United States · United States Congress · 6 January 1999
Permits certain veterans with service-connected disabilities who are retired members of the uniformed services to receive compensation concurrently with retired pay, without deduction from either.
United States · United States Congress · 6 January 1999
Amends Federal civil service law with respect to the Thrift Savings Plan to: (1) allow an employee or member under the Federal Employees' Retirement System to contribute to the Thrift Savings Fund an eligible rollover distribution from a qualified trust; and(2) eliminate certain waiting periods for participation in the Thrift Savings Plan.
United States · United States Congress · 6 January 1999
Free Trade With Cuba Act - Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to repeal the embargo on trade with Cuba. (Sec. 3) Prohibits the exercise by the President with respect to Cuba of certain authorities conferred by the Trading With the Enemy Act and exercised on July 1, 1977, as a result of a specified national emergency. Declares that any prohibition on exports to Cuba under the Export Administration Act of 1979 shall cease to be effective. Authorizes the President to impose export controls with respect to Cuba and exercise certain authorities under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act only on account of an unusual and extraordinary threat to U.S. national security that did not exist before enactment of this Act. Repeals: (1) the Cuban Democracy Act of 1992; (2) the Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity (LIBERTAD) Act of 1996; and (3) the prohibition under the Food Security Act of 1985 against allocation of the annual sugar quota to any country unless its officials verify that it does not import for reexport to the United States any sugar produced in Cuba. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to terminate the denial of foreign tax credit with respect to Cuba. (Sec. 4) Authorizes common carriers to install, maintain, and repair telecommunications equipment and facilities in Cuba, and otherwise provide telecommunications services between the United States and Cuba. (Sec. 5) Prohibits regulation or banning of travel to and from Cuba by U.S. citizens or residents, or of any transactions incident to travel. (Sec. 6) Directs the U.S. Postal Service to provide direct mail service to and from Cuba. (Sec. 7) Urges the President to take all necessary steps to conduct negotiations with the Government of Cuba to: (1) settle claims of U.S. nationals against Cuba for the taking of property; and (2) secure protection of internationally recognized human rights.
United States · United States Congress · 6 January 1999
Homeowners' Insurance Availability Act of 1999 - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to carry out a program under this Act to make reinsurance coverage available for purchase by: (1) eligible State programs; and (2) private insurers and reinsurers, State insurance and reinsurance programs, and other interested entities through auctions. Requires that such program shall be designed to improve the availability of homeowners' insurance for the purpose of facilitating the pooling, and spreading the risk, of catastrophic financial losses from natural disasters and to improve the solvency of homeowners' insurance markets. Directs the Secretary to offer reinsurance coverage through contracts with covered purchasers which shall: (1) not displace or compete with the private insurance, reinsurance, or capital markets; (2) minimize the administrative costs of the Federal Government; and (3) provide coverage based solely on insured losses within the State of the eligible State program purchasing the contract or within the region for which the auction for contract purchase is held. (Sec. 4) Sets forth: (1) qualified lines of coverage; and (2) covered perils. (Sec. 6) Describes requirements for eligible State programs, including that such programs: (1) be State-operated insurance programs (or reinsurance programs designed to improve private insurance markets) that offer coverage for homes and the contents of apartments based on a finding that such programs are necessary to provide for the continued availability of coverage for all residents; (2) are structured to be exempt from Federal taxation; (3) cover only a single peril; (4) require at least ten percent of net investment income to be used for programs to mitigate disaster losses, with an exception; and (5) meet specified coverage requirements. Establishes one-year contract terms. Sets forth considerations to be made by the Secretary in determining the cost of reinsurance coverage and requires the cost to consist of a risk-based price, risk load, and administrative costs. Grants purchasers whose coverage is exhausted before contract termination the option of making a single purchase for the remaining contract term. Makes State programs eligible to purchase contracts only if a State has in effect laws to prohibit price gouging, during the term of coverage, in disaster areas. (Sec. 7) Sets forth: (1) requirements for regional auctions for the purchase of reinsurance contracts; and (2) contract terms and conditions, including maximum one-year terms and prohibitions on price gouging. (Sec. 8) Requires eligible State programs to sustain an amount of retained losses from a single event of a covered peril of at least the greater of: (1) $2 billion; (2) the program's claims-paying capacity; and (3) an amount determined by the Secretary sufficient to cover eligible losses in the State during a 12-month period for all events having a likelihood of occurrence once every 100 years. Applies the requirements of (1) and (3) above to auctioned contracts as well. Establishes transitional requirements for the minimum level of retained losses applicable to certain existing and new State programs. Authorizes the Secretary to raise the minimum level of retained losses annually. Limits the maximum annual amount paid by the Secretary pursuant to claims under contracts to: (1) $25 billion, as adjusted for inflation; or (2) for any year during the four-year period beginning on the date contracts are first made available for purchase, an amount that the Secretary shall establish and revise, not exceeding $25 billion. Requires claimants to receive prorated portions of the amount available for claims in any year in which claims exceed such maximum amount. Limits contracts to 50 percent of the risk of insured losses in excess of retained losses for States or regions. (Sec. 9) Establishes, within the Treasury, the Disaster Reinsurance Fund. Specifies: (1) the amounts with which the Fund shall be credited; and (2) the uses of the amounts in the Fund. (Sec. 10) Directs the Secretary to establish the National Commission on Catastrophe Risks and Insurance Loss Costs. Requires the Commission to meet for the sole purpose of advising the Secretary regarding the estimated loss costs associated with the reinsurance contracts and carrying out this Act's functions. Authorizes appropriations. Provides for an offset amount to be obtained from purchasers of reinsurance coverage and deposited in the Fund. (Sec. 12) Terminates reinsurance coverage ten years after this Act's enactment. Provides a five-year extension of such deadline if the Secretary determines such coverage necessary because of insufficient growth of capacity in the private homeowners' insurance market. (Sec. 13) Requires the Secretary to report annually to the Congress on the cost and availability of homeowners' insurance for losses resulting from catastrophic natural disasters covered by the reinsurance program under this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 6 January 1999
Honesty in Sweepstakes Act of 1999 - Amends Federal postal law to prohibit delivery of any mail constituting a solicitation or offer in connection with a sales promotion for a product or service that uses any game of chance offering anything of value (including any sweepstakes) or anything resembling a negotiable instrument, unless specified notices in a specified font are printed on the envelope and enclosed material. States that nothing in this Act shall preempt any State law that regulates advertising or sales of goods and services associated with any game of chance.
United States · United States Congress · 6 January 1999
Amends the Treasury and General Government Appropriations Act, 1999 to repeal: (1) the mandate that the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) amend a specified OMB circular to require Federal awarding agencies to ensure that all data produced under an award (to institutions of higher education, hospitals, and other nonprofit organizations) be made available to the public through the procedures established under the Freedom of Information Act; and (2) agency authority to charge a user fee for obtaining such data at the request of a private party.
United States · United States Congress · 6 January 1999
Arlington National Cemetery Burial Eligibility Act - Allows the remains of the following persons to be interred at Arlington National Cemetery: (1) any member of the armed forces who dies while on active duty; (2) any retired member and any person who served on active duty and at the time of death was entitled to retired pay (or would have been so entitled but for his or her age); (3) any former member who was separated for physical disability before October 1, 1949, who served on active duty, and who would have been eligible for disability retirement if such provisions had been in effect on such date; (4) any former member whose last active military service was terminated honorably and who has been awarded one of a number of specified military decorations; (5) any former prisoner of war who dies on or after November 30, 1993; (6) the President or any former President; (7) the spouse, surviving spouse, minor child, and, in the discretion of the Cemetery's Superintendent, unmarried adult child of an interred member (but only if buried in the same gravesite); (8) the spouse, minor child, and unmarried adult child (discretionary) of a member on active duty if such person dies while the member is on active duty; (9) the individual whose spouse, minor child, and unmarried adult child (discretionary) is eligible under (8), above, but only if buried in the same gravesite; (10) the parents of a minor child or unmarried adult child whose remains, based on the parent's eligibility, are already buried in the Cemetery, but only if buried in the same gravesite; (11) the surviving spouse, minor child, and unmarried adult child (discretionary) of a member who was lost, buried at sea, or officially determined to be permanently absent in a status of missing or missing in action; and (12) the surviving spouse, minor child, and unmarried adult child (discretionary) of a member buried in a cemetery under the jurisdiction of the American Battle Monuments Commission.
United States · United States Congress · 6 January 1999
Cuban Humanitarian Trade Act of 1999 - Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to exempt from the embargo on trade with Cuba the export of food, medicines, or medical supplies, instruments, or equipment, or any travel incident to delivery of such items. Exempts the same items from the President's authority to restrict exports to Cuba under the Export Administration Act of 1979 or the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to terminate the denial of foreign tax credit with respect to income, war profits, or excess profits taxes paid to Cuba that are attributable to activities with respect to the permitted exports, or travel incident to such activities, under this Act. Directs the President to report to the Congress with respect to the uses, and end users, of the permitted exports to Cuba.
United States · United States Congress · 6 January 1999
Directs the Commissioner of Social Security to improve the social security card (card) for purposes of carrying out illegal alien employment provisions under the Immigration and Nationality Act. Provides that cards issued pursuant to this Act shall not be required to be carried upon one's person, and that nothing in this Act shall be construed as authorizing the establishment of a national identification card. Directs the Commissioner of Immigration and Naturalization to conduct an education campaign aimed at educating employers about card security features and how to detect fraudulently used cards. Authorizes appropriations. Amends the Federal criminal code to provide for criminal penalties for fraud and related activities concerning work authorization documents.
United States · United States Congress · 6 January 1999
Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act, as amended by the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, to direct the Attorney General to waive the requirement that an alien seeking to pursue a course of study in a public secondary school reimburse the school's local educational agency (LEA), if the LEA certifies to the Attorney General that such waiver will promote the LEA's educational interest and will not impose on it an undue financial burden.
United States · United States Congress · 6 January 1999
Central American and Caribbean Refugee Adjustment Act of 1999 - Amends the Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act to eliminate the Cuban or Nicaraguan nationality requirement for status adjustment of spouses and children. Makes nationals of Nicaragua, Cuba, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, or Haiti eligible for permanent resident status adjustment under such Act. (Current law applies to nationals of Nicaragua and Cuba.) Makes conforming amendments to the Immigration and Nationality Act, as amended by the Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act.
United States · United States Congress · 6 January 1999
Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act of 1999 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to prohibit group health plans and health insurance issuers offering group health insurance coverage, with regard to hospital stays in connection with breast cancer treatment, from: (1) covering less than 48 hours after mastectomies or less than 24 hours after lymph node dissections; or (2) requiring plan or issuer authorization for prescribing any length of stay. Prohibits: (1) denying eligibility, enrollment, or renewal to avoid these requirements; (2) providing payments or rebates to women; or (3) penalizing or providing incentives to providers. Applies the same requirements to issuers in the individual market.
United States · United States Congress · 6 January 1999
Stop Sweatshops Act - Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to make garment industry manufacturers civilly liable for sweatshop conditions maintained by their contractors. Sets forth civil penalties for violation of recordkeeping and payroll accounting requirements.
United States · United States Congress · 6 January 1999
Treatment of Children's Deformities Act of 1998 - Amends the Public Health Service Act, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, and the Internal Revenue Code to set standards requiring that group and individual health insurance coverage and group health plans provide coverage for treatment of a minor child's congenital or developmental deformity or disorder due to trauma, infection, tumor, or disease.
United States · United States Congress · 6 January 1999
Medicare Clinical Trial Coverage Act of 1999 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to: (1) provide for Medicare reimbursement of routine patient care costs for individuals participating in federally approved clinical trials; and (2) ensure coverage of such costs under Medicare+Choice plans. Requires the Secretaries of Health and Human Services and of Labor to report jointly to the Congress on the costs associated with requiring that group health plans and health insurance coverage do not deny payment of routine patient care costs for services furnished in connection with federally approved clinical trials.
United States · United States Congress · 6 January 1999
Acid Deposition and Ozone Control Act - Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to establish a Nitrogen Oxide Allowance Program under which the contiguous States and the District of Columbia will be allocated allowances, beginning in the year 2002, to emit limited monthly amounts of nitrogen oxides. Allocates such allowances in proportion to a State's share of total electric power generated in the contiguous States. Sets forth requirements for the intrastate distribution of allowances among affected facilities (facilities with combustion units that serve an electricity generator with a minimum capacity of 25 megawatts) by a State or the Administrator. Requires the Administrator to promulgate regulations: (1) authorizing allowances to be transferred among affected facilities or persons; and (2) for issuing and tracking the use and transfer of allowances. Permits unused allowances to be carried forward for subsequent years. Requires the Administrator, for States for which the Administrator distributes allowances, to place ten percent of the total allowances in a new source reserve. Provides for the auctioning and sale of undistributed allowances in such reserve during 2000 through 2005. Distributes auction proceeds to affected sources in proportion to the number of allowances that would have been received but for the auction. Authorizes the Administrator to terminate or limit allowances. Makes it unlawful, after January 1, 2000, for: (1) the owner or operator of an affected facility to emit nitrogen oxides exceeding the amount permitted by allowances held by such facility; or (2) any person to hold, use, or transfer such allowances, except as provided under this Act. Repeals the nitrogen oxides emission reduction program under the Clean Air Act. Bars the use of an allowance before the calendar year for which the allowance is allocated. (Sec. 5) Amends the Clean Air Act to require owners or operators of industrial facilities with a minimum capacity of 100 million British thermal units (mmBtus) per hour to install and operate continuous emission monitoring systems on affected units and quality assure data for sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, opacity, and volumetric flow. (Sec. 6) Imposes penalties for emissions in excess of allowances. Requires offsets of allowances in the calendar year following the one in which excess emissions occurred. (Sec. 7) Decreases the amount of sulfur dioxide authorized to be emitted under an existing allowance program for 2005 and subsequent years. (Sec. 8) Requires the Administrator to report to the Congress on objectives for scientifically credible environmental indicators, including acid neutralizing capacity, sufficient to protect sensitive ecosystems of the Adirondack, Mid-Appalachian, Rocky, and Blue Ridge Mountains and the Great Lakes, Lake Champlain, Long Island Sound, and the Chesapeake Bay. Directs the Administrator, by December 31, 2008, to determine whether emissions reductions under this Act are sufficient to achieve such objectives and, if not, to promulgate regulations necessary to protect such ecosystems. (Sec. 10) Requires the Administrator to study and report to the Congress on the practicality of monitoring mercury emissions from all combustion units with a minimum capacity of 250 mmBtus per hour. Provides for regulations to: (1) require reporting of mercury emissions from such units; and (2) control electric utility and industrial source mercury emissions. (Sec. 11) Directs the Administrator to establish a competitive grant program to fund research related to the effects of nitrogen deposition on sensitive watersheds and coastal estuaries in the eastern United States. Requires the Administrator to report to specified congressional committees on the health and chemistry of certain Adirondack lakes and streams that were subjects of a specified report required under the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 6 January 1999
Affordable Housing Opportunity Act of 1999 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to increase, and link to the cost-of-living adjustment, the State low-income housing credit ceiling.
United States · United States Congress · 6 January 1999
Self-Employed Health Affordability Act of 1999 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to increase the deduction allowed for the health insurance costs of self-employed individuals to 100 percent.
United States · United States Congress · 6 January 1999
Financial Information Privacy Act of 1999 - Amends the Consumer Credit Protection Act to: (1) specify the types of enterprises constituting a financial institution within its purview; and (2) authorize the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to prescribe regulations clarifying or describing the types of institutions which shall be treated as financial institutions for purposes of this Act. Declares it a violation of this Act to obtain or solicit customer information of a financial institution relating to another person under false pretenses with intent to deceive. Exempts from such proscription: (1) law enforcement agencies; (2) financial institutions engaged in testing security procedures, investigating misconduct or negligence, or recovering customer information obtained or received under false pretenses; as well as (3) customer information of financial institutions available as a public record under Federal securities laws. Grants the FTC, certain banking regulatory agencies, and the States enforcement powers under this Act. Subjects violations of this Act to Federal civil and criminal penalties. Requires each Federal banking agency to issue advisories to the depository institutions under its jurisdiction relating to the deterrence and detection of the activities proscribed by this Act. Requires the Comptroller General to report to the Congress on: (1) the efficacy and adequacy of the remedies provided in this Act; and (2) recommendations for additional action to address threats to the privacy of financial information.
United States · United States Congress · 10 October 1998
Consumer Automobile Lease Advertising Act of 1998 - Amends the Consumer Credit Protection Act to increase from $25,000 to $50,000 the maximum amount of a contractual obligation of a consumer lease to which the Act applies. Mandates annual adjustment of such limit based upon changes reported in the Consumer Price Index by the Department of Labor. Prescribes additional lease advertising disclosure requirements for advertising media, including radio and television broadcasting and toll-free telephones. Prohibits specified automobile lease advertising practices, including: (1) statements that no downpayment is required when the lessor actually requires certain payments upon lease initiation; and (2) lease terms that are available only to selected customers. Mandates that: (1) advertised lease payment amounts for automobiles be calculated on the basis of a formula prescribed by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board), and be accompanied by specified time and mileage disclosures; and (2) automobile dealerships place additional disclosures within a prominent location in the dealership. Empowers the Federal Trade Commission to enforce this Act. Amends the Truth in Lending Act to set forth a maximum civil penalty for noncompliance with such Act.
United States · United States Congress · 9 October 1998
Year 2000 Preparedness Act of 1998 - Directs the President to provide for the acceleration of the development of business continuity plans by Federal agencies to ensure the uninterrupted delivery by those agencies of critical mission-related services. (Sec. 4) Expresses the sense of the Congress that the President should: (1) aggressively promote Year 2000 date change awareness for information technology systems and sensitive infrastructure applications; and (2) authorize the Chairperson of the Year 2000 Conversion Council to take control of any critical Federal agency system that is in jeopardy of not meeting the January 1, 2000, deadline with respect to the Year 2000 computer problem (Y2K problem). (Sec. 5) Requires the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to: (1) transmit to the Congress monthly reports assessing critical Federal information systems that will not, or may not, meet the Y2K problem deadline and the anticipated consequences of those failures; and (2) establish additional reporting criteria for areas such as embedded systems and external data exchange. (Sec. 6) Requires all Federal agency reports to OMB relating to the Y2K problem to be concurrently transmitted to the Congress. (Sec. 7) Directs the Chairperson of the Council to: (1) develop guidelines of best practices and standards for remediation and validation with respect to the Y2K problem to provide better direction for government and private sector efforts; (2) submit to the Congress a national assessment of the Y2K problem covering all critical national infrastructures and key sectors of the economy, accompanied by a national strategy to assure that the critical infrastructures and key sectors of the economy will be prepared for the Year 2000 date change; and (3) submit to the Congress quarterly reports on the progress that has been made in solving the Y2K problem in all critical infrastructures and key sectors of the economy and in developing contingency plans and a final report assessing the ongoing Y2K and other date-related problems that will occur in the future as temporary Y2K renovations lapse or other fail dates occur in computer systems. (Sec. 11) Requires the head of each Federal agency to: (1) take actions necessary to ensure that all systems and hardware administered by the agency are Year 2000 compliant to the extent necessary to ensure that no significant disruption of the agency's operations or data exchange partners occurs; (2) convene meetings at least quarterly with its data exchanges partners to assess implementation progress; and (3) report to the Congress on the results of such meetings and on the status of the agency's completion of key data exchange corrections. (Sec. 12) Directs the National Institute of Standards and Technology, in conjunction with the Small Business Administration, to develop a Year 2000 compliance outreach program to assist small and medium-sized businesses in meeting the Y2K problem challenge. (Sec. 13) Directs the Under Secretary of Commerce for Technology: (1) in conjunction with other relevant Federal agencies, to transmit to the Congress a report assessing the international implications of the Y2K problem; and (2) to develop a Year 2000 consumer awareness program to assist the public in becoming aware of the implications of the Y2K problem.
United States · United States Congress · 18 September 1998
Calls upon the President to: (1) pursue enhanced enforcement of U.S. trade laws with respect to the surge of steel imports into the United States, including offsetting duties, quantitative restraints, and other authorized remedial measures; (2) pursue a more equitable sharing of the burden of accepting imports of finished steel products from Asia and the countries within the Commonwealth of Independent States; (3) establish a task force with responsibility for closely monitoring U.S. imports of steel; and (4) report to the Congress by January 5, 1999, with a comprehensive plan for responding to the import surge, including ways of limiting its deleterious effects on employment, prices, and investment in the U.S. steel industry.
United States · United States Congress · 16 September 1998
Friendly Skies Restoration Act - Amends Federal aviation law to define major air carrier joint venture agreements as agreements with regard to code-sharing, blocked-space arrangements, long-term wet leases of a substantial number of aircraft, or frequent flyer programs, or any other cooperative working arrangement between two or more major air carriers that affects more than ten percent of the total number of available seat miles offered by such carriers. Requires any major air carrier that has entered into such an agreement to submit to the Secretary certain information regarding it. Directs the Secretary of Transportation to allocate slots (arrival and departure spaces) at each slot-controlled airport for assignment to new entrant air carriers (carriers currently not holding slots) and limited incumbent carriers (carriers holding less than 12 slots at a particular airport). Outlines application procedures for the receipt of such slots at high density airports. Directs the Secretary to withdraw from major carriers at each airport a specified percentage of slots for auction to qualified applicants through competitive bidding, as long as the auctioned slot will or is likely to increase competition among carriers. Allows only new entrant and limited incumbent air carriers to participate in such auctions. Requires deposits in an auction trust fund. Directs the Secretary to conduct a public inquiry and submit to the Congress a report evaluating the competitive bidding process used. Provides special rules, including rules governing the resale or reversion of purchased slots. Authorizes the Secretary that has determined that an air carrier is or has engaged in an unfair method of competition with respect to air transportation on a route to require such carrier, as a condition of continued authority to provide air service, to maintain for a period not to exceed two years levels of capacity and fare pricing that are similar to that which was determined exclusionary. Sets forth a civil penalty for such violations. Authorizes the President to allow an air carrier the use of another air carrier's slot that is not being used because of a labor strike involving such carrier. Authorizes the Secretary when it is determined that a price charged or received by an air carrier for service on a noncompetitive air route, or a classification, rule, or practice affecting that price or the value of the transportation provided under that price, is or will be unreasonable, to change the price, classification, rule, or practice, or order the air carrier to stop charging or collecting the unreasonable price, classification, rule, or practice. Directs the Secretary to submit to the Congress, and make available to the public, a quarterly report: (1) containing a ranking of the ten domestic routes with the highest and lowest average costs to the passenger; and (2) ranking the large hub airports by market concentration using the Herfindahl-Hirschmann Index as a measure and identifying the market share of each airline operating at each airport. Directs the Secretary to study and report to the Congress on the ability of and proposals for new entrant carriers, and carriers with less than five percent of the departures at a major hub airport, to obtain permanent gates and other airport facilities on terms substantially equivalent to the those provided to incumbent carriers.
United States · United States Congress · 11 September 1998
Teacher Training Technology Act - Authorizes the Secretary of Education, through the Office of Educational Technology, to award grants to certain local educational agencies (LEAs) to provide classroom-related computer training to credentialed teachers. Allows such grants to be awarded for up to three years to LEAs in States in the Department of Education's Baby Boom Echo Report which are projected to have an increase in student enrollment of not less than 20,000 in public elementary and secondary schools during the next ten years. Requires grant applications to include a certification that the LEA has developed a progression of computer training for teachers that begins with basic classroom-related computer training and progresses through to a superior level of proficiency throughout the LEA. Directs the Secretary to provide at least one grant in each identified State to an eligible LEA that meets qualifications established by the Secretary. Authorizes the award of grants to additional eligible LEAs in such States based on application quality and school enrollment levels. Limits the amount of each grant award. Allows LEA use of grant funds to provide training by LEA personnel on school premises. Sets forth requirements relating to program evaluation, dissemination of results, and administrative costs. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 6 August 1998
New York Canal National Heritage Corridor Act of 1998 - Establishes the New York Canal National Heritage Corridor as an affiliated unit of the National Park System, whose boundaries shall include the counties that are located along the New York Canal Corridor and connecting waterways. Authorizes the Secretaries of the Interior, of Housing and Urban Development, of Agriculture, and of Transportation, and the heads of other appropriate Federal agencies, upon the request of local governments within the Heritage Corridor, to give financial assistance to implement Corridor activities through any program under which such local governments may be assisted. Provides that nothing in this Act shall be construed as a restriction on land use, development, or any other local or individual action.
United States · United States Congress · 6 August 1998
Depository Institution Merger Pledge Enforcement Act - Amends the Federal Deposit Insurance Act to mandate that certain Federal banking regulatory agencies establish and maintain procedures for monitoring, on an ongoing basis, depository institution and depository institution holding company compliance with merger and acquisition pledges, including any pledge or commitment relating to community lending and investment. Requires such agencies to publish in the Federal Register any finding of noncompliance. Authorizes the agencies to take such noncompliance into account when making future decisions regarding the depository institution.
United States · United States Congress · 6 August 1998
Private Mortgage Insurance Cancellation Simplification Act of 1998 - Amends the Homeowners Protection Act of 1998 to apply the borrower termination and automatic cancellation provisions to high-risk loans. Provides that, other than with respect to inconsistencies, such Act does not affect compliance with State laws regarding private residential mortgage insurance.
United States · United States Congress · 6 August 1998
Computers for the Children Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to permanently extend the charitable deduction for the donation of computer technology and equipment to schools.
United States · United States Congress · 5 August 1998
Credit Card On-Time Payment Protection Act of 1998 - Amends the Truth in Lending Act to prohibit a creditor from cancelling an account, imposing a minimum finance charge, imposing any fee in lieu of such charge, or imposing any other charge or penalty with respect to a credit card account under an open-end consumer credit plan solely on the basis that credit has been repaid in full before the end of any grace period.
United States · United States Congress · 4 August 1998
Consumer Financial Privacy Protection Act of 1998 - Amends the Consumer Credit Protection Act to add a new title entitled the Financial Institution Privacy Protection Act. Declares that financial institutions have an affirmative and continuing obligation to respect the privacy of their customers and to protect the security and confidentiality of customers' financial and personal information. Sets forth a statutory framework within which financial institutions shall establish administrative, technical, and physical safeguards to insure the security and confidentiality of financial and personal records and to protect against anticipated threats or hazards to the security or integrity of such records. Requires the Federal Trade Commission and, for specified cases, the financial regulatory agencies to enforce this Act. Subjects financial institutions to civil liability for harm sustained by a customer as a result of noncompliance with this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 4 August 1998
Financial Contract Netting Improvement Act of 1998 - Amends the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (FDIA) to redefine specified contracts, agreements, and transfers entered into with an insolvent insured depository institution before the appointment of a conservator or receiver for it. (Sec. 2) Declares that no person shall be stayed or prohibited from exercising any right to cause the acceleration of any qualified financial contract with an insured depository institution which arises upon the appointment of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) as receiver at any time after such appointment. (Sec. 3) Declares that no provision of law shall be construed as limiting the right or power of the FDIC, or authorizing any court or agency to limit or delay, in any manner, the FDIC's right or power to transfer, disaffirm, or repudiate any qualified financial contract of a failed institution. Prohibits enforcement of a walkaway clause in a qualified financial contract of a failed insured depository institution (a clause that either does not create a payment obligation of a party, or extinguishes it solely because of such party's status as a nondefaulting party). (Sec. 4) Revises guidelines governing transfers of qualified financial contracts of an insolvent institution to include: (1) transfers to a foreign bank or foreign financial institution (including its branch or agency) (but only when the contractual rights of the parties to such qualified financial contracts are enforceable substantially to the same extent as permitted under such Act); and (2) transfers of contracts subject to the rules of a clearing organization. Defines financial institution to include a broker or dealer, a depository institution, a futures commission merchant, or any other institution as determined by FDIC regulation. Suspends certain termination rights of counterparties to a qualified financial contract with an insolvent insured depository institution until after the receiver's appointment, or after receipt of notice that the contract has been transferred. Declares that none of the following institutions shall be considered a financial institution for which a conservator, receiver, trustee in bankruptcy, or other legal custodian has been appointed or which is otherwise the subject of a bankruptcy or insolvency proceeding: (1) a bridge bank; or (2) an FDIC-organized depository institution for which a conservator is appointed either immediately upon organization, or at the time of a purchase and assumption transaction between such institution and the FDIC as receiver for a depository institution in default. (Sec. 5) Prescribes guidelines for: (1) the disaffirmance or repudiation of qualified financial contracts by the conservator or receiver for a failed depository institution; and (2) the treatment of a master agreement as a single agreement and a single qualified financial contract. (Sec. 7) Amends the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Improvement Act of 1991 to make conforming amendments with respect to: (1) bilateral netting contracts; (2) security agreements; (3) clearing organization netting contracts; (4) contracts with uninsured national banks; and (5) contracts with uninsured Federal branches or agencies. (Sec. 8) Amends the Federal Bankruptcy Code to reflect the changes made by this Act and to: (1) deny an automatic stay to set-offs under certain swap agreements and netting agreements; and (2) restrict the avoidance power of the bankruptcy trustee regarding certain master netting agreement transfers to those transfers that are fraudulent in nature. Sets forth statutory guidelines for: (1) the termination or acceleration of designated contracts and agreements; and (2) commodity broker and stockbroker liquidation with respect to the priority of unsecured claims, or customer property or distributions. (Sec. 9) Amends the FDIA to authorize the FDIC to prescribe more detailed recordkeeping requirements for qualified financial contracts (including market valuations) by insured depository institutions. (Sec. 10) Exempts specified collateralization agreements from the contemporaneous execution requirement that renders invalid certain agreements against FDIC interests in certain asset acquisitions. (Sec. 11) Amends Federal bankruptcy law to specify the date for the measure of damages in connection with: (1) rejection by the bankruptcy trustee of designated contracts and agreements relating to executory contracts and unexpired leases; or (2) the liquidation, acceleration, or termination of such contracts and agreements. (Sec. 12) Declares that property of the bankrupt estate does not include any eligible asset (or its proceeds) to the extent that it was transferred by the debtor before commencement of the case to an eligible entity in connection with an asset-backed securitization (except to the extent that such asset, or its proceeds or value, may be recovered through avoidance by the bankruptcy trustee). (Sec. 13) Amends the Securities Investor Protection Act of 1971 to provide that neither the filing of a protective decree by the Securities Investor Protection Corporation, nor any court protective order, shall operate as a stay of a creditor's contractual rights to liquidate, terminate, or accelerate designated contracts and agreements. Allows such application, order, or decree, however, to operate as a stay of foreclosure on securities collateral pledged by the debtor, whether or not with respect to one or more of such contracts, agreements, or securities sold by the debtor under a repurchase agreement. (Sec. 14) Amends the FRA to increase the types of acceptances eligible to meet Federal Reserve collateral requirements.
United States · United States Congress · 30 July 1998
Year 2000 Information Disclosure Act - Provides that, in any covered civil action based on an allegedly false, inaccurate, or misleading statement concerning Year 2000 computer compliance information (Y2K problem), the maker of such statement shall not be liable unless the claimant establishes that the statement: (1) was material; (2) where not a republication, was made with knowledge that it was false, inaccurate, or misleading, with an intent to mislead or deceive, or with a grossly negligent failure to determine or verify its accuracy; and (3) where it was a republication of a statement regarding a third party, was made with knowledge that it was false, inaccurate, or misleading and without disclosure that it was based on information supplied by another and that the maker has not verified the statement. Provides that, in any covered action in which the adequacy of notice about Year 2000 processing is at issue and no clearly more effective method of notice is practicable, the posting of notice by the entity purporting to have provided such notice on that entity's Year 2000 Internet website shall be presumed to be an adequate mechanism for providing such notice. Provides that, in any covered action arising under any Federal or State defamation law or law relating to trade disparagement or a similar claim, to the extent such action is based on an allegedly false Year 2000 statement, the maker shall not be liable unless the claimant establishes by clear and convincing evidence that the statement was made with knowledge that it was false or with reckless disregard of its truth. Prohibits in any covered action a Year 2000 statement from being interpreted or construed as an amendment to or alteration of a written contract or warranty, whether entered into by a public or private party (with exceptions). Authorizes a Federal entity, agency, or authority to expressly designate requests for the voluntary provision of information relating to Year 2000 processing as "Special Year 2000 Data Gathering Requests," thereby protecting information received from such requests from: (1) disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act; and (2) use by any Federal entity, agency, or authority in any civil action arising under any Federal or State law (with an exception). Provides exclusions from this Act. Makes this Act applicable to any Year 2000 statement made on or after July 14, 1998, through July 14, 2001.
United States · United States Congress · 30 July 1998
Stand Down Authorization Act - Authorizes the Secretary of Veterans Affairs: (1) to carry out Stand Down events (events to provide veterans who are without a home, unemployed, experiencing health or social adjustment challenges, or otherwise in need with one to three days of safety and security and access to food, shelter, clothing, benefits certification, health care, or any other appropriate form of assistance); and (2) in connection with such events, to provide outreach services, use Department of Veterans Affairs personal property, and provide any other appropriate benefit or service. Directs the Secretary to establish and implement a pilot program under which the Secretary shall carry out a single Stand Down event in each State in each calendar year, beginning in 1999. Requires an annual report to the Congress on pilot program implementation and recommendations for legislation.
United States · United States Congress · 30 July 1998
Amends the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States to: (1) provide a duty, through December 31, 2004, on fabrics, of carded or combed wool or fine animal hair, all the foregoing certified by the importer as "Super 70's" or "Super 80's" intended for use in making suits, suit-type jackets or trousers; and (2) grant duty-free treatment, through December 31, 2004, to fabrics, of carded or combed wool or fine animal hair, all the foregoing certified by the importer as "Super 90's" or higher grade intended for use in making suits, suit-type jackets or trousers. Treats (for tariff purposes) such suits similarly to certain other suits under the Schedule.
United States · United States Congress · 30 July 1998
Amends the Federal Reserve Act to expand the types of collateral security which may be required in a Federal Reserve bank application for Federal Reserve notes to include: (1) acceptances acquired under provisions for emergency advances to member banks; (2) receipts of deposits and collections; and (3) discounts of agricultural paper.
United States · United States Congress · 29 July 1998
Amends the Older Americans Act of 1965 to authorize appropriations for FY 1999 through 2001 for: (1) the Federal Council on the Aging; (2) administration; (3) grants for State and community programs on aging; (4) the availability of surplus commodities; (5) training, research, and discretionary projects and programs; (6) community service employment for older Americans; (7) grants for Native Americans; (8) allotments for vulnerable elder rights protection activities; and (9) the Native American Program. Revises guidelines governing the transfer between specified grant programs of certain Federal funds received by a State.
United States · United States Congress · 23 July 1998
Financial Information Privacy Act of 1998 - Amends the Consumer Credit Protection Act to: (1) specify the types of enterprises constituting a financial institution within its purview; and (2) authorize the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to prescribe regulations clarifying or describing the types of institutions which shall be treated as financial institutions for purposes of this Act. Declares it a violation of this Act to obtain or receive under false pretenses customer information of a financial institution. Grants the FTC, certain banking regulatory agencies, and the States enforcement powers under this Act. Subjects violations of this Act to Federal criminal penalties. Requires the Comptroller General to report to the Congress on: (1) the efficacy and adequacy of the remedies provided in this Act; and (2) recommendations for additional action to address threats to the privacy of financial information.
United States · United States Congress · 21 July 1998
Directs the Secretary of State to establish a cultural and training program for disadvantaged individuals from Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Declares that the purpose of such program is to provide such individuals with the experience of living and working in a multicultural society while obtaining valuable work skills and experience. Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to authorize 60-month nonimmigrant visas for an alien having a residence in Northern Ireland or the Republic of Ireland (which the alien has no intention of abandoning) who is coming temporarily to the United States as a participant in a United States-Northern Ireland-Republic of Ireland cultural and training program. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 20 July 1998
Recognizes the importance of children and families to the future of the United States. Expresses support for the goals of National KidsDay and National Family Month, as established by KidsPeace. Encourages the people of the United States to participate in local and national activities and celebrations recognizing National KidsDay and National Family Month.
United States · United States Congress · 16 July 1998
Financial Contract Netting Improvement Act of 1998 - Amends the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (FDIA) to redefine specified contracts, agreements, and transfers entered into with an insolvent insured depository institution before the appointment of a conservator or receiver for it. (Sec. 2) Excludes from the meaning of securities contract (which may be terminated or repudiated by a conservator or receiver) any agreement (with specified exceptions) providing for the transfer of securities against the transfer of funds by the securities transferee with a simultaneous agreement by such transferee to transfer certain securities to the original transferor against the transfer of funds. Excludes from the meaning of swap agreement any transaction, no matter how documented, that is in substance a commercial, consumer, or industrial loan. Declares that no person shall be stayed or prohibited from exercising any right to cause the acceleration of any qualified financial contract with an insured depository institution which arises upon the appointment of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) as receiver at any time after such appointment. (Sec. 3) Declares that no provision of law shall be construed as limiting the right or power of the FDIC, or authorizing any court or agency to limit or delay, in any manner, the FDIC's right or power to transfer, disaffirm, or repudiate any qualified financial contract of a failed institution. Prohibits enforcement of a walkaway clause in a qualified financial contract of a failed insured depository institution (a clause that either does not create a payment obligation of a party, or extinguishes it solely because of such party's status as a nondefaulting party). (Sec. 4) Revises guidelines governing transfers of qualified financial contracts of an insolvent institution to include: (1) transfers to a foreign bank or foreign financial institution (including its branch or agency) (but only when the contractual rights of the parties to such qualified financial contracts are enforceable substantially to the same extent as permitted under such Act); and (2) transfers of contracts subject to the rules of a clearing organization. Defines financial institution to include a broker or dealer, a depository institution, a futures commission merchant, or any other institution as determined by FDIC regulation. Suspends certain termination rights of counterparties to a qualified financial contract with an insolvent insured depository institution until after the receiver's appointment, or after receipt of notice that the contract has been transferred. Declares that none of the following institutions shall be considered a financial institution for which a conservator, receiver, trustee in bankruptcy, or other legal custodian has been appointed or which is otherwise the subject of a bankruptcy or insolvency proceeding: (1) a bridge bank; or (2) an FDIC-organized depository institution for which a conservator is appointed either immediately upon organization, or at the time of a purchase and assumption transaction between such institution and the FDIC as receiver for a depository institution in default. (Sec. 5) Prescribes guidelines for: (1) the disaffirmance or repudiation of qualified financial contracts by the conservator or receiver for a failed depository institution; and (2) the treatment of a master agreement as a single agreement and a single qualified financial contract. (Sec. 7) Amends the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Improvement Act of 1991 to make conforming amendments with respect to: (1) bilateral netting contracts; (2) security agreements; (3) clearing organization netting contracts; (4) contracts with uninsured national banks; and (5) contracts with uninsured Federal branches or agencies. (Sec. 8) Amends the Federal Bankruptcy Code to reflect the changes made by this Act and to: (1) deny an automatic stay to set-offs under certain swap agreements and netting agreements; and (2) restrict the avoidance power of the bankruptcy trustee regarding certain master netting agreement transfers to those transfers that are fraudulent in nature. Sets forth statutory guidelines for: (1) the termination or acceleration of designated contracts and agreements; and (2) commodity broker and stockbroker liquidation with respect to the priority of unsecured claims, or customer property or distributions. (Sec. 9) Amends the FDIA to authorize the FDIC to prescribe more detailed recordkeeping requirements for qualified financial contracts (including market valuations) by insured depository institutions. (Sec. 10) Exempts specified collateralization agreements from the contemporaneous execution requirement that renders invalid certain agreements against FDIC interests in certain asset acquisitions. (Sec. 11) Amends Federal bankruptcy law to specify the date for the measure of damages in connection with: (1) rejection by the bankruptcy trustee of designated contracts and agreements relating to executory contracts and unexpired leases; or (2) the liquidation, acceleration, or termination of such contracts and agreements. (Sec. 12) Amends the Securities Investor Protection Act of 1971 to provide that neither the filing of a protective decree by the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC), nor any court protective order, shall operate as a stay of a creditor's contractual rights to liquidate, terminate, or accelerate designated contracts and agreements. Allows such application, order, or decree, however, to operate as a stay of foreclosure on securities collateral pledged by the debtor, whether or not with respect to one or more of such contracts or agreements, or securities sold by the debtor under a repurchase agreement.
United States · United States Congress · 15 July 1998
Safe Schools Act of 1998 - Authorizes the Attorney General to: (1) make grants to States, local governments, Indian tribal governments, and other public and private entities and multijurisdictional or regional consortia thereof, to increase police presence, and expand and improve cooperative efforts between law enforcement agencies and members of the community, to address crime and disorder problems in and around schools; (2) give preferential consideration for such grants to applications for hiring and rehiring additional career law enforcement officers that involve a non-Federal contribution exceeding a 25 percent minimum; and (3) provide technical assistance to further the purposes of this Act. Limits the costs of a program, project, or activity provided by such a grant to 75 percent, unless the Attorney General waives the requirement of a non-Federal contribution. Directs that the Federal share decrease from year to year for up to five years, in relation to a grant for a period exceeding one year for hiring or rehiring career law enforcement officers, looking toward the continuation of the increased hiring level using State or local sources of funding following the conclusion of Federal support. Terminates authority for grants to hire officers after six years. Directs the Attorney General, prior to the expiration of such authority, to report to the Congress. Authorizes the use of grants under this Act to: (1) rehire law enforcement officers who have been laid off as a result of State and local budget reductions for deployment in school-based policing; and (2) hire and train new, additional career law enforcement officers for deployment in school-based policing across the Nation. Sets forth application requirements, including requirements that applications demonstrate a specific public safety need and specify plans for obtaining necessary support and continuing the proposed activity following the conclusion of Federal support. Authorizes the Attorney General to waive specified requirements and make special provisions to facilitate the expedited submission, processing, and approval of applications of local government or law enforcement agencies having jurisdiction over areas with populations of less than 50,000. Sets forth provisions regarding monitoring and evaluation of activities funded under this Act and revocation or suspension of funding. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 14 July 1998
Kate Mullany National Historic Site Act - Establishes the Kate Mullany National Historic Site in New York State. Requires the Secretary of the Interior to develop and submit to specified congressional committees a general management plan for the Site. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 14 July 1998
Advancement in Pediatric Autism Research Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to direct the Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to expand, intensify, and coordinate the activities of NIH with respect to autism. Requires the Director, among other things to: (1) ensure that at NIH there is a committee to coordinate research on autism; and (2) make awards and grants to public or nonprofit entities for centers of excellence regarding research on autism. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 14 July 1998
Medicare+Choice Cold-Calling Prohibition Act of 1998 - Amends part C (Medicare+Choice) of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to prohibit "cold-call" (including door-to-door and telephonic) marketing of Medicare+Choice plans.
United States · United States Congress · 25 June 1998
Requires a 25 percent increase, for FY 2000 and thereafter, in the amount that would otherwise be allocated to a State for prevention and intervention related to school violence in a grant for juvenile delinquency-related programs and programs to improve the juvenile justice system under the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974, if the State has in effect a law which requires that: (1) any public or private school administrator or employee with reasonable cause to believe that a student is or has been in possession of a firearm while in or on the premises of a school building in violation of Federal or State law immediately report the student's conduct to an appropriate law enforcement agency and to an appropriate juvenile department or State agency; (2) upon receipt of such report, the law enforcement agency immediately investigate to determine whether there is probable cause to believe that the student, while in or on the premises of a public building, possessed a firearm in violation of Federal or State law; (3) if probable cause is determined, the student immediately be detained by the law enforcement agency for not more than 72 hours in an appropriate juvenile justice setting for psychological evaluation and a judicial determination of whether the student is a danger to himself or herself or to others, and a parent, guardian, or other adult with responsibility for the student be notified of that detention and its purposes; and (4) if the court determines that the student is a danger, the student be placed in an appropriate juvenile justice setting to receive professional psychological counseling. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 24 June 1998
Recognizes 100 years of Guam's loyalty and service to the United States. Declares that the House of Representatives will use the centennial anniversary of the 1898 Spanish-American War to reaffirm its commitment to the U.S. citizens of Guam for increased self-government, consistent with self-determination for the people of Guam.
![Official portrait of Rep. LaFalce, John J. [D-NY-29]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/l000556_200.jpg)