United States · United States Congress · 28 September 1996
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 levels of spending. Declares that the budget process should contain safeguards against delay and inaction, so that temporary shut-downs of the Government may be avoided. Title II: Binding Budget Law - Requires the Congress to enact a binding budget law, in the form of a joint resolution, by April 15 of the calendar year before that in which the fiscal period commences. (Sec. 202) Makes it out of order in the House of Representatives or the Senate to consider any spending bill affecting spending in a major functional category unless and until a joint resolution on the budget is enacted. Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (CBA) to require a two-thirds majority vote in the House and the Senate to consider any spending bill prior to the enactment of the budget law. Repeals authority for consideration of spending bills prior to adoption of the budget resolution. (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 establish a rainy day fund for natural disasters. Requires budget law to include a major functional category for natural disasters, under specified conditions. (Sec. 205) Amends Federal law relating to the contents of the President's annual budget submission to the Congress to require the President to submit: (1) a budget of the U.S. Government for the following fiscal period on a single page, which sets forth specific budget ceilings in each major functional category, by the first Monday in February of each year before that in which a fiscal period commences; and (2) a detailed budget for that fiscal period, on or before the 15th day after a joint resolution on the budget for the following budget period 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 to the Congress an estimate of the costs in each major functional category of each spending bill before being voted on by the Senate or the House. (Sec. 301) Requires a two-thirds affirmative vote in the House and the Senate to consider over-budget spending bills. (Sec. 302) Requires a two-thirds affirmative vote in the House and the Senate to waive any provision of this Act. Subtitle B: Limited Enhanced Rescission Authority - Amends the Impoundment Control Act of 1974 to authorize the President to exercise line-item reduction authority if the Congress 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. Sets forth procedures for congressional introductions of line-item bills after the President transmits a special message to rescind an item of budget authority. Prohibits amendments to such bills. 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. Requires a two-thirds affirmative vote in the House or in the Senate to waive such prohibition. Sets forth special rules in the case of legislation that exceeds a budget ceiling for the natural disaster functional category. Repeals a CBA provision for 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 budget savings from House and Senate amendments to appropriations bills result in actual spending cuts; (2) require Congressional Budget Office (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) Provides 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, including changing references to a concurrent resolution on the budget to references to a joint resolution on the budget. Title VII: Definitions and Rules of Interpretation - Sets forth definitions for specified terms. Changes the definition of budget authority to exclude offsetting receipts.
United States · United States Congress · 24 September 1996
Jackie Robinson Commemorative Coin Act - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to: (1) mint and issue one-dollar silver coins emblematic of Jackie Robinson in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the breaking of the color barrier in major league baseball; and (2) distribute surcharge proceeds to the Jackie Robinson Foundation to enhance its education and youth leadership programs, and increase the availability of scholarships for economically disadvantaged youths.
United States · United States Congress · 18 September 1996
Farm Transportation Regulatory Relief Act - Declares that Department of Transportation (DOT) regulations relating to the transportation of agricultural production material as a hazardous material (pesticides, fertilizers, and fuels) shall not prohibit a State from providing an exception from such regulations for farmers and retailers providing not-for-hire intrastate transportation of agricultural production materials from a source of supply to a farm, from a farm to another farm, from a field to another field on a farm, or from the farm back to the source of supply.
United States · United States Congress · 11 September 1996
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Title II: General Provisions Emergency Disaster Assistance Supplemental Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 1996 - Title I: Emergency Supplemental Appropriations - Makes emergency supplemental appropriations for FY 1996 to provide relief from the damages caused by Hurricane Fran and other natural disasters of 1996. Chapter 1: Department of Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies - Makes such FY 1996 emergency supplemental appropriations to: (1) the Department of Agriculture, for the Farm Service Agency's emergency conservation program; (2) the Natural Resources Conservation Service, for watershed and flood prevention operations; (3) the Rural Housing Service, for Rural Housing Insurance Fund Program Account direct loans, and for very low-income housing repair grants; (4) the Rural Utilities Service, for the rural utilities assistance program; and (5) the Commodity Credit Corporation, for covering 1996 crop losses. Chapter 2: Departments of Commerce, Justice, and State, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies - Makes such FY 1996 emergency supplemental appropriations to: (1) the Department of Commerce, for the Economic Development Administration's economic development assistance programs; and (2) the Small Business Administration, for the Disaster Loans Program Account. Chapter 3: Energy and Water Development - Makes such FY 1996 emergency appropriations to the Department of Defense-Civil, Department of the Army, Corps of Engineers-Civil, for: (1) general operation and maintenance; and (2) flood control and coastal emergencies. Chapter 4: Departments of Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development, and Independent Agencies - Makes such FY 1996 emergency appropriations to: (1) the Department of Housing and Urban Development for community development grants; and (2) the Federal Emergency Management Agencies for disaster relief. Title II: General Provisions - Designates each amount provided for a program or activity in title I as an emergency requirement for all purposes of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act). Makes such amount available only to the extent of a specific dollar amount for such program or activity that is: (1) included in an official budget request submitted by the President to the Congress; and (2) designated as an emergency requirement for all purposes of that Act. (Sec. 202) Authorizes Federal department or agency heads to waive certain restrictions in administering funds provided under title I.
United States · United States Congress · 11 September 1996
Establishes in the House of Representatives the Select Committee to Investigate CIA Involvement in Crack Cocaine Sales to Fund Contras to investigate and report to the House regarding: (1) existence of Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) files on cocaine purchases and arms transfers to inner-city south central Los Angeles residents; (2) CIA employment of Danilo Blandon and Edwin Menenses as informants; (3) diversion or intended diversion of funds appropriated by the Congress for assistance to Nicaraguan contras or the sale of crack cocaine for such purposes; and (4) any other matters deemed appropriate or germane to either CIA involvement in unauthorized or illegal drug sales or the use of informants to provide information on sale of crack cocaine to such residents.
United States · United States Congress · 2 August 1996
Authorizes the President to award the Congressional Medal of Honor posthumously to Theodore Roosevelt for his actions in the attack of San Juan Heights, Cuba, during the Spanish-American War on July 1, 1898.
United States · United States Congress · 17 July 1996
Directs the Secretary of the Army to pay specified sums to the estates of two named individuals in full satisfaction of all claims of specified parties against the United States in connection with the incident which resulted in the individuals' deaths.
United States · United States Congress · 10 July 1996
ISTEA Integrity Restoration Act - Authorizes appropriations out of the Highway Trust Fund (other than the Mass Transit Account) for FY 1998 through 2002 for: (1) the National Highway System (NHS); (2) the Surface Transportation Program (STP); and (3) the Federal Lands Highway Program (FLHP), including Indian reservation roads, public lands highways, and parkways and park highways. (Sec. 6) Modifies the definition of: (1) "Federal-aid system" to mean the NHS; and (2) NHS to mean the Federal-aid highway system established pursuant to Federal highway provisions. Defines: (1) "highest priority corridor" to mean (with exceptions) any NHS corridor that the Secretary determines has national and international significance, that directly accounts for at least 35 percent of the truck-borne traffic for Canadian and Mexican imports and exports, that has at least 20 percent truck traffic, that directly benefits impoverished areas, that provides multiple intermodal connections, and that connects to military bases; and (2) "highway funds" to mean the funds apportioned to a State for a fiscal year and the funds allocated to a State for the preceding fiscal year for Federal-aid highway and highway safety construction (other than funds made available for the FLHP and for emergency relief). Modifies provisions regarding Federal-aid systems and the formula for apportionments of NHS funds. (Sec. 7) Repeals provisions regarding: (1) apportionments for resurfacing, restoring, rehabilitating, and reconstructing the Interstate System (IS); and (2) the transfer of interstate construction apportionments, the transfer of funds for STP projects, and limits on new capacity. (Sec. 8) Modifies STP provisions regarding the location of projects and allocations of apportioned funds. Authorizes a State, in nonattainment areas for ozone or carbon monoxide, or for PM-10 resulting from transportation activities, or any combination thereof, to obligate STP funds for any congestion mitigation and air quality improvement project or program without regard to any Department of Transportation limitation relating to the type of ambient air quality standard such project or program addresses. (Sec. 9) Directs that, for purposes of STP and IS provisions, population shall be determined based on the most recent decennial census for which data are available. (Sec. 10) Repeals provisions regarding: (1) the highway bridge replacement and rehabilitation program; and (2) the congestion mitigation and air quality improvement program. (Sec. 12) Replaces provisions regarding minimum allocations to States with an apportionment adjustment program to provide that the Secretary shall allocate among the States amounts sufficient to ensure that the ratio of the highway funds of the State to those of all States for the fiscal year is not less than certain listed percentages for the State. Repeals existing apportionment adjustment programs.
United States · United States Congress · 18 June 1996
Census of Agriculture Act of 1996 - Amends Federal law to transfer to the Secretary of Agriculture authority to conduct the census of agriculture. Sets forth confidentiality provisions.
United States · United States Congress · 13 June 1996
Textile and Apparel Global Competitiveness Act of 1996 - Directs the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), whenever the United States negotiates a protocol for accession of a country to the World Trade Organization (WTO), to negotiate for inclusion in that protocol: (1) provisions for effective market access to that country's domestic markets for U.S. textile and apparel products; and (2) provisions allowing the suspension or revocation of paragraph 14 (relating to increasing import levels based on growth rates) of the Agreement on Textiles and Clothing, if the country has failed to enforce such market access provisions. Requires negotiation of bilateral agreements containing similar provisions with countries that are not WTO members. Amends the Trade Act of 1974 to direct the USTR to identify annually, report to the Congress, and publish in the Federal Register the names of priority foreign countries that deny fair and equitable market access to U.S. persons producing or selling textile or apparel products. Establishes in the Treasury a Textile Global Competitiveness Research Fund, consisting in part of fines provided by this Act, and whose amounts shall be available: (1) to the Office of Textiles, Apparel, and Consumer Goods of the Department of Commerce for the American Textile Partnership (AMTEX), the Textile-Clothing Technology Center (TC2), and the National Textile Center (NTC); (2) for adjustment assistance for textile and apparel firms; and (3) to the Customs Service for the enforcement of laws governing trade in textile and apparel goods. Directs the USTR to take necessary steps to negotiate a quota agreement with any non-WTO country whose exports to the United States exceed $100 million annually, or are creating serious damage or the actual threat of it to the U.S. textile and apparel industry. Specifies: (1) a quota formula for new textile agreements with non-WTO countries which already have a textile agreement with the United States; and (2) provisions for inclusion in the accession protocol of countries acceding to the WTO. Requires the USTR to ensure that any protocol under negotiation for accession to the WTO of a non-WTO country with a textile import bilateral agreement with the United States, as well as any subsequent agreement, provides for a reduction in the quantity of that country's textile and apparel goods that may be imported into the United States if the Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements (CITA) determines that the bilateral agreement is being circumvented and that inadequate or no measures are being taken by that country to take action against such circumvention. Prescribes specified Customs Service enforcement actions and penalties (including fines, seizure, and forfeiture) for violations of customs laws involving textile and apparel goods. Directs the Commissioner of Customs to establish a Division on Textile Enforcement. Requires withdrawal of preferential tariff or quota treatment (unilateral trade concessions) from the textile and apparel goods of any country: (1) demonstrating a consistent pattern of circumventing textile agreements with United States; (2) refusing to cooperate in investigations; (3) failing to provide adequate enforcement of intellectual property rights with respect to textile and apparel goods; or (4) failing to provide fair and equitable market access for U.S. textile and apparel goods.
United States · United States Congress · 13 June 1996
Condemns the burning of African-American churches. Sends condolences to affected individuals. Supports the activities of local law enforcement officials, the Department of Justice, and the Department of the Treasury in investigating these incidents. Urges: (1) the United States Attorney General and local prosecutors to seek the maximum penalty available under law to punish the perpetrators; and (2) the President to make the fullest possible use of all available law enforcement resources to bring the culprits to justice. Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) attacks on places of worship because of the race, color, denomination, or ethnicity of the congregation undermine fundamental American ideals; (2) these fires appear to be hate crimes and implicitly interfere with the First Amendment and other civil rights of the victims; (3) the arson of a place of worship is repulsive to us as a society; and (4) it is important that the Congress enact legislation to ensure that Federal law enforcement has the necessary tools to punish and deter such acts. Encourages: (1) the people of the United States to work within their own communities to prevent arson against African-American or any other house of worship; and (2) American citizens to observe a national week of prayer beginning June 16, and ending June 23, 1996, in their places of worship.
United States · United States Congress · 13 June 1996
Condemns the burning of African-American churches. Sends condolences to affected individuals. Supports the activities of local law enforcement officials, the Department of Justice, and the Department of the Treasury in investigating these incidents. Urges: (1) the United States Attorney General and local prosecutors to seek the maximum penalty available under law to punish the perpetrators; and (2) the President to make the fullest possible use of all available law enforcement resources to bring the culprits to justice. Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) attacks on places of worship because of the race, color, denomination, or ethnicity of the congregation undermine fundamental American ideals; (2) these fires appear to be hate crimes and implicitly interfere with the First Amendment and other civil rights of the victims; (3) the arson of a place of worship is repulsive to us as a society; and (4) it is important that the Congress enact legislation to ensure that Federal law enforcement has the necessary tools to punish and deter such acts. Encourages: (1) the people of the United States to work within their own communities to prevent arson against African-American or any other house of worship; and (2) the American people to use June 16th as a day of prayer concerning these tragedies.
United States · United States Congress · 11 June 1996
Condemns the rash of arson against African-American churches across the United States during the past 18 months. Pledges to take steps to assist law enforcement authorities in apprehending the persons responsible. Supports the bipartisan legislation introduced by Representatives Conyers and Hyde to facilitate the prosecution of, and increase penalties against, arsonists who target houses of worship. Encourages the people of the United States to work within their own communities to prevent arson against African-American houses of worship.
United States · United States Congress · 16 May 1996
Utility Consumer Service Improvement and Protection Act of 1996 - Amends Federal transportation law to exempt a utility service vehicle driver from motor carrier safety regulations regarding: (1) maximum driving and on-duty times applicable to commercial motor vehicle operators; (2) installation of automatic recording devices associated with such times; and (3) physical testing, reporting, or recordkeeping. Prohibits construction of such exemption to exempt such drivers from mechanical safety or licensing requirements.
United States · United States Congress · 8 May 1996
Directs the President, until certain conditions are met, to impose additional tariffs on Chinese goods in order to compensate for the losses to the U.S. economy resulting from certain Chinese Government acts, polices, and practices with respect to the enforcement of intellectual property rights and market access to persons who rely on intellectual property protection.
United States · United States Congress · 23 April 1996
National Oceanographic Partnership Act - Establishes the National Oceanographic Partnership Program. Sets forth the purposes of the program. Establishes the: (1) National Ocean Research Leadership Council; (2) Ocean Research Partnership Coordinating Group; and (3) Ocean Research Advisory Panel under the program. Sets forth the composition of membership and specified duties of each. Mandates certain annual reports. Authorizes appropriations for the National Oceanographic Partnership Program for FY 1997 and requires that a certain amount be available for the operations of the partnership program office for such fiscal year.
United States · United States Congress · 17 April 1996
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Block Grants for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Title II: Supplemental Security Income Subtitle A: Eligibility Restrictions Subtitle B: Benefits for Disabled Children Subtitle C: State Supplementation Programs Subtitle D: Studies Regarding Supplemental Security Income Program Subtitle E: National Commission on the Future of Disability Title III: Child Support Subtitle A: Eligibility for Services; Distribution of Payments Subtitle B: Locate and Case Tracking Subtitle C: Streamlining and Uniformity of Procedures Subtitle D: Paternity Establishment Subtitle E: Program Administration and Funding Subtitle F: Establishment and Modification of Support Orders Subtitle G: Enforcement of Support Orders Subtitle H: Medical Support Subtitle I: Enhancing Responsibility and Opportunity for Non-Residential Parents Subtitle J: Effect of Enactment Title IV: Restricting Welfare and Public Benefits for Aliens Subtitle A: Eligibility for Federal Benefits Subtitle B: Eligibility for State and Local Public Benefits Programs Subtitle C: Attribution of Income and Affidavits of Support Subtitle D: General Provisions Subtitle E: Conforming Amendments Title V: Reductions in Federal Government Positions Title VI: Reform of Public Housing Title VII: Child Care Title VIII: Child Nutrition Programs Subtitle A: National School Lunch Act Subtitle B: Child Nutrition Act of 1966 Title IX: Food Stamp and Related Programs Title X: Miscellaneous Bipartisan Welfare Reform Act of 1996 - Title I: Block Grants for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families - Expresses the sense of the Congress that prevention of out-of-wedlock pregnancy and reduction in out-of-wedlock births are very important Government interests. (Sec. 103) Replaces the current Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program and Job Opportunities and Basic Skills Training Program (JOBS) under, respectively, parts A and F of title IV of the Social Security Act (SSA) with a program of block grants to the States for temporary assistance for needy families already with or expecting children (TEA program). Gives such program the stated purpose of increasing the flexibility of States in operating approved statewide programs, with: (1) certain mandatory work and education requirements (as well as penalties against adult family members on TEA who refuse to engage in various specified work activities); and (2) adult-supervised living arrangements for unmarried teenage parents to enable such families to leave the program and become self-sufficient. Includes participation in community service programs and subsidized public sector employment as TEA program work activities. Requires TEA programs to provide certain time-limited cash assistance (and thereafter vouchers) to eligible families entering into an individual responsibility plan with the State (with certain exceptions involving minor children and hardship situations), outlining their obligations in receiving TEA assistance (such as immunizing their children or finishing high school), as well as the specific services the State will provide (such as job preparation and family planning services and, at the State's option, substance abuse treatment services) to enable them to move into private sector employment. Requires State TEA programs also to: (1) establish annual numerical goals for preventing and reducing the incidence of out-of-wedlock pregnancies, with special emphasis on teenage pregnancies, over a specified ten-year period; and (2) encourage the formation and maintenance of two-parent families. Denies TEA for fugitive felons and probation and parole violators and minor children absent from the home for a significant period. Suspends it for ten years for persons who have fraudulently misrepresented residence to obtain assistance in two or more States. Denies additional cash assistance, as a general rule, for additional children born to families already on TEA (except in cases of rape and incest), unless State law specifically exempts the State TEA program from such denial. Reduces or denies TEA for noncooperation in child support. Outlines State TEA plan contents. Provides for the State's choice of treatment of aliens and families moving interstate, and for the exchange of certain plan information about TEA applicants or recipients with law enforcement officers under prescribed conditions. Sets forth requirements for State plan approval by the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), which include certifications that the State will operate a child protection and child support enforcement program under SSA title IV parts B and D (Child-Welfare Services Program and Child Support and Establishment of Paternity Program), respectively. Details TEA program grant administrative provisions: (1) determining the amounts of State grants for family assistance for FY 1996 through 2001; (2) outlining grant uses, including assistance to families in meeting home heating and cooling costs, and a State program under the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990; (3) rewarding States with additional grant amounts for reductions in illegitimate births, as well as for population increases and TEA program work activities; and (4) establishing in the Treasury (and providing deposits for) a Contingency Fund for State Welfare Programs for payments to certain eligible participating States. Makes necessary appropriations. Sets up a Federal loan program for certain State TEA programs for anti-fraud and other specified activities. Makes necessary appropriations. Establishes penalties for States and individual families for specified grant and program violations, respectively, through reduced grants and assistance payments. Allows States to terminate assistance payments, but prohibits assistance reduction or termination based on a refusal of an adult to work if the adult is a single custodial parent caring for a child under age six and unable to obtain needed child care for one or more specified reasons. Provides for State appeal of Federal adverse decisions with respect to State plans or imposition of penalties. Outlines specific program data collection and reporting requirements, as well as certain research, evaluation, and study requirements. Makes necessary appropriations. Provides for TEA grants to Indian tribes (with a special rule for Alaska Native tribes). Makes necessary appropriations. Directs the Bureau of the Census to expand the Survey of Income and Program Participation to obtain information enabling interested persons to evaluate the impact of this title on a random national sample of State TEA recipients and other appropriate low-income families. Makes necessary appropriations. Provides for the treatment of current and previously granted State AFDC (welfare reform) waiver projects. Retains the HHS Assistant Secretary for Family Support as the official responsible for administering SSA title IV part A and D programs. Expresses the sense of the Congress encouraging each State operating a TEA program to: (1) assign the highest priority to requiring adults in two-parent families and in single-parent families with older preschool or school-age children to engage in work activities; and (2) require non-custodial, nonsupporting parents under age 18 to fulfill community work obligations and attend appropriate parenting or money management classes after school. (Sec. 104) Allows States to contract with charitable, religious, or private organizations to provide services and administer programs established or modified by this Act, or to provide program beneficiaries with certificates, vouchers, or other forms of disbursement redeemable with such organizations. Prohibits the expenditure of financial assistance under such programs for sectarian worship, instruction, or proselytization. (Sec. 105) Directs the Secretary of Commerce to expand the data collection efforts of the Bureau of the Census to enable it to collect certain data on grandparent caregivers. (Sec. 106) Directs the HHS Secretary to report to the Congress on the status of State automated data processing systems used in administering State programs under SSA title IV part A. (Sec. 107) Requires the HHS Secretary to report to the Congress on outcomes measures for evaluating the success of the States in moving individuals out of the welfare system through employment as an alternative to the minimum participation rates under mandatory TEA work requirements. (Sec. 108) Makes conforming amendments to SSA, the Food Stamp Act of 1977, and related provisions of other specified Federal laws. (Sec. 111) Directs the Commissioner of Social Security (Commissioner) to develop a prototype of a counterfeit-resistant social security card and study and report to the Congress on different methods of improving the social security card application process. (Sec. 112) Requires any organization accepting Federal funds under this Act to disclose that fact in any communication it makes that intends to promote public support or opposition to any Federal, State, or local government policy through any broadcasting station, periodical, or other specified type of general public advertising. Makes any organization failing to make such a disclosure ineligible to receive Federal funds under this Act. (Sec. 113) Amends the Family Support Act of 1988 to remove the "demonstration" status of the Job Opportunities for Certain Low-Income Individuals (JOLI) program and give it an increased annual authorization for any fiscal year. Title II: Supplemental Security Income - Subtitle A: Eligibility Restrictions - Amends SSA title XVI (Supplemental Security Income) (SSI) to: (1) deny SSI by reason of disability to drug addicts and alcoholics for whom addiction or alcoholism would be a contributing factor material to the disability determination; (2) revise representative payee and treatment requirements; (3) deny SSI benefits for ten years to individuals found to have fraudulently misrepresented residence in order to obtain benefits simultaneously in two or more States; (4) deny SSI benefits for fugitive felons and probation and parole violators; and (5) outline the process for periodic review with respect to the continuing eligibility of an individual 18 years of age or older to receive certain SSI disability benefits. Provides certain supplemental funding for alcohol and substance abuse treatment programs. Subtitle B: Benefits for Disabled Children - Revises the rules with respect to childhood eligibility, with corresponding changes to childhood SSI regulations modifying the medical criteria for evaluation of mental and emotional disorders, and discontinuing the use of individualized functional assessments for children. Requires the Commissioner to redetermine the eligibility of any individual under age 18 receiving SSI benefits based on a disability as of the enactment of this Act, and whose eligibility for such benefits may terminate by reason of this Act. (Sec. 212) Provides that at least once every three years the Commissioner shall review the continued SSI eligibility of each individual who has not attained age 18 and is eligible for such benefits by reason of an impairment (or combination of impairments) which may improve (or, which is unlikely to improve, at the option of the Commissioner). Requires a parent or guardian of a recipient whose case is so reviewed to present evidence that the recipient is and has been receiving treatment of the condition which was the basis for the SSI benefits. Provides that if an individual is eligible for SSI disability benefits for the month preceding the month in which the individual attains age 18, the Commissioner shall redetermine such eligibility: (1) during the one year period beginning on the individual's 18th birthday; and (2) by applying the criteria used in determining the initial eligibility for applicants who have attained age 18. Outlines specific requirements governing: (1) continuing disability reviews for low birth weight babies; and (2) benefit payments through representative payees to eligible individuals and their spouses. (Sec. 214) Provides for a reduction in cash SSI benefits payable to institutionalized individuals whose medical costs are covered by private insurance. (Sec. 215) Reduces by specified basic needs and earned income disregard allocations the amount of parental income attributed to disabled children. Subtitle C: State Supplementation Programs - Repeals maintenance of effort requirements applicable to optional State programs for supplementation of SSI benefits. Subtitle D: Studies Regarding Supplemental Security Income Program - Requires the Commissioner of Social Security to report annually to the President and the Congress regarding the SSI program and to make arrangements with the National Academy of Sciences, or other independent entity, to study the disability determination process under SSA titles II and XVI for similar reports. (Sec. 233) Directs the Comptroller General to study and report on the: (1) impact of this title on the SSI program; and (2) extra expenses incurred by families of children receiving SSI benefits that are not covered by other Federal, State, or local programs. Subtitle E: National Commission on the Future of Disability - Establishes the National Commission on the Future of Disability to develop and report to the President and the Congress: (1) a comprehensive study of all matters related to the nature, purpose, and adequacy of all Federal programs serving individuals with disabilities, including the programs under SSA titles II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) and XVI; and (2) recommendations for appropriate action. Authorizes appropriations. Title III: Child Support - Subtitle A: Eligibility for Services; Distribution of Payments - Amends part D (Child Support and Establishment of Paternity) of SSA title IV to require State plans for child and spousal support to provide: (1) certain services relating to paternity establishment or enforcement of child support obligations; and (2) continuation of services for families ceasing to receive assistance under Aid to Families with Dependent Children. (Sec. 302) Revises payment distribution guidelines for support obligations collected by the State on behalf of a family. (Sec. 303) Requires State plans to establish procedural guidelines for: (1) privacy safeguards regarding paternity and child support actions; and (2) notification of State plan services applicants or recipients about all proceedings and orders affecting child support obligations. Subtitle B: Locate and Case Tracking - Mandates that single statewide automated data systems include a State case registry containing records of: (1) each case in which services are provided by the State agency; and (2) each support order established on or after a specified date. Permits the linking of local registries. (Sec. 312) Requires State plans to include a centralized, automated unit for the collection and disbursement of support payments. Permits the unit to be established by linking local disbursement units through an automated information network if the Secretary agrees that it will not cost more or take more time to establish or operate than a centralized system. (Sec. 313) Requires State plans to: (1) provide for a State-operated and automated State Directory of New Hires containing prescribed information furnished by employers on new personnel; and (2) transmit such information to the National Directory of New Hires. (Sec. 314) Requires States to have statutorily prescribed procedures: (1) for mandatory income withholding for support payments subject to enforcement; and (2) under which wages of a person with a support obligation imposed by a child support order issued before October 1, 1996, shall become subject to withholding if arrearages occur, without the need for a judicial or administrative hearing. Revises the procedural guidelines for income withholding for child support enforcement. (Sec. 315) Requires the States to have statutorily prescribed procedures to ensure that Federal and State agencies conducting income-withholding activities have access to State locator systems for motor vehicle or law enforcement purposes. (Sec. 316) Revises the Federal Parent Locator Service to provide for additional information which may be transmitted to locate individuals and assets for purposes of: (1) establishing parentage; (2) establishing, setting the amount of, modifying, or enforcing child support obligations; and (3) enforcing child custody or visitation orders. Directs the HHS Secretary to establish in the Federal Parent Locator Service an automated Federal Case Registry of Child Support Orders and an automated National Directory of New Hires. (Sec. 317) Requires States to have statutorily prescribed procedures requiring recordation on such documents of the Social Security number of: (1) specified driver's, marriage, and occupational, and professional license applicants; (2) individuals subject to certain domestic relations orders; and (3) deceased individuals (on death records). Subtitle C: Streamlining and Uniformity of Procedures - Requires each State to have the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act in effect as of January 1, 1998. Amends the Federal judicial code to revise the procedures for the court to apply when determining which State order to recognize for purposes of continuing, exclusive jurisdiction and enforcement for child support orders. (Sec. 323) Requires the States to have statutorily prescribed procedures requiring: (1) expedited administrative enforcement in interstate cases and support orders; and (2) expedited administrative and judicial procedures for establishing paternity and enforcing support obligations. Subtitle D: Paternity Establishment - Revises the guidelines for State laws governing paternity establishment. Requires State procedures under which the name of the father shall be included on the birth certificate only: (1) if the mother and father have signed a voluntary acknowledgment of paternity; or (2) pursuant to a judicial or administrative order. (Sec. 333) Requires State plans for child and spousal support to provide that the State agency administering the plan will make a determination as to whether a program recipient is cooperating in good faith with State efforts to establish paternity and secure support. Subtitle E: Program Administration and Funding - Directs the Secretary to develop a new incentive system to replace the current one. Revises the guidelines for Federal performance-based incentive payments to the States for effective child support enforcement programs. (Sec. 342) Requires a State plan for child and spousal support to include prescribed procedures for State reviews and audits. Revises the guidelines for Federal evaluation and audit of State programs governing paternity, child and spousal support, and parent location. (Sec. 344) Revises the automated data processing requirements for State plans to mandate a single statewide automated data processing and information retrieval system which can perform specified tasks. (Sec. 345) Makes funds available to the Secretary for: (1) training of Federal and State staff, research and demonstration programs, and special projects of regional and national significance; and (2) operation of the Federal Parent Locator Service. Subtitle F: Establishment and Modification of Support Orders - Revises the requirements for State plan procedures for the review and adjustment of support orders. (Sec. 352) Amends the Fair Credit Reporting Act to authorize a consumer agency to furnish a consumer report: (1) in response to a request by a governmental child support enforcement agency; or (2) to the State administrative agency which sets child support awards. (Sec. 353) Shields a depository institution from Federal or State liability for disclosing any financial record of an individual to a State child support enforcement agency. Prohibits such agency from disclosing such a financial record except for the purpose of, and to the extent necessary in, establishing, modifying, or enforcing a child support obligation. Sets forth civil penalties for any person knowingly or negligently violating such prohibition. Subtitle G: Enforcement of Support Orders - Amends Internal Revenue Code procedural guidelines for the collection of arrearages to provide that no additional fee may be assessed for adjustments to a previously certified amount. (Sec. 362) Amends part D (Child Support and Establishment of Paternity) of SSA title IV to revise procedural guidelines for: (1) consent by the United States to income withholding, garnishment, and similar proceedings for enforcement of child support and alimony obligations of current and retired Federal employees; and (2) enforcement of child support obligations of members of the Armed Forces. (Sec. 364) Requires a State plan for child and spousal support to have in effect the Uniform Fraudulent Conveyance Act of 1981, the Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act of 1984, or a similar law, as well as certain procedures governing the voiding of fraudulent transfers by a child support debtor. (Sec. 365) Requires a State plan for child and spousal support to include specified procedures: (1) to ensure that persons owing past-due support work or participate in work activities the court deems appropriate; (2) to report to credit bureaus the name of the parent in arrears for child support; (3) to provide for liens against real and personal property for the support arrearages of an absent parent; and (4) to implement the restriction of driver's, professional, occupational, and recreational licenses of individuals owing support arrearages. (Sec. 370) Instructs the Secretary of State to deny a passport to any individual certified by the Secretary of Health and Human Services to be in arrears of more than $5,000 for child support payments. Authorizes revocation, restriction or limitation of a previously issued passport in connection with such individuals. (Sec. 371) Authorizes the Secretary of State, with the concurrence of the HHS Secretary, to declare any foreign country a reciprocating country if it has established, or undertakes to establish, procedures for the establishment and enforcement of child support obligations whose obligees are U.S. citizens. Provides for revocation of such declaration in certain circumstances. Designates the HHS Secretary as the central authority for such enforcement. (Sec. 372) Requires States to have statutorily prescribed procedures under which a State agency shall enter agreements with financial institutions doing business within the State to develop and operate a data match system to provide identifying information for each noncustodial parent targeted by the State who maintains an account at the institution, and to encumber or surrender such parent's assets at the institution pursuant to a lien or levy. (Sec. 373) Requires States to have statutorily prescribed procedures under which child support orders relating to the child of minor parents, where the custodial parents are receiving assistance, are enforceable against the child's paternal or maternal grandparents. (Sec. 374) Amends Federal bankruptcy law to make nondischargeable in bankruptcy any debts owed to a State or municipality for child support. Subtitle H: Medical Support - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to include within the definition of medical child support order an order issued through a State administrative process. (Sec. 377) Amends part D of SSA title IV to mandate statutorily prescribed procedures under which all enforced child support orders shall include a provision for the health care coverage of the child. Subtitle I: Enhancing Responsibility and Opportunity for Non-Residential Parents - Amends part D of SSA title IV to prescribe guidelines under which the Administration for Children and Families shall make grants to enable States to establish and administer access and visitation programs to facilitate noncustodial parents' access to their children. Subtitle J: Effect of Enactment - Sets forth effective dates for this title. Title IV: Restricting Welfare and Public Benefits for Aliens - Subtitle A: Eligibility for Federal Benefits - Denies Federal public benefits (except certain emergency disaster relief, public health, housing, and child nutrition benefits) to non-qualified aliens. (Sec. 402) Denies SSI and food stamp eligibility to all but certain qualified aliens, who may receive only limited benefits. (Sec. 403) Makes qualified aliens ineligible (with limited exceptions) for Federal means-tested public benefits for the first five years after U.S. entry. Amends SSA and the United States Housing Act of 1937 to provide for reporting of certain illegal alien information to the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). Subtitle B: Eligibility for State and Local Public Benefits Programs - Makes an alien who is not a qualified alien, a nonimmigrant, or a parolee for less than one year ineligible for State or local benefits (except certain emergency disaster relief, public health, housing, and child nutrition benefits). (Sec. 412) Authorizes States, with certain exceptions, to determine eligibility for State means-tested public benefits for qualified aliens, nonimmigrants, or certain parolees. Subtitle C: Attribution of Income and Affidavits of Support - Deems the income and resources of any alien over age 18 (who is not pregnant) applying for Medicaid and SSA title XXI benefits to include: (1) the income and resources of any person who executed an affidavit of support on the alien's behalf; and (2) the income and resources of the person's spouse (if any). (Sec. 422) Authorizes States to make similar attributions with respect to State programs (except certain emergency disaster relief, public health, housing, and child nutrition benefits). Subtitle D: General Provisions - Sets forth definitions and requires appropriate regulations by the Attorney General for State use. Subtitle E: Conforming Amendments - Makes conforming amendments to the Housing and Community Development Act of 1980 and the Housing Act of 1949. Title V: Reductions in Federal Government Positions - Outlines the mechanism for various specified Federal executive agency workforce reductions, requiring submission to specified congressional committees of determinations about the number of full-time equivalent (FTE) positions of their respective departments by the Secretaries of Agriculture, of Education, of Labor, of Housing and Urban Development, and of HHS. Requires the Secretaries to make FTE reductions, including reductions-in-force, over the ensuing 14 months. Requires the Comptroller General to analyze and report to such committees on such determinations, with recommendations for further FTE reductions, if appropriate. (Sec. 502) Requires the HHS Secretary to reduce the Federal workforce within HHS: (1) by 75 percent of the FTE positions relating to any direct or indirect discretionary spending program converted into a block grant program by this Act (including 245 FTE positions related to the program converted into TEA block grants); and (2) by 75 percent of a proportionate number of the total FTE departmental management positions (including 60 FTE managerial positions related to the program converted into TEA block grants). (Sec. 503) Encourages the HHS Secretary to reduce personnel in the Washington, D.C., area office (agency headquarters) before reducing field personnel. Title VI: Reform of Public Housing - Amends the United States Housing Act of 1937 to prohibit increased housing assistance (except instances of limited-time frame benefits) to a family whose benefits under other public assistance programs have been reduced because of noncompliance. (Sec. 602) States that a person whose benefits under a means-tested welfare or public assistance program have been reduced because of fraud shall not, during such reduction period, receive an income-based increase in any other means-tested assistance program. Title VII: Child Care - Child Care and Development Block Grant Amendments of 1995 - Amends the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 to authorize appropriations for FY 1996 through 2002. (Sec. 703) Amends part A (TEA) of Title IV of the Social Security Act to establish a general child care assistance entitlement program funded by Federal grants to the States. Authorizes appropriations. Prescribes program parameters. (Sec. 708) Repeals the program requirement for early childhood development and before- and after-school services. Revises enforcement guidelines to require a State to reimburse the Secretary for funds improperly expended on prohibited or non-authorized purposes. (Sec. 712) Revises the Secretary's congressional reporting requirements to mandate biannual reports to the House Committee on Economic and Educational Opportunities. (Sec. 713) Authorizes an Indian tribe or tribal organization to use Federal funds for the construction or renovation of child care facilities. (Sec. 715) Repeals the Child Development Associate Scholarship Assistance Act of 1985 and the State Dependent Care Development Grants Act. Repeals funding authority for certain programs of national significance, involving: (1) child care for children of at-risk students; (2) alternative programs for bilingual and special education students; and (3) rural child care centers for student parents and their children. Repeals funding authority for Native Hawaiian Family- based Education Centers. Title VIII: Child Nutrition Programs - Subtitle A: National School Lunch Act - Amends the National School Lunch Act (NSLA) to repeal specified authorities and requirements for the school lunch and related programs, including: (1) State educational authority to use resources from the nutrition and education (NET) program; (2) prohibition of State imposition of teaching personnel and curriculum requirements at any school; (3) certain demonstration grants to private nonprofit organizations or educational institutions for elementary school curriculum food and nutrition projects; (4) aspects of summer food service programs, reducing payment rates and daily meals at camps, reducing the National Youth Sports Program, and revising nutritional standards compliance requirements; (5) certain commodity distribution program requirements, including State Advisory Councils; (6) expansion of the child care food program; (7) adult care food aid to adult day care centers and services for persons over 60; (8) certain pilot projects, including one for paperwork reduction; and (9) an information clearinghouse. (Sec. 807) Prohibits, in general, any waiver that will increase Federal costs. (Sec. 810) Provides for grants for State assistance to family or group day care homes. Directs the Secretaries of Agriculture and of Health and Human Services to study and report to specified congressional committees on the impact of this title on adult food care program participation and family day care licensing. Subtitle B: Child Nutrition Act of 1966 - Amends the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 to revise the school breakfast program: (1) eliminating Federal assistance for food preparation training and program expansion and start-up costs; (2) repealing certain authorities and requirements relating to State administrative expenses; (3) repealing the prohibition against State imposition of teaching personnel and curriculum requirements at any school; (4) repealing the program of cash grants for nutrition education. (Sec. 830) Revises the special supplemental nutrition program for women, infants, and children (WIC), among other things repealing specified requirements and changing from mandatory to optional: (1) drug abuse education; and (2) provision of WIC information in languages other than English. Makes the Nutrition and Education program discretionary rather than mandatory. Authorizes appropriations. Title IX: Food Stamp Program and Related Programs - Amends the Food Stamp Act of 1977 to: (1) increase the standard deduction from income resources for eligibility purposes; (2) treat electronic benefit transfer cards and personal identification (PIN) numbers as coupons; (3) count vendor payments for transitional housing as income; (4) increase penalties for specified program violations; (5) revise disqualification penalties and periods, and their applications to entire households, for persons refusing to comply with work requirements; (6) revise general exemptions from employment and training requirements and funding for related programs; and (7) mandate disqualification of individuals for multiple receipt of food stamp benefits, of fleeing felons, and of individuals delinquent in child support payments. (Sec. 915) Authorizes State food stamp disqualification of a household member also disqualified from another means-tested public assistance program for failure to perform an action required for such program under Federal, State, or local law. (Sec. 918) Makes it an eligibility requirement for custodial parents to cooperate with child support agencies. (Sec. 920) Prescribes additional work requirements for able-bodied food stamp recipients. Requires State agencies to implement electronic benefit transfer systems. (Sec. 924) Provides for: (1) optional combined value allotments for expedited households; and (2) allotments to individuals residing in drug or alcohol abuse treatment centers. (Sec. 925) Authorizes reduction in State food stamp benefits of a household for whom benefits are also reduced in another means-tested public assistance program for a similar failure. (Sec. 927) Authorizes regulations to establish specific authorization periods, and specific periods for prohibiting participation of stores based on lack of business integrity. (Sec. 931) Revises requirements for State agency procedures for food stamp office operation. Augments the kinds of information (including retailer information) that may be exchanged among Federal, State, and local law enforcement agencies. Authorizes the suspension of stores violating program requirements pending administrative and judicial review. (Sec. 939) Mandates regulations for: (1) food stamp program disqualification of retailers disqualified from the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC); and (2) the permanent debarment of retailers who intentionally submit falsified applications. Subjects food stamp benefits to civil and criminal forfeiture for benefit violations. (Sec. 948) Authorizes States to operate simplified food stamp programs according to specified requirements. Repeals the authority to conduct specified pilot projects and the Food Bank Demonstration Project. (Sec. 949) Revises State plan requirements for the emergency food assistance program. Title X: Miscellaneous - Provides, among other things, for: (1) the expenditure of Federal funds received by a State under TEA and certain other Federal programs only in accordance with laws and procedures applicable to expenditure of the State's own revenues; (2) elimination of housing assistance with respect to fugitive felons and probation and parole violators; (3) certain options for State consideration of the resources of an ineligible household member when determining the food stamp eligibility and allotment of such individual's household; and (4) an increase in funding for abstinence education under SSA title V (Maternal and Child Health Services). (Sec. 1003) Expresses the sense of the Senate that Congress should adopt enterprise zone legislation in the 104th Congress providing for various specified incentives, regulatory reforms, and pilot projects. (Sec. 1004) Expresses the sense of the Senate that States: (1) should diligently continue their efforts to enforce child support payments by the non-custodial parent; and (2) should pursue pilot programs in which the parents of a non-adult, non-custodial parent who refuses to or is unable to pay child support must pay or contribute to the child support owed by the non-custodial parent or otherwise fulfill all financial obligations and meet all conditions imposed on the non-custodial parent, such as participation in a work program or other related activity. (Sec. 1006) Directs the HHS Secretary to: (1) implement a certain strategy for preventing out-of-wedlock teenage pregnancies and assuring that at least 25 percent of U.S. communities have teenage pregnancy prevention programs; and (2) report to the Congress on the State programs so implemented to determine their progress. (Sec. 1007) Expresses the sense of the Senate that States and local jurisdictions should aggressively enforce statutory rape laws. (Sec. 1008) Declares that States shall not be prohibited by the Federal Government from sanctioning welfare recipients who test positive for use of controlled substances. (Sec. 1010) Amends the Electronic Fund Transfer Act to generally exempt from the required disclosures, protections, responsibilities, and authorized remedies of such Act, and any implementing regulation prescribed by the Federal Reserve Board, any electronic benefit transfer program established under State or local law or administered by a State or local government that distributes needs-tested benefits. (Sec. 1011) Amends SSA title XX (Block Grants to States for Social Services) to reduce the authorization of appropriations for social services block grants. (Sec. 1012) Encourages the HHS Secretary to work in coordination with State agencies to ensure the efficient use of Federal transportation funds by recipients of public assistance under this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 29 March 1996
Medical Device Reform Act of 1996 - Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA) to set forth the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) mission. (Sec. 3) Allows device approval applicants to declare a review impasse and mandates use of a dispute resolution process. (Sec. 4) Revises requirements regarding: (1) investigational devise exemptions; (2) premarket approval requirements (mandating a device review priority); (3) humanitarian device exceptions; (4) safety and effectiveness performance standards (allowing consensus standards recognition); (5) effectiveness determinations (as used in classifying devices); (6) premarket notification; (7) classification panels; and (8) premarket approval application review (allowing review by accredited persons). (Sec. 12) Mandates procedures for accrediting parties that review premarket approval applications and conduct good manufacturing practice inspections. (Sec. 13) Mandates reclassification of certain devices. (Sec. 14) Modifies requirements regarding: (1) device tracking; (2) postmarket surveillance; and (3) good manufacturing practice regulations (including foreign harmonization) and inspections (including adding references to accredited entities and post-inspection procedural requirements). (Sec. 18) Regulates the effect of the dissemination of medical texts, peer-reviewed scientific publications, displays at trade shows, and other material. (Sec. 19) Removes distributors from record keeping and reporting requirements. Declares that the failure of a device to perform as labeled or in an acceptable manner does not constitute a malfunction when caused by improper servicing. Repeals user reporting requirements. (Sec. 20) Prohibits subjecting a person to penalties if the person acted in good faith and had no reason to believe the acts violated the law. (Sec. 21) Allows using monetary penalties for violation correction. Entitles violators to reasonable discovery. (Sec. 22) Mandates an information system to track the status of each submission requesting FDA action. (Sec. 23) Prohibits actions by the Secretary of Health and Human Services under the FDCA from requiring the preparation of an environmental impact statement or assessment. (Sec. 24) Prohibits the Secretary from relying on any statements not promulgated in accordance with rulemaking requirements to require any action under the FDCA. (Sec. 25) Mandates training programs for FDA employees regarding FDCA regulations and policies. Allows the FDA to conduct or contract for scientific research only if directly related to FDCA implementation. (Sec. 26) Regulates communications to non-FDA persons regarding certain matters before completion of related investigations.
United States · United States Congress · 29 March 1996
Drug and Biological Products Reform Act of 1996 - Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA) to set forth the mission of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and mandate an annual report to specified congressional committees. (Sec. 3) Modifies new drug requirements regarding: (1) clinical investigation commencement; (2) application contents and review; (3) effectiveness determinations; (4) the use of scientific advisory panels; and (5) marketing approval application review by accredited persons. (Sec. 8) Provides for the accreditation of persons to: (1) review applications for new drugs or for certification of insulin-containing drugs; and (2) conduct good manufacturing practice (GMP) inspections. (Sec. 9) Allows applicants to declare an impasse in a review or a submission for an investigational use exemption and mandates use of a dispute resolution process. (Sec. 10) Adds references to accredited persons to provisions relating to GMP inspections. Imposes post-inspection requirements. Deems certain chemistry, manufacturing, and controls to comply with current GMP and prohibits actions to delay or prevent the manufacture or marketing of a drug for failure to conform to GMP, subject to exception. (Sec. 12) Allows a new drug manufactured in a small facility to be used to show safety and effectiveness. (Sec. 13) Regulates changes in the manufacture of a new drug, biological product, new animal drug, blood, or blood component. (Sec. 14) Repeals provisions relating to the certification of drugs containing insulin or antibiotics. (Sec. 15) Requires that applications or petitions requesting conversion from prescription to nonprescription status and all matters relating to nonprescription drugs be reviewed by a single office in the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. Allows a single scientific advisory panel to provide recommendations. (Sec. 16) Mandates an applicant-accessible information system to track applications and submissions to the FDA. (Sec. 17) Prohibits actions by the Secretary of Health and Human Services from requiring an environmental impact statement or environmental assessment. (Sec. 18) Regulates drugs compounded by a licensed pharmacist on the order of a licensed physician. (Sec. 19) Directs the Secretary to meet with foreign countries to discuss harmonization of regulatory requirements. (Sec. 20) Controls the effect of the dissemination of medical texts, peer-reviewed scientific publications, and other material. (Sec. 21) Prohibits the Secretary from relying on statements not promulgated in accordance with rulemaking requirements to require any action under the FDCA. (Sec. 22) Mandates training for FDA employees on regulations and policies under the FDCA. (Sec. 23) Regulates: (1) the delegation of authority under the FDCA; (2) judicial review of decisions regarding investigational new drugs and new drugs; and (3) communication to non-FDA persons regarding certain matters before completion of an investigation. (Sec. 26) Defines "biological product" and "human tissue." Declares that blood, a blood component, an organ, milk, or human tissue is not a drug. Prohibits subjecting computer software developed or modified by, or used in, a human tissue establishment to any premarket clearance requirement. Requires such software to be validated to demonstrate that it achieves its intended purpose before use and subjects it to the GMP requirements of the FDCA. Requires licenses to introduce biological products, blood, and blood components into interstate commerce. Regulates licensing. Allows regulation of human tissue only if the Secretary demonstrates that voluntary regulation is inadequate to protect the public health. Provides for such regulation.
United States · United States Congress · 29 March 1996
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Food Amendments Title II: Animal Drugs Food Amendments and the Animal Drug Availability Act of 1996 - Title I: Food Amendments - Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA) to state the mission of the Food and Drug Administration. (Sec. 102) Modifies requirements regarding label claims of a relationship between a nutritional ingredient and a health-related condition. (Sec. 104) Prohibits construing FDCA provisions relating to misbranding or food additives to require a separate disclosure of a method of production or an ingredient other than in the statement of ingredients, unless necessary to protect the public health. (Sec. 105) Allows certain labeling and additive (including color additive) petitions to be submitted to an accredited person and deems the person's recommendation to be a decision of the Secretary of Health and Human Services unless the Secretary makes certain findings. Provides for accreditation. (Sec. 107) Allows an additive in feed for food-producing animals, and allows approval of a new animal drug, if the additive or drug presents a small risk (currently, if the additive will not adversely affect the animals and if no residue will be found in food from the animal). (Sec. 108) Prohibits States and subdivisions from having any requirement for a human food, a drug or biological product, or a cosmetic of the type authorized or required under the adulteration, misbranding, or new drug provisions of the FDCA, subject to exception and waiver. (Sec. 109) Directs the Secretary to regularly meet with other countries regarding reducing regulation and seeking reciprocal arrangements. (Sec. 110) Prohibits the Secretary from relying on statements that have not been promulgated in accordance with Federal rulemaking requirements to require any action to be taken to satisfy an FDCA requirement. (Sec. 111) Amends the FDCA and the Federal Trade Commission Act to remove or repeal provisions regulating the sale, public eating place serving, and advertising of colored oleomargarine or colored margarine. Repeals related definitions. Title II: Animal Drugs - Amends the FDCA to revise the definition (for new animal drug provisions) of "substantial evidence." Modifies requirements regarding approval of supplemental applications. Exempts use in a minor species and the minor use of a drug from provisions prohibiting approval if there is a lack of substantial evidence that the drug will have its purported effect. Revises requirements regarding combination drugs. (Sec. 202) Reduces the period for approval of new animal drug applications. (Sec. 203) Empowers applicants to declare that a review impasse exists. Sets forth a dispute resolution process. (Sec. 204) Revises requirements regarding drug residues and tolerances. (Sec. 205) Regulates animal feed drugs that are limited by approved applications to use under the supervision of a licensed veterinarian (veterinary feed directive drugs) (VFDDs). Deems animal feed with a new animal drug unsafe unless its labeling, distribution, holding, and use (currently, its labeling and use) conform to specified FDCA requirements. Allows withdrawal of approval for certain VFDD recordkeeping violations. Adds to the prohibited acts list the refusal to permit record access as required by VFDD provisions and the failure to maintain records or make reports as required by VFDD provisions.
United States · United States Congress · 28 March 1996
Aviation Safety Protection Act of 1996 - Amends Federal transportation law to establish a whistleblower protection program for airline employees providing air safety information. Prohibits air carriers, contractors, and subcontractors from discharging or otherwise discriminating against an employee as to pay, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment because the employee: (1) is about to provide or has provided to the Federal Government information relating to air safety; or (2) is about to file or has filed a proceeding, or testified, or otherwise participated in a proceeding relating to air safety. Sets forth a Department of Labor complaint procedure for persons who believe they have been discharged or discriminated against in violation of this Act. Provides for award of attorney's fees of up to $5,000 to a prevailing employer for any such complaint found frivolous or brought in bad faith. Specifies civil penalties for violation of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 26 March 1996
Congratulates the people of Taiwan on holding the first democratic presidential election in Chinese history. Declares that the United States is committed to: (1) moving nations toward freedom and democracy; and (2) encouraging and protecting its democratic friends on Taiwan, within the framework of the Taiwan Relations Act.
United States · United States Congress · 20 March 1996
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Assuring Availability and Continuity of Health Coverage Subtitle A: Guaranteed Access to Health Coverage Subtitle B: Provision of Benefits Subtitle C: Fair Rating Practices Subtitle D: Consumer Protections Subtitle E: Benefits Subtitle F: Standards and Certification; Enforcement; Preemption; General Provisions Subtitle G: Definitions; General Provisions Title II: Administrative Simplification Subtitle A: Standards for Data Elements and Transactions Subtitle B: Requirements with Respect to Certain Transactions and Information Subtitle C: Miscellaneous Provisions Title III: Antitrust Health Insurance Affordability Act of 1996 - Title I: Assuring Availability and Continuity of Health Coverage - Subtitle A: Guaranteed Access to Health Coverage - Requires carriers offering health coverage in the individual and small group market to make available standard and high-deductible coverage. Mandates a family option. Prohibits carriers from requiring limits based on health status, claims experience, or similar factors. (Sec. 102) Mandates acceptance of every small employer and qualifying individual. Allows financial capacity limits and provides for multiple employer welfare arrangement treatment. (Sec. 103) Prohibits denying, canceling, or refusing to renew coverage except for premium nonpayment or similar factors. (Sec. 104) Regulates preexisting condition exclusions and enrollment periods. Subtitle B: Provision of Benefits - Sets forth managed care requirements and mandates a utilization review report. Subtitle C: Fair Rating Practices - Regulates rating variations and mandates a model risk adjustment system. Subtitle D: Consumer Protections - Mandates disclosures by carriers and group plans. (Sec. 132) Regulates carrier remuneration and compensation to agents and brokers. (Sec. 133) Requires carriers and group plans to maintain written policies and procedures respecting advance directives. Subtitle E: Benefits - Regulates standard and high-deductible coverage. (Sec. 144) Mandates establishment of procedures for benefit valuation, the deductible amount for high-deductible coverage, and model benefit packages. (Sec. 145) Regulates the offering of supplemental benefits. (Sec. 146) Requires carriers to offer an option to treat children under 26 as family members. Subtitle F: Standards and Certification; Enforcement; Preemption; General Provisions - Mandates standards regarding this subtitle's requirements. Requires implementation and enforcement regarding carriers, insurance coverage, and group plans. Deems provisions of this title relating to group plans and employers to be provisions of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to impose a tax on a carrier's failure to comply with this Act's requirements. (Sec. 155) Prohibits a single employer plan from offering coverage other than through a carrier unless the plan has at least 100 eligible employees. Subtitle G: Definitions; General Provisions - Sets forth definitions for this Act and effective dates for this title. Title II: Administrative Simplification - Subtitle A: Standards for Data Elements and Transactions - Mandates standards under this subtitle that are: (1) consistent with reducing health care costs; and (2) in use and generally accepted, developed, or modified by standard-setting organizations accredited by the American National Standard Institute. (Sec. 212) Requires: (1) standards regarding electronic transmission of health information data elements; (2) a standard unique identifier for each individual, employer, plan sponsor, and health provider; (3) data element code sets; (4) technical standards consistent with network privacy standards; (5) regulations regarding electronic signature transmission and authentication; (6) direct laboratory claims submission; and (7) network privacy standards. Subtitle B: Requirements with Respect to Certain Transactions and Information - Requires transactions between plan sponsors and providers to use standard data elements. (Sec. 222) Requires a certified health information security organization to make non-identifiable health information available to Federal or State agencies. (Sec. 223) Requires a procedure under which a sponsor or provider that is unable to transmit standard data elements directly may comply with this part. Subtitle C: Miscellaneous Provisions - Mandates network operating standards and a network certification procedure. (Sec. 232) Prohibits requiring data elements or transmission inconsistent with this Act. Allows waivers. Requires anonymity for those reporting violations. (Sec. 233) Preempts contrary State law. Title III: Antitrust - Mandates: (1) guidelines on antitrust law application to health plan activities; and (2) a review process enabling plans to request a Federal antitrust conformity opinion.
United States · United States Congress · 7 March 1996
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the People's Republic of China should: (1) reaffirm its commitment to conduct relations with Taiwan by peaceful means; (2) engage in diplomatic negotiations to discuss any disagreement with Taiwan without any threat of military or economic coercion against Taiwan; and (3) immediately live up to its commitment to work for a peaceful resolution of any disagreements with Taiwan and desist from military actions designed to intimidate Taiwan. Calls on Taiwan to adhere to its commitment to negotiate its future relations with the mainland by mutual, not unilateral, decision. Calls for the United States: (1) to maintain its commitment to resist any resort to force or use other forms of coercion that would jeopardize the security, or the social or economic system, of the people on Taiwan, consistent with its undertakings in the Taiwan Relations Act; (2) to maintain a naval presence sufficient to keep open the sea lanes in and near the Taiwan Straits; (3) in the face of the several overt military threats by the People's Republic of China against Taiwan, and consistent with the commitment of the United States under the Taiwan Relations Act, to supply Taiwan with defensive weapons systems; and (4) to assist in defending the people of Taiwan against invasion, missile attack, or blockade by the People's Republic of China.
United States · United States Congress · 6 March 1996
Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments of 1996 - Amends the Safe Drinking Water Act (the Act) to require the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to make capitalization grants to States to establish State drinking water treatment revolving loan funds. Places the authority to establish assistance priorities for financial assistance provided with amounts deposited into the State loan fund in the State agency that has primary responsibility for the administration of the State program. Directs the Governor, in nonprimacy States, to determine which State agency will have the authority to establish priorities for such assistance. Authorizes State Governors to transfer amounts between such funds and water pollution control revolving funds established under the Clean Water Act. Requires the Administrator to reserve one and a half percent of drinking water funds for capitalization grants to Indian tribes for the improvement of public water systems. Specifies that such funds shall be used to address the most significant threats to public health associated with public water systems that serve Indian tribes, as determined by the Administrator in consultation with the Director of the Indian Health Service and Indian tribes. Directs the Administrator, in consultation with the Director and such tribes, to prepare surveys and assess the needs of drinking water treatment facilities to serve Indian tribes. Authorizes the Administrator to make such grants to the District of Columbia and specified U.S. territories. Authorizes: (1) States to reserve a certain amount of such grants for technical assistance for small public water systems; and (2) the Administrator to make grants to Alaska for the benefit of Alaska Native villages. Requires the Administrator, beginning in FY 1999, to withhold a specified percentage (five percent for FY 1999, ten percent for FY 2000, and 15 percent for each subsequent fiscal year) of each capitalization grant made to a State unless the State has met specified requirements under this Act regarding new system capacity. Sets forth provisions regarding projects eligible for assistance, including assistance for disadvantaged communities, and source water quality protection and capacity development (but limits the total amount of assistance provided and expenditures made by a State for each fiscal year, with respect to such protection and development, to 15 percent of the amount of the capitalization grant received by the State for that year, and not exceeding ten percent of that amount for: (1) acquiring land or conservation easements; (2) providing funding to implement recommendations of source water quality protection partnerships; (3) providing assistance through a capacity development strategy; or (4) making expenditures to delineate or assess source water protection areas). Sets forth provisions regarding State loan fund administration, technical assistance, and management. Requires: (1) States to prepare annual intended use plans for funds; (2) priority for the use of funds to be given to projects that address the most serious risk to human health, that are necessary to ensure compliance with filtration requirements and other specified requirements, and that assist those most in need on a per household basis according to State affordability criteria; and (3) each State, after notice and opportunity for public comment, to publish and periodically update a list of projects in the State that are eligible for assistance, including the priority assigned to each project and the expected funding schedule for each project. Directs the Administrator to: (1) conduct annual reviews and audits as the Administrator considers appropriate, or require each State to have the reviews and audits independently conducted, in accordance with specified single audit requirements; (2) submit to the Congress a periodic survey and assessment of the needs for facilities in each State eligible for assistance (including, in Alaska, the needs of Native villages); (3) conduct an evaluation of the effectiveness of the State loan funds through FY 1999; and (4) publish such regulations and guidance as necessary. Specifies that the failure or inability of any public water system to receive funds, or a delay in obtaining the funds, shall not alter the obligation of the system to comply in a timely manner with all applicable drinking water standards and requirements under the Act. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Administrator to reserve: (1) $10 million for health effects research on specified drinking water contaminants, giving priority to research concerning the health effects of cryptosporidium, disinfection byproducts, and arsenic, and for the implementation of a research plan for subpopulations at greater risk of adverse effects; (2) $2 million to pay the costs of monitoring for unregulated contaminants; and (3) specified sums for small system technical assistance. (Sec. 4) Repeals specified existing requirements for the Administrator to issue maximum contaminant level goals (MCLGs) and national primary drinking water (NPDW) regulations. Requires the Administrator to publish an MCLG and promulgate an NPDW regulation for each contaminant (with exceptions) for which a NPDW regulation has been promulgated as of the date of this Act's enactment if the Administrator determines, based on adequate data and appropriate peer- reviewed scientific information and an assessment of health risks, that the contaminant may have an adverse effect on the health of persons and that the contaminant is known to occur, or there is a substantial likelihood that it will occur, in public water systems with a frequency and at levels of public health concern. Directs the Administrator: (1) not later than July 1, 1997, to publish and periodically update a list of contaminants that are known or anticipated to occur in drinking water provided by public water systems that may warrant regulation; and (2) at such time as such list is published, to describe available and needed information and research regarding the health effects of the contaminants, their occurrence in drinking water, and treatment techniques and other feasible means to control the contaminants. Requires (with exceptions) the Administrator, by July 1, 2001, and every five years thereafter, to take one of the following actions for not fewer than five contaminants: (1) publish a determination that information available to the Administrator does not warrant the issuance of an NPDW regulation; (2) publish a determination that an NPDW regulation is warranted, and proceed to propose an MCLG and NPDW regulation not later than two years after the date of publication of the determination; and (3) propose an MCLG and NPDW regulation. Sets forth provisions regarding insufficient information to make, and the basis for, such determinations. Requires the Administrator to give priority to those contaminants not currently regulated that are associated with the most serious adverse health effects and that present the greatest potential risk to human health due to their presence in drinking water provided by public water systems. Sets forth provisions regarding public comment and judicial review. Authorizes the Administrator to promulgate an interim NPDW regulation for a contaminant to address an urgent threat to public health. Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) schedules for publication of MCLGs and NPDW regulations; (2) substitution of contaminants; and (3) promulgation, by December 31, 1995, of an information collection rule to facilitate further revisions to the NPDW regulation for disinfectants and disinfectant byproducts, including information on microbial contaminants such as cryptosporidium. (Sec. 5) Requires the Administrator, in carrying out the Act, to: (1) use the best available, peer-reviewed science and supporting studies conducted in accordance with sound and objective scientific practices, and data collected by accepted or best available methods; and (2) ensure that the presentation of information on public health effects is comprehensive, informative, and understandable. Directs the Administrator to conduct a cost-benefit analysis for each NPDW regulation containing a maximum contaminant level (MCL) or treatment technique before it is proposed, including consideration of alternative MCLs or treatment requirements. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 6) Permits the MCLG for contaminants that are known or likely to cause cancer in humans to be set at a level other than zero if the Administrator determines, based on the best available, peer-reviewed science, that there is a threshold level below which there is unlikely to be any increase in cancer risk and the Administrator sets the MCLG at that level with an adequate margin of safety. Requires the Administrator, at the time he or she proposes an NPDW regulation, to publish a determination as to whether the benefits of the MCL justify the costs. Authorizes the Administrator to establish an MCL for a contaminant at a level other than the feasible level if the technology, treatment techniques, and other means used to determine the feasible level would result in an increase in the health risk from drinking water by: (1) increasing the concentration of other contaminants in drinking water; or (2) interfering with the efficacy of drinking water treatment techniques or processes that are used to comply with other NPDW regulations. Authorizes the Administrator, if he or she determines that the benefits of an MCL would not justify the cost of complying with the level, to promulgate an MCL for the contaminant that maximizes health risk reduction benefits at a cost that is justified by the benefits, with an exception. Prohibits the Administrator from establishing an MCL in a Stage I or Stage II NPDW regulation for contaminants that are disinfectants or disinfection byproducts, or to establish an MCL or treatment technique requirement for the control of cryptosporidium. Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) judicial review; (2) disinfectants and disinfectant byproducts; and (3) review of standards. (Sec. 7) Sets forth requirements with respect to the promulgation of NPDW regulations for: (1) arsenic (requires the Administrator to follow a specified schedule, to develop and carry out a comprehensive plan for research in support of drinking water rulemaking, and to take other specified steps regarding assessment, proposed regulation, and final regulation of arsenic); (2) radon (provides for an MCL of 3,000 picocuries per liter but permits a revision to the regulation to include a different MCL under specified circumstances; e.g., if the Administrator determines, and the National Academy of Sciences and the Science Advisory Board concur, that revision is appropriate and supported by peer-reviewed scientific studies to address risks from ingestion of radon in drinking water); and (3) sulfate (prior to promulgating an NPDW regulation for sulfate, the Administrator and the Director of the Centers for Disease Control shall jointly conduct additional research to establish a reliable dose-response relationship for the adverse health effects that may result from exposure to sulfate in drinking water, including the health effects that may be experienced by groups within the general population that are potentially at greater risk of adverse health effects as the result of such exposure, conducted in consultation with interested States and based on the best available, peer-reviewed science and supporting studies, and subject to notice of proposed rulemaking and public comment). (Sec. 10) Directs the Administrator to: (1) amend filtration criteria to allow a State exercising primary enforcement responsibility for public water systems, on a case-by-case basis, to establish treatment requirements as an alternative to filtration for systems having uninhabited, undeveloped watersheds in consolidated ownership, and having control over access to, and activities in, those watersheds, if the State determines (and the Administrator concurs) that the quality of the source water and the alternative treatment requirements established by the State ensure significantly greater removal efficiencies of pathogenic organisms for which NPDW regulations have been promulgated or which are of public health concern than would be achieved by the combination of filtration and chlorine disinfection); and (2) propose a regulation that describes treatment techniques that meet the filtration requirements that are feasible for community water systems serving a population of 3,300 or for fewer and noncommunity water systems. Delays until at least three years after the enactment of this Act the deadline for issuing regulations to require disinfection at groundwater systems. (Sec. 11) Revises provisions regarding NPDW regulation effective dates to provide that such a regulation shall take effect three years after the date on which it is promulgated unless the Administrator determines that an earlier date is practicable, except that the Administrator, or a State in the case of an individual system, may allow up to two additional years to comply with an MCL or treatment technique if the Administrator or State determines that additional time is necessary for capital improvements. (Sec. 12) Directs the Administrator, simultaneously with promulgating NPDW regulations, to issue guidance or regulations regarding system treatment technologies. Requires the Administrator to include in the list of the technology, treatment techniques, and other means which the Administrator finds to be feasible for purposes of meeting NPDW MCLs any means that is feasible for small public water systems serving specified populations and that achieves compliance with the MCL or treatment technique, including packaged or modular systems and point-of-entry treatment units. Prohibits the Administrator from including in the list any point-of-use treatment technology, treatment technique, or other means to achieve compliance with an MCL or treatment technique requirement for a microbial contaminant. Specifies that if the American National Standards Institute has issued product standards applicable to a specific type of point-of-entry or point-of-use treatment device, individual units of that type shall not be accepted for compliance with an MCL or treatment technique requirement unless they are independently certified in accordance with such standards. Authorizes the Administrator to make grants to institutions of higher learning to establish and operate not fewer than five small public water system technology assistance centers in the United States. (Sec. 13) Revises provisions of the Act authorizing variances and exemptions from NPDW regulations to: (1) allow public water systems to receive a variance on the condition that they install and operate best available treatment technology; and (2) authorize the Administrator (or a State with primary enforcement responsibility for public water systems) to grant to public water systems serving a population of 10,000 or fewer a variance for compliance with a requirement specifying an MCL or treatment technique contained in an NPDW regulation if a system cannot afford to comply with the regulation and adequate protection of public health is ensured. (Sec. 15) Requires each State to: (1) obtain the legal authority or other means to ensure that all new community water systems and new nontransient, noncommunity water systems commencing operation after October 1, 1996, demonstrate technical, managerial, and financial capacity with respect to each NPDW regulation in effect, or likely to be in effect, on the date of commencement of operations; (2) prepare, periodically update, and submit to the Administrator a list of community water systems and nontransient, noncommunity water systems that have a history of significant noncompliance; (3) report to the Administrator on the success of enforcement mechanisms and initial capacity development efforts in assisting such systems to improve technical, managerial, and financial capacity; and (4) develop and implement a strategy to assist public water systems in acquiring and maintaining such capacity. Directs the Administrator to support: (1) the States in developing capacity development strategies; and (2) the network of university-based Environmental Finance Centers in providing training and technical assistance to State and local officials in developing the capacity of public water systems, including the establishment of a national public water systems capacity development clearinghouse. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 16) Requires public water systems receiving assistance from a State Revolving Loan Fund to be operated by a trained and certified operator. Specifies that, in the case of a State with primary enforcement responsibility or any other State that has established a training program that is consistent with the guidance issued under the Act, the authority to prescribe the appropriate level of training for certification for all systems shall be solely the responsibility of the State. Authorizes the Administrator to withhold funds that would otherwise be allocated to the State, or require the repayment of an amount equal to the amount of any such assistance, for noncompliance. (Sec. 17) Directs each State to: (1) delineate the source water protection areas for community water systems in the State using hydrogeologic information considered to be reasonably available and appropriate by the State; and (2) conduct vulnerability assessments in source water areas determined to be a priority by the State. Authorizes States to establish source water quality partnership petition programs to assist in the local development of a voluntary, incentive-based partnership to reduce the presence in drinking water of contaminants and to obtain Federal and State financial or technical assistance. Sets forth requirements for State approval of petitions, including: (1) an identification of technical, financial, or other assistance that the State will provide to assist in addressing the drinking water contaminants that may be addressed by a petition based on specified factors; and (2) a description of technical or financial assistance pursuant to Federal and State programs that is available to assist in implementing recommendations of the partnership, including any voluntary agricultural resource management plan or voluntary whole farm or whole ranch management plan developed and implemented under a process established by the Secretary of Agriculture. Authorizes the Administrator to make a grant to each State that establishes an approved program in an amount not to exceed 50 percent of the cost of administering the program. Directs the Administrator to publish guidance to assist: (1) States in the development of a source water quality protection partnership program; and (2) municipal or local governments or political subdivisions and community water systems in the development of source water quality protection partnerships and in the assessment of source water quality. (Sec. 18) Grants: (1) a State primary enforcement responsibility for public water systems if the Administrator determines that such State has adopted drinking water regulations that are no less stringent than the NPDW regulations within two years after such regulations are promulgated. Authorizes the Administrator to provide an extension of not more than two years if, after submission and review of appropriate, adequate documentation from the State, the Administrator determines that the extension is necessary and justified. Grants a State that has primary enforcement authority for existing drinking water regulations interim primary enforcement authority for new regulations pending such determination. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 19) Requires the Administrator to review existing monitoring requirements for not fewer than 12 contaminants within two years. Authorizes: (1) States to establish alternative monitoring programs for any NPDW regulation, except for a regulation applicable to a microbial contaminant or an indicator of such a contaminant, subject to specified requirements; and (2) the Administrator or a State to suspend quarterly monitoring requirements applicable to small systems for any contaminant (other than a microbial contaminant or such an indicator, that causes an acute effect, or a contaminant formed in the treatment process or distribution system) that is not detected during the first quarterly sample in a monitoring cycle. Directs the Administrator to promulgate regulations establishing the criteria for a monitoring program for unregulated contaminants, and to list up to 20 contaminants. Requires all systems serving more than 10,000 people to monitor for such contaminants. Authorizes appropriations. Requires the Administrator to establish a national database containing information on the occurrence of regulated and unregulated contaminants. Provides that information requirements imposed by the Administrator that require monitoring, the establishment or maintenance of records, or reporting, by a substantial number of public water systems, shall be established by regulation. Directs the Administrator to review new analytical methods to screen for regulated contaminants. Authorizes the Administrator to approve such methods as are more accurate or cost-effective than established reference methods for use in compliance monitoring. (Sec. 20) Requires each owner or operator of a public water system to give notice to those served by the system: (1) of any failure of the system to comply with an applicable maximum contaminant level or treatment technique requirement of, or a testing procedure prescribed by, an NPDW regulation, or to perform required monitoring; (2) of the existence of a variance granted for an inability to meet a maximum contaminant level requirement or a granted exemption and of any failure to comply with the requirements of any schedule prescribed pursuant to the variance or exemption; and (3) of the concentration level of any unregulated contaminant for which the Administrator has required public notice. Directs the Administrator to prescribe the manner, frequency, form, and content of such notice to provide for different notice frequencies for violations that are intermittent or infrequent and violations that are continuous or frequent, and to take into account the seriousness of any potential adverse health effects that may be involved. Permits a State to establish alternative notification requirements. Sets forth reporting requirements. (Sec. 21) Revises enforcement provisions of the Act to permit enforcement actions to be taken by both EPA and a State with primary enforcement responsibility. Directs the Administrator to notify local elected officials before taking enforcement actions against public water systems in nonprimacy States. Authorizes the Administrator or a State to suspend enforcement action with respect to a violation for a two-year period if the violation is to be corrected through a consolidation or restructuring during that period. Requires States, to have primary enforcement responsibility for public water systems, to adopt administrative penalties of at least $1,000 per violation for large systems. Increases the maximum amount for an administrative penalty imposed by EPA from $5,000 to $25,000 per violation, but only after a hearing on the record. (Sec. 22) Revises current provisions governing the applicability of drinking water laws and regulations to the Federal Government. Waives the sovereign immunity of the United States with respect to any requirement, administrative authority, or process or sanction under such laws and regulations. Allows citizens and States to seek penalties for all violations of the Act at Federal facilities. (Sec. 23) Authorizes appropriations for research with respect to the safe supply of drinking water. Directs the Administrator to: (1) develop, and periodically update, an integrated risk characterization strategy for drinking water quality; and (2) develop and carry out a research plan to support the development and implementation of rules regarding enhanced surface water treatment, disinfectant and disinfection byproducts, and groundwater disinfection. Sets forth reporting requirements. (Sec. 24) Revises the definition of "public water system" to include systems that provide water for human consumption through pipes or other constructed conveyances. Excludes from regulation connections to non-piped systems if the water is used exclusively for non-residential uses, the Administrator or the State determines that alternative water to achieve the equivalent level of public health protection provided by the applicable NPDW regulation is provided for residential or similar uses for drinking and cooking, or the Administrator or the State determines that the water provided for residential or similar uses for drinking and cooking is centrally treated or treated at the point of entry by the provider, a pass-through entity, or the user to achieve the equivalent level of protection provided by the applicable NPDW regulations. Sets forth transition provisions. (Sec. 25) Authorizes the Administrator to makes grants to States for the development and implementation of State programs for the protection of groundwater resources. Prohibits any such grant from being used for more than half of the cost of the program. Authorizes appropriations. Reauthorizes grants to support: (1) the critical aquifer protection program; (2) the wellhead protection program; and (3) State administration of the Underground Injection Control program. Directs the Administrator to study and report to the Congress on the extent and seriousness of contamination of private sources of drinking water that are not regulated under this Act. Authorizes the Administrator to reestablish a partnership between the Robert S. Kerr Environmental Research Laboratory and the National Center for Ground Water Research, a university consortium, to conduct research, training, and technology transfer for groundwater quality protection and restoration. Authorizes the Administrator to provide: (1) technical and financial assistance to units of State or local government for projects that demonstrate and assess innovative and enhanced methods and practices to develop and implement watershed protection programs, including methods and practices that protect both surface and groundwater; and (2) financial assistance to New York State for demonstration projects implemented as part of the watershed program for the protection and enhancement of the quality of source waters of the New York City water supply system. Sets forth matching and reporting requirements. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 26) Amends prohibitions on lead plumbing and pipes to prohibit: (1) the use in the installation or repair of any public water system or in any plumbing in a facility providing water for human consumption of any plumbing fitting or fixture that is not lead free; (2) the sale (effective two years after this Act's enactment) of any pipe or plumbing fitting or fixture that is not lead free, with exceptions; or (3) the sale of any solder or flux that is not lead free that does not bear a label stating that it is illegal to use the solder or flux in plumbing providing water for human consumption. Directs the Administrator to: (1) provide accurate and timely technical information and assistance to qualified third-party certifiers in the development of voluntary standards and testing protocols for the leaching of lead from new plumbing fittings and fixtures that are intended by the manufacturer to dispense water for human ingestion; and (2) promulgate regulations setting a health effects-based performance standard establishing maximum leaching levels from new plumbing fittings and fixtures that are intended by the manufacturer to dispense water for human ingestion if a voluntary standard is not established within a year. Repeals Federal law encouraging the use of geothermal heat pumps that return water to the distribution lines of public water systems. (Sec. 27) Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to issue a regulation establishing for bottled water a quality level for each contaminant of public water systems for which such a level is established or make a finding that a regulation is unnecessary because the contaminant is not contained in water used for bottled drinking water (requires the Secretary to issue the regulation or make the required finding for any contaminant for which a NPDW regulation was promulgated before this Act's enactment within one year). (Sec. 28) Authorizes the Chief of the Army Corps of Engineers to modernize the Washington Aqueduct. Authorizes appropriations. Modifies the membership of the National Drinking Water Advisory Council to include two members representing small, rural water systems. Amends the Nonindigenous Aquatic Nuisance Prevention and Control Act of 1990 to: (1) require the designated chairpersons of the Aquatic Nuisance Species Task Force to invite representatives of the Lake Champlain Basin Program to participate as ex officio members of the Task Force; and (2) include Lake Champlain among the waters with respect to which the aquatic nuisance species and zebra mussel demonstration programs apply. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Administrator to establish the Southwest Center for Environmental Research and Policy, consisting of a consortium of American and Mexican universities, to: (1) conduct research and development programs, projects, and activities, including training and community service, on U.S.-Mexico border environmental issues, with particular emphasis on water quality and safe drinking water; (2) provide objective, independent assistance to the EPA and other Federal, State, and local agencies involved in environmental policy, research, training, and enforcement; and (3) help to coordinate and facilitate the improvement of environmental policies and programs between the United States and Mexico. Authorizes appropriations. Requires the Administrator to develop a screening program, using appropriate validated test systems, to determine whether certain substances may have an effect in humans that is similar to an effect produced by a naturally occurring estrogen, or such other endocrine effect as the Administrator may designate. Sets forth provisions regarding program implementation, substances to be tested, exemptions, information collection, penalties and procedures for failure to submit required information, action by the Administrator to protect public health, and reporting requirements. Authorizes the Administrator to make grants to the State of Alaska for the benefit of rural and Native villages in Alaska to pay the Federal share (50 percent) of the cost of: (1) the development and construction of water and wastewater systems to improve the health and sanitation conditions in the villages; and (2) training, technical assistance, and educational programs relating to the operation and management of sanitation services in rural and Native villages. Requires the Administrator to consult with such State on a method of prioritizing grant allocation according to the needs of, and relative health and sanitation conditions in, each eligible village. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes the Administrator and the heads of other appropriate Federal agencies to award grants to any appropriate entity or border State (i.e., Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Texas) to provide assistance to eligible communities (colonias lacking basic sanitation facilities) for: (1) the conservation, development, use, and control of water for the purpose of supplying drinking water; and (2) the construction, improvement, operation, and maintenance of sewers and treatment works for wastewater treatment. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 1 February 1996
Constitutional Amendment - Requires a two-thirds vote of each House of the Congress in order to pass any bill levying a new tax or increasing the rate or base of any tax. Allows the Congress to waive that requirement during war or certain military conflict. Requires all votes under this Amendment to be by yeas and nays and the names of persons voting for and against to be entered in the Journal of each House.
United States · United States Congress · 1 February 1996
Expresses the sense of the Congress that, not later than March 15, 1996, the Congress should appropriate for FY 1996 for each continuing program or activity of the Department of Education not less than the amount appropriated for FY 1995 for such program or activity.
United States · United States Congress · 21 December 1995
Sound Science for the Environment Act - Establishes as an independent agency the National Institute for the Environment to: (1) initiate, facilitate, and perform comprehensive assessments of the current state of knowledge of environmental issues and their implications; (2) establish a Center for Environmental Assessment; (3) award competitively grants and contracts for extramural scientific research; (4) establish a Directorate of Research and a universally accessible National Library for the Environment; and (5) sponsor education and training of environmental scientists and professionals and improve public environmental literacy. Establishes a Board of Governors for the Institute. Provides for interagency acquisition of information and establishes an Interagency Advisory Committee to ensure that the environmental efforts of the Institute and other Federal agencies are complementary. Makes scientists, engineers, and other researchers eligible to receive funding from the Institute. Requires the President to submit to the Congress recommendations regarding existing non-regulatory Federal programs that are appropriate for transfer to the Institute, together with legislation to effect such transfers.
United States · United States Congress · 15 December 1995
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Peanut Price Support and Production Adjustment Program Title II: Peanut Standards Peanut Program Improvement Act of 1995 - Title I: Peanut Price Support and Production Adjustment Program - Amends the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938 to extend peanut program national and farm poundage quota and acreage allotment provisions through crop year 2002. Eliminates seed and includes import considerations in national poundage quota determinations. Sets a minimum 70 percent (of quota support rate) support rate for transferred additional peanuts. (Sec. 102) Revises and extends sale, lease, or transfer of farm poundage quota provisions through crop year 2002. Authorizes acreage allotment transfers to owners or operators within any county of a State. States that fall transfers shall no affect farm quota histories nor poundage quotas. Sets forth provisions for in-State farm poundage quota sales in large-quota States (10,000 tons or greater). (Sec. 103) Extends experimental and research, and marketing penalty provisions through crop year 2002. Applies penalty provisions to reentered (after export) peanut products made from additional peanuts. (Sec. 105) Amends the Agricultural Act of 1949 to revise and extend peanut price support provisions through crop year 2002. Makes peanuts produced outside New Mexico ineligible for New Mexico pools. Revises loss provisions. Subjects imported peanuts to domestic peanut quality standards. Extends marketing assessment provisions (at 1.2 percent) through crop year 2002. Treats imported peanuts as additional peanuts. Includes importers within the definition of "first purchaser." States that marketing assessment funds shall be used to offset the cost of the peanut price support program. (Sec. 107) Suspends specified permanent peanut program provisions. (Sec. 108) Revises producer referendum provisions. Title II: Peanut Standards - Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to provide for the warehouse inspection and grading of all peanut and peanut products sold in the United States. Requires the separation of imported and domestic peanut lots. Requires: (1) country-of-production labeling; (2) nutritional labeling; and (3)inspection and testing for grade and quality, pesticide residues, and plant diseases.
United States · United States Congress · 15 December 1995
Conservation Incentives Program Act of 1995 - Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to carry out a conservation incentives program to provide technical assistance, cost-sharing payments, and incentive payments to participating agricultural operators. Establishes a special rule and funding obligations for livestock operations. Establishes program and land priorities. Sets forth: (1) duties of the operators and of the Secretary; and (2) eligible land categories. Funds (with spending caps) such program through the Commodity Credit Corporation.
United States · United States Congress · 7 December 1995
Restoration of Natural Resources Laws on the Public Lands Act of 1995 - Amends Federal law to repeal the emergency salvage timber sale program. Directs the Secretaries of Agriculture and the Interior to suspend respective activities until they have determined that any such activity complies with applicable environmental and natural resource laws.
United States · United States Congress · 6 December 1995
Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make special provisions, including waiver of the Medicare part B late enrollment penalty and establishment of a special enrollment period, for the enrollment of certain military retirees and their dependents who are adversely affected by the closure of a Department of Defense military medical treatment facility pursuant to a closure or realignment of a military installation.
United States · United States Congress · 30 November 1995
Repeals a Federal provision limiting salary increases for Federal judges or Supreme Court Justices to those specifically authorized by Act of Congress. Amends the Federal judicial code to make the cost of living adjustments in judicial salaries effective in the first pay period beginning on or after January 1 each year (currently, such adjustments are triggered by General Schedule adjustments).
United States · United States Congress · 18 November 1995
Amends Federal armed forces provisions to provide that: (1) the special rule concerning annual cost-of-living adjustments to retired military pay for individuals who first became members of a uniformed service before August 1, 1986, shall apply only through FY 1996 (currently, FY 1998); and (2) the initial month that such increase is payable shall be March (currently, September) of the year following the effective date of such increase.
United States · United States Congress · 17 November 1995
Authorizes the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate to present, on behalf of the Congress, a gold medal to Billy and Ruth Graham in recognition of their outstanding and enduring contributions toward faith, morality, and charity. Authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to strike and sell bronze duplicates of such medal. Directs the Secretary to transfer from the Numismatic Public Enterprise Fund to the Library of Congress the amount by which the sum of any gifts and donations received by the Secretary to carry out this Act and any proceeds from the sale of bronze duplicates exceeds the total amount of the costs incurred by the Secretary in carrying out this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 16 November 1995
Tobacco Amendments Act of 1995 - Amends the Agricultural Act of 1949 to extend tobacco marketing assessment authority. States that such fees shall be used to pay for other tobacco programs not covered by user fees or other specified assessments or contributions. (Sec. 3) Amends the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938 to revise farm acreage allotment and marketing quota reduction provisions. (Sec. 4) Makes a specified farm reconstitution provision applicable to burley (burley) tobacco. (Sec. 5) Reduces a certain percentage threshold regarding disaster-transfer of flue-cured (flue-cured) tobacco quotas. (Sec. 6) Amends the Agricultural Act of 1949 to expand the tobacco types subject to no net cost assessment. (Sec. 7) Amends the Tobacco Adjustment Act of 1938 to repeal certain tobacco export reporting requirements. (Sec. 8) Amends the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938 to repeal certain flue-cured and burley marketing quota reduction provisions. (Sec. 9) Amends the Tobacco Inspection Act to provide for civil penalties and cease and desist orders for violations of such Act. Grants U.S. district courts jurisdiction in such matters. (Sec 10.) Amends the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938 to permit flue-cured or other tobacco quota or allotment transfers across within-State county lines if approved by producer referendum. Eliminates certain burley quota transfer provisions for Tennessee and Virginia. (Sec. 11) Eliminates certain tobacco exports from flue- cured and burley national marketing quota calculations. (Sec. 12) Revises certain burley marketing quota lease and transfer provisions. (Sec. 14) Increases maximum acreage transfers. (Sec. 15) States that performance rendered in good faith reliance upon Department of Agriculture advice or actions may be accepted as meeting appropriate marketing quota requirements. (Sec. 16) Harmonizes certain flue-cured and burley sales dates. (Sec. 17) Authorizes a recent farm purchaser to sell burley or flue-cured marketing quotas within one year of such purchase.
United States · United States Congress · 15 November 1995
Prohibits any Federal department, agency, or instrumentality (including the Department of Energy, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, or the Department of the Interior) from engaging in any plan or negotiation regarding the sale of the Southeastern Power Administration, including any facilities used in connection with the generation of electric energy it markets.
United States · United States Congress · 14 November 1995
Smithsonian Institution Sesquicentennial Commemorative Coin Act - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to issue five-dollar gold coins and one-dollar silver coins emblematic of the scientific, educational, and cultural significance of the Smithsonian Institution. Mandates that: (1) all but a certain portion of surcharges received from coin sales be paid by the Secretary to the Smithsonian Institution for such purposes as its Board of Regents determines to be appropriate; and (2) a certain portion of such surcharges be dedicated to supporting the operation and activities of the National Numismatic Collection at the National Museum of American History.
United States · United States Congress · 9 November 1995
Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to pay a specified sum to a named individual for damages he incurred as a result of the breach of a certain Government contract by the Department of the Army.
United States · United States Congress · 26 October 1995
Requires the Secretary of Energy to transfer, without compensation, the Tatum Dome Test Site to the State of Mississippi after certification from the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency and the State that any contamination of such property has been remedied in accordance with applicable Federal and State laws and regulations. Subjects such transfer to retention by the United States of the following: (1) the subsurface estate below the depth of 2700 feet below sea level unless a lesser depth is agreed upon by the Secretary; (2) rights of access for monitoring wells for sampling; and (3) the right to install wells additional to those identified in the remediation plan to the extent deemed necessary by the Secretary to monitor potential pathways of contaminant migration.
United States · United States Congress · 25 October 1995
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Energy, Natural Resources and Environment Subtitle A: Energy Subtitle B: Central Utah Subtitle C: Army Corps of Engineers Subtitle D: Helium Reserve Subtitle E: Territories Title II: Agricultural Programs Subtitle A: Extension and Modification of Various Commodity Programs Subtitle B: Sugar Subtitle C: Peanuts Subtitle D: Tobacco Subtitle E: Planting Flexibility Subtitle F: Miscellaneous Provisions Title III: Commerce Title IV: Transportation Title V: Housing Provisions Title VI: Indexation and Miscellaneous Entitlement-Related Provisions Title VII: Medicaid Reform Subtitle A: Per Capita Spending Limit Subtitle B: Medicaid Managed Care Subtitle C: Additional Reforms of Medicaid Acute Care Program Subtitle D: National Commission on Medicaid Restructuring Subtitle E: Restrictions on Disproportionate Share Payments Subtitle F: Fraud Reduction Title VIII: Medicare Subtitle A: Medicare Choice Program Subtitle B: Provisions Relating to Regulatory Relief Subtitle C: Medicare Payments to Health Care Providers Subtitle D: Provisions Relating to Medicare Beneficiaries Subtitle E: Medicare Fraud Reduction Subtitle F: Improving Access to Health Care Subtitle G: Other Provisions Subtitle H: Monitoring Achievement of Medicare Reform Goals Subtitle I: Lock-Box Provisions for Medicare Part B Savings from Growth Reductions Subtitle J: Clinical Laboratories Title IX: Welfare Reform Subtitle A: Temporary Employment Assistance Subtitle B: Make Work Pay Subtitle C: Work First Subtitle D: Family Responsibility and Improved Child Support Enforcement Subtitle E: Teen Pregnancy and Family Stability Subtitle F: SSI Reform Subtitle G: Food Assistance Subtitle H: Treatment of Aliens Subtitle I: Earned Income Tax Credit Title X: Reductions in Corporate Tax Subsidies and Other Reforms Subtitle A: Tax Treatment of Expatriation Subtitle B: Modification to Earned Income Credit Subtitle C: Alternative Minimum Tax on Corporations Importing Products into the United States at Artificially Inflated Prices Subtitle D: Tax Treatment of Certain Extraordinary Dividends Subtitle E: Foreign Trust Tax Compliance Subtitle F: Limitation on Section 936 Credit Title XI: Veterans' Affairs Subtitle A: Permanent Extension of Temporary Authorities Subtitle B: Other Matters Subtitle C: Health Care Eligibility Reform Title XII: Legislative Branch Title XIII: Miscellaneous Provisions Title XIV: Budget Process Provisions Subtitle B(sic): Discretionary Spending Limits Subtitle C: Pay-As-You-Go Procedures Subtitle D: Miscellaneous Subtitle E: Deficit Control Subtitle F: Line Item Veto Subtitle G: Enforcing Points of Order Subtitle H: Deficit Reduction Lock-box Subtitle I: Emergency Spending; Baseline Reform; Continuing Resolutions Reform Subtitle J: Technical and Conforming Amendments Subtitle K: Truth in Legislating Common Sense Balanced Budget Act of 1995 - Title I: Energy, Natural Resources and Environment - Subtitle A: Energy - Amends the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 to exclude from the definition of "production facility" the construction and operation of a uranium enrichment facility using Atomic Vapor Laser Isotope Separation (AVLIS) technology (thus making such a facility eligible for one-step licensing). (Sec. 1101) States that one purpose of this Act is to ensure that privatization of the U. S. Enrichment Corporation (USEC) does not result in any adverse effects on the pension benefits of employees at facilities that are operated in the performance of functions vested in USEC. Declares that USEC shall abide by the terms of the collective bargaining agreement in effect on the privatization date at each individual facility. Permits employees who transfer to USEC from other Federal employment to transfer their accrued retirement benefits to a USEC retirement system, or to retain their coverage under their existing Federal plan. Terminates USEC's status as the exclusive marketing agent for the United States for entering into contracts for providing enriched uranium and uranium enrichment and related services. Declares that the privatization of USEC shall not affect the terms, rights, or obligations of the parties to any power purchase contracts. Sets forth the effects of the transfer of uranium enrichment contracts. Declares that the United States shall remain obligated on those contracts during their term. States that USEC shall establish prices for its products, materials, and services on a profit-making basis. Prescribes guidelines under which the Department of Energy (DOE) shall accept responsibility for the treatment, disposal and storage of low-level radioactive waste and mixed waste. States that, as of the privatization date, all liabilities and any judgment against the Corporation attributable to the operation of the USEC from the transition date to the privatization date shall be direct liabilities of, and judgments against, the United States. Authorizes the Secretary of Energy to transfer raw and enriched uranium to USEC before the privatization date without charge. Prescribes guidelines under which: (1) USEC is authorized to establish a private corporation to implement the privatization of USEC; and (2) USEC privatization may be implemented by means of a transfer of assets and liabilities to such corporation and a merger or consolidation with it. Prohibits the Secretary from allowing the privatization of USEC by means of a public offering unless the Secretary determines that the estimated gross proceeds from the USEC sale will be an adequate amount. Limits to ten percent of the total votes of all outstanding USEC voting securities the number of securities any person may acquire or hold, directly or indirectly, during the three years following any privatization by means of a public offering. Provides that the proceeds to the U.S. Government from privatization shall be included in the budget baseline and be counted as an offset to direct spending. Mandates termination of any USEC license if privatization results in its being owned, controlled or dominated by a foreign entity or otherwise inimical to the security of the United States. Precludes USEC from implementing the privatization plan less than 60 days after the date that the Comptroller General presents an evaluation of the plan to the Congress. Provides for periodic certification of USEC by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission upon privatization. Authorizes the licensing of Corporation facilities using AVLIS technologies for uranium enrichment. (Sec. 1102) Amends the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990 to repeal the termination date for Nuclear Regulatory Commission authority to assess annual charges (thus making such authority permanent). (Sec. 1103) Amends the National Energy Conservation Policy Act to repeal the exclusion of cogeneration process from the definition of "energy savings". (Sec. 1104) Authorizes the Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency to assess and collect radiological emergency preparedness fees. Subtitle B: Central Utah - Amends the Central Utah Project Completion Act to direct the Secretary of the Interior to allow for prepayment of a specified repayment contract with the Central Utah Water Conservancy District regarding municipal and industrial water delivery facilities. Subtitle C: Army Corps of Engineers - Establishes the Army Civil Works Regulatory Program Fund as a repository for certain regulatory fees established by the Secretary of the Army. Subtitle D: Helium Reserve - Helium Act of 1995 - Amends the Helium Act to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to: (1) enter into agreements with private parties for the recovery and disposal of helium on Federal lands; (2) grant leasehold rights to such helium; (3) store, transport, and sell crude helium; and (4) maintain and operate existing crude helium storage at the Bureau of Mines Cliffside Field. Directs the Secretary to: (1) cease producing, refining, and marketing refined helium; and (2) dispose of all facilities, equipment, and Federal property interests relating to refined helium activities. Requires the Secretary to impose fees for helium storage, withdrawal, or transportation services. Prescribes guidelines for: (1) the purchase of helium by Federal agencies from certain private persons; and (2) the sale of crude helium by the Secretary. Prohibits the Secretary from making crude helium sales in amounts that will disrupt the crude helium market price. Mandates that proceeds from helium sales be paid to the Treasury. Identifies circumstances under which the Secretary must meet a certain deadline for the elimination of helium stockpiles. Repeals the Secretary's authority to borrow under the Helium Act. Subtitle E: Territories - Terminates annual direct financial assistance to the Government of the Northern Mariana Islands. Title II: Agricultural Programs - Agricultural Reconciliation Act of 1995 - Subtitle A: Extension and Modification of Various Commodity Programs - Amends the Agricultural Act of 1949 (Act) to extend loan, payment, and acreage reduction programs for wheat (including the food security wheat reserve), feed grains, cotton (including cottonseed and cottonseed oil), and rice. Extends loan and payment programs for oilseeds. (Sec. 2106) Revises specified wheat, feed grains, upland cotton, and rice deficiency payment provisions (flex acres and 50-85 and 0-85 programs). Subtitle B: Sugar - Amends the Agricultural Act of 1949 to extend and set forth sugar price support provisions. Establishes the sugarcane target price at 18 cents per pound. Subtitle C: Peanuts - Amends the Agricultural Act of 1949 to extend the peanut price support program. (Sec. 2302) Amends the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938 to extend and revise peanut national poundage quota and acreage allotment provisions, including specified provisions regarding Texas and New Mexico. (Sec. 2303) Revises sale, lease, or transfer of farm poundage quota provisions. Provides for: (1) quota transfers to other self-owned farms within the same State; and (2) quota sales within a State having quotas of 10,000 tons or more. (Sec. 2304) Subjects reentered (after export) peanut products made from additional peanuts to specified marketing penalties. (Sec. 2305) Amends the Agricultural Act of 1949 to limit price support rate increases or decreases. Establishes a special rule regarding New Mexico pools. Requires that all domestic and export peanuts comply with specified quality standards. (Sec. 2306) Requires an annual quota peanut producer referendum regarding the poundage quota. Subtitle D: Tobacco - Amends the Agricultural Act of 1949 to extend tobacco marketing assessment authority. States that such fees shall be used to pay for other tobacco programs not covered by user fees or other specified assessments or contributions. (Sec. 2402) Amends the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938 to revise farm acreage allotment and marketing quota reduction provisions. (Sec. 2403) Makes a specified farm reconstitution provision applicable to burley (burley) tobacco. (Sec. 2404) Reduces a certain percentage threshold regarding disaster-transfer of flue-cured (flue-cured) tobacco quotas. (Sec. 2405) Amends the Agricultural Act of 1949 to expand the tobacco types subject to no net cost assessment. (Sec. 2406) Amends the Tobacco Adjustment Act of 1938 to repeal certain tobacco export reporting requirements. (Sec. 2407) Amends the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938 to repeal certain flue-cured and burley marketing quota reduction provisions. (Sec. 2408) Amends the Tobacco Inspection Act to provide for civil penalties and cease and desist orders for violations of such Act. Grants U.S. district courts jurisdiction in such matters. (Sec. 2409) Amends the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938 to permit flue-cured or other tobacco quota or allotment transfers across within-State county lines if approved by producer referendum. Eliminates certain burley quota transfer provisions for Tennessee and Virginia. (Sec. 2410) Eliminates certain tobacco exports from flue-cured and burley national marketing quota calculations. (Sec. 2412) Revises certain burley marketing quota lease and transfer provisions. (Sec. 2413) Increases maximum acreage transfers. (Sec. 2414) States that performance rendered in good faith reliance upon Department of Agriculture advice or actions may be accepted as meeting appropriate marketing quota requirements. (Sec. 2415) Harmonizes certain flue-cured and burley sales dates. (Sec. 2416) Authorizes a recent farm purchaser to sell burley or flue-cured marketing quotas within one year of such purchase. Subtitle E: Planting Flexibility - Amends the Agricultural Act of 1949 to state that a farm's total acreage base shall equal the sum of the farm's acreage bases for acreage reduction enrolled crops. (Sec. 2503) Revises planting flexibility provisions. (Sec. 2504) Bases 1996 through 2002 farm program payment yields on the 1995 crop year. Subtitle F: Miscellaneous Provisions - Amends the Food Security Act of 1985 to reduce the maximum amount of deficiency and land diversion payments. (Sec. 2602) Expresses the sense of the Congress that the Secretary of Agriculture and the United States Trade Representative should intensify efforts to resolve the Canadian potato trade concerns and to begin to consider dispute resolution actions under the North American Free Trade Agreement or the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. Title III: Commerce - Amends the Communications Act of 1934 (the Act) to state that certain competitive bidding requirements shall not apply to licenses or construction permits issued by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC): (1) that, as the result of the FCC carrying out specified obligations, are not mutually exclusive; (2) for public safety radio services, including non-Government uses that protect the safety of life, health, and property and that are not made commercially available to the public; or (3) for initial licenses or construction permits for new terrestrial digital television (TV) services assigned by the FCC to existing terrestrial broadcast licensees to replace their current TV licenses. Extends through FY 2002 the authority of the FCC to grant such licenses or permits. Requires the FCC to complete all actions necessary to permit the assignment, by September 30, 2002, by competitive bidding of licenses for the use of bands of frequencies that: (1) individually span not less than 25 megahertz (mhz.), unless a combination of smaller bands can reasonably be expected to produce greater receipts; (2) in the aggregate, span not less than 100 mhz.; (3) are located below three gigahertz (ghz.); and (4) as of this Act's enactment date, have not been designated by FCC regulation for assignment or identified by the Secretary of Commerce pursuant to provisions of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration Organization Act (NTIAO Act). Directs the FCC to conduct the competitive bidding for not less than one-half of such aggregate spectrum by September 30, 2001. Requires the FCC, in making available bands of frequencies for competitive bidding, to: (1) seek to promote the most efficient use of the spectrum; (2) take into account the cost to incumbent licensees of relocating existing uses to other bands of frequencies or other means of communication and the needs of public safety radio services; and (3) comply with the requirements of international agreements concerning spectrum allocations. Directs the FCC to notify the Secretary if the FCC: (1) is not able to provide for the effective relocation of incumbent licensees to bands of frequencies that are available to the FCC for assignment; and (2) has identified bands of frequencies that are suitable for the relocation of such licensees and that are allocated for Federal Government use but that could be reallocated pursuant to the NTIAO Act. Amends the NTIAO Act to require the Secretary, upon receiving a notice from the FCC pursuant to this Act, to prepare and submit to the President and the Congress a report recommending for reallocation for use other than by Federal Government stations bands of frequencies that are suitable for the uses identified in the FCC's notice. Requires the FCC to commence the Broadband Personal Communications Services C-Block auction (described in the FCC's Sixth Report and Order) not later than December 4, 1995. Ratifies and adopts the FCC's competitive bidding rules governing such auction. Sets forth or revises provisions regarding: (1) modification of auction policy to preserve the auction value of the spectrum; (2) identification and reallocation of auctionable frequencies; and (3) allocation and assignment of frequencies identified in the second reallocation report. (Sec. 3102) Amends the Act to direct the FCC, for FY 1996 and thereafter, to modify the application fees so that total collections for the fiscal year equal $40 million plus the amount of necessary expenses for costs related to application processing which exceeds $40 million. Directs the FCC to notify the Congress of any proposed and adopted modifications. Requires $40 million from FCC application fees to be deposited into the Treasury and used for application processing and related expenses of the FCC. Revises the schedule of application fees for personal communications services and amateur vanity call signs under the Act. Specifies that moneys received from fees established under this section shall be deposited as an offsetting collection in, and credited to, the account providing appropriations to carry out FCC functions. Sets forth or revises provisions regarding: (1) recovery of executive and legal costs incurred by the FCC; (2) establishment and adjustment of fees; (3) regulatory fees for satellite TV operations; and (4) governmental entities use for common carrier purposes. Directs the FCC to: (1) develop accounting systems for making adjustments authorized by the Act; and (2) annually prepare and submit to the Congress an analysis of such systems and afford interested persons the opportunity to submit comments concerning the allocation of costs, the application, and regulatory fee adjustments. (Sec. 3103) Prohibits the FCC from: (1) renewing any analog TV license for a period that extends beyond the earlier of December 31, 2005, or one year after the date the FCC finds (based on annual surveys) that at least 95 percent of households in the United States have the capability to receive and display video signals, other than video signals transmitted pursuant to an analog TV license; or (2) issuing, after such date, any TV licenses other than advanced TV licenses. Directs the Secretary, each calendar year from 1998 to 2005, to conduct a survey to estimate the percentage of households in the United States that have the capability to receive and display video signals other than those transmitted pursuant to an analog TV license. Requires the FCC to: (1) ensure that, as analog TV licenses expire, the spectrum previously used for the broadcast of analog TV signals is reclaimed and reallocated so as to maximize the deployment of new services (and directs that licensees for new services be selected by competitive bidding); and (2) complete the competitive bidding procedure by May 1, 2002. Directs the FCC to establish procedures to ensure that, within the year prior to the reversion date, the advanced TV licensees provide each requesting household with the capability to receive and display video signals for advanced TV services. Requires: (1) each advanced TV service licensee to provide, for a minimum of five years from such date, at least one nonsubscription video service that meets or exceeds minimum technical standards established by the FCC; and (2) the FCC, to the extent technically feasible, to ensure that picture and audio quality are at least as good as that provided to recipients within the Grade B contour of an analog TV license and to revoke the license of any advanced TV licensee who fails to meet this condition of the license. (Sec. 3104) Amends the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990 to extend Patent and Trademark Office user fees through 2002. Sets amounts of surcharges to be collected in FY 1999-2002. (Sec. 3105) Repeals the authorization of transitional appropriations for the Postal Service. Specifies that liabilities of the former Post Office Department to the Employees' Compensation Fund shall be liabilities of the Postal Service payable out of the Fund. Title IV: Transportation - Amends Federal transportation law to make permanent the mandate for the imposition of railroad safety fees on railroad carriers. (Sec. 4102) Amends Federal shipping law to make permanent the mandate for the imposition of tonnage duties on certain vessels. (Sec. 4103) Directs the Administrator of General Services to sell at fair market value all rights, title, and interests of the United States in and to the land of, and improvements to, Governors Island, New York. Grants the State of New York and the city of New York the right of first refusal to purchase all or part of such Island. (Sec. 4104) Directs the Administrator to sell at fair market the air rights adjacent to Washington Union Station, including certain air rights to be conveyed to the Administrator by the National Railroad Passenger Corporation (AMTRAK). Directs AMTRAK, as a condition of future Federal financial assistance, to convey such rights, at no charge, on or before December 31, 1995. Title V: Housing Provisions - Amends the United States Housing Act of 1937 to make the reduction of section 8 annual rent adjustment factors for units without tenant turnover permanent. Amends the National Housing Act to revise the maximum mortgage amount floor for single family mortgage insurance. Revises mortgage foreclosure avoidance and borrower assistance provisions, including: (1) authorizing a partial claim payment program for up to 12 months' equivalent payments; and (2) establishment of an assignment program. Title VI: Indexation and Miscellaneous Entitlement-Related Provisions - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to revise section one provisions so as to provide for a reduction in the annual consumer price index formula used in determining the cost-of-living adjustment of the tax tables through the calendar year 2002. Amends title XX (Block Grants to States for Social Services) of the Social Security Act to: (1) provide for a reduction in block grants beginning with FY 1996; and (2) provide that each State shall be annually entitled to an amount equal to the lesser of 80 percent of the total it spends for services which are directed towards achieving the stated purposes of the title or the State's allotment. Provides for the denial of unemployment compensation to: (1) individuals with income in excess of $120,000 for the most recent taxable year; and (2) individuals who voluntarily leave military service. Title VII: Medicaid Reform - Subtitle A: Per Capita Spending Limit - Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to specify a limit on the total amount of State expenditures for medical assistance for which Federal financial participation may be made under Medicaid in a fiscal year beginning in FY 1997, according to a prescribed formula based on certain categories of Medicaid beneficiaries. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to establish for each State a per capita medical assistance limit for each such category and for administrative expenditures for a fiscal year according to a certain formula that accounts for inflation. Requires the Secretary to notify each State before the beginning of each fiscal year of the per capita limits established for the State for the fiscal year. Exempts certain State expenditures under Medicaid from being subject to such limits and from being taken into account in establishing them. Provides for certain adjustments to such per capita limits, and outlines enforcement provisions for assuring that payments to the States are consistent with them. Places certain restrictions on the authority of States to apply less restrictive income and resource methodologies for making certain eligibility determinations under Medicaid. Subtitle B: Medicaid Managed Care - Repeals certain barriers to: (1) authorize States to require certain Medicaid-eligible individuals to enroll with an eligible managed care provider of their choice under contract with the State to furnish them with all medically necessary assistance as a condition of receiving Medicaid assistance; and (2) add anti-fraud and sanctions requirements applicable to eligible managed care providers. (Sec. 7105) Provides for assuring adequacy of payments to Medicaid managed care plans and providers. (Sec. 7107) Requires the Secretary to report to specified congressional committees on the effect of risk contracting entities and primary care case management entities on the delivery of and payment for public health services. (Sec. 7108) Requires the Secretary and the Comptroller General to analyze and submit reports annually to specified congressional committees on rates paid for hospital services under coordinated care programs provided for under this subtitle. Subtitle C: Additional Reforms of Medicaid Acute Care Program - Revises provisions governing the use of enrollment fees, premiums, deductions, cost-sharing, and similar charges in order to permit increased flexibility in Medicaid cost-sharing. (Sec. 7202) Requires the Secretary to define, by regulation promulgated after consultation with States and organizations representing health care providers, those treatment services, in addition to those otherwise covered under a State Medicaid plan, that must be covered under Medicaid as measures necessary to correct or ameliorate defects and physical and mental illnesses and conditions discovered by the screening services, whether or not such services are covered under the State plan. (Sec. 7203) Provides that no change in law which has the effect of imposing a requirement on a State under a State plan under Medicaid, and with respect to which the Secretary is required to issue regulations to carry out such requirement, shall take effect until the date the Secretary promulgates such regulation as a final regulation. Provides that any change in a regulation of the Secretary relating to the Medicaid program shall not become effective until the beginning of the fiscal year following the fiscal year in which the change was promulgated. Gives the States certain options around such requirements. Expresses the sense of the Congress that if a State is required by future legislation to provide for additional services, eligible individuals, or otherwise incur additional costs under its Medicaid program, the Federal Government shall provide for full payment of any such additional costs for at least the first two years in which such requirement applies. (Sec. 7204) Sets forth provisions governing the consideration of applications for Medicaid waivers (i.e. State requests for a waiver of a Medicaid provision, or of another provision of law that applies to State plans under such title), and includes certain specified waivers under SSA and later amendments. Subtitle D: National Commission on Medicaid Restructuring - Establishes the National Commission on Medicaid Restructuring to study and make recommendations to the Congress, the President, and the Secretary regarding the need for changes in the laws and regulations regarding the Medicaid program in order to: (1) ensure adequate access to health care under such program for low-income individuals; (2) promote quality health care; (3) deter Medicaid fraud and abuse; (4) provide States with additional flexibility in implementing their Medicaid plans; and (5) contain Federal and State Medicaid costs. Authorize appropriations. Subtitle E: Restrictions on Disproportionate Share Payments - Revises provisions governing Medicaid payment adjustments for inpatient hospital services furnished by disproportionate share hospitals (DSH), among other changes, establishing a new national DSH payment limit and modifying provisions for determination of State DSH allotments. Subtitle F: Fraud Reduction - Directs the Administrator of the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) to develop mechanisms to better monitor and prevent inappropriate payments under Medicaid in the case of individuals who are dually eligible for benefits under such program and the Medicare program under SSA title XVIII. Requires the Administrator to develop improved mechanisms, such as picture identification documents and smart documents, to provide methods of improved identification and tracking of beneficiaries and providers that perpetrate fraud against Medicaid. Title VIII: Medicare - Medicare Preservation Act of 1995 - Amends SSA titles XI and XVIII and the Internal Revenue Code, restructuring the current Medicare program, and creating a new Medicare Choice program within it, while also providing for corresponding tax incentives for Medicare Choice medical savings accounts (MSAs) and other Medicare Choice-related matters. Subtitle A: Medicare Choice Program - Gives individuals entitled to benefits under Medicare part A (Hospital Insurance) and enrolled under Medicare part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) the opportunity to elect Medicare coverage during annual, coordinated election periods under either the new Medicare Choice benefit package or through the existing fee-for-service system under such parts. Includes in the Medicare Choice benefit package a high ($10,000) deductible-Medisave product under a specified demonstration plus contributions to Medicare Choice MSAs, as well as separate fee-for-service products and products offered under certain provider- and union-sponsored plans by qualified Medicare Choice organizations. Directs the Secretary to provide for a nationally coordinated educational and publicity campaign to inform individuals who are eligible to elect Medicare Choice products about them and the election processes provided under this subtitle. Directs the Secretary to conduct demonstration projects to test alternative approaches to coordinated open enrollments in different markets, including different annual enrollment periods and models of rolling open enrollment periods. (Sec. 8002) Requires qualified Medicare Choice organizations (except those with union sponsors, Taft-Hartley sponsors, or, for a limited time, provider sponsors) to be licensed under State law in each State in which they offer a Medicare Choice product. Requires such organizations to assume full financial risk on a prospective basis for the provision of health care services (other than hospice care). Allows an organization to obtain insurance in specified circumstances. Sets forth requirements relating to benefits, provision of services (including limited physician incentive plans), enrollment, and premiums. Specifies patient protection standards, including those for information disclosure, access to services, out-of-network services, mandatory quality assurance programs, coverage determinations, grievances, appeals, and fair marketing procedures. Directs the Secretary to provide for demonstration projects to determine the effectiveness, cost, and impact of alternative methods of providing comparative information about the performance of Medicare Choice organizations and products and the performance of Medicare supplemental policies in relation to such products. Prescribes policy for payments to Medicare Choice organizations, including monthly adjusted capitation rates. Requires the Secretary to issue interim regulations regarding standards for Medicare Choice organizations and products within 180 days after the date of enactment of this subtitle, with such regulations to be effective through the end of 1999. Directs the Secretary to develop permanent standards under this subtitle, consulting with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners in doing so, with such standards to be effective for periods beginning on or after January 1, 2000. Directs the Secretary to establish a process for the certification of Medicare Choice organizations and products. Involves the Secretary of Labor in such process with respect to union sponsors and Taft-Hartley sponsors. Outlines the certification process, including the use of private accreditation processes. Requires Medicare Choice organizations to contract with the Secretary, subject to specified requirements. Permits certain demonstration projects for high deductible-Medisave products, and lists special rules relating to enrollment and benefits with regard to such products, requiring, among other things, payments to the Medicare Choice MSAs of individuals electing high deductible-Medisave products under such projects. (Sec. 8003) Directs the Secretary to report to the Congress on alternative provider payment approaches under Medicare along with recommendations for implementing and testing such approaches and any legislation that may be required for such purpose. Directs the Secretary to work with employers and health benefit plans to develop standards and payment methodologies to allow retired workers to continue to participate in employer health plans instead of participating in the Medicare program. Provides for a similar congressional report with regard to such matter. (Sec. 8004) Sets forth transition rules for current Medicare health maintenance organization (HMO) programs. (Sec. 8011) Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from an individual's gross income any Federal payment to his or her Medicare Choice MSA, but include any MSA distribution not used to pay the account holder's qualified medical expenses. Excludes the value of such an MSA from the account holder's gross estate. Exempts an account holder from the excise tax on prohibited transactions even if an MSA ceases to be a Medicare Choice MSA because a distribution was not used to pay qualified medical expenses. Excludes further from gross income any Medicare part B premium discount rebate. (Sec. 8021) Declares that, in any Federal or State antitrust action, the conduct of a provider service network (and any member of such network) in negotiating, making, or performing a contract, to the extent such contract is for providing services under a Medicare Choice provider-sponsored organization (PSO) contract, shall not be illegal per se. Subjects such conduct to the antitrust rule of reason standard. (Sec. 8031) Amends SSA title XVIII to establish the Medicare Payment Review Commission (replacing the Prospective Payment Assessment Commission (ProPAC) and the Physician Payment Review Commission (PPRC), hereby abolished) which shall, among other things, review program payment policies (including those under the new Medicare Choice program) for appropriate recommendations to the Congress concerning such policies. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 8032) Creates the Commission on the Effect of the Baby Boom Generation on the Medicare Program to: (1) examine the financial impact on the Medicare program of the significant increase in the number of Medicare-eligible individuals which will occur beginning approximately 2010 and last for approximately 25 years; and (2) make specific recommendations to the Congress about a comprehensive approach to preserve Medicare for the period during which such individuals are Medicare-eligible. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 8041) Preempts State law restrictions on managed care arrangements and utilization review programs. Subtitle B: Provisions Relating to Regulatory Relief - Amends SSA titles XI and XVIII, as well as the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993, to outline various specified revisions to Medicare physician referral prohibitions and anti-kickback and other penalties for the purpose of achieving Medicare regulatory relief. (Sec. 8101) Includes among such revisions: (1) removal of compensation arrangements from the proscribed financial arrangements between a physician and any entity to which he or she may refer a Medicare beneficiary (thus limiting proscribed financial arrangements to an ownership or investment interest in the entity); (2) limitation of the designated health services subject to such prohibition to items and services furnished by a community pharmacy, magnetic resonance imaging and computerized tomography services, and outpatient physical therapy services; (3) repeal of the mandate for the Medicare and Medicaid Coverage Data Bank; and (4) the issuance of advisory opinions under SSA title XI. (Sec. 8104) Revises exceptions to the prohibition against physician referrals to an entity in which the referring physician has an ownership or investment relationship to: (1) repeal the site-of-service requirement for excepted in-office ancillary services; (2) revise the exceptions for services furnished in a rural area and for pre-paid plans; and (3) add new exceptions for shared facility services and services furnished in communities with no alternative providers, in ambulatory surgical centers, in renal dialysis facilities, in a hospice, or in a comprehensive outpatient rehabilitation facility. (Sec. 8111) Directs the Attorney General to provide for the development and publication of explicit guidelines on the application of antitrust laws to the activities of health plans, and establish a review process under which a plan administrator or sponsor may submit a request to obtain a prompt opinion from the Department of Justice (DOJ) on the plan's conformity with the Federal antitrust laws. (Sec. 8112) Outlines requirements for issuance (or denial) by the Attorney General of health care certificates of public advantage to requesting eligible health care collaborative activities if the benefits likely to result from such an activity outweigh any reduction in competition likely also to result and if such reduction is necessary to obtain benefits. Provides for judicial review with regard to such matter. (Sec. 8113) Requires the Attorney General, to report annually to the Congress, as part of the annual budget oversight proceedings, on DOJ's Antitrust Division in order for the Congress to determine how enforcement of antitrust laws is affecting the formation of joint ventures, and if such certificates have resulted in undesirable reduction in competition in the health care marketplace. (Sec. 8114) Exempts specified antitrust laws, under certain conditions, from applying with respect to: (1) the merger of, or the attempt to merge, two or more hospitals; (2) a contract entered into solely by two or more hospitals to allocate hospital services; or (3) the attempt by only two or more hospitals to enter into a contract to allocate hospital services. (Sec. 8121) Outlines various specified measures with respect to health care liability designed to provide for malpractice reform that, among other things, include: (1) a statute of limitations for medical malpractice claims, with exceptions for minors; (2) a limitation on noneconomic damages; and (3) standards for using alternative dispute resolution (ADR) in such matters as an initial attempt to resolve them before they may be brought in State or Federal court. Includes special provisions for certain obstetric services. Requires certain reports on the implementation and effectiveness of ADR systems for the Congress. (Sec. 8151) Modifies under Medicare the payment areas used to determine Medicare payments for physicians' services under such program while ensuring budget-neutrality. Subtitle C: Medicare Payments to Health Care Providers - Provides for a one-year general freeze in payments to Medicare providers during FY 1996, with similar freezes for skilled nursing facilities and home health agencies under the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993. (Sec. 8211) Revises Medicare provisions for payments for physicians' services, replacing the volume performance standard with sustainable growth rate and establishing a single conversion factor for 1996, among other changes. (Sec. 8221) Provides for a reduction in update for inpatient hospital services for FY 1997 through 2002. (Sec. 8222) Eliminates formula-driven overpayments for ambulatory surgical center procedures and radiology services and diagnostic procedures. (Sec. 8223) Requires the Secretary to establish a prospective payment system (PPS) for hospital outpatient services. (Sec. 8224) Reduces Medicare payments to hospitals for inpatient capital-related costs. (Sec. 8225) Places a moratorium on PPS exemption for long term care hospitals. Directs the Secretary to submit to the Congress recommendations for modifications to the standards used to determine whether a hospital is classified as a long-term care hospital for purposes of determining the amount of payment to the hospital under Medicare part A for the operating costs of inpatient hospital services. (Sec. 8231) Sets forth provisions affecting home health and other specified providers, including providers of durable medical equipment and nursing homes, with similar payment changes and reductions and certain coverage limitations and incentives for cost-efficient management. Requires the Secretary to expand PPS research for home health agencies. (Sec. 8235) Freezes payments for clinical diagnostic laboratory tests. (Sec. 8241) Adds a new SSA title XXI (Teaching Hospitals and Graduate Medical Education Trust Fund) establishing in the Treasury the Teaching Hospital and Graduate Medical Education Trust Fund for payments to teaching hospitals out of specified transfers from the Medicare trust funds and other amounts. Provides within HHS for a temporary advisory counsel (the National Advisory Council on Postgraduate Medical Education) to advise the Secretary on postgraduate medical education financing for assuring an adequate supply of trained specialists consistent with our country's health care needs. (Sec. 8242) Modifies payment policies under Medicare regarding indirect costs of graduate medical education, reducing payment adjustments for indirect medical education. Subtitle D: Provisions Relating to Medicare Beneficiaries - Makes specified changes with regard to the Medicare part B premium, including freezing it for 1996. (Sec. 8302) Amends the Internal Revenue Code to make the full cost of Medicare part B coverage payable by high-income individuals. (Sec. 8303) Provides annual screening mammography for women over age 49, plus expanded coverage of other preventive benefits under Medicare such as colorectal screening, prostate cancer screening tests and diabetes outpatient self-management training services. Subtitle E: Medicare Fraud Reduction - Outlines various specified measures designed for preventing fraud and abuse under the Medicare program or a State health care program, including among them in addition to the special fraud alerts initially set out: (1) special outreach and other efforts by the Secretary which include establishing a beneficiary incentive program for collecting information on fraud and abuse under Medicare; (2) establishment of the Medicare Integrity Program and associated Anti-Fraud and Abuse Trust Fund for contracting out to eligible private entities specified anti-fraud and abuse activities; (3) establishment by the Secretary of certain fraud reduction demonstration projects; and (3) provide direct spending for Medicare-related anti-fraud activities of the HHS Inspector General. Provides appropriations from the Anti-Fraud and Abuse Trust Fund to carry out the Medicare Integrity Program. (Sec. 8407) Requires the Secretary to recommend to the Congress legislative changes to the Medicare program to enable the prices paid for items and services under it to be established on a more competitive basis. Subtitle F: Improving Access to Health Care - Outlines various specified changes with regard to rural hospitals for the purpose of improving access to health care in rural areas, among other changes, by establishing a rural emergency access care hospital program and a system of additional payments under Medicare for physicians' services furnished in shortage areas. Reduces updates for sole community hospitals. Requires the Medicare Payment Review Commission to study and report to the Congress on the impact of the designation of hospitals as sole community hospitals under the Medicare program on the delivery of health care services to individuals in rural areas. Prohibits denial of request for reclassification of rural referral centers on basis of comparability of wages. Provides for State and consortium demonstration projects for increasing the number of medical students entering primary case practice relative to those entering nonprimary care practice. Requires the Secretary to develop and publish a model law that may be adopted by States to increase the access of individuals residing in underserved rural areas to health care services by expanding the services which non-physician health care professionals may provide in such areas. (Sec. 8512) Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude national health service corps loan repayments from gross income. (Sec. 8513) Directs the Secretary to establish a methodology for making payments under Medicare part B for telemedicine services furnished on an emergency basis to individuals residing in an area designated as a health professional shortage area. (Sec. 8514) Provides for an HHS demonstration project to assess the advantages and disadvantages of requiring Medicare Choice organizations to market their products in certain underserved areas which are near the standard service area for such products. (Sec. 8521) Provides for Medicare program payments for health care services provided in the military health services system. Subtitle G: Other Provisions - Provides, with regard to Medicare as secondary payer, for: (1) extension and expansion of existing requirements; (2) recovery against third party administrators of primary plans; and (3) prohibition of retroactive application (before April 24, 1995) of a certain policy directive regarding end stage renal disease beneficiaries enrolled in primary plans. (Sec. 8602) Repeals the Medicare and Medicaid Coverage Databank under SSA title XI. (Sec. 8603) Provides that nothing in SSA title XVIII may be construed to prohibit coverage under Medicare part A or B of items and services associated with the use of a medical device in the furnishing of inpatient hospital services solely on the grounds that the device is not an approved device, if it is an investigational device and is used instead of an approved device. States that the amount of Medicare payment for any item or service associated with the use of an investigational device in the furnishing of such services may not exceed the amount of the payment which would have been made for the item or service if it were associated with the use of an approved device. (Sec. 8604) Excludes from Medicare coverage items or services used for euthanasia. (Sec. 8605) Extends Medicare coverage of, and application of the hospital insurance tax to, all State and local government employees. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle H: Monitoring Achievement of Medicare Reform Goals - Directs the Secretary to establish budgetary and program goals for the Medicare program that are consistent with: (1) specified restrictions on total Medicare outlays for FY 1996 through FY 2002; and (2) an equitable distribution of funds between per beneficiary spending on payments to Medicare Choice organizations and spending on fee-for-service payments to Medicare providers. Requires such goals also to be consistent with the establishment of payments to such organizations in a manner that: (1) promotes the availability of Medicare Choice products in all regions of the country; and (2) permits such organizations to offer adequate coverage. (Sec. 8702) Establishes the Medicare Reform Commission to examine how Medicare has met such goals, with recommendations concerning any problems found to exist submitted to the President for transmittal with corrections to the Congress for action. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle I: Lock-Box Provisions for Medicare Part B Savings from Growth Reductions - Establishes under Medicare part B in the Treasury the Federal Medicare Growth Reduction Trust Fund for the savings under such part that are attributable to this Act. Subtitle J: Clinical Laboratories - Amends the Public Health Service Act to exempt from certification requirements under such Act clinical laboratories in physician offices (except when pap smear analysis is performed). Title IX: Welfare Reform - Subtitle A: Temporary Employment Assistance - Replaces the current Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) Program under SSA title IV part A with a Temporary Employment Assistance (TEA) program for the purpose of providing assistance to families with needy children and assisting parents of such children to obtain and retain private sector work to the extent possible, and public sector or volunteer work if necessary, through the Work First Employment Block Grant program. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 9101) Sets forth State TEA plan elements necessary for plan approval by the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS). Includes among them, in addition to certain administrative requirements for ensuring that families on TEA assistance become self-sufficient, the following key elements: (1) limited time for cash assistance, with specified exceptions for teen parents, hardship situations, and individuals exempt from certain work requirements under this title because of illness or other specified reasons; (2) assessment, before such individuals may receive TEA assistance, of the skills, prior work experience, and employability of each applicant for, and recipient of, TEA assistance who has attained age 18 or has not obtained a high school education, and is not attending secondary school; (3) development of an individual responsibility plan on the basis of such assessment, setting forth certain job search, work-, and education-related obligations (including, at State option, appropriate substance abuse treatment) of such individuals in order for them to receive the full amount of TEA assistance (denying it for plan noncompliance after the third offense); (4) State operation a Work First Program (replacing the current Job Opportunities and Basic Skills Training (JOBS) program) and a workfare or job placement voucher program for individuals prohibited from participation in the Work First program; (5) assurance that all such applicants and recipients will cooperate in paternity establishment and enforcement of child support obligations, and that the State agency will report known or suspected instances of child abuse to the appropriate authorities; (6) State efforts to promote family preservation and stability; and (7) denial of TEA assistance for fraudulent statements made with regard to residence in order to obtain multiple assistance payments and for probation and parole violators. Outlines State payment and miscellaneous State plan quality assurance and data collection, compilation, and reporting requirements, as well as certain research, demonstration, and evaluation requirements (including requirements for the Secretary to establish certain regional information centers for disseminating information concerning welfare reform) with regard to the different State approaches to operating welfare programs under this subtitle. Provides that, upon receiving notice from a State agency administering an approved plan that a named individual has been overpaid under it, the Secretary of the Treasury shall: (1) determine whether any tax refunds are payable to such individual, regardless of whether he or she filed a return as a married or unmarried individual; and (2) withhold from any such refunds an amount equal to the overpayment sought to be collected, and pay it to the State agency. Requires the Secretary to issue regulations allowing a State to submit requests for collection of overpayments only with respect to individuals no longer receiving TEA assistance against whom the State has already taken appropriate action, including notice of its intent to request such withholding of income tax refunds. Specifies rules for the collection of overpayments under SSA title IV part A. Subtitle B: Make Work Pay - Amends SSA title XIX (Medicaid) to give States the option of providing for an extension of Medicaid enrollment for former AFDC recipients for one additional year. (Sec. 9202) Requires State TEA, food stamp, and Medicaid plans to provide their respective applicants and former recipients with written notice of the existence and availability of the earned income tax credit, with changes under the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990 providing for such notice of availability to be included on employee W-4 forms. (Sec. 9204) Amends the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) to provide for State demonstrations for advance payment of earned income tax credit. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 9205) Repeals the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 and provides for funding of child care services through the program under SSA title XX (Block Grants to States for Social Services), with limited funding for child care grants under such program to supplement State and local funds as well as Federal funds provided under other Acts for child care activities. Requires the appropriate State agencies under such program to guarantee child care for participants involved in the education, training, community service, and employment initiatives above connected with State TEA programs. (Sec. 9206) Amends IRC to: (1) include TEA, food stamp, and supplemental security income (SSI) assistance in gross income and exclude such benefits from being taken into account for purposes of the earned income tax credit; and (2) make the dependent care credit refundable and exclude certain high-income taxpayers from being eligible for such credit. Subtitle C: Work First - Replaces the JOBS program under SSA title IV part F with the Work First program under which States have the option of offering a wide variety of job-related activities (including use of job placement companies) to TEA program participants in order to provide them in a cost-effective fashion with the support and skills necessary to obtain and keep full-time unsubsidized employment, preferably in the private sector. (Sec. 9301) Outlines various specified: (1) program components, including microenterprise initiatives, workfare or community service programs, work supplementation programs for jobs with the State or jobs subsidized by the State in the private sector, job placement voucher programs for States not operating a workfare or community service program, and mandatory job search requirements; and (2) associated rules, cost limits, participation and funding requirements, and performance standards for measuring the effectiveness of such programs. Expresses the intent of the Congress that State job-related activities emphasize the use of funds that would otherwise be used to provide individuals with TEA and food stamps to subsidize the wages of such individuals in temporary jobs. Expresses the sense of the Congress that States should target individuals below age 25 for participation in the Work First program in order to break the cycle of welfare dependency. Subtitle D: Family Responsibility and Improved Child Support Enforcement - Chapter 1: Eligibility and Other Matters Concerning Title IV-D Program Clients - Amends part D (Child Support and Establishment of Paternity) of title IV of the Social Security Act (SSA) to require States to have statutorily prescribed procedures to: (1) record child support orders in a central case registry; and (2) collect child support payments through a centralized collections unit. Permits parties to a child support order to opt for an alternative payment procedure. (Sec. 9401) Revises the guidelines for: (1) State plans for child and spousal support; and (2) payments distribution. (Sec. 9403) Requires State plans to establish procedural guidelines for: (1) notification of all proceedings and orders affecting child support obligations; and (2) privacy safeguards regarding paternity and child support actions. Chapter 2: Program Administration and Funding - Revises the formula for: (1) Federal matching payments to the States; and (2) incentive adjustments to the Federal matching rate. (Sec. 9413) Requires a State plan for child and spousal support to include prescribed procedures for State reviews and audits. Revises the guidelines for Federal evaluation and audit of State programs governing paternity, child and spousal support, and parent location. (Sec. 9415) Revises the automated data processing requirements for State plans to mandate a single statewide automated data processing and information retrieval system which can perform specified tasks. (Sec. 9416) Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to conduct staffing studies of each State child support enforcement program and to report the results to the Congress. (Sec. 9417) Makes funds available to the Secretary for: (1) training of Federal and State staff, research and demonstration programs, and special projects of regional and national significance; and (2) operation of the Federal Parent Locator Service. Chapter 3: Locate and Case Tracking - Mandates that the single statewide automated data system function as a single central case registry of State-provided services and support orders. Delineates contents of case records and data matching activities, including data exchange with sister States. (Sec. 9422) Requires State plans to include a centralized, automated unit for the collection and disbursement of support payments. (Sec. 9423) Requires the States to have statutorily prescribed procedures: (1) for mandatory income withholding for support payments subject to enforcement; and (2) under which child support orders issued before October 1, 1996, shall become subject to withholding from wages if arrearages occur, without the need for a judicial or administrative hearing. Revises the procedural guidelines for income withholding for child support enforcement. (Sec. 9425) Revises the Federal Parent Locator Service to add kinds of information which may be transmitted to locate individuals and assets for purposes of establishing parentage and executing child support obligations. Requires the Secretary to establish in the Service a Data Bank of Child Support Orders and an automated directory of New Hires. (Sec. 9426) Requires State plans to include procedures for recording social security numbers on certain family legal documents and records. Chapter 4: Streamlining and Uniformity of Procedures - Requires each State to have the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act in effect as of January 1, 1997. (Sec. 9432) Amends the Federal judicial code to revise the procedures for a court to apply when determining which State order to recognize for purposes of continuing, exclusive jurisdiction and enforcement for child support orders. (Sec. 9433) Amends SSA title IV part D to revise State plan guidelines for mandatory expedited administrative and judicial procedures to include: (1) authorized genetic testing to establish paternity; and (2) the securing of assets and increasing of monthly payments to satisfy a support arrearage. Chapter 5: Paternity Establishment - Expresses the sense of the Congress that social services should be provided in hospitals to women who have become pregnant as a result of rape or incest. (Sec. 9442) Requires State laws to prescribe procedures for parenting counseling for new fathers that stresses the importance of paying child support. (Sec. 9443) Requires State plans to prescribe specified administrative procedures governing agency determination as to whether an individual is cooperating with efforts to establish paternity and secure support, or has good cause not to cooperate with such efforts. (Sec. 9444) Increases the base matching rate for Federal payments to the States for grants for dependent children. (Sec. 9445) Revises the guidelines for statutorily prescribed procedures governing genetic testing and outreach for voluntary paternity acknowledgment. Chapter 6: Establishment and Modification of Support Orders - Establishes the National Child Support Guidelines Commission to develop a national child support guideline for consideration by the Congress that is based on a study of various guideline models, the benefits and deficiencies of such models, and any needed improvement. (Sec. 9452) Revises the requirements for State plan procedures for the review and adjustment of support orders. Chapter 7: Enforcement of Support Orders - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to revise the order of refund distribution with respect to past-due support owed to individuals. (Sec. 9463) Amends SSA title IV part D to revise procedural guidelines for: (1) consent by the United States to income withholding, garnishment, and similar proceedings for enforcement of child support and alimony obligations of current and retired Federal employees; and (2) enforcement of child support obligations of current and retired members of the armed forces. (Sec. 9465) Requires States to have statutorily prescribed procedures for: (1) placing liens for child support arrearages on motor vehicle titles of the debtor; (2) voiding fraudulent transfers by a child support debtor; (3) suspending any driver's, business, or occupational license issued to any person who owes past-due child support; (4) reporting to credit bureaus the name of the parent in arrears for child support; (5) extending the statute of limitations for collection of child support arrearages; and (6) calculating interest or penalties on such arrearages. (Sec. 9471) Prescribes procedural guidelines for passport denial (including revocation) upon certification of nonpayment of child support. (Sec. 9472) Expresses the sense of the Congress that the United States should ratify the United Nations Convention of 1956. Requires State plans to provide that the State must treat international child support cases as interstate cases. (Sec. 9473) Requires States to have statutorily prescribed procedures under which failure to pay child support arrearages results in seizure by a State agency of: (1) insurance settlements or payouts; (2) judicial awards; (3) sale of forfeited property; and (4) bequests. (Sec. 9474) Requires State plans to include procedures under which grandparents are liable for the financial support of the children of their minor children. (Sec. 9475) Expresses the sense of the Congress that the States should develop programs specifically designed to work with noncustodial parents who are unable to meet their child support obligations. Chapter 8: Medical Support - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to include within the definition of medical child support order an order issued through a State administrative process. Chapter 9: Food Stamp Program Requirements - Amends the Food Stamp Act of 1977 to set forth as a prerequisite to eligibility for the Food Stamp Program cooperation by the custodial parent with child support agencies regarding paternity and child support. (Sec. 9492) Denies eligibility to participate in the Food Stamp Program to any individual that is delinquent in any court-ordered payment for child support. Chapter 10: Effect of Enactment - Sets forth effective dates for portions of this title. Subtitle E: Teen Pregnancy and Family Stability - Amends Title IV part A (AFDC) to prescribe guidelines under which State plans may deny temporary employment assistance to recipient families having additional children while receiving such assistance. (Sec. 9502) Requires State plans to set as a prerequisite for temporary employment assistance to pregnant unwed minors (or minors with needy children in their care), that such individuals reside in certain supervised living arrangements with an adult relative or legal guardian. (Sec. 9503) Amends title XX (Block Grants to States for Social Services) to establish a National Clearinghouse on Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Programs. Enumerates maximum grant amounts for such Clearinghouse. (Sec. 9504) Amends Title IV part A (AFDC) to require that State plans mandate completion of high school or other training for custodial teenage parents who are required to participate in the Work First program. Authorizes States to provide additional incentives and penalties to encourage teen parents to complete high school and participate in parenting activities. (Sec. 9505) Denies Federal housing benefits to minors who bear children out-of-wedlock, with specified exceptions. (Sec. 9506) Amends Title IV part A (AFDC) to prescribe guidelines under which State plans are granted the option of denying temporary employment assistance to minor parents. Subtitle F: SSI Reform - Amends SSA title XVI (Supplemental Security Income) (SSI) to revise the rules with respect to childhood eligibility, with corresponding changes to childhood SSI regulations modifying the medical criteria for evaluation of mental and emotional disorders, and discontinuing the use of individualized functional assessments for children. Requires the Commissioner of Social Security to redetermine the eligibility of any individual under age 18 who is receiving SSI benefits based on a disability as of the date of the enactment of this Act and whose eligibility for such benefits may terminate by reason of the amendments of this subtitle. (Sec. 9602) Provides that not less frequently than once every three years the Commissioner shall review the continued SSI eligibility of each individual who has not attained 18 years of age and is eligible for such benefits by reason of an impairment (or combination of impairments) which may improve (or, which is unlikely to improve, at the option of the Commissioner). Requires a parent or guardian of a recipient whose case is so reviewed to present, at the time of review, evidence demonstrating that the recipient is, and has been, receiving treatment, to the extent considered medically necessary and available, of the condition which was the basis for providing benefits under the SSI program. Provides that if an individual is eligible for SSI benefits by reason of disability for the month preceding the month in which the individual attains age 18, the Commissioner shall redetermine such eligibility: (1) during the one year period beginning on the individual's 18th birthday; and (2) by applying the criteria used in determining the initial eligibility for applicants who have attained age 18. Specifies requirements governing: (1) continuing disability reviews for low birth weight babies; and (2) benefit payments through representative payees to eligible individuals and their spouses. (Sec. 9603) Revises representative payee requirements. (Sec. 9604) Denies SSI by reason of disability to drug addicts and alcoholics for whom the addiction or alcoholism is a contributing factor material to the determination of disability. Provides that, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, the Secretary of the Treasury shall pay to the Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse specified amounts for expenditure on drug treatment and drug abuse and drug treatment research for FY 1997 through 2000. (Sec. 9605) Denies SSI benefits for ten years to individuals found to have fraudulently misrepresented residence in order to obtain benefits simultaneously in two or more States. (Sec. 9606) Denies SSI benefits for fugitive felons and probation and parole violators and provides for exchange of SSI information with law enforcement agencies. (Sec. 9607) Outlines reapplication requirements for adults receiving SSI benefits by reason of disability. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 9608) Provides for a reduction in the unearned income exclusion under provisions for determining the income of an individual and his eligible spouse under SSI. Subtitle G: Food Assistance - Chapter 1: Food Stamp Program - Amends the Food Stamp Act of 1977 (Act) to establish food stamp program (program) certification periods of: (1) 24 months for households whose adult members are elderly or disabled; and (2) not more than 12 months for all other households. Includes energy assistance in household income determinations. Excludes Job Training Partnership Act income from such determinations. Excludes life insurance policies from family resource determinations. (Sec. 9703) Authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture (Secretary), with regard to retail food stores and wholesale food concerns (stores), to: (1) establish authorization periods for coupon acceptance and redemption; and (2) establish specific time periods for prohibiting program participation of stores based on lack of business integrity. (Sec. 9705) Includes sales tax information among the types of eligibility verification information which may be requested. (Sec. 9706) Establishes a six-month reapplication waiting period for a store that does not meet participation requirements. (Sec. 9708) Authorizes suspension of a store pending administrative and judicial review. (States that the Secretary shall not be liable for lost sales during such period.) (Sec. 9709) Provides for disqualification of a store that is disqualified from the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). (Sec. 9710) Provides for permanent disqualification of a store that knowingly submits a falsified application. (Sec. 9711) Expands civil and criminal forfeiture for specified violations of the Act. (Sec. 9712) Amends the Social Security Act as amended by the Social Security Administrative Reform Act of 1994, and the Internal Revenue Code as added to by the Social Security Administrative Reform Act of 1994, to authorize information sharing with State WIC enforcement instrumentalities. (Sec. 9713) Amends the Act to expand the definition of "coupon." (Sec. 9714) Increases penalties for specified program violations. (Sec. 9715) Makes the collection of over-issuance of coupons from Federal pay or Federal tax refunds (as authorized by this section) mandatory. (Sec. 9716) Encourages and authorizes States to implement electronic benefit transfer systems. (Sec. 9717) Reduces annual "thrifty food plan" adjustments. (Sec. 9718) Freezes standard deduction adjustments for two years. (Sec. 9720) Disqualifies an individual from program participation for: (1) participation in two or more States; and (2) child support arrears. (Sec. 9722) Authorizes the use of program information to assist in locating fugitive felons. (Sec. 9723) Defines "work program." Makes nonexempt persons ineligible for program benefits if during the preceding 12-month period they received food stamps for six months or more without working at least 20 hours per week, or participating in a workfare program. Sets forth exempted persons and situations. Revises work requirement and employment and training provisions. Extends employment and training funding authorizations. (Sec. 9725) Extends current claims retention rates. (Sec. 9726) Extends Puerto Rico block past assistance. (Sec. 9727) Treats children who are themselves parents living with their children and married children living with their spouses as part of an existing household rather than as a separate household. Chapter 2: Commodity Distribution - Commodity Distribution Act of 1995 - Authorizes the Secretary to purchase and distribute food assistance commodities to the States. (Sec. 9753) Requires the Secretary to establish procedures for supplemental State, local, and private commodity donations. (Sec. 9754) Requires a State seeking commodity assistance to submit an administrative plan every four years to the Secretary. (Sec. 9755) Establishes program allocation guidelines. Requires States to make emergency feeding organizations their first priority. (Sec. 9756) Authorizes the Secretary to use Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) funds to pay initial commodity processing and packaging costs. (Sec. 9758) Authorizes program appropriations, including a separate authorization of appropriations for administrative costs. (Sec. 9760) Obligates specified funds for a commodity supplemental food program for women, infants, and children or the elderly. Requires the CCC to donate specified amounts of cheese and nonfat dry milk to such program. (Sec. 9761) States that commodities received under this title shall not be considered income or resources for any Federal, State, or local means-tested program. (Sec. 9768) Repeals the Emergency Food Assistance Act of 1983. Eliminates specified provisions of: (1) the Commodity Distribution Reform Act and WIC Amendments of 1987; (2) the Charitable Assistance and Food Bank Act of 1987; (3) the Food Security Act of 1985; (4) the Agricultural and Consumer Protection Act of 1973; (5) the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990; and (6) the Hunger Prevention Act of 1988. Chapter 3: Other Programs - Amends the National School Lunch Act to prohibit an institution with more than one employee from participating in the child and adult care food program if employee payments are based upon the number of day care homes recruited, managed, or monitored. Revises day care home reimbursement provisions, including sponsor payments. Obligates specified FY 1996 funds for State grants to family or group day care homes. Requires specified census data to be provided to day care sponsoring organizations. (Sec. 9782) Amends the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 to authorize appropriations (current authorization is discretionary) for the nutrition education and training program. Subtitle H: Treatment of Aliens - Extends the period of sponsor attribution of income and resources (to an alien) under the statewide temporary assistance program (TEA), the supplemental security income program (SSI), and the food stamp program through the date (if any) of such alien's citizenship. Sets forth exceptions based upon age, military or veteran status, family status, domestic violence, or taxpaying status. (Permits Medicaid eligibility.) Amends the Social Security Act to set forth TEA rules regarding income and resource attribution. (Sec. 9802) Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to set forth rules for sponsor affidavits of support. (Sec. 9803) Extends affidavit of support requirements to family- related and diversity immigrants. Subtitle I: Earned Income Credit - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to require an individual claiming the earned income tax credit to include the individual's and, if married, the spouse's social security number on the individual's tax return. Title X: Reductions In Corporate Tax Subsidies and other Reforms - Revenue Reconciliation Act of 1995 - Subtitle A: Tax Treatment of Expatriation - Sets forth the tax responsibilities of: (1) any U.S. citizen who relinquishes his or her U.S. citizenship; or (2) any long-term U.S. resident who commences to be treated as a resident of a foreign country under provisions of a tax treaty and who does not waive the benefits of such treaty applicable to residents of the foreign country. Allows an exclusion from gain of up to $600,000. Permits an expatriate to elect to continue to be taxed as a United States citizen, in which case the provisions applicable to other expatriates will not apply. Provides for the determination of the basis of the assets of a nonresident alien individual who becomes a U.S. citizen or resident. Subtitle B: Modification to Earned Income Credit - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to include capital gain net income in the definition of disqualified income for purposes of the denial of the earned income credit for individuals having excessive income. Subtitle C: Alternative Minimum Tax on Corporations Importing Products into the United States at Artificially Inflated Prices - Imposes an alternative minimum tax on certain corporations equal to four percent of their net business receipts for a taxable year. Imposes such tax on a corporation (foreign or domestic) if: (1) its gross sales in the United States of manufactured parts or products exceeded $10 million; (2) it imported such products with a customs value in excess of $10 million (artificially inflated prices); and (3) its tax obligation under the alternative minimum tax exceeds its total tax obligation. Subtitle D: Tax Treatment of Certain Extraordinary Dividends - Provides, with respect to a corporate shareholder's basis in stock reduced by the non-tax portion of extraordinary dividends, that if the non-taxed portion of such dividends exceeds such basis, such excess shall be treated as gain from the sale or exchange of such stock for the taxable year in which the extraordinary dividend is received. Subtitle E: Foreign Trust Tax Compliance - Revises the requirements regarding information that must be reported regarding certain foreign trusts. Modifies the circumstances (with regard to foreign trusts having one or more U.S. beneficiaries) in which a transferor is treated as the owner. Replaces provisions setting forth a special rule applicable to foreign grantors with provisions declaring that provisions relating to treating grantors and others as substantial owners shall apply only when that application results in an amount being currently taken into account in computing the income of a U.S. citizen or resident or a domestic corporation. Requires a United States person to report information regarding foreign gifts or bequests when the gifts' aggregate value during a taxable year exceeds $10,000. Modifies requirements regarding the interest charge on accumulation distributions from foreign trusts. Changes the circumstances in which an estate or trust is included in the definition of "United States person." Modifies the definition of "foreign estate or trust." Requires (for provisions relating to the imposition of a tax on transfers to avoid income tax) treating a trust which is not a foreign trust and which becomes a foreign trust as having transferred, immediately before becoming a foreign trust, all of its assets to a foreign trust. Subtitle F: Limitation on Section 936 Credit - Revises the Puerto Rico and possessions tax credit. Provides for a five year phasedown with respect to such credit. Title XI: Committee on Veterans' Affairs - Veterans Reconciliation Act of 1995 - Subtitle A: Permanent Extension of Temporary Authorities - Makes permanent the: (1) requirement that non-service disabled veterans having incomes above a specified level make copayments in exchange for hospital and medical care received through the Department of Veterans Affairs; (2) authority of the Department to recover from primary insurers the cost of care furnished to veterans in Department health-care facilities; (3) authority to verify a veteran's income for purposes of eligibility for needs-based benefits; (4) pension payment limitation of $90 monthly to Medicaid-eligible veterans and their surviving spouses who have no dependents and who reside in Medicaid-participating nursing homes; (5) authority of the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to charge and collect a home loan fee for Department-guaranteed housing loans; and (6) procedures applicable upon default of such guaranteed loans. Subtitle B: Other Matters - Revises the Government's liability standard for injuries or death resulting from Department treatment to allow compensation to be awarded for the additional disability in the same manner as if the disability or death were service-connected. Provides proximate cause requirements. (Sec. 11022) Extends through FY 1996 (currently, December 31, 1995) the authority of the Secretary to guarantee the real estate mortgage investment conduits used to market pools of veterans' loans. (Sec. 11023) Authorizes the Department to collect veterans' home loan guaranty debts in the same manner as all other debts arising under Department programs. Requires the Department to provide affected individuals with notice of the procedure for appealing the collection determination. Subtitle C: Health Care Eligibility Reform - Revises provisions concerning a veteran's eligibility for hospital care and medical services to: (1) allow such care to be provided only to the extent that amounts are provided in advance in appropriations Acts; and (2) provide full eligibility for both hospital and outpatient care for service-disabled veterans, former prisoners of war, veterans of the Mexican border period or World War I, low-income veterans, and veterans who were exposed to a toxic substance, radiation, or an environmental hazard while on active duty. (Sec. 11032) Extends through December 31, 1998, the authority to provide priority hospital care and medical services for certain Persian Gulf War veterans. (Sec. 11033) Makes certain veterans eligible for prosthetic devices as long as they are receiving ongoing care through the Department. (Currently, hospitalization is required before such veterans are so eligible.) (Sec. 11034) Directs the Secretary, in managing the provision of hospital care and medical services, to establish and operate a system of annual patient enrollment, with specified patient priorities. Requires the system to be managed to assure the provision of timely and quality care. Requires the Secretary to establish and manage Department health-care programs in a manner which promotes cost- effective delivery of health care services in the most clinically appropriate setting. Requires the Department to maintain its capacity to provide for specialized needs of certain disabled veterans. (Sec. 11035) Amends the Veterans Health Care Act of 1992 to repeal a provision which terminates on October 1, 1996, the authority of the Secretary to enter into health care resource sharing agreements with the Department of Defense. Entitles the Unites States to recover from primary insurance providers the cost of care or services provided under such Act through a Department medical facility. (Sec. 11036) Repeals a statement of congressional purpose with respect to the Department's sharing of specialized medical facilities, equipment, and information. Expands such sharing authority to include all health care resources and to allow health care providers, plans, and insurers, or other entities or individuals to participate in such sharing arrangements. Increases the authorized payment terms with respect to shared resources. (Currently, only reciprocal reimbursement is permitted.) Allows the Secretary to enter into such arrangements for the treatment of non-veterans only in limited circumstances. (Sec. 11037) Exempts from Department medical personnel ceiling limits all positions held by persons involved in providing health-care resources under sharing arrangements. Title XII: Legislative Branch - Requires that any unobligated funds following a fiscal year from the official expenses allowance of the House of Representatives be dedicated to the Deficit Reduction Fund. Title XIII: Miscellaneous Provisions - Eliminates the disparity between the effective dates for the military and civilian retiree cost-of-living adjustments for FY 1996, 1997, and 1998. Provides for the disposal of specified quantities of the following materials from the National Defense Stockpile: (1) cobalt; (2) aluminum; (3) ferro columbium; (4) germanium; (5) palladium; (6) platinum; and (7) rubber. Requires that certain executive branch agencies prepay the Government contributions which are or will be required in connection with providing health-benefits coverage for annuitants of such agencies. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend for seven years the Hazardous Substance Superfund Financing Rate and the repayment date for Superfund borrowing. Title XIV: Budget Process Provisions - Balanced Budget Enforcement Act of 1995 - Establishes a Board of Estimates which shall issue a report stating whether it has chosen the sequestration preview report and final sequestration report of the Office of Management and Budget or the reports of the Congressional Budget Office. Permits the Board to change the list of major estimating assumptions to be used by the Office of Management and Budget and the Congressional Budget Office. Subtitle B(sic): Discretionary Spending Limits - Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 establish discretionary spending limits for FY 1996 through 2002. Extends congressional committee allocation and enforcement provisions and the applicability of certain points of order through 2002. Amends the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act) to revise and extend the budgetary amounts through FY 2000 for the Violent Crime Reduction Trust Fund. Revises the general statement of budget enforcement to apply to discretionary spending limits and pay-as-you-go requirements rather than expired maximum deficit amounts. Extends enforcement of discretionary spending limits through FY 2002. Subtitle C: Pay-As-You-Go Procedures - Permanently extends pay-as-you-go provisions (except for the emergency legislation provision which is repealed) and provides for ten-year scorekeeping. Subtitle D: Miscellaneous - Repeals effective date provisions of title II of Gramm-Rudman-Hollings. Subtitle E: Deficit Control - Establishes decreasing deficit targets for FY 1996 through 2002, with a target of zero for each FY after 2002. Sets forth procedures (including sequestration procedures)to be followed if the deficit exceeds the targeted amount for a fiscal year. Lists accounts and activities exempt from sequestration. Subtitle F: Line Item Veto - Makes provision for line item veto authority, which shall be effective unless disapproved by the passage, as specified, of a rescissions-receipts disapproval bill. Permits any Member of Congress to seek judicial review of any provision of this subtitle. Subtitle G: Enforcing Points of Order - Amends Congressional Budget Act of 1974 provisions concerning points of order in the Senate and House of Representatives. Subtitle H: Deficit Reduction Lock-box - Requires any appropriation bill being marked up or reported to contain a line item entitled "Deficit Reduction Lock-box". Specifies amounts which shall comprise such line in any reported: (1) general appropriations bill containing Treasury and Postal Service appropriations; (2) general appropriations bill; or (3) supplemental appropriations bill. Provides for the reduction of the discretionary spending limit for new budget authority by the amount of budget authority transferred to the Deficit Reduction Lock-box. Requires the Congressional Budget Office scorecard to include amounts contained in the Deficit Reduction Lock-box. Subtitle I: Emergency Spending; Baseline Reform; Continuing Resolutions Reform - Chapter 1: Emergency Spending - Provides for the establishment of a budget reserve account for the purpose of setting aside adequate funding for natural disasters and national security measures. Set forth provisions concerning: (1) points of order regarding emergencies; (2)congressional budget process changes; and (3) reporting. Chapter 2: Baseline Reform - Provides, when making baseline assumptions, for adjustments: (1) for inflation, only to adjust discretionary spending limits; and (2) to offset pay absorption and for pay annualization, only to adjust discretionary spending limits. Requires the President's budget to include estimated expenditures and appropriations for the current fiscal year. Requires the starting point for any congressional budget deliberations for the next fiscal year to be the estimated level of outlays for the current year in each function and subfunction. Chapter 3: Restricted Uses of Continuing Resolutions - Amends the Rules of the House of Representatives to: (1) prohibit any item of appropriation set forth in any joint resolution continuing appropriations, or amendment thereto, from exceeding the rate it would have been at assuming the continuation of current law; and (2) prohibit it being in order to consider any joint resolution continuing appropriations, or amendment thereto, which changes existing law. Subtitle J: Technical and Conforming Amendments - Makes technical and conforming amendments to: (1) the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974; (2) the Rules of the House of Representatives; and (3) provisions concerning the President's budget. Subtitle K: Truth in Legislating - Requires the report or joint explanatory statement accompanying each House of Representatives reported bill or resolution of a public character to: (1) identify each provision benefitting ten or fewer persons, corporations, organizations, projects, or civil subdivisions; (2) name each beneficiary; (3) name sponsors; and (4) contain a cost estimate.
United States · United States Congress · 19 October 1995
Animal Drug Availability Act of 1995 - Amends Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act provisions relating to new animal drugs to redefine "substantial evidence" to mean evidence from one or more scientifically sound studies including, as appropriate, in vitro studies, studies in laboratory animals, bioequivalence studies, and any studies voluntarily undertaken by or for the applicant that provide some assurance that the drug will have the intended effect. Excludes a claim for the use of a drug in a minor species or a minor use of a drug from disapproval, if there is an application filed for the drug which is approved prior to the submission of the claim. Allows consideration, when a new animal drug contains more than one active ingredient or its labeling suggests use of the drug in combination with another animal drug, only of whether any of the active ingredients or any of the drugs in the combination, at the longest withdrawal time of any of the active ingredients or drugs in the combination, exceeds its established tolerance or interferes with the methods of analysis for another of the active ingredients or drugs in the combination. Requires the Secretary to issue proposed regulations implementing the provisions of this section which: (1) further define "substantial evidence;" (2) take into account the proposals contained in the citizen petition submitted by the American Veterinary Association and the Animal Health Institute; and (3) provide for the opportunity for a conference to make a decision establishing a submission or an investigational requirement. (Sec. 4) Requires the Secretary to approve or disapprove the application within 90 (currently 180) days of receipt of the application. (Sec. 5) Requires: (1) the Secretary to refer disputed issues received in writing from an applicant to an advisory committee or to a special Government employee; and (2) the committee or employee to submit a report containing recommendations regarding the matter. (Sec. 6) Requires the Secretary to refuse approval of an application if information submitted with respect to the drug indicates that any use suggested in labeling proposed for that drug will result in a unsafe amount of residue. (Sec. 7) Permits the export of an unsafe (as defined in the Act) new animal drug, if it is not in conflict with the laws of the country to which it is exported. (Currently, such export is prohibited.)
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