil action. Includes among the relief available compensatory and punitive damages and any appropriate equitable or declaratory relief. Amends the Civil Rights Attorney's Fees Award Act of 1976 to include such provision with respect to payment of attorney fees. Subtitle B: Rules of Evidence, Practice, and Procedure - Amends the Federal Rules of Evidence to allow evidence of similar offenses in criminal or civil sexual assault and child molestation cases. Revises Federal Rule of Evidence 412 (rape victim shield law), including: (1) making inadmissible reputation or opinion evidence of the past sexual behavior of an alleged victim of a sex offense, and evidence of a victim's past sexual behavior other than reputation or opinion evidence (with exceptions), in a civil case (current law applies only to criminal cases); and (2) requiring any order admitting such evidence to explain the reasoning leading to the finding of relevance and the basis of the finding that its probative value outweighs the danger of unfair prejudice notwithstanding the potential of the evidence to humiliate and embarass the alleged victim and to result in unfair or biased inferences. Amends the Federal criminal code to provide that an appeal by the United States before trial shall lie to a court of appeals from an order of a district court admitting evidence of an alleged victim's past sexual behavior in a criminal case in which the defendant is charged with a sex offense, whether or not the conduct occurred in the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States or in a Federal prison. Adds a Federal Rule of evidence that, in a criminal case in which a person is accused of a sex offense, evidence is not admissible to show that the alleged victim invited or provoked the commission of the offense. Enacts rules to be known as the Rules of Professional Conduct for Lawyers in Federal Practice and includes them as an appendix to provisions of the U.S. Code relating to the judiciary and judicial procedure. Applies the rules to proceedings before a U.S. court or a Federal agency that carries out adjudicatory or quasi-adjudicatory functions. Includes rules relating to: (1) litigation abuse (including conduct to increase litigation expenses or with no substantial purpose other than to distress another person); (2) a duty of enquiry in relation to the client (including attempting to elicit from the client a materially complete account of the alleged criminal activity or civil wrong if the client acknowledges involvement in such activity or wrong), and to elicit the material facts relevant to a defense of alibi if the client denies such involvement; (3) a duty to expedite litigation (including not attempting to delay or prolong proceedings for specified reasons); and (4) a duty to prevent the commission of a crime (including allowing or requiring disclosure of information). Amends the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure to provide that: (1) if the offense charged is punishable by imprisonment for more than one year, each side is entitled to six peremptory challenges (currently, six for the Government and ten for the defendant or defendants jointly); and (2) if sentence is to be imposed for a crime of violence or sexual abuse, the court shall (before imposing sentence) address the victim personally if the victim is present at the sentencing hearing, and determine if the victim wishes to make a statement and present any information in relation to the sentence (which statement may be made in camera under specified circumstances). Expresses the sense of the Congress that news media, law enforcement personnel, and other persons should exercise restraint and respect a rape victim's privacy by not disclosing the victim's identity to the general public or facilitating such disclosure without the victim's consent. Subtitle C: Safe Campuses - Requires the Attorney General to: (1) provide for a national baseline study to examine the scope of the problem of campus sexual assaults and the effectiveness of institutional and legal policies in addressing such crimes and protecting victims; and (2) submit a report to the Congress by September 1, 1995. Authorizes appropriations. Amends: (1) the General Education Provisions Act to provide for the disclosure of arrest records by campus police; and (2) the Higher Education Act of 1965 to add sexual assault to the list of offenses regarding which certain institutions are required to collect and disclose statistics. Subtitle D: Assistance to States and Localities - Authorizes the Attorney General to make grants to support projects and programs relating to sexual violence. Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) formula and discretionary grant allotments; (2) application requirements for formula grants; (3) conditions on grants; (4) program evaluation (by the National Institute of Justice); (5) coordination of grant administration; and (6) reporting requirements. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes the Attorney General to make supplementary grants to States adopting laws that exceed or are reasonably comparable to Federal provisions relating to sexual violence in certain respects. Authorizes appropriations. Title II: Domestic Violence and Offenses Against the Family - Amends the Federal criminal code to establish penalties (including mandatory penalties if the offense involves the infliction of bodily injury on, or the commission of sexual abuse against, the victim) for interstate travel to commit spouse abuse or to violate a protective order, subject to specified requirements. Provides for mandatory restitution and pretrial detention for victims of such offense. Includes as an aggravating factor, for purposes of death penalty provisions under this Act, that a killing occurred in the course of such offense. Establishes penalties (including restitution) for noncompliance with child support obligations in interstate cases. Makes compliance with any court or administrative order under State law requiring payments for the support of a child, or of a child and the parent with whom the child is living, a condition of probation. Provides for full faith and credit of protective orders among the States. Expresses the sense of the Congress that, for purposes of determining child custody, evidence establishing that a parent engages in physical abuse of a spouse should create a statutory presumption that it is detrimental to the child to be placed in the custody of the abusive spouse. Directs the Attorney General to: (1) prepare a report on the status of battered women's syndrome as a medical and psychological condition and on its effect in criminal trials; (2) conduct a study of the means by which abusive spouses may obtain information concerning the addresses or locations of estranged or former spouses; (3) complete a study of problems of recordkeeping of criminal complaints involving domestic violence; and (4) evaluate, develop, prepare and disseminate to State authorities, and make recommendations concerning anti-stalking legislation. Sets forth reporting requirements. Authorizes the Attorney General to make grants to support projects and programs relating to domestic violence and other criminal and unlawful acts that particularly affect women. Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) formula and discretionary grant allotments; (2) application requirements for formula grants; (3) conditions on grants; (4) program evaluation; (5) coordination of grant administration; and (6) reporting requirements. Authorizes appropriations. Title III: National Task Force on Violence Against Women - Establishes the National Task Force on Violence Against Women to develop a uniform Federal, State, and local law enforcement strategy aimed at protecting women against violent crimes, punishing persons who commit such crimes, and enhancing the rights of the victims. Sets forth administrative and reporting requirements. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 16 September 1992
Designates October 4 through 10, 1992, as National Bone Marrow Donor Awareness Week.
United States · United States Congress · 15 September 1992
Designates the week beginning October 18, 1992, as National Radon Action Week.
United States · United States Congress · 9 September 1992
Comprehensive Health Reform Act of 1992 - Title I: Deduction of Health Insurance Costs of Self-Employed Individuals - Health Benefits for Self-Employed Individuals Act of 1992 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code with respect to the income tax deduction for the health insurance costs of self-employed individuals to: (1) make the deduction permanent; and (2) phase in an increase in it, reaching 100 percent of costs for taxable years beginning in 1996. Title II: Health Insurance Market Reform - Health Insurance Market Reform Act of 1992 - Amends the Social Security Act (SSA) to add a new title XXI, Requirements Concerning Health Insurance. States that the purposes of part A of new SSA title XXI are to increase the availability, portability, and affordability of health insurance, particularly to small employers and their employees and dependents, by seeking to ensure, among other things, that: (1) affordable health insurance is available to individuals and groups, and premiums do not vary substantially, regardless of health status or claims experience; (2) States regulating health insurance do not place an undue burden on small employers; and (3) insurers, providers, purchasers, and consumers are encouraged to contain costs of health care and health insurance. Applies the provisions of new SSA title XXI to health insurance plans offered in any State and to insurers offering such plans. Provides for the establishment of Federal and State regulatory programs implementing the requirements of parts B and C of new SSA title XXI. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to: (1) request the National Assoication of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) to recommend model standards for compliance with such requirements; and (2) using such model standards, with revisions as necessary, publish implementing regulations. Requires the Secretary to determine whether each State has established a regulatory program adequate to ensure compliance with such requirements. Allows State programs to establish standards more stringent than those required under new title XXI, if the Secretary finds them consistent with its purposes. Provides that an approved State program shall take effect, in lieu of the above mentioned implementing regulations, as of a specified date: (1) with respect to all insurers and health insurance plans subject to part B of new SSA title XXI; and (2) with respect to all insurers and health insurance plans subject to part C, except for employee welfare benefit plans which are not multiple employer welfare arrangements (MEWAs). Requires the Secretary to implement a program: (1) under part C in all States with respect to those insurers and health insurance plans not subject to State regulation; and (2) under both parts B and C with respect to all insurers and health insurance plans in each State without an approved program. Authorizes the Secretary to waive, with respect to one or all States, any provision of new SSA title XXI, or of Medicare or Medicaid (SSA titles XVIII and XIX, respectively), to the extent and for the period he or she finds likely to promote the purposes and facilitate the administration of new title XXI. Provides for Federal oversight over State programs. Makes the requirements of parts A, B, and C of new SSA title XXI generally effective with respect to health insurance plans offered, issued, or renewed in a State on or after January 1, 1994 (or certain later dates necessary to allow for enactment of State legislation). Provides that certain provisions concerning variations in premiums among and within blocks of business, and the rate of premium increases shall not apply, until two years after the general effective date, to a renewal of a health insurance plan that was in effect before the effective date. Provides that under part B of new SSA title XXI each insurer must register with the Secretary and the appropriate official for each State in which it issues or offers any health insurance plan to a small employer. Requires, subject to specified exceptions, any insurer offering a health insurance plan to any small employer in a State (or to any small employer in a local service area within the State, in the case of an insurer offering health insurance only within such an area) to: (1) make such plan available to every small employer in the State or local service area; (2) make available to every small employer any basic insurance plan a State may require; and (3) not cancel or refuse to renew any small employer health insurance plan. Requires an insurer providing small employer health insurance to notify the employer, at least 60 days before expiration, of the terms for renewal, and the extent to which any premium increase is based on actual or expected claims experience of covered individuals. Requires, subject to specified exceptions, that each health insurance plan offered to a small employer accept for enrollment, on the same terms as any other enrollee, every eligible employee and (in the case of a family plan) the employee's spouse and any dependent child under age 19 or, if older, under age 25 and a full-time student. Prohibits a small employer that made health insurance available to employees from using criteria related to health status or claims experience to determine eligibility for, benefits under, or terms of such health insurance for individual employees. Permits a State to define a basic benefit plan, and to require that it be offered to small employers in the State by insurers (other than health insurance networks (HINs) or MEWAs) offering heatlh insurance plans to small employers in the State. Subjects the plan to review and approval by the Secretary to ensure that it is affordable by small employers. Requires that the regulatory program established with respect to a State require all insurers offering health insurance plans to small employers, during a specified period, to: (1) participate in an interim risk pooling mechanism; and (2) comply with requirements designed to limit variations among and increases in premium rates for such health insurance plans. Permits the interim risk pooling mechanism to be either a reinsurance program or an assigned risk program. Provides for funding such a mechanism. States that no Federal entity shall be at risk as a guarantor of the solvency of a reinsurance fund or otherwise, for all or any part of the cost of health insurance plans subject to intermin risk pooling. Provides that, for any rating period, no base premium rate for any small employer block of business may exceed the equivalent base premium rate for any other block of the insurer by more than 20 percent. Provides that the highest premium rate for a specific health insurance plan that an insurer can charge any small employer in a block of business for a rating period shall not exceed the corresponding base premium rate by more than: (1) 50 percent, for a period ending before January 1, 1997; and (2) 35 percent, for a period thereafter. Limits annual percentage increases in the premium rate charged to a small employer. Sets forth requirements concerning rate-setting methodology, including requirements for full disclosure of rating practices and actuarial certification. Establishes requirements for the permanent health risk pool system in a State. Provides continued health insurance coverage for certain college students. Provides under part C of new SSA title XXI that, except to the extent permitted under an assigned risk program, an insurer may not refuse to offer, refuse to renew, cancel, or condition the coverage under any employment-based health insurance plan on the basis of the health status, claims experience, receipt of health care, medical history, or lack of evidence of insurability, of one or more individuals. Sets limits on exclusions under employment-based health insurance plans for pre-existing conditions. Preempts certain State laws relating to health insurance. Sets forth requirements an entity must meet in order to be entitled to certification as an HIN. Permits the Secretary to fund health risk pooling demonstrations in as many as four States. Authorizes the Secretary to develop model health risk pooling systems. Requires the Secretary to develop methods for measuring the health risk differential of individuals. Authorizes appropriations. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to impose an excise tax of $1000 per covered employee on insurers for noncompliance with the requirements of part B or C of SSA new title XXI. Title III: Medical And Health Insurance Information Reform - Medical and Health Insurance Information Reform Act of 1992 - Adds a new SSA title XXII, Medical and Health Insurance Information Reform. Requires the Secretary, in order to assure the availability of comparative value information to health care purchasers, to determine whether each State is developing and implementing a health care value information program. Enumerates the criteria for State programs. Provides that if the Secretary finds that a State has not developed or implemented a health care value information program that comports with such criteria, the Secretary must take necessary actions to implement a comparable program in the State. Allows fees to be charged for the informational materials provided pursuant to such program. Directs the head of any Federal agency with responsibility for the provision of health insurance or health care services to develop and make comparative value information available to States, health care providers, and consumers. Directs the Secretary to promulgate requirements for health insurers to furnish periodically to the Secretary, on a sample basis, health care data relevant to health care services research. Requires the Secretary to make available, under the Freedom of Information Act, all Medicare claims records, without regard to the consent of the physician or other individual who furnished the item or service in question. Maintains in force Privacy Act protections against the release of information that identifies Medicare beneficiaries. Applies this new requirement for release of records only to information received after the enactment of this Act. Directs the Secretary, directly or through grant or contract, to develop model systems: (1) for gathering health care cost, quality, and outcomes data; and (2) for analyzing such data in a manner that would allow valid comparisons among providers and among health plans. Requires the Secretary to support and evaluate experiments with different approaches to achieve the most cost-effective method. Provides that, when appropriate, the Secretary may establish standards for data gathering in order to facilitate analysis and comparisons across the nation. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to States to enable them to plan and initiate implementation of their health care information programs. Authorizes appropriations. Nullifies any State law which requires medical or health insurance records (including billing information) to be kept in written, rather than electronic, form. Directs the Secretary, after taking into consideration the Insurance Information and Privacy Protection Model Act of NAIC to promulgate requirements concerning health insurance information privacy and confidentiality. Includes among such requirements that information identifying individuals shall not be redisclosed (with such limited exceptions as the Secretary may provide) except to the extent necessary to carry out the purpose for which the information was collected. Requires the Secretary to take into consideration specified principles concerning information that identifies individuals when promulgating such requirements. Directs the Secretary to determine whether problems relating to standards for the electronic receipt and transmission of health insurance information cause significant administrative costs. Requires the Secretary, if such costs are generated, to promulgate standards for the electronic receipt and transmission of claims, payment, eligibility, and enrollment information (including privacy and confidentiality protection requirements). Directs the Secretary to determine whether problems relating to the receipt and transmission of health insurance eligibility verification cause significant administrative costs. Requires the Secretary, if such costs are generated, to promulgate requirements for the receipt and transmission of health insurance eligibility verification. Directs the Secretary to determine whether the proportion of health insurance claims and payment information received and transmitted by paper will continue to cause significant administrative costs. Directs the Secretary, if such costs are generated, to require a specified proportion of (or all of) such information to be received and transmitted electronically (with such exceptions as the Secretary might specify). Directs the Secretary to promulgate requirements for the format and content of basic claim forms under health insurance plans. Directs the Secretary to determine whether the variety of information requested by health insurers (in addition to information requested in basic claims forms) causes administrative costs disproportionate to the benefits derived. Requires the Secretary, if such costs are generated, to publish recommendations concerning what additional information should be allowed to be requested and in what format. Directs the Secretary, after consulting with NAIC, to promulgate rules for determining the relative liability of insurers and the priority of payment when several health insurance policies cover the same individual. Directs the Secretary to determine whether problems relating to the transfer of information among health insurers that cover the same individual cause significant mistaken payments or administrative costs. Requires the Secretary, if such payments or costs are generated, to promulgate requirements concerning the transfer among insurers (and annual updating) of information (which may include requirements for the use of unique identifiers, and for the listing of all individuals covered under a health insurance plan). Directs the Secretary to determine, for each State, whether there were in effect State requirements substantially the same as those enumerated below and whether the State effectively enforced them. Applies the requirements enumerated below to administrators of self-insured employee plans. Provides for Federal backup authority to be effective in a State (with respect to a section) only if the Secretary makes a negative finding with respect to certain requirements or if the State does not provide sufficient information to enable the Secretary to make the determination. Requires health insurers (in States that do not have an equivalent program) to: (1) meet the Federal requirements concerning the protection of privacy and confidentiality; (2) use social security numbers for their beneficiaries and Medicare unique identifiers for each provider that furnishes items and services; (3) meet the standards and requirements (if any) concerning the receipt and transmission of health insurance information; (4) meet the requirements concerning the form and content of health insurance claim forms; (5) follow the rules determining the priority of payment when several health insurance policies cover the same individual; and (6) meet the requirements (if any) concerning the furnishing of information among insurers. Requires the Secretary, after consulting with the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and others, to promulgate requirements for hospitals concerning electronic medical data. Specifies the data sets to be included in such requirements. Permits the Secretary, after consulting with ANSI and others, to promulgate requirements for health care entities other than hospitals concerning electronic medical data. Requires hospitals that participate in the Medicare program to maintain an electronic patient care information system that meets certain data set requirements promulgated by the Secretary for hospitals, and to transmit data electronically to the Secretary, peer review organizations, carriers, and intermediaries, from the appropriate data sets. Permits waivers of such requirements for hospitals in the process of developing an electronic patient care information system, for small rural hospitals, and for certain hospitals that agree to subject their data transfer processes to specified quality assurance procedures. Permits Federal agencies to require electronic transmission of data elements utilized for certain agency health care or research programs. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to subject insurers to an excise tax for any failure to comply with requirements under SSA new title XXII respecting health insurance. Specifies the amount of such tax for administrators of self-insured employee welfare benefit plans and other insurers. Provides that the excise tax generally shall not apply if the violation could not have been discovered through the exercise of reasonable diligence, or if the violation was corrected within 30 days after it had been discovered. Gives the Secretary authority to waive the tax if the violations were due to reasonable cause and not willful neglect, to the extent payment of the tax would be excessive relative to the failure involved. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to: (1) community organizations or coalitions of health care providers, insurers, and purchasers to establish, and document the efficacy of, communication links between the information systems of health insurers and of health care providers; and (2) public and private non-profit entities for the development of regional- and community-based clinical information systems, and for the development and testing of certain ambulatory care data sets. Authorizes appropriations. Title IV: MEWA Enforcement Improvements - Multiple Employer Welfare Arrangements Enforcement Improvements Act of 1992 - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to revise provisions relating to MEWAs and other employee welfare benefit plans. Revises the definition of employee welfare benefit plan to: (1) allow up to five percent of the aggregate number of covered individuals to be individuals who are not employees or former employees of the employer, or members or former members of the employee organization which established or maintains the plan; and (2) include a plan, fund, or program established or maintained by a franchise network or by two or more trades or businesses that are within the same control group or were within it at any time during the preceding one-year period. Amends the definition of MEWA to: (1) limit the exclusion of collective bargaining agreements, under specified conditions; (2) exclude franchise networks; (3) exclude insurers, or health maintenance organizations licensed to do business in a State; (4) exclude trades and businesses within the same control group at any time during the preceding one-year period (as well as those currently in the same group), by deeming them a single employer; and (5) provide that single employer plans shall not be deemed MEWAs solely because they cover individuals who are not employees or former employees, or their beneficiaries, if the number of such individuals never exceeds five percent of the aggregate covered during the plan year. Makes ERISA title I (Protection of Employee Benefit Rights) applicable to any MEWA engaged in commerce or in any industry or activity affecting commerce, with specified exceptions. Requires MEWAs which provide medical care benefits to file annual registration statements with the Secretary of Labor (the Secretary), including: (1) certain information on persons involved in its operation and States where it conducts business; (2) certification that copies of the registration have been filed with the appropriate State insurance commissioners; and (3) indication of whether the MEWA has obtained, applied for, or intends to apply for a certain exemption from State regulation. Authorizes the Secretary, to assess a civil penalty for a trustee's or other responsible person's failure or refusal to file such registration statement. Authorizes district courts, upon the Secretary's showing that a MEWA is neither licensed under State insurance laws nor operating in accordance with the terms of a certain Federal exemption fron State regulation, to order the MEWA to cease activities and to grant additional equitable or remedial relief, unless the MEWA can show that it is fully insured, meets the specified State or Federal requirements, and operates in accordance with applicable State insurance laws that are not superseded under ERISA. Sets forth an exemption procedure under which the Secretary is authorized to exempt from State regulation, for up to three years, individually, or by class, MEWAs which are not fully insured and which provide medical care benefits. Allows such exemption to be renewed upon application. Prohibits such an exemption unless the Secretary finds that it is: (1) administratively feasible; (2) not adverse to the interests of participants and beneficiaries; and (3) protective of participant and beneficiary rights and benefits. Requires published and adequate notification and opportunity for a hearing for interested persons before any such exemption is granted. Postpones, until 18 months after enactment of this Act, the required applicability of State insurance laws to MEWAs that provide medical care benefits if such MEWAs: (1) file for the exemption within 180 days after such enactment; and (2) the Secretary does not find such application to be materially deficient. Terminates such exclusion from State requirements for any such MEWA at any time when the Secretary determines it would be detrimental to the interests of participants or beneficiaries. Places any determination relating to such exclusion in the Secretary's sole discretion. Provides that States may require disclosure of information from any employee welfare benefit plan (in connection with an investigation to determine if violations of the State insurance law have or are about to occur) as to whether such plan is a MEWA or is in compliance with the MEWA exemption or 18-month exclusion. Title V: Health Care Liability Reform And Quality of Care Improvement - Health Care Liability Reform and Quality of Care Improvement Act of 1992 - Requires, in order to receive a notification of compliance with this title, that States have in effect the health care liability reforms set forth below. Requires, in any health care liability action, the liability of each defendant for noneconomic damages to be several and not joint, with each defendant liable only for the proportion of that defendant's fault and a separate judgment against that defendant in that amount. Prohibits awarding noneconomic damages over $250,000 in any health care liability action, subject to waiver. Reduces the total damages received by a plaintiff by the amount of any collateral source benefits. Allows: (1) future economic damage awards to be paid periodically based on when the damages are likely to occur or at the time the damages accrue; and (2) in certain circumstances, the court to require the health care provider to purchase an annuity or fund a reversionary trust to make such periodic payments. Prohibits reopening a judgment awarding periodic payments to contest, amend, or modify the schedule or amount in the absence of fraud or any ground permitting relief after entry of a final judgment. Declares it U.S. policy to encourage alternative dispute resolution (ADR). Requires a State to establish at least one ADR mechanism. Requires each State to: (1) cooperate with Federal research efforts regarding patient outcomes, clinical effectiveness, and clinical practice guidelines; (2) collect, analyze, and supply the Secretary of Health and Human Services with information regarding State medical board performance; and (3) impose continuing education requirements on disciplined physicians. Allows alternatives to these requirements regarding medical board performance and continuing education if the Secretary finds such alternatives at least as effective in reducing the incidence of negligence as compliance with the requirements. Allows States three years from the adoption of this Act to enact, adopt, or otherwise comply with the requirements of this title. Requires withholding of State payments for noncompliance. Allows waiver of the requirements of this title for any experimental, pilot, or demonstration project which is likely to assist in promoting this title's objectives for health care liability reform. Sets forth the framework for establishing a system of mandatory nonbinding arbitration in each State for the resolution of health care liability claims. Amends Federal law to prohibit, in a health care liability action, finding the United States jointly and severally liable for noneconomic damages. Allows liability only for those noneconomic damages directly attributable to its pro rata share of fault. Reduces damages paid by the United States by the amount of any collateral source benefits. Prohibits awarding noneconomic damages, in an action against the United States, over $250,000. Requires, at the request of the United States when future economic damages are awarded in excess of $100,000, an order that such damages be paid by periodic payments based on when the damages are likely to occur. Allows the United States, in such cases, to pay the judgment periodically, purchase an annuity, or fund a reversionary trust. Prohibits reopening the judgment to contest, amend, or modify the schedule or amount in the absence of fraud or any ground permitting relief after entry of a final judgment.
United States · United States Congress · 12 August 1992
Authorizes the President, on behalf of the Congress, to present a gold medal to John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie in recognition of his accomplishments as a musician. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to provide for the sale of bronze duplicates of the medal.
United States · United States Congress · 12 August 1992
Directs the Secretary of Transportation, States, and metropolitan planning organizations to expedite use of obligation authority restored by Public Law 102-334 for construction of highway projects under actual construction by October 30, 1992, in order to increase the number of quality jobs for construction and improvement of transportation facilities.
United States · United States Congress · 12 August 1992
Designates February 4, 1993, and February 3, 1994, as National Women and Girls in Sports Day.
United States · United States Congress · 12 August 1992
Designates May 2 through 8, 1993, as National Walking Week.
United States · United States Congress · 12 August 1992
Designates the week beginning November 8, 1992, as Hire a Veteran Week.
United States · United States Congress · 11 August 1992
Securities Private Enforcement Reform Act - Amends the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to declare that a defendant may be liable jointly and severally for damages in an implied private action only if the trier of fact specifically determines that the defendant knowingly engaged in securities fraud. Sets forth a liability allocation scheme to determine the percentage of responsibility among the defendants if the trier of fact finds that the defendant did not engage in knowing securities fraud. Prescribes guidelines for the award of reasonable fees and expenses incurred by the prevailing party in any implied private action. Declares that in any implied right of action that is certified as a plaintiff class action: (1) the share that is awarded to the representative plaintiff shall be calculated in the same manner as the share awarded to all other members of the plaintiff class; (2) a party may not be represented by any attorney who owns or has a beneficial interest in the securities that are the subject of the litigation, or who is obligated to pay remuneration to a third party for assistance in obtaining the representation of any party to the action; and (3) funds disgorged as a result of Securities Exchange Commission action shall not be distributed as payment for attorneys' fees or expenses incurred by private parties seeking distribution of the disgorged funds. Sets a statute of limitations on private rights of action under this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 11 August 1992
Designates December 1, 1992, as World AIDS Day.
United States · United States Congress · 6 August 1992
Expresses the sense of the Congress that a U.S. guided missile cruiser should be named the USS Pearl Harbor.
United States · United States Congress · 4 August 1992
Directs the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct to investigate whether Representative Henry B. Gonzalez has publicly disclosed classified information in the Congressional Record, and in so doing violated the Rules of the House of Representatives or any duly constituted committees during the Second Session of the 102d Congress. Directs all other House committees, Members, officers, or employees who may have information relevant to this investigation to cooperate promptly with the Committee subject to procedures it shall adopt necessary to protect from unauthorized disclosure of classified information which may be transmitted to the Committee.
United States · United States Congress · 3 August 1992
Freedom for Russia and Emerging Eurasian Democracies and Open Markets Support Act of 1992 or FREEDOM Support Act - Title I: General Provisions - Sets forth U.S. policy with respect to assistance to the independent states of the former Soviet Union (excluding Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania). Expresses the sense of the Congress that such policy should make assistance to any of the independent states conditional on the termination of military and technical assistance, subsidies, and other forms of assistance to Cuba from such states. Permits assistance to governmental entities of the independent states only to the extent that such states are: (1) making significant progress toward and are committed to a democratic system; (2) respecting human rights; (3) making significant progress in and are committed to economic reform based on market principles, private ownership, and integration into the world economy; (4) respecting international law and obligations and adhering to the Helsinki Final Act of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe and the Charter of Paris; and (5) adhering to arms control obligations and to responsible security policies. Prohibits U.S. assistance and other benefits under this Act (other than title V) or other laws to the Government of Azerbaijan until the President reports to the Congress that such government is taking steps to cease all blockades and uses of force against Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh. Directs the President to designate a coordinator within the Department of State to be responsible for coordinating assistance to the independent states. Title II: Bilateral Economic Assistance - Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to authorize the President to provide assistance to the independent states to promote the following objectives: (1) meeting urgent humanitarian needs; (2) establishing a democratic and free society; (3) developing a free-market system; (4) promoting trade and investment; (5) converting military technologies and defense industries into civilian activities; (6) introducing market-based mechanisms for food distribution and encouraging policies that provide support for the agricultural sector; (7) promoting programs to strengthen quality health care and voluntary family planning, housing, and other components of a social safety net; (8) promoting educational reform; (9) promoting energy efficiency and production; (10) promoting environmental protection, conservation, and safety; and (11) improving transportation and telecommunications infrastructure and management. Authorizes the President to promote the involvement of the U.S. private sector in such activities. Authorizes the use of economic support fund assistance for assistance under this title. Requires assistance to maximize the use of U.S. goods and services. Authorizes appropriations. Establishes a Democracy Corps, a private, nonprofit corporation, to maintain a presence in the independent states. Directs the Administrator of the Agency for International Development to make an annual grant to the Democracy Corps. Requires the grant to be used by the Corps to assist at the local level in the development of: (1) institutions of democratic governance; and (2) nongovernmental organizations of a civil society. Directs the Corps to carry out its activities through the placement of teams of U.S. citizens with appropriate expertise in the independent states to: (1) provide advice and technical assistance; (2) make small grants to assist in the development of such institutions and organizations; (3) identify other sources of assistance; and (4) operate local centers to serve as information and educational centers and to encourage those involved in the development of democratic institutions, market-oriented economies, and civil societies. Prohibits the use of funds for the Corps or any grant from the Corps to finance the campaigns of candidates for public office. Sets forth: (1) requirements for the Board of Directors of the Corps and for its advisory committee; and (2) auditing requirements and congressional oversight procedures. Earmarks a specified amount of funds authorized under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 for the Corps. Title III: United States Information Agency and Department of State - Authorizes appropriations for FY 1993 for: (1) the U.S. Information Agency for expenses with respect to the independent states; and (2) the Department of State for costs of personnel and expenses for new posts in the independent states. Amends the Omnibus Diplomatic Security and Anti-Terrorism Act of 1986 to require at least 15 Fascell fellowships (for service at diplomatic or consular missions in the Soviet Union or Eastern Europe) to be provided in FY 1993. Makes funding available under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 for fellowships at missions in the independent states. Title IV: International Financial Institutions and Trade Finance - Amends the Bretton Woods Agreements Act to authorize: (1) the U.S. Governor of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to consent to an increase in the U.S. quota of the IMF and to the amendments to the Articles of Agreement of the IMF approved in resolution 45-3 of the Board of Governors; and (2) the U.S. Executive Director of the IMF to approve a pledge to sell gold to restore the resources of the Reserve Account of the Enhanced Structural Adjustment Facility Trust. Makes appropriations for the IMF quota increase. Expresses the sense of the Congress with respect to encouraging efforts to address economic and political problems of nations making transitions to more open political and economic systems. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to report to the Congress on the debt incurred by the former Soviet Union held by commercial banks outside the independent states and the prospects for repayment of such debt. Supports U.S. participation in a currency stabilization fund for the independent states. Requires the Secretary to instruct the U.S. Executive Director of the IMF to urge the IMF to study the need for, and feasibility of, a currency stabilization fund for Ukraine and make recommendatations with respect to the economic and policy conditions required for the success of such a fund. Expresses the sense of the Congress that the President should ensure that the International Finance Corporation provides an ambitious lending program for such states. Amends the International Finance Corporation Act to authorize the U.S. Governor of the Corporation to: (1) vote for any increase in capital stock needed to accommodate the requirements of the independent states; and (2) agree to amendments to the Corporation's Articles of Agreement to increase the votes by which the capital stock may be increased and by which the Articles of Agreement may be amended. Amends the Bretton Woods Agreements Act to direct the Secretary of the Treasury to instruct the U.S. Executive Director of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (World Bank) to urge the Bank to: (1) establish or continue programs to provide technical assistance to the independent states in support of democratic reforms, human rights, the rule of law, and market-oriented reforms; and (2) coordinate its assistance with assistance provided by other donors. Amends the International Financial Institutions Act to add the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the IMF to the list of institutions through which the United States shall advance human rights. Directs the Secretary to instruct the U.S. Executive Directors of international financial institutions, in assessing human rights, to consider, in relation to assistance to Russia and the other independent states, the responsiveness of such governments to providing a substantial accounting of Americans missing in action. Requires the Export-Import Bank to report to the Congress on: (1) the demand for loans, guarantees, and insurance for trade between the United States and the independent states; and (2) recommendations for promoting trade between the United States and the independent states. Amends the Export-Import Bank Act of 1945 to remove prohibitions on export credit with respect to Czechoslovakia, Estonia, East Germany, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Albania, Bulgaria, Poland, Yugoslavia, Romania, and the Soviet Union. Makes a provision of the Federal criminal code that prescribes penalties for financial transactions with foreign governments in default on obligations to the United States inapplicable with respect to obligations of the independent states of the former Soviet Union. Title V: Nonproliferation and Disarmament Activities - Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to authorize the President to provide assistance to promote nonproliferation and disarmament activities by supporting: (1) dismantlement and destruction of nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons, their delivery systems, and conventional weapons; (2) efforts to halt the proliferation of such weapons, systems, and related technologies; (3) establishment of science and technology centers for nonmilitary purposes; and (4) the conversion of military technologies and capabilities and defense industries of the independent states into civilian activities. Authorizes the President to support one or more of such centers to provide incentives for weapons scientists and engineers of the former Soviet Union to apply their expertise to civilian projects. Waives provisions of title I that require an independent state to meet certain conditions in order to receive assistance with respect to such support. Sets forth reprogramming notification requirements and funding provisions with respect to such support. Encourages the Secretaries of Defense and Energy to participate actively in U.S. efforts to stem the proliferation of nuclear weapons. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1993 for international nonproliferation activities. Reduces amounts of funds authorized under the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1993 for procurement for the Defense Agencies. Prohibits the obligation of funds during FY 1993 for the nonproliferation program unless expenditures for that program during FY 1993 have been determined by the Director of the Office of Management and Budget to be counted against the defense category of the discretionary spending limits for FY 1993. Makes authorizations for international proliferation activities inapplicable if the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1993 enacts the same authorities and authorizes appropriations. Amends the Soviet Nuclear Threat Reduction Act of 1991 to increase the amount of funds that may be transferred from Department of Defense accounts for use in reducing the Soviet military threat. Makes such amendment inapplicable if the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1993 enacts a similar amendment. Authorizes the Director of the National Science Foundation to establish an endowed, nongovernmental, nonprofit foundation to: (1) promote and support joint research and development projects for peaceful purposes between scientists and engineers in the United States and the independent states on subjects of mutual interest; and (2) seek to establish joint nondefense industrial research, development, and demonstration activities through private sector linkages which may involve participation by scientists and engineers in the university or academic sectors. Makes funds appropriated under the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1993 (to the extent available) available for the establishment of the endowment. Requires an independent state, as a condition of participation in the foundation, to make a minimum contribution to the endowment which shall reflect its ability to make a financial contribution and its expected level of participation in the foundation's programs. Authorizes local currencies generated by U.S. assistance programs to be made available to the foundation. Title VI: Space Trade and Cooperation - Requires any request for a license or other approval described under this title that is submitted to a U.S. Government agency by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to be considered on an expedited basis by that agency. Provides for notification of designated congressional committees if an agency denies a request. Applies this title to requests for licenses or approval necessary to conduct discussions with an independent state with respect to the possible acquisition of any space hardware, space technology, or space service for integration into U.S. space projects that have been approved by the Congress. Encourages the Office of Space Commerce of the Department of Commerce to conduct trade missions to appropriate independent states to familiarize U.S. aerospace industry representatives with space hardware, technologies, and services that may be available from the independent states and with the business practices and business climate of such states. Directs the Office of Space Commerce to: (1) monitor the progress of any discussions being carried out by NASA with the independent states; and (2) advise the NASA Administrator of the impact on U.S. industry of each potential acquisition of space hardware, technology, or services from the independent states, including any anticompetitive issues the Office may observe. Title VII: Other Provisions - Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to remove Czechoslovakia, Estonia, East Germany, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Albania, Bulgaria, Poland, Yugoslavia, Romania, and the Soviet Union from the list of Communist countries to which assistance is prohibited. Amends the Federal criminal code to remove the Soviet Union, East Germany, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Bulgaria, and Romania from a list of countries for which special restrictions apply with respect to legal commercial transactions. Amends the Food for Progress Act of 1985 to consider the independent states to be emerging democracies for purposes of eligibility for agricultural commodities furnished under such Act. Authorizes the President to enter into agreements with private entities (as well as other entities currently listed under such Act) to furnish such commodities. Waives the annual tonnage limitation under such Act with respect to commodities furnished from stocks of the Commodity Credit Corporation (Corporation) during FY 1992 and 1993 to such states. Permits the Corporation to make commodities available on credit terms to the independent states. Amends the Agricultural Development and Trade Act of 1990 to permit export credit guarantees to be available for the establishment or improvement of facilities or the provision of services or U.S. goods in emerging democracies by U.S. persons if such guarantees will promote the export of U.S. agricultural commodities. Amends the Agricultural Act of 1978 to remove conditions on export financing of, and export credit guarantees with respect to, agricultural commodities by the Corporation that require the development of the importing country as a foreign market on a long-term basis or the improvement of the capability of such country to use such commodities on a long-term basis. Makes such amendments applicable only with respect to the independent states. Authorizes the Corporation to use such financing and guarantees to assist emerging democracies that have committed to carry out policies that promote economic freedom, private domestic production of food commodities for domestic consumption, and the expansion of domestic markets for the purchase and sale of such commodities. Expresses the sense of the Congress that the President should encourage the involvement of multinational organizations to monitor the transport and distribution of food aid within the independent states. Declares that the Corporation's export credit guarantee and export enhancement programs should be administered in a manner that contributes to the achievement of the objective that the U.S. share of world trade in processed agricultural products and high-value agricultural products is not less than 15 percent. Directs the Corporation to ensure that at least 35 percent of the total amount of credit guarantees issued in connection with sales to the independent states under the export credit guarantee program (and 25 percent of the funds expended under the export enhancement program) in a fiscal year are issued (or expended) to promote the export of processed and high-value agricultural products, with the balance issued (or expended) to promote the export of bulk or raw agricultural commodities. Makes such percentage requirements inapplicable only if the percentage of the total amount of: (1) credit guarantees issued in a fiscal year to promote the export of such products to all countries is less than 25 percent; and (2) funds expended and value of commodities made available in a fiscal year to promote such exports to all countries is less than 15 percent. Requires the Secretary of Agriculture to make quarterly reports to the Congress on the costs and imputed revenues attributable to exports of commodities as well as an examination of the effects of export efforts on employment levels and opportunities in the U.S. agricultural sectors and related industries. Amends the Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 1990 to extend certain provisions granting refugee status or permanent residence to nationals of the independent states, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.
United States · United States Congress · 31 July 1992
Repeals specified portions of the Unemployment Compensation Amendments of 1992 (Public Law 102-318) which: (1) provide for optional trustee-to-trustee transfers of eligible rollover distributions; and (2) impose a withholding tax on distributions not so transferred. Requires the Internal Revenue Code to be applied and administered as if such provisions (and the amendments made by such provisions) had not been enacted.
United States · United States Congress · 30 July 1992
Designates October 1992 as Polish-American Heritage Month.
United States · United States Congress · 22 July 1992
Federal Grants for State and Local "G.I. Bills" for Children - Requires the Secretary of Education to use specified funds to make competitive grants to States and localities for educational choice programs. Authorizes reservation of a specified portion of such funds for national evaluation of such programs. Authorizes appropriations. Makes a State or locality eligible for such a grant if it: (1) has taken significant steps to provide a choice of schools to families with school children in the program area, including those not eligible for scholarships under this Act; (2) will, if awarded a grant, provide scholarships to parents of eligible children that may be redeemed for elementary or secondary education at a broad variety of public and private (including religious) schools serving that area; and (3) permits all such lawfully operating schools serving the area to participate in its program under this Act if they so choose. Requires grantees to provide scholarships to parents of eligible children, with a value of $1,000 from Federal funds under this Act and an additional amount, if any, of State, local, and nongovernmental funds. Excludes such scholarships from consideration as income for Federal income tax or Federal program eligibility purposes. Requires such scholarships to be provided to parents of children who reside in the program area, will attend a participating public or private school, and are from a middle- or low-income family (as determined by the grantees, in accordance with the Secretary's regulations). Limits the maximum family income for eligibility to not more than the higher of the State or national median family income. Provides for continuation of such scholarship aid to a child in each program year, unless the child no longer resides in the program area or no longer attends school, or the child's family income exceeds by 20 percent or more than the maximum income of families who received scholarships in the preceding year. Requires the grantee to provide scholarships to the lowest income families if the grant amount is insufficient to provide such aid to each child up to the income level for which the grantee applied. Sets forth application requirements, including descriptions of program areas and economic profiles of children residing there. Requires that programs be selected to receive such grants on the basis of: (1) number and variety of educational choices they make available to families of eligible children; (2) extent to which choices among public, private, and religious schools are available to all families in the area, including those not eligible for scholarships; (3) proportion of children from low-income families among participants; and (4) applicant's financial support of the program, including, State, local, and nongovernmental supplementary funds, not only for scholarships but also for other economic incentives such as tax relief (taking local conditions into account). Requires awards to programs in urban and rural areas and in different areas of the Nation. Requires award of annual grants, taking account of availability of appropriations, number and quality of applications, and other appropriate factors. Allows each grant to be for up to four years and to be renewed for an additional four-year period. Requires the following sequence for use of the Federal portion of such a scholarship: (1) for tuition and fees at the school selected by the parents, and for reasonable transportation costs (at the parent's option); (2) if the parent's so choose, for supplementary academic services for the child (up to $500 in cost) from any provider chosen by the parents that the grantee determines is capable to do so and has an appropriate refund policy; and (3) any remaining funds to be used either by the public school the child attends for student academic achievement programs, or, if the child attends private school, by the grantee for additional scholarships. Sets forth the effect of this Act on other programs. Requires a local educational agency to provide to any child in an educational choice program the same services that it would otherwise provide to that child under chapter 1 title I Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 provisions for educationally disadvantaged children. Declares that this Act does not affect specified requirements under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Provides that such scholarships are aid to families, not institutions, so that their expenditure shall not be construed as Federal financial aid or assistance to a school or provider of supplementary academic services. Requires schools or providers of academic services, in order to receive scholarship funds under this Act, to comply with antidiscrimination requirements under specified Federal laws. Directs the Secretary to promulgate regulations to implement this requirement, taking into account the purposes of this Act and the nature, variety, and missions of schools and providers that may participate. Prohibits consideration of Federal funds provided under this Act in Federal, State, or local agency determination of other assistance to such grantees or schools attended. Provides that no State constitution or law shall be construed or applied to prohibit any grantee from: (1) paying administrative costs of a program under this Act; or (2) providing any Federal funds received under this Act to parents for use at a religious or other private institution. Declares that nothing in this Act authorizes the Secretary to exercises direction, supervision, or control over any participating school or educational institution as to curriculum, instructional program, administration or personnel. Directs the Secretary to conduct with specified reserved funds, a national evaluation of the program authorized by this Act. Directs the Secretary to promulgate regulations to enforce this Act. Prohibits such enforcement through a private cause of action.
United States · United States Congress · 9 July 1992
Small Business Regulatory Cost Relief Act of 1992 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to replace the small business tax credit for expenditures to provide access to disabled individuals with the small business tax credit for regulatory costs. Makes such credit 50 percent of qualified regulatory costs for a taxable year as exceed $250. Declares that such costs include eligible access expenditures for the disabled.
United States · United States Congress · 9 July 1992
Designates July 19 through 26, 1992, as National Invent America! Week.
United States · United States Congress · 8 July 1992
Life Imprisonment for Egregious Recidivists Act of 1992 - Amends the Federal criminal code to require the court, in the case of a conviction for a Federal violent felony, to sentence the defendant to life imprisonment if the defendant has previously been convicted of two other violent felonies.
United States · United States Congress · 2 July 1992
Fiscal Accountability and Impact Reform Act (FAIR Act) - States that one purpose of this Act is to assist the Congress in consideration of proposed legislation establishing or revising Federal programs to assure that, to the maximum extent practicable, legislation enacted will: (1) minimize the burden of such legislation on expenditure of scarce local public resources by State and local governments; (2) minimize inefficient allocation of economic resources; and (3) reduce the adverse effect of such legislation on the ability of State and local governments to use local public resources to meet local needs, and on allocation of economic resources, full employment, and international competitiveness. States that a second purpose of this Act is to require Federal agencies to exercise discretionary authority and implement statutory requirements in a manner which, consistent with agency mission and Federal law, minimizes the impact of regulations and other major Federal actions affecting the economy on: (1) the ability of State and local governments to use local public resources to meet local needs; and (2) the allocation of economic resources, full employment, and international competitiveness of American goods and services. Title I: Legislative Reform - Provides that whenever a committee of either House reports a bill to its House which mandates unfunded requirements upon State and local governments or the private sector, the report accompanying that bill shall analyze the effect of the new requirements on: (1) State and local government expenditures necessary to comply with Federal mandates; (2) private businesses; and (3) economic growth and competitiveness. Title II: Agency Impact Analysis - Requires, to the fullest extent practicable, that: (1) the policies, regulations, and public laws of the United States be interpreted and administered in accordance with the purposes of this Act; (2) all Federal agencies, consistent with attainment of the requirements of Federal law, minimize the adverse effects of rules affecting the economy; and (3) Federal agencies take certain actions in promulgating new rules, reviewing existing rules, developing legislative proposals, or initiating any other major Federal action affecting the economy whenever an agency identifies two or more alternatives which will satisfy the agency's statutory obligations. Provides that, whenever an agency publishes a general notice of proposed rulemaking, promulgates a final rule, or before initiating or implementing any other major Federal action affecting the economy, the agency shall prepare and make available for public comment an Economic Impact Assessment. Specifies the contents of such an assessment. Provides for judicial review of final agency actions for compliance with this title.
United States · United States Congress · 30 June 1992
Designates October 1992 as Country Music Month.
United States · United States Congress · 25 June 1992
Amends part A (Aid to Families with Dependent Children) (AFDC) of title IV of the Social Security Act (SSA) to revise State plan provisions to mandate State programs that provide AFDC recipients with education, training, and work experience needed to prepare them to do without AFDC assistance after four years of program participation. Outlines the administrative framework for such programs, along with conditions for program participation and penalties for violations of such conditions. Requires parental initiatives in ensuring that children of families on AFDC receive proper immunizations and well-child care and attend school in order for such families to continue receiving AFDC assistance. Provides for mitigation of the marriage penalty in certain cases where the parent of a family receiving AFDC assistance (original parent) marries an individual who, at the time of the marriage, is not the biological parent of any child of the original parent. Revises SSA title IV part F (Job Opportunities and Basic Skills Training Program), with changes that allow States to reserve food stamp benefit funds and use them instead to provide subsidized jobs under work supplementation programs (work programs). Amends the Food Stamp Act of 1977 with respect to employment cashout of food stamp benefits under part F work programs.
United States · United States Congress · 23 June 1992
Airline Competition Enhancement Act of 1992 - Amends the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 (the Act) to prohibit a vendor, in the operation of its air carrier computer reservations system, from discriminating against participants in such system in specified ways, including: (1) making available to subscribers an integrated display which orders information on air carrier identity; (2) supplying information to a person creating or attempting to create such an integrated display; (3) making available, after September 30, 1994, to a subscriber or participant any subscriber or participant transaction capability which is more functional, timely, complete, accurate, reliable, secure, or efficient with respect to one subscriber, or participant, than to another; (4) charging a participant fee for, or require terms or conditions with, the provision of any computer reservation system feature, function, or service unless they are reasonable; or (5) prohibiting a subscriber from obtaining or using another computer reservation system. Prohibits a vendor or air carrier from requiring, or providing incentives to induce, a subscriber to use information from a computer reservation system to create an integrated display which orders information on air carrier identity. Prohibits a vendor, except on grounds of demonstrated technological incompatibility, from prohibiting or unreasonably restricting the: (1) interconnection to its computer reservation system equipment of computer hardware or software supplied by a person other than such vendor; or (2) use by a subscriber, to access any other computer reservation system or data base, or hardware and communications lines supplied by another vendor. Sets forth other specified prohibitions. Prohibits a vendor from: (1) requiring, as a condition for providing a subscriber additional computer reservation system components (including software and enhancements), that the term of the subscriber's contract be extended; (2) requiring use of its computer reservation system by such subscriber in any sale by the subscriber of the vendor's air transportation services; (3) requiring use of its computer reservation system as a condition of compensation for the sale of air transportation services by the subscriber; and (4) charging prices to subscribers conditioned on the identity of air carriers whose air transportation services are sold by such subscribers. Prohibits the enforcement of subscriber contract provisions for a contract term of more than three years. Sets forth other specified contract provisions which are not enforceable. Prohibits a subscriber from using computer software or hardware to modify information in a computer reservation system so as to produce: (1) integrated displays of such information based on air carrier identity, unless specified conditions are met; or (2) displays of such information based on subscriber or participant transaction capability. Requires vendors to submit quarterly reports to the Secretary of Transportation (Secretary) describing the manner in which they propose to comply with this Act. Requires the Secretary to transmit to specified congressional committees a compliance progress report based on the vendors' reports. Requires the Secretary to report annually to specified congressional committees on the participant fees charged by vendors during the preceding calendar year, including whether such fees represent an increase or decrease over the fees charged previously, and whether they are reasonable. Sets forth specified administrative provisions with respect to violations of this Act. Directs the Secretary not to give consideration to the availability of landing slots at high density airports in: (1) determining the provision of basic essential air service to small communities; and (2) selecting an air carrier to provide such service. Requires the Secretary to ensure that a sufficient number of such slots are available to the air carrier providing such service at such airports. Provides for the transfer of slots at such airports. Declares that nothing in such Act shall require the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration to issue regulations requiring that air carrier and airport security personnel employment investigations include criminal history record checks if the Administrator determines that such record checks are not necessary to ensure air transportation security. Requires the Secretary to initiate a rulemaking proceeding to consider whether there should be a reduction in the annualized rate of random testing for prohibited drugs for personnel engaged in aviation activities. Declares that nothing under the Act authorizes the Secretary to grant a public agency authority to impose a fee for a passenger enplaning at an airport if the passenger did not pay for the air transportation, including in cases in which the passenger obtained the airline ticket with a frequent flier award coupon without monetary payment. Requires the Secretary to amend a specified section of the Code of Federal Regulations to require commuter air carriers to comply with the provisions governing on-time performance in such regulations. Directs the Secretary to publish a monthly report containing the percentage of flights of each commuter air carrier which were canceled during such calendar month. Requires the Secretary, in selecting an air carrier to provide foreign air transportation, to consider, among other specified factors, the strengthening of competition among air carriers operating in the United States in order to prevent undue concentration in the air carrier industry.
United States · United States Congress · 23 June 1992
Urban Entrepreneurial Opportunities Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a deduction for equity contributions made by a corporation to an urban entrepreneurial opportunity financing subsidiary of such corporation. Requires the subsidiary to use such contribution in making qualified enterprise zone business loans to qualified small business concerns. Establishes an overall program limitation among the contributing corporations to be allocated by the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.
United States · United States Congress · 18 June 1992
Directs the National World War II Memorial Fund, Inc., to construct a memorial on Federal land in the District of Columbia or its environs to: (1) honor members of the armed forces who served in World War II; and (2) commemorate U.S. participation in that conflict. Directs the fund to plan, design, and oversee the construction of the Memorial. Establishes the World War II Memorial Advisory Board to: (1) promote and encourage the donation of private funds for the construction of the Memorial; and (2) recommend the site for and assist in the selection of the design of the Memorial. Terminates the Board within 30 days after completion of the Memorial or on the lapse of the authority provided by this Act. Authorizes the Fund to solicit and accept private contributions for construction of the Memorial. States that the requirements and authority of this Act shall lapse if: (1) construction of the Memorial is not commenced within seven years of its enactment; or (2) before such construction, the Secretary of the Interior certifies that funds are not available in an amount sufficient to ensure its completion.
United States · United States Congress · 17 June 1992
Prohibits voluntary contributions by the United States to the United Nations Development Program, for any year after 1992, from exceeding 90 percent of the amount of such contribution for 1992. Prohibits the use of such contributions for projects in China, North Korea, Iran, Cuba, Iraq, Jordan, Libya, Yemen, Syria, Vietnam, and Laos.
United States · United States Congress · 17 June 1992
International Dolphin Conservation Act of 1992 - Amends the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 to authorize entering into international agreements establishing a global moratorium, for at least five years, prohibiting harvesting tuna using purse seine nets deployed on or to encircle dolphins or other marine mammals. Allows moratorium termination with respect to the United States before the year 2000 only if the Secretary of Commerce so recommends and the Congress approves. Specifies elements to be contained in such agreements, including requirements for: (1) research regarding tuna fishing methods; (2) review of research proposals by a competent regional organization; (3) the conduct of research by dedicated vessels, approved and observed by a component regional organization; (4) specified limits on the number of research sets and the total annual dolphin mortality; (5) establishment by the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission of a panel to report on limit compliance and an Advisory Board to guide research; (6) fair funding mechanisms for the research; (7) use of the proceeds from harvested tuna for the research; and (8) limiting use of U.S. funds to research on fishing methods not involving setting nets on dolphins. Requires review of all research proposals by the Marine Mammal Commission. Requires the Secretary, in certain circumstances, to recommend to the Congress whether the moratorium should be terminated. Prohibits a ban on the importation of yellowfin tuna or yellowfin tuna products from a country which implements the moratorium and meets other requirements. Mandates such a ban regarding countries which do not implement the moratorium and the other requirements. Mandates, a specified period after the tuna ban, a ban on the importation of all fish and fish products, except shrimp and shrimp products, from a country that still fails to implement all the requirements. Imposes additional restrictions on the general permit issued to the American Tunaboat Association, including: (1) limiting total dolphin mortalities; (2) prohibiting deploying purse seine nets on or encircling dolphin schools including certain types of dolphin; and (3) terminating the permit on a specified date. Declares that an international agreement under this Act shall not supersede any provisions of the Act requiring a permit. Makes unlawful certain acts, including: (1) selling, purchasing, or transporting in the United States any tuna or tuna product that is not dolphin safe; (2) purposefully setting a purse seine net on or to encircle any marine mammal; or (3) prohibiting, resisting, or interfering with inspections. Imposes civil and criminal penalties and subjects vessels, cargo, and fish to forfeiture for violations. Defines dolphin safe to mean: (1) not harvested using driftnets; and (2) depending on where harvested, either dolphin safe under specified provisions of the Dolphin Protection Consumer Information Act or certified as not harvested using purse seine nets set on or encircling dolphins. Authorizes appropriations to carry out provisions mandating inclusion in the agreements of research programs. Amends the Tuna Conventions Act of 1950 to require that, of the U.S. representatives on the International Commission for the Scientific Investigation of Tuna and the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission, at least one be chosen from a national conservation, environmental, or animal welfare nongovernmental organization. Requires that the members of a related advisory committee be selected, in addition to other sources, from such an organization. Amends the South Pacific Tuna Act of 1988 to authorize appropriations to carry out a specified Treaty on Fisheries Between the Governments of Certain Pacific Island States and the Government of the United States of America and to carry out the Act.
United States · United States Congress · 17 June 1992
Calls upon the President to urge the United Nations Security Council to direct the Secretary General of the United Nations to provide a plan and budget for intervention as may be necessary to enforce the Security Council resolutions seeking cessation of hostilities in the former republics of Yugoslavia.
United States · United States Congress · 11 June 1992
Cash Management Improvement Act Amendments of 1992 - Amends the Cash Management Improvement Act of 1990 (the Act) to remove the two-year deadline for the Secretary of the Treasury to prescribe regulations for the timely disbursement of Federal funds. Extends the deadline for the Secretary to enter into agreements with States for intergovernmental financing and to prescribe regulations for such financing from October 24, 1992, until July 1, 1993, or by the first day of a fiscal year of the State which begins in 1993, whichever is later. Makes the Act effective on such date. Extends for one year the report to the Congress by the Comptroller General on the implementation of such Act.
United States · United States Congress · 9 June 1992
Declares that the Congress acknowledges and appreciates the commitment, devotion, and sacrifices of present and former military families. Designates November 23, 1992, as National Military Families Recognition Day.
United States · United States Congress · 4 June 1992
Action Now Health Care Reform Act of 1992 - Title I: Improved Access to Affordable Health Care Coverage - Subtitle A: Increased Affordability and Availability for Employees - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (the Secretary) to request the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (the NAIC) to develop model regulations requiring each carrier that makes available in a State any small employer health benefit plan to make available to each small employer in the State a MedAccess basic plan and a MedAccess standard. Directs the Secretary to develop such regulations, if the NAIC does not. Defines MedAccess plan as a health benefits plan that: (1) provides benefits typical of the benefits offered in the small employer health coverage market or provides only benefits for essential preventive and medical services and has an average actuarial value not exceeding 60 percent of the average actuarial value of the typical benefits offered in the small employer health coverage market; (2) accepts every small employer in the State applying for coverage and accepts for enrollment every eligible individual (defined as an individual who is a full-time employee and, if family coverage is offered, covers the employee's spouse and dependents under age 19 or under age 25 for students); and (3) meets consumer protection standards established by this Act relating to limitation of pre-existing condition clauses, continuity of coverage, renewability, and premium limitations. Prohibits the imposition, by a carrier, of a limitation of benefits based on the fact a condition pre-existed the effectiveness of the policy if: (1) the condition relates to a condition not diagnosed within three months before coverage under the plan; (2) the limitation extends beyond six months after coverage under the plan; (3) the limitation applies to an individual who, as of date of birth, was covered under the plan; and (4) the limitation relates to pregnancy. Requires continuous coverage. Prohibits cancellation of a plan or denial of coverage unless there is: (1) nonpayment of premiums; (2) fraud; (3) noncompliance with plan provisions; (4) failure to maintain the required number of enrollees; (5) misuse of a provider network provision; or (6) a cessation by the carrier of the provision of any plan in a State. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to impose an excise tax which shall be paid by the carrier on the failure of a carrier or an employer health benefit plan to comply with the provisions of the Act. Directs the Secretary to request the NAIC to develop models for reinsurance or allocation of risk mechanisms for individuals and small employers who are enrolled under a small employer health benefit plan that meets the consumer protection standards and for whom a carrier is at risk of incurring high costs under the plan. Requires each State to establish and fund one or more reinsurance or allocation or allocation of risk mechanisms that are consistent with a model. Directs the Secretary to develop models, if the NAIC does not. Permits a State, in order to insure the financial solvency of the mechanism, to impose charges on any entity providing employee-related health benefits, so long as such charges do not discriminate with respect to entities that would not be subject to such charges. Directs the Secretary to establish a reinsurance or allocation of risk mechanism, if a State does not. Imposes an excise tax which shall be paid by the carrier on the providing of any health benefit plan which covers any employee in a Federal reinsurance State. Permits either a State or the Secretary (in a Federal reinsurance State) to require each employer health benefit plan to: (1) be registered; and (2) provide such information as is necessary for the reinsurance or allocation of risk mechanisms. Directs the Secretary to: (1) establish an Office of Private Health Coverage to be headed by a Director appointed by the Secretary; and (2) provide for the appointment of an advisory committee to advise the Director. Permits the Director to research the impact of this subtitle and conduct related demonstration projects. Requires the Director to develop: (1) methods of measuring, in terms of the expected costs of providing benefits under small employer health benefit plans and, in particular, MedAccess plans, the relative health risks of eligible individuals; and (2) a model for equitably distributing health risks among carriers in the small employer health care coverage market. Authorizes appropriations for the purposes of this paragraph. Subtitle B: Improved Small Employer Purchasing Power of Affordable Health Insurance - Preempts from insurance mandates a qualified small employer purchasing group, if the group consists of employers with not more than 100 employees, the group consists of not fewer than 100 employers, and the health benefit plans with respect to the employer members are in compliance with applicable State laws relating to health benefit plans. Subtitle C: Health Deduction Fairness - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to make permanent and increase from 25 to 100 percent the health insurance tax deduction for the self-employed. Subtitle D: Improved Access to Community Health Services - Directs the Secretary to provide for a program of grants to migrant and community health centers receiving grants or contracts under provisions of the Public Health Service Act in order to promote the provision of primary health care services for underserved individuals. Authorizes appropriations. Amends the Public Health Service Act to deem as an employee of the Public Health Service, for purposes of civil actions against commissioned officers or employees, any officer, employee, or contractor who is a physician or other licensed health care practitioner while performing functions for an entity receiving Federal funds under provisions of the Public Health Service Act. Requires an entity, in order to receive a grant under such provisions, to implement certain policies to assure against malpractice. Requires: (1) the Attorney General to estimate the amount of all claims expected, during each year, to arise against such an entity from acts of officers or employees; (2) the Secretary to withhold from grants to such entities the amount estimated; and (3) the withheld amount to be transferred to the Treasury to pay judgments against the United States arising from such claims. Directs the Secretary to make grants to public and nonprofit private entities to carry out demonstration projects for the purpose of increasing access to outpatient primary health services in geographic areas with a: (1) population of not more than 500,000 individuals; (2) shortage of personal health services; and (3) significant number of low-income or underinsured individuals. Sets forth requirements for receiving such grants. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle E: Improved Access to Rural Health Services - Retitles title XII of the Public Health Service Act "Emergency Medical Services" (formerly, "Trauma Care") and directs the Secretary to establish the Office of Emergency Medical Services which shall, with respect to emergency medical services (including trauma care): (1) conduct research; (2) sponsor workshops; (3) assist States; and (4) coordinate activities. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to States for the purposes of improving the availability and quality of emergency medical services through the operation of State offices of emergency medical services. Sets forth matching fund requirements. Provides for demonstration projects to establish telecommunications between rural medical facilities and other medical facilities that have equipment that can be utilized through telecommunications. Authorizes appropriations for purposes of the programs of this paragraph. Directs the Secretary to make grants to States to assist in the creation or enhancement of air medical transport systems that provide victims of medical emergencies in rural areas access to treatments for the injuries or other conditions arising from such emergencies. Sets forth requirements for grant applications. Authorizes appropriations. Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to extend for one year special treatment rules for Medicare-dependent small rural hospitals. Title II: Health Care Cost Containment and Quality Enhancement - Subtitle A: Medical Malpractice Liability Reform - Prohibits bringing a medical malpractice claim: (1) more than two years after the alleged injury should reasonably have been discovered and in no event more than four years after the alleged injury occurred; and (2) in any State court unless there has been an initial resolution through a certified alternative dispute resolution system (ADR). Requires the use of ADR in a Federal medical malpractice liability claim. Requires a pre-trial settlement conference in any medical malpractice liability action. Sets limits on: (1) noneconomic damages; (2) punitive damages; and (3) attorney's fees. Requires offsets for damages paid by a collateral source. Requires liability in a medical malpractice action to be several and not joint. Provides a complete defense to any allegation of negligence in a medical malpractice liability action to any defendant who followed the appropriate practice guideline. Prohibits finding a defendant guilty in a medical malpractice liability action relating to services provided during labor or delivery of a baby if the defendant did not previously treat the plaintiff during the pregnancy, unless the malpractice is proven by clear and convincing evidence. Directs the Secretary to determine whether a States' ADR meets ADR system requirements established by this Act. Establishes such requirements. Amends title XI (General Provisions and Professional Standards Review) of the Social Security Act to earmark funds for sanctioning practice guidelines for purposes of an affirmative defense in medical malpractice liability actions. Permits a State agency responsible for the conduct of disciplinary actions for a type of health care practitioner to enter into agreements with State or county professional societies for such type of health care practitioner to permit such societies to participate in the licensing of such health care practitioner and to review health care malpractice allegations. Requires each State to require each health care professional and provider to participate in a risk management program to prevent and provide early warning of practices which may result in injuries to patients or which otherwise endanger patient safety. Directs the Secretary to make grants for the conduct of basic research in the prevention of and compensation for injuries resulting from health care professional or health care provider malpractice, and research of the outcomes of health care procedures. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary to study the factors discouraging physicians from volunteering to provide health care services in medically underserved areas. Subtitle B: Administrative Cost Savings - Directs the Secretary to adopt standards relating to each of the following: (1) data elements for use in claims processing under health benefits plans; (2) uniform claim forms; and (3) uniform electronic transmission of the data elements. Authorizes the Secretary to require providers to submit claims to health benefit plans in accordance with such standards. Provides for periodic review of the standards. States that the term "health benefit plan," in this subtitle, includes the Medicare and Medicaid programs (titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act). Requires the Secretary to promulgate standards for hospitals concerning electronic medical data. Permits the Secretary to promulgate standards concerning electronic medical data for providers that are not hospitals. Requires hospitals, in order to participate in Medicare, to: (1) maintain clinical data in a set of comprehensive data elements in electronic form on all patients; and (2) upon the Secretary's request, transmit electronically the data set and any data from such set. Provides for electronic transmission to Federal agencies. Prohibits a health benefit plan, if standards with respect to data elements are promulgated with respect to a class of provider, from requiring for the purpose of utilization review or as a condition of providing benefits under the plan that a provider in the class: (1) provide any data element not in the set of comprehensive data elements; or (2) transmit or present any such data element in a manner inconsistent with applicable standards. Directs the Secretary to establish an advisory commission of hospital executive and data base managers, physicians, health services researchers, and technical experts in the collection and use of data and operation of data systems. Authorizes appropriations for such commission. Requires the Secretary, in order to assure the availability of comparative value information to purchasers of health care in each State, to determine whether each State is developing and implementing a health care value information program that meets stated criteria. Permits grants to a State for the development of its health care value information program. Authorizes appropriations for such grants. Requires the head of each Federal agency with responsibility for the provision of health insurance or health care services to individuals to promptly develop health care value information relating to each program that such head administers. Directs the Secretary to develop model systems to facilitate: (1) the gathering of data on health care cost, quality, and outcome; and (2) analyzing such data to permit the valid comparison of such data. Authorizes appropriations for the development of such model systems. Directs the Secretary to adopt standards relating to the design and use of magnetized Medicare identification cards for the purpose of assisting health care providers in determining eligibility and billing. Authorizes appropriations. Nullifies any State law requiring that medical or health insurance records be maintained in written rather than electronic form. Requires each health benefit plan: (1) for each of its beneficiaries that has a social security number, to use that number as an identification number for claims processing; and (2) for each provider that has a unique identifier for Medicare purposes, to use that identifier for claims processing. Requires the Secretary to determine whether problems relating to the rules for determining liability when benefits are payable under two or more plans or the availability of information among such plans causes significant administrative problems, and if so, directs the Secretary to promulgate standards concerning liability and the transfer of information among plans. Directs the Secretary to provide grants to qualified entities to demonstrate the application of comprehensive information systems in continuously monitoring patient care and in improving patient care. Authorizes appropriations from the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund. Subtitle C: Medical Savings Accounts (Medisave) - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from the gross income of an employee any amount contributed by the employer to a medical savings account pursuant to a qualified medical savings account plan. Sets contribution limits. Defines a "medical savings account" as a trust created exclusively for purpose of paying an individual's medical expenses. Permits expenses from such account only to the extent such amounts are not compensated for by insurance. Subjects the employee to taxation as owner of the account. Subtitle D: Medicaid Program Flexibility - Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to modify Medicaid contracting requirements for coordinated care services. Authorizes the Secretary to waive specified Medicaid requirements with respect to nursing facilities located in a State if the State provides assurances satisfactory to the Secretary that the waiver of such requirements will not adversely affect the quality of life of the residents in such facilities. Subtitle E: Limitations on Physician Self-Referrals - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to extend physician self-referral limitations to all payors as well as to certain additional services. Revises exceptions. Requires the Secretary to conduct a study in order to estimate the changes in aggregate costs for designated health services, under the Medicare program and other health plans, which will result from the implementation of the amendments made by this subtitle. Subtitle F: Removing Restrictions on Managed Care - Preempts managed care restrictions under State law. Requires the Comptroller General to conduct a study of the benefits and cost effectiveness of the use of managed care in the delivery of health services. Subtitle G: Medicare Payment Changes - Amends the Medicare program to make revisions in the methodology for determining updates to Medicare hospital payments. Provides for a reduction in Medicare payment for clinical diagnostic laboratory tests. Subtitle H: Modification of the Operation of the Antitrust Laws to Hospitals - Permits two or more hospitals, without violating the antitrust laws, to share expensive medical services or high technology equipment. Directs the Secretary to grant waivers to exempt hospitals from the antitrust laws in order to carry out agreements permitting such sharing. Sets forth reporting requirements. Subtitle I: Encouraging Enforcement Activities of Medical Self-Regulatory Entities - Prohibits damages, interest on damages, costs, or attorney's fees from being recovered under the Clayton Act or any similar State law from any medical self-regulatory entity as a result of engaging in standard setting or enforcement activities designed to promote the quality of health care provided to patients.
United States · United States Congress · 28 May 1992
Airline Competition Enhancement Act of 1992 - Amends the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 to prohibit a vendor, in the operation of its air carrier computer reservations system, from discriminating against participants in such system in specified ways, including: (1) making available to subscribers an integrated display which orders information on air carrier identity; (2) supplying information to a person creating or attempting to create such an integrated display; (3) making available, after September 30, 1994, to a subscriber or participant any subscriber or participant transaction capability which is more functional, timely, complete, accurate, reliable, secure, or efficient with respect to one subscriber, or participant, than to another; (4) charging a participant fee for, or requiring terms or conditions with, the provision of any computer reservation system feature, function, or service unless they are reasonable; (5) charging a participation fee more than the maximum fee found reasonable; or (6) prohibiting a subscriber from obtaining or using another computer reservation system. Prohibits a vendor or air carrier from requiring, or providing incentives to induce, a subscriber to use information from a computer reservation system to create an integrated display which orders information on air carrier identity. Prohibits a vendor, except on grounds of demonstrated technological incompatibility, from prohibiting or unreasonably restricting the: (1) interconnection to its computer reservation system equipment of computer hardware or software supplied by a person other than such vendor; or (2) use by a subscriber, to access any other computer reservation system or data base, or hardware and communications lines supplied by another vendor. Sets forth other specified prohibitions. Prohibits a vendor from: (1) requiring, as a condition for providing a subscriber additional computer reservation system components (including software and enhancements), that the term of the subscriber's contract be extended; (2) requiring use of its computer reservation system by such subscriber in any sale by the subscriber of the vendor's air transportation services; (3) requiring use of its computer reservation system as a condition of compensation for the sale of air transportation services by the subscriber; and (4) charging prices to subscribers conditioned on the identity of air carriers whose air transportation services are sold by such subscribers. Prohibits the enforcement of subscriber contract provisions for a contract term of more than three years. Sets forth other specified contract provisions which are not enforceable. Prohibits a subscriber from using computer software or hardware to modify information in a computer reservation system so as to produce: (1) integrated displays of such information based on air carrier identity, unless specified conditions are met; or (2) displays of such information based on subscriber or participant transaction capability. Requires vendors to submit quarterly reports to the Secretary of Transportation (Secretary) describing the manner in which they propose to comply with this Act. Requires the Secretary to transmit to specified congressional committees a compliance progress report based on the vendors' reports. Authorizes participants who object to a new or increased participant fee to demand that such action be reviewed by an arbitrator. Sets forth specified administrative provisions with respect to violations of this Act. Directs the Secretary not to give consideration to the availability of slots (reservations for an instrument flight rule takeoff or landing) at high density airports (airports at which the Administrator limits the number of instrument flight rule takeoffs and landings) in: (1) determining the provision of basic essential air service to small communities; and (2) selecting an air carrier to provide such service. Requires the Secretary to ensure that a sufficient number of such slots are available to the air carrier providing such service at such airports. Provides for the transfer of slots at such airports.