United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1991
Federal Employees' Political Activities Act of 1991 - Prohibits an employee from using or attempting to use official authority or influence to interfere with or affect the result of any election. Prohibits an employee from using or attempting to use official authority to intimidate, threaten, coerce, command, or influence: (1) any individual for the purpose of interfering with the right of any individual to vote as the individual may choose, or of causing any individual to vote, or not to vote, for any candidate or measure in any election; (2) any person to give or withhold any political contribution; or (3) any person to engage, or not to engage, in any form of political activity. Prohibits an employee from using, attempting to use, or permitting the use of any official information, unless such information is available to the general public. Prohibits an employee from: (1) giving or offering to give a political contribution to any individual either to vote or to refrain from voting, or to vote for or against any candidate or measure, in any election; (2) soliciting, accepting, or receiving a political contribution to vote or refrain from voting, or to vote for or against any candidate or measure, in any election; or (3) giving or handing over a political contribution to a superior of the employee. Prohibits an employee from soliciting, accepting, or receiving, or from being in any manner concerned with soliciting, accepting, or receiving, a political contribution: (1) from another employee (or a member of another employee's immediate family) with respect to whom the employee is a superior; or (2) in any room or building occupied in the discharge of official duties by a Federal employee or official or an individual receiving salary or compensation from the Treasury. Prohibits an employee from soliciting, accepting, or receiving a political contribution from, or giving a political contribution to, any person who: (1) has, or is seeking to obtain, contractual or other business or financial relations with the employing agency; (2) conducts operations or activities which are regulated by that agency; or (3) has interests which may be substantially affected by the performance of the employee's official duties. Directs the Special Counsel of the Merit Systems Protection Board to prescribe regulations which exempt employees from such prohibitions. Prohibits an employee from engaging in political activity: (1) while on duty; (2) in any room or building occupied in the discharge of official duties by a Federal employee or official; (3) while wearing a uniform or official insignia identifying the office or position of the employee; or (4) while using any vehicle owned or leased by the Government. Exempts certain high level political appointees from such prohibitions if the costs associated with the political activity are not paid for by money derived from the Treasury. Authorizes leave without pay or accrued annual leave to an employee who is a candidate, upon request, to allow such employee to engage in activities relating to that candidacy. Declares that such request may be denied if the exigencies of the public business so require. Declares that such employee may be required to take leave without pay or accrued annual leave in order to be a candidate if activities relating to the candidacy interfere with the employee's performance of duties. Applies this Act to postal employees and employees of the Postal Rate Commission.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide that payment under a life insurance contract to an insured who is terminally ill be treated as a death benefit, making such payment eligible for exclusion from gross income. Provides that any reference to life insurance shall be treated as referring to a qualified terminal illness rider. Provides for the tax treatment of such riders. Describes such a rider as one which provides for payments to an insured upon the insured's becoming terminally ill.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1991
Family Education Assistance Act of 1991 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow an individual income tax deduction for contributions to a savings account established to pay the educational expenses (tuition, supplies, meals, and lodging) of the taxpayer's child or certain other relatives at an institution of higher education or a vocational school. Limits the deduction to $1,500 annually (adjusted for inflation) for each account. Disallows the deduction for contributions to an account maintained for any individual aged 19 or older. Requires any account balance to be distributed after the beneficiary attains age 30. Permits an exclusion from the gross income of the contributor or the beneficiary of account distributions used to pay educational expenses of the latter. Exempts an account from taxation (except for the tax on unrelated business income of a charitable organization), unless a contributor or the beneficiary engages in specified prohibited transactions in connection with it. Imposes a ten percent surtax on distributions not used for educational purposes. Requires the account trustee to report to the Secretary of the Treasury and to the account's beneficiary concerning the account. Imposes a penalty for failure to report. Allows taxpayers who do not otherwise itemize deductions to deduct for contributions to an education savings account. Imposes penalty taxes in connection with excess contributions or prohibited transactions associated with an account.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1991
Constitutional Amendment - Prohibits aggregate fiscal year Federal expenditures from exceeding receipts, unless: (1) the United States is in a state of war declared by the Congress; or (2) both the Senate and the House of Representatives agree by a two-thirds vote to a concurrent resolution that a national economic emergency requires suspension of the prohibition.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1991
Constitutional Amendment - Declares that equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State on account of sex.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1991
Establishes in the House of Representatives the Select Committee on Hunger to conduct a continuing comprehensive study of the problems of hunger and malnutrition.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1991
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the President should fundamentally reassess the necessity of underground nuclear explosions and instruct his representatives to the Limited Test Ban Treaty Amendment Conference to support a comprehensive test ban amendment.
United States · United States Congress · 27 October 1990
Budget Process Reform Act - Title I: Statement of Congressional Purpose - Declares that the purpose of this Act is to facilitate rational, informed, and timely decisions by the Congress. Expresses the sense of the Congress that the Federal budget process should focus the attention of policymakers and the public on the aggregate impact of Federal spending on the economy, and on the tradeoffs that must be made among priorities in order to control overall levels of spending. Declares that the budget process should contain safeguards against delay and inaction, so that temporary shut-downs of the Government may be avoided. Title II: Binding Budget Law - Requires the Congress to enact a binding budget law, in the form of a joint resolution, by April 15 of the calendar year before that in which the fiscal period commences. Requires the budget law to fit on a single page, which sets forth specific budget ceilings in major functional categories. Makes it out of order in the House of Representatives or the Senate to consider any spending bill affecting spending in a major functional category unless and until a joint resolution on the budget is enacted. Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to prohibit baseline budgeting. Requires the budget to include comparisons of current fiscal year and proposed subsequent fiscal year spending. Title III: Enforcement Mechanisms - Subtitle A: Super majority Required to Break Budget Law - Requires a two-thirds majority vote in the House and the Senate to consider any spending bill prior to the enactment of the budget law. Requires the Congressional Budget Office to provide to the Congress an estimate of the costs in each major functional category of any spending bill as soon as practicable after its introduction. Limits such estimates to those bills likely to result in costs of more than $10,000,000. Requires a two-thirds affirmative vote in the House and the Senate to consider over-budget spending bills. Requires a two-thirds affirmative vote in the House and the Senate to waive any provision of this Act. Subtitle B: Limited Enhanced Rescission Authority - Amends the Impoundment Control Act of 1974 to limit the President's rescission authority to spending that is above the limits of the budget law. Subtitle C: "Blank Check" Appropriations Prohibited - Declares the intent of the Congress to end open-ended, "blank check" appropriations which typically authorize spending "such sums as may be necessary." Requires fixed-dollar appropriations for every account except social security and interest on the debt. Prohibits open-ended appropriations. Requires Executive agencies to adjust benefit levels to ensure that appropriations for entitlement programs are not exceeded. Subtitle D: "Pay As You Go" Requirement for New Spending - Prohibits the Congress from considering any legislation which exceeds the budget ceiling unless it offsets such increased spending with an equal amount of reductions. Requires a two-thirds affirmative vote in the House and the Senate to waive such prohibition. Title IV: Sustaining Mechanism - Makes appropriations to provide for an automatic continuing resolution if for any account an appropriation for a fiscal period does not become law before the beginning of such period. Restricts legislation providing funding to the Committees on Appropriations. Title V: Protection of Social Security - Provides that no reduction in benefits under title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act shall be made as a consequence of this Act. Title VI: Timetable - Revises the timetable for the congressional budget process. Title VII: Conforming Amendments - Makes various technical and conforming amendments, including changing references to a concurrent resolution on the budget to references to a joint resolution on the budget. Title VIII: Definitions and Rules of Interpretation - Sets forth definitions for specified terms. Title IX: Effective Date - Declares the effective date of this Act to be January 1, 1991, applicable to fiscal years beginning after September 30, 1991.
United States · United States Congress · 23 October 1990
Designates the room numbered H-235 in the House of Representatives wing of the Capitol as the Lindy Claiborne Boggs Congressional Women's Reading Room.
United States · United States Congress · 20 October 1990
Declares that it is the sense of the Congress that the United States should: (1) give highest national priority to developing a national child health policy; (2) establish a universal national children's health insurance program; and (3) devote sufficient resources to achieving, by the year 2000, the Surgeon General's Maternal and Child Health Objectives.
United States · United States Congress · 11 October 1990
Soldiers' and Sailors' Civil Relief Act Amendments of 1990 - Amends the Soldiers' and Sailors' Civil Relief Act of 1940 (the Act) to provide that an application for a stay of proceedings in a court action involving the military service of an individual shall not constitute an appearance for any purpose. Prohibits an eviction or distress from being made during a period of military service with respect to premises for which the agreed rent does not exceed $1,200 (currently, $150) per month, when such premises are occupied chiefly by the dependents of the person in military service, except upon leave of the court granted upon application or in a proceeding affecting the rights of possession. Extends the power of attorney coverage under the Act to include a power of attorney that by its terms expires after August 2, 1990. Amends the Act to provide professional liability protection for persons ordered to active duty after August 2, 1990, who, prior to such date, were engaged in furnishing health care or other services determined by the Secretary of Defense to be professional services, and who had in effect a professional liability insurance policy that does not continue coverage during the period of active duty. Requires an insurance carrier to suspend and to reinstate coverage of such affected person upon receipt of a written request from such person. Requires such person to request reinstatement within 30 days after release from active duty. Provides a minimum period of required coverage by the carrier following reinstatement, without an increase in the insurance premiums charged. Provides for the stay of a civil or administrative action for damages on the basis of professional liability of a person whose insurance has been suspended under these provisions if: (1) the action is based on an act or omission that occurred before the suspension was effective; and (2) the suspended insurance would, on its face, cover the alleged professional misconduct. States that the period of such stay shall not be included in any statute-of-limitations period. Outlines provisions concerning the death of a person whose professional liability insurance has been suspended and the consequences with respect to the suspended insurance coverage on previous or suspended (stayed) claims. Provides that any person employed and covered under a health insurance policy who goes to active military service or training and upon return is reemployed may not be subject to a waiting period or exclusion of coverage upon such return for a preexisting health or physical condition that occurred before or during the period of service or training. Provides that any person who, by reason of entry into military service, is entitled to the rights and benefits of the Act shall be entitled upon release from such service to reimbursement of any health insurance coverage which: (1) was in effect on the day before such service commenced; and (2) was terminated during the period of such service. Prohibits any health or physical condition occurring before or during the period of such service from being subject to a waiting period or exclusion of coverage upon return from such service. Provides reemployment rights for all reservists (currently, only those serving on active duty for not more than 90 days) upon their return from any active duty other than for training.
United States · United States Congress · 10 October 1990
Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) the crisis created by Iraq's invasion and occupation of Kuwait must be addressed and resolved separately from other conflicts in the region; and (2) the President should continue to thwart any effort to link such crisis with the Arab-Israeli conflict.
United States · United States Congress · 27 September 1990
Veterans' Health-Care Amendments of 1990 - Title I: Health-Care Benefits - Amends Federal veterans' benefits provisions to authorize the provision of dental care for a dental condition: (1) from which a veteran of World War I is suffering; and (2) when medically necessary in preparation for hospital admission or for a veteran otherwise receiving medical care and services. Increases from $500 to $1,000 the annual per-person limitation on the provision of such dental care. Authorizes the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to periodically review and adjust such yearly limit. Authorizes the Secretary to contract with non-Department of Veterans Affairs facilities for the treatment of any veteran who has a total and permanent service-connected disability. Amends the Veterans' Health Care Amendments of 1986 to extend through FY 1992 an annual report requirement under such Act concerning the furnishing of non-service-connected health care to veterans. Extends through FY 1991 the authority for the operation of the Veterans Memorial Medical Center in the Philippines. Title II: Health-Care Personnel - Provides the qualifications required for social workers employed by the Veterans Health Services and Research Administration of the Department of Veterans Affairs. Requires a minimum two-year service requirement in the Department for graduates of the Department of Veterans Affairs Health Professional Scholarship Program. Authorizes the Secretary to purchase promotional items of nominal value for recruitment purposes. Authorizes a person appointed as a part-time employee of the Administration to receive and retain amounts paid for appearances, speeches, and articles that do not create a conflict of interest. Title III: Health-Care Management - Requires a 60-day congressional notification period before the Secretary may undertake an administrative reorganization within the Department. Revises the definition of "administrative reorganization" for purposes of such provision to include a reduction in force during any fiscal year at a covered field office or facility of 15 percent or more, or of a percentage which, when added to other reductions at such field office or facility, is 25 percent or more of the total number of employees at such office or facility. Revises reporting requirements and definitions with respect to such administrative reorganizations. Prohibits funds from being appropriated for any fiscal year, and prohibits the Secretary from obligating or expending funds, for any major medical project or major medical facility lease unless funds have been specifically authorized by law. Defines a "major medical facility lease" as a lease having an average annual rental amount of more than $300,000 (currently, $500,000). Requires the Geriatrics and Gerontology Advisory Committee to submit to the Secretary such reports as considered appropriate (currently, only one report is required) on all appropriate matters of geriatrics and gerontology. Adds certain assessments to such report requirements. Title IV: Miscellaneous - Requires the Secretary to enter into an agreement with the Secretary of the Navy to facilitate the transfer of all medical follow-up data in possession of the Secretary of the Navy regarding Vietnam-era prisoners of war which has been collected by the Center for Prisoner of War Studies and the Naval Aerospace Medical Institute. Requires a report from the Secretary on such data. Provides funding. Requires the Secretary to report on the implementation of certain benefits notice requirements with respect to health benefits claims decisions. Authorizes the Secretary to use general operating funds to pay for leases for the collocation of at least three regional offices of the Department with Department medical centers.
United States · United States Congress · 27 September 1990
Designates the Department of Veterans Affairs medical center located at 113 Holland Avenue in Albany, New York, as the Samuel S. Stratton Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center.
United States · United States Congress · 18 September 1990
Veterans' Judicial Review Amendments of 1990 - Repeals certain provisions relating to decisions made by the Court of Veterans Appeals in veterans' benefits determinations. Authorizes the Chief Judge of the Court to annually summon the judges of such Court to a judicial conference in order to consider business of the Court and to improve the administration of justice within the Court's jurisdiction. Authorizes the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to release veterans' medical records to the U.S. Court of Veterans Appeals and any other Federal court for use in connection with veterans' appeals under the jurisdiction of such courts.
United States · United States Congress · 14 September 1990
Amends the Railroad Retirement Solvency Act of 1983 to extend for two years provisions for the transfer of tier 2 railroad retirement benefit taxation revenues from the general fund of the Treasury to the Railroad Retirement Account.
United States · United States Congress · 12 September 1990
Universal Childhood Security Act - Title I: Foreign Assistance Programs - Requires that specified minimum amounts from aggregate U.S. funding for international development and economic assistance programs, for each of FY 1991 through 1996, be available only for: (1) child survival activities, including those authorized under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961; and (2) programs in support of basic primary education, including teacher training and other necessary activities. Declares the sense of the Congress that the World Bank should: (1) give greater priority to child survival and development, including support of basic education activities; and (2) devote five percent or more of its annual lending programs to primary health and five percent to primary education. Title II: Domestic Programs - Declares the sense of the Congress that it should increase participation in the special supplemental food program for women, infants, and children (the WIC program) by 20 percent per year in each of 1991 through 1995, so that the goal of full participation may be reached by the end of FY 1995. Declares the sense of the Congress that it should follow through on providing full funding for the Head Start program of early childhood education and childhood development, so that the goal of participation of all eligible three- and four-year-old children can be reached by FY 1994.
United States · United States Congress · 10 September 1990
Motor Vehicle Fuel Efficiency Act of 1990 - Amends the Motor Vehicle Information and Cost Savings Act to establish average fuel economy standards for passenger automobiles for model years 1995 and thereafter and automobiles other than passenger automobiles (light trucks) for model years 1995 and thereafter. Authorizes the Secretary of Transportation (Secretary), after FY 1995, to modify such standards for model year 2001 and thereafter. Directs the Secretary, in response to petitions filed at least 12 months in advance of the model year, to conduct a rulemaking proceeding to determine whether to increase or decrease such standard to a level that is the maximum feasible average fuel economy for that model year, except that such standard shall not be reduced below a 30 percent increase over the average fuel economy achieved by the manufacturer of such vehicle for model year 1988. Requires the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to report annually to specified congressional committees on a study which: (1) examines the accuracy of fuel economy testing of passenger automobiles and light trucks; and (2) assesses the extent to which fuel economy deteriorates during the lifetime of such vehicles. Directs the Secretary of Energy to distribute at least 100 explanatory booklets each year to every dealer and additional numbers if requested. Requires the Secretary to provide for a review and report to the Congress by the National Academy of Sciences of the current state of research and development in light truck fuel economy and passenger automobile fuel economy and an assessment of the potential for improving the fuel efficiency and reducing the energy consumption of passenger automobiles and light trucks. Requires the Secretary of Energy to study and report to the Congress on the future options for regulating the fuel efficiency of such vehicles beyond 2001. Doubles the civil penalty for repeated violations of the fuel economy standard. Sets forth criteria with respect to the testing of fuel economy for small passenger automobiles that contain airbags.
United States · United States Congress · 3 August 1990
Amends the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 to affirm State authority to regulate the disposal of certain low-level radioactive waste for which the Nuclear Regulatory Commission does not require disposal in a licensed facility.
United States · United States Congress · 3 August 1990
Transfers custody and control of Pershing Hall, a memorial in Paris, France, owned by the United States, to the Department of Veterans Affairs. Requires the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to administer, develop, and improve Pershing Hall and its site, as appropriate. Establishes the Pershing Hall Revolving Fund. Provides for the transfer of monies to the Fund for the construction of major projects. Abolishes the Pershing Hall Memorial Fund and transfers the corpus of the Memorial Fund to the Revolving Fund.
United States · United States Congress · 3 August 1990
Voluntary National Service Act of 1990 - Title I: Domestic Voluntary Service - Subtitle A: Establishment and Implementation of Program - Establishes a program of voluntary domestic service (the Program) to be administered by the Director of the ACTION Agency (the Director), acting through the Associate Director for Domestic and Anti-Poverty Operations. Makes individuals age 16 or over eligible to apply to serve as full-time or part-time community service volunteers under such program. Sets forth various types of such national community service to meet the unmet needs of States, local governments, or other communities, including educational services, human services, conservation services, public safety services, and service in existing national programs, such as the Peace Corps and VISTA. Provides for application and placement processes and stipends and educational assistance for volunteers. Subtitle B: Provision of Community Services under the Program - Requires each State Governor to designate an administrator with specified duties for the Program in his or her State. Requires a State community service plan as a condition for State receipt of Program grants. Requires each State to provide certain training for volunteers to perform their community service assignments safely and sucessfully. Requires, in addition to such States training, each volunteer to receive training from the sponsoring government agency or organization in skills relevant to the work to be conducted. Directs the Associate Director to: (1) receive and review State community service plans; and (2) make grants to eligible State to assist them in implementing approved plans and paying volunteer stipends. Sets forth requirements, including State enforcement procedures, for preventing worker displacement due to the Program placements. Title II: International Voluntary Service - Amends the Peace Corps Act to provide for one-year placement of overseas volunteers with a private voluntary organization, with an option for an additional year of such service. Authorizes the President to assign up to 200 volunteers to carry out secretarial or clerical duties on the staffs of the Peace Corps representatives abroad. Directs the President, acting through the Secretary of Education, to pay up to $6,700 of the principal and interest of educational loans incurred by a volunteer, for each complete year of service performed under this Act (with a limitation of $13,400 on the total of such loan repayment for any individual). Provides that such payments shall be in lieu of the cancellation of Perkins direct student loans under the Higher Education Act of 1965 for service in the Peace Corps. Title III: Police Corps Program - Police Corps Act - Establishes an Office of the Police Corps within the Department of Justice, to be headed by a Director appointed by the President and subject to Senate confirmation. Authorizes the Director of the Office of the Police Corps to agree to repay the educational loans of State Police Corps program participants and reimburse them for educational expenses of up to a specified amount following completion of: (1) an educational course of study; (2) Federal training; and (3) four years of State or local police force service. Limits participants in such programs to 15,000 people per year. Declares that the Director's obligation to pay a participant's educational expenses shall be void and the Director shall be entitled to recover from the participant the amount of any interest on an educational loan that the Director has paid if the participant fails to complete the educational study, Federal training, and required service, unless the failure is the result of death or permanent disability. Provides that a dependent child of a law enforcement officer who is not a program participant and who is killed in the line of duty shall be entitled to the educational assistance authorized in this Act without incurring any service obligation. Sets forth selection criteria of and qualifications for participants for State Police Corps programs. Requires each State participating in the Police Corps to make special efforts to seek and recruit minorities without relaxing admission standards. Requires the Director to establish up to three training centers to provide basic law enforcement training to State Police Corps program participants. Requires participants to attend two eight-week training sessions at such training centers and to meet certain performance standards in order to remain in the Police Corps program. Requires the Director to pay participants a weekly stipend during training. Requires a State, in order to participate in the Police Corps program, to submit a plan for implementing such program to the Director for approval. Requires such plan to: (1) include assurances that participants will receive additional State or local training after completing Federal training which shall count toward the four-year service obligation; and (2) provide that program participants shall be assigned to community and preventive patrol in geographic areas with the greatest need for additional law enforcement personnel. Provides for the swearing in of participants as members of the police force to which they are assigned after completing Federal training and meeting the requirements of that police force. Requires the Director to report annually to the President and the Congress. Title IV: Nonmilitary Educational Assistance Programs - Requires that individuals who are serving in any of the voluntary programs established or amended under this Act be eligible during their volunteer service (in the same manner as are volunteers under the Domestic Volunteer Service Act of 1973) for deferment of repayment of certain student loans under the Higher Education Act of 1965. Title V: All-Volunteer Force Educational Assistance Program - Increases basic benefits under the Montgomery GI Bill program for both the active duty program and the selected reserve program. Title VI: Miscellaneous Provisions - Authorizes appropriations to the ACTION Agency, the Department of Education, the Peace Corps, the Department of Justice, the Department of Defense, and the Department of Veterans Affairs.
United States · United States Congress · 2 August 1990
Airline Passengers Defense Act of 1990 - Directs the Secretary of Transportation to establish in the Department of Transportation an Office of Airline Passenger Advocacy. Establishes the Office of Airline Passenger Advocacy Advisory Group. Amends the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 to prohibit air carriers from cancelling a flight within 72 hours of its scheduled departure time for any reason, except for safety reasons or the absence of any passengers at such departure time. Requires air carriers which cancel such flights for safety-related reasons to report to the Secretary on the cancellation, the reasons for it, and actions taken to resolve the safety-related problem. Requires air carriers to notify their passengers of any delays of 15 minutes or more in the departure or arrival of scheduled flights. Requires an air carrier which cancels a flight in violation of this Act, or alters stopping places of such flight for any reason other than safety, to compensate passengers. Prohibits on-time performance of regularly scheduled flights from being 30 percent or less in any consecutive three-month period. Requires the Secretary to establish in the Office of Airline Passenger Advocacy a toll-free telephone number system for receiving passenger complaints relating to air service. Sets forth requirements relating to: (1) ticket information; and (2) lost or damaged baggage claims. Sets forth civil penalties for economic cancellations and consistently delayed flights by air carriers.
United States · United States Congress · 1 August 1990
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a taxpayer to include farm property sold during the same taxable year as a principal residence in the one-time exclusion of gain from sale of a principal residence by an individual who has attained age 55. Sets forth a formula limiting the extent of such exclusion.
United States · United States Congress · 31 July 1990
Provides that the rate of pay of Members of Congress, judicial officers, and Executive Schedule positions shall be that in effect as of November 1, 1989. Repeals provisions of the Ethics Reform Act of 1989 which provided for a 25 percent salary increase beginning in 1991 for legislative, judicial, and Executive Schedule positions. States that nothing in this Act shall have the effect of reducing the pay of any individual whose compensation may not, under certain provisions of the U.S. Constitution, be diminished during such individual's continuance in office. Continues the current adjustment method.
United States · United States Congress · 31 July 1990
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that the Government of Angola and the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) should: (1) reaffirm that deprivation of food and medicine will not be used as a weapon in their political and military conflict; (2) agree to free passage arrangements for the safe delivery of relief assistance; (3) enter into discussions with international relief organizations and countries offering famine relief assistance to develop an agreement for the most efficient and cost-effective means of delivering relief supplies; (4) work toward a cessation of hostilities and conclude negotiations aimed at ending the civil war; and (5) encourage other southern African countries to cooperate in the delivery of famine relief supplies. Declares that: (1) the Agency for International Development should participate in and contribute to any famine relief plan consistent with such agreement; and (2) all entities supplying external military support to the Angolan Government or UNITA should promote an end to the war.
United States · United States Congress · 26 July 1990
Fair Labor Standards Technical Amendments - Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (the Act) to revise coverage relating to minimum wage and other requirements. Provides that certain minimum wage and overtime requirements cover employees engaged in industrial homework subject to the Act. Provides that certain equal pay provisions against sex discrimination in wages cover employees engaged in commerce or the production of goods for commerce. Provides that certain provisions for handicapped workers in sheltered workshops are applicable to such workers who are engaged in commerce or in the production of goods for commerce, or who are employed by an enterprise so engaged. Applies training wage provisions to seasonal agricultural workers under age 20 who are not employed, referred, or transported by a farm labor contractor. Directs the Secretary of Labor, within 90 days, to promulgate regulations that permit computer systems analysts, software engineers, and other similarly skilled professional workers to qualify for the exemption from overtime requirements as professional employees. Provides that if such employees are compensated on an hourly basis, they shall be exempt only if they are compensated at an hourly rate at least six and one-half times greater than the minimum. Makes technical corrections to the special minimum wage provisions for American Samoa.
United States · United States Congress · 25 July 1990
Family Leave Act of 1990 - Title I: General Requirements for Family Leave - Entitles employees to unpaid family leave for specified periods in cases involving the birth, adoption, or serious injury of a child. Requires the eligible employee to exhaust all accrued sick leave, vacation leave, or other paid leave before using such family leave. Reduces the ten consecutive weeks of unpaid family leave entitlement by the amount of such substituted paid leave. Requires the eligible employee to notify the employer of intent to use leave and to return to work. Sets forth employment and benefits protections relating to such leave. Allows employers to require medical certification that an employee can resume work. Permits an employer to deny restoration of position to certain highly compensated employees in certain circumstances. Reduces certain health care continuation coverage if an employee fails to return to work after such leave. Permits more protective, and prohibits less protective, maternity benefits than this Act requires under a collective bargaining agreement or employment benefit program or plan. Provides that: (1) this Act does not preempt State or local laws that require more extensive maternity leave; and (2) compliance with this Act shall not be considered a violation of certain Federal antidiscrimination laws. Sets forth special rules relating to employees of local educational agencies. Title II: Enforcement - Provides for administrative enforcement of this Act by the Secretary of Labor, as well as enforcement by civil action. Title III: Coverage of Congressional Employees - Applies the rights and protections under titles I and II of this Act to employees of the House of Representatives, except for the exemption concerning highly compensated employees. Requires that the remedies and procedures under the Fair Employment Practices Resolution be applied in administering such coverage.
United States · United States Congress · 20 July 1990
Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to provide that its coverage shall extend only to employees of enterprises engaged in commerce or in the production of goods for commerce.
United States · United States Congress · 19 July 1990
State Thrift Deposit Insurance Premium Act of 1990 - Amends the Federal Deposit Insurance Act to direct the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation to determine and apportion among the States the cumulative cost of Federal assistance provided to State-chartered savings associations for case resolutions. Declares as "high risk" any State whose share of State resolution costs exceeds twice its share of 1980 State deposits. Mandates that each high risk State pay to the Savings Association Insurance Fund prescribed premiums reflecting such risk. Sets forth insurance termination procedures if a State fails to pay the required premium. Requires depositor notification of such insurance termination.
United States · United States Congress · 11 July 1990
Rural Law Enforcement Drug Act of 1990 - Makes funds available from the Department of Justice Assets Forfeiture Fund to the Attorney General for the Rural Law Enforcement Drug Grant Program. Authorizes the Attorney General to make grants of up to $50,000 each to rural law enforcement agencies in rural counties where the population does not exceed 25,000 for: (1) conduct of training programs for law enforcement officers; (2) acquisition of vehicles and communications and other equipment; (3) special prevention and education programs for children; and (4) other programs that will reduce drug use in the county. Requires the Attorney General to prescribe criteria for the allocation of grant amounts among applicants and to prescribe program requirements for such grants. Requires reports to the Attorney General describing grant activities.
United States · United States Congress · 28 June 1990
Ice Enforcement and Prevention Act of 1990 - Amends the Controlled Substances Act and the Controlled Substances Import and Export Act to set forth penalties for offenses involving crystalline methamphetamine. Requires: (1) the Department of Education and the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) to jointly develop model, community-based curricula for disseminating comprehensive information on methamphetamine, crystal methamphetamine, and chemically related stimulants and to distribute such curricula to every primary and secondary school in the country; and (2) the Department to establish at least four statewide or regional methamphetamine prevention demonstration programs, including one project in States that are experiencing serious methamphetamine abuse problems. Authorizes appropriations for such demonstration programs. Requires the Director of NIDA to prioritize the development of a drug to treat addictions to amphetamine, methamphetamine, crystal methamphetamine, and chemically related stimulants. Requires the Director of Health and Human Services to investigate the syndrome that results from methamphetamine addiction at birth and to develop a protocol for treating newborns afflicted with methamphetamine addiction.
United States · United States Congress · 21 June 1990
Federal-State Equal Rate Act - Amends the Education of the Handicapped Act (the Act) to increase the amount of the Federal grant to which each State with an approved plan is entitled for assistance for education of all handicapped children by altering the formula for determining such amount to reflect a gradually higher percentage of the national average per pupil expenditure for FY 1991 through 1994 and subsequent fiscal years. Repeals provisions for ratable reductions of such amount. Repeals a restriction on the use of such grant funds to supplant State and local funds. Expresses the sense of the Congress that, with respect to State funds made available to States as a result of the amendments made by this Act, the States should increase the quality of education for their general populations through expending such funds toward: (1) improving teacher-student ratio; (2) increasing teacher compensation; (3) increasing course variety and availability; and (4) improving equipment quality and availability.
United States · United States Congress · 20 June 1990
Department of Veterans Affairs Codification Act - Revises provisions of Federal law which established the Department of Veterans Affairs as an executive department. Redesignates the Veterans Health Services and Research Administration as the Veterans Health Administration. Includes the Veterans' Canteen Service and the Board of Contract Appeals within the Department. Establishes within the Department an Under Secretary for Health, who shall be the head of the Veterans Health Administration. Requires the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish a commission to recommend individuals to the President whenever a vacancy occurs in the position of the Under Secretary. Redesignates the Chief Benefits Director of the Veterans Benefits Administration as the Under Secretary for Benefits Administration. Requires the Secretary to establish a commission to recommend individuals to the President whenever a vacancy occurs in the position of the Under Secretary. Revises and codifies provisions relating to the authority and various duties of the Secretary. Authorizes the Secretary to prescribe all rules and regulations necessary or appropriate to carry out the laws administered by the Department. Provides for judicial review of such rules and regulations. States that the Veterans Benefits Administration shall be operated by the Under Secretary for Benefits Administration and that the Administration shall be responsible for the following programs: compensation and pension; vocational rehabilitation and educational assistance; veterans' home loan; veterans' and service members' life insurance programs; and outreach and other veterans' services programs. Revises and reorganizes provisions relating to the organization and functions of the Veterans Health Administration. Directs the Under Secretary of the Administration to prescribe all regulations necessary for its administration. Provides specific experience criteria for several of the Assistant Under Secretaries appointed to the Administration. Directs the Secretary to: (1) establish and conduct a comprehensive program to monitor and evaluate the quality of health care furnished by the Administration; and (2) delineate the responsibilities of the Under Secretary with respect to the quality-assurance program. Requires the Under Secretary to periodically evaluate the mortality and morbidity rates for surgical procedures performed by the Administration against prevailing national standards and to explain and report on any significant deviations. Provides that a person may not serve as Chief of Staff of a Department health-care facility if the person is not serving on a full-time basis. Makes technical and conforming amendments. Adds savings provisions.
United States · United States Congress · 20 June 1990
House of Representatives Clean Indoor Air Act - Prohibits an individual from possessing a lit tobacco product in any public area within a House office building unless it is in an area designated by the House Office Building Commission. Requires the Clerk of the House of Representatives to study and report to the Committee on House Administration on the feasibility of offering a smoke cessation assistance program for Representatives, officers, and employees of the House.
United States · United States Congress · 19 June 1990
Western Hemisphere Debt for Nature Conversion Act - Authorizes the President, under debt-for-nature swap agreements, to release eligible Latin American and Caribbean countries from obligations to repay economic assistance loans. Directs the President, in determining the eligibility of a country for such agreements, to take into account: (1) the needs for financial resources for protecting or restoring environmentally critical areas and resources in such country; and (2) the commitment of the country's government to such protection and restoration.
United States · United States Congress · 19 June 1990
Economic and Budgeting Commission Act of 1990 - Title I: Economic and Budgeting Commission - Establishes the Economic and Budgeting Commission to report to the President and the Congress on which budget baseline shall be used for purposes of: (1) the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act); (2) the Congressional Budget Act of 1974; and (3) the Federal budget process. Requires the Commission to choose the budget baseline set forth in either the report issued by the Office of Management and Budget or the report issued by the Congressional Budget Office. Title II: Conforming Amendments; Effective Date - Amends the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985, the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, and Federal law to make revisions as required by this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 14 June 1990
Korean War Veterans Memorial Thirty-Eighth Anniversary Commemorative Coin Act - Expresses the sense of the Congress that the United States should recognize the 38th anniversary of the Korean War by minting and issuing a silver dollar coin. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to issue one-dollar silver coins to commemorate the 38th anniversary of the ending of the Korean War. Terminates such authority after December 31, 1991. Mandates that surcharges from the sale of such coins be used for the Korean War Veterans Memorial.
United States · United States Congress · 12 June 1990
Housing and Memorial Affairs Amendments of 1990 - Makes eligible for various veterans' home loan benefits any individual not otherwise eligible for benefits who has completed a total of at least six years of service in the Selected Reserve and who was discharged honorably, placed on the retired list, or transferred to an element of the Ready Reserve other than the Selected Reserve. Defines the amount of loan fee to be paid by a veteran qualifying under the Selected Reserve eligibility provisions. Provides that, as of October 1, 1990: (1) the limitation on the number of homes purchased by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs for which loan guaranty defaults occurred which may be financed by a loan made by the Secretary shall cease to have effect; and (2) the Secretary may sell any note evidencing such a loan with or without recourse if the amount received is not less than the unpaid balance of such loan. Prohibits the Secretary from selling any note evidencing a loan for which the Guaranty and Indemnity Fund is available. Extends such property management provisions through December 31, 1993. Makes permanent (current law expires on March 1, 1991) the authority of the Secretary for default procedures for loans made, guaranteed, or insured by the Department. Extends through FY 1993 (currently, FY 1990) the procedure for real estate appraisals to be followed by the Secretary. Authorizes the Secretary to carry out an administrative reorganization that involves closing the loan guaranty division at the Togus Veteran Affairs Medical and Regional Office Center, Togus, Maine, and transferring such functions to the Manchester Veterans Affairs Regional Office, Manchester, New Hampshire. Provides that, in the making of a claim on a manufactured home on which a loan was made or guaranteed by the Department, the holder of the loan shall have the election of submitting a claim to the Secretary based on the value of the property securing the loan as determined by the Secretary, or on the actual proceeds from the liquidation sale of the property securing the loan. Allows payments of a claim on a guaranty to be made only after the filing of an accounting with the Secretary. Authorizes the Secretary to provide for flat grave markers in the section of the Florida National Cemetery in which replaced grave liners were installed before July 30, 1988. Directs the Secretary, at the request of the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, to certify whether an applicant for assistance under any law administered by HUD is a veteran. Provides that an applicant for a loan made, guaranteed, or insured by the Department shall not be subject to reporting requirements applicable to requests for, or receipts of, Federal contracts, grants, loans, or cooperative agreements except to the extent that such requirements are provided for in or by the Secretary pursuant to the veterans' housing loan guaranty program. Directs the Secretary to carry out a demonstration project, during FY 1991 and 1992 and in at least two but not more than ten regional offices, for guaranteeing loans in a manner similar to which the Secretary of HUD insures adjustable rate mortgages under applicable provisions of the National Housing Act. Requires a report from the Secretary to the Congress on the implementation of such project.
United States · United States Congress · 7 June 1990
Authorizes the States to waive application of the Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1986 to vehicles used either for transporting farm supplies from retail dealers to or from a farm, or for custom harvesting, regardless of whether or not they are controlled or operated by a farmer.
United States · United States Congress · 7 June 1990
Savings Association Law Enforcement Improvement Act of 1990 - Directs the Attorney General to: (1) take action to increase the investigation and prosecution of savings association criminal misconduct; (2) take increased action to recover or obtain restitution for losses incurred as a result of savings association fraud or embezzlement; and (3) make quarterly reports to certain congressional committees on the status of savings association criminal investigations and prosecutions and the progress in recovering amounts lost to fraud and embezzlement.
United States · United States Congress · 24 May 1990
Economic Opportunity Act of 1990 - Amends part F (Job Opportunities and Basic Skills Training Program) of title IV of the Social Security Act to authorize States to assign participants in work supplementation programs to existing unfilled jobs and to use sums that would otherwise be used to provide such participants with food stamp benefits under the Food Stamp Act of 1977 to subsidize jobs for such participants. Establishes a required minimum employer contribution to the wages paid to program participants. Provides financial incentives for State participation in work supplementation programs.
United States · United States Congress · 24 May 1990
Designates: (1) the House of Representatives office building at C Street and New Jersey Avenue, Southeast, District of Columbia, known as House of Representatives Office Building Annex No. 1, as the Thomas P. O'Neill, Jr. House of Representatives Office Building; and (2) the House office building at 3d and D Streets, Southwest, District of Columbia, known as House of Representatives Office Building Annex No. 2, as the Gerald R. Ford House of Representatives Office Building.
United States · United States Congress · 23 May 1990
Amends Federal Law (popularly known as the Agricultural College Act of 1890 and also as the Second Morrill Act) to require that, if any State or Territory has more than one college which is entitled to receive an annual payment under land grant college provisions, the payments must be equitably divided among the colleges, as proposed by the State or Territorial legislature and approved by the Secretary of Agriculture. (Current law replaced by this provision prohibits payments to colleges where admission distinctions are made on the basis of race or color, but allows payments to separate colleges or educational institutions for white and colored students so long as the payments are equitably divided.)
United States · United States Congress · 17 May 1990
Beginning Farmer and Rancher Credit Act of 1990 - Amends the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to establish for qualified beginning farmers and ranchers: (1) a loan interest rate reduction program; and (2) a down payment loan program. Defines "qualified beginning farmer or rancher" for purposes of this Act. Obligates specified amounts for loans and guarantees to qualified beginning farmers and ranchers.
United States · United States Congress · 17 May 1990
Medicare Bone Mass Measurement Coverage Act of 1990 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide Medicare coverage of bone mass measurements.
United States · United States Congress · 17 May 1990
Osteoporosis and Related Bone Disorders Research, Education, and Health Services Act of 1990 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Director of the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMSD) and the Director of the National Institute on Aging (NIA) to expand and intensify research on osteoporosis and related bone disorders. Requires, with respect to osteoporosis and related bone disorders: (1) the NIAMSD Director to increase the number of Specialized Centers of Research; and (2) the NIA Director to increase the number of program project grants devoted to creating centers of excellence. Authorizes appropriations. Establishes in the Department of Health and Human Services the Interagency Council on Osteoporosis and Related Disorders and the Advisory Panel on Osteoporosis and Related Disorders. Authorizes appropriations for the Advisory Panel. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make up to three grants to establish model health promotion projects for community-based education on osteoporosis, with each project targeting one of these groups: young and teenage girls, midlife women, and older men and women. Authorizes appropriations. Requires the NIAMSD Director to make grants or enter into contracts to establish a Resource Center on Osteoporosis and Related Disorders to: (1) disseminate information about research results, services, and educational materials to health professionals, patients, and the public; and (2) coordinate regional training programs for the development of health professional resource networks. Requires grant and contract recipients to establish: (1) a central computerized information system to, among other matters, translate scientific and technical information into information readily understandable by the general public; and (2) a national toll-free telephone information line. Requires the grant or contract recipient to charge fees for providing information, but allows exceptions for individuals and organizations unable to pay. Authorization appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 17 May 1990
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that the Director of the Peace Corps should: (1) develop a volunteer service through which business people and farmers could share their entrepreneurial experience with their counterparts in Eastern Europe; and (2) invite business people with a record of volunteer service to form a task force to recommend the elements of the service.
![Official portrait of Rep. Penny, Timothy J. [D-MN-1]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/p000215_200.jpg)