United States · United States Congress · 15 February 2000
Improved Medical Care for Troops and Retirees Act - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act, Federal armed forces law, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1998, and the Strom Thurmond National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1999 to provide, among other things, for: (1) making permanent the current Medicare subvention demonstration project for military retirees and dependents; (2) extending the Federal Employees Health Benefits Optional Demonstration Project; (3) entitling family members of members of the armed forces assigned to certain duty locations far from sources of care to the medical and dental care otherwise available to such member in any facility of any uniformed service; (4) requiring the pharmacy benefits provided under the redesigned pharmacy system under the TRICARE program (a managed health care program of the armed forces) to be at least equivalent to those provided under the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1993; and (5) eliminating copayments under TRICARE Prime, and imposing a reduction in the catastrophic cap under TRICARE Standard and TRICARE Extra. Authorizes appropriations for the redesigned pharmacy system under the Strom Thurmond National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1999.
United States · United States Congress · 15 February 2000
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from gross income payments made under Department of Defense education loan repayment programs to members of the armed forces and Selected Reserve with specified military and critical specialties and specified health and critical medical skills.
United States · United States Congress · 10 February 2000
Designates the Federal building located at 2201 C Street, Northwest, in the District of Columbia, currently headquarters for the Department of State, as the Harry S Truman Federal Building.
United States · United States Congress · 10 February 2000
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Commemorative Coin Act - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to issue five-dollar gold coins, one-dollar silver coins, and half-dollar clad coins emblematic of the inspirational life and works of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Mandates prompt payment of all surcharges received from the coin sales to the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Legacy Fund of the Library of Congress for the purpose of securing the personal papers of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., for the Library of Congress.
United States · United States Congress · 8 February 2000
Authorizes presentation of a gold medal on behalf of Congress to former President Ronald Reagan and his wife Nancy Reagan. Authorizes specified sums to be charged against the United States Mint Public Enterprise Fund for medal costs. Mandates that sale proceeds from duplicate bronze medals be deposited into such Fund.
United States · United States Congress · 8 February 2000
Requires the metal content of the Medal of Honor, awarded by the President to members of the armed forces and Coast Guard, to be 90 percent gold and ten percent alloy.
United States · United States Congress · 2 February 2000
Keep Our Promise to America's Military Retirees Act - Includes as an employee, for purposes of Federal provisions authorizing enrollment under the Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) Program: (1) a member of the armed forces who began service before June 7, 1956, and retired after a minimum of 20 years of such service or by reason of a service-connected disability; and (2) the surviving widow or widower of such member. Directs the Secretary of Defense to enter into an agreement with the Office of Personnel Management to provide FEHB coverage to the following eligible beneficiaries: (1) a member or former member entitled to military retired or retainer pay; (2) an unremarried former spouse who was married to a member for at least 20 years, during which such member performed at least 20 years of retirement-creditable military service; (3) a dependent of a deceased qualifying member or former member; (4) a dependent of a living member or former member; and (5) a family member of such member. Repeals a provision prohibiting coverage under the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Uniformed Services for persons entitled to hospital insurance benefits under part A of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Act.
United States · United States Congress · 2 February 2000
Expresses support for Federal funding directed toward human pluripotent stem cell research to further research into Parkinson's disease and other medical conditions.
United States · United States Congress · 1 February 2000
Recognizes the 50th anniversary of the Korean War, and expresses the gratitude of the American people for the service of members of the armed forces during such War.
United States · United States Congress · 31 January 2000
Authorizes the President to present, on behalf of Congress, a congressional gold medal to John Cardinal O'Connor, Archbishop of New York, in recognition of his accomplishments as a priest, a soldier, and a humanitarian. Authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to strike and sell bronze duplicates. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 27 January 2000
Pope John Paul II Congressional Gold Medal Act - Authorizes the presentation of a gold medal to Pope John Paul II in recognition of his contributions to peace and religious understanding. Authorizes appropriations. Mandates that proceeds from duplicate bronze medal sales be deposited in the Numismatic Public Enterprise Fund.
United States · United States Congress · 27 January 2000
Commuter Tax Equity Act of 2000 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to raise the $65 transportation fringe benefit limitation (applicable to commuter highway vehicles and transit passes) to an amount ($175) that equals the amount permitted for qualified parking (thus providing for a uniform dollar limitation for all types of transportation fringe benefits).
United States · United States Congress · 18 November 1999
Commends the past and present personnel of the submarine force of the U.S. Navy for their technical excellence, accomplishments, professionalism, and sacrifices. Congratulates them for the 100 years of exemplary service that they have provided the United States. Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that, in the next millennium, the submarine force should continue to constitute an integral part of the Navy, and to carry out missions that are key to maintaining the Nation's freedom and security as the superior submarine force in the world.
United States · United States Congress · 17 November 1999
Breast Cancer and Environmental Research Act of 1999 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require the Director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences to make grants to public or nonprofit private entities for the development and operation of not more than eight centers for the conduct of multidisciplinary research on environmental factors that may be related to the etiology of breast cancer. Requires each center to: (1) conduct basic and clinical research; (2) develop protocols for training health professionals; (3) conduct training programs for such individuals; (4) develop model continuing education programs for such professionals; and (5) disseminate information to such professionals and the public. Authorizes a center to provide stipends for professionals enrolled in the program. Allows grant support for a center for up to five years, with authorized extensions. Requires an equitable geographic distribution of such centers. Authorizes appropriations for FY 2000 through 2005.
United States · United States Congress · 16 November 1999
Repeals a provision of the Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2000 which prohibits the use of Department of Defense (DOD) funds to pay environmental fines and penalties imposed against DOD unless such payment has been specifically authorized by law.
United States · United States Congress · 16 November 1999
Amends the Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act of 1994 (which is part A of title IV of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965) to establish a new subpart 2, Effective Prevention Program Implementation, providing comprehensive prevention technical assistance grants. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes the Secretary of Education to provide such grants to States that meet specified requirements to implement prevention programs that meet a high scientific standard of program effectiveness. Sets forth program requirements for State plans, reservations and allocations of funds, State distribution of program funds through competitive grants to local educational agencies (LEAs), and LEA plans and use of funds for comprehensive prevention programs that meet certain requirements.
United States · United States Congress · 16 November 1999
Expresses the sense of Congress applauding the U.S. Congressional Philharmonic Society for its choral society and orchestra, and for its promotion of: (1) cultural communication and understanding in performances throughout the District of Columbia, the United States, and the world; and (2) musical excellence at all levels of the educational system.
United States · United States Congress · 10 November 1999
Authorizes the American Battle Monuments Commission to place within the Vietnam Veterans Memorial a plaque to honor those Vietnam veterans who died after service in the Vietnam War, but as a direct result of such service, and whose names are not otherwise eligible for placement on the Memorial wall.
United States · United States Congress · 10 November 1999
Children's Health Research and Prevention Amendments of 1999 - Title I: Revision and Extension of Programs - Subtitle A: Pediatric Research Initiative - Pediatric Research Initiative Act of 1999 - Amends the Public Health Service Act (the Act) to mandate establishment, in the National Institutes of Health (NIH), of a Pediatric Research Initiative. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) (Secretary) to make available within the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development enhanced support for extramural activities relating to the training and career development of pediatric researchers. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle B: Other Programs - Extends through FY 2003 programs under the Act for: (1) immunizations; (2) screenings, referrals, and education regarding lead poisoning; and (3) the prevention and control of injuries, including traumatic brain injury. Title II: Children's Health Research and Prevention Activities - Subtitle A: Early Detection, Diagnosis, and Treatment Regarding Hearing Loss in Infants - Newborn and Infant Hearing Screening and Intervention Act of 1999 - Mandates grants or cooperative agreements to: (1) develop statewide newborn and infant hearing screening, evaluation, and intervention programs and systems; and (2) provide technical assistance to State agencies to complement an intramural program and to conduct applied research related to newborn and infant hearing screening, evaluation, and intervention programs and systems. Requires NIH to continue a program of research and development on the efficacy of new screening techniques and technology. Mandates Federal coordination and collaboration with State and local agencies, consumer groups, national medical, health, and education specialty organizations, deaf or hard-of-hearing individuals and their families, qualified professional personnel, and related commercial industries. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle B: Autism - Chapter 1: Surveillance and Research Regarding Prevalence and Pattern of Autism - Autism Statistics, Surveillance, Research, and Epidemiology Act of 1999 (ASSURE) - Authorizes grants and cooperative agreements for the collection, analysis, and reporting of data on autism and pervasive developmental disabilities. Mandates establishment, through grants or cooperative agreements, of three to five centers of excellence in autism and pervasive developmental disabilities epidemiology to collect and analyze autism information. Requires that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDCP) serve as the coordinating agency for autism and pervasive development disabilities surveillance through the establishment of a clearinghouse for data generated from the monitoring programs created under this chapter. Mandates establishment of an Advisory Committee for Autism and Pervasive Developmental Disabilities Epidemiology Research. Authorizes appropriations. Chapter 2: Expansion, Intensification, and Coordination of Activities of Department of Health and Human Services With Respect to Autism - Advancement in Pediatric Autism Research Act of 1999 - Directs the NIH Director to expand, intensify, and coordinate the activities of NIH with respect to autism. Requires such Director, among other things, to make awards of grants or contracts to public or nonprofit entities for centers of excellence regarding research on autism. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes the Secretary to make awards of grants and cooperative agreements for the collection, analysis, and reporting of data on autism and pervasive developmental disabilities. Directs the Secretary to establish no less than three regional centers of excellence in autism and pervasive developmental disabilities epidemiology to collect and analyze information on the number, incidence, correlates, and causes of autism and related developmental disabilities. Directs the Secretary to: (1) establish a clearinghouse within the CDCP for the collection and storage of such data; and (2) coordinate the Federal response to requests for assistance regarding potential or alleged autism or developmental disability clusters. Authorizes appropriations. Requires the Secretary to establish a program to provide information and education on autism to health professionals and the general public. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary to establish an Autism Coordinating Committee to coordinate HHS efforts concerning autism. Subtitle C: Poison Control Center Enhancement and Awareness - Poison Control Center Enhancement and Awareness Act - Directs the Secretary to provide coordination and assistance to regional poison control centers for the establishment of a nationwide toll-free telephone number to be used to access such centers. Authorizes appropriations. Mandates a national media campaign to educate the public about poison prevention and the availability of local poison control resources and to conduct advertising campaigns concerning the nationwide toll-free number. Authorizes appropriations. Mandates grants for certified regional poison control centers to achieve financial stability and to prevent, and provide treatment recommendations for, poisoning. Mandates other grant uses. Sets forth center certification requirements. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle D: Birth Defects Prevention Activities - Chapter 1: Folic Acid - Folic Acid Promotion and Birth Defects Prevention Act of 1999 - Directs the Secretary to carry out a program, directly or through grants or contracts, for professional and public education and training, research, and epidemiological activities regarding folic acid and birth defects. Authorizes appropriations. Chapter 2: National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities - Establishes a National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities to: (1) collect, analyze, and make available date on birth defects; (2) conduct applied epidemiological research on prevention of such defects; and (3) provide birth defect prevention information and education to the public. Transfers to such Center all activities, budgets, and personnel of the National Center for Environmental Health that relate to birth defects, folic acid, cerebral palsy, mental retardation, child development, newborn screening, autism, fragile X syndrome, fetal alcohol syndrome, pediatric genetics, and disability prevention. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle E: Safe Motherhood Monitoring and Prevention Research - Safe Motherhood Monitoring and Prevention Research Act - Authorizes the Secretary to: (1) establish a national monitoring and surveillance program to identify and promote the investigation of deaths and severe complications that occur during pregnancy; (2) expand the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System to provide surveillance and collect data in each State; and (3) expand the Maternal and Child Health Epidemiology Program to provide technical support, financial assistance, or the time-limited assignment of senior epidemiologists to maternal and child health programs in each State. Authorizes appropriations. Permits the Secretary to carry out specified activities to promote safe motherhood. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle F: Pregnant Mothers and Infants Health Promotion - Pregnant Mothers and Infants Health Protection Act - Requires the Secretary to: (1) collect, analyze, and make available data on prenatal smoking and alcohol and illegal drug usage; (2) conduct applied epidemiological research on the prevention of prenatal and postnatal smoking and alcohol and illegal drug usage; (3) support, conduct, and evaluate the effectiveness of educational and cessation programs; and (4) provide information and education to the public on the prevention and implications of prenatal and postnatal smoking and alcohol and illegal drug usage. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle G: Utilization of Preventive Health Services - Directs the Secretary to make grants to public or nonprofit entities to establish and operate regional centers for identifying particular populations of patients and to facilitate the appropriate utilization of preventive health services by such patients. Requires the Secretary to give priority to various populations of infants, young children, and their mothers. Requires the evaluation of strategies developed through grant funding. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle H: Research and Development Regarding Fragile X - Fragile X Research Breakthrough Act of 1999 - Requires the Director of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development to: (1) expand, intensify, and coordinate the Institute's activities respecting research on the mental retardation disease known as fragile X; and (2) make grants to, and enter into contracts with, public or private nonprofit entities for the development and operation of at least three centers for fragile X research. Requires each center to conduct basic and clinical research, which may include clinical trials of new or improved diagnostic methods and drugs or other treatment approaches. Allows such centers to use grant funds to provide fees to individuals serving as subjects in clinical trials. Requires the Director to provide for the coordination of the centers' activities, including the exchange of information. Requires each center to use the facilities of a single institution, or be formed from a consortium of cooperating institutions. Allows support to be provided to a center for up to five years, with authorized extensions. Authorizes appropriations. Requires the Secretary to enter into contracts with qualified health professionals who agree to conduct fragile X research in return for repayment (up to $35,000 for each year of service) of such health professionals' educational loans. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle I: Children and Epilepsy - Directs the Secretary, through grants to or contracts with public or nonprofit private entities, to develop and implement public health surveillance, education, research, and intervention strategies to improve the lives of persons with epilepsy, with a particular emphasis on children. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to State and local governments for carrying out demonstration projects to improve access to health and other services regarding seizures to encourage early detection and treatment in children and others residing in medically underserved areas. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle J: Asthma Treatment Services for Children - Children's Asthma Relief Act of 1999 - Directs the Secretary to award grants to eligible entities to establish an asthma treatment grants program providing comprehensive asthma services for children and other individuals. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary to encourage States to implement plans to carry out activities to assist children with asthma in accordance with the guidelines of the National Asthma Education and Prevention Program and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (Institute). Provides that if a State child health plan under title XXI (Children's Health Insurance) of the Social Security Act provides for such activities to the Secretary's satisfaction, the Secretary shall make a grant to assist the State in carrying them out. Sets forth certain matching funds requirements. Authorizes appropriations. Amends the Act to include, within the preventive health and health services block grant, any system for reducing asthma and asthma-related illnesses, especially with regard to children, through urban cockroach pest management in public facilities through a combination of biological, cultural, physical, and chemical tools that minimizes economic, health, and environmental risks. Requires the Institute Director to: (1) identify all Federal programs carrying out asthma-related activities; (2) develop a Federal plan for responding to asthma; and (3) submit recommendations to Congress on ways to strengthen and improve Federal coordination of such activities. Authorizes appropriations. Requires the CDCP Director to: (1) conduct local asthma surveillance activities to collect data on the prevalence and severity of asthma and the quality of asthma management; and (2) compile and publish annually data on the prevalence of children suffering from asthma in each State and the childhood mortality rate associated with asthma nationally and in each State. Subtitle K: Juvenile Arthritis and Related Conditions - Requires the Directors of the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases and the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases to expand and intensify their respective programs of research and related activities concerning juvenile arthritis and related conditions. Requires the NIH Director, through a grant, cooperative agreement, or contract, to establish an information resource center on arthritis and related conditions. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle L: Childhood Skeletal Malignancies - Directs the Secretary to: (1) study environmental and other risk factors for childhood skeletal cancers; (2) carry out projects to improve outcomes among children with such cancers and related secondary conditions; and (3) ensure that such activities are coordinated with other Public Health Service activities focused on childhood cancers and limb loss. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle M: Reducing Burden of Diabetes Among Children and Youth - Directs the Secretary to: (1) develop a system to collect data on juvenile diabetes, including its incidence and prevalence, and to establish a national database for such data; (2) conduct or support long-term epidemiological studies concerning juvenile diabetes; (3) implement a national public health effort to address type 2 diabetes in youth; (4) support regional clinical centers for the cure of juvenile diabetes; and (5) implement a national effort to develop a vaccine for type 1 diabetes. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle N: Miscellaneous Provisions - Requires the NIH Director to report to Congress concerning research activities with respect to rare diseases in children.
United States · United States Congress · 10 November 1999
Expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) the United States has a responsibility toward its veterans; (2) future congressional budget resolutions and laws making appropriations to the Veterans Health Administration should reflect the ongoing need for quality health care; and (3) the congressional committees of jurisdiction should act accordingly.
United States · United States Congress · 8 November 1999
Veterans' Right to Know Act - Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to: (1) provide information concerning eligibility for Department benefits and health care services and application requirements when a veteran or his or her dependent first applies for any such benefit; and (2) prepare an annual plan for the conduct of outreach activities to provide such veterans and dependents with such information.
United States · United States Congress · 4 November 1999
William H. Gray, III, College Completion Challenge Grant Program of 1999 - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to establish the William H. Gray, III, College Completion Challenge Grant Program to assist higher education institutions to help at-risk students stay in school and complete their four-year postsecondary academic programs. Authorizes the Secretary of Education to make competitive matching grants to such institutions or consortia (which may include associate degree-granting institutions belonging to a consortium that also includes baccalaureate degree- granting institutions). Limits to two the number of such grants to any institution. Requires institutions to use grant funds to provide services or assistance to students, particularly economically disadvantaged students, at risk of leaving their programs of study without baccalaureate degrees. Requires this to be done through one or both of the following: (1) intensive summer programs for incoming first-year students (and, under certain conditions, second- or third-year students); and (2) student support service programs, targeted to students in their first two years of postsecondary education. Allows institutions, if they carry out either or both of those required programs, to use such funds also for grants to students in their first two years of postsecondary education. Allows use of such funds to serve students who have completed their first two years of postsecondary education if they are at-risk and the institution will first meet the needs of all its eligible first- and second-year students for services under this Act. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 4 November 1999
Literacy Involves Families Together Act - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) to revise and reauthorize Even Start Family Literacy Programs (Even Start) (part B of title I provisions for Helping Disadvantaged Children Meet High Standards). (Sec. 2) Extends through FY 2004 the authorization of appropriations for such Even Start programs, and increases the amounts authorized. (Sec. 3) Requires State plans to assure that State educational agencies (SEAs) will encourage local educational agencies (LEAs) and individual schools participating in a program assisted under ESEA title I part A (Improving Basic Programs Operated by Local Educational Agencies), to use part A funds to offer family literacy services, if the LEA or school determines that a substantial number of students they serve under part A have parents who do not have a secondary school diploma or its recognized equivalent or who have low levels of literacy. (Sec. 4) Directs the Secretary of Education to: (1) reserve an increased portion of part B Even Start funds for migrant programs, outlying areas, and Indian tribes, under specified conditions; (2) award a competitive demonstration grant of sufficient amount and duration for a potentially high-quality family literacy program in a prison that houses women and their preschool age children; (3) ensure coordination of family literacy programs under Even Start with similar programs operated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA); and (4) reserve specified portions of Even Start excess funds for scientifically-based research on family literacy by the National Institute for Literacy. Limits the Federal share of program costs to 35 percent after the eighth year of Even Start program assistance. Authorizes States to use a portion of Even Start funds to provide technical assistance and training to subgrantees (partnerships of LEAs and eligible organizations) to improve the quality of their family literacy services, giving priority to low-quality programs, provided that such State use of funds for a fiscal year does not result in a decrease from the level of activities and services provided to program participants in the preceding year. Requires Even Start programs to use research-based techniques for helping children learn to read, as well as for helping adults where appropriate research is available. Allows an Even Start program, despite specified age limitations, to permit children eight years of age or older to participate if such program collaborates with a part A program and part A funds are used to pay the cost of providing part B Even Start services to such children. Requires an SEA, in awarding subgrants to continue an Even Start program after the first year, to review the progress of each eligible entity in meeting program goals described in the State plan (as well as, under current law, evaluating the program based on State-developed program quality indicators). Eliminates the eight-year limitation on a subgrantee's receiving Even Start funds. Sets the same limits on the Federal share of renewed subgrants as on Even Start grants. Directs the National Institute for Literacy to use certain reserved Even Start funds for scientifically-based research to determine: (1) the most effective ways of improving literacy skills of adults with reading difficulties; and (2) how family literacy services can best provide parents with knowledge and skills to support their children's literacy development. Requires such research to be carried out through an entity, including a Federal agency, with expertise in doing longitudinal studies of children's literacy skills development, and that has developed effective interventions to help children with reading difficulties. (Sec. 5) Requires State applications for Even Start grants to describe how the State will encourage programs and projects assisted under Even Start to offer family literacy services if the program or project serves a substantial number of migratory children who have parents who do not have a high school diploma or its recognized equivalent or who have low levels of literacy. (Sec. 6) Defines family literacy services under ESEA as services provided to participants on a voluntary basis that are of sufficient intensity in terms of hours, and of sufficient duration, to make sustainable changes in a family, and that integrate all of the following activities: (1) interactive literacy activities between parents and their children; (2) training for parents regarding how to be the primary teacher for their children and full partners in the education of their children; (3) parent literacy training that leads to economic self-sufficiency; and (4) an age-appropriate education to prepare children for success in school and life experiences. (Sec. 7) Amends the Education Amendments Act of 1978 to require BIA-operated family literacy programs, under the early childhood education program for Indian children or other programs, to be coordinated with Even Start family literacy programs under ESEA.
United States · United States Congress · 2 November 1999
Duty to Assist Veterans Act of 1999 - Requires the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, with respect to any veterans' benefits claim filed on or after July 14, 1999, to assist such claimant in developing information pertinent to a decision on the claim, including by informing the claimant of any medical or lay evidence needed and by providing a medical examination to determine the current disability of the veteran concerned.
United States · United States Congress · 2 November 1999
Education for Democracy Act - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) to revise provisions for Civic Education, under part F of title X (Programs of National Significance). (Sec. 2) Authorizes the Secretary of Education to make grants to or contracts with: (1) the Center for Civic Education (CCE) to carry out civic education activities under the We the People... The Citizen and the Constitution program and The Project Citizen program, and under Cooperative Educational Exchange programs; and (2) the National Council on Economic Education (NCEE) to carry out economic education activities under Cooperative Educational Exchange programs. Revises requirements for CCE implementation of the We the People... The Citizen and the Constitution program and The Project Citizen program. Sets forth requirements for the Cooperative Educational Exchange programs of civic education by CCE and economic education by NCEE. Makes eligible for such programs Central European countries, an Eastern European country, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and the independent states of the former Soviet Union. Allows such program eligibility also for the Republic of Ireland, the province of Northern Ireland in the United Kingdom, and any developing country as defined under the Education for the Deaf Act. Authorizes appropriations through FY 2004 for: (1) the We the People... The Citizen and the Constitution program and The Project Citizen program; and (2) the Cooperative Educational Exchange programs. (Sec. 3) Repeals title VI (International Education Program) of the Goals 2000: Educate America Act.
United States · United States Congress · 26 October 1999
Condemns the use of children as soldiers by governmental and nongovernmental armed forces worldwide. Expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) the United States should not oppose efforts to negotiate an optional international agreement to raise the international minimum age for military service to age 18; (2) the Secretary of State should address this issue in the next session of the United Nations working group relating to child soldiers before this process is abandoned by the international community; and (3) the President and the Congress should work together to enact a law that establishes a fund for the rehabilitation and reintegration into society of child soldiers.
United States · United States Congress · 25 October 1999
Providing Reliable Officers, Technology, Education, Community Prosecutors, and Training In Our Neighborhoods Act of 1999 or PROTECTION Act - Modifies provisions of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (the Act) regarding public safety and community policing ("cops on the beat" program, COPS) to authorize the Attorney General to use funding under COPS grants to: (1) increase prosecutor presence and to enhance law enforcement access to new technologies; (2) pay overtime to existing career law enforcement officers to the extent that such overtime is devoted to community policing efforts; and (3) promote higher education among in-service State and local law enforcement officers by reimbursing them for the costs associated with seeking a college or graduate school education. Includes among permitted additional grant projects: (1) specialized integrity and ethics training; (2) innovative proactive crime control and prevention programs involving school officials and religiously-affiliated organizations; (3) school-based partnerships between local law enforcement agencies and local school systems by using school resource officers who operate in and around elementary and secondary schools (current law) to serve as a law enforcement liaison with other Federal, State, and local law enforcement and regulatory agencies and to combat gang membership and criminal activity, firearms and explosives-related incidents, illegal use and possession of alcohol, and the illegal possession, use, and distribution of drugs; and (4) innovative programs that bring together a community's sheriff, police chief, and elderly residents to address the public safety concerns of older citizens. Authorizes the Attorney General to use up to five percent of appropriated funds for technical assistance and training to States, local governments, Indian tribal governments, and other public and private entities. Requires the technical assistance provided by the Attorney General to include the establishment and operation of regional community policing institutes training centers or facilities. Permits the functions of the centers or facilities to include instruction and seminars for specified individuals, including representatives of police labor and management organizations and community residents. Repeals provisions of the Act regarding: (1) termination of grants for hiring officers; and (2) preferential consideration of applications for certain grants. Allows grants to be used to assist: (1) police departments in employing specified professional, scientific, and technological advancements; and (2) State, local, or tribal prosecutors' offices in implementation of community-based prosecution programs that build on local community policing efforts. Reserves specified funds for units of local government with a population of less than 50,000. Authorizes the Attorney General to use no more than 50 percent of grant renewal funds to award grants targeted specifically for retention of police officers to grantees in good standing, with preference to those that demonstrate financial hardship or severe budget constraint that impacts the entire local budget and may result in the termination of employment for officers. Redefines: (1) "career law enforcement officer" to include sheriffs' deputies charged with supervising offenders who are released into the community but also engaged in local community policing efforts; and (2) "school resource officer" to mean a career law enforcement officer deployed in community-oriented policing and assigned to work in collaboration with schools and community-based organizations (as under current law) to engage in specified activities, including serving as a law enforcement liaison with other Federal, State, and local law enforcement and regulatory agencies to address and document crime and disorder problems, training students in conflict resolution and crime awareness, and assisting school administrators with the preparation of an annual report on the number of students expelled per year for bringing a weapon, firearm, or explosive to school. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 21 October 1999
Coral Reef Protection Act of 1999 - Declares that it is U.S. policy to conserve coral reefs and coral reef ecosystems. (Sec. 6) Authorizes the Secretary of Commerce to provide: (1) financial assistance for projects that provide for the restoration or conservation of coral reefs or coral reef ecosystems; and (2) technical assistance to any State or Federal agency with coral reef jurisdiction. (Sec. 7) Authorizes: (1) the conducting of activities that conserve coral reefs or coral reef ecosystems or that further public awareness and education; and (2) joint projects with any Federal, State, or local authority or financial assistance to any person for such activities. (Sec. 8) Prohibits a vessel that is otherwise qualified to be documented as a vessel of the United States from being documented if the owner has abandoned any vessel on a reef subject to U.S. jurisdiction and the vessel remains on the reef or was removed using funds under this Act or any other Act having environmental protection as its purpose, unless the owner has reimbursed the United States for the environmental damage and removal expenses. (Sec. 9) Makes any person who injures or creates a threat of injury to any coral, coral reef, or coral reef ecosystem jointly and severally liable to the United States for response costs and damages, related seizure, forfeiture, or storage costs, and related interests. Provides for vessel liability in rem and for related maritime liens on vessels. Declares that specified provisions relating to limitations on the liability of vessel owners, masters, and others do not limit the liability of any person or vessel under this title (sic). Authorizes the Secretary to undertake or authorize all necessary actions to prevent or minimize injury (or threat of injury) to any coral, coral reef, or coral reef ecosystem. Authorizes the Attorney General to commence a civil action against any person or vessel that may be liable under this section. Sets forth defenses and a time limit for commencing actions. (Sec. 10) Authorizes the Secretary to enter into an agreement with a foundation under which the foundation may use amounts available to carry out this section to build and support public-private partnerships that support research, management, or education regarding coral reef and reef ecosystem conservation and furthering this Act's purposes. (Sec. 11) Authorizes appropriations to carry out this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 18 October 1999
Amends Federal rail transportation law to prohibit a railroad carrier (including its officers and agents) from requiring a train employee who has been on duty or available for it for any portion of each of seven consecutive days to go on duty or be available for it until at least 72 consecutive hours have passed after the employee is released from duty or availability.
United States · United States Congress · 14 October 1999
Battered Immigrant Women Protection Act of 1999 - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to modify procedures and provide special rules for battered spouses and children with respect to: (1) adjustment of status; (2) removal and deportation; (3) implementation of immigration provisions in the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA); (4) waivers and exceptions to inadmissibility for otherwise qualified battered immigrants; (5) calculation of physical presence in VAWA cancellation of removal proceedings and suspension of deportation proceedings; (6) VAWA immigration protections; (7) VAWA cancellation of removal and adjustment of status for certain nonpermanent residents; and (8) good moral character determinations for self- petitioning immediate relatives. (Sec. 10) Prescribes guidelines for inapplicability of public charge determinations for designated aliens. Amends the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 to redefine "qualified alien" to include certain battered aliens for purposes of welfare and public benefits eligibility. Amends the Housing and Community Development Act of 1980 to declare restrictions on the use of assisted housing inapplicable to certain battered aliens. (Sec. 11) Amends the Departments of Commerce, Justice, and State, the Judiciary and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1998 to provide that requirements and restrictions placed upon Legal Services Corporation funding shall not be construed to prohibit a recipient from providing related legal assistance to certain aliens who have been battered or subjected to extreme cruelty. Directs the Violence Against Women Grants Office in the Department of Justice to report on services for underserved populations. Amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (Act) to include legal advocacy for domestic violence in immigration cases under the program of grants to encourage arrest policies. Includes alienage status within the definition of "underserved populations." Amends the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 to include immigration-related matters under the program of rural domestic violence and child abuse enforcement grants. Amends the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act to include alienage status within the scope of underserved populations. Amends the Department of Justice Appropriations Act, 1999 to obligate funds for grants to combat violence against women, which shall include immigration-related matters. Amends the Higher Education Amendments of 1998 to include immigration-related matters under the program of campus domestic violence grants. (Sec. 12) Amends the Act to require each branch of the U.S. military to train its supervisory military officers in domestic violence dynamics in military families, and the protections available for battered immigrant women and children. Expands the purposes of training grants to combat violent crimes against women to include: (1) training immigration and asylum officers and judges; and (2) training justice system personnel on the judicial ramifications of the Violence Against Women Act, and the potential immigration consequences for perpetrators of domestic violence. Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to express the intent of the Congress that statutory constraints upon the powers of immigration personnel not be construed as discouraging crime and domestic violence victims from reporting crimes to the police, from cooperating in criminal prosecutions, or from obtaining the legal relief needed for protection from ongoing violence. (Sec. 13) Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to establish a humanitarian-material witness nonimmigrant classification. (Sec. 14) Extends access for battered spouses and children under the Nicaraguan and Central American Relief Act, the Haitian Refugee Immigration Fairness Act of 1998, and Federal law relating to Cuban adjustment.
United States · United States Congress · 7 October 1999
Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that: (1) the Federal Government has a responsibility to continue to increase diabetes research funding, endeavor to raise awareness of the importance of the early detection and proper treatment, and consider ways to improve access to, and the quality of, health care services for diagnosing and treating diabetes; (2) all Americans should take an active role in fighting diabetes by using all the means available; and (3) national and community organizations and health care providers should endeavor to promote awareness of diabetes and its complications, and encourage early detection.
United States · United States Congress · 5 October 1999
Expresses the sense of Congress that the Secretary of each military department, in providing material, equipment, and training for members of veterans organizations and nongovernmental organizations for the support of veterans' funeral honors details, should: (1) include uniforms needed for such participation; and (2) provide such uniforms without charge upon a showing of financial need.
United States · United States Congress · 28 September 1999
Keep Our Promise to America's Military Retirees Act - Amends Federal employee provisions to include the following as an employee, for purposes of authorized enrollment under the Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) Program: (1) a member of the armed forces who began service before June 7, 1956, and retired after a minimum of 20 years of such service or by reason of a service-connected disability; and (2) the surviving widow or widower of such member. Directs the Secretary of Defense to enter into an agreement with the Office of Personnel Management to provide FEHB coverage to the following eligible beneficiaries: (1) a member or former member entitled to military retired or retainer pay who is also entitled to hospital insurance benefits under part A of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act; (2) an unremarried former spouse who was married to a member for at least 20 years, during which such member performed at least 20 years of retirement-creditable military service; (3) a dependent of a deceased qualifying member or former member; (4) a dependent of a living member or former member who is entitled to Medicare hospital insurance benefits; and (5) a family member of such member. Repeals a provision prohibiting coverage under the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Uniformed Services for persons entitled to hospital insurance benefits under part A of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Act.
United States · United States Congress · 23 September 1999
National Youth Technology Corps Act - Amends the Domestic Volunteer Service Act of 1973 to establish a National Youth Technology Corps (NYTC) as part of the Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA) program, using VISTA volunteers who are highly proficient in computer technologies. Includes under NYTC functions: (1) recruiting and organizing youth to implement and maintain computer systems for public schools, community centers, public senior centers, and libraries, and to teach students, teachers, senior citizens, and others how to use computer and other information technologies and systems; (2) promoting such youth's involvement in community services involving the use of technology; (3) promoting entrepreneurship among, and employment opportunities for, such youth in technology-related fields; and (4) providing recognition to affiliated youth and organizations for outstanding efforts and achievements. Requires assignment of such volunteers to projects and programs that meet the antipoverty criteria and provide assistance to persons who are unserved or underserved by computer education programs, according to specified priorities. Allows such programs and projects to be administered by various specified types of entities. Requires equitable distribution of such volunteers. Requires NYTC to consist of all VISTA volunteers who are working on the described projects and programs. Provides for proportionate reduction of NYTC funds for any fiscal year for which VISTA funding is reduced.
United States · United States Congress · 23 September 1999
Alliance for Technologically Trained Teachers Act - Amends title IV (Student Assistance) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 to include, among community service activities for which Federal work-study program funds may be used: (1) technology training; and (2) tutoring teachers in the uses of classroom technology. Requires institutions of higher education to use the following portions of their Federal work-study program grants as follows: (1) at least ten (currently seven) percent to compensate students employed in community service; and (2) at least three percent to compensate students employed in technology training or tutoring teachers in the uses of classroom technology (or both). Directs the Secretary of Education to: (1) study specified and other means of improving the efficiency of the technological training of teachers; and (2) report to Congress the results, including proposals for a comprehensive approach to providing technologically competent teachers to schools and a plan for accomplishing specified objectives determined to be feasible and effective.
United States · United States Congress · 22 September 1999
Calls upon the President: (1) not to participate in any international negotiation in which antidumping or antisubsidy rules are part of the negotiating agenda; (2) to refrain from submitting for congressional approval agreements that require changes to the current antidumping and countervailing duty laws and enforcement policies of the United States; and (3) to enforce the antidumping and countervailing duty laws vigorously in all pending and future cases.
United States · United States Congress · 21 September 1999
Access to Innovation for Medicare Patients Act of 1999 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide for Medicare coverage of self-injected biologicals approved by the Food and Drug Administration that are prescribed for use in the treatment of the same disease or medical condition in lieu of a drug or biological which cannot be self-administered.
United States · United States Congress · 21 September 1999
Pension Benefits Protection and Preservation Act of 1999 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code (the Code) and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to require the plan administrator of any large (100 or more participants) defined employee benefit plan (applicable plan) to notify each applicable individual of any adoption of plan amendments that may reduce future benefit accruals of one or more participants to a specified significant extent (plan amendments), with details on the change's possible effect on the individual's pension, at least 45 days before such a plan change becomes effective. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to enforce specified age discrimination provisions relating to pensions under the Code, without regard to the portion of the preamble to a specified Treasury Decision which relates to allocation of interest adjustments through normal retirement age under a cash balance plan. Declares that such preamble is, and has been since its adoption, without the force of law. Requires applicable plans to offer, in addition to the notice and written statement of benefit change, opportunity for applicable individual participants to elect to continue benefit accruals, without regard to such plan amendments, under the former defined benefit plan instead of under a cash benefit plan. Imposes an excise tax for the failure of any applicable pension plan to offer an opportunity to applicable participants to continue benefit accruals under the former defined benefit plan in the event of significant reductions in future plan accruals. Sets the amount of such tax at 50 percent of the excess pension assets in the plan. Makes the plan liable for such tax in the case of a multiemployer plan, and the employer liable in any other case. Prohibits pension plan amendments that reduce future accrued benefits for years of service for any participants in applicable plans (large defined benefit plans with 100 or more members). Sets forth criteria, under both the Code and ERISA, for determining when a pension plan amendment by an applicable plan shall be treated as reducing the accrued benefit of a participant.
United States · United States Congress · 21 September 1999
Amends the Puerto Rican Federal Relations Act to provide for the transfer of all Federal land within one mile surrounding the island of Vieques to the Government of Puerto Rico. Requires any Federal agency exercising control over such lands to be responsible for the removal and cleanup of any toxic or hazardous material contained in them.
United States · United States Congress · 15 September 1999
Medical Privacy in the Age of New Technologies Act of 1999 - Defines "health information trustee" (HIT) to mean a person or entity that creates, receives, obtains, maintains, uses, or transmits protected health information (PHI) and any employee, agent, or contractor of such a person. Title I: Individuals' Rights - Subtitle A: Review of Protected Health Information by Subjects of the Information - Requires a HIT to permit an individual who is the subject of PHI to inspect and copy the information, subject to cost reimbursement and exceptions. Subtitle B: Establishment of Safeguards - Requires a HIT to maintain: (1) administrative, technical, and physical confidentiality and accuracy safeguards; and (2) a record of any PHI disclosure not related to treatment. Prohibits HIT retaliation for actions under this Act. Title II: Restrictions on Use and Disclosure - Prohibits disclosures except: (1) as allowed under this title; (2) as compatible with the purposes for which the information was obtained or for the specific purpose for which an individual authorized disclosure; and (3) in the minimum amount necessary to accomplish the disclosure's purpose. (Sec. 202) Regulates disclosure authorizations, the disclosure of nonidentifiable information, and the creation of coded information. (Sec. 205) Specifies the criteria for disclosure: (1) to an individual's next of kin; (2) regarding directory information to any person; (3) in emergencies placing the information subject or another individual at serious risk; (4) to a health oversight agency; (5) to an accrediting body; (6) by a health care provider to a public health authority; (7) by a HIT to a health researcher; (8) by specified entities in connection with certain judicial and administrative proceedings; (9) by specified entities pursuant to a subpoena; and (10) by specified entities regarding subpoenas and warrants. Title III: Sanctions - Subtitle A: Civil Sanctions - Establishes a civil penalty for material failure to comply with this Act. Provides, if the violations have occurred with such frequency as to constitute a general business practice, for a higher civil penalty or exclusion from Medicare and Medicaid (titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act) or any other federally funded health care programs. (Sec. 302) Allows an individual aggrieved by a violation of this Act to bring a civil action for preliminary and equitable relief, actual or liquidated damages, and punitive damages. Allows assessment of attorney's fees. Subtitle B: Criminal Sanctions - Provides for criminal fines, imprisonment, or exclusion from Medicare, Medicaid, or any other federally funded health care program (or some combination of those penalties) for violations of this Act or this title. Title IV: Miscellaneous - Provides for: (1) the promulgation of regulations (and establishment of a related advisory group); and (2) the relationship of this Act to other laws.
United States · United States Congress · 15 September 1999
Medicare Vision Rehabilitation Coverage Act of 1999 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide for coverage of vision rehabilitation services under the Medicare program.
United States · United States Congress · 5 August 1999
Bipartisan Consensus Managed Care Improvement Act of 1999 - Title I: Improving Managed Care - Subtitle A: Grievances and Appeals - Requires a group health plan, and a health insurance issuer that provides health insurance coverage, to conduct utilization review activities that monitor or evaluate the use or coverage, clinical necessity, appropriateness, efficacy, or efficiency of health care services, procedures, or settings. (Sec. 102) Requires a plan and an issuer to provide appropriate notices to the participant, beneficiary, or enrollee for benefit claims it has denied that include reasons for denial and instructions for initiating specified internal appeals procedures, which must include procedures for an expedited review process in emergency situations. (Sec. 103) Outlines external appeals procedures for the timely resolution of certain denied claims through the use of qualified external appeal entities, which shall determine whether the plan's or issuer's decision is in accordance with the patient's medical needs. Declares that an external appeal entity's determination is binding on the plan and issuer involved. Provides for court-imposed civil monetary penalties and cease and desist orders against authorized officials of plan or issuers who refuse to timely follow the determination of an external appeal entity to provide a benefit. (Sec. 104) Requires a plan and an issuer to establish a system featuring specified components for the presentation and resolution of grievances brought by participants, beneficiaries, or enrollees, or health care providers or other individuals acting on behalf of an individual either with the individual's consent or without it if the individual is medically unable to provide it. Declares that grievances are not subject to appeal under this subtitle. Subtitle B: Access to Care - Provides that if an issuer offers coverage of services only if they are furnished through members of a network of health care professionals and providers contracting with the issuer, the issuer shall also offer the option of coverage of such services which are not furnished through members of such a network, unless enrollees are offered such non-network coverage through another plan or issuer in the group market. Makes the enrollee bear the cost of any additional premium the issuer charges for such option, and the amount of any additional cost sharing, unless it is paid by the health plan sponsor through agreement with the issuer. (Sec. 112) States that if a plan or an issuer requires or provides for designation of a participating primary care provider by a participant, a beneficiary, or an enrollee, then the plan or issuer shall permit each such person to designate any participating primary care provider available to accept such individual. Requires a plan and an issuer to permit each participant, beneficiary, or enrollee to receive medically necessary or appropriate speciality care, pursuant to appropriate referral procedures, from any qualified participating health care professional available to accept such individual. Waives such requirement in the case of specialty care if the plan or issuer clearly informs each participant, beneficiary, and enrollee of the limitations on choice of participating professionals with respect to such care. (Sec. 113) Requires a plan or an issuer providing any emergency hospital benefits to cover emergency services: (1) without the need for any prior authorization determination; (2) whether or not the health care provider furnishing such services is a participating health care provider; and (3) without regard to any other term or condition of such coverage (other than exclusion or coordination of benefits, or an affiliation or waiting period, permitted under the Public Health Service Act, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), or the Internal Revenue Code, and other than applicable cost-sharing). Requires such coverage in a manner so that, if the emergency services are provided by a nonparticipating health care provider with or without prior authorization or by a participating provider without such authorization, the participant, beneficiary, or enrollee is not liable for amounts exceeding the liability that would be incurred if the services were provided by a participating provider with prior authorization. Prescribes the same coverage for maintenance care or post-stabilization care (subject to certain guidelines) by nonparticipating health care providers. (Sec. 114) Requires plans and issuers to refer participants, beneficiaries, or enrollees who have a serious disease or condition requiring treatment by a specialist to an appropriate specialist who is available and accessible (regardless of whether the specialist is participating or nonparticipating), provided the benefits for such treatment are covered by the plan or issuer. Sets forth rules governing referrals and specialists. (Sec. 115) Prohibits a plan or an issuer that requires or provides for designation of a participating primary care professional from requiring authorization or a referral by such primary care professional for gynecological care and pregnancy-related services provided by a participating health care professional (including a specialist). Requires the plan or issuer to treat the ordering of other obstetrical or gynecological care by such a participating professional as the authorization of the primary care professional. (Sec. 116) Requires certain plans and issuers to permit an enrollee to designate a pediatrician as a primary care provider for the enrollee's child. (Sec. 117) Prescribes requirements for continuity of care during a transition period for participants, beneficiaries, or enrollees undergoing treatment for an ongoing special condition in the event of a termination of: (1) a contract between the plan or an issuer and a health care provider; or (2) a contract between a plan and an issuer that results in the termination of coverage of services of a health care provider. Prescribes a 90-day basic transition period, with specified extensions in the case of scheduled surgery and organ transplantation, pregnancy, or terminal illness. (Sec. 118) Provides that a plan or issuer restricting prescription drug benefits to drugs included in a formulary to: (1) ensure participation of participating physicians in development of the formulary; (2) disclose to providers, and upon request to participants, beneficiaries, and enrollees, the nature of the formulary restrictions; and (3) consistent with the standards for a utilization review program, provide for exceptions from the formulary limitation when a non-formulary alternative is medically indicated. (Sec. 119) Prohibits a plan or issuer from: (1) denying individual participation in an approved clinical trial; (2) denying or limiting or imposing additional conditions on the coverage of routine patient costs for items and services furnished in connection with participation in the trial; and (3) discriminating against the individual on the basis of the enrollee's participation in such trial. Subtitle C: Access to Information - Specifies benefits, access, emergency coverage, prior authorization, grievance and appeals, and other pertinent information which plans and issuers shall provide to participants and beneficiaries at the time of initial coverage, annually, within a reasonable period before or after the date of significant changes, and upon request. Subtitle D: Protecting the Doctor-Patient Relationship - Prohibits any contract or agreement between a plan or issuer and a health care provider from prohibiting or otherwise restricting a health care professional from advising a participant, beneficiary, or enrollee who is the professional's patient about his or her health status or medical care or treatment for his or her condition or disease, regardless of whether benefits for such care or treatment are provided under the plan or coverage, if the professional is acting within the lawful scope of practice. Declares null and void any such contract or agreement provisions. (Sec. 132) Prohibits a plan or issuer from discriminating with respect to participation or indemnification as to any provider acting within the scope of the provider's license or certification, solely on the basis of such license or certification. (Sec. 133) Prohibits any plan or issuer from operating any physician incentive plan that does not meet certain requirements under title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act. (Sec. 134) Requires a plan or issuer to provide for prompt payment of claims in a manner consistent with Medicare clean claims requirements. (Sec. 135) Sets forth prohibitions and requirements for protection of: (1) participants, beneficiaries, enrollees, and health care providers in their use of a utilization review or grievance process; and (2) health care professionals for good faith disclosure of information to an appropriate agency or body in the interest of quality advocacy. Subtitle E: Definitions - Sets forth definitions. Title II: Application of Quality Care Standards to Group Health Plans and Health Insurance Coverage Under The Public Health Service Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require each plan and issuer to comply with the patient protection requirements of this Act. (Sec. 202) Requires each health insurance issuer to comply with such requirements with respect to individual health insurance coverage. Title III: Amendments to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 - Amends ERISA to: (1) require each plan and issuer to comply with the patient protection requirements of this Act; and (2) deem a plan in compliance with subtitle A of title I of this Act to be in compliance with ERISA's claim procedure requirement with respect to claims denial. (Sec. 302) Declares that nothing in ERISA shall be construed to invalidate, impair, or supersede any cause of action under State law by a participant or beneficiary (or by his or her estate) to recover damages resulting from personal injury or wrongful death against any person (except employers and other plan sponsors) in connection with the provision of insurance, administrative services, or medical services by that person to or for a group health plan, or that arises out of the arrangement by that person for the provision of insurance, administrative services, or medical services by other persons. Denies plan or issuer liability for punitive damages in any cause of action relating to an externally appealable decision when: (1) the appeal has been completed; and (2) the plan or issuer has complied with the determination of the external appeal entity. Allows an action against an employer or other plan sponsor (or an employee of one or the other acting within the scope of employment) if it is based on the employer's or sponsor's exercise of discretionary authority to decide a claim for covered benefits, and such exercise has resulted in personal injury or wrongful death. Title IV: Application to Group Health Plans Under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to require a group health plan to comply with this Act. Deems the requirements of this Act to be incorporated into the Internal Revenue Code. Title V: Effective Dates; Coordination in Implementation - Sets forth effective dates for provisions of this Act. (Sec. 502) Requires the Secretaries of Labor, of Health and Human Services, and of the Treasury to ensure coordination in the implementation of this Act. Title VI: Health Care Paperwork Simplification - Establishes the Health Care Panel to Devise a Uniform Explanation of Benefits to devise a single form for use by third-party health care payers for the remittance of claims to providers.
United States · United States Congress · 5 August 1999
Seniors in Our Schools Act - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to require that senior citizens be given an opportunity to serve as mentors, tutors, and volunteers for: (1) 21st Century Learning Centers; and (2) State Governors', local, and national programs for drug and violence prevention.
United States · United States Congress · 5 August 1999
Access to Excellence in Education for the 21st Century Act - Title I: Helping Disadvantaged Children Meet High Standards - Subtitle A: Improving Basic Programs Operated by Local Educational Agencies - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) to extend through FY 2005 the authorization of appropriations under ESEA title I (Helping Disadvantaged Children Meet High Standards) for: (1) local educational agency (LEA) grants under part A; (2) education of migratory children under part C; and (3) certain Federal activities under provisions for coordination of Federal, State, and local administration. (Sec. 104) Revises ESEA title I provisions for State and Federal reservations of funds for accountability and evaluation (currently reservation and allocation for school improvement). (Sec. 105) Revises ESEA title I part A (Improving Basic Programs Operated by Local Educational Agencies) requirements for: (1) State plans; (2) LEA plans; (3) eligible school attendance areas; (4) schoolwide programs; (5) targeted assistance schools; (6) school choice; (7) assessment and LEA and school improvement; (8) State assistance for school support and improvement; (9) parental involvement; (10) parent training and information centers (currently parental information and resource centers); and (11) participation of children enrolled in private schools. (Sec. 115) Revises requirements for professional development activities under part A. Adds teacher qualification requirements. Requires each LEA receiving assistance under part A to: (1) hire qualified instructional staff; (2) provide high-quality professional development that will improve teaching and learning in core content areas; and (3) use at least five percent of its allocation under part A for FY 2001 and 2002, and ten percent of that allocation for subsequent fiscal years, for that professional development. Requires each LEA to ensure, in programs supported with part A funds, that: (1) all new teachers either are certified in the field in which they will teach or have a bachelors degree and are enrolled in a program through which they will obtain such certification within three years; and (2) all paraprofessionals meet specified educational requirements and perform only certain duties. (Sec. 117) Authorizes an LEA to use part A funds to provide certain preschool services: (1) directly to eligible preschool children in all or part of its jurisdiction; (2) through any school participating in the LEA's part A program; or (3) through a contract with a local Head Start agency, a partnership operating an Even Start program, a State-funded preschool program, or a comparable public early-childhood development program. Allows such preschool programs to be operated and funded jointly with Even Start programs (under ESEA title I part B), Head Start programs, or State-funded preschool programs. Requires all preschool programs funded under part A to: (1) focus on developmental needs of participating children and use research-based approaches that build on competencies, particularly in language, literacy development, and reading; and (2) ensure that participating children, at a minimum, understand and use language and an increasingly complex and varied vocabulary, and develop an appreciation of books and phonemic, print, and numeracy awareness. (Sec. 118) Revises the formula for determining minimum and maximum amounts of basic grants to LEAs and to the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. (Sec. 119) Requires each State receiving part A assistance to report annually to the Secretary of Education with respect to its progress in meeting specified program indicators for participating schools and LEAs, and to use such indicators to improve its program performance. Subtitle B: Education of Migratory Children - Amends ESEA title I part C (Education of Migratory Children) to repeal provisions for consortium arrangement grants. (Sec. 132) Revises provisions for shared student incentive grants to improve interstate coordination among programs for migratory children who attend school in more than one State. (Sec. 133) Revises part C provisions relating to: (1) parental involvement; (2) consolidated plans; (3) schoolwide programs; and (4) data collection. (Sec. 137) Establishes a National Parent Advisory Council to advise the Secretary on the implementation of part C programs and coordination with other programs serving migratory children and families. (Sec. 138) Sets forth part C requirements for regulations and negotiated rulemaking. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 139) Directs the Secretary to spend a specified minimum amount annually, from ESEA title I appropriations, to establish and maintain a technical assistance center to provide assistance to ESEA title I part C programs and to special programs for students whose families are engaged in migrant and seasonal farmwork under the Higher Education Act of 1965. Subtitle C: Federal Evaluations - Revises provisions for evaluations of ESEA title I programs. Sets forth requirements relating to a national assessment of such programs, studies and data collection, and an ongoing national longitudinal study of schools. Title II: Bilingual Education - Revises part A (Bilingual Education) of title VII (Bilingual Education, Language Enhancement, and Language Acquisition Programs) of ESEA. (Sec. 202) Adds to the declaration of U.S. policy with respect to bilingual education programs: (1) ensuring limited English proficient children also meet challenging State standards in the core content areas, including the ability to understand, speak, read and write English at the same level as native English speakers; (2) developing fully bilingual-biliterate skills; and (3) developing the English and native language skills of such children and youth. (Sec. 203) Authorizes appropriations for part A. (Sec. 204) Establishes accountability requirements for programs funded under part A subpart 1 (Bilingual Education Capacity and Demonstration Grants). Requires such programs to assess annually the English proficiency of all limited English proficient students they serve. Requires such students to be: (1) included in State assessments of academic performance; and (2) assessed, to the extent practicable, in the language and form most likely to yield accurate and reliable information on what those students know, and can do, in content areas other than English. Provides that tests written in Spanish shall be deemed practicable when administered to Spanish-speaking students with limited English proficiency if such tests are more likely than tests written in English to yield accurate and reliable information on what those students know and can do in content areas other than English. Requires such students who have been in U.S. schools (not including Puerto Rico) for five consecutive years or more to be tested in reading and language arts using tests written in English. Authorizes a State or school district, based upon the scores of a student on the tests, to determine that a student is sufficiently proficient to be tested in reading and language arts using tests written in English, prior to the completion of five years in U.S. schools. Prohibits removal of any student from a program of bilingual education or English as a second language based upon performance on the test. (Sec. 205) Provides for multilingual education by requiring promotion of proficiency both in English and in their native language for limited English proficient students served under various grant programs of financial assistance for bilingual education, including program development and implementation grants. Revises application and evaluation provisions to reflect such requirement. Includes among criteria for priority funding the establishment of programs for dual language proficiency in English and students' native languages. (Sec. 206) Provides for three-year grants for program development and enhancement. (Replaces current provisions for two-year grants for program enhancement projects with a required activity involving inservice training for educational personnel, as well as other specified authorized activities.) Requires such program development and enhancement grants to be used for: (1) developing and implementing comprehensive, preschool, elementary, or secondary education programs for children and youth with limited English proficiency, that are aligned with standards-based State and local school reform efforts and coordinated with other relevant programs and services to meet the full range of educational needs of such children and youth; (2) providing high-quality professional development to classroom teachers, administrators, and other school or community-based organization personnel to improve the instruction and assessment of limited English proficient students; and (3) annually assessing the English proficiency of all limited English proficient students served by the program. Sets forth authorized uses of such grants. (Sec. 207) Revises provisions for comprehensive school grants to establish certain required uses of funds and to revise additional authorized uses. Prohibits a grant recipient from: (1) using funds for planning purposes for more than 90 days; or (2) carrying out a program for more than two schools for each such grant it receives. (Sec. 208) Revises provisions for systemwide improvement grants to establish certain required uses of funds and to revise additional authorized uses. Makes any entity not receiving a satisfactory evaluation of a grant ineligible to apply for another such grant for at least three years. (Sec. 209) Revises requirements for documentation, content, and other aspects of applications for awards under subpart 1. Limits to a maximum of 25 percent that portion of a grant or total funding under subpart 1 which may be used for programs that do not use students' native language. Transfers and retains certain provisions authorizing grant recipients to intensify instruction for limited English proficient students by expanding education services. (Sec. 210) Revises evaluation components under subpart 1. Requires such evaluations to be annual. Directs the Secretary to establish certain performance measures. (Sec. 211) Revises provisions for research under subpart 2 (Research, Evaluation, and Dissemination). (Sec. 212) Revises subpart 2 provisions for the State grant program to add to required uses of funds SEA assistance to LEAs in developing data collection and accountability systems for limited English proficient students that are aligned with State reform efforts. (Sec. 213) Directs the Secretary to establish and support a National Clearinghouse on Education of Children and Youth with Limited English proficiency. (Replaces provisions for the National Clearinghouse on Bilingual Education.) (Sec. 214) Revises subpart 2 provisions for instructional materials development to authorize grants for development, publication, and dissemination of instructional materials: (1) in other low-incidence languages (as well as in Native American, Hawaiian, Pacific islanders and other natives of outlying areas, as in current grant provisions) in the United States for which instruction materials are not readily available; and (2) on standards and assessments, and instructional programs related to the education of children and youth with limited English proficiency, for dissemination to parents of such children and youth. (Sec. 215) Revises subpart 3 (Professional Development) to eliminate a reference to dissemination of information on appropriate instructional practices. (Sec. 216) Revises the subpart 3 training for all teachers program to direct its professional development services to those educational personnel with baccalaureate degrees to improve their provision of services to limited English proficient students or to become certified as a bilingual or English as a second language teacher. Authorizes such program grants to LEAs or to LEAs in consortium with SEAs, higher education institutions, or nonprofit organizations. Limits grant duration to three years (currently five). Sets forth specified required and authorized uses of funds. (Sec. 217) Revises provisions for grants for preservice professional development of bilingual education teachers and personnel. Authorizes such grants to higher education institutions. Requires recipients to coordinate their grant programs with other appropriate programs. Sets forth specified required and authorized uses of funds. (Sec. 218) Revises the bilingual education career ladder program to require grant recipient consortia to coordinate with other relevant programs and use all existing sources of student financial aid before using grant funds to pay tuition and stipends for participating students. Requires special consideration for grant applications of programs that provide training in English as a second language, including developing proficiency in the instructional use of English and, as appropriate, a second language in classroom contexts. (Sec. 219) Revises provisions for graduate fellowships in bilingual education program to eliminate post-doctoral fellowships. (Sec. 220) Revises requirements for applications for awards under subpart 3. (Sec. 221) Revises provisions for program evaluations under subpart 3. (Sec. 222) Establishes a new subpart 4, Model Programs for Parent Involvement Applications. Directs the Secretary to make competitive grants to LEAs for model programs to: (1) assist parents of limited English proficient students in making informed educational decisions for their children; and (2) assist such parents in meeting their own educational needs. Includes as eligible to apply for such grants consortia consisting of at least one LEA and one community-based organization, and other entities. Sets forth separate requirements for such grant programs that provide information to such parents in making decisions about their children's education and those that assist such parents with their own educational needs. Requires that total funds for such grants be divided equally between those two purposes. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 223) Sets forth new subpart 5 transition provisions for part A of title VII of ESEA. (Sec. 224) Adds certain findings with respect to the Emergency Immigrant Education Program (EIEP) under part C of title VII of ESEA. (Sec. 225) Revises provisions for State administrative costs under EIEP. (Sec. 226) Defines reclassification rate as the annual percentage of limited English proficient students who have met the State criteria for no longer being considered limited English proficient. (Sec. 227) Revises title VII provisions for regulations, parental notification, and use of paraprofessionals. (Sec. 229) Repeals ESEA title VII part A current provisions for: (1) program development and implementation grants; (2) intensified instruction; (3) funding priorities; and (4) coordination with other programs. Repeals the Foreign Language Assistance Program (the entire current part B of title VII of ESEA). Title III: High School Reform - Revises ESEA title X (Programs of National Significance) to establish a new part H, High School Reform. (Sec. 302) Authorizes the Secretary to make competitive grants to LEAs for high school reform activities. Limits each such grant to a maximum of three years. Prohibits assistance to any high school under more than one such grant. Sets forth required principles and components of educational reforms by grantees. Requires each grantee to: (1) provide for equitable participation of private school personnel in professional development activities it carries out with grant funds; and (2) make available to private schools, at their request, information about curricular materials developed using grant funds. Directs the Secretary to reserve some part H funds for: (1) incentive awards; (2) recognition, dissemination, networks, and peer review; and (3) evaluation. Authorizes appropriations. Title IV: Dropout Prevention and State Responsibilities - Revises ESEA title V part C Assistance to Address School Dropout Problems. (Replaces current part C provisions known as the School Dropout Assistance Act). (Sec. 402) Establishes: (1) a subpart 1 coordinated national strategy; and (2) a national school dropout prevention initiative. Sets forth the subpart 1 coordinated national strategy. Makes it a national priority, for the five-year period beginning on the date of enactment of this Act, to lower the school dropout rate, and increase school completion, for middle school and secondary school students in accordance with Federal law. Requires all Federal agencies that carry out activities that serve students at risk of dropping out of school or that are intended to help address the school dropout problem to make school dropout prevention a top priority in the agencies' funding priorities during such five-year period. Directs the Secretary to collect systematic data on the participation of different racial and ethnic groups (including migrant and limited English proficient students) in all Federal programs. Requires, as part of the national school dropout prevention strategy, the Director of the Office of Dropout Prevention and Program Completion to develop, implement, and monitor an interagency plan to assess the coordination, use of resources, and availability of funding under Federal law that can be used to address school dropout prevention, or middle school or secondary school reentry. Requires the plan to address: (1) program coordination, targeting of existing Federal services, and cost-effectiveness of various programs and approaches; (2) ways in which State and local agencies can implement effective school dropout prevention programs using funds from a variety of Federal programs; and (3) all Federal programs with school dropout prevention or school reentry elements or objectives. Requires the Director to establish, through a competitive grant or contract, a national clearinghouse on effective school dropout prevention, intervention and reentry programs. Requires the clearinghouse to: (1) disseminate such data by an electronically accessible database, a Worldwide Web site, and a national journal; and (2) provide technical assistance regarding securing resources for programs. Requires the Director to carry out a national recognition program that recognizes schools that have made extraordinary progress in lowering school dropout rates, under which a public middle school or secondary school from each State will be recognized, using uniform national guidelines and school nominations submitted by SEAs. Authorizes monetary awards to recognized schools, for dissemination activities within the school district or nationally. Sets forth the subpart 2 National School Dropout Prevention Initiative. Directs the Secretary to make State allotments for such program based on relative amounts received under ESEA title I. Authorizes SEAs to use allotments to award grants to public middle schools or secondary schools that have school dropout rates which are in the highest one-third of all school dropout rates in the State, for only the startup and implementation costs of effective, sustainable, coordinated, and whole school dropout prevention programs. Includes among authorized program activities: (1) professional development; (2) obtaining curricular materials; (3) release time for professional staff; (4) planning and research; (5) remedial education; (6) reduction in pupil-to-teacher ratios; (7) efforts to meet State student achievement standards; and (8) counseling for at-risk students. Expresses the intent of Congress that such activities shall be continued with funding provided under part A of title I of ESEA. Sets forth determining factors and limits relating to grant amounts and duration. Requires the Director to increase the amount awarded to a school under the initiative grant program by ten percent if the school creates smaller learning communities within the school and the creation is certified by the SEA. Requires each school receiving such a grant to implement research based, sustainable, and widely replicated, strategies for school dropout prevention and reentry that address the needs of an entire school population rather than a subset of students. Allows such strategies to include: (1) specific strategies for targeted purposes; and (2) approaches such as breaking larger schools down into smaller learning communities, and other comprehensive reform approaches, developing clear linkages to career skills and employment, and addressing specific gatekeeper hurdles that often limit student retention and academic success. Requires the Director to: (1) annually establish and publish the principles, criteria, models, and other parameters regarding the types of effective, proven program models that are allowed to be used under the initiative program, based on existing research; (2) conduct a capacity building and design initiative in order to increase the types of proven strategies for dropout prevention on a schoolwide level (through a limited contract with a non-Federal entity); (3) support eligible entities to provide training, materials, development, and staff assistance to schools assisted under the initiative program. Sets forth initiative program requirements relating to: (1) selection of schools; (2) dissemination activities; (3) progress incentives; (4) school dropout rate calculation; (5) reporting and accountability; and (6) a prohibition on tracking. Authorizes appropriations for the ESEA part C: (1) subpart 1 coordinated national strategy; and (2) subpart 2 national school dropout prevention initiative. (Sec. 403) Amends the Department of Education Organization Act to establish in the Department of Education an Office of Dropout Prevention and Program Completion, to be administered by the Director. Requires the Director, through the Office, to: (1) help coordinate Federal, State, and local efforts to lower school dropout rates and increase program completion by middle school, secondary school, and college students; (2) recommend Federal policies, objectives, and priorities to lower school dropout rates and increase program completion; (3) oversee the implementation of subpart 2 of part C of title V of ESEA; (4) develop and implement the National School Dropout Prevention Strategy under ESEA; (5) submit to Congress and the Secretary annual national reports describing efforts and recommended actions regarding school dropout prevention and program completion; (6) recommend action to the Secretary and the President, as appropriate, regarding school dropout prevention and program completion; and (7) consult with and assist State and local governments regarding school dropout prevention and program completion. Includes under the scope of the Director's duties examination of all Federal and non-Federal efforts related to: (1) promotion of program completion for children attending middle school or secondary school; (2) programs to obtain a secondary school diploma or its recognized equivalent (including general equivalency diploma (GED) programs), or college degree programs; and (3) reentry programs for individuals aged 12 to 24 who are out of school. (Sec. 404) Revises ESEA title XIV (General Provisions) to add a new part I, Dropout Prevention. Requires SEAs, in order to receive any assistance under ESEA, to comply with specified provisions regarding school dropouts, including requirements relating to: (1) uniform data collection; (2) attendance neutral funding policies; and (3) suspension and expulsion policies.
United States · United States Congress · 5 August 1999
Veterans' Emergency Telephone Service Act of 1999 - Authorizes the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to award a grant to a private, nonprofit entity for the operation of a national, toll-free telephone hotline providing information and assistance to veterans and their families, including crisis intervention counseling, general veterans' benefits information, emergency shelter and food, substance abuse rehabilitation, employment training and related opportunities, and small business assistance programs. Limits such grant to a two-year period, subject to annual approval by the Secretary. Authorizes appropriations for FY 2000 and 2001.
United States · United States Congress · 5 August 1999
Central American and Haitian Adjustment Act of 1999 - Amends the Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act (Act) to: (1) extend permanent resident status adjustment provisions to qualifying Salvadoran, Guatemalan, Honduran, and Haitian nationals; and (2) extend the application filing deadline. Permits certain pending applications filed by Salvadoran or Guatemalan nationals under the Act or Haitian nationals under the Haitian Refugee Immigration Fairness Act of 1998 to be converted to an application for status adjustment under the Act. Amends such Acts to: (1) authorize the Attorney General to waive certain grounds of inadmissibility; and (2) provide for issuance of immigrant visas to certain spouses and children. Provides for the limited reopening of certain orders of deportation, exclusion, or removal by certain Haitian, Cuban, or Nicaraguan nationals.
United States · United States Congress · 5 August 1999
Expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) the United States, Russia, and other nuclear powers should negotiate an agreement to take all of their nuclear weapons off of high-alert status to decrease the risk of accidental firing; (2) the United States should immediately take off of hair-trigger alert as many of its nuclear weapons as is feasible and consistent with national security, and should encourage Russia to reciprocate; (3) the Department of Defense and the State Department should study methods to increase the time needed to launch all nuclear missiles and study the effect these actions would have on nuclear deterrence, relations with other recognized nuclear powers, the international nuclear non-proliferation regime, and other aspects of national security; and (4) the President should expedite the establishment of a U.S.-Russian joint early-warning center and should facilitate the establishment of a temporary center before the end of 1999 that could address any problems which might arise due to the failure of computers to recognize the year 2000 date change.
United States · United States Congress · 4 August 1999
Persian Gulf War Syndrome Compensation Act of 1999 - Considers the following chronic symptoms from which a Persian Gulf War veteran with Persian Gulf War Syndrome is suffering to be service-connected, and therefore compensable under veterans' disability provisions, notwithstanding that there is no record of evidence of such symptoms during the period of such service: (1) joint pain; (2) muscle pain; (3) fatigue; (4) severe headache; (5) memory loss; (6) respiratory disorder; (7) sleep disturbances; (8) skin rash; and (9) circulatory disorders.
![Official portrait of Rescom. Romero-Barcelo, Carlos A. [D-PR-At Large]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/r000417_200.jpg)