United States · United States Congress · 29 June 1992
Responsible Welfare Act of 1992 - Amends part A (Aid to Families with Dependent Children) (AFDC) of title IV of the Social Security Act to provide for denial of AFDC assistance to certain individuals for any week in which they work or attend courses at an educational institution for fewer than 30 hours. Provides for reduced Federal payments for State plans not in compliance with this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 25 June 1992
Health Insurance Fairness Act of 1992 - Amends the Social Security Act (SSA) to add a new title XXI, Health Plan Standards. Prohibits an individual health plan, and any person which issues such a plan, from denying, limiting, or conditioning coverage of benefits for an individual, or varying premiums charged, based on the individual's health status or claims experience, except that plans may, for a limited period, exclude coverage of services related to treatment of a preexisting condition. Sets forth similar prohibitions with respect to group health plans. Outlines general requirements for health plans issued to small employers, as well as requirements related to restrictions on rating practices. Requires individual and group plans to be certified by the Secretary of Health and Human Services or approved by a State regulatory program before such plans may be issued. Requires the Secretary to establish specific standards that incorporate the requirements of this Act for individual and group health plans. Provides for establishment of a toll-free telephone information system to: (1) handle the receipt and disposition of consumer complaints regarding plan compliance with applicable standards; and (2) provide information to small employers about insurers that offer health plans meeting such standards. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to impose an excise tax on issuers of plans that do not meet applicable standards established under this Act. Sets forth a formula for determining the amount of such tax. Requires the General Accounting Office to study and report to the Congress on the impact of the standards for rating practices for small group health insurance on the availability and price of insurance offered to small employers.
United States · United States Congress · 24 June 1992
Directs the Speaker of the House of Representatives to appoint a task force to restructure the committee system in the House by reducing the number of standing committees to a maximum of 15 and establishing their jurisdiction. Amends rule X of the Rules of the House of Representatives to prohibit any standing committee of the House from establishing more than four subcommittees except: (1) the Committee on the Budget which shall have no subcommittees; (2) the Committee on Rules which shall have two; and (3) the Committee on Appropriations which may have the same number of subcommittees that it had in the 101st Congress. Amends rule XI to make it out of order to consider any primary expense resolution unless the Committee on House Administration has reported and the House has adopted a resolution establishing an overall ceiling for House committee staff personnel for that year. Makes such a resolution privileged. Establishes guidelines for developing and considering primary and supplemental expense resolutions. Provides that the overall ceiling for committee staff in a resolution reported by the committee or contained in any amendment for the 103d Congress shall not exceed 50 percent of the total committee staff personnel employed at the end of the 102d Congress. Repeals the general permission, subject to certain conditions, for proxy voting by a member of any committee or subcommittee with respect to any measure or matter. Amends rule X to require the membership of each committee (except the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct and the Committee on House Administration), subcommittee, task force, or other subunit, to reflect the ratio of majority to minority party Members of the House at the beginning of the Congress. Exempts the Resident Commissioner from Puerto Rico and the Delegates to the House from the count in determining such party ratio. Requires the membership of each select committee, subcommittee, task force, subunit, or conference committee to reflect the ratio of the majority to minority party Members of the House at the time of its appointment. Requires the ratio of majority party to minority party staff positions, consultants, details, and funding for House committees to be the same ratio as that to Members of the House. Directs the Speaker to refer legislation initially to one committee as the committee of principal jurisdiction (currently, such legislation may initially be referred simultaneously to two or more committees for concurrent consideration). Prohibits a member from serving on any particular committee for more than eight years or as committee chairman for more than four years. Disregards: (1) service performed as a member of such committee for less than a full session in any Congress; and (2) previous service on any committee before the beginning of the 103d Congress. Requires one-half of the members of the Committee on House Administration to be from the majority party and one-half to be from the minority. Allows the chairman or ranking minority party member of the Committee on House Administration to authorize and issue subpoenas. Amends rules XLVI to prohibit a Member of the House from sending any franked mass mailing outside the Member's Congressional district. Prohibits the Committee on House Administration from approving any payment for, and a Member from making any expenditure from, any allowance of the House or any other official funds if any portion is for any cost related to a mass mailing by a Member of the House outside his or her congressional district. Amends rule XI to prohibit the Committee on Rules from reporting any rule or order that would prevent a motion to recommit that has amendatory instructions (except in the case of a Senate measure for which the language of a House passed measure has been substituted). Makes it out of order to consider any resolution which waives any point of order, except by a two-thirds vote of the Members voting. Declares that it is the policy of the House of Representatives that the following Federal laws should be amended to apply them to the House in the same or similar manner as they apply to the executive branch: (1) the National Labor Relations Act; (2) the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970; (3) the Equal Pay Act of 1963; (4) the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967; (5) the Freedom of Information Act; (6) the Privacy Act of 1974; and (7) Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Directs the standing committees of the House with subject jurisdiction over such Federal laws to report legislation to the House to implement such policy. Provides for consideration of such legislation.
United States · United States Congress · 18 June 1992
Comprehensive Community Bank Burden Reduction Act of 1992 - Title I: Purposes - Sets forth the purposes of this Act. Title II: Supervisory Reforms - Amends the Federal Deposit Insurance Act to extend from 18 months to twenty-four months the annual on-site examination cycle for certain small-sized insured depository institutions. Authorizes the appropriate Federal banking agency to exempt small-sized institutions within a depository institution holding company from statutory examination requirements if the agency is satisfied that adequate internal controls and examination procedures exist within the holding company structure. Modifies statutory auditing and reporting requirements in order to reduce the regulatory costs incurred by insured depository institutions, including Federal Credit Unions. Repeals regulatory standards for safety and soundness. Exempts from bank branch closure notice requirements specified branches and automated teller machines. Directs the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council to review risk-based capital rules and compliance requirements with respect to their cost burden upon community banks. Amends the Federal Reserve Act to modify the aggregate statutory limits on insider lending. Repeals the statutory mandate with respect to the regulation of interbank risks. Amends the Federal Deposit Insurance Act to modify the approval process with respect to the activities of insured state banks. Directs Federal banking regulatory agencies to coordinate their regulations and interpretation with one another to achieve uniformity. Amends the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989 to: (1) authorize Federal financial institution regulatory agencies and the Resolution Trust Corporation to establish levels below which a certified or licensed appraiser shall not be required in connection with Federal real estate-related transactions; and (2) prohibit States from requiring State-certified or State-licensed appraisers for such transactions. Amends the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977 to set forth self-certification guidelines for regulated financial institutions. Requires the appropriate Federal financial supervisory agency to investigate any allegation filed against a regulated financial institution regarding whether it is helping to meet the credit needs of its community. Modifies the regulatory guidelines for such institutions. Exempts from the jurisdictional purview of such Act certain wholesale financial institutions and credit card banks. Amends the Federal Deposit Insurance Act to modify the statutory standards for attachment of assets and other injunctive relief regarding depository institutions. Requires each appropriate Federal banking agency to conduct a paperwork reduction review with respect to the extent to which regulations require insured depository institutions to produce unnecessary internal written polices, and eliminate such requirements, if appropriate. Modifies the guidelines for the assessment base for deposit insurance premiums. Requires an appropriate Federal banking agency to include a detailed corroborating statement with its certification that a rule will not have a significant economic impact upon a substantial number of small depository institutions. Requires each appropriate Federal banking agency to establish a separate Office of Regulatory Quality to determine and monitor the quality of its regulatory activities. Title III: Non-Supervisory Reforms - Subtitle A: Expedited Funds Availability and Electronic Transfers - Amends the Expedited Funds Availability Act to modify the funds availability schedules for certain checks deposited at automated teller machines. Makes the availability schedule for new accounts applicable during the 90-day (currently 30-day) period beginning on the date the account is established. Authorizes the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (the Board) to establish rules regarding losses and liability among depository institutions and other entities participating in the payments system, including States and political subdivisions on which checks are drawn. Subtitle B: Amendments to the Truth in Lending Act - Amends the Truth in Lending Act to: (1) exempt from its purview credit transactions involving consumers whose income or net worth exceeds specified thresholds; and (2) declare that unintentional errors which do not materially understate the cost to the obligor of certain credit transactions will not negate the effective delivery of certain disclosure requirements concerning the debtor's right of rescission. Subtitle C: Truth-In-Savings Amendments - Establishes a temporary regulatory compliance moratorium for certain small-sized depository institutions. Requires the Board to conduct a cost benefit analysis and report to the Congress on the impact of regulatory compliance upon small-sized depository institutions and their customers. Subtitle D: Homeownership Amendments - Amends the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act of 1974 to require lenders who finance the purchase of residential real estate to provide certain information booklets to borrowers within three business days after the application is received unless the lender denies application within such time period. Amends the Home Mortgage Disclosurer Act of 1974 to repeal the exemption granted certain small-sized depository institutions with respect to certain home mortgage disclosure requirements. Amends the Competitive Equality Banking Act of 1987 to apply the definition of "adjustable rate mortgage loan" to certain consumer loans. Amends the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968 to repeal the notification requirement regarding the availability of homeownership counseling for eligible homeowners who fail to make timely payments.
United States · United States Congress · 18 June 1992
Designates the Federal building and U.S. courthouse located at the corner of College Avenue and Mountain Street in Fayetteville, Arkansas, as the John Paul Hammerschmidt Federal Building and United States Courthouse.
United States · United States Congress · 17 June 1992
Calls upon the President to urge the United Nations Security Council to direct the Secretary General of the United Nations to provide a plan and budget for intervention as may be necessary to enforce the Security Council resolutions seeking cessation of hostilities in the former republics of Yugoslavia.
United States · United States Congress · 16 June 1992
Honest Balanced Budget Act - Repeals provisions of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act) with respect to: (1) emergency powers to eliminate deficits in excess of the maximum deficit amount; (2) budgetary treatment of social security trust funds; and (3) miscellaneous and related provisions. Prohibits, for FY 1994 and each fiscal year thereafter, the outlays of the operating segment of the United States budget from exceeding receipts. Requires, when such outlays exceed receipts, that the deficit be eliminated through revenue increases or spending reductions. Authorizes the waiver of such provisions in the case of war, recession, or natural disaster if the President requests such waiver and the Congress approves by a vote of three-fifths of the membership in both Houses. Requires that operating segment deficit spending subject to a waiver be paid for in full in the budget of the following fiscal year. Requires the budget, excluding trust funds, to be balanced by FY 1998 and each fiscal year thereafter. Requires the President and the Congress: (1) beginning in FY 1995 to develop and implement a plan to so balance the budget; and (2) after balancing the budget to pay down the debt to a reasonable level over a set period of time in order to reduce annual interest costs. Allows a waiver of such budget plan in the case of war, recession, or natural disaster if the President requests such waiver and the Congress approves by a vote of three-fifths of the membership in both Houses. Requires deficit spending subject to such waiver to be paid for in full in the budget of the following fiscal year. Requires the restoration of the statutory debt level within 24 months after the date of such waiver or suspension. Prohibits the Senate or the House of Representatives from considering any bill, resolution, amendment, or conference report that would: (1) cause outlays to exceed receipts; (2) change any provision of this Act; or (3) increase the statutory debt limit after December 31, 1998. Allows a waiver or suspension of such prohibitions in the Senate or the House only by an affirmative vote of three-fifths of the Members. Requires the President to submit a budget for FY 1994 to comply with the requirements of this Act. Requires the Congress to return a budget not in compliance to the President with a letter of reprimand and a request for a new budget. Declares it to be the policy of the United States that: (1) not later than December 31, 1993, the Congress amend the Internal Revenue Code to establish a special interest and debt retirement account dedicated to the reduction of interest and the public debt, to be activated by the President if necessary; (2) any revenues collected for interest and debt retirement be especially titled so that citizens may be aware of their purpose; (3) any revenues collected for interest and debt retirement be deposited in a separate trust fund account; (4) the trust fund be used only for the reduction of interest and the retirement of the public debt; (5) the Secretary of the Treasury administer such account with the advice of a bipartisan board; and (6) any special dedicated interest and debt retirement tax expire upon the elimination of the public debt to a specified target level.
United States · United States Congress · 16 June 1992
Rescinds amounts set aside or otherwise made available for the Arctic Region Supercomputing Center under the Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 1992.
United States · United States Congress · 11 June 1992
Cash Management Improvement Act Amendments of 1992 - Amends the Cash Management Improvement Act of 1990 (the Act) to remove the two-year deadline for the Secretary of the Treasury to prescribe regulations for the timely disbursement of Federal funds. Extends the deadline for the Secretary to enter into agreements with States for intergovernmental financing and to prescribe regulations for such financing from October 24, 1992, until July 1, 1993, or by the first day of a fiscal year of the State which begins in 1993, whichever is later. Makes the Act effective on such date. Extends for one year the report to the Congress by the Comptroller General on the implementation of such Act.
United States · United States Congress · 11 June 1992
Community Bank Burden Reduction Act of 1992 - Amends the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977 to set forth conditions under which a regulated financial institution shall not be subject to its examination requirements.
United States · United States Congress · 11 June 1992
Directs the Architect of the Capitol to design, construct, and maintain a public debt clock in the basement rotunda of the Cannon House Office Building to be adjusted on a continuous basis to reflect the amount of the public debt of the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 4 June 1992
Action Now Health Care Reform Act of 1992 - Title I: Improved Access to Affordable Health Care Coverage - Subtitle A: Increased Affordability and Availability for Employees - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (the Secretary) to request the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (the NAIC) to develop model regulations requiring each carrier that makes available in a State any small employer health benefit plan to make available to each small employer in the State a MedAccess basic plan and a MedAccess standard. Directs the Secretary to develop such regulations, if the NAIC does not. Defines MedAccess plan as a health benefits plan that: (1) provides benefits typical of the benefits offered in the small employer health coverage market or provides only benefits for essential preventive and medical services and has an average actuarial value not exceeding 60 percent of the average actuarial value of the typical benefits offered in the small employer health coverage market; (2) accepts every small employer in the State applying for coverage and accepts for enrollment every eligible individual (defined as an individual who is a full-time employee and, if family coverage is offered, covers the employee's spouse and dependents under age 19 or under age 25 for students); and (3) meets consumer protection standards established by this Act relating to limitation of pre-existing condition clauses, continuity of coverage, renewability, and premium limitations. Prohibits the imposition, by a carrier, of a limitation of benefits based on the fact a condition pre-existed the effectiveness of the policy if: (1) the condition relates to a condition not diagnosed within three months before coverage under the plan; (2) the limitation extends beyond six months after coverage under the plan; (3) the limitation applies to an individual who, as of date of birth, was covered under the plan; and (4) the limitation relates to pregnancy. Requires continuous coverage. Prohibits cancellation of a plan or denial of coverage unless there is: (1) nonpayment of premiums; (2) fraud; (3) noncompliance with plan provisions; (4) failure to maintain the required number of enrollees; (5) misuse of a provider network provision; or (6) a cessation by the carrier of the provision of any plan in a State. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to impose an excise tax which shall be paid by the carrier on the failure of a carrier or an employer health benefit plan to comply with the provisions of the Act. Directs the Secretary to request the NAIC to develop models for reinsurance or allocation of risk mechanisms for individuals and small employers who are enrolled under a small employer health benefit plan that meets the consumer protection standards and for whom a carrier is at risk of incurring high costs under the plan. Requires each State to establish and fund one or more reinsurance or allocation or allocation of risk mechanisms that are consistent with a model. Directs the Secretary to develop models, if the NAIC does not. Permits a State, in order to insure the financial solvency of the mechanism, to impose charges on any entity providing employee-related health benefits, so long as such charges do not discriminate with respect to entities that would not be subject to such charges. Directs the Secretary to establish a reinsurance or allocation of risk mechanism, if a State does not. Imposes an excise tax which shall be paid by the carrier on the providing of any health benefit plan which covers any employee in a Federal reinsurance State. Permits either a State or the Secretary (in a Federal reinsurance State) to require each employer health benefit plan to: (1) be registered; and (2) provide such information as is necessary for the reinsurance or allocation of risk mechanisms. Directs the Secretary to: (1) establish an Office of Private Health Coverage to be headed by a Director appointed by the Secretary; and (2) provide for the appointment of an advisory committee to advise the Director. Permits the Director to research the impact of this subtitle and conduct related demonstration projects. Requires the Director to develop: (1) methods of measuring, in terms of the expected costs of providing benefits under small employer health benefit plans and, in particular, MedAccess plans, the relative health risks of eligible individuals; and (2) a model for equitably distributing health risks among carriers in the small employer health care coverage market. Authorizes appropriations for the purposes of this paragraph. Subtitle B: Improved Small Employer Purchasing Power of Affordable Health Insurance - Preempts from insurance mandates a qualified small employer purchasing group, if the group consists of employers with not more than 100 employees, the group consists of not fewer than 100 employers, and the health benefit plans with respect to the employer members are in compliance with applicable State laws relating to health benefit plans. Subtitle C: Health Deduction Fairness - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to make permanent and increase from 25 to 100 percent the health insurance tax deduction for the self-employed. Subtitle D: Improved Access to Community Health Services - Directs the Secretary to provide for a program of grants to migrant and community health centers receiving grants or contracts under provisions of the Public Health Service Act in order to promote the provision of primary health care services for underserved individuals. Authorizes appropriations. Amends the Public Health Service Act to deem as an employee of the Public Health Service, for purposes of civil actions against commissioned officers or employees, any officer, employee, or contractor who is a physician or other licensed health care practitioner while performing functions for an entity receiving Federal funds under provisions of the Public Health Service Act. Requires an entity, in order to receive a grant under such provisions, to implement certain policies to assure against malpractice. Requires: (1) the Attorney General to estimate the amount of all claims expected, during each year, to arise against such an entity from acts of officers or employees; (2) the Secretary to withhold from grants to such entities the amount estimated; and (3) the withheld amount to be transferred to the Treasury to pay judgments against the United States arising from such claims. Directs the Secretary to make grants to public and nonprofit private entities to carry out demonstration projects for the purpose of increasing access to outpatient primary health services in geographic areas with a: (1) population of not more than 500,000 individuals; (2) shortage of personal health services; and (3) significant number of low-income or underinsured individuals. Sets forth requirements for receiving such grants. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle E: Improved Access to Rural Health Services - Retitles title XII of the Public Health Service Act "Emergency Medical Services" (formerly, "Trauma Care") and directs the Secretary to establish the Office of Emergency Medical Services which shall, with respect to emergency medical services (including trauma care): (1) conduct research; (2) sponsor workshops; (3) assist States; and (4) coordinate activities. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to States for the purposes of improving the availability and quality of emergency medical services through the operation of State offices of emergency medical services. Sets forth matching fund requirements. Provides for demonstration projects to establish telecommunications between rural medical facilities and other medical facilities that have equipment that can be utilized through telecommunications. Authorizes appropriations for purposes of the programs of this paragraph. Directs the Secretary to make grants to States to assist in the creation or enhancement of air medical transport systems that provide victims of medical emergencies in rural areas access to treatments for the injuries or other conditions arising from such emergencies. Sets forth requirements for grant applications. Authorizes appropriations. Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to extend for one year special treatment rules for Medicare-dependent small rural hospitals. Title II: Health Care Cost Containment and Quality Enhancement - Subtitle A: Medical Malpractice Liability Reform - Prohibits bringing a medical malpractice claim: (1) more than two years after the alleged injury should reasonably have been discovered and in no event more than four years after the alleged injury occurred; and (2) in any State court unless there has been an initial resolution through a certified alternative dispute resolution system (ADR). Requires the use of ADR in a Federal medical malpractice liability claim. Requires a pre-trial settlement conference in any medical malpractice liability action. Sets limits on: (1) noneconomic damages; (2) punitive damages; and (3) attorney's fees. Requires offsets for damages paid by a collateral source. Requires liability in a medical malpractice action to be several and not joint. Provides a complete defense to any allegation of negligence in a medical malpractice liability action to any defendant who followed the appropriate practice guideline. Prohibits finding a defendant guilty in a medical malpractice liability action relating to services provided during labor or delivery of a baby if the defendant did not previously treat the plaintiff during the pregnancy, unless the malpractice is proven by clear and convincing evidence. Directs the Secretary to determine whether a States' ADR meets ADR system requirements established by this Act. Establishes such requirements. Amends title XI (General Provisions and Professional Standards Review) of the Social Security Act to earmark funds for sanctioning practice guidelines for purposes of an affirmative defense in medical malpractice liability actions. Permits a State agency responsible for the conduct of disciplinary actions for a type of health care practitioner to enter into agreements with State or county professional societies for such type of health care practitioner to permit such societies to participate in the licensing of such health care practitioner and to review health care malpractice allegations. Requires each State to require each health care professional and provider to participate in a risk management program to prevent and provide early warning of practices which may result in injuries to patients or which otherwise endanger patient safety. Directs the Secretary to make grants for the conduct of basic research in the prevention of and compensation for injuries resulting from health care professional or health care provider malpractice, and research of the outcomes of health care procedures. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary to study the factors discouraging physicians from volunteering to provide health care services in medically underserved areas. Subtitle B: Administrative Cost Savings - Directs the Secretary to adopt standards relating to each of the following: (1) data elements for use in claims processing under health benefits plans; (2) uniform claim forms; and (3) uniform electronic transmission of the data elements. Authorizes the Secretary to require providers to submit claims to health benefit plans in accordance with such standards. Provides for periodic review of the standards. States that the term "health benefit plan," in this subtitle, includes the Medicare and Medicaid programs (titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act). Requires the Secretary to promulgate standards for hospitals concerning electronic medical data. Permits the Secretary to promulgate standards concerning electronic medical data for providers that are not hospitals. Requires hospitals, in order to participate in Medicare, to: (1) maintain clinical data in a set of comprehensive data elements in electronic form on all patients; and (2) upon the Secretary's request, transmit electronically the data set and any data from such set. Provides for electronic transmission to Federal agencies. Prohibits a health benefit plan, if standards with respect to data elements are promulgated with respect to a class of provider, from requiring for the purpose of utilization review or as a condition of providing benefits under the plan that a provider in the class: (1) provide any data element not in the set of comprehensive data elements; or (2) transmit or present any such data element in a manner inconsistent with applicable standards. Directs the Secretary to establish an advisory commission of hospital executive and data base managers, physicians, health services researchers, and technical experts in the collection and use of data and operation of data systems. Authorizes appropriations for such commission. Requires the Secretary, in order to assure the availability of comparative value information to purchasers of health care in each State, to determine whether each State is developing and implementing a health care value information program that meets stated criteria. Permits grants to a State for the development of its health care value information program. Authorizes appropriations for such grants. Requires the head of each Federal agency with responsibility for the provision of health insurance or health care services to individuals to promptly develop health care value information relating to each program that such head administers. Directs the Secretary to develop model systems to facilitate: (1) the gathering of data on health care cost, quality, and outcome; and (2) analyzing such data to permit the valid comparison of such data. Authorizes appropriations for the development of such model systems. Directs the Secretary to adopt standards relating to the design and use of magnetized Medicare identification cards for the purpose of assisting health care providers in determining eligibility and billing. Authorizes appropriations. Nullifies any State law requiring that medical or health insurance records be maintained in written rather than electronic form. Requires each health benefit plan: (1) for each of its beneficiaries that has a social security number, to use that number as an identification number for claims processing; and (2) for each provider that has a unique identifier for Medicare purposes, to use that identifier for claims processing. Requires the Secretary to determine whether problems relating to the rules for determining liability when benefits are payable under two or more plans or the availability of information among such plans causes significant administrative problems, and if so, directs the Secretary to promulgate standards concerning liability and the transfer of information among plans. Directs the Secretary to provide grants to qualified entities to demonstrate the application of comprehensive information systems in continuously monitoring patient care and in improving patient care. Authorizes appropriations from the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund. Subtitle C: Medical Savings Accounts (Medisave) - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from the gross income of an employee any amount contributed by the employer to a medical savings account pursuant to a qualified medical savings account plan. Sets contribution limits. Defines a "medical savings account" as a trust created exclusively for purpose of paying an individual's medical expenses. Permits expenses from such account only to the extent such amounts are not compensated for by insurance. Subjects the employee to taxation as owner of the account. Subtitle D: Medicaid Program Flexibility - Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to modify Medicaid contracting requirements for coordinated care services. Authorizes the Secretary to waive specified Medicaid requirements with respect to nursing facilities located in a State if the State provides assurances satisfactory to the Secretary that the waiver of such requirements will not adversely affect the quality of life of the residents in such facilities. Subtitle E: Limitations on Physician Self-Referrals - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to extend physician self-referral limitations to all payors as well as to certain additional services. Revises exceptions. Requires the Secretary to conduct a study in order to estimate the changes in aggregate costs for designated health services, under the Medicare program and other health plans, which will result from the implementation of the amendments made by this subtitle. Subtitle F: Removing Restrictions on Managed Care - Preempts managed care restrictions under State law. Requires the Comptroller General to conduct a study of the benefits and cost effectiveness of the use of managed care in the delivery of health services. Subtitle G: Medicare Payment Changes - Amends the Medicare program to make revisions in the methodology for determining updates to Medicare hospital payments. Provides for a reduction in Medicare payment for clinical diagnostic laboratory tests. Subtitle H: Modification of the Operation of the Antitrust Laws to Hospitals - Permits two or more hospitals, without violating the antitrust laws, to share expensive medical services or high technology equipment. Directs the Secretary to grant waivers to exempt hospitals from the antitrust laws in order to carry out agreements permitting such sharing. Sets forth reporting requirements. Subtitle I: Encouraging Enforcement Activities of Medical Self-Regulatory Entities - Prohibits damages, interest on damages, costs, or attorney's fees from being recovered under the Clayton Act or any similar State law from any medical self-regulatory entity as a result of engaging in standard setting or enforcement activities designed to promote the quality of health care provided to patients.
United States · United States Congress · 4 June 1992
Dollars for Scholars Community Scholarship Foundation Development Act - Directs the Secretary of Education to make an endowment grant to an eligible organization to support the establishment of 25 regional centers to foster development of locally based, volunteer organizations to improve high school graduation rates and postsecondary attendance through providing academic support services and financial assistance for postsecondary education. Sets forth requirements for the eligible organization, the regional centers, and the local affiliates of the eligible organization. Sets forth conditions for the endowment grant. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 28 May 1992
Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to exclude construction and fire equipment from the definition of "excess defense articles" for purposes of restricting the transfer of such equipment to foreign countries.
United States · United States Congress · 28 May 1992
Amends the Rules of the House of Representatives to add rule LIV, providing that whenever the right of choice devolves upon the House, any vote of a Member from a State in determining the vote of that State to choose a President shall be recorded by the Clerk of the House in open session.
United States · United States Congress · 21 May 1992
Withdraws most favored nation status from the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Authorizes the President to restore such status after he certifies to the Congress that: (1) such treatment would promote compliance with the provisions of the Final Act of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe; and (2) Yugoslavia has ceased its armed conflict with the other ethnic peoples of the region, and has agreed to respect the borders of the six republics, that formerly comprised the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
United States · United States Congress · 21 May 1992
Fundamental Competitiveness Act of 1992 - Title I: Public Debt Reduction - Allows individual taxpayers to designate a portion of tax liability (not to exceed ten percent) on their tax returns to reduce the public debt. Establishes the Public Debt Reduction Trust Fund consisting of amounts so designated. Amends the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act) to provide for a sequestration of revenues equivalent to the estimated aggregate amount so designated. Specifies accounts exempted from such sequestration and establishes reporting requirements with respect to budget procedures. Title II: Capital Formation - Establishes a method of computing the credit for increasing research activities based on aggregate research expenses, as an alternative to the method based on qualified research expenses. Establishes a variable capital gains deduction whose formulas on a sliding scale range from ten percent for assets held for one year up to 100 percent for assets held for ten years. Allows a deduction of 50 percent of the capital gain from stock investments by non-corporate taxpayers in start-up companies where initial stock offerings are held for two years. Requires indexing, based on the gross national product deflator, of the adjusted basis of certain assets (corporate stock and tangle property that is a capital asset of property used in a trade or business) that have been held for more than one year at the time of sale or other disposition, solely for the purpose of determining gain or loss. Permits an income tax deduction in the amount of dividends paid by domestic corporations, except S corporations, regulated investment companies, real estate investment trusts, and personal holding companies. Repeals the income tax deductions currently permitted in connection with: (1) dividends received by a corporation; (2) dividends received by a corporation on the preferred stock of a public utility; and (3) dividends paid by a public utility on its preferred stock. Increases the deductible percentage of amounts received by a corporation from a qualified ten-percent owned foreign corporation. Allows a charitable deduction for corporate contributions of employee volunteer services to an educational organization. Establishes an investment tax credit for manufacturing and other productive equipment. Provides for determining the applicable percentage of such credit, which includes an efficiency improvement percentage. Increases the limitation based on the amount of tax for purposes of the general business credit. Provides for the treatment of losses on stock in manufacturing companies as ordinary (as opposed to capital) losses. Allows a partial exclusion of dividends or interest received by an individual. Provides for ordinary-loss treatment for losses on investments in a qualified startup company. Describes such company as one which: (1) manufacture tangible personal property in the United States; (2) does not involve a business acquired from another person; and (3) has not been in existence for more than one taxable year at the time it issued stock. Title III: Antitrust - Amends the Clayton Act to bar the acquisition by one corporation of stock of another, subject to specified conditions, where there is a significant probability that such acquisition will substantially increase the ability to exercise market power (currently, where the effect of such acquisition may be to substantially lessen competition or to tend to create a monopoly). Defines the ability to exercise market power for purposes of such provision as the ability of one or more firms profitably to maintain prices above competitive levels for a significant period of time. Directs the court, in determining whether there is a significant probability that any acquisition will substantially increase the ability to exercise market power, to consider all economic factors relevant to the effect of the acquisition in the affected markets, including: (1) the number and size distribution of firms and the effect of the acquisition thereon; (2) the ease or difficulty of entry by foreign or domestic firms; (3) the ability of smaller firms in the market to increase production in response to an attempt to exercise market power; (4) the nature of the product and terms of sale; (5) conduct of firms in the market; (6) efficiencies deriving from the acquisition; and (7) any other evidence indicating whether the acquisition will or will not substantially increase the ability, unilaterally or collectively, to exercise market power. Amends the National Cooperative Research Act of 1984 to include a joint production venture within the scope of such Act as an activity that shall not be deemed illegal per se under the antitrust laws. Changes the short title of such Act to the National Cooperative Research, Development, and Production Act. Title IV: Business Liability - Subtitle A: Findings - Makes findings with respect to the increasing amount of litigation in our society and the desirability of encouraging alternative dispute mechanisms and providing uniform legal standards in the areas of professional and product liability. Subtitle B: Professionals' Liability Reform - Professionals' Liability Reform Act of 1992 - Establishes certain limitations and procedures regarding professional liability actions. Preempts certain State laws. Provides that nothing in this Act shall prohibit any State from developing or implementing alternative procedures for: (1) expediting the adjudication of professional liability claims; (2) resolving professional liability disputes; or (3) compensating for harm caused by professional services. Requires professional liability actions to be brought within three years after the claimant discovered, or should have discovered, the harm. Requires the claimant, in any professional liability action, to establish: (1) that the professional negligently rendered professional services and that such negligence was the proximate cause of the harm; or (2) in a claim for economic injury, that the professional negligently rendered professional services to and for the direct and intended benefit of the claimant, and such services were the proximate cause of the harm. Requires the claimant to establish that, at the time such services were provided, knowledge of the circumstances that caused the harm and a practical means to eliminate such circumstances were reasonably available. States that a professional shall not be liable in a professional liability action in which: (1) the professional's services were rendered to an agency of the Federal or State government; (2) Federal or State contract specifications existed which were material to the claim; and (3) the services rendered conformed to such specifications. Permits future damage awards exceeding $100,000 to be made by periodic payments. Requires that damage awards be offset by any amount received as compensation for the same injury. Establishes a contingency fee schedule for plaintiffs' attorneys. States that the principles of comparative liability shall apply unless persons engaged in concerted action which proximately caused the harm. Permits the awarding of punitive damages only where the conduct of the defendant: (1) manifested a malicious and reckless disregard for safety; and (2) constituted an extreme departure from accepted standards of safety. States that punitive damages may not be awarded in the absence of a compensatory award, or for the negligent provision of professional services. Requires the trier of fact, at the request of the professional, to consider in a separate proceeding whether punitive damages are to be awarded. Limits the claimant's actual recovery of punitive damages to three times the amount of compensatory damages. States that excess punitive damages shall be paid to the State or Federal government. Makes any attorney who files a frivolous claim subject to pecuniary sanctions by the court. Requires each State to encourage professional organizations to form risk management programs. Subtitle C: Product Liability Fairness - Part I: General Provisions - Product Liability Fairness Act - Declares that this Act governs any product liability action brought against a manufacturer or product seller, on any theory, for harm caused by a product. States that a civil action brought against a manufacturer or product seller for loss or damage to a product itself or commercial loss shall be governed by applicable commercial or contract law. Supersedes any inconsistent State law regarding recovery in such actions. Lists specific laws not superseded, including: (1) defense of sovereign immunity asserted by any State or by the United States; (2) any Federal law (except the Federal Employees Compensation Act and the Longshore and Harbor Workers' Compensation Act); (3) the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act of 1976; (4) State choice-of-law rules; (5) the right of any court to transfer venue or to apply the law of a foreign nation or to dismiss a claim of a foreign nation or citizen on the ground of inconvenient forum; and (6) any statutory or common law cause of action, including an action to abate a nuisance, that authorizes a State or person to institute an action for civil damages or civil penalties, clean up costs, injunctions, restitution, cost recovery, punitive damages, or any other form of relief from contamination or pollution of the environment or the threat of it. Declares that U.S. district courts shall not have jurisdiction over any civil action under this Act, based on specified provisions of Federal law relating to district court jurisdiction. Declares that, if any provision of this Act would shorten the period during which a manufacturer or seller would otherwise be exposed to liability, the claimant may, notwithstanding that period, bring any civil action under this Act within one year after the effective date of this Act. Part II: Out of Court Procedures - Allows any claimant to bring a civil action for damages against a person for harm caused by a product under applicable State law, except to the extent such law is superseded by this title. Sets forth expedited settlement measures, including: (1) an option to include an offer of settlement, for a specific dollar amount, by the plaintiff in the complaint and by the defendant in a responsive pleading; and (2) awarding attorney's fees and costs, in certain circumstances, to the prevailing party if the other party does not accept the settlement offer. Sets forth alternative dispute resolution procedures, including: (1) an option, in lieu of or in addition to a settlement offer, for a claimant or a defendant to offer to proceed under any voluntary alternative dispute resolution procedure established or recognized under the law of the State in which the action is brought or maintained; and (2) awarding of attorney's fees and costs to the offering party if the court determines that a refusal to so proceed was unreasonable or not in good faith. Creates a rebuttable presumption that a refusal to so proceed was unreasonable, or not in good faith, if a verdict is rendered in favor of the offeror. Part III: Court Procedures - Allows a person seeking to recover for harm caused by a product to bring a civil action against the manufacturer or seller under applicable State or Federal law, except to the extent such law is superseded by this Act. Establishes a standard of product seller liability for proximate causes of harm, established by a preponderance of the evidence, which fall under the categories of negligence or express warranty. Allows the trier of fact, in a negligence action, to consider the conduct of the seller with respect to: (1) the construction, inspection, or condition of the product; and (2) failure to pass on warnings or instructions from the manufacturer. Deems the seller not liable for failure to provide warnings or instructions unless the claimant establishes that the seller failed to: (1) provide warnings or instructions received while the product was in the seller's possession and control; or (2) make reasonable efforts to provide users with warnings and instructions which it received after the product left its possession and control. Deems a seller not liable except for breach of warranty where there was no opportunity to inspect the product in a manner which would or should, in the exercise of reasonable care, have revealed the aspect which allegedly caused the harm. Declares that the seller shall be treated as the manufacturer and be liable for harm caused by a product as if it were the manufacturer if: (1) the manufacturer is not subject to service of process in any State in which the action might have been brought; or (2) the court determines that the claimant would be unable to enforce a judgment against the manufacturer. Allows punitive damages, if otherwise permitted by applicable law, to be awarded in any civil action under this title to any claimant who establishes by clear and convincing evidence that the harm suffered was the result of conduct manifesting a manufacturer's or product seller's conscious, flagrant indifference to the safety of those persons who might be harmed by a product. Declares that a failure to exercise reasonable care in choosing among alternative product designs, formulations, instructions, or warnings is not of itself such conduct. Prohibits awarding punitive damages in the absence of a compensatory award, subject to exception. Prohibits punitive damages against a manufacturer or seller of a drug or medical device where: (1) the drug or device was subject to pre-market approval by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA); or (2) the drug is generally recognized as safe and effective under conditions established by the FDA. Prohibits punitive damages against a manufacturer of an aircraft where: (1) the aircraft was subject to pre-market certification by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA); and (2) the manufacturer complied, after delivery, with FAA requirements and obligations with respect to continuing airworthiness. Provides for separate proceedings, if requested by the manufacturer or seller, with regard to punitive damages. Lists factors the trier of fact is allowed to consider in determining the amount of punitive damages. Bars any civil action under this title: (1) unless filed within two years after the claimant discovered or should have discovered the harm and its cause, subject to exception; and (2) if the product involved is a capital good that is alleged to have caused harm which is not a toxic harm unless filed within twenty-five years after delivery of the product, provided the claimant has received or would be eligible for State or Federal workers' compensation. Excludes a motor vehicle, vessel, aircraft, or railroad used primarily to transport passengers for hire from these time limitations. States that nothing in these provisions affects the right of any person who is subject to liability under this Act to obtain contribution or indemnity from any other person who is responsible for the harm. Requires reduction in the damages awarded by the sum of all State or Federal workers' compensation benefits to which the employee is or would be entitled. Requires a claimant in a civil action under this title who is or may be eligible to receive State or Federal workers' compensation to notify the claimant's employer of the civil action. Requires an action to be stayed, at the sole discretion of the claimant, until a final determination is made on the amount payable as workers' compensation benefits. Declares that, unless the manufacturer or seller has expressly agreed to indemnify or hold an employer harmless, neither the employer nor the workers' compensation insurance carrier shall have a right of subrogation, contribution, or implied indemnity against the manufacturer or seller or a lien against the claimant's recovery, except if the claimant's harm was not in any way caused by the fault of the claimant's employer or co-employees. Allows the employer or workers' compensation insurer to intervene in the action to prove that fact. Prohibits a third party tortfeasor, where workers' compensation is involved, from maintaining any action for implied indemnity or contribution against the employer, any coemployee, or the exclusive representative of the injured person. Prohibits, for a person who is or would have been entitled to receive workers' compensation, any other action, unless a State or Federal workers' compensation law permits recovery based on a claim of an intentional tort. Makes these provisions inapplicable and declares that applicable State law shall control if the employer or the workers' compensation insurer asserts a right of subrogation, contribution, or implied indemnity against the manufacturer or seller or a lien against the claimant's recovery. Declares that, in any product liability action, the liability of each defendant for noneconomic damages shall be several and not joint. Requires the trier of fact to determine the proportion of responsibility of each party for the claimant's harm. Establishes a complete defense, in any civil action under this Act in which all defendants are manufacturers or sellers, that the claimant was under the influence of alcohol or any drug and that, as a result, the claimant was more than 50 percent responsible for the event which resulted in the harm. Defines "drug" to mean any non-over-the-counter drug which has not been prescribed by a physician. Title V: Long-Term Investment - Long-Term Investment Promotion Act of 1992 - Amends the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to eliminate the requirement that publicly-held corporations report their financial status on a quarterly basis. Title VI: Competitiveness Risk Assessment - Declares that no agency shall propose or promulgate a regulation without first analyzing its direct and indirect effects on the health and safety of consumers and workers, including effects due to wage and job losses, price increases, product restrictions, technological delays, and substitution effects. Title VII: Department of Manufacturing And Commerce - Department of Manufacturing and Commerce Act of 1992 - Renames the Department of Commerce as the Department of Manufacturing and Commerce. Requires the President to establish a Manufacturing Advisory Commission to examine Federal agencies, programs, and offices responsible for manufacturing-related research and development, technology transfer, education, and trade in order to prepare a report for the Congress on the feasibility of consolidating such agencies, programs, and offices into a single Office of Manufacturing within the Department of Manufacturing and Commerce. Title VIII: Amendments to the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980 - Amends the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980 to change from discretionary to mandatory a Federal agency's authority to permit the director of any of its laboratories to enter into cooperative research and development agreements on its behalf. Authorizes each Federal agency to copyright on behalf of the United States any computer software prepared in whole or in part by Government employees involved in cooperative research and development agreements. Includes software royalties in the current distribution format (agency, laboratory, author, and Treasury) under such Act.
United States · United States Congress · 21 May 1992
Justice in India Act - Terminates all development assistance for India under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (except assistance for specified health projects) if the President reports to the Congress that India has not repealed certain special and preventive detention laws. Provides for the resumption of such assistance if India repeals such laws.
United States · United States Congress · 21 May 1992
Medical Cost Containment Act of 1992 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from gross income medical care savings benefits. Describes such benefits as a health plan which provides that all or part of the premium differential realized by instituting a qualified higher deductible health plan is credited to participating employees to pay for medical care for a plan year. Requires amounts remaining at the end of such plan year to be deposited into a tax-exempt medical care savings account (subject to rules similar to those for retirement plans) for use by the participant for medical expenses.
United States · United States Congress · 21 May 1992
Designates February 21 through 27, 1993, as American Wine Appreciation Week. Commends the winegrape and fruit growers and vintners of the United States for the production of high quality agricultural products.
United States · United States Congress · 21 May 1992
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that the United States should: (1) suspend all assistance and cooperative programs with Serbia and Montenegro and prevent them from gaining access to benefits and assets available to the other newly independent states of the former Yugoslavia (independent states); (2) urge the European Community (EC), other members of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE), and the United Nations to take immediate action to impose more comprehensive sanctions against Serbia and Montenegro, such as an oil embargo; (3) urge international financial institutions to cease negotiations with Serbia and Montenegro, and urge the EC, CSCE, and other members of the United Nations to freeze credit lines to Serbia and Montenegro; (4) take no action to recognize Serbia and Montenegro until they meet EC criteria for recognition and until Serbia ceases aggression against Bosnia-Hercegovina, withdraws military forces from Bosnia, and agrees to respect the territorial integrity of all the newly independent states; (5) press for full suspension of the Yugoslav seat from the CSCE and other international bodies; (6) promote efforts to establish a security zone around Sarajevo to ensure the delivery of humanitarian assistance; (7) insist that Serbia restore the autonomy of Kosovo and Vojvodina; and (8) encourage each of the newly independent states to respect the CSCE principles guiding relations between states.
United States · United States Congress · 21 May 1992
Amends the Rules of the House of Representatives to add rule LIV establishing the Citizens' Commission on Congressional Ethics. Makes the following individuals ineligible to serve on the Commission: (1) a Member of Congress or a relative of a Member; (2) an officer or employee of any government; or (3) a person registered under the Federal Regulation of Lobbying Act or the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938, or who has been such an individual during the five-year period ending on the date such member's term on the Commission would have begun. Authorizes the Commission to: (1) recommend, periodically, to the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct such administrative actions as it deems appropriate to establish or enforce standards of official conduct for Members, officers, and employees of the House; (2) investigate any alleged violation of the Code of Official Conduct or of any law, rule, regulation or other standard of conduct by a Member, officer, or employee of the House in the performance of his or her duties or the discharge of responsibilities and to submit a written recommendation to the Committee on appropriate action; and (3) report to the appropriate Federal or State authorities, with the approval of the House, any substantial evidence of such violation which may have been disclosed in an investigation by the Commission or the Inspector General. Prohibits the Commission from making a report or recommendation relating to the official conduct of a Member, officer, or employee or investigating such conduct without approval by an affirmative vote of a majority of the members of the Commission. Amends rule LIII to revise the duties of the Inspector General of the House of Representatives to include: (1) responsibilities for audits and investigations of the financial operations of the House; (2) activities to promote economy and efficiency of, and to detect and prevent fraud and abuse in, such operations; (3) notifying the Commission of such fraud or abuse and of violations of standards of conduct by Members, officers, or employees of the House; and (4) having printed a House document setting forth summaries of such audits, notifications, and related recommendations. Amends rule X to eliminate the duties of the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct relating to recommendations, studies, investigations, reports, and functions designated by the Ethics in Government Act of 1978. Requires the Committee to: (1) transmit to the House, by resolution or otherwise, any recommendation submitted to it by the Commission; and (2) give consideration to the request of any Member, officer, or employee of the House for an advisory opinion with respect to the general propriety of any current or proposed conduct of such individual with appropriate deletions to assure the privacy of the individual concerned and to publish such opinion for the guidance of other Members, officers, and employees of the House. Prohibits an advisory opinion from being made by the Committee relating to the official conduct of a Member, officer, or employee of the House, unless approved by the affirmative vote of a majority of the members of the Commission. Amends rule XLIV to require statutory financial disclosure reports for certain Federal personnel to be filed with the Citizens' Commission on Congressional Ethics instead of the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct.
United States · United States Congress · 20 May 1992
National Youth Apprenticeship Act of 1992 - Sets forth Federal, State, and local responsibilities in establishing the means for employers, local education agencies, labor organizations, and other appropriate entities to develop and implement youth apprenticeship programs under the national youth apprenticeship criteria (the criteria) established by this Act. Establishes an interagency committee, composed of the Secretaries of Labor, of Education, and of Commerce, to: (1) establish procedures for submission and review of plans by States; and (2) determine if such plans meet the criteria. Directs the Secretary of Labor (the Secretary) to perform specified functions under this Act in consultation with the committee, including providing for criteria and safeguards compliance determination procedures, monitoring data collection, evaluation, review of fund use, policy guidance, resources and technical assistance, recognition and dissemination of outstanding programs, and research and demonstration activities. Directs the Governor of a participating State to submit to the Secretary a biennial State plan for youth apprenticeship programs which meets specified requirements. Directs the Governor also to designate the appropriate State authority to: (1) develop certain program guidelines for designating local entities and for including long-term employment possibilities; (2) certify that local programs meet the criteria, safeguards, and other appropriate standards; (3) provide technical assistance and other support to local entities and employers; and (4) provide for data collection, monitoring, and program evaluation. Requires local entities to ensure programs meet the criteria, safeguards, and other applicable standards. Requires participating schools to provide for career exploration and academic development to meet program entry and participation requirements. Requires local employers (in collaboration with labor organizations where appropriate) to: (1) employ youth apprentices; (2) assist participating schools in ensuring that curriculum content is relevant to the workplace; (3) take primary responsibility for ensuring success of worksite learning and work experience; and (4) inform local schools of each youth apprentice's performance. Requires local private industry councils to review and approve local youth apprenticeship programs to ensure that such programs: (1) meet local labor market demands; and (2) provide apprentices with broad-based competencies and transferable skills that facilitate career progression within the industries or trades in which the student is trained and employed. Sets forth the national youth apprenticeship criteria for programs, including criteria with respect to: (1) academic instruction; (2) work-based learning; (3) worksite learning and experience; (4) agreement commitment by youth apprentices, parents or guardians, employers (in collaboration with labor organizations where appropriate), and local educational agencies; (5) agreement provisions for educational outcomes and for wages and hours; and (6) information and guidance. Allows local entities to design programs using alternative program components, including specified models for tech-prep education and vocational education, and providing for formal coordination with other tech-prep programs and postsecondary education and training. Requires specified safeguards to apply to youth apprenticeship programs under this Act, including safeguards against: (1) displacement of currently employed workers (or those undergoing temporary layoffs, or those terminated by the employer with the intention of filling the vacancies with the youth apprentices; (2) impairment of existing contracts for services or collective bargaining agreements; (3) an unsafe or unhealthful workplace; (4) discrimination; and (5) conflict of interests by private industry council members. Sets forth the relationship of youth apprenticeship programs under this Act to other laws, including: (1) special lower minimum wages and student-learner requirements under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938; and (2) specified programs under the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Act, the Job Training Partnership Act, and the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. Directs the Secretary to conduct studies to: (1) evaluate activities under this Act and other appropriate issues; and (2) examine State and local use, in support of this Act, of funds under specified Federal laws and of any other Federal, State, local, or private resources. Directs the Secretary to submit an initial report to the President on the results of such studies within two years after enactment of this Act. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 20 May 1992
National Triad Program Act - Requires the Director of the National Institute of Justice to conduct a national assessment of: (1) the nature and extent of crimes against the elderly; (2) the needs of law enforcement, health, and social service organziations, in working to prevent, identify, investigate, and provide assistance to victims of such crimes; and (3) promising strategies to respond effectively to those challenges. Specifies that such assessment shall address: (1) the analysis and synthesis of data from a range of sources; (2) the problems of elderly who are living alone or in high crime areas and who are abused and neglected, and the fear of victimization; (3) the identification of strategies and techniques tht have been shown to be effective or which show promise; (4) the analysis of the factors that enhance or inhibit development of a coordinated response by law enforcement, health care, and social service providers; and (5) the research agenda needed to develop a comprehensive understanding of the problems of crimes against the elderly. Requires the Director to disseminate the results of such assessment. Authorizes the Director to make awards to coalitions of local law enforcement agencies, victim service providers, and organizations representing the elderly for pilot programs and field tests of promising strategies and models for forging partnerships for crime prevention and service provision. Specifies that pilot programs funded under this Act may include existing general service coalitions of law enforcement, victim service, and elder advocate organizations that wish to use additional funds to work at a particular problem in their community or to target a particular geographic area in need of intensive services. Authorizes the Director to make awards to: (1) coalitions of national law enforcement, victim service, and elder advocate organizations for training and technical assistance in implementing pilot programs; (2) research organizations to investigate the types of elder victimization shown by the assessment to present particularly critical problems or to be emerging crimes about which little is known, to evaluate the effectiveness of selected pilot programs, and to conduct research and development identified as being critical; and (3) public service advertising coalitions to increase public awareness of, and promote ideas or programs to prevent, crimes against the elderly. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 18 May 1992
Small Business Equity Enhancement Act of 1992 - Amends the Small Business Investment Act of 1958 to revise provisions with respect to debentures issued by small business investment companies (SBICs) to specify that: (1) the total amount of debentures and participating securities that may be guaranteed by the Small Business Administration (SBA) and outstanding from an SBIC licensed under the Act shall not exceed 300 percent of the private capital of such SBIC; and (2) in no event shall the aggregate amount of outstanding debentures and participating securities purchased or guaranteed by the SBA of any such SBIC which are commonly controlled (as determined by the SBA) exceed $90,000,000. Provides that: (1) nothing under such provisions shall require any such SBIC that on March 31, 1993, has outstanding debentures in excess of 300 percent of its private capital to repay such excess; and (2) any such SBIC may apply for additional debenture guarantee or participating security with the proceeds to be used solely to pay the amount due on such maturing debenture, but the maturity date of the new debenture or security shall not be later than September 30, 2002. Sets forth a formula for determining the maximum amount of outstanding guaranteed debentures and participating securities made available to an SBIC licensed under the Act, to be effective after March 31, 1993. Directs the SBA, not later than December 15, 1994, and in each subsequent calendar year, to apply an inflationary adjustment to the dollar amounts specified in the leverage formula which shall be the percentage (if any) by which the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the preceding calendar year exceeds the CPI for calendar year 1993. Authorizes the SBA to guarantee the payment of the redemption price and dividends or interest on participating securities issued by SBICs licensed pursuant to the Act, and of a trust or pool acting on behalf of the SBA to purchase such securities. Sets forth: (1) restrictions with respect to redemption of, dividend and interest payments on, and other issues regarding, such securities; and (2) terms and conditions regarding the computation of amounts due the SBA under such securities. Revises provisions of the Act related to the issuance and guarantee of trust certificates to provide for the redemption, whether voluntary or involuntary, of all participating securities residing in the pool, as well as debentures. Bars any Federal, State, or local law from precluding or limiting the exercise by the SBA of its ownership rights in participating securities residing in a trust or pool against which trust certificates are issued. Directs the SBA to contract with an agent or agents to carry out on behalf of the SBA pooling and central registration functions (currently, with an agent to carry out central registration functions), including maintenance on behalf of and under the direction of the SBA of such commercial bank accounts as necessary to facilitate trusts or pools backed by debentures or securities guaranteed or purchased under the Act and the issuance of trust certificates to facilitate such pooling. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the SBA, prior to licensing and approving any request for financing, to determine the ability of an SBIC to make periodic payments on any debt of the SBIC which is interest bearing, taking into consideration the income which the SBIC anticipates on its contemplated investments, the experience of its owners and managers, its history as an entity, and its financial resources. Requires each SBIC to adopt written guidelines for determination of the value of its investments. Makes the board of directors of corporations, the general partners of partnerships, and the owners of proprietorships solely responsible for making a good faith determination of the fair market value of the investments made by such SBIC. Requires that such determinations be made and reported to the SBA at least semiannually or at more frequent intervals as the SBA determines appropriate (but any SBIC which does not have outstanding financial assistance under the Act shall be required to make such determinations and reports annually, unless the SBA determines otherwise). Subjects each SBIC to examinations made by the Investment Division of the SBA (currently, by SBA examiners). Transfers resources related to the examination function under the Act from the Inspector General of the SBA to the SBA's Investment Division. Specifies that if any SBIC has obtained SBA financing which remains outstanding, the aggregate amount of obligations and securities acquired and for which commitments may be issued by such SBIC under the provisions of the Act for any single enterprise shall not exceed 20 percent of the private capital of such SBIC without SBA approval. Permits SBICs with outstanding financings (currently, SBICs) to invest funds, subject to specified conditions. Directs the SBA to: (1) complete a review of regulations intended to provide for the safety and soundness of those SBICs which obtain SBA financing under the Act; and (2) exempt from such regulations, or separately regulate, those SBICs which do not obtain such financing. Sets forth reporting requirements. Increases minimum capital requirements for SBICs licensed on or after October 1, 1992 (currently, 1979). Defines "private capital" to mean the private paid-in capital and paid-in surplus of a corporate licensee, or the private partnership capital of an unincorporated licensee, inclusive of any funds invested in the licensee by a public or private pension fund, and commitments from institutional investors that meet SBA criteria which are funded by such investors prior to the licensee obtaining financing from the SBA based on such commitments, but exclusive of any funds borrowed by the licensee from any source, obtained from the SBA through the sale of preferred securities, or derived directly or indirectly from any Federal source. Directs the SBA to permit those SBICs which have obtained financings pursuant to the Act to charge a maximum rate of interest based upon the cost of such financings determined on an annual basis. Amends the Small Business Act to provide that, subject to approval in appropriations Acts, amounts authorized for preferred stock, debentures, or participating securities under the Small Business Investment Act of 1958 may be obligated in one fiscal year and disbursed or guaranteed in the following fiscal year.
United States · United States Congress · 14 May 1992
Small Business Cost Estimate Act of 1992 - Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to require the Director of the Congressional Budget Office to prepare for each public measure reported by a congressional committee (except the Committee on Appropriations of each House) and to submit to that committee for inclusion in the committee report: (1) an estimate of the costs in each of the first five fiscal years of carrying out such measure and of small business compliance with such measure, if significant; and (2) a comparison of those estimates with estimates made by such committee or by a Federal agency.
United States · United States Congress · 13 May 1992
Establishes in the Treasury the Alcohol-Related Traffic Laws Enforcement Fund. Makes amounts in the Fund available, as provided in appropriations Acts, to the Administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for making loans to units of local government. Specifies that such loans: (1) may only be used for acquiring and maintaining equipment (including breath testing devices and video surveillance cameras) for use in the enforcement of alcohol-related traffic laws and for training personnel of such units in the use of such equipment; and (2) shall be subject to specified terms and conditions. Requires all such equipment to be approved by the Administrator and the Governor of the State of which the unit is a part before being acquired. Sets forth provisions with respect to transfers to and management of the Fund. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 13 May 1992
Tax Extension Act of 1992 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to make the low-income housing credit permanent law. Modifies the rule for unused housing credit carryovers allocated among certain States. Expands the ten-year anti-churning rule waiver to certain projects substantially assisted, financed, or operated under the National Housing Act. Allows units occupied by certain full-time students to qualify for such credit. Authorizes the Treasury Department to waive penalties for certain de minimis errors and recertifications. Excludes assistance under the HOME Investment Partnerships Act from the definition whether a building is federally subsidized. Permits the use of tax-exempt bond financing for such purposes. Provides for State housing credit agencies to designate difficult development areas (in lieu of the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development). Allows the use of the rehabilitation investment credit for qualified low-income buildings without regard to whether interior walls are preserved. Prohibit discrimination against section 8 voucher holders in leasing units in qualified low-income buildings. Requires notice before termination of tenancy in such buildings. Allows certain building owners to elect to use apartment size or family size in determining the low-income credit gross rent limitation. Extends the following provisions from June 30, 1992, until December 31, 1993: (1) the authority to issue qualified mortgage bonds and qualified mortgage credit certificates; (2) the authority to issue qualified small issue bonds to finance manufacturing facilities and farm property; (3) employer-provided educational assistance; (4) the tax credit for increasing research activities; (5) the tax exclusion for employer-provided group legal services plans; (6) the targeted jobs credited; and (7) the credit for clinical testing expenses for certain drugs for rare diseases or conditions. Provides for the tax treatment of resale price control and subsidy lien programs under mortgage revenue bond provisions. Excludes from the five-year occupancy requirement under the tax-exempt mortgage revenue bond program any two-family residence which: (1) is a targeted area residence; or (2) is located in an area designated as an economic development zone or enterprise zone by Federal or State law. Suspends, for 1992 and 1993, the tax preference for the appreciated property charitable deduction.
United States · United States Congress · 13 May 1992
First-time Homebuyer Affordability Act of 1992 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to make the tax on prohibited transactions inapplicable to a home equity participation arrangement. Describes such arrangement as one in which the eligible participant in an individual retirement plan directs the trustee of such plan to acquire an ownership interest in all or part of any dwelling unit which within a reasonable period of time (determined at the time the arrangement is executed) is to be used as the principal residence for a first-time homebuyer. Requires such ownership interest to be a fee interest which requires full repayment. Describes the first-time homebuyer as an eligible participant or a qualified family member (child, parent, grandparent, or spouse) who had no present ownership interest in a principal residence during the 36-month period before the date of the arrangement. Allows the use of amounts in an individual retirement plan to make loans to purchase a home for a first-time homebuyer on behalf of an eligible participant or a qualified family member. Requires the repayment of first-time homebuyer loans within 15 years.
United States · United States Congress · 13 May 1992
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to terminate the authority for individuals to designate income tax payments to the Presidential Election Campaign Fund. Allows individual taxpayers to designate a portion of any tax overpayment (not less than one dollar) and to make cash contributions with their tax returns to reduce the public debt. Allows individuals who do not itemize deductions a deduction for contributions to reduce the public debt.
United States · United States Congress · 11 May 1992
Declares the 27th article of amendment to the Constitution, providing that no law varying the compensation for the services of Members of Congress shall take effect until an election of Representatives has intervened, to be part of the Constitution.
United States · United States Congress · 7 May 1992
Civil War Battlefield Commemorative Coin Act of 1992 - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to issue a specified number of five-dollar gold coins, one-dollar silver coins, and half-dollar clad coins to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Civil War battlefield preservation. Sets forth certain features of such coins and provides for their design, issuance, and sale. Requires that all sales include a surcharge of $35 per coin for the five-dollar coins, $7 per coin for the one-dollar coins, and $1 per coin for the half-dollar coins. Requires that all surcharges be paid to the Civil War Battlefield Foundation for the preservation of historically significant Civil War battlefields.
United States · United States Congress · 7 May 1992
Amends the Economic Stabilization Act of 1970 to abolish the Temporary Emergency Court of Appeals (TECA). Specifies that appeals from orders or judgments entered by a U.S. district court in cases and controversies arising under such Act may be brought in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit if the appeal is from a final decision of the district court or is an interlocutory appeal permitted under the Federal judicial code. Amends: (1) the Natural Gas Policy Act of 1978 to substitute the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit for TECA with respect to judicial review of emergency orders under such Act; and (2) the Federal judicial code to grant such Court exclusive jurisdiction over appeals under specified provisions of such Act, the Emergency Petroleum Allocation Act of 1973, and the Energy Policy and Conservation Act. Provides for the handling of cases pending before TECA.
United States · United States Congress · 7 May 1992
Prohibits U.S. assistance to Serbia and Montenegro or any successor entity and requires the President to block all assets of the former Yugoslavian Government until he certifies to the Congress that: (1) Serbia and Montenegro have withdrawn their forces from Croatia and Bosnia-Hercegovina; and (2) the government of Serbia and Montenegro or any successor entity is democratically-elected and recognizes the territorial integrity of neighboring states and the political rights of Kosovo. Urges President Bush to withdraw U.S. recognition of Yugoslavia and to refuse to recognize Serbian and Montenegrin claims as a successor state. Supports withholding formal recognition of Serbia and Montenegro until all Serbian military, paramilitary, and irregular units are withdrawn from Bosnia-Hercegovina, Slovenia, and Croatia and until Serbia and Montenegro respect the territorial integrity of neighboring nations. Calls upon the administration to impose an "air cap" to provide protection to Bosnia-Hercegovina and Croatia, as is being afforded to the Kurds in Iraq. Supports the immediate provision of humanitarian and refugee assistance for the victims of war in Bosnia-Hercegovina and Croatia. Urges President Bush to call for a special meeting of the United Nations Security Council to adopt a resolution calling on member countries to: (1) suspend aid to Serbia and Montenegro; (2) block Serbian assets; (3) participate in an international trade embargo of Yugoslavia; (4) withdraw recognition of the Yugoslavian Government; and (5) terminate Yugoslavia's membership in international and multilateral organizations.
United States · United States Congress · 7 May 1992
Child Support Economic Security Act of 1992 - Title I: Child Support Enforcement Amendments - Amends the Social Security Act to provide that, in order to satisfy Federal grant eligibility criteria, a State plan for child and spousal support must provide for the designation of a single, separate, organizational unit at the State level to administer the plan under rules that apply uniformly throughout the State. Requires a State, in order to satisfy such criteria, to have in effect statutorily prescribed procedures which ensure that: (1) the agency administering a State plan for child and spousal support has on-line access to all information contained in any data base maintained by the State or local government; (2) any court order or State administrative order for child support or maintenance requires payments until specified events occur; (3) all income of an individual is subject to withholding to meet child support obligations; (4) State licenses are denied to persons whose child support payments are in arrears; (5) the agency administering the State plan report to major consumer reporting agencies certain arrearages for support owed by an individual residing in the State or furnish such information to a consumer reporting agency upon request; (6) statutes of limitation are eliminated in child support cases; (7) social security numbers appear on marriage licenses and child support orders; (8) conduct affecting the exercise of visitation rights under an order for child support or maintenance shall be treated as irrelevant in any action brought to enforce support provisions of the order; and (9) the provision of, or failure to provide support pursuant to such order shall be treated as irrelevant in any action brought to enforce visitation rights. Mandates that State absent parent locator programs include response deadlines for information requests from other States, and that such deadlines be periodically reviewed for technological adequacy. Directs the Secretary to issue regulations establishing standards and procedures governing the processing by States of cases involving the enforcement of child support obligations against parents in other States, including a deadline by which prosecutions must commence after the case first comes to the State's attention, and a deadline by which such actions must be decided or dismissed. Increases the amount the Secretary shall pay to each State for each quarter to 90 percent of the total amounts expended by it during such quarter for the operation of a State plan for child and spousal support. Repeals the existing mandate for Federal incentive payments to the States for cost-effective enforcement of child support payments. Makes a prerequisite for approval of any State plan that it have in effect, by the effective date of this Act, a law identical to the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act, as most recently adopted by the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws. Establishes the Commission on Child Support Guidelines (the Commission) to submit recommendations to the Congress on national guidelines for child support award amounts. Terminates the Commission after submission of its report. Title II: Bankruptcy Amendments Relating to Child Support, Alimony, and Property Settlement Agreements - Amends Federal bankruptcy law to declare that the filing of a petition in bankruptcy does not operate as an automatic stay of actions for: (1) establishment of paternity; (2) establishment or modification of orders for alimony, maintenance or support; (3) collection of alimony, maintenance, or support from property that is not property of the bankrupt estate; and (4) certain debts for child and spousal support and maintenance. Includes among priority claims and expenses those for certain child and spousal support and maintenance. Permits a debtor to avoid the fixing of a lien to the extent that it impairs an exemption to which the debtor would have been entitled, as long as the lien does not secure a claim for certain debts regarding child and spousal support and maintenance. Precludes a trustee in bankruptcy from avoiding a tranfer to the extent it was a bona fide payment of a debt for child or spousal support, maintenance or alimony. Declares that property of the bankrupt estate of either a family farmer or an individual with regular annual income includes specified property acquired by the debtor after commencement of the case until the bankruptcy plan is confirmed, except such property as is necessary to fund the plan and is specified in the plan or order confirming it shall remain property of the estate. Declares, for such debtors, that the court shall confirm a plan if the debtor has paid all allowable claims arising after the order for relief for debts for child and spousal support maintenance or alimony. Permits representatives of child support creditors to appear and intervene in court without charge and without meeting any special local court rule requirement for attorney appearances in any judicial bankruptcy proceeding if such representatives file a form in such court that contains information detailing the child support debt, status, and other characteristics.
United States · United States Congress · 6 May 1992
Bilingual Voting Requirements Repeal Act of 1992 - Amends the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to repeal bilingual election requirements and remove provisions regarding voting discrimination against language minorities and a prohibition of English-only elections.
United States · United States Congress · 6 May 1992
Urges the United States to: (1) hold the Government of Serbia accountable for the attacks on and occupation of the Republics of Bosnia-Hercegovina and Croatia, and for human rights abuses in Kosovo; (2) withhold diplomatic recognition of Serbia and Montenegro until Serbia ceases its aggression against such republics and halts the brutal repression of the Albanian people in Kosovo and the denial of the right to self-determination; and (3) actively encourage its allies to follow the same course.
United States · United States Congress · 6 May 1992
Congratulates the residents of Jerusalem and the peopole of Israel on the 25th anniversary of the reunification of that city. Urges that: (1) Jerusalem remain an undivided city in which the rights of every ethnic and religious group are protected; and (2) the President and Secretary of State issue an unequivocal statement in support of such principle.
United States · United States Congress · 5 May 1992
Designates September 18, 1992, as National POW/MIA Recognition Day. Requires the POW/MIA flag to be flown on a flagstaff of the White House, the Departments of State, Defense, and Veterans Affairs, the Selective Service Commission, each national cemetery, and the National Vietnam Veterans Memorial on such day. Requires the flag to be flown on a flagstaff of each national cemetery and the National Vietnam Veterans Memorial on May 30, 1992 (Memorial Day), and on November 11, 1992 (Veterans Day). States that the flag shall be displayed as a symbol of national concern and commitment to resolving the fates of Americans still prisoner, missing, and unaccounted for.
United States · United States Congress · 30 April 1992
Commission on Executive Organization Act - Establishes the Commission on Executive Organization to examine and make recommendations with respect to an effective and practicable organization of the Federal executive branch. Requires the Commission to seek to reduce the total number of Federal employees by five percent within five years after the effective date of this Act. Requires the Commission to submit a report to the President describing its recommendations and legislative changes necessary to implement such recommendations. Requires the President to: (1) issue an Executive order implementing the recommendations made in the report; and (2) report to the Congress on the Commission's recommendations for legislation. Requires the Directors of the Congressional Research Service, the Congressional Budget Office, and the Office of Technology Assessment to submit to the Commission indices to, and synoposes of, materials on executive organization useful to the Commission. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 29 April 1992
Amends the Job Training Partnership Act to expand the program of employment and training assistance for dislocated workers to include workers in substantially and seriously affected defense communities. Includes such workers under the defense conversion adjustment program under such Act.
United States · United States Congress · 29 April 1992
Requires the Congress to enter into contracts with the lowest qualified bidders for the procurement of all services that can be procured from private enterprises through ordinary business channels, including security, food services, and services provided by the congressional publication offices, the Architect of the Capitol and the Sergeant at Arms and the Doorkeeper of the House of Representatives. Requires contracts for such services to mandate commercially competitive fees. Transfers operation of postal services in the Congress to the U.S. Postal Service.
United States · United States Congress · 9 April 1992
Advance Fee Loan Scam Prevention Act of 1992 - Prohibits the receipt of advance fees by unregulated loan brokers arranging consumer credit for individuals. Grants the Federal Trade Commission enforcement powers under this Act. Establishes criminal and civil forfeiture penalties for violations of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 9 April 1992
Amends the Export Administration Act of 1979 to repeal restrictions on the export of Alaskan North Slope oil. Provides that exports of such oil shall not be subject to restrictions contained in other specified Acts.
![Official portrait of Rep. Zeliff, William H., Jr. [R-NH-1]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/z000004_200.jpg)