United States · United States Congress · 22 September 1988
Amends rule I of the Rules of the House of Representatives to require the Speaker of the House to implement closed caption broadcasting of floor proceedings for hearing-impaired individuals.
United States · United States Congress · 14 September 1988
Congratulates Israel and Egypt for a decade of peace based upon the Camp David accords. Calls upon other Arab states and Palestinians to join in the peace process, renounce the state of war and acts of violence, and enter into direct negotiations with Israel to achieve a lasting peace.
United States · United States Congress · 9 September 1988
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the Secretary of Labor, in cooperation with the ACTION Agency, should publicize and promote projects under the Retired Senior Volunteer Program and the Older American Community Service Employment Program that encourage and recruit older individuals to provide child care services in community-based child care centers.
United States · United States Congress · 11 August 1988
Constitutional Amendment - Requires each committee of the Congress to be appointed so that the voting strength of each political party on that committee reflects the relative voting strength of that political party in the relevant House.
United States · United States Congress · 4 August 1988
Declares that the Congress joins the city of Freeport, Illinois, in commemorating the 130th anniversary of the Lincoln-Douglas debate and the rededication of the debate site.
United States · United States Congress · 3 August 1988
District of Columbia Revenue Bond Act of 1988 - Waives the period of congressional review for certain District of Columbia Acts authorizing the issuance, sale, and delivery of revenue bonds by specified organizations. Makes such Acts effective upon enactment of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 28 July 1988
Condemns the Romanian Government's systematic violation of human rights. Protests the planned program of destruction of traditional settlements in violation of human rights, minority cultural rights, and property rights. Urges institutional reforms by the Romanian Government to comply with international agreements, including the Helsinki Final Act of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Urges continued presidential and Secretary of State action to bring about reforms. Urges the President not to consider providing any special benefit for Romania until a thorough human rights reform is instituted, including substantial actual improvement in the right of emigration, the rights of national minorities, and freedom of religion.
United States · United States Congress · 26 July 1988
Amends rule XXIV and rule I of the Rules of the House of Representatives to require the rendering of the Pledge of Allegiance in the House at the start of each legislative day.
United States · United States Congress · 14 July 1988
Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to include estuaries and estuarine zones within the pollutant discharge permit program. Requires that ocean and estuary pollutant discharge guidelines take into account the need for a proposed discharge.
United States · United States Congress · 14 July 1988
Women's Business Ownership Act of 1988 - Title I: Congressional Findings and Purposes - Sets forth congressional findings and purposes with respect to small businesses owned and controlled by women. Title II: Demonstration Projects - Amends the Small Business Act to direct the Small Business Administration (SBA) to provide financial assistance to private organizations to conduct demonstration projects giving financial, management, and marketing assistance to small businesses, including start-up businesses, owned and controlled by women. Describes application criteria. Requires the SBA to report to the congressional Small Business Committees on the projects. Terminates authority for this pilot program on October 1, 1991. Authorizes appropriations. Title III: Procurement Assistance - Amends the Small Business Act to include small business concerns owned and operated by women as a discrete group for purposes of Government contracts and subcontracts and procurement programs. (Current law governing these programs refers expressly only to small business concerns and small business concerns owned and controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals as groups targeted for assistance.) Instructs the Director of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization of each Federal agency to designate a Women-in-Business Specialist to be responsible for programs designed to assist concerns owned and controlled by women. Directs Federal agencies, in their procurement activities, to engage in affirmative action to identify and solicit offers from small businesses owned and controlled by either women or socially and economically disadvantaged individuals. Title IV: Access to Capital - Amends the Consumer Credit Protection Act to prohibit the Federal Reserve Board, except under limited circumstances, from exempting from such Act's provisions any class of transactions that are primarily for personal, family, or household purposes, or business or commercial loans made available by a financial institution. Limits to five years any exemption authorized under the circumstances specified in this Act, unless a subsequent determination is made that the exemption remains appropriate. Requires lenders to keep records relating to loans and to provide written notice to applicants of their right to receive notice of reasons for a loan denial. Authorizes the SBA to establish a certified loan program for lenders that display knowledge and proficiency with respect to SBA regulations and programs. Directs the SBA to encourage small business loans of $50,000 or less under both this new program and the preferred lenders program in FY 1989 through 1991 by permitting participating lenders to: (1) use their own forms without regard to SBA paperwork; and (2) retain one-half of the loan guarantee fee. Requires SBA reporting to specified congressional committees in connection with the certified loan program. Directs the Federal Reserve Board, the Comptroller of the Currency, the Department of Commerce, and the SBA jointly to study levels of availability of and demand for debt and equity capital by small businesses, as well as innovative financing techniques to meet any unmet demand. Requires reporting to the congressional Small Business Committees. Title V: National Women's Business Council - Establishes the National Women's Business Council to review the status of women-owned businesses nationwide and to develop detailed multiyear plans in connection with both private and public sector actions to assist and promote such businesses. Requires annual reporting to both the President and the Congress. Title VI: Statistical Data and Effect on Other Programs - Directs: (1) the Bureau of Labor Statistics to include in its census reports on women-owned businesses specified information on sole proprietorships, partnerships, and corporations; (2) the Bureau of the Census to include in its Business Census data the number of corporations that are 51 percent or more owned by women; (3) the SBA's Office of the Chief Counsel for Advocacy to report on the most cost-effective and accurate ways to gather and present the statistics required in these census reports; and (4) Federal agencies to report to the Office of Federal Procurement Policy the number of first-time contract recipients that are small businesses owned and controlled either by women or by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals. Requires the President's annual Report on Small Business and Competition to include in separate detail information relevant to small businesses owned and controlled either by women or by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals.
United States · United States Congress · 14 July 1988
Agricultural Research Act of 1988 - Title I: Alternative Agricultural Production Systems Research - Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to carry out through the Cooperative State Research Service a competitive grants research program to improve the diversity of production methods available to agricultural producers. Sets forth program criteria and grant priorities. Directs the Secretary to submit annual program reports to the appropriate congressional committees. Authorizes appropriations. Title II: National Institute For Alternative Agricultural Products - Alternative Agricultural Products Act of 1988 - Directs the Secretary to establish a National Institute for Alternative Agricultural Products as an independent entity within the Department of Agriculture under the general supervision of the National Alternative Agricultural Products Board. Authorizes the Institute to: (1) make grants and enter into cooperative agreements or contracts for research and demonstration projects; (2) provide technology transfer, information collection, and information dissemination; (3) research for new industrial materials that may be produced from agricultural commodities and for processes to produce such materials; and (4) administer the Alternative Agricultural Products Technology Revolving Fund (established by this Act). Directs the Secretary to establish the National Alternative Agricultural Products Board to: (1) supervise the Institute; (2) determine priority research areas; (3) review and approve the annual Institute report; and (4) review and approve Institute grants, contracts, and agreements. States that all projects shall have at least 50 percent matching funds. Reserves at least two-thirds of obligated funds for projects in which a U.S.-domiciled company: (1) provides at least 20 percent of the project's funds; and (2) engages in commercial production and sale of the project's products, technologies, or uses. Provides private companies and research institutions with an exception to certain information disclosure requirements. Directs the Institute to select those projects that will create or improve economically viable commercial products or technologies that involve the use of agricultural commodities. Sets forth the following funding restrictions: (1) not more than five percent for administrative expenses; (2) not more than five percent for information services and technology transfer; (3) not less than five percent for projects at the 1890 land-grant institutions, including Tuskegee University; (4) not less than 20 percent for projects at the 1862 land-grant colleges and institutions eligible for Federal funding under the Hatch Act of 1887; and (5) not less than 65 percent for project funding. States that uncommitted funds shall be credited to the Revolving Fund established by this Act. Establishes in the Treasury the Alternative Agricultural Products Technology Revolving Fund. Authorizes appropriations to carry out this title. Terminates the provisions of this title on September 30, 2000. Title III: Agricultural Commodity Production and Processing Research - Directs the Secretary to: (1) establish a research grant program through FY 1993 to establish a statistical framework to measure, identify, and control microbiological and chemical agents affecting agricultural products; (2) establish a committee to set research priorities; and (3) submit program reports to the appropriate congressional committees within one year of enactment of this Act and upon completion of all research projects. Authorizes FY 1989 through 1993 appropriations. Limits administrative expenses to not more than four percent of appropriations. Title IV: National Agricultural Library - Establishes the National Agricultural Library in the Department of Agriculture. (This makes its authorization statutory. The Library already exists in fact.) Authorizes the Library to: (1) acquire, manage, and make available information and services in all phases of agriculture and allied sciences; and (2) cooperate with and coordinate efforts among libraries and industry to develop an agricultural information network. Authorizes the making and selling of library products and services. Authorizes appropriations. Title V: Aquacultural Research - Amends the National Aquaculture Act of 1980 to authorize FY 1988 through 1990 appropriations to the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, and Interior for acquaculture activities.
United States · United States Congress · 14 July 1988
Resolves that the Congress should implement policies under which: (1) the Bell operating companies would be permitted to provide information services, conduct research, design and market software, and design, manufacture, and market telecommunications equipment and customer premises equipment; and (2) statutory safeguards would ensure that these Bell activities would not harm telephone service customers or competition in the information services or manufacturing industries and would prevent cross subsidies between regulated and unregulated service offerings.
United States · United States Congress · 12 July 1988
Drought Assistance Act of 1988 - Title I: Emergency Livestock Assistance - Amends the Agricultural Act of 1949 to add a new title VI which may be cited as the "Emergency Livestock Feed Assistance Act of 1988." Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to provide emergency feed assistance in any State, county, or area of a State where disease or other natural disaster has created a livestock emergency. States that the Governor of a State or a county committee may request the Secretary to make a livestock emergency determination and to provide assistance. Authorizes the Secretary to make such determination on his own initiative. Requires the Secretary to make such determination within 30 days of request and to notify the requesting party of any proposed action. States that producers in counties eligible for the emergency feed or emergency feed assistance programs in 1988 shall maintain such eligibility and be eligible for assistance under this title. Directs the Secretary to determine such counties' eligibility for assistance under this title. States that an eligible producer may receive assistance as follows: (1) assistance to offset inadequate feed stocks resulting from on-farm losses; and (2) assistance to maintain foundation herds if the producer does not have, and is unable to obtain through normal channels without undue cost, necessary feed stocks. Sets forth the following assistance programs available under this title: (1) Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) feed donations and reduced price sales; (2) partial reimbursement of feed purchase expenses; and (3) partial reimbursement of transportation and handling costs for such CCC feed, for hay, and for transporting livestock to and from available grazing areas (not to exceed $24 a head). Permits the Secretary to: (1) make in-kind payments; and (2) provide assistance through feed dealers or manufacturers. Authorizes the Secretary to provide the following additional assistance if necessary: (1) CCC feed donations for stranded and unidentified livestock, including transportation costs; (2) water assistance; and (3) CCC catalog commodities in lots appropriate to family farmers. Limits total assistance under this title for each livestock disaster to any one person to $50,000. Subjects each person (including individual members of a cooperative producer association) to the overall payment limitation ($100,000) under this Act. Prohibits a person from receiving assistance under this title for lost feed production due to the 1988 drought to the extent that such person receives production disaster payments under this Act. Subjects persons who misuse such assistance to a civil penalty equal to the market value of the involved fee, and a fine of up to $1000 or imprisonment for up to one year, or both. Amends the Agricultural Act of 1949 to repeal the Secretary's authority to reduce 1989 milk price supports (50-cents per hundredweight). Title II: Disaster Payment - Provides that, for producers of the 1988 crops of wheat, feed grains, upland cotton, extra long staple cotton, or rice who participated in the production adjustment program under the Agricultural Act of 1949, the Secretary shall make disaster payments to those producers who have suffered at least 35 percent production losses due to the 1988 drought or related condition. States that such payments shall be made at a rate equal to 65 percent of the established price for deficiencies below 65 percent. Exempts such producers from advance deficiency repayments for up to 35 percent of crop losses. Permits eligible producers who had elected not to receive such payments prior to enactment of this Act to change their decision. Provides similar disaster payments to producers who did not participate in such production adjustment program. Bases payments on the basic county loan rate (or comparable price). Provides similar disaster payments to producers of the 1988 crops of peanuts, tobacco, sugar beets, and sugarcane. Bases payments for peanuts and tobacco on the basic county loan rate (or comparable price), and for sugar beets and sugarcane on 1988 price support levels. Provides for prevented planting credit. Sets forth special payment provisions for peanuts, including deficiency payments based on quota and additional peanuts. Provides similar disaster payments to producers of the 1988 soybean and nonprogram crops. Bases payments on a specified percentage of the average market price received in three of the last five years (excluding high and low years). Provides for prevented planting credit. Reduces payments to producers with Federal crop insurance under a specified crop-type determination. Authorizes the Secretary to transfer CCC funds during FY 1988 to the Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service to carry out the provisions of this title. Directs the Secretary, within 15 days after enactment of this Act, to announce the terms by which producers may prove their yield on crops harvested for silage or other forage uses. Directs the Secretary to make disaster payments under this title in the form of cash, commodities, or commodity certificates. Limits individuals to $100,000 in disaster payments. Limits a person to $100,000 of combined assistance for crop disaster assistance and livestock disaster assistance. Permits a person to elect which form of assistance to receive. Prohibits a person from receiving disaster payments attributable to 1988 drought-caused crop losses to the extent that such person receives livestock emergency benefits for such lost production under the Agricultural Act of 1949. Title III: General Provisions - Subtitle A: Commodity Stock Adjustment - Amends the Agricultural Act of 1949 to authorize the Secretary, if an acreage limitation program is in effect for 1989 and 1990, to permit producers to plant soybeans or sunflowers on between ten percent and 35 percent of permitted crop acreage. Expresses the sense of the Congress that the Secretary should provide export assistance for cottonseeds and sunflower seeds if such crop prices are adversely affected by soybean and sunflower plantings under this title. Directs the Secretary to permit producers to designate any portion of their 1989 or 1990 farm acreage base for oats if the feed grain acreage base for such years is less than 12.5 percent. Expresses the sense of the Congress that, with respect to the 1989 and 1990 feed grain crops, if such crops' acreage limitation percentage exceeds 12.5 percent the Secretary should establish the lowest possible oats acreage limitation if market imbalances for barley and oats exist. Provides that, effective for the 1988 marketing year for wheat and feed grains, producers may repay specified commodity loans without additional interest or other specified charges if the producer reserve program trigger level has been met. Provides that, if during the 1988 marketing year the Secretary permits producers to place wheat and feed grains into the producer reserve, no storage payments nor interest forgiveness shall be permitted on such stored commodities during the marketing year. Subtitle B: Disaster Credit and Forbearance - Directs the Secretary to ensure, to the maximum extent practicable, that Farmers Home Administration direct operating loans for 1989 crop production are made available to producers suffering major losses resulting from the 1988 drought or related condition. Directs the Secretary to make available in FY 1989 specified operating loan guarantees, in addition to existing purposes for such guarantees, to refinance and reamortize 1988 operating debt resulting from major farming or ranching losses resulting from the drought or related condition. Expresses the sense of the Congress that the Secretary should exercise forbearance in debt collection and encourage similar actions by commercial lenders and expedited loan restructuring with respect to producers suffering major drought losses. Subtitle C: Conservation and Water Assistance - Provides that with respect to a producer who harvested hay during the 1988 crop year on conservation reserve program acreage, such producer's rental payments shall not be reduced to the extent that he or she shares the cost of carrying out practices designed to enhance soil, water, and wildlife conservation on such land (or in the vicinity of such land) in accordance with a Soil Conservation Service approved plan. Authorizes the Secretary to: (1) undertake water-problem related projects, including research, grants, technical assistance, loans, and extension services; (2) cooperate with other Federal agencies, State or local units, or public or private entities; and (3) accept funds from non-Federal sources to carry out such activities. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle D: Rural Businesses - Directs the Secretary to make rural industrialization loans or loan guarantees during FY 1989 to assist rural businesses (including cooperatives) adversely affected by the 1988 drought or related condition. Requires any such loan to meet applicable Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act eligibility requirements. Directs the Secretary, within 90 days of enactment of this Act, to conduct a survey of agriculture-related rural businesses to determine the adverse effects of the 1988 drought and report to the appropriate congressional committees.
United States · United States Congress · 7 July 1988
Directs the Federal Communications Commission to establish and implement a telecommunications relay system to increase access to Federal departments and agencies for users of Telecommunications Devices for the Deaf (TDDs). Requires the system and its associated plans to include: (1) expansion of the existing relay system to a prescribed minimum service level; (2) accessibility of TDDs in Federal agencies; (3) publication of a TDD directory of Government access numbers; (4) adoption and display of logos identifying TDD stations; and (5) support for the development of cost-reducing technologies. Directs the FCC to complete its existing inquiry concerning an interstate relay system for TDD users. Requires that the Congress install TDDs and assure their accessibility in congressional offices as soon as practicable. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 30 June 1988
Declares that all parties seeking a settlement of the conflict in Cambodia, including the United States, should have among their highest priorities the restoration of an independent Cambodia and the protection of the Cambodian people from a return to power by the Khmer Rouge. Calls on Vietnam to withdraw its forces from Cambodia and deny haven to the Khmer Rouge. Declares that the United States and the international community should use all means available to prevent a return to power of Pol Pot. Calls on the President to seek inclusion, in United Nations resolutions relating to Cambodia, the principle that those responsible for acts of genocide and human rights violations shall not return to power in Cambodia upon the withdrawal of foreign occupation forces. Encourages support of non-Communist Cambodian forces. Declares that the United States, in consultation with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, should consider whether a Cambodian settlement could be facilitated by an international conference on Cambodia and international peacekeeping forces.
United States · United States Congress · 30 June 1988
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the Government of Nicaragua should: (1) fulfill its pledge in the Esquipulas II agreement to grant a general amnesty to all political prisoners; (2) cease inhumane torture and holding prisoners incommunicado; (3) end random arrests for purposes of political intimidation; (4) allow human rights observers in all parts of prison facilities; (5) compensate former political prisoners; and (6) cease human rights violations.
United States · United States Congress · 21 June 1988
Congressional Budget Office Strengthening Act of 1988 - Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to include the minority leaders of the House of Representatives and the Senate in the process for selecting a Director of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). (Currently the Speaker of the House and the President pro tempore of the Senate make such appointment.) Requires the Director to carry out duties in an objective and nonpartisan manner. Prohibits CBO from adding to, deleting, or altering any requested information already provided by such Office to any Member of Congress or congressional committee, except to correct factual errors. Provides that a change in any information so provided may only occur if CBO, the Member or committee making the request, and the majority and minority leaders of the House from which the request originated agree. Requires the Director to notify the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct or the Senate Committee on Ethics of any attempt by any Member or congressional employee to unduly influence the contents of any information requested or the contents of any report by CBO. Requires the cost estimates submitted by CBO on congressional legislation to include all direct and indirect costs.
United States · United States Congress · 21 June 1988
Authorizes the Vietnam Women's Memorial Project, Inc., to construct a commemorative statue within the Vietnam Veterans Memorial to recognize and honor the women of the U.S. armed forces who served in the Vietnam war. Directs the Secretary of the Interior to select a site for the statue within the Memorial. Makes the design proposal subject to the approval of the Secretary, the National Planning Commission, and the Commission of Fine Arts. Prohibits the United States and the District of Columbia from paying any expense of constructing the statue. Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) it is fitting and appropriate that such a statue be constructed at the site of the Vietnam Memorial; (2) the Secretary and each of the Commissions should give consideration to the sense of Congress that such a statue should be constructed at that site; and (3) after the addition of such statue no further commemorative works should be added to the Memorial. Requires the Secretary and Administrator of General Services to prepare, transmit to the Congress, and update periodically a list and a description of those commemorative works which have been completed and are located in the District of Columbia and its environs. Prohibits any significant modification to any commemorative work located in the District of Columbia and its environs unless specifically authorized by the Congress.
United States · United States Congress · 16 June 1988
Comprehensive Anti-Drugs Act of 1988 - Title I: Demand Reduction and User Accountability - Subtitle A: User Accountability Act of 1988 - Makes any individual who is convicted of two or more drug or narcotic offenses, or any offense consisting of the distribution of a controlled substance, ineligible for Federal benefits for a specified period. Authorizes the Attorney General to assess a civil penalty on any person who violates the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), the Controlled Substances Import and Export Act (CSIEA), or the Maritime Drug Law Enforcement Act. Directs that the proceeds from any penalty be allocated equally to drug education, treatment, and State and local narcotics assistance as the Attorney General shall prescribe. Limits the amount of such penalty. Directs the Attorney General to study the feasibility of prosecuting Federal drug-related offenses in a manner alternative or supplemental to the current criminal justice system and to report the results of such study to the Congress. Provides for the withholding of Federal highway funds to States which do not have in effect and enforce a law which revokes or suspends for a period of not less than: (1) six months the driver's license of a person who is convicted after the date of the enactment of this Act of a violation of the CSA, or for any drug or narcotic offense chargeable under the law of such State or any other State; and (2) one year the driver's license of a person who, in a five-year period, is convicted of more than one of certain offenses. Provides for the apportionment of withheld funds after compliance and for the use of such funds for other projects in the event of noncompliance. Subtitle B: Drug-Free Schools and Businesses Act of 1988 - Requires, as a condition of receiving any Federal contract or assistance, that the recipient maintain a drug-free workplace or activity. Requires the Federal agency administering such contract or assistance to make the recipient aware of such requirement. Requires the agency to terminate the contract or assistance and not to enter into any further contract or assistance with the recipient until such recipient demonstrates effective compliance if the agency, after an opportunity for an agency hearing on the record, determines that a recipient has not complied with such requirement. Specifies that a good faith effort to maintain a drug-free workplace or activity is sufficient to satisfy the requirement. Subtitle C: Drug Testing in the Federal Criminal Justice System - Requires the Attorney General to provide for the mandatory drug testing and retesting of all arrestees for Federal drug-related offenses. Makes it a mandatory condition of release that the individual refrain from the illegal use of any controlled substance. Makes it a mandatory condition of parole that: (1) the parolee submit to regular drug tests administered under the authority of the person supervising the parolee; and (2) the parolee refrain from the use of any controlled substance without a prescription. Makes the latter requirement a mandatory condition of probation. Provides for the random testing of probationers by each probation officer. Subtitle D: Increased and Expanded Treatment of Drug Abuse - Amends the Public Health Service Act (PHSA) to provide for the reduction of the waiting period for drug abuse treatment. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make grants to public and nonprofit private entities for the purpose of expanding the capacity of grantees to carry out drug abuse treatment programs. Prohibits the Secretary from making a grant to an applicant unless such applicant: (1) is experienced in the delivery of drug abuse treatment services; (2) is, on the date the application is submitted, carrying out a program for the delivery of such services; (3) as a result of the number of requests for admission into the program, is unable to admit any individual any earlier than one month after the date on which the individual makes a request for such admission; and (4) provides satisfactory assurances to the Secretary that, after funding is no longer available under this Act, the applicant will have access to financial resources sufficient to continue the program. Sets forth further conditions on the making of grants under this Act. Requires independent evaluations of federally-funded drug treatment programs and research into methods of such treatment. Requires the Secretary, in carrying out such evaluations, to: (1) assess the comparative effectiveness and costs of the various methods of treatment utilized for specific patient groups; (2) clarify research and treatment objectives and methodologies; and (3) determine whether entities carrying out such programs have organizational biases with respect to such treatment and the extent to which they are contributing to progress in the development of effective methods of treatment. Directs the Secretary to complete the required evaluation and submit a report of the findings to the Congress within one year. Requires the Director of the Office for Substance Abuse Prevention of the Public Health Service to make grants and enter into contracts to establish: (1) support groups for parents and families of individuals who abuse drugs; and (2) counseling and referral services for such parents and families. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes appropriations for prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation model projects for high risk groups. Authorizes appropriations for a preventive health services block grant. Authorizes appropriations for emergency substance abuse treatment and preventive rehabilitation. Provides for increased State grants for demonstration projects for the provision to expectant mothers of outpatient residential treatment services. Amends the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 to exclude from the definition of the term "individual with handicaps" any individual who uses, or is addicted to, illegal drugs, with exceptions. Subtitle E: Drug Education Amendments - Amends the Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act of 1986 to authorize appropriations and require that local applications for grants under such Act describe: (1) the extent and nature of the current illegal drug and alcohol problem in each school of the applicant; (2) the applicant's drug and alcohol policy; and (3) how the applicant will monitor the effectiveness of its program. Requires an applicant to submit to the State educational agency a progress report on the first two fiscal years of its plan in order to receive the third year's funding. Prohibits such agency from awarding funds for the third year unless it determines that such report shows reasonable progress toward accomplishing the objectives of its plan and of this Act. Requires each State to submit an annual report containing specified information on State or local programs. Restricts the amount of funds allocated for use by a State for the administrative costs of the chief executive officer of such State. Allows a small number of individuals who are not high risk youth to participate in programs for high risk youth if their participation does not significantly diminish the amount or quality of services provided. Subtitle F: Drug-Free Public Housing Act of 1988 - Drug-Free Public Housing Act of 1988 - Directs the Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to establish a clearinghouse to collect information regarding drug abuse in public housing projects in order to respond to public inquiries for assistance and provide referrals. Directs the Secretary to establish a regional program for the training of public housing officials to educate them to the widespread abuse of controlled substances in the communities in which they work. Requires that such program be conducted within 12 months after enactment of this Act by a national training unit established by the Secretary. Title II: Drug Law Enforcement - Subtitle A: Death Penalty for Drug Kingpins - Drug Kingpin Act of 1988 - Amends the CSA to subject to the death penalty any individual who intentionally engages in conduct during the course of a continuing criminal enterprise that results in the death of another individual and who is the principal organizer of the enterprise, if the violation involves a specified quantity of a controlled substance. Sets forth procedural safeguards, such as the right of the accused to reasonable notice that the Government will seek the death penalty. Requires the Government to set forth the aggravating factors which it will seek to prove as the basis for such sentence. Authorizes the court to permit the Government attorney to amend such notice upon a showing of good cause. Provides for a separate sentencing hearing to determine punishment in cases where the Government has filed such a notice and the defendant is found or pleads guilty to an offense which might subject him to the death penalty. Permits information to be presented at the sentencing hearing as to any matter relevant to the sentence or to mitigating or aggravating factors, regardless of its admissibility as evidence at criminal trials, unless its probative value is substantially outweighed by the danger of prejudice, confusion of the issues, or misleading the jury. Grants the Government and the defendant the opportunity to present and rebut information. Specifies the order and burden of proof. Establishes guidelines for the jury or court to follow in considering the information and returning its findings. Directs the court to sentence the defendant to death upon a finding that such a sentence is justified. Specifies mitigating and aggravating factors to be considered. Directs the judge to instruct the jury that it shall not consider the defendant's race, color, national origin, creed, or sex in reaching its decision. Authorizes the court to impose a sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. Sets forth procedures and standards of review for appeals of the death sentence. Subtitle B: Exclusionary Rule Reform - Amends the Federal criminal code to permit otherwise admissible evidence obtained as a result of a search or seizure to be admitted into evidence if such search or seizure was undertaken in an objective, reasonable, good faith belief that it was in conformity with the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution. Specifies that a showing that evidence was obtained pursuant to, and within the scope of, a warrant constitutes prima facie evidence of such good faith belief, unless obtained through intentional and material misrepresentation. Subtitle C: Authorization of Appropriations for Prisons and Prosecutors - Authorizes appropriations for FY 1989 and 1990 of such sums (and for such purposes) as are specified in the respective budgets transmitted by the President to the Congress for the Federal prison system and U.S. attorneys. Authorizes the Bureau of Prisons to lease prison facilities subject to approval in advance in appropriations Acts. Authorizes the Attorney General to issue debt instruments for purchase by the Secretary of the Treasury to finance the acquisition or construction of a facility to be used for penal or correctional purposes by the Bureau. Subtitle D: Elimination of Diversity Jurisdiction - Eliminates district court jurisdiction based on diversity of citizenship. Subtitle E: State and Local Narcotics Control Assistance - Amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act to expand the purposes of the grant program to include: (1) introducing innovations in penalties for possession of a controlled substance, such as revocation or suspension of drivers' licenses, ineligibility for State grants, increased criminal and civil fines, and cost recovery of governmental expenses incurred in rehabilitation programs; (2) reducing delays in time between arrest, prosecution, adjudication, and detention of persons accused of violating State or local drug laws, including the development of an alternative or supplemental judicial system for drug-related offenses; and (3) increasing participation in multi-jurisdictional task forces for enforcing drug laws. Prohibits the use of any such grant to provide counsel to assist defendants accused of violations of the CSA or of State or local laws that establish offenses similar to those established in the CSA. Restricts expenditures of drug law enforcement grants to no more than 50% (currently, 75%) of the cost of the identified uses for which such grants are received. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle F: Drug Enforcement Agency Personnel Support Act of 1988 - Authorizes the Attorney General to use Department of Justice (DOJ) appropriations to pay benefits to Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) overseas personnel. Directs the Attorney General to report to the Congress within 120 days on the implementation of this subtitle. Subtitle G: Anti-Drug Manufacturing Act of 1988 - Establishes criminal penalties for: (1) polluting U.S. lands while manufacturing, distributing, or dispensing a controlled substance; and (2) creating a substantial risk of harm to human life while possessing or manufacturing a controlled substance. Subtitle H: Chemical Diversion and Trafficking Act of 1988 - Chemical Diversion and Trafficking Act of 1988 - Amends the CSA to establish recordkeeping and reporting requirements for the distribution, receipt, sale, importation, and exportation of listed precursor and essential chemicals. Prohibits the distribution of such chemicals unless the recipient provides a certification of lawful use and proper identification. Establishes exemptions from such requirements: (1) for the distribution of such chemicals between agents or employees within a single facility; (2) for the delivery of such chemicals to or by common carriers; (3) where the Attorney General determines that such requirements are not necessary for the enforcement of this Act; and (4) where products containing such chemicals are lawfully marketed under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. Establishes an import-export notice and declaration requirement for listed precursors and essential chemicals. Includes as precursor chemicals: (1) N-Acetylanthranilic acid; (2) Anthranilic acid; (3) Ergotamine tartrate; (4) Ergonovine maleate; (5) Phenylacetic acid; (6) Ephedrine; (7) Pseudoephedrine; (8) Benzyl cyanide; (9) Benzyl chloride; and (10) Piperidine. Includes as essential chemicals: (1) Potassium permanganate; (2) Acetic anhydride; (3) Acetone; and (4) Ethyl ether. Establishes a mechanism and criteria for adding or deleting chemicals from such lists. Prohibits the transfer of commercial tableting and encapsulating machines unless a certification of lawful use and proper identification are provided. Establishes reporting requirements for such transfers. Establishes criminal penalties for the unlawful: (1) possession, manufacture, distribution, sale, importation, or exportation of a precursor or essential chemical; and (2) possession, manufacture, distribution, or importation of drug manufacturing equipment, tableting or encapsulating machines, and gelatin capsules. Subjects all listed precursor and essential chemicals, drug manufacturing equipment, tableting and encapsulating machines, and gelatin capsules which have been imported, exported, manufactured, possessed, or distributed in violation of such Act (as well as all conveyances and equipment) to forfeiture to the United States. Directs the Attorney General to maintain an active program, both domestic and international, to curtail the diversion of precursor and essential chemicals. Grants the Attorney General subpoena power with respect to precursor and essential chemicals. Subtitle I: Law Enforcement Officer Protection Act of 1988 - Provides a mandatory penalty (ten years imprisonment, to run concurrently with any other term, and/or a fine) for using a firearm in committing assaults on Federal officers. Establishes penalties for the possession of firearms or dangerous weapons in a Federal courthouse. Permits the court to consider pretrial detention for certain firearms and explosives offenses. Extends the possession of explosives offense to certain airports and increases penalties for possessing explosives in such airports and in Federal buildings. Increases penalties for using an explosive in the commission of a Federal felony. Makes it unlawful for any person to transfer a firearm to any business that does not maintain a place of business in the State in which the transferor resides. Deletes the requirement that stolen firearms and ammunition be in interstate commerce to be a Federal offense. Makes trafficking in firearms without serial numbers unlawful. Authorizes the Attorney General to: (1) make payments from DOJ appropriations for expenses necessary for hosting the General Assembly of INTERPOL's annual meeting and for the periodic sponsorship of INTERPOL conferences relating to international crime; and (2) solicit, accept, and make gifts in connection with certain INTERPOL activities, with specified restrictions. Requires the Attorney General to: (1) promulgate rules for such soliciting, accepting, and giving gifts to avoid creating a conflict of interest; and (2) report annually to the Congress regarding all such gifts. Authorizes electronic communications providers to disclose specified information to a governmental entity under certain circumstances. Subtitle J: Anti-Public Corruption Act of 1988 - Anti-Public Corruption Act of 1988 - Establishes the offense of public corruption and sets penalties for individuals who endeavor by scheme or artifice to deprive the inhabitants of a a State (or political subdivision thereof): (1) of the honest services of a State official or employee; or (2) of a fair and impartial election through fraud. Specifies that, in the case of a conviction under this subtitle for which the motive was to facilitate or further a violation of the CSA or CSIEA, if the maximum imprisonment otherwise provided is less than 20 years, such maximum imprisonment shall be 20 years. Adds public corruption as a predicate offense under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) and as a basis for authorizing a wiretap. Subtitle K: Increased Penalties - Amends the CSA to provide increased penalties for crack violations. Amends the CSA and CSIEA to provide civil penalties for certain violations involving heroin or cocaine. Subtitle L: Amendments to the Money Laundering Control Act - Amends the Money Laundering Control Act to: (1) include electronic fund transfers in the definition of "monetary instruments"; and (2) encompass property that has been represented to be the proceeds of unlawful activity. Subtitle M: National Forest System Drug Control - Amends the National Forest System Drug Control Act to grant certain powers to special agents and law enforcement officers within and outside the boundaries of the National Forest System if in hot pursuit. Directs the U.S. Forest Service to: (1) oversee investigations and enforcement activities and prepare national and regional strategy plans in coordination with the DEA and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI); and (2) cooperate with the Attorney General in carrying out the seizure and forfeiture provisions of the CSA as such activity relates to the manufacture, distribution, or dispensing of marijuana or other controlled substances within the National Forest System. Subtitle N: United States Postal Service Authority Expansion - Amends the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970 to grant: (1) the U.S. Postal Service authority to subject to forfeiture specified drugs and drug-related contraband articles; and (2) certain Postal Service officers and employees authority to perform enforcement functions performed by DEA officers or employees. Subtitle O: United States Marshals Service Act of 1988 - United States Marshals Service Act of 1988 - Establishes the United States Marshals Service as a bureau within the Department of Justice. Directs the President to appoint a United States marshal for each judicial district of the United States and for the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. Sets forth procedures for filling vacancies in the office of a U.S. marshal. Specifies the powers and duties of the Service. Allows the Attorney General to exempt the procurement of contract services under the Department of Justice Assets Forfeiture Fund from certain procurement guidelines if necessary to maintain the security and confidentiality of related criminal investigations. Prescribes a schedule of fees that the Service may collect. Authorizes the Attorney General to use funds appropriated to the Service for the support of U.S. prisoners in non-Federal institutions. Subtitle P: Assimilative Crimes Act Amendments of 1988 - Amends the Federal criminal code to provide that the criminal penalty for operating a motor vehicle under the influence of a drug or alcohol in a special maritime or territorial jurisdiction of the United States shall be the punishment provided under the law of that State, territory, possession, or district. States that whoever operates a motor vehicle in such a jurisdiction consents to certain tests if arrested for driving under the influence of a drug or alcohol. States that any person refusing to submit to such tests shall be denied the privilege of operating a motor vehicle for one year. Subtitle Q: National Guard Drug Law Enforcement Assistance Act of 1988 - Provides that the consent of a Governor may not be withheld with regard to the provision of National Guard assistance to civilian law enforcement officials. Subtitle R: Drug Law Enforcement in Public Housing Projects - Authorizes the Secretary of HUD to establish a demonstration project providing grants to public housing agencies to permit such agencies to prevent drug-related crimes in public housing projects through: (1) the establishment and operation of public housing security and protective services for such projects; or (2) the reimbursement of local law enforcement agencies for additional security and protective services for such projects. Subtitle S: Study of Improvements to Monetary Rewards - Directs the Attorney General to study and report to the Congress concerning: (1) ways to increase cooperation and assistance for drug law enforcement from informants eligible for rewards from the Asset Forfeiture Fund; and (2) the feasibility of establishing a bounty system for alternative rewards. Subtitle T: Deportation of Aliens Amendment - Allows a court, on motion of the Government, to exempt from deportation provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act an alien who has provided substantial assistance in the investigation or prosecution of a person who has committed a drug offense under the CSA. Subtitle U: Steroid Control Act - Amends the CSA to include methandrosterolone as a Schedule I substance (a drug or substance with a high potential for abuse, which has no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States, and which lacks any accepted safety use under medical supervision). Subtitle V: Task Force on Clandestine Drug Laboratories - Joint Federal Task Force on Clandestine Drug Laboratories Establishment Act of 1988 - Establishes the Joint Federal Task Force on Clandestine Drug Laboratories. Directs the Task Force to formulate, establish, and implement a program for the cleanup and disposal of hazardous waste produced by clandestine drug laboratories. Provides for periodic reports by the Task Force to the President and to each House of the Congress. Subtitle W: Additional Penalties for Operation of a Locomotive or Common Carrier While Under the Influence of Alcohol or Drugs - Provides penalties for the operation of a locomotive common carrier while under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Subtitle X: Miscellaneous Technical Amendments - Sets a mandatory minimum penalty for trafficking in a specified quantity of methamphetamine. Prohibits and establishes penalties for conducting a financial transaction involving the proceeds of specified unlawful activity with the intent to violate the Internal Revenue Code. Title III: International Drug Control - Subtitle A: Multinational Anti-Drug Strike Force - Directs the President to develop a plan to establish a multinational strike force to combat illicit narcotics production and trafficking in the Americas and in Asia. Encourages the President to enter into negotiations with other nations to implement such strike forces. Requires the President to submit to the Congress a report describing such plan and detailing actions taken to implement such strike forces. Subtitle B: Amendments to the Foreign Assistance Act - Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (FAA) to provide for exemptions from the prohibition on using international narcotics control assistance to procure weapons or train foreign police forces if the President determines that such assistance or training is necessary to combat illicit drug production or trafficking. Subtitle C: Sense of Congress on the Convening of a Summit of Western Hemisphere Nations Concerning Drug Abuse - Urges the President to convene a meeting of the heads of government of countries in the Western Hemisphere in which illicit drug production, transit, or use is a problem to reach agreement on enhancing international cooperation and information sharing. Subtitle D: Sense of Congress on Suppression of International Narcotics Trafficking - Expresses the sense of the Congress that the suppression of international narcotics trafficking is the most important national security objective within the Western Hemisphere. Subtitle E: Authorization of Appropriations for Assisting Law Enforcement Authorities in Certain Foreign Countries - Authorizes appropriations for FY 1989 for: (1) education and training of law enforcement authorities in certain foreign countries to enhance drug interdiction and eradication efforts; and (2) military assistance for such efforts, especially with respect to rapid deployment capabilities. Subtitle F: Extradition and Mutual Legal Assistance Treaties - Directs the Secretary of State to place greater emphasis on updating extradition treaties and on negotiating mutual legal assistance treaties with major illicit drug producing and drug-transit countries. Subtitle G: Export-Import Bank Financing for Defense Against Narco-Terrorists - Authorizes the Export-Import Bank of the United States to guarantee, insure, and extend credit in connection with a credit sale of defense articles or services to a major illicit drug producing or drug-transit country if the President certifies to the Congress that such country needs such articles or services in combatting illicit drug production or trafficking. Subtitle H: Increased Intelligence Capabilities - Amends the National Security Act of 1947 to provide that a special activity directed at illicit international drug trafficking shall be deemed to be important to national security for purposes of requirements for presidential approval. Amends the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 to authorize the use of information concerning illicit drug trafficking obtained by electronic surveillance conducted for foreign intelligence purposes to combat such trafficking. Subtitle I: Mexico-United States Intergovernmental Commission - Amends the International Narcotics Control Act of 1986 to provide for the appointment of Members of Congress to and funding, reporting requirements, and the initial meeting of the Mexico-United States Intergovernmental Commission on Narcotics and Psychotropic Drug Abuse and Control. Title IV: Interdiction Improvement - Subtitle A: Use of Armed Forces for Interdiction of Narcotics at United States Borders - Requires the President to use the U.S. armed forces to locate, pursue, and seize aircraft and vessels carrying narcotics, deploy radar and pursuit aircraft, and use the National Guard and Reserves to halt the unlawful penetration of U.S. borders within 45 days after the enactment of this Act. Directs the President to: (1) report to the Congress on the impact and costs of this Act and recommendations for changes in existing law; and (2) submit to the Congress a request for the amount of funds spent and the amount needed to continue the program through FY 1988 and 1989. Provides for a separate budget request, beginning with FY 1990, for funds for the drug interdiction program. Subtitle B: Department of Transportation Study of Establishing Flight Corridors - Directs the Secretary of Transportation to: (1) study the feasibility of establishing flight corridors across the sourthern borders of the United States, including the policy of interdicting aircraft which deviate from such corridors; and (2) report the results of such study to the Congress within 180 days. Subtitle C: Maritime Drug Law Enforcement and Enhancement Act of 1988 - Maritime Drug Law Enforcement and Enhancement Act of 1988 - Chapter 1: Drug Enforcement Budget Improvement - Requires: (1) the President to submit annual reports on Federal drug enforcement expenditures; and (2) each congressional committee to issue a report, by March 15 of each year, describing estimates of the budget required by each agency for the following fiscal year to effectively implement illegal drug enforcement programs within such committee's jurisdiction. Chapter 2: Coast Guard Drug Interdiction Enhancement - Expands the Coast Guard's maritime air surveillance and interdiction authority. Authorizes the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating (currently, the Coast Guard) to make inquiries, examinations, inspections, searches, and seizures of aircraft subject to U.S. jurisdiction or law (current law applies only to vessels), order such aircraft to a landing area, and take any other lawful action. Amends the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended, to make moneys from the Customs Forfeiture Fund available to the Coast Guard. Authorizes the commanding officer of a Coast Guard vessel or aircraft, or of a surface naval vessel on which a Coast Guard member is assigned, to fire upon a vessel which does not stop upon being ordered to do so or on being chased. Provides for indemnification of: (1) all persons acting under such commanding officer from any penalties or actions for damages for firing upon such vessel; and (2) Coast Guard members and employees against any claim or judgment which arises out of an act committed within the scope of their official duties in carrying out drug enforcement activities. Authorizes appropriations for the Coast Guard. Directs the Secretary of Transportation to submit to the Congress a draft of legislation relating to special restrictions and inspections for vessels arriving from drug producing countries. Amends the CSA to prohibit the forfeiture of specified vessels under such Act unless it appears that the owner was a consenting party to a violation of such Act. Chapter 3: Great Lakes Drug Interdiction - Directs the Secretary of Transportation and the Commissioner of Customs to enter into an agreement to increase the effectiveness of maritime drug interdiction activities in the Great Lakes area. Provides for increased use of long-range surveillance aircraft in such area. Directs the Secretary of State to enter into negotiations with the Government of Canada to establish an agreement for increased cooperation and information sharing with respect to illegal drug interdiction efforts along the U.S.-Canadian border. Chapter 4: Vessel Identification - Defines "United States vessel" and "documented vessel." Requires the identification of the individual designated as the agent of the owner of the vessel on the certificate of documentation for such vessel. Directs the Secretary of Transportation to establish and maintain a central depository of information relating to the ownership of U.S. vessels. Chapter 5: Reorganization to Coordinate Maritime Law Enforcement Programs - Federal Maritime Administration Act - Establishes the Federal Maritime Administration (FMA) with the Department of Transportation, consisting of the Coast Guard and the National Maritime Service and headed by the Under Secretary for Maritime Affairs and Readiness. Specifies the duties of the Under Secretary. Provides for an Office of Drug Interdiction Coordination within the FMA. Renames the existing Maritime Administration. Transfers certain maritime functions of the National Ocean Service and National Weather Service. Redesignates the Commissioned Officer Corps of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration as the Commissioned Officer Corps of FMA. Provides for incidental transfers, terminations, and miscellaneous provisions. Establishes the Merchant Marine Reserve within the Coast Guard Reserve. Directs the Secretary of Transportation to: (1) issue final regulations to implement this chapter within one year; and (2) make recommendations to the Congress regarding the consolidation of budget authority. Subtitle D: Prohibition on Reissuance of Airman Certificates - Amends the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 to prohibit the issuance of an airman certificate to any person whose certificate has been revoked.
United States · United States Congress · 15 June 1988
Food Security Act Amendments of 1988 - Amends the Agricultural Act of 1949, effective for the 1988 wheat and feed grain crops, to exempt farmers in counties designated as disaster areas (due to drought or other natural disasters) from repayment of excess deficiency payments.
United States · United States Congress · 15 June 1988
Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to prevent double-counting of income in the conduct of needs analysis for student assistance programs under such Act.
United States · United States Congress · 14 June 1988
Amends Federal law relating to Interstate highway construction funds to provide that any State which voluntarily reduces the period of availability of apportioned funds for any fiscal year shall be ineligible to receive funds for the succeeding fiscal year.
United States · United States Congress · 14 June 1988
Expresses the sense of the Congress urging Government agencies to avoid actions that would reduce amateur radio frequency allocations used for emergency communications and encouraging support for the Amateur Radio Service in its emergency communications efforts.
United States · United States Congress · 10 June 1988
College Savings Bond Act of 1988 - Authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to issue college savings bonds in the interest of encouraging long-term savings for postsecondary education. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from the gross income of an individual any interest on college savings bonds to the extent these proceeds are used to pay the qualified educational expenses (tuition, fees, books, supplies, reasonable living expenses) of the taxpayer, spouse, child, or dependent at an institution of higher education, including a postsecondary vocational school. Decreases the permissible exclusion for taxpayers having adjusted gross income above $60,000, allowing no exclusion if income exceeds $80,000.
United States · United States Congress · 10 June 1988
National Competitiveness Policy Act of 1988 - Title I: National Competitiveness Policy - Subtitle A: Declaration of Policy - Sets forth the Congress' findings, purposes, and declaration of national competitiveness policy. Subtitle B: Responsibilities Under the Policy - Requires House of Representatives and Senate reports accompanying bills or joint resolutions to contain a statement prepared by the Director of the Congressional Budget Office detailing: (1) the favorable and adverse effects on the competitiveness of U.S. industries that will result if such legislation is enacted; and (2) any other adverse effects on such industries, other than on U.S. competitiveness, that will result if such legislation is enacted, including the displacement of U.S. workers. Declares that it shall not be in order in the House or the Senate to consider a bill or joint resolution if the accompanying report does not contain such statement. Sets forth provisions relating to executive agency responsibilities with respect to the competitiveness of U.S. industries. Requires such agencies to review their rules and policies for compliance with the requirements of this title. Provides that any specific responsibility of Federal agencies under this Act shall not affect their statutory obligations to comply with U.S. trade agreements. Requires the President to transmit annually to the Congress a National Competitiveness Report summarizing the competitiveness of U.S. industries. Subtitle C: The Council on Competitiveness - Establishes in the Executive Office of the President the Council on Competitiveness. Requires the Council to: (1) assist the President in the preparation of the National Competitiveness Report; and (2) gather, study, and review information regarding the competitiveness of U.S. industries. Title II: Limitation on Regulatory Costs - Provides that it shall not be in order in the House or the Senate to consider any bill or joint resolution (including any amendment) authorizing an executive agency to issue rules if: (1) the enactment of such measure imposes on U.S. industries requirements that adversely affect their production of goods and services of a type imported into or exported from the United States; and (2) substantially equivalent requirements do not adversely affect the production of such goods or services by industries located in major trading partners, and major trade competitors, of the United States. Specifies exceptions to this point of order. Deems certain laws enacted after the enactment of this Act to contain an authorization limiting to $5,000,000 annually the total costs that may be imposed on industries located in the United States by all the rules issued under the authority of such laws. Provides for adjustment of such cost limiting authorizations. Prohibits an executive agency from issuing a rule under such an authorization unless: (1) it submits to the Council on Competitiveness a final estimate of the costs that would be imposed annually on U.S. industries as a result of the rule, if issued; and (2) the Council notifies the executive agency that it accepts or rejects the final estimate; or (3) the period for review of such estimate by the Council expires. Requires the Council, within the 60-day period beginning on the date a final estimate is submitted to it, to notify the executive agency submitting such estimate of its decision to accept or reject such estimate. Requires an executive agency, whenever it issues, and publishes in the Federal Register, a rule with respect to authorizations limiting regulatory costs, to include in such publication: (1) its final regulatory cost estimates, if accepted by the Council; or (2) the calculation of regulatory cost estimates prepared by the Council, if it rejects such estimate. Prohibits an executive agency from issuing a final rule if such rule substantially deviates from the agency's proposed rule. Prohibits a court from having jurisdiction to review: (1) a final regulatory cost estimate accepted by the Council; or (2) a calculation of such estimate of regulatory costs prepared by the Council when it rejects the estimate. Prohibits an executive agency from issuing rules that violate authorizations limiting regulatory costs. Provides for the periodic review of regulatory cost estimates and any calculation of rejected cost estimates, or new calculation of cost estimations proved inaccurate. Requires the Council, with respect to each authorization that limits regulatory costs or is deemed to limit such costs, to: (1) calculate each day the total costs imposed on U.S. industries by each rule issued by an executive agency; and (2) maintain, and revise each day, a tabulation of such total costs for a one-year period. Sets forth the method for calculating such costs.
United States · United States Congress · 8 June 1988
EPA Law Enforcement Powers Act of 1988 - Amends the Federal criminal code to authorize law enforcement officers with responsibility for the investigation of criminal violations of a law administered by the Environmental Protection Agency to: (1) carry firearms; (2) execute and serve warrants; and (3) make arrests without a warrant for any offense against the United States committed in such officer's presence or any felony offense against the United States if such officer has probable cause to believe that the person to be arrested has committed or is committing such felony offense.
United States · United States Congress · 8 June 1988
Choices in Child Care Act of 1988 - Title I: Tax Credit for Families with Young Children - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow an individual a refundable income tax credit for each dependent under age six who resides in the household. Sets a maximum credit of $400 per qualified dependent child. Reduces the credit for taxpayers whose adjusted gross income exceeds $20,000. Disallows the credit with respect to a dependent claimed under the dependent care income tax credit. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to prescribe tables to be used to determine the credit amount. Provides for advance credit payments by employers to employees who provide certification of eligibility. Requires taxpayers to file information returns to reflect such payments. Revises the dependent care credit to: (1) disqualify children six years old or older from credit determinations (current law permits the credit with respect to dependents up to age 15); and (2) disallow the credit to taxpayers whose adjusted gross income exceeds $30,000. Permits businesses a ten percent investment tax credit in connection with certain depreciable property used as part of a child care facility operated by the employer on or near the work site for the care of enrollees, at least 30 percent of whom must be dependents of the employer's employees. Provides for recapture of the credit amount if the facility ceases to be a qualified child care property. Limits to $200,000 the annual qualified investment subject to the credit. Sets reduced self-employment tax rates in connection with income earned from child care services in either a family-based (at the home of the taxpayer) or in-home (at the home of the recipient child) child care facility. Amends the Social Security Act to reflect this provision. Excludes income earned from child care services from wage withholding requirements and from the surtax imposed for failure to pay estimated income tax. Title II: Supplemental Child Care Assistance for Low-Income Working Parents - Authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make grants to the States to provide certificates to eligible individuals for child care services. Sets out eligibility criteria, including a requirement that a State submit a plan detailing its program for child care services for low-income children under 14 to enable family members to work or to participate in employment training programs. Prescribes the process for review of applications, reimbursement procedures, and reporting requirements in connection with the program. Authorizes appropriations. Title III: Block Grants to States for Activities Relating to Dependent Care Services - Amends the State Dependent Care Development Grants Act to increase the FY 1989 amount authorized for grants to States for dependent care services and to authorize FY 1990 through 1993 appropriations. Restructures the block grants program for dependent care services, enumerating a wide range of permissible uses for allotments paid to States under the program. Includes such activities as loans to establish child care services to school-age children before or after school, training programs for child care providers, scholarships to low-income individuals for child care training, activities designed to make liability insurance more available and affordable for care providers, and projects to meet the care needs of special populations. Decreases the permissible Federal share of the cost of projects under the program. Revises reporting requirements in connection with the program to require State reporting. Applies nondiscrimination provisions to the program, but permits the refusal of a fund recipient to provide services to a child on the basis of handicap under limited circumstances when other care is reasonably available. Title IV: Miscellaneous - Directs the Secretary of Labor to study and report to specified congressional committees concerning barriers to employer provision of child care services for their employees. Repeals the Child Development Associate Scholarship Assistance Act of 1985 (a grant program providing scholarships to low-income candidates for the Child Development Associate credential).
United States · United States Congress · 8 June 1988
Homeless Family Relief Incentive Act of 1988 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to permit an income tax deduction in connection with the charitable contribution of a leasehold interest in a dwelling that the recipient organization will use to house a homeless family for one year or less. Prescribes administrative details relating to the property and its valuation.
United States · United States Congress · 8 June 1988
Targeted Relief Disclosure Resolution of 1988 - Amends rule X of the Rules of the House of Representatives to require each report accompanying each bill or joint resolution of a public character reported by the Committee on Ways and Means to identify: (1) each provision which is intended to provide special benefits with respect to five or fewer taxpayers, transactions, events, items of property, projects, or issuances of bonds; (2) each beneficiary of such provision; (3) the Member of Congress who sponsored the inclusion of each such beneficiary; and (4) an estimate by the Joint Committee on Taxation of the loss in revenues resulting from such provision with respect to each such beneficiary for the fiscal year for which such loss in revenues first occurs and each of the five fiscal years thereafter.
United States · United States Congress · 2 June 1988
Urges the Government of Iran to uphold the human rights of all its nationals, including members of the Baha'i faith, and to restore fully the rights guaranteed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Calls upon the President to: (1) monitor and report on developments affecting the Baha'i minority in Iran and in other countries; (2) cooperate with other governments in continuing to make appeals to Iran concerning the situation of the Baha'is; (3) initiate and support efforts in the United Nations and its agencies on behalf of the Baha'is; and (4) provide, and urge others to provide, for refugee and humanitarian assistance for those Baha'is fleeing their homelands to escape religious repression.
United States · United States Congress · 26 May 1988
Homeownership Assistance Act of 1988 - Amends the National Housing Act to create a special mortgage insurance program for first-time homebuyers. Authorizes insurance for up to 97 percent of the home's value. Authorizes the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) to insure a mortgage loan of up to 97 percent of appraised value for the first $50,000 (currently $25,000) of a home's value. Repeals the current dollar cap on FHA insured mortgages in high cost areas. Authorizes FHA to insure adjustable rate mortgages with annual interest rate increases of up to two percent (currently one percent). Repeals the aggregate annual limit on such insured loans. Defines "first-time homebuyer" as an individual who or whose spouse has not owned a principal residence during the 18 months prior to an FHA insured home purchase. Authorizes an FHA demonstration program to insure mortgages for first-time homebuyer downpayments where the purchase is primarily financed or assisted by tax-exempt or other government assistance. Limits the downpayment loan to $7,500. Requires participants to receive financial counseling. Sets a maximum ten year loan maturity period. Amends the Federal National Mortgage Association Charter Act to authorize the Government National Mortgage Association to create a secondary market for first-time homebuyer downpayment loans. Authorizes an FHA demonstration program to insure 100 percent of a home's value for a first-time homebuyer provided that the donwnpayment will be paid within three years by an additional monthly payment. Requires participants to receive financial counseling. Amends the Deficit Reduction Act of 1984 to empower the Internal Revenue Service to confiscate defaulting taxpayers' tax refunds. Requires the Secretary to submit program reports to the Congress within one year of enactment of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 25 May 1988
Manassas National Battlefield Park Amendments of 1988 - Provides for the acquisition of additional lands for the Manassas National Battlefield Park in Virginia. Requires the Secretary of the Interior to cooperate with the Commonwealth of Virginia to promote the scenic preservation of views from within the park. Authorizes appropriations for the construction of a highway in the vicinity of the park. Limits to 50 percent the Federal share of the cost of construction of such highway.
United States · United States Congress · 25 May 1988
Social Security Work Incentives Act of 1988 - Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) of the Social Security Act to reduce monthly disability benefits by 50 percent of a beneficiary's monthly earnings in excess of $85. Limits the total amount by which an individual's OASDI disability benefits may be reduced if such individual is also eligible for benefits provided under title XVI (Supplemental Security Income) (SSI) of the Act to individuals who perform substantial gainful activity despite severe medical impairment. Prohibits deductions from disability-based child insurance benefits for the recovery of prior overpayments resulting from a failure to reduce such benefits on the basis of earnings. Extends to current OASDI disability beneficiaries the rule preventing reductions in the primary insurance amount for prior recipients. Continues an individual's entitlement to disability benefits while such individual is under disabled and working status, meaning that such individual is earning enough to be considered engaged in substantial gainful activity, but would otherwise continue to satisfy eligibility requirements. Sets a four-year limit on the Medicare hospital insurance eligibility (under part A of title XVIII of the Act) of individuals who owe their eligibility to their disabled and working status under the OASDI program. Amends the Medicare program to authorize such individuals to enroll for hospital insurance benefits upon the termination of such four-year limit. Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Act to cover Medicare cost-sharing amounts for individuals of disabled and working status who are entitled to enroll for Medicare hospital insurance benefits and whose income and resources do not exceed 300 percent of the Federal poverty level and the SSI resource eligibility limit, respectively. Requires States to collect a coinsurance percentage from such individuals pursuant to a sliding scale which increases such percentage from 0 to 100 percent in reasonable increments as incomes move from 150 to 300 percent of the Federal poverty level. Extends to all recipients of disability-based child's insurance benefits the rule permitting continued entitlement to Medicaid benefits of individuals who would remain eligible for SSI benefits but for their receipt of such child's insurance benefits.
United States · United States Congress · 19 May 1988
Declares it to be the policy of the United States that employers should give reasonable advance notice to employees affected by major employment reductions. Directs the Secretary of Labor (the Secretary) to encourage: (1) employers to comply with such policy, both directly and by communications with trade associations and other employer organizations; and (2) employer organizations to develop codes of ethics or other mechanisms to publicize and promote such policy among their members. Directs the Secretary to: (1) collect data on the extent to which businesses give or do not give advance notice of major employment reductions, as well as on the circumstances surrounding such reductions; and (2) compile such data and, on request, make it available to the Congress. Authorizes the Secretary to: (1) investigate flagrant instances in which such reductions occur without advance notice; and (2) publicize the facts and circumstances surrounding such instances. Directs the Secretary to make recommendations to deter such occurrences. Requires each government contractor who is required to file a written affirmative action compliance program (pursuant to regulations issued under a specified Executive Order) to specify as an appendix to such program the minimum period of advance notice, and any exceptions thereto, that the contractor will give of major employment reductions. Provides that the substance of such appendix shall not be subject to review or approval by the Secretary or the contracting agency. Provides that nothing in this Act shall be considered to require any advance notice that would interfere with an employer's ability to raise financing necessary to prevent major employment reductions or otherwise impede the continuance of operations.
United States · United States Congress · 19 May 1988
Nuclear Decommissioning Reserve Fund Act of 1988 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) decrease from 34 percent to 15 percent the rate of the tax imposed on the income of any Nuclear Decommissioning Reserve Fund; and (2) remove restrictions on permitted investments of Fund monies.