United States · United States Congress · 22 January 1991
Subjects to execution persons who, within the District of Columbia: (1) commit first degree murder; (2) murder a law enforcement officer while such officer is engaged in official duties or because of the status of an individual as an officer; or (3) engage in conduct during the course of a continuing criminal enterprise and thereby knowingly cause an individual's death. Directs the Government to notify the defendant a reasonable amount of time before trial or the court's acceptance of a guilty plea of its intent to seek the death penalty. Requires that, once a guilty verdict is rendered, a separate sentencing hearing be held at which there must be a unanimous finding, that, in addition to murder, specified aggravating factors, such as a previous murder conviction, commission of the murder for money, or torture of the victim, exist which outweigh specified mitigating factors and justify execution. Requires that the jury be notified that regardless of its findings it is never required to impose the death sentence and that it may not consider the race, color, religious beliefs, national origin or sex of the defendant or victim in passing sentence. Prohibits the execution of minors, the mentally retarded, or certain mentally disabled individuals. Authorizes a sentence of life imprisonment without parole for a capital crime. Sets forth death sentence appeal rights. Affords indigent defendants charged with a capital crime the benefit of an experienced criminal attorney until the execution of judgment. Prohibits correctional employees from being forced to participate in an execution that is against their moral or religious convictions.
United States · United States Congress · 18 January 1991
Constitutional Amendment - Proclaims the English language to be the official language of the United States. Prohibits the United States or any State from requiring the use of any other language. Declares that this article shall not prohibit educational instruction in a language other than English for the purpose of making students proficient in English. Authorizes the Congress and the States to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 1991
Emerging Telecommunications Technologies Act of 1991 - Requires the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information and the Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to conduct, at least biannually, joint spectrum planning with respect to: (1) future spectrum requirements for public and private uses and the allocation actions to accommodate those uses; and (2) actions to promote the efficient use of the spectrum. Directs the Secretary of Commerce to submit to the President and the Congress a report identifying bands of frequencies that: (1) are allocated on a primary basis for Federal Government use and eligible for licensing pursuant to the Communications Act of 1934 (the Act); (2) are not required for the present or identifiable future needs of the Government; (3) can be made available for use under the Act (other than for Government stations); (4) are most likely to have the greatest potential for productive uses; and (5) will not result in excessive costs to the Federal Government. Sets forth criteria for identifying, and recommending for reassignment, such frequencies. Requires the Secretary to submit to the Congress a report which makes a preliminary identification of reallocable bands of frequencies. Directs the Secretary to convene an advisory committee to: (1) review the bands of frequencies identified in the preliminary report; (2) advise the Secretary with respect to the bands of frequencies which should be included in the final report; (3) receive public comment on the reports; and (4) prepare and submit to the Secretary and specified congressional committees a report on recommendations for the reform of the process of allocating the electromagnetic spectrum between Federal and non-Federal use. Directs the President, after receiving the final report, to: (1) withdraw the assignment to a Government station of any frequency which such report recommends for reallocation; (2) withdraw or limit the assignment to a Government station of any frequency which such report recommends be reallocated or made available for mixed use; (3) assign or reassign other frequencies to Government stations as necessary to adjust to such withdrawal or limitation of assignments; and (4) notify the FCC and each House of Congress of the actions taken. Authorizes the President to substitute alternative frequencies in the interest of national defense, important governmental needs, public health or safety, or Federal financial considerations. Directs the FCC to submit to the President and the Congress a plan for the distribution of the reallocated frequency bands. Authorizes the President to reclaim reassigned frequencies for reassignment to Government stations. Sets forth procedures for reclaiming frequencies. Authorizes appropriations to cover the costs of reclaiming frequencies.
United States · United States Congress · 11 January 1991
Christopher Columbus Coin and Fellowship Act - Title I: Christopher Columbus Quincentenary Coins - Christopher Columbus Quincentenary Coin Act - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to mint and issue not more than a specified number of five-dollar gold coins, one-dollar silver coins, and half-dollar clad coins emblematic of the quincentenary of the discovery of America. Sets forth certain features of such coins and provides for their design, issuance, and sale. Terminates the minting of such coins after June 30, 1993. Requires the Secretary to deposit surcharges from the sale of such coins in the Christopher Columbus Fellowship Fund for use by the Christopher Columbus Fellowship Foundation. Declares that no law governing procurement or public contracts shall be applicable to the procurement of goods and services necessary for carrying out this Act, except that this provision shall not relieve any person from complying with any law relating to equal employment opportunity. Mandates that all amounts received from coin sales be deposited in the coinage profit fund. Title II: Christopher Columbus Fellowship Foundation - Christopher Columbus Fellowship Act - Establishes the Christopher Columbus Fellowship Foundation to award fellowships to outstanding individuals to encourage new discoveries in all fields of endeavor for the benefit of mankind. Establishes the Christopher Columbus Fellowship Fund. Directs the Foundation to report to the President and to the Congress annually on its operations.
United States · United States Congress · 10 January 1991
Employee Educational Assistance Act of 1991 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to make permanent the income tax exclusion of amounts paid under employee educational assistance programs. (Under current law the exclusion expires for taxable years beginning after December 31, 1991.)
United States · United States Congress · 9 January 1991
House Commission on Congressional Reform Act - Establishes the House Commission on Congressional Reform to develop comprehensive and impartial recommendations for the House of Representatives that would improve: (1) institutional integrity; (2) accountability to the public; (3) efficiency; (4) effectiveness; and (5) any other aspects that would serve to increase public confidence in the House. Terminates the Commission within 90 days after submission of its report to the Speaker and Minority Leader of the House.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1991
Budget Process Reform Act - Title I: Statement of Congressional Purpose - Declares that the purpose of this Act is to facilitate rational, informed, and timely decisions by the Congress. Expresses the sense of the Congress that the Federal budget process should focus the attention of policymakers and the public on the aggregate impact of Federal spending on the economy, and on the tradeoffs that must be made among priorities in order to control overall levels of spending. Declares that the budget process should contain safeguards against delay and inaction, so that temporary shut-downs of the Government may be avoided. Title II: Binding Budget Law - Requires the Congress to enact a binding budget law, in the form of a joint resolution, by April 15 of the calendar year before that in which the fiscal period commences. Requires the budget law to fit on a single page, which sets forth specific budget ceilings in major functional categories. Makes it out of order in the House of Representatives or the Senate to consider any spending bill affecting spending in a major functional category unless and until a joint resolution on the budget is enacted. Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to prohibit baseline budgeting. Requires the budget to include comparisons of current fiscal year and proposed subsequent fiscal year spending. Requires the President to submit to the Congress on or before the fifteenth day after a joint resolution on the budget is enacted a detailed budget for the fiscal period beginning on October 1 of the current calendar year. Title III: Enforcement Mechanics - Subtitle A: Supermajority Required to Break Budget Law - Requires a two-thirds majority vote in the House and the Senate to consider any spending bill prior to the enactment of the budget law. Requires the Congressional Budget Office to provide to the Congress an estimate of the costs in each major functional category of any spending bill as soon as practicable after its introduction. Limits such estimates to those bills likely to result in costs of more than $10,000,000. Requires a two-thirds affirmative vote in the House and the Senate to consider over-budget spending bills. Requires a two-thirds affirmative vote in the House and the Senate to waive any provision of this Act. Subtitle B: Limited Enhanced Rescission Authority - Amends the Impoundment Control Act of 1974 to limit the President's rescission authority to spending that is above the limits of the budget law. Subtitle C: "Blank Check" Appropriations Prohibited - Declares the intent of the Congress to end open-ended, "blank check" appropriations which typically authorize spending "such sums as may be necessary." Requires fixed-dollar appropriations for every account except social security and interest on the debt. Prohibits open-ended appropriations. Requires Executive agencies to adjust benefit levels to ensure that appropriations for entitlement programs are not exceeded. Restricts budget authority and entitlement authority to one fiscal period. Subtitle D: "Pay As You Go" Requirement for New Spending - Prohibits the Congress from considering any legislation which exceeds the budget ceiling unless it offsets such increased spending with an equal amount of reductions. Requires a two-thirds affirmative vote in the House and the Senate to waive such prohibition. Title IV: Sustaining Mechanism - Makes appropriations to provide for an automatic continuing resolution if for any account an appropriation for a fiscal period does not become law before the beginning of such period. Restricts legislation providing funding to the Committees on Appropriations. Title V: Protection of Social Security - Provides that no reduction in benefits under title II of the Social Security Act (Old Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance) shall be made as a consequence of this Act. Title VI: Timetable - Revises the timetable for the congressional budget process. Title VII: Conforming Amendments - Makes various technical and conforming amendments, including changing references to a concurrent resolution on the budget to references to a joint resolution on the budget. Title VIII: Definitions and Rules of Interpretation - Sets forth definitions for specified terms. Title IX: Effective Date - Declares the effective date of this Act to be January 1, 1993, applicable to fiscal years beginning after September 30, 1993. Applies to FY 1993 certain provisions of Federal law, including the Congressional Budget Impoundment Control Act of 1974 and the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act).
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1991
Amends Federal law to prohibit any State from imposing an income tax on the pension income of any individual who is not a resident or domiciliary of that State.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1991
Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act to remove the limitation on the amount of outside income which a beneficiary may earn without incurring a reduction in benefits.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1991
Enterprise Zone Jobs-Creation Act of 1991 - Title I: Designation of Enterprise Zones - Authorizes the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (Secretary) to designate enterprise zones for purposes of providing tax and regulatory relief and improving local services. Limits choices to areas nominated by States and local governments. Limits the total number of areas that may be designated, and the time period of the designation. Authorizes the Secretary to designate a zone only if the area meets certain locational, demographic, unemployment, and poverty criteria. Requires nominating local governments, as a condition of the Secretary's designation, to agree in writing to follow a course of action that may include reducing tax rates, improving local services, simplifying or streamlining regulation of business, and providing job training to area residents. Describes areas to which the Secretary must give preference in selecting areas for designation. Requires the Secretary to report to the Congress every four years on the effects of such enterprise zones' designation in accomplishing the purposes of this Act. Title II: Federal Income Tax Incentives - Allows a nonrefundable income tax credit to enterprise zone employees for five percent of any wages earned as do not exceed a specified amount. Phases out such credit. Provides for the nonrecognition of capital gain on the sale of enterprise zone property. Allows a taxpayer a deduction on the aggregate amount paid for the purchase of enterprise stock on its original issue by a qualified issuer. Requires any gain from the disposition of the stock to be treated as ordinary income. Title III: Regulatory Flexibility - Amends Federal law to revise the definition of "small entity" for purposes of the analysis of regulatory functions to include qualified business, government, and nonprofit enterprises operating within enterprise zones. Authorizes Federal agencies, upon request by a designating government, to waive or modify rules and regulations pertaining to the implementation of projects or activities within an enterprise zone. Requires agencies to approve the request if the resulting benefits of job creation, community development, or economic revitalization outweigh the public interest in retaining the rule unchanged. Disallows waiver or modification of a rule that would directly violate a statutory requirement or present a danger to the public health and safety. Title IV: Establishment of Foreign-Trade Zones in Enterprise Zones - Requires the Foreign-Trade Zone Board to consider on a priority basis and to expedite the processing of applications for the establishment of foreign-trade zones within enterprise zones. Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to give priority to, and expedite applications for, the establishment of ports of entry necessary to establish such zones. Title V: Repeal of Title VII of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1987 - Repeals title VII (enterprise zone development) of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1987.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1991
Merchant Mariners Fairness Act of 1991 - Provides that certain qualified service of a member of the U.S. merchant marine, including a vessel crewmember of the U.S. Army Transport Service, during World War II constituted active military service for purposes of eligibility for various veterans' benefits under the GI Bill Improvement Act of 1977. Requires the Secretary of Defense to issue an honorable discharge under such Act to each merchant marine member whose qualified service warrants such a discharge. Defines "qualified service." Prohibits the payment of any retroactive benefits under this Act. Mandates a processing fee of a specified amount for any benefit application for such qualified service. Amends the Merchant Marine Act, 1936 to add references to components or ingredients of equipment, materials, or commodities in certain cargo preference provisions.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1991
Legislative Line Item Veto Act of 1991 - Amends the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 to grant the President legislative line item veto rescission authority. Authorizes the President to rescind all or part of any budget authority if the President determines that such rescission: (1) would help balance the Federal budget, reduce the Federal budget deficit, or reduce the public debt; (2) will not impair any essential Government functions; and (3) will not harm the national interest. Requires the President to notify the Congress of such a rescission by: (1) special message not later than 20 calendar days after enactment of appropriations legislation; or (2) special message accompanying the budget when such rescissions have not been proposed previously for that fiscal year. Makes such a rescission effective unless the Congress, during a review period of 20 calendar days, enacts a rescission disapproval bill. Describes: (1) information to be included in the President's message; and (2) procedures to govern consideration of rescission disapproval legislation in the Senate and the House of Representatives.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1991
Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act - Prohibits a State from sponsoring, operating, advertising, authorizing, licensing, or promoting any lottery, sweepstake, or other betting, gambling, or wagering scheme based, directly or indirectly, on any game or games engaged in or conducted or scheduled by any professional or amateur sports organization, or on any performance or performance in such games.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1991
Cooperative Productivity and Competitiveness Act of 1991 - Amends the National Cooperative Research Act of 1984 to authorize joint production ventures for purposes of improving technology in the production of U.S. goods or services and the competitiveness of U.S. industries. Requires the worldwide capacity of suppliers to provide a product, process, or service to be considered in determining a properly defined relevant market with respect to the rule of reason standard used in determining whether a joint research and development venture violates U.S. antitrust laws.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1991
Airline Bankruptcy Passenger Protection Act of 1991 - Amends the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 to direct the Secretary of Transportation to issue an order authorizing a covered air carrier to develop an air transportation plan which protects airline ticket holders in the event it becomes a debtor in bankruptcy proceedings after the ticket purchase date. Provides that if satisfactory plans have not been submitted by a specified deadline, the Secretary must promulgate regulations requiring all covered air carriers to provide air transportation for such ticket holders.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1991
Language of Government Act of 1991 - Declares English to be the official language of the U.S. Government. States that the Government has an affirmative obligation to preserve and enhance the role of English as the official language. Prohibits anyone from being denied Government services because they communicate in English. Prohibits a Government entity from making or enforcing an official act requiring the use of a language other than English. Deems anyone discriminated against for communicating to the Government in English to have been discriminated against on the basis of national origin. Makes available to a person so discriminated against all lawful remedies available under the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1991
Veterans' Compensation Amendments of 1991 - Increases the rates of: (1) veterans' disability compensation; (2) additional compensation for veterans' dependents; (3) the clothing allowance for certain disabled veterans; (4) dependency and indemnity compensation for surviving spouses and children; and (5) supplemental dependency and indemnity compensation for disabled adult children. Authorizes the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to adjust administratively the rates of disability compensation payable to persons who are not in receipt of compensation for service-connected disability or death.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code with respect to the corporate income tax exclusion of contributions to the capital of the taxpayer. Includes as a qualifying contribution any amount of money or property received by a regulated public utility (a utility required to provide electric energy, gas, water, or sewage disposal services) that: (1) is a contribution in aid of construction (as defined by regulations to be promulgated by the Secretary of the Treasury); (2) meets certain expenditure requirements; and (3) is not included in the taxpayer's rate base. Excludes amounts paid as customer connection fees.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1991
Demands that the Iraqi Government: (1) comply fully with specified United Nations Security Council resolutions concerning Iraq's aggression against Kuwait; (2) withdraw from Kuwait; and (3) be responsible for all financial losses resulting from the invasion. Commends the President for his actions in responding to Iraq's invasion of Kuwait and threat to the region. Supports U.N. Security Council Resolution 678 regarding the use of "all necessary means" to uphold and implement such other U.N. resolutions, should Iraq fail to withdraw from Kuwait on or before January 15, 1991.
United States · United States Congress · 27 October 1990
Budget Process Reform Act - Title I: Statement of Congressional Purpose - Declares that the purpose of this Act is to facilitate rational, informed, and timely decisions by the Congress. Expresses the sense of the Congress that the Federal budget process should focus the attention of policymakers and the public on the aggregate impact of Federal spending on the economy, and on the tradeoffs that must be made among priorities in order to control overall levels of spending. Declares that the budget process should contain safeguards against delay and inaction, so that temporary shut-downs of the Government may be avoided. Title II: Binding Budget Law - Requires the Congress to enact a binding budget law, in the form of a joint resolution, by April 15 of the calendar year before that in which the fiscal period commences. Requires the budget law to fit on a single page, which sets forth specific budget ceilings in major functional categories. Makes it out of order in the House of Representatives or the Senate to consider any spending bill affecting spending in a major functional category unless and until a joint resolution on the budget is enacted. Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to prohibit baseline budgeting. Requires the budget to include comparisons of current fiscal year and proposed subsequent fiscal year spending. Title III: Enforcement Mechanisms - Subtitle A: Super majority Required to Break Budget Law - Requires a two-thirds majority vote in the House and the Senate to consider any spending bill prior to the enactment of the budget law. Requires the Congressional Budget Office to provide to the Congress an estimate of the costs in each major functional category of any spending bill as soon as practicable after its introduction. Limits such estimates to those bills likely to result in costs of more than $10,000,000. Requires a two-thirds affirmative vote in the House and the Senate to consider over-budget spending bills. Requires a two-thirds affirmative vote in the House and the Senate to waive any provision of this Act. Subtitle B: Limited Enhanced Rescission Authority - Amends the Impoundment Control Act of 1974 to limit the President's rescission authority to spending that is above the limits of the budget law. Subtitle C: "Blank Check" Appropriations Prohibited - Declares the intent of the Congress to end open-ended, "blank check" appropriations which typically authorize spending "such sums as may be necessary." Requires fixed-dollar appropriations for every account except social security and interest on the debt. Prohibits open-ended appropriations. Requires Executive agencies to adjust benefit levels to ensure that appropriations for entitlement programs are not exceeded. Subtitle D: "Pay As You Go" Requirement for New Spending - Prohibits the Congress from considering any legislation which exceeds the budget ceiling unless it offsets such increased spending with an equal amount of reductions. Requires a two-thirds affirmative vote in the House and the Senate to waive such prohibition. Title IV: Sustaining Mechanism - Makes appropriations to provide for an automatic continuing resolution if for any account an appropriation for a fiscal period does not become law before the beginning of such period. Restricts legislation providing funding to the Committees on Appropriations. Title V: Protection of Social Security - Provides that no reduction in benefits under title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act shall be made as a consequence of this Act. Title VI: Timetable - Revises the timetable for the congressional budget process. Title VII: Conforming Amendments - Makes various technical and conforming amendments, including changing references to a concurrent resolution on the budget to references to a joint resolution on the budget. Title VIII: Definitions and Rules of Interpretation - Sets forth definitions for specified terms. Title IX: Effective Date - Declares the effective date of this Act to be January 1, 1991, applicable to fiscal years beginning after September 30, 1991.
United States · United States Congress · 17 October 1990
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the President should declare November 2, 1990, a national day of prayer for: (1) members of American military forces and American citizens stationed or held hostage in the Middle East, and for their families; and (2) American and Iraqi authorities to bring about a just resolution of the Persian Gulf crisis.
United States · United States Congress · 16 October 1990
Salutes and congratulates the people of Poland as they commemorate the 200th anniversary of the adoption of the Polish Constitution on May 3, 1991. Directs the Library of Congress to commemorate the anniversary with appropriate ceremonies.
United States · United States Congress · 27 September 1990
Comprehensive Energy Self-Sufficiency Act of 1990 - Declares it the policy of the United States to encourage cost effective energy conservation and to facilitate research and development of domestic energy resources. Title I: Conservation and Energy Efficiency - Amends the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (PURPA) to provide that the permissible State-regulated electric utility charges shall be such that a utility's return on energy investments is commensurate with returns earned on other utility investments of similar risk. Requires the Secretary of Energy to report to the President and the Congress regarding specified effects of least-cost energy planning upon electric utility rates. Requires the Tennessee Valley Authority to use least cost planning in its decision-making regarding increased electric power demand. Amends the National Enregy Conservation Policy Act (NECPA) to set a deadline by which each Federal agency must: (1) install energy conservation measures in Federal buildings with a specified payback period; (2) submit a list of projects to the Secretary which meets such payback criterion and which indicates total energy and cost savings involved; and (3) have substantially completed at least 25 percent of such projects or as many as would account for 25 percent of total energy savings. Directs the Secretary to develop guidelines for the selection of energy service contractors. Directs the Secretary to provide financial assistance to support a voluntary, national window rating program to develop a window energy ratings and labels. Directs the Federal Trade Commission to prescribe labeling rules for windows and window systems. Authorizes approriations. Amends NECPA to direct the Secretary to: (1) promulgate procedural guidelines enabling the States to assign energy efficiency ratings to residential buildings; and (2) establish a technical assistance program to State and local governments adopting energy efficiency rating systems or building codes. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from gross income: (1) the value of any subsidy provided by a public utility to a customer for the purchase or installation of any energy or water conservation measures; and (2) the value of any qualified transportation benefit provided by an employer. Restores the tax credit for residential energy conservation expenditures where heating oil is the primary source of heating. Title II: Renewable Energy Sources - Amends the Federal Power Act to prohibit the issuance of licenses for certain hydroelectric project works to anyone but the owner. Amends PURPA and the Federal Power Act to remove the size limitations placed upon hydroelectric generating facilities eligible for PURPA regulatory benefits. Amends the Internal Revnue Code to extend: (1) the time during which credit will be granted for producing fuel from nonconventional source; (2) excise tax rate reductions will apply to alcohol fuel mixtures; (3) credit will be applied for alcohol used as fuel. Title III: Electric Power - Competitive Wholesale Electric Generation Act of 1990 - Authorizes public utility holding companies that are exempt from the provisions of the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 to acquire business interests in generators used exclusively for selling electric energy at wholesale (exempts wholesale generators). Declares that the ownership of exempt wholesale generators shall not result in the owner's being considered as primarily engaged in the sale or generation of electric power under the Federal Power Act. Preserves the ratemaking authority of the States. Amends the Federal Power Act to direct the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), before approving rates agreed to between a public utility and a wholesale seller, to require the purchasing utility to certify that the rate conforms with least-costing planning schemes. Defines circumstances under which electric energy charges by a public utility exempt wholesale generator will be considered unjust and unreasonable. Authorizes appropriations for electronic switching research. Directs the Secretary of Energy to report to the Congress on legislative and regulatory reforms and incentives for more reliable electric transmission transfer capability within the reliability councils comprising the North American Electric Reliability Council. Title IV: Natural Gas - Directs FERC to: (1) issue regulations to expedite pipeline certifications; and (2) report to certain congressional committees on recommended reforms to facilitate increased deliverability of natural gas to consumers. Amends the Mineral Leasing Act to repeal the current 60-day waiting period requirement after notification of certain congressional committees before certain pipeline rights-of-way may be granted. Title V: Oil -Subtitle A: Use of MMT in Unleaded Gasoline - Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to approve the use of methylcyclopentadienyl manganese tricarbonyl (MMT) in unleaded gasoline. Subtitle B: Tax Incentives for Oil and Natural Gas Exploration and Production - Part I: National Energy Security Tax Credits - Amends the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) to establish a crude oil and natural gas exploration and development tax credit. Allows a 20 percent credit for qualified investments. Establishes a marginal production income tax credit for producers who maintain economically unproductive oil wells. Applies the credit to domestic crude that is: (1) from stripper well property; (2) heavy oil; (3) oil recovered through a tertiary recovery method; or (4) harsh environment oil (produced from Arctic areas in submerged lands). Fixes the credit at 20 percent of the qualified cost (determined in accordance with a formula set forth in this Act) of each barrel produced by the producer during the taxable year. Part II: Additional Exploration and Production Incentives - Amends the IRC to treat certain geological and geophysical costs and surface casing costs as intangible drilling and development costs that a taxpayer may elect to capitalize or to deduct for income tax purposes. Precludes a percentage depletion income tax deduction for proven oil and gas wells from application of the net income limitation percentage depletion. Increases from 65 percent to 100 percent the taxable income limitation on the percentage depletion deduction for oil and gas property. Affirms natural gas found in tight sands formations as a qualified fuel with respect to the credit, without exceptions. Defines "tar sands" for purposes of such credit. Part III: Amendments to the Alternative Minimum Tax - Repeals provisions that identify intangible drilling costs as a tax preference item for purposes of determining alternative minimum tax liability and corporate preference reductions. Part IV: Miscellaneous Tax and Administrative Amendments - Declares Revenue Ruling 77-176 (and other rulings that reach similar results) to be inapplicable with respect to the income tax treatment of mineral sharing arrangements. (The Revenue Ruling address situations in which a driller receives from a lessee an operating interest in oil and gas property as consideration for drilling a well on the leased tract.) Revises provisions governing the time when economic performance occurs for the purpose of income tax deductions or credits in connection with removal of offshore oil or gas production facilities. Specifies expressly the types of oil and gas exploration and development costs that are exempt from the required application of uniform cost capitalization rules. Subtitle C: Recovery Depletion Allowance; Research and Development Credit - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to set a depletion allowance of 27.5 percent in connection with domestic oil and natural gas recovered through enhanced recovery techniques. Reduces this percentage (but not below 15 percent) as the average annual removal price during the calendar year exceeds $30 (indexed for inflation). Terminates this provision with respect to production after 2009. Increases from 50 percent to 100 percent the net income limitation on percentage depletion in connection with incremental tertiary oil or natural gas. Permits a ten percent income tax credit for research to discover or improve tertiary recovery methods for domestic crude oil or natural gas. Subtitle D: Arctic National Wildlife Refuge - Directs the Secretary of the Interior to implement a competitive oil and gas leasing program for the Coastal Plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. States that this subtitle shall be considered the primary land management authorization for all exploration and production activities on the Coastal Plain. Provides that no land management review shall be required except as management specifically authorized by this subtitle. Mandates that all receipts from sales, rentals, bonuses, and royalties on leases under this subtitle be deposited into the Treasury. Directs the Secretary to promulgate regulations to ensure that oil and gas exploration and transportation activities are conducted to achieve the reasonable protection of animals and environmental resources (including subsistence uses of the Coastal Plain). States that the "Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska, Coastal Plain Resource Assessment," prepared by the Secretary, satisfies all legal requirements for such promulgation and that no further studies or assessments shall be required. Directs the Secretary to provide impact aid and other assistance to communities on the North Slope and elsewhere in Alaska in order to ensure the public services needed to accommodate oil and gas production and transportation activities on the Coastal Plain. Title VI: Coal - Directs the Secretary of Energy to establish research and demonstration goals for the timely development of: (1) coal production, transportation, and use technologies; and (2) cost-effective advanced coal-based technologies to be available for widespread commercial use after the year 2010, and which can control sulfur and nitrogen oxides at greater proficiency levels than are currently available; and (3) cost-effective energy production systems which use coal and achieve greater efficiency in the conversion of coal to useful energy. Requires the Secretary to submit an assessment to the Congress of the commercial development potential of technologies for non-fuel use of coal. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to restore investment credits for pollution devices required by the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990. Title VII: Nuclear - Nuclear Standardization and Safety Reform Act of 1990 - Subtitle A: Standardization and Licensing - Amends the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 to direct the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to establish procedures for the preapproval of a limited number of standardized facility designs for production or utilization facilities for a ten-year period. Authorizes the Commission to design approval requests for any major subsystem that represents discrete elements of a production or utilization facility. Requires the Agency to specify by regulation the criteria and requirements for any subsystem approval. States that a design approval shall be considered to be a license. Sets forth guidelines for the issuance of a design approval, including ten-year renewal terms. Authorizes the Director to issue a site approval permit for a ten-year period even if an application for a construction permit or operating license has not been filed. Outlines the site approval procedure and the procedures for facility construction permits and operating licenses. Subtitle B: Conforming Amendments - Makes conforming Amendments to the Act. Subtitle C: Amendments of PUHCA - Amends the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 to allow the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to grant exempt status to certain public utility holding companies which would otherwise meet specified criteria but for their control of utility assets pursuant to a management agreement approved by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). Permits the acquisition of public utility assets or securities without SEC approval if the acquiring public utility controls assets pursuant to a management agreement approved by the NRC. Subtitle D: Effective Date - Sets forth the effective date of this title. Title VIII: National Energy Strategy Implementation - Amends the Department of Energy Organization Act to direct the President to submit a proposed National Energy Policy Plan to the Congress by a specified deadlilne. Amends the Department of Energy Act to revise procedural guidelines for congressional consideration of an implementing bill for such Plan. Title IX: Impact of Federal Actions on Energy Security - Mandates that all Federal agencies shall: (1) develop measures to ensure that energy security concerns are given appropriate consideration in decisionmaking; and (2) include in their legislative proposals a detailed statement regarding the impact of such proposals upon energy production, transportation, or use, and alternatives to the proposed action. Title X: Outer Continental Shelf - Subtitle A: Revised Outer Continental Shelf Leasing Program - Requires the Secretary of the Interior to submit to the Congress a revised Outer Continental Shelf leasing program which includes plans for the expeditious development of oil and gas resources consistent with environmental safeguards. Subtitle B: Revenue Sharing - Outer Continental Shelf Revenue Sharing Act of 1990 - Establishes the Outer Continental Shelf Revenue Sharing Fund. Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to: (1) pay specified amounts into the Fund; and (2) provide each coastal State with an Outer Continental Shelf revenue sharing block grant. Requires a recipient coastal State to submit an assessment of the expenditure of funds provided by the block grants.
United States · United States Congress · 27 September 1990
Amends the Energy Policy and Conservation Act to increase from 5,000,000 to 15,000,000 barrels the amount of crude oil which may be sold from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
United States · United States Congress · 19 September 1990
Amends Federal patent law to authorize the Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks to establish educational programs for Patent and Trademark Office employees which include payment for courses at universities, colleges, and law schools. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from gross income any benefits received under the Patent Office educational programs.
United States · United States Congress · 12 September 1990
Universal Childhood Security Act - Title I: Foreign Assistance Programs - Requires that specified minimum amounts from aggregate U.S. funding for international development and economic assistance programs, for each of FY 1991 through 1996, be available only for: (1) child survival activities, including those authorized under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961; and (2) programs in support of basic primary education, including teacher training and other necessary activities. Declares the sense of the Congress that the World Bank should: (1) give greater priority to child survival and development, including support of basic education activities; and (2) devote five percent or more of its annual lending programs to primary health and five percent to primary education. Title II: Domestic Programs - Declares the sense of the Congress that it should increase participation in the special supplemental food program for women, infants, and children (the WIC program) by 20 percent per year in each of 1991 through 1995, so that the goal of full participation may be reached by the end of FY 1995. Declares the sense of the Congress that it should follow through on providing full funding for the Head Start program of early childhood education and childhood development, so that the goal of participation of all eligible three- and four-year-old children can be reached by FY 1994.
United States · United States Congress · 11 September 1990
Amends the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act) to subject the pay of the Vice President, Members of Congress, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, and heads of cabinet departments of the executive branch to sequestration. Expresses the sense of Congress that the President forgo pay equal to the percentage reduction in effect under an order relating to the budget account for the Office of the President.
United States · United States Congress · 3 August 1990
Octane Display and Disclosure Act of 1990 - Amends the Petroleum Marketing Practices Act to require certification and posting for all liquid automotive fuels (currently, automotive gasolines). Authorizes States or local governments to provide for any investigative or enforcement action, remedy, or penalty permitted under such Act. Revises Federal Trade Commission enforcement provisions regarding acts or practices constituting violations of the Federal Trade Commission Act. Changes the Environmental Protection Agency's authority to conduct field testing of the octane rating of automotive fuels from mandatory to discretionary. Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to carry out a study to determine whether, and if so, how, the anti-knock characteristics of nonliquid fuels usable as motor vehicle fuels can be determined. Directs the Secretary of Energy to study the feasibility and desirability of using dye to: (1) differentiate automotive fuels with different fuel ratings so that the rating can be determined by its color; and (2) identify transportation fuels required by law for clean air or other environmental benefits. Directs the Secretary of Energy to study the use of automotive fuels with octane ratings in excess of that necessary for the operation of an automobile. Directs the Federal Trade Commission to study the need for, and the desirability of, having a uniform national label on devices used to dispense automotive fuel to consumers that would consolidate information required to be posted on such devices. Requires reports to the Congress on the studies carried out under this Act within one year.
United States · United States Congress · 3 August 1990
Copyright Amendments Act of 1990 - Title I: Computer Software - Computer Software Rental Amendments Act - Amends Federal copyright law to prohibit the person in possession of a computer software program from renting, leasing, or lending it for direct or indirect commercial advantage unless authorized to do so by the copyright owner. Excludes certain home video game software from the prohibition. Authorizes nonprofit libraries to lend computer programs if a copyright warning has been affixed to the computer program packaging. Requires the Register of Copyrights to report to the Congress regarding the efficacy of this Act. Sets forth remedies for copyright infringement in cases of violations of this Act. Title II: Fair Use - Amends Federal copyright law to apply the fair use doctrine to all copyrighted work, whether published or unpublished. Title III: Architectural Works - Architectural Works Copyright Protection Act - Amends Federal copyright law to define and include architectural works within the scope of copyright subject matter. Excludes from such copyright any right to prevent a pictorial representation of an architectural work if the work is embodied in a structure located in a public place. Permits the owners of a structure embodying an architectural work to make alterations without the author's or copyright owner's consent.
United States · United States Congress · 30 July 1990
Banking Law Enforcement Act of 1990 - Title I: Enhanced Criminal Penalties - Amends Federal criminal law to establish criminal penalties (including imprisonment) for the concealment of assets from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) (acting as conservator or receiver), the Resolution Trust Corporation (RTC), or the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) Board (acting as conservator or liquidating agent). Amends the Federal Deposit Insurance Act and the Federal Credit Union Insurance Act to prohibit certain felons convicted of dishonesty or breach of trust from controlling or participating in the affairs of a depository institution for a minimum ten-year period. Amends Federal criminal law to establish criminal penalties (including imprisonment) for obstructing any examination of a financial institution. Increases from 20 years to 30 years the maximum prison term for bank fraud and embezzlement. Establishes a ten-year statute of limitations for the prosecution of racketeering offenses involving financial institutions. Extends money laundering prohibitions to include funds from specified bank crimes. Directs the U.S. Sentencing Commission to promulgate guidelines for increased penalties for certain bank crime convictions in which the defendant derived more than $1,000,000 in gross receipts from the offense. Provides for restoration of forfeited property and for restitution to bank crime victims. Sets forth maximum criminal fines and minimum imprisonment terms for certain continuing financial crime enterprises (i.e., certain violations committed by at least four persons acting in concert). Title II: Protecting Assets from Wrongful Disposition - Authorizes the Attorney General to obtain a court order enjoining or restraining the alienation or disposition of property obtained as a result of a banking law violation. Amends the Federal Deposit Insurance Act and the Federal Credit Union Act to set forth attachment procedures. Amends Federal bankruptcy law to provide that the trustee shall be deemed to have assumed a debtor's commitment to a Federal depository institution regulatory agency to maintain the capital of an insured depository institution (thus precluding the trustee from rejecting such commitment as an executory contract which can be avoided as a discharge in bankruptcy). Exempts a Federal depository institution regulatory agency acting as conservator for an insured depository institution from the requirement of proving reasonable reliance upon a false writing supplied by a debtor who is an institution-affiliated party. Prohibits a discharge in bankruptcy for debts resulting from the debtor's failure to fulfill a commitment to a Federal financial institution regulatory agency to maintain the capital of an insured depository institution. Exempts a Federal depository institution regulatory agency acting as conservator for an insured depository institution from the requirement of a timely nondischargeability request (including notice and hearing) when seeking to recover a debt relating to malfeasance. Declares that for specified cases of deceitful conduct, any institution-affiliated party of an insured depository institution (or credit union) shall be deemed to have been acting in a fiduciary capacity with respect to any debt owed to a Federal banking regulatory agency (thus making such debt nondischargeable in bankruptcy). Sets forth as a prerequisite for a bankruptcy reorganization plan that the debtor will: (1) maintain any commitment to a Federal banking regulatory agency to maintain the capital of an insured depository institution; and (2) continue to be obligated for any debt to such agency for failure to fulfill such commitment. Makes certain debts owed by an institution-affiliated party to an insured depository institution under Federal receivership nondischargeable under a consumer debt bankruptcy plan. Amends the Federal Deposit Insurance Act and the Federal Credit Union Act to empower the FDIC and the NCUA (acting as conservators) to avoid fraudulent conveyances by a debtor institution-affiliated party. Prohibits an insured depository institution or credit union which does not meet minimum Federal capitalization requirements from making golden parachute payments, covered benefit payments, or certain payments in anticipation of insolvency to an institution-affiliated party without prior written Federal agency approval. Cites conditions under which insured depository institutions and credit unions may make golden parachute payments and covered benefits payments with FDIC or NCUAB approval. Amends the Federal criminal code to revise the civil and criminal forfeiture guidelines for: (1) property affecting a financial institution; and (2) fraudulent offenses involving the sale of assets held by Federal banking regulatory agencies. Amends the Federal Deposit Insurance Act and the Federal Credit Union Act to prohibit certain convicted felony debtors whose default to an insured financial institution in receivership will cause substantial loss from acquiring any asset of the institution (except with respect to repayment). Title III: Improved Procedures for Handling Banking-Related Cases - Amends Federal criminal law to authorize wiretaps for bank fraud and related offenses. Amends the Federal Deposit Insurance Act and the Federal Credit Union Act to set forth reciprocal assistance guidelines for foreign investigations by Federal banking agencies and investigations on behalf of foreign banking authorities. Amends the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989 (FIRREA) to extend from five to ten years the statute of limitations for commencing a civil action for Federal bank law violations. Amends the Federal Deposit Insurance Act and the National Credit Union Act to grant the FDIC, the RTC, and the NCUA subpoena authority. Title IV: Structural Reforms to Improve the Federal Response to Crimes Affecting Financial Institutions - Establishes within the Office of the Deputy Attorney General in the Department of Justice a Financial Institutions Fraud Unit, headed by a Special Counsel who shall report directly to the Deputy Attorney General. Terminates such Office five years after enactment of this Act. Empowers the Special Counsel to investigate and prosecute criminal activity involving the financial services industry. Directs the Attorney General to establish: (1) financial institutions fraud task forces; and (2) a senior interagency group to assist in identifying the most significant financial institution fraud cases, to allocate investigative and prosecutorial resources, and to expedite interagency coordination and prosecution of financial institutions fraud. Amends Federal criminal law to authorize the Secret Service (under the direction of the Secretary of the Treasury) to detect and arrest persons who violate banking laws with respect to financial institutions and the Resolution Trust Corporation (RTC). Title V: Reporting Requirements - Directs the Attorney General to report quarterly to the Congress regarding financial institution crimes. Requires the Director of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts to present annual statistical tables to the Congress on the business imposed on the Federal courts by the savings and loan crisis. Title VI: National Commission on Financial Institution Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement - Establishes the National Commission on Financial Institution Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement to make investigations and recommendations regarding specified aspects of the savings and loan crisis. Requires the Commission to submit a final report to the President and the Congress within one year after enactment of this Act. Terminates the Commission 30 days after the submission of such final report. Authorizes appropriations. Title VII: Authorizations - Amends the FIRREA to authorize appropriations to the Attorney General and the Federal Court System for bank crime cases.
United States · United States Congress · 26 July 1990
Title I: Federal Courts Study Committee Implementation - Federal Courts Study Committee Implementation Act of 1990 - Requires the Federal Judicial Center to submit to the Congress a study on: (1) the number and frequency of conflicts among the judicial circuits in interpreting the law that remain unresolved because they are not heard by the Supreme Court; and (2) how many conflicts are "intolerable" based on specific factors, but are unlikely to be resolved by the Supreme Court. Amends the Federal criminal code to revise provisions concerning the appointment of Federal public defenders to require defender organizations to be supervised by a board or commission independent of the courts being served by the organizations. Transfers specified authorities of the court of appeals of the circuit with respect to such organizations to such boards or commissions. Amends the Federal judicial code to remove requirements for approval of budget estimates by the Court of International Trade and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Directs the President, in any case in which a U.S. judge assumes the duties of a full-time office of Federal judicial administration, to appoint an additional judge for the court on which the judge serves. Increases attendance fees paid to witnesses, jurors, petit jurors, and grand jurors. Revises provisions concerning the removal of separate and independent claims. Authorizes a civil action where jurisdiction is founded only on diversity of citizenship to be brought only in the judicial district in which: (1) any defendant resides, if all defendants reside in the same State; (2) a substantial part of the events or omissions giving rise to the claim occurred, or a substantial part of property that is the subject of the action is situated; or (3) the defendants are subject to personal jurisdiction at the time the action commenced. (Current law permits such actions to be brought only in the judicial district where all plaintiffs or defendants reside, or in which the claim arose.) Permits a civil action where jurisdiction is not founded solely on diversity of citizenship to be brought only in the judicial district in which: (1) any defendant resides, if all defendants reside in the same State; (2) a substantial part of the events or omissions giving rise to the claim occurred, or a substantial part of property that is the subject of the action is situated; or (3) any defendant may be found, if there is no district in which the action may otherwise be brought. Revises venue provisions concerning civil actions in which a defendant is an officer or employee of the United States. Prohibits civil actions arising under an Act of the Congress from being commenced later than four years after the action accrues. Initiates a retirement program for Claims Court judges aged 65 or older, basing annuities upon specified age and length of service criteria, as determined in accordance with this Act. Includes provisions to cover retirement due to disability. Precludes judges who elect this new annuity program from receiving civil service retirement benefits. Permits the recall of retired judges to perform judicial duties, subject to certain conditions. Sets forth the administrative features of the annuity plan. Provides for a forfeiture of annuity for retired Claims Court judges who: (1) in the practice of law represent a client in a civil claim against the United States; (2) fail to perform required judicial duties (such forfeiture to occur for a one-year period); or (3) accept Government civil office or employment compensation (such forfeiture to occur for the period the compensation is received). Makes forfeitures inapplicable in specified cases where a retired judge elects to freeze the amount of the annuity. Sets forth procedures with respect to revoking an election to receive an annuity. Establishes the Claims Court Judges Retirement Fund. Authorizes appropriations. Provides for survivors' annuities for survivors of Claims Court judges who retire under the system established by this Act. Entitles retired Claims Court judges who elect the retirement system under this Act to lump-sum credits under Federal provisions governing civil service compensation. Permits the judicial councils of two or more circuits, if authorized by the Judicial Conference of the United States, to establish a joint bankruptcy appellate panel to hear and determine specified appeals. Authorizes bankruptcy judges, upon the expiration of a term of office, to continue to perform such duties for a specified time period, with the approval of the judicial council of the circuit. Amends the Bankruptcy Judges, United States Trustees, and Family Farmer Bankruptcy Act of 1986 to extend certain effective dates with respect to the application of amendments to judicial districts. Authorizes a bankruptcy administrator to raise, appear, and be heard on any issue in a bankruptcy case. Prohibits an administrator from filing a reorganization plan. Amends the Federal judicial code to require a district court judge or a magistrate to advise parties to civil actions that they are free to withhold consent to the exercise of the magistrate's jurisdiction without adverse consequences. Extends the time period during which a magistrate may continue to serve after the expiration of a term of office. Permits any party to assert a non-Federal claim, in any civil action of which the district courts have original jurisdiction, if: (1) the Federal claim in the original complaint is not insubstantial; and (2) the original Federal claim and the non-Federal claim arise out of the same transaction or occurrence. Authorizes the original plaintiff, if the original Federal claim is founded solely on diversity of citizenship, to assert a non-Federal claim only against the original defendant or against a party who has been brought into the action by a party other than the plaintiff, unless the action was removed from a State court. Permits the district court to exercise supplemental jurisdiction even if: (1) the non-Federal claim is asserted against a person who is not already a party to the civil action or such claim is the only claim asserted against a party to be brought into the action; or (2) the party asserting the non-Federal claim is an intervenor or an applicant for intervention. Requires the district court to determine whether the non-Federal claim should be dismissed or remanded. Sets forth conditions under which such claim may be dismissed or remanded. Requires the period of limitations for any non-Federal claim to be tolled while the claim is pending in Federal court and for a period of 30 days after it is dismissed unless State law provides for a longer tolling period. Authorizes courts other than the Supreme Court to establish voluntary dispute resolution procedures. Requires the Director of the Federal Judicial Center to: (1) conduct, on a continuing basis, research on the alternative dispute resolution techniques adopted by U.S. district courts; and (2) publish analyses of the experience of such courts with the application of such techniques. Title II: Miscellaneous Provisions and Technical Amendments - Includes Watertown, New York, in the list of sites where court for the Northern District of New York shall be held. Requires the chief judge of each circuit to summon biennial (and permits him to summon annual) judicial conferences. (Current law requires the chief judge to summon annual conferences.) Removes the requirement for summoning the U.S. District Court for the District of the Canal Zone to such conferences. Requires the District Court of the Northern Mariana Islands to be summoned. Establishes service requirements for retirement for certain judges aged 62 to 64. Requires the chief judge of the Court of International Trade to be the judge of the court in regular active service who is senior in commission of those judges who: (1) are 64 years of age or under; (2) have served for one year or more as a judge of the court; and (3) have not served previously as chief judge. Sets forth alternative requirements if there is no judge meeting such qualifications. Sets the term of the chief judge at seven years. Prohibits any judge over age 70 from serving as chief judge unless no other judge is qualified to serve. Redesignates U.S. magistrates as assistant U.S. district judges. Authorizes magistrates to levy fines on individuals found in contempt of court. Sets forth eligibility requirements for judicial survivors' annuities in cases where the death of the judicial official was by assassination. Requires the Director of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts to determine whether the killing of a judicial official was an assassination, subject to review by the Judicial Conference of the United States. Applies annuity provisions to all judges assassinated on or after May 28, 1979. Sets forth provisions concerning retroactive application of annuity eligibility. Removes a provision which exempts U.S. Sentencing Commission officers and employees from civil service provisions governing conflicts of interest.
United States · United States Congress · 26 July 1990
Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1990 - Prohibits a governmental authority from restricting any person's free exercise of religion unless: (1) the restriction is in the form of a rule of general applicability that doesn't intentionally discriminate against religion or among religions; and (2) the governmental authority demonstrates that application of the restriction to a person is essential to furthering a compelling governmental interest and the least restrictive means of doing so. Authorizes a party aggrieved by a violation of such prohibition to obtain relief, including attorney fees, in a civil action.
United States · United States Congress · 26 July 1990
Fair Labor Standards Technical Amendments - Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (the Act) to revise coverage relating to minimum wage and other requirements. Provides that certain minimum wage and overtime requirements cover employees engaged in industrial homework subject to the Act. Provides that certain equal pay provisions against sex discrimination in wages cover employees engaged in commerce or the production of goods for commerce. Provides that certain provisions for handicapped workers in sheltered workshops are applicable to such workers who are engaged in commerce or in the production of goods for commerce, or who are employed by an enterprise so engaged. Applies training wage provisions to seasonal agricultural workers under age 20 who are not employed, referred, or transported by a farm labor contractor. Directs the Secretary of Labor, within 90 days, to promulgate regulations that permit computer systems analysts, software engineers, and other similarly skilled professional workers to qualify for the exemption from overtime requirements as professional employees. Provides that if such employees are compensated on an hourly basis, they shall be exempt only if they are compensated at an hourly rate at least six and one-half times greater than the minimum. Makes technical corrections to the special minimum wage provisions for American Samoa.
United States · United States Congress · 25 July 1990
Church Retirement Benefits Simplification Act of 1990 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to recodify and revise qualifications for church retirement and pension plans. Makes employee contributions to such plans nonforfeitable. Allows ten-year vesting with a nonforfeitable right to 100 percent of accrued benefits derived from employer contributions. Allows five-to-fifteen year vesting with a nonforfeitable right to a percentage (25% to 100%) of such accrued benefits. Requires the plan to meet minimum vesting requirements. Provides that no employee shall be considered an officer, shareholder, supervisor, or highly compensated employee if such employee receives less than $50,000 per year. Excludes from such consideration employees covered by a collective bargaining agreement if retirement benefits were a subject of good faith bargaining. Recodifies the authority of a church or a convention or association of churches to be treated as an employer making contributions to retirement income accounts. Subjects church-related hospitals and universities to certain coverage and related rules in the case of a contract purchased by a church. Requires distributions from retirement income accounts provided by churches to be in accordance with distributions under cash or deferred arrangements. Provides for determining the beginning date for such distributions. Allows self-employed ministers and chaplains who work for non-church employers to participate in their church plans. Provides that certain rules aggregating employees do not apply to churches. Restores qualified voluntary employee contributions to church plans. Treats self-employed ministers as employees for purposes of certain welfare benefit plans and retirement income accounts. Allows a deduction for contributions to retirement income accounts by such ministers. Provides that a church plan maintained by more than one employer shall not be treated as a single plan. Provides that accounting methods of deferred compensation plans of State and local governments and tax-exempt organizations do not apply to a church plan. Exempts a church plan from the requirement to maintain separate accounts for medical benefits for key employees. Provides that the special rules for computing employee contributions to pension plans do not apply to certain foreign missionaries. Repeals the elective deferral catch-up limitation for church retirement income accounts. Allows church plans to annuitize benefits and increase benefit payments. Provides that rules for self-insured medical reimbursement plans are not applicable to church plans.
United States · United States Congress · 20 July 1990
Securities Enforcement and Penny Stock Reform Act of 1990 - Title I: Amendments to the Securities Act of 1933 - Amends the Securities Act of 1933 to establish tiered civil money penalties for violations. Permits a court to prohibit violators from serving as officers and directors of securities-issuing entities. Authorizes the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to issue: (1) cease and desist orders; (2) temporary restraining orders; and (3) orders for accounting and disgorgement. Title II: Amendments to the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 - Amends the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to: (1) authorize a court to prohibit individuals from acting as officers or directors of securities-issuing entities if they have demonstrated a substantial unfitness to serve in that capacity; and (2) impose tiered civil money penalties for violations of such Act. Sets forth circumstances under which the SEC (or the appropriate regulatory agency) may: (1) impose civil penalties pursuant to administrative findings of violations of the Act; (2) enter an order requiring an accounting and disgorgement; (3) issue cease and desist orders; and (4) issue temporary restraining orders. Directs the SEC to promulgate procedural rules for cease and desist proceedings. Title III: Amendments to the Investment Company Act of 1940 - Amends the Investment Company Act of 1940 to authorize the SEC to impose civil remedies pursuant to civil and administrative proceedings, including: (1) tiered money penalties; (2) orders requiring an accounting and disgorgement; (3) cease and desist orders; and (4) temporary restraining orders. Title IV: Amendments to the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 - Amends the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 to authorize the SEC to impose civil remedies pursuant to administrative and civil proceedings, including: (1) tiered money penalties; (2) orders requiring an accounting and disgorgement; (3) cease and desist orders; and (4) temporary restraining orders. Title V: Penny Stock Reform - Penny Stock Reform Act of 1990 - Amends the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to define "penny stock" securities and to extend regulatory authority over persons engaged in penny stock activities. Requires the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to prescribe rules implementing such authority by a specified deadline. Empowers the Commission to exclude persons from participating in penny stock distributions if they have violated certain registration regulations. Prescribes requirements for brokers and dealers in penny stock transactions, including guidelines for mandatory risk disclosure statements. Requires the SEC to: (1) facilitate the establishment of automated penny stock quotation systems according to specified guidelines, submitting annual status reports to the Congress; and (2) report to the Congress the results of a review of penny stock self-regulatory mechanisms. Authorizes the Securities and Exchange Commission to designate rules whose violation shall not automatically render a contract void. Amends the Securities Act of 1933 to require the SEC to prescribe special rules for registration statements filed by any issuer that is a blank check company (one with no specific business plan or purpose, or whose intent is to merge with an unidentified company). Authorizes such rules to include the right of shareholder rescission. Amends the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to require registered securities associations to establish a toll-free consumer hotline regarding broker-dealer disciplinary history.
United States · United States Congress · 16 July 1990
Criminal Alien Deportation Amendments of 1990 - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to replace the definition of "aggravated felony" with definitions for "class 1 felony" and "class 2 felony." Establishes a time frame for filing petitions for judicial review of deportation orders for aliens convicted of class 1 or 2 felonies. Bars reentry of aliens convicted of class 1 or 2 felonies for 20 years or ten years, respectively. Limits the period of time counted toward suspension of deportation for aliens who have committed class 2 felonies. Makes specified provisions currently applicable to aggravated felonies applicable to class 1 felonies. Sets forth procedures for notices of deportation hearings and in absentia hearings. Prohibits, unless the Attorney General determines that sufficient resources for deportation do not exist, any alien from departing voluntarily from the United States at his own expense in lieu of deportation if such alien has, within the previous ten years, been granted a date by which he must depart voluntarily and has failed to depart. Provides that any such alien who has failed to depart shall be deportable. Requires defenses with respect to the deportation of an alien to be raised in the alien's response to the order initiating deportation proceedings. Exempts from such requirement applications for asylum or withholding of deportation which arise because of a change in circumstance in the country of the alien's nationality after the initiation of deportation proceedings. Sets forth requirements with respect to motions to reopen or reconsider proceedings against an alien. Exempts from such requirements the same circumstances granted exemptions from defense requirements. Sets forth procedures for administrative appeals. Permits only one administrative appeal to be made with respect to motions to reopen or reconsider deportation proceedings. Sets forth conditions under which such appeals shall be considered frivolous. Prescribes civil penalties for submission of frivolous appeals. Permits attorneys who submit two or more frivolous appeals in one year to be barred from representing parties in deportation proceedings for a specified time period. Provides aliens with up to 14 days from the time the alien first appears before the Attorney General in deportation proceedings in order for the alien to secure counsel. Prohibits aliens who have been convicted of class 1 or 2 felonies from applying for, or being granted, asylum. Excludes aliens convicted of class 1 felonies from the definition concerning good moral character. Grants Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) officers and employees the power to make arrests for offenses against the United States and to carry firearms. Directs the INS Commissioner to provide for the fingerprinting and photographing of each alien 14 or over against whom a deportation proceeding is commenced. Requires the Attorney General to report to the House and Senate Judiciary Committees on: (1) information, for each of the 36 months preceding this Act's enactment, on the number of deportation orders issued per month and the percentage of orders executed; and (2) the number of aliens whose deportation hearings have been conducted and the percentage that such number represents of the total number of deportable aliens eligible for such hearings since November 18, 1988. Conditions the admittance of returning resident aliens on such aliens not having been convicted of a class 1 or 2 felony for which a term of more than two years of imprisonment was imposed. Eliminates an exemption from deportation for an alien convicted of a crime and for whom a court has made a recommendation that such alien not be deported. Makes ineligible to receive a visa and excludes from admission into the United States an alien convicted of a class 2 felony who departs voluntarily from the United States at his own expense. Provides for the transfer of a specified amount of funds from the Immigration Examinations Fee Account to the Executive Office for Immigration Review in the Department of Justice for purposes of removing backlogs in the preparation of transcripts of deportation proceedings.
![Official portrait of Rep. Moorhead, Carlos J. [R-CA-22]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/m000926_200.jpg)