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United States · Official source
2,324 records where Rep. Wamp, Zach [R-TN-3] is listed as a sponsor, author, or other actor. Search with topics and years
United States · United States Congress · 9 June 1999
Open Competition and Fairness Act of 1999 - Amends the National Labor Relations Act to prohibit discrimination against any bidder on a prime contract for a federally funded project on the basis of a requirement that such person enter into or adhere to a collective bargaining agreement or any similar agreement as a condition of performing work on such contract.
United States · United States Congress · 9 June 1999
Exempts an importer with under 100 employees during the two preceding calendar quarters from increased tariffs and retaliatory actions with respect to European Union (EU) goods subject to increased tariffs announced by the United States Trade Representative on March 3, 1999, in response to the EU banana regime, and on March 22, 1999, in response to the EU ban on imports of U.S. beef that has been treated with safe hormones, or any other such increased tariffs or retaliatory actions imposed in response to such EU actions. Applies such exemption to that quantity of an article which does not exceed 125 percent of the quantity of the same article that is a product of the EU and was imported by that importer during the preceding calendar year.
United States · United States Congress · 8 June 1999
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that all fire fighters who risk their lives and die in the line of duty should be honored and recognized.
United States · United States Congress · 7 June 1999
Amends the Inspector General Act of 1978 to provide for the appointment of Inspectors General of specified Federal agencies by the President.
United States · United States Congress · 27 May 1999
Declares that: (1) no Member of Congress or any other American should generalize or stereotype the actions of an individual to an entire group of people; (2) Americans of Asian ancestry are entitled to all rights and privileges afforded to all Americans; and (3) the Attorney General, the Secretary of Energy, and the Commissioner of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission should, within their respective jurisdictions, vigorously enforce the security of the national laboratories and investigate all allegations of discrimination in public or private workplaces.
United States · United States Congress · 25 May 1999
Father Theodore M. Hesburgh Congressional Gold Medal Act - Authorizes the President to present, on behalf of Congress, a congressional gold medal to Father Theodore M. Hesburgh in recognition of his outstanding and enduring contributions to civil rights, higher education, the Catholic Church, the Nation, and the global community. Authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to strike and sell bronze duplicates. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 25 May 1999
Home Health Access Preservation Act of 1999 - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services, subject to certain restrictions, to pay an additional amount, determined in accordance with specified guidelines, to home health agencies furnishing qualified home health services during a cost reporting period beginning on or after October 1, 1997, under the Medicare program (title XVIII of the Social Security Act). Authorizes appropriations. Prohibits the Secretary from making additional payments under this Act for all or portions of cost reporting periods beginning on or after the date of the implementation of the prospective payment system (PPS) for home health services under Medicare. Bars judicial review with regard to any action of the Secretary with respect to the determination of an additional payment under this Act. Addresses overpayments to home health agencies, giving them a repayment option over a 36-month period, and prohibiting interest accrual on the outstanding balance of the overpayment amount during such period. Prohibits home health agencies from electing to make such a repayment for all or portions of cost reporting periods beginning on or after the date of the implementation of the PPS for home health services under Medicare. Makes the repayment option effective retroactively to the enactment of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997. Directs the Secretary to meet periodically with the staff of the appropriate congressional committees to provide an informal update regarding the Secretary's progress in implementing such PPS.
United States · United States Congress · 25 May 1999
Calls for the Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee to recommend and the Postal Service to issue a commemorative postage stamp in honor of the S.S. LANE VICTORY.
United States · United States Congress · 20 May 1999
Iran Nonproliferation Act of 1999 - Directs the President to report periodically to specified congressional committees on foreign persons who, on or after January 22, 1998, have transferred to Iran: (1) controlled goods, services, or technology; or (2) non-controlled goods, services, or technology that would nevertheless would be, if they were U.S. goods, services, or technology, prohibited for export to Iran because of their potential contribution to the development of nuclear, biological, or chemical weapons, or ballistic missile systems. Excludes from identification in such reports any such persons who were previously identified, or who have acted on behalf of, or in concert with, the U.S. Government. Authorizes the President, with specified exceptions, to apply to such foreign person certain measures: (1) set forth in Executive Order 12938 prohibitions; (2) prohibiting the sale to such persons of defense items on the United States Munitions List and defense articles and defense services, or design and construction services under the Arms Export Control Act; and (3) prohibiting the export to such persons of controlled goods and technology under the Export Administration Act of 1979. Prohibits any U.S. agency from making extraordinary payments to the Russian Space Agency in connection with the International Space Station, or any other organization or entity of the Government of the Russian Federation, unless the President has determined, and reported to specified congressional committees, that: (1) it is the policy of the Government of the Russian Federation to oppose the proliferation to Iran of weapons of mass destruction and missile systems capable of delivering such weapons; (2) such government is taking the necessary steps to prevent the transfer from Russia to Iran of goods, services, and technology useful in the development of such weapons and systems; and (3) neither the Russian Space Agency, nor any organization under its control, has, during the one-year period prior to the determination, made transfers to Iran of controlled goods, services, or technology or non-controlled goods, services, or technology that has potential to contribute to Iran's development of nuclear, biological, or chemical weapons, or of ballistic missile systems.
United States · United States Congress · 18 May 1999
Sugar Program Reform Act - Amends the Agricultural Market Transition Act with respect to the sugar program to: (1) reduce sugarcane loan rates through crop year 2002; (2) revise the sugar beet loan rate; (3) eliminate nonrecourse loans; and (4) eliminate sugar price supports after crop year 2002. Amends the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938 to repeal sugar and crystalline fructose marketing quota and allotment provisions. Amends the Food Security Act of 1985, beginning after the 1998- 1999 quota year, to direct the President to use all available authority to ensure that U.S. market raw sugar shall be available at not more than the higher of the world sugar price or the U.S. loan rate.
United States · United States Congress · 18 May 1999
Access to Thermal Imaging Cameras Act - Authorizes the Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to make competitive grants to fire departments for the purpose of acquiring thermal imaging cameras. Requires the non-Federal share of acquisition costs to be 33 percent. Authorizes appropriations. Declares the sense of Congress that any funds appropriated to FEMA for this purpose should be offset with corresponding reductions in funds appropriated to carry out other Federal programs.
United States · United States Congress · 14 May 1999
Skilled Workforce Enhancement Act of 1999 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide small employers with a highly skilled trades training credit.
United States · United States Congress · 13 May 1999
Social Security Surplus Preservation and Debt Reduction Act - Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to make it out of order in the House of Representatives or the Senate to consider a concurrent budget resolution (or amendment thereto or conference report thereon) that violates a provision of the Budget Enforcement Act of 1990 that provides that the receipts and disbursements of the Federal Old-Age and Survivors and Disability Insurance Trust Funds (social security trust funds) shall not be counted for purposes of the presidential or congressional budget or the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act). Makes it out of order in the House or the Senate to consider any legislation that would: (1) increase the limit on the public debt under the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act; or (2) provide additional borrowing authority that would result in such limit being exceeded. Makes it out of order in the House or the Senate to consider a concurrent budget resolution (or amendment thereto or conference report thereon) that sets forth a deficit for any fiscal year. Makes such point of order inapplicable if: (1) the public debt limit is suspended; or (2) the deficit for a fiscal year results solely from the enactment of retirement security reform legislation or provisions designated as emergency requirements. Includes the level of public debt in the required content of the concurrent budget resolution. Requires the budget resolution to specify the amounts by which the limit on such debt is to be changed and direct the committee having jurisdiction to recommend such change. Amends the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act to set forth: (1) limits on the public debt for specified periods through April 30, 2010; and (2) estimated levels of social security surpluses through FY 2009. Provides for adjustments to the public debt limit based on actual social security surpluses and emergency requirements. Prohibits such adjustments if those for the current year are less than the on-budget surplus for the year before the current year. Suspends the public debt limit in cases of low economic growth or war. Provides for an adjustment to the public debt limit if retirement security reform legislation is enacted. Sunsets this Act on April 30, 2010.
United States · United States Congress · 12 May 1999
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Removal of Barriers to Housing Affordability Title II: Homeownership Through Mortgage Insurance and Loan Guarantees Title III: Section 8 Homeownership Option Title IV: Community Development Block Grants Title V: Home Investment Partnerships Program Title VI: Local Homeownership Initiatives Title VII: Manufactured Housing Improvement Title VIII: Indian Housing Homeownership Title IX: Transfer of Unoccupied and Substandard Hud-Held Housing to Local Governments and Community Development Corporations Title X: Private Mortgage Insurance Cancellation and Termination American Homeownership and Economic Opportunity Act of 1999 - Title I: Removal of Barriers to Housing Affordability - Housing Affordability Barrier Removal Act of 1999 - Requires proposed and final agency rules to analyze their impact upon affordable housing availability, including provision for interested parties to offer alternatives, which shall be incorporated into the final rule if found to accomplish required objectives with a less deleterious effect upon housing. Directs the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to develop model housing impact analyses. (Sec. 103) Amends the Housing and Community Development Act of 1992 to authorize direct appropriations for State and local grants for regulatory barrier removal. Makes consortia of local governments eligible grantees. Requires grant use in coordination with the local comprehensive affordability strategy under the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act. (Sec. 104) Amends the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 to require jurisdictions to make good faith efforts at affordable housing barrier removal in order to qualify for community development block grants (CDBG) (without creating a private right of action). (Sec. 105) Amends the Housing and Community Development Act of 1992 to state that the regulatory barriers clearinghouse shall be established within the Office of Policy Development of HUD under the direction of the Assistant Secretary for Policy Development and Research. Title II: Homeownership Through Mortgage Insurance and Loan Guarantees - Directs the Comptroller General of the United States to conduct a study of mandatory inspection requirements under the single family housing mortgage insurance program. (Sec. 202) Amends the National Housing Act to extend the loan term for manufactured home lot purchases. (Sec. 203) Neighborhood Teachers Act - Amends the National Housing Act to establish a (temporary) discounted home purchase program for elementary and secondary teachers. Sets forth program provisions, including a three-year residential use requirement. (Sec. 204) Authorizes mortgage insurance to refinance existing home equity conversion mortgages. Title III: Section 8 Homeownership Option - Amends the United States Housing Act to provide a single grant home ownership downpayment option under the section 8 housing assistance program. Title IV: Community Development Block Grants - Amends the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 to authorize appropriations for the CDBG program. Prohibits set-asides, with specified exceptions. (Sec. 403) Authorizes block grant use for: (1) qualifying municipal employee (including teachers) home ownership assistance; and (2) brownfields projects environmental cleanup and economic development. (Sec. 405) Amends the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act to authorize appropriations for the housing opportunities for persons with AIDS program. Title V: Home Investment Partnerships Program - Amends the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act to authorize appropriations for affordable housing programs. Prohibits set-asides, with specified exceptions. (Sec. 502) Makes limited equity cooperatives and mutual housing associations eligible for home investment partnerships. (Sec. 503) Permits loan pool investment of partnership funds. (Sec. 504) Authorizes the Secretary to make home investment partnerships loan guarantees. Sets forth an aggregate loan guarantee limitation. (Sec. 505) Amends the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act to make qualifying municipal employees (including teachers) eligible for home ownership assistance. Title VI: Local Homeownership Initiatives - Amends the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation Act to authorize appropriations for the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation. (Sec. 602) Amends the Housing and Community Development Act of 1992 to revise the home ownership zone grant program, including providing: (1) grant eligibility for units of general local government (currently nonprofit organizations); and (2) assistance targeting for specified low-income home buyers. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 603) Expresses the sense of Congress in favor of lease-to-own tenancies as home ownership tools. (Sec. 604) Amends the HUD Demonstration Act of 1993 to make the National Association of Housing Partnerships eligible for local capacity grants. Removes the specified amount of authorized appropriations. (Sec. 605) Amends the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act to provide for a consolidated application and planning submission under the following programs: (1) HOME investment partnerships; (2) CDBG; (3) the economic development initiative; (4) emergency shelter grants; and (5) housing opportunities for persons with AIDS. Title VII: Manufactured Housing Improvement - Manufactured Housing Improvement Act - Amends the National Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974 to revise Federal construction and safety provisions for manufactured homes based upon a consensus standards development process. Eliminates the National Manufactured Home Advisory Council. Title VIII: Indian Housing Homeownership - Establishes the Lands Title Report Commission to facilitate home loan Mortgages on Indian trust lands. Terminates the Commission one year after its initial meeting. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 802) Amends the Housing and Community Development Act of 1992 to make permanent Indian housing loan guarantee authority. Title IX: Transfer of Unoccupied and Substandard HUD-Held Housing to Local Governments and Community Development Corporations - Amends the Departments of Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development, and Independent Agencies Appropriations Act, 1997 to direct the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to transfer ownership of qualified HUD-held properties (substandard or unoccupied multifamily or unoccupied single family properties) to local governments and community development corporations under specified conditions. Title X: Private Mortgage Insurance Cancellation and Termination - Amends the Homeowners Protection Act of 1998 with respect to adjustable rate mortgages to: (1) revise definitions of "cancellation date" and "termination date"; (2) define "amortization schedule"; and (3) revise high risk loan provisions. (Sec. 1002) Authorizes modifications of termination, cancellation, and final termination date provisions. (Sec. 1003) Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) disclosure; and (2) balloon payments.
United States · United States Congress · 6 May 1999
Amends Federal aviation law to require the Secretary of Transportation, after receiving a joint application from an air carrier and a community primarily served by a small hub airport or a nonhub airport for an exemption to provide nonstop regional jet air service that meets certain Federal noise limits between a small hub airport or nonhub airport and a high density airport, to grant the exemption, provided granting it would: (1) be in accordance with established principles of safety; or (2) not violate the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969. Authorizes the Secretary to grant an exemption for: (1) a period of not less than 12 months; (2) a minimum of two daily roundtrip flights; and (3) a maximum of four daily roundtrip flights.
United States · United States Congress · 6 May 1999
Amends the Appalachian Regional Development Act of 1985 to add Hickman, Lawrence, Lewis, Perry, and Wayne Counties, Tennessee, to the Appalachian region.
United States · United States Congress · 6 May 1999
Commends President Glafcos Clerides of Cyprus for his decision to cancel the deployment of the S-300 antiaircraft missiles in Cyprus. Urges the President of the United States to use the influence of the U.S. Government to persuade Turkey to comply with United Nations Security Council Resolutions 1217 and 1218 and to cooperate for a solution to the Cyprus problem.
United States · United States Congress · 5 May 1999
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: HealthMarts Title II: Health Care Access and Choice Through Individual Membership Associations (IMAs) Title III: Federal Matching Funding for State Insurance Expenditures Title IV: Small Business Access and Choice for Entrepreneurs Act of 1999 Title V: Improvement to Access and Choice of Health Care Title VI: Patient Access to Information Patients' Health Care Choice Act of 1999 - Title I: HealthMarts - Amends the Public Health Service Act to create a new title on HealthMarts. Requires that HealthMarts: (1) be nonprofit entities composed of employers, employees, other individuals eligible to participate in the HealthMart, health care providers, and entities that underwrite or administer health benefits coverage; and (2) make available health coverage to all employers, eligible employees, and individuals at rates established by the insurance issuer on a policy or product specific basis. Deems HealthMarts group health plans for purposes of specified provisions of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) and the Internal Revenue Code. Requires that coverage made available to an eligible employee or individual in a geographic area be offered to all eligible employees or individuals in the same area. Declares that the HealthMart: (1) provides coverage only through contracts with issuers and does not assume insurance risk; (2) provides administrative services for purchasers; and (3) collects and disseminates consumer information on all offered coverage options. Requires that HealthMart coverage provide full portability of creditable coverage for individuals who remain members of the same HealthMart, notwithstanding that they change employers, and notwithstanding that they terminate the employment, if the HealthMart permits individual enrollment. Allows HealthMart coverage to include coverage through a health maintenance organization (HMO), a preferred provider or licensed provider-sponsored organization, an insurance company, a medical savings or flexible spending account, a point-of-service option, or any combination of those coverages. Requires a HealthMart to permit any employer or individual to contract for coverage, and prohibits varying eligibility conditions. Prohibits the purchaser from obtaining or sponsoring coverage other than through the HealthMart. Prohibits enrollment discrimination based on health. Requires HealthMarts to make at least two coverage options available, at least one of which is a non-network option. Supersedes certain related State laws. Provides for the application of: (1) certain existing ERISA and Public Health Service Act requirements; and (2) renewability requirements when the contract between a HealthMart and an issuer is terminated. Title II: Health Care Access and Choice Through Individual Membership Associations (IMAs) - Creates a new Public Health Service Act title on Individual Membership Associations (IMAs), defining IMA to mean an entity that: (1) has been in existence for at least five years for purposes other than obtaining insurance; (2) does not condition membership an health factors; (3) makes health coverage available to all IMA members and their dependents through an HMO, a preferred provider or licensed provider-sponsored organization, an insurance company, a medical savings or flexible spending account, a point-of-service option, or any combination of those coverages; and (4) does not make coverage available other than in connection with an IMA member. Supersedes certain related State laws. Title III: Federal Matching Funding for State Insurance Expenditures - Requires that each State receive from the Secretary of Health and Human Services an amount equal to 50 percent of the funds expended by the State for a health benefits high risk pool, reinsurance pool, or other risk adjustment mechanism to subsidize the purchase of private health insurance. Title IV: Affordable Health Coverage for Employees of Small Businesses - Small Business Access and Choice for Entrepreneurs Act of 1999 - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to establish rules governing health plans sponsored by certain associations, including requirements for: (1) certification; (2) sponsors and boards of trustees, and treatment of franchised networks and collectively bargained plans; (3) participation and coverage of employers and individuals and of previously uninsured employees; (4) plan documents, contribution rates, and benefit options; (5) maintenance of reserves, excess-stop loss insurance, and solvency indemnification for plans providing health benefits in addition to health insurance coverage; (6) applications and related reporting; (7) notice for voluntary termination; and (8) corrective actions and mandatory termination. (Sec. 402) Directs the Secretary of Labor to apply, to the appropriate Federal district court, to be appointed trustee of certain insolvent association health plans which provide health benefits in addition to health insurance coverage. Allows a State to impose a contribution tax on an association health plan that begins operations in such State after the enactment of this Act. (Sec. 403) Revises requirements for treatment of single employer arrangements. (Sec. 404) Revises requirements for certain collectively bargained arrangements. (Sec. 405) Sets forth enforcement requirements relating to association health plans. (Sec. 406) Sets forth State responsibilities, and requirements for cooperation between Federal and State authorities, with respect to association health plans. (Sec. 407) Prescribes special rules for certain existing health benefits programs. Title V: Improvement to Access and Choice of Health Care - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude any compensating coverage employer payment from the gross income of an eligible employee who elects not to participate in an employer-subsidized health plan. (Sec. 501) Defines compensating coverage payment as: (1) any payment made by the employer for qualified health insurance specified by the employee which covers all of the individuals who, but for such election, would be covered under the employer's subsidized health plan; and (2) any payment made by the employer to any medical savings account (MSA) of such employee or spouse. Defines employer health plan contribution as the applicable premium for the employee reduced by the employee's share of such premium, as determined by the employer on an actuarial basis taking into account the employee's age, sex, and geography and similarly situated beneficiaries. Specifies conditions on employer participation in a compensating coverage payment program. Excludes from such a program: (1) any employee covered under a subsidized health plan of another employer or of an employer of the employee's spouse; (2) any employee who normally works less than 25 hours per week; (3) any employee who normally works during not more than six months during any year; (4) any employee under age 21; and (5) any employee covered by a collective bargaining agreement. Requires an employer to report health plan contributions on an employee's W-2 form. (Sec. 502) Allows a tax credit to an individual for a portion of the amount paid during the taxable year for qualified health insurance for coverage of the taxpayer, his spouse, and dependents. Specifies a formula for determination of such credit. Disallows the credit for: (1) any amounts paid for coverage under any subsidized health plan maintained by any employer of the taxpayer or of the taxpayer's spouse; or (2) any taxable year for which any compensating coverage payment is excluded from the taxpayer's gross income. Sets forth requirements for qualified health insurance, including no exclusion from, or limitation on, coverage for any preexisting medical condition of certain applicants. Terminates such credit as of December 31, 2002. (Sec. 503) - Medical Savings Account Effectiveness Act of 1999 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to repeal: (1) the limitations on the number of taxpayers having MSAs; and (2) the limitation of MSAs to small employers (thus permitting all employers to offer them). Revises the amount of deduction allowed for contributions to MSAs to set the monthly limitation at one-12th of the annual deductible of the individual's coverage under the high deductible health plan. Revises the denial of an employee's MSA contribution deduction if an employer makes income-excludible contributions to the employee's MSA. Reduces the limitation on such a deduction by the amount of an employer's contribution (thus allowing both employers and employees to contribute to the employee's MSA). Reduces the minimum deductibles under a high deductible health plan: (1) from $1,500 to $1,000 for self-only coverage; and (2) from $3,000 to $2,000 for family coverage. Allows MSAs to be offered under cafeteria plans. (Sec. 504) Increases the maximum deductibles under a high deductible health plan: (1) from $2,250 to $5,000 for self-only coverage; and (2) from $4,500 to $10,000 for family coverage. Title VI: Patient Access to Information - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require each health insurance issuer offering coverage in connection with a group plan to provide: (1) the plan's Administrator with specified information on plan benefits, a participant's financial responsibilities, legal recourse options available for participants and beneficiaries, and a summary of information available on request; (2) to a participant or to an employee eligible to participate, in certain circumstances, the summary plan description (if requested, in an electronic format); and (3) prior notice to participants of exclusion of a specific drug or biological from any drug formulary that is used in the treatment of a chronic illness or disease.
United States · United States Congress · 4 May 1999
Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform Act - Amends the Federal criminal code to establish general rules relating to civil forfeiture proceedings. Requires that, in any nonjudicial civil forfeiture proceeding under a civil forfeiture statute with respect to which the agency conducting a seizure of property must give written notice to interested parties, such notice be given within 60 days after the later of the date of the seizure or the date the identity of the interested party is first known or discovered by the agency, with an exception. Authorizes a person entitled to written notice to whom such notice is not given to void the forfeiture as to that person's interest in the property on motion unless the agency shows good cause for the failure to give notice or that the person had actual notice of the seizure. Directs the Government, if it does not provide notice, to return the property and not take any further action to effect the property's forfeiture. Authorizes any person claiming property seized in a nonjudicial forfeiture proceeding to file a claim with the appropriate official after the seizure within 30 days after the date of final publication of notice of seizure or, in the case of a person entitled to written notice, the date that notice is received. Requires that the claim state the claimant's interest in the property. Directs the Attorney General, within 90 days, to file a complaint for forfeiture in the appropriate court or return the property, except that a court in the district in which the complaint will be filed may extend the period for filing a complaint for good cause shown or upon agreement of the parties. Provides that if the Government does not file such a complaint it shall return the property and may not take further action to effect the forfeiture of such property. Allows any person to bring such a claim without posting bond. Provides that in any case where the Government files in the appropriate U.S. district court a complaint for forfeiture of property, any person claiming an interest in the seized property may file a claim asserting such person's interest in the property within 30 days of service of the Government's complaint or, where applicable, within 30 days of alternative publication notice. Requires a person asserting an interest in seized property to file an answer to the Government's complaint for forfeiture within 20 days of the filing of the claim. Authorizes the court to appoint counsel to represent that person with respect to the claim when the person filing a claim is financially unable to obtain representation by counsel. Directs the court: (1) in determining whether to appoint counsel to represent the person filing the claim, to take into account such factors as the claimant's standing to contest the forfeiture and whether the claim appears to be made in good faith or to be frivolous; and (2) to set the compensation for that representation, which shall be equal to that provided for court- appointed representation under the code. Authorizes appropriations. Places the burden of proof upon the Government, in all suits or actions brought under any civil forfeiture statute for the civil forfeiture of any property, to establish, by clear and convincing evidence, that the property is subject to forfeiture. Prohibits an innocent owner's interest in property from being forfeited under any civil forfeiture statute. Provides that, with respect to a property interest: (1) in existence at the time the illegal conduct giving rise to forfeiture took place, "innocent owner" means an owner who did not know of the conduct giving rise to forfeiture or who, upon learning of such conduct, did all that reasonably could be expected under the circumstances to terminate such use of the property; and (2) acquired after the conduct giving rise to the forfeiture has taken place, "innocent owner" means a person who, at the time that person acquired the interest in property, was a bona fide purchaser or seller for value or was a person who received an interest in property through probate and was, at the time of the purchase or receipt, reasonably without cause to believe that the property was subject to forfeiture. Provides that, where the property subject to forfeiture is real property, and the claimant uses the property as the claimant's primary residence and is the spouse or minor child of the person who committed the offense giving rise to the forfeiture, an otherwise valid innocent owner claim shall not be denied on the ground that the claimant acquired the interest in the property through dissolution of marriage or by operation of law, or as an inheritance upon the death of a parent and not through a purchase. Entitles a claimant to immediate release of seized property if: (1) the claimant has a possessory interest in the property; (2) the continued possession by the United States Government pending the final disposition of forfeiture proceedings will cause substantial hardship to the claimant; and (3) the claimant's likely hardship from such continued possession outweighs the risk that the property will be destroyed, damaged, lost, concealed, or transferred if it is returned to the claimant during the pendency of the preceding. Requires a claimant seeking release of property to request possession of the property from the appropriate official, setting forth the basis on which requirements of this Act are met. Authorizes the claimant, if within ten days after the date of the request the property has not been released, to file a motion or complaint in any district court that would have jurisdiction of forfeiture proceedings relating to the property setting forth the basis on which this Act's requirements are met and the steps the claimant has taken to secure release of the property. Directs the district court, if a motion or complaint is filed, to order that the property be returned to the claimant pending completion of proceedings by the Government to obtain forfeiture of the property, if the claimant shows that such requirements have been met. Authorizes the court to place such conditions on release of the property as appropriate to preserve the availability of the property or its equivalent for forfeiture. Requires the court to render a decision within 30 days after the date of the filing unless such period is extended by consent of the parties or by the court for good cause shown. (Sec. 3) Amends the Federal judicial code to authorize the use of funds in the Department of Justice Assets Forfeiture Fund for payment of: (1) court-awarded compensation for representation of claimants; and (2) compensation for property damages under the Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform Act. Repeals provisions of the Controlled Substances Act regarding expedited procedures for seized conveyances. (Sec. 4) Makes the Federal Tort Claims Act applicable to claims based on the negligent destruction, injury, or loss of goods, merchandise, or other property while in the possession of any officer of customs or excise or any other law enforcement officer, if the property was seized for the purpose of forfeiture but the interest of the claimant is not forfeited. Authorizes the Attorney General, with respect to a claim that cannot be settled under tort claims procedures, to settle for not more than $50,000 in any case a claim for damage to, or loss of, privately owned property caused by an investigative or law enforcement officer who is employed by the Department of Justice acting within the scope of his or her employment, subject to specified limitations. (Sec. 5) Makes the United States liable for post-judgment interest upon entry of judgment for the claimant in any proceeding to condemn or forfeit property seized or arrested under any Act of Congress, but not for prejudgment interest, with exceptions.
United States · United States Congress · 29 April 1999
Amends the National Labor Relations Act to provide for inflation adjustments to the mandatory jurisdiction thresholds of the National Labor Relations Board.
United States · United States Congress · 29 April 1999
Consumer Disclosure and Rental Purchase Agreement Act - Amends the Consumer Credit Protection Act to create a new title on rental purchase agreements. Declares that the title does not apply to rental-purchase agreements primarily for business, commercial, or agricultural purposes or made with Government instrumentalities. Regulates: (1) the content and manner of disclosures by merchants in rental-purchase agreements; and (2) the contents of rental-purchase agreements. Prohibits a rental-purchase agreement from containing specified inclusions. Sets forth provisions for: (1) quarterly reports from merchants to consumers; (2) renegotiations and extensions of rental-purchase agreements; and (3) the content of rental-purchase advertising. Imposes individual and class action civil liability for violations. Establishes merchant defenses and provides for the liability of merchant assignees. Mandates model disclosure forms and clauses. Sets forth conditions under which this Act shall preempt State laws relating to rental-purchase agreements.
United States · United States Congress · 28 April 1999
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Northeast Interstate Dairy Compact Title II: Southern Dairy Compact Dairy Consumers and Producers Protection Act - Title I: Northeast Interstate Dairy Compact - Amends the Agricultural Market Transition Act to include Maryland, New Jersey, and New York within the Northeast Interstate Dairy Compact. Includes Ohio among the additional States that may join such Compact, and eliminates Virginia from such group. Eliminates and revises specified provisions regarding Compact implementation, duration, restricting authority, and Commodity Credit Corporation compensation. Title II: Southern Dairy Compact - States that Congress consents to the Southern Dairy Compact entered into by Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. Includes Florida, Georgia, Missouri, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Texas as additional States that may join such Compact. Limits price regulatory authority to Class I fluid milk unless otherwise consented to by Congress. Provides for Commodity Credit Corporation compensation. Sets forth the Southern Dairy Compact.
United States · United States Congress · 28 April 1999
Patent Fairness Act of 1999 - Amends Federal law to require, if the Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks determines that certain standards are met, restoration of the term of any patent, in force on September 24, 1984, and on the filing date of a patent term restoration application under this Act, that claims: (1) a drug product; (2) a method of using a drug product; or (3) a method of manufacturing a drug product. (Sec. 2) Defines such standards as: (1) a regulatory review period from application submission to application approval exceeding 60 months; and (2) the absence of substantial evidence overcoming the rebuttable presumption that the applicant for patent term restoration for the drug product acted with due diligence. Requires subtraction from the total amount of the restoration term of any time during the regulatory review period during which the Commissioner finds that the applicant for patent term restoration did not act with due diligence. Limits a restoration period, after specified adjustments, to five years. Requires restoration term applications to be filed within 90 days after enactment of this Act. Provides for: (1) claim determination procedure; (2) interim restoration of the patent term pending final disposition; and (3) appeal of the Commissioner's determinations to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit only. Entitles to compensation by the patent owner of any person who has submitted an new drug application under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act for a drug product covered by a patent for which a patent term was restored under this Act, if such application has been found by the Food and Drug Administration on or before enactment of this Act to be sufficiently complete to permit substantive review. Sets the amount of compensation at: (1)$1 million; or (2) $500,000 for any holder of a Type II Drug Master File that has permitted a reference to its File to be made in such application. Limits a patent owner's overall liability to: (1) $5 million to persons submitting new drug applications; or (2) $2.5 million to holders of Type II Drug Master Files. Requires the Commissioner to report to Congress: (1) an evaluation of the patent term restoration review procedure established by this Act; and (2) a recommendation whether Congress should consider establishing such a patent term review procedure for patents not covered by this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 28 April 1999
Regulatory Fairness and Openness Act of 1999 - Requires the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to conduct a transition analysis report with respect to pesticide tolerances before releasing any product safety information to the public, or making final tolerance decisions. Includes within such report's requirements a description of the extent to which specified assumptions have been used to support findings or regulatory recommendations. (Sec. 5) Sets forth interim review or reassessment procedures. (Sec. 6) Requires the Administrator to issue within one year of enactment of this Act final implementing rules for tolerances and exemptions for pesticide chemical residues. (Sec. 7) Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to require the Administrator to issue guidelines specifying required data in support of tolerances and exemptions. Amends the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act to provide for related notice and opportunity for hearing. (Sec. 8) Amends the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act to provide for an expedited replacement product registration process. Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to authorize an expedited tolerance for an emergency exemption if no significant (food) consumer risk exists. (Sec. 9) Requires the Administrator and the Secretary of Agriculture to report with respect to related pesticide, residue, and food use priorities and resources. (Sec. 10) Requires the Secretary to develop a program to monitor the competitive international market strength of major U.S. agricultural commodity sectors. (Sec. 11) Establishes the Pesticide Advisory Committee.
United States · United States Congress · 28 April 1999
Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) of the Social Security Act to restore the link ended by the Senior Citizens' Freedom to Work Act of 1995 between the rules relating to substantial gainful activity for blind individuals and the rules relating to excess earnings under the social security earnings test for individuals who have attained retirement age (thus allowing blind individuals, once again, to earn up to the social security excess earnings threshold without being regarded as having demonstrated an ability to engage in substantial gainful activity and without losing entitlement to OASDI benefits). Makes this Act effective with respect to taxable years ending after 1995.
United States · United States Congress · 28 April 1999
Charity Empowerment Act of 1999 - Title I: Assistance to States in Providing Charity Tax Credits - Authorizes States with a charity tax credit under State law to allocate certain Federal grant funds for specified purposes. Requires any charity receiving creditable donations primarily to assist poor individuals. (Sec. 103) Directs the Comptroller General to study and report to Congress on the effects of the charity tax credit under this title. Title II: Budget Offset - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to reduce the earned income credit for individuals without children. Title III: Tort Reforms Relating to Charitable Contributions - Relieves business entities of civil liability (except in cases of gross negligence or intentional misconduct) relating to any injury or death: (1) resulting from use of equipment the entity donates, or from the operation (outside the scope of business of the entity) of aircraft or a motor vehicle loaned, to a nonprofit organization; (2) occurring at a facility of the entity used by a nonprofit organization (outside the scope of business of the entity), or during a tour of the facility (in an area otherwise not accessible to the general public). Preempts State liability law in this matter, but allows a State to elect not to allow this title to apply. Title IV: Charitable Choice Expansion Act - Charitable Choice Expansion Act of 1999 - Amends the Revised Statutes to prohibit the Federal Government and State or local governments receiving Federal funds for any assistance program (except certain education and child care programs) from discriminating against an organization providing assistance under, or applying to provide assistance under, such a program, on the basis that the organization has a religious character. Title V: Tax-free Distributions from Individual Retirement Accounts for Charitable Purposes - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from an individual's gross income any qualified distributions from individual retirement accounts to tax-exempt charitable organizations, charitable remainder trusts, pooled income funds, and charitable gift annuities.
United States · United States Congress · 28 April 1999
Expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) the court-martial charges against then-Captain Charles McVay, U.S. Navy, arising from the sinking of the USS INDIANAPOLIS on July 30, 1945, while under his command were not morally sustainable; (2) Captain McVay's conviction was a miscarriage of justice; (3) the American people should now recognize Captain McVay's lack of culpability for the loss of such ship and the lives of the men who died as the result of her sinking; and (4) the President should award a Unit Citation to the final crew of the INDIANAPOLIS in recognition of their courage and fortitude in the face of tremendous hardship and adversity after their ship was torpedoed and sunk.
United States · United States Congress · 22 April 1999
Educational Opportunities Act of 1999 - Title I: HELP Scholarships - Helping Empower Low-Income Parents (HELP) Scholarships Amendments of 1999 - Amends title VI (Innovative Education Program Strategies) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) to allow any State that has enacted or will enact a law establishing a voluntary public and private school parental choice scholarship program in compliance with specified ESEA requirements to reserve an additional 15 percent from its annual title IV allotment for use exclusively for such parental choice programs. Requires State educational agencies (SEAs), except in the case of such programs, to distribute 90 percent (currently 85 percent) of title VI funds to local educational agencies (LEAs). (Sec. 105) Includes such parental choice programs among State and local uses of title VI funds. Requires such parental choice programs to be located in an area designated as an empowerment zone or enterprise community. (Sec. 106) Directs the Comptroller General to make contracts for annual evaluation of each parental choice program. Requires the Secretary of Education to reserve certain funds for such evaluations. Provides that title VI funds to establish a parental choice program shall be considered assistance to the student and shall not be considered as assistance to any school that chooses to participate in such program. Prohibits the Secretary from exercising any direction, supervision, or control over curricula, program of instruction, administration, or personnel of any school that chooses to participate in a parental choice program. Title II: Education Tax Credit - Children's Education Tax Credit Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to establish a tax credit (of up to $1,000) for the qualified educational expenses (tuition, attendance fees, books, supplies, equipment, but excluding meals and lodging) paid by a taxpayer for the education at an eligible zone educational institution of each individual with respect to whom the taxpayer is allowed a deduction as a dependent. (Sec. 202) Provides for: (1) the inclusion of certain home schooling expenses; and (2) adjustments for certain scholarships. Defines "eligible zone educational institution" as a secondary school, an elementary school, or any private, parochial, religious, or home school that: (1) provides elementary or secondary education; and (2) is located in an area designated as an empowerment zone or enterprise community.
United States · United States Congress · 20 April 1999
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Improvement of Classroom Services and Activities Title II: Miscellaneous Provisions Dollars to the Classroom Act - Title I: Improvement of Classroom Services and Activities - Authorizes the Secretary of Education award grants to States for use by States and local educational agencies (LEAs) to improve classroom services and activities for students. (Sec. 102) Requires reservation of specified portions of title I funds for: (1) outlying areas, to be distributed on the basis of their relative need; and (2) the Secretary of the Interior for programs in schools operated or funded by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Sets forth a formula for distribution of title I funds to States, including a hold harmless provision with respect to amounts received in FY 1999 under current formula grant programs (which are under specified Acts and programs repealed by this Act). Requires States to distribute at least 95 percent of allotted funds to LEAs. Requires States and LEAs to use title I funds to supplement and not to supplant funds from non-Federal sources. Requires State annual reports to the Secretary and specified congressional committees to be made available to parents and the public. (Sec. 103) Requires States to consider certain factors when distributing funds within the State. Sets forth hold-harmless provisions for LEAs with respect to: (1) funds received for FY 1999 under current formula grant programs; and (2) funds the LEA is eligible to receive during FY 1999 through 2003 under multiyear awards made prior to enactment of this Act. Lists local uses of title I funds. Requires LEAs to involve parents and members of the public in planning for the use of title I funds. (Sec. 104) Provides for participation of private school children and teachers in title I activities and services. (Sec. 106) Declares that nothing in this title shall be construed to authorize any Federal officer or employee to require, direct, or control a State, LEA, or school's specific instructional content of pupil performance standards and assessments, curriculum, or program of instruction as a condition of eligibility to receive funds under this title. Prohibits the Secretary from issuing any regulation regarding the type of classroom activities or services that may be assisted under this title. Provides that LEAs shall not be required to provide services under this title through a particular instructional method or in a particular instructional setting in order to receive funding under this title. (Sec. 107) Repeals the following programs under the Goals 2000: Educate America Act: (1) State and local education systemic improvement; (2) parental assistance; and (3) international education exchange and study. Repeals the following programs under the School-to-Work Opportunities Act of 1994: (1) school-to-work opportunities system development and implementation grants to States; (2) Federal implementation grants to local partnerships; and (3) national programs. Repeals the following programs under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA): (1) demonstrations of innovative practices; (2) innovative elementary school transition projects; (3) Dwight D. Eisenhower Professional Development Program, including national programs and State and local activities; (4) Technology for Education, including national programs, State and local programs for school technology resources, Star Schools, Ready-to-Learn Television, telecommunications demonstration project for mathematics, elementary mathematics and science equipment, and elementary and secondary school library media resources; (5) Magnet Schools Assistance; (6) Women's Educational Equity; (7) Innovative Education Program Strategies; (8) Native Hawaiians Education; (9) Alaska Native Education; (10) Fund for the Improvement of Education; (11) Gifted and Talented Education; (12) Arts in Education; (13) Civic Education; (14) Allen J. Ellender Fellowship Program (Close-Up programs for middle and secondary school students and teachers); (15) 21st Century Community Learning Centers; (16) Urban and Rural Education Assistance; (17) National Writing Project; (18) Extended Time for Learning and Longer School Year; (19) Comprehensive Regional Assistance Centers; and (20) Eisenhower Math and Science Regional Consortia. Repeals the Education for Homeless Children program under the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act. (Sec. 108) Authorizes appropriations. Title II: Miscellaneous Provisions - Authorizes the Secretary to waive statutory or regulatory requirements for a State educational agency (SEA), LEA, or school under certain conditions for specified programs under ESEA and the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Education Act. (Sec. 201) Education Flexibility Partnership Demonstration Act - Authorizes the Secretary to allow all 50 States to participate in the Education Flexibility Partnership Demonstration Act program (currently under title III of the Goals 2000: Educate America Act, which is repealed by this Act). Directs the Secretary to: (1) review the progress of agencies or schools affected by waivers under title II; and (2) publish and disseminate the decision to grant, or to authorize SEAs to issue, such waivers. (Sec. 202) Amends ESEA to eliminate criteria which a school must meet in order for its LEA to use funds for schoolwide programs at that school.
United States · United States Congress · 15 April 1999
Law Enforcement and Public Safety Enhancement Act of 1999 - Amends the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949 to extend the authority for the Administrator of the General Services Administration to transfer or convey to State and local governments certain surplus real and related personal property for law enforcement or emergency management response purposes to include the transfer or conveyance of such property for public safety purposes.
United States · United States Congress · 15 April 1999
Working Americans Wage Restoration Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow an individual a deduction in arriving at adjusted gross income for the old-age, survivors, and disability insurance (OASDI) taxes paid by the individual as an employee during the taxable year. Includes in such deduction: (1) the portion of the tier 1 railroad retirement tax paid equivalent to OASDI taxes; as well as (2) amounts equivalent to such taxes imposed with respect to remuneration covered by a voluntary agreement under the Social Security Act for coverage of State and local government employees, or a specified kind of agreement entered into by American employers with respect to foreign affiliates. Allows a self-employed individual to deduct, in arriving at adjusted gross income, all OASDI taxes paid and half the hospital insurance taxes paid.
United States · United States Congress · 15 April 1999
Tax Deduction Fairness Act of 1999 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a taxpayer to elect, when itemizing, to deduct State and local general sales taxes in lieu of State and local income taxes. Limits such deduction to a tax imposed at one rate in respect of the sale at retail of a broad range of classes of items (including food, clothing, medical supplies, and motor vehicles).
United States · United States Congress · 14 April 1999
Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to implement the Class I milk price structure known as Option A as part of the final rule to consolidate Federal milk marketing orders.
United States · United States Congress · 14 April 1999
Increases the number of authorized sites for the Medicare subvention demonstration project for certain Medicare-eligible military retirees and their dependents (a project established by the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 under title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act). Provides for the future repeal of the limitation on the number of such sites (thus allowing the project to be conducted at any site designed by the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Secretary of Defense acting jointly). Makes the project permanent, with its cap on the aggregate amount of calendar year reimbursement that may be made under the project to end after calendar year 2000. Makes further changes regarding the project, permitting payment under it to be made on a fee-for-service basis for certain project enrollees, and eliminating certain restrictive project participation policy. Applies to certain Medigap (Medicare supplemental health insurance policy) enrollees the same protections (prohibitions against issuer discrimination) as apply to enrollment (and termination of enrollment) with a Medicare+Choice organization in a Medicare+Choice plan under Medicare part C (Medicare+Choice).
United States · United States Congress · 14 April 1999
Amends the Clean Air Act to require the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to amend certain regulations regarding motor vehicle fuels to prohibit the use of methyl tertiary butyl ether as a fuel additive. Directs the Administrator to prohibit any additive in gasoline registered under fuel regulation provisions unless it has been determined, through scientific testing and peer review, not to have adverse effects on the public.
United States · United States Congress · 13 April 1999
Higher Education Reporting Relief Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to repeal the requirement that educational institutions and certain other trades and businesses file returns reporting information about recipients of Hope Scholarship and Lifetime Learning Credits. Requires taxpayers taking such credits to include on their returns the name, address, and taxpayer identification number of the eligible educational institution concerned.
United States · United States Congress · 12 April 1999
Prohibits funds appropriated or otherwise available to the Department of Defense from being obligated or expended for the deployment of U.S. ground forces in Kosovo unless such deployment is specifically authorized by law enacted after the enactment of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 25 March 1999
Quality Health-Care Coalition Act of 1999 - Entitles any health care professionals negotiating with a health plan regarding contract terms under which they provide health care items or services for which plan benefits are provided to the same treatment under antitrust laws as that accorded to a collective bargaining unit recognized under the National Labor Relations Act.
United States · United States Congress · 25 March 1999
Fairness in Asbestos Compensation Act of 1999 - Title I: Asbestos Resolution Corporation - Establishes the Asbestos Resolution Corporation which shall: (1) have exclusive authority to adopt rules for cost recovery, physician qualifications, alternative dispute resolution, exceptional medical cases, and disease eligibility; and (2) appoint a Medical Advisory Board. Title II: Medical Eligibility Determinations - Sets forth claimant medical eligibility determination criteria for: (1) nonmalignant conditions; (2) mesothelioma; (3) lung cancer; and (4) other cancer. (Sec. 205) Sets forth procedures for Corporation determination of a claimant's certificate of medical eligibility. (Sec. 206) Directs the Corporation to establish one or more exceptional medical claims panels. Sets forth application and acceptance provisions. (Sec. 207) Provides for: (1) confidentiality; and (2) U.S. district court review, following exhaustion of administrative remedies, of Corporation determinations that a claimant fails to meet medical criteria or that a claim does not qualify as an exceptional medical claim. Title III: Alternative Dispute Resolution - Directs the Board to establish procedural rules for an alternative dispute resolution process. Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) motions officers; (2) respondent notification; (3) additional respondents; (4) grace period; (5) mediation and arbitration; and (6) subpoena powers. Title IV: Civil Actions - Prohibits: (1) a civil asbestos action unless the plaintiff has obtained a certificate of medical eligibility and release from mediation; and (2) a class action or other collective action without the consent of each defendant. (Sec. 404) Requires a penalty for a final offer made by a respondent in mediation if such offer is below a certain amount assigned by the jury or fact-finder. Title V: Rules Applicable to Arbitrations and Civil Actions - Sets forth arbitration and civil action rules with respect to: (1) relief; (2) timeliness defenses; (3) attorney's fees; and (4) nonpreclusion of nonmalignant claims upon subsequent malignancy claims. Title VI: Funding - Directs the Corporation to estimate its annual medical review and administrative and overhead costs and allocate proportionate cost shares among the previous year's respondents. Provides monetary penalties for noncooperation with the Corporation. (Sec. 602) Provides for mediation and arbitration costs to be charged on a per capita basis to participating respondents. (Sec. 603) Directs the Corporation to establish procedures for informal resolution of cost assessment disputes. Provides for U.S. district court review of cost assessment disputes. Title VII: Applicability; Pending Civil Actions - Makes this Act applicable to any civil asbestos action that has not resulted in a final, nonappealable judgment, with specified conditions applicable to pending civil actions. Title VIII: Miscellaneous Provisions - Defines specified terms. (Sec. 804) Makes this Act inapplicable to: (1) existing asbestos trusts, with an elective trust exception; and (2) any settlement agreement or related agreement concerning asbestos claims entered into by claimants, defendants, or their counsel.
United States · United States Congress · 25 March 1999
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to make revisions concerning the treatment of tip income for specified services, including treating a limited amount of tips as property transferred by gift.
United States · United States Congress · 25 March 1999
Small Savers Retirement Enhancement Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to increase from $2,000 to $5,000 the annual limits on an individual's contributions to his or her individual retirement account (IRA). Mandates annual indexing of the $2,000 deductible portion of such contributions.
United States · United States Congress · 25 March 1999
Urges the President to undertake efforts to end restrictions on the freedoms and human rights of the enclaved people of Cyprus.
United States · United States Congress · 25 March 1999
Declares that Congress should actively oversee the Health Care Financing Administration's administration of the Medicare (title XVIII of the Social Security Act) home health benefit.
United States · United States Congress · 24 March 1999
Expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) a commemorative postage stamp should be issued by the Postal Service to honor the members of the armed forces who have been awarded the Purple Heart; and (2) the Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee should recommend to the Postmaster General that such a stamp be issued in 1999, the year marking the 200th anniversary of the death of George Washington.
United States · United States Congress · 23 March 1999
Child Custody Protection Act - Amends the Federal criminal code to prohibit transporting an individual under age 18 across a State line to obtain an abortion and thereby abridging the right of a parent under a law in force in the State where the individual resides requiring parental involvement in a minor's abortion decision. Makes an exception if the abortion was necessary to save the life of the minor. Specifies that neither the minor transported nor her parent may be prosecuted or sued for a violation of this Act. Makes it an affirmative defense to a prosecution for, or to a civil action based on, such a violation that the defendant reasonably believed that before the individual obtained the abortion, the parental consent or notification or judicial authorization that would have been required had the abortion been performed in the State where the individual resides, took place. Authorizes any parent who suffers legal harm from a violation to obtain appropriate relief in a civil action. Defines "parent" to include a guardian, legal custodian, or person standing in loco parentis who has care and control of the minor, and with whom the minor regularly resides, who is designated by such law as a person to whom notification, or from whom consent, is required.
United States · United States Congress · 18 March 1999
Medicare Medical Nutrition Therapy Act of 1999 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide for Medicare coverage of medical nutrition therapy services of registered dietitians and nutrition professionals.
United States · United States Congress · 18 March 1999
Second Amendment Rights Protection Act of 1999 - Amends the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act to prohibit the use of appropriated funds for: (1) any system to implement the Act that does not require and result in the immediate destruction of all information submitted by or on behalf of any person who has been determined not to be prohibited from owning a firearm; and (2) the implementation or collection of any tax or fee by any Federal officer, agent, or employee, or by any State or local officer or agent acting on behalf of the United States, in connection with such implementation. Authorizes any person aggrieved by a violation of this Act to bring an action in Federal district court and, if successful, to receive damages, punitive damages, and such other remedies as the court may determine to be appropriate, including a reasonable attorney's fee.
United States · United States Congress · 18 March 1999
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide that the exclusion of State or local government foster care payments from the gross income of foster care providers shall also apply to payments by qualifying placement agencies.
United States · United States Congress · 17 March 1999
Firefighter Investment and Response Enhancement (FIRE) Act - Authorizes the Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to make grants on a competitive basis to a variety of fire departments for any of a number of specified purposes, including: (1) hiring additional firefighting personnel; (2) training them; (3) funding creation of rapid intervention teams to protect firefighting personnel at the scenes of fires and other emergencies; (4) certifying fire inspectors; (5) establishing wellness and fitness programs for firefighting personnel; (6) funding emergency medical services; (7) acquiring additional firefighting vehicles and equipment, including personal protective equipment required by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration; (8) modifying fire stations, fire training facilities, and other facilities; (9) enforcing fire codes; (10) funding fire prevention programs; and (11) educating the public about arson prevention and detection. Requires the FEMA Director to establish an office to set specific criteria for the selection of grant recipients and administer the grants. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 17 March 1999
American Sovereignty Restoration Act of 1999 - Repeals: (1) the United Nations Participation Act of 1945; (2) the United Nations Headquarters Agreement Act; (3) the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization Act; and (4) the United Nations Environment Program Participation Act of 1973. Directs the President to terminate U.S. participation in the United Nations (UN), including any organ, specialized agency, commission, or other affiliated body. Requires closure of the United States Mission to the UN. Prohibits the authorization of funds for the U.S. assessed or voluntary contribution to the UN. Prohibits: (1) the authorization of funds for any U.S. contribution to any UN military operation; and (2) the expenditure of funds to support the participation of U.S. armed forces as part of any UN military or peacekeeping operation. Bars U.S. armed forces from serving under UN command. Prohibits the use of any U.S. facility or property by the UN or any of its affiliated agencies. Repeals diplomatic immunity for foreign UN employees (including families or servants of such employees). Terminates the United States: (1) membership in World Health Organization (WHO); and (2) participation in all conventions and-or agreements with the UN. Declares that nothing in this Act shall affect the rights regarding reemployment of employees with the Government after service with an international organization. Requires the Secretary of State to notify the UN of the provisions of this Act.