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United States · Official source
1,529 records where Rep. Staggers, Harley O., Jr. [D-WV-2] is listed as a sponsor, author, or other actor. Search with topics and years
United States · United States Congress · 24 October 1991
Nuclear Testing Moratorium Act - Prohibits the Secretary of Energy from conducting any explosive nuclear weapons test during the one-year period following the enactment of this Act unless the President certifies to the Congress that the Soviet Union has conducted such a test during such period.
United States · United States Congress · 24 October 1991
Designates November 24 through 30, 1991, and November 22 through 28, 1992, as National Adoption Week.
United States · United States Congress · 22 October 1991
Local Partnership Act of 1991 - Establishes a revenue sharing program of payments to local governments. Sets forth the general framework for the timing of payments and for adjustments. Establishes in the Treasury a Local Government Fiscal Assistance Trust Fund (trust fund), with the Secretary of the Treasury as the personal trustee, and authorizes FY 1993 through 1997 appropriations to finance it. Describes qualifying criteria for and conditions to be met by local governments seeking payments under the program. Withholds payments in cases of noncompliance. Requires the Secretary, in accordance with specified formulae, to determine the amount from the trust fund to be allocated to each State for further allocation to county, municipal, and township local governments as well as to Indian tribes and Alaskan native villages. Permits State variation of certain local government allocations. Sets forth special rules governing adjustments in local government allocations, including a limit on allocations to local government units based on a specified formula. Specifies the information to be used in making allocations under the program. Requires public hearings on proposed uses of program payments in relation to the local government's budget. Requires public disclosure of information on proposed payment uses and proposed budgets of local governments both prior to the hearing and after adoption of the budget. Prohibits discrimination under a local government program or activity on the basis of race, color, national origin, or sex if such program or activity is paid for with funds provided under this Act. Lists additional prohibitions applicable to such programs or activities. Prescribes procedures for: (1) instituting administrative proceedings for violations of such prohibitions; (2) suspending and terminating payments; and (3) judicial review of such sanctions. Sets forth provisions providing for: (1) enforcement by the Attorney General of such prohibitions; (2) civil actions by persons adversely affected by such prohibitions; (3) independent audits of local government finances; (4) investigations by the Secretary of possible violations of this Act; (5) reviews by the Comptroller General of activities of the Secretary, State governments, and local government units to determine compliance with this Act; (6) annual reports by the Secretary to the Congress on both the trust fund and the administration of the payment program; and (7) annual reports by local govermental units to the Secretary on program payments.
United States · United States Congress · 21 October 1991
Federally Supported Health Centers Assistance Act of 1991 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to include entities receiving Federal funds under provisions relating to migrant health centers, community health centers, or health services for the homeless, and officers, employees, or contractors of such entities who are licensed health care practitioners, in the coverage of provisions regulating civil actions for injury resulting from medical or related functions against commissioned officers or employees of the Public Health Service. Subrogates to the United States any insurance claim such an entity or person has. Prohibits grants under provisions relating to migrant or community health centers or health services for the homeless unless the applicant has: (1) implemented policies and procedures to assure against malpractice; (2) reviewed the professional credentials, claims history, and other information regarding its licensed health care practitioners; and (3) no history of claims against it under such provisions relating to officers and employees of the Public Health Service, or has cooperated with the Attorney General in defending against such claims and has taken corrective action. Empowers the Attorney General, if certain conditions are met, to determine that an individual practitioner shall not be deemed a Public Health Service employee for purposes of these provisions. Prohibits hospitals from denying admitting privileges to an otherwise qualified health care provider who is an officer, employee, or contractor of such an entity.
United States · United States Congress · 21 October 1991
Medicaid Moratorium Amendments of 1991 - Amends the Technical and Miscellaneous Revenues Act of 1988 to: (1) delay until September 30, 1992, the issuance of regulations changing the treatment under the Medicaid program (title XIX of the Social Security Act) of voluntary contributions and provider-specific taxes; and (2) maintain current regulations that allow intergovernmental transfers as a source of a State's expenditures for which Federal matching funds are available under the Medicaid program. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to submit to specified congressional committees a report on: (1) regulations to limit the use of voluntary contributions and provider-specific taxes to obtain Federal financial participation; (2) specific types of voluntary contributions and provider-specific taxes that may be used as sources of State expenditures for which Federal financial participation is available; and (3) any legislation that the Secretary believes is appropriate. Sets forth budget compliance provisions.
United States · United States Congress · 17 October 1991
Designates January 4 through 10, 1992, as Braille Literacy Week.
United States · United States Congress · 17 October 1991
Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) the International Red Cross/Red Crescent Movement should include Magen David Adom (MDA) as a legitimate national society of the Movement; (2) the Star of David should be recognized as a legitimate symbol of humanitarian concern when utilized by MDA; and (3) all other national societies of the Movement should support full MDA membership.
United States · United States Congress · 16 October 1991
Designates March 1992 as Irish-American Heritage Month.
United States · United States Congress · 15 October 1991
Designates the week of October 27 through November 2, 1991, as National Pornography Victims Awareness Week.
United States · United States Congress · 11 October 1991
Higher Education Amendments of 1992 - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) to revise and reauthorize its various programs. Title I: Partnerships for Educational Excellence - Revises HEA title I and renames it Partnerships for Educational Excellence (replaces the current title I, Postsecondary Programs for Nontraditional Students). Authorizes appropriations for FY 1993 through 1997 for the following title I programs: (1) part A, Urban Community Service; (2) part B, Urban and Rural College, University, and School Partnerships; (3) part D, Articulation Agreements; and (4) part E, Manufacturing Engineering Education. Establishes as part A of title I a Urban Community Service program to provide incentives to urban institutions (including academic, private, and civic bodies) to work together to devise and implement solutions to the most pressing and severe problems in their communities. Requires applications for such urban community service program grants to contain a plan agreed to by the members of a consortium that includes a public or private four-year institution of higher education (and, where possible and appropriate, a community college) in partnership with an urban school system, a local government, a private business, or a nonprofit institution. Allows the Secretary of Education (the Secretary) to waive this consortium requirement for applicants with an appropriate integrated and coordinated plan. Gives priority to applications that: (1) include plans agreed to by a consortium of several members of the specified categories; and (2) propose to conduct joint projects supported by other local, State, and Federal programs. Requires grant funds to be used for planning, applied research, training, resource exchanges, technology transfers, delivery of services, or other activities to design and implement programs to assist urban communities to meet and address their most pressing problems. Includes the following problem areas among those for which such activities are authorized: (1) urban poverty and its alleviation; (2) health care including delivery and access; (3) under-performing school systems and students; (4) problems faced by the elderly in urban settings; (5) crime prevention and alternative interventions; (6) urban housing; (7) urban infrastructure; (8) economic development; and (9) other problem area which the participants agree are of high priority for that urban area. Establishes as part B of title I an Urban and Rural College, University, and School Partnerships program to encourage partnerships of urban institutions of higher education (or consortia of such institutions) and secondary schools and school systems serving low-income and disadvantaged urban or rural students to support programs to improve school retention and graduation rates, student academic skills, opportunities to continue education beyond high school, and prospects for productive employment. Requires an urban or rural institution of higher education (or consortium), to be eligible for such a university-school partnership grant, to enter a written partnership agreement with a local education agency (LEA). Allows such partnership to include businesses, labor organizations, professional associations, community-based organizations, or other public or private agencies or organizations. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to university-school partnerships to support the authorized program activities. Requires that grant preference be given to: (1) programs to serve predominantly low-income neighborhoods; (2) partnerships to run programs during the regular school year and during the summer; and (3) programs to serve educationally disadvantaged students, potential dropouts, pregnant adolescents, and teen-aged parents. Requires maintenance of fiscal effort by LEAs participating in such partnership agreements. Requires such grant applications to assure: (1) establishment of a partnership governing body including one representative from each participant; (2) a gradually declining specified Federal share of project costs; and (3) use of such Federal grant funds to supplement and not supplant non-Federal funds. Sets forth title I part C administrative provisions to provide for: (1) peer review panels for part A or B grant applications; and (2) multiyear disbursement of Urban Community Service program grant funds, under specified conditions. Establishes as part D of title I an Articulation Agreements program of grants for articulation agreements and planning between partnerships of two-year and four-year institutions of higher education. (Current part D provisions for the Student Literacy Corps are revised and transferred to part B of title XI of HEA by this Act.) Directs the Secretary to make such grants to States to make awards to articulation partnerships between qualified institutions, on the basis of either a competition or a formula determined by the State. Provides for allocation of such grant funds to States: (1) by a formula based on the relative total amount of student assistance received under HEA title IV by students attending institutions in the State, if the authorization of appropriations for such grants program equals or exceeds a specified amount; or (2) if such authorized amount is less than the specified amount, by competitive grants which the Secretary is authorized to make to States. Sets forth requirements for State and local applications, articulation agreements, and State administrative costs limitations. Requires States to give priority to grant applications for programs which: (1) encourage teacher education; (2) have, as one partner participating in the agreement, an entity meeting a specified requirement for the tech-prep education program consortia (i.e. a local or intermediate educational agency or area vocational education school serving secondary school students, or a secondary school funded by the Bureau of Indian Affairs) under the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Education Act; (3) contribute their own institutional resources; (4) are not subject to a student loan default reduction agreement under title IV (Student Assistance) of HEA; or (5) encourage articulation in subject areas of national importance as determined by the Secretary. Sets forth requirements for annual State program reports and for program evaluation by the Secretary. Directs the Secretary to: (1) report to the Congress by January 31, 1996, on the results of such evaluation; and (2) disseminate findings relating to the most successful programs. Reserves limited amounts for such purposes. Establishes as part E of title I a Manufacturing Engineering Education program. Directs the Secretary to establish a program of grants to institutions of higher education to support enhancement of existing and establishment of new programs in manufacturing engineering education. Requires consultation with the Director of the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy. Requires the Secretary and the NSF Director to enter into an agreement to coordinate such grant program with similar NSF programs, and for NSF assistance in administering and managing such grant program. Sets forth requirements for programs of engineering supported by such grant awards. Requires such programs to be conducted at the undergraduate and/or graduate level. Sets forth components for such consolidated and integrated multidisciplinary programs. Requires significant involvement of industry in such programs. Sets forth requirements for grant proposals. Bases grant awards on merit competition. Sets forth minimum criteria for selection. Title II: Academic Library and Information Technology Enhancement - Revises HEA title II and renames it Academic Libraries in an Electronic Networked Environment (currently Academic Library and Information Technology Enhancement). Authorizes appropriations for FY 1993 through 1997 for the following title II programs: (1) part A, College Library Technology and Cooperation Grants; (2) part B, Library Education, Research, and Development; (3) part C, Improving Access to Research Library Resources; and (4) part D, Strengthening Library and Information Science Programs in Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Directs the Secretary to ensure that title II programs are administered by appropriate library experts. Transfers to title II part A program of the College Library Technology and Cooperation Grants (currently part D) and eliminates current part A provisions for College Library Resources. Revises such College Library Technology and Cooperation Grants program to add provisions emphasizing the accessing and sharing of library and information resources through technology. Requires the Secretary to give priority, in awarding certain such grants, to institutions of higher education seeking assistance for projects which assist developing institutions of higher education in linking one or more institutions of higher education to resource sharing networks. Increases the required minimum grant amount and sets a maximum amount for certain grants. Revises and renames title II part B as Library Education, Research, and Development (currently Library Training, Research, and Development). Requires the Secretary to consult with appropriate library and information science professional organizations to determine: (1) critical needs under provisions for grants and contracts for library education and human resources development, and (2) priorities for awarding grants for research and demonstrations. Revises provisions for library education and human resource development to include assistance for training for library and information science, particularly in areas of critical needs such as recruitment and retention of minorities. Requires that stipends for certain fellowships and traineeships be for those who demonstrate need and are working toward a graduate degree. Revises provisions for research and demonstration projects to include those related to education in library and information science and to enhancement of library services through use of new technology. Revises title II part C and renames it as Improving Access to Research Library Resources (currently Strengthening Research Library Resources). Eliminates provisions which precluded part C grant recipients from receiving certain other title II grants. Adds a new title II part D program for Strengthening Library and Information Science Programs in Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Directs the Secretary to make grants to, and contracts with, historically black colleges and universities and library organizations or agencies which have nationally approved programs in library and information science to educate and train African Americans and other ethnic minorities, particularly in areas of critical needs. Requires that at least 75 percent of such funds be used to establish or maintain graduate fellowships or traineeships. Allows the remainder to be used for: (1) costs of courses of study or staff development, including short-term or regular session institutes; and (2) establishing, developing, or expanding programs of library and information science, including new techniques of information transfer and communication technology. Title III: Institutional Aid - Revises and reauthorizes HEA title III (Institutional Aid). Revises title III part A (Strengthening Institutions) provisions relating to award of grants, eligible institutions, and duration of grants. Requires part A grant applications to describe measurable goals for the institution's financial management and academic program and include a plan for achieving such goals. Requires continuation applications to demonstrate progress made toward achievement of such goals. Revises title III part B (Strengthening Historically Black Colleges and Universities) to add to authorized uses of part B grants: (1) development offices to improve contributions from alumni and the private sector; (2) programs of teacher education, including preparation for certification, to qualify students to teach in public elementary or secondary schools in the State; and (3) community outreach programs to encourage elementary and secondary students to develop the academic skills and interest to pursue postsecondary education. Increases the minimum allotment for each part B institution. Requires part B grant applications to describe measurable goals for the institution's financial management and academic programs and include a plan for achieving such goals. Includes as eligible for part B grants specified independent professional and graduate institutions, as well as any other part B institution offering a professional or doctoral degree program that the Secretary determines is deserving of such a grant. Provides that only certain of such specified institutions shall receive such funding if the total funding does not exceed a specified amount. Revises title III part C and renames it Endowment Challenge Grants for Institutions Eligible for Assistance under Part A or Part B (currently Challenge Grants, etc.). Repeals the Challenge Grant Program, but reauthorizes the Endowment Challenge Grant Program. Defines eligible institutions for purposes of such program. Revises conditions under which the Secretary may make an endowment challenge grant to an eligible institution. Revises selection criteria. Requires part C grant applications to include a description of the long- and short-term plans for raising and using the funds under part C. Requires a set-aside of 30 percent of part C funds for challenge grants to Historically Black Colleges and Universities, under specified conditions. Revises title III part D general provisions relating to application for assistance. Repeals provisions for special payments rules and for challenge grant program applications. Extends through FY 1997 the authorization of appropriations for title III Institutional Aid programs under: (1) part A, Strengthening Institutions; (2) part B, Strengthening Historically Black Colleges and Universities; and (3) part C, Endowment Challenge Grants. Requires that 25 percent of specified excess funds under part A be allocated among eligible institutions at which at least 60 percent of the students are Black Americans, Hispanic Americans, Native Americans, Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, or Pacific Islanders, or any combination thereof. Title IV: Student Assistance - Part A: Grants to Students in Attendance at Institutions of Higher Education - Subpart 1: Federal Pell Grants - Revises and reauthorizes programs under HEA title IV (Student Assistance). Revises and renames the Pell Grants program under title IV part A subpart 1 as the Federal Pell Grants program (later redesignates the provisions as subpart 2). Increases the maximum award amount for Pell Grants to $4,500 in academic year 1993-1994, with further increases based on the Consumer Price Index for academic years 1994-1995 through 1998-1999. Revises the formula for determining the amount of a Pell Grant award to a student. Sets forth payment schedules based on the expected family contribution and tuition costs, for various types of students. Modifies the prohibition against Pell Grant awards to students attending on a less than half-time basis, to allow such awards for not more than five semesters (or their equivalent). Revises provisions relating to the period of eligibility for Pell Grants. Includes as eligible for Pell Grants students in programs of study abroad that are approved for credit by the institution. Revises provisions relating to the eligibility index. Makes the Pell Grant program an entitlement. Gives every student who qualifies for a Pell Grant a contractual right against the United States for the amount of such grant to which they are entitled. Provides that Pell Grant recipients shall not be considered to be individual grantees for purposes of specified Federal law. Repeals specified provisions for a separate need analysis formula for Pell Grants. (Later in this Act, a single new need analysis formula and system is established for all title IV student aid programs, including Pell Grants. Subpart 2: Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants - Revises and renames the Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants program under title IV part A subpart 2 as the Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants program (supplemental grants) (later redesignates the provisions subpart 3). Extends through FY 1997 the authorization of appropriations for the supplemental grants program. Includes students in programs of study abroad that are approved for credit by the institution among those eligible for supplemental grants. Requires institutions in the supplemental grants program to agree that the Federal share of awards will not exceed 75 percent, unless the Secretary determines that a larger Federal share is required to further the purpose of the program. Requires institutions to assure that selection procedures will be designed to award supplemental grants, first, to students with exceptional need (i.e. the greatest financial need). Requires that a reasonable proportion of an institution's supplemental grants allocation be made available to certain nontraditional students (i.e. less than full-time, age 24 or older, single parents, or independent students), if such allocation is directly or indirectly based in part on the financial need of such students. Revises provisions relating to transfer of funds. Requires reduction of an institution's allocation for the next fiscal year by the amount returned, if this is more than ten percent of its allocation. Authorizes waiver of such reduction if it is contrary to the interest of the supplemental grants program. Subpart 3: State Student Incentive Grants - Revises title IV part A subpart 3 provisions for the program of Grants to States for Student Incentives (State student incentive grants program) (later redesignates these provisions as subpart 4). Extends through FY 1997 the authorization of appropriations for such program. Includes, as eligible for grants from States under such program, eligible students participating in programs of study abroad approved for credit by the institutions. Increases to $5,000 (currently $2,500) the maximum amount for any such grants for full-time attendance at an institution of higher education and for campus-based community service work learning study jobs. Revises conditions for State allotments and expenditures under such program. Repeals the requirement for a reasonable proportion of a institution's allocation being made available to less than full-time students under such program. Subpart 4: Federal Early Outreach and Student Services Programs - Revises and renames subpart 4 of part A of title IV as Federal Early Outreach Services Programs (the current subpart 4, Special Programs for Students from Disadvantaged Backgrounds, is repealed in name, but reauthorized and revised under subpart 4 Chapter 1 provisions for Trio Programs). (Also transfers such subpart 4 to subpart 1 of part A of title IV and then redesignates subparts 1, 2, 3 as 2, 3, 4.) Sets forth chapter 1, TRIO Programs, i.e. the revised and reauthorized Special Programs for Students for Disadvantaged Backgrounds. Extends through FY 1997 the authorization of appropriations for such programs. Adds to program goals motivation and preparation of such students for doctoral programs. Adds requirements for: (1) a peer review application process; (2) inflation adjustments; (3) minimum grant levels for specified programs; (4) duration of grants and contracts; (5) notice of application status; (6) early notification and technical training for potential providers of special programs and projects; (7) unlimited number of applications by an entity; and (8) coordination with other programs for disadvantaged students. Directs the Secretary to ensure that: (1) members of groups underrepresented in higher education are represented as readers of TRIO programs applications; and (2) each such application is read by at least three reviewers not employed at the Department of Education. Sets forth requirements for documentation of status as a low-income individual, for purposes of TRIO programs eligibility. Revises provisions for the Talent Search program (one of the TRIO programs). Sets forth an expanded list of permissible services which talent search projects may offer, in addition to tutoring, including counseling, mentoring, and parent workshops. Lowers the minimum age and elementary education completion levels for participant eligibility to 11 years of age and five years of school completed (currently 12 and six, respectively, while retaining the maximum age level of 27 years). Revises provisions for the Upward Bound program (one of the TRIO programs). Adds to the list of permissible services which upward bound projects may offer mentoring programs involving elementary or secondary school teachers college faculty, students, or any combination thereof. Requires any assisted upward bound project which has received two or more years of program funding to include in its core curriculum: (1) instruction in mathematics through precalculus; (2) at least one laboratory science; (3) at least one foreign language; and (4) instruction in composition and literature. Revises provisions for Student Support Services (one of the TRIO programs). Adds requirements for design goals of support services projects, including increased rates of college retention, graduation, and transfers from two- to four-year institutions, and institutional climates supportive of low-income and first-generation college students and individuals with disabilities. Adds to permissible services for such projects mentoring programs involving school teachers, college faculty and/or students. Revises provisions for the Ronald E. McNair Postbaccalaureate Achievement (under TRIO programs provisions). Adds to permissible services: (1) mentoring programs involving elementary or secondary school teachers, college faculty, and/or students; and (2) exposure to cultural events and academic programs not usually available to disadvantaged students. Allows costs for summer room and board, summer tuition, and transportation to summer programs to be paid in addition to the maximum annual amount for a student stipend. Eliminates provisions which: (1) conditioned program funding on specified minimum funding for other programs; and (2) set program funding limits. Revises provisions for Educational Opportunity Centers (under TRIO programs provisions). Expands the list of permissible services which such centers may offer, in addition to tutorial and counseling services, including public information campaigns, assistance in course selection, financial aid application, and entrance exam preparation, alternative education guidance for dropouts, career workshops, monitoring programs and special programs for students of limited English proficiency. Revises provisions for Staff Development Activities (for training for staff and leadership personnel for projects under TRIO Programs). Requires such training to be offered annually for new directors of such projects as well as annually specified topics and other topics chosen by the Secretary. Authorizes the Secretary to make Outreach Grants to institutions of higher education, community-based organizations, and other public and private nonprofit organizations to provide outreach information to potential providers of programs and projects authorized under Federal Early Outreach and Student Services Programs (the new subpart 1) that could serve groups underrepresented in such programs. Authorizes the Secretary to make Project Evaluation grants and contracts to institutions of higher education and other public and private organizations to: (1) evaluate the effectiveness of the various programs authorized under TRIO programs provisions (chapter 1); and (2) disseminate results of on-going evaluations to similar programs as well as to other individuals concerned with the postsecondary access and retention of low-income, first-generation students. Establishes National Liberty Scholarships and Partnerships Programs (as chapter 2 of the new subpart 1). Authorizes the Secretary to establish such programs through matching payments to States for: (1) State financial aid programs that award grants to low-income students who attain a high school diploma or its equivalent to guarantee them the financial assistance necessary to attend an institution of higher educaiton; and (2) a partnership program (provided by States in cooperation with local educational agencies, postsecondary institutions, and community organizations) of additional counseling, outreach, and supportive services for elementary, middle, and secondary students at risk of dropping out of school and for students and their parents regarding college financing options. Requires State plans for such financial aid program to provide for: (1) at least one-half of program costs from non-Federal funds; (2) all qualified students to be designated as eligible; and (3) first preference for payments of specified other grant funds to students eligible for grants under this program. Requires State plans for such partnership program to provide for matching the Federal grant with funds from non-Federal sources which will supplement and not supplant funds for existing State and local programs. Requires States, in order to receive such financial aid program payments, to establish or maintain a financial assistance program that awards grants to students in accordance with specified requirements. Requires that the maximum amount of such a grant be established by the State, but prohibits such amount from being less than 75 percent of the average cost of attendance for an in-State student in a four-year program at public institutions in such State. Defines "qualified student" for purposes of such financial aid program as one who: (1) is less than 22 years old at time of first grant award; (2) is receiving a Pell Grant for the academic year of the award or would be eligible for such Pell Grant but for their attendance on a less than half-time basis; (3) receives a high school diploma or equivalent in 1993 or thereafter; and (4) is enrolled in an authorized degree program in the State (States may opt to offer grant program portability for recipients at institutions in other participating States). Requires a State to demonstrate, under the partnership program, that it has increased the aggregate amount of its expenditures to provide comprehensive mentoring, counseling, outreach and supportive services. Directs the Secretary to establish criteria for determining which types of services programs may be counted for such purpose. Lists examples of acceptable activities. Allows the State to include in such program participating of businesses, religious organizations, community groups, postsecondary educational institutions, nonprofit and philanthropic organizations, and other entities deemed appropriate by the Secretary. Sets forth requirements for Federal matching payments to States for such financial aid and partnership programs, with additional payments for limited administrative expenses. Bases State allotments under this Act on their relative allocations under provisions for grants for local educational agencies in counties with especially high concentrations of children from low-income families under the Elementary and Secondary Education of 1965. Prohibits any State from using more than 50 percent of its allotment for the comprehensive counseling, outreach, and support services partnership program. Sets forth reallotment provisions. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1993 through 1997 for grants for matching payments to States for such financial aid and partnership program. Establishes Model Program Community Partnership Counseling Grants (as chapter 3 of the new subpart 1). Directs the Secretary to award grants to develop model programs for: (1) counseling students, at an early age, about college opportunities, precollege requirements, college admissions procedures, and financial aid opportunities, in ways designed or customized for use in specific geographic, social, and cultural environments; or (2) stimulating community partnerships with schools by providing tutoring, mentoring, work experiences, and other support services to make postsecondary education a realistic goal for all students. Gives priority to model programs directed at areas with a high proportion of minority, economically disadvantaged, or at-risk students. Sets forth requirements for: (1) either tailoring to a specific environment or community partnership with local businesses, labor organizations, or community groups; and (2) measurement of goals and outcomes. Directs the Secretary to collect, and disseminate through the National Diffusion Network, information on: (1) successful programs for counseling students about college and for early intervention to help them stay in school and pursue postsecondary education; and (2) model programs for counseling students in specific environments and for community partnership support services to make postsecondary education a realistic goal. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1993 through 1997 for such model program grants and such dissemination activities. Establishes the Presidential Achievement Awards Scholarships program (as chapter 4 of the new subpart 1), to award scholarships to Pell Grants recipients who: (1) have participated in a preparatory program for postsecondary education; and (2) demonstrate academic achievement. Allows Presidential Achievement Scholars to receive a Presidential Achievement scholarship for each year the student receives a Pell Grant and meets specified requirements for eligibility. Bases eligibility in the first year of postsecondary education on the student's receiving a Pell Grant and having: (1) participated for at least 36 months in an early intervention program meeting certain requirements; (2) completed secondary education, including three years of mathematics, two years of science, and four years of English; and (3) earned at least a 2.5 grade point average in the final two years of high school. Bases eligibility after the first year on the student's receiving a Pell Grant and: (1) having received a Presidential Achievement Award in a previous academic year; and (2) maintaining satisfactory academic progress. Sets such scholarship amount at 25 percent of the student's Pell Grant amount (with reductions for the amount by which the scholarship combined with any other assistance exceeds the cost of attendance). Sets forth provisions for award procedures, payment of scholarships, and awards cermonies. Establishes a program of Technical Assistance for Teachers and Counselors (as chapter 5 of the new subpart 1). Directs the Secretary to award two-year technical assistance grants to local educational agencies (LEAs) to obtain specialized training for guidance counselors, teachers, and principals to counsel students about college opportunities, precollege requirements, college admissions procedures, and financial aid opportunities. Gives priority to LEAs serving school districts with significantly high proportions of students who do not continue on to higher education and who are educationally disadvantaged. Sets forth planning, evaluation, and reporting requirements. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1993 through 1997 for such technical assistance grants. Establishes a National Student Savings Demonstration Program (as chapter 6 of the new subpart 1), to: (1) test the feasibility of a national program to encourage families to save for their children's college education, and thereby reduce the loan indebtedness of college students; and (2) help determine the most effective means of achieving such purposes. Authorizes the Secretary to award a demonstration grant to not more than five States to conduct such a student savings program. Provides for a Federal match of not more than $50 per child. Gives priority to States proposing programs that establish accounts for a child prior to the age of compulsory school attendance in that State. Gives special consideration to States that: (1) permit employers to use pretax income in making contributions to a child's account; and (2) provide assurances that interest earned in such accounts shall be exempt from State taxes. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1992 through 1996 for such program. Sets forth provisions for Public Information (as chapter 7 of the new subpart 1), including a database, information lines, and public advertising. Directs the Secretary to award a contract to establish and maintain: (1) a computerized database of all public and private financial assistance programs, to be accessible to schools and libraries through modems or toll-free telephone lines; and (2) a toll-free information line, including access by telecommunications devices for the deaf, to provide individualized financial assistance information to parents, students, and others, including referrals to postsecondary clearinghouse for individuals with disabilities. Directs the Secretary to encourage private nonprofit organizations to work with video producers to develop and deliver public service announcements and paid advertising messages that encourage economically disadvantaged, minority, or at-risk individuals to seek higher education and financial assistance counseling at public schools and libraries. Allows such announcements and messages to be specially designed for students of limited English proficiency. Requires the Secretary to keep the Congress informed of such advertising efforts and to recommend any additional legislative authority that will serve such purposes. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1993 through 1998 for such Public Information programs. Subpart 5: Amendments to Subparts 5 through 8 of Part A - Revises provisions for Special Programs for Students Whose Families Are Engaged in Migrant and Seasonal Farmwork (Migrant Programs) (subpart 5 of part A of title IV of HEA), including the high school equivalency program (HEP) and the college assistance migrant program (CAMP). Includes under program eligibility provisions, for HEP recruitment services and CAMP outreach and recruitment services, certain persons who have participated under specified programs for migrants under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 or the Job Partnership Training Act. Extends the ordinary grant period to five years (currently three). Extends through FY 1997 the authorization of appropriations for Migrant Programs. Extends through FY 1997 the authorization of appropriations for the Robert C. Byrd Honors Scholarship Program (subpart 6 of part A of title IV of HEA). Repeals provisions for certain definitions under such program. Repeals provisions for Assistance to Institutions of Higher Education (subpart 7 of part A of title IV of HEA), including: (1) certain cost-of-education payments to institutions of higher education based on numbers of students receiving Pell Grants; and (2) a veterans education outreach program. Extends through FY 1997 the authorization of appropriations for Special Child Care Services for Disadvantaged College Students (subpart 8 of part A of title IV of HEA). Part B: Federal Family Education Loans - Revises and renames HEA title IV part B as the Federal Family Education Loan Program (currently the Robert T. Stafford Student Loan Program). Refers to the program under this part as the Federal Stafford Student Loan Program (currently known as the Stafford or Guaranteed Student Loan- GSL-program) and to loans made under this part as Federal Stafford Loans. Limits the authorization to guarantee new loans under the part B (Stafford Loan) program, by making such guarantee authority contingent on timely rulemaking. Prohibits issuance of any such new loan guarantees after June 30, 1994, if the Secretary does not issue final regulations implementing the changes made this Act. (Under part D of this Act a Federal Direct Loans program replaces the Stafford or GSL program, with a phase-in process beginning in July 1994 and terminating GSL authority by the end of June 1996.) Revises Stafford or GSL program provisions to add provisions relating to guaranty agency funding and solvency, including requirements for: (1) information collection; (2) standards; (3) management plans; (4) penalties for failure to submit acceptable plans; (5) reports; and (6) confidential treatment of information. Revises payment rules for the GSL (and the FISL or federally-insured student loan) programs to: (1) require graduated or income-sensitive schedules upon borrower request; and (2) eliminate the special minimum payment rule for married couples. Adds special rules to cover approved study abroad, for purposes of student loan disbursement and amounts. Revises provisions relating to applicable interest rates. Revises provisions for agreements for Federal payments to reduce student interest rates. Prohibits eligible institutions with a cohort default rates of 20 percent or higher from providing loan applications directly to their students (who must therefore obtain an application from the lender). Provides for proration of GSL loan program amounts eligibility to course load. Requires a minimum payment of at least the interest due and payable. Revises provisions for deferments. Revises provisions relating to exclusion of forebearance from repayment period calculation. Revises provisions relating to consequences of institutional eligibility limitation, suspension, and termination actions. Requires participation agreements between the guaranty agency and each eligible institution. Requires notice to borrowers of any sale or other transfer of the loan to another holder. Allows requests for GSL program student loan repayment deferments by students engaged in graduate or postgraduate fellowship-supported study abroad (such as Fulbright grant recipients) to be approved until completion of the fellowship period. Adds requirements for conflict-of-interest restrictions on guaranty agency officers and employees. Authorizes guaranty agencies to enter into agreements under which State licensing boards will, upon request, furnish guarantee agencies with the addresses of student borrowers. Revises the time period during which a guaranty agency may file a claim for reimbursement. Limits additional review claims by exceptional performance lenders and loan servicers to cases of fraud or other purposeful misconduct in obtaining such designation. Revises provisions relating to subrogation. Requires guaranty agencies to submit lists of defaulted borrowers to institutions of higher education to check on the lists' accuracy, prior to filing reinsurance claims. Revises forbearance provisions. Provides for references to third party servicers. Sets forth special rules for exceptional performance in loans collection by eligible lenders and loan services. Revises provisions for cost of lender participation promotion to refer to eligible (rather than commercial) lenders. Provides for coordination of repayment of Stafford loans and Supplemental Loans for Students (SLS). Revises provisions relating to capitalization of interest. Revises provisions for parent (PLUS) loans with respect to: (1) copayable checks; (2) disbursement; (3) limitation of deferral; and (4) capitalization of interest. Revises provisions for consolidation loans with respect to: (1) use of consolidation to avoid default; (2) extension of the consolidation eligibility period; (3) consolidation of loans of married borrowers; (4) interest during deferral; (5) repayment periods; and (6) gradual and income-sensitive repayment. Revises loan proceeds disbursement rules to: (1) prohibit institutions from penalizing students because of delayed disbursement; and (2) allow weekly or monthly disbursement, with the borrower's permission. Adds provisions for unsubsidized Stafford loans for middle-income borrowers. Authorizes insured loans under the part B program for borrowers who do not qualify for Federal interest subsidy payments. Entitles any student meeting the definition of student eligibility under title IV general provisions to borrow an unsubsized Stafford loan. Sets forth provisions for: (1) determination of loan amount; (2) loan limits; (3) payment of principal and interest without subsidy payments to reduce interest costs; (4) reinsurance premium; and (5) single application form. Establishes an extended collection demonstration program. Directs the Secretary to enter into agreements with guaranty agencies to establish up to nine demonstration programs designed to reduce defaults through extended efforts on delinquent student loans originally guaranteed by such agencies. Sets forth provisions for: (1) selection of participants; (2) eligibility of loans for inclusion in the program; (3) lender eligibility to participate; (4) extended collection period; and (5) reports, regulations, and applicability of other terms, conditions, and benefits. Terminates such demonstration program on September 30, 1995. Directs the Secretary to use at least a minimum specified amount of part B-Funds for default reduction activities, including program reviews, audits, debt management programs, training activities, and other management improvement activities. Revises part B administrative provisions relating to: (1) authority to regulate services; and (2) limitation, suspension, and termination. Directs the Secretary to promulgate regulations for: (1) standardization and simplification of student loan forms and procedures; and (2) standardization of data reporting. Directs the Secretary to: (1) undertake a program to encourage private and public employers to assist borrowers in repaying student loans under title IV, including options for payroll deduction and loan repayment matching under employee benefit packages; (2) publicize repayment models deserving recognition; and (3) make recommendations to appropriate congressional committees on changes to the tax code or other statutes that could encourage such efforts. Adds provisions relating to the consequences of guaranty agency insolvency. Revises requirements for student loan information by eligible lenders to include statements that the loan must be repaid and that the borrower's loan repayment obligation is distinct from the school's obligation to the borrower. Revises definition for the student loan insurance program. Repeals a separate definition of institution of higher education. Defines both institution of higher education and eligible institution as under title IV general provisions. Repeals a definition of vocational school. Revises the definition of eligible lender. Prohibits a cohort default rate above 15 percent. Requires use of proceeds from special allowance payments and interests payments from borrowers for need-based grant programs, except for reasonable reimbursement for direct administrative expenses. Defines third party servicer. Revises provisions for the Secretary's repayment of loans of bankrupt, deceased, or disabled borrowers to extend such treatment to borrowers: (1) who are unable to complete the program due to the closure of the institution; or (2) whose eligibility to borrow under part B GSL programs was fraudulently certified by the eligible institution. Provides that the Secretary shall pursue any claim available to such borrower against the institution (as well as discharge their liability by repaying the amount owed). Provides that the period of attendance at the institution which closed and at which the student was unable to complete the course of study shall not count against the student's period of eligibility for additional title IV assistance. Provides that borrowers whose loans have been discharged under these repayment provisions shall not be precluded from receiving additional title IV assistance. Directs the Secretary to report to credit bureaus on such repaid loans. Permits a certain special allowance to also be given on unsubsidized Stafford loans. Phases out origination fees under part B student loan programs, and eliminates discounting. Allows the Student Loan Marketing Association (Sallie Mae) (the Association) to charge interest on any loan on the same basis as national banks located in: (1) the District of Columbia; and (2) the State in which the lender is located. Part C: Federal Work-Study Programs - Revises and renames HEA title IV part C as Federal Work-Study Programs (currently Work-Study Programs). Extends through FY 1997 the authorization of appropriations for part C work-study programs. Provides for reallocation of excess allocations as a consequence of failure to award work-study program funds, under specified conditions. Allows institutions to use work-study program funds to pay eligible students to engage in mentoring activities. Increases from $200 to $300 the amount of work-study program compensation in excess of need that a student may receive. Includes students who are age 24 or older, single parents, or independent students (as well as less-than-full-time students) among those for whom a reasonable proportion of an institution's work-study program funds must be available. Revises Federal share provisions. Adds provisions for approved study abroad eligibility for work-study programs. Requires work-study program grant agreements to provide assurances that employment made available from such program funds may be used to support programs for supportive services to students with disabilities. Sets forth provisions for carry-back authority. Increases the maximum amount of its work-study grant allotment which an institution may use for a community services job location and development program for its students. Establishes a work colleges program. Transfers to Part D of title XI current provisions for: (1) work study for community service-learning on behalf of low-income individuals and families; and (2) student community service job location and development. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1992 through 1996 to carry out to work colleges program. Requires such funds to be allocated to qualifying institutions, in lieu of allocations under other specified work-study program provisions, upon application, for eligible students as defined under student aid provisions. Requires an institution receiving such a work colleges program allocation to expend an equal amount of matching funds from non-Federal sources for such program. Authorizes institutions to use such work colleges program funds for: (1) supporting qualified students' educational costs through self-help payments or credits provided under the institution's work-learning program within the limits of student aid program provisions; (2) promoting work-learning-service experience as a tool of postsecondary education, financial self-help, and community service-learning opportunities; (3) administering, developing, and assessing comprehensive college work-learning programs, including community based work-learning alternatives that expand opportunities for community service and career-related work; and (4) developing programs that develop sound citizenship and personal values, encourage student persistence, and make optimum use of college work-study dollars in HEA title IV aid in education and student development. Allows funds allocated to the institution under HEA title IV provisions for supplemental educational opportunity grants, work-study programs, and direct student loans to be transferred for use under the work colleges program to provide flexibility in strengthening the self-help-through-work element in financial aid packaging. Requires postsecondary institutions, in order to be eligible to participate in the work colleges program, to: (1) be public or private nonprofit institutions with stated commitments to service; (2) have comprehensive work-learning-service program for at least two years; (3) requires service by all resident students through a comprehensive work-learning program as an integral part of the institution's educational philosophy; and (4) provide through the institutional work program an opportunity for the students to contribute to the overall educational program and the welfare of the community as a whole. Part D: Federal Direct Loans - Establishes a Federal Direct Loans program as part D of title IV of HEA. (Eliminates the current part D, Income Contingent Direct Loans Demonstration Project.) (Provides that such Federal Direct Loans program shall replace the Guaranteed Student Loan (GSL) and the Perkins Direct Loan programs which shall be phased out.) Directs the Secretary to carry out such Federal direct loan program (the program) for qualified students at institutions of higher education during the period beginning on July 1, 1994. Directs the Secretary to make program payments for any fiscal year to: (1) each institution of higher education having a program agreement; and (2) the designated lending agent if such an institution designates one. Requires such payments to be made on the basis of the estimated needs of the institution's students, considering their demand and eligibility for subsidized and unsubsidized direct loans under the program. Sets forth program payment rules, in general and for initial payments. Declares that an institution with an approved application and agreement with the Secretary shall be deemed to have a contractual obligation (entitlement) from the United States for making the program payments specified in that application. Sets forth requirements for such applications of and agreements with institutions of higher education. Requires the Secretary to make program agreements for the academic year beginning July 1: (1) 1994, with a first cohort of 450-500 institutions; (2) 1995, with a second cohort of 950-1,000 institutions in addition to the first cohort; and (3) 1996, with a third cohort of any institutions desiring to participate. Provides for allowing institutions to designate lending agents to receive advances of program payments. Sets forth types of entities eligible to be designated lending agents. Entitles an institution to a payment for each fiscal year during which it makes student loans under such an agreement in lieu of reimbursement for its expenses in administering its student loan program during such year. Sets forth formulas for determining such payments. Requires each institution to use such payments first to carry out specified HEA provisions relating to administrative expenses and then for such additional administrative costs as that institution determines necessary. Deems an institution with such program agreement to have a contractural right to such payments. Provides for student eligibility for, and the amount of, subsidized and unsubsidized loans under the program. Limits program eligibility, among other criteria, to qualified students carrying at least one-half the normal academic workload and maintaining good standing. Allows subsidized loans under the program to be made only to students who meet the basic requirements but also demonstrate financial need for such a loan. Makes qualified graduate and professional students and qualified undergraduate independent students eligible to borrow unsubsidized loans under the program in specified amounts. Makes qualified undergraduate dependent students eligible for unsubsidized loans under the program, if the financial aid administrator determines after review that exceptional circumstances will likely preclude the student's parents from borrowing under the program. Prohibits students from being eligible to borrow unsubsidized loans under the program until they have obtained a high school diploma or equivalent. Declares that, if an institution's cohort default rate is 30 percent or more for the most recent fiscal year for which data is available, no undergraduate student at that institution may borrow unsubsidized loans under the program. Directs the Secretary to afford any such institution an opportunity to present evidence contesting the accuracy of the calculation of such rate. Makes parents of qualified dependent students eligible to borrow unsubsidized loans under the program in any amount, subject to specified restrictions based on cost of attendance and amount of other unsubsidized loans and student aid. Provides for determining subsidized loan amounts, based on cost of attendance, other types of student aid received, and expected family (or independent student self-help) contribution. Sets annual and aggregate limits for subsidized loans to first-year, undergraduate, and graduate or professional students. Provides for determining unsubsidized loans to students or parents, based on cost of attendance and other types of student aid. Sets forth annual and aggregate limits for unsubsidized loans for first-year, undergraduate, and graduate or professional students. Sets forth terms of loans under the program. Provides for deferments of repayment during specified periods of education or service. Allows borrowers to accelerate without penalty repayment of the whole or any part of the loan. Sets forth additional and separate terms for subsidized loans and for unsubsidized loans under the program. Sets forth requirements for multiple disbursement of student loans. Sets forth loan repayment rules, including minimum repayment amounts. Requires if a borrower so requests, that repayment be made in accordance with a graduated or income contingent schedule established by the Secretary. Allows the Secretary and the borrower to agree to increase the specified repayment period, but prohibits it from extending beyond 20 years. Directs the Secretary to notify the student borrower, at the beginning of the repayment period, of the availability of the flexible repayment program. Provides for interest rates on: (1) unsubsidized loans (the bonds equivalent rate of 52-week Treasury bills, plus three and one-quarter percent) (but not exceeding 12 percent); and (2) and subsidized loans (eight percent). Directs the Secretary to report such interest rates to the Congress for any fiscal year in which they are not sufficient to recover specified costs to the Government. Sets forth requirements for consolidation loans. Directs the Secretary to enter into agreements to provide loans to consolidate eligible student loans whose outstanding indebtedness is at least $10,000. Sets forth terms and conditions of consolidation loans, including annual interest rates of at least eight percent. Directs the Secretary to establish repayment terms, including graduated and income contingent repayment schedules. Provides for administration of the program. Requires the Secretary to establish: (1) a central data system to maintain records on all loans made under the program; and (2) default prevention programs. Provides for funding of the program through the sale of Government obligations. Sets forth the duties of the Secretary and the Secretary of the Treasury with respect to such sale and funding. Sets forth various amendments to phase out the Stafford Student Loan Program (GSL) by June 30, 1996. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1992 and thereafter for administrative expenses necessary for carrying out title IV student aid programs, including expenses for staff personnel and compliance activities. Part E: Federal Perkins Loans - Revises and renames part E of title IV of HEA as Federal Perkins Loans (currently named Direct Loans to Students in Institutions of Higher Education or Perkins Loans). Extends through FY 1997 the authorization of appropriations for contributions by the Secretary to Perkins Loans program student loan funds. Adds provisions for eligibility for study abroad. Provides for reduction of allocation as a consequence of failure to award funds. Revises Perkins loan program provisions for capital contributions by institutions. Requires an institution to match the Federal capital contribution if the institution is granted permission to participate in an Expanded Lending Option and has a default rate not more than seven and one-half percent. Requires all other institutions to contribute an amount at least one-third of the Federal amount. Adds requirements for institutions to disclose specified information to any credit bureau with which the Secretary has a specified agreement. Revise loan limits under the Perkins Loan program. Provides for a reasonable proportion of a institution's Perkins Loans to be made to nontraditional students, including less-than-full-time, age 24 or older, single parents, or independent students. Revises minimum monthly payments for loans made after a specified date. Provides for adjustment of excessive loan awards. Adds a deferment of Perkins loan repayment for family service agency employees who provide or supervise services to high-risk children from low-income communities and their families. Allows requests for deferment of Perkins loan repayment by students in graduate or post-graduate fellowship-supported study abroad (such as Fulbright grant recipients) until completion of the fellowship period. Authorizes the Secretary to grant an institution special repayment authority to compromise, within specified limits, on the repayment of defaulted Perkins loans, under specified conditions, to encourage repayment and protect U.S. interests. Revises provisions for cancellation of Perkins loans for certain public service. Adds special rules for determining the list of schools with specified percentages of educationally disadvantaged students at which full-time teaching service in any subject may qualify for such cancellation, and for continuing eligibility even if the school is no longer on such list. Adds provisions for such cancellation for full-time service as: (1) a teacher of infants, toddlers, children or youth with disabilities in a public or other nonprofit elementary or secondary school system, or as a professional provider of early intervention services; (2) nurse or medical technician providing health care services; or (3) family service agency employee providing or supervising services to high-risk children from low-income communities and their families. Revises an excess capital rule. Establishes the Perkins Loan Revolving Fund, to be available to the Secretary to make payments under part E. Provides that specified funds be deposited in such Fund. Provides for gradual termination of the Perkins Loan program, to be replaced by the Federal Direct Loans program. Prohibits any institution which has a Federal Direct Loans program agreement with the Secretary from receiving funds or making new loans under the Perkins Loan program. Requires deposit in an endowment fund of any collections of Perkins loans after an institution has begun distributing Federal Direct Loans. Requires the proceeds of such endowment fund to be awarded to student at that institution under specified provisions for Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants. Part F: Need Analysis - Revises HEA title IV part F provisions for Need Analysis. Establishes a new single need analysis formula to be used in the calculation of financial need for all title IV Student Assistance programs (thus replacing the current separate formulas for Pell Grants and for other title IV programs). Bases such new formula on the current formula used for the Stafford (GSL) and the "campus-based" aid programs including supplemental grants and work-study programs. Revises provisions for amount of need. Eliminates provisions for a minimum student contribution. Revises provisions for cost of attendance. Revises provisions for expected family contribution: (1) in general; (2) for dependent students; (3) independent students without dependent children; and (4) independent students with dependent children. Revises provisions relating to the Secretary's authorization to prescribe specified updated need analysis tables and to propose modifications in the need analysis methodology. Revises provisions for the simplified needs test to provide for a by-pass and consideration as having a zero family contribution for those with family adjusted gross incomes less than or equal to the earned income tax credit. Retains provisions relating to: (1) the discretion of student financial aid administrators; (2) disregard of student aid in other Federal programs; and (3) Native American students. Revises definitions for need analysis provisions under title IV. Includes, under the definition of independent student, one who is 24 years of age or older by December 31 of the award year. Part G: General Provisions - Revises definitions for title IV (Student Assistance) in general. Excludes from the definition of institution of higher education, for purposes of title IV program eligibility, any institution which: (1) offers more than 50 percent of its courses by correspondence (also excludes correspondence courses from student eligibility); or (2) has filed for bankruptcy, if there is a judicial determination of fraud involving Federal funds. Sets forth certain eligible program requirements for proprietary institutions of higher education. Revises the definition of academic and award years. Sets forth certain eligible program standards for length of time of specified types of programs. Sets forth provisions for: (1) time limitations on, and renewal of, eligibility; (2) conditional certification of institutional eligibility; (3) branches; and (4) changes of ownership. Revises provisions relating to a master calendar. Revises provisions for forms and regulations for title IV student aid programs. Requires the common financial reporting form to be produced, distributed, and processed by the Secretary. Prohibits charging any parent or student a fee for the collection, processing, or delivery of financial aid through use of such a form. Requires institutions to pay the costs of other forms and their processing if they require or encourage students to use any form other than one approved by the Secretary. Requires use of the approved common form for purposes of title IV programs. Makes all data collected for the multiple data entry process the exclusive property of the Secretary. Prohibits such data from being transferred to a third party by an approved contractor without the Secretary's expressed written approval. Directs the Secretary to develop a streamlined reapplication process. Revises provisions for toll-free student aid information to include: (1) accessiblity for telecommunication devices for the deaf; and (2) referrals to a postsecondary clearinghouse for individuals with disabilities. Revises provisions for student eligibility for title IV student aid programs. Includes programs of study abroad approved for credit by the eligible institution among programs in which a student may receive such aid. Prohibits a student who is incarcerated from being eligible to receive a loan under title IV. Revises provisions for ability-to-benefit programs to include a State-prescribed determination process approved by the Secretary. Authorizes the Secretary to verify all applications for aid through the use of any means available, including exchange of information with other Federal agencies. Revises provisions for loss of student eligibility for violation of loan limits to allow students who inadvertently exceed such borrowing limit to repay the excess amount prior to being certified for further title IV assistance. Sets forth provisions for the Secretary's verification of social security numbers provided by students to eligible institutions. Sets forth provisions for data base matching with the Selective Service. Provides for eligibility for title IV assistance for students in study abroad programs approved for credit by their home institutions. Provides that students enrolled in courses of instruction at eligible institutions of higher education that are offered in whole or part through visual telecommunications devices or mediums and lead to recognized associate, bachelor, or graduate degrees shall not: (1) be considered to be enrolled in correspondence courses (which are not eligible for student assistance); and (2) have their eligibility to participate in HEA title IV student assistance programs restricted or reduced solely on the basis of their enrollment in such courses offered through visual telecommunications. Prohibits the Secretary, for award years prior to enactment of this Act, to take any action against a student or eligible institution arising out of a prior award of student assistance if the institution demonstrates that its course of instruction would have been in conformance with such provisions. Revises statute of limitations provisions to provide that, with respect to any loan made part B GSL programs, a lender, holder, guaranty agency, or the Secretary shall not be subject to any claim or defense asserted by a borrower which is attributable to an act or failure to act by an educational institution attended by the borrower (unless the lender is an eligible institution). Establishes requirements for institutional refunds, refund policies, disclosures of policy. Revises provisions for information dissemination activities. Requires the institution to inform prospective student borrowers that study abroad programs approved for credit by the institution are eligible for student aid. Requires borrowers to provide certain information during the exit interview, regarding their expected permanent address, employer, next of kin, and corrections in the institution's records relating to their identification and location. Requires the institution to forward such information to the lender and guaranty agency. Establishes requirements for institutional information to students and prospective students regarding campus security policy and crime statistics. Sets forth provisions for campus security policy development. Revises provisions for a National Student Loan Data System to include requirements for: (1) common identifiers; and (2) integration of databases. Directs the Secretary to establish a centralized Student Loan Data System for use by schools, borrowers, holders, and guarantors in: (1) confirming borrower, internship, and residency status; and (2) identifying the current holder and servicer of a loan. Sets forth requirements for information in such system and restricted access, and deadlines for planning and implementation. Revises provisions for training in financial aid and student supportive services. Sets forth grant limitations. Extends through FY 1997 the authorization of appropriations for such training programs. Revises provisions for title IV program participation agreements. Requires institutions to disclose to prospective student relevant State licensing requirements for any job for which the course of instruction is designed. Prohibits institutions from: (1) making incentive payments to persons or entities engaged in student recruiting or admission or awarding of assistance; (2) employing or using any individual or organization that has committed fraud involving Federal funds; or (3) denying Federal aid to any eligible student because of participation in approved study abroad. Requires institutions: (1) acknowledge specified entities' information-sharing authority; (2) develop Default Management Plans under specified conditions; (3) comply with any specified maximum growth rates or percentages of aid recipients; and (4) complete specified surveys and collect and transmit specified information. Revises provisions relating to hearings and availability of records. Requires financial responsibility standards to: (1) be based on annual independent financial audit reports on institutions; and (2) require of every institution a letter of credit or other irrevocable bond to cover all potential liabilities to students and to the Secretary, for funds under title IV and cover all loan obligations discharged to students under specified provisions. Requires compliance audits of third party servicers. Authorizes emergency actions by the Secretary against any or all institutions under the substantial control of any individual or entity that is determined to have committed violations of any title IV program requirements or has been suspended or debarred by the Secretary. Authorizes the Secretary to provide specified audit information to any appropriate Federal or State agency with responsibilities with respect to student assistance. Establishes a Quality Assurance Program. Authorizes the Secretary to select institutions for voluntary participation in such program based on criteria including demonstrated institutional performance and considering current quality assurance goals. Allows participating institutions to develop and implement their own systems to verify student financial aid application data. Exempts participating institutions from title IV reporting or verification requirements, and allows them to substitute such quality assurance reporting as the Secretary deems necessary. Sets forth conditions for removal from the program. Authorizes the Secretary to: (1) select institutions for voluntary participation as experimental sites to provide recommendations on the impact and effectiveness of proposed regulations or new management initiatives; and (2) exempt such institutions from any title IV requirements or regulations that would bias experimental results. Directs the Secretary to assign to each participant (including institutions, lenders, and guaranty agencies) in title IV programs a single identification number. Increases the percentage of specified program funds which may be involved in certain inter-program transfers. Revises provisions for administrative expenses payments to require a reasonable proportion of an institution's funds to be available for financial aid services during times and in places to accommodate specified types of nontraditional students. Revises title IV provisions for criminal penalties. Increase the amount of fines for specified violations. Adds provisions relating to extent of liability for financial losses to the Federal Government, student aid recipients, and other proram participants and civil and criminal penalties, arising from material inaccuracy of information submitted by institution to the Secretary. Authorizes the Secretary to require: (1) financial guarantees from an institution participating or seeking to participate in a title IV program, and/or from one or more individuals exercising substantial control over such institution; and (2) the assumption of personal liability by one or more such individuals, in accordance with specified provisions. Revises provisions for the Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance to eliminate outdated provisions for a special institutional lender study. Sets forth provisions relating to the investigating and arrest authority and powers of designating employees of the Office of Inspector General, Department of Education. Establishes procedures for performance based regulatory relief for that satisfy specified criteria in title IV program participation. Requires regional meetings and negotiated rulemaking in developing regulations implementing amendments made to HEA title IV by this Act. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1993 for such purposes. Part H: Program Integrity - Establishes a new part H of title IV of HEA, Program Integrity. Sets forth requirements for State postsecondary approving agency programs for conduct or coordination of review and approval of institutions of higher education for purposes of title IV eligibility. Sets forth requirements for: (1) agreements with such State agencies; (2) Federal reimbursement of such State agency costs; (3) State agency functions, including criteria for review; (4) State standards, subject to disapproval by the Secretary, with differential standards for approval under specified conditions; (5) disapproval authority and procedures; (6) consumer complaints; and (7) enforcement mechanisms. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1993 and succeeding fiscal years for Federal reimbursement of State approving agency costs for such program integrity review and approval functions, in an amount not to exceed one percent of the amount appropriated for the fiscal year for title IV student financial assistance programs. Part I: Conforming Amendments - Makes conforming amendments to specified provisions of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990 and the Higher Education Technical Amendments of 1991. Title V: Educator Recruitment, Retention, and Development - Revises HEA title V (Educator Recruitment, Retention, and Development). Authorizes appropriations for FY 1993 through 1997 for: (1) the new part A, State and Local Programs for Teacher Excellence; (2) part B, Teacher Scholarships and Fellowships (currently part D), including subpart 1 Paul Douglas Teacher Corps-Scholarships, and subpart 2 Christa McAuliffe Fellowship Program; and (3) part C, National Programs, including subpart 1 National Mini Corps Program, subpart 3 Partnerships for Innovative Teacher Education, subpart 4 Teacher Opportunity Corps, subpart 5 National Job Bank for Teacher Recruitment, and subpart 6 Midcareer Teacher Training for Nontraditional Students (currently part A). Authorizes appropriations for FY 1993 for the part C subpart 7 Alternative Routes to Teacher Certification and Licensure. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1994 through 1998 for the part C subpart 2 National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. Establishes, as the new part A of title V, State and Local Programs for Teacher Excellence. Provides for: (1) funds to State educational agencies (SEAs), local educational agencies (LEAs), and institutions of higher education to update and improve the skills of classroom teachers and school administrators; and (2) a comprehensive examination of State requirements for teacher preservice and certification. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to SEAs to improve the quality of teaching. Provides for allotment to States based on school-age population. Requires the SEA to allocate at least 50 percent of the State allotment to LEAs based on relative enrollments in their public schools and requiring any LEA receiving less than a specified minimum to form a consortium with other LEAs). Allows the SEA to reserve up to 25 percent of the State allotment for specified grants to institutions of higher education for teacher training programs. Directs the SEA to reserve not more than 25 percent of the State allotment to distribute to institutions of higher education for purposes of specified State uses of funds including assessment of teacher education programs, establishment of State Academies for Teachers and for School Administrators, and other teaching improvement activities. Requires the State to distribute such allotment funds to LEAs on a competitive basis if the appropriation for part A is less than a specified minimum amount. Sets forth requirements for State and local applications. Requires LEAs to use part A funds for inservice training of teachers. Allows LEAs to use such funds for: (1) programs to recruit individuals into teaching; (2) business partnerships for employee-teacher exchange and internship programs; and (3) other teaching improvement activities. Requires SEAs to use part A funds to conduct an assessment of teacher education programs within the State. Allows SEAs to use such funds for: (1) establishing State Academies for Teachers; (2) establishing State Academies for School Leaders; and (3) other teaching improvement activities. Requires each SEA receiving part A funds to undertake a study of teacher education programs and State laws and regulations relating to such programs, including standards or requirements for teacher certification and licensure. Sets forth deadlines for study results and reports. Sets forth provisions for competitive awards for and authorized activities of, State Academies for Teachers and State Academies for School Administrators. Sets forth provisions for applications by institutions of higher education for part A grants by SEAs. Requires SEAs to award such grants on a competitive basis to such institutions having departments, schools, or colleges of education, for: (1) institutional technical assistance to LEAs for inservice training; (2) innovations and improvements in teacher education programs within the institution to better meet LEAs needs for well-prepared teachers; (3) integrating the instruction of academic and vocational teacher education programs; (4) activities to encourage individuals, especially from minority groups, to pursue careers in education; and (5) implementing new requirements for teacher education programs, when the State study of such programs is completed. Requires part A funds to supplement, not supplant, regular non-Federal funds. Revises, and transfers to part B of title V of HEA, provisions for Teacher Scholarships and Fellowships (currently part D). Revises, extends, and renames subpart 1 as the Paul Douglas Teacher Corps Scholarships program (currently Paul Douglas, or Congressional, Teacher Scholarships program). Bases allocation among States on school-age population. Requires State agencies to make particular efforts to attract, and give priority consideration to, ethnic and racial minority students, students with disabilities, or other individuals historically underrepresented in teaching (as well as students from low-income disadvantaged backgrounds). Requires special consideration, in selecting teacher corps members, to be given to individuals who intend to teach: (1) students with disabilities (or provide related services for them); (2) limited English proficient students; (3) preschool age children; or (4) in curricular or geographic areas where there is a demonstrated shortage of qualified teachers. Retains and extends the subpart 2 Christa McAuliffe Fellowship Program, a national fellowship program for outstanding teachers. Establishes title V part C provisions for National Programs. Establishes, as subpart 1, the National Mini Corps Program. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to institutions of higher education to establish program partnerships with LEAs. Provides for program services for individuals who are: (1) first-generation college students or low-income individuals as defined under TRIO special programs for students from disadvantaged backgrounds; or (2) migrant or seasonal farmworkers, or the children of such farmworkers, who meet qualifications for attendance at a college or university. Provides for certain program services, also, for children who are: (1) migrant children; or (2) eligible to receive services for educationally disadvantaged children with special needs under chapter 1 of title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA chapter 1). Requires the program to provide: (1) such individuals enrolled or planning to enroll in institutions of higher education with advice, training, and instructional services to help in being role models for such children; (2) such children with outreach and recruitment services to encourage them to enroll in teacher education programs; (3) such individuals enrolled in such an institution with support and instructional services to enable them to provide direct instructional services to such children, in coordination with SEA or LEA goals; (4) designation of college coordinators at participating institutions to train, supervise, and assign such individuals in cooperation with SEAs and LEAs in which such children have been identified; and (5) support for other activities related to encouraging such individuals to enter the teacher profession and provide a link to the community. Sets forth requirements for institutional applications, grant awards, and uses of funds. Establishes, as subpart 2 of part C, provisions for a National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (the Board). Directs the Secretary to provide financial assistance to the Board from specified appropriations authorized for FY 1994 through 1998. Sets forth terms and conditions for such funding. Prohibits any funds from being made available to the Board after FY 1995 (except as authorized for FY 1994 through 1998). Requires the Board to consult at least twice annually with the Committee (i.e. the Fund for Improvement and Reform of Schools and Teaching Board) on design and execution of its overall research and development strategy, including compliance with merit review and open competition requirements. Requires funds for the Board under this Act to be used only for research and development of teacher assessment and certification procedures for elementary and secondary school teachers. Requires that priority be given to such activities relating to teaching: (1) the subject areas of mathematics, the sciences, foreign languages, and literacy (including reading, writing, and analytical ability); and (2) special educational populations, including limited English proficient children, gifted and talented children, children with disabilities, and economically and educationally disadvantaged children. Sets the Federal share of the cost of such Board activities at 50 percent. Requires the Board to report annually to the appropriate committees of the Congress. Requires the Secretary of Education, the Director of the National Science Foundation, and the National Research Council to review and comment on the Board's report and to report to such congressional committees on the Board's compliance with these provisions. Establishes, as subpart 3 of part C, provisions for a new Partnerships for Innovative Teacher Education program. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to and contracts with State and local educational agencies, institutions of higher education, and consortia of such institutions and agencies to plan, establish, and operate teaching schools to develop and put into practice the best knowledge about teaching. Provides that planning and implementation grant awards shall be for a term one year, with a total of five years of implementation grants under specified conditions. Provides for applications, priorities, uses of funds by award recipients, and authorized activities of such teaching schools. Sets the Federal share at 50 percent for planning grants and 33 1/3 percent for implementation grants. Establishes, as subpart 4 of part C, provisions for a Teacher Opportunity Corps (TOC), to encourage institutions of higher education to offer educational programs and financial assistance to enable paraprofessionals working in shortage area schools serving disadvantaged students to become certified teachers. Directs the Secretary to allocate TOC program grant funds to States according to the same formula under which States receive ESEA chapter 1 funding for education of disadvantaged children. Requires TOC grant program agreements to include provisions for administration and recordkeeping by the State education or higher education agency. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to States to support TOC programs at institutions of higher education. Sets forth State grant application requirements and general criteria for State grants, including: (1) involvement of institutions of higher educaiton and shortage area schools or school districts; (2) full creditability to a baccalaurate program leading to teacher certification; (3) a program evaluation system; and (4) appropriate credit for paraprofessional classroom experience as practice or student teaching. Requires any paraprofessional who receives student financial assistance under the TOC program to agree to act as a paraprofessional in a shortage area school for at least one year for each year of such assistance, within ten years after completing the the postsecondary education. Requires repayment of all or part of such assistance, plus interest and reasonable collection costs, if the recipient fails to comply with this service requirements, except in specified circumstances. Requires that such student financial assistance supplement, but not supplant, other Federal or State assistance for which the student would otherwise qualify. Requires TOC program grants to be for a term of at least five years, subject to availability of appropriations. Allows States to use TOC program funds for: (1) student financial assistance to paraprofessionals to pay part or all of the costs of attendance in postsecondary education programs required for teacher certification; (2) instructional and supportive services for such paraprofessionals during participation in such programs; and (3) payment of child care expenses to attend postsecondary classes required for teacher certification. Establishes, as subpart 5 of part C, a National Job Bank for Teacher Recruitment. Directs the Secretary, through the Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI), to study the feasibility of establishing: (1) a clearinghouse to operate a national teacher job bank; and (2) regional clearinghouses. Directs the Secretary, through OERI, to contract with one or more State entities, nonprofit organizations, or higher education institutions to pay the Federal share of costs of establishing a Teacher Job Bank Clearinghouse to help: (1) public and private education agencies locate qualified applicants for teaching-related positions; and (2) individuals locate teaching-related jobs or training necessary to enter the teaching profession. Sets forth requirements for applications and authorized uses of funds. Retains and extends, and transfers to subpart 6 of part C of title V, provisions for Midcareer Teacher Training for Nontraditional Students (currently part A of title V). Alternative Routes to Teacher and Principal Certification and Licensure Act of 1991 - Establishes, as subpart 7 of part C of title V of HEA, Alternative Routes to Teacher and Principal Certification and Licensure. Establishes program of assistance for alternative routes to teacher certification or licensure, to improve the supply of qualified elementary and secondary school teachers and principals by assisting State programs to help talented professionals who have demonstrated high competence in a subject area and wish to pursue education careers to meet State certification licensing requirements, with special emphasis on minority group member participation. Sets forth requirements for allotments, State applications, and uses of funds. Repeals this subpart as of July 1, 1995. (Authorized appropriations for this subpart for FY 1993.) Title VI: International Education Programs - Revises title VI of HEA, International Education Programs. Revises provisions for part A, International and Foreign Language Studies. Revises provisions for graduate and undergraduate language and area studies, to add to authorized uses of program grants the establishing and maintaining of linkages with overseas institutions of higher education and other organizations that may contribute to specified educational objectives of the program or center. Authorizes the Secretary to make additional grants to comprehensive language and area centers for programs of linkage or outreach: (1) between foreign language, area studies, and other international fields and professional schools and colleges; (2) with two-and four-year colleges and universities; (3) with departments or agencies of State and Federal governments; (4) with the news media, business, professional, or trade associations; and (5) carried out by summer institutes in foreign area and other international fields. Revises provisions for stipends. Revises provisions for language resource centers. Revises provisions for undergraduate international studies and foreign language programs. Limits program grants to not more than 50 percent of project costs. Replaces model grant provisions with provisions for grants to strengthen programs of demonstrated excellence to ensure their self-sustaining maintenance and growth and enhance their capacity-building and dissemination functions. Authorizes the Secretary to also make grants for programs of national significance for undergraduate international studies and foreign language education purposes. Retains and extends provisions for intensive summer language institutes. Revises provisions for research, studies, and annual reports. Revises provisions for assistance in acquiring and making available periodicals published outside the United States to add provisions for other research materials published outside the United States. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1993 through 1997 for such assistance (in addition to other funds authorized for part A). Requires the Secretary, in awarding grants under part A International and Foreign Language Studies, to ensure that an appropriate portion of such funds are used to support undergraduate education. Extends through FY 1997 the authorization of appropriations for title VI part A, International and Foreign Language Studies. Revises title VI part B provisions for Business and International Education Programs. Revises provisions both for centers for international business education and for education and training programs to add to authorized users of such center and program grants: (1) establishment of linkages overseas with institutions of higher education and other organizations that contribute to such centers' and programs' educational objectives, and (2) summer institutes in international business, foreign area, and other international studies designed to carry out specified purposes. Extends through FY 1997 the authorization of appropriations for title VI part B, Business and International Education Programs, including Centers for International Business Education and Education and Training Programs. Revises title VI part C general provisions to eliminate provisions for an Advisory Board. Adds a definition of critical languages. Provides that amendments to title VI establishing new programs or expanding existing programs pursuant to this Act shall not be funded in FY 1993 through 1997 unless and until the Congress enacts appropriations for pre-1992 title VI programs enacted prior to this Act at a level no less than their, FY 1992 funding. Establishes a new part D of title VI, the Institute for International Public Policy (the Institute), which shall, conduct a program to significantly increase the numbers of African Americans and other minorities in the foreign service of the United States. Authorizes the Institute to be established through grant or contract between the Secretary and an eligible recipient (a consortia of institutions eligible for title III part B assistance for historically Black colleges and universities, other institutions of higher education serving substantial numbers of African American and other minority students, and institutions of higher education with nationally recognized programs in training foreign service professionals). Requires each consortia to designate a host institution for the Institute. Sets forth the components of the academic program of the Institute, including a junior year abroad, academic year and summer internships, a masters degree program, and fellowships for full-time study for students who agree to enter the U.S. foreign service. Requires appointment of a Board of Visitors for the Institute. Sets forth matching requirements and provisions for gifts and donations. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1993 for the Institute. Title VII: Construction, Reconstruction and Renovation of Academic Facilities - Revises title VII of HEA, Construction, Reconstruction, and Renovation of Academic Facilities. Revises title VII program purposes, and makes a priority on renovation optional rather than mandatory. Extends through FY 1997 the authorization of appropriations for the following title VII programs: (1) part A, Grants for the Construction, Reconstruction, and Renovation of Undergraduate Academic Facilities; (2) part B, Grants for Construction, Reconstruction, and Renovation of Graduate Academic Facilities; (3) part C, Loans for Construction, Reconstruction, and Renovation of Academic, Housing, and Other Educational Facilities (consolidates the current parts C and F); and (4) part D, Grants to Pay Interest on Debt. Revises title VII part A provisions for Grants for the Construction, Reconstruction, and Renovation of Undergraduate Academic Facilities. Limits the total payment of under part A for any fiscal years to institutions of higher education in any State to not move than 12 1/2 percent of part A appropriations. Directs the Secretary to use a national peer review panel in making part A grants to institutions. Retains provisions for cost limitations and use for maintenance. Retains part B provisions for Grants for Construction, Reconstruction, and Renovation of Graduate Academic Facilities. Consolidates loan programs under current part C and part F provisions into a new part C, Loans for Construction, Reconstruction, and Renovation of Academic, Housing, and Other Educational Facilities. Sets forth provisions for such Federal assistance in the form of loans, use of funds, and a revolving loan fund. Limits to not more than 12 1/2 percent of part C funds in the form of loans the amount which may be made available to educational institutions within any one State. Directs the Secretary, in awarding part C loans, to give priority to loans for renovation or reconstruction of: (1) graduate or undergraduate academic facilities; and (2) older graduate or undergraduate academic facilities that have gone without major renovation or reconstruction for an extended period. Provides for a portion of funds obtained pursuant to specified provisions under title IV of the Housing Act of 1950 to be available for part C purposes. Retains part D provisions for Grants to Pay Interest on Debt, and part E provisions for the College Construction Loan Insurance Association. Eliminates provisions for part G, Special Programs. Establishes a new part F, Historically Black College and University Capital Financing. Authorizes the Secretary to enter into insurance agreements to provide financial insurance to guarantee full payment of principal and interest on qualified bonds to facilitate capital financing for historically Black colleges and universities (eligible institutions). Requires the Secretary to designate a qualified bonding authority that agrees to assume specified responsibilities, including using bond proceeds to make loans to eligible institutions for capital projects. Limits the aggregate principal amount of outstanding bonds insured under this Act together with any accrued unpaid interest thereon. Limits the specified portions of such aggregate amount which may be used for loans to eligible institutions that are, respectively, private or public. (Provides, for such purposes, that Lincoln University of Pennsylvania and Howard University in Washington, D.C., are public institutions.) Sets forth duties and powers of the Secretary under this part F, including procedures for designation of the bonding authority. Establishes, within the Department of Education, the Historically Black College and University Capital Financing Advisory Board. Provides for minority business enterprise utilization under this part F. Repeals title VII part J (I) provisions for the Agriculture, Strategic Metals, Minerals, Forestry, and Oceans College and University Research Facilities and Instrumentation Modernization Program. Title VIII: Cooperative Education - Revises title VIII of HEA, Cooperative Education. Extends through FY 1997 the authorization of appropriations for cooperative education programs under title VIII. Limits eligibility to apply for new administration grants under title VIII to those institutions of higher education which have not received funds for the administration of the cooperative education program for the preceding ten years. Revises provisions for Federal share and applications. Title IX: Graduate Programs - Revises title IX of HEA, Graduate Programs. Directs the Secretary to provide for coordinated administration and regulation of assisted graduate programs to ensure that they are carried out in a manner most compatible with academic practices. Directs the Secretary to appoint administrative and technical employees with the appropriate educational background to assist in program adminstration. Revises and renames part A, Grants to Institutions to Encourage Women and Minority Participation in Graduate Education (currently, Grants to Institutions to Encourage Minority Participation in Graduate Education). Adds provisions for women (as well as for individuals from minority groups underrepresented in graduate education) under such part A program. Adds provisions for information collection under such part A program. Revises title IX part B provisions. Renames part B as Postbaccalaureate Opportunity and Harris Fellowship Programs (currently Patricia Roberts Harris Fellowships). Provides for a subpart 1 program of Postbaccaulaureate masters and professional education of women and minorities underrepresented in such education. Provides for a subpart 2 program, the Patricia Roberts Harris Graduate Fellowship Program, to provide, through institutions of higher education, grants to assist the doctoral education for women and individuals from underrepresented groups. Provides for individual stipends comparable with National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowships. Revises title IX part C provisions for the Jacob K. Javits Fellows Program. Authorizes up to 600 new fellowships per year (currently limited to 450 per-year). Revises provisions for individual stipends (to be comparable with National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowships). Sets the institutional assistance payment at $10,000, to be adjusted annually for inflation. Revises title IX part D provisions for Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need. Provides for institutional commitments to provide stipends to complete graduate study to include students pursuing a doctoral degree after having completed a masters degree program. Provides for individual stipend comparable to National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowships. Provides for an added institutional assistance payment of $10,000, to be adjusted for inflation. Revises title IX part E provisions for Assistance for Training in the Legal Profession. Requires such assistance to be for minority and other low-income, disadvantaged college graduates to successfully pursue a law degree and service in the legal profession. Requires such assistance to be through and annual grant on contract with the Council on Legal Education Opportunity (CLEO). Sets forth authorized services for part E legal training projects. Requires the Secretary, by grant or contract on a biennial basis, with CLEO, to cover all or part of costs of specified activities. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1992 through 1996 for specified authorized services provided by part E legal training projects. Revises title IX part F provisions for Law School Clinical Experience Programs. Authorize grant use to cover costs of continuing (as well as establishing or expanding) such programs. Increases the maximum amount any law school may receive under part F in any fiscal year (from $100,000 to $250,000). Establishes, as a new part G of title IX, a program of Grants to Institutions to Encourage Minorities to Enter the Higher Education Professorate. Directs the Secretary to make grants to institutions of higher education or to nonprofit organizations associated with such institutions with a demonstrated record of enhancing minority access to graduate education), in consortia with historically black colleges and universities and other institutions with significant enrollments of African Americans, Asian Americans, Hispanic Americans, and Native Americans. States that such grants shall enable such institutions to: (1) identify talented candidates for and recipients of baccalaureate degrees and faculty who wish to enter or continue in the higher education professorate; and (2) provide such students and faculty with stipends and fellowships to assist them in obtaining a doctoral degree and returning to an institution of higher education to teach. Designates such fellowships as the Faculty Development Fellowships. Sets forth application and selection requirements. Requires each Faculty Development Fellowship recipient to agree to teach at an institution of higher education for two years for every one year of fellowship assistance, or else repay the fellowship. Sets forth repayment procedures and exceptions. Transfers to part H of title IX provisions for Authorization of Appropriations (currently part G). Extends for FY 1993 through FY 1997 the authorization of appropriations for the following title IX programs: (1) part A, Grants to Institutions to Encourage Women and Minority Participation in Graduate Education; (2) part B, subpart 1, Postbaccalaureate Opportunity Fellowships; (3) part B, subpart 2, Patricia Roberts Harris Graduate Fellowship Program; (4) part C, Jacob K. Javits Fellows Program; (5) part D, Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need; (6) part F, Law School Clinical Experience Programs; and (7) part G, Grants to Institutions to Encourage Minorities to Enter the Higher Education Professorate. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1994 through 1998 for part E, Assistance for Training in the Legal Profession (under part E, this Act also authorizes appropriations for FY 1992 through 1996 for specified authorized services provided by part E legal training projects). Title X: Postsecondary Improvement Program - Revises title X of HEA, Postsecondary Improvement Program. Authorizes the Secretary to make planning grants to institutions of higher education for the development and testing of innovative techniques in postsecondary education. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1993 through 1997 for such planning grants. Extends through FY 1997 the authorization of appropriations for HEA title X part A, Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (the Fund) (to which such planning grant provisions are added). Extends through FY 1997 the authorization of appropriations for part B, Minority Science and Engineering Improvement Programs. Retains the current division of such funds as follows: (1) 50 percent for the Minority Science Improvement Program; (2) 33 1/3 percent for Science and Engineering Access Programs; and (3) 16 2/3 percent for the Special Services Projects progam. Redesignates the current part C of title X of HEA, Innovative Projects for Community Services and Student Financial Assistance, as part C of a new title XI of HEA (Student Community Service). Establishes a new part C of title X of HEA, Special Projects in Areas of National Need. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to institutions of higher education, consortia thereof, and other public agencies and nonprofit institutions for innovative projects concerning one or more areas of particular national need in postsecondary education identified by the Secretary and the Director of the Fund. Sets forth application requirements. Requires areas of national need to initially include, but not be limited to: (1) international exchanges; (2) campus climate and culture; and (3) evaluation and dissemination. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1993 through 1997 for such grants Title XI: Student Community Service - Establishes a new title XI of HEA, Student Community Service, which consolidate current and new HEA community service programs. Some elements of the current title XI, Partnerships for Economic Development and Urban Community Service, are contained in revised forms under the new title I of HEA, as amended by this Act.) Establishes, as part A of title XI, Higher Education Innovative Projects for Community Service, to support innovative projects to encourage students to participate in community service activities while attending institutions of higher education (such provisions are revised and transferred from the National and Community Service Act of 1990). (The current part A of title XI of HEA is Partnerships for Community Development.) Authorizes the Secretary (after consultation with the Commission on National Service, to insure coordination of activities, to make part A grants to and contracts with institutions of higher education (including consortia of such institutions) working in partnership with other public agencies and nonprofit organizations, to: (1) enable institutions to create or expand community service activities to their students; (2) encourage community service projects designed and initiated by students; (3) encourage student participation in community service activities that engender social responsibility and commitment to the community; (4) encourage students to assist in teaching individuals with limited basic skills or an inability to read and write; and (5) provide for training teachers, prospective teachers, related education personnel, and community leaders in the skills necessary to develop community service acitivites. Requires, with respect to proposed community service activities, consideration of: (1) the particular needs of a community; (2) the grantee's ability to actively involve a major part of the community; and (3) whether the community will benefit substantially. Sets the Federal share at not more than 50 percent. Sets forth application requirements. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1993 through 1997 for such part A program. Establishes a new part B of title XI, Student Literacy Corps and Student Mentoring Corps (the current part D of title I of HEA provides for a Student Literacy Corps). Authorizes the Secretary to make part B grants to institutions of higher education for up to four years to carry out literacy corps programs and/or mentoring corps programs in public community agencies in the communities in which the institutions are located. Sets forth authorized uses of, and limitations on, such grant funds. Sets forth application requirements for such programs. Sets forth provisions for technical assistance and coordination arrangements. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1993 through 1997 for such part B programs. Sets forth, as part C of title XI, provisions for Innovative Projects for Community Services and Student Financial Independence (currently such provisions are under part C of title X). Extends through FY 1997 the authorization of appropriations for such part C projects. Sets forth, as part D of title XI, provisions for Community Service-Learning. Transfers and revises such provisions, which are currently under title IV part C, for: (1) work-study for community service-learning on behalf of low-income individuals and families; and (2) community service job location and development programs for students at institutions of higher education. Establishes, as part E of title XI, Grants for Sexual Offenses Education and prevention programs. Authorizes the Secretary to make such part E program grants to and contracts with institutions of higher education, on a competitive basis. Requires program grants, in general, to be used to educate and provide support services to student victims of sexual offenses. Sets forth authorized activities. Requires that at least 25 percent ofprogram funds be available for grants for model demonstration programs, to be coordinated with local rape crisis centers, for: (1) development and implementation of quality rape prevention and education curricula; and (2) local programs to provide services to student sexual offense victims. Requires, under conditions for institutional eligibility for part E grants, written policies that: (1) prohibit all forms of sexual offenses; and (2) require disclosure to the victim of any sexual offense the outcome of any campus police investigation or campus disciplinary proceedings brought pursuant to the victim's complaint against the alleged perpetrator. Gives priority to grant applicants who do not have an established campus education program regarding sexual offenses. Sets forth requirements for part E grant applictions and grantee performance reports. Directs the Secretary to: (1) promulgate regulations for such program; and (2) report on such program to congressional committees responsible for issues relating to higher education and crime. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1992 through 1995 for such part E grants for sexual offenses education and prevention programs. Repeals provisions of the National and Community Service Act of 1990 relating to Higher Education Innovative Projects for Innovative Eduction (such provisions are transferred in a revised form to part A of title XI of HEA by this Act, as described above). Title XII: General Provisions - Revises title XII of HEA, General Provisions. Revises HEA definitions, including that of institution of higher education, and adds, definitions with cross-reference to other laws. Revises antidiscrimination provisions to declare that nothing in HEA shall be construed to limit any individual's rights or responsibilities under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, or any other law. Adds requirements for institutional disclosures of foreign gifts. Requires such disclosure reports to be made to the Secretary and to be open to public inspection. Provides for court orders to enforce such disclosure requirements. Title XIII: Indian Higher Education Programs - Part A: Tribally Controlled Community Colleges - Amends the Tribally Controlled Community College Assistance Act of 1978 to extend the authorization of appropriations: (1) from FY 1992 through 1996, for technical assistance contracts, grants to tribally controlled community colleges, and a renovation program and construction of new facilities; and (2) from FY 1993 through 1997, for the tribally controlled community college endowment program grants and economic development program. Amends the Navajo Community College Act to extend the authorization of appropriations from FY 1993 through 1997 for construction grants. Part B: Higher Education Tribal Grant Authorization Act - Higher Education Tribal Grant Authorization Act - Directs the Secretary of the Interior (the Secretary, for purposes of this part B of title XIII) to make grants to Indian tribes (tribes) to permit them to provide financial assistance to individual Indian students for the cost of attendance at institutions of higher education. Provides that such grants shall come from appropriations for supporting higher education grants for Indian students under the authority of the Snyder Act. Prohibits the Secretary from placing any restrictions not expressly authorized by this part on the use of funds provided to an Indian tribe under this part. Provides that this Act shall not affect any Federal trust responsibilities. Prohibits any termination, modification, suspension, or reduction of grants under this part which is only for the convenience of the administering agency. Allows any tribe to qualify for such a grant by filing: (1) a notice of intent to administer such a student assistance program, if such tribe obtains funds for educational purposes similar to those authorized in this part pursuant to a contract under the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (ISDEAA) (contracting tribe); or (2) an application for such a grant, if the tribe does not have such an ISDEAA contract (noncontracting tribe), under guidelines for programs under ISDEAA. Presumes an Indian tribe which has qualified for such a grant to continue to be eligible for such a grant for each succeeding fiscal year, unless the Secretary revokes such eligibility for a specified cause, involving failure to submit annual financial statements and program descriptions to the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) or biennial financial audits to the Secretary, or independently evaluated failure to comply with standards relating to eligible students, programs, or institutions of higher education, satisfactory progress, or allowable administrative costs, as determined under ISDEAA contracts. Sets forth procedural safeguards relating to such revocations, including written notice, opportunity and technical assistance to make corrections, and hearing and appeals applicable under ISDEAA. Directs the Secretary to continue to determine the amount of program funds to be received by each grantee under this part by the same method used for determining such distribution in FY 1991 for tribally-administered and BIA-administered programs of grants to individual Indians to defray postsecondary expenses. Provides for additional amounts to cover program administrative costs, determined for: (1) contracting tribes, by the method used by the grantee during the preceding ISDEAA contract period; and (2) noncontracting tribes, by the ISDEAA regulations governing such determinations, as in effect at the time of the grant application. Provides for a single grant to each grantee during any fiscal year, combining such program and administrative funds. Requires the grant to be maintained in a separate account. Requires the tribes to use such grants to make grants to individual Indian students to meet, on the basis of need, any educational expense of attendance in a postsecondary education program (as determined under ISDEAA contracts), to the extent such expense is not met through other sources or cannot be defrayed through the action of any State, Federal, or municipal Act (except that nothing in these provisions is to be interpreted as requiring any priority in consideration of resources). Allows use of such grants also for program administrative costs, within the specified limits. Bars use of grant funds for study at a divinity school or department or for any religious worship or sectarian activity. Sets forth provisions for grant payments. Requires that interest or any other income on grant funds: (1) be used only for the same purposes as the grants; (2) be the property of the tribe or tribal organization; and (3) not be taken into account by Federal officers or employees in determining whether to provide assistance, or the amount of assistance, under any Federal law. Sets forth requirements relating to investments and deposits of such funds. Provides that such funds shall not be considered for purposes of underrecovery or overrecovery determinations by any Federal agency for any other funds. Directs the Secretary to report biennially to the Congress on the programs established under this part, including specified items. Requires that: (1) grant applications, and application modifications, be reviewed and approved by personnel under the direction and control of the Director of the Office of Indian Education Programs; and (2) required reports be submitted to such personnel. Requires that specified provisions of the ISDEAA be applicable to grants provided under this Act. Authorizes the Secretary to issue regulations relating to discharge of duties specifically assigned to the Secretary by this part. Prohibits the Secretary from issuing regulations in all other matters relating to the details of planning, development, implementation, and evaluation of grants under this part. Provides that regulations issued under these provisions shall not have the standing of a Federal statute for purposes of judicial review. Sets forth procedures for retrocession of programs assisted under this part. Makes any such retrocession requested by a tribe effective on a date specified by the Secretary not more than 120 days after such request, or such later date as may be mutually agreed upon by the Secretary and the tribe. Requires the Secretary, if such program is retroceded, to provide any tribe served by such program at least the same quantity and quality of services. Requires the tribal governing body requesting the retrocession to specify whether the retrocession shall be to: (1) a contract administered by the tribe, or a tribal entity, under the authority of the ISDEAA; or (2) a BIA-administered program. Part C: Critical Needs for Tribal Development Act - Critical Needs for Tribal Development Act - Authorizes an eligible Indian tribe or tribal organization to require any applicant for federally funded higher education assistance to enter into a critical area service agreement, as a condition of receipt of such assistance. Requires such tribe or tribal organization that implements such critical area service agreements to designate particular occupational areas as critical areas for the economic or human development needs of the tribe or its members, and to notify the Secretary of the Interior in writing of such designated critical areas. Establishes guidelines and procedures to implement such critical area service agreements. Part D: Institute of American Indian Native Culture and Arts Development - Amends the Higher Education Amendments of 1986 (of which title XV is the American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian Culture and Art Development Act is referred to as the Act for purposes of this part) to revise provisions relating to the Institute of American Indian Native Culture and Arts Development (the Institute) and its Board of Directors (the Board). Requires that Board members represent diverse fields of expertise, including finance, law, and fine arts higher education administration. Directs the President to carry out through the Board the publication of announcements of expiration of terms and the solicitation of nominations from Indian tribes and organizations to fill vacancies. Authorizes the Board to: (1) make recommendations based on nominations received; (2) make recommendations of its own; and (3) review and make comments on individuals being considered by the President for whom no nominations have been received. Grants the Board the power to recommend the continuation of Board members, in order to maintain stability and continuation, in accordance with specified procedures. Revises general powers of the Board. Authorizes the Board to: (1) enter into joint development ventures with public or private commercial or noncommercial entities for development of facilities to meet a specified required plan (provided that such ventures are related to and further the Institute's mission); and (2) designate annually a portion (up to ten percent) of specified appropriated funds for investment on a short-term basis to maximize yield and liquidity. Requires that interest and earnings on specified amounts received and invested by the Institute be expended to carry out the Act. Revises provisions for basic compensation rates for Institute staff to require these to be set at rates comparable to those of similar institutions of higher education (or, as at present, at civil service rates for individuals with comparable qualifications). Revises Institute functions to eliminate certain requirements relating to a Center for Culture and Art Studies, Center for Research and Cultural Exchange, and Museum of American Indian and Alaska Native Arts. Makes the Board responsible for establishing the policies and administrative organization relating to the administrative organization relating to the administrative control and monitoring responsibilities for all Institute subdivisions, administrative entities, and departments, with the specific responsibilities of each to lie solely within the discretion of the Board or its designee. Requires the Board to establish, within the Institute, departments for the study of culture and arts and for research and exchange, and a museum. Directs the Board to establish areas of competency for such departments. Authorizes the Institute to develop a policy or policies to extend preference to Indians in its program admissions and enrollment, employment, and contracts, fellowships, and grants. (Currently authorizes the Institute to simply extend such preference.) Revises provisions relating to transfer of functions, including certain provisions for forgiveness of amounts owed and hold harmless provisions. Eliminates requirements for an annual report by the Institute President. Revises provisions relating to the Institute's headquarters to refer to the Board, rather than the Secretary of the Interior. Provides that the Institute shall not be subject to any requirement for non-Federal matching funds as a condition for Federal assistance. Revises provisions for the Institute's endowment program. Allows the Institute to use funds from any non-Federal governmental source (as well as from any private or tribal source) to comply with a contribution requirement. Directs the Board to prepare a master plan on the short- and long-term facilities needs of the Institute, including specified types of evaluations, impact projections, periodic reviews, and needs prioritization. Requires transmittal of such plan to the Congress within 18 months after enactment of this part. Part E: Tribal Development Student Assistance Revolving Loan Program - Tribal Development Student Assistance Act - Establishes a student assistance revolving loan program for Native Americans, to be administered by tribes or tribal organizations. Requires that funds received under a grant under this part or recovered under specified provisions of this part be identified and accounted for separately from any other tribal or Federal funds received from the Federal Government. Requires that all funds in such account be used for the purposes of this Act. Makes the Secretary of the Interior (the Secretary, for purposes of this part) responsible for establishing requirements for receipt, investment, and accounting of such funds to safeguard any financial interests of the Federal Government. Requires such funds to be: (1) invested by the tribe or tribal organization only in obligations of the United States or in obligations or securities guaranteed or insured by the United States; or (2) deposited only in accounts that are insured by an agency or instrumentality of the United States. Provide that any interest or investment income that accrues to any of such funds after they have been distributed to a tribe or tribal organization to make loans under this part shall be: (1) the property of the tribe or tribal organization; and (2) not taken into account by any Federal officer or employee in determining whether to provide to provide assistance, or the amount of assistance, under any provision of Federal law. Directs the Secretary to make grants under this part to: (1) tribes or multitribal organizations not serviced by current federally funded postsecondary institutions authorized for economic development grants; and (2) tribes or multitribal organizations which lack sufficient numbers of professionally trained tribal members to support established or ongoing economic development activities. Requires any tribe or tribal organization which receives such grant funds to make such funds available by loan to Native American students who have successfully completed 30 hours of postsecondary education and who are eligible for readmission to a postsecondary institution. Sets forth terms of such student loans, including: (1) being subject to repayment over a period of not more than five years; (2) not bearing interest; and (3) being subject to forgiveness for services to the tribe under specified provisions. Requires that calculation of the student's cost of attendance include all costs as determined by the tribe for purposes of fulfilling the policy of this part. Requires any student seeking such a loan to apply for and accept the maximum financial aid available from other sources. Prohibits such loans from being considered in needs analysis under any other Federal law, and from penalizing students in determining eligibility for other funds. Sets forth requirements for a written agreement between the tribe or tribal organization and the eligible recipient for service fulfillment or loan repayment. Requires the recipient to commit to: (1) perform, for each academic year of assistance under this part, one calendar year of service to the tribe or tribal organization in an occupation related to the course of study pursued and an economic or social tribal development plan (commencing not later than six months after the student ceases to carry at least one-half the normal full-time academic workload); or (2) repay to the tribe or tribal organization the full amount of the loan, in monthly or quarterly installments within five years (with such recovered funds to be reported annually to the Secretary and invested in the account). Sets forth provisions for: (1) limitations and conditions on such service; (2) waivers or suspensions of such service agreements; (3) pro rata reductions for partial service; and (4) annual certification of individuals' service by the tribe to the Secretary. Directs the Secretary to: (1) establish an application process for making grants to eligible entities; (2) take into account in reviewing applications the number of students with partial completion identified by the applicant, relative to the total number of tribal members who would be benefitted by the provision of services; and (3) attempt to achieve geographic and demographic diversity in such grants. Directs the Secretary, subject to the availability of funds and acceptable applications, to make five four-year grants to tribes or tribal organizations. Requires that the amount of administrative costs associated with such grants be negotiated by the Secretary with successful applicants and made a part of the grant agreement. Authorizes appropriations for this part for FY 1993 through 1997. Title XIV: Miscellaneous - Part A: Studies -Directs the Secretary of Education (the Secretary) to conduct, through the Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI), a two-year study of programs to increase the accessibility of postsecondary education for nontraditional students. Requires an interim and final report on such study to specified congressional committees. Directs the Secretary to conduct a study to evaluate the coordination of Federal student assistance programs with other benefit programs funded in whole or part with Federal funds. Requires particular attention to: (1) the effect of receipt of student aid on reduction or denial of other program benefits to such students; and (2) the attendance cost elements funded in whole or part by Federal student assistance programs for students eligible for other Federal programs, and the inclusion of room and/or board costs in such attendance costs. Requires a report on such study to appropriate congressional committees within three years. Directs the Secretary to conduct an annual special purpose survey of factors associated with participation of low-income, disadvantaged, and minority students in various types of postsecondary education. Requires such survey data to permit comparisons with other groups that have characteristically participated at higher rates than at-risk students. Requires consultation with the Congress and the elementary, secondary, and higher education community in developing such annual survey. Sets forth required inclusions in such survey. Requires the Secretary, in the event of significant findings related to underparticipation rates of at-risk and other students, to submit a plan containing policies and program modifications for ensuring the participation of at-risk students. Directs the Secretary, through OERI, to evaluate the effectiveness of postsecondary assistance guaranty programs for disadvantaged children that, in exchange for the child's commitment to achieving a satisfactory elementary and secondary education, promise the child the financial resources needed to pursue a postsecondary education. Requires such study to sample the types of such guarantee programs available, which may include supportive services, mentoring, study skills, and counseling for student participants. Requires dissemination of study findings. Requires an interim and a final report to specified congressional committees. Directs OERI to conduct a two-year study to: (1) assess information currently collected on graduate education; and (2) identify what additional information should be generated to guide the Department of Education in supporting graduate education. Requires consultation with other agencies and organizations involved in graduate education policies and programs. Directs the Comptroller General to evaluate staffing requirements of the U.S. Department of Education's Center for International Education, including specified considerations. Requires consultation with institutions of higher education which have participated in specified international education programs under HEA and the Mutual Educational and Cultural Exchange Act, and with national organizations of such institutions. Requires a report to the Congress within one year on such evaluation results. Part B: National Clearinghouse for Postsecondary Education Materials - Authorizes the Secretary to award a three-year grant or contract to establish a National Clearinghouse for Postsecondary Education Materials in accessible form, including audio and digital for students with disabilities. Sets forth authorized uses of such grant or contract funds. Sets forth a declining Federal share of program cost for each year of the award. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1993 through 1995 for such clearinghouse.
United States · United States Congress · 8 October 1991
Economic Equity Act - Title I: Employment Opportunities - Subtitle A: Nontraditional Employment for Women Act - Nontraditional Employment for Women Act - Amends the Job Training Partnership Act to modify requirements regarding women in nontraditional employment (defined as occupations or fields where women comprise less than 25 percent of the individuals) relating to: (1) job training plans and coordination and special services plans; (2) the duties of the State job training coordinating council; and (3) the use of certain funds. Requires States to develop demonstration programs to train and place women in nontraditional employment. Subtitle B: Worker Retraining Act of 1991 - Worker Retraining Act of 1991 - Mandates grants to not more than ten States to plan, establish, and operate worker retraining initiatives to allow employed low-income individuals to advance from low skill to higher skill positions. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle C: Women in Apprenticeship Occupations and Nontraditional Occupations Act - Women in Apprenticeship Occupations and Nontraditional Occupations Act - Requires the Department of Labor to promote an outreach program to employers to inform employers of the availability of technical assistance in preparing the work place to employ women in apprenticeable occupations and other nontraditional occupations. Mandates a report to the Congress on the participation of women in apprenticeable and other nontraditional occupations. Subtitle D: Glass Ceiling Act of 1991 - Glass Ceiling Act of 1991 - Establishes a Glass Ceiling Commission to study and report to the President and appropriate committees of the Congress concerning: (1) eliminating artificial barriers to the advancement of women and minorities; and (2) increasing the opportunities and developmental experiences of women and minorities to foster advancement to management and decision making positions in business. Establishes the National Award for Diversity and Excellence in American Executive Management. Allows a recipient business to publicize the receipt of the award and use the award in its advertising, if the business agrees to help other U.S. businesses improve with respect to the promotion of opportunities and developmental experiences of women and minorities to foster the advancement of women and minorities to management and decision making positions. Authorizes appropriations. Terminates the Commission and the authority to make awards four years after enactment of this Act. Subtitle E: Women and Minorities in Science and Mathematics Act of 1991 - Women and Minorities in Science and Mathematics Act of 1991 - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 with regard to women and minorities who are underrepresented in science and mathematics to mandate grants and contracts for education programs. Modifies existing provisions regarding: (1) off-campus programs; (2) adult and continuing education staff development; (3) research and research application in adult and continuing education; (4) the "talent search" and "upward bound" programs; (5) midcareer teacher retraining; (6) school, college, and university partnerships; (7) professional development resource centers; (8) congressional teacher scholarships; (9) model and cooperative education; (10) graduate education programs; (11) Harris fellowships; (12) graduate assistance in areas of national need; (13) the Minority Science Improvement Program; and (14) science and engineering access programs. Subtitle F: Commission on the Advancement of Women in the Science and Engineering Work Forces Act - Commission on the Advancement of Women in the Science and Engineering Work Forces Act - Establishes the Commission on the Advancement of Women in the Science and Engineering Work Forces. Title II: Women in Business - Subtitle A: Act for Microenterprise - Act for Microenterprise - Amends the Social Security Act to exclude business assets from consideration in determining: (1) eligibility for aid and services to needy families with children (AFDC); and (2) income and resources in connection with provisions relating to supplemental security income (SSI). Excludes income from a business with five or fewer employees, during the first year of the business, from consideration in determining the amount of aid under AFDC and SSI. Amends the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) to require approval of any State law making unemployment compensation payable to individuals starting microenterprises. Requires State law to entitle an individual performing services in a microenterprise to receive regular or extended unemployment compensation. Amends the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 to allow assistance under certain provisions of the Act to be used for: (1) loans to commercial enterprises with five or fewer employees, one or more of whom own the enterprise; and (2) counseling, technical assistance, educational programs, planning, and training to facilitate such commercial enterprises. Amends the Small Business Act to set forth Congressional findings regarding microenterprises and implementation of loan programs under specified provisions of the Small Business Act and the Small Business Investment Act of 1958. Amends the Home Owners' Loan Act to add references to microenterprise loans to provisions defining "qualified thrift investments." Requires each Federal banking agency to establish a division to be known as the Microenterprise Technical and Operations Office to offer technical assistance, training, outreach, and other support. Subtitle B: Microlend for the Future Act - Microlend for the Future Act - Authorizes the Administrator of the Small Business Administration to make loans and grants to community based organizations for the startup and expansion of microenterprises, with the organizations using the loans to make loans and the grants to provide technical assistance to microenterprises. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle C: Women's Business Procurement Assistance Act of 1991 - Women's Business Procurement Assistance Act of 1991 - Amends the Small Business Act to add references to small businesses owned and controlled by women to provisions concerning: (1) Government-wide goals for participation of small businesses in procurement; (2) U.S. policy on small business participation in Federal procurement and on timely payment by prime contractors to small business subcontractors; and (3) a clause required to be included in Federal agency contracts. Requires that each Federal agency having procurement powers: (1) designate a specialist responsible for programs to assist small businesses owned and controlled by women; and (2) engage in affirmative efforts to identify and solicit offers from such businesses. Establishes in the Small Business Administration the Office of Women's Business Ownership. Subtitle D: Equal Surety Bond Opportunity Act - Equal Surety Bond Opportunity Act - Prohibits discrimination by a surety in any aspect of a surety bond transaction: (1) on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, marital status, or age; (2) because the applicant has exercised any right under this title; or (3) because the applicant previously obtained a bond through certain means. Specifies activities not constituting discrimination. Provides for civil and equitable relief and prohibits a company from being approved as a surety by the Secretary of the Treasury unless the company is in full compliance with the requirements of this subtitle. Amends Federal Law to require surety companies to be in compliance with this subtitle. Subtitle E: Small Business Access to Surety Bonding Survey Act of 1991 - Small Business Access to Surety Bonding Survey Act of 1991 - Requires the Comptroller General to conduct a survey and report to specified congressional committees on the experiences of businesses, especially small businesses, in obtaining surety bonds from corporate surety firms. Title III: Economic Justice - Subtitle A: Pay Equity Technical Assistance Act - Pay Equity Technical Assistance Act - Directs the Secretary of Labor to carry out a continuing program regarding reducing or eliminating, conducting research on, and providing technical assistance concerning wage disparities based on sex, race, or national origin. Subtitle B: Legislative Pay Equity Study - Declares that it is congressional policy that persons employed in the legislative branch shall receive equal pay for comparable work. Establishes the Commission on Employment Discrimination in the Legislative Branch. Subtitle C: Part-Time and Temporary Workers Protection Act - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to set forth special participation, vesting, and accrual rules applicable to part-time and temporary employees. Allows limited reductions in employer-provided group health plan premiums for part-time employees. Modifies, for provisions relating to protection of employee benefit rights, the definition of "employee" to include persons who have performed at least 500 hours of service per year. Subtitle D: Child Support Enforcement Improvements Act of 1991 - Child Support Enforcement Improvements Act of 1991 - Shields a depository institution from liability under Federal or State law for disclosing any financial record of an individual to a State child support enforcement agency attempting to establish, modify, or enforce a child support obligation. Prohibits the recipient enforcement agency from improperly disclosing the information and provides for civil damages. Amends the Fair Credit Reporting Act to allow a consumer reporting agency to furnish a consumer report to such an enforcement agency that is making such an attempt. Amends the Social Security Act to require that a State plan for child and spousal support include certain procedures relating to the provision by an absent parent of medical insurance coverage for one or more children of a custodial parent. Increases the incentive payment to States for successful enforcement of court orders for the coverage. Modifies requirements concerning: (1) regulation of the interception of refunds from the internal revenue service; and (2) employer withholding of support payments. Provides for a national network to build on the statewide child support enforcement systems States are developing. Subtitle E: Dependent Care Tax Credit Refundability - Amends the IRC to allow as a limited refundable credit a portion of: (1) expenses for household services and for the care of a qualifying individual; and (2) respite care expenses. Subtitle F: Pell Grant Eligibility Expansion Act - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to remove provisions prohibiting, in certain circumstances, basic educational opportunity grants (BEOGs) to less than half-time students. Subtitle G: Federal Council on Women Act - Federal Council on Women Act - Establishes in the legislative branch the Federal Council on Women to make recommendations on a wide range of issues and concerns relating to women. Title IV: Retirement Equity - Subtitle A: Pension Reform Act of 1991 - Pension Reform Act of 1991 - Amends the Tax Reform Act of 1986 to modify requirements relating to the effective date of the application of nondiscrimination rules to integrated plans. Amends the IRC to repeal provisions relating to nondiscrimination requirements and permitted disparity with regard to contributions to pension plans, including simplified pension plans. Modifies minimum coverage requirements for qualified pension, profit-sharing, and stock bonus plans with regard to whether an employer operates separate lines or a single line of business. Amends the IRC and ERISA to modify minimum vesting standards to remove provisions relating to multiemployer plans. Requires the Comptroller General to report to specified congressional committees on alternative: (1) methods of requiring employee pension benefit plans to provide cost-of-living and other adjustments to benefits; and (2) pension portability mechanisms for preserving and enhancing the real value of deferred vested pension benefits. Allows a domestic relations court order entered after enactment of this Act and amending an order originally entered before 1985 to be considered a qualified domestic relations order for purposes of certain provisions of the Retirement Equity Act of 1984. Subtitle B: Spousal Pension Equity Act - Spousal Pension Equity Act - Amends provisions of the IRC relating to limitations on the amount of annual compensation taken into account to prohibit aggregation of spousal incomes when both spouses are licensed to perform services in the same professional field and perform the services for the employer. Subtitle C: Social Security Care Provider Act of 1991 - Social Security Care Provider Act of 1991 - Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) of the Social Security Act to change the formula for determining the number of an individual's benefit computation years. Subtitle D: Social Security Modernization Act of 1991 - Social Security Modernization Act of 1991 - Amends OASDI to require, provided this method increases benefits, that the combined earnings of an individual and his or her spouse, during their marriage, be divided equally for determining OASDI benefits. Terminates the amendment made by this subtitle after the year 2015. Mandates studies every five years by the appropriate congressional committees to determine the effect of the termination on beneficiaries. Subtitle E: Former Military Spouses - Amends the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1991 to apply amendments relating to retired pay to any divorces, dissolutions of marriage, annulments, and legal separations (currently, to any such events that occur more than 90 days after enactment of the Act). Subtitle F: Federal Employees Former Spouses - Amends the Civil Service Retirement Spouse Equity Act of 1984 to modify requirements for entitlement of a former spouse of a Federal employee or Member of Congress to a survivor annuity. Allows any former spouse who becomes eligible, because of this subtitle, for a survivor annuity, to enroll in a health benefits plan under specified provisions of Federal law.
United States · United States Congress · 25 September 1991
Designates the week of August 10 through August 16, 1992, as National Parents of Murdered Children Week.
United States · United States Congress · 24 September 1991
Fair Competition in Broadcasting Act of 1991 - Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to prohibit, one year after the enactment of the Local Broadcast Service Protection Act of 1991, any cable system (system) or other multichannel video programming distributor (MVPD) from retransmitting the signal of a commercial broadcasting station, or any part thereof, without the express authority of the originating station, with exceptions. Makes such prohibition inapplicable to the retransmission of the signal of a broadcasting station to a home satellite antenna by a cable operator (operator) or other MVPD of the signal of a superstation if the originating station was a superstation on May 1, 1991, and the system or other MVPD does not obtain the signal directly from the originating station. Directs the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to establish regulations to govern the exercise by television (TV) stations of the right to grant retransmission authority and the right to signal carriage under such Act. Specifies that: (1) such regulations shall require that TV stations make an election between such rights; (2) if an originating TV station elects to exercise its right to grant retransmission authority, such Act shall not require the carriage of the signal of such station by such system; (3) such election shall not interfere with or supersede the rights of any station electing to assert the right of signal carriage; and (4) such provisions shall not be construed as affecting program licensing agreements between broadcasters and program suppliers. Requires each system operator with: (1) 12 or fewer usable activated channels to carry the signals of at least three local commercial TV stations, with exceptions where there are 300 or fewer subscribers; and (2) more than 12 such channels to carry the signals of local commercial TV stations up to one third of the aggregate number of usable activated channels of such system. Grants the operator discretion in selecting which signals to carry on its system whenever the number of local commercial TV stations exceeds the maximum number of signals a system is required to carry under such provision, with exceptions. Requires an operator to carry: (1) in its entirety, on the system of that operator, the primary video and accompanying audio transmission of each of the local commercial TV stations carried on the system and, to the extent technically feasible, program-related material carried in the vertical blanking interval or on subcarriers; and (2) the entirety of the program schedule of any TV station carried on the system unless carriage of specific programming is prohibited, and other programming authorized to be substituted, under Federal regulations. Requires that: (1) the signals of local commercial TV stations that an operator carriers be carried without material degradation; (2) the FCC adopt carriage standards to ensure that, to the extent technically feasible, the quality of signal processing and carriage provided by a system for the carriage of local commercial TV stations will be no less than that provided for carriage of any other type of signal; and (3) the FCC, at such time as it prescribes modifications of the standards for TV broadcast signals, initiate a proceeding to establish any changes in the signal carriage requirements of cable TV systems necessary to ensure cable carriage of such broadcast signals of local commercial TV stations which have been changed to conform with such modified standards. Specifies that an operator shall not be required to carry the signal of any local commercial TV station that substantially duplicates the signal of another local commercial TV station which is carried on its system, or to carry the signals of more than one local commercial TV station affiliated with a particular broadcast network. Sets forth provisions with respect to: (1) channel positioning; (2) signal availability; (3) identification of signals carried; and (4) notification of a local commercial TV station prior to deleting carriage or repositioning the station. Bars an operator from accepting or requesting compensation for carriage of local commercial TV stations or for channel positioning rights, with exceptions. Establishes procedures for complaints by broadcast stations against operators. Directs the FCC to: (1) afford the operator an opportunity to respond to the allegations; and (2) make a determination and take appropriate action with respect to the complaint. States that no operator shall be required to provide or make available, or provide information to subscribers about, any input selector switch or comparable device. Directs the FCC to issue regulations implementing the requirements established by this Act. Specifies that nothing in this Act shall require (or prohibit) an operator to (or from) carrying on any tier the signal of any commercial TV station or video programming service that is predominantly utilized for the transmission of sales presentations or program length commercials. Requires an operator with: (1) 12 or fewer usable activated channels to carry the signal of at least one qualified local noncommercial educational TV station; and (2) 13 to 36 such channels to carry the signal of at least one such station (but does not require carriage of the signals of more than three such stations). Sets forth additional requirements where a system operates beyond the presence of any qualified local noncommercial educational TV station. Requires all operators to continue to provide carriage to all qualified local noncommercial educational TV stations whose signals were carried on their systems as of March 29, 1990, subject to waiver under specified circumstances. Specifies that: (1) an operator required to add the signals of qualified local noncommercial educational TV stations to a system may do so by placing such additional stations on public, educational, or governmental channels not in use for their designated purposes; (2) an operator of a system with a capacity of more than 36 usable activated channels which is required to carry the signals of three qualified local noncommercial educational TV stations shall not be required to carry the signals of additional such stations the programming of which substantially duplicates the programming broadcast by another qualified local noncommercial educational TV station requesting carriage; and (3) a qualified local noncommercial educational TV station whose signal is carried by an operator shall not assert any network nonduplication rights it may have under specified Federal regulations to require the deletion of programs aired on other qualified local noncommercial educational TV stations whose signals are carried by such operator. Requires an operator to: (1) retransmit in its entirety the primary video and accompanying audio transmission of each qualified local noncommercial educational TV station whose signal is carried on the system and, to the extent technically feasible, program-related material carried in the vertical blanking interval, or on subcarriers, that may be necessary for receipt of programming by handicapped persons or for educational or language purposes; and (2) provide each qualified local noncommercial educational TV station whose signal is carried with bank-width and technical capacity equivalent to that provided to commercial TV broadcast stations carried on the system, and carry the signal of each qualified local noncommercial educational TV station without material degradation. Sets forth additional provisions with respect to: (1) notification of changes in carriage; (2) signal quality; (3) channel positioning; (4) availability of signals; (5) payment for carriage (which is generally prohibited); (6) complaint procedures and remedies; and (7) signal identification.
United States · United States Congress · 17 September 1991
Designates November 1991 as National Accessible Housing Month.
United States · United States Congress · 17 September 1991
Designates 1992 as the Year of the Gulf of Mexico. Directs all Federal and State agencies which have responsibility for matters affecting the Gulf to work to increase public awareness regarding the immeasurable value of this resource and current conditions which threaten its aesthetic and economic value.
United States · United States Congress · 11 September 1991
Area Health Education Centers Reauthorization Act of 1991 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to specify a term of six years for agreements establishing area health education centers (AHECs). Modifies the purposes of AHECs, including serving high-impact areas and States as well as border areas close to Mexico. Mandates, if available in the area, participation of a school of public health. Authorizes agreements for the planning, development, and operation of State-supported AHECs. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 2 August 1991
Extends the presumption of service-connection, for purposes of eligibility for veterans' benefits and medical care, in the case of exposure to ionizing radiation, to include reserve members exposed to such radiation during active and inactive duty training. Expands the list of diseases presumed to be service-connected in the case of exposure to ionizing radiation to include cancer of the salivary tract and cancer of the urinary tract. Terminates the current presumptive period (the maximum period allowed before manifestation of the illness or disease occurs in order to be presumed to be service-connected and, therefore, covered as a veterans' benefit) of 40 years after participation in the radiation-related activity (30 years in the case of leukemia). Amends the Veterans' Dioxin and Radiation Exposure Compensation Standards Act to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish guidelines and standards for the resolution of claims for benefits where a claim is based on a veteran's exposure to ionizing radiation. Directs the Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of Defense, to identify not less than three activities in which individuals serving on active duty, or active or inactive duty training, have participated and which likely would have exposed such individuals to levels of ionizing radiation above background levels. Requires the Secretary to identify at least three additional activities no later than the beginning of FY 1993 through 1995. Requires the Secretary, immediately after identifying such an activity, to direct the Veterans' Advisory Committee on Environmental Hazards to evaluate and make a finding as to whether participation in such activity resulted in potentially harmful exposure to ionizing radiation. Requires reports from the Committee and the Secretary concerning such activities. Directs the Secretary to list each ionizing radiation exposure identified, unless the Secretary determines that the activity did not result in an opportunity for potentially harmful exposure to ionizing radiation.
United States · United States Congress · 2 August 1991
Pollution Prevention, Community Recycling, and Incinerator Control Act - Amends the Solid Waste Disposal Act to prohibit the issuance of permits for construction or expansion to municipal solid waste incinerators. Prohibits Federal agencies, State or local governments, or other waste management jurisdictions from issuing permits to such incinerators after December 31, 1999, unless the applicant demonstrates and the State finds that: (1) an annual waste composition analysis of the solid waste generated within the area to be served by the facility is conducted by the applicant and by entities from which the facility accepts waste; (2) such entities divert specified percentages of glass, paper, metals, plastics, and yard and food waste to waste management methods other than incineration; (3) the facility will not interfere with diversion rates; (4) it is not feasible to manage the remaining solid waste through source reduction, reuse, or recycling; (5) the facility will not adversely affect the environment or human health and is not situated in a nonattainment area identified under the Clean Air Act; (6) the facility will not harm the local economy; (7) the full cost of the facility over its entire life will be less costly than reducing, recycling, or composting waste; (8) the waste management jurisdiction conducts a public participation process (including a technical assistance grant to local community groups concerned about the project); (9) the proposed construction or expansion is approved by the unit of local government in whose boundaries the facility would be sited; (10) firms operating the facility are in compliance with environmental and public health statutes, have paid outstanding fines for violations of such statutes, and make disclosure statements available; and (11) an approved environmental impact statement is completed. Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to: (1) promulgate standards for waste composition analyses; and (2) review diversion rates triennially and require higher rates, if feasible. Treats ash from municipal solid waste incinerators as a hazardous waste under the Solid Waste Disposal Act. Requires such ash to be managed in a monofill containing only such ash and designed to: (1) prevent the migration of constituents during the operation of the facility; and (2) prevent the infiltration of precipitation during any closure or postclosure monitoring period. Provides for compliance with such requirement by existing incinerators within three years of the enactment of this Act. Prohibits the use of such ash for any purpose. Prohibits the incineration of household hazardous waste, batteries, chlorinated plastics, consumer electronics, and yard waste in such incinerators. Prohibits the issuance of permits or prior approval for the construction or expansion of hazardous waste incinerators unless: (1) waste composition analyses are conducted by the applicant and generators of waste to be incinerated at the facility; (2) specified toxics use reduction requirements have been met and the facility will not interfere with the implementation of such requirements; (3) the facility will not adversely affect the environment or human health; (4) the facility will not harm the local economy; (5) there is no safer disposal or treatment technology available for any of the wastes; (6) the waste management jurisdiction conducts a public participation process (including a technical assistance grant to local community groups concerned about the project); (7) the proposed construction or expansion is approved by the unit of local government in whose boundaries the facility would be sited; (8) firms operating the facility are in compliance with environmental and public health statutes, have paid outstanding fines for violations of such statutes, and make disclosure statements available; and (9) an approved environmental impact statement is completed. Requires hazardous waste generators, as part of the permit process, to report annually on the use, and reduction of the use, of toxic or hazardous substances at their facilities. Directs permit applicants to demonstrate that the State in which the incinerator is located, and each State in which generators of hazardous waste to be incinerated at the facility are located, are implementing toxics use reduction programs. Applies this Act's requirements to any facility that burns hazardous waste.
United States · United States Congress · 2 August 1991
Veterans' Hospice Services Act of 1991 - Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to conduct a pilot program to: (1) assess the feasibility and desirability of furnishing hospice care to terminally ill veterans; and (2) determine the most efficient and effective means of furnishing such care. Directs the Secretary to designate 15 to 30 Department of Veterans Affairs medical facilities for such demonstration projects. Requires the Secretary to ensure that: (1) Department medical facilities conducting such projects include both urban and rural area facilities; (2) the full range of affilitation between medical facilities of the Department and medical schools is represented by the facilities selected to conduct such projects; and (3) such facilities vary in the number of beds they operate and maintain. Allows such hospice care to be accomplished by Department medical facilities and personnel by contract where inpatient services are provided by Department medical facilities, or by contract where inpatient services are provided by a non-Department medical facility. Allows such inpatient care to be provided at a facility not designated in the contract when the provision of such care at such other facility is necessary under the circumstances. Limits the amount paid for hospice care programs under this Act to the equivalent of hospice care payments under title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act. Allows the Secretary to pay in excess of such amounts for hospice care when the Secretary determines, on a case-by-case basis, that: (1) the furnishing of such care is necessary and appropriate; and (2) the amount paid under Medicare would not compensate the program for the cost of furnishing such care. Directs the Secretary, during the pilot program period, to designate not less than five Department medical facilities at which palliative care is being furnished to terminally ill veterans either by Department personnel and facilities providing such care or by Department personnel monitoring care provided by non-Department facilities. Directs the Secretary to ensure that terminally ill veterans who have been informed of their medical prognosis receive information relating to their eligibility for hospice care and services under Medicare. Directs the Secretary to submit annual reports to the Senate and House Veterans' Affairs Committees relating to the conduct of the pilot program and the furnishing of hospice care to terminally ill veterans under the demonstration projects. Requires the Secretary to also report to such committees an evaluation and assessment of the hospice care program, including information enabling the committees to fully evaluate the feasibility of furnishing palliative care to terminally ill veterans.
United States · United States Congress · 2 August 1991
Audio Home Recording Act of 1991 - Amends Federal copyright law to: (1) set forth definitions relating to digital audio recording devices and media; and (2) prohibit certain copyright infringement actions based on the manufacture, importation, or distribution of a digital or analog audio recording device or medium, or the use of such device or medium for making phonorecords, except when done for commercial advantage. Sets forth a mandatory recordation and filing procedure for the importation, manufacture, or distribution in the United States of digital audio recording devices or media. Requires importers and manufacturers to file quarterly and annual statements of account with the Register of Copyrights (the Register). Mandates Register verification of such statements. Sets forth verification guidelines. States that verification audit costs shall be borne by interested copyright parties. Sets forth confidentiality guidelines with respect to such mandatory statements of accounts. Prescribes royalty payment guidelines for digital audio recording devices and media imported, manufactured, or distributed in the United States. Requires that royalty payments be deposited into the Treasury. Identifies interested copyright parties entitled to royalty payments. Prescribes royalty payment allocation and distribution procedures. Permits alternative royalty collection and distribution arrangements to be negotiated among interested copyright and manufacturing parties. Maintains the Copyright Tribunal jurisdiction over such negotiated arrangements insofar as nonparticipant interests are affected. Prohibits: (1) the importation, manufacture, and distribution of any digital audio recording device or audio interface device that does not conform to certain standards and specifications to implement the Serial Copy Management System; and (2) the circumvention of such System. Directs the Secretary of Commerce to publish in the Federal Register a certain Technical Reference Document which sets forth the standards and specifications pertinent to the Serial Copy Management System. Authorizes the Secretary to implement such System according to the prescribed guidelines. Sets forth civil remedies for violations of this Act, including impoundment, remedial modification and destruction of non-complying devices, and binding arbitration.
United States · United States Congress · 2 August 1991
Designates October 1991 as Ending Hunger Month.
United States · United States Congress · 1 August 1991
Veterans Dignity in Health Care Act of 1991 - Grants veterans who are patients or residents in Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) medical centers, nursing homes, and domiciliaries the right to purchase and use tobacco products. Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to ensure that: (1) each VA facility that maintains a commissary or canteen makes tobacco products available through, and provides patients or residents access to, the commissary or canteen; and (2) each VA facility maintains and provides patients or residents access to an indoor patient smoking area.
United States · United States Congress · 1 August 1991
Comprehensive Occupational Safety and Health Reform Act - Amends the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (OSHA) with respect to occupational safety and health programs, committees, employee representatives, coverage, standards, enforcement, antidiscrimination, training and education, hazard and illness evaluation, State plans, and victims' rights. Title I: Safety and Health Programs - Amends OSHA to establish requirements for each employer to set up and carry out a written occupational safety and health program that includes methods and procedures for: (1) identifying, evaluating, and documenting hazards; (2) correcting them; (3) investigating work-related illnesses, injuries, and deaths; (4) providing occupational safety and health services, including emergency response and first aid procedures; (5) employee participation in implementing such program, including, where applicable, a safety and health committee; (6) responding to such committee's recommendations; (7) providing safety and health training and education to employees and committee members; (8) designating an employer representative qualified to and responsible for identifying hazards and initiating corrective action; and (9) at a worksite where employees of two or more employers work, protecting employees from hazards under the other employers' control. Authorizes the Secretary of Labor (the Secretary) to modify the application of such requirements to classes of employers where, in light of the risks faced by the employer's employees, such a modification would not reduce their safety and health protection. Directs the Secretary to issue final regulations on the required employer occupational safety and health programs, covering employee training and education as well, including annual refresher courses. Title II: Safety and Health Committees and Employee Safety and Health Representatives - Amends OSHA to require each employer of 11 or more employees to provide for: (1) safety and health committees; and (2) employee safety and health representatives. Requires, in general, such employers to establish such a committee at each worksite, but authorizes the Secretary to modify application of this requirement to: (1) an employer whose employees do not primarily report to or work at a fixed location; (2) covered employers at worksites where less than 11 of their employees are employed; and (3) worksites where employees of more than one employer are employed. Requires committee membership to consist of elected or appointed employee representatives and up to an equal number of employer representatives. Requires the committee to be cochaired by an employer representative and an employee representative. Grants each committee the reasonable right to: (1) review occupational safety and health related employer programs, incidents of death, injury, or illness, complaints of hazards, the employer's work injury and illness records (other than personally identifiable medical information), and other related reports and documents; (2) conduct worksite inspections (and related employee interviews) at least once every three months and in response to complaints; (3) conduct meetings at least once every three months; (4) observe the measurement of employee exposure to toxic materials and harmful physical agents; (5) establish procedures for exercising committee rights; (6) make advisory recommendations for improvements and corrections; and (7) accompany the Secretary's representative during certain physical inspections of the worksite. Requires the employer to permit committee members to take such time from work as is reasonably necessary to exercise committee rights, without any loss of pay or benefits for such time. Directs the Secretary to issue final regulations for the establishment and functioning of such committees. Sets forth procedures for selection of employee representatives by and from nonmanagerial employees. Directs the Secretary to issue regulations on safety and health representatives, including specified numbers and selection procedures. Title III: Coverage - Revises the OSHA definition of employer to include the Federal Government (except certain congressional employees) and State and local governments, thus extending OSHA coverage to public employees. (Includes under such OSHA coverage the executive and judicial branches and the following agencies of the legislative branch: the Botanic Garden, the General Accounting Office, the Government Printing Office, the Library of Congress, the Office of Technology Assessment, the Congressional Budget Office, and the Copyright Royalty Tribunal.) Authorizes the Secretary to cede OSHA jurisdiction to a Federal agency with respect to specified standards or regulations affecting occupational safety and health of some or all employees within that agency's regulatory jurisdiction, if the agency has promulgated and is enforcing standards and regulations so that its employees are being protected at least as effectively as they would be by the Secretary. Declares that nothing in OSHA shall apply to working conditions covered by the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977. Applies OSHA to employment performed in the Federal nuclear facilities under the control or jurisdiction of the Department of Energy. Extends an employer's duties under OSHA to all employees working at the place of employment (even if they are not the employer's employees). Title IV: Occupational Safety and Health Standards - Revises provisions for OSHA standards. Requires specified timeframes for setting such standards after the Secretary has received: (1) a recommendation of an advisory committee, the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), or the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency; or (2) a petition from an interested person setting forth with reasonable particularity the facts claimed to establish that a standard should be promulgated, modified, or revoked. Directs the Secretary, within 90 days after such receipt, to publish a response stating whether the Secretary intends to publish a proposed rule with respect to such standard, or if not, the reasons for the decision not to publish such a rule. Directs the Secretary, if such rule is intended to be published, to do so within 12 months after the receipt of the recommendation or petition. Directs the Secretary to: (1) afford interested persons a period of at least 30 days to submit written data or comments after publication of a proposed rule promulgating, modifying, or revoking an OSHA standard; and (2) issue a final rule within 180 days after the public comment period (or within 180 days after a required public hearing on objections to such rule). Allows any adversely affected person to petition for judicial review, in the U.S. court of appeals for the appropriate circuit, of the Secretary's refusal or failure to issue such rules or standards. Requires that such a petition to appeal the Secretary's determination not to propose a rule with respect to a standard be filed within 60 days after publication of such determination. Requires set-aside of the Secretary's determination if it is found to be arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, or otherwise not in accordance with law. Allows a petition to appeal the Secretary's failure to publish a proposed rule within the required 12-month time frame to be filed at any time after such time period has elapsed. Directs the reviewing court to compel the Secretary to take any such action that is found to have been unlawfully withheld or unreasonably delayed. Provides that the withholding or delaying of action shall not be justified by the Secretary's desire to consult with, or receive approval from any other Federal agency or executive official, except where this is required by applicable law and pursued in timely fashion. Revises the definition of "occupational safety and health standard" to mean a standard which addresses a significant risk to the safety or health of employees by requiring conditions, or the adoption or use of one or more practices, means, methods, operations, or processes that most adequately assure, to the extent feasible, safe and healthful employment and places of employment. Requires each OSHA standard also to prescribe requirements for recording or reporting a work-related illness determined as a result of a medical examination or test conducted under the standard. Directs the Secretary to place in the public record all written comments and communications and a summary of all verbal communications with parties outside the Department of Labor (DOL) (including communications with executive branch officials) regarding promulgation, modification, or revocation of an OSHA standard. Directs the Secretary, in cooperation with the Secretary of HHS and in addition to other OSHA standards, to modify and establish exposure limits for toxic materials and harmful physical agents on a regular basis in a specified manner. Directs the Secretary of HHS, acting through the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), to: (1) regularly evaluate available scientific evidence, data, and information to determine if such exposure limits should be modified or be established to protect exposed employees from material impairment of health or functional capacity; and (2) at least every three years, on the basis of such evaluation, develop and transmit to the Secretary recommendations identifying materials and agents for which exposure limits should be modified or established to protect employees from such impairment. Directs the Secretary: (1) within 30 days of receipt of such recommendations, to publish them and provide a 30-day public comment period; (2) within six months of their receipt evaluate them and the public comments and publish a proposed rule for the exposure limits of each material and agent for which the Secretary of HHS has made a recommendation (explaining why any proposed limit is not the same as a recommended limit); (3) within one year of publication of the proposed limits, issue a final standard (explaining why any final limit is not the same as the recommended limit); and (4) establish or modify such limits whenever warranted, in addition to a periodic review. Directs the Secretary, within two years after the effective date of this Act, to promulgate final standards on exposure monitoring and medical surveillance programs, including specified requirements. Directs the Secretary to issue a final standard on ergonomic hazards to protect employees from work-related musculoskeletal disorders, including specified requirements. Sets forth timetables for the Secretary to issue various OSHA final standards. Title V: Enforcement - Revises OSHA enforcement provisions. Provides that time spent by an employee in accompanying the Secretary's representative on an OSHA inspection shall be deemed to be hours worked, with no loss of pay, benefits, or seniority. Requires the Secretary to notify employees or their representative within 30 days after receipt of their request for inspection that there are no reasonable grounds to believe a violation or danger exists. Directs the Secretary also to make a special inspection after determining that there are reasonable grounds to believe that an imminent danger or serious violation exists in a place of employment, upon notification from any other source (as well as upon notification by an employee or employee representative as in current law). Directs the Secretary to establish and carry out a special emphasis inspection program for conducting inspections of industries or operations where existing hazards or newly recognized or new hazards introduced into work sites warrant more intensive than normal inspections. Requires annual designation of the industries and operations for such program and the number of inspections planned and number of enforcement personnel required. Requires that special emphasis inspections be in addition to other programmed and complaint inspections conducted under OSHA before the effective date of this Act. Requires a report on such program in the Secretary's annual OSHA report to the Congress. Requires the Secretary to investigate any work-related death or serious incident (i.e. one resulting in hospitalization of two or more employees). Requires the employer to: (1) notify the Secretary of any death or serious incident occurring in a place of employment covered by OSHA; and (2) prevent the destruction or alteration of evidence that would assist in investigating such death or incident. Requires OSHA citations to state if the Secretary or the Secretary's representative believes that an alleged violation is serious and presents such a substantial risk to the safety or health of employees that initiation of review proceedings should not suspend the running of the period for correction of the violation. Revises the correction period to make it begin to run from the date of receipt of the citation, with specified exceptions. Requires employers to verify the abatement of a serious, willful, or repeated violation in writing to the Secretary within 30 days after the correction period has expired. Requires employers, within ten days after verification of abatement, to prominently post notice of such abatement at or near each place the violation occurred and to make a copy of the verification available to employers and employee representatives. Directs the Secretary to issue regulations implementing such abatement verification and notice requirements. Grants employees the right to contest: (1) citations' designations of the character of the violation or of the OSHA provision, standard, rule, regulation, or order violated (in addition to contesting the abatement period, as in current law); and (2) proposed penalties as inadequate. Grants employee representatives the right to participate in other proceedings (as well as hearings) conducted under specified OSHA enforcement procedures. Requires, if the Secretary intends to withdraw or modify a citation as a result of any agreement with the employer, the Commission's rules of procedure to provide for prompt notice to affected employees or their representatives. Grants employees or their representative, regardless of whether they have previously elected to participate in the proceedings, the right to file a notice alleging that the proposed agreement fails to effectuate the purposes of OSHA within 15 days after receipt of notice of the agreement. Directs the Secretary to consider the matter and, upon determination to proceed with the agreement, respond with particularity to the objections. Grants employees or their representative, within 15 days after the Secretary's response, the right to a hearing upon request to the Commission. Provides that if the Commission determines the proposed agreement fails to effectuate the purposes of OSHA, the proposed agreement shall not be entered as a Commission order and the citation shall not be withdrawn or modified in accordance with the proposed agreement. Revises OSHA provisions for restraining imminent dangers. Directs the Secretary to inform the employer and the affected employees and request that a condition or practice that poses an imminent danger be corrected immediately or that employees be immediately removed from exposure to such danger. Requires such actions if the Secretary determines, on the basis of an inspection or investigation, that a condition or practice in the place of employment is such that an imminent danger to safety or health exists which could reasonably be expected to cause death, serious physical harm, or permanent impairment of health or functional capacity of employees if not corrected immediately. Directs the Secretary to determine whether to post a notice in the workplace if the employer refuses to comply with the Secretary's request. Requires that such notice identify the source of the imminent danger. Grants employees the right to refuse to perform a duty that has been identified as the source of an imminent danger by such a notice, and prohibits discrimination against them for such refusal. Subjects an employer to a civil penalty of from $10,000 to $50,000 for each day during which an employee continues to be exposed if the employer does not immediately correct the hazard referred to in the posted notice or remove all employees from exposure to it, unless the Commission determines that the condition or practice is not covered by such imminent danger provisions. Revises OSHA criminal penalties to increase the maximum amount of fines and the length of prison terms for specified violations, including those for a willful violation causing death, an improper advance notice of an inspection, or a false statement. Establishes criminal penalties for a willful violation that causes serious bodily injury. Prohibits a penalty or fine which is imposed on a director, officer, or agent of an employer from being paid out of the employer's assets on behalf of that individual. Provides that nothing in OSHA shall preclude State and local law enforcement agencies from conducting criminal prosecutions in accordance with State or local laws. Title VI: Protection of Employees from Discrimination - Revises OSHA antidiscrimination provisions to extend coverage to an employee's: (1) reporting any injury, illness, or unsafe condition to the employer, employer's agent, safety and health committee, or employee safety and health representative; and (2) refusing to perform duties when reasonably apprehensive that doing so would result in serious injury to himself/herself or other employees, after having sought and been unable to obtain from the employer corrections of the circumstances causing such refusal. Revises procedures for consideration of complaints of discrimination. Increases the period for filing such complaints from 30 to 180 days after the alleged discrimination. Requires the Secretary, within 60 days after receipt of the complaint, to investigate and notify the complainant and the alleged violator of the findings. Requires such findings to be accompanied by a preliminary order providing relief, if the Secretary has concluded that there is reasonable cause to believe a violation has occurred. Allows the alleged violator or the complainant to file, within 30 days, objections to the findings and/or the preliminary order, and to request a hearing on the record. Provides that such filing of objections shall not operate to stay any reinstatement remedy in the preliminary order. Requires such hearings to be conducted expeditiously. Deems the preliminary order a final order not subject to judicial review if a hearing is not timely requested. Directs the Secretary to issue a final order within 120 days after the conclusion of such hearing. Allows such proceedings to be terminated at any time in the interim on the basis of a settlement agreement by the Secretary, the complainant, and the alleged violator. Requires the Secretary, upon determination that a violation of antidiscrimination provisions has occurred, to order: (1) correction of the violation; (2) reinstatement to the former position with all compensation (including back pay), terms, conditions, and privileges of such employment; and (3) compensatory damages. Authorizes the Secretary, upon request of the complainant, to assess against the person against whom such order is issued all costs and expenses (including attorney's fees) incurred by the complainant in connection with bringing the complaint. Allows adversely affected or aggrieved persons to petition within 60 days to obtain review of such orders in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the appropriate circuit. Directs the Secretary to file a civil action in the appropriate U.S. district court to enforce such orders against persons who fail to comply. Authorizes such court to grant appropriate relief. Provides that the legal burdens of proof that prevail under the Whistleblower Protection Act of 1989 shall govern adjudication of protected activities under OSHA antidiscrimination provisions. Title VII: OSHA and NIOSH Training and Education - Revises OSHA provisions for training and education. Includes education programs for employees and members of safety and health committees, as appropriate, among those programs which the Secretary of HHS is to conduct through NIOSH. Requires the Secretary (of Labor) to develop training materials, model curricula, and programs to assist employers in: (1) providing the training and education required under the new provisions for employer occupational safety and health programs; and (2) complying with OSHA standards. Title VIII: Recordkeeping and Reporting - Revises OSHA provisions relating to statistics to require the Secretary to collect information and conduct analyses that identify: (1) industries, employers, processes, operations, and occupations that have a high rate of injury or illness; (2) factors that cause or contribute to injuries and illnesses; and (3) workers' compensation costs associated with the injuries and illnesses. Requires such data to be publicly available in a form suitable for further statistical analysis, and to be used in setting safety and health standards, targeting inspections of individual establishments, and evaluating standard setting and enforcement programs. Directs the Secretary to require each employer covered by OSHA to report: (1) each work-related death of an employee immediately upon knowledge; and (2) each serious incident resulting in hospitalization of two or more employees within 24 hours of the incident. Revises OSHA requirements for employer records and reports to include (in addition to work-related deaths, injuries, and illnesses) suspected work-related illnesses, including a work-related illness reported by an employee or an employee's physician, unless the employer makes a reasonable determination that the illness is not work-related. Provides that all such employer records and reports shall be made available to the Secretary, the Secretary of HHS, employees, and employee representatives. Title IX: NIOSH - Revises OSHA provisions relating to duties of the Secretary of HHS acting through NIOSH. Includes under hazard evaluation reports an evaluation of whether any hazardous condition or harmful physical agent found in the place of employment poses a risk to exposed employees. Directs the Secretary of HHS, if a final determination of hazard is not made within six months of a request, to provide to the employer and employees an interim report on the known or suspected hazards, a recommendation for control, and an estimate of the time in which a final determination will be made. Directs the Secretary of HHS to identify major factors contributing to occupational injuries and deaths through accident investigations and epidemiological research. Directs the Secretary of HHS to carry out a program to identify and notify employees at increased risk of occupational illnesses, injuries, and deaths, including public information and education programs, and recommendations for appropriate medical surveillance. Requires notification, if they are found to be at increased risk, of subjects of studies funded or conducted by the Secretary of HHS under such program. Specifies that the authority of the Secretary of HHS, and of NIOSH, to inspect records extends to the Secretary's designees and contractors. Directs the Secretary of HHS, through NIOSH (and in cooperation with other HHS agencies and the Secretary of Labor), to establish a national surveillance program to identify cases of occupational illnesses, deaths, and serious injuries. Requires coordination with State health agencies and Federal and State workers' compensation agencies under such program. Directs the Secretary of HHS to collect data each year on the number and characteristics of all occupational deaths and selected occupational illnesses and injuries. Requires, in making such selections, consideration of known frequency and severity of the disorder and of the size of the population at risk. Directs the Secretary of HHS to report on and analyze the occupational deaths, illnesses, and injuries collected under such program, and transmit such information to the Secretary of Labor, State health agencies, employers, employees, and other interested parties. Authorizes the Secretary of HHS to require an employer, through a physician or health professional employed by or under contract to the employer, to report information on occupational deaths, illnesses, and injuries. Establishes NIOSH as a separate agency within the U.S. Public Health Service in the Department of HHS. Title X: State Plans - Revises OSHA requirements for State plans to provide for: (1) development of safety and health programs and safety and health committees and training programs that are at least as effective as those under the new OSHA requirements; and (2) reporting requirements, protection of employee rights, and access to information that are at least as effective as those under OSHA or other Federal laws governing access to information related to OSHA. Requires a State to enforce a Federal OSHA standard until a State standard at least as effective is in effect, if a State fails to adopt or promulgate such a standard within six months after the Federal standard is promulgated. Requires the Secretary (of Labor) to: (1) promptly investigate complaints against a State plan if there are reasonable grounds to believe a deficiency exists; (2) investigate complaints alleging a deficiency in a State enforcement action within 30 days of receipt; and (3) within 30 days of completion of the investigation, transmit findings and recommendations for correction to the State and complainant (or notify the complainant if there are no reasonable grounds to believe a deficiency exists). Requires a State to respond as to what action it has taken on the Secretary's findings and recommendations within 30 days of their receipt. Directs the Secretary to issue a citation with reasonable promptness if, after receipt of the State's response, the Secretary believes a serious violation of OSHA exists for which the State has failed to issue a citation. Requires the Secretary, upon determination that there are reasonable grounds to conclude there is a failure to comply substantially with any provision or assurance of the State plan, to: (1) notify the State and allow six months for correction of deficiencies; (2) institute proceedings for withdrawal of approval of the State plan, if the State has not corrected the deficiencies within six months (unless there are exceptional circumstances); and (3) during the pendency of such proceedings, exercise concurrent jurisdiction with the State over the safety and health issues that are subject to the State plan. Requires States which are operating State safety and health plans to modify them to conform to this Act. Title XI: Victim's Rights - Sets forth provisions for victims' rights under OSHA. Defines a victim as: (1) an employee who has sustained a work-related injury or illness which is the subject of an OSHA inspection or investigation; or (2) the family member of an employee who either is killed or cannot reasonably exercise victim's rights as a result of such an injury or illness. Grants victims the right, on request, to: (1) meet with the Secretary or a representative respecting the inspection or investigation before the Secretary's decision to issue a citation or to take no action; (2) receive a free copy of any citation or report issued as a result of the inspection or investigation; (3) be informed of any notice of contest filed; (4) be provided an explanation of the rights of employees and employee representatives to participate in OSHA enforcement proceedings; and (5) be provided an opportunity to appear and make a statement before the parties conducting any settlement negotiations, before the Secretary agrees to withdraw or modify the citation. Provides that a victim shall have the same rights as an employee under OSHA enforcement procedures. Entitles a victim, if such victims' rights are violated, to declaratory relief, injunctive relief, recovery of costs of securing specified documents, and reasonable attorney's fees and costs. Directs the Secretary to take reasonable actions to inform victims of these rights. Title XII: Worker's Compensation Study - Establishes the Federal Worker's Compensation Commission. Directs the Commission to study worker's compensation laws and system with respect to: (1) the recommendations of the National Commission on State Workmen's Compensation Laws; (2) the feasibility of using workers' compensation data to target loss prevention activities on high risk occupations; (3) the laws' adequacy in providing for needs of injured workers, occupational illnesses and diseases, quality control and medical and rehabilitation costs with cost control, and time for recuperation and counseling before return to full-time work; (4) the administrative system's adequacy and the appropriateness of such laws as the exclusive remedy; (5) the relationship between workers' compensation, safety and health programs, and insurance rates and services; (6) the feasibility and appropriateness of transferring the branch of the Department of Labor involved in workers' compensation studies from the Employment Standards Administration to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration; and (7) the feasibility of preempting State workers' compensation laws with a national program. Requires such Commission to report the results of such study to the President and the Congress. Title XIII: Effective Date - Sets forth the effective date of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 1 August 1991
Military Retirement Equity Act of 1991 - 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: (1) age; (2) length of service; or (3) both. Reduces the amount of retirement pay, in the case 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. Expresses the sense of the Congress 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 · 31 July 1991
Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to limit Medicare coverage of chiropractic services to certain spinal manipulations and physical examinations and X-rays furnished to an individual to determine if spinal manipulations are appropriate therapy, conducted by State-licensed chiropractors who are legally authorized by the State to provide such services.
United States · United States Congress · 31 July 1991
Directs the Secretary of Education to conduct an ongoing comprehensive study of the TRIO programs under the Higher Education Act of 1965 (Special Programs for Students from Disadvantaged Backgrounds, including the Talent Search program, Upward Bound program, student support services program, Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program, and educational opportunity centers program). Requires biennial reports to the Congress on such study.
United States · United States Congress · 31 July 1991
Designates May 1992 as National Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Awareness Month.
United States · United States Congress · 30 July 1991
Declares a named individual to have been lawfully admitted to the United States for permanent residence under the Immigration and Nationality Act.
United States · United States Congress · 23 July 1991
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that the people of the United States should recognize: (1) the tenth anniversary of "An Artistic Discovery" (the Congressional High School Art Competition); and (2) its success in encouraging the creative endeavors of our Nation's young artists and forging strong working relationships among the Congress, businesses, and the arts community towards the ultimate goal of providing opportunities for high school students to express their artistic talents.
United States · United States Congress · 22 July 1991
Petroleum Marketing Competition Enhancement Act - Amends the Petroleum Marketing Practices Act to prohibit a refiner from: (1) selling motor fuel to a customer for resale (customer) at a price higher than the refiner's adjusted retail price for the same or a similar grade or quality of motor fuel sold from a direct operated outlet in the same geographic area (sale of fuel at higher prices); and (2) entering into a scheme or agreement to set, change, or maintain maximum retail prices of motor fuel, except with respect to a refiner's retail sales at its direct operated outlets. Requires that: (1) in comparing a refiner's adjusted retail price to a refiner's price to other customers, adjustments be made to account for differences in freight, taxes, and inspection fees, whether or not the items are separately listed as part of the price; and (2) if a refiner includes consumer credit as part of its price, an adjustment for the cost of such credit be made in comparing the prices. Sets forth enforcement provisions, including: (1) proceedings by the Attorney General (establishes fines ranging from $5,000 to $25,000 for each violation, and authorizes civil actions and equitable relief); (2) private civil actions, including class actions, (and establishes a right to jury trial); and (3) proceedings by State attorneys general. Allows a person bringing an action to enforce provisions concerning the sale of fuel at higher prices to establish a prima facie case by showing that the refiner has sold motor fuel to a customer at a price that is higher than: (1) 94 percent of its consumer retail price per gallon (or, in the event of a sale to a branded wholesaler, 90 percent); or (2) the refiner's consumer retail price per gallon less the most recently available average retail operating expenses per gallon (and, in the event of a sale by a refiner to a branded wholesaler, also less the most recently available average wholesale operating expenses per gallon for the State in which the consumer retail price was charged). Specifies that: (1) in the event that the relevant State has not conducted an annual survey (pursuant to this Act) to determine the average retail or average wholesale operating expenses, the average operating expenses for the retail and wholesale petroleum industry, as determined by the Secretary of Energy, shall be used; and (2) such prima facie case may be overcome by a preponderance of evidence that the refiner's actual retail and average wholesale operating expenses, if applicable, are less than the evidence presented by the plaintiff to establish such prima facie case. Directs the Secretary to conduct an annual survey to determine the average retail and average wholesale operating expenses per gallon for the petroleum industry. Permits a State or State agency to authorize an annual State survey to reflect local conditions with respect to motor fuels sold to the public in that State. Directs that any such survey regarding: (1) retail operating expenses and actual wholesale operating expenses be based upon all direct and indirect expenses attributable to the sale of a gallon of motor fuel to the public by direct and nondirect operated outlets; and (2) wholesale operating expenses be based on all direct and indirect expenses attributable to the wholesale sale of a gallon of motor fuel by a refiner or a branded wholesaler to a branded dealer.
United States · United States Congress · 18 July 1991
Police Officers' Bill of Rights Act of 1991 - 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 denied the right to refrain from engaging in such activity. Sets forth minimum standards that shall apply when an officer is under investigation or is subjected to questioning under circumstances that could lead to disciplinary action, including that: (1) questioning be conducted at a reasonable hour and take place at the offices of those conducting the investigation, with exceptions; (2) the officer under investigation be informed in writing of the nature of the investigation prior to questioning; (3) any questioning be for a reasonable period of time, allowing for reasonable periods for rest and personal necessities; (4) such questioning be recorded in full in writing or by electronic device, and a copy of the transcript be made available to the officer under investigation; and (5) the officer be entitled to the presence of counsel or other individual at the questioning. Requires the law enforcement agency to notify the officer that such officer is entitled to a hearing by a hearing officer or board, with exceptions for summary punishment or emergency suspension for misconduct. Specifies that an emergency suspension shall not affect the officer's health benefits. Sets forth provisions: (1) with respect to the composition of a disciplinary hearing board and procedures for a disciplinary hearing; and (2) limiting the penalty to that which was recommended by the trial board. Provides for notice of disciplinary action. Bars any penalty or threat of penalty against the officer for the exercise of rights under this Act. Prohibits: (1) a law enforcement agency from inserting any adverse material into the file of an officer unless such officer has had an opportunity to review and comment in writing on the adverse material; (2) requiring or requesting an officer to disclose personal property, income, assets, sources of income, debts, or expenditures (including those of any household member) unless the information is necessary in investigating a violation of law, rule, or regulation with respect to the performance of official duties, or where such disclosure is required by Federal, State, or local law; and (3) a State from having more than two legislative sessions to enact a Law Enforcement Officers' Bill of Rights that provides rights substantially similar to those afforded under this Act. Authorizes a cause of action in State court by the officer for recovery of damages and full reinstatement against a law enforcement agency that materially violates rights afforded under this Act. Specifies that the sovereign immunity of a State shall not apply in the case of a violation of such rights. Specifies that this Act does not preempt State law or collective bargining agreements or discussions that provide rights for officers that are substantially similar to those afforded by this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 18 July 1991
Rural Crime and Drug Control Act of 1991 - Title I: Fighting Drug Trafficking in Rural Areas - Amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to authorize appropriations, and increase the base allocation, for rural drug enforcement assistance. Directs the Attorney General to establish a Rural Drug Enforcement Task Force in each of the Federal judicial districts which encompass significant rural lands. Specifies the membership of such task forces. Directs the Attorney General to cross-designate up to 100 Federal officers with jurisdiction to enforce Controlled Substances Act (CSA) provisions on non-Federal lands to the extent necessary to effect the purposes of this title. Requires the Director of the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center to develop a specialized course of instruction devoted to training law enforcement officers from rural agencies in the investigation of drug trafficking and related crimes. Authorizes appropriations. Title II: Federal Law Enforcement Agencies - Authorizes appropriations for the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to hire, equip, and train not less than 350 agents and necessary support personnel to expand DEA investigations and operations against drug trafficking organizations in rural areas. Title III: Increasing Penalties for Certain Drug Trafficking Offenses - Ice Enforcement Act of 1991 - Amends the CSA to increase penalties for specified offenses involving crystalline methamphetamine. Title IV: Rural Drug Treatment - Amends the Public Health Service Act (PHSA) to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish a program to provide grants to hospitals, community health centers, and other appropriate entities that serve nonmetropolitan areas to assist in developing and implementing projects that provide, or expand the availability of, substance abuse treatment services. Authorizes appropriations. Title V: Rural Drug Prevention - Directs the Secretary to make grants to public and nonprofit private entities that serve nonmetropolitan areas to assist such entities in developing and implementing projects that provide, or expand the availability of, substance abuse prevention services. Authorizes appropriations. Requires the alcohol and drug abuse information clearinghouse required to be established under the PHSA to: (1) gather information pertaining to rural drug abuse treatment and education projects funded by the Administrator of the Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Mental Health Administration and other such projects operating throughout the United States; and (2) disseminate information to rural hospitals, community health centers, community mental health centers, treatment facilities, community organizations. and other interested individuals. Title VI: Rural Land Recovery Act - Specifies that each of the Rural Drug Enforcement Task Forces shall include one Director of Rural Land Recovery. Directs State and Federal prosecutors, when bringing charges against the operators of such laboratories, to include, in addition to drug-related charges, counts involving infringements of applicable environmental protection laws, including illegal disposal of hazardous waste and knowing endangerment of the environment. Authorizes such prosecutors and private citizens to bring suit against the operators of such laboratories for environmental and health-related damages caused by the operators in their manufacture of illicit substances.
United States · United States Congress · 18 July 1991
Designates August 29, 1991, as National Sarcoidosis Awareness Day.
United States · United States Congress · 17 July 1991
Requires the Secretary of Transportation to make appropriate arrangements with the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences to study special transportation services to health care facilities in rural areas. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 17 July 1991
Designates October 1991 as Country Music Month.
United States · United States Congress · 17 July 1991
Urges the United States Trade Representative to initiate negotiations with South Africa in order to enter into a bilateral arrangement governing the importation of South African steel that is consistent with the steel trade liberalization program announced by the President on July 25, 1989.
United States · United States Congress · 16 July 1991
Designates May 1992 as National Trauma Awareness Month.
United States · United States Congress · 16 July 1991
Designates October 1991 as Crime Prevention Month.
United States · United States Congress · 15 July 1991
Prohibits the Secretary of Veterans Affairs from making any payment for covered drugs and biologicals unless the price charged by the manufacturer is determined in accordance with an agreement between the Secretary and the manufacturer pursuant to the Social Security Act, under which the price charged cannot exceed the price charged as of September 1, 1990, increased by the sum of the covered drug updates. States that such pricing agreement shall apply to any drug or biological product procured by the Department of Veterans Affairs that is: (1) purchased under a depot contracting system; or (2) listed under the Federal Supply Schedule of the General Services Administration on or after January 1, 1990. Amends the Social Security Act to exclude the prices for prescription drugs procured by the Federal Government from the calculation of best price procurement for purposes of application of Medicaid rebate agreements. Directs the Secretary to conduct a study of, and report to the Senate and House Veterans' Affairs Commitees on, the costs and availability of drugs and biological products for programs of the Department as they relate to exemptions and limitations under this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 15 July 1991
Designates the week beginning September 2, 1991, as Buy American Week.
United States · United States Congress · 11 July 1991
Community Right-To-Know More Act of 1991 - Amends the Solid Waste Disposal Act to revise congressional findings, objectives, and national policy provisions. Title I: Expansion of Toxics Release Inventory - Requires owners or operators of facilities subject to toxic chemical release requirements under the Emergency Planning and Community Right-To-Know Act of 1986 that meet threshold requirements under this Act to include supplemental information comparable to that required in toxic chemical release forms for transfers or releases of chemicals that are: (1) priority pollutants relating to steam electric power point source pollutants under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act; (2) specified hazardous wastes listed under the Solid Waste Disposal Act; (3) specified chemicals listed under the Clean Air Act; (4) pesticides with respect to which the registration has been denied, cancelled, or is under suspension or pesticides undergoing administrative review or that are classified for restricted use; (5) chemicals listed under the Safe Drinking Water Act for which maximum contaminant levels have been proposed; (6) chemicals identified as carcinogens by the Carcinogen Assessment Group of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the International Agency for Research on Cancer, or the National Toxicology Program; (7) extremely hazardous substances listed pursuant to the Emergency Planning and Community Right-To-Know Act of 1986; (8) chemicals listed in 90 California Regulatory Notice Register 990 as reproductive toxins; or (9) listed under the Emergency Planning and Community Right-To-Know Act of 1986 that are not used at a level that meets threshold requirements for reporting but are released to the environment or transferred to an offsite waste management facility in amounts meeting the threshold under this Act. Provides that a facility meets the threshold requirements with respect to a chemical listed under this Act if the facility: (1) uses the chemical at a level that meets the threshold requirement for reporting under the Emergency Planning and Community Right-To-Know Act of 1986; or (2) releases to the environment or transfers to an offsite waste management facility a chemical in an amount greater than or equal to 100 pounds annually in the case of metals or metal compounds or 2,000 pounds annually for any other chemical. Authorizes the EPA Administrator to establish lower thresholds for any chemical, user segment, or facility. Permits authorized States to establish lower thresholds for facilities in their jurisdictions. Authorizes the Administrator to delete a carcinogen or reproductive toxin from the list under this Act if it is not otherwise listed under this Act or the Emergency Planning and Community Right-To-Know Act of 1986. Applies toxic chemical release reporting requirements to facilities employing at least ten full-time employees that are not currently subject to such requirements, but meet threshold reporting requirements under this Act or the Emergency Planning and Community Right-To-Know Act of 1986. Title II: Toxics Use Reduction - Requires owners or operators of covered facilities to submit: (1) annual toxics use reduction reports for each covered chemical for which such facilities are required to file toxic chemical release forms or supplemental information pursuant to title I; and (2) annual plans for reducing the use of covered chemicals. Sets forth report and plan requirements and submission deadlines. Authorizes the Administrator to modify such plans. Requires the Administrator to establish an advisory board to determine a professional code of practice for toxics use reduction materials accounting and planning. Directs owners or operators of facilities in violation of standards, permit conditions, or regulations pertaining to the management or release of covered chemicals, upon the request of 50 citizens or employees, to establish a workplace toxic use reduction committee to provide ongoing dialogue and appraisal of the progress toward pollution prevention. Requires the committee to meet at least quarterly to review a facility's progress on toxics use reduction. Directs the Administrator to implement a strategy to promote toxics use reduction. Requires the Administrator, Federal agencies, and States or political subdivisions, in issuing or approving regulatory action under specified environmental, consumer protection, occupational health and safety, and energy Acts, to make toxics use reduction an integral part of the planning, decisionmaking, and rulemaking process. Authorizes the Administrator to require owners or operators of facilities to provide records and information and grants the Administrator access to records, products, or raw materials. Requires the Administrator to establish a technical assistance and research program to promote and study toxics use reduction. Directs the Administrator to analyze information on production units reported by facilities for purposes of classifying such units into groups that use similar production processes and covered chemicals. Authorizes the Administrator to classify such units into groups on the basis of industrial categories according to Standard Industrial Classification codes. Requires the Administrator to: (1) classify ten groups, to be referred to as user segments; (2) evaluate the reduction in the use and generation of covered chemicals by each production unit in each user segment; and (3) prepare and make available to the public an annual percentile ranking of each unit according to use and generation as byproduct. Authorizes the Administrator to promulgate regulations to establish minimum toxics use reduction performance requirements for production units in user segments. Sets forth regulation requirements. Applies provisions of the Emergency Planning and Community Right-To-Know Act of 1986 concerning trade secrets, the provision of information to health professionals, and public availability of information to toxics information under this Act. Waives Federal facility compliance with toxics use reduction and reporting requirements upon the request of the Secretary of Defense and the President's determination that such waiver is in the interest of national security. Directs the Administrator to study and report to the appropriate congressional committees on methods of encouraging the reporting of toxics information through the use of computer telecommunication and other means. Requires the Director of the Office of Technology Assessment to study and report to the Administrator and the Congress on the provision to the public of toxic release inventory information and related information required to be submitted to the Administrator. Prescribes civil and administrative penalties for violations of toxics use reduction and reporting requirements. Sets forth provisions concering civil actions with respect to such violations. Requires the Administrator to establish a grant program to assist States and local governments in establishing innovative toxics use reduction programs. Directs States to make 75 percent of a grant available to local governments for carrying out toxics use reduction. Bases the awarding of grants on the extent to which chemical substances are manufactured, processed, used, and disposed of in a State, the extent of exposure to such substances in a State, and the population density of a State. Authorizes appropriations for such grants and for toxics use reduction under this Act. Requires the Administrator to: (1) implement a procurement policy that reduces, avoids, or eliminates the acquisition of agency procurement items made with or containing covered chemicals and hazardous secondary materials; and (2) make recommendations to the Congress for a national toxics use reduction procurement policy covering all procuring agencies, Federal facilities, and government contractors. Amends the Pollution Prevention Act of 1990 to increase the amounts authorized to be appropriated for functions under such Act and to increase and extend the authorization of appropriations for technical assistance grants to States. Title III: Waste Stream Reporting - Amends the Solid Waste Disposal Act to revise recordkeeping and reporting requirements for hazardous waste generators. Directs hazardous waste generators to report annually to the Administrator and authorized State agencies on the quantity of hazardous waste generated from each catastrophic event, remedial action, or one-time event not associated with production processes. Sets forth reporting requirements for generators of solid waste in amounts in excess of 11,000 pounds a month and for facilities managing solid and certain special wastes generated by fossil fuels combustion, mining, and activities involving cement kilns. Reqiures the Administrator to: (1) maintain publicly accessible databases for hazardous, solid, and special waste stream data reported under this Act; (2) make the data accessible on a cost reimbursable basis; and (3) report to the Congress on links between EPA databases and changes that would facilitate links between all major EPA operations.
United States · United States Congress · 10 July 1991
Unemployment Insurance Reform Act of 1991 - Title I: Federal Supplemental Compensation Program - Subtitle A: Establishment of Program - Establishes a Federal supplemental unemployment compensation program. Allows any State to enter into and participate in an agreement with the Secretary of Labor (the Secretary) under which the State agency which administers the State unemployment compensation law will make payments of Federal supplemental compensation: (1) to individuals who have exhausted all rights to regular compensation under State law, have no rights to such regular compensation or any additional State or Federal compensation, and are not receiving Canadian compensation; and (2) for any week of unemployment begining in the individual's eligibility period. Sets forth provisions relating to exhaustion of regular benefits and weekly amount of supplemental benefits equal to regular benefits. Requires a State, under such an agreement, to establish a Federal supplemental compensation account with respect to the benefit year of each eligible individual who file an application. Limits benefit payments to not more than the amount in the individual's account. Sets forth formulas for determining the amount in such account. Provides that such amount shall be equal to the lesser of: (1) 100 percent of the total amount of regular compensation (including dependents' allowances) payable to the individual with respect to the most recent regular benefit year; or (2) the applicable limit times the average weekly benefit amount for the benefit year. Sets the applicable limit at: (1) 26 for an eight-percent period, i.e. one triggered by a total unemployment rate (TUR) of eight percent or more in the State, seasonally adjusted, for the most recent three months with available data; (2) 15 for a seven-percent period; and (3) ten for a six-percent period. Sets forth special rules relating to such applicable limits. Coordinates the Federal supplemental compensation program with the trade readjustment allowance program under the Trade Act of 1974. Sets forth general, special, and transitional rules for supplemental benefit periods, individual eligibility periods, State on and off indicators, and a temporary national trigger. Sets forth provisions for payments to States having such agreements for Federal supplemental compensation. Sets forth reachback provisions for certain individuals' eligibility for such benefits. Sets forth provisions relating to fraud and overpayments. Subtitle B: Repeal of Extended Program - Repeals the Federal-State Extended Unemployment Act of 1970, and references to the extended unemployment compensation program (established by such Act) in the Federal Unemployment Tax Act (FUTA) provisions of the Internal Revenue Code and in the Social Security Act (SSA). Title II: Modifications to Eligibility Provisions - Amends FUTA to limit the circumstances under which individuals may be disqualified for unemployment compensation under State law. Amends specified Federal law to repeal certain limitations on payment of unemployment compensation to former members of the Armed Forces. Reduces the length of the period of required active duty by reserves to qualify for such payments. Amends FUTA to allow optional unemployment benefits for certain school employees, by making denial of such benefits discretionary rather than mandatory. Amends FUTA with respect to the treatment of certain determinations with respect to claims for unemployment compensation benefits under State law. Amends FUTA to require State agencies administering unemployment compensation to approve any training program involving classroom training, occupational skill training, basic or remedial education, or literacy or remedial English training, in the case of any individual who has received compensation under State law for ten weeks or more during the benefit year (thus allowing such individual to receive such compensation while participating in such training). Amends FUTA to modify the base period, in certain circumstances, for purposes of individual eligibility for unemployment compensation under State law. Title III: Demonstration Program to Provide Job Search Assistance - Directs the Secretary to carry out a demonstration program to determine the feasibility of implementing job search assistance programs. Requires selection of three States to participate in such program, based on specified criteria. Requires that at least one of these States replicate a prior successful demonstration project for job search assistance. Sets forth requirements for the program agreement with these States. Requires a job search assistance program, for purposes of this title, to: (1) require certain unemployment compensation recipients to participate in a qualified intensive job search program (the program) after receiving such compensation for ten weeks during any benefit year; (2) entitle such individuals to an intensive job search program voucher; and (3) disqualify those who do not satisfactorily participate in such program from receiving such compensation for a specified period. Makes such program requirements applicable to such recipients if, during a specified three-year period, they had at least 126 weeks of employment at wages of $30 or more a week with their last employer (or an equivalent amount computed under prescribed regulations). Sets forth exceptions to such program requirements and program qualifications. Provides that such vouchers entitle the organization (including the State employment service) providing the program to a payment from the State agency equal to the lesser of: (1) the reasonable costs of providing the program; or (2) the average weekly benefit amount in the State. Requires Federal payments from the supplemental compensation account to each participating State's account in the Unemployment Trust Fund in an amount equal to the payments made by the State agency for such program vouchers. Provides for payments on a calendar month basis, and for certification by the Secretary. Directs the Secretary to submit two interim reports and a final report to the Congress on the demonstration program under this title. Title IV: Worker Adjustment Assistance Program for Certain Dislocated Workers - Subtitle A: General Provisions - Allows any State to enter into and participate in an agreement with the Secretary under which: (1) the State agency will make payments of worker adjustment assistance; and (2) the State law applicable to regular unemployment compensation claims and payments will apply to such worker adjustment assistance, except where inconsistent with this subtitle or the regulations of the Secretary. Allows States to terminate such agreements upon providing 30 days' written notice to the Secretary. Authorizes the Governor of any State which is party to such an agreement to submit to the Secretary an application for designation of one or more counties in the State as eligible for such worker adjustment assistance program. Directs the Secretary, within a specified period, to certify a county as eligible for participation in such program upon determination that workers in the county have (or are substantially threatened to) become totally or partially separated from their employment due in part to: (1) any action pursuant to the Endangered Species Act of 1973; or (2) any closure or realignment of a military installation pursuant to the Defense Authorization Amendments and Base Closure and Realignment Act. Requires payment of a basic adjustment allowance to any worker covered by such county certification, if specified conditions are met, relating to adversely affected employment, long-term prior employment, and exhaustion of rights to any other unemployment compensation. Sets the weekly and maximum amounts of such basic adjustment allowance. Entitles each worker receiving such a basic adjustment allowance to a job search allowance and a relocation allowance, of specified limited amounts. Provides for: (1) payments to States by transfers from the worker adjustment assistance account; and (2) program administration. Directs the Secretary to prescribe any regulations necessary to carry out this subtitle. Subtitle B: Financing Provisions - Amends the Social Security Act (SSA) to establish a worker adjustment assistance account in the Unemployment Trust Fund (the Fund). Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to transfer a specified amount to such account from the supplemental compensation account. Requires that amounts in such account be available for transfer to the accounts of States in the Fund to make payments of worker adjustment assistance. Title V: Financing Provisions - Subtitle A: Modifications to Federal Unemployment Tax - Amends FUTA provisions related to the rate of the Federal unemployment tax. Modifies the formula for determining such rate to make such FUTA excise tax on employers equal: (1) five and four-tenths percent of the total wages paid during the calendar year with respect to employment; and (2) a specified percentage of the total Federal taxable wages paid during the calendar year with respect to employment. (Provides that such percentage shall be lowered as it is phased-in, from 0.4 percent in 1993 to 0.2 percent in 1997 and thereafter.) Makes conforming modifications to credit provisions and tax computation provisions. Subtitle B: Financing Reforms - Amends the SSA to provide for transfers of income taxes on unemployment benefits to the Unemployment Trust Fund. Modifies provisions for Federal unemployment accounts. Provides for an increase in quarterly credits for States with adequate balances. Provides for appropriate adjustments in transfers to the Federal unemployment account. Increases a ceiling on the supplemental compensation account. Provides for borrowing between Federal accounts, under specified circumstances, with respect to: (1) the employment security administration account; (2) the Federal unemployment account; or (3) supplemental compensation and reemployment assistance account. Directs the Secretary, within 12 months, to report to the Congress a proposal for revising the method of allocating grants among the States for administration of the unemployment insurance program. Prohibits the Secretary from revising such method until 12 months after such report is submitted to the Congress. Amends the SSA to establish an Advisory Council on Unemployment Compensation. Directs the Secretary to establish such a council by December 31, 1991, and every fifth year thereafter. Requires each such council to evaluate the unemployment compensation program. Sets forth membership and staff provisions. Requires each council to report to the Congress by October 1 of the year following the year in which is required to be established. Terminates each council after it submits its report. Title VI: Budget Compliance Provisions - Sets forth the applicable cost estimate of this Act for FY 1991 through 1995 for purposes of specified provisions of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act). Provides, notwithstanding such cost estimate, for budgetary treatment under pay-as-you-go procedures. Exempts Federal supplemental compensation program payments under title I of this Act from any order issued under part C of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 for FY 1992 or any succeeding fiscal year.
United States · United States Congress · 10 July 1991
Amends part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to determine whether an individual entitled to benefits under part A (Hospital Insurance) meets the requirements for status as a qualified Medicare beneficiary under the Medicaid program (title XIX of the Social Security Act).
United States · United States Congress · 10 July 1991
Designates March 19, 1992, as National Women in Agriculture Day.
United States · United States Congress · 27 June 1991
Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to conduct ten demonstration projects to examine the feasibility of broader use of arrangements for the sharing of health-care resources with other Federal health-care providers. Requires the Secretary to enter into agreements for such demonstration projects with the Secretaries of Defense and Health and Human Services with respect to facilities, providers, and beneficiaries of health care. Requires each demonstration project to be carried out through a sharing agreement between the Secretary and one of the other named Secretaries with respect to care and services provided by a particular Department of Veterans Affairs medical facility. Requires medical centers selected for the demonstration projects to be located in rural and urban areas in different regions of the country. Provides for the reciprocal provision of health-care services by medical centers participating in the project, as well as for reciprocal reimbursement for services provided. Directs the Secretary to evaluate the demonstration projects on an ongoing basis and to submit two annual reports on such evaluation to the Congress. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 27 June 1991
Rural Schools of America (RSA) Act of 1991 - Title I: Rural School Improvement - Authorizes appropriations for this title. Directs the Secretary of Education (the Secretary) to reserve five percent of specified funds for competitive grant awards to exemplary school programs. Directs the Secretary to allot, from remaining amounts, to each eligible local educational agency (LEA) with an approved application an amount based on that LEA's relative allocation under certain provisions of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 for education of disadvantaged children (ESEA title I chapter 1). Provides for annual payments to eligible LEAs with approved applications if they comply with certain data collection requirements to monitor progress toward meeting national education goals, and demonstrate such progress. Requires each such LEA to reserve up to five percent of its allotment to make as many grants as practicable, for authorized activities, to community-based organizations or nonprofit partnerships between the LEA and an area-wide collaborative of private sector businesses. Sets limits on the time and the amount of funds to be used for planning purposes. Requires LEAs to use funds under this title to meet national education goals through programs designed to: (1) increase the academic achievement of rural school children to at least the national average; (2) prepare all rural children for school; (3) increase the graduation rates of rural students to at least the national average; (4) prepare rural school graduates to enter higher education, pursue careers, and exercise their responsibilities as citizens; (5) recruit and retain qualified teachers; and (6) decrease the use of drugs and alcohol by rural students, and enhance their physical and emotional health. Sets forth program accountability requirements: (1) in general, for initial grants, renewal grants, and renewal of school participation; (2) for achievement, including demonstration of improvement; and (3) for data collection certification and to monitor progress in achieving national education goals. Authorizes the Secretary to make, from reserved funds, competitive incentive awards to individual schools participating in projects assisted under this title that demonstrate exemplary progress in meeting specified program requirements. Directs the Secretary, by January 1, 1993, to report on the impact of Federal regulations, guidelines, and policies on rural public schools. Requires LEAs desiring to receive an allotment under this Act to establish a local advisory group to: (1) advise on design and conduct of a needs assessment for participating schools; (2) assist in planning for community-wide collaboration in service delivery for youths in participating schools; (3) advise the LEA and the community on how they can work together to use multiple service providers; and (4) advise and assist program implementation and review program evaluation; (5) review and approve community-based organizations' applications; (6) advise on strategies for increasing parental involvement and the number of school volunteers and role models; and (7) review community-based programs' progress or national education goals. Allows use of a comparable existing local advisory group to comply with such requirement. Sets forth special rules relating to ranking of schools to determine relative need, in general, on the basis of achievement, poverty, and racial isolation. Requires each LEA receiving a grant to serve between ten and 20 percent of its schools. Requires eligible LEAs to have flexibility to serve homeless children, desegregating students, immigrants, migrants, or other highly mobile populations, within the program assisted under this title. Deems any approved program for any school served under certain ESEA title I chapter 1 provisions to be sufficient to meet the application and program accountability requirements of this title. Title II: School Building Repair and Renovation - Authorizes appropriations to assist eligible LEAs in repairing and renovating instructional facilities in rural schools. Directs the Secretary to make allotments to State educational agencies based on relative allocations to LEAs under ESEA title I chapter 1. Directs each SEA after after being allowed to reserve one percent of such funds for administrative expenses, to allot the remainder to eligible LEAs, which shall use half of such allotment for programs for school building repair and renovation, and half for programs for school environmental concerns and safety improvements. (Authorizes the SEA to waive such 50 percent division in certain cases.) Directs the SEA to allocate such funds on the basis of the number of: (1) children from families below the poverty line; (2) school buildings used for instructional purposes; and (3) school buildings more than 25 years old used for instructional purposes. Limits the period covered by a grant application to three years, and requires annual review. Lists types of programs eligible LEAs must conduct with their allotments for: (1) repair and renovation of school buildings; and (2) improvements related to environmental concerns and safety. Title III: Evaluation of Results - Subtitle A: Assistant Secretary - Amends the Department of Education Organization Act to establish an Assistant Secretary for Rural Education in the Department of Education. Subtitle B: Rural School Research and Evaluation - Authorizes appropriations to carry out this subtitle. Directs the Secretary to establish for each region a National Rural Regional Education Research Center (Center), to be operated by the appropriate regional educational laboratory. Requires each Center to: (1) conduct independent research in rural education and distance learning technologies; (2) evaluate progress toward the national education goals of rural schools receivng funds under title I of this Act; (3) be rural education clearinghouses for research findings, policies, and practices; (4) develop measurements of rural schools' progress; (5) disseminate evaluation and research results to other centers and rural school districts and parents; (6) arrange collaboration and consortia among rural schools in the region for joint research and evaluation; (7) replicate successful models and program approaches; (8) provide technical assistance and outreach services for schools; (9) provide staff training; and (10) develop curricula to assist rural schools in moving toward meeting the national education goals. Requires each Center to reserve 25 percent of funds received under this subtitle for direct grants to rural eligible LEAs within its region, which are participating in a program assisted under title I of this Act, to conduct local school district research and evaluation of efforts toward meeting the national education goals. Title IV: General Provisions - Establishes the Interagency Council on Rural Schools to: (1) review Federal programs to determine effects on and rural schools' ability to meet national education goals; (2) track school progress toward and such goals; (3) solicit advice and information for rural education experts and rural school representatives on improvement of Federal programs; (4) review Federal regulations for duplication or contradiction; (5) report annually to the Congress and the President on rural school progress; (6) review and recommend improvement for streamlining of Federal data collection in rural schools; and (7) conduct research to help rural school practitioners improve school performance. Directs the President to conduct a White House Conference on Rural Education before October 30, 1994. Requires the Conference to: (1) develop recommendations and strategies for improving rural education; (2) marshal the forces of the private sector, governmental agencies at all levels, parents, teachers, communities, and education officials to assist rural schools in meeting national goals; and (3) conduct initial planning for a permanent national advisory commission on rural education. Requires reports to the President. Authorizes appropriations for such Conference. Establishes the Carl D. Perkins National Commission on Rural Education (the Commission). Directs the Commission to: (1) study specified issues relating to rural schools; and (2) report, and recommend changes in Federal legislation, to the President and appropriate congressional committees. Terminates the Commission three years after its first meeting. Authorizes appropriations for the Commission. Requires eligible LEAs to use Federal funds received under this Act only to supplement but not supplant non-Federal funds.
United States · United States Congress · 26 June 1991
Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to provide that title I (Protection of Employee Benefit Rights) does not preempt any State law which provides for: (1) the payment of prevailing wages; or (2) standards or other requirements relating to apprenticeship or other training programs.
United States · United States Congress · 26 June 1991
Authorizes attorney fees to be charged or paid in connection with any proceeding before the Department of Veterans Affairs in a case arising out of a housing loan made, guaranteed, or insured to a veteran by the Department. Requires the attorney charging such fee to enter into a written agreement with the veteran represented and to file a copy of the fee agreement with the Secretary of Veterans Affairs.
United States · United States Congress · 26 June 1991
Designates the week of October 27 through November 2, 1991, and October 11 through 17, 1992, as National Job Skills Week.
United States · United States Congress · 25 June 1991
Designates the second week in April as National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week.