United States · United States Congress · 5 March 1991
Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to revise its application. Revises minimum wage and maximum hours provisions (as well as provisions for special industry committees for American Samoa) to apply such requirements specifically to employers of employees who in any workweek are engaged in industrial homework and who are either engaged in commerce or in the production of goods in commerce (in addition to any other employees so employed). Revises the scope of the application of requirements relating to: (1) wage rate orders for employers in American Samoa; (2) prohibition of sex discrimination in wage rates; and (3) handicapped workers.
United States · United States Congress · 5 March 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to increase the personal exemption for a dependent child who has not attained age 18 from $2,000 to $3,500. Provides for rounding inflation adjustments to tax tables to the nearest multiple of $10 (currently rounded to the next lowest multiple of $50).
United States · United States Congress · 5 March 1991
Endorses a National Victory Parade in Washington, D.C., and regional victory parades throughout the United States to honor servicemen and women who participated in Operation Desert Storm. Encourages Federal, State, and local governments and private industry to get involved in supporting such parades.
United States · United States Congress · 5 March 1991
Supports and endorses Operation Homefront as a national grassroots effort to support our servicemen and women who participated in Operation Desert Storm and their families. Encourages Federal, State, and local governments and private business and industry to organize Operation Homefront task forces to support the families of such deployed troops and to plan and organize welcome home celebrations for the troops.
United States · United States Congress · 28 February 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend the tax exemption for qualified small issue industrial bonds (bonds issued to finance manufacturing facilities and farm property) through 1996.
United States · United States Congress · 28 February 1991
Acclaims the President for his decisive leadership, unerring judgment, and sound decisions with respect to the Persian Gulf crisis. Commends and expresses appreciation to the members of the U.S. armed forces and other members of the international coalition who participated in Operation Desert Storm. Conveys sympathy and condolences to the families and friends of coalition and U.S. forces who were injured or killed during such operation. Expresses compassion for the families of noncombatants who suffered hardship and personal losses during the Persian Gulf War. Supports continued efforts to promote peace and stability in the Persian Gulf.
United States · United States Congress · 28 February 1991
Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) Saddam Hussein and his subordinates should be held legally and financially accountable for the invasion of Kuwait, the brutal treatment of Kuwait, the Kuwaiti people, and allied and U.S. prisoners of war, launching unprovoked SCUD attacks against Israel and Israeli civilians, dumping oil into the ocean, and the destruction of oil fields; and (2) the United Nations should take steps to try such individuals for war crimes following and including the invasion of Kuwait.
United States · United States Congress · 27 February 1991
National Recreational Trails Fund Act of 1991 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to establish the National Recreational Trails Trust Fund (Fund). Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to pay into the Fund an amount equivalent to 0.5 percent of total Highway Trust Fund receipts, adjusted triennially to reflect revenues from nonhighway recreational fuel taxes. Requires the Secretary to use such amounts in the Fund to make grants to the States for constructing and maintaining recreational trails. Establishes the National Recreational Trails Act Advisory Committee.
United States · United States Congress · 27 February 1991
Radio Free China Act of 1991 - Amends the Board for International Broadcasting Act of 1973 to authorize funds made available to RFE/RL, Incorporated, to be used for radio broadcasting to China. Designates such broadcasts as Radio Free China.
United States · United States Congress · 27 February 1991
Directs the heads of Federal departments or agencies which hold or receive records and information which have or could possibly have been correlated to U.S. personnel listed as prisoners of war or missing in action after 1940, including from World War II and the Korean and Vietnam conflicts, to publicly disclose such records and information, except where such disclosure would compromise national security. Requires the Department of Defense to publicly disclose a complete list of such personnel including those killed in action (body not returned) with each service member's current classification as well as any changes in such classification occurring during or after such hostilities.
United States · United States Congress · 26 February 1991
Trade Agreements Compliance Act of 1991 - Amends the Trade Act of 1974 to authorize certain economically affected persons to request the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) to review whether a foreign country is in material compliance with the terms of a bilateral trade agreement to which the United States is a party. Prescribes guidelines for such a review. Provides that nothing in this Act may be construed as requiring actions that are inconsistent with U.S. international obligations, including the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade.
United States · United States Congress · 26 February 1991
Student Loan Default Prevention Act of 1991 - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 (the Act) to lower the amount insured for any lender by the guaranteed student loan (GSL) program (under the Robert T. Stafford Student Loan Program) from 100 percent to 95 percent of the unpaid principal if one-third or more of the principal outstanding during any consecutive two-year period on the lender's loans consists of loans to students for attendance costs at a higher default rate institution. Prohibits guaranty agencies from selling lists of student borrowers who have loans under the Stafford program. Authorizes guaranty agencies to obtain information on the location of a student borrower from State licensing boards. Limits the circumstances under which repayment deferments are granted for loans to parents (PLUS loans). Revises provisions relating to credit bureaus, with respect to notices of delinquency, notices to borrowers, and limitations on reporting. Revises disclosure requirements to set forth special rules under which supplemental loans for students (SLS loans) are not subject to a requirement for disclosure of projected monthly payment amounts if the lender provides the borrower with sample projections of monthly repayment amounts based on specified assumptions. Requires that officers or directors of the accrediting agency or association not be affiliated in any way with a vocational school seeking or obtaining eligibility for the student loan insurance program. Requires eligible lenders under the Stafford Student loan program to request pre-claims assistance within a specified period if the guaranty agency offers such pre-claims assistance for default prevention. Requires that guaranty agencies, within a specified period after receipt of such a request for such pre-claims assistance, to notify each eligible institution of the lenders request for such assistance on such loan. Reduces certain special allowances paid to holders of eligible loans under the Stafford student loan program. Requires eligible institutions under such program to submit certain information to the Secretary if they wish to change their accrediting agency or association. Requires student borrowers, in order to receive any student loan under the Act, to provide the lender at the time of applying for such loan: (1) their driver's license number; and (2) the name and address of their next of kin. Directs eligible institutions to require borrowers to supply the following exit interview information: (1) their address and the address of their next of kin; and (2) their driver's license number. Directs the Secretary of Education (the Secretary) to establish and publicize a toll-free consumer telephone hotline for use by the public, to permit students who allege fraud or unfair practices by eligible institutions to inform the Department of Education. Requires that an institution's graduation and placement statistics be audited by an independent public agency. Sets forth restrictions on institutional promotional activities. Requires institutions to use the same definition of academic year for all student assistance programs under the Act. Establishes a tuition refund policy. Set forth special rules relating to accreditation. Authorizes the Secretary, under a specified procedures, to limit, suspend, or terminate an eligible institution from student assistance program participation whenever: (1) the institution withdraws from a nationally recognized accrediting agency or association during a show cause or suspension proceeding against it; or (2) such an agency or association reports, under a specified arrangement with the Secretary, that the institution was denied accreditation. Directs the Secretary to promulgate regulations specifying the legal restrictions and the requirements of eligible institutions relating to loan counseling and reporting requirements (including requirements and restrictions on disclosure of borrower records to third parties, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, and other applicable Federal laws).
United States · United States Congress · 26 February 1991
Condemns the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN) for shooting down a U.S. helicopter and murdering the survivors. Considers the FMLN to be a terrorist organization. Urges that all FMLN representatives, delegates, and staff be expelled from the United States. Calls upon all private organizations in the United States currently financing the FMLN to stop such financing. Demands that the FMLN immediately deliver to the Government of El Salvador for trial the FMLN guerillas implicated in the murder of U.S. citizens.
United States · United States Congress · 25 February 1991
Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to design and strike a silver commemorative medal for members of the U.S. armed forces who serve in a combat zone in connection with the Persian Gulf conflict.
United States · United States Congress · 21 February 1991
Lamprey River Study Act of 1991 - Amends the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act to designate a specified segment of the Lamprey River, New Hampshire, for study as a potential addition to the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System. Directs the Secretary of the Interior to complete such study within three years after enactment of this Act. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 21 February 1991
Declares that, with regard to assistance to nations in transition from communism to democracy, it is U.S. policy to provide foreign aid directly to democratic governments at the republic level in countries that include a ruling communist majority in other republic governments or at the Federal level.
United States · United States Congress · 21 February 1991
Amends Federal law to deny annuity benefits to a Member of Congress convicted of a State or Federal felony. Authorizes the restoration of such annuity: (1) if the individual is pardoned by the Governor in the case of a felony under State law; or (2) in the case of a reversal.
United States · United States Congress · 21 February 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to permanently extend the period during which qualified mortgage bonds and mortgage credit certificates may be issued.
United States · United States Congress · 21 February 1991
Constitutional Amendment - Prohibits Federal expenditures from exceeding revenues for any fiscal year and from exceeding 19 percent of the gross national product for the last calendar year ending before the beginning of such fiscal year. Provides for a suspension of such prohibitions for any fiscal year for which three-fifths of the House of the Congress provides, by rollcall vote, for a specific excess of outlays over estimated revenues.
United States · United States Congress · 20 February 1991
Social Security Benefits Improvement Act of 1991 - Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) of the Social Security Act to alter the formula for computing the primary insurance amount of individuals who attain age 65 in or after 1982 and are subject to the benefit computation rules of the Social Security Amendments of 1977. Removes the limitation on the amount of outside income which an OASDI beneficiary may earn without incurring a reduction in benefits. Provides that individuals shall not be considered to have engaged in substantial gainful activity for disability benefit eligibility purposes unless their earnings exceed the amount currently allowed only for blind individuals.
United States · United States Congress · 20 February 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow penalty-free withdrawals from an individual retirement plan if distributed to an Operation Desert Storm reservist within 180 days after the termination of active duty.
United States · United States Congress · 20 February 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from gross income the value of any subsidy provided by an electric utility to a customer for the purchase or installation of energy conservation measures.
United States · United States Congress · 20 February 1991
Urges the President to consider for appointments to policymaking positions in the executive branch those individuals with knowledge and experience with the problems and operations of small business concerns.
United States · United States Congress · 19 February 1991
Amends the Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 1991 to make permanent the legislative reinstatement of the power of tribal courts to exercise criminal misdemeanor jurisdiction over nonmember Indians.
United States · United States Congress · 19 February 1991
Economic Growth and Jobs Creation Act of 1991 - Title I: Reducing the Cost of Labor by Reducing Social Security Taxes - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to reduce the old-age, survivors, and disability insurance (OASDI) tax on employees and employers, and on self-employment income. Amends the Social Security Act to remove the required increase in appropriations to the Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund beginning after 1999. Requires the Board of Trustees of the Social Security trust funds (the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund and the Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund) to include in its annual report to the Congress the expected operation and status of such trust funds during the next ten fiscal years (currently, the next five fiscal years). Amends the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990 and the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to modify procedures in the House of Representatives and the Senate relating to changing OASDI taxes and benefits during the ten-year period. Amends the Social Security Act to provide that if any annual report of the Board of Trustees projects that the trust funds will not be in the close actuarial balance on average for the succeeding ten fiscal years, then Congress may not adjourn before enactment of legislation to restore such close actuarial balance. Requires the first Advisory Council on Social Security appointed after the date of enactment of this Act to: (1) evaluate the expected operation and status of the trust funds after FY 2015; and (2) conduct a review of alternative approaches to preserving a close actuarial balance of such trust funds. Title II: Reducing the Cost of Capital by Reducing Capital Gains Tax Rates, Indexing the Basis of Certain Assets, and Adjusting Depreciation Rates to Reflect Inflation - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to reduce the individual and corporate capital gains rate from 34 percent to 15 percent. Reduces such tax to 7.5 percent for low- and middle-income taxpayers. Provides for the phaseout of personal exemptions and the overall limitation on itemized deductions to take into account adjusted gross income which has been reduced by net capital gain. Requires indexing (based on the gross national product deflator) of the adjusted basis of certain assets (corporate stock and tangible 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 transfer, solely for the purpose of determining gain or loss. Provides for indexing the limitation on capital losses of noncorporate taxpayers. Provides a depreciation deduction adjustment for tangible property (other than residential rental property and nonresidential real property) placed in service after 1990. Allows phase-in deductions for such property placed in service after 1996. Title III: Increasing National Savings Through Individual Retirement Plus Accounts, Indexing for Inflation the Income Thresholds for Taxing Social Security Benefits, Inc. - Allows individuals to establish individual retirement plus accounts with tax treatment similar to that for individual retirement plans. Makes contributions to such accounts nondeductible. Provides for qualified distributions from such accounts, other than for general retirement purposes, including special purposes distributions made for the purchase of a first home and for medical or educational purposes. Prohibits special purpose distributions from being made during the first five years of the account. Provides an inflation adjustment after 1996 for income thresholds in determining the taxation of social security benefits. Excludes income from individual retirement plans when determining modified adjusted gross income. Provides an inflation adjustment after 1996 for the maximum amount allowable as a deduction for retirement savings.
United States · United States Congress · 19 February 1991
Older Americans' Freedom to Work Act of 1991 - Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act to remove the limitation on the amount of outside income which beneficiaries who have attained retirement age may earn without incurring a reduction in benefits.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 1991
Social Security Notch Adjustment Act of 1991 - Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act to establish a new formula for computing the primary insurance amount of individuals who attain age 65 in or after 1982 and would otherwise be subject to the benefit computation rules of the Social Security Amendments of 1977. Extends the application of such transitional benefit computation rules to those who become eligible for benefits before 1989. (Currently those who become eligible after 1983 are subject to the benefit computation rules of the Social Security Amendments of 1977.)
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 1991
Volunteer Protection Act of 1991 - Prescribes circumstances under which volunteers working for nonprofit organizations or government entities shall be immune from personal financial liability for acts on behalf of the organization or entity. Sets forth exceptions and conditions that a State may impose on the granting of such immunity. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to increase by one percent the fiscal year allotment which would otherwise be made to a State to carry out the Social Services Block Grant Program under title XX of the Social Security Act if such State has, within two years, certified to the Secretary that it has enacted a State law which provides such immunity. Provides for the continuation of such increase based on an annual recertification.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 1991
School Improvement and Flexibility Act - Title I: Improvement of Student Performance - Directs the Secretary of Education to report by January 1, 1994, on the administration of public schools in ten to 15 States, identifying and analyzing the impact of new legal, regulatory, and organizational requirements (promulgated since 1980) that affect educational practices. Requires impact analysis of mandated curricula and student-teacher ratios and data collection and paperwork requirements. Requires such report to include recommendations on how best to simplify Federal or State regulations so that more resources can be used to improve student performance. Title II: Educational Performance Agreements for School Restructuring - Establishes a national program of educational performance agreements for school restructuring, under which: (1) local authorities develop proposals for enabling students to achieve higher performance; (2) schools with such proposals are allowed to combine Federal, State, and local funds under specified Federal laws relating to the education of special needs students, drug education, and training programs (and to waive certain restrictions under such programs); (3) Federal, State, and local protections with respect to civil rights, nondiscrimination, and safety will be upheld; and (4) States will make available funds necessary to plan, develop, monitor, and evaluate local performance agreements. Provides that funding combinations and waiver restrictions may include such types of programs under specified Federal laws in the case of: (1) training programs at the secondary level for children in vocational education courses; and (2) special needs programs at the elementary level for disadvantaged children served under chapter 1 title I of ESEA. Provides for: (1) authority of other Federal agencies; (2) limitations; (3) sunset of combination authority after the sixth year of the agreement; (4) audits; (5) State assurances and State educational performance agreements; (6) local performance agreements and local review and assessment; and (7) evaluation and report to the Congress. Title III: Incentives for Program Improvement - Provides for education program improvement, accountability measures, and incentives under the following Federal laws: (1) the General Education Provisions Act; (2) the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965; (3) the Carl D. Perkins Vocational Education Act; (4) the Adult Education Act; (5) the Bilingual Education Act; and (6) the Dwight D. Eisenhower Mathematics and Science Education Act. Waives certain repayment requirements for violations of administrative regulations if the State, local educational agency, or other educational entity recipient has sustained improved educational performance over the year or program period in question.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 1991
Comprehensive Recycling Act of 1991 - Establishes as national goals: (1) the recycling of municipal waste; and (2) the creation and strengthening of markets for recycled materials. Requires the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to provide technical assistance and guidance to States on recycling methods and opportunities. Directs States to develop and implement comprehensive multimaterial recycling programs. Requires such programs to be designed to provide at least 20 percent of a State's population with an opportunity to participate in such programs within two years of this Act's enactment. Provides that such programs must be available to an additional 20 percent of a State's population every two years, until the entire population is provided with such opportunity. Sets forth minimum program requirements. Deems a State or its municipalities to be in compliance with this Act if they have in place an alternative program that meets this Act's requirements. Requires States to include recycling programs in the regional solid waste plan required by the Solid Waste Disposal Act. Makes States with approved plans eligible for Federal assistance for recycling infrastructures. Amends the Solid Waste Disposal Act to require the Administrator to make grants to States for the development of programs to promote the use of recycling techniques by businesses, local governments, or regional waste management authorities.
United States · United States Congress · 5 February 1991
Ethics in Foreign Lobbying Act of 1991 - Amends the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to prohibit multicandidate political committees or separate segregated funds of certain organizations or corporations which are controlled by foreign persons from making any contributions or expenditures with respect to an election for Federal office. Directs the Federal Election Commission to require reporting of ownership interest percentages, and to list them. Prohibits foreign nationals from participating in the decisionmaking process of domestic organizations engaged in Federal, State, or local election-related activities. Establishes within the Federal Election Commission a clearinghouse of public information regarding the political activities of foreign principals and their agents. Amends the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938 to require agents to file quarterly supplemental registration statements. Provides that a foreign principal's legal representative in U.S. courts may only be exempted from filing registration statements upon the submission of an affirmative request for such exemption. Establishes civil penalties for violation of the registration requirements.
United States · United States Congress · 5 February 1991
Foreign Agents Compulsory Ethics in Trade Act of 1991 - Amends the Federal criminal code to prohibit the President, the Vice President, certain high-level Federal officials and employees, certain high-ranking active-duty members of the uniformed services, and Members of Congress from representing or advising foreign principals on matters of direct and substantial U.S. interest during the four-year period after cessation of Federal employment. Requires the Attorney General to grant a waiver to such prohibition unless the proposed conduct could harm the national interests or create an undue appearance of conflict of interest. Authorizes the Attorney General, upon reason to believe that a person is engaging in conduct in violation of this Act, to petition the appropriate U.S. district court for an order prohibiting such conduct. Establishes civil and criminal penalties for violations of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 5 February 1991
Commends the President and the Secretary of State for their diplomatic initiative whereby representatives of the Governments of the United States, the Soviet Union, Portugal, the People's Republic of Angola, and the Union for the Total Independence of Angola met on December 31, 1990, with the goal of achieving a multiparty democracy in Angola. Supports the six principles agreed to in the talks. Expresses hope that the six principles will encourage the Angolan parties to seek an early ceasefire and guarantee free and fair elections at the earliest possible date.
United States · United States Congress · 4 February 1991
Amends Internal Revenue Code provisions governing the income tax deduction for the health insurance costs of self-employed individuals to: (1) make the deduction permanent (under current law it will expire after tax year 1991); and (2) phase in an increase in the allowable deduction, reaching 100 percent for taxable years beginning in 1994 and thereafter.
United States · United States Congress · 31 January 1991
Allows coverage under the Federal employee health insurance program of an unmarried dependent child between 22 and 23 years of age who is a student regularly pursuing a full-time course of study or training in residence in a junior college, college, university, or comparable recognized educational institution.
United States · United States Congress · 31 January 1991
Repeals provisions of the Rural Development, Agriculture, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1991 to prohibit a specified rural development grant for the restoration of the birthplace of Lawrence Welk.
United States · United States Congress · 31 January 1991
Abolishes the franking privilege with respect to the House of Representatives. Establishes a spending allowance for postage for official mail of the House to be used for purchasing stamps and other postage rather than to pay for franked mail.
![Official portrait of Rep. Zeliff, William H., Jr. [R-NH-1]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/z000004_200.jpg)