TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Statement of Congressional Purpose Title II: Binding Budget Law Title III: Enforcement of Budget Discipline Subtitle A: Supermajority Required to Break Budget Law Subtitle B: Line Item Reduction Subtitle C: "Blank Check" Appropriations Prohibited Subtitle D: "Pay-as-You-Go" Requirement for New Spending Subtitle E: "Lock-Box" for Savings From Spending Reductions Title IV: Sustaining Mechanism Title V: Protection of Social Security Title VI: Technical Amendments to Federal Law to Carry Out This Act Title VII: Definitions and Rules of Interpretation Budget Process Reform Act - Title I: Statement of Congressional Purpose - Expresses the sense of the Congress that the Federal budget process should focus the attention of policymakers and the public on the aggregate impact of Federal spending on the economy, and on the tradeoffs that must be made among priorities in order to control overall levels of spending. Declares that the budget process should contain safeguards against delay and inaction, so that temporary shut-downs of the Government may be avoided. Title II: Binding Budget Law - Requires the Congress to enact a binding budget law, in the form of a joint resolution, by April 15 of the calendar year before that in which the fiscal period commences. (Sec. 202) Makes it out of order in the House of Representatives or the Senate to consider any spending bill affecting spending in a major functional category unless and until a joint resolution on the budget is enacted. Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (CBA) to require a two-thirds majority vote in the House and the Senate to consider any spending bill prior to the enactment of the budget law. Repeals authority for consideration of spending bills prior to adoption of the budget resolution. (Sec. 203) Prohibits baseline budgeting. Requires objective year- to-year comparisons under budget law, with the starting point for both Presidential and congressional budgets the levels of budget outlays for the current fiscal year. (Sec. 204) Amends the CBA to establish a rainy day fund for natural disasters. Requires budget law to include a major functional category for natural disasters, under specified conditions. (Sec. 205) Amends Federal law relating to the contents of the President's annual budget submission to the Congress to require the President to submit: (1) a budget of the U.S. Government for the following fiscal period on a single page, which sets forth specific budget ceilings in each major functional category, by the first Monday in February of each year before that in which a fiscal period commences; and (2) a detailed budget for that fiscal period, on or before the 15th day after a joint resolution on the budget for the following budget period is enacted. Title III: Enforcement of Budget Discipline - Subtitle A: Supermajority Required to Break Budget Law - Amends CBA to require the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to provide to the Congress an estimate of the costs in each major functional category of each spending bill before being voted on by the Senate or the House. (Sec. 301) Requires a two-thirds affirmative vote in the House and the Senate to consider over-budget spending bills. (Sec. 302) Requires a two-thirds affirmative vote in the House and the Senate to waive any provision of this Act. Subtitle B: Limited Enhanced Rescission Authority - Amends the Impoundment Control Act of 1974 to authorize the President to exercise line-item reduction authority if the Congress exceeds the budget ceilings in the binding budget law or an automatic continuing resolution for a fiscal period. Declares that such authority shall permit the reduction of over-budget spending in a major functional category to the level established in the binding budget law or automatic continuing resolution. Sets forth procedures for congressional introductions of line-item bills after the President transmits a special message to rescind an item of budget authority. Prohibits amendments to such bills. Subtitle C: "Blank Check" Appropriations Prohibited - Declares the intent of the Congress to end open-ended, "blank check" appropriations which typically authorize spending "such sums as may be necessary." (Sec. 306) Amends CBA to require fixed-dollar appropriations for every account except Social Security and interest on the debt. Prohibits open-ended appropriations. (Sec. 307) Requires Executive agencies to adjust expenditures, including program eligibility requirements and benefit levels, to ensure that appropriations for entitlement programs are not exceeded. (Sec. 308) Restricts budget authority and entitlement authority to one fiscal period. Subtitle D: "Pay As You Go" Requirement for New Spending - Amends CBA to prohibit the Congress from considering any legislation which exceeds the budget ceiling unless it offsets such increased spending with an equal amount of reductions. Requires a two-thirds affirmative vote in the House or in the Senate to waive such prohibition. Sets forth special rules in the case of legislation that exceeds a budget ceiling for the natural disaster functional category. Repeals a CBA provision for an exemption in the House from pay-as- you-go rules. Subtitle E: "Lock-Box" for Savings From Spending Reductions - Amends CBA to: (1) establish "lock-box" procedures to ensure budget savings from House and Senate amendments to appropriations bills result in actual spending cuts; (2) require Congressional Budget Office (CBO) reports on such procedures; and (3) mandate reduction of spending allocations to House and Senate committees and subcommittees to meet "lock-box" levels. Title IV: Sustaining Mechanism - Makes appropriations to provide for an automatic continuing resolution if for any account an appropriation for a fiscal period does not become law before the beginning of such period. (Sec. 402) Provides for contingency regulations for automatic continuing resolutions. Grants each State the option of receiving an aggregate amount for the fiscal period for social safety net programs equal to the allocation to the State for such programs in the preceding fiscal period. (Sec. 403) Restricts consideration of legislation providing budget or spending authority to only that reported by the Committees on Appropriations. Makes such restriction inapplicable in the case of Social Security benefits. Title V: Protection of Social Security - Provides that nothing in this Act shall be construed to require or permit reductions in otherwise payable Social Security benefits. (Sec. 502) Provides that no reduction in benefits under title II of the Social Security Act (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) shall be made as a consequence of this Act. Title VI: Technical Amendments to Federal Law to Carry Out This Act - Makes various technical and conforming amendments, including changing references to a concurrent resolution on the budget to references to a joint resolution on the budget. Title VII: Definitions and Rules of Interpretation - Sets forth definitions for specified terms. Changes the definition of budget authority to exclude offsetting receipts.

Bill· HRH.R. 4149 (104th)referred

Assisted Suicide Funding Restriction Act of 1996

United States · United States Congress · 24 September 1996

Assisted Suicide Funding Restriction Act of 1996 - Prohibits the use of appropriated funds to provide, procure, furnish, fund, or support, or to compel any individual, institution, or government entity to provide, procure, furnish, fund, or support, any item, good, benefit, program, or service, the purpose of which is to cause, or to assist in causing, the suicide, euthanasia, or mercy killing of any individual. Amends the Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act, the Protection and Advocacy for Mentally Ill Individuals Act of 1986, and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 to incorporate a modified version of this prohibition. Adds a further prohibition, with regard to protection and advocacy systems, against certain assistance provided under such Federal laws for asserting or advocating a legal right to cause, or to assist in causing, or to receive assistance in causing, suicide, euthanasia, or mercy killing. Amends the Public Health Service Act to prohibit the use or availability of appropriations under such Act to provide any item, or service, for the purposes of causing or assisting in suicide, euthanasia, or mercy killing. Prohibits Federal financial participation under title XIX (Medicaid), or Federal reimbursement under title XVIII (Medicare), of the Social Security Act for assisted suicide or related services. Provides for the treatment of advance directives under both Medicare and Medicaid. Prohibits the use of appropriated funds for assisted suicide and related services under the Older Americans Act of 1965, the Indian Health Care Improvement Act, and under title XX (Block Grants to States for Social Services Program) of the Social Security Act. Prohibits the use of appropriated funds for assisted suicide and related services under the military and Federal employees health care systems, and as health care for Peace Corps volunteers and Federal prisoners. Amends the District of Columbia Self-Government and Governmental Reorganization Act to ban the use of Federal funds for assisted suicide and related services. Amends the Legal Services Corporation Act to prohibit the use of legal assistance for assisted suicide and related services, and for asserting or advocating a legal right to such services.

Resolution· HCONRESH.Con.Res. 216 (104th)open

Providing for relocation of the Portrait Monument.

United States · United States Congress · 24 September 1996

Directs the Architect of the Capitol to: (1) restore the Portrait Monument (a statue of Lucretia Mott, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Susan B. Anthony) and place it in the Rotunda of the Capitol for one year at which time it, along with an appropriate educational display, shall be moved to a permanent site and an alternative statue shall be placed in the Rotunda; and (2) make all necessary arrangements for a rededication ceremony of the Monument in the Rotunda in conjunction with the Woman Suffrage Statue Campaign. Establishes a commission to: (1) select the permanent site; (2) plan and develop the educational display that described some of the most dramatic events of the suffragettes' lives; and (3) select the alternative statue to commemorate the struggle of women in America for equal rights. Prohibits use of Federal funds to pay any expense of the educational display or of restoring, moving, or relocating the Monument.

Law· HRH.R. 4137 (104th)enacted

Drug-Induced Rape Prevention and Punishment Act of 1996

United States · United States Congress · 24 September 1996

Drug-Induced Rape Prevention and Punishment Act of 1996 - Amends the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) to impose penalties of a fine and up to 15 years' imprisonment (20 years' imprisonment if the victim is age 14 or under) for possession of a mixture or substance (mixture) containing a detectable amount of a controlled substance, with intent to administer such mixture to another person to facilitate a crime of violence (including a sexual assault) against that person. Enhances penalties for certain activities involving flunitrazepam under: (1) the CSA, including manufacturing, distributing, or possessing with intent to distribute specified quantities of flunitrazepam; and (2) the Controlled Substances Import and Export Act, including possessing, manufacturing, and distributing for purposes of unlawful importation of such quantities. Directs: (1) the United States Sentencing Commission to amend the sentencing guidelines for offenses involving flunitrazepam and to ensure that such guidelines reflect the serious nature of such offenses; and (2) the Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration to conduct a study on the appropriateness of rescheduling flunitrazepam as a Schedule I controlled substance. Sets forth reporting requirements. Authorizes the Attorney General to create educational materials regarding the use of controlled substances in the furtherance of rapes and sexual assaults for dissemination to police departments throughout the United States.

Bill· HRH.R. 4066 (104th)referred

To direct the Secretary of the Navy to transfer the U.S.S. Missouri (BB-63) to the U.S.S. Missouri Allied Forces Memorial, San Francisco, California.

United States · United States Congress · 12 September 1996

Directs the Secretary of the Navy to transfer the U.S.S. Missouri to the U.S.S. Missouri Allied Forces Memorial in San Francisco, California.

Bill· HRH.R. 4011 (104th)open

Congressional Pension Forfeiture Act of 1996

United States · United States Congress · 2 August 1996

Congressional Pension Forfeiture Act of 1996 - Amends Federal law to provide that any service as a Member of Congress of an individual convicted of a felony committed while a Member during the 105th Congress or later shall not be taken into account as creditable service for purposes of annuity or retirement provisions. Entitles such individual (or his or her beneficiary or estate, if applicable) to be paid so much of such individual's lump-sum credit as is attributable to such service. Prohibits: (1) the individual, while serving as a Member after the date of the conviction, from being eligible to participate in the Civil Service Retirement System or the Federal Employee's Retirement System; and (2) interest from being computed on such lump-sum payment for the period after the conviction or commission of the violation, or after September 26, 1961, whichever is later.

Bill· HRH.R. 4000 (104th)open

To amend title 10, United States Code, to restore the provisions of chapter 76 of that title (relating to missing persons) as in effect before the amendments made by the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1997.

United States · United States Congress · 2 August 1996

Restores Federal armed forces provisions relating to the status of missing persons as in effect before amendments made by the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1997.

Bill· HRH.R. 3971 (104th)referred

Walker River Basin Conservation and Stabilization Act of 1996

United States · United States Congress · 2 August 1996

Walker River Basin Conservation and Stabilization Act of 1996 - Directs the Secretary of the Interior to participate in efforts by the Walker River Basin Water Users Association, the Walker River Irrigation District, and the Walker River Paiute Tribe (locally affected interests) to conduct studies relating to, and to implement, specified projects to assist in the stabilization of water quantity and quality at Walker Lake for purposes of conserving fish habitat and recreation in the Walker River Basin, including projects to establish a locally managed Walker River Water Bank to facilitate voluntary water transfers within the Walker River Basin in Nevada and California, and projects to encourage the locally affected interests to voluntarily conserve water in the Basin. Directs the Secretary to provide funds and technical assistance to the locally affected interests, subject to specified requirements. Sets forth cost-sharing provisions. Authorizes appropriations. Prohibits the Secretary from taking any action that would undermine, contradict, or diminish water rights confirmed in a specified case, other than action deemed necessary and within the Secretary's authority as trustee for the Walker River Paiute Tribe.

Bill· HRH.R. 3901 (104th)referred

Veterans' Cemetery Protection Act of 1996

United States · United States Congress · 25 July 1996

Veterans' Cemetery Protection Act of 1996 - Sets penalties for vandalism and theft at national cemeteries.

Bill· HRH.R. 3862 (104th)open

Citizen's Fair Hearing Act of 1996

United States · United States Congress · 22 July 1996

Citizen's Fair Hearing Act of 1996 - Amends the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to provide that any person who satisfies the requirements of the Constitution and demonstrates having suffered or being threatened with economic or other injury resulting from a violation of such Act or a failure of the Secretary of Commerce to act in accordance with it shall be deemed to be within the zone of protected interests of such Act and shall have standing to commence a civil suit on his or her own behalf.

Bill· HRH.R. 3803 (104th)open

George Bush School of Government and Public Service Act

United States · United States Congress · 12 July 1996

George Bush School of Government and Public Service Act - Authorizes the Secretary of Education to make a grant to assist in the establishment of the George Bush Fellowship Program, located at the George Bush School of Government and Public Service of the Texas A & M University. Authorizes appropriations.

Bill· HRH.R. 3798 (104th)referred

National Small Business Regulatory Relief Act of 1996

United States · United States Congress · 11 July 1996

National Small Business Regulatory Relief Act of 1996 - Amends the Small Business Act to establish a Small Business Regulatory Relief Council. Directs the Environmental Protection Agency, Internal Revenue Service, and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (participating agencies) to submit to the Council a five-year plan for the establishment and maintenance of a partnership with small business development centers (SBDCs) for a system of voluntary regulatory compliance (compliance). Outlines plan contents and requires such participating agencies to ensure the nonduplication of efforts in such regard. Requires the Council: (1) within 30 days after a participating agency submits a plan, to approve or modify such plan; (2) to establish guidelines for the implementation of each plan; and (3) to report annually to the President and the congressional small business committees on the types of assistance provided by SBDCs to small businesses participating in the system of compliance, as well as outreach efforts to inform small businesses of such opportunity. Requires each SBDC to: (1) submit annually to the Council a work plan for SBDCs to carry out the system of compliance; (2) report semiannually to the Council on assistance provided to small businesses by SBDCs under this Act; and (3) report annually to the Council on recommendations for improving the regulation of small businesses. Directs the Council to: (1) evaluate annually the system of compliance; (2) determine whether SBDCs are performing in accordance with their compliance work plans; and (3) provide for an independent evaluation of such system after three years of operation. Requires the participating agencies to set aside specified percentages of their annual funding for FY 1997 through 2001 for compliance assistance under this Act. Provides for the deposit of such funds into the National Regulatory Relief Fund, and for appropriate Fund distributions.

Bill· HRH.R. 3736 (104th)referred

Crime Does Not Pay Act

United States · United States Congress · 27 June 1996

Crime Does Not Pay Act - Amends the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 to prohibit community development block grants to a State or locality that permits recovery of damages for an injury suffered by a person committing a felony.

Bill· HRH.R. 3752 (104th)failed

American Land Sovereignty Protection Act of 1996

United States · United States Congress · 27 June 1996

American Land Sovereignty Protection Act of 1996 - Amends the National Historic Preservation Act Amendments of 1980 to prohibit the Secretary of the Interior from nominating any Federal lands for inclusion on the World Heritage List pursuant to the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage unless such nomination is specifically authorized by a law. Authorizes the President to submit proposals for legislation authorizing such a nomination. Requires the Secretary to object to the inclusion of any property in the United States on the list of World Heritage in Danger (established under the Convention) unless the Secretary: (1) has submitted to the Congress a report describing the necessity for such inclusion; and (2) is specifically authorized to assent to the inclusion by a joint resolution of the Congress enacted after the report is submitted. Amends the National Historic Preservation Act Amendments of 1980 to prohibit Federal officials from nominating lands in the United States for designation as a Biosphere Reserve under the Man and Biosphere Program of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. Provides that such designation of an area in the United States shall not have, and shall not be given, any force or effect, unless the Biosphere Reserve: (1) is specifically authorized by a law enacted before December 31, 1999; (2) consists solely of federally-owned lands; and (3) is subject to a management plan that specifically ensures that the use of intermixed or adjacent non-Federal property is not limited or restricted as a result of that designation. Prohibits, under any international agreement, the nomination, classification, or designation of: (1) federally-owned lands located within the United States for a special or restricted use unless authorized by law; (2) State or local government lands unless authorized by State or local law; or (3) privately owned lands without the owner's consent.

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