United States · United States Congress · 18 June 1991
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the United States should ask the United Nations (UN) to release through UNICEF a portion of Iraq's frozen assets to provide medical and humanitarian assistance to the Iraqi people, particularly children, with release of the funds contingent on Iraqi Government acceptance of UN oversight and control.
United States · United States Congress · 12 June 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to deny the Puerto Rico and possession tax credit to runaway plants (new or newly expanded operations at Puerto Rican or other possession facilities) unless the Secretary of the Treasury determines that such plants will not have a substantial adverse effect on employment at U.S. facilities. Provides a period for public comment prior to the Secretary's determination.
United States · United States Congress · 10 June 1991
Safe Pipeline Act of 1991 - Amends the Hazardous Liquid Pipeline Safety Act of 1979 to direct the Secretary of Transportation to issue regulations to require: (1) the installation of remote control valves (RCVs) and supervisory control and data acquisition systems (SCADAs) with leak detection subsystems on pipelines in major urban and suburban areas and on either side of a pipeline water crossing facility over 100 feet wide or a pipeline which crosses a public reservoir or a body of water with an average annual flow rate of five or more cubic feet per second; and (2) pipeline operators to report the environmental impacts of pipeline leaks which are required to be reported under Federal law. Directs the Secretary to assess mandating RCVs and SCADAs installation on other pipelines in substantial risk locations.
United States · United States Congress · 10 June 1991
Petroleum Marketing Practices Act Amendments of 1991 - Amends the Petroleum Marketing Practices Act to modify the definition of "contract" to include any contract between specified parties which is economically necessary to the operation of the franchise. Preempts conflicting or irreconcilable provisions of State law. Provides that the termination or non-renewal of a franchise relationship, upon expiration of an underlying lease for marketing premises, is reasonable if specified conditions exist. Declares unenforceable certain supply restrictions contained in franchise contracts between a refiner and a retailer, or a refiner and a distributor.
United States · United States Congress · 4 June 1991
Ethics and Treatment of Home Medical Equipment Act of 1991 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish certification standards for suppliers of durable medical equipment, ostomy bags, and supplies related to ostomy care under part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) to assure patient safety and the availability of high-quality covered items. Requires such suppliers to meet such standards in order to be eligible for reimbursement from Medicare. Deems such suppliers accredited by the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations or other appropriate accrediting entities to have met those standards. Prohibits carrier forum shopping. Modifies the prohibition against suppliers filling out certificates of medical necessity to make such prohibition applicable to items on the Secretary's list of potentially overused items. Prohibits physician referrals to durable medical equipment companies in which the referring physician has a financial relationship. Waives mandatory submission of claims provisions for nonparticipating suppliers of inexpensive items of durable medical equipment. Sets limits on the Medicare reimbursement cuts mandated under the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990 for covered items. Restores Medicare's monthly payment for rental cap items to ten percent per month for up to 12 months. Provides an up-front purchase option for rental cap items in instances where the item is needed for longer than 12 months at least 75 percent of the time or where the patient is in a severe condition recognized by the Secretary.
United States · United States Congress · 3 June 1991
Prohibition of Payments on Foreign Deposits Act of 1991 - Amends the Federal Deposit Insurance Act to prohibit any Federal entity (or a federally controlled entity) from providing any assistance which would in fact, or in effect, provide deposit insurance payments for foreign deposits.
United States · United States Congress · 3 June 1991
Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) the American public should observe the 100th anniversary of filmmaking; and (2) the American Film Institute has a leadership role in preserving the art of film.
United States · United States Congress · 23 May 1991
Benjamin Franklin Memorial Fire Service Bill of Rights Act - Title I: Minting of Benjamin Franklin National Memorial Commemorative Coin - Benjamin Franklin National Memorial Commemorative Coin Act - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to issue: (1) five dollar gold coins emblematic of Benjamin Franklin's contributions to the advancement of science; (2) one dollar silver coins emblematic of Benjamin Franklin's contributions to the American Fire Service. Sets forth sale and issuance guidelines, including a general waiver of procurement regulations and surcharge distributions. Title II: Fire Service Bill of Rights - Fire Service Bill of Rights Act - Amends the Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974 to set forth a fire service bill of rights, including the right of responding fire services to: (1) know the kind of danger presented by hazardous materials they face in emergency responses; and (2) be fully informed of infectious diseases their members face during the course of life safety activities. Declares that the bill of rights does not create any private right of action.
United States · United States Congress · 23 May 1991
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that: (1) it should be U.S. policy to seek in trade negotiations the adoption and enforcement of equivalent environmental standards among the trading nations of the world; (2) until such policy is implemented, the President should seek, through the Uruguay Round of trade negotiations, and as part of the next round of trade negotiations under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade or any trade negotiations with Mexico, agreement on mechanisms under which the United States and its trading partners can eliminate or reduce competitive disadvantages resulting from the differing national environmental standards; and (3) any agreement regarding such international environmental standards would not impair the implementation of the Clean Air Act, the Solid Waste Disposal Act, the Toxic Substances Control Act, or other U.S. environmental protection law.
United States · United States Congress · 21 May 1991
Urges the Government of Iran to extend to the Baha'i community the rights guaranteed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international agreements to which Iran is a party. Calls upon the President to continue to: (1) urge the Government of Iran to emancipate the Baha'i community by granting such rights; (2) emphasize that the United States regards the human rights practices of such Government, particularly its treatment of the Baha'is and other religious minorities, as a significant element in the development of U.S.-Iranian relations; and (3) cooperate with other governments and international organizations in efforts to protect the religious rights of the Baha'is and other minorities in Iran.
United States · United States Congress · 15 May 1991
Japanese American National Historic Landmark Theme Study Act - Directs the Secretary of the Interior to report to the Congress on a National Historic Landmark Theme Study on Japanese American history. Requires the Secretary to: (1) identify possible new National Historic Landmarks appropriate to this theme; and (2) prepare a list in order of importance or merit of the most appropriate sites for such designation. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 15 May 1991
Campus Sexual Assault Victims' Bill of Rights Act of 1991 - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) to require each eligible institution participating in any program under HEA title IV (Student Assistance) to include a statement of policy regarding the rights of victims of sexual assault, that complies with specified requirements, in its disclosure of campus security policy and campus crime statistics. Requires each institution of higher education to establish and implement a written policy establishing a campus sexual assault victims' bill of rights which provides that specified rights shall be accorded to such victims by all campus officers, administrators, and employees of such institution.
United States · United States Congress · 14 May 1991
Domestic Violence Prevention Act of 1991 - Title I: Amendment of the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act - Amends the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act (FVPSA) to add increasing public awareness as a purpose of State demonstration grants. Authorizes grants for public information campaigns regarding domestic violence. Requires a State grant recipient to establish a Commission on Domestic Violence. Limits law enforcement training grants to private nonprofit organizations that have certain experience. Mandates grants or contracts for the establishment of one national and five regional resource centers to provide training and other assistance concerning domestic violence. Authorizes appropriations to carry out the Act. Requires grants to States to assist in becoming model demonstration States and in improving State leadership regarding certain domestic violence matters. Sets forth requirements for being designated as a model State. Authorizes appropriations. Title II: Law Enforcement, Prosecution Grants, and Interstate Enforcement - Amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to authorize competitive grants to States for use by States and local governments to assist in developing effective law enforcement and prosecution strategies to combat domestic violence and to reduce the rate of domestic violence. Authorizes appropriations. Amends Federal law to establish criminal penalties for interstate travel to commit spousal abuse or to violate protection orders. Allows temporary protection orders pending final adjudication of charges under these provisions. Mandates victim restitution. Requires a protection order by a court of one State to be accorded full faith and credit by the court of another State. Amends the FVPSA to prohibit a State or locality from being awarded a grant under the Act if, as a matter of law, policy, or practice, it discriminated against victims of family violence. Requires certification that this condition has been met. Amends the Victims of Crime Act of 1984 to require a similar certification. Amends the FVPSA to authorize grants to State and local government entities to encourage them, and Indian tribes, to take specified actions in order to treat spousal violence as a serious violation of criminal law. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to transfer a specified sum each fiscal year to the Attorney General for such grants.
United States · United States Congress · 9 May 1991
Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) the enumeration of the homeless population in the 1990 Census should not be used to establish or determine public policy or allocate assistance amounts; and (2) a commission should be established to determine appropriate measures of homelessness for determining such policy and allocating such assistance.
United States · United States Congress · 8 May 1991
Freedom from Want Act - Title I: Domestic Assistance Programs - Part A: Nutrition, Education, and Health Care - Expresses the sense of the Congress that it should make a commitment to increasing participation in the special supplemental food program for women, infants, and children (the WIC program) by 20 percent in each of FY 1992 through 1996, so that the goal of full participation may be reached by the end of FY 1996. Expresses the sense of the Congress that the Head Start Act should be fully funded so that the goal of participation of all eligible three- and four-year-old children in Head Start programs can be achieved by FY 1994. Amends the Older Americans Act of 1965 to increase the reimbursement provided by the Department of Agriculture for congregate and home-delivered meals for older Americans to 65.66 cents in FY 1992, with adjustments for inflation in FY 1993 and 1994. Amends the Public Health Service Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to undertake a Children's Vaccine Initiative, for research, development, testing, and evaluation of children's vaccines, and for assisting in delivery of such vaccines in the United States and throughout the world. Directs the Secretary of HHS to consult with the World Health Organization and the United Nation's Children's Fund in organizing such Initiative. Requires the Director of the National Vaccine Program to plan and coordinate such Initiative, and ensure that the Public Health Service conducts activities under the Initiative in collaboration with nongovernment institutions and other Federal agencies. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to ensure that rules issued under the Federal Meat Inspection Act that impose labeling standards for any meat or meat food product sold or offered for sale in commerce also impose equivalent labeling standards for meat or meat food products distributed by the Department of Agriculture through domestic commodity food assistance programs. Part B: Individual Development Account Demonstration - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a deduction for payments (other than certain assistance from an organization of a demonstration project under this part) made by or on behalf of eligible individuals to an individual development account (IDA) to accumulate funds to pay the following qualified expenses: (1) postsecondary education expenses; (2) first-home purchase; (3) business capitalization; (4) retirement expenses; and (5) transfers to an IDA of the individual's spouse or dependent. Sets forth requirements relating to such IDAs. Establishes five-year IDA demonstration projects to determine: (1) the social, psychological, and economic effects of providing to individuals with limited means an opportunity to accumulate assets; and (2) the extent to which an asset-based welfare policy may be used to enable individuals with low income to achieve economic self-sufficiency. Allows any organization to apply to the Secretary of the Treasury for grants to conduct such a project. Requires each organization authorized to conduct such a project to establish a Reserve Fund drawn from investments, public and private funds, and IDA penalty amounts. Requires the organization to use Reserve Fund amounts to: (1) assist project participants in obtaining skills and information to achieve economic self-sufficiency through activities requiring IDA qualified expenses; (2) provide financial assistance to the IDAs of individuals selected by the organization to participate in the project; (3) administer the project; and (4) provide the organization evaluating the project with necessary information. Directs the organization to invest Reserve Fund amounts that are not immediately needed to carry out such project fund uses. Limits the administrative expenses. Requires that unused Federal grant funds be transferred to the Secretary when the project terminates. Makes eligible for IDA demonstration project assistance any individual who is a member of a household with: (1) a household income for the immediately preceding calendar year of not more th an 200 percent of the poverty threshold; and (2) a household net worth, as of the close of such year, of not more than $20,000. Directs the project organization to select individuals whom the organization deems suited to receive such assistance. Sets forth a table for organization contributions to an individual's IDA, based on: (1) the individual income for the applicable period, as a percentage of the poverty threshold; and (2) matched with the lesser of either a specified percentage of the qualified savings of the individual for the period, or a specified dollar amount. Provides for a greater organization contribution for individuals with lower incomes. Requires local control over demonstration projects by giving the organization sole authority over project administration, and allowing the Secretary of the Treasury to prescribe only regulations that are necessary to ensure compliance with approved applications and this Act. Requires each project organization to prepare ten semiannual progress reports for an oversight panel, the Secretary of the Treasury, and the Treasurer (or equivalent official) of the State in which the project is conducted. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to establish an oversight panel for such demonstration projects. Authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to revoke the original authorization for a demonstration project upon receipt of a notice that the project has failed to implement the oversight panel's recommendations. Sets forth required revocation actions and procedures. Requires the oversight panel to enter into a contract with an independent research organization to evaluate the IDA demonstration projects, individually and as a group, addressing specified questions. Authorizes appropriations for IDA demonstration projects. Requires that funds in the IDAs of demonstration project participants to be disregarded for purposes of all means-tested Federal programs. Part C: Microenterprise Programs - Amends the Social Security Act to include microenterprise training programs under the JOBS program under provisions for aid to families with dependent children (AFDC). Requires adjustment of performance standards for microenterprises to take account of the time required for their establishment. Provides for limited exclusions of microenterprise resources and income under the AFDC program. Defines a microenterprise as a commercial enterprise which has five or fewer employees, one or more of whom owns the enterprise; and (2) none of the owners of which has income exceeding 200 percent of the poverty threshold. Authorizes States to waive Federal AFDC requirements with respect to participants in State-approved microenterpise programs. Provides that participation in such State-approved microenterprise programs shall not affect the participants' means-tested Federal benefits. Amends the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act to make microenterprises eligible for rural development loans and grants. Expresses the sense of the Congress that one percent of funds for specified types of rural development assistance should be reserved for certain purposes relating to microenterprises. Amends the Housing and Community Development Act to make microenterprises eligible for assistance under community development block grants. Provides that certain assisted activities relating to microenterprises shall be considered to benefit persons of low and moderate income. Expresses the sense of the Congress that each grantee under the community development block grant program should reserve one percent of any grant received to provide assistance to facilitate commercial economic development through microenterprises. Amends the Small Business Act to express the sense of the Congress that: (1) one percent of specified funds for small business loans should be reserved for specified purposes relating to microenterprises; and (2) the Small Business Administrator should take such other necessary actions to maximize participation by microenterprises in programs under such Act and the Small Business Investment Act of 1958. Provides for small business loans for microenterprises. Amends the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) to authorize the use of funds for training activities with respect to microenterprises. Directs the State Governor to adjust performance standards relating to microenterprises to reflect the time required to establish and develop a stable income from such an enterprise as participants seek to achieve economic self-sufficiency. Provides for JTPA microenterprise grants. Directs the Secretary of Labor, from specified funds for FY 1992 through 1996, to make grants in limited amounts to not more than ten States per year to implement and enhance community-based microenterprise activities. Requires State matching funds and annual reports. Authorizes appropriations for such microenterprise grants. Part D: Increasing the Food Purchasing Power of Low-Income Households - Authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to make grants to up to 20 nonprofit community-based organizations to carry out food retailing development projects to: (1) increase the access of individuals residing in communities underserved by supermarkets to more affordable and quality food; and (2) strengthen the operation of existing food retail stores in underserved communities by providing such stores with services that lower costs, improve management, and increase the quality and nutritional value of food inventories. Sets forth priorities in selecting grantees. Sets forth requirements for grant expenditures. Authorizes appropriations for such food retailing development program. Authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to make grants to up to ten eligible entities to carry out a food stamp and producer direct marketing demonstration project to: (1) increase retail marketing opportunities for local agricultural producers through farmers markets, roadside stands, and other means; (2) increase the access to and consumption of fresh, perishable agricultural commodities by low-income individuals; (3) identify and implement successful strategies to increase the number of agricultural producers certified to redeem food stamp coupons in exchange for commodities sold directly to coupon recipients; and (4) increase the number of food stamp recipients who use such coupons to purchase such commodities from agricultural producers. Sets forth requirements for grant expenditures. Defines an eligible entity as a community-based organization with strong ties to both the farming community and to an anti-hunger organization. Authorizes appropriations for such food stamp and producer direct marketing demonstration program. Amends the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 to revise WIC farmers' market demonstration programs. Increases from ten to 20 the number of States allowed to provide WIC participants with coupons to purchase fresh fruit and vegetables from farmers markets. Sets forth requirements for program reports and review. Authorizes appropriations. Part E: Assessing Food Security within Communities - Amends the National Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching Policy Act of 1977 to provide for regional centers for community food security. Directs the Secretary of Agriculture, through the Federal Extension Service, to make competitive grants to seven land grant colleges and universities to establish seven regional centers for community food security, with one of them designated to serve as a coordinating center. Sets forth requirements for selection of recipients, use of grants, prohibited uses, term of grants, performance evaluations, and annual reports. Defines food security as the ability of all people at all times to purchase or receive from usual food sources enough nutritionally adequate food for an active and healthy life. Part F: Findings Regarding Communities Making the Transition to Hunger-Free Status - Expresses the sense of the Congress regarding criteria for communities making the transition to food secure status. Part G: Infant Mortality Reduction - Subpart 1: Low Birthweight and Infant Mortality - Establishes within the Department of Health and Human Services a program to make grants to States, municipalities, and nonprofit organizations to establish demonstration projects to reduce infant mortality by reducing the incidence of low birthweight births in high-risk communities. Sets forth grant application requirements and preferences in awards. Directs the Secretary of HHS to: (1) establish an Infant Mortality Advisory Panel; and (2) evaluate such projects and provide technical assistance to grantees. Requires annual reports from grantees. Limits project duration to three years. Authorizes appropriations. Subpart 2: Breast Feeding and Infant Morbidity and Mortality Study - Directs the Secretary of HHS to establish a program to award grants to conduct studies of the impact of breastfeeding on infant mortality and morbidity in certain high-risk populations. Authorizes appropriations for each fiscal year for conducting such study. Part H: Amendments to the Food Stamp Act of 1977 - Mickey Leland Childhood Hunger Relief Act - Subpart 1: General Provisions - Sets forth general provisions. Subpart 2: Ensuring Adequate Food Assistance - Amends the Food Stamp Act of 1977 to remove the excess shelter deduction cap for purposes of food stamp program (program) eligibility. (Sets forth transitional caps through FY 1995.) Requires the Secretary of Agriculture to adjust the basic benefit level upwards by specified increments at the beginning of each fiscal year until it reaches 105 percent of the cost of the thrifty food plan. Eliminates food stamp reductions for households reapplying for program reinstatement within 30 days. Excludes third party payments for transitional housing for the homeless from consideration as program income. Increases funding for the nutrition assistance program in Puerto Rico. Excludes general assistance vendor payments from consideration as program income. Subpart 3: Promoting Self-Sufficiency - Excludes from consideration as program income: (1) the first $50 a month received as child support; and (2) child support payments to non-household members. Increases annually the fair market value limit of vehicles that program recipients may own. Excludes from financial resources the value of a vehicle a household depends upon to carry heating fuel or water for home use where it has no other access to fuel or water. Increases dependent care deductions and participant and State agency reimbursements in connection with employment and training activities. Subpart 4: Simplifying the Provision of Food Assistance - Permits related adults living in the same household to apply for separate program benefits under specified conditions. Permits a participating family made up of, or including, an elderly or disabled member to own $300 in allowable financial resources. (Current law refers to a family member 60 years of age or older.) Makes program authorization of appropriations permanent. Subpart 5: Implementation and Effective Dates - Sets forth the effective dates for provisions of this Act. Title II: International Programs - Part A: Food as a Human Right - Declares that the United States should: (1) make a major effort toward strengthening the right to food in international law; and (2) propose to the United Nations General Assembly that a Declaration and Convention on the Right to Food be adopted and submitted to countries for ratification. Prohibits the provision of development assistance under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 and the provision or financing of agricultural commodities under the Agricultural Trade Development and Assistance Act of 1954 for countries that engage in a consistent pattern of violations of internationally recognized rights to food and medical care. Requires the United States to: (1) make a major effort toward reforming and restructuring the United Nations mechanism for responding to international disasters and humanitarian emergencies; and (2) evaluate the role of the United Nations Disaster Relief Organization and develop a proposal for strengthening the United Nations response to such emergencies. Part B: Democratic Empowerment - Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to authorize the President, acting through the administrator of the agency responsible for administering development assistance (administering agency), to provide assistance for eligible emerging democracies. Defines an "eligible emerging democracy" as a least developed country that is making a transition from an undemocratic to a democratic system of government. Lists authorized assistance as development and relief and rehabilitation assistance and assistance for child survival, maternal health, basic nutrition, and basic education. Waives provisions of law that prohibit or restrict assistance to countries in arrears or default on loan or credit payments owed to the United States with respect to assistance for eligible emerging democracies. Establishes a Fund for Democratic Empowerment to carry out such assistance program. Authorizes appropriations. Part C: Children - Authorizes appropriations for FY 1992 and 1993 for U.S. contributions to the United Nations Children's Fund. Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to authorize appropriations for the Child Survival Fund for FY 1992 and 1993. Earmarks amounts of foreign assistance for activities that deal directly with the special health needs of children and mothers. Requires the President, with respect to the provision of development assistance, to promote and undertake activities relating to research on, and the treatment and control of, acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) in developing countries. Designates such assistance as the International AIDS Prevention and Control Program. Earmarks amounts of development assistance for FY 1992 and 1993 for the Vitamin A Deficiency Program and programs to eliminate iodine deficiency. Expresses the sense of the Congress that the United States should join in a comprehensive initiative to reduce micronutrient deficiencies from iron, as well as leading in the elimination of vitamin A and iodine deficiency. Earmarks foreign assistance for basic education programs. Directs the President to report annually to the Congress on U.S. contributions to the goals and strategies of the World Declaration on the Survival, Protection and Development of Children; the Plan of Action for Implementing the Declaration; the World Declaration on Education for All; and the Framework for Action to Meet Basic Learning Needs. Part D: Women in Development - Removes a limitation on, and earmarks an amount of, assistance to promote the participation and integration of women in the development process in developing countries. Requires specified amounts of such assistance to be used to support the integration of women into programs of the administering agency and to support needs of such agency in administering the women in development policy. Part E: Refugees - Authorizes appropriations for FY 1992 and 1993 for migration and refugee assistance, with earmarked funds for programs of refugee assistance overseas. Expresses the sense of the Congress that other international donors should join with the United States in ensuring that refugee relief and rehabilitation efforts are adequately funded and supported. Part F: Agriculture and the Environment - Requires agricultural development programs supported by the United States under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 and in the multilateral development banks and International Monetary Fund (IMF) to incorporate principles of environmental sustainability. Directs the Administrator of the Agency for International Development (AID) to establish specified environmental sustainability guidelines and standards to be applied to all agricultural development programs supported under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, bilateral agricultural projects, and, where appropriate, environmental projects supported under such Act. Requires the U.S. executive directors of the multilateral development banks and the IMF to seek the adoption of requirements comparable to such standards by their respective institutions. Declares that AID should make a long-term commitment to research the ecological and socioeconomic components of sustainable agricultural development. Provides that research topics should include: (1) how traditional systems of agriculture respond to local ecological conditions and how such responses can be incorporated in agricultural development that aims to increase yields without degrading long-term productive potential or the ability to withstand ecological pressures; (2) the role of subsistence agriculture in meeting the nutritional needs of rural populations and the improvement of subsistence food production; and (3) the improvement of crops which comprise a substantial part of the diet of the poorest part of the population. Declares that the United States should encourage the Consultative Group on International Agriculture to incorporate such topics into its research priorities and to promote the application of research findings into project design and implementation. States that AID should increase its support for agricultural research institutions that have demonstrated a capacity to contribute to sustainable agricultural development. Directs the AID Administrator to report to the Congress on AID programs directed toward sustainability as a basis for agricultural assistance efforts. Part G: World Bank and International Monetary Fund - Expresses the sense of the Congress that the Secretary of the Treasury should instruct the U.S. executive directors of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (World Bank), the International Development Association (Association), and the IMF to seek the establishment by their institutions of programs and policies to assist in the realization of the right to food. Amends the International Financial Institutions Act to direct the Secretary of the Treasury to instruct: (1) the U.S. executive director of the Association to advocate, in the context of the Association's tenth replenishment, that at least 50 percent of the Association's loans go to countries that have developed a national development and poverty alleviation strategy; and (2) the U.S. executive directors of the World Bank and the IMF to urge such institutions to develop Policy Framework Papers (including sections on environmental goals) for borrowing countries. Expresses the sense of the Congress that the World Bank and the Association should: (1) give greater programmatic and budgetary priority to child survival and development; and (2) commit to devoting at least five percent of the annual lending programs to primary health and five percent to basic education. Directs the Secretary to instruct the U.S. executive directors of the World Bank and the Association to urge such institutions to: (1) promote environmental sustainability as a guiding principle in agricultural development projects; (2) emphasize food-based policies in agriculture by increasing funding for research focusing on improving foods which comprise a substantial portion of the diet of poor people; and (3) ensure that such projects target and integrate women. Amends the Bretton Woods Agreements Act to direct the Secretary of the Treasury to instruct the U.S. executive director of the IMF to urge the IMF to ensure that IMF programs are designed to avoid any deterioration in the provision of social services for basic human needs and to maintain sustainable use of the environment. Part H: Debt Relief - Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to authorize the President to make certain debt relief authorities concerning relatively least developed countries with respect to which an IMF standby agreement or a World Bank or Association structural adjustment program or similar IMF program is in effect applicable to least developed countries pursuing specified national economic policy reforms, even if such an arrangement is not in effect. Part I: Private and Voluntary Organizations - Increases the amount of funding for private and voluntary organizations under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961.
United States · United States Congress · 7 May 1991
Tenant Protection Act of 1991 - Amends the Federal Home Loan Bank Act to limit the Resolution Trust Corporation's authority to abrogate residential tenant contracts and leases only to the extent permitted under State or local law.
United States · United States Congress · 7 May 1991
Working Family Tax Relief Act of 1991 - Title I: Refundable Credit for Children - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a refundable tax credit of $800 for each child under the age of 18 in lieu of the deduction for personal exemptions for children. Provides an inflation adjustment for such tax credit. Title II: Changes in Individual Income Tax Rate Structures - Increases the tax rates for higher income individuals. Imposes a surtax on the individual tax rate or the alternative minimum tax of an individual whose income exceeds the threshold amount. Defines the threshold amount as: (1) $250,000 in the case of a joint return or surviving spouse; (2) $200,000 in the case of a head of household; (3) $125,000 in the case of a married individual filing separately; and (4) $150,000 in any other case. Applies such surtax to estates and trusts. Increases the rate of the alternative minimum tax. Repeals the overall limitation of itemized deductions and the phaseout of personal exemptions. Title III: Increased Earned Income Credit - Increases the earned income credit. Title IV: Advance Payments from Secretary of the Treasury of Earned Income Credit and Credit for Children - Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to make advance payments of refunds to which eligible taxpayers are entitled by reason of the earned income credit or the tax credit for children. Provides procedures to assure payments to individuals with adjusted gross incomes of $12,000 or less. Title V: Effective Date - Makes this Act effective after December 31, 1991.
United States · United States Congress · 7 May 1991
Expresses the sense of the Congress that Tibet is an occupied country under established principles of international law and that its true representatives are the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan Government in Exile.
United States · United States Congress · 2 May 1991
Federal Facilities Compliance Act of 1991 - Amends the Solid Waste Disposal Act to waive the sovereign immunity of the United States for purposes of enforcing Federal, State, interstate, and local requirements with respect to solid and hazardous waste management. Absolves Federal employees from personal liability for civil penalties under any Federal or State solid or hazardous waste law if the act or omission was within the scope of official duties. Makes such employees subject to criminal sanctions under such laws. Prohibits Federal agencies from being subject to such sanctions. Authorizes the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to commence an administrative enforcement action against any Federal agency pursuant to the authorities of the Solid Waste Disposal Act. Requires fines collected by States from the Federal Government for violations of hazardous and solid waste management requirements to be used only for projects to improve or protect the environment or to defray the costs of environmental protection or enforcement.
United States · United States Congress · 2 May 1991
Amends Federal law relating to the Martin Luther King, Jr. Federal Holiday Commission to: (1) increase its membership from 23 to 30 and its staff membership from five to eight; (2) increase the potential salary of a staff member from a GS-13 to a GS-15; and (3) authorize appropriations for FY 1992 through 1993.
United States · United States Congress · 2 May 1991
Live Performing Arts Labor Relations Amendments - Amends the National Labor Relations Act to exclude specified types of employers and performers in the live performing arts from coverage under unfair labor practice provisions: (1) prohibiting specified contracts or agreements between employers and labor organizations; and (2) prohibiting specified actions of labor organizations to force or require cessation of dealings with others, joining of labor or employer organizations, or recognition of or negotiation with labor organizations not certified as representative. Permits such employers to: (1) agree with a labor organization to make membership in it a condition of performing arts employment; and (2) make agreements with a labor organization covering performing artists even if its majority status has not yet been established. Defines "employer" to include purchasers of live musical performance services. Defines "employee" to include independent contractors engaged to perform live musical services.
United States · United States Congress · 2 May 1991
Child Health Program Act of 1991 - Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to require State plans for medical assistance to make available through a mail application process preventive care services and outpatient and physicians' services for children whose parents do not have health insurance but have incomes between 133 and 185 percent of the Federal poverty line and choose, via an annual enrollment fee, to participate in such child health program. Finances such program entirely through Federal funding. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to finance such program by removing the cap on the maximum amount of income subject to the Medicare hospital insurance (part A of title XVIII of the Social Security Act) payroll tax.
United States · United States Congress · 2 May 1991
Federal Deposit Insurance Fair Assessment Act - Amends the Federal Deposit Insurance Act to include foreign deposits and certain nondeposit liabilities in the assessment base for purposes of determining deposit insurance premium payments.
United States · United States Congress · 2 May 1991
Title I: Preconditions for the Receipt by China of Nondiscriminatory Treatment - Prohibits the President from recommending for a 12-month period in 1992 continuation of a waiver of human rights and emigration requirements for nondiscriminatory treatment (most-favored-nation treatment) for China under the Trade Act of 1974 unless a specified report is submitted to the Congress stating that China has accounted for and released prisoners who dissented in Tiananmen Square on June 3, 1989 and made progress in: (1) preventing gross violations of human rights (including in Tibet); (2) ending religious persecution and releasing members of religious groups who were detained for their religious beliefs; (3) removing restrictions there and in Tibet on freedom of the press and on broadcasts by Voice of America; (4) terminating harassment of Chinese citizens in the United States, including the return and renewal of passports confiscated for prodemocracy activities; (5) ensuring access of international human rights monitoring groups to prisoners; (6) ensuring freedom from torture and from inhumane prison conditions; (7) terminating prohibitions on peaceful assembly and demonstration imposed after June 3, 1989; and (8) adhering to the Joint Declaration on Hong Kong. Requires the President, if he recommends such extension, to include in a specified document to be submitted to the Congress a report on China's progress in implementing the above-mentioned measures.
United States · United States Congress · 30 April 1991
Amends the Magnuson Fishery Conservation and Management Act to direct the Secretary of Commerce to certify to the President each nation that is failing to comply with a specified United Nations General Assembly resolution on large-scale driftnet fishing.
United States · United States Congress · 30 April 1991
Directs the Resolution Trust Corporation to convey property in North Carolina known as the Nags Head Woods tract to a government agency or qualified organization for conservation purposes.
United States · United States Congress · 30 April 1991
Morris K. Udall Wilderness Act of 1991 - Designates specified lands in Alaska as the Arctic Coastal Plain Wilderness and a component of the National Wilderness Preservation System.
United States · United States Congress · 25 April 1991
Comprehensive Health Care Improvement Act of 1991 - Title I: Qualified Health Insurance Plans - Part A: Definitions and Standards for Qualified Plans - Defines a "plan of health coverage" as any plan or combination of plans, including combinations of self-insurance, individual accident and health insurance policies, group accident and health insurance policies, coverage under a nonprofit health service plan, or coverage under a health maintenance organization (HMO) subscriber contract. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish standards for qualified plans and procedures for the review and certification of plans of health coverage as qualified plans. Provides that a plan shall be certified as an "A" qualified plan if it meets State requirements and meets the following minimum standards: (1) the minimum benefits for a covered individual equal at least 80 percent of the covered expenses in excess of an annual deductible not exceeding $250 per person or $250 for each of two members of a covered family; (2) the coverage includes a limitation of $3,000 per person and $6,000 for a covered family on total annual out-of-pocket expenses for covered expenses; (3) the coverage is subject to a $1,000,000 maximum life-time benefit; and (4) the $3,000, $6,000, and $1,000,000 limitations are not subject to change or substitution by use of an actuarially equivalent benefit. States that covered expenses are the usual and customary charges of a physician or chiropractor. Lists covered and excluded services. Deems HMOs providing certain services to be providing an "A" qualified plan. Certifies as a "B" qualified plan a plan which meets the requirements of an "A" plan, except that the annual deductible does not exceed $1,000 per person. Directs the Secretary, to the extent feasible, to provide for the review and certification by the insurance commissioner of each State of qualified plans to be offered in the State. States that the sale of plans is in and affects interstate commerce and that, in order to properly regulate such sales, it is necessary to regulate such sales in intrastate, as well as interstate, commerce. Requires every plan of health coverage sold to be labelled as "qualified" or "nonqualified" on the front of the policy. Requires each advertisement or promotion for a plan to specify whether the plan is "qualified" or "nonqualified." Part B: Requiring Offering of Certain Qualified Plans - Requires each employer employing an average of ten or more employees annually to make available a plan or combination of plans of health coverage which: (1) has been certified as an "A" or supplemental plan; (2) is a qualified convertible plan; and (3) permits either coverage of an employee's spouse and children or coverage of an employee's children. Defines a "qualified convertible plan" as a plan of health coverage which: (1) permits each enrolled individual to continue coverage for 36 months and then to convert the plan to any individual qualified plan without the addition of underwriting restrictions if, for any reason, the individual leaves the group; and (2) permits, in the case of the death of the individual in whose name the contract was issued, other individuals covered under the plan to continue coverage without the addition of underwriting restrictions. Sets forth civil penalties for noncompliance. Excludes from the term "employee," for purposes of this provision, certain new, part-time, part-year, young, bargaining unit, and nonresident alien employees. Part C: Offering of Comprehensive Health Insurance by States - Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to require the establishment and creation of a health insurance pool available to uninsured and uninsurable individuals and businesses in each State and a comprehensive health plan in each State, in accordance with this part of this Act. Defines a "comprehensive health insurance plan" to mean policies of insurance and contracts of HMO coverage offered by the State through the contractee in the State. Defines the "contractee" as the insurers and HMOs in the State selected by the State to administer the comprehensive health insurance plan. Provides for the authorities and responsibilities of each State commissioner of insurance. Requires each State to provide for the establishment of a comprehensive health insurance plan. Requires each State, through its comprehensive health insurance plan, to offer: (1) policies which provide the benefits of "A" and "B" qualified plans; and (2) HMO contracts in those areas of the State where an HMO has agreed to make the coverage available. Provides that upon certification the individual can enroll in a State's comprehensive health insurance plan by payment of the State plan premium to the contractee. Requires that the premium schedule be set by the State. Allows the State to subsidize the premium with all or part of its Federal payment to be self-supporting. Limits agent referral fees. Requires any surplus to be held at interest and used to offset losses or reduce premiums. Exempts premiums received by the contractee from State taxation. Requires the comprehensive health insurance plan for a State to be open for enrollment by individuals residing in the State, who can enroll by submitting a certificate of eligibility to the State which certifies the applicant's name, address, age, length of residence, dependents to be insured, and type of coverage desired. Requires each State to disseminate information to State residents regarding the existence of the comprehensive health insurance plan and the means of enrollment. Requires each contractee to pay an agent's referral fee, in an amount to be determined by the State, to each insurance agent referring an applicant to the State comprehensive health insurance plan, if the application is accepted. Requires each State to adopt a method for judging the quality of health care provided by providers who are eligible for reimbursement under the plan. Title II: Program of Assistance to States for Assisting Low-Income Individuals to Purchase Comprehensive Health Insurance - Comprehensive Health Insurance Assistance Act of 1991 - Adds a new title XXI to the Social Security Act entitled "Grants to States for Assistance to Low-Income Individuals in the Purchase of Comprehensive Health Insurance." Authorizes appropriations under title XXI to enable each State to provide assistance to low-income individuals in the purchase of comprehensive health insurance under title XXI. Requires the sums made available under this title to be used to make payments to States which have submitted, and have had approved by the Secretary, State plans for comprehensive health insurance assistance to low-income individuals. Directs the Secretary to pay each State with an approved plan, from the Low-Income Health Insurance Assistance Account, an amount determined under a specified formula. Title III: Medicare Tax Fairness - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to make unlimited the amount of the applicable contribution base for hospital insurance taxes imposed by specified provisions. Amends the Social Security Act to establish within the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund the Catastrophic Health Insurance Reserve Account. Requires that the account be credited for all receipts of the Fund attributable to amendments made by this Act. Prohibits amounts credited or appropriated to the account from being expended, transferred, or appropriated. Requires that such amounts be reserved to carry out catastrophic health insurance programs for elderly individuals which are established by law after enactment of this Act. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to impose a tax (the health insurance enhancement tax) on a specified percentage of an individual's health insurance enhancement unearned income, defined as adjusted gross income minus wages or self-employment income taxable under provisions relating to hospital insurance. Establishes in the Treasury the Low-Income Health Insurance Enhancement Trust Fund and appropriates to it all taxes received under the health insurance enhancement tax imposed by this Act. Makes amounts in the Fund available for payments to States under the new title of the Social Security Act added by this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 24 April 1991
Circle of Poison Prevention Act of 1991 - Title I: Exported Pesticides - Amends the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) to require pesticide producers operating registered establishments to inform the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency of: (1) the types and quantities of pesticides and active ingredients used in producing pesticides for export to a foreign country; and (2) the date of export and quantity of such materials exported to each foreign country to which the producer has exported during the past 365-day period. Provides that specified information on exported pesticides shall not be entitled to confidential trade secret treatment. Makes it unlawful to export a pesticide or device in violation of FIFRA export requirements. Prohibits the exportation of a pesticide or device unless: (1) such materials are prepared and packaged according to the specifications of the foreign purchaser and the legal requirements of the country of use; and (2) the label of the pesticide is written in the official language of the country of use and contains all information required to be included in the labeling for such pesticide in the United States. Prohibits the exportation of a pesticide to a country of use if: (1) the registrations for pesticides containing an active ingredient that is included in such pesticide that account for nearly all of the uses of such ingredient have been canceled; (2) the tolerances for an active ingredient in such pesticide that account for nearly all the uses of such ingredient have been revoked; or (3) an active ingredient of the pesticide is ineligible for reregistration. Prohibits such exports (including pesticides used for agricultural production) unless: (1) the pesticide is registered; or (2) all of the active ingredients in the pesticide are the subject of a food tolerance. Requires exporters, prior to the shipment of certain pesticides, to provide specified information to the Administrator. Prohibits the exportation of any pesticide to a country of use that: (1) has refused consent; or (2) has given conditional consent unless the conditions on which the consent was given are met. Prohibits refusals to consent unless the country certifies that it is not producing or importing and will not produce or import the pesticide or a similar product with the same active ingredient. Waives certain requirements, upon the request of a country of use and subject to certain determinations by the Administrator, to permit the export of pesticides not meeting FIFRA requirements to: (1) prevent or arrest the spread of a communicable disease; or (2) stop or prevent the spread of a pest that is destroying or will destroy quantities of the country's food supply so as to result in widespread famine. Permits the export of pesticides for experimental use in foreign countries if specified conditions are met. Directs the Administrator to submit information to the Secretary of Health and Human Services concerning inspections for pesticide residues in imported foods conducted by the Department of Health and Human Services. Requires the Administrator to notify foreign countries and the International Register of Potentially Toxic Chemicals whenever regulatory action is taken with respect to a pesticide. Directs the Administrator to: (1) convene meetings with foreign governments and other interested parties to promote the implementation of improved research and regulatory programs for pest management and strategies for sustainable agriculture and to encourage the adoption of a multilateral convention requiring standard notice and pesticide export control measures; and (2) provide foreign countries with technical assistance to develop pesticide regulatory programs. Permits persons to bring civil actions to secure the imposition of penalties on persons who violate pesticide export requirements. Prohibits civil actions from being initiated on the basis of the same unlawful acts that form the basis of existing proceedings for criminal violations. Requires the Comptroller General to report to the Congress every four years on: (1) the operation and effect of this Act; and (2) how exported pesticides and their containers are used and disposed of and on their impact on the public health and the environment of countries of use. Title II: Pesticide Residue Monitoring - Amends the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988 to direct the Food and Drug Administration to summarize the volume of each food product subject to the requirements of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act imported into the United States in quantities determined by the Secretary of Health and Human Services to be commercial quantities (currently, products having an entry value exceeding an amount established by the Secretary). Requires the summary to: (1) be made by food product, country of origin, port of entry, pesticides monitored by the Secretary, pesticide residues detected, and the quantity of each pesticide exported from the United States for agricultural use; and (2) indicate the volume of each type of food tested for pesticide residues, arranged by pesticide, food, and country of origin. Title III: Pesticide Tolerances - Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to require the Administrator, if a registration under FIFRA for a pesticide to be used on food is canceled or modified to prohibit its use in connection with food, to revoke any tolerance or exemption that permits the presence of the pesticide on the food. Suspends tolerances or exemptions for pesticides used on food if such use is suspended under FIFRA. Authorizes the Administrator, if a residue of a canceled or suspended pesticide will persist in the environment and be present on a food, to establish a tolerance for the pesticide at a level that permits the residue to remain and will protect public health. Requires the Administrator to reduce the tolerance for any suspended or canceled pesticide annually if any decrease in the pesticide's residual environmental contamination or residues on food has occurred. Prohibits the Administrator from establishing or continuing a tolerance for a pesticide chemical residue unless the best available, practical method for detecting and measuring the levels of the residue on a food exists. Title IV: Pesticide Information - Prohibits the importation of a raw agricultural commodity into U.S. customs territory unless the commodity importer files with the Secretary and the Secretary of the Treasury a document identifying each pesticide chemical used in connection with the commodity. Requires such importers, if unreported pesticides are detected in such commodities, to submit residue analyses for such pesticides. Waives reporting requirements for unreported pesticides if the presence of such pesticides is attributable to long-term environmental persistence and does not pose a health risk. Amends the Federal Meat Inspection Act, the Poultry Products Inspection Act, and the Egg Products Inspection Act to apply such requirements to importers of meat, poultry, and eggs. Amends the Agricultural Act of 1954 to add to the list of annual reporting requirements of agricultural attaches a report on the customary use of pesticides in the production of agricultural commodities in foreign countries. Title V: Effective Dates - Sets forth the effective dates for provisions of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 24 April 1991
Torture Victim Protection Act of 1991 - Imposes civil liability on anyone who, under actual or apparent authority or under color of law of any foreign nation, subjects any individual to torture or extrajudicial killing. Directs a court to decline to hear a claim under this Act if the alleged offender establishes by clear and convincing evidence that the plaintiff has not exhausted adequate and available remedies in the place where the conduct giving rise to the claim occurred. Specifies that no statute of limitations shall apply to a claim under this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 24 April 1991
National Biological Diversity Conservation Act - Declares that the conservation of biological diversity is a national goal. Establishes the Interagency Working Committee on Biological Diversity to: (1) prepare a coordinated Federal strategy for the conservation of biological diversity; and (2) issue guidance to Federal agencies regarding biodiversity impact assessment. Dissolves the Committee upon its submission of the strategy to the Congress. Sets forth required elements of the strategy. Requires the Council on Environmental Quality to identify the Federal agencies that conduct programs having a significant impact on biological diversity. Directs such agencies to: (1) review its actions and programs biennially for consistency with the Federal strategy; and (2) report the results of such reviews to the Council. Requires the Council to review such reports biennially and report to the Congress on the consistency of Federal programs with the strategy. Directs the President to establish a National Center for Biological Diversity and Conservation Research. Requires the Center to: (1) identify gaps in the understanding of biological diversity and develop a plan for filling such gaps; (2) issue grants to private institutions for projects to contribute to implementation of the plan; (3) provide information to the Interagency Committee in preparation of the Federal strategy; (4) develop a plan for the establishment of a clearinghouse; and (5) identify species and natural communities of special concern. Directs the Secretary of the Interior to establish a biological diversity grant program for purposes of monitoring the status of plants, invertebrate organisms, terrestrial communities, and freshwater aquatic communities and species. Limits the Federal share of grant activities to 75 percent of the total cost. Requires the Secretary to identify: (1) the types of natural communities native to the United States; (2) the types of communities that do not occur in at least three protected areas of sufficient size to maintain populations of the species of plants and animals associated with such communities; (3) the types of communities that are especially rich in terms of the number of native species they contain; and (4) the location on Federal lands of communities identified under (2) and (3). Directs the Secretary to issue regulations establishing requirements for considering areas of lands to be protected areas for purposes of this Act. Prohibits lands from being considered as protected areas unless the lands are: (1) managed primarily for the purpose of maintaining viable populations of native plants and animals and self-sustaining natural communities; and (2) subject to permanent land use restrictions to ensure the protection of such plants, animals, and communities. Requires Federal agency heads to consult with the Secretary regarding the management actions necessary to maintain natural communities on Federal lands identified under this Act and to ensure the long-term sustainability of such communities. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 24 April 1991
Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to prohibit the Secretary of Health and Human Services from approving or renewing a waiver under a State Medicaid program of Medicaid's home health care exclusion if such program requires a patient to be or have been an inpatient of a hospital or a resident of a nursing facility in order to be eligible for home health care services.
United States · United States Congress · 24 April 1991
Hearing Loss Testing Act of 1991 - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to: (1) require that every child born in the United States be tested for hearing loss at the time of birth; and (2) establish uniform standards for such testing. Requires each health insurance policy, including contracts for coverage by health maintenance organizations, which provides for any benefits with respect to a newborn to include coverage for newborn hearing loss testing. Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to add newborn hearing loss testing to the definition of screening services. Directs the Secretary to provide for such a grant or other program as necessary to assure that all newborns in the United States are tested for hearing loss at the time of birth. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 24 April 1991
Amends the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 to require the Secretary of Transportation to issue regulations requiring the use of child safety restraint systems on commercial aircraft. Expresses the sense of the Congress that the United States representative to the International Civil Aviation Organization should seek an international standard to require that airline passengers be restrained on takeoff and landing and when directed by the captain of such aircraft.
United States · United States Congress · 24 April 1991
Public Pension Parity Act of 1991 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from the gross income of an individual amounts received as a pension or annuity under a public retirement system to the extent they are not attributable to services covered under the social security system. Limits the tax exclusion based upon calculations relating to income tax treatment of social security benefits.
United States · United States Congress · 24 April 1991
Designates September 20, 1991, as National POW/MIA recognition Day. Requires the display of the National League of Families POW/MIA flag: (1) at all national cemeteries and the National Vietnam Veterans Memorial on May 30, 1991 (Memorial Day), September 20, 1991 (National POW/MIA Recognition Day), and November 11, 1991 (Veteran's Day); and (2) on, or on the grounds of, the White House, and the buildings containing the primary offices of the Secretaries of State, Defense, and Veterans Affairs, and the Director of the Selective Service Commission on September 20, 1991 (National POW/MIA Recognition Day).
United States · United States Congress · 24 April 1991
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that: (1) Japan has not fully complied with the 1986 U.S. - Japan Semiconductor Trade Agreement and that such failure has had an adverse effect on the national security and economic future of the United States; (2) the United States and Japan should enter into a new agreement that will open the Japanese semiconductor market and will address the threat of future dumping of semiconductors by Japan; and (3) the President, the United States Trade Representative, and the Secretary of Commerce should take all steps necessary to negotiate a strong, effective semiconductor trade agreement with Japan.
United States · United States Congress · 23 April 1991
Amends the Davis-Bacon Act (the Act) to apply it to any contract (relating to public buildings or public works of the United States or the District of Columbia or buildings or works financed in whole or part by Federal loans, grants, or loan guarantees, with specified exceptions) in excess of $100,000 for new construction (including painting and decorating) or in excess of $15,000 for alteration, repair, renovation, rehabilitation, or reconstruction (including painting and decorating). Provides that State, local, or tribal government requirements for wages or fringe benefits applied to such contracts for federally-assisted construction or repair of buildings or works shall not be preempted by the Act unless there is a conflict in compliance with both. Provides that an individual shall be considered a laborer or mechanic if the contractor or subcontractor paid the individual, directly or through a subcontract, for such services performed to carry out the contract. Prohibits the use of multiple contracts to avoid application of the Act. Requires that any two or more contracts shall be treated as a single contract if they: (1) individually do not exceed the minimum amount necessary for the Act to apply; (2) in the aggregate do exceed such amount; and (3) all relate to the same work or related work at the same site. Permits any interested person to seek relief from violations of such provision in U.S. district court. Applies the Act also to contracts for the lease of a facility if construction, alteration, repair, renovation, rehabilitation, or reconstruction is required for a contract's fulfillment. Defines the terms "apprentice," "trainee," and "helper." Prescribes circumstances under which such persons may be paid less than the required wage rate under the Act. Directs the Secretary of Labor (the Secretary) to promulgate regulations defining such persons and prescribing the conditions under which they will not be subject to the required rate, the rate at which they will be employed, and other appropriate conditions. Requires the contractor or subcontractor to post the scale of wages required to be paid under such contract in a prominent and easily accessible place at the contract worksite. Provides that the wages required to be paid under the Act shall be the wages determined by the Secretary to be prevailing within three years of the date the contract was entered into. Provides that, if the Secretary has not made a prevailing wage determination within such three-year limitation, the prevailing wage shall be the highest wage prevailing in a comparable area in the State in which the contract is performed. Directs the Secretary, in making a prevailing wage determination, to consider the wages paid for all projects of the same character in the area under contracts for amounts not less than the minimum amounts necessary for the Act to apply. Provides that a contractor or subcontractor may only include contributions and costs relating to employee fringe benefits, as part of their prevailing wage payment, in an amount not exceeding the aggregate of such contributions and costs prevailing in the area. Authorizes the Secretary to investigate and secure compliance with requirements of the Act. Allows any interested person to petition the Secretary to review the determination of a Secretary of a department or an agency head that a contract entered into is not subject to the Act. Provides for judicial review of such coverage determinations. Permits any laborer, mechanic, or any interested person to petition the Administrator of the Wage and Hour Division of the Department of Labor to review the wage payments received to determine if they have been made in accordance with the Secretary's prevailing wage determination. Sets forth procedures for such wage review. Provides that the determination of the Administrator, an administrative law judge, or the Secretary on a petition for review of the wage payments may include the award of damages to the petitioner in the amount of twice the amount of wages not paid in accordance with the prevailing wage determination, if it is found that the petitioner was willfully not paid the required wages. Requires the defendant in such cases to pay a reasonable attorney's fee and the cost of the action. Makes any employer who violates the required wage rate provisions of the Act liable to each affected employee in the amount of unpaid wages and, if the violation was willful, in an additional equal amount as liquidated damages. Allows an action to recover such liability to be maintained against any employer in any Federal or State court of competent jurisdiction by any interested party, or by any employee on behalf of affected employees and other employees similarly situated. Prohibits any employee from being a party plaintiff to such an action unless the employee gives consent in writing to become a party and the consent is filed in the court in which the action is brought. Prohibits employees from bringing such a civil action with respect to their wages if they file a petition for review. Directs the court, in addition to any judgment awarded to the plaintiff or plaintiffs, to allow a reasonable attorney's fee and the cost of the action to be paid by the defendant. Requires the Comptroller General to pay directly to laborers and mechanics from any accrued payments withheld under the contract any wages found by the Secretary to be due. Directs the Secretary to distribute to all departments of the Government a list of the names of persons or firms who: (1) are found to have disregarded their obligations to employees and subcontractors; and (2) are debarred from Federal contracts for a specified time. (Removes the Comptroller General from such debarment process.) Declares that employees may bring an action against contractors and their sureties for the payment of unpaid wages. Specifies that the Secretary or the contracting officer may order accrued payments in amounts necessary to cover unpaid wages to be withheld from contractors found to have violated the Act. Requires that contracts subject to the Act contain a provision allowing the Government to terminate the contract if less than the required wage rate has been or is being paid. Makes the contractor and its sureties liable for any excess costs incurred by the Government because of such termination. Directs the Secretary to: (1) enforce the Act; and (2) promulgate standards and procedures to be observed by contracting officers. Amends the Copeland Anti-Kickback Act (which provides for the Secretary of Labor to make reasonable regulations for contractors and subcontractors in the construction or repair of public buildings or public works or buildings or works financed in whole or part by Federal loans or grants) to require such employers to report certain payroll information on a monthly (rather than a weekly) basis. Requires such information to include specified items (including rates of contributions or costs anticipated for bona fide fringe benefits). Requires such employers to maintain payroll and other related basic records for three years after completion of such work. Permits any interested person to obtain from any Federal department or agency a copy of any such payroll statement which has been filed by the contractor or subcontractor with the department or agency under such Act. Directs the Secretary of Labor to: (1) study the feasibility of employers using electronic methods to comply with reporting requirements under such Act; and (2) report to the Congress within one year on actions taken by the Secretary and employers to facilitate electronic reporting of payroll information.
United States · United States Congress · 23 April 1991
Title I: General Provisions - Operation Coastal Shield of 1991 - Sets forth congressional findings and purposes with respect to coastal and Great Lakes water quality. Title II: Coastal Water Quality - Amends the Clean Water Act to require the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to: (1) issue guidance to States for implementing water quality criteria, developing water and sediment quality-based effluent limitations, and implementing water quality related controls on nonpoint sources; (2) submit a workplan to specified congressional committees on a five-year schedule for developing and revising criteria for pollutants found in coastal waters; (3) issue or revise at least five new criteria and revise at least five existing criteria biennially for pollutants which pose the greatest risk to coastal waters; and (4) publish biological criteria for assessing and protecting coastal water quality and habitat to complement pollutant-specific criteria. Requires a coastal State, whenever the State reviews water quality standards, to adopt coastal water quality standards for pollutants for which water quality criteria and information have been issued. Requires criteria issued by the Administrator to take effect immediately as interim coastal water quality standards for States that fail to adopt approvable standards. Directs the Administrator to publish information on methods for measuring water quality criteria for pollutants that may pose risks to coastal and Great Lakes water quality on bases other than pollutant-by-pollutant criteria. Requires applicants for Federal permits to conduct activities which may result in discharges into navigable waters to obtain a certification from the State in which the discharge will originate that such activities will not contribute to a failure to achieve water quality standards. Directs coastal States to develop coastal water quality protection programs for restoring and protecting coastal water quality. Requires such programs to: (1) incorporate requirements of specified Acts; (2) identify coastal waters for which standards cannot be expected to be maintained and waters that currently meet standards but are threatened by increases in pollution; (3) establish a priority ranking for such waters and implement schedules for developing water quality restoration plans for those waters; (4) provide for a system of allocating and exchanging discharge reduction credits and pollution offsets among sources of conventional pollutants and nutrients into coastal waters; (5) establish a system through which a State authority certifies that the issuance or renewal of a discharge permit or the undertaking of any activity subject to the requirements of a coastal water quality restoration plan complies with such requirements; and (6) ensure public participation in the program and include procedures to ensure compliance with the program. Sets forth: (1) requirements for coastal water quality restoration plans; and (2) approval procedures for such plans and for coastal water quality protection programs. Directs the Administrator to develop water quality restoration plans for States that fail to do so. Requires the Administrator to issue orders to, or commence civil actions against, persons failing to comply with coastal water quality protection program requirements. Authorizes citizen suits against the United States and other governmental authorities for violations of such requirements. Prohibits the issuance or renewal of permits for discharges into estuaries nominated for the National Estuary Program, except in compliance with specified guidelines. Directs the Administrator to review and revise guidelines to prevent the degradation of coastal water quality and to reflect changes made by this Act. Authorizes State Governors to request the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating to enter into a cooperative agreement to permit a State and its political subdivisions to enforce requirements for marine sanitation devices. Requires such agreements to authorize States or political subdivisions to assess and retain required penalties. Directs the Director of the Fish and Wildlife Service and the Administrator to notify the fish and game and water pollution control authorities of each coastal State of the funds available under the Dingell-Johnson Sport Fish Restoration Act to finance shoreside pumpout stations for marine sanitation devices. Requires the Administrator to review and revise standards for marine sanitation devices to prevent discharges from vessels equipped with Type III marine aviation devices. Directs the Administrator to: (1) identify pollution control measures for controlling the introduction of pollutants into coastal waters from nonpoint sources; (2) develop techniques for evaluating the effectiveness of such measures; and (3) make available to State and local authorities technical guidance for implementing and monitoring such measures. Requires the Administrator, with respect to best management practices for industry, to identify releases of pollutants that may cause risks to human health or the environment and to prohibit or restrict the production of such pollutants to eliminate such risks. Revises provisions concerning the purposes of management conferences under the National Estuary Program. Requires such conferences to be convened for periods of at least five years (currently, up to five years). Permits the extension of a conference for an additional five years if the affected Governors concur in the extension and the extension is necessary to meet requirements. Revises approval and implementation procedures for conservation and management plans under the Program. Authorizes the Administrator to make grants for the implementation of such plans. Extends the authorization of appropriations for Program activities. Authorizes appropriations to the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and the Director to participate in the development and implementation of such plans. Requires the Administrator to issue orders to, or commence civil actions against, persons failing to comply with requirements concerning national estuaries. Title III: Coastal and Great Lakes Contaminated Sediments Remediation Program - Directs the Administrator to conduct a survey and report to the Congress on bottom sediment contamination in the Great Lakes and U.S. coastal waters. Declares that the purpose of such survey is to assess the severity of such contamination, identify areas for which additional pollution reduction requirements may be required, and determine the order of priority for undertaking remedial actions. Requires the Administrator to publish: (1) criteria for sediment quality; and (2) information on the factors necessary to restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of aquatic ecosystems. Authorizes persons to petition for the development of criteria for pollutants. Requires the Administrator to approve a petition if the pollutant, when present in sediments, is preventing: (1) the attainment of a balanced, indigenous population of fish, shellfish, or wildlife; or (2) recreation in and on the Great Lakes or coastal waters. Directs the Administrator to: (1) issue national sediment remediation standards to govern remediation projects involving contaminated sediments; and (2) issue standards to establish temporary maximum permissible concentrations of pollutants or contaminants during the duration of projects for sediment contamination. Requires the Administrator, when publishing sediment quality criteria for a pollutant, to issue guidance on the imposition by the appropriate permitting authority of sediment-based effluent limits that will prevent the violation of such criteria. Directs the Administrator to publish guidelines to govern projects to clean up contaminated sediments. Provides for the review and revision of such guidelines at least once every five years. Requires the Administrator, with the approval of a State Governor, to implement sediment remediation projects for locations posing the greatest risks to human health and the environment. Prohibits the Administrator, in selecting such sites, from selecting any site listed as a priority under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 and for which there is reasonable likelihood of remediation under such Act. Authorizes approprations. Title IV: Monitoring Coastal Waters - Establishes the National Coastal Water Quality Monitoring Task Force. Requires the Task Force to: (1) implement a national strategy for conducting coastal water quality monitoring programs; (2) identify all Federal water quality monitoring programs and incorporate those programs into the national strategy; (3) develop a memorandum of understanding among appropriate Federal agencies to implement such strategy; (4) develop coastal water quality monitoring guidelines; and (5) select high priority coastal waters and approve, implement, or disapprove coastal water quality monitoring programs for such waters. Directs the Task Force to issue quidelines to assist in the development and implementation of such programs. Amends the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act of 1972 to require Regional Marine Research Boards to establish monitoring committees comprised of individuals with technical expertise in coastal water quality monitoring programs. Requires the Boards, acting through such committees, to: (1) recommend areas for individual monitoring; (2) submit recommendations to the Task Force; (3) develop coastal water quality monitoring programs for high priority coastal waters selected by the Task Force; (4) provide for public participation in such programs; (5) provide technical guidance for the implementation of such programs; and (6) review the effectiveness of such programs and make necessary modifications. Sets forth requirements for coastal water quality monitoring programs and approval procedures for programs submitted by the committees to the Task Force. Requires the Under Secretary, the Administrator, and State Governors to ensure compliance with such programs. Deems requirements of approved programs to be requirements of the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act of 1972 and requires such programs to be submitted for approval as part of coastal zone management programs under the coastal Zone Management Act of 1972. Directs the Administrator or a State permitting authority to incorporate monitoring requirements into discharge permits. Title V: Compliance and Enforcement - Amends the Clean Water Act to authorize the use of specified civil and administrative penalties for beneficial mitigation projects. Increases the maximum on class II civil penalties authorized to be assessed under such Act. Prohibits Federal agencies from entering into any contract for the procurement of goods or services if the contract is to be performed at any facility owned or operated by a person who has: (1) repeatedly violated a discharge permit or the requirements of a nonpoint source management program or categorical standard with respect to the treatment of pollutants; or (2) been in repeated noncompliance with an estuary conservation and management plan. Authorizes the Administrator to commence administrative enforcement actions against Federal agencies to enforce this Act. Permits partial program withdrawal of State discharge permit programs if the Administrator determines that a State is not administering part of a program in accordance with applicable requirements. Requires permits to take effect upon issuance unless the permittee demonstrates that: (1) he will be irreparably harmed; and (2) there is a likelihood that he will succeed on the merits in an administrative hearing or civil action to review the permit's conditions. Prohibits Federal agencies from undertaking any development project or awarding any grant for an activity that may adversely affect the quality of navigable waters in any State with a pattern of: (1) continuing and chronic violations of coastal water quality standards; or (2) continuing and chronic failure to maintain a designated use under such standards. Requires Federal agencies which own or operate facilities that discharge pollutants into navigable waters (and that would qualify as major dischargers if industrial facilities) to develop and submit to the Administrator environmental auditing plans for such facilities. Directs industrial dischargers and publicly owned treatment works that discharge pollutants into navigable waters and that have repeatedly violated discharge permits or consent decrees to conduct biannual environmental audits of such facilities until they are no longer in violation of applicable requirements. Requires major dischargers, prior to the renewal of a permit, to provide to the Administrator an environmental audit conducted during the six-month period preceding the renewal. Sets forth requirements for audits and auditors. Requires the Administrator to: (1) issue regulations establishing eligibility requirements for certification of environmental auditors and continuing education requirements for maintaining the certification; and (2) issue guidance to States on the development of State programs for certification of environmental auditors. Directs States having navigable waters that do not meet applicable water quality standards to post and maintain signs at each place of public access to such waters indicating the standards such waters fail to meet and the health and environmental effects which may occur as a result of such failure. Title VI: Financing - Subtitle A: Discharge Fees - Establishes the Coastal Defense Fund. Provides for the deposit of specified fines, penalties, and payments collected under the Clean Water Act and the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act of 1972 into the Fund. Requires the Administrator to use Fund revenues to supplement funding for activities associated with administering the discharge permit program. Directs the Administrator to establish a National Coastal Discharge Permit Fee System to collect fees from coastal dischargers. Declares that the objectives of the System are to: (1) recoup the costs to Federal, State, and local governments of administering coastal discharge permit programs; (2) provide economic incentives to dischargers to eliminate or reduce the volume of toxicities of their effluents; and (3) supplement funding for discharge permitting programs under the Clean Water Act. Provides for the deposit of fees and penalties collected under the System into the Fund. Makes persons failing to pay fees liable for civil penalties. Provides for a hardship exemption to fees under certain conditions. Requires the Administrator, upon the petition of a coastal State, to waive the application of the System to such State if the amount of discharge fees collected under a State system is equivalent to the amount that would be collected by the System. Prohibits such waiver if the State uses fees solely to support State water quality programs. Makes industrial users of publicly owned treatment works liable for fees and requires users to pay fees to the authority responsible for controlling the treatment works. Directs the authority to retain such fees and use them to enforce water quality programs. Requires the Administrator to establish a fee schedule under the System that provides for the assessment of fees at least once a year and for the triennial adjustment of fees. Subtitle B: General Authorizations - Extends through FY 1999 the authorization of appropriations under the Clean Water Act for: (1) specified research, investigations, training, and information; (2) grants to States for pollution control programs; (3) nonpoint source pollution control in rural areas; (4) interagency agreements to maintain water quality; (5) the clean lakes program; and (6) nonpoint source pollution management programs. Extends the general authorization under such Act through FY 1999. Subtitle C: State and Local Financing - Authorizes States to use up to 15 percent of monies available in water pollution control revolving funds under the Clean Water Act to provide financial assistance to financially restricted communities. Permits loans to be made to such communities on terms of up to 40 years. Authorizes a fund to be used to reduce the principal of a debt obligation of a municipality or intermunicipal or interstate agency incurred after April 1, 1991, by up to 34 percent. Adds to the list of projects eligible for revolving fund assistance: (1) approved combined stormwater and sanitary sewer control programs; and (2) Great Lakes protection programs. Provides that: (1) annual principal and interest payments for loans made with revolving fund monies will commence no later than three years (currently, one year) after the completion of the project; and (2) amounts used for administering a fund shall not exceed four percent of amounts allotted to a State, or $400,000, whichever is greater (currently, four percent of all grant awards to such fund). Extends the allotment formula with respect to such funds. Raises the ceiling on the dollar amount to be reserved for planning purposes. Extends the authorization of appropriations for such funds through FY 1999.
United States · United States Congress · 23 April 1991
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that it should be U.S. policy to reduce national emissions of carbon dioxide in the next ten years by 20 percent from the 1988 baseline level and to assume a leadership position in negotiating an international climate protection treaty that includes establishing: (1) agreements by industrialized nations to reduce their current carbon dioxide emissions by 20 percent over 1988 levels in the next ten years, by developing nations to reduce their growth in carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel combustion, and by all countries to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases; (2) an international fund and other financial mechanisms to help developing countries achieve such objectives; (3) mechanisms for continuing international cooperation for the development of policies for future emissions reductions; and (4) commitments to cease the destruction of primary forests.
United States · United States Congress · 17 April 1991
Long-Term Care Insurance Consumer Protection Act of 1991 - Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to afford Federal consumer protection to purchasers of long-term care insurance policies by requiring that, before such policies may be issued or sold, they must have been either certified by the Secretary of Health and Human Services as meeting the minimum Federal standards and requirements outlined below or approved by the State commissioner or superintendent of insurance under a regulatory program each State is required to establish that: (1) incorporates such standards and requirements; (2) provides consumers with access to basic information on issuers and policies; and (3) provides for an approval process for proposed premium increases. Outlines Federal standards long-term care insurance policies must meet, including those which mandate that such policies: (1) offer mandatory inflation protection features, nonforfeitable benefits after a certain vesting period should the policy lapse, and limited premium increases; (2) be guaranteed renewable except for nonpayment of premiums or material misrepresentation; (3) use standard language and a uniform format, with certain variations in language permitted; (4) disclose a detailed outline of coverage; (5) allow purchasers 30 days to rescind their purchase of the policy and to have the premium refunded; (6) not condition or limit eligibility for benefits, including non-institutional benefits, except in cases of preexisting conditions; (7) use functional assessment tools for determining home care eligibility; (8) provide a right to appeal denials for home care eligibility; (9) provide a six-month period of contestability after issuance of the policy; (10) prohibit discrimination in cases of individuals with Alzheimer's disease; and (11) provide benefits over a period of at least 12 consecutive months. Regulates the marketing of long-term care insurance policies by establishing prohibitions on certain sales practices, such as high pressure tactics, and on sales to Medicaid beneficiaries and sales of duplicate service benefit policies. Imposes additional requirements on issuers of long-term care insurance policies with respect to: (1) the prompt mailing of new policies after approval; (2) the furnishing of information to policyholders regarding denied claims and to the Secretary and appropriate State officials regarding policies, premiums, lapse, replacement, and rescission rates and denied claims; (3) the obtaining of medical assessments for elderly applicants if the policy is not guaranteed to issue; and (4) the limiting of compensation to agents for the sale of long-term care insurance policies. Sets forth penalties for issuing unapproved or uncertified policies and for violating prohibited sales practices and the requirements imposed on issuers of long-term care insurance policies. Requires reports on functional ability assessment tools and on solvency protections for such issuers. Requires a study to develop a standard measure of value for long-term care insurance policies. Authorizes appropriations to increase funding for long-term care insurance information, counseling, and assistance.
![Official portrait of Rep. Vento, Bruce F. [D-MN-4]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/v000087_200.jpg)