United States · United States Congress · 5 May 1992
Designates September 18, 1992, as National POW/MIA Recognition Day. Requires the POW/MIA flag to be flown on a flagstaff of the White House, the Departments of State, Defense, and Veterans Affairs, the Selective Service Commission, each national cemetery, and the National Vietnam Veterans Memorial on such day. Requires the flag to be flown on a flagstaff of each national cemetery and the National Vietnam Veterans Memorial on May 30, 1992 (Memorial Day), and on November 11, 1992 (Veterans Day). States that the flag shall be displayed as a symbol of national concern and commitment to resolving the fates of Americans still prisoner, missing, and unaccounted for.
United States · United States Congress · 29 April 1992
Requires the Congress to enter into contracts with the lowest qualified bidders for the procurement of all services that can be procured from private enterprises through ordinary business channels, including security, food services, and services provided by the congressional publication offices, the Architect of the Capitol and the Sergeant at Arms and the Doorkeeper of the House of Representatives. Requires contracts for such services to mandate commercially competitive fees. Transfers operation of postal services in the Congress to the U.S. Postal Service.
United States · United States Congress · 9 April 1992
Amends the Small Business Investment Act of 1958 to permit a qualified State or local development company that issues a debenture purchased by the Federal Financing Bank (Bank) and guaranteed by the Small Business Administration (SBA), at the election of the small business borrower whose loan secures such debenture, to prepay the debenture by payment to the Bank of the unpaid principal balance, accrued interest, and any prepayment penalties. Provides that in the case of prepayment of a debenture under this Act in which a new debenture is issued by a qualified State or local development company and guaranteed by the SBA, the guarantee of the original debenture shall transfer to the new debenture, but shall not be treated as new credit authority. Requires the full faith and credit of the United States to be pledged to the payment of all guaranteed debenture amounts. Permits the issuer to require the borrower to pay certain optional fees with respect to such prepayment. Provides that if a borrower defaults on a loan securing a debenture guaranteed by the SBA, the SBA's guarantee shall be extinguished by payment to the Bank of the remaining principal balance plus accrued interest at the coupon rate on the debenture.
United States · United States Congress · 8 April 1992
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the President should extend for one year the 90-day moratorium on new unnecessary Federal regulations ordered in the President's Memorandum on Reducing the Burden of Government Regulations, dated January 28, 1992.
United States · United States Congress · 3 April 1992
Title I: Chief Financial Officer, General Counsel, and Certain Other Reforms - Subtitle A: Chief Financial Officer Amendments to the Rules of the House and Related Provisions - Amends rule II of the Rules of the House of Representatives to eliminate the election of a Doorkeeper or Postmaster in the House. Requires the individual chosen for election as the Sergeant-at-Arms to be a nationally-respected law enforcement professional. Amends rules III and IV to revise the duties of the Clerk of the House and the Sergeant-at-Arms. Amends rules V and VI to: (1) eliminate the positions of Doorkeeper and Postmaster; and (2) create a position of Chief Financial Officer. Sets forth qualifications for the elected Chief Financial Officer. Outlines his or her duties. Prohibits the Chief Financial Officer from disclosing the identity of a complaining employee without the employee's consent unless such disclosure is unavoidable. Makes any intimidation of, or reprisal against, an employee of the House by an employing authority because of a complaint made by the employee a violation of rule LI. Transfers the duties of the Postmaster of the House to the Chief Financial Officer. Amends rule XIV to eliminate the duties of the Doorkeeper with respect to decorum and debate in the House. Amends rule XI to require each committee, by March 1 of the first session of any Congress, to adopt an oversight plan for that Congress and to submit it to the Committee on House Administration. Prohibits the consideration in the House of a primary expense resolution for a committee unless and until such committee has adopted and submitted the plan. Requires the Committee on House Administration to report such plan to the House. Authorizes the Speaker to appoint ad hoc oversight committees for specific tasks from the membership of committees with shared legislative jurisdictions. Requires each committee to include an oversight section in its final activity report at the end of a Congress. Amends rule X to require one-half of the members of the Committee on House Administration to be from the majority party and one-half to be from the minority. Allows the chairman or ranking minority party member of the Committee on House Administration to authorize and issue subpoenas. Requires the membership of the Subcommittee on Legislative Appropriations of the Committee on Appropriations to be divided equally between the majority and minority parties. Divides the staff positions for the subcommittee in the same manner. Directs the Speaker to appoint a task force to: (1) recommend institutional reforms necessary to restore public confidence in the House; and (2) report on its recommendations to the House by the end of the 102d Congress. Requires the written approval of the Speaker and the minority leader of the House before funds may be reprogrammed or transferred between House appropriation accounts. Makes it out of order to consider any measure in the House, in the second session of the 102d Congress, containing an appropriation for any period after March 31, 1993. Directs the Speaker, upon the recommendation of the majority and minority leader, acting jointly, to appoint an Inspector General for the House. Subtitle B: Office of the General Counsel - Establishes the Office of the General Counsel (Office) in the House to: (1) be accountable to a specified Leadership Group; and (2) provide legal assistance to Members, officers, and employees of the House on matters directly related to their duties, with specified exceptions. Lists certain actions of the Office that must be approved either by a resolution of the House or the Leadership Group. Requires such Office, in the case of any matter that affects an area of responsibility committed to another office, officer, or employee under this Act, to consult the party involved and coordinate such action with them. Vests management, supervision, and administration of the Office in the General Counsel to be appointed by the Speaker, upon the recommendation of the majority and minority leaders of the House, acting jointly, without regard for political affiliation and solely on the basis of fitness to perform the duties of the position. Requires the General Counsel to serve at the pleasure of the Leadership Group. Authorizes the General Counsel to make appropriate expenditures for the functioning of the Office. Requires the attorneys and professional staff in the Office to maintain regular, written records of the time expended on legal matters, consistent with generally accepted practices in private law firms. Makes such time records reviewable by the Leadership Group. Prohibits public disclosure of them unless by direction of the Leadership Group or resolution of the House. Title II: Legislative Process Reforms - Amends rule I of the Rules of the House of Representatives to require the Speaker to announce a specified legislative program at the beginning of each session of the Congress. Requires the Speaker to ensure that the minority leader is fully consulted in developing the legislative program for the House each week. Directs the Speaker to state the question on reconsideration of a bill, immediately after its return from the President, without an intervening motion. Requires the House to proceed to vote on the reconsideration of such measure. Amends rule X to require the Speaker to refer legislation initially to one committee as the committee of principal jurisdiction (currently, such legislation may initially be referred simultaneously to two or more committees for concurrent consideration). Requires a bill originating in the House to be presented to the President by the tenth calendar day after it has passed the House and the Senate in identical form. Requires the membership of each committee (except the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct), subcommittee, task force, or other subunit, to reflect the ratio of majority to minority party Members of the House at the beginning of the Congress. Exempts the Resident Commissioner from Puerto Rico and the Delegates to the House from the count in determining such party ratio. Requires the membership of each select committee, subcommittee, task force, subunit, or conference committee to reflect the ratio of the majority to minority party Members of the House at the time of its appointment. Prohibits any standing committee of the House (except the Committee on Appropriations) from establishing more than six subcommittees. Prevents any member from serving on more than four House subcommittees at any one time. Amends rule XI to repeal the general permission, subject to certain conditions, for proxy voting by a member of any committee or subcommittee with respect to any measure or matter. Allows committees and subcommittees to close their meetings in circumstances where disclosure of matters to be considered would: (1) endanger national security; (2) tend to defame, degrade, or incriminate any person; (3) violate any law or rule of the House; or (4) involve committee personnel matters. Provides that a majority of the members of each committee or subcommittee shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of any business, including the markup of legislation (currently, all committees but the Committees on Appropriations, Budget, and Ways and Means are permitted to fix the number establishing quorum). Requires the names of those Members voting for and against any motion to report a public bill or resolution to be included in the committee report of such measure (currently, only the number of votes cast for or against reporting such measure is included). Requires the names of those members of the committees actually present at the time the bill or resolution is ordered reported to be included in the committee report relating to each nonrecord vote on a motion to report such public bill or resolution. Requires that a committee or subcommittee print, document, or other material, except under certain circumstances, prepared for public distribution, shall either: (1) be approved by the committee or subcommittee prior to such public distribution, with opportunity afforded for the inclusion of supplemental, minority, or additional views; or (2) contain a specified disclaimer on its cover. Prohibits any such print, document, or other material not approved by the committee or subcommittee from including the names of its members, other than the name of the chairman releasing such document. Lists material excepted from such requirements. Prohibits a measure reported from the Committee on Rules from being considered on the same calendar day it is presented to the House, nor on the subsequent calendar day of the same legislative day, except in certain circumstances. (Currently it can not be considered on the same day.) Prohibits the Committee on Rules from reporting any rule or order that would prevent a motion to recommit that has amendatory instructions (except in the case of a Senate measure for which the language of a House passed measure has been substituted). Prohibits the consideration of any rule providing for the consideration of a bill or resolution otherwise subject to amendment under House rules if such resolution limits the right of Members to offer germane amendments to such measure, unless the chairman of the Rules Committee has announced, within a specified period of time, that less than an open amendment process might be recommended by the Committee for the consideration of such measure. Makes it out of order to consider any order of business resolution which provides that, upon adoption, the House shall be considered to have automatically adopted a motion, amendment, or resolution, or to have passed a bill, joint resolution, or conference report, unless consideration of such resolution is agreed to by at least two-thirds of the Members voting. Requires any report accompanying a resolution for consideration of a budget waiver measure to include: (1) an explanation and justification for the waiver; (2) an estimated cost of the provisions to which the waiver applies; and (3) a summary or text of any written comments on the waiver received by the committee from the Committee on the Budget. Sets forth procedures for the consideration of such resolution. Prohibits the consideration of a resolution that waives all House rules, except by a two-thirds vote of the Members voting. Makes it out of order to consider any primary expense resolution unless the Committee on House Administration has reported and the House has adopted a resolution establishing an overall ceiling for House committee staff personnel for that year. Makes such a resolution privileged. Establishes guidelines for developing and considering primary and supplemental expense resolutions. Provides that the overall ceiling for committee staff in a resolution reported by the committee or contained in any amendment for the 103d Congress shall not exceed 50 percent of the total committee staff personnel employed at the end of the 102d Congress. Amends rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives to establish a Commemorative Calendar comprised of unreported bills and resolutions respecting commemorative holidays and celebrations that have been: (1) referred to the Committee on Post Office and Civil Service; and (2) requested by the chairman and ranking minority member of such committee to be placed on such calendar. Outlines procedures for the consideration of such measures. Amends rules XV of the Rules of the House of Representatives to provide for an automatic roll call vote when the Speaker puts the question upon final passage of: (1) any bill, joint resolution, or conference report making general appropriations, providing revenue, or adjusting the statutory congressional pay rate; or (2) any budgetary concurrent resolution or conference report that provides an increase in the statutory debt limit. Amends rule XXI of the Rules of the House of Representatives to repeal the declaration that no amendment shall be in order during consideration of a general appropriation bill if it proposes a limitation not specifically contained or authorized in existing law for the period of such limitations. Defines a "general appropriation bill" to include any bill or joint resolution making continuing appropriations in a fiscal year for a period in excess of 30 days. Describes the contents of such bill. Reserves all points of order against any general appropriation bill at the time it is reported. Prohibits the consideration of any bill or joint resolution making appropriations for a period of 30 days or less unless it only provides appropriations in the lesser amount and under the more restrictive authority of each pertinent appropriations measure: (1) as passed by the House; (2) as passed by the Senate; (3) as agreed to by a committee of conference; or (4) as enacted for the preceding fiscal year. Requires a report from the Committee on Appropriations accompanying any appropriation bill to list all appropriations contained in the bill for any expenditure not previously authorized by law. Requires a three-fifths vote of the Members of the whole House to consider any rule or order from the Rules Committee that waives certain rules governing consideration of any short- or long-term continuing appropriations measures. Amends rule XXI to establish certain guidelines for reporting and considering reconciliation measures in the House. Exempts Senate amendments and conference reports from such guidelines. Reserves all points of order against a reconciliation bill at the time it is reported. Prohibits the consideration in the House of any bill or joint resolution which directly or indirectly authorizes enactment of new budget authority for a fiscal year unless such measure is reported in the House on or before May 15 preceding the beginning of such fiscal year. Amends rule XXIV of the rules of the House of Representatives to revise the daily order of business for the House to include the pledge of allegiance to the flag. Amends rule XXVII to establish additional criteria for entertaining motions to suspend the rules and pass a measure in the House. Requires the Clerk of the House, after 100 Members have signed a motion to discharge a committee from the consideration of a measure, to: (1) cause the name of each Member who has signed or withdrawn a signature to such motion to be printed in the Congressional Record; and (2) publish an updated list in the Record at the end of each succeeding week the House is in session. Amends rule XXVIII to require inclusion of supplemental, minority, or additional views of a House conferee in the same published volume of the conference committee's report, if specified conditions are met. Amends rule XLVIII to require a specified oath to be administered to: (1) a newly appointed Member of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence; (2) each committee's employee; and (3) any person engaged by contract or to perform services for or at the request of the committee who is required to subscribe to the agreement in writing. Requires the Clerk of the House to provide for the printing of such oaths for: (1) filing in the records of the House; and (2) recording in the House Journal and in the Congressional Record. Directs the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct to investigate and report to the House on any violation of such oath. Authorizes the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence to refer cases of unauthorized disclosure and violations of the required oaths to such committee for investigation. Authorizes the committee by a majority vote to deny a member access to classified information if he or she is subject to a pending investigation. Directs the House Committees on Rules and on Government Operations by a certain date to report legislation granting the President enhanced rescission authority with respect to any budget authority not authorized by law. Sets forth procedures for considering such legislation if it is not reported out of such committees by the stated deadline. Directs the Committee on Rules to study and report to the House on the feasibility of converting to a biennial budget-appropriations process and corresponding multiyear authorizations. Declares that it is the policy of the House of Representatives that the following Federal laws should be amended to apply them to the House in the same or similar manner as they apply to the Executive Branch: (1) the National Labor Relations Act; (2) the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970; (3) the Equal Pay Act of 1963; (4) the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967; (5) the Freedom of Information Act; (6) the Privacy Act of 1974; (7) Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964; and (8) specified provisions of the Federal judicial code relating to an independent counsel. Directs the standing committees of the House with subject jurisdiction over such Federal laws to report legislation to the House to implement such policy. Provides for consideration of such legislation. Requires the ratio of majority party to minority party staff positions, consultants, details, and funding for House committees to be the same ratio as that of Members of the House. Eliminates the following Select Committees in the House: (1) Aging; (2) Hunger; (3) Children, Youth, and Families; and (4) Narcotics Abuse and Control. Transfers the records, files, and materials of such select committees to the Clerk of the House. Applies the Freedom of Information Act to the Congress. Exempts information related to casework or constituent correspondence from such Act with respect to Members of the Congress. Provides that the period for which expenses of the former Speakers of the House 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. Amends Federal law to prohibit a Member of the House from sending any franked mass mailing outside the Member's congressional district. Authorizes a Member of Congress to mail franked mail with a simplified form of address for delivery within his or her congressional district or State only. (Current law permits such mailings in areas proposed to become a part of such Member's congressional district by legislative or judicial proceedings but not in effect.) Prohibits the Committee on House Administration from approving any payment for, and a Member from making any expenditure from, any allowance of the House or any other official funds if any portion is for any cost related to a mass mailing by a Member of the House outside his or her congressional district. Amends the Federal Salary Act of 1967 to make it out of order to consider any bill or resolution that would adjust, or have the effect of adjusting, the salaries of Members of Congress if such measure contains any item which does not relate to adjusting Members' salaries. Prohibits consideration of any measure in the House appropriating amounts for the legislative branch of the Government if it permits such amount to remain available for obligation beyond the end of the fiscal year for which the amount is appropriated. Requires at least one attorney in the Office of the Parliamentarian in the House to be appointed upon the recommendation of the minority leader. Permits the chairman of the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct to serve for the first session of a Congress only. Requires the House to elect a member of such committee to serve as chairman from nominations submitted by the minority party caucus or conference, at the beginning of a second session of a Congress. Provides that in adopting the Rules of the House of Representatives in the 103d Congress and any subsequent Congress, each rule shall be agreed to by separate resolution of the House.
United States · United States Congress · 1 April 1992
Urges the Government of Romania to uphold all existing human rights treaties and decrees to ensure the safety of the minorities who reside in Romania. Requests the President and Secretary of State to discuss the human cultural and self-determination rights of the Hungarians of Transylvania with the Government of Romania and other appropriate governments.
United States · United States Congress · 26 March 1992
Amends the Federal judicial code to include Members of Congress among the Government officials with respect to whom independent counsel provisions apply.
United States · United States Congress · 26 March 1992
States and Local Legislative Prerogatives Preservation Act of 1992 - Declares that no statute, or rule promulgated under statute, shall preempt any State or local government law, ordinance, or regulation, unless the statute explicitly states that such preemption is intended or unless there is a direct conflict between the two. Directs the Congressional Research Service to prepare and make available to the public a report on the extent of Federal statutory preemption of State and local government powers enacted into law during the preceding Congress or adopted through judicial interpretation of Federal statutes.
United States · United States Congress · 26 March 1992
Assassination Materials Disclosure Act of 1992 - Provides that except for assassination material or particular information in assassination material the disclosure of which is postponed, all assassination materials shall be transferred to the National Archives and made available for inspection by the general public. Requires the Archivist to charge fees for copying and grant waivers of such fees pursuant to the standards established by the Freedom of Information Act. Authorizes the Archivist to provide copies of assassination materials of broad public interest to the Government Printing Office (GPO), which shall print copies for sale to the public. Requires assassination materials printed by GPO to be placed in Government depository libraries. Establishes as an independent agency the Assassination Materials Review Board. Requires the division of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit charged with appointment of independent counsels to appoint five distinguished and impartial private citizens outside of the Government who have had no prior involvement with inquiries into the assassination of President John F. Kennedy to serve as members of the Review Board. Allows the Review Board to appoint an Executive Director. Requires the Review Board to consider and render decisions on referrals by the Executive Director and appeals for a determination whether a: (1) record constitutes assassination material subject to this Act; and (2) record or particular information in a record qualifies for postponement of disclosure under this Act. Describes the circumstances under which the Review Board will terminate. States that disclosure to the general public of assassination material or particular information in assassination material may be postponed if its release would: (1) reveal an intelligence agent, an intelligence source or method currently utilized by the Government, or any other matter currently relating to military defense, intelligence operations, or the conduct of U.S. foreign relations which, if disclosed, would pose such a threat as to outweigh any public interest in its disclosure; (2) constitute an invasion of privacy of a living person, whether or not that person is identified in the material, that is so substantial as to outweigh any public interest in its disclosure; (3) constitute a substantial and unjustified violation of an understanding of confidentiality between a Government agent and a witness or a foreign government; or (4) disclose a security or protective procedure currently utilized by a Federal agency responsible for protecting Government officials, and that disclosure is so harmful that it outweighs any public interest in its disclosure. Requires each executive agency to make available to the Executive Director of the Review Board all assassination materials in its possession. Requires agencies that are uncertain as to whether or not a record is assassination material to make that record available to the Executive Director. Makes the Executive Director responsible for: (1) inquiring as to the existence of further records beyond those made available that may be assassination materials; (2) obtaining access to such records; (3) recommending that the Review Board subpoena such records in the event access is denied; and (4) reviewing all records that are made available by executive agencies. Requires the Executive Director to order release of any assassination material or particular information in the absence of clear and convincing evidence that it falls within the exemptions from disclosure. Requires the Executive Director, after review of each record, either to: (1) notify the originating body or bodies that the record is assassination material that is appropriate for release in its entirety; or (2) refer the record to the Review Board. Provides that in the former event, the Executive Director shall transmit the record to the Archivist of the United States who shall make the record available for public inspection, unless an originating body files an appeal with the Review Board. Requires the Review Board to review and apply the standards for release set forth in this Act to all records that are the subject of appeals and referred to the Review Board by the Executive Director. Provides that: (1) after review of each record, the Review Board shall determine whether such record is assassination material, and, if so, whether such assassination material, or particular information in the assassination material, qualifies for postponement of disclosure; (2) any reasonably segregable particular information in an assassination material shall be considered for release after deletion of information in that assassination material that qualifies for postponement of disclosure; (3) where an entire assassination material qualifies for postponement of disclosure, the Board may create and prepare for release a summary of the assassination material in order to provide for the fullest disclosure feasible; and (4) where the Board determines that a record is not assassination material, or that a record, or particular information in the record, qualifies for postponement of disclosure, the Board shall transmit to the originating body written notice of such determination, together with a copy of the record at issue, and, if the originating body is an executive agency, a copy of such notice and record shall be transmitted to appropriate congressional committees. Provides that in the case of records for which the Warren Commission or specified congressional committees are originating bodies, where the Review Board determines that a record is assassination material, and that a record, particular information in a record, a summary of a record, or a substitution for particular information in a record is appropriate for release pursuant to this Act, the Review Board shall transmit the record, particular information, summary, or substitution to the Archivist in order for it to be made public. States that the Review Board's decision to release shall not be subject to review by the President or any other entity of the Government and shall not be subject to judicial review. Provides that in the case of records for which the originating body is an executive agency, excluding the Warren Commission, where the Review Board determines that a record, particular information in a record, a summary of a record, or a substitution for particular information in a record is appropriate for release pursuant to this Act, the Review Board shall transmit to the originating body written notice of its determination. Provides that in such event, the Review Board shall transmit the record, particular information, summary, or substitute to the Archivist in order for such material to be made public, unless the President has certified to the Review Board and the Archivist that the material qualifies for postponement of disclosure, in which case release of the material shall be postponed, and this decision shall not be subject to judicial review. Prohibits the President from delegating this authority to any other official or entity. Provides that whenever the President makes such a certification, the President shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a written statement setting forth the reasons for superseding the Board's determination and a copy of the material at issue. Requires the Review Board to periodically make available for public inspection a notice of all postponements of assassination materials. Provides that in any case in which a determination of the Review Board to release assassination material is superseded by the President, the President shall publish in the Federal Register notice of such action. Sets forth special rules for the marking and review of materials the disclosure of which is postponed. Authorizes the Review Board to request the Department of Justice to petition any court to release any information relevant to the assassination of President Kennedy that has been sealed. Authorizes the Review Board to request the Attorney General to petition any U.S. court to release any such information that is held under injunction of secrecy of a grand jury. Requires the Review Board to seek access to the autopsy photographs and x-rays donated to the National Archives by the Kennedy family and submit to appropriate congressional committees a report on the status of these materials and on access to these materials by individuals consistent with the deed of gift. Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) the Attorney General should assist the Review Board in good faith to unseal any records that the Board determines to be relevant and held under seal by a court or under the injunction of secrecy of a grand jury; (2) the Secretary of State should contact the government of the Republic of Russia and any other foreign government that may hold relevant information and seek the disclosure of all such information; and (3) all executive agencies should cooperate in full with the Review Board to seek the disclosure of all information relevant to the Kennedy assassination consistent with the public interest. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 25 March 1992
National Child Protection Act of 1992 - Establishes a national criminal background check system (system) to which a designated agency in each State is required to report child abuse crime information, or index such information in the system, for purposes of background checks of child care providers. Directs the Attorney General to establish: (1) guidelines for the reporting of such information; and (2) timetables for each State to report such information to the System (with a three-year deadline for all States to be reporting at a specified level of currency). Requires State agencies to maintain close liaison for the exchange of technical assistance in cases of child abuse with the National Center: (1) on Child Abuse and Neglect; (2) for Missing and Exploited Children; and (3) for the Prosecution of Child Abuse. Directs the Attorney General to publish annually: (1) a statistical summary of the child abuse crime information reported under this Act; and (2) a summary of each State's progress in reporting child abuse crime information to the system. Requires the Administrator of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention to conduct a study to determine various factors relating to potential child abuse crimes and offenders, based on a statistically significant sample of convicted child abuse offenders and other relevant information. Requires a report on such study to be submitted to specified congressional committee officials. Authorizes a State to have in effect procedures to permit a qualified entity (i.e., a business or organization that provides child care or child care placement services, or that certifies others to provide such care or services) to contact a State agency to request a nationwide background check to determine if a child care provider is under indictment for, or has been convicted of, a background check crime. Directs the Attorney General to establish: (1) guidelines for State background check procedures, but permits the Attorney General to certify that a State procedure is equivalent to that under this Act under specified circumstances; and (2) criteria for such certifications. Authorizes the Attorney General to: (1) prescribe such other measures as may be required to carry out the purposes of this Act; and (2) encourage the use of the best technology available in conducting background checks. Amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (Omnibus Act) to provide for the use of drug control and system improvement grants for the improvement of State record systems and the sharing of records of child abuse crime information to implement this Act. Directs the Attorney General, subject to appropriations and with preference to States that have the lowest percent currency of case dispositions in computerized criminal history files, to make additional grants to each State to be used, for purposes of this Act: (1) for the computerization of criminal history files; (2) for the improvement of existing computerized criminal history files; (3) to improve accessibility to the system; and (4) to assist the State in the transmittal of criminal records to, or the indexing of criminal history records in, the system. Authorizes: (1) appropriations; and (2) the withholding of a portion of the allocation for a fiscal year under the Omnibus Act to a State that is not in compliance with the timetable established under this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 20 March 1992
Amends rule XXI of the Rules of the House of Representatives to prohibit consideration of any measure appropriating amounts for the Office Mail Allowance of the House unless it: (1) prohibits availability of any such amount for obligation after the end of the fiscal year for which the amount is appropriated; and (2) requires any amount not obligated before the end of the fiscal year to revert to the Treasury.
United States · United States Congress · 18 March 1992
Nuclear Reactor Licensing Act of 1992 - Amends the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 to prescribe guidelines for: (1) issuance by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission of nuclear reactor combined construction and operating licenses; and (2) post-construction hearings on such licenses. Provides for judicial review of final Commission orders affecting such licenses.
United States · United States Congress · 18 March 1992
Makes eligible for the award of the Purple Heart those persons wounded in action on or after December 7, 1941, by weapon fire while engaged in armed conflict, regardless of the origin of the weapon fire.
United States · United States Congress · 11 March 1992
Freedom from Government Competition Act of 1992 - Requires Federal agencies to obtain all goods and services necessary for or beneficial to the accomplishment of their authorized functions by procurement from private sources unless: (1) the goods or services are required by law to be produced or performed, respectively, by the agency; (2) or the head of the agency determines and certifies to the Congress that Government production, manufacture, or provision of a good or service is necessary for national defense, that a good or service is so inherently governmental in nature that it is in the public interest to require production or performance by a Government employee, or that there is no private source capable of providing the good or service. Requires the Director of the Office of Management and Budget to study and report to the Congress on: (1) agency activities which are inconsistent with such requirements; and (2) a schedule for transferring such activities to the private sector.
United States · United States Congress · 25 February 1992
Amends rule XXI of the Rules of the House of Representatives to prohibit the consideration of any measure appropriating amounts for salaries and expenses of the House unless such measure: (1) prohibits availability of any such amount for obligation for that purpose after the end of the fiscal year for which the amount is appropriated; and (2) requires that any such amount not so obligated be used for open-market purchase of outstanding interest-bearing obligations of the Government.
United States · United States Congress · 24 February 1992
Repeals provisions of the Communications Act of 1934 which: (1) provide for grants for the planning and construction of public telecommunications facilities; (2) establish and fund the National Endowment for Children's Educational Television; (3) provide for grants for the development of nonbroadcast telecommunications facilities and services for the delivery of health, education, and public or social service information; (4) establish and fund the Corporation for Public Broadcasting; (5) prohibit Federal interference with or control over public telecommunication or the Corporation; (6) prohibit the support of, or opposition against, any political candidate on a noncommercial educational broadcasting station; and (7) authorize the limited use of business or institutional logograms within public television or radio broadcast.
United States · United States Congress · 19 February 1992
Individualized Rehabilitation Services Program Selection Act of 1992 - Amends the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 to provide handicapped individuals eligible for services under such Act with the right to select their vocational rehabilitation service providers pursuant to an individualized written rehabilitation program.
United States · United States Congress · 19 February 1992
Creates the Congressional Office of Inspector General (Office), independent of the executive departments and under the control and direction of the Speaker and minority leader of the House of Representatives. Sets forth the functions of the Office. Makes an Inspector General (Inspector), to be appointed by the Speaker and minority leader, head of the Office for a seven-year term, unless removed by the Speaker and minority leader for cause. Makes the Inspector ineligible for reappointment. Requires the Inspector to appoint: (1) an Assistant Inspector General for Auditing to supervise the auditing of the office procedures and operations of each Member or committee of the House and any other House office whose employees are paid by the Clerk; and (2) an Assistant Inspector General for Investigations to supervise investigations of such office procedures and operations. Sets forth the duties and responsibilities of the Inspector. Requires each Inspector General to report annually to the Speaker and minority leader of the House. Authorizes the Inspector to receive and investigate complaints or information from a House employee concerning the possible existence of a violation of law or the Rules of the House, mismanagement, gross waste of funds, abuse or authority, or a substantial and specific danger to the public health and safety. Prohibits the Inspector, upon receiving the complaint or information, from disclosing the complainant's identity without the employee's consent, unless such disclosure is unavoidable during the course of the investigation. Prohibits any employee who has authority to take, directs others to take, or recommends or approves any personnel action, from taking action against an employee as reprisal for making a complaint or disclosing information to an Inspector, unless the complaint was false and the complainant knew this or willfully disregarded truth or falsity.
United States · United States Congress · 19 February 1992
Amends rule XXI of the Rules of the House of Representatives to require a three-fifths majority vote of the Members voting to agree to any bill, joint resolution, amendment, or conference report that increases revenues or the statutory limit on the public debt. Amends rule XLIX to require such vote on any concurrent resolution that increases or decreases the statutory limit on the public debt. Amends rule XI to prohibit the Committee on Rules from reporting any rule or order which would waive the requirements of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 18 February 1992
Declares that the Congress: (1) commemorates the 50th anniversary of the Battle of Midway on June 4, 1992; (2) salutes the vision and dedication of those Americans who planned and participated in this heroic battle; (3) reveres the memory, bravery, and spirit of those who fought and perished in it; and (4) honors the sacrifices and devotions of those gallant men who fought in such battle and who, in a single master stroke, reversed the tide of war in the Pacific.
United States · United States Congress · 11 February 1992
Designates April 14, 1992, as Education and Sharing Day, U.S.A., the birthday and the start of the 91st year of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, leader of the worldwide Lubavitch movement.
United States · United States Congress · 30 January 1992
Amends the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to proscribe fraudulent misrepresentations of campaign authority with respect to soliciting or accepting contributions. Imposes civil and criminal penalties for violations of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 28 January 1992
Health Care Savings Plan Act of 1992 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow individuals a tax deduction for contributions made to a medical care savings account established for the benefit of an eligible individual. Defines an eligible individual as: (1) one who is not covered by an employer-provided group health plan; or (2) one who is covered by such a plan which is a qualified catastrophic coverage health plan and is not covered by any other health plan. Allows penalty-free withdrawals from such accounts to the extent that amounts in such accounts exceed $15,000. Allows such deduction in arriving at adjusted gross income. Establishes an excise tax for excess contributions to medical care savings accounts and makes such accounts subject to the tax on prohibited transactions. Allows the transfer of unused amounts in flexible spending accounts of cafeteria plans to medical savings accounts. Allows the full deduction for medical and dental expenses for amounts paid for qualified catastrophic coverage health plans.
United States · United States Congress · 28 January 1992
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from gross income distributions from individual retirement accounts and certain other retirement plans used for the acquisition or construction of a principal residence of the individual receiving the distribution.
![Official portrait of Rep. Livingston, Bob [R-LA-1]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/l000371_200.jpg)