United States · United States Congress · 24 July 1997
Authorizes the President to present a gold medal to Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew in recognition of his outstanding and enduring contributions to religious understanding and peace. Authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to strike duplicate medals in bronze. Authorizes appropriations from the Numismatic Public Enterprise Fund, where sales proceeds shall be deposited.
United States · United States Congress · 24 July 1997
Veterans Sexual Trauma Treatment Act - Makes permanent a program to require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to provide counseling to veterans to overcome psychological trauma which resulted from a physical assault or battery of a sexual nature, or from sexual harassment, which occurred during active miliary service (under current law the program authorizing such counseling expires in 1998). Allows such program to include appropriate treatment. Requires a Department of Veterans Affairs mental health professional (currently, the Secretary) to determine when such counseling and treatment is necessary. Requires the dissemination of information concerning the availability of such services to affected veterans. Includes as eligible for such care and services certain current and former reserve personnel. Directs the Secretary to: (1) complete the design and updating of public service announcements and other appropriate means of communication concerning the availability of such services and to submit to the congressional veterans' committees examples of such communications; and (2) report to such committees on program implementation. Requires the Secretary and the Secretary of Defense to report jointly to the congressional veterans' and defense committees describing their collaborative efforts to ensure that military personnel are informed upon their separation from service about sexual trauma counseling and treatment programs available through the Department.
United States · United States Congress · 17 July 1997
National Marrow Donor Program Reauthorization Act of 1997 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to replace provisions relating to the National Bone Marrow Donor Registry with provisions mandating establishment, by contract, of a program to assist patients needing a blood stem cell transplant in searching for biologically unrelated donor individuals. Sets forth program functions, including: (1) maintaining one or more donor and one or more recipient registries; (2) educational activities (including donor recruitment and professional and public information); and (3) establishing the Office of Patient Advocacy and Case Management. Mandates: (1) standards regarding quality, tissue typing, donor informed consent, and patient advocacy; (2) donor selection criteria; (3) stem cell collection and transportation procedures; (4) confidentiality standards; and (5) procedures for integrating participating donor registries and centers. Mandates criminal penalties for confidentiality violations. Authorizes appropriations. Mandates a plan to effectuate efficiencies in the relationship between the program and donor centers.
United States · United States Congress · 17 July 1997
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Program Accountability Title II: Program Equity Title III: Funding of Farm Ownership and Operating Loans USDA Accountability and Equity Act of 1997 - Title I: Program Accountability - Amends the Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act to increase the size of the county committees by two members who shall be: (1) appointed by the Secretary of Agriculture (Secretary); and (2) demographically representative of local producers. States that: (1) civil service laws shall apply to all persons performing functions for any county, area, or local committee; and (2) the county executive director of such committee, or other person selected by the Secretary, shall have sole responsibility for making local agricultural loan determinations, subject to State-level approval. (Sec. 102) Provides for the conversion of permanent and temporary (at the Secretary's discretion) county and area office employees to Federal civil service status. Makes conforming amendments the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 and other Federal law. Title II: Program Equity - Amends the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act to permit agricultural operating loans to be made to delinquent borrowers under specified circumstances. (Sec. 202) Appropriates funds for lease-back or buy-back opportunities for beginning farmers or ranchers. (Sec. 203) Treats debt write-downs as non-income for tax purposes. (Sec. 204) Amends the Housing Act of 1949 to prohibit housing loan denial to an applicant who has been able to live in a financially independent manner for a reasonable time. (Sec. 205) Amends the Food Security Act of 1985 with respect to the environmental quality incentives program to: (1) increase program funding; (2) reduce the livestock set-aside; and (3) establish a set-aside for socially disadvantaged agricultural producers. (Sec. 206) Amends the National Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching Policy Act of 1977 to make permanent appropriations for 1890 land grant college grants. (Current law provides for non-permanent authorization of appropriations for such grants.) Directs the Secretary to establish an advisory committee to study whether such institutions' funding is equitable. (Sec. 208) Amends the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 to make permanent appropriations (currently permanently authorized) for: (1) Indian reservation extension education programs; and (2) outreach and technical assistance programs for socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers. Title III: Funding of Farm Ownership and Operating Loans - Amends the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act to make permanent appropriations for farm operating and ownership loans. (Current law provides for a non-permanent authorization of appropriations for such loans.)
United States · United States Congress · 26 June 1997
Wartime Violation of Italian American Civil Liberties Act - Requires the Inspector General of the Department of Justice to conduct a comprehensive review of the treatment by the Federal Government of Italian Americans during World War II (between September 1, 1939, and December 31, 1945) and to report to the Congress on the findings of such review. Requires the findings to include information regarding: (1) Italian Americans who were interned, taken into custody, ordered to move out of designated areas, or arrested for curfew, contraband, or other violations; (2) Federal Bureau of Investigations raids on Italian Americans homes; (3) restrictions on Italian American fishermen and railroad workers; and (4) civil liberties infringements suffered by Italian Americans during World War II. Requires the President, on behalf of the Government, to formally acknowledge that these events during World War II represented a fundamental injustice against Italian Americans.
United States · United States Congress · 25 June 1997
Prohibits burial in a federally funded cemetery of the remains of a person convicted of crimes related to the murder or attempted murder of certain Federal officers or employees or terrorist-related crimes.
United States · United States Congress · 25 June 1997
Calls upon the parliamentary bodies and government officials of other nations, particularly those that participate in Little League baseball, to recognize and celebrate the international character of Little League baseball and to render Little League Baseball Incorporated assistance and recognition of its status as a nongovernmental international organization.
United States · United States Congress · 18 June 1997
Cuban Humanitarian Trade Act of 1997 - Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to exempt from the embargo on trade with Cuba the export of food, medicines, or medical supplies, instruments, or equipment, or any travel incident to delivery of such items. Exempts the same items from the President's authority to restrict exports to Cuba under the Export Administration Act of 1979 or the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to terminate the denial of foreign tax credit with respect to income, war profits, or excess profits taxes paid to Cuba that are attributable to activities with respect to the permitted exports, or travel incident to such activities, under this Act. Directs the President to report to the Congress with respect to the uses, and end users, of the permitted exports to Cuba.
United States · United States Congress · 12 June 1997
Allows veterans pursuing a work-study program through the Department of Veterans Affairs to perform any activity that the Secretary of Veterans Affairs determines to be appropriate with respect to: (1) a Federal department or agency; (2) an institution of higher learning; or (3) a community service program. Authorizes a participating individual to elect to be paid a partial payment in advance for the performance of such activities. (Current law requires such individuals to be paid in advance.) Authorizes the Secretary to pay a work-study allowance of up to ten percent more than the minimum hourly wage. Prohibits such allowance from being used to fund any political activity.
United States · United States Congress · 11 June 1997
Amends the Agricultural Market Transition Act to: (1) reduce the loan rate for quota peanuts by specified amounts through crop year 2001; and (2) eliminate peanut price supports as of crop year 2002. Amends: (1) the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938 to eliminate peanut marketing quota provisions as of crop year 2002; and (2) the Agricultural Act of 1949 to make conforming amendments. Prohibits the Secretary of Agriculture (Secretary) from providing any subsequent peanut price supports. Directs the Secretary to make nonrecourse loans and loan deficiency payments available to peanut producers beginning with crop year 2002. Sets forth: (1) loan rate, term, and repayment provisions; and (2) deficiency computation provisions.
United States · United States Congress · 3 June 1997
Robert Stodola Homeless Veterans Assistance Act - Amends the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act to require each city, county, State, and Indian tribe which is provided assistance under the following programs to ensure that not less than 20 percent of the total amount received by such entity is used for activities benefiting homeless veterans: (1) the emergency shelter grants program; (2) the supportive housing program; (3) the safe havens for homeless individuals demonstration program; (4) a program for single room occupancy dwellings; (5) the shelter plus care program; and (6) the rural homelessness grant program. Provides for related technical assistance. Allows a waiver of such requirement in each case upon a determination that general program funds will remain unused for an unreasonable period of time unless the waiver is permitted.
United States · United States Congress · 22 May 1997
Congressional Office of Regulatory Analysis Creation Act - Establishes a Congressional Office of Regulatory Analysis. Authorizes appropriations. Transfers to the Director of such Office the functions of the Comptroller General with respect to congressional review of agency rulemaking. Requires the Office to conduct its own specified regulatory impact analysis of major rules. Extends the deadline by which the Director must report to appropriate congressional committees on each major rule from 15 to 45 calendar days after its submission to the Congress or publication in the Federal Register. Requires the Office to conduct a regulatory impact analyses of any nonmajor rule when requested to do so by a congressional committee or Member of Congress. Amends the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 to: (1) transfer functions of the Director of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to the Director with respect to the comparison between agency and CBO mandate cost estimates; and (2) require the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), at the request of the CBO Director or the Director, to cooperate in providing mandate cost estimates and related data. Directs the OMB Director to collect agency statements prepared under such Act for forwarding to the Director (currently CBO Director) after promulgation of the general notice of proposed rulemaking or of the final rule for which the statement was prepared.
United States · United States Congress · 22 May 1997
Missing and Exploited Children Act of 1997 - Authorizes appropriations to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children for FY 1998 through 2002 to operate a national resource center and clearinghouse designed to: (1) provide information regarding free or low-cost legal, restaurant, lodging, and transportation services for the benefit of missing children and their families and information on Federal programs to assist such persons; (2) coordinate public and private programs which locate or reunite missing children with their legal guardians; (3) disseminate information about innovative and model missing children's programs, services, and legislation; and (4) provide technical assistance and training in the prevention, investigation, prosecution, and treatment of missing and exploited child cases and in locating and recovering missing children.
United States · United States Congress · 22 May 1997
Campaigns in the Sunshine Act of 1997 - Amends the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (FECA) to make applicable reporting requirements under FECA to any amount (soft money) expended by a political party for the purpose of influencing an election for Federal office. Requires that, in addition to any reports required to be filed by a principal campaign committee in accordance with FECA requirements, any person who first makes independent expenditures with respect to an election in an aggregate amount or value in excess of $1,000 after the deadline for filing a pre-election report shall file a report containing the information described under FECA at the time the person makes independent expenditures in such aggregate amount or value. Defines the term "independent expenditure" for the purposes of the reports requirement. Redefines the requirement for every person (other than a political committee) to report any independent expenditure aggregating $1,000 or more during a specified period before any election to require that the report include the identification of each person who made a contribution to the person filing such report which was in excess of $200 and was made for the purpose of furthering an independent expenditure.
United States · United States Congress · 16 May 1997
Authorizes the President to present, on behalf of the Congress, a gold medal to Mother Teresa of Calcutta in recognition of her contributions to humanitarian and charitable activities. Instructs the Secretary of the Treasury to strike a suitable gold medal. Authorizes the Secretary to strike and sell bronze duplicates. Declares these medals to be national medals. Authorizes appropriations. Mandates deposit of sale proceeds in the Numismatic Public Enterprise Fund.
United States · United States Congress · 16 May 1997
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the surviving post-World War II, pre-1965 Basketball Association of America, National Basketball League, and National Basketball Association players with a minimum of three years of eligible service should be entitled to pension benefits.
United States · United States Congress · 15 May 1997
National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Act of 1997 - Requires the Secretary of the Interior to establish in the National Park Service (NPS) a program to be known as the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom under which the Secretary shall: (1) produce and disseminate educational materials about the Railroad; (2) provide technical assistance to other government agencies, private entities, or the Governments of Canada, Mexico, or any appropriate Caribbean country to ensure coordination of Federal and non-Federal elements of the Network; and (3) regulate use of an official symbol for the Network. Includes within the Network: (1) NPS units or programs pertaining to the Railroad; (2) Federal, State, local, or privately-owned properties pertaining to the Railroad that have a verifiable connection to it and that are included or eligible for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places; and (3) governmental or nongovernmental facilities or programs of educational, research, or interpretive natures that are directly related to such Railroad. Prohibits amounts from being appropriated for the purposes of this Act except to the Secretary for carrying out his or her responsibilities.
United States · United States Congress · 15 May 1997
Declares that the Congress: (1) maintains that the standard for the "Made in USA" label should continue to be that a product was all or virtually all made in the United States; and (2) urges the Federal Trade Commission to refrain from lowering the standard at the expense of consumers and jobs in the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 14 May 1997
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Highway Programs Title II: Transit Programs ISTEA Reauthorization Act of 1997 - Title I: Highway Programs - Authorizes appropriations out of the Highway Trust Fund (other than the Mass Transit Account) for FY 1998 through 2003 for: (1) the National Highway System (NHS); (2) the surface transportation program; (3) the bridge program; (4) congestion mitigation and air quality improvement program; (5) the minimum allocation program; (6) apportionment adjustments; (7) the Interstate System reimbursement program; (8) level of effort bonus; (9) certain projects under the Federal lands highways program; (10) Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) highway safety programs; (11) FHWA highway safety research and development; and (12) the Appalachian development highway program. (Sec. 103) Amends Federal-aid highway law to revise the formula for determining the State apportionment of funds for the NHS and the surface transportation program. Extends through FY 2003 the set aside of Federal highway funds for discretionary projects for the resurfacing, restoring, rehabilitating, and reconstructing of routes on the Interstate System. Directs the Secretary of Transportation to conduct, and submit to specified congressional committees, a study of the impact of the movement of goods on transportation infrastructure as a measure of need for apportioning funds for the NHS. (Sec. 104) Earmarks 50 percent of NHS funds apportioned to States for Interstate maintenance projects. Repeals the State apportionment of Federal highway funds (nondiscretionary) for resurfacing, restoring, rehabilitating, and reconstructing the Interstate System. (Sec.105) Revises the formula for the apportionment of funds to States under the congestion mitigation and air quality improvement program. Authorizes States that are apportioned more than 15 percent of the total amount of such apportioned funds to transfer, with the approval of the metropolitan planning organization, all or a portion of the amount that exceeds such percentage to the State's apportionment of funds under the surface transportation program. Prohibits the use of transferred funds for a project which will result in the construction of new capacity available to single occupant vehicles unless the project consists of a high occupancy vehicle facility available to single occupant vehicles only at other than peak travel times. . (Sec. 106) Extends for an additional six-fiscal year period the obligation of a State to allocate surface transportation program funds for Federal-aid highways and highway safety construction in urbanized areas with a population over 200,000. (Sec.107) Increases the minimum amount of apportioned highway bridge replacement and rehabilitation program funds that a State shall receive in any fiscal year. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1998 through 2003 for the discretionary bridge and off-system bridges programs. Amends the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 to authorize appropriations for FY 1998 through 2003 for the highway timber bridge research and demonstration program. (Sec.108) Revises for FY 1998 and each fiscal year thereafter the formula for determining the amount of highway funds that would be required to ensure a State's percentage of the total apportionments in each fiscal year and allocations for the prior fiscal year for specified transportation programs is not less than 90 percent of the percentage that the population of the State is of the population of the United States (as determined by the Secretary based on the most recent revised estimate of State populations prepared by the Bureau of Census). (Sec. 110) Provides for the adjustment of funds apportioned to States for the surface transportation program. (Sec. 111) Directs the Secretary to allocate Federal highway funds to eligible States in a ratio that the financial level of effort of each State exceeds the financial level of effort of all States in a fiscal year, except that no State may receive more than ten percent of the total amount made available for such fiscal year. Earmarks a specified amount of such funds to certain States that have a high level of effort as measured by equivalent motor fuel taxes collected. Directs the Secretary to transfer amounts allocated to a State under this section to the State's apportionment of funds for the surface transportation program. (Sec. 112) Extends through FY 2003: (1) the strategic highway research program; (2) the applied research and technology program; (3) the seismic research program; (4) intelligent transportation systems; (5) the scenic byways program; and (6) construction of ferry boats and ferry terminal facilities (discretionary). (Sec. 115) Amends Federal-aid highway law to authorize the Secretary to make grants to Mexican and Canadian border States that demonstrate the need due to increased traffic resulting from implementation of the North American Free Trade Act for assistance in carrying out transportation projects that are necessary to relieve traffic congestion in the border region, in particular to connect the NHS with Federal border crossing facilities, or to improve enforcement of motor carrier safety laws there. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 116) Sets forth highway transportation program streamlining provisions including: (1) authorizing States to give priority for high priority segments of corridors of national significance for inclusion in transportation improvement projects; (2) Federal and State environmental reviews for surface transportation projects; (3) State credit for non-Federal share of the cost of projects for toll revenues that are generated and used by public, quasi-public, and private agencies to build or improve highways, bridges, or tunnels that serve interstate commerce; (4) encouragement of alternative transportation purposes, including bikeway and walkway projects, of historic bridges; and (5) simplifying the administration of enhancement projects and congestion mitigation and air quality projects with costs of less than $500,000. Title II: Transit Programs - Federal Transit Act of 1997 - Amends Federal mass transportation law to authorize urbanized areas with a population of less than 200,000 to use block grant mass transportation assistance for either operating or capital purposes. (Sec. 205) Authorizes appropriations through FY 2003 for discretionary grants and loans for: (1) fixed guideway modernization; (2) capital projects for new fixed guideway systems and extensions to existing fixed guideway systems; and (3) replacement of buses and related equipment and to construct bus-related facilities. (Sec. 206) Authorizes appropriations through FY 2003 for certain apportionments to urbanized areas for fixed guideway modernization (nondiscretionary). Authorizes appropriations through FY 2003 for specified mass transportation programs. Authorizes appropriations through FY 2002 for: (1) the national mass transportation institute; and (2) university research institutes. Authorizes appropriations through FY 2003 for transportation centers (including set-asides). (Sec. 208) Amends the Internal Revenue Code to repeal a certain limitation on the transfer of amounts from the Mass Transit Account of the Highway Trust Fund.
United States · United States Congress · 14 May 1997
Waives, with respect to Better Health Plan, Inc., Health First, Inc., and Genesis Health Plans, Inc., operating in New York, for contract periods through December 31, 1998, the (75-25) requirement under the Social Security Act that Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries under titles XVIII and XIX of that Act constitute less than 75 percent of the membership of a participating health maintenance organization.
United States · United States Congress · 14 May 1997
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 $2,000 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. Imposes penalties for excess contributions or prohibited transactions associated with an account. Provides for an from annual contribution limitations for distributions from education savings accounts into individual retirement accounts. Excludes from gross income distributions from individual retirement accounts into education savings accounts.
United States · United States Congress · 13 May 1997
Amends Federal veterans' benefits provisions to: (1) consider a veteran unable to defray the expenses of necessary medical care if such costs for the previous year are in excess of seven and one-half percent of the veteran's adjusted gross income for such year; (2) increase the income threshold used to determine a veteran's ability to defray such expenses with respect to those veterans residing in a Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area; (3) include within the membership of the Committee on Care of Severely Chronically Mentally Ill Veterans members of the general public with expertise in the care of the chronically mentally ill; (4) require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to designate at least one Center for Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Activities in each service network region of the Veterans Health Administration; and (5) direct the Secretary, in applying the veterans' health care resources allocation system, to exclude from consideration programs of readjustment counseling and treatment, counseling and treatment for the mentally ill, drug and alcohol abuse and dependence, homelessness, post-traumatic stress disorder, spinal cord dysfunctions, AIDS, and geriatric and extended care.
United States · United States Congress · 8 May 1997
Lewis and Clark Expedition Bicentennial Commemorative Coin Act - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to mint and issue one-dollar and half-dollar coins emblematic of the expedition of Lewis and Clark. Allocates surcharges from coin sales between the National Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Council and the National Park Service for activities associated with the bicentennial commemoration of the expedition.
United States · United States Congress · 7 May 1997
Commends 25 specified States for their efforts with respect to prison time served by criminal offenders. Encourages all remaining States to adopt legislation to increase the time served by violent felons. Reemphasizes that individuals who commit violent crime should serve at least 85 percent of their sentence.
United States · United States Congress · 1 May 1997
Expansion of Portability and Health Insurance Coverage Act of 1997 - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to establish rules governing health plans sponsored by certain associations, including requirements for: (1) certification; (2) sponsors and boards of trustees, and treatment of franchised networks and collectively bargained plans; (3) participation and coverage of employers and individuals and of previously uninsured employees; (4) plan documents, contribution rates, and benefit options; (5) maintenance of reserves, excess-stop loss insurance, and solvency indemnification for plans providing health benefits in addition to health insurance coverage; (6) application and related matters, and notice for voluntary termination; (7) corrective actions and mandatory termination; and (8) special rules for church plans. Revises requirements for the treatment of: (1) single employer arrangements; and (2) certain collectively bargained arrangements. Adds requirements relating to association health plans, with respect to: (1) enforcement; and (2) State responsibilities and cooperation between Federal and State authorities.
United States · United States Congress · 1 May 1997
Amends the Tariff Act of 1930, with respect to the imposition of countervailing duties, to treat as noncountervailable subsidies any pricing practices or tenure arrangements for the sale of softwood timber grown on publicly owned lands, as well as log export restrictions.
United States · United States Congress · 30 April 1997
Hunger Has a Cure Act of 1997 - Amends the Food Stamp Act of 1977 to provide for an annual price-indexed standard deduction adjustment (as of FY 2001). (Sec. 3) Revises maximum excess shelter deduction amounts and authorizes such amounts through FY 2001 (currently permanent). (Sec. 4) Provides for an annual price-indexed vehicle allowance adjustment. (Sec. 5) Revises work requirement provisions. Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to reserve specified amounts for FY 1998 through 2002 employment and training programs. (Sec. 6) Amends the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act of 1996 to make legal immigrants who became disabled after U.S. entry and certain elderly and under-18 years of age legal immigrants eligible for the food stamp program (program). Extends program eligibility for refugees and asylees from five years to seven years. Repeals specified program attribution of (alien) sponsor income provisions. (Sec. 7) Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) specified funds under the Emergency Food Assistance Act of 1983 should be appropriated to provide FY 1998 short-term emergency food assistance; and (2) FY 1997 and 1998 appropriations for the special supplemental nutrition program for women, infants, and children (WIC) should meet case load demands. (Sec. 9) Amends the National School Lunch Act to: (1) increase lunch and supper reimbursement rates for the summer food service program for children; and (2) increase the number of meals and-or supplements available under the child and adult food care program. (Sec. 10) Amends the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 to direct the Secretary to carry out school breakfast and summer feeding program outreach activities. Obligates specified Treasury funds for State start-up and expansion costs.
United States · United States Congress · 30 April 1997
Extends congressional gratitude to Leslie Townes (Bob) Hope for his accomplishments and service on behalf of U.S. military service members. Confers upon Mr. Hope the status of an honorary veteran of the U.S. armed forces.
United States · United States Congress · 29 April 1997
Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Restoration Act of 1997 - Amends the Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Restoration Act of 1990 to: (1) include among the Act's purposes to develop and implement proposals for the restoration of fish and wildlife resources in the Great Lakes Basin; and (2) include microorganisms within the definition of "nonindigenous species." Requires the Director of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service to: (1) ensure that proposals resulting from recommendations of the Great Lakes fishery resources restoration study or identified through an annual request to specified State and tribal entities are developed and that the highest priority proposals are implemented; and (2) annually request that State Directors and Indian Tribes submit fish and wildlife resources restoration proposals based on the results of the study or other sources. Requires the Great Lakes Fishery Commission to retain authority and responsibility for formulation and implementation of a comprehensive program for eradicating or minimizing sea lamprey populations in the Basin. Authorizes the Secretary of the Army, at the Commission's request, to construct and improve water resources projects related to sea lamprey management. Establishes the Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Restoration Proposal Review Committee. Requires the Director to select proposals to be implemented and, within available appropriations, fund their implementation. Sets forth cost-sharing requirements. Requires maintenance of the functions of the Great Lakes Coordination Office in East Lansing, Michigan, and of the Upper and Lower Great Lakes Fishery Resources Offices. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 24 April 1997
Intercity Passenger Rail Trust Fund Act of 1997 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to establish in the Treasury the Intercity Passenger Rail Trust Fund to finance qualified expenses of: (1) the National Railroad Passenger Corporation; and (2) non-Amtrak States.
United States · United States Congress · 23 April 1997
Patient Access to Responsible Care Act of 1997 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require a health insurance issuer to: (1) assure that covered items and services are available and accessible to each enrollee; (2) assure the availability and accessibility of emergency services and urgent care 24 hours a day, 7 days a week; (3) not require prior authorization for emergency services; and (4) cover emergency and urgent (and related ancillary) services. Requires an issuer offering network coverage to show that enrollees have access to specialized treatment. Regulates network incentive plans. Requires an issuer to: (1) permit each network enrollee to select a personal health professional from participating professionals; (2) cover nonparticipating providers, regulating premiums and cost sharing; (3) avoid undue enrollee burden from care coordination and cost control processes; (4) ensure direct specialist access; (5) provide for continuity of care for those with special needs or a chronic condition; and (6) provide for continued coverage in certain circumstances. Prohibits issuer discrimination on the basis of specified factors against individuals or providers. Prohibits any issuer-professional agreement from restricting the professional from engaging in medical communications with the professional's patient. Sets forth requirements regarding utilization review, an appeals process, and the process by which health professionals and providers become participants. Requires issuers to: (1) disclose certain information to enrollees and prospective enrollees; (2) comply with Federal and State confidentiality laws; (3) meet State solvency-related requirements; and (4) establish a quality improvement program. Requires issuers to comply with this Act regarding group and individual coverage. Declares that the requirements of this Act do not preempt any State law providing equivalent or stricter protections for individuals. Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 to require a group health plan and an issuer offering coverage under such a plan to comply with the requirements of this Act. Declares that this Act does not preempt any State: (1) law providing equivalent or stricter protections for individuals; or (2) cause of action for personal injury or wrongful death damages that provides insurance or administrative services to or for an employee welfare benefit plan maintained to provide health benefits.
United States · United States Congress · 23 April 1997
Amends the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 to extend the transition period for redetermination of food stamp and supplemental security income eligibility for aliens currently receiving such benefits.
United States · United States Congress · 23 April 1997
Expresses the sense of the Congress that certain provisions of the Merchant Marine Act, 1920 relating to transportation of merchandise between U.S. points in other than domestically built or rebuilt and documented vessels and to incineration of hazardous waste at sea (those provisions popularly known as the Jones Act) and related statutes are critically important components of our Nation's economic and military security and should be fully and strongly supported.
United States · United States Congress · 17 April 1997
Veterans Medicare Reimbursement Demonstration Act of 1997 - Directs the Secretaries of Veterans Affairs (VA) and Health and Human Services (HHS) to jointly carry out a demonstration project, during the three-year period beginning on January 1, 1998, under which the HHS Secretary provides the VA with reimbursement from the Medicare program (title XVIII of the Social Security Act) for health-care services provided to targeted Medicare-eligible veterans in or through selected VA facilities. Provides for: (1) the waiver of certain Medicare requirements in order to carry out the project; and (2) selection of participating VA facilities (requires the VA Secretary to designate up to three geographic service areas from which such facilities are to be selected and to establish a selection plan). Requires at least one facility selected to be in the same catchment area as a military medical facility which was closed pursuant to a defense base closure law. Requires project participation to be voluntary. Directs the VA Secretary to establish requirements for participating veterans. Requires project reimbursement at a rate equal to 95 percent of amounts that would otherwise be payable under the Medicare program if the facility were not a Federal facility, were participating in the project, and imposed charges for such services. Requires reimbursement payments periodically from Medicare trust funds, with an annual Medicare payment limit of $50 million. Requires reductions in such payments when the amount of actual VA medical expenditures for targeted veterans is less than the amount of the maintenance of effort level (as defined under this Act) for such fiscal year. Directs the Secretaries to compare the expenditures made under the project to the expenditures that would have been made for such veterans if the project had not been conducted, and to take appropriate steps if the expenditures under the Medicare program increased as a result of the project. Requires annual audits by the Comptroller General. Requires: (1) an independent entity to undertake an ongoing project evaluation and report results to the Secretaries and appropriate congressional committees; and (2) a report from the Secretaries to the Congress on possible project extension and expansion. Directs the Secretaries to submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report on the feasibility and advisability of establishing a new demonstration project to reimburse the VA Secretary for health care services furnished to targeted Medicare-eligible veterans enrolled in managed health care plans established by such Secretary.
United States · United States Congress · 17 April 1997
Redesignates the Department of Justice Building located at 10th Street and Constitution Avenue, N.W., in Washington, D.C., as the Robert F. Kennedy Department of Justice Building.
United States · United States Congress · 17 April 1997
Amends the Agricultural Market Transition Act with respect to the sugar program to: (1) reduce sugarcane loan rates through crop year 2002; (2) revise the sugar beet loan rate; (3) eliminate nonrecourse loans after FY 1997; and (4) eliminate sugar price supports after crop year 2002. Amends the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938 to repeal sugar and crystalline fructose marketing quota and allotment provisions. Amends the Food Security Act of 1985, beginning with the 1996-1997 quota year, to direct the President to use all available authority to ensure that U.S. market raw sugar shall be available at not more than the higher of the world sugar price or the U.S. loan rate.
United States · United States Congress · 17 April 1997
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Statement of Congressional Purpose Title II: Binding Budget Law Title III: Enforcement of Budget Discipline Subtitle A: Supermajority Required to Break Budget Law Subtitle B: Line Item Reduction Subtitle C: "Blank Check" Appropriations Prohibited Subtitle D: "Pay-as-You-Go" Requirement for New Spending Subtitle E: "Lock-Box" for Savings From Spending Reductions Title IV: Sustaining Mechanism Title V: Protection of Social Security Title VI: Technical Amendments to Federal Law to Carry Out This Act Title VII: Definitions and Rules of Interpretation Budget Process Reform Act - Title I: Statement of Congressional Purpose - 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 spending levels. 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. (Sec. 202) Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (CBA) to make 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. Allows waiver of such prohibition if such bill is required to be approved by a two-thirds majority vote in the House and the Senate. (Sec. 203) Prohibits baseline budgeting. Requires objective year-to-year comparisons under budget law, with the starting point for both presidential and congressional budgets the levels of budget outlays for the current fiscal year. (Sec. 204) Amends the CBA to require a budget law to include a major functional category ("rainy day fund") for natural disasters, subject to specified conditions. (Sec. 205) Amends Federal law to require the President to submit: (1) a budget, by the first Monday in February of each year before that in which a fiscal period commences, setting forth on a single page specific budget ceilings in each major functional category; and (2) a detailed budget, on or before the 15th day after a joint resolution on the budget is enacted. Title III: Enforcement of Budget Discipline - Subtitle A: Supermajority Required to Break Budget Law - Amends CBA to require the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to provide the appropriate House of Congress (or any committee, subcommittee, or conference) an estimate of the costs in each major functional category of each spending bill likely to result in costs of over $10 million, before being voted on by the Senate or the House, or any committee, subcommittee, or conference committee. (Sec. 301) Requires a two-thirds affirmative vote in the House or the Senate (or any committee, subcommittee, or conference committee) to consider over-budget spending bills. (Sec. 302) Requires a two-thirds affirmative vote in the House or the Senate, or both, to waive any provision of this Act. Subtitle B: Limited Enhanced Rescission Authority - Amends the Impoundment Control Act of 1974 to authorize the President to exercise line-item reduction authority if the Congress, by two-thirds vote, exceeds the budget ceilings in the binding budget law or an automatic continuing resolution for a fiscal period. Declares that such authority shall permit the reduction of over-budget spending in a major functional category to the level established in the binding budget law or automatic continuing resolution. 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." (Sec. 306) Amends CBA to require fixed-dollar appropriations for every account except Social Security and interest on the debt. Prohibits open-ended appropriations. (Sec. 307) Requires executive agencies to adjust expenditures, including program eligibility requirements and benefit levels, to ensure that appropriations for entitlement programs are not exceeded. (Sec. 308) Restricts budget authority and entitlement authority to one fiscal period. Subtitle D: "Pay As You Go" Requirement for New Spending - Amends CBA to prohibit the Congress from considering any legislation which exceeds the budget ceiling unless it offsets such increased spending with an equal amount of reductions in spending in the same functional category. Requires a two-thirds affirmative vote in the House or in the Senate to waive such prohibition. (Sec. 309) Sets forth special rules in the case of legislation that exceeds a budget ceiling for the natural disaster functional category. Repeals an exemption in the House from pay-as-you-go rules. Subtitle E: "Lock-Box" for Savings From Spending Reductions - Amends CBA to: (1) establish "lock-box" procedures to ensure that budget savings from House and Senate amendments to appropriations bills result in actual spending cuts; (2) require CBO reports on such procedures; and (3) mandate reduction of spending allocations to House and Senate committees and subcommittees to meet "lock-box" levels. 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. (Sec. 402) Provides for contingency regulations for automatic continuing resolutions. Grants each State the option of receiving an aggregate amount for the fiscal period for social safety net programs equal to the allocation to the State for such programs in the preceding fiscal period. (Sec. 403) Restricts consideration of legislation providing budget or spending authority to only that reported by the Committees on Appropriations. Makes such restriction inapplicable in the case of social security benefits. Title V: Protection of Social Security - Provides that nothing in this Act shall be construed to require or permit reductions in otherwise payable Social Security benefits. (Sec. 502) Amends Federal law to provide that no reduction in benefits under title II of the Social Security Act (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) shall be made as a consequence of this Act. Title VI: Technical Amendments to Federal Law to Carry Out This Act - Makes various technical and conforming amendments. Title VII: Definitions and Rules of Interpretation - Sets forth definitions for specified terms. Changes the definition of budget authority to exclude offsetting receipts and collections as negative budget authority.
United States · United States Congress · 17 April 1997
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from gross income (under the qualified scholarship provisions) certain amounts provided by an employer to the child of an employee.
United States · United States Congress · 15 April 1997
Authorizes the President to present on behalf of the Congress a gold medal to Rachel Robinson and other family of the late Jack Roosevelt Robinson in recognition of his contributions to racial equality, athletics, business, and charitable causes. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to strike bronze duplicates of such gold medal.
United States · United States Congress · 14 April 1997
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exempt multiemployer pension plans from provisions which limit pension benefits to a participant's average compensation for the participant's three highest consecutive years of compensation.
United States · United States Congress · 10 April 1997
Sunshine in the Courtroom Act - Allows any presiding U.S. judge, in his or her discretion, to allow the photographing, electronic recording, broadcasting, or televising to the public of court proceedings over which such judge presides, including civil and criminal trials and appeals. Authorizes the Judicial Conference of the United States to promulgate advisory guidelines concerning such media coverage within the courtroom.
United States · United States Congress · 10 April 1997
Veterans Nursing Care Availability Act of 1997 - Revises the manner by which the Secretary of Veterans Affairs is required to rank applicants for grants under the State home construction grant program (a program providing grants to States for the construction of veterans' nursing homes). Prohibits any State from being awarded more than one such grant during any fiscal year.
United States · United States Congress · 10 April 1997
Congratulates the residents of Jerusalem and the people of Israel on the 30th anniversary of the reunification of that city. Calls upon the President and the Secretary of State to affirm publicly as a matter of U.S. policy that Jerusalem must remain the undivided capital of Israel. Urges U.S. officials to refrain from any actions that contradict this policy.
United States · United States Congress · 9 April 1997
Morris K. Udall Parkinson's Research Act of 1997 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to mandate a program for the conduct and support of research and training regarding Parkinson's disease. Directs the Director of the National Institutes of Health to provide for coordination of the program among all the national research institutes conducting Parkinson's research. Requires coordination to include the convening of a research planning conference at least once every two years. Provides for each such conference to prepare and submit to certain congressional committees a report concerning the conference. Requires Core Center Grants to encourage the development of innovative multidisciplinary research and provide training concerning Parkinson's, designating each grant recipient as a Morris K. Udall Center for Research on Parkinson's Disease. Establishes a grant program to support investigators with a proven record of excellence and innovation in Parkinson's research and who demonstrate potential for significant breakthroughs in the understanding of the pathogenesis, diagnosis, and treatment of Parkinson's. Limits the availability of grants for a period not to exceed five years. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 8 April 1997
Imported Produce Labeling Act of 1997 - Requires country of origin labeling of perishable agricultural commodities imported into the United States. Authorizes fines for violations of such provision.
![Official portrait of Rep. Quinn, Jack [R-NY-27]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/q000016_200.jpg)