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Official portrait of Rep. Mineta, Norman Y. [D-CA-15]

Rep. Mineta, Norman Y. [D-CA-15]

United States · Official source

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4,751 records where Rep. Mineta, Norman Y. [D-CA-15] is listed as a sponsor, author, or other actor. Search with topics and years

Bill· HRH.R. 5049 (103rd)referred

George Washington Boyhood Home Commemorative Coin Act of 1994

United States · United States Congress · 19 September 1994

George Washington Boyhood Home Commemorative Coin Act of 1994 - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to issue one-dollar silver coins emblematic of a profile of George Washington and a depiction of his xboyhood home. Declares that all surcharges received from coin sales shall be paid to the George Washington Boyhood Home Foundation.

Resolution· HRESH.Res. 527 (103rd)referred

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the Presidential Medal of Freedom should be awarded to Dr. Benjamin Elijah Mays.

United States · United States Congress · 21 August 1994

Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that the President should award Benjamin Elijah Mays the Presidential Medal of Freedom posthumously in honor of his distinguished career as an educator, civil and human rights nonviolent leader, and public theologian and his many contributions to the improvement of American society and the world.

Bill· HRH.R. 4997 (103rd)referred

Captive Exotic Animal Protection Act of 1994

United States · United States Congress · 19 August 1994

Captive Exotic Animal Protection Act of 1994 - Amends the Federal criminal code to prohibit and set penalties for the transport or possession of a confined exotic animal for purposes of allowing the killing or injuring of that animal for entertainment or the collection of a trophy.

Bill· HRH.R. 4955 (103rd)referred

War Crimes Disclosure Act

United States · United States Congress · 12 August 1994

War Crimes Disclosure Act - Requires disclosure under provisions of the Freedom of Information Act of any matter that relates to any individual who is listed in a Watch List as a participant in Nazi war crimes. Provides disclosure exceptions, such as for the protection of intelligence agents and informants or for compelling national security reasons. 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 shall not apply to information regarding Nazi war crimes participants.

Bill· HRH.R. 4916 (103rd)referred

Superfund Reform Act of 1994

United States · United States Congress · 8 August 1994

TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Community Participation and Human Health Title II: State Roles Title III: Voluntary Response Title IV: Liability and Allocation Title V: Remedy Selection and Cleanup Standards Title VI: Miscellaneous Title VII: Funding Title VIII: Environmental Insurance Resolution Fund Title IX: Taxes Superfund Reform Act of 1994 - Title I: Community Participation and Human Health - Amends the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA or Superfund) to authorize the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to make technical assistance grants available to any group of individuals who may be affected by the release or threatened release of hazardous substances or pollutants at any facility on the State Registry or National Priorities List (NPL). (Sec. 101) Requires the President to provide for public participation in significant phases of response activities under CERCLA. Makes all nonprivileged information available to the public throughout all phases of the response action. Directs the President to ensure that the presentation of information on risk is unbiased and informative. (Sec. 102) Requires the President to provide the opportunity for the establishment of a representative public forum, known as a Community Working Group (CWG), to achieve direct, regular, and meaningful consultation with all interested parties throughout all stages of a response action whenever: (1) the President determines such a group will be helpful; or (2) 50 citizens, or at least 20 percent of the population of a locality in which the NPL facility is located, petition for a CWG to be established. Authorizes CWGs to offer recommendations on the anticipated future use of land at an affected facility prior to the selection of a remedy. Establishes a Citizen Information and Access Office within each State to provide information regarding State Registry and NPL sites, citizens' rights, facility records and health data, public meetings, removal and remedial actions, and outreach activities. Authorizes Indian tribes to petition the Administrator to form a body equivalent to such Office. Directs the Administrator to submit a biennial Environmental Justice Study to the Congress. (Sec. 103) Requires the President, in setting priorities for taking remedial action, to: (1) group facilities together, even if they are not adjacent, and score them as a single facility where more than one facility on the State Registry results in hazardous substances exposures to the same population; (2) take into account the use of land or waterways for subsistence, religious, or cultural practices where such use results in additional exposures, in placing facilities on the NPL; (3) conduct interviews with persons affected by the facility and solicit their input in the hazard ranking system evaluation; and (4) place highest priority on facilities with releases of hazardous substances which result in actual ongoing human exposures at levels resulting in demonstrated adverse health effects as identified in specified health assessments. Authorizes the President to take into account any history of exposure to hazardous substances in the community regardless of the source of exposure, in placing facilities on the NPL. Requires the Administrator to: (1) evaluate major urban areas and other areas where environmental justice concerns may warrant special attention; and (2) identify five facilities in each EPA region that are, or should be, on the State Registry and that are likely to warrant inclusion on the NPL. Accords such facilities a priority in evaluation for NPL listing and scoring. (Sec. 109) Requires the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) Administrator to develop and distribute educational materials on human health effects of hazardous substances to the public. (Sec. 110) Authorizes the ATSDR Administrator to provide grant or contract assistance to individuals who may be affected by releases or threatened releases when: (1) a public health assessment is conducted at a facility on the NPL; or (2) a release is being evaluated for inclusion on the NPL. Authorizes the ATSDR Administrator, pursuant to such grants or contracts, to provide for health services to communities affected by the release of hazardous substances. (Sec. 113) Permits the EPA Administrator to carry out a demonstration program to assist in the recruitment and training of individuals from areas affected by NPL facilities for employment in remediation activities. Encourages parties conducting response actions under CERCLA to have their contractors train minorities and other disadvantaged persons from the affected community in remediation skills. Title II: State Roles - Authorizes States, pursuant to contracts or cooperative agreements, to apply to the Administrator to take or require: (1) preremedial actions at any non-federally owned or operated facility that is not listed on the NPL; or (2) response actions at non-federally owned or operated NPL facilities or removal actions at any facility proposed for listing on the NPL. Sets forth requirements for State enforcement and allocation of liability. (Sec. 202) Prohibits funding to States for response actions, except for emergency removal actions, unless the affected State provides assurances that it will pay 15 percent of the cost of the action or funding and will assure oversight of any operation and maintenance of response actions. (Sec. 206) Directs the Administrator to study the feasibility of authorizing States to use their own laws to carry out CERCLA in lieu of the Federal program under such Act. (Sec. 207) Authorizes States to apply to the Administrator to exercise the Administrator's authorities with respect to response actions at Federal facilities. Bases approval of transfer of authorities in part on a State's hazardous waste program authorization under the Solid Waste Disposal Act. Continues the existing limitations on transfers of authority from the Administrator to any other person under provisions regarding Federal facilities. Title III: Voluntary Response - Directs the Administrator to establish a program to provide assistance to States to establish and expand voluntary response programs. (Sec. 301) Provides that no portion of a facility subject to a response action plan under a qualified State program shall be proposed for listing on the NPL so long as substantial and continual response activities are being undertaken to complete the response action in a timely fashion. Directs the Administrator to promulgate regulations describing circumstances in which States with qualified programs and the authority to issue permits under Federal environmental statutes may waive permit requirements with respect to approved voluntary response plans under certain conditions. Provides that performance of a voluntary response action shall not constitute an admission of liability under any Federal, State, or local law or regulation or in any private action. Title IV: Liability and Allocation - Authorizes the Administrator to issue administrative subpoenas to require the attendance and testimony of witnesses and production of information regarding response actions. Revises confidentiality requirements with respect to such information and applies confidentiality requirements to contractors. (Sec. 403) Absolves of liability for response actions a person who does not impede a response action or natural resource restoration to the extent liability is based solely on: (1) arrangement, transportation, or acceptance provisions relating to disposal or treatment of hazardous substances and such activities only involved municipal solid waste or sewage sludge possessed by the person and the person is the owner, operator, or lessee of residential property or a small business or small nonprofit organization; (2) such provisions and such activities involved fewer than 55 gallons of liquid materials (or 100 pounds of solid materials) containing hazardous substances, pollutants, or contaminants or such amount as the Administrator may determine; (3) ownership or operation of a vessel or facility and the person is a bona fide prospective purchaser of the facility; (4) ownership and the person acquired the facility by inheritance after disposal of the hazardous substances took place, did not contribute to the release, and exercised due care with respect to such substances; (5) ownership by a Federal, State, or local entity of a road or other right-of-way (other than railroads) over which hazardous substances are transported or on the granting of a license or a permit to conduct business; or (6) actions of a Federal agency in response to a natural disaster. Makes persons who are solely liable under arrangement, transportation, or acceptance provisions regarding disposal or treatment of hazardous substances liable for no more than ten percent of total response costs if such activities only involved municipal solid waste or sewage sludge. Applies such limitation to the aggregate liability of all persons involved. Applies such limitation only if acts or omissions giving rise to liability occurred before the date 36 months after enactment of this Act or the person asserting the limitation participates in a qualified household hazardous waste collection program. Limits the liability of persons who do not impede the performance of a response action or natural resource restoration with respect to a release to the lesser of the fair market value of a vessel or facility or the actual proceeds of the sale of the vessel or facility subject to certain conditions. Provides that a person who owns or operates real property contiguous to property on which there has been a release of a hazardous substance and that may be contaminated shall not be considered an owner or operator, for liability purposes, if such persons: (1) exercised due care with respect to such substance; (2) took precautions against foreseeable acts or omissions that resulted in the release; and (3) did not cause or contribute to the release and provides access to persons authorized to conduct response actions. Authorizes the President to issue assurances of no enforcement action to such person and grant such person protection against cost recovery and contribution actions. Grants the United States a lien, subject to certain conditions, on any facility for which the prospective purchaser is not liable for unrecovered response costs. Provides that no lien shall arise with respect to property: (1) for which the property owner preceding the first bona fide prospective purchaser is not liable or has resolved liability; or (2) where an audit required by an environmental professional gives the purchaser no reason to know of the release of hazardous substances. (Sec. 404) Directs the Administrator to calculate the EPA response action oversight costs for which potentially responsible parties (PRPs) are liable on a national basis as a percentage of total response costs incurred by PRPs (the national oversight rate). Limits the rate to ten percent of total response costs incurred by all PRPs. Provides that when the President responds at facilities on the NPL, liability for pollutants and contaminants shall be identical to that for hazardous substances only if such pollutants and contaminants: (1) constitute an imminent and substantial danger to human health; and (2) are not associated with the production or extraction of any hydrocarbon. Prohibits liability based solely on a person's construction activities at a facility if a person can demonstrate that the activities were carried out in accordance with a contract with the owner or operator and the person is a small business construction contractor. (Sec. 405) Revises contribution provisions to require an action by a PRP against another PRP for recovery of costs to be commenced within the later of: (1) three years after completion of a removal action or within six years after initiation of physical on-site construction of the remedial action; or (2) three years after the date of judgment in any action for recovery or the date of any administrative order or judicial settlement for recovery of costs or damages. (Sec. 406) Provides that a person who has resolved liability to a State or an Indian tribe in an administrative or judicially approved settlement shall not be liable for claims by persons other than the United States regarding response costs or damages addressed in the settlement. Provides the same protection for persons who have resolved liability to the United States. Includes protection against all claims that may be asserted against the settling party for recovery of costs or damages paid by another person if addressed in the settlement, except claims based on contractual indemnification. Limits the right to seek contribution from other parties where: (1) the person asserting the right has waived such right in a settlement; (2) the person from whom the contribution is sought is not liable under CERCLA; or (3) the person from whom the contribution is sought has entered into a final settlement with the United States. Makes any person who commences a contribution action liable to the person against whom the action is brought for all reasonable costs of defending against the claim if the action: (1) is barred for the reasons stated above; (2) is brought against a person who is protected from suits by reason of settlement with the United States; or (3) is brought during a specified moratorium period. (Sec. 408) Provides that response action contractors shall not be liable solely as a result of testing or implementation of alternative or innovative treatment or containment technologies with respect to a response action if use of the technology has been approved by the authorized Federal or State regulatory agency. (Sec. 409) Requires consent decrees pursuant to settlements to require the parties to attempt expeditiously to resolve disagreements concerning implementation of the remedial action informally with Federal and State agencies. Requires such decrees to contain stipulated penalties for violations in an amount of up to $25,000 per day. Waives certain conditions to expand the scope of eligibility for de minimis settlements. Authorizes the Administrator, if a PRP will be paying amounts to the President as part of a settlement for carrying out a response action, to accept ownership of a financial instrument running irrevocably to the benefit of the United States to conduct such response actions. (Sec. 411) Requires (current law authorizes) the President to offer PRPs (currently, any person) who enter into settlement agreements that are in the public interest a final covenant not to sue concerning liability to the United States for response actions or costs, provided that: (1) the settling party agrees to perform a final remedial action for the release that is the subject of the settlement; (2) the remedial action does not provide any hazardous substances will remain at the facility at concentrations above the protective concentration levels established after completion of the final action; (3) the agreement has been reached prior to the commencement of litigation against the settling party; (4) the settling party waives all contribution rights against other PRPs at the facility; (5) the settling party pays a premium that compensates for the risks of remedy failure, unanticipated increases in the cost of any uncompleted action (unless the party is performing the action), and the U.S. litigation risk with respect to persons who have not resolved liability to the United States unless the settlement covers 100 percent of U.S. response costs; and (6) the settlement is otherwise acceptable to the United States. Authorizes the President, for settlements for which covenants are unavailable, to provide any person with a covenant not to sue concerning any liability to the United States if the covenant not to sue is in the public interest. (Sec. 412) Adds the following to the list of conditions that a PRP must meet in order to be eligible for an expedited settlement: (1) liability must be based solely on provisions regarding arrangement, transportation, or acceptance of municipal solid waste or sewage sludge for treatment or disposal; and (2) the PRP must be a natural person, small business, or a municipality that has demonstrated a limited ability to pay response costs. (Sec. 413) Directs the Administrator to initiate the allocation process under this Act for each nonfederally-owned facility on the NPL that involves two or more PRPs: (1) for which the President selects a remedial action on or after February 3, 1994; and (2) for any such action selected before such date if requested by a PRP which has resolved liability to the United States with respect to the remedial action. Authorizes the Administrator to initiate such process for any facility involving two or more PRPs. Makes the allocation process inapplicable to a facility: (1) for which there has been a final settlement, decree, or order that determines all liability or allocated shares of PRPs; or (2) at which all of the PRPs are facility owners or operators. Authorizes the Administrator to initiate a single allocation process for more than one facility. Places a moratorium on the commencement or continuation of liability claims or recovery actions in connection with responses for which allocation is required until 90 days after the issuance of the allocator's report. Sets forth requirements concerning the allocation process, including those for the notification of PRPs and determinations regarding de minimis parties. Provides that de minimis parties that are potentially liable but entitled to expedited settlements shall not be subject to the allocation process unless they fail to settle with the President within 30 days of the offer. Requires the allocation parties to select an allocator from a list provided by the Administrator or from candidates proposed by the parties. Authorizes PRPs, prior to the issuance of the allocator's report, to submit a private allocation for the remedial action to the allocator. Requires the allocator to adopt such report if it meets specified conditions. Directs the allocator to conduct an allocation process culminating in the issuance of a report with a nonbinding, equitable allocation of the percentage shares of responsibility, including the orphan share, within 180 days of the issuance of the final list of parties or the date of the contract for allocation service, whichever is later. Bases allocation shares on the following factors: (1) the amount of hazardous substances contributed by each party; (2) the degree of toxicity and mobility of such substances; (3) the degree of involvement of each party in the generation, transportation, treatment, storage, and disposal of such substances; (4) the degree of care exercised by the party; (5) the cooperation of the party in contributing to the response action; and (6) other factors determined by the Administrator. Sets forth components of orphan shares. Requires shares that the allocator cannot attribute to any party to be distributed among parties, including the orphan share. Authorizes the Administrator and the Attorney General to reject the allocator's report under certain conditions. Permits settling parties to seek a new allocation if there is convincing evidence that the allocator did not have certain information when the report was issued. Includes within settlements based on allocated shares: (1) a waiver of contribution rights against all PRPs for the response action as well as a waiver of rights to challenge any settlement the President enters into with any other PRP; (2) covenants not to sue; (3) a site-specific premium that compensates for the U.S. litigation risk with respect to PRPs who have not resolved liability (unless the settlement covers 100 percent of response costs); (4) contribution protection regarding matters addressed in the settlement; and (5) provisions through which the settling parties shall receive reimbursement from Superfund for response costs incurred in excess of the aggregate of their allocated share and any premia required by the settlement. Lists maximum amounts for premia authorized for litigation risk. Permits the Administrator to modify such amounts. Authorizes the United States to commence actions against liable persons who have not resolved liability following allocation. Sets forth conditions under which a party that performs work in excess of its allocated share may be reimbursed. Limits Superfund financing for reimbursements of costs incurred by parties that are attributable to orphan shares. Authorizes appropriations. Makes Federal agencies named as PRPs subject to the allocation process to the same extent as any other party. Declares that the procedures set forth in this Act shall not be construed to modify the principles of retroactive, strict, joint, and several liability. Provides that persons who are potentially liable solely as response action contractors shall not be named as allocation parties under this section. (Sec. 414) Absolves persons (other than owners or operators) who arranged for the recycling of recyclable material from liability for environmental response actions. Deems transactions involving scrap paper, plastic, glass, textiles, or rubber (other than whole tires) to be arranging for recycling if the person who arranged the transaction demonstrates that the following criteria were met: (1) the recyclable material met a commercial specification grade and a market existed for the material; (2) a substantial portion of the material was made available for use as a feedstock for the manufacture of a new saleable product; (3) the material (or product made from the material) could have been a replacement for a virgin raw material; and (4) with respect to transactions occurring 90 days after this Act's enactment, the person exercised reasonable care to determine that the facility where the material would be managed by another was in compliance with Federal, State, or local environmental laws or regulations. Deems transactions involving scrap metal to be arranging for recycling if the person who arranged the transaction demonstrates that: (1) the criteria for scrap materials were met; (2) he/she complied with applicable standards regarding activities associated with the recycling of scrap metals; and (3) the scrap metal was not melted prior to the transaction. Deems transactions involving spent lead-acid, nickel-cadmium, or other batteries to be arranging for recycling if the person involved demonstrates that: (1) the criteria for scrap materials were met; and (2) he/she complied with applicable Federal environmental standards regarding such batteries. Makes the exemptions from liability under this Act inapplicable if the person: (1) had an objectively reasonable basis to believe at the time of the recycling transaction that the recyclable material would not be recycled or would be burned as fuel or for energy recovery or incineration or that the consuming facility was not in compliance with Federal, State, or local environmental laws or regulations; (2) added hazardous substances to the material for purposes other than processing or recycling; or (3) failed to exercise reasonable care with respect to the management of the material. Makes such exemptions inapplicable if the recyclable material contained polychlorinated biphenyls in excess of 50 parts per million or any new Federal standard. Title V: Remedy Selection and Cleanup Standards - Revises provisions regarding cleanup standards to direct the Administrator to promulgate national goals to be applied at all facilities subject to remedial action under this Act. Requires such goals to be expressed as a single numerical level for chemical carcinogens and noncarcinogens. (Sec. 501) Directs the Administrator to promulgate a national risk protocol for conducting risk assessments under CERCLA. Requires the risk protocol to be used for risk assessment underlying determinations of the need for remedial action, the establishment of protective concentration levels of chemicals, and the evaluation of remedial alternatives. Requires remedial actions to: (1) comply with substantive requirements of Federal, or more stringent State, environmental or facility siting laws; (2) attain any promulgated concentration levels applicable to determining the level of cleanup for such actions; and (3) comply with any other standard under State environmental or facility siting laws that the State demonstrates is consistently applied to remedial actions. States that a goal of this Act is to restore any contaminated groundwater or surface water that may be used for drinking water to: (1) the level of any maximum contaminant level or level goal for the hazardous substance or contaminant that has been established under the Safe Drinking Water Act; and (2) a protective concentration level that attains such goal for any other hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant. Requires the achievement of such goal unless the President finds that such goal is technically impracticable from an engineering perspective or, under certain conditions, unreasonably costly. Requires remedial actions for contaminated groundwater (other than that used for drinking water) to attain levels appropriate to the current or anticipated use of such water. Authorizes the President to select a remedial action that does not comply with Federal and State standards subject to certain conditions. (Sec. 502) Revises general rules for remedial actions. Directs the President, in selecting a remedy, to take into account the reasonably anticipated future uses of land at a facility. Provides certain procedures for the remediation of hot spots. Requires the President to establish cost-effective generic remedies for categories of facilities. Sets forth factors to be taken into consideration with respect to selection of response actions for groundwater. (Sec. 504) Removes a condition on the President's authority to acquire property needed to conduct a response action that requires the State in which the property is located to agree to accept transfer of the property when the action is completed. (Sec. 505) Alters the criteria for the continuance of obligations for removal actions to provide that actions shall not continue after $4 million (currently, $2 million) has been obligated or two years (currently, 12 months) have elapsed from the date of initial response to a release or threatened release of hazardous substances. Requires Federal agencies, before the commencement of any non-emergency removal action, to notify the EPA and the State of the planned action and obtain, in the case of facilities listed or proposed for listing on the NPL, concurrence in the planned action from the EPA or the State. (Sec. 506) Authorizes the President, in order to respond to a release of a hazardous substance, to acquire a hazardous substance easement which limits or controls the use of land or other natural resources. Permits easements and notices of property use restrictions to be used whenever institutional controls have been selected as a component of a removal or remedial action. Makes easements enforceable in perpetuity (unless terminated pursuant to this Act) against owners of affected property or persons who acquire interest in, or rights to use, the property. Title VI: Miscellaneous - Makes a Federal agency subject to certain actions required for Federal facilities under CERCLA, with the exception of certain reporting requirements, if the agency owned or operated a facility over which it exercised no regulatory or other control over activities that resulted in a release of a hazardous substance unless: (1) no Federal agency was the primary or sole source or cause of such release; (2) the activities resulting in the release were pursuant to statutory authority and occurred prior to 1976; and (3) the persons primarily responsible for the release are financially viable and capable of performing or financing the response action. (Sec. 605) Authorizes the use of the Superfund to pay up to 50 percent of response costs incurred by a potentially liable party in taking approved actions to achieve response after employing an alternative or innovative technology that fails to achieve the required level of response. (Sec. 606) Includes trusts, estates, or persons who hold title to a vessel or facility or are otherwise affiliated with a vessel or facility in a fiduciary capacity within the definition of "owner or operator" for purposes of determining liability under CERCLA. Limits the personal obligations and liabilities of a fiduciary to the extent to which the assets of the trust or estate are sufficient to indemnify the fiduciary, subject to certain conditions. Excludes from such definition the United States, a Federal agency, or a conservator or receiver appointed by a Federal agency which acquired ownership of a facility or vessel in connection with receivership or conservatorship and forfeiture or seizure authority, provided such entity does not participate in operations that result in a release. (Sec. 608) Directs the Administrator to establish a small business Superfund assistance section within the small business ombudsman office to provide assistance and information regarding CERCLA and the allocation and settlement processes. (Sec. 611) Requires the Administrator to study and report to the Congress on EPA procedures for suspension and debarment of persons and business entities, particularly response action contractors, and to assess the feasibility and cost of creating a nationwide data base to track such persons. (Sec. 613) Directs the Administrator to publish guidelines for a model State program for the training and certification of individuals to perform Phase I Environmental Site Assessments. Establishes the Environmental Certification Board. (Sec. 615) Revises provisions regarding the application of CERCLA to Federal agencies to make such agencies subject to all Federal, State, interstate, and local requirements regarding response actions related to, or management of, hazardous substances, pollutants, and contaminants in the same manner as such requirements apply to nongovernmental entities. Absolves Federal employees of personal liability for civil penalties under Federal or State response laws with respect to acts or omissions within their official duties. Makes such employees subject to criminal sanctions under such laws, but exempts Federal agencies from such sanctions. (Sec. 616) Increases the authorization from Superfund for worker training and education grants. (Sec. 619) Makes States eligible for reimbursement currently available to local governments for emergency response actions. (Sec. 620) Directs the Administrator to study and report to the Congress on the feasibility of instituting a small disadvantaged business goal program for all Federal contracts under CERCLA. Title VII: Funding - Extends the authorization of appropriations to carry out specified Superfund authorities through FY 1999. Title VIII: Environmental Insurance Resolution Fund - Environmental Insurance Resolution and Equity Act of 1994 - Establishes the Environmental Insurance Resolution Fund to provide for the resolution of disputes between certain PRPs and their insurers. (Sec. 805) Authorizes the Fund to decide not to make an offer unless an eligible person has filed and is actively pursuing a claim with an insurer. (Sec. 806) Requires the Fund to make resolution offers to eligible persons equal to the applicable percentage of the lesser of the eligible costs incurred by the persons or the available coverage. Describes applicable percentages based on facility location and size, litigation venues, and State. (Sec. 807) Directs eligible persons that accept Fund resolutions to waive existing and future claims against an insurer for eligible costs. (Sec. 808) Requires the Fund to make pre- and post-resolution payments to eligible persons who accept a resolution. Treats payments made by the Fund to an eligible person as payments made by an insurer. (Sec. 809) Requires the Fund, in cases where an eligible person rejects a resolution offer, litigates a claim against an insurer, and obtains a final judgment against, or enters into a settlement with, the insurer, to reimburse the insurer for the lesser of the amount of the resolution offer or the final judgment or settlement. Authorizes the Fund, in such cases, to reimburse an insurer for unrecovered reasonable costs and legal fees if the resolution offer exceeded such final judgment or settlement. (Sec. 811) Provides that this title acts as a stay of all pending litigation regarding claims for indemnity or arising from insurance coverage for eligible costs. Bars stays of litigation ten years after this Act's enactment with respect to: (1) a person that becomes an eligible person on or after such date; and (2) an eligible person that has not filed a request for a resolution offer and has not rejected an offer before such date. (Sec. 815) Directs the President to report on: (1) the potential liability of the Fund; and (2) the number of non-NPL facilities and their average cleanup cost. (Sec. 817) Terminates the Fund's authority to: (1) accept requests for resolution ten years after this Act's enactment date; and (2) offer resolutions ten years and 180 days after such date. Title IX: Taxes - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend the applicability of the environmental tax to tax years before January 1, 2001 (currently, 1996). Extends certain provisions regarding the Superfund financing rate. (Sec. 903) Requires all expenditures of the Resolution Fund to be paid out of fees and assessments imposed by the Internal Revenue Code. Exempts the Fund from Federal, State, and local taxation.

Bill· HRH.R. 4912 (103rd)referred

Smithsonian Institution Sesquicentennial Commemorative Coin Act

United States · United States Congress · 5 August 1994

Smithsonian Institution Sesquicentennial Commemorative Coin Act - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to issue five-dollar gold coins and one-dollar silver coins emblematic of the scientific, educational, and cultural significance of the Smithsonian Institution. Mandates that: (1) all but a certain portion of surcharges received from coin sales be paid by the Secretary to the Smithsonian Institution to support programming related to the 150th anniversary and general activities of the Smithsonian Institution; and (2) a certain portion of such surcharges be dedicated to supporting the operation and activities of the National Numismatic Collection at the National Museum of American History.

Bill· HRH.R. 4828 (103rd)referred

Bombing Prevention Act

United States · United States Congress · 25 July 1994

Bombing Prevention Act - Title I: General Reforms - Amends the Federal criminal code to prohibit the transport, shipment, or receipt of explosive materials without a permit or the distribution of explosive materials to anyone other than a licensee or permittee. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to notify the States of the regulations so that they may consider revising their explosives laws. (Sec. 102) Requires applicants for licenses and user permits to import, manufacture, or deal in explosive materials to provide fingerprints and a photograph. Sets fees of up to $200 for an applicant for a license and up to $100 for an applicant for a permit. (Currently, the fee is up to $200 for each license or permit.) (Sec. 103) Authorizes the Secretary to use the national instant criminal background check system established under the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act to investigate applicants for licenses or permits. (Sec. 104) Repeals exceptions from specified explosive materials requirements with respect to components of small arms ammunition and small quantities of black powder or smokeless powder. (Sec. 105) Directs the U.S. Sentencing Commission to promulgate amendments to the sentencing guidelines to appropriately enhance the penalties for violations of Federal explosive materials provisions so that such penalties are the same as those for comparable violations of Federal firearms laws. (Sec. 106) Permits: (1) the destruction of seized explosives that are unsafe under specified circumstances; and (2) the owner to apply to the Secretary for reimbursement of any destroyed property where the claimant establishes that the seizure was wrongful. (Sec. 107) Subjects to civil forfeiture (with exceptions) any property involved in a violation of explosive materials provisions, or in a conspiracy to commit such a violation, and any other property traceable to such property. Directs the court to order a person convicted of a violation of Federal explosive materials provisions or of conspiring to commit such a violation to forfeit any property involved and any traceable property. Title II: Plastic Explosives - Prohibits the manufacture, import, export, shipment, transport, transfer, receipt, or possession of any plastic explosive which does not contain a detection agent (with exceptions). Authorizes the Secretary to investigate violations. Directs the Attorney General to exercise authority over such violations only when they are committed by a member of a terrorist or revolutionary group (in which case the Attorney General shall have primary investigative responsibility and the Secretary shall assist as requested). Prohibits any person possessing any plastic explosive, other than an agency of the United States or the National Guard of any State, from failing to report to the Secretary the quantity of such explosive possessed, the manufacturer or importer, and any identifying marks on such explosives. (Sec. 203) Provides for a fine and up to ten years' imprisonment for violations of Federal explosive materials laws. (Sec. 204) Sets forth affirmative defenses for Federal explosive materials laws.

Bill· HRH.R. 4803 (103rd)open

Fair Pay Act of 1994

United States · United States Congress · 20 July 1994

Fair Pay Act of 1994 - Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to prohibit discrimination in payment of wages on the basis of sex, race, or national origin. Requires such nondiscriminatory equal pay for equivalent jobs with the same employer, unless the differential payment is made pursuant to a system of seniority, merit, or production quality or quantity based earnings. Prohibits discrimination against an employee for exercising rights under this Act. Directs the court, in actions brought for violations of this Act, to allow expert fees as part of the costs, in addition to any other remedies awarded to prevailing plaintiffs. Allows such actions to be maintained as class actions. Requires employers to keep records and file annual reports with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) necessary for enforcement of this Act. Provides that such reports' contents shall be public information. Directs the EEOC to carry out a research, education, and technical assistance program for employers, labor organizations, and the general public concerning effective means available to implement this Act.

Bill· HRH.R. 4767 (103rd)open

Family Self-Sufficiency Act of 1994

United States · United States Congress · 14 July 1994

TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Promotion of Work and Self-Sufficiency Subtitle A: Expansion of Funding for, and Participation in, the JOBS Program Subtitle B: Job Creation, Job Placement and Development, and Work Requirements Subtitle C: Support for Working Families Subtitle D: Child Care Title II: Strengthening Parental Responsibility and Family Stability Subtitle A: Federal Responsibilities Subtitle B: Paternity Establishment Subtitle C: Enforcement Subtitle D: State Responsibilities Subtitle E: Demonstrations Subtitle F: Miscellaneous Title III: Teen Parents and Welfare Reform Subtitle A: Family Subtitle B: Education and Employment Subtitle C: Case Management Subtitle D: Demonstration Projects Title IV: Waivers Title V: Improving Government Assistance Subtitle A: AFDC Amendments Subtitle B: Food Stamp Act Amendments Title VI: Effective Date Family Self-Sufficiency Act of 1994 - Title I: Promotion of Work and Self-Sufficiency - Subtitle A: Expansion of Funding for, and Participation in, the JOBS Program - Amends title IV (Aid to Families With Dependent Children) (AFDC) to increase funding and the matching rate for the Job Opportunities and Basic Skills (JOBS) program. Revises JOBS participation requirements. (Sec. 104) Requires State plans to provide for a preliminary assessment of a family's self-sufficiency needs within 30 days after approval of an AFDC application. Subtitle B: Job Creation, Job Placement and Development, and Work Requirements - Authorizes any State to establish a public jobs creation program providing AFDC-eligible individuals with employment in the public sector or in private nonprofit organizations. (Sec. 112) Revises job placement, job development, and job retention activities retirements to provide for their expansion. (Sec. 113) Requires establishment of self-employment programs. Subtitle C: Support for Working Families - Eliminates the dollar-for-dollar "work penalty" in determining the amount of an AFDC recipient's earned income disregard. (Sec. 122) Raises the limitation on total family income. (Sec. 123) Allows a State the option to extend Medicaid enrollment for former AFDC recipients for one additional year after they have obtained employment. (Sec. 124) Revises treatment of two-parent families. (Sec. 125) Increases the stepparent income disregard. Subtitle D: Child Care - Increases child care funding. (Sec. 132) Sets forth a formula for payments to encourage the use of an entire State allotment for at-risk child care. Limits the carryforward of unused allotments. (Sec. 134) Requires a State agency to pay a family at most 75 percent of the actual local cost of child care (or a higher maximum, as the State may establish). (Sec. 135) Requires a State to set aside a specified portion of Federal funds for the improvement of the quality of services and the building of infrastructure to serve low-income children. (Sec. 136) Revises requirements with respect to child care for working AFDC parents. (Sec. 137) Revises child care health and safety standards and continuity of care requirements. (Sec. 138) Requires a State agency to ensure: (1) periodic identification of child care needs; (2) family understanding of child care alternatives; and (3) reimbursement mechanisms meeting family needs. (Sec. 140) Revises "seamless services facilitation" requirements for the provision of child care assistance to families who cease to receive AFDC benefits. (Sec. 141) Allows States to continue child care assistance without interruption during breaks between otherwise allowable activities, and for a reasonable time after loss of employment, to ensure continuity of child care arrangements. (Sec. 142) Requires States to guarantee child care whether or not a caretaker relative is receiving AFDC. (Sec. 143) Grants States the option to extend transitional child care benefits, and provide them to families who have received AFDC for less than three months. (Sec. 145) Limits at-risk child care to families ineligible for recipient or transitional child care. (Sec. 146) Repeals the requirement that a family receiving transitional child care benefits include a dependent child. (Sec. 148) Requires a State to ensure continued provision of child care with respect to a family of an individual in dispute resolution with the State over the individual's qualification for such care. (Sec. 149) Grants a State agency the option to enter agreements for consolidation of State responsibility for child care. Title II: Strengthening Parental Responsibility and Family Stability - Subtitle A: Federal Responsibilities - Adds to present uses of the Federal Parent Locator Service: (1) establishing parentage, or establishing, modifying, and enforcing child support obligations; and (2) providing safeguards to prevent the disclosure of information in case that would jeopardize the safety of the custodial or noncustodial parent or any child of either such parent. (Sec. 202) Requires the Federal Parent Locator System to include information on an absent parent's income and assets. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to enter into an agreement with the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) (the Secretary) to provide the System with prompt access to all Federal income tax returns. Directs 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 in order to give each State access to records of other States. (Sec. 203) Directs the Secretary to establish a Federal registry of all child support orders recorded in State registries. Requires the Federal registry to compare information on W-4 forms with information in child support orders. (Sec. 204) Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to establish a system of reporting by requiring employers to provide a copy of every employee's W-4 form to the Federal child support order registry. (Sec. 205) Increases the base matching rate for Federal payments for State child support enforcement activities. (Sec. 206) Revises requirements for performance-based incentives and penalties. (Sec. 207) Provides for increased Federal financial participation for States with unified child support enforcement programs. (Sec. 208) Directs the Secretary to promulgate criteria and standards for a new child support audit process. (Sec. 209) Establishes the National Child Support Guidelines Commission to develop a national child support guideline for congressional consideration based on a study of various guideline models, the benefits and efficiencies of such models, and any needed improvements. (Sec. 210) Directs the Secretary to establish a Child Support Audit Advisory Committee. Subtitle B: Paternity Establishment - Revises requirements for paternity establishment procedures. Requires States to provide for new outreach programs to encourage voluntary paternity acknowledgement. Sets forth an administrative penalty of AFDC recuctions for children for whom paternity is not established promptly. Subtitle C: Enforcement - Requires States to establish procedures for: (1) obtaining access to financial records maintained by any financial institution doing business in the State, for the purpose of establishing, modifying, or enforcing a child support obligation; and (2) requiring courts or administrative agencies to issue final orders in a child support or parentage case requiring each party to file addresses, telephone numbers, social security numbers, driver's license numbers, and other specified information. (Sec. 223) Amends the Consumer Credit Protection Act to allow a State agency administering an AFDC program to use consumer credit reports to establish, modify, or enforce a child support award. (Sec. 224) Amends Federal law to make Federal death, black lung, veterans, and workers' compensation benefits subject to garnishment for child support. (Sec. 225) Requires State and Federal holds on granting of certain occupational, professional, and business licenses for a noncustodial parent with a child support delinquency. (Sec. 226) Requires State procedures to: (1) deny driver's licenses and vehicle registrations to persons failing to appear in child support cases; and (2) systematically place liens on all nonexempt real and titled personal property for child support arrearages. (Sec. 228) Requires State procedures requiring a rebuttable presumption that, in any case related to child support, any transfer of property for significantly less than its fair market value by an individual who owes a child support arrearage is made with the intent to avoid payment of the arrearage. (Sec. 229) Revises from $1,000 to the monthly support obligation the minumum threshold for a State at its option to report child support arrearage information to a credit bureau. (Sec. 230) Authorizes the Secretary of State to refuse, revoke, restrict, or limit a passport to noncustodial parents subject to State arrest warrants for nonpayment of child support. (Sec. 231) Requires State procedures permitting enforcement of any child support order until the child attains age 30. (Sec. 232) Provides for State certification to the Secretary of the Treasury of a child support obligation for Internal Revenue Service collection. Subtitle D: State Responsibilities - Requires procedures under which a State child support enforcement agency shall establish an automated central child support order registry. (Sec. 241) Requires a State to transmit a wage withholding order to the employer of any individual upon the imposition of a child support obligation. (Sec. 242) Requires the Secretary to develop a uniform abstract of a child support order with specified contents. (Sec. 243) Requires States to enact the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act. (Sec. 244) Revises requirements for expedited processes, administrative procedures, and due process. (Sec. 246) Requires State plans to provide for an ongoing program of outreach to eligible persons. (Sec. 247) Requires States to: (1) ensure cost-of-living adjustments for child support awards; (2) establish a simplified process for review and adjustment of certain child support orders; and (3) ensure that the State does not provide to any noncustodial parent representation relating to review or adjustment of a child support order, unless the State makes such provision outside the State agency. (Sec. 250) Directs the Secretary to conduct and complete staffing studies for each State child support enforcement program, including each agency and court involved in the child support process. Requires specified reductions in AFDC payments to a State that has not met performance standards and has not implemented the staffing levels recommended in the report to the Congress on such studies. (Sec. 251) Requires States to develop and implement a program of annual training to all personnel performing functions under the State plan. (Sec. 252) Sets priorities for the distribution of collected child support. (Sec. 253) Grants States the option to waive temporarily the right to collect child support obligations of teen noncustodial parents participating in a State educational or employment preparation program. Subtitle E: Demonstrations - Directs the Secretary to make grants to up to six States to conduct demonstration projects for establishing or improving a system of assured minimum child support payments. Subtitle F: Miscellaneous - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to make a technical correction to the definition of medical child support order. Title III: Teen Parents and Welfare Reform - Subtitle A: Family - Requires a State plan to provide that, with specified exceptions, no AFDC benefits shall be provided to an individual under age 18 who has never married but has a dependent child in his or her care or is pregnant and eligible for AFDC if the individual's case manager determines that the individual is not residing in the home of the individual's parent, legal guardian, or other adult relative, or in a foster home, maternity home, or other adult-supervised supportive living arrangement. (Sec. 302) Requires a State plan to provide for a $50 increase in the monthly benefit to a family including an individual under age 20 who is the parent of a child whose paternity has been established or with respect to which a child support order is in effect. Subtitle B: Education and Employment - Sets forth schooling and employment requirements for any AFDC recipient who is under age 20 and is a custodial parent or is pregnant. (Sec. 312) Allows a State to increase AFDC payments by a certain amount to any qualified participant in certain appropriate summer educational or other activities. (Sec. 313) Provides for bonus payments to States which meet specified goals for teen participation in Job Opportunities and Basic Skills (JOBS) program activities. (Sec. 314) Allows States the option to provide child care for certain non-AFDC teen parents. Subtitle C: Case Management - Requires a State plan to provide for assignment of a case manager to each AFDC recipient who is under age 20 and is a custodial parent or is pregnant. Subtitle D: Demonstration Projects - Directs the HHS Secretary, the Secretary of Education, and the Chief Executive Officer of the Corporation for National and Community Service to jointly make grants to eligible entities for the development of intensive and sustained school-linked and school-based pregnancy prevention programs for adolescents and their families in areas of high poverty or high unmarried adolescent birth rates. Directs the HHS Secretary to approve between five and seven demonstration projects to provide comprehensive services to prevent adolescent pregnancy in high-risk communities. Title IV: Waivers - Provides for funding of waivers that are not cost neutral. Title V: Improving Government Assistance - Subtitle A: AFDC Amendments - Establishes a requirement that needs standards reflect the cost of essential items. (Sec. 502) Requires a State plan to provide that the maximum amount of AFDC payable to a family for any month shall not be reduced below the level in effect for October 1994 to a family of the same size. (Sec. 503) Allows States to supplement benefits for families subject to retrospective budgeting. (Sec. 504) Revises income disregards with respect to elementary or secondary students under age 20, including training stipends, lump-sum income, educational assistance, and in-kind income. (Sec. 505) Increases the resource limit for families eligible for AFDC from $1,000 to $2,000 (or, in the case of a family with a member who has attained 60 years of age, $3,000). Revises requirements for exclusions from resources, including cash value of life insurance policies, real property which must be disposed of, earned income tax credit payments, lump-sum payments for medical expenses or replacement of lost resources, and certain resources for self-employment. (Sec. 508) Requires States to require, as a condition of eligibility, that adult family members applying for such aid declare in writing that each family member is a U.S. citizen or eligible alien. (Sec. 509) Sets forth payment limits for Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and Guam. Subtitle B: Food Stamp Act Amendments - Amends the Food Stamp Act of 1977 with respect to inconsequential income, educational assistance, training stipends and allowances, income from on-the-job training programs, earned income tax credits, resources necessary for self-employment, and lump-sum payments for medical expenses or replacement of lost resources. Title VI: Effective Date - Sets forth the effective date of this Act.

Bill· HRH.R. 4737 (103rd)referred

To modify the negotiating objectives of the United States for future trade agreements, and for other purposes.

United States · United States Congress · 13 July 1994

Amends the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988 to add as an overall U.S. trade negotiating objective that the United States obtain increased compatibility of trade agreements with environmental protection, conservation, and sustainable development. (Sec. 1) Declares principal U.S. trade negotiating objectives includes ensuring that dispute settlement mechanisms within trade agreements provide for more effective and expeditious resolution of disputes, improve transparency and public participation, and enable better enforcement of U.S. rights, including those relating to environment and conservation; (2) obtaining broader application of the principle of transparency through the observance of open and equitable procedures by GATT Contracting Parties to the GATT in trade matters related to environment and conservation; (3) taking into account the particular needs of developing countries in trade matters relating to environment and conservation; (4) improving the provisions of trade agreements to discipline unfair trade practices having adverse trade effects, including practices potentially harmful to the environment;(5) promoting compatibility of established standards of the World Trade Organization (WTO) relating to intellectual property with existing international biological diversity conventions; and (6) developing internationally agreed rules, including dispute settlement procedures, which will promote environmentally sensitive foreign investment and discourage countries from attracting or maintaining foreign investment by relaxing domestic health, safety, or environmental measures. Declares that the principal U.S. negotiating objectives: (1) regarding environment and conservation issues related to trade and foreign investment are, among other things, to promote compatibility between trade agreements and the protection of the environment and global resources; and (2) regarding trade in wood and wood products are to promote sustainable forestry practices, and to increase market access for value-added wood products and wood products that are produced from timber that is sustainably harvested. (Sec. 2) Amends the Trade Act of 1974 to revise the composition of the Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations to include nongovernmental environmental and conservation organizations. Authorizes the President to establish individual general policy and sectoral or functional advisory committees for environment and conservation. Requires a specified report of the appropriate sectoral or functional committees concerning proposed trade agreements to include an advisory opinion as to the significant environmental effects of trade conducted within the sector or functional area. (Sec. 3) Amends the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988 to declare that the principal U.S. negotiating objectives regarding environment and conservation in the WTO and the Committee on Trade and Environment of the WTO are, among other things, to promote greater compatibility of the rules and agreements of the WTO with international agreements that rely upon trade sanctions for enforcement. Declares that the principal U.S. negotiating objectives with respect to bilateral trade accession to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) are to establish for the country seeking accession minimum environmental safeguards that are not less than those contained in NAFTA and the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation. Declares that the principal U.S. negotiating objectives with respect to the Asia-pacific Economic Cooperation form (APEC) are to develop a program relating to environment and conservation measures of relevance to member countries of APEC.

Bill· HRH.R. 4636 (103rd)referred

Employment Non-Discrimination Act of 1994

United States · United States Congress · 23 June 1994

Employment Non-Discrimination Act of 1994 - Prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation by covered entities, including employing authorities of the House of Representatives, employing offices of the Senate, and instrumentalities of the Congress. Declares that: (1) this Act does not apply to the provision of employee benefits for the benefit of an employee's partner; and (2) a disparate impact does not establish a prima facie violation of this Act. Prohibits quotas and preferential treatment. Declares that this Act does not apply to: (1) religious organizations (except in their for-profit activities); (2) the armed forces; or (3) laws creating special rights or preferences for veterans. Provides for enforcement. Disallows State and Federal immunity. Allows recovery of attorney's fees. Prohibits retaliation and coercion. Requires posting notices for employees and applicants.

Bill· HRH.R. 4630 (103rd)referred

Rail-Highway Grade Crossing Safety Act of 1994

United States · United States Congress · 22 June 1994

Rail-Highway Grade Crossing Safety Act of 1994 - Includes rail-highway crossing closures among the safety projects for which an increased Federal share of construction costs apply. Authorizes any State, after adopting a policy requiring the review of the need for all new public at-grade rail-highway crossings, to use certain authorized funds to provide an incentive payment to a local jurisdiction upon the permanent closing by the jurisdiction of a public at-grade crossing, provided that such payments may not exceed $7,500 and that the funds are matched by an equal payment from the railroad owning the tracks on which the crossing is located. Directs the local jurisdiction receiving funds to use the Federal funds portion of the incentive payment for transportation safety improvements only. Directs the Secretary to establish guidelines to enable States to determine the public benefits and costs resulting from any new rail-highway grade crossings. Revises provisions regarding Operation Lifesaver to require the Secretary of Transportation to set aside $500,000 of funds authorized to be appropriated for the surface transportation program (STP) for a given fiscal year for carrying out a public information and education program to help prevent and reduce motor vehicle accidents, injuries, and fatalities, to improve driver performance at railway-highway crossings, and to help prevent trespassing on rail rights-of-way and resulting injuries and fatalities. Directs that expenditure of any funds in excess of $300,000 be contingent upon receipt of matching funds from nonpublic sources. Requires the Secretary to: (1) set aside $15 million of funds authorized to be appropriated for the STP for a given fiscal year to carry out a program to provide a financial incentive to States that review and implement grade crossing safety improvements on a corridor basis; and (2) issue investment criteria for approving projects.

Resolution· HCONRESH.Con.Res. 257 (103rd)referred

Commending the work of the United States Labor Attache' Corps, and for other purposes.

United States · United States Congress · 22 June 1994

Commends the United States Labor Attache Corps for its historic role during the past 50 years in nurturing freedom and assisting in the development of democratic values and processes throughout the world. Directs the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Labor to jointly: (1) review the mission of the United States Labor Attache Corps, and determine what reforms are necessary to redesign and assure continued relevance of the Corps in the post-cold war era and to implement them; (2) implement an interagency recruitment and training program to assure sufficient qualified personnel for the Corps, and to enhance the professional development of existing personnel, consistent with the continuing need for monitoring and reporting on the needs, interests, and aspirations of working people in foreign countries; (3) develop a plan to assure that a labor counselor, attache, or reporting officer is assigned to every United States Embassy abroad by January 1, 1997, and determine what additional resources are necessary to achieve this goal; and (4) report to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations on the outcome of the review and the steps taken herein.

Bill· HRH.R. 4570 (103rd)open

Child Support Responsibility Act of 1994

United States · United States Congress · 13 June 1994

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 Child Support Responsibility Act of 1994 - Title I: Locate and Case Tracking - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (the Secretary) to establish a Federal registry of child support orders or modifications issued by any State court or administrative order or both. Provides for State access to such registry. (Sec. 102)Amends part D (Child Support and Establishment of Paternity) of title IV of the Social Security Act (SSA) to include among the functions of the Federal Parent Locator System: (1) establishing parentage; and (2) establishing, modifying, enforcing child support obligations. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to provide prompt access to the Secretary of all Federal income tax returns filed by individuals. Instructs the Secretary to expand the Parent Locator Service to establish a national network based on the comprehensive statewide child support enforcement systems to expand State access to the national parent locator network. (Sec. 103) Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to establish a national reporting system on employees and their child support obligations through the mandatory inclusion of certain child support information on W-4 forms (including the availability of health care insurance). (Sec. 104) Requires State plans for child and spousal support to have in effect statutory mechanisms which: (1) establish a child support order registry to transmit abstracts of State child support orders to the Federal Registry and distribute child support proceeds withheld from a delinquent parent's wages; and (2) allow an individual to bring an action against an employer or State official for noncompliance with this Act. Prescribes parameters for direct wage withholding, State agency access to various data bases, and expanded interaction with the National Parent Locator Network. (Sec. 105) Amends the Internal Revenue Code to integrate child support obligations and payments within the structure of income tax returns, including: (1) assessment and collection of child support arrearages; and (2) payment to State registries of child support amounts collected by the Secretary of the Treasury. Title II: Establishment - Amends part D of SSA title IV (Child Support and Establishment of Paternity) to set forth procedural guidelines for service of process on Federal employees and members of the armed services in connection with proceedings relating to child support and parentage obligations. (Sec. 204) Establishes the National Child Support Guidelines Commission to: (1) study and report to the Congress on the advisability of a national child support guideline; (2) develop such a guideline, if advisable. (Sec. 205) Includes among the requisite components of approved State plans: (1) a specified duration of child support; (2) electronic transmittal of State documents; (3) telephonic appearance in interstate cases; (4) uniform terms in child support orders; (5) social security numbers on marriage licenses, divorce decrees, parentage decrees, and birth certificates; (6) administrative subpoena powers; (7) State-conducted surveys and outreach programs for underserved populations; and (8) State guidelines for child health care insurance. (Sec. 213) Amends the Federal judicial code to set forth rules governing modification of sister State child support orders. Title III: Parentage - Requires approved State plans to include prescribed procedures for paternity acknowledgment. Title IV: Enforcement - Requires approved State plans to include prescribed procedures for garnishment of wages for parents in arrears for child support, including: (1) Federal death benefits; (2) black lung benefits; (3) veterans benefits, and (4) workers' compensation. (Sec. 404) Amends the Consumer Credit Protection Act to provide that: (1) its garnishment restrictions neither pre-empt State law, nor exempt any person from complying with State or Federal laws permitting garnishment for the purpose of securing child support; and (2) a garnishment intended to satisfy a child support debt takes priority over competing debts owed to the Federal government. (Sec. 405) Mandates that approved State plans include procedures to satisfy child support arrearages which: (1) prohibit a State court from applying the doctrine of election of remedies to prevent a custodial parent from collecting child support from the noncustodial parent; (2) prohibit State and Federal occupational licensing or regulating agencies from issuing or renewing occupational, professional or business licenses to individuals who fail to appear or are delinquent in child support cases; (3) prohibit State motor vehicle departments from issuing or renewing a driver's license or vehicle registration to such individuals; (4) require placement of child support liens on certificates of vehicle title; (5) permit attachment of bank accounts; (6) impose liens upon lottery winnings, insurance, court and other settlements; (7) presume fraudulent intent in any property transfer; (8) permit attachment of public and private retirement plans; (9) eliminate statutes of limitations in child support cases; and (10) require child support enforcement agencies to assess and collect interest on child support judgments. (Sec. 418) Amends Federal bankruptcy law to: (1) except from its automatic stay provisions proceedings establishing parentage and debts for child support; (2) require a bankruptcy plan to provide for full payment when due of debts for child support; (3) declare that a debt for child support includes State public debts and assigned child support based on provision of expenditures with respect to aid to families with dependent children (AFDC) and foster care and adoption assistance; (4) include among prioritized claims allowed unsecured claims for child support; (5) preclude a debtor from avoiding the fixing of judicial liens for child support; (6) except from discharge a debt pursuant to divorce or separation; and (7) prohibit trustee avoidance of a transfer that was a bona fide payment of a debt for child support. (Sec. 419) Prescribes procedural mandates for the Secretary of Defense to cooperate with the States in the enforcement of child support obligations of members and former members of the Armed Forces. (Sec. 420) Requires each State to have in effect laws which adopt the officially approved version of the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act. (Sec. 421) Authorizes the Secretary of State to deny or restrict passport privileges to child support debtors subject to State arrest warrants. Denies Federal benefits, loans, guarantees, and employment to debtors with child support arrearages exceeding specified amounts. (Sec. 423) Amends part D of SSA title IV (Child Support and Establishment of Paternity) to mandate that approved State plans include procedures to satisfy child support arrearages by permitting State courts to order: (1) assignments of life insurance benefits; and (2) assignment of an interest in jointly held property. (Sec. 425) Expresses the sense of the Congress that the U.S. should ratify the United Nations Convention of 1956. Mandates that the States treat international child support cases in the same manner as interstate child support cases. (Sec. 426) Prescribes guidelines for shielding depository institutions from liability for providing financial records to State enforcement agencies in child support cases. (Sec. 427) Mandates that approved State plans include procedures to ensure: (1) cost-of-living adjustments in child support orders; (2) annual exchange of financial information by parties to a child support order; and (3) criminal penalties for failure to pay child support and the granting of use immunity may be granted to compel testimony in specified civil child support proceedings. Title V: Collection and Distribution - Prescribes priorities in the distribution of collected child support pursuant to an approved State plan. Directs the Comptroller General to report to the Congress on studies and pilot projects of systems under which States would be required to pay child support to the individuals to whom it is owed before making reimbursements to any State for AFDC provided with respect to such child. (Sec. 502) Mandates that approved State plans include procedures which limit State claims against the noncustodial parent to the assistance provided to the child. (Sec. 503) Revises the fee guidelines for State child support collection and paternity determination services. Title VI: Federal Role - Directs the Secretary to establish the Office of Child Support Enforcement under the direction of an Assistant Secretary. Expands the training programs for State child support enforcement programs. (Sec. 604) Directs the Secretary to develop the methodology for determining each State child support and paternity establishment program's staffing requirements. (Sec. 605) Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 to revise the definition of "medical child support order". (Sec. 606) Instructs the Secretary to: (1) contract for a study of the audit process of the Office of Child Support Enforcement; and (2) make grants to the States for demonstration projects implementing a system of assured minimum child support payments. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 608) Amends the Internal Revenue Code to create the Children's Trust Fund for making expenditures to implement this Act. (Sec. 609) Instructs the Comptroller General to study and report to the Congress on: (1) the causes for nonpayment of child support; and (2) the efficacy of processing child support and parentage cases in States that use administrative processes as compared to those that use judicial or quasi-judicial processes. (Sec. 611) Directs the Office of Child Support Enforcement to: (1) produce and update a certain compendium entitled "A Guide to State Child Support and Paternity Laws" and (2) establish a permanent advisory committee on child support matters. Title VII: State Role - Mandates that State plans for child and spousal support include: (1) agency advocacy promoting the greatest economic security possible for children; (2) certain information on plan services for dissemination to each custodial parent; (3) an administrative procedure as the sole procedure for change of payee; and (4) conflict-of-interest restrictions upon State modification of a child support order. (Sec. 705) Provides for increased payments to States under the Child Support and Establishment of Paternity program, repealing provisions for State incentive payments.

Bill· HRH.R. 4540 (103rd)referred

Persian Gulf War Veterans' Compensation Act of 1994

United States · United States Congress · 8 June 1994

Persian Gulf War Veterans' Compensation Act of 1994 - Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to: (1) develop and implement a uniform case assessment protocol to ensure thorough assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of all Persian Gulf War (War) veterans suffering from illnesses the origins of which are currently unkown but which may be attributable to service in the Southwest Asia theater of operations during such War; (2) develop case definitions or diagnoses for such illnesses; and (3) implement a comprehensive outreach program, including a newsletter and a toll-free telephone number, to inform War veterans and their families of the medical care and other benefits that may be provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs as a result of service in such War. Directs the Secretary to pay compensation to a War veteran suffering from a disability resulting from an undiagnosed illness if such disability becomes manifest to a degree of ten percent or more within three years of separation from active military service. Provides exceptions to the payment of such compensation (i.e., when there is a preponderance of evidence to show that the disability was not incurred during such service or occurred after such service). Allows the Secretary to cease such payments after providing specified congressional committees with a scientific report showing that such disabilities are not connected to service in the War. Directs the Secretary to enter into: (1) an agreement with the Secretary of Defense for access to all clinical data on War veterans who remain on active duty, and to continually compile such data (with a required annual report); and (2) a contract for the conduct of an epidemiological study designed to assess the short- and long-term health consequences of service in such War (with appropriate oversight, a status report, and annual and final reports). Authorizes appropriations for FY 1995 through 2000 for such study. Authorizes appropriations to the Department for FY 1995 through 1998 for the conduct of research to advance the understanding of health risks and effects of service in the Gulf during such War and the means of treating such health effects.

Bill· HRH.R. 4517 (103rd)referred

To reinstate the emergency unemployment compensation program.

United States · United States Congress · 26 May 1994

Amends the Emergency Unemployment Compensation Act of 1991 to extend the authorization for new claims for benefits under the emergency unemployment compensation program to August 5, 1994. Modifies the final phase-out period for continuation of claims to end it on September 30, 1994. Provides for a similar extension of the program of temporary extended railroad unemployment insurance benefits (and modification of the phase-out period). Amends the Agricultural Trade Act of 1978 to repeal the export enhancement program of the Department of Agriculture (in order to fund the extensions of unemployment compensation under this Act).

Bill· HRH.R. 4512 (103rd)referred

Welfare to Work Act of 1994

United States · United States Congress · 26 May 1994

Welfare to Work Act of 1994 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a refundable credit for the hiring of qualified former recipients of Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) under title IV of the Social Security Act. Prohibits replacing existing workers in order to obtain such credit.

Bill· HRH.R. 4498 (103rd)referred

Job Start for America Act of 1994

United States · United States Congress · 25 May 1994

TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: AFDC Amendments Title II: Housing Amendments Title III: Food Stamp Amendment Title IV: Head Start Amendment Title V: Effective Date Job Start for America Act of 1994 - Title I: AFDC Amendments - Amends part A of title IV (Aid to Families with Dependent Children) (AFDC) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to require each State agency to provide to the caretaker relative of each first phase family (as defined by this Act) vouchers entitling any child care provider meeting applicable State and local standards to State payments equal to the provider's cost of providing child care with respect to the family. (Sec. 101) Provides for continuance of AFDC benefits for first phase and second phase families (as defined by this Act) for: (1) two years after the principal earner parent becomes gainfully employed; or (2) six months after the family income exceeds 300 percent of the poverty line. Disregards the assets of a spouse who marries an AFDC recipient for the first six months after the wedding. (Sec. 103) Increases from $1,000 (or any State-determined lower amount) to $2,500 the eligibility resource threshold for receipt of AFDC benefits. (Sec. 104) Requires a State plan to provide that a State agency shall provide job training and job search counseling to all AFDC recipients, including educational activities, job skills training, job readiness activities, job development, and job placement. Sets priorities for provision of job training and job search counseling, first to all first phase families, then to all second phase families, then to any family neither one nor the other. (Sec. 105) Defines: (1) first phase family as one whose principal earner parent has never been gainfully employed for three or more months (whether or not consecutive); and (2) second phase family as one whose principal earner parent has graduated from secondary school or received a high school equivalency certificate, but has never been gainfully employed. (Sec. 106) Repeals: (1) part F of SSA title IV (Job Opportunities and Basic Skills (JOBS) Training Programs); and (2) requirements for treating families differently based on the number of parents in the home. Title II: Housing Amendments - Prohibits for a 24-month period any rent increase for a qualified dwelling unit because of increased income due to employment with respect to a family: (1) whose income increases as a result of the employment of a family member who was previously unemployed; and (2) who was receiving AFDC payments immediately before such employment. Title III: Food Stamp Amendment - Amends the Food Stamp Act of 1977 to exclude for food stamp eligibility purposes all earned income of a household that includes a member who is employed and who in the most recent two-year period participated fully in a State job training and job search counseling program under this Act, unless the household's aggregate income exceeds the poverty line by more than 300 percent. Title IV: Head Start Amendment - Amends the Head Start Act to authorize appropriations for full-day and full-year services. Title V: Effective Date - Sets forth the effective date of this Act.

Bill· HJRESH.J.Res. 369 (103rd)referred

Designating September 16, 1994, as "National POW/MIA Recognition Day" and authorizing display of the National League of Families POW/MIA flag.

United States · United States Congress · 24 May 1994

Designates September 16, 1994, as National POW/MIA Recognition Day. Requires the display of the National League of Families POW/MIA flag at: (1) all national cemeteries and the National Vietnam Veterans Memorial on May 30, 1994 (Memorial Day), September 16, 1994 (National POW/MIA Recognition Day), and November 11, 1994 (Veterans Day); and (2) the White House and the buildings containing the primary offices of the Secretaries of State, Defense, and Veterans Affairs and the Director of the Selective Service System on September 16, 1994 (National POW/MIA Recognition Day).

Bill· HRH.R. 4464 (103rd)referred

National Community Service Commemorative Coin Act

United States · United States Congress · 20 May 1994

National Community Service Commemorative Coin Act - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to issue one-dollar silver coins to commemorate students who volunteer to perform community service. Mandates that all surcharges received from such coin sales be paid to the National Community Service Trust to fund innovative community service programs at American universities, including the service, research, and teaching activities of the faculty and students involved in such programs.

Bill· HRH.R. 4460 (103rd)referred

Water Resources Development Act of 1994

United States · United States Congress · 19 May 1994

Water Resources Development Act of 1994 - Amends the Water Resources Development Act of 1986 to require a 25 percent non-Federal share of the cost of environmental protection and restoration activities under the Act. (Sec. 6) Requires amounts recovered by the Secretary of the Army for the cleanup of hazardous or toxic substances in support of the Army Civil Works program to be credited to the appropriate Trust Fund Account from which the cost of taking such action is paid. (Sec. 7) Amends the Act to provide for the temporary protection of technology developed as a result of research and development (R&D) activities conducted by the Corps of Engineers which is likely to be subject to a cooperative R&D agreement within two years of such development. (Sec. 8) Amends the National Dam Safety Act to authorize appropriations annually (currently through FY 1992) for continuously maintaining an updated inventory of all dams located in the United States. (Sec. 9) Authorizes the Secretary, in maintaining hydroelectric power generating facilities at projects under the jurisdiction of the Army, to increase the efficiency of energy production or the capacity of such facilities, if certain conditions are met. (Sec. 10) Authorizes the Secretary to undertake surveys, plans, and studies and to prepare reports which may lead to work under existing civil works authorities or to recommendations for authorizations. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 11) Authorizes the Secretary to make lump-sum payments to non-Federal sponsors for the Federal share of operation, maintenance, replacement, and rehabilitation costs of civil works projects after completion of construction of the project or a separable element thereof, with conditions. (Sec. 12) Requires recommendation to the Congress by the Secretary that a non-Federal sponsor bear 50 percent of the cost of any proposed modification of an existing authorized project by removal of a project feature which would significantly and adversely impact the project purpose or output. (Sec. 13) Amends the Water Resources Development Act of 1990 to terminate the technical advisory committee established to provide to the Secretary and the Corps recommendations on reservoir monitoring and research. (Sec. 15) Amends the: (1) Act to revise a reporting requirement and to defeat a project deauthorization if funds for planning or design (currently, only construction) have been obligated within a 30-month period; and (2) Water Resources Development Act of 1988 to repeal a five-year limitation on the period during which funds must be obligated to prevent project deauthorization. (Sec. 16) Directs the Secretary to establish a goal of awarding five percent of the total amount of civil works funds obligated for Army contracts and subcontracts during FY 1994 through 2000 to small business concerns owned and controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals and to historically Black colleges and minority institutions. Outlines procurement procedures. (Sec. 17) Amends the Act to revise provisions concerning cost-sharing for dam safety work. (Sec. 18) Repeals a provision of the River and Harbor Act of 1950 providing for expenses of Corps representatives at international engineering or scientific conferences. (Sec. 19) Authorizes the Secretary to enter into contracts, cooperative agreements, and grants with non-Federal entities for R&D in support of Army civil works programs. (Sec. 20) Authorizes the Secretary to engage in activities in interagency or international support of problems of national significance to the United States, with conditions. (Sec. 21) Amends the Water Resources Development Act of 1988 to allow the Secretary to take appropriate measures if he determines that the operation of a water resource project has contributed to the degradation of the quality of the environment. (Sec. 22) Establishes in the Treasury the Army Civil Works Regulatory Program Fund for deposit of fees collected for commercial permits, environmental impact statements, and wetlands delineations. Authorizes the appropriation of the funds collected to the Secretary for administrative costs related to regulation of navigable waters and wetlands of the United States.

Bill· HRH.R. 4404 (103rd)open

Marine Fish Conservation Amendments of 1994

United States · United States Congress · 12 May 1994

TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Amendments to Magnuson Fishery Conservation and Management Act Title II: Amendments to the Atlantic Tunas Convention Act Marine Fish Conservation Amendments of 1994 - Title I: Amendments to Magnuson Fishery Conservation and Management Act - Amends the Magnuson Fishery Conservation and Management Act to declare that it is the policy of the Congress to: (1) assure that the national fishery conservation and management program encourages development of practical measures that reduce bycatch (the incidental catch, take, or harvest of certain fish, marine mammals, and other specified animals) to insignificant levels approaching zero; and (2) ensure that all State and Federal actions are consistent with the conservation and management of fisheries under such Act. (Sec. 105) Revises national standards for fishery conservation and management to require conservation and management measures to: (1) provide an adequate margin of safety to act as a buffer against overfishing; and (2) reduce bycatch to the lowest level practicable and avoid unnecessary waste of fish. (Sec. 106) Revises requirements for Regional Fishery Management Councils to direct the Secretary of Commerce to ensure that at least 25 percent of the appointed members of each Council are persons selected for their fisheries expertise, as demonstrated by university, environmental organization, or other non-user group affiliation and by past actions and accomplishments. Provides for removal of a Council member for cause upon the Secretary's determination of a conflict of interest. Requires that each Council decision be recorded by roll call vote registered and forwarded to the Secretary for review. Authorizes each Council to request the Secretary to initiate consultation with a Federal agency about certain agency activity which may affect the essential fishery habitat of a fishery under its jurisdiction designated in a fishery management plan. Revises financial disclosure requirements for Council members to include financial interests held by children, grandchildren, parents, or siblings. Requires any Council member holding a financial interest requiring disclosure to recuse him or herself from voting on or participating in all Council actions that would affect such interest. Authorizes Council members and the public to challenge, in writing to the Secretary, any vote of a Council member alleged to have been made in violation of such recusal requirement. (Sec. 107) Requires any fishery management plan to: (1) specify an objective definition of overfishing for each fish species or population involved in the fishery; (2) contain a recovery plan for any overfished fishery; (3) specify allowable gear types for the fishery, requiring the use of types which minimize bycatch and associated mortality; (4) provide for the stationing on U.S. fishing vessels of observers to gather reliable data; (5) establish a system of fees to pay for plan implementation; (6) assess the bycatch of all gear types used in the fishery; and (7) contain conservation and management measures to minimize or eliminate the adverse impacts of fishing gear and practices on habitat for fish. Requires the Secretary to review each existing fishery management plan for compliance with the definition of overfishing in this Act. (Sec. 108) Specifies plan review, plan preparation, and overfishing determination duties of the Secretary. Mandates the contents of regulations establishing a system to collect fees to pay for fishing vessel observers. Establishes a National Fishery Observer Fund. Directs the Secretary to publish in the Federal Register a list of fish species, populations, and population complexes that are overfished and the objective definition of overfishing used to make that determination. Requires the Secretary to develop a research plan to identify and gather needed data on fish species, populations, and population complexes for which information is insufficient. Revises the approval voting requirements for a management plan for any fishery under the authority of more than one Council. Declares that any Secretary-prepared fishery management plan or amendment addressing a highly migratory species fishery, which was in effect on July 1, 1993, shall remain in effect until superseded by a plan or amendment prepared by the appropriate Councils and approved by the Secretary. Sets forth procedures for adoption of a recovery plan addressing overfishing with respect to fish species, populations, or population complexes subject to a fishery management plan. Directs the Secretary to provide for the elimination of bycatch through fees and incentive programs, including cooperative efforts with the Federal Government on research and development of selective fishing gear and other technological devices for the reduction of bycatch. Directs the Secretary to publish in the Federal Register and submit to the Congress a report on the cumulative impacts on fishery habitats of the actions authorized, funded, or carried out by Federal agencies, including an assessment of how fishery habitats identified in approved fishery management plans are affected. Directs the Secretary to review: (1) the feasibility of establishing a risk sharing pool through a reasonable fee to provide coverage for vessels and vessel owners against liability from civil suits by observers; and (2) the availability of comprehensive commercial insurance for vessel and owner liability against such suits. Requires the Secretary to establish such a pool unless such insurance is available to all fishing vessels and U.S fish processors required to have observers, and it will provide a greater measure of coverage at a lower cost. Requires the Secretary to establish an alternative observation program for vessels on which facilities for quartering of an observer, or for carrying out observer functions, are inadequate to ensure the health or safety of the observer or the safe operation of the vessel. (Sec. 109) Authorizes the Secretary or the appropriate Council (subject to the Secretary's approval) to adopt regulations as an interim measure in the absence of a fishery management plan. Prescribes general requirements for such regulations. Requires the Secretary to comment on and make recommendations concerning any actual or proposed action authorized, funded, or carried out by a State or Federal agency that may result in the destruction or adverse modification of the essential habitat designated in a fishery management plan. Prescribes guidelines for Federal agency response to such comments or recommendations. Authorizes the Secretary to prohibit any such Federal agency actions. Provides for: (1) citizen suits to enforce such Act; and (2) citizen petitions to compel the Secretary to make a finding or determination or take any other action authorized by such Act. Title II: Amendments to the Atlantic Tunas Convention Act - Amends the Atlantic Tunas Convention Act of 1975 to require the Director of the National Marine Fisheries Service (or his or her designee) to be one of the three U.S. Commissioners on the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas. (Sec. 201) Prohibits any U.S. Commissioner from having a financial interest or from serving as an officer, director, trustee, partner, or employee with an organization with a financial interest in any catching, harvesting, processing, or marketing activity undertaken within any fishery over which the Commission has jurisdiction. Repeals certain knowledge and experience requirements, with respect to commercial and recreational fishing, for non-governmental Commissioners. Allows regulations to carry out Commission recommendations which may have the effect of decreasing any allocation or quota of fish to the United States.

Bill· HRH.R. 4386 (103rd)open

An Act to amend title 38, United States Code, to revise and improve veterans' benefits programs, and for other purposes.

United States · United States Congress · 11 May 1994

Veterans' Persian Gulf War Benefits Act - Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to: (1) develop and expeditiously implement a uniform case assessment protocol that will ensure thorough assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of all Persian Gulf War veterans suffering from illnesses attributed to service in the Persian Gulf theater of operations during the Persian Gulf War; (2) expedite efforts to develop case definitions or diagnoses for illnesses associated with such service; and (3) develop and implement a comprehensive outreach program to inform such veterans and their families of health-care services, including comprehensive medical evaluations, that may be available through the Department of Veterans Affairs or the Department of Defense. Directs the Secretary to pay compensation to Persian Gulf War veterans suffering from a chronic disability resulting from an undiagnosed illness that became manifest to a degree of ten percent or more within one year after completion of active duty in the Gulf War, with exceptions. Terminates compensation payments three years after the date of enactment of this Act. Authorizes appropriations to the Department of Veterans Affairs for: (1) FY 1995 through 1997 for conducting research of the health risk and effects of service during the Gulf War and the treatment of such effects; and (2) FY 1995 for a survey of Persian Gulf veterans as to the incidence and nature of health problems occurring in such veterans and their families.

Bill· HRH.R. 4385 (103rd)open

National Highway System Designation Act of 1994

United States · United States Congress · 11 May 1994

TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: National Highway System Designation and Other Provisions Title II: Technical Corrections to ISTEA and Related Laws National Highway System Designation Act of 1994 - Title I: National Highway System Designation and Other Provisions - Designates the National Highway System (NHS) as submitted by the Secretary of Transportation. Authorizes the Secretary to submit for approval to specified congressional committees proposed modifications to the NHS. Specifies that a modification may only take effect if a law has been enacted approving such modification. Requires the Secretary to submit proposed modifications, including a list and description of additions to the NHS consisting of: (1) connections to major ports, airports, international border crossings, public transportation and transit facilities, interstate bus terminals, rail, and other intermodal transportation facilities; and (2) any Congressional High Priority Corridor established by the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTEA) which was not identified on the designated NHS, subject to the completion of feasibility studies. Directs the Secretary to submit to the Congress a proposal for a comprehensive National Transportation System using the NHS as the backbone for establishing such System. (Sec. 102) Freezes funding allocations under the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program at the FY 1994 levels for the remaining three years of ISTEA. Authorizes a State to obligate funds apportioned to it for such programs only for specified transportation projects or programs determined by the Secretary to be likely to contribute to the attainment of a national ambient air quality standard (as under current law) or maintenance, subject to specified requirements. (Sec. 103) Directs the Secretary to establish a program to require States to conduct an analysis of the life-cycle costs of, and carry out a value engineering analysis for, all projects on the NHS. Requires all Federal aid contracts to contain provisions that require the contractor to guarantee and warrant his or her obligations under the contract. (Sec. 104) Requires that: (1) contracts or subcontracts for engineering and design services be performed and audited in compliance with cost principles contained in Federal acquisition regulations; and (2) the recipients of Federal funds accept indirect cost rates established in accordance with such regulations for one year applicable accounting periods by a Government agency or independent certified public accountant if such rates are not currently under dispute. Makes such provisions inapplicable if a State adopts by statute an alternative process intended to promote engineering and design quality and ensure maximum competition by professional companies of all sizes providing engineering and design services. (Sec. 105) Directs the Secretary to carry out education, research, development, and technology transfer activities to promote the safe operation and maintenance of commercial motor vehicles in interstate commerce, by making grants to and entering cooperative agreements with: (1) a not-for-profit membership organization that has been engaged exclusively in truck-related research and education since 1985; and (2) not-for-profit organizations engaged in commercial motor vehicle safety research. (Sec. 106) Repeals a provision of the Federal-Aid-Highway Act of 1956 prohibiting the amount of certain costs from including the portion of the project between High Street and Causeway Street (thus making such section of the Boston Central Artery eligible for Interstate Construction funds). (Sec. 107) Revises ISTEA provisions regarding the Wisconsin substitute project to provide that, upon approval of a substitute project or projects (project): (1) the costs of construction of the eligible transitway project for which such project is substituted shall not be eligible for specified authorized funds under the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956; and (2) a sum equal to the amount that would have been apportioned to the State of Wisconsin on October 1, 1994, under Federal highway provisions if the Secretary had not approved such project shall be available to the Secretary from the Highway Trust Fund (HTF) to incur obligations for the Federal share of the costs of such substitute project. Amends the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 to reduce the interstate construction authorization by a specified amount made available under ISTEA for the FY ending September 30, 1996. (Sec. 108) Amends ISTEA to require that: (1) technology transfer activities and training programs with respect to the use of recycled paving material be initiated without delay and include all eligible uses of recycled rubber, alternative applications, and other materials, focusing on achieving the best performance results for all eligible uses; and (2) each State annually certify its progress in its waste tire abatement program. Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) placing apportionments withheld from a State by the Secretary in escrow pending satisfaction of minimum utilization requirements; (2) a sunset provision for availability of such apportionments; and (3) exemption from certain requirements where a State has implemented a documented waste tire abatement program that will result in the elimination of tire stockpiles by 1997. Authorizes a State for any year to meet up to half of the minimum utilization requirement by using an equivalent amount of recycled rubber for alternative applications, other than making asphalt pavement, if the State certifies that such alternative application does not present a threat to safety, human health, or the environment and it is demonstrated that such applications provide equal or enhanced engineering benefits. Directs the Secretary to issue guidelines regarding compliance with alternative applications. (Sec. 109) Directs the Secretary to: (1) annually review, and provide to State and local governments, information and recommendations concerning safety practices that can enhance safety at highway construction sites; and (2) develop within the program a process for assuring that for each project there will be a person trained and certified with responsibility and authority for assuring that the provisions of the traffic control plan and other safety aspects of the work zone are effectively administered. (Sec. 110) Authorizes the Secretary to carry out specified construction and reconstruction projects in Minnesota and Pennsylvania. Authorizes specified sums to be appropriated out of the HTF for FY 1995 for such projects. Sets forth provisions regarding the Federal share of project costs, delegation of responsibility for construction to States, and advance construction. (Sec. 111) Rescinds specified unobligated balances on September 30, 1994. (Sec. 112) Authorizes the Secretary to carry out, and authorizes sums to be appropriated for FY 1995 through 1997 for, 268 specified listed projects in various States. Sets forth provisions regarding allocation percentages for HTF funds, an appropriations cap, the Federal share of costs, delegation of construction responsibility to the States, and advance construction. (Sec. 113) Directs the Secretary to conduct a research study to develop and evaluate radio and microwave technology for furtherance of safety in commercial and other motor vehicles, including development of equipment directed toward warning drivers of highway obstructions or limited visibility conditions caused by snow, rain, fog, or dust. (Sec. 114) Authorizes appropriations for the Secretary to enter into an agreement to make a line of credit available to the public entity or entities with the statutory authority to construct public toll roads in Orange County, California, subject to specified limitations. (Sec. 115) Makes specified funds available for costs of a project to reduce rail-highway conflicts on M-59 near Pontiac, Michigan, and a project on Bristol Road near Flint, Michigan, and to improve and upgrade Maple Road at Bishop Airport, Michigan. (Sec. 116) Directs the Secretary to: (1) require, as a matter of the highest priority, completion of all remaining studies associated with a project authorized by the Surface Transportation and Uniform Relocation Assistance Act of 1987, to construct the New River Parkway, West Virginia; and (2) make grants to the Secretary of the Interior for the planning, design, and construction of a visitors center and related facilities to facilities visitor understanding and enjoyment of resources accessible by such parkway. Makes specified sums available for such purposes. (Sec. 117) Revises the National Recreational Trails Program. Makes a State eligible to receive moneys under the program only if the State agrees to provide 20 percent of program costs in the sixth year of the program. Prohibits the use of more than three percent of the expenditures annually from the National Recreational Trails Trust Fund to pay to the Secretary certain administrative costs, including the cost of contracting for services with other land management agencies, except with respect to the cost of conducting a one-time national survey. Permits a State to apply to the Secretary for an exemption from requirements for distribution of Federal Trails Program funds between motorized and non-motorized uses. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 118) Directs the Secretary to make grants to the State of West Virginia for the purpose of erecting signs or other information devices along public roads relating to the coal heritage of southern West Virginia. (Sec. 119) Amends the Federal Transit Act to provide that transit operators providing service in urbanized areas with populations under 200,000 shall not be subject to a limitation on their formula apportionment which may be used for operating assistance. (Sec. 120) Revises provisions regarding amounts that States must expend on intercity bus transportation. Permits the purchase of accessibility devices. Requires the Secretary to make to operators of intercity bus transportation systems specified capital grants to support such systems, including the purchase of accessibility devices. Specifies that the Federal grant for the project shall be 80 percent of the net project cost, but 90 percent for accessibility devices. (Sec. 121) Repeals previous authorizations for the Long Beach Metro Link Fixed Rail Project and the Honolulu Rapid Transit Project. (Sec. 122) Converts previous ISTEA transit authorizations to lump-sum, no-year authorizations. Authorizes funding for various listed projects around the country under ISTEA and the Federal Transit Act. Title II: Technical Corrections to ISTEA and Related Laws - Amends title 23 of the United States Code and ISTEA to revise and make technical corrections to provisions regarding: (1) changing the name of the Interstate and Defense Highway System to the Dwight D. Eisenhower System of Interstate and Defense Highways; (2) Federal aid-highway systems; (3) State highway apportionments; (4) rights-of-way; (5) the Federal share of costs for transportation planning; (6) waiver of axle weight limitations for certain vehicles using the Dwight D. Eisenhower System of Interstate and Defense Highways and certain State highways; (7) toll roads and rail-highway crossings; (8) metropolitan planning organizations; (9) the discretionary highway bridge replacement and rehabilitation program; (10) penalties for non-use of safety belts and motorcycle helmets; (11) national maximum speed limit requirements with respect to highway fund apportionments; (12) a national minimum drinking age; (13) revocation of drivers' licenses of individuals convicted of drug offenses; (14) the Federal lands highway program; (15) bicycle transportation and pedestrian walkways; (16) State highway research and planning; (17) the international highway transportation outreach program; (18) highway safety programs; (19) State alcohol-impaired driving countermeasures; (20) certain high cost bridge, congestion relief, high priority corridor, rural access, urban access and mobility, innovative, and intermodal projects; (21) the disadvantaged business enterprise program; (22) freeway service patrols; and (23) the Pan American highway. (Sec. 263) Amends the Federal Transit Act with respect to various Federal transit programs, including: (1) metropolitan planning; (2) transit security systems; (3) contracting for engineering and design services; (4) planning and research programs; and (5) an increased Federal share of costs for transportation construction projects in States with large areas of Indian and public domain lands and national forests. (Sec. 282) Authorizes the Secretary to enter into cooperative agreements and contracts with non-Federal entities for operational tests relating to intelligent vehicle-highway systems.

Law· HRH.R. 4361 (103rd)open

Federal Employees Family Friendly Leave Act

United States · United States Congress · 5 May 1994

Federal Employees Family Friendly Leave Act - Amends Federal law to: (1) allow Federal employee use of sick leave to attend to the medical needs of a family member; and (2) direct the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to modify the voluntary leave transfer program to allow the transfer of annual leave, in the absence of any medical emergency, from an employee to one of the employee's family members.

Bill· HRH.R. 4345 (103rd)referred

Restricted Explosives Control Act of 1994

United States · United States Congress · 4 May 1994

Restricted Explosives Control Act of 1994 - Prohibits the distribution or receipt of restricted explosives without a Federal permit. Defines "restricted explosives" to mean high explosives, blasting agents, detonators, and more than 50 pounds of black powder. Requires applications for such permits to include the applicant's photograph and fingerprints, which shall be taken and transmitted to the Secretary of the Treasury by the chief law enforcement officer of the applicant's place of residence.

Bill· HRH.R. 4315 (103rd)open

To designate a site for the relocation of the public facility of the National Museum of Health and Medicine, and for other purposes.

United States · United States Congress · 28 April 1994

Requires the public facility of the National Museum of Health and Medicine to be located on the following adjacent areas of Federal land in the District of Columbia: (1) the east plaza of the Hubert Humphrey Building, presently occupied by the Department of Health and Human Services; (2) the entire portion of 2nd Street, Southwest, that is located between C Street and Washington Avenue, Southwest; and (3) a triangular park, known as Square N-580, which lies immediately to the east of 2nd Street, Southwest. Authorizes the Administrator of General Services to apply for the closing and transfer of jurisdiction over the latter two areas, from the District to the General Services Administration for the purpose of locating the Museum.

Bill· HRH.R. 4318 (103rd)referred

Working Off Welfare Act of 1994

United States · United States Congress · 28 April 1994

TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Welfare Reform Subtitle A: Aid To Families With Dependent Children Subtitle B: Earned Income Tax Credit Subtitle C: Microenterprise and Small Business Development Subtitle D: Effective Date Title II: Federal Job Training Program Reforms Subtitle A: Studies and Reports Subtitle B: Economic Self-Sufficiency Standards for Federal Job Training Programs Subtitle C: Effective Date Title III: Child Support Enforcement Working Off Welfare Act of 1994 - Title I: Welfare Reform - Subtitle A: Aid to Families with Dependent Children - Amends parts A (Aid to Families with Dependent Children) (AFDC) and F (Job Opportunities and Basic Skills Training Program) (JOBS) of title IV of the Social Security Act (SSA) to make various specified changes with regard to, among other things, income disregards, support services and case management, school attendance and child care, and job training and education in order to enable families on welfare to become self-sufficient. Subtitle B: Earned Income Tax Credit - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury (Secretary) to submit to the Congress recommendations for procedures under which the Federal Government may make quarterly advance payments of earned income credit. Subtitle C: Microenterprise and Small Business Development - Amends SSA title IV part A to give States the option of disregarding certain income and resources related to microenterprise initiatives or designated for education, training, or employability through the use of a qualified asset account. (Sec. 141) Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to: (1) study and report to the Congress on the use of such accounts; and (2) report to the Congress on the AFDC asset limit on automobiles. Provides for the inclusion of microenterprise training and activities in the JOBS program. Subtitle D: Effective Date - Sets forth effective dates for this title. Title II: Federal Job Training Program Reforms - Subtitle A: Studies and Reports - Requires the Secretaries of Education, of HHS, and of Labor (Secretaries) each to study the effectiveness of the job training programs under their respective jurisdictions for a report to the Congress. (Sec. 202) Requires the Comptroller General to study and report to the Congress on the effectiveness of such programs, including the extent to which they are successful at placing participants into certain unsubsidized employment. Subtitle B: Economic Self-Sufficiency Standards for Federal Job Training Programs - Requires the Secretaries jointly to develop and publish in the Federal Register proposed standards for measuring the minimum amount of wages and employment benefits that a participant should receive after termination from such program in order to ensure his or her long-term economic self-sufficiency. Subtitle C: Effective Date - Sets forth the effective date for this title. Title III: Child Support Enforcement - Directs the Secretary to establish in the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) a national registry (NR) of all child support orders, maintaining an abstract of each order containing certain specified information. (Sec. 301) Amends SSA title IV part D (Child Support and Establishment of Paternity) to require certain State procedures, including procedures for ensuring that: (1) a copy of each child support order issued, modified, or being enforced in the State is transmitted to the NR; and (2) a notice of court or administrative review and, under certain conditions, a statement of arrears owed are included with each order transmitted. Requires NR, upon the receipt from an employer of a W-4 form completed by an employee, to report to the employer information on: (1) whether the employee is subject to a child support order for wage withholding; and (2) the aggregate amount of support involved. (Sec. 302) Requires the Secretary to establish a system for enabling such information, as well as information identifying the person to whom any child support is owed, to be obtained at the workplace via W-4 form reporting by employees. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) require employers to deduct and withhold child support obligations from employee wages, pay withholdings to the Secretary, forward individual W-4 forms to NR, and include withheld obligations on the employee's W-2 form; (2) require individuals with monthly shortfalls in child support payments because of inadequate wage withholding to make payments directly to the Secretary, with the full amount due by the end of the applicable tax year subject to the same collection process and penalties applicable to back taxes; and (3) provide for a tax credit for withholdings and payments in excess of applicable obligations. (Sec. 304) Directs the Secretary to pay to the appropriate payee on a monthly basis a portion of the amount of child support received on account of an obligation payable to such payee, with interest payable on late payments. (Sec. 305) Amends SSA title IV part D to require: (1) certain individuals applying for child support collection or paternity determination services to use a new Federal application form in applying for such services; (2) State part D plans to provide for ongoing outreach programs to persons eligible for plan services; and (3) the separate organizational unit under the direction of the Secretary of HHS' designee to issue regulations for ensuring State plans for serving underserved populations and accommodations for assisting non-English speaking persons and the hearing impaired. (Sec. 306) Establishes the Commission on Child Support Guidelines to recommend to the Congress national child support guidelines to be followed by State courts and administrative bodies in setting child support award amounts. (Sec. 307) Directs the Secretary of HHS to: (1) establish by a certain deadline the staffing requirements already required for State child support programs; (2) streamline the child support audit process; and (3) jointly issue with the Secretary regulations governing coordination of State child support collection activities with those of the IRS. Provides for: (1) an increase in the Federal matching rate as an incentive for States increasing paternity establishment and meeting staffing requirements for child support programs; and (2) inclusion in consumer credit reports of information on individual consumers' overdue support obligations. Adds: (1) maintenance of effort requirements for State child support and AFDC programs; and (2) additional specified requirements with respect to procedures for paternity establishment and acknowledgment affidavits.

Bill· HRH.R. 4272 (103rd)open

To amend title 10, United States Code, to expand the authority of the United States Naval Postgraduate School to admit civilians as students and to authorize the United States Air Force Institute of Technology to admit civilians as students.

United States · United States Congress · 20 April 1994

Authorizes the Superintendent of the Naval Postgraduate School (currently, the Secretary of the Navy) to enter into agreements with higher educational institutions whereby certain civilian students receive instruction at the School on a tuition-free basis in exchange for officers receiving instruction at the participating institution on the same basis. Expands the list of eligible students to include those lawfully admitted to the Unitedd States to pursue courses in higher education (currently, only U.S. citizens or those lawfully admitted for permanent residence are permitted). Allows others to receive instruction at the School on a cost-reimbursable, space-available basis, with funds received to be used to maintain and operate the School. Provides identical authority for the Commandant of the United States Air Force Institute of Technology, with the approval of the Secretary of the Air Force.

Bill· HRH.R. 4273 (103rd)open

To amend title 10, United States Code, to establish a temporary program to permit professional schools of the Army Training and Doctrine Command to admit civilians as students on a cost-reimbursable, space-available basis.

United States · United States Congress · 20 April 1994

Authorizes the head of any TRADOC school (various professional schools of the Army Training and Doctrine Command) to enter into agreements with higher educational institutions under which students from such institutions receive instruction at the TRADOC school on a cost-reimbursable, space-available basis. Allows reimbursements collected to be used to compensate TRADOC school instructors. Prohibits such students from being admitted to TRADOC schools for classes beginning after September 30, 1997.

Bill· HRH.R. 4271 (103rd)referred

Worker Rights and Labor Standards Trade Act of 1994

United States · United States Congress · 20 April 1994

Worker Rights and Labor Standards Trade Act of 1994 - Directs the President to seek the establishment of: (1) a working party within the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) to examine the relationship of fundamental internationally-recognized worker rights to specified articles of the GATT; and (2) a standing committee within the World Trade Organization to perform the functions of the working group.

Bill· HRH.R. 4250 (103rd)open

Human Services Amendments of 1994

United States · United States Congress · 19 April 1994

TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Head Start Programs Title II: Community Services Block Grant Amendments Title III: Low-Income Home Energy and Assistance Amendments Title IV: Community-Based Family Resource Programs Title I: Head Start Programs - Head Start Act Amendments of 1994 - Amends the Head Start Act to reauthorize and revise its provisions. (Sec. 103) Includes parental involvement among Head Start program services. (Sec. 104) Extends the authorization of appropriations to carry out such Act and its Head Start program. Reserves specified amounts for a longitudinal study of Head Start participants, the Head Start Transition Project Act, and transition coordination with schools and parent involvement activities. (Sec. 105) Allocates at least 25 percent of certain excess funds to specified quality improvement activities. Includes, under discretionary payments, payments for the costs of reviewing Head Start agencies and programs and of developing and implementing quality improvement plans. Authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) (the Secretary) to make collaboration grants, from certain reserved funds, to States to facilitate collaboration between Head Start activities and other activities targeted to low-income children and families. Directs the Secretary to take certain factors into consideration in allocating funds for program expansion. Provides for flexibility in satisfying the requirement that a certain number of hours be provided to children in Head Start programs. Requires migrant Head Start programs to give priority to eligible children of migrant families whose work requires them to relocate most frequently. (Sec. 106) Repeals outdated provisions for a comprehensive report to the Congress. (Sec. 107) Revises provisions for designation of Head Start agencies to provide that those on Indian reservations include members of Indian tribes living near the reservation. Revises conditions for giving priority in designations. Revises parental involvement considerations with respect to designation of new Head Start agencies. Requires agencies to offer family literacy services and parenting skills training to parents of participating children. Allows agencies also to opt to offer such parents social self-sufficiency training, substance abuse counseling, or other partnership in education activities. Requires a family needs assessment, including consultation with the parents, for each participating family. (Sec. 108) Requires the Secretary to establish quality standards for Head Start agencies and programs, including standards for performance in providing required health, education, parental involvement, nutritional, social, and other services, for administrative and financial management, and for facilities' condition and location. Provides for monitoring and for corrective actions or terminations if minimum standards are not met. (Sec. 109) Requires each Head Start agency to coordinate with schools and promote parental involvement to facilitate children's transition from program to school. Directs the Secretaries of HHS and of Education to assess results of demonstration projects under the Head Start Transition Project Act and provide technical assistance to communities to implement promising practices from those demonstrations. (Sec. 110) Authorizes the Secretary to use certain reserved funds to purchase facilties owned by Indian tribes and make necessary capital expenditure to provide suitable Head Start facilities for such tribes. Provides for personnel preferences for and recruitment of Indian tribe members for the American Indian Programs Branch of the Head Start Bureau of the Administration for Children and Families. (Sec. 111) Revises participation provisions. Allows Indian tribes to enroll additional children who do not meet low-income criteria if the Head Start program predominantly serves children who do meet such criteria. (Sec. 112) Establishes programs for families with infants and toddlers. Directs the Secretary to make grants for: (1) programs providing family-centered services for low-income families with very young children, designed to promote child development, parental role fulfillment, and movement toward self-sufficiency; and (2) evaluation of, and training and technical assistance for, projects under the Comprehensive Child Development Act. Gives time-limited priority to certain entities, including Parent-Child Centers receiving assistance under the Head Start Act and programs receiving assistance under the Comprehensive Child Development Act, and provides for selection of other grant recipients. (Repeals the Comprehensive Child Development Centers Act of 1988 and the Comprehensive Child Development Act because their functions are being consolidated under the Head Start Act.) (Sec. 113) Provides for mediation of disputes with delegate agencies to avoid the need for administrative hearing. Eliminates a provision freezing regulations. Provides that terminations, reductions, or suspensions of financial assistance upheld in administrative hearings shall not be stayed pending any judicial appeal. (Sec. 114) Sets forth goals and priorities for training and technical assistance. (Sec. 115) Revises classroom teacher qualifications and waiver requirements. Directs the Secretary to: (1) provide technical assistance and training to enable Head Start agencies to establish positions for mentor teachers; and (2) review and revise standards for family service workers, and promote model curricula and credentials for such workers. Authorizes the Secretary to establish a program of Head Start Fellowships for staff in local Head Start programs and other individuals working in the field of child development and family services. Provides for placement in appropriate settings. Directs the Secretary to develop model staffing pattern plans to guide local Head Start agencies and programs. (Sec. 116) Directs the Secretary to carry out a continuing program of research, demonstrations, and evaluations of Head Start programs, including longitudinal studies, and to report on such activities. (Sec. 117) Repeals provisions for certain announcements, a longitudinal study, and poverty line criteria (a definition of which is added elsewhere). Revises provisions on reports, adding a study of availability and delivery of Head Start programs to Indian children living on or near reservations and children of migrant and seasonal farmworkers. (Sec. 120) Directs the Secretary to consult with the Chief Executive Officer of the Corporation for National and Community Service regarding the dissemination of information on the Corporation's programs to Head Start programs. (Sec. 121) Directs the Secretary to study, and report to the appropriate congressional committees on, benefits available to Head Start employees. (Sec. 122) Amends the State Dependent Care Development Grants Act to extend the authorization of appropriations. (Sec. 123) Amends the Child Development Associate Scholarship Assistance Act of 1985 to extend the authorization of appropriations. Title II: Community Services Block Grant Amendments - Community Services Block Grant Amendments of 1994 - Amends the Community Services Block Grant Act to extend the authorization of appropriations to carry out such Act and its community services block grant program. (Sec. 202) Reserves certain funds for training, technical assistance, planning, and evaluation. Revises provisions for applications and requirements, community action agency plans, public inspections of plans, audits, and evaluations involving waivers. (Sec. 203) Authorizes the Secretary of HHS to provide grants for a Community Initiatives Program for community and economic development of economically distressed areas and rural areas. (Sec. 204) Extends the authorization of appropriations for community food and nutrition programs. (Sec. 205) Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to service providers to administer national or regional programs to provide instructional activities for low-income youth. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 206) Amends the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act to extend the authorization of appropriations for the emergency community services homeless grant program. (Sec. 207) Amends the Human Services Reauthorization Act of 1986 to revise providions and extend the authorization of appropriations for demonstration partnership agreements addressing the needs of the poor. Authorizes the Secretary also to make competitive grants to community action agencies to demonstrate new approaches to dealing with the problems associated with urban gangs or similar antisocial activities of urban youth. Title III: Low-Income Home Energy and Assistance Amendments - Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Amendments of 1994 - Amends the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Act of 1981 to extend the authorization of appropriations for: (1) such Act and its low-income home energy assistance program (LIHEAP); and (2) the incentive program for leveraging non-Federal resources. (Sec. 304) Authorizes appropriations for additional payments to meet the additional home energy assistance needs of one or more States arising from a natural disaster or other emergency. Designates such funds as emergency requirements, but makes them available only after submission of a formal budget request by the President. Set forth considerations for allotment of such emergency funds by the Secretary of HHS. (Sec. 305) Provides that LIHEAP funds may be used for: (1) outreach activities and assistance to low-income households in meeting their home energy costs, particularly if such costs are a high proportion of household income; (2) intervention in energy crisis situations; (3) low-cost residential weatherization and other cost-effective energy-related home repair; and (4) State program planning, development, and administration, including leveraging programs. Exempts from certain limitations on use of program funds services that encourage and enable households to reduce their home energy needs. (Sec. 306) Authorizes States to give priority to households with the highest home energy costs or needs in relation to household income. Requires State plans to describe additional steps to target assistance to households with high home energy burdens. (Sec. 307) Revises audit requirements and matters to be described in annual applications. Provides for use of Department of Energy weatherization rules to achieve program consistency. Requires reports on any amount of a State's allotment that will not be obligated for the fiscal year. Lowers the maximum amount that the Secretary may reserve for technical assistance and training. (Sec. 312) Expresses the sense of the Congress that LIHEAP maintenance should be a higher priority, all FY 1995 appropriations for LIHEAP should be expended, and LIHEAP expenditures for FY 1996 should ensure provision of services at or above the FY 1995 level. Title IV: Community-Based Family Resource Programs - Amends the Claude Pepper Young Americans Act of 1990 to change the Family Resource and Support Program to Community-Based Family Resource Programs. Directs the Commissioner on Children, Youth, and Families (in the Department of HHS) to make formula grants to States for: (1) statewide networks of community-based family resource programs; (2) promoting child abuse and neglect prevention activities; (3) promoting State trust funds or other mechanisms for integrating child and family services funding streams; (4) community-based collaboration to develop a continuum of preventive services for children and families; and (5) encouraging public and private partnerships in family resource programs. Revises provisions for grant eligibility, amounts, State applications, and local program requirements. Provides that a State which has an existing grant under the Family Resource and Support Program or the Temporary Child Care and Crisis Nurseries Program shall continue to receive such funds through the end of the grant cycle. Extends the authorization of appropriations for State coordination of services for children, youth, and families. (Does not extend such authorization of appropriations for the Administration on Children, Youth, and Families or for supportive services.) Authorizes appropriations for Community-Based Family Resource Programs. Repeals: (1) community-based child abuse and neglect prevention grants and emergency child abuse prevention services grants under the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment act; and (2) the Temporary Child Care for Children with Disabilities and Crisis Nurseries Act of 1986. (Sec.402) Extends the authorization of appropriations and the termination date for the Federal Council on Children, Youth, and Families. Adds to Council duties. (Sec. 403) Extends the authorization of appropriations for the National Center on Family Resource and Support Programs and for evaluation of family resource and support programs.