United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Military Survivors Equity Act of 1997 - Repeals the social security offset applicable to certain annuities paid to surviving spouses under the Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) for retired members of the armed forces, to the extent that such offset is due to integration with social security benefits when the surviving spouse reaches 62 years of age. Repeals the required reduction in such annuity when such person reaches age 62. Directs the Secretary of Defense to recompute the existing annuities of certain individuals under the SBP to reflect the changes made by this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Directs the Commissioner of Social Security to improve the social security card for purposes of carrying out illegal alien employment provisions under the Immigration and Nationality Act. Amends Federal law to provide criminal penalties for fraud and related activities concerning work authorization documents.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Lending Enhancement Through Necessary Due Process Act - Amends the Federal Deposit Insurance Act to make the following affirmative defenses available to a director, officer, or institution-affiliated party of an insured depository institution facing a civil action before a Federal court or banking agency: (1) business judgment; (2) regulatory approval; and (3) unforeseeable economic conditions. Sets forth a minimum standard for the order of production of personal financial information by a regulatory agency or court. Declares the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure applicable to Federal banking regulatory agencies with respect to prejudgment attachment of assets. Prohibits the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation from bringing a civil action under State law against an officer or director of an insured depository institution for monetary damages for losses due to a disregard of a duty of care unless the State standard for such duty is as great or greater than the Federal standard.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Credit Opportunity Amendments Act of 1997 - Amends the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977 to repeal the requirement that the appropriate Federal financial supervisory agency take an institution's record of meeting it's entire community's credit needs into its evaluation of such institution's deposit facility application. Requires each financial institution to prepare a public description of its lending and related programs designed to enhance the availability of community credit, including low- and moderate-income neighborhoods. Amends the Consumer Credit Protection Act and the Fair Housing Act to prohibit: (1) creditor discrimination on the basis of the racial or ethnic characteristics of the applicant's surrounding neighborhood; (2) the Attorney General from initiating a civil enforcement action pursuant to the Consumer Credit Protection Act except upon referral; and (3) the use of statistical data indicating a disparate impact on various classes of applicants of a creditor's credit decisions as evidence of violations of such Act(s) unless accompanied by additional evidence demonstrating actual discrimination and intent to discriminate.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Natural Disaster Insurance Title II: Multihazard Mitigation Program Natural Disaster Protection and Insurance Act of 1997 - Title I: Natural Disaster Insurance - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury (the Secretary) to establish within the Department of the Treasury a National Commission on Catastrophe Risk and Insurance Loss Costs to estimate loss costs from catastrophic natural disasters. Instructs the Commission to: (1) make an initial estimate of catastrophe loss costs (updated at least every three years); (2) file catastrophe loss costs estimates at least every three years; (3) conduct special studies of catastrophe insurance issues in order to develop estimates of catastrophe loss costs, including the investigation of specified issues according to certain procedural guidelines. (Sec. 101) Permits a private insurer to elect to cite the Commission's final catastrophe loss cost estimates in its rate filings to a State department of insurance. Instructs the Secretary to consider catastrophe loss cost estimates when developing reserve prices for Federal excess-of-loss reinsurance contracts. Requires State insurance pools that provide direct insurance, in order to be eligible to purchase Federal excess-of-loss reinsurance contracts, to consider, when developing property coverage rates, such estimates as the minimum loss costs to be filed with State department of insurance. Prescribes guidelines under which the Commission may review and certify private commercial natural disaster hazard models intended to be used to make estimates of catastrophe loss costs. Authorizes appropriations. Expresses the intent of the Congress that: (1) this Act relates specifically to the business of insurance; and (2) specified activities prescribed by this Act and applicable to such business shall be regulated by State law. (Sec. 102) Directs the Secretary to implement a program to auction Federal excess-of-loss reinsurance contracts to eligible purchasers in order to increase the capacity of insurance coverage against specified catastrophic natural disasters. Establishes the Federal Excess-of-Loss Reinsurance Fund within the Treasury to make payments on claims and for: (1) the operation of the National Commission on Catastrophe Risk and Insurance Loss Costs; (2) the anticipated Federal contribution to the Natural Disaster Hazard Mitigation Fund (established by this Act); and (3) administrative expenses. (Sec. 103) Prescribes eligibility qualifications for a licensed private corporation providing excess reinsurance for catastrophic natural disasters, which shall not be subject to antitrust liability. (Sec. 104) Directs the Comptroller General to conduct a joint study with the Secretary of the Treasury and the Secretary of Commerce evaluating specified public policy issues associated with conferring favorable Federal tax treatment to insurance reserves set aside by private insurers for future catastrophic natural disasters. (Sec. 105) Requires the Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to enter into an arrangement with the National Academy of Sciences to study and report to the Congress on the national flood insurance program operated under the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968. (Sec. 106) Requires each State department of insurance to take into account natural disaster hazard mitigation measures in setting rates and deductibles for property insurance. (Sec. 107) Requires the FEMA Director and the Secretaries of Treasury and of Commerce to study jointly, evaluate, and report to the Congress on the availability and affordability of catastrophe insurance for natural hazards to private enterprises and State and local governments. Title II: Multihazard Mitigation Program - Prescribes guidelines and a deadline for the development of State-wide strategic mitigation plans to reduce the hazards of future natural disasters. Denies non-compliant States eligibility to receive funds from the Natural Disaster Hazard Mitigation Fund. (Sec. 202) Establishes the Natural Disaster Hazard Mitigation Fund. (Sec. 203) Directs the Comptroller General to identify all Federal programs providing assistance for public facilities and lifelines, and determine those which include or could include as an eligible use of Federal assistance the retrofitting or strengthening of public facilities and lifelines to minimize damage from future natural disasters. (Sec. 204) Directs the Secretaries of Agriculture and of the Interior to enter into an agreement with the interagency National Wildfire Coordinating Group to study and report to the Congress on the threat posed by wildfires. (Sec. 205) Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Community Reinvestment Improvement Act of 1997 - Amends the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977 to set forth a modified evaluation procedure for certain mid-sized financial institutions which meet specified criteria. Requires the appropriate financial institutions supervisory agency to: (1) conduct a compliance evaluation in connection with its examination of such institutions or every two years, whichever is more frequent; and (2) provide public notice of such evaluation upon its commencement. Disqualifies from this Act's modified evaluation procedure for a ten-year period any institution that has intentionally submitted false information or willfully violated the requirements of this Act. Exempts from the evaluation requirements of this Act certain small-sized regulated financial institutions. Cites criteria under which a regulated financial institution's application for a deposit facility shall not be denied on the basis of its compliance with this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Florida Wetlands Mitigation Banking Study Act of 1997 - Directs the Secretary of the Army to study and report to specified congressional committees and the President on the potential and problems of mitigation banking in Florida.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Prohibits the Secretary of the Interior from permitting oil and gas development activities in specified parts of the Eastern Gulf of Mexico Planning Area, the Straits of Florida Planning Area, and the South Atlantic Planning Area, unless: (1) certain environmental studies and assessments have been completed; and (2) the Secretary has certified to the Congress that specified environmental information has been obtained which adequately enables the Secretary to implement Federal stewardship of the environment with a minimal level of uncertainty. Prohibits the Secretary from conducting any: (1) oil or gas development activity under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act in a specified part of the Eastern Gulf of Mexico Planning Area; or (2) preleasing activity or lease sale in such Planning Areas for a specified period. Mandates specified assessments and studies of the Areas addressed by this Act. Establishes the Joint Federal-State Outer Continental Shelf Task Force to request additional studies and surveys as needed to minimize the uncertainty about the effects of preleasing, leasing, and exploration activities. Subjects the first exploration plan submitted after the date of enactment of this Act to the requirements of detailed environmental impact statements. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Uniformed Services Medicare Subvention Demonstration Project Act - Directs the Secretaries of Defense and Health and Human Services (HHS) to jointly establish a demonstration project to provide the Department of Defense (DOD) with reimbursement, under provisions of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act, for health services provided to Medicare-eligible covered military beneficiaries who participate in the project and receive such services through the managed care option of the TRICARE program (a DOD managed health care program). Requires the project to be conducted during the three-year period beginning on January 1, 1998, in no more than five geographic regions designated by the Secretaries. Makes project enrollment voluntary. Requires the Secretary of Defense to waive the TRICARE enrollment fee for project participants for whom Medicare reimbursement may be made. Requires inclusion in the project of a provision for expansion to incorporate health care services provided to such beneficiaries under the fee-for-services options of the TRICARE program if the Secretaries determine that such expansion is feasible and advisable. Directs the HHS Secretary to make monthly payments to DOD from the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund and the Federal Supplementary Medical Insurance Trust Fund representing appropriate reimbursement amounts. Provides for the determination of such amounts. Directs the Secretary of Defense to: (1) maintain the DOD health care efforts for Medicare-eligible covered military beneficiaries; (2) estimate the amount expended by DOD for FY 1997 for providing health care items and services to such beneficiaries; and (3) establish monthly targets for the number of such beneficiaries enrolled in the project necessary to meet DOD maintenance of health care efforts for such individuals. Limits to $65 million the annual payments to DOD for the project. Requires the Comptroller General, for each project year, to submit to the Secretaries and the Congress a report on the extent to which costs under the TRICARE program and the Medicare program have increased as a result of the project. Directs the Secretaries to modify the project at the end of each year to correct for any discrepancy between cost targets and actual spending under the project. Directs the Secretaries to submit to the Congress an interim and final report on various project aspects.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Permits certain veterans with service-connected disabilities who are retired members of the uniformed services to receive compensation concurrently with retired pay, without deduction from either.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow penalty-free (and exclude from income if repaid) distributions from an individual retirement account (IRA) for first home purchases, higher education expenses, qualified long-term care expenses, and qualified unemployment distributions. Increases deductible IRA contribution amounts, and provides for inflation indexing. Eliminates the phase-out for individuals who are not active participants in defined contribution plans, and increases applicable dollar amounts for taxpayers other than those married filing separately. Increases 401(k) plan contribution limits. Establishes an alternative method for satisfying nondiscrimination requirements. Excludes inherited IRAs and certain 401(k) plans from a decedent's gross estate. Allows a designated beneficiary of an inherited IRA to hold such IRA free of immediate distribution provisions. Allows inherited 401(k) amounts as nondeductible contributions to a beneficiary's IRA, and excludes such amounts from income if so contributed.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Integrity in Voter Registration Act of 1997 - Amends the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to require applicants registering to vote in Federal elections to provide their social security numbers. Authorizes a State to remove a registrant's name from the official list of eligible voters for such elections on the grounds of changed residence if the registrant has not: (1) voted in an election during the period beginning on the day after the date of the second previous general Federal election held prior to being sent a specified notice; (2) voted in any of the first two general Federal elections after being sent a notice; and (3) responded to such notices.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Presidential Debate Reform Act - Amends the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to establish a Presidential Debate Commission one year before each general election for the offices of President and Vice President beginning with the general election in 2000. Directs the Commission to establish: (1) one preliminary debate; (2) not fewer than one nor more than two vice presidential debates; and (3) not fewer than two nor more than four presidential debates. Authorizes appropriations. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to reduce the amount of Federal payments for a party's nominating convention for the following general election if the party's nominee for President or Vice President does not certify to the Presidential Debate Commission that the nominee will participate in all applicable Commission debates (other than a preliminary debate).
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Citizenship Reform Act of 1997 - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to deny citizenship at birth to children born in the United States to parents who are not U.S. citizens or permanent resident aliens.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Capital Gains Tax Reduction Act of 1997 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to reduce the maximum capital gains tax rates for both individuals and corporations. Provides for the indexing of assets for determining gain or loss.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Strengthening the Federal Juvenile Justice System Title II: Armed Violent Youth Apprehension Directive Title III: Accountability for Juvenile Offenders and Public Protection Incentive Grants Juvenile Crime Control Act of 1997 - Title I: Strengthening the Federal Juvenile Justice System - Revises provisions of the Federal criminal code regarding delinquency proceedings in district courts and transfer for criminal prosecution to require that a juvenile alleged to have committed an offense against the United States or an act of juvenile delinquency be surrendered to State authorities or be proceeded against in Federal court as a juvenile or tried as an adult, with exceptions. Repeals the prohibition against proceeding against a juvenile in Federal court unless the Attorney General certifies that the State does not have available programs and services adequate for the needs of juveniles or the offense charged is a felony crime of violence or a specified drug offense. Requires that a juvenile be prosecuted as an adult if the juvenile: (1) has requested in writing upon advice of counsel to be prosecuted as an adult; or (2) is alleged to have committed an act after attaining age 14 (current law refers to a juvenile 15 years and older alleged to have committed the act after his fifteenth birthday) which if committed by an adult would be a serious violent felony or a specified drug offense. Makes this provision inapplicable if the Attorney General certifies to the appropriate U.S. district court that the interests of public safety are best served by proceeding against the juvenile as a juvenile. Makes certain determinations to approve or not to approve, or to institute or not to institute, a prosecution of a juvenile as an adult non-reviewable in any court. Permits the juvenile in such prosecutions to be prosecuted and convicted as an adult for any other offense which is properly joined under the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, and to be convicted of a lesser included offense. (Sec. 102) Requires: (1) an arresting officer to promptly take reasonable steps to notify the parents, guardian, or custodian of a juvenile taken into custody (current law requires immediate notification of such parties and the Attorney General); and (2) the juvenile to be taken before a judicial officer without unreasonable delay (current law prohibits a juvenile from being detained for longer than a reasonable period before being brought before a magistrate). (Sec. 104) Replaces a requirement that detention be in a foster home or community based facility located in or near the juvenile's home community with a preference given to a place located within, or within a reasonable distance of, the district in which the juvenile is being prosecuted. Requires that every juvenile detained prior to sentencing be provided with reasonable safety and security. (Sec. 105) Requires that a juvenile proceeded against for allegedly committing an offense against the United States or an act of juvenile delinquency be brought to trial within 45 days from the date such detention began or the information be dismissed on motion of the alleged delinquent or at the court's direction, with exceptions. (Sec. 106) Modifies requirements regarding dispositional hearings. Directs the court, if it finds such juvenile to be a juvenile delinquent, to hold a hearing concerning the appropriate disposition of the juvenile within 40 (currently, 20) court days, unless the court has ordered further study. Requires that a predisposition report be prepared by the probation officer who shall promptly provide a copy to the juvenile, the juvenile's counsel, and the attorney for the Government. Specifies that victim impact information shall be included in the report and victims, or (as appropriate) their official representatives, shall be provided the opportunity to make a statement to the court in person or present any information in relation to the disposition. Directs the court, after the dispositional hearing, to impose an appropriate sanction, including the ordering of restitution. Limits the term for which: (1) probation may be ordered for a juvenile found to be a juvenile delinquent to five years for a felony or a misdemeanor, and one year for an infraction; (2) official detention may be ordered for such juvenile to the lesser of the maximum term of imprisonment that would be authorized if the juvenile had been tried and convicted as an adult, ten years, or the date when the juvenile becomes 26 years old; and (3) supervised release may be ordered for such juvenile to five years. Directs the United States Sentencing Commission to develop a list of possible sanctions for juveniles adjudicated delinquent, which shall be comprehensive and encompass punishments of varying levels of severity, including mandatory confinement for juveniles who have been adjudicated delinquent in Federal or State court on more than two occasions. (Sec. 107) Modifies provisions regarding juvenile records. Requires the court to keep a record relating to the arrest and adjudication of a juvenile alleged to have committed an offense against the United States or an act of juvenile delinquency throughout and upon completion of the juvenile delinquency proceeding that is equivalent to the record that would be kept of an adult arrest and conviction for such an offense and retained for a period equal to that for which adult conviction records are kept. Directs that such records be made available for official purposes. Requires the Attorney General to establish guidelines for fingerprinting and photographing a juvenile who is the subject of any such proceeding. Directs that fingerprints and photographs of a juvenile who is prosecuted as an adult be made available in the manner applicable to adult offenders. Sets forth provisions regarding the reporting, retention, disclosure, or availability of records or information where such activities are authorized or required in the law of the State in which a Federal juvenile delinquency proceeding takes place. (Sec. 108) Modifies provisions regarding commitment of a juvenile to prohibit the Attorney General from causing any such juvenile under age 19 adjudicated delinquent to be placed or retained in an adult jail or correctional facility in which the juvenile has regular contact with adults incarcerated because they have been convicted of a crime or are awaiting trial on criminal charges (as under current law), except for placement in a community-based facility. Directs that every adjudicated delinquent who has been committed be provided with reasonable safety and security. (Sec. 110) Makes any act of juvenile delinquency that if committed by an adult would be a serious drug offense a predicate offense under the Armed Career Criminal Act. Title II: Armed Violent Youth Apprehension Directive - Directs the Attorney General to establish an armed violent youth apprehension program under which: (1) each U.S. attorney shall designate at least one assistant U.S. attorney to prosecuted armed violent youth and establish an armed youth criminal apprehension task force; (2) at least bimonthly, the Attorney General shall require each U.S. attorney to report to the Department of Justice the number of youths charged with, or convicted of, violating specified Federal firearms-related prohibitions, in the district for which the U.S. attorney is appointed and the number of youths referred to a State for prosecution for similar offenses; and (3) at least biannually, the Attorney General shall submit to the Congress a compilation of such information and a report of all waivers granted. Sets forth waiver authority and sunset provisions. Title III: Accountability for Juvenile Offenders and Public Protection Incentive Grants - Amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to replace provisions regarding grants to develop alternative methods of punishment for young offenders with provisions authorizing grants for purposes of building, expanding, or operating temporary or permanent juvenile correction or detention facilities or for developing and administering accountability-based sanctions for juvenile offenders. Sets forth eligibility requirements, including that a State have in effect laws, policies, or programs which authorize prosecution as an adult of a juvenile who commits an act after attaining age 14 that would be a serious violent crime if committed by an adult, establish graduated sanctions for juvenile offenders, and meet specified recordkeeping requirements. (Sec. 303) Authorizes appropriations under such Act for FY 1998 through 2000.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Working Families Flexibility Act of 1997 - Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA) to provide for compensatory time for all employees. Allows an employee to receive, in lieu of monetary overtime compensation, compensatory time off at a rate not less than one and one-half hours for each hour of employment for which overtime compensation is required under the Act. Allows an employer to provide such compensatory time only: (1) pursuant to a collective bargaining agreement with employee representatives, or, where there is no recognized labor organization, pursuant to an agreement with the employee if such agreement was entered into knowingly and voluntarily; (2) if a private employee has affirmed, in a verifiable statement, the choice of receiving compensatory time in lieu of overtime pay; and (3) if the employee has not accrued compensatory time in excess of applicable limits. Sets forth special rules relating to public employees. Prohibits employer coercion of employees for the purpose of: (1) interfering with their right to choose whether to request compensatory time off in lieu of overtime pay; or (2) requiring them to use compensatory time. Limits to not more than 240 hours the amount of compensatory time an employee may accrue. Requires payment of compensation at the prescribed regular rate for: (1) compensatory time accrued but not used in a calendar year or other designated 12-month period; and (2) unused compensatory time upon termination of employment. Allows an employer to provide monetary compensation at any time after giving the employee at least 30 days notice, at the prescribed regular rate, for an employee's unused compensatory time in excess of 80 hours. Allows an employee to request in writing that monetary compensation be provided at the prescribed regular rate, at any time, for all compensatory time accrued and not yet used. Requires employers to permit employees to use compensatory time within a reasonable period after employees request its use, if such use does not unduly disrupt employers' operations. Makes private employers who violate specified provisions of this Act liable to the employee affected in the amount of the rate of compensation for each hour of compensatory time accrued by the employee, and in an additional equal amount as liquidated damages reduced by the amount of such rate of compensation for each hour of compensatory time used by such employee.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Medicare Preventive Benefit Improvement Act of 1997 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide for expanded coverage of preventive benefits under part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) of the Medicare program. Makes all women over age 49 eligible for annual screening mammography benefit coverage. Waives the deductible co-payment on such benefit. Makes women of childbearing age (if they have not had a negative result in such a test in each of the preceding three years), or at high risk of developing cervical cancer, eligible for yearly pap smears, by suspending in their cases a specified three-year frequency limitation on benefit coverage for screening pap smears. Makes such women eligible also for yearly screening pelvic exams, including a clinical breast exam. Makes other women eligible for triennial screening pelvic exams. Waives the deductible co-payment for such exams. Adds coverage of screening procedures, with specified payment and frequency limitations, for early detection of colorectal cancer, including fecal occult blood test, flexible sigmoidoscopy, and colonoscopy for high risk individuals, as well as a barium enema if the Secretary of Health and Human Services finds that to be an appropriate alternative to a sigmoidoscopy or a colonoscopy. Directs the Secretary to make a decision within two years about covering screening barium enemas as such an alternative. Adds biennial coverage of certain prostate cancer screening procedures for men over 50 years of age, including a digital rectal examination and a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) blood test. Adds coverage of the following diabetes screening benefits: (1) diabetes outpatient self-management training services; and (2) blood-testing strips (with payment based on inexpensive, routinely purchased durable medical equipment). Directs the Secretary to: (1) establish outcome measures to evaluate improvement of the health of Medicare beneficiaries with diabetes mellitus; and (2) submit recommendations to the Congress regarding modifications to the Medicare coverage of services for such beneficiaries.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
National Right-to-Work Act - Amends the National Labor Relations Act and the Railway Labor Act to repeal those provisions that permit employers, pursuant to a collective bargaining agreement (union security agreement), to require employees to join a union as a condition of employment (including provisions permitting railroad carriers to require, pursuant to such an agreement, payroll deduction of union dues or fees as a condition of employment).
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Truth in Budgeting Act - Prohibits (subject to the Line Item Veto Act of 1996) the receipts and disbursements of the Highway Trust Fund, the Airport and Airway Trust Fund, the Inland Waterways Trust Fund, and the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund from being counted as new budget authority, outlays, receipts, or deficit or surplus for purposes of the Federal budget as submitted by the President, the congressional budget, or the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act). Exempts such trust funds from any general statutory budget outlays limitation. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to limit the amount of interest that may be credited to such trust funds. Amends Federal transportation law to require the Secretary of Transportation to estimate annually: (1) what, but for this Act, would be at the close of the next fiscal year the amount of unfunded aviation authorizations; and (2) the net aviation receipts at the close of such year.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Health Care Commitment Act - Amends Federal provisions concerning the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Uniformed Services (CHAMPUS) to direct the Secretary of Defense to enter into an agreement with the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) under which a covered CHAMPUS beneficiary who is also entitled to hospital insurance benefits under Part A of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act will be permitted to enroll in a health benefits plan offered through the Federal Employees Health Benefits program in addition to receiving care through a military treatment facility, CHAMPUS, or the TRICARE program. Outlines provisions concerning: (1) required contributions for such coverage; and (2) the management of participants in the plan. Requires the administering Secretaries and the OPM Director to report annually to the Congress describing the provision of health care services to covered beneficiaries under the plan during the preceding fiscal year. Requires the Secretary of Defense to begin to offer the health benefits option described under this Act no later than January 1, 1998.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Military Retirement Equity Act of 1997 - Permits retired members of the armed forces to be paid retirement pay concurrently with compensation for any service-connected disability if the person's entitlement to such retirement pay is based solely on age, length of service, or both. Reduces the retirement pay of individuals receiving both types of pay by a specified percentage of the disability compensation which decreases as the disability rating increases. Prohibits any reduction in the retirement pay of a disabled person when the disability rating is total. Declares that, once the Federal budget deficit has been reduced, the Congress should reexamine and eliminate any offset of retired pay by a veteran's disability compensation.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Bill Emerson English Language Empowerment Act of 1997 - Amends Federal law to declare English to be the official language of the U.S. Government. States that representatives of the Federal Government have an affirmative obligation to preserve and enhance the role of English as the official language of the Federal Government. Requires such representatives to conduct official business in English. Prohibits anyone from being denied Government services because he or she communicates in English. Requires that all officials conduct all naturalization ceremonies entirely in English. Directs that nothing in this Act construed to limit the preservation or use of Native Alaskan or Native American languages. Sets forth definitions for purposes of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Medicare Diabetes Education and Supplies Amendments of 1997 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide for Medicare coverage of diabetes outpatient self-management training services and blood-testing strips for individuals with diabetes.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Medicare Patient Choice and Access Act of 1997 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to require health maintenance organizations and competitive medical plans, among other things, to: (1) assure Medicare enrollees timely access to in-network primary and specialty health care providers and, under certain conditions, out-of-network providers as well; (2) establish a grievance process for resolving grievances between them and their enrollees; and (3) provide each enrollee with an explanation of the enrollee's rights and a copy of the most recent consumer report card for the organization. Prohibits provider incentive plans that fail to meet specified criteria. Bans interference with certain medical communications. Applies the same requirements to Medicare select policies.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Amends Federal law to exclude the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund from the Federal and congressional budgets, and exempt it from any general budget limitation imposed by statute on U.S. budget outlays and from certain orders issued under the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act).
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Employee Educational Assistance Act of 1997 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) permanently extend the exclusion from gross income of employer-provided educational assistance; and (2) restore the exclusion for such assistance on the graduate level.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Self-Employed Health Affordability Act of 1997 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to increase the deduction allowed for health insurance costs for self-employed individuals from 30 to 100 percent.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Constitutional Amendment - Establishes a four-year term of office for Representatives, to coincide with the term of the President. Makes any person who has been elected for a full term: (1) two times to the Senate ineligible for election or appointment to the Senate; or (2) three times to the House ineligible for election or appointment to the House. Bars any person who has served as a: (1) Senator for more than three years of a term from being subsequently eligible for election to the Senate more than once; and (2) Representative for more than two years from being subsequently eligible for election to the House more than twice. Excludes election or service occurring before this article becomes operative when determining eligibility. Prohibits any Member of one House of the Congress (except in the final year of the Member's current term) from qualifying under State law as a candidate for the other House unless the Member has resigned from the House in which he or she currently serves. Applies this article to terms of office after the first day of the year immediately following the first presidential election after ratification of this article.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Constitutional Amendment - Makes any person who has been elected for a full term: (1) two times to the Senate ineligible for election or appointment to the Senate; or (2) six times to the House ineligible for election to the House. Bars any person who has served as a: (1) Senator for more than three years of a term to which some other person was elected from being subsequently eligible for election to the Senate more than once; and (2) Representative for more than one year from being subsequently eligible for election to the House more than five times. Excludes election or service occurring before this article becomes operative when determining eligibility.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Constitutional Amendment - Prohibits outlays for a fiscal year (except those for repayment of debt principal) from exceeding total receipts (except those derived from borrowing) for that fiscal year 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 each House by roll call vote before any bill to increase revenue may become law. Authorizes the Congress to waive these provisions when: (1) a declaration of war is in effect; or (2) the United States is engaged in a military conflict which poses a threat to national security as declared by a joint resolution adopted by a majority of each House. Makes this article effective beginning with FY 2002 or with the second fiscal year beginning after its ratification, whichever is later.
United States · United States Congress · 28 September 1996
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Ensuring Traveler Safety Title II: Tourism Promotion Title III: Facilitating Travel Title IV: Improvement of Visa Programs and Issuance Tourism Revitalization and Airport Security Act of 1996 - Title I: Ensuring Traveler Safety - Amends Federal aviation security law to direct the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to: (1) facilitate deployment of commercially available explosive detection devices which will significantly enhance aviation security; (2) require by regulation that an employment investigation be conducted for personnel who will be responsible for screening passengers or property (including a criminal history record check where such investigation reveals a gap in employment of 12 months or more for which the individual does not satisfactorily account); and (3) provide for the periodic audit of criminal history record checks. (Sec. 105) Urges the FAA, the Secretary of Transportation, and the intelligence and law enforcement community to continue to assist air carriers in developing computer-assisted passenger profiling programs. (Sec. 106) Authorizes the use of funds from project grants and passenger facility fees to enhance air transportation security programs. (Sec. 107) Directs the Administrator to review FAA oversight of: (1) mail and cargo inspections and the need or additional security measures; and (2) the adequacy of cargo screening and inspection. (Sec. 108) Instructs the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to assure that FBI agents shall jointly implement periodic threat and vulnerability security assessments with the FAA at high-risk airports. (Sec. 109) Requires the use of dogs as a supplemental screening procedure at major airports. Directs the Secretary of Transportation (the Secretary) to make grants for the training and evaluation of dogs for the explosive detection K-9 team training program. Authorizes appropriations from the Trust Fund. (Sec. 111) Instructs the Administrator to initiate a rulemaking to revise specified rules with respect to small airplanes to enhance their safety and security. (Sec. 112) Establishes the Civil Aviation Security Review Commission (the Commission) to conduct a comprehensive review of aviation security for a report to the Congress and the Administrator. (Sec. 113) Directs the Administrator to conduct a test to assess the performance of inelastic gamma ray imaging and spectroscopy (IGRIS) systems in the detection of explosive materials. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 114) Instructs the Secretary to study the efficacy of bomb blast containment technologies in aircraft luggage and cargo holds. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 115) Expresses the sense of the Congress that thorough studies of the bag match security system in air transportation need to be conducted before its implementation on a widespread basis. Title II: Tourism Promotion - Establishes: (1) the National Tourism Board to use a private-public partnership for travel and tourism policymaking and develop a national strategy for increasing travel and tourism in the United States; and (2) a federally-chartered National Tourism Organization as a non-Federal, non-profit organization to promote and implement the United States travel and tourism market, including establishment of a Travel-Tourism Data Bank. (Sec. 203) Instructs the Secretary of State and the Director of the United States Information Agency to cooperate with both the Board and the Organization. Title III: Facilitating Travel - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide that revenues from the following taxes shall not be transferred to either the Highway Trust Fund or the Airport and Airway Trust Fund: (1) the Leaking Underground Storage Tank Trust Fund financing rate; and (2) the excise tax on diesel and special motor fuels to the extent attributable to fuel used in a train. (Sec. 301) Declares that amounts payable from the Highway Trust Fund for certain repayments and credits shall be determined by taking into account only the portion of the taxes deposited into such Fund. Repeals the definitions of Highway Trust Fund financing rate and the Airport and Airway Trust Fund financing rate. Revises the formula for: (1) funding the Airport and Airways Trust Fund with amounts equivalent to specified excise taxes; and (2) rates of tax imposed upon fuel used in commercial transportation on inland waterways. (Sec. 302) Repeals a scheduled tax increase imposed upon commercial aviation fuel. (Sec. 303) Restores and makes retroactive: (1) the 100 percent deduction allowed for business meals and entertainment; and (2) the deduction for travel expenses of spouses and others accompanying the taxpayer on business. (Sec. 304) Allows a taxpayer engaged in a trade or business to deduct as a business expense any amounts incurred to promote tourism to the United States by a non-resident. (Sec. 305) Repeals the limitations placed upon tax deductions for expenses allocable to business conventions held on foreign-flagged cruise ships. (Sec. 306) Extends from January 1, 1997 to January 1, 2002, the air transportation tax upon persons and property. (Sec. 307) Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) the Secretary of Transportation should work to amend the 1952 bilateral agreement regarding airline accessibility to and from Japan; and (2) the new agreement should include increased access by U.S. based airlines. Title IV: Improvement of VISA Programs and Issuance - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to replace a joint action requirement for both the Attorney General and the Secretary of State with a mandate that the Attorney General act in consultation with the Secretary of State regarding the visa waiver pilot program for certain visitors. Extends such program from 1996 to 2002. Revises guidelines governing a pilot program country placed on probationary status. (Sec. 402) Directs the Secretary of State to increase by 25 percent the number of consular personnel assigned at specified posts in order to expedite the processing of nonimmigrant visa applications.
United States · United States Congress · 28 September 1996
Presidential Debate Reform Act - Amends the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to establish a Presidential Debate Commission one year before each general election for the offices of President and Vice President beginning with the general election held in 2000. Directs the Commission to establish: (1) one preliminary debate; (2) not more than two vice presidential debates; and (3) not less than two or more than four presidential debates. Authorizes appropriations to each Commission appointed such sums as may be necessary to carry out its activities with respect to the election involved. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to reduce the amount of Federal payments for a party's nominating convention for the following general election if the party's nominee for President or Vice President does not certify to the Presidential Debate Commission that the nominee will participate in all applicable Commission debates (other than a preliminary debate).
United States · United States Congress · 28 September 1996
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Statement of Congressional Purpose Title II: Binding Budget Law Title III: Enforcement of Budget Discipline Subtitle A: Supermajority Required to Break Budget Law Subtitle B: Line Item Reduction Subtitle C: "Blank Check" Appropriations Prohibited Subtitle D: "Pay-as-You-Go" Requirement for New Spending Subtitle E: "Lock-Box" for Savings From Spending Reductions Title IV: Sustaining Mechanism Title V: Protection of Social Security Title VI: Technical Amendments to Federal Law to Carry Out This Act Title VII: Definitions and Rules of Interpretation Budget Process Reform Act - Title I: Statement of Congressional Purpose - Expresses the sense of the Congress that the Federal budget process should focus the attention of policymakers and the public on the aggregate impact of Federal spending on the economy, and on the tradeoffs that must be made among priorities in order to control overall levels of spending. Declares that the budget process should contain safeguards against delay and inaction, so that temporary shut-downs of the Government may be avoided. Title II: Binding Budget Law - Requires the Congress to enact a binding budget law, in the form of a joint resolution, by April 15 of the calendar year before that in which the fiscal period commences. (Sec. 202) Makes it out of order in the House of Representatives or the Senate to consider any spending bill affecting spending in a major functional category unless and until a joint resolution on the budget is enacted. Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (CBA) to require a two-thirds majority vote in the House and the Senate to consider any spending bill prior to the enactment of the budget law. Repeals authority for consideration of spending bills prior to adoption of the budget resolution. (Sec. 203) Prohibits baseline budgeting. Requires objective year- to-year comparisons under budget law, with the starting point for both Presidential and congressional budgets the levels of budget outlays for the current fiscal year. (Sec. 204) Amends the CBA to establish a rainy day fund for natural disasters. Requires budget law to include a major functional category for natural disasters, under specified conditions. (Sec. 205) Amends Federal law relating to the contents of the President's annual budget submission to the Congress to require the President to submit: (1) a budget of the U.S. Government for the following fiscal period on a single page, which sets forth specific budget ceilings in each major functional category, by the first Monday in February of each year before that in which a fiscal period commences; and (2) a detailed budget for that fiscal period, on or before the 15th day after a joint resolution on the budget for the following budget period is enacted. Title III: Enforcement of Budget Discipline - Subtitle A: Supermajority Required to Break Budget Law - Amends CBA to require the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to provide to the Congress an estimate of the costs in each major functional category of each spending bill before being voted on by the Senate or the House. (Sec. 301) Requires a two-thirds affirmative vote in the House and the Senate to consider over-budget spending bills. (Sec. 302) Requires a two-thirds affirmative vote in the House and the Senate to waive any provision of this Act. Subtitle B: Limited Enhanced Rescission Authority - Amends the Impoundment Control Act of 1974 to authorize the President to exercise line-item reduction authority if the Congress exceeds the budget ceilings in the binding budget law or an automatic continuing resolution for a fiscal period. Declares that such authority shall permit the reduction of over-budget spending in a major functional category to the level established in the binding budget law or automatic continuing resolution. Sets forth procedures for congressional introductions of line-item bills after the President transmits a special message to rescind an item of budget authority. Prohibits amendments to such bills. Subtitle C: "Blank Check" Appropriations Prohibited - Declares the intent of the Congress to end open-ended, "blank check" appropriations which typically authorize spending "such sums as may be necessary." (Sec. 306) Amends CBA to require fixed-dollar appropriations for every account except Social Security and interest on the debt. Prohibits open-ended appropriations. (Sec. 307) Requires Executive agencies to adjust expenditures, including program eligibility requirements and benefit levels, to ensure that appropriations for entitlement programs are not exceeded. (Sec. 308) Restricts budget authority and entitlement authority to one fiscal period. Subtitle D: "Pay As You Go" Requirement for New Spending - Amends CBA to prohibit the Congress from considering any legislation which exceeds the budget ceiling unless it offsets such increased spending with an equal amount of reductions. Requires a two-thirds affirmative vote in the House or in the Senate to waive such prohibition. Sets forth special rules in the case of legislation that exceeds a budget ceiling for the natural disaster functional category. Repeals a CBA provision for an exemption in the House from pay-as- you-go rules. Subtitle E: "Lock-Box" for Savings From Spending Reductions - Amends CBA to: (1) establish "lock-box" procedures to ensure budget savings from House and Senate amendments to appropriations bills result in actual spending cuts; (2) require Congressional Budget Office (CBO) reports on such procedures; and (3) mandate reduction of spending allocations to House and Senate committees and subcommittees to meet "lock-box" levels. Title IV: Sustaining Mechanism - Makes appropriations to provide for an automatic continuing resolution if for any account an appropriation for a fiscal period does not become law before the beginning of such period. (Sec. 402) Provides for contingency regulations for automatic continuing resolutions. Grants each State the option of receiving an aggregate amount for the fiscal period for social safety net programs equal to the allocation to the State for such programs in the preceding fiscal period. (Sec. 403) Restricts consideration of legislation providing budget or spending authority to only that reported by the Committees on Appropriations. Makes such restriction inapplicable in the case of Social Security benefits. Title V: Protection of Social Security - Provides that nothing in this Act shall be construed to require or permit reductions in otherwise payable Social Security benefits. (Sec. 502) Provides that no reduction in benefits under title II of the Social Security Act (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) shall be made as a consequence of this Act. Title VI: Technical Amendments to Federal Law to Carry Out This Act - Makes various technical and conforming amendments, including changing references to a concurrent resolution on the budget to references to a joint resolution on the budget. Title VII: Definitions and Rules of Interpretation - Sets forth definitions for specified terms. Changes the definition of budget authority to exclude offsetting receipts.
United States · United States Congress · 28 September 1996
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow penalty-free (and exclude from income if repaid) distributions from an individual retirement account (IRA) for first home purchases, higher education expenses, qualified long-term care expenses, and qualified unemployment distributions. Increases deductible IRA contribution amounts, and provides for inflation indexing. Eliminates the phase-out for individuals who are not active participants in defined contribution plans, and increases applicable dollar amounts for taxpayers other than those married filing separately. Increases 401(k) plan contribution limits. Establishes an alternative method for satisfying nondiscrimination requirements. Excludes inherited IRAs and certain 401(k) plans from a decedent's gross estate. Allows a designated beneficiary of an inherited IRA to hold such IRA free of immediate distribution provisions. Allows inherited 401(k) amounts as nondeductible contributions to a beneficiary's IRA, and excludes such amounts from income if so contributed.
United States · United States Congress · 27 September 1996
United States Immigration Court Act of 1996 - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to establish the United States Immigration Court, which shall consist of trial and appellate divisions. Sets forth operational, administrative, and jurisdictional provisions. Revises asylum provisions.
United States · United States Congress · 26 September 1996
Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to authorize four-year nonimmigrant visitor visas for an alien who: (1) is at least 55 years old; (2) is a citizen of a (visa) pilot program country; (3) owns, or whose spouse owns, a U.S. residence; and (4) has health coverage. Prohibits such an alien from working in the United States or receiving public benefits.
United States · United States Congress · 26 September 1996
Integrity in Voter Registration Act of 1996 - Amends the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to require applicants registering to vote in elections for Federal office to provide their social security number. Authorizes a State to remove the name of a registrant from the official list of eligible voters in elections for Federal office on the grounds that the registrant has changed residence if the registrant has not: (1) voted in an election during the period beginning on the day after the date of the second previous general Federal election held prior to being sent a specified notice; (2) voted in any of the first two general Federal elections after being sent a notice; and (3) responded to such notices.
United States · United States Congress · 26 September 1996
Florida Wetlands Mitigation Banking Study Act of 1996 - Directs the Secretary of the Army to study and report to specified congressional committees and the President on the potential and problems of mitigation banking in Florida.
United States · United States Congress · 25 September 1996
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Financial Services Holding Company Act Subtitle A: General Provisions Subtitle B: Securities Activities of Financial Services Holding Companies Subtitle C: Insurance and Real Estate Development Activities of Financial Services Holding Companies Title II: Conforming Amendments to other Laws for Financial Services Holding Companies Title III: Functional Regulation Amendments to Securities Laws for Financial Services Holding Companies Subtitle A: Broker Dealer Provisions Subtitle B: Investment Company Provisions Title IV: Wholesale Financial Institutions Owned by Financial Services Holding Companies Title V: Merger of Bank and Thrift Charters, Regulators, and Insurance Funds Subtitle A: Conversion of Thrift Charters Subtitle B: Elimination of Office of Thrift Supervision Subtitle C: Merger of BIF and SAIF Title VI: National Market Funded Lending Institutions Title VII: Effective Date Depository Institution Affiliation and Thrift Charter Conversion Act - Includes among the purposes of this Act: (1) establishment of an alternative legislative framework for the creation and regulation of financial services holding companies; (2) elimination of prohibitions on common ownership and affiliation within a financial services holding company; (3) elimination of the thrift charter, and mandatory conversion of thrifts into banks; (4) merger of the bank and thrift insurance funds; and (5) creation of new State and Federal charters for uninsured wholesale financial institutions. Title I: Financial Services Holding Company Act - Financial Services Holding Company Act - Subtitle A: General Provisions - Requires any financial services holding company (FSHC) seeking to acquire control of an insured bank, an insured institution, a bank holding company, or another financial services holding company to comply with certain requirements of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (FDIA). (Sec. 104) Subjects FSHCs and certain foreign bank operations to the same restrictions on affiliate transactions that are imposed upon Federal Reserve member banks. Authorizes the appropriate Federal regulatory agency (the Comptroller of the Currency, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System Federal Reserve Board, the Board of Directors of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), or the Federal Home Loan Bank Board) to adopt rules and regulations to prevent an insured depository institution that is controlled by an FSHC from engaging in unsafe or unsound practices. Authorizes the appropriate Federal banking agency, with the concurrence of the national Financial Services Committee, to exempt any FSHC-controlled depository institution from any Federal Reserve Act requirement. Requires an FSHC-controlled depository institution (except certain foreign-controlled banks) to obtain the authorization of the National Financial Services Committee before entering into certain credit, indemnity, guarantee, or insurance activities on behalf of any affiliate that is neither a financial services institution nor primarily engaged in financial activities. (Sec. 105) Requires that each insured depository institution that is controlled by an FSHC be well capitalized. Requires any FSHC controlling an undercapitalized insured depository institution to: (1) enter into an agreement with the appropriate Federal regulatory agency to return the institution to being well capitalized; or (2) divest control of such bank or institution. Prohibits the appropriate Federal banking agency from imposing any requirements pertaining to the capitalization of an FSHC. (Sec. 106) Subjects interstate acquisitions of an insured bank by an FSHC to the same restrictions as are applicable to bank holding companies under the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956. (Sec. 107) Prohibits Federal and State regulatory agencies from enacting laws that discriminate against FSHCs or their affiliates. Preempts any Federal or State provision inconsistent with the purposes of this Act. (Sec. 108) Subjects FSHCs to the tying provisions of the Bank Holding Company Act Amendments of 1970 and to the insider lending prohibitions of the Federal Reserve Act. Subjects an FSHC and its nonbanking subsidiaries to certain limitations on tie-in arrangements imposed by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve Board upon bank holding companies and their nonbanking subsidiaries with respect to extending credit, leasing or selling property, providing any service, or fixing or varying the consideration for any such transaction. (Sec. 109) Sets forth reporting, examination and enforcement guidelines, including guidelines for divestiture and criminal penalties in the event the appropriate Federal banking agency determines that a depository institution has engaged in a continuing course of conduct involving its FSHC which may affect the safety and soundness of such institution. (Sec. 110) Provides for administrative (including divestiture), criminal, and civil penalties for specified violations of this Act, as well as judicial review of adverse administrative orders. (Sec. 114) Establishes a National Financial Services Committee to: (1) establish uniform principles and standards for the examination and supervision of financial services institutions and FSHCs; and (2) to recommend to the Congress uniformity in other supervisory matters, as well as additional measures to strengthen the separation of insured banks and institutions controlled by FSHCs from the activities of their affiliates. Prescribes notice procedure guidelines for determining new financial services institutions and new financial activities. Subtitle B: Securities Activities of Financial Services Holding Companies - Prescribes guidelines under which an FSHC with a securities affiliate may not permit a depository institution under its control to engage in underwriting securities (except those expressly authorized by Federal law as permissible for a national bank). (Sec. 122) Prohibits a depository institution with a securities affiliate, except in certain circumstances, from extending credit to the affiliate (or purchasing its financial assets), to enhance the marketability of securities underwritten by the securities affiliate. Prohibits an FSHC, with certain exceptions, from extending or arranging for the extension of credit secured by or for the purpose of purchasing a security (or making payments on principal) that is the subject of a distribution in which an affiliate of the FSHC participates as underwriter or member of a selling group. Prohibits an FSHC with a securities affiliate, with certain exceptions, from extending credit to an issuer of securities underwritten by such securities affiliate for the purpose of making payments on those securities. Requires the appropriate Federal banking agency to prescribe circumstances under which directors and senior executive officers of a securities affiliate may serve simultaneously as directors or senior executive officers of an affiliated depository institution. Exempts small FSHCs (with total assets under $500 million) and certain foreign affiliates from such regulations. Prescribes public disclosure requirements for securities affiliates and insured depository institutions. Prohibits a securities affiliate from underwriting securities secured by or representing an interest in mortgages or other obligations originated or purchased by an affiliated depository institution, unless one of four specified requirements is met. Proscribes certain reciprocal arrangements between FSHCs. Allocates Federal oversight responsibilities among the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the appropriate Federal banking agencies. Prescribes circumstances in which a branch, agency, or commercial lending company that is operated by a foreign bank that is a financial services holding company is not subject to specified limitations placed upon securities activities of depository institutions with securities affiliates. Exempts a wholesale financial institution and transactions between it and its securities affiliates, from the requirements of this section, except those providing for additional safeguards and certain compliance programs. Applies this same exemption to a national market lending institution controlled by an FSHC. States that Federal prescriptions governing the FSHCs are subject to the approval of the National Financial Services Committee (NFSC). (Sec. 123) States that the NFSC shall prescribe standards applicable to any FSHC affiliated-depository institution that is not an SEC-registered broker, but effects retail securities transactions. Outlines the scope of such standards. Subtitle C: Insurance and Real Estate Development Activities of Financial Services Holding Companies - Prohibits FSHC-affiliated depository institutions from directly engaging in insurance underwriting, or real estate investment or development. (Sec. 132) Prohibits FSHC entry into new insurance agency activities, unless they are conducted through an existing insurance agency acquired by the FSHC (or through any successor agency) which was actively engaged in insurance activities during the two years before acquisition. Title II: Conforming Amendments to Other Laws for Financial Services Holding Companies - Makes conforming amendments to affected banking laws to exclude FSHCs from their purview, including: (1) the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956; (2) the Banking Act of 1933; (3) the Federal Deposit Insurance Act; (4) the Federal Power Act; and (5) the International Banking Act. Title III: Functional Regulation Amendments to Securities Laws for Financial Services Holding Companies - Subtitle A: Broker Dealer Provisions - Amends the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to define specified banks as "brokers" and "dealers" (current law excludes banks from such definition). (Sec. 303) Authorizes the SEC to exempt any person from the definition of "broker" or "dealer" consistent with the public interest and the purposes of this Act. (Sec. 304) Exempts loans made by a member bank (or any other person that has entered into a certain kind of agreement with the Federal Reserve Board) to a broker or dealer from Board-prescribed margin requirements if the loan proceeds are to be used in the ordinary course of business (other than for the purpose of funding securities purchases for the account of such broker or dealer). Subtitle B: Investment Company Provisions - Amends the Investment Company Act of 1940 to permit: (1) custody of investment company assets by an affiliated bank (or an affiliated person of such bank); and (2) a unit investment trust to designate an affiliated bank as trustee (currently a prohibited practice). (Sec. 311) Permits the SEC to bring a civil action for breach of fiduciary duty involving personal misconduct against an FSHC- affiliated custodian of a registered investment company. (Sec. 312) States that an affiliate of an investment company for a bank must comply with SEC rules when lending money to an investment company. (Sec. 313) Modifies the definition of "interested person" with respect to an investment company to include any FSHC-affiliated person that, during the preceding six months, has executed one or more transactions of a specified kind. Prohibits a registered investment company from having a majority of its board of directors consisting of personnel or senior officers of any one FSHC-affiliated bank, or of any single FSHC (and its affiliates and subsidiaries). (Sec. 314) Modifies the guidelines pertaining to unlawful misrepresentation of guarantees and the deceptive use of names. (Sec. 315) Modifies the definition of "broker" to state that it does not include any person solely by reason of the fact that such person is an underwriter for one or more investment companies. (Sec. 316) Modifies the definition of "dealer" to exclude an insurance or an investment company. (Sec. 317) Amends the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 to modify the definitions of investment adviser to remove the exclusion from such definition of an investment adviser for banks that advise investment companies. Revises the definitions of broker and dealer. (Sec. 320) Mandates interagency consultation between the appropriate Federal banking agency and the SEC regarding examination results and other information pertaining to the investment advisory activities of any registered bank holding company and its departments or divisions. (Sec. 321) Amends the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to revise the exclusion from their purview of certain bank common trust funds to specify the exclusion of any interest or participation in any common trust fund or similar fund that is excluded from the definition of "investment company" under the Investment Company Act of 1940. Amends the Investment Company Act of 1940 to revise such exclusion guidelines for certain bank common trust funds. (Sec. 322) Amends the Investment Company Act of 1940 to prescribe circumstances under which an investment adviser holding shares of an investment company in a fiduciary capacity must transfer the power to vote such shares to the beneficial owners or to another fiduciary who is not an affiliate of such adviser. Title IV: Wholesale Financial Institutions Owned by Financial Services Holding Companies - Amends: (1) the Revised Statutes of the United States to prescribe procedural guidelines on obtaining a Federal charter from the Comptroller of the Currency to organize as a national wholesale financial institution; and (2) the Federal Reserve Act to prescribe procedural guidelines for membership in the Federal Reserve System as a national wholesale financial institution. (Sec. 403) Amends the FDIA to prescribe a procedure by which an insured State-chartered bank or a national bank may voluntarily terminate its status as an insured depository institution. Requires any such terminated bank to become a wholesale financial institution in order to accept any deposits. Title V: Merger of Bank and Thrift Charters, Regulators, and Insurance Funds - Subtitle A: Conversion of Thrift Charters - Thrift Charter Conversion Act of 1996 - Prescribes procedural guidelines for the termination of Federal savings association charters and their conversion into national bank charters or State depository institution charters. Prohibits the Director of the Office of Thrift Supervision from granting any charter for a Federal savings association. Amends the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (FDIA) to treat State Savings Associations as banks for purposes of Federal banking law. Includes as State banks any cooperative bank or other unincorporated bank whose deposits were insured by the FDIC on the day before enactment of the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989 but excludes from State bank treatment any such banks whose deposits were not FDIC-insured before such date. (Sec. 502) Requires the FDIC to review State supervision of depository institutions in order to ensure that State savings associations are regulated as rigorously as State banks. (Sec. 503) Amends the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956 (BHCA) to permit continuation of grandfathered bank holding company activities and affiliations. Prohibits certain insured depository institutions from identifying themselves as national banks, but shields them from any liability for fraudulent misrepresentation for not representing themselves as a national bank. (Sec. 504) Sets forth transition provisions for: (1) activities of savings associations and mutual savings associations which have converted into or become treated as banks; and (2) registration of bank holding companies resulting from conversions of savings associations to banks, or treatment of savings associations as banks. Places qualified bank holding companies under the regulatory jurisdiction of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (the Board). (Sec. 506) Amends the National Bank Act to prescribe procedural guidelines under which the Comptroller of the Currency is authorized to charter national mutual or State mutual banks. Amends the BHCA to prescribe procedural guidelines under which a national mutual bank may reorganize to become a holding company. Cites permissible activities. Provides for the conversion of mutual savings associations to mutual national banks by operation of law. Transfers regulatory jurisdiction over a mutual holding company to the Board. Subjects a Federal mutual holding company in existence on the date of enactment of this Act to certain BHCA provisions. (Sec. 509) Repeals the Home Owners' Loan Act. Subtitle B: Elimination of Office of the Thrift Supervision - Abolishes the Office of Thrift Supervision and the position of Director of such Office. Transfers its functions, personnel, and property to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the FDIC, or the Board. Sets forth the rights of such transferred personnel. (Sec. 514) Requires that any cost of funds index based upon certain characteristics of Federal home loan banks be calculated using data only from insured depository institutions which were bank members and whose data was previously included in such index. Subtitle C: Merger of BIF and SAIF - Amends the Economic Growth and Regulatory Paperwork Reduction Act of 1996 to advance the effective date for the merger of the Bank Insurance Fund and the Savings Association Insurance Fund from January 1, 1999, to January 1, 1997. Title VI: National Market Funding Lending Institutions - Amends the Revised Statutes to prescribe guidelines under which a company (or five or more natural persons) may petition the Comptroller of the Currency for permission to organize a federally chartered national market funded lending institution. (Sec. 601) Prescribes requirements for such institution. Vests exclusive oversight authority for it in the Comptroller (including examination, enforcement, charter revocation and appointment of a conservator). Provides for conversions of depository institutions into national market funded lending institutions upon approval of the Comptroller. Title VII: Effective Date - Declares the effective date for this Act is January 1, 1997.
United States · United States Congress · 25 September 1996
Provides for taking from the Speaker's table H.R. 3166 (prohibition on making false statements to the Government) and agreeing to the Senate amendments with an amendment.
United States · United States Congress · 24 September 1996
Drug-Induced Rape Prevention and Punishment Act of 1996 - Amends the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) to impose penalties of a fine and up to 15 years' imprisonment (20 years' imprisonment if the victim is age 14 or under) for possession of a mixture or substance (mixture) containing a detectable amount of a controlled substance, with intent to administer such mixture to another person to facilitate a crime of violence (including a sexual assault) against that person. Enhances penalties for certain activities involving flunitrazepam under: (1) the CSA, including manufacturing, distributing, or possessing with intent to distribute specified quantities of flunitrazepam; and (2) the Controlled Substances Import and Export Act, including possessing, manufacturing, and distributing for purposes of unlawful importation of such quantities. Directs: (1) the United States Sentencing Commission to amend the sentencing guidelines for offenses involving flunitrazepam and to ensure that such guidelines reflect the serious nature of such offenses; and (2) the Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration to conduct a study on the appropriateness of rescheduling flunitrazepam as a Schedule I controlled substance. Sets forth reporting requirements. Authorizes the Attorney General to create educational materials regarding the use of controlled substances in the furtherance of rapes and sexual assaults for dissemination to police departments throughout the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 24 September 1996
Jackie Robinson Commemorative Coin Act - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to: (1) mint and issue one-dollar silver coins emblematic of Jackie Robinson in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the breaking of the color barrier in major league baseball; and (2) distribute surcharge proceeds to the Jackie Robinson Foundation to enhance its education and youth leadership programs, and increase the availability of scholarships for economically disadvantaged youths.
United States · United States Congress · 11 September 1996
Mental Health Parity Act of 1996 - Requires a group health plan that applies an aggregate lifetime (or annual) limit for medical or surgical services, if the plan also provides a mental health benefit, to include mental health payments in that limit or establish a separate aggregate lifetime (or annual) limit for mental health services, with the mental health limit not less than the medical or surgical limit. Prohibits a group health plan that does not apply a medical or surgical limit from applying a mental health limit. Exempts employers with fewer than 26 employees. Makes this Act ineffective after September 30, 2001. Exempts a purchaser from this Act if the Act's provisions result in a one percent or greater increase in the cost of a group health plan's premiums.
United States · United States Congress · 2 August 1996
Small Business Banking Act of 1996 - Amends the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (FDIA) to authorize any depository institution to permit an owner to make withdrawals by negotiable or transferable instrument from any interest-bearing or dividend bearing account in order to make payments to third parties (currently such withdrawals are permissible only for specified deposits). Amends the Federal Reserve Act, the Home Owners' Loan Act, and the FDIA to repeal the proscription against the payment of interest on demand deposits.
United States · United States Congress · 2 August 1996
Congressional Pension Forfeiture Act of 1996 - Amends Federal law to provide that any service as a Member of Congress of an individual convicted of a felony committed while a Member during the 105th Congress or later shall not be taken into account as creditable service for purposes of annuity or retirement provisions. Entitles such individual (or his or her beneficiary or estate, if applicable) to be paid so much of such individual's lump-sum credit as is attributable to such service. Prohibits: (1) the individual, while serving as a Member after the date of the conviction, from being eligible to participate in the Civil Service Retirement System or the Federal Employee's Retirement System; and (2) interest from being computed on such lump-sum payment for the period after the conviction or commission of the violation, or after September 26, 1961, whichever is later.
![Official portrait of Rep. McCollum, Bill [R-FL-8]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/m000350_200.jpg)