United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
MacBride Principles of Economic Justice Act of 1997 - Amends the Anglo-Irish Agreement Support Act of 1986 to revise its purposes to require that U.S. contributions to the International Fund for Ireland be disbursed in accordance with the MacBride principles of economic justice, as specified. Authorizes the United States to make contributions to the Fund only if the President certifies to the Congress that, among other things, disbursements from the Fund will be distributed in accordance with the principles of economic justice and will create employment opportunities in communities of Northern Ireland suffering the highest rates of unemployment.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to specify the rate of tax on draft cider containing certain percentages of alcohol. Excludes the tax from the credit for small domestic producers.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Organization Title II: General Authority Title III: Presidential Postal Employee-Management Commission Title IV: Finance Title V: Budget and Appropriations Process Title VI: Miscellaneous Provisions Relating to Postal Rates, Classes, and Services Title VII: Provisions Relating to the Transportation, Carriage, or Delivery of Mail Title VIII: Direct Appeal of Decisions of the Merit Systems Protection Board Title IX: Law Enforcement Subtitle A: Amendments to Title 39, United States Code Subtitle B: Other Provisions Title X: New System Relating to Postal Rates, Classes, and Services Postal Reform Act of 1997 - Title I: Organization - Amends Federal law regarding the United States Postal Service to redesignate: (1) Governors and the Board of Governors as Directors and the Board of Directors; and (2) the Postmaster General and the Deputy Postmaster General as the Chief and the Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the Service. Title II: General Authority - Authorizes the Service to employ guards for all buildings and areas owned or occupied by, or under the charge and control of, the Service. Specifies that such guards shall have, with respect to such property, the powers of special police officers. Authorizes the Chief Executive Officer to take specified actions with respect to such property. (Sec. 202) Treats the date of postmark as the date of appeal in connection with the closing or consolidation of post offices. Title III: Presidential Postal Employee-Management Commission - Revises postal provisions to replace provisions regarding the Postal Service Advisory Council with those establishing a Presidential Postal Employee-Management Commission, which shall study and make recommendations on how employee-management relations within the Service might be improved. Sets forth administrative and reporting requirements. Title IV: Finance - Modifies postal provisions regarding sums in the Postal Service Fund to authorize the Service to provide: (1) that amounts which would otherwise be deposited in the Fund be directly deposited in a Federal Reserve bank or a depository for public funds selected by the Service (current law requires the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury); and (2) for transfers of funds between or among Federal Reserve banks, depositories for public funds, and the Fund. Directs the Service to: (1) prepare a master plan for the exercise of its authority with respect to the Fund; and (2) submit such plan and any revision to the President, the Secretary, and each House of Congress at least 30 days before the proposed implementation date. (Sec. 402) Modifies postal provisions to authorize: (1) the Service, upon determining that moneys in the Fund are in excess of current needs, to invest such amounts as it considers appropriate in obligations of, or guaranteed by, the Government; and (2) the Secretary to purchase Service obligations in such sums as the Secretary and the Service may agree. (Sec. 403) Specifies that obligations issued by the Service shall not be eligible for purchase by, commitment to purchase by, or sale or issuance to, the Federal Financing Bank. (Sec. 404) Repeals provisions regarding the Secretary's preemption of borrowing by the Service. Title V: Budget and Appropriations Process - Repeals postal provisions regarding transitional appropriations. Specifies that liabilities of the former Post Office Department to the Employees' Compensation Fund shall remain liabilities of the Service payable out of the Fund. (Sec. 502) Amends the Postal Reorganization Act to require the Service, regarding anyone receiving benefits as a former Post Office Department officer or employee, to have the same authorities and responsibilities as it has with respect to a Service officer or employee receiving such benefits. (Sec. 503) Repeals authorizations of appropriations to the Service for public service costs, revenue foregone, and certain compensatory appropriations. (Sec. 504) Modifies postal provisions to replace references to the Committee on Post Office and Civil Service with references to the Committee on Government Reform and Oversight. Title VI: Miscellaneous Provisions Relating to Postal Rates, Classes, and Services - Specifies that, upon termination of an agency relationship between an addressee and a commercial mail receiving agency (CMRA) (i.e., a private business that acts as the mail receiving agent for specific clients): (1) the addressee, or the CMRA if so authorized, may file a change-of-address order with the Service regarding such addressee; (2) a change-of-address order so filed shall, to the extent practicable, be given full force and effect; and (3) any mail for the addressee that is delivered to the CMRA after the filing of an appropriate order shall, if marked for forwarding and remailed by the CMRA, be forwarded by the Service in the same manner, and subject to the same terms and conditions, as mail forwarded directly by the Service to the addressee. (Sec. 602) Waives requirements for mailing specified matter at reduced rates. (Sec. 603) Authorizes: (1) any Commissioner of the Postal Rate Commission, administrative law judge appointed by the Commission, and employee of the Commission so designated to administer oaths, examine witnesses, take depositions, and receive evidence; (2) the Chairman of the Commission and any administrative law judge to issue subpoenas and order the taking of depositions and responses to written interrogatories, subject to specified requirements; and (3) the U.S. district court for the district in which the person to whom the subpoena is addressed resides or is served, in the case of contumacy or failure to obey a subpoena, upon application of the Commission, to issue an order requiring such person to appear at any designated place to testify or produce evidence, with failure to obey punishable by the court as contempt. Sets forth provisions regarding safeguards to ensure the security and confidentiality of information furnished by the Service to the Commission. (Sec. 604) Permits the Service to offer volume discounts, subject to specified requirements. Directs the Service to conduct a demonstration project to determine the feasibility and desirability of affording volume discounts to mailers on a negotiated basis. Title VII: Provisions Relating to Transportation, Carriage, or Delivery of Mail - Repeals postal provisions regarding: (1) transportation of mail by surface carrier; and (2) restrictions on the length of contracts for mail transportation. (Sec. 702) Modifies postal provisions to: (1) expand the contracting authority of the Service; and (2) allow a letter to be carried out of the mails when the amount paid for private carriage of the letter is at least two dollars. (Sec. 704) Directs the Service to: (1) develop a plan for the conduct of a demonstration project to determine the feasibility and desirability of allowing non-postage bearing matter to be deposited in private letter boxes; and (2) commence implementation of such plan within 18 months. Sets forth provisions regarding procedures, factors to be taken into account in selecting areas for inclusion in the project, written determinations, and evaluation. Title VIII: Direct Appeal of Decisions of the Merit Systems Protection Board - Authorizes the Chief Executive Officer, with respect to any employee of or applicant for employment with the Service, to obtain review of any final order or decision of the Merit Systems Protection Board by filing a petition for judicial review in the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit upon determining that the Board erred in interpreting a civil service law, rule, or regulation affecting personnel management and that the Board's decision will have a substantial impact on a civil service law, rule, regulation, or policy directive as applied to the Service, subject to specified requirements. Specifies that the granting of the petition shall be at the discretion of the Court of Appeals. Title IX: Law Enforcement - Subtitle A: Amendments to Title 39, United States Code - Makes Federal assault statutes applicable to postal contract employees. (Sec. 902) Authorizes the court, upon finding that a sexually oriented advertisement has been mailed in violation of postal provisions, to assess a civil penalty. Specifies that each piece of mail sent in violation of such provisions constitutes a separate violation, and any penalty assessed shall be paid to the Service for deposit into the Fund. Repeals a prohibition of pandering advertisements. (Sec. 903) Provides for the deposit in the Fund of amounts (including proceeds from the sale of forfeited items) from any civil forfeiture conducted by the Service and from any forfeiture resulting from an investigation in which the Service has primary responsibility, subject to specified requirements. (Sec. 904) Sets civil penalties for prohibited mailing and deficient packaging of hazardous matter. Subtitle B: Other Provisions - Amends the Federal criminal code to set penalties for: (1) stalking Federal and postal officers and employees; and (2) mailing controlled substances, unless in accordance with rules and regulations authorized by the Service. (Sec. 913) Directs the United States Sentencing Commission to amend its sentencing guidelines to: (1) enhance penalties for stealing or destroying a quantity of undelivered U.S. mail; and (2) establish that the intended loss in a theft of an access device shall be based on the greater of the credit line of such device or the actual unauthorized charges. (Sec. 914) Modifies the Federal criminal code to: (1) set penalties for breaking into a post office box or postal products vending machine and for receiving, possessing, concealing, or disposing of any mail matter, money, or other U.S. property in violation of post office larceny provisions; (2) increase penalties for assaulting with intent to rob persons having lawful custody of mail, money, or other U.S. property (provides for the death penalty under specified circumstances); and (3) prohibit attempting to use or sell forged or counterfeited postage stamps or meter stamps, stamped envelopes, or postal cards, dies, plates, or engraving, and attempting to loan, use, pledge, hypothecate, or convert to personal use postal funds. Title X: New System Relating to Postal Rates, Classes, and Services - Requires the Service to request the Commission to submit a recommended decision on appropriate changes in rates of postage and fees for postal services. Sets forth requirements regarding establishment of baseline rates and fees. Requires that: (1) the maximum rate allowable for a noncompetitive product in any year be computed by multiplying the change in the Gross Domestic Product Chain-Type Price Index, adjusted by the adjustment factor, for such year, by the maximum rate allowable for such product in the preceding year; (2) the Directors establish rates for products in the noncompetitive and competitive categories of mail in accordance with specified procedures. Authorizes the Service to conduct market tests of experimental products, subject to specified requirements. Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) adjustment factors, appellate review of Commission procedures, transfers of products from the noncompetitive category, and applicability of the antitrust laws to the Service; (2) reporting and auditing requirements; (3) confidentiality and identification of protected information; and (4) use of profits by the Service. (Sec. 1002) Modifies postal provisions regarding authority to fix rates and classes, including repealing provisions regarding revenues, total estimate costs, and rates and fees. Provides for the continued applicability of current provisions for computing alternative rate limitations for noncompetitive products. Revises provisions regarding recommended decisions of the Commission, action of the Governors, temporary rates, rate and service complaints, and mail classification. Bars the reclassification of a product from the competitive to the noncompetitive category of mail.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Small Business Regulatory Assistance Act of 1997 - Amends the Small Business Act to require each participating Federal agency (the Environmental Protection Agency, the Internal Revenue Service, and the Department of Labor), the Office of Small Business Development Centers (Office) of the Small Business Administration, and representatives of an association representing a majority of small business development centers (SBDCs) to agree to a small business regulatory compliance assistance plan. Requires each participating agency to ensure the nonduplication of compliance assistance efforts. Requires the Office, with the agreement of the association, to develop and publish guidelines for the establishment by SBDCs or by consortia of SBDCs of a system of small business voluntary regulatory compliance (system), with specified guideline requirements. Outlines the assistance to be provided to participating small businesses. Requires annual reports from the Office to the President and the congressional small business committees concerning the assistance provided under this Act, the level of outreach to small businesses achieved by SBDCs and consortia, and recommendations for improvements in the regulation of small businesses participating in the system. Requires the Office to provide for an independent third-party evaluation of the system, to be submitted to the President and the small business committees. Provides funding to assist the Office and participating agencies in fostering, promoting, developing, and carrying out the system, including funds for the implementation and administration of worker safety and health compliance assistance plans and regulatory compliance assistance plans for fiscal years 1999 through 2003. Provides funds to each participating SBDC under a population-based funding formula. Exempts such funds from matching requirements. Prohibits the Office from providing any funds to an SBDC or consortia after September 30, 2000, unless such SBDC or consortia has been approved for funding under a certification requirement.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Long Island Sound Preservation and Protection Act - Amends the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act of 1972 to prohibit the dumping in Long Island Sound or Block Island Sound of dredged material from any Federal or non-Federal project that contains any of the constituents prohibited as other than trace contaminants (as defined by certain Federal ocean dumping criteria set forth in the Code of Federal Regulations), except where it is demonstrated to and certified by the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency that such dumping will not cause significant undesirable effects, including the threat associated with bioaccumulation of such constituents in marine organisms. Requires any dumping of dredged material in Long Island Sound from a Federal project (or pursuant to Federal authorization) by a non-Federal applicant exceeding 25,000 cubic yards to comply with specified criteria under the Act relating the effects of dumping.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Medicare Preventive Benefit Improvement Act of 1997 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide for expanded coverage of preventive benefits under part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) of the Medicare program. Makes all women over age 49 eligible for annual screening mammography benefit coverage. Waives the deductible co-payment on such benefit. Makes women of childbearing age (if they have not had a negative result in such a test in each of the preceding three years), or at high risk of developing cervical cancer, eligible for yearly pap smears, by suspending in their cases a specified three-year frequency limitation on benefit coverage for screening pap smears. Makes such women eligible also for yearly screening pelvic exams, including a clinical breast exam. Makes other women eligible for triennial screening pelvic exams. Waives the deductible co-payment for such exams. Adds coverage of screening procedures, with specified payment and frequency limitations, for early detection of colorectal cancer, including fecal occult blood test, flexible sigmoidoscopy, and colonoscopy for high risk individuals, as well as a barium enema if the Secretary of Health and Human Services finds that to be an appropriate alternative to a sigmoidoscopy or a colonoscopy. Directs the Secretary to make a decision within two years about covering screening barium enemas as such an alternative. Adds biennial coverage of certain prostate cancer screening procedures for men over 50 years of age, including a digital rectal examination and a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) blood test. Adds coverage of the following diabetes screening benefits: (1) diabetes outpatient self-management training services; and (2) blood-testing strips (with payment based on inexpensive, routinely purchased durable medical equipment). Directs the Secretary to: (1) establish outcome measures to evaluate improvement of the health of Medicare beneficiaries with diabetes mellitus; and (2) submit recommendations to the Congress regarding modifications to the Medicare coverage of services for such beneficiaries.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: NAFTA Renegotiation Act Title II: WTO Dispute Settlement Review Commission Act NAFTA Renegotiation and WTO Dispute Settlement Review Commission Act - Title I: NAFTA Renegotiation Act - Requires the President to renegotiate the terms of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) to correct trade deficits and currency distortions. Requires reports to the Congress assessing the impact of NAFTA on U.S. jobs and the environment. Requires the President to consult with the Congress with respect to the renegotiations. Title II: WTO Dispute Settlement Review Commission Act - Establishes the WTO Dispute Settlement Review Commission to review: (1) all reports of dispute settlement panels or the Appellate Body of the World Trade Organization (WTO) which are adverse to the United States and adopted by the Dispute Settlement Body; and (2) upon request of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), any other report of such bodies adopted by the Dispute Settlement Body. Requires the USTR to undertake negotiations to amend the rules and procedures of the dispute settlement understanding upon enactment of a joint resolution mandating such negotiations. Permits participation in WTO panel proceedings in support of the United States of a private U.S. person with a direct economic interest in the resolution of the matters in dispute.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Amends Federal highway safety law pertaining to alcohol-impaired driving countermeasure grants to include among the basic grant eligibility requirements establishment of a vehicle forfeiture system for persons operating a motor vehicle with a license suspended or revoked as a result of operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act of 1997 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to prohibit group health plans and health insurance issuers offering group health insurance coverage, with regard to hospital stays in connection with breast cancer treatment, from: (1) covering less than 48 hours after mastectomies or less than 24 hours after lymph node dissections; or (2) requiring plan or issuer authorization for prescribing any length of stay. Prohibits: (1) denying eligibility, enrollment, or renewal to avoid these requirements; (2) providing payments or rebates to women; or (3) penalizing or providing incentives to providers. Applies the same requirements to issuers in the individual market.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Medicare Patient Choice and Access Act of 1997 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to require health maintenance organizations and competitive medical plans, among other things, to: (1) assure Medicare enrollees timely access to in-network primary and specialty health care providers and, under certain conditions, out-of-network providers as well; (2) establish a grievance process for resolving grievances between them and their enrollees; and (3) provide each enrollee with an explanation of the enrollee's rights and a copy of the most recent consumer report card for the organization. Prohibits provider incentive plans that fail to meet specified criteria. Bans interference with certain medical communications. Applies the same requirements to Medicare select policies.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Amends Federal law to exclude the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund from the Federal and congressional budgets, and exempt it from any general budget limitation imposed by statute on U.S. budget outlays and from certain orders issued under the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act).
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Social Security Benefits Fairness Act of 1997 - Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) of the Social Security Act to provide that a monthly OASDI benefit shall be paid for the month in which the recipient dies, subject to a reduction of 50 percent if the recipient dies during the first 15 days of such month.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Employee Educational Assistance Act of 1997 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) permanently extend the exclusion from gross income of employer-provided educational assistance; and (2) restore the exclusion for such assistance on the graduate level.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Constitutional Amendment - Prohibits outlays for a fiscal year (except those for repayment of debt principal) from exceeding total receipts (except those derived from borrowing) for that fiscal year unless the Congress, by a three-fifths roll call vote of each House, authorizes a specific excess of outlays over receipts. Requires a three-fifths roll call vote of each House to increase the public debt. Directs the President to submit a balanced budget to the Congress. Requires the approval of a majority of each House by roll call vote before any bill to increase revenue may become law. Authorizes the Congress to waive these provisions when: (1) a declaration of war is in effect; or (2) the United States is engaged in a military conflict which poses a threat to national security as declared by a joint resolution adopted by a majority of each House. Makes this article effective beginning with FY 2002 or with the second fiscal year beginning after its ratification, whichever is later.
United States · United States Congress · 28 September 1996
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.
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.
United States · United States Congress · 24 September 1996
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Amendments to Existing Land Management Laws Title II: Protection for Northwest Ancient Forests, Roadless Areas, and Special Areas Act to Save America's Forests - Title I: Amendments to Existing Land Management Laws - Amends the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 (National Forest System), the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (public lands), the National Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act of 1966 (National Wildlife Refuge System), the National Indian Forest Resources Management Act (Indian lands), and Federal law relating to forest management on military lands to: (1) provide for native biodiversity conservation; and (2) restrict and prohibit certain logging practices. Title II: Protection for Northwest Ancient Forests, Roadless Areas, and Special Areas - Designates specified Special Areas which shall be subject to restrictions on road construction and logging in the following States: (1) Alabama; (2) Alaska; (3) Arizona; (4) Arkansas; (5) California; (6) Colorado; (7) Georgia; (8) Idaho; (9) Illinois; (10) Minnesota; (11) Montana; (12) New Mexico; (13) North Carolina; (14) Oregon; (15) South Carolina; (16) South Dakota; (17) Tennessee; (18) Texas; (19) Vermont; and (20) Wyoming. Restricts road construction and logging in Northwest Ancient Forests, Special Areas, and roadless areas on Federal lands.
United States · United States Congress · 11 September 1996
Health Care Assurance for Retired Employees Act of 1996 - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, to require advance notice to participants and the Secretary of Labor of material reductions in group health plan covered services. Prohibits any such change from taking effect until the Secretary determines that it does not violate the plan, including collective bargaining agreements. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to require qualified pension plans to provide qualifying persons 55 years of age or older a coverage continuation option until they are eligible for Medicare. Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide retired workers who lose their retiree health benefits with specified Medicare enrollment and coverage protections.
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.
United States · United States Congress · 2 August 1996
Integrity in Congress Act of 1996 - Amends the Federal criminal code to impose a fine of up to $10,000 upon a Senator or Representative who knowingly makes a false statement during any speech or debate in either House of Congress. Expresses the sense of the Congress that any such individual should be prohibited from participating in any speech or debate in the Congress for a 60-day period.
United States · United States Congress · 2 August 1996
Requires each Member and employing authority of the House of Representatives to comply with the Office Recycling Program of the Office of the Architect of the Capitol (AOC). Directs the AOC to: (1) ensure that all House employees with custodial duties are adequately trained in Program implementation; and (2) require any House contractor carrying out the Program to ensure that all personnel are trained in Program implementation; and (3) report semiannually to the Committee on House Oversight on Program compliance.
United States · United States Congress · 2 August 1996
Calls for the Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee to recommend and the Postal Service to issue a postage stamp to honor law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty.
United States · United States Congress · 18 July 1996
District of Columbia Appropriations Act, 1997 - Makes appropriations for the District of Columbia Government for FY 1997, including funds for: (1) the Federal payment ($660 million); (2) the Federal contribution to the Police Officers' and Fire Fighters', Teachers', and Judges' Retirement Funds ($52.07 million); and (3) expenses incurred in connection with presidential inauguration activities ($5.702 million). Appropriates specified sums out of the general fund of the District of Columbia for the current fiscal year for: (1) governmental direction and support; (2) economic development and regulation; (3) public safety and justice; (4) the public education system (including public charter schools); (5) human support services; (6) public works; (7) repayment of specified loans and interests; (8) repayment of the general fund recovery debt; (9) repayment of interest on short-term borrowing; (10) necessary expenses incurred in connection with Presidential inauguration activities; (11) lease payments involving the land site underlying the building located at One Judiciary Square; (12) human resources development; (13) construction projects (including rescissions); (14) the Water and Sewer Enterprise Fund; (15) the Lottery and Charitable Games Enterprise Fund; (16) the Cable Television Enterprise Fund; (17) the Starplex Fund; (18) D.C. General Hospital; (19) the D.C. Retirement Board; (20) the Correctional Industries Fund; (21) the Washington Convention Center Enterprise Fund (from local funds and by transfer from the general fund); and (22) the D.C. Financial Responsibility and Management Assistance Authority (Authority). Prohibits the use of revenues from Federal sources to support the Statehood Commission and Statehood Compact Commission. Requires the District to operate a free, 24-hour telephone information service where residents of the area surrounding Lorton prison can obtain information about all prison disturbances. Requires the Chief Financial Officer of the District, on behalf of the Mayor and under the direction of the Authority, to make specified cost reductions in: (1) real estate initiatives; (2) management information systems; (3) energy cost initiatives; (4) purchasing and procurement initiatives; and (5) the workforce, including a reduction of 2,411 full-time positions. (Sec. 101) Sets forth certain uses of and restrictions on the expenditure of appropriations made by this Act. (Sec. 122) Directs the Mayor to submit to the D.C. Council, within 30 days after the end of the first quarter of FY 1997, the FY 1997 revenue estimates. (Sec. 128) Prohibits the use of any funds made available pursuant to this Act: (1) for salaries, expenses, or other costs associated with the offices of U.S. Senator or U.S. Representative under the District of Columbia Statehood Constitutional Convention Initiatives of 1979; (2) for any abortion except where the life of the mother would be endangered if the fetus were carried to term or where the pregnancy is the result of an act of rape or incest; or (3) to implement or enforce the District Domestic Partner Act (also called the District of Columbia Health Care Benefits Expansion Act of 1992) or any system of registration of unmarried, cohabitating couples whether they are homosexual, lesbian, or heterosexual, including registration for the extension of employment, health, or governmental benefits to such couples on the same basis that such benefits are extended to legally married couples. (Sec. 132) Specifies reporting requirements for the Board of Education and the University of the District of Columbia. (Sec. 140) Modifies D.C. reductions-in-force procedures to allow a personnel authority to establish lesser competitive areas within an agency on the basis of all or a clearly identifiable segment of an agency's mission or a division or major subdivision of an agency. Authorizes each agency head to identify positions for abolishment. Outlines procedures for abolishment of such positions for FY 1997. (Sec. 141) Establishes a ceiling on the total operating expenses and deficit of the District of Columbia for FY 1997. Allows the Mayor to accept, obligate and expend Federal, private, and other grants received by the District government that are not reflected in the amounts appropriated in this Act. (Sec. 142) Provides that the heads and personnel of the District's Office of the Treasurer, Controller, Office of the Budget, Office of Financial Information Services, and Department of Finance and Revenue, together with all executive branch accounting, budget and financial management personnel, shall be appointed by, serve at the pleasure of, and act under the direction of the District's Chief Financial Officer during any control period in effect under the District of Columbia Financial Responsibility and Management Assistance Act of 1995. (Sec. 145) Amends the District of Columbia School Reform Act of 1995 to prohibit a public charter school, with respect to any student other than a nonresident student, from charging tuition, imposing fees, or otherwise requiring payment for participation in any program, educational offering, or activity (except for adult education, field trips, and similar activities) that: (1) enrolls students in any grade from kindergarten through grade 12; or (2) is funded in whole or part through an annual local appropriations.
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.
United States · United States Congress · 10 July 1996
Requires each State to establish an Advisory Board for Risk Assessment which shall comply with the requirements and guidelines regarding notification and release of sexually violent offenders established for a State board under the Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against Children and Sexually Violent Offender Registration Act and under this Act. Directs: (1) the Chief Executive Officer of each State (CEO) to develop guidelines and procedures for use by the Board to assess the risk of a repeat offense by such an offender and the threat posed to the public safety; and (2) any State or local correctional facility, hospital, or institution to forward relevant information pertaining to a sex offender to be discharged, paroled, or released to the Board for review prior to the release (and provides for the confidentiality of records so provided, with exceptions). Requires the Board: (1) prior to the discharge, to make a confidential recommendation to the sentencing court as to whether such offender warrants the designation of sexually violent predator; and (2) to use the guidelines established to recommend to the sentencing court one of three levels of notification. Directs the sentencing court to: (1) make a determination of whether an offender is a sex offender or a sexually violent predator before the release of such offender; (2) make a determination regarding the level of notification after receiving a tier recommendation from the Board; and (3) upon the reversal of a conviction of a sexual offense, order the expungement of any records required to be kept pursuant to this Act. Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) petitions for relief from the duty to register; (2) penalties for misuse of registration information; (3) juvenile offenders; (4) official immunity from liability; and (5) exclusion of the victim's identity from public access or dissemination. Requires: (1) each CEO to establish reasonable notification requirements; and (2) the department required to coordinate the sex offender registration program to compile and update offender information.
United States · United States Congress · 27 June 1996
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Equalization of Medicare Reimbursement Rates to Health Maintenance Organizations and Competitive Medical Plans Title II: Grants to Encourage Establishment of Community Rural Health Networks Title III: Medicare Rural Primary Care Hospitals and Rural Emergency Access Care Hospitals Subtitle A: Rural Primary Care Hospital Program Subtitle B: Rural Emergency Access Care Hospitals Title IV: Incentives for Health Professionals to Practice in Rural Areas Subtitle A: National Health Service Corps Subtitle B: Primary Care Services Furnished in Shortage Areas Title V: Classification of Rural Referral Centers Title VI: Promotion of Health Centers in Rural Regions Title VII: Medicare Payment Methodologies Title VIII: Antitrust Title IX: Financing Rural Health Improvement Act of 1996 - Expresses the sense of the Congress that this Act reflects the dedication of the late U.S. Representative Bill Emerson to ensuring health care access for all rural Americans. Title I: Equalization of Medicare Reimbursement Rates to Health Maintenance Organizations and Competitive Medical Plans - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to revise provisions for payments to health maintenance organizations (HMOs) and competitive medical plans (CMPs) for the stated purpose of equalizing Medicare reimbursement rates to HMOs and CMPs. Title II: Grants to Encourage Establishment of Community Rural Health Networks - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to provide grants over a three year period to eligible States for development of plans to increase access to health care services for residents of areas in the State that are designated as chronically underserved. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 202) Directs the HHS Secretary to make funds available to provide technical assistance and advice for certain entities seeking to establish or enhance a community rural health network in an underserved rural area. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 203) Directs the HHS Secretary to provide financial assistance (development grants) to eligible entities for the development and implementation of community rural health networks, giving priority to eligible entities in States with developed plans to increase the access of residents of chronically underserved areas to health care services. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 205) Ends Federal financing for the grant program for rural health transition under the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1987 and a certain program for rural outreach grants. Title III: Medicare Rural Primary Care Hospitals and Rural Emergency Access Care Hospitals - Subtitle A: Rural Primary Care Hospital Program - Replaces the Essential Access Community Hospital Program (EACH) under Medicare with the Medicare Rural Primary Care Hospital Program, while continuing payment to designated EACHs. Bases payment for inpatient and outpatient rural primary care hospital services on the reasonable costs of the hospital in providing such services. Lengthens from 72 to 96 hours the maximum period of permitted inpatient stay at a rural primary care hospital. Subtitle B: Rural Emergency Access Care Hospitals - Provides for a new Medicare Rural Emergency Access Care Hospital program, detailing coverage and payment for services. Title IV: Incentives for Health Professionals to Practice in Rural Areas - Subtitle A: National Health Service Corps - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude qualified National Health Service Corps scholarship payments and loan repayments from gross income. (Sec. 402) Requires the HHS Secretary to study and report to the Congress on the allocation of Corps members among shortage areas. (Sec. 403) Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Secretary to give special priority to applications by community rural health networks for the assignment of Corps personnel for providing health services in or to a health professional shortage area. Subtitle B: Primary Care Services Furnished in Shortage Areas - Amends SSA title XVIII to provide for an increase in the amount of additional Medicare payments for primary care services (currently, physicians' services) furnished in rural shortage areas, and for services that are furnished by a physician assistant, nurse practitioner, or nurse midwife that would be physicians' services if furnished by a physician. Extends such payment for former shortage areas. Requires carriers to report on services provided. Title V: Classification of Rural Referral Centers - Amends SSA title XVIII to prohibit denial of a rural referral center's request for reclassification on the basis of comparability of wages. Provides for the continuing treatment of previously designated rural referral centers. Title VI: Promotion of Health Centers in Rural Regions - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the HHS Secretary, in making grants in rural areas for new or expanded services for each fiscal year, to give priority to projects that would be located in a State, or county or region of a State, that is not already serviced by an existing community health center. Requires also the Secretary to give special consideration to projects which have entered into a collaborative agreement with a community hospital meeting certain requirements. Title VII: Medicare Payment Methodologies - Directs the HHS Secretary to establish a methodology for making payments under Medicare part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) for telemedicine services furnished on an emergency basis to rural residents. Title VIII: Antitrust - Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) the Federal Trade Commission, in conjunction with the Department of Justice, give special consideration to antitrust guidelines affecting physician and hospital networks located in rural areas during its ongoing review of such guidelines; and (2) the completion of the Commission's review be expedited to provide relief and clarification to physicians and hospitals working to develop alternative means of providing accessible, affordable, and quality health care services to all Americans, especially those living and working in rural areas. Title IX: Financing - Revises Medicare secondary payer requirements. Makes permanent the requirements for: (1) employer responses to fiscal intermediary or carrier inquiries about the coverage of an employee or employee's spouse under a group health plan of the employer; and (2) the prohibition against a large group health plan's taking into account that the employee or a dependent of the employee is entitled to Medicare or end stage renal disease benefits.
United States · United States Congress · 20 June 1996
Internet Election Information Act of 1996 - Amends the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to exempt: (1) donated interactive computer services from coverage; and (2) direct costs incurred by a donated interactive computer services from treatment as an expenditure if the service permits its facilities to be used for such purposes for all other candidates in the election for the same office.
United States · United States Congress · 20 June 1996
401(k) Pension Protection Act of 1996 - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Protection Act of 1974 (ERISA) to require that (Internal Revenue Code section) 401(k)-type pension plans be subject to the same prohibited transaction rules that apply to traditional defined benefit pension plans under ERISA. Requires 401(k)-type plans (by extending such ERISA protections to them) to have diversified investments, and prohibits them from investing more than ten percent of their assets in securities and real property of the sponsoring employer.
United States · United States Congress · 20 June 1996
AFDC and Medicaid Waiver Fairness Act of 1996 - Amends title XI of the Social Security Act to provide for establishment of a deadline for approval or denial of an application for a waiver for certain Aid to Families with Dependent Children program (AFDC) and Medicaid demonstration projects under, respectively, SSA titles IV part A and XIX.
United States · United States Congress · 13 June 1996
National Environmental Education Amendments Act of 1996 - Amends the National Environmental Education Act to require development of curricula, materials, and training programs supported by the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Office of Environmental Education to be balanced and scientifically sound. Requires that implementation of the Act be through EPA. Eliminates requirements for a Director and a minimum number of staff. Allows activities to be carried out through grants, cooperative agreements, or contracts. Reduces the percentage of funds to be obligated for environmental education grants of not more than $5,000. Prohibits use of grants for certain lobbying activities. Eliminates provisions for environmental internships and fellowships. Eliminates all environmental education awards provided for under such Act, except the President's Environmental Youth Awards. Revises requirements for membership on the National Environmental Education Advisory Council. Revises requirements for membership on the Federal Task Force on Environmental Education to require that it be open to representatives of any Federal agency actively engaged in environmental education. (Under current law, membership must include specified agency representatives.) Eliminates specific requirements for contents of Advisory Council reports. Changes the name of the National Environmental Education and Training Foundation to the Foundation for Environmental Education. Increases the size of the Board of the Directors. Removes the prohibition on the transmission of logos or other means of identification on materials donated to the Foundation for environmental education and training use. Authorizes appropriations. Revises funding limitations. Limits amounts available for administrative costs.
United States · United States Congress · 12 June 1996
MacBride Principles of Economic Justice Act of 1996 - Amends the Anglo-Irish Agreement Support Act of 1986 to revise its purposes to require that U.S. contributions to the International Fund for Ireland be disbursed in accordance with the MacBride principles of economic justice, as specified. Authorizes the United States to make contributions to the Fund only if the President certifies to the Congress that, among other things, disbursements from the Fund will be distributed in accordance with the principles of economic justice and will create employment opportunities in communities of Northern Ireland suffering the highest rates of unemployment.
United States · United States Congress · 22 May 1996
Breast Cancer Detection Act - Mandates approval of the marketing of devices to aid in the self-examination of breasts without the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act requirement that such devices be prescription-only or otherwise restricted in their availability to women.
United States · United States Congress · 25 April 1996
Antimicrobial Pesticide Registration Reform Act of 1995 - Amends the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) to exclude: (1) bacteria from the definition of "fungus"; and (2) liquid chemical sterilant products for use on a critical or semi-critical medical or dental device from the definition of "pesticide." Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to: (1) coordinate data requirements, test protocols, timetables, and standards of review and reduce burdens and redundancy caused to the registrant, whenever data in support of a pesticide registration is requested by one or more State or Federal agencies; and (2) develop a process to identify and assist in alleviating future disparities between Federal and State data requirements. Provides, with respect to the labeling of an antimicrobial pesticide product, that: (1) a registrant may modify the labeling to include relevant information on the product's efficacy, composition, or container or other characteristics unrelated to a pesticidal claim or activity; (2) such labeling shall not be false or misleading or in conflict with statements required as a condition of registration and be substantiated upon request; (3) modifications shall be subject to a notification and approval process; and (4) different cautionary statements for use dilutions may be included in the labeling upon approval of the Administrator. Directs the Administrator, to the maximum extent practicable, to identify and evaluate changes to the process for registration of antimicrobial pesticides that will reduce current time periods for review. Details rulemaking requirements regarding the review of such pesticides. Requires an annual report to the Congress on measures taken to effect such changes. Exempts from applicability of certain FIFRA storage, disposal, transportation, and container requirements household, industrial, or institutional antimicrobial products that are not subject to regulation under the Solid Waste Disposal Act, unless the Administrator determines that their application is necessary to prevent an unreasonable adverse effect on the environment.
United States · United States Congress · 25 April 1996
Provides for a three-year extension of certain Medicare community nursing organization demonstration projects under the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1987.
United States · United States Congress · 17 April 1996
Minimum Wage Increase Act of 1996 - Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to increase the minimum wage rate under such Act from the current $4.25 per hour to: (1) $4.75 per hour for one year beginning 90 days after enactment of this Act; and (2) $5.25 per hour after that year.
United States · United States Congress · 16 April 1996
Designates the Department of Veterans Affairs medical center in Jackson, Mississippi, as the G.V. (Sonny) Montgomery Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center.
United States · United States Congress · 15 April 1996
Congratulates the people of the Republic of Sierra Leone for holding their first democratic multiparty presidential and parliamentary elections in nearly 30 years. Encourages them to continue to negotiate an end to the civil war and to work together. Reaffirms the commitment of the United States to helping nations move toward freedom and democracy and to encouraging peace, democracy, and economic development on the African continent.
United States · United States Congress · 29 March 1996
National Invasive Species Act of 1996 - Amends the Nonindigenous Aquatic Nuisance Prevention and Control Act of 1990 to mandate: (1) regulations to prevent the introduction and spread of aquatic nuisance species into the Great Lakes through ballast water; and (2) voluntary guidelines to prevent such introduction and spread in U.S. waters by ballast water and other vessel operations. Authorizes mandatory regulations if guideline compliance is inadequate. Provides for enforcement through revocation of clearance and civil and criminal penalties. Encourages negotiations with foreign governments to develop and implement an international program for preventing such introduction and spread in North American waters. Mandates studies of Lake Champlain, the Chesapeake Bay, San Francisco Bay, Honolulu Harbor, Prince William Sound, and other waters. Requires an annual grant for six years for aquatic nuisance species prevention and control research in the Chesapeake Bay. Establishes a clearinghouse of national data on ballasting practices and compliance with guidelines under this Act. Mandates a ballast water management program for the Navy's seagoing fleet to limit the risk of invasion by nonindigenous species from ballast water. Requires: (1) a ballast water management program to demonstrate technologies and practices to prevent aquatic nonindigenous species from being introduced into and spread through ballast water in U.S. waters; and (2) that the installation and construction of those technologies and practices be performed in a U.S. shipyard or ship repair facility. Modifies: (1) the composition and research priorities of the Aquatic Nuisance Species Task Force; and (2) zebra mussel demonstration program requirements. Requires the Task Force to encourage the development and use of regional coordination panels and similar entities in regions other than the Great Lakes. Provides for interstate (in addition to existing State) aquatic nuisance species management plans, allowing Indian tribes as well as States to participate. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 29 March 1996
Newborns' and Mothers' Health Protection Act of 1996 - Requires health plans and employee health benefit plans that provide maternity (including childbirth) benefits to ensure that coverage is provided for: (1) specified minimum periods after delivery; and (2) certain post-delivery care.
United States · United States Congress · 29 March 1996
Long Island Sound Preservation and Protection Act of 1996 - Amends the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act of 1972 to prohibit the dumping in Long Island Sound or Block Island Sound of dredged material from any Federal or non-Federal project that contains any of the constituents prohibited as other than trace contaminants (as defined by certain Federal ocean dumping criteria set forth in the Code of Federal Regulations), except where it is demonstrated to the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency that such dumping will not cause significant undesirable effects, including the threat associated with bioaccumulation of such constituents in marine organisms. Requires any dumping of dredged material in Long Island Sound from a Federal project (or pursuant to Federal authorization) by a non-Federal applicant exceeding 25,000 cubic yards to comply with specified criteria under the Act relating the effects of dumping.
United States · United States Congress · 27 March 1996
Clean Power Production Act - Instructs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to assess and report to the Congress on the reasonable range of environmental impacts associated with electric utility restructuring, including significant proposed State and Federal changes in public utility regulations and the probable results of such changes upon specified air pollutants and the environment. Directs the Administrator and the Secretary of Energy to: (1) establish and co-chair the Commission for Environmental Mitigation of Electric Utility Restructuring to develop strategies and policies using such assessment to mitigate environmental impacts associated with such restructuring; and (2) report to the Congress on such strategies and policies. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 21 March 1996
Uniformed Services Medicare Subvention Demonstration Project Act - Directs the Secretaries of Defense and Health and Human Services (HHS) to jointly establish a demonstration project (project) to provide the Department of Defense (DOD) with reimbursement, under provisions of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act, for health services provided through DOD to certain Medicare-eligible covered military beneficiaries. Requires the project to be conducted in one or more regions in which the TRICARE program (a DOD managed health care program) has been implemented. Allows such project to be conducted for up to two years. Requires such Secretaries to jointly submit to the Congress a first annual report and a final report containing specified information concerning project participants and such project's effects on military medical care access, readiness, and training. Directs the HHS Secretary to make monthly payments to DOD from the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund and the Federal Supplementary Medical Insurance Trust Fund (HHS trust funds) representing appropriate reimbursement amounts. Provides for the determination of such amounts. Directs such Secretaries to jointly: (1) establish a base level of TRICARE coverage required in a geographic region for eligibility under the project; (2) determine baseline costs of such care and coverage; and (3) establish upper reimbursement limits. Directs the Secretary of Defense to waive the enrollment fee for individuals enrolled in a TRICARE program participating in the project. Establishes in the Treasury the Medicare Subvention Fund (Fund) for providing payments to the HHS Secretary for reimbursement of the HHS trust funds and for the payment of all expenses related to the participation of Medicare-eligible covered military beneficiaries in excess of the base level established under this Act, as well as administrative expenses. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1997 and 1998 for deposit into the Fund to carry out the purposes of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 21 March 1996
Designates the United States Post Office building located at 245 Centereach Mall on Middle County Road in Centereach, New York, as the Rose Y. Caracappa United States Post Office Building.
United States · United States Congress · 21 March 1996
Defend America Act of 1996 - Expresses U.S. policy to deploy by the end of 2003 a National Missile Defense (NMD) system that: (1) is capable of providing a highly effective defense of U.S. territory against limited, unauthorized, or accidental ballistic missile attack; (2) will be augmented over time to provide a layered defense against larger and more sophisticated ballistic missile threats; and (3) does not feature an offensive-only form of deterrence. Directs the Secretary of Defense to develop for deployment an affordable and operationally effective NMD system which shall achieve an initial operational capability by the end of 2003. Outlines system elements, including the use of missile interceptors on the ground, at sea, and in space. Directs the Secretary to take specified actions to implement the NMD system development upon enactment of this Act, including the conduct of an integrated systems test by the end of 1998. Requires the Secretary to report to the Congress the Secretary's plans for the development and deployment of the NMD system. Urges the President to pursue high-level discussions with the Russian Federation to achieve an agreement to amend the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty to allow deployment of the NMD system. Requires the President to present any such agreement to the Senate for its advice and consent. Requires the President and the Congress, if such an agreement is not achieved within one year after enactment of this Act, to consider exercising the option of withdrawing the United States from the ABM Treaty.
United States · United States Congress · 12 March 1996
Methamphetamine Control Act of 1996 - Amends the Controlled Substances Act to provide that any chemical supply house that, after having been provided a warning within the previous ten years, sells a listed chemical to a person who uses or intends or attempts to use the listed chemical, or who causes the listed chemical to be used or attempted to be used, to manufacture or produce methamphetamine, shall: (1) be subject to a civil penalty of not more than $250,000; or (2) for a second violation, be ordered to cease the production and sale of any chemicals. Directs the Attorney General to provide a written warning to each chemical supply house that violates such provision. Requires that all amounts received from enforcement of the civil penalty be used by the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency for the environmental cleanup of clandestine laboratories used to manufacture methamphetamine. Increases penalties for the possession and distribution of a list I chemical. Directs the United States Sentencing Commission to amend the Federal sentencing guidelines to reflect such amendment. Adds penalties for the manufacture and possession of equipment used to make methamphetamine. Includes specified transactions involving pseudoephedrine among those constituting a "regulated transaction." Adds iodine, red phosphorous, and hydrochloric gas to the list of list I chemicals. Expresses the sense of the Congress with respect to methamphetamine, including that the rise in manufacture and usage of methamphetamine is of major concern to the United States, that a substantial portion of the ephedrine used to make methamphetamine is smuggled across the U.S.-Mexico border, and that all ephedrine and pseudoephedrine producing countries and Mexico should cooperate in any way possible to deter the smuggling of ephedrine and pseudoephedrine into the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 29 February 1996
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to decrease the targeted jobs credit from 40 to 35 percent of the amount of qualified first-year wages. Revises targeted group membership provisions. Excludes from the definition of wages any wages paid after: (1) December 31, 1994, and before the 60th day after enactment; or (2) December 31, 1997. Redesignates such credit the "work opportunity credit." Extends to December 31, 1997, the: (1) exclusion from gross income of employer-provided educational assistance; (2) credit for increasing research activities; (3) orphan drug tax credit; (4) special rule concerning deductions for contributions of stock for which market quotations are readily available; and (5) exclusion from gross income of employer contributions to qualified group legal services plans. Extends the binding contract date for biomass and coal facilities to July 1, 1997. Extends permanently the Federal Unemployment Tax Act exemption for alien agricultural workers.
United States · United States Congress · 28 February 1996
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a tax credit (as part of the general business credit) for employers who provide qualified day care centers for the use of their employees.
United States · United States Congress · 27 February 1996
Patient Right to Know Act of 1996 - Prohibits an entity offering a health plan from: (1) providing, in any contract or agreement with a health care provider, any restriction on or interference with any medical communication; or (2) taking retaliatory action against a provider on the basis of a medical communication. Defines "medical communication" as being between a provider and: (1) a current, former, or prospective patient; (2) any employee or representative of the entity; or (3) any representative of any State or Federal authority with responsibility for licensing or oversight regarding the entity or plan. Mandates civil money penalties. Allows State requirements more protective of medical communications than the requirements of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 1 February 1996
Antitrust Health Care Advancement Act of 1996 - Provides that the following activities shall not be deemed illegal per se in any action under the Federal antitrust laws or similar State law, but shall be judged based on reasonableness: (1) the exchange of information relating to costs, sales, profitability, marketing, prices, or fees of any health care service health care providers solely for, and reasonably required for, establishing a health care provider network (HCPN); (2) the conduct of an HCPN in negotiating, making, or performing a contract for providing health care services to individuals under the terms of a health benefit plan; and (3) the conduct of any HCPN member for the purpose of providing such services under such contract. Directs the Attorney General and the Federal Trade Commission to jointly issue guidelines specifying the enforcement policies and analytical principles that will be applied by the Department of Justice and the Commission with respect to the operation of this Act.
![Official portrait of Rep. Walsh, James T. [R-NY-25]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/w000099_200.jpg)