United States · United States Congress · 5 August 1993
Loser Pay Act - Entitles the prevailing party in any civil action brought in or removed to a court of the United States to attorney fees to the extent that such party prevails on any position or claim advanced during the action. Specifies that such fees shall be paid by the nonprevailing party. Prohibits the award of such fees unless counsel of record in the action involved maintained accurate, complete records of hours worked on the matters involved in the action, regardless of the fee arrangement with his or her client. Limits such fee award to the attorney fees of the nonprevailing party with respect to the particular position or claim. Specifies that if the nonprevailing party received services under a contingent fee agreement, the fee award to the prevailing party shall not exceed the reasonable value of those services as determined by the court at the time the final judgment is entered. Authorizes the court, in its discretion, to limit the fees awarded to the extent that it finds exceptional, unusual, and special circumstances that make payment of such fees unjust.
United States · United States Congress · 5 August 1993
Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to require a three-fifths vote in the House of Representatives to waive the applicability of provisions of that Act to the House.
United States · United States Congress · 5 August 1993
Amends rule XI of the Rules of the House of Representatives to require the affirmative percentage of those voting that is required to adopt any rule or order reported by the Committee on Rules providing for the consideration of any legislation that waives any rule of the House to be the same as the affirmative percentage of those voting that is required by the rules of the House to waive that rule.
United States · United States Congress · 5 August 1993
Amends rule X of the Rules of the House of Representatives to require the membership of the Committee on Rules (and of each of its subcommittees) to reflect the ratio of the majority to minority party Members of the House at the beginning of the Congress.
United States · United States Congress · 5 August 1993
Amends rule XI of the Rules of the House of Representatives to require a three-fifths vote to adopt any rule or order reported by the Committee on Rules providing for the consideration of legislation that limits the rights of Members to offer germane amendments if the legislation would otherwise be subject to amendment under House rules.
United States · United States Congress · 4 August 1993
Headwaters Forest Act - Extends the boundaries of the Six Rivers National Forest, California, to include certain lands to be referred to as the Six Rivers National Forest Addition. Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to: (1) acquire land within the boundaries of the Addition by donation, by purchase, or by exchange for other lands owned by any department, agency, or instrumentality of the United States; and (2) develop and implement a land acquisition plan giving priority to the acquisition of lands within the boundaries of the Headwaters Forest Wilderness. Authorizes appropriations. Designates the Headwaters Forest Wilderness as a component of the National Wilderness Preservation System. Requires the Secretary to develop a comprehensive management plan detailing measures for the preservation of the existing old growth redwood ecosystems in the Addition, including: (1) a prohibition on timber sales from lands within the old growth redwood groves; and (2) measures to restore lands affected by previous timber harvests to mitigate watershed degradation and impairment of habitat for the marbled murrelet, spotted owl, native salmon stocks, and other old-growth forest dependent species. Sets forth provisions regarding payments to local governments in lieu of taxes for lands acquired under this Act. Directs the Secretary to study specified lands in the Addition, analyzing the area's potential for addition to the Headwaters Forest and identifying the area's natural resources.
United States · United States Congress · 4 August 1993
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Protection of Neighborhoods, Families, and Children Subtitle A: Safe Schools Subtitle B: Secure Neighborhoods Subtitle C: Crimes Against Children Subtitle D: Punishment of Serious Juvenile Offenders Title II: Equal Protection for Victims Subtitle A: Victims' Rights Subtitle B: Admissibility of Evidence Subtitle C: Protecting the Integrity of the Judicial Process Title III: Protection of Women Subtitle A: Spouse Abuse and Stalking Subtitle B: Victims of Sexual Violence Subtitle C: Punishment of Sex Offenders Title IV: Prevention of Terrorism Subtitle A: Enhanced Controls on Entry into the United States Subtitle B: Deportation of Alien Terrorists Subtitle C: Penalties for Engaging in Terrorism Title V: Criminal Aliens and Alien Smuggling Subtitle A: Deportation of Criminal Aliens Subtitle B: Prevention and Punishment of Alien Smuggling Title VI: Taking Criminals Off the Street Subtitle A: Expanding Prison Capacity Subtitle B: Miscellaneous Title VII: Punishment and Deterrence Subtitle A: Capital Offenses Subtitle B: Violent Felonies and Drug Offenses Subtitle C: Enhanced Penalties for Criminal Use of Firearms and Explosives Subtitle D: Miscellaneous Title VIII: Elimination of Delays in Carrying Out Sentences Subtitle A: Post Conviction Petitions: General Habeas Corpus Reform Subtitle B: Special Procedures for Collateral Proceedings in Capital Cases Subtitle C: Funding for Litigation of Federal Habeas Corpus Petitions in Capital Cases Title IX: Public Corruption Title X: Funding Crime Control Act of 1993 - Title I: Protection of Neighborhoods, Families, and Children - Subtitle A: Safe Schools - Amends the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) to increase penalties for drug trafficking in or near schools. (Sec. 102) Authorizes: (1) a school district to elect to qualify as a Federal safe school district by decision of a local educational agency or by referendum of the voters in a school district served by such an agency; and (2) the Attorney General to make grants to local educational agencies or local law enforcement agencies of Federal safe school districts to pay for enhanced school security measures. (Sec. 103) Increases penalties for violation of the Gun-Free School Zones Act. Subtitle B: Secure Neighborhoods - Amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (Omnibus Act) to authorize the Director of the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) to make grants to local governments and to community groups for increasing the police presence in communities. Requires the Director to develop a written model that informs community members regarding how to identify the existence of a drug or gang house and what civil remedies and mediation techniques are available. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 114) Amends the Federal criminal code to prohibit: (1) committing specified "predicate gang crimes" (including murder, assault, kidnapping, arson, and retaliating against a witness, victim, or informant) with intent to promote or further the activities of a criminal street gang or for the purpose of gaining entrance to, or maintaining or increasing position in, a gang; (2) participating in, or inducing any individual to participate in, a gang; (3) employing or inducing any individual to commit a predicate gang crime with such intent; or (4) using any communication facility in causing or facilitating the commission of such a crime with such intent. Sets penalties for violations. Authorizes the Attorney General and the Secretary of the Treasury to investigate such offenses. Directs the U.S. Sentencing Commission to amend the sentencing guidelines to increase the base offense level for any felony committed for the purpose of gaining entrance into, or maintaining or increasing position in, a gang. (Sec. 115) Amends: (1) the Federal criminal code to set penalties for drive-by shootings; (2) the Omnibus Act to include among drug control and system improvement grant funding objectives law enforcement and prevention programs relating to gangs or to youth who are involved or at risk of being involved in gangs; and (3) the CSA to increase penalties for drug trafficking in or near public housing. Subtitle C: Crimes Against Children - Provides for imposition of the death penalty for murder during the sexual exploitation of children. (Sec. 132) Increases penalties for sex offenses against victims below age 16. (Sec. 133) Sets penalties for international trafficking in child pornography. (Sec. 134) Directs the Attorney General to establish guidelines for State legislation prohibiting the production, distribution, receipt, or possession of materials depicting a person under age 18 engaging in sexually explicit conduct and providing for a maximum imprisonment of at least one year and for the forfeiture of assets used in, or gained from, such offenses. Requires each State to enact and maintain legislation complying with such guidelines in order to receive assistance under provisions of the Victims of Crime Act and the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act. (Sec. 135) Provides for national registration of convicted child abusers. Requires the Attorney General to establish guidelines for State registration programs. Authorizes a State to permit qualified entities to obtain from an authorized State agency a nationwide background check on a provider. (Sec. 136) Increases penalties for: (1) assaults against children; (2) using minors in drug trafficking; (3) drug distribution to minors; and (4) using a minor in the commission of a Federal offense. (Sec. 137) Amends the CSA to set penalties for physical trainers or advisers who attempt to persuade or induce a person to possess or use anabolic steroids. (Sec. 139) Provides for interstate enforcement of child support orders. (Sec. 140) Makes certain crimes involving the use of persons below age 18 predicates to an offense under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO). (Sec. 143) Makes it a Federal offense to remove a child from, or to retain a child outside, the United States to obstruct the lawful exercise of parental rights. Authorizes appropriations to carry out State court programs regarding international parental child abduction. Subtitle D: Punishment of Serious Juvenile Offenders - Makes serious juvenile drug offenses Armed Career Criminal Act predicates. (Sec. 152) Provides for adult prosecution of serious juvenile offenders. (Sec. 153) Requires that juveniles found guilty of certain offenses be fingerprinted and photographed, with such fingerprints and photographs sent to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Identification Division. Directs the court to transmit to such division information concerning the adjudication. Title II: Equal Protection for Victims - Subtitle A: Victims' Rights - Enacts Rules of Professional Conduct for Lawyers in Federal Practice, including provisions regarding: (1) a prohibition on attorneys engaging in actions deemed abusive to clients or others; (2) a duty of enquiry (to elicit from the client a truthful account of the material facts concerning the matters in issue); (3) a duty to expedite litigation; and (4) a duty to disclose information necessary to prevent the commission of a crime. (Sec. 202) Revises Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure: (1) 24(b) to entitle each side to six peremptory challenges (currently, six for the Government and ten for the defendant or defendants jointly); and (2) 32 to provide for a victim's right of allocution in sentencing for a crime of violence or sexual abuse. (Sec. 204) Provides for the enforcement of restitution orders through the suspension of Federal benefits. (Sec. 205) Sets penalties for retaliatory killings of witnesses, victims, and informants. Subtitle B: Admissibility of Evidence - Amends the Federal Rules of Evidence (FRE) to allow evidence of similar offenses in criminal or civil sexual assault and child molestation cases. (Sec. 212) Revises FRE 412 (sex offense cases; relevance of victim's past behavior) to: (1) expand the scope of the rape shield law and to require that an order admitting evidence of a victim's past sexual behavior explain the reasoning leading to a finding of relevance and the basis of a finding that the probative value of the evidence outweighs the danger of unfair prejudice; and (2) make inadmissible evidence to show invitation or provocation by a victim in sexual abuse cases. (Sec. 214) Specifies that evidence obtained as a result of a search or seizure shall not be excluded on the ground that the search or seizure was in violation of the fourth amendment to the Constitution if carried out in circumstances justifying an objectively reasonable belief that it was in conformity with the fourth amendment. Subtitle C: Protecting the Integrity of the Judicial Process - Provides that in a criminal trial in any Federal or State court: (1) on motion of the defense attorney or prosecutor, the risk of racial prejudice or bias shall be examined on voir dire if there is a substantial likelihood that such prejudice will affect the jury; (2) on motion of the defense attorney or prosecutor, a change of venue shall be granted if an impartial jury cannot be obtained in the original venue because of such prejudice; and (3) neither the prosecutor nor the defense attorney shall make any appeal to such prejudice in statements before the jury. (Sec. 222) Amends the Federal criminal code to provide that a list of veniremen and witnesses need not be furnished in capital cases if the court finds by a preponderance of the evidence that providing the list may jeopardize the life or safety of any person. (Sec. 223) Increases penalties for attempting to influence or injure court officers or jurors. (Sec. 224) Provides for the imposition of the death penalty for the murder of a Federal witness. Title III: Protection of Women - Subtitle A: Spouse Abuse and Stalking - Amends the Federal criminal code to: (1) set penalties for interstate travel to commit spouse abuse or to violate a protective order; and (2) provide for full faith and credit of protective orders among the States. Subtitle B: Victims of Sexual Violence - Establishes a civil remedy for victims of sexual violence. (Sec. 312) Authorizes the restitution of victims of sex offenses. (Sec. 313) Provides for pretrial detention in sex offense cases. Subtitle C: Punishment of Sex Offenders - Provides for imposition of the death penalty for persons engaging in sexual abuse resulting in death. (Sec. 322) Increases penalties for recidivist sex offenses. (Sec. 323) Directs the Sentencing Commission to amend the sentencing guidelines to increase the base offense level for sex offenses. (Sec. 324) Provides for testing for human immunodeficiency virus for persons charged in sex offense cases and the disclosure of the test results to the victim. Directs the Sentencing Commission to amend existing guidelines for sentences for sex offenses where the offender knew or had reason to know that he was infected with such virus, except where the offender did not engage or attempt to engage in conduct creating a risk of transmission of the virus to the victim. Title IV: Prevention of Terrorism - Subtitle A: Enhanced Controls on Entry into the United States - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) to require exclusion from admission to the United States of anyone who is a member of an organization that engages in terrorist activity or who actively supports or advocates terrorist activity. (Sec. 402) Provides for the exclusion of an alien for presenting fraudulent documents, or for failing to present documents used to board a common carrier, to an immigration officer upon arrival at a port of entry into the United States. Specifies that any alien who is excludable under such provisions may not apply for or be granted asylum, with exceptions. (Sec. 404) Limits court jurisdiction with respect to habeas corpus review, other judicial review and action, and collateral enforcement proceedings. Subtitle B: Deportation of Alien Terrorists - Establishes procedures to apply whenever the Attorney General certifies under seal to a special court (established pursuant to this subtitle) that: (1) the Attorney General or Deputy Attorney General has approved of the deportation proceeding; (2) an alien terrorist is physically present in the United States; and (3) removal of such terrorist by deportation proceedings would pose a risk to national security because such proceedings would disclose classified information. Directs the Chief Justice of the United States to publicly designate up to seven judges to hear and decide such cases. Sets forth procedures for a special removal hearing, including provisions for appointment of counsel and appeals. Subtitle C: Penalties for Engaging in Terrorism - Amends the Federal criminal code to: (1) prohibit providing material support to terrorists; and (2) extend the statute of limitations for certain terrorism offenses. (Sec. 422) Directs the Sentencing Commission to provide for an increase in the base offense level for any felony involving or intended to promote international terrorism, unless such involvement or intent is itself an element of the crime. (Sec. 424) Increases penalties under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act for violation of orders with respect to the declaration of a national emergency and the Federal criminal code for passport and visa-related violations. (Sec. 425) Sets penalties for: (1) specified acts of violence at international airports; (2) violence against maritime navigation; (3) violence against maritime fixed platforms; and (4) the use of weapons of mass destruction. (Sec. 429) Directs the President to establish a National Task Force on Counterterrorism. (Sec. 430) Provides for imposition of the death penalty for causing death through the use of a bomb or other destructive device. Title V: Criminal Aliens and Alien Smuggling - Subtitle A: Deportation of Criminal Aliens - Amends the INA to permit an alien sentenced to imprisonment to be deported prior to the termination of such imprisonment if the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) petitions the appropriate court or other authority to release the alien into INS custody for execution of a deportation order. Prohibits the deportation until all direct appeals of the conviction have been exhausted. (Sec. 502) Authorizes the registration of aliens on criminal probation or criminal parole within the United States. (Sec. 503) Expands the definition of "aggravated felony" to include illicit trafficking in explosive materials and a crime of violence for which the term of imprisonment imposed is at least five years. (Sec. 504) Amends the INA to authorize the Attorney General to issue a final order of deportation without an administrative hearing or administrative review for any alien who was not lawfully admitted for permanent residence, or who had permanent resident status on a conditional basis, and whom the Attorney General determines is deportable and has been convicted of an aggravated felony. Limits judicial review of such determinations. Provides that an alien convicted of an aggravated felony shall be conclusively presumed to be deportable. (Sec. 505) Grants a U.S. district court jurisdiction to enter a judicial order of deportation at the time of sentencing against an alien convicted of an aggravated felony, if such order has been requested prior to sentencing by the U.S. Attorney. (Sec. 506) Restricts defenses to exclusion and deportation for certain aliens convicted of aggravated felonies. (Sec. 507) Enhances penalties for failing to depart or reentering after a final order of deportation. Limits collateral attacks on deportation orders. (Sec. 509) Authorizes appropriations for a criminal alien information system. Subtitle B: Prevention and Punishment of Alien Smuggling - Authorizes appropriations for Border Patrol agents and investigators. (Sec. 513) Includes alien smuggling as a predicate to an offense under RICO. (Sec. 514) Increases penalties for: (1) employers who knowingly employ smuggled aliens; and (2) bringing in and harboring certain aliens. (Sec. 516) Expands forfeiture for smuggling or harboring illegal aliens. Title VI: Taking Criminals Off the Street - Subtitle A: Expanding Prison Capacity - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to include within the definition of "exempt facility bond" certain bonds issued to provide for correctional facilities. (Sec. 602) Directs the Attorney General to: (1) establish a Regional Prison Task Force; and (2) create a plan for the establishment of a nationwide regional prison system. Sets forth provisions regarding State and prisoner eligibility requirements. Establishes in the Treasury a Regional Prison Fund. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 603) Amends the Davis-Bacon Act to make provisions concerning the rate of wages for laborers and mechanics inapplicable to prison construction. Subtitle B: Miscellaneous - Amends the Federal judicial code to deny the district court, in any action challenging the constitutionality of conditions of confinement in any correctional institution housing persons accused or convicted of a crime or juveniles adjudicated delinquent, jurisdiction to: (1) impose a ceiling on the population of any correctional institution or to require any adjustment of the release dates of inmates; or (2) prohibit the use of tents or prefabricated structures for housing inmates. Prohibits any consent decree in any such action from providing relief greater than the minimum required to bring the conditions of confinement into substantial compliance with the Constitution. Provides for modification of orders or decrees. Title VII: Punishment and Deterrence - Subtitle A: Capital Offenses - Amends the Federal criminal code to establish criteria for the imposition of the death penalty for Federal crimes. Requires the attorney for the Government, whenever the Government intends to seek the death penalty for an offense punishable by death, to file with the court and serve on the defendant a notice of such intent and the aggravating factors the Government will seek to prove as the basis for such penalty. Requires the judge who presided at the trial or before whom the guilty plea was entered, or another judge if that judge is unavailable, to conduct a separate sentencing hearing when the attorney for the Government has filed such notice and the defendant is found guilty of an offense punishable by death. Permits information to be presented as to any matter relating to any mitigating factor and any aggravating factor for which notice has been provided, except that information may be excluded if its probative value is outweighed by the danger of creating unfair prejudice, confusing the issues, or misleading the jury (but permits the Government to present information concerning the effect of the offense on the victim and the victim's family). Specifies mitigating and aggravating factors. Sets forth special aggravating factors for: (1) treason, espionage, homicide, and the attempted murder of the President; and (2) drug offenses punishable by death (including previous serious drug felony convictions, use of a firearm in committing or furthering certain continuing criminal enterprises, use of minors in trafficking, and lethal adulteration of controlled substances). Requires the court to instruct the jury not to consider the race, color, religion, national origin, or sex of the defendant or victim in considering whether to recommend a sentence of death. Sets forth procedures for the imposition, appeal, and implementation of a sentence of death. Prohibits: (1) a death sentence from being carried out upon a pregnant woman or a person who lacks the mental capacity to understand the death penalty and why it was imposed; and (2) requiring any employee of, or any person providing services under contract to, any State department of corrections, the Federal Bureau of Prisons, and the U.S. Marshals Service to be in attendance or to participate in any execution if such participation is contrary to such employee's moral or religious convictions. Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) appointment of counsel; (2) collateral attacks on judgments imposing a death sentence; and (3) stays of execution. Limits the circumstances under which a person subject to the criminal jurisdiction of an Indian tribal government may be executed under this Act. Declares that the death penalty and all other penalties shall be administered by the United States and by every State without regard to the race or color of the defendant or victim, and that neither the United States nor any State shall prescribe any racial quota or statistical test for the imposition or execution of the death penalty or any other penalty. Specifies that, in a prosecution for an offense against the United States for which a death sentence is authorized, the fact that the killing was motivated by racial prejudice or bias shall be deemed an aggravating factor. Amends specified civil rights provisions to cover conspiracy against the rights, and deprivation of rights under color of law, of any person in (currently, inhabitant of) a State, territory, or district. Provides for the imposition of the death penalty for specified Federal crimes, including: (1) murders committed by prisoners in Federal correctional institutions; (2) murders of Federal, State, and local law enforcement officers; (3) civil rights murders; (4) gun murders; (5) murders by escaped prisoners; (6) torture under specified circumstances where death results; and (7) carjackings which result in death. Subtitle B: Violent Felonies and Drug Offenses - Amends the Federal criminal code to require: (1) the Director of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts to establish a program of drug testing of criminal defendants on post-conviction release; and (2) the chief probation officer in each district to arrange for the drug testing of such defendants. Requires, as an explicit condition of probation, parole, or supervised release for a felony or a specified violent or drug offense, that the defendant refrain from any unlawful use of a controlled substance and submit to periodic drug tests. (Sec. 712) Requires the court to sentence a defendant convicted of a Federal violent felony to life imprisonment or, if death results, subject such defendant to the death penalty, if the defendant had previously been convicted of two other violent felonies. (Sec. 713) Amends the Armed Career Criminal Act to include within the definition of "serious drug offense" an offense under State law which, if it had been prosecuted as a CSA violation at the time of the offense and because of the type and quantity of the controlled substance involved, would have been punishable by a maximum term of imprisonment of ten years or more. (Sec. 714) Provides an enhanced penalty for the use of a semiautomatic firearm during a crime of violence or drug trafficking crime. (Sec. 715) Sets mandatory penalties for firearms possession by persons previously convicted of a violent felony or a serious drug offense, and a mandatory minimum sentence for unlawful possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, fugitive from justice, or transferor or receiver of a stolen firearm. (Sec. 717) Increases: (1) the general penalty for violation of Federal firearms laws; and (2) enhanced penalties for possession of a firearm in connection with a crime of violence or a drug trafficking crime. (Sec. 719) Sets penalties for smuggling firearms in aid of drug trafficking or violent crime. (Sec. 723) Establishes: (1) a temporary prohibition against possession of a firearm by, or transfer of a firearm to, persons convicted of a drug crime; and (2) enhanced penalties for possession of a firearm during a drug crime. Subtitle C: Enhanced Penalties for Criminal Use of Firearms and Explosives - Chapter 1: Instant Check System for Handgun Purchases - Requires each State to establish and maintain an instant criminal check system for handgun purchases. Sets forth: (1) prohibitions on uses of such information; and (2) identification procedure requirements for licensed importers, manufacturers, and dealers once a State system becomes operational and specified notice requirements are met. Sets penalties for noncompliance. (Sec. 734) Requires each State to establish a system accessible by telephone that any licensee, law enforcement officer, or court may contact for criminal history information. (Sec. 735) Provides for the correction of erroneous system information as well as a private course of action after all administrative remedies are exhausted and records are not corrected. (Sec. 736) Directs the Attorney General to expedite: (1) the incorporation of the remaining State criminal history records into the Federal criminal records systems maintained by the FBI; and (2) the development of hardware and software systems to link State criminal history check systems into the National Crime Information Center. (Sec. 737) Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) access to State criminal records; and (2) funding for improvements in State records systems. Chapter 2: Other Firearms Provisions - Increases penalties for: (1) interstate gun trafficking; (2) making knowingly false, material statements in connection with the purchase of a firearm from a licensed dealer; and (3) a second offense of using an explosive to commit a felony. (Sec. 742) Prohibits: (1) transactions involving stolen firearms which have moved in interstate or foreign commerce; (2) the receipt of firearms by non-residents of the State in which the transferor resides, unless such receipt is for lawful sporting purposes; (3) the possession of explosives by felons and others; and (4) the possession of explosives during the commission of a felony. (Sec. 745) Provides for mandatory revocation of supervised release for possession of a firearm in violation of a condition of release. (Sec. 756) Authorizes the summary destruction of explosives subject to forfeiture under specified circumstances. Subtitle D: Miscellaneous - Increases penalties for Travel Act crimes involving racketeering and conspiracy to commit contract killings. (Sec. 762) Makes it a criminal offense to fail to obey an order to land an aircraft issued by an authorized Federal law enforcement officer under specified circumstances. (Sec. 764) Provides enhanced penalties for drug trafficking in prisons. (Sec. 765) Directs the Federal Communications Commission: (1) in its review of applications for renewal of television broadcast licenses, to consider the extent to which the licensee has participated in efforts to educate the public as to the dangers of drug abuse and appropriate methods for obtaining treatment; and (2) not to find that a renewal of such a licensee is consistent with the public interest unless the applicant demonstrates that the station has broadcast public service announcements concerning drug abuse and treatment. Title VIII: Elimination of Delays in Carrying Out Sentences - Subtitle A: Post Conviction Petitions: General Habeas Corpus Reform - Amends the Federal judicial code to establish a one-year statute of limitations for habeas corpus actions brought by State prisoners. (Sec. 802) Vests authority to issue certificates of probable cause for appeal of habeas corpus orders exclusively in the courts of appeals. (Sec. 804) Permits the denial of a habeas corpus petition on the merits notwithstanding the failure of the applicant to exhaust State court remedies. (Sec. 805) Imposes a two-year period of limitation for filing for collateral relief by Federal prisoners. Subtitle B: Special Procedures for Collateral Proceedings in Capital Cases - Amends the Federal judicial code to set forth special habeas corpus procedures in capital cases. Subtitle C: Funding for Litigation of Federal Habeas Corpus Petitions in Capital Cases - Amends the Omnibus Act to require the Director of BJA to provide grants to the States to support litigation pertaining to Federal habeas corpus petitions in capital cases. Title IX: Public Corruption - Amends the Federal criminal code to prescribe criminal penalties to be imposed upon: (1) anyone who uses any facility of, or affects, interstate or foreign commerce to deprive or defraud the inhabitants of a State of the honest services of a State official or of a fair and impartially conducted election process; and (2) any State or Federal official who, in order to carry out or conceal any scheme or artifice to defraud, discriminates, harasses, or takes adverse action against another official. Authorizes such adversely affected official to obtain relief through a civil action, provided such person did not participate in the scheme or artifice. (Sec. 902) Amends mail fraud provisions to prohibit the use of any facility of interstate or foreign commerce in the execution of a scheme or artifice to defraud. (Sec. 903) Sets forth prohibitions regarding narcotics-related public corruption. Title X: Funding - Requires each head of a Federal agency making a grant to, or entering into a contract with, an institution of higher education for research and development to reduce the overhead payment rate under the grant or contract to 90 percent of the current level and return the amount saved to the general fund of the Treasury. (Sec. 1002) Reduces the overhead expenses identified and reduced by the President in Executive Order 12837 by an additional five percent.
United States · United States Congress · 4 August 1993
Interstate Commerce Commission Sunset Act - Amends the Interstate Commerce Act to terminate, as of October 1, 1994, the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) as an independent executive agency of the U.S. Government. Transfers to the Secretary of Transportation the functions, powers, and duties of the ICC relating to the regulation of rail transportation and to certain other surface transportation regulation. Prohibits any State or its political subdivision or any interstate or other political agency of two or more States from enacting or enforcing any law, rule, or standard relating to interstate or intrastate rates, routes, or services of motor carriers, motor private carriers, water carriers, freight forwarders, or transportation brokers. Authorizes the President to take specified action upon a determination that the government of a contiguous foreign country has engaged in unfair, discriminatory, or restrictive practices having a substantial adverse competitive impact upon certain U.S. transportation companies. Requires the Secretary of Transportation to submit to the Congress, two years from the effective date of this Act, a status report and evaluation concerning the implementation of the National Governors' Association Consensus Agenda on standards for uniform State regulation of interstate motor carriers. Transfers to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) jurisdiction over certain motor carriers, water carriers, freight forwarders, and railroad passenger carriers. Grants to the FTC the exclusive power to enforce certain regulations governing the transport of household goods.
United States · United States Congress · 4 August 1993
Poverty Data Correction Act of 1993 - Requires any data relating to the incidence of poverty produced or published by or for the Secretary of Commerce for subnational areas to be corrected for differences in the cost of living and data produced for State and sub-State areas to be corrected for differences in the cost of living for at least all States of the United States. Requires such corrected data to be published in 1995 and biennially thereafter. Requires the Secretary to: (1) develop or cause to be developed a Sate cost-of-living index which ranks and assigns an index value to each State using data on wage, housing, and other costs relevant to the cost of living; and (2) multiply the Federal Government's statistical poverty thresholds by the index value for each State's cost of living to produce State poverty thresholds for each State. Requires the State cost-of-living index and resulting State poverty thresholds to be published before September 30, 1994, for calendar year 1993 and to be updated annually thereafter.
United States · United States Congress · 4 August 1993
Amends rule XI of the Rules of the House of Representatives to allow meetings of standing committees and subcommittees to be closed to the public only if approved by a majority of the committee or subcommittee's total membership because disclosure of matters to be considered would endanger national security, tend to defame, degrade, or incriminate any person, jeopardize an ongoing criminal investigation, or compromise a confidential source of any criminal investigation. Repeals provisions making the coverage of committee hearings and meetings by television broadcast, radio broadcast, or still photography a privilege made available by the House. Requires proceedings of open committee hearings or meetings to be open to television broadcast, radio broadcast, and still photography, or by any of such method of coverage. Prohibits a committee or subcommittee chairman from limiting the number of television or still cameras below two representatives from each medium.
United States · United States Congress · 3 August 1993
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that: (1) obstetrician-gynecologists should be designated as primary care providers for women in Federal laws relating to the provision of health care; and (2) legislative proposals that define primary care should include services performed by obstetrician-gynecologists in such definition.
United States · United States Congress · 2 August 1993
Directs the President to: (1) investigate and report to the Congress on the whereabouts of U.S. citizens and others who have been missing from Cyprus since 1974; and (2) do everything possible to return such persons (including remains of those no longer alive) to their families.
United States · United States Congress · 27 July 1993
Free and Independent Cuba Assistance Act of 1993 - Requires the President, at such time as a transition government is in power in Cuba, to develop a plan for providing economic assistance to the Cuban people while such government and a democratic government are in power. Limits such assistance to humanitarian assistance while a transition government is in power. Expands such assistance to include development and agricultural assistance and export financing (as well as other specified assistance) when a democratic government is in power. Requires the President to take steps to obtain the agreement of other countries and international financial institutions to provide comparable assistance to Cuba. Directs the President to determine whether to designate Cuba as a beneficiary country pursuant to the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act. Requires the President, upon enactment of legislation implementing a free trade agreement between the United States and another country in the Western Hemisphere, to: (1) take steps to enter into a framework agreement with the transition government in Cuba providing for trade and investment in Cuba; and (2) enter into negotiations with a democratic government in Cuba to conclude a free trade agreement. Directs the President to communicate the plan for assistance to the Cuban people. Authorizes appropriations. Requires the President to terminate the trade embargo on Cuba upon submitting a determination that a democratic government is in power in Cuba to the Congress. Sets forth conditions under which a government in Cuba will be considered transitional or democratic.
United States · United States Congress · 27 July 1993
Equity Expansion Act of 1993 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow corporations to issue performance stock options to employees. Requires employees to hold such stock for at least one year. Provides an exclusion from gross income of 50 percent of the gain from such stock if it is held for at least two years. Excludes gain from the exercise of such stock options from wage withholding and employment taxes. Amends the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to prohibit the charge against earnings on the exercise of certain performance stock options.
United States · United States Congress · 26 July 1993
Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to study and report to the Congress on the extent to which environmental and public health risks have been reduced at Superfund sites listed on the National Priorities List and to evaluate remaining environmental and health risks at those sites.
United States · United States Congress · 23 July 1993
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Space Launch and Launch Support Facilities Title II: Purchase of Space Transportation Services Title III: Intellectual Property Disposition Title IV: Tax Incentives for Commercial Space Activities Title V: Miscellaneous Omnibus Space Commercialization Act of 1993 - Title I: Space Launch and Launch Support Facilities - Directs the Comptroller General to conduct a comprehensive inventory of all U.S. space launch and launch support facilities. Requires all facilities identified as surplus to be referred to the General Services Administration for disposition. Directs the Secretary of Transportation to establish criteria for and designate launch facilities as Commercial Space Centers. Exempts all Centers and associated property, services, and products from Federal corporate income and other taxes and excises, imports, duties, and all other Federal tariffs. Directs the Secretaries of Agriculture and the Interior to make public land available for new space launch and launch support facilities. Title II: Purchase of Space Transportation Services - Space Transportation Services Purchase Act of 1993 - Amends the Launch Services Purchase Act of 1990 to require the Federal Government to purchase space transportation services from commercial providers, unless the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) or the Secretary of Defense determines: (1) the payload requires the unique capabilities of the space shuttle; (2) commercial services are not available; or (3) the use of commercial services poses an unacceptable risk of loss of a unique scientific opportunity. Title III: Intellectual Property Disposition - Requires that a commercial provider making an invention under contract with the Government have the same rights as would a small business firm under specified provisions of Federal patent law. Amends the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980 to require (current law permits) each Federal agency to permit the director of any of its Government-operated Federal laboratories and, in certain circumstances, the director of any of its Government-owned, contractor-operated laboratories to enter into cooperative research and development agreements and to negotiate licensing agreements. Title IV: Tax Incentives for Commercial Space Activities - Space Business Incentives Act of 1993 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a deduction for the amount of the purchase of Commercial Space Center stock. Excludes from gross income gain on the sale or exchange of common stock of a corporation that is substantially engaged in space-related activities. Adds space launch and launch support facilities to the list of exempt facility bonds. Excludes from gross income: (1) income from the commercial sale of any product manufactured in space and returned to Earth; and (2) income from services performed in space in a commercial space activity. Excludes products manufactured in space and returned to Earth from all Federal excises, imposts, duties, and other Federal tariffs. Directs the President to encourage State and local governments to offer tax and other incentives for commercial space activities. Title V: Miscellaneous - Declares that, notwithstanding specified provisions of the Clayton Act and the National Cooperative Research Act of 1984, standing to conduct litigation arising from activities carried out under this Act is reserved to the Department of Justice. Establishes in the Department of Commerce the Office of Space Commerce. Requires NASA to purchase space science data from the private sector. Requires the Administrator to establish within the Office of Advanced Concepts and Technology a procurement demonstration program. Requires the Secretary of Agriculture and the Administrator to provide specified farmers with grants to purchase land remote sensing information.
United States · United States Congress · 22 July 1993
Expedited Hazardous Site Cleanup Act of 1993 - Applies this Act to any facility listed on the National Priorities List under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) and to any facility listed pursuant to State law as requiring remedial action for hazardous substances or any facility proposed for such list. Authorizes the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to enter into cooperative agreements to authorize States to administer the owner-operator initiated response program under this Act. Sets forth State eligibility requirements. Authorizes owners or operators of contaminated facilities to submit a notification of intent to conduct a response to the Administrator and potentially responsible parties (PRPs) at the site. Sets forth requirements for owners or operators with respect to response programs, including: (1) payment of specified costs to constitute a set-off against future oversight costs incurred by the Administrator; (2) preparation of a schedule for facility investigation; (3) publication of notice of the proposed action; and (4) preparation of a response action plan. Sets forth response plan approval procedures. Authorizes the Administrator to require additional response actions at a facility under specified circumstances. Prescribes penalties for failures to comply with an approved response plan. Requires the Administrator, upon receipt of a certification of completion of a response action and at the request of the owner or operator, to enter into a covenant not to sue the owner or operator or any other PRP for civil liability under CERCLA or the Solid Waste Disposal Act. Reserves the Administrator's rights to assert all claims against any party to the covenant except for claims based on conditions requiring additional response actions under this Act. Directs the Administrator to remove a facility from the National Priorities List upon issuance of a covenant not to sue. Authorizes the Administrator to issue guidelines for situations in which it is not in the public interest for the Administrator to enter into a covenant not to sue.
United States · United States Congress · 20 July 1993
Amends the Public Buildings Act of 1959 to require that any contract entered into by the Administrator of General Services under the Act to purchase, lease-purchase, or lease a public building approved by the Congress shall be treated in the same manner as if the contract were entered into immediately before FY 1991 for purposes of calculating public building transactions.
United States · United States Congress · 20 July 1993
Authorizes the heads of designated Federal agencies to use up to 50 percent of unobligated funds for administrative expenses for bonuses to personnel, with the remainder to be deposited in the general fund of the Treasury and used exclusively for deficit reduction. Requires the Director of the Office of Management and Budget to designate such agencies and to report annually to the Congress on the effectiveness of this Act in reducing the deficit.
United States · United States Congress · 15 July 1993
Amends the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act to designate segments of the Maurice River, the Menantico Creek, the Manumuskin River, and the Muskee Creek in New Jersey as components of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System. Requires the Secretary of the Interior to manage such segments through cooperative agreements with appropriate political jurisdictions except that publicly-owned lands within the boundaries of the segments shall be managed by the agency having jurisdiction over them. Requires cooperative agreements for the management of the segments to provide for the long-term protection, preservation, and enhancement of the segments and to be consistent with the comprehensive management plan prepared by the Secretary and with the local river management plans prepared by appropriate local political jurisdictions in conjunction with the Secretary. Directs the Secretary to review compliance with the local river management plans biennially and to report to specified congressional committees on any deviation which may diminish the values for which the river segment was designated. Encourages the Secretary to work with municipalities to negotiate agreement for designating additional eligible segments of the Maurice River and its tributaries. Designates the eligible segments for study as potential additions to the National Wild and Scenic Rivers system. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 15 July 1993
Federal Benefit Integrity Act - Amends part A (Aid to Families with Dependent Children) (AFDC) of title IV of the Social Security Act (SSA) to: (1) reduce the amount of AFDC currently being paid to families which do not include a U.S. citizen or national; and (2) prohibit AFDC from being paid to any family applying for AFDC which does not include such an individual. Amends SSA title XVI (Supplementary Security Income), the Housing and Community Development Act of 1980, and the Food Stamp Act of 1977 to make similar amendments with respect to the receipt of Federal benefits by illegal aliens, and, in certain cases, phase-out such benefits entirely.
United States · United States Congress · 15 July 1993
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the United States should use its influence as a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council to support the efforts of Greece, in its negotiations with the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, to find a solution which promotes a cooperative relationship between the two countries.
United States · United States Congress · 14 July 1993
Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act of 1993 - Designates the following lands in Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming as wilderness and components of the National Wilderness Preservation System (System): (1) Greater Glacier/Continental Divide Ecosystem; (2) Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem; (3) Greater Salmon/Selway Ecosystem; (4) Greater Cabinet/Yaak/Selkirk Ecosystem; (5) Islands in the Sky Wilderness; (6) Rattlesnake Wilderness; and (7) Rattlesnake Wilderness Area. Adds specified lands to the Rattlesnake National Recreation Area. Designates: (1) specified wild land areas as Biological Connecting Corridors (Corridors) to protect the life flow of the Northern Rockies Bioregion; and (2) the inventoried roadless areas identified as part of the Corridors as components of the System. Exempts specified roads and highways from the provisions of this Act. Requires that certain roadless lands within the national forests in Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming shall be analyzed on an individual, case-by-case basis for inclusion in the System. Directs the Secretary of the Interior (Secretary) to study the feasibility of: (1) creating a Hells Canyon/Chief Joseph National Park and Preserve; (2) creating a Flathead National Park and Preserve; and (3) designating such areas as units of the National Park System (NPS). Requires the national park and preserve study areas to be administered by the Secretary of Agriculture. Amends the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act to designate: (1) segments of specified rivers and creeks in Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming as components of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System (NWSRS); and (2) segments of specified rivers and creeks in Montana and Wyoming for study as potential addition to the NWSRS. Prohibits new road construction or reconstruction, bridges, dams, timber harvesting, mining, oil and gas leasing, or other developments from being allowed within the one-half mile corridor along either side of rivers and streams under study. Establishes the National Wildland Restoration and Recovery System. Authorizes appropriations to establish the National Wildland Recovery Corps (a special unit of the U.S. Forest Service) to carry out land recovery responsibilities. Designates certain lands within the Lewis and Clark National Forest known as Badger-Two Medicine Area as the Blackfeet Wilderness Area. Declares that the Congress recognizes that the Blackfeet Nation retains treaty rights in this area provided for in the 1896 treaty with the Federal Government. Requires a review and other considerations with respect to such area. Withdraws the Badger-Two Medicine Wilderness Area from all forms of entry, appropriation, or disposal under the mining laws and disposition under the geothermal and mineral leasing laws. Requires the Secretaries to assure nonexclusive access by native people to Wilderness areas, National Park and Preserve Study areas, Wildland Recovery areas, and Biological Corridors designated by this Act by Native Americans for tranditional cultural and religious purposes. Requires the Forest Service to enter into cooperative management agreements with the appropriate Indian tribes to assure protection of religious, burial, and gathering sites, and to work cooperatively on the management of all uses in the protected areas that affect Indian lands and people. Requires the Secretaries to give particular emphasis to the preservation and protection of cultural resources located within the areas. Reserves, with respect to each wilderness area designated by this Act, a sufficient quantity of water to fulfill the area's designated purpose.
United States · United States Congress · 14 July 1993
Commissions on Regulatory Reform Act of 1993 - Requires the Director of the Office of Management and Budget to establish five commissions to review the regulations issued by the: (1) Environmental Protection Agency; (2) the Occupational Health and Safety Administration; (3) the Health Care Financing Administration; and (4) two Federal agencies selected by the Director. Establishes standards for such review.
United States · United States Congress · 13 July 1993
Amateur Radio Volunteer Services Act of 1993 - Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to provide that an individual licensee in the Amateur Radio Service who provides volunteer services to the Federal Communications Commission in programs benefiting the Service shall not incur personal financial responsibility for any alleged damage, loss, or injury from any act or omission of the volunteer from the provision of such services if such: (1) individual was acting in good faith and within the scope of such individual's official function and duties; and (2) damage was not caused by willful and wanton misconduct by such individual.
United States · United States Congress · 29 June 1993
Firefighters and Police Retirement Security Act of 1993 - Amends the Age Discrimination in Employment Amendments of 1986 to repeal a provision which would have terminated an exemption for certain bona fide hiring and retirement plans applicable to State and local fire fighters and law enforcement officers. (This Act thereby preserves such exemption beyond 1993.)
United States · United States Congress · 24 June 1993
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to reduce the rates of occupational taxes relating to the production or sale of distilled spirits, wines, and beer beginning July 1, 1994. Repeals such taxes effective July 1, 1995.
United States · United States Congress · 23 June 1993
World Summit for Children Implementation Act of 1993 - Expresses the sense of the Congress that specified amounts should be appropriated for FY 1994 and 1995 to achieve full participation in the special supplemental food program for women, infants, and children under the Child Nutrition Act (WIC program) and the Head Start program. Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to authorize appropriations for FY 1994 and 1995 for contributions to the United Nation's Children's Fund and for the Child Survival Fund. Expresses the sense of the Congress that authority should be granted to the President to exercise specified debt forgiveness for least developed countries that are pursuing economic policy reforms to promote long-term development. Earmarks development assistance funds for FY 1994 and 1995 for the Vitamin A Deficiency Program. Authorizes additional appropriations for FY 1994 and 1995 for: (1) iodine and iron fortification programs; and (2) prevention, care, and control programs related to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) in developing countries. Earmarks development and economic assistance funds for FY 1994 and 1995 for programs in support of basic education. Authorizes additional appropriations for FY 1994 and 1995 for population assistance activities. Expresses the sense of the Congress that specified amounts should be appropriated for FY 1994 and 1995 for migration and refugee assistance. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to instruct the U.S. Executive Director of the World Bank to: (1) ensure that poverty reduction and support of basic human needs become a higher priority within the Bank; (2) ensure that the majority of water and sanitation projects fall within targeted interventions against poverty; and (3) increase the proportion of total Bank lending which supports primary health care and basic education, with a minimum of five percent of total lending devoted to each area. Requires the President to call upon other governments to provide their share of resources required to achieve the World Summit for Children goals by the year 2000.
United States · United States Congress · 18 June 1993
Amends the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 to exclude from the definition of "owner or operator," for purposes of limiting liability for releases of hazardous substances, a person who, without participating in the management of a vessel or facility, holds indicia of ownership primarily to protect a security interest in such vessel or facility. Defines "indicia of ownership" as an interest in property acquired: (1) for securing payment of a loan or indebtedness or the performance of an obligation; (2) evidencing ownership under a lease financing transaction where the lessor does not initially select or ordinarily control the daily operation or maintenance of the property; or (3) in the course of protecting a security interest or right of reimbursement or subrogation under a guaranty. Makes liable for any release or threatened release of a hazardous substance attributable to their activities: (1) a holder of a security interest who takes certain actions concerning transfer, protection, or abandonment of property; and (2) a fiduciary or trustee who acquires ownership or control of a property. Makes conforming amendments to the Solid Waste Disposal Act.
United States · United States Congress · 17 June 1993
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow the deduction for home office expenses if a portion of a dwelling unit is used as the sole fixed location of business for a taxpayer who has no other fixed location of business, regardless of: (1) the amount of time or type of work performed in such location; or (2) the proportion of the total income from the business attributable to such location.
United States · United States Congress · 16 June 1993
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Family Tax Credit Title II: Reducing the Cost of Capital by Reducing Capital Gains Tax Rates and Indexing the Basis of Certain Assets Title III: Neutral Cost Recovery Title IV: Increasing National Savings Through Individual Retirement Plus Accounts, Indexing for Inflation the Income Thresholds for Taxing Social Security Benefits, Etc. Title V: Cap on Federal Spending and Establishment of Commission to Reduce Federal Spending Putting Jobs and the American Family First Act of 1993 - Title I: Family Tax Credit - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow individuals a tax credit of $500 multiplied by the number of qualifying children who have not attained age 18. Places limitations on such credit and adjusts it for inflation. Title II: Reducing the Cost of Capital by Reducing Capital Gains Tax Rates and Indexing the Basis of Certain Assets - Reduces 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 sale or other transfer, solely for the purpose of determining gain or loss. Provides for indexing the limitation on capital losses of noncorporate taxpayers. Title III: Neutral Cost Recoverry - Allows the depreciation deduction to be computed based on a neutral recovery basis for property placed in service after December 31, 1993. Repeals the special depreciation rules applicable under the adjusted current earnings provisions of the minimum tax. Title IV: Increasing National Savings Through Individual Retirement Plus Accounts, Indexing for Inflation the Income Thresholds for Taxing Social Security Benefits, etc. - Allows individuals to establish individual retirement plus accounts with tax treatment similar to that for individual retirement plans. Makes contributions to such account nondeductible. Provides for qualified distributions from such accounts. other than for general retirement purposes, including special purpose 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. Title V: Cap on Federal Spending and Establishment of Commission to Reduce Federal Spending - Establishes the Commission on Reduction of Federal Spending to: (1) recommend specific reductions in Federal activities to assure that spending does not grow at a rate in excess of two percent per year through FY 1998; and (2) report a bill to the Congress with changes necessary to achieve such reductions. Establishes an advisory council to assist the Commission. Amends the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollidngs Act) to set forth sequestration procedures when the increase in annual Federal spending exceeds the amount resulting from an annual rate of inflation of two percent.
United States · United States Congress · 10 June 1993
Repeals the Davis-Bacon Act (an Act which requires that the locally prevailing wage rate be paid to various classes of laborers and mechanics working under federally-financed or federally-assisted contracts for construction, alteration, and repair of public buildings or public works).
United States · United States Congress · 10 June 1993
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that the proposed increase in tax on social security benefits should not be enacted and if enacted should be repealed.
United States · United States Congress · 9 June 1993
Breeder Reactor Termination Act of 1993 - Directs the Secretary of Energy to terminate the advanced liquid metal reactor program, including: (1) the program's promotion of the use of liquid metal reactors for high-level radioactive waste disposal; and (2) departmental support for regulatory applications to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for design certification for advanced liquid metal reactors or related licensed facilities. Directs the Secretary to reassign personnel displaced as a result of such termination to other departmental activities. Declares that it is the policy of the Congress that savings realized from such termination should be used to reduce the Federal budget deficit.
United States · United States Congress · 9 June 1993
Amends Federal law to require both the President and the Congress to draft a budget based on estimates of current fiscal year spending, proposing increases or decreases based on this level (rather than on an estimated baseline). Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to require the Congressional Budget Office to use such a current fiscal year baseline in its report to the congressional budget committees, projecting growth for entitlement and discretionary spending based on current fiscal year spending. Terminates spending authority, effective October 1, 1993, for unearned entitlements and high-cost discretionary spending programs unless such spending authority is reauthorized. Terminates spending authority, effective October 1, 1994, for each discretionary spending program (not including high-cost discretionary spending programs) unless such spending authority is reauthorized. Provides for terminating such spending authorities after the year 2000 unless appropriately reauthorized.
United States · United States Congress · 9 June 1993
Prison Litigation Relief Act of 1993 - Amends the Federal judicial code to require a district court, in any action challenging the constitutionality of conditions of confinement in any correctional instituion, that finds that a condition of confinement violates the Constitution, to narrowly tailor any relief to fit the nature and extent of the violation and to make an order no more intrusive than necessary to remedy the violation. Denies the court jurisdiction to: (1) impose a ceiling on the population of any institution or to require any adjustment of the release dates of inmates; or (2) prohibit the use of tents or prefabricated structures for housing inmates. Specifies that: (1) no consent decree in any such action shall provide relief greater than the minimum required to bring conditions of confinement into substantial compliance with the Constitution; and (2) in entering a consent decree, the court shall make a written finding to that effect (permits the court to recommend changes if it appears that the relief provided is greater than the minimum required). Permits the court, upon motion of a defendant at any time, to conduct a hearing on whether such an order or decree should be modified in light of: (1) changed factual circumstances; (2) a change or clarification of the governing law; (3) a succession in office of an official responsible for having consented to a decree; (4) the Government's financial constraints or any other matter affecting public safety or the public interest; or (5) specified grounds under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Directs the court: (1) to conduct such a hearing if the motion was filed more than one year after the date of the order or decree or the date on which the last previous modification hearing was conducted, whichever is later; and (2) if the court denies a motion to modify such an order or consent decree, to make a written finding that the relief provided is no greater than the minimum required.
United States · United States Congress · 9 June 1993
Child Support Enforcement Act - Declares that nothing in this Act should be construed to affect the right of an individual or State to receive child support payments or the obligation of an individual to pay child support. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to require any taxable unpaid child support payments of a taxpayer to be treated as amounts includible in gross income by reason of the discharge of indebtedness of the taxpayer. Allows a deduction for subsequently made payments. Allows a nonbusiness bad debt deduction for unpaid child support payments. Limits such deduction to $5,000 per child. Allows such deduction to taxpayers whose gross income does not exceed $5,000 and who are owed payments of at least $500. Requires payments to be delinquent during the entire taxable year. Provides a cost-of-living adjustment for amounts under this Act. Requires subsequent payments to be included in the gross income of the recipient. Requires net revenues from this Act to be applied to the retirement of outstanding public debt obligations.
United States · United States Congress · 9 June 1993
Amends the Rules of the House of Representatives to make it out of order to consider any primary expense resolution for the second session of the 103d Congress until the Committee on House Administration has reported and the House has adopted a resolution establishing an overall ceiling for committee staff for that year. Limits the overall ceiling for committee staff for the second session of the 103d Congress to 75 percent of the staff employed at the end of the 102d Congress. Requires the membership of each standing, select, or conference committee and each subcommittee thereof, except for the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct and the bipartisan Subcommittee on Administrative Oversight of the Committee on House Administration, to reflect the ratio of majority to minority party Members of the House. Requires the ratio of the majority staff to minority staff of each committee to be the same as the ratio of majority party members to minority party members on that committee. Prohibits proxy voting by any committee or subcommittee member. Directs the Speaker to refer legislation initially to one committee as the committee of principal jurisdiction. Requires that at least one-half (currently one-third) of the members of a committee (except the Committees on Appropriations, Budget, and Ways and Means) must be present in order to constitute a quorum for taking any action other than the reporting of a measure or recommendation. Requires the chair to order a roll call vote on a motion to report any public bill or resolution at the request of a member of the committee. Limits a Member's service as chairman of a committee to three Congresses. Requires an affirmative vote of two-thirds of the members of a committee or subcommittee before all or part of its meeting can be closed to the public because of national security, personnel information, or a criminal investigation. Calls for a two-thirds' vote by the members of the Committee on Rules before provisions can be waived with respect to: (1) the report on a bill being made available to Members at least three days before it is considered; (2) filing and printing of a conference report and its accompanying statement in the Congressional Record at least three calendar days before the report is considered and a copy of them being made available to Members at least two hours before the consideration; and (3) reporting any rule or order that contains a nongermane amendment or reporting of an unauthorized appropriation in a general appropriation bill or an amendment thereto. Prohibits the Committee on Rules from reporting any rule or order preventing minority party members from offering at least four amendments to any appropriation bill or resolution or to a concurrent resolution on the budget. Makes it out of order to consider any bill or resolution providing for the designation of a commemorative day or other commemorative period. Requires the appropriate House committees with jurisdiction to report legislation requiring periodic reauthorization, for a maximum five-year period, of the: (1) Architect of the Capitol; (2) United States Botanical Garden; (3) Congressional Budget Office; (4) Government Printing Office; (5) General Accounting Office; (6) Library of Congress; (7) Copyright Royalty Tribunal; and (8) Office of Technology Assessment. Directs the Committee on House Administration to establish a toll-free (800) telephone number and a data base to provide public access to information on the substance and present status of each bill and resolution that is before the House.
United States · United States Congress · 8 June 1993
Amends the Social Security Act to require States to provide information on overdue child support obligations of absent parents to consumer reporting agencies. (Currently, States must meet such requirement only upon the request of such agencies.) Eliminates the authority of the States to impose a fee for furnishing such information.
United States · United States Congress · 8 June 1993
Congratulates the Anti-Defamation League on its 80th anniversary and commends it for effectively pursuing the goal of promoting greater tolerance throughout the world.
United States · United States Congress · 27 May 1993
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Tax Treatment of Long-Term Care Insurance Title II: Refundable Tax Credit for Certain Custodial Care Title III: Protection of Assets Under Medicaid Through Use of Qualified Long-Term Care Insurance Long-Term Care Insurance Incentive Act of 1993 - Title I: Tax Treatment of Long-Term Care Insurance - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide for the treatment of qualified long-term care insurance as accident and health insurance for purposes of insurance company taxation. Excludes from gross income benefits provided under a long-term care insurance contract. Includes in gross income employer-provided coverage for long-term care services. Allows a tax credit for a percentage of qualified long-term care premiums. Includes amounts paid for qualified long-term care services as medical expenses for individual itemized deductions. Includes any parent or grandparent as a dependent for purposes of such expenses. Provides for the nonrecognition of gain or loss on the exchange of any life insurance contract or an endowment or annuity contract for a long-term care insurance contract. Excludes from gross income certain amounts withdrawn from individual retirement accounts and certain employer cash or deferred arrangements to pay long-term care premiums. Provides for the exclusion as a death benefit of any amount paid or advanced to an individual under a life insurance contract because such individual is terminally ill, chronically ill, or has been permanently confined to a qualified facility. Allows insurance companies to issue accelerated death benefit riders on life insurance contracts. Title II: Refundable Tax Credit for Certain Custodial Care - Allows a $2,000 per qualified person tax credit for taxpayers who maintain a household which includes a chronically ill dependent. Title III: Protection of Assets Under Medicaid Through Use of Qualified Long-Term Care Insurance - Amends title XIX of the Social Security Act (Medicaid) to disregard assets which are attributable to coverage under a qualified long-term care insurance contract for purposes of eligibility.
United States · United States Congress · 27 May 1993
Amends the Solid Waste Disposal Act to require all Federal agencies to use printing and writing paper containing at least ten percent postconsumer material. Authorizes Federal agencies that are in compliance with such requirement to use any monies received from the sale of materials collected for recycling for activities within their legal authority.
United States · United States Congress · 27 May 1993
Bankruptcy Amendments of 1993 - Amends Federal bankruptcy law to raise to $1 million the ceiling on debts for eligibility to file as a chapter 13 debtor (bankrupt consumer repayment of debt under court supervision). (Currently the ceiling is $100,000 for unsecured debts, or $350,000 for certain secured debts.) Modifies the guidelines for: (1) chapter 13 bankruptcies; (2) automatic stays; (3) exemptions; (4) discharges; and (5) preferences. Directs the Administrative Office of the United States Courts to compile and make available to the public statistical information regarding bankruptcy cases.
United States · United States Congress · 27 May 1993
Declares that it is the Congress' intent that the Secretary of Transportation, in negotiating under the auspices of the Land Transportation Standards Committee established under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), shall not weaken U.S. truck safety standards by increasing truck sizes and weights or by compromising such standards as truck driver hours of service, front brake and other safety equipment requirements, and the truck driver record system.
![Official portrait of Rep. Zimmer, Dick [R-NJ-12]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/z000008_200.jpg)