United States · United States Congress · 8 June 1993
Congratulates the Anti-Defamation League on its 80th anniversary and commends it for effectively pursuing the goal of promoting greater tolerance throughout the world.
United States · United States Congress · 27 May 1993
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Tax Treatment of Long-Term Care Insurance Title II: Refundable Tax Credit for Certain Custodial Care Title III: Protection of Assets Under Medicaid Through Use of Qualified Long-Term Care Insurance Long-Term Care Insurance Incentive Act of 1993 - Title I: Tax Treatment of Long-Term Care Insurance - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide for the treatment of qualified long-term care insurance as accident and health insurance for purposes of insurance company taxation. Excludes from gross income benefits provided under a long-term care insurance contract. Includes in gross income employer-provided coverage for long-term care services. Allows a tax credit for a percentage of qualified long-term care premiums. Includes amounts paid for qualified long-term care services as medical expenses for individual itemized deductions. Includes any parent or grandparent as a dependent for purposes of such expenses. Provides for the nonrecognition of gain or loss on the exchange of any life insurance contract or an endowment or annuity contract for a long-term care insurance contract. Excludes from gross income certain amounts withdrawn from individual retirement accounts and certain employer cash or deferred arrangements to pay long-term care premiums. Provides for the exclusion as a death benefit of any amount paid or advanced to an individual under a life insurance contract because such individual is terminally ill, chronically ill, or has been permanently confined to a qualified facility. Allows insurance companies to issue accelerated death benefit riders on life insurance contracts. Title II: Refundable Tax Credit for Certain Custodial Care - Allows a $2,000 per qualified person tax credit for taxpayers who maintain a household which includes a chronically ill dependent. Title III: Protection of Assets Under Medicaid Through Use of Qualified Long-Term Care Insurance - Amends title XIX of the Social Security Act (Medicaid) to disregard assets which are attributable to coverage under a qualified long-term care insurance contract for purposes of eligibility.
United States · United States Congress · 27 May 1993
Amends the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States to exclude certain footwear and leather-related products assembled in beneficiary countries from duty-free treatment.
United States · United States Congress · 27 May 1993
Workers' Political Rights Act - Amends the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to permit a labor organization to make political communications and establish and solicit contributions for a separate segregated political fund if it provides the employees it represents with written notification of specified information.
United States · United States Congress · 27 May 1993
Expresses opposition to holding the Olympic Summer Games in the year 2000 in the People's Republic of China. Urges the International Olympic Committee to find another, more suitable venue for the Games. Urges the U.S. Representative to the Committee to vote against holding the Games in China.
United States · United States Congress · 26 May 1993
Comprehensive Recycling Act of 1993 - Requires the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to provide technical assistance and guidance to States on recycling methods and opportunities. Directs States to develop and implement comprehensive multimaterial recycling programs. Requires such programs to be designed to provide at least 20 percent of a State's population with an opportunity to participate in such programs within two years of this Act's enactment. Provides that such programs must be available to an additional 20 percent of a State's population every two years, until the entire population is provided with such opportunity. Requires States to include recycling programs in the solid waste plan required by the Solid Waste Disposal Act. Makes States with approved plans eligible for Federal grants for recycling programs. Amends the Solid Waste Disposal Act to require the Administrator to make grants to States for implementing recycling programs.
United States · United States Congress · 26 May 1993
Amends the Job Training Partnership Act to give priority to placement in private sector jobs under the summer youth employment and training program. Provides that retention in unsubsidized employment shall not be considered an appropriate factor in prescribing performance standards for such program. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to modify the targeted jobs tax credit with respect to qualified summer youth employees by: (1) revising the age limitation to age 14 to 22 (currently 16 to 18); (2) increasing the amount of creditable wages from $3,000 to $3,500; (3) coordinating the credit with Federal summer youth employment programs; and (4) reducing certain paperwork burdens.
United States · United States Congress · 26 May 1993
Designates July 25 through 31, 1993, as National Week of Recognition and Remembrance for Those Who Served in the Korean War. Authorizes the President to urge U.S. departments and agencies, interested organizations, groups, and individuals to fly the American flag at half-staff on July 27, 1993, in honor of the Americans who died as a result of their service in Korea.
United States · United States Congress · 25 May 1993
United States-China Bilateral Human Rights Commission Act of 1993 - Authorizes the President to enter into an agreement with the Government of China to establish a United States-China Bilateral Human Rights Commission. Declares that the Commission should: (1) establish goals for improving human rights in China and the United States; (2) monitor compliance of human rights and investigate human rights abuse cases in such countries; and (3) serve as a vehicle for the resolution of such cases. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 25 May 1993
Foreign Aid Impact Assessment Act - Requires the President to submit triennially to the Congress a report (on a country-by-country basis) analyzing the impact and effectiveness of U.S. economic assistance provided during the preceding three fiscal years. Requires that each report: (1) be submitted to the Congress as a separate document; and (2) identify those countries in which economic assistance has been most and least successful, explain why the assistance was not more successful, and specify what the United States has done as a result.
United States · United States Congress · 20 May 1993
Biennial Budgeting Act of 1993 - Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to revise the Federal and congressional budget processes by establishing a two-year budgeting and appropriations cycle and timetable. Defines the budget biennium as the two consecutive fiscal years beginning on October 1 of any odd-numbered year. Devotes the first session of any Congress to the budget resolution and to appropriations decisions, retaining current deadlines in most cases. Changes certain deadlines to conform to the biennial scheme. Devotes each second session to authorization activity, subject to specified deadlines. Requires the Director of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to issue four-year projections of congressional budget action. (Current projections are on a five-year basis.) Amends provisions relating to the reconciliation process to: (1) increase from 20 to 100 hours the time of debate permitted in the Senate with respect to reconciliation measures; and (2) make it out of order in both the House and the Senate to consider any reconciliation legislation changing any provision of law other than one relating to new budget or spending authority, revenues, or the public debt limit. Conforms provisions governing the President's budget to the biennial framework. Amends the Rules of the House of Representatives to conform to the biennial framework.
United States · United States Congress · 20 May 1993
Commends radio amateurs for their contributions to technical progress in electronics and for their emergency radio communications in times of disaster. Urges the Federal Communications Commission to continue and enhance the development of the amateur radio service as a public benefit by adopting rules and regulations which encourage the use of new technologies within the amateur radio service. Declares that reasonable accommodation should be made for effective operation of amateur radio from residences, private vehicles, and public areas and that regulation at all levels of government should facilitate and encourage amateur radio operation as a public benefit.
United States · United States Congress · 19 May 1993
Pornography Victims Protection Act of 1993 - Amends the Federal criminal code with respect to the prohibition against the sexual exploitation of children to add as a condition triggering Federal penalties that the person concerned knows that a minor was transported in interstate or foreign commerce for the purpose of producing pornography. Makes it a criminal offense for any person to coerce, intimidate, or fraudulently induce an individual 18 years or older to engage in any sexually explicit conduct for the purposes of producing any visual depiction of such conduct. Grants the U.S. district courts jurisdiction to prevent and restrain violations of this Act. Authorizes the Attorney General or any person threatened with loss or damage by such conduct to institute a civil suit. Provides for treble damages for a victim who suffers physical injury, emotional distress, or property damage. Imposes civil penalties for violation of the prohibition against sexual exploitation of children.
United States · United States Congress · 19 May 1993
Amends rule XI of the Rules of the House of Representatives to allow meetings of the standing committees and subcommittees to be closed to the public only if disclosure of matters to be considered would endanger national security or would tend to defame, degrade, or incriminate any person. Repeals provisions making the coverage of committee hearings and meetings by television broadcast, radio broadcast, or still photography a privilege made available by the House. Requires proceedings of open committee hearings or meetings to be open to television broadcast, radio broadcast, and still photography, or by any of such method of coverage. Prohibits a committee or subcommittee chairman from limiting the number of television or still cameras below two representatives from each medium.
United States · United States Congress · 17 May 1993
Native American Veterans' Memorial Establishment Act of 1993 - Authorizes the National Museum of the American Indian to design, construct, and maintain a National Native American Veterans' Memorial. Locates the Memorial on the same site as the National Museum of the American Indian. Provides for funding of the Memorial through private donations. States that the United States shall not pay any of the Memorial's establishment expenses, other than providing the location. Defines "Native American" as an Indian, a Native Hawaiian, and an Alaska Native.
United States · United States Congress · 17 May 1993
Small Business 503 Loan Refinancing Assistance Act of 1993 - Amends the Small Business Investment Act of 1958 to permit a qualified State or local development company that issues a debenture purchased by the Federal Financing Bank (Bank) and guaranteed by the Small Business Administration (SBA), at the election of the small business borrower whose loan secures such debenture, to: (1) continue to make payments under the original debenture terms; (2) make payments at an adjusted interest rate; or (3) prepay the debenture to the Bank by paying the unpaid principal balance and the amount of the repurchase premium (determined under this Act). Prohibits any fees or penalties other than those specified in this Act from being imposed against the issuer, borrower, or the SBA as a condition for adjusting the interest rate or prepayment.
United States · United States Congress · 17 May 1993
Commends: (1) the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the West African Economic Community Monitoring Group (ECOMOG) for their efforts to provide a regional approach toward ending the civil war in Liberia; and (2) ECOMOG for its efforts to secure areas of Liberia in order to ensure that critical humanitarian assistance reaches the needy masses. Supports ECOMOG in its efforts to combat, disarm, and encamp National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) forces and all other armed factions for the purpose of ending the civil war and calling for free and fair elections in Liberia in accordance with the Yamoussoukro Accords. Endorses United Nations (UN) Security Council Resolutions 788 and 813 relating to peacekeeping efforts in Liberia. Welcomes the appointment of Trevor Livingston Gordon-Somers as the Secretary General's Special Representative on Liberia. Encourages the UN and the international community to take concrete steps to support ECOWAS to implement the Accords. Urges: (1) the President to become more actively involved in assisting ECOWAS in its effort to promote a peaceful resolution and to implement the Accords; and (2) the President, the UN, and the international community to continue to support ECOWAS in its effort to provide a regional approach to peaceful conflict resolution in West Africa.
United States · United States Congress · 13 May 1993
Negotiated Rates Act of 1993 - Amends Federal transportation law to authorize persons against whom a claim is made by a motor carrier of property (other than a household goods carrier), or by a nonhousehold goods freight forwarder for the collection of rates or charges in addition to the rates originally collected by such carrier or freight forwarder, to elect to satisfy such claim pursuant to a specified formula upon showing that the carrier or forwarder is no longer transporting property or is transporting property for the purpose of avoiding application of this Act. Requires that the claimant have been offered a rate other than the one legally on file with the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC), have tendered freight in reasonable reliance upon the offered rate, the carrier or forwarder did not properly or timely file a tariff for the rate or failed to execute a valid contract for transportation services, such rate was collected by the carrier or forwarder, and the carrier or forwarder demands additional payment of a higher rate filed in a tariff. Shortens the statute of limitations for the filing of claims: (1) by a motor common carrier or freight forwarder for recovery of transportation or service charges; and (2) by any person to recover overcharges by a motor carrier. Permits motor carriers and shippers to resolve by mutual consent, subject to ICC review and approval, any overcharge and undercharge claims resulting from billing errors or incorrect tariff provisions arising from the inadvertent failure to properly and timely file and maintain agreed upon rates, rules, or classifications. Prohibits a tariff filed with the ICC from being held invalid solely on the basis that it uses a numerical or alpha account code to designate customers or describe the applicability of rates. Requires a motor contract carrier to enter into a written agreement (separate from a bill of lading or receipt) for the provision of transportation services. Sets forth both civil and criminal penalties for violations of this requirement. Requires the ICC to issue regulations prohibiting any motor carrier from reducing a rate set forth in its tariff or contract for any person but the one paying for the transportation service. Sets forth civil penalties. Grants the ICC jurisdiction to resolve disputes arising with respect to certain motor carriers as to whether transportation is provided as a motor common carrier or as a motor contract carrier. Directs the Secretary of Transportation to arrange with the Transportation Research Board to study and report to specified congressional committees on: (1) the public benefits of tariff rate filings by motor carriers of property with the ICC; (2) the extent to which such filing system is used by shippers; (3) the difficulty and cost of determining rates for transportation services under such system; and (4) the number of actions brought before the ICC with respect to such rates.
United States · United States Congress · 12 May 1993
ESOP Promotion and Improvement Act of 1993 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow S corporations (certain small business corporations) to participate in employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs). Permits ESOP participants whose compensation does not exceed a certain amount to contribute up to 50 percent of it to the plan. Allows ESOP closely-held corporate sponsors to pay estate tax if an estate transferred the stock of the corporation to an ESOP. Allows the deductibility of ESOP dividends in computing alternative minimum tax. Excludes from gross income transfers of qualified securities in connection with the performance of services if such securities are sold to an ESOP within 60 days of the taxable event.
United States · United States Congress · 12 May 1993
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a general business credit for the cost of installing an automatic sprinkler system in a qualified building, but only if such installation is not in connection with the original construction of such building. Allows a deduction for such unused credits.
United States · United States Congress · 12 May 1993
Many Neighbors, One Earth Resolution - Urges the President to develop and implement a coordinated economic and development policy and program of action designed to promote broadbased, sustainable development that will reduce global hunger and poverty in environmentally sound ways. Specifies that such policy and program should have as its principal objectives: (1) expanding economic opportunities; (2) meeting basic human needs; (3) promoting environmental protection and sustainable use of natural resources; and (4) promoting pluralism, democratic participation, and human rights. Specifies that such policy and program should involve all relevant international activities of the U.S. Government. Urges the President to take specific actions, including: (1) proposing the enactment of legislation providing for a post-Cold War foreign assistance program to promote sustainable development, especially the reduction of hunger and poverty in environmentally sound ways; (2) developing and implementing development cooperation programs and projects in pursuit of such objectives; (3) ensuring that development cooperation programs take into account relevant local perspectives of the rural and urban poor during the design, planning, and implementation process for project and program assistance; and (4) encouraging and supporting the efforts of countries to reduce their level of military spending when such spending is disproportionate to security needs and to spending on health, education, and environmental protection.
United States · United States Congress · 11 May 1993
Rescinds amounts appropriated in the Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 1993 for the following Select Committees: Aging; Children, Youth and Families; Hunger; and Narcotics Abuse and Control.
United States · United States Congress · 11 May 1993
Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) the accounting standards proposed by the Financial Accounting Standards Board will have grave economic consequences, particularly for businesses in new-growth sectors; and (2) the Board should not change the current accounting rules by requiring that businesses deduct from profits the value of stock options.
United States · United States Congress · 5 May 1993
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Guaranteed Access to Affordable Health Care Coverage Title II: Small Employer Insurance Reform Title III: Health Care Cost Containment Subtitle A: Denial of Certain Tax Deductions and Exclusion for Excess Benefits Subtitle B: Medical Malpractice Reform Subtitle C: Administrative Cost Savings Subtitle C (sic): Estimates of Expenses Prior to Treatment Subtitle D: Antitrust Exemptions Title IV: Long-Term Care Subtitle A: Treatment of Long-Term Care Insurance Plans Subtitle B: Treatment of Accelerated Death Benefits Title V: Incentives for Provision of Services in Rural Areas Comprehensive Health and Rural Equality Act of 1993 - Title I: Guaranteed Access to Affordable Health Care Coverage - Requires all citizens and lawful aliens residing in the United States who are not covered under a health insurance program to register with the Secretary of Health and Human Services and be enrolled under a MedEquality plan. Provides: (1) for the issuance of a credit certificate which can only be used to purchase a MedEquality plan to each eligible individual; and (2) that the certificate's value shall be at the maximum level for individuals and families below the poverty line and that such certificate shall have no value for individuals and families with incomes of more than 150 percent of the poverty level. Provides for payments to States with agreements to carry out this title. Requires each licensed insurance carrier in a State, to make a MedEquality plan available to residents residing in the State. Title II: Small Employer Insurance Reform - Provides for the establishment of general standards for MedEquality plans. Requires each small employer carrier in a State to make available to each small employer a MedEquality plan. Sets forth the requirements for such a plan, including that it be designed to provide only basic hospital, medical, surgical, preventive, and diagnostic benefits so as to make it affordable to small employers. Prohibits the limitation of benefits based on a preexisting condition if: (1) the condition did not exist within six months before coverage; or (2) the limitation extends more than 12 months after coverage. Provides for the establishment of reinsurance mechanisms for high risk individuals. Preempts from insurance mandates qualified small employer purchasing groups. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to permanently make 100 percent of the health insurance costs for self-employed individuals deductible by 1997. Preempts the following provisions of State law: (1) restrictions on reimbursement rates or selective contracting; (2) restrictions on differential financial incentives; and (3) restrictions on utilization review. Title III: Health Care Cost Containment - Subtitle A: Denial of Certain Tax Deductions and Exclusion for Excess Benefits - Denies an employer a deduction for any expenses incurred for employee health care that are not within the basic benefits of a MedEquality plan. Denies the exclusion to an employee from gross income of employer-provided health care coverage to the extent coverage is provided for benefits not included in a MedEquality plan. Subtitle B: Medical Malpractice Reform - Prohibits a medical malpractice claim following the two year period beginning the date after which the injury should have been discovered, but in no event may it be brought more than four years following the injury. Provides an exception for children under six years of age. Requires the initial resolution of a medical malpractice claim under an alternative dispute resolution (ADR) system before any such claim may be brought in a State court. Requires the use of ADR in malpractice claims brought before a Federal agency. Requires a pretrial settlement conference before beginning a medical malpractice trial. Limits the award of noneconomic and punitive damages in medical malpractice cases. Limits attorney's fees in such cases. Prohibits joint liability. Requires a defendant's actions to have been not reasonable before being found negligent in such cases. Provides a complete defense to a defendant who followed the appropriate practice guideline. Sets forth requirements for a State's ADR system. Permits State professional societies to participate in licensing and disciplinary activities. Subtitle C: Administrative Cost Savings - Requires the adoption of: (1) data elements for use in paper and electronic claims processing; (2) uniform claims forms; and (3) uniform electronic transmission of the data elements. Requires the promulgation of standards for hospitals concerning electronic medical data. Provides for the establishment of an advisory commission concerning medical data standards. Provides for Medicare and Medicaid magnetized identification cards. Authorizes appropriations. Requires each health benefit plan to use the social security number of each beneficiary as that beneficiary's personal identifier. Provides for the coordination of benefits when benefits are payable under two or more health plans, if the Secretary determines there is a need for such coordination. Subtitle C (sic): Estimate of Expenses Prior to Treatment - Requires every health care provider to provide an estimate of expenses before providing any item or service. Subtitle D: Antitrust Exemptions - Permits cooperative agreements among hospitals entered into solely with respect to sharing expensive capital-intensive technology or other highly resource-intensive services. Title IV: Long-Term Care - Subtitle A: Treatment of Long-Term Care Insurance Plans - Provides, under the Internal Revenue Code, for the treatment of qualified long-term care insurance as accident or health insurance. Excludes from gross income any benefit received through qualified long-term care insurance. Excludes from gross income amounts withdrawn from individual retirement plans or 401(K) plans for qualified long-term care insurance. Permits the exchange of a life insurance policy for a qualified long-term care policy without recognition of gain or loss. Subtitle B: Treatment of Accelerated Death Benefits - Excludes from gross income any amount paid under a life insurance contract on the life of a terminally ill individual or one who is permanently confined to a nursing home. Treats any reference to a life insurance contract as including a reference to a qualified accelerated death benefit rider on such contract. Title V: Incentives for Provision of Services in Rural Areas - Permits the deduction of the medical school loan interest incurred by doctors serving in medically underserved areas. Requires a State with a medically underserved area to develop a comprehensive health care plan for any such area.
United States · United States Congress · 5 May 1993
Qualified Football Coaches Plan Technical Corrections Act of 1993 - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 to make technical revisions which restore treatment of a qualified football coaches plan as a multiemployer plan for pension plan purposes.
United States · United States Congress · 4 May 1993
Amends the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Act of 1990 and the Defense Authorization Amendments and Base Closure and Realignment Act to require the Secretary of Defense, before any action is taken with respect to the disposal or transfer of real property at a military facility being closed or realigned, to notify the State and each local government in which the facility is located, as well as other interested persons, of the suitability of the property or facility for conversion and use as a youthful offender boot camp. Requires the State, local government, or interested party to whom such real property is so transferred to certify that the property or facilities will be promptly converted and used for such purpose. Directs the Secretary to develop a model program intended to incorporate military basic training, instruction, and disciplinary procedures into the design and operation of youthful offender boot camps at the Federal, State, and local levels. Amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to reallocate between public agencies and private nonprofit organizations the percentage of grant funds authorized under such Act for correctional options that provide alternatives to traditional modes of incarceration and offender release programs.
United States · United States Congress · 4 May 1993
Calls for the U.S. Trade Representative to insist that any trade agreement negotiated pursuant to the Uruguay Round must provide U.S. copyright-based industries with: (1) fair and equal access to the markets of the nations that are party to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade; (2) equal opportunities to obtain government funding; (3) adequate and effective copyright protection, including full national treatment and recognition of contractual rights; and (4) a mechanism to resolve expeditiously disputes concerning market access, national treatment, and copyright protection.
United States · United States Congress · 29 April 1993
Provides that any amount remaining in an official allowance of a Member of the House of Representatives at the end of the session of Congress or other period for which the allowance is made available shall be returned to the Treasury to be used for deficit reduction.
United States · United States Congress · 29 April 1993
Small Business Administration Supplemental Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 1993 - Appropriates supplemental funds for FY 1993 for the business loans program account of the Small Business Administration (providing guaranteed loans to certain qualifying small businesses).
United States · United States Congress · 29 April 1993
Urges the Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee of the U.S. Postal Service to recommend to the Postmaster General that a postage stamp be issued honoring Americans held as prisoners of war or listed as missing in action.
United States · United States Congress · 28 April 1993
Fairness in Product Liability Act of 1993 - Declares that this Act governs any product liability action brought in any State or Federal court against a manufacturer or product seller for harm caused by a product, but supersedes State law only to the extent that State law applies to an issue covered by this Act. Lists specific laws not superseded, including provisions regarding vaccine injury. Makes a product seller liable to a claimant for harm only if the claimant establishes that: (1) the product which allegedly caused the harm complained of was sold by the product seller who failed to exercise reasonable care with respect to the product and such failure was a proximate cause of the claimant's harm; (2) the product seller made an express warranty applicable to the product which allegedly caused the harm complained of, the product failed to conform to the warranty, and such failure caused the claimant's harm; or (3) the seller engaged in international wrongdoing which was a proximate cause of the harm complained of by the claimant. Makes it a complete defense to a product liability action that the claimant was intoxicated or was under the influence of intoxicating alcohol or any drug and, as a result of such intoxication or influence, was more than 50 percent responsible for causing the accident or event which resulted in such claimant's harm. Directs that the damages for which a manufacturer or product seller is otherwise liable under State law be reduced by the percentage of responsibility for the claimant's harm attributable to misuse or alteration of a product if such percentage was proximately caused by a use or alteration of a product: (1) in violation of, or contrary to, the manufacturer's or product seller's express warnings or instructions if the warnings or instructions are adequate under State law; or (2) involving a risk of harm which was, or should have been, known by the ordinary person who uses the product, with an exception for workplace injuries. Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) limitations on punitive damages; (2) several liability for noneconomic damages; (3) statutes of limitation; (4) workers' compensation offsets; and (5) lack of Federal jurisdiction over civil actions arising under this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 28 April 1993
Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) of the Social Security Act and the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from OASDI coverage all service performed during the calendar year by State and local election officials and workers if it is performed only on an election day.
United States · United States Congress · 28 April 1993
Worker Protection Warnings Act of 1993 - Amends the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 to direct the Secretary of Labor to issue a final regulation establishing, as occupational safety and health standards, uniform warnings for personal protective equipment for occupational use. Requires such regulation to be issued within 12 months after enactment of this Act, meet certain conditions, and incorporate specified considerations. Preempts State and local law with respect to such standards.
United States · United States Congress · 28 April 1993
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Retail Food Stores and Wholesale Food Concerns Title II: Miscellaneous Food Stamp Anti-Fraud Act of 1993 - Title I: Retail Food Stores and Wholesale Food Concerns - Amends the Food Stamp Act of 1977 with regard to retail food stores participating in the food stamp program (program) to: (1) permit the use of application information by Federal or State enforcement authorities; and (2) repeal the limits on civil money penalties for food stamp trafficking and firearms or controlled substance trading. Title II: Miscellaneous - Amends the Food Stamp Act of 1977 to permanently disqualify a recipient from program participation for trading of firearms, ammunition, explosives, or controlled substances for food stamps.
United States · United States Congress · 22 April 1993
Recyclable Materials Technology and Markets Development Act - Directs the Secretary of Commerce to: (1) conduct a study of markets for postconsumer materials; and (2) establish an Office of Recycling Research and Information. Requires the Director of Recycling Research and Information to: (1) make grants for studies and scientific research relating to recycling of postconsumer materials; and (2) conduct a public outreach program. Requires each manufacturer of a recyclable product to provide for the recycling of increasing minimum percentages of the products manufactured during specified years. Prohibits manufacturing a product for which the prescribed recycling rate was not met for the preceding year. Prohibits manufacturing a nonrecyclable product if a recyclable substitute is readily available. Directs the Secretary to designate a product as nonrecyclable if it is not technically or economically feasible to be recycled. Authorizes nonrecyclable products to be so labeled. Provides for recycling seals of approval for recyclable products and for products containing a certain percentage of recycled postconsumer materials. Amends the Solid Waste Disposal Act to revise provisions concerning Federal procurement of recycled goods. Applies procurement requirements to: (1) Federal agencies that have procured over $10,000 of items; and (2) other entities that have used funds appropriated to a Federal agency to which such procurement policies apply. Prohibits Federal agencies, for purposes of determining whether to procure items composed of recovered materials, from determining that a price is unreasonable unless it exceeds by more than ten percent the price of items not meeting the recovered materials content standards. Sets forth: (1) specification requirements for procuring agencies; and (2) deadlines for the issuance of guidelines by the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency for the procurement of specified items. Directs the Administrator to review and increase the minimum content standards for procured items every four years. Revises provisions concerning the affirmative procurement program. Requires manufacturers of items to provide vendors with certifications of the minimum recovered materials content used or to be used in such items.
United States · United States Congress · 21 April 1993
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Women's Educational Equity Title II: Gender Equity in Elementary and Secondary Education Title III: Gender Equity in Higher Education Gender Equity in Education Act of 1993 - Title I: Women's Educational Equity - Amends the Department of Education Organization Act to establish an Office of Women's Equity as an organizational entity in the Department of Education. Requires the Director of such Office to report annually on the programs and activities assisted under the Women's Educational Equity Act. Women's Educational Equity Act of 1993 - Amends the Women's Educational Equity Act (part A of title IV of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965) to reauthorize and revise grant programs to encourage gender equity throughout the educational system, including grants for model equity programs, local implementation, and research and development. Gives the Director of the Office of Women's Equity specified responsibilities under such Act. Extends the authorization of appropriations. Title II: Gender Equity in Elementary and Secondary Education - Subtitle A: Teacher Equity Training - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) to establish gender equity requirements and training programs for teachers and other educational personnel (or parents) with respect to: (1) basic program requirements (under chapter 1 of title I for educationally disadvantaged children), innovative projects, schoolwide projects, parental involvement, and program improvement; (2) use of Even Start program funds; (3) secondary school programs (for basic skills improvement and dropout prevention and reentry); (4) local targeted assistance programs (under chapter 2 educational improvement partnership); (5) Eisenhower Mathematics and Science program school teacher training and national programs; (6) Women's Educational Equity personnel training and career education programs; (7) gifted and talented students personnel training; and (8) computer-based instruction personnel training under the Secretary's fund for innovation in education. Subtitle B: Gender Equity in Math and Science - Amends ESEA to revise the Eisenhower Mathematics and Science Education program with respect to: (1) grants to higher education institutions for elementary and secondary mathematics and science programs of school teacher training in gender-equitable instruction, targeted intervention and followup to encourage historically underserved students, and community-based informal education for historically underserved and underrepresented students; and (2) national model program grant priority for gender equity in computer use and teaching practices. Subtitle C: Dropout Prevention for Pregnant and Parenting Teens - Amends ESEA with respect to pregnant teenagers, teenage parents, and the children of such teenagers under various programs, including: (1) Even Start programs; (2) secondary school programs for basic skills improvement and dropout prevention and reentry; (3) local targeted assistance programs; (4) State and local drug abuse education and prevention programs; (5) assistance to address school dropout problems; and (6) assistance to provide basic skills improvement. Subtitle D: Schools Free from Sexual Harassment and Abuse - Amends ESEA to make an environment free from sexual harassment and abuse a distinguishing feature of effective schools. Adds programs to address sexual harassment and violence as part of efforts to ensure that educational institutions are free from threats to student and employee safety (among programs which may be receive Women's Educational Equity assistance). Includes the areas of sexual harassment and assault among those for which grants for comprehensive school health education may be used. Subtitle E: Link-up for Learning - Establishes a program of three-year grants to local educational agencies (LEAs) in partnership with other eligible entities for up to 80 percent of the costs of coordinated educational and other student support services for at-risk youth. Makes eligible for such a grant: (1) an LEA that seeks to plan and implement a coordinated services program for at-risk students with at least one other cooperating public agency; and (2) a consortium, including at least one LEA and one cooperating public service agency, formed to coordinate support services for at-risk students. Allows nonprofit organizations, institutions of higher education, and private enterprises with special experience or expertise to participate as cooperating agencies. Establishes a Federal Interagency Task Force to identify means to facilitate interagency collaboration at Federal, State, and local levels to improve support services for at-risk students. Directs the Secretary of Education to study and report to the Congress on regulatory and legislative obstacles to coordinated support services and innovative procedures and programs. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle F: Child Abuse Education and Prevention - Amends ESEA to direct the Secretary of Education to use specified funds to carry out programs for child abuse education and prevention curriculum development and teacher training, including a demonstration program. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle G: Data Collection - Amends ESEA to revise various data collection provisions to require collection, cross-tabulation, and reporting by sex within race or ethnicity and socioeconomic status (with respect to schoolwide projects, program improvement, secondary school programs, National Diffusion Network, evaluations and reporting, Eisenhower Mathematics and Science programs, State reports, assistance to address school dropout problems, and evaluations by the Secretary). Title III: Gender Equity in Higher Education - Equity in Athletics Disclosure Act - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require institutions of higher education to disclose gender participation rates and program support expenditures in college athletic programs to prospective students and, upon request, to the public. Directs the Secretary of Education to compile and publish annual reports of such data submitted by the institutions.
United States · United States Congress · 20 April 1993
Arson Prevention Act of 1993 - Amends the Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974 to direct the Administrator of the United States Fire Administration, through the Office of Fire Prevention and Arson Control, to carry out a demonstration program to provide two-year grants to States for programs relating to arson research, prevention, and control. Sets forth State funding requirements and provides for additional renewal periods for such grants. Authorizes appropriations, including appropriations for the expansion of arson investigator training programs at the National Fire Academy and the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center or through regional delivery sites.
United States · United States Congress · 7 April 1993
Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1993 - Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to: (1) define the term "dietary supplement"; and (2) exclude a dietary supplement from the definition of "food additive." Deems a dietary supplement adulterated if it: (1) contains an unsafe dietary ingredient which presents a substantial and unreasonable risk of illness or injury; or (2) contains a dietary ingredient that has not been adequately substantiated for safety. Prohibits the establishment of maximum limits on the potency of any dietary supplement, except in the case of a supplement represented to be for the use of individuals with specific diseases or disorders. Allows a dietary supplement's label to characterize the relationship between the supplement and a disease under specified conditions. Deems food misbranded unless the label lists the daily value of specified nutrients which shall reflect the daily intake of each nutrient that will promote optimal health. Prohibits such value from being less than the U.S. Recommended Daily Allowance. Establishes an Office of Dietary Supplements within the National Institutes of Health.
United States · United States Congress · 5 April 1993
Women in Military Service for America Memorial Commemorative Coin Act - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to issue five-dollar gold coins and one-dollar silver coins symbolic of women's service in the armed forces.
United States · United States Congress · 2 April 1993
Expresses the sense of the Congress that any legislation enacted to reform the health care system of the United States should not include price controls.
United States · United States Congress · 1 April 1993
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Locate and Case Tracking Title II: Establishment Title III: Parentage Title IV: Enforcement Title V: Collection and Distribution Title VI: Federal Role Title VII: State Role Title VIII: Effective Date Interstate Child Support Enforcement Act - Title I: Locate and Case Tracking - (Sec. 101) Amends part D (Child Support and Establishment of Paternity) of title IV of the Social Security Act (SSA) to allow the Federal Parent Locator System (FPLS) to be used for parentage establishment and child support and visitation enforcement if there are appropriate safeguards. (Sec. 102) Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to enter into an agreement to provide the Secretary (Secretary) of Health and Human Services (HHS) with access to quarterly estimated Federal income tax returns filed with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Requires that 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. Expresses the sense of the Congress that the Secretary should investigate accessing certain Federal data banks not already linked with FPLS. (Sec. 103) Requires the Secretary to expand FPLS to provide State agencies and courts with a national locate and case tracking network. (Sec. 104) Requires that private attorneys and pro se obligees be allowed limited access to State locate information and enforcement techniques for purposes of establishing and enforcing child support and other orders if there are appropriate safeguards. (Sec. 105) Requires the heads of national and regional individual tracking systems to allow child support enforcement agencies access to their information. (Sec. 106) Requires that States: (1) broadcast failure-to-appear warrants, capiases, and bench warrants issued in parentage and child support proceedings over their crime information systems; and (2) remit any subsequent forfeiture to the child support obligee to the extent of any child support arrearage if a defendant posts security after being arrested. Title II: Establishment - (Sec. 201) Amends SSA title IV part D to set forth requirements for State laws on service of process and jurisdiction in child support and parentage actions. Declares that the Congress finds that due process is satisfied if State courts exercise personal jurisdiction over a nonresident who is the parent or presumed parent of a resident child in order to establish, enforce, or modify a child support order or to establish parentage. Requires States to recognize and enforce parentage and child support orders of other States where jurisdiction has been properly exercised. Specifies the conditions under which a State court may modify a parentage or child support order made by another State court. (Sec. 202) Provides for service of process on Federal employees and members of the armed forces relating to child support, alimony, and parentage obligations. (Sec. 203) Requires that parents' identification and locate information be filed with the State court adjudicating parentage and child support actions. Requires safeguards on such information where there is a court order for the physical protection of the child or one parent entered against the other parent. (Sec. 204) Requires State child support agencies to timely notify any individual owed child support of all hearings in which such support might be established, modified, or enforced, and promptly provide copies of any such orders. (Sec. 205) Requires States to allow parties seeking both parentage and child support establishment in a judicial proceeding to bring a joint action in a single cause of action. Sets forth guidelines for uniform State procedures regarding jurisdiction and venue and Federal employee residential status. (Sec. 206) Amends the Consumer Credit Protection Act (CCPA) to allow appropriate State agencies to obtain from credit reporting agencies information relevant to the setting of a child support award without having to obtain a court order. (Sec. 207) 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. 208) Amends SSA title IV part D to specify certain principles to be included in State child support guidelines. (Sec. 209) Requires States to provide for continuation of a parental child support obligation until a child's marriage, emancipation by a court, or the later of a child's 18th birthday or graduation from high school, except in cases of disabilities arising during childhood or where a court (as allowed by this Act) has ordered support payable to an adult child in college. (Secs. 210 and 211) Requires the new Assistant Secretary of the Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) (designated under title VI of this Act) to: (1) draft and distribute a national subpoena duces tecum for use by child support agencies and others to reach employee income information; and (2) develop a uniform abstract of a child support order for State court use. (Sec. 212) Requires States to: (1) list on marriage licenses the applicants' social security numbers; and (2) use procedures that require individuals who have been issued subpoenas to produce and deliver documents to or to appear at a court or administrative agency on a certain date. Title III: Parentage - (Sec. 301) Amends SSA title IV part D to: (1) require States to provide for hospital-based paternity outreach programs and adopt various specified procedures related to paternity establishment; and (2) provide for 90 percent Federal matching for such programs. Title IV: Enforcement - (Secs. 401 and 402) Amends SSA title IV part D to: (1) revise anti-assignment provisions to allow child support to be withheld from certain governmental sources; and (2) require procedures for State verification of W-4 form information on outstanding child support obligations and imposition of monetary penalties for failures involving W-4 form reporting and subsequent employer withholding of child support obligations. (Sec. 402) Requires: (1) the Secretary of the Treasury to modify the W-4 form completed by new employees to include information on outstanding child support obligations; and (2) employers to provide a copy of such form to the appropriate State child support enforcement agency. Amends the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) to require employers to withhold from employee wages amounts owed for child support. (Sec. 403) Requires States to mandate that any individual or entity engaged in commerce, as a condition of doing business in that State, honor income withholding notices or orders issued by a court or agency of any other State, and maintain records of payroll deductions for child support obligations. (Sec. 404) Specifies the priority for applying proceeds withheld from income for current and past due child support obligations and health insurance for dependent children. (Sec. 405) Allows workers' compensation income to be subject to income withholding. (Sec. 406) 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. (Secs. 407 through 412, 414, 416 through 421, and 424) Requires States to: (1) provide that the election of remedies prohibition does not apply in child support cases; (2) refuse to issue or renew professional and business licenses of noncustodial parents subject to outstanding child support warrants; (3) prohibit motor vehicle departments from issuing or renewing the driver's licenses of any such parent; (4) authorize post-judgment bank account seizure without a separate court order to collect overdue child support payments; (5) impose liens against lottery or gambler's winnings, insurance settlements or policy payouts, court awards, judgments, or settlements, and property seized in forfeiture cases to collect such payments; (6) void fraudulent conveyances of property made to avoid paying child support; (7) allow the posting of a cash bond, security deposit, or personal undertaking to provide for timely child support payments in cases not involving absent parents; (8) authorize attachment of a child support obligor's retirement investment funds without a separate court order to collect overdue child support payments; (9) mandate reporting to credit bureaus of overdue child support equaling two month's child support payment; (10) enact laws that provide for criminal penalties for non-support; (11) permit enforcement of any child support order until at least the child's 30th birthday; (12) assess and collect interest on all child support judgments; (13) provide for health care insurance for the child; and (14) adopt without material change the officially approved version of the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act. (Sec. 408) Prohibits States and the Federal Government from issuing or renewing professional and business licenses of individuals delinquent in making child support payments until the license hold is released. (Sec. 413) 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. 415) Permits Federal and State tax refund procedures to be used by non-AFDC (Aid to Families with Dependent Children) (SSA title IV part A) recipients to collect past-due child support regardless of the child's age. (Sec. 422) Amends the Federal bankruptcy code to: (1) allow parentage and child support case establishment, modification, and enforcement to proceed uninterrupted after a bankruptcy petition is filed; (2) treat as outside chapter 11, 12, or 13 plans debt owed to child support creditors, except as specified; and (3) allow a claim for payment of a debt for child support to be asserted in court. (Sec. 423) Sets forth requirements pertaining to parentage establishment and child support payments in the armed forces. Title V: Collection and Distribution - (Secs. 501 through 504) 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 specified under a child support order; (3) allow States to assess charges above the application fee for non-AFDC child support services against persons other than custodial parents; and (4) require States to provide for collection and disbursement points for child support cases. (Sec. 501) Authorizes the Comptroller General to analyze the existing child support distribution system and authorize, under certain circumstances, pilot projects for the distribution of arrearages in a specified manner. Amends the IRC to revise the Federal income tax refund offset mechanism. Title VI: Federal Role - (Sec. 601) Amends SSA title IV part D to: (1) designate the separate organizational unit charged under current law with various child support and parentage responsibilities as the OCSE; and (2) change OCSE's organizational structure. (Secs. 602 and 603) Requires the new OCSE Assistant Secretary to provide training assistance to the States and study staffing at State child support enforcement programs. (Sec. 602) Requires States to provide for training for child support personnel. (Sec. 604) Requires the Comptroller General to study and report to the Congress on the incentive formula operating with respect to State child support agencies. (Sec. 605) Defines "child support" to include periodic and lump sum payments for current and past-due economic support, payments of premiums for health insurance for children, payments for or provision of child care, and payments for educational services. (Secs. 606 and 607) Requires the Secretary to: (1) contract for a study of and report to the Congress on the OCSE audit process to improve the criteria and methodology for auditing State child support enforcement agencies; and (2) make grants to provide for demonstration projects for the purpose of establishing or improving a system of assured minimum child support payments. Authorizes appropriations. Title VII: State Role - (Sec. 701) Amends SSA title IV part D to prohibit States from denying establishment, enforcement, or modification services to applicants because of nonresidency. (Secs. 702, 703, and 705) Requires 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; and (3) allow changes in child support payees without a court hearing or order. (Sec. 704) Expresses the sense of the Congress that State and local child support enforcement agencies should provide: (1) offices in easily accessible locations near public transportation; (2) office hours that allow parents to meet with attorneys and caseworkers without taking time off work; and (3) office environments suitable for discussion of matters related to privacy. Title VIII: Effective Date - (Sec. 801) Sets forth the effective date of this Act.