The world's political record
Person
![Official portrait of Rep. Torres, Esteban Edward [D-CA-34]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/t000316_200.jpg)
United States · Official source
2,748 records where Rep. Torres, Esteban Edward [D-CA-34] is listed as a sponsor, author, or other actor. Search with topics and years
United States · United States Congress · 19 August 1994
Captive Exotic Animal Protection Act of 1994 - Amends the Federal criminal code to prohibit and set penalties for the transport or possession of a confined exotic animal for purposes of allowing the killing or injuring of that animal for entertainment or the collection of a trophy.
United States · United States Congress · 17 August 1994
Requires the administrative agency to which the Secretary of Labor has delegated the authority to adjudicate Federal workers' compensation claims to select physicians on an impartial basis when seeking a second medical opinion in such a claim.
United States · United States Congress · 17 August 1994
Requires the administrative agency to which the Secretary of Labor has delegated authority to adjudicate workers' compensation claims of Federal employees under civil service law to select only board-certified physicians to provide second opinions.
United States · United States Congress · 17 August 1994
Amends Federal civil service law to revise the appeals process under provisions for workers' compensation for Federal employees.
United States · United States Congress · 11 August 1994
Repeals the Cuban Democracy Act of 1992.
United States · United States Congress · 5 August 1994
Smithsonian Institution Sesquicentennial Commemorative Coin Act - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to issue five-dollar gold coins and one-dollar silver coins emblematic of the scientific, educational, and cultural significance of the Smithsonian Institution. Mandates that: (1) all but a certain portion of surcharges received from coin sales be paid by the Secretary to the Smithsonian Institution to support programming related to the 150th anniversary and general activities of the Smithsonian Institution; and (2) a certain portion of such surcharges be dedicated to supporting the operation and activities of the National Numismatic Collection at the National Museum of American History.
United States · United States Congress · 2 August 1994
Designates the week beginning September 12, 1994, as National Hispanic Business Week.
United States · United States Congress · 1 August 1994
Amends the Revised Organic Act of the Virgin Islands to direct the President (currently, the Attorney General) to appoint a U.S. marshal for the Virgin Islands.
United States · United States Congress · 29 July 1994
Foreign Tax Compliance Act of 1994 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to include in the taxation of controlled foreign corporations income attributable to imported property. Requires the separate application of limitations on the foreign tax credit for imported property income. Expresses the sense of the Congress that deficit reduction should be achieved in part by eliminating enforcement breakdowns that enable foreign-controlled corporations operating in the United States, and foreign persons investing in the United States, to pay no taxes.
United States · United States Congress · 20 July 1994
Designates September 12 through 16, 1994, as National Gang Violence Prevention Week.
United States · United States Congress · 19 July 1994
Indian Gaming Regulatory Act Amendments of 1994 - Amends the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act to include manufacturing and assembly of gaming devices within the definition of "class III gaming." Defines "Compact" as the class III gaming regulatory regime. Directs the Chairman of the National Indian Gaming Commission (Commission) to consult with an affected tribe before taking action authorized by such Act. Authorizes the Commission to monitor class III gaming where a Compact so provides. Authorizes class II tribal gaming ordinances to regulate non-Indian gaming activities on Indian lands to the same level as class III regulations permit. Sets forth Compact provisions. Applies the Federal tax exemption given to State gaming activities to Indian gaming activities. Applies Federal laws to class III gaming activities.
United States · United States Congress · 19 July 1994
Designates September 17, 1994, as Constitution Day.
United States · United States Congress · 14 July 1994
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Promotion of Work and Self-Sufficiency Subtitle A: Expansion of Funding for, and Participation in, the JOBS Program Subtitle B: Job Creation, Job Placement and Development, and Work Requirements Subtitle C: Support for Working Families Subtitle D: Child Care Title II: Strengthening Parental Responsibility and Family Stability Subtitle A: Federal Responsibilities Subtitle B: Paternity Establishment Subtitle C: Enforcement Subtitle D: State Responsibilities Subtitle E: Demonstrations Subtitle F: Miscellaneous Title III: Teen Parents and Welfare Reform Subtitle A: Family Subtitle B: Education and Employment Subtitle C: Case Management Subtitle D: Demonstration Projects Title IV: Waivers Title V: Improving Government Assistance Subtitle A: AFDC Amendments Subtitle B: Food Stamp Act Amendments Title VI: Effective Date Family Self-Sufficiency Act of 1994 - Title I: Promotion of Work and Self-Sufficiency - Subtitle A: Expansion of Funding for, and Participation in, the JOBS Program - Amends title IV (Aid to Families With Dependent Children) (AFDC) to increase funding and the matching rate for the Job Opportunities and Basic Skills (JOBS) program. Revises JOBS participation requirements. (Sec. 104) Requires State plans to provide for a preliminary assessment of a family's self-sufficiency needs within 30 days after approval of an AFDC application. Subtitle B: Job Creation, Job Placement and Development, and Work Requirements - Authorizes any State to establish a public jobs creation program providing AFDC-eligible individuals with employment in the public sector or in private nonprofit organizations. (Sec. 112) Revises job placement, job development, and job retention activities retirements to provide for their expansion. (Sec. 113) Requires establishment of self-employment programs. Subtitle C: Support for Working Families - Eliminates the dollar-for-dollar "work penalty" in determining the amount of an AFDC recipient's earned income disregard. (Sec. 122) Raises the limitation on total family income. (Sec. 123) Allows a State the option to extend Medicaid enrollment for former AFDC recipients for one additional year after they have obtained employment. (Sec. 124) Revises treatment of two-parent families. (Sec. 125) Increases the stepparent income disregard. Subtitle D: Child Care - Increases child care funding. (Sec. 132) Sets forth a formula for payments to encourage the use of an entire State allotment for at-risk child care. Limits the carryforward of unused allotments. (Sec. 134) Requires a State agency to pay a family at most 75 percent of the actual local cost of child care (or a higher maximum, as the State may establish). (Sec. 135) Requires a State to set aside a specified portion of Federal funds for the improvement of the quality of services and the building of infrastructure to serve low-income children. (Sec. 136) Revises requirements with respect to child care for working AFDC parents. (Sec. 137) Revises child care health and safety standards and continuity of care requirements. (Sec. 138) Requires a State agency to ensure: (1) periodic identification of child care needs; (2) family understanding of child care alternatives; and (3) reimbursement mechanisms meeting family needs. (Sec. 140) Revises "seamless services facilitation" requirements for the provision of child care assistance to families who cease to receive AFDC benefits. (Sec. 141) Allows States to continue child care assistance without interruption during breaks between otherwise allowable activities, and for a reasonable time after loss of employment, to ensure continuity of child care arrangements. (Sec. 142) Requires States to guarantee child care whether or not a caretaker relative is receiving AFDC. (Sec. 143) Grants States the option to extend transitional child care benefits, and provide them to families who have received AFDC for less than three months. (Sec. 145) Limits at-risk child care to families ineligible for recipient or transitional child care. (Sec. 146) Repeals the requirement that a family receiving transitional child care benefits include a dependent child. (Sec. 148) Requires a State to ensure continued provision of child care with respect to a family of an individual in dispute resolution with the State over the individual's qualification for such care. (Sec. 149) Grants a State agency the option to enter agreements for consolidation of State responsibility for child care. Title II: Strengthening Parental Responsibility and Family Stability - Subtitle A: Federal Responsibilities - Adds to present uses of the Federal Parent Locator Service: (1) establishing parentage, or establishing, modifying, and enforcing child support obligations; and (2) providing safeguards to prevent the disclosure of information in case that would jeopardize the safety of the custodial or noncustodial parent or any child of either such parent. (Sec. 202) Requires the Federal Parent Locator System to include information on an absent parent's income and assets. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to enter into an agreement with the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) (the Secretary) to provide the System with prompt access to all Federal income tax returns. Directs the Secretary to expand the Parent Locator Service to establish a national network based on the comprehensive statewide child support enforcement systems developed by the States in order to give each State access to records of other States. (Sec. 203) Directs the Secretary to establish a Federal registry of all child support orders recorded in State registries. Requires the Federal registry to compare information on W-4 forms with information in child support orders. (Sec. 204) Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to establish a system of reporting by requiring employers to provide a copy of every employee's W-4 form to the Federal child support order registry. (Sec. 205) Increases the base matching rate for Federal payments for State child support enforcement activities. (Sec. 206) Revises requirements for performance-based incentives and penalties. (Sec. 207) Provides for increased Federal financial participation for States with unified child support enforcement programs. (Sec. 208) Directs the Secretary to promulgate criteria and standards for a new child support audit process. (Sec. 209) Establishes the National Child Support Guidelines Commission to develop a national child support guideline for congressional consideration based on a study of various guideline models, the benefits and efficiencies of such models, and any needed improvements. (Sec. 210) Directs the Secretary to establish a Child Support Audit Advisory Committee. Subtitle B: Paternity Establishment - Revises requirements for paternity establishment procedures. Requires States to provide for new outreach programs to encourage voluntary paternity acknowledgement. Sets forth an administrative penalty of AFDC recuctions for children for whom paternity is not established promptly. Subtitle C: Enforcement - Requires States to establish procedures for: (1) obtaining access to financial records maintained by any financial institution doing business in the State, for the purpose of establishing, modifying, or enforcing a child support obligation; and (2) requiring courts or administrative agencies to issue final orders in a child support or parentage case requiring each party to file addresses, telephone numbers, social security numbers, driver's license numbers, and other specified information. (Sec. 223) Amends the Consumer Credit Protection Act to allow a State agency administering an AFDC program to use consumer credit reports to establish, modify, or enforce a child support award. (Sec. 224) Amends Federal law to make Federal death, black lung, veterans, and workers' compensation benefits subject to garnishment for child support. (Sec. 225) Requires State and Federal holds on granting of certain occupational, professional, and business licenses for a noncustodial parent with a child support delinquency. (Sec. 226) Requires State procedures to: (1) deny driver's licenses and vehicle registrations to persons failing to appear in child support cases; and (2) systematically place liens on all nonexempt real and titled personal property for child support arrearages. (Sec. 228) Requires State procedures requiring a rebuttable presumption that, in any case related to child support, any transfer of property for significantly less than its fair market value by an individual who owes a child support arrearage is made with the intent to avoid payment of the arrearage. (Sec. 229) Revises from $1,000 to the monthly support obligation the minumum threshold for a State at its option to report child support arrearage information to a credit bureau. (Sec. 230) Authorizes the Secretary of State to refuse, revoke, restrict, or limit a passport to noncustodial parents subject to State arrest warrants for nonpayment of child support. (Sec. 231) Requires State procedures permitting enforcement of any child support order until the child attains age 30. (Sec. 232) Provides for State certification to the Secretary of the Treasury of a child support obligation for Internal Revenue Service collection. Subtitle D: State Responsibilities - Requires procedures under which a State child support enforcement agency shall establish an automated central child support order registry. (Sec. 241) Requires a State to transmit a wage withholding order to the employer of any individual upon the imposition of a child support obligation. (Sec. 242) Requires the Secretary to develop a uniform abstract of a child support order with specified contents. (Sec. 243) Requires States to enact the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act. (Sec. 244) Revises requirements for expedited processes, administrative procedures, and due process. (Sec. 246) Requires State plans to provide for an ongoing program of outreach to eligible persons. (Sec. 247) Requires States to: (1) ensure cost-of-living adjustments for child support awards; (2) establish a simplified process for review and adjustment of certain child support orders; and (3) ensure that the State does not provide to any noncustodial parent representation relating to review or adjustment of a child support order, unless the State makes such provision outside the State agency. (Sec. 250) Directs the Secretary to conduct and complete staffing studies for each State child support enforcement program, including each agency and court involved in the child support process. Requires specified reductions in AFDC payments to a State that has not met performance standards and has not implemented the staffing levels recommended in the report to the Congress on such studies. (Sec. 251) Requires States to develop and implement a program of annual training to all personnel performing functions under the State plan. (Sec. 252) Sets priorities for the distribution of collected child support. (Sec. 253) Grants States the option to waive temporarily the right to collect child support obligations of teen noncustodial parents participating in a State educational or employment preparation program. Subtitle E: Demonstrations - Directs the Secretary to make grants to up to six States to conduct demonstration projects for establishing or improving a system of assured minimum child support payments. Subtitle F: Miscellaneous - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to make a technical correction to the definition of medical child support order. Title III: Teen Parents and Welfare Reform - Subtitle A: Family - Requires a State plan to provide that, with specified exceptions, no AFDC benefits shall be provided to an individual under age 18 who has never married but has a dependent child in his or her care or is pregnant and eligible for AFDC if the individual's case manager determines that the individual is not residing in the home of the individual's parent, legal guardian, or other adult relative, or in a foster home, maternity home, or other adult-supervised supportive living arrangement. (Sec. 302) Requires a State plan to provide for a $50 increase in the monthly benefit to a family including an individual under age 20 who is the parent of a child whose paternity has been established or with respect to which a child support order is in effect. Subtitle B: Education and Employment - Sets forth schooling and employment requirements for any AFDC recipient who is under age 20 and is a custodial parent or is pregnant. (Sec. 312) Allows a State to increase AFDC payments by a certain amount to any qualified participant in certain appropriate summer educational or other activities. (Sec. 313) Provides for bonus payments to States which meet specified goals for teen participation in Job Opportunities and Basic Skills (JOBS) program activities. (Sec. 314) Allows States the option to provide child care for certain non-AFDC teen parents. Subtitle C: Case Management - Requires a State plan to provide for assignment of a case manager to each AFDC recipient who is under age 20 and is a custodial parent or is pregnant. Subtitle D: Demonstration Projects - Directs the HHS Secretary, the Secretary of Education, and the Chief Executive Officer of the Corporation for National and Community Service to jointly make grants to eligible entities for the development of intensive and sustained school-linked and school-based pregnancy prevention programs for adolescents and their families in areas of high poverty or high unmarried adolescent birth rates. Directs the HHS Secretary to approve between five and seven demonstration projects to provide comprehensive services to prevent adolescent pregnancy in high-risk communities. Title IV: Waivers - Provides for funding of waivers that are not cost neutral. Title V: Improving Government Assistance - Subtitle A: AFDC Amendments - Establishes a requirement that needs standards reflect the cost of essential items. (Sec. 502) Requires a State plan to provide that the maximum amount of AFDC payable to a family for any month shall not be reduced below the level in effect for October 1994 to a family of the same size. (Sec. 503) Allows States to supplement benefits for families subject to retrospective budgeting. (Sec. 504) Revises income disregards with respect to elementary or secondary students under age 20, including training stipends, lump-sum income, educational assistance, and in-kind income. (Sec. 505) Increases the resource limit for families eligible for AFDC from $1,000 to $2,000 (or, in the case of a family with a member who has attained 60 years of age, $3,000). Revises requirements for exclusions from resources, including cash value of life insurance policies, real property which must be disposed of, earned income tax credit payments, lump-sum payments for medical expenses or replacement of lost resources, and certain resources for self-employment. (Sec. 508) Requires States to require, as a condition of eligibility, that adult family members applying for such aid declare in writing that each family member is a U.S. citizen or eligible alien. (Sec. 509) Sets forth payment limits for Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and Guam. Subtitle B: Food Stamp Act Amendments - Amends the Food Stamp Act of 1977 with respect to inconsequential income, educational assistance, training stipends and allowances, income from on-the-job training programs, earned income tax credits, resources necessary for self-employment, and lump-sum payments for medical expenses or replacement of lost resources. Title VI: Effective Date - Sets forth the effective date of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 30 June 1994
Filipino Veterans Equity Act of 1994 - Amends Federal veterans' benefits provisions to include certain service in the organized military forces of the Philippines and service as Philippine Scouts within the definition of active U.S. military service for purposes of eligibility for various veterans' benefits for former active-duty military personnel.
United States · United States Congress · 23 June 1994
Employment Non-Discrimination Act of 1994 - Prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation by covered entities, including employing authorities of the House of Representatives, employing offices of the Senate, and instrumentalities of the Congress. Declares that: (1) this Act does not apply to the provision of employee benefits for the benefit of an employee's partner; and (2) a disparate impact does not establish a prima facie violation of this Act. Prohibits quotas and preferential treatment. Declares that this Act does not apply to: (1) religious organizations (except in their for-profit activities); (2) the armed forces; or (3) laws creating special rights or preferences for veterans. Provides for enforcement. Disallows State and Federal immunity. Allows recovery of attorney's fees. Prohibits retaliation and coercion. Requires posting notices for employees and applicants.
United States · United States Congress · 22 June 1994
Commends the United States Labor Attache Corps for its historic role during the past 50 years in nurturing freedom and assisting in the development of democratic values and processes throughout the world. Directs the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Labor to jointly: (1) review the mission of the United States Labor Attache Corps, and determine what reforms are necessary to redesign and assure continued relevance of the Corps in the post-cold war era and to implement them; (2) implement an interagency recruitment and training program to assure sufficient qualified personnel for the Corps, and to enhance the professional development of existing personnel, consistent with the continuing need for monitoring and reporting on the needs, interests, and aspirations of working people in foreign countries; (3) develop a plan to assure that a labor counselor, attache, or reporting officer is assigned to every United States Embassy abroad by January 1, 1997, and determine what additional resources are necessary to achieve this goal; and (4) report to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations on the outcome of the review and the steps taken herein.
United States · United States Congress · 17 June 1994
Provides for a settlement of the railroad labor-management disputes between the Long Island Rail Road Company and certain of its employees represented by the United Transportation Union. Directs the President to appoint a Special Board, taking into account recommendations of the parties. Requires the Special Board to act as mediators for a 28-day period and then issue a binding determination on any remaining issues in dispute.
United States · United States Congress · 17 June 1994
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that: (1) June 21, 1994, is designated as Freedom Summer Remembrance Day; and (2) it reaffirms the goal of removing remaining barriers to full voter participation in this Nation.
United States · United States Congress · 9 June 1994
Designates August 2, 1994, as National Neighborhood Crime Watch Day.
United States · United States Congress · 26 May 1994
Firefighters Pay Fairness Act of 1994 - Amends Federal law to extend existing biweekly pay period and pay computation requirements to Federal fire fighters and employees of the judicial branch. Repeals the current exception from such requirements of employees on the Isthmus of Panama in the service of the Panama Canal Commission. States that, for fire fighters, the annual rate of basic pay shall be calculated on the basis of 26 administrative biweekly work periods of up to 106 hours each. Prescribes a formula for computing the basic biweekly pay of Federal employees who are not fire fighters but perform fire fighting duties. Requires compensation at time-and-a-half per hour for any hours worked in excess of 106 during a biweekly pay period by fire fighters subject to the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938. Specifies limits on the payment of other premium pay to such fire fighters. Prescribes basic rates of pay for fire fighters: (1) promoted to a supervisory position; and (2) selected and assigned for training. Authorizes a Federal agency to pay cash awards of up to five percent of basic pay to fire fighters or other employees performing fire fighting duties who possess and make substantial use of special skills or certifications, including handling hazardous materials or certification as an emergency medical technician.
United States · United States Congress · 25 May 1994
Authorizes the President to present, on behalf of the Congress, to the Lubavitcher rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, a gold medal in recognition of his outstanding and enduring contributions toward world education, morality, and acts of charity. States that no appropriations are authorized to implement this Act. Declares that the medals struck pursuant to this Act are national medals.
United States · United States Congress · 24 May 1994
U.S. Colonias Water Pollution Control Act - Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to authorize the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to provide financial assistance to any U.S. State along the U.S.-Mexican border or to any entity designated by the President for construction of treatment works to serve U.S. colonias in Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Texas. Bases the determination of whether a community is a colonia on objective criteria, including lack of potable water supply or adequate sewage systems. Limits Federal funding to 50 percent of construction costs. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 24 May 1994
U.S.-Mexico Border Water Pollution Control Act - Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to authorize the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to provide financial and other assistance to the Border Environment Cooperation Commission, Federal, State, or local governmental entities, and the International Boundary and Water Commission, United States and Mexico for planning, design, and construction of wastewater treatment works in the U.S.-Mexican border area. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 12 May 1994
Timber Fair Trade and Forest Conservation Act of 1994- Amends the Export Administration Act of 1979 to require the Secretary of Commerce (Secretary), in order to determine whether a critical shortage exists of unprocessed timber, or of any species or grade of unprocessed timber, for domestic manufacturing, to monitor: (1) exports of, and contracts to export, unprocessed timber; and (2) domestic supplies of such unprocessed timber for domestic manufacturing purposes. Requires the Secretary to impose quantitative restrictions on the export of unprocessed timber in any State or region where a critical shortage exists. Requires the Secretary to submit to the Congress specified quarterly reports. Requires the Secretary, whenever such export restrictions are imposed, to give preference in the allocation of export licenses to persons who own or have ownership interests in fewer than 3,000 acres of forest land. Authorizes the President to suspend such export restrictions if a ruling is issued under the formal dispute resolution procedures of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) finding that they violate GATT Article XI prohibitions on export restrictions and are not allowable under such Article's exceptions. Directs the Secretary to impose quantitative restrictions on exports of unprocessed timber from Washington, Oregon, California, Idaho, and Montana.
United States · United States Congress · 12 May 1994
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: National Environmental Response Training Program Subtitle A: Certification, Training, and Accreditation Program Subtitle B: Health and Safety Program Title II: National Environmental Response Employment Program Title III: Federal Environmental Coordination Committee and Related Provisions Title IV: Administration and Enforcement National Environmental Training and Employment Act of 1994 - Provides for training, health and safety, employment opportunities, and certification for environmental response employees and employers, emergency responders, and environmental training providers. Authorizes appropriations to carry out the various titles of this Act. Allows other funds to be used to carry out this Act from appropriations for programs, projects, or activities administered by the Departments of Defense, of Energy, of Housing and Urban Development, of the Interior, of Labor, and of Health and Human Services (HHS), and the Environmental Protection Agency. Title I: National Environmental Response Training Program - Subtitle A: Certification, Training, and Accreditation Program - Directs the Secretary of Labor (the Secretary) to establish a National Environmental Training Program to: (1) certify environmental response employers (through a National Certification Program in the Department of Labor); (2) train and certify environmental response employees and emergency responders; and (3) accredit environmental training providers. Subtitle B: Health and Safety Program - Directs the Secretary to establish a national safety and health program covering environmental response employees and emergency responders. Allows such program to be implemented and managed, at the Secretary's discretion, by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. Requires such program to include minimum standard medical examination protocols, a medical surveillance program, and a national injury/illness/fatality surveillance system. Title II: National Environmental Response Employment Program - Directs the Secretary to establish: (1) a program to ensure employment of minorities and women in activities covered by this Act; and (2) in cooperation with the Secretary of Defense, a program to ensure availability of training and employment in activities covered by this Act for displaced military personnel. Directs the Secretary to provide grants to: (1) public agencies and nonprofit employee organizations qualifying as accredited providers to train environmental emergency responders; (2) joint labor-managed training trust funds and labor organizations accredited as providers for training and related activities for environmental workers subject to this Act; (3) nonprofit veterans' organizations for recruitment and counseling services for recently separated members of the military and other veterans, in connection with environmental response training; and (4) nonprofit minority and women's organizations for recruitment and counseling services for minority and female applicants, in connection with environmental response training. Title III: Federal Environmental Coordination Committee and Related Provisions - Establishes the Federal Environmental Coordination Committee, including the heads of the aforementioned Federal departments and agencies. Provides for: (1) enforcement of this Act through Federal contracting procedures; (2) cooperation with States; (3) accreditation and certification/licensure fees; and (4) environmental workforce research and studies. Title IV: Administration and Enforcement - Directs the Secretary to promulgate regulations to carry out this Act. Authorizes the Secretary to seek judicial relief and civil penalties for failure to comply with this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 11 May 1994
Veterans' Persian Gulf War Benefits Act - Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to: (1) develop and expeditiously implement a uniform case assessment protocol that will ensure thorough assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of all Persian Gulf War veterans suffering from illnesses attributed to service in the Persian Gulf theater of operations during the Persian Gulf War; (2) expedite efforts to develop case definitions or diagnoses for illnesses associated with such service; and (3) develop and implement a comprehensive outreach program to inform such veterans and their families of health-care services, including comprehensive medical evaluations, that may be available through the Department of Veterans Affairs or the Department of Defense. Directs the Secretary to pay compensation to Persian Gulf War veterans suffering from a chronic disability resulting from an undiagnosed illness that became manifest to a degree of ten percent or more within one year after completion of active duty in the Gulf War, with exceptions. Terminates compensation payments three years after the date of enactment of this Act. Authorizes appropriations to the Department of Veterans Affairs for: (1) FY 1995 through 1997 for conducting research of the health risk and effects of service during the Gulf War and the treatment of such effects; and (2) FY 1995 for a survey of Persian Gulf veterans as to the incidence and nature of health problems occurring in such veterans and their families.
United States · United States Congress · 11 May 1994
Calls on: (1) the Republic of Azerbaijan and Nagorno Karabagh to cease all hostilities and begin peace negotiations under the framework established by the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe; (2) the parties to the conflict to simultaneously lift all blockades in the region; and (3) the President to take an active role in promoting peace and in monitoring the human rights situation in the region.
United States · United States Congress · 10 May 1994
Chile Free Trade Agreement Negotiating Act of 1994 - Amends the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988 to authorize the President, before January 1, 1997, to enter into a trade agreement with Chile that provides for the elimination or reduction of duties imposed by the United States, or the elimination or reduction of barriers to, or other distortions of, international trade between Chile or the United States. Subjects the trade agreement to congressional "fast track" procedures only if the President certifies to the Congress, when submitting implementing legislation, that such agreement: (1) requires the parties to adhere to internationally recognized worker rights; (2) requires the enforcement of environmental laws and the adoption of higher environmental standards; and (3) includes dispute resolution mechanisms.
United States · United States Congress · 5 May 1994
Amends the Small Business Act to direct the Administrator of the Small Business Administration to establish a minority graduate mentor program under which a small business concern that is a graduate of the small business and capital ownership development program (graduate concern) may serve as a mentor to small business concerns that are in the developmental stage of such program (developmental stage concern). Makes a participating graduate concern eligible to receive certain contracts upon agreeing to subcontract between 20 and 49 percent of the value of the contract to one or more developmental stage concerns. Requires program regulations to contain, at a minimum: (1) application requirements; (2) selection criteria; (3) procedures for establishing partnerships between graduate concerns and developmental stage concerns; (4) a description of the types of assistance that a graduate concern will provide to a developmental stage concern; (5) monitoring methods to be used by the Administrator to prevent abuse, including a requirement that all participants submit a financial capability statement at least every two years; and (6) procedures to permit a graduate concern and a developmental stage concern to terminate their partnership upon the completion of a contract.
United States · United States Congress · 5 May 1994
Designates June as African-American Music Month.
United States · United States Congress · 21 April 1994
Labor Law Enforcement Act of 1994 - Increases, within the Wage and Hour Division of the Employment Standards Administration of the Department of Labor, the number of full-time positions assigned to investigate violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938. Amends the Service Contract Act to make applicable to contracts subject to liability for specified violations certain enforcement provisions of Federal law and regulations of the Secretary of Labor under the Copeland Act. Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to increase damages for violations of information and recordkeeping requirements. Amends the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act to increase damages for violations of information and recordkeeping requirements.
United States · United States Congress · 21 April 1994
Tobacco Advertising and Promotion Studies Act of 1994 - Directs the Federal Trade Commission to study and report to the Congress on specified aspects of tobacco advertising and promotion targeted at women and certain ethnic groups.
United States · United States Congress · 21 April 1994
Designates April 25 to May 1, 1994, as Let's Stop Kids Killing Kids Week.
United States · United States Congress · 20 April 1994
Worker Rights and Labor Standards Trade Act of 1994 - Directs the President to seek the establishment of: (1) a working party within the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) to examine the relationship of fundamental internationally-recognized worker rights to specified articles of the GATT; and (2) a standing committee within the World Trade Organization to perform the functions of the working group.
United States · United States Congress · 19 April 1994
Designates the week beginning February 12, 1995, as National Random Acts of Kindness Week.
United States · United States Congress · 18 April 1994
Designates March 31, 1995, as Cesar E. Chavez Day.
United States · United States Congress · 14 April 1994
NATO Expansion Act of 1994 - Expresses the sense of the Congress with respect to NATO membership of Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia. Authorizes the President to establish a program to assist the transition to full NATO membership for Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and other European countries emerging from communist domination designated pursuant to this Act. Permits the President to provide specified security assistance to such countries, including excess defense articles, economic support fund assistance, international military education and training, and foreign military financing. Authorizes the President to provide additional assistance from the Nonproliferation and Disarmament Fund and Countries in Transition accounts. Permits the President to designate other European countries emerging from communist domination to receive assistance under this Act if he reports to the appropriate congressional committees that such countries: (1) have made significant progress toward establishing democratic institutions, free market economies, civilian control of their armed forces, and the rule of law; and (2) are likely to be in a position to further the principles of the North Atlantic Treaty and to contribute to the security of the North Atlantic area. Authorizes the President to confer, pursuant to agreement with any country eligible to participate in the Partnership for Peace, rights with respect to the military and related civilian personnel and activities of that country in the United States comparable to those conferred by that country with respect to the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 14 April 1994
Low-Income Housing Incentive Act - Requires a General Accounting Office study regarding public housing demolition and disposition and the need for larger public housing dwelling units. Directs the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to carry out a five-year demonstration assistance program to State housing agencies for development of affordable rental housing. Requires participating housing agencies to carry out qualifying affordable housing incentive loan programs. Authorizes appropriations. Amends the United States Housing Act of 1937 to: (1) merge the section 8 certificate and voucher programs into a new low-income housing program; and (2) temporarily exclude from eligibility determinations income increases resulting from employment of previously unemployed family members.
United States · United States Congress · 14 April 1994
Designates July 16 through 24, 1994, as National Apollo Anniversary Observance.
United States · United States Congress · 13 April 1994
Elderly Housing Tax Relief Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide a tax credit for an individual who maintains a household which includes a qualified elderly relative.
United States · United States Congress · 12 April 1994
Amends the Small Business Act to increase, for each of FY 1994 through 1999, the authorization levels for the small business development center program.
United States · United States Congress · 24 March 1994
Humanitarian Aid Corridor Act - Prohibits foreign assistance funds from being used to provide assistance to any country for any portion of a fiscal year during which the country prohibits or restricts the transport or delivery of U.S. humanitarian assistance to any other country. Makes such prohibition inapplicable if the President determines and notifies the Congress that providing assistance: (1) is in the national interest; or (2) will benefit directly non-military personnel who are in immediate danger resulting from a natural or manmade disaster (provided that such assistance is humanitarian assistance distributed directly to such personnel or through international relief organizations).
United States · United States Congress · 24 March 1994
Designates July 23 as General Bernardo de Galvez Day.
United States · United States Congress · 24 March 1994
A Child is Waiting Resolution - Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) any health care reform legislation include guaranteed full funding for the special supplemental food program for women, infants, and children (WIC); and (2) specified amounts should be made available to move toward such full funding goal.
United States · United States Congress · 23 March 1994
Governors Island Reinforcement Act of 1994 - Sets forth trade, assistance, and air transport sanctions against Haiti, and against other nations not cooperating with U.S. or international sanctions. Terminates such sanctions upon the reinstatement of the democratically elected President of Haiti and the military's meeting its obligation under the Governors Island Agreement. States congressional support for: (1) the return of human rights observers to Haiti; (2) the creation of a multinational border patrol between Haiti and the Dominican Republic; and (3) socioeconomic and peacekeeping assistance to Haiti. Directs the President to terminate the bilateral migrant interdiction agreement with Haiti. Provides for the nonrefoulement of Haitians by the United States. Grants temporary protected status under the Immigration and Nationality Act to qualifying Haitians. Excludes from U.S. admission, and blocks U.S. assets of, certain Haitians connected with the military or related activities.
United States · United States Congress · 18 March 1994
Pesticide Food Safety Act of 1994 - Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to exclude pesticide chemicals from the definition of "food additive." Modifies the circumstances in which the presence of a pesticide chemical residue renders a food adulterated. (Sec. 3) Replaces provisions relating to tolerance for pesticide chemicals in or on raw agricultural commodities with provisions relating to tolerances and exemptions for pesticide chemical residues. Deems a pesticide chemical residue unsafe, unless it is within an established tolerance or an exemption is in effect. Authorizes the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to establish a separate tolerance for a pesticide chemical residue with respect to food at the time the food is harvested, purchased at retail, and processed. Allows a tolerance only if the risk to human health from dietary exposure to the residue is negligible. Sets forth criteria for determining whether the risk is negligible. Requires, in determining dietary exposure, consideration of all other sources (including drinking water) of dietary exposure occurring over a lifetime. Sets forth a special exposure rule allowing, in certain circumstances, calculation of exposure to a food based on reliable data that provide the Administrator with a valid statistical basis to identify the percentage of the food in which the residue actually occurs. Requires, if a tolerance or exemption is revoked and the residue will unavoidably persist in the environment and contaminate food, that a new tolerance be established at the lowest level that permits only the unavoidable levels to remain in the food. Prohibits the issuance of a tolerance for any pesticide that contains an active or inert ingredient that is a known or probable human carcinogen or highly hazardous to human health. Allows: (1) establishment, modification, or revocation of a tolerance or establishment or revocation of an exemption from a tolerance in response to a petition or on the initiative of the Administrator; and (2) an exemption if the residue is not a human or animal carcinogen and otherwise presents no risk to human health from dietary exposure. Conditions establishment and continuation of a tolerance or exemption on the existence of a practical method of residue detection that can be performed by the Secretary of Health and Human Services on a routine basis as part of surveillance and compliance sampling for residues. Allows any person to petition the Administrator for the establishment, modification, or revocation of a tolerance or exemption. Directs the Secretary to conduct surveillance and compliance sampling of food for pesticide chemical residues. (Sec. 4) Requires the Administrator to: (1) evaluate each existing tolerance or exemption; and (2) determine, for each method of detecting and measuring levels of residues, whether the method meets certain requirements of this Act. (Sec. 6) Mandates fees sufficient to provide, equip, and maintain adequate service with regard to the review of existing tolerances and exemptions and the review of methods of detecting and measuring levels of residues.
United States · United States Congress · 16 March 1994
Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to provide for the Federal incarceration of undocumented criminal aliens, with priority given to aliens convicted of aggravated felonies.
United States · United States Congress · 16 March 1994
Directs the Commissioner of Immigration and Naturalization to report on the timeliness of processing naturalization applications.
United States · United States Congress · 16 March 1994
Immigration-Related Employment Anti-Discrimination Enhancement and Enforcement Act of 1994 - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to expand the scope of unfair immigration related employment provisions, including: (1) disparate impact claims; (2) compensatory and punitive damage remedies; and (3) back pay limitations. Authorizes appropriations for related enforcement and outreach activities.
United States · United States Congress · 10 March 1994
Designates May 11, 1994, as Vietnam Human Rights Day in support of efforts by the Non-Violent Movement for Human Rights in Vietnam.