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![Official portrait of Rep. Kennedy, Joseph P., II [D-MA-8]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/k000110_200.jpg)
United States · Official source
2,121 records where Rep. Kennedy, Joseph P., II [D-MA-8] is listed as a sponsor, author, or other actor. Search with topics and years
United States · United States Congress · 10 February 1994
Amends the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938 to repeal the peanut price support and quota programs.
United States · United States Congress · 7 February 1994
Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) should be a high priority; (2) all FY 1995 appropriations made for LIHEAP should be expended; and (3) LIHEAP expenditures for FY 1996 should ensure the provision of services at or above the level provided in FY 1995.
United States · United States Congress · 3 February 1994
Designates March 20, 1994, as National Agriculture Day.
United States · United States Congress · 2 February 1994
Comprehensive Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Prevention Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to establish: (1) a comprehensive program to prevent Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and Fetal Alcohol Effects and coordinate related Federal efforts; and (2) an Inter-Agency Task Force on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and Fetal Alcohol Effects. Provides for related research, technical assistance, grants, cooperative agreements, and contracts, prevention programs, professional and public education, and diagnostic criteria. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 1 February 1994
Designates March 25, 1994, as Greek Independence Day: A National Day of Celebration of Greek and American Democracy.
United States · United States Congress · 25 January 1994
Designates April 28, 1994, as Exercise Tiger Day.
United States · United States Congress · 25 January 1994
Designates May 1994 as Older Americans Month.
United States · United States Congress · 25 January 1994
Designates 1994 as a year to honor the memory and leadership qualities of the Honorable Thomas P. "Tip" O'Neill, Jr., the late Speaker of the House of Representatives.
United States · United States Congress · 25 January 1994
Sets forth the rule for the consideration of H.J. Res. 103 (proposing an amendment to the Constitution to provide for a balanced budget).
United States · United States Congress · 25 January 1994
Expresses the sense of the Congress that a postage stamp should be issued to honor the 100th anniversary of the Jewish War Veterans of the United States and that the Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee of the U.S. Postal Service should make such recommendation to the Postmaster General.
United States · United States Congress · 22 November 1993
Child Abuse Accountability Act - Permits the garnishment of an annuity under the Civil Service or Federal Employees' Retirement Systems in order to satisfy a judgment against an annuitant for physically abusing a child.
United States · United States Congress · 22 November 1993
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Telecommunications Infrastructure and Competition Title II: Communications Competitiveness National Communications Competition and Information Infrastructure Act of 1993 - Title I: Telecommunications Infrastructure and Competition - Amends the Communications Act of 1934 (the Act) to state that the duty of a common carrier to furnish communications services includes the duty to furnish that service in accordance with such regulations concerning openness and accessibility of common carrier networks as the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) may prescribe in the public interest. (Sec. 102) Requires local telephone exchange service carriers to provide equal access to and interconnection with the facilities of the carrier's networks to any other carrier or person providing telecommunications services reasonably requesting such equal access and interconnection, so that the networks are fully interoperable. Directs the FCC to: (1) establish and implement regulations for such equal access and interconnection; and (2) establish reasonable compensation rates to the carrier for such services. Requires the convening of a Federal-State Joint Board to determine equal access and interconnection standards. Preempts contrary State law. Requires local carriers to prepare and file tariffs with respect to services or elements offered to comply with such standards, along with supporting information. Requires the FCC to determine whether a telecommunications service or provider of such service is or will be subject to reasonable competition and to take appropriate action thereafter. Requires the establishment of a Federal-State Joint Board to recommend actions to the FCC and State commissions for the preservation of universal service. Directs the FCC, at least once every three years, to review standards and requirements concerning equal access, interconnection, and the preservation of universal service, and take appropriate action thereafter. Requires such review to include a study of rural phone service. Includes among the duties of a communications service provider the duty to furnish such service in accordance with regulations concerning functionality and reliability as established by the FCC. Directs the FCC to initiate an inquiry to consider rules and policies necessary to make open platform service (a switched, end-to-end digital telecommunications service) available to all subscribers at reasonable rates. Provides for regulations, oversight, and determination as to whether such requirements would result in adverse competitive impact. Directs the FCC to establish network reliability and quality performance measures to ensure the continued maintenance and evolution of common carrier facilities and service. Provides certain regulatory exemptions for rural areas. (Sec. 103) Directs the FCC to: (1) issue a final determination within 180 days after a complaint concerning an alleged discriminatory interconnection; and (2) provide for the expedited licensing of new technologies or services related to the furnishing of telecommunications services. (Sec. 105) Requires any application filed by a provider of telephone exchange service for authority to construct or extend a line to address the means by which such construction or extension will meet the network access needs of individuals with disabilities. Title II: Communications Competitiveness - Amends the Act to allow a common telecommunications services carrier to provide video programming (cable TV service) directly to subscribers in its telephone service area, as long as the video programming is provided through a video programming affiliate that is separate from such carrier (with separate books, records and accounts). Sets forth rules and regulations concerning interaction and business transactions between a common carrier and an affiliate with respect to the provision of video programming services. Requires the common carrier with a video programming affiliate to establish a video platform (a listing and description of video services offered) and to provide capacity (open channels) in its video programming for unaffiliated video program providers. Prohibits a common carrier from: (1) cross-subsidizing costs of telephone service with costs of video programming service among its customers; and (2) buying out a cable system located within its telephone exchange area and owned by an unaffiliated person. (Sec. 201) Directs the FCC to convene a Federal-State Joint Board to establish practices, classifications, and regulations necessary to ensure proper jurisdictional separation and cost allocation of establishing and providing a video platform and allocations of those costs between regulated and unregulated services, including affiliated video programming. Provides for: (1) the applicability of franchising and other requirements; and (2) rural area exemptions from certain provisions of this title.
United States · United States Congress · 22 November 1993
Haitian Refugee Fairness Act - Expresses the sense of the Congress with respect to U.S. obligations in support of the international law requirement of nonrefoulement. Prohibits the U.S. Government from returning or causing to be returned to Haiti any Haitian national (with specified exceptions for certain felons and persons who participated in persecutions) outside U.S. territorial waters, or inside territorial waters of another country, unless the Government has first determined the individual not to be a refugee. (Sec. 3) Provides: (1) temporary protected status for qualifying Haitians; and (2) reimbursement for related State and local costs. (Sec. 5) Obligates specified funds for: (1) the Community Relations Service; and (2) primary and secondary resettlement services for paroled Cubans and Haitians. (Sec. 6) Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to authorize appropriations for a Cuban/Haitian Entrant Emergency Fund to be established in the Treasury. Requires the Attorney General to provide an annual estimation of Cuban and Haitian parolees.
United States · United States Congress · 22 November 1993
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Thomas Jefferson Commemorative Coin Title II: U.S. Veterans Commemorative Coins Title III: Reform of Commemorative Coin Programs Title IV: Bicentennial of the United States Capitol Commemorative Coin Act Title I: Thomas Jefferson Commemorative Coin - Jefferson Commemorative Coin Act of 1993 - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to: (1) issue one-dollar coins emblematic of Thomas Jefferson and his home, Monticello; and (2) pay surcharges from coin sales to the Jefferson Endowment Fund and to the Corporation for Jefferson's Poplar Forest. Title II: U.S. Veterans Commemorative Coins - United States Veterans Commemorative Coin Act of 1993 - Directs the Secretary to issue the following three types of one-dollar commemorative coins: (1) emblematic of the experience of Americans who have been prisoners of war; (2) emblematic of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial; and (3) symbolic of women's service in the armed forces. Requires the Secretary to pay specified amounts of surcharges received from coin sales to: (1) the Secretary of the Interior for construction of the Andersonville Prisoner-of-War Museum in Andersonville, Georgia; (2) an endowment fund to be established by this Act for the maintenance of the Museum; (3) the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to maintain national cemeteries; (4) the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund to help raise an endowment for the Memorial's maintenance and for the addition of names; and (5) the Women in Military Service for America Memorial Foundation, Inc., to create, endow, and dedicate the Women in Military Service for America Memorial. Title III: Reform of Commemorative Coin Programs - Declares that specified congressional committees should not report or otherwise clear legislation for consideration by the House of Representatives or the Senate that provides more than two commemorative coin programs for any year, unless the committees determine, on the basis of a recommendation by the Citizens Commemorative Coin Advisory Committee, that extraordinary merit exists for an additional commemorative coin program. Requires: (1) recipients of commemorative coin surcharges to file quarterly and final expenditure reports with the Director of the United States Mint and the Comptroller General; and (2) the Comptroller General to report to the Congress on the payment and expenditure of any surcharges based on such reports. Title IV: Bicentennial of the United States Capitol Commemorative Coin Act - Bicentennial of the United States Capitol Commemorative Coin Act - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to: (1) mint and issue one-dollar coins emblematic of the bicentennial of the United States Capitol; and (2) deposit surcharges from coin sales into the Capitol Preservation Fund to be available to the United States Capitol Preservation Commission.
United States · United States Congress · 22 November 1993
Designates June 6, 1994, as D-Day National Remembrance Day.
United States · United States Congress · 22 November 1993
Designates 1994 through 1999 as the Years of the Girl Child.
United States · United States Congress · 22 November 1993
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the national policy of the United States should be to: (1) increase energy efficiency, as specified; (2) increase renewable energy technologies to 20 percent of the overall national energy mix by 2010; and (3) achieve these goals by adopting a specified national strategy.
United States · United States Congress · 19 November 1993
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Thomas Jefferson Commemorative Coin Title II: U.S. Veterans Commemorative Coins Title III: Reform of Commemorative Coin Programs Title I: Thomas Jefferson Commemorative Coin - Jefferson Commemorative Coin Act of 1993 - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to: (1) issue one-dollar coins emblematic of Thomas Jefferson and his home, Monticello; and (2) pay surcharges from coin sales to the Jefferson Endowment Fund and to the Corporation for Jefferson's Poplar Forest. Title II: U.S. Veterans Commemorative Coins - United States Veterans Commemorative Coin Act of 1993 - Directs the Secretary to issue the following three types of one-dollar commemorative coins: (1) emblematic of the experience of Americans who have been prisoners of war; (2) emblematic of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial; and (3) symbolic of women's service in the armed forces. Requires the Secretary to pay specified amounts of surcharges received from coin sales to: (1) the Secretary of the Interior for construction of the Andersonville Prisoner-of-War Museum in Andersonville, Georgia; (2) an endowment fund to be established by this Act for the maintenance of the Museum; (3) the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to maintain national cemeteries; (4) the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund to help raise an endowment for the Memorial's maintenance and for the addition of names; and (5) the Women in Military Service for America Memorial Foundation, Inc., to create, endow, and dedicate the Women in Military Service for America Memorial. Title III: Reform of Commemorative Coin Programs - Declares that specified congressional committees should not report or otherwise clear legislation for consideration by the House of Representatives or the Senate that provides more than two commemorative coin programs for any year, unless the committees determine, on the basis of a recommendation by the Citizens Commemorative Coin Advisory Committee, that extraordinary merit exists for an additional commemorative coin program. Requires: (1) recipients of commemorative coin surcharges to file quarterly and final expenditure reports with the Director of the United States Mint and the Comptroller General; and (2) the Comptroller General to report to the Congress on the payment and expenditure of any surcharges based on such reports.
United States · United States Congress · 19 November 1993
Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) the President should seek a decision by the United Nations to immediately and completely cut off the delivery of natural gas to Serbia; and (2) such cutoff should continue until the regular and unimpeded flow of natural gas to Sarajevo and other areas of Bosnia-Herzegovina is fully restored.
United States · United States Congress · 18 November 1993
Code of Conduct on Arms Transfers Act of 1993 - Prohibits U.S. military assistance and arms transfers to a foreign government unless the President certifies to the Congress that the government: (1) meets specified conditions regarding democracy, including that it was chosen in free and fair elections and promotes civilian control of the military, the rule of law, and respect for individual rights; (2) does not engage in human rights violations, investigates and prosecutes those responsible for human rights violations, permits access to political prisoners by international organizations, and provides access to such organizations in situations of conflict or famine; (3) is not engaged in acts of armed aggression in violation of international law; and (4) is participating in the United Nations Register of Conventional Arms by annually reporting to the Register the number and type of conventional weapons possessed by, and transferred to and from, the country during the preceding year. Authorizes an exemption from such prohibition for a fiscal year if: (1) the President requests an exemption from the Congress stating that it is in the national security interest to provide military assistance and arms transfers to a government; and (2) the Congress enacts a law approving such request. Requires the President to submit initial certifications and requests for exemptions in conjunction with the submission of the annual request for enactment of authorizations and appropriations for foreign assistance. Expresses the sense of the Congress that the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee should hold hearings on controversial certifications and all requests for exemptions.
United States · United States Congress · 17 November 1993
Public Safety and Recreational Firearms Use Protection Act - Amends the Federal criminal code to prohibit the manufacture, transfer, or possession of a semiautomatic assault weapon as defined or listed under this Act. Sets penalties for violations and for use or possession of such a weapon during a crime of violence or drug trafficking crime. Requires the serial number of any such weapon manufactured after enactment of this Act to clearly show the date on which the weapon was manufactured. Makes such provisions inapplicable to: (1) the transfer or possession of any firearm lawfully possessed before the effective date of this Act; (2) certain hunting and sporting firearms; (3) the United States or a department or agency of the United States, or a State or department, agency, or political subdivision of a State; and (4) the manufacture, transfer, or possession of a firearm by a licensed manufacturer or importer for purposes of testing or experimentation authorized by the Secretary of the Treasury. Prohibits: (1) the sale, shipment, or delivery of an assault weapon to a person who does not fill out a form 4473 (prescribed by the Secretary) in connection with the purchase of an assault weapon; and (2) the purchase, possession, or acceptance of delivery of such weapon by a person who has not completed such form. Sets forth: (1) additional recordkeeping requirements; and (2) penalties for violations. Prohibits the transfer or possession of a large capacity ammunition feeding device, with exceptions. Treats such devices as firearms. Sets penalties for violations. Requires any such device manufactured after the date of this Act's enactment to be identified by a serial number that clearly shows that the device was manufactured or imported after the effective date of this Act. Directs the Attorney General to: (1) investigate and study the effect of this Act and determine its impact, if any, on violent and drug trafficking crime; and (2) report to the Congress. Itemizes firearms under various categories as an appendix to Federal firearms provisions.
United States · United States Congress · 10 November 1993
Child Prostitution and Sexual Abuse Prevention Act of 1993 - Amends the Federal criminal code to impose penalties upon U.S. citizens or resident aliens who travel in interstate or foreign commerce, or conspire to do so, for the purpose of engaging in any sexual act with a person under age 18 which would be in violation of Federal sexual abuse provisions if such act occurred in the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 10 November 1993
Designates March 20 through 26, 1994, as Small Family Farm Week.
United States · United States Congress · 3 November 1993
Establishes within the Department of the Interior the Presidio Corporation to manage the leasing, maintenance, rehabilitation, repair, and improvement of the following properties within the Presidio in California leaseholds to which shall be transferred under this Act to the Corporation by the Secretary of the Interior: (1) the Letterman-LAIR complex; (2) Fort Scott; (3) Main Post; (4) Cavalry Stables; (5) Presidio Hill; (6) Wherry Housing; (7) East Housing; (8) the structures at Crissy Field; and (9) such other buildings within the Presidio as the Secretary determines appropriate. Requires the Corporation to establish competitive bidding procedures for issuance of leases and contracts under this Act. Reverts all interests and assets of the Corporation to the United States in the event the Corporation fails or defaults. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 3 November 1993
Smoke-Free Environment Act of 1993 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to add a new title on smoke free environments. Requires the responsible entity for each public facility to adopt, implement, and post a policy prohibiting smoking in the facility and on facility property in the immediate vicinity of the facility's entrance. Allows designated smoking areas if: (1) the area is ventilated to exhaust directly to the outside; and (2) nonsmoking individuals do not have to enter the area for any purpose. Allows enforcement actions by any aggrieved person, any State or local government agency, or the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. Provides for civil monetary penalties.
United States · United States Congress · 3 November 1993
Directs the President to declare June 7 through 14, 1994, as National Flag Celebration Week.
United States · United States Congress · 28 October 1993
Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation and First Aid School Training Act of 1993 - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to direct the Secretary of Education to make at least ten demonstration grants to local educational agencies to provide secondary school students with instruction, training, and programs in cardiopulmonary resuscitation and first aid.
United States · United States Congress · 26 October 1993
Urges the Attorney General and the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to cooperate with the U.S. Postal Service and the Polly Klaas Search Center to use nationwide mailings to disseminate information concerning the kidnapping of Polly Klaas. Commends the community of Petaluma, California, the Petaluma Police Department, and the FBI for their hard work on this case.
United States · United States Congress · 21 October 1993
Establishes a toll-free number to inform consumers regarding: (1) whether a product is made in America; (2) where products may be purchased; and (3) the purchase of products. Allows registration of American-made products.
United States · United States Congress · 15 October 1993
Home Refinancing Assistance Act of 1993 - Amends the National Housing Act to authorize the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to insure qualifying single family home refinancings.
United States · United States Congress · 12 October 1993
Designates May 1 through 7, 1994, as National Walking Week.
United States · United States Congress · 30 September 1993
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Definitions Title II: Compliance and Increased Participation Title III: Ratings and Incentives for Community Floodplain Management Programs Title IV: Mitigation of Flood and Erosion Risks Title V: Flood Insurance Task Force Title VI: Miscellaneous Provisions National Flood Insurance Reform Act of 1993 - Title I: Definitions - Defines specified terms under the Flood Disaster Protection Act of 1973 and the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968. Title II: Compliance and Increased Participation - Amends the Flood Disaster Protection Act of 1973 to require the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to: (1) prohibit any lending institution from making, increasing, extending, or renewing any loan for real estate in a special flood hazards area unless such real estate is covered by flood insurance under the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968; and (2) direct the Federal National Mortgage Association and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation to implement procedures to achieve those results. Prohibits any other Federal agency lender from making such a loan for appropriate real estate not covered by such flood insurance. Requires residential real estate lenders to establish flood insurance premium escrow accounts. Requires Federal lenders and regulated lending institutions (banks, savings and loans, credit unions) to notify borrowers of special flood hazards and of the need to purchase and maintain flood insurance. Requires such entities, after 60 days' notice, to purchase such insurance on behalf of the borrower and charge the borrower for premium costs. Provides for review of special hazards determinations by the Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Imposes civil penalties upon lenders who fail to require flood insurance or to provide appropriate borrower notification of the need for such insurance. Requires the transferor of a loan to notify the transferee of a determination that the real estate that is the basis of such loan is in a special flood hazards area. Provides exceptions. Requires similar notification on loans transferred by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the Resolution Trust Corporation (RTC). Requires the Director to develop a standard flood hazard determination form for use in connection with loans for residential properties located in an area of special flood hazards and in which flood insurance is available. Amends the Federal Deposit Insurance Act and the Federal Credit Union Act to require regulated lending institutions to conduct examinations and report to the Congress with respect to compliance with the National Flood Insurance Program. Amends the Federal Housing Enterprises Financial Safety and Soundness Act of 1992 to require the FEMA Director to annually determine whether enterprises under such Act are in compliance with requirements of the national flood insurance program. Amends the Federal Financial Institutions Examinations Council Act of 1978 to direct the Financial Examinations Council to coordinate with Federal entities for lending regulation and the HUD Secretary to develop uniform lender standards. Title III: Ratings and Incentives for Community Floodplain Management Programs - Amends the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 to provide for a community rating system and premium rate incentives for community floodplain management. Provides program funding. Title IV: Mitigation of Flood and Erosion Risks - Amends the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 to terminate: (1) the insured flooded property purchase or loan program; and (2) the schedule for payment of flood insurance for structures on land subject to imminent collapse or subsidence. Amends the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968 to require the FEMA Director to: (1) coordinate all flood and erosion mitigation activities under the Federal Insurance Administrator; and (2) provide financial assistance to States and communities, from the National Flood Mitigation Fund established under this Act, for planning and carrying out flood and erosion mitigation activities. Establishes in the Treasury the National Flood Mitigation Fund for providing such assistance. Requires the FEMA Director to assess an insurance premium mitigation surcharge to cover the flood and erosion mitigation coverage expenses. Repeals (with a one-year transition period) the current programs for the purchase of certain insured properties and the demolition or relocation of threatened structures. Requires the FEMA Director to: (1) conduct a study (and make a report) to determine the feasibility of providing mitigation insurance for increasing repair and reconstruction costs of repeatedly and severely flood damaged insured buildings; (2) conduct a study of riverine erosion; and (3) coordinate coastal zone management programs under the Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and with the States. Title V: Flood Insurance Task Force - Establishes a two-year interagency Flood Insurance Task Force to: (1) develop standardized flood insurance enforcement procedures; (2) study Federal agency and secondary mortgage market assistance with respect to such enforcement; and (3) study the possibility of existing Federal and corporate flood insurance programs as models for new programs. Title VI: Miscellaneous Provisions - Amends the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 to: (1) extend through FY 1999 the national flood insurance program; (2) increase flood insurance coverage amounts for nonresidential, single family, and multifamily structures; (3) permit flood insurance private sector participation; and (4) require an assessment (and revision if necessary) of flood insurance maps (with identification of erosion hazard areas) at least every five years. Provides additional funding for the preparation of such maps.
United States · United States Congress · 30 September 1993
Women's Health Services Act of 1993 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to: (1) provide for coverage under Medicare part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) of bone mass measurements and annual screening mammography for women over age 64; and (2) make permanent the coverage of certain osteoporosis drugs under such part.
United States · United States Congress · 30 September 1993
Veterans PTSD Treatment and Psychological Readjustment Act of 1993 - States that it shall be the policy of the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to implement the recommendations of the Special Committee on Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder to establish and operate specialized inpatient post-traumatic stress disorder units (SIPUs) at Department of Veterans Affairs medical centers. Requires such facilities and services to be available to all eligible veterans, including veterans of the Persian Gulf War. Requires the Secretary to gradually increase the number of SIPUs in order to meet a total increase of not less than 30 units by the end of 1997. Requires the Secretary to direct the Special Committee to identify areas of the country in which there are significant needs for expanding the Vet Center program. Requires a gradual increase in the number of Vet Centers in order to meet a total increase of not less than 40 by the end of 1997. Requires the Secretary to furnish counseling at the request of any veteran who served in a combat theater of operations while on active duty. Establishes in the Department the Advisory Committee on Veteran Readjustment Counseling and requires such Committee to report to the Secretary on recommendations to increase outreach efforts to Vietnam-era and post-Vietnam-era veterans who have readjustment counseling needs. Directs the Secretary to conduct a pilot program to contract for care and treatment and rehabilitative services in halfway houses, therapeutic communities, psychiatric residential treatment centers, and other community based treatment facilities for eligible veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Directs the Special Committee to report to specified congressional committees on PTSD contract care. Requires the Secretary, in administering the Health Professionals Educational Assistance Program, to encourage the participation of individuals who desire to become psychologists, psychiatrists, and related personnel specializing in the treatment of PTSD. Requires the Department's Under Secretary for Health to conduct a research program into the most effective treatment modalities for PTSD, including family involvement. States that it shall be the policy of the Secretary to implement the recommendations of the Special Committee to establish and operate PTSD clinical teams at Department medical centers which provide mental health services. Directs the Secretary to increase the number of such clinical teams by 50 units by the end of 1997.
United States · United States Congress · 30 September 1993
Designates October 29, 1993, as National Firefighters Day.
United States · United States Congress · 29 September 1993
Insurance Disclosure Act - Directs the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (the Secretary) to establish requirements for insurers to compile and submit information to the Secretary for each annual reporting period concerning the affordability and availability of insurance coverage for: (1) noncommercial insurance; (2) commercial insurance for residential properties and small businesses in urban areas; (3) bid, performance, and payment bonds for small businesses; and (4) insurance in designated rural areas. Authorizes the Secretary to waive such disclosure requirements if the State within which the insurer transacts business has an equivalent disclosure mechanism in place. Directs the Financial Institutions Examination Council to determine the extent to which private mortgage insurers make available to the public and to regulatory agencies the mortgage information required to be reported under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act of 1975. Provides for contracting out such data collection or submission of such data through statistical agents. Directs the Secretary to set forth specified annual disclosure requirements for loans and investments made by designated insurers in a designated metropolitan statistical area. Prescribes guidelines for: (1) the compilation and public accessibility of the disclosures mandated by this Act; and (2) written notification by an insurer to applicants and policyholders regarding the reasons that coverage was denied. Sets forth civil penalties for insurers in violation of this Act. Directs the Secretary to establish a task force to report to certain congressional committees on insurance agency appointments affecting inner city and minority agents. Requires the Secretary to conduct studies and report to certain congressional committees on: (1) prescreening of insurance applicants; (2) insurer practices affecting the insurance needs of low- and moderate-income neighborhoods, minority neighborhoods, and small businesses located in such neighborhoods; (3) disparate treatment of policyholders by insurers based upon sex, race, or income level; (4) the disparate impact upon policyholders of basing insurance premiums upon the territory in which the insured risk is located; and (5) community reinvestment requirements for insurers that are comparable to those for depository institutions.
United States · United States Congress · 28 September 1993
Adds lung, larynx, or trachea cancer and multiple myeloma to the list of diseases that are presumed to be service-connected and, therefore, compensable under veterans' disability provisions when suffered by Vietnam era veterans as a result of exposure to certain herbicide agents during active duty in Vietnam.
United States · United States Congress · 28 September 1993
Home Equity Protection Act of 1993 - Amends the Truth in Lending Act to require the creditor of each high cost mortgage to provide certain clearly written, conspicuous disclosures regarding the risks associated with such mortgages. Prohibits such mortgages from containing: (1) a prepayment penalty for paying all or part of the principal prior to the date on which the balance is due; (2) certain refinancing fees; (3) balloon payments; (4) negative amortization; (5) certain prepared payments; and (6) specified unfair, deceptive, or evasive acts. Declares that State authority to regulate certain high rate mortgage loans is not preempted by specified Federal statutes. Includes within the creditor's liability for damages for noncompliance with this Act all finance charges and fees paid by the consumer. Empowers the appropriate State attorney general to bring an action to enforce this Act. Subjects an assignee of a high cost mortgage to all the claims and defenses that the consumer could assert against the creditor.
United States · United States Congress · 27 September 1993
Rent-To-Own Reform Act of 1993 - Amends the Consumer Credit Protection Act to designate a new title X as the Rent-To-Own Protection Act to prohibit a seller in a rent-to-own transaction from taking, receiving, or assessing any interest, finance charge, or other fee for the transaction in excess of that which may be charged under State law which establishes in connection with a credit or retail installment sale for the same or a similar item: (1) a maximum rate or amount of interest, finance charge, or time-price differential that may be charged; (2) the types and maximum amount of fees that a seller may charge; or (3) the types of credit insurance and the maximum amount of premiums that can be charged for credit insurance. Sets forth requirements regarding: (1) termination, recovery, and other fees; (2) the effect of termination; and (3) guarantees and warranties. Makes the following Federal laws applicable to rent-to-own transactions: (1) the Truth in Lending Act; (2) the Equal Credit Opportunity Act; (3) the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act; and (4) the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Requires a seller to include the following information on each item in the seller's place of business that is available for purchase pursuant to a rent-to-own transaction: (1) the cash price; (2) an itemization of services offered and the price of each service; (3) the annual percentage rate; (4) any applicable periodic payment and the number of payments; (5) the total number of payments required to acquire ownership; and (6) whether the item is new or used. Requires a seller to provide such information to a consumer in writing at the time the parties enter into the contract. Prohibits a seller under a rent-to-own contract with a consumer from taking specified actions, such as using threats or coercion to collect amounts alleged due, or unreasonably disclosing information to third parties regarding amounts owed by the consumer. Makes compliance with the requirements of this Act enforceable by the Federal Trade Commission. Deems a violation of this Act to be an unfair or deceptive act or practice in violation of the Federal Trade Commission Act. Subjects sellers who violate the requirements of this Act to civil liability.
United States · United States Congress · 27 September 1993
Designates the week beginning October 25, 1993, as World Population Awareness Week.
United States · United States Congress · 23 September 1993
Designates October 19, 1993, as National Mammography Day.
United States · United States Congress · 23 September 1993
Supports: (1) freedom and democracy in Nigeria; (2) the wishes of the voters of Nigeria as displayed in the presidential election of June 12, 1993; and (3) extension of limited sanctions now in place against the unelected interim government to include trade sanctions. Declares that the Congress does not recognize the interim government as legitimate. Encourages the President to direct the U.S. representative to the United Nations to urge the Security Council to: (1) not recognize the interim government as legitimate; and (2) take action to mediate the removal of such government for purposes of installing the democratically-elected government of June 12, 1993.
United States · United States Congress · 14 September 1993
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the start-up or continued operation of any plutonium separation plant presents serious environmental hazards and increases the risk of nuclear proliferation and should be suspended until specified proliferation and environmental concerns have been resolved. Urges the President to: (1) convey such opinion to the Governments of the United Kingdom, France, Japan, and Russia; and (2) address the proliferation and environmental implications of the new Thermal Oxide Reprocessing Plant (THORP) in the United Kingdom in high-level discussions with the Government of the United Kingdom before the conclusion of such Government's internal review of whether THORP will be allowed to start up.
United States · United States Congress · 6 August 1993
Establishes in the Department of Veterans Affairs a Women's Bureau to foster and promote standards and policies of the Department concerning the general welfare of women veterans. Provides for a Director and Deputy Director of such Bureau. Requires the Director to: (1) assist in the development of policies providing benefits and other services to women veterans and their beneficiaries; (2) serve as principal advisor to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs with regard to the interests and concerns of women veterans; and (3) be briefed at least annually by other Department officials on matters that may affect women veterans. Authorizes the Bureau to investigate and report to the Secretary on all matters pertaining to the welfare of women veterans. Requires the Secretary to: (1) ensure the full participation of the bureau in Department policymaking, program direction, legislative and regulatory action, research, and evaluation; and (2) include in annual budget documents submitted to the Congress certain information with respect to Bureau budget, activities, and effectiveness.
United States · United States Congress · 6 August 1993
Adds Hodgkin's disease and porphyria cutanea tarda, both becoming manifest to a degree of ten percent or more, to the list of diseases that will be presumed to be service-connected, and, therefore, compensable under veterans' disability provisions, when suffered by Vietnam era veterans after serving on active duty in Vietnam.
United States · United States Congress · 6 August 1993
Amends the National Trails System Act to designate the route from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama (traveled by the march dramatizing the need for voting rights legislation), as a National Historic Trail.
United States · United States Congress · 6 August 1993
Business and Consumer Lending Stimulus Act - Prohibits Federal banking regulatory agencies from imposing or enforcing for a specified period any leverage limit for an adequately capitalized insured depository institution requiring a ratio of tangible equity to total assets greater than three percent. Amends the Federal Deposit Insurance Act to require Federal banking regulatory agencies to: (1) consider, when prescribing real estate lending standards, their impact upon the availability of credit for certain target groups; and (2) minimize any negative impact. Amends the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989 (FIRREA) to direct the Appraisal Subcommittee to encourage the States to enter into reciprocity agreements with sister States allowing licensed appraisers in one State to perform appraisals in other States. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to report to certain congressional committees on the effect of risk based capital standards upon insured depository institutions, the availability of credit, and the domestic economy. Requires Federal banking regulatory agencies and the National Credit Union Administration to establish an independent appellate process within each agency to review regulatory determinations. Directs the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (the Board) to study and report to the Congress on the effect of sterile reserves. Directs the Office of Management and Budget and the Congressional Budget Office to study and report to the Congress on the budgetary impact of the payment of interest on sterile reserves. Amends the Federal Deposit Insurance Act to cite circumstances under which the Resolution Trust Corporation may waive its rights to repudiate an agreement to sell credit card accounts receivable. Requires Federal banking regulatory agencies to coordinate examinations conducted at an insured depository institution with Federal and State sister agencies so as to minimize the disruptive effects upon the institution's operations. Directs the Board and the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to jointly study and report to the Congress on ways to streamline the credit-granting process. Amends the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Improvement Act of 1991 to increase the number and kinds of disclosures required of insured depository institutions with respect to loans made to small businesses, minority-owned businesses, and start-up enterprises. Amends the Home Owners' Loan Act to treat as a bank, for certain purposes of the Federal Reserve Act, a savings association that is well capitalized without including goodwill in calculating its core capital (thus accelerating the effective date of the sister thrift exemption for well-capitalized institutions).
United States · United States Congress · 6 August 1993
Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to declare that two of its purposes are to: (1) create more employment opportunities in the United States and Ireland; and (2) increase U.S. exports to, and the U.S. trade surplus with, the European Community. Requires the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) to guarantee loans to U.S. firms for the establishment of low-cost distribution facilities in Ireland that use U.S. products.
United States · United States Congress · 6 August 1993
Indoor Air Act of 1993 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to direct the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to promulgate a national strategy to reduce human exposure to indoor air pollutants. Requires the Administrator to promulgate a list of common indoor air hazards and guidelines for identifying, eliminating, and preventing such hazards. Directs the Administrator to establish programs to accredit persons to train individuals in the identification, elimination, and prevention of such hazards and to certify indoor air contractors. Imposes fees for accreditation and certification. Authorizes suspension or revocation of accreditations or certifications for violations of this Act's requirements. Requires the Administrator to establish a national campaign to increase public awareness concerning the health risks of, and encourage action to reduce exposure to, indoor air pollutants. Provides for the concurrent publication of health advisories and technology bulletins (to assess methods for the measurement and reduction of exposure to such pollutants). Requires the Administrator to establish a national indoor air quality clearinghouse. Directs the Administrator to: (1) establish a program to identify, eliminate, and prevent indoor air hazards in Federal facilities; and (2) develop a voluntary, incentive-based program to provide Federal recognition to buildings that are designed and constructed and operated and maintained in a manner that prevents indoor air pollution. Authorizes the Administrator to: (1) provide grants to States and local governments to implement programs to measure and reduce indoor air pollution; and (2) conduct, or provide financial assistance to, indoor air quality studies. Provides for civil actions and penalties to enforce this Act. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 6 August 1993
Designates May 2 through 8, 1994, as Public Service Recognition Week.