Bill· HRH.R. 6090 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 1 October 1992
Child Labor Deterrence Act of 1992 - Urges the President to seek an agreement with governments that trade with the United States to secure an international ban on trade in products of child labor. Requires the Secretary of Labor (Secretary) to identify foreign countries that: (1) utilize child labor in the export of products; and (2) have on a continuing basis exported such products to the United States. Authorizes any person to file a petition with the Secretary requesting that a particular foreign industry and its host country be identified. Requires the Secretary, before making such identification, to: (1) consult with the U.S. Trade Representative, the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Commerce, and the Secretary of the Treasury; and (2) publish notice in the Federal Register that such identification is being considered and invite public comment. Prohibits the importation of products which have been produced by child labor. Sets forth civil and criminal penalties.
Bill· HRH.R. 5842 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 12 August 1992
Authorizes the President, on behalf of the Congress, to present a gold medal to John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie in recognition of his accomplishments as a musician. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to provide for the sale of bronze duplicates of the medal.
Bill· HRH.R. 5900 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 12 August 1992
Trade Worker Adjustment Assistance Act of 1992 - Amends the Trade Act of 1974 to revise petition and eligibility requirements for trade adjustment assistance benefits for workers adversely affected by import competition or the relocation of U.S. production facilities abroad. Revises provisions with respect to: (1) the training of such workers; (2) employment services; (3) relocation allowances; and (4) job search allowances. Authorizes appropriations.
Resolution· HCONRESH.Con.Res. 353 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 5 August 1992
Expresses the sense of the Congress that effective follow-up to achieve the goals of the agreements reached at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) will depend on the following actions by the President and the U.S. Government: (1) adoption of a national strategy for environmentally sustainable development, based on an extensive process of nationwide consultations with all interested organizations and individuals; (2) the Government encouraging and facilitating means for adopting individual Agenda 21 plans of action, including the establishment of local, county, State, business, and other boards and commissions for achieving sustainable development; (3) the President establishing an effective mechanism to plan, initiate, and coordinate U.S. policy for implementing Agenda 21; and (4) policies being formulated for foreign policy and assistance to help developing countries, and for domestic actions to assure appropriate action to implement Agenda 21. Supports: (1) pursuing the research and policy initiatives urged in Agenda 21, including research on sustainable consumption and production patterns, creation of a policy framework for sustainable consumption patterns, identification of a strategy to eliminate or reduce subsidies for unsustainable natural resource exploitation, and improving pricing policies; (2) the Congress adopting a plan to reallocate an appropriate amount of savings from reduced defense spending to achieve its goals of global environmental protection and sustainable development over the next decade; and (3) the effective establishment of a high-level United Nations (UN) Commission on Sustainable Development. Urges the United States to call for periodic international meetings to continue the process toward developing and advancing international agreement to facilitate sustainable economic development. Calls on the President to: (1) urge and actively participate in multilateral efforts aimed at creating a more favorable international economic climate for developing countries to practice sustainable development; (2) affirm strong U.S. commitment to the Commission by appointing a high-level representative to the Commission and by encouraging the UN Secretary General to appoint an Under Secretary General for Sustainable Development; (3) submit and encourage all UN members to submit a national report to the Commission on activities the United States has undertaken to implement Agenda 21 both domestically and internationally, on progress made toward fulfilling other commitments undertaken at UNCED, and on other relevant environmental and developmental issues; and (4) submit an annual report to the Congress on the steps taken by the United States to implement Agenda 21 and the recommendations made by this Act and make information regarding such steps available to Members of the Congress upon request.
Bill· HRH.R. 5676 (102nd)open
United States · United States Congress · 23 July 1992
Balanced Budget Enforcement Act of 1992 - Title I: Balancing the Budget - Part A: Purposes - Repeals provisions of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act) with respect to: (1) emergency powers to eliminate deficits in excess of the maximum deficit amount; (2) budgetary treatment of social security trust funds; and (3) miscellaneous and related provisions. Declares the purpose of this Act to balance the budget by FY 1998 and each year thereafter. Part B: The Deficit Elimination Act of 1992 - The Deficit Elimination Act of 1992 - Establishes deficit reduction targets for direct spending and receipts legislation for FY 1993 through 1998. Establishes discretionary funding limits in terms of new budget authority for FY 1994 through 1998. Requires, whenever appropriate, that adjustments to such limits be made to reflect: (1) changes in budget accounting concepts; (2) changes in inflation for each year and outyear (any of the four fiscal years that follow the budget year); (3) renewal/replacement multiyear subsidized housing contracts; (4) emergency requirements; (5) new limits for 1998 and thereafter; and (6) any law that raises excise taxes dedicated to a transportation trust fund. Provides that if at the start of the 1998 budget-year session the baseline assuming deficit reduction projects a deficit (or surplus) for that year, then the direct spending and receipts deficit reduction requirement for that year and the discretionary funding limit for that year shall each be changed by amounts that, when debt service effects are added, will produce a balanced budget. Requires these changes to be made through enactment of a spin-off law or, if a spin-off law is not enacted, an adjustment to the direct spending and receipts deficit reduction requirement by two-thirds of the required change (excluding debt service effects) and a one-third adjustment of the required change (excluding debt service effects) to the discretionary funding limit. Provides for preventing deficits starting with FY 1999. Provides for the enactment of a spin-off law through congressional budget procedures or other means to balance the budget in 1998 or prevent deficits after 1998. Establishes a scorecard for the recording of the estimated increase or decrease in deficit reduction for the current year, the budget year, and each fiscal year through 1998 due to enactment (after August 15, 1992) of any law, or the imposition of any sequestration, or the change in the baseline which relates to certain expiring provisions of law and to veterans' compensation, affecting the level of direct spending or the level of receipts. Requires the creation of a new scorecard for FY 1999 and thereafter for the estimated increase or decrease in the deficit or surplus for the budget year. Sets forth deficit reduction requirements for the scorecard. Provides for scoring any law that affects current-year direct spending or receipts. Divides the scorecard between changes in outlays for direct spending and changes in receipts. Excludes certain emergency legislation from the scorecard. Includes certain receipts resulting from an increase in an excise tax dedicated to a transportation fund. Establishes a scorecard for each fiscal year starting with 1994 for discretionary appropriations amounts due to: (1) the enactment of any law in the budget-year session; (2) the enactent of any law in any previous session of Congress; or (3) the imposition of any across-the-board reduction of discretionary programs. Sets forth the method of enforcing deficit reduction targets in direct spending programs through a targeted sequestration procedure. Requires enactment of a spin-off law to initiate such procedure. Establishes a comprehensive sequestration procedure if such spin-off bill is not enacted. Requires under such procedure a freeze of entitlement spending and some revenue provisions in the amount needed to meet deficit targets. Sets forth the method of sequestering discretionary programs through uniform across-the-board reductions, unless the excess of new budget authority is less than $250 million. Lists the budget accounts or activities exempted from sequestration. Authorizes the President to exempt some or all of the budgetary resources of any military personnel account from sequestration, pending notification of the Congress. Subjects Federal administrative expenses to sequestration orders, with specified exceptions. Provides for the permanent sequestration of direct spending and receipts and for determining applicable uniform percentages for reductions. Sets forth the method of making reductions for: (1) the non-JOBS and JOBS portion of the Aid to Families with Dependent Children Program (AFDC) under the Social Security Act; (2) the child support enforcement program; (3) the Commodity Credit Corporation; (4) the conservation reserve program; (5) extended unemployment compensation; (6) the Federal Employees Health Benefits Fund; (7) the Federal Housing Finance Board; (8) Federal pay; (9) the guaranteed student loan program; (10) Federal insurance program; (11) the Medicaid program; (12) the Medicare program; (13) the Postal Service Fund; (14) the Department of Energy power marketing administration funds or the Tennessee Valley Authority fund; (15) the uranium enrichment program; and (16) veterans' housing loans. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to establish the method of sequestration through tax changes. Requires an increase in the top marginal rates and modifies the indexing provision under a sequestration order. Imposes a tax surcharge on individuals and corporations. Sets forth the timetable for estimating assumptions and filing reports and orders by the President, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and the Board of Estimates (established by this Act). Requires the making of sequestration reports, sequestration preview reports, and low-growth reports by CBO and OMB. Establishes the administrative procedures relative to such reports. Sets forth assumptions to be used in calculating the baseline for the budget year and each outyear with respect to direct spending and receipts and discretionary programs. Declares that a baseline assuming deficit reduction refers to a projection of current policy baseline surpluses or deficits into the budget year and the outlays that is adjusted in aggregate by: (1) assuming compliance with basic deficit reduction targets; (2) assuming compliance with the discretionary funding limits; and (3) excluding amounts resulting from legislation designated as an emergency requirement. Establishes as a deposit fund in the Treasury a Stabilization Reserve Fund to accumulate balances during years of comparative prosperity, which may later be used to cover the loss of receipts and the increase in outlays that occur during comparative economic distress. Requires annual surpluses to be paid into the Fund. Requires starting with FY 1999 that an additional $10 billion be paid to the Fund. Requires in each year starting with 2000 that an additional $20 billion be paid to such Fund. Prohibits Fund balances from receiving interest. Requires the enactment of a law to transfer balances to the General Fund of the Treasury. Establishes congressional procedures in the event of a low-growth report or a declaration of war. Establishes a Board of Estimates to choose the applicable sequestration report from OMB or CBO to submit to the President. Provides judicial review procedures for provisions of this title. Title II: Technical and Conforming Amendments - Makes technical and conforming amendments to the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974, the Federal Credit Reform Act of 1990, the Rules of the House of Representatives, the Standing Rules of Senate, and specified other laws. Establishes the public debt limit.
Bill· HRH.R. 5612 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 9 July 1992
Prohibits a State or political subdivision from being eligible to receive any grant for economic development purposes under the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 or under the Public Works and Economic Development Act of 1965 if such State, political subdivision, or other State instrumentality offers, permits, or grants a tax incentive that relieves a taxpayer from paying any State or local tax which would otherwise be payable for the direct or indirect support of primary and secondary education.
Resolution· HRESH.Res. 515 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 9 July 1992
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that the President should seek the consent of the Senate to the ratification of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, adopted by the United Nations on November 20, 1989.
Bill· HRH.R. 5351 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 9 June 1992
Great Lakes Regional Marine Center Act - Amends the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act of 1972 to include the U.S. waters of the Great Lakes in the definition of "marine and coastal waters." Adds the Great Lakes region, comprised of such Great Lakes waters, to the list of regions for which a Regional Marine Research Board must be established. Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to modify the required contents of an annual report to the Congress on Great Lakes water quality. Requires the Great Lakes Research Council (currently, the Great Lakes National Program Office and the Great Lakes Research Office jointly) to prepare a research plan for all Federal Great Lakes environmental research activities. Removes provisions establishing the Great Lakes Research Office.
Bill· HRH.R. 5350 (102nd)open
United States · United States Congress · 9 June 1992
Great Lakes Wildlife Tissue Bank Act - Provides for the storage, preparation, examination, and archiving of tissues from Great Lakes wildlife, to be known as the Great Lakes Wildlife Tissue Bank. Mandates: (1) a central data base to track and assess data on Great Lakes wildlife, including Bank data; and (2) criteria for tissue access by scientific researchers. Authorizes appropriations.
Bill· HRH.R. 5349 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 9 June 1992
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Great Lakes Improvements Act - Establishes in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration a Great Lakes Office in the District of Columbia area to promote and coordinate Administration research, monitoring, and assessment work in the Great Lakes region consistent with Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement goals.
Bill· HRH.R. 5318 (102nd)open
United States · United States Congress · 3 June 1992
United States - China Act of 1992 - Prohibits the President from recommending for a 12-month period in 1993 continuation of a waiver of human rights and emigration requirements for nondiscriminatory treatment (most-favored-nation treatment) for China under the Trade Act of 1974 unless a specified report is submitted to the Congress stating that China has accounted for and released prisoners who dissented in Tiananmen Square and in other parts of China on June 3 and 4, 1989, and made progress in: (1) preventing gross violations of internationally recognized human rights, including workers' rights, in China and Tibet; (2) preventing exports of products made by prison labor, and allowing U.S. officials and international organizations to inspect such places of detention; (3) terminating religious persecution in China and Tibet and releasing religious leaders incarcerated as a result of the expression of their religious beliefs; (4) removing restrictions in China and Tibet on freedom of the press and on broadcasts by the Voice of America; (5) terminating harassment of Chinese citizens in the United States (including refusal to return or renew passports as retribution for prodemocracy activities); (6) ensuring access to prisoners of international human rights monitoring groups; (7) ensuring freedom from torture and in humane prison conditions; (8) terminating prohibitions on peaceful assembly imposed after June 3, 1989; (9) committing to engage in high-level discussions on human rights issues; (10) adhering to the Joint Declaration on Hong Kong; (11) providing adequate protection of U.S. patents, copyrights, and other intellectual property rights, and implementing the Memorandum of Understanding Between the Government of the People's Republic of China and the Government of the United States of America on the Protection of Intellectual Property; (12) providing U.S. exporters access to Chinese markets, including lowering tariffs, removing nontariff barriers, and increasing the purchase of U.S. goods and services; (13) ceasing unfair trade practices which burden or restrict U.S. Commerce; (14) adopting a national policy which adheres to the Missile Technology Control Regime and the controls of the Nuclear Suppliers Group and the Australia Group on chemical and biological arms proliferation; and (15) assuring that it is not assisting any nonnuclear weapons state in acquiring nuclear explosive devices. Requires the President, if he recommends such extension, to include in a specified document submitted to the Congress a report on China's progress in meeting the above-mentioned objectives. Requires such report also to include, but not be limited to, progress made by China and Tibet with regard to specified human rights. Grants nondiscriminatory treatment to products of nonstate-owned enterprises in China.
Bill· HRH.R. 5201 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 19 May 1992
Entitles Federal employees to: (1) family leave in certain cases involving a birth, an adoption, or an employee's parent's or child's serious health condition; and (2) temporary medical leave in certain cases involving a serious health condition of the employee. Provides protection for an employee's employment and health benefit rights. Limits such leave to leave without pay.
Bill· HRH.R. 5100 (102nd)open
United States · United States Congress · 7 May 1992
Trade Expansion Act of 1992 - Title I: Market Access Provisions - Subtitle A: Enforcement of United States Rights Under Trade Agreements and Response to Certain Foreign Trade Practices - Amends the Trade Act of 1974 to extend through calendar year 1997 the requirement that the United States Trade Representative (USTR) identify U.S. trade liberalization priorities. Expresses the sense of the Congress that foreign countries that have substantial trade surpluses with the United States, and maintain acts, policies, or practices that are major barriers to, or distortions of, potential U.S. export trade, should be identified (for purposes of "Super 301" under the Trade Act of 1974) as priority foreign countries, and such acts, policies, or practices identified as priority practices. Amends the Trade Act of 1974 to authorize any interested person to request the USTR to review to determine whether a foreign country is in material compliance with the terms of a trade agreement. Defines an "interested person" as any person with a significant economic interest that is being or has been adversely affected by a foreign country's failure to comply materially with terms of a trade agreement. Requires the USTR to determine what action to take if a foreign country is found not in material compliance with such agreement. Directs the USTR to initiate an investigation of all acts, policies, and practices of Japan, Korea, and Taiwan that affect the access of U.S. rice to their markets. Requires the USTR to negotiate the elimination of such acts, policies, and practices, and report to the Congress on the progress of such negotiations. Subtitle B: International Trade in Motor Vehicles and Motor Vehicle Parts - Directs the USTR to initiate an investigation of all acts, policies, and practices of Japan that affect the access of U.S. motor vehicles and motor vehicle parts to its market, including but not limited to: (1) acts, policies, and practices utilized in the Japanese automotive distribution system; (2) toleration of anticompetitive activities by private Japanese firms (including "Keiretsu"); (3) exclusionary business practices; and (4) testing requirements and other government regulations. Requires the USTR to negotiate with Japan for a trade agreement that: (1) eliminates such acts, policies, and practices; (2) provides enforcement of Japan's commitments under the Structural Impediments Initiative, the Market -Oriented Sector Specific agreements, and the Action Plan announced at the Tokyo Summit in January 1992 with respect to trade in, and purchase of, motor vehicles and motor vehicles parts; (3) establishes long term goals for the purchase by Japanese motor vehicle manufacturers of high value-added motor vehicle parts and accessories; and (4) establishes procedures for the exchange of information between the United States and Japan that will permit the accurate assessment of the bilateral trade in motor vehicle parts. Requires the USTR to report to the Congress if such negotiations prove unsuccessful. Directs the President to negotiate with Japan for a voluntary restraint agreement that will provide for the imposition of limitations on the aggregate number of Japanese passenger automobiles and light trucks that may be exported to the United States between 1992 and 2000. Authorizes the President to enforce such agreements. Requires specified reports with respect to such negotiations. Expresses the sense of the Congress that the USTR should refer to the U.S. Government all information pertaining to Japanese acts, policies, and practices that adversely affect access to the purchasing by Japanese motor vehicle manufacturers in the United States of U.S. motor vehicle parts by Japanese-owned or-controlled producers. Requires the Board established by the Foreign-Trade Zones Act to: (1) review the operations of U.S. and foreign motor vehicle and motor vehicle parts producers to determine any positive economic effect on the United States of such Act; and (2) take appropriate action, including revocation or modification of a foreign-trade zone or subzone grant, with respect to any producer whose operations in such zone are determined not to have a net positive effect on the U.S. economy. Title II: Customs Modernization - Customs Modernization and Informed Compliance Act - Subtitle A: Improvements in Customs Enforcement - Amends the Tariff Act of 1930 to revise customs procedures with respect to: (1) electronic transmission of forged, altered, or false data to the United States Customs Service with regard to the entry of imported merchandise; (2) penalties for failure to declare imported controlled substances; (3) examination and detention of imported merchandise; (4) certain recordkeeping requirements; (5) examination of books and witnesses; (6) review of protests by the Customs Service; (7) a repeal of a provision relating to the reliquidation on account of fraud; (8) penalties relating to manifests, false drawback or refund claims, and for fraud, gross negligence, and negligence; (9) unlawful unlading or transshipment; (10) public access to Customs Service interpretative rulings and decisions; and (11) seizure of imported merchandise. Subtitle B: National Customs Automation Program - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury (Secretary) to establish the National Customs Automation Program which shall be an automated and electronic system for the processing of commercial imports. Provides for electronic data transmission relating to: (1) remote location filing; (2) effective date of rates of duty on imported merchandise; (3) merchandise manifests; (4) imported merchandise invoices; (5) entry and release of imported merchandise; (6) admissibility in administrative and judicial proceedings of electronically transmitted information; (7) appraisement and liquidations of imported merchandise; (8) the payment of duties; (9) abandonment and damage to imported merchandise; (10) protests of Customs Service decisions; (11) refunds and errors; (12) bonds and other security; and (13) customs house brokers. Requires a refund (drawback) of duties (less one per cent of such duties) on articles produced in the United States with imported merchandise that have been destroyed under Customs Service supervision, provided such articles have not been used prior to such destruction. Sets forth provisions with respect to customs officer's immunity in regard to the appraisement of or collection of duties on imported merchandise. Subtitle C: Miscellaneous Amendments to the Tariff Act of 1930 - Amends the Tariff Act of 1930 to authorize the Secretary to disregard the difference, but not less than $20 (currently ten dollars), between the total estimated duties deposited with respect to imported merchandise and the total amount actually due on such merchandise. Authorizes the Secretary to admit duty-free: (1) gifts from persons in foreign countries to persons in the United States whose value does not exceed $100 (currently, $50), or $200 (currently, $100) in the case of gifts from persons in the Virgin Islands, Guam, and American Samoa; (2) articles accompanying persons for personal or household use whose value does not exceed $200 (currently, $25); or (3) articles whose value does not exceed $200 (currently, five dollars) in other cases. Authorizes the Secretary to waive collection of duties due on merchandise that are worth less than $20, or such greater amount as prescribed by him or her. Requires masters of vessels that have visited a hovering vessel or received merchandise while outside the U.S. territorial sea to report their arrival to the nearest customs facility. Provides for the electronic transmission of vessel documentation to the Customs Service. Requires the following vessels to report to the nearest Customs Service facility within 24 hours (or other period of time) as provided after arrival to a U.S. port: (1) vessels from a foreign port; (2) foreign vessels from a domestic port; (3) U.S. vessels having bonded or foreign merchandise for which entry has not been made; or (4) vessels which visited a hovering vessel or received merchandise outside the U.S. territorial sea. Authorizes the Secretary to permit masters of vessels to make preliminary entry of their vessel with the Customs Service in lieu of or before formal entry is made. Requires U.S. and foreign vessels to obtain clearance from the Customs Service before proceeding from a U.S. port for: (1) a foreign port; (2) another U.S. port (for foreign vessels only), or (for U.S. vessels only) another U.S. port if the vessel has bonded or foreign merchandise for which entry has not been made; or (3) outside the U.S. territorial sea to visit a hovering vessel or to receive merchandise. Exempts from entry and clearance requirements certain passenger vessels on excursion from the U.S. Virgin Islands to the British Virgin Islands and returning, U.S. documented vessels with recreational endorsement, or (as under current law) undocumented U.S. pleasure vessels not engaged in trade, except such vessels must comply upon arrival with specified customs reporting requirements and navigation laws and must not have visited any hovering vessel. Prohibits merchandise, passengers, or baggage from being unladen from any vessel required to make entry or vehicle required to report its arrival until such entry or report of arrival is made and a permit for unlading has been issued by the Customs Service. Authorizes the issuance of such permits through electronic data transmission. Requires every importer of record of merchandise to make and file electronically or otherwise a declaration stating whether such merchandise is imported pursuant to a purchase or purchase agreement and that all other required documents are true and correct. Requires persons who gained any benefit from, or met any obligation to the United States as the result of the prior exportation of merchandise that has returned as undeliverable to inform the Customs Service of the return of such merchandise within a reasonable time. Provides for electronic data transmission of entry information to complete any incomplete entry of imported merchandise. Declares entered or unentered merchandise that remains in customs custody for six months, with an extension at the importer's request of up to a year (currently, for merchandise that remains in custody for one year), and in which duties, taxes, fees, storage, and other charges have not been paid, to be unclaimed merchandise which shall be appraised and sold by the Customs Service at public auction. Authorizes the sale of imported gunpowder and other explosive merchandise that if permitted to remain in a bonded warehouse for six months (currently, one year) would depreciate in value to the extent that its sale would be insufficient to pay such duties, taxes, fees, storage, and other charges. Authorizes the Customs Service, in lieu of sale, to provide notice to interested parties that, unless, within 30 days of such notice, the subject merchandise is entered or withdrawn for consumption and payment made of all duties, taxes, and fees, transfer and storage charges and other expenses that title to such merchandise shall be deemed to vest in the United States. Authorizes the Secretary to pay to a party that has lost a substantial interest in merchandise by virtue of title vesting in the United States, and can establish that it did not receive a vesting notice, an amount from the Customs Forfeiture Fund equal to what such party would have received if such merchandise had been sold and a proper claim filed. Requires any surplus of the proceeds from the sale of such merchandise to be deposited into the Fund if a claim for such surplus is not filed with the Customs Service. Authorizes the Secretary to prescribe regulations for the declaration and entry of merchandise whose value does not exceed a certain amount, not more than $2,500 (currently not greater than $1,250), and/or when different commercial facilitation and risk considerations that may vary for different classes or kinds of merchandise or different classes of transactions may dictate. Requires the Secretary upon seizure and forfeiture of imported merchandise bearing a counterfeit mark to dispose of such merchandise more than 90 days (currently, one year) after such forfeiture. Authorizes withdrawal of imported merchandise from a warehouse for transfer to a foreign trade zone. Authorizes the Customs Service to order the destruction or other appropriate disposition of vessels, vehicles, aircraft, merchandise, or baggage that has been seized under the customs laws if it determines that the expense of keeping such items is disportionate to their value (currently applies only to items of less than $1,000 in value). Authorizes the use of funds from the Customs Forfeiture Fund for the payment of: (1) certain transfer and storage charges and expenses; and (2) claims against Customs Service employees. Requires actions for fraud, gross negligence, and negligence, false drawback or refund claims, and restoration of lawful duties with respect to imported merchandise to be instituted within five years after the alleged violation or discovery of such fraud. Requires the Customs Service to be reimbursed the administrative cost and expense incurred in collecting fees on behalf of other Federal agencies. Authorizes the Secretary to settle, for no more than $50,000 in each case, claims for personal injury, death, or damage to, or loss of, privately owned property caused by an investigative or law enforcement officer of the Customs Service. Authorizes the Secretary to contract with persons for collection services to recover indebtedness arising under the customs laws, provided the Customs Service has exhausted all administrative efforts to collect such indebtedness. Subtitle D: Miscellaneous Provisions and Consequential and Conforming Amendments to Other Laws - Amends the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States to exempt from such Schedule articles which are returned within 45 days after being exported from the United States as undeliverable and which have not left the custody of the carrier or foreign customs service. Prohibits such exportations from satisfying any requirement for exportation in order to receive a benefit from, or meet an obligation, to the United States as a result of such exportation. Declares that certain railway locomotives and railway freight cars on which no duty is owed are not subject to the entry or release requirements for imported merchandise under the Tariff Act of 1930. Exempts instruments of international trade, such as containers, lift vans, rail cars and locomotives, truck cabs and trailers, etc., from formal entry procedures. Requires them to be accounted for however, when imported to and exported from the United States through the manifesting procedures required for international carriers by the U.S. Customs Service. Amends the Internal Revenue Code and other specified Federal law with respect to: (1) certain expenditures from the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund; and (2) coastwise trade vessels and U.S. vessels visiting foreign ports. Amends Federal law to grant the Court of International Trade exclusive jurisdiction of any civil action for review decisions of the Customs Service that deny, suspend, or revoke accreditation of private customs laboratories. Bars the commencement of such actions unless brought before such Court within 60 days of such decisions. Repeals specified provisions of Federal law. Requires the Commissioner of Customs to report to the Congress each fiscal year after FY 1992 on the collection of duties imposed under the antidumping and countervailing duty laws. Amends the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1987 to authorize the Commissioner of Customs to obtain from the operators of centralized cargo examination stations information on fees paid for the provision of services at such stations. Requires the Commissioner to report to specified congressional committees on the payment of such fees. Amends the Customs and Trade Act of 1990 to require the Commissioner of Customs to: (1) devise a methodology for estimating the level of compliance with the U.S. customs laws; and (2) evaluate the extent to which such compliance was obtained during the 12-month period preceeding the 60th day before each fiscal year 1993 through 1995. Directs the Commissioner to initiate, and submit to the Congress, a compliance review of certain carrier services. Title III: Customs and Trade Agency Authorizations for Fiscal Years 1993 and 1994 - Amends the Tariff Act of 1930 to authorize appropriations to the United States International Trade Commission (ITC) for FY 1993 and 1994. Earmarks a specified amount for reception and entertainment expenses. Prohibits use of such funds for any special study, investigation, or report requested by an agency of the executive branch unless such agency reimburses the ITC for its costs. Amends the Customs Procedural Reform and Simplification Act of 1978 to authorize appropriations to the United States Customs Service for FY 1993 and 1994 for: (1) noncommercial operations; (2) commercial operations; and (3) the air interdiction program. Amends the Trade Act of 1974 to authorize appropriaitons to the Office of the United States Trade Representative for FY 1993 and 1994. Amends the Tariff Act of 1930 to authorize apropriations for FY 1993 and 1994 for certain expenditures from the Customs Forfeiture Fund relating to purchases by the Customs Service of evidence of smuggling of controlled substances. Amends the Trade Act of 1974 to eliminate the East-West Trade Statistics Monitoring System. Title IV: Miscellaneous Trade Provisions - Subtitle A: Nontariff Provisions - Directs the President to negotiate trade agreements that eliminate the adverse effects of anticompetitive practices on international trade. Requires the President to report to the Congress on the status of such negotiations. Expresses the sense of the Congress that the President, with respect to ensuring the effectiveness of the U.S. embargo of Cuba, should seek negotiations with countries that trade with Cuba to seek their agreement to restrict trade relations with it. Amends the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988 to require the Secretary of the Treasury, at the request of the Secretary of Commerce (currently, authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury): (1) to take necessary action to ensure the attainment of the objectives of the machine tool decision of the President on May 20, 1986, and on December 27, 1991; and (2) to enforce any imported machine tool quantitative limitations, restrictions, or other terms contained in related bilateral arrangements. Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to enforce the quantitative limitations and other provisions of bilateral arrangements negotiated with Taiwan on December 31, 1991, pursuant to the President's machine tool decision of May 20, 1986, until bilateral agreements are negotiated with such country pursuant to the President's December 27, 1991, decision. Directs the ITC to report to the Congress propsals for consolidating and simplifying U.S. international trade laws. Requires the Director of the Congressional Research Service to make recommendations to the Congress about establishment of a special unit that would: (1) integrate the resources of the Service, the ITC, and other appropriate agencies; and (2) serve as a central and objective source of information for the Congress on data and trends in trade between the United States and foreign countries. Subtitle B: Foreign Subsidies and Countervailing and Antidumping Duty Amendments - Amends the Tariff Act of 1930 to require completion of reviews by the administering authority of the amount of duty with respect to countervailing and antidumping duty orders by the 270th day after the day on which a request for review was received. (Currently, there is no such deadline for completion of such a review.) Requires the ITC to consider contracts with long lead time as a factor when making material injury determinations with respect to an affected domestic industry in countervailing and antidumping duty investigations. Declares that the presence or absence of any factor the ITC is required to consider shall not give decisive guidance with respect to any threat of material injury determinations. Provides that, with respect to the determination of foreign market value of imported merchandise under investigation, no allowance shall be made to account for differences in input costs that are based on whether the end product made from the input is sold in the home market or exported. Requires the United States Customs Service to report annually to the administering authority on the amount of duties collected during each year under each countervailing and antidumping duty order. Requires the administering authority to make such data available to interested parties. Requires the administering authority, when determining whether imported parts or components are circumventing an antidumping or countervailing duty order or finding, and whether to include such parts or components in such order or finding, to consider: (1) the pattern of trade; (2) the value and sources of supply of parts or components historically used in completion or assembly of the merchandise subject to such order; (3) whether the manufacturer or exporter of such parts or components is related to the person who assembles or completes the merchandise sold in the United States from the parts or components produced in the foreign country with respect to which the order or finding applies; and (4) whether imports into the United States of the parts or components produced in such foreign country have increased after the issuance of such order or finding. Authorizes the administering authority to include within the scope of such order or finding imported parts or components that are used in the completion or assembly of certain merchandise sold in the United States and subject to such order or finding, provided: (1) such merchandise is completed or assembled in the United States from parts or components supplied by the exporter or producer with respect to which such order or finding applies, from suppliers that have historically supplied the parts or components to that exporter or producer, or from any party in the exporting country supplying parts or components on behalf of such exporter or producer; (2) the value of such imported parts and components is significant in relation to the total value of all parts and components used in the assembly or completion operation, excluding packing, of the imported merchandise covered by such order or finding; or (3) consideration of specified factors establishes a pattern of circumvention of a countervailing and antidumping duty order or finding. Enables the administering authority to base such a decision on any of such factors by itself, rather than on all of them together. Sets forth similar provisions for merchandise completed or assembled in other foreign countries. Directs the Secretary of Commerce and the ITC to study and report to the Congress on modification of standards applicable to the initiation of countervailing and antidumping duty actions in order to make petitioning for such initiations less costly and more accessible for domestic petitioners. Requires the USTR to report to the Congress on the operation of the Agreement Concerning the Application of the GATT Agreement on Trade in Civil Aircraft between the United States and the European Community. Expresses the sense of the Congress that the President should not enter into any international trade agreement on antidumping requiring changes in U.S. antidumping laws that would reduce the effectiveness of such laws as a remedy against injurious dumped imports. Urges the President to review antidumping provisions contained in the Draft Final Act Embodying the Results of the Uruguay Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations dated December 21, 1991 and seek changes to strengthen the effectiveness of U.S. antidumping laws, including, but not limited to, changes in provisions dealing with cumulation of injury and dispute settlement. Expresses the sense of the Congress that the U.S. Government should not condone the use by foreign governments of trade distorting subsidies, including development subsidies, that cause material injury to U.S. industries. Subtitle C: Other Tariff Provisions - Amends the Trade Act of 1974 to remove the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics from the list of countries ineligible for designation as a beneficiary developing country under the Generalized System of Preferences. Amends the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States to create a new tariff classification to cover imports of motor fuel blending stocks. Imposes a duty on such stocks. Revises the classification of linear alkylbenzenesulfonates and linear alkylbenzene sulfonic acids. Revises a specified subheading relating to nonalloy iron and steel pipes and tubes to include non-galvanized forms of such products. Increases the duty on certain other iron and steel pipes and tubes. Imposes a duty on galvanized nonalloy iron and steel pipes and tubes having a specified thickness. Increases the duty on certain stainless steel pipes and tubes. Authorizes the USTR to negotiate compensation for claims made pursuant to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, or any other trade agreement to which the United States is a party, as a result of the amendments made by this Act. Requires the Secretary of the Treasury, with respect to producers of watches in the insular possessions of the United States who are wage certificate holders, to pay to such a holder, at the holder's election, the face value of such certificates less the value of: (1) any duty refunds claimed by the holder under the certificate; and (2) any duty refunds under such certificate that are sold by such holder. Grants duty-free treatment of articles (not over $600 in value) acquired in Bermuda. Grants duty-free treatment to sweaters in which the number of U.S. citizens, nationals, or resident aliens who perform the assembly operations (in Guam) comprise at least 50 percent of the total number of assembly production workers. Sets forth specified exceptions. Provides that stuffed dolls and doll skins that are imported into the United States on or after December 31, 1985, and before October 1, 1988, shall be liquidated as duty free as of October 1, 1988. Declares that a specified production incentive certificate shall be deemed to have been reissued on the 15th day after the enactment of this Act, and shall expire one year after such day. Amends the Tariff Act of 1930 to exempt semiconductors from the country of origin marking requirements under such Act. Amends the Foreign Trade Zones Act to extend until December 31, 1994, the exclusion of bicycle component parts from the exemption from customs laws provided by such Act. Treats certain entries of fabric wholly of polyamide as having been exported from the United States in accordance with and in satisfaction of the temporary importation bond and obligations of The Umbrellas: Joint Project for Japan and U.S.A. Corporation if specified conditions are met. Amends the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States to authorize the extension of time (not to exceed five years) for the exportation of articles to be repaired, altered, or processed, including processes which result in articles manufactured or produced in the United States, that are imported duty-free under bond, provided that any extension beyond the third year must be accompanied by the importer's certification that such articles are to be incorporated into a communications satellite. Subjects to liquidated damages any such articles imported after January 1, 1983, and before the effective date of this Act, that are certified by the importer as having been dedicated for incorporation into a communications satellite, and as not having been exported within the time required because of launch schedule delays. Limits such liquidated damages to a maximum one percent of the liquidated damages established under the bond.
Bill· HRH.R. 4882 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 9 April 1992
Western Hemisphere Environmental, Labor, and Agricultural Standards Act of 1992 - Declares that any free-trade area agreement negotiated under the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988 (OTCA) in furtherance of the Enterprise for the Americas Initiative with any country in the Western Hemisphere outside North America must include the achievement of certain environmental, labor, and agricultural standards as principal negotiating objectives in addition to any other OTCA mandates. Sets forth worker rights and standards, including among others: (1) freedom of association and the right to organize free and independent unions, bargain collectively, and strike; (2) certain minimum ages for the employment of children in specified circumstances; (3) the right to a healthy working environment; (4) equal protection; and (5) humane standards of wages and hours of work. Sets forth principal negotiating objectives for environmental quality and protection, including among others: (1) protection of the integrity of ecosystems; (2) a process for full public disclosures of kinds, quantities, and risks of toxic chemical and hazardous substance discharges; and (3) prevention of the export of toxic and hazardous substances and products, and of products manufactured, extracted, or grown under environmental or workplace safety and health conditions that undermine comparable standards in the importing country. Requires adoption, in any such agreement, of the principle that systematic denial or practical negation of such labor and environmental standards constitutes an actionable unfair trade practice. Requires any such agreement to establish a comprehensive dispute resolution process with specified provisions, including one for a multilateral commission with authority to investigate, adjudicate, and issue timely binding judgments. Requires the Director of the Office of Science and Technology to establish, through the Federal Coordinating Council on Science, Engineering, and Technology, an interagency committee to provide technical assistance to U.S. experts on the multilateral dispute resolution commission.
Bill· HRH.R. 4883 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 9 April 1992
North American Environmental, Labor, and Agricultural Standards Act of 1992 - Declares that any free-trade area trade agreement negotiated under the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988 (OTCA) with Canada and Mexico (NAFTA) must include the achievement of certain environmental, labor, and agricultural standards as principal negotiating objectives in addition to any other OTCA mandates. Sets forth worker rights and standards, including among others: (1) freedom of association and the right to organize free and independent unions, bargain collectively, and strike; (2) certain minimum ages for the employment of children in specified circumstances; (3) the right to a healthy working environment; (4) equal protection; and (5) humane standards of wages and hours of work. Sets forth principal negotiating objectives for environmental quality and protection, including among others: (1) protection of the integrity of ecosystems; (2) a process for full public disclosure of kinds, quantities, and risks of toxic chemical and hazardous substance discharges; and (3) prevention of the export of toxic and hazardous substances and products, and of products manufactured, extracted, or grown under environmental or workplace safety and health conditions that undermine comparable standards in the importing country. Requires adoption, in any such agreement, of the principle that systematic denial or practical negation of such labor and environmental standards constitutes an actionable unfair trade practice. Requires any such agreement to establish a comprehensive dispute resolution process with specified provisions, including one for a trinational commission with authority to investigate, adjudicate, and issue timely binding judgments. Requires the Director of the Office of Science and Technology to establish, through the Federal Coordinating Council on Science, Engineering, and Technology, an interagency committee to provide technical assistance to U.S. experts on the trinational dispute resolution commission.
Bill· HRH.R. 4949 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 9 April 1992
Ozone Protection and Clean Technology Competitive Enhancement Act of 1992 - Amends the Solid Waste Disposal Act to prohibit: (1) the production of class I or II ozone depleting substances (defined under the Clean Air Act) after 1992; (2) the production and use, within 30 and 90 days of this Act's enactment, respectively, of methyl bromide; and (3) the production of methyl chloroform after 1992. Makes exemptions to such prohibition for pharmaceutical applications and, in the case of class I or II substances, for critical fire protection. Prohibits: (1) the use of chlorine or other chlorinated oxidizing agents in the pulp and paper industry within five years of this Act's enactment; (2) the use of mercury as a biocide and in batteries after 1994; and (3) the sale or promotion of any packaging or product in packaging which includes additives containing lead, cadmium, mercury, or hexavalent chromium after 1994. Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to report to the Congress on: (1) sunset candidates (toxic substances with a capacity for bioaccumulation or persistence in the environment), along with a list of alternatives to such substances and recommendations for their phaseout; (2) organochlorines and organobromines produced in quantities of more than 25,000 pounds per year, uses of such substances, and recommendations for eliminating their use; and (3) uses of elemental chlorine and chlorinated oxidizing agents of more than 1,000 tons per year, alternatives for such substances, and recommendations for eliminating their use. Prohibits any facility from replacing the manufacture, import, processing, use, or sale of any sunset candidate with any substitute toxic substance with a known or probable carcinogen, teratogen, or mutagen or with any alternative product or process that creates new public health or environmental risks. Directs the Administrator to establish a fee on the manufacture, import, or sale of sunset candidates. Requires fee proceeds to be used solely for worker retraining, adjustment, and education, and for jobs development programs for workers displaced by the phaseout of sunset candidates.
Bill· HRH.R. 4986 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 9 April 1992
Federal Facilities Toxics Release Act - Amends the Emergency Planning and Community Right-To-Know Act to require Federal facilities that are subject to safety or chemical inventory reporting requirements under such Act or that manufacture or use a toxic chemical listed under such Act in excess of threshold amounts to comply with all Federal, State, and local requirements respecting emergency planning, notification, and reporting on substances covered by such Act. Waives sovereign immunity and the immunity of Federal employees for purposes of enforcement and injunctive relief. Authorizes the President to exempt a facility from requirements for one year if it is in the U.S. interest. Prohibits such an exemption due to lack of appropriations unless the President has specifically requested the appropriation as part of the budgetary process and the Congress failed to make it available. Authorizes additional exemptions for periods of up to one year. Permits the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to commence administrative enforcement actions against Federal agencies pursuant to this Act. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Administrator to study and report to the Congress on making chemicals used by Federal facilities subject to toxic chemical release form requirements under the Emergency Planning and Community Right-To-Know Act.
Bill· HRH.R. 4764 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 3 April 1992
Minor Crop Protection Assistance Act of 1992 - Amends the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) to define "minor use" as the use of a pesticide on a commercial agricultural crop or site where: (1) the total U.S. acreage for the crop is less than 300,000 acres; (2) the acreage expected to be treated as a result of that use is less than 300,000 acres annually or the agricultural crop represents production from less than 300,000 acres annually; (3) the use does not provide sufficient economic incentive to support initial or continuing registration; and (4) the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has not determined that the use presents an unreasonable adverse environmental effect. Permits the Administrator, in handling the registration of a pesticide for a minor use, to waive applicable data requirements if it is determined that the absence of data will not prevent the Administrator from determining the incremental risk presented by the minor use and that such risk would have an unreasonable adverse environmental effect. Prohibits data that relates solely to a minor use, without the permission of the original data submitter, from being considered by the Administrator to support a minor use application by another person for ten years following the submission of the data. Terminates the exclusive use of such data if the registration is voluntarily cancelled, or if the data are used to support a nonminor use. Provides for expedited review (within six months of submission) of applications to support minor use pesticide registrations. Grants registrants who make good faith requests for minor use waivers regarding required data, and whose requests are denied, a full time period for providing such data. Requires the Administrator, upon the request of a registrant, to extend the deadline for the production of data required solely to support a minor use pesticide up to four years if the registrant provides data to support other uses of the pesticide and a schedule to assure that the data production will be completed before the expiration of the extension. Applies the same extension conditions to data for reregistrations. Requires the Administrator to conditionally amend a registration to permit additional minor uses even if data is insufficient if the applicant has submitted satisfactory data pertaining to the proposed minor use and amending such registration would not increase environmental risks. Prohibits amendments if the pesticide meets or exceeds risk criteria associated with human dietary exposure and other specified conditions. Provides for extensions of minor use registration and data submission deadlines in cases where a registrant is not providing data to support a minor use but is providing data in a timely fashion to support other uses. Requires the Administrator, when a minor use registration application is filed no later than two years after another registrant voluntarily cancels registration for a similar use, to evaluate such application as if the voluntary cancellation had not yet taken place for purposes of data use, subject to environmental risk considerations. Directs EPA to assure coordination of minor use issues through the establishment of a minor use program within the Office of Pesticide Programs. Establishes and authorizes funding for a Department of Agriculture matching fund minor use program. Requires the program to be utilized to ensure the continued availability of minor use crop protection chemicals, including the data to support minor use pesticide registrations.
Bill· HRH.R. 4750 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 2 April 1992
Global Climate Protection Act - Directs the President to promulgate final regulations that will achieve stabilization of carbon dioxide emissions by January 1, 2000. Requires the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to evaluate and report biennially to the Congress on the progress made pursuant to such regulations. Directs the President to promulgate additional regulations to achieve stabilization if the Administrator finds that the regulations will not achieve stabilization. Permits citizen suits against officers of the United States for failures to perform duties in accordance with this Act.
Bill· HRH.R. 4727 (102nd)open
United States · United States Congress · 1 April 1992
Unemployment Compensation Amendments of 1992 - Title I: Extension of Emergency Unemployment Compensation Program - Amends the Emergency Unemployment Compensation Act of 1992 (Public Law 102-164, as amended) to extend the emergency unemployment compensation (EUC) program. Changes the EUC program termination date (currently July 4, 1992) to the earliest of: (1) April 1, 1993; (2) the first day of the third month after the first month (after June 1992) for which the applicable unemployment rate is less than six and one-half percent; or (3) the first day of the first month (after June 1992) for which the applicable unemployment rate is less than six percent. Makes the applicable unemployment rate for any month, for such purposes, the average rate (seasonally adjusted) of total unemployment in all States for the most recent three calendar months for which data are published before the beginning of such month. Provides for reduction of benefits during periods after December 31, 1992. Modifies EUC eligibility requirements to: (1) make a 20-week work requirement inapplicable; (2) provide that an individual is not ineligible by reason of subsequent entitlement to regular benefits; and (3) provide certain transition rules, including a waiver of recovery of certain overpayments and an option to defer rights to certain regular benefits. Title II: Modifications to Extended Benefits Program - Amends the Federal-State Extended Unemployment Compensation Act of 1970 to modify trigger provisions for the extended benefits (EB) program. Provides for an EB State "on" indicator for a month if the average rate of total unemployment (seasonally adjusted) for the most recent three months for which data are published before the close of such month is: (1) six percent or more; and (2) 110 percent or more of such average rate for either (or both) of the corresponding three-month periods ending in the two preceding calendar years. (Current law uses the State insured unemployment rate, rather than the State total unemployment rate, in the trigger formula.) Provides for additional weeks of EB program benefits during high unemployment periods (when the trigger period average rate of total unemployment is eight percent or more). Repeals certain special eligibility requirements under the EB program. Increases the amount of Federal reimbursement under the EB program. Makes these amendments to the EB program effective on October 1, 1993, with certain exceptions. Title III: Modifications to Federal Unemployment Tax - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to modify the Federal unemployment tax rate. Allows elective withholding of Federal, State, or local income taxes from unemployment compensation (under the Internal Revenue Code and the Social Security Act). Title IV: Reemployment Assistance Programs - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow an additional credit against the Federal unemployment tax for taxpayers in States with reemployment assistance programs. Title V: Modification to Regular State Unemployment Compensation Programs - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to modify the base period under regular State unemployment compensation programs. Provides for treatment of short-time compensation programs which provide partial unemployment benefits to individuals whose workweeks have been reduced by at least ten percent. Allows State laws to provide for unemployment compensation funds to be withdrawn for the payment of such short-time compensation under a plan approved by the Secretary of Labor. Directs the Secretary of Labor to assist States in establishing and implementing short-time compensation programs by: (1) developing model legislative language and proposing appropriate revisions; and (2) providing technical assistance and guidance. Requires the Secretary to report to the Congress on implementation of these short-time compensation program provisions. Prohibits State laws from denying unemployment compensation to any individual by reason of the circumstances under which such individual separated from employment by any employer unless it was the individual's most recent separation from employment. Requires each employer covered under a State unemployment compensation law to: (1) post statements (prescribed by the State agency) regarding benefit rights and other matters in places readily accessible to employees; and (2) furnish to each terminated employee written statements (provided by the State agency) regarding claims for compensation. Title VI: Financing Provisions - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend by two years, through December 31, 1997, the following income tax provisions affecting high income taxpayers: (1) an overall limitation on itemized deductions; and (2) a phaseout of personal exemptions. Amends the Social Security Act to provide for transfer of revenues from income taxes on unemployment benefits to the Unemployment Trust Fund. Bases such transfers on estimates of benefit payments. Sets forth a transition rule requiring the Secretary of the Treasury, by the end of FY 1992, to transfer from the general fund of the Treasury to the Unemployment Trust Fund, for credit to the extended unemployment compensation account, an amount equal to that which would have been appropriated to the Unemployment Trust Fund for months beginning on or before enactment of this Act if such transfer amendments had been in effect for all months after December 31, 1990. Revises provisions for Federal unemployment accounts. Modifies provisions for the extended unemployment compensation account with respect to transfers, and increases the ceiling on such account. Reduces the ceiling on the Federal unemployment account. Provides for borrowing among the employment security administration account, the Federal unemployment account, and the extended unemployment compensation account. Amends specified Federal law relating to civil service employment to provide that if any Federal agency does not deposit a required amount in the Federal Employees Compensation Account for unemployment benefits within 30 days after notification by the Secretary of Labor, the Secretary of Labor shall notify the Secretary of the Treasury of such failure and that Secretary shall transfer such amount to such Account from amounts otherwise appropriated to such Federal agency. Title VII: Budgetary Treatment - Amends the Social Security Act to exclude the Unemployment Trust Fund (the Fund) from the unified budget, thus giving the Fund "off-budget" status (except amounts required to be deposited in the Federal Employees Compensation Account). Reduces certain discretionary spending limits for FY 1993 through 1995. Modifies certain maximum deficit amounts to provide for a decrease in FY 1993 and an increase in FY 1994 and 1995. Makes conforming amendments to the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 and the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (BBEDCA) (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act). Provides that any amount of new budget authority, outlays, or receipts resulting from this Act shall not be considered for any purpose under BBEDCA.
Bill· HRH.R. 4414 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 10 March 1992
Amends the Rail Passenger Service Act to establish as one of Amtrak's goals the achievement, by October 1, 2000, of a positive ratio of annual revenue to annual operating costs. Amends the Railroad Revitalization and Regulatory Reform Act of 1976 to establish in the Treasury an Intercity Rail Passenger Capital Improvement Trust Fund to provide moneys to improve the safety of intercity rail passenger operations. Requires amounts from a one cent tax imposed on each gallon of diesel and gasoline to be deposited into the Trust Fund.
Bill· HRH.R. 4104 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 22 January 1992
Amends Federal law to prohibit a Member of the House of Representatives from sending any franked mass mailing outside the Member's congressional district. Authorizes a Member of Congress to mail franked mail with a simplified form of address for delivery within his or her congressional district only. (Current law permits such mailings throughout the Member's State.) Prohibits the Committee on House Administration from approving any payment for, and a Member from making any expenditure from, any allowance of the House or any other official funds if any portion is for any cost related to a mass mailing by a Member of the House outside his or her congressional district.
Bill· HRH.R. 3981 (102nd)referred
United States · United States Congress · 26 November 1991
United States Commercial Center Pilot Program Act of 1990 - Directs the Secretary of Commerce to establish, as a pilot program, a United States Commercial Center in one country each in the Baltics, including one of the former Soviet republics, Asia, and Latin America to provide additional resources for the promotion of exports of U.S. goods and services to such countries. Requires the Secretary to use the Market Development Cooperator Program to assist the Centers in providing such resources. Authorizes appropriations.
Bill· HRH.R. 3935 (102nd)open
United States · United States Congress · 26 November 1991
Customs Modernization and Informed Compliance Act - Title I: Improvements in Customs Enforcement - Amends the Tariff Act of 1930 to revise customs procedures with respect to: (1) electronic transmission of forged, altered, or false data to the United States Customs Service with regard to the entry of imported merchandise; (2) penalties for failure to declare imported controlled substances; (3) examination and detention of imported merchandise; (4) certain recordkeeping requirements; (5) examination of books and witnesses; (6) review of protests by the Customs Service; (7) a repeal of a provision relating to reliquidation on account of fraud; (8) penalties relating to manifests and for fraud, gross negligence, and negligence; (9) unlawful unlading or transshipment; (10) public access to Customs Service interpretative rulings and decisions; and (11) seizure of imported merchandise. Title II: National Customs Automation Program - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury (Secretary) to establish the National Customs Automation Program which shall be an automated and electronic system for the processing of commercial imports. Provides for electronic data transmission relating to: (1) drawback claim records; (2) effective date of rates of duty on imported merchandise; (3) merchandise manifests; (4) imported merchandise invoices; (5) entry and release of imported merchandise; (6) admissibility in administrative and judicial proceedings of electronically transmitted information; (7) appraisement and liquidations of imported merchandise; (8) the payment of duties; (9) abandonment and damage to imported merchandise; (10) protests of Customs Service decisions; (11) refunds and errors; (12) bonds and other security; and (13) customs house brokers. Sets forth provisions with respect to customs officer's immunity in regard to the appraisement of or collection of duties on imported merchandise. Title III: Miscellaneous Amendments to the Tariff Act of 1930 - Amends the Act to authorize the Secretary to disregard the difference, but not less than $20 (currently ten dollars), between the total estimated duties deposited with respect to imported merchandise and the total amount actually due on such merchandise. Authorizes the Secretary to admit duty-free: (1) gifts from persons in foreign countries to persons in the United States whose value does not exceed $100 (currently, $50), or $200 (currently, $100) in the case of gifts from persons in the Virgin Islands, Guam, and American Samoa; (2) articles accompanying persons for personal or household use whose value does not exceed $200 (currently, $25); or (3) articles whose value does not exceed $200 (currently, five dollars) in other cases. Authorizes the Secretary to waive collection of duties due on merchandise that are worth less than $20, or such greater amount as prescribed by him or her. Requires masters of vessels that have visited a hovering vessel or received merchandise while outside the U.S. territorial sea to report their arrival to the nearest customs facility. Provides for the electronic transmission of vessel documentation to the Customs Service. Requires the following vessels to report to the nearest Customs Service facility within 24 hours (or other period of time) as provided after arrival to a U.S. port: (1) vessels from a foreign port; (2) foreign vessels from a domestic port; (3) U.S. vessels having bonded or foreign merchandise for which entry has not been made; or (4) vessels which visited a hovering vessel or received merchandise outside the U.S. territorial sea. Permits masters of vessels to make preliminary entry of their vessel with the Customs Service in lieu of or before formal entry is made. Requires U.S. and foreign vessels to obtain clearance from the Customs Service before proceeding from a U.S. port for: (1) a foreign port; (2) another U.S. port (for foreign vessels only), or (for U.S. vessels only) another U.S. port if the vessel has bonded or foreign merchandise for which entry has not been made; or (3) outside the U.S. territorial sea to visit a hovering vessel or to receive merchandise. Exempts from entry and clearance requirements certain passenger vessels on excursion from the U.S. Virgin Islands to the British Virgin Islands and returning, U.S. documented vessels with recreational endorsement, or (as under current law) undocumented U.S. pleasure vessels not engaged in trade, except such vessels must comply upon arrival with specified customs reporting requirements and navigation laws and must not have visited any hovering vessel. Prohibits merchandise, passengers, or baggage from being unladen from any vessel required to make entry or vehicle required to report its arrival until such entry or report of arrival is made and a permit for unlading has been issued by the Customs Service. Authorizes the issuance of such permits through electronic data transmission. Requires every importer of record of merchandise to make and file electronically or otherwise a declaration stating whether such merchandise is imported pursuant to a purchase or purchase agreement and that all other required documents are true and correct. Provides for electronic data transmission of entry information to complete any incomplete entry of imported merchandise. Declares entered or unentered merchandise that remains in customs custody for six months, with an extension at the importer's request of up to a year (currently, for merchandise that remains in custody for one year), and in which duties, taxes, fees, storage, and other charges have not been paid, to be unclaimed merchandise which shall be appraised and sold by the Customs Service at public auction. Authorizes the sale of imported gunpowder and other explosive merchandise that if permitted to remain in a bonded warehouse for six months (currently, one year) would depreciate in value to the extent that its sale would be insufficient to pay such duties, taxes, fees, storage, and other charges. Authorizes the Customs Service, in lieu of sale, to provide notice to interested parties that, unless, within 30 days of such notice, the subject merchandise is entered or withdrawn for consumption and payment made of all duties, taxes, and fees, transfer and storage charges and other expenses that title to such merchandise shall be deemed to vest in the United States. Authorizes the Secretary to pay to a party that has lost a substantial interest in merchandise by virtue of title vesting in the United States, and can establish that it did not receive a vesting notice, an amount from the Customs Forfeiture Fund equal to what such party would have received if such merchandise had been sold and a proper claim filed. Requires any surplus of the proceeds from the sale of such merchandise to be deposited into the Fund if a claim for such surplus is not filed with the Customs Service. Authorizes the Secretary to prescribe regulations for the declaration and entry of merchandise whose value does not exceed a certain amount, not more than $2,500 (currently not greater than $1,250), and/or when different commercial facilitation and risk considerations that may vary for different classes or kinds of merchandise or different classes of transactions may dictate. Requires the Secretary upon seizure and forfeiture of imported merchandise bearing a counterfeit mark to dispose of such merchandise more than 90 days (currently, one year) after such forfeiture. Authorizes withdrawal of imported merchandise from a warehouse for transfer to a foreign trade zone. Authorizes the Customs Service to order the destruction or other appropriate disposition of vessels, vehicles, aircraft, merchandise, or baggage that has been seized under the customs laws if it determines that the expense of keeping such items is disportionate to their value (currently applies only to items of less than $1,000 in value). Requires actions for fraud, gross negligence, and negligence with respect to imported merchandise to be instituted within five years after entry of such merchandise or discovery of such fraud. Requires the Customs Service to be reimbursed the administrative cost and expense incurred in collecting fees on behalf of other Federal agencies. Authorizes the Secretary to settle, for no more than $50,000 in each case, claims for personal injury, death, or damage to, or loss of, privately owned property caused by an investigative or law enforcement officer of the Customs Service. Authorizes the Secretary to contract with persons for collection services to recover indebtedness arising under the customs laws, provided the Customs Service has exhausted all administrative efforts to collect such indebtedness. Title IV: Miscellaneous, Consequential and Conforming Amendments to Other Laws - Amends the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States to increase the dollar amount of alcoholic beverages and cigarettes and cigars that can be entered duty-free by persons returning to the United States. Increases the amount on such items where a duty is provided. Amends the Internal Revenue Code and other specified Federal law with respect to: (1) certain expenditures from the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund; and (2) coastwise trade vessels and U.S. vessels visiting foreign ports. Repeals specified provisions of Federal law.
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