United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Genetic Information Nondiscrimination in Health Insurance Act of 1997 - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 to prohibit a group health plan or a health insurance issuer offering group coverage from discriminating on the basis: (1) of genetic information; or (2) that the participant or beneficiary has requested or received genetic services. Regulates genetic information collection and disclosure by plans and issuers. Provides for compensatory, consequential, and punitive damages. Amends the Public Health Service Act to prohibit a group health plan, a health insurance issuer offering group coverage, or a health issuer in the individual market from so discriminating. Regulates genetic information collection and disclosure by plans and issuers. Provides for compensatory, consequential, and punitive damages. Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to prohibit an issuer of a Medicare supplemental policy from so discriminating. Provides for compensatory, consequential, and punitive damages. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to prohibit a group health plan or a health insurance issuer offering group coverage from so discriminating. Regulates genetic information collection and disclosure by plans and issuers.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Financial Services Holding Company Act Subtitle A: General Provisions Subtitle B: Securities Activities of Financial Services Holding Companies Subtitle C: Insurance and Real Estate Development Activities of Financial Services Holding Companies Subtitle D: Redomestication of Mutual Life Insurers Title II: Conforming Amendments to Other Laws for Financial Services Holding Companies Title III: Functional Regulation Amendments to Securities Laws for Financial Services Holding Companies Subtitle A: Broker Dealer Provisions Subtitle B: Investment Company Provisions Title IV: Wholesale Financial Institutions Owned By Financial Services Holding Companies Title V: Merger of Bank and Thrift Charters, Regulators, and Insurance Funds Subtitle A: Conversion of Thrift Charters Subtitle B: Elimination of Office of Thrift Supervision Subtitle C: Merger of BIF and SAIF Title VI: National Market Funded Lending Institutions Title VII: Effective Date Depository Institution Affiliation and Thrift Charter Conversion Act - Includes among the purposes of this Act: (1) establishment of an alternative legislative framework for the creation and regulation of financial services holding companies; (2) elimination of prohibitions on common ownership and affiliation within a financial services holding company; (3) elimination of the thrift charter, and mandatory conversion of thrifts into banks; (4) merger of the bank and thrift insurance funds; and (5) creation of new State and Federal charters for uninsured wholesale financial institutions. Title I: Financial Services Holding Company Act - Financial Services Holding Company Act - SuBtitle A: General Provisions - Requires any financial services holding company (FSHC) seeking to acquire control of an insured bank, an insured institution, a bank holding company, or another financial services holding company to comply with certain requirements of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (FDIA). (Sec. 104) Subjects FSHCs and certain foreign bank operations to the same restrictions on affiliate transactions that are imposed upon Federal Reserve member banks. Authorizes the appropriate Federal regulatory agency (the Comptroller of the Currency, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System Federal Reserve Board, the Board of Directors of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), or the Federal Home Loan Bank Board) to adopt rules and regulations to prevent an insured depository institution that is controlled by an FSHC from engaging in unsafe or unsound practices. Authorizes the appropriate Federal banking agency, with the concurrence of the national Financial Services Committee, to exempt any FSHC-controlled depository institution from any Federal Reserve Act requirement. Requires an FSHC-controlled depository institution (except certain foreign-controlled banks) to obtain the authorization of the National Financial Services Committee before entering into certain credit, indemnity, guarantee, or insurance activities on behalf of any affiliate that is neither a financial services institution nor primarily engaged in financial activities. (Sec. 105) Requires that each insured depository institution that is controlled by an FSHC be well capitalized. Requires any FSHC controlling a undercapitalized insured depository institution to: (1) enter into an agreement with the appropriate Federal regulatory agency to return the institution to being well capitalized; or (2) divest control of such bank or institution. Prohibits the appropriate Federal banking agency from imposing any requirements pertaining to the capitalization of an FSHC. (Sec. 106) Subjects interstate acquisitions of an insured bank by an FSHC to the same restrictions as are applicable to bank holding companies under the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956. (Sec. 107) Prohibits Federal and State regulatory agencies from enacting laws that discriminate against FSHCs or their affiliates. Preempts any Federal or State provision inconsistent with the purposes of this Act (including any provision impeding any insurance company or its affiliate from becoming an FSHC, or from acquiring control of a depository institution). (Sec. 108) Subjects FSHCs to the insider lending prohibitions of the Federal Reserve Act. (Sec. 109) Sets forth reporting, examination and enforcement guidelines, including guidelines for divestiture and criminal penalties in the event the appropriate Federal banking agency determines that a depository institution has engaged in a continuing course of conduct involving its FSHC which may affect the safety and soundness of such institution. (Sec. 110) Provides for administrative (including divestiture), criminal, and civil penalties for specified violations of this Act, as well as judicial review of adverse administrative orders. Prohibits such agency from requiring any FSHC to serve as a "source of strength" to any of its depository institution affiliates. (Sec. 114) Establishes a National Financial Services Committee to: (1) establish uniform principles and standards for the examination and supervision of financial services institutions and FSHCs; and (2) recommend to the Congress uniformity in other supervisory matters, as well as additional measures to strengthen the separation of insured banks and institutions controlled by FSHCs from the activities of their affiliates. Prescribes notice procedure guidelines for determining new financial services institutions and new financial activities. Subtitle B: Securities Activities of Financial Services Holding Companies - Prescribes guidelines under which an FSHC with a securities affiliate may not permit a depository institution under its control to engage in underwriting securities (except those expressly authorized by Federal law as permissible for a national bank). (Sec. 122) Prohibits a depository institution with a securities affiliate, except in certain circumstances, from extending credit to the affiliate (or purchasing its financial assets), to enhance the marketability of securities underwritten by the securities affiliate. Prohibits an FSHC, with certain exceptions, from extending or arranging for the extension of credit secured by or for the purpose of purchasing a security (or making payments on principal) that is the subject of a distribution in which an affiliate of the FSHC participates as underwriter or member of a selling group. Prohibits an FSHC with a securities affiliate, with certain exceptions, from extending credit to an issuer of securities underwritten by such securities affiliate for the purpose of making payments on those securities. Requires the appropriate Federal banking agency to prescribe circumstances under which directors and senior executive officers of a securities affiliate may serve simultaneously as directors or senior executive officers of an affiliated depository institution. Exempts small FSHCs (total assets under $500 million) and certain foreign affiliates from such regulations. Prescribes public disclosure requirements for securities affiliates and insured depository institutions. Prohibits a securities affiliate from underwriting securities secured by or representing an interest in mortgages or other obligations originated or purchased by an affiliated depository institution, unless one of four specified requirements is met. Proscribes certain reciprocal arrangements between FSHCs. Allocates Federal oversight responsibilities among the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the appropriate Federal banking agencies. Prescribes circumstances in which a branch, agency, or commercial lending company that is operated by a foreign bank that is a financial services holding company is not subject to specified limitations placed upon securities activities of depository institutions with securities affiliates. Exempts a wholesale financial institution and transactions between it and its securities affiliates, from the requirements of this section, except those providing for additional safeguards and certain compliance programs. Applies this same exemption to a national market lending institution controlled by an FSHC. States that Federal prescriptions governing the FSHCs are subject to the approval of the National Financial Services Committee (NFSC). (Sec. 123) States that the NFSC shall prescribe standards applicable to any FSHC affiliated-depository institution that is not an SEC-registered broker, but effects retail securities transactions. Outlines the scope of such standards. Subtitle C: Insurance and Real Estate Development Activities of Financial Services Holding Companies - Prohibits FSHC-affiliated depository institutions from directly engaging in insurance underwriting, or real estate investment or development. (Sec. 132) Prohibits FSHC entry into new insurance agency activities, unless they are conducted through an existing insurance agency acquired by the FSHC (or through any successor agency) which was actively engaged in insurance activities during the two years before acquisition. Subtitle D: Redomestication of Mutual Life Insurers - Sets forth parameters within which a mutual life insurer may transfer its domicile from one State to a transferee domicile (in another State) as a step in a reorganization in which the mutual life insurer becomes a stock life insurer, whether as a direct or indirect subsidiary of a mutual holding company or otherwise ("redomestication"). Preempts State laws restricting redomestication. Title II: Conforming Amendments to Other Laws for Financial Services Holding Companies - Makes conforming amendments to affected banking laws to exclude FSHCs from their purview, including: (1) the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956; (2) the Banking Act of 1933; (3) the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (FDIA); (4) the Federal Power Act; and (5) the International Banking Act. Amends the FDIA and the Revised Statutes of the United States to preclude their authorization of an examination of al affiliate od either an insured depository institution or a national bank if such institution or bank is an affiliate of an FSHC. Title III: Functional Regulation Amendments to Securities Laws for Financial Services Holding Companies - Subtitle A: Broker Dealer Provisions - Amends the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to define specified banks as "brokers" and "dealers." (Current law excludes banks from such definition). (Sec. 303) Authorizes the SEC to exempt any person from the definition of "broker" or "dealer" consistent with the public interest and the purposes of this Act. (Sec. 304) Exempts loans made by a member bank (or any other person that has entered into a certain kind of agreement with the Federal Reserve Board) to a broker or dealer from Board-prescribed margin requirements if the loan proceeds are to be used in the ordinary course of business (other than for the purpose of funding securities purchases for the account of such broker or dealer). Subtitle B: Investment Company Provisions - Amends the Investment Company Act of 1940 to permit: (1) custody of investment company assets by an affiliated bank (or an affiliated person of such bank); and (2) a unit investment trust to designate an affiliated Bank as trustee (currently a prohibited practice). (Sec. 311) Permits the SEC to bring a civil action for breach of fiduciary duty involving personal misconduct against an FSHC- affiliated custodian of a registered investment company. (Sec. 312) States that an affiliate of an investment company for a bank must comply with SEC rules when lending money to an investment company. (Sec. 313) Modifies the definition of "interested person" with respect to an investment company to include any FSHC-affiliated person that, during the preceding six months, has executed one or more transactions of a specified kind. Prohibits a registered investment company from having a majority of its board of directors consisting of personnel or senior officers of any one FSHC-affiliated bank, or of any single FSHC (and its affiliates and subsidiaries). (Sec. 314) Modifies the guidelines pertaining to unlawful misrepresentation of guarantees and the deceptive use of names. (Sec. 315) Modifies the definition of "broker" to state that it does not include any person solely because such person is an underwriter for one or more investment companies. (Sec. 316) Modifies the definition of "dealer" to exclude an insurance or an investment company. (Sec. 317) Amends the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 to modify the definitions of investment adviser to remove the exclusion from such definition of an investment adviser for banks that advise investment companies. Revises the definitions of broker and dealer. (Sec. 320) Mandates interagency consultation between the appropriate Federal banking agency and the SEC regarding examination results and other information pertaining to the investment advisory activities of any registered bank holding company and its departments or divisions. (Sec. 321) Amends the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to revise the exclusion from their purview of certain bank common trust funds to specify the exclusion of any interest or participation in any common trust fund or similar fund that is excluded from the definition of "investment company" under the Investment Company Act of 1940. Amends the Investment Company Act of 1940 to revise such exclusion guidelines for certain bank common trust funds. (Sec. 322) Amends the Investment Company Act of 1940 to prescribe circumstances under which an investment adviser holding shares of an investment company in a fiduciary capacity must transfer the power to vote such shares to the beneficial owners or to another fiduciary who is not an affiliate of such adviser. Title IV: Wholesale Financial Institutions Owned by Financial Services Holding Companies - Amends: (1) the Revised Statutes of the United States to prescribe procedural guidelines on obtaining a Federal charter from the Comptroller of the Currency to organize as a national wholesale financial institution; and (2) the Federal Reserve Act to prescribe procedural guidelines for membership in the Federal Reserve System as a national wholesale financial institution. (Sec. 403) Amends the FDIA to prescribe a procedure by which an insured State-chartered bank or a national bank may voluntarily terminate its status as an insured depository institution. Requires any such terminated bank to become a wholesale financial institution in order to accept any deposits. Title V: Merger of Bank and Thrift Charters, Regulators, and Insurance Funds - Subtitle A: Conversion of Thrift Charters - Thrift Charter Conversion Act of 1997 - Prescribes procedural guidelines for the termination of Federal savings association charters and their conversion into national bank charters (by operation of law) or State depository institution charters. Amends the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (FDIA) to treat State Savings Associations as banks for purposes of Federal banking law. Includes as State banks any cooperative bank or other unincorporated bank whose deposits were insured by the FDIC on the day before enactment of the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989 but excludes from State bank treatment any such banks whose deposits were not FDIC-insured before such date. (Sec. 502) Requires the FDIC to review State supervision of depository institutions in order to ensure that State savings associations are regulated as rigorously as State banks. (Sec. 503) Amends the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956 (BHCA) to permit continuation of grandfathered bank holding company activities and affiliations, including requalification as a qualified thrift lender in the event of failure to meet requirements for grandfathered status. Prohibits certain insured depository institutions from identifying themselves as national banks, but shields them from any liability for fraudulent misrepresentation for not representing themselves as a national bank. (Sec. 504) Sets forth transition provisions for: (1) activities of savings associations and mutual savings associations which have converted into or become treated as banks; and (2) registration of bank holding companies resulting from conversions of savings associations to banks, or treatment of savings associations as banks. Places qualified bank holding companies under the regulatory jurisdiction of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (the Board). (Sec. 506) Amends the National Bank Act to prescribe procedural guidelines under which the Comptroller of the Currency is authorized to charter national mutual or State mutual banks. Amends the BHCA to prescribe procedural guidelines under which a national mutual bank may reorganize to become a holding company. Cites permissible activities. Provides for the conversion of mutual savings associations to mutual national banks by operation of law. Transfers regulatory jurisdiction over a mutual holding company to the Board. Subjects a Federal mutual holding company in existence on the date of enactment of this Act to certain BHCA provisions. (Sec. 509) Repeals the Home Owners' Loan Act. Subtitle B: Elimination of Office of the Thrift Supervision - Abolishes the Office of Thrift Supervision and the position of Director of such Office. Transfers its functions, personnel, and property to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the FDIC, or the Board. Sets forth the rights of such transferred personnel. (Sec. 514) Requires that any cost of funds index based upon certain characteristics of Federal home loan banks be calculated using data only from insured depository institutions which were bank members and whose data was previously included in such index. Subtitle C: Merger of BIF and SAIF - Amends the Economic Growth and Regulatory Paperwork Reduction Act of 1996 to advance the effective date for the merger of the Bank Insurance Fund and the Savings Association Insurance Fund from January 1, 1999, to the date of enactment of this Act. Title VI: National Market Funding Lending Institutions - Amends the Revised Statutes to prescribe guidelines under which a company (or five or more natural persons) may petition the Comptroller of the Currency for permission to organize a federally chartered national market funded lending institution. (Sec. 601) Prescribes requirements for such institution. Vests exclusive oversight authority for it in the Comptroller (including examination, enforcement, charter revocation and appointment of a conservator). Provides for conversions of depository institutions into national market funded lending institutions upon approval of the Comptroller. Title VII: Effective Date - Makes January 1, 1998, the effective date of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
ATM Fee Reform Act of 1997 - Amends the Electronic Fund Transfer Act to mandate fee disclosures at the time of service by any host electronic terminal operator which imposes a fee for providing host transfer services to a consumer. Mandates disclosure at the time the consumer contracts for electronic fund transfer services that fees may be imposed for initiating electronic fund transfers from an electronic terminal which is not operated by the issuer of the consumer's access card. Requires the Comptroller General to study the feasibility of requiring specified fee disclosures before the consumer is irrevocably committed to completing any electronic fund transfer by means of an electronic terminal.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Family Housing Act of 1996 - Amends the United States Housing Act of 1937 to reserve a specified percentage of public housing units for legally married families.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Urban Homestead Act of 1996 - Directs the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to transfer ownership of unoccupied or substandard public housing to appropriate units of local government, after first satisfying any related indebtedness. Directs these local governmental units to initially offer such housing for sale exclusively to community development corporations, and then on a competitive or other basis.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Role Models Academy Demonstration Act - Directs the Secretary of Education to carry out a demonstration program under which a four-year, residential, military-style academy (the Role Models Academy) is established which: (1) offers at-risk youth secondary school coursework and vocational training (and may offer precollegiate coursework); (2) focuses on the education and vocational training of youth at risk of delinquency or dropping out of secondary school; (3) has a teaching staff primarily composed of former members of the armed forces or participants in the Troops to Teachers Program, if they are qualified and trained to teach at the Academy; (4) operates a mentoring program involving role models from all sectors of society; (5) may contain a Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps unit; (6) is housed on the site of any military installation closed pursuant to a base closure law; and (7) if effective, serves as a model for similar military-style academies throughout the United States. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Law Enforcement Officers' Bill of Rights Act of 1997 - Amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to provide that, except when on duty or acting in an official capacity, no law enforcement officer (officer) shall be prohibited from engaging in political activity or be denied the right to refrain from engaging in such activity. Sets forth minimum standards that apply when an officer is under investigation that could lead to disciplinary action, including, with respect to: (1) rights of officers while under investigation, the right to be notified of the investigation prior to being interviewed and, at the conclusion of the investigation, to be informed in writing of the investigative findings and any recommendation for disciplinary action; (2) rights of officers prior to and during questioning, that the questioning be conducted at a reasonable hour at the offices of the persons conducting the investigation or at the place where the officer reports for duty (unless the officer consents in writing to being questioned elsewhere), that the officer be informed of the questioner's identity, that all questions be asked by or through a single investigator, that the officer be informed in writing of the nature of the investigation prior to any questioning, that the questioning be for a reasonable time period, that no threats or promises be made in connection with an investigation to induce the answering of any question, that all questioning be recorded in full (and a copy of the transcript made available to the officer), and that the officer be entitled to counsel (or another person of the officer's choice) at any questioning (unless the officer consents in writing to being questioned outside the presence of counsel); and (3) the conduct of a disciplinary hearing, notice of opportunity for a hearing, requirement of determination of a violation, time limits, notice of filing of charges, representation, provision of a hearing board and procedure, access to evidence, identification of witnesses, a copy of the investigative file, examination of physical evidence, summonses, closed hearings, recordation, sequestration of witnesses, testimony under oath, verdicts on each charge, the burden of persuasion, findings of not guilty or guilty, and appeals. Allows an officer to waive any of the rights guaranteed by this Act subsequent to the time that the officer has been notified that he or she is under investigation. Specifies that such a waiver shall be in writing and signed by the officer. Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) summary punishment and emergency suspension; (2) retaliation for exercising rights; (3) other remedies; (4) declaratory or injunctive relief; (5) prohibition of adverse material in the officer's file (unless the officer has an opportunity to review and comment in writing on such material); (6) disclosure of personal assets; (7) States' rights; and (8) mutually agreed upon collective bargaining agreements.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Family Reconciliation Act - Amends part B (Child-Welfare Services) of title IV of the Social Security Act with regard to family preservation and support services to create certain set-asides for States with approved family reconciliation plans which require a minimum 60-day waiting period and participation in counseling programs before final dissolution of a marriage involving one or more children under age 12. Amends the Legal Services Corporation Act to prohibit the use of funds under that Act for legal assistance in certain actions relating to divorces or separations except where there is court-determined spousal abuse.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Neighborhood Security Act - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to award grants to qualified entities for the establishment of demonstration projects designed to determine the effectiveness of certain activities by community residents in coordination with local police in preventing and removing violent crime and drug trafficking from the community, increasing economic development in the community, and preventing or ending retaliation by perpetrators of crime against community residents. Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) the period of grant awards; (2) limits on grant amounts; (3) reductions in awards; and (4) redistribution of any unused portion of grant funds. Establishes application requirements, including: (1) an agreement with the local police department to coordinate and assist in the prevention and removal of violent crime and drug trafficking in the target community; (2) a plan detailing the nature and extent of coordination and assistance to be provided by such department, project participants, and the applicant; and (3) a description of the strategy of the community for the physical and economic development of the community. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Establishes the Bipartisan Commission on the Future of Medicare to make findings and recommendations to the Congress concerning specified aspects of the Medicare program.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Amends the Social Security Act to require States, as a condition of Federal funding of State child support enforcement programs, to impose criminal penalties on persons who willfully fail to pay child support.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Bank Securities Activities and Affiliations with Securities Firms and Other Financial Companies Subtitle A: Securities Activities Subtitle B: Investment Bank Holding Companies Subtitle C: Financial Activities Subtitle D: Interagency Banking and Financial Services Advisory Committee Subtitle E: Application and Registration Fees Title II: Functional Regulations Subtitle A: Brokers and Dealers Subtitle B: Bank Investment Company Activities Title III: Bank Insurance Activities Title IV: Thrift Charter Conversion Subtitle A: Status of Banks and Savings Associations Subtitle B: Transfer of Functions, Personnel, and Property Subtitle C: Merger of Deposit Insurance Funds Title V: Technical Corrections Financial Services Competitiveness Act of 1997 - Title I: Bank Securities Activities and Affiliations with Securities Firms and Other Financial Companies - Subtitle A: Securities Activities - Amends the Banking Act of 1933 (Glass-Steagall Act) to repeal the proscription against affiliation of any member bank of the Federal Reserve System with an entity engaged principally in securities activities (securities affiliate). (Sec. 102) Amends the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956 (BHCA) to authorize financial services holding companies (FSHCs) to own shares of a securities affiliate. (Sec. 103) Delineates activities permissible for securities affiliates. Instructs the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (the Board) to consider the need for securities firms affiliated with banks to be innovative and competitive when it makes determinations of "permissible activities." Cites circumstances under which the Board may permit an FSHC to: (1) acquire more than five percent of, or all or substantially all of, the voting shares or assets of a securities affiliate; (2) make additional investments that are considered capital for purposes of statutory capital requirements in a securities affiliate under its control; and (3) permit its securities affiliate to underwrite or deal in any security for a maximum aggregate period of two years. Prohibits any FSHC acquisition of any securities affiliate or any additional investment in such an affiliate unless the Board has received full payment of the application fee. Excludes a securities affiliate's assets and liabilities (except those related to nonsecurities activities) from the determination of whether an FSHC is adequately capitalized. States that such exclusion shall not apply, however, to an investment bank holding company predominantly engaged in securities activities on a consolidated basis. Prohibits an FSHC that acquires control of a securities affiliate from permitting any depository institution or its subsidiary (except for a special operating subsidiary and certain Edge Act and agreement corporations), from engaging in underwriting securities backed by or representing interests in obligations (or pools of obligations) originated or purchased by the institution or its affiliates. Requires the Board to deny any notice or application by an FSHC to engage in, or acquire shares of a company engaged in, underwriting or dealing in securities in the United States, unless such activity is permissible for a national bank. Treats certain participants in a bankers' bank holding company as subsidiaries. Cites circumstances under which an FSHC may acquire shares and ownership interests in connection with underwriting and investment banking activities without prior Board approval. Requires an FSHC to pay an annual registration fee with respect to each securities affiliate or other entity it controls which has acquired shares, assets, or ownership interests as part of a bona fide underwriting or investment banking activity. (Sec. 104) Delineates conditions under which: (1) a well capitalized insured depository institution may extend credit tacker or sell securities, or enhance the marketability of securities underwritten by a securities affiliate. Prohibits a depository institution with a securities affiliate from directly or indirectly extending credit to an issuer of securities underwritten by the securities affiliate for the purpose of paying the principal of those securities or interest or dividends on them (except bank eligible securities). Directs the Board to promulgate regulations under which directors and senior executive officers of a securities affiliate may serve simultaneously in the same capacity at an affiliated depository institution (management interlocks). Sets forth disclosure requirements for securities affiliates and insured depository institutions. Prescribes guidelines under which each appropriate Federal banking agency and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) shall establish information sharing and compliance programs and coordinate their activities to enforce this Act. Identifies conditions under which the uninsured wholesale operations of foreign banks are exempt from the restrictions relating to securities affiliates (foreign bank firewalls). Amends the Federal Reserve Act to extend the period during which a member bank is prohibited from acquiring a security if a principal underwriter in the selling syndicate is a bank affiliate. Amends the Federal Power Act to exempt from its prohibition against interlocking directorates certain persons currently serving or proposing to serve as directors or officers of a public utility and a banking firm permitted to underwrite or participate in the marketing of public utility securities, if that banking firm does not underwrite or participate in the marketing of securities of the same public utility. Amends the Right to Financial Privacy Act to permit the supervisory agencies of the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council and the SEC to exchange examination reports. Amends the BHCA of 1956 to authorize the Board to promulgate regulations for the protection of depository institutions and for the separation of banking and commerce. (Sec. 105) Amends the Bank Holding Company Act to set forth circumstances under which securities companies that become FSHCs may retain ownership of financial and nonfinancial companies. Restricts joint marketing of products or services between an insured depository institution and an affiliate owned by an FSHC. Permits an FSHC to acquire shares, assets or ownership interests held as an investment in the ordinary course of business by an insurance affiliate predominantly engaged in specified lines of insurance. Declares that this permission shall not be construed as authorizing an FSHC or its subsidiary to underwrite or deal in any security. (Sec. 106) Identifies circumstances under which qualified limited purpose banks are exempt from: (1) new activities' restrictions; (2) cross-marketing restrictions; and (3) divestiture requirements. Prescribes guidelines for the conversion of certain nonbank holding companies to FSHC status. (Sec. 107) Amends the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (FDIA) to set forth parameters within which certain insured depository institutions may be affiliates of a securities underwriter or dealer, a securities affiliate, or a special operating subsidiary. Requires the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) to: (1) study and report to the Congress on the risks posed to the deposit insurance funds by the affiliation of insured depository institutions with securities affiliates; and (2) factor into semiannual assessments any increased risk to the funds that it finds are caused by such affiliations. (Sec. 108) Amends the International Banking Act of 1978 to authorize the Board to set a termination date for any grandfathered authority conferred upon a foreign bank or company following Board approval of its application under this Act to control a securities affiliate. (Sec. 109) Amends the BHCA of 1956 to preempt any State law to the extent it restricts: (1) an insurer or its affiliate from becoming an FSHC, or acquiring control of an insured depository institution; (2) the amount of an insurer's assets that may be invested in the voting securities of an insured depository institution; or (3) the actions of an insurance regulatory authority regarding an insurer's plan to reorganize from mutual to stock form. (Sec. 110) Amends the Revised Statutes to permit a national bank to acquire or establish a special operating subsidiary which may, with the approval of the Comptroller of the Currency, engage in activities that are part of or incidental to the business of banking, or permissible for national banks, including securities transactions and investment advice. Conditions such approval upon specified firewalls, including separate capitalization requirements. (Sec. 111) Amends the FDIA to direct the appropriate Federal banking agencies to jointly prescribe standards applicable to certain insured depository institutions that conduct transactions in securities issued by an investment company or annuities. Requires such standards to be comparable to the standards applicable to brokers and dealers registered under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 unless the appropriate Federal banking agencies jointly determine that implementation of comparable standards is not necessary or appropriate for the maintenance of: (1) fair and orderly markets; (2) the protection of investors; or (3) is not in the public interest. Subtitle B: Investment Bank Holding Companies - Amends the BHCA of 1956 to: (1) establish a new category known as "investment bank holding company" (IBHC); and (2) delineate permissible affiliations for investment bank holding companies. Prohibits the use of Federal deposit insurance funds for a wholesale financial institution (certain uninsured State member banks), or an IBHC. (Sec. 116) Prescribes guidelines: (1) under which foreign banks may be treated as IBHCs; and (2) for reciprocal national treatment and coordination with the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). (Sec. 117) Amends the Federal Reserve Act to prescribe procedural guidelines for membership as a wholesale financial institution in the Federal Reserve System. Amends the FDIA to prescribe a procedure by which an insured State-chartered bank or a national bank may voluntarily terminate its status as an insured depository institution. Requires any such terminated bank to become a wholesale financial institution in order to accept any deposits. Subtitle C: Financial Activities - Amends the BHCA of 1956 to exempt from its proscription against interests in nonbanking organizations any activity that the Board determines to be financial in nature or incidental to financial activities. (Sec. 121) Repeals the mandate that the Board consider, when determining whether a particular activity is a proper incident to banking, if its performance by a bank holding company affiliate is such that the public interest benefit outweighs any possible adverse effects (such as undue concentration of resources, decreased or unfair competition, conflicts of interests, or unsound banking practices). Permits Board regulations to differentiate between activities commenced by affiliates of different classes of banks. (Sec. 123) Revises FSHC examination and reporting requirements. (Sec. 124) Sets forth a statutory scheme for reduced supervision of FSHCs controlling principally nondepository institutions. Requires the Board, in determining whether to establish and the extent of capital requirements for an FSHC, to give due consideration to the activities of the FSHC and its subsidiaries and any comparable capital requirements imposed on the FSHC by other State or Federal regulatory authority. (Sec. 125) Sets forth a procedure for the conversion of unitary savings and loan holding companies to FSHC status without prior Board approval. (Sec. 128) Renames the BHCA of 1956 as the Financial Services Holding Company Act of 1995. (Sec. 130) States that corporate credit cards are not commercial loans (thus permitting credit card banks to issue corporate credit cards, a practice currently proscribed). Subtitle D: Interagency Banking and Financial Services Advisory Committee - Establishes the Interagency Banking and Financial Services Advisory Committee to improve the supervision, efficiency, and competitiveness of the financial services industry and make related recommendations to Federal agencies and the Congress. Subtitle E: Application and Registration Fees - Amends the BHCA of 1956 to authorize the Board to impose administrative fees upon FSHCs. Title II: Functional Regulation - Subtitle A: Brokers and Dealers - Amends the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to define specified banks as "brokers" and "dealers" (current law excludes banks from such definition). (Sec. 203) Authorizes the SEC to exempt any person from the definition of "broker" or "dealer" if it finds such exemption is consistent with the purposes of this Act. Subtitle B: Bank Investment Company Activities - Amends the Investment Company Act of 1940 to permit: (1) custody of investment company assets by an affiliated bank; and (2) a unit investment trust to designate an affiliated bank as trustee (currently a prohibited practice). (Sec. 211) Permits the SEC to bring a civil action against a custodian for a registered investment company for breach of fiduciary duty involving personal misconduct. (Sec. 212) States that an affiliate of an investment company for a bank must comply with SEC rules when lending money to an investment company. (Sec. 213) Modifies the definition of "interested person" to identify transactions, services, and loans taking place during the preceding six months which would make a person an affiliated person of a broker or dealer. Prohibits a registered investment company from having a majority of its board of directors consisting of personnel or senior officers of the subsidiaries of any one bank, or of any single FSHC, its affiliates and subsidiaries. (Sec. 214) Modifies guidelines pertaining to unlawful misrepresentation of guarantees and the deceptive use of names. (Sec. 215) Modifies the definition of "broker" to state that it does not include any person solely by reason of the fact that such person is an underwriter for one or more investment companies. (Sec. 216) Modifies the definition of "dealer" to exclude an insurance or an investment company. (Sec. 217) Amends the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 to modify the definitions of investment adviser to remove the exclusion from such definition of an investment adviser for banks that advise investment companies. Revises the definitions of broker and dealer. (Sec. 220) Mandates interagency consultation between the appropriate Federal banking agency and the SEC regarding examination results and other information pertaining to the investment advisory activities of a registered FSHC and its separately identifiable departments or divisions. (Sec. 221) Amends the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to revise the exclusion from their purview of certain bank common trust funds to specify the exclusion of any interest or participation in any common trust fund or similar fund that is excluded from the definition of "investment company" under the Investment Company Act of 1940. Amends the Investment Company Act of 1940 to revise such exclusion guidelines for certain bank common trust funds. (Sec. 222) Amends the Investment Company Act of 1940 to prescribe circumstances under which an investment adviser holding shares of an investment company in a fiduciary capacity must transfer the power to vote such shares to the beneficial owners or to another fiduciary who is not an affiliate of such adviser. Title III: Bank Insurance Activities - Amends the Revised Statutes (National Bank Act) to declare that nothing in specified Federal banking regulatory law may be construed as limiting State authority to regulate the manner in which a national bank provides insurance or annuity contracts pursuant to Federal law within its borders. Prohibits the States from imposing discriminatory insurance regulatory and licensing requirements upon national banks. Identifies the parameters within which a national bank may operate as principal, agent or broker in the course of conducting insurance or annuities transactions. (Sec. 301) Amends certain Federal banking law governing interests in nonbanking organizations to shield an FSHC from any State law or regulation restricting a bank from having an affiliate, agent, or employee in that State licensed to provide insurance as principal, agent, or broker. Instructs the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System to promulgate regulations that provide equivalent treatment for all stock and mutual insurance companies that control or are affiliated with a bank, and that fully accommodate and are consistent with State law. (Sec. 302) Authorizes the Comptroller of the Currency to approve the application of a national bank with a main office or full-service bank in an empowerment zone to act as agent or broker from such office or branch for an insurance company if: (1) the bank provides sufficient evidence that competitively priced insurance in its empowerment zone is inadequate; and (2) the insurance is sold only in such empowerment zone. Authorizes the Comptroller to: (1) prescribe regulations governing sales of insurance by national banks; and (2) enforce State law with respect to a national bank. (Sec. 303) Sets forth parameters within which a mutual life insurer may transfer its domicile from one State to a transferee domicile (in another State) as a step in a reorganization in which the mutual life insurer becomes a stock life insurer, whether as a direct or indirect subsidiary of a mutual holding company or otherwise ("redomestication"). Preempts State laws restricting redomestication. Title IV: Thrift Charter Conversion - Subtitle A: Status of Banks and Savings Associations - Thrift Charter Conversion Act of 1997 - Prescribes procedural guidelines for the termination of Federal savings association charters and their conversion into national bank charters or State depository institution charters. Prohibits the Director of the Office of Thrift Supervision from granting any charter for a Federal savings association. Amends the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (FDIA) to treat State Savings Associations as banks for purposes of Federal banking law. Includes as State banks any cooperative bank or other unincorporated bank whose deposits were insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) on the day before enactment of the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989, but excludes from State bank treatment any such banks whose deposits were not FDIC-insured on such date. (Sec. 401) Requires the FDIC to review State supervision of depository institutions in order to ensure that State savings associations are regulated as rigorously as State banks. (Sec. 402) Amends the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956 (BHCA) to permit continuation of grandfathered bank holding company activities and affiliations. (Sec. 403) Sets forth transition provisions for: (1) activities of savings associations and mutual savings associations which have converted into or become treated as banks; and (2) registration of bank holding companies resulting from conversions of savings associations to banks, or treatment of savings associations as banks. (Sec. 405) Amends the National Bank Act to prescribe procedural guidelines under which the Comptroller of the Currency is authorized to charter national mutual or State mutual banks. Amends the BHCA to prescribe procedural guidelines under which a national mutual bank may reorganize to become a holding company. Cites permissible activities. Authorizes conversion of mutual savings associations to mutual national banks by operation of law. Transfers regulatory jurisdiction over a mutual holding company to the Board. Subjects a Federal mutual holding company in existence on the date of enactment of this Act to certain BHCA provisions. (Sec. 408) Repeals the Home Owners' Loan Act. Subtitle B: Transfer of Functions, Personnel, and Property - Instructs the Secretary of the Treasury to merge the Office of Thrift Supervision with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. (Sec. 423) Requires that any cost of funds index based upon certain characteristics of Federal home loan banks be calculated using data only from insured depository institutions which were bank members and whose data was previously included in such index. Subtitle C: Merger of Deposit Insurance Funds - Amends the Omnibus Consolidation Appropriations Act, 1997 to declare January 1, 1999, the effective date for the merger of the Bank Insurance Fund (BIF) and the Savings Association Insurance Fund (SAIF) if the FDIC determines that: (1) such merger is in the public interest; (2) the reserve ratios of both funds are equal to or greater than their designated reserve ratios; and (3) a significant number of savings associations have converted to State or national bank charters. Title V: Technical Corrections - Amends the Revised Statutes to authorize the Comptroller of the Currency to waive the citizenship requirement for a minority of the total number of directors in the case of an association which is a foreign bank subsidiary or affiliate. (Sec. 502) Amends the FDIA to provide that: (1) a branch of an out-of-State bank shall be subject to the laws of the host State to the same extent as the branch of an out-of- State national bank; and (2) the branch of an insured State bank may conduct any activity in the host State that is permissible within its home State if such activity is permissible either for a bank chartered by the host State, or for a branch of an out-of-State national bank in the host State.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Higher Education Amendments of 1998 - Extends through FY 2004 the authorization of appropriations for, and the duration of, each program conducted under the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA). Provides for continuation of specified authorization amounts and of certain required functions of the Secretary of Education with respect to such HEA programs.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Citizenship Reform Act of 1997 - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to deny citizenship at birth to children born in the United States to parents who are not U.S. citizens or permanent resident aliens.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Working Families Flexibility Act of 1997 - Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA) to provide for compensatory time for all employees. Allows an employee to receive, in lieu of monetary overtime compensation, compensatory time off at a rate not less than one and one-half hours for each hour of employment for which overtime compensation is required under the Act. Allows an employer to provide such compensatory time only: (1) pursuant to a collective bargaining agreement with employee representatives, or, where there is no recognized labor organization, pursuant to an agreement with the employee if such agreement was entered into knowingly and voluntarily; (2) if a private employee has affirmed, in a verifiable statement, the choice of receiving compensatory time in lieu of overtime pay; and (3) if the employee has not accrued compensatory time in excess of applicable limits. Sets forth special rules relating to public employees. Prohibits employer coercion of employees for the purpose of: (1) interfering with their right to choose whether to request compensatory time off in lieu of overtime pay; or (2) requiring them to use compensatory time. Limits to not more than 240 hours the amount of compensatory time an employee may accrue. Requires payment of compensation at the prescribed regular rate for: (1) compensatory time accrued but not used in a calendar year or other designated 12-month period; and (2) unused compensatory time upon termination of employment. Allows an employer to provide monetary compensation at any time after giving the employee at least 30 days notice, at the prescribed regular rate, for an employee's unused compensatory time in excess of 80 hours. Allows an employee to request in writing that monetary compensation be provided at the prescribed regular rate, at any time, for all compensatory time accrued and not yet used. Requires employers to permit employees to use compensatory time within a reasonable period after employees request its use, if such use does not unduly disrupt employers' operations. Makes private employers who violate specified provisions of this Act liable to the employee affected in the amount of the rate of compensation for each hour of compensatory time accrued by the employee, and in an additional equal amount as liquidated damages reduced by the amount of such rate of compensation for each hour of compensatory time used by such employee.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Military Retirement Equity Act of 1997 - Permits retired members of the armed forces to be paid retirement pay concurrently with compensation for any service-connected disability if the person's entitlement to such retirement pay is based solely on age, length of service, or both. Reduces the retirement pay of individuals receiving both types of pay by a specified percentage of the disability compensation which decreases as the disability rating increases. Prohibits any reduction in the retirement pay of a disabled person when the disability rating is total. Declares that, once the Federal budget deficit has been reduced, the Congress should reexamine and eliminate any offset of retired pay by a veteran's disability compensation.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act of 1997 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to prohibit group health plans and health insurance issuers offering group health insurance coverage, with regard to hospital stays in connection with breast cancer treatment, from: (1) covering less than 48 hours after mastectomies or less than 24 hours after lymph node dissections; or (2) requiring plan or issuer authorization for prescribing any length of stay. Prohibits: (1) denying eligibility, enrollment, or renewal to avoid these requirements; (2) providing payments or rebates to women; or (3) penalizing or providing incentives to providers. Applies the same requirements to issuers in the individual market.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Bill Emerson English Language Empowerment Act of 1997 - Amends Federal law to declare English to be the official language of the U.S. Government. States that representatives of the Federal Government have an affirmative obligation to preserve and enhance the role of English as the official language of the Federal Government. Requires such representatives to conduct official business in English. Prohibits anyone from being denied Government services because he or she communicates in English. Requires that all officials conduct all naturalization ceremonies entirely in English. Directs that nothing in this Act construed to limit the preservation or use of Native Alaskan or Native American languages. Sets forth definitions for purposes of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Constitutional Amendment - Prohibits outlays for a fiscal year (except those for repayment of debt principal) from exceeding total receipts (except those derived from borrowing) for that fiscal year unless the Congress, by a three-fifths roll call vote of each House, authorizes a specific excess of outlays over receipts. Requires a three-fifths roll call vote of each House to increase the public debt. Directs the President to submit a balanced budget to the Congress. Requires the approval of a majority of each House by roll call vote before any bill to increase revenue may become law. Authorizes the Congress to waive these provisions when: (1) a declaration of war is in effect; or (2) the United States is engaged in a military conflict which poses a threat to national security as declared by a joint resolution adopted by a majority of each House. Makes this article effective beginning with FY 2002 or with the second fiscal year beginning after its ratification, whichever is later.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the current Federal income tax deduction for interest paid on debt secured by a first or second home should not be further restricted.
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 · 25 September 1996
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Financial Services Holding Company Act Subtitle A: General Provisions Subtitle B: Securities Activities of Financial Services Holding Companies Subtitle C: Insurance and Real Estate Development Activities of Financial Services Holding Companies Title II: Conforming Amendments to other Laws for Financial Services Holding Companies Title III: Functional Regulation Amendments to Securities Laws for Financial Services Holding Companies Subtitle A: Broker Dealer Provisions Subtitle B: Investment Company Provisions Title IV: Wholesale Financial Institutions Owned by Financial Services Holding Companies Title V: Merger of Bank and Thrift Charters, Regulators, and Insurance Funds Subtitle A: Conversion of Thrift Charters Subtitle B: Elimination of Office of Thrift Supervision Subtitle C: Merger of BIF and SAIF Title VI: National Market Funded Lending Institutions Title VII: Effective Date Depository Institution Affiliation and Thrift Charter Conversion Act - Includes among the purposes of this Act: (1) establishment of an alternative legislative framework for the creation and regulation of financial services holding companies; (2) elimination of prohibitions on common ownership and affiliation within a financial services holding company; (3) elimination of the thrift charter, and mandatory conversion of thrifts into banks; (4) merger of the bank and thrift insurance funds; and (5) creation of new State and Federal charters for uninsured wholesale financial institutions. Title I: Financial Services Holding Company Act - Financial Services Holding Company Act - Subtitle A: General Provisions - Requires any financial services holding company (FSHC) seeking to acquire control of an insured bank, an insured institution, a bank holding company, or another financial services holding company to comply with certain requirements of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (FDIA). (Sec. 104) Subjects FSHCs and certain foreign bank operations to the same restrictions on affiliate transactions that are imposed upon Federal Reserve member banks. Authorizes the appropriate Federal regulatory agency (the Comptroller of the Currency, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System Federal Reserve Board, the Board of Directors of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), or the Federal Home Loan Bank Board) to adopt rules and regulations to prevent an insured depository institution that is controlled by an FSHC from engaging in unsafe or unsound practices. Authorizes the appropriate Federal banking agency, with the concurrence of the national Financial Services Committee, to exempt any FSHC-controlled depository institution from any Federal Reserve Act requirement. Requires an FSHC-controlled depository institution (except certain foreign-controlled banks) to obtain the authorization of the National Financial Services Committee before entering into certain credit, indemnity, guarantee, or insurance activities on behalf of any affiliate that is neither a financial services institution nor primarily engaged in financial activities. (Sec. 105) Requires that each insured depository institution that is controlled by an FSHC be well capitalized. Requires any FSHC controlling an undercapitalized insured depository institution to: (1) enter into an agreement with the appropriate Federal regulatory agency to return the institution to being well capitalized; or (2) divest control of such bank or institution. Prohibits the appropriate Federal banking agency from imposing any requirements pertaining to the capitalization of an FSHC. (Sec. 106) Subjects interstate acquisitions of an insured bank by an FSHC to the same restrictions as are applicable to bank holding companies under the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956. (Sec. 107) Prohibits Federal and State regulatory agencies from enacting laws that discriminate against FSHCs or their affiliates. Preempts any Federal or State provision inconsistent with the purposes of this Act. (Sec. 108) Subjects FSHCs to the tying provisions of the Bank Holding Company Act Amendments of 1970 and to the insider lending prohibitions of the Federal Reserve Act. Subjects an FSHC and its nonbanking subsidiaries to certain limitations on tie-in arrangements imposed by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve Board upon bank holding companies and their nonbanking subsidiaries with respect to extending credit, leasing or selling property, providing any service, or fixing or varying the consideration for any such transaction. (Sec. 109) Sets forth reporting, examination and enforcement guidelines, including guidelines for divestiture and criminal penalties in the event the appropriate Federal banking agency determines that a depository institution has engaged in a continuing course of conduct involving its FSHC which may affect the safety and soundness of such institution. (Sec. 110) Provides for administrative (including divestiture), criminal, and civil penalties for specified violations of this Act, as well as judicial review of adverse administrative orders. (Sec. 114) Establishes a National Financial Services Committee to: (1) establish uniform principles and standards for the examination and supervision of financial services institutions and FSHCs; and (2) to recommend to the Congress uniformity in other supervisory matters, as well as additional measures to strengthen the separation of insured banks and institutions controlled by FSHCs from the activities of their affiliates. Prescribes notice procedure guidelines for determining new financial services institutions and new financial activities. Subtitle B: Securities Activities of Financial Services Holding Companies - Prescribes guidelines under which an FSHC with a securities affiliate may not permit a depository institution under its control to engage in underwriting securities (except those expressly authorized by Federal law as permissible for a national bank). (Sec. 122) Prohibits a depository institution with a securities affiliate, except in certain circumstances, from extending credit to the affiliate (or purchasing its financial assets), to enhance the marketability of securities underwritten by the securities affiliate. Prohibits an FSHC, with certain exceptions, from extending or arranging for the extension of credit secured by or for the purpose of purchasing a security (or making payments on principal) that is the subject of a distribution in which an affiliate of the FSHC participates as underwriter or member of a selling group. Prohibits an FSHC with a securities affiliate, with certain exceptions, from extending credit to an issuer of securities underwritten by such securities affiliate for the purpose of making payments on those securities. Requires the appropriate Federal banking agency to prescribe circumstances under which directors and senior executive officers of a securities affiliate may serve simultaneously as directors or senior executive officers of an affiliated depository institution. Exempts small FSHCs (with total assets under $500 million) and certain foreign affiliates from such regulations. Prescribes public disclosure requirements for securities affiliates and insured depository institutions. Prohibits a securities affiliate from underwriting securities secured by or representing an interest in mortgages or other obligations originated or purchased by an affiliated depository institution, unless one of four specified requirements is met. Proscribes certain reciprocal arrangements between FSHCs. Allocates Federal oversight responsibilities among the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the appropriate Federal banking agencies. Prescribes circumstances in which a branch, agency, or commercial lending company that is operated by a foreign bank that is a financial services holding company is not subject to specified limitations placed upon securities activities of depository institutions with securities affiliates. Exempts a wholesale financial institution and transactions between it and its securities affiliates, from the requirements of this section, except those providing for additional safeguards and certain compliance programs. Applies this same exemption to a national market lending institution controlled by an FSHC. States that Federal prescriptions governing the FSHCs are subject to the approval of the National Financial Services Committee (NFSC). (Sec. 123) States that the NFSC shall prescribe standards applicable to any FSHC affiliated-depository institution that is not an SEC-registered broker, but effects retail securities transactions. Outlines the scope of such standards. Subtitle C: Insurance and Real Estate Development Activities of Financial Services Holding Companies - Prohibits FSHC-affiliated depository institutions from directly engaging in insurance underwriting, or real estate investment or development. (Sec. 132) Prohibits FSHC entry into new insurance agency activities, unless they are conducted through an existing insurance agency acquired by the FSHC (or through any successor agency) which was actively engaged in insurance activities during the two years before acquisition. Title II: Conforming Amendments to Other Laws for Financial Services Holding Companies - Makes conforming amendments to affected banking laws to exclude FSHCs from their purview, including: (1) the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956; (2) the Banking Act of 1933; (3) the Federal Deposit Insurance Act; (4) the Federal Power Act; and (5) the International Banking Act. Title III: Functional Regulation Amendments to Securities Laws for Financial Services Holding Companies - Subtitle A: Broker Dealer Provisions - Amends the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to define specified banks as "brokers" and "dealers" (current law excludes banks from such definition). (Sec. 303) Authorizes the SEC to exempt any person from the definition of "broker" or "dealer" consistent with the public interest and the purposes of this Act. (Sec. 304) Exempts loans made by a member bank (or any other person that has entered into a certain kind of agreement with the Federal Reserve Board) to a broker or dealer from Board-prescribed margin requirements if the loan proceeds are to be used in the ordinary course of business (other than for the purpose of funding securities purchases for the account of such broker or dealer). Subtitle B: Investment Company Provisions - Amends the Investment Company Act of 1940 to permit: (1) custody of investment company assets by an affiliated bank (or an affiliated person of such bank); and (2) a unit investment trust to designate an affiliated bank as trustee (currently a prohibited practice). (Sec. 311) Permits the SEC to bring a civil action for breach of fiduciary duty involving personal misconduct against an FSHC- affiliated custodian of a registered investment company. (Sec. 312) States that an affiliate of an investment company for a bank must comply with SEC rules when lending money to an investment company. (Sec. 313) Modifies the definition of "interested person" with respect to an investment company to include any FSHC-affiliated person that, during the preceding six months, has executed one or more transactions of a specified kind. Prohibits a registered investment company from having a majority of its board of directors consisting of personnel or senior officers of any one FSHC-affiliated bank, or of any single FSHC (and its affiliates and subsidiaries). (Sec. 314) Modifies the guidelines pertaining to unlawful misrepresentation of guarantees and the deceptive use of names. (Sec. 315) Modifies the definition of "broker" to state that it does not include any person solely by reason of the fact that such person is an underwriter for one or more investment companies. (Sec. 316) Modifies the definition of "dealer" to exclude an insurance or an investment company. (Sec. 317) Amends the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 to modify the definitions of investment adviser to remove the exclusion from such definition of an investment adviser for banks that advise investment companies. Revises the definitions of broker and dealer. (Sec. 320) Mandates interagency consultation between the appropriate Federal banking agency and the SEC regarding examination results and other information pertaining to the investment advisory activities of any registered bank holding company and its departments or divisions. (Sec. 321) Amends the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to revise the exclusion from their purview of certain bank common trust funds to specify the exclusion of any interest or participation in any common trust fund or similar fund that is excluded from the definition of "investment company" under the Investment Company Act of 1940. Amends the Investment Company Act of 1940 to revise such exclusion guidelines for certain bank common trust funds. (Sec. 322) Amends the Investment Company Act of 1940 to prescribe circumstances under which an investment adviser holding shares of an investment company in a fiduciary capacity must transfer the power to vote such shares to the beneficial owners or to another fiduciary who is not an affiliate of such adviser. Title IV: Wholesale Financial Institutions Owned by Financial Services Holding Companies - Amends: (1) the Revised Statutes of the United States to prescribe procedural guidelines on obtaining a Federal charter from the Comptroller of the Currency to organize as a national wholesale financial institution; and (2) the Federal Reserve Act to prescribe procedural guidelines for membership in the Federal Reserve System as a national wholesale financial institution. (Sec. 403) Amends the FDIA to prescribe a procedure by which an insured State-chartered bank or a national bank may voluntarily terminate its status as an insured depository institution. Requires any such terminated bank to become a wholesale financial institution in order to accept any deposits. Title V: Merger of Bank and Thrift Charters, Regulators, and Insurance Funds - Subtitle A: Conversion of Thrift Charters - Thrift Charter Conversion Act of 1996 - Prescribes procedural guidelines for the termination of Federal savings association charters and their conversion into national bank charters or State depository institution charters. Prohibits the Director of the Office of Thrift Supervision from granting any charter for a Federal savings association. Amends the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (FDIA) to treat State Savings Associations as banks for purposes of Federal banking law. Includes as State banks any cooperative bank or other unincorporated bank whose deposits were insured by the FDIC on the day before enactment of the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989 but excludes from State bank treatment any such banks whose deposits were not FDIC-insured before such date. (Sec. 502) Requires the FDIC to review State supervision of depository institutions in order to ensure that State savings associations are regulated as rigorously as State banks. (Sec. 503) Amends the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956 (BHCA) to permit continuation of grandfathered bank holding company activities and affiliations. Prohibits certain insured depository institutions from identifying themselves as national banks, but shields them from any liability for fraudulent misrepresentation for not representing themselves as a national bank. (Sec. 504) Sets forth transition provisions for: (1) activities of savings associations and mutual savings associations which have converted into or become treated as banks; and (2) registration of bank holding companies resulting from conversions of savings associations to banks, or treatment of savings associations as banks. Places qualified bank holding companies under the regulatory jurisdiction of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (the Board). (Sec. 506) Amends the National Bank Act to prescribe procedural guidelines under which the Comptroller of the Currency is authorized to charter national mutual or State mutual banks. Amends the BHCA to prescribe procedural guidelines under which a national mutual bank may reorganize to become a holding company. Cites permissible activities. Provides for the conversion of mutual savings associations to mutual national banks by operation of law. Transfers regulatory jurisdiction over a mutual holding company to the Board. Subjects a Federal mutual holding company in existence on the date of enactment of this Act to certain BHCA provisions. (Sec. 509) Repeals the Home Owners' Loan Act. Subtitle B: Elimination of Office of the Thrift Supervision - Abolishes the Office of Thrift Supervision and the position of Director of such Office. Transfers its functions, personnel, and property to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the FDIC, or the Board. Sets forth the rights of such transferred personnel. (Sec. 514) Requires that any cost of funds index based upon certain characteristics of Federal home loan banks be calculated using data only from insured depository institutions which were bank members and whose data was previously included in such index. Subtitle C: Merger of BIF and SAIF - Amends the Economic Growth and Regulatory Paperwork Reduction Act of 1996 to advance the effective date for the merger of the Bank Insurance Fund and the Savings Association Insurance Fund from January 1, 1999, to January 1, 1997. Title VI: National Market Funding Lending Institutions - Amends the Revised Statutes to prescribe guidelines under which a company (or five or more natural persons) may petition the Comptroller of the Currency for permission to organize a federally chartered national market funded lending institution. (Sec. 601) Prescribes requirements for such institution. Vests exclusive oversight authority for it in the Comptroller (including examination, enforcement, charter revocation and appointment of a conservator). Provides for conversions of depository institutions into national market funded lending institutions upon approval of the Comptroller. Title VII: Effective Date - Declares the effective date for this Act is January 1, 1997.
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 · 24 September 1996
Directs the Architect of the Capitol to: (1) restore the Portrait Monument (a statue of Lucretia Mott, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Susan B. Anthony) and place it in the Rotunda of the Capitol for one year at which time it, along with an appropriate educational display, shall be moved to a permanent site and an alternative statue shall be placed in the Rotunda; and (2) make all necessary arrangements for a rededication ceremony of the Monument in the Rotunda in conjunction with the Woman Suffrage Statue Campaign. Establishes a commission to: (1) select the permanent site; (2) plan and develop the educational display that described some of the most dramatic events of the suffragettes' lives; and (3) select the alternative statue to commemorate the struggle of women in America for equal rights. Prohibits use of Federal funds to pay any expense of the educational display or of restoring, moving, or relocating the Monument.
United States · United States Congress · 17 September 1996
Bi-State Aircraft Noise Correction Act of 1996 - Declares that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) should remedy the problem it has created by formulating and implementing plans to mitigate aircraft noise over certain areas of New Jersey and Staten Island. Instructs the FAA Administrator to: (1) develop and publish a plan to reduce aircraft-generated noise in New Jersey by six decibels for at least 80 percent of the people residing within 18 nautical miles of Newark International Airport; (2) investigate and test southbound departure procedures from Newark International Airport runway 22 that will result in a minimum 25 percent decrease in aircraft noise on the ground in northwestern Staten Island; (3) investigate a straight-out southbound departure from runway 22; and (4) undertake remediation efforts to mitigate aircraft noise within a specified sound level contour. Confers standing in Federal district court upon the New Jersey Citizens for Environmental Research (and a group to be designated by the Staten Island Borough President) to compel the Administrator to comply with this Act. Sets deadlines for FAA implementation of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 11 September 1996
Mental Health Parity Act of 1996 - Requires a group health plan that applies an aggregate lifetime (or annual) limit for medical or surgical services, if the plan also provides a mental health benefit, to include mental health payments in that limit or establish a separate aggregate lifetime (or annual) limit for mental health services, with the mental health limit not less than the medical or surgical limit. Prohibits a group health plan that does not apply a medical or surgical limit from applying a mental health limit. Exempts employers with fewer than 26 employees. Makes this Act ineffective after September 30, 2001. Exempts a purchaser from this Act if the Act's provisions result in a one percent or greater increase in the cost of a group health plan's premiums.
United States · United States Congress · 2 August 1996
Restores Federal armed forces provisions relating to the status of missing persons as in effect before amendments made by the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1997.
United States · United States Congress · 26 July 1996
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Snowbasin Ski Area Title II: Sterling Forest Title I: Snowbasin Ski Area - 2002 Winter Olympic Games Facilitation Act - Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to exchange specified federally owned lands within the Cache National Forest in Utah for lands of approximately equal value that are owned by the Sun Valley Company and that are located within the boundaries of the Forest Sets forth provisions regarding substitution of offered lands, valuation and appraisals of exchanged lands, and other terms and conditions of the exchange. Prescribes deadlines by which the Secretary shall: (1) review (with the Company) the Phase 1 facilities (for the 2002 Olympics) to be operated on National Forest System lands retained by the Secretary under the Snowbasin Ski Area Master Development Plan dated October 1995 (Master Plan); (2) submit the reviewed Master Plan with any modifications to specified congressional committees; and (3) authorize, after a request from and in consultation with the Company, construction and operation of such facilities. Exempts all determinations, authorizations, and actions taken by the Secretary pursuant to this title regarding Phase I facilities on National Forest System lands from administrative or judicial review. Title II: Sterling Forest - Authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to provide funding to the Palisades Interstate Park Commission for the acquisition of lands and interests in lands within the Sterling Forest Reserve. Authorizes appropriations. Bars using such funds for acquisition of any land without the owner's consent. Authorizes such Secretary to exchange unreserved unappropriated Federal lands under the Secretary's administrative jurisdiction for specified lands in Sterling Forest. Directs the Secretary to consult with the Governor of any State in which such unreserved unappropriated lands are located prior to carrying out such exchange. Requires the land acquired by the Secretary to be transferred to the Commission for inclusion within the Reserve. Requires the lands exchanged to be of equal value.
United States · United States Congress · 18 July 1996
Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide for prospective payment under Medicare for inpatient rehabilitation hospital services and units based on discharges classified by functional-related groups.
United States · United States Congress · 27 June 1996
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the Department of Education should make it a priority to monitor and enforce compliance with requirements of the Higher Education Act of 1965 for compiling and disseminating campus crime statistics and policies.
United States · United States Congress · 26 June 1996
Directs the Commissioner of Social Security to improve the social security card for purposes of carrying out illegal alien employment provisions under the Immigration and Nationality Act. Amends Federal law to provide criminal penalties for fraud and related activities concerning work authorization documents.
United States · United States Congress · 26 June 1996
ATM Fee Reform Act of 1996 - Amends the Electronic Fund Transfer Act to mandate fee disclosures at the time of service by any host electronic terminal operator which imposes a fee for providing host transfer services to a consumer. Requires each agency responsible for compliance enforcement under the Act to report annually to the Congress on compliance and on regional and national trends in fees imposed by host ATM operators. Mandates the disclosure to consumers whenever an electronic means of accessing the consumer's account is issued of possible fees for initiating electronic fund transfers. Requires the Comptroller General to study the feasibility of prohibiting the imposition of an electronic fund transfer fee unless notice has been provided before the consumer is irrevocably committed to completing the transaction.
United States · United States Congress · 13 June 1996
Junk Gun Violence Protection Act - Amends the Federal criminal code to prohibit the manufacture, transfer, or possession of a junk gun that has been shipped or transported in interstate or foreign commerce. Defines a "junk gun" as any firearm that does not meet specified criteria for authorization by the Secretary of the Treasury for importation into the United States. Makes such provision inapplicable to: (1) the possession or transfer of any junk gun otherwise lawfully possessed under Federal law on the date of this Act's enactment; (2) any firearm or replica of a firearm that has been rendered permanently inoperative; (3) the manufacture for, transfer to, or possession by the United States, a State, or a political subdivision of a State or a transfer to or possession by a law enforcement officer employed by such an entity for law enforcement purposes (whether on or off duty); or (4) the manufacture, transfer, or possession of a junk gun by a licensed manufacturer or licensed importer for the purposes of testing or experimentation authorized by the Secretary of the Treasury.
United States · United States Congress · 12 June 1996
Women's Preventive Health Care Act of 1996 - Requires every policy or contract for health insurance coverage and every group health plan to include coverage for screening pap smears and low-dose screening mammographies. Regulates cost sharing and frequency of coverage and provides for enforcement. Declares that this Act does not preempt State law to the extent State law provides greater protection to women.
United States · United States Congress · 12 June 1996
MacBride Principles of Economic Justice Act of 1996 - Amends the Anglo-Irish Agreement Support Act of 1986 to revise its purposes to require that U.S. contributions to the International Fund for Ireland be disbursed in accordance with the MacBride principles of economic justice, as specified. Authorizes the United States to make contributions to the Fund only if the President certifies to the Congress that, among other things, disbursements from the Fund will be distributed in accordance with the principles of economic justice and will create employment opportunities in communities of Northern Ireland suffering the highest rates of unemployment.
United States · United States Congress · 6 June 1996
Urges the President to promptly seek the advice and consent of the Senate to ratification of the 1994 Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment, and Eradication of Violence Against Women.
United States · United States Congress · 16 May 1996
House Chamber Conduct Resolution - Amends rule XLIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives to prohibit a Member, officer, or employee of the House from soliciting, distributing, or accepting campaign contributions in the Hall of the House, in rooms leading thereto, or in the cloakrooms.
United States · United States Congress · 14 May 1996
Child Support Enforcement Reform Amendments of 1996 - 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. 102) Revises payment distribution guidelines for support obligations collected by the State on behalf of a family. (Sec. 103) Requires State plans to establish procedural guidelines for: (1) privacy safeguards regarding paternity and child support actions; and (2) notification to services applicants or recipients of 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. 112) 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. 113) 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. 114) 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. 115) 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. 116) 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. 117) 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 persons (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. 123) 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 acknowledgement of paternity; or (2) pursuant to a judicial or administrative order. (Sec. 133) 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. 142) 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. 144) 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. 145) 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. 152) 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. 153) 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. 162) 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. 164) 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. 165) 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 a non- custodial parent; and (4) to implement the restriction of driver's, professional, occupational, and recreational licenses of individuals owing support arrearages. (Sec. 170) Requires the Secretary of State to deny, revoke, or limit a passport upon certification of nonpayment of child support. (Sec. 171) Authorizes the Secretary of State to negotiate reciprocal agreements with foreign nations: (1) regarding international enforcement of child support obligations; and (2) designating the Department of Health and Human Services as the central authority for such enforcement. (Sec. 172) 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 absent 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. 173) 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. 174) Amends Federal bankruptcy law and the Social Security Act to declare a debt for child support nondischargeable in bankruptcy. 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. 177) 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 absent parents' access to their children. Subtitle J: Effect of Enactment - Sets forth effective dates and conforming amendments.
United States · United States Congress · 8 May 1996
Commuter Rail Safety Act of 1996 - Amends Federal transportation law to revise hours of duty limitations for train employees to prohibit them, among other things, from remaining or going on duty: (1) after having completed a tour of duty, unless having had at least eight consecutive hours of undisturbed rest; and (2) unless such employee has received at least eight hours notice before the time for reporting for duty, except in the event of an emergency, in which case the employee may not work for more than eight hours after reporting for duty. Prohibits a railroad carrier from requiring or allowing a commuter rail train employee to operate a split shift unless it begins between 4 o'clock a.m. and 8 o'clock a.m. Prohibits a railroad carrier and a railroad carrier employer from discharging or in any way discriminating against an employee (whistleblower) who has furnished railroad accident or injury information to the railroad carrier, the Federal Railroad Administration, or other Federal or State agency. Sets forth both civil and criminal penalties for violations under this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 1 May 1996
State Occupancy Standards Affirmation Act of 1996 - Prohibits the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development from establishing a national occupancy standard (as defined by this Act). Provides that: (1) a State standard shall be considered reasonable; and (2) the Secretary, in the absence of a State standard, shall take no action respecting a two-person per bedroom standard established by a housing provider.
United States · United States Congress · 1 May 1996
Declares that it is the sense of the Congress that the Board of Trustees of the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund should submit to the Congress without further delay its annual report due on April 1, 1996.
United States · United States Congress · 25 April 1996
Antimicrobial Pesticide Registration Reform Act of 1995 - Amends the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) to exclude: (1) bacteria from the definition of "fungus"; and (2) liquid chemical sterilant products for use on a critical or semi-critical medical or dental device from the definition of "pesticide." Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to: (1) coordinate data requirements, test protocols, timetables, and standards of review and reduce burdens and redundancy caused to the registrant, whenever data in support of a pesticide registration is requested by one or more State or Federal agencies; and (2) develop a process to identify and assist in alleviating future disparities between Federal and State data requirements. Provides, with respect to the labeling of an antimicrobial pesticide product, that: (1) a registrant may modify the labeling to include relevant information on the product's efficacy, composition, or container or other characteristics unrelated to a pesticidal claim or activity; (2) such labeling shall not be false or misleading or in conflict with statements required as a condition of registration and be substantiated upon request; (3) modifications shall be subject to a notification and approval process; and (4) different cautionary statements for use dilutions may be included in the labeling upon approval of the Administrator. Directs the Administrator, to the maximum extent practicable, to identify and evaluate changes to the process for registration of antimicrobial pesticides that will reduce current time periods for review. Details rulemaking requirements regarding the review of such pesticides. Requires an annual report to the Congress on measures taken to effect such changes. Exempts from applicability of certain FIFRA storage, disposal, transportation, and container requirements household, industrial, or institutional antimicrobial products that are not subject to regulation under the Solid Waste Disposal Act, unless the Administrator determines that their application is necessary to prevent an unreasonable adverse effect on the environment.
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 · 29 March 1996
Newborns' and Mothers' Health Protection Act of 1996 - Requires health plans and employee health benefit plans that provide maternity (including childbirth) benefits to ensure that coverage is provided for: (1) specified minimum periods after delivery; and (2) certain post-delivery care.
United States · United States Congress · 27 March 1996
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Untitled Subtitle A: Breast Cancer Research Extension Act of 1996 Subtitle B: HHS Women Scientists Employment Opportunity Act Subtitle C: Women and AIDS Research Initiative Amendments of 1996 Subtitle D: Women's Cardiovascular Diseases Research and Prevention Act Subtitle E: Osteoporosis and Related Bone Diseases Research Act of 1996 Subtitle F: Lupus Research Amendments of 1996 Subtitle G: Ovarian Cancer Research and Information Amendments of 1996 Subtitle H: HPV Infection and Cervical Cancer Research Resolution of 1996 Subtitle I: Office for Rare Disease Research Act of 1996 Subtitle J: Federal Risk Assessment in Women's Health Act of 1996 Subtitle K: Women's Health Environmental Factors Act of 1996 Subtitle L: Consumer Involvement in Breast Cancer Research Act Subtitle M: Women and Alcohol Research Equity Act of 1996 Title II: Services Subtitle A: Women's Health Office Act of 1996 Subtitle B: Genetic Information Nondiscrimination in Health Insurance Act of 1996 Subtitle C: Improved Patient Access to Clinical Studies Act of 1996 Subtitle D: Equitable Health Care for Neurobiological Disorders Act of 1996 Subtitle E: Victims of Abuse Insurance Protection Act Subtitle F: Insurance Protection for Victims of Domestic Violence Act Subtitle G: Domestic Violence Victims Insurance Protection Act of 1996 Subtitle H: Fairness to Minority Women Health Act Subtitle I: Adolescent Health Demonstration Projects Act Subtitle J: Eating Disorders Information and Education Act of 1996 Subtitle K: Women's Choice and Reproductive Health Protection Act of 1996 Subtitle L: Women's Right To Know Act of 1996 Subtitle M: International Population Stabilization and Reproductive Health Act Subtitle N: Federal Prohibition of Female Genital Mutilation Act of 1996 Subtitle O: Women and HIV Outreach and Prevention Act Subtitle P: Smoking Prevention and Cessation in WIC Clinics Act Subtitle Q: Comprehensive Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Prevention Act Subtitle R: Postreproductive Health Care Act Subtitle S: Family Caregiver Support and Protection Act of 1996 Subtitle T: Medicare Mammography Enhancement Act of 1996 Subtitle U: Medicare Bone Mass Measurement Standardization Act of 1996 Subtitle V: Osteoporosis and Related Bone Disorders Resource Center Act of 1996 Subtitle W: Women Veterans Health Improvement Act of 1996 Women's Health Equity Act of 1996 - Title I: Untitled - Subtitle A: Breast Cancer Research Extension Act of 1996 - Breast Cancer Research Extension Act of 1996 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to extend the authorization of appropriations for breast cancer research. Subtitle B: HHS Women Scientists Employment Opportunity Act - HHS Women Scientist Employment Opportunity Act - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to: (1) establish policies for the Department of Health and Human Services on matters relating to the employment of women scientists; and (2) monitor compliance and take appropriate action if policies have been violated. Mandates implementation of the recommendations of the Task Force on the Status of NIH (National Institutes of Health) Intramural Women Scientists. Provides for a study and report on pay equity. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle C: Women and AIDS Research Initiative Amendments of 1996 - Women and AIDS Research Initiative Amendments of 1996 - Mandates a program to conduct biomedical and behavioral research (directly or through grants) on cases of infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in women. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle D: Women's Cardiovascular Diseases Research and Prevention Act - Women's Cardiovascular Diseases Research and Prevention Act - Mandates expansion, intensification, and coordination of research and related activities of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute with regard to cardiovascular diseases in women. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle E: Osteoporosis and Related Bone Diseases Research Act of 1996 - Osteoporosis and Related Bone Diseases Research Act of 1996 - Requires specified institutes of the National Institutes of Health to expand and intensify research on osteoporosis and related bone diseases. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle F: Lupus Research Amendments of 1996 - Lupus Research Amendments of 1996 - Requires the Director of the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases to expand and intensify research and related activities of the Institute with respect to lupus. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle G: Ovarian Cancer Research and Information Amendments of 1996 - Ovarian Cancer Research and Information Amendments of 1996 - Authorizes appropriations for research on ovarian cancer. Subtitle H: HPV Infection and Cervical Cancer Research Resolution of 1996 - HPV Infection and Cervical Cancer Research Resolution of 1996 - Declares that it is the sense of the Congress that, in conducting cervical cancer research, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases should collaborate in sponsoring basic and clinical research on human papilloma virus diagnosis and prevention as a risk of cervical cancer and, as applicable, develop screening techniques. Subtitle I: Office for Rare Disease Research Act of 1996 - Office for Rare Disease Research Act of 1996 - Establishes, in the National Institutes of Health, the Office for Rare Disease Research. Subtitle J: Federal Risk Assessment in Women's Health Act of 1996 - Federal Risk Assessment in Women's Health Act of 1996 - Directs the Office of Science and Technology Policy to conduct a review of all Federal programs that assess or mitigate the risks to women's health from environmental exposures. Provides for a study and report to the Congress. Subtitle K: Women's Health Environmental Factors Act of 1996 - Women's Health Environmental Factors Act of 1996 - Mandates a report to the Congress: (1) summarizing the body of scientific knowledge on environmental effects on women's health; and (2) specifying an agenda for the conduct and support of research. Subtitle L: Consumer Involvement in Breast Cancer Research Act - Consumer Involvement in Breast Cancer Research Act - Requires the National Cancer Institute, to the extent practicable, to increase the involvement of people who are accountable to, represent, and report back to organizations that represent those affected by breast cancer in decision making at the Institute regarding breast cancer. Subtitle M: Women and Alcohol Research Equity Act of 1996 - Women and Alcohol Research Equity Act of 1996 - Requires that $44 million of the first $191 million appropriated to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism be obligated for research on alcohol abuse and alcoholism among women. Authorizes appropriations (in addition to the existing authorization of appropriations for the Institute) for such research regarding women. Title II: Services - Subtitle A: Women's Health Office Act of 1996 - Women's Health Office Act of 1996 - Amends the Public Health Service Act (PHSA) and the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to establish an Office of (or on) Women's Health and a related coordinating committee in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research, the Health Care Resources and Services Administration, and the Office of the Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration. Amends the PHSA to establish a related advisory committee. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle B: Genetic Information Nondiscrimination in Health Insurance Act of 1996 - Genetic Information Nondiscrimination in Health Insurance Act of 1996 - Prohibits insurance providers from: (1) denying or canceling health insurance coverage or varying the premiums, terms, or conditions of coverage on the basis of genetic information or on the basis that the individual or family involved has requested or received genetic services; (2) requesting or requiring insured individuals or applicants to disclose genetic information; or (3) disclosing genetic information without prior written authorization. Subtitle C: Improved Patient Access to Clinical Studies Act of 1996 - Improved Patient Access to Clinical Studies Act of 1996 - Prohibits a health plan from denying, limiting, imposing additional conditions on, or discriminating against an enrollee on the basis of the enrollee's participation in an approved clinical study. Subtitle D: Equitable Health Care for Neurobiological Disorders Act of 1996 - Equitable Health Care for Neurobiological Disorders Act of 1996 - States that the standards for the nondiscriminatory and equitable treatment by employer health benefit plans of individuals with neurobiological disorders require that such plans provide for coverage of services essential to the effective treatment of such disorders in a specified manner. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to impose a noncompliance tax of up to 25 percent. Subtitle E: Victims of Abuse Insurance Protection Act - Victims of Abuse Insurance Protection Act - Prohibits insurers and health carriers from denying, terminating, or limiting coverage on the basis that the applicant or insured is, has been, or may be the subject of abuse involving household or family members, current or former spouses, or individuals in or formerly in a sexually intimate relationship. Requires an insurer that takes any adverse action relating to any plan or policy of an abuse subject (whether applicant or insured) to advise such individual of the specific reasons for the action. Subtitle F: Insurance Protection for Victims of Domestic Violence Act - Insurance Protection for Victims of Domestic Violence Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to create a new title prohibiting health insurers from discriminating against an individual or group because the individual or a family member is the subject of abuse. Mandates development of model standards. Provides for application the amendments made by this subtitle to specified provisions of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974. Subtitle G: Domestic Violence Victims Insurance Protection Act of 1996 - Domestic Violence Victims Insurance Protection Act of 1996 - Prohibits insurers from denying or cancelling insurance coverage for individuals solely on the basis that the individual is or has been the subject of an act of domestic violence. Subtitle H: Fairness to Minority Women Health Act - Fairness to Minority Women Health Act - Amends part A (Aid to Families with Dependent Children) (AFDC) of title IV of the Social Security Act and the Food Stamp Act of 1977 to exempt aliens and their children from provisions attributing to the alien the income and resources of the sponsor and the sponsor's spouse if the alien is battered by, or the subject of extreme cruelty by, the person who executed the affidavit of support or similar agreement regarding the alien. Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to prohibit payments to States for obstetrical or gynecological services unless the hospital, clinic, or provider has available at least one individual who is able to communicate in the predominant language used by residents of the area. Amends the Public Health Service Act to allow grants (under existing provisions) for family planning projects only if the service providers under the grant have at least one such individual. Amends the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act to prohibit making funds available under the Act unless providers of shelter or related assistance have at least one such individual. Subtitle I: Adolescent Health Demonstration Projects Act - Adolescent Health Demonstration Projects Act - Mandates grants for the establishment or support of adolescent health demonstration projects. Prohibits using grant funds to perform or pay for abortions. Subtitle J: Eating Disorders Information and Education Act of 1996 - Eating Disorders Information and Education Act of 1996 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to provide for a program of information and education to the public concerning the prevention and treatment of eating disorders. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle K: Women's Choice and Reproductive Health Protection Act of 1996 - Women's Choice and Reproductive Health Protection Act of 1996 - Amends the Public Health Service Act (PHSA) to authorize appropriations for population research and family planning programs. Amends the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to prohibit any government authority from limiting the right of any individual to provide or receive nonfraudulent information about the availability of reproductive health care services. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to: (1) assure that the Food and Drug Administration evaluates the drug Mifepristone or RU 486; and (2) assess initiatives by which the Department of Health and Human Services can promote the testing, licensing, and manufacturing of the drug Mifepristone or other antiprogestins in the United States. Prohibits Federal law from being construed to prohibit health insurance providers from offering coverage for any reproductive health care services, including abortion services. Amends Federal law to provide that the performance of an abortion in a facility of the uniformed services located outside the 48 contiguous States of the United States is not prohibited, provided specific requirements are met. Subtitle L: Women's Right To Know Act of 1996 - Women's Right To Know Act of 1996 - Amends title XI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to prohibit a governmental authority, in or through any program or activity that provides health care services or information, from limiting the right of any person to provide or to receive nonfraudulent information about the availability of reproductive health care services, including family planning, prenatal care, adoption, and abortion services. Subtitle M: International Population Stabilization and Reproductive Health Act - International Population Stabilization and Reproductive Health Act - Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to set forth population assistance authorities and requirements. Authorizes appropriations for voluntary population planning under existing provisions. Makes development assistance available on a priority basis for countries which have agreed to address specific education, literacy, and health issues. Authorizes the President to establish a grant program, to be known as the Safe Motherhood Initiative, to improve the access of girls and women to reproductive health care services. Authorizes appropriations for the Child Survival Fund, the Safe Motherhood Initiative, and for research on, and treatment and control of, acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) in developing countries. Subtitle N: Federal Prohibition of Female Genital Mutilation Act of 1996 - Federal Prohibition of Female Genital Mutilation Act of 1996 - Amends the Federal criminal code to prohibit and set penalties for knowingly circumcising, excising, or infibulating any part of the labia majora, labia minora, or clitoris of another person who has not attained age 18, subject to medical exceptions. Subtitle O: Women and HIV Outreach and Prevention Act - Women and HIV Outreach and Prevention Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to authorize grants, with regard to women (and their partners) and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), for preventive health services, referrals, follow-ups, outreach, and training on the effective provision of such services. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes grants to provide HIV prevention education to women. Sets forth requirements regarding the composition of Planning Councils. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes grants, cooperative agreements, and contracts to provide: (1) substance abuse treatment to women; (2) counseling to women who engage in substance abuse on the prevention of infection with, and the transmission of, the etiologic agent for AIDS; and (3) such counseling to women who are the partners of individuals who abuse substances. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes appropriations for grants under existing provisions to provide early intervention services for women and related technical assistance. Subtitle P: Smoking Prevention and Cessation in WIC Clinics Act - Smoking Prevention and Cessation in WIC Clinics Act - Amends the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 to require the State agency responsible for nutrition education and drug abuse education to establish a smoking cessation demonstration program for pregnant participants. Subtitle Q: Comprehensive Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Prevention Act - Comprehensive Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Prevention Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to establish: (1) a program for the conduct and support of research and training, the dissemination of health information, and other programs with respect to the cause, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of fetal alcohol syndrome and fetal alcohol effects; and (2) the Interagency Coordinating Committee on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. Subtitle R: Postreproductive Health Care Act - Postreproductive Health Care Act - Mandates grants for: (1) prevention and outpatient treatment of, and counseling for, health conditions unique to, more serious, or more prevalent for women of menopausal age or older, or for which the medical risk or types of medical intervention are different; and (2) related education and training of health professionals. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle S: Family Caregiver Support and Protection Act of 1996 - Family Caregiver Support and Protection Act of 1996 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide for Medicare coverage for respite care services, defined as companion or homemaker services, personal assistance, community day services, or temporary residential care furnished on a short-term, intermittent, or emergency basis. Amends Internal Revenue Code provisions relating to deductions for medical care to include qualified long-term care services as medical care. Subtitle T: Medicare Mammography Enhancement Act of 1996 - Medicare Mammography Enhancement Act of 1996 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to revise requirements regarding the coverage of mammograms. Subtitle U: Medicare Bone Mass Measurement Standardization Act of 1996 - Medicare Bone Mass Measurement Standardization Act of 1996 - Provides for Medicare coverage of bone mass measurements. Subtitle V: Osteoporosis and Related Bone Disorders Resource Center Act of 1996 - Osteoporosis and Related Bone Disorders Resource Center Act of 1996 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to authorize appropriations, in addition to other authorizations of appropriations, for the establishment and operation of a clearinghouse on osteoporosis and related bone disorders. Subtitle W: Women Veterans Health Improvement Act of 1996 - Women Veterans Health Improvement Act of 1996 - Amends Federal law relating to veterans' benefits to include women's health services in the definition of "medical services." Sets forth requirements concerning studies and reports.
United States · United States Congress · 27 March 1996
Port Revitalization Act of 1996 - Provides that the cost of providing land-based and confined aquatic dredged material disposal facilities (facilities) associated with the construction, operation, and maintenance of any Federal navigation project for any harbor or other federally maintained waterway shall be considered a general navigation feature (thereby allowing the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund to be used to cover such dredging and disposal activities). Provides for the determination of the Federal share of the costs of operation and maintenance (O&M) of such disposal facilities, as well as eligible O&M costs related to such facilities. Prohibits the expenditure of such funds until the Secretary of the Army determines that such funds are not otherwise required to cover other eligible O&M costs assigned to commercial navigation. (Sec. 3) Authorizes the Secretary, at the request of a non-Federal project sponsor, to provide additional capacity at a facility constructed by the Army beyond that which would be required for project purposes if the non-Federal sponsor agrees to pay all costs associated with the construction of the additional capacity. Allows such costs to be recovered through the assessment of user fees from third parties whose dredged materials are deposited in such facilities and who enter into agreements for the use of such facilities. Requires all user fees collected to be used by the Secretary for O&M costs associated with the facility. Authorizes the Secretary to participate in the construction and use of facilities developed by non-Federal interests if such facilities are necessary to the construction or O&M of a Federal navigation project. Authorizes the Secretary to pay disposal fees associated with the use of such facilities. Authorizes the Secretary to use management techniques to extend the useful life of all land-based and confined dredged material disposal facilities constructed and managed by the Secretary after the enactment of this Act. (Sec. 4) Amends the Internal Revenue Code to lower, effective on January 1, 1997, the tax imposed on the use of any U.S. port to 0.085 (currently, 0.125) percent of the value of the commercial cargo involved. Directs the Secretary, in each calendar year, to conduct an assessment of the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund to determine whether such tax should be reduced or increased to ensure that such Fund remains at a sufficient level to pay the eligible O&M costs under this Act and the Water Resources Development Act of 1986. Requires an annual report from the Secretary to the Congress on such determination. (Sec. 5) Amends the Water Resources Development Act of 1992 to add as a purpose of a pilot project under such Act the development of one or more sediment decontamination technologies on a pilot scale demonstrating a capacity of at least 500,000 cubic yards per year. Extends permanently the authorization of appropriations for such pilot project. Requires the Secretary and the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to report annually to the Congress on the results of the project, including the development of decontamination technologies. (Sec. 6) Authorizes the Secretary to construct, operate, and maintain a dredged material containment facility for the Port of New York-New Jersey substantially in accordance with a final report of the Army Chief of Engineers. Requires the Secretary to maintain the facility for the public benefit after it has been filled to capacity with dredged material.
United States · United States Congress · 19 March 1996
Iran Oil Sanctions Act of 1996 - Directs the President to impose certain economic sanctions against persons who with actual knowledge or reason to know: (1) export certain petroleum and natural gas-related goods or technology that would significantly and materially enhance Iran's ability to develop its petroleum resources; or (2) make an investment of $40 million or more in any 12-month period that directly contributes to Iran's development of such resources. Specifies exceptions to trade sanctions, among other things for certain defense-related articles or services essential to U.S. national security. Prohibits with respect to any sanctioned person: (1) extension of Export-Import Bank assistance; (2) licenses or permits for the exportation of goods or technology; (3) importation into the United States of products produced by such person; and (4) loans from U.S. financial institutions. Specifies sanctions against financial institutions. Authorizes the Secretary of State upon request to issue an advisory opinion to any person as to whether a proposed activity would be subject to sanctions. Waives the requirements of this Act if the President certifies to the appropriate congressional committees that Iran has: (1) ceased its efforts to develop or acquire a nuclear explosive device, chemical or biological weapons, or ballistic missiles and missile launch technology; and (2) been removed from the list of countries determined, under the Export Administration Act of 1979, to have repeatedly supported acts of international terrorism. Sets forth additional criteria for such waiver. Directs the President to establish a List of Petroleum and Natural Gas-Related Goods and Technology which shall be subject to the export control restrictions of this Act. Requires the President to report periodically to the appropriate congressional committees on efforts to persuade other countries to: (1) pressure Iran to cease its weapons of mass destruction programs and support of international terrorism; and (2) ask Iran to reduce the presence of Iranian diplomats and other personnel and withdraw any of them who participated in the takeover of the U.S. embassy in Tehran on November 4, 1979. Requires the President to ensure continued reports to the Congress on Iran's: (1) nuclear and other military capabilities; and (2) support for acts of international terrorism. Applies the sanctions required under this Act to persons making investments for the development of petroleum resources in Libya. Declares that determinations to impose sanctions under this Act are not reviewable in any court.
United States · United States Congress · 19 March 1996
ERISA Clarification Act of 1995 - Directs the Secretary of Labor to issue guidance on the application of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to insurance company general accounts. Requires such guidance to: (1) be for purposes of determining, in cases where an insurer issues one or more policies to or for the benefit of an employee benefit plan, which assets of the insurer (other than plan assets held in its separate accounts) constitute assets of the plan for purposes of specified provisions of ERISA and the Internal Revenue Code; and (2) provide that assets not treated as plan assets under certain provisions not be treated as plan assets under other provisions. Authorizes the Secretary to exclude any assets of the insurer with respect to its operations, products, or services from treatment as plan assets.
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