United States · United States Congress · 21 August 1994
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that the President should award Benjamin Elijah Mays the Presidential Medal of Freedom posthumously in honor of his distinguished career as an educator, civil and human rights nonviolent leader, and public theologian and his many contributions to the improvement of American society and the world.
United States · United States Congress · 28 July 1994
Waives certain time limitations with respect to the posthumous award of the Congressional Medal of Honor to Doris Miller for acts of heroism while serving in the Navy during World War II.
United States · United States Congress · 20 July 1994
Fair Pay Act of 1994 - Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to prohibit discrimination in payment of wages on the basis of sex, race, or national origin. Requires such nondiscriminatory equal pay for equivalent jobs with the same employer, unless the differential payment is made pursuant to a system of seniority, merit, or production quality or quantity based earnings. Prohibits discrimination against an employee for exercising rights under this Act. Directs the court, in actions brought for violations of this Act, to allow expert fees as part of the costs, in addition to any other remedies awarded to prevailing plaintiffs. Allows such actions to be maintained as class actions. Requires employers to keep records and file annual reports with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) necessary for enforcement of this Act. Provides that such reports' contents shall be public information. Directs the EEOC to carry out a research, education, and technical assistance program for employers, labor organizations, and the general public concerning effective means available to implement this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 14 July 1994
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Promotion of Work and Self-Sufficiency Subtitle A: Expansion of Funding for, and Participation in, the JOBS Program Subtitle B: Job Creation, Job Placement and Development, and Work Requirements Subtitle C: Support for Working Families Subtitle D: Child Care Title II: Strengthening Parental Responsibility and Family Stability Subtitle A: Federal Responsibilities Subtitle B: Paternity Establishment Subtitle C: Enforcement Subtitle D: State Responsibilities Subtitle E: Demonstrations Subtitle F: Miscellaneous Title III: Teen Parents and Welfare Reform Subtitle A: Family Subtitle B: Education and Employment Subtitle C: Case Management Subtitle D: Demonstration Projects Title IV: Waivers Title V: Improving Government Assistance Subtitle A: AFDC Amendments Subtitle B: Food Stamp Act Amendments Title VI: Effective Date Family Self-Sufficiency Act of 1994 - Title I: Promotion of Work and Self-Sufficiency - Subtitle A: Expansion of Funding for, and Participation in, the JOBS Program - Amends title IV (Aid to Families With Dependent Children) (AFDC) to increase funding and the matching rate for the Job Opportunities and Basic Skills (JOBS) program. Revises JOBS participation requirements. (Sec. 104) Requires State plans to provide for a preliminary assessment of a family's self-sufficiency needs within 30 days after approval of an AFDC application. Subtitle B: Job Creation, Job Placement and Development, and Work Requirements - Authorizes any State to establish a public jobs creation program providing AFDC-eligible individuals with employment in the public sector or in private nonprofit organizations. (Sec. 112) Revises job placement, job development, and job retention activities retirements to provide for their expansion. (Sec. 113) Requires establishment of self-employment programs. Subtitle C: Support for Working Families - Eliminates the dollar-for-dollar "work penalty" in determining the amount of an AFDC recipient's earned income disregard. (Sec. 122) Raises the limitation on total family income. (Sec. 123) Allows a State the option to extend Medicaid enrollment for former AFDC recipients for one additional year after they have obtained employment. (Sec. 124) Revises treatment of two-parent families. (Sec. 125) Increases the stepparent income disregard. Subtitle D: Child Care - Increases child care funding. (Sec. 132) Sets forth a formula for payments to encourage the use of an entire State allotment for at-risk child care. Limits the carryforward of unused allotments. (Sec. 134) Requires a State agency to pay a family at most 75 percent of the actual local cost of child care (or a higher maximum, as the State may establish). (Sec. 135) Requires a State to set aside a specified portion of Federal funds for the improvement of the quality of services and the building of infrastructure to serve low-income children. (Sec. 136) Revises requirements with respect to child care for working AFDC parents. (Sec. 137) Revises child care health and safety standards and continuity of care requirements. (Sec. 138) Requires a State agency to ensure: (1) periodic identification of child care needs; (2) family understanding of child care alternatives; and (3) reimbursement mechanisms meeting family needs. (Sec. 140) Revises "seamless services facilitation" requirements for the provision of child care assistance to families who cease to receive AFDC benefits. (Sec. 141) Allows States to continue child care assistance without interruption during breaks between otherwise allowable activities, and for a reasonable time after loss of employment, to ensure continuity of child care arrangements. (Sec. 142) Requires States to guarantee child care whether or not a caretaker relative is receiving AFDC. (Sec. 143) Grants States the option to extend transitional child care benefits, and provide them to families who have received AFDC for less than three months. (Sec. 145) Limits at-risk child care to families ineligible for recipient or transitional child care. (Sec. 146) Repeals the requirement that a family receiving transitional child care benefits include a dependent child. (Sec. 148) Requires a State to ensure continued provision of child care with respect to a family of an individual in dispute resolution with the State over the individual's qualification for such care. (Sec. 149) Grants a State agency the option to enter agreements for consolidation of State responsibility for child care. Title II: Strengthening Parental Responsibility and Family Stability - Subtitle A: Federal Responsibilities - Adds to present uses of the Federal Parent Locator Service: (1) establishing parentage, or establishing, modifying, and enforcing child support obligations; and (2) providing safeguards to prevent the disclosure of information in case that would jeopardize the safety of the custodial or noncustodial parent or any child of either such parent. (Sec. 202) Requires the Federal Parent Locator System to include information on an absent parent's income and assets. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to enter into an agreement with the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) (the Secretary) to provide the System with prompt access to all Federal income tax returns. Directs the Secretary to expand the Parent Locator Service to establish a national network based on the comprehensive statewide child support enforcement systems developed by the States in order to give each State access to records of other States. (Sec. 203) Directs the Secretary to establish a Federal registry of all child support orders recorded in State registries. Requires the Federal registry to compare information on W-4 forms with information in child support orders. (Sec. 204) Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to establish a system of reporting by requiring employers to provide a copy of every employee's W-4 form to the Federal child support order registry. (Sec. 205) Increases the base matching rate for Federal payments for State child support enforcement activities. (Sec. 206) Revises requirements for performance-based incentives and penalties. (Sec. 207) Provides for increased Federal financial participation for States with unified child support enforcement programs. (Sec. 208) Directs the Secretary to promulgate criteria and standards for a new child support audit process. (Sec. 209) Establishes the National Child Support Guidelines Commission to develop a national child support guideline for congressional consideration based on a study of various guideline models, the benefits and efficiencies of such models, and any needed improvements. (Sec. 210) Directs the Secretary to establish a Child Support Audit Advisory Committee. Subtitle B: Paternity Establishment - Revises requirements for paternity establishment procedures. Requires States to provide for new outreach programs to encourage voluntary paternity acknowledgement. Sets forth an administrative penalty of AFDC recuctions for children for whom paternity is not established promptly. Subtitle C: Enforcement - Requires States to establish procedures for: (1) obtaining access to financial records maintained by any financial institution doing business in the State, for the purpose of establishing, modifying, or enforcing a child support obligation; and (2) requiring courts or administrative agencies to issue final orders in a child support or parentage case requiring each party to file addresses, telephone numbers, social security numbers, driver's license numbers, and other specified information. (Sec. 223) Amends the Consumer Credit Protection Act to allow a State agency administering an AFDC program to use consumer credit reports to establish, modify, or enforce a child support award. (Sec. 224) Amends Federal law to make Federal death, black lung, veterans, and workers' compensation benefits subject to garnishment for child support. (Sec. 225) Requires State and Federal holds on granting of certain occupational, professional, and business licenses for a noncustodial parent with a child support delinquency. (Sec. 226) Requires State procedures to: (1) deny driver's licenses and vehicle registrations to persons failing to appear in child support cases; and (2) systematically place liens on all nonexempt real and titled personal property for child support arrearages. (Sec. 228) Requires State procedures requiring a rebuttable presumption that, in any case related to child support, any transfer of property for significantly less than its fair market value by an individual who owes a child support arrearage is made with the intent to avoid payment of the arrearage. (Sec. 229) Revises from $1,000 to the monthly support obligation the minumum threshold for a State at its option to report child support arrearage information to a credit bureau. (Sec. 230) Authorizes the Secretary of State to refuse, revoke, restrict, or limit a passport to noncustodial parents subject to State arrest warrants for nonpayment of child support. (Sec. 231) Requires State procedures permitting enforcement of any child support order until the child attains age 30. (Sec. 232) Provides for State certification to the Secretary of the Treasury of a child support obligation for Internal Revenue Service collection. Subtitle D: State Responsibilities - Requires procedures under which a State child support enforcement agency shall establish an automated central child support order registry. (Sec. 241) Requires a State to transmit a wage withholding order to the employer of any individual upon the imposition of a child support obligation. (Sec. 242) Requires the Secretary to develop a uniform abstract of a child support order with specified contents. (Sec. 243) Requires States to enact the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act. (Sec. 244) Revises requirements for expedited processes, administrative procedures, and due process. (Sec. 246) Requires State plans to provide for an ongoing program of outreach to eligible persons. (Sec. 247) Requires States to: (1) ensure cost-of-living adjustments for child support awards; (2) establish a simplified process for review and adjustment of certain child support orders; and (3) ensure that the State does not provide to any noncustodial parent representation relating to review or adjustment of a child support order, unless the State makes such provision outside the State agency. (Sec. 250) Directs the Secretary to conduct and complete staffing studies for each State child support enforcement program, including each agency and court involved in the child support process. Requires specified reductions in AFDC payments to a State that has not met performance standards and has not implemented the staffing levels recommended in the report to the Congress on such studies. (Sec. 251) Requires States to develop and implement a program of annual training to all personnel performing functions under the State plan. (Sec. 252) Sets priorities for the distribution of collected child support. (Sec. 253) Grants States the option to waive temporarily the right to collect child support obligations of teen noncustodial parents participating in a State educational or employment preparation program. Subtitle E: Demonstrations - Directs the Secretary to make grants to up to six States to conduct demonstration projects for establishing or improving a system of assured minimum child support payments. Subtitle F: Miscellaneous - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to make a technical correction to the definition of medical child support order. Title III: Teen Parents and Welfare Reform - Subtitle A: Family - Requires a State plan to provide that, with specified exceptions, no AFDC benefits shall be provided to an individual under age 18 who has never married but has a dependent child in his or her care or is pregnant and eligible for AFDC if the individual's case manager determines that the individual is not residing in the home of the individual's parent, legal guardian, or other adult relative, or in a foster home, maternity home, or other adult-supervised supportive living arrangement. (Sec. 302) Requires a State plan to provide for a $50 increase in the monthly benefit to a family including an individual under age 20 who is the parent of a child whose paternity has been established or with respect to which a child support order is in effect. Subtitle B: Education and Employment - Sets forth schooling and employment requirements for any AFDC recipient who is under age 20 and is a custodial parent or is pregnant. (Sec. 312) Allows a State to increase AFDC payments by a certain amount to any qualified participant in certain appropriate summer educational or other activities. (Sec. 313) Provides for bonus payments to States which meet specified goals for teen participation in Job Opportunities and Basic Skills (JOBS) program activities. (Sec. 314) Allows States the option to provide child care for certain non-AFDC teen parents. Subtitle C: Case Management - Requires a State plan to provide for assignment of a case manager to each AFDC recipient who is under age 20 and is a custodial parent or is pregnant. Subtitle D: Demonstration Projects - Directs the HHS Secretary, the Secretary of Education, and the Chief Executive Officer of the Corporation for National and Community Service to jointly make grants to eligible entities for the development of intensive and sustained school-linked and school-based pregnancy prevention programs for adolescents and their families in areas of high poverty or high unmarried adolescent birth rates. Directs the HHS Secretary to approve between five and seven demonstration projects to provide comprehensive services to prevent adolescent pregnancy in high-risk communities. Title IV: Waivers - Provides for funding of waivers that are not cost neutral. Title V: Improving Government Assistance - Subtitle A: AFDC Amendments - Establishes a requirement that needs standards reflect the cost of essential items. (Sec. 502) Requires a State plan to provide that the maximum amount of AFDC payable to a family for any month shall not be reduced below the level in effect for October 1994 to a family of the same size. (Sec. 503) Allows States to supplement benefits for families subject to retrospective budgeting. (Sec. 504) Revises income disregards with respect to elementary or secondary students under age 20, including training stipends, lump-sum income, educational assistance, and in-kind income. (Sec. 505) Increases the resource limit for families eligible for AFDC from $1,000 to $2,000 (or, in the case of a family with a member who has attained 60 years of age, $3,000). Revises requirements for exclusions from resources, including cash value of life insurance policies, real property which must be disposed of, earned income tax credit payments, lump-sum payments for medical expenses or replacement of lost resources, and certain resources for self-employment. (Sec. 508) Requires States to require, as a condition of eligibility, that adult family members applying for such aid declare in writing that each family member is a U.S. citizen or eligible alien. (Sec. 509) Sets forth payment limits for Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and Guam. Subtitle B: Food Stamp Act Amendments - Amends the Food Stamp Act of 1977 with respect to inconsequential income, educational assistance, training stipends and allowances, income from on-the-job training programs, earned income tax credits, resources necessary for self-employment, and lump-sum payments for medical expenses or replacement of lost resources. Title VI: Effective Date - Sets forth the effective date of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 30 June 1994
Requires the Judicial Officer of the U.S. Postal Service to establish procedures under which any individual arrested by the Postal Inspection Service (PIS) (pursuant to any investigation in which a paid confidential informant was used) after December 31, 1983, for violating a law prohibiting the use, sale, or possession of a controlled substance, who is not convicted of such offense, may seek compensation after exhausting all administrative and judicial procedures otherwise available. Requires a petition to be considered by a panel of three administrative law judges. Authorizes the panel to award such amount to a petitioner as it considers appropriate (up to $500,000) to compensate the individual for any harm or injury suffered by the petitioner or his or her spouse or child resulting from the petitioner's wrongful arrest. Requires the compensation to be: (1) payable out of the Postal Service Fund; and (2) computed taking into account the nature and degree of the harm or injury suffered, the degree to which the PIS failed to take reasonable precautions to prevent any such wrongful arrest from occurring, any history or pattern of similar wrongful arrests by PIS, and any compensation awarded in any earlier proceeding in connection with the petitioner's arrest. Exempts the panel's determinations from administrative or judicial review.
United States · United States Congress · 30 June 1994
Fair International Standards in Trade (FIST) Act - Authorizes the President to enter into a trade agreement only if it requires each country party to the agreement to: (1) adopt laws that afford internationally recognized worker rights to workers and that promote internationally recognized environmental standards in that country; and (2) treat as an actionable unfair trade practice the denial of such rights and standards as a means for such country to gain a competitive trade advantage.
United States · United States Congress · 23 June 1994
Employment Non-Discrimination Act of 1994 - Prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation by covered entities, including employing authorities of the House of Representatives, employing offices of the Senate, and instrumentalities of the Congress. Declares that: (1) this Act does not apply to the provision of employee benefits for the benefit of an employee's partner; and (2) a disparate impact does not establish a prima facie violation of this Act. Prohibits quotas and preferential treatment. Declares that this Act does not apply to: (1) religious organizations (except in their for-profit activities); (2) the armed forces; or (3) laws creating special rights or preferences for veterans. Provides for enforcement. Disallows State and Federal immunity. Allows recovery of attorney's fees. Prohibits retaliation and coercion. Requires posting notices for employees and applicants.
United States · United States Congress · 17 June 1994
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that: (1) June 21, 1994, is designated as Freedom Summer Remembrance Day; and (2) it reaffirms the goal of removing remaining barriers to full voter participation in this Nation.
United States · United States Congress · 14 June 1994
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: General Provisions Title II: Interagency Council on the Homeless Title III: Federal Emergency Management Agency Food and Shelter Program Title IV: Housing Assistance Subtitle A: Reorganization of Certain McKinney Act Housing Provisions Subtitle B: Other Housing Assistance Programs for the Homeless Under McKinney Act Subtitle C: Miscellaneous Homeless Housing Provisions Title V: Health Care for the Homeless Subtitle A: Categorical Grants for Primary Health Services and Substance Abuse Services Subtitle B: Formula Grants to States for Assistance in Transition from Homelessness Subtitle C: Categorical Grants Regarding Mental Illness and Substance Abuse Title VI: Education, Training, and Community Services Programs Title VII: Homeless Programs Relating to Federal Welfare Assistance Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Amendments Act of 1994 - Title I: General Provisions - Requires budget compliance. Title II: Interagency Council on the Homeless - Amends the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act (Act) to authorize appropriations for and extend the Interagency Council on the Homeless. Title III: Federal Emergency Management Agency Food and Shelter Program - Amends the Act to authorize appropriations for the Federal Emergency Management Agency food and shelter program. Title IV: Housing Assistance - Subtitle A: Reorganization of Certain McKinney Act Housing Provisions - Amends title IV (Housing Assistance) of the Act to replace the current individual programs of emergency shelter grants, supportive housing program, safe havens for homeless individuals demonstration program, and the shelter plus care program with an inclusive flexible grant program. Sets forth program provisions. Subtitle B: Other Housing Assistance Programs for the Homeless Under McKinney Act - Amends the Act to increase budget authority for section 8 assistance for single room occupancy dwellings. (Sec. 412) Authorizes section 8 assistance for shelter plus care single room occupancy dwellings. (Sec. 413) Authorizes appropriations for the rural homelessness grant program. Transfers such program from the Department of Housing and Urban Development to the Department of Agriculture. Subtitle C: Miscellaneous Homeless Housing Provisions - Amends the HUD Demonstration Act of 1993 to authorize appropriations for and extend the innovative homeless program. Title V: Health Cae for the Homeless - Subtitle A: Categorical Grants for Primary Health Services and Substance Abuse Services - Amends the Public Health Service Act to authorize appropriations for primary health services and substance abuse services grants. (Sec. 502) Authorizes a grant program for prevention and treatment of substance abuse among the homeless. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle B: Formula Grants to States for Assistance in Transition from Homelessness - Amends the Public Health Service Act to authorize appropriations for formula grants to States for assistance in transition from homelessness. Subtitle C: Categorical Grants Regarding Mental Illness and Substance Abuse - Amends the Public Health Service Act to authorize appropriations for grants to community-based providers of mental illness and substance abuse treatment for the homeless. Title VI: Education, Training, and Community Services Programs - Amends the Act to authorize appropriations for family support centers. Title VII: Homeless Programs Relating to Federal Welfare Assistance - Amends the Act to establish a national homeless advocate demonstration program. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 702) Amends the Social Security Act to qualify (for ten years) construction, rehabilitation, purchase, and rental of permanent housing for homeless AFDC families as emergency assistance under the aid to families with dependent children program (AFDC).
United States · United States Congress · 8 June 1994
African Conflict Resolution Act - Authorizes the President to provide assistance to: (1) strengthen the conflict resolution capabilities of the Organization of African Unity and subregional organizations established by countries in Subsaharan Africa; (2) provide for demobilizations of armed forces in Subsaharan African countries and for the retraining for civilian occupations of demobilized military personnel; and (3) nongovernmental organizations engaged in mediation and reconciliation efforts in Africa. Earmarks funds for such purposes from foreign assistance funds allocated for Subsaharan Africa. Authorizes the President to establish a program to provide education and training in conflict resolution and peacekeeping for civilian and military personnel of countries in Subsaharan Africa. Makes foreign assistance funds for military education and training available for such program.
United States · United States Congress · 26 May 1994
Insurance Tax Fairness Act of 1994 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to revise the method for determining the limitation on the deduction of policyholder dividends by mutual life insurance companies. Exempts small life insurance companies from the required capitalization of certain policy acquisition expenses. Expresses the sense of the Congress that revenues resulting from this Act be dedicated to the funding of programs benefiting the nutrition, early education, housing, and family support of the Nation's children.
United States · United States Congress · 25 May 1994
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: AFDC Amendments Title II: Housing Amendments Title III: Food Stamp Amendment Title IV: Head Start Amendment Title V: Effective Date Job Start for America Act of 1994 - Title I: AFDC Amendments - Amends part A of title IV (Aid to Families with Dependent Children) (AFDC) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to require each State agency to provide to the caretaker relative of each first phase family (as defined by this Act) vouchers entitling any child care provider meeting applicable State and local standards to State payments equal to the provider's cost of providing child care with respect to the family. (Sec. 101) Provides for continuance of AFDC benefits for first phase and second phase families (as defined by this Act) for: (1) two years after the principal earner parent becomes gainfully employed; or (2) six months after the family income exceeds 300 percent of the poverty line. Disregards the assets of a spouse who marries an AFDC recipient for the first six months after the wedding. (Sec. 103) Increases from $1,000 (or any State-determined lower amount) to $2,500 the eligibility resource threshold for receipt of AFDC benefits. (Sec. 104) Requires a State plan to provide that a State agency shall provide job training and job search counseling to all AFDC recipients, including educational activities, job skills training, job readiness activities, job development, and job placement. Sets priorities for provision of job training and job search counseling, first to all first phase families, then to all second phase families, then to any family neither one nor the other. (Sec. 105) Defines: (1) first phase family as one whose principal earner parent has never been gainfully employed for three or more months (whether or not consecutive); and (2) second phase family as one whose principal earner parent has graduated from secondary school or received a high school equivalency certificate, but has never been gainfully employed. (Sec. 106) Repeals: (1) part F of SSA title IV (Job Opportunities and Basic Skills (JOBS) Training Programs); and (2) requirements for treating families differently based on the number of parents in the home. Title II: Housing Amendments - Prohibits for a 24-month period any rent increase for a qualified dwelling unit because of increased income due to employment with respect to a family: (1) whose income increases as a result of the employment of a family member who was previously unemployed; and (2) who was receiving AFDC payments immediately before such employment. Title III: Food Stamp Amendment - Amends the Food Stamp Act of 1977 to exclude for food stamp eligibility purposes all earned income of a household that includes a member who is employed and who in the most recent two-year period participated fully in a State job training and job search counseling program under this Act, unless the household's aggregate income exceeds the poverty line by more than 300 percent. Title IV: Head Start Amendment - Amends the Head Start Act to authorize appropriations for full-day and full-year services. Title V: Effective Date - Sets forth the effective date of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 25 May 1994
Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) a U.S. postage stamp should be issued in recognition of the distinctive life and scientific achievements of Lewis Howard Latimer and his civic contributions to U.S. social and technological advancement; and (2) the Citizen's Stamp Advisory Committee of the U.S. Postal Service should recommend to the Postmaster General that such a postage stamp be issued.
United States · United States Congress · 23 May 1994
Requires the House of Representatives, when the legislatures of an additional three States ratify the Equal Rights Amendment, to take any legislative action necessary to verify the ratification of the Amendment as a part of the Constitution.
United States · United States Congress · 20 May 1994
National Community Service Commemorative Coin Act - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to issue one-dollar silver coins to commemorate students who volunteer to perform community service. Mandates that all surcharges received from such coin sales be paid to the National Community Service Trust to fund innovative community service programs at American universities, including the service, research, and teaching activities of the faculty and students involved in such programs.
United States · United States Congress · 19 May 1994
Requires nonlethal excess supplies of the Department of Defense to be made available to States before being made available for humanitarian relief purposes.
United States · United States Congress · 12 May 1994
Postal Inspection Service and Inspector General Act - Prohibits the Postal Service from retaining the services of a paid confidential informant for purposes of investigations concerning the possible violation of laws relating to controlled substances unless the unlawful use of the mails is involved. Directs the Postal Service to render a semiannual report to the Congress concerning any investigation: (1) in which the Postal Service retains the services of a paid confidential informant; and (2) which results in the arrest of one or more individuals for violating any law relating to controlled substances. Creates a Chief Postal Inspector within the Postal Service. Amends the Inspector General Act of 1978 to transfer internal audit and program review functions of the Postal Inspection Service to the Office of the Inspector General. Confers oversight responsibility for all activities of the Postal Inspection Service on the Inspector General of the Postal Service. Requires the Chief Postal Inspector to report significant activities being carried out by the Postal Inspection Service to the Inspector General. Applies all provisions of the Inspector General Act of 1978 to the Postal Service.
United States · United States Congress · 12 May 1994
Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to: (1) make the visa waiver program permanent; and (2) authorize the designation of a qualifying European Union nation as a visa waiver program country.
United States · United States Congress · 5 May 1994
Expresses the sense of the Congress that any legislation enacted to provide for national health care reform should: (1) prohibit the denial of health insurance coverage to, or limitation of coverage or benefits for, any individual or family on the basis of a preexisting medical condition; (2) prohibit charging an unreasonable amount for such coverage and benefits on the basis of a preexisting medical condition; and (3) include among the individuals and families protected by such prohibitions those who wish to acquire health insurance coverage and benefits from an entity other than their current health care provider.
United States · United States Congress · 26 April 1994
Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) any health care reform legislation that is enacted should contain provisions that ensure that qualified poison control centers are adequately compensated; and (2) a national commission should be established to study the delivery and funding of poison control services.
United States · United States Congress · 18 April 1994
Liberian Relief, Rehabilitation, and Reconstruction Act of 1994 - Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to authorize the President to provide assistance for civil strife relief, rehabilitation, and general recovery in Liberia. Authorizes aprropriations. Authorizes appropriations to the Department of State for migration and refugee assistance for emergency relief, repatriation, and rehabilitation efforts for Liberian refugees who have fled civil strife and for support for relief programs assisting local populations in the bordering countries of Sierra Leone, Guinea, Cote d'Ivoire, and other countries in the region. Authorizes the President to provide supplemental emergency food assistance for civilian victims in Liberia. Authorizes appropriations. Requires a specified amount of local currencies available under title II of the Agricultural Trade Development and Assistance Act of 1954 to be made available for disaster assistance for Liberia. Permits assistance authorized for Liberia under this Act to be provided without regard to provisions of law concerning foreign assistance repayments. Directs the Administrator of the Agency for International Development to assess and report to the Congress on the long-term reconstruction, rehabilitation, and development needs of Liberia.
United States · United States Congress · 24 March 1994
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow the reduction of any tax credit or refund to pay past-due, legally enforceable State tax obligations. Provides for the disclosure of information to States requesting such a reduction.
United States · United States Congress · 24 March 1994
Humanitarian Aid Corridor Act - Prohibits foreign assistance funds from being used to provide assistance to any country for any portion of a fiscal year during which the country prohibits or restricts the transport or delivery of U.S. humanitarian assistance to any other country. Makes such prohibition inapplicable if the President determines and notifies the Congress that providing assistance: (1) is in the national interest; or (2) will benefit directly non-military personnel who are in immediate danger resulting from a natural or manmade disaster (provided that such assistance is humanitarian assistance distributed directly to such personnel or through international relief organizations).
United States · United States Congress · 24 March 1994
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Credit for Rural Business Enterprises Title II: Credit for Rural Infrastructure Title III: Credit for Rural Housing Rural Credit and Development Act of 1994 - Title I: Credit for Rural Business Enterprises - Amends the Farm Credit Act of 1971 to permit farm credit banks and production credit associations to purchase loans and loan interests from non-Farm Credit System institutions. Enlarges the scope of farm-related business for credit availability purposes. Authorizes banks for cooperatives to provide loans and other financial services to entities providing certain farm-related services or products under specified conditions. Title II: Credit for Rural Infrastructure - Authorizes Farm Credit banks to make community facility loans. Authorizes banks for cooperatives to finance utility-related services. Title III: Credit for Rural Housing - Enlarges rural housing credit availability by: (1) increasing eligible population areas; (2) increasing farm credit bank and production credit association loan portfolios for non-farmer rural housing loans; and (3) authorizing loans to rural residents for personal, family, or household needs other than housing finance.
United States · United States Congress · 24 March 1994
Public Housing Rent Reform Act - Amends the United States Housing Act of 1937 to: (1) revise public housing maximum rent provisions; and (2) exclude private health insurance payments and increase and expand earned income exclusions from related income eligibility determinations.
United States · United States Congress · 24 March 1994
Applauds the President for maintaining the U.S. nuclear testing moratorium and for taking a leadership role toward negotiation of a comprehensive test ban treaty. Encourages all nuclear powers to refrain from conducting nuclear explosions prior to conclusion of such a treaty. Urges the Conference on Disarmanent to make all possible progress toward a comprehensive test ban treaty by the end of 1994.
United States · United States Congress · 24 March 1994
A Child is Waiting Resolution - Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) any health care reform legislation include guaranteed full funding for the special supplemental food program for women, infants, and children (WIC); and (2) specified amounts should be made available to move toward such full funding goal.
United States · United States Congress · 23 March 1994
Governors Island Reinforcement Act of 1994 - Sets forth trade, assistance, and air transport sanctions against Haiti, and against other nations not cooperating with U.S. or international sanctions. Terminates such sanctions upon the reinstatement of the democratically elected President of Haiti and the military's meeting its obligation under the Governors Island Agreement. States congressional support for: (1) the return of human rights observers to Haiti; (2) the creation of a multinational border patrol between Haiti and the Dominican Republic; and (3) socioeconomic and peacekeeping assistance to Haiti. Directs the President to terminate the bilateral migrant interdiction agreement with Haiti. Provides for the nonrefoulement of Haitians by the United States. Grants temporary protected status under the Immigration and Nationality Act to qualifying Haitians. Excludes from U.S. admission, and blocks U.S. assets of, certain Haitians connected with the military or related activities.
United States · United States Congress · 17 March 1994
Authorizes the Postmaster General, whenever there is reason to believe that any person may be in possession, custody, or control of any documentary material or may have information relevant to an investigation of a matter arising under Federal postal law, to issue in writing and cause to be served upon such person before the commencement of a civil or criminal proceeding thereon, a civil investigative demand requiring such person to: (1) produce such documentary material for inspection and copying or reproduction; (2) answer in writing written interrogatories; (3) give oral testimony concerning such material or information; or (4) furnish any combination of such material, answers, or testimony. Requires the Postmaster General to designate an agent to serve as custodian of documentary material, answers to interrogatories, and transcripts of oral testimony received, and such other necessary additional agents to serve as deputies to the custodian. Authorizes the custodian to deliver to the Federal Trade Commission, upon written request, copies of such material, answers, or transcripts for use in connection with an investigation or proceeding under the Commission's jurisdiction to be used only in such manner and subject to such conditions as apply to the Postal Service. Authorizes the Postal Service to file in the district court of the United States for any judicial district in which a person resides, is found, or transacts business and serve upon such person a petition for an order of such court for the enforcement of this Act if the person fails to comply with the civil investigative demand or whenever satisfactory copying or reproduction of any material cannot be done and the person refuses to surrender such material. Exempts any documentary material, answers to written interrogatories, or transcripts of oral testimony provided pursuant to any demand issued under this Act from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act. Amends the Federal criminal code to impose a fine and up to five years' imprisonment upon anyone who intentionally obstructs any civil investigative demand made under the Antitrust Civil Process Act or provisions of this Act. Revises prescribed civil penalties imposed for violation of specified postal law relating to false representations and lotteries. Requires such penalties to be paid into the Postal Service Fund (currently, the Treasury). Revises provisions in the Federal criminal code relating to injunctions against fraud to allow the Attorney General to obtain temporary and preliminary injunctive relief upon a showing of probable cause to believe that a violation is occurring or is about to occur. Grants permanent relief when a violation is established by a preponderance of the evidence. Deems a violation to be occurring or about to occur for as long as victims of any such violation have not been redressed and the statute of limitations for such violation has not expired.
United States · United States Congress · 16 March 1994
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Comprehensive Program for Worker Reemployment Title II: One-Stop Career Center System Title III: National Labor Market Information System Title IV: Reinvention Labs for Job Training for the Economically Disadvantaged Reemployment Act of 1994 - Establishes: (1) a comprehensive program for worker reemployment; (2) a one-stop career center system; (3) a national labor market information system; and (4) reinvention labs for job training for the economically disadvantaged. (Sec. 4) Authorizes appropriations for titles I, III, and IV of this Act. Title I: Comprehensive Program for Worker Reemployment - Allots funds among States and reserves certain funds for national activities. (Sec. 103) Makes certain permanently laid-off workers and long-term unemployed individuals (as well as workers facing imminent plant shutdowns and self-employed individuals unemployed because of community economic conditions or natural disasters) eligible for services under this title. Makes dislocated homemakers eligible if a State Governor deems this appropriate and certain conditions are met. Part A: State and Substate Delivery System - Makes States responsible for administrative and management systems under this title. (Sec. 112) Requires the Governor to designate or establish a dislocated worker unit at the State level, with specified rapid response, information, and coordination functions. Directs such unit to coordinate with substate grantees and career centers, and to promote worker-management transition assistance committees. Provides for rapid response coverage of certain layoffs, State funding of preliminary assessments of worker buyouts of plants, prohibition of State transfer of rapid response functions, and Federal oversight of such functions. (Sec. 113) Requires the Governor to develop and maintain a comprehensive labor market information system in the State that meets certain requirements relating to the national system of effective labor market information. (Sec. 114) Requires the Governor to coordinate programs under this title with the worker profiling system under the Social Security Act and the retraining income support program under this Act. (Sec. 115) Authorizes the Governor to award supplementary grants to eligible entities to provide authorized services to eligible individuals in areas of the State experiencing substantial increases in numbers of such individuals due to plant closures, base closures, and mass layoffs. Allows such grant funds to be used to establish additional service centers, including on-site transition centers. (Sec. 116) Authorizes the Governor to award job retention project grants for: (1) upgrading skills of workers at risk of permanent layoff; and (2) retraining workers in new technologies and work processes to help convert or restructure businesses into high performance work organizations and avert plant closings or substantial layoffs. Requires State and employer contributions. Requires consultation with unions. (Sec. 117) Requires establishment of substate area administrative structures. (Sec. 118) Requires each designated substate grantee to establish one or more career centers in that area. Allows additional, temporary on-site transition centers. (Sec. 119) Authorizes the use of substate area funds for the following services for eligible individuals: (1) basic reemployment services; (2) intensive reemployment services; (3) education and training services; (4) retraining income support; (5) supportive services; and (6) supplemental wage allowances for older workers. (Sec. 120) Allows a career center to issue a certificate of continuing eligibility for services to eligible individuals who are accepting employment at a significantly lower wage than their previous one or in an occupation significantly different from their previous one. Part B: Federal Service Delivery System - Directs the Secretary of Labor to establish a program of national discretionary grants to address large-scale economic dislocations resulting from plant closures, base closures, or mass layoffs. Allows the use of such grants to: (1) provide comprehensive planning services to assist communities in addressing and reducing the impact of an economic dislocation; and (2) establish on-site transition centers. (Sec. 132) Directs the Secretary to make funds available for disaster relief employment assistance to States for substate allocation. (Sec. 133) Directs the Secretary to provide for: (1) evaluation of programs under this title; (2) research on addressing economic dislocation, facilitating the transition of permanently laid-off workers to reemployment, and upgrading skills of employed workers; and (3) demonstration projects to develop and improve methods of addressing economic dislocation and promoting worker adjustment. (Sec. 134) Directs the Secretary to provide staff training and technical assistance to various entities to enhance their capacity to develop and deliver adjustment assistance services to workers, and to avert plant closings or substantial layoffs. Requires integration of such activities with those of the Capacity Building and Information and Dissemination Network. (Sec. 135) Directs the Secretary to provide for delivery of programs, activities, and services under this title in any State that chooses not to participate. Part C: Performance Standards and Quality Assurance Systems - Directs the Secretary to establish a process, including an annual meeting, in each State to promote development of a customer service compact among parties administering programs under this title. (Sec. 152) Directs the Secretary to prescribe performance standards relating separately to the substate grantees and the career centers. Directs Governors to prescribe adjustments to such standards and award incentive grants to grantees and centers exceeding such standards. (Sec. 153) Requires each substate grantee to establish methods for obtaining customer feedback from eligible individuals and employers who have received services from a career center. (Sec. 154) Makes providers of education and training services eligible to receive funds under this title if they are eligible to participate under student aid provisions of the Higher Education Act of 1965 or are determined eligible under alternative procedures established by Governors, and if they provide performance-based information. Exempts on-the-job training providers from such requirements. Part D: General Requirements - Sets forth general requirements for programs under this title, including provisions for benefits, labor standards, and grievance procedures. Part E: Fiscal Administrative Provisions - Sets forth various administrative provisions, including ones for program year, prompt allocation of funds, monitoring, fiscal controls and sanctions, reports, recordkeeping, and investigations, administrative adjudication, nondiscrimination, judicial review, nondiscrimination, and criminal provisions. Part F: Miscellaneous Provisions - Provides for transition, on July 1, 1995, to programs authorized under this title from the following programs, which this Act repeals, under employment and training assistance for dislocated workers provisions of the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA): (1) Economic Dislocation and Worker Adjustment Assistance program; (2) Defense Conversion Adjustment Program; (3) Defense Diversification Program; and (4) Clean Air Employment Transition Assistance Program. Terminates the Disaster Relief Employment Assistance program under JTPA. Title II: One-Stop Career Center System - Part A: Components of Voluntary One-Stop Career Center System - Requires a State's one-stop career center system, in order to receive a grant or waiver under this title, to include: (1) local workforce investment boards; (2) one-stop career centers established in accordance with specified procedures; (3) provision of specified services; (4) participation of specified Federal programs; (5) operating agreements for such centers; (6) quality assurance systems; and (6) a State Human Resource Investment Council. (Sec. 212) Directs the Governor to designate one-stop service areas within the State. Directs local officials to establish a workforce investment board for each such area. (Sec. 213) Directs the Governor and local officials to jointly select a consortium option or a multiple independent operator option as the method for establishing one-stop career centers for each service area. (Sec. 214) Requires each center to make available: (1) certain basic services to the public free of charge; and (2) certain intensive services to participants in the title I comprehensive program for worker reemployment who are unable to obtain employment through the basic services (and, optionally, to other individuals in accordance with the written agreement). Authorizes each center to provide specialized services to employers and additional services specified in the agreement. Authorizes charging fees under specified conditions, with all program income to be used to expand or enhance services. (Sec. 215) Requires the following programs to be made available to participants through the centers (and to participate in operation of such centers as parties to the agreement): (1) comprehensive programs for worker reemployment under title I of this Act; (2) Wagner-Peyser Act programs (employment services); (3) job counseling, training, and placement for veterans; (4) training services for the disadvantaged under title II of JTPA; (5) community service employment for older Americans programs under title V of the Older Americans Act; and (6) programs authorized under Federal and State unemployment compensation laws. Allows other human resource programs to provide services through and participate in operation of the centers, under specified conditions, including the Job Opportunities and Basic Skills program for AFDC recipients, the Food Stamp Employment and Training program, the Job Corps, veterans' employment programs under JTPA, and programs under the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Education Act, Adult Education Act, Vocational Rehabilitation Act, and School-to-Work Opportunities Act. (Sec. 216) Sets forth requirements for operating agreements and quality assurance systems. (Sec. 218) Requires each State to establish a State human resource investment council that meets specified JTPA requirements and carries out certain additional functions including advising on development and implementation of the one-stop career center system. Part B: Grants and Waivers to Promote the Development and Implementation of One-Stop Career Center System - Authorizes the Secretary to establish programs of competitive grants to States for planning and development and for implementation of comprehensive statewide networks of one-stop career centers. (Sec. 233) Allows a State, at any point during such development or implementation, to request from the Secretary a waiver of one or more statutory or regulatory provisions. Sets forth waiver criteria. Subjects to such waiver authority the mandatory participating programs of the centers. (Sec. 234) Provides for pooling of administrative resources. Part C: Additional Activities in Support of One-Stop Career Center Systems - Directs the Secretary to establish a process, with each State implementing the one-stop career center system, including an annual meeting, to promote development of a customer service compact among the parties administering the system. (Sec. 235) Makes each State implementing such a system responsible for administration, management, monitoring, and technical assistance. (Sec. 236) Makes the Secretary responsible for monitoring compliance, staff training and technical assistance (integrated with the Capacity Building and Information Dissemination Network under JTPA), a national logo and name, and evaluation of one-stop career center programs. Part D: Effective Date - Sets forth effective dates for this title and for performance standards. Title III: National Labor Market Information System - Directs the Secretary to develop, in coordination with other Federal, State, and local entities, a strategy to establish a nationwide system of local labor market information. (Sec. 303) Directs the Secretary, in cooperation with such other entities and public-private partnerships, to develop such system to make available specified types of information. Requires certain technical standards, consumer reports, and evaluation. (Sec. 304) Directs the Secretary to provide for coordination and integration of such system and appropriate dissemination of information. Title IV: Reinvention Labs for Job Training for the Economically Disadvantaged - Amends the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) to establish a five-year Reinvention Labs program to: (1) encourage innovative program designs to improve provision of services to and labor market outcomes for economically disadvantaged youth and adults; (2) develop, through service delivery areas (SDAs) and States, knowledge of effective approaches to providing employment and training to the economically disadvantaged; and (3) provide SDAs with increased flexibility in operating job training programs, in exchange for greater accountability. (Sec. 401) Sets forth requirements for SDA applications for waivers of Federal requirements relating to JTPA programs for employment and training of the economically disadvantaged. Authorizes the Secretary to waive certain of such requirements under specified conditions and to provide technical assistance to SDAs, States, and service providers for Reinvention Labs programs. (Sec. 402) Modifies the definition of tuition under JTPA.
United States · United States Congress · 16 March 1994
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Initiatives Within the Department of the Interior Title II: Initiatives Within the Department of Energy Lower Mississippi Delta Initiatives Act of 1994 - Title I: Initiatives Within the Department of the Interior - Establishes within the Department of the Interior an Office of Education to: (1) promote education in selected areas of environmental, natural, historic, and cultural resources; and (2) establish initiatives at minority schools of higher education. Directs the Secretary of the Interior to: (1) submit annual status reports to the Congress regarding the inventory and coordination of Departmental education programs; (2) report annually to certain congressional committees on opportunities for minority schools of higher education to participate in Departmental programs; (3) establish a scholarship program for degrees in natural resource and environmental related fields at minority schools of higher learning in the Lower Mississippi Delta Region; (4) encourage pre-college education programs in designated subject areas; (5) implement a volunteer educational enrichment program in cooperation with State departments of education and local school districts in the Delta Region; (6) establish a Center for Excellence in the Sciences and a Center for Aquaculture to encourage women and minority students in the Delta Region to pursue careers in the sciences and in aquaculture; and (7) coordinate the educational programs under this Act with those of other Federal agencies. (Sec. 103) Directs the Secretary to transmit to the Congress: (1) a study of nationally significant sites within the Delta Region; (2) recommendations for a transportation network linking such sites; and (3) a study outlining recommendations for funding a Delta Region Native American Heritage Corridor and Heritage and Cultural Center, and a Delta Region African American Heritage Corridor and Heritage and Cultural Center (including a Music Heritage Program). Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to State Humanities Councils to assist minority and rural museums and related associations in the Delta region. (Sec. 105) Directs the Secretary to provide technical and financial assistance to historically Black colleges and universities to undertake: (1) a survey of historic and prehistoric structures on campus; and (2) their preservation. (Sec. 106) Directs the Secretary to: (1) transmit to the Congress a feasibility study regarding the establishment of a Delta Antiquities Trail or Delta Antiquities Heritage Corridor; and (2) conduct a research and preservation program of significant historic and archaeological resources in the Delta. (Sec. 108) Authorizes appropriations. Title II: Initiatives Within the Department of Energy - Directs the Secretary of Energy (the Secretary) to establish the Delta Energy Technology and Business Development Center (the Center). Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to the Center. (Sec. 203) Amends the Energy Policy and Conservation Act to require the Secretary to make grants to schools or hospitals for energy conservation projects, and to provide supplemental Federal financing for energy conservation projects at schools and hospitals in the Delta Region. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 204) Requires the Secretary to: (1) report annually to certain congressional committees regarding opportunities for minority colleges and universities to participate in Department of Energy (DOE) activities and laboratories; (2) establish scholarship programs for students pursuing energy-related and/or technical disciplines either at minority colleges or universities in the Delta Region; (3) encourage pre-college programs in energy-related and/or technical disciplines; (4) implement a volunteer program for education at DOE; and (5) implement a program to encourage women and minority students in the Delta Region to pursue careers in technical disciplines. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 205) Directs the Secretary to conduct a research and demonstration program to determine the economic viability of integrated biomass energy systems within the Delta Region. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 206) Amends the Energy Conservation and Production Act to direct the Secretary to make grants to States and Indian tribal organizations in the Delta Region for weatherization of low-income dwelling units. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 207) Amends the Energy Policy Act of 1992 to qualify for incentive payments certain renewable energy facilities owned by the Tennessee Valley Authority.
United States · United States Congress · 16 March 1994
Declares that the Committee on Foreign Affairs should conduct a hearing to determine the foreign policy implications of the proposed joint U.S-Russian space station and make appropriate recommendations to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology.
United States · United States Congress · 11 March 1994
Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to extend the student loan default rate exemption for historically Black colleges, tribally controlled community colleges, and Navajo community colleges.
United States · United States Congress · 3 March 1994
Honors James Norman Hall for his outstanding contributions to the United States, France, Tahiti, and the South Pacific. Requests the President to provide for the presentation of a copy of this concurrent resolution to the President of Tahiti Nui (French Polynesia) to be publicly displayed at the James Norman Hall Museum in Tahiti.
![Official portrait of Rep. Watt, Melvin L. [D-NC-12]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/w000207_200.jpg)