United States · United States Congress · 6 May 1986
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the President and the Secretary of State should insist at the Vienna Review Meeting of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe, and in discussions with Communist Party and Soviet leaders, that imprisoned and exiled members of the Ukrainian and other Helsinki Monitoring Groups be released and allowed to emigrate to the countries of their choice. Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) the Secretary of State should ensure that the U.S. consulate in Kiev reports on Soviet human rights violations in the Ukraine; and (2) such information should be included in reports on compliance with the Helsinki Final Act.
United States · United States Congress · 29 April 1986
Declares that the House of Representatives: (1) condemns the Soviet Union's failure to provide notification and information about the nuclear accident at Chernobyl; and (2) calls upon the Soviet Union to permit outside nuclear experts to assist with the accident and to allow the international press corps to cover the situation.
United States · United States Congress · 23 April 1986
Amends Federal armed forces provisions to direct the Secretary of the military department concerned to conduct an independent operational test and evaluation with respect to a major defense acquisition program under which a major system is to be acquired. Requires such test and evaluation to be conducted before the program may proceed into the production stage. Requires side-by-side testing as part of such test and evaluation. Requires the Director of Operational Test and Evaluation to independently analyze the results of each such operational test and evaluation, and to report such analyses to the Secretary of Defense. Prohibits the operational testing to be conducted until the Director approves in writing the adequacy of the plans for such operational test and evaluation. Authorizes the Secretary of Defense or the Secretary concerned to contract for low-rate initial production of a program only for the purpose of acquiring items for use in operational tests and evaluations. Prohibits a final decision from being made to proceed with full production of a program until 30 days after the congressional defense committees have received the report of the Director. Authorizes the President to suspend any provision of this Act in time of a declared war.
United States · United States Congress · 17 April 1986
Medicare Quality Protection Act of 1986 - Title I: Quality Assurance in Inpatient Hospital Settings - Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to develop and submit to the Congress a legislative proposal to improve the prospective payment system established under title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act so that it more accurately approximates the costs of inpatient hospital services and accounts for variations in case complexity. Amends the Medicare program to require a hospital to give Medicare beneficiaries, upon their admission to the hospital, a written statement explaining: (1) the individual's rights to benefits for inpatient hospital and post-hospital Medicare services; (2) the circumstances under which such individual will be liable for charges for a continued hospital stay; (3) the individual's right to appeal denials of continued hospital services; and (4) the individual's liability for payment for services if such a denial of benefits is upheld on appeal. Amends part B (Peer Review) of title XI of the Act to require peer review organizations receiving a hospital inpatient's request for review of a hospital's decision that the patient no longer needs inpatient care to inform the patient of its decision within two days of receiving the request. Prohibits hospitals from charging patients for inpatient hospital services provided while patients wait for a peer review organization to respond to their timely review requests. Imposes a civil money penalty on hospitals which make payments to physicians and on physicians who knowingly receive payments which constitute an inducement to curtail the stay of, or services provided to, an identifiable patient. Directs the Secretary to study the adequacy of standards used for hospital compliance with Medicare participation conditions in assuring the quality of hospital services. Requires the Secretary to study the adequacy with which the prospective payment system compensates hospitals, and distributes such compensation among hospitals, for costs attributable to patients' extended hospital stays necessitated by delays in patient placement in skilled nursing facilities. Title II: Access to Appropriate Post-Hospital Care - Amends part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) of the Medicare program to require hospitals to implement a discharge planning process which meets guidelines and standards, to be established by the Secretary, ensuring patients a timely and smooth transition to the most appropriate type of, and setting for, post-hospital or rehabilitative care. Extends the limitations on beneficiary liability for disallowed Medicare claims to cover home health services provided to certain unqualified individuals. Provides that skilled nursing facilities and home health agencies which keep their services for which Medicare coverage is denied below specified percentages and comply with certain administrative requirements shall not subsequently be denied payment for care provided. Sets forth reporting requirements. Directs the Secretary to develop a uniform needs assessment instrument enabling health care providers and fiscal intermediaries to evaluate an individual's need and ability to pay for post-hospital extended care, home-health, and long-term care services. Requires the Secretary to develop procedures to expedite fiscal intermediaries' determinations as to whether provider claims for post-hospital extended care and home health services may be reimbursed under the Medicare program. Directs the Secretary to provide for prompt response (within 24 hours) to beneficiary requests as to whether the beneficiary's Medicare coverage for post-hospital extended care services has been exhausted. Authorizes providers to represent beneficiaries on appeals of benefit determinations. Permits beneficiary appeals of the Secretary's denials of claims for home health service benefits. Amends the Social Security Amendments of 1983 to extend, through 1989, the annual report on the impact of the prospective payment system and require the inclusion of information in such reports regarding the quality, and accessibility to Medicare beneficiaries, of post-hospital services. Title III: Improved Review of Quality by Peer Review Organizations - Amends part B (Peer Review) of title XI of the Act to require hospitals to submit data to peer review organizations on a monthly basis. Requires peer review organizations to review selected cases where individuals are readmitted to a hospital within 30 days of their most recent hospital discharge to determine if the previous inpatient hospital services and post-hospital services met professionally recognized health care standards. Directs each peer review organization to commit a reasonable proportion of its activities to review of the quality of services provided in cases and settings where potential quality problems have been identified. Requires the Secretary to identify methods facilitating the discovery of such cases. Requires each peer review organization to have at least one consumer representative on its board of directors. Directs such organizations to investigate all written beneficiary complaints about the quality of Medicare services which are filed with the organization. Requires peer review organizations to share data with organizations responsible for accrediting providers or State officials responsible for assuring quality care if such data reflects a substantial failure by providers or practitioners to provide quality care. Title IV: Study to Develop a Strategy for Quality Review and Assurance - Directs the Secretary to arrange a study which will serve as the basis for establishing a strategy for reviewing and assuring the quality of care provided under the Medicare program. Requires the Secretary to report to the Congress regarding the study within two years of enactment of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 17 April 1986
Declares that the House of Representatives, on behalf of the U.S. people, expresses its gratitude to the Government and people of the United Kingdom who assisted the United States in its exercise of self-defense against Libya and in the fight against state-sponsored international terrorism.
United States · United States Congress · 9 April 1986
Prohibits the issuance of a letter of offer with respect to specified proposed sales of Sidewinder, Stinger, and Harpoon missiles and services to Saudi Arabia, as described in the April 8, 1986, certifications from the President to the Congress under the Arms Export Control Act.
United States · United States Congress · 8 April 1986
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that the Secretary of Agriculture should take immediate steps to investigate alternative animal identification procedures in lieu of hot-iron cheek branding.
United States · United States Congress · 25 March 1986
Federal Financial Management Improvement Act - Establishes: (1) the Office of the Chief Financial Officer of the United States in the Executive Office of the President; (2) an Assistant Secretary for Financial Management in each executive department; and (3) a Controller in each executive agency. Requires officers to be appointed to such positions by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. Requires the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) to: (1) provide central direction and monitoring of the executive agencies in the management of their financial activities; (2) ensure that the President and the Congress are fully informed of the Government's financial management condition; and (3) maintain the central accounting and reporting records of the Government. Requires each Assistant Secretary and Controller to: (1) maintain a strategic financial management plan for his or her department or agency; and (2) participate in the appointment, development, and evaluation of financial managers of such department or agency. Requires the budget of each department and agency to contain a line item for its Assistant Secretary or Controller based on its strategic financial management plan. Establishes in the executive branch the Federal Finance Council, which shall consist of the CFO and the Assistant Secretaries, as an advisory body on financial management objectives, information requirements, plans, operations, and activities. Directs the President to transfer to the Office of the CFO: (1) such functions of the executive agencies as the President determines are properly related to the functions of the Office; and (2) such personnel, property, and records of such agencies as are related to the transferred functions.
United States · United States Congress · 21 March 1986
Non-Smokers' Protection Act of 1986 - Establishes the policy of the United States to provide an environment free from tobacco smoke to the maximum extent practicable in Government buildings. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services, in consultation with the Surgeon General, to promulgate regulations to carry out such policy. Requires such regulations, at a minimum, to provide that smoking be prohibited in buildings or building sections occupied by the Government. Authorizes the Secretary to exempt certain limited areas from such restriction and grants precedence to the rights of nonsmokers in any dispute. Requires the posting of signs where smoking is permitted in a building. Directs the Secretary to solicit comments from labor organizations prior to promulgating regulations. Prohibits such regulations from superseding those that provide more stringent restrictions on smoking. Declares that nothing in this Act prevents more stringent regulations from being promulgated.
United States · United States Congress · 20 March 1986
Amends Federal shipping provisions to direct the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating to prescribe regulations requiring all fishing vessels to be equipped with: (1) an emergency radio beacon; (2) liferafts or lifeboats; and (3) survival suits. Directs the Secretary to prescribe additional regulations requiring such fishing vessels to be certified as stable by a marine surveyor when entering into a fishery which requires significant changes in equipment or operational techniques from those previously employed by the vessel operator.
United States · United States Congress · 12 March 1986
Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act - Requires States to provide by law for elections for Federal office: (1) absentee registration and absentee voting for uniformed services voters and overseas voters; and (2) the use of alternative write-in absentee ballots by overseas voters. Directs the President to designate the head of an executive department to have primary responsibility for the administrative functions of this Act, including: (1) prescribing an official postcard form containing a voter registration and an absentee ballot application; (2) prescribing an alternative write-in ballot for overseas voters; (3) prescribing forms and designs for balloting materials; (4) distributing election materials; and (5) reporting to the Congress in even-numbered years on its effectiveness. Provides for the distribution of official postcards. Sets forth recommendations to the States in carrying out provisions of this Act. Authorizes the use of the alternative write-in ballots in lieu of absentee ballots under specified circumstances. Directs the Postmaster to expedite the transport of election materials and declares such materials free of postage.
United States · United States Congress · 12 March 1986
Federal Radioactive Waste Liability Act of 1986 - Amends the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 to require the Secretary of Energy to enter into indemnification agreements with contractors regarding the transportation and disposal of radioactive waste to which the United States holds title. Requires such agreements to provide for the indemnification of persons against claims for public liability for nuclear incidents arising out of a contractual activity. Directs the Secretary to: (1) make certain indemnification payments out of the Nuclear Waste Fund; and (2) enter into specified borrowing terms with the Secretary of the Treasury for purposes of paying nuclear liability claims. Provides for Federal indemnification of a precautionary State activity undertaken as a result of a federally contracted radioactive waste disposal incident. (Defines such a precautionary activity as any action to evacuate the public in order to protect the public health and safety from a real or imminent danger.) Applies the waiver of specified defenses to indemnity agreements entered into by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission regarding radioactive waste to which the United States holds title.
United States · United States Congress · 5 March 1986
Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act of 1986 - Amends the Toxic Substances Control Act to direct the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to promulgate regulations for asbestos hazard abatement in the schools. Directs the Administrator to develop a model accreditation plan for States to give accreditation to individuals who inspect, manage, abate, and analyze asbestos problems. Makes the use of accredited personnel a condition for receiving financial assistance under the Asbestos School Hazard Abatement Act of 1984. Requires each State Governor to establish administrative procedures for the certification of school asbestos inspection and abatement programs and for asbestos management plans, all to be carried forward by the local educational agency. Requires warning labels on any asbestos still in routine maintenance areas of a school building. Makes any local educational agency which fails to comply with this Act liable for civil penalties, including injunctive action. Requires the Administrator or appropriate Governor to investigate citizen complaints Authorizes the Administrator or the appropriate State Governor to take necessary response measures where asbestos in a school building may be hazardous and adequate local measures have not been taken. Sets forth the relationship of pollution liability insurance risk retention groups to State law, including securities law. Establishes the Asbestos Trust Fund in the Treasury to carry out the Asbestos Hazards Abatement Assistance Program. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1987 through 1990.
United States · United States Congress · 4 March 1986
Risk Retention Amendments of 1986 - Amends the Product Liability Risk Retention Act of 1981 to exempt risk retention groups and purchasing groups (businesses which organize to purchase personal risk and liability insurance on a group basis) from State laws which prohibit, regulate, or otherwise discriminate against such groups. Revises the definition of "organization" eligible to form risk retention and purchasing groups to include businesses, professional groups, hospitals, schools, churches, or other institutions, and State and local governmental entities. Retitles such Act the Liability Risk Retention Act of 1986. Excludes from the coverage of this Act product liability risk retention groups formed on or after January 1, 1985, under the laws of Bermuda or the Cayman Islands. Subjects such groups to State no-fault automobile insurance requirements. Limits the authority to provide insurance under such Act to liability insurance.
United States · United States Congress · 27 February 1986
Disapproves a proposed deferral (number D86-48) of $500,000,000 of budget authority for the community development block grant program, as set forth in the President's message to the Congress on February 5, 1986.
United States · United States Congress · 25 February 1986
Columbia Gorge National Scenic Area Act - Establishes the Columbia Gorge National Scenic Area in Washington and Oregon. Designates special management and urban areas within such scenic area. Provides for the establishment by Oregon and Washington of the Columbia Gorge Commission to manage such area. Includes representatives from affected counties within both States on the Commission. Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to establish such Commission as a Federal agency if the States fail to establish or adequately empower such Commission to perform its required obligations. Directs the Commission to prepare a management plan for the Scenic Area within two years. Requires such plan to include: (1) a resource inventory; (2) land use designations; (3) guidelines for the adoption of zoning ordinances; and (4) a cooperative recreation plan. Sets forth standards for determining land use. Requires intergovernmental involvement in and Secretarial approval of such plan. Provides for plan revision and amendment. Requires each affected county to submit to the Commission zoning ordinances consistent with prescribed guidelines. Sets forth submittal, approval, and amendment procedures for such ordinances. Directs the Secretary to administer the Federal lands within the special management areas according to forest and multiple-use management regulations applicable to the national forests. Requires the Secretary to develop land use designations within such areas within two years. Requires the Secretary to develop a plan for acquiring non-Federal lands within such special management areas. Requires the Secretary to report periodically to the appropriate congressional committees on the status of land acquisitions. Limits the use of eminent domain in acquiring such lands. Directs the Secretary to adopt interim guidelines for land use activities within the special management areas and for the governance of land use activities in the rest of the National Scenic Area, except for the identified urban areas. Authorizes the Secretary to make loans to the Columbia Gorge Development Corporation for low interest loans for use in counties which have adopted management plan implementation measures. Sets forth other loan terms and restrictions. Directs the Secretary to prepare a program to preserve and restore the Old Columbia River Highway for public use as a National Historic Road. Prohibits the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission from licensing the construction of any project under the Federal Power Act without the Commission's approval within the special management areas or the Scenic Area. Amends the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act to include a segment of the White Salmon River, Washington. Directs the Secretary to provide technical assistance and grants to counties to develop implementation measures under this Act. Sets forth terms and restrictions on the making and use of such grants. Directs the Secretary to provide the States of Washington and Oregon with land acquisition grants for such purpose within the National Scenic Area. Requires the Commission to monitor activities of counties pursuant to this Act, empowering the Commission to institute civil actions to enforce the requirements of this Act. Authorizes citizen suits as specified. Establishes civil penalties for violations and grants U.S. district courts in Oregon and Washington jurisdiction over civil actions and appeals brought pursuant to this Act. Authorizes appropriations. States which rights and responsibilities remain unchanged by this Act. States that the validity of provisions under this Act is severable.
United States · United States Congress · 19 February 1986
Terrorist Firearms Prevention Act of 1986 - Amends the Federal criminal code to prohibit the manufacture and importation of any firearm that is not readily detectable as a firearm by standard airport security equipment and readily identifiable as a firearm. Exempts specified firearms from such manufacturing prohibition.
United States · United States Congress · 19 February 1986
Authorizes and requests the President to present, on behalf of the Congress, gold medals to Anatoly and Avital Shcharansky in recognition of their supreme dedication and total commitment to human rights and freedoms. Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to determine the design of the medals. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes the Secretary to sell bronze duplicates of the medals.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 1986
Authorizes the President, on behalf of the Congress, to present a gold medal to Mary Lasker in recognition of her humanitarian contributions in medical research and education, urban beautification, and the fine arts. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to provide for the sale of bronze duplicates of the medal.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 1986
Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) the United States, in cooperation with other members of the international donor community, should call upon the Ethiopian Government to recognize that resources donated for famine relief should be used for that purpose and not diverted to resettlement efforts; (2) such forced resettlements by the Ethiopian Government should be halted and monitored by the United Nations (U.N.); (3) the Ethiopian Government should commit sufficient resources to move food and relief goods to meet the needs of its people; and (4) the U.N. should insist on free access to resettlement sites for international observers and the news media and report on conditions in the resettlement camps.
United States · United States Congress · 4 February 1986
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend the Hazardous Substance Response Trust Fund (Superfund) excise taxes on crude oil and petroleum products for the 180-day period beginning on February 3, 1986. Permits repayable advances to be made to such fund during the 180-day period beginning on February 3, 1986.