United States · United States Congress · 3 May 1989
Head Start Improvement Amendments of 1989 - Expresses the sense of the Congress that all Head Start programs should provide, as authorized by the Head Start Act, more than one year of Head Start services to children from age three to the age of compulsory school attendance in the State where the program is located. Amends the Head Start Act to define "full-working-day" as at least six hours per day. Requires each Head Start agency to provide full-working-day Head Start services throughout the year (excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and applicable legal public holidays). Authorizes appropriations under the Head Start Act from FY 1990 through 1994.
United States · United States Congress · 2 May 1989
Commission on the Mississippi River National Heritage Corridor Act of 1989 - Establishes the Commission on the Mississippi River National Heritage Corridor to investigate and make recommendations regarding: (1) the creation of a Mississippi River National Heritage Corridor, to run through Arkansas, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Tennessee, and Wisconsin; and (2) other issues affecting the growth and development of the Corridor. Terminates such Commission 90 days after submission of a specified report. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 2 May 1989
National Voter Registration Act of 1989 - Requires each State to establish procedures with respect to elections for Federal office to permit voter registration by: (1) application in person simultaneously with application for a motor vehicle driver's license; (2) mail application; and (3) application in person at designated Federal, State, and private sector locations. Declares that this Act does not apply to any State that has no voter registration requirement with respect to elections for Federal office. Requires each State to establish a uniform and nondiscriminatory program to confirm the registration of voters in such State. States that challenges to the qualifications of an individual to vote in an election for Federal office may be made on the day of the election only as provided by State law. Provides for individuals with and without documentary proof of qualification to vote. Sets forth a special procedure to enable an individual to vote when his registration to vote cannot be verified. Requires each State to: (1) assure that any eligible applicant who submits his or her application 30 days before the election is registered to vote in the election; (2) require the appropriate State election official to notify each applicant of the disposition of the application; (3) provide that the name of a voter may not be removed from the official list of eligible voters for failure to vote or any other reason except death, criminal conviction, mental incapacity, change in residence, or voter request; and (4) inform those who register pursuant to this Act of voter eligibility requirements and penalties provided by law for submission of a false voter registration application. Requires the Federal Election Commission to report on the impact of this Act on the administration of elections for Federal office. Requires each State to designate a chief State election official to coordinate State functions under this Act. Provides a private right of action for an individual aggrieved by a violation of this Act. Provides for the awarding of attorney fees to the prevailing party, other than the United States. Imposes criminal penalties upon any person who: (1) intimidates, threatens, or coerces any person for registering or voting or exercising any right under this Act; or (2) deprives or defrauds the inhabitants of a State of a fair and impartially conducted election process. Authorizes appropriations necessary to carry out this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 2 May 1989
Privacy for Consumers and Workers Act - Requires employers who engage in electronic monitoring to provide each affected employee with prior written notice describing specified aspects of the electronic monitoring directly affecting the employee. Requires employers to notify prospective employees at personal interviews or meetings of existing forms of electronic monitoring which may directly affect them and, upon request, provide them with the written notice provided to employees. Requires employers to provide affected employees with some form of visual or aural notice that indicates that electronic monitoring is taking place, at periodic intervals unless the monitoring is continuous during each of the employee's shifts. Requires employers to provide affected customers with some form of visual or aural notice, at periodic intervals, indicating that telephone service observation is taking place. Requires employers to permit employees or their authorized agents to have access to all personal data obtained by electronic monitoring of their work. Prohibits employers from collecting personal data on an employee which is not relevant to the employee's work performance. Prohibits employers from disclosing personal data obtained by electronic monitoring to any person or business except to the individual employee to whom that data pertains or without the employee's prior written consent, unless disclosure would be: (1) to the employer's officers and employees who need it to perform their duties; (2) to a law enforcement agency for a criminal investigation or prosecution; or (3) pursuant to a proper court order. Prohibits employers from using personal data obtained by electronic monitoring as the exclusive basis for individual employee performance evaluation or disciplinary action, unless the employee is given an opportunity to review the data within a reasonable time after it is obtained. Prohibits employers from using personal data or collective data obtained by electronic monitoring as the sole basis for setting production quotas or work performance expectations. Prohibits employers from maintaining, collecting, using, or disseminating personal data obtained by electronic monitoring which describes how an employee exercises First Amendment rights, unless such use is: (1) expressly authorized by statute or by the employee; or (2) pertinent to and within the scope of an authorized law enforcement activity. Sets forth the following enforcement provisions: (1) civil penalties; (2) injunctive actions by the Secretary of Labor; and (3) private civil actions. Prohibits waiver of rights and procedures provided by this Act, unless such waiver is part of a written settlement by the parties to a pending action or complaint. Directs the Secretary of Labor to issue rules and regulations to carry out this Act within six months. Makes this Act inapplicable to otherwise permissible electronic monitoring by law enforcement agencies in criminal investigations.
United States · United States Congress · 2 May 1989
Requires a certain percentage of Federal fleets of passenger automobiles and light-duty trucks to be alternative fuel vehicles by specified deadlines if such vehicles are being operated in an area designated under the Clean Air Act as an area of serious health endangerment for ozone and/or carbon monoxide. Requires the Administrator of General Services and the Secretary of Defense, with the concurrence of the Secretary of Energy, to issue regulations ensuring that such vehicles shall: (1) be supplied with alcohol, natural gas, other gaseous hydrocarbons, or electricity in the primary area of operation; and (2) be operated exclusively on such fuel (except when it is impracticable to obtain it). Requires funds appropriated to implement this Act to be expended first in those areas determined by the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (the Administrator) to have the most severe air pollution problems. Prescribes circumstances under which such alternative fuels shall be offered for sale to the public. Mandates that the funds appropriated for alternative fuel vehicle acquisition apply only to the portion of costs which exceeds the cost for comparable conventional fuel vehicles. Directs the Secretary of Energy to ensure that the cost to any Federal agency receiving an alternative fuel vehicle under this Act not exceed the cost to such agency of a comparable conventional fueled vehicle. Mandates that gasoline powered Federal vehicles, with specified exceptions, which are operated in an area designated as seriously endangering health for carbon monoxide, and which are not dual energy (or natural gas dual energy), be operated exclusively with fuel which blends oxygenates with gasoline at their primary fueling facility. Requires underground fuel storage equipment installed or replaced at designated Federal facilities to be capable of safely storing alcohol. Requires the Administrator to report to the Congress the results of a comprehensive analysis regarding the public health risk associated with the use of significant amounts of alcohol, natural gas, or other gaseous hydrocarbons as transportation fuels as compared to diesel and gasoline fuels. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1991. Sets forth criteria for alternative fuel vehicles. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1993 through 1996.
United States · United States Congress · 2 May 1989
Condemns the use of excessive and lethal force by Soviet troops in responding to the demonstrations of April 9, 1989, in Tbilisi, Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic. Urges the Soviet Union to investigate allegations of the use of toxic chemical agents against the demonstrators in Tbilisi and, if true, to take steps to prevent the reoccurrence of such use. Supports the demands of the people of Georgia for human rights and fundamental freedoms.
United States · United States Congress · 27 April 1989
Biennial Budget Act - Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to revise the Federal and congressional budget processes by establishing a two-year budgeting and appropriations cycle and timetable, beginning in the 102d Congress. Defines the budget biennium as the two consecutive fiscal years beginning on October 1 of any odd-numbered year. Devotes the first session of any Congress to the budget resolution and to appropriations decisions, retaining current deadlines in most cases. Changes relevant deadlines as follows to conform to the biennial scheme: (1) from April 1 to March 31 for the Senate Budget Committee's report on the concurrent resolution on the budget; (2) from June 15 to September 30 for completion of congressional action on reconciliation legislation; and (3) from June 30 to September 30 for completion of congressional action on appropriations bills. Devotes each second session to authorization activity, subject to deadlines of: (1) May 15 for the submission of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report to the Budget Committees; and (2) the last day of the session for completion of congressional action on bills and resolutions authorizing new budget authority for the next biennium. Changes from January 15 to February 15 of each year the date by which the CBO Director must submit to the Congress a report on authorizations. Requires the Director of the CBO to issue four-year projections of congressional budget action. (Current projections are on a five-year basis.) Amends provisions relating to the reconciliation process to: (1) increase from 20 hours to 100 hours the time of debate permitted in the Senate with respect to reconciliation measures; and (2) make it out of order in both the House and the Senate to consider any reconciliation legislation changing any provision of law other than one relating to new budget or spending authority, revenues, or the public debt limit. Revises the extent of projections to be included in CBO analyses of reported bills. Amends Federal law to require the President's budget for a biennium to be set forth in the same accounts as those set forth in the table titled "The Federal Program by Agency and Account" in the budget submitted for FY 1991. Requires the President to consult with committees having jurisdiction over programs affected by proposed changes before any changes may be made in the budget tables. (Current law requiring consultation with the Budget and Appropriations Committees remains unchanged.) Conforms provisions governing the President's budget, including maximum deficit amount requirements, to the biennial framework. Changes the due date for the President's report on estimated budget outlays and proposed budget authority, making the report due at the same time as the President's budget. Requires the Joint Economic Committee to submit its evaluation of these estimates by February 25 of each odd-numbered year. (The current annual deadline is March 1). Directs the heads of Federal executive agencies, the Comptroller General, and the Directors of the Congressional Budget Office, the Office of Technology Assessment, and the Congressional Research Service to provide studies, analyses, reports, and other documentation concerning program administration to assist the standing committees of the House and the Senate having jurisdiction over the programs in question. Amends the Rules of the House of Representatives to conform to the biennial framework.
United States · United States Congress · 27 April 1989
Amends the Toxic Substances Control Act to extend the deadlines to: (1) May 1, 1990, for the submission of asbestos management plans by local educational agencies; (2) December 31, 1989, for requests for deferral of such submissions; and (3) July 9, 1990, for the implementation of such plans, upon approval of a deferral request.
United States · United States Congress · 27 April 1989
Overseas Base Closure and Realignment Act of 1989 - Establishes the Commission on Realignment and Closure of Bases Outside the United States. Requires the Commission to make recommendations with respect to the realignment or closure of U.S. military installations outside the United States and report to the Secretary and specified congressional committees the results of such recommendations. Directs the Secretary of Defense to: (1) close all military installations located outside the United States and recommended for closure by the Commission on Realignment and Closure of Bases Outside the United States; (2) realign all military installations located outside the United States and recommended for realignment by the Commission; and (3) initiate such closure or realignment no later than the earliest date on which the United States may, pursuant to treaty or other agreement with the foreign country concerned, close or realign the military installation concerned. Prohibits the Secretary from carrying out any closure or realignment under this Act unless: (1) no later than March 15, 1990, the Secretary has reported to the Senate and House Armed Services Committees that the Secretary has approved and will implement all closures and realignments recommended by the Commission; and (2) the Commission has recommended such closures or realignments and has reported such recommendations to the Committees. Prohibits the Secretary from carrying out any such closure or realignment if a joint resolution is enacted disapproving the recommendations of the Commission within a specified time. Directs the Secretary, in closing or realigning a military installation under this Act, to carry out any actions necessary to implement such closure or realignment. Waives, for purposes of this Act, any provision of law restricting the use of funds for closing or realigning military installations included in any appropriation or authorization Act. Establishes in the Treasury the Department of Defense Overseas Base Closure Account. Provides that, when a decision is made to use funds in the Account to carry out a construction project and the cost of such project will exceed the maximum amount authorized by law for a minor construction project, the Secretary shall notify the appropriate congressional committees of the nature of, and justification for, such project and the amount of expenditures for the project. Directs the Secretary, as part of each annual budget request for the Department of Defense, to transmit to the appropriate committees of the Congress: (1) a schedule of the closures and realignments to be carried out under this Act and the cost savings to be achieved; and (2) a description of the military installations to which functions are to be transferred as a result of such closures and realignments. Directs the Secretary to report to the appropriate congressional committees the amount and nature of deposits into, and expenditures from, the Account during the prior fiscal year. Outlines the legislative process for the consideration of Commission recommendations by way of a joint resolution in the Congress.
United States · United States Congress · 26 April 1989
Amends the Federal Meat Inspection Act to authorize the distribution of a meat article or animal without charge to nonprofit private entities or to State, local, and Federal entities engaged in the distribution of food without charge to individuals, if the article or animal: (1) is in violation of the Act; (2) has been seized and condemned; (3) is capable of use as a human food; and (4) has been inspected under the Act. Relieves the United States and the person from whom the meat was seized and condemned from legal responsibility for the article or animal if it was found after inspection under the Act to be capable of use as a human food.
United States · United States Congress · 26 April 1989
Amends Federal law relating to the provision of books for the adult blind to provide that the certification of dyslexia, for purposes of eligibility for a loan of books published on sound reproduction recordings, may be made by a competent authority only through the use of a test: (1) approved by the Director of the National Institutes of Health; and (2) administered by an individual (who does not have to be a doctor of medicine) qualified to administer and evaluate such a test.
United States · United States Congress · 26 April 1989
Amends Internal Revenue Code provisions governing the income tax deduction for the health insurance costs of self-employed individuals to: (1) make the deduction permanent (under current law it will expire after tax year 1989); and (2) phase in an increase in the allowable deduction, reaching 100 percent for taxable years beginning in 1994 and thereafter.
United States · United States Congress · 26 April 1989
Amends the District of Columbia Code to set an 18-month limit on the term of imprisonment which may be imposed for contempt in child custody cases. Requires the District of Columbia Court of Appeals to hear an appeal from an order of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia holding an individual in contempt and imposing imprisonment on such individual in the course of a child custody case within 60 days after such individual requests such appeal.
United States · United States Congress · 26 April 1989
Expresses the sense of the House that the Environmental Protection Agency should strongly encourage nonattainment cities to include in their State Implementation Plans, as cost effective and preferred pollution control strategies in meeting Clean Air Act standards, the required use of ethanol blended and other oxygenated fuels in carbon monoxide nonattainment areas, neat alcohol fuels in ozone nonattainment areas, and compressed natural gas in both carbon monoxide and ozone nonattainment areas.
United States · United States Congress · 25 April 1989
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend the targeted jobs income tax credit through 1992 (under current law the credit will expire after December 31, 1989). Amends the Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981 to authorize appropriations through FY 1992 in connection with the targeted jobs credit. Raises from 23 to 25 years the age limitation with respect to economically disadvantaged youth targeted for credit purposes. Adds as a targeted group under the credit economically disadvantaged individuals who have completed a qualified drug rehabilitation program.
United States · United States Congress · 18 April 1989
Amends the Agricultural Act of 1949 to permit producers to provide county committees with actual crop yield data for 1989 and subsequent crop years. Requires the Secretary of Agriculture to: (1) conduct a study of the alternative methods of determining payment yields and their impact on producers and commodity programs; and (2) report the results of such study to the appropriate congressional committees.
United States · United States Congress · 18 April 1989
Student Loan Default Collection Act of 1989 - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to establish a student loan default reduction program. Establishes such program as an amnesty program for student loan defaulters on guaranteed loans under the Robert T. Stafford Student Loan Program. Allows borrowers with defaulted loans to fully repay the debt: (1) without penalties; (2) with any information on the defaulted loans removed from credit bureaus; and (3) with their student aid eligibility restored. Directs the Secretary of Education (the Secretary) to sell to an eligible lender the loans of students: (1) who are in default because of a clerical error; or (2) who have made 12 consecutive payments on a defaulted loan (with the student aid eligibility of such students to be restored). Directs the Secretary to widely publicize the availability of such amnesty program.
United States · United States Congress · 18 April 1989
Live Performing Arts Labor Relations Amendments - Amends the National Labor Relations Act to exclude specified types of employers and performers in the live performing arts from coverage under unfair labor practice provisions: (1) prohibiting specified contracts or agreements between employers and labor organizations; and (2) prohibiting specified actions of labor organizations to force or require cessation of dealings with others, joining of labor or employer organizations, or recognition of or negotiation with labor organizations not certified as representative. Permits such employers to: (1) agree with a labor organization to make membership in it a condition of performing arts employment; and (2) make agreements with a labor organization covering performing artists even if its majority status has not yet been established. Defines "employer" to include purchasers of live musical performance services. Defines "employee" to include independent contractors engaged to perform live musical services.
United States · United States Congress · 18 April 1989
Organ Transportation Good Samaritan Act - Limits to gross negligence the liability of persons who without compensation transport by air in interstate commerce human transplant organs.
United States · United States Congress · 18 April 1989
Employee Educational Assistance Act of 1989 - Repeals provisions of the Internal Revenue Code that: (1) terminated the income tax exclusion of amounts paid under employee educational assistance programs as of tax year 1989; and (2) deny benefits in connection with graduate work.
United States · United States Congress · 18 April 1989
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that: (1) every effort should be undertaken to bring those responsible for the bombing of Pan American flight 103 to justice; and (2) steps should be taken to ensure the future safety of airline passengers.
United States · United States Congress · 13 April 1989
Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to establish a Joint Committee on the Budget to replace and assume the current functions and duties of the Budget Committees of the Senate and House of Representatives. Amends the Standing Rules of the Senate and the Rules of the House of Representatives to reflect the establishment of the new Joint Committee. Lists matters within the Committee's jurisdiction. Establishes a two-year budgeting cycle, but continues annual appropriations legislation. Devotes the first session of any Congress to action on a joint resolution on the biennial budget, subject to the following revised deadlines: (1) April 15 for the Joint Budget Committee to report its joint resolution; (2) May 15 for the Congress to complete action on the resolution; and (3) September 30 for the Congress to complete action on annual appropriations bills and on reconciliation legislation. Shifts the budget resolution from a concurrent to a joint resolution form (thereby requiring the President's signature). Revises the resolution to separate committee allocations of budget and credit authority and budget outlays into the following functional totals: (1) defense discretionary; (2) defense entitlement and mandatory; (3) domestic discretionary; (4) domestic entitlement and mandatory; (5) international affairs discretionary; (6) international affairs entitlement and mandatory; (7) offsetting receipts; and (8) net interest. Requires the Director of the Congressional Budget Office to issue four-year projections of congressional budget action. (Current projections are on a five-year basis.) Amends Federal law to require the President's budget for a biennium to be set forth in the same accounts as those set forth in the Budget Accounts Listing in the budget submitted for FY 1991. Requires the President to consult with committees having jurisdiction over programs affected by proposed changes before any changes may be made in the budget tables. (Current law requiring consultation with the Budget and Appropriations Committees remains unchanged.) Conforms provisions governing the President's budget to the biennial framework. Directs the President to transmit during the first 15 days of the second session any budget revisions with respect to the budget transmitted in the first session, whose deadline is changed to the 15th day after the session begins. Makes allocations subsequent to the joint budget resolution only to the Appropriations Committees, for subdivision among their subcommittees by the relevant major functional categories. Requires that if the Congress has not adopted a joint budget resolution by May 15 for the biennium that begins on October 1 of that year, it will be deemed to have adopted the resolution at the baseline level under the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act) with reductions assumed as necessary to meet maximum deficit target amounts. Appropriates as continuing appropriations amounts effective for the preceding fiscal year if a regular appropriations bill has not become law before the beginning of the fiscal year. Expresses the sense of the Congress that before FY 1994 legislation should be enacted establishing fiscal targets beyond those mandated by the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act, with the object of producing a unified budget surplus and eliminating the deficit with respect to budget amounts that do not include the social security trust funds.
United States · United States Congress · 13 April 1989
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to permit an individual taxpayer an income tax deduction for travel, food, lodging, and transportation expenses paid or incurred in connection with the taxpayer's performance of services as a member of the armed forces reserves or the National Guard. Excludes the taxpayer's meal and entertainment expenses from deductibility limitations in this context.
United States · United States Congress · 13 April 1989
Authorizes the Raoul Wallenberg Tribute Committee to establish a work to honor Raoul Wallenberg on Federal land in the District of Columbia or its environs. Prohibits the United States from paying any expense of the establishment of the work.
United States · United States Congress · 13 April 1989
Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) the President should direct the Secretaries of Agriculture and State and the Administrator of the Agency for International Development to encourage the Government of Japan to use a portion of its increased foreign assistance funds to increase the availability of international food aid supplies through bilateral or multilateral channels to meet the needs of the world's hungry people; (2) Japanese aid resources could be channeled to finance long-term contracts to purchase and deliver commodities from the United States and developing country agricultural producers as donations to nongovernmental or international organizations for use in hunger alleviation projects; (3) during such long-term contractual agreement, such purchases of food and agricultural commodities purchased by Japan should be considered as increased importation by Japan of such products for the purposes of U.S. trade laws; (4) during the period of any such purchases by Japan from the United States, the value of U.S. purchases of the same agricultural commodities should be maintained at no less than FY 1989 levels; and (5) the commodities purchased under this program should be donated to organizations equipped to ensure that the food will be available only to projects that meet specified criteria (relating to the proper use of such food aid and the assurances of no negative impact on the agricultural producers in the areas to which the food is sent).
United States · United States Congress · 13 April 1989
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the United States should: (1) give the highest priority to fully accounting for the Americans still missing in Southeast Asia and to negotiating the return of Americans still held captive; (2) maintain an ongoing dialogue with Vietnamese, Cambodian, and Lao officials so that the prisoners of war issue may be resolved; (3) continue joint field investigations with such officials; and (4) heighten public awareness of the prisoners of war issue through the dissemination of factual data.
United States · United States Congress · 12 April 1989
Government Contractor Whistleblower Protection Act of 1989 - Prohibits a Federal contractor from taking reprisal actions against its officers or employees for disclosing information to a Federal agency regarding performance of a contract with such agency which indicates: (1) a violation of law; or (2) mismanagement, gross waste of funds, abuse of authority, or a danger to public health or safety. Sets forth civil penalties and remedies for violations of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 12 April 1989
United States-Soviet Peace Corps Agreements Act - Expresses the sense of the Congress that the President should negotiate agreements with the Government of the Soviet Union to provide for the mutual establishment, organization, administration, and management of a United States-Soviet Peace Corps (Corps). Declares that the Corps should establish projects in both countries and in developing countries to: (1) aid elderly and disabled persons and children; (2) protect health and the environment; and (3) provide for assistance in instances of emergencies and natural disasters. Declares that the Corps should select and employ individuals from the United States and the Soviet Union to carry out such projects. Divides the cost of operations of the Corps between the United States and the Soviet Union. Declares that the duties of operation of the Corps belonging to the United States should be the responsibility of the Director of the Peace Corps. Requires the President to submit a report to the Congress for each such concluded Peace Corps agreement within 90 days after it is completed.
United States · United States Congress · 11 April 1989
Amends Federal law relating to Interstate highway construction funds to provide that any State which voluntarily reduces the period of availability of apportioned funds for any fiscal year shall be ineligible to receive funds for the succeeding fiscal year.
United States · United States Congress · 6 April 1989
Missing Service Personnel Act of 1989 - Requires the responsible uniformed service commander, after receiving notice that a person under his command is missing, to conduct an informal investigation to determine such person's whereabouts and, if appropriate, to place such person in a missing status. Requires the commander, if a person has been placed in such status, to notify the officer holding general court-martial authority over such person (or, in the case of a missing civilian, the Secretary concerned), who shall convene a board of initial inquiry within 45 days. Requires such board to: (1) investigate evidence relating to the disappearance of such person; (2) recommend whether to continue such person in a missing status or make a finding that such person has deserted, is absent without leave, or is dead; and (3) report its recommendations and findings. Provides for the convening of a board of further inquiry, if a board of initial inquiry recommends that such person be continued in a missing status, within one year of such recommendation. Requires such board to analyze any information which has become available since the board of initial inquiry issued its report, to determine whether such person should be continued in a missing status or declared dead, and to report its findings. Directs the Secretary concerned, upon the written request of a member of the immediate family of a missing person who, before the date of the enactment of this Act, was determined by the Secretary to be dead, to: (1) convene a board of further inquiry to determine whether such finding of death should be upheld or such person should be placed in a missing status; and (2) report its findings. Requires the Secretary, within three years after a board of further inquiry recommends a missing status for any person, to reconvene such board to review such status. Specifies the composition of such boards. Directs the Secretary to invite each member of the immediate family of the missing person to the meetings of a board of initial inquiry unless attendance would place such member in danger. Requires the Secretary to: (1) invite family members of missing persons to meetings of boards of further inquiry; (2) schedule such meetings at convenient locations and times; (3) provide such family members with reasonable notice of such meetings; and (4) open such meetings to the general public. Authorizes each board to hold meetings, take testimony, receive evidence, and secure directly from any U.S. department or agency any information necessary to carry out its duties. Provides for the appointment of counsel by the officer or Secretary concerned to represent the missing person. Requires that, if a board determines that a missing person is dead, it shall include in its report a detailed description of the location and date of death, whether the body has been recovered, and whether a licensed practitioner of forensic medicine determined that the body recovered is that of the missing person. Prohibits any such board from declaring a missing person dead unless: (1) evidence other than the passage of a period of less than 50 years suggests that such person is dead; (2) no evidence which reasonably suggests that such person is alive is in the possession of the Government; (3) representatives of the Government have made a complete search of the area where such person was last seen (unless the United States is not granted access to such area); and (4) Government representatives have checked the records of the government or entity having control over the area where such person was last seen (unless the Government is not granted access to such records). Provides for judicial review of determinations of death upon the filing of a written petition by any member of the missing person's immediate family. Directs the Secretary of the uniformed service in which a missing person serves to make certain that such person's personnel file contains all information in the possession of Federal departments and agencies pertaining to the disappearance or whereabouts of such person. Requires the Secretary to make certain that, if classified information is withheld, such file contains: (1) a notice that the information exists; and (2) a notice of the date of the most recent review of the classification status of the information. Sets forth penalties for knowingly withholding information pertaining to the disappearance or whereabouts of a missing person from that person's personnel file. Requires the Secretary concerned to make the contents of such file available to a member of the immediate family of such person upon written request.
United States · United States Congress · 6 April 1989
Amends Federal military personnel provisions to exempt retired members of the armed forces who are called to active, full-time duty with the American Battle Monuments Commission from certain number and grade limitations on officers in the armed forces.
United States · United States Congress · 6 April 1989
Elementary School Improvement Project Act - Directs the Secretary of Education to make demonstration grants to local educational agencies (LEAs) to conduct programs designed to reduce the student-to-teacher ratio in the primary grades of elementary schools. Requires each LEA that receives such a grant to establish and maintain in schools under its jurisdiction an average student-to-teacher ratio of not more than 15 students per teacher, and a maximum ratio of not more than 18 students per teacher. Applies such ratios to: (1) the first grades of such schools for each year for which the grant is received; (2) the second grades for the second and third years of the grant; and (3) the third grades for the third year of the grant. Sets the Federal share of the cost of activities carried out under such a grant at: (1) 90 percent for the first year; (2) 70 percent for the second year; and (3) 50 percent for the third year. Allows the non-Federal share to be in cash or in kind. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1989 and succeeding fiscal years.
United States · United States Congress · 6 April 1989
Urges the President to: (1) sign and submit to the Senate for ratification the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal; and (2) submit to the Congress proposed legislation to reform U.S. hazardous waste export laws and regulations.
United States · United States Congress · 5 April 1989
Tropical Forest Protection Act of 1989 - Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to instruct the U.S. executive directors of specified multilateral development banks to promote the preservation of tropical forests or other endangered ecosystems and species in debtor developing countries by enabling such countries, through debt reduction or restructuring, to buy back private debt at discount rates in the secondary market if such countries: (1) convert an agreed upon amount of debt to local currency for use in "debt-for-nature swap" programs for the protection of such forests, ecosystems, or species; or (2) demonstrate a commitment to the protection of such forests in the form of such swaps for set asides or conservation easements. Directs the Secretary to instruct such directors to consult with one another to promote debt suspension in such countries as long as environmental protection commitments are maintained. Requires the Secretary to instruct the U.S. executive director to the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development to initiate discussions with other directors and management of the Bank and propose a three-year environmental sector lending program for countries with such commitments to: (1) reduce the future need for lending for reforestation and restoration of environmentally degraded areas; and (2) be based on the estimated long-term economic return expected from the sustainable use and protection of tropical forests and the benefits from maintenance of biological diversity and climate stabilization. Directs the Secretary to instruct such directors to promote policies which: (1) assist in strengthening nongovernmental organizations in such countries by providing technical assistance and support for environmental protection activities; and (2) encourage international collaboration for information exchange and project enhancement with environmental protection organizations.
United States · United States Congress · 5 April 1989
Healthy Birth Act of 1989 - Amends title V (Maternal and Child Health Services) of the Social Security Act to increase authorized appropriations for such program. Sets aside certain appropriated amounts for comprehensive State infant mortality initiatives and Federal activities in coordination with such initiatives. Prohibits Federal assistance for such a State initiative unless the State provides assurances that it will: (1) establish a toll-free telephone information and referral system for maternal and child health services; (2) provide technical assistance and public awareness activities regarding the maternal and child health handbook to be disseminated by the Secretary of Health and Human Services; (3) develop and expand maternal and child health home visiting programs; (4) establish a "one-stop shopping," client-centered program under which pregnant women and mothers can apply for a wide range of Government programs in a coordinated manner at a location at which social and health-related services are made available to pregnant women and infants; (5) evaluate the impact of such initiative; and (6) be able to continue such initiative without Federal assistance within five years of the first receipt of such assistance. Directs the Secretary to use a specified portion of set-aside amounts to: (1) provide technical assistance to State initiatives; (2) disseminate a maternal and child health handbook to all pregnant women and new parents; (3) establish a nationwide, toll-free telephone information and referral system for maternal and child health services; (4) develop a model, coordinated application and eligibility determination system for use by States under the Medicaid program (title XIX of the Act) and the special supplemental food program for women, infants, and children; (5) improve the integration and coordination of Federal programs serving pregnant women and children; and (6) monitor and evaluate State infant mortality initiatives. Requires the Secretary to give priority to the initiatives of States demonstrating the greatest need and an ability to implement such initiatives, while recognizing the need for an equitable distribution of assistance among the States.
United States · United States Congress · 5 April 1989
Declares that: (1) it is the sense of the House of Representatives that child survival and development programs are to be commended; (2) the House of Representatives reaffirms its goal of improvement of the survival rates, health, and development of people in all countries and urges the President to adopt this as a major priority; (3) the President is urged to propose to the Secretary General of the United Nations that he establish an independent advisory commission with regard to programs in primary health care, nutrition, basic education, and environment by members of the Grand Alliance for Children; and (4) the House of Representatives endorses the call for a World Summit on Children as an opportunity to attain specified goals, including the goals of Universal Childhood Immunization by 1990 and Health for All by the year 2000.
United States · United States Congress · 5 April 1989
Urges the Government of Iran to uphold the human rights of all its nationals, including members of the Baha'i faith, and to extend the rights guaranteed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Calls upon the President to continue to: (1) emphasize human rights improvements as an important factor in the development of relations between the U.S. and Iranian Governments; (2) cooperate with other governments to initiate and support actions by the United Nations and its agencies to promote the protection of the religious rights of the Baha'is; and (3) provide, and urge others to provide, for refugee and humanitarian assistance for those Baha'is fleeing their homelands to escape religious repression.
United States · United States Congress · 5 April 1989
Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) there should be a significant increase in Federal funding for programs authorized under the Education of the Handicapped Act; and (2) appropriations made by the 101st Congress to assist States and localities in providing education to children and youth with handicaps should equal at least 15 percent of the national average per pupil expenditure.
United States · United States Congress · 4 April 1989
Employee Pension Protection Act of 1989 - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to revise fiduciary standards applicable to pension plan assets to account for duties with respect to assets of terminated plans. Establishes fiduciary standards to apply to employer reversions upon plan termination, requiring an employer to establish and maintain a complete replacement plan or a substantial replacement plan in connection with the termination. Prescribes requirements to govern both types of plans. Links the establishment of either of these new plans to the amount of any employer reversion, requiring the new plans to have assets sufficient to pay all liabilities to participants and their beneficiaries. Considers any plan fiduciary or sponsor to be jointly and severally liable for violation of ERISA if requirements regarding complete replacement or substantial replacement plans upon plan termination are not met at any time during the five-year period beginning on the date of final distribution of assets from the terminated plan. Describes fiduciary duties to govern the distribution of plan assets to participants and beneficiaries upon plan termination in cases when the employer does not set up a replacement or substantial replacement plan. Institutes fiduciary duties with respect to distributions of plan assets upon termination in direct trustee-to-trustee transfers to individual retirement plans. Directs the Secretary of Labor to prescribe reporting requirements in connection with these transfers.
United States · United States Congress · 23 March 1989
Common Sense Budget Act of 1989 - Amends Federal law to require both the President and the Congress to draft a budget based on estimates of current fiscal year spending, proposing increases or decreases based on this level (rather than on an estimated baseline). Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to require the Congressional Budget Office to use such a current fiscal year baseline in its report to the congressional budget committees, projecting growth for entitlement and discretionary spending based on current fiscal year spending.
United States · United States Congress · 23 March 1989
Used Oil Recycling Act of 1989 - Amends the Solid Waste Disposal Act to prohibit the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency from listing or identifying as a hazardous waste any: (1) recycled oil; (2) used oil transferred to a person who certifies that such oil will be rerefined, processed, or reclaimed for a beneficial purpose or stored less than 12 months prior to such transfer; and (3) used oil which has been removed from the engine of a light duty motor vehicle or household appliance by the owner, transferred to a service station dealer, and stored by the dealer for less than 12 months. Requires the Administrator to determine whether to list as a hazardous waste used oil which is a solid waste and does not satisfy the above-listed criteria. Directs the Administrator to establish management standards for the storage, testing, transportation, treatment, exportation and importation, and processing of used oil. Requires such standards to be designed to protect human health and the environment by encouraging and expanding reliance on recycling of used oil. Exempts generators of used oil from recordkeeping or reporting requirements if such generators: (1) enter into an agreement for delivery of such oil to a recycling facility whose owner or operator certifies compliance with such standards or recycles such oil; (2) do not mix the oil with any hazardous wastes; and (3) maintain necessary records relating to the oil. Prohibits mixing used oil with any hazardous waste identified under such Act except where: (1) such mixing involves an identified hazardous waste and the resulting mixture does not exhibit a characteristic identified in such Act; and (2) the used oil mixture is burned to recover useful energy such that protection of human health and the environment is assured. Deems owners or operators of facilities which process used oil for fuel to have permits for recycling activities if in compliance with management standards. Directs the Administrator to conduct inspections of such facilities to determine compliance with such standards. Requires the Administrator to implement educational programs to inform the public about the environmental and safety hazards associated with improper handling of used oil and the benefits of used oil recycling. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Administrator to promulgate regulations concerning the procurement of used oil fuel by Federal agencies subject to the requirements of the Solid Waste Disposal Act.
United States · United States Congress · 23 March 1989
Emergency Refugee Act of 1989 - Authorizes additional FY 1989 refugee admissions from the Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, Vietnam, the Near East, and East Asia First Asylum countries. Transfers unused FY 1989 State legalization impact assistance grant (SLIAG) funds to cover specified costs related to such admissions. Authorizes additional SLIAG FY 1990 and 1991 appropriations. Authorizes FY 1990 and 1991 appropriations for anti-discrimination in employment activities. Authorizes SLIAG funds to be used for: (1) employment training and educational outreach programs for legalized aliens; and (2) State enforcement of anti-discrimination activities. Establishes an administrative appeals process for States applying for SLIAG assistance. Gives education priority under such grants to basic citizenship skills (English language and United States history and government).
United States · United States Congress · 23 March 1989
Comprehensive National Nutrition Monitoring System Act - Amends the Food and Agriculture Act of 1977 to replace provisions relating to nutritional status monitoring with provisions directing the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of Health and Human Services (the Secretaries) to jointly establish: (1) a National Nutrition Monitoring System (Monitoring System) to carry on assessment and surveillance regarding nutrition-related health problems; and (2) an Interagency Committee on Nutrition Monitoring to assist the Secretaries in the coordination of nutrition monitoring efforts within the Federal Government. Directs the Secretaries to jointly prepare and implement a Ten-Year National Nutrition Monitoring Plan (Plan) to commence with FY 1991. Requires the General Accounting Office to conduct an evaluation of the Monitoring System and the implementation of the Plan. Directs the Secretaries to contract with experts in nutrition data analysis for the analysis of the data collected from the Monitoring System and the Plan. Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to submit to the Congress a catalog of all nutrition education programs conducted by all Federal departments and agencies. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to submit to the Congress a report on the appropriate Federal role in ensuring that medical students and practicing physicians have access to adequate nutrition training. Directs the Secretaries, at least every five years, to jointly publish a report containing nutritional and dietary information and guidelines for the general public. Requires the report to be promoted by each Federal agency in carrying out any Federal food or nutrition program. Requires any Federal agency that proposes to issue any dietary guidance to submit the text to the Secretaries for their joint approval. Requires the approval of both Secretaries for either of the Secretaries to issue any dietary guidance. Repeals provisions of the Food Security Act of 1985 relating to nutrition monitoring.
United States · United States Congress · 23 March 1989
Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to conduct a study into the adequacy and appropriateness of Medicare (title XVIII of the Social Security Act) payments for ambulance services and report the results of such study to the Congress within one year of this Act's enactment.
United States · United States Congress · 23 March 1989
Amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to authorize the Director of the Bureau of Justice Assistance to make grants to assist in the construction of maximum security correctional facilities in States that have laws regarding the sentencing and incarceration of career criminals. Sets forth procedures and requirements for a State to apply for such a grant, including a reasonable assurance that the State will use non-Federal funds to pay at least half of the total cost for the construction of the facility. Establishes criteria for approval of grant applications. Authorizes the United States to recover funds calculated according to a specified formula from a State receiving a grant if, within ten years, the State ceases to operate the facility as a maximum security correctional facility or repeals its career criminal laws. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1990 through 1992.
United States · United States Congress · 23 March 1989
Family Educational Opportunity Act of 1989 - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to remove from the computation of expected family contribution in the determination of need for assistance under the title IV (Student Assistance) Pell Grant program and other title IV student assistance programs the following assets: (1) the family's principal place of residence; (2) a family farm on which the family resides; or (3) a small business substantially owned and managed by a member or members of the family.
United States · United States Congress · 23 March 1989
Rural Emergency Medical Services Improvement Act of 1989 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to create a new title on emergency medical services for rural areas. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make an allotment for each State each fiscal year for improving the availability and quality, in rural areas, of emergency medical services and emergency medical services systems provided to victims of emergencies prior to the arrival of the victims at medical facilities. Requires, after FY 1990, non-Federal matching contributions in a specified ratio. Allows a State to expend payments received for: (1) recruitment, training, and retention of personnel; (2) purchase, upgrading, and maintenance of equipment; (3) planning, coordination, and support of local emergency medical services and systems; and (4) public education. Requires that the State plan for emergency services provide for adequate services in rural areas. Sets forth a formula for determination of the amount of allotments. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1990 through 1992. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants for research into and demonstration projects concerning ways to improve the availability and quality of prehospital emergency medical services in rural areas by using communications technologies, making continuing education more accessible, improving curricula, undertaking outcome studies, and developing innovative financing mechanisms. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants for pilot projects to develop community-based centers to coordinate and deliver comprehensive occupational health and safety services to rural communities. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1990 through 1992 for improving rural prehospital emergency services and for centers for rural occupational health and safety services.
United States · United States Congress · 23 March 1989
Maternal Child Health Improvement Act of 1989 - Amends title V (Maternal and Child Health Services) of the Social Security Act to increase authorized appropriations for such program. Sets aside certain appropriated amounts for State initiatives promoting the enrollment of at-risk pregnant women and children in programs providing health services.
United States · United States Congress · 23 March 1989
Rural Hospital Recovery Act of 1989 - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to draft and submit to the Congress and the Prospective Payment Assessment Commission, within one year of this Act's enactment, legislation eliminating the differences in average standardized Medicare payments (under title XVIII of the Social Security Act) to large urban, other urban, and rural hospitals while recognizing certain cost differences among hospitals and within diagnosis related groups. Amends the Medicare program to require the Secretary to pay additional amounts to Medicare-dependent, small, rural hospitals before October 1, 1994, and to critical access facilities thereafter to ensure that their reasonable operating costs for inpatient hospital services are covered. Establishes an application process for rural hospitals which choose to be treated as urban hospitals by reason of their proximity to urban areas. Requires the recomputation of Medicare sole community hospital payment rates using the most recent information on hospital-specific costs per case and, if greater, national rather than regional prospective payment rates. Treats hospitals which are located 30 miles or more from other like hospitals, or hospitals which provide inpatient hospital services to at least 60 percent of the residents or part A (Hospital Insurance) Medicare beneficiaries within a 30-mile radius of the hospital as sole community hospitals. Requires the Secretary to report to the Congress by October 1, 1990, on the process by which sole community hospitals may appeal the Secretary's decision not to make a volume adjustment to its Medicare payment. Establishes the Medicare Geographical Classification/Critical Access Facility Review Board which shall: (1) designate certain hospitals as critical access facilities; (2) hear appeals from rural hospitals which the Secretary determines do not qualify for treatment as being located in an adjacent urban area; and (3) conduct hearings with respect to the Secretary's refusal to consider a hospital to be a sole community hospital. Defines a "critical access facility" as a small, rural hospital which due to its location, prolonged severe weather conditions, or the availability of other hospitals to serve part A Medicare beneficiaries residing in the area must receive additional payments in order to continue to deliver critical health care services. Extends the regional referral center classification of hospitals so classified as of September 30, 1989, and the Medicare payment rates applicable to such hospitals until the implementation of unified average standardized Medicare payments for large urban, other urban, and rural hospitals. Amends the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1987 to alter the Rural Health Care Transition Grant Program by: (1) extending from two to three years the limit on the provision of grants to small, rural hospitals for modification of their services; (2) permitting the Secretary to waive the hospital grant limit; and (3) increasing and extending the authorization of appropriations for such program through FY 1992. Requires the Secretary to submit a report to the Congress by April 1, 1990, identifying laws, rules, and regulations which prevent rural hospitals from providing innovative patient services. Directs the Secretary to conduct a five-year demonstration program in five rural hospitals treating the costs of nursing services obtained pursuant to an existing agreement with a nursing school as the costs of approved educational activities for Medicare payment purposes. Amends the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1987 to expand, from four to ten hospitals, a Medicare demonstration program covering additional costs incurred by teaching hospitals in sending their residents to small rural hospitals for training. Extends the permissible duration of such training from three months to two years. Favors projects which provide small rural hospitals with resident physicians for longer periods of time and give physicians from the small rural hospital the opportunity to work or study at the sponsoring hospital. Makes consortiums of small rural hospitals eligible to accept the services of such a resident physician.
United States · United States Congress · 23 March 1989
Aid for Development Act - Title I: Findings and Funding - Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to require that not less than $200,000,000 be made available for FY 1990 for certain activities which can significantly reduce childhood mortality. Adds maternal malnutrition and morbidity reduction as a goal for such activities. Adds safe water programs to the list of activities. Provides that priority should be given to activities which strengthen the capacity and infrastructure of local communities to improve the health of children and women. Requires that not less than 50 percent of funds authorized each fiscal year for education and human resources development be available only for programs in basic primary and secondary education. Prohibits the provision of human rights and development assistance to the government of any country which engages in a consistent pattern of violations of: (1) the rights of civilians and noncombatants in armed conflict; or (2) internationally recognized child labor rights. Requires the Secretary of State to transmit to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate an annual report regarding: (1) the status of the rights of civilians in armed conflict situations; and (2) the status of internationally recognized child labor rights. Adds civilians in situations of armed conflict as a matter pertaining to human rights and humanitarian affairs for which the Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs is responsible. Increases to 18 percent from 13 1/2 percent the aggregate amount of specified appropriations required to be made available for activities of private and voluntary organizations for FY 1990 through 1992 (currently FY 1986 through 1989). Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1969 to authorize appropriations for the Inter-American Foundation. Amends the African Development Foundation Act to authorize appropriations for the African Development Foundation. Title II: Asian and Pacific Development Foundation - Asian and Pacific Development Foundation Act - Establishes the Asian and Pacific Development Foundation. Declares that the purposes of the Foundation shall be: (1) to strengthen the bonds of friendship between the people in Asia and the Pacific and the people of the United States; (2) to support self-help activities at the local level designed to enlarge opportunities for community development; (3) to encourage the establishment of development institutions which are indigenous to particular countries in Asia and the Pacific. Requires the Foundation to coordinate its development assistance activities with the activities of the U.S. Government and private, regional, and international organizations. Authorizes the Foundation to make grants, loans, and loan guarantees to certain indigenous private or public groups or associations in Asia or the Pacific. Sets priorities for making such grants, loans, and loan guarantees. Authorizes appropriations.
![Official portrait of Rep. Penny, Timothy J. [D-MN-1]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/p000215_200.jpg)