United States · United States Congress · 6 October 1992
Amends the National Trails System Act to designate the American Discovery Trail extending from Pt. Reyes, California, to Cape Henlopen State Park, Delaware, and the Ala Kahakai Trail in Hawaii for study for potential addition to the National Trails System.
United States · United States Congress · 24 September 1992
Designates the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Augusta, Georgia, as the Doug Barnard, Jr., Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center.
United States · United States Congress · 22 September 1992
Authorizes the Coalition for a National Memorial to Mahatma Gandhi to establish a memorial on Federal land in the District of Columbia or its environs to honor Mahatma Gandhi. Prohibits the United States from paying any expense of establishing the memorial.
United States · United States Congress · 15 September 1992
Managed Competition Act of 1992 - Title I: Managed Competition in Employer-Based Health Plans: Incentives to Control Costs - Subtitle A: Use of Tax Incentives to Purchase Cost Effective Plans - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to impose an excise tax on the excess health plan expenses of employers. Allows a full and permanent deduction for the health plan premium expenses of self-employed individuals, except with respect to excess health plan expenses. Excludes from gross income contributions by a partnership or S corporation to an accident or health plan covering its partners or shareholders. Subtitle B: Health Plan Purchasing Cooperatives (HPPCs) - Provides for the establishment of health plan purchasing cooperatives as not-for-profit corporations in or among States to: (1) enter into agreements with accountable health plans; (2) enter into agreements with small employers; (3) enroll individuals in accountable health plans; (4) receive and forward adjusted premiums, including the reconciliation of low-income assistance among such plans; and (5) coordinate and carryout other functions as required by this title. Subtitle C: Accountable Health Plans (AHPs) - Sets forth requirements for accountable health plans with respect to: registration and qualifications, uniform benefits, cost-sharing for low-income individuals, standardized information, prohibition of discrimination based on health status, standard premiums, financial solvency, grievance mechanisms, and coordinating benefits. Preempts State laws for accountable health plans. Subtitle D: National Health Board - Establishes a National Health Board to: (1) specify a uniform set of effective benefits by October 1, 1993; (2) provide for an advisory Health Benefits and Data Standards Board and a Health Plan Standards Board; (3) register accountable health plans; (4) establish rules for the process of risk-adjustment premiums; (5) establish standards for a national health data system; (6) measure the quality of care in specialized centers; and (7) make specified reports to the Congress. Subtitle E: Treatment of Areas of Ineffective Competition - Authorizes States to develop plans for controlling growth in premiums of accountable health plans where there is ineffective price competition. Subtitle F: Repeal of COBRA Continuation Requirements - Repeals provisions of the Internal Revenue Code, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, and the Public Health Service Act with respect to continuation coverage requirements of group health plans. Subtitle G: Definitions - Provides definitions for terms under this title. Title II: Low-Income Assistance for Health Coverage - Subtitle A: Low-Income Assistance - Provides assistance to low-income individuals enrolled under accountable health plans who are not eligible for Medicare through adjustments of premiums, cost-sharing assistance, and payments for certain items and services. Subtitle B: Long-Term Care Phase-Down Assistance to States - Phases down assistance to States for long-term care from 1994 through 1997. Subtitle C: Financing - Repeals the dollar limitation on the amount of wages subject to the hospital insurance tax. Subtitle D: Repeal of Medicaid Program - Repeals title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act. Requires the National Health Board to report to the Congress on changes in the laws needed to conform to such repeal. Title III: Improved Access in Rural and Underserved Areas - Amends the Public Health Service Act to extend authorizations of appropriations for migrant health centers, community health centers, scholarship and loan repayment programs of the National Health Service Corps, and area health education centers. Title IV: Preventive Health and Personal Responsibility Subtitle A: Expansion of Public Health Programs - Extends authorized appropriations for: immunizations against vaccine preventable diseases, lead poisoning prevention, preventive health measures with respect to breast and cervical cancers, health information and health promotion, and preventive health and health services block grants. Provides for the use of appropriated funds for the prevention, control, and elimination of tuberculosis and for grants for early intervention regarding acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). Authorizes appropriations for programs regarding the smoking of tobacco products. Subtitle B: Expansion of Medicare Coverage of Preventive Services - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide for coverage for colorectal screening, certain immunizations, well-child care, annual mammography screenings, and certain additional benefits. Title V: Malpractice Reform - Subtitle A: Findings; Purpose; Definitions - Sets forth congressional findings with respect to the need for malpractice reforms. Subtitle B: Grants to States for Alternative Dispute Resolution Systems - Authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make grants to States for a two-year period for the implementation and evaluation of alternative dispute resolution systems. Sets forth eligibility requirements for States seeking such grants and standards and regulations for such program. Subtitle C: Uniform Standards for Malpractice Claims - Establishes uniform standards for health care liability actions brought in a Federal or State court and to medical malpractice claims subject to an alternative dispute resolution system, except in the case of an injury arising from the use of a medical product. Subtitle D: Liability Protections for Federally-Supported Health Centers - Provides liability protection for physicians or other licensed or certified health care practitioners deemed to be employees of the Public Health Service. Requires the Attorney General to report to the Congress on medical malpractice liability claims arising under this subtitle. Title VI: Paperwork Reduction and Administrative Simplification - Preempts State laws that require medical or health insurance records to be maintained in written, rather than electronic form. Requires the National Health Board to ensure the confidentiality of electronic health care information and establish standardization for the electronic receipt and transmission of health plan information. Requires the Board to establish goals and time frames for: (1) the use of uniform health claims forms and identification numbers; (2) achieving uniformity in determining the liability of insurers when benefits are payable under two or more health plans; and (3) achieving uniformity in the availability of information among health plans when benefits are payable under two or more health plans. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to impose a tax on the administrator of a health plan for failure to satisfy certain health plan requirments.
United States · United States Congress · 12 August 1992
Authorizes the President, on behalf of the Congress, to present a gold medal to John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie in recognition of his accomplishments as a musician. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to provide for the sale of bronze duplicates of the medal.
United States · United States Congress · 12 August 1992
Women in the Armed Forces Commemorative Coins Act - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to: (1) mint and issue coins to commemorate the women who have served in the armed forces of the United States; and (2) transfer the surcharges received from coin sales to the Women in Military Service for America Memorial Foundation and endow and dedicate the Women in the Armed Forces Memorial.
United States · United States Congress · 11 August 1992
National Dividend Act of 1992 - Establishes a program for the distribution of certain corporate tax revenues to the registered voters of each State in the form of dividend payments. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to pay to the chief financial officer of each State, in accordance with a prescribed schedule, an amount equal to the National Dividend Payment, as computed under this Act, multiplied by the number of registered voters in the State. Sets forth criteria and procedures to govern: (1) the chief financial officer's selection of an incorporated bank to act as the State's disbursing agent; and (2) payments to qualified voters. Establishes in the Treasury the National Dividend Payment Trust Fund. Authorizes payment into the Fund of specified amounts from revenue received from: (1) corporate income tax; (2) tax on the unrelated business income of certain tax-exempt organizations; (3) capital gains tax; (4) tax on insurance company income; and (5) alternative minimum tax on corporations. Establishes a National Dividend Review Board to review the manner in which payments are made from the Fund and to make investments of Fund amounts. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from gross income, for income tax purposes, all dividend income received by a taxpayer from domestic corporations, including dividends received under this Act. Increases the corporate income tax deduction for dividends received by a corporation on the preferred stock of a public utility. Prohibits corporate income tax rates from exceeding 34 percent. Amends the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 to declare it out of order in either the House of Representatives or the Senate to consider budget resolutions for fiscal years 1993 and thereafter that would increase the level of total budget outlays beyond those budgeted for FY 1991.
United States · United States Congress · 6 August 1992
Repeals provisions of the Unemployment Compensation Amendments of 1992 which require 20 percent income tax withholding on eligible rollover distributions of pension plans which are not rolled over into eligible retirement plans. Requires the Internal Revenue Code to be applied as if such provisions had never been enacted.
United States · United States Congress · 4 August 1992
Expresses the sense of the Congress that no rules, regulations, or statutes shall be adopted preventing cable systems or other multichannel video distribution systems from retransmitting professional baseball and basketball games which are carried on distant broadcast stations or requiring cable systems to "black out" such games, except as provided in the Federal Communications Commission's sports blackout rules.
United States · United States Congress · 31 July 1992
Repeals specified portions of the Unemployment Compensation Amendments of 1992 (Public Law 102-318) which: (1) provide for optional trustee-to-trustee transfers of eligible rollover distributions; and (2) impose a withholding tax on distributions not so transferred. Requires the Internal Revenue Code to be applied and administered as if such provisions (and the amendments made by such provisions) had not been enacted.
United States · United States Congress · 9 July 1992
Grants the consent of the Congress to the Interstate Rail Passenger Network Compact enacted by Indiana and Tennessee, and covering those States plus Illinois, Kentucky, Georgia, and Florida.
United States · United States Congress · 2 July 1992
Information Services Fair Competition Act of 1992 - Amends the Communication Act of 1934 to make it unlawful for any common carrier or its affiliate engaged in the provision of information services to include in its charges for telephone exchange service any operating expenses, costs, depreciation charges, or other expenses determined by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to be properly associated with the provision of information services by such carrier or affiliate. Directs the FCC to adopt regulations to ensure that these provisions are not evaded by carriers subject to this Act. Directs a common carrier or its affiliate engaged in the provision of information services to meet requirements such as: (1) book maintenance in a specified manner; (2) interconnection to its network that is equal in price, quality, and type to the interconnection that the carrier provides to itself or to its affiliate; (3) information concerning the network interface specifications that allows such information service provider to connect to that carrier's network; (4) public disclosure of the specifications for any new or changed type of network interface for information services that the carrier or its affiliate provides or may provide; and (5) response, on a nondiscriminatory basis, to a bona fide request for a new type of basic service necessary to support an information service within 120 days after receipt of such request, and offer such service on an unbundled basis if it is technically feasible and if the marketing and economic demand forecast support such offering. Authorizes the FCC, upon application of a carrier which shows that it is technically unable to meet one or more of the requirements mentioned above, to grant a waiver to such carrier only if the public interest would be served thereby. Requires the FCC to adopt regulations that specify the form and manner in which the network disclosure information shall be made by common carriers. Requires common carriers, subject to this Act, to comply with any relevant regulations already in effect until such regulations are adopted and published in the Federal Register. Prescribes guidelines for the release of network disclosure information. Makes it unlawful for a common carrier or its affiliate to use, in connection with the provision of such carrier's information services, customer proprietary network information that the carrier has collected in the course of providing telephone exchange service unavailable to unaffiliated providers of information services unless prior consent of the customer has been obtained or in cases where the FCC has determined that the use of disclosure of such information serves the public interest. Prohibits: (1) any common carrier or affiliate from engaging in the provision of a burglar alarm service until ten years after the enactment of this Act unless such service was provided to a customer by the carrier or affiliate on July 1, 1992; and (2) a Federal agency or State from regulating the rates, terms, or conditions for the provision of information services. Authorizes the FCC to impose any remedy, without limitation, to ensure that the costs of providing information services are not borne by subscribers to telephone exchange service.
United States · United States Congress · 2 July 1992
Fiscal Accountability and Impact Reform Act (FAIR Act) - States that one purpose of this Act is to assist the Congress in consideration of proposed legislation establishing or revising Federal programs to assure that, to the maximum extent practicable, legislation enacted will: (1) minimize the burden of such legislation on expenditure of scarce local public resources by State and local governments; (2) minimize inefficient allocation of economic resources; and (3) reduce the adverse effect of such legislation on the ability of State and local governments to use local public resources to meet local needs, and on allocation of economic resources, full employment, and international competitiveness. States that a second purpose of this Act is to require Federal agencies to exercise discretionary authority and implement statutory requirements in a manner which, consistent with agency mission and Federal law, minimizes the impact of regulations and other major Federal actions affecting the economy on: (1) the ability of State and local governments to use local public resources to meet local needs; and (2) the allocation of economic resources, full employment, and international competitiveness of American goods and services. Title I: Legislative Reform - Provides that whenever a committee of either House reports a bill to its House which mandates unfunded requirements upon State and local governments or the private sector, the report accompanying that bill shall analyze the effect of the new requirements on: (1) State and local government expenditures necessary to comply with Federal mandates; (2) private businesses; and (3) economic growth and competitiveness. Title II: Agency Impact Analysis - Requires, to the fullest extent practicable, that: (1) the policies, regulations, and public laws of the United States be interpreted and administered in accordance with the purposes of this Act; (2) all Federal agencies, consistent with attainment of the requirements of Federal law, minimize the adverse effects of rules affecting the economy; and (3) Federal agencies take certain actions in promulgating new rules, reviewing existing rules, developing legislative proposals, or initiating any other major Federal action affecting the economy whenever an agency identifies two or more alternatives which will satisfy the agency's statutory obligations. Provides that, whenever an agency publishes a general notice of proposed rulemaking, promulgates a final rule, or before initiating or implementing any other major Federal action affecting the economy, the agency shall prepare and make available for public comment an Economic Impact Assessment. Specifies the contents of such an assessment. Provides for judicial review of final agency actions for compliance with this title.
United States · United States Congress · 24 June 1992
World University Games Commemorative Coin Act - Authorizes the minting and issuance of five dollar gold coins and one dollar silver coins (at no net cost to the Government) to commemorate American participation in the World University Games. Requires that all surcharges from the sale of such coins be paid to the Greater Buffalo Athletic Corporation to support amateur athletic programs, erect facilities for the use of such athletes, and to underwrite the cost of sponsoring the World University Games.
United States · United States Congress · 24 June 1992
Directs that, in the administration of any benefits program established by or under Federal law which requires the use of data obtained in the most recent decennial census, the 1990 adjusted census data be considered the official data for such census.
United States · United States Congress · 22 June 1992
Nursing Facility Assistance Act of 1992 - Amends titles XVIII (Medicare) and XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to revise standards for decertification of nurse aide training and competency evaluation programs (programs) operated by nursing facilities. Repeals requirements under Medicaid for preadmission screening and annual resident review by such facilties. Repeals requirements under Medicare and Medicaid respecting: (1) annual external reviews of the use of psychopharmacologic drugs; and (2) repayments to the Federal Government of payments continued pending remediation if corrective action is not taken. Provides for an increase in the minimum amount required under Medicare and Medicaid for the separate deposit of nursing facility residents' personal funds. Provides for reimbursement under Medicaid for amounts spent for programs which are attributable to activities relating to individuals who are not enrolled under a State Medicaid plan. Makes this Act effective as if included in the enactment of the Omnibus Reconciliation Act of 1987.
United States · United States Congress · 9 June 1992
Declares that the Congress acknowledges and appreciates the commitment, devotion, and sacrifices of present and former military families. Designates November 23, 1992, as National Military Families Recognition Day.
United States · United States Congress · 2 June 1992
Removes the annual and total limits on the number of Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC) units that may be maintained at public and private secondary educational institutions. Includes, as a condition to establishing a JROTC unit at such institution, that the institution agrees to such establishment and maintenance for no less than five academic years.
United States · United States Congress · 28 May 1992
Animal Medicinal Drug Use Clarification Act of 1992 - Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to allow, on order of a veterinarian: (1) a new animal drug approved for one use to be used for a different purpose, provided the use does not result in residues in food in violation of established safe levels for the drug; and (2) a new drug approved for human use to be used in non-food producing animals.
United States · United States Congress · 21 May 1992
Medical Cost Containment Act of 1992 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from gross income medical care savings benefits. Describes such benefits as a health plan which provides that all or part of the premium differential realized by instituting a qualified higher deductible health plan is credited to participating employees to pay for medical care for a plan year. Requires amounts remaining at the end of such plan year to be deposited into a tax-exempt medical care savings account (subject to rules similar to those for retirement plans) for use by the participant for medical expenses.
United States · United States Congress · 21 May 1992
Designates February 21 through 27, 1993, as American Wine Appreciation Week. Commends the winegrape and fruit growers and vintners of the United States for the production of high quality agricultural products.
United States · United States Congress · 7 May 1992
Civil War Battlefield Commemorative Coin Act of 1992 - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to issue a specified number of five-dollar gold coins, one-dollar silver coins, and half-dollar clad coins to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Civil War battlefield preservation. Sets forth certain features of such coins and provides for their design, issuance, and sale. Requires that all sales include a surcharge of $35 per coin for the five-dollar coins, $7 per coin for the one-dollar coins, and $1 per coin for the half-dollar coins. Requires that all surcharges be paid to the Civil War Battlefield Foundation for the preservation of historically significant Civil War battlefields.
United States · United States Congress · 5 May 1992
Designates September 18, 1992, as National POW/MIA Recognition Day. Requires the POW/MIA flag to be flown on a flagstaff of the White House, the Departments of State, Defense, and Veterans Affairs, the Selective Service Commission, each national cemetery, and the National Vietnam Veterans Memorial on such day. Requires the flag to be flown on a flagstaff of each national cemetery and the National Vietnam Veterans Memorial on May 30, 1992 (Memorial Day), and on November 11, 1992 (Veterans Day). States that the flag shall be displayed as a symbol of national concern and commitment to resolving the fates of Americans still prisoner, missing, and unaccounted for.
United States · United States Congress · 29 April 1992
Prisoner-of-War Commemorative Coin Act - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to issue a specified number of one-dollar coins emblematic of the experience of American prisoners of war. Requires that all sales of such coins include a surcharge of $5 per coin. Requires specified proceeds from such surcharges to be paid to the: (1) Secretary of the Interior for construction of the Andersonville Prisoner-of-War Museum in Andersonville, Georgia; (2) endowment fund established by this Act for the maintenance of such Museum; and (3) Secretary of Veterans Affairs to maintain national cemeteries.
United States · United States Congress · 8 April 1992
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a first-time homebuyer who purchases a principal residence a tax credit of ten percent of the purchase price of such residence. Limits the credit to $5,000. Requires married individuals filing jointly to both be first-time homebuyers. Allows the use of 50 percent of the credit in the first taxable year in which the residence is purchased and the remaining 50 percent in the succeeding taxable year. Makes this credit applicable to residences acquired after February 1, 1992, and before January 1, 1993, or for which a binding contract is entered into during such period.
United States · United States Congress · 8 April 1992
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the President should extend for one year the 90-day moratorium on new unnecessary Federal regulations ordered in the President's Memorandum on Reducing the Burden of Government Regulations, dated January 28, 1992.
United States · United States Congress · 25 March 1992
National Child Protection Act of 1992 - Establishes a national criminal background check system (system) to which a designated agency in each State is required to report child abuse crime information, or index such information in the system, for purposes of background checks of child care providers. Directs the Attorney General to establish: (1) guidelines for the reporting of such information; and (2) timetables for each State to report such information to the System (with a three-year deadline for all States to be reporting at a specified level of currency). Requires State agencies to maintain close liaison for the exchange of technical assistance in cases of child abuse with the National Center: (1) on Child Abuse and Neglect; (2) for Missing and Exploited Children; and (3) for the Prosecution of Child Abuse. Directs the Attorney General to publish annually: (1) a statistical summary of the child abuse crime information reported under this Act; and (2) a summary of each State's progress in reporting child abuse crime information to the system. Requires the Administrator of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention to conduct a study to determine various factors relating to potential child abuse crimes and offenders, based on a statistically significant sample of convicted child abuse offenders and other relevant information. Requires a report on such study to be submitted to specified congressional committee officials. Authorizes a State to have in effect procedures to permit a qualified entity (i.e., a business or organization that provides child care or child care placement services, or that certifies others to provide such care or services) to contact a State agency to request a nationwide background check to determine if a child care provider is under indictment for, or has been convicted of, a background check crime. Directs the Attorney General to establish: (1) guidelines for State background check procedures, but permits the Attorney General to certify that a State procedure is equivalent to that under this Act under specified circumstances; and (2) criteria for such certifications. Authorizes the Attorney General to: (1) prescribe such other measures as may be required to carry out the purposes of this Act; and (2) encourage the use of the best technology available in conducting background checks. Amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (Omnibus Act) to provide for the use of drug control and system improvement grants for the improvement of State record systems and the sharing of records of child abuse crime information to implement this Act. Directs the Attorney General, subject to appropriations and with preference to States that have the lowest percent currency of case dispositions in computerized criminal history files, to make additional grants to each State to be used, for purposes of this Act: (1) for the computerization of criminal history files; (2) for the improvement of existing computerized criminal history files; (3) to improve accessibility to the system; and (4) to assist the State in the transmittal of criminal records to, or the indexing of criminal history records in, the system. Authorizes: (1) appropriations; and (2) the withholding of a portion of the allocation for a fiscal year under the Omnibus Act to a State that is not in compliance with the timetable established under this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 20 March 1992
Designates the U.S. Postal Service general mail facility located on Highway 49 in Gulfport, Mississippi, as the Larkin I. Smith General Mail Facility, and the one on Main Street in Poplarville, Mississippi, as the Larkin I. Smith Post Office.
United States · United States Congress · 19 March 1992
Declares that it is the sense of the Congress that any legislation passed by the Congress to address American health care needs must include coverage for mental disorders.
United States · United States Congress · 18 March 1992
Makes eligible for the award of the Purple Heart those persons wounded in action on or after December 7, 1941, by weapon fire while engaged in armed conflict, regardless of the origin of the weapon fire.
United States · United States Congress · 12 March 1992
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that: (1) the veterans' health care system administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs should be maintained within that Department uniquely for providing health care for veterans; and (2) eligibility for health care services provided by such health care system should not be expanded to non-veterans other than to provide care for veterans' dependents or to enter into sharing arrangements with other health-care providers.
United States · United States Congress · 5 March 1992
Medicare Geographic Data Accuracy Act of 1992 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to consult with State medical societies in revising the geographic adjustment factors used to determine reimbursements for physician services under part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) of Medicare. Requires the Secretary to base geographic-cost-of-practice indices under Medicare upon the most recent available data.
![Official portrait of Rep. Ray, Richard B. [D-GA-3]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/r000080_200.jpg)