United States · United States Congress · 3 October 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow an individual income tax deduction for contributions to a savings account established to pay the educational expenses (tuition, supplies, meals, and lodging) of the taxpayer's child or certain other relatives at an institution of higher education or a vocational school. Limits the deduction to $150,000 for all taxable years (adjusted for inflation) for each account. Disallows the deduction for contributions to an account maintained for any individual aged 19 or older. Requires any account balance to be distributed after the beneficiary attains age 30. Permits an exclusion from the gross income of the contributor or the beneficiary of account distributions: (1) used to pay educational expenses of the beneficiary; or (2) contributed to the individual retirement plan (IRA) of the contributor. Exempts an account from taxation (except for the tax on unrelated business income of a charitable organization), unless a contributor or the beneficiary engages in specified prohibited transactions in connection with it. Imposes a ten percent surtax on distributions not used for educational purposes. Requires the account trustee to report to the Secretary of the Treasury and to the account's beneficiary concerning the account. Imposes a penalty for failure to report. Allows taxpayers who do not otherwise itemize deductions to deduct for contributions to an education savings account. Imposes penalty taxes in connection with excess contributions or prohibited transactions associated with an account. Exempts from annual contribution limitations any distributions from education savings accounts into IRA's. Excludes from gross income any distributions from IRA's into education savings accounts.
United States · United States Congress · 1 October 1991
Illegal Alien Transportation Prevention Act of 1991 - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to prohibit transportation of illegal aliens for employment purposes.
United States · United States Congress · 1 October 1991
Immigration Document Fraud Prevention Act of 1991 - Provides for: (1) the replacement of current green cards with new counterfeit-resistant identification cards (which shall not be considered national identity cards) for all permanent resident aliens eligible to work in the United States; (2) a national program to educate employers about their responsibilities under the Immigration and Nationality Act and the uses of such cards; and (3) a demonstration program to determine the feasibility of a computerized telephone worker verification system for employers. Increases immigration fraud penalties. Authorizes FY 1993 and 1994 appropriations for activities under this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 1 October 1991
Improved Immigration Law Enforcement Act of 1991 - Increases FY 1993 personnel levels and funding for the Border Patrol. Provides for inservice training to familiarize Border Patrol personnel with the rights and varied cultural backgrounds of aliens and citizens. Authorizes FY 1993 appropriations. Increases FY 1993 personnel levels in the Wage and Hour Division with the Employment Standards Administration of the Department of Labor, and assigns such additional personnel to areas with high concentrations of undocumented aliens. Increases for FY 1993 the number of Assistant United States Attorney positions, and assigns such additional personnel to prosecute persons who harbor or bring into the United States illegal aliens. Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to increase penalties for harboring or bringing into the United States aliens for profit. Expresses the sense of the Senate that the Attorney General and the Secretary of State should initiate programs with Mexico and Canada to prevent and prosecute the smuggling of aliens into the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 1 October 1991
Employer Sanctions Improvements Act of 1991 - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to provide for the issuance of new counterfeit-resistant social security cards to employable aliens solely for the purpose of providing employment eligibility. Requires that cards issued to certain aliens specify the work authorization expiration date. Requires employers to: (1) maintain records of employee expiration dates; and (2) request expired-date employees to provide new cards. Directs the Administrator of Social Security to update the Social Security database with regard to such social security cards. States that such cards shall not be considered a national identity card. Authorizes FY 1993 and 1994 appropriations. Directs the Attorney General to conduct a related nationwide employer education program.
United States · United States Congress · 1 October 1991
Urges the President to call upon the President of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics to begin negotiations with leaders of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia for the prompt withdrawal of Soviet troops from the Baltic States.
United States · United States Congress · 17 September 1991
Revises provisions concerning health care for members and certain former members of the armed forces to entitle members or former members who are eligible for retired or retainer pay and for Medicare to medical and dental care in any uniformed service medical facility. Provides that such facilities will recover the costs of such care from Medicare Subvention funding. Provides that the costs of care for members or former members who are not eligible for Medicare will be recovered from the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Uniformed Services (CHAMPUS) Subvention funding. Revises provisions concerning health care for military dependents to provide that the uniformed services facilities providing such care will recover costs from Medicare or CHAMPUS, as appropriate. Prohibits medical or dental care from being provided to an otherwise eligible person at a military treatment facility only if the senior or commanding officer of such facility determines that such facility cannot provide the particular care required because of lack of space or facilities or because such type of care is not provided at such facility. Requires the administering Secretary to be advised immediately when a determination to deny treatment is made, with a verifiable date as to when the restriction will be removed. Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to make Department of Defense and Department of Veterans Affairs treatment facilities eligible for Medicare payments as long as they meet requirements applicable to hospitals and skilled nursing facilities under such title.
United States · United States Congress · 17 September 1991
Designates 1992 as the Year of the Gulf of Mexico. Directs all Federal and State agencies which have responsibility for matters affecting the Gulf to work to increase public awareness regarding the immeasurable value of this resource and current conditions which threaten its aesthetic and economic value.
United States · United States Congress · 11 September 1991
Tax Relief and Economic Growth Act of 1991 - Title I: 10 Percent Reduction in Individual Income Tax Rates - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to reduce the income tax rates for all categories (from 15%, 28%, and 31% to 13.5%, 25.2%, and 27.9%, respectively). Title II: Indexing of Amount of Depreciation - Provides a depreciation deduction adjustment for tangible property (other than residential rental property and nonresidential real property) placed in service after 1991. Title III: Indexing of Certain Assets for Purposes of Determining Gain or Loss - Requires indexing, based on the gross national product deflator, of the adjusted basis of certain assets (corporate stock and tangible property that is a capital asset of property used in a trade or business) that have been held for more than one year at the time of sale or other transfer, solely for the purpose of determining gain or loss. Title IV: Provisions Related to Retirement Savings - Removes limitations on the deductibility of contributions to individual retirement plans (IRA) by active participants in employer-maintained plans, thereby restoring the IRA deduction. Increases the maximum IRA deduction and provides an inflation adjustment. Provides exemptions from the ten-percent penalty on early withdrawals from individual retirement plans for: (1) first home purchases; (2) higher education expenses; and (3) financially devastating medical expenses. Title V: 4 Percent Cap on Increases in All Domestic Spending Through 1995 - Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to revise spending limits to allow a four-percent growth rate in domestic spending from FY 1992 to 1995. Removes the discretionary authority over such spending limits and eliminates the use of maximum deficit amounts. Extends through 1995 the prohibition on the Senate from considering any appropriations bill or resolution that exceeds such spending limits. Amends the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act) to provide enforcement authority for provisions of this Act and to make conforming amendments. Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to repeal authority for a pay-as-you-go reconciliation directive in the form of a concurrent resolution in the House of Representatives. Eliminates the use of the current services baseline in the President's budget, the congressional budget, and the Congressional Budget Office report to congressional committees.
United States · United States Congress · 2 August 1991
Amends the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 to direct the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration to publish and update clearly defined arrival and departure routes leading to and from airports located within and in close proximity to terminal control areas and airport radar service areas for the optional use of pilots operating under visual flight rules.
United States · United States Congress · 2 August 1991
Semiconductor Investment Act of 1991 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to classify the depreciable life for semiconductor manufacturing equipment as three-year property.
United States · United States Congress · 2 August 1991
Rescinds appropriations made available by the Department of the Interior and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1991 for: (1) Native Hawaiian Culture and Arts, to develop and stimulate sales of Native Hawaiian handicrafts; (2) planning and construction of certain Federal and non-Federal projects at America's Industrial Heritage Park, Pennsylvania; (3) construction of a museum at the Cordell Hull residence in Tennessee; (4) restoration of the Keith Albee Theatre, Huntington, West Virginia; and (5) rehabilitation of locomotive artifacts at Steamtown, Pennsylvania. Rescinds appropriations made available by the Department of Transportation and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1991, for: (1) a bicycle transportation project in Macomb County, Michigan; and (2) Biscayne Boulevard renovation in Miami, Florida. Rescinds appropriations made available by the Departments of Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development, and Independent Agencies Appropriations Act, 1991 for a performing arts and cultural center in North Miami Beach, Florida. Rescinds appropriations made by the Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 1991 for: (1) the International Fund for Ireland; and (2) the retirement of debt owed by the University of Central America to the Inter-American Development Bank. Rescinds appropriations made by the Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 1991 for: (1) the layout of fitness facilities for House office buildings; (2) the upgrade of the Senate subway system; and (3) modular furniture for Senate office buildings. Rescinds appropriations made by the Rural Development, Agriculture, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1991 for a fish farming station in Stuttgart, Arkansas. Rescinds appropriations made by the Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 1991 for the design and construction of a parliament building in the Solomon Islands.
United States · United States Congress · 2 August 1991
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that the Federal excise taxes on gasoline and diesel fuel collected from vehicles shall be used exclusively to meet the Nation's surface transportation needs.
United States · United States Congress · 1 August 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to increase the exclusion from gross income for combat pay of commissioned officers (from $500 to $2,000 monthly). Requires the transfer from the Defense Cooperation Account to the general fund of the Treasury such amounts as determined necessary to offset the revenue loss caused by this amendment during the period of the Persian Gulf conflict.
United States · United States Congress · 1 August 1991
Military Retirement Equity Act of 1991 - Permits retired members of the armed forces to be paid retirement pay concurrently with compensation for any service-connected disability if the person's entitlement to such retirement pay is based solely on: (1) age; (2) length of service; or (3) both. Reduces the amount of retirement pay, in the case of individuals receiving both types of pay, by a specified percentage of the disability compensation which decreases as the disability rating increases. Prohibits any reduction in the retirement pay of a disabled person when the disability rating is total. Expresses the sense of the Congress that, once the Federal budget deficit has been reduced, the Congress should reexamine and eliminate any offset of retired pay by a veteran's disability compensation.
United States · United States Congress · 1 August 1991
Police Corps and Law Enforcement Training and Education Act - Establishes within the Department of Justice (DOJ) an Office of the Police Corps and Law Enforcement Education to be headed by a Director. Requires a State that desires to participate in the Police Corps program to designate a lead agency and submit a State plan containing assurances with respect to: (1) lead agency cooperation with other State and local agencies; (2) the State advertising of the assistance available; (3) State screening and selection of law enforcement personnel for participation in the program; and (4) compliance with other specified requirements. Authorizes the Director to award college scholarships (including direct payments to institutions and reimbursement of educational costs) to participants who agree to work for four years in a State or local police force after completion of a baccalaureate program and police corps training, subject to specified conditions. Sets forth provisions with respect to: (1) scholarship assistance for dependent children of law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty; (2) the selection of participants; (3) minority recruitment; and (4) leaves of absence. Requires the Director to establish programs to provide basic law enforcement training to State Police Corps program participants. Authorizes such programs to be carried out: (1) at up to three training centers established and administered by the Director; or (2) by contracting with existing State training facilities. Requires participants to attend two eight-week training sessions at such training centers and to meet certain performance standards in order to remain in the Police Corps program. Requires the Director to pay participants a weekly stipend during training. Provides for the swearing in of participants as members of the police force to which they are assigned after completing Federal training and meeting the requirements of that police force. Authorizes the Director, upon a showing of good cause, to permit a participant to complete the service obligation in an equivalent alternative law enforcement service, if the police force of which the participant is a member subjects the participant to discipline which would preclude completion of four years of service on that force. Requires a State, in order to participate in the Police Corps program, to submit a plan for implementing such program to the Director for approval. Requires such plan to: (1) include assurances that participants will receive effective training and leadership; (2) provide that program participants shall be assigned to community and preventive patrol in geographic areas with the greatest need for additional law enforcement personnel; and (3) prohibit participant assignment to any local police force whose size has declined by a specified portion or which has members who have been laid off but not retired. Requires the Director to report annually on the Police Corps program to the Attorney General, the President, and specified congressional officials. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 1 August 1991
Expresses the sense of the Congress that at least three of the remaining 15 States should ratify the proposed second amendment to the Constitution which would delay the effect of any law which varies the compensation of Members of Congress until the next election of Representatives (these States are Alabama, California, Hawaii, Illinois, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Washington).
United States · United States Congress · 31 July 1991
Economic Growth Act of 1991 - Title I: Investment and Job Creation Incentives - Subtitle A: Reduction in Capital Gains Tax for Individuals - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a capital gains deduction for individuals for assets held from one to three years. Provides special rules for the gain or loss from the sale or exchange of collectibles and sales of interest in partnerships. Disallows such deduction in computing the alternative minimum tax. Revises the formula for determining gain from the dispositions of certain depreciable realty to take into account depreciation adjustments (adjustments allowed or allowable for exhaustion, wear and tear, obsolescence, or certain amortization). Subtitle B: Inflation Adjustment for Investments - Requires indexing, based on the consumer price index, of the adjusted basis of certain assets (corporate stock and tangible property that is a capital asset of property used in a trade or business after April 15, 1991) that have been held for more than one year at the time of sale or other transfer, solely for the purpose of determining gain or loss. Provides for the inflation adjustment treatment of: (1) short sales; (2) regulated investment companies and real estate investment trusts; and (3) partnerships, S corporations, and common trust funds. Prohibits gain from the sale or other disposition of an indexed asset from being taken into account under the limitation on investment interest. Subtitle C: Enterprise Zones - Part I: Designation - Authorizes the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (Secretary) to designate enterprise zones for purposes of providing tax and regulatory relief and improving local services. Limits choices to areas nominated by States and local governments. Limits the total number of areas that may be designated, and the time period of the designation. Authorizes the Secretary to designate a zone only if the area meets certain locational, demographic, unemployment, and poverty criteria. Requires nominating local governments, as a condition of the Secretary's designation, to agree in writing to follow a course of action that may include reducing tax rates, improving local services, simplifying or streamlining regulation of business, and providing job training to area residents. Describes areas to which the Secretary must give preference in selecting areas for designation. Requires the Secretary to report to the Congress every two years on the effects of such enterprise zones' designation in accomplishing the purposes of this Act. Part II: Federal Income Tax Incentives - Allows a nonrefundable income tax credit to enterprise zone employees for five percent of any wages earned as do not exceed a specified amount. Phases out such credit. Provides for the nonrecognition of capital gain on the sale of enterprise zone property. Allows a taxpayer a deduction on the aggregate amount paid for the purchase of enterprise stock on its original issue by a qualified issuer. Requires any gain from the disposition of the stock to be treated as ordinary income. Excludes enterprise zone capital gains from income computation of alternative minimum taxes. Part III: Regulatory Flexibility - Amends Federal law to revise the definition of "small entity" for purposes of the analysis of regulatory functions to include qualified business, government, and nonprofit enterprises operating within enterprise zones. Authorizes Federal agencies, upon request by a designating government, to waive or modify rules and regulations pertaining to the implementation of projects or activities within an enterprise zone. Requires agencies to approve the request if the resulting benefits of job creation, community development, or economic revitalization outweigh the public interest in retaining the rule unchanged. Disallows waiver or modification of a rule that would directly violate a statutory requirement or present a danger to the public health and safety. Part IV: Establishment of Foreign-Trade Zones in Enterprise Zones - Requires the Foreign-Trade Zone Board to consider on a priority basis and to expedite the processing of applications for the establishment of foreign-trade zones within enterprise zones. Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to give priority to, and expedite applications for, the establishment of ports of entry necessary to establish such zones. Part V: Repeal of Title VII of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1987 - Repeals title VII (enterprise zone development) of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1987. Subtitle D: Research and Experimentation Credit Made Permanent - Makes permanent the tax credit for increasing research activities and the tax credit for clinical testing expenses. Title II: Savings Incentives - Allows individuals to establish individual retirement plus accounts with tax treatment similar to that for individual retirement plans. Makes contributions to such accounts nondeductible. Allows existing individual retirement accounts (IRA) to be rolled over into individual retirement plus accounts with payment of tax on the amount rolled over for which a deduction was once allowable, but no tax when withdrawn. Title III: Homeownership Incentives - Subtitle A: First-Time Homebuyers - Allows a tax credit for the first-time purchase of a principal residence by individuals with incomes of $31,000 or less (phased-out to incomes of up to $41,000). Limits such credit to $1,000. Subtitle B: Penalty-Free IRA Plus Withdrawal for Home Purchase, Higher Education, and Health Costs - Allows penalty-free distributions from IRA Plus accounts of up to 25 percent of the account limit for: (1) first-time homebuyers; (2) medical expenses; and (3) higher education expenses. Title IV: Work Incentives - Subtitle A: Reduction in Social Security Penalty on Working Elderly - Amends title II of the Social Security Act (Federal Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance Benefits) to raise the earnings limit for retirees. Appropriates to each payor fund amounts equivalent to the aggregate increase in social security benefits payable from such fund which is attributable to such amendment. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to study during 1997 whether further amendments relating to deductions on account of work and the exempt amount under the earnings limit are necessary or appropriate. Subtitle B: Economic Growth Dividend - Requires any economic growth dividend (as determined by the Secretary of the Treasury) to be used to increase the personal exemption amount. Requires, after 1995, all revenues resulting from real growth in the gross national product greater than three percent to fund an increased personal exemption. Requires, for fiscal years beginning on or after October 1, 1992, and before October 1, 1995, that 50 percent of such dividend be used to increase the personal exemption amount and the other 50 percent be used to make a downward adjustment in the maximum deficit amount.
United States · United States Congress · 31 July 1991
Defense Coordinated Health Care Act of 1991 - Requires the medical health care system of the Departments of the Army, Navy, and Air Force to be administered solely by the Coordinated Health Care Agency (CHCA). Directs the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense of Health Affairs to organize the CHCA and requires the CHCA to be established by January 15, 1992. Requires the Assistant Secretary to develop and implement policy over: (1) all functions necessary to operation of the military health care system; (2) readiness of combat medical support in operating and field forces; (3) delivery of health care services in field facilities; (4) training and development of health services personnel; (5) service unique operational medical support; and (6) preparation for wartime medical mobilization (to be developed jointly by the three Surgeons General). Directs the Surgeons General to advise and provide technical information to assist the Assistant Secretary.
United States · United States Congress · 31 July 1991
Tax Fairness and Accountability Act of 1991 - Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to require any legislation that increases the tax rate, the tax base, or the amount of income subject to tax, or decreases a deduction, exclusion, or credit to be approved in the House of Representatives and the Senate by an affirmative vote of three-fifths of its Members.
United States · United States Congress · 31 July 1991
All-Americans Savings and Investment Incentive Act of 1991 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide individuals a deduction for capital gains based on the period the asset is held (up to three years). Excludes collectibles from such assets. Makes such deduction an item of tax preferences. Excludes from gross income interest received during a taxable year up to $350 ($700 in the case of a joint return). Provides a phaseout of such exclusion for incomes over $50,000. Makes such exclusion applicable to distributions from regulated investment companies and real estate investment trusts. Makes certain nonresident aliens ineligible for such exclusion.
United States · United States Congress · 30 July 1991
Human Protection Act of 1991 - Amends the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to provide for making determinations of whether a species is an endangered species or a threatened species other than solely on the basis of the best scientific and commercial data available. Prohibits an action from being taken under such Act if: (1) the potential economic benefits to society do not outweigh the potential economic costs to society, as determined under a specified Executive Order concerning Federal regulation; or (2) the action does not otherwise comply with the general requirements of such Order. Prohibits the promulgation of any regulation after enactment of this Act until the issuing agency is certified by the Attorney General to be in compliance with an Executive Order concerning constitutionally protected property rights or similar procedures to assess the potential for the taking of private property in the course of Federal regulatory activity, with the goal of minimizing such where possible. Provides for judicial review for such actions.
United States · United States Congress · 29 July 1991
California Public Lands Wilderness Act - Designates as additions to the National Wilderness Preservation System certain public lands located in California within the Bakersfield District, the Susanville District, the Ukiah District, the California Desert District, the Yuma, Arizona District, and the Carson City, Nevada District of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). Incorporates certain public lands in the California Desert District into the Death Valley National Monument and the Joshua Tree National Monument and makes such lands part of the National Park System. Requires the Secretary of the Interior to prepare plans to manage designated wilderness areas. Withdraws such areas from exploitation under the public lands laws. Provides for the continuation of demilitarization activities and the overflight of military aircraft in such areas. Directs the Secretary to assure access to such areas for traditional Indian cultural and religious purposes. Permits the Secretary, upon the request of an Indian tribe or religious community, to temporarily close an area to protect the privacy of religious or cultural activities. States that lands administered by the BLM in California that have not been designated as wilderness areas have been adequately studied for wilderness designation and releases them from certain requirements. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 29 July 1991
Medicare Physician Payment Reform Amendments of 1991 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to revise the transition rules for phasing in the resource-based relative value scale (RB RVS) method of payment for physician services to prohibit adjustments for asymmetry in the transition and for behavioral responses. Declares spending under this Act to be an emergency requirement under the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act) and exempt from sequestration.
United States · United States Congress · 29 July 1991
National Science Foundation Antarctic Environmental Protection Act of 1991 - Requires the Director of the National Science Foundation (NSF) to issue regulations designating pollutants and to implement a permit program to prevent harm from pollutant discharges by any U.S. person in Antarctica. Requires the Director, in issuing pollution control regulations and permits under this Act, to: (1) ensure that the waste disposal and environmental protection requirements applicable to Antarctica as adopted by the United States or the Antarctica Treaty Parties are made mandatory minimum requirements for all U.S. persons in Antarctica; and (2) provide the same degree of environmental protection to U.S. activities in Antarctica as would be afforded by U.S. environmental laws. Makes it unlawful for U.S. persons, unless such an action is committed under emergency circumstances or to prevent loss of life, to: (1) discharge hazardous or toxic pollutants; (2) engage in the practice of ice staging; (3) transport hazardous or toxic pollutants to Antarctica for disposal purposes; (4) dump waste at sea in Antarctica, except in accordance with specified permits; (5) engage in open burning of wastes at coastal stations; and (6) discharge sewage or wastewater onto ice free land. Requires the Director to: (1) complete a comprehensive solid and hazardous waste management plan for all U.S. Antarctic Program stations, field camps, and operations; (2) implement a solid waste management program at McMurdo Station which is consistent with the NSF Implementation Plan; (3) establish policies to prevent oils, heavy metals, and hazardous and toxic pollutants from entering station wastewater collection systems; (4) permit the discharge of human wastewater into Antarctica coastal waters only after maceration and dilution; and (5) complete and implement recommendations of a hazardous and toxic pollutant spill prevention, control, and counter-measures plan. Prescribes civil and criminal penalties for violations of this Act. Confers responsibility for enforcement of this Act on the Director. Sets forth provisions concerning seizure of property. Requires an environmental audit of U.S. Antarctic Program stations, field camps, and operations to be concluded by an independent panel of experts. Requires the Director to submit a plan for implementing the panel's recommendations to the Office of Management and Budget. Requires the Director, upon completion of the new science facility laboratory at McMurdo Station, to dedicate appropriate personnel and resources within the laboratory to environmental monitoring, assessment, compliance, investigation, and enforcement activity. Directs NSF's Office of the Inspector General to establish procedures for reporting violations of this Act or of other applicable laws. Requires the Director to implement a long-term environmental monitoring program for Antarctica. Requires the Director to report to the Congress on: (1) the adequacy and effectiveness of efforts to control and reduce adverse effects of tourism on Antarctica wildlife, the environment, and the conduct of scientific research; and (2) the need for expanding the protection of Sites of Special Scientific Interest and Specially Protected Areas to include other areas requiring protection from tourist activities. Requires the Director to issue further regulations to apply to U.S. persons as may be necessary to: (1) minimize and prevent such adverse effects; (2) establish qualifications for guides for tourist expeditions to Antarctica; and (3) implement, with respect to such expeditions, any additional safety standards for vessel and air transportation under the weather conditions of that area. Provides for an environmental assessment of major Federal actions significantly affecting the quality of Antarctica's environment. Applies such requirement to all activities conducted by Federal agencies or by private or governmental entities receiving Federal assistance for such activities.
United States · United States Congress · 29 July 1991
Recognizes and grants a Federal charter to the Military Order of the World Wars, a nonprofit corporation organized under the laws of the District of Columbia.
United States · United States Congress · 25 July 1991
Fairness in Product Liability Act of 1991 - Governs any product liability action brought in either State or Federal court against a manufacturer or product seller on any theory for harm caused by a product, superseding State law in specified ways and degrees. Makes a product seller liable only if the seller: (1) failed to exercise reasonable care regarding the product, and the failure was the proximate cause of the harm; (2) made an express warranty, independent of any express warranty by the manufacturer, the product failed to conform to the warranty and the failure caused the harm; or (3) engaged in international wrongdoing which was a proximate cause of the harm. Makes a product seller liable as if the seller were the manufacturer if: (1) the manufacturer is not subject to service of process under State laws; or (2) a court determines the claimant would be unable to enforce a judgment against the manufacturer. Allows, in certain circumstances, a complete defense of alcohol or controlled substance use. Reduces damages by the percentage of harm attributable to misuse or alteration of a product by any person, subject to exception involving misuse or alteration by the claimant's employer or coemployees. Allows punitive damages against a manufacturer or seller for conscious, flagrant indifference to user safety. Prohibits, in certain circumstances, punitive damages regarding a drug or device, as defined in the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, unless packaging of a drug is substantially out of compliance with tamper-resistant packaging regulations. Declares manufacturer or seller liability to be several and not joint for noneconomic damages. Requires a product liability action to be brought within two years after the harm and its cause is, or with reasonable diligence should have been, discovered. Sets the time limit at 25 years for products which are capital goods. Requires offset of workers' compensation benefits. Sets forth rules regarding subrogation, contribution, indemnity, and liens. Provides for tort actions against employers. Prohibits U.S. district courts from having jurisdiction under specified provisions of Federal law over any civil action arising under this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 23 July 1991
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that the people of the United States should recognize: (1) the tenth anniversary of "An Artistic Discovery" (the Congressional High School Art Competition); and (2) its success in encouraging the creative endeavors of our Nation's young artists and forging strong working relationships among the Congress, businesses, and the arts community towards the ultimate goal of providing opportunities for high school students to express their artistic talents.
United States · United States Congress · 22 July 1991
Comprehensive Border Control Act of 1991 - Directs the Commissioner of the Immigration and Naturalization Service to make specified improvements in border enforcement and security (such as border barriers and lights and sensors). Authorizes appropriations to increase border patrol personnel to specified levels. Provides for a specified assignment of personnel to the San Diego sector by the end of FY 1993. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (Secretary) to develop social security cards resistant to tampering or counterfeiting. Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act, effective on October 1, 1993, to reduce the number of required work documents. Directs the Attorney General to make a study of birth certificate improvements. Directs the Attorney General and the Secretary to conduct demonstration projects to determine the feasibility of using a telephone system to verify alien employment eligibility. Directs the Administrator of General Services to: (1) develop a plan to establish or improve ports of entry, including an additional port of entry at San Diego, California; and (2) study the use of nongovernmental entities in border facility construction and management. Directs the Secretary to study and develop a test program to allow expanded use of State legalization assistance grants (SLAG) by alien-impacted communities. Directs the Comptroller General to study health care costs for undocumented aliens.
United States · United States Congress · 17 July 1991
Technical Education and Training Act of 1991 - Requires the Director of the National Science Foundation (NSF) to carry out an advanced technical education and training program under which accredited associate-degree-granting colleges, using matching non-Federal funds, provide training in technical competencies in strategic fields, with emphasis on collaborative programs with local employers and on attracting nontraditional students seeking to upgrade skills, recent high school graduates, and high school dropouts. Sets forth program elements, including: (1) model instructional programs in state-of-the-art competencies in advanced-technology occupations; (2) faculty development in laser technology, robotics, fiber optics, electronics, and other advanced technologies; and (3) private sector participation and provision of work experience opportunities. Requires the Director to: (1) award competitive grants to associate-degree-granting colleges; and (2) establish an inventory of advanced technical education and training programs. Requires the appointment of a National Advisory Council on Advanced Technical Education and Training to ensure the program is consistent with the needs of industries and provide other advice and evaluations. Requires an annual report from the Council to the NSF and the Congress. Requires the program to give emphasis to training to accommodate working people, parents, and the handicapped. Requires the designation of ten centers of excellence among associate-degree-granting colleges to serve as national and regional clearinghouses for educational institutions striving to upgrade their technical education programs and mathematics and science courses. Requires the Director to make: (1) no fewer than 20 grants annually to associate-degree-granting colleges to develop partnerships in mathematics and science education with secondary schools in the community; and (2) grants for partnerships with four-year academic institutions to enable students to achieve bachelor degrees in mathematics, science, engineering, or technology.
United States · United States Congress · 16 July 1991
Juveniles in Drug Crime Prevention Act of 1991 - Amends the Controlled Substances Act to increase prison sentences and bar release for individuals who: (1) sell illegal drugs to persons under age 18; or (2) employ persons under age 18 in drug trafficking activities.
United States · United States Congress · 16 July 1991
Workers' Political Rights Act of 1991 - Amends the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to permit a labor organization to make political communications and establish and solicit contributions for a separate segregated political fund if it provides the employees it represents with written notification of specified information.
United States · United States Congress · 16 July 1991
Three-Time Loser Drug Act of 1991 - Mandates life imprisonment without release for a third conviction for a felony drug offense, crime of violence, or any combination thereof. (Current law provides such penalty for a third conviction for a felony drug offense.)
United States · United States Congress · 16 July 1991
Drive-By-Shooting Prevention Act of 1991 - Amends the Federal criminal code to establish penalties to be imposed against any individual who, in furtherance or to escape detection of a major drug offense, with intent to intimidate, harass, injure, or maim, fires a weapon into a group of two or more people causing: (1) grave risk to human life (a fine and up to 25 years' imprisonment); and (2) death (a fine, life imprisonment, or, in a case of first degree murder, a sentence of death).
United States · United States Congress · 15 July 1991
Prohibits the Secretary of Veterans Affairs from making any payment for covered drugs and biologicals unless the price charged by the manufacturer is determined in accordance with an agreement between the Secretary and the manufacturer pursuant to the Social Security Act, under which the price charged cannot exceed the price charged as of September 1, 1990, increased by the sum of the covered drug updates. States that such pricing agreement shall apply to any drug or biological product procured by the Department of Veterans Affairs that is: (1) purchased under a depot contracting system; or (2) listed under the Federal Supply Schedule of the General Services Administration on or after January 1, 1990. Amends the Social Security Act to exclude the prices for prescription drugs procured by the Federal Government from the calculation of best price procurement for purposes of application of Medicaid rebate agreements. Directs the Secretary to conduct a study of, and report to the Senate and House Veterans' Affairs Commitees on, the costs and availability of drugs and biological products for programs of the Department as they relate to exemptions and limitations under this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 11 July 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to repeal the Presidential Election Campaign Fund, the Presidential Primary Matching Payment Account, and the tax checkoff for such Fund. Provides for the remaining balances in such Fund and Account to be deposited into the Treasury.
United States · United States Congress · 11 July 1991
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that the President should establish a bipartisan commission to investigate the operation of and complaints regarding, the U.S. Postal Service.
United States · United States Congress · 27 June 1991
Earthquake Hazard Reduction Amendments Act - Amends the Earthquake Hazards Reduction Act of 1977 to mandate identification of earthquake-prone States. Establishes the Earthquake Loss Mitigation Advisory Committee. Requires development of comprehensive earthquake loss-reduction criteria for State and local land use and management ordinances, building codes, and other measures. Requires that a percentage of the annual earthquake insurance premiums collected under the Primary Insurance program enacted by this Act be deposited in the Self-Sustaining Mitigation Fund to support specified hazard reduction activities. Requires the Director to support public education programs. Provides for assistance, to the extent provided for in appropriations Acts, to States which are in compliance with the loss-reduction criteria of this Act to support development and implementation of mitigation plans. Prohibits making, increasing, extending, or renewing any federally-related mortgage loan secured by: (1) residential property in an earthquake-prone State unless the property is covered by earthquake insurance coverage under this Act or equivalent private insurance; or (2) improved real estate or a mobile home located in an earthquake-prone State if the State is not in compliance with the loss-reduction criteria of this Act and the property does not meet minimum mitigation criteria. Establishes the Primary Insurance Program against loss from any earthquake. Requires the Director to arrange for participation, on other than a risk-sharing basis, by private insurers, insurance agents and brokers, insurance adjustment organizations, and others. Mandates development of a plan of operation for the Insurance Fund and the Reinsurance Fund. Limits Program coverage to residential property in earthquake-prone States. Establishes an independent advisory committee in the executive branch to be known as the Earthquake Insurance and Reinsurance Advisory Committee. Establishes in the Treasury the Residential Property Insurance Fund to carry out the Primary Insurance Program. Credits to the Insurance Fund premiums received by the Program. Requires, if gross reimbursements to private insurers exceeds amounts in the Insurance Fund, loans from the industry for ten percent of the additional losses, with the remaining amounts borrowed from the Treasury and backed by the full faith and credit of the United States. Requires the Director to make reinsurance and excess reinsurance available to private insurers participating in the Program and their reinsurers. Provides for the excess reinsurance liability of the insurance industry and the Federal Government. Specifies the lines of insurance for which reinsurance coverage must be provided. Establishes in the Treasury the Reinsurance Fund to carry out the excess loss reinsurance program. Credits to the Fund any reinsurance premiums received under the excess loss reinsurance program and amounts borrowed from the Treasury under this Act. Requires the Director, to the extent that the Reinsurance Fund is insufficient to pay claims and expenses, to issue to the Secretary of the Treasury obligations to cover the insufficiency.
United States · United States Congress · 27 June 1991
Drug Treatment and Prevention Act of 1991 - Amends the Public Health Service Act (PHSA) to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to: (1) establish a capacity expansion program that will provide grants to assist States to expand their capacity to provide effective and comprehensive treatment to individuals who use illegal drugs; and (2) award such grants to States in which a demand for drug treatment services exceeds the capacity of organizations operating in those States to provide such services. Sets forth application procedures, Federal funding limitations, and other requirements with respect to such program. Specifies that funds provided under this Act for such program shall supplement, not supplant, existing or planned drug treatment services in a State and shall be available only for the provision of direct treatment services. Authorizes appropriations. Amends the Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act of 1986 to revise provisions with respect to emergency grants to authorize the Secretary to make drug-free schools emergency target grants to eligible local educational agencies (LEAs) and consortia of LEAs (currently, limited to LEAs) that: (1) demonstrate significant need for additional assistance for purposes of reducing and preventing drug and alcohol use and drug-related crime among students served by such agencies (currently, to combat drug and alcohol use among such students); (2) support projects that require cooperative linkages between schools and communities to reduce and prevent drug and alcohol use among schoolchildren; (3) demonstrate the most effective approaches to reducing and preventing drug and alcohol use among schoolchildren; and (4) promote the goal that every school in America will be free of drugs and violence and will offer a discipined environment conducive to learning. Specifies: (1) authorized activities by LEAs with grant funds; and (2) eligibility and application requirements for such grants by LEAs and consortia of LEAs. Directs the Secretary, in awarding grants, to give special preference to applications that: (1) hold particular promise for reducing and preventing the incidence of drug and alcohol use and drug-related violence in elementary and secondary schools; (2) are based on a rigorous and comprehensive research design; and (3) have demonstrated that they will integrate the resources of families, community groups, and the media into an effective, community-based assault on drug and alcohol use in schools. Requires the Secretary to conduct an evaluation of this program. Sets forth provisions with respect to: (1) grant amounts and distribution of funds; and (2) set-asides from appropriations to conduct such evaluation, provide training and technical assistance to LEAs, and disseminate the results of the program. Authorizes approriations. Requires a local or intermediate educational agency or consortium to include in any application to the State educational agency for a drug and alcohol abuse prevention grant a statement of how any emergency target grants funded by the Government under this Act are integrated into the overall prevention plan set forth in the application. Amends the PHSA to require a State, in order to receive specified Federal funds, to develop, implement, and submit for approval a statewide drug treatment and prevention plan, which shall designate a single State agency for developing and implementing the plan. Sets forth plan and reporting requirements. Requires States to maintain expenditures for drug-related services at a level equal to not less than the average amount of such expenditures for the preceding two years to qualify for grants, subject to waiver by the Secretary under specified circumstances.
United States · United States Congress · 26 June 1991
World Cup USA 1994 Commemorative Coin Act - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to issue a specified number of five-dollar gold coins, one-dollar silver coins, and half-dollar clad coins in commemoration of the 1994 World Cup and the unique appeal of soccer. Sets forth certain features of such coins and provides for their design, issuance, and sale. Requires that all sales include a surcharge of $35 per coin for the five-dollar coins, $7 per coin for the one-dollar coins, and $1 per coin for the half-dollar coins. Requires that all surcharges be paid to the Organizing Committee to organize and stage the 1994 World Cup. Requires that ten percent of such funds shall be made available through the U.S. Soccer Federation Foundation, Inc., for distribution to institutions for scholastic scholarships to qualified students.
United States · United States Congress · 26 June 1991
Kimberly Bergalis Patient and Health Provider Protection Act of 1991 - Title I: Amendments to Public Health Services Act Regarding Certain Communicable Diseases Among Health Care Providers and Patients - Amends the Public Health Service Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish a list of medical and dental procedures that health care providers with communicable diseases should be prohibited from performing because the performance would pose a risk of transmission of the disease from the provider to the patient. Prohibits a grant to a State under existing provisions for early intervention with respect to HIV disease unless the State: (1) requires testing of providers; and (2) prohibits performance, except with informed consent, of the procedure by infected providers. Requires infected providers to inform patients who may have been exposed and offer to provide counseling and testing. Requires the State to provide counseling to providers on the effects of the prohibition of performing listed procedures. Requires HIV disease and hepatitis B to be included on the list of communicable diseases. Requires inclusion on the list of procedures those procedures which pose a risk of transmission of communicable diseases from patient to provider. Prohibits HIV early intervention grants to a State unless the State authorizes providers to test the patient, without consent, for communicable diseases the provider has a reasonable basis to believe the patient has. Applies the requirements of this title to provisions relating to grants for health care and support services for individuals and families with HIV disease. Title II: General Provisions - Sets forth the effective date of the amendments made by this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 26 June 1991
Constitutional Amendment - Requires the Congress and the President, prior to each fiscal year, to agree on an estimate of total receipts (except those derived from borrowing) for that fiscal year by enactment of a law devoted solely to that subject. Prohibits outlays for that year (except those for repayment of debt principal) from exceeding this amount unless the Congress, by a three-fifths roll call vote of each House, authorizes a specific excess of outlays over receipts. Requires a three-fifths roll call vote of each House to increase the public debt. Directs the President to submit a balanced budget to the Congress. Requires the approval of a majority of the total membership of each House by roll call vote before any bill to increase revenue may become law. Waives these provisions when a declaration of war is in effect. Makes this article effective beginning with FY 1995 or with the second fiscal year after its ratification, whichever is later.
United States · United States Congress · 25 June 1991
Small Property and Casualty Insurance Company Equity Act of 1991 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a small insurance company deduction of the tentative taxable income of certain companies involved with property or casualty insurance.
![Official portrait of Rep. Packard, Ron [R-CA-48]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/p000005_200.jpg)