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United States · Official source
3,350 records where Rep. Stenholm, Charles W. [D-TX-17] is listed as a sponsor, author, or other actor. Search with topics and years
United States · United States Congress · 8 April 1997
Veterans American Dream Homeownership Assistance Act of 1997 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code concerning the eligibility of veterans for State-financed veterans' home mortgages.
United States · United States Congress · 20 March 1997
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Equalization of Medicare Reimbursement Rates to Health Maintenance Organizations and Competitive Medical Plans Title II: Expansion of Grant Authority to Include Technical Assistance for Rural Health Networks Title III: Medicare Rural Primary Care Hospital Program Title IV: Incentives for Health Professionals to Practice in Rural Areas Subtitle A: National Health Service Corps Subtitle B: Primary Care Services Furnished in Shortage Areas Title V: Classification as Rural Referral Centers; Geographic Reclassification for Disproportionate Share Payment Adjustment Title VI: Medicare Payment Methodologies Title VII: Antitrust Title VIII: Financing Rural Health Improvement Act of 1997 - Expresses the sense of the Congress that this Act reflects the dedication of the late U.S. Representative Bill Emerson to ensuring health care access for all rural Americans. Title I: Equalization of Medicare Reimbursement Rates to Health Maintenance Organizations and Competitive Medical Plans - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to revise provisions for payments to health maintenance organizations (HMOs) and competitive medical plans (CMPs) for the stated purpose of equalizing Medicare reimbursement rates to HMOs and CMPs. (Sec. 102) Expresses the sense of the Congress that HMOs or CMPs in rural areas receiving additional payments as a result of this title should allocate those payments to provide increased health care services to Medicare beneficiaries or to pay for health care service infrastructure needs. Title II: Expansion of Grant Authority to Include Technical Assistance for Rural Health Networks - Amends the Public Health Service Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to provide technical assistance, directly or through grants or contracts, for the planning, development, and operation of any program or service carried out pursuant to a rural health network under that Act. Title III: Medicare Rural Primary Care Hospital Program - Replaces the Essential Access Community Hospital Program (EACH) under Medicare with the Medicare Rural Primary Care Hospital Program while continuing payment to designated EACHs, rural primary care hospitals, and certain other medical assistance facilities operated as limited service rural hospitals under a specified demonstration program. Permits agreements between rural primary care hospitals and the Secretary for the use of up to 25 beds for extended care services. Bases payment for inpatient and outpatient rural primary care hospital services on the reasonable costs of the hospital in providing such services. Lengthens from 72 to 96 hours the maximum period of permitted inpatient stay at a rural primary care hospital. Title IV: Incentives for Health Professionals to Practice in Rural Areas - Subtitle A: National Health Service Corps - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude qualified National Health Service Corps scholarship payments and loan repayments from gross income. (Sec. 402) Requires the HHS Secretary to report to the Congress on the study being conducted on the criteria for designation of health professional shortage areas and medically underserved areas under the Public Health Service Act. (Sec. 403) Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Secretary to give special priority to applications by community rural health networks for the assignment of Corps personnel for providing health services in or to a health professional shortage area. Subtitle B: Primary Care Services Furnished in Shortage Areas - Amends SSA title XVIII to provide for an increase in the amount of additional Medicare payments for primary care services (currently, physicians' services) furnished in rural shortage areas, and for services that are furnished by a physician assistant, nurse practitioner, or nurse midwife that would be physicians' services if furnished by a physician. Extends such payment for former shortage areas. Requires carriers to report on services provided. Title V: Classification of Rural Referral Centers; Geographic Reclassification for Disproportionate Share Payment Adjustment - Amends SSA title XVIII to prohibit denial of a rural referral center's request for reclassification on the basis of comparability of wages. Provides for the continuing treatment of previously designated rural referral centers. (Sec. 502) Permits Medicare hospital geographic reclassification for purposes of disproportionate share payment adjustments. Title VI: Medicare Payment Methodologies - Directs the HHS Secretary to implement a methodology based on a specified proposal for making payments under Medicare part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) for telemedicine services. Title VII: Antitrust - Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) physician and hospital networks in rural areas are working to develop alternative means of providing accessible, affordable, and quality health care services to Americans living and working in rural areas; and (2) the Federal Trade Commission, in conjunction with the Justice Department, should, when implementing antitrust guidelines with respect to physician and hospital networks in rural areas, give special consideration to and provide appropriate relief for such networks. Title VIII: Financing - Extends certain Medicare secondary payer requirements with respect to end stage renal disease.
United States · United States Congress · 20 March 1997
Disapproves the rule submitted by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration relating to occupational exposure to methylene chloride. Declares that such rule shall have no force or effect.
United States · United States Congress · 20 March 1997
Expresses the sense of the Congress that it recognizes: (1) the concern of the railroad industry that the current spousal annuity system is inadequate; and (2) that a process of dialogue must take place among all parties of the railroad community including rail labor, management, and retiree organizations before railroad annuity legislation can be enacted. Urges all parties to find a way to fund an amendment that would improve the survivor benefits component to the Railroad Retirement Act of 1974.
United States · United States Congress · 19 March 1997
Merchant Mariners Fairness Act of 1997 - Provides that certain qualified service of a member of the U.S. merchant marine, including a vessel crewmember of the U.S. Army or Naval Transport Service, during World War II constituted active military service for purposes of eligibility for various veterans' benefits under the GI Bill Improvement Act of 1977. Requires the Secretary of Defense to issue an honorable discharge under such Act to each merchant marine member whose qualified service warrants such a discharge. Prohibits the payment of any retroactive benefits under this Act. Mandates a processing fee for any benefit application of a member possessing such qualified service.
United States · United States Congress · 13 March 1997
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that: (1) any bilateral or international agreement that imposes certain performance, testing, and deployment limits on U.S. missile defense systems would not be in the national security interests of the United States; (2) no additional international agreements are required to deploy such systems; and (3) the Congress will not be receptive to any agreement that serves to reduce the potential of U.S. theater missile defense systems to defend the U.S. armed forces abroad or the armed forces or population of allies of the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 11 March 1997
Assisted Suicide Funding Restriction Act of 1997 - Prohibits the use of appropriated funds to provide or pay for any health care item or service or health benefit coverage for the purpose of causing, or assisting to cause, the death of any individual. Sets forth a nonexclusive list of programs, facilities, and personnel to which the prohibition applies, including under Social Security Act titles V (Maternal and Child Health Services), XVIII (Medicare), XIX (Medicaid), and XX (Block Grants to States for Social Services), the Public Health Service Act, the Indian Health Care Improvement Act, and provisions of Federal law relating to Federal employees, the military health care system, veterans medical care, Peace Corps volunteers, and Federal prisoners. Prohibits the use of appropriated funds for: (1) causing or assisting in suicide, euthanasia, or mercy killing; (2) compelling any person or entity to provide or fund any item, benefit, program, or service for such purpose; or (3) asserting or advocating a legal right to cause or assist such actions. Sets forth a nonexclusive list of programs to which the prohibition applies, including under specified provisions of the Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act, the Protection and Advocacy for Mentally Ill Individuals Act of 1986, the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Older Americans Act of 1965, and the Legal Services Corporation Act. Prohibits the use of appropriated funds for any item or service for the purpose of causing or assisting in the suicide, euthanasia, or mercy killing of any individual. Declares that, for this Act, references to appropriated funds include funds appropriated to the District of Columbia under specified provisions of the District of Columbia Self-Government and Governmental Reorganization Act. Declares that this Act supersedes other Federal laws except to the extent such laws specifically supersede this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 11 March 1997
Mandates Information Act of 1997 - Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (the Act) to require a congressional committee report on any bill or joint resolution that includes any Federal mandate to contain information concerning the impact of such mandate on consumers, workers, and small businesses, including any disproportionate impact in particular regions or industries. Revises provisions concerning legislation subject to a point of order to: (1) define the point of order for a determination by the Director of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO Director) that it is not feasible to determine the economic impact of a Federal mandate; and (2) replace certain references to Federal intergovernmental mandates with references to Federal mandates. Expresses the sense of the Congress that any unfunded mandates that are determined by the CBO Director to exceed the applicable threshold under the Act should be financed through reduced taxes, tax abatements, or direct compensation by the Federal Government.
United States · United States Congress · 10 March 1997
Amends the Food Stamp Act of 1977 to require States to verify that prisoners are not considered part of a household for food stamp program purposes.
United States · United States Congress · 6 March 1997
Tucker Act Shuffle Relief Act of 1997 - Authorizes a property owner to file a civil action to challenge the validity of any Federal agency action that adversely affects the owner's interest in private property in either the U.S. District Court or the United States Court of Federal Claims (Claims Court). Waives the sovereign immunity of the United States. Grants: (1) each court concurrent jurisdiction over both claims for monetary relief and claims seeking invalidation of any Act of Congress or any agency regulation affecting private property rights; (2) the plaintiff the election of the court in which to file a claim for relief; and (3) persons adversely affected by an agency action taken under this Act standing to challenge and seek judicial review of that action. Amends the Federal judicial code to modify the jurisdiction of the Claims Court, including to grant jurisdiction for invalidation of any Act of Congress or any regulation of an executive department that adversely affects private property rights in violation of the fifth amendment to the Constitution. Grants such Court, in cases within its jurisdiction: (1) the power to grant injunctive and declaratory relief when appropriate; and (2) ancillary jurisdiction to render judgment upon any related tort claim. Specifies provisions that apply in proceedings within such Court's jurisdiction which constitute judicial review of agency action. Repeals provisions regarding pendency of claims in other courts.
United States · United States Congress · 5 March 1997
Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 1997 - Amends the Federal criminal code to prohibit performing a partial birth abortion in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce, unless it is necessary to save the life of the mother and no other medical procedure would suffice. Defines "partial-birth abortion" as an abortion in which the person performing the procedure partially vaginally delivers a living fetus before killing the infant and completing the delivery. Prescribes penalties. Authorizes the father and, if the mother is under 18 years of age, the maternal grandparents of the fetus to obtain specified relief in a civil action, even if the mother consented to the abortion, unless the pregnancy resulted from the plaintiff's criminal conduct or the plaintiff consented to the abortion. Prohibits the prosecution of a woman upon whom a partial-birth abortion is performed for conspiracy to violate this Act or under provisions regarding punishment as a principal or an accessory or for concealment of a felony.
United States · United States Congress · 4 March 1997
Amends the Agricultural Market Transition Act to permit the planting of fruit and vegetables on contract acreage following the failure of a crop on such acreage due to conditions beyond the producer's control.
United States · United States Congress · 27 February 1997
American Land Sovereignty Protection Act - Amends the National Historic Preservation Act Amendments of 1980 to prohibit the Secretary of the Interior from nominating any Federal lands for inclusion on the World Heritage List pursuant to the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage unless: (1) the Secretary finds that commercially viable uses of nominated lands (including lands located within ten miles of them) will not be adversely affected by such inclusion, and publishes that finding; (2) the Secretary has reported to the Congress on the lands' natural resources and the impact that the inclusion would have on existing and future uses of such lands; and (3) such nomination is specifically authorized by a law. (Sec. 3) Authorizes the President to submit proposals for legislation authorizing such a nomination. Requires the Secretary to object to the inclusion of any property in the United States on the list of World Heritage in Danger (established under the Convention) unless the Secretary: (1) has reported to the Congress on the necessity for such inclusion, including the natural resources associated with the property, and the impact that such inclusion would have on existing and future uses of such property; and (2) is specifically authorized to assent to the inclusion by a joint resolution of the Congress enacted after the report is submitted. Directs the Secretary to report annually to specified congressional committees certain information on each World Heritage Site within the United States. (Sec. 4) Prohibits Federal officials from nominating lands in the United States for designation as a Biosphere Reserve under the Man and Biosphere Program of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. Provides that any such designation shall not have, and shall not be given, any force or effect, unless the Biosphere Reserve: (1) is specifically authorized by a law enacted before December 31, 2000; (2) consists solely of federally-owned lands; and (3) is subject to a management plan that specifically ensures that the use of intermixed or adjacent non-Federal property is not limited or restricted as a result of that designation. Directs the Secretary of State to report annually to specified congressional committees information on each Biosphere Reserve within the United States. (Sec. 5) Prohibits, under any international agreement (with exceptions under certain wetlands agreements and conventions), the nomination, classification, or designation of: (1) federally-owned lands located within the United States for a special or restricted use unless specifically authorized by law; (2) State or local government lands unless specifically authorized by State or local law; or (3) privately owned lands without the owner's consent.
United States · United States Congress · 27 February 1997
Biomaterials Access Assurance Act of 1997 - Provides that, in any civil action, a biomaterials supplier (one who supplies components or raw materials used to manufacture implants) may raise any defense provided under this Act. Exempts a biomaterials supplier from liability for harm to a claimant caused by an implant, with exceptions in the case of a supplier who: (1) is a registered manufacturer of the implant; (2) is a seller of the implant and who held title to the implant at the time of sale (or is related by common ownership or control to such a seller); or (3) furnishes raw materials or components that fail to meet applicable contractual requirements or specifications. States that a supplier may be considered a manufacturer of an implant, for purposes of such civil actions, only if the supplier has registered with the Secretary of Health and Human Services and included the implant on a list of devices filed pursuant to the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. Requires claimant payment of attorney's fees if the court finds the claim to be without merit and frivolous.
United States · United States Congress · 27 February 1997
Amends the Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1992 to repeal restrictions on certain plumbing products and appliances, including showerheads, faucets, water closets, and urinals.
United States · United States Congress · 27 February 1997
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Balancing the Budget Title II: Technical and Conforming Amendments Balanced Budget Enforcement Act of 1997 - Title I: Balancing the Budget - Part A: Purpose - Repeals parts C (Emergency Powers to Eliminate Deficits in Excess of Maximum Deficit Amount), D (Budgetary Treatment of Social Security Trust Funds), and E (Miscellaneous and Related Provisions) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act). Part B: The Deficit Elimination Act of 1997 - Deficit Elimination Act of 1997 - Sets for FY 1998 through 2002: (1) deficit reduction targets for direct spending and receipts legislation; and (2) discretionary funding limits, measured in terms of new budget authority. Permits adjustments, whenever appropriate, to discretionary funding limits to reflect: (1) changes in concepts; (2) changes in inflation; (3) expiring housing contracts; (4) emergencies; (5) new limits for FY 2002 and thereafter; and (6) transportation trust funds. (Sec. 103) Provides for: (1) balancing the budget in FY 2002; (2) preventing deficits after FY 2002; (3) enactment of a spin-off law, if required, to achieve such goals; and (4) targeted sequestration if a spin-off law is in effect for a fiscal year on the date of the final sequestration report for that fiscal year. (Sec. 106) Establishes a scorecard upon which shall be entered: (1) for FY 1998 through 2002 the estimated increase or decrease in the deficit; (2) for FY 2003 and thereafter the estimated increase or decrease in the deficit or surplus; and (3) for fiscal years after FY 1998 the amount of discretionary appropriations. (Sec. 109) Declares that, for a budget year in which a spin-off law is not in effect, the amount to be sequestered: (1) shall be the amount (if any) by which the sum of all budget-year entries on the direct spending and receipts scorecard is greater than zero; and (2) shall be increased whenever the average out-year change in direct spending and receipts, combined, achieved during that budget-year session would result in higher deficits than if that average change had equaled the amount targeted for the budget year, with that budget-year target being the amount that the sequestration preview report for the budget year shows was needed to bring the budget-year entries on the direct spending and receipts scorecard to zero. Provides that, within 15 days after the Congress adjourns to end a session, and on the same day as an across-the-board reduction of discretionary programs, such a sequestration shall take place to reduce the amount of receipts in the current policy baseline, unless the sum computed for the sequestration is less than $500 million. Mandates that sequestration be achieved by reducing each non-exempt direct spending account by the uniform percentage necessary to achieve 80 percent of the sequestration sum, and increasing receipts to achieve the other 20 percent through surtaxes as enacted under this Act. (Sec. 110) Provides for an across-the-board reduction of discretionary programs, if there is a sequestration. (Sec. 111) Lists programs and activities which shall be exempt from sequestration, including optional exemptions of military personnel. (Sec. 112) Sets forth general sequestration rules, including permanent sequestration of direct spending and receipts, as well as special rules for: (1) block grants to States for temporary assistance for needy families (TANF) under the Social Security Act; (2) the Child Support Enforcement Program; (3) the Commodity Credit Corporation; (4) the Conservation Reserve Program; (5) extended unemployment compensation; (6) the Federal Employees Health Benefits Fund; (7) the Federal Housing Finance Board; (8) Federal pay; (9) guaranteed student loans; (10) Federal insurance programs; (11) Medicaid; (12) Medicare; (13) the Postal Service Fund; (14) power marketing administration funds and the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) fund; and (15) veterans' housing loans. (Sec. 113) Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide for the imposition of tax sequestration surtaxes on individuals and corporations. (Sec. 114) Requires both the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to prepare both sequestration preview and final reports. Directs the Board of Estimates (established under this Act), at specified appropriate times, to choose one report from each pair as the official preview or final report. Directs the President, on the day that the Board chooses the final sequestration report, to issue an order fully implementing without change all required sequestrations and tax actions. (Sec. 115) Provides for determination of the current policy baseline and the baseline assuming deficit reduction. (Sec. 117) Establishes in the Treasury a Stabilization Reserve Fund in order to accumulate balances during years of comparative prosperity, which balances may later be used to cover the loss of receipts and the increase in outlays that occur during times of comparative economic distress. (Sec. 118) Provides for the suspension of sequestration procedures: (1) upon the declaration of war; and (2) during periods of low economic growth. Sets forth procedures for the consideration of a low growth joint resolution by the Congress. (Sec. 119) Establishes a Board of Estimates to report to the President and the Congress concerning the selection of the OMB and CBO sequestration preview and final reports. (Sec. 120) Provides for: (1) expedited judicial review of the constitutionality of provisions of this Act in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia in an action by any Member of Congress or other adversely affected individual seeking declaratory judgment and injunctive relief; and (2) direct appeal to the Supreme Court of any court order issued pursuant to such an action. Title II: Technical and Conforming Amendments - Sets forth technical and conforming amendments to: (1) the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Act of 1974; (2) the Federal Credit Reform Act of 1990; (3) the Rules of the House of Representatives and the Standing Rules of the Senate; and (4) other Federal law provisions concerning, among other things, the President's budget and the public debt limit.
United States · United States Congress · 13 February 1997
Fairness in Musical Licensing Act of 1997 - Revises Federal copyright law to provide that communication by electronic device of a transmission embodying a performance or display of a nondramatic musical work by the reception of a broadcast, cable, satellite, or other transmission shall not be a copyright infringement unless: (1) an admission fee is charged to see or hear the transmission at a particular time or on a particular date or dates; or (2) the transmission is not properly licensed. Applies the infringement exemption for the performance of a nondramatic musical work at an annual agricultural or horticultural fair or exhibition to such performance at agricultural or horticultural fairs, exhibitions, conventions, meetings, and events. Excludes as a copyright infringement the performance of a nondramatic musical work: (1) by a commercial establishment at no charge when a purpose of the performance is to promote audio, video, or other devices utilized in such performance; and (2) at an organized children's camp if the children in attendance sing, dance, or participate in all or a portion of such work, or when the performance is of an instructional nature. (Sec. 3) Specifies that if a general music user and a performing rights society are unable to agree on the appropriate fee to be paid for the user's past or future performance of musical works in the society's repertoire, the user shall be entitled to binding arbitration of such disagreement pursuant to the rules of the American Arbitration Association in lieu of any other dispute-resolution mechanism established by any judgment or decree governing the operation of such society. Requires the arbitrator to determine a fair and reasonable fee for the user's past and future performance of works in such society's repertoire and to impose a penalty for infringement if the user's past performance infringed the copyright of such works. Makes an arbitrator's determination binding on both parties. Sets forth provisions regarding civil actions for infringement that may be submitted to arbitration if the license fee for a performance is contested. (Sec. 4) Requires a performing rights society, at the request of any radio broadcaster, to offer the broadcaster a per programming period license to perform nondramatic musical works in its repertoire. Directs that such license be offered on terms and conditions that provide an economically and administratively viable alternative to the society's blanket license for all such broadcasters. Sets forth provisions regarding prices of such licenses. Authorizes radio broadcasters entitled to a per programming period license to bring actions to require compliance with such requirements. (Sec. 5) Directs each performing rights society to make available free online computer access to copyright and licensing information for each work in its repertoire as well as a semiannual printed directory of each title in its repertoire. Requires such society, upon request, to provide to any person who may perform musical works in its repertoire copies of documentation establishing the society's right to license the public performance of such works. Bars a society from instituting or being a party to any action alleging infringement in, or charging a fee under any per programming period license for, any work in the repertoire that is not identified or documented as described above, with exceptions. (Sec. 6) Requires the Attorney General to report annually to the Congress on the activities of the Department of Justice relating to the continuing supervision and enforcement of specified consent decrees of the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers and Broadcast Music, Inc. (Sec. 7) Sets forth conditions under which landlords, organizers of conventions, or others making space available to another party are exempt from liability under any theory of vicarious or contributory infringement with respect to an infringing public performance of a copyrighted work by a tenant, lessee, or other user of such space.
United States · United States Congress · 13 February 1997
Truth in Employment Act of 1997 - Amends the National Labor Relations Act to provide that nothing in specified prohibitions against unfair labor practices shall be construed as requiring an employer to employ any person who seeks or has sought employment with the employer in furtherance of other employment or agency status.
United States · United States Congress · 13 February 1997
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to apply the special treatment of livestock sold or involuntarily converted on account of drought conditions also to livestock sold or converted because of other weather-related conditions.
United States · United States Congress · 13 February 1997
Prohibits, if a State has a law prohibiting the sale of cigarettes and smokeless tobacco products to individuals under the age of 18 or 19, the Food and Drug Administration from taking enforcement action against a cigarette and smokeless tobacco products retailer for the sale of such items in that State if the sale is a face-to-face transaction conducted in accordance with State law.
United States · United States Congress · 13 February 1997
Constitutional Amendment - Declares that the Congress shall have power to prohibit the physical desecration of the U.S. flag.
United States · United States Congress · 12 February 1997
Security and Freedom Through Encryption (SAFE) Act - Amends the Federal criminal code to permit any person within any State, and any U.S. person in a foreign country, to use any encryption regardless of the encryption algorithm selected, encryption key length chosen, or implementation technique or medium used, with an exception for the unlawful use of encryption in furtherance of a criminal act. Allows any person within any State to sell in interstate commerce any encryption. Specifies that no person in lawful possession of a key to encrypted information may be required by Federal or State law to relinquish to another person control of that key, with an exception for access for law enforcement purposes. Sets penalties for the willful use of encryption in furtherance of the commission of a criminal offense. (Sec. 3) Amends the Export Administration Act of 1979 to grant the Secretary of Commerce exclusive authority to control exports of all hardware, software, and technology for information security (including encryption), except that which is specifically designed or modified for military use. Prohibits requiring any validated license (with limited exceptions pursuant to the Trading With The Enemy Act or the International Emergency Economic Powers Act) for the export or reexport of any: (1) software, including software with encryption capabilities that is generally available as is and that is designed for installation by the purchaser, or that is in the public domain for which copyright or other protection is not available or is available to the public because it is generally accessible to the public in any form; or (2) computing device solely because it incorporates or employs in any form software (including software with encryption capabilities) exempted from any requirement for a validated license under this section. Directs the Secretary to authorize the export or reexport of: (1) software with encryption capabilities for nonmilitary end-uses in any country to which exports of software of similar capability are permitted for use by financial institutions not controlled in fact by U.S. persons, unless there is substantial evidence that such software will be diverted to a military end-use or an end-use supporting international terrorism, modified for military or authorization that may be required under the Act; and (2) computer hardware with encryption capabilities if the Secretary determines that a product offering comparable security is commercially available outside the United States from a foreign supplier without effective restrictions.
United States · United States Congress · 11 February 1997
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Commemorative Coins Title II: Circulating Coins Thomas Alva Edison Sesquicentennial Commemorative Coin Act - Title I: Commemorative Coins - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to mint one-dollar silver coins emblematic of the inventions of Thomas Alva Edison in commemoration of the sesquicentennial of his birth. Directs the Secretary to conduct an open design competition for the design of the obverse and reverse of the coins. Terminates the authority to mint such coins after December 31, 1997. Requires that certain surcharges received from coin sales be distributed to specified entities. Title II: Circulating Coins - Amends Federal law to declare that half-dollar coins minted between specified dates shall have the same design as the commemorative coins minted under this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 11 February 1997
ISTEA Integrity Restoration Act - Authorizes appropriations out of the Highway Trust Fund (other than the Mass Transit Account) for the: (1) National Highway System (NHS); (2) Surface Transportation Program (STP); and (3) Federal Lands Highway Program, including Indian reservation roads, public lands highways, and parkways and park highways. (Sec. 4) Defines "highway funds" as funds apportioned and allocations authorized under this Act for the fiscal year and funds allocated to a State for the preceding fiscal year for Federal-aid highways and highway safety construction. Revises the apportionment of NHS funds to allocate 0.4 percent (previously, one percent) to U.S. territories and possessions, and the remaining 99.6 among the States according to a formula based on population density. Includes bridge construction and related activities among eligible NHS projects. (Sec. 5) Repeals provisions regarding: (1) apportionments for resurfacing, restoring, rehabilitating, and reconstructing the Interstate System (IS); and (2) the transfer of interstate construction apportionments, the transfer of funds for STP projects, and limits on new capacity. (Sec. 6) Includes bridge construction and related activities as an eligible activity within the streamlined STP. Makes eligible under the STP an area of a State that is a nonattainment area for ozone or carbon monoxide, or for particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter smaller than or equal to ten micrometers resulting from transportation activities, or for any combination thereof, for congestion mitigation and air quality improvement projects without regard to any Department of Transportation limitation relating to the type of ambient air quality standard addressed by such project. Revises: (1) State certification procedures; and (2) procedures for payments to States for eligible STP activities. (Sec. 7) Directs that, for purposes of STP and IS provisions, population shall be determined based on the most recent estimate prepared by the Secretary of Commerce. (Sec. 8) Repeals provisions regarding: (1) the highway bridge replacement and rehabilitation program; and (2) the congestion mitigation and air quality improvement program. (Sec. 10) Replaces provisions regarding minimum allocations to States with an apportionment adjustment program under which the Secretary shall apportion among the States amounts sufficient to ensure that the ratio of the highway funds of a State to highway funds of all States for the fiscal year is not less than the adjustment percentage specified for that State under this Act. Requires each State to receive additional apportionments so that its percentage of highway funds is not less than 95 percent of the percentage of estimated tax payments attributable to highway users in the State paid into the Highway Trust Fund. Repeals: (1) existing apportionment adjustment programs; and (2) set-asides for interstate discretionary projects. (Sec. 12) Reduces from 3.75 to 2.35 the percentage of program funds authorized to be set aside for administrative costs. (Sec. 13) Sets forth provisions regarding permissible transfers of unobligated balances of funds apportioned to a State for: (1) congestion mitigation and air quality improvement; (2) interstate construction and maintenance; (3) bridge replacement and rehabilitation; and (4) the STP.
United States · United States Congress · 11 February 1997
Leaking Underground Storage Tank Trust Fund Amendments Act of 1997- Amends the Solid Waste Disposal Act to require the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to distribute to States at least 85 percent of the funds appropriated to EPA from the Leaking Underground Storage Tank Trust Fund each fiscal year for the reasonable costs under cooperative agreements of: (1) State actions under the EPA program for petroleum release responses; (2) necessary administrative expenses directly related to corrective action and compensation programs under State financial responsibility requirements; (3) such programs in any instance, as determined by the State, in which an owner's or operator's financial resources (excluding resources provided by such programs) are inadequate to pay the costs of a corrective action without significantly impairing the ability to continue in business; (4) enforcement of an approved State or local underground storage tank (UST) program or similar provisions; and (5) State and local corrective actions pursuant to regulations regarding corrective action in response to UST releases. Prohibits use of such funds to provide financial assistance to an owner or operator in meeting regulatory requirements for upgrading of existing UST systems. Sets forth requirements for allocation of funds to States. Makes inapplicable to Trust Fund amounts provided to owners or operators under programs described in (2), above, provisions for recovery of petroleum release corrective or enforcement action costs.
United States · United States Congress · 10 February 1997
Amends the Clean Air Act to delete from the glycol ether category in the list of hazardous air pollutants ethylene glycol monobutyl ether as used or emitted by metal or composite can manufacturing. Amends the toxic chemical release forms provisions of the Emergency Planning and Community Right-To-Know Act of 1986 to require the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to delete from the lists of toxic chemicals and extremely hazardous substances employed under such Act any substance that has been deleted or removed from the hazardous air pollutants list unless the Administrator demonstrates on the basis of convincing evidence significant human health or environmental threats posed by the substance's storage, use, or release.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 1997
Interstate Compact - Texas Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Compact Consent Act - Grants the consent of the Congress to the Texas Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Compact entered into by the States of Maine, Texas, and Vermont.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 1997
Teamwork for Employees and Managers Act of 1997 - Amends the National Labor Relations Act to declare that, where no labor organization is the representative of an employer's employees, it shall not be an unfair labor practice for the employer to establish, assist, maintain, or participate in an organization or entity: (1) in which employees participate to at least the same extent as management representatives to address matters of mutual interest (including issues of quality, productivity, and efficiency); and (2) which cannot negotiate, enter into, or amend collective bargaining agreements.
United States · United States Congress · 5 February 1997
Requires the House of Representatives to participate in State and local government transit programs to encourage House employees to use public transportation. Directs the Committee on House Oversight to issue appropriate regulations.
United States · United States Congress · 4 February 1997
Medicare Hospice Benefit Amendments of 1997 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act with respect to hospice care to: (1) restructure the hospice care benefit period; (2) cover any other item or service which is specified in the plan and for which payment may otherwise be made under Medicare; (3) permit contracting with independent physicians or physician groups for hospice care services; (4) allow waiver of certain staffing requirements for hospice care programs in non-urbanized areas; (5) define coverage denial, with respect to the limitation on the liability of beneficiaries and providers, to mean a determination that an individual is not terminally ill; and (6) extend the period for physician certification of an individual's terminal illness.
United States · United States Congress · 4 February 1997
Designates the U.S. Postal Service facility under construction at 7411 Barlite Boulevard in San Antonio, Texas, as the Frank M. Tejeda Post Office Building.
United States · United States Congress · 4 February 1997
Directs the Secretary of the Navy to provide for the award of the Navy Combat Ribbon with respect to participation in ground or surface combat during any period after July 4, 1943, and before March 1, 1961.
United States · United States Congress · 4 February 1997
Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to revise the formulae for payments to health maintenance organizations and competitive medical plans. Provides for a metropolitan based system under which: (1) all portions of each metropolitan statistical area in a State are treated as a single Medicare payment area; and (2) all areas in that State that do not fall within a metropolitan statistical area are treated as a single Medicare payment area. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to determine the annual per capita rate of payment for each Medicare payment area by adjusting the adjusted capitation rate for: (1) individuals (not, as currently, a class of individuals) who are enrolled with an eligible organization which has entered into a risk-sharing contract and who are enrolled under Medicare part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) only; and (2) such risk factors as age, disability status, gender, institutional status, and other appropriate factors so as to ensure actuarial equivalence. Requires the Secretary to establish a separate rate of payment to an eligible organization with respect to any individual determined to have end-stage renal disease and enrolled with the organization. Prescribes a general formula for the adjusted capitation rate of a Medicare payment area based on an area-specific adjusted capitation rate and an input-price-adjusted national adjusted capitation rate. Specifies area-specific and national percentages for contract years 1998 through 2001 and after. Requires the Secretary, upon written request of the Chief Executive Officer of a State for a contract year, to adjust the system under which Medicare payment areas in the State are otherwise determined to a system which: (1) has a single Statewide Medicare payment area; (2) is a metropolitan based system; or (3) consolidates into a single Medicare payment area noncontiguous counties (or equivalent areas) within the State.
United States · United States Congress · 21 January 1997
Requires the establishment of a budget reserve account to provide for funding in the event of natural disasters and national security emergencies. Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to include such funding in the budget process. Amends the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act) to repeal provisions relating to emergency appropriations. Requires annual reports to the Congress on expenditures from such account.
United States · United States Congress · 21 January 1997
Medicare Provider-Sponsored Organization Act of 1997 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to give Medicare beneficiaries the option of receiving Medicare coverage through enrollment with provider-sponsored organizations (PSOs) organized and licensed under State law, and certified as meeting certain Federal standards. Requires a PSO to: (1) deliver a spectrum of health care services (including basic hospital and physicians services) to enrolled purchasers; and (2) provide a substantial proportion of the health care items and services under its Medicare contract through the provider or affiliated group of providers composing the organization. (Sec. 2) Provides for direct Federal Medicare certification as a qualified PSO through calendar 2001. Authorizes State licensure of PSOs after January 1, 2002, only if: (1) State financial solvency and capital adequacy standards are identical with Federal standards; and (2) State licensure standards are substantially equivalent to Federal standards. Allows a PSO seeking to operate under a full-risk contract or a partial risk contract to apply to the Secretary of Health and Human Services for waiver of State licensure if: (1) the State has failed to act on the PSO's State application within a certain period of time; or (2) the State has denied the PSO's application, but the State's licensing standards or review process impose unreasonable barriers to market entry. Declares that a fiscally sound PSO meets Medicare financial solvency requirements. Prescribes general requirements for a PSO's ongoing quality assurance program (including case-by-case utilization review). Treats such requirements as met if the PSO is accredited by a private organization under a process approved by the Secretary. Sets forth physician-participation procedure requirements and other special rules. Directs the Secretary to issue regulations regarding qualified PSO standards, which shall preempt State law. (Sec. 3) Authorizes the Secretary to pay all Medicare health plans on a partial risk basis. (Sec. 4) Treats Medicare-eligible organizations, including PSOs, as meeting the "50-50" enrollment composition rule (which requires that a health plan's Medicare and Medicaid enrollees cannot exceed 50 percent of its total enrollment) if they demonstrate: (1) their capability of providing coordinated care in accordance with the quality assurance standards established by this Act; and (2) their experience providing coordinated care to enrollees of a health plan or State Medicaid plan. (Sec. 5) Provides that a health maintenance organization under Medicaid includes a public or private organization which may be a PSO. (Sec. 6) Directs the Secretary to provide for demonstration projects in at least ten States that permit Medicaid programs to be treated as Medicare-eligible organizations for individuals eligible to enroll with a Medicare organization and also eligible for Medicaid, for the purpose of demonstrating the delivery of primary, acute, and long-term care through an integrated delivery network that emphasizes noninstitutional care. (Sec. 7) Prescribes rules on coverage of emergency services by all Medicare plans. (Sec. 8) Limits State law restrictions on managed care arrangements; but exempts from such restrictions any law that has the effect of preventing involuntary denial of life-saving medical treatment when such denial would cause the patient's involuntary death pending transfer to a health care provider willing to provide such treatment. (Sec. 9) Requires the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission to provide jointly for the development and publication of explicit, binding guidelines on the application of antitrust laws to PSO activities, addressing PSO formation, development, and operation issues of PSOs and facilitating their development and operation.
United States · United States Congress · 9 January 1997
Uniformed Services Medicare Subvention Program Act - Directs the Secretaries of Defense and of Health and Human Services (HHS) to jointly establish a subvention program to provide the Department of Defense (DOD) with reimbursement from the Medicare program under title XVIII of the Social Security Act for health services provided to Medicare-eligible covered military beneficiaries who agree to receive such services through the managed care option of the TRICARE program (a DOD-managed health care program). Makes program enrollment voluntary. Requires the Secretary of Defense to waive the TRICARE enrollment fee for program participants for whom Medicare reimbursement may be made. Directs the HHS Secretary to make monthly payments to DOD from the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund and the Federal Supplementary Medical Insurance Trust Fund representing appropriate reimbursement amounts. Provides for the determination of such amounts. Directs the Secretary of Defense to: (1) maintain DOD health care efforts for Medicare-eligible covered military beneficiaries; (2) estimate, for the first fiscal year of the subvention program, the amount expended by DOD for FY 1997 for providing health care items and services to such beneficiaries; and (3) establish monthly targets of the number of such beneficiaries for whom reimbursement will not be provided to DOD. Requires the Comptroller General, for each program year, to report to the Secretaries and the Congress on the extent to which costs under the TRICARE program and the Medicare program have increased as a result of the subvention program. Requires the Secretaries to take necessary steps to offset any excess costs and prevent future excess costs, including: (1) suspension or termination of the subvention program; (2) adjustment of the payment rate; or (3) adjustment of DOD maintenance of effort requirements.
United States · United States Congress · 9 January 1997
Truth in Political Advertising Act - Prohibits an individual from disseminating, or causing to be disseminated, any false political advertisement by U.S. mails or by any means in or having an effect on commerce. Directs the Federal Trade Commission to impose a specified civil monetary penalty. Shields certain media from liability for the dissemination of any false political advertisement, unless a Federal Trade Commission request for the name and post-office address of the person causing such dissemination is refused.
United States · United States Congress · 9 January 1997
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to make the alternative minimum tax inapplicable to specified farm property installment sales.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Directs the Commissioner of Social Security to improve the social security card for purposes of carrying out illegal alien employment provisions under the Immigration and Nationality Act. Amends Federal law to provide criminal penalties for fraud and related activities concerning work authorization documents.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Authorizes the President to present, on behalf of the Congress, a congressional gold medal to Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to strike and sell bronze duplicates.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Uniformed Services Medicare Subvention Demonstration Project Act - Directs the Secretaries of Defense and Health and Human Services (HHS) to jointly establish a demonstration project to provide the Department of Defense (DOD) with reimbursement, under provisions of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act, for health services provided to Medicare-eligible covered military beneficiaries who participate in the project and receive such services through the managed care option of the TRICARE program (a DOD managed health care program). Requires the project to be conducted during the three-year period beginning on January 1, 1998, in no more than five geographic regions designated by the Secretaries. Makes project enrollment voluntary. Requires the Secretary of Defense to waive the TRICARE enrollment fee for project participants for whom Medicare reimbursement may be made. Requires inclusion in the project of a provision for expansion to incorporate health care services provided to such beneficiaries under the fee-for-services options of the TRICARE program if the Secretaries determine that such expansion is feasible and advisable. Directs the HHS Secretary to make monthly payments to DOD from the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund and the Federal Supplementary Medical Insurance Trust Fund representing appropriate reimbursement amounts. Provides for the determination of such amounts. Directs the Secretary of Defense to: (1) maintain the DOD health care efforts for Medicare-eligible covered military beneficiaries; (2) estimate the amount expended by DOD for FY 1997 for providing health care items and services to such beneficiaries; and (3) establish monthly targets for the number of such beneficiaries enrolled in the project necessary to meet DOD maintenance of health care efforts for such individuals. Limits to $65 million the annual payments to DOD for the project. Requires the Comptroller General, for each project year, to submit to the Secretaries and the Congress a report on the extent to which costs under the TRICARE program and the Medicare program have increased as a result of the project. Directs the Secretaries to modify the project at the end of each year to correct for any discrepancy between cost targets and actual spending under the project. Directs the Secretaries to submit to the Congress an interim and final report on various project aspects.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Immigration Moratorium Act of 1997 - Restricts U.S. immigration levels to specified numbers of family-sponsored immigrants, employment-based immigrants, and refugees.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Directs the Secretary of the military department concerned to pay an annuity to the qualified surviving spouse of any member of the armed forces who: (1) died before March 21, 1974, and was entitled to retired or retainer pay on the date of death; or (2) was a member of the reserves, died during the period beginning on September 21, 1972, and ending on October 1, 1978, and at the time of death would have been entitled to retired or retainer pay but for the fact that the member was under 60 years of age. Defines a qualified surviving spouse as one who has not remarried and who is not eligible for an annuity under the Survivor Benefit Plan. Provides the annuity amount and reduces such amount by the amount of any dependency and indemnity compensation to which the survivor is entitled.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Citizenship Reform Act of 1997 - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to deny citizenship at birth to children born in the United States to parents who are not U.S. citizens or permanent resident aliens.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Working Families Flexibility Act of 1997 - Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA) to provide for compensatory time for all employees. Allows an employee to receive, in lieu of monetary overtime compensation, compensatory time off at a rate not less than one and one-half hours for each hour of employment for which overtime compensation is required under the Act. Allows an employer to provide such compensatory time only: (1) pursuant to a collective bargaining agreement with employee representatives, or, where there is no recognized labor organization, pursuant to an agreement with the employee if such agreement was entered into knowingly and voluntarily; (2) if a private employee has affirmed, in a verifiable statement, the choice of receiving compensatory time in lieu of overtime pay; and (3) if the employee has not accrued compensatory time in excess of applicable limits. Sets forth special rules relating to public employees. Prohibits employer coercion of employees for the purpose of: (1) interfering with their right to choose whether to request compensatory time off in lieu of overtime pay; or (2) requiring them to use compensatory time. Limits to not more than 240 hours the amount of compensatory time an employee may accrue. Requires payment of compensation at the prescribed regular rate for: (1) compensatory time accrued but not used in a calendar year or other designated 12-month period; and (2) unused compensatory time upon termination of employment. Allows an employer to provide monetary compensation at any time after giving the employee at least 30 days notice, at the prescribed regular rate, for an employee's unused compensatory time in excess of 80 hours. Allows an employee to request in writing that monetary compensation be provided at the prescribed regular rate, at any time, for all compensatory time accrued and not yet used. Requires employers to permit employees to use compensatory time within a reasonable period after employees request its use, if such use does not unduly disrupt employers' operations. Makes private employers who violate specified provisions of this Act liable to the employee affected in the amount of the rate of compensation for each hour of compensatory time accrued by the employee, and in an additional equal amount as liquidated damages reduced by the amount of such rate of compensation for each hour of compensatory time used by such employee.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Deficit Reduction Lock-box Act of 1997 - Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to require the Director of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to maintain a Deficit Reduction Lock-box Ledger which shall be divided into entries corresponding to the subcommittees of the Committees on Appropriations. Requires each entry to consist of three parts: (1) the House Lock-box Balance; (2) the Senate Lock-box Balance; and (3) the Joint House-Senate Lock-box Balance. Requires the CBO Director, upon the engrossment of any appropriation bill by the House of Representatives and upon the engrossment of that bill by the Senate, to credit to the applicable entry balance of that House amounts of new budget authority and outlays equal to the net amounts of reductions in new budget authority and in outlays resulting from amendments agreed to by that House to that bill. Specifies the amounts to be credited to the Joint House-Senate Lock-box Balance. Requires a running tally to be available to Members of the House of Representatives, during the consideration of any appropriations bill by the House, of the amendments adopted reflecting increases and decreases of budget authority in such bill as reported. Provides for the downward adjustment of: (1) allocations for the House and Senate upon the engrossment of Senate amendments to any appropriation bill; and (2) suballocations, whenever a such a downward adjustment is made to an allocation. Requires the Director of the Congressional Budget Office to include an up-to-date tabulation of the amounts contained in the Deficit Reduction Lock-box Ledger and each entry in periodic reports. Requires the downward adjustment of discretionary spending limits by amounts set forth in the final regular appropriation bill for the fiscal year or joint resolution making continuing appropriations through the end of such fiscal year.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
National Right-to-Work Act - Amends the National Labor Relations Act and the Railway Labor Act to repeal those provisions that permit employers, pursuant to a collective bargaining agreement (union security agreement), to require employees to join a union as a condition of employment (including provisions permitting railroad carriers to require, pursuant to such an agreement, payroll deduction of union dues or fees as a condition of employment).
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Bill Emerson English Language Empowerment Act of 1997 - Amends Federal law to declare English to be the official language of the U.S. Government. States that representatives of the Federal Government have an affirmative obligation to preserve and enhance the role of English as the official language of the Federal Government. Requires such representatives to conduct official business in English. Prohibits anyone from being denied Government services because he or she communicates in English. Requires that all officials conduct all naturalization ceremonies entirely in English. Directs that nothing in this Act construed to limit the preservation or use of Native Alaskan or Native American languages. Sets forth definitions for purposes of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to temporarily permit two-year averaging of farm income.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Constitutional Amendment - Prohibits outlays for a fiscal year (except those for repayment of debt principal) from exceeding total receipts (except those derived from borrowing) for that fiscal year unless the Congress, by a three-fifths roll call vote of each House, authorizes a specific excess of outlays over receipts. Requires a three-fifths roll call vote of each House to increase the public debt. Directs the President to submit a balanced budget to the Congress. Requires the approval of a majority of each House by roll call vote before any bill to increase revenue may become law. Authorizes the Congress to waive these provisions when: (1) a declaration of war is in effect; or (2) the United States is engaged in a military conflict which poses a threat to national security as declared by a joint resolution adopted by a majority of each House. Makes this article effective beginning with FY 2002 or with the second fiscal year beginning after its ratification, whichever is later.