United States · United States Congress · 9 October 1992
Title I: Fair Trade for the Commercial Shipbuilding and Repair Industry - Subtitle A: Subsidized Shipyard List and Required Vessel Entry Documentation Regarding Construction and Repair Subsidies - Shipbuilding Trade Reform Act of 1992 - Directs the Secretary of Commerce to maintain a list of all foreign shipyards that receive or benefit from, directly or indirectly, a subsidy for the construction or repair of vessels. Requires a vessel master to deposit with appropriate customs officers a construction subsidy certification for the vessel at the time of making formal entry under the Tariff Act of 1930. Requires the master at, or before, the time of formal entry, to deposit with such customs officer a subsidy declaration for repairs made to such vessel since the last time it entered the United States. Subtitle B: Treatment of Vessels Under the Countervailing and Antidumping Duty Laws - Amends the Tariff Act of 1930 to establish special rules in applying countervailing and antidumping laws to foreign-made vessels. Title II: Contingency Retainer Fleet Program - Maritime Reform Act of 1992 - Amends the Merchant Marine Act, 1936 to direct the Secretary of Transportation to encourage the establishment of a fleet of active, militarily useful, vessels to meet Department of Defense and other security requirements, while also maintaining an American presence in international commercial shipping, to be known as the Contingency Retainer Fleet, to consist of privately owned, U.S.-flag vessels for which there are in effect operating agreements. Sets forth requirements for the operating agreement and restrictions on noncontiguous trade. Authorizes appropriations. Prohibits new operating-differential subsidy contracts. Allows the trade-in of obsolete vessels. Limits construction loan guarantees to vessels built in the United States or vessels built in a foreign shipyard that is not included on the subsidized foreign shipyard list. Sets forth reemployment rights for merchant seamen who are members of the Armed Forces Reserves and ordered to active duty. Eliminates certain mortgage restrictions on vessel financing. Amends the Shipping Act to provide for the placement of vessels under foreign registry. Requires the Secretary to study and report to the Congress on the impact of this Act on U.S. international competitiveness in the maritime industry. Title III: Amendments Related to Capital Construction Fund; Phaseout of Duty on Equipment and Repairs of Vessels in Foreign Countries - Subtitle A: Amendments Related to Capital Construction Funds - Amends the Merchant Marine Act to remove the requirement that vessels be built in the United States in order to establish a capital construction fund. Provides for the taxation of earnings on fund investments. Allows the withdrawal of such funds to make certain payments on leased vessels. Authorizes deposits in such fund in excess of limitations for prior years based on an audit adjustment. Provides for the treatment of long-term capital gains and losses and the computation of interest on nonqualified withdrawals in such fund. Subtitle B: Phaseout of Duty on Equipment and Repairs of Vessels in Foreign Countries - Reduces the required duty for repairs made in a foreign country by vessels documented in the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 6 October 1992
Voluntary Environmental Response Act of 1992 - Applies this Act to any facility where there has been a release or threat of release of a hazardous substance into the environment. Makes this Act inapplicable to: (1) any portion of a facility with respect to which a Record of Decision has been issued by the President under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA); (2) any portion of a facility with respect to which an administrative or judicial order or consent decree requiring remedial action has been issued under CERCLA, the Solid Waste Disposal Act, as amended by the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), the Clean Water Act, or the Safe Drinking Water Act; (3) any land disposal unit for which a closure notification under RCRA has been submitted and closure requirements have been specified; or (4) any portion of a facility with respect to which a corrective action permit or order has been issued, modified, or amended. Authorizes States to apply to the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to administer the voluntary response program under this Act, subject to certain requirements. Permits any person to submit a notification of intent to conduct a voluntary response and requires such person to agree to pay the direct costs incurred by the Administrator or the State in reviewing the response action plan overseeing the response. Directs the Administrator to establish procedures for arbitration of disputes concerning reimbursement of costs. Requires persons intending to perform responses to: (1) conduct a facility investigation which assesses specified factors that are necessary to determine an appropriate response to a release; and (2) set forth such response in a response action plan to be submitted with the facility investigation report to the Administrator or the State. Sets forth response action plan approval procedures. Provides for waivers of response requirements if: (1) compliance with response standards under this Act will result in greater health and environmental risks than alternative options; (2) compliance is impracticable from an engineering perspective; (3) the response action will attain a level of protection equivalent to that provided by such standards; or (4) contaminants will not travel the expected exposure pathways. Sets forth recordkeeping and reporting requirements for persons conducting voluntary responses and requires certifications that responses have been completed in accordance with an approved plan. Requires the National Academy of Sciences to review and report to the Administrator on the risk assessment methodology used by EPA to determine response standards for contaminants in soil and groundwater and improvements in such methodology. Directs the Administrator to promulgate numerical response standards for: (1) soil and groundwater that are protective of human health and the environment for a minimum of the 100 hazardous substances which are most commonly found at facilities subject to this Act; (2) soils on residential, commercial, and industrial property; and (3) groundwater which can be expected to serve as a source of public drinking water. Requires all voluntary responses, pending promulgation of such standards, to attain response standards derived on a site-specific, case-by-case basis. Lists satisfactory alternate response standards. Provides that: (1) no Federal, State, or local permit shall be required for voluntary responses; and (2) performance of a response shall not constitute an admission of liability or be admissible as evidence in citizens' suits or private actions. Authorizes the Administrator to require additional response actions only if: (1) the voluntary response has not been substantially completed; or (2) there is new information that was not available at the time of response action plan approval that would have justified the application of substantially different conditions at the time of approval. Prescribes penalties for failures to comply with response plan conditions. Deems voluntary responses to be in compliance with specified Federal environmental laws and provides that further response action shall not be required for matters addressed in a voluntary response plan.
United States · United States Congress · 22 September 1992
Audio Home Recording Act of 1992 - Amends Federal copyright law to set forth definitions relating to digital audio recording devices and media. Prohibits the importation, manufacture, or distribution of any digital audio recording device or interface device that does not conform to the Serial Copy Management System or any other system certified by the Secretary of Commerce as prohibiting unauthorized serial copying. Sets forth a mandatory filing procedure for the importation, manufacture, or distribution in the United States of digital audio recording devices or media. Requires importers and manufacturers to file quarterly and annual statements of account with the Register of Copyrights (the Register). Mandates Register verification and audit of such statements. Provides for confidentiality of statement information. Prescribes royalty payment guidelines for digital audio recording devices and media imported, manufactured, or distributed in the United States. Requires that royalty payments be deposited into the Treasury. Identifies interested copyright parties entitled to royalty payments. Prescribes royalty payment allocation and distribution procedures. Permits alternative royalty collection and distribution arrangements to be negotiated among interested copyright parties. Prohibits certain copyright infringement actions based on the manufacture, importation, or distribution of digital or analog audio recording devices or media or on the noncommercial use by a consumer of such devices or media for making musical recordings. Sets forth civil remedies for violations of this Act, including impoundment, remedial modification and destruction of non-complying devices, and binding arbitration.
United States · United States Congress · 16 September 1992
Prescription Drug User Fee Act of 1992 - Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to provide authority for the Secretary of Health and Human Services to assess and collect fees from manufacturers of prescription drugs beginning in FY 1993. Establishes a schedule for prescription drug application and supplement fees, prescription drug establishment fees, and prescription drug product fees. Provides for the annual adjustment of such fees to reflect increases in the Consumer Price Index for urban consumers or increases in Federal pay. Authorizes the Secretary to waive or reduce fees. Prohibits the assessment of fees for a fiscal year after FY 1993 unless appropriations for salaries and expenses of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are equal or greater than such appropriations for FY 1992. Credits such fees to the appropriation account for salaries and expenses of the FDA. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1993 through 1997. Provides a mechanism for collecting unpaid fees. Requires the FDA to make annual reports to the Congress on this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 15 September 1992
Prohibits the proposed sale of F-15 fighter jets to Saudi Arabia described in the certification transmitted to the Congress on September 14, 1992 (transmittal number 92-42), unless the President certifies to the Congress that such country renounces and no longer observes the boycott of Israel by Arab countries.
United States · United States Congress · 12 August 1992
Amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to direct the Bureau of Justice Assistance to pay the same benefit to public safety officers for permanent and total disability as that payable for death benefits (i.e., $100,000; currently, the Bureau is directed to pay up to that amount, to the extent appropriations are provided, subject to specified limitations). Makes this Act applicable with respect to injuries occurring on or after November 29, 1990.
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 · 11 August 1992
Securities Private Enforcement Reform Act - Amends the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to declare that a defendant may be liable jointly and severally for damages in an implied private action only if the trier of fact specifically determines that the defendant knowingly engaged in securities fraud. Sets forth a liability allocation scheme to determine the percentage of responsibility among the defendants if the trier of fact finds that the defendant did not engage in knowing securities fraud. Prescribes guidelines for the award of reasonable fees and expenses incurred by the prevailing party in any implied private action. Declares that in any implied right of action that is certified as a plaintiff class action: (1) the share that is awarded to the representative plaintiff shall be calculated in the same manner as the share awarded to all other members of the plaintiff class; (2) a party may not be represented by any attorney who owns or has a beneficial interest in the securities that are the subject of the litigation, or who is obligated to pay remuneration to a third party for assistance in obtaining the representation of any party to the action; and (3) funds disgorged as a result of Securities Exchange Commission action shall not be distributed as payment for attorneys' fees or expenses incurred by private parties seeking distribution of the disgorged funds. Sets a statute of limitations on private rights of action under this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 11 August 1992
National Dividend Act of 1992 - Establishes a program for the distribution of certain corporate tax revenues to the registered voters of each State in the form of dividend payments. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to pay to the chief financial officer of each State, in accordance with a prescribed schedule, an amount equal to the National Dividend Payment, as computed under this Act, multiplied by the number of registered voters in the State. Sets forth criteria and procedures to govern: (1) the chief financial officer's selection of an incorporated bank to act as the State's disbursing agent; and (2) payments to qualified voters. Establishes in the Treasury the National Dividend Payment Trust Fund. Authorizes payment into the Fund of specified amounts from revenue received from: (1) corporate income tax; (2) tax on the unrelated business income of certain tax-exempt organizations; (3) capital gains tax; (4) tax on insurance company income; and (5) alternative minimum tax on corporations. Establishes a National Dividend Review Board to review the manner in which payments are made from the Fund and to make investments of Fund amounts. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from gross income, for income tax purposes, all dividend income received by a taxpayer from domestic corporations, including dividends received under this Act. Increases the corporate income tax deduction for dividends received by a corporation on the preferred stock of a public utility. Prohibits corporate income tax rates from exceeding 34 percent. Amends the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 to declare it out of order in either the House of Representatives or the Senate to consider budget resolutions for fiscal years 1993 and thereafter that would increase the level of total budget outlays beyond those budgeted for FY 1991.
United States · United States Congress · 31 July 1992
Repeals specified portions of the Unemployment Compensation Amendments of 1992 (Public Law 102-318) which: (1) provide for optional trustee-to-trustee transfers of eligible rollover distributions; and (2) impose a withholding tax on distributions not so transferred. Requires the Internal Revenue Code to be applied and administered as if such provisions (and the amendments made by such provisions) had not been enacted.
United States · United States Congress · 30 July 1992
Requires the Postal Service to ensure that nothing in its regulations prevents a veterans' organization from soliciting contributions on postal property so long as those activities do not impede or disturb: (1) postal employees in the performance of their duties; or (2) the general public in transacting business or obtaining services.
United States · United States Congress · 21 July 1992
Title I: Amendments To The Merchant Marine Act, 1936 - Maritime Reform Act of 1992 - Amends the Merchant Marine Act, 1936 to direct the Secretary of Transportation to encourage the establishment of a fleet of active, militarily useful, vessels to meet Department of Defense and other security requirements, while also maintaining an American presence in international commercial shipping, to be known as the Contingency Retainer Fleet, to consist of up to 74 privately owned, U.S.-flag vessels for which there are in effect operating agreements under this Act. Prohibits excluding a vessel from the Fleet solely because it was not constructed in the United States. Deems a vessel to have been U.S.-built for purposes of provisions of the Act relating to: (1) transportation in American vessels of Government personnel and certain cargoes; and (2) shipment requirements for certain exports sponsored by the Department of Agriculture. Sets forth requirements for the operating agreement, including that: (1) the vessel be operated in the foreign trade; (2) the agreement require payments to the vessel owner or operator of specified amounts each year, starting at $2.5 million per vessel in fiscal year 1994 and decreasing gradually to $1.6 million in fiscal year 2000 (authorizes appropriations); (3) no payment may be for a vessel that is subject to an operating-differential subsidy; and (4) when deemed necessary by the Secretary of Defense, either the vessel will be made available or vessel space will be provided on a guaranteed basis. Allows vessels included in an operating-differential subsidy (ODS) contract to be offered for inclusion in the Fleet. Prohibits, subject to exception, vessels over 24 years old from being included in the Fleet. Prohibits new or renewed ODS contracts after enactment of this Act, but allows current contracts to continue. Excludes liquid or dry bulk cargo carrying vessels receiving ODSs from the application of provisions limiting construction-differential subsidy (CDS) vessels to operating in foreign trade. Declares that any vessel constructed with a CDS and not included in the Fleet is not required to remain U.S.-documented so long as there remains no debt to the United States under ODS provisions. Excludes deposits to a construction reserve fund after enactment of this Act from provisions relating to the recognition of gain for taxation where the proceeds of a sale or indeminity for loss are deposited in such a fund. Prohibits, after a specified date, orders allowing new ODS contracts for vessels over 25 years old. Modifies capital construction fund requirements. Prohibits a vessel constructed, reconstructed, or repaired in a foreign shipyard with subsidies adversely affecting shipyards in the United States from certain benefits under provisions relating to: (1) the Contingency Retainer Program; (2) the tax treatment of qualified withdrawals from capital construction fund mandated subaccounts; (3) immediate eligibility for the carriage of cargo preference goods; and (4) reduction in ad valorem duty on certain repairs. Deems fulfilled certain provisions of Federal law requiring the use of U.S.-flag vessels if the actual ocean transportation (meeting specified requirements) consists of transportation by a combination of U.S.- and foreign-flag vessels. Requires that the use of foreign-flag vessels be as authorized by the Secretary of Transportation. Deems, after enactment of this Act, bulk cargo vessels constructed after enactment and liners vessels to have been U.S.-build for purposes of provisions relating to cargo preference. Specifies the effective date of this paragraph. Entitles merchant mariners employed in connection with a vessel used by the United States for a national emergency or maritime mobilization to the same reemployment rights and other benefits as provided (by Federal law relating to veterans' reemployment rights) for an armed forces reserve member called to active duty. Amends the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 to modify the dollar limits above which amounts in the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund are available only as provided in appropriations Acts. Title II: Internal Revenue Code and Tariff Act Amendments - Capital Construction Fund Amendments of 1992 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide for the tax treatment of capital construction funds, including concerning: (1) the ceiling on deposits to such funds; (2) limits on deposits by lessees; (3) nontaxability of fund deposits; (4) the treatment of fund earnings as fund deposits; (5) establishment of fund accounts; (6) qualified and nonqualified withdrawals; (7) adjustments to basis; and (8) alternate minimum taxable income. Taxes earnings from the investment and reinvestment of amounts in a fund at the highest individual, corporate, or capital gains tax rate. Amends the Tariff Act of 1930 to reduce the ad valorem duty on equipment or repairs made in a foreign country on U.S.-documented vessels. Repeals, on a specified date, provisions imposing the duty.
United States · United States Congress · 9 July 1992
Veterans' Health Care Financing Reform Demonstration Act of 1992 - Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to conduct a demonstration program to test the feasibility and desirability of requiring that, whenever the Department of Veteran Affairs provides hospital care or medical services for a non-service-connected disability to an individual who is also entitled to such care or services from another Federal department or agency, such department or agency shall reimburse the Department for the provision of such care or services. Requires the demonstration project to be conducted at three Department medical centers selected by the Secretary. Outlines health care programs of the Department of Defense, Department of Health and Human Services, and Department of the Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs as covered programs under which such reimbursement shall take place. Allows the Department to recover the cost of care or services provided to an individual for a non-service-connected disability, reduced by any appropriate unpaid deductible, to the extent that the individual would be eligible to receive such care or services from another department or agency. Directs the Secretary to establish a central electronic billing system for such amounts. Subrogates the Secretary to any right or claim that the veteran may have against another department or agency. Directs the Secretary to prescribe regulations to determine the amount to be recovered for such care or services, taking into account the geographic area involved. Directs the Secretary to establish mechanisms to evaluate the impact and cost-effectiveness of the demonstration project and the satisfaction of the patients served. Requires the Secretary to report to the Congress after one year of the project, describing the findings of the evaluation.
United States · United States Congress · 2 July 1992
Excludes from the determination of income, for purposes of the payment of pension by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, any future increases made by the State of New York in the monthly amount paid to blind and totally disabled veterans.
United States · United States Congress · 25 June 1992
Provides for settlement of certain unresolved railroad labor-management disputes. Sets forth conditions which shall apply during the resolution of such disputes. Requires all carriers and all employees affected by such unresolved disputes (referred to in three specified Executive Orders of March 31, 1992) to take all necessary steps to restore or preserve the conditions that existed before June 24, 1992 (when a strike and lockouts caused a railroad stoppage). Provides for appointment of arbitrators. Requires, within three days after enactment of this joint resolution (enactment date), the carrier parties and the labor union party, respectively, in each such dispute to each appoint one individual from the National Mediation Board's roster of arbitrators. Requires each of these pairs of individuals to select an arbitrator for that dispute, within working six days of the enactment date. Allows one individual arbitrator to be so selected for more than one of these disputes. Prohibits from being selected as an arbitrator any specified interested individual or anyone who has served as a member of any of four specifed Presidential Emergency Boards. Provides for conduct of negotiations. Requires the parties to such unresolved disputes, during the 20-day period beginning on the enactment date, to conduct negotiations for the purpose of reaching agreement on the disputes. Provides that the selected arbitrators shall be available for consultation with the parties during this initial negotiating period. Requires both the labor union and the carrier (or carriers), if they have not reached agreement within such initial period, to each submit its final offer to the arbitrator and the other party (or parties), within five days after such initial period. Requires the parties, with the assistance of the arbitrator, to engage in final negotiations to attempt to reach agreement, upon submission of such final offers and during the seven days thereafter. Requires the arbitrator, if the parties fail to reach agreement during such final negotiating period, to render a decision, within the three days following the end of such period, by selecting one of the proposed written contracts submitted under the final offers, without modification. Requires such decision and selected contract to be immediately submitted to the President. Requires the President to approve or disapprove such decision and selected contract within three days of receipt (thus providing a 38-day period after the enactment date for the entire process). Makes the selected contract, if the President approves it, binding on parties with the same effect as though arrived at by agreement of the parties under the Railway Labor Act. Provides, if the President disapproves such decision and selected contract, that the parties shall have those rights under the Railway Labor Act that they had at 12:01 A.M. on June 24, 1992 (including rights to self-help such as strikes by labor and lockouts by management). Sets forth special rules with respect to tentative agreements. Allows, upon agreement of the parties, final offers to be submitted at any time after enactment of this joint resolution. Precludes judicial review of any decision of an arbitrator under this joint resolution. Declares that nothing in this joint resolution shall prevent a mutual written agreement to any different terms and conditions.
United States · United States Congress · 25 June 1992
Provides for settlement of certain unresolved railroad labor-management disputes. Sets forth conditions which shall apply during the resolution of such disputes. Requires all carriers and all employees affected by such unresolved disputes (referred to in three specified Executive Orders of March 31, 1992) to take all necessary steps to restore or preserve the conditions that existed before June 24, 1992 (when a strike and lockouts caused a railroad stoppage). Provides for appointment of arbitrators. Requires, within three days after enactment of this joint resolution (enactment date), the carrier parties and the labor union party, respectively, in each such dispute to each appoint one individual from the National Mediation Board's roster of arbitrators. Requires each of these pairs of individuals to select an arbitrator for that dispute, within working six days of the enactment date. Allows one individual arbitrator to be so selected for more than one of these disputes. Prohibits from being selected as an arbitrator any specified interested individual or anyone who has served as a member of any of four specifed Presidential Emergency Boards. Provides for conduct of negotiations. Requires the parties to such unresolved disputes, during the 20-day period beginning on the enactment date, to conduct negotiations for the purpose of reaching agreement on the disputes. Provides that the selected arbitrators shall be available for consultation with the parties during this initial negotiating period. Requires both the labor union and the carrier (or carriers), if they have not reached agreement within such initial period, to each submit its final offer to the arbitrator and the other party (or parties), within five days after such initial period. Requires the parties, with the assistance of the arbitrator, to engage in final negotiations to attempt to reach agreement, upon submission of such final offers and during the seven days thereafter. Requires the arbitrator, if the parties fail to reach agreement during such final negotiating period, to render a decision, within the three days following the end of such period, by selecting one of the proposed written contracts submitted under the final offers, without modification. Requires such decision and selected contract to be immediately submitted to the President. Requires the President to approve or disapprove such decision and selected contract within three days of receipt. (Thus providing a 38-day period after the enactment date for the entire process.) Makes the selected contract, if the President approves it, binding on parties with the same effect as though arrived at by agreement of the parties under the Railway Labor Act. Provides, if the President disapproves such decision and selected contract, that the parties shall have those rights under the Railway Labor Act that they had at 12:01 A.M. on June 24, 1992 (including rights to self-help such as strikes by labor and lockouts by management). Sets forth special rules with respect to tentative agreements. Allows, upon agreement of the parties, final offers to be submitted at any time after enactment of this joint resolution. Precludes judicial review of any decision of an arbitrator under this joint resolution. Declares that nothing in this joint resolution shall prevent a mutual written agreement to any different terms and conditions.
United States · United States Congress · 24 June 1992
World University Games Commemorative Coin Act - Authorizes the minting and issuance of five dollar gold coins and one dollar silver coins (at no net cost to the Government) to commemorate American participation in the World University Games. Requires that all surcharges from the sale of such coins be paid to the Greater Buffalo Athletic Corporation to support amateur athletic programs, erect facilities for the use of such athletes, and to underwrite the cost of sponsoring the World University Games.
United States · United States Congress · 16 June 1992
Foreign Aid Reform Act of 1992 - Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to declare that economic support assistance should be provided principally through commodity import programs, project assistance, sector programs, or the provision of U.S. goods and services. Permits such assistance to be provided to a foreign government as a cash transfer only pursuant to an agreement requiring the recipient government to spend the cash transfer to purchase U.S. goods and services to the extent that the recipient government purchases goods and services not produced in that country. Exempts from this Act any recipient government that: (1) receives less than $25,000,000 cash transfer assistance for a fiscal year; or (2) as of April 1, 1989, was receiving such assistance and has an agreement with the United States under which it agrees to spend an amount equal to the amount of the cash transfer on U.S. goods and services, to carry 50 percent of all bulk shipments of U.S. grain on privately-owned U.S.-flag commercial vessels, to purchase U.S. grain at levels comparable to those purchased in prior years, and to comply with such requirements in any fiscal year in which it receives such assistance. Authorizes the President to waive the requirements of this Act if it is in the national interest to do so.
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 · 4 June 1992
Action Now Health Care Reform Act of 1992 - Title I: Improved Access to Affordable Health Care Coverage - Subtitle A: Increased Affordability and Availability for Employees - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (the Secretary) to request the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (the NAIC) to develop model regulations requiring each carrier that makes available in a State any small employer health benefit plan to make available to each small employer in the State a MedAccess basic plan and a MedAccess standard. Directs the Secretary to develop such regulations, if the NAIC does not. Defines MedAccess plan as a health benefits plan that: (1) provides benefits typical of the benefits offered in the small employer health coverage market or provides only benefits for essential preventive and medical services and has an average actuarial value not exceeding 60 percent of the average actuarial value of the typical benefits offered in the small employer health coverage market; (2) accepts every small employer in the State applying for coverage and accepts for enrollment every eligible individual (defined as an individual who is a full-time employee and, if family coverage is offered, covers the employee's spouse and dependents under age 19 or under age 25 for students); and (3) meets consumer protection standards established by this Act relating to limitation of pre-existing condition clauses, continuity of coverage, renewability, and premium limitations. Prohibits the imposition, by a carrier, of a limitation of benefits based on the fact a condition pre-existed the effectiveness of the policy if: (1) the condition relates to a condition not diagnosed within three months before coverage under the plan; (2) the limitation extends beyond six months after coverage under the plan; (3) the limitation applies to an individual who, as of date of birth, was covered under the plan; and (4) the limitation relates to pregnancy. Requires continuous coverage. Prohibits cancellation of a plan or denial of coverage unless there is: (1) nonpayment of premiums; (2) fraud; (3) noncompliance with plan provisions; (4) failure to maintain the required number of enrollees; (5) misuse of a provider network provision; or (6) a cessation by the carrier of the provision of any plan in a State. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to impose an excise tax which shall be paid by the carrier on the failure of a carrier or an employer health benefit plan to comply with the provisions of the Act. Directs the Secretary to request the NAIC to develop models for reinsurance or allocation of risk mechanisms for individuals and small employers who are enrolled under a small employer health benefit plan that meets the consumer protection standards and for whom a carrier is at risk of incurring high costs under the plan. Requires each State to establish and fund one or more reinsurance or allocation or allocation of risk mechanisms that are consistent with a model. Directs the Secretary to develop models, if the NAIC does not. Permits a State, in order to insure the financial solvency of the mechanism, to impose charges on any entity providing employee-related health benefits, so long as such charges do not discriminate with respect to entities that would not be subject to such charges. Directs the Secretary to establish a reinsurance or allocation of risk mechanism, if a State does not. Imposes an excise tax which shall be paid by the carrier on the providing of any health benefit plan which covers any employee in a Federal reinsurance State. Permits either a State or the Secretary (in a Federal reinsurance State) to require each employer health benefit plan to: (1) be registered; and (2) provide such information as is necessary for the reinsurance or allocation of risk mechanisms. Directs the Secretary to: (1) establish an Office of Private Health Coverage to be headed by a Director appointed by the Secretary; and (2) provide for the appointment of an advisory committee to advise the Director. Permits the Director to research the impact of this subtitle and conduct related demonstration projects. Requires the Director to develop: (1) methods of measuring, in terms of the expected costs of providing benefits under small employer health benefit plans and, in particular, MedAccess plans, the relative health risks of eligible individuals; and (2) a model for equitably distributing health risks among carriers in the small employer health care coverage market. Authorizes appropriations for the purposes of this paragraph. Subtitle B: Improved Small Employer Purchasing Power of Affordable Health Insurance - Preempts from insurance mandates a qualified small employer purchasing group, if the group consists of employers with not more than 100 employees, the group consists of not fewer than 100 employers, and the health benefit plans with respect to the employer members are in compliance with applicable State laws relating to health benefit plans. Subtitle C: Health Deduction Fairness - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to make permanent and increase from 25 to 100 percent the health insurance tax deduction for the self-employed. Subtitle D: Improved Access to Community Health Services - Directs the Secretary to provide for a program of grants to migrant and community health centers receiving grants or contracts under provisions of the Public Health Service Act in order to promote the provision of primary health care services for underserved individuals. Authorizes appropriations. Amends the Public Health Service Act to deem as an employee of the Public Health Service, for purposes of civil actions against commissioned officers or employees, any officer, employee, or contractor who is a physician or other licensed health care practitioner while performing functions for an entity receiving Federal funds under provisions of the Public Health Service Act. Requires an entity, in order to receive a grant under such provisions, to implement certain policies to assure against malpractice. Requires: (1) the Attorney General to estimate the amount of all claims expected, during each year, to arise against such an entity from acts of officers or employees; (2) the Secretary to withhold from grants to such entities the amount estimated; and (3) the withheld amount to be transferred to the Treasury to pay judgments against the United States arising from such claims. Directs the Secretary to make grants to public and nonprofit private entities to carry out demonstration projects for the purpose of increasing access to outpatient primary health services in geographic areas with a: (1) population of not more than 500,000 individuals; (2) shortage of personal health services; and (3) significant number of low-income or underinsured individuals. Sets forth requirements for receiving such grants. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle E: Improved Access to Rural Health Services - Retitles title XII of the Public Health Service Act "Emergency Medical Services" (formerly, "Trauma Care") and directs the Secretary to establish the Office of Emergency Medical Services which shall, with respect to emergency medical services (including trauma care): (1) conduct research; (2) sponsor workshops; (3) assist States; and (4) coordinate activities. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to States for the purposes of improving the availability and quality of emergency medical services through the operation of State offices of emergency medical services. Sets forth matching fund requirements. Provides for demonstration projects to establish telecommunications between rural medical facilities and other medical facilities that have equipment that can be utilized through telecommunications. Authorizes appropriations for purposes of the programs of this paragraph. Directs the Secretary to make grants to States to assist in the creation or enhancement of air medical transport systems that provide victims of medical emergencies in rural areas access to treatments for the injuries or other conditions arising from such emergencies. Sets forth requirements for grant applications. Authorizes appropriations. Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to extend for one year special treatment rules for Medicare-dependent small rural hospitals. Title II: Health Care Cost Containment and Quality Enhancement - Subtitle A: Medical Malpractice Liability Reform - Prohibits bringing a medical malpractice claim: (1) more than two years after the alleged injury should reasonably have been discovered and in no event more than four years after the alleged injury occurred; and (2) in any State court unless there has been an initial resolution through a certified alternative dispute resolution system (ADR). Requires the use of ADR in a Federal medical malpractice liability claim. Requires a pre-trial settlement conference in any medical malpractice liability action. Sets limits on: (1) noneconomic damages; (2) punitive damages; and (3) attorney's fees. Requires offsets for damages paid by a collateral source. Requires liability in a medical malpractice action to be several and not joint. Provides a complete defense to any allegation of negligence in a medical malpractice liability action to any defendant who followed the appropriate practice guideline. Prohibits finding a defendant guilty in a medical malpractice liability action relating to services provided during labor or delivery of a baby if the defendant did not previously treat the plaintiff during the pregnancy, unless the malpractice is proven by clear and convincing evidence. Directs the Secretary to determine whether a States' ADR meets ADR system requirements established by this Act. Establishes such requirements. Amends title XI (General Provisions and Professional Standards Review) of the Social Security Act to earmark funds for sanctioning practice guidelines for purposes of an affirmative defense in medical malpractice liability actions. Permits a State agency responsible for the conduct of disciplinary actions for a type of health care practitioner to enter into agreements with State or county professional societies for such type of health care practitioner to permit such societies to participate in the licensing of such health care practitioner and to review health care malpractice allegations. Requires each State to require each health care professional and provider to participate in a risk management program to prevent and provide early warning of practices which may result in injuries to patients or which otherwise endanger patient safety. Directs the Secretary to make grants for the conduct of basic research in the prevention of and compensation for injuries resulting from health care professional or health care provider malpractice, and research of the outcomes of health care procedures. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary to study the factors discouraging physicians from volunteering to provide health care services in medically underserved areas. Subtitle B: Administrative Cost Savings - Directs the Secretary to adopt standards relating to each of the following: (1) data elements for use in claims processing under health benefits plans; (2) uniform claim forms; and (3) uniform electronic transmission of the data elements. Authorizes the Secretary to require providers to submit claims to health benefit plans in accordance with such standards. Provides for periodic review of the standards. States that the term "health benefit plan," in this subtitle, includes the Medicare and Medicaid programs (titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act). Requires the Secretary to promulgate standards for hospitals concerning electronic medical data. Permits the Secretary to promulgate standards concerning electronic medical data for providers that are not hospitals. Requires hospitals, in order to participate in Medicare, to: (1) maintain clinical data in a set of comprehensive data elements in electronic form on all patients; and (2) upon the Secretary's request, transmit electronically the data set and any data from such set. Provides for electronic transmission to Federal agencies. Prohibits a health benefit plan, if standards with respect to data elements are promulgated with respect to a class of provider, from requiring for the purpose of utilization review or as a condition of providing benefits under the plan that a provider in the class: (1) provide any data element not in the set of comprehensive data elements; or (2) transmit or present any such data element in a manner inconsistent with applicable standards. Directs the Secretary to establish an advisory commission of hospital executive and data base managers, physicians, health services researchers, and technical experts in the collection and use of data and operation of data systems. Authorizes appropriations for such commission. Requires the Secretary, in order to assure the availability of comparative value information to purchasers of health care in each State, to determine whether each State is developing and implementing a health care value information program that meets stated criteria. Permits grants to a State for the development of its health care value information program. Authorizes appropriations for such grants. Requires the head of each Federal agency with responsibility for the provision of health insurance or health care services to individuals to promptly develop health care value information relating to each program that such head administers. Directs the Secretary to develop model systems to facilitate: (1) the gathering of data on health care cost, quality, and outcome; and (2) analyzing such data to permit the valid comparison of such data. Authorizes appropriations for the development of such model systems. Directs the Secretary to adopt standards relating to the design and use of magnetized Medicare identification cards for the purpose of assisting health care providers in determining eligibility and billing. Authorizes appropriations. Nullifies any State law requiring that medical or health insurance records be maintained in written rather than electronic form. Requires each health benefit plan: (1) for each of its beneficiaries that has a social security number, to use that number as an identification number for claims processing; and (2) for each provider that has a unique identifier for Medicare purposes, to use that identifier for claims processing. Requires the Secretary to determine whether problems relating to the rules for determining liability when benefits are payable under two or more plans or the availability of information among such plans causes significant administrative problems, and if so, directs the Secretary to promulgate standards concerning liability and the transfer of information among plans. Directs the Secretary to provide grants to qualified entities to demonstrate the application of comprehensive information systems in continuously monitoring patient care and in improving patient care. Authorizes appropriations from the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund. Subtitle C: Medical Savings Accounts (Medisave) - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from the gross income of an employee any amount contributed by the employer to a medical savings account pursuant to a qualified medical savings account plan. Sets contribution limits. Defines a "medical savings account" as a trust created exclusively for purpose of paying an individual's medical expenses. Permits expenses from such account only to the extent such amounts are not compensated for by insurance. Subjects the employee to taxation as owner of the account. Subtitle D: Medicaid Program Flexibility - Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to modify Medicaid contracting requirements for coordinated care services. Authorizes the Secretary to waive specified Medicaid requirements with respect to nursing facilities located in a State if the State provides assurances satisfactory to the Secretary that the waiver of such requirements will not adversely affect the quality of life of the residents in such facilities. Subtitle E: Limitations on Physician Self-Referrals - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to extend physician self-referral limitations to all payors as well as to certain additional services. Revises exceptions. Requires the Secretary to conduct a study in order to estimate the changes in aggregate costs for designated health services, under the Medicare program and other health plans, which will result from the implementation of the amendments made by this subtitle. Subtitle F: Removing Restrictions on Managed Care - Preempts managed care restrictions under State law. Requires the Comptroller General to conduct a study of the benefits and cost effectiveness of the use of managed care in the delivery of health services. Subtitle G: Medicare Payment Changes - Amends the Medicare program to make revisions in the methodology for determining updates to Medicare hospital payments. Provides for a reduction in Medicare payment for clinical diagnostic laboratory tests. Subtitle H: Modification of the Operation of the Antitrust Laws to Hospitals - Permits two or more hospitals, without violating the antitrust laws, to share expensive medical services or high technology equipment. Directs the Secretary to grant waivers to exempt hospitals from the antitrust laws in order to carry out agreements permitting such sharing. Sets forth reporting requirements. Subtitle I: Encouraging Enforcement Activities of Medical Self-Regulatory Entities - Prohibits damages, interest on damages, costs, or attorney's fees from being recovered under the Clayton Act or any similar State law from any medical self-regulatory entity as a result of engaging in standard setting or enforcement activities designed to promote the quality of health care provided to patients.
United States · United States Congress · 21 May 1992
United States - Flag Passenger Vessel Act of 1992 - Amends the Merchant Marine Act, 1920 to prohibit a passenger from being transported on a covered passenger voyage (a voyage of a vessel from a State or U.S. possession to a point outside of such State or possession and during which the passenger does not disembark to a foreign country, or between points in the United States, either directly or by way of a foreign port) in any other vessel than one built and documented under U.S. laws, with specified exceptions. Sets forth a civil penalty of $1,000 per passenger transported in violation of this prohibition.
United States · United States Congress · 21 May 1992
Fundamental Competitiveness Act of 1992 - Title I: Public Debt Reduction - Allows individual taxpayers to designate a portion of tax liability (not to exceed ten percent) on their tax returns to reduce the public debt. Establishes the Public Debt Reduction Trust Fund consisting of amounts so designated. Amends the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act) to provide for a sequestration of revenues equivalent to the estimated aggregate amount so designated. Specifies accounts exempted from such sequestration and establishes reporting requirements with respect to budget procedures. Title II: Capital Formation - Establishes a method of computing the credit for increasing research activities based on aggregate research expenses, as an alternative to the method based on qualified research expenses. Establishes a variable capital gains deduction whose formulas on a sliding scale range from ten percent for assets held for one year up to 100 percent for assets held for ten years. Allows a deduction of 50 percent of the capital gain from stock investments by non-corporate taxpayers in start-up companies where initial stock offerings are held for two years. Requires indexing, based on the gross national product deflator, of the adjusted basis of certain assets (corporate stock and tangle property that is a capital asset of property used in a trade or business) that have been held for more than one year at the time of sale or other disposition, solely for the purpose of determining gain or loss. Permits an income tax deduction in the amount of dividends paid by domestic corporations, except S corporations, regulated investment companies, real estate investment trusts, and personal holding companies. Repeals the income tax deductions currently permitted in connection with: (1) dividends received by a corporation; (2) dividends received by a corporation on the preferred stock of a public utility; and (3) dividends paid by a public utility on its preferred stock. Increases the deductible percentage of amounts received by a corporation from a qualified ten-percent owned foreign corporation. Allows a charitable deduction for corporate contributions of employee volunteer services to an educational organization. Establishes an investment tax credit for manufacturing and other productive equipment. Provides for determining the applicable percentage of such credit, which includes an efficiency improvement percentage. Increases the limitation based on the amount of tax for purposes of the general business credit. Provides for the treatment of losses on stock in manufacturing companies as ordinary (as opposed to capital) losses. Allows a partial exclusion of dividends or interest received by an individual. Provides for ordinary-loss treatment for losses on investments in a qualified startup company. Describes such company as one which: (1) manufacture tangible personal property in the United States; (2) does not involve a business acquired from another person; and (3) has not been in existence for more than one taxable year at the time it issued stock. Title III: Antitrust - Amends the Clayton Act to bar the acquisition by one corporation of stock of another, subject to specified conditions, where there is a significant probability that such acquisition will substantially increase the ability to exercise market power (currently, where the effect of such acquisition may be to substantially lessen competition or to tend to create a monopoly). Defines the ability to exercise market power for purposes of such provision as the ability of one or more firms profitably to maintain prices above competitive levels for a significant period of time. Directs the court, in determining whether there is a significant probability that any acquisition will substantially increase the ability to exercise market power, to consider all economic factors relevant to the effect of the acquisition in the affected markets, including: (1) the number and size distribution of firms and the effect of the acquisition thereon; (2) the ease or difficulty of entry by foreign or domestic firms; (3) the ability of smaller firms in the market to increase production in response to an attempt to exercise market power; (4) the nature of the product and terms of sale; (5) conduct of firms in the market; (6) efficiencies deriving from the acquisition; and (7) any other evidence indicating whether the acquisition will or will not substantially increase the ability, unilaterally or collectively, to exercise market power. Amends the National Cooperative Research Act of 1984 to include a joint production venture within the scope of such Act as an activity that shall not be deemed illegal per se under the antitrust laws. Changes the short title of such Act to the National Cooperative Research, Development, and Production Act. Title IV: Business Liability - Subtitle A: Findings - Makes findings with respect to the increasing amount of litigation in our society and the desirability of encouraging alternative dispute mechanisms and providing uniform legal standards in the areas of professional and product liability. Subtitle B: Professionals' Liability Reform - Professionals' Liability Reform Act of 1992 - Establishes certain limitations and procedures regarding professional liability actions. Preempts certain State laws. Provides that nothing in this Act shall prohibit any State from developing or implementing alternative procedures for: (1) expediting the adjudication of professional liability claims; (2) resolving professional liability disputes; or (3) compensating for harm caused by professional services. Requires professional liability actions to be brought within three years after the claimant discovered, or should have discovered, the harm. Requires the claimant, in any professional liability action, to establish: (1) that the professional negligently rendered professional services and that such negligence was the proximate cause of the harm; or (2) in a claim for economic injury, that the professional negligently rendered professional services to and for the direct and intended benefit of the claimant, and such services were the proximate cause of the harm. Requires the claimant to establish that, at the time such services were provided, knowledge of the circumstances that caused the harm and a practical means to eliminate such circumstances were reasonably available. States that a professional shall not be liable in a professional liability action in which: (1) the professional's services were rendered to an agency of the Federal or State government; (2) Federal or State contract specifications existed which were material to the claim; and (3) the services rendered conformed to such specifications. Permits future damage awards exceeding $100,000 to be made by periodic payments. Requires that damage awards be offset by any amount received as compensation for the same injury. Establishes a contingency fee schedule for plaintiffs' attorneys. States that the principles of comparative liability shall apply unless persons engaged in concerted action which proximately caused the harm. Permits the awarding of punitive damages only where the conduct of the defendant: (1) manifested a malicious and reckless disregard for safety; and (2) constituted an extreme departure from accepted standards of safety. States that punitive damages may not be awarded in the absence of a compensatory award, or for the negligent provision of professional services. Requires the trier of fact, at the request of the professional, to consider in a separate proceeding whether punitive damages are to be awarded. Limits the claimant's actual recovery of punitive damages to three times the amount of compensatory damages. States that excess punitive damages shall be paid to the State or Federal government. Makes any attorney who files a frivolous claim subject to pecuniary sanctions by the court. Requires each State to encourage professional organizations to form risk management programs. Subtitle C: Product Liability Fairness - Part I: General Provisions - Product Liability Fairness Act - Declares that this Act governs any product liability action brought against a manufacturer or product seller, on any theory, for harm caused by a product. States that a civil action brought against a manufacturer or product seller for loss or damage to a product itself or commercial loss shall be governed by applicable commercial or contract law. Supersedes any inconsistent State law regarding recovery in such actions. Lists specific laws not superseded, including: (1) defense of sovereign immunity asserted by any State or by the United States; (2) any Federal law (except the Federal Employees Compensation Act and the Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act); (3) the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act of 1976; (4) State choice-of-law rules; (5) the right of any court to transfer venue or to apply the law of a foreign nation or to dismiss a claim of a foreign nation or citizen on the ground of inconvenient forum; and (6) any statutory or common law cause of action, including an action to abate a nuisance, that authorizes a State or person to institute an action for civil damages or civil penalties, clean up costs, injunctions, restitution, cost recovery, punitive damages, or any other form of relief from contamination or pollution of the environment or the threat of it. Declares that U.S. district courts shall not have jurisdiction over any civil action under this Act, based on specified provisions of Federal law relating to district court jurisdiction. Declares that, if any provision of this Act would shorten the period during which a manufacturer or seller would otherwise be exposed to liability, the claimant may, notwithstanding that period, bring any civil action under this Act within one year after the effective date of this Act. Part II: Out of Court Procedures - Allows any claimant to bring a civil action for damages against a person for harm caused by a product under applicable State law, except to the extent such law is superseded by this title. Sets forth expedited settlement measures, including: (1) an option to include an offer of settlement, for a specific dollar amount, by the plaintiff in the complaint and by the defendant in a responsive pleading; and (2) awarding attorney's fees and costs, in certain circumstances, to the prevailing party if the other party does not accept the settlement offer. Sets forth alternative dispute resolution procedures, including: (1) an option, in lieu of or in addition to a settlement offer, for a claimant or a defendant to offer to proceed under any voluntary alternative dispute resolution procedure established or recognized under the law of the State in which the action is brought or maintained; and (2) awarding of attorney's fees and costs to the offering party if the court determines that a refusal to so proceed was unreasonable or not in good faith. Creates a rebuttable presumption that a refusal to so proceed was unreasonable, or not in good faith, if a verdict is rendered in favor of the offeror. Part III: Court Procedures - Allows a person seeking to recover for harm caused by a product to bring a civil action against the manufacturer or seller under applicable State or Federal law, except to the extent such law is superseded by this Act. Establishes a standard of product seller liability for proximate causes of harm, established by a preponderance of the evidence, which fall under the categories of negligence or express warranty. Allows the trier of fact, in a negligence action, to consider the conduct of the seller with respect to: (1) the construction, inspection, or condition of the product; and (2) failure to pass on warnings or instructions from the manufacturer. Deems the seller not liable for failure to provide warnings or instructions unless the claimant establishes that the seller failed to: (1) provide warnings or instructions received while the product was in the seller's possession and control; or (2) make reasonable efforts to provide users with warnings and instructions which it received after the product left its possession and control. Deems a seller not liable except for breach of warranty where there was no opportunity to inspect the product in a manner which would or should, in the exercise of reasonable care, have revealed the aspect which allegedly caused the harm. Declares that the seller shall be treated as the manufacturer and be liable for harm caused by a product as if it were the manufacturer if: (1) the manufacturer is not subject to service of process in any State in which the action might have been brought; or (2) the court determines that the claimant would be unable to enforce a judgment against the manufacturer. Allows punitive damages, if otherwise permitted by applicable law, to be awarded in any civil action under this title to any claimant who establishes by clear and convincing evidence that the harm suffered was the result of conduct manifesting a manufacturer's or product seller's conscious, flagrant indifference to the safety of those persons who might be harmed by a product. Declares that a failure to exercise reasonable care in choosing among alternative product designs, formulations, instructions, or warnings is not of itself such conduct. Prohibits awarding punitive damages in the absence of a compensatory award, subject to exception. Prohibits punitive damages against a manufacturer or seller of a drug or medical device where: (1) the drug or device was subject to pre-market approval by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA); or (2) the drug is generally recognized as safe and effective under conditions established by the FDA. Prohibits punitive damages against a manufacturer of an aircraft where: (1) the aircraft was subject to pre-market certification by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA); and (2) the manufacturer complied, after delivery, with FAA requirements and obligations with respect to continuing airworthiness. Provides for separate proceedings, if requested by the manufacturer or seller, with regard to punitive damages. Lists factors the trier of fact is allowed to consider in determining the amount of punitive damages. Bars any civil action under this title: (1) unless filed within two years after the claimant discovered or should have discovered the harm and its cause, subject to exception; and (2) if the product involved is a capital good that is alleged to have caused harm which is not a toxic harm unless filed within twenty-five years after delivery of the product, provided the claimant has received or would be eligible for State or Federal workers' compensation. Excludes a motor vehicle, vessel, aircraft, or railroad used primarily to transport passengers for hire from these time limitations. States that nothing in these provisions affects the right of any person who is subject to liability under this Act to obtain contribution or indemnity from any other person who is responsible for the harm. Requires reduction in the damages awarded by the sum of all State or Federal workers' compensation benefits to which the employee is or would be entitled. Requires a claimant in a civil action under this title who is or may be eligible to receive State or Federal workers' compensation to notify the claimant's employer of the civil action. Requires an action to be stayed, at the sole discretion of the claimant, until a final determination is made on the amount payable as workers' compensation benefits. Declares that, unless the manufacturer or seller has expressly agreed to indemnify or hold an employer harmless, neither the employer nor the workers' compensation insurance carrier shall have a right of subrogation, contribution, or implied indemnity against the manufacturer or seller or a lien against the claimant's recovery, except if the claimant's harm was not in any way caused by the fault of the claimant's employer or co-employees. Allows the employer or workers' compensation insurer to intervene in the action to prove that fact. Prohibits a third party tortfeasor, where workers' compensation is involved, from maintaining any action for implied indemnity or contribution against the employer, any coemployee, or the exclusive representative of the injured person. Prohibits, for a person who is or would have been entitled to receive workers' compensation, any other action, unless a State or Federal workers' compensation law permits recovery based on a claim of an intentional tort. Makes these provisions inapplicable and declares that applicable State law shall control if the employer or the workers' compensation insurer asserts a right of subrogation, contribution, or implied indemnity against the manufacturer or seller or a lien against the claimant's recovery. Declares that, in any product liability action, the liability of each defendant for noneconomic damages shall be several and not joint. Requires the trier of fact to determine the proportion of responsibility of each party for the claimant's harm. Establishes a complete defense, in any civil action under this Act in which all defendants are manufacturers or sellers, that the claimant was under the influence of alcohol or any drug and that, as a result, the claimant was more than 50 percent responsible for the event which resulted in the harm. Defines "drug" to mean any non-over-the-counter drug which has not been prescribed by a physician. Title V: Long-Term Investment - Long-Term Investment Promotion Act of 1992 - Amends the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to eliminate the requirement that publicly-held corporations report their financial status on a quarterly basis. Title VI: Competitiveness Risk Assessment - Declares that no agency shall propose or promulgate a regulation without first analyzing its direct and indirect effects on the health and safety of consumers and workers, including effects due to wage and job losses, price increases, product restrictions, technological delays, and substitution effects. Title VII: Department of Manufacturing And Commerce - Department of Manufacturing and Commerce Act of 1992 - Renames the Department of Commerce as the Department of Manufacturing and Commerce. Requires the President to establish a Manufacturing Advisory Commission to examine Federal agencies, programs, and offices responsible for manufacturing-related research and development, technology transfer, education, and trade in order to prepare a report for the Congress on the feasibility of consolidating such agencies, programs, and offices into a single Office of Manufacturing within the Department of Manufacturing and Commerce. Title VIII: Amendments to the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980 - Amends the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980 to change from discretionary to mandatory a Federal agency's authority to permit the director of any of its laboratories to enter into cooperative research and development agreements on its behalf. Authorizes each Federal agency to copyright on behalf of the United States any computer software prepared in whole or in part by Government employees involved in cooperative research and development agreements. Includes software royalties in the current distribution format (agency, laboratory, author, and Treasury) under such Act.
United States · United States Congress · 21 May 1992
Medical Cost Containment Act of 1992 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from gross income medical care savings benefits. Describes such benefits as a health plan which provides that all or part of the premium differential realized by instituting a qualified higher deductible health plan is credited to participating employees to pay for medical care for a plan year. Requires amounts remaining at the end of such plan year to be deposited into a tax-exempt medical care savings account (subject to rules similar to those for retirement plans) for use by the participant for medical expenses.
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 · 20 May 1992
National Youth Apprenticeship Act of 1992 - Sets forth Federal, State, and local responsibilities in establishing the means for employers, local education agencies, labor organizations, and other appropriate entities to develop and implement youth apprenticeship programs under the national youth apprenticeship criteria (the criteria) established by this Act. Establishes an interagency committee, composed of the Secretaries of Labor, of Education, and of Commerce, to: (1) establish procedures for submission and review of plans by States; and (2) determine if such plans meet the criteria. Directs the Secretary of Labor (the Secretary) to perform specified functions under this Act in consultation with the committee, including providing for criteria and safeguards compliance determination procedures, monitoring data collection, evaluation, review of fund use, policy guidance, resources and technical assistance, recognition and dissemination of outstanding programs, and research and demonstration activities. Directs the Governor of a participating State to submit to the Secretary a biennial State plan for youth apprenticeship programs which meets specified requirements. Directs the Governor also to designate the appropriate State authority to: (1) develop certain program guidelines for designating local entities and for including long-term employment possibilities; (2) certify that local programs meet the criteria, safeguards, and other appropriate standards; (3) provide technical assistance and other support to local entities and employers; and (4) provide for data collection, monitoring, and program evaluation. Requires local entities to ensure programs meet the criteria, safeguards, and other applicable standards. Requires participating schools to provide for career exploration and academic development to meet program entry and participation requirements. Requires local employers (in collaboration with labor organizations where appropriate) to: (1) employ youth apprentices; (2) assist participating schools in ensuring that curriculum content is relevant to the workplace; (3) take primary responsibility for ensuring success of worksite learning and work experience; and (4) inform local schools of each youth apprentice's performance. Requires local private industry councils to review and approve local youth apprenticeship programs to ensure that such programs: (1) meet local labor market demands; and (2) provide apprentices with broad-based competencies and transferable skills that facilitate career progression within the industries or trades in which the student is trained and employed. Sets forth the national youth apprenticeship criteria for programs, including criteria with respect to: (1) academic instruction; (2) work-based learning; (3) worksite learning and experience; (4) agreement commitment by youth apprentices, parents or guardians, employers (in collaboration with labor organizations where appropriate), and local educational agencies; (5) agreement provisions for educational outcomes and for wages and hours; and (6) information and guidance. Allows local entities to design programs using alternative program components, including specified models for tech-prep education and vocational education, and providing for formal coordination with other tech-prep programs and postsecondary education and training. Requires specified safeguards to apply to youth apprenticeship programs under this Act, including safeguards against: (1) displacement of currently employed workers (or those undergoing temporary layoffs, or those terminated by the employer with the intention of filling the vacancies with the youth apprentices; (2) impairment of existing contracts for services or collective bargaining agreements; (3) an unsafe or unhealthful workplace; (4) discrimination; and (5) conflict of interests by private industry council members. Sets forth the relationship of youth apprenticeship programs under this Act to other laws, including: (1) special lower minimum wages and student-learner requirements under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938; and (2) specified programs under the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Act, the Job Training Partnership Act, and the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. Directs the Secretary to conduct studies to: (1) evaluate activities under this Act and other appropriate issues; and (2) examine State and local use, in support of this Act, of funds under specified Federal laws and of any other Federal, State, local, or private resources. Directs the Secretary to submit an initial report to the President on the results of such studies within two years after enactment of this Act. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 14 May 1992
Directs the Secretary of Education to decrease Department of Education personnel costs by ten percent from amounts appropriated for FY 1993 and 1994. Requires that: (1) 90 percent of the savings from such reduction be transferred to local education agencies in accordance with State aid distribution formulas; and (2) the remaining ten percent be used to reduce the Federal budget deficit. Provides that nothing in this Act shall be construed to replace or reduce State and local government funding for education programs.
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 · 13 May 1992
Tax Extension Act of 1992 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to make the low-income housing credit permanent law. Modifies the rule for unused housing credit carryovers allocated among certain States. Expands the ten-year anti-churning rule waiver to certain projects substantially assisted, financed, or operated under the National Housing Act. Allows units occupied by certain full-time students to qualify for such credit. Authorizes the Treasury Department to waive penalties for certain de minimis errors and recertifications. Excludes assistance under the HOME Investment Partnerships Act from the definition whether a building is federally subsidized. Permits the use of tax-exempt bond financing for such purposes. Provides for State housing credit agencies to designate difficult development areas (in lieu of the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development). Allows the use of the rehabilitation investment credit for qualified low-income buildings without regard to whether interior walls are preserved. Prohibit discrimination against section 8 voucher holders in leasing units in qualified low-income buildings. Requires notice before termination of tenancy in such buildings. Allows certain building owners to elect to use apartment size or family size in determining the low-income credit gross rent limitation. Extends the following provisions from June 30, 1992, until December 31, 1993: (1) the authority to issue qualified mortgage bonds and qualified mortgage credit certificates; (2) the authority to issue qualified small issue bonds to finance manufacturing facilities and farm property; (3) employer-provided educational assistance; (4) the tax credit for increasing research activities; (5) the tax exclusion for employer-provided group legal services plans; (6) the targeted jobs credited; and (7) the credit for clinical testing expenses for certain drugs for rare diseases or conditions. Provides for the tax treatment of resale price control and subsidy lien programs under mortgage revenue bond provisions. Excludes from the five-year occupancy requirement under the tax-exempt mortgage revenue bond program any two-family residence which: (1) is a targeted area residence; or (2) is located in an area designated as an economic development zone or enterprise zone by Federal or State law. Suspends, for 1992 and 1993, the tax preference for the appreciated property charitable deduction.
United States · United States Congress · 7 May 1992
Civil War Battlefield Commemorative Coin Act of 1992 - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to issue a specified number of five-dollar gold coins, one-dollar silver coins, and half-dollar clad coins to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Civil War battlefield preservation. Sets forth certain features of such coins and provides for their design, issuance, and sale. Requires that all sales include a surcharge of $35 per coin for the five-dollar coins, $7 per coin for the one-dollar coins, and $1 per coin for the half-dollar coins. Requires that all surcharges be paid to the Civil War Battlefield Foundation for the preservation of historically significant Civil War battlefields.
United States · United States Congress · 6 May 1992
Congratulates the residents of Jerusalem and the peopole of Israel on the 25th anniversary of the reunification of that city. Urges that: (1) Jerusalem remain an undivided city in which the rights of every ethnic and religious group are protected; and (2) the President and Secretary of State issue an unequivocal statement in support of such principle.
United States · United States Congress · 5 May 1992
Designates September 18, 1992, as National POW/MIA Recognition Day. Requires the POW/MIA flag to be flown on a flagstaff of the White House, the Departments of State, Defense, and Veterans Affairs, the Selective Service Commission, each national cemetery, and the National Vietnam Veterans Memorial on such day. Requires the flag to be flown on a flagstaff of each national cemetery and the National Vietnam Veterans Memorial on May 30, 1992 (Memorial Day), and on November 11, 1992 (Veterans Day). States that the flag shall be displayed as a symbol of national concern and commitment to resolving the fates of Americans still prisoner, missing, and unaccounted for.
United States · United States Congress · 29 April 1992
Prisoner-of-War Commemorative Coin Act - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to issue a specified number of one-dollar coins emblematic of the experience of American prisoners of war. Requires that all sales of such coins include a surcharge of $5 per coin. Requires specified proceeds from such surcharges to be paid to the: (1) Secretary of the Interior for construction of the Andersonville Prisoner-of-War Museum in Andersonville, Georgia; (2) endowment fund established by this Act for the maintenance of such Museum; and (3) Secretary of Veterans Affairs to maintain national cemeteries.
United States · United States Congress · 28 April 1992
Petroleum Marketing Practices Act Amendments of 1992 - Amends the Petroleum Marketing Practices Act to allow as grounds for nonrenewal of a franchise relationship the failure of the parties to agree to changes to the franchise provisions as long as such failure is not the result of the franchisor's insistence for the purpose of converting a franchisee operation into one operated by the franchisor's employees or agents (that is, turning the franchise into a company-owned station). Prohibits a State or any political subdivision from implementing any law or regulation which requires payment for a franchisee's goodwill upon either termination or nonrenewal of a franchise. Permits State law to specify the terms and conditions under which a franchise or franchise relationship may be transferred to a franchisee's designated successor upon the franchisee's death. Requires a franchisor that does not wish to exercise its underlying lease options to lease or purchase the marketing premises, to offer to assign them to the franchisee as a prerequisite to termination or nonrenewal of the franchise relationship. Bars a franchisor from requiring, as a condition of the franchise relationship, that the franchisee waive or release its rights under Federal or State law. Declares invalid and unenforceable any franchise provision which specifies that franchise interpretation or enforcement shall be governed by the law of any State other than the one in which the franchisee has its principal place of business.
United States · United States Congress · 9 April 1992
Maritime Academy Cadet Licensing Relief Act - Amends Federal law relating to Coast Guard user fees to prohibit any fee for the issuance, evaluation, or examination of, or applications for, entry level licenses or merchant mariner's documents for certain individuals under specified provisions.
![Official portrait of Rep. Lent, Norman F. [R-NY-4]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/l000243_200.jpg)