United States · United States Congress · 5 March 1991
Repeals provisions of the Internal Revenue Code that: (1) terminate the income tax exclusion of amounts paid under employee educational assistance programs after tax year 1991; and (2) deny benefits in connection with graduate work. Limits graduate benefits to $1,500 per year.
United States · United States Congress · 5 March 1991
Makes permanent a provision of the Internal Revenue Code that allows the income tax deduction of 25 percent of the health insurance costs of self-employed individuals.
United States · United States Congress · 5 March 1991
Endorses a National Victory Parade in Washington, D.C., and regional victory parades throughout the United States to honor servicemen and women who participated in Operation Desert Storm. Encourages Federal, State, and local governments and private industry to get involved in supporting such parades.
United States · United States Congress · 5 March 1991
Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) expert testimony concerning the nature and effect of domestic violence, including descriptions of the experiences of battered women, should be admissible when offered in a State court by a defendent in a criminal case to assist the trier of fact in understanding the behavior, beliefs, or perceptions of such defendent in a domestic relationship in which abuse has occurred; (2) a witness should be qualified to testify as an expert witness based upon her or his knowledge, skill, experience, training, or education, and should be permitted to testify in the form of an opinion or otherwise; and (3) a domestic relationship about which such expert testimony should be admissible includes relationships between spouses, former spouses, cohabitants, former cohabitants, partners or former partners, and between persons who are in, or have been in, a dating courtship, or intimate relationship.
United States · United States Congress · 4 March 1991
Establishes the grade of General of the Army, appointments to which shall be made by the President by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. Defines the rank and compensation of such grade. Authorizes the President to appoint Generals Colin L. Powell and H. Norman Schwarzkopf, Jr., to that grade.
United States · United States Congress · 28 February 1991
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 · 28 February 1991
Long-Term Care Insurance for the Elderly Act of 1991 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow tax-free distributions from an individual retirement account or an individual retirement annuity for the purchase of long-term care insurance coverage when: (1) the entire amount received is used to buy such insurance for the individual or individual's spouse within 90 days of its receipt; and (2) the individual or individual's spouse has reached age 59 and one-half by the date of the distribution. Describes the method, based on the taxpayer's adjusted gross income for the taxable year, for determining the applicable percentage of the distribution or payment amount to which tax-free treatment will be accorded. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to submit to the Congress, within one year after this Act's enactment, a proposal for the regulation of long-term care insurance policies, including minimum standards and an evaluation of the various catastrophic and long-term care policies currently available.
United States · United States Congress · 28 February 1991
Amends the Railway Labor Act to provide that a majority of valid votes cast by members of a craft or class of employees shall determine the representative of such craft or class.
United States · United States Congress · 28 February 1991
Medicare Bone Mass Measurement Coverage Act of 1991 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide Medicare coverage of bone mass measurements.
United States · United States Congress · 28 February 1991
Osteoporosis and Related Bone Disorders Research, Education, and Health Services Act of 1991 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Director of the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMSD), the Director of the National Institute on Aging (NIA), and the Director of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDKD) to expand and intensify research on osteoporosis and related bone disorders. Requires, with respect to osteoporosis and related bone disorders: (1) the NIAMSD Director to increase the number of Specialized Centers of Research; (2) the NIA Director to increase the number of program project grants devoted to creating centers of excellence; and (3) the NIDDKD Director to increase the number of grants in osteoporosis. Authorizes appropriations. Establishes in the Department of Health and Human Services the Interagency Council on Osteoporosis and Related Disorders and the Advisory Panel on Osteoporosis and Related Disorders. Authorizes appropriations for the Advisory Panel. Requires the NIAMSD Director to make grants or enter into contracts to establish a Resource Center on Osteoporosis and Related Disorders to: (1) disseminate information about research results, services, and educational materials to health professionals, patients, and the public; and (2) coordinate leadership training for the development of health professional resource networks. Requires grant and contract recipients to establish: (1) a central computerized information system to, among other matters, translate scientific and technical information into information readily understandable by the general public; and (2) a national toll-free telephone information line. Requires the grant or contract recipient to charge fees for providing information, but allows exceptions for individuals and organizations unable to pay. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 28 February 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend the tax exemption for qualified small issue industrial bonds (bonds issued to finance manufacturing facilities and farm property) through 1996.
United States · United States Congress · 28 February 1991
Medicare Skilled Nursing Facility and Home Health Benefit Act of 1991 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to: (1) eliminate the requirement that extended care services be provided within a certain period following hospitalization in order to be covered under the Hospital Insurance Program; and (2) cover nursing care and home health aide services provided or needed on an intermittent basis.
United States · United States Congress · 28 February 1991
Children's and Communities' Mental Health Systems Improvement Act of 1991 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to replace a subpart relating to State comprehensive mental health services plans with a subpart relating to comprehensive mental health services for children with serious emotional disturbance. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services, through the Director of the National Institute of Mental Health, to make grants to States for comprehensive community mental health services to children with serious emotional disturbance. Prohibits the Secretary from making a grant to a State unless the State is receiving payments under alcohol and drug abuse and mental health services block grant provisions. Requires non-Federal contributions in a specified ratio. Requires State grantees to: (1) establish and operate one or more systems, through grants or contracts, to provide specified types of mental health services to children under 22 years of age; (2) enter into a memorandum of understanding with providers of medical, educational, vocational counseling and vocational rehabilitation, and protection and advocacy services to facilitate the provision of such services without use of grant funds or non-Federal contributions made with respect to the grant; (3) provide case management services; (4) provide services in the language and cultural context that is most appropriate for the child involved; and (5) develop and implement an individualized plan of services for each child admitted to the system. Describes additional services for which a State system may provide. Prohibits the Secretary from making a grant to a State unless the State has a plan, approved by the Secretary, for the development of a State-wide system of care for community-based services for children with serious emotional disturbance. Requires that parents of children with serious emotional disturbances be included as members of the mental health planning council established under existing provisions. Requires that, if a charge is imposed for services under a grant, the charge be made according to a public schedule, adjusted to reflect the income of the family of the child, and not imposed on any child whose family has income and resources at or below the poverty line. Limits grants to States to five years. Allows a State system established under a grant to receive grant funds for three years. Directs the Secretary to provide to a State, on request: (1) technical assistance regarding grant applications; and (2) training and technical assistance on the planning, development, and operation of the systems under this Act. Authorizes the Secretary to provide the technical assistance directly or through grants or contracts. Authorizes appropriations, earmarking a specified sum for the technical assistance and training. Limits the number of grants to ten in FY 1992.
United States · United States Congress · 28 February 1991
Allows a technician employed in a position in which National Guard membership is required as a condition of employment who is separated from the National Guard, to continue to be employed as a technician under the following circumstances: (1) such technician has no less than 20 years of credible service for military retirement purposes; (2) such technician is involuntarily separated from the National Guard; and (3) the circumstances of the involuntary separation are other than for cause. Allows such technician to convert to competitive career status in the civil service.
United States · United States Congress · 28 February 1991
Requires the Secretary of the Navy: (1) to review the cases of 50 Black sailors who were court-martialed for failing to resume naval loading activities at the Port Chicago, California, naval facility after an unexplained explosion there on July 17, 1944, to determine the extent to which racial prejudice affected the trial; (2) if he determines that such convictions were in error, to take appropriate corrective action; and (3) to recommend to the President and the Congress additional actions that should be taken with respect to the resolution of such cases.
United States · United States Congress · 28 February 1991
Authorizes the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity to establish a memorial to Martin Luther King, Jr., on Federal land in the District of Columbia and its environs. Makes the Fraternity solely responsible for acceptance of contributions for, and payment of expenses of, the memorial. Prohibits the use of Federal funds for its establishment. Requires the Fraternity to deposit excess funds into the Treasury.
United States · United States Congress · 27 February 1991
Women's Equal Opportunity Act of 1991 - Title I: Federal Civil Rights Remedies - Subtitle A: Federal Remedies for Sexual Harassment in the Workplace - Amends the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to allow monetary penalties, to specified maximums, for intentional unlawful employment practices relating to harassment on the basis of sex. Allows a person alleging employment discrimination through sexual harassment to seek temporary or preliminary injunctive relief: (1) without regard to any period of time following the filing of a charge; and (2) without obtaining a right-to-sue letter from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Sets forth criteria for obtaining such relief. Requires courts to expedite proceedings under these provisions. Mandates technical assistance concerning sexual harassment law to employers with fewer than a specified number of employees. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle B: Expansion of Other Federal Civil Rights - Amends Federal law relating to equal rights under the law and the making and enforcing of contracts to declare that: (1) the rights protected are protected against impairment by non-governmental discrimination as well as against impairment under color of State law; and (2) the provisions afford the same protection against discrimination in the performance, breach, modification, or termination of a contract, or in the setting of the terms or conditions thereof, as they do in the making and enforcement of the contract. Amends the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to declare that, for provisions relating to time limits for filing charges, an unlawful employment practice occurs with regard to a seniority system: (1) when it is adopted, an individual becomes subject to it, or a person is injured by its application; and (2) if the system is alleged to have been adopted for an intentionally discriminatory purpose, whether or not that purpose is apparent on the system's face. Applies title VII (Equal Employment Opportunity) of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to the Congress, with enforcement as determined by each House of the Congress. Title II: Domestic and Street Crime Violence Against Women - Subtitle A: Safety on College and University Campuses - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to add sexual assault or any other abusive sexual conduct to the list of offenses regarding which certain institutions are required to collect and disclose statistics. Requires each institution to report the statistics to parents or guardians of students as well as to other groups specified by current law. Subtitle B: Stronger Penalties for Federal Sex Offenses - Amends the Federal criminal code to make murder a Class A felony, mandating the death sentence, when done in the course of certain sex offenses, sexual assault, or child molestation, or when the defendant has previously been convicted of sexual assault or child molestation, subject to specified mitigating factors. Requires instructing the jury not to: (1) consider the race, color, religion, national origin, or sex of the defendant or any victim; and (2) recommend a death sentence unless it concludes that it would recommend such sentence rergardless of such factors. Requires each juror to sign a certification to such effect. Bars carrying out a death sentence on a woman while she is pregnant. Prohibits requiring any employee of, or a person under contract to provide services to, a State corrections department or the Federal Bureau of Prisons to attend or participate in any execution. Amends Federal criminal code provisions relating to sexual abuse to double the maximum imprisonment for violation of such provisions after a prior conviction under Federal or State law for such an offense. Adds to such provisions a special definition of "sexual act" applicable to individuals under the age of 16. Amends the Controlled Substances Act to provide for increased penalties for distribution of a controlled substance to a woman while she is pregnant. Subtitle C: Enhanced Compensation and Restitution for Victims of Sex Crimes - Pornography Victims' Compensation Act of 1991 - Creates a cause of action against a producer, distributor, exhibitor, or seller of sexually explicit material by a victim of a rape, sexual assault, act of sexual abuse, sexual murder, or other sexual crime, or by the estate, guardian, or survivors of any such victim. Conditions the recovery of damages on proof by a preponderance of the evidence that: (1) the victim was a victim of such an act; (2) the material is obscene, constitutes child pornography, or in the case of sex crimes, is sexually explicit and violent, and was a proximate cause of the offense; (3) the defendant is a producer or distributor of the material exhibited or sold it to the sexual offender and should have known that the material was sexually explicit; and (4) the sale or transport affects interstate or foreign commerce. Sets forth criteria by which the finder of fact may reasonably infer that such material was a proximate cause of the offense, including unusual similarities between the acts described and the actual offense, testimony of the offender, and testimony of experts who have examined such material which incited the commission of the offense. Authorizes the award of damages for economic loss, compensation for pain and suffering, reasonable attorney's fees, and costs to prevailing plaintiffs. Sets a statute of limitations of six years from the date the right of action first accrued or, in the case of a legal disability, not later than three years after the termination of such disability. Amends the Federal criminal code to allow an order of certain types of restitution in cases involving provisions relating to sexual abuse or sexual exploitation of children. Subtitle D: Reform of Procedure and Evidentiary Requirements in Sex Offense and Other Cases - Amends the Federal Rules of Evidence to allow evidence of similar offenses in criminal or civil sexual assault and child molestation cases. Amends the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure to modify the number of peremptory challenges available to specified parties when the offense charged is punishable by imprisonment for more than one year. Amends the Federal Criminal Code to: (1) prohibit peremptory jury challenges on the basis of race, color, or any other classification that could not lawfully be used by a prosecutor; and (2) give the prosecutor the same right as the defense attorney to challenge the exercise of peremptory challenges on this ground, with the court applying the same standards and granting the same relief. Enacts rules, to be known as the Rules of Professional Conduct for Lawyers in Federal Practice, and includes them as an appendix to provisions of the U.S. Code relating to the judiciary and judicial procedure. Applies the rules to proceedings before a U.S. court or a Federal agency that carries out adjudicatory or quasi-adjudicatory functions. Includes rules relating to: (1) various types of litigation abuses (including conduct to increase litigation expenses or with no substantial purpose other than to distress another person); (2) expediting litigation (including not attempting to delay or prolong proceedings for specified reasons); and (3) a duty to prevent the commission of a crime (including allowing or requiring disclosure of information). Declares that: (1) it is the sense of the Congress that, in determining child custody, credible evidence of physical abuse of a spouse should create a statutory presumption that it is detrimental to the child to be placed in the custody of the abusive spouse; and (2) this paragraph is not intended to encourage States to prohibit supervised visitation. Requires a protective order issued by a court of a State to have the same full faith and credit in a court in another State as in a court of the issuing State. Amends the Federal Criminal Code to require that a person charged with an offense under provisions relating to sexual abuse be tested for the human immunodeficiency virus: (1) before release pending trial; and (2) six months and twelve months after the initial test. Requires results to be provided to the judicial officer or court and disclosed only to the victim, the attorney for the Government, and the person tested. Requires the U.S. Sentencing Commission to enhance the sentence guidelines if the offender had reason to know that he was infected, except where the offender did not engage or attempt to engage in conduct creating a risk of transmission. Amends the Victims' Rights and Restitution Act of 1990 to require a Governmental department or agency to pay for up to two tests for a sexual assault victim in the twelve months following the assault and a counseling session regarding the tests and the risk of transmission as the result of the assault. Subtitle E: National Task Force on Violence Against Women - Establishes the National Task Force on Violence Against Women to develop a uniform Federal, State, and local law enforcement strategy aimed at protecting women against violent crimes, punishing persons who commit such crimes, and enhancing the rights of the victims. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle F: Prevention of Sexual Assault - Amends the Victims of Crime Act of 1984 to establish a program of grants to States to assist States in supporting rape prevention and education programs. Requires: (1) a minimum percentage of the money to be used for programs targeted for junior high school and high school students; and (2) the State to pay the full cost of forensic medical examinations of sexual assault victims. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle G: Domestic Violence Prevention Act of 1991 - Domestic Violence Prevention Act of 1991 - Amends the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act to add increasing public awareness as a purpose of State demonstration grants. Authorizes grants for public information campaigns regarding domestic violence. Requires a State grant recipient to establish a Commission on Domestic Violence. Requires a specified minimum percentage of funds for demonstration grants for prevention of, and provision of immediate shelter and other assistance to, victims of family violence and their dependents be used for rural areas. Limits law enforcement training grants to private nonprofit organizations that have certain experience. Authorizes appropriations to carry out the Act. Title III: Employment Opportunities - Subtitle A: Glass Ceiling Commission - Glass Ceiling Act of 1991 - Establishes the Glass Ceiling Commission to conduct a study and prepare recommendations conerning: (1) eliminating artificial barriers to the advancement of women and minorities; and (2) increasing opportunities and developmental experiences of women and minorities to foster advancement of women and minorities to executive management and senior decisionmaking positions in business. Establishes the National Award for Diversity and Excellence in American Executive Management, to be evidenced by a medal with its design approved by the Commission. Directs the President, after receiving recommendations from the Commission, to annually present the award to businesses that meet specified qualifications. Allows a recipient business to use the award in its advertising if the business agrees to help other U.S. businesses improve with respect to the promotion of opportunities and developmental experiences of women and minorities regarding executive management and senior decisionmaking positions. Authorizes appropriations. Terminates the Commission and the authority to make awards four years after enactment of this subtitle. Subtitle B: Opportunities in Apprenticeship - Opportunities in Apprenticeship Act of 1991 - Directs the Secretary of Labor to establish in the Department of Labor an outreach and education program to expand the opportunities for women and minorities in apprenticeship programs registered with the Department under the National Apprenticeship Act (registered apprenticeship programs). Directs the Secretary to: (1) identify and develop model preapprenticeship and apprenticeship programs that promote training and employment opportunities for women and minorities, and disseminate information relating to the programs; and (2) provide technical assistance to organizations, institutions, groups, and individuals to promote outreach to, and recruitment of, women and minorities for registered apprenticeship programs. Authorizes the Secretary to: (1) award grants for the Federal share of outreach and recruitment to increase the participation of women and minorities in registered apprenticeship programs; and (2) establish a program of grants to sponsors of registered apprenticeship programs to pay the Federal share of providing preapprenticeship training to women and minorities. Directs the Secretary to conduct a study of, and report to the appropriate committees of the Congress on, the participation of women and minorities in registered apprenticeship programs. Authorizes appropriations to carry out this subtitle. Subtitle C: Opportunities for Alternative Work Arrangements - Declares that it is the sense of the Congress that: (1) the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has made commendable efforts to develop alternative work arrangements through flexible scheduling and job sharing; and (2) OPM should continue efforts to develop and expand alternative work arrangements.
United States · United States Congress · 27 February 1991
Amends the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Uniformed Services (CHAMPUS) to include under such coverage otherwise eligible persons who are also entitled to Medicare benefits. Prohibits a benefit from being paid under CHAMPUS to the extent that it is also a covered benefit for such individual under title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act.
United States · United States Congress · 27 February 1991
Requires that, except in specified instances, Federal financial assistance be taken into account when determining losses or bad debts of savings and loans institutions (thus denying income tax deductions for losses or bad debts to the extent Federal assistance has compensated for them).
United States · United States Congress · 27 February 1991
National Recreational Trails Fund Act of 1991 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to establish the National Recreational Trails Trust Fund (Fund). Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to pay into the Fund an amount equivalent to 0.5 percent of total Highway Trust Fund receipts, adjusted triennially to reflect revenues from nonhighway recreational fuel taxes. Requires the Secretary to use such amounts in the Fund to make grants to the States for constructing and maintaining recreational trails. Establishes the National Recreational Trails Act Advisory Committee.
United States · United States Congress · 27 February 1991
Global Education Opportunities Act of 1991 - Title I: Foreign Language Instruction - Authorizes the Secretary of Education (the Secretary) to make demonstration grants to eligible consortia to: (1) operate critical languages and area studies programs; (2) develop and acquire educational equipment and materials; and (3) develop teacher training programs, texts, curriculum, and other activities to improve and expand foreign language instruction at elementary and secondary schools. (Defines critical language as one designated on the Secretary's list under the Education for Economic Security Act.) Requires each grant recipient to include a study abroad or cultural exchange program among the assisted activities. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes the Secretary to make demonstration grants to State education agencies, institutions of higher education, and nonprofit education and professional associations to provide technology for distance learning, in cooperation with foreign language teachers and specialists, to serve small and rural school districts, small colleges, community colleges, and adult business education classes, through video tapes, cassettes, satellite linkages, cable programs, teleclasses, and computer-assisted instruction. Limits grant amounts. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants for innovative and model programs for elementary and secondary teacher education which integrate foreign language and culture, democracy and civic education, geography, and international studies into practicing and preservice teacher training. Provides that such programs must meet the needs of elementary school teachers before they address those of secondary school teachers. Requires an institute of higher education, to receive such a grant on behalf of its school or department of education and in cooperation with its liberal arts department, to submit a proposal to the Secretary and the appropriate State educational agency. (Allows nonprofit institutions of demonstrated effectiveness to also receive such grants.) Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes the Secretary to make competitive grants to various educational entities or consortia to act as a resource center for: (1) coordinating development and dissemination of foreign language and culture instructional materials (including children's literature, teacher's kits, videotapes, and computer software); and (2) encouraging expanded use of technology in teaching foreign languages and culture in elementary schools (and when these needs are met, in secondary schools), especially at schools with proportionally fewer resources. Requires coordination of such materials and technologies development with that under the Star Schools Program Assistance Act. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes the Secretary to make matching grants, within specified limits, to: (1) States and major metropolitan areas to establish foreign language foundations; and (2) world trade council units to provide language training, translation services, and information about other cultures and markets for small- and medium-sized businesses seeking to enter export markets. Authorizes appropriations. Title II: Higher Education Amendments - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) to revise student assistance for those engaged in study abroad. Specifies that programs of study abroad approved for credit by an institution of higher education (approved programs of study abroad) are among those for which eligible students may receive student assistance under the programs of Pell grants, supplemental educational opportunity grants, grants to States for State student incentives, guaranteed student loans, and Perkins loans. Includes such approved programs of study abroad under cost of attendance provisions for HEA Student Assistance. Revises student eligibility for assistance to declare that nothing in HEA shall be construed to limit or otherwise prohibit access to approved programs of study abroad. Declares that: (1) otherwise eligible students engaged in an approved program of study abroad are also eligible for assistance under title IV (Student Assistance) of HEA; and (2) such a study abroad program need not be a required part of the student's degree program to qualify for such assistance. Requires eligible institutions to: (1) disseminate to prospective and enrolled students accurate information that enrollment in an approved program of study abroad may be considered enrollment in the home institution for purposes of applying for Federal student financial assistance; and (2) agree, for purposes of student assistance program participation, not to deny any form of Federal aid to any student who meets HEA eligibility requirements on the grounds that such student is taking part in an approved program of study abroad. Applies existing requirements for loan check endorsement and multiple disbursement of federally-insured and guaranteed student loans to students engaged in a approved program of study abroad. Allows students participating in approved programs of study abroad to receive, according to specified formulas, increased aid under the programs of Pell grants, supplemental educational opportunity grants, State student incentive grants, federally insured loans, and Perkins loans. Establishes a program of incentive grants for enrollment in special programs abroad. Authorizes the Secretary to: (1) make grants to institutions of higher education or certain other organizations to pay partial incentive stipends to individuals enrolled in certain programs of study abroad; and (2) award, through a national competition, incentive stipends to students who enroll in study abroad programs to learn languages and develop international skills not available in countries in which large numbers of U.S. students study. Requires such grants to be awarded on the basis of merit but with preference given to students who are underrepresented in study abroad, including those from minority groups and professional and preprofessional studies. Intends such stipends to meet extraordinary travel and other associated costs for a one-year maximum. Authorizes appropriations. Requires work study program participation agreements to permit: (1) an institution to devise suitable work opportunities for students studying abroad, including work for foreign colleges, universities, and nonprofit or service organizations; (2) establishment of internship programs involving work for foreign or multinational organizations relevant to the student's course of study; and (3) work-study compensation to eligible students for such work or internships. Declares that student financial aid administrators have discretionary authority to make certain necessary cost of attendance and asset adjustments and special arrangements for student notification, verification, disbursement, and refunds, for students participating in approved programs of study abroad. Allows requests for deferment of Stafford or Perkins student loan repayment by students engaged in graduate or postgraduate fellowship study abroad to be approved until the completion of the fellowship period. Revises HEA title VI (International Education Programs) requirements for undergraduate international studies and foreign language programs to add to the list of authorized grant activities development of: (1) undergraduate study abroad programs providing courses closely related to on-campus foreign language and international studies curricula; and (2) new study abroad opportunities for undergraduates in specific degree programs' curricula. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to higher education institutions, nonprofit organizations, and consortia for: (1) study abroad in the form of either programs in locations otherwise unavailable for such study or opportunities for students who would not otherwise engage in such study; and (2) enrichment of study abroad programs, including development of model predeparture and post-return activities, program selection material and advising services, and academic advising. Requires that centers for international business education assisted under HEA include in their programs opportunities for business students to study abroad in locations which are important to the current and future economic well-being of the United States. Provides that intensive summer language institutes receiving HEA grants may be either in the United States or in appropriate countries abroad. Includes among authorized providers of such training institutes designed to integrate intensive foreign language training with culture experiences abroad for undergraduate students in a wide range of disciplines. Covers the costs of travel to and from institutes in foreign countries in stipends for students and faculty attending such institutes.
United States · United States Congress · 27 February 1991
Federal Reserve Reform Act of 1991 - Amends the Federal Reserve Act to require the Federal Open Market Committee to consult with the Secretary of the Treasury, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, and the chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers during a specified period preceding the President's submission of the budget. Directs the President to appoint, with the advice and consent of the Senate, the Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (the Board). Mandates that any change in the intermediate targets for monetary policy adopted by the Federal Open Market Committee shall be publicly disclosed on the date of its adoption. Prohibits the Comptroller General from auditing written communications among members of the Board including Federal Reserve System personnel with respect to transactions with a foreign central bank, foreign government, or nonprivate international financing organization. Mandates that the estimated receipts and proposed expenditures of the Board and all Federal Reserve Banks be transmitted by the President (without change) with the budget submitted to the Congress.
United States · United States Congress · 27 February 1991
Beeper Abuse Prevention Act of 1991 - Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to direct the Federal Communications Commission to prescribe regulations to prevent the sale or rental to, or possession by, persons under 21 years of age of paging devices (beepers), except that such regulations shall permit: (1) parents or guardians to allow their children to possess and use such devices under supervision; and (2) a business enterprise to allow its employees under age 21 to possess and use such devices while carrying out a lawful business activity under the supervision of such enterprise. Provides that such regulations shall require: (1) persons engaged in sales or rentals of such devices to verify the identification and age of each person to whom such a device is sold or rented; and (2) parents or guardians who intend to permit their children to use such devices, or any business enterprises that intend to permit employees under age 21 to use such devices, to disclose that information at the time of the purchase or rental. Outlines penalties for violations of such regulations. Authorizes the Commission to bring an action in any district court of the United States to enforce such regulations.
United States · United States Congress · 27 February 1991
Directs the heads of Federal departments or agencies which hold or receive records and information which have or could possibly have been correlated to U.S. personnel listed as prisoners of war or missing in action after 1940, including from World War II and the Korean and Vietnam conflicts, to publicly disclose such records and information, except where such disclosure would compromise national security. Requires the Department of Defense to publicly disclose a complete list of such personnel including those killed in action (body not returned) with each service member's current classification as well as any changes in such classification occurring during or after such hostilities.
United States · United States Congress · 27 February 1991
Requires every educational institution that offers courses of study approved for armed forces' or veterans' educational assistance programs under the Montgomery GI Bill to: (1) credit or reimburse each member of the Selected Reserve the entire amount of tuition and fees paid by the reservist to the institution with respect to a course which the reservist is unable to complete because of being ordered to active duty; and (2) provide, upon request, for the readmission of such reservist after completion of such active duty in the same status held before such withdrawal.
United States · United States Congress · 26 February 1991
Trade Agreements Compliance Act of 1991 - Amends the Trade Act of 1974 to authorize certain economically affected persons to request the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) to review whether a foreign country is in material compliance with the terms of a bilateral trade agreement to which the United States is a party. Prescribes guidelines for such a review. Provides that nothing in this Act may be construed as requiring actions that are inconsistent with U.S. international obligations, including the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade.
United States · United States Congress · 26 February 1991
Student Loan Default Prevention Act of 1991 - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 (the Act) to lower the amount insured for any lender by the guaranteed student loan (GSL) program (under the Robert T. Stafford Student Loan Program) from 100 percent to 95 percent of the unpaid principal if one-third or more of the principal outstanding during any consecutive two-year period on the lender's loans consists of loans to students for attendance costs at a higher default rate institution. Prohibits guaranty agencies from selling lists of student borrowers who have loans under the Stafford program. Authorizes guaranty agencies to obtain information on the location of a student borrower from State licensing boards. Limits the circumstances under which repayment deferments are granted for loans to parents (PLUS loans). Revises provisions relating to credit bureaus, with respect to notices of delinquency, notices to borrowers, and limitations on reporting. Revises disclosure requirements to set forth special rules under which supplemental loans for students (SLS loans) are not subject to a requirement for disclosure of projected monthly payment amounts if the lender provides the borrower with sample projections of monthly repayment amounts based on specified assumptions. Requires that officers or directors of the accrediting agency or association not be affiliated in any way with a vocational school seeking or obtaining eligibility for the student loan insurance program. Requires eligible lenders under the Stafford Student loan program to request pre-claims assistance within a specified period if the guaranty agency offers such pre-claims assistance for default prevention. Requires that guaranty agencies, within a specified period after receipt of such a request for such pre-claims assistance, to notify each eligible institution of the lenders request for such assistance on such loan. Reduces certain special allowances paid to holders of eligible loans under the Stafford student loan program. Requires eligible institutions under such program to submit certain information to the Secretary if they wish to change their accrediting agency or association. Requires student borrowers, in order to receive any student loan under the Act, to provide the lender at the time of applying for such loan: (1) their driver's license number; and (2) the name and address of their next of kin. Directs eligible institutions to require borrowers to supply the following exit interview information: (1) their address and the address of their next of kin; and (2) their driver's license number. Directs the Secretary of Education (the Secretary) to establish and publicize a toll-free consumer telephone hotline for use by the public, to permit students who allege fraud or unfair practices by eligible institutions to inform the Department of Education. Requires that an institution's graduation and placement statistics be audited by an independent public agency. Sets forth restrictions on institutional promotional activities. Requires institutions to use the same definition of academic year for all student assistance programs under the Act. Establishes a tuition refund policy. Set forth special rules relating to accreditation. Authorizes the Secretary, under a specified procedures, to limit, suspend, or terminate an eligible institution from student assistance program participation whenever: (1) the institution withdraws from a nationally recognized accrediting agency or association during a show cause or suspension proceeding against it; or (2) such an agency or association reports, under a specified arrangement with the Secretary, that the institution was denied accreditation. Directs the Secretary to promulgate regulations specifying the legal restrictions and the requirements of eligible institutions relating to loan counseling and reporting requirements (including requirements and restrictions on disclosure of borrower records to third parties, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, and other applicable Federal laws).
United States · United States Congress · 26 February 1991
Nursing Home Access to Respiratory Therapy Act of 1991 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to include respiratory therapy within covered extended care services.
United States · United States Congress · 25 February 1991
Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to design and strike a silver commemorative medal for members of the U.S. armed forces who serve in a combat zone in connection with the Persian Gulf conflict.
United States · United States Congress · 21 February 1991
Amends the Federal criminal code to direct the U.S. Sentencing Commission to amend existing sentencing guidelines to require that, if the child victim of a kidnapping has not been released or recovered within 30 days after the abduction, the minimum sentence would be increased by 19 levels (i.e., to life imprisonment).
United States · United States Congress · 21 February 1991
Indoor Air Quality Act of 1991 - Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to establish a national research, development, and demonstration program to ensure the quality of indoor air and to coordinate and accelerate efforts related to the causes, detection, and correction of contaminated air. Authorizes the Administrator to assist technology demonstration projects which reduce exposure to indoor air contaminants, provided certain conditions are met. Limits Federal funding for such projects to 75 percent of the total costs. Directs the Administrator to consider indoor human exposure to contaminants when developing air quality standards and emissions standards for hazardous air pollutants under the Clean Air Act. Requires the Administrator to: (1) conduct a national assessment to survey the seriousness and extent of indoor air contamination in buildings owned by local educational agencies and child care facilities; and (2) establish an advisory group of interested parties to provide guidance and direction in developing such assessment. Directs the Administrator to enter into an agreement with the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) for the Board on Environmental Studies and Toxicology to study and report to the Congress on chemical sensitivity disorders. Requires the Administrator to enter into an agreement with the NAS for the Institute of Medicine to study indoor allergens. Directs the Administrator to study and report to the Congress on the sources of lead exposure for children with blood lead levels greater than 10 micrograms per deciliter. Requires the Administrator and the Director of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health to conduct research on indoor air quality in nonresidential, nonindustrial buildings that comply with generally accepted principles of design, maintenance, and operation of ventilation, filtration, and other building systems. Directs the Administrator to publish bulletins providing an assessment of technologies and management practices for the control and measurement of indoor air contaminants. Requires the Director to develop a model indoor air quality training course to provide training in ventilation system operation and maintenance and in identifying and reducing indoor air contaminant exposures. Authorizes the Director to establish a fee for such training. Requires the Administrator to publish health advisories on indoor air contaminants that are known to occur at concentrations which may have adverse human health effects. Provides for the revision of advisories at least every five years. Requires a technology and management practice bulletin to be published concurrently with each advisory addressing a specific contaminant. Directs the Administrator to publish a strategy for a national response to indoor air quality problems. Requires the Administrator to conduct research on radon and radon progeny measurement methods and protocols. Directs the Administrator to issue guidance documents that: (1) provide information on the results of such research; and (2) describe model State radon measurement and mitigation. Requires the Administrator to establish a mandatory program that requires: (1) products offered for sale, or devices used in connection with public services, for radon measurement to meet minimum performance criteria; and (2) operators of devices, or persons employing techniques, used in connection with public services for radon measurement to meet minimum proficiency levels. Directs the Administrator to establish user fees for persons seeking certification under such program. Provides for the deposit of such fees into a Radon Service Account. Requires the national indoor air quality response strategy to evaluate: (1) the range and reliability of indoor air quality diagnostic and mitigation services; and (2) the range of knowledge and mastery of indoor air quality and energy efficiency techniques of ventilation system operators. Provides for the biennial update of such strategy. Requires the Director to: (1) develop a program to evaluate indoor air contamination in Federal buildings; and (2) develop and disseminate to all Federal agencies a model indoor air quality remediation program. Directs Federal agencies responsible for Federal buildings to submit to the Director a specific remediation program for each building, with priority given to buildings based on the health threat and numbers of persons exposed. Requires the Director to review at least five percent of such programs and assess their ability to improve indoor air quality. Directs such agencies to implement systematic programs for the assessment of indoor air quality and the correction of conditions resulting in inadequate air quality. Requires Federal agencies responsible for the design and construction of buildings for Federal occupancy to employ up-to-date design, commissioning, and operating practices for optimal indoor air quality and energy efficiency. Directs persons entering into new leases or lease renewal contracts for Federal buildings to require building owners to demonstrate and guarantee that the building is operating at design specifications for the existing ventilation system and that all portions of the building are accessible for indoor air quality monitoring and evaluation. Provides that buildings that operate at current ventilation rate standards shall be given priority for leasing when available at competitive cost. Requires Federal agencies to designate an Indoor Air Quality Coordinator for each Federal building. Directs Coordinators and their assistants to complete an indoor air training course. Authorizes grants to: (1) States for the development and implementation of indoor air quality management strategies; and (2) States and local air pollution control agencies for air quality response programs. Sets forth grant limitations and selection criteria. Directs the Administrator to establish the Office of Indoor Air Quality within the EPA Office of Air and Radiation. Establishes a Council on Indoor Air Quality to coordinate Federal indoor air quality activities and review and comment on the national indoor air response strategy. Requires the Indoor Air Panel of the EPA Science Advisory Board to be expanded to include technical advisors with expertise in technologies and management practices for the control and measurement of indoor air contaminants. Directs the Administrator to establish a national indoor air quality clearinghouse which shall operate a toll-free hotline on indoor air quality. Requires the Director to implement a Building Assessment Demonstration Program to support the development of methods, techniques, and protocols for assessing indoor air contamination in non-residential, non-industrial buildings and to provide contamination reduction assistance and guidance to building owners and occupants. Sets forth building assessment report requirements. Requires public or commercial buildings receiving permits for construction or renovation to maintain and operate a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system designed to provide a minimum of: (1) 20 cubic feet per minute of outdoor air per occupant to all occupied space in such building; and (2) 60 cubic feet per minute of outdoor air per smoking occupant to rooms where smoking is permitted. Prohibits exhaust air from a room where smoking is permitted from being returned to the general ventilation system. Sets forth recordkeeping requirements with respect to such systems. Directs the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to enforce compliance with such requirements. Prescribes civil and criminal penalties for violations of such requirements. Requires the Administrator to evaluate the need for additional standards related to the level of specific indoor air contaminants present in such buildings to supplement such requirements. Directs the Administrator to issue regulations which: (1) establish standard methods for the measurement and description of indoor air contaminant emissions; (2) identify products that pose significant human health threats through such emissions; and (3) require products that do pose such a threat to be labeled or accompanied by written material informing consumers and commercial purchasers of the indoor air contaminant emissions rate of such products. Makes it unlawful to sell or import into the United States any product which: (1) does not have such a label or written material; or (2) has a label or material containing false information. Requires the Administrator to educate consumers and commercial purchasers about the labeling of such products. Directs the Secretary of Labor to: (1) determine whether standards on workplace indoor air quality are necessary to protect the health and safety of employees; and (2) issue a final standard, as necessary. Repeals the Radon Gas and Indoor Air Quality Research Act of 1986. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 21 February 1991
Sullivan Act - Requires the Secretary of Defense, in prescribing policies for the exemption of certain members of the armed forces from duty assignments in imminent danger zones, to provide that: (1) requests by military personnel who are members of the same family for all but one of such family to be assigned to duty outside a danger zone may be approved and that such request with respect to at least one such family member shall be approved; and (2) a request by an unmarried member who has sole custody of a child to be assigned to duty outside an imminent danger zone shall be approved. Allows the Secretary of the military department concerned to deny such requests in individual cases based on national security requirements.
United States · United States Congress · 21 February 1991
Amends the Older Americans Act of 1965 with regard to surplus commodity food assistance for older persons to require that assistance be provided for two meals served daily per person if such meals have a specified nutritional content.
United States · United States Congress · 21 February 1991
Retired Teachers Act - Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) of the Social Security Act to prohibit the income an individual who has attained retirement age earns in serving as a part-time teacher in a public elementary or secondary school from being applied against such individual's OASDI benefits.
United States · United States Congress · 21 February 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow the one-time exclusion on gain from the sale of a principal residence to be taken before age 55 if the taxpayer is permanently and totally disabled.
United States · United States Congress · 21 February 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to permanently extend the period during which qualified mortgage bonds and mortgage credit certificates may be issued.
![Official portrait of Rep. Roe, Robert A. [D-NJ-8]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/r000383_200.jpg)