United States · United States Congress · 17 June 1994
Occupational Safety and Health Reform Act - Amends the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (OSHA) to set forth separate requirements for OSHA coverage of employing authorities and instrumentalities of the Congress. (Sec. 3) Requires the following criteria in development of OSHA standards: (1) significant risk; (2) feasibility; (3) reasonable cost-benefit relationship; (4) cost-effective and minimal job loss; and (5) where practicable, expressed in objective criteria and desired performance. Revises standard priorities based on toxicity and numbers exposed. Revises rulemaking procedures. Requires a regulatory flexibility analysis for each standard promulgated. (Sec. 4) Requires an annual report on the number and nature of complaints to which the Secretary does not respond under OSHA because another Federal or State agency has jurisdiction, with recommendations on achieving coordination. Provides that employee safety and health participation committees are not prohibited under the National Labor Relations Act or the Railway Labor Act. Provides a nondisclosure privilege for voluntary safety and health audits and reviews. (Sec. 5) Deems a variance to have been issued as of the date of the application filing, if the Secretary fails to act on the application within 180 days of the filing, unless such delay is caused by the applicant's action or inaction. (Sec. 6) Revises inspection provisions. Requires inspections to be conducted by at least one individual trained in and knowledgeable of the industry or the types of hazards. Provides for fire hazard inspection training and referral. Prohibits routine inspections of employers of ten or fewer employees if such employers are: (1) farming operations which do not maintain a temporary labor camp; or (2) in a category of employers having an occupational injury or a lost day rate which is less than the national average. Grants the Secretary discretion in determining which employer complaints must receive formal inspection responses. (Sec. 7) Directs the Secretary to establish an office to promote, administer, and coordinate programs and activities for worksite-based incentives for voluntary compliance with OSHA. Directs the Secretary to establish a voluntary compliance program granting partial exemption from OSHA general inspections for employers who either retain certain consultation or certification programs or have an exemplary safety record and a safety and health program meeting specified criteria. Provides for reduction or suspension of penalties for program participants under certain conditions. Directs the Secretary to establish a program for certification of safety and health consultants to conduct inspections under such program. Directs the Secretary to award special recognition to worksites, companies, and other organizations which have implemented particularly effective approaches to occupational safety and health, including those providing for effective employee involvement. Authorizes consultative services to employers under Federal-State cooperative agreements. Directs the Secretary to establish programs for education, training, and technical assistance for employers and employees to assist in providing safe and healthful workplaces and OSHA compliance. Requires that at least one-fourth of the annual appropriation to carry out OSHA be expended for such worksite-based incentives for voluntary compliance. (Sec. 8) Adds employer defenses of employee misconduct or alternative safer methods. (Sec. 9) Extends the period for employer contests of citations by the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission. Requires deference to be given the Commission's reasonable conclusions with respect to questions of law. (Sec. 10) Revises procedures for discrimination protection for whistle-blowers under OSHA, including extending the time for filing complaints, and providing for reviews, appeals, and mediation. (Sec. 11) Revises enforcement, including special conditions and practices, a mandatory special emphasis program, and investigations of deaths and serious incidents. (Sec. 12) Revises penalties in general, and with respect to special assessments, citations, knowing violations, and victims' rights. (Sec. 13) Requires States to make their applicable labeling, content, and hazard information requirements identical to OSHA standards. Authorizes waivers to State safety and health programs. (Sec. 14) Repeals authority for the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), thus abolishing it. Transfers to the Secretary of Labor functions and authorities of NIOSH and of the Secretary of Health and Human Services under OSHA. (Sec. 15) Authorizes employers to establish alcohol and substance abuse testing programs where there is a reasonable probability that any employee's safety or health could be endangered because of use of alcohol or a controlled substance in the workplace. Directs the Secretary to establish standards for such programs. (Sec. 16) Directs the Secretary to contract with a qualified organization or agency to conduct studies of the effects and costs of OSHA standards. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 16 June 1994
Expresses the sense of the Congress that health care reform legislation shall allow bona fide trade and professional associations to continue to provide health insurance to their members, provided they comply with any national reforms which improve access to and affordability of health insurance, such as the provision of a standard benefit package, termination of discriminatory insurance practices, and compliance with any mandated employer responsibilities.
United States · United States Congress · 14 June 1994
Modifies the project for flood control and related purposes, Kickapoo River, Wisconsin, to direct the Secretary of the Army to transfer to Wisconsin all U.S. rights and interests to the LaFarge Dam and Lake in Vernon County, Wisconsin. Deauthorizes the dam and lake project after such transfer. Provides for interim project management and maintenance. Requires the Secretary to complete specified project features. Provides for project costs.
United States · United States Congress · 9 June 1994
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Grants to Encourage Establishment of Community Rural Health Networks Title II: Incentives for Health Professionals to Practice in Rural Areas Subtitle A: National Health Service Corps Program Subtitle B: Incentives Under Other Programs Title III: Assistance for Institutional Providers Subtitle A: Community and Migrant Health Centers Subtitle B: Emergency Medical Systems Subtitle C: Assistance to Rural Providers Under Medicare Subtitle D: Demonstration Projects to Encourage Primary Care and Rural-Based Graduate Medical Education Title IV: United States-Mexico Border Health Commission Title V: Hospital Antitrust Fairness Title VI: Financing Rural Health Delivery System Development Act of 1994 - Title I: Grant to Encourage Establishment of Community Rural Health Networks - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make grants to an eligible State for the development of plans to increase access to health care services for residents of areas in the State designated as chronically underserved areas. Provides for technical assistance for entities establishing or enhancing a community rural health network in an underserved rural area. Provides financial assistance to entities to provide for the development and implementation of community rural health networks. Authorizes appropriations. Title II: Incentives for Health Professionals to Practice in Rural Areas - Subtitle A: National Health Service Corps Program - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude National Health Service Corps Loan Repayments from gross income. (Sec. 202) Amends the Public Health Service Act to take into consideration, when designating an area as a health professional shortage area, the number of individuals in the area paying through Medicare or Medicaid, the number of individuals who are uninsured, and the number of physicians who will accept additional Medicare and Medicaid patients. (Sec. 203) Increases the authorization of appropriations for the National Health Service Corps Scholarship and Loan Repayment Programs. Subtitle B: Incentives Under Other Programs - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act and the Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide incentives under those Acts to physicians informer shortage areas and to primary care physicians, in addition to those provided in Subtitle A. Directs the Secretary to develop and publish a model law for adoption by States to increase the access of individuals residing in underserved rural areas to health care services by expanding the services which non-physician health care professionals may provide in such areas. Title III: Assistance for Institutional Providers - Subtitle A: Community and Migrant Health Centers - Extends and increases the authorizations of appropriations for migrant health centers and community health centers. Subtitle B: Emergency Medical Systems - Revises title XII (Trauma Care) of the Public Health Service Act. Renames such title Emergency Health Services. Directs the Secretary to establish the Office of Emergency Medical Services to: conduct and support research and demonstration projects; (2) foster development of appropriate modern systems of services; (3) assist States; and (4) coordinate and sponsor related activities. Requires that activities meet the unique needs of underserved innercity and rural areas. Authorizes grants to States in order to improve the availability and quality of emergency medical services through the operation of State offices of emergency medical services. Authorizes appropriations for emergency medical services and trauma care. (Sec. 312) Directs the Secretary to make grants to assist States in the creation or enhancement of air medical transport systems that provide victims of medical emergencies in rural areas with access to treatments for injuries resulting from such emergencies. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle C: Assistance to Rural Providers Under Medicare - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to: (1) increase by two the number of States eligible to participate in the essential access community hospital program; and (2) make other revisions concerning such program, including permitting the participation of hospitals in urban areas and the participation of hospitals in States adjoining participating States. Extends, by three years, the deadline for the development of prospective payment systems for both inpatient and outpatient rural primary care hospital services. (Sec. 331) Defines a rural emergency access care hospital and rural emergency access care hospital services for purposes of title XVIII. Provides for the coverage of such services under part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) of title XVIII. Subtitle D: Demonstration Projects to Encourage Primary Care and Rural-Based Graduate Medical Education - Directs the Secretary to establish and conduct a demonstration project to increase the number and percentage of medical students entering nonprimary care practice. Authorizes appropriations. Title IV: United States - Mexico Border Health Commission - Authorizes the President to conclude an agreement with Mexico to establish a binational commission known as the United-States-Mexico Border Health Commission which shall: (1) conduct a needs assessment in the United States-Mexico border area to identify, evaluate, prevent, and resolve health problems that affect the general population of the area; (2) implement actions recommended by the assessment; and (3) formulate recommendations concerning payment for such health care. Title V: Hospital Antitrust Fairness - Exempts the merger or attempted merger of hospitals from the application of the antitrust laws; if specified conditions are met, including that: (1)a hospital be located outside of a city or in a city of less than 150,000; and (2) consumer costs would not increase and access would not be reduced if there was a merger. Title VI: Financing - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to impose a tax based on the Medicare part B premium for individuals with a modified adjusted gross income exceeding $100,000 or $125,000 in the case of a joint return.
United States · United States Congress · 26 May 1994
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that for purposes of issuing final guidelines under title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 relating to unlawful harassment in employment, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission should exclude harassment based on religion.
United States · United States Congress · 25 May 1994
Authorizes the President to present, on behalf of the Congress, to the Lubavitcher rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, a gold medal in recognition of his outstanding and enduring contributions toward world education, morality, and acts of charity. States that no appropriations are authorized to implement this Act. Declares that the medals struck pursuant to this Act are national medals.
United States · United States Congress · 25 May 1994
Juvenile Criminal Act of 1994 - Amends the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 to include among the Act's: (1) findings that emphasis should be placed on identifying hardcore youths who should be transferred from the juvenile justice system to the adult criminal justice system; and (2) purposes to assist State and local governments in improving the identification of hardcore juvenile offenders and the removal of such offenders from the juvenile justice system. Requires State plans under the Act to provide: (1) specified funding for the establishment and maintenance of an effective system that requires the prosecution of at least those juveniles who are 14 years of age and older as adults, rather than in juvenile proceedings, for listed offenses (murder or attempted murder; robbery, battery, or rape while armed with a firearm; any other crime the State deems appropriate; and the fourth or subsequent occasion on which such juveniles engage in an activity for which adults could be imprisoned for a term exceeding one year) unless, on a case-by-case basis, the transfer of such juveniles for disposition in the juvenile justice system is determined under State law to be in the interest of justice; and (2) that the State ensure that whenever a juvenile is adjudicated in a juvenile proceeding to have engaged in such offenses that a record be kept relating to that adjudication, the juvenile be fingerprinted and photographed (with such fingerprints and photograph sent to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)), and the court in which the adjudication takes place transmit to the FBI information concerning the adjudication and disposition. Provides for a reduction of sums allotted to a State for a fiscal year by 16 2/3 percent for each of specified paragraphs of the Act with respect to which noncompliance occurs. (Current law provides for a reduction by 25 percent and doesn't include the requirements added by this Act in determining noncompliance.)
United States · United States Congress · 12 May 1994
Requires the head of any Federal agency to differentiate between fats, oils, and greases of animal, marine, or vegetable origin, and other oils and greases in issuing certain regulations.
United States · United States Congress · 12 May 1994
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Amendments to Magnuson Fishery Conservation and Management Act Title II: Amendments to the Atlantic Tunas Convention Act Marine Fish Conservation Amendments of 1994 - Title I: Amendments to Magnuson Fishery Conservation and Management Act - Amends the Magnuson Fishery Conservation and Management Act to declare that it is the policy of the Congress to: (1) assure that the national fishery conservation and management program encourages development of practical measures that reduce bycatch (the incidental catch, take, or harvest of certain fish, marine mammals, and other specified animals) to insignificant levels approaching zero; and (2) ensure that all State and Federal actions are consistent with the conservation and management of fisheries under such Act. (Sec. 105) Revises national standards for fishery conservation and management to require conservation and management measures to: (1) provide an adequate margin of safety to act as a buffer against overfishing; and (2) reduce bycatch to the lowest level practicable and avoid unnecessary waste of fish. (Sec. 106) Revises requirements for Regional Fishery Management Councils to direct the Secretary of Commerce to ensure that at least 25 percent of the appointed members of each Council are persons selected for their fisheries expertise, as demonstrated by university, environmental organization, or other non-user group affiliation and by past actions and accomplishments. Provides for removal of a Council member for cause upon the Secretary's determination of a conflict of interest. Requires that each Council decision be recorded by roll call vote registered and forwarded to the Secretary for review. Authorizes each Council to request the Secretary to initiate consultation with a Federal agency about certain agency activity which may affect the essential fishery habitat of a fishery under its jurisdiction designated in a fishery management plan. Revises financial disclosure requirements for Council members to include financial interests held by children, grandchildren, parents, or siblings. Requires any Council member holding a financial interest requiring disclosure to recuse him or herself from voting on or participating in all Council actions that would affect such interest. Authorizes Council members and the public to challenge, in writing to the Secretary, any vote of a Council member alleged to have been made in violation of such recusal requirement. (Sec. 107) Requires any fishery management plan to: (1) specify an objective definition of overfishing for each fish species or population involved in the fishery; (2) contain a recovery plan for any overfished fishery; (3) specify allowable gear types for the fishery, requiring the use of types which minimize bycatch and associated mortality; (4) provide for the stationing on U.S. fishing vessels of observers to gather reliable data; (5) establish a system of fees to pay for plan implementation; (6) assess the bycatch of all gear types used in the fishery; and (7) contain conservation and management measures to minimize or eliminate the adverse impacts of fishing gear and practices on habitat for fish. Requires the Secretary to review each existing fishery management plan for compliance with the definition of overfishing in this Act. (Sec. 108) Specifies plan review, plan preparation, and overfishing determination duties of the Secretary. Mandates the contents of regulations establishing a system to collect fees to pay for fishing vessel observers. Establishes a National Fishery Observer Fund. Directs the Secretary to publish in the Federal Register a list of fish species, populations, and population complexes that are overfished and the objective definition of overfishing used to make that determination. Requires the Secretary to develop a research plan to identify and gather needed data on fish species, populations, and population complexes for which information is insufficient. Revises the approval voting requirements for a management plan for any fishery under the authority of more than one Council. Declares that any Secretary-prepared fishery management plan or amendment addressing a highly migratory species fishery, which was in effect on July 1, 1993, shall remain in effect until superseded by a plan or amendment prepared by the appropriate Councils and approved by the Secretary. Sets forth procedures for adoption of a recovery plan addressing overfishing with respect to fish species, populations, or population complexes subject to a fishery management plan. Directs the Secretary to provide for the elimination of bycatch through fees and incentive programs, including cooperative efforts with the Federal Government on research and development of selective fishing gear and other technological devices for the reduction of bycatch. Directs the Secretary to publish in the Federal Register and submit to the Congress a report on the cumulative impacts on fishery habitats of the actions authorized, funded, or carried out by Federal agencies, including an assessment of how fishery habitats identified in approved fishery management plans are affected. Directs the Secretary to review: (1) the feasibility of establishing a risk sharing pool through a reasonable fee to provide coverage for vessels and vessel owners against liability from civil suits by observers; and (2) the availability of comprehensive commercial insurance for vessel and owner liability against such suits. Requires the Secretary to establish such a pool unless such insurance is available to all fishing vessels and U.S fish processors required to have observers, and it will provide a greater measure of coverage at a lower cost. Requires the Secretary to establish an alternative observation program for vessels on which facilities for quartering of an observer, or for carrying out observer functions, are inadequate to ensure the health or safety of the observer or the safe operation of the vessel. (Sec. 109) Authorizes the Secretary or the appropriate Council (subject to the Secretary's approval) to adopt regulations as an interim measure in the absence of a fishery management plan. Prescribes general requirements for such regulations. Requires the Secretary to comment on and make recommendations concerning any actual or proposed action authorized, funded, or carried out by a State or Federal agency that may result in the destruction or adverse modification of the essential habitat designated in a fishery management plan. Prescribes guidelines for Federal agency response to such comments or recommendations. Authorizes the Secretary to prohibit any such Federal agency actions. Provides for: (1) citizen suits to enforce such Act; and (2) citizen petitions to compel the Secretary to make a finding or determination or take any other action authorized by such Act. Title II: Amendments to the Atlantic Tunas Convention Act - Amends the Atlantic Tunas Convention Act of 1975 to require the Director of the National Marine Fisheries Service (or his or her designee) to be one of the three U.S. Commissioners on the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas. (Sec. 201) Prohibits any U.S. Commissioner from having a financial interest or from serving as an officer, director, trustee, partner, or employee with an organization with a financial interest in any catching, harvesting, processing, or marketing activity undertaken within any fishery over which the Commission has jurisdiction. Repeals certain knowledge and experience requirements, with respect to commercial and recreational fishing, for non-governmental Commissioners. Allows regulations to carry out Commission recommendations which may have the effect of decreasing any allocation or quota of fish to the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 12 May 1994
Condemns the death sentence issued against Salman Rushdie. Calls for the immediate withdrawal of such sentence and any associated reward. Calls upon the President to: (1) request that the United Nations Security Council condemn Iran for issuing the edict against Rushdie; (2) call upon the Government of Iran to respect international principles of human rights and lift such sentence; and (3) inform such Government that the House of Representatives has adopted this resolution, that the Iranian Government will be held liable in case an attempt is made on Rushdie's life, and that such Government should attempt to prevent the spread of propaganda promoting Rushdie's assassination. Commends those people of all nations who have firmly stood for freedom of expression despite threats and intimidation. Reaffirms: (1) the commitment of the Congress to the promotion and protection of the right of freedom of expression; and (2) congressional support for basic human rights in the world community.
United States · United States Congress · 11 May 1994
Veterans' Persian Gulf War Benefits Act - Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to: (1) develop and expeditiously implement a uniform case assessment protocol that will ensure thorough assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of all Persian Gulf War veterans suffering from illnesses attributed to service in the Persian Gulf theater of operations during the Persian Gulf War; (2) expedite efforts to develop case definitions or diagnoses for illnesses associated with such service; and (3) develop and implement a comprehensive outreach program to inform such veterans and their families of health-care services, including comprehensive medical evaluations, that may be available through the Department of Veterans Affairs or the Department of Defense. Directs the Secretary to pay compensation to Persian Gulf War veterans suffering from a chronic disability resulting from an undiagnosed illness that became manifest to a degree of ten percent or more within one year after completion of active duty in the Gulf War, with exceptions. Terminates compensation payments three years after the date of enactment of this Act. Authorizes appropriations to the Department of Veterans Affairs for: (1) FY 1995 through 1997 for conducting research of the health risk and effects of service during the Gulf War and the treatment of such effects; and (2) FY 1995 for a survey of Persian Gulf veterans as to the incidence and nature of health problems occurring in such veterans and their families.
United States · United States Congress · 11 May 1994
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that Members of Congress should have the opportunity to offer, debate, and vote on an amendment striking any employer mandate in any legislation to reform our health care system.
United States · United States Congress · 5 May 1994
Charitable Contributions Encouragement Act of 1994 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow taxpayers who do not itemize deductions to deduct a portion of their charitable contributions. Excludes the deduction for charitable contributions from the overall limitation on itemized deductions.
United States · United States Congress · 5 May 1994
Expresses the sense of the Congress that any legislation enacted to provide for national health care reform should: (1) prohibit the denial of health insurance coverage to, or limitation of coverage or benefits for, any individual or family on the basis of a preexisting medical condition; (2) prohibit charging an unreasonable amount for such coverage and benefits on the basis of a preexisting medical condition; and (3) include among the individuals and families protected by such prohibitions those who wish to acquire health insurance coverage and benefits from an entity other than their current health care provider.
United States · United States Congress · 20 April 1994
Health Research Act of 1994 - Establishes in the Treasury the National Fund for Health Research. Requires regional and corporate health alliances formed under a comprehensive health care reform program to set aside and transfer specified amounts each calendar year into the Fund. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to authorize individuals (other than nonresident aliens) to designate for payment into the Fund at least $1 of a cash contribution or of any tax overpayment made. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to distribute specified amounts from the Fund for various health research activities of the National Institutes of Health and the National Center for Research Resources. Excludes Fund amounts from any budget enforcement procedures under the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 or the Balanced Budget Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act).
United States · United States Congress · 14 April 1994
NATO Expansion Act of 1994 - Expresses the sense of the Congress with respect to NATO membership of Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia. Authorizes the President to establish a program to assist the transition to full NATO membership for Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and other European countries emerging from communist domination designated pursuant to this Act. Permits the President to provide specified security assistance to such countries, including excess defense articles, economic support fund assistance, international military education and training, and foreign military financing. Authorizes the President to provide additional assistance from the Nonproliferation and Disarmament Fund and Countries in Transition accounts. Permits the President to designate other European countries emerging from communist domination to receive assistance under this Act if he reports to the appropriate congressional committees that such countries: (1) have made significant progress toward establishing democratic institutions, free market economies, civilian control of their armed forces, and the rule of law; and (2) are likely to be in a position to further the principles of the North Atlantic Treaty and to contribute to the security of the North Atlantic area. Authorizes the President to confer, pursuant to agreement with any country eligible to participate in the Partnership for Peace, rights with respect to the military and related civilian personnel and activities of that country in the United States comparable to those conferred by that country with respect to the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 14 April 1994
Amends the Job Training Partnership Act to establish a workforce skills and development loan program. Directs the Secretary of Labor to use certain amounts to make grants to States to establish reserve funds to guarantee loans to employers, employee representatives, and other eligible entities to provide skills upgrading for non-managerial employees. Gives grant priority to States with demonstrated ability to expeditiously establish and carry out such loan programs. Requires the capacity building and information and dissemination network to include information relating to such skills upgrading activities.
United States · United States Congress · 13 April 1994
Enhanced Access to Support Enforcement Act of 1994 - Amends the Federal judicial code to require States to give full faith and credit to child support orders of other States.
United States · United States Congress · 24 March 1994
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow the reduction of any tax credit or refund to pay past-due, legally enforceable State tax obligations. Provides for the disclosure of information to States requesting such a reduction.
United States · United States Congress · 24 March 1994
United States Botanic Garden Commemorative Coin Act of 1995 - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to: (1) issue one-dollar silver coins to commemorate the 175th anniversary of the founding of the United States Botanic Garden; and (2) pay all surcharges received from such coin sales to the National Fund for the United States Botanic Garden.
United States · United States Congress · 24 March 1994
Neighborhood Crime Fighters Housing Assistance Act - Amends the United States Housing Act of 1937 to provide public housing rental assistance on behalf of a family that has provided law enforcement assistance and is likely to be subject to retaliatory violence. Amends the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 to set aside funds for such program.
United States · United States Congress · 24 March 1994
Dairy Industry Security Reserve Fund Act - Establishes in the Department of Agriculture the Dairy Industry Security Reserve Fund to cover milk producer claims against bankrupt handlers. Establishes a Board of Trustees to administer the Fund. Finances the fund through milk handler assessments.
United States · United States Congress · 24 March 1994
A Child is Waiting Resolution - Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) any health care reform legislation include guaranteed full funding for the special supplemental food program for women, infants, and children (WIC); and (2) specified amounts should be made available to move toward such full funding goal.
United States · United States Congress · 17 March 1994
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Golden Gate National Area Title II: Presidio Public Benefit Corporation Title I: Golden Gate National Recreation Area - Includes certain areas in Mateo County, California, within the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. Authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to: (1) utilize the resources of the Presidio unit of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, California, to provide for and support programs and activities that foster research, education, and demonstration projects concerning the environment, international affairs, cultural understanding, health, and science; (2) negotiate and enter into leases, as appropriate, with any private or government entity for the use of any property within the Presidio, except such properties which the Secretary of Defense determines are essential for the continued use of the Presidio by the sixth Army in accordance with the Area's General Management Plan or the Act establishing the Area; (3) negotiate and enter into leases or other appropriate agreements with any Federal agency or organization to house that agency's or organization's employees who are engaged in activities or programs at the Presidio; and (4) enter into interagency permitting agreements or other appropriate agreements with the Secretary of Defense and the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency and leases with the Red Cross to house their activities and employees at the Presidio. Requires the Secretary to establish competitive bidding procedures to be used for the issuance of such leases. Authorizes the Secretary to enter into cooperative agreements and permits for purposes of such Area. Title II: Presido Public Benefit Corporation - Authorizes the President to establish the Presidio Public Corporation only after San Francisco makes specified zoning decisions. Requires the Secretary to transfer all lands, facilities, and interest in certain Presidio properties to the Corporation. Transfers the Public Health Service Hospital and surrounding 36 acres to the administrative jurisdiciton of the Corporation. Directs the Corporation to sell: (1) the Public Health Service Hospital and adjacent golf course and allows it to use the proceeds of the sale for any function authorized by this Act; and (2) at fair market value, the Letterman Army Institute of Research, Letterman Army Medical Center, and such other buildings and lands in the Letterman complex necessary to conduct scientific research or education programs pertaining to human health to the University of California and authorizes it to use the proceeds from the sale for the same purposes. Allows the Secretary or other Cabinet officers to provide Federal personnel, facilities, and services to the Corporation on a reimbursement basis. Declares that the Corporation is devoted to an essential public and governmental function and purpose. Exempts it from all Federal taxes and special assessments. Applies all general penal statutes relating to the larceny, embezzlement, or conversion of public moneys or U.S. property to the moneys and property of the Corporation. Subjects the Corporation to provisions of Federal laws relating to administrative procedures and freedom of information.
United States · United States Congress · 16 March 1994
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Comprehensive Program for Worker Reemployment Title II: One-Stop Career Center System Title III: National Labor Market Information System Title IV: Reinvention Labs for Job Training for the Economically Disadvantaged Reemployment Act of 1994 - Establishes: (1) a comprehensive program for worker reemployment; (2) a one-stop career center system; (3) a national labor market information system; and (4) reinvention labs for job training for the economically disadvantaged. (Sec. 4) Authorizes appropriations for titles I, III, and IV of this Act. Title I: Comprehensive Program for Worker Reemployment - Allots funds among States and reserves certain funds for national activities. (Sec. 103) Makes certain permanently laid-off workers and long-term unemployed individuals (as well as workers facing imminent plant shutdowns and self-employed individuals unemployed because of community economic conditions or natural disasters) eligible for services under this title. Makes dislocated homemakers eligible if a State Governor deems this appropriate and certain conditions are met. Part A: State and Substate Delivery System - Makes States responsible for administrative and management systems under this title. (Sec. 112) Requires the Governor to designate or establish a dislocated worker unit at the State level, with specified rapid response, information, and coordination functions. Directs such unit to coordinate with substate grantees and career centers, and to promote worker-management transition assistance committees. Provides for rapid response coverage of certain layoffs, State funding of preliminary assessments of worker buyouts of plants, prohibition of State transfer of rapid response functions, and Federal oversight of such functions. (Sec. 113) Requires the Governor to develop and maintain a comprehensive labor market information system in the State that meets certain requirements relating to the national system of effective labor market information. (Sec. 114) Requires the Governor to coordinate programs under this title with the worker profiling system under the Social Security Act and the retraining income support program under this Act. (Sec. 115) Authorizes the Governor to award supplementary grants to eligible entities to provide authorized services to eligible individuals in areas of the State experiencing substantial increases in numbers of such individuals due to plant closures, base closures, and mass layoffs. Allows such grant funds to be used to establish additional service centers, including on-site transition centers. (Sec. 116) Authorizes the Governor to award job retention project grants for: (1) upgrading skills of workers at risk of permanent layoff; and (2) retraining workers in new technologies and work processes to help convert or restructure businesses into high performance work organizations and avert plant closings or substantial layoffs. Requires State and employer contributions. Requires consultation with unions. (Sec. 117) Requires establishment of substate area administrative structures. (Sec. 118) Requires each designated substate grantee to establish one or more career centers in that area. Allows additional, temporary on-site transition centers. (Sec. 119) Authorizes the use of substate area funds for the following services for eligible individuals: (1) basic reemployment services; (2) intensive reemployment services; (3) education and training services; (4) retraining income support; (5) supportive services; and (6) supplemental wage allowances for older workers. (Sec. 120) Allows a career center to issue a certificate of continuing eligibility for services to eligible individuals who are accepting employment at a significantly lower wage than their previous one or in an occupation significantly different from their previous one. Part B: Federal Service Delivery System - Directs the Secretary of Labor to establish a program of national discretionary grants to address large-scale economic dislocations resulting from plant closures, base closures, or mass layoffs. Allows the use of such grants to: (1) provide comprehensive planning services to assist communities in addressing and reducing the impact of an economic dislocation; and (2) establish on-site transition centers. (Sec. 132) Directs the Secretary to make funds available for disaster relief employment assistance to States for substate allocation. (Sec. 133) Directs the Secretary to provide for: (1) evaluation of programs under this title; (2) research on addressing economic dislocation, facilitating the transition of permanently laid-off workers to reemployment, and upgrading skills of employed workers; and (3) demonstration projects to develop and improve methods of addressing economic dislocation and promoting worker adjustment. (Sec. 134) Directs the Secretary to provide staff training and technical assistance to various entities to enhance their capacity to develop and deliver adjustment assistance services to workers, and to avert plant closings or substantial layoffs. Requires integration of such activities with those of the Capacity Building and Information and Dissemination Network. (Sec. 135) Directs the Secretary to provide for delivery of programs, activities, and services under this title in any State that chooses not to participate. Part C: Performance Standards and Quality Assurance Systems - Directs the Secretary to establish a process, including an annual meeting, in each State to promote development of a customer service compact among parties administering programs under this title. (Sec. 152) Directs the Secretary to prescribe performance standards relating separately to the substate grantees and the career centers. Directs Governors to prescribe adjustments to such standards and award incentive grants to grantees and centers exceeding such standards. (Sec. 153) Requires each substate grantee to establish methods for obtaining customer feedback from eligible individuals and employers who have received services from a career center. (Sec. 154) Makes providers of education and training services eligible to receive funds under this title if they are eligible to participate under student aid provisions of the Higher Education Act of 1965 or are determined eligible under alternative procedures established by Governors, and if they provide performance-based information. Exempts on-the-job training providers from such requirements. Part D: General Requirements - Sets forth general requirements for programs under this title, including provisions for benefits, labor standards, and grievance procedures. Part E: Fiscal Administrative Provisions - Sets forth various administrative provisions, including ones for program year, prompt allocation of funds, monitoring, fiscal controls and sanctions, reports, recordkeeping, and investigations, administrative adjudication, nondiscrimination, judicial review, nondiscrimination, and criminal provisions. Part F: Miscellaneous Provisions - Provides for transition, on July 1, 1995, to programs authorized under this title from the following programs, which this Act repeals, under employment and training assistance for dislocated workers provisions of the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA): (1) Economic Dislocation and Worker Adjustment Assistance program; (2) Defense Conversion Adjustment Program; (3) Defense Diversification Program; and (4) Clean Air Employment Transition Assistance Program. Terminates the Disaster Relief Employment Assistance program under JTPA. Title II: One-Stop Career Center System - Part A: Components of Voluntary One-Stop Career Center System - Requires a State's one-stop career center system, in order to receive a grant or waiver under this title, to include: (1) local workforce investment boards; (2) one-stop career centers established in accordance with specified procedures; (3) provision of specified services; (4) participation of specified Federal programs; (5) operating agreements for such centers; (6) quality assurance systems; and (6) a State Human Resource Investment Council. (Sec. 212) Directs the Governor to designate one-stop service areas within the State. Directs local officials to establish a workforce investment board for each such area. (Sec. 213) Directs the Governor and local officials to jointly select a consortium option or a multiple independent operator option as the method for establishing one-stop career centers for each service area. (Sec. 214) Requires each center to make available: (1) certain basic services to the public free of charge; and (2) certain intensive services to participants in the title I comprehensive program for worker reemployment who are unable to obtain employment through the basic services (and, optionally, to other individuals in accordance with the written agreement). Authorizes each center to provide specialized services to employers and additional services specified in the agreement. Authorizes charging fees under specified conditions, with all program income to be used to expand or enhance services. (Sec. 215) Requires the following programs to be made available to participants through the centers (and to participate in operation of such centers as parties to the agreement): (1) comprehensive programs for worker reemployment under title I of this Act; (2) Wagner-Peyser Act programs (employment services); (3) job counseling, training, and placement for veterans; (4) training services for the disadvantaged under title II of JTPA; (5) community service employment for older Americans programs under title V of the Older Americans Act; and (6) programs authorized under Federal and State unemployment compensation laws. Allows other human resource programs to provide services through and participate in operation of the centers, under specified conditions, including the Job Opportunities and Basic Skills program for AFDC recipients, the Food Stamp Employment and Training program, the Job Corps, veterans' employment programs under JTPA, and programs under the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Education Act, Adult Education Act, Vocational Rehabilitation Act, and School-to-Work Opportunities Act. (Sec. 216) Sets forth requirements for operating agreements and quality assurance systems. (Sec. 218) Requires each State to establish a State human resource investment council that meets specified JTPA requirements and carries out certain additional functions including advising on development and implementation of the one-stop career center system. Part B: Grants and Waivers to Promote the Development and Implementation of One-Stop Career Center System - Authorizes the Secretary to establish programs of competitive grants to States for planning and development and for implementation of comprehensive statewide networks of one-stop career centers. (Sec. 233) Allows a State, at any point during such development or implementation, to request from the Secretary a waiver of one or more statutory or regulatory provisions. Sets forth waiver criteria. Subjects to such waiver authority the mandatory participating programs of the centers. (Sec. 234) Provides for pooling of administrative resources. Part C: Additional Activities in Support of One-Stop Career Center Systems - Directs the Secretary to establish a process, with each State implementing the one-stop career center system, including an annual meeting, to promote development of a customer service compact among the parties administering the system. (Sec. 235) Makes each State implementing such a system responsible for administration, management, monitoring, and technical assistance. (Sec. 236) Makes the Secretary responsible for monitoring compliance, staff training and technical assistance (integrated with the Capacity Building and Information Dissemination Network under JTPA), a national logo and name, and evaluation of one-stop career center programs. Part D: Effective Date - Sets forth effective dates for this title and for performance standards. Title III: National Labor Market Information System - Directs the Secretary to develop, in coordination with other Federal, State, and local entities, a strategy to establish a nationwide system of local labor market information. (Sec. 303) Directs the Secretary, in cooperation with such other entities and public-private partnerships, to develop such system to make available specified types of information. Requires certain technical standards, consumer reports, and evaluation. (Sec. 304) Directs the Secretary to provide for coordination and integration of such system and appropriate dissemination of information. Title IV: Reinvention Labs for Job Training for the Economically Disadvantaged - Amends the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) to establish a five-year Reinvention Labs program to: (1) encourage innovative program designs to improve provision of services to and labor market outcomes for economically disadvantaged youth and adults; (2) develop, through service delivery areas (SDAs) and States, knowledge of effective approaches to providing employment and training to the economically disadvantaged; and (3) provide SDAs with increased flexibility in operating job training programs, in exchange for greater accountability. (Sec. 401) Sets forth requirements for SDA applications for waivers of Federal requirements relating to JTPA programs for employment and training of the economically disadvantaged. Authorizes the Secretary to waive certain of such requirements under specified conditions and to provide technical assistance to SDAs, States, and service providers for Reinvention Labs programs. (Sec. 402) Modifies the definition of tuition under JTPA.
United States · United States Congress · 16 March 1994
Deficit Reduction Lock Box Act of 1994 - Establishes the Deficit Reduction Trust Fund consisting of amounts contained in deficit reduction lock box provisions of appropriations Acts. Reduces discretionary spending limits by amounts transferred to the Fund. Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to require that amounts resulting from reduced spending under general appropriations bills be placed in the Fund. Requires the Congressional Budget Office to score all general appropriations measures as passed by the House and Senate and to publish such scorecard in the Congressional Record.
United States · United States Congress · 11 March 1994
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow penalty-free distributions from certain retirement plans to pay for the repair or replacement of qualified disaster-damaged property.
United States · United States Congress · 9 March 1994
Supplemental Appropriations Rescissions Act of 1994 - Rescinds FY 1994 funds made available to: (1) the Federal Bureau of Investigation for the automation of fingerprint identification services; (2) the Federal Railroad Administration for the conversion of a post office to a train station and commercial center; and (3) the Department of Housing and Urban Development for assistance to sugarcane mills on the Hilo-Hamakua Coast of Hawaii. Repeals the authority of the Secretary of Transportation to use specified funds to relocate, repair, and lay up the nuclear ship SAVANNAH.
United States · United States Congress · 3 March 1994
Level of Effort Clean Water Bonus Fund Act of 1994 - Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to require the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to reserve 20 percent of the amounts made available for capitalization grants for State water pollution control revolving funds for making level of effort capitalization grants to eligible States. Requires States that receive level of effort grants to deposit an equal amount into the revolving funds. Makes eligible for such grants States that have deposited more than the required matching amount into the revolving fund or into a non-Federal revolving fund or grant program that is subject to requirements similar to those for the State revolving fund. Prohibits States from receiving a grant in an amount greater than 20 percent of the amount of funds reserved.
United States · United States Congress · 3 March 1994
Tax Fairness for Agriculture Act of 1994 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to prohibit agricultural or horticultural organizations from treating member dues (limited to a specified amount) as unrelated business taxable income.
United States · United States Congress · 3 March 1994
Designates March 23, 1994, the 92d birthday of the Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson (leader of the worldwide Lubavitch movement), as Education and Sharing Day, U.S.A.
United States · United States Congress · 3 March 1994
Honors James Norman Hall for his outstanding contributions to the United States, France, Tahiti, and the South Pacific. Requests the President to provide for the presentation of a copy of this concurrent resolution to the President of Tahiti Nui (French Polynesia) to be publicly displayed at the James Norman Hall Museum in Tahiti.
United States · United States Congress · 23 February 1994
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the President should: (1) not have extended diplomatic recognition to the Skopje regime that insists on using the Greek name of Macedonia; and (2) reconsider this decision and withdraw diplomatic recognition until such time as such regime renounces its use of the name Macedonia, removes objectionable language in paragraph 49 of its constitution (calling for the unification of neighboring territories in Greece and Bulgaria with the Macedonian Republic), removes symbols which imply territorial expansion such as the Star of Vergina in its flag, ceases propaganda against Greece, and adheres fully to Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe norms and principles.
United States · United States Congress · 9 February 1994
National Voter Opportunity To Inform Congress Effectively (V.O.I.C.E.) on Term Limits Act of 1994 - Requires the Clerk of the House of Representatives and the Secretary of the Senate to certify to the appropriate State election agencies for inclusion on the 1994 general election ballot in every congressional district a national advisory referendum that poses the question of whether the Congress should approve a constitutional amendment to limit the number of terms that a Member of Congress can serve in office. Requires tabulation and certification of the election results under customary procedures. Makes the Clerk of the House and the Secretary of the Senate responsible for transmitting such results to each Member. Requires the results to be taken under advisement by the House and the Senate Judiciary Committees, with recommendations for response reported back to the Congress within six months of the general election. Requires the State election agencies to forward to the Clerk of the House and the Secretary of the Senate their comments or suggestions regarding changes or improvements in procedures for conducting national nonbinding referenda in future general elections.
United States · United States Congress · 8 February 1994
World War II Peace Accords Commemorative Coin Act - Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) the 50th anniversary of the signing of the World War II peace accords on the U.S.S. Missouri should not go unrecognized at the national level; and (2) the United States should recognize such anniversary by minting and issuing a commemorative coin. Sets forth specifications for half dollar clad coins. Mandates that the surcharges received from the sale of such coins be paid by the Secretary of the Treasury to the Admiral Nimitz Foundation for the purpose of preserving the Pacific War heritage of the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 3 February 1994
Rural Consumer Protection Act of 1994 - Amends the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 to extend specified association service curtailment protections to electric loan borrowers. Stipulates that such protections may be limited if: (1) waived by the borrower; or (2) in the public interest.
United States · United States Congress · 3 February 1994
Prohibits the U.S. Postal Service or the Attorney General from fining or otherwise penalizing any person who transmits by private express or other unlawful means, delivers to any agent thereof, or deposits at any appointed place any letter or packet. Amends the Federal criminal code to conform with this Act. Prohibits the U.S. Postal Service from authorizing any officer or employee to make searches of mail matter transported in violation of law in any store or office of a customer of a common carrier or transportation company.