United States · United States Congress · 29 July 1999
Access to Medical Treatment Act - Defines: (1) "danger" as an adverse reaction to an unapproved drug or medical device that causes serious harm, would not otherwise have occurred, and is more serious than contraindications for drugs or devices approved by the Federal Food and Drug Administration for the same disease or condition; and (2) other terms as used in this Act including, "unapproved drug or medical device." (Sec. 4) Allows, notwithstanding any other provision of Federal law, a patient to receive and a health care practitioner to provide any unapproved drug or device the patient desires if it is: (1) recommended by a practitioner (within that practitioner's scope of practice); (2) not a violation of State law; and (3) the practitioner abides with all recommendation requirements. Sets forth the recommendation requirements, including that the practitioner: (1) does not violate the Controlled Substances Act; (2) has informed the patient of certain matters, including that the drug or device is unapproved and experimental; and (3) does not impose a charge for the drug or device in excess of costs. Prohibits the practitioner from making any advertising claims for the drug or device, but allows dissemination of information on the results of the practitioner's use of the drug or device so long as: (1) the practitioner does not offer to sell the drug or device in connection with the dissemination; or (2) the claims are permitted under provisions of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA) relating to misbranded food and to dietary supplement labeling. (Sec. 5) Requires a practitioner who discovers that an unapproved drug or device creates a danger to a patient to immediately cease use and recommendation of the unapproved drug or device and provide specified information to the drug's or device's manufacturer. Requires the manufacturer that receives the information to: (1) immediately cease sale and distribution of the drug or device; (2) notify all practitioners to whom the drug or device has been provided; (3) report to the Secretary of Health and Human Services. Directs the Secretary, on receiving the report from the manufacturer, to promptly disseminate information on the danger to all practitioners in the United States, the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, and agencies of States having responsibility for regulating unsafe or adulterated drugs and devices. Requires the manufacturer to investigate to determine the actual cause of the danger and take specified actions depending on the outcome of that investigation. (Sec. 6) Requires a practitioner who discovers that an unapproved drug or device used in the treatment of a life threatening condition produces results that are significantly more beneficial than results from approved drugs or devices for that condition to provide specified information to the drug's or device's manufacturer. Requires that manufacturer to provide information to the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine. Requires the Center to annually report to Congress on beneficial results and make the report available to the public. (Sec. 7) Declares that this Act does not: (1) have any effect on FDCA provisions regarding pharmacy compounding; and (2) supersede any State or political subdivision law. (Sec. 8) Authorizes a practitioner, in conformity with this Act, to take certain actions regarding an unapproved drug or device and interstate commerce. (Sec. 9) Requires that a practitioner found to have knowingly violated this Act be denied coverage under this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 29 July 1999
Federal Employee Retirement Contributions Act of 1999 - Amends Federal retirement provisions to reduce to seven percent after December 31, 1999, the required retirement contribution by Federal employees participating under the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) (such contribution currently is scheduled to be 7.4 percent for calendar year 2000, and 7.5 percent for 2001). Reduces similarly the required percentage contribution under CSRS for Members of Congress and congressional employees, law enforcement or firefighting personnel, certain judges and magistrates, and nuclear material couriers. Makes similar reductions for participants in the Federal Employees' Retirement System (FERS). Makes conforming reductions with respect to military and volunteer service under FERS. Amends the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 and the Foreign Service Act of 1980 to make similar employee retirement contribution reductions under the Central Intelligence Agency Retirement and Disability System, the Foreign Service Retirement and Disability System, and the Foreign Service Pension System.
United States · United States Congress · 27 July 1999
Help Equip Local Police Act - Directs the Secretary of Defense to expand current Department of Defense procedures for the procurement by State and local law enforcement agencies of law enforcement equipment suitable for counter-drug activities to include equipment that is not suitable or intended for counter-drug activities, but excluding any equipment that the Department does not procure for its own purposes. Terminates such expanded authority two years after the enactment of this Act, but allows the Secretary to continue to process requests received before such date.
United States · United States Congress · 27 July 1999
Medicare Glaucoma Detection Act of 1999 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide for coverage of glaucoma detection tests for certain eligible individuals under Medicare part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance).
United States · United States Congress · 20 July 1999
Rural Law Enforcement Assistance Act of 1999 - Directs the Attorney General to provide funds to the National Center for Rural Law Enforcement if the Center's Executive Director certifies in writing that the Center: (1) is incorporated in accordance with applicable State laws; (2) is in compliance with its by-laws; (3) shall use amounts made available in accordance with requirements of this Act; and (4) shall not support any political party or candidate for elected or appointed office. Requires the Center to use such funds to develop an educational program for employees of law enforcement agencies serving rural areas for specified purposes, including: (1) the development and delivery of management education and training for employees of law enforcement agencies serving rural areas; and (2) the delivery of assistance (in a consulting capacity) to criminal justice agencies in the development and coordination of programs, training, and research relating to crime in rural areas. Permits the Center to use such funds to enhance that educational program through specified means, including: (1) educational opportunities for rural law enforcement agencies; and (2) coordination with institutions of higher education to encourage programs of study for law enforcement in rural areas at such institutions. Sets forth reporting requirements. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 19 July 1999
Federal Prison Industries Competition in Contracting Act of 1999 - Amends the Federal criminal code to replace provisions regarding the purchase of prison-made products by Federal departments with provisions establishing a Government-wide procurement policy relating to purchases from Federal Prison Industries (FPI). Provides that: (1) when a procurement activity of a Federal department or agency has a requirement for a specific product or service (product) that is authorized to be offered for sale by FPI and is listed in a catalog of FPI products, such activity shall solicit an offer from FPI if the purchase is expected to be in excess of the micro-purchase threshold; and (2) a contract award for such product or service shall be made using competitive procedures, except where FPI cannot expect to receive the contract award on a competitive basis and that award is necessary to maintain work opportunities to prevent circumstances expected to significantly endanger penal or correctional facility administration. Requires a contract to be awarded to FPI if the contracting officer determines that: (1) the prison-made product will meet the requirements of the procurement activity; (2) timely performance can be reasonably expected; and (3) the contract price does not exceed a current market price. Sets forth provisions regarding determinations by the Attorney General, competitive offers from FPI, performance by FPI, finality of the contracting officer's decision, reporting of purchases, and publication, maintenance, and revision of the catalog. (Sec. 3) Modifies provisions regarding: (1) FPI administration to require that a decision to authorize FPI to offer a new specific product or to expand the production of an existing product be made by its board of directors, in conformance with specified requirements; and (2) an analysis of the probable impact of a proposed expansion of inmate-work activities by FPI on private sector firms and their non-inmate workers whenever FPI proposes to authorize the sale of a new specific product or service or to expand production of a current product or service. Requires such analysis to identify and consider specified factors, such as whether: (1) the specific product is an import-sensitive product; and (2) authorizing the production of the new product or performance of a new service will provide inmates with the maximum opportunity to acquire knowledge and skill in trades and occupations that will provide them with a means of earning a livelihood upon release. Prohibits the board of directors from approving a proposal for inmates to provide a service in which an inmate worker has access to: (1) personal or financial information about individual private citizens, including information relating to such person's real property, however described, without giving prior notice to such persons; or (2) data that is classified, or that will become classified after being merged with other data. Sets forth public comment requirements. Requires that the board of directors: (1) solicit comments on the required analysis from trade associations representing vendors and labor unions representing private sector workers who could reasonably be expected to be affected by approval of the proposal; and (2) be provided copies of all comments received on the expansion proposal. Authorizes the Chief Operating Officer of FPI, based on the comments received on the initial expansion proposal, to provide the board a revised expansion proposal. Makes such revised proposal subject to public comment requirements of this Act if it provides for expansion of inmate work opportunities in an industry different from that initially proposed. (Sec. 4) Prohibits FPI from offering products or services as a subcontractor or supplier to a private for-profit business concern, notwithstanding that the product or service being furnished by such concern will ultimately be supplied to the U.S. Government, the government of the District of Columbia, an agency of a State government or any political subdivision thereof, or an eligible not-for-profit organization. (Sec. 5) Amends the Federal criminal code to require that wages earned by an inmate worker of FPI be paid in the name of such worker, and that deductions aggregating to not more than 80 percent of gross wages be taken from the wages due for: (1) applicable taxes; (2) payment of fines and restitution pursuant to court order; (3) payment of additional restitution for victims of the inmate's crimes (at a rate not less than ten percent of gross wages); (4) allocations for support of the inmate's family pursuant to statute, court order, or agreement with the inmate; (5) allocations to a fund in the inmate's name to facilitate such inmate's assimilation into society, payable at the conclusion of incarceration; and (6) such other deductions as may be specified by the Director of the Bureau of Prisons. (Sec. 6) Amends the code to require that not less than 20 percent of the gross profits of the corporation at the end of each fiscal year be allocated to fund vocational training for inmates without regard to the type of work activities to which they are assigned. (Sec. 7) Revises requirements for reporting by the board to Congress to: (1) include additional information within its annual reports, such as certain analyses of sales and purchases and of the inmate workforce, and data concerning employment obtained by released inmates; and (2) require that copies of such reports be made available to the public at a price not exceeding the cost of printing. (Sec. 9) Sets forth provisions regarding revisions to the Government-wide Federal Acquisition Regulation to implement this Act, including requirements of public participation.
United States · United States Congress · 15 July 1999
Immigration Reorganization and Improvement Act of 1999 - Establishes in the Department of Justice: (1) the Bureau of Immigration Services; and (2) the Bureau of Immigration Enforcement. Sets forth provisions respecting the transfer of functions, personnel, and appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 14 July 1999
Adoption Awareness Act of 1999 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make grants to national adoption organizations for programs to train the staff of eligible health centers in providing adoption counseling to pregnant women and infertile married couples. Makes it a condition for receipt of such a grant that the national adoption organization involved agree to make reasonable efforts to ensure that the eligible health centers with respect to which training under the grant is provided include centers that: (1) receive grants relating to voluntary family planning projects; (2) receive grants relating to community health centers, migrant health centers, and centers regarding homeless individuals and residents of public housing; (3) receive grants for the provision of services in schools; and (4) do not perform or make referrals for abortions, or provide or make referrals for counseling that presents abortion as an option. Directs the Secretary to require programs providing voluntary family planning services with such a grant to provide nondirective counseling and referrals regarding prenatal care and delivery, infant care, foster care, and adoption. Makes religious organizations eligible for such grants without discrimination and mandates their independence from Federal, State, and local governments, providing certain safeguards to ensure such independence. Provides the beneficiaries of assistance from religious organizations with certain rights, including the right not to be discriminated against by the religious organization. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 12 July 1999
Medical Information Protection and Research Enhancement Act of 1999 - Title I: Individual's Rights - Subtitle A: Review of Protected Health Information by Subjects of the Information - Requires specified health entities in possession of protected health information to arrange (except in certain circumstances) for its inspection or copying upon the request of the individual subject of such information (subject individual). Prescribes procedures for: (1) notification upon request denial, including the reasons for such denial, and the concomitant review procedures; (2) requests by such individual to amend such information; and (3) conspicuous disclosure of such entities' confidentiality practices. (Sec. 103) Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (the Secretary) to develop model notices of confidentiality. Subtitle B: Establishment of Safeguards - Mandates: (1) administrative, technical, and physical safeguards for protected health information; (2) a record of any protected health information disclosures; and (3) identification of disclosed information as protected health information. Title II: Restrictions on Use and Disclosure - Prescribes guidelines for disclosure of protected health information with respect to: (1) authorizations for treatment, payment, and health care operations; (3) the individual's next of kin and directory information; (4) emergency circumstances; (5) certain oversight agencies; (6) public health authorities; (7) health researchers; (8) civil, judicial, and administrative procedures; (9) certain law enforcement procedures; (10) payment for health care through card or electronic means; (11) certain duly authorized representatives acting on behalf of a subject individual (including a deceased subject individual and a minor); and (12) certain business sales, transfers, or mergers. (Sec. 213) Precludes permissible disclosures from liability. Title III: Sanctions - Subtitle A: Criminal Provisions - Amends the Federal criminal code to impose criminal penalties for knowingly and intentionally obtaining or disclosing protected health information in violation of title II of this Act. Subtitle B: Civil Sanctions - Establishes civil monetary penalties for substantial and material failure to comply with this Act. (Sec. 312) Prescribes a procedure for imposition and judicial review of such penalties. (Sec. 313) Grants exclusive enforcement authority to the insurance commissioner of the life insurer's domicile State. Title IV: Miscellaneous - Preempts, subject to exceptions, any State law relating to matters covered by this Act. (Sec. 401) Authorizes the Secretaries of Defense and of Transportation to establish exceptions to the disclosure requirements of this Act with respect to Department of Defense and Coast Guard personnel, respectively, pursuant to the Secretaries' determination that exceptions are necessary for national defense purposes. (Sec. 403) Directs the National Research Council, in conjunction with the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences, to study and report to Congress on research issues relating to protected health information.
United States · United States Congress · 1 July 1999
Worker Paycheck Fairness Act of 1999 - Requires a labor union accepting payment of any dues or fees from an employee as a condition of employment to secure from each employee a prior, voluntary, written authorization for any portion of such dues or fees which will be used for activities not necessary to performing the duties of exclusive representation in dealing with the employer on labor-management issues. Gives employees a right of civil action against any labor union which violates this requirement. Requires employers to post notice relating to such requirement. Amends the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959 to require every labor union to attribute and report expenses by function classification in detail necessary to allow its members to determine whether such expenses were necessary to performing the duties of exclusive representation in dealing with the employer on labor-management issues. Requires disclosure under such Act to employees required to pay any union dues or fees (under a union security agreement) as well as to union members. Makes it unlawful for any labor organization to coerce, intimidate, threaten, interfere with, or retaliate against any employee in the exercise of, or on account of having exercised, any right granted or protected by this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 1 July 1999
Internet Freedom and Broadband Deployment Act of 1999 - Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to define "high speed data service" as a service capable of transmitting electronic information at a rate generally not less than 384 kilobits per second in at least one direction. Prohibits the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and each State, except as expressly provided in this Act, from regulating the rates, charges, terms or conditions for, or entry into the provision of, any high speed data service or Internet access service, or to regulate the facilities used in the provision of such service. Prohibits the FCC from requiring an incumbent (established) local exchange carrier to: (1) provide unbundled access to any network elements used in the provision of any high speed data service, other than those elements described in FCC regulations; or (2) offer for resale at wholesale rates any high speed data service. States that nothing in this Act shall: (1) limit or affect the authority of any State to regulate voice telephone exchange services; (2) affect the ability of the FCC to retain or modify the exemption from interstate access charges for enhanced service providers; or (3) prohibit the FCC from modifying the regulation concerning the number of networks subject to its unbundling requirement. Requires each incumbent local exchange carrier to provide: (1) Internet users with the ability to subscribe to and have access to any Internet service provider that interconnects with such carrier's high speed data service; (2) any Internet service provider with the right to acquire necessary facilities and services to facilitate such interconnection; and (3) any Internet service provider with the ability to collocate equipment in order to achieve such interconnection. Includes high speed data service or Internet access service within the definition of "incidental interLATA services" permitted for a Bell operating company (BOC). States that, until the date a BOC is authorized to offer interLATA services originating in an in-region State, such BOC offering any high speed data service or Internet access service may not, in such State, bill or collect for interLATA voice telecommunications service obtained by means of such high speed data or Internet access service provided by such company.
United States · United States Congress · 1 July 1999
Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network Amendments of 1999 - Declares that Congress: (1) recognizes the generous contribution made by each living individual who has donated an organ to save a life; and (2) acknowledges the advances in medical technology that have enabled organ transplantation with organs donated by living individuals to become a viable treatment option for an increasing number of patients. Amends the Public Health Service Act to revise and extend programs relating to organ procurement and transplantation, among other changes requiring the Organ Procurement and Transportation Network to: (1) carry out studies and demonstration projects to improve procedures for organ procurement and allocation; and (2) develop a peer review system to assure that members of the Network comply with appropriate medical and other specified criteria. Mandates that the Secretary of Health and Human Services establish additional procedures for providing oversight of, and public accountability for, operation of the Network. Authorizes the Secretary to award grants or contracts for: (1) payment of travel and subsistence expenses incurred toward living organ donation; and (2) studies and demonstration projects. Directs the Secretary to carry out a program to educate the public about organ donation. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 1 July 1999
Unborn Victims of Violence Act of 1999 - Provides that: (1) whoever engages in conduct that violates specified provisions of the Federal criminal code, the Controlled Substances Act of 1970, or the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, or specified articles of the Uniform Code of Military Justice (conduct constituting certain Federal violent crimes), and thereby causes the death of, or bodily injury to, a child who is in utero, shall be guilty of a separate offense; and (2) the punishment for that separate offense shall be the same as that provided under Federal law for that conduct had that injury or death occurred to the unborn child's mother, except that the death penalty shall not be imposed. Bars prosecution under this Act for conduct relating to an abortion: (1) for which the consent of the pregnant woman has been obtained or for which such consent is implied by law in a medical emergency; (2) for conduct relating to any medical treatment of the pregnant woman or her unborn child; or (3) of any woman with respect to her unborn child.
United States · United States Congress · 1 July 1999
Federal Facilities Clean Water Compliance Act of 1999 - Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (the Act) to require each Federal department, agency, and instrumentality to be subject to and comply with all Federal, State, and local requirements with respect to the control and abatement of water pollution and management in the same manner and extent as any person is subject to such requirements, including the payment of reasonable service charges. Waives immunity of the United States with respect to any such requirements. Absolves Federal employees of personal liability for civil penalties under water pollution control laws for acts or omissions within the scope of official duties. Makes Federal employees subject to criminal sanctions under Federal or State water pollution laws, but prohibits applying criminal sanctions to Federal agencies. Authorizes the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, the Secretary of the Army, and the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating to pursue enforcement actions under this Act. Requires States to use funds collected from the Federal Government under this Act only for projects designed to improve or protect the environment or to defray the costs of environmental protection or enforcement. Includes Federal agencies within the definition of "person" for purposes of the Act.
United States · United States Congress · 1 July 1999
Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) the Internal Revenue Service, as we know it, must be abolished, and the Internal Revenue Code must be replaced with a new, simple, and fair tax system that reduces taxes and applies a single, low rate to all Americans; and (2) the President should submit to Congress a comprehensive proposal to reform the Internal Revenue Code by April 1, 2000.
United States · United States Congress · 30 June 1999
County Schools Funding Revitalization Act of 1999 - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to determine, for a specified eligibility period, State and county full payment amounts of National Forest System shared revenues for public education and other public services. (Sec. 5) Directs the Secretary to: (1) make Forest Service payments to eligible States for affected counties for public education and transportation; and (2) make Bureau of Land Management payments to eligible counties for public education, law enforcement, and other public services. (Sec. 7) Establishes the Forest Counties Payments Committee to develop long-term methods to ensure that State and counties in which Federal lands are situated receive adequate payments for public education and other public services. Terminates the Committee three years after enactment of this Act. (Sec. 8) Expresses the sense of the Congress: (1) in favor of the Committee's mandate to develop a long-term payment solution; and (2) that the regulatory or legislative solution should be completed within two years of the Committee's report. (Sec. 9) Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 30 June 1999
National Center for Research on Domestic Health Disparities Act - Amends title IV (National Research Institutes) of the Public Health Service Act (PHSA), as amended by the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1999, to establish, as another agency of the National Institutes of Health, a National Center for Research on Domestic Health Disparities to conduct and support basic and clinical research, training, and dissemination of health information, and other programs with respect to minority health. Directs the Director of the Center to assist in the administration of certain PHSA clinical research requirements with respect to the inclusion of minority groups as clinical research subjects. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish an advisory council to assist the Director. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 29 June 1999
Private Property Rights Implementation Act of 1999 - Amends the Federal judicial code to provide that whenever a district court exercises jurisdiction under civil rights provisions in an action in which the operative facts concern the uses of real property, it shall not abstain from exercising or relinquish its jurisdiction to a State court in an action in which no claim of a violation of a State law, right, or privilege is alleged, if a parallel proceeding in State court arising out of the same operative facts as the district court proceeding is not pending. Specifies that: (1) if the district court has jurisdiction over such an action in which the operative facts concern the uses of real property and which cannot be decided without resolution of an unsettled question of State law, it may certify the State law question to the highest appellate court of that State; and (2) after the State appellate court resolves the question certified to it, the district court shall proceed with resolving the merits. Prohibits the district court from certifying a question of State law unless such question will significantly affect the merits of the injured party's Federal claim and such question is patently unclear. Declares that any claim or action brought under provisions regarding civil actions for deprivation of rights to redress the deprivation of a property right or privilege secured by the Constitution shall be ripe for adjudication by the district courts upon a final decision rendered by any person acting under color of any statute, ordinance, regulation, custom, or usage of any State or territory of the United States that causes actual and concrete injury to the party seeking redress. Sets forth provisions regarding what constitutes a "final decision." Specifies that: (1) the party seeking redress shall not be required to apply for an appeal or waiver if no such appeal or waiver is available, if it cannot provide the relief requested, or if the application or re-application would be futile; and (2) a final decision shall not require the party seeking redress to exhaust judicial remedies provided by any State or territory of the United States. (Sec. 3) Declares that any claim brought under provisions regarding the United States as a defendant, or under provisions regarding jurisdiction of the Court of Federal Claims, that is founded upon a property right or privilege secured by the Constitution but allegedly infringed or taken by the United States, shall be ripe for adjudication upon a final decision rendered by the United States that causes actual and concrete injury to the party seeking redress. (Sec. 5) Requires a Federal agency, whenever it takes action limiting the use of private property that may be affected by the amendments made by this Act, to give notice to the owners of that property explaining their rights and the procedures for obtaining any compensation that may be due to them under such amendments.
United States · United States Congress · 29 June 1999
Protection of United States Troops From Foreign Prosecution Act of 1999 - Prohibits any Federal agency from: (1) taking any action that has the effect of implementing the provisions of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC Treaty) (adopted in Rome, Italy, on July 17, 1998, by the United Nations Conference of Plenipotentiaries on the Establishment of an International Criminal Court); (2) providing funding or other support for the International Criminal Court; or (3) transferring any person to the Court. Expresses the sense of Congress that the President should inform both allies and adversaries of the United States that ratification of the ICC Treaty will be considered an unfriendly act directed at the United States, and will adversely affect bilateral relations between the United States and that country. Amends the Foreign Relations Act of 1961 to prohibit U.S. economic assistance to any country that ratifies the ICC Treaty. Expresses the sense of Congress that the President should instruct the U.S. representative to the United Nations (UN) to veto any attempt by the UN Security Council to refer a matter to the Court for investigation.
United States · United States Congress · 25 June 1999
Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1999 - Repeals the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935. Prescribes procedural guidelines for both Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and State access to records of a holding company (including subsidiaries, associates and affiliates) of a public utility or natural gas company. Precludes such State access to any person that is a holding company solely by reason of ownership of one or more qualifying facilities under the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act. Instructs FERC to promulgate a final rule to exempt specified holding companies from such access requirements. Requires FERC to exempt any person or transaction from such access requirements if it finds that regulation of such person or transaction is irrelevant to the jurisdictional rates of a public utility or natural gas company. Retains the jurisdiction of FERC and State commissions to determine whether a public utility company or natural gas company may recover in rates any costs of affiliate transactions. Declares this Act inapplicable to: (1) the United States; (2) a State or its political subdivision; and (3) a foreign governmental authority not operating in the United States. Grants FERC certain Federal Power Act enforcement powers. Transfers from the Securities and Exchange Commission to FERC all books and records that relate primarily to the functions vested in FERC by this Act. Authorizes appropriations. Amends the Federal Power Act to repeal its conflict of jurisdiction guidelines.
United States · United States Congress · 24 June 1999
Hydroelectric Licensing Process Improvement Act of 1999 - Amends the Federal Power Act to prescribe statutory procedures for consideration by Federal agencies of: (1) conditions to a hydroelectric license on a Federal reservation, including a prescription relating to construction, maintenance or operation of a fishway; (2) their impact upon economic and power values, electric generation capacity and system reliability, air quality, environmental water and maritime concerns, and (3) means to ensure that conditions address only direct project environmental impacts at the lowest project cost. Prescribes implementation guidelines, including scientific and administrative review, and coordinated environmental review by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) as the designated lead agency. Directs FERC to submit a feasibility study to certain congressional committees congressional committees regarding the establishment of a special licensing procedure for small hydroelectric projects (projects with a generating capacity of five megawatts or less).
United States · United States Congress · 24 June 1999
Safety Net Preservation Act of 1999 - Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to establish a new prospective payment system for federally-qualified health centers and rural health clinics.
United States · United States Congress · 24 June 1999
National Forensic Sciences Improvement Act of 1999 - Amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (the Act) to: (1) include among permissible uses of drug control and system improvement (Byrne) grants improving the quality, timeliness, and credibility of forensic science services for criminal justice purposes; and (2) require State certification that it has established a forensic science laboratory or laboratory system or a medical examiner's office that meets specified requirements, with respect to any such grant for such purpose. Amends the Act to require a State to submit to the Attorney General: (1) a certification that the State has developed a consolidated State plan that meets specified requirements and a specific description of the manner in which the grant will be used to carry out that plan; (2) a certification that any forensic science laboratory system, medical examiner's office, or coroner's office in the State that will receive any portion of the grant amount uses generally accepted laboratory practices and procedures, established by accrediting organizations; and (3) a specific description of any new facility to be constructed as part of the program, estimated costs of that facility, and a certification that the grant will not be used to fund more than 40 percent of such facility's total costs. Prohibits the use of grant funds for any general law enforcement or non-forensic investigatory function. Limits facilities and administrative costs. Sets forth provisions regarding record-keeping (and access to records and documents) and reporting requirements. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 22 June 1999
History of the House Awareness and Preservation Act - Directs the Librarian of Congress to: (1) prepare a new and complete written history of the U.S. House of Representatives; (2) in preparing the history, consult, commission, or engage the services or participation of eminent historians and Members or former Members of the House; (3) arrange for the printing of the history and the dissemination of excerpts of the history over the Internet; (4) make the history available for sale to the public; and (5) make available, free of charge, a limited number of copies to each Member of the House of Representatives and to the Senate. Sets forth guidelines for the history. Authorizes the Librarian to solicit and accept private funding for the publication, marketing, and public distribution of the history. Directs the Librarian to accept for deposit, preserve, maintain, and make accessible, an oral history of the House as told by its Members and former Members, compiled and updated (on a voluntary or contract basis) by the U.S. Association of Former Members of Congress or other outside organization. Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) orientation programs for freshman Members of the House should contain a seminar on the history of the House; and (2) the Speaker of the House should conduct a series of forums on the topic of such history.
United States · United States Congress · 22 June 1999
Academic Achievement for All Act (Straight A's Act) - Allows States flexibility in combining and using use specified Federal elementary and secondary education formula program funds for State education priorities and programs, in exchange for being held accountable for meeting, in a five- year period, certain performance goals which they propose. (Sec. 3) Allows a State to opt to enter into such a performance agreement with the Secretary of Education, under which provisions of law relating to specified eligible programs shall not apply to the State, with certain exceptions. Includes under the terms of such agreements requirements relating to: (1) use of such funds to improve student achievement; (2) an accountability system; (3) performance goals and measures, and student achievement data; (4) fiscal responsibilities; (5) civil rights; (6) private school student and staff participation; (7) State financial participation; and (8) annual reports. (Sec. 4) Lists such eligible programs, under various provisions of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA), the Department of Education Appropriations Act of 1999, the Goals 2000: Educate America Act, the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Technical Education Act of 1998, and the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act. (Sec. 5) Sets forth requirements relating to: (1) within-State distribution of funds; (2) local participation; and (3) a set-aside for State administrative expenditures. (Sec. 8) Requires performance reviews at the end of the five-year period. Requires reductions of State administrative funds for States that have made little or no progress. Allows States that have met at least 80 percent of their performance goals to apply for renewal of performance agreements for an additional five-year period. (Sec. 10) Directs the Secretary annually to set aside sufficient funds from the Fund for the Improvement of Education under ESEA to grant achievement gap reduction rewards to States. Requires a performance reward to equal at least five percent of funds allocated to the State during the first year of the performance agreement for programs included in the agreement. Makes a State eligible to receive a reward if, over the five-year term of the performance agreement, it reduces by at least 25 percent the difference between the percentage of highest and lowest performing groups of students that meet the State's definition of proficient, with such reduction occurring in at least: (1) two content areas, one of which must be mathematics or reading; and (2) one grade level.
United States · United States Congress · 22 June 1999
Congressional Responsibility Act of 1999 - Prohibits a regulation from taking effect before the enactment of a bill comprised solely of the text of the regulation. Requires an agency, whenever it promulgates a regulation, to submit to each House of Congress a report containing its text and an explanation. Sets forth expedited congressional procedures for consideration of agency regulations.
United States · United States Congress · 17 June 1999
Ensuring Physician Choice Act of 1999 - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to require group health plans, if they provide for coverage of services only if such services are furnished exclusively through health care professionals who are members of a closed panel of health care professionals, to make available an option which provides for coverage of services regardless of whether or not the professionals are members of such a panel. Exempts from such requirement: (1) plans that maintain an alternative group health plan which offers such a coverage option; and (2) plans (other than ones under which all benefits consist of health insurance coverage) of small employers who employ an average of two to 25 employees on business days.
United States · United States Congress · 17 June 1999
Pain Relief Promotion Act of 1999 - Title I: Use of Controlled Substances Consistent With the Controlled Substances Act - Amends the Controlled Substances Act to provide that for purposes of such Act, alleviating pain or discomfort in the usual course of professional practice is a legitimate medical purpose for the dispensing, distributing, or administering of a controlled substance consistent with public health and safety even if the use of such a substance may increase the risk of death. Declares that nothing in this Act authorizes intentionally dispensing or administering a controlled substance for purposes of causing death or assisting another person in causing death. Prohibits the Attorney General, in determining whether a controlled substance manufacturer, distributor, or dispenser registration is consistent with the public interest under the Act, from giving force and effect to State law permitting assisted suicide or euthanasia. Authorizes certain educational and research programs carried out by the Attorney General under the Act to include educational and training programs for local, State, and Federal personnel on the necessary and legitimate use of controlled substances in pain management and palliative care and means by which investigation and enforcement actions by law enforcement personnel may accommodate such use. Title II: Promoting Palliative Care - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Administrator of the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research to carry out a program to: (1) develop and advance scientific understanding of palliative care; and (2) collect and disseminate protocols and evidence-based practices regarding such care, with priority given to pain management for terminally ill patients, and make such information publicly available. Defines "palliative care" as the active total care of patients whose prognosis is limited due to progressive, far-advanced disease. Authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services, to award grants, cooperative agreements, and contracts to health professions schools, hospices, and other entities for programs to provide education and training to health care professionals in palliative care. Sets forth requirements for grant applicants. Provides for the evaluation of such programs to determine their effect on knowledge and practice regarding palliative care. Makes funds available for such grants and contracts.
United States · United States Congress · 16 June 1999
Crop Insurance Equalization Act of 1999 - Title I: Crop Insurance Coverage - Amends the Federal Crop Insurance Act to provide that the Commodity Credit Corporation, with respect to prevented planting crop insurance, shall: (1) offer such coverage as an option to a crop insurance policy; (2) provide equal coverage levels for all covered commodities; and (3) permit (noninsurable) substitute plantings. (Sec. 102) Directs the Corporation to develop alternative rates and methodologies for rating insurance plans, which shall take into account nonparticipating producers and producers participating only in catastrophic risk protection. Grants priority to commodities with the largest acreage and the lowest percentage of participating producers. (Sec. 103) Directs the Corporation to: (1) offer optional quality adjustment policies; and (2) establish a low-risk producer pilot program. (Sec. 105) Increases catastrophic risk coverage. Revises related loss adjustment fee provisions. (Sec. 107) Establishes a projected-cost price level (expected market price) for production insurance plans. (Sec. 108) Directs the Corporation to provide premium discounts for qualifying risk-reducing production practices. (Sec. 109) Provides 50 percent premium subsidies for additional coverage and catastrophic risk protection (with 100 percent and 75 percent coverage for crop years 2000 and 2001, respectively). (Sec. 112) Directs the Corporation, for production history calculation purposes, to assign a producer a commodity yield equal to 85 percent of the county's transition yield for a year in which disasters have reduced yield to below such level. (Sec. 113) Prohibits the Corporation from subsidizing a plan that offers coverage for losses based on change of price. (Sec. 114) Limits underwriting gains to 50 percent of the policy. (Sec. 115) Amends the Agricultural Market Transition Act to include certain isolated producers in the noninsured crop assistance program. Revises provisions regarding: (1) area and individual loss thresholds; (2) market price-based payments; and (3) income eligibility. Title II: Administration - Amends the Federal Crop Insurance Act to revise the membership of the Corporation's Board of Directors. (Sec. 202) Amends the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 to place the Office of Risk Management under the Board. (Sec. 203) Amends the Federal Crop Insurance Act to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to establish an Office of Private Sector Partnership to provide specified Board-private sector liaison functions. (Sec. 204) Increases monetary penalties for intentionally providing false insurance information. Authorizes disbarment from Department of Agriculture programs for such violations. (Sec. 206) Directs the Corporation to establish a crop insurance compliance monitoring program. (Sec. 207) Authorizes a cooperative association acting as an insurance agent to provide its members with funds received from the Corporation. (Sec. 208) Prohibits purchasing insurance for more than one crop per year on the same acreage unless the producer or the acreage has a previous history of double-cropping. (Sec. 209) Provides for State consultation. (Sec. 211) Authorizes specified insurance plan fees. (Sec. 212) Directs the Corporation to carry out a flexible subsidy pilot program to encourage private sector innovation through exclusive marketing rights and premium rate competition.
United States · United States Congress · 16 June 1999
Prohibits any U.S. assistance for reconstruction efforts in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, or any contiguous country, on account of the armed conflict or atrocities that have occurred there since March 24, 1999, from consisting of, or from being used for the procurement of, any article produced outside the United States or any service provided by a foreign person. Waives such prohibition if it would require procurement of any article or service that is prohibitively expensive or unavailable.
United States · United States Congress · 16 June 1999
Medical Malpractice Rx Act - Establishes an alternative dispute resolution (ADR) procedure for all health care liability actions, except: (1) an action for damages arising from a vaccine-related injury or death to the extent that title XXI of the Public Health Service Act applies; or (2) an action under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). Specifies the extent to which this Act preempts State and other Federal law, as well as the limits of its effect on State, Federal, and foreign government sovereign immunity. (Sec. 3) Establishes a statute of limitations for health care liability actions of two years from the date on which the alleged injury was discovered or should reasonably have been discovered, but in no case more than five years after the date the alleged injury occurred. (Sec. 4) Makes a defendant in any health care liability action liable (severally but not jointly) only for the amount of noneconomic damages attributable to such defendant in direct proportion to the defendant's share of fault or responsibility for the claimant's actual damages, as determined by the trier of fact. Limits total noneconomic damages for an injury to $250,000, regardless of the number of parties against whom the action is brought, or the number of actions. Requires for the award of punitive damages that the claimant establish by clear and convincing evidence that the harm suffered was the result of conduct: (1) specifically intended to cause harm; or (2) manifesting a conscious, flagrant indifference to the rights or safety of others. Prohibits the award of punitive damages against a manufacturer or product seller of a drug or medical device which caused the claimant's harm where: (1) the drug or device was subject to premarket approval by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) with respect to the safety of the formulation or performance of the aspect of such drug or device which caused the claimant's harm, or the adequacy of the packaging or labeling of such drug or device which caused the harm, and such drug, device, packaging, or labeling was approved by the Food and Drug Administration; or (2) the drug is generally recognized as safe and effective pursuant to conditions established by the FDA and applicable regulations, including packaging and labeling regulations. Allows punitive damages in any case in which, before or after premarket approval: (1) the defendant intentionally and wrongfully withheld from or misrepresented to the FDA any information about the drug or device which was material and relevant to the harm suffered, and whose submission was required by the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act or the Public Health Service Act; or (2) the defendant made an illegal payment to an FDA official or employee for the purpose of securing or maintaining such approval. Prohibits punitive damages against a drug manufacturer or product seller in a health care liability action for harm alleged to relate to the adequacy of the packaging or labeling of a drug required by regulation to have tamper-resistant packaging, unless the court finds by clear and convincing evidence that such packaging or labeling is substantially out of compliance with such regulations. Permits periodic payments of any damages awarded for future economic and noneconomic loss exceeding $50,000. Permits defendants to introduce evidence of collateral source payments. Declares that no provider of collateral source payments shall recover, in a judgment or in a settlement, any amount against the claimant or receive any lien or credit against the claimant's recovery or be equitably or legally subrogated to the right of the claimant in a health care liability action. (Sec. 5) Entitles the prevailing party in an action to attorney's fees from the non-prevailing party, if: (1) the claimant seeks noneconomic damages in excess of $250,000 (or the cap on noneconomic damages, adjusted for inflation) or three times the economic damages, whichever is less; and (2) the request for such damages in such amount is made before the determination of liability of one party or another by verdict or order of judgment. Prohibits the sum of the attorney's fees to which the prevailing party is entitled from exceeding the attorney's fees of the non-prevailing party. Authorizes a court to limit such fees if their amount is deemed unjust. Specifies limits to contingent fees. (Sec. 6) Declares that any ADR used to resolve a health care liability action or claim shall contain provisions for statute of limitations, noneconomic damages, joint and several liability, punitive damages, collateral source rule, periodic payments, and award of attorney's fees which are identical to the provisions of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 15 June 1999
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide in the case of any person who is certified to be a member of the plaintiff class in the settlement of the consolidated actions entitled "Pigford, et al. v. Glickman," No. 97-1978 (D.D.C.) (PLF), and "Brewington, et al. v. Glickman" No. 98-1693 (D.D.C.) (PLF) (concerning relief from Federal tax liability arising from the settlement of claims brought by African American farmers against the Department of Agriculture for discrimination in farm credit and benefit programs) amounts received from the settlement of claims shall: (1) be excluded from taxation; and (2) not considered as income or resources when determining eligibility for any federally funded program.
United States · United States Congress · 14 June 1999
Authorizes the Secretary of the Army to transfer a parcel of real property at Fort Gordon, Georgia, to the administrative jurisdiction of the Secretary of Veterans Affairs for the purpose of establishing a national cemetery.
United States · United States Congress · 10 June 1999
Abolishment of Obsolete Agencies and Federal Sunset Act of 1999 - Establishes the Federal Agency Sunset Commission to: (1) submit to Congress a schedule for review by the Commission, at least once every 12 years, of the abolishment or reorganization of each agency; (2) review and evaluate the efficiency and public need for each agency; and (3) recommend whether each agency should be abolished or reorganized. Requires the abolishment of any agency within one year of the Commission's review, unless the agency is reauthorized by Congress. Authorizes the deadline to be extended for an additional two years if enacted by a super majority of the House of Representatives and the Senate. Sets forth criteria for such review. Directs the Comptroller General and the Director of the Congressional Budget Office, in cooperation with the Director of the Congressional Research Service, to prepare an inventory of Federal programs within each agency for the purpose of advising and assisting Congress and the Commission in carrying out the requirements of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 10 June 1999
National Uniformity for Food Act of 1999 - Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA) to prohibit any State or political subdivision from establishing or continuing in effect as to any food in interstate commerce any requirement for food labeling or food that is not identical to specified FDCA provisions. Prohibits any State or political subdivision from establishing or continuing in effect any notification requirement for a food that provides for a warning concerning the food's safety that is not identical to FDCA provisions. Allows a State to petition for an exemption and for a national standard regarding any requirement under the FDCA, as amended by this Act, or the Fair Packaging and Labeling Act relating to food regulation. Allows a State to establish a requirement that would otherwise violate FDCA provisions relating to national uniform nutrition labeling or this paragraph if the requirement is needed to address an imminent hazard to health that is likely to result in serious adverse health consequences and if other requirements are met.
United States · United States Congress · 10 June 1999
Timber Tax Simplification Act of 1999 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide for the application of capital gain treatment to outright sales of timber whether or not the owner retains economic interest.
United States · United States Congress · 9 June 1999
Open Competition and Fairness Act of 1999 - Amends the National Labor Relations Act to prohibit discrimination against any bidder on a prime contract for a federally funded project on the basis of a requirement that such person enter into or adhere to a collective bargaining agreement or any similar agreement as a condition of performing work on such contract.
United States · United States Congress · 27 May 1999
Fair Access to Indemnity and Reimbursement Act - Amends the National Labor Relations Act and the Occupational Safety and Health Act to allow the recovery of attorney's fees and costs by certain employers and labor organizations which are prevailing parties in administrative or court proceedings brought by or against the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), or by or against the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) through the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission. Requires that such employers or labor organizations have not more than 100 employees and a net worth of not more than $7 million at the time of such proceedings. Provides for such recovery without regard to whether the position of the NLRB, the Secretary of Labor (for OSHA), or the United States was substantially justified or special circumstances make an award unjust.
United States · United States Congress · 27 May 1999
Teacher Empowerment Act - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) to revise and rename title II as Teacher Quality (replacing the current title II Dwight D. Eisenhower Professional Development Program). (Sec. 2) Sets forth a new title II part A Teacher Empowerment program of grants to improve the quality of teaching and learning. Directs the Secretary of Education to make such formula grants to States. Requires States to distribute such grant funds as follows: (1) 95 percent for subgrants to local educational agencies (LEAs) according to specified formulas; (2) two-and-one-half percent for competitive subgrants to eligible partnerships; and (3) two-and-one- half percent for authorized State activities. Sets forth requirements for coordination, public accountability, and applications. Requires eligible partnerships to use such subgrants for: (1) professional development activities in core academic subjects to ensure that teachers have content knowledge in the subjects they teach; and (2) assistance to LEAs and their teachers, principals, and administrators for professional development activities. Requires LEAs to use portions of such subgrants for: (1) professional development activities in mathematics and science, in an amount at least equal to that under the current Eisenhower Program (unless given a State waiver); (2) professional development activities that give teachers, principals, and administrators the knowledge and skills to provide students with the opportunity to meet challenging State or local content standards and student performance standards; and (3) recruitment, hiring, and training of certified teachers, including teachers certified through State and local alternative routes, in order to reduce class size (unless given a State waiver), or for hiring of special education teachers regardless of whether such action reduces class size. Authorizes LEAs to use such subgrants for highly qualified teacher recruitment programs, including: (1) signing bonuses or other financial incentives for teaching in academic subject areas where there is a shortage; (2) recruiting and providing alternative routes to teacher certification for professionals from other fields; (3) providing increased opportunities for minorities, individuals with disabilities, and other individuals underrepresented in teaching; and (4) hiring policies that identify teachers certified through alternative routes and intensively screen for the most qualified applicants. Authorizes LEAs to use such subgrants also for: (1) highly qualified teacher retention programs (including master teacher mentoring of newly hired teachers, or other incentives for highly qualified teachers to remain in the classroom); (2) teacher quality improvement and professional development programs (including technology training through partnerships with institutions of higher education, delivery of professional development activities through technology and distance learning, tenure reform, merit pay, testing of teachers in the subject areas they teach, instruction in how to teach children with different learning styles, particularly those with disabilities or special learning need, and instruction in classroom discipline and identifying early and appropriate interventions); and (3) teacher opportunity payments. Requires LEAs receiving subgrants to provide parents information regarding the professional qualifications of students' classroom teachers. Prohibits the provision of professional development funds from LEA subgrants for a teacher and an activity if the activity is not: (1) directly related to the curriculum and content areas in which the teacher provides instruction; or (2) designed to enhance the teaching of such areas. Permits the use of such funds for instruction in methods of disciplining children. Authorizes LEAs to use subgrants for teacher opportunity payments to certain teachers or groups of teachers for professional development activities of their own choosing. Requires certain LEAs, if they fail to meet State teaching standards, to make such teacher opportunity payments. Requires providing notice to teachers regarding the availability of such funds. Sets forth a process for selecting teachers in the event of inadequate funds. Sets forth certain national activities under part A of title II of ESEA. Authorizes the Secretary to award competitive grants to eligible consortia for Teacher Excellence Academies, in elementary or secondary school facilities, to carry out specified activities promoting alternative routes to State teacher certification, specified model professional development activities, or all such activities. Authorizes continuation of the Troops-to-Teachers Program under specified conditions. Authorizes the Secretary to make a grant to the National Writing Project. Authorizes the Secretary to make a grant or contract to continue the Eisenhower National Clearinghouse for Mathematics and Science Education. Authorizes appropriations through FY 2004 for part A (Teacher Empowerment) of title II (Teacher Quality) of ESEA. (Sec. 3) Extends through FY 2004 the authorization of appropriations for the Reading Excellence Act (REA) program. Redesignates REA as part B of title II of ESEA. (Sec. 4) Prohibits the Secretary from: (1) using Federal funds to plan, develop, implement, or administer any national teacher test or certification; or (2) withholding funds from any State or LEA that fails to adopt a specific method of teacher certification. Provides that: (1) nothing in ESEA title II shall be construed to permit, allow, encourage, or authorize any Federal control over any aspect of any private, religious, or home school, whether or not a home school is treated as a private school or home school under State law; and (2) private, religious, or home schools are not barred, by the previous provision, from participation in programs or services under ESEA title II.
United States · United States Congress · 27 May 1999
National Retail Sales Tax Act of 1999 - Repeals the income, estate, gift, and certain excise tax provisions of the Internal Revenue Code. (Sec. 4) Amends the Internal Revenue Code to impose a 15 percent tax on the use, consumption or enjoyment in the U.S. of any property or service produced or rendered within or without of the United States. Prohibits, subject to exception, imposing a tax on any property or service purchased for: (1) a business purpose in an active trade or business; or (2) export from the Unites States for use or consumption outside of the Unites States, provided that the purchaser provided the seller with either an intermediate sales certificate or an export sales certificate. Defines "purchased for a business purpose in an active trade or business" as property or services: (1) purchased for resale; (2) purchased to produce property or services; or (3) purchased in furtherance of other bona fide business purposes. Sets forth rules relating to the obligation of governmental units and not-for-profit organizations to collect, remit, and pay taxes. Sets forth provisions concerning credits and refunds. Allows for general credits against the tax, including: (1) a used property credit; (2) a business use conversion credit; (3) an administration credit; (4) a compliance equipment cost credit; (5) a bad debt credit; (6) an insurance proceeds credit; and (7) a transition inventory credit. Provides for installment payments of the tax on the purchase of a principal residence. Allows an eligible family unit to receive a sales tax rebate. Requires that a family member, to be counted for the purposes of determining family unit size, must: (1) if over two years old, have a bona fide Social Security number; and (2) be a lawful U.S. resident. Declares that no individual shall be considered part of more than one family unit. Sets forth definitions and special rules concerning such things as: (1) foreign financial intermediation services; (2) financing leases; and (3) installment sales. Imposes a 15 percent tax on gaming services. Directs an administering State to administer, collect, and remit to the U.S. Treasury the tax on gross payments for the use, consumption or enjoyment of taxable property or services within the State. Defines an administering State as one which maintains a specified conforming sales tax and enters into a specified cooperative agreement with the Secretary. Provides for administrative support for States. Sets forth provisions concerning, among other things: (1) monthly reports and payments; (2) records; (3) penalties; (4) appeals; (5) accounting; and (6) hobby activities. Authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to establish an Office of Revenue Allocation to arbitrate any claims or disputes among States. (Sec. 5) Prohibits the authorizing of any appropriations for the Internal Revenue Service after FY 2003. Establishes in the Treasury: (1) an Excise Tax Bureau to administer any excise taxes not repealed by this Act; and (2) a Sales Tax Bureau to administer the national sales tax. (Sec. 6) Authorizes the Social Security Administration to collect and administer self-employment income and employment taxes beginning in 2001. (Sec. 7) Sets forth provisions concerning: (1) the self- employment tax; (2) the indexing of social security benefits; (3) compensating payments to individuals on fixed incomes; and (4) the interest rate on tax underpayments and overpayments. (Sec. 11) Requires a supermajority in the House of Representatives or the Senate to raise rates.
United States · United States Congress · 27 May 1999
Civil Rights Tax Fairness Act of 1999 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from gross income amounts received by a claimant on account of claims based on unlawful discrimination (as defined). Permits income averaging for backpay and frontpay awards received on account of such claims.
United States · United States Congress · 27 May 1999
Military Survivor Benefits Improvement Act of 1999 - Amends Federal provisions concerning the military Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) to adjust the basic SBP annuity amount for surviving spouses age 62 or over of former military personnel to: (1) 35 percent of the retired pay of the decedent, for months beginning on or before the enactment of this Act (current law); (2) 40 percent of such pay, for months beginning after the date of enactment of this Act until October 2004; and (3) 45 percent of such pay, for months beginning on or after October 2004. Adjusts similarly the percentage amounts of SBP supplemental annuity authorized to be provided for such surviving spouses. Directs the Secretary of Defense to ensure appropriate adjustments in the computation of retired pay reductions for such supplemental annuities made necessary by this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 26 May 1999
NAFTA Impact Relief Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to, among other things: (1) provide for the designation of NAFTA-impacted communities; (2) establish an employment credit for such communities; and (3) provide for job training grants to such communities.
United States · United States Congress · 26 May 1999
Calls for the Citizens Stamp Advisory Committee to recommend and the Postal Service to issue a commemorative postage stamp honoring the U.S. Submarine Force on its 100th anniversary.
United States · United States Congress · 25 May 1999
Citizen Legislature and Political Freedom Act - Amends the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (FECA) to terminate limitations on Federal election campaign contributions after 2000. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to terminate after December 31, 1999, the designation of income tax payments to the Presidential Election Campaign Fund. Terminates the Fund itself and the Presidential Primary Matching Payment Account after December 31, 2000, and transfers any amounts remaining in the Fund to the general fund of the Treasury. Amends FECA, in the case of a political committee of a national political party, to require reports of all funds transferred to any political committee of a State or local political party, without regard to whether or not the funds are otherwise treated as contributions or expenditures under such Act (soft money). Requires any political committee of a State or local political party to file with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) a copy of any report on disbursements it is required under a State or local law, rule, or regulation to submit to the State or local government. Directs the FEC to make electronic filing of reports mandatory. Revises current deadlines for notification of contributions by a campaign committee. Applies such deadlines to each campaign committee of a candidate, not (as currently) just the principal campaign committee. Requires each political committee to notify, in writing, the appropriate office of any contribution (currently, of $1,000 or more) received by the committee during the period which begins on the 90th day before an election (currently, after the 20th day after, but more than 48 hours before, an election) and ends at the time the polls close for such election. Requires such notification to be made within 24 hours (or, if earlier, by midnight of the day on which the contribution is deposited) (currently, within 48 hours) after receipt of the contribution. Requires the FEC to make report information available on the Internet and at FEC offices as soon as practicable after its receipt. Declares that the "best efforts" exception to noncompliance with FECA shall not apply with respect to information regarding the identification of any contributor of more than $200 in the aggregate during a calendar year (thus requiring strict observance of reporting deadlines for all such contributions).
United States · United States Congress · 25 May 1999
School Safety Hotline Act of 1999 - Amends the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 and the Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act of 1994 to allow certain grants to be used to establish and maintain school violence hotlines.
United States · United States Congress · 25 May 1999
Parents Know Best Act - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) to require parental notification and consent prior to enrollment of a child in a bilingual education program or a special alternative instructional program for limited English proficient students, if such program is assisted under ESEA.
United States · United States Congress · 25 May 1999
Calls for the Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee to recommend and the Postal Service to issue a commemorative postage stamp in honor of the S.S. LANE VICTORY.
United States · United States Congress · 24 May 1999
American Inventors Protection Act of 1999 - Title I: Inventors' Rights - Inventors' Rights Act - Amends Federal patent law to oblige any invention promoter, when entering into a contract for invention promotion services, to disclose to a customer in writing: (1) whether the promoter's usual business practice is to seek more than one contract in connection with an invention, or seek to perform promotion services in one or more phases, with the performance of each phase covered in one or more subsequent contracts; and (2) a summary of the promoter's usual business practices, including the usual business terms of contracts, and the approximate amount of the usual fees or other consideration for each of the services provided. (Sec. 102) Prescribes a standard cover notice for every invention promotion services contract, including: (1) the procedure for contract cancellation; (2) the total number of inventions evaluated by the promoter for commercial potential in the past five years, including the number of positive and of negative evaluations; (3) the total number of customers who have contracted with the promoter in the past five years; (4) the total number of customers known by the promoter to have received a net financial profit as a direct result of the invention promotion services provided; (5) the total number of customers known by the invention promoter to have received license agreements for their inventions as a direct result of such services; and (6) the names and addresses of all previous invention promotion companies with which the promoter or its officers have collectively or individually been affiliated in the previous ten years. Sets forth mandatory contract terms and remedies for certain prohibited contract practices. Establishes a Federal cause of action for inventors injured by material false or fraudulent statements or representations, or any omission of material fact, by an invention promoter, or by the promoter's failure to make the required written disclosures. Sets minimum damages at $5,000, leaving the court discretion to treble actual damages, taking into account past complaints against the same invention promoter. Makes it a misdemeanor for an invention promoter to make fraudulent representations to a customer. Title II: First Inventor Defense - First Inventor Defense Act - Amends Federal patent law to declare that it shall be a defense to an infringement action with respect to any subject matter that would otherwise infringe one or more claims asserting a process or method in the patent being asserted against a person, if such person had, acting in good faith, actually reduced the subject matter to practice at least one year before the effective filing date of such patent, and commercially used the subject matter before the effective filing date of such patent. (Sec. 202) Deems a commercial use, in the case of activities performed by a nonprofit research laboratory, or nonprofit entity such as a university, research center, or hospital, any use for which the public is the intended beneficiary, except that such use: (1) may be asserted as a defense only for continued use by and in the laboratory or nonprofit entity; and (2) may not be asserted as a defense with respect to any subsequent commercialization or use outside such laboratory or nonprofit entity. States that the sale or other disposition of a useful end product produced by a patented method, by a person entitled to assert such a defense with respect to that useful end result, shall exhaust the patent owner's rights under the patent to the extent such rights would have been exhausted had such sale or other disposition been made by the patent owner. Limits the defense to inventions for processes or methods. Prohibits the defense if the subject matter on which the defense is based was derived from the patentee or persons in privity with the patentee. Declares that this defense is not a general license under all claims of the patent at issue, but extends only to the specific subject matter claimed in the patent with respect to which the person can assert a defense. Extends the defense, however, to variations in the quantity or volume of use of the claimed subject matter, and to improvements that do not infringe additional specifically claimed subject matter of the patent. Requires a person asserting the defense to establish it by clear and convincing evidence. Prohibits any person who has abandoned commercial use of subject matter from relying on activities performed before the date of abandonment in establishing a defense with respect to actions taken after such date. Limits assertion of the defense to the person who performed the acts necessary to establish it. Prohibits licensing, assignment, or transfer to any person but the patent owner of the right to assert the defense, except as an ancillary and subordinate part of a good faith assignment or transfer for other reasons of the entire enterprise or line of business to which the defense relates. Restricts the site of use of a subject matter for which the defense may be asserted if the defense has been acquired as part of such a good faith assignment or transfer. Title III: Patent Term Guarantee - Patent Term Guarantee Act of 1999 - Amends Federal patent law to extend the term of a patent one day for each day lost as a result of delay created by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) when the agency fails to: (1) make notifications within 14 months after filing of a non-provisional application about the rejection of any patent claim, or objections to or requirements for it, or of allowance of the application; (2) respond within four months to a reply to a rejection, objection, or requirement, or to an appeal of a twice-rejected claim; (3) act on an application within four months after the date of a decision by the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences, or a decision by a Federal court in a case in which allowable claims remain in the application; or (4) issue a patent within four months after the date on which the issue fee was paid and all outstanding requirements were satisfied. (Sec. 302) Requires a day-for-day extension of a patent term if: (1) a patent is not issued within three years after the filing of the application; or (2) issue is delayed by interferences, secrecy orders, or appeals. Specifies limitations to such an extension, as well as grounds for its reduction. Requires the USPTO Director to prescribe regulations establishing procedures for the application for and determination of patent term extensions and adjustments. (Sec. 303) Authorizes the Commissioner of Patents to: (1) prescribe regulations for the continued examination, at the applicant's request, of a patent application notwithstanding a final rejection; and (2) establish appropriate fees for continued examination proceedings, with a mandatory 50% fee reduction for qualifying small entities. Title IV: United States Publication of Patent Applications Published Abroad - Publication of Foreign Filed Applications Act - Requires the USPTO Director to publish each patent application 18 months after the earliest filing date for which a benefit is sought, unless the applicant requests earlier publication. Makes final and unreviewable the Director's determination to release or not to release information concerning a published patent application. Prohibits publication of any application: (1) no longer pending; (2) subject to a secrecy order; (3) which is provisional; (4) for a design patent; or (5) for an invention the applicant certifies has not and will not be the subject of an application filed in another country, or under a multilateral international agreement, that requires publication of applications 18 months after filing. Requires any applicant, in the latter instance, who subsequently files, in a foreign country or under a multilateral international agreement, an application directed to the invention disclosed in the application filed in the PTO, to notify the Director. (Sec. 402) Allows an applicant to submit a redacted copy of the PTO-filed application, eliminating any part or description of the invention that is not also contained in any of the corresponding applications the applicant has filed in one or more foreign countries whose applications require a less extensive description of the invention than the application or description of the invention in the application filed in the PTO. Requires the USPTO Director to publish only the redacted copy of the application, unless it is not received within 16 months after the earliest effective filing date. Requires the USPTO Director to establish appropriate procedures to ensure that no protest or other form of pre-issuance opposition to the grant of a patent on an application may be initiated after publication of the application without the express written consent of the applicant. Directs the Comptroller General to study and report to specified congressional committees on applicants who file only in the United States on or after the effective date of this subtitle. (Sec. 403) Amends Federal patent law with respect to the option of an applicant seeking patent protection in the United States to claim the filing date of an application for the same invention filed in another Convention country, provided the subsequent application is filed in the United States within 12 months of the earlier filing in the foreign country. Revises requirements for claiming such priority. Authorizes the Director to: (1) consider an applicant's failure to file a timely claim for priority to be a waiver of any such priority claim; and (2) establish procedures (including the payment of a surcharge) to accept an unintentionally delayed priority claim. (Sec. 404) Amends Federal patent law to state that a patent shall contain a (provisional) right to obtain a reasonable royalty for applicants whose applications are published under this title, or international applications designating the United States filed under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT). Entitles the applicant to obtain a reasonable royalty from any person who between publication of the application and issuance of the patent: (1) makes, uses, offers for sale, or sells the invention in, or imports it into, the United States; or (2) if the invention claimed is a process, makes, uses, offers for sale, sells, or imports a product made by that process in the United States; and (3) had actual notice of the published application, including a translation into English if it was filed in a non-English language under the PCT designating the United States. Denies availability of such right unless the invention as claimed in the patent is substantially identical to the invention as claimed in the published application. Sets a six-year statute of limitations from the date of patent issuance in which an action for reasonable royalties must be brought. Authorizes an applicant to request issuance of a patent incorporating one or more claims the USPTO Director has indicated allowable. Permits incorporation into the patent, or issuance of a separate patent, of any subsequently allowed claims. (Sec. 405) Grants a published application prior art effect as of its earliest effective U.S. filing date against any subsequently filed U.S. applications. States that any foreign filing date to which the published application is entitled will not be the effective filing date of the U.S. published application for prior art purposes, unless it is an international application designating the United States published in English under the PCT. (Sec. 406) Requires the USPTO Director to recover the cost of early publication required by this title by charging a separate publication fee after a notice of allowance is given. Title V: Patent Litigation Reduction Act - Patent Litigation Reduction Act - Revises requirements with respect to prior art citations. Repeals the authority to exclude, on request, the prior art citator's identity from the patent file, and keep it confidential. (Sec. 503) Revises the procedure for the conduct of reexamination proceedings, adding specified procedures for a third-party requester. Transfers authority to conduct such proceedings and issue orders from the Commissioner of Patents to the USPTO Director. Requires reexamination proceedings and appeals to the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences to be conducted with special dispatch within the USPTO. Authorizes a third-party requester to: (1) appeal any final decision favorable to the patentability of any original or proposed amended or new claim of the patent; or (2) be a party to any appeal taken by the patent owner. Declares that any third-party requester whose request for a reexamination results in a reexamination order is estopped from asserting at a later time, in any civil action, the invalidity of any claim finally determined to be valid and patentable on any ground which the third-party requester raised or could have raised during the reexamination proceedings, except newly discovered prior art unavailable at the time of such proceedings. Sets forth prohibitions with respect to subsequent requests for reexamination of a patent and final decisions in civil actions. Authorizes a patent owner to obtain a stay of any pending litigation involving an issue of patentability once an order for reexamination has been issued, unless the court determines a stay would not serve the interests of justice. Requires the USPTO Director to report to Congress on whether the reexamination proceedings established under this title are inequitable to any of the parties in interest, as well as any related legislative recommendations. Title VI: Patent and Trademark Office - Patent and Trademark Office Efficiency Act - Subtitle A: United States Patent and Trademark Office - Amends Federal patent law to reorganize the Patent and Trademark Office in the Department of Commerce into a U.S. agency within the Department, called the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), subject to the general policy direction of the Secretary of Commerce but exercising independent control of its budget, personnel, procurements, and other administrative and management functions. (Sec. 613) Vests the enumerated powers and duties of the USPTO in an Under Secretary of Commerce and Director of the USPTO (currently, the Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks). Requires the Director to appoint a Commissioner of Patents and a Commissioner of Trademarks. (Sec. 614) Prescribes personnel requirements, including mandatory written agreements with labor organizations. Requires the USPTO Director to establish a performance management system according to specified guidelines. Authorizes the Director to establish one or more broad-banded systems covering all or any portion of the USPTO workforce. (Sec. 615) Establishes a Patent Public Advisory Committee and a Trademark Public Advisory Committee. (Sec. 618) Revises the composition of the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board and the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences to reflect the changes of this Act. Repeals the current authority (of the Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks) to designate any patent examiner of the primary examiner grade or higher to serve as examiner-in-chief for a six-month period, and act as a member of the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences. Subtitle B: Effective Date; Technical Amendments - Sets forth the effective date of this title, as well as specified technical amendments to Federal patent law. Subtitle C: Miscellaneous Provisions - Sets forth specified administrative requirements with respect to the USPTO and transfers of functions under this title. Title VII: Miscellaneous Patent Provisions - Amends Federal patent law to permit the conversion, upon applicant request, of a provisional application into a non-provisional application. Repeals the requirement that a provisional application be pending on the filing date of a non-provisional application in order for the provisional application to be relied upon in any proceeding in the USPTO. (Sec. 702) Permits persons who filed an application for patent first in a World Trade Organization (WTO) member country to claim the right of priority in a subsequent patent application filed in the United States, even if such country does not yet afford similar privileges on the basis of applications filed in the United States. Provides for the right of priority in the United States on the basis of an application for a plant breeder's right first filed in a WTO member country or in a foreign member of the International Convention for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV Contracting Party). (Sec. 703) Makes certain limitations on remedies for patent infringement applicable only to applications filed on or after September 30, 1996. (Sec. 704) Declares that papers filed in the USPTO may be required to be on an electronic medium. (Sec. 705) Directs the Comptroller General to study and report to Congress on the potential risks to the U.S. biotechnological industry relating to biological deposits in support of biotechnology patents. Requires the USPTO to consider the Comptroller General's recommendations when drafting regulations affecting biological deposits. (Sec. 706) Specifies that an inventor involved in a USPTO interference proceeding who establishes a date of invention is subject to certain requirements, including the one that the invention was not abandoned, suppressed, or concealed. (Sec. 707) Revises the condition of patentability that subject matter developed by another person which qualifies as prior art only in certain circumstances shall not preclude the granting of a patent on an invention with only obvious differences where the subject matter and claimed invention were, at the time the invention was made, owned by the same person or subject to an obligation of assignment to the same person. Adds to such qualifying prior art circumstances that the invention was described in another patent granted on an application filed before the applicant's date of invention. (Thus allows an applicant to receive a patent when an invention with only obvious differences from the applicant's invention was described in a patent granted on an application filed before the applicant's invention, provided the inventions are commonly owned or subject to an obligation of assignment to the same person.)
United States · United States Congress · 20 May 1999
Iran Nonproliferation Act of 1999 - Directs the President to report periodically to specified congressional committees on foreign persons who, on or after January 22, 1998, have transferred to Iran: (1) controlled goods, services, or technology; or (2) non-controlled goods, services, or technology that would nevertheless would be, if they were U.S. goods, services, or technology, prohibited for export to Iran because of their potential contribution to the development of nuclear, biological, or chemical weapons, or ballistic missile systems. Excludes from identification in such reports any such persons who were previously identified, or who have acted on behalf of, or in concert with, the U.S. Government. Authorizes the President, with specified exceptions, to apply to such foreign person certain measures: (1) set forth in Executive Order 12938 prohibitions; (2) prohibiting the sale to such persons of defense items on the United States Munitions List and defense articles and defense services, or design and construction services under the Arms Export Control Act; and (3) prohibiting the export to such persons of controlled goods and technology under the Export Administration Act of 1979. Prohibits any U.S. agency from making extraordinary payments to the Russian Space Agency in connection with the International Space Station, or any other organization or entity of the Government of the Russian Federation, unless the President has determined, and reported to specified congressional committees, that: (1) it is the policy of the Government of the Russian Federation to oppose the proliferation to Iran of weapons of mass destruction and missile systems capable of delivering such weapons; (2) such government is taking the necessary steps to prevent the transfer from Russia to Iran of goods, services, and technology useful in the development of such weapons and systems; and (3) neither the Russian Space Agency, nor any organization under its control, has, during the one-year period prior to the determination, made transfers to Iran of controlled goods, services, or technology or non-controlled goods, services, or technology that has potential to contribute to Iran's development of nuclear, biological, or chemical weapons, or of ballistic missile systems.
![Official portrait of Rep. Norwood, Charles W. [R-GA-9]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/n000159_200.jpg)