United States · United States Congress · 22 November 1991
Title I: High Seas Large-Scale Driftnet Fishing - Requires: (1) publication of a list of countries that conduct, or do not prohibit their nationals from conducting, large-scale driftnet fishing beyond the exclusive economic zone of any country; (2) barring from leaving or entering U.S. ports any large-scale driftnet fishing vessel registered in such countries; and (3) prohibition of importation from those countries of shellfish, fish and fish products, and sport fishing equipment. Mandates certification under the Fishermen's Protective Act of 1967 of any country: (1) for which that import prohibition is insufficient to terminate such fishing; or (2) that retaliates against the United States because of that import prohibition. Title II: Fisheries Conservation Programs - Amends the Fisherman's Protective Act of 1967 to authorize, when certification is made under the Act, a prohibition on the importation of any products (currently, of fish products or wildlife products) from the offending country. Adds references to the District of Columbia and territories or possessions of the United States to the definition of "United States" under the Act. Removes provisions defining "taking" of wildlife products to include certain conduct whether or not the conduct is legal under the laws of the offending country. Mandates a memorandum of understanding between the Secretary of the Department in which the Coast Guard is operating, the Secretary of Commerce, and the Secretary of Defense regarding increasing the effectiveness of enforcement of domestic laws and international agreements that conserve and manage living marine resources of the United States. Declares it to be U.S. policy to address environmental issues during multilateral, bilateral, and regional trade negotiations. Mandates certain actions by the U.S. Trade Representative regarding environmental concerns and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and other trade negotiations. Title III: Extension of Fish and Seafood Promotion Act and Other Matters - Amends the Fish and Seafood Promotion Act of 1986 to extend the termination date of the National Fish and Seafood Promotion Council. Authorizes appropriations from the Fisheries Promotional Fund for specified activities of the Council. Requires the Council to carry out a consumer education and marketing and promotion program to encourage the consumption of sockeye salmon. Amends Federal law (commonly known as the Saltonstall-Kennedy Act) to authorize transfers from a specified fund to the Fisheries Promotion Fund in certain fiscal years. Declares that it is the sense of the Congress that harvesters and processors of sockeye salmon should begin negotiations well in advance of the fishing season for sockeye salmon regarding the price to be paid to the harvesters during that season.
United States · United States Congress · 22 November 1991
Commends: (1) the people of Guam for their patriotism, bravery, loyalty to the United States, and many sacrifices during World War II, particularly during the invasion and occupation of the Guam territory; (2) the members of the Navy Insular Force and U.S. Navy and Marine Corps for the efforts and sacrifices they made in defense of the U.S.; (3) the Hawaiians for their sacrifices and contributions to the U.S. war effort during the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941; and (4) the Hawaii Territorial Guard members, Varsity Victory Volunteers, the civilian workers at the Pearl Harbor Naval Ship Yard and other Hawaiian military installations, 100th Infantry Battalion, Military Intelligence Service, and 442nd Regimental Combat Team for their sacrifices and contributions to the U.S. war effort during such attack.
United States · United States Congress · 21 November 1991
Requires unexpended funds obligated for military assistance to El Salvador prior to FY 1992 to be deobligated and returned to the Treasury. Permits such funds to be used for the payment of costs resulting from the termination of such assistance for El Salvador from prior fiscal years so long as such payments do not result in the delivery of military assistance to El Salvador.
United States · United States Congress · 21 November 1991
Calls upon the President, as part of the Uruguay Round General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) talks, to initiate negotiations to make GATT compatible with the Marine Mammal Protection Act and other U.S. health, safety, labor, and environmental laws, including laws to protect the environment outside of the United States. Declares that the Congress will not approve legislation to implement any trade agreement (including the Uruguay Round of the GATT and the U.S.-Mexico Free Trade Agreement) that jeopardizes such laws, including the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and the Clean Air Act.
United States · United States Congress · 20 November 1991
Medicare Cancer Coverage Improvement Act of 1991 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to cover: (1) any use of a drug in an anticancer chemotherapeutic regimen if such use has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration, published in peer-review medical literature, or included in one or more of three specified medical compendia; and (2) an oral form of a drug prescribed for such a use in an anticancer chemotherapeutic regimen if the drug contains the same active ingredients as a drug that would be covered if administered as incident to a physician's service. Requires a study and report to specified congressional committees on Medicare coverage of patient care costs associated with clinical trials of new cancer therapies.
United States · United States Congress · 19 November 1991
Medicare Outpatient Diabetes Education Coverage Act of 1991 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide coverage of outpatient education services under part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) for individuals with diabetes.
United States · United States Congress · 14 November 1991
Sets forth U.S. policy on assistance to El Salvador. Permits funds made available for military assistance for El Salvador for FY 1992 in excess of $21,000,000 to be obligated only with the prior notification of specified congressional committees. Authorizes the transfer of such funds to the Demobilization and Transition Fund for El Salvador established under the Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 1991. Makes such funds available only for costs of the demobilization, retraining, relocation, and reemployment in civilian pursuits of former combatants in the conflict in El Salvador. Permits the obligation of amounts in the Fund only if the President, prior to obligation of funds, notifies: (1) specified congressional committees; and (2) the Congress that the El Salvadoran Government and representatives of the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN) have reached a permanent settlement of the conflict. Prohibits any U.S. assistance to El Salvador if the head of the El Salvadoran Government is deposed by military coup or decree. Resumes such assistance only pursuant to a law enacted by the Congress. Permits the delivery of military assistance to the armed forces of El Salvador only with the prior approval of the elected president of El Salvador.
United States · United States Congress · 13 November 1991
Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to exempt certain employees of community colleges from overtime pay provisions of such Act under specified conditions.
United States · United States Congress · 12 November 1991
House of Representatives Campaign Spending Limit and Election Reform Act of 1991 - Title I: Expenditure Limitations, Contribution Limitations, Matching Funds, and Reduced Third-Class Mail Rate for Eligible House of Representatives Candidates - Amends the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to set forth limitations regarding House of Representatives election expenditures, contributions, and matching funds. Limits aggregate contributions received and expenditures made by an eligible House of Representatives candidate in an election cycle to $600,000, with specified additional limitations in general, special, and runoff elections. Establishes the Make Democracy Work Fund (the Fund) for payment of funds and initial expenditures incurred by the Federal Election Commission (FEC) in the administration of this Act. Outlines FEC examination, audit, and repayment procedures to determine candidate compliance with this Act. Subjects FEC actions to judicial review. Directs the FEC to report to the House of Representatives regarding: (1) candidate expenditures made and balances remaining in the Fund after each election; and (2) a detailed explanation and justification of rules, regulations, and forms it has issued under this Act. Precludes a House of Representatives candidate from receiving funds from the Make Democracy Work Fund without prior certification that any television commercial was prepared or distributed by the candidate in a manner that readily permits closed captioning of the commercial's oral content by way of specified broadcast technology. Amends Federal Postal Service law to provide reduced third-class mailing rates to eligible House of Representatives candidates during a general election period. Title II: Limitations on Political Committee and Large Donor Contributions That May Be Accepted By House of Representatives Candidates; Miscellaneous Provisions Relating To Contributions Under The Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 - Sets forth limitations on political committee and large donor contributions (and contributions by dependents not of voting age) that may be accepted by House of Representatives candidates. Mandates that contributions to candidates from State and local political party committees be aggregated. Increases the amount that multicandidate political committees may contribute to national political party committees. Deems corporate or labor union expenditures for candidate appearances, debates, or voter guides to be contributions if the corporate or labor organization expressly advocates the election or defeat of a candidate or favors one candidate over another. Title III: Requirement of Budget Neutrality - Provides that the net costs of providing certain benefits under this Act must be fully offset by specified measures that either raise revenues or reduce spending by a specified deadline (thus achieving budget neutrality). Title IV: Independent Expenditures - Modifies definitions relating to independent expenditures. Sets forth reporting requirements for certain independent expenditures. Title V: Bundling and Soft Money - Prohibits any person from acting as conduit or intermediary for any contribution to any candidate, except in specified circumstances. States that such persons are likewise prohibited from conducting or participating in joint fundraising activities with or on behalf of any candidate. Sets forth limitations upon the combined political activities of political committees of political parties. Prohibits incumbents and candidates for Federal office from soliciting contributions to certain organizations substantially engaged in voter registration or get-out-the-vote campaigns. Mandates that political committees established and maintained by a national political party shall report all receipts and disbursements during the reporting period, whether or not in connection with an election for Federal office. Title VI: Prohibitions Relating to Political Committees and Foreign Nationals - Prohibits a candidate for Federal office from establishing, maintaining, or controlling any political committee other than a principal campaign committee, or certain authorized committees (thereby prohibiting the use of leadership committees). Allows such leadership committees to continue making contributions until one year after January 1, 1993, after which time all funds must be disbursed in one or more specified manners. Prohibits an unauthorized political committee from using the name of any candidate in any fundraising activity on its behalf in a context which suggests that the committee is the candidate's authorized committee. Prohibits a foreign national from controlling, influencing, or participating in election-related activities, including making contributions or expenditures relating to any political election or the administration of a political committee. Title VII: Campaign Surplus - Mandates that the funds exceeding $600,000 of incumbents who are House of Representatives candidates be deposited in a separate account subject to the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971. Title VIII: Campaign Advertising - Prescribes guidelines for campaign advertising related to: (1) printed communication; and (2) broadcast or cablecast communication. Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to entitle House of Representatives candidates to the lowest unit rate charged by a licensee for the same amount of time (currently, the same class and amount of time for the same period on the same date, during the 30 (currently 45) days prior to the primary election and the 45 (currently 60) days prior to the general election). Prohibits the licensee from pre-empting such a candidate's use of the station except in an emergency. Title IX: Contribution Solicitation - Proscribes the solicitation of contributions by false representation by any person as a candidate or as a representative of a candidate or of a political party or committee. Title X: Reporting Requirements - Requires certain reports to identify any person (other than a committee) who contributes more than $50 (currently, more than $200). Directs the FEC to: (1) require with respect to specified reports that operating expenditures be reported on an election cycle basis, by category, as specified by the FEC; and (2) maintain computerized indices of contributions of $50.00 or more. Title XI: Effective Date - Sets forth the effective date of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 12 November 1991
Justice for Wards Cove Workers Act - Amends the Civil Rights Act of 1991 to remove a provision excluding from application of the Act any disparate impact case filed before March 1, 1975, and decided after October 30, 1983. (Wards Cove Packing Co. Inc. v. Atonio, 1989, held that, in cases brought under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, the burden is on the plaintiff to prove an employer had no business necessity for a practice with discriminatory effects.)
United States · United States Congress · 7 November 1991
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the President should award the Presidential Unit Citation to the U.S.S. Nevada's crew for their heroism and gallantry during the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.
United States · United States Congress · 6 November 1991
Prohibits: (1) a foreign person from holding interests in a national landmark representing more than 50 percent of the value of it; and (2) the Secretary of the Interior from transferring any U.S. right, title, or interest in or to an area of land or water included in the National Park System if, as a result of the transfer, such right, title, or interest would be held directly or indirectly by a foreign person. Requires a foreign person to register an investment with the Chairman of a corporation if such investment results in them becoming a five percent shareholder in such corporation that directly or indirectly holds a national landmark. Applies a similar rule to interests in any entity other than a corporation.
United States · United States Congress · 5 November 1991
Designates December 4, 1991, as Federal Civilian Employee Remembrance Day to recognize contributions provided by Federal civilian employees during the attack on Pearl Harbor and during World War II.
United States · United States Congress · 30 October 1991
Directs the President to transfer to the Demobilization and Transition Fund for El Salvador (established pursuant to the Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 1991) a specified amount of funds allocated for foreign military financing for El Salvador for FY 1992 under any joint resolution making continuing appropriations. Requires the transfer to the Fund of 50 percent of funds for such financing for El Salvador provided under such a joint resolution or the Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 1992 (excluding the funds released by the President) if a pardon (other than a pardon pursuant to an agreement between the parties to the conflict in El Salvador) is granted to any of the army officers convicted of the November 1989 murders at the University of Central America.
United States · United States Congress · 28 October 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to require the Secretary of the Treasury to take into account the amounts estimated to be transferred to the Presidential Election Campaign Fund (Fund) during the fiscal year before the one in which the presidential election involved occurs before determining that the Fund is insufficiently funded to satisfy the full entitlements of eligible candidates (thus triggering pro rata reductions in payments to them). Directs the Secretary to base deposits into the Presidential Primary Matching Payment Account on estimated income to such Fund.
United States · United States Congress · 24 October 1991
Authorizes the Air Force Association to establish a memorial on Federal land in the District of Columbia or its environs to honor the men and women who have served in the U.S. Air Force.
United States · United States Congress · 24 October 1991
Health Insurance Reform and Cost Control Act of 1991 - Title I: Increase in Deduction for Health Insurance For Self-Employed Individuals - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend the current 25 percent tax deduction for health insurance costs of self-employed individuals through 1992, and to increase the deduction to 50 percent in 1993, 75 percent in 1994, and 100 percent in 1995 and thereafter. Title II: Improvements In Health Insurance For Small Employers - Subtitle A: Standards And Requirements of Small Employer Health Insurance Reform - Amends the Social Security Act to add a new title XXI (Health Insurance Standards) under part A (Small Employer Health Insurance Standards) of which the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) is required to develop specific standards to implement the requirements outlined in the three successive paragraphs below and in part B (Prohibition of Discrimination Based on Health Status for Certain Services) of such new title as added below which health insurance plans provided by entities employing from two to 50 employees (small employer plans) must be certified as meeting in order to be issued. Requires each insurer to register with the Secretary and any applicable regulatory authority for each State in which it issues or offers a small employer plan. Specifies that no issuer may exclude from coverage any eligible employee or such employee's spouse or any dependent child to whom coverage is made available by a small employer. Requires, with respect to small employer plans, that insurers offering such plans guarantee that: (1) the same plans are available throughout the insurer's service area on a continuous, year-round basis; and (2) such plans are renewable, with specified exceptions. Requires a notice prior to expiration of the terms for renewal of the plan. Provides that except with respect to rates and administrative changes, such terms (including benefits) shall be the same as the terms of issuance. Requires that the period of renewal of each small employer plan be for a period of not less than 12 months. Details requirements with respect to the treatment of health maintenance organizations. Provides that an insurer may not offer to, or issue with respect to, a small employer a small employer plan with a term of less than 12 months. Provides that the premium index rate for any block of business of an insurer may not exceed the index rate for any other block of business by more than 20 percent, with specified exceptions. Requires small employer plan premiums within a block of business to be community-rated for a given geographical area, with limited adjustments for age and sex permitted under specified guidelines. Specifies that, in defining communities for rating purposes, no insurer may use a geographic area that is smaller than a metropolitan statistical area. Requires small employer plans to permit enrollment of (and compute premiums separately for) individuals based on specified beneficiary classes. Places restrictions on transfers of small employers among blocks of business. Requires that any variation in annual small employer plan premium increases be limited to five percent. Requires full disclosure of rating practices and other premium rate information when a small employer plan is offered to the employer. Requires annual actuarial certification of an insurer's compliance with the premium rate requirements of this paragraph for filing with the Secretary and any applicable regulatory authority. Requires small employer plans offered to contain a benefit package similar to the benefit package under Medicare (title XVIII of the Social Security Act), plus unlimited inpatient hospital services for children and specified pregnancy-related services, as well as the new preventive benefits added to the Medicare program by title V of this Act. Sets a single annual deductible of $250 per individual and $500 per family, indexed to annual increases in the contribution and benefit base. Makes deductibles inapplicable for preventive services provided consistent with any applicable periodicity schedules. Makes co-payments inapplicable for: (1) preventive services provided consistent with any applicable periodicity schedules; and (2) inpatient hospital services furnished to children. Sets an overall annual limit on deductibles and co-payments of $2,500 per individual and $3,000 per family, indexed in the manner described above. Preempts State mandates prohibiting the offering of the benefit package required to be contained in small employer plans. Directs the Secretary to provide for the establishment of a toll-free telephone information and complaint system which provides for: (1) a system for the receipt and disposition of consumer complaints or inquiries regarding compliance of small employer plans with the requirements outlined above; and (2) information to small employers about insurers in the local area that offer those plans that meet such requirements. Subtitle B: Tax Penalty on Noncomplying Insurers - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to impose an excise tax on: (1) insurers which issue small employer plans that do not comply with the requirements outlined above; and (2) small employers who self-insure for employee health benefits. Sets the amount of such excise tax for: (1) insurers at 25 percent of the gross premiums received from small employers in a year; and (2) small employers at 25 percent of the expenditures made for employee health benefits in a year. Subtitle C: Studies and Reports - Directs the Comptroller General of the United States to study and report to the Congress on the impact of the rating requirements for small employer plans outlined above on the availability and price of insurance offered to small employers along with recommendations for adjusting such requirements to eliminate variation in premiums associated with demographic factors. Title III: Improvements In Portability Of Private Health Insurance - Amends new title XXI (Health Insurance Standards) of the Social Security Act to add a part B (Prohibition of Discrimination Based on Health Status for Certain Services) under which all employer health plans (including self-insured plans) are barred from denying, limiting, or conditioning the coverage under (or benefits of) the plan with respect to standard health services based on the health status, claims experience, receipt of health care, medical history, or lack of evidence of insurability, of an individual. Provides that group health plan exclusions for pre-existing conditions shall be limited to six months, except with respect to newborns. Reduces such six-month period by up to three months of a period of continuous coverage of an individual for services with respect to a pre-existing condition. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to impose the same excise tax as imposed above on insurers who violate a requirement of part A (Small Employer Health Insurance Standards) on insurers who violate a requirement of part B (Prohibition of Discrimination Based on Health Status for Certain Services). Title IV: Health Care Cost Containment - Establishes in HHS the National Health Care Cost Containment Commission to: (1) review and make recommendations to the Secretary on the optional payments required below; and (2) report annually to the President and the Congress on increases in health care costs. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary to establish maximum payment rates based upon existing Medicare payment methodologies, including the extra billing limits for physician services, that purchasers may elect to pay for health care services. Requires service providers to accept the rates as payment in full, subject to civil monetary penalty. Directs the Secretary to develop uniform claims forms for use by beneficiaries and providers and uniform reporting standards to be employed by providers. Title V: Medicare Prevention Benefits - Amends the Medicare program to add annual screenings for colon cancer for individuals over age 50 and for breast cancer for women over age 64, vaccinations for influenza and tetanus-diphtheria, and well-child care services as program benefits. Directs the Secretary to establish and provide for ongoing demonstration projects providing for the coverage of other specified preventive services under Medicare to determine whether to include the coverage of such services for all individuals enrolled under Mediare part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance). Requires reports to specified congressional committees describing the findings made under such demonstration projects and the Secretary's plans for future such demonstration projects. Authorizes appropriations. Requires an Office of Technology Assessment study to develop a process for the regular review of Medicare coverage of preventive services. Requires a report to the Congress on such study.
United States · United States Congress · 24 October 1991
Nuclear Testing Moratorium Act - Prohibits the Secretary of Energy from conducting any explosive nuclear weapons test during the one-year period following the enactment of this Act unless the President certifies to the Congress that the Soviet Union has conducted such a test during such period.
United States · United States Congress · 22 October 1991
Management Corps Act of 1991 - Requires the President to designate a private nonprofit organization which has demonstrated expertise in providing assistance to business enterprises in the Republics of the Soviet Union and the Baltic States through United States citizens with expertise in the management of business enterprises who voluntarily donate their time and services to such enterprises in those countries. Designates such organization as the Management Corps. Sets forth administrative provisions for such Corps. Provides for grants to the Corps to be made by the Secretary of State through the Agency for International Development. Requires the Corps to publish an annual report which shall be submitted to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President of the Senate. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1993 through 1995.
United States · United States Congress · 17 October 1991
Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), acting through the Office of Research and Development, to enter into an arrangement with the National Academy of Sciences to conduct a study of the environmental research basis for wetlands delineation. Requires the Academy to report the findings of the study to the Congress, along with recommendations for legislative and administrative actions. Authorizes appropriations. Expresses the sense of the Congress that the EPA should not adopt proposed revisions to the Federal Manual for Delineating Wetlands until six months after the Academy submits such report.
United States · United States Congress · 9 October 1991
Prohibits: (1) a national landmark from being acquired directly by one or more foreign persons; (2) a corporation from holding a national landmark if one or more foreign persons own directly or indirectly more than 50 percent of the total number of shares of stock in it; (3) the Secretary of the Interior from transferring any U.S. right, title or interest in or to any area of land or water if, as a result such right, title, or interest would be held directly or indirectly by a foreign person; and (4) the investment in a corporation by a foreign person if it results in direct or indirect ownership by one or more foreign persons of more than 50 percent of the total number of shares of stock in U.S. cultural business enterprises. Requires a foreign person who becomes a five percent shareholder in a U.S. cultural business enterprise, or a corporation which directly or indirectly holds a national landmark, to register such investment with the Chairman of the corporation. Directs the Chairman to apply rules similar to those provided by this Act with respect to an entity that is not a corporation.
United States · United States Congress · 3 October 1991
Marine Mammal Health and Stranding Response Act - Amends the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 to direct the Secretary of Commerce to establish the Marine Mammal Health and Stranding Response Program to examine marine mammal health and effectively coordinate responses to strandings and unusual mortality events. Requires the Secretary to establish: (1) as part of the Program, a stranding response program; and (2) an emergency response group (ERG) of marine science and conservation experts which the Secretary shall utilize to respond to marine emergencies or unusual mortality events (emergencies). Requires the ERG to: (1) assist the Secretary in determining when an emergency is occurring; (2) develop contingency plans for responding to such emergencies; (3) assist the Secretary in formulating a response plan for particular emergencies; and (4) identify individuals or organizations at a regional or local level who could, in times of such emergencies, assist the Secretary in implementing a coordinated and effective response. Directs the ERG to develop, and the Secretary to issue, contingency plans for responding to such emergencies. Establishes in the Treasury the Marine Mammal Emergency Response Contingency Fund. Authorizes the Secretary to accept, solicit, and use the services of volunteers, and accept and use gifts, devises, and bequests to carry out the stranding response and emergency response programs. Directs the Secretary to: (1) coordinate facilities for the storage, preparation, examination, and archiving of marine mammal tissues, to be known as the National Marine Mammal Tissue Bank; (2) establish criteria for access to such tissues; (3) issue guidance for marine mammal tissue collection, preparation, and archiving, tissue analysis, and quality assurance protocols to ensure uniformity in techniques and data reporting for such analysis; (4) monitor and determine the levels, and if possible the effects, of potentially harmful contaminants present in representative species and populations of marine mammals in U.S. coastal waters, using the most effective and advanced diagnostic technologies and tools practicable; and (5) develop and maintain a central data base for tracking and assessing data on marine mammals. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 3 October 1991
Fresh Cut Flower Import Regulation Act of 1991 - Establishes the Fresh Cut Flower Import Regulation Trust Fund within the Treasury. Requires the Secretary of the Treasury (Secretary) to transfer from the Treasury amounts received as duties imposed on certain fresh cut flowers to the Trust Fund. Authorizes the Secretaries of Commerce and of Agriculture to requisition funds from the Trust Fund to defray administrative costs. Authorizes the Secretary to invest a portion of such Fund in interest-bearing U.S. bonds. Title I: Quantitative Limitation of Imports of Fresh Cut Flowers - Requires the Secretary of Agriculture to annually determine for each category of fresh cut flowers the domestic consumption in quantity of stems for a 12-month period and the shares of consumption accounted for by domestic shipments and by total imports. Prohibits the share of consumption to be supplied by imports from exceeding specified shares of expected consumption of fresh cut flowers. Requires the Secretary of Agriculture to allocate the increase or decrease in the global import quota for such categories among supplying countries in proportion to their shares of domestic consumption. Title II: Reallocation of Unused Country Quotas - Requires the Secretary of Agriculture to reallocate the unused portion of the prior calendar quarter quotas to other supplying countries if a determination is made that any country has not filled its quota of a particular category of fresh cut flowers by 50 percent or more of its quota. Title III: Country of Origin Identification of Imported Fresh Cut Flowers - Amends the Tariff Act of 1930 to require each imported fresh cut flower to conspicuously indicate the English name of the country of origin of such flower. Amends the Federal Trade Commission Act, as amended, to make it an unfair act or practice for anyone to sell such flowers without the English name of the country of origin. Title IV: Monitoring of the Prices of Imported Fresh Cut Flowers by the Secretary of Commerce; Self-Initiation by Him of Antidumping Duty Investigations of Imports Being Offered or Sold Below Their Fair Value - Requires the Secretary of Commerce to monitor the prices at which imported fresh cut flowers are sold in: (1) the United States; and (2) the principal export markets other than the United States in order to determine the fair value of such flowers. Requires the Secretary of Commerce to commence an antidumping duty investigation whenever it is determined that a specific category of fresh cut flowers from one or more supplying countries has been sold at less than their fair value by greater than de minimis margins.
United States · United States Congress · 3 October 1991
Condemns: (1) the ongoing violence in Yugoslavia; and (2) the Yugoslav Federal Army's partisan conduct. Calls on: (1) the peoples of the Yugoslav region to reject calls for violent retribution for past injustices and to cooperate to advance the common good; and (2) such Army to cease providing assistance to the Serbian insurgents in Croatia. Urges federal and republican government leaders to: (1) guarantee the rights of minorities within their borders; (2) recognize the inadmissibility of change in borders except through negotiation and mutual consent; and (3) institute economic reform based on free market principles. Urges the President and Secretary of State to support the formation of a Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe peacekeeping force to assist in enforcing ceasefire compliance and its deployment in Yugoslavia.
United States · United States Congress · 26 September 1991
Pacific Northwest Forest Community Recovery and Ecosystem Conservation Act of 1991 - Title I: Worker Adjustment Assistance Program for Certain Dislocated Workers - Subtitle A: General Provisions - Provides adjustment assistance, including extended unemployment benefits, for certain dislocated timber and related industry workers. Subtitle B: Financing Provisions - Amends title IX of the Social Security Act to establish in the Unemployment Trust Fund a worker adjustment assistance account. Title II: Community Economic Diversification - Establishes in the Treasury a special economic adjustment fund funded by a portion of Federal forest land timber sales to: (1) assist forest-dependent communities in Washington, Oregon and California diversify economically; and (2) retrain workers. Establishes a Community Economic Diversification Commission. Authorizes appropriations. Title III: Wood Products Incentives - Subtitle A: Rural Economic Development Magnet Centers - Amends the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act to authorize grants to establish rural economic development magnet centers. Authorizes FY 1992 appropriations. Subtitle B: Export Financing - Directs the Export-Import Bank of the United States to establish a wood products export program as part of the working capital guarantee program. Amends the Agricultural Trade Act of 1978 to include "wood" within the definition of "agricultural commodity" for export assistance purposes under such Act. Subtitle C: Report - Directs the Secretary of Commerce to report to the Congress with respect to the short supply of logs in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and California. Title IV: Reforestation Tax Incentives - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to establish reforestation tax incentives, including: (1) a two percent credit for domestically processed timber; and (2) a five-year class life for timber cutting and saving equipment. Title V: Ecosystem Conservation - Establishes ecosystem natural areas within specified Federal forest lands in Washington, Oregon, and northern California. Sets forth related management and protection provisions. Establishes interim watershed study areas on such lands. States that all Pacific Northwest Federal forest lands not within either of such designations shall be managed in accordance with the recommendations of the Interagency Scientific Committee for lands outside habitat conservation areas. Establishes a three-year Forest Ecosystem Advisory Committee to develop specified ecosystem management objectives for the Pacific Northwest. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to develop a Pacific Northwest forest ecosystem research program.
United States · United States Congress · 26 September 1991
Calls on the President to: (1) decry the violence in Yugoslavia and affirm U.S. policy for a peaceful resolution through democratic negotiations and adherence to a ceasefire; (2) assert that no border changes that have occurred through force and without benefit of negotiation, and no groups occupying territory obtained through violent means, shall be recognized; (3) affirm his commitment to maintaining the international embargo on arms to all combatants in the conflict; (4) instruct the U.S. representatives of each international financial institution to support U.S. goals in completing and maintaining a ceasefire; (5) request the United Nations (UN) Secretary General to assist the European Community (EC)-sponsored negotiations (or initiate negotiations should the EC negotiations fail), to dispatch a contingent to monitor and enforce any ceasefire, and to assist in the completion of a long-term settlement to the conflict; (6) raise in the UN General Assembly the assessment of multilateral economic sanctions against any party disrupting the ceasefire or refusing to take part in negotiations; and (7) insist that all parties to the conflict approve the presence of a peacekeeping force in Yugoslavia to monitor a negotiated ceasefire.
United States · United States Congress · 24 September 1991
Medicare EKG Payment Restoration Act of 1991 - Amends part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to: (1) reestablish separate payment for the interpretation of electrocardiograms (EKGs) that are ordered or performed during an office visit or consultation with a physician; and (2) require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish separate fee schedule amounts for EKG interpretations and to adjust the relative values established for office visits to or consultations with a physician to reflect the establishment of such separate fee schedule amounts. Directs the Secretary to: (1) establish practice guidelines for the use of EKGs for dissemination along with other educational information relating to the use of EKGs to physicians; (2) develop a profile of the use of EKGs by physicians; and (3) conduct a study and report to the Congress on the utilization and costs of EKGs.
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 · 2 August 1991
Pollution Prevention, Community Recycling, and Incinerator Control Act - Amends the Solid Waste Disposal Act to prohibit the issuance of permits for construction or expansion to municipal solid waste incinerators. Prohibits Federal agencies, State or local governments, or other waste management jurisdictions from issuing permits to such incinerators after December 31, 1999, unless the applicant demonstrates and the State finds that: (1) an annual waste composition analysis of the solid waste generated within the area to be served by the facility is conducted by the applicant and by entities from which the facility accepts waste; (2) such entities divert specified percentages of glass, paper, metals, plastics, and yard and food waste to waste management methods other than incineration; (3) the facility will not interfere with diversion rates; (4) it is not feasible to manage the remaining solid waste through source reduction, reuse, or recycling; (5) the facility will not adversely affect the environment or human health and is not situated in a nonattainment area identified under the Clean Air Act; (6) the facility will not harm the local economy; (7) the full cost of the facility over its entire life will be less costly than reducing, recycling, or composting waste; (8) the waste management jurisdiction conducts a public participation process (including a technical assistance grant to local community groups concerned about the project); (9) the proposed construction or expansion is approved by the unit of local government in whose boundaries the facility would be sited; (10) firms operating the facility are in compliance with environmental and public health statutes, have paid outstanding fines for violations of such statutes, and make disclosure statements available; and (11) an approved environmental impact statement is completed. Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to: (1) promulgate standards for waste composition analyses; and (2) review diversion rates triennially and require higher rates, if feasible. Treats ash from municipal solid waste incinerators as a hazardous waste under the Solid Waste Disposal Act. Requires such ash to be managed in a monofill containing only such ash and designed to: (1) prevent the migration of constituents during the operation of the facility; and (2) prevent the infiltration of precipitation during any closure or postclosure monitoring period. Provides for compliance with such requirement by existing incinerators within three years of the enactment of this Act. Prohibits the use of such ash for any purpose. Prohibits the incineration of household hazardous waste, batteries, chlorinated plastics, consumer electronics, and yard waste in such incinerators. Prohibits the issuance of permits or prior approval for the construction or expansion of hazardous waste incinerators unless: (1) waste composition analyses are conducted by the applicant and generators of waste to be incinerated at the facility; (2) specified toxics use reduction requirements have been met and the facility will not interfere with the implementation of such requirements; (3) the facility will not adversely affect the environment or human health; (4) the facility will not harm the local economy; (5) there is no safer disposal or treatment technology available for any of the wastes; (6) the waste management jurisdiction conducts a public participation process (including a technical assistance grant to local community groups concerned about the project); (7) the proposed construction or expansion is approved by the unit of local government in whose boundaries the facility would be sited; (8) firms operating the facility are in compliance with environmental and public health statutes, have paid outstanding fines for violations of such statutes, and make disclosure statements available; and (9) an approved environmental impact statement is completed. Requires hazardous waste generators, as part of the permit process, to report annually on the use, and reduction of the use, of toxic or hazardous substances at their facilities. Directs permit applicants to demonstrate that the State in which the incinerator is located, and each State in which generators of hazardous waste to be incinerated at the facility are located, are implementing toxics use reduction programs. Applies this Act's requirements to any facility that burns hazardous waste.
United States · United States Congress · 2 August 1991
Veterans' Hospice Services Act of 1991 - Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to conduct a pilot program to: (1) assess the feasibility and desirability of furnishing hospice care to terminally ill veterans; and (2) determine the most efficient and effective means of furnishing such care. Directs the Secretary to designate 15 to 30 Department of Veterans Affairs medical facilities for such demonstration projects. Requires the Secretary to ensure that: (1) Department medical facilities conducting such projects include both urban and rural area facilities; (2) the full range of affilitation between medical facilities of the Department and medical schools is represented by the facilities selected to conduct such projects; and (3) such facilities vary in the number of beds they operate and maintain. Allows such hospice care to be accomplished by Department medical facilities and personnel by contract where inpatient services are provided by Department medical facilities, or by contract where inpatient services are provided by a non-Department medical facility. Allows such inpatient care to be provided at a facility not designated in the contract when the provision of such care at such other facility is necessary under the circumstances. Limits the amount paid for hospice care programs under this Act to the equivalent of hospice care payments under title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act. Allows the Secretary to pay in excess of such amounts for hospice care when the Secretary determines, on a case-by-case basis, that: (1) the furnishing of such care is necessary and appropriate; and (2) the amount paid under Medicare would not compensate the program for the cost of furnishing such care. Directs the Secretary, during the pilot program period, to designate not less than five Department medical facilities at which palliative care is being furnished to terminally ill veterans either by Department personnel and facilities providing such care or by Department personnel monitoring care provided by non-Department facilities. Directs the Secretary to ensure that terminally ill veterans who have been informed of their medical prognosis receive information relating to their eligibility for hospice care and services under Medicare. Directs the Secretary to submit annual reports to the Senate and House Veterans' Affairs Committees relating to the conduct of the pilot program and the furnishing of hospice care to terminally ill veterans under the demonstration projects. Requires the Secretary to also report to such committees an evaluation and assessment of the hospice care program, including information enabling the committees to fully evaluate the feasibility of furnishing palliative care to terminally ill veterans.
United States · United States Congress · 2 August 1991
Tax Reduction and Simplification Act of 1991 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) increase the basic standard deduction; (2) establish an additional standard deduction for dependents; and (3) provide an inflation adjustment for such deductions after calendar year 1991. Reduces individual itemized deduction by ten percent (to offset the reductions in Federal revenues made by this Act).
United States · United States Congress · 2 August 1991
San Gabriel Basin Demonstration Project Act of 1991 - Authorizes any public agency, with the prior approval of the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Board (Regional Board), to carry out a plan to construct facilities to assist in the restoration of the San Gabriel Aquifer whether or not the demonstration project authorized by this Act is being implemented. Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to direct the EPA Administrator to enter into a cooperative agreement with the Regional Board to provide water treatment to remove volatile organic compounds and other contaminants from water in the San Gabriel Aquifer. Requires the agreement to provide for consultation with specified regional water districts and authorities. Directs the Regional Board, pursuant to the agreement, to: (1) withdraw, treat, and reinject water from the San Gabriel Valley Groundwater Basin (Basin); or (2) provide treatment for water withdrawn by qualified public water systems from the Basin. Provides for such treatment without reimbursement from the owners or operators of such systems. Denies treatment pursuant to the agreement until the Administrator finds that: (1) State and local governments have made commitments to provide advance reimbursement for ten percent of total costs incurred by the Administrator in carrying out this Act; (2) the State has established a board to enforce rules governing the location of wells used to withdraw water from the Basin and governing the quantity of water to be withdrawn (prohibits more than 50 percent of a board's members from being representatives of persons entitled to withdraw water); and (3) 85 percent of potentially responsible parties (persons who may be liable under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (Superfund) for the cleanup of hazardous substances in the Basin and who represent 80 percent of the anticipated revenue from all identified parties) have entered into contracts providing for annual reimbursements to the Administrator for costs incurred in carrying out this Act. Designates persons entering into contracts as participating parties. Requires participating parties entering into such contracts to: (1) conduct environmental audits of all of their property in the San Gabriel Valley; and (2) carry out removal and remedial actions with respect to hazardous substances in the soil of such property to comply with Superfund standards. Directs the Administrator to establish a cost allocation formula for such parties. Bases the share of costs to be paid by a party on the following: (1) the Standard Industrial Code Number (SIC) of the party and the Administrator's estimate of the likelihood that industrial operations having that SIC Number contributed to contamination of the Basin; (2) the gross sales of the party in a baseline year established by the Administrator; (3) the ability of the party to pay; and (4) prior expenditures made by the party for groundwater remediation in the Basin. Requires the total contribution of such parties to equal 80 percent of the costs of carrying out the treatment project, except that the maximum obligation of a party shall not exceed 200 percent of such party's share of estimated total costs. Requires water treatment to be adequate to insure compliance with standards applicable to drinking water under the Safe Drinking Water Act or any more stringent State law. Authorizes appropriations to the Administrator to cover ten percent of the costs of carrying out this Act. Makes Federal and State costs under this Act recoverable under Superfund from potentially responsible parties not participating in contracts. Absolves participating parties of liability for the removal or response costs with respect to hazardous substances in the Basin or for damages to natural resources to the extent that releases occurred before the enactment of this Act and are identified in site assessments. Removes the exemption from liability if the party: (1) has failed to make any portion of the contribution required by the contract or to carry out required activities; or (2) has filed a suit against another person for contribution of costs. Prohibits participating parties from bringing actions against other persons for contributions of costs. Absolves owners or operators of public water systems of liability in suits for recovery of response costs brought by potentially responsible parties who are not participating in the project under this Act. Sets forth requirements for environmental audits.
United States · United States Congress · 2 August 1991
Approves the extension of nondiscriminatory treatment (most-favored nation treatment) to the products of the Soviet Union, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania transmitted to the Congress by the President on August 2, 1991.
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 · 31 July 1991
Establishes a Joint Committee on the Organization of the Congress to: (1) make a full and complete study of the organization and operation of the Congress; and (2) recommend improvements in such organization and operation with a view toward strengthening its effectiveness, simplifying its operations, improving its relationships with other branches of the Government, and improving the orderly consideration of legislation. Requires a report to the Senate and the House of Representatives not later than the adjournment sine die of the 102d Congress.
United States · United States Congress · 30 July 1991
California Central Coast National Marine Sanctuary Act - Designates a specified area of submerged lands and waters, including living and other resources, as the California Central Coast National Marine Sanctuary. Allows the Governor of California to prevent this Act from taking effect for any area in California State waters by objecting within a specified period. Directs the Secretary of Commerce to develop a comprehensive management plan. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 30 July 1991
Base Community Recovery Act of 1991 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to treat any former employee of a Federal military installation whose job was terminated by reason of its closing or realignment as a member of a targeted group for purposes of the target jobs credit allowed to employers. Allows such employees a terminated employee tax credit of up to ten percent of wages attributable to private employment within the base closure region for one year. Reduces the depreciation recapture rate for businesses that acquire buildings on such bases, and increases the amount which may be expensed for the cost of new equipment placed in service. Prescribes the treatment of qualified base closure bonds by: (1) making termination dates for qualified small issue bonds inapplicable to them; (2) not taking into account certain capital expenditures; and (3) increasing the State ceiling on the volume cap.
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.
![Official portrait of Rep. Panetta, Leon [D-CA-16]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/p000047_200.jpg)