United States · United States Congress · 19 November 1991
Second National Blue Ribbon Commission to Eliminate Waste in Government Act - Establishes the Second National Blue Ribbon Commission to Eliminate Waste in Government to: (1) conduct a private sector survey on management and cost control in the Federal Government; (2) review executive agency operations and existing General Accounting Office, Congressional Budget Office, Inspector General Reports, and other existing governmental and nongovernmental recommendations for reducing waste; and (3) submit to the President and the Congress a list of those recommendations with estimated savings that the Commission determines are most significant and recommendations for improving the budget process, management, and reducing waste and costs in the Government. Requires the Commission to identify, address, and to report to the President and the Congress on: (1) opportunities for increased efficiency and reduced costs in the Government that can be realized by executive action or legislation; (2) areas in the Government where managerial accountability can be enhanced and administrative control can be improved; (3) specific Federal programs that have accomplished their objectives and ought to be terminated; (4) specific Federal program services that could be provided at a lower cost by the private sector; (5) specific reforms of the budget process that would yield savings, increase accountability and efficiency, and enhance public confidence in the budget process; (6) specific areas in the Government where further study can be justified by potential savings; and (7) specific recommendations for legislative and administrative actions. Requires the Commission to be funded, staffed, and equipped, to the extent practicable and permitted by law, by the private sector without cost to the Government.
United States · United States Congress · 18 November 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from gross income the qualified military benefits of retired military personnel employed as administrators or instructors in the Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps.
United States · United States Congress · 14 November 1991
Gulf of Mexico Protection and Restoration Act of 1991 - Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to direct the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to implement a comprehensive plan for improving and protecting the water quality of the Gulf of Mexico. Requires the Administrator to award grants for research to develop baseline scientific data regarding the environmental quality of the Gulf for use in preparing and evaluating the plan. Makes State agencies, nonprofit research organizations, and universities eligible for grants. Directs the Administrator, at the request of the Governor of a Gulf State affected by the plan, to make a grant for implementing the plan to the State if the State commits to implement the plan and has an approved proposal. Sets forth State proposal requirements. Limits: (1) the Federal share of State grants to 50 percent of the total cost of implementing the proposal; and (2) administrative costs supported by a grant to ten percent of the portion of the grant expended per fiscal year. Defines a "Gulf State" as Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. Authorizes and allocates appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 14 November 1991
Fiscal Accountability Act of 1991 - Title I: Reauthorizations of Government Programs - Requires each Government program to be reauthorized at least once during each sunset reauthorization cycle. (Sunset reauthorization cycle means the period of five Congresses beginning with the 103d Congress and with each sixth Congress following the 103d Congress.) Sets forth the procedure in the House of Representatives and the Senate for the consideration of any legislation which authorizes new budget authority. Exempts from the requirements of this Act specified items, such as interest on Federal debts, health care services, general retirement and disability payments, litigation activities which have as their objectives the protection and implementation of civil rights guaranteed by the Constitution, and specified retirement pay and benefits. Title II: Program Inventory - Directs the Comptroller General and the Director of the Congressional Budget Office, in cooperation with the Director of the Congressional Research Service, to prepare an inventory of Federal programs. Declares that the purpose of such program inventory is to advise and assist the Congress in carrying out reauthorization and reexamination requirements and to link such reauthorization and review process with the budget process. Requires the Comptroller General to submit such program inventory to each House of Congress no later than January 1, 1992. Directs the congressional committees, the Congressional Budget Office, and the Congressional Research Service to review the program inventory and to suggest revisions. Requires that the program inventory be revised at the end of each session of the Congress and that such revisions be reported to each House. Title III: Program Reexamination - Requires each committee of the Senate and the House of Representatives to reexamine selected programs or groups of programs over which it has jurisdiction. Sets forth procedures for such review and criteria for selection of program areas for evaluation. Title IV: Citizens' Commission On The Organization And Operation Of Government - Authorizes establishment of a Citizens' Commission on the Organization and Operation of Government as an independent instrumentality of the United States. Requires the Commission to conduct a study and investigation of the organization and methods of operation of Federal executive entities and authorities. Requires Commission reports to the President and specified congressional committees detailing its findings and recommendations for changes to increase the effectiveness of Government programs, services, and activities. Authorizes appropriations. Title V: Miscellaneous - Sets forth miscellaneous provisions to carry out the purposes of this Act. Directs the President, with the cooperation of the head of each appropriate agency, to submit to the Congress a regulatory duplication and conflicts report for all programs scheduled for reauthorization in the next Congress. Requires specified congressional committees to report on a review of the procedures established under this Act by December 31, 1998, and every five years thereafter. Authorizes appropriations through FY 2002.
United States · United States Congress · 14 November 1991
Amends the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to prohibit candidates for the House of Representatives from accepting contributions from persons other than local individual residents totaling in excess of the total contributions accepted from local individual residents. Limits contributions to candidates for Federal office by nonparty multicandidate political committees to $1,000. Subjects to limitation and reporting requirements payments by a national committee of a political party or a State committee of a political party for a mixed political activity. Repeals the office facility exception (building fund) from the definition of contribution. Requires the deposit of excess funds of candidates for the House of Representatives into a separate account to be used for any lawful purpose other than for such candidate's election.
United States · United States Congress · 12 November 1991
Melaleuca Control Act of 1991 - Treats melaleuca quinquenervia as a noxious weed for quarantine and control purposes under the Federal Noxious Weed Act. Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to propose regulations to add melaleuca, the Brazilian pepper, and the Australian pine to the Federal Noxious Weed List. Directs the Secretary of the Army to construct a research and quarantine facility in Broward County, Florida, to deal with melaleuca and other exotic plants that threaten native Florida ecosystems. Authorizes FY 1993 appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 7 November 1991
Calls upon the President not to proceed toward the normalization of diplomatic and economic relations with the Socialist Republic of Vietnam until the Senate Select Committee on POW/MIA Affairs has reported its findings on the accounting of missing American servicemen in Southeast Asia.
United States · United States Congress · 7 November 1991
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the President should award the Presidential Unit Citation to the U.S.S. Nevada's crew for their heroism and gallantry during the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.
United States · United States Congress · 6 November 1991
Prohibits: (1) a foreign person from holding interests in a national landmark representing more than 50 percent of the value of it; and (2) the Secretary of the Interior from transferring any U.S. right, title, or interest in or to an area of land or water included in the National Park System if, as a result of the transfer, such right, title, or interest would be held directly or indirectly by a foreign person. Requires a foreign person to register an investment with the Chairman of a corporation if such investment results in them becoming a five percent shareholder in such corporation that directly or indirectly holds a national landmark. Applies a similar rule to interests in any entity other than a corporation.
United States · United States Congress · 30 October 1991
Membrane Processes Research Act of 1992 - Requires the Director of the National Science Foundation to establish, through grants, contracts, cooperative agreements, or direct research, a basic research program on the treatment of contaminated water through membranes and membrane processes. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 30 October 1991
Child Support Enforcement Improvements Act of 1991 - Makes depository institutions not liable under any Federal or State law to any person for disclosing any financial record of an individual to a State child support enforcement agency attempting to establish, modify, or enforce a child support obligation of such individual. Prohibits such an agency from disclosing such a record for any other purpose and provides for civil damages for unauthorized disclosures. Amends the Fair Credit Reporting Act to permit credit reporting agencies to grant access to certain consumer reports to a State child support enforcement agency that is seeking to establish, modify, or enforce a child support obligation against the consumer. Amends the Social Security Act to revise requirements for State statutorily prescribed procedures to improve the effectiveness of child support enforcement. Requires such procedures to require, if a State court or administrative agency issues a support order requiring an absent parent to obtain medical insurance coverage for one or more children of a custodial parent, that the absent parent: (1) within 30 days after receiving notice of such order, provide to the custodial parent written documentation that such insurance coverage has been obtained or applied for; (2) upon failure to apply for, obtain, or maintain such coverage, be liable for any reasonable and necessary health or dental expenses, including medical insurance premiums of the child or children incurred by the custodial parent. Sets forth requirements for the insurer if such coverage is obtained. Includes under the incentive payments program any dependent medical insurance coverage which is provided due to the successful application of such enforcement procedures. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to study, and report to specified congressional committees how the successful efforts of States in enforcing obligations of absent parents to pay (and obtain medical insurance coverage with respect to) health and dental expenses of children should be rewarded through an incentive payments program. Amends Social Security Act provisions for collection of past-due child support from Federal tax refunds to require: (1) any State that has a centralized system for collection, recording, and distribution of child support to use such system to verify the existence of all past-due child support (in addition to other support verified by the system); and (2) any State that does not have such a system to make a good faith effort to collect all such past-due child support. Directs the Office of Child Support Enforcement of the Department of HHS to report to the Congress annually on State compliance with specified standards establishing time limits within which the State must respond to requests to provide certain child support assistance, under the Social Security Act. Requires States to assess a $1,000 penalty against any employer who fails to make a payment of withheld wages to pay child support obligations of an employee within the ten-day period required under the Social Security Act. Requires States to expend all such penalties collected for State plan operation within a specified period. Allows delay in such additional requirements if State legislation is required. Directs the Office of Child Support Enforcement of the Department of HHS to develop a national parent locator network which would build on the comprehensive statewide child support enforcement systems and which would allow States to carry on specified parent locator activities.
United States · United States Congress · 30 October 1991
Repeals provisions of: (1) the Agricultural Trade Development and Assistance Act of 1954 concerning debt forgiveness on payments due to the Commodity Credit Corporation and debt reduction under the Enterprise for the Americas Initiative; (2) the International Narcotics Control Act of 1989 concerning debt-for-drugs exchanges; (3) the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 and the Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 1989 concerning debt relief; and (4) the Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 1991 concerning adjustment of Poland's and Egypt's debt. Prohibits the President, for purposes of providing debt relief to a foreign government, from using the authority of any law to relieve such government of liability on account of loans or credits provided under any program for which budget authority is provided by the annual Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and Related Programs Appropriations Act.
United States · United States Congress · 29 October 1991
1996 Atlanta Centennial Olympic Games Commemorative Coin Act - Provides for the minting and sale of commemorative gold and silver coins to support the 1996 Atlanta Centennial Olympic Games and the programs of the United States Olympic Committee.
United States · United States Congress · 29 October 1991
Urges: (1) the Government of the People's Republic of China to cancel all arms deals with the Government of Burma until all political prisoners are unconditionally released, martial law is lifted, and the results of the May 1990 elections are fully implemented; and (2) the President to instruct the Secretary of State to call for an end to China's military sales and economic support to Burma during any visit to Beijing or in other high-level contacts with Chinese representatives and to advise such Government that its continued support for the State Law and Order Restoration Council (the Burmese military government) will be a factor in the administration's consideration of extension of nondiscriminatory (most favored nation) trading status for China in 1992.
United States · United States Congress · 24 October 1991
Authorizes the Air Force Association to establish a memorial on Federal land in the District of Columbia or its environs to honor the men and women who have served in the U.S. Air Force.
United States · United States Congress · 23 October 1991
Amends Federal bankruptcy law to establish a payment priority for retiree health benefit claims, with an aggregate limitation of $10,000 multiplied by the relevant number of former employees.
United States · United States Congress · 23 October 1991
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that: (1) the United States Trade Representative should take action under the Trade Act of 1974 to compensate for any trade losses caused by the European Community's (EC) failure to adopt by October 31, 1991, a new oilseeds regime that conforms with the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) panel oilseed ruling; and (2) such actions should remain in effect until the EC's oilseed regime conforms with its GATT obligations.
United States · United States Congress · 23 October 1991
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the President should: (1) encourage the Contracting Parties to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) to support the world environment and world wildlife by discouraging trade in goods and services harmful to them; and (2) oppose any GATT action which impinges on the ability of the United States to protect them.
United States · United States Congress · 22 October 1991
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the President should: (1) condemn the use of force in Yugoslavia; (2) recognize the independence of the Republics of Croatia and Slovenia; and (3) work for the cessation of hostilities leading to a negotiated settlement and peace in the region.
United States · United States Congress · 21 October 1991
Federally Supported Health Centers Assistance Act of 1991 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to include entities receiving Federal funds under provisions relating to migrant health centers, community health centers, or health services for the homeless, and officers, employees, or contractors of such entities who are licensed health care practitioners, in the coverage of provisions regulating civil actions for injury resulting from medical or related functions against commissioned officers or employees of the Public Health Service. Subrogates to the United States any insurance claim such an entity or person has. Prohibits grants under provisions relating to migrant or community health centers or health services for the homeless unless the applicant has: (1) implemented policies and procedures to assure against malpractice; (2) reviewed the professional credentials, claims history, and other information regarding its licensed health care practitioners; and (3) no history of claims against it under such provisions relating to officers and employees of the Public Health Service, or has cooperated with the Attorney General in defending against such claims and has taken corrective action. Empowers the Attorney General, if certain conditions are met, to determine that an individual practitioner shall not be deemed a Public Health Service employee for purposes of these provisions. Prohibits hospitals from denying admitting privileges to an otherwise qualified health care provider who is an officer, employee, or contractor of such an entity.
United States · United States Congress · 16 October 1991
Foreign Aid Reporting Reform Act of 1991 - Directs the President, in conjunction with the submission of annual requests for enactment of authorizations and appropriations for foreign assistance programs, to submit to the Congress a single report containing: (1) an integrated justification for all foreign assistance programs proposed for the coming fiscal year; and (2) an assessment of when the objectives of those programs will be achieved so that the assistance can be terminated. Requires the President to include in such report general information regarding the foreign assistance program, as well as information concerning specific assistance recipients and centrally-funded programs. Directs congressional committees reporting legislation authorizing the enactment of or providing new budget authority for foreign assistance programs to include in reports accompanying such legislation an explanation for any change proposed in: (1) the total amount of new budget authority authorized or provided for any program as compared to the amount proposed by the President; or (2) the amount of assistance for any specific recipient or for any centrally-funded program as compared to the amount proposed by the President.
United States · United States Congress · 15 October 1991
Provides that the period for which expenses of the former Speakers of the House of Representatives may be paid shall end three years after the expiration date of such term of office, except that in the case of a former Speaker who is receiving such expenses on the date of the enactment of this Act, the period shall end three years after such date.
United States · United States Congress · 10 October 1991
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that the ambulance currently maintained at the Capitol solely for Members of Congress should be made available to aid any individual who experiences a serious or life threatening medical condition while on the Capitol grounds.
United States · United States Congress · 9 October 1991
Expresses the sense of the Congress that if the President and the Congress determine that the Budget Summit Agreement should be reopened and defense spending reduced below its established level then: (1) reductions in defense spending below the amount set by the Agreement should be used to reduce the Federal budget deficit and provide economic growth measures, not to fund new Government spending; and (2) the modified agreement should include measures to control the growth of entitlement spending.
United States · United States Congress · 8 October 1991
Provides, unless specified conditions are met relating to Serbia's armed conflict with the other ethnic peoples of Yugoslavia, for the: (1) restriction of U.S. assistance to Serbia or any part of Yugoslavia controlled by it; (2) suspension of U.S. air travel to and from such locations; (3) suspension of multinational assistance; and (4) imposition of a U.S. trade embargo.
United States · United States Congress · 3 October 1991
American Industrial Quality and Training Act of 1991 - Authorizes the Secretary of Commerce, through the Technology Administration, to make competitive matching grants to establish and operate American workforce quality partnership programs for workforce training consortia of industry and higher education institutions. Requires such programs to establish partnerships between one or more technology-based or manufacturing sector firms and a local community or technical college to train and educate a significant portion of the industrial partners' employees at all organizational levels through workplace and classroom training programs. Requires each partnership to establish an advisory board. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary of Commerce to establish, in the Technology Administration, the American Industrial Quality Foundation to further the ability of U.S. industry to compete internationally. Sets forth the Foundation's functions, including identifying and disseminating information on best practices. Sets forth provisions for a Director and staff, an advisory committee, and user fees. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes the Secretary of Labor to make competitive grants to develop and operate youth technical apprenticeship programs. Gives special consideration to applications providing for non-Federal contributions. Provides planning grants for such programs. Requires each grant recipient to establish an advisory board. Directs the Secretary of Labor, together with other appropriate entities, to establish and maintain a clearinghouse of youth apprenticeship programs in the United States. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes the Secretary of Education to make competitive matching grants to States for statewide technical education and training networks to develop plans or strategies to establish statewide systems to provide technical, technician, or technological skills and education by building upon Federal, State, and local programs through various methods. Requires State Governors to submit evaluation reports within three years of award of such grants. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary of Labor, in conjunction with the Small Business Administration and other relevant agencies, to compile information and statistics on the total annual expenditure of U.S. industry on formal worker training programs, quantity of training, and other relevant worker training information, by firm size, sector, industry, job classification, and purpose of training (as well as any other available and appropriate data such as international comparative data). Requires a biennial report to the Congress on such information in a useful format. Requires making such information available to U.S. industry. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary of Education, in conjunction with the Secretary of Commerce, to report to the Congress on the feasibility of adopting principles of total quality management, as embodied in the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, to improve the quality and relevance of secondary and postsecondary education.
United States · United States Congress · 1 October 1991
Cancer Screening Incentive Act of 1991 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a refundable tax credit for expenditures (not paid by insurance or otherwise) incurred by the taxpayer for qualified cancer screening tests.
United States · United States Congress · 1 October 1991
Freedom of Speech on Campus Act of 1991 - Expresses the sense of the Congress that students attending universities or other institutions of higher education that receive Federal funds should be able to exercise full rights to freedom of speech on campus free from official intrusion. Amends the Education Amendments of 1972 to prohibit discrimination by an institution of higher education against a student based on protected speech in any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance under the Higher Education Act of 1965. Makes such prohibition inapplicable to religious or military institutions. Provides that such prohibition shall not be construed to prevent: (1) imposition of an official sanction on a student determined to have willfully participated in the disruption or attempted disruption of a lecture, class, speech, presentation, or performance made or scheduled to be made under the auspices of the institution of higher education; or (2) actions by such institution that are necessary to ensure the safety of individuals, protection of property, and continuation of the academic and administrative process without interference.
United States · United States Congress · 1 October 1991
Urges the President to call upon the President of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics to begin negotiations with leaders of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia for the prompt withdrawal of Soviet troops from the Baltic States.
United States · United States Congress · 24 September 1991
Medicare EKG Payment Restoration Act of 1991 - Amends part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to: (1) reestablish separate payment for the interpretation of electrocardiograms (EKGs) that are ordered or performed during an office visit or consultation with a physician; and (2) require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish separate fee schedule amounts for EKG interpretations and to adjust the relative values established for office visits to or consultations with a physician to reflect the establishment of such separate fee schedule amounts. Directs the Secretary to: (1) establish practice guidelines for the use of EKGs for dissemination along with other educational information relating to the use of EKGs to physicians; (2) develop a profile of the use of EKGs by physicians; and (3) conduct a study and report to the Congress on the utilization and costs of EKGs.
United States · United States Congress · 23 September 1991
Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) with respect to the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS), and other information on student assistance programs. Directs the Secretary of Education (the Secretary) by July 1, 1993, to: (1) revise NSLDS codes identifying institutions and students to make them consistent with those in each Department of Education database containing information on participation in Federal student assistance programs; and (2) modify NSLDS design or operation to ensure that data on any institution is readily accessible and can be used in a form compatible with the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS). Directs the Secretary to integrate the NSLDS with the Pell Grant applicant and recipient databases as of January 1, 1994, and any other databases containing information on participation in Federal student assistance programs. Revises student assistance program participation agreement provisions to require the institution of higher education to: (1) complete surveys conducted as part of IPEDS or any other designated Federal postsecondary institution data collection effort; and (2) collect, and report annually to the Secretary, information on students participating in supplemental opportunity educational grants and work-study programs consistent with data collected by the Secretary on Pell grant applicants and recipients. Provides that nothing in such Act shall preclude the Secretary from verifying all applications for aid through the use of any means available, including through the exchange of information with any other Federal agency.
United States · United States Congress · 17 September 1991
Designates 1992 as the Year of the Gulf of Mexico. Directs all Federal and State agencies which have responsibility for matters affecting the Gulf to work to increase public awareness regarding the immeasurable value of this resource and current conditions which threaten its aesthetic and economic value.
United States · United States Congress · 17 September 1991
Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) the Secretary of the Army should investigate whether James L. Cadigan should be awarded the Medal of Honor for heroism in combat during World War II; and (2) if the Secretary recommends making such award, the Congress should consider appropriate legislation.
United States · United States Congress · 12 September 1991
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the United States should not provide any direct financial assistance to the Soviet Union until the Soviet Union ceases all of its direct economic and military support for the regime of Fidel Castro in Cuba.
United States · United States Congress · 11 September 1991
Area Health Education Centers Reauthorization Act of 1991 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to specify a term of six years for agreements establishing area health education centers (AHECs). Modifies the purposes of AHECs, including serving high-impact areas and States as well as border areas close to Mexico. Mandates, if available in the area, participation of a school of public health. Authorizes agreements for the planning, development, and operation of State-supported AHECs. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 11 September 1991
Veterans Bill of Rights Act - Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to take all necessary action to ensure that all rights and benefits provided under Federal law to qualified veterans are: (1) made available to veterans to the same extent in every State or geographic location; and (2) not denied on the basis of race, ethnicity, sex, religion, age, or geographic location.
United States · United States Congress · 2 August 1991
Amends the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 to direct the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration to publish and update clearly defined arrival and departure routes leading to and from airports located within and in close proximity to terminal control areas and airport radar service areas for the optional use of pilots operating under visual flight rules.
United States · United States Congress · 2 August 1991
Intermodal Carriers Competitiveness Act of 1991 - Prohibits a State, political subdivision, or interstate agency of two or more States from adopting or enforcing any law, rule, regulation, or standard relating to interstate or intrastate rates, routes, services, or terms of service of any national intermodal carrier with respect to the provision of surface transportation of property in the State.
United States · United States Congress · 2 August 1991
United States Flag Cruise Ship Competitiveness Act of 1991 - Amends Federal law (commonly referred to as the Johnson Act) relating to transportation of gambling devices to exclude from the definition of interstate commerce, transportation from a State to the same State through a place outside that State when such commerce may only be conducted through points not in that State. Repeals all of a specified Federal law (commonly referred to as the Gambling Ship Act) except provisions relating to the transmission of wagering information. Makes unlawful certain actions in connection with a vessel which has any gaming establishment aboard unless in compliance with certain regulations, including registration with the Attorney General and licensing by a State. Provides for certification by the Attorney General of State procedures.
United States · United States Congress · 2 August 1991
Decennial Census Improvement Act of 1991 - Directs the Secretary of Commerce to contract with the National Academy of Sciences to study and report to specified congressional committees on ways to improve data collection and enumeration methods under the decennial census.
![Official portrait of Rep. Lewis, Thomas F. [R-FL-12]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/l000295_200.jpg)