United States · United States Congress · 4 January 1995
Amends Internal Revenue Code provisions relating to the income tax deduction for the health insurance costs of self-employed individuals to: (1) increase the allowable deduction from 25 percent to 100 percent; and (2) make the deduction permanent.
United States · United States Congress · 4 January 1995
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Mineral Exploration and Development Title II: Environmental Considerations of Mineral Exploration and Development Title III: Abandoned Minerals Mine Reclamation Fund Title IV: Administrative and Miscellaneous Provisions Mineral Exploration and Development Act of 1995 - Title I: Mineral Exploration and Development - Sets forth guidelines for mineral exploration on public domain lands. Declares that holders of mining claims executed under this Act have the exclusive right of possession and use of the claimed land for mineral activities. (Sec. 103) Prescribes rules for mining claim location and use of public land surveys. Provides for administrative adjudication of conflicting claims. Mandates a specified location fee for every unpatented mining claim located after the date of enactment of this Act. (Sec. 104) Subjects existing unpatented mining claims, mill sites, and tunnel sites to the provisions of this Act ("converted mining claims"). (Sec. 105) Sets forth certain annual claim maintenance fees. Mandates that all monies received from such fees be deposited into the Abandoned Locatable Minerals Mine Reclamation Fund (established under this Act). (Sec. 106) States that failure to comply with the requirements of this Act shall be deemed conclusively to constitute forfeiture of the mining claim. (Sec. 107) Prescribes procedural guidelines for: (1) contesting a mining claim on the basis of discovery; and (2) demonstrating the continued sufficiency of a mining claim. Title II: Environmental Considerations of Mineral Exploration and Development - Directs the Secretary of the Interior, and for National Forest System lands the Secretary of Agriculture (the Secretaries), to require that mineral activities on Federal lands be conducted in a manner that minimizes adverse impacts to the environment. Prescribes surface management guidelines for the granting of both an exploration and an operations permit. Requires applications for such permits to contain both an operations plan and a reclamation plan, and evidence of financial assurances. Limits an operations permit to a ten-year term (subject to renewal). (Sec. 205) Declares persons in violation of this Act ineligible for permits. Sets as a prerequisite to the issuance of any permit evidence of financial assurance payable to the United States for all lands to be affected by the mineral activities described in the permit application. (Sec. 207) Mandates that lands subject to mineral activities be restored to a condition capable of supporting their prior uses, or to other beneficial uses which conform to applicable land use plans. Sets forth reclamation standards applicable to mineral exploration. (Sec. 208) Declares that State standards for reclamation, bonding, inspection, and water or air quality which either meet or exceed Federal standards shall not be construed as inconsistent with this Act. Permits cooperative agreements between the States and the Secretary. Prohibits the Secretary from delegating authorities or responsibilities conferred under this Act to any State or its political subdivision. (Sec. 209) Requires the Secretaries, in preparing land use plans, to determine those areas deemed unsuitable for certain mineral activities. Requires withdrawal of such areas from mineral exploration and development. Title III: Abandoned Locatable Minerals Mine Reclamation Fund - Establishes the Abandoned Locatable Minerals Mine Reclamation Fund (the Fund) to be administered by the Secretary of the Interior acting through the Director of the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement for the reclamation and restoration of land and water resources adversely affected by past minerals activities on certain public lands. (Sec. 303) Restricts reclamation expenditures to Federal or Indian land and water resources that traverse or are contiguous to Federal or Indian lands where such resources have been affected by past mineral activities. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 306) Subjects to a royalty scheme of eight percent of the net smelter return the production of locatable minerals (or mineral concentrates or products derived from locatable minerals) from any mining claim under this Act. Title IV: Administrative and Miscellaneous Provisions - Subtitle A: Administrative Provisions - Amends the Mining and Minerals Policy Act of 1970 and the National Materials and Minerals Policy Research and Development Act of 1980 to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to implement minerals policy and actions to improve availability and analysis of mineral data in Federal land use decision making for National Forest System lands. (Sec. 402) Authorizes the Secretaries to establish and collect user fees to reimburse the United States for expenses incurred in administering this Act. (Sec. 403) Prescribes procedural guidelines for the publication of an application for an operations permit and public participation requirements. (Sec. 404) Instructs the Secretaries to: (1) inspect mineral activities to ensure compliance with surface management requirements; and (2) require all operators to maintain a monitoring and evaluation system to identify compliance with them. Authorizes citizen suits to enforce compliance. (Sec. 406) Prescribes procedural guidelines for administrative and judicial review of agency actions. (Sec. 407) Sets forth enforcement guidelines and civil and criminal penalties for non-compliance. Subtitle B: Miscellaneous Provisions - Provides transitional rules for: (1) new and preexisting claims; (2) claims that have not been converted; (3) contest proceedings; and (4) oil shale claims. (Sec. 413) Adjusts the dollar amounts established under this Act to a certain inflation formula. (Sec. 417) Prohibits the issuance after January 4, 1995, of patents for vein, lode, placer, and mill site mining claims unless certain administrative requirements are met. (Sec. 418) Declares that the Multiple Minerals Development Act, and certain other Federal law, apply to all mining claims located or converted under this Act. (Sec. 419) Amends Federal law to subject all mineral materials deposits to disposal under the terms of the Materials Act of 1947 (eliminating the concept of uncommon varieties). Renames specified Federal : s: (1) the Surface Resource Act of 1955; and (2) the Materials Act of 1947. Repeals the Building Stone Act and the Saline Placer Act. (Sec. 420) Declares this Act applicable to Federal lands that are used for beneficiation or processing activities for any mineral regardless of Federal title to the mineral. (Sec. 421) Requires recipients of funds under this Act to comply with the "Buy American Act." Expresses the sense of the Congress that such funds should be used to purchase only American-made equipment and products. Declares a person ineligible to receive any contract made with funds provided under this Act if the person has been judicially determined to have intentionally affixed a "made in America" label to a product that is not U.S.-made. (Sec. 423) Declares that court-awarded compensation for a Federal taking under the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution shall be paid from the Fund. Directs the Secretary of the Interior to submit an annual report to the Congress describing the percentage of each mining claim held by a foreign firm.
United States · United States Congress · 4 January 1995
Child Support Credit Bureau Reporting Act of 1995 - Amends part D (Child Support and Establishment of Paternity) of title IV of the Social Security Act to require States to establish procedures for monthly reporting to certain consumer reporting agencies of child support obligations owed by absent parents. Requires prior notice to such parents and a reasonable opportunity for them to contest the accuracy of any information about overdue support payable that would be provided to such agencies.
United States · United States Congress · 4 January 1995
Amends Federal law to exclude the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund from the Federal and congressional budgets, and exempt it from any general budget limitation imposed by statute on U.S. budget outlays and from certain orders issued under the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act).
United States · United States Congress · 4 January 1995
Provides that any amount remaining in an official allowance of a Member of the House of Representatives at the end of the session of Congress or other period for which the allowance is made available shall be returned to the Treasury to be used for deficit reduction.
United States · United States Congress · 4 January 1995
Employee Educational Assistance Act of 1995 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to make permanent the income tax exclusion of amounts paid under employee educational assistance programs.
United States · United States Congress · 4 January 1995
Merchant Mariners Fairness Act of 1993 - Provides that certain qualified service of a member of the U.S. merchant marine, including a vessel crewmember of the U.S. Army Transport Service, during World War II constituted active military service for purposes of eligibility for various veterans' benefits under the GI Bill Improvement Act of 1977. Requires the Secretary of Defense to issue an honorable discharge under such Act to each merchant marine member whose qualified service warrants such a discharge. Prohibits the payment of any retroactive benefits under this Act. Mandates a processing fee for any benefit application for such qualified service.
United States · United States Congress · 4 January 1995
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the current Federal income tax deduction for interest paid on debt secured by a first or second home should not be further restricted.
United States · United States Congress · 27 September 1994
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Approval of, and General Provisions Relating to, the Uruguay Round Agreements Subtitle A: Approval of Agreements and Related Provisions Subtitle B: Tariff Modifications Subtitle C: Uruguay Round Implementation and Dispute Settlement Subtitle D: Related Provisions Title II: Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Provisions Subtitle A: General Provisions Subtitle B: Subsidies Provisions Subtitle C: Effective Date Title III: Additional Implementation of Agreements Subtitle A: Safeguards Subtitle B: Foreign Trade Barriers and Unfair Trade Practices Subtitle C: Unfair Practices in Import Trade Subtitle D: Textiles Subtitle E: Government Procurement Subtitle F: Technical Barriers to Trade Title IV: Agriculture-Related Provisions Subtitle A: Agriculture Subtitle B: Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures Subtitle C: Standards Subtitle D: General Effective Date Title V: Intellectual Property Subtitle A: Copyright Provisions Subtitle B: Trademark Provisions Subtitle C: Patent Provisions Title VI: Related Provisions Subtitle A: Expiring Provisions Subtitle B: Certain Customs Provisions Subtitle C: Conforming Amendments Title VII: Revenue Provisions Subtitle A: Withholding Tax Provisions Subtitle B: Provisions Relating to Estimated Taxes and Payments and Deposits of Taxes Subtitle C: Earned Income Tax Credit Subtitle D: Provisions Relating to Retirement Benefits Subtitle E: Other Provisions Subtitle F: Pension Plan Funding and Premiums Title VIII: Pioneer Preferences Uruguay Round Agreements Act - Title I: Approval of, and General Provisions Relating to, the Uruguay Round Agreements - Subtitle A: Approval of Agreements and Related Provisions - Declares that the Congress approves: (1) the Uruguay Round Agreements entered into on April 15, 1994, pursuant to the Uruguay Round of multilateral trade negotiations under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT); and (2) a statement of administrative action proposed to implement such agreements that was submitted to the Congress on September 27, 1994. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 102) Prohibits any provision of the Uruguay Round Agreements that is inconsistent with any U.S. law from having any effect. Sets forth provisions governing the Agreements and their effect on State laws and private remedies. Subtitle B: Tariff Modifications - Grants the President, in addition to his other powers to enter into trade agreements regarding trade barriers, the authority to proclaim other modifications of any duty, staged rate reduction, or additional duties as may be necessary to carry out Schedule XX (United States annexed to the Marrakesh Protocol to GATT). (Sec. 112) Amends the Customs and Trade Act of 1990 to declare that the duty on foreign repairs made to U.S.-flag vessels shall not apply to the cost of equipment or spare parts for repairs made to certain U.S.-flag LASH (Lighter Aboard Ship) barges or cargo vessels that enter the United States on or after the date the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement enters into force. Amends the Tariff Act of 1930 to declare that such duty shall not apply to the cost of spare parts necessarily installed on such vessels before they first enter the United States, but only if a duty is paid under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States upon first entry into the United States on each spare part purchased in, or imported from, a foreign country. (Sec. 113) Directs the Secretary of the Treasury (Secretary) to liquidate or reliquidate and refund any duties that were paid on: (1) certain agglomerated stone tiles entered into the United States on or after January 1, 1989, and before October 1, 1990; and (2) clomiphene citrate entered into the United States after December 31, 1988, and before January 1, 1993. (Sec. 114) Amends the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States to grant duty-free treatment to: (1) unimproved wool and other wool not finer than 46s; (2) octadecyl isocyanate; and (3) 5-chloro-2-(2,4- dichlorophenoxy)phenol. (Sec. 115) Sets forth consultation and layover requirements for actions proclaimed by the President. Subtitle C: Uruguay Round Implementation and Dispute Settlement - Sets forth provisions governing: (1) implementation of the Uruguay Round Agreements; (2) WTO dispute settlement panels; (3) review of WTO operations; (4) increased transparency of the costs and benefits of trade policy actions; and (5) access to the WTO dispute settlement process. (Sec. 128) Amends the Trade Act of 1974 to revise the composition of the Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations to include representatives from nongovernmental environmental and conservation organizations. Subtitle D: Related Provisions - Directs the President to seek the establishment in the GATT 1947 (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, dated October 30, 1947) and in the WTO of a working party to examine internationally recognized worker rights as they relate to the articles, objectives, and related instruments of such agreement and organization. (Sec. 133) Expresses the sense of the Congress that the United States Trade Representative (USTR) should oppose the admission for membership into the WTO of any country that supports the boycotting of another country. (Sec. 134) Urges the President to develop a comprehensive trade and development policy for African countries. (Sec. 135) Declares that the principal U.S. negotiating objective in the extended negotiations on financial services to be conducted under the auspices of the WTO is to seek to secure commitments from developed and developing countries to reduce or eliminate barriers to the supply of financial services as the condition for the United States: (1) offering commitments to provide national treatment and market access in each of the financial services subsectors; and (2) making such commitments on a most-favored-nation basis. Declares that the principal U.S. negotiating objective in the extended negotiations on basic telecommunications services is to obtain the opening on a nondiscriminatory basis of foreign markets for basic telecommunications services through facilities-based competition or through the resale of services on existing networks. Declares the principal U.S. negotiating objectives in the extended negotiations on trade in civil aircraft are, among other things, to obtain: (1) competitive opportunities for U.S. exports in foreign markets equivalent to those afforded to foreign products in the United States; (2) the reduction or elimination of tariff and nontariff barriers, including through expanded membership in the Agreement on Trade in Civil Aircraft and in the US-EC bilateral agreement for large civil aircraft; and (3) increased transparency with respect to foreign subsidy programs in the civil aircraft sector, maintaining vigorous and effective disciplines on subsidies practices under the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures (Subsidies Agreement). (Sec. 136) Amends the Internal Revenue Code to repeal the tax on imported perfumes that contain distilled spirits. Grants a drawback (refund) of tax paid on distilled spirits used in the manufacture of imported perfumes. (Sec. 137) Requires unliquidated imported nonrubber footwear from Brazil which is subject to Treasury Decision 74-233, dated September 9, 1974, and which was entered, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, on or before October 28, 1981, to be assessed countervailing duties at rates equal to the amount of the cash deposit of the estimated countervailing duties required on such footwear at the time of entry or withdrawal from warehouse for consumption. Title II: Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Provisions - Subtitle A: General Provisions - Amends the Tariff Act of 1930 to require the administering authority, upon receipt of a petition filed requesting a countervailing duty or antidumping duty proceeding, to: (1) notify the exporting country named in the petition by delivering a public version of the petition; and (2) with respect to a countervailing duty proceeding, provide any exporting country named in the petition that is a Subsidies Agreement country an opportunity for consultations. (Sec. 212) Revises provisions regarding countervailing duty and antidumping duty petition determinations with respect to: (1) whether the petition has been filed by or on behalf of an industry; (2) extension of time for filing a petition; (3) polling to determine industry support; (4) comments by interested parties; and (5) termination of a petition where imports of the subject merchandise have been determined negligible. Reduces from 85 days to 65 days after a countervailing duty investigation is initiated the deadline by which the administering authority must determine, based on available information, whether a subsidy is being provided with respect to merchandise which is the subject of such investigation. Reduces the time period on other countervailing duty and antidumping duty determinations. (Sec. 213) Requires the administering authority, whenever making a preliminary or final antidumping duty determination with respect to imported merchandise, to disregard any weighted average dumping margin that is de minimis (less than two percent ad valorem or the equivalent specific rate for such merchandise). (Sec. 214) Requires the International Trade Commission (ITC), whenever there is an affirmative countervailing or antidumping duty finding, to include in its final determination a finding as to whether the subject imports are likely to seriously undermine the remedial affect of the countervailing or antidumping duty order. Revises provisions regarding critical circumstances determinations in antidumping and countervailing duty proceedings to require the administering authority to base its determinations on: (1) available information; and (2) in antidumping duty cases, whether there is a history of dumping and material injury by reason of dumped imports in the United States and elsewhere of the subject merchandise. (Sec. 216) Requires the administering authority with respect to countervailing and antidumping duty cases to provide exporters who would have been subject to agreements to eliminate the injurious effect of, or subsidies provided on, their exports, the reasons for not accepting such agreements and an opportunity for them to submit comments. (Sec. 217) Authorizes the administering authority and the ITC to use records compiled in a previously filed and withdrawn countervailing or antidumping duty petition in any subsequent investigation initiated pursuant to any new petitions filed within three months after such withdrawal. (Sec. 218) Sets forth special rules for: (1) countervailing and antidumping duty investigations with respect to agreements to eliminate the injurious effect of, or subsidies provided on, exports that are sold in a regional industry (domestic producers within a region who are treated as a separate industry); and (2) assessment of countervailing or antidumping duties on specific exporters in affirmative regional industry determinations. (Sec. 219) Requires the administering authority, whenever an affirmative antidumping determination is made, to make a preliminary and final determination of: (1) the estimated weighted average dumping margin for each exporter individually investigated; and (2) the estimated all-others rate for all exporters not individually investigated. Requires the administering authority to order the posting of bond for the subject merchandise based on the estimates above. (Sec. 220) Sets forth provisions with respect to: (1) the periodic review of countervailing or antidumping duty orders or notice of suspension of a countervailing or antidumping duty investigation; (2) determinations of antidumping or countervailing duties; (3) revocation of countervailing or antidumping duty orders; (4) termination of suspended countervailing or antidumping duty investigations; (5) administering authority determinations of whether revocation of an order, or termination of a suspended investigation, would likely lead to continuation or recurrence of material injury to an industry, or a countervailable subsidy, or of dumping; (6) revised factors to be considered in threat of injury determinations; (7) negligible imports; (8) cumulation for determining material injury and threat of material injury to an industry; (9) consideration of post-petition information in countervailing or antidumping duty investigations; (10) determination of the normal value of subject merchandise; (11) opportunity for industrial users and consumers of subject merchandise to comment; (12) publication of countervailing or antidumping duty determinations; (13) conduct of countervailing or antidumping duty investigations and the administrative review of such investigations; and (14) antidumping duty petitions by WTO member countries. Subtitle B: Subsidies Provisions - Part 1: Countervailable Subsidies - Defines the term "countervailable subsidy" as a financial contribution, any form of income or price support, or any direct or indirect payment by the government of a country or any public entity within a country's territory to a person or a funding mechanism to provide a financial contribution to a person, thereby conferring a benefit. Part 2: Repeal of Section 303 and Conforming Amendments - Repeals a provision of the Tariff Act of 1930 concerning countervailing duties. (Sec. 262) Authorizes the imposition of a countervailing duty (equal to the amount of the net countervailable subsidy) on subject imported merchandise if: (1) the administering authority determines that a foreign country provides a countervailable subsidy with respect to such merchandise; and (2) in the case of merchandise imported from a Subsidies Agreement country, the ITC determines that a U.S. industry is materially injured or is threatened with material injury, or the establishment of a U.S. industry is materially retarded by reasons of such imported merchandise. (Sec. 263) Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) de minimis countervailable subsidies; (2) determination of countervailable, all-others, and country-wide subsidy rates; and (3) the definition of "developing and least-developed countries". Part 3: Section 303 Injury Investigations - Requires the ITC, upon a request from an interested party for an injury investigation with respect to a countervailing duty order which applies to merchandise that is a product of a Subsidies Agreement country, to initiate an investigation to determine whether a U.S. industry is likely to be materially injured by such merchandise if such order is revoked. Part 4: Enforcement of United States Rights Under the Subsidies Agreement - Requires the administering authority to provide information to the public upon request, and, to the extent feasible, assistance and advice to interested parties concerning remedies and procedures under the Subsidies Agreement. Requires the administering authority to notify the USTR with respect to its determination that a class or kind of merchandise is benefiting from a subsidy prohibited under the Agreement. Sets forth provisions requiring the withdrawal of such subsidy or the imposition of countermeasures. Subtitle C: Effective Date - Sets forth effective dates. Title III: Additional Implementation of Agreements - Subtitle A: Safeguards - Amends the Trade Act of 1974 regarding: (1) confidentiality of business information furnished to the ITC with respect to petitions requesting import relief from injury caused by import competition; (2) disclosure of such information under protective order; (3) time limits with respect to ITC import injury determinations in critical circumstances cases and import relief provided by the President; (4) productivity as a factor in ITC import relief determinations; and (5) limits with respect to the duration of import relief actions. Subtitle B: Foreign Trade Barriers and Unfair Trade Practices - Requires a certain USTR report on foreign trade barriers to include a section on foreign anticompetitive practices that adversely affect the export of U.S. goods or services. (Sec. 313) Requires the USTR to take into account the history of intellectual property practices of a foreign country and the history of U.S. efforts to achieve adequate intellectual property protection in identifying priority foreign countries. (Sec. 314) Revises the definition of an unreasonable foreign act, policy, or practice to include the denial of nondiscriminatory market access opportunities for U.S. persons that rely upon intellectual property protection. Requires the USTR to include in a certain report identifying U.S. trade liberalization priorities a review of U.S. trade expansion priorities. Revises factors to be included in such report. Requires the USTR to negotiate an agreement with foreign priority countries that eliminates the unreasonable trade practice or, if elimination is not feasible, that provides compensatory benefits. Sets forth U.S. objectives with respect to the protection of intellectual property rights. Subtitle C: Unfair Practices in Import Trade - Amends the Tariff Act of 1930 to set forth provisions with respect to: (1) the conclusion of ITC unfair trade practices determinations; (2) entry under bond of merchandise suspected of being manufactured as a result of an unfair trade practice; (3) cease and desist orders with respect to such merchandise; (4) access to confidential information submitted to the ITC in its investigation; (5) stays of actions pending before the ITC; and (6) jurisdiction of counterclaims filed in unfair trade practices cases. Subtitle D: Textiles - Requires the Secretary of Commerce to publish in the Federal Register a list of products to be integrated as set out in the Agreement on Textiles and Clothing. (Sec. 333) Requires the Secretary to publish in the Federal Register a list of manufacturers or exporters located outside the United States who fraudulently imported textile or apparel merchandise into the United States in violation of U.S. customs laws. Requires the President to publish a list of countries who have transshipped textile or apparel products or have engaged in activities designed to evade U.S. quotas on such products. (Sec. 334) Requires the Secretary to prescribe rules implementing specified principles for determining the origin of textiles and apparel products. Subtitle E: Government Procurement - Amends the Trade Agreements Act of 1979 to extend from one year to 18 months following the initiation of dispute settlement procedures with respect to the Agreement on Government Procurement the period of time during which the President shall not take action to limit Government procurement for a participant if specified conditions are met. Extends the time period of dispute resolution procedures before certain sanctions are imposed on a signatory country for not complying with such procedures. (Sec. 342) Repeals the mandate for a study of the economic effects of the waiver of Buy American requirements in the procurement of products in labor surplus areas prior to certain trade renegotiations. (Sec. 343) Revises such Act with respect to reciprocal competitive procurement practices and the authority to bar the procurement of U.S. products from non-designated countries. Subtitle F: Technical Barriers to Trade - Declares that nothing under the Trade Agreements Act of 1979 regarding customs duties and technical barriers to trade may be construed to: (1) prohibit a Federal agency from engaging in standards-related activities, including activities related to safety, the protection of human, animal, or plant life or health, the environment, or consumers; or (2) limit a Federal agency's authority to determine the level of safety it considers appropriate in such areas. Title IV: Agriculture-Related Provisions - Subtitle A: Agriculture - Part 1: Market Access - Amends the Agricultural Adjustment Act, as reenacted by the Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act of 1937, to prohibit any quantitative limitation or fee from being imposed under such Act with respect to any product of a WTO member. (Sec. 402) Repeals specified sections of the Trade Agreements Act of 1979 regarding import restrictions on cheese and chocolate crumbs. Amends the Trade Agreements Act of 1979 to eliminate provisions authorizing the President to prohibit the entry of quota cheese. (Sec. 403) Repeals the Meat Import Act of 1979. (Sec. 404) Requires the President, in implementing the tariff-rate quotas set out in Schedule XX, to take necessary action to ensure that agricultural imports do not disrupt the orderly marketing of commodities in the United States. Sets forth provisions with respect to the application of tariff-rate quotas to imported agricultural products. (Sec. 405) Requires the President to publish in the Federal Register: (1) a list of special safeguard agricultural goods; and (2) a trigger level and price for such goods. Requires a duty to be imposed on such imports of such goods. Part II: Exports - Export Enhancement Program Amendments of 1994 - Amends the Agricultural Trade Act of 1978 to require the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) to carry out an export enhancement program to encourage the commercial sale of U.S. agricultural commodities in world markets at competitive prices. Extends funding levels for such program through FY 2001. (Sec. 411) Amends the Food Security Act of 1985 to extend the authority of the dairy export incentive program through FY 2001. Authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to sell dairy products for export consistent with U.S. obligations under the Uruguay Round Agreements, if their sale will not interfere with the usual marketings of the United States nor disrupt world prices of agricultural commodities and patterns of commercial trade. Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) the President should consult other donor nations to consider appropriate levels of food aid commitments to meet the legitimate needs of developing countries; and (2) the United States should increase its contribution of bone fide food assistance to developing countries consistent with the Agreement on Agriculture. Part III: Other Provisions - Increases the maximum tariff rate the President may impose on imported tobacco. (Sec. 422) Amends the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938 to require producers, purchasers, and exporters of 1994 through 1998 price supported crops of tobacco to remit to the CCC a certain nonrefundable marketing assessment. Amends the Tariff Act of 1930 to provide a drawback (refund) on any tobacco that is subject to the over-quota rate of duty established under a tariff-rate quota. (Sec. 423) Authorizes the President to proclaim a reduction or elimination of any duty with respect to cigar binder and filler tobacco, wrapper tobacco, or oriental tobacco. (Sec. 424) Requires the President to report to the Congress on the extent to which Canada is complying with the Uruguay Round Agreements with respect to dairy and poultry products and with its related obligations under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). (Sec. 425) Secretary of Agriculture to study and report to the Congress on the effects of the Uruguay Round Agreements on the Federal milk marketing order system. (Sec. 426) Requires the CCC to use certain funds for export promotion. foreign market development, export credit financing, and promotion of the development, commercialization, and marketing of products resulting from alternative uses of agricultural commodities. Subtitle B: Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures - Amends the Trade Agreements Act of 1979 to require the standards information center of the Department of Commerce, among other things, to make available to the public documents and information regarding: (1) general application of sanitary or phytosanitary measures by Federal and State agencies; and (2) participation of Federal and State governments and nongovernmental bodies in international and regional standardizing bodies and conformity assessment systems, and in bilateral and multilateral arrangements regarding standards-related measures. (Sec. 431) Amends Federal law to exclude Mexico from certain requirements requiring pest inspection of Mexican railroad cars that enter the United States. Amends the Federal Plant Pest Act and the Plant Quarantine Act to repeal the current requirement of permits for the importation or interstate movement of plant pests and nursery stock. Allows such importation or movement (in the mails or otherwise) only in accordance with regulations promulgated by the Secretary of Agriculture to prevent the dissemination into the United States, or interstate, of such pests, plant diseases, or insect pests. Amends the Honeybee Act to repeal the statutory prohibition but authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to prohibit the importation of honeybees and honeybee semen into or through the United States in order to prevent the spread of diseases and parasites harmful to honeybees, the introduction of genetically undesirable honeybee germ plasm, or the introduction and spread of undesirable honeybee species or subspecies and honeybee semen. Amends the Federal Noxious Weed Act of 1974 to revise the prohibition on the importation or interstate movement of noxious weeds. Amends Federal law to repeal the statutory prohibition but authorize the Secretary of Agriculture by regulation to prohibit or restrict the importation of cattle, sheep, or other ruminants, or swine that are diseased or infected with any disease, or that have been exposed to an infection, into or through the United States in order to prevent the dissemination of disease into the United States. Changes from mandatory to discretionary the Secretary of Agriculture's authority to: (1) cause the inspection of imported animals for contagious diseases or infection; and (2) establish an international animal quarantine station. Revises the Federal Meat Inspection Act with respect to a certification by the Secretary of Agriculture that foreign plants that export meat carcasses or meat products have complied with inspection requirements. (Sec. 432) Amends the Trade Agreements Act of 1979 to require the President to designate an agency to be responsible for informing the public of the sanitary and phytosanitary standard-setting activities of each international standard-setting organization. Prohibits an agency from making a determination that a foreign sanitary or phytosanitary measure is equivalent to a U.S. sanitary or phytosanitary measure unless it determines that such foreign measure provides at least the same level of sanitary or phytosanitary protection as the U.S. measure. Subtitle C: Standards - Amends the Federal Seed Act to repeal certain seed staining requirements. Requires the Secretary of Agriculture to publish, with the reasons for it, any determination that foreign seed of alfalfa or red clover is not adapted for general agricultural use in the United States. Subtitle D: General Effective Date - Sets forth the effective date of this title. Title V: Intellectual Property - Subtitle A: Copyright Provisions - Amends the Computer Software Rental Amendments Act of 1990 to repeal the termination date of a prohibition on unauthorized commercial rental or leasing of computer programs. (Sec. 512) Amends Federal copyright law to apply existing remedies for copyright infringement where a person, without the consent of a performer: (1) fixes the sound or images of a live musical performance in a copy or phonorecord or reproduces phonorecords or copies of such a performance from an unauthorized fixation; (2) communicates to the public the sounds or images of such a performance; or (3) distributes, sells, rents, or traffics (or offers to engage in such activities) any copy or phonorecord fixed without such consent. (Sec. 513) Amends the Federal criminal code to impose criminal penalties for activities described in Section 512 that are pursued for commercial advantage or private financial gain. (Sec. 514) Replaces provisions regarding copyright in certain motion pictures with those concerning copyright in restored works. Declares that copyright subsists in restored works and vests automatically on the date of restoration. Provides that any work in which copyright is restored shall subsist for the remainder of the term of copyright that the work would have otherwise been granted in the United States if the work never entered the public domain in the United States. Provides that any work in which the copyright was ever owned or administered by the Alien Property Custodian and in which the restored copyright would be owned by a government or instrumentality thereof is not a restored work. Declares that a restored work vests initially in the author or initial rightholder of the work as determined by the law of the source country of the work. Authorizes any person owning copyright or an exclusive right in a restored work to file a notice of intent with the Copyright Office to enforce that copyright or right against reliance parties or serve such notice directly. Defines a "reliance party" as any person who: (1) engages in acts, before the source country becomes an eligible country (a country that is a World Trade Organization (WTO) member country, adheres to the Bern Convention, or is subject to a presidential proclamation of protection), which would have violated exclusive rights in copyrighted works if the restored work had been subject to copyright protection and continues to engage in such acts after the source country becomes an eligible country; (2) makes or acquires copies or phonorecords of the work before the source country becomes an eligible country; or (3) as the result of the sale or other disposition of a derivative work or significant assets of a person described in (1) or (2), is a successor, assignee, or licensee of such a person. Sets forth remedies for infringement of copyrights in restored works. Permits the President, whenever a foreign nation extends to U.S. authors restored copyright protection on substantially the same basis as provided under this Act, to extend restored protection by proclamation to any work: (1) of which one or more of the authors is a national, domiciliary, or sovereign authority of such nation; or (2) which was first published in such nation. Subtitle B: Trademark Provisions - Amends the Trademark Act of 1946 to consider nonuse of a mark for three (currently, two) consecutive years to be prima facie evidence of abandonment. (Sec. 522) Makes trademarks regarding geographic indications, when first used in connection with wines or spirits one year after the WTO Agreement's enactment date, nonregistrable if the geographic indication is a place other than the origin of the goods. Subtitle C: Patent Provisions - Amends Federal patent law to extend U.S. intellectual property protections to inventions that are made in other countries by persons who are domiciled in a North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) country or WTO member country and who are serving in any other country in connection with operations by or on behalf of the United States, a NAFTA country, or a WTO member country. (Sec. 532) Revises Federal patent law to establish a 20-year patent term from the date of filing. Provides that, if the issuance of an original patent is delayed because of a proceeding regarding situations where a patent application would interfere with a pending application or with an unexpired patent, the term of the patent shall be extended for the period of delay up to five years. Provides the same extension for delays due to appellate review by the Board of Patent Appeals or a Federal court. Requires the term of a patent that is in force or results from an application filed within six months after this Act's enactment date to be the greater of the 20-year term or 17 years from grant, subject to any terminal disclaimers. Sets forth provisions with respect to the filing of a provisional application for a patent. Specifies that a provisional application shall not be entitled to the right of priority of any other application or the benefit of an earlier filing date in the United States. Directs the Commissioner of the Patent and Trademark Office to charge a $150 filing fee on each provisional application for an original patent. (Sec. 533) Deems offering to sell or import a patented invention into the United States to be patent infringement. Title VI: Related Provisions - Subtitle A: Expiring Provisions - Amends the Trade Act of 1974 to extend, through July 31, 1995, duty-free treatment of the products of beneficiary developing countries under the Generalized System of Preferences. (Sec. 601) Requires certain articles that enter the United States after September 30, 1994, and before the enactment of this Act, to be liquidated or reliquidated as free of duty and a refund to be paid with respect to such entries. (Sec. 602) Amends the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States to extend, through January 1, 2007, the requirement that the Secretaries of Commerce and of the Interior: (1) verify the wages paid by each producer to permanent residents of the U.S. insular possessions during the preceding year; and (2) issue to each producer a production incentive certificate for the applicable amount. Extends the authority of the production incentive certificate, number PIC-EV-89. Subtitle B: Certain Customs Provisions - Amends the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 to revise provisions concerning the reimbursement of certain customs user fees. (Sec. 612) Increases the customs user fees for certain imported merchandise. Subtitle C: Conforming Amendments - Amends Federal trade laws to make conforming amendments. Title VII: Revenue Provisions - Subtitle A: Withholding Tax Provisions - Amends the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) to require tax withholding on payments made to a member of an Indian tribe from profits from gaming activity. (Sec. 702) Provides for voluntary withholding on specified Federal payments and on unemployment compensation. Subtitle B: Provisions Relating to Estimated Taxes and Payments and Deposits of Taxes - Requires amounts included in gross income for foreign shareholders and controlled foreign corporations to be taken into account in computing annualized income installments. (Sec. 712) Specifies time requirements for the deposit of certain excise taxes. (Sec. 713) Reduces the rate of interest to be paid on certain corporate overpayments. Subtitle C: Earned Income Tax Credit - Makes military personnel stationed outside the United States eligible for the earned income credit. (Sec. 722) Makes certain nonresident aliens ineligible for such tax credit. (Sec. 723) Disregards the income of inmates at penal institutions in determining such tax credit. Subtitle D: Provisions Relating to Retirement Benefits - Extends the authority to transfer excess pension assets to retiree health benefit accounts. (Sec. 733) Increases the percentage of social security benefits paid to nonresidents that must be included in gross income. Subtitle E: Other Provisions - Provides for partnership distributions of marketable securities. (Sec. 742) Requires taxpayer identification numbers at birth. (Sec. 743) Extends the authority of the Internal Revenue Service to impose certain user fees. (Sec. 744) Removes the reduction of the understatement penalty for corporations for items attributable to tax shelters. Subtitle F: Pension Plan Funding and Premiums - Retirement Protection Act of 1994 - Amends requirements for pension plan funding, including: (1) minimum funding, revising additional funding requirements for single-employer plans; (2) limitation on changes in current liability assumptions; (3) anticipation of bargained benefit increases; (4) modification of the quarterly contribution requirement; and (5) exceptions to the excise tax on nondeductible contributions. (Sec. 761) Makes similar amendments to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) for pension plan funding. (Sec. 766) Prohibits benefit increases or other changes which increase plan liabilities where a plan sponsor is in bankruptcy. (Sec. 767) Amends IRC and ERISA with respect to: (1) single sum distributions; and (2) adjustments to the lien for missed minimum funding contributions. (Sec. 771) Amends title IV (Plan Termination Insurance) of ERISA to revise requirements relating to reportable events. (Sec. 772) Requires that specified additional information be furnished to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC). (Sec. 773) Revises provisions for enforcement of minimum funding requirements. (Sec. 774) Phases out the variable rate premium cap. (Sec. 775) Requires the plan administrator of a plan subject to a specified additional premium to notify plan participants and beneficiaries of the plan's funding status and the limits on the PBGC's guaranty should the plan terminate while underfunded. (Sec. 776) Adds provisions relating to missing participants. (Sec. 777) Revises provisions relating to modification of the maximum guarantee for disability benefits. (Sec. 781) Sets forth effective dates for this Act. Title VIII: Pioneer Preferences - Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to prohibit the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) from awarding licenses pursuant to preferential treatment accorded by the FCC to persons who make significant contributions to the development of a new telecommunications service or technology, except in accordance with this title. (Sec. 801) Requires the FCC to recover for the public a portion of the value of the public spectrum resource made available to such persons by requiring them, as a condition for receipt of licenses, to agree to pay a specified sum. Provides for such payments to be made in a lump sum or in guaranteed installment payments, with or without royalty payments, over a period of up to five years. Directs the FCC to prescribe regulations specifying the procedures and criteria by which it will evaluate applications for such preferential treatment in licensing. Requires such regulations to: (1) specify the procedures and criteria by which the significance of such contributions will be determined; (2) include procedures to prevent unjust enrichment by ensuring that the value of the contribution justifies any reduction in amounts paid for licenses; and (3) be inapplicable to applications that have been accepted for filing before September 1, 1994. Sets forth requirements with respect to treatment of broadband licenses awarded pursuant to preferential treatment accorded in the Third Report and Order in General Docket 90-314, including that the FCC: (1) not reconsider the award of such specified preferences and not delay the granting of licenses based on such awards; (2) not alter the bandwidth or service areas designated for such licenses in such Report and Order; (3) use the broadband licenses in the personal communications services for blocks A and B for the 20 largest markets (ranked by population) in which no applicant has obtained preferential treatment; (4) permit installment payments over a period of five years subject to specified conditions; and (5) recover an amount equal to $400 million for such licenses. Terminates the FCC's authority to provide preferential treatment as described by this title on September 30, 1998. Applies this title to any licenses issued on or after August 1, 1994, pursuant to preferential treatment procedures.
United States · United States Congress · 30 June 1994
Authorizes the Secretary of Transportation to issue a certificate of documentation for a named vessel for employment in the coastwise trade of the United States and on the Great Lakes and their tributary and connecting waters in trade with Canada.
United States · United States Congress · 29 June 1994
Amends part D (Child Support and Establishment of Paternity) of title IV of the Social Security Act to require States to establish procedures for monthly reporting to certain consumer reporting agencies of child support obligations owed by absent parents. Requires prior notice to such parents and a reasonable opportunity to contest the accuracy of any information about overdue support payable that would be provided to such agencies.
United States · United States Congress · 23 June 1994
Employment Non-Discrimination Act of 1994 - Prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation by covered entities, including employing authorities of the House of Representatives, employing offices of the Senate, and instrumentalities of the Congress. Declares that: (1) this Act does not apply to the provision of employee benefits for the benefit of an employee's partner; and (2) a disparate impact does not establish a prima facie violation of this Act. Prohibits quotas and preferential treatment. Declares that this Act does not apply to: (1) religious organizations (except in their for-profit activities); (2) the armed forces; or (3) laws creating special rights or preferences for veterans. Provides for enforcement. Disallows State and Federal immunity. Allows recovery of attorney's fees. Prohibits retaliation and coercion. Requires posting notices for employees and applicants.
United States · United States Congress · 17 June 1994
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that: (1) June 21, 1994, is designated as Freedom Summer Remembrance Day; and (2) it reaffirms the goal of removing remaining barriers to full voter participation in this Nation.
United States · United States Congress · 25 May 1994
Authorizes the President to present, on behalf of the Congress, to the Lubavitcher rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, a gold medal in recognition of his outstanding and enduring contributions toward world education, morality, and acts of charity. States that no appropriations are authorized to implement this Act. Declares that the medals struck pursuant to this Act are national medals.
United States · United States Congress · 24 May 1994
Designates September 16, 1994, as National POW/MIA Recognition Day. Requires the display of the National League of Families POW/MIA flag at: (1) all national cemeteries and the National Vietnam Veterans Memorial on May 30, 1994 (Memorial Day), September 16, 1994 (National POW/MIA Recognition Day), and November 11, 1994 (Veterans Day); and (2) the White House and the buildings containing the primary offices of the Secretaries of State, Defense, and Veterans Affairs and the Director of the Selective Service System on September 16, 1994 (National POW/MIA Recognition Day).
United States · United States Congress · 12 May 1994
Senior Citizens Against Marketing Scams Act of 1994 - Amends the Federal criminal code to provide for enhanced penalties for telemarketing fraud that targets or victimizes persons over age 55. Directs the court to order offenders to: (1) pay restitution to persons who sustained losses as a result of the fraudulent activity; and (2) forfeit to the United States property constituting or derived from proceeds obtained as a result of the offense. Requires the U.S. Sentencing Commission to review and, if necessary, amend the sentencing guidelines to ensure that victim related adjustments for fraud offenses against persons over age 55 are adequate. Authorizes the Attorney General to make awards for furnishing information leading to the prosecution and conviction of telemarketing fraud offenders. Authorizes appropriations. Makes the mail fraud statute applicable to matter sent or delivered by any private or commercial interstate carrier. Sets forth provisions regarding fraud and related activity in connection with access devices. Directs the Attorney General to establish a national, toll-free telemarketing fraud hotline.
United States · United States Congress · 11 May 1994
Calls on: (1) the Republic of Azerbaijan and Nagorno Karabagh to cease all hostilities and begin peace negotiations under the framework established by the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe; (2) the parties to the conflict to simultaneously lift all blockades in the region; and (3) the President to take an active role in promoting peace and in monitoring the human rights situation in the region.
United States · United States Congress · 10 May 1994
Chile Free Trade Agreement Negotiating Act of 1994 - Amends the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988 to authorize the President, before January 1, 1997, to enter into a trade agreement with Chile that provides for the elimination or reduction of duties imposed by the United States, or the elimination or reduction of barriers to, or other distortions of, international trade between Chile or the United States. Subjects the trade agreement to congressional "fast track" procedures only if the President certifies to the Congress, when submitting implementing legislation, that such agreement: (1) requires the parties to adhere to internationally recognized worker rights; (2) requires the enforcement of environmental laws and the adoption of higher environmental standards; and (3) includes dispute resolution mechanisms.
United States · United States Congress · 14 April 1994
Congratulates the residents of Jerusalem and the people of Israel on the 27th anniversary of the reunification of that city. Calls upon the President and the Secretary of State to issue an unequivocal statement in support of the principle that Jerusalem must remain an undivided city and the capital of Israel in which the rights of every ethnic and religious group are protected.
United States · United States Congress · 24 March 1994
Humanitarian Aid Corridor Act - Prohibits foreign assistance funds from being used to provide assistance to any country for any portion of a fiscal year during which the country prohibits or restricts the transport or delivery of U.S. humanitarian assistance to any other country. Makes such prohibition inapplicable if the President determines and notifies the Congress that providing assistance: (1) is in the national interest; or (2) will benefit directly non-military personnel who are in immediate danger resulting from a natural or manmade disaster (provided that such assistance is humanitarian assistance distributed directly to such personnel or through international relief organizations).
United States · United States Congress · 24 March 1994
United States Botanic Garden Commemorative Coin Act of 1995 - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to: (1) issue one-dollar silver coins to commemorate the 175th anniversary of the founding of the United States Botanic Garden; and (2) pay all surcharges received from such coin sales to the National Fund for the United States Botanic Garden.
United States · United States Congress · 23 March 1994
Kosova Peace and Democracy Act of 1994 - Expresses the sense of the Congress with respect to ethnic relations and human rights in Kosova. Continues specified sanctions imposed against Serbia and Montenegro until the President certifies to the Congress that: (1) there is progress toward restoration of the independent identity and autonomy of Kosova; (2) there is improvement in the human rights situation in Kosova; (3) international human rights observers are allowed to return to Kosova; and (4) the elected government of Kosova is permitted to meet. Prohibits any funding on behalf of Serbia and Montenegro until such conditions have been met. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to instruct the U.S. executive directors of the international financial institutions to oppose assistance to Serbia or Montenegro, except for basic human needs, until such conditions have been met. Authorizes the President to waive or modify such sanctions, prohibitions, or conditions if necessary to meet emergency humanitarian needs or achieve a settlement of the conflict in Kosova acceptable to the parties. Directs the Chairman of the Board for International Broadcasting to submit a plan and a budget for the establishment of a surrogate home service under the auspices of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty for Albanian populations living in Kosova and other areas of the former Yugoslavia.
United States · United States Congress · 16 March 1994
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Comprehensive Program for Worker Reemployment Title II: One-Stop Career Center System Title III: National Labor Market Information System Title IV: Reinvention Labs for Job Training for the Economically Disadvantaged Reemployment Act of 1994 - Establishes: (1) a comprehensive program for worker reemployment; (2) a one-stop career center system; (3) a national labor market information system; and (4) reinvention labs for job training for the economically disadvantaged. (Sec. 4) Authorizes appropriations for titles I, III, and IV of this Act. Title I: Comprehensive Program for Worker Reemployment - Allots funds among States and reserves certain funds for national activities. (Sec. 103) Makes certain permanently laid-off workers and long-term unemployed individuals (as well as workers facing imminent plant shutdowns and self-employed individuals unemployed because of community economic conditions or natural disasters) eligible for services under this title. Makes dislocated homemakers eligible if a State Governor deems this appropriate and certain conditions are met. Part A: State and Substate Delivery System - Makes States responsible for administrative and management systems under this title. (Sec. 112) Requires the Governor to designate or establish a dislocated worker unit at the State level, with specified rapid response, information, and coordination functions. Directs such unit to coordinate with substate grantees and career centers, and to promote worker-management transition assistance committees. Provides for rapid response coverage of certain layoffs, State funding of preliminary assessments of worker buyouts of plants, prohibition of State transfer of rapid response functions, and Federal oversight of such functions. (Sec. 113) Requires the Governor to develop and maintain a comprehensive labor market information system in the State that meets certain requirements relating to the national system of effective labor market information. (Sec. 114) Requires the Governor to coordinate programs under this title with the worker profiling system under the Social Security Act and the retraining income support program under this Act. (Sec. 115) Authorizes the Governor to award supplementary grants to eligible entities to provide authorized services to eligible individuals in areas of the State experiencing substantial increases in numbers of such individuals due to plant closures, base closures, and mass layoffs. Allows such grant funds to be used to establish additional service centers, including on-site transition centers. (Sec. 116) Authorizes the Governor to award job retention project grants for: (1) upgrading skills of workers at risk of permanent layoff; and (2) retraining workers in new technologies and work processes to help convert or restructure businesses into high performance work organizations and avert plant closings or substantial layoffs. Requires State and employer contributions. Requires consultation with unions. (Sec. 117) Requires establishment of substate area administrative structures. (Sec. 118) Requires each designated substate grantee to establish one or more career centers in that area. Allows additional, temporary on-site transition centers. (Sec. 119) Authorizes the use of substate area funds for the following services for eligible individuals: (1) basic reemployment services; (2) intensive reemployment services; (3) education and training services; (4) retraining income support; (5) supportive services; and (6) supplemental wage allowances for older workers. (Sec. 120) Allows a career center to issue a certificate of continuing eligibility for services to eligible individuals who are accepting employment at a significantly lower wage than their previous one or in an occupation significantly different from their previous one. Part B: Federal Service Delivery System - Directs the Secretary of Labor to establish a program of national discretionary grants to address large-scale economic dislocations resulting from plant closures, base closures, or mass layoffs. Allows the use of such grants to: (1) provide comprehensive planning services to assist communities in addressing and reducing the impact of an economic dislocation; and (2) establish on-site transition centers. (Sec. 132) Directs the Secretary to make funds available for disaster relief employment assistance to States for substate allocation. (Sec. 133) Directs the Secretary to provide for: (1) evaluation of programs under this title; (2) research on addressing economic dislocation, facilitating the transition of permanently laid-off workers to reemployment, and upgrading skills of employed workers; and (3) demonstration projects to develop and improve methods of addressing economic dislocation and promoting worker adjustment. (Sec. 134) Directs the Secretary to provide staff training and technical assistance to various entities to enhance their capacity to develop and deliver adjustment assistance services to workers, and to avert plant closings or substantial layoffs. Requires integration of such activities with those of the Capacity Building and Information and Dissemination Network. (Sec. 135) Directs the Secretary to provide for delivery of programs, activities, and services under this title in any State that chooses not to participate. Part C: Performance Standards and Quality Assurance Systems - Directs the Secretary to establish a process, including an annual meeting, in each State to promote development of a customer service compact among parties administering programs under this title. (Sec. 152) Directs the Secretary to prescribe performance standards relating separately to the substate grantees and the career centers. Directs Governors to prescribe adjustments to such standards and award incentive grants to grantees and centers exceeding such standards. (Sec. 153) Requires each substate grantee to establish methods for obtaining customer feedback from eligible individuals and employers who have received services from a career center. (Sec. 154) Makes providers of education and training services eligible to receive funds under this title if they are eligible to participate under student aid provisions of the Higher Education Act of 1965 or are determined eligible under alternative procedures established by Governors, and if they provide performance-based information. Exempts on-the-job training providers from such requirements. Part D: General Requirements - Sets forth general requirements for programs under this title, including provisions for benefits, labor standards, and grievance procedures. Part E: Fiscal Administrative Provisions - Sets forth various administrative provisions, including ones for program year, prompt allocation of funds, monitoring, fiscal controls and sanctions, reports, recordkeeping, and investigations, administrative adjudication, nondiscrimination, judicial review, nondiscrimination, and criminal provisions. Part F: Miscellaneous Provisions - Provides for transition, on July 1, 1995, to programs authorized under this title from the following programs, which this Act repeals, under employment and training assistance for dislocated workers provisions of the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA): (1) Economic Dislocation and Worker Adjustment Assistance program; (2) Defense Conversion Adjustment Program; (3) Defense Diversification Program; and (4) Clean Air Employment Transition Assistance Program. Terminates the Disaster Relief Employment Assistance program under JTPA. Title II: One-Stop Career Center System - Part A: Components of Voluntary One-Stop Career Center System - Requires a State's one-stop career center system, in order to receive a grant or waiver under this title, to include: (1) local workforce investment boards; (2) one-stop career centers established in accordance with specified procedures; (3) provision of specified services; (4) participation of specified Federal programs; (5) operating agreements for such centers; (6) quality assurance systems; and (6) a State Human Resource Investment Council. (Sec. 212) Directs the Governor to designate one-stop service areas within the State. Directs local officials to establish a workforce investment board for each such area. (Sec. 213) Directs the Governor and local officials to jointly select a consortium option or a multiple independent operator option as the method for establishing one-stop career centers for each service area. (Sec. 214) Requires each center to make available: (1) certain basic services to the public free of charge; and (2) certain intensive services to participants in the title I comprehensive program for worker reemployment who are unable to obtain employment through the basic services (and, optionally, to other individuals in accordance with the written agreement). Authorizes each center to provide specialized services to employers and additional services specified in the agreement. Authorizes charging fees under specified conditions, with all program income to be used to expand or enhance services. (Sec. 215) Requires the following programs to be made available to participants through the centers (and to participate in operation of such centers as parties to the agreement): (1) comprehensive programs for worker reemployment under title I of this Act; (2) Wagner-Peyser Act programs (employment services); (3) job counseling, training, and placement for veterans; (4) training services for the disadvantaged under title II of JTPA; (5) community service employment for older Americans programs under title V of the Older Americans Act; and (6) programs authorized under Federal and State unemployment compensation laws. Allows other human resource programs to provide services through and participate in operation of the centers, under specified conditions, including the Job Opportunities and Basic Skills program for AFDC recipients, the Food Stamp Employment and Training program, the Job Corps, veterans' employment programs under JTPA, and programs under the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Education Act, Adult Education Act, Vocational Rehabilitation Act, and School-to-Work Opportunities Act. (Sec. 216) Sets forth requirements for operating agreements and quality assurance systems. (Sec. 218) Requires each State to establish a State human resource investment council that meets specified JTPA requirements and carries out certain additional functions including advising on development and implementation of the one-stop career center system. Part B: Grants and Waivers to Promote the Development and Implementation of One-Stop Career Center System - Authorizes the Secretary to establish programs of competitive grants to States for planning and development and for implementation of comprehensive statewide networks of one-stop career centers. (Sec. 233) Allows a State, at any point during such development or implementation, to request from the Secretary a waiver of one or more statutory or regulatory provisions. Sets forth waiver criteria. Subjects to such waiver authority the mandatory participating programs of the centers. (Sec. 234) Provides for pooling of administrative resources. Part C: Additional Activities in Support of One-Stop Career Center Systems - Directs the Secretary to establish a process, with each State implementing the one-stop career center system, including an annual meeting, to promote development of a customer service compact among the parties administering the system. (Sec. 235) Makes each State implementing such a system responsible for administration, management, monitoring, and technical assistance. (Sec. 236) Makes the Secretary responsible for monitoring compliance, staff training and technical assistance (integrated with the Capacity Building and Information Dissemination Network under JTPA), a national logo and name, and evaluation of one-stop career center programs. Part D: Effective Date - Sets forth effective dates for this title and for performance standards. Title III: National Labor Market Information System - Directs the Secretary to develop, in coordination with other Federal, State, and local entities, a strategy to establish a nationwide system of local labor market information. (Sec. 303) Directs the Secretary, in cooperation with such other entities and public-private partnerships, to develop such system to make available specified types of information. Requires certain technical standards, consumer reports, and evaluation. (Sec. 304) Directs the Secretary to provide for coordination and integration of such system and appropriate dissemination of information. Title IV: Reinvention Labs for Job Training for the Economically Disadvantaged - Amends the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) to establish a five-year Reinvention Labs program to: (1) encourage innovative program designs to improve provision of services to and labor market outcomes for economically disadvantaged youth and adults; (2) develop, through service delivery areas (SDAs) and States, knowledge of effective approaches to providing employment and training to the economically disadvantaged; and (3) provide SDAs with increased flexibility in operating job training programs, in exchange for greater accountability. (Sec. 401) Sets forth requirements for SDA applications for waivers of Federal requirements relating to JTPA programs for employment and training of the economically disadvantaged. Authorizes the Secretary to waive certain of such requirements under specified conditions and to provide technical assistance to SDAs, States, and service providers for Reinvention Labs programs. (Sec. 402) Modifies the definition of tuition under JTPA.
United States · United States Congress · 16 March 1994
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Comprehensive Program for Worker Reemployment Title II: Retraining Income Support and Flexibility in Unemployment Compensation Title III: One-Stop Career Center System Title IV: National Labor Market Information System Title V: Reinvention Labs for Job Training for the Economically Disadvantaged Reemployment Act of 1994 - Establishes: (1) a comprehensive program for worker reemployment; (2) retraining income support and flexibility in unemployment compensation; (3) a one-stop career center system; (4) a national labor market information system; and (5) reinvention labs for job training for the economically disadvantaged. (Sec. 4) Authorizes appropriations for titles I, III, and IV of this Act. Title I: Comprehensive Program for Worker Reemployment - Allots funds among States and reserves certain funds for national activities. (Sec. 103) Makes certain permanently laid-off workers and long-term unemployed individuals (as well as workers facing imminent plant shutdowns and self-employed individuals unemployed because of community economic conditions or natural disasters) eligible for services under this title. Makes dislocated homemakers eligible if a State Governor deems this appropriate and certain conditions are met. Part A: State and Substate Delivery System - Makes States responsible for administrative and management systems under this title. (Sec. 112) Requires the Governor to designate or establish a dislocated worker unit at the State level, with specified rapid response, information, and coordination functions. Directs such unit to coordinate with substate grantees and career centers, and to promote worker-management transition assistance committees. Provides for rapid response coverage of certain layoffs, State funding of preliminary assessments of worker buyouts of plants, prohibition of State transfer of rapid response functions, and Federal oversight of such functions. (Sec. 113) Requires the Governor to develop and maintain a comprehensive labor market information system in the State that meets certain requirements relating to the national system of effective labor market information. (Sec. 114) Requires the Governor to coordinate programs under this title with the worker profiling system under the Social Security Act and the retraining income support program under this Act. (Sec. 115) Authorizes the Governor to award supplementary grants to eligible entities to provide authorized services to eligible individuals in areas of the State experiencing substantial increases in numbers of such individuals due to plant closures, base closures, and mass layoffs. Allows such grant funds to be used to establish additional service centers, including on-site transition centers. (Sec. 116) Authorizes the Governor to award job retention project grants for: (1) upgrading skills of workers at risk of permanent layoff; and (2) retraining workers in new technologies and work processes to help convert or restructure businesses into high performance work organizations and avert plant closings or substantial layoffs. Requires State and employer contributions. Requires consultation with unions. (Sec. 117) Requires establishment of substate area administrative structures. (Sec. 118) Requires each designated substate grantee to establish one or more career centers in that area. Allows additional, temporary on-site transition centers. (Sec. 119) Authorizes the use of substate area funds for the following services for eligible individuals: (1) basic reemployment services; (2) intensive reemployment services; (3) education and training services; (4) retraining income support; (5) supportive services; and (6) supplemental wage allowances for older workers. (Sec. 120) Allows a career center to issue a certificate of continuing eligibility for services to eligible individuals who are accepting employment at a significantly lower wage than their previous one or in an occupation significantly different from their previous one. Part B: Federal Service Delivery System - Directs the Secretary of Labor to establish a program of national discretionary grants to address large-scale economic dislocations resulting from plant closures, base closures, or mass layoffs. Allows the use of such grants to: (1) provide comprehensive planning services to assist communities in addressing and reducing the impact of an economic dislocation; and (2) establish on-site transition centers. (Sec. 132) Directs the Secretary to make funds available for disaster relief employment assistance to States for substate allocation. (Sec. 133) Directs the Secretary to provide for: (1) evaluation of programs under this title; (2) research on addressing economic dislocation, facilitating the transition of permanently laid-off workers to reemployment, and upgrading skills of employed workers; and (3) demonstration projects to develop and improve methods of addressing economic dislocation and promoting worker adjustment. (Sec. 134) Directs the Secretary to provide staff training and technical assistance to various entities to enhance their capacity to develop and deliver adjustment assistance services to workers, and to avert plant closings or substantial layoffs. Requires integration of such activities with those of the Capacity Building and Information and Dissemination Network. (Sec. 135) Directs the Secretary to provide for delivery of programs, activities, and services under this title in any State that chooses not to participate. Part C: Performance Standards and Quality Assurance Systems - Directs the Secretary to establish a process, including an annual meeting, in each State to promote development of a customer service compact among parties administering programs under this title. (Sec. 152) Directs the Secretary to prescribe performance standards relating separately to the substate grantees and the career centers. Directs Governors to prescribe adjustments to such standards and award incentive grants to grantees and centers exceeding such standards. (Sec. 153) Requires each substate grantee to establish methods for obtaining customer feedback from eligible individuals and employers who have received services from a career center. (Sec. 154) Makes providers of education and training services eligible to receive funds under this title if they are eligible to participate under student aid provisions of the Higher Education Act of 1965 or are determined eligible under alternative procedures established by Governors, and if they provide performance-based information. Exempts on-the-job training providers from such requirements. Part D: General Requirements - Sets forth general requirements for programs under this title, including provisions for benefits, labor standards, and grievance procedures. Part E: Fiscal Administrative Provisions - Sets forth various administrative provisions, including ones for program year, prompt allocation of funds, monitoring, fiscal controls and sanctions, reports, recordkeeping, and investigations, administrative adjudication, nondiscrimination, judicial review, nondiscrimination, and criminal provisions. Part F: Miscellaneous Provisions - Provides for transition, on July 1, 1995, to programs authorized under this title from the following programs, which this Act repeals, under employment and training assistance for dislocated workers provisions of the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA): (1) Economic Dislocation and Worker Adjustment Assistance program; (2) Defense Conversion Adjustment Program; (3) Defense Diversification Program; and (4) Clean Air Employment Transition Assistance Program. Terminates the Disaster Relief Employment Assistance program under JTPA. Title II: Retraining Income Support and Flexibility in Unemployment Compensation - Part A: Retraining Income Support Program - Establishes a retraining income support program to assist permanently laid-off individuals participating in long-term training programs. (Sec. 202) Sets forth eligibility requirements for tenured workers (who have been employed for more than three years before being permanently laid off) and for trade-impacted workers. Provides, at a later date, for additional eligibility coverage for workers who have been employed for more than one year but less than three years before being permanently laid-off. (Sec. 203) Sets forth formulae for determining weekly amounts of such assistance. (Sec. 204) Limits the maximum duration of such assistance to: (1) 52 weeks for individuals with three years or more of job tenure; and (2) 26 weeks for individuals with less than three years of job tenure. Provides for coordination with the extended unemployment compensation benefit program. (Sec. 205) Provides for agreements with States, administration absent State agreement, liabilities of certifying and disbursing officers, fraud and recovery of overpayments, and penalties. Part B: Retraining Income Support Account - Amends the Social Security Act to establish a Retraining Income Support Account in the Unemployment Trust Fund. Provides for transfers to such Account and transfers to States. (Sec. 222) Provides for funds to assist States in administering cash benefits for retraining income support. Part C: Financing Provisions - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to raise the rate of the Federal unemployment tax. (Sec. 232) Provides for voluntary withholding of Federal individual income tax on unemployment and other benefits, including retraining income support. Requires States to provide for a system for deduction and withholding of Federal individual income tax from unemployment compensation upon the recipient's voluntary request. Part D: Integration of Trade-Impacted Workers into the Comprehensive Reemployment System - Phases out the trade adjustment assistance program. (Sec. 242) Establishes within the Department of Labor a temporary, transitional certification program to integrate trade-impacted workers into the comprehensive system of worker reemployment and retraining income support. Part E: Unemployment Compensation Flexibility - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow States, under their unemployment compensation programs, to conduct: (1) short-time compensation programs; (2) reemployment bonus programs. (Sec. 253) Amends the North American Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act to repeal a sunset provision which would terminate the self-employment assistance program after five years. (Thus this Act extends such program indefinitely.) Title III: One-Stop Career Center System - Part A: Components of Voluntary One-Stop Career Center System - Requires a State's one-stop career center system, in order to receive a grant or waiver under this title, to include: (1) local workforce investment boards; (2) one-stop career centers established in accordance with specified procedures; (3) provision of specified services; (4) participation of specified Federal programs; (5) operating agreements for such centers; (6) quality assurance systems; and (6) a State Human Resource Investment Council. (Sec. 312) Directs the Governor to designate one-stop service areas within the State. Directs local officials to establish a workforce investment board for each such area. (Sec. 313) Directs the Governor and local officials to jointly select a consortium option or a multiple independent operator option as the method for establishing one-stop career centers for each service area. (Sec. 314) Requires each center to make available: (1) certain basic services to the public free of charge; and (2) certain intensive services to participants in the title I comprehensive program for worker reemployment who are unable to obtain employment through the basic services (and, optionally, to other individuals in accordance with the written agreement). Authorizes each center to provide specialized services to employers and additional services specified in the agreement. Authorizes charging fees under specified conditions, with all program income to be used to expand or enhance services. (Sec. 315) Requires the following programs to be made available to participants through the centers (and to participate in operation of such centers as parties to the agreement): (1) comprehensive programs for worker reemployment under title I of this Act; (2) Wagner-Peyser Act programs (employment services); (3) job counseling, training, and placement for veterans; (4) training services for the disadvantaged under title II of JTPA; (5) community service employment for older Americans programs under title V of the Older Americans Act; and (6) programs authorized under Federal and State unemployment compensation laws. Allows other human resource programs to provide services through and participate in operation of the centers, under specified conditions, including the Job Opportunities and Basic Skills program for AFDC recipients, the Food Stamp Employment and Training program, the Job Corps, veterans' employment programs under JTPA, and programs under the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Education Act, Adult Education Act, Vocational Rehabilitation Act, and School-to-Work Opportunities Act. (Sec. 316) Sets forth requirements for operating agreements and quality assurance systems. (Sec. 318) Requires each State to establish a State human resource investment council that meets specified JTPA requirements and carries out certain additional functions including advising on development and implementation of the one-stop career center system. Part B: Grants and Waivers to Promote the Development and Implementation of One-Stop Career Center System - Authorizes the Secretary to establish programs of competitive grants to States for planning and development and for implementation of comprehensive statewide networks of one-stop career centers. (Sec. 333) Allows a State, at any point during such development or implementation, to request from the Secretary a waiver of one or more statutory or regulatory provisions. Sets forth waiver criteria. Subjects to such waiver authority the mandatory participating programs of the centers. (Sec. 334) Provides for pooling of administrative resources. Part C: Additional Activities in Support of One-Stop Career Center Systems - Directs the Secretary to establish a process, with each State implementing the one-stop career center system, including an annual meeting, to promote development of a customer service compact among the parties administering the system. (Sec. 335) Makes each State implementing such a system responsible for administration, management, monitoring, and technical assistance. (Sec. 336) Makes the Secretary responsible for monitoring compliance, staff training and technical assistance (integrated with the Capacity Building and Information Dissemination Network under JTPA), a national logo and name, and evaluation of one-stop career center programs. Part D: Effective Date - Sets forth effective dates for this title and for performance standards. Title IV: National Labor Market Information System - Directs the Secretary to develop, in coordination with other Federal, State, and local entities, a strategy to establish a nationwide system of local labor market information. (Sec. 403) Directs the Secretary, in cooperation with such other entities and public-private partnerships, to develop such system to make available specified types of information. Requires certain technical standards, consumer reports, and evaluation. (Sec. 404) Directs the Secretary to provide for coordination and integration of such system and appropriate dissemination of information. Title V: Reinvention Labs for Job Training for the Economically Disadvantaged - Amends the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) to establish a five-year Reinvention Labs program to: (1) encourage innovative program designs to improve provision of services to and labor market outcomes for economically disadvantaged youth and adults; (2) develop, through service delivery areas (SDAs) and States, knowledge of effective approaches to providing employment and training to the economically disadvantaged; and (3) provide SDAs with increased flexibility in operating job training programs, in exchange for greater accountability. (Sec. 501) Sets forth requirements for SDA applications for waivers of Federal requirements relating to JTPA programs for employment and training of the economically disadvantaged. Authorizes the Secretary to waive certain of such requirements under specified conditions and to provide technical assistance to SDAs, States, and service providers for Reinvention Labs programs. (Sec. 502) Modifies the definition of tuition under JTPA.
United States · United States Congress · 16 March 1994
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Eligible Shareholders of S Corporation Subtitle A: Number of Shareholders Subtitle B: Persons Allowed as Shareholders Subtitle C: Other Provisions Title II: Qualification and Eligibility Requirements for S Corporations Subtitle A: One Class of Stock Subtitle B: Elections and Terminations Subtitle C: Other Provisions Title III: Taxation of S Corpporation Shareholders Title IV: Effective Date S Corporation Reform Act of 1993 - Title I: Eligible Shareholders of S Corporation - Subtitle A: Number of Shareholders - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to increase from 35 to 50 the maximum number of shareholders of an S corporation (small business corporation). Allows members of a family to be treated as one shareholder. Subtitle B: Persons Allowed as Shareholders - Allows the following entities to be shareholders of S corporations: (1) certain tax-exempt organizations; (2) financial institutions that do not use the reserve method of accounting for bad debts; (3) nonresident aliens; and (4) certain small business trusts. Subtitle C: Other Provisions - Extends the post-death qualification for certain trusts to be permitted as shareholders from 60 days to two years. Title II: Qualification and Eligibility Requirements for S Corporation - Subtitle A: One Class of Stock - Allows an S corporation to issue qualified preferred stock. Permits financial institutions to hold safe harbor debt. Subtitle B: Elections and Terminations - Revises the rules on inadvertent terminations by certain trusts of the election to be an S corporation. Authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to treat certain late elections as timely and to provide an automatic waiver procedure for certain inadvertent terminations. Expands the post-termination transition period until 120 days after a determination is made that the election had terminated in a prior year. Repeals excessive passive investment income as a termination event. Increases the tax imposed on such excessive income. Subtitle C: Other Provisions - Permits an S corporation to own more than 80 percent of another corporation's stock. Repeals the requirement that partnership rules apply for fringe benefit purposes (making C corporation rules applicable). Provides for the treatment of distributions during loss years. Provides a consent dividend for S corporation elections to by-pass amounts in the accumulated adjustments account when making distributions. Eliminates the need to keep records of certain generally small amounts of earnings arising before 1983. Allows S corporations to make charitable contributions of inventory and scientific property. Title III: Taxation of S Corporation Shareholders - Treats losses on liquidations of S corporations as ordinary to the extent the loss created by ordinary income pass-through triggered the liquidation. Title IV: Effective Date - Makes this Act effective after December 31, 1994.
United States · United States Congress · 16 March 1994
Expresses the sense of the Congress that any national health care reform legislation should cover syringes for those individuals with diabetes who require the administration of insulin by syringe.
United States · United States Congress · 3 March 1994
Designates March 23, 1994, the 92d birthday of the Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson (leader of the worldwide Lubavitch movement), as Education and Sharing Day, U.S.A.
United States · United States Congress · 24 February 1994
Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to make technical corrections to provisions added by the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990 in order to allow children and pregnant women to receive Medicaid services from osteopathic physicians.
United States · United States Congress · 24 February 1994
Fair Market Access Act of 1994 - Directs the Secretary of Commerce to report annually to the Congress an assessment of the access to the Japanese market of goods and services produced or originating in the United States in each sector specifically identified in the Japan-United States Framework for a New Economic Partnership signed on July 10, 1993 (Framework Agreement). Specifies contents of such access assessments. Authorizes the President to enter into agreements or other understandings with Japan for the purpose of obtaining the market access opportunities described in such assessments. Requires the United States Trade Representative (USTR) to determine for which sectors identified in each assessment to pursue negotiations in order to conclude such agreements or understandings. Directs the Secretary to monitor compliance with each agreement or understanding between the United States and Japan reached under this Act, as well as with existing trade agreements between both countries. Deems an unreasonable and discriminatory act, policy, or practice burdening or restricting U.S. commerce each barrier to access to the Japanese market that is the subject of negotiations under this Act which fail to conclude an agreement or understanding. Requires the USTR to determine what "Super 301" sanction to impose in response to such acts, policies, or practices, as well as in instances of material noncompliance with new or existing agreements or understandings.
United States · United States Congress · 11 February 1994
Amends the Interstate Commerce Act to direct the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) to require a fair and equitable arrangement for protection of the interests of railroad employees who may be affected by an ICC order approving an application for construction or acquisition and operation of a railroad line. Requires such arrangement to be no less fair and beneficial to the interests of such employees than those established under specified provisions for employee protective arrangements in transactions involving rail carriers.
United States · United States Congress · 7 February 1994
Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) should be a high priority; (2) all FY 1995 appropriations made for LIHEAP should be expended; and (3) LIHEAP expenditures for FY 1996 should ensure the provision of services at or above the level provided in FY 1995.
United States · United States Congress · 26 January 1994
Fair Trade in Auto Parts Extension Act of 1993 - Amends the Fair Trade in Auto Parts Act of 1988 to postpone its expiration and extend its authorities from December 31, 1993, through December 31, 1998.
United States · United States Congress · 25 January 1994
Expresses the sense of the Congress that a postage stamp should be issued to honor the 100th anniversary of the Jewish War Veterans of the United States and that the Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee of the U.S. Postal Service should make such recommendation to the Postmaster General.