United States · United States Congress · 4 April 1990
Medicare Physician Regulation Relief Amendments of 1990 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to require carriers and peer review organizations to release the medical review screen or the associated screening parameter to a physician before notifying such physician that payment for his or her service has been denied. Permits Medicare reimbursement of a patient's regular physician for services provided to such patient by another physician who occasionally covers for the regular physician. Requires Medicare carriers to provide physicians, upon request and without charge, with carrier-generated information which physicians need to submit a payment claim or respond to a carrier inquiry. Allows a medical society or other professional organization representing physicians to represent a group or class of physicians in Medicare payment determinations, reconsiderations, or appeals. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to appoint, based on nominations submitted by national medical organizations representing physicians, a Practicing Physicians Advisory Council with which the Secretary must consult concerning changes in the Medicare program and proposed changes in regulations and carrier operation policies.
United States · United States Congress · 4 April 1990
Textile, Apparel, and Footwear Trade Act of 1990 - Limits the 1990 imports of textiles and textile products classified under a category to an amount equal to 101 percent of the total 1989 imports classified under such category. Limits the 1990 imports of nonrubber footwear classified under a nonrubber footwear category to an amount equal to: (1) the total 1989 imports of nonrubber footwear classified under such category; and (2) in the case of high priced nonrubber footwear, the total 1989 imports of high priced nonrubber footwear classified under such category. Provides for a one-percent annual growth in the amount of permitted imports of textiles and textile products after 1990. Exempts from the limitations imposed under this Act imports of textiles and textile products from U.S. possessions if such articles are exempt from duty under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States and are manufactured by U.S. citizens, nationals, or permanent residents of such a possession. Limits the imports of certain sweaters made in Guam to a specified amount during FY 1990 and to such amount increased by one percent per year in subsequent years. Declares such limitations shall not apply to Canada or Israel. Sets forth limitations on the amount of textile and textile products, classified under certain import categories, which may be imported from beneficiary countries under the Caribbean Basin Initiative. Authorizes the President to: (1) enter into trade agreements to grant new concessions as compensation to the extent required under U.S. trade agreements for the import limits imposed by this Act; and (2) proclaim such modification or continuance of any existing duty on textiles and textile products and on nonrubber footwear as necessary to carry out such agreements. Prohibits the President from reducing any rate of duty by more than ten percent. Requires the President, before entering into such trade agreements, to consider whether a country has violated trade concessions of benefit to the United States and the violation has not been adequately offset. Sets forth requirements governing staged rate reductions in the tariffs of articles affected by this Act. Prohibits the President, except as authorized by this Act, from entering into trade negotiations with any country with respect to duties on textiles, textile products, and nonrubber footwear. Prohibits the President, except as provided in this Act, from decreasing or proposing a decrease in any such duty by any means, including an implementing bill or a proclamation. Requires the President to report annually to the Congress on the administration of this Act. Requires the Secretary of Commerce, ten years after enactment of this Act, to study and report to the Congress on its operation. Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to establish a pilot program for the issuance and sale to U.S. companies at public auction of import licenses applicable to categories of textiles. Terminates such licensing program on December 31, 1991, and requires a report to the Congress on its administration.
United States · United States Congress · 28 March 1990
Tax Collection Enhancement Act of 1990 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide for the collection of delinquent Federal income taxes by a State in the course of the State's collection of delinquent State income taxes. Allows a State to receive 50 percent of the amount of delinquent Federal income taxes it collects.
United States · United States Congress · 28 March 1990
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to make permanent the provisions permitting small issues of tax-exempt bonds to finance manufacturing facilities and farm property.
United States · United States Congress · 27 March 1990
Title I: Cotton - Amends the Agricultural Act of 1949 to set forth price support provisions for the 1991 through 1995 crops of upland cotton. Establishes the target price at $.729 per pound, with adjustment authority based on production cost increases. Provides for ten-month market-based loans, with an eight-month extension if average prices do not exceed specified levels. Provides for: (1) a marketing loan program based on adjusted world market prices, including a market certificate program; and (2) the imposition of a special limited global import quota when the U.S. upland cotton price exceeds the "Northern Europe" price. Provides for deficiency payments calculated on a calendar year basis. Provides for an acreage limitation program that will provide for specified carryover cotton stocks. Authorizes a uniform acreage reduction of up to 25 percent. Sets forth conservation use provisions. Authorizes disaster payments and reduced yield disaster payments under specified conditions. Provides for a paid land diversion program if projected carryovers exceed specified limits. States that cross-compliance shall not apply to such crops. Extends specified provisions of the extra long staple cotton program. Title II: Rice - Amends the Agricultural Act of 1949 to set forth price support provisions for the 1991 through 1995 rice crops. Establishes the target price at $10.71 per hundredweight, with adjustment authority based on production cost increases. Provides for nine-month market-based loans. Provides for a marketing loan program based on adjusted world market prices, including a market certificate program. Authorizes disaster payments and reduced yield disaster payments under specified conditions. Provides for an acreage limitation program that will provide for specified carryover rice stocks. Authorizes a uniform acreage reduction of up to 35 percent. Sets forth conservation use provisions. States that cross-compliance shall not apply to such crops. Title III: Sugar - Amends the Agricultural Act of 1949 to set forth price support provisions for the 1991 through 1995 sugar crops. Establishes loan rates at $.18 per pound for sugarcane. Bases sugar beet prices on sugarcane levels. Authorizes price support increases based upon production cost increases and other circumstances that may adversely affect domestic sugar production.
United States · United States Congress · 21 March 1990
Wetlands Conservation Reserve Program Act of 1990 - Amends the Food Security Act of 1985 to make wetlands and surrounding uplands eligible for inclusion in the conservation reserve program. Extends the program through crop year 1995. Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to: (1) conduct a study of the advisability and effect of extending and expanding the program; and (2) report to the appropriate congressional committees.
United States · United States Congress · 14 March 1990
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that any funds from spending reductions for the Department of Defense and related agencies incorporated in the budget for FY 1991 should be applied to deficit reduction and taxpayer relief.
United States · United States Congress · 8 March 1990
ESOP Promotion and Improvement Act of 1990 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow S corporations (certain small business corporations) to participate in employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs). Extends the ESOP exception to the ten percent early withdrawal penalty tax to certain ESOP distributions to employees made at any time. (Currently the exception applies only to distributions made before January 1, 1990.) Permits ESOP participants whose compensation does not exceed a certain amount to contribute up to 50 percent of it to the plan. Amends the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to permit payroll deductions for ESOP participants to make certain political contributions.
United States · United States Congress · 7 March 1990
Wetlands Conservation Initiative Act of 1990 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a tax credit for wetlands conservation expenditures, wetlands conservation leases, and charitable contributions of environmentally valuable wetlands.
United States · United States Congress · 6 March 1990
Amends the Agricultural Act of 1949 with regard to 1991 through 1995 acreage bases and program yields for wheat, feed grains, upland and extra long staple cotton, or rice to: (1) provide for (ten percent maximum) crop base adjustments (to be offset by equivalent downward adjustments of other crop acreage bases); (2) base a farm's crop acreage base on the three preceding crop years; (3) base a farm's payment yield on the five preceding crop years actual yields; and (4) eliminate cross and offset compliance requirements.
United States · United States Congress · 27 February 1990
Small Business National Resource Development and Employment Opportunity Act - Amends the Small Business Act to authorize the Administrator to make grants to or enter into contracts with State and local governments for the purpose of contracting with small businesses to plant trees on lands controlled by such governments. Makes the Administrator responsible for formulating a national small business tree planting program. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 22 February 1990
Benjamin Franklin Memorial Fire Service Bill of Rights Act - Title I: Minting of Benjamin Franklin National Memorial Commemorative Coin - Benjamin Franklin National Memorial Commemorative Coin Act - Provides for the sale of Benjamin Franklin commemorative coins at a surcharge of which 25 percent shall be paid to the Benjamin Franklin National Memorial and the remainder be distributed in specified percentages to the National Fire Center and Museum Account, the National Hero Scholarship Account, the Firefighter Tuition Assistance Account, the Hazardous Materials Response Computer Account, the Research and Education Account, and the Burn Research Grant Account of the Firefighter Assistance Trust Fund (Fund). Prohibits the issuance of such coins from resulting in any net cost to the Federal government. Title II: Fire Service Bill of Rights - Fire Service Bill of Rights Act - Amends the Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974 to establish a fire service bill of rights. Establishes the National Fire Center and Museum in the District of Columbia to provide information about the fire service and safety to the public and fire services. Establishes a National Hero Scholarship to fund the higher education of a child, spouse, or dependent parent of a deceased firefighter. Establishes a scholarship providing tuition assistance to firefighters for higher education in fire safety or protection. Authorizes the Administrator of the United States Fire Administration to use amounts in the Research and Education Account of the Fund to fund other specified programs under the Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974 and the provision of information concerning surplus Federal property and infectious diseases pursuant to this Act. Establishes the Firefighter Assistance Trust Fund. Places the National Academy for Fire Prevention and Control within the United States Fire Administration. Directs the Administrator to provide States with funds from the Hazardous Materials Response Computer Account of the fund for distribution to local fire services that wish to purchase computer equipment. Directs the Administrator to make a grant from the Burn Research Grant Account of the Fund to one national firefighter's burn foundation dedicated to reducing burn injuries. Requires the Administrator to prepare and make available to fire services, upon request, a manual describing Federal procedures for disposing of surplus property and highlighting how fire services could obtain such property. Directs the Administrator to distribute to such marshals information on the infectious diseases to which firefighters are particularly vulnerable. Permits the Administrator, in certain circumstances, to award to a domestic firm a contract that, under the use of competitive procedures, would be awarded to a foreign firm.
United States · United States Congress · 20 February 1990
Federal Used Property for Domestic Use Act of 1990 - Amends the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949 to authorize the Administrator of the General Services Administration to make available to foreign governments or international relief agencies for humanitarian relief purposes nonlethal surplus personal property. Requires transfer of such property to the Secretary of State for distribution. Repeals provisions authorizing the Secretary of Defense to make available for humanitarian relief purposes any nonlethal excess supplies of the Department of Defense.
United States · United States Congress · 20 February 1990
Supports the right of citizens to conduct peaceful and lawful demonstrations. Condemns the acts of physical violence of demonstrators who, on January 31, 1990, threw blood on the columns and steps of the U.S. Capitol and, on February 17, 1990, threw blood on the entrance gate to the White House. Urges that such demonstrators be prosecuted and charged with a felony.
United States · United States Congress · 7 February 1990
Savings and Economic Growth Act of 1990 - Title I: Capital Gains Provisions - Subtitle A: Reduction in Capital Gains Tax - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to reduce the capital gains rate for noncorporate taxpayers through a deduction of: (1) 30 percent for assets held at least three years; (2) 20 percent for assets held at least two years; and (3) ten percent for assets held at least one year. Provides for the treatment of collectibles as short-term gains or losses (making them ineligible for such deduction). Disallows the capital gains deduction in computing the alternative minimum tax. Subtitle B: Depreciation Recapture - Provides for the treatment of gain from the disposition of certain depreciable realty as ordinary income. Title II: Home Ownership and Savings Incentives - Allows an exemption from the ten-percent additional tax on early distributions from qualified retirement plans up to $10,000, if the distribution is used to make a first-home purchase at a cost of no more than 110 percent of the median home price in the geographic area where the residence is located. Allows an individual (other than a dependent) to establish a family savings account for the exclusive benefit of an individual and the individual's beneficiaries. Limits contributions to such accounts to $2,500 for the taxable year, if the individual's adjusted income does not exceed $60,000 ($120,000 in the case of joint returns). Subjects the family savings account to the tax imposed on unrelated business income of tax-exempt organizations. Provides that distributions paid out of such accounts shall not be included in gross income, except for earnings on contributions held less than seven years. Establishes a ten-percent additional tax on earnings on contributions held less than three years.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 1990
National Fire Forces Mobilization Act of 1990 - Amends the Cooperative Forestry Assistance Act of 1978 to authorize appropriations to be provided as Federal matching funds to State forestry agencies and rural volunteer fire departments so that they may assist other fire fighting organizations in combatting fires.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 1990
Federal Victim's Service and Protection Act of 1990 - Title I: Federal Victim's Services and Protections Compliance - Directs the Attorney General to: (1) establish an evaluation system for law enforcement officers which rates such officers on their compliance with specified laws protecting victims of crimes; and (2) use such evaluation system to create standards governing services to victims and witnesses in Federal cases and to serve as a model to States and localities. Requires the Office for Victims of Crime to report periodically to the public, the Congress, and the President on victim protections and on compliance with this Act. Title II: The Federal Child Victim's Bill of Rights - Amends the Federal criminal code to require the court, at the earliest possible stage, to determine whether the appointment of a guardian ad litem for a child who is an alleged victim or witness in a criminal proceeding would be in the best interests of the child and if so, to appoint such guardian. Sets forth provisions with respect to the qualifications, duties and powers, and immunity of such guardian. Grants a child testifying at a criminal proceeding the right to be accompanied by an adult. Authorizes the court to order that a child's testimony be taken by closed-circuit television (TV) if it finds that the child is unable to testify in open court because of: (1) the child's persistent refusal to testify despite judicial requests to do so; (2) the child's total inability to communicate about the offense because of extreme fear, failure of memory, or other similar reasons; or (3) the substantial likelihood that the child will suffer substantial emotional trauma from so testifying. Specifies that the prosecuting attorney and the defense attorney shall be present in the room with the child and the child shall be subject to direct and cross-examination. Requires that: (1) the child's testimony be transmitted by closed-circuit TV into the courtroom; (2) the defendant be provided with the means of private, contemporaneous communication with his attorney during the testimony; and (3) the closed-circuit TV transmission relay the defendant's image into the room in which the child is testifying, and the child's testimony into the room in which the defendant is viewing the proceeding. Sets forth provisions with respect to videotaped depositions of child victims and child witnesses. Authorizes the court to permit the child to use anatomical dolls, puppets, drawings, or any other demonstrative device it deems appropriate to assist a child in testifying. Sets forth requirements with respect to competency examinations for child witnesses. Prohibits: (1) the release to the public of the name, or other identifying information about the child victim or child witness except as authorized by the court; and (2) the name and any identifying information from appearing in any public record. Grants the child victim or witness the same right to submit victim impact statements prior to sentencing as prescribed for an adult victim. Directs that child victims or witnesses be assisted by their court appointed guardian ad litem in preparing victim impact statements. Authorizes the court, in any proceeding where a child is called to give testimony, to designate the case as being of special public importance and to expedite the action. Requires the court to ensure a speedy trial and, in deciding whether or not to grant a continuance, to take into account the child's age and the potential adverse impact the delay may have on the child's well-being. Creates a hearsay exception for an out-of-court statement related to sexual abuse, physical abuse, or sexual exploitation of that or another child if the court finds that: (1) the statement possesses particularized guarantees of trustworthiness; (2) the proponent of the statement has given sufficient notice to adverse parties of the intent to introduce the statement; and (3) there is corroborative evidence of the statement or the truth of the statement. Encourages the use of multidisciplinary teams designed to assist child victims or child witnesses. Delineates the role of such teams. Specifies that there shall be no statute of limitations for the prosecution of any child physical abuse, sexual abuse, or sexual exploitation offense. Requires physicians, social workers, teachers, and specified other individuals who, while involved in any such capacities on Federal land or in a federally operated (or contracted) facility, have reason to suspect that a child is an abused or neglected child to immediately report to the appropriate authorities. Grants civil and criminal immunity to individuals who, acting in good faith, make such a report or otherwise provide information or assistance with a report investigation, or legal intervention. Makes failure to report a misdemeanor. Makes spousal privileges and the privileged nature of any communications between physician (or psychotherapist, psychologist, social worker, and any other health care provider) and patient inapplicable in any criminal proceeding after a report of child abuse, neglect, or sexual exploitation. Title III: Child Care Worker Employee Background Check - Requires: (1) each Federal agency and facility that hires, or contracts for hire, individuals involved with the provision of services to children under age 18 to assure that all existing and newly-hired employees undergo a criminal history background check; and (2) all existing staff to receive such checks within six months and prohibits the hiring of additional staff without a check having been initiated. Sets forth procedures with respect to the conduct of such background checks. Specifies that: (1) any conviction for a sex crime, an offense involving a child victim, or a drug offense shall be grounds for denying employment or for dismissal of an employee engaged in specified child care services; (2) an incident in which an individual has been charged, but where the charge has not yet been disposed of, shall permit the employee's suspension from any job-related contact with children until the case is resolved; and (3) convictions of other crimes may be considered if they bear on an individual's fitness to have responsibility for the safety and well-being of children. Sets forth requirements with respect to questions to be asked in employment applications, criminal history records checks, and access to (and the right to challenge the accuracy of) the criminal history report.
United States · United States Congress · 5 February 1990
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to make members of the armed forces serving on extended active duty and stationed outside the United States eligible for the earned income credit.
United States · United States Congress · 31 January 1990
Requires cost-of-living adjustments to take effect for FY 1991 for persons receiving: (1) civil service retirement pay from the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund; (2) military retired pay; or (3) an annuity under a veterans survivors' benefits program. Prohibits any reduction or suspension of such adjustments under any presidential order or any other provision of law, except applicable Federal civil service retirement or armed forces provisions.
United States · United States Congress · 31 January 1990
Requires cost-of-living adjustments to take effect in FY 1991 for persons receiving military retired pay or an annuity under a veterans survivors' benefits program. Prohibits any reduction or suspension of such adjustments under any presidential order or any other provision of law, except applicable Federal armed forces provisions.
United States · United States Congress · 29 January 1990
Energy and Environmental Security Act of 1990 - Title I: Extension and Modification of Tax Incentives for Ethanol - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend excise tax reductions for specified alcohol fuel mixtures for nine years. Directs the U.S. Comptroller General to study the options for reimbursing the Highway Trust Fund for the reduction in its receipts due to such reductions. Extends a tax credit for alcohol fuels to December 31, 2002. Prohibits carryovers of such credits after 2004. Extends such credits to alcohol used to produce ethyl tertiary butyl ether (ETBE). Amends the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States to extend: (1) the tariff treatment for ethanol to ETBE; and (2) the effective period of the temporary duty on ethanol to December 31, 2002. Title II: Oxygenated Fuels and Aromatic Compounds - Amends the Clean Air Act to prohibit, during October to March of each year, the introduction into commerce in any carbon monoxide nonattainment area of gasoline with an oxygen content of less than 3.1 percent. Provides for the exchange of oxygen credits between sellers of fuels with an oxygen content higher than required and other sellers of fuels to offset the use of fuels with a lower content than required. Prohibits such exchanges between sellers in different nonattainment areas. Requires retailers of oxygenated fuels to label fuel dispensing systems with a notice that the fuel is oxygenated and will reduce carbon monoxide emissions. Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to develop environmental profiles for each of the aromatic compounds in gasoline and to take action to limit the use of such compounds in accordance with the profiles. Title III: Development and Use of Ethanol - Requires the Secretary of Energy to: (1) give funding priority to ethanol development projects that have high potential for immediate benefits; and (2) establish a program to promote the development and use of ethanol in motor fuel.
United States · United States Congress · 23 January 1990
Boot Camp Prison Demonstration Program Act of 1990 - Directs the Attorney General, acting through the Director of the Bureau of Prisons, to establish four military-style boot camp prisons within the Federal prison system. Requires the Attorney General to ensure that such prisons provide educational and counseling programs as part of the inmates' confinement. Amends the Federal criminal code to provide such prisons as a sentencing option and an alternative to conventional prisons for defendants who: (1) are sentenced to 12 to 16 months in prison; (2) are under 25 years of age; (3) are able-bodied; (4) have been convicted of a serious but nonviolent offense; (5) have no serious prior criminal history; and (6) consent to such confinement. Credits an inmate placed in a prison boot camp with three days toward completion of the sentence for each day served in such camp. Terminates such prisons five years after this Act's enactment. Directs the Attorney General to evaluate such prisons and report to the Congress within four and one-half years with respect to the efficacy of such prisons with an assessment of: (1) recidivism rates of defendants sentenced to boot camp prisons as compared to similar defendants not sentenced to such prisons; and (2) the cost effectiveness of such prisons as compared to conventional prisons. Authorizes the Attorney General, after consultation with the Secretary of Defense, to use closed military facilities for such prisons. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 23 January 1990
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the U.S. Government should be prohibited from donating any equipment or supplies to Vietnam and that the Administration should be held accountable for the circumstances that allowed any such donation to occur.
United States · United States Congress · 21 November 1989
Professionals' Liability Reform Act of 1989 - Establishes certain limitations and procedures regarding professional liability actions. Preempts certain State laws. Provides that nothing in this Act shall prohibit any State from developing or implementing alternative procedures for: (1) expediting the adjudication of professional liability claims; (2) resolving professional liability disputes; or (3) compensating for harm caused by professional services. Requires professional liability actions to be brought within three years after the claimant discovered, or should have discovered, the harm. Requires the claimant, in any professional liability action, to establish: (1) that the professional negligently rendered professional services and that such negligence was the proximate cause of the harm; or (2) in a claim for economic injury, that the professional negligently rendered professional services to and for the direct and intended benefit of the claimant, and such services were the proximate cause of the harm. Requires the claimant to establish that, at the time such services were provided, knowledge of the circumstances that caused the harm and a practical means to eliminate such circumstances were reasonably available. States that a professional shall not be liable in a professional liability action in which: (1) the professional's services were rendered to an agency of the Federal or State government; (2) Federal or State contract specifications existed which were material to the claim; and (3) the services rendered conformed to such specifications. Permits future damage awards exceeding $100,000 to be made by periodic payments. Requires that damage awards be offset by any amount received as compensation for the same injury. Establishes a contingency fee schedule for plaintiffs' attorneys. States that the principles of comparative liability shall apply unless persons engaged in concerted action which proximately caused the harm. Permits the awarding of punitive damages only where the conduct of the defendant: (1) manifested a malicious and reckless disregard for safety; and (2) constituted an extreme departure from accepted standards of safety. States that punitive damages may not be awarded in the absence of a compensatory award, or for the negligent provision of professional services. Requires the trier of fact, at the request of the professional, to consider in a separate proceeding whether punitive damages are to be awarded. Limits the claimant's actual recovery of punitive damages to three times the amount of compensatory damages. States that excess punitive damages shall be paid to the State or Federal government. Makes any attorney who files a frivolous claim subject to pecuniary sanctions by the court. Requires each State to encourage professional organizations to form risk management programs.
United States · United States Congress · 21 November 1989
Amends the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to declare that contributions, gifts, or payments by union members or by officials or employees of national banks or corporations to a separate fund which is used for political purposes must be voluntary and unrelated to monies required as a condition of employment. Declares it to be unlawful to use monies paid to an organization as a condition of employment, or money or anything of value secured by force, job discrimination, or financial reprisal, for any type of election or campaign activity by such organization.
United States · United States Congress · 20 November 1989
National Forest Hunter Safety and Protection Act of 1989 - Prescribes civil penalties for knowingly interfering with the conduct of a lawful hunt in a national forest or on lands affected with a Federal interest. Authorizes injunctive relief, the recovery of actual and punitive damages, and the awarding of attorney's fees. Grants hunting and sportsman's organizations standing under this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 20 November 1989
Pornography Victims' Compensation Act of 1989 - Creates a cause of action against a producer, distributor, exhibitor, or seller of sexually explicit material by a victim of a rape, sexual assault, or sexual crime, or by the estate, guardian, or survivors of any such victim. Conditions the recovery of damages on proof by a preponderance of the evidence that: (1) the victim was a victim of a rape, sexual assault, or a sexual crime; (2) the material is obscene, in the case of sex crimes, is sexually explicit and violent, or in the case of sex crimes against minors, depicts minors participating in sexually explicit activity and was a proximate cause of the offense; and (3) the defendant is a producer or distributor of the material or exhibited or sold it to the sexual offender and should have known that the material was obscene, in the case of sex crimes, is sexually explicit and violent, or, in the case of sex crimes against minors, depicts minors participating in sexually explicit activity. Sets forth criteria by which the finder of fact may reasonably infer that such material was a proximate cause of the offense, including unusual similarities between the acts depicted and the actual offense, testimony of the offender, and testimony of experts who have examined the offender that such material influenced or incited the commission of the offense. Authorizes the award of damages for economic loss, compensation for pain and suffering, reasonable attorney's fees, and costs to prevailing plaintiffs. Sets a statute of limitations of six years from the date the right of action first accrued or, in the case of a legal disability, not later than three years after the termination of such disability.
United States · United States Congress · 19 November 1989
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide for the treatment of rental and nonrental real estate activities under the limitations on losses from passive activities.
United States · United States Congress · 17 November 1989
Amends the Trade Act of 1974 to require the United States Trade Representative to impose practices that prohibit or limit the foreign investment in the United States on those foreign countries that have similar practices against U.S. investment.
United States · United States Congress · 17 November 1989
Access to Education Act of 1989 - Title I: Access and Choice in Federal Education Programs - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to allow the use of certain special education financial assistance (Financial Assistance to Meet Special Educational Needs of Children) funds for innovative projects to provide continued services to eligible children transferred to ineligible areas as part of an open enrollment public school system. Allows a local educational agency to provide basic program services to educationally deprived children who, under a desegregation plan or open enrollment system, attend a school not located in an eligible school attendance area. Requires that information on basic program services under an open enrollment system be provided to parents of eligible children. Allows the use of local targeted assistance program funds for the planning and implementation of open enrollment systems. Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to establish special rules for Pell grant, supplemental educational opportunity grant, and State student incentive grant eligibility for secondary school open enrollment participants enrolled in or accepted for classes offered by higher education institutions. Amends the Defense Dependents' Education Act of 1978 to provide for parental choice open enrollment for overseas military dependents. Title II: Demonstration Projects and Research - Authorizes the Secretary of Education (the Secretary) to make grants to State educational agencies to develop and expand policies, programs, and projects that increase opportunities of parents to select the public school or program attended by their children, particularly disadvantaged, minority, or rural area children. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to local educational agencies or consortia for open enrollment demonstration projects that increase parental access to excellent, distinctive, and diverse schools or programs that can meet their children's educational needs and promote parental choice. Provides for research and dissemination of results on open enrollment systems. Authorizes appropriations to carry out this title for FY 1990 through 1995.
United States · United States Congress · 16 November 1989
Amends the Federal bankruptcy code to prohibit the bankruptcy court from granting the discharge of any debt constituting a fine or forfeiture payable to a governmental unit.
United States · United States Congress · 13 November 1989
Amends the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 to require the Council on Environmental Quality to promulgate regulations governing the implementation of such Act by Federal agencies, to include requirements for notification procedures for, and public review and cost-effective preparation and dissemination of, environmental impact statements.
United States · United States Congress · 7 November 1989
Declares that no person who is a retired regular officer of the U.S. armed forces shall be considered as holding a public office for purposes of provisions that require anyone who destroys public records to forfeit public office and be disqualified from holding office.
United States · United States Congress · 7 November 1989
Directs the heads of Federal departments or agencies which hold or receive records and information which have or could possibly have been correlated to U.S. personnel listed as prisoners of war or missing in action in World War II and the Korean and Vietnam conflicts to publicly disclose such records and information, except where such disclosure would compromise national security. Requires the Department of Defense to publicly disclose a complete list of such personnel including those killed in action (body not returned) in such hostilities with each service member's current classification as well as any changes in such classification occurring during or after such hostilities.
United States · United States Congress · 7 November 1989
Provides that any retired military officer who forfeits public office by reason of being convicted of concealing, removing, damaging, or falsifying Government records shall not forfeit his right to retired pay and other military personnel benefits.
United States · United States Congress · 2 November 1989
Benjamin Franklin Memorial Fire Service Bill of Rights Act - Title I: Minting of Benjamin Franklin National Memorial Commemorative Coin - Benjamin Franklin National Memorial Commemorative Coin Act - Provides for the sale of Benjamin Franklin commemorative coins at a surcharge of which 25 percent shall be paid to the Benjamin Franklin National Memorial and the remainder be distributed in specified percentages to the National Fire Center and Museum Account, the National Hero Scholarship Account, the Firefighter's Tuition Assistance Account, the Hazardous Materials Response Computer Account, the In Search of Excellence Research and Education Account, and the Burn Research Grant Account of the Firefighter Assistance Trust Fund (Fund). Prohibits the issuance of such coins from resulting in any net cost to the Federal government. Title II: Fire Service Bill of Rights - Fire Service Bill of Rights Act - Amends the Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974 to establish a fire service bill of rights. Establishes the National Fire Center and Museum in the District of Columbia to provide information about the fire service and safety to the public and fire services. Funds such museum exclusively through the Fund. Establishes a National Hero Scholarship to fund the higher education of the children or spouse of a deceased firefighter. Establishes a scholarship providing tuition assistance to firefighters for higher education in fire safety or protection. Authorizes the Administrator of the United States Fire Administration to use amounts in the In Search of Excellence Research and Education Account of the Fund to fund other specified programs under the Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974. Establishes the Firefighters Assistance Trust Fund. Places the National Academy for Fire Prevention and Control within the United States Fire Administration. Directs the Administrator to use funds from the Hazardous Materials Response Computer Account of the fund to procure computer equipment for fire services that want such equipment. Directs the Administrator to make a grant from the Burn Research Grant Account of the Fund to one national firefighter's burn foundation dedicated to reducing burn injuries. Requires the Administrator to prepare and make available to State fire marshals, upon request, a manual describing Federal procedures for disposing of surplus property and highlighting how fire services could obtain such property. Directs the Administrator to distribute to such marshals information on the infectious diseases to which firefighters are particularly vulnerable.
United States · United States Congress · 1 November 1989
Recommends that the President: (1) invite President-elect Guillermo Endara and Vice-Presidents-elect Ricardo Arias Calderon and Guillermo Ford of Panama to seek full diplomatic recognition from the United States; (2) upon receipt of such a request, accord such recognition; (3) encourage other nations, particularly members of the Organization of American States, to confer such recognition; and (4) accord such Government all appropriate diplomatic, political, economic, and moral support in its efforts to achieve full governing authority over Panama.
United States · United States Congress · 31 October 1989
Amends Federal law to require the Secretary of the Treasury to make timely payments of benefits under title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act despite the public debt limit.
United States · United States Congress · 19 October 1989
Small Business Access Improvement Act of 1989 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a tax credit for small businesses for the expense of providing public accommodations access to the disabled. Reduces the tax deduction for expenditures to remove architectural and transportation barriers to the handicapped and elderly.
United States · United States Congress · 16 October 1989
Pornography Victims Protection Act of 1989 - Amends the Federal criminal code with respect to the prohibition against the sexual exploitation of children to add as a condition triggering Federal penalties that the person concerned know that a minor was transported in interstate or foreign commerce for the purpose of producing pornography. Makes it a criminal offense for any person to coerce, intimidate, or fraudulently induce an individual 18 years or older to engage in any sexually explicit conduct for the purposes of producing any visual depiction of such conduct. Grants the U.S. district courts jurisdiction to prevent and restrain violations of this Act. Authorizes the Attorney General or any person threatened with loss or damage by such conduct to institute a civil suit. Provides for treble damages for a victim who suffers physical injury, emotional distress, or property damage. Imposes civil penalties for violation of the prohibition against sexual exploitation of children.
United States · United States Congress · 2 October 1989
Pecan Promotion and Research Act of 1989 - Establishes a Pecan Marketing Board to carry out a coordinated program of research and promotion to strengthen the pecan industry's domestic and foreign market position. Funds such program through: (1) assessment on all pecans produced in, or imported into and marketed in the United States; and (2) deductions from grower payments for sales to a first handler. Authorizes an additional special State assessment. Provides for a program referendum among growers, importers, and grower-shellers. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 28 September 1989
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to increase the credit percentage of the earned income tax credit. Allows a supplemental tax credit for individuals with children under the age of five. Authorizes advance tax credit payments by employers based on the number of qualifying children. Requires such employers to collect a certificate or statement of eligibility from the employee. Amends the Social Security Act to eliminate changes in the treatment of earned income credit in determining certain aid to families with dependent children benefits. Provides for phasing out the dependent care credit and the exclusion for dependent care assistance for taxpayers whose incomes exceed $70,000.
United States · United States Congress · 28 September 1989
Amends the Rail Passenger Service Act to repeal an exemption from specified communicable disease control requirements of the Public Health Service Act for waste disposal from railroads operating in intercity rail passenger service.
United States · United States Congress · 28 September 1989
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to restrict the partial exclusion from income of interest on loans used to acquire employer securities to cases where the employee stock ownership plan owns at least 20 percent of: (1) each class of outstanding stock of the issuing corporation; or (2) the total value of all outstanding stock of the corporation. Limits securities acquisition loans to terms of 15 years. Limits the partial exclusion to loans of $100,000,000 or less except for employee stock ownership plans that own at least 50 percent the corporation's stock. Imposes an excise tax on: (1) the disposition of employer securities within three years of acquisition; and (2) any disposition of such securities before allocation to participant accounts, where the proceeds of disposition are not allocated to such accounts either.
United States · United States Congress · 21 September 1989
Prohibits the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from enforcing, during the 12-month period following the enactment of this Act, its underground petroleum storage tank financial responsibility regulations promulgated pursuant to the Solid Waste Disposal Act with respect to certain underground tank owners. Permits enforcement after such period if the Administrator of the EPA determines that such enforcement would not impose an unjust economic burden on the owners. Requires the Administrator to conduct a study for the purpose of identifying the principal economic difficulties associated with compliance by underground tank owners with EPA technical standards for such tanks. Directs the Administrator to report the results of such study to specified congressional committees. Amends the Solid Waste Disposal Act to: (1) delete the requirement that regulations under such Act include provisions for compensation of third parties for injury and property damage caused by accidental releases from underground storage tanks; and (2) reduce financial responsibility requirements for specified underground petroleum storage tanks.
![Official portrait of Rep. Holloway, Clyde [R-LA-8]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/h000729_200.jpg)