United States · United States Congress · 5 April 1989
Urges the Government of Iran to uphold the human rights of all its nationals, including members of the Baha'i faith, and to extend the rights guaranteed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Calls upon the President to continue to: (1) emphasize human rights improvements as an important factor in the development of relations between the U.S. and Iranian Governments; (2) cooperate with other governments to initiate and support actions by the United Nations and its agencies to promote the protection of the religious rights of the Baha'is; and (3) 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 · 3 April 1989
Designates the week of October 22 through October 29, 1989, as Drug-Free America Week. Encourages every American to wear red during such week to symbolize a commitment to a drug-free lifestyle.
United States · United States Congress · 23 March 1989
Common Sense Budget Act of 1989 - Amends Federal law to require both the President and the Congress to draft a budget based on estimates of current fiscal year spending, proposing increases or decreases based on this level (rather than on an estimated baseline). Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to require the Congressional Budget Office to use such a current fiscal year baseline in its report to the congressional budget committees, projecting growth for entitlement and discretionary spending based on current fiscal year spending.
United States · United States Congress · 23 March 1989
Multilingual Radio Act of 1989 - Directs the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to begin procedures to prescribe regulations to: (1) establish demonstration frequencies to provide multilingual frequency modulation radio broadcasting services to large metropolitan areas with large multilingual populations; (2) require such demonstration frequency to be licensed in the New York City area; (3) create other demonstration frequencies, if possible, in other large metropolitan areas with large multilingual populations; (4) make such frequencies available through the use of directional antennas, allowing for coexistence with existing radio or television frequencies; and (5) require the licensee of such a multilingual operation to devote a specified amount of air time in programming other than English per day and per week, and a specified amount of time per day in instructional English. Directs the FCC to establish such frequencies as not-for-profit operations and award the license for such frequencies by comparative hearing to nonprofit groups with substantial experience in serving the needs of the multilingual and multiethnic communities.
United States · United States Congress · 23 March 1989
Designates the week beginning September 1, 1989, as World War II Remembrance Week in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the outbreak of that War.
United States · United States Congress · 22 March 1989
National African-American Heritage Memorial Museum Act - Establishes within the Smithsonian Institution the National African-American Heritage Memorial Museum to be operated as a center and location for education, research, events, and collection and display of items and materials relating to the historical, cultural, economic, political, and other aspects of the scope of experiences of African-Americans. Requires the Board of Trustees of the National African-American Heritage Memorial Museum to report to the Congress and the President annually on its activities and operations. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 21 March 1989
Title I: Statehood Centennial Coin - Statehood Centennial Commemorative Coin Act of 1989 - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to mint and issue not more than a specified number of one-dollar silver coins and five-dollar palladium coins in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the statehood of Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Washington, and Wyoming. Sets forth certain features of such coins and provides for their design, issuance, and sale. Requires the Secretary to provide a specified amount of all surcharges to the Documents West exhibition program with the remaining amount of surcharges to be deposited in the Treasury to be used to reduce the national debt. Requires the Secretary to obtain silver for the one-dollar coins only from stockpiles established under the Strategic and Critical Materials Stock Piling Act. Requires the Secretary to obtain palladium for the five-dollar coins by purchase of palladium mined and refined in the United States. Grants the Comptroller General the right to examine records and other data of the Idaho Centennial Commission. Title II: Silver Proof Sets - Silver Coin Proof Set Act - Authorizes the Secretary to mint and issue silver coin proof sets. Sets forth certain specified features of such coins and provides for their sale to the public. Requires the Secretary to obtain silver for such coins by purchase from stockpiles established under the Strategic and Critical Materials Stock Piling Act and from Treasury stocks on hand.
United States · United States Congress · 21 March 1989
Anti-Terrorism Sanctions Act of 1989 - Requires the President to revoke the most-favored-nation trade status of certain foreign countries that repeatedly support international terrorism. Prohibits duty-free treatment for the products of such countries under the Trade Act of 1974 or the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act. Prohibits the Secretary of Commerce from consulting with the governments of such countries regarding international travel and tourism. Allows the President to waive any sanction under this Act with respect to any foreign country if such waiver would be in the best interests of the United States. Requires the President to give 30 days' notice to the Congress concerning any waiver.
United States · United States Congress · 20 March 1989
Immigration Nursing Relief Act of 1989 - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to: (1) grant special immigrant status to certain alien nurses; and (2) provide for their temporary nonimmigrant admission. Directs the Secretary of Labor to provide for the appointment of an advisory group to advise the Secretary concerning the impact of this Act on the nursing shortage. Directs the Secretary to conduct a study and report to the Congress regarding the amendments made by this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 16 March 1989
Older Women's Breast Cancer Prevention Act of 1989 - Amends part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to eliminate the cap on coverage of screening mammography.
United States · United States Congress · 16 March 1989
Acid Deposition Control Act of 1989 - Title I: Stationary Sources - Amends the Clean Air Act to require each Governor to submit to the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency for approval a two-phased plan establishing emission limitations and compliance schedules for sulfur dioxide and oxides of nitrogen emissions from fossil fuel fired electric utility steam generating units in the State. Requires reductions in sulfur dioxide emissions by 1994 (phase I) and reductions in oxides of nitrogen and further reductions in sulfur dioxide by 1998 (phase II). Directs each Governor to submit to the Administrator for approval an emissions limitations plan for such units, other than electric utilities' units, requiring both sulfur dioxide and oxides of nitrogen emissions reductions by 1998. Requires the Administrator to conduct and update an annual inventory of sulfur dioxide and oxides of nitrogen emissions from stationary sources. Directs the Administrator to identify the total statewide potential reductions in such emissions and to transmit such information to the State. Requires each Governor to submit to the Administrator a plan for establishing emission limitations from stationary sources of industrial process emissions to achieve such State's potential reductions by 1998. Requires the Administrator to study and report to the Congress by June 30, 1994, on the reductions achieved during phase I, granting the Congress an opportunity to legislate by the start of 1995 against the implementation of phase II. Grants States an opportunity to modify disapproved plans. Establishes emissions standards and Administrator-promulgated plans for States without an approved plan. Requires units in such States to submit a compliance plan and schedule to the Administrator. Directs the Administrator to impose fees on the generation and importation of electric energy if a utility is eligible for Federal subsidies to cover rate increases attributable to emission reduction requirements. Limits such fee to a maximum of 1/2 mill per kilowatt hour and makes it inapplicable to the generation of electric energy within the United States by hydroelectric or nuclear power. Prohibits the application of such fees after December 31, 1997. Prescribes civil penalties for violations in connection with such fees. Establishes the Acid Deposition Control Fund to provide for subsidies to electric utilities to cover rate increases attributable to emission reduction requirements. Prohibits the payments of subsidies to any utility, unless the State's Governor has assured that such rate increases are: (1) equivalent for residential electric utility ratepayers throughout the State; and (2) made level over the period during which such requirements are in effect. Prohibits costs for any technological system of emission reduction from being attributed to such requirements, unless such system meets specified conditions. Authorizes the Administrator to provide financial assistance to the owners or operators of stationary sources to promote the use of innovative technologies to control sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and other emissions from fossil fuels covered under the Clean Air Act. Sets forth eligibility and evaluation requirements. Allows State plans to provide for the use of innovative technology if contingent emission limitations are included in such plans. Authorizes the Administrator to impose fees on the generation of electric energy in such States to promote the use of innovative technologies. Prescribes civil penalties for violations in connection with such fees. Directs the Administrator to revise standards for emissions of nitrogen oxides for electric utility steam generating units burning bituminous or subbituminous coal. Requires the Administrator to promulgate standards for such emissions from nonelectric utility units which are new sources over a certain capacity. Title II: Emissions from Mobile Sources - Establishes emission standards for: (1) oxides of nitrogen from passenger cars and trucks manufactured after model year 1990; and (2) hydrocarbons from trucks manufactured after model year 1991. Directs the Administrator to promulgate regulations setting a maximum percentage for the sulfur content of motor vehicle diesel fuel. Prohibits any manufacturer or processor of diesel fuel from selling or introducing into commerce any fuel not in compliance with such regulations after January 1, 1991. Directs the Administrator to promulgate regulations to require the use of either hydrocarbon control technology by motor vehicles manufactured after model year 1991, or gasoline vapor recovery of hydrocarbon emissions emanating from the fueling of motor vehicles, or both.
United States · United States Congress · 15 March 1989
Waste Reduction Act - Makes it the national policy to reduce or prevent pollution at its source whenever feasible. Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to establish an office within the EPA which will be independent of the EPA's single-medium program offices and have the authority to review and advise such offices on their activities to promote a multi-media approach to source reduction. Directs the Administrator to develop and implement a strategy to promote source reduction. Identifies several review, coordination, outreach, and organizational actions that the Administrator must take as part of such strategy. Requires the Administrator to: (1) make matching grants to States for programs promoting the use of source reduction techniques by businesses; and (2) establish a Source Reduction Clearinghouse to compile information generated by States receiving grants on management, technical, and operational approaches to source reduction. Requires that such information be made available to the public. Requires filings of annual toxic chemical release forms required under the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986 to include toxic chemical source reduction and recycling reports for toxic chemicals which are the subject of such filings. Includes in such reports information, on a facility-by-facility basis, as to: (1) the amounts and disposition of each toxic chemical; (2) the source reduction practices used with respect to such chemicals; (3) measurements of changes from past to anticipated levels of chemical reduction and recycling; and (4) the techniques used to identify source reduction opportunities. Makes such information available to the public. Directs the Administrator to report to the Congress within one year of this Act's enactment and biennially thereafter on the results of actions taken to implement source reduction strategies. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 15 March 1989
Age Discrimination in Employment Waiver Protection Act of 1989 - Amends the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (the Act) to prohibit an individual from waiving any right under the Act without the supervision of a court, except in settlement of a bona fide claim alleging a certain kind of prohibited age discrimination. Allows a settlement of a bona fide claim to occur only if the settlement is knowing and voluntary and only if certain criteria are met, including filing notice with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Defines "bona fide claim," for such purposes, as: (1) a charge of age discrimination filed with the EEOC; (2) an action alleging age discrimination filed in court by the individual or the individual's representative; or (3) a specific allegation of age discrimination communicated in writing by the individual or the individual's representative directly to the employer, employment agency, or labor organization or their representatives, and without the assistance or instigation of any such entity against which the allegation is made. Limits EEOC authority to issue rules or regulations which would permit waivers, without EEOC or court supervision, of rights or claims which are not waived in accordance with this Act. Provides that, effective upon the enactment of this Act, a specified rule on waivers issued by the EEOC shall have no force and effect.
United States · United States Congress · 15 March 1989
Research and Experimental Credit Extension and Reform Act of 1989 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to make permanent the income tax credit for qualified research expenditures by repealing the provisions that would terminate the credit for expenses incurred or paid after 1989. Revises the method for computing: (1) base period research expenses, adding a factor reflecting the gross national product growth rate; and (2) the tax credit, adding an alternative computation component. Applies the credit to in-house research expenses that the taxpayer pays or incurs for the principal purpose of using the research results in the active conduct of a future trade or business.
United States · United States Congress · 14 March 1989
Eliminates post-1968 service in the National Guard as a prerequisite to civil service retirement credit for former National Guard technicians. Amends the National Guard Technicians Act of 1968 to eliminate post-1968 service as a prerequisite for National Guard technicians for receipt of credit in the determination of length of Federal civil service for purposes of leave, Federal employees' death and disability compensation, group life and health insurance, severance pay, tenure, and status. Sets forth rules for applying provisions of this Act to affected individuals.
United States · United States Congress · 14 March 1989
Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) the number of refugees admitted into the United States and the related resettlement program appropriations should be increased; and (2) the Department of Justice should reestablish the presumption that Jews and other religious minorities emigrating from the Soviet Union qualify for refugee admission status.
United States · United States Congress · 13 March 1989
Cable Rate Disclosure Act of 1989 - Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to require each cable television operator to submit to the Federal Communications Commission a report describing its services and rates. Requires subsequent reports, to be made available for public inspection, whenever the operator implements a change in rates or services. Directs the FCC to use these reports to publish a monthly statistical summary that includes national, regional, and State average rates for various services.
United States · United States Congress · 9 March 1989
Fetal Tissue Regulation Act of 1989 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to prohibit the Secretary of Health and Human Services from: (1) using human fetal tissue from an induced abortion for research or therapy; and (2) providing a grant, contract, or cooperative agreement unless the recipient agrees not to expend the assistance for such purposes. Requires the Secretary to terminate assistance to any recipient who violates the agreement.
United States · United States Congress · 8 March 1989
Title I: Federal Victim's Services and Protections Compliance Act - Federal Victim's Services and Protections Compliance Act - Directs the Attorney General to: (1) establish an evaluation system for law enforcement officers which rates such officers on their compliance with specified laws protecting victims of crimes; and (2) use such evaluation system to create standards governing services to victims and witnesses in Federal cases and to serve as a model to States and localities. Requires the Office for Victims of Crime to report periodically to the public, the Congress, and the President on victim protections and on compliance with this Act. Title II: The Federal Child Victim's Bill of Rights - Amends the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure to authorize a court to order that testimony of a child be taken in a room other than the courtroom and be televised by closed circuit equipment to be viewed by the court. Limits the parties who may be present during the child's testimony. Authorizes the court to: (1) require a party to be sequestered in an adjacent room or behind a screen or mirror that permits the party to see and hear the child during the child's testimony but does not allow the child to see or hear the party (requires the court, in such cases, to ensure that the party and counsel can confer during testimony and to provide an opportunity for cross examination); (2) order that the testimony of a child be taken by recorded deposition for use at trial; (3) admit into evidence the recorded statements of a child describing sexual conduct performed with or on the child, if specified conditions are met; and (4) permit the use of anatomical dolls, puppets, or toys which the court determines may aid the testimony of a child in describing such sexual conduct. Establishes procedures for: (1) determining the competency of a child to be a witness; and (2) protecting the identity of the child victim and the confidentiality of specified information. Prohibits the release of such information except as authorized by the court or to the accused or accused's counsel. Specifies that there is no statute of limitation within which a prosecution must be commenced for any sex offense involving a victim under 18 years of age. Directs or authorizes the court to appoint a guardian ad litem to protect the interests of the minor under specified circumstances. Grants a child under 18 years of age, while testifying at or attending a judicial proceeding, the right to be accompanied by a parent, victim/witness counselor, or other adult designated by the court. Specifies the role of such attendant. Provides for expedited procedures for the prosecution of any action involving a dangerous crime against children. Requires any physician, social worker, or specified other individuals (medical personnel, teachers, and anyone who has reasonable cause to believe that a child is abused or neglected) to report to the appropriate authorities. Makes: (1) reporters immune from liability under this Act; and (2) failure to report a class A misdemeanor. Title III: Child Care Worker Employee Background Check - Requires each Federal agency hiring individuals determined to have supervisory or disciplinary authority over children to require a report of the criminal history of specified employees.
United States · United States Congress · 8 March 1989
Designates September 15, 1989, as National POW/MIA Recognition Day. Recognizes the National League of Families POW/MIA flag as the official symbol of the United States' commitment to resolving the fates of Americans still prisoner or missing in action in Southeast Asia.
United States · United States Congress · 7 March 1989
Immigration Exclusion and Deportation Amendments of 1989 - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to make only the following classes of aliens ineligible to receive visas for admission into the United States: (1) any alien with a communicable disease of public health significance; (2) any alien with a record of recent physical or mental disorder that poses a threat to property or safety; (3) any alien with a drug addiction; (4) any alien convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude, with specified exceptions; (5) any alien convicted of specified drug violations or involved in drug trafficking; (6) any alien who has engaged in prostitution, or procurement of prostitutes, within ten years of the date of application for U.S. entry; (7) any alien likely to be a security risk; (8) any alien who has engaged in terrorist activity or likely to engage in such activity; (9) any alien whose entry would endanger the lives or property of U.S. citizens living abroad; (10) any alien whose entry would convey the impression of U.S. support for a government or group that the United States does not recognize or support, or whose entry would have a serious negative effect on U.S. diplomatic relations; (11) any alien who participated in Nazi persecutions; (12) any alien who is likely to become a public charge, with admission on bond at the discretion of the Attorney General; (13) any alien seeking to enter the United States for the purpose of performing skilled or unskilled labor, with specified exceptions (teaching, postgraduate research, and science or arts), or in situations of insufficient U.S. workers; (14) any alien who is a graduate of a medical school not accredited by a body approved for such purpose by the Secretary of Education, with certain exceptions; (15) any excluded or deported alien who seeks readmission within five years of the event, unless such readmission is consented to by the Attorney General; (16) any alien seeking to enter the United States by fraud or the willful misrepresentation of a material fact; (17) any stowaway alien; (18) any alien who aids any other alien in illegal entry; (19) any immigrant not in possession of a valid immigrant visa and passport at the time of admission; (20) any nonimmigrant without a valid passport authorizing the alien to return to the country from which he or she came or without a valid nonimmigrant visa or border crossing card (provides for a Guam visa waiver for up to 15-day pleasure or business entries); and (21) any alien ineligible for U.S. citizenship, including a person who left or remained outside the United States to avoid U.S. military service in time of war or national emergency. Repeals the ideological grounds for exclusion. Directs the Attorney General and the Secretary of State to jointly develop guidelines for the review of exclusion lists and other mechanisms used to screen alien visa applicants. Requires the Attorney General and the Secretary to report jointly to the appropriate committees regarding the development of such guidelines (within one year) and the results of the review of such alien lists (within two years). Makes deportable by the Attorney General only those aliens within one of the following classes: (1) any alien who at the time of entry was within one or more of the classes of aliens excludable by then existing law; (2) any alien entering the United States without inspection or at a time and place other than as designated by the Attorney General; (3) any alien admitted as a nonimmigrant who has failed to maintain such status; (4) any alien admitted as a temporary agricultural worker (H-2A visa) whose status has been terminated (with family hardship exceptions); (5) any alien who within five years of entry knowingly and for gain has aided another alien to illegally enter the United States; (6) any alien admitted as an additional special agricultural worker who fails to show the necessary number of seasonal work days; (7) any alien who gained U.S. entry through marriage fraud; (8) any alien convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude committed within five years from the date of entry and who is either sentenced or confined for a term of one year or longer; (9) any alien who at any time after entry is convicted of two or more crimes involving moral turpitude; (10) any alien who at any time after entry is convicted of a violation of certain drug laws; (11) any alien who is a drug abuser or addict; (12) any alien who at any time after entry is convicted under weapons-possession laws; (13) any alien who at any time is convicted on any of various specified loyalty laws (e.g. sabotage, treason and sedition, selective service, etc.); (14) any alien who fails to comply with alien registration laws or foreign agent registration laws; (15) any alien convicted of fraud or misuse of visas or other entry documents; (16) any alien engaging in activity which endangers the public safety or national security, including terrorist activity; (17) any alien who within five years after entry has become a public charge; (18) any alien who participated in Nazi persecutions; (19) any alien whose presence could endanger the lives or property of U.S. citizens living abroad; or (20) any alien whose presence could convey the impression of U.S. support for a government or group that the United States does not recognize or support, or whose presence could have a serious negative effect on U.S. diplomatic relations.
United States · United States Congress · 7 March 1989
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to eliminate the age (55 or older) and dollar ($125,000) restrictions with respect to the one-time income tax exclusion of gain on the sale of a principal residence.
United States · United States Congress · 7 March 1989
Designates April 16, 1989, the 87th birthday of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, as Education Day, U.S.A. Calls on heads of state of the world to join the President of the United States in this tribute by signing scrolls of honor commemorating the 40th anniversary of Schneerson's leadership of the Lubavitch movement. Welcomes the cooperation of the Department of State in extending the good office of the U.S. missions to the Lubavitcher emissaries.
United States · United States Congress · 1 March 1989
Federal Law Enforcement Officers Death Penalty Act of 1989 - Amends the Federal criminal code to subject any person who is found guilty of the first degree murder of a Federal law enforcement officer, or certain other Federal officials or employees, to the penalty of death. Establishes procedures for the imposition of the death penalty in such cases. Provides that no person who was less than 18 years of age at the time of the offense may be sentenced to death. Sets forth mitigating and aggravating factors to be considered by the jury in determining whether the death sentence will be imposed. Requires the Government to serve notice upon the defendant a reasonable time before trial or acceptance of a plea that it intends to seek the death penalty, as well as notice of the aggravating factors upon which it will rely. Provides that no presentence report shall be prepared in such cases. Requires a separate sentencing hearing before a jury or the court (upon motion by the defendant) when the defendant is convicted and the Government has filed notice that it intends to seek the death penalty. Allows the Government and the defendant to present any information relevant to a mitigating or aggravating factor without regard to the rules of evidence, but permits information to be excluded where its probative value is substantially outweighed by the danger of creating unfair prejudice, confusing the issues, or misleading the jury. Conditions imposition of the death penalty on a unanimous finding by the jury or, if there is no jury, the court, that: (1) the aggravating factors found to exist sufficiently outweigh any mitigating factor found to exist; or (2) in the absence of a mitigating factor, the aggravating factors alone are sufficient to justify a sentence of death. Specifies that: (1) the jury or the court, regardless of its findings with respect to aggravating and mitigating factors, is never required to impose a death sentence; and (2) the jury shall be so instructed. Requires the court to instruct the jury not to consider the race, color, national origin, creed, or sex of the defendant in its consideration of the death sentence. Directs the court to impose the death sentence upon a finding that such sentence is justified. Establishes procedures for appeal from a death sentence. Requires the court of appeals, upon consideration of the record and the information and procedures of the sentencing hearing, and any special finding, to affirm the decision if: (1) the sentence was not imposed under influence of passion, prejudice, or arbitrariness; and (2) the information supports the special finding of the existence of an aggravating factor. Requires the court to provide a written explanation of its determination. Establishes procedures for the implementation of the death sentence.
United States · United States Congress · 1 March 1989
Imposes a civil penalty upon any person who mails to any individual or group of individuals at their place of residence: (1) any unsolicited sexually oriented advertisement; or (2) any unsolicited obscene, lewd, lascivious, indecent, filthy, or vile article, matter, thing, device, or substance.
United States · United States Congress · 1 March 1989
Commercialized Childbearing Prevention Act of 1989 - Prohibits both U.S. and State courts from enforcing any agreement under which: (1) a woman agrees, in exchange for a benefit, to become pregnant, to give birth to the infant involved and to provide for the relinquishment of any parental rights and obligations with respect to such infant to an individual not her husband; or (2) a person agrees, in exchange for such relinquishment, to provide a benefit to such woman making the agreement. Prohibits the brokering of such agreements. Provides criminal penalties for violation of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 1 March 1989
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend through 1992 the period during which qualified mortgage bonds and mortgage credit certificates may be issued. (Under current law, authority for these programs is due to expire as of 1990.)
United States · United States Congress · 1 March 1989
Commends Ward M. Hussey and Lawrence E. Filson for their combined service to the House of Representatives. Commends the Office of the Legislative Counsel for its assistance in the drafting of legislation considered by the House.
United States · United States Congress · 28 February 1989
Commends the Board of Immigration Appeals for its decision to allow Joseph Patrick Doherty to apply for U.S. asylum. Expresses the sense of the Congress that the Attorney General should approve Joseph Patrick Doherty's asylum application and release him on bond pending the application's review.
![Official portrait of Rep. McGrath, Raymond J. [R-NY-5]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/m000458_200.jpg)