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United States · Official source
1,827 records where Rep. Meek, Carrie P. [D-FL-17] is listed as a sponsor, author, or other actor. Search with topics and years
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Authorizes the President to present, on behalf of the Congress, a congressional gold medal to Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to strike and sell bronze duplicates.
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
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
Amends Federal law relating to the Everglades National Park to allow the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida to use the Permit Area (property described in the Special Use Permit issued by the National Park Service (NPS) to the Tribe, approved by the Secretary of the Interior on February 1, 1973), in accordance with such Permit, except that: (1) specified conditions of the Permit which relate to removal of improvements or revocation of the Permit shall not apply; (2) notwithstanding any condition of the Permit, the approval of, the consent of, or a permit from the NPS Director and the Superintendent of the Everglades National Park shall not be required if the Tribe has met all other requirements of Federal law related to such approval, consent, or permit; and (3) the Tribe may exercise jurisdiction over such Permit Area to the same extent as it exercises jurisdiction over its Indian Reservation.
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
War Crimes Disclosure Act - Requires disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) of any matter in the possession or control of specified Federal agencies that relates to any individual who participated in the persecution of any person because of race, religion, national origin, or political opinion at the direction of, or in association with, the Nazi government of Germany. Provides disclosure exceptions, such as for: (1) personnel and medical files and similar files; (2) the protection of intelligence agents; (3) informants; (4) compelling national security reasons; or (5) any portion of any matter that does not relate to any individual who committed Nazi war crimes and is reasonably segregable from other portions of the matter that relate to such individual. Requires disclosure of information that can be reasonably separated from excepted information. Amends the National Security Act of 1947 to provide that the exemption from public disclosure authorized under such Act for operational files of the Central Intelligence Agency required to be disclosed under FOIA shall not apply to information regarding Nazi war crimes participants.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Small Business Opportunity Preservation Act of 1997 - Amends the Small Business Act to state as a policy under such Act that each Federal agency: (1) foster the participation of small businesses as prime contractors; (2) structure its contracting requirements to facilitate competition by and among small businesses; (3) avoid contract bundling (the practice of consolidating two or more procurement requirements into a single contract likely to be unsuitable for award to a small business); and (4) comply with requirements intended to foster the participation of small businesses as subcontractors. (Sec. 4) Requires procurement strategies used by Federal agencies to facilitate the maximum participation of small businesses as prime contractors. Requires specific information to be included in any proposed procurement strategy that reflects a bundling of contract requirements, including impediments caused to small businesses as prime contractors. Authorizes the Small Business Administration (SBA) to review proposed contract solicitations for compliance with such requirements and to act within 15 days toward the modification of procurement strategies to increase the probability of participation by small businesses as prime contractors. Requires a determination not to modify a procurement strategy to be supported by specified findings and an assessment which addresses matters concerning contract bundling and its impacts on small businesses. (Sec. 5) Authorizes a small business intending to submit an offer for an anticipated bundled contract to propose to the SBA for approval a team of small business subcontractors (or a team of small businesses and other businesses whose participation may not represent more than 25 percent of the contract value) to perform the contract. (Sec. 6) Requires the Federal Procurement Data System to be modified to collect data regarding contract bundling. (Sec. 7) Requires, in a solicitation for the award of construction contracts of $1 million or other types of contracts for $500,000, the inclusion of provisions which specify minimum percentages of participation by various types of small businesses in subcontracting under such contracts. Requires the successful offeror for such a contract to negotiate with the contracting officer in order to meet specified goals for subcontract participation by small businesses. (Sec. 8) Authorizes notice of subcontracting opportunities to be submitted for publication in the Commerce Business Daily by the appropriate prime contractors. (Sec. 9) Provides deadlines for the publication of proposed amendments made to the Federal Acquisition Regulation or to SBA regulations.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
HHS Women Scientist Employment Opportunity Act - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to: (1) establish policies for the Department of Health and Human Services on matters relating to the employment of women scientists; and (2) monitor compliance and take appropriate action if policies have been violated. Mandates implementation of the recommendations of the Task Force on the Status of NIH (National Institutes of Health) Intramural Women Scientists. Provides for a study and report on pay equity. Authorizes appropriations.
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
Nonprofit Organizations Tax-Exempt Bond Reform Act of 1997 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide for the tax treatment of bonds of certain nonprofit tax-exempt organizations in a manner similar to governmental bonds.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
MacBride Principles of Economic Justice Act of 1997 - Amends the Anglo-Irish Agreement Support Act of 1986 to revise its purposes to require that U.S. contributions to the International Fund for Ireland be disbursed in accordance with the MacBride principles of economic justice, as specified. Authorizes the United States to make contributions to the Fund only if the President certifies to the Congress that, among other things, disbursements from the Fund will be distributed in accordance with the principles of economic justice and will create employment opportunities in communities of Northern Ireland suffering the highest rates of unemployment.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Directs the Secretary of the military department concerned to pay an annuity to the qualified surviving spouse of any member of the armed forces who: (1) died before March 21, 1974, and was entitled to retired or retainer pay on the date of death; or (2) was a member of the reserves, died during the period beginning on September 21, 1972, and ending on October 1, 1978, and at the time of death would have been entitled to retired or retainer pay but for the fact that the member was under 60 years of age. Defines a qualified surviving spouse as one who has not remarried and who is not eligible for an annuity under the Survivor Benefit Plan. Provides the annuity amount and reduces such amount by the amount of any dependency and indemnity compensation to which the survivor is entitled.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Political Relationship Title II: Applicability of Federal Law Title III: Foreign Affairs and Defense Title IV: Courts Title V: Trade Title VI: Taxation Title VII: Immigration Title VIII: Labor Title IX: Transportation and Telecommunications Title X: Land, Natural Resources and Utilities Title XI: United States Financial Assistance Title XII: Technical Amendments and Interpretation Guam Commonwealth Act - Title I: Political Relationship - Creates the Commonwealth of Guam. Grants the people of Guam the right of full self-government through adoption of a Constitution and within specified guidelines. (Sec. 102) Recognizes the right of self-determination of the people of Guam. Directs the U.S. Government to promote preservation of the Chamorro culture, enhanced economic, social, and educational opportunities for Chamorros, and training of Chamorros for employment. Directs Guam to establish a land trust for the benefit of the indigenous Chamorro people and to establish residency requirements under the Constitution of Guam for voting and holding elective office. (Sec. 103) Allows this Act to be modified only with the mutual consent of the Governments of the United States and Guam. Title II: Applicability of Federal Law - Makes specified provisions of, and amendments to, the U.S. Constitution applicable to Guam. (Sec. 202) Makes Federal laws, rules, or regulations passed after the date of this Act inapplicable unless mutually consented to by the Governments of the United States and Guam. (Sec. 203) Creates the Joint Commission on the Applicability of Federal Law. (Sec. 204) Authorizes the President to delegate to the Governor of Guam performance of functions now vested in Federal administrative agencies. Title III: Foreign Affairs and Defense - Grants the United States responsibility for authority with respect to matters relating to foreign affairs and defense that affect Guam. (Sec. 302) Prohibits the establishment of military security zones or the stationing of foreign military personnel on the Island of Guam without the approval of the Government of Guam except in time of declared war, or the establishment of military bases without consultation with the Governor. (Sec. 304) Prohibits the United States from using Guam or the water surrounding it for the dumping or storage of nuclear waste or hazardous chemicals. Provides for the cleanup by the United States of chemical dump sites used by the military. Requires the United States to compensate any person injured as a result of hazardous materials stored, used, or disposed of by the U.S. Government in Guam or its waters. Title IV: Courts - Specifies provisions governing the relations between U.S. courts and the local courts of Guam, the jurisdiction of the District Court of Guam, and the applicable district court rules. (Sec. 404) Provides for the appointment of a judge for the District Court of Guam, a U.S. attorney, and a U.S. marshal for Guam. Title V: Trade - Establishes a Guam-United States free trade area. (Sec. 501) Authorizes Guam to impose, increase, reduce, or eliminate duties and other restrictions on certain imports and exports. Title VI: Taxation - Makes U.S. income tax laws applicable to Guam. Deems such laws to impose a separate tax to be known as the Guam Commonwealth income tax. (Sec. 603) Allows the Government of Guam to provide for the rebate or reduction of taxes in order to assist new industries or economic development. (Sec. 604) Grants Guam the power to determine the nature and amount of taxes imposed upon the income and property of persons within its jurisdiction. Repeals applicable U.S. tax laws one year after Guam has enacted a replacement comprehensive local income tax. (Sec. 605) Exempts all bonds or other obligations issued by Guam from taxation by Federal, State, or local governments of the United States. Title VII: Immigration - Applies the Immigration and Nationality Act and pertinent Federal regulations to Guam for two years from enactment of this Act. Directs Guam to enact a comprehensive law on immigration to become effective at the end of the two-year period. (Sec. 702) Authorizes U.S. consular officials to issue visas for travel only to Guam for any alien seeking to enter Guam as a non-immigrant in order to encourage investors and tourists to come to Guam. Title VIII: Labor - Grants preference to qualified residents of Guam in all Federal civil service vacancies occurring in Guam. (Sec. 802) Grants Guam the authority to enact and enforce all laws regulating or affecting employment in Guam. Title IX: Transportation and Telecommunications - Precludes application of any U.S. law barring the U.S. registration and use of any foreign-built vessel within the waters around Guam for any purpose. (Sec. 901) Exempts from the coastwise laws of the United States any shipment of fish or fish products from Guam to any U.S. coastwise destination. Directs the Commission to examine the applicability of such laws and to recommend their termination upon determining that such laws constrain Guam's economic development. (Sec. 902) Authorizes the Governor of Guam to sponsor any qualified air service carrier to come to Guam, subject to presidential consultation concerning U.S. foreign policy and security interests. Exempts Guam from all bilateral treaties between the United States and foreign states with respect to scheduling and technical specifications of aircraft, other than safety requirements. (Sec. 903) Defines Guam as "domestic" for Federal Communications Commission rate setting purposes. Title X: Land, Natural Resources and Utilities - Grants the Government of Guam the power of eminent domain. (Sec. 1001) Sets limits on U.S. acquisition of real property on Guam. Exempts Guam from Federal regulations governing the transfer or sale of excess Federal real property. Provides for the transfer of all excess Federal property to Guam, with specified exceptions. (Sec. 1003) Provides for access and use by the residents of Guam of certain retained Federal property, subject to military security requirements. (Sec. 1004) Directs the United States to transfer ownership of island utilities to Guam. Title XI: United States Financial Assistance - Provides for the return of U.S. revenues from taxes and fees collected in Guam to the Government of Guam. Makes U.S. laws providing Federal benefits and financial assistance which are applicable to the States equally applicable to Guam. (Sec. 1104) Directs the Governor of Guam, in preparing an annual budget, to identify the costs and benefits to Guam brought about by its role as one of the principal U.S. military bastions in the Far East. (Sec. 1105) Provides for assistance to aid Guam's transition to a Commonwealth. Title XII: Technical Amendments and Interpretation - Makes technical and conforming amendments. (Sec. 1204) Requires this Act to be submitted to the registered voters of Guam for ratification after being passed by the Congress. Repeals the Organic Act of Guam in specified phases.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Designates the Federal building located at 290 Broadway in New York, New York, as the Ronald H. Brown Federal Building.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Commission to Study Reparation Proposals for African-Americans Act - Establishes the Commission to Study Reparation Proposals for African-Americans to examine slavery and discrimination in the colonies and the United States from 1619 to the present and recommend appropriate remedies. Authorizes appropriations.
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
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
Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act of 1997 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to prohibit group health plans and health insurance issuers offering group health insurance coverage, with regard to hospital stays in connection with breast cancer treatment, from: (1) covering less than 48 hours after mastectomies or less than 24 hours after lymph node dissections; or (2) requiring plan or issuer authorization for prescribing any length of stay. Prohibits: (1) denying eligibility, enrollment, or renewal to avoid these requirements; (2) providing payments or rebates to women; or (3) penalizing or providing incentives to providers. Applies the same requirements to issuers in the individual market.
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
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
Declares that the United States is fully committed to the goals enunciated in the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina and associated annexes negotiated in Dayton, Ohio, and signed in Paris, France (Agreement), and to the unified state of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Commends the NATO-led Implementation Force (IFOR) for its work in establishing peace and stability in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Encourages the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), other institutions, and non-governmental organizations to promote further rebuilding of democratic institutions and civic society in Bosnia and Herzegovina and neighboring countries. Opposes admission to international organizations and fora of, and the receipt of certain loans and financial or technical assistance from international financial institutions by, the parties to the Agreement until such states have complied with their obligations under the Agreement and United Nations Security Council Resolutions to cooperate fully with the International Criminal Tribunal. Urges: (1) the United States and the international community to oppose secession by any entity from the unified state of Bosnia and Herzegovina, to actively support the work of the parties to establish democratic institutions and the rule of law in Bosnia and Herzegovina, to increase support for the efforts of the Tribunal, and to support the request of the Tribunal President for the High Representative to impose sanction on those who have not complied with their obligations to cooperate fully with the Tribunal; (2) the signatories to the Agreement and those nations and organizations participating in its implementation to ensure full implementation of the arms control and confidence-building agreements reached as part of the Agreement; (3) IFOR, the NATO-led Stabilization Force (SFOR), the International Police Task Force, and other designated missions to make it an urgent priority to detain and bring to justice persons indicted by the Tribunal; (4) IFOR and SFOR to take an active role in ensuring respect by the parties to the Agreement for freedom of movement throughout the country; and (5) the United States, OSCE, and the international community to press the Serbian Government to recognize the results of recent elections, facilitate installation of duly elected opposition candidates, undertake a dialogue with democratic forces working for reform, and act immediately to improve respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the U.S. Government should pursue policies that: (1) encourage all residents of this country to become fully proficient in English by expanding educational opportunities and access to information technologies; (2) conserve and develop the Nation's linguistic resources by encouraging all residents to learn or maintain skills in a language other than English; (3) assist Native Americans, Native Alaskans, Native Hawaiians, and other peoples indigenous to the United States in their efforts to prevent the extinction of their languages and cultures; (4) continue to provide services in languages other than English as needed to facilitate access to essential functions of government, promote public health and safety, ensure due process, promote equal educational opportunity, and protect fundamental rights; and (5) recognize the importance of multilingualism to vital national interests and individual rights, and oppose "English-only" measures and similar language restrictionist measures.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Calls for aggressive prosecution by the Department of Justice of perpetrators of armed conspiracies against the Government and of the illegal possession of firearms, explosives, or any substances or devices of destruction.
United States · United States Congress · 28 September 1996
Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act of 1996 - Requires health plans that provide medical and surgical benefits for the treatment of breast cancer to ensure that inpatient coverage is provided for a minimum of 48 hours after a mastectomy, and 24 hours after a lymph node disection, except where the attending physician and patient determine that a shorter period is appropriate. Prohibits health plans from modifying the terms and conditions of coverage based on an enrollee's determination to request less than the minimum coverage required. Prescribes appropriate health plan notice requirements regarding required coverage.
United States · United States Congress · 27 September 1996
Save Manatees and Alleviate Red Tide Act - Directs the Director of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service to issue a contingency plan under the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 for responding to red tide events involving Florida manatees, and implement such plan as part of the Florida manatee recovery program. Authorizes the Director to make grants for research and evaluation of potential methods of therapeutic intervention for manatees intoxicated by red tide brevetoxins, including immunotherapy using antibrevetoxin antibodies. Authorizes appropriations. Requires the Marine Mammal Commission to conduct: (1) a comprehensive review of the scientific findings of investigations into the spring 1996 Florida manatee red tide mortality event; and (2) an interdisciplinary conference to discuss review findings for recommending actions to the Congress to protect the Florida manatee from red tide events. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 26 September 1996
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Epidemiological and Educational Activities Regarding Pregnancy-Related Complications Title II: Public Education Regarding Folic Acid as Dietary Supplement Title III: Newborns' and Mothers' Health Protection Act of 1996 Title IV: Ultrasound Safe Motherhood Act of 1996 - Title I: Epidemiological and Educational Activities Regarding Pregnancy-Related Complications - Pregnancy-Related Morbidity and Mortality Surveillance and Research Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act (PHSA) to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) (the Secretary), acting through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDCP), to: (1) provide technical assistance to the States to assist them with various matters involving pregnancy-related complications; (2) carry out activities to educate health professionals and the public on the prevention of pregnancy-related complications and the treatments available for such complications; and (3) study and report to the Congress on such complications, including the extent to which research on the prevention and treatment of such complications is being conducted in the United States. Requires such report to include: (1) recommendations for improving the effectiveness of Federal and State activities for the collection of epidemiological data on such complications; and (2) an agenda for the conduct and support by the Federal Government of research on preventing and treating them. Authorizes appropriations. Title II: Public Education Regarding Folic Acid as Dietary Supplement - Folic Acid Public Education Act - Authorizes the Secretary, acting through the CDCP Director, to carry out a program to encourage physicians, nurses, nutritionists, and other health professionals to educate patients that consuming a daily supplement of folic acid is effective in preventing birth defects. Authorizes appropriations. Title III: Newborns' and Mothers' Health Protection Act of 1996 - Newborns' and Mothers' Health Protection Act of 1996 - Requires health plans providing maternity benefits to ensure that coverage is provided with respect to a mother who is a participant, beneficiary, or policyholder under such plan and her newborn child for a minimum inpatient length of stay of 48 hours following a normal delivery, and 96 hours following a caesarean section, without requiring the attending provider to obtain prior plan authorization. Makes an exception to such requirement in cases where the provider has consulted with the mother beforehand about an earlier discharge and the plan provides coverage for post-delivery follow-up care as described below. (Sec. 304) Requires that when a decision is reached to discharge a mother and her newborn child from the inpatient setting before expiration of the minimum inpatient length of stay period, the health plan must provide coverage for timely post-delivery care by a registered nurse, physician, nurse practitioner, nurse midwife, or physician assistant experienced in maternal and child health with the mother having the option of being provided with such care in different places, including her home. (Sec. 305) Provides that, in implementing the requirements of this title, a health plan may not: (1) deny enrollment or continued coverage to a mother and her newborn child based on their compliance with this title; (2) provide monetary payments or rebates to mothers to encourage them to request less than the required minimum coverage; or (3) take other specified actions regarding provider reimbursement and incentives. (Sec. 306) Prescribes appropriate notice requirements for health plans. (Sec. 308) Requires each State to require that each health plan issued, sold, renewed, offered for sale or operated in such State by a health plan issuer meet the standards established under this Act and submit such information as required by the Secretary of Labor demonstrating effective implementation of the requirements of this title. Requires the Secretary of Labor to enforce such standards and requirements in a State if the State fails substantially to do so. Subjects each health plan issuer operating in such a State to appropriate civil enforcement under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). (Sec. 310) Specifies aspects of State law regarding maternity and pediatric care which are not preempted by this title. Declares that the post-delivery follow-up care requirements of this title shall not preempt those provisions of State law that provide greater protection to patients or policyholders than those required under this title or that provide mothers and newborns with an option of timely post delivery follow-up care in the home. (Sec. 311) Directs the Secretary to establish an advisory panel to develop and report to the Secretary a consensus, if any, regarding the appropriateness of the specific requirements of this title. Directs the Secretary to study and report to certain congressional committees on various specified matters with regard to post-natal care, together with recommendations for improvements in pre- and post- natal care, delivery and follow-up care, and whether their implementation should be accomplished by the private health sector, Federal or State governments, or any combination of them. Title IV: Ultrasound - Ultrasound Quality Standards Act of 1996 - Amends PHSA to require the certification of ultrasound facilities operated in accordance with certain standards the Secretary shall establish. Provides for compliance inspection of such facilities by the Secretary or a delegated State agency. Allows for suspension and revocation of facility certification, as well as the imposition of other specified sanctions to promote voluntary compliance, for facilities failing to comply with applicable requirements and standards. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 403) Directs the Institute of Medicine, by itself or with the National Institutes of Health (NIH), to survey the data collected on the prevalence of the use of fetal ultrasound and the interaction between physicians and consumers that may be driving the use of fetal ultrasound. States that the survey should begin with data collected after the report in 1984 by NIH on a consensus development conference on diagnostic ultrasound imaging in pregnancy. (Sec. 404) Directs the Secretary to establish a program to provide educational outreach to medical practitioners and the public regarding the appropriateness of fetal ultrasound for the health of mothers and fetuses. (Sec. 405) Requires the Secretary to report to specified congressional committees on whether this program has resulted in improvement of the quality of fetal ultrasound, and a reduction in nonmedically indicated fetal ultrasonography, without affecting access to medically necessary services or unnecessarily burdening health care providers.
United States · United States Congress · 26 September 1996
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Pension Reform Title II: Protection of Rights of Former Spouses to Pension Benefits Under Certain Government and Government-Sponsored Retirement Programs Title III: Reforms Related to 401(K) Plans Title IV: Modifications of Joint and Survivor Annuity Requirements Title V: Spousal Consent Required for Distributions from Section 401(K) Plans Title VI: Women's Pension Toll-Free Phone Number Title VII: Annual Pension Benefits Statements Comprehensive Women's Pension Protection Act of 1996 - Title I: Pension Reform - Amends the Tax Reform Act of 1986 to apply specified integrated plan nondiscrimination rules to all accrued benefits. Amends the Internal Revenue Code (Code) to repeal the permitted disparity provision with respect to simplified employee pension contributions. (Sec. 102) Applies minimum coverage requirements to a separate line of business employer plan for qualified trust purposes. Establishes a single line of business special rule. (Sec. 103) Sets forth divorce division of pension benefits provisions, including minimum accrued benefits rights for the divorced (nonparticipant) spouse. Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 to set forth similar provisions. (Sec. 105) Provides for the continued availability of certain remedies with respect to pre-1985 domestic relations orders. (Sec. 106) Amends the Railroad Retirement Act of 1974 to eliminate specified employee-annuitant requirements with respect to a divorced wife's annuity. Title II: Protection of Rights of Former Spouses to Pension Benefits Under Certain Government-Sponsored Retirement Programs - Amends the Railroad Retirement Act of 1974 and Federal law to provide for protection of former spouses to railroad and civil service pension benefits. Title III: Reforms Related to 401(K) Plans - Amends the Code to treat 401(K) plan investments in collectibles as distributions. (Sec. 303) Applies a specified limitation on acquisition and holding of employer securities and real property to 401(K) plans. Title IV: Modifications of Joint and Survivor Annuity Requirements - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 and the Code to permit, with respect to specified plans, a qualified joint and two-thirds survivor annuity. Defines such an annuity. Title V: Spousal Consent Required for Distributions from Section 401(K) Plans - Amends the Code to require spousal consent for 401(K) plan distributions. Title VI: Women's Pension Toll-Free Phone Number - Directs the Secretary of Labor to provide for a women's pension toll-free telephone number. Authorizes appropriations. Title VII: Annual Pension Benefits Statements - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 to require annual pension benefits statements.
United States · United States Congress · 26 September 1996
Amends Federal law relating to the Everglades National Park to allow the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida to use the Permit Area (property described in the Special Use Permit issued by the National Park Service (NPS) to the Tribe, approved by the Secretary of the Interior on February 1, 1973), in accordance with such Permit, except that: (1) specified conditions of the Permit which relate to removal of improvements or revocation of the Permit shall not apply; (2) notwithstanding any condition of the Permit, the approval of, the consent of, or a permit from the NPS Director and the Superintendent of the Everglades National Park shall not be required if the Tribe has met all other requirements of Federal law related to such approval, consent, or permit; and (3) the Tribe may exercise jurisdiction over such Permit Area to the same extent as it exercises jurisdiction over its Indian Reservation.
United States · United States Congress · 24 September 1996
Designates the U.S. courthouse to be constructed at the corner of Superior and Huron Roads, in Cleveland, Ohio, as the Carl B. Stokes United States Courthouse.
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 · 19 September 1996
Residential Windstorm Insurance Plan Act of 1996 - Instructs the Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency to study the advisability and feasibility of establishing a Residential Windstorm Insurance Program designed to provide windstorm insurance to residential property owners unable to obtain coverage in the private market. Delineates Program contents and considerations. Requires the Director to: (1) submit to specified congressional committees study conclusions and estimated Program costs; and (2) enter into an arrangement with the National Academy of Sciences to conduct a feasibility study regarding the establishment of a Federal earthquake insurance program modeled after the "Write Your Own" Program under the National Flood Insurance Program. Directs the Comptroller General, the Secretary of the Treasury, and the Secretary of Commerce to report to the Congress the results of a joint study evaluating the public policy issues associated with conferring favorable Federal tax treatment to multiyear insurance reserves set aside by private insurers for future catastrophic natural disasters.
United States · United States Congress · 19 September 1996
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Termination of Provisions of Public Law 104-193 Restricting Welfare and Public Benefits for Legal Immigrants Title II: Tax Provisions Immigrant Fairness Act of 1996 - Title I: Termination of Provisions of Public Law 104-193 Restricting Welfare and Public Benefits For Legal Immigrants - Repeals title IV (Restricting Welfare and Public Benefits for Aliens) of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996. Title II: Tax Provisions - Amends the Internal Revenue Code with respect to: (1) tax provisions on expatriation, including coordination with estate and gift tax and health insurance portability rules; (2) basis of assets of nonresidents who become U.S. citizens or residents; (3) foreign income exclusions; (4) treatment of domestic corporation stock dispositions by certain foreign shareholders as effectively connected with a U.S. trade or business, and related withholding requirements; and (5) imposition of an alternative minimum tax on corporations importing products into the United States at artificially inflated prices.
United States · United States Congress · 17 September 1996
Freedom of the Highways Act of 1996 - Prohibits any law enforcement agency or officer, acting under color of authority, from stopping any person driving or riding in an automobile because of that person's race or color. Authorizes any person or class of persons aggrieved by such a violation, in a civil action, to obtain appropriate relief. Specifies that a showing that a pattern exists in a particular region of disparate stopping of persons on highways based on race or color is sufficient to constitute prima facie evidence of a violation in that region.
United States · United States Congress · 17 September 1996
Declares that the end of slavery in the United States should be celebrated and recognized.
United States · United States Congress · 11 September 1996
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Title II: General Provisions Emergency Disaster Assistance Supplemental Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 1996 - Title I: Emergency Supplemental Appropriations - Makes emergency supplemental appropriations for FY 1996 to provide relief from the damages caused by Hurricane Fran and other natural disasters of 1996. Chapter 1: Department of Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies - Makes such FY 1996 emergency supplemental appropriations to: (1) the Department of Agriculture, for the Farm Service Agency's emergency conservation program; (2) the Natural Resources Conservation Service, for watershed and flood prevention operations; (3) the Rural Housing Service, for Rural Housing Insurance Fund Program Account direct loans, and for very low-income housing repair grants; (4) the Rural Utilities Service, for the rural utilities assistance program; and (5) the Commodity Credit Corporation, for covering 1996 crop losses. Chapter 2: Departments of Commerce, Justice, and State, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies - Makes such FY 1996 emergency supplemental appropriations to: (1) the Department of Commerce, for the Economic Development Administration's economic development assistance programs; and (2) the Small Business Administration, for the Disaster Loans Program Account. Chapter 3: Energy and Water Development - Makes such FY 1996 emergency appropriations to the Department of Defense-Civil, Department of the Army, Corps of Engineers-Civil, for: (1) general operation and maintenance; and (2) flood control and coastal emergencies. Chapter 4: Departments of Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development, and Independent Agencies - Makes such FY 1996 emergency appropriations to: (1) the Department of Housing and Urban Development for community development grants; and (2) the Federal Emergency Management Agencies for disaster relief. Title II: General Provisions - Designates each amount provided for a program or activity in title I as an emergency requirement for all purposes of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act). Makes such amount available only to the extent of a specific dollar amount for such program or activity that is: (1) included in an official budget request submitted by the President to the Congress; and (2) designated as an emergency requirement for all purposes of that Act. (Sec. 202) Authorizes Federal department or agency heads to waive certain restrictions in administering funds provided under title I.
United States · United States Congress · 11 September 1996
Establishes in the House of Representatives the Select Committee to Investigate CIA Involvement in Crack Cocaine Sales to Fund Contras to investigate and report to the House regarding: (1) existence of Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) files on cocaine purchases and arms transfers to inner-city south central Los Angeles residents; (2) CIA employment of Danilo Blandon and Edwin Menenses as informants; (3) diversion or intended diversion of funds appropriated by the Congress for assistance to Nicaraguan contras or the sale of crack cocaine for such purposes; and (4) any other matters deemed appropriate or germane to either CIA involvement in unauthorized or illegal drug sales or the use of informants to provide information on sale of crack cocaine to such residents.
United States · United States Congress · 1 August 1996
Veterans' Training and Employment Bill of Rights Act of 1996 - Entitles the following covered persons to priority of services under any federally-funded workforce preparation, development, or delivery program or service, as long as such person otherwise meets participation eligibility requirements: (1) veterans who have a service-connected disability or who served on active duty in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized; (2) the spouse of any person who died of a service-connected disability or who has a total permanent disability resulting from a service-connected disability; (3) the spouse of any member serving on active duty who is listed as missing in action, captured in the line of duty by a hostile force, or forcibly detained or interned by a foreign government or power; and (4) the spouse of a veteran who died while a permanent service-connected disability was in existence. Requires State and local entities performing such programs or services to inform covered individuals of the availability of such services. Directs the Secretary of Labor to report annually to the congressional veterans' committees concerning an evaluation of such priority program and its level of services. (Sec. 3) Requires Federal contracts or grants of $100,000 or more for the procurement of personal property and non-personal services to contain a provision under which the party receiving the contract or grant agrees to take affirmative action to employ and advance qualified veterans who: (1) are disabled; (2) served on active duty in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized; or (3) while serving on active duty, participated in a U.S. military operation for which an armed forces service medal was awarded. Directs the President to implement promulgating regulations which require the contractee or grantee to list employment openings with local employment agencies and to give priority to qualifying veterans. (Sec. 4) Requires veterans qualifying under this Act to be given appropriate recruitment (currently, readjustment) appointments within the Federal Government. (Sec. 5) Directs the Secretary to provide specified veterans' employment rights and benefits assistance to veterans qualifying under this Act. Provides for the filing, investigation, and determination of claims by qualifying individuals that an entity has failed to comply with the hiring requirements provided under this Act. (Sec. 6) Authorizes the Secretary to allocate an additional ten full-time equivalent positions from the Employment and Training Administration of the Department of Labor to the Veterans' Employment and Training Service to carry out work training and employment services for qualifying individuals.
United States · United States Congress · 1 August 1996
Calls for aggressive prosecution by the Department of Justice of perpetrators of armed conspiracies against the Government and of the illegal possession of firearms, explosives, or any substances or devices of destruction.
United States · United States Congress · 31 July 1996
Aviation Disaster Family Assistance Act of 1996 - Amends Federal transportation law to require the Chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), after an accident involving an aircraft that results in a significant loss of life of passengers, to: (1) designate and publicize the name and phone number of a family advocate to be a Government liaison between the air carrier and the families of the passengers; and (2) designate an independent nonprofit organization which shall have primary responsibility for coordinating the care and support of the passengers' families. Declares that the NTSB shall have primary responsibility for coordinating the recovery and identification of passengers involved in an aircraft accident. Prohibits any person from impeding the ability of the NTSB, or the designated organization, from carrying out its responsibilities under this Act. Sets forth penalties for violations of this Act. Requires each air carrier to submit to the Secretary of Transportation a plan for addressing the needs of the passengers' families. Prohibits the Secretary from approving an air carrier's application for a certificate of public convenience and necessity unless it includes such plan in its application. Requires the Secretary to establish a task force to develop: (1) a model plan to assist air carriers in responding to aircraft accidents; and (2) recommendations to the Congress on methods to ensure that attorneys and the media do not intrude on the privacy of the passengers' families. Expresses the sense of the Congress that each State bar association should adopt a rule providing in transportation accidents that no unsolicited communications should be made to the families concerning potential action for personal injury or wrongful death before the 30th day following the accident.
United States · United States Congress · 31 July 1996
Calls upon the Government of Germany to negotiate in good faith with the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany to broaden the categories of those eligible for compensation.
United States · United States Congress · 22 July 1996
Recognizes Brown Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Selma, Alabama, as a symbol of: (1) the struggle and sacrifice of many courageous people who sought to secure civil rights for African-Americans; and (2) the successful effort to secure for African-Americans the right to vote.
United States · United States Congress · 18 July 1996
Microenterprise Act - Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to authorize the President to provide certain assistance to increase the availability of credit to micro- and small enterprises lacking full access to credit. Authorizes the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (AID) to provide grant assistance for programs of credit and other assistance for microenterprises in developing countries. Urges the Administrator to establish a monitoring system that establishes performance goals for such assistance.
United States · United States Congress · 18 July 1996
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Workplace Fairness Subtitle A: Part-Time and Temporary Workers Protection Subtitle B: Federal Employee Fairness Subtitle C: Legislative Pay Equity Study Subtitle D: Sexual Harassment Prevention Subtitle E: Sexual Harassment Information Subtitle F: Sexual Harassment Tax Equity Subtitle G: Equal Remedies Subtitle H: Federal Temporary Workers Protection Subtitle I: Contingent Work Force Equity Title II: Economic Opportunity Subtitle A: Microenterprise Opportunity Expansion Subtitle B: Commission on the Advancement of Women in the Science and Engineering Work Forces Subtitle C: Equal Surety Bond Opportunity Subtitle D: Self-Sufficiency Standard Subtitle E: Community Reinvestment Subtitle F: Telecommunications Economic Opportunity Subtitle G: HHS Women Scientist Employment Opportunity Subtitle H: Women in Enterprise Development Title III: Work and Family Subtitle A: Child Care Consolidation and Investment Subtitle B: Child Care Public-Private Partnership Subtitle C: Dependent Care Tax Credit Refundability Subtitle D: IRA Deductions for Homemakers Subtitle E: Federal Parental Leave for Education Activities Subtitle F: Tax Incentives for Family-Friendly Workplaces Subtitle G: Parental Equity Leave Title IV: Economic Self-Sufficiency Subtitle A: Child Support Responsibility Subtitle B: Interstate Child Support Subtitle C: Child Support Enforcement Improvements Subtitle D: Single Parent Protection Subtitle E: Women's Pension Equity Subtitle F: Pension Reform Subtitle G: Social Security Caregiver Title V: Economic Impact of Domestic Violence Subtitle A: Workplace Violence Prevention Tax Credit Subtitle B: Insurance Protection for Victims of Domestic Violence Subtitle C: Fairness to Minority Women Health Subtitle D: Battered Women's Employment Protection Subtitle E: Domestic Violence Legal Services Eligibility Economic Equity Act of 1996 - Title I: Workplace Fairness - Subtitle A: Part-Time and Temporary Workers Protection - Amends the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) with respect to requirements for approval of State unemployment compensation laws to provide for eligibility for unemployment compensation of certain individuals seeking part-time employment. (Sec. 11102) Directs the Secretary of Labor, acting through the Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, to establish and carry out an annual survey relating to temporary workers. (Sec. 11103) Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to provide protection of part-time and temporary workers with respect to their treatment under participation, vesting, and accrual rules governing pension plans. (Sec. 11201) Amends the IRC to provide for waiver of an employer's liability for certain employment taxes for a reasonable good faith misclassification based on common law rules. Amends the Revenue Act of 1978 to revise provisions relating to controversies involving whether individuals are employees for purposes of the employment taxes to modify safe harbor rules and authority for classifications of individuals as nonemployees. (Sec. 11202) Amends the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949 to set forth requirements regarding classification of persons as employees and independent contractors under certain Federal procurement contracts. (Sec. 11203) Amends Federal law relating to defense contracts to set forth requirements regarding classification of persons as employees and independent contractors under Federal defense contracts. Subtitle B: Federal Employee Fairness - Amends title VII (Equal Employment Opportunities) of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to revise provisions relating to administrative determination of Federal employee discrimination claims, including Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) determination of such claims. (Sec. 12002) Amends the Age Discrimination in Employment Act and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 to provide for EEOC enforcement regarding specified claims, with certain exceptions with respect to employment in the Library of Congress. Provides for opportunity to commence civil action in the case of certain claims pending before EEOC. (Sec. 12003) Amends Federal law relating to civil service employment to revise provisions for grievance procedures, actions involving discrimination, disciplinary action, personnel recordkeeping, and right to intervene in certain discrimination cases. (Sec. 12005) Directs EEOC to issue certain guidelines and rules, including: (1) standards for alternative dispute resolution processes and identification of approved examples; (2) establishment of a voluntary settlement program; and (3) rules regarding classified information. (Sec. 12008) Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) it should increase appropriations to EEOC to carry out additional EEOC responsibilities imposed by this Act; and (2) Federal agencies should not use their funds for salaries and expenses to pay any relief awarded under Civil Rights Act of 1964 title VII provisions against discrimination in Federal employment. Subtitle C: Legislative Pay Equity Study - Declares the congressional policy of nondiscrimination and pay equity for employees of the legislative branch. (Sec. 13002) Establishes the Commission on Employment Discrimination in the Legislative Branch to evaluate and report to the Congress on the compensation system and personnel policies and practices of the Library of Congress. Subtitle D: Sexual Harassment Prevention - Establishes a right of civil action by the injured person to seek relief for specified sexual harassment offenses or retaliation in relationships between: (1) a patient and a physician, psychotherapist, or dentist; (2) a client and an attorney, marriage, family, or child counselor, social worker, or accountant; (3) a beneficiary and an executor, trustee, or administrator of a trust or estate; (4) an employee and an employer with fewer than 15 employees for each working day in each of 33 or more calendar weeks in the current and preceding calendar year; or (5) the parties to a contract, or persons negotiating a contract or seeking to enforce claimed rights under a contract. (Sec. 14002) Authorizes additional appropriations for the EEOC. Subtitle E: Sexual Harassment Information - Requires employers to provide EEOC-approved information on sexual harassment violations and claims, through: (1) posting of notices at the workplace; and (2) annual notices to individual employees. Sets forth civil penalties for violation of such information requirements. (Sec. 15003) Directs EEOC to provide: (1) technical assistance materials to employers, including model notices and voluntary guidelines for employer policies and procedures to address allegations of discrimination, including sexual harassment, in employment; and (2) a toll-free telephone number for employees and employers to obtain information regarding compliance with this subtitle and such model notices and guidelines. (Sec. 15004) Requires EEOC enforcement of employer information requirements (except in the case of congressional employees, where the Board of the Office of Compliance is the enforcer). Subtitle F: Sexual Harassment Tax Equity - Amends IRC to allow an income tax deduction for legal expenses of individuals bringing sexual harassment suits against their employers. Subtitle G: Equal Remedies - Amends certain provisions of the Revised Statutes, as added by the Civil Rights Act of 1991, to provide for equalization of remedies. Subtitle H: Federal Temporary Workers Protection - Amends Federal civil service law to provide eligibility for health benefits for certain Federal temporary workers. Subtitle I: Contingent Work Force Equity - Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to require that contingent (part-time or temporary) workers receive the same wages as full-time workers for the same work (with exceptions for differential payments pursuant to seniority, merit, or production quantity-or-quality systems or based on factors other than employment status). (Sec. 19002) Amends the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 to require employers to protect all workers (not only their own employees) from hazards within the employers' control. Directs the Secretary of Labor to study whether the health and safety of part-time or temporary employees are being adequately monitored and, if not, to determine how such monitoring can be made adequate. (Sec. 19003) Amends the Family and Medical Leave Act to lower the threshold for employee coverage to 125 hours of service with an employer during the previous three-month period. (Sec. 19004) Directs the Secretary of Labor, through the Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, to carry out an annual survey identifying the characteristics of temporary workers and their relationships with the establishments at which they are temporarily employed and, where appropriate, with their permanent employers. (Sec. 19005) Amends the National Labor Relations Act to include in collective bargaining units part-time or temporary workers with reasonable expectations of continued employment. (Sec. 19006) Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1970 (ERISA) to provide for: (1) treatment of employees working at less than full-time (500 or more hours but less than 1,000 hours service per year) under participation, vesting, and accrual rules governing pension plans; (2) treatment of part-time workers (less than 30 hours service per week) under group health plans; and (3) inclusion of certain individuals whose services are leased or contracted for under the definition of employee. (Sec. 19007) Amends IRC to require States to provide unemployment compensation to part-time workers unavailable for full-time work. Title II: Economic Opportunity - Subtitle A: Microenterprise Opportunity Expansion - Provides various means of promoting and assisting microenterprises (commercial enterprises with five or fewer employees, one or more of whom own the enterprise). (Sec. 21001) Amends the Social Security Act to exclude certain business assets from resources and income for purposes of eligibility under the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program and the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program. Extends public assistance benefits under AFDC and Medicaid and under SSI and Medicaid for persons with income from or resources in a microenterprise. (Sec. 21002) Amends IRC provisions relating to State law requirements for unemployment compensation to provide for payment of unemployment compensation, under certain conditions, to individuals starting microenterprises. Allows State unemployment compensation funds to be used to provide microenterprise startup assistance to eligible individuals. (Sec. 21003) Amends the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977 to provide for treatment of microenterprise loans and grants by insured depository institutions as community reinvestment. (Sec. 21004) Amends the Home Owners' Loan Act to provide for treatment of microenterprise loans by savings associations as qualified thrift investments. (Sec. 21005) Amends the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 to allow the use of community development block grant assistance for administrative costs of entities assisting microenterprises. (Sec. 21006) Requires each Federal banking agency to establish a Microenterprise Technical and Operations Office as a division to offer technical assistance, training, outreach, and other support to: (1) groups and individuals engaged in, or desiring to establish, a microenterprise; and (2) institutions which offer credit or financial services to microenterprises. (Sec. 21007) Directs the Financial Institutions Examination Council to study and report, with recommendations, to the Congress on the best means to make credit available to small businesses which: (1) do not qualify for microenterprise loans or need credit in larger amounts than such loans make available; and (2) need credit in smaller amounts than is generally available from financial institutions or the Small Business Administration. Subtitle B: Commission on the Advancement of Women in the Science and Engineering Work Forces - Establishes the Commission on the Advancement of Women in the Science and Engineering Work Forces to study and report to the Congress on the recruitment, retention, and advancement of women in the science and engineering work forces. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle C: Equal Surety Bond Opportunity - Sets forth equal surety bond requirements. Lists activities constituting unlawful discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, marital status, sexual orientation, disability, or age, as well as those not constituting such discrimination. Requires statements of reasons for adverse actions on surety bond applications. (Sec. 23002) Provides for civil liability for violations of this subtitle. (Sec. 23003) Prohibits the Secretary of the Treasury from approving as a surety a company which does not maintain full compliance with the requirements of this subtitle. Sets forth administrative enforcement procedures. Subtitle D: Self-Sufficiency Standard - Amends the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) to define economic self-sufficiency. (Sec. 24003) Establishes economic self-sufficiency standards for adult training programs under JTPA. (Sec. 24004) Prohibits State Governors from awarding incentive grants to service delivery areas that do not have an approved local economic self-sufficiency standards table in effect. (Sec. 24005) Requires inclusion of the local economic self-sufficiency standards table and related reports in: (1) the job training plan; and (2) the Governor's coordination and special services plan. (Sec. 24007) Authorizes appropriations to the Secretary of Labor for grants to States for economic self-sufficiency demonstration programs. Subtitle E: Community Reinvestment - Amends the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977 to direct the appropriate Federal financial supervisory agencies to jointly develop a format for collecting (and reporting to the public) specified types of data from regulated financial institutions concerning their record of meeting the credit needs of their local communities, including low- and moderate-income neighborhoods. Subtitle F: Telecommunications Economic Opportunity - Directs the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to: (1) require each provider of telecommunications services to submit annual plans, and implementation reports, for increasing its procurement, in underrepresented categories, from business enterprises that are owned by minorities or women; (2) report annually to the Congress on such matters; and (3) establish regulations and criteria for determining eligibility of minority-or woman-owned businesses for such procurement contracts. Sets forth sanctions and remedies relating to specified violations. Subtitle G: HHS Women Scientist Employment Opportunity - Amends the Public Health Service Act to add a new title XXVII, Women's Scientific Employment with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), relating to the employment of women as scientists in specified agencies of HHS, specified aspects of such employment, and inclusion of women in intramural and extramural conferences and other groups. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle H: Women in Enterprise Development - Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to direct the Administrator of the Agency for International Development (AID) to establish and implement a Women in Enterprise Development Program, including provisions for financial, educational, and informational assistance. Urges the Administrator to use a specified portion of funds for microenterprise development. Title III: Work and Family - Subtitle A: Child Care Consolidation and Investment - Amends the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 to appropriate funds for FY 1997 through 2001 for child care services for eligible children through the awarding of grants to States. (Sec. 31003) Changes from discretionary to mandatory the existing program of child care and development block grants for States. Decreases from 25 to 20 percent the amount of funds a State shall reserve per fiscal year for activities to improve the quality of child care and to provide before- and after-school and early childhood development services. Directs States to reserve at least 50 percent of grant amounts for child care activities to support low-income working families. Requires State plans to assure that the availability of child care will be coordinated with AFDC requirements, and to ensure that the parent of a dependent child is not required to undertake an education, job training or search, or employment requirement unless child care assistance is available. Directs the Secretary to establish a child care quality improvement incentive initiative to make funds available to States that demonstrate progress in the implementation of: (1) innovative teacher training programs; or (2) enhanced child care quality standards and licensing and monitoring procedures. (Sec. 31004) Amends part A (Aid to Families with Dependent Children) (AFDC) of title IV of the Social Security Act to repeal the AFDC, Job Opportunities and Basic Skills (JOBS) Training program, and transitional child care programs, as well as the at-risk child care program. Repeals the Child Development Assistance Associate Scholarship Assistance Act of 1985, and the authority for State dependent care grants under the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1981. Subtitle B: Child Care Public-Private Partnership - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish a business-incentive grant program to provide child care through public-private partnerships. (Sec. 32001) Provides program grants to cover not more than one-third of the costs for: (1) businesses or consortia (two or more businesses acting jointly, which may also include a nonprofit private organization) to start up, or provide additional, employee child care services; and (2) nonprofit business organizations to provide technical information and assistance to enable businesses to provide employee child care services. (Sec. 32004) Gives priority in grant selection to businesses with fewer than 100 full-time employees and to business and consortia applications. Requires equitable geographic distribution. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle C: Dependent Care Tax Credit Refundability - Repeals the Internal Revenue Code's nonrefundable income tax credit for employment-related dependent care expenses, replacing it with a corresponding refundable 50 percent credit, reduced (but not below 20 percent) as the taxpayer's adjusted gross income exceeds $15,000 (adjusted for inflation). Includes within the scope of the new credit up to $1,200 ($2,400 in the case of more than one qualifying individual) of respite care expenses incurred in the care of: (1) a dependent of the taxpayer who is at least 13 years old; or (2) a spouse or other dependent who is physically or mentally incapable of self-care. Subtitle D: IRA Deductions for Homemakers - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow certain spouses a full deduction for contributions to an individual retirement account. Subtitle E: Federal Parental Leave for Education Activities - Amends the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 to extend coverage to employees at worksites where the employer employs at least 25 (currently 50) employees at the worksite and within 75 miles of that worksite. (Sec. 35002) Allows covered employees to take up to four hours during any 30-day period, and up to 24 hours during any 12-month period, of parental involvement leave to participate in or attend their children's educational and extracurricular activities. (Sec. 35003) Amends Federal civil service law to apply the same parental involvement leave allowance to Federal employees. Subtitle F: Tax Incentives for Family-Friendly Workplaces - Amends the IRC with respect to business related credits to establish: (1) a small business family and medical leave credit; and (2) a credit for wages paid to an employee who is allowed to shift hours of employment or to work at home in order to reduce child care needs. Subtitle G: Parental Equity Leave - Requires an employer to provide an employee who is a parent of an adopted child or a foster child with the same leave the employer provides (in addition to leave required by the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993) an employee who is on parent leave for the birth of a child. Title IV: Economic Self-Sufficiency - Subtitle A: Child Support Responsibility - Amends part D (Child Support and Establishment of Paternity) of title IV of the Social Security Act (SSA) to require States to have statutorily prescribed procedures to: (1) record child support orders in a central case registry; and (2) collect child support payments through a centralized collections unit. Permits parties to a child support order to opt for an alternative payment procedure. (Sec. 41102) Revises the guidelines for: (1) State plans for child and spousal support; and (2) payments distribution. (Sec. 41103) Requires State plans to establish procedural guidelines for: (1) notification of all proceedings and orders affecting child support obligations; and (2) privacy safeguards regarding paternity and child support actions. (Sec. 41201) Revises the formula for: (1) Federal matching payments to the States; and (2) incentive adjustments to the Federal matching rate. (Sec. 41203) Requires a State plan for child and spousal support to include prescribed procedures for State reviews and audits. Revises the guidelines for Federal evaluation and audit of State programs governing paternity, child and spousal support, and parent location. (Sec. 41205) Revises the automated data processing requirements for State plans to mandate a single statewide automated data processing and information retrieval system which can perform specified tasks. (Sec. 41206) Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to conduct staffing studies of each State child support enforcement program and to report the results to the Congress. (Sec. 41207) Makes funds available to the Secretary for: (1) training of Federal and State staff, research and demonstration programs, and special projects of regional and national significance; and (2) operation of the Federal Parent Locator Service. (Sec. 41301) Mandates that the single statewide automated data system function as a single central case registry of State-provided services and support orders. Delineates contents of case records and data matching activities, including data exchange with sister States. (Sec. 41301) Requires State plans to include a centralized, automated unit for the collection and disbursement of support payments. (Sec. 41303) Requires the States to have statutorily prescribed procedures: (1) for mandatory income withholding for support payments subject to enforcement; and (2) under which child support orders issued before October 1, 1996, shall become subject to withholding from wages if arrearages occur, without the need for a judicial or administrative hearing. Revises the procedural guidelines for income withholding for child support enforcement. (Sec. 41305) Revises the Federal Parent Locator Service to add kinds of information which may be transmitted to locate individuals and assets for purposes of establishing parentage and executing child support obligations. Requires the Secretary to establish in the Service a Data Bank of Child Support Orders and an automated Directory of New Hires. (Sec. 41306) Requires State plans to include procedures for recording social security numbers on certain family legal documents and records. (Sec. 41401) Requires each State to have the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act in effect as of January 1, 1997. (Sec. 41402) Amends the Federal judicial code to revise the procedures for a court to apply when determining which State order to recognize for purposes of continuing, exclusive jurisdiction and enforcement for child support orders. (Sec. 41403) Amends SSA title IV part D to revise State plan guidelines for mandatory expedited administrative and judicial procedures to include: (1) authorized genetic testing to establish paternity; and (2) the securing of assets and increasing of monthly payments to satisfy a support arrearage. (Sec. 41502) Revises the guidelines for statutorily prescribed procedures governing genetic testing and outreach for voluntary paternity acknowledgment. (Sec. 41601) Establishes the National Child Support Guidelines Commission to develop a national child support guideline for consideration by the Congress that is based on a study of various guideline models, the benefits and deficiencies of such models, and any needed improvement. (Sec. 41602) Revises the requirements for State plan procedures for the review and adjustment of support orders. (Sec. 41701) Amends the Internal Revenue Code to revise the order of refund distribution with respect to past-due support owed to individuals. (Sec. 41703) Amends SSA title IV part D to revise procedural guidelines for: (1) consent by the United States to income withholding, garnishment, and similar proceedings for enforcement of child support and alimony obligations of current and retired Federal employees; and (2) enforcement of child support obligations of current and retired members of the armed forces. (Sec. 41705) Requires States to have statutorily prescribed procedures for: (1) placing liens for child support arrearages on motor vehicle titles of the debtor; (2) voiding fraudulent transfers by a child support debtor; (3) suspending any driver's, business, or occupational license issued to any person who owes past-due child support; (4) reporting to credit bureaus the name of the parent in arrears for child support; (5) extending the statute of limitations for collection of child support arrearages; and (6) calculating interest or penalties on such arrearages. (Sec. 41711) Prescribes procedural guidelines for passport denial (including revocation) upon certification of nonpayment of child support. (Sec. 41712) Expresses the sense of the Congress that the United States should ratify the United Nations Convention of 1956. Requires State plans to provide that the State must treat international child support cases as interstate cases. (Sec. 41801) Amends ERISA to include within the definition of medical child support order an order issued through a State administrative process. Subtitle B: Interstate Child Support - Amends part D (Child Support and Establishment of Paternity) of SSA title IV to allow the Federal Parent Locator Service (FPLS) to be used along with appropriate disclosure safeguards for parentage establishment and child support and visitation enforcement. (Sec. 42101) Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) denial of visitation rights under a child support order should be treated as irrelevant in any action to enforce its support provisions; and (2) failure to pay child support pursuant to such an order should be treated likewise in any action to enforce visitation rights. (Sec. 42102) Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to enter into an agreement to provide the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) (Secretary) with access to quarterly estimated Federal income tax returns filed with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Requires that: (1) State agencies charged with child support enforcement maintain child support order registries and be allowed access to medical, financial, employment, and other specified data base information on absent parents; (2) registry information from each State be sent to the Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) (designated under title VI of this Act) within HHS for a national registry of all State child support orders. Expresses the sense of the Congress that the Secretary should investigate accessing certain Federal data banks not linked with FPLS. (Sec. 42103) Requires the Secretary to expand FPLS to provide State agencies and courts with a national locate and case tracking network. Expresses the sense of the Congress that the network should be used to access State records only through the agency administering the State's part D plan. (Sec. 42104) Requires that private attorneys and pro se obligees be given access, in accordance with appropriate safeguards, to State locate resources and through enforcement techniques with respect to child support, visitation, and parentage orders. (Sec. 42105) Amends the IRC to require employers to withhold from employee wages amounts owed for child support. Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to modify the W-4 form completed by new employees in order to enable employers to obtain employee child support and other information for the appropriate State employment security agency. (Sec. 42106) Requires the heads of national and regional individual tracking systems to allow child support enforcement agencies access to their information for paternity or child support purposes. (Sec. 42107) Requires that States: (1) broadcast warrants issued in child support proceedings over their crime information systems; (2) remit, in a criminal case, to any individual owed child support any security posted by or on behalf of the individual owing the support and then forfeited, to the extent of any arrearage in support owed; and (3) have procedures to obtain access to financial records for purposes of child support establishment and enforcement. (Sec. 42201) Amends SSA title IV part D to provide for service of process on Federal employees and members of the armed forces in connection with parentage and child support proceedings. (Sec. 42202) Requires that: (1) parents' identification and locate information be filed with the appropriate adjudicating entity in parentage and child support actions; (2) there be appropriate safeguards on such information where a court has ordered that the custodial parent or child receive physical protection from the noncustodial parent; (3) appropriate administrative agencies make reasonable attempts to timely notify any individual owed child support of any proceeding to establish, modify, or enforce the support obligation; (4) States allow parties seeking both parentage and child support establishment in a judicial proceeding to bring a joint action in a single cause of action; (5) States provide for uniform procedures regarding jurisdiction and venue in parentage and child support cases; (6) States provide for continuation of parental child support obligations until they terminate in specified ways; (7) States allow parties to participate in interstate parentage and child support proceedings by telephonic means; (8) marriage licenses, birth certificates, and divorce and parentage decrees contain social security numbers; and (9) appropriate State agencies be allowed subpoena power in connection with child support hearings. (Sec. 42205) Amends the Consumer Credit Protection Act (CCPA) to allow appropriate State agencies to obtain from credit reporting agencies information for establishing and modifying child support awards. (Sec. 42206) Creates a National Child Support Guidelines Commission to study and report to the President and the Congress on national child support guidelines, and to develop such guidelines for congressional consideration should it be advisable. (Sec. 42207) Amends SSA title IV part D to specify certain principles to be used in accordance with the application of State child support guidelines. (Sec. 42208) Expresses the sense of the Congress that, if children receive child support while obtaining postsecondary education, they will attain higher levels of education affording them a greater chance to break the welfare cycle. (Sec. 42209) Requires the new OCSE Assistant Secretary to develop: (1) a national subpoena duces tecum for distribution to child support agencies and others to use to reach income information; and (2) a uniform abstract of a child support order for State court use. (Sec. 42214) Requires the Legal Services Corporation to ensure the use of a specified amount of funding for child support cases. (Sec. 42215) Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) children on Indian reservations be accorded the same right of support currently afforded to off-reservation children; (2) State and tribal governments should, to the greatest extent possible, ensure that jurisdictional issues do not prevent any Indian child from receiving the support to which the child is entitled; and (3) States should work with community-based organizations with ties to underserved populations to develop better methods to reach and work with such populations to encourage the filing of more support orders. Amends the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 to require Indian tribes to give full faith and credit to child support orders of other Indian tribes, to the extent such entities already give full faith and credit to the acts, records, and proceedings of the other entity. (Sec. 42216) Amends SSA title IV part D to set forth specific measures, including grants for certain demonstration projects, designed to secure child support services in underserved areas and combat domestic violence. (Sec. 42301) Amends SSA title IV part D to: (1) require States to adopt various specified procedures for voluntary paternity acknowledgment; and (2) provide for 90 percent Federal matching for such programs. Expresses the sense of the Congress that, in a proceeding to establish paternity, once paternity is alleged, the burden of proof should shift to the alleged father. (Sec. 42401) Amends SSA title IV part D to: (1) require States to mandate that an employer comply with wage withholding orders issued by any State court or administrative agency; (2) specify the priority for applying amounts withheld from income for child support and child health insurance; (3) subject to withholding for child support income from workers' compensation and other specified Federal sources; (4) prohibit State court application of the election of remedies doctrine to prevent collection of child support; (5) deny State occupational, professional, and business licenses, and driver's licenses and vehicle registrations to delinquent noncustodial parents; (6) authorize liens on vehicle titles, seizure of bank accounts, and holds on lottery winnings, settlements, payouts, bequests, and proceeds from the sale of forfeited property to satisfy child support arrearages; (7) require States to make a rebuttable presumption that any transfer of property by an individual who owes a child support arrearage is made with the intent to avoid payment of the arrearage; (8) revise the mechanism for collection of past-due child support from Federal tax refunds to cover post-minor children who do not receive AFDC; (9) authorize attachment of retirement plan interests without a separate court order to satisfy child support arrearages; (10) permit enforcement of any child support order until the child is at least 30; (11) require interest on all child support judgments; (12) require States to adopt the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act adopted by the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform Laws in August 1992; (13) allow State courts to order the assignment of life insurance benefits and interests in jointly held property to satisfy child support arrearages; and (14) require States to treat international child support cases in the same manner as interstate child support cases. (Sec. 42404) Amends CCPA with respect to State laws and garnishments for securing child support. Gives Federal debts a lower priority than child support debts when the obligor's disposable income cannot satisfy both debts through withholding. Prohibits employers from discharging any employee whose earnings are subject to garnishment for additional indebtedness arising from a child support order. (Sec. 42406) Denies Federal occupational, professional, and business licenses for delinquent individuals until the license hold is released. (Sec. 42412) Expresses the sense of the Congress that the IRS Commissioner should instruct IRS field officers and agents to give a high priority to requests for the use of full collection in delinquent child support cases. Requires the Secretary of Treasury to simplify the full collection process and reduce the amount of child support arrearage needed before an individual may apply for full collection. (Sec. 42417) Sets forth requirements pertaining to parentage establishment and child support payments in the armed forces. (Sec. 42419) Directs the Comptroller General and Secretary of the Treasury to study the feasibility of an annual reconciliation process for paying child support arrearages as part of the Federal income tax process. (Sec. 42420) Authorizes the Secretary of State to refuse, revoke, or restrict passports in cases where the applicant or holder is a noncustodial parent subject to a State arrest warrant for nonpayment of a substantial child support arrearage. (Sec. 42421) Prohibits Federal benefits, loans, guarantees, and employment for individuals owing certain child support arrearages. (Sec. 42424) Expresses the sense of the Congress that the United States should ratify the United Nations Convention of 1956. (Sec. 42501) Amends SSA title IV part D to: (1) set priorities for State distribution of child support collections; (2) require States to limit claims against noncustodial parents for reimbursement of a child's portion of AFDC to the amount in the child support order; (3) revise part D plan provisions concerning fees; and (4) require States to provide for collection and disbursement points for child support cases. Requires the Comptroller General to conduct studies and pilot projects with respect to requiring State systems to pay the child support collected under a State plan to the individuals to whom the support is owed before making any payment to reimburse any State for AFDC provided with respect to the child in question. Amends IRC to revise the Federal income tax refund offset mechanism. (Sec. 42505) Expresses the sense of the Congress that States should encourage parents to use the State child support agency to process and distribute child support payments in order to establish an official payment record. (Sec. 42601) Amends SSA title IV part D to: (1) designate the separate organizational unit currently charged with various parentage and child support responsibilities as the Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE); and (2) change OCSE's organizational structure. (Sec. 42602) Requires: (1) the new OCSE Assistant Secretary to provide training assistance to the States; (2) States to provide for training of child support personnel; and (3) the Secretary to study staffing at State child support enforcement programs and reduce payments to States that have not implemented recommended staffing levels. (Sec. 42604) Requires the Secretary to: (1) authorize demonstration projects to test alternative approaches to incentive funding for State child support programs; and (2) reduce payments to States which have not reinvested incentive payments in their child support programs. Provides that "support" under SSA title IV part D with respect to incentive payments to States includes premiums paid for health insurance coverage pursuant to a support order. Expresses the sense of the Congress that States should not use amounts paid to them pursuant to SSA title IV part D, which are reinvested in child support activities, to supplant State funding of such activities. (Sec. 42606) Requires the Secretary to: (1) contract for a study of OCSE's audit process to develop criteria and methodology for auditing activities of State child support enforcement agencies; and (2) provide for State demonstration projects for the purpose of ensuring that custodial parents owed child support have a consistent source of income for the support of their children. (Sec. 42607) Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) children should have a consistent source of income to meet their education and medical needs; (2) the provision of public assistance to a custodial parent for the support of a child with respect to whom the noncustodial parent owes child support does not absolve the latter of the obligation to provide such support; (3) the States must continue to vigorously pursue efforts to establish parentage, and establish and enforce child support obligations; and (4) OCSE should develop a mechanism to publicize the best State practices in child support. (Sec. 42608) Amends the Internal Revenue Code to establish in the Treasury a Children's Trust Fund to hold the contributions designated by individuals on their tax returns for funding child support programs. (Sec. 42609) Requires: (1) the Comptroller General to study and report to the Congress on delinquent child support payments and the effectiveness of administrative as compared with judicial adjudication of parentage and child support cases; and (2) OCSE to produce and update a certain compendium of State child support laws published by the National Conference of State Legislatures, and establish a permanent child support advisory committee. (Sec. 42701) Amends SSA title IV part D to require States to: (1) promote the greatest economic security possible for children, within the obligor's ability to pay; (2) provide custodial parents with certain information on child support cases and the services available under their part D plans; and (3) require no more than administrative procedures for any changes in child support payees. (Sec. 42703) Expresses the sense of the Congress that States should: (1) work closely with parents to improve the quality of child support services; (2) have offices in areas accessible to public transportation with convenient hours that allow parents to meet privately with attorneys and caseworkers; and (3) establish administrative procedures to process child support cases and a child support council to recommend improvements in State paternity and child support programs. (Sec. 42801) Expresses the sense of the Congress that any Federal program to provide jobs for noncustodial parents should be administered so as not to adversely affect any Federal program for custodial parents. Requires the Secretary to transmit evaluations of certain projects under SSA title IV part F (Job Opportunities and Basic Skills Training Program) (JOBS) to the Secretary of Labor for study and possible action, including authorizing States to provide services of greater scope and duration to unemployed noncustodial parents under such program. Subtitle C: Child Support Enforcement Improvements - Shields a depository institution from Federal or State liability to a person for disclosing individual financial records to a State child support enforcement agency attempting to establish, modify, or enforce a child support obligation. Establishes civil damages for unauthorized disclosure. (Sec. 43002) Amends the Fair Credit Reporting Act to grant a State child support enforcement agency access to and use of consumer reports. (Sec. 43003) Amends the SSA title IV part D to mandate certain State-prescribed procedures which require any child support order to include coverage of the health care costs of the child. Directs the Secretary to study and report to the Congress on incentives that should be provided to encourage State enforcement of non-custodial parents' obligations to pay the medical and dental expenses of their children. (Sec. 43004) Requires an annual report to the Congress on State compliance with the time limits within which State agencies must respond to requests for certain child support assistance. (Sec. 43005) Requires States to have statutorily prescribed procedures imposing a late payment penalty for an employer's failure to remit to the State within ten days wages withheld to pay child support obligations to the State. (Sec. 43006) Instructs the Secretary to expand the Parent Locator Service to establish a national network based on the comprehensive statewide child support enforcement systems developed by the States. Subtitle D: Single Parent Protection - Amends the IRC to allow an income tax credit for any unpaid child support to which the taxpayer is entitled. Mandates a corresponding increase in the income tax owed by the individual obligated to make such child support payment. Subtitle E: Women's Pension Equity - Amends the IRC and ERISA to direct the Secretary of the Treasury to develop a model spousal consent form for the waiver of a qualified joint and survivor annuity or a qualified preretirement survivor annuity. (Sec. 45002) Amends the Railroad Retirement Act of 1974 to extend tier II railroad retirement benefits to surviving former spouses pursuant to divorce agreements. (Sec. 45003) Amends the Federal civil service code to provide for survivor annuities for widows, widowers, and former spouses of Federal employees who die before attaining the age for a deferred annuity under the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS). (Sec. 45004) Includes payments to a former spouse of a Federal employee, Member of Congress, or Federal annuitant under CSRS and Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) retirement payments that may be made under a court decree, court order, property settlement, or similar process. (Sec. 45005) Requires deduction of court-ordered payments to former spouses from any retirement benefits under CSRS or FERS, regardless of any waiver of retired pay made to enhance a civil service retirement annuity. Subtitle F: Pension Reform - Extends the applicability of the pension nondiscrimination rules to integrated pension plans under the Tax Reform Act of 1986 to benefits attributable to plan years beginning on or before December 31, 1988. Repeals the provision allowing integration for simplified employee pensions. (Sec. 46002) Amends the Tax Reform Act of 1986 to require an employer operating a single line of business to designate a qualified trust as part of a plan benefiting all the employer's employees. (Sec. 46003) Amends the IRC and ERISA to repeal the special vesting rule for multiemployer plans. (Sec. 46004) Provides for the division of pension benefits upon divorce. Subtitle G: Social Security Caregiver - Amends title II (Old-Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) of the Social Security Act to provide for an increase in the number of years disregarded in determining the benefit computation years for an individual living with a child under age 12 or with a chronically dependent child, parent, or spouse. (Sec. 47003) Repeals the seven-year restriction on eligibility for widow's and widower's insurance benefits based on disability. (Sec. 47004) Provides for an increase in widow's and widower's insurance benefits by reason of delayed retirement. (Sec. 47006) Exempts from the two-year waiting period following a divorce for divorced spouse's benefits in cases of prior receipt of spouse's benefits. (Sec. 47008) Provides for full benefits for disabled widows and widowers without regard to age. (Sec. 47009) Prohibits any reduction in widow's or widower's insurance benefits for disabled individual. Title V: Economic Impact of Domestic Violence - Subtitle A: Workplace Violence Prevention Tax Credit - Amends the IRC to allow a workplace safety program credit to an employer for 40 percent of the safety and education costs paid or incurred by such employer to implement workplace safety programs to combat violence against women. Subtitle B: Insurance Protection for Victims of Domestic Violence - Amends the Public Health Service Act to create a new title prohibiting health insurers from: (1) discriminating against an individual or group because the individual or a family member is the subject of domestic violence; or (2) disclosing or being compelled (subject to exception) to disclose information concerning the status of an individual as a victim of domestic violence. (Sec. 52001) Mandates development of model standards. Requires each State to report on its implementation actions and, where States fail to act, provides for Federal enforcement involving civil fines against insurers and a Federal private right of action. Subtitle C: Fairness to Minority Women Health - Amends part A (Aid to Families with Dependent Children) (AFDC) of SSA title IV and the Food Stamp Act of 1977 to exempt aliens and their children from provisions attributing to the alien the income and resources of the sponsor and the sponsor's spouse if the alien is battered by, or the subject of extreme cruelty by, the person who executed the affidavit of support or similar agreement regarding the alien. (Sec. 53003) Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to prohibit payments to States for obstetrical or gynecological services unless the hospital, clinic, or provider has available at least one individual who is able to communicate in the predominant language used by residents of the area. Amends the Public Health Service Act to allow grants for family planning projects only if the service providers under the grant have at least one such individual. Amends the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act to prohibit making funds available under the Act unless providers of shelter or related assistance have at least one such individual. (Sec. 53004) Mandates a study and report to the Congress regarding domestic violence in which Latina women are the victims. Subtitle D: Battered Women's Employment Protection - Amends the IRC with respect to unemployment tax to require appropriate State laws to provide for unemployment compensation for an individual separated from employment due to circumstances directly resulting from the individual's experience of domestic violence. (Sec. 54002) Amends the Social Security Act to require State laws approved under the Federal Unemployment Tax Act to provide for training for claims reviewers and hearing personnel in the nature of domestic violence, and in methods of ascertaining its existence, so that employment separations stemming from domestic violence are reliably screened, identified, and adjudicated. (Sec. 54003) Requires employers subject to the Federal Family and Medical Leave Act or similar State law, employment benefits program, or collective bargaining agreement to provide leave to employees seeking temporary absences to deal with domestic violence and its aftermath. Entitles employees to use such leave to deal with domestic violence. Subtitle E: Domestic Violence Legal Services Eligibility - Amends the Legal Services Corporation Act to require the Legal Services Corporation, in establishing income levels to determine if a client who is the victim of domestic violence is eligible for assistance, to prescribe that only that client's income will be considered in making such determination.
United States · United States Congress · 17 July 1996
Battered Women's Employment Protection Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code with respect to unemployment tax to require appropriate State laws to provide for unemployment compensation for an individual separated from employment due to circumstances directly resulting from the individual's experience of domestic violence. Amends the Social Security Act to require State laws approved under the Federal Unemployment Tax Act to provide for training for claims reviewers and hearing personnel in the nature of domestic violence, and in methods of ascertaining its existence, so that employment separations stemming from domestic violence are reliably screened, identified, and adjudicated. Requires employers subject to the Federal Family and Medical Leave Act or similar State law, employment benefits program, or collective bargaining agreement to provide leave to employees seeking temporary absences to deal with domestic violence and its aftermath. Entitles employees to use such leave to deal with domestic violence.
United States · United States Congress · 17 July 1996
Aircraft Repair Station Safety Act of 1996 - Terminates the effectiveness of certain November 22, 1988, amendments to the foreign repair station rules of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Declares that certain standards issued by the FAA that apply to domestic repair stations shall apply in the same manner to foreign repair stations. Amends Federal aviation safety law to require the FAA Administrator to issue an order revoking a repair station certificate if it is determined that the station knowingly used an uncertified or substandard airframe, engine, propeller, appliance, or any other part in the repair or overhaul of an aircraft.
United States · United States Congress · 17 July 1996
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exempt from taxation a qualified State tuition program. Defines such a program.
United States · United States Congress · 11 July 1996
Background Security Records Act of 1996 - Amends the Presidential Records Act of 1978 to direct that any record provided by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to the White House for providing background security information on any individual shall: (1) not be a presidential record; and (2) upon the conclusion of a President's term of office or upon conclusion of the last term, such record shall be returned to the FBI, subject to an exception. Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to maintain and periodically provide to the President and the FBI Director accurate lists of individuals who are employed in or detailed to the White House. Amends the Privacy Act to require that any record provided by the FBI to the White House for providing background security information on an individual shall be maintained at the White House as an FBI record. Prohibits disclosure of a record containing sensitive background information on an individual by the FBI to the White House, except as specified.
United States · United States Congress · 11 July 1996
Authorizes the Ralph David Abernathy Memorial Foundation to establish a memorial on Federal land in the District of Columbia to honor Dr. Ralph David Abernathy and the Poor People's Campaign. Exempts the memorial from provisions of the Commemorative Works Act which: (1) prohibit commemorative works honoring a nonmilitary event, individual, or group of individuals from being authorized until after the 25th anniversary of the event or death of the individual(s); and (2) require the offset of Federal funds used to pay maintenance and preservation expenses of the memorial and its infrastructure (but requires excess construction funds received by the Foundation to be deposited in a Treasury account for such expenses).