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United States · Official source
3,006 records where Rep. Kolter, Joseph P. [D-PA-4] is listed as a sponsor, author, or other actor. Search with topics and years
United States · United States Congress · 16 September 1992
Designates October 4 through 10, 1992, as National Bone Marrow Donor Awareness Week.
United States · United States Congress · 12 August 1992
Authorizes the President, on behalf of the Congress, to present a gold medal to John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie in recognition of his accomplishments as a musician. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to provide for the sale of bronze duplicates of the medal.
United States · United States Congress · 12 August 1992
Designates May 2 through 8, 1993, as National Walking Week.
United States · United States Congress · 12 August 1992
Designates the week beginning November 8, 1992, as Hire a Veteran Week.
United States · United States Congress · 12 August 1992
Congratulates Launi Meili and Bob Foth on their outstanding achievements in smallbore rifle three-position competitions at the 1992 summer Olympic games.
United States · United States Congress · 11 August 1992
Designates December 1, 1992, as World AIDS Day.
United States · United States Congress · 5 August 1992
Pennsylvania Wild and Scenic Rivers Act of 1992 - Amends the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act to designate specified river segments in the State of Pennsylvania for study for potential addition to the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System.
United States · United States Congress · 5 August 1992
Expresses the sense of the Congress that effective follow-up to achieve the goals of the agreements reached at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) will depend on the following actions by the President and the U.S. Government: (1) adoption of a national strategy for environmentally sustainable development, based on an extensive process of nationwide consultations with all interested organizations and individuals; (2) the Government encouraging and facilitating means for adopting individual Agenda 21 plans of action, including the establishment of local, county, State, business, and other boards and commissions for achieving sustainable development; (3) the President establishing an effective mechanism to plan, initiate, and coordinate U.S. policy for implementing Agenda 21; and (4) policies being formulated for foreign policy and assistance to help developing countries, and for domestic actions to assure appropriate action to implement Agenda 21. Supports: (1) pursuing the research and policy initiatives urged in Agenda 21, including research on sustainable consumption and production patterns, creation of a policy framework for sustainable consumption patterns, identification of a strategy to eliminate or reduce subsidies for unsustainable natural resource exploitation, and improving pricing policies; (2) the Congress adopting a plan to reallocate an appropriate amount of savings from reduced defense spending to achieve its goals of global environmental protection and sustainable development over the next decade; and (3) the effective establishment of a high-level United Nations (UN) Commission on Sustainable Development. Urges the United States to call for periodic international meetings to continue the process toward developing and advancing international agreement to facilitate sustainable economic development. Calls on the President to: (1) urge and actively participate in multilateral efforts aimed at creating a more favorable international economic climate for developing countries to practice sustainable development; (2) affirm strong U.S. commitment to the Commission by appointing a high-level representative to the Commission and by encouraging the UN Secretary General to appoint an Under Secretary General for Sustainable Development; (3) submit and encourage all UN members to submit a national report to the Commission on activities the United States has undertaken to implement Agenda 21 both domestically and internationally, on progress made toward fulfilling other commitments undertaken at UNCED, and on other relevant environmental and developmental issues; and (4) submit an annual report to the Congress on the steps taken by the United States to implement Agenda 21 and the recommendations made by this Act and make information regarding such steps available to Members of the Congress upon request.
United States · United States Congress · 4 August 1992
American Jobs Fairness Act of 1992 - Prohibits expenditure of Federal funds to purchase components for the Superconducting Super Collider that are manufactured outside the United States, except under a contract that was open to competitive bidding (with specified exceptions for certain components).
United States · United States Congress · 30 July 1992
Designates October 1992 as Polish-American Heritage Month.
United States · United States Congress · 28 July 1992
Amends the Tariff Act of 1930 to require the administering authority to consider, in addition to those factors already required, when determining whether imported parts or components of merchandise completed or assembled in the United States or a foreign country are circumventing an antidumping or countervailing duty order, the value and sources of supply of parts or components historically used in the assembly of the merchandise subject to such order. Authorizes the administering authority to include within the scope of an antidumping or countervailing duty order imported parts or components that constitute certain merchandise sold in the United States and subject to such order, provided: (1) it is completed or assembled in the United States or a foreign country from parts or components supplied by the exporter or producer, from suppliers that have historically supplied such parts or components to such exporter or producer, or from any party in the exporting country supplying such items on behalf of such exporter or producer; (2) the value of the imported parts or components is significant in relation to the total value of all parts and components used in the assembly or completion operation, excluding packing; (3) consideration of specified factors establishes a pattern of circumvention of an antidumping or countervailing duty order; or (4) the administering authority determines that action is appropriate to prevent circumvention of such order. Enables the administering authority to base such a decision on any of such factors by itself, rather than on all of them together. Requires the administering authority, upon request made within one year of such effective date, to review prior negative determinations under the applicable new standards contained in this Act. Requires the administering authority to include such parts or components within the scope of an order if application of the new standards to the record compiled in the prior determination would have resulted in an affirmative determination.
United States · United States Congress · 23 July 1992
Amends the Emergency Unemployment Compensation Act of 1991 (Public Law 102-164) to increase the number of weeks for which emergency unemployment compensation is payable. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to reduce a tax deduction for certain expenses for meals and entertainment.
United States · United States Congress · 23 July 1992
Balanced Budget Enforcement Act of 1992 - Title I: Balancing the Budget - Part A: Purposes - Repeals provisions of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act) with respect to: (1) emergency powers to eliminate deficits in excess of the maximum deficit amount; (2) budgetary treatment of social security trust funds; and (3) miscellaneous and related provisions. Declares the purpose of this Act to balance the budget by FY 1998 and each year thereafter. Part B: The Deficit Elimination Act of 1992 - The Deficit Elimination Act of 1992 - Establishes deficit reduction targets for direct spending and receipts legislation for FY 1993 through 1998. Establishes discretionary funding limits in terms of new budget authority for FY 1994 through 1998. Requires, whenever appropriate, that adjustments to such limits be made to reflect: (1) changes in budget accounting concepts; (2) changes in inflation for each year and outyear (any of the four fiscal years that follow the budget year); (3) renewal/replacement multiyear subsidized housing contracts; (4) emergency requirements; (5) new limits for 1998 and thereafter; and (6) any law that raises excise taxes dedicated to a transportation trust fund. Provides that if at the start of the 1998 budget-year session the baseline assuming deficit reduction projects a deficit (or surplus) for that year, then the direct spending and receipts deficit reduction requirement for that year and the discretionary funding limit for that year shall each be changed by amounts that, when debt service effects are added, will produce a balanced budget. Requires these changes to be made through enactment of a spin-off law or, if a spin-off law is not enacted, an adjustment to the direct spending and receipts deficit reduction requirement by two-thirds of the required change (excluding debt service effects) and a one-third adjustment of the required change (excluding debt service effects) to the discretionary funding limit. Provides for preventing deficits starting with FY 1999. Provides for the enactment of a spin-off law through congressional budget procedures or other means to balance the budget in 1998 or prevent deficits after 1998. Establishes a scorecard for the recording of the estimated increase or decrease in deficit reduction for the current year, the budget year, and each fiscal year through 1998 due to enactment (after August 15, 1992) of any law, or the imposition of any sequestration, or the change in the baseline which relates to certain expiring provisions of law and to veterans' compensation, affecting the level of direct spending or the level of receipts. Requires the creation of a new scorecard for FY 1999 and thereafter for the estimated increase or decrease in the deficit or surplus for the budget year. Sets forth deficit reduction requirements for the scorecard. Provides for scoring any law that affects current-year direct spending or receipts. Divides the scorecard between changes in outlays for direct spending and changes in receipts. Excludes certain emergency legislation from the scorecard. Includes certain receipts resulting from an increase in an excise tax dedicated to a transportation fund. Establishes a scorecard for each fiscal year starting with 1994 for discretionary appropriations amounts due to: (1) the enactment of any law in the budget-year session; (2) the enactent of any law in any previous session of Congress; or (3) the imposition of any across-the-board reduction of discretionary programs. Sets forth the method of enforcing deficit reduction targets in direct spending programs through a targeted sequestration procedure. Requires enactment of a spin-off law to initiate such procedure. Establishes a comprehensive sequestration procedure if such spin-off bill is not enacted. Requires under such procedure a freeze of entitlement spending and some revenue provisions in the amount needed to meet deficit targets. Sets forth the method of sequestering discretionary programs through uniform across-the-board reductions, unless the excess of new budget authority is less than $250 million. Lists the budget accounts or activities exempted from sequestration. Authorizes the President to exempt some or all of the budgetary resources of any military personnel account from sequestration, pending notification of the Congress. Subjects Federal administrative expenses to sequestration orders, with specified exceptions. Provides for the permanent sequestration of direct spending and receipts and for determining applicable uniform percentages for reductions. Sets forth the method of making reductions for: (1) the non-JOBS and JOBS portion of the Aid to Families with Dependent Children Program (AFDC) under the Social Security Act; (2) the child support enforcement program; (3) the Commodity Credit Corporation; (4) the conservation reserve program; (5) extended unemployment compensation; (6) the Federal Employees Health Benefits Fund; (7) the Federal Housing Finance Board; (8) Federal pay; (9) the guaranteed student loan program; (10) Federal insurance program; (11) the Medicaid program; (12) the Medicare program; (13) the Postal Service Fund; (14) the Department of Energy power marketing administration funds or the Tennessee Valley Authority fund; (15) the uranium enrichment program; and (16) veterans' housing loans. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to establish the method of sequestration through tax changes. Requires an increase in the top marginal rates and modifies the indexing provision under a sequestration order. Imposes a tax surcharge on individuals and corporations. Sets forth the timetable for estimating assumptions and filing reports and orders by the President, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and the Board of Estimates (established by this Act). Requires the making of sequestration reports, sequestration preview reports, and low-growth reports by CBO and OMB. Establishes the administrative procedures relative to such reports. Sets forth assumptions to be used in calculating the baseline for the budget year and each outyear with respect to direct spending and receipts and discretionary programs. Declares that a baseline assuming deficit reduction refers to a projection of current policy baseline surpluses or deficits into the budget year and the outlays that is adjusted in aggregate by: (1) assuming compliance with basic deficit reduction targets; (2) assuming compliance with the discretionary funding limits; and (3) excluding amounts resulting from legislation designated as an emergency requirement. Establishes as a deposit fund in the Treasury a Stabilization Reserve Fund to accumulate balances during years of comparative prosperity, which may later be used to cover the loss of receipts and the increase in outlays that occur during comparative economic distress. Requires annual surpluses to be paid into the Fund. Requires starting with FY 1999 that an additional $10 billion be paid to the Fund. Requires in each year starting with 2000 that an additional $20 billion be paid to such Fund. Prohibits Fund balances from receiving interest. Requires the enactment of a law to transfer balances to the General Fund of the Treasury. Establishes congressional procedures in the event of a low-growth report or a declaration of war. Establishes a Board of Estimates to choose the applicable sequestration report from OMB or CBO to submit to the President. Provides judicial review procedures for provisions of this title. Title II: Technical and Conforming Amendments - Makes technical and conforming amendments to the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974, the Federal Credit Reform Act of 1990, the Rules of the House of Representatives, the Standing Rules of Senate, and specified other laws. Establishes the public debt limit.
United States · United States Congress · 9 July 1992
Children's Initiative - Family Preservation Act of 1992 - States that titles I through V of this Act may be cited as the Family Preservation Act of 1992 - Title I: Child Welfare Services - Amends part B (Child Welfare Services) of title IV of the Social Security Act (SSA) to create a capped entitlement program to provide child welfare services designed to strengthen and preserve families. Provides for allotments, reallotments, and payments to States of entitlement funds. Requires use of part of such funds to develop or expand specialized child welfare service programs for families in crisis due to substance abuse. Requires uses of remaining funds to develop or expand certain family and child service programs. Repeals provisions for incentive payments to States which maintain a foster care inventory, information system, and case review system; but requires States to provide such protections and other services designed to keep families together or reunify them, or to place children for adoption, with a legal guardian, or in some other planned, permanent living arrangement. Requires States to submit the following types of reports on child welfare services and expenditures: (1) pre-expenditure reports; (2) post-expenditure reports; and (3) comparative financial contributions reports. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to transmit to specified congressional committees annual summaries of the information in such comparative financial contributions reports. Requires such information to be made available to the public. Reserves entitlement funds for grants to State court systems to assess and improve procedures in child welfare cases in carrying out parts B and E (Foster Care and Adoption Assistance) of SSA title IV. Sets forth application requirements and formulas for determining the amount of such grants for FY 1994 through 1998. Directs the HHS Secretary to submit interim and final reports to the Congress on the information obtained from assessments conducted with such grants and the impact of such grant program on State court procedures and functions. Requires each State to compile periodically a detailed directory of programs designed to keep families together or reunify them or place children permanently, identifying which of such programs provides specialized child welfare services to families in crisis due to substance abuse. Requires States to report on measures taken to comply with the Indian Child Welfare Act. Title II: Foster Care And Adoption Assistance - Amends SSA title IV to add a new part C, Comprehensive Service Projects to grant States flexibility and resources to develop comprehensive and coordinated services designed to: (1) preserve and strengthen families with children at risk of placement outside their homes; (2) reunite children with their families expeditiously if an out-of-home placement is found to be necessary; and (3) place children in adoptive homes or other permanent arrangements in a timely fashion if reunification with their families is not appropriate. Permits any State to apply to the HHS Secretary for permission to: (1) conduct a comprehensive service project in a selected area or areas; and (2) suspend certain child welfare services and foster care and adoption assistance requirements with respect to State activities in such area or areas during the project. Sets forth application requirements and administrative provisions for such projects. Prohibits the HHS Secretary from requiring as a condition of approval of a project application: (1) the State to select any area or areas in which to conduct the project; or (2) the project to comply with any requirements not specified in the project authorization. Sets forth those requirements with which such a project must comply. Provides for determining the expenses for which a State might properly seek reimbursement, for purposes of calculating such grant amount. Authorizes the HHS Secretary to increase such grant amount, to the extent appropriate, by taking specified factors into account. Sets forth requirements for notification to States of grant amounts, and for grant payments in equal quarterly installments. Prohibits a State from carrying out such a project in a manner that impairs the entitlement of any child to: (1) the foster care benefits he or she would have receive if the HHS Secretary had approved the State plan and had not authorized the State to conduct such a project; or (2) any other benefit to which the child is legally entitled. Deems a State to have in effect an approved foster care and adoption assistance plan during the period in which it conducts such a project for purposes of State plan requirements under part A (Aid to Families with Dependent Children) (AFDC) of SSA title IV. Requires States to report annually on project funds expended to the HHS Secretary and the Advisory Commission on Children and Families. Provides for administrative remedies for unsuccessful projects. Provides for project termination. Makes abandoned children entering foster care eligible for foster care maintenance payments. Makes the adoptive parents of any such child with respect to whom foster care maintenance payments may be made eligible for adoption assistance payments. Makes technical revisions to the foster care maintenance payments program and the adoption assistance program to expand the removal from home requirement to include removal from legal custody. Provides for retroactive application of such new requirement under the adoption assistance program. Makes children whose adoption has been set aside by a court eligible for foster care maintenance payments. Makes the adoptive parents of any such child with respect to whom foster care maintenance payments may be made eligible for adoption assistance payments. Establishes a respite care program for foster parents with children who have special needs. Limits the expenses eligible for reimbursement under such program. Expands the definition of children with special needs, for purposes of the adoption assistance program, to include: (1) those children for whom information is known and available about their genetic or social history indicating a high risk of medical conditions or physical, mental, or emotional handicaps which makes it reasonable to conclude that they cannot be placed for adoption without providing part E adoption assistance or Medicaid (SSA title XIX) medical assistance; and (2) those children that have been adopted, that were under the care and responsibility of the State agency responsible for administering the State's part E programs immediately before adoption, and that have a mental, physical, or emotional handicap that either existed before the adoption but was not diagnosed until afterwards, or first manifests itself after the adoption but is congenital or was caused beforehand. Extends to relatives (as well as foster parents) who are prospective adoptive parents, and with whom the child has significant emotional ties while in their care, the exception to the requirement that an effort be made to place special needs children with appropriate adoptive parents without providing adoption or Medicaid assistance. Requires each State to submit to the HHS Secretary the factors and conditions it uses to identify children with special needs for purposes of the adoption assistance program, and any modifications to such factors and conditions. Directs the HHS Secretary to establish an Advisory Committee on Foster Care Placement to study and report to the Secretary and the Congress on the implementation of specified requirements, under State plans for foster care and adoption assistance, that reasonable efforts be made: (1) before placement of a child in a foster home, to prevent or eliminate the need for removal of the child from the child's home; and (2) to make it possible for the child to return to the child's home. Provides Federal coverage of 90 percent of State costs in developing and installing certain statewide mechanized data collection and information retrieval systems. Covers 50 percent of State costs for operation of such systems. Provides that all State expenditures for development, installation, and operation of such systems shall be treated as necessary for proper and efficient administration of the State plan, without regard to whether the systems may be used with respect to foster or adoptive children other than those on behalf of whom payments may be made for foster care maintenance or adoption assistance. Reduces, after three years, from 90 to 50 percent the Federal matching payment for development and installation of such systems. Defers a deadline for implementation of automated systems until one year after certain regulations are promulgated. Directs the Secretary to establish a work group to advise on planning and implementation of the system to be used for collection of data relating to adoption and foster care in the United States. Requires the State plan to provide for: (1) a triennial review of the amounts paid as foster care maintenance payments and adoption assistance to assure their continuing appropriateness; and (2) a report to the HHS Secretary on the results. Sets forth requirements concerning dispositional hearings to determine the final status of a foster child. Revises the time frame for judicial determinations on voluntary placements. Sets forth case plan requirements for placement of children in out-of-State foster care. Requires annual review, with the child present, of the status of children in out-of-State foster care placements. Requires States to collect data on the numbers of children in out-of-State foster care placements. Requires a State, in order to receive payments for expenditures after FY 1994 for foster care maintenance payments made with respect to children placed in foster care outside the State, to conduct and submit a study to the HHS Secretary, by the end of such fiscal year, identifying the number and common characteristics of such children and the reasons why they were not placed in foster care in the State. Provides for the treatment of assets of youth participating in the independent living program. Eliminates the ceilings on Federal foster care payments to States and the State's authority to transfer unused foster care funds to child welfare services programs. Directs the HHS Secretary to: (1) establish an advisory committee; and (2) issue final regulations for training of staff of agencies responsible for administering foster care and adoption assistance programs, and for training of foster care and adoptive parents. Directs the Secretary annually to publish information, on a State-by-State basis, on expenditures for, and the operation of, the Child Welfare Services program, the Foster Care and Adoption Assistance program, and Comprehensive Service Projects. Amends SSA title IV to add a new part G, Child Welfare Review System. Directs the HHS Secretary to establish such system to: (1) review each State child welfare program to assess whether the requirements of the Act are being carried out; (2) impose financial penalties in cases of substantial failure to comply; and (3) provide technical assistance to any such program. Sets forth provisions relating to effects of noncompliance, suspension and rescission of financial penalties, and administrative and judicial review. Requires that all State child welfare programs be reviewed at least once by the end of FY 1997. Prohibits the Secretary from reducing or withholding any payment, or seeking any repayment from any State under part B or E, by reason of a determination made in connection with specified reviews or audits for certain periods. Prohibits suspension of payments with respect to any claim for reimbursement 30 days after the HHS Secretary receives the quarterly statement of expenditures that contains the report of the claim. Provides that within ten months after the Secretary takes any action to suspend payment with respect to such a claim, the Secretary shall: (1) determine the allowability of the claim; or (2) if unable to make such a determination, make payment with respect to the claim, subject to a later determination of allowability. Title III: Social Services Block Grant - Amends SSA title XX (Block Grants to States for Social Services) to authorize increased appropriations for title XX programs. Provides for the allocation to tribal organizations of program funds otherwise allotted to the State in which the Indians represented by such an organization reside. Title IV: Research, Demonstration, and Evaluation Activities - Amends part A (General Provisions) of SSA title XI to require the Director of the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) to establish an Advisory Commission on Children and Families. Requires the Commission to collect and assess specified types of information in order to identify cost-effective approaches to protect and enhance the physical, mental, emotional, and financial well-being of children and their families. Directs OTA to report annually to the Congress on the Commission and its assessment. Requires the Commission to conduct, through contracts with independent research organizations, the following research and evaluation projects: (1) the evaluation of child welfare service programs, including intensive family preservation programs; (2) foster care evaluations; (3) longitudinal child welfare data bases, and studies of child welfare population dynamics; and (4) comprehensive service projects evaluations. Requires the Commission to study child separation guidelines. Directs the HHS Secretary to conduct the following research and evaluations: (1) a study (under contract with an independent research organization) to assess the prevalence and nature of risks to the safety of employees of child welfare systems; and (2) a three-year study (under contract with an organization with demonstrated appropriate experience) to examine methodologies for measuring the workloads of providers of child welfare services and community mental health services. Directs the HHS Secretary to make grants to States or localities for child welfare demonstration projects concerning abandoned child permanent placement. Directs the HHS Secretary to authorize eligible institutions to conduct demonstration projects to train eligible individuals to deliver culturally sensitive and bilingual child welfare services in U.S. areas that border on Mexico. Directs the HHS Secretary to make grants to eligible institutions to conduct projects to train eligible institutions to deliver culturally sensitive and bilingual welfare services in urban centers which have a high proportion of historically unserved or underserved populations. Authorizes the HHS Secretary to make grants to State or local government agencies to conduct demonstration projects designed to: (1) develop and implement innovative recruitment or retention strategies for trained staff in public and private nonprofit agencies working with children and adolescents at risk of being placed in foster care; and (2) test the effect of joint training programs for the staff of child welfare, mental health, and juvenile justice agencies, and for judicial personnel and judges. Authorizes the HHS Secretary to conduct demonstration projects designed to test the feasibility of eliminating income and resource requirements respecting foster care and adoption assistance payments. Directs the HHS Secretary to provide technical assistance to States for: (1) interpreting and implementing parts B, C, and E; (2) disseminating information on innovative child welfare agencies; (3) correcting problems identified through Federal audits and reviews and carrying out corrective action plans under part E; (4) implementing the foster care and adoption data collection system; and (5) addressing other matters identified by the HHS Secretary. Title V: Miscellaneous Human Resources Amendments - Amends the AFDC program to give States the option of using retrospective budgeting without monthly reporting under AFDC. Increases the amount of stepparent income disregarded under AFDC. Amends the Family Support Act of 1988 to extend demonstration projects for evaluating model procedures for reviewing child support awards. Amends the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1989 and the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990 to make technical corrections relating to human resource and income security provisions. Title VI: Childhood Hunger Relief - Mickey Leland Childhood Hunger Relief Act - Subtitle A: Ensuring Adequate Food Assistance - Amends the Food Stamp Act of 1977 to remove the excess shelter deduction cap for purposes of food stamp program eligibility. (Sets forth transitional caps through 1996.) Eliminates food stamp reductions for households reapplying for program reinstatement within 30 days. Excludes 100 percent (currently only a specified portion) of third party payments for transitional housing for the homeless from consideration as program income. Increases funding for the nutrition assistance program in Puerto Rico. Excludes general assistance vendor payments from consideration as program income. Excludes the income of high school students from consideration as program income. (Current law excludes income until a student's eighteenth birthday.) Subtitle B: Promoting Self-Sufficiency - Excludes from consideration as program income: (1) the first $50 a month received as child support; and (2) child support payments to non-household members. Increases annually the fair market value limit of vehicles that program recipients may own. Subtitle C: Simplifying the Provision of Food Assistance - Permits related adults living in the same household to apply for separate program benefits under specified conditions. Repeals provisions authorizing benefit reductions due to insufficient funding. Subtitle D: Commodity Distribution to Needy Families - Amends the Emergency Food Assistance Act of 1983 to provide for increased allotments in FY 1993 for commodity purchases under the emergency food assistance program. Subtitle E: Implementation and Effective Dates - Sets forth the effective dates for provisions of this title. Title VII: Funding - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to impose a surtax on individuals with incomes over $1,000,000.
United States · United States Congress · 8 July 1992
Authorizes and directs the Director of the Office of Management and Budget to develop and submit to the President and the Congress a plan to reduce Federal overhead costs by ten percent of FY 1992 levels.
United States · United States Congress · 2 July 1992
Designates October 8, 1992, as National Firefighters Day.
United States · United States Congress · 2 July 1992
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the Administration should expedite immediate declassification and release of all documents pertaining to reports or intelligence on U.S. military personnel and Americans involved in intelligence operations held against their will or listed as missing in action after the Vietnam War, Korean War, or World War II, unless such declassification would endanger national security or violate a commitment made to a missing individual or his or her family concerning the release of such information.
United States · United States Congress · 1 July 1992
Department of Science, Space, Energy, and Technology Organization Act of 1992 - Title I: General Provisions - Sets forth findings of the Congress and definitions with regard to the establishment of the Department of Science, Space, Energy, and Technology. Title II: Establishment of the Department - Authorizes the establishment of the Department of Science, Space, Energy, and Technology (Department), under the direction of a Secretary of Science, Space, Energy, and Technology. Sets forth the other principal officers. Title III: Transfers of Functions and Offices - Transfers to the Department: (1) the National Aeronautics and Space Administration; (2) the National Institute of Standards and Technology; (3) the National Science Foundation; (4) the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; (5) the Environmental Protection Agency; (6) the National Technical Information Service; (7) all but certain facilities of the Department of Energy, renamed the National Energy Administration; and (8) the National Telecommunications and Information Administration. Title IV: Administrative Provisions - Subtitle A: Personnel Provisions - Sets forth personnel provisions. Subtitle B: General Administrative Provisions - Sets forth administrative provisions. Title V: Transitional, Savings, and Conforming Provisions - Sets forth transitional, savings, and conforming provisions.
United States · United States Congress · 30 June 1992
Health Choice Act of 1992 - Title I: Eligibility and Choice of Plan - Entitles each individual to benefits if they are: (1) a U.S. resident and either a citizen, national, or lawful resident alien; and (2) neither a beneficiary under title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act nor an active armed forces member. Phases in benefits over six years, phase one for prenatal and delivery services and services for children under six, phase two for individuals under 22 and individuals between 60 and 65, and phase three for all eligible individuals. Requires: (1) residents of a State to choose benefits under any arrangement provided by their State's plan; and (2) nonresidents to choose either an employment-based, managed care, or fee-for-service plan. Allows collective bargaining agreements to specify the plan in which the individual must enroll. Mandates distribution of materials and a toll-free telephone number regarding plan choice. Title II: Benefits - Subtitle A: Services - Includes in "basic health services:" (1) clinical preventive services; (2) physicians' services, rural health clinic services, and Federally qualified health center services; (3) hospital services; (4) post-hospital skilled nursing facility services; (5) part-time or intermittent home health services; (6) hospice care; (7) covered outpatient drugs; and (8) other medical and health services as defined by the National Health Board established by this Act. Considers services reasonable and necessary only if they would be so considered under Medicare and requires review of any national coverage determination to be made as under Medicare. Applies certain Medicare exclusions to this title. Subtitle B: Cost-Sharing - Part 1: General Requirements - Mandates certain deductibles for general services, inpatient services, and prescription drugs. Allows a Health Choice plan to require copayments and limited coinsurance. Prohibits deductibles or coinsurance for clinical preventive services. Mandates cost-sharing rules for capitated plans and special payment methodologies. Allows certain cost-sharing for restricted provider managed care plans. Prohibits premiums for basic health services. Part 2: Reduction in Cost-Sharing for Low-Income Individuals - Reduces deductibles for certain low income individuals. Provides for advance and retroactive cost-sharing assistance and for help in completing assistance applications. Mandates reconciliation of advance assistance with actual income. Considers an individual or family that has been determined eligible for aid under specified provisions of parts A (Aid to Families with Dependent Children) and E (Foster Care and Adoption Assistance) of title IV or Supplemental Security Income benefits of the Social Security Act to have an adjusted total income below the poverty line. Title III: Requirements for Health Choice Plans - Subtitle A: Qualified State Health Insurance Plans - Requires each qualified State health insurance plan to enroll each eligible State resident, except for an individual enrolled in a qualified multi-state employment-based health plan. Mandates health care fraud and abuse measures. Subtitle B: Qualified Employment-Based Health Plans - Requires that a qualified employment-based health plan (EBHP) specify its eligibility basis. Allows the plan to group individuals into classifications based on factors determined by the Board. Prohibits enrollment denial within a classification or on the basis of health status or use of health services. Declares that an EBHP is a multi-state plan if the percentage of individuals from one State does not exceed a level set by the Board. Subtitle C: Qualified Managed Care Plans - Specifies certain requirements for a restricted provider managed care plan, including a prohibition of expulsion on the basis of health status or use of health services, continuation of coverage if the plan terminates, and coverage of out-of-plan services. Subtitle D: Fee-for-Service Choice Plan - Requires the Board to operate a fee-for-service choice plan (Choice Plan) providing basic health services through any willing provider. Makes Medicare beneficiaries, notwithstanding other provisions of this Act, eligible for clinical preventive services under a Choice Plan. Applies certain provisions of the Social Security Act relating to: (1) withholding of payments for certain Medicaid providers to this subtitle; and (2) physician referrals to referrals for clinical laboratory services under the Choice Plan. Requires the determination of the amount, scope, and duration of Choice Plan benefits to be made by the Board. Subtitle E: Plan Requirements and Related Provisions - Part 1: Requirements Applicable to Health Choice Plans Generally - Requires each Health Choice plan to provide for at least all basic health services. Prohibits pre-existing condition exclusions. Requires that enrollment of an individual in a Health Choice include enrollment of that individual's family members. Provides for coordination and portability of coverage under qualified plans. Prohibits a Health Choice plan from paying for basic health services unless the provider is qualified to have payment made. Provides for the qualification of hospitals, physicians, other providers and suppliers, and Indian health service facilities, applying certain Medicare provisions. Requires risk management programs. Allows fee-for-service and capitated plans to restrict coverage through utilization review programs meeting standards set by the Board. Prohibits a Health Choice plan from operating a physician incentive plan (providing compensation or other financial arrangements that may reduce services) unless certain Medicare requirements are met. Protects individuals from liability to providers if a plan fails to make payments for basic health services. Requires each plan to coordinate benefits with low-income assistance under title II of this Act. Mandates quality assurance mechanisms, measures to control fraud and abuse, transmission of information regarding outcomes and expenditures, and the use of unique provider and individual identifiers and uniform plan cards. Applies certain Medicare provisions (relating to offset of payments to individuals to collect past-due obligations from a breach of scholarship and loan contracts) to this title. Requires, after complete phase-in of benefits, fee-for-service claims to be submitted electronically. Requires each plan to maintain written policies and procedures regarding advance directives, as defined in specified Medicare provisions. Part 2: Requirements and Other Applicable Provisions for Capitated Plans - Provides for the approval of State, employment-based, and managed care plans. Sets forth minimum enrollment levels for employment-related and managed care plans. Prohibits a capitated plan that has enrolled an individual from denying enrollment to the individual's family. Allows geographic limitations for State and managed care plans. Provides for the setting and calculation of payment amounts for capitated plans. Requires each capitated plan: (1) except for employment-based plans, to make certain disclosures, including regarding comparing benefits and cost-sharing to fee-for-service plans, describing pre-existing condition limitations, describing provider limits, and disclosing the availability of low-income assistance; (2) to provide grievance and appeals procedures; and (3) to establish insolvency protection. Provides for enforcement of capitated plan requirements through civil monetary penalties, suspension of enrollment, termination of approval, and intermediate sanctions. Requires capitated plans to disclose certain information to the Board. Part 3: Preemption of State Laws - Prohibits State laws and regulations: (1) requiring the offering, as part of a managed care plan or an employment-based plan, of any services; (2) specifying the individuals to be covered under such a plan or the duration of coverage; or (3) requiring a right of conversion from such a plan to an individual plan. Prohibits a State from prohibiting or regulating: (1) a managed care plan meeting the requirements of subtitle C from taking specified actions; or (2) utilization review programs meeting the requirements of specified provisions of this Act. Title IV: Cost Containment - Subtitle A: Basic Health Services - Part 1: Establishment of National Limits on Health Care Spending - Requires the Board to: (1) annually monitor nonmedicare and medicare expenditures and, if expenditures exceed allocations, reduce allocations for specified expenditures in the second succeeding year; (2) determine, according to a specified formula, overall nonmedicare and Medicare spending amounts; and (3) apportion nonmedicare spending among the States according to the number of eligible residents, adjusted to reflect certain risk factors, cost differences outside the control of providers, and other considerations the Board deems appropriate. Requires: (1) the Board to publish, for nonmedicare and Medicare spending, allocations among the classes of services; (2) the nonmedicare allocations to be reduced to account for individuals in capitated plans; and (3) a reduction in the allocation to that class for the second succeeding year after expenditures exceed the allocation. Allows the Congress, by enacting a law by a specified date in any year, to change the amounts, apportionments, allocations, or reductions set by the Board. Prohibits administrative or judicial review of: (1) the spending, apportionments, or allocations; (2) exceptions under specified provisions; or (3) payment amounts negotiated, payment methodologies used, or payment amounts established under parts 2 or 3. Part 2: Development of Negotiated Payment Amounts for Basic Health Services Under Fee-for-Service Choice Plan and the Medicare Program - Provides for negotiation of payment amounts, including Board approval of recommended negotiated amounts. Part 3: Establishment of Payment Amounts If Negotiated Amounts Not Approved - Provides, if there are no (or unsuccessful) negotiations, for establishment by the Board of the amounts. Specifies the basis for nonmedicare payment amounts. Part 4: Application of Payment Amounts - Makes the negotiated amounts (or the amounts established by the Board) in a State the payment amounts for the State under the fee-for-service plan. Makes the negotiated amounts, if approved by the Board, the basis for Medicare payments. Reduces Medicare payments, if the negotiated amounts are not approved by the Board, by a uniform factor as necessary to keep expenditures from exceeding allocations. Subtitle B: Promotion of Primary Care Services through Changes in Graduate Medical Education - Requires the Board to establish incentives for training needed personnel. Authorizes: (1) payment of additional amounts to particularly successful training programs; and (2) elimination or reduction of payments to hospitals and medical residency programs not meeting needs. Subtitle C: Administrative Savings - Mandates: (1) uniform claims forms; and (2) standards for electronic billing. Title V: Control Over Fraud and Abuse - Amends title XI (General Provisions and Professional Standards Review) of the Social Security Act to add references to Health Choice plans to specified provisions: (1) mandating or permitting exclusion of certain individuals from participation in Medicare; (2) mandating civil monetary penalties; and (3) mandating criminal penalties. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services, through the Inspector General, to establish a national data base containing information n health care fraud and abuse, including the identify of providers subjected to certain actions. Requires: (1) each Health Choice plan to report to and query the data base; and (2) coordination with a specified malpractice data base. Provides for confidentiality. Requires each State to maintain a health care fraud and abuse control unit. Allows a unit described in title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to meet this requirement. Provides for the structure, functions, and resources of the unit. Requires cooperative agreements between the unit and similar units in other States, the Inspector General, and the U.S. Attorney General. Mandates the assignment and use of unique provider identifiers and unique patient identifiers. Title VI: Administration of Health Choice Program; Health Choice Trust Fund; Quality Assessment - Subtitle A: Administration - Establishes: (1) as an independent agency in the Government, the National Health Board; and (2) the National Advisory Council on Health Policy. Authorizes appropriations from the Health Choice Trust Fund for the Board and the Council. Subtitle B: Health Choice Trust Fund - Creates in the Treasury the Health Choice Trust Fund (Fund), consisting of: (1) taxes resulting from the value added tax and the health excise tax on employers imposed by this title; and (2) State contributions under this title. Requires the Fund to be managed by the Board. Authorizes the issuance of public debt obligations for purchase by the Fund. Excludes Board receipts and disbursements from U.S. budget totals. Provides for the treatment of the Board with regard to the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985. Transfers from the Fund to the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund and the Federal Supplementary Medical Insurance Trust Fund (Trust Funds) amounts equal to the benefits and administrative costs payable from such Trust Funds as a result of specified provisions of this Act. Provides for the treatment of amounts owed to the Board or the Fund in bankruptcy and reorganization proceedings. Mandates transfers from the Fund to the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research to carry out provisions of the Public Health Service Act relating to that Agency. Requires that expenditures be made from the Fund for grants under title X of this Act relating to: (1) primary care centers and public health clinics serving medically underserved populations; and (2) specialized screening, diagnostic, and treatment services for children. Mandates expenditures from the Fund for demonstration projects under part 2 of subtitle D (relating to medical malpractice). Requires a set-asides of Fund expenditures to: (1) assure adequate support in the administration of the fee-for-service choice plan; and (2) expand the Inspector General's capacity to carry out title V (Control Over Fraud and Abuse). Subtitle C: Miscellaneous - Requires the Board to assess service quality under Health Choice plans, monitor the health status of individuals in the United States, and compile information regarding the appropriateness and quality of services under such plans to provide for a more informed choice in the selection among the plans. Amends provisions of the Social Security Act relating to outcomes research to require that the needs and priorities of the Health Choice program are reflected in the development and updating of treatment- or condition-specific practice guidelines in specified forms. Authorizes demonstration projects to improve service delivery and quality and to increase payment efficiency and effectiveness. Requires project funding to come from the Fund. Mandates reports on: (1) the impact of this Act in meeting goals in "Healthy People, 2000;" (2) consolidating Medicare and other Federal health benefit programs with the Health Choice program; and (3) the impact of this Act on facilities recognized as centers of medical excellence. Subtitle D: Resolution of Medical Malpractice Claims Relating to Health Choice Program - Part 1: Resolution of Claims - Applies this subtitle to any medical malpractice claim in any Federal or State court relating to Health Choice plan services except for a vaccine-related injury or death or to the extent that title XXI (Vaccines) of the Public Health Service Act applies. Preempts differing State laws. Mandates the development of practice guidelines for basic health services and requires that any such guideline serve as the standard of care for the resolution of medical malpractice claims. Requires regulations establishing: (1) factors commonly considered in calculating malpractice economic damages; and (2) a methodology for standardizing the costs or value associated with the factors. Makes the list and methodology admissible. Requires annual compilation of information on damage awards and categorization so as to assist triers of fact in calculating damages. Provides, when a damage award is over a specified amount, for periodic damage payments, imposes a limit on any single payment, and prohibits certain payments after the plaintiff's death. Reduces damages by the amount of collateral source payments, except for payments under title III or Medicare. Mandates development of a methodology for assisting parties in quantifying the dollar value of non-economic harm. Requires: (1) 50 percent of any punitive damages to be awarded to the State for activities to prevent medical injuries or to the State health professional licensing agency; and (2) a reduction in punitive damages by the amount of any plaintiff's attorney's fees owed. Limits the application of these requirements in States limiting malpractice award amounts. Limits attorney's fees. Part 2: Demonstration Projects, Studies, Etc. - Mandates grants for four-year demonstration projects for model administrative systems for the final resolution of all medical malpractice claims through a non-judicial process. Sets forth system requirements. Waives conflicting State laws. Requires designation of a list of medical procedures as generally preventable medical outcomes designated to be compensable in advance of the initiation of a medical malpractice claim (accelerated compensation events). Mandates research relating to the prevention of medical injuries. Requires each State to use all fees paid to the State for licensing, certification, or accreditation of health practitioners to conduct disciplinary and educational activities. Mandates a study on the impact of part 1 on specified matters. Requires an annual report on medical malpractice premiums, including geographic differences. Title VII: Medicare Benefit Improvement - Amends Medicare provisions to remove the limit on the number of inpatient hospital days covered. Revises requirements regarding inpatient hospital deductibles and eliminates references to inpatient hospital coinsurance. Modifies inpatient psychiatric hospital coverage and payments for emergency hospital services. Defines "covered outpatient drug" and specifies exclusions. Provides for determination of the payment amount for such drugs according to specified formulas. Declares that the deductible shall be the deductible under specified provisions of title II of this Act. Sets the coinsurance percentage, certain payment limits, and administrative allowances. Mandates a program to identify (and educate physicians and pharmacists concerning): (1) inappropriate prescribing and dispensing practices; (2) substandard care with respect to such drugs; and (3) potential adverse reactions. Requires related standards. Provides for the treatment of certain prepaid organizations with regard to prescription drugs, including with regard to drug buy-out plans. Requires development and annual updating and dissemination of an information guide for physicians comparing average wholesale prices of at least 500 of the most commonly prescribed covered outpatient drugs. Provides for participation agreements between pharmacies and the Secretary with specified minimum contents. Directs the Secretary to: (1) provide such electronic equipment and technical assistance as necessary for electronic claims submission by pharmacies; and (2) a point-of-sale electronic system for use by carriers and participating pharmacies in the submission of information on covered drugs dispensed to Medicare beneficiaries. Allows payment for such drugs to be made on the basis of an assignment only to a participating pharmacy. Imposes civil monetary penalties for violation of a participation agreement, excessive charges, or failure to provide certain information. Provides for limits on the length of time covered by a prescription. Amends provisions relating to the use of carriers for administration of benefits to set forth requirements applicable to carriers that make determinations or payments regarding covered outpatient drugs. Allows payment for the operation of the electronic claims system. Mandates interest on late payments by the system. Sets forth special rules for health maintenance organizations and competitive medical plans. Regulates the amount a provider may charge. Requires the Director of the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment to provide for the appointment of a Prescription Drug Payment Review Commission. Requires the Commission to report annually to the Congress on methods of determining payment for covered outpatient drugs under Medicare part B. Authorizes appropriations, payable from the Federal Supplementary Medical Insurance Trust Fund. Mandates studies on: (1) including experimental drugs and biological products as Medicare covered outpatient drugs; (2) use of mail pharmacies to reduce costs to Medicare and Medicare beneficiaries; (3) improving utilization review of covered outpatient drugs; (4) the use, studied on a longitudinal basis, of outpatient prescription drugs by Medicare beneficiaries regarding medical necessity, adverse interactions, cost, and patient stockpiling or wastage; (5) average wholesale prices as compared to actual pharmacy acquisition costs; (6) retail pharmacy overhead costs; and (7) discounts by pharmacies to other third-party insurers. Mandates a standard Medicare claims form. Adds tetanus-diphtheria boosters and their administration to the Medicare definition of "medical and other health services." Allows screening mammographies for women over 64 years old 11 (currently, 23) months after a previous screening. Modifies requirements regarding the frequency of screening pap smears. Eliminates certain Medicare cost-sharing requirements after out-of-pocket cost-sharing equals an amount specified under title II of this Act. Imposes other cost-sharing limits. Provides for the inpatient hospital deductible when phase two of this Act becomes effective. Removes provisions relating to: (1) the amount of premiums for individuals enrolled under Medicare part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance); and (2) payment of such premiums. Modifies requirements regarding: (1) the determination of the amount of monthly premiums for certain individuals; and (2) appropriations to cover Government contributions to the Federal Supplementary Medical Insurance Trust Fund and the associated contingency reserve. Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI)) provisions of the Social Security Act relating to entitlement to hospital insurance benefits to entitle every individual over age 64 to hospital insurance benefits under Medicare part A (Hospital Insurance). (Current law imposes certain conditions on such entitlement.) Removes provisions relating to the determination of certain monthly Medicare premiums to be paid by the State. Removes provisions allowing payment on the basis of an itemized bill. (Current law allows payment on the basis of an itemized bill or on the basis of an assignment.) Revises requirements regarding refunds of amounts billed on an unassigned basis. Subjects Medicare expenditures to reductions to assure that they do not exceed the allocation for the class of services involved under this Act. Allows a group health plan that is a qualified employment-based health plan under title III of this Act to take into account that an individual is eligible for Medicare benefits if the individual is: (1) a working aged individual, a disabled active individual in a large group health plan, or an individual with end stage renal disease; and (2) not an eligible individual under this Act. Appropriates to the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund and the Federal Supplementary Medical Insurance Trust Fund from the Health Choice Trust Fund amounts equal to the benefits and administrative expenses that result from the amendments made by subtitle A of title VIII of this Act. Title VIII: Medicaid - Amends Medicaid provisions to prohibit payments to States (and declare that a State is not required to make payments) for basic health services for which payment is made under Medicare or this Act. Title IX: Financing - Subtitle A: Value Added Tax - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to impose a tax on each taxable transaction, defined as being, in connection with a business, the sale of property in the United States, the performance of services in the United States, and the importing of property into the United States. Includes in the imposition of the tax any sale or leasing of real property and any importing of property, whether or not in connection with a business. Declares that the taxable amount is the price charged for the property or service or, in the case of exchanges, the fair market value. Sets a zero tax rate for: (1) food, housing (as a primary residence), and medical care, applying the zero rating to all transactions after such items become clearly identifiable as items to which the zero rating will apply; (2) sales to governmental entities; and (3) the providing by a governmental entity of property and services in connection with education. Taxes sales by a governmental entity only if there is a separate charge or fee. Sets a zero rate for transactions engaged in by certain charitable (section 501(c)(3)) organizations unless the organization imposes a charge or fee for the service. Allows a tax credit for the aggregate tax which has been paid by sellers to the taxpayer of property and services which the taxpayer uses in the business to which the transaction relates. Provides for the treatment of excess credit as an overpayment of tax. Makes the seller liable for the tax. Requires the seller to give the purchaser a tax invoice. Allows a person whose aggregate taxable transactions (except for transactions involving real property or importing) are under $20,000 to elect to be treated as a nontaxable person. Allows a tax credit for low income individuals. Subtitle B: Employer Contribution - Imposes an excise tax on every employer on a percentage of wages paid, specifying a higher percentage for those employers contributing to any employee medical care plan. Imposes a tax on self-employment income. Imposes similar taxes through provisions relating to railroads. Subtitle C: State Medicaid Contribution - Requires each State, as a requirement for receiving its Federal Medicaid payment, to pay to the Health Choice Trust Fund any excess of Medicaid payment to the State that would have been made (if this Act had not been in effect) for basic health services under subtitle A of title II of this Act over the Medicaid payment actually made for such service. Title X: Expansion of Primary Care and Public Health Delivery Capacity in Meeting Health Objectives - Amends the Public Health Service Act to authorize appropriations for programs relating to: (1) vaccinations; (2) the prevention and control of tuberculosis, lead poisoning, or sexually transmitted diseases; (3) migrant and community health centers; (4) health services for the homeless and for residents of public housing; (5) family planning; and (6) early intervention services for individuals with HIV disease. Mandates grants (from Health Choice Trust Funds set aside under title VI of this Act) to plan and develop primary care centers and public health clinics for medically underserved populations, allowing grant funds to be used as under provisions of the Public Health Service Act relating to community health centers. Defines a primary care center to mean a migrant or community health center or an entity qualified to receive a grant under provisions relating to health services for the homeless, health services for residents of public housing, family planning services, or early intervention services for individuals with HIV disease. Defines a public health clinic to mean an entity qualified to receive a grant under provisions relating to vaccinations or the prevention and control of tuberculosis, lead poisoning, or sexually transmitted diseases. Mandates grants (from Health Choice Trust Funds set aside under title VI of this Act) for specialized screening, diagnostic, and treatment services to children under 22 years old. Title XI: Reform of Health Insurance Market - Declares that Medicare provisions relating to the revision of National Association of Insurance Commissioners standards regarding Medicare supplemental policies apply in the case of the changes in Medicare benefits made by title VIII. Requires the Board to promulgate standards relating to health insurance policies offered to supplement the Health Choice program. Prohibits the sale or issue of any nonconforming policy, prescribing civil monetary penalties. Repeals specified provisions of the Internal Revenue Code, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, and the Public Health Service Act relating to continuation coverage.
United States · United States Congress · 30 June 1992
Designates October 1992 as Country Music Month.
United States · United States Congress · 30 June 1992
Declares that the Congress: (1) recognizes the accomplishments of the National Eye Institute; (2) commends the Institute on its 25th anniversary; and (3) supports taxpayer education concerning the returns yielded by their investments in vision research.
United States · United States Congress · 23 June 1992
Open Space Preservation Act of 1992 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from the gross estate tax the value of land subject to a qualified conservation easement (less the amount of any indebtedness secured by such land). Includes in the gross estate tax the value of each development right retained by the donor in the conveyance of the easement. Makes such tax due upon the disposition of the property. Provides that such land subject to the exclusion will have a carryover basis for purposes of determining gain or loss. Excludes from the gift tax transfers by gift of land subject to a conservation easement (other than development rights retained by the donor of such easement). Defers the reduction in certain estate tax rates after 1993 and before 1998.
United States · United States Congress · 18 June 1992
Designates the Federal building and U.S. courthouse located at the corner of College Avenue and Mountain Street in Fayetteville, Arkansas, as the John Paul Hammerschmidt Federal Building and United States Courthouse.
United States · United States Congress · 18 June 1992
Designates the Federal building located at 200 Federal Plaza in Paterson, New Jersey, as the Robert A. Roe Federal Building.
United States · United States Congress · 10 June 1992
Provides for all Federal civilian and military retirees to receive the full cost-of-living adjustment in annuities payable under Federal retirement systems for 1993. (Includes benefits payable under the Civil Service Retirement and Disability System, military retirement and survivor benefit programs, the Foreign Service Retirement and Disability System, the Central Intelligence Agency Retirement and Disability System, and railroad retirement programs.)
United States · United States Congress · 10 June 1992
Constitutional Amendment - Provides for the direct election of the President and Vice President and abolishes the electoral college.
United States · United States Congress · 9 June 1992
Declares that the Congress acknowledges and appreciates the commitment, devotion, and sacrifices of present and former military families. Designates November 23, 1992, as National Military Families Recognition Day.
United States · United States Congress · 5 June 1992
National Cancer Institute Amendments of 1992 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require expansion, intensification, and coordination of research conducted or supported by the National Cancer Institute on: (1) breast cancer, ovarian cancer, and other cancers of the reproductive system of women, including operating at least six research and demonstration centers on breast cancer; and (2) prostate cancer, including operating at least six research and demonstration centers on prostate cancer. Authorizes appropriations to carry out provisions relating to the Institute, including the provisions enacted by this Act. Removes provisions authorizing appropriations for the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Mandates a study to determine the factors contributing to the elevated breast cancer rates in Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, and the District of Columbia. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 3 June 1992
Rural Community Environmental Assistance Act of 1992 - Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to extend the authorization of appropriations for State water pollution control revolving funds through FY 2000. Requires each State to establish a rural community environmental assistance account in such fund and to deposit at least 25 percent of the amount of the grant received for the establishment of the fund into such account. Permits monies in such accounts to be used only for the construction of wastewater treatment works and public water systems in economically distressed rural communities, subject to certain loan and grant conditions. Requires States to determine the amount of interest to be charged on loans and to establish grant eligibility criteria. Permits assistance to be provided only if: (1) the wastewater treatment works is consistent with planning requirements under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act; and (2) the public water system is approved by the State agency with primary enforcement authority under the Safe Drinking Water Act. Requires States, in providing such assistance, to give priority to an economically distressed rural community in which: (1) there is a need for collector sewers and interceptors to improve access to wastewater treatment facilities; (2) residents rely on inadequate wastewater treatment facilities or drinking water systems that are determined by public health officials to be a hazard; or (3) residents rely on public water systems which do not meet requirements of the Safe Drinking Water Act. Authorizes States to provide such assistance for eligible innovative projects only after conducting a cost-benefit analysis. Requires States to submit plans for the intended uses of amounts in rural community environmental assistance accounts to the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. Requires the Administrator to approve or disapprove such plans. Reserves one percent of funds in such accounts per fiscal year for planning activities. Permits the submission of a plan only if it has been approved by a State Rural Environmental Infrastructure Advisory Panel. Requires such panels to assist in plan preparation, review, and approval. Sets forth accounting and auditing requirements. Withholds payments from States that fail to comply with requirements for rural community environmental assistance accounts. Directs the Administrator to: (1) make grants to regional, State, and local agencies and not-for-profit organizations to assist economically distressed rural communities by providing technical assistance for the financing, operation, and maintenance of wastewater treatment works and public water systems; and (2) set aside a specified percentage of appropriations for such grants.
United States · United States Congress · 27 May 1992
Title I: Law Enforcement Authority and Sundry Administrative Provisions - Grants authority to an on-duty member of the Capitol Police to make arrests and enforce Federal and District of Columbia laws within an expanded area of the District: (1) with respect to any crime of violence committed within the U.S. Capitol Grounds or in the presence of such member; and (2) to prevent imminent loss of life or injury to person or property. (Current law authorizes the Capitol Police to enforce such laws within the U.S. Capitol Buildings and Grounds only.) Changes the composition of the Capitol Police Board. Directs the Chairman of the Committee on House Administration of the House of Representatives and the Chairman of the Committee on Rules and Administration of the Senate to alternate, by session of Congress, as Chairman of the Board. Requires the payroll administration for members and civilian support personnel of the Capitol Police to be carried out on a unified basis by a single disbursing authority. Requires the Capitol Police Board, with the approval of specified congressional committees, to provide for such payroll administration. Makes such unified payroll administration effective as of FY 1993. Title II: Lump-Sum Payment Provisions - Provides that an officer or member of the U.S. Capitol Police who separates from service within two years of the enactment of this title, and who satisfies the age and service requirements for an immediate annuity pursuant to Federal law, shall be entitled to receive a lump-sum payment for his or her accumulated and current accrued annual leave attributable to service performed by such individual as an officer or non-civilian member of the Capitol Police Force. Sets forth disbursement procedures for such lump-sum payments.
United States · United States Congress · 21 May 1992
Designates February 21 through 27, 1993, as American Wine Appreciation Week. Commends the winegrape and fruit growers and vintners of the United States for the production of high quality agricultural products.
United States · United States Congress · 21 May 1992
Designates September 1992 as Childhood Cancer Month.
United States · United States Congress · 13 May 1992
National Breast Cancer Strategy Act of 1992 - Title I: Establishment of Office of Breast Cancer and National Breast Cancer Commission - Amends the Public Health Service Act to establish: (1) the Office of Breast Cancer in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health; and (2) the National Breast Cancer Commission to study public and private breast cancer prevention, early detection, treatment, education, and research. Title II: Duties of Director of the National Cancer Institute Relating to Breast Cancer - Authorizes appropriations for conducting and supporting breast cancer research. Adds biomedical and behavioral research, training, and dissemination of information regarding breast cancer to the duties of the National Cancer Institute Director. Establishes the Rose Kushner Scholarship Program of scholarships in exchange for completing post-graduate clinical oncology training and serving as National Institutes of Health (NIH) employees carrying out breast cancer programs. Establishes a program of educational loan repayments in exchange for breast cancer activities as NIH employees. Authorizes appropriations for at least ten programs for research on breast, lung, and prostate cancer under designated Specialized Programs of Research Excellence.
United States · United States Congress · 12 May 1992
Industrial Reinvestment and Defense Diversification Act of 1992 - Prohibits funds appropriated or made available by the Congress from being obligated or expended to maintain U.S. bases in North Atlantic Treaty Organization member countries if the countries do not enter into an agreement or agreements with the President to provide for the payment, in the aggregate (in the form of money or real or personal property), of at least one-half of the cost of maintaining and compensating U.S. armed forces stationed in such countries. Requires the President to report to the Congress describing any agreement reached pursuant to this Act. Ceases the prohibition on such obligation and expenditures of funds if an agreement is entered into after the prohibition takes effect and if the President submits a report to the Congress which describes the agreement. Establishes the Industrial Reinvestment and Defense Diversification Fund. Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to transfer quarterly to such Fund all NATO country payments to be credited to the Defense Cooperation Account under this Act. Transfers appropriated funds for operations and maintenance of U.S. military bases in Europe which are suspended by this Act from the Defense Cooperation Account to the Fund. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to determine the aggregate amount of funds deposited to the Industrial Reinvestment and Defense Diversification Fund and to make such amount available for expenditure according to a specified formula for purposes including general assistance, energy research and development, and urban mass transit. Directs administrative agencies to formulate regulations to expedite consideration of grant applications for programs receiving increased appropriations pursuant to this Act by any State, county, or local government: (1) experiencing a level of unemployment greater than the national average, or (2) which has been determined to be substantially and seriously affected due to realignment or closure of a military installation or defense facility, or cancellation or curtailment of a major defense contract.
United States · United States Congress · 6 May 1992
Designates November 13, 1992, as Vietnam Veterans Memorial 10th Anniversary Day.
United States · United States Congress · 29 April 1992
Designates October 4 through 10, 1992, as Mental Illness Awareness Week.
United States · United States Congress · 9 April 1992
Revises title XX (Adolescent Family Life Demonstration Projects) of the Public Health Service Act. Mandates grants for demonstration projects to help communities provide care or prevention services (or both) in easily accessible locations using such methods as will strengthen the capacity of families to deal with the sexual behavior, pregnancy, or parenthood of adolescents and to make use of support systems such as other family members, friends, and organizations. Lists permitted uses of grant funds, including coordinating among providers, providing supplemental services as determined by the Secretary of Health and Human Services, and planning. Prohibits using grant funds for the provision of family planning services other than counseling and referral unless such services are not otherwise available in the community. Requires, in applying a fee schedule, consideration of the income of the family of an unemancipated minor, unless the parents or guardians refuse to pay. Requires parental notification and permission, except if: (1) an adolescent is solely requesting pregnancy testing or treatment of venereal disease; (2) there is incest involving a parent; (3) certain blood relatives certify that notification would result in physical injury to the minor; and (4) with regard to permission, the parents are attempting to compel an abortion. Directs the Secretary to coordinate Federal policies and programs providing services relating to the prevention of adolescent sexual relations and initial and recurrent adolescent pregnancies and providing care services for pregnant adolescents. Authorizes grants and contracts for certain research and dissemination activities, including descriptive or explanatory surveys, longitudinal studies, or limited demonstration projects. Requires scientific peer review and approval of grant and contract applications. Authorizes appropriations to carry out this Act. Allows grants or payments to be made only to programs that do not: (1) provide abortions or abortion counseling or referral; (2) subcontract with any person who provides abortions or abortion counseling or referral; or (3) advocate, promote, or encourage abortion.
United States · United States Congress · 9 April 1992
Federal Facilities Toxics Release Act - Amends the Emergency Planning and Community Right-To-Know Act to require Federal facilities that are subject to safety or chemical inventory reporting requirements under such Act or that manufacture or use a toxic chemical listed under such Act in excess of threshold amounts to comply with all Federal, State, and local requirements respecting emergency planning, notification, and reporting on substances covered by such Act. Waives sovereign immunity and the immunity of Federal employees for purposes of enforcement and injunctive relief. Authorizes the President to exempt a facility from requirements for one year if it is in the U.S. interest. Prohibits such an exemption due to lack of appropriations unless the President has specifically requested the appropriation as part of the budgetary process and the Congress failed to make it available. Authorizes additional exemptions for periods of up to one year. Permits the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to commence administrative enforcement actions against Federal agencies pursuant to this Act. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Administrator to study and report to the Congress on making chemicals used by Federal facilities subject to toxic chemical release form requirements under the Emergency Planning and Community Right-To-Know Act.
United States · United States Congress · 9 April 1992
Designates the second Sunday in October 1992 as National Children's Day.
United States · United States Congress · 8 April 1992
Designates April 26 through May 2, 1992, as National Crime Victims' Rights Week.
United States · United States Congress · 7 April 1992
Entitles the Department of Veterans Affairs to recover the reasonable cost of care or services provided to a veteran for a non-service-connected disability from another Federal department or agency to the extent that such veteran would have been eligible to receive payment for such care or services from such department or agency. Requires the amount recovered to be reduced by any required deductible or copayment. Subrogates the Department to any right or claim that the veteran may have against another department or agency in the receipt of such payment. Directs the Secretary to prescribe regulations to determine the reasonable cost of care and services so provided. Directs the Comptroller General to report to the Senate and House Veterans' Affairs Committees on comments and recommendations with respect to such regulations. Provides that a veteran eligible through the Department for such care or services may not be denied such care or services or be required to make any copayment or deductible in order to receive such care. Directs that amounts recovered shall be credited to the current operating account of the Department facility that provided such care or services. Prohibits any amounts so credited from being offset by reductions in amounts otherwise available to such facility or in the total amount of funds made available to the Department for health care and medical services. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to provide for enrollment under part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act at any time (without regard to special enrollment periods) in the case of any veteran over age 65 who is entitled to benefits under part A (Hospital Insurance) of such title.
United States · United States Congress · 1 April 1992
National Housing Counselors Certification and Training Act of 1992 - Amends the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968 to direct the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to establish a homeownership and rental counselor training and certification program, which shall include certification and testing standards. Authorizes appropriations. Applies such requirements to counseling and counseling assistance under specified housing, mortgage, and related programs.
United States · United States Congress · 1 April 1992
Urges the Government of Romania to uphold all existing human rights treaties and decrees to ensure the safety of the minorities who reside in Romania. Requests the President and Secretary of State to discuss the human cultural and self-determination rights of the Hungarians of Transylvania with the Government of Romania and other appropriate governments.
United States · United States Congress · 26 March 1992
Designates August 15, 1992, as 82d Airborne Division 50th Anniversary Recognition Day.
United States · United States Congress · 20 March 1992
Federal Travel Discosure Act of 1992 - Prohibits: (1) the obligation or expenditure of Federal funds for Government travel other than from amounts specifically appropriated by law for such purpose; and (2) any Federal entity from expending funds for the travel expenses of any individual employed by another Federal entity without being reimbursed by the individual or the travel account of the individual's employer. Directs the head of each executive department to designate a travel supervisor. Specifies the travel supervisors for the legislative and judicial branches. Requires all Government travel to be: (1) approved in advance by the appropriate travel supervisor; (2) accomplished by the most economical means conveniently possible; and (3) accomplished by U.S. commercial carrier wherever possible, unless the travel supervisor determines that an alternative means is more economical or necessary to achieve the goal of the mission. Requires all legislative branch foreign travel to be approved in advance by recorded vote of the committee (in the case of travel by a committee member or committee staff) or by the appropriate travel supervisor. Provides that advance approval shall not be required for travel which either does not require an individual to spend the night away from his or her principal residence or place of employment or which is undertaken under emergency circumstances as defined in written guidelines established by the appropriate travel supervisor. Requires each travel supervisor to establish written guidelines for Government travel and to submit quarterly reports with respect to such travel to the Administrator of General Services (for executive branch or independent agency travel), the Clerk of the House of Representatives or the Secretary of the Senate (for legislative branch travel), and the Director of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts (for judicial branch travel). Requires that such reports be made available for public inspection.
United States · United States Congress · 20 March 1992
Designates December 7 of each year as National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day.
United States · United States Congress · 18 March 1992
Prescription Drug Cost Containment Act of 1992 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to require, in the case of any manufacturer of single source drugs or innovator multiple source drugs, a reduction in the Puerto Rico and possession tax credit according to a specified formula involving the amount of the manufacturer's wages paid to eligible employees in Puerto Rico, the sales of the drug, and price increases. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish at least 15 five-year demonstration projects to determine the impact on: (1) cost, quality of care, and access to prescription drugs of developing, in the area of each project, a Medicare (title XVIII of the Social Security Act) outpatient prescription drug benefit using various forms of benefit design and reimbursement policies; and (2) cost and quality of care of extending coverage of outpatient prescription drugs to Medicare beneficiaries served by community health centers. Sets forth additional purposes for at least some of the projects. Requires a project to provide for coverage of all drugs and biologicals approved by the Federal Food and Drug Administration and all medically accepted indications of the drugs. Requires establishment of a Drug Use Review Board (DUR Board) in each project area, or use of the State Medicaid (title XIX of the Social Security Act) DUR Board, to recommend the design and development of the benefit within the area and establish a program of prospective and retrospective drug use review. Amends the Social Security Act to establish in the Treasury the Medicare Outpatient Prescription Drug Trust Fund. Appropriates to the Fund amounts raised by the credit reduction under this Act. Makes amounts in the Fund available for: (1) carrying out the projects; (2) the expenses of the Prescription Drug Policy Review Commission established by this Act; and (3) improving the accessibility of prescription drugs to the elderly. Establishes the Prescription Drug Policy Review Commission. Mandates a report to specified congressional committees on Federal subsidies and incentives to the pharmaceutical industry. Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to modify reporting requirements regarding average prices for covered outpatient drugs in specified countries.
United States · United States Congress · 11 March 1992
Designates the Federal building at 501 West Ocean Boulevard, Long Beach, California, as the Glenn M. Anderson Federal Building.
United States · United States Congress · 10 March 1992
Dire Emergency Job Creation Appropriations Act, 1992 - Makes dire emergency appropriations for FY 1992 to stimulate the economy and to create and retain productive jobs. Title I: Immediate Job Creation Through Vital Public Investments - Appropriates funds for the following investments in transportation to: (1) accelerate the resurfacing, restoration, and rehabilitation of the nation's interstate highway system; (2) accelerate the construction, reconstruction, restoration, and rehabilitation of highways and transit systems; (3) accelerate the construction, alteration, and rehabilitation of runways, taxiways, aprons, and roads within airport boundaries; and (4) accelerate the construction and rehabilitation of National Park Service roads and parkways and the completion of the Appalachian Development Highway System. Declares the Federal share payable for highway projects to be 95 percent. Provides for the apportionment to the States of such funds and exempts such funds from specified limitations. Makes additional funds available for: (1) community development grants; (2) community services block grants to encourage the creation of business and employment opportunities; and (3) child care and development block grants to improve the availability and quality of child care services. Makes additional funds available for investments in: (1) wastewater treatment facilities; (2) water resource, hydroelectric power, irrigation, and reclamation projects; (3) natural resource protection and enhancement; (4) urban forest maintenance; and (5) park and recreation area improvements. Appropriates additional funds for investments in: (1) public housing modernization; (2) rural housing improvements; (3) energy conservation home improvements for low-income households; and (4) military family housing improvements in the United States. Appropriates an additional amount to restore the prior level of Federal support for economic development purposes as in effect immediately before September 30, 1982. Appropriates additional amounts to create jobs and promote economic development in the Appalachian and Tennessee Valley regions. Makes additional new and direct guaranteed loan authority available to increase small business opportunities. Makes available additional loan authority and additional funding for investments in: (1) rural electrification and telephone system upgrades; (2) watershed and conservation development; and (3) rural water and sewer improvements. Appropriates additional funds for: (1) maintaining and protecting public investment in Federal buildings; (2) improving facilities for veterans; (3) expanding and modernizing correctional facilities; (4) improving Indian health/reservation facilities; (5) constructing Federal biomedical research facilities; and (6) accelerating library construction. Appropriates funds to the Department of Labor to establish the emergency job creation program to provide productive jobs in an expeditious manner. Sets forth administrative provisions for such program. Requires the use of such funds to provide unemployed individuals with temporary employment for not more than six months for the repair, maintenance, and rehabilitation of publicly-owned facilities or for the conservation, rehabilitation, and improvement of public lands. Provides for allocating such funds to the territories, native Americans, and the States. Title II: Short-Term Assistance for Those Adversely Affected by the Economic Downturn - Makes additional funds available for: (1) the emergency food and shelter program of the Federal Emergency Management Agency; (2) retraining displaced workers who have been adversely affected by the recession; (3) the special supplemental food program for women, infants, and children (WIC); and (4) the emergency food assistance program. Title III: Investments for Long-Term Economic Expansion - Appropriates additional funds for certain research and development and advanced technology programs concerning: (1) high energy physics; (2) advanced technology and technology transfer; (3) research facility upgrades; and (4) oceanic and atmospheric research. Appropriates additional funds for investments in education through: (1) the Head Start program; (2) vocational skills improvement; (3) construction, reconstruction, or rehabilitation of academic and residential facilities; and (4) science and engineering education and human resources programs. Title IV: General Provisions - Prohibits appropriations contained in this Act from remaining available for obligation beyond the current fiscal year unless expressly so provided. Designates all funds in this Act as emergency requirements for purposes of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act).
United States · United States Congress · 5 March 1992
Investment for America Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to reinstate a ten percent investment tax credit for domestic property placed in service after December 31, 1992. Defines domestic property as property completed in the United States and at least 60 percent of the basis of the property is attributable to value added within the United States. Repeals the section of the Revenue Reconciliation Act of 1990 which eliminated expired or obsolete investment tax credit provisions. Allows a tax credit for seven percent of the aggregate amount purchased of domestic durable goods. Limits such credit to $1,000. Prohibits a product from bearing a label which states or suggests that it was made in America unless: (1) the product has been registered with the Department of Commerce; and (2) the Secretary of Commerce has determined that 60 percent of the product was manufactured in, and final assembly took place in, the United States. Requires the registry of American-made products with the Department of Commerce. Prescribes penalties for the fraudulent use of labels.