United States · United States Congress · 17 October 1990
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the President should declare November 2, 1990, a national day of prayer for: (1) members of American military forces and American citizens stationed or held hostage in the Middle East, and for their families; and (2) American and Iraqi authorities to bring about a just resolution of the Persian Gulf crisis.
United States · United States Congress · 16 October 1990
Seed Capital Formation Act of 1990 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a tax deduction for capital gains on small business stock held at least five years. Sets forth the formula for determining the applicable percentage of such gain from 25 percent for five years, up to 100 percent for such stock held for ten years. Establishes a maximum capital gains rate for individuals and corporations with small business stock gain. Revises the definition of a small business corporation. Provides for the treatment of a corporation as a small business corporation if its stock does not exceed $5,000,000 (currently $1,000,000). Adjusts such amount for inflation.
United States · United States Congress · 10 October 1990
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide a business tax credit for employers of members of the Ready Reserve or National Guard absent from work on active duty in the amount of 50 percent of the actual compensation amount for the taxable year, plus ten percent of the unpaid compensation amount for the taxable year. Limits such credit to $2,000 with respect to any one Ready Reserve-National Guard employee.
United States · United States Congress · 24 September 1990
Urges the President to seek the establishment by the United Nations of: (1) a war crimes commission to investigate Iraq's actions against foreign nationals following its invasion of Kuwait; and (2) an international tribunal before which those responsible for Iraqi war crimes against foreign nationals can be prosecuted for their actions.
United States · United States Congress · 21 September 1990
Radio Free China Act of 1990 - Amends the Board for International Broadcasting Act of 1973 to authorize funds made available to RFE/RL, Incorporated, to be used for radio broadcasting to China. Designates such broadcasts as Radio Free China.
United States · United States Congress · 19 September 1990
Telephone Consumer Assistance Act - Directs the Federal Communications Commission to establish a system to regulate audiotext services to protect consumers. Prohibits interstate telecommunications carriers from carrying audiotext services that fail to include: (1) specified disclosure messages describing the service, cost, and option to hang up; (2) a requirement that any bypass mechanism allowing frequent callers to avoid listening to the disclosure message be disabled after any significant price change; (3) equipment that stops the assessment of charges upon disconnection, automatically disconnects after one cycle of the program, and automatically disconnects interactive programs if no activity occurs within a specified time period; and (4) arrangements with local exchange carriers to prohibit disconnection of telephone service because of nonpayment of audiotext charges. Requires such carriers to: (1) grant callers the option to avoid audiotext charges caused by unauthorized use or misunderstanding of the charges applied; (2) offer callers the option of blocking access to audiotext services; (3) include a signal alerting callers to the passage of time; (4) establish a toll-free telephone number to answer questions and provide information on callers' rights and obligations with respect to such services; (5) include a specified disclosure statement to telephone subscribers; and (6) notify the appropriate State regulatory commission of the intent to provide audiotext services in the State and make available all audiotext access numbers. Sets forth requirements concerning advertising for audiotext services.
United States · United States Congress · 13 September 1990
Veterans Entrepreneurship Promotion Act of 1990 - Title I: Definitions - Defines terms used in this Act. Title II: Procurement Assistance - Amends the Small Business Act to direct the President to establish Government-wide goals annually for procurement contracts awarded to small business concerns owned and controlled by veterans. Increases the Government-wide goals for small business participation (including veteran-owned small businesses) from 20 percent to 25 percent of the total value of all prime contract awards for each fiscal year. Mandates that: (1) the Government-wide goal for participation by small business concerns owned and controlled by veterans be at least five percent of such contract and subcontract awards; and (2) that certain reports submitted to the Small Business Administration (SBA) and to the Congress include the extent of participation in the Federal procurement process by small business concerns owned and controlled by veterans. Declares it the policy of the United States to grant small business concerns owned and controlled by veterans the maximum opportunity to participate in the performance of Federal contracts and subcontracts. Requires the Secretary of Veterans Affairs and the Administrator of the Small Business Administration (the Administrator) to implement an outreach and information dissemination program for small business concerns owned and controlled by veterans. Title III: Financing Assistance - Outlines the parameters of a loan assistance program implemented by the SBA for small businesses owned and controlled by veterans. Requires the Administrator to study and report to the Congress and the President on methods to reduce costs incurred by veterans during the loan application process. Title IV: Other Assistance - Directs the Administrator to take steps to ensure that small businesses owned by veterans have access to SBA programs providing entrepreneurial training, business development assistance, counseling, and management assistance. Authorizes the SBA to make grants for veterans' outreach programs with governmental and private sector entities. Mandates the establishment of an interagency working group to develop a comprehensive outreach program for veterans affected by reductions in armed forces personnel. Title V: Information Collection - Requires certain Government agencies to collect information on: (1) businesses owned and controlled by veterans; and (2) the number of such businesses that are first-time recipients of Government contracts. Amends the Small Business Economic Policy Act of 1980 to require the President to report annually to the Congress on small businesses owned and controlled by veterans and by veterans with service-connected disabilities. Title VI: Veterans Business Opportunity and Development Program - Amends the Small Business Act to provide for an Associate Administrator for Veterans Programs who shall be responsible for programs of assistance to small business concerns owned and controlled by veterans. Requires the SBA to enter into negotiations with any Federal agency to perform any specific Government procurement contract through the services of small businesses owned and controlled by veterans. Outlines contracting procedures. Establishes within the SBA a veterans business opportunity and development assistance program to assist exclusively small business concerns eligible under the program's parameters. Vests responsibility for the coordination and formulation of policies relating to Federal assistance to such concerns with the Associate Administrator for Veterans Programs. Restricts an individual's eligibility under the Program to business concern only. Establishes a Division of Program Certification and Eligibility in the Office of Veterans Programs. Requires the Administrator to present an annual program status report to the Congress. Title VII: National Veterans Businesses Council - Establishes the National Veterans Business Council to: (1) review Federal and State initiatives relating to business concerns owned by veterans; and (2) report annually to the President and the Congress regarding private and public sector initiatives and multiyear goals for veteran-owned businesses. Terminates the Council three years after its first meeting. Title VIII: Authorization of Appropriations - Amends the Small Business Act to authorize appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 13 September 1990
Revises provisions extending free mailing privileges to members of the armed forces to: (1) grant such privileges to members who are engaged in temporary military operations under arduous circumstances; and (2) include video-recorded communications as material subject to free delivery.
United States · United States Congress · 13 September 1990
Iraq Embargo Enforcement Act - Requires the President to prohibit the importation of products from a foreign person that exports to Iraq items whose export would not be permitted from the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 12 September 1990
Makes Reserve members of the armed forces called or ordered to active duty in connection with Operation Desert Shield eligible for a variable housing allowance, notwithstanding the prohibition on such payment to a reserve member called to active duty for a period of less than 140 days. Provides that the total limitation on the amount of variable housing allowances to be paid during a fiscal year shall not apply to FY 1991.
United States · United States Congress · 11 September 1990
Desert Shield Burden-Sharing Act of 1990 - Directs the President to determine whether each foreign country that receives trade benefits from the United States is making a commensurate contribution to the multinational military mobilization carried out in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Requires the President to impose an additional duty on dutiable products and a duty on duty-free products of countries that are found not to be contributing to the mobilization. Provides for the termination of such duties. Establishes the Desert Shield Reimbursement Fund to receive duties collected under this Act. Makes the Fund available solely to reimburse appropriations made to support U.S. participation in the mobilization.
United States · United States Congress · 3 August 1990
Directs the Administrator of General Services to construct on Federal land on the South Campus of the Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, a building to house the Environmental Protection Agency. Provides that construction of such building shall be carried out through a lease-purchase arrangement containing certain terms. Authorizes appropriations for design and site testing for the building.
United States · United States Congress · 3 August 1990
Small Business Tax Incentive Act of 1990 - Title I: Treatment of Costs of Providing Nondiscriminatory Public Accommodations - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a tax credit for small businesses for the expense of providing public accommodations access to the disabled. Makes such tax credit a part of the general business credit for eligible small businesses. Reduces the tax deduction for expenditures to remove architectural and transportation barriers to the handicapped and elderly. Title II: Other Provisions - Repeals a provision that disallows the income tax deduction of 25 percent of the health insurance costs of self-employed individuals after tax year 1989 (thus extending the deduction permanently). Revises provisions regarding the review of the impact of tax regulations on small businesses with respect to procedures in promulgating final regulations. Requires the booklets of instructions for individual income tax returns to include pie-shaped graphs showing the relative sizes of the major outlay and income categories.
United States · United States Congress · 2 August 1990
Airline Passengers Defense Act of 1990 - Directs the Secretary of Transportation to establish in the Department of Transportation an Office of Airline Passenger Advocacy. Establishes the Office of Airline Passenger Advocacy Advisory Group. Amends the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 to prohibit air carriers from cancelling a flight within 72 hours of its scheduled departure time for any reason, except for safety reasons or the absence of any passengers at such departure time. Requires air carriers which cancel such flights for safety-related reasons to report to the Secretary on the cancellation, the reasons for it, and actions taken to resolve the safety-related problem. Requires air carriers to notify their passengers of any delays of 15 minutes or more in the departure or arrival of scheduled flights. Requires an air carrier which cancels a flight in violation of this Act, or alters stopping places of such flight for any reason other than safety, to compensate passengers. Prohibits on-time performance of regularly scheduled flights from being 30 percent or less in any consecutive three-month period. Requires the Secretary to establish in the Office of Airline Passenger Advocacy a toll-free telephone number system for receiving passenger complaints relating to air service. Sets forth requirements relating to: (1) ticket information; and (2) lost or damaged baggage claims. Sets forth civil penalties for economic cancellations and consistently delayed flights by air carriers.
United States · United States Congress · 1 August 1990
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to raise from $5,000,000 to $25,000,000 the threshold amount of tax-exempt bonds that a small governmental unit may issue and still remain within the exception from arbitrage rebate requirements. Makes the exception from such rebate for construction bonds effective as if included under the Tax Reform Act of 1986. Permits elections concerning such bonds to be made until 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act. States that any rebates paid shall not be refunded. Increases from $10,000,000 to $25,000,000 the amount of tax-exempt obligations excepted from the pro rata allocation of interest expense of financial institutions to tax-exempt interest for qualified small issuers. Repeals the five percent unrelated and disproportionate private use rules for private activity bonds. Provides that a bond shall not be treated as an arbitrage bond by reason of any failure to meet any requirements of temporary period investments if all earnings which would cause such bond to be an arbitrage bond are paid to the United States by the issuer by the required due dates. Reduces from 100 percent to 95 percent the amount of arbitrage to be rebated to the United States if certain State and local bonds are not to be treated as arbitrage bonds.
United States · United States Congress · 30 July 1990
Expresses the sense of the Congress that Walker Percy of Covington, Louisiana, be remembered as one of the finest writers and contributors to the culture of the United States of the 20th century.
United States · United States Congress · 27 July 1990
Western North Carolina Wilderness Protection Act of 1990 - Designates the Lost Cove Wilderness and the Harper Creek Wilderness in the Pisgah National Forest, North Carolina, as components of the National Wilderness Preservation System.
United States · United States Congress · 27 July 1990
Condemns: (1) the arrest and detention of Kenyan citizens for the peaceful expression of political views and the recent violence against Kenyan citizens by security forces; and (2) the Kenyan Government's disregard of human rights and fundamental freedoms. Calls upon the Kenyan Government to: (1) end intimidation and harassment of those critical of government policies; and (2) implement safeguards to ensure freedom of the press and independence of the judiciary and to guarantee civil and human rights for individuals detained by the government. Expresses the sense of the Congress that all military and economic support fund assistance to Kenya should be suspended until the Kenyan Government: (1) restores basic human rights and fundamental freedoms; (2) releases persons arrested for the peaceful expression of their views and ends harassment and detention of political opponents and human rights lawyers; and (3) enables the Kenyan people to determine whether they want to pursue a multi-party democratic system.
United States · United States Congress · 20 July 1990
Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to enter into an agreement with the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) for a study and report to the Congress on: (1) mechanisms for supporting training in the environmental sciences and environmental research through an umbrella research arm, the National Institutes of the Environment, considering research in a wide variety of disciplines; (2) the current state of extramural research support and undergraduate and graduate training relevant to tropical deforestation, species extinction, ecosystem degradation, biological restoration, use of underutilized resources and sustainable resource use, economic consequences of environmental change, and the impacts of humans and the environment on one another; and (3) mechanisms that can be used to advance environmental research and training, their relationship to existing research programs, and appropriate levels and resources of funding. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 20 July 1990
Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to provide that its coverage shall extend only to employees of enterprises engaged in commerce or in the production of goods for commerce.
United States · United States Congress · 20 July 1990
Defense Budgeting and Full-Cost Disclosure Act of 1990 - Requires the total life-cycle cost (costs of development, procurement, construction, operation, maintenance, and support) of a major defense acquisition program to be included in Selected Acquisition Reports required for such programs. Requires the Secretary of Defense to implement such cost criteria in a uniform manner throughout the Department of Defense. Allows a defense funds restoral (a restoration of funds to an appropriation account of the Department) to be carried out only during the first fiscal year following the end of the period of availability for obligation of the funds to be restored. Requires the Secretary to report to the Congress on the feasibility of the periodic submission of reports on anticipated termination costs of major defense acquisition programs.
United States · United States Congress · 19 July 1990
State Thrift Deposit Insurance Premium Act of 1990 - Amends the Federal Deposit Insurance Act to direct the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation to determine and apportion among the States the cumulative cost of Federal assistance provided to State-chartered savings associations for case resolutions. Declares as "high risk" any State whose share of State resolution costs exceeds twice its share of 1980 State deposits. Mandates that each high risk State pay to the Savings Association Insurance Fund prescribed premiums reflecting such risk. Sets forth insurance termination procedures if a State fails to pay the required premium. Requires depositor notification of such insurance termination.
United States · United States Congress · 13 July 1990
FHA Protection and Homeownership Preservation Act of 1990 - Amends the National Housing Act to limit the maximum amount of a Federal Housing Administration (FHA) insured mortgage principal to a property's appraised value. Sets forth periodic premium payment schedules. Limits FHA rebates on unearned premiums. Directs the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to: (1) insure that the Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund attains specified capital ratios; (2) conduct annual Fund audits; and (3) adjust premiums as necessary. Authorizes periodic mortgage insurance safety premiums.
United States · United States Congress · 12 July 1990
Medicare Hospice In-Home Respite Care Coverage Act of 1990 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to cover up to 40 hours of in-home respite care for individuals during any of the 90-day periods or the subsequent 30-day period in which they are receiving Medicare hospice care. Sets the payment rate for such care.
United States · United States Congress · 11 July 1990
Provides that limitations on the payment of unemployment compensation to former members of the armed forces providing for a five-week waiting period before such payments accrue and limiting the aggregate amount of compensation payable on the basis of Federal service with respect to a benefit year shall not apply to individuals involuntarily discharged or released from the armed forces.
United States · United States Congress · 11 July 1990
Designates August 1, 1990, as Helsinki Human Rights Day. Authorizes and requests the President to: (1) reassert American commitment to the Helsinki Accords; (2) raise the issue of noncompliance with such Accords with any signatory nation which may be in violation; (3) convey to all signatories of such Accords that respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms is vital to progress in the ongoing Helsinki process; and (4) develop new proposals to advance the human rights objectives of the Helsinki process, including the self-determination of peoples.
United States · United States Congress · 10 July 1990
Designates the building at 5600 Woodland Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio, known as the Owens Finance Station, as the Jesse Owens Building of the United States Postal Service.
United States · United States Congress · 10 July 1990
Designates September 16 through 22, 1990, as National Rehabilitation Week. Urges each State Governor and local government chief executive to issue proclamations calling upon their citizens to observe such week with appropriate ceremonies and activities.
United States · United States Congress · 28 June 1990
Ice Enforcement and Prevention Act of 1990 - Amends the Controlled Substances Act and the Controlled Substances Import and Export Act to set forth penalties for offenses involving crystalline methamphetamine. Requires: (1) the Department of Education and the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) to jointly develop model, community-based curricula for disseminating comprehensive information on methamphetamine, crystal methamphetamine, and chemically related stimulants and to distribute such curricula to every primary and secondary school in the country; and (2) the Department to establish at least four statewide or regional methamphetamine prevention demonstration programs, including one project in States that are experiencing serious methamphetamine abuse problems. Authorizes appropriations for such demonstration programs. Requires the Director of NIDA to prioritize the development of a drug to treat addictions to amphetamine, methamphetamine, crystal methamphetamine, and chemically related stimulants. Requires the Director of Health and Human Services to investigate the syndrome that results from methamphetamine addiction at birth and to develop a protocol for treating newborns afflicted with methamphetamine addiction.
United States · United States Congress · 28 June 1990
Defense Environmental Activities Act - Authorizes appropriations for FY 1991 for the armed forces and other agencies and activities of the Department of Defense (DOD) for environmental restoration, defense. Earmarks a specified amount of other funds appropriated to DOD for FY 1991 for carrying out environmental activities, including research and development for environmental purposes. Directs the Secretary of Defense to create a major force program category for environmental activities carried out by DOD for its five-year defense program. Requires funding levels for environmental activities of DOD to be included in the budget request for each of the five years. Requires the Secretary to make a certification and certain reports regarding program recommendations and budget proposals for environmental activities included in the environmental major force program category.
United States · United States Congress · 28 June 1990
Retired Teachers Act - Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) of the Social Security Act to prohibit the income an individual who has attained retirement age earns in serving as a part-time teacher in a public elementary or secondary school from being applied against such individual's OASDI benefits.
United States · United States Congress · 21 June 1990
Applies provisions prohibiting executive agency employees from requesting or receiving from, or giving to, a Federal employee, Member of Congress, or uniformed service officer a thing of value for political purposes to executive agency employees appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate (presidential appointees). Amends the Hatch Political Activity Act to remove as exceptions to the prohibition on active participation in political management and political campaigns: (1) employees paid from the appropriation for the office of the President; (2) executive or military department heads or assistant heads; (3) presidential appointees who determine foreign or domestic policy; and (4) the Recorder of Deeds of the District of Columbia. Excludes the President and Vice President from such prohibition.
![Official portrait of Rep. Lancaster, H. Martin [D-NC-3]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/l000045_200.jpg)