United States · United States Congress · 10 July 1991
Amends part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to determine whether an individual entitled to benefits under part A (Hospital Insurance) meets the requirements for status as a qualified Medicare beneficiary under the Medicaid program (title XIX of the Social Security Act).
United States · United States Congress · 9 July 1991
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the United States should: (1) promote the maximum conservation and protection of whale, dolphin, and porpoise populations; (2) work to strengthen and maintain the current International Whaling Commission moratorium on the commercial killing of whales; (3) work to strengthen the Commission by reaffirming its competence to regulate whaling on all species of cetaceans and take actions to assure global protection for small cetaceans; and (4) in promoting protection, make use of diplomatic channels, domestic and international law, and all other means.
United States · United States Congress · 27 June 1991
Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to conduct ten demonstration projects to examine the feasibility of broader use of arrangements for the sharing of health-care resources with other Federal health-care providers. Requires the Secretary to enter into agreements for such demonstration projects with the Secretaries of Defense and Health and Human Services with respect to facilities, providers, and beneficiaries of health care. Requires each demonstration project to be carried out through a sharing agreement between the Secretary and one of the other named Secretaries with respect to care and services provided by a particular Department of Veterans Affairs medical facility. Requires medical centers selected for the demonstration projects to be located in rural and urban areas in different regions of the country. Provides for the reciprocal provision of health-care services by medical centers participating in the project, as well as for reciprocal reimbursement for services provided. Directs the Secretary to evaluate the demonstration projects on an ongoing basis and to submit two annual reports on such evaluation to the Congress. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 27 June 1991
Drug Treatment and Prevention Act of 1991 - Amends the Public Health Service Act (PHSA) to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to: (1) establish a capacity expansion program that will provide grants to assist States to expand their capacity to provide effective and comprehensive treatment to individuals who use illegal drugs; and (2) award such grants to States in which a demand for drug treatment services exceeds the capacity of organizations operating in those States to provide such services. Sets forth application procedures, Federal funding limitations, and other requirements with respect to such program. Specifies that funds provided under this Act for such program shall supplement, not supplant, existing or planned drug treatment services in a State and shall be available only for the provision of direct treatment services. Authorizes appropriations. Amends the Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act of 1986 to revise provisions with respect to emergency grants to authorize the Secretary to make drug-free schools emergency target grants to eligible local educational agencies (LEAs) and consortia of LEAs (currently, limited to LEAs) that: (1) demonstrate significant need for additional assistance for purposes of reducing and preventing drug and alcohol use and drug-related crime among students served by such agencies (currently, to combat drug and alcohol use among such students); (2) support projects that require cooperative linkages between schools and communities to reduce and prevent drug and alcohol use among schoolchildren; (3) demonstrate the most effective approaches to reducing and preventing drug and alcohol use among schoolchildren; and (4) promote the goal that every school in America will be free of drugs and violence and will offer a discipined environment conducive to learning. Specifies: (1) authorized activities by LEAs with grant funds; and (2) eligibility and application requirements for such grants by LEAs and consortia of LEAs. Directs the Secretary, in awarding grants, to give special preference to applications that: (1) hold particular promise for reducing and preventing the incidence of drug and alcohol use and drug-related violence in elementary and secondary schools; (2) are based on a rigorous and comprehensive research design; and (3) have demonstrated that they will integrate the resources of families, community groups, and the media into an effective, community-based assault on drug and alcohol use in schools. Requires the Secretary to conduct an evaluation of this program. Sets forth provisions with respect to: (1) grant amounts and distribution of funds; and (2) set-asides from appropriations to conduct such evaluation, provide training and technical assistance to LEAs, and disseminate the results of the program. Authorizes approriations. Requires a local or intermediate educational agency or consortium to include in any application to the State educational agency for a drug and alcohol abuse prevention grant a statement of how any emergency target grants funded by the Government under this Act are integrated into the overall prevention plan set forth in the application. Amends the PHSA to require a State, in order to receive specified Federal funds, to develop, implement, and submit for approval a statewide drug treatment and prevention plan, which shall designate a single State agency for developing and implementing the plan. Sets forth plan and reporting requirements. Requires States to maintain expenditures for drug-related services at a level equal to not less than the average amount of such expenditures for the preceding two years to qualify for grants, subject to waiver by the Secretary under specified circumstances.
United States · United States Congress · 27 June 1991
Authorizes the Rhode Island Indian Council, Inc. (and any agents, partners, successors, and assigns) to provide preference for Native Americans in selecting tenants for residence in dwelling units of the Indian Village housing development in Providence, Rhode Island.
United States · United States Congress · 27 June 1991
Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) the Republic of Hungary has successfully made a peaceful transition from socialist dictatorship to Western democracy; (2) all political parties in the Hungarian Parliament are dedicated to the principles of human rights and free markets and the Hungarian Government fully desires to integrate the country into the free world of nations; and (3) Hungary has renounced the hostile and confrontational military posture of the now-defunct Warsaw Pact. Declares that, upon the final withdrawal of Soviet troops from Hungarian territory (scheduled for June 1991), Hungary will have regained its freedom from Soviet influence and should no longer be considered a socialist, one-party state, but a representative democracy.
United States · United States Congress · 26 June 1991
Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1991 - Prohibits any agency, department, or official of the United States or any State (the government) from burdening a person's exercise of religion even if the burden results from a rule of general applicability, except that the government may burden a person's exercise of religion only if it demonstrates that application of the burden to the person: (1) is essential to further a compelling governmental interest; and (2) is the least restrictive means of furthering that compelling governmental interest. Sets forth provisions pertaining to judicial relief, attorney's fees, and applicability.
United States · United States Congress · 26 June 1991
Constitutional Amendment - Requires the Congress and the President, prior to each fiscal year, to agree on an estimate of total receipts (except those derived from borrowing) for that fiscal year by enactment of a law devoted solely to that subject. Prohibits outlays for that year (except those for repayment of debt principal) from exceeding this amount unless the Congress, by a three-fifths roll call vote of each House, authorizes a specific excess of outlays over receipts. Requires a three-fifths roll call vote of each House to increase the public debt. Directs the President to submit a balanced budget to the Congress. Requires the approval of a majority of the total membership of each House by roll call vote before any bill to increase revenue may become law. Waives these provisions when a declaration of war is in effect. Makes this article effective beginning with FY 1995 or with the second fiscal year after its ratification, whichever is later.
United States · United States Congress · 25 June 1991
Nuclear Proliferation Prevention Act of 1991 - Amends the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 to restrict the export of nuclear weapon items to a non-nuclear weapon state, unless: (1) such state maintains International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards on all its peaceful nuclear activities; and (2) the the export, retransfer, or activity is under the terms of an agreement for cooperation. Prohibits the Nuclear Regulatory Commission from issuing any license for the export of highly enriched uranium. Directs the President to undertake negotiations with foreign nations which participate in the Nuclear Suppliers Group to establish specified multilateral nuclear non-proliferation controls. Sets forth sanctions for violations of this Act. Amends the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Act of 1978 to require the United States to enter into negotiations with other nations and groups of nations to improve the effectiveness of the safeguards of the IAEA.
United States · United States Congress · 25 June 1991
Voluntary Drug Abuse Education Checkoff Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow taxpayers to designate on their income tax returns contributions (not less than one dollar) to the Drug Abuse Education Trust Fund. Establishes such Trust Fund to make grants to States for drug abuse education programs and to pay administrative expenses to carry out this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 24 June 1991
Extends the presumption of service-connection, for purposes of eligibility for veterans' benefits and medical care in the case of exposure to ionizing radiation, to include reserve members exposed to such radiation during active duty training and inactive duty training. Expands the list of diseases presumed to be service-connected in the case of exposure to ionizing radiation to include cancer of the salivary tract, cancer of the urinary tract, cancer of the colon, and bronchogenic carcinoma. Terminates the current presumptive period (the maximum period allowed before manifestation of the illness or disease occurs in order to be presumed to be service-connected and, therefore, covered as a veterans' benefit) of 40 years after participation in the radiation-related activity (30 years in the case of leukemia). Amends the Veterans' Dioxin and Radiation Exposure Compensation Standards Act to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish guidelines and standards for the resolution of claims for benefits where a claim is based on a veteran's exposure to ionizing radiation. Directs the Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of Defense, to identify not less than three activities in which individuals serving on active duty or active or inactive duty training have participated and which likely would have exposed such individuals to levels of ionizing radiation above background levels. Requires the Secretary to identify at least three additional activities no later than October 1 of each of the years 1992 through 1994. Requires the Secretary, immediately after identifying such an activity, to direct the Veterans' Advisory Committee on Environmental Hazards to evaluate and make a finding as to whether participation in such activity resulted in exposure to ionizing radiation comparable to that of veterans who participated in a radiation-risk activity as defined under current veterans' benefits provisions. Requires reports from the Committee and the Secretary concerning such activities. Directs the Secretary to list each ionizing radiation exposure identified, unless the Secretary determines that the activity did not result in an opportunity for exposure to ionizing radiation comparable to that of veterans who participated in previously-identified radiation-risk activities.
United States · United States Congress · 19 June 1991
Medicare Physician Regulatory Relief Amendments of 1991 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to: (1) prohibit the denial of physician claims because of patient failure to complete Medicare secondary payer questionnaires; (2) prohibit carriers from using extrapolation to recover the amounts they reimbursed physicians for claims for which Medicare disallows payment, if the physician requests that each such claim be individually identified; (3) prohibit the imposition of specified user fees on physicians; (4) require consideration of physician comments in annual carrier performance reviews; (5) allow individuals (including physicians) to file administrative appeals when they have suffered damages as a result of the failure of a carrier to carry out Medicare policies; and (6) require review of medical necessity denials by physicians in the same medical specialty as the physician providing the service. Amends the Medicare and Medicaid (title XIX of the Social Security Act) programs to permit the reimbursement of a patient's regular physician for services provided by another physician who covers for the regular physician under contractual arrangements. Amends title XI of the Social Security Act to repeal the peer review requirement for certain surgical procedures.
United States · United States Congress · 19 June 1991
Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) President Bush, Administration officials, and the President's emissary should be commended for their diplomatic initiatives to secure the release of Ethiopian Jews; (2) the Government of Israel should be commended for carrying out Operation Solomon, for its efforts to reunite Jews with their families, and for welcoming this community with open arms; (3) individuals and private voluntary organizations should be applauded for their support of the Jewish community in Ethiopia; and (4) the United States should make every effort to bring an end to the civil war in Ethiopia, increase support for famine relief, and ensure the release to Israel of Jews remaining in Ethiopia.
United States · United States Congress · 18 June 1991
James Madison-Bill of Rights Commemorative Coin Act - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury (the Secretary) to mint and issue five-dollar gold coins emblematic of the Bill of Rights, and one-dollar silver coins emblematic of James Madison. Sets forth guidelines for their sale and issuance, and for financial assurances. Mandates that the surcharges received by the Secretary shall be transmitted to the James Madison Memorial Fellowship Trust Fund. Authorizes audits by the Comptroller General. Provides a general waiver of procurement regulations when implementing this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 18 June 1991
Authorizes the President, on behalf of the Congress, to present to the Secretary of Defense, Richard B. Cheney, a gold medal in recognition of his exemplary performance as a leader in coordinating the planning, strategy, and execution of combat action by U.S. armed forces which led to the liberation of Kuwait. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to provide for the sale of bronze duplicates of the medal.
United States · United States Congress · 18 June 1991
Maternal and Early Childhood Health Care Act of 1991 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to provide for the use of certain funds appropriated for migrant health centers (MHCs), community health centers (CHCs), and programs for health services for the homeless for: (1) the development and operation of Comprehensive Perinatal and Early Childhood Health Programs (CPECHPs); and (2) expanding services for pregnant women and children where MHCs and CHCs are already operating Comprehensive Perinatal Care Programs. Provides for grants to MHCs, CHCs, and homeless health service programs for the CPECHPs. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services, through the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), to provide vaccines to the health department of each State or large city operating an immunization project. Amends the Vaccine and Immunization Amendments of 1990 to direct the Secretary, through the CDC, to: (1) make grants to States (currently, to public and nonprofit private entities) for demonstration projects to provide, without administrative charge (currently, without charge), immunizations to children not over two years old; and (2) provide immunizations related to certain programs under the Public Health Service Act and the Child Nutrition Act of 1966; and (3) maintain private physician participation in immunization services and to encourage private physicians to provide such services to infants and children enrolled under title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 18 June 1991
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the United States should ask the United Nations (UN) to release through UNICEF a portion of Iraq's frozen assets to provide medical and humanitarian assistance to the Iraqi people, particularly children, with release of the funds contingent on Iraqi Government acceptance of UN oversight and control.
United States · United States Congress · 12 June 1991
Women's Business Development Act of 1991 - Amends the Small Business Act to authorize the Small Business Administration (SBA) to provide financial assistance to private organizations to conduct three-year demonstration projects for small business concerns owned and controlled by women. Conditions such assistance on the recipient organization's agreement to obtain cash contributions from private sector sources according to certain guidelines. Authorizes appropriations to implement the demonstration project. Requires the SBA to report annually to certain congressional committees on the efficacy of such demonstration projects. Repeals the fiscal year limitation on specified loans to small business concerns (thus permanently authorizing the small loan program). Amends the Women's Business Ownership Act of 1988 to provide that the Chairperson and Vice Chairperson of the National Women's Business Council shall be a representative of either the public or private sector, and shall serve a maximum two-year term. Prohibits: (1) consecutive terms to the same office; (2) consecutive Chairperson designees from the public sector; and (3) the Chairperson and Vice Chairperson from being from the same sector concurrently.
United States · United States Congress · 12 June 1991
Paperwork Reduction in Health Care Act of 1991 - Requires the Director of the Office of Management and Budget to: (1) identify, inventory, and assess the Federal paperwork burden associated with health care services; and (2) establish a goal for reducing such burden in each of FY 1992 through 1997 by at least five percent of the preceding fiscal year's paperwork burden.
United States · United States Congress · 12 June 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to increase the earned income credit with a supplemental young child credit for taxpayers with children who have not attained age five. Extends the eligibility for such credit to taxpayers whose adjusted gross income does not exceed $50,000.
United States · United States Congress · 11 June 1991
Rhode Island Emergency Assistance Act of 1991 - Requires the Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (the Director) to lend specified sums to the State of Rhode Island to expedite the repayment of depositors at State-chartered banks and credit unions in receivership, and to facilitate receivership resolution. Establishes an annual six percent interest rate on such loans. Requires the Director to guarantee the repayment of specified maximum amounts borrowed by the State of Rhode Island, or the Depositors Economic Protection Corporation to expedite depositor repayment. Authorizes appropriations. Designates this Act as an emergency requirement for purposes of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act), and declares that the President is deemed to have designated each provision of this Act as an emergency requirement for purposes of Gramm-Rudman-Hollings.
United States · United States Congress · 11 June 1991
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that in light of current economic conditions the Federal excise taxes on gasoline and diesel fuel shall not be increased.
United States · United States Congress · 7 June 1991
Amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to require: (1) States receiving drug control and system improvement grant program (program) funds to distribute to a unit or combination of units of local government (local unit) in such State that portion which bears the same ratio to the aggregate amount of such funds as the amount expended by such local unit for criminal justice in the preceding fiscal year bears to the aggregate amount expended by the State and all local units in such State for criminal justice in such preceding fiscal year; and (2) each local unit that receives funds under such provision to make a good faith effort to participate in the development, and comply with the principles, of the State plan and priorities. Makes local units ineligible to receive such funds if the aggregate amount distributable to such unit or combination of local units is less than $50,000. Specifies that a local unit is ineligible in a fiscal year to receive funds both in its capacity as a single local unit and as part of a combination of local units. Authorizes the direct distribution of program funds to local units. Directs the chief executive of a local unit to submit to the Director of the Bureau of Justice Assistance an application for receipt of such funds by local units, including: (1) a certification that Federal funds made available will not be used to supplant State or local funds, but will be used to increase the amounts of such funds that would otherwise be made available for drug law enforcement activities, and that funds required to pay the non-Federal portion of the cost of each program and project for which such grant is made shall be in addition to funds that would otherwise be made available for drug law enforcement by the recipient of the grant; and (2) an assurance that the applicant has submitted a copy of the application to the appropriate State office and that such application and any amendment thereto was made public before submission to the Bureau (and, to the extent provided under State or local law or established procedure, that such applicant provided an opportunity for comment by citizens and neighborhood and community groups). Sets forth: (1) analogous provisions with respect to the allocation and distribution of funds to eligible local units (i.e., those submitting an application for a fiscal year not later than 90 days after the expiration of the preference period for such fiscal year) where a State fails to submit an application; and (2) the preference period for specified fiscal years. Requires applicants (currently, States) to comply with reporting requirements under such Act.
United States · United States Congress · 7 June 1991
Repeals, except with respect to nonresident aliens, Internal Revenue Code provisions that include social security and tier I railroad retirement benefits in the gross (taxable) income of certain taxpayers.
United States · United States Congress · 6 June 1991
Medicare Preventive Benefits Act of 1991 - Amends part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide for coverage of fecal-occult blood tests (FOBTs) and screening flexible sigmoidoscopies for the early detection of colorectal cancer. Covers FOBTs on an annual basis for individuals aged 50 or over. Covers screening sigmoidoscopies provided every five years for individuals aged 50 or over. Provides payment for FOBTs under the laboratory fee schedule, subject to a five dollar limit in 1992. Provides payment for screening sigmoidoscopies under the relative value scale in 1992. Permits the Secretary to modify the frequency criteria after 1994. Provides for Medicare coverage of annual influenza vaccinations and for tetanus-diptheria vaccinations administered every ten years. Provides for Medicare coverage up to age seven according to a frequency schedule to be established by the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) in consultation with appropriate entities. Provides for Medicare coverage of annual screening mammography for the early detection of breast cancer for women over age 64. (Currently, such women are covered for such screening performed every other year.) Requires HHS demonstration projects for the coverage of additional specified preventive care services and reports to specified congressional committees on such projects. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes an Office of Technology Assessment study and report to the Congress on the development of a process evaluating possible Medicare coverage of other preventive care services.
United States · United States Congress · 5 June 1991
National Child Abuser Registration Act of 1991 - Authorizes a State child abuse information repository (State repository) to report child abuser information to the National Crime Information Center. Directs the Attorney General to establish guidelines for the reporting of such information. Specifies that such guidelines shall require that: (1) a reporting State ensure that reports of all convictions under the criminal child abuse law of the State are maintained by a State repository; and (2) a State repository maintain close liaison with the National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children for the exchange of information and technical assistance in cases of child abuse. Requires the Attorney General to publish an annual statistical summary of the child abuser information reported under this Act. Makes compliance with this Act a condition to the receipt by a State of any grant, cooperative agreement, or other assistance under the Victims of Crime Act and the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act.
United States · United States Congress · 5 June 1991
Communications Competitiveness and Infrastructure Modernization Act of 1991 - Title I: Communications Infrastructure Modernization Policy - Amends the Communications Act of 1934 (the Act) to establish a new national goal that by 2015 the United States will have established an advanced, interactive, interoperable broadband communications system nationwide. Requires local telephone companies to submit a plan to achieve such goal for approval by the appropriate agency in each State in which they operate. Requires disapproval only when the plan is not in the public interest. Requires such plan to give priority consideration to accelerated deployment of such a system for educational institutions, health care facilities, and small businesses. Requires such plan to provide for deployment to less densely populated and economically disadvantaged areas at a rate reasonably related to the rate of deployment in more populous and affluent areas. Requires the FCC, after final State action, to review the plan to certify compliance with the goals and objectives of this Act. Requires FCC procedures for local telephone companies to ensure coordinated communications network planning in the development of a nationwide communications infrastructure and to assure broad availability of information services. Title II: Regulatory Changes to Promote Efficient Multiple Uses of Communications Technologies - Amends the Act to establish a policy to permit multiple uses of communications technologies and to eliminate restrictions on communications technologies to single lines of services in order to promote communications technology deployment in a manner which secures communication services for the public at reasonable costs. Title III: Modification of Impediments to Convergence of Telephone and Video Technologies - Amends the Act to modify ownership restrictions to permit local telephone companies to provide video programming subject to specified regulatory safeguards to prevent anti-competitive activities only after the FCC makes the certification described under title I and certifies that the company has filed a plan pledging it to comply with such safeguards. Outlines safeguards against telephone company monopolization of the cable service industry, including those: (1) requiring separate video programming subsidiaries for telephone companies; (2) allowing competitors attachment rights to telephone poles and conduits and rights-of-way within telephone company service areas; (3) prohibiting cross-subsidization between local telephone companies and affiliated video programming subsidiaries and marketing by a local telephone company of its subsidiary's video programming; and (4) subjecting local telephone companies to local cable franchise requirements. Requires local telephone companies which distribute affiliated video programming over a broadband communications system to provide video gateway services to facilitate user access to video programming. Exempts from the safeguards outlined above a carrier which provides video programming in rural areas with a population of 10,000 or below in which it also provides local exchange service. Requires periodic FCC evaluation of the effect of the provision of video programming by telephone companies on the video marketplace and recommendations to the Congress concerning any modifications needed as a result of such evaluation. Requires FCC and State rules and regulations to prevent consumers from paying more for telephone services as a result of their local telephone company's provision of video programming. Revises multiple cable franchise provisions. Requires an FCC report to the Congress regarding competition and consumer choice in the delivery of video programming and telephone services. Requires an FCC review of the rural exemption described above to determine how to expedite access to broadband multichannel video programming for all parts of the United States. Sets forth penalties for violations of the safeguards outlined above to prevent telephone company monopolization of the cable service industry.
United States · United States Congress · 5 June 1991
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that: (1) U.S. businesses engaged in the rebuilding of Kuwait should, to the maximum extent possible, use U.S. subcontractors and U.S. goods and services; and (2) the Department of Commerce should monitor and encourage the implementation of this policy.
United States · United States Congress · 4 June 1991
Wild Bird Protection Act of 1991 - Makes it unlawful for any person to: (1) import, transfer, possess, or sell any exotic bird unless such person is properly licensed and such bird meets specified marking requirements; and (2) commit, attempt to commit, or solicit another to commit, a violation of such requirements. Authorizes the Secretary of the Interior (Secretary) to issue licenses permitting: (1) the importation of certain exotic birds; and (2) the transfer of wild exotic birds. Sets forth specified reporting and recordkeeping requirements. Directs the Secretary to issue regulations requiring the marking of exotic birds. Authorizes: (1) the sale of captive exotic birds only if they are properly marked; and (2) the marking of such birds if the owner can show that they have been legally acquired. Exempts common canaries, cockatiels, budgerigars, or other qualifying species from such marking requirements. Authorizes a person to petition the Secretary with respect to any finding, determination, or other action authorized by this Act. Sets forth both civil and criminal penalties. Sets forth provisions relating to: (1) inspections and seizures and dispositions of such birds; (2) suspension of licenses; and (3) imposition of fees.
United States · United States Congress · 4 June 1991
Older Americans Long-Term Care Insurance Act of 1991 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to require that, for the purpose of determining the income tax liability of issuers of qualified long-term insurance, the contracts be treated as accident or health insurance. Applies this provision to policies covering at least 12 consecutive months of necessary diagnostic, preventive, therapeutic, rehabilitative, or personal care services that are provided in a setting other than an acute care unit of a hospital. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to: (1) submit to the Congress before 1993 a study on long-term insurance policies; and (2) report annually to the Congress regarding the certification of qualified long-term care insurance. Treats qualified long-term care insurance as accident or health insurance and its benefits as benefits for personal injuries or sickness for purposes of determining appropriate tax exclusions for employer contributions or employee benefits. Permits qualified long-term care insurance to be offered in cafeteria plans. Excludes from gross income: (1) distributions or payments from individual retirement plans that are used during the year to pay the premiums for qualified long-term care coverage of individuals aged 59 1/2 or older; and (2) amounts received upon surrender, cancellation, or exchange of a life insurance contract and used during the year to pay the premiums for qualified long-term care insurance. Provides that payments under a life insurance contract to an individual who is terminally ill or permanently confined to a nursing home shall be treated as death benefits, making such payments eligible for exclusion from gross income. Requires any reference to a life insurance contract to be treated as including a reference to a qualified accelerated death benefit rider on such contract. Describes such a rider as one which provides for payments to a terminally ill individual or one who is permanently confined to a nursing home.
United States · United States Congress · 3 June 1991
Amends Federal highway provisions to allow longer combination vehicles (LCVs) to continue to operate only if the Secretary of Transportation determines that such vehicles were authorized by State statute or regulation conforming to Federal law and were in actual, continuing lawful operation on June 1, 1991. Specifies that: (1) all such operations shall continue to be subject to, at the minimum, all State statutes, regulations, limitations, and conditions, including routing-specific and configuration-specific designations and all other restrictions (statutes and restrictions), in force on June 1, 1991; and (2) nothing in this Act shall prevent any State from further restricting or prohibiting the operation of LCVs whose continued operation is authorized under such provisions, with exceptions. Directs the Secretary, within 60 days, to publish in the Federal Register a complete list of such State statutes and restrictions, which shall become final 60 days after publication. Bars LCVs from operating except as provided in such list. Sets forth analogous restrictions with respect to cargo carrying unit limitations under Federal transportation provisions.
United States · United States Congress · 3 June 1991
Prohibition of Payments on Foreign Deposits Act of 1991 - Amends the Federal Deposit Insurance Act to prohibit any Federal entity (or a federally controlled entity) from providing any assistance which would in fact, or in effect, provide deposit insurance payments for foreign deposits.
United States · United States Congress · 3 June 1991
Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) the American public should observe the 100th anniversary of filmmaking; and (2) the American Film Institute has a leadership role in preserving the art of film.
United States · United States Congress · 30 May 1991
Teacher Leadership Act of 1991 - Title I: Teacher Recruitment - Part A: University Partnerships for Classroom Leadership - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) to create University Partnerships for Classroom Leadership. Authorizes the Secretary of Education (the Secretary) to make grants to qualifying institutions (including institutions with large enrollments of minority or disadvantaged and historically Black colleges or universities) to establish partnerships with local education agencies (LEAs) to support: (1) mentorship or tutoring programs; (2) cultural, recreational, or athletic activities; (3) programs of college students as teacher aides; (4) seminars or workshops to advise college students about child development, child psychology, teaching methods, or the teaching profession; and (5) other appropriate activities to establish a presence of minority role models in the classroom or encourage minority students to enter the teaching field. Requires equitable distribution of such grants throughout the Nation and among a variety of communities. Permits the use of grant funds for: (1) training of college students and professors and school teachers; (2) instructional or curriculum materials; (3) transportation or incidental costs associated with participation; and (4) any other appropriate expenses of planning, implementing, or operating the partnership with the LEA. Authorizes appropriations. Part B: Community Partnerships for Classroom Leadership - Creates a National Mini Corps Program for higher education institution partnerships with the migrant community. Authorizes the Secretary to award grants to such institutions to establish partnerships to provide certain migrant college students with training to help them serve as student or teacher role models, links to the community, and tutors and teachers of migrant children. Provides for equitable distribution of grants. Allows the use of grant funds for program planning, implementation, and operation, but limits the portion that may be used for administrative expenses. Authorizes appropriations. Part C: National Job Bank for Teacher Recruitment Study and Demonstration - Establishes a National Job Bank for Teacher Recruitment. Directs the Secretary, through the Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI), to study the feasibility of establishing: (1) a clearinghouse to operate a national teacher job bank; and (2) regional clearinghouses. Directs the Secretary, through OERI, to contract with one or more State entities, nonprofit organizations, or higher education institutions to pay the Federal share of costs of establishing a Teacher Job Bank Clearinghouse to help: (1) public and private education agencies locate qualified applicants for teaching-related positions; and (2) individuals locate teaching-related jobs or training necessary to enter the teaching profession. Authorizes appropriations. Title II: Broadening the Diversity of Skills and Expertise of Teachers - Part A: Business Partnerships for Classroom Leadership - Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to LEAs to establish model partnerships with business community representatives to sponsor programs for: (1) local business representatives to work with teachers to provide supplementary instruction in the classroom; (2) classroom teacher internships working in local businesses to gain practical experience or new skills or expertise; (3) local business representatives to work with school administrators to develop instructional material; and (4) other appropriate activities for forming a working relationship between business and classroom leaders. Provides for equitable distribution of grants. Gives priority to partnerships focusing on mathematics or science expertise of classroom teachers, particularly at the elementary level. Allows awards only to partnerships of sufficient size and scope to be models. Allows use of funds for partnership planning, implementation, and operation, but limits the portion which may be used for administrative costs. Authorizes appropriations. Part B: Teacher Certification and Licensure - Establishes Standards for Teacher Certification programs to provide Federal support and technical assistance to States to: (1) review their teacher certification and licensure requirements; and (2) determine what new standards or alternative routes need to be developed. Directs the Secretary to make State allotments based on population of children ages five through 17. Directs the Secretary to reserve a portion of funds to provide technical assistance to States which are developing new standards or alternative routes for teacher certification and licensure. Allows States to use assistance for review of existing standards and development of new standards and alternative routes for teacher certification and licensure. Allows States to carry out such activities directly or through grants to appropriate agencies, institutions, or organizations. Authorizes appropriations. Title III: Innovations in the Practice of Teaching - Part A: CLASS (Classroom Leaders Assisting Students to Succeed) Academies - Replaces professional development resource centers for teachers with CLASS (Classroom Leaders Assisting Students to Succeed) Academies. Directs the Secretary to award grants to LEAs, State educational agencies, higher education institutions, private management organizations, or nonprofit organizations, or consortia of such entities, to establish and operate a CLASS Academy in each State. Requires that special consideration in awarding grants be given to entities receiving Leadership in Educational Administration Development assistance which can meet specified requirements. Sets forth grantee obligations and general criteria for grants. Requires each grant to be for five years, with possible renewal for one additional five-year period. Allows the use of grant funds for: (1) developing and implementing preservice and in-service training programs and professional development activities for prospective and practicing teachers, including summer institutes; (2) providing support services, consultation, and technical assistance for school-based training and professional development activities; (3) disseminating information about Academy programs and the latest research findings on teaching and learning; and (4) other appropriate expenses related to development and implementation of teacher programs and activities and Academy operation. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary, from appropriations for this part for FY 1992 or any succeeding fiscal year, to make available a necessary amount for establishing and operating a CLASS Academy in each State. Sets the non-Federal matching amount at 25 percent of the award to a grantee in FY 1992, and 50 percent in succeeding fiscal years. Part B: Research, Evaluation, and Dissemination - Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to and contracts with higher education institutions and other public or private organizations for research and evaluation of alternative teaching strategies, including ones designed to reach particular student populations (such as those who are disadvantaged or who have disabilities or limited English proficiency), and innovative programs for teacher education and training. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary, through the National Diffusion Network, to disseminate information and technical assistance with respect to alternative teaching strategies to LEAs, higher education institutions' teacher training programs, and CLASS Academies. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 30 May 1991
Repeals provisions of the Internal Revenue Code that include unemployment compensation in the gross income of an individual and require information reporting with respect to such compensation.
United States · United States Congress · 29 May 1991
Medicaid Family Care Act of 1991 - Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to provide federally reimbursed Medicaid coverage of alcoholism and drug dependency residential treatment services for pregnant women whose family income is below 185 percent of the Federal poverty level and for their Medicaid-eligible children and spouses. Lists the required services included in such coverage as: (1) individual, group, and family counseling and addiction education and treatment; (2) room and board in a structured environment with on-site supervision 24 hours a day; (3) child day health services; (4) parental assistance in obtaining developmental assistance for their preschool children and public education for themselves and their school-age children; (5) easier access to apppropriate health, social, and child care services; and (6) planning and assistance in reentering society. Requires that such coverage continue for at least 12 months (unless such coverage is found to be no longer therapeutically necessary, except that the coverage of pregnant women must continue for one year following the end of pregnancy. Limits the size of a residential treatment facility to no more than 40 beds, except under prescribed conditions.
United States · United States Congress · 23 May 1991
Small Employer Health Insurance Incentive Act of 1991 - Exempts small employer purchasing groups organized for the purpose of obtaining health insurance for employer members from State insurance mandates, State taxes on premiums, and State laws relating to managed care. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow self-employed individuals participating in small employer purchasing groups an itemized deduction of 100 percent for health insurance costs (25 percent for nonparticipants). Makes such deduction permanent law.
United States · United States Congress · 23 May 1991
Benjamin Franklin Memorial Fire Service Bill of Rights Act - Title I: Minting of Benjamin Franklin National Memorial Commemorative Coin - Benjamin Franklin National Memorial Commemorative Coin Act - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to issue: (1) five dollar gold coins emblematic of Benjamin Franklin's contributions to the advancement of science; (2) one dollar silver coins emblematic of Benjamin Franklin's contributions to the American Fire Service. Sets forth sale and issuance guidelines, including a general waiver of procurement regulations and surcharge distributions. Title II: Fire Service Bill of Rights - Fire Service Bill of Rights Act - Amends the Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974 to set forth a fire service bill of rights, including the right of responding fire services to: (1) know the kind of danger presented by hazardous materials they face in emergency responses; and (2) be fully informed of infectious diseases their members face during the course of life safety activities. Declares that the bill of rights does not create any private right of action.
United States · United States Congress · 23 May 1991
Federal Energy Savings Incentives Act of 1991 - Amends the National Energy Conservation Policy Act to direct the Secretary of Energy (the Secretary) to designate additional energy performance goals for each Federal agency for the years 1996 through 2000 so that Federal building energy consumption during FY 2000 is at least 20 percent less than that during FY 1985. Requires the head of each Federal agency (except the Department of Defense) to provide that two-thirds of the portion of its annual fiscal year appropriations which is equal to the energy cost savings the agency realized during such fiscal year shall remain available for obligation through the end of the following fiscal year, without additional authorization or appropriation. Directs the Secretary to permit each agency to participate in gas or electric utility incentive programs for either the management of electricity demand or for energy conservation. Grants the Secretary authority to permit the agencies to accept utility energy incentives to adopt technologies and practices that are cost-effective for the Federal Government. Directs the Secretary to adopt a simplified contracting method for shared energy savings contract services that will expedite their use with respect to Federal agencies, and will reduce the Federal administrative effort and cost. Sets forth implementation guidelines. Requires the President to submit to the Congress simultaneously with submission of the budget a statement of the amount of appropriations requested on an individual agency basis for: (1) utility fuel costs; and (2) compliance with specified Federal laws and regulations. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 23 May 1991
National Institute of Nursing Research Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to redesignate the National Center for Nursing Research as the National Institute of Nursing Research. Includes the Institute in the list of national research institutes of the National Institutes of Health.
United States · United States Congress · 21 May 1991
Urges the Government of Iran to extend to the Baha'i community the rights guaranteed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international agreements to which Iran is a party. Calls upon the President to continue to: (1) urge the Government of Iran to emancipate the Baha'i community by granting such rights; (2) emphasize that the United States regards the human rights practices of such Government, particularly its treatment of the Baha'is and other religious minorities, as a significant element in the development of U.S.-Iranian relations; and (3) cooperate with other governments and international organizations in efforts to protect the religious rights of the Baha'is and other minorities in Iran.