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United States · Official source
1,776 records where Rep. Weldon, Dave [R-FL-15] is listed as a sponsor, author, or other actor. Search with topics and years
United States · United States Congress · 26 September 2000
Designates the U.S. Postal Service facility located at 2305 Minton Road in West Melbourne, Florida, as the Ronald W. Reagan Post Office Building.
United States · United States Congress · 25 September 2000
Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to conduct a multistate comparative study for a report to Congress on mortality and adverse outcome rates of Medicare patients by providers of anesthesia services and by type of such providers.
United States · United States Congress · 19 September 2000
Calls on the Russian Federation to immediately release Edmond Pope and to ensure that proper and qualified medical attention is provided to him. Expresses the sense of Congress that if Pope is not released immediately, the President should continue efforts to secure his release, including consideration of: (1) terminating all assistance to the Government of the Russian Federation under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 and the annual Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and Related Programs Appropriations Act for purposes of preparing the Russian Federation's entrance or accession to the World Trade Organization; and (2) opposing any further debt relief of obligations owed to the U.S. Government from the Government of the Russian Federation. Urges the President to increase efforts to secure appropriate medical attention for Pope.
United States · United States Congress · 14 September 2000
Congratulates and honors home educators and home schooled students for their contributions to educational quality. Supports the goals of National Home Education Week.
United States · United States Congress · 6 September 2000
Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel Act of 2000 - Title I: Personnel Matters - Revises pay adjustment authority for nurses employed by the Department of Veterans Affairs to require the director of such Department health-care facility to use third-party industry wage surveys in making such adjustments. Prohibits any adjustment from reducing the rate of basic pay applicable to any nurse grade. Prohibits a director, in determining whether to carry out an adjustment, from considering the absence of a current recruitment or retention problem for personnel in that position. Requires a director to make such determination based on whether there is a significant pay-related staffing problem for such position at that facility. Authorizes the Department's Under Secretary for Health to modify any adjustment determination made by a facility director. Requires each director to report annually to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs on staffing for covered positions at that facility. Requires the Secretary to report annually on such staffing to the congressional veterans' committees. Makes annual (currently terminated in 1993) a reporting requirement from the Secretary to the veterans' committees regarding pay adjustments. Requires the Under Secretary to ensure that: (1) the director of a geographic service area, in formulating policy for the provision of patient care, consult regularly with a senior nurse executive(s); and (2) the director of a health-care facility include a registered nurse on any committee providing recommendations or decisions on medical center operations or policies affecting clinical services, clinical outcomes, budget, or resources. (Sec. 102) Increases the special pay for dentists for: (1) full-time status; (2) completing a post-graduate year of accredited hospital-based training; (3) length-of-service pay; (4) scarce specialty pay; (5) service in a geographic location in which there exists extraordinary difficulties in the recruitment and retention of qualified dentists; and (6) service in certain executive positions. Credits toward civil service retirement calculations 25 percent of the special pay for length-of-service pay for each two years that the dentist completes as a dentist in the Veterans Health Administration (VHA). (Sec. 103) Exempts VHA pharmacists from a required ceiling on special salary rates for certain VHA health professionals. (Sec. 104) Requires a physician assistant with appropriate experience to advise the Under Secretary on all matters relating to the utilization and employment of VHA physician assistants. (Sec. 105) Revises generally provisions regarding the temporary appointment of graduates of physician assistant training programs. Provides a three-year term for temporary full-time appointments of certain medical support personnel (with authorized renewals for additional three-year periods). (Sec. 106) Requires VHA social workers to be licensed or certified to independently practice social work in a State (with an authorized waiver on an individual basis for a reasonable period). (Sec. 107) Amends the Department of Veterans Affairs Employment Reduction Assistance Act of 1999 to: (1) revise the number of authorized participants in a plan for voluntary separation incentive payments; (2) revise the percentage of required agency contributions to the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund to cover such payments; and (3) extend payment authority through 2002. Title II: Construction Authorization - Authorizes the Secretary to carry out major medical facility projects at Department medical centers in Palo Alto, California, Miami, Florida, and Long Beach, California. Authorizes the Secretary to carry out a renovation project at the Department medical center in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. (Sec. 202) Authorizes appropriations for FY 2001 and 2002 for the Construction, Major Projects, account for such projects. Title III: Military Service Issues - Directs the Secretary to ensure that: (1) a protocol is used during at least one clinical evaluation of a patient to identify pertinent military experiences and exposures that may contribute to the health of the patient; and (2) such information is included in the patient's medical records. Requires a report from the Secretary to the veterans' committees on the feasibility and desirability of using a computer-based system in conducting such evaluations. (Sec. 302) Directs the Secretary to contract with an appropriate entity to conduct a follow-up study on post-traumatic stress disorder in Vietnam veterans. Requires a report to the veterans' committees. Title IV: Medical Administration - Authorizes the Secretary to carry out a pilot program in not more than four geographically dispersed areas to improve access to and coordination of inpatient care of eligible veterans. Terminates the pilot program on September 30, 2005. Authorizes the Secretary, under such program to pay the cost of hospital care and medical services furnished on an inpatient basis in a non-Department hospital to a veteran participant. Directs the Secretary to limit program care and services to general medical and surgical services, and to require that such services be provided only upon preauthorization by the Secretary. Makes eligible for the program a veteran who: (1) is enrolled to receive medical services from a nearby Department outpatient clinic; (2) has received care within 24 months preceding the veteran's application for program enrollment (3) requires such care and services for a non-service-connected condition and could not receive such care and services from a Department clinic; and (4) elects to receive such care and services under an entitled health plan. Directs the Secretary to ensure that at least 15 percent of program participants are veterans without a health care plan. Requires two reports from the Secretary to the veterans' committees on program implementation and operation. Limits to $50 million the total authorized program expenditure for any fiscal year. (Sec. 402) Authorizes the payment of veterans' disability compensation for veterans who are disabled during participation in a compensated work therapy program. (Sec. 403) Extends through December 31, 2005, the authority of the Secretary to establish nonprofit research and education corporations. (Sec. 404) Authorizes the Secretary to furnish temporary lodging in Fisher houses (guest houses) or other appropriate facilities, in connection with the examination, care, and treatment of a veteran, to: (1) a veteran who must travel a significant distance to receive such care and treatment; and (2) a family member and others who accompany such veteran and provide familial support. Authorizes the Secretary to establish charges for such lodging. (Sec. 405) Extends through 2004 an annual reporting requirement describing activities of the Committee on Care of Severely Chronically Mentally Ill Veterans. (Sec. 406) Excludes from the right of the Department to recover certain costs from a State for veterans' care facilities not so used for at least 20 years the establishment and operation of an outpatient clinic at such a facility. (Sec. 407) Prohibits the Secretary from entering into an enhanced-use lease of Department property until 90 days after notifying the veterans' committees of the intention to designate property for such use. (Sec. 409) Authorizes the Secretary to employ veterans claims examiners (also known as veterans service representatives) on a fee basis. Requires two reports on the implementation of such authority. (Sec. 410) Directs the Secretary to release a reversionary interest in certain real property in Johnson City, Tennessee, previously transferred to the State of Tennessee.
United States · United States Congress · 27 July 2000
Designates the U.S. Postal Service facility located at 5927 Southwest 70th Street in Miami, Florida, as the Marjory Williams Scrivens Post Office.
United States · United States Congress · 19 July 2000
Innocent Children Protection Act of 2000 - Makes it unlawful for any U.S. authority to carry out a sentence of death on a woman while she carries a child in utero.
United States · United States Congress · 29 June 2000
Ryan White CARE Act Amendments of 2000 - Title I: Emergency Relief for Areas with Substantial Need for Services - Subtitle A: HIV Health Services Planning Councils - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require that an HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) planning council reflect the demographics of the population of individuals with HIV disease (currently, the demographics of the epidemic) in the eligible area involved. Modifies requirements regarding council composition, including requiring representatives of former prisoners. Requires that at least 33 percent of the council be people who: (1) are receiving HIV-related services pursuant to a grant under provisions relating to emergency relief for areas with a substantial need for services (substantial need grant); and (2) are not officers, employees, consultants, or representatives of any entity that receives substantial need grant amounts. (Sec. 102) Modifies council duties, including regarding: (1) determining the size, demographics, and needs of the HIV disease population; (2) council establishment of fund allocation priorities; and (3) coordination with Federal grantees that provide HIV-related services in the area. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to: (1) develop epidemiologic measures for establishing the number of individuals with HIV disease who are not receiving HIV-related health services and for carrying out council duties; and (2) provide to the chief elected official receiving a substantial need grant guidelines and materials for training council members regarding council duties. (Sec. 103) Requires that council meetings and records be open to the public, subject to exception. Subtitle B: Type and Distribution of Grants - Makes permanent provisions requiring expedited disbursement of certain substantial need grant amounts. Requires, after fiscal year 2004, that the substantial need grant amount formula use the number of cases of HIV disease in the most recent year rather than the number of cases of acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) in the most recent ten years, but until FY 2007 conditions that change on the Secretary's determination that there is sufficiently accurate and reliable data on HIV disease cases from all eligible areas, requiring the Secretary to consider: (1) the findings of a study mandated by title V of this Act; (2) the fiscal impact of using or of not using that data; and (3) the impact of the use of that data on the organization and delivery of HIV-related services. Modifies requirements regarding increases in the amount of a substantial need grant under expedited disbursement provisions. (Sec. 112) Requires that the amount of supplemental substantial need grants be determined by the Secretary based on a weighting of specified factors, with severe need counting one-third. Includes the current HIV disease prevalence, an increasing need for services, and unmet need for services as factors the Secretary must consider in determining severe need. Directs the Secretary, in determining the required factors, to develop a mechanism to use national, quantitative incidence data by 18 months after enactment of this Act (currently, by May 20, 1998). Requires mechanism modification based on the findings of a study mandated by title V of this Act. Removes provisions basing the amount of substantial need grants on substantial need grant applications. Subtitle C: Other Provisions - Requires that substantial need grant funds be used, among other purposes, for: (1) outreach to identify individuals with HIV disease who are not receiving HIV-related services; and (2) early intervention services. Requires that substantial need grants be used to provide health and support services to infants, children, youth, and women (currently, infants, children, and women) with HIV disease in the same ratio as those groups with HIV disease bear to those groups in the general population. Requires that the chief elected official of a substantial need grant-receiving area establish a quality management program to assess whether HIV health services under the substantial need grant are consistent with the most recent Public Health Service guidelines. (Sec. 123) Requires that official to ensure that the area's planning council: (1) reviews existing, available data on expenditures by substantial need grant recipient entities from their overall budget for administrative costs; and (2) makes a determination whether the financial compensation of any of those entity's officers or employees exceeds that of the official. Title II: Care Grant Program - Subtitle A: General Grant Provisions - Requires that grants to States to improve the quality, availability and organization of health care and support services for individuals with HIV disease (care grants) be used to provide health and support services to infants, children, youth, and women (currently, infants, children, and women) with HIV disease in the same ratio as those groups with HIV disease bear to those groups in the general population. (Sec. 202) Allows care grants to be used for support services, outreach activities, early intervention, and quality management. (Sec. 203) Modifies requirements regarding grants to establish HIV care consortia. (Sec. 204) Allows a State to meet a requirement to use a portion of its care grant to provide therapeutics to treat HIV disease or prevent related health deterioration (including prevention and treatment of opportunistic infections) by paying for health insurance or plans whose coverage includes a full range of such therapeutics and primary care. (Sec. 205) Requires care grant applications to contain determinations of the size, demographics, and needs of the population of individuals with HIV disease in the State. Modifies requirements regarding the comprehensive plan. Requires the public health agency that administers care grants for a State to engage in a public advisory planning process. (Sec. 206) Doubles, subject to appropriations, the minimum care grant allotment to each State and U.S. territory. Requires, after fiscal year 2004, that the care grant amount formula use the number of cases of HIV disease in the most recent year rather than the number of cases of acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) in the most recent ten years, but until FY 2007 conditions that change on the Secretary's determination that there is sufficiently accurate and reliable data on HIV disease cases. Provides for increases in the formula amount. Requires, if an appropriations Act provides an amount exclusively for treatment drug grants, that two percent of that exclusive amount be reserved for supplemental grants to States whose HIV population's need is greater than the quantities available under treatment drug grants from the remaining unreserved 98 percent. Adds the Federated States of Micronesia and the Republic of Palau to the list of U.S. territories. Adds the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico to the list of territories for minimum allotment provisions but keeps it in the list of States for other care grant provisions. (Sec. 207) Replaces provisions mandating coordination by specified Federal agencies of Federal HIV programs with provisions directing the Secretary to make grants to States to supplement care grants for comprehensive services for communities that have a severe need for supplemental financial assistance to combat the HIV epidemic. Provides for funding for the supplemental grants. Subtitle B: Provisions Concerning Pregnancy and Perinatal Transmission of HIV - Removes provisions prohibiting (after testing of pregnant women and newborns has become a routine practice in U.S. health care) care grants to a State unless the State meets certain requirements regarding such testing. (Sec. 212) Adds HIV disease treatment services to the uses for which the Secretary may make a grant to a State that is following the recommendations of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) regarding HIV counseling and voluntary testing for pregnant women. Authorizes appropriations. Prohibits using care grant appropriations for grants under this section. (Sec. 213) Directs the Secretary to provide for a study and report to appropriate congressional committees regarding: (1) the number of newborns with HIV born in the United States in the most recent year for which the information is available; (2) barriers that prevent or discourage an obstetrician from routinely offering pregnant women an HIV test and routinely testing newborns when the mother's HIV status is unknown; and (3) recommendations for each State for reducing perinatal HIV transmission. Requires States to make reasonable progress toward meeting the recommendations. Subtitle C: Certain Partner Notification Programs - Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to States for partner counseling and referral services, provided the State meets certain requirements regarding: (1) partner notification and (for the partner and the infected individual) testing, counseling, and referral; (2) health entity reporting of positive test results to the State; (3) reporting to the CDC regarding partner notification; and (4) State cooperation with the CDC national partner notification. Prohibits grants to a State after fiscal year 2003 unless the State's reporting system for HIV cases produces sufficiently accurate and reliable data. Authorizes appropriations. Title III: Early Intervention Services - Subtitle A: Formula Grants for States - Repeals provisions mandating formula grants to States for outpatient early intervention services regarding HIV disease. Subtitle B: Categorical Grants - Requires giving preference to rural or underserved areas in making currently-authorized categorical grants for outpatient early intervention services. Allows planning grants to be used, subject to limitation, to assist the recipients to expand their capacity to provide services, including early intervention services, in low income communities and affected subpopulations that are underserved. Subtitle C: General Provisions - Requires that the counseling that categorical grant recipients are required to provide to HIV-infected individuals emphasize that it is the duty of infected individuals to disclose their status to their sexual and needle-sharing partners, provide advice on how to make the disclosures and emphasize that it is the infected individual's continuing duty to avoid behaviors that expose others to HIV. (Sec. 322) Increases the percentage limit on administrative expenses. Requires recipients to establish a quality management program to assess the extent to which medical services are consistent with Public Health Service guidelines for treatment of HIV disease and related opportunistic infections. Title IV: Other Programs and Activities - Subtitle A: Certain Programs for Research, Demonstrations, or Training - Replaces a requirement that, with regard to grants for providing opportunities for women, infants, children, and youth to participate in HIV research and for providing to those groups outpatient health care and additional services, that a significant number of individuals in those groups be participating in research with a requirement that the grant applicant demonstrate linkages to research and how access to research is being offered to patients. Directs the Secretary to examine the distribution and availability of research regarding grantees to enhance and expand HIV-related research, especially in underrepresented communities. Requires grantees to implement a quality management program. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 402) Includes, as a use of currently-authorized grants and contracts for training health personnel: (1) training in prenatal and other gynecological care for women with HIV disease; and (2) developing protocols for the medical care of such women. Directs the Secretary to implement a strategy for the dissemination of HIV treatment information to care providers and patients. Adds accredited dental hygiene programs as possible recipients of currently-authorized grants with respect to oral health care to (sic) patients with HIV disease. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes grants to dental schools, post-doctoral dental education programs, and accredited dental hygiene programs that partner with community-based dentists to provide care to HIV patients in underserved areas. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes appropriations for grants and contracts to assist public and nonprofit private entities and schools and academic health science centers to train health personnel, train faculty, and develop and disseminate curricula and resource materials regarding the care of HIV patients and prevention of HIV infection among at risk individuals. Subtitle B: General Provisions in Title XXVI - Extends the authorization of appropriations for grants and contracts to evaluate programs carried out under title XXVI of the Public Health Service Act (HIV Health Care Services Program). (Sec. 412) Authorizes appropriations for collecting and providing data for program planning and evaluation under title XXVI. (Sec. 413) Adds the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and the Health Care Financing Administration to the list of agencies (currently, the Health Resources and Services Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) charged with coordinating the planning, funding, and implementation (currently, coordinating the planning of the funding) of Federal HIV programs to enhance continuity of care and prevention services (currently, continuity of care). Requires that State, local, or private entities receiving title XXVI funds enhance continuity of care and prevention services (currently, continuity of care). (Sec. 414) Directs the Secretary to develop and submit to Congress a plan for the medical case management of and the provision of support services to individuals who had HIV disease on their date of release from the Federal or State penal system. (Sec. 415) Authorizes the Secretary to reduce title XXVI grants to a State or political subdivision if the State or subdivision fails to prepare audits. (Sec. 416) Directs the Secretary to: (1) develop and submit to Congress a plan for coordinating the disbursement of appropriations for substantial need grants with the disbursement for care grants; (2) within two years after enactment of this Act, implement the disbursement plan, notwithstanding any title XXVI provision inconsistent with the plan; (3) determine whether administration of those grants by the Secretary and grantee compliance efficiency would be improved by requiring biennial rather than annual applications; (4) develop and submit to Congress a plan for simplifying the application process for those grants; and (5) within two years after enactment of this Act, implement the simplified application plan, notwithstanding any title XXVI provision inconsistent with the plan. (Sec. 417) Removes provisions directing the Secretary to develop and implement a method for adjusting the percentages allocated to substantial need grants and care grants to account for substantial need grants to new areas and other relevant factors. Authorizes appropriations for substantial need and care grants. Title V: General Provisions - Directs the Secretary to provide for studies, and report to the appropriate congressional committees, on: (1) whether the surveillance system of each State provides for the reporting of HIV infection cases in a way that provides information on the number and demographic characteristics of the cases that is sufficiently accurate for the formula grants under substantial need and care grant provisions and, if not, recommendations for improvements; and (2) the appropriate epidemiological measures and their relationship to the financing and delivery of primary care and health related support services for low income, uninsured, and underinsured individuals with HIV disease. (Sec. 502) Requires the Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to expand, intensify, and coordinate research and other NIH activities regarding development of reliable and affordable HIV tests that can be rapidly administered and whose results can be rapidly obtained (rapid HIV tests). Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary: (1) to report to appropriate congressional committees on the progress made toward, and barriers to, the premarket review and commercial distribution of rapid HIV tests; and (2) promptly after rapid HIV test commercial distribution begins, to establish or update guidelines for States, hospitals, and other entities regarding the availability of those tests for administration to pregnant women in labor or late stage pregnancy and whose HIV status is unknown. (Sec. 503) Directs the Secretary, of the amounts available to the Secretary for program management at the Health Resources and Services Administration, to spend amounts necessary to ensure at least a 20 percent increase in fiscal year 2001 over fiscal year 2000 of full- time-equivalent staff of the Bureau of HIV/AIDS who administer programs under title XXVI. Title VI: Effective Date - Sets forth the effective dates for this Act and its amendments.
United States · United States Congress · 27 June 2000
Brevard County Beach Equity Act of 2000 - Directs the Secretary of the Army, in cooperation with interested non-Federal entities, to conduct a study to determine whether any erosion or property damage along the shoreline in Brevard County, Florida, is attributable to the Canaveral Harbor Project. Requires the Secretary to: (1) limit the scope of the study to a review of existing data, reports, and studies relevant to erosion in the County; (2) hire an independent coastal expert to review and report on such data, reports, and studies; and (3) select such expert from a list of experts approved by the Corps of Engineers, the Canaveral Port Authority, and the County Commission of the County. Requires the Secretary to: (1) take into account the effects of each previously implemented measure designed to mitigate erosion or property damage attributable to the Project, except those measures implemented under the Shoreline Protection Project; (2) determine whether any measures are necessary to prevent or mitigate erosion or property damage, or to correct or repair past erosion or property damage; and (3) plan, design, and implement such measures. Requires the Federal and non-federal share of the costs of implementing any measure to be the same as for such Project. Requires the Secretary: (1) if he or she carries out any renourishment of a shore or beach located within the area covered by the Shoreline Protection Project, to modify the Project cooperation agreement to increase the Federal share to reflect the increased construction and periodic renourishment costs incurred; and (2) based on any reallocation of such costs, to credit or reimburse each non-Federal interest for any excess funds it may have expended with respect to such Project. Amends the Water Resources Development Act of 1999 to repeal the requirement for the reimbursement of the non-Federal interest for the Federal share of preconstruction planning and design costs for the project for shore protection for Broward County and Hillsboro Inlet, Florida if the work is compatible with and integral to such project. Authorizes use of up to $250,000 of funds made available for the operation or maintenance of the Canaveral Harbor Project to conduct the study. Provides for the costs of any mitigation measure carried out under this Act to be allocated to such Project as operation and maintenance costs.
United States · United States Congress · 26 June 2000
Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel Act of 2000 - Title I: Personnel Matters - Revises pay adjustment authority for nurses employed by the Department of Veterans Affairs to require the director of such Department health-care facility to use third-party industry wage surveys in making such adjustments. Prohibits any adjustment from reducing the rate of basic pay applicable to any nurse grade. Prohibits a director, in determining whether to carry out an adjustment, from considering the absence of a current recruitment or retention problem for personnel in that position. Authorizes the Department's Under Secretary for Health to modify any adjustment determination made by a facility director. Makes annual (currently terminated in 1993) a reporting requirement from the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to the congressional veterans' committees regarding such pay adjustments. Requires the Under Secretary to ensure that: (1) the director of a geographic service area, in formulating policy for the provision of patient care, consult regularly with a senior nurse executive(s); and (2) the director of a health-care facility include a registered nurse on any committee providing recommendations or decisions on medical center operations or policies affecting clinical services, clinical outcomes, budget, or resources. (Sec. 102) Increases the special pay for dentists for: (1) full-time status; (2) completing a post-graduate year of accredited hospital-based training; (3) length-of-service pay; (4) scarce specialty pay; (5) service in a geographic location in which there exists extraordinary difficulties in the recruitment and retention of qualified dentists; and (6) service in certain executive positions. Credits toward civil service retirement calculations 25 percent of the special pay for length-of-service pay for each two years that the dentist completes as a dentist in the Veterans Health Administration (VHA). (Sec. 103) Exempts VHA pharmacists from a required ceiling on special salary rates for certain VHA health professionals. (Sec. 104) Requires a physician assistant with appropriate experience to advise the Under Secretary on all matters relating to the utilization and employment of VHA physician assistants. (Sec. 105) Revises generally provisions regarding the temporary appointment of graduates of physician assistant training programs. Title II: Construction Authorization - Authorizes the Secretary to carry out major medical facility projects at Department medical centers in Palo Alto, California, Miami, Florida, and Long Beach, California. (Sec. 202) Authorizes appropriations for FY 2001 and 2002 for the Construction, Major Projects, account for such projects. Title III: Military Service Issues - Directs the Secretary to ensure that: (1) a protocol is used in any clinical evaluation of a patient to identify pertinent military experiences and exposures that may contribute to the health of the patient; and (2) such information is included in the patient's medical records. Requires a report from the Secretary to the veterans' committees on the feasibility and desirability of using a computer-based system in conducting such evaluations. (Sec. 302) Directs the Secretary to contract with an appropriate entity to conduct a follow-up study on post-traumatic stress disorder in Vietnam veterans. Requires a report to the veterans' committees. Title IV: Medical Administration Matters - Authorizes the Secretary to carry out a program in not more than four geographically dispersed areas to improve access to and coordination of inpatient care of eligible veterans. Authorizes the Secretary, under such program to pay the cost of hospital care and medical services furnished on an inpatient basis in a non-Department hospital to a veteran participant. Makes eligible for the program a veteran who: (1) is enrolled to receive medical services from a nearby Department outpatient clinic; (2) requires such care and services for a non-service-connected condition and could not receive such care and services from a Department clinic; and (3) elects to receive such care and services under an entitled health plan. Requires two report from the Secretary to the veterans' committees on program implementation and operation. (Sec. 402) Authorizes the payment of veterans' disability compensation for veterans who are disabled during participation in a compensated work therapy program. (Sec. 403) Extends through December 31, 2005, the authority of the Secretary to establish nonprofit research and education corporations. (Sec. 404) Authorizes the Secretary to furnish temporary lodging in Fisher houses (guest houses) or other appropriate facilities, in connection with the examination, care, and treatment of a veteran, to: (1) a veteran who must travel a significant distance to receive such care and treatment; and (2) a family member and others who accompany such veteran and provide familial support. Authorizes the Secretary to establish charges for such lodging. (Sec. 405) Extends through 2004 an annual reporting requirement describing activities of the Committee on Care of Severely Chronically Mentally Ill Veterans. (Sec. 406) Excludes from the right of the Department to recover certain costs from a State for veterans' care facilities not so used for at least 20 years the establishment and operation of an outpatient clinic at such a facility. (Sec. 407) Prohibits the Secretary from entering into an enhanced-use lease of Department property until 90 days after notifying the veterans' committees of the intention to designate property for such use. (Sec. 409) Designates the outpatient clinic in Rome, New York, as the Donald J. Mitchell Department of Veterans Affairs Outpatient Clinic. (Sec. 410) Directs the Secretary to release a reversionary interest in certain real property in Johnson City, Tennessee, previously transferred to the State of Tennessee.
United States · United States Congress · 23 June 2000
Calls for the immediate release of Edmond Pope from prison in Russia on humanitarian reasons. Declares that no funds should be provided for: (1) assisting the Government of the Russian Federation to prepare for or adjoin or accede to the World Trade Organization; or (2) Overseas Private Investment Corporation programs for activities within Russia. Urges the President to oppose further loans to the Russian Government by any international funding institution of which the United States is a member.
United States · United States Congress · 22 June 2000
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude, subject to a $3,000 maximum exclusion (double for a joint return), from gross income a capital gain dividend: (1) which is distributed by a regulated investment company; and (2) which is automatically reinvested by the company in the stock of such company with respect to which the dividend is distributed.
United States · United States Congress · 21 June 2000
Illegal Pornography Prosecution Act of 2000 - Authorizes appropriations to the Department of Justice for FY 2001 to be used by the Criminal Division, Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, for the hiring and training of staff, travel, and other necessary expenses to prosecute obscenity cases.
United States · United States Congress · 15 June 2000
Milton Friedman Congressional Gold Medal Act - Authorizes the President to present, on behalf of Congress, a gold medal to Milton Friedman in recognition of his contributions to individual freedom and opportunity in American society through his exhaustive research and teaching of economics and his extensive writings on economics and public policy.
United States · United States Congress · 14 June 2000
American Servicemembers' Protection Act of 2000 - Prohibits U.S. cooperation with the International Criminal Court (including restrictions on U.S. military participation in United Nations (UN) peacekeeping operations and the transfer of U.S. classified national security information, and the provision of U.S. military assistance, to the Court and its members). Authorizes the President to use all means necessary to bring about the release of U.S. military personnel and certain other persons held captive by or on behalf of the Court. Directs the President to report to the appropriate congressional committees on the degree to which each existing status of forces agreement with a foreign government, or other similar international agreement, protects U.S. military and other personnel from extradition to the Court Authorizes funds withheld from the U.S. share of assessments to the UN or other international organizations pursuant to the Admiral James W. Nance and Meg Donovan Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 2000 and 2001 to be transferred to the Embassy Security, Construction and Maintenance Account of the Department of State. Terminates the requirements of this Act upon the United States becoming a party to the Court.
United States · United States Congress · 9 June 2000
Urges the President to direct U.S. delegations to worldwide conferences to: (1) adopt a negotiating policy that prostitution degrades human dignity and violates basic human rights; (2) oppose broad and vague "sexual rights" language for adults and children; (3) call upon the international community to end all forms of prostitution and aggressively pursue organizations and individuals exploiting women and children through prostitution; and (4) defend the fundamental human rights to family, conscience, and life.
United States · United States Congress · 25 May 2000
Veterans Service Improvement Act of 2000 - Authorizes the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out a program in not more than four geographically dispersed areas of the United States to improve access to and coordination of inpatient care of eligible veterans. Allows the Secretary, under the program, to pay reasonable costs of hospital care and services furnished to a program participant in a non-Department of Veterans Affairs hospital. Requires the amount paid to be reduced by any copayment that the veteran would have been required to pay in a Department hospital for such care and services. Makes eligible for the program a veteran who: (1) is enrolled to receive medical services from a Department outpatient clinic; (2) requires such care and services for a non-service-connected condition and could not receive such services from a Department clinic; and (3) elects to receive such care under a health plan to which such individual is entitled. Requires at least 60 percent of the veterans residing in a designated area to reside at least two hours driving distance from the closest Department medical center that provides appropriate care. Directs the Secretary to submit to the congressional veterans' committees two reports on the implementation and operation of the program.
United States · United States Congress · 25 May 2000
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to increase by $3,000, for individuals over the age of 50, the amount which may be contributed annually as a qualified deductible retirement contribution.
United States · United States Congress · 25 May 2000
Expresses the sense of Congress that the Medicare program should cover the treatment and removal of actinic keratoses based on the appropriate standard of care as determined by a beneficiary's treating physician.
United States · United States Congress · 24 May 2000
Cuban Internal Opposition Assistance Act of 2000 - Instructs the President to: (1) use specified funds to implement assistance for victims of the most extreme political repression and to assist independent nongovernmental opposition organizations inside Cuba; (2) ensure adequate verification and monitoring of such funds' destination; and (3) authorize issuance of licenses to independent nongovernmental organizations to send monetary remittances to independent nongovernmental opposition organizations to implement specified activities under the Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity Act of 1996.
United States · United States Congress · 9 May 2000
Designates the U.S. Postal Service facility located at 440 South Orange Blossom Trail in Orlando, Florida, as the Arthur "Pappy" Kennedy Post Office Building.
United States · United States Congress · 9 May 2000
Designates the U.S. Postal Service facility located at 1601-1 Main Street in Jacksonville, Florida, as the Eddie Mae Steward Post Office Building.
United States · United States Congress · 4 May 2000
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that the decision of a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit striking down the Ohio State motto, "With God All Things Are Possible," is a misinterpretation and misapplication of the U.S. Constitution. Expresses the support of the House of Representatives for such motto and other State mottoes making reference to a divine power and for the decision of the Governor and the Attorney General of the State of Ohio to appeal the ruling.
United States · United States Congress · 4 May 2000
Save Our Surplus for Debt Reduction and Tax Rebate Resolution of 2000 - Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that if the Office of Management and Budget, in its supplemental summary of the budget for FY 2001, projects an increase in the on-budget surplus from the projection for that surplus set forth in the President's budget submission for such fiscal year that: (1) is $16 billion or less for FY 2000, then such amount should be dedicated to reducing publicly- held debt; or (2) exceeds such amount for FY 2000, then $16 billion should be returned as a tax rebate distributed equally to every American household that paid Federal income taxes for taxable year 1998 and any excess should be dedicated to reducing such debt. Expresses the sense of the House that any individual receiving a tax rebate who desires to do so may return the check in order to reduce such debt.
United States · United States Congress · 13 April 2000
National Science Education Act - Amends the National Science Foundation Act of 1950 (NSFA) to establish and expand programs relating to science, mathematics, engineering, and technology education. (Sec. 3) Provides that nothing in this Act may be construed to authorize any Federal department, agency, officer, or employee to exercise any direction, supervision, or control over the curriculum, program of instruction, administration, or personnel of any educational institution or school system. (Sec. 4) Requires the NSF Director to make grants to State or local educational agencies (SEAs or LEAs) or private elementary or middle schools to hire master teachers. Requires grant applicants to describe their requirements for master teachers and how professional development will be integrated with their mathematics or science program. Requires such master teachers to: (1) provide support for not more than ten teachers at public and private schools in mathematics, science, engineering, or technology programs for students in kindergarten through the eighth grade; and (2) be responsible for in-classroom assistance and oversight of hands-on inquiry materials, equipment, and supplies, including supplying and repairing such materials. Requires such grants to be made out of funds available for the NSF for Education and Human Resources Activities. (Sec. 5) Authorizes the Director to make competitive grants to secondary school and college students working with university faculty, software developers, and experts in educational technology, or to such faculty, developers, and experts working with such students, to develop high-quality educational software and Internet web sites. Requires the Director to: (1) designate official judges to recognize outstanding educational software and Internet web sites, developed with such assistance, that focus on core curriculum areas; (2) issue a certificate signed by the President and Director to each student and faculty member who develops such recognized software and sites; and (3) give priority to awarding grants to develop such software or sites in the areas of mathematics, science, engineering, and technology. (Sec. 6) Establishes in NSF a working group to review and coordinate regular and supplemental curricula in kindergarten through the 12th grade for science, mathematics, engineering, and technology. (Sec. 7) Requires the Director, subject to appropriations, to make demonstration project grants to eligible LEAS, which may use such funds to: (1) develop an information technology program that builds or expands mathematics, science, and information technology curricula; (2) purchase equipment necessary to establish such program; and (3) provide professional development in such fields. Requires such LEAs to enter into conditional agreements with representatives of the private sector which will participate by providing services and funds, including: (1) donating computer hardware and software; (2) establishing internship and mentoring opportunities for student participants in such program; and (3) donating higher education scholarship funds for eligible students who have participated in such program. Sets forth requirements for program applications, guidelines, assessment, study, and report. Authorizes appropriations to NSF for such program. Limits the maximum amount of such a grant award to any eligible LEA. (Sec. 8) Requires the Director, with the Secretary of Education, to compile and disseminate information on: (1) standard prerequisites for middle school and high school students who seek to enter a course of study at an institution of higher education in science, mathematics, engineering, or technology education for purposes of teaching in an elementary or secondary school; and (2) the licensing requirements in each State for science, mathematics, engineering, or technology elementary or secondary school teachers. (Sec. 9) Requires the Director to enter into an agreement with the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) for NAS to compile and evaluate studies on the effectiveness of technology in the classroom on learning and student performance, as measured by State standardized tests. Authorizes appropriations to NSF for such study-evaluation. (Sec. 10) Requires the Director to establish a grant program under which grants may be made for instruction of teachers for grades kindergarten through the 12th grade in the use of technology in the classroom. (Sec. 11) Authorizes the Director to award grants to assist States in reaching the goal of making all middle school graduates technology-literate. Requires such grants to be used for teacher training in technology, with an emphasis on programs that prepare one or more teachers in each middle school in the State to become technology leaders who then serve as experts and train other teachers. Requires States to encourage schools that receive such assistance to provide matching funds. (Sec. 12) Requires the Director to convene, as the National Science Education Forum, a conference of representatives from Federal, State, and local governments, private industries, professional organizations, educators, science, mathematics, engineering, and technology educational resource providers, students, and other stakeholders. (Sec. 13) Authorizes the Director to make grants to SEAs or LEAs or private elementary, middle, or secondary schools, under any grant program administered by the Director using funds appropriated for the NSF for Education and Human Resources Activities, for activities in which distance learning is integrated into the education process in kindergarten through the 12th grade. (Sec. 14) Requires the Director to make available through the Internet at no cost a complete field-test version of any curricular program for which the NSF provided development funds. (Sec. 15) Directs the President, acting through the NSF, to provide scholarships to teachers at public and private schools in kindergarten through the 12th grade to participate in Federal, State, or private research programs. Requires the Director to establish an Internet web site which may be used by students and teachers participating in such program to incorporate research knowledge and techniques into the educational process.
United States · United States Congress · 13 April 2000
Born-Alive Infants Protection Act of 2000 - Directs that, in determining the meaning of any Act of Congress, or of any ruling, regulation, or interpretation of the various U.S. administrative bureaus and agencies, the words "person," "human being," "child," and "individual" shall include every infant member of the species homo sapiens who is born alive (as defined in this Act) at any stage of development.
United States · United States Congress · 13 April 2000
Digital Divide Access to Technology Act of 2000 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide that computers and Internet access provided by an employer to employees shall be treated as a "de minimis fringe" benefit (and thus excluded from gross income) provided specified requirements are met.
United States · United States Congress · 13 April 2000
National Science Education Incentive Act of 2000 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) permit an eligible science, engineering, math, or technology teacher a limited credit for undergraduate tuition; and (2) permit an elementary and secondary science, mathematics, engineering, and technology credit (SMET) credit for qualified contributions of property or service to qualified elementary and secondary schools.
United States · United States Congress · 13 April 2000
Federal Employees Health Insurance Premium Conversion Act - Requires the Office of Personnel Management to make available to Federal annuitants the option to pay their Federal Employees' Health Benefits Program enrollment charges through a health insurance premium conversion arrangement beginning on the same date as when such option first becomes available to Federal employees generally, but no later than the deadline specified below. Requires: (1) each employing entity within the legislative branch to establish a plan, similar to the health insurance premium conversion arrangement, for their employees; and (2) the Secretary of Defense (or each appropriate Secretary with respect to the Coast Guard and the commissioned corps of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Public Health Service) to establish such a plan for members and retired members of the uniformed services. Requires that all such plans be completed so that such option shall become available no later than the first day of the first applicable pay period beginning on or after January 1, 2001.
United States · United States Congress · 13 April 2000
Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to require the wholesale distributor of certain drugs who is not the manufacturer or an authorized distributor of record for a calendar year (currently, the language "for a calendar year" is not in the Act) of a drug to provide to the recipient of the drug a statement identifying each prior sale, purchase, or trade of such drug.
United States · United States Congress · 13 April 2000
National Science Education Enhancement Act - Provides that nothing in this Act may be construed to authorize any Federal department, agency, officer, or employee to exercise any direction, supervision, or control over the curriculum, program of instruction, administration, or personnel of any educational institution or school system. Title I: Amendments to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 - Revises the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) with respect to teacher professional development activities to include support for mentoring activities for science, mathematics, engineering, and technology teachers. (Sec. 101) Includes information on model science, mathematics, engineering, and technology teacher mentoring programs among the information which the Eisenhower National Clearinghouse for Mathematics and Science Education (Clearinghouse) is required to disseminate. Requires States, in their plans in applications for teacher professional development grants, to describe how they will: (1) administer a mentoring system to ensure consistent implementation of mentoring programs for science, mathematics, engineering, and technology teachers; (2) provide a structure for local mentoring program evaluation; (3) provide technical assistance to local mentoring programs; (4) ensure compliance by local mentoring programs with State teacher training requirements; and (5) provide incentives for local educational agencies (LEAs) to take mentoring into consideration in assessing instructional staff hiring needs. Requires local activities under the teacher professional development program to include mentoring programs for novice teachers of science, mathematics, engineering, and technology. Requires States to include, in their accountability reports under the teacher professional development program, the impact of State and local mentoring programs on teaching quality and teacher retention rates. (Sec. 102) Revises ESEA provisions for the allocation and use of funds for the Clearinghouse. Requires such funds to be used to: (1) solicit and gather qualitative and evaluative materials and programs, review their evaluation, rank their effectiveness, and distribute results of reviews, as well as excerpts of materials and links to Internet sites and information on on-line communities of users to teachers; and (2) establish an Internet site offering a search mechanism to assist site visitors in identifying information on science, mathematics, engineering, and technology education instructional materials and programs, including electronic links to information on classroom demonstrations and experiments, teachers who have used materials or participated in programs, vendors, curricula, and textbooks. Directs the Clearinghouse to give particular attention to the effective use of materials and technology in science, mathematics, engineering, and technology education. Directs the National Academy of Sciences to study and report on the Clearinghouse. (Sec. 103) Authorizes the Secretary of Education to make competitive grants, from specified ESEA funds, for summer professional development institutes for teachers. Provides for such grants to be awarded to State agencies for higher education, working in conjunction with the State educational agency (if such agencies are separate). Requires the grantees to: (1) make subgrants to or cooperative agreements with various entities working in conjunction with an LEA or consortium of LEAs; and (2) give priority to applicants assuring use of a curriculum recognized by the working group established under specified provisions of the National Science Foundation Act of 1950. Sets forth requirements relating to such institutes and their activities and curricula. Requires peer review of grant applications under a process established by the Director of the National Science Foundation. Requires participants in such institutes to earn credit toward State continuing education requirements for teachers or a post-baccalaureate degree program at an institution of higher education. Revises provisions for allocation of certain appropriated amounts. Reserves specified funds for the summer institute program. (Sec. 104) Includes providing technology training software and instructional materials to teachers among local uses of ESEA school technology resource grants. (Sec. 105) Requires grant applicants, under the ESEA 21st Century Community Learning Centers program, to assure that they will use at least five percent of the grant amount to provide after-school day care services that focus on science activities. (Sec. 106) Includes after-school day care services that focus on science activities for children in kindergarten through sixth grade among uses of grants under the ESEA 21st Century Community Learning Centers program. Title II: Other Provisions - Revises the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) to treat technology training, tutoring teachers in the uses of classroom technology, as community service by college students under the work-study program. Increases funding for such program and reserves the amount of such increase to compensate students employed in technology training or tutoring teachers in the uses of classroom technology. (Sec. 202) Directs the Secretary of Commerce to study: (1) the feasibility and effectiveness of various incentives, including tax credits, for businesses to provide personnel with regular compensation for time spent as volunteers engaged in the technological training of teachers and facilities for such training; (2) alternative methods of providing financial support, through income tax credits, loan forgiveness, or otherwise, to individuals seeking training or retraining in mathematics, science, and technology education; (3) the effectiveness of higher education institutions in training teachers who can use technology and integrate it into lesson plans, curricula, and distance learning; (4) methods to coordinate working alliances at various levels of government between the business and academic community; and (5) other means of improving the efficiency of the technological training of teachers. (Sec. 203) Directs the Secretary of Commerce to report to Congress on such study, including proposals for a comprehensive approach to providing technologically competent teachers to the Nation's schools.
United States · United States Congress · 12 April 2000
National Museum of the American Indian Commemorative Coin Act of 2000, or American Buffalo Coin Commemorative Coin Act of 2000 - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to mint and issue a maximum of 500,000 $1 dollar coins in commemoration of the opening of the National Museum of the American Indian of the Smithsonian Institution. Expresses the sense of Congress that the United States Mint Facility in Denver, Colorado, should strike such coins unless the Secretary determines that it would be technically or cost-prohibitive. Mandates that the proceeds from sales surcharges be paid promptly to the National Museum of the American Indian of the Smithsonian Institution to: (1) commemorate the opening of the Museum; and (2)supplement the Museum's endowment and educational outreach funds. Subjects the Museum to certain Federal audit requirements. Instructs the Secretary to take actions to ensure that coin minting and issuance will not result in any net cost to the Government.
United States · United States Congress · 12 April 2000
Law Enforcement Quality Procurement Act - Prohibits: (1) the use of Federal funds to give or withhold a preference to a marketer or vendor of firearms or ammunition based on whether the manufacturer or vendor is a party to a covered agreement (an agreement requiring a person engaged in a business licensed under Federal firearms provisions to abide by a designated code of conduct, operating practice, or product design respecting importing, manufacturing, or dealing in firearms or ammunition); or (2) the provision of Federal funds to a State or local entity that gives or withholds such a preference or that receives firearms or ammunition purchased for that State or local entity subject to such a preference.
United States · United States Congress · 12 April 2000
Safe Highways Resolution - Expresses the sense of Congress that certain statutory proscriptions and restrictions: (1) on longer combination vehicles should not be amended so as to weaken the current "freeze" on those vehicles or result in any less restrictive prohibition or restrictions upon them; and (2) should not be amended so as to permit operation of commercial motor vehicles with a gross vehicle weight greater than that currently allowed under Federal law.
United States · United States Congress · 12 April 2000
Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) the presence of brain activity and spontaneous cardiac activity should be considered conclusive evidence for all legal purposes of the presence of human life, without regard to age, health, defects, or condition of dependency; (2) the absence of such activity, other than an irreversible cessation of these activities, should not be considered conclusive evidence for legal purposes that a human life is not present; and (3) the Constitution protects all human life in the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 6 April 2000
Methyl Bromide Fairness Act of 2000 - Amends provisions of the Clean Air Act that prohibit the production of certain substances to provide an exemption for the production, importation, and consumption of methyl bromide to fumigate commodities or articles or facilities where such commodities or articles may be processed or stored for purposes of compliance with Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service requirements or with any international, Federal, State, or local sanitation or food protection standard. (Current law provides for the use of methyl bromide to fumigate commodities entering or leaving the United States to the extent consistent with the Montreal Protocol.) Prohibits the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency from terminating production of methyl bromide prior to January 1, 2015 (currently, January 1, 2005). Requires the Administrator to promulgate rules for reductions in, and terminate the production, importation, and consumption of, methyl bromide under a schedule that is in accordance with, but not more stringent than, the Montreal Protocol phaseout schedule for developing countries (currently, the Montreal Protocol phaseout schedule in effect on October 21, 1998).
United States · United States Congress · 6 April 2000
FDA Tobacco Authority Amendments Act - Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to, among other things: (1) include "nicotine in a tobacco product" in the definition of the term "drug" and to include "a tobacco product" in the definition of the term "device;" and (2) set forth provisions for tobacco products concerning special standards for such products, warnings regarding such products, and a rule of construction regarding farmers and related entities.
United States · United States Congress · 6 April 2000
Date Certain Tax Code Replacement Act - Prohibits the imposition of any tax by the Internal Revenue Code: (1) for any taxable year beginning after December 31, 2004; and (2) in the case of any tax not imposed on the basis of a taxable year, on any taxable event or for any period after December 31, 2004. Excepts the: (1) tax on self-employment income (chapter 2 of the Code); (2) Federal Insurance Contributions Act (chapter 21 of the Code); and (3) Railroad Retirement Tax Act (chapter 22 of the Code). Establishes the National Commission on Tax Reform and Simplification to review: (1) the present structure and provisions of the Code; (2) whether the tax systems of other countries could provide more efficient and fair methods of funding government revenue requirements; (3) whether the income tax should be replaced with a tax imposed in a different manner or on a different base; and (4) whether the Code can be simplified, absent wholesale restructuring or replacement. Requires a Commission report to Congress on review results, with recommendations for Code reform and simplification. Terminates the Commission 90 days after such report. Authorizes appropriations (with interim funding). Declares that any new Federal tax system should be approved by Congress in its final form before July 4, 2004.
United States · United States Congress · 6 April 2000
Constitutional Amendment - Requires any legislative measure changing the internal revenue laws to require the concurrence of two-thirds of the Members of each House voting and present, unless the legislative measure is determined not to increase the internal revenue by more than a de minimis amount. States that for the purposes of determining any increase in the internal revenue, there shall be excluded any increase resulting from the lowering of an effective rate of any tax. Permits Congress to waive such requirements when: (1) a declaration of war is in effect; or (2) the United States is engaged in military conflict which causes an imminent and serious threat to national security and is so declared by an adopted joint resolution. Prohibits any increase in the internal revenue enacted under such a waiver from being effective for longer than two years.
United States · United States Congress · 5 April 2000
See summary of: H.R. 4109
United States · United States Congress · 4 April 2000
Calls upon the Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee to recommend and the Postal Service to issue a commemorative postage stamp on the subject of autism awareness.
United States · United States Congress · 30 March 2000
Help Emergency Responders Operate Act - Authorizes appropriations to the Secretary of Agriculture for FY 2001 and 2002 for carrying out provisions authorizing the Secretary to: (1) cooperate with State foresters or equivalent State officials in developing systems and methods for the prevention, control, suppression, and prescribed use of fires on rural lands and in rural communities that will protect human lives, agricultural crops and livestock, property and other improvements, and natural resources; (2) provide financial, technical, and related assistance to such foresters or officials, and through them to other agencies and individuals, for the prevention, control, suppression, and prescribed use of fires on non-Federal forest lands and other non- Federal lands; and (3) provide financial, technical, and related assistance to such foresters or officials in cooperative efforts to organize, train, and equip local firefighting forces, including those of Indian tribes or other native groups, to prevent, control, and suppress fires threatening human lives, crops, livestock, farmsteads or other improvements, pastures, orchards, wildlife, rangeland, woodland, and other resources in rural areas. Amends the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to allow the Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), using amounts in an account for the purpose of providing loan guarantees (established under this Act), to guarantee loans to volunteer fire and rescue agencies for the entire principal and interest on the loan for specified volunteer fire and rescue services, including to purchase equipment necessary for proper performance of the agency's duties, to repair, rehabilitate, or otherwise improve the agency's existing facilities, and for carrying out public education programs regarding fire prevention, life safety, and arson. Sets forth loan terms and conditions. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes appropriations to the Director for FY 2001 and 2002 for making grants directly to local fire and rescue services for equipment, including interoperability radio equipment. Authorizes the Director to make grants on a competitive basis to: (1) safety organizations that have experience in conducting burn safety programs for assisting those organizations in conducting such programs or augmenting existing burn prevention programs; (2) hospitals that serve as regional burn centers to conduct acute burn research; and (3) governmental and nongovernmental entities to provide after-burn treatment and counseling to individuals that are burn victims. Creates an office in FEMA to establish specific criteria of grant recipients and to administer such grants. Authorizes appropriations. Requires the Director to establish a program to award grants to volunteer, paid, and combined departments that provide fire and emergency medical services. Permits such grants to be used, among other things, to: (1) acquire personal protective equipment required for firefighting personnel by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, and other personal protective equipment for firefighting personnel; (2) acquire additional firefighting equipment, including equipment for communication and monitoring; (3) establish wellness and fitness programs for firefighting personnel to reduce the number of injuries and deaths related to health and conditioning problems; (4) promote professional development of fire code enforcement personnel; (5) integrate computer technology to improve records management and training capabilities; (6) fund fire prevention programs and public education programs about arson prevention and detection, and juvenile fire setter intervention; and (7) modify fire stations, fire training facilities, and other facilities to protect the health and safety of firefighting personnel. Provides for grant recipients to be subject to audits to ensure that the funds are spent for their intended purposes. Authorizes appropriations. Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to direct the Federal Communications Commission, in addition to the allocations and assignments otherwise made with respect to new public safety services licenses and commercial licenses, within 30 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, to allocate the electromagnetic spectrum between 139 megahertz and 140.5 megahertz, inclusive, and between 141.5 megahertz and 143 megahertz, inclusive, to interoperability use by public safety services. Authorizes appropriations to the Secretary of the Interior for FY 2001 for the U.S. Geological Survey for the Hazard Support System for system improvements and for operation and maintenance. Directs such Secretary to transmit to Congress a report on the results of a study, carried out in consultation with the National Interagency Fire Center and State fire services, of the best methods of disseminating data from such System to State and local fire mitigation entities for realtime fire detection. Amends the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 to include as activities eligible for assistance under the community development block grant program the provision of assistance to local firefighting, emergency medical, or rescue units serving low-income communities for: (1) acquisition, repair, or rehabilitation of equipment or vehicles for firefighting, emergency medical, or rescue services; (2) construction, acquisition, rehabilitation, or improvement of facilities for local firefighting, emergency medical, or rescue services; or (3) training or planning involved in providing fire fighting, emergency medical, or rescue services. States that such an assisted activity shall be considered to benefit persons of low and moderate income if the service provides such services to low- and moderate-income persons.
United States · United States Congress · 29 March 2000
Health Coverage, Access, Relief, and Equity (C.A.R.E.) Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) allow as a limited refundable credit the amount paid for qualified health insurance; and (2) provide for the payment, by the Secretary of the Treasury, to an individual's health insurer of an amount equal to an individual's qualified health insurance credit advance amount.
United States · United States Congress · 29 March 2000
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to phase-in an increase in the unified credit against estate and gift taxes to an exclusion amount of $10 million for calendar year 2003 and following years. Provides for an inflation adjustment to such exclusion.
United States · United States Congress · 21 March 2000
Long-Term Care Security Act - Amends Federal civil service provisions to direct the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to establish and administer a program through which Federal employees and annuitants, current and retired members of the uniformed services, and their qualified relatives may obtain long-term care insurance through a qualified carrier (a company licensed to issue such insurance in all States). Directs OPM, without regard to statutes requiring competitive bidding, to contract with one or more qualified carriers to provide such insurance. Sets forth contract terms and conditions, including that the carrier participate in an administrative process to settle claim disputes. Provides for seven-year contracts. Requires OPM, after a certain period, to recommend to specified congressional committees whether the insurance program should be continued. Requires each master insurance contract to include full portability of benefits. Makes insured individuals responsible for 100 percent of the charges of coverage and allows individuals to have amounts withheld from pay for their coverage and coverage for qualified relatives. Requires each carrier to maintain a separate accounting of premium amounts received. Provides that contract terms for coverage or benefits under this Act shall preempt State and local law relating to long-term care insurance or contracts. Requires qualified carriers to furnish reasonable reports and permit audits. Requires two reports from the General Accounting Office to OPM and each House of Congress evaluating the insurance program. Provides jurisdiction for disputed claims through U.S. district courts after exhausting all available administrative remedies.
United States · United States Congress · 21 March 2000
Gift of Life Tax Credit Act of 2000 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a (refundable) $10,000 credit to individuals who donate their organs at death under an approved plan.
United States · United States Congress · 20 March 2000
Bulletproof Vest Partnership Grant Act of 2000 - Amends the matching grant program for law enforcement armor vests under the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to direct that the matching portion equal 50 percent if: (1) such grant is to a unit of local government with fewer than 100,000 residents; (2) the Director of the Bureau of Justice Assistance determines that the quantity of vests to be purchased with such grant is reasonable; and (3) such portion does not cause such grant to violate certain maximum amount requirements. Directs that: (1) funds available be awarded, without regard to specified "preferential consideration" provisions, to each qualifying unit of local government with fewer than 100,000 residents; and (2) any remaining funds available be awarded to other qualifying applicants. Provides that if an application is submitted in conjunction with a transaction for the purchase of armor vests, grant amounts may not be used to fund any portion of that purchase unless, before the application is submitted, the applicant: (1) receives clear and conspicuous notice that receipt of the grant amounts requested in the application is uncertain; and (2) expressly assumes the obligation to carry out the transaction regardless of whether such amounts are received. Redefines "armor vest" to include body armor which has been tested through a specified voluntary compliance testing program, and found to meet or exceed the requirements of NIJ Standard 0115.00, or any subsequent revision of such standard. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 16 March 2000
Fuel Tax Cost Reduction Act of 2000 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to reduce the petroleum fuel products excise tax.
United States · United States Congress · 15 March 2000
Designates the U.S. Postal Service facility located at 14900 Southwest 30th Street in Miramar City, Florida, as the Vicki Coceano Post Office Building.
United States · United States Congress · 14 March 2000
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