United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1991
Constitutional Amendment - Declares that equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State on account of sex.
United States · United States Congress · 3 January 1991
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that neither the President nor the Congress should impose import fees on the importation of crude oil or refined petroleum products.
United States · United States Congress · 27 October 1990
Budget Process Reform Act - Title I: Statement of Congressional Purpose - Declares that the purpose of this Act is to facilitate rational, informed, and timely decisions by the Congress. 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. Requires the budget law to fit on a single page, which sets forth specific budget ceilings in major functional categories. 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 to prohibit baseline budgeting. Requires the budget to include comparisons of current fiscal year and proposed subsequent fiscal year spending. Title III: Enforcement Mechanisms - Subtitle A: Super majority Required to Break Budget Law - Requires a two-thirds majority vote in the House and the Senate to consider any spending bill prior to the enactment of the budget law. Requires the Congressional Budget Office to provide to the Congress an estimate of the costs in each major functional category of any spending bill as soon as practicable after its introduction. Limits such estimates to those bills likely to result in costs of more than $10,000,000. Requires a two-thirds affirmative vote in the House and the Senate to consider over-budget spending bills. 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 limit the President's rescission authority to spending that is above the limits of the budget law. 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." Requires fixed-dollar appropriations for every account except social security and interest on the debt. Prohibits open-ended appropriations. Requires Executive agencies to adjust benefit levels to ensure that appropriations for entitlement programs are not exceeded. Subtitle D: "Pay As You Go" Requirement for New Spending - Prohibits 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 and the Senate to waive such prohibition. 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. Restricts legislation providing funding to the Committees on Appropriations. Title V: Protection of Social Security - Provides that no reduction in benefits under title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act shall be made as a consequence of this Act. Title VI: Timetable - Revises the timetable for the congressional budget process. Title VII: Conforming Amendments - 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 VIII: Definitions and Rules of Interpretation - Sets forth definitions for specified terms. Title IX: Effective Date - Declares the effective date of this Act to be January 1, 1991, applicable to fiscal years beginning after September 30, 1991.
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 · 27 September 1990
Designates the Department of Veterans Affairs medical center located at 113 Holland Avenue in Albany, New York, as the Samuel S. Stratton Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center.
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 · 3 August 1990
Medicaid Family Care Act of 1990 - Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to provide federally reimbursed Medicaid coverage of alcoholism and drug dependency residential treatment services for pregnant women whose family income is below 185 percent of the Federal poverty level and for their Medicaid-eligible children and spouses. Lists the required services included in such coverage as: (1) individual, group, and family counseling and addiction education and treatment provided pursuant to individualized treatment plans; (2) room and board in a structured environment with on-site supervision 24 hours a day; (3) therapeutic child care; (4) parental assistance in obtaining developmental assistance for their preschool children and public education for themselves and their school-age children; (5) easier access to other health, social, and child care services; (6) planning and assistance in reentering society; and (7) continuing specialized training of residential treatment facility staff members in the most recent and effective treatment techniques. Requires that such coverage continue for at least 12 months, except that the coverage of pregnant women must continue for one year following the end of pregnancy. Limits the size of a residential treatment facility to no more than 40 beds unless the State provides assurances that a larger facility can furnish the mandatory services.
United States · United States Congress · 3 August 1990
Medicaid Outreach and Child Health Act of 1990 - Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to set the Federal share of the costs of carrying out a Medicaid outreach program for pregnant women and children at 75 percent of such costs. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish a demonstration program to assist community organizations in developing innovative approaches to increase the participation of pregnant women and children in the Medicaid program. Authorizes appropriations for such demonstration program through FY 1993. Requires States to continue the Medicaid eligibility of pregnant women through the month which includes the 60th day following their pregnancies and to children under age one regardless of changed circumstances which would otherwise render them ineligible for such benefits. Permits States to continue a child's Medicaid eligibility for one year after such eligibility would otherwise cease.
United States · United States Congress · 3 August 1990
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that the Congress should retain the current Federal tax deduction for State and local income and property taxes.
United States · United States Congress · 2 August 1990
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that October 1990 should be designated as National Ellis Island Month, in recognition of Ellis Island's upcoming centennial.
United States · United States Congress · 31 July 1990
Radio Free Asia Act of 1990 - Amends the Board for International Broadcasting Act of 1973 to grant authority to the Board for International Broadcasting to operate a Radio Free Asia broadcasting service for the peoples of Southeast Asia. Revises the composition of the Board to add two additional members to be selected by the President from Americans with a knowledge of the people of Cambodia, Vietnam, and Laos. Allows funds made available to Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty to be used by Radio Free Asia. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1991 to establish Radio Free Asia. Requires the Board to report to the Congress on the desirability of the geographic expansion of funded broadcasts, particularly to Africa and the Middle East.
United States · United States Congress · 30 July 1990
Expresses the sense of the Congress that Walker Percy of Covington, Louisiana, be remembered as one of the finest writers and contributors to the culture of the United States of the 20th century.
United States · United States Congress · 25 July 1990
Seneca Nation Settlement Act of 1990 - Provides for payments from the United States and New York State to settle lease payment claims of the Seneca Nation of Indians of the Allegany, Cattaraugus, and Oil Spring Reservations, provided the Nation offers new leases to the city of Salamanca, New York, in accordance with a specified agreement. Provides that such new leases shall not be subject to approval by the United States or New York State. Earmarks specified amounts of such payments for economic and community development of the Nation. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 24 July 1990
Financial Crimes Prosecution and Recovery Act of 1990 as Reported By the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives - Title I: Enhanced Criminal Penalties - Amends Federal criminal law to establish criminal penalties (including imprisonment) for the concealment of assets from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) (acting as conservator or receiver) and the Resolution Trust Corporation (RTC) acting as conservator or receiver. Amends the Federal Deposit Insurance Act to prohibit certain felons convicted of dishonesty or breach of trust from controlling or participating in the affairs of a depository institution for a minimum ten-year period. Amends Federal criminal law to establish criminal penalties (including imprisonment) for obstructing any examination of a financial institution. Increases to 30 years (currently, 20 years) the maximum prison term for bank fraud and embezzlement. Establishes a ten-year statute of limitations for the prosecution of racketeering offenses involving financial institutions. Extends money laundering prohibitions to include funds from specified bank crimes. Directs the U.S. Sentencing Commission to promulgate guidelines for increased penalties for certain bank crime convictions in which the defendant derived more than $1,000,000 in gross receipts from the offense. Provides for restoration of forfeited property and for restitution to bank crime victims. Sets forth maximum criminal fines and minimum imprisonment terms for certain continuing financial crime enterprises (i.e., certain violations committed by at least four persons acting in concert). Title II: Protecting Assets from Wrongful Disposition - Authorizes the Attorney General to obtain a court order enjoining or restraining the alienation of disposition of property obtained as a result of a banking law violation. Amends the Federal Deposit Insurance Act to set forth attachment procedures. Amends Federal bankruptcy law to provide that the trustee shall be deemed to have assumed a debtor's commitment to a Federal depository institution regulatory agency to maintain the capital of an insured depository institution (thus precluding the trustee from rejecting such commitment as an executory contract which can be avoided as a discharge in bankruptcy). Exempts a Federal depository institution regulatory agency acting as conservator for an insured depository institution from the requirement of proving reasonable reliance upon a false writing supplied by a debtor who is an institution-affiliated party. Prohibits a discharge in bankruptcy for debts resulting from the debtor's failure to fulfill a commitment to a Federal financial institution regulatory agency to maintain the capital of an insured depository institution. Exempts a Federal depository institution regulatory agency acting as conservator for an insured depository institution from the requirement of a timely nondischargeability request (including notice and hearing) when seeking to recover a debt relating to malfeasance. Declares that for specified cases of deceitful conduct, any institution-affiliated party of an insured depository institution (or credit union) shall be deemed to have been acting in a fiduciary capacity with respect to any debt owed to a Federal banking regulatory agency (thus making such debt nondischargeable in bankruptcy). Makes it a prerequisite of a bankruptcy reorganization plan that the debtor will: (1) maintain any commitment to a Federal banking regulatory agency to maintain the capital of an insured depository institution; and (2) continue to be obligated for any debt to such agency for failure to fulfill such commitment. Makes certain debts owed by an institution-affiliated party to an insured depository institution under Federal receivership nondischargeable under a consumer debt bankruptcy plan. Amends the Federal Deposit Insurance Act to empower the FDIC (acting as conservator) to avoid fraudulent conveyances by a debtor institution-affiliated party. Prohibits an insured depository institution which does not meet minimum Federal capitalization requirements from making golden parachute payments, covered benefit payments, or certain payments in anticipation of insolvency to an institution-affiliated party without prior written Federal agency approval. Cites conditions under which insured depository institutions may make golden parachute payments and covered benefits payments with FDIC approval. Amends the Federal criminal code to revise civil and criminal forfeiture guidelines for: (1) property affecting a financial institution; and (2) fraudulent offenses involving the sale of assets held by Federal banking regulatory agencies. Amends the Federal Deposit Insurance Act to prohibit certain convicted felony debtors whose default to an insured financial institution in receivership will cause substantial loss from acquiring any asset of the institution (except with respect to repayment). Title III: Improved Procedures for Handling Banking-Related Cases - Amends Federal criminal law to authorize wiretaps for bank fraud and related offenses. Amends the Federal Deposit Insurance Act to set forth reciprocal assistance guidelines for foreign investigations by Federal banking agencies and investigations on behalf of foreign banking authorities. Amends the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989 (FIRREA) to extend to ten years (currently, five years) the statute of limitations for commencing a civil action for Federal bank law violations. Amends the Federal Deposit Insurance Act and the National Credit Union Act to grant the FDIC, the RTC, and the NCUA subpoena authority. Title IV: Structural Reforms to Improve the Federal Response to Crimes Affecting Financial Institutions - Establishes within the Office of the Deputy Attorney General in the Department of Justice a Financial Institutions Fraud Unit, headed by a Special Counsel who shall report directly to the Deputy Attorney General. Terminates such Office five years after enactment of this Act. Empowers the Special Counsel to investigate and prosecute criminal activity involving the financial services industry. Directs the Attorney General to establish: (1) financial institutions fraud task forces; and (2) a senior interagency group to assist in identifying the most significant financial institution fraud cases, to allocate investigative and prosecutorial resources, and to expedite interagency coordination and prosecution of financial institutions fraud. Amends Federal criminal law to authorize the Secret Service (under the direction of the Secretary of the Treasury) to detect and arrest persons who violate banking laws with respect to financial institutions and the Resolution Trust Corporation (RTC). Title V: Reporting Requirements - Directs the Attorney General to report quarterly to the Congress regarding financial institution crimes. Requires the Director of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts to present annual statistical tables to the Congress on the business imposed on the Federal courts by the savings and loan crisis. Title VI: National Commission on Financial Institution Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement - Establishes the National Commission on Financial Institution Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement to make investigations and recommendations regarding specified aspects of the savings and loan crisis. Requires the Commission to submit a final report to the President and the Congress within one year after enactment of this Act. Terminates the Commission 30 days after the submission of such final report. Authorizes appropriations. Title VII: Authorizations - Amends the FIRREA to authorize appropriations to the Attorney General and the Federal Court System for bank crime cases.
United States · United States Congress · 24 July 1990
Lead Battery Recycling Incentives Act - Amends the Solid Waste Disposal Act to direct the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to promulgate regulations for persons who generate, transport, store, recycle, or dispose of spent lead-acid batteries. Requires the Administrator, in developing such regulations, to conduct an analysis of the economic impact of the regulations on the recycling industry. Sets forth required elements of such regulations, including specific requirements for: (1) the storage and transfer of batteries by generators; (2) recordkeeping by battery generators, transporters, and recyclers; and (3) management practices of recyclers. Directs battery retailers to accept from customers used lead-acid batteries of the same type and quantity of the batteries sold. Requires transporters to acquire an identification number from the EPA or the State enforcing this Act. Directs the Administrator to implement education activities to inform the public about the environmental and safety hazards associated with improper handling and disposal of spent lead-acid batteries. Authorizes appropriations. Applies such requirements to batteries which are transported to or managed by a lead-acid battery recycling facility, a secondary lead smelter, or any facility that prepares batteries for recycling by means of exposing lead to the atmosphere. Requires producers or importers of lead-acid batteries to recycle, for the ten-year period beginning 24 months after this Act's enactment, an amount of spent lead equal to at least the amount determined by multiplying the amount of lead in the batteries produced or imported by such persons by the recycling percentage established by the Administrator. Authorizes compliance with such requirement by: (1) reclaiming lead from such batteries and using it in the production of new batteries; (2) purchasing reclaimed lead from secondary lead smelters for purposes of producing new batteries or shielding; or (3) purchasing recycling credits. Directs producers or importers to report annually to the Administrator on the amount of virgin and secondary lead used in new lead-acid batteries produced or imported by such persons. Requires the Administrator to establish a recycling percentage that is two points higher than the existing recycling rate for spent lead in used lead-acid batteries. Increases such percentage by two points annually. Authorizes the Administrator to reduce or waive the two percent increase if the rate exceeds 95 percent. Directs the Administrator to promulgate regulations to allow: (1) producers or importers of lead-acid batteries to create credits for recycling an amount of batteries greater than required; and (2) producers or importers of new batteries to purchase such credits for purposes of complying with this Act. Sets forth minimum requirements for the credit system. Applies battery recycling requirements to persons who produce or import more than 10,000 pounds of new lead-acid batteries annually. Sets the recycling percentage at 90 percent if the Administrator fails to promulgate recycling regulations.
United States · United States Congress · 20 July 1990
Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to enter into an agreement with the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) for a study and report to the Congress on: (1) mechanisms for supporting training in the environmental sciences and environmental research through an umbrella research arm, the National Institutes of the Environment, considering research in a wide variety of disciplines; (2) the current state of extramural research support and undergraduate and graduate training relevant to tropical deforestation, species extinction, ecosystem degradation, biological restoration, use of underutilized resources and sustainable resource use, economic consequences of environmental change, and the impacts of humans and the environment on one another; and (3) mechanisms that can be used to advance environmental research and training, their relationship to existing research programs, and appropriate levels and resources of funding. Authorizes appropriations.
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 · 18 July 1990
Establishes the Drug Paraphernalia Law Enforcement Fund within the Treasury. Authorizes appropriations for the Fund for FY 1991 through 1993. Directs the Attorney General to: (1) make grants from the Fund to State agencies for education and training of State and local prosecutors and law enforcement personnel with respect to analysis, planning, policy development, and program development to enhance enforcement of criminal laws relating to drug paraphernalia; and (2) prescribe regulations for allocating total grant amounts among applicants, for determining the program requirements for such grants, and requiring grant recipients to report to the Attorney General on the grant activities.
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 · 16 July 1990
Prohibits U.S. assistance to Malaysia. Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to instruct U.S. executive directors of the International Monetary Fund, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and the International Development Association to oppose all loans to such country. Denies nondiscriminatory treatment (most-favored-nation treatment) to Malaysia. Authorizes the President to waive such prohibitions if Malaysia: (1) agrees to be a country of first asylum to those persons fleeing Vietnam by boat; and (2) terminates the practice of pushing asylum seekers back out to sea.
United States · United States Congress · 12 July 1990
Medicare Hospice In-Home Respite Care Coverage Act of 1990 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to cover up to 40 hours of in-home respite care for individuals during any of the 90-day periods or the subsequent 30-day period in which they are receiving Medicare hospice care. Sets the payment rate for such care.
United States · United States Congress · 11 July 1990
Rural Law Enforcement Drug Act of 1990 - Makes funds available from the Department of Justice Assets Forfeiture Fund to the Attorney General for the Rural Law Enforcement Drug Grant Program. Authorizes the Attorney General to make grants of up to $50,000 each to rural law enforcement agencies in rural counties where the population does not exceed 25,000 for: (1) conduct of training programs for law enforcement officers; (2) acquisition of vehicles and communications and other equipment; (3) special prevention and education programs for children; and (4) other programs that will reduce drug use in the county. Requires the Attorney General to prescribe criteria for the allocation of grant amounts among applicants and to prescribe program requirements for such grants. Requires reports to the Attorney General describing grant activities.
United States · United States Congress · 11 July 1990
Designates August 1, 1990, as Helsinki Human Rights Day. Authorizes and requests the President to: (1) reassert American commitment to the Helsinki Accords; (2) raise the issue of noncompliance with such Accords with any signatory nation which may be in violation; (3) convey to all signatories of such Accords that respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms is vital to progress in the ongoing Helsinki process; and (4) develop new proposals to advance the human rights objectives of the Helsinki process, including the self-determination of peoples.
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
Ice Enforcement and Prevention Act of 1990 - Amends the Controlled Substances Act and the Controlled Substances Import and Export Act to set forth penalties for offenses involving crystalline methamphetamine. Requires: (1) the Department of Education and the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) to jointly develop model, community-based curricula for disseminating comprehensive information on methamphetamine, crystal methamphetamine, and chemically related stimulants and to distribute such curricula to every primary and secondary school in the country; and (2) the Department to establish at least four statewide or regional methamphetamine prevention demonstration programs, including one project in States that are experiencing serious methamphetamine abuse problems. Authorizes appropriations for such demonstration programs. Requires the Director of NIDA to prioritize the development of a drug to treat addictions to amphetamine, methamphetamine, crystal methamphetamine, and chemically related stimulants. Requires the Director of Health and Human Services to investigate the syndrome that results from methamphetamine addiction at birth and to develop a protocol for treating newborns afflicted with methamphetamine addiction.
United States · United States Congress · 27 June 1990
Urges the President to enter into negotiations with the President of Romania to reach an agreement that would allow American families to adopt Romanian children.
United States · United States Congress · 26 June 1990
Directs the Secretary of Defense to conduct a comprehensive survey to determine the potential for reducing energy consumption at Department of Defense facilities through the use of energy-saving measures. Directs the Secretary to implement the survey results by the year 2000. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary to establish policies under which a military installation that achieves savings on energy costs may retain two-thirds of the savings realized during each of the first five years. Requires one half of any retained savings to be used for additional energy conservation measures and one-half for morale, welfare, or recreation facilities or for minor military construction projects that will enhance the quality of life for members at the installation involved. Directs the Secretary, in evaluating sealed bids or competitive proposals for a contract for an energy system for DOD, to take into account the manner in which the bidder or offeror carried out energy conservation measures in the performance of previous contracts. Directs the Secretary to require each military installation to participate in any programs conducted by publicly-regulated utility companies for the management of electricity demand or for energy conservation.
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
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that the memory of Walt Disney should be honored on the 35th anniversary of his contribution to the American dream (the opening of Disneyland).