The world's political record
Person
![Official portrait of Rep. Sangmeister, George E. [D-IL-4]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/s000056_200.jpg)
United States · Official source
799 records where Rep. Sangmeister, George E. [D-IL-4] is listed as a sponsor, author, or other actor. Search with topics and years
United States · United States Congress · 21 November 1989
Proclaims Lech Walesa, the founder and leader of the Solidarity trade union in Poland, as an honorary citizen of the United States. Commends Solidarity for bringing democracy to Poland and starting the movement toward democracy throughout Eastern Europe.
United States · United States Congress · 21 November 1989
Designates the week of June 10 through June 16, 1990, as State-Supported Homes for Veterans Week.
United States · United States Congress · 20 November 1989
Authorizes the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to conduct a five-year pilot program to demonstrate the cost-effectiveness and advantages of furnishing care to elderly veterans in nursing homes in order to treat and reactivate or maintain day-to-day living functions in those veterans. Authorizes the Secretary to set a daily rate of reimbursement for such care. Authorizes appropriations for five fiscal years for increased costs of reimbursement of non-Department of Veterans Affairs nursing homes under such program. Requires the Secretary to submit interim and final reports to the Congress concerning the effectiveness of the pilot program.
United States · United States Congress · 19 November 1989
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide for the treatment of rental and nonrental real estate activities under the limitations on losses from passive activities.
United States · United States Congress · 16 November 1989
Asbestos School Hazard Abatement Reauthorization Act of 1989 - Amends the Asbestos School Hazard Abatement Act of 1984 to require State Governors to maintain records on asbestos in school buildings. Deletes a requirement for the submission of asbestos abatement application materials by State Governors to the Secretary of Education. Requires State Governors, in determining the adequacy of financial resources available to a local educational agency for asbestos abatement, to consider the additional costs to such agency of meeting the needs of disadvantaged students. Removes a reporting requirement concerning actions taken by State Governors in accordance with State plans. Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to approve applications for financial assistance no later than April 30 of each year. Prohibits the provision of such assistance to applicants who are not in compliance with title II of the Toxic Substances Control Act. Requires the proceeds from the repayment of Federal asbestos abatement loans and assistance recovery lawsuits to be deposited into the Asbestos Trust Fund. Removes a condition on the provision of financial assistance which requires the submission of an application within five years of the enactment of the Asbestos School Hazard Abatement Act of 1984. Prohibits the approval of assistance applications unless the local educational agency certifies that it is implementing an asbestos management plan and all abatement activities will be conducted by trained and accredited individuals in conformance with the Toxic Substances Control Act. Removes certain requirements for the promulgation by the Administrator of standards for asbestos removal contractors and the protection of school employees trained to carry out abatement activities. Requires the Administrator to report annually (until 1999) to the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works and the House Committee on Energy and Commerce on the loan and grant program under the Asbestos School Hazard Abatement Act of 1984. Authorizes appropriations for the asbestos abatement program for FY 1991 through 1995. Revises provisions concerning the allocation of appropriations. Permits up to five percent of appropriations to be reserved each fiscal year for the administration of asbestos abatement activities. Authorizes the Administrator to use up to five percent of such appropriations for grants to States for: (1) assisting local educational agencies in performing periodic reinspections and training activities; and (2) maintaining programs to accredit personnel performing asbestos inspections and response actions. Makes conforming amendments to provisions of the Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act of 1986 concerning the Asbestos Trust Fund.
United States · United States Congress · 15 November 1989
Middle-Income Family Higher Education Savings Act of 1989 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow an individual an income tax deduction for contributions to a savings account established to pay the educational expenses (tuition, supplies, meals, and lodging) of the taxpayer's child at an institution of higher education or a vocational school. Limits the deduction to $1,000 per year per child. Provides that no account may have more than one beneficiary. Permits a deduction with respect to only one account in cases of multiple accounts for the same beneficiary. Disallows the deduction for contributions made to an account after the beneficiary either attains age 25 or graduates from an eligible educational institution. Permits the exclusion from the gross income of the recipient beneficiary of payments and distributions from an education savings account as long as such amounts: (1) are used for the educational expenses of that individual; or (2) are rolled over into an education savings account established for a sibling of that individual. Exempts the education savings accounts themselves from taxation unless they cease to be proper education savings accounts because either the contributor taxpayer or the beneficiary engages in prohibited transactions or the beneficiary pledges the account as security. Establishes penalties in the form of additional tax when account funds or distributions are improperly used. Requires that the trustee of an education savings account report to the Secretary of the Treasury and to the account's benefactor on the maintenance of the account. Identifies the criteria and requirements applicable to an education savings account. Provides that contributions to an education savings account shall not be subject to gift tax. Establishes: (1) a five percent excise tax on amounts connected with any prohibited transaction with respect to an education savings account; and (2) a penalty for failure to file required reports concerning the education savings account.
United States · United States Congress · 15 November 1989
Designates the week beginning March 5, 1990, as Federal Employees Recognition Week.
United States · United States Congress · 8 November 1989
Medical Waste Treatment Amendments of 1989 - Amends the Solid Waste Disposal Act to direct the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate the treatment of medical waste by: (1) specifying procedures and standards for rendering infectious components of such waste noninfectious; or (2) regulating medical waste as a hazardous waste under such Act. Requires generators of medical waste who produce more than 50 pounds of such waste per month to render all infectious components of such waste noninfectious before the waste leaves the site of production. Prescribes civil and criminal penalties for violations of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 8 November 1989
International Parental Child Abduction Act of 1989 - Amends the Federal criminal code to establish penalties for taking or retaining a child outside the United States with intent to defeat the lawful custody of such child by a lawful custodian in the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 7 November 1989
Directs the heads of Federal departments or agencies which hold or receive records and information which have or could possibly have been correlated to U.S. personnel listed as prisoners of war or missing in action in World War II and the Korean and Vietnam conflicts to publicly disclose such records and information, except where such disclosure would compromise national security. Requires the Department of Defense to publicly disclose a complete list of such personnel including those killed in action (body not returned) in such hostilities with each service member's current classification as well as any changes in such classification occurring during or after such hostilities.
United States · United States Congress · 2 November 1989
Declares that it is the policy of the United States to recognize Brazil's sovereign authority in the Amazon and that the United States should adopt a policy to encourage and support conservation efforts initiated by Brazil to protect the Amazon forest. Declares that the United States should redouble its efforts to address development within its own borders in an environmentally sound and sustainable manner.
United States · United States Congress · 1 November 1989
Expresses the sense of the Congress that railroad retirement benefits are exempt from reduction under the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act) and that supplemental annuities payable under the Railroad Retirement Act of 1974 and sequestered under a specified presidential order should be restored.
United States · United States Congress · 31 October 1989
Designates the week of December 10 through December 16, 1989, as National Drunk and Drugged Driving Awareness Week.
United States · United States Congress · 27 October 1989
Requires the President to appoint, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, one additional judgeship for the Northern District of Illinois. Provides for the conversion of an existing temporary judgeship. Requires the President to appoint, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, one additional district judge for the Central District of Illinois and one additional district judge for the Southern District of Illinois. Limits the refilling of future vacancies in such districts.
United States · United States Congress · 25 October 1989
Comprehensive Urban Transportation Act of 1989 - Establishes a strategic urbanized program for providing assistance for the Federal-aid highway systems in urbanized areas with populations of 50,000 or more for projects designed to help reduce traffic congestion and traffic flow problems. Directs the Secretary of Transportation to: (1) apportion funds authorized for expenditure under the program according to specified guidelines based on population; and (2) require that projects be selected by the State highway department of each State. Allows up to 25 percent of the amount apportioned in a fiscal year to a State under the program to be transferred for other specified uses if requested by the State highway department and approved by the Governor of such State and the Secretary as being in the public interest. Directs the Secretary to set aside $300,000,000 for discretionary projects. Sets forth criteria which must be met before a State may obtain funding. Specifies factors which the Secretary shall consider in selecting projects, including: (1) project cost; (2) traffic congestion levels; (3) importance of a project to a congestion relief planning effort; and (4) impact of a project on economic development. Specifies that the Federal share shall not exceed 50 percent of the cost of any project. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes the use of such funds for public transportation, railway-highway crossings, carpool and vanpool projects, bicycle transportation and pedestrian walkways, and research and planning.
United States · United States Congress · 25 October 1989
Designates May 1990 as National Trauma Awareness Month.
United States · United States Congress · 24 October 1989
Amends the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States to provide a duty on certain brooms that are wholly or in part made of broom corn.
United States · United States Congress · 19 October 1989
Declares it is in the interests of the United States to support efforts to protect South Pacific marine resources (including albacore tuna, porpoises, whales, seals and other marine mammals, birds, sea turtles, and fish) from the slaughter of driftnet fishing. Supports the Tarawa Declaration and the South Pacific Commission resolution calling for an immediate ban on driftnet fishing in the South Pacific. Urges the Secretary of State to work toward an international convention banning driftnet fishing in the South Pacific. Urges Japan and Taiwan to immediately cease the use of driftnets in international South Pacific waters.
United States · United States Congress · 18 October 1989
Consumer Awareness and Trademark Protection Act of 1989 - Amends the Trademark Act of 1946 to prohibit the importation, selling, or distribution in the United States of foreign-made items (and their wrappings) which bear a trademark that is identical (or substantially similar) to one owned by a U.S. citizen who has registered it with the Patent and Trademark Office, unless such person consents to the importation or sale. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to exclude such items from entry into Federal customs territory if the trademark owner files a copy of the trademark registration certificate with the Secretary. Authorizes such trademark owner to bring an action to enjoin such importation or sale.
United States · United States Congress · 17 October 1989
Grants a Federal charter to the National Association of Women Veterans, Incorporated.
United States · United States Congress · 12 October 1989
Designates April 16 through April 22, 1990, as National African-American Historical and Cultural Museums Week.
United States · United States Congress · 11 October 1989
Shock Incarceration Act of 1989 - Amends the Federal criminal code to authorize the Bureau of Prisons to place in a shock incarceration program any person who is sentenced to a term of imprisonment of 12 to 30 months, if such person consents. Requires an inmate in such program, for up to six months of initial imprisonment, to: (1) adhere to a highly regimented schedule that provides the strict discipline, physical training, hard labor, drill, and ceremony characteristic of military basic training; and (2) participate in appropriate educational, drug, and other counseling programs. Specifies that an inmate who has successfully completed the required period of shock incarceration shall remain in the custody of the Bureau for such period (not to exceed the remainder of the prison term otherwise required) and under such conditions as the Bureau deems appropriate. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes the Attorney General to make available to the States and local governments the services of U.S. prisoners for public works projects.
United States · United States Congress · 5 October 1989
Coal Industry Health Benefit Stabilization Act of 1989 - Authorizes the transfer of surplus assets from a coal industry pension plan to a coal industry health benefits plan, under specified conditions, without certain adverse effects in tax treatment under the Internal Revenue Code. Obliges specified employers to continue to contribute to multiemployer coal industry health benefits plans. Provides that nothing in this Act shall diminish or adversely affect any cause of action of such a plan, or its board of trustees, against an employer for contributions based on a collective bargaining agreement between the employer and a labor organization which is a settlor of the plan. Directs the United Mine Workers of America and the Bituminous Coal Operators' Association to report by February 1, 1994, on the effect of this Act on the delivery of retiree health benefits in the bituminous coal industry.
United States · United States Congress · 4 October 1989
Global Environmental Standards Reporting Act - Directs the Environmental Protection Agency to report annually to the Congress on: (1) environmental laws in major trading countries, including members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Brazil, Mexico, South Korea, and Taiwan; (2) progress in compliance with such laws in such countries and the United States; and (3) governmental financial assistance, including tax incentives, grants, and low interest loans to industry to achieve compliance with such laws.
United States · United States Congress · 4 October 1989
Designates December 3 through December 9, 1989, as National Cities Fight Back Against Drugs Week.
United States · United States Congress · 2 October 1989
Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to prepare a document containing a detailed description of the benefits, limitations, procedures, requirements, and other aspects of the education programs administered by the Department. Requires the Secretary to distribute the document: (1) to individuals applying for benefits under an education program administered by the Department and to such individuals receiving benefits at least annually thereafter; (2) to education and training institution officials on at least an annual basis; and (3) upon request, to other individuals affected by education programs administered by the Secretary, including military education personnel. Adds the chapter which pertains to training and rehabilitation for veterans with service-connected disabilities to existing law provisions which: (1) require the veteran and the educational institution offering a course in which such veteran is enrolled to report to the Secretary such enrollment and any interruption or termination of the education of such veteran; (2) require the Secretary, prior to making payment of a reporting fee to an educational institution, to require such institution to certify that it has exercised reasonable diligence in determining whether such institution or any course offered by such institution approved for the enrollment of veterans meets certain applicable requirements and that it will report any failure to meet any such requirement to the Secretary; and (3) authorize the Secretary to pay to any educational institution or to any joint apprenticeship training committee acting as a training establishment a reporting fee which will be in lieu of any other compensation or reimbursement for reports or certifications which such institution or training committee is required to submit to the Secretary. Repeals portions of the work-study allowance provision relating to the number of hours worked by veterans-students and the compensation received for such work. Changes the eligibility for such allowance from veteran-students who are pursuing full-time programs of rehabilitation, education, or training to individuals who are pursuing such programs at least half-time. Authorizes the Secretary to renew payment of previously discontinued educational assistance allowances only upon finding that: (1) the veteran will be resuming enrollment at the same educational institution in the same program and such institution has both approved the veteran's reenrollment and certified it to the Department of Veterans Affairs; or (2) in the case of a proposed change of either educational institution or program of education by the veteran, the cause of the unsatisfactory conduct or progress has been removed; the program proposed to be pursued is suitable to the veteran's aptitudes, interests, and abilities; and if a proposed change of program is involved, the change meets the requirements for approval under the change of program provisions of the Veterans' Benefits statute. Makes parallel changes with respect to the survivors' and dependents' educational assistance program. Provides that payment of an educational assistance allowance in the case of an eligible individual pursuing a program of education on less than a half-time basis shall be made in a lump-sum amount for the entire quarter, semester, or term not later than the last day of the month immediately following the month in which certification is received from the educational institution that such individual has enrolled and is pursuing a program at such institution. Provides for the reduction of the entitlement provided pursuant to the apprenticeship or other on-job training provisions.
United States · United States Congress · 28 September 1989
Amends the Rail Passenger Service Act to repeal an exemption from specified communicable disease control requirements of the Public Health Service Act for waste disposal from railroads operating in intercity rail passenger service.
United States · United States Congress · 28 September 1989
Designates March 3, 1990, as United States Naval Reserve Day in recognition of the Reserve's 75th anniversary.
United States · United States Congress · 27 September 1989
Designates November 11, 1989, as Washington Centennial Day in recognition of the economic, social, and historic contributions of the State of Washington to the United States over the past century.
United States · United States Congress · 27 September 1989
Designates the monarch butterfly as the national insect of the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 21 September 1989
Railroad Reorganization Public Interest Protection Act - Amends the Federal bankruptcy code to mandate that in any railroad reorganization scheme (except with respect to rolling stock equipment) the public interest in continued rail service must be considered by the court and the trustee in addition to the interests of debtors, creditors, and equity security holders.
United States · United States Congress · 12 September 1989
Directs the Secretary of Education to make a grant to Jackson State University in Jackson, Mississippi, to establish the Margaret Walker Alexander National African-American Research Center on its campus in recognition of, and to commemorate, the literary contributions of Margaret Walker Alexander. Requires the application for the grant to contain provisions to ensure that the Center will serve as a national center for the study, research, and teaching of African-American literature and history and as a repository for papers and memorabilia relating to the lives of individuals noted for their work in African-American literature and history. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1990.
United States · United States Congress · 12 September 1989
Designates October 1989 as Country Music Month.
United States · United States Congress · 4 August 1989
Veterans Health Professionals Educational Amendments of 1989 - Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to institute a Reserve member stipend program under the Armed Forces Educational Assistance Program. Requires an individual, in order to be eligible for such assistance, to be accepted or enrolled as a full-time student at a qualifying educational institution in a course of education or training approved by the Secretary and that leads toward completion of a degree in a health profession involving direct patient care or care incident to such direct patient care. Prohibits the Secretary from approving the application of an individual applying for such assistance unless the individual is entitled to benefits under the Reserve GI Bill program and the individual achieved a certain qualifying score on the Armed Forces Qualification Test. Authorizes the Secretary to pay a qualifying individual $400 monthly under such program. Requires a period of obligated service as a full-time employee of the Department of Veterans Affairs from a participating individual in return for such assistance. Makes such an individual liable to the United States for failure to serve in the Department at a health-care facility for the agreed upon period. Increases the reserve member stipend amount whenever there is a general Federal pay increase.
United States · United States Congress · 4 August 1989
Older Workers Benefit Protection Act - Amends the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA) to specify that it prohibits discrimination against older workers in all employee benefits except when age-based reductions in employee benefit plans are justified by significant cost considerations. Declares that, as used in ADEA, the phrase "compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment" encompasses all employee benefits, including those provided under a bona fide employee benefit plan. Requires that the actual amount of payment made or cost incurred on behalf of an older worker be no less than that made or incurred on behalf of a younger worker, for each benefit or benefit package, in order for an employee benefit plan not to violate ADEA. Places on the employer, employment agency, or labor organization the burden of proving, in any civil enforcement proceeding brought under ADEA, that specified actions are lawful. Requires a seniority system or employee benefit plan to comply with ADEA regardless of the date of adoption of such system or plan. Applies this Act to all actions or proceedings under ADEA that were brought after June 23, 1989, or that were pending on such date (which is the date on which the Supreme Court issued the decision in Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio v. Betts).
United States · United States Congress · 4 August 1989
School Completion and Incentives Act - Directs the Secretary of Education to make matching grants to each State for planning and carrying out a program to increase the high school completion rate. Requires States to assure that, under such program, requirements for obtaining a high school diploma or its equivalent will not be lowered. Requires that at least 40 percent of a State's grant funds be used for grants to individual schools that have: (1) a dropout rate above the State average; (2) an aggregate achievement rate below the State average; or (3) a student enrollment of which 30 percent of the students come from families below the official poverty line. Directs the Secretary to publish an application notice for such grants by January 1, 1991. Requires grant recipient annual reports by local educational agencies and individual schools to the State, and by the States to the Secretary. Directs the Secretary to develop, from information in such reports, an information base on dropout prevention programs. Directs the Secretary, at least once every three years, to publish the high school completion rate for each State, with the first such publication to be made by January 1, 1995. Authorizes appropriations for: (1) planning grants for such programs, for FY 1991 and 1992; and (2) grants to carry out such programs, for FY 1993 through 1999. Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) to revise provisions relating to programs for basic skills improvement and dropout prevention and reentry. Adds assistance to elementary school programs for such purposes (current law includes only secondary school programs). Requires each State educational agency and local educational agency that conducts a specified evaluation pursuant to such provisions to report the evaluation results to the National Diffusion Network. Increases the amounts authorized to be appropriated for such programs for FY 1990 through 1993.
United States · United States Congress · 4 August 1989
Designates October 1989 as Italian-American Heritage and Culture Month.
United States · United States Congress · 4 August 1989
Designates November 12 through November 18, 1989, as National Glaucoma Awareness Week.
United States · United States Congress · 4 August 1989
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the President: (1) is to be commended for his actions thus far in combatting terrorism; (2) should aggressively pursue increased cooperation with our allies and with the Soviet Union in preventing and responding to terrorism; and (3) should immediately conduct a comprehensive assessment of U.S. antiterrorism policy by reviewing the 1986 Report of the Vice President's Task Force on Combatting Terrorism. Specifies that such review should include recommendations for changes in laws, policies, and regulations necessary to protect commercial air transport and on policy criteria for determining when, if, and how to use force to preempt, react to, and retaliate in the event of terrorist incidents. Provides that the result of such review should be made available to the Congress and the public in an unclassified form. Urges the President to: (1) take actions in cooperation with the Congress designed to implement recommendations resulting from such review; (2) persist in his efforts to combat terrorism; and (3) announce publicly the determination of the United States to act firmly and decisively in pursuing every available legal means to eliminate terrorism and bring terrorists to justice.
United States · United States Congress · 4 August 1989
Expresses sorrow to the family of Lieutenant Colonel William Higgins over his reported murder and to the families of hostages of all nationalities being held in Lebanon. Recognizes that Iran is both directly and indirectly responsible for the captivity of the American hostages and the reported murder of Lt. Col. Higgins. Commends the President and the Secretary of State for doing everything in their power to deter further threats to the American hostages. Urges: (1) the President to express to the Government of Iran that the United States holds Iran responsible for Lt. Col. Higgins' death, the captivity of the remaining hostages, and all Hezbollah-sponsored terrorism; and (2) the President and the Secretary of State to continue exploring all possible channels for freeing the hostages and bringing those responsible for such acts to justice.
United States · United States Congress · 3 August 1989
Science and Technological Literacy Act of 1989 - Requires the National Science Foundation (NSF) to establish a program for supporting the development and dissemination of new curricula for mathematics and science at the elementary and secondary levels, and for mathematics, science, and engineering education and technical training at the undergraduate level, including through grants. Requires the NSF to establish a program to support the development and dissemination of innovative technologies for science and technological literacy instruction and training of individuals for technological careers, including through grants and through revolving fund loans. Requires an entity receiving funds for development of curricula or instruction technologies to obtain support of at least equal value from non-Federal sources. Allows the NSF Director to reduce or waive this requirement for an entity receiving funds for the acquisition of innovative computer hardware or software in certain circumstances. Requires the Director to carry out an advanced technician training program under which associate-degree-granting colleges will provide training in technical competencies in strategic fields. Requires an emphasis on: (1) collaborative programs with local employers; and (2) attracting people who are in need of retraining to retain jobs or who are unemployed. Provides for: (1) grants to such colleges; (2) establishment of an inventory of advanced technician training programs; (3) appointment of a National Advisory Council on Advanced Technician Training; (4) an annual report by the Council to the NSF and directly to the Congress without review by the NSF or the Office of Management and Budget; and (5) other matters. Requires the Director to designate ten centers of excellence among associate-degree-granting colleges to serve as national and regional clearinghouses, five for the benefit of colleges striving to upgrade their technical programs, five for the benefit of colleges and secondary schools striving to upgrade mathematics and science courses. Requires the colleges to pledge operating resources to match the Federal grants. Requires the Director to make at least 20 grants annually to associate-degree-granting colleges to develop and strengthen partnerships in mathematics and science education with secondary schools in the community. Requires the colleges to pledge operating resources to match the Federal grants. Sets forth the permissible uses of funds appropriated to carry out the centers of excellence and the partnerships provisions of this Act. Authorizes appropriations for: (1) curricula revision and instruction technologies for FY 1990; and (2) technician training for FY 1990 through 1992.
United States · United States Congress · 3 August 1989
School Dropout Prevention Act of 1989 - Requires the Secretary of Transportation to withhold a portion of Federal highway funds from States which: (1) issue a motor vehicle license or instructional permit to an individual under 18 years of age who is not enrolled in an elementary or secondary school or in a State-certified course leading to a high school diploma or who has not obtained a high school diploma; and (2) fail to suspend or revoke a license or permit issued to an individual under 18 who withdraws from the school or course other than to enroll in another such school or course. Allows States to issue or not suspend or revoke a license or permit where individual circumstances so warrant.
United States · United States Congress · 2 August 1989
Steel Fair Trade Review Act - Requires the President to submit to the Congress a report concerning progress achieved, pursuant to the steel trade liberalization program, on an international consensus to remove trade distorting practices in global steel markets. Specifies the issues such report must address.
United States · United States Congress · 31 July 1989
Authorizes the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, in the case of any individual discharged or dismissed from the armed forces under conditions other than honorable, to consider an application for, and issuance to such person of, an Exemplary Rehabilitation Certificate, if it is established that such person has rehabilitated himself, that his character is good, and that his conduct, activities, and habits since he was discharged or dismissed have been exemplary for a reasonable period of time, but not less than three years. Directs the Secretary to supply to the Secretary of Defense a copy of each such certificate issued, and requires the Secretary of Defense to place such certificate in the military personnel record of the affected individual. Permits the use of both oral and written evidence in the determination of the appropriateness of the certificate, including an appearance in person before the Secretary of Veterans Affairs by the individual being considered. Provides that no military or veterans' benefits shall accrue to an individual receiving such a certificate, unless the individual was previously eligible for such benefits under the original discharge or dismissal. Directs the Secretary of Labor to ensure that public employment offices accord to any person so discharged or dismissed but receiving an Exemplary Rehabilitation Certificate special counseling and job development assistance. Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, no later than January 15 of each year, to report to the Congress the number of cases reviewed under this Act and the number of certificates issued. Authorizes the Secretary to issue regulations, delegate authority, and utilize the services of the Office of Personnel Management in carrying out this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 28 July 1989
Copyright Remedy Clarification Act - Amends Federal copyright law to provide that any State or State instrumentality is liable to the same extent as any nongovernmental entity for: (1) copyright infringement; (2) importation of phonorecord copies without the authority of the copyright owner; and (3) infringement of exclusive rights in mask works. Denies sovereign immunity to any State for such violations and provides the same remedies as are available against other private or public entities.
United States · United States Congress · 28 July 1989
Copyright Royalty Tribunal Reform and Miscellaneous Pay Act of 1989 - Amends Federal copyright law to decrease Copyright Royalty Tribunal membership to three commissioners. Places under Level V of the Executive Schedule the compensation rates for: (1) Tribunal commissioners; (2) United States Parole Commissioners; and (3) the Deputy Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks, the Assistant Commissioner for Patents, and the Assistant Commissioner for Trademarks.
United States · United States Congress · 27 July 1989
Veterans PTSD Treatment and Psychological Readjustment Act of 1989 - Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to increase the number of: (1) vet centers currently in existence by 20 additional units by December 31, 1991, and by 20 more units by December 31, 1994; and (2) post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) treatment facilities currently in existence by 15 additional units by December 31, 1991, and by 15 more units by December 31, 1994. Requires new vet centers to be established in cities which do not have such centers. Earmarks a specified amount of FY 1990 PTSD funding for contracts with private facilities and therapists for the provision of PTSD treatment. Requires the Secretary, in administering the Health Professionals Educational Assistance Program, to encourage the participation of individuals in the program who desire to become psychiatrists, psychologists, and psychiatric nurses specializing in the treatment of PTSD. Directs the Secretary to establish the Advisory Committee on Readjustment of Veterans. Requires the Secretary to consult with, and seek the advice of, the Committee with respect to: (1) the administration of Department benefits for veterans, particularly Vietnam veterans; (2) reports and studies pertaining to veterans, particularly Vietnam veterans; and (3) the needs of all veterans with respect to compensation, health care, readjustment, outreach, and other benefits and programs administered by the Department. Requires the Committee to report annually to the Secretary pertaining to the social, economic, educational, and psychological readjustment of veterans. Requires the Secretary to submit such reports to the Congress, along with comments and recommendations. Authorizes the Secretary to conduct a pilot program to contract for care and treatment and rehabilitative services in halfway houses, therapeutic communities, psychiatric residential treatment centers, and other community-based treatment facilities for eligible veterans suffering from PTSD. Requires the Chief Medical Director (CMD) to plan, design, and conduct such program. Requires the Secretary to approve the quality and effectiveness of a program operated by a contract facility before allowing veterans to be furnished treatment there under the pilot program. Directs the Secretary to: (1) urge all public and private entities to provide appropriate employment and training opportunities to veterans who have been provided treatment and rehabilitative services under this Act for PTSD and who have been determined to be sufficiently rehabilitated to be employable; and (2) provide all possible assistance to the Secretary of Labor in placing such veterans in such opportunities. Requires the Secretary to provide referral services and advice to veterans discharged or released from active service who are not eligible for PTSD treatment and services. Outlines provisions concerning the transfer of veterans to contract care facilities for treatment of PTSD, requiring such transfer only within 30 days of such member's enlisted tour of duty and only if such person requests such a transfer while on active duty. Limits the period of such care and rehabilitative services to five years after the fiscal year in which the pilot program is initiated. Requires the Secretary to report to the Senate and House Veterans' Affairs Committees on findings and recommendations pertaining to the operation of the pilot program authorized under this Act. Directs the CMD of the Department to conduct a research program relating to the treatment of PTSD.
United States · United States Congress · 27 July 1989
Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) human rights violations in Cuba should be condemned; and (2) the President should award the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Armando Valladares.
United States · United States Congress · 26 July 1989
Industrial Design Anti-Piracy Act of 1989 - Amends the copyright law to provide for the protection of industrial designs of useful articles (including typefonts), except designs that are: (1) not original; (2) staple or commonplace; (3) different from commonplace or staple designs in insignificant ways; (4) determined solely by a utilitarian function; (5) composed of three-dimensional features of shape and surface in wearing apparel; (6) a semiconductor chip product already protected under another provision; or (7) embodying a process or idea or system. States that protection for a design shall be available for subject matter usually excluded if the design is a substantial revision, adaptation, or rearrangement of such subject matter. Sets the term of protection at ten years. Requires the design to be marked with a design notice when it is made public. States that omission of such notice shall not cause loss of protection or prevent recovery for infringement against any person who receives written notice of the protection. Specifies the criteria for determination of infringement of a protected design. Provides that protection of a design shall be lost if application for registration is not made within one year after the date on which the design is first made public. Provides procedures for application for the protection of a design through a certificate of registration. Sets a fee schedule for such process. Specifies the ownership and transfer rights of designs subject to protection. Provides remedies for infringement of a registered design, including injunctive relief and damages. Allows judicial review of a final refusal of the Register of the Copyright Office to register a design. Prescribes penalties for fraudulent registration, false marking, and false representation of any design. Provides that this Act shall take effect one year after the date of enactment. States that no design made public prior to the effective date shall be protected.
United States · United States Congress · 25 July 1989
Veterans Agent Orange Exposure and Vietnam Service Benefits Act of 1989 - Provides that the disease of chloracne in Vietnam veterans shall be considered to have been service-connected if such disease became manifest to a ten percent or more degree of disability within one year after the last date on which the veteran performed such service in Vietnam. Presumes the following diseases to be service-connected for veterans who performed active service in Vietnam during the Vietnam era, notwithstanding that there is no record of evidence of such disease during the period of such service: (1) non-Hodgkins lymphoma; (2) soft-tissue sarcoma; and (3) melanoma and basal cell carcinoma. Provides a presumption of service-connection in the case of a Vietnam veteran suffering from a disease associated with effects of exposure to certain dioxins or other herbicide agents during such service in Vietnam. Directs the Secretary to prescribe regulations listing a positive association between any disease and the biological effects of exposure to an herbicide agent in Vietnam. Requires the Secretary to update such list continually. Requires the Secretary, in prescribing and revising such list, to obtain by contract the determinations and estimates of a contract scientific organization. Requires such organization to: (1) determine which diseases have any degree of association with the biological effects of exposure to an herbicide agent; and (2) estimate the extent of association between each such disease and each such biological effects. Requires the organization to determine such association specifically with respect to non-Hodgkins lymphoma, each soft-tissue sarcoma, lung cancer, and each other cancer. Outlines contract provisions required in such agreements between the Secretary and the scientific organization, including surveys, evaluations, and periodic determinations. Requires such scientific organization to provide reports to the Secretary and the Senate and House Veterans' Affairs Committees regarding its determinations and evaluations. Requires such organization to determine, in the effect of a positive association, whether there is a reasonable basis for concluding that a Vietnam veteran with the highest level of exposure to that herbicide agent in Vietnam was exposed to such agent under the circumstances necessary for such biological effects. Requires a report from the organization to the Secretary and the veterans' committees when there is no such reasonable basis found. Requires the Secretary to make certain determinations and follow-up reports after receiving such reports from the contract scientific organization, including the issuance of a report to the veterans' committees and the promulgation of positive association regulations, if necessary. Requires benefits to be continued even though a disease is removed from the regulations listing diseases having positive associations. Terminates such contracting authority ten years after the first day of the fiscal year in which a scientific organization transmits its first report to the Secretary. Provides special effective dates. Directs the Secretary to compile and analyze all clinical data that: (1) is obtained by the Department in connection with examinations and treatment of veterans for disabilities related to exposure to certain herbicides or to service in Vietnam; and (2) is likely to be scientifically useful in determining the association, if any, between the disabilities of such veterans and their exposure to such herbicides and other toxic substances. Requires the Secretary to submit an annual report to the veterans' committees concerning such analysis and its results. Directs the Secretary to consult with the Director of the National Institutes of Health Research and Grants Division (NIH) before compiling and analyzing such information. Requires the Director of NIH to review each annual report submitted by the Secretary and transmit to the Secretary an evaluation of the contents of each report. Directs the Secretary to establish and maintain a system for the collection and storage of voluntarily contributed samples of blood and tissue of veterans who performed active service in Vietnam during the Vietnam era. Outlines provisions concerning the security and authorized uses of such specimens, as well as limitations on the acceptance of such samples. Requires the Secretary to consult with the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) to the extent that an agreement has been reached with the NAS serving as the contract scientific organization for the Secretary. Requires the Secretary to consult with the Director of the Medical Follow-up Agency in the event of no agreement with NAS. Directs the Secretary to establish a program to provide for the conduct of studies of the feasibility of conducting additional scientific research on health hazards resulting from: (1) exposure to dioxin; (2) exposure to other toxic agents in herbicides used in support of U.S. and allied military operations in Vietnam during the Vietnam era; and (3) active military, naval, or air service there. Requires the Secretary to report to the veterans' committees on the results of such studies. Requires the Secretary to consult with the NAS before undertaking such studies and requires the NAS, to review such studies and report recommendations to the Secretary and the veterans' committees, to the extent provided under any agreement between the Secretary and NAS. Amends the Veterans' Benefits Improvement Act of 1988 to require the Secretary to annually furnish updated information to veterans listed in the Department of Veterans Affairs' Agent Orange Registry on health risks resulting from exposure to dioxin or other toxic agents in herbicides as a result of service in Vietnam during the Vietnam era. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to report to the veterans' committees on the research being conducted to develop treatments for psychological absorption of dioxin and other toxic agents used in herbicides by the United States in Vietnam, including research relating to exposure to dioxin and other toxic agents outside Vietnam. Extends through December 31, 2000, the eligibility for hospital and nursing home care for veterans exposed to toxic substances in Vietnam. Amends the Veterans' Benefits Improvement Act of 1988 to authorize direct consultation between the Ranch Hand Advisory Committee and Department of the Air Force scientists conducting the Ranch Hand Study (a study of the long-term health effects of exposure to phenoxy herbicides and contaminants). Requires the preparation and submission of annual reports and a final report in connection with such study.