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United States · Official source
1,052 records where Rescom. Romero-Barcelo, Carlos A. [D-PR-At Large] is listed as a sponsor, author, or other actor. Search with topics and years
United States · United States Congress · 27 February 1997
Recognizes the importance of African-American music to global culture. Calls on the people of the United States to study, reflect on, and celebrate African-American music.
United States · United States Congress · 26 February 1997
Filipino Veterans Equity Act of 1995 (sic) - Amends Federal veterans' benefits provisions to include certain service in the organized military forces of the Philippines and service as Philippine Scouts within the definition of active U.S. military service for purposes of eligibility for various veterans' benefits for former active-duty military personnel.
United States · United States Congress · 26 February 1997
Battered Women's Employment Protection Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code with respect to unemployment tax to require appropriate State laws to provide for unemployment compensation for an individual separated from employment due to circumstances directly resulting from the individual's experience of domestic violence. Amends the Social Security Act to require State laws approved under the Federal Unemployment Tax Act to provide for training for claims reviewers and hearing personnel in the nature of domestic violence, and in methods of ascertaining its existence, so that employment separations stemming from domestic violence are reliably screened, identified, and adjudicated. (Sec. 4) Amends the Family and Medical Leave Act to entitle an employee to such leave: (1) in order to care for the employee's child or parent, if such child or parent is addressing domestic violence and its effects; or (2) because the employee is addressing domestic violence and its effects, the employee is unable to perform any of the functions of the employee's position. Allows leave, in such cases, to be taken intermittently or on a reduced leave schedule. Allows the employee to elect, or the employer to require, substitution of accrued paid leave for such leave. Sets forth provisions Provides for certification and confidentiality of domestic violence information involved in such cases. (Sec. 5) Amends specified Federal law to provide for entitlement to leave for Federal employees in such domestic violence situations. (Sec. 6) Allows unemployment compensation or leave benefits under other laws, collective bargaining agreements, or employment benefit programs greater then those provided by this Act; but prohibits diminishment of the rights and benefits established by this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 25 February 1997
Directs the Attorney General to promulgate regulations relating to gender-based persecution, including female genital mutilation, for use in determining an alien's eligibility for asylum or withholding of deportation.
United States · United States Congress · 13 February 1997
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow an individual to designate a specified portion (but not less than $1) of any income tax overpayment and any cash contributions to be used for the benefit of units of the National Park System. Establishes a National Parks Trust Fund into which appropriated or credited amounts are received. Authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to pay, not less often than quarterly, specified expenditures from the Trust Fund to the Director of the National Park Service. Requires that expenditures from such Fund be used only for operations, maintenance, and construction within the units of the National Park System. Prohibits the use of such expenditures for the purposes of land acquisition.
United States · United States Congress · 13 February 1997
Witness Relocation Notification Act of 1997 - Requires: (1) each State or local law enforcement agency that relocates a witness who has been arrested or convicted of a crime of violence, or is otherwise considered by the agency to be a threat to public safety, to provide notice to the chief law enforcement official in the jurisdiction to which the relocation has been made; and (2) the Attorney General to establish guidelines for such notice. Requires: (1) the Director of the National Institute of Justice to survey State and local witness protection and relocation programs to determine the extent, nature, and training needs of such programs and report the results to the Congress; and (2) the Attorney General, based on the survey results, to make available to State and local law enforcement agencies a training program to assist in developing and managing effective, safe witness protection and relocation programs. Makes any agency that fails to comply with the notification requirement ineligible to participate in the training program. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 13 February 1997
21st Century Scholars Act of 1997 - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to direct the Secretary of Education to establish a 21st Century Scholars Program, which shall give eligible 21st Century Scholars (eligible Scholars) a legally binding promise, secured by the full faith and credit of the United States, to provide the maximum authorized Pell Grant to cover the costs of attendance for each of up to four years of attendance at an eligible institution. Makes students eligible Scholars if they successfully completed the uppermost grade at a qualifying elementary school and were residents of the such school's attendance area during the school year in which such grade was completed. Makes schools qualifying elementary schools if they serve attendance areas in which the concentration of children from low-income families exceeds 75 percent, as determined under specified provisions of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965.
United States · United States Congress · 13 February 1997
Women's Preventive Health Care Act of 1997 - Amends the Public Health Service Act and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 to require a group health plan, and a health insurance issuer offering group coverage, to include coverage for screening pap smears and low-dose screening mammography. Prohibits cost sharing or other limitations higher than those applied to similar services. Regulates coverage frequency. Prohibits related enrollment or coverage discrimination, monetary incentives to women, and penalties against or incentives to providers. Allows State laws providing greater protection to women. Amends the Public Health Service Act to apply these requirements to health insurance issuers in the individual market.
United States · United States Congress · 13 February 1997
National Physical Fitness and Sports Foundation Establishment Act - Establishes the National Physical Fitness and Sports Foundation as a charitable, not-for-profit corporation to promote participation by private organizations in the activities of the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports. Subjects to a civil action by the Foundation for the remedies provided in the Trademark Act of 1946 any person who, without the consent of the Foundation in conjunction with the Council, uses for the purpose of trade, to induce the sale of any goods or services, or to promote any theatrical exhibition, athletic performance, or competition: (1) the Council's or Foundation's official seal; and (2) any trademark, trade name, sign, symbol, or insignia falsely representing association with, or authorization by, the Council or Foundation. Allows the Foundation, in conjunction with the Council, to authorize contributors and suppliers of goods or services to use such trade name, trademark, seal, symbol, insignia, or emblem in advertising under specified conditions.
United States · United States Congress · 13 February 1997
National African American Museum Act - Establishes within the Smithsonian Institution the National African American Museum, to be operated as a center for scholarship and a location for museum training, public education, exhibits, and collection and study of items and materials relating to the life, art, history, and culture of African Americans. Authorizes the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution to plan, design, reconstruct, and renovate the Arts and Industries Building to house the Museum. Establishes a Board of Trustees of the Museum in the Smithsonian Institution. Directs the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution to appoint a Director to manage the Museum. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 13 February 1997
Amends Federal aviation law to direct the Secretary of Transportation to issue regulations requiring the use of federally-approved child safety restraint systems (including weight and age limits) on commercial aircraft. Expresses the sense of the Congress that the United States representative to the International Civil Aviation Organization should seek an international standard to require that passengers on civil aviation aircraft be restrained: (1) on takeoff and landing; and (2) when directed by the aircraft captain on commercial aircraft.
United States · United States Congress · 13 February 1997
LAM Disease Research Act of 1997 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require that the National Heart, Blood Vessel, Lung, and Blood Diseases and Blood Resources Program conduct or support research on lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM). Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 12 February 1997
Accuracy in Campus Crime Reporting Act of 1997 - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) to revise campus security policy reporting and crime statistics disclosure requirements. Includes other campus officials (as well as campus security or law enforcement, or local law enforcement) among those officials that must report, for statistical disclosure purposes, if specified types of criminal offenses are reported to them. Specifies additions to the list of such offenses. Makes annual submission of campus crime statistics mandatory for all institutions participating in any student aid program under HEA title IV (participating institutions). (Currently such submissions are only required upon the request of the Secretary of Education). Directs the Secretary to report each set of such statistics, clearly identifying each institution and campus, not only to specified congressional committees but also to each participating institution and to the public via printed and electronic means. Requires each official charged with compiling such statistics to certify their accuracy. Repeals a disclaimer that nothing in certain provisions relating to institutional policy on prevention of sexual assaults and procedures after such an assault may be construed to confer a private right of action upon any person to enforce such provisions. Requires any participating institution which maintains a police or security department to keep a daily log of specified crime information open to public inspection. Requires any participating institution to develop and distribute a statement of its disciplinary practices and procedures with respect to crimes, including specified information and policies. Amends the General Education Provisions Act to exclude allegations of criminal activities from the education records subject to family access. Sets forth methods of enforcement of HEA campus security provisions. Directs the Secretary to terminate all assistance to an institution under an applicable program, or issue other specified orders the Secretary deems appropriate to achieve compliance, if any participating institution fails or refuses to comply with requirements for disclosure of campus security policy and campus crime statistics. Prohibits institutional retaliation against individuals for exercising rights or participating in proceedings under such campus security provisions. Requires, under student aid program agreements, that the campus security policies and crime statistics disclosed be comprehensive and accurate.
United States · United States Congress · 11 February 1997
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Commemorative Coins Title II: Circulating Coins Thomas Alva Edison Sesquicentennial Commemorative Coin Act - Title I: Commemorative Coins - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to mint one-dollar silver coins emblematic of the inventions of Thomas Alva Edison in commemoration of the sesquicentennial of his birth. Directs the Secretary to conduct an open design competition for the design of the obverse and reverse of the coins. Terminates the authority to mint such coins after December 31, 1997. Requires that certain surcharges received from coin sales be distributed to specified entities. Title II: Circulating Coins - Amends Federal law to declare that half-dollar coins minted between specified dates shall have the same design as the commemorative coins minted under this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 11 February 1997
Amends the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949 to add providers of assistance to families or individuals with annual incomes below the poverty line to the list of organizations eligible to receive surplus personal property allocated by the Administrator of the General Services Administration.
United States · United States Congress · 11 February 1997
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that studies are needed to further determine the benefits of screening women between the ages of 40 and 49 for breast cancer through mammograms and other emerging technologies and that the House urges the Advisory Panel for the National Cancer Institute to: (1) consider reissuing a specified guideline rescinded in 1993; or (2) direct the public to consider guidelines issued by other organizations until there is more definitive data.
United States · United States Congress · 5 February 1997
Patient Right to Know Act - Prohibits any contract or agreement, or the operation of any contract or agreement, between an entity operating a health plan (including any partnership, association, or other organization that enters into or administers such a contract or agreement) and a health care provider (or group of health care providers) from prohibiting or restricting the provider from engaging in medical communications with his or her patient. Requires that each State shall enforce this Act with respect to health insurance issuers that sell, renew, or offer health plans in the State. Provides for enforcement of this Act by the Secretary of Health and Human Services if the Secretary, after consultation with the chief executive officer of a State and the insurance commissioner or chief insurance regulatory official of the State, determines that the State has failed to substantially enforce the requirements. Mandates a civil money penalty. Allows State requirements equal to or more protective of medical communications than the requirements of this Act. Defines "medical communication" as a communication between a provider and a patient (or the patient's guardian or legal representative) regarding the patient's health status, medical care, or treatment options.
United States · United States Congress · 5 February 1997
Women's Health and Cancer Rights Act of 1997 - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 and the Public Health Service Act to require certain group health plans, and health insurance issuers providing coverage under a group plan, to ensure specified minimum coverage regarding: (1) breast cancer mastectomies, lumpectomies, and lymph node dissections; (2) post-mastectomy breast reconstruction on both breasts; and (3) secondary consultations by specialists. Prohibits: (1) changing coverage terms and conditions based on a participant's or beneficiary's decision to request less than the minimum coverage; and (2) certain penalties or incentives to providers or specialists. Amends: (1) the Public Health Service Act to apply the same requirements to health insurance issuers in the individual market; and (2) the Internal Revenue Code to apply those requirements to group health plans.
United States · United States Congress · 5 February 1997
Bear Protection Act - Prohibits any person from: (1) importing bear viscera into, or exporting it from, the United States; or (2) selling bear viscera, bartering, offering it for sale or barter, purchasing, or possessing it with intent to sell or barter, transporting, acquiring, or receiving it in interstate or foreign commerce. Subjects persons who violate such prohibitions to specified penalties. Requires the Secretary of the Interior and the United States Trade Representative to discuss issues involving such trade with representatives of countries that are the leading importers, exporters, or consumers of such products. Requires the Secretary to report to the Congress on the progress of efforts to end illegal trade in bear viscera.
United States · United States Congress · 5 February 1997
Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) of the Social Security Act to restore the link ended by the Senior Citizens' Freedom to Work Act of 1995 between the rules relating to substantial gainful activity for blind individuals and the rules relating to excess earnings under the social security earnings test for individuals who have attained retirement age (thus allowing blind individuals, once again, to earn up to the social security excess earnings threshold without being regarded as having demonstrated an ability to engage in substantial gainful activity and without losing entitlement to OASDI benefits).
United States · United States Congress · 5 February 1997
Requires the House of Representatives to participate in State and local government transit programs to encourage House employees to use public transportation. Directs the Committee on House Oversight to issue appropriate regulations.
United States · United States Congress · 4 February 1997
Medicare Hospice Benefit Amendments of 1997 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act with respect to hospice care to: (1) restructure the hospice care benefit period; (2) cover any other item or service which is specified in the plan and for which payment may otherwise be made under Medicare; (3) permit contracting with independent physicians or physician groups for hospice care services; (4) allow waiver of certain staffing requirements for hospice care programs in non-urbanized areas; (5) define coverage denial, with respect to the limitation on the liability of beneficiaries and providers, to mean a determination that an individual is not terminally ill; and (6) extend the period for physician certification of an individual's terminal illness.
United States · United States Congress · 4 February 1997
Directs the Secretary of the Navy to provide for the award of the Navy Combat Ribbon with respect to participation in ground or surface combat during any period after July 4, 1943, and before March 1, 1961.
United States · United States Congress · 21 January 1997
Persian Gulf War Veterans Compensation Act of 1997 - Extends until ten years after the date on which a veteran last performed active military duty in the Persian Gulf War the time period in which a chronic disability resulting from an undiagnosed illness must become manifest and be therefore compensable through veterans' disability compensation. (Currently, the presumptive time period is to be determined by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs.)
United States · United States Congress · 21 January 1997
Declares that the Puerto Rico Housing Bank and Finance Agency and its assignees shall not have any civil, criminal, or administrative liability under the Truth-in-Lending Act (TILA) for any failure to comply with TILA or any regulation under it for any credit transactions subject to TILA consummated before enactment of this Act in which the Housing Bank was a creditor. Denies any consumer who consummated such a credit transaction any right of rescission against an assignee for the Housing Bank's noncompliance with TILA disclosure requirements.
United States · United States Congress · 21 January 1997
Amends the Federal criminal code to prohibit the possession or transfer of a non-sporting handgun which has been shipped or transported in interstate or foreign commerce, except with respect to the continuous and otherwise lawful possession of such handgun during any period that began before the effective date of this provision.
United States · United States Congress · 9 January 1997
Medicare Mammography Enhancement Act of 1997 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act relating to the authorized provision of annual screening mammographies for women to: (1) prohibit payment for any screening mammography performed for a woman over 49 years of age (currently, women over 49 but under 65) within 11 months after the previous mammography was performed; (2) repeal the disallowance of payment for screening mammography performed for women over 64 within 23 months after the last mammography was performed; and (3) waive any required deductible or coinsurance payments with respect to such mammographies.
United States · United States Congress · 9 January 1997
Breast Cancer Early Detection Act of 1997 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide for coverage of an annual screening mammography under Medicare part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) for women age 65 or older.
United States · United States Congress · 9 January 1997
Uniformed Services Medicare Subvention Program Act - Directs the Secretaries of Defense and of Health and Human Services (HHS) to jointly establish a subvention program to provide the Department of Defense (DOD) with reimbursement from the Medicare program under title XVIII of the Social Security Act for health services provided to Medicare-eligible covered military beneficiaries who agree to receive such services through the managed care option of the TRICARE program (a DOD-managed health care program). Makes program enrollment voluntary. Requires the Secretary of Defense to waive the TRICARE enrollment fee for program participants for whom Medicare reimbursement may be made. Directs the HHS Secretary to make monthly payments to DOD from the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund and the Federal Supplementary Medical Insurance Trust Fund representing appropriate reimbursement amounts. Provides for the determination of such amounts. Directs the Secretary of Defense to: (1) maintain DOD health care efforts for Medicare-eligible covered military beneficiaries; (2) estimate, for the first fiscal year of the subvention program, the amount expended by DOD for FY 1997 for providing health care items and services to such beneficiaries; and (3) establish monthly targets of the number of such beneficiaries for whom reimbursement will not be provided to DOD. Requires the Comptroller General, for each program year, to report to the Secretaries and the Congress on the extent to which costs under the TRICARE program and the Medicare program have increased as a result of the subvention program. Requires the Secretaries to take necessary steps to offset any excess costs and prevent future excess costs, including: (1) suspension or termination of the subvention program; (2) adjustment of the payment rate; or (3) adjustment of DOD maintenance of effort requirements.
United States · United States Congress · 9 January 1997
Breast-Cancer Research Stamp Act - Requires the U.S. Postal Service to establish a special rate of postage for first-class mail that is one cent higher than the regular rate as an alternative that patrons may use voluntarily to contribute to funding for breast-cancer research. Authorizes the Service to design and sell special stamps. Requires the Service to pay amounts attributable (additional revenues minus costs) to the one-cent differential to the National Institutes of Health as mutually agreed.
United States · United States Congress · 9 January 1997
Prostate Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment Act of 1997 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide for coverage of services for the early detection of prostate cancer and certain drug treatments for such cancer. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish fee schedules for such services. Amends Federal law to cover such detection and treatment services for veterans as a preventive health service. Amends the Public Health Service Act to authorize appropriations for certain public health programs related to prostate cancer research and education. Directs the Administrator of the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research to: (1) conduct and support research on prostate cancer health services and procedures; and (2) provide for the development, periodic review, and updating of clinically relevant guidelines, standards of quality, performance measures, and medical review criteria.
United States · United States Congress · 9 January 1997
Expresses the sense of the Congress with respect to the significance of maintaining the health and stability of coral reef ecosystems by: (1) promoting comprehensive stewardship for coral reef ecosystems; (2) encouraging research and education on such ecosystems; and (3) improving the coordination of coral reef activities which take place within Federal agencies, academic institutions, nongovernmental organizations, and industry.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Genetic Information Nondiscrimination in Health Insurance Act of 1997 - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 to prohibit a group health plan or a health insurance issuer offering group coverage from discriminating on the basis: (1) of genetic information; or (2) that the participant or beneficiary has requested or received genetic services. Regulates genetic information collection and disclosure by plans and issuers. Provides for compensatory, consequential, and punitive damages. Amends the Public Health Service Act to prohibit a group health plan, a health insurance issuer offering group coverage, or a health issuer in the individual market from so discriminating. Regulates genetic information collection and disclosure by plans and issuers. Provides for compensatory, consequential, and punitive damages. Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to prohibit an issuer of a Medicare supplemental policy from so discriminating. Provides for compensatory, consequential, and punitive damages. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to prohibit a group health plan or a health insurance issuer offering group coverage from so discriminating. Regulates genetic information collection and disclosure by plans and issuers.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Protection from Sexual Predators Act of 1997 - Expresses the sense of the Congress that States should: (1) more seriously consider the relatively high recidivism rate of sexual offenders when deciding whether to plea bargain with or grant parole to sexual offenders; and (2) review treatment and parole supervision programs for sexual offenders to assure that such programs are fulfilling their goals. Amends the Federal criminal code to provide that whoever violates provisions regarding aggravated sexual abuse (or engages in conduct that would violate such provisions if the conduct had occurred in the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States under specified circumstances) after previously having been convicted of another State or Federal sexual abuse offense (or conduct which would have been such an offense if the offense had occurred in such jurisdiction) shall be imprisoned for life. Amends the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 to require a State, to be eligible for a truth in sentencing incentive grant, to provide assurances to the Attorney General that such State has in effect laws which allow the court to impose a sentence of life in prison without parole on a defendant in a criminal case who is convicted of a State offense for conduct which is a sexual abuse or aggravated sexual abuse offense under the Federal criminal code (or which would have been an offense under such provisions if the offense had occurred in U.S. jurisdiction) after having previously been convicted of another State or Federal sexual abuse or aggravated sexual abuse offense. Requires the National Institute of Justice to carry out a study of persistent sexual predators and to report to the Congress and the President.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Reconstructive Breast Surgery Benefits Act of 1997 - Amends the Public Health Service Act and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 to require group health plans and insurers offering group health coverage, if they cover a mastectomy, to also cover reconstructive breast surgery resulting from the mastectomy, including surgery on a nondiseased breast to establish symmetry. Prohibits related: (1) denial of coverage or monetary incentives to women; and (2) penalties or incentives to providers. Amends the Public Health Service Act to apply the above requirements to individual health insurance coverage.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Veterans' Job Protection Act - Revises provisions relating to authorized employee actions against a State or private employer for the enforcement of certain veterans' reemployment rights. Authorizes a person who receives from the Secretary of Veterans Affairs a notification that efforts to resolve a complaint were unsuccessful to request that the Secretary refer such complaint to the Attorney General (AG) for commencement of an action for relief in the appropriate U.S. district court. Allows a person, in lieu of proceedings through the AG or after being refused representation by the AG, to commence his or her own action against a State employer, requiring such action to be brought in the name of the United States. Outlines procedures with respect to such an action, allowing the United States to intervene and proceed with the action. Provides that the United States shall not be liable for expenses incurred by an individual in bringing such an action.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Veterans' Training and Employment Bill of Rights Act of 1997 - Entitles the following covered persons to priority of services under any federally-funded workforce preparation, development, or delivery program or service, as long as such person otherwise meets participation eligibility requirements: (1) veterans who have a service-connected disability or who served on active duty in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized; (2) the spouse of any person who died of a service-connected disability or who has a total permanent disability resulting from a service-connected disability; (3) the spouse of any member serving on active duty who is listed as missing in action, captured in the line of duty by a hostile force, or forcibly detained or interned by a foreign government or power; and (4) the spouse of a veteran who died while a permanent service-connected disability was in existence. Requires State and local entities performing such programs or services to inform covered individuals of the availability of such services. Directs the Secretary of Labor to report annually to the congressional veterans' committees concerning an evaluation of such priority program and its level of services. (Sec. 3) Requires Federal contracts or grants of $100,000 or more for the procurement of personal property and non-personal services to contain a provision under which the party receiving the contract or grant agrees to take affirmative action to employ and advance qualified veterans who: (1) are disabled; (2) served on active duty during a war or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized; or (3) while serving on active duty, participated in a U.S. military operation for which an armed forces service medal was awarded. Directs the President to implement promulgating regulations which require the contractee or grantee to list employment openings with local employment agencies and to give priority to qualifying veterans. (Sec. 4) Requires veterans qualifying under this Act to be given appropriate recruitment (currently, readjustment) appointments within the Federal Government. (Sec. 5) Directs the Secretary to provide specified veterans' employment rights and benefits assistance to veterans qualifying under this Act. Provides for the filing, investigation, and determination of claims by qualifying individuals that an entity has failed to comply with the hiring requirements provided under this Act. (Sec. 6) Authorizes the Secretary to allocate an additional ten full-time equivalent positions from the Employment and Training Administration of the Department of Labor to the Veterans' Employment and Training Service to carry out work training and employment services for qualifying individuals.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Authorizes the President to present, on behalf of the Congress, a congressional gold medal to Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to strike and sell bronze duplicates.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Veterans Entrepreneurship Promotion Act of 1997 - Amends the Small Business Act (the Act) to define as eligible veterans for programs under this Act: (1) disabled veterans; or (2) veterans who served on active duty during a period of war or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge is authorized and who were discharged or released under conditions other than dishonorable. Makes small businesses owned and controlled by such veterans (veteran-owned small businesses) eligible for participation in the annual Government-wide goal of awarding to small businesses no less than 20 percent of all prime contracts awarded in a fiscal year. Subjects veteran-owned small businesses to provisions requiring a report from the head of each Federal agency to the Small Business Administration (SBA) concerning the extent of small business participation in that agency's procurement contracts. Requires the SBA to submit an analysis of such reports to the Congress (currently, only to the President) and to include information concerning the veteran-owned small businesses. (Sec. 6) Includes veteran-owned small businesses as small businesses for purposes of subcontracting policy and goals with respect to the performance of contracts awarded by any Federal agency. (Sec. 7) Directs the SBA Administrator, for each fiscal year, to: (1) obtain information concerning the procurement practices and procedures of each Federal agency having procurement authority; and (2) make such information available to any requesting small business. Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to annually engage in affirmative efforts to identify veteran-owned small businesses. (Sec. 8) Amends the Small Business and Economic Policy Act of 1980 to include information concerning veteran-owned small businesses within a required annual report on the state of small business. (Sec. 9) Authorizes the SBA to make loans to small business concerns eligible for assistance under the Act, as long as it determines that: (1) the type and amount of such assistance is otherwise unavailable from other sources on reasonable terms; (2) with such assistance, the small business has a reasonable chance to operate soundly and profitably within a reasonable time; (3) such assistance will be used within a reasonable time for plant construction, conversion, or expansion or to supply such business with working capital for appropriate purposes; and (4) such assistance is sound enough to reasonably assure that its terms and conditions will not be breached by the small business. Limits to $750,000 the outstanding balance on any individual small business loan. Provides loan financing terms and conditions. (Sec. 10) Directs the Administrator to ensure that veteran-owned small businesses have access to programs under the Act which provide entrepreneurial training, business development assistance, counseling, and management to small business concerns. (Sec. 11) Directs the SBA to make grants to, and enter into contracts and cooperative agreements with, various entities for the establishment and implementation of outreach programs for eligible veterans. (Sec. 12) Directs the Administrator, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, and the Assistant Secretary of Labor for Veterans' Employment and Training to establish an interagency working group to develop a comprehensive outreach program to assist eligible veterans. (Sec. 13) Authorizes the Administrator to appoint an Associate Administrator for Veterans Programs (AAVP) to formulate and execute policies and programs providing assistance to veteran-owned small businesses. (Sec. 14) Makes it a duty of the SBA to enter into contracts to provide to the Government articles, equipment, supplies, services, or materials or construction work. Outlines administrative procedures for: (1) the awarding of a procurement contract to the SBA after certification of capability; and (2) a review and determination by a department or agency Secretary of a decision not to award a procurement contract to the SBA. Authorizes the SBA to arrange for the performance of procurement contracts by negotiating or otherwise letting subcontracts to veteran-owned small businesses. Authorizes the award of procurement contracts and subcontracts to veteran-owned small businesses which successfully complete an SBA business opportunity and development assistance program (program) (established later under this Act), under specified terms and conditions. Requires veteran-owned small businesses to meet specified certification requirements issued by the Administrator. Directs the Administrator to issue regulations limiting the personal net worth of a program participant and requiring participants to annually submit certain financial information to the SBA. Directs the SBA to: (1) conduct a review to determine whether a withdrawal of funds or other assets by a program participant for the personal use of its owners was detrimental to the achievement of the targets, objectives, and goals contained in the program participant's business plan; and (2) take specified action upon a positive determination. Authorizes a hearing before an adjudicator for small businesses receiving an adverse determination or review under this section. Directs the SBA to develop and implement an outreach program to inform and recruit small businesses to apply for assistance under this section. Requires subcontracts to be awarded within the county or State where the work is to be performed. Directs the SBA to require each eligible small business to annually prepare and submit to the SBA a capability statement. Specifies requirements to be met by a small business prior to being awarded a services or supplies procurement contract. Directs the SBA to establish requirements applicable to contracts for general and specialty construction and contracts for any other industry not otherwise subject to such requirements. Prohibits an otherwise responsible small business from being denied the opportunity to compete for the award of any supply procurement contract under this section solely because such business is not the actual manufacturer of the process or product to be supplied, as long as such business meets certain business size and certification requirements. Provides conflict-of-interest employment prohibitions and penalties applicable to certain former SBA employees. Prohibits SBA employees empowered to take action with respect to any program or activity conducted under this section from exercising such authority on the basis of the political activity or affiliation of any entity or owner. Requires small businesses participating in the program to report semiannually to their assigned veterans business counselors concerning any compensation paid to individuals for assistance in obtaining a Federal contract for such participant. Requires such report to be reviewed and forwarded to the AAVP. Considers the failure to submit a report as good cause for the initiation of a program participation termination proceeding against such business. Requires awarded contracts to be performed by the business that initially received such contract. Terminates such a contract if the owners relinquish ownership of the business during such contract, with a waiver under specified circumstances. Requires a business to notify the SBA immediately upon entering into an agreement to change ownership. Establishes within the SBA an eligible veterans business opportunity and development assistance program to provide assistance exclusively for veteran-owned small businesses. Outlines various types of assistance and services to be provided under the program, allowing each business to participate for five years from the date of certification. Requires each participant, promptly after program certification, to submit a business plan for review by the veterans business counselor assigned to assist such participant. Requires plan approval and outlines required plan contents. Requires each participant to annually: (1) review and modify its plan; and (2) forecast its needs for contract awards for the remaining years of program participation. Outlines conditions under which a participant shall be denied assistance and services under the program. Provides for program participation termination proceedings in appropriate circumstances. Requires a program participant, during the developmental stage of participation, to take steps to attain the goals and targets contained in its plan for the awarding of contracts to such business. Makes a participant in the transitional stage subject to regulations regarding business activity targets. Establishes a Division of Program Certification and Eligibility within the SBA's Office of Veterans Programs. Requires an annual review of program participants by the Division Director. Requires: (1) review findings and conclusions to be reported to the AAVP; and (2) the AAVP to issue appropriate policy and program directives. Requires the SBA to conduct an evaluation of a participant's eligibility for continued participation in the program whenever it receives information alleging that a participant no longer meets program requirements. Divides a program into a developmental stage designed to assist participants to access their markets and strengthen their financial and managerial skills and a transitional stage designed to prepare a participant for program graduation. Outlines appropriate assistance and services to be provided during each stage. Directs the Administrator to report annually to the Congress with respect to individual and business participants in the program. (Sec. 15) Authorizes appropriations for FY 1998 through 2000.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Persian Gulf Syndrome Health Benefits Extension Act of 1997 - Authorizes the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to extend priority health care to veterans exposed to a toxic substance or environmental hazard while serving in Israel or Turkey during the Persian Gulf War.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Uniformed Services Medicare Subvention Demonstration Project Act - Directs the Secretaries of Defense and Health and Human Services (HHS) to jointly establish a demonstration project to provide the Department of Defense (DOD) with reimbursement, under provisions of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act, for health services provided to Medicare-eligible covered military beneficiaries who participate in the project and receive such services through the managed care option of the TRICARE program (a DOD managed health care program). Requires the project to be conducted during the three-year period beginning on January 1, 1998, in no more than five geographic regions designated by the Secretaries. Makes project enrollment voluntary. Requires the Secretary of Defense to waive the TRICARE enrollment fee for project participants for whom Medicare reimbursement may be made. Requires inclusion in the project of a provision for expansion to incorporate health care services provided to such beneficiaries under the fee-for-services options of the TRICARE program if the Secretaries determine that such expansion is feasible and advisable. Directs the HHS Secretary to make monthly payments to DOD from the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund and the Federal Supplementary Medical Insurance Trust Fund representing appropriate reimbursement amounts. Provides for the determination of such amounts. Directs the Secretary of Defense to: (1) maintain the DOD health care efforts for Medicare-eligible covered military beneficiaries; (2) estimate the amount expended by DOD for FY 1997 for providing health care items and services to such beneficiaries; and (3) establish monthly targets for the number of such beneficiaries enrolled in the project necessary to meet DOD maintenance of health care efforts for such individuals. Limits to $65 million the annual payments to DOD for the project. Requires the Comptroller General, for each project year, to submit to the Secretaries and the Congress a report on the extent to which costs under the TRICARE program and the Medicare program have increased as a result of the project. Directs the Secretaries to modify the project at the end of each year to correct for any discrepancy between cost targets and actual spending under the project. Directs the Secretaries to submit to the Congress an interim and final report on various project aspects.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Political Relationship Title II: Applicability of Federal Law Title III: Foreign Affairs and Defense Title IV: Courts Title V: Trade Title VI: Taxation Title VII: Immigration Title VIII: Labor Title IX: Transportation and Telecommunications Title X: Land, Natural Resources and Utilities Title XI: United States Financial Assistance Title XII: Technical Amendments and Interpretation Guam Commonwealth Act - Title I: Political Relationship - Creates the Commonwealth of Guam. Grants the people of Guam the right of full self-government through adoption of a Constitution and within specified guidelines. (Sec. 102) Recognizes the right of self-determination of the people of Guam. Directs the U.S. Government to promote preservation of the Chamorro culture, enhanced economic, social, and educational opportunities for Chamorros, and training of Chamorros for employment. Directs Guam to establish a land trust for the benefit of the indigenous Chamorro people and to establish residency requirements under the Constitution of Guam for voting and holding elective office. (Sec. 103) Allows this Act to be modified only with the mutual consent of the Governments of the United States and Guam. Title II: Applicability of Federal Law - Makes specified provisions of, and amendments to, the U.S. Constitution applicable to Guam. (Sec. 202) Makes Federal laws, rules, or regulations passed after the date of this Act inapplicable unless mutually consented to by the Governments of the United States and Guam. (Sec. 203) Creates the Joint Commission on the Applicability of Federal Law. (Sec. 204) Authorizes the President to delegate to the Governor of Guam performance of functions now vested in Federal administrative agencies. Title III: Foreign Affairs and Defense - Grants the United States responsibility for authority with respect to matters relating to foreign affairs and defense that affect Guam. (Sec. 302) Prohibits the establishment of military security zones or the stationing of foreign military personnel on the Island of Guam without the approval of the Government of Guam except in time of declared war, or the establishment of military bases without consultation with the Governor. (Sec. 304) Prohibits the United States from using Guam or the water surrounding it for the dumping or storage of nuclear waste or hazardous chemicals. Provides for the cleanup by the United States of chemical dump sites used by the military. Requires the United States to compensate any person injured as a result of hazardous materials stored, used, or disposed of by the U.S. Government in Guam or its waters. Title IV: Courts - Specifies provisions governing the relations between U.S. courts and the local courts of Guam, the jurisdiction of the District Court of Guam, and the applicable district court rules. (Sec. 404) Provides for the appointment of a judge for the District Court of Guam, a U.S. attorney, and a U.S. marshal for Guam. Title V: Trade - Establishes a Guam-United States free trade area. (Sec. 501) Authorizes Guam to impose, increase, reduce, or eliminate duties and other restrictions on certain imports and exports. Title VI: Taxation - Makes U.S. income tax laws applicable to Guam. Deems such laws to impose a separate tax to be known as the Guam Commonwealth income tax. (Sec. 603) Allows the Government of Guam to provide for the rebate or reduction of taxes in order to assist new industries or economic development. (Sec. 604) Grants Guam the power to determine the nature and amount of taxes imposed upon the income and property of persons within its jurisdiction. Repeals applicable U.S. tax laws one year after Guam has enacted a replacement comprehensive local income tax. (Sec. 605) Exempts all bonds or other obligations issued by Guam from taxation by Federal, State, or local governments of the United States. Title VII: Immigration - Applies the Immigration and Nationality Act and pertinent Federal regulations to Guam for two years from enactment of this Act. Directs Guam to enact a comprehensive law on immigration to become effective at the end of the two-year period. (Sec. 702) Authorizes U.S. consular officials to issue visas for travel only to Guam for any alien seeking to enter Guam as a non-immigrant in order to encourage investors and tourists to come to Guam. Title VIII: Labor - Grants preference to qualified residents of Guam in all Federal civil service vacancies occurring in Guam. (Sec. 802) Grants Guam the authority to enact and enforce all laws regulating or affecting employment in Guam. Title IX: Transportation and Telecommunications - Precludes application of any U.S. law barring the U.S. registration and use of any foreign-built vessel within the waters around Guam for any purpose. (Sec. 901) Exempts from the coastwise laws of the United States any shipment of fish or fish products from Guam to any U.S. coastwise destination. Directs the Commission to examine the applicability of such laws and to recommend their termination upon determining that such laws constrain Guam's economic development. (Sec. 902) Authorizes the Governor of Guam to sponsor any qualified air service carrier to come to Guam, subject to presidential consultation concerning U.S. foreign policy and security interests. Exempts Guam from all bilateral treaties between the United States and foreign states with respect to scheduling and technical specifications of aircraft, other than safety requirements. (Sec. 903) Defines Guam as "domestic" for Federal Communications Commission rate setting purposes. Title X: Land, Natural Resources and Utilities - Grants the Government of Guam the power of eminent domain. (Sec. 1001) Sets limits on U.S. acquisition of real property on Guam. Exempts Guam from Federal regulations governing the transfer or sale of excess Federal real property. Provides for the transfer of all excess Federal property to Guam, with specified exceptions. (Sec. 1003) Provides for access and use by the residents of Guam of certain retained Federal property, subject to military security requirements. (Sec. 1004) Directs the United States to transfer ownership of island utilities to Guam. Title XI: United States Financial Assistance - Provides for the return of U.S. revenues from taxes and fees collected in Guam to the Government of Guam. Makes U.S. laws providing Federal benefits and financial assistance which are applicable to the States equally applicable to Guam. (Sec. 1104) Directs the Governor of Guam, in preparing an annual budget, to identify the costs and benefits to Guam brought about by its role as one of the principal U.S. military bastions in the Far East. (Sec. 1105) Provides for assistance to aid Guam's transition to a Commonwealth. Title XII: Technical Amendments and Interpretation - Makes technical and conforming amendments. (Sec. 1204) Requires this Act to be submitted to the registered voters of Guam for ratification after being passed by the Congress. Repeals the Organic Act of Guam in specified phases.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act of 1997 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to prohibit group health plans and health insurance issuers offering group health insurance coverage, with regard to hospital stays in connection with breast cancer treatment, from: (1) covering less than 48 hours after mastectomies or less than 24 hours after lymph node dissections; or (2) requiring plan or issuer authorization for prescribing any length of stay. Prohibits: (1) denying eligibility, enrollment, or renewal to avoid these requirements; (2) providing payments or rebates to women; or (3) penalizing or providing incentives to providers. Applies the same requirements to issuers in the individual market.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Voting Rights of Homeless Citizens Act of 1997 - Prohibits the imposition or application by any State or political subdivision of any standard, practice, procedure, voting qualification, or prerequisite to voting to deny or abridge the right of any U.S. citizen to vote because that citizen resides at or in a non-traditional abode. Authorizes the Attorney General to commence a civil action or an aggrieved citizen to institute a proceeding under this Act for injunctive relief against a violation of such prohibition.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Medicare Diabetes Education and Supplies Amendments of 1997 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide for Medicare coverage of diabetes outpatient self-management training services and blood-testing strips for individuals with diabetes.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the U.S. Government should pursue policies that: (1) encourage all residents of this country to become fully proficient in English by expanding educational opportunities and access to information technologies; (2) conserve and develop the Nation's linguistic resources by encouraging all residents to learn or maintain skills in a language other than English; (3) assist Native Americans, Native Alaskans, Native Hawaiians, and other peoples indigenous to the United States in their efforts to prevent the extinction of their languages and cultures; (4) continue to provide services in languages other than English as needed to facilitate access to essential functions of government, promote public health and safety, ensure due process, promote equal educational opportunity, and protect fundamental rights; and (5) recognize the importance of multilingualism to vital national interests and individual rights, and oppose "English-only" measures and similar language restrictionist measures.
United States · United States Congress · 27 September 1996
Declares that the Puerto Rico Housing Bank and Finance Agency shall not have any civil, criminal, or administrative liability under the Truth-in-Lending Act (TILA) for any failure to comply with TILA or any regulation under it for any credit transactions subject to TILA consummated before enactment of this Act in which the Housing Bank was a creditor. Denies any consumer who consummated such a credit transaction any right of rescission against an assignee for the Housing Bank's noncompliance with TILA disclosure requirements.
United States · United States Congress · 27 September 1996
Presidential Honors Scholarship Act of 1996 - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to authorize the award of Presidential Honors Scholarships to all students who graduate in the top five percent of their secondary school graduating class. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 12 September 1996
Northern Mariana Islands Delegate Act - Requires the Northern Mariana Islands to be represented in the Congress by an elected nonvoting Delegate to the House of Representatives. Provides that the Resident Representative of the Islands shall be the Delegate.
United States · United States Congress · 23 July 1996
Northern Mariana Islands Delegate Act - Requires the Northern Mariana Islands to be represented in the Congress by an elected nonvoting Delegate to the House of Representatives. Provides that the Resident Representative of the Islands shall be the Delegate.