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United States · Official source
2,093 records where Rep. Hochbrueckner, George J. [D-NY-1] is listed as a sponsor, author, or other actor. Search with topics and years
United States · United States Congress · 22 November 1991
Chinese Protection Act of 1991 - Provides for the adjustment to permanent resident status of certain nationals of the People's Republic of China.
United States · United States Congress · 22 November 1991
Designates 1993 as the Year of American Craft: A Celebration of the Creative Work of the Hand.
United States · United States Congress · 22 November 1991
Commends: (1) the people of Guam for their patriotism, bravery, loyalty to the United States, and many sacrifices during World War II, particularly during the invasion and occupation of the Guam territory; (2) the members of the Navy Insular Force and U.S. Navy and Marine Corps for the efforts and sacrifices they made in defense of the U.S.; (3) the Hawaiians for their sacrifices and contributions to the U.S. war effort during the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941; and (4) the Hawaii Territorial Guard members, Varsity Victory Volunteers, the civilian workers at the Pearl Harbor Naval Ship Yard and other Hawaiian military installations, 100th Infantry Battalion, Military Intelligence Service, and 442nd Regimental Combat Team for their sacrifices and contributions to the U.S. war effort during such attack.
United States · United States Congress · 21 November 1991
Calls upon the President, as part of the Uruguay Round General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) talks, to initiate negotiations to make GATT compatible with the Marine Mammal Protection Act and other U.S. health, safety, labor, and environmental laws, including laws to protect the environment outside of the United States. Declares that the Congress will not approve legislation to implement any trade agreement (including the Uruguay Round of the GATT and the U.S.-Mexico Free Trade Agreement) that jeopardizes such laws, including the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and the Clean Air Act.
United States · United States Congress · 21 November 1991
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the United States should recognize the concerns of the people of the South Pacific and call upon the Government of France to cease all nuclear testing at Moruroa and Fangataufa Atolls, French Polynesia.
United States · United States Congress · 21 November 1991
Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) relations between the Governments of the United States and North Korea will not improve unless North Korea accepts International Atomic Energy Agency inspections under the terms of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons; and (2) the United States should withdraw any of its nuclear weapons located in South Korea and should attempt to open North Korea by fostering cultural, educational, and sports exchanges. Declares that the United States should encourage: (1) both Koreas to reach a comprehensive peace treaty and nonaggression pact; (2) North Korea to cease all exports of advanced missile systems, release all political prisoners, and begin major economic and political reform; and (3) the Government of South Korea to abolish its National Security Law, release all political prisoners, keep informed and consult with the opposition party, churches, and student groups in reunification efforts, and consider a process of reunification based on peaceful coexistence, exchanges, and unification.
United States · United States Congress · 20 November 1991
Pacific Yew Act of 1991 - Directs the Secretaries of Agriculture and of the Interior (Secretaries) to pursue a policy to provide for: (1) the long-term conservation of the pacific yew on lands under their jurisdiction; and (2) a sustainable supply of it for medicinal purposes. Requires the Secretary concerned to ensure that timber sales awarded after the enactment of this Act and such sales completed prior to such enactment but still unharvested be conducted in a specified manner. Directs the Secretaries to establish a special task force in each of their respective Departments to ensure that the purposes of this Act are achieved through the: (1) implementation of the policy required by it; and (2) guidelines and plan developed by the Interagency Pacific Yew Committee (established later on in this Act). Requires the Secretaries to inventory pacific yew on lands under their jurisdiction. Directs the Secretaries to jointly establish an interdisciplinary Interagency Pacific Yew Committee to submit interim guidelines for the harvest, management, and conservation of the pacific yew until the Committee develops a proposed conservation and management plan for it. Requires the Secretaries to submit such plan to specified congressional committees. Sets forth requirements for the interim guidelines and the management and conservation plan. Establishes procedures for implementation of them. Directs the Secretaries to encourage and assist in research regarding the: (1) ecology of the Pacific Yew; (2) development of alternative methods of procuring taxol (a cancer-treating drug made from the pacific yew), including use of other yew parts in addition to bark, the sustainable harvest of yew needles, and the use of other yew species; and (3) propagation of Pacific Yew and other yew species in agricultural or commercial settings. Directs the Secretary concerned to ensure: (1) development, implementation, and enforcement of processes for the collection and sale of Pacific Yew resources to minimize the illegal harvest and sale of them; and (2) timely access to Pacific Yew resources so that collection of Pacific Yew parts can occur before the taxol properties of such parts are degraded. States that nothing in this Act shall be interpreted as modifying the provisions of the Endangered Species Act. Directs the Secretaries concerned to report with recommendations to specified congressional committees on ways to increase the harvest of Pacific Yew if sufficient amounts of it cannot be harvested in compliance with this Act and other Federal law to supply the necessary amounts of taxol required for medicinal purposes.
United States · United States Congress · 14 November 1991
Amends the Airport Noise and Capacity Act of 1990 to exempt metropolitan airports from the program for the review of airport noise and access restrictions. Requires the application for a waiver of compliance with Stage 3 noise levels to contain assurances that operations of aircraft which do not so comply will not be concentrated at one or more airports. Prohibits an airport noise or access restriction on the operation of Stage 2 or Stage 3 aircraft to or from an airport in effect on November 5, 1990, from being modified, superseded, or repealed to make such restriction less stringent.
United States · United States Congress · 14 November 1991
Sets forth U.S. policy on assistance to El Salvador. Permits funds made available for military assistance for El Salvador for FY 1992 in excess of $21,000,000 to be obligated only with the prior notification of specified congressional committees. Authorizes the transfer of such funds to the Demobilization and Transition Fund for El Salvador established under the Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 1991. Makes such funds available only for costs of the demobilization, retraining, relocation, and reemployment in civilian pursuits of former combatants in the conflict in El Salvador. Permits the obligation of amounts in the Fund only if the President, prior to obligation of funds, notifies: (1) specified congressional committees; and (2) the Congress that the El Salvadoran Government and representatives of the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN) have reached a permanent settlement of the conflict. Prohibits any U.S. assistance to El Salvador if the head of the El Salvadoran Government is deposed by military coup or decree. Resumes such assistance only pursuant to a law enacted by the Congress. Permits the delivery of military assistance to the armed forces of El Salvador only with the prior approval of the elected president of El Salvador.
United States · United States Congress · 14 November 1991
Repeals a Federal provision requiring a two-dollar copayment for each 30-day supply of medication furnished to a veteran on an outpatient basis by the Department of Veterans Affairs for the treatment of a non-service-connected disability of condition.
United States · United States Congress · 12 November 1991
Justice for Wards Cove Workers Act - Amends the Civil Rights Act of 1991 to remove a provision excluding from application of the Act any disparate impact case filed before March 1, 1975, and decided after October 30, 1983. (Wards Cove Packing Co. Inc. v. Atonio, 1989, held that, in cases brought under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, the burden is on the plaintiff to prove an employer had no business necessity for a practice with discriminatory effects.)
United States · United States Congress · 7 November 1991
Budget Process Reform Act of 1991 - Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to: (1) eliminate the division of discretionary appropriations into three categories (defense, international, and domestic) for purposes of discretionary spending limits for FY 1993; and (2) consolidate them into a single limit for budget authority and outlay. Directs the Office of Management and Budget to recalculate any adjustments made to such spending limits before enactment of this Act under the sequestration provisions of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act). Requires the President to report revised discretionary spending limits for FY 1993 to the Congress by the fifth day after enactment of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 7 November 1991
Middle Class Tax Relief and Fairness Act of 1992 - Title I: Credit for Portion of Social Security Taxes - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a credit for 20 percent of a taxpayer's social security taxes, limited to $200 ($400 in the case of a joint return) and applicable to years beginning after December 31, 1991, and before January 1, 1994. Title II: Revenue Increases - Subtitle A: Increase in Top Marginal Individual Income Tax Rates - Lowers the tax rates for certain taxpayers and increases the tax rate for certain higher incomes. Increases the tentative minimum tax for taxpayers other than corporations. Subtitle B: Surtax on Individuals With Incomes Over $1,000,000 - Imposes a surtax on incomes in excess of $1,000,000, including estates and trusts. Title III: Budget Provisions - Provides that any change in outlays or receipts resulting from this Act shall not be considered for any purpose under the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act).
United States · United States Congress · 7 November 1991
Excludes amounts received by a veteran from the Department of Veterans Affairs in settlement of a legal claim against the Department for injuries caused by Department employees from annual income for purposes of determining eligibility of such veteran for Department programs.
United States · United States Congress · 7 November 1991
Designates May 31, 1992, through June 6, 1992, as a Week for the National Observance of the 50th Anniversary of World War II.
United States · United States Congress · 7 November 1991
Calls upon the President not to proceed toward the normalization of diplomatic and economic relations with the Socialist Republic of Vietnam until the Senate Select Committee on POW/MIA Affairs has reported its findings on the accounting of missing American servicemen in Southeast Asia.
United States · United States Congress · 7 November 1991
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the President should award the Presidential Unit Citation to the U.S.S. Nevada's crew for their heroism and gallantry during the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.
United States · United States Congress · 5 November 1991
Designates December 4, 1991, as Federal Civilian Employee Remembrance Day to recognize contributions provided by Federal civilian employees during the attack on Pearl Harbor and during World War II.
United States · United States Congress · 4 November 1991
Urges and requests the President to require the Secretary of the appropriate military department to award the Bronze Star to each member of the Navy or Marine Corps who served under General Wainwright during the defense of Corregidor Island, the Philippines, during World War II.
United States · United States Congress · 31 October 1991
Makes the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November in each even numbered year a legal public holiday known as Democracy Day (exept for purposes of statutes relating to pay and leave of Federal employees).
United States · United States Congress · 29 October 1991
Directs the Secretary of Education to provide funds to an elementary or secondary school to establish a pilot program for the composting of yard waste and cafeteria waste in order to reduce the amount of solid waste generated at such school. Requires the Secretary to report to the Congress on such pilot program, with findings and recommendations as to whether similar programs should be carried out at other schools and how the Federal Government should provide funds for such programs. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 29 October 1991
Long Island Sound Restoration Act - Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to carry out a demonstration program to make annual grants to the States of New York and Connecticut for: (1) demonstrating methods of restoring and maintaining the water quality of designated bays and harbors of Long Island Sound at which water quality standards pursuant to the Federal Water Pollution Control Act have not been achieved or at which other significant water quality degradation has occurred; (2) demonstrating the importance of controlling nonpoint sources of pollution in restoring and maintaining water quality; (3) enhancing opportunities for water-dependent recreational activities, maintaining a healthy ecosystem, protecting and enhancing marine life, minimizing health risks associated with human consumption of shellfish and finfish, and ensuring that social and economic benefits to the public associated with the Sound are advanced; and (4) advancing goals and recommendations of the Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan of the Long Island Sound Study. Requires the States of New York and Connecticut, in order to be eligible for grants, to designate bays and harbors of the Sound at which eligible activities will be carried out. Sets forth designation requirements. Requires grants to be used to: (1) carry out eligible activities and monitoring programs at designated bays and harbors; and (2) educate the public on the implementation and results of such activities. Allocates 2/3 and 1/3 of the amounts appropriated in a fiscal year for such grants to New York and Connecticut, respectively. Sets the non-Federal share of the costs of such activities at 30 percent. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 24 October 1991
Nuclear Testing Moratorium Act - Prohibits the Secretary of Energy from conducting any explosive nuclear weapons test during the one-year period following the enactment of this Act unless the President certifies to the Congress that the Soviet Union has conducted such a test during such period.
United States · United States Congress · 24 October 1991
Designates November 24 through 30, 1991, and November 22 through 28, 1992, as National Adoption Week.
United States · United States Congress · 23 October 1991
Designates October 30, 1991, as National Stay in School Awareness Day.
United States · United States Congress · 22 October 1991
Family Preservation Act of 1991 - Title I: Child Welfare Services - Amends part B (Child Welfare Services) of title IV of the Social Security Act to convert the Child Welfare program from an authorization to a capped entitlement program. Requires maintenance of State effort under such program. Sets forth a new formula for allotments to States under such program. Repeals provisions for incentive payments to States which maintain a foster care inventory, information system, and case review system, but requires States to provide such protections and other services designed to keep families together or reunify them, or to place children for adoption, with a legal guardian, or in some other planned, permanent living arrangement. Requires States to submit the following types of reports on child welfare services and expenditures: (1) pre-expenditure reports; (2) post-expenditure reports; and (3) comparative financial contributions reports. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to annually transmit to specified congressional committees a summary of the information contained in such comparative financial contributions reports. Requires such information to be made available to the public. Reserves funds for entitlement grants to States to plan for and provide child welfare services designed to strengthen and preserve families. Requires use of part of such funds to develop or expand specialized child welfare services programs for families in crisis due to substance abuse that: (1) emphasize comprehensive services geared to the whole family; and (2) support or expand availability of programs for pregnant women and programs that allow mothers (and other caretaker relatives) to reside with their children while receiving services or treatment. Requires uses of the remaining part of such funds to develop or expand: (1) service programs to help children, where appropriate, return to families from which they have been removed, or be placed for adoption, with a legal guardian, or in some other planned, permanent living arrangement; (2) preplacement preventive services programs to help children at risk of foster care placement to remain with their families; or (3) service programs for follow-up care for families to whom a child has been returned after a foster care placement. Reserves funds for grants to State court systems to assess and improve procedures in child welfare cases, in carrying out the Child Welfare Services program and part E (Foster Care and Adoption Assistance) of title IV of the Social Security Act. Sets forth application requirements and formulas for determining the amount of such grants for FY 1993 through 1997. Directs the Secretary of HHS to submit interim and final reports to the Congress on the information obtained from assessments conducted with such grants and the impact of such grant programs on State court procedures and functions. Requires each State to periodically compile a detailed directory of programs designed to keep families together or reunify them or place children permanently, identifying which of such programs provides specialized child welfare services to families in crisis due to substance abuse. Requires States to report on measures taken to comply with the Indian Child Welfare Act. Title II: Foster Care and Adoption Assistance - Amends title IV (Grants to States for Aid and Services to Needy Families with Children and for Child Welfare Services) of the Social Security Act to add a new part C, Comprehensive Service Projects, to grant States flexibility and resources to develop comprehensive and coordinated services designed to: (1) preserve and strengthen families with children at risk of placement outside their homes; (2) reunite children with their families expeditiously if an out-of-home placement is found to be necessary; and (3) place children in adoptive homes or other permanent arrangements in a timely fashion if reunification with their families is not appropriate. Permits any State to apply to the Secretary of HHS for permission to: (1) conduct a comprehensive service project in a selected area or areas; and (2) suspend certain child welfare services and foster care and adoption assistance requirements with respect to State activities in such area or areas during the project. Sets forth application requirements and administrative provisions for such projects. Prohibits the Secretary of HHS from requiring as a condition of approval of a project application: (1) the State to select any area or areas in which to conduct the project; or (2) the project to comply with any requirements not specified in the project authorization. Sets forth those requirements with which such a project must comply. Provides for determining the expenses for which a State might properly seek reimbursement, for purposes of calculating such grant amount. Authorizes the Secretary of HHS to increase such grant amount, to the extent appropriate, by taking specified factors into account. Sets forth requirements for notification to States of grant amounts, and for grant payments in equal quarterly installments. Prohibits a State from carrying out such a project in a manner that impairs the entitlement of any child to: (1) the foster care benefits he or she would have received if the Secretary had approved the State plan for the fiscal year and had not authorized the State to conduct such a project; or (2) any other benefit to which the child is legally entitled. Deems a State to have in effect an approved foster care and adoption assistance plan during the period in which it conducts such a project for purposes of State plan requirements under part A (Aid to Families with Dependent Children) (AFDC) of title IV of the Social Security Act. Requires States to report annually on funds expended under such projects to the Secretary of HHS and the Advisory Commission on Children and Families. Provides for administrative remedies for unsuccessful projects. Provides for project termination. Requires a State to discontinue the project at the end of a fiscal year: (1) if it has notified the Secretary that it intends to do so; or (2) if the Secretary has determined for the fiscal year that the State is not conducting the project in accordance with requirements and is not making satisfactory progress toward achieving the State plans, and the Secretary does not plan to pursue an administrative remedy with respect to the project. Makes abandoned children entering foster care eligible for foster care maintenance payments. Makes the adoptive parents of any such child with respect to whom foster care maintenance payments may be made eligible for adoption assistance payments. Makes technical revisions in the foster care maintenance payments program and the adoption assistance program to expand the removal from home requirement to include removal from legal custody. Provides for retroactive application of such new requirement under the adoption assistance program. Makes children whose adoption has been set aside by a court eligible for foster care maintenance payments. Makes the adoptive parents of any such child with respect to whom foster care maintenance payments may be made eligible for adoption assistance payments. Establishes a respite care program for foster parents with children who have special needs. Limits the expenses eligible for reimbursement under such program. Expands the definition of children with special needs, for purposes of the adoption assistance program, to include: (1) those children for whom information is known and available about their genetic or social history indicating a high risk of medical conditions or physical, mental or emotional handicaps (which makes it reasonable to conclude they cannot be placed for adoption without providing part E adoption assistance or Medicaid (title XIX of the Social Security Act) medical assistance; and (2) those children that have been adopted, that were under the care and responsibility of the State agency responsible for administering the State's part E programs prior to being adopted, and that have a mental, physical, or emotional handicap that either existed before the adoption but was not diagnosed until afterwards or first manifests itself after the adoption but is congenital or was caused beforehand. Includes relatives (as well as foster parents) who are prospective adoptive parents and with whom the child has significant emotional ties while in their care for purposes of an exception to the requirement that an effort be made to place special needs children with appropriate adoptive parents without providing adoption assistance or Medicaid assistance. Requires each State to submit to the Secretary of HHS the factors and conditions it uses to identify children with special needs, for purposes of the adoption assistance program, and any modifications to such factors and conditions. Directs the Secretary of HHS to establish an Advisory Committee on Foster Care Placement to study and report to the Secretary and the Congress on the implementation of specified requirements, under State plans for foster care and adoption assistance, that reasonable efforts be made: (1) prior to placement of a child in a foster home, to prevent or eliminate the need for removal of the child from the child's home; and (2) to make it possible for the child to return to the child's home. Provides Federal coverage of 90 percent of State costs in developing and installing statewide mechanized data collection and information retrieval systems which: (1) the Secretary determines are likely to enhance the administration of such programs; (2) are capable of interfacing with the State data collection system for information on child abuse and neglect; and (3) meet other specified requirements. Covers 50 percent of State costs for operation of such systems. Provides that all State expenditures for development, installation, and operation of such systems shall be treated as necessary for proper and efficient administration of the State plan, without regard to whether the systems may be used with respect to foster or adoptive children other than those on behalf of whom payments may be made for foster care maintenance or adoption assistance. Reduces, after three years, from 90 to 50 percent the Federal matching payment for development and installation of such systems. Defers a deadline for implementation of automated systems until one year after certain regulations are promulgated. Directs the Secretary to establish a work group, including representatives of specified organizations, to advise on planning and implementation of the system to be used for collection of data relating to adoption and foster care in the United States. Requires the State plan to provide for: (1) a triennial review of the amounts paid as foster care maintenance payments and adoption assistance to assure their continuing appropriateness; and (2) a report to the Secretary of HHS on the results. Requires that the dispositional hearing to determine the final status of a foster child: (1) occur within 12 months of his or her original placement, rather than the current 18 months; (2) determine and document the measures needed to enhance the likelihood of making the child legally eligible for adoption and of finding an adoptive home for the child, if the hearing determines that the child should be placed for adoption, and the specific measures which have been or need to be taken to make an adoptive placement or a finding that placement of the child in an adoptive family would be inappropriate, if the child is legally eligible for adoption. Revises the time frame for judicial determinations on voluntary placements. Sets forth case plan requirements for placement of children in out-of-State foster care, including a finding that the child needs services not available in the State. Requires annual review, with the child present, of the status of children in out-of-State foster care placements. Requires States to collect data on the numbers of children in out-of-State foster care placements. Requires a State, in order to receive payments for expenditures after FY 1994 for foster care maintenance payments made with respect to children placed in foster care outside the State, to conduct and submit a study to the Secretary of HHS, by the end of such fiscal year, identifying the number and common characteristics of such children and the reason why they were not placed in foster care in the State. Sets forth provisions with respect to the treatment of assets of youth participating in the independent living program. Eliminates the ceilings on Federal foster care payments to States and the States' authority to transfer unused foster care funds to the Child Welfare Services program. Directs the Secretary of HHS to: (1) establish an advisory committee; and (2) issue final regulations for training of staff of agencies responsible for administering foster care and adoption assistance programs and for training of foster and adoptive parents. Requires such committee to include representatives of public agencies and nonprofit organizations with an interest in child welfare. Directs the Secretary to annually publish information, on a State-by-State basis, on expenditures for, and the operation of, the Child Welfare Services program, the Foster Care and Adoption Assistance program, and Comprehensive Service Projects. Amends title IV of the Social Security Act to add a new part G, Child Welfare Review System. Directs the Secretary of HHS to establish such system to: (1) review each State child welfare program to assess whether the requirements of such Act are being carried out; (2) impose financial penalties in cases of substantial failure to comply; and (3) provide technical assistance to any such program. Requires the Secretary to complete such a review for each State program not less frequently than once every three years. Sets forth provisions relating to effects of noncompliance, suspension and recision of financial penalties, and administrative and judicial review. Requires that all State child welfare programs be reviewed at least once by the end of FY 1997. Prohibits the Secretary from reducing or withholding any payment or seeking any repayment from any State under part B or E by reason of a determination made in connection with specified reviews or audits for certain periods. Prohibits suspension of payments with respect to any claim for reimbursement 30 days after the Secretary of HHS receives the quarterly statement of expenditures that contains the report of the claim. Provides that within ten months after the Secretary takes any action to suspend payment with respect to such a claim, the Secretary shall: (1) determine the allowability of the claim; or (2) if unable to make such a determination, make payment with respect to the claim, subject to a later determination of allowability. Title III: Emergency Assistance - Amends the AFDC program to require States to provide emergency assistance to needy families with children, including services designed to prevent homelessness. Title IV: Social Services Block Grant - Amends title XX (Block Grants to States for Social Services) of the Social Security Act to authorize increased appropriations at specified levels under such program for FY 1993 through 1996 and at levels indexed to increases in the Consumer Price Index thereafter. Provides for the allocation to tribal organizations of program funds otherwise allotted to the State in which the Indians represented by such organization reside. Title V: Research, Demonstration, and Evaluation Activities - Amends part A (General Provisions) of title XI (General Provisions and Professional Standards Review) of the Social Security Act to require the Director of the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) to establish an Advisory Commission on Children and Families (the Commission). Requires the Commission to collect and assess specified types of information in order to identify cost-effective approaches to protect and enhance the physical, mental, emotional, and financial well-being of children and their families. Directs OTA to report annually to the Congress on the Commission and its assessment. Requires the Commission to conduct, through contracts with independent research organizations, the following research and evaluation projects: (1) an evaluation of child welfare service programs, including intensive family preservation programs; (2) foster care evaluations; (3) longitudinal child welfare data bases, and studies of child welfare population dynamics; and (4) comprehensive service projects evaluations. Requires the Commission to conduct a study concerning child separation guidelines. Directs the Secretary of HHS to conduct the following research and evaluations: (1) a study (under contract with an independent research organization) to assess the prevalence and nature of risks to the safety of employees of child welfare systems; and (2) a three-year study (under contract with an organization with demonstrated appropriate experience) to examine methodologies for measuring the workloads of providers of child welfare services and community mental health services. Directs the Secretary of HHS to authorize child welfare demonstration projects concerning each of the following: (1) abandoned infants' permanent placement; (2) termination of parental rights; (3) child welfare worker training in U.S. areas that border on Mexico; (4) staff recruitment and retention; and (5) joint training for staff of child welfare, mental health, and juvenile justice agencies. Directs the Secretary of HHS to authorize demonstration projects to test the feasibility of eliminating income and resource requirements respecting foster care and adoption assistance payments. Directs the Secretary of HHS to provide technical assistance to States for: (1) interpreting and implementating parts B, C, and E; (2) disseminating information on innovative child welfare agencies; (3) correcting problems identified through Federal audits and reviews and carrying out corrective action plans under part E; (4) implementing the foster care and adoption data collection system; and (5) addressing other matters identified by such Secretary. Title VI: Miscellaneous Human Resources Amendments - Amends the AFDC program to give States the option of using retrospective budgeting without monthly reporting under AFDC. Increases the amount of stepparent income disregarded under AFDC. Amends the Family Support Act of 1988 to extend demonstration projects for evaluating model procedures for reviewing child support awards. Amends the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1989 and the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990 to make technical corrections relating to human resource and income security provisions. Repeals the technical amendment made by the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990 with respect to the National Commission on Children. Title VII: Budget Compliance Provisions - Specifies the applicable cost estimate of this Act for purposes of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act). States that the conversion by this Act of the Child Welfare program from an authorization to a capped entitlement program shall not be treated as a change in concept or definition under the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act.
United States · United States Congress · 22 October 1991
Federal Employee Fairness Act of 1991 - Amends title VII (Equal Employment Opportunities) of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to provide for coverage and administrative determination by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) of Federal employee discrimination claims under title VII. Requires Federal agencies to make voluntary counseling and a voluntary alternative dispute process available to Federal employees to resolve complaints. Prohibits such agencies from: (1) requiring Federal employees to participate in such counseling or dispute process; or (2) discouraging them from filing title VII discrimination complaints. Entitles the Federal employee, if a settlement agreement has not been reached with the respondent, to either: (1) file with the EEOC a request for determination of the title VII claim by an EEOC administrative judge or, under certain conditions, by the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB), or under certain administrative and judicial procedures under Federal law relating to Federal employees; or (2) commence a civil action in an appropriate U.S. district court for de novo review of such title VII claim. Amends the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) with respect to nondiscrimination on account of age in Federal Government employment and EEOC enforcement of the prohibition. Allows aggrieved individuals to either: (1) file a complaint with the Commission in accordance with, and in the same manner as claims under, title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964; or (2) commence a civil action, within a specified period, in an appropriate U.S. district court for de novo review of the violation. Requires the EEOC to: (1) notify promptly all persons named in the notice as prospective defendants in such action; and (2) take any appropriate action to eliminate any unlawful practice. Allows individuals with a complaint pending before the EEOC during a specified period the opportunity to commence a civil action within a specified period. Amends Federal law relating to Federal employees with respect to grievance procedures and actions involving discrimination. Allows a Federal employee to commence, within 120 days after a final decision in a grievance procedure, a civil action in an appropriate U.S. district court for de novo review of a complaint of discrimination prohibited by any law administered by the EEOC. Allows a Federal employee or applicant for Federal employment to file a complaint with the EEOC in accordance with title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and select specified administrative and judicial procedures under title VII or other Federal law relating to Federal employees for grievance procedures or actions involving discrimination. Directs the agency (including the EEOC and the MSPB) that carries out such selected procedures to apply the appropriate substantive law. Allows a Federal employee who elected specified procedures, if the EEOC dismisses the claim under title VII, to raise the action within a certain time period under other specified procedures relating to Federal employees, except that no allegation of a kind involving specified Federal laws against discrimination cited in the dismissed complaint may be thus raised. Entitles a Federal employee to file within a specified period a civil action in the appropriate U.S. district court for de novo review of the action raised under specified procedures if there is no judicially reviewable action at the end of a specified period. Directs the EEOC, within one year after enactment of this Act, to issue rules to: (1) assist Federal Government entities to comply with this Act; and (2) establish a uniform written notice and requirements applicable to collecting and preserving documents and information.
United States · United States Congress · 22 October 1991
Management Corps Act of 1991 - Requires the President to designate a private nonprofit organization which has demonstrated expertise in providing assistance to business enterprises in the Republics of the Soviet Union and the Baltic States through United States citizens with expertise in the management of business enterprises who voluntarily donate their time and services to such enterprises in those countries. Designates such organization as the Management Corps. Sets forth administrative provisions for such Corps. Provides for grants to the Corps to be made by the Secretary of State through the Agency for International Development. Requires the Corps to publish an annual report which shall be submitted to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President of the Senate. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1993 through 1995.
United States · United States Congress · 17 October 1991
Amends the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to require that a complaint alleging discrimination in Federal Government employment be filed with the department, agency, or unit within one year after the alleged discrimination occurs.
United States · United States Congress · 17 October 1991
Designates January 4 through 10, 1992, as Braille Literacy Week.
United States · United States Congress · 17 October 1991
Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) the International Red Cross/Red Crescent Movement should include Magen David Adom (MDA) as a legitimate national society of the Movement; (2) the Star of David should be recognized as a legitimate symbol of humanitarian concern when utilized by MDA; and (3) all other national societies of the Movement should support full MDA membership.
United States · United States Congress · 16 October 1991
Revises the formula for payments made by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to States for nursing home, domiciliary, and hospital care furnished to veterans who are eligible to receive such care in a facility of the Department of Veterans Affairs, but who instead receive such care in a State home.
United States · United States Congress · 16 October 1991
Designates March 1992 as Irish-American Heritage Month.
United States · United States Congress · 16 October 1991
Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) U.S. policy toward the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) should be guided by a conviction that the interests of international security must take precedence over any conflicting interests in promoting nuclear commerce; and (2) the United States should encourage the IAEA to introduce reforms to strengthen its ability to pursue its safeguards objectives. Expresses the sense of the Congress that the President should undertake bilateral and multilateral initiatives to maintain and enhance international confidence in the effectiveness of IAEA safeguards and in other multilateral undertakings to halt the proliferation of nuclear weapons, including initiatives for: (1) building international support for the principle that nuclear supply relationships must require purchasing nations to agree to full-scope international safeguards; (2) encouraging each nuclear weapon state to undertake a comprehensive review of its own procedures for declassifying information relating to the design or production of nuclear explosive devices and to investigate any measures that would reduce the risk of such information contributing to nuclear weapons proliferation; (3) arranging for timely payment of annual financial contributions by all IAEA members; and (4) seeking agreement among the parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons to apply IAEA safeguards in perpetuity and to establish new limits on the right to withdraw from that Treaty. Expresses the sense of the Congress that the President should direct the U.S. representatives to the IAEA to work toward the early adoption of reforms in the implementation of the safeguards responsibilities of the IAEA, including: (1) making public the IAEA's annual safeguards implementation report, establishing a public registry of commodities in international nuclear commerce, and creating a public repository of current nuclear trade control laws, agreements, regulations, and enforcement and judicial actions by IAEA member nations; (2) enabling the IAEA to issue fines for violations of safeguards procedures, pay rewards for information on possible safeguards violations, and establish a hotline for reporting such violations and other illicit uses of weapons-grade nuclear material; (3) implement special inspections of undeclared nuclear facilities and seeking authority for the IAEA to conduct challenge inspections on demand at suspected nuclear sites; and (4) developing with other IAEA member states an agreement on procedures to expedite approvals of visa applications by IAEA inspectors. Directs the President, within six months, to submit to specified congressional committees a report describing the bilateral and multilateral initiatives which the President has taken during the period since the enactment of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 8 October 1991
Sets forth congressional findings with respect to China's: (1) exploiting the labor of Chinese prisoners to produce cheap products for export; (2) detaining many prisoners past the expiration of their sentences in violation of internationally recognized human rights; and (3) holding such prisoners in conditions that fall below international standards for the treatment of prisoners. Urges China to: (1) allow international inspections of detention places suspected of producing export goods; (2) release the texts of government policies regarding such exportation; (3) detail steps it will take to prohibit the export of Chinese prison-made products; and (4) reform the Chinese political, judicial, penal, and economic systems so that Chinese citizens are not jailed for their political and religious beliefs (and receive fair and open trails for any crimes of which they are accused), Chinese prisoners are compensated for their work, and workplace conditions in Chinese prisons are safe and humane. Urges Hong Kong and other nations through which Chinese products are transshipped to: (1) prohibit the importation of Chinese forced labor products; and (2) investigate trading companies suspected of dealing in prison-made goods.
United States · United States Congress · 7 October 1991
Amends the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act to provide temporary extended railroad unemployment insurance benefits or to railroad employees who have less than ten years of service, for periods of high national unemployment of six percent or greater. Provides for such extended benefits for up to 13 weeks, through July 4, 1992. Sets forth transition and reachback provisions.
United States · United States Congress · 3 October 1991
Federal Communications Commission Engineering Sciences Qualification Act of 1991 - Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to require at least one Commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission to be skilled in the engineering sciences at the time of his or her appointment.
United States · United States Congress · 3 October 1991
Designates March 12, 1992, as Girl Scouts of the United States of America 80th Anniversary Day.
United States · United States Congress · 2 October 1991
Qualified Medicare Beneficiary Enrollment Improvement and Protection Act of 1991 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to include in the annual mailing to Medicare beneficiaries: (1) a clear and simple explanation of the availability of and the requirements to qualify for Medicaid (title XIX of the Social Security Act) payment of their premiums, deductibles, and copayments under Medicare; (2) the toll-free telephone number to be established by the Secretary for information on such assistance; and (3) an initial application for such assistance. Directs the Secretary to develop a poster containing the information listed above and distribute it to service providers in order to publicize the availability of such assistance. Amends the Medicaid program to direct the Secretary to: (1) establish a process for using local Social Security Administration offices for the distribution and receipt of applications for such assistance; (2) transmit such applications to the appropriate State agency; (3) develop a form to be available at such offices which individuals may use to request additional information on or an application for such assistance; and (4) distribute such form to entities receiving grants for programs to provide services to older individuals. Requires States to provide for a process for receiving, distributing, and processing applications for such assistance and for responding to requests for information on or applications for such assistance. Allows individuals who qualified during a certain period for Medicaid payment of Medicare costs to temporarily apply for retroactive payment of any medical costs incurred but not paid under a State plan required to provide for making Medicaid payment of Medicare costs available to Medicare beneficiaries. Allows States, in determining the income level for individuals who seek to qualify for Medicaid payment of Medicare costs, to exclude expenses for medical care incurred by the individual that are not reimbursed under a public program of the State or political subdivision thereof, a health plan, or Medicare. Directs the Secretary to establish a grant program to provide outreach services to enable individuals who are entitled to receive Medicaid payment of Medicare costs to receive such assistance. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 2 October 1991
Designates the week of October 19 through 27, 1991, as National Red Ribbon Week for a Drug Free America.
United States · United States Congress · 1 October 1991
Breast Cancer Screening Safety Act of 1991 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require certification in order for a facility to perform or interpret mammograms, inspect equipment, perform needle localizations or other procedures using mammography equipment, or conduct quality assurances oversight related to mammography. Authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services to issue and renew certificates for up to two years. Allows the Secretary to approve a private nonprofit organization to be an accreditation body which meets certain requirements, including inspecting facilities. Directs the Secretary to: (1) establish standards for facilities to assure the safety and accuracy of mammography; (2) specify organizations eligible to certify individuals to perform radiological procedures; (3) specify boards eligible to certify individuals to interpret screening mammograms; (4) establish standards regarding the qualifications for individuals to interpret screening mammograms; and (5) specify boards eligible to certify individuals to inspect screening mammography equipment and oversee quality assurance practices. Directs the Secretary to conduct annual announced and unannounced inspections of certified facilities. Provides for: (1) intermediate sanctions for certain violations; (2) suspension, revocation, and limitation of certificates; and (3) injunctions. Requires fees for certificate issuance and renewal, and for inspections, sufficient to cover costs. Requires annual publication of a list of facilities convicted of fraud and abuse, false billings, or kickbacks, facilities that have had certificates revoked, suspended, or limited, and facilities that have been the subject of a sanction or other similar matters. Allows the Secretary to exempt facilities in a State with more stringent requirements from compliance with this Act. Directs the Secretary to: (1) make grants for research on new methods of establishing a Mammography Registry; and (2) based on the research, establish the Registry. Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to require that screening mammographies paid for under Medicare be performed by a facility: (1) certified under this Act; and (2) in compliance with specified provisions of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 25 September 1991
Designates the week of August 10 through August 16, 1992, as National Parents of Murdered Children Week.
United States · United States Congress · 24 September 1991
Medicare EKG Payment Restoration Act of 1991 - Amends part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to: (1) reestablish separate payment for the interpretation of electrocardiograms (EKGs) that are ordered or performed during an office visit or consultation with a physician; and (2) require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish separate fee schedule amounts for EKG interpretations and to adjust the relative values established for office visits to or consultations with a physician to reflect the establishment of such separate fee schedule amounts. Directs the Secretary to: (1) establish practice guidelines for the use of EKGs for dissemination along with other educational information relating to the use of EKGs to physicians; (2) develop a profile of the use of EKGs by physicians; and (3) conduct a study and report to the Congress on the utilization and costs of EKGs.
United States · United States Congress · 24 September 1991
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that the President should: (1) communicate to the leaders of the Chinese Government the concern of the United States for the welfare of Wang Juntao and Chen Ziming (founders of the Beijing Social and Economic Science Research Institute); and (2) call for the immediate release of such individuals from prison to permit them to receive proper medical treatment.
United States · United States Congress · 17 September 1991
Federal Fire Safety Act of 1991 - Amends the Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974 to prohibit the use of Federal funds to: (1) construct, purchase, or lease a newly constructed Federal office building, other than housing, having more than 25 full-time Federal employees nor to renovate one with five or more stories unless the entire building includes automatic sprinkler systems or an equivalent level of safety, with specified exceptions; and (2) increase the number of employees in such building by more than 100 employees over that as of enactment of this Act without such system or level of safety. Prohibits the use of such funds after the enactment of this Act: (1) to construct, purchase, lease, rebuild, or operate Federal Government housing for Federal employees and their dependents; (2) multifamily housing for Federal employees subsidized by the Federal Government; and (3) rental assistance housing, without automatic sprinkler systems and smoke detectors (in some cases smoke detectors alone). Directs the: (1) Administrator of the National Fire Prevention and Control Administration (Administrator) to promulgate regulations implementing this Act; and (2) head of any Federal agency that owns, leases, or operates a federally-funded building or housing unit, to invite the local agency or voluntary organization with fire protection responsibility in the jurisdiction of such building or housing unit to prepare, and biennially review, a prefire plan for it.
United States · United States Congress · 17 September 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide a complete tax exemption (currently a 75 percent tax exemption) for bonds used to finance high-speed intercity rail facilities.
United States · United States Congress · 17 September 1991
Designates 1992 as the Year of the Gulf of Mexico. Directs all Federal and State agencies which have responsibility for matters affecting the Gulf to work to increase public awareness regarding the immeasurable value of this resource and current conditions which threaten its aesthetic and economic value.
United States · United States Congress · 16 September 1991
National Commission on Intergovernmental Mandate Reform Act - Establishes the National Commission on Intergovernmental Mandate Reform to: (1) document all federally mandated programs; (2) identify such programs that result in no net cost or minimum net cost to the Federal Government and that may be partially or totally eliminated with a resulting cost savings to State and local governments and no financial loss to the Federal Government; (3) submit to the President and the Congress recommendations specifying the federally mandated programs to be totally or partially eliminated along with the criteria for making such a determination and recommendations specifying the methods by which such programs can be reformed in order to relieve the financial burdens on State and local governments, and Federal, State, and local taxpayers; and (4) review other matters relating to the reform of federally mandated programs that the Commission considers appropriate.
United States · United States Congress · 16 September 1991
Designates the week of September 22 through 28, 1991, and September 20 through 26, 1992, as Religious Freedom Week.
United States · United States Congress · 11 September 1991
Prohibits: (1) the sale of defense articles under the Arms Export Control Act to or for the Royal Ulster Constabulary, the Ulster Defense Regiment, the Royal Irish Regiment, and any other organization in which anyone who previously was a member of a paramilitary association is a member; and (2) the issuance of licenses for exporting such articles, and the export of crime control and detection equipment for use by such entities. Directs the Secretary of State to report to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations on cooperation between United Kingdom security forces and militias and paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland.