United States · United States Congress · 26 October 1990
Tropical Forest Consumer Information and Protection Act of 1990 - Prohibits manufacturing or distributing any tropical wood or tropical wood product unless it bears a label or mark indicating the country in which the wood was grown. Requires sellers through a catalog or communications media to disclose the country of origin. Allows the Secretary of Commerce to assess civil penalties or order compliance.
United States · United States Congress · 25 October 1990
Requires the President to: (1) identify those entities engaged in interstate commerce in the United States that are controlled by Iraqi persons; (2) conduct investigations to determine whether Iraqi control of any such entity might impair the national security; and (3) identify all property or interests in property in which transactions are blocked pursuant to specified executive orders freezing Iraqi assets. Grants the President the authority to: (1) order the seizure of any such property or interest if the President determines that Iraqi control thereof might impair national security and that seizure is in the national interest; and (2) use the proceeds of any such property or interest to pay the claims of U.S. persons against the Government of Iraq because of its suspension of payments due on credit extended by such U.S. persons or other contractual obligations of such Government that are held by U.S. persons. Requires that such payments be distributed equally among all U.S. persons having claims against such Government and requires the President to establish claims procedures. Grants the President access to information necessary to carry out the provisions of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 18 October 1990
Chesapeake Bay Restoration Act of 1990 - Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to direct the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to maintain within EPA a Chesapeake Bay Liaison Office to support the Chesapeake Executive Council in the following areas: (1) supporting and coordinating Federal, State, and local efforts to improve the water quality and living resources of the Chesapeake Bay; (2) assisting Bay program signatories in implementing specific action plans to carry out responsibilities under the Chesapeake Bay Agreement; (3) collecting and making available information on the Bay's environmental quality and living resources; and (4) coordinating the monitoring and data collection program to assess the impact of environmental changes on the Bay. Requires the Administrator and the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to implement science, research, monitoring, and data collection activities supporting the Chesapeake Bay Program. Sets forth responsibilities of the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration with respect to the Chesapeake Bay. Directs the Administrators to ensure that projects for which funds are requested have undergone peer review. Authorizes appropriations. Requires the EPA Administrator to implement the Comprehensive Basinwide Toxics Reduction Strategy to achieve a multijurisdictional approach for reducing toxic inputs to Chesapeake Bay and its watershed. Directs the Administrator to: (1) undertake research and monitoring to improve understanding of intermedia transfers and the eventual fate and biological effects of toxics within the Bay watershed; and (2) implement toxics reduction and prevention programs. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the EPA Administrator to expedite the development of a Chesapeake Bay watershed land use data base to provide information to plan for and manage growth and development and associated impacts on the Chesapeake Bay system. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the EPA Administrator to establish a demonstration program to address problems associated with urban and suburban runoff. Sets forth program requirements. Authorizes appropriations. Requires the EPA Administrator, the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the Director of the Fish and Wildlife Service to implement a living resources program for the Chesapeake Bay and its watershed to meet commitments in the Chesapeake Bay Agreement. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the EPA Administrator to study and report to the Congress on the Chesapeake Bay Agreement, Chesapeake Bay Program management strategies, and the Chesapeake Bay restoration program. Authorizes appropriations. Extends the authorizations of appropriations for the Chesapeake Bay Program and related interstate development plan grants through FY 1994.
United States · United States Congress · 17 October 1990
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the President should declare November 2, 1990, a national day of prayer for: (1) members of American military forces and American citizens stationed or held hostage in the Middle East, and for their families; and (2) American and Iraqi authorities to bring about a just resolution of the Persian Gulf crisis.
United States · United States Congress · 16 October 1990
Salutes and congratulates the people of Poland as they commemorate the 200th anniversary of the adoption of the Polish Constitution on May 3, 1991. Directs the Library of Congress to commemorate the anniversary with appropriate ceremonies.
United States · United States Congress · 30 September 1990
Windfall Profit Tax and Deficit Reduction Act of 1990 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to reinstate the windfall profit tax on domestic crude oil. Revises the inflation adjustment and declares the base price to be the average price per barrel of taxable crude oil during the four-month period ending on July 31, 1990, as determined by the Secretary of the Treasury. Repeals the phaseout of the tax, thus making the tax permanent law. Limits the category of newly discovered oil to oil from newly drilled wells. Declares the term taxable crude oil to include any futures contract on taxable crude oil and provides for its tax treatment. Establishes the Low Income Energy Support Trust Fund to fund the grant program under the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Act of 1981 and the weatherization program under the Energy Conservation in Existing Buildings Act of 1976. Transfers to such Fund 50 percent of the taxes received from the windfall profit tax on domestic crude oil. Requires the use of the first-in, first-out method of accounting for crude oil inventorying.
United States · United States Congress · 30 September 1990
Campaign Advertising Act - Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to: (1) limit the cost to qualified candidates of broadcasting time for pre-election political advertising to the lowest charge of the station for the same amount of time for the same time of day and day of the week; (2) prohibit any broadcast licensee from preempting the use of any such time purchased and paid for by a qualified candidate, unless the program during which the advertisement was scheduled to appear is preempted due to circumstances beyond the control of the broadcaster; (3) reduce the pre-election period during which the lowest charge is effective from 45 days to 30 days before primary elections and from 60 days to 45 days before general or special elections; and (4) specify that for purposes of calculating a station's lowest charge, broadcasters must consider the charges made during the 60-day period prior to a primary or primary runoff election and during the 90-day period before a general or special election.
United States · United States Congress · 18 September 1990
National Aeronautics and Space Administration Multiyear Authorization Act of 1990 - Title I: National Aeronautics and Space Administration Authorizations - Authorizes appropriations to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for: (1) research and development; (2) space flight, control, and data communications; (3) construction of facilities; (4) research and program management; and (5) the Inspector General. Permits appropriations for the first two numbered categories to be used for certain items of a capital nature (other than land acquisition) required for the performance of research and development contracts, and for grants to nonprofit educational and research organizations to augment their research facilities. Prohibits the use of these funds for the construction of any major facility whose estimated cost exceeds a specified amount, unless the Administrator of NASA notifies specified congressional committees. Authorizes use of funds from one or more of the numbered categories, subject to limitations, for scientific consultations or extraordinary expenses, for facilities construction, repair, or modification, and for unforeseen programmatic facility project needs. Permits reprogramming of funds for facilities construction, subject to conditions outlined in this Act. Authorizes certain fund transfers and makes available specified funds for the construction and modification of laboratories and other installations. Requires the Administrator to notify specified congressional committees of the nature, cost, and need for such construction before expending the funds in question. Prohibits, until 30 days following congressional receipt of the Administrator's full explanation, the use of funds appropriated pursuant to this Act for any program: (1) deleted by the Congress from original requests; (2) in excess of the amount actually authorized for the particular program; or (3) not presented to either of specified congressional committees. Requires NASA to keep those committees fully and currently informed regarding all activities within their jurisdiction. Amends the National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958 to add to the functions of the Administration those of: (1) seeking and encouraging the fullest commercial use of space; and (2) encouraging and providing for Federal Government use of commercially provided space services and hardware. Authorizes appropriations to carry out the activities of the National Space Council, making a limited amount available for official reception and representation expenses. Requires the Council to reimburse other agencies for at least half of the personnel compensation costs of individuals detailed to it. Directs the Administrator to award to a domestic firm a contract that, under the use of competitive procedures, would be awarded to a foreign firm, if certain conditions exist. Directs the Administrator to submit to specified congressional committees certain reports relating to the Advanced Solid Rocket Motor. Declares it to be U.S. policy to use the space shuttle: (1) for purposes that require the presence of man or the unique capabilities of the shuttle; or (2) when other compelling circumstances exist, including those related to national security or foreign policy. States that the policy does not preclude carrying secondary payloads that do not require the presence of man if consistent with the requirements of research, development, demonstration, scientific, commercial, and educational programs authorized by the Administrator. Requires the Administrator to submit to the Congress a plan for implementing the policy. Directs the Administrator to: (1) review proposed manned space flight missions with regard to identifying the human factors knowledge base necessary and developing a schedule of when specified components of information will need to be acquired or developed; (2) develop a strategic plan for life sciences research and technology development, including a crew certification plan and a life sciences implementation plan; and (3) verify the physiological technical feasibility of the life sciences implementation plan. Directs the National Space Council to conduct a study and report to the Congress on International Cooperation in Planetary Exploration with regard to; (1) developing an inventory of technologies and intentions of all national space agencies; (2) seeking ways to enhance the planning and exchange of information; (3) preparing a proposal for efficient use of resources; (4) developing priority goals for needs that could not be achieved by any individual country; (5) exploring the possibilities of international unmanned probes and international manned missions; and (6) devising strategies for cooperation that would prevent unwanted transfer of technology. Establishes within the Department of Commerce an Office of Space Commerce to coordinate space-related issues, programs, and initiatives within the Department. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary of Defense and the Administrator of NASA to jointly establish a National Aero-Space Plane program to develop a primarily air breathing single-stage-to-orbit and long-range hypersonic cruise research flight vehicle. Prescribes the respective responsibilities of the Secretary and the Administrator. Directs the Secretary and the Administrator to develop and submit to the Congress a management plan that includes goals, tasks, schedules, and resource procurement strategies. Requires the Secretary to be responsible for at least two-thirds, and the Administrator to be responsible for not more than one-third, of the costs of the program. Amends the Commercial Space Launch Act to authorize appropriations to carry out the Act. Amends provisions requiring a license for private space launch operations to declare that a license is not required if an agency assumes responsibility for the launch. Directs the Secretaries of Defense and Transportation and the Administrator to jointly develop regulations establishing criteria for such assumption. Requires the Secretary of Transportation to encourage States, as well as the private sector, to acquire, by lease, sale, or other transaction, excess U.S. launch property. Directs the Administrator to contract with the National Academy of Public Administration for a review of the organizational and institutional preparedness of NASA to undertake major new initiatives in science and human exploration. Requires the contract to include a report: (1) estimating the human resources required to carry out this title; (2) describing the structure of NASA; (3) describing the role and relationship of other Federal agencies, Federal laboratories, and the private sector in carrying out the Nation's space program; and (4) recommending administrative changes. Declares that it is U.S. policy to: (1) conduct space activities in a manner that does not increase orbital space debris; and (2) engage other spacefaring nations to develop an agreement to ensure that such debris is not increased. Authorizes the Administrator to spend excess funds appropriated for orbiter production to maintain the space shuttle orbiter production line and related production lines of orbiter subcontractors. Requires, in any agreement entered into by NASA for an Industrial Application Center, that the center be allowed to retain all client income without any deductions from appropriated funds received or to be received by that center. Requires the Administrator to contract with the National Academy of Public Administration for a cost and benefit analysis of the Shuttle-C program. Requires any automotive stirling engine demonstration program sponsored by NASA to utilize natural gas and, if not natural gas, methanol or ethanol. Title II: Launch Services Purchase - Launch Services Purchase Act of 1990 - Requires NASA to purchase launch services for its primary payloads from commercial providers. Allows exceptions on a case-by-case basis if the Administrator determines that: (1) the payloads requires the unique capabilities of the space shuttle; (2) cost effective commercial services to meet mission requirements are not reasonably available; or (3) the use of commercial services poses an unacceptable risk of loss of a unique scientific opportunity. Requires the determination to be made at Preliminary Design Review and prohibits it from being delegated. Allows launch vehicles to be acquired or owned by NASA, except for historical displays, only as required by such exceptions or for conducting research, development, and testing of launch technology. Requires contracts to provide launch services to NASA to be awarded on the basis of full, fair, and open competition. Requires NASA to limit its requirements for submission of cost or pricing data in support of a bid or proposal. Requires performance specifications, not detailed Government design or construction specifications, to be used. Prohibits acceptance of commercial payloads for launch as primary payloads on the space shuttle unless: (1) the payload requires unique shuttle capabilities; or (2) launching on the shuttle is important for national security or foreign policy purposes.
United States · United States Congress · 14 September 1990
Amends the Railroad Retirement Solvency Act of 1983 to extend for two years provisions for the transfer of tier 2 railroad retirement benefit taxation revenues from the general fund of the Treasury to the Railroad Retirement Account.
United States · United States Congress · 13 September 1990
Department of Energy Science Education Act - Directs the Secretary of Energy (the Secretary) to establish a Science, Mathematics and Engineering Education Advisory Board (the Board) to provide guidance and assistance for the establishment of the science, mathematics, and engineering education programs of the Department of Energy (the Department) research and development facilities. Requires the Board to report annually to the Secretary and the Congress. Directs the Secretary to develop, with Board advice, a plan for the science, mathematics, and engineering program of the Department's research and development facilities. Requires the Secretary to review such plan annually and report to the Congress on it with the Department's annual budget request. Directs the Secretary to combine the Nuclear Engineering Research and Education Program and the University Research Reactor Program into one program to be called the Nuclear Engineering Education and Research Reactor Program. Directs the Secretary to establish a national clearinghouse to enable the Department's research and development facilities to share, with each other and the education community nationwide, reports, teaching aids, and support materials for science, mathematics, or engineering education. Requires coordination with any other related Federal clearinghouses or related clearinghouses at such facilities. Directs the Secretary to establish a program of paid administrative leave for employees of the Department or its research and development facilities who volunteer to interact with schools, colleges, universities, teachers, or students for science, mathematics, and engineering education. Directs the Secretary to develop alternatives to full Federal funding of science, mathematics, and engineering education programs of the Department's research and development facilities, including use of resources of colleges, universities, local and national businesses, and local and State education agencies. Directs the Secretary to establish a volunteer talent pool of scientists, mathematicians, and engineers who have retired from the Department or its research and development facilities to serve as "Scientists in Residence" at schools. Directs the Secretary, through such facilities, to identify and match such scientists with such schools and districts. Directs the Secretary to establish a Young Americans' Summer Science Camp Program to provide secondary school students with hands-on science experience, exposure to working scientists, and career counseling. Requires such Camps to: (1) be conducted at participating colleges and universities; (2) consist of at least two sessions of two weeks each in the first year of operation, with at least 50 participants in each session at each location; and (3) obtain all financing, after the first four years of operation, through private or other non-Federal sources. Directs the Secretary, by the end of the second year of operation, to expand the program to provide guidance and assistance to other organizations to create similar camps. Makes this Act inapplicable to: (1) activities of the Department or its contractors that are funded as national defense production activities; and (2) science, mathematics, and engineering programs administered under elements of the Department other than the Office of Energy Research.
United States · United States Congress · 11 September 1990
Iraqi Anti-Aggression and Windfall Confiscation Act of 1990 - Authorizes and directs the President to take the following actions with respect to the property and interests in property of the Iraqi Government blocked pursuant to a specified executive order: (1) make all dividends and interest which accrue to such blocked property the property of the United States and transfer such property to the Treasury; and (2) require the Secretary of the Treasury to determine if any account has realized any windfall gain as a result of the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait and to transfer such amounts to the Treasury. Directs the President to determine whether the property and interest in the property of the Kuwaiti Government and Kuwaiti nationals that was confiscated by the Iraqi Government has been relinquished and returned to the legitimate owners or full restitution has been made. Authorizes the President, if determined that the Iraqi Government has failed to return or make full restitution for such property, to confiscate all property and interest in the blocked property of the Iraqi Government. Makes such confiscated property U.S. property. Authorizes appropriations. Permits the President to waive any of this Act's requirements if it is essential to the U.S. national interests.
United States · United States Congress · 10 September 1990
Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) other countries that benefit from a secure supply of Persian Gulf oil or whose sovereignty the United States is committed to upholding should assume a proportionate share of the cost of the deployment of U.S. military forces in Saudi Arabia and the Persian Gulf region; (2) the Congress supports the President in his effort to request appropriate levels of assistance or reimbursement from such countries to defray deployment costs; and (3) the President should make it an ongoing priority to request such assistance.
United States · United States Congress · 5 September 1990
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to reinstate the windfall profit tax on domestic crude oil. Terminates such tax after the last full month the Resolution Trust Corporation is in existence. Appropriates revenues received from such tax to the Corporation.
United States · United States Congress · 3 August 1990
Black Lung Benefits Restoration Act of 1990 - Title I: Interim Presumption of Eligibility for Black Lung Benefits - Amends the Black Lung Benefits Act (the Act) to provide for a rebuttable presumption of disability due to pneumoconiosis with respect to certain coal miners whose claims were filed during a specified period under the Black Lung Benefits Program. Establishes such presumption if a single piece of qualifying evidence is presented. Provides that other relevant medical evidence shall be considered only in connection with rebuttal of the presumption. Title II: Claims Review - Directs the Secretary of Labor (the Secretary) to review any black lung benefits claim filed under the Act either with the Department of Labor before April 1, 1980, or with the Social Security Administration at any time. Requires such review to follow certain guidelines established before and by the enactment of the Black Lung Benefits Reform Act of 1977, and to disregard amendments made after such enactment. Requires immediate payment of claims approved under such review. Requires, in the case of claims rejected under such review, the claimant to be given an opportunity to present additional medical or other evidence. Requires benefits granted under such review to be assessed against the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund. Title III: Repayment of Benefits - Provides that, when black lung benefits under the Act are paid for at least two years after an initial determination of eligibility, repayment of such benefits will not be required even upon a final determination of ineligibility. Title IV: To Extend the Moratorium on Interest Owed by the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund to the United States Treasury - Extends through FY 1995 the current moratorium on interest owed to the Treasury by the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund. Title V: Contingency Fee Arrangements - Establishes under the Act a contingency fee arrangement system under which an attorney may be paid up to 25 percent of the black lung benefits paid to the claimant during specified periods of representation by such attorney.
United States · United States Congress · 3 August 1990
Amends the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act) to exempt payments for home health services under title XVIII of the Social Security Act (Medicare) from reduction under a sequestration order.
United States · United States Congress · 3 August 1990
Behavioral and Social Sciences Directorate Act of 1990 - Amends the National Science Foundation Act of 1950 to establish within the National Science Foundation a Directorate for Behavioral and Social Sciences.
United States · United States Congress · 2 August 1990
Airline Passengers Defense Act of 1990 - Directs the Secretary of Transportation to establish in the Department of Transportation an Office of Airline Passenger Advocacy. Establishes the Office of Airline Passenger Advocacy Advisory Group. Amends the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 to prohibit air carriers from cancelling a flight within 72 hours of its scheduled departure time for any reason, except for safety reasons or the absence of any passengers at such departure time. Requires air carriers which cancel such flights for safety-related reasons to report to the Secretary on the cancellation, the reasons for it, and actions taken to resolve the safety-related problem. Requires air carriers to notify their passengers of any delays of 15 minutes or more in the departure or arrival of scheduled flights. Requires an air carrier which cancels a flight in violation of this Act, or alters stopping places of such flight for any reason other than safety, to compensate passengers. Prohibits on-time performance of regularly scheduled flights from being 30 percent or less in any consecutive three-month period. Requires the Secretary to establish in the Office of Airline Passenger Advocacy a toll-free telephone number system for receiving passenger complaints relating to air service. Sets forth requirements relating to: (1) ticket information; and (2) lost or damaged baggage claims. Sets forth civil penalties for economic cancellations and consistently delayed flights by air carriers.
United States · United States Congress · 31 July 1990
Provides that the rate of pay of Members of Congress, judicial officers, and Executive Schedule positions shall be that in effect as of November 1, 1989. Repeals provisions of the Ethics Reform Act of 1989 which provided for a 25 percent salary increase beginning in 1991 for legislative, judicial, and Executive Schedule positions. States that nothing in this Act shall have the effect of reducing the pay of any individual whose compensation may not, under certain provisions of the U.S. Constitution, be diminished during such individual's continuance in office. Continues the current adjustment method.
United States · United States Congress · 30 July 1990
Amends the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act to designate certain segments of the Allegheny River in Pennsylvania as a component of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System. Requires the Secretary of Agriculture to establish the Northern Advisory Council and the Southern Advisory Council to advise on the establishment of final boundaries and the management of the Allegheny National Recreation River. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 27 July 1990
Declares that the President should: (1) reorder U.S. priorities concerning nuclear weapons to take into account the reduced necessity for nuclear testing and the urgent need for environmental cleanup; (2) convey to the Soviet Union the desire of the United States to resume bilateral nuclear testing talks and agree on a timetable for the early achievement of a verifiable comprehensive test ban; and (3) express to the signatories of the Limited Test Ban Treaty U.S. willingness to pursue negotiations in the conference called to amend the Treaty and provide for such test ban.
United States · United States Congress · 26 July 1990
Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1990 - Prohibits a governmental authority from restricting any person's free exercise of religion unless: (1) the restriction is in the form of a rule of general applicability that doesn't intentionally discriminate against religion or among religions; and (2) the governmental authority demonstrates that application of the restriction to a person is essential to furthering a compelling governmental interest and the least restrictive means of doing so. Authorizes a party aggrieved by a violation of such prohibition to obtain relief, including attorney fees, in a civil action.
United States · United States Congress · 20 July 1990
Bird Conservation Research Act - Requires the Director of the Fish and Wildlife Service to develop a ten-year comprehensive plan for the conservation of migratory nongame birds in the Western Hemisphere to facilitate the detection of trends in bird population declines at the earliest possible time and to enable a determination of the causes of such trends. Requires submission of the developed plan to the President and the Congress. Expresses the sense of the Congress that the President should seek a declaration by appropriate international organizations of a World Decade of Ornithology, to begin on January 1, 1991. Makes Federal Government equipment for studying bird migration available to Federal and non-Federal ornithologists. Requires the Director to support: (1) research on the impact of brown-headed cowbirds, bronzed cowbirds, and shiny cowbirds on populations of native songbirds; and (2) development of effective methods for conserving songbird populations without endangering the continued existence of native cowbird populations.
United States · United States Congress · 19 July 1990
State Thrift Deposit Insurance Premium Act of 1990 - Amends the Federal Deposit Insurance Act to direct the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation to determine and apportion among the States the cumulative cost of Federal assistance provided to State-chartered savings associations for case resolutions. Declares as "high risk" any State whose share of State resolution costs exceeds twice its share of 1980 State deposits. Mandates that each high risk State pay to the Savings Association Insurance Fund prescribed premiums reflecting such risk. Sets forth insurance termination procedures if a State fails to pay the required premium. Requires depositor notification of such insurance termination.
United States · United States Congress · 18 July 1990
Children's and Communities' Mental Health Systems Improvement Act of 1990 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to replace a subpart relating to State comprehensive mental health services plans with a subpart relating to comprehensive mental health services for children with serious emotional disturbances. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services, through the Director of the National Institute of Mental Health, to make grants to States for comprehensive community mental health services to children with serious emotional disturbances. Prohibits the Secretary from making a grant to a State unless the State is receiving payments under alcohol and drug abuse and mental health services block grant provisions. Requires non-Federal contributions in a specified ratio. Requires State grantees to: (1) establish and operate one or more systems, through grants or contracts, to provide specified types of mental health services to children under 21 years of age; (2) enter into a memorandum of understanding with providers of medical, educational, vocational counseling and vocational rehabilitation, and protection and advocacy services to facilitate the provision of such services without use of grant funds or non-Federal contributions made with respect to the grant; (3) provide case management services; (4) provide services in the language and cultural context that is most appropriate for the child involved; and (5) develop and implement an individualized plan of services for each child admitted to the system. Describes additional services for which a State system may provide. Prohibits the Secretary from making a grant to a State unless the State has a plan, approved by the Secretary, for the development of a State-wide system of care for community-based services for children with serious emotional disturbances. Requires that parents of children with serious emotional disturbances be included as members of the mental health planning council established under existing provisions. Requires that, if a charge is imposed for services under a grant, the charge be made according to a public schedule, adjusted to reflect the income of the family of the child, and not imposed on any child whose family has income and resources at or below the poverty line. Limits grants to States to four years. Allows a State system established under a grant to receive grant funds for two years. Directs the Secretary to provide to a State, on request: (1) technical assistance regarding grant applications; and (2) training and technical assistance on the planning, development, and operation of the systems under this Act. Authorizes the Secretary to provide the technical assistance directly or through grants or contracts. Authorizes appropriations, earmarking a specified sum for the technical assistance and training. Limits the number of grants to ten in FY 1991.
United States · United States Congress · 17 July 1990
Women's Health Research Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to establish within the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health the Office of Women's Health to coordinate all activities and research of the Department of Health and Human Services relating to disease, disorders, or other health conditions that are unique to, more prevalent in, or more serious for women, or for which risk factors or interventions are different for women. Establishes within the National Institutes of Health (NIH) the National Center for Women's Health Research and Development to provide funding, from amounts appropriated under specified existing provisions and with regard to women's health research, for research conducted or supported by the NIH or the Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Mental Health Administration (ADAMHA). Requires the Center Director to: (1) investigate the inclusion of women as subjects in clinical research conducted or supported by the NIH and ADAMHA; and (2) prepare and annually review a plan for establishing a program for clinical research in obstetrics and gynecology to be conducted by the Director of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHHD). Requires the NICHHD Director to conduct the program in accordance with the plan. Requires the Center Director to establish: (1) the National Women's Health Data Bank to collect, store, analyze, retrieve, and disseminate data regarding women's health conditions; and (2) the National Women's Health Clearinghouse to disseminate information to health professionals, patients, and the public on women's health conditions. Requires the Center Director to establish within the Center the National Women's Health Clinical Research Advisory Board. Directs the Secretary to establish the Interagency Council on Women's Health Research and Development. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 10 July 1990
Designates September 16 through 22, 1990, as National Rehabilitation Week. Urges each State Governor and local government chief executive to issue proclamations calling upon their citizens to observe such week with appropriate ceremonies and activities.
United States · United States Congress · 28 June 1990
Gas Related Activities Act of 1990 - Declares that the acquisition or retention by a registered public utility holding company of any interest in a natural gas company (or a company engaged in specified natural gas-related activities) shall be deemed to be reasonably incidental and economically necessary, for purposes of the Public Utility Holding Company Act, to the operation of the gas utility companies whose voting securities the holding company owns. (This makes any gas-related activities functionally related to the gas distribution business, thus meeting the requirements of such Act, regardless of whether the local distribution company involved is affiliated or unaffiliated with the holding company.)
United States · United States Congress · 28 June 1990
Amends the Defense Production Act to authorize the President or his designee to conduct a review to determine whether an investigation should be conducted to determine the effects on national security of certain mergers, acquisitions, and takeovers by foreign persons which could result in foreign control of persons or activities engaged in interstate commerce in the United States. (Currently, there is no review process prior to such investigation.) Authorizes the Secretaries of Commerce and Defense, if the President's designee is an interagency committee, to collect and analyze such takeover proposals, identify the plans of the acquiring foreign person with respect to the transfer of technology, and make recommendations to the committee concerning the need to conduct such an investigation. Authorizes the Secretaries to: (1) solicit assurances from the foreign person that their plans will not impair the national security; (2) conduct a review to determine if such assurances are being implemented and complied with; and (3) request that the interagency committee conduct an investigation if the Secretary of Commerce finds that a foreign person is not appropriately implementing or complying with the assurances. Requires a foreign person making a direct investment in a United States person (entity) to file with the President or his designee an advisement which discloses specified information with respect to such investment. Requires each agency serving on the interagency committee to identify technologies which are essential to the industrial and technological base of the United States, a list of which shall be published in the Federal Register. Requires the Secretaries to identify, in connection with any merger, acquisition, or takeover involving a foreign person, any essential technology which is involved. Requires an investigation to be commenced if an essential technology is found to be involved. Requires the foreign person, as part of such investigation, to make assurances that the involvement of such essential technology will not adversely affect the national security by eroding the industrial and technological base of the United States. Authorizes the President to suspend or prohibit any merger, acquisition, or takeover by a foreign person in the United States if the President believes that national security might be impaired by the effects such takeover could have on the industrial or technological base of the United States. Allows General Accounting Office officials and employees access to information collected by the Secretary of Commerce concerning foreign direct investment in the United States for purposes of responding to requests for information and conducting research and analysis for the Congress. Directs the President to report to the Congress the results of a study conducted to identify trends in foreign direct investment in the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 26 June 1990
Requires Members of the House of Representatives to file a semi-annual report with the Clerk of the House and Senators a semi-annual report with the Secretary of the Senate on: (1) the number of mass mailings under the frank by such Member during the period covered by the report; and (2) the number of pieces of mail in each such mass mailing.
United States · United States Congress · 21 June 1990
Social Security Benefits Improvement Act of 1990 - Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) of the Social Security Act to alter the formula for computing the primary insurance amount of individuals who attain age 65 in or after 1982 and are subject to the benefit computation rules of the Social Security Amendments of 1977. Removes the limitation on the amount of outside income which an OASDI beneficiary may earn without incurring a reduction in benefits. Provides that individuals shall not be considered to have engaged in substantial gainful activity for disability benefit eligibility purposes unless their earnings exceed the amount currently allowed only for blind individuals. Pays a prorated benefit for the month of an OASDI recipient's death.
United States · United States Congress · 21 June 1990
Radon Measurement Proficiency Act - Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to conduct research on radon and radon progeny measurement methods and protocols. Requires the Administrator to issue guidance documents that: (1) provide information on the results of such research; and (2) describe model State radon measurement and mitigation programs. Directs the Administrator to establish a mandatory program that requires: (1) products offered for sale, or devices used in connection with public services, for radon measurement to meet minimum performance criteria; and (2) operators of devices, or persons employing techniques, used in connection with public services for radon measurement to meet a minimum level of proficiency. Requires the Administrator to establish user fees for persons seeking certification under such program. Provides for the deposit of such fees into a Radon Service Account.
United States · United States Congress · 20 June 1990
Savings and Loan Accountability and Management Reform Act of 1990 - Amends the Federal criminal code to authorize the Secret Service, concurrent with any other Federal law enforcement agency, to investigate financial institutions, bank and loan officers, loan transactions, and related employees and activities in connection with financial institution crimes.
United States · United States Congress · 20 June 1990
House of Representatives Clean Indoor Air Act - Prohibits an individual from possessing a lit tobacco product in any public area within a House office building unless it is in an area designated by the House Office Building Commission. Requires the Clerk of the House of Representatives to study and report to the Committee on House Administration on the feasibility of offering a smoke cessation assistance program for Representatives, officers, and employees of the House.
United States · United States Congress · 14 June 1990
Financial Crimes Prosecution and Recovery Act of 1990 - Title I: National Commission on Financial Crimes - Establishes the National Commission on Financial Crimes to investigate fraud and abuse in the financial services industry and to recommend procedures for improving interagency cooperation and tactics for law enforcement officers in the investigation and prosecution of financial crimes. Sets forth provisions with respect to the membership, powers, pay, reporting requirements, and termination of the Commission. Title II: Improvements in Administration of the Department of Justice - Directs the Attorney General to establish a financial crimes strike force in each Federal judicial district which is in the top quartile of such districts with respect to the total number of criminal referrals filed with the Attorney General by the appropriate Federal banking agencies relating to residents of, or persons located in, such district. Provides for local control of each such strike force, through the U.S. Attorney for such district, except as otherwise provided by the Attorney General. Sets forth provisions regarding pay for attorneys on financial crimes strike forces. Directs the Attorney General to: (1) establish a merit system to recognize and reward outstanding efforts of individuals engaged in the investigation and prosecution of financial crimes; (2) prohibit any U.S. attorney or any other attorney employed by the Department of Justice from taking into account the dollar amount of any loss incurred in connection with any financial crime in making a determination with respect to the investigation or prosecution of such crime; and (3) prescribe by regulation that the investigation of any referral from an appropriate Federal banking agency related to a financial crime involving an insured depository institution in default or in danger of default, or of any troubled institution, be given priority in case management. Amends the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989 to make specified civil money penalties collected under such Act available to the Attorney General to carry out any provision of law. Amends the Federal criminal code to grant specified officials of the Federal Bureau of Investigation administrative subpoena authority regarding specified financial crimes. Sets forth provisions: (1) with respect to standards governing production of items subpoenaed; and (2) granting persons complying in good faith with a summons or order issued under this Act and producing the materials sought immunity from civil liability to the consumer for such production or nondisclosure of such production. Title III: Improvements in the Administration of the FDIC and the RTC - Amends the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (FDIA) to grant subpoena authority to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the Resolution Trust Corporation (RTC) as a conservator or receiver or for carrying out authority with respect to an insured depository institution. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to grant the FDIC and the RTC access to Internal Revenue Service returns and return information upon written requests by the respective Board of Directors and upon certification by the Board that it has a substantial need for such returns or return information. Amends the FDIA to authorize Federal banking agencies, in conducting any investigation, examination, or enforcement action under such Act, to: (1) request the assistance of any foreign banking authority; (2) maintain an office outside the United States for such purposes; (3) provide assistance to a foreign banking authority, upon request, if the requesting authority is conducting an investigation involving a violation of laws or regulations relating to banking matters that the requesting authority administers or enforces; and (4) conduct such an investigation as is necessary to collect information and evidence pertinent to such a request without regard to whether the facts stated in the request also constitute a violation of U.S. law. Authorizes the FDIC and the RTC, as conservator or receiver of any insured depository institution, to request the assistance of any foreign banking authority and provide assistance to any such authority in accordance with this Act. Requires the FDIC and the RTC to each maintain a permanent office to coordinate foreign investigations or investigations on behalf of foreign banking authorities. Authorizes the Board of Directors of the FDIC to act in its own name and through its own attorneys in any action or proceeding in which the FDIC is an interested party, whether in its corporate capacity or as conservator or receiver for any insured depository institution. Grants priority to the FDIC over certain claims or actions filed or begun against an affiliated party of the insured depository institution by depositors, creditors, or shareholders of the institution after enactment of this Act. Authorizes the FDIC, as conservator or receiver for any insured depository institution, to avoid any transfer of interest of an institution-affiliated party or any transfer of interest or obligation of person determined to be a debtor of the institution that was made within five years of appointment of the FDIC as conservator or receiver, if such party made such transfer or incurred such liability with intent to hinder, delay, or defraud the insured depository institution. Specifies circumstances under which the FDIC may recover the property transferred or the value of such property. Sets forth provisions regarding prejudgment attachments of assets where an institution-affiliated party may be required to provide restitution to the institution or where the party is a debtor of the institution, and where the assets will be dissipated or otherwise placed beyond the jurisdiction of the court or FDIC before any recovery may be completed unless a trustee is appointed. Establishes criminal penalties for knowingly concealing assets or property from the FDIC or the RTC as a conservator or receiver for any insured depository institution. Requires each Federal banking agency to require directors of depository institutions to complete an educational course on their duties as directors every three years. Authorizes a court or the Attorney General to direct disclosures of matters occurring before a grand jury during an investigation of a banking law violation to identified personnel of a financial institution regulatory agency upon a finding of substantial need, subject to specified conditions. Excludes the payment of restitution under specified Acts including the FDIA from discharge under bankruptcy provisions. Amends the Federal criminal code to subject to civil forfeiture property which constitutes or is derived from proceeds traceable to mail fraud, or fraud by wire, radio, or television, affecting a financial institution. Amends the FDIA, the Federal Credit Union Act, the Revised Statutes, the Federal Reserve Act, the Bank Holding Company Acts of 1956 and 1970, and the Home Owners' Loan Act to permit the appropriate Federal banking agency, the FDIC, or, in the case of the latter statute, the Director, to apply to specified courts to recover from a depository institution administrative costs arising out of actions taken to recover a civil penalty. Title IV: Taxpayer Recovery Act - Taxpayer Recovery Act of 1990 - Makes an exception to a discharge in bankruptcy for: (1) restitution that the debtor has been ordered to pay by a State or Federal court in any criminal proceeding arising from an act that caused a loss to any bank, savings association, or credit union (bank); or (2) damages provided in any judgment, order, or consent decree entered in any State or Federal court, or in any settlement agreement entered into by the debtor, arising from any act involving fraud or reckless disregard for the law committed with respect to any such institution. Requires that any individual acting as a director, officer, or institution-affiliated party of a bank be considered to be acting in a fiduciary capacity with respect to such institution for purposes of a provision making an exception to a discharge from bankruptcy involving fraud or defalcation while acting in such capacity. Specifies that reliance by a creditor will not be required to establish an exception to discharge if the creditor is a financial regulatory agency that is a successor to a bank. Sets forth time limits for the filing of a complaint objecting to the discharge of a debt owed to: (1) a bank that is closed, is in receivership or conservatorship, or is sold to another bank in a transaction assisted by a financial regulatory agency; or (2) such an agency. Specifies that an individual debtor who has committed an act involving fraud or reckless disregard for the law or is subsequently adjudicated to have committed such an act during the pendency of his bankruptcy proceeding with respect to any bank that is in receivership or conservatorship or that is sold to another bank assisted by a financial regulatory agency shall not be exempt from: (1) more than $7,500 in value of the debtor's aggregate interest in any real property that the debtor uses as a residence: and (2) the debtor's interest in any insurance policy or annuity.
United States · United States Congress · 14 June 1990
Korean War Veterans Memorial Thirty-Eighth Anniversary Commemorative Coin Act - Expresses the sense of the Congress that the United States should recognize the 38th anniversary of the Korean War by minting and issuing a silver dollar coin. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to issue one-dollar silver coins to commemorate the 38th anniversary of the ending of the Korean War. Terminates such authority after December 31, 1991. Mandates that surcharges from the sale of such coins be used for the Korean War Veterans Memorial.
![Official portrait of Rep. Walgren, Doug [D-PA-18]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/w000044_200.jpg)