United States · United States Congress · 16 March 1999
Crop Insurance Improvement Act of 1999 - Amends the Federal Crop Insurance Act to authorize, and set forth criteria for, cost of production insurance coverage. Establishes specified yield determination criteria for certain producers who have adopted rotation practices, including a three-year actual production history requirement. Amends the Agricultural Market Transition Act with respect to the noninsured crop disaster assistance program to: (1) permit similar crop or commodity varieties to be considered as a single eligible crop; (2) require annual submission of crop records; (3) increase coverage; (4) provide individual assistance without area loss requirements; (5) eliminate the natural disaster loss requirement for prevented planting assistance; (6) revise yield determination provisions; (7) establish payment provisions for new crops; and (8) establish a service fee.
United States · United States Congress · 16 March 1999
Commends U.S. Senator J. Robert Kerrey of Nebraska, on the 30th anniversary of the events giving rise to his receiving the Medal of Honor, for service to the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 8 March 1999
Agricultural Trade Freedom Act - Amends the Agricultural Trade Act of 1978 to exempt, with specified exceptions, commercial sales of agricultural commodities from unilateral economic sanctions imposed by the United States upon another country. States that the President: (1) may determine that for reasons of foreign policy or national security such exemption shall not apply; and (2) shall determine whether such exemption shall apply to each existing sanction. Sets forth related reporting requirements. Expresses the sense of the Congress with respect to: (1) U.S. agricultural trade negotiation objectives; (2) sale or barter of food assistance; and (3) relief from foreign trade practices restricting U.S. agricultural commodities, including the use of specified agricultural authorities in instances of undue delay in resolving disputes. Amends the Agricultural Trade Development and Assistance Act of 1954 to repeal the micronutrient fortification pilot program. Makes specified amendments to the: (1) Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996; (2) Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990; and (3) Agricultural Trade Act of 1978.
United States · United States Congress · 8 March 1999
Class Size Reduction and Teacher Quality Act of 1999 - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to establish a grants program to help States and local educational agencies recruit, train, and hire 100,000 additional teachers over a seven-year period in order to: (1) reduce class sizes nationally, in grades one through three, to an average of 18 students per classroom; and (2) improve teaching in the early grades so that all students can learn to read independently and well by the end of the third grade. Authorizes appropriations. Sets forth program requirements for: (1) allotments to States; (2) within-State allocations; (3) local uses of funds; and (4) cost-sharing.
United States · United States Congress · 5 March 1999
Post Office Community Partnership Act of 1999 - Modifies Federal postal law to revise requirements for the closing or consolidation of a post office and apply them, as well, to its relocation or construction. Requires a 60-day notice before an office's relocation, closing, consolidation, or construction. Requires such notice to be: (1) hand delivered or delivered by mail; and (2) published in one or more newspapers of general circulation within the zip codes served by such post office. Sets forth provisions which: (1) allow any person served by the post office to offer an alternative relocation, closing, consolidation, or construction proposal within such 60-day period; and (2) require the Postal Service to conduct a hearing, if requested by such person, to allow the individual to present oral or written testimony. Revises the factors to be considered in deciding whether or not to relocate, close, consolidate, or construct a post office to include: (1) the extent to which the post office is part of a core downtown business area; (2) the sentiment of the community; (3) the adequacy of the existing post office; and (4) whether all reasonable alternatives to relocation, closing, consolidation, or construction have been explored. Requires the Postal Service to respond in a consolidated report to all of the alternative proposals offered within the 60-day notification period by persons served by the post office in question. Requires the Postal Service to follow a community's public participation procedures to address the relocation, closing, consolidation, or construction of buildings in the community if such procedures are more stringent than those provided in this Act. Provides that nothing in this Act shall be construed to apply to a temporary customer service facility used for less than 60 days. Allows for a one-time suspension of this Act with respect to a single emergency for any specific post office for a maximum 180-day period.
United States · United States Congress · 4 March 1999
Credit for Voluntary Reductions Act - Authorizes the President to enter into legally binding early action agreements with any person under which the United States agrees to provide greenhouse gas reduction credit usable beginning in the compliance period (during which a domestic greenhouse gas regulatory statute is in effect) if such person reduces greenhouse gas emissions or sequesters carbon before the end of the credit period. Defines the credit period as: (1) the period of January 1, 1999, through the earlier of the day before the compliance period begins or the end of the ninth calendar year beginning after enactment of this Act; or (2) a different period determined under extension or adjustment provisions of this Act . (Sec. 5) Requires a participant to receive greenhouse gas reduction credit under such an agreement if such participant takes an action that: (1) reduces such emissions or sequesters carbon before the end of the credit period; and (2) will result in an addition to the U.S. quantified emission limitation for the compliance period under any applicable international agreement. Authorizes agreements to entitle a participant to receive credit for a reduction or sequestration that is not creditable under such requirements and is for a project accepted before December 31, 2000, under the U.S. Initiative for Joint Implementation, financing for which was provided or construction of which was commenced before such date. Limits the period in which credit may be earned to the earlier of the earliest date on which credit may be earned for a reduction, sequestration, or comparable project under an international agreement or the end of the credit period. Grants a participant credit if, during the credit period, the participant's aggregate greenhouse gas emissions from domestic sources covered by the agreement are less than the sum of the participant's annual source baselines during such period. Treats the amount by which the aggregate net carbon sequestration for such period in a participant's domestic carbon reservoirs exceeds the sum of the annual reservoir baselines for such period as an emission reduction. Sets forth circumstances under which a participant is entitled to receive one ton of reduction credit for reductions or sequestration for 1991 through 1998. Authorizes an extension of the period during which credit may be earned if the Congress so permits by law. Entitles participants, at the end of the credit period, to one ton of reduction credit for each creditable ton. (Sec. 6) Establishes annual source or reservoir baselines for the years in the credit period equal to a participant's average annual greenhouse gas emissions from domestic sources or average level of carbon stocks in reservoirs during a 1996 through 1998 base period, with specified adjustments. Provides for alternative base periods if data is unavailable or unrepresentative. Authorizes participants to elect a base period earlier than 1996 through 1998 (excluding years earlier than 1990) to reflect voluntary reductions made before 1996. Provides for adjustment of the period during which credit may be earned if an election is made for a base period earlier than 1996. (Sec. 7) Requires agreements to cover all greenhouse gas sources that a participant owns on the date on which an agreement is entered into. Permits agreements to exclude small or diverse sources or sources owned by more than one person. Authorizes coverage for other owned sources and reservoirs. (Sec. 8) Establishes reporting, measurement, and verification procedures and requires public availability of participants' reports. (Sec. 9) Permits the President to enter into agreements that do not meet this Act's requirements with participants that manufacture or construct for sale to end-users equipment or facilities that emit greenhouse gases if such requirements are infeasible and such agreements would achieve comparable tonnage reductions. (Sec. 10) Permits participants to purchase credit from and sell credit to other participants and sell credit to non-participants. Authorizes pooling arrangements under which a group of participants acts as a single participant for purposes of entering into an agreement. (Sec. 11) Requires agreements to provide that: (1) credit earned under an agreement shall be provided in addition to any otherwise available authorizations of the participant to emit greenhouse gases in the first compliance period under a domestic statute; and (2) if the allocation of authorizations under such statute is based on the level of a participant's emissions in a historic period later than the participant's base period under the agreement, any credit to which the participant was entitled during such historic period shall be added back to the participant's emissions level for such period.
United States · United States Congress · 4 March 1999
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Crop Insurance Coverage Title II: Federal Crop Insurance Corporation and Risk Management Agency Crop Insurance for the 21st Century Act - Title I: Crop Insurance Coverage - Amends the Federal Crop Insurance Act to specify expected market price criteria for revenue or production-based insurance. Provides for 75 percent additional coverage. Revises Federal Crop Insurance Corporation premium subsidy provisions, including making provision for certain mandatory and discretionary payments. (Sec. 102) Provides average production history adjustments for: (1) new producers; (2) producers who are working new land or rotating crops; or (3) producers suffering from multiyear disaster losses. (Sec. 104) Authorizes the Corporation to pay a part of the premiums for specified additional coverage. (Sec. 105) Directs the Office of Risk Management to contract for a rating methodologies development pilot program. (Sec. 106) Includes livestock within crop insurance coverage. Title II: Federal Crop Insurance Corporation and Risk Management Agency - Amends the Federal Crop Insurance Act to revise the membership of the Corporation's Board of Directors. (Sec. 202) Amends the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 to place the Office of Risk Management under the direction of the Board. (Sec. 203) Amends the Federal Crop Insurance Act to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to establish an Office of Private Sector Partnership to provide specified Board-private sector liaison functions (Sec. 204) Directs the Board to review approved providers' insurance plans for commodity coverage adequacy, including development of insurance plans where appropriate. (Sec. 205) Authorizes specified insurance plan fees. (Sec. 206) Directs the Corporation to carry out a flexible subsidy pilot program to encourage private sector innovation through exclusive marketing rights and premium rate competition.
United States · United States Congress · 4 March 1999
Health Insurance Cost Tax Equity Act of 1999 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide for the deduction of 100 percent of the health insurance costs of self-employed individuals.
United States · United States Congress · 4 March 1999
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to disregard certain Native American housing assistance in determining whether a building is federally subsidized for low-income housing credit purposes.
United States · United States Congress · 4 March 1999
Expresses the condolences of the House of Representatives on the death of the Honorable Morris King Udall, a former Representative from the State of Arizona.
United States · United States Congress · 3 March 1999
Access to Emergency Medical Services Act of 1999 - Provides that if a group health plan or health insurance coverage offered by a health insurance issuer provides any benefits with respect to emergency services, the plan or issuer shall cover such services: (1) without the need for any prior authorization determination; (2) whether or not the health care provider furnishing such services is a participating provider with respect to such services; (3) in a manner so that if such services are provided by a nonparticipating provider, the participant, beneficiary, or enrollee is not liable for amounts that exceed the liability that would be incurred if the services were provided by a participating provider; and (4) without regard to any other term or condition of such plan or coverage (other than exclusion or coordination of benefits, a specified affiliation or waiting period, and applicable cost sharing). Requires such plans or issuers, in the case of maintenance or post-stabilization care services other than emergency services, to provide for reimbursement for services provided by nonparticipating providers in a manner consistent with specified guidelines relating to promoting efficient and timely coordination of maintenance and post- stabilization care of an enrollee under the Social Security Act or such guidelines as the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall establish. Requires information regarding coverage of emergency services to be made available annually by plans and issuers. Amends the Public Health Service Act, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, and the Internal Revenue Code to deem requirements of the Access to Emergency Medical Services Act of 1999 to be incorporated into such Acts and the Internal Revenue Code.
United States · United States Congress · 3 March 1999
Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to reauthorize and revise provisions for the National Writing Project (NWP). Increases the maximum amount for any one contractor under limits on the Federal share of NWP teacher training programs. Repeals the classroom teacher grants program under NWP. Increases and extends through FY 2004 the authorization of appropriations for NWP.
United States · United States Congress · 2 March 1999
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Water Resources Projects Title II: General Provisions Title III: Project-Related Provisions Water Resources Development Act of 1999 - Title I: Water Resources Projects - Authorizes projects for navigation, environmental restoration, flood damage reduction, recreation, flood control, storm damage reduction, ecosystem restoration and shore protection, and aquifer storage and recovery in Alaska, Arizona, California, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland and Virginia, Minnesota, New Jersey, North Dakota, and Texas. Authorizes projects for water resources development and conservation and related purposes, subject to a final report from the Army Chief of Engineers and approval by the Secretary of the Army, in Alaska, California, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, New Jersey, Tennessee, and Washington. (Sec. 102) Modifies projects for flood control, navigation, water conveyance, water supply storage reallocation, water diversion, beach erosion control and hurricane protection, land retention, storm damage reduction and shoreline protection, environmental infrastructure, and hurricane-flood protection (together with certain report requirements or land transfers, in some cases) in Arkansas, California, Florida, Maryland, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New York and New Jersey, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maine (with a deauthorization of certain portions of such project), Mississippi, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, Washington, and West Virginia. (Sec. 103) Deauthorizes navigation projects in Connecticut and Maine. (Sec. 104) Directs the Secretary to conduct studies with respect to specified projects in Arizona, California, Florida, Idaho, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, and Guam. Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to study and report to Congress on water supply needs of States not currently eligible for assistance under title XVI of the Reclamation Projects Authorization and Adjustment Act of 1992. Title II: General Provisions - Authorizes the Secretary to carry out a program to reduce flood hazards and restore the natural functions and values of riverine ecosystems throughout the United States. Requires appropriate studies. Requires non-Federal interests to pay 35 percent of the cost of any project carried out. Outlines project selection criteria, policies, and procedures. Prohibits any project from being carried out until the Secretary notifies specified congressional committees and 21 days have passed since such notification. (Sec. 202) Amends the Water Resources Development Act of 1986 to provide that the non-Federal share of the costs of periodic nourishment of products or measures for shore protection or beach erosion control shall be 50 percent, with specified exceptions. (Sec. 203) Amends the Flood Control Act of 1948 to increase to $7 million the maximum amount for small flood control projects. (Sec. 204) Amends the Flood Control Act of 1960 to authorize the Secretary to accept funds voluntarily contributed to expand the compilation and dissemination of information on floods and flood damage. (Sec. 205) Amends the Water Resources Development Act of 1986 to: (1) extend through FY 2000 the Everglades and South Florida ecosystem restoration program; and (2) allow non-profit entities to enter into agreements to pay non-Federal shares of aquatic ecosystem restoration projects. (Sec. 207) Amends the Water Resources Development Act of 1992 to allow non-profit entities to enter into agreements to pay non-Federal shares of the costs of projects for beneficial uses of dredged materials. (Sec. 208) Amends the Flood Control Act of 1936 to allow contributions by States and political subdivisions to be used for environmental restoration activities. (Sec. 209) Authorizes the Secretary during FY 1999 through 2002 to withhold a specified amount of recreation user fees for repair and maintenance projects, interpretation, signage, habitat or facility enhancement, resource preservation, annual operation, maintenance, and law enforcement related to public use at recreation sites. (Sec. 210) Amends the Water Resources Development Act of 1996 to permit studies undertaken by the Secretary concerning the Pacific region to include flood damage reduction and environmental restoration. (Sec. 211) Directs the Secretary to develop a plan for a project to protect and enhance fish and wildlife habitat of the Missouri River and the middle Mississippi River. Prohibits such plan or project from affecting water rights or private property rights. Permits the modification of previously authorized projects in such areas. Requires a 35 percent non-Federal cost share. Authorizes appropriations for FY 2000 and 2001. (Sec. 212) Amends the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to prohibit fees from being charged to non-Federal interests for an assessment of the value of the resources and the public interest served in promoting development of Outer Continental Shelf resources. Requires full reimbursement of amounts paid by the non-Federal interests for beach erosion control and hurricane protection at Sandbridge Beach in Virginia Beach, Virginia, as a result of such an assessment. (Sec. 213) Amends the Water Resources Development Act of 1990 to: (1) include Snake Creek in Bixby, Oklahoma, as a priority work for environmental dredging activities; and (2) direct the Secretary to include primary flood damages avoided within a benefit analysis for justifying Federal non-structural flood damage reduction projects. (Sec. 215) Amends the River and Harbor Act of 1958 to include within projects for the control of aquatic growth projects for the control of Arundo dona and tarmarix. (Sec. 216) Amends the Water Resources Development Act of: (1) 1992 to include three water systems and projects in California and Nevada among authorized environmental infrastructure projects; (2) 1996 to include certain California and Nevada watersheds and river basins within authorized watershed management, restoration, and development; and (3) 1986 to include projects in Lake County, California, Hollis, New Hampshire, and Milford, New Hampshire, under a lakes silt and debris removal program. (Sec. 219) Amends the Water Resources Development Act of 1992 to: (1) add an additional project purpose to a water resource development project in the New York-New Jersey Harbor; and (2) increase the authorization of appropriations for such project. (Sec. 220) Amends the Water Resources Development Act of: (1) 1976 to reduce from 50 to 35 the percent of total cost to be borne by States for placing dredged sand on State beaches; and (2) 1986 to state that not more than 80 percent of the non-Federal share of fish and wildlife mitigation costs may be in-kind. Directs the Secretary to work with the State of Ohio and other Great Lakes States to fully implement and maximize beneficial reuse of dredged material along Great Lakes shores. (Sec. 223) Directs the Secretary and the EPA Administrator to convene the National Contaminated Sediment Task Force (established under prior law). Requires the Task Force to report to Congress on the status of remedial actions taken at aquatic sites in specified areas. (Sec. 224) Directs the Secretary to report biannually to Congress on a plan for programs of the Army Corps of Engineers in the Great Lakes basin. Directs the Secretary to request each Federal agency that may have information relevant to the Great Lakes biohydrological system to provide an inventory of such information. Requires the Secretary to compile, analyze, and submit to Congress, the International Joint Commission, and the Great Lakes States a report on such information. Directs the Secretary to report to Congress detailing the economic benefits of recreational boating in the Great Lakes basin. (Sec. 225) Amends the Water Resources Development Act of 1986 to make appropriate the use of authority under such Act to control sea lamprey at any Great Lakes basin location. (Sec. 226) Authorizes the Secretary to investigate, study, evaluate, and report on water quality, environmental quality, recreation, fish and wildlife, flood control, and navigation in the western Lake Erie watershed. (Sec. 227) Authorizes the Secretary to provide technical assistance to non-Federal interests, and conduct other site-specific studies, to formulate and evaluate fish screens, passage devices, and other measures used to decrease the incidence of juvenile fish inadvertently entering into irrigation systems. Requires: (1) non- Federal interests to provide 50 percent of the cost of such assistance; and (2) a report from the Secretary to Congress. (Sec. 229) Amends the River and Harbor Act of 1968 to: (1) increase from $2 million to $5 million the amount permitted as a Federal first cost for a shore damage project before specific authorization by Congress is required; and (2) direct the Secretary to coordinate such projects with other Federal projects in the same area and to combine such projects into a comprehensive regional project. Title III: Project-Related Provisions - Authorizes the Secretary to acquire for Rhode Island a dredge and associated equipment for dredging salt ponds. (Sec. 302) Amends the Water Resources Development Act of 1986 to: (1) include the Chemung River watershed, New York, under a water resources development program for the Upper Susquehanna River Basin in Pennsylvania and New York; (2) include certain projects in New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania under authorized small flood control projects; and (3) include a project in Delaware Bay, New Jersey, under authorized small navigation projects. (Sec. 305) Makes the streambank protection project at Coulson Park in Billings, Montana, eligible for assistance under the Flood Control Act of 1946. Authorizes the Secretary to carry out such projects in the Arctic Ocean, Barrow, Alaska, the Saginaw River in Bay City, Michigan, and the Monongahela River in Point Marion, Pennsylvania. (Sec. 306) Authorizes the Secretary to conduct measures to address water quality, flows, and fish habitat restoration in the historic Springfield, Oregon, millrace through reconfiguration of the existing millpond if it is determined that harmful impacts have occurred as the result of a previously constructed flood control project. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 307) Directs the Secretary to expeditiously complete certain previously authorized saltmarsh restoration activities in Sluice Creek, Guilford, Connecticut, and Lighthouse Point Park in New Haven, Connecticut. (Sec. 308) Designates the project for flood control, Eight Mile Creek, Paragould, Arkansas, as the Francis Bland Floodway Ditch. (Sec. 310) Modifies the project for flood control and other purposes at Cumberland, Maryland, to authorize the Secretary to undertake restoration of the historic Chesapeake and Ohio Canal. Specifies estimated Federal and non-Federal costs. (Sec. 311) Includes Miami Beach, Florida, under a previously authorized national shoreline erosion control development and demonstration program. (Sec. 312) Directs the Secretary to accept from Oklahoma an amount to be determined as prepayment for water supply cost obligations for water supply storage at Sardis Reservoir in Oklahoma. (Sec. 313) Directs the Secretary to proceed immediately to prepare engineering design, plans, and specifications to extend certain locks on the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers to provide lock chambers of specified dimension so that construction can proceed immediately upon completion of studies and authorization of projects by Congress. (Sec. 314) Amends the Water Resources Development Act of 1986 relating to the Upper Mississippi River system to: (1) add certain activities under a master plan for the improvement of the system; (2) direct the Secretary to create an independent technical advisory committee to review system projects, monitoring plans, and habitat and natural resources needs assessments; (3) require promotion of the simulation of natural river processes to the maximum extent practicable; (4) authorize appropriations for FY 1999 through 2009 for system programs; (5) require an evaluation report from the Secretary to Congress; (6) authorize the transfer of appropriated amounts between various programs; and (7) direct the Secretary to investigate, and if appropriate, carry out restoration of urban wildlife habitat, with a special emphasis on the establishment of greenways, in the St. Louis, Missouri, area and surrounding communities. (Sec. 315) Amends the Water Resources Development Act of 1996 relating to a research and development program for Columbia River basin salmon survival to: (1) include the Snake River in such program; (2) revise generally authorized activities under the program; (3) increase the authorization of appropriations for the development, and installation in Corps dams, of advanced hydropower turbines; and (4) direct the Secretary to carry out methods to reduce nesting populations of avian predators on dredge spoil islands in the Columbia River under the Secretary's jurisdiction (authorizes appropriations). (Sec. 316) Authorizes the Secretary to credit against non-Federal shares costs incurred in preparing environmental and other preconstruction documentation for the habitat restoration project in Nine Mile Run, Pennsylvania, if such documentation is determined to be integral to such project. (Sec. 317) Directs the Secretary to work with the Secretary of Transportation on a project to maintain the Larkspur Ferry Channel in Larkspur, California, as authorized under prior law. (Sec. 318) Authorizes the Secretary to study and implement a comprehensive flood impact response modeling system for the Coralville Reservoir and the Iowa River watershed, Iowa. Requires a report to Congress. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 319) Directs the Comptroller General to study, and report to specified congressional committees on, various alternatives for innovative financing of future construction, operation, and maintenance of projects in small and medium-sized ports. (Sec. 320) Directs the Secretary to convey all U.S. rights and interest in land acquired for the Candy Lake project in Osage County, Oklahoma. Requires the Secretary to give prior owners the first option to purchase such lands (requiring such previous owners to be notified of such sale). (Sec. 321) Directs the Secretary to evaluate and, if justified, carry out flood damage reduction measures along the lower Salcha River and on Piledriver Slough in Alaska, and along the Eyak River at Cordova, Alaska. (Sec. 323) Directs the Secretary to carry out ecosystem restoration and storm drainage reduction at North Padre Island, Corpus Christi Bay, Texas, with specified Federal and non-Federal costs. (Sec. 324) Directs the Secretary to complete a water supply reallocation study at the project for flood control, Kanopolis Lake, Kansas. (Sec. 325) Authorizes a public entity designated by the New York State project director to enter into a cooperative agreement with the Secretary with respect to a project for providing environmental assistance to non-Federal interests in the New York City watershed. (Sec. 326) Directs the Secretary to review and, if consistent with project purposes, reimburse the city of Charlevoix, Michigan, for the Federal share of specified construction costs at a navigation project in Charlevoix Harbor. (Sec. 327) Authorizes the Secretary to construct the Hamilton Dam flood control project, Michigan, under authority of the Flood Control Act of 1948. (Sec. 328) Limits the non-Federal share of project costs for the project for flood control, Holes Creek, Ohio. (Sec. 329) Amends the Water Resources Development Act of 1986 to direct the Secretary to provide assistance to the Narragansett Bay Commission for the construction of a combined sewer (currently, river) overflow management facility in Rhode Island.
United States · United States Congress · 2 March 1999
Gifted and Talented Students Education Act of 1999 - Authorizes the Secretary of Education to make grants to States for use by public schools to develop or expand gifted and talented education programs through one or more of the following activities: (1) professional development programs; (2) technical assistance; (3) direct services and materials for gifted and talented students, through revised curricula, acceleration, independent study, dual enrollment or other strategies; (4) innovative approaches and curricula; and (4) emerging technologies, including distance learning. Allows States to use a limited portion of such grant funds for information, education, and support to parents and caregivers for their participation in deciding on educational programs for their gifted and talented children. Sets forth requirements for grant applications, allotment to States, and reporting. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 2 March 1999
Nursing Home Residential Security Act of 1999 - Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to establish certain restrictions on transfers or discharges of nursing facility residents in the case of voluntary withdrawal from Medicaid participation.
United States · United States Congress · 25 February 1999
Commercial Space Transportation Cost Reduction Act - Sets forth the purposes of this Act, including to: (1) ensure the availability of otherwise unavailable private sector "bridge" financing for U.S. private sector development of commercial space transportation vehicles with launch costs significantly below current levels; (2) avoid undue reliance on foreign space transportation services; (3) reduce substantially U.S. Government space transportation expenditures; (4) encourage the growth of space-related commerce in the United States and internationally; and (5) increase the number of high-value jobs in U.S. space-related industries. Title I: Increasing the Availability of Private Sector Financing for the U.S. Commercial Space Transportation Vehicle Industry Through a Loan Guarantee Program - Establishes the U.S. Commercial Space Transportation Vehicle Industry Loan Guarantee program to provide loan guarantees to support the private development of multiple qualified U.S. commercial space transportation vehicle providers with launch costs significantly below current levels. Sets forth provisions regarding the administration and scope of the program. (Sec. 102) Sets out functions of the Secretary of Transportation, including: (1) consultation with appropriate Federal agencies, congressional and space industry representatives, and members of the risk management industry concerning assessments of international competition, potential markets for space transportation vehicles, and availability of private investment capital, and recommendations of commercial entities, partnerships, joint ventures, or consortia regarding effective implementation of the loan guarantee program; and (2) management of the program consistent with the purposes of this Act. (Sec. 103) Authorizes appropriations to be deposited in a Fund to be used to reduce governmental costs related to the loan guarantee program. (Sec. 104) Authorizes the Secretary to guarantee 100 percent of the payment of the interest on, and the unpaid balance of the principal of, any loan guaranteed under this Act. Directs the Secretary to make certain risk determinations based on specified risk factors with respect to guaranteed loans made under this Act. (Sec. 105) Sets forth provisions regarding eligibility and default requirements for loans guaranteed under this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 25 February 1999
Medicare Rehabilitation Benefit Improvement Act of 1999 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide certain Medicare beneficiaries with an exemption to the financial limitations imposed on physical, speech-language pathology, and occupational therapy services under Medicare part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance). Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to conduct a study of the specified effects of this Act for a report to Congress.
United States · United States Congress · 24 February 1999
State and Local Investment Opportunities Act of 1999 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to increase the State ceiling on private activity bonds. Provides for inflation adjustment.
United States · United States Congress · 23 February 1999
Directs the Secretary of Education to deem as timely filed, and process for FY 1999 Impact Aid payments under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, an application from a Montana local educational agency serving the Dodson Elementary School District No. 2 and the Dodson High School District, if that application is received within 30 days after enactment of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 23 February 1999
Directs the Secretary of Education to deem the application from the Dodson Public Schools District No. 2-A, Dodson, Montana, for FY 1998 Impact Aid payments as timely submitted in accordance with specified requirements of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965.
United States · United States Congress · 22 February 1999
Chippewa Cree Tribe of the Rocky Boy's Reservation Indian Reserved Water Rights Settlement Act of 1999 - Approves and ratifies the Water Rights Compact entered into on April 14, 1997, by the Chippewa Cree Tribe of the Rocky Boy's Reservation and the State of Montana, as modified by this Act. Directs the Secretary of the Interior to execute and implement the Compact. Requires the United States, the Tribe, or the State of Montana to petition the Montana Water Court to enter and approve the proposed decree agreed to by such parties. Provides that if approval by the appropriate court does not become final within three years after the filing of the decree or the decree is approved but subsequently set aside: (1) the approval and ratification of the Compact by the United States shall be null and void; and (2) this Act shall be of no further force and effect. (Sec. 6) Directs the Secretary to administer and enforce the Tribal Water Right until the approval of a tribal water code by the Tribe. Satisfies any entitlement to Federal Indian reserved water of any tribal member solely from the water secured to the Tribe by the Compact. Authorizes the Tribe, subject to the Secretary's approval and Compact conditions, to enter into a service contract or other agreement providing for the temporary delivery, use, or transfer of water rights confirmed to the Tribe in the Compact. (Sec. 7) Directs the Secretary, through the Bureau of Reclamation, to: (1) perform a municipal, rural, and industrial, domestic, and incidental drought relief feasibility study of water and related resources in North Central Montana to evaluate alternatives for a municipal, rural, and industrial supply for the Reservation; and (2) conduct a regional feasibility study to evaluate such water and resources to determine limitations and how resources can best be managed to serve the needs of Montana's citizens. (Sec. 8) Requires the Secretary to allocate a specified amount of stored water to the Tribe without cost. Grants the Tribe the right to devote the water to any use within or outside the Reservation. (Sec. 9) Directs the Secretary: (1) through the Bureau, to plan, design, and construct specified water development projects on the Reservation; and (2) at the request of the Tribe, to enter into an agreement with the Tribe to carry out such activity through the Tribe's annual funding agreement entered into under the self- governance program under the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act. (Sec. 10) Establishes the Chippewa Cree Indian Reserved Water Rights Settlement Trust Fund to fulfill the purposes of this Act, subject to certain restrictions on expenditures. Sets forth management and investment requirements, terms, and conditions. (Sec. 11) Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 12) Describes the State contribution to the settlement. (Sec. 13) Provides that the Tribe, in exchange for benefits provided under this Act, shall not exercise its right to withdraw as a party to the Compact and shall release the United States from certain water rights claims and claims arising out of negotiation of the Compact and settlement. Entitles the United States, except in the event that the approval and ratification of the Compact by the United States becomes null and void.
United States · United States Congress · 22 February 1999
Requests that the U.S. Postal Service issue a commemorative postage stamp honoring the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 12 February 1999
Designates the week of March 21 through March 27, 1999, as National Inhalants and Poisons Awareness Week. Encourages parents to learn about the dangers of inhalant abuse and to discuss those dangers with their children.
United States · United States Congress · 12 February 1999
Declares that the Senate censures President William Jefferson Clinton and condemns his conduct. Urges that future Congresses recognize the importance of allowing this statement of censure and condemnation to remain intact for all time. Resolves that the Senate now move on to other matters, reconcile differences between and within the branches of government, and work together for the benefit of the American people.
United States · United States Congress · 11 February 1999
Food and Medicine for the World Act of 1999 - Prohibits, with specified exceptions, the President from imposing a new unilateral agricultural sanction, or a new unilateral sanction with respect to medicine, medical supplies, or medical equipment, against a foreign country, unless: (1) not less than 60 days before the sanction is proposed to be imposed, the President makes a specified report to Congress; and (2) Congress enacts a joint resolution approving the report.
United States · United States Congress · 11 February 1999
Designates the week beginning April 30, 1999, as National Youth Fitness Week. Urges parents, families, caregivers, and teachers to encourage and help youth to participate in athletic activities and to teach adolescents to engage in healthy lifestyles.
United States · United States Congress · 10 February 1999
Alaska Native and American Indian Direct Reimbursement Act of 1999 - Amends the Indian Health Care Improvement Act to make permanent the demonstration program under which Indian tribes, tribal organizations, and Alaska Native health organizations that contract or compact for the operation of a hospital or clinic of the Indian Health Service may directly bill for, and receive payment for, health care services provided by such hospital or clinic for which payment is made under Medicare or Medicaid or from any other third party payor. Requires participating hospitals and clinics to submit to the Secretary of Health and Human Services quarterly reports on the program during the first two years of participation and annual reports thereafter. Provides for: (1) application to the Secretary by an Indian tribe, tribal organization, or Alaska Native health organization for participation of a Service facility in the program (the demonstration program was limited to four facilities); (2) the ongoing examination and implementation of necessary administrative changes to facilitate direct billing and reimbursement under the program; and (3) withdrawal from participation in the program.
United States · United States Congress · 9 February 1999
Amends the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act to permit State registration of a Canadian pesticide for distribution and use within such State.
United States · United States Congress · 8 February 1999
Expresses: (1) condolences to the family of King Hussein and to all the people of Jordan; (2) admiration for King Hussein's enlightened leadership and gratitude for his support for peace throughout the Middle East; and (3) support and best wishes for the new government of Jordan under King Abdullah. Reaffirms the U.S. commitment to strengthening the vital relationship between our two governments and peoples.
United States · United States Congress · 4 February 1999
Amends the Congressional Award Act to change from April 1 to June 1 the deadline for the annual report of the Congressional Award Board. Provides that of the Board's six members appointed by the Majority and Minority Leaders of the Senate, respectively, one shall be a Congressional Award recipient (currently, a member of the Congressional Award Association) and one shall be a local Congressional Award program volunteer (currently, a representative of a local Congressional Award Council). Sets forth the same requirement for the six members appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives and appointed by the Minority Leader of the House, respectively. Requires the Comptroller General to continue to determine through calendar year 2004 if the Director of the Board is complying or not complying with requirements regarding financial operations of the Congressional Award Program and to submit such results in the annual audit report to Congress. Extends the Board from October 1, 1999, to October 1, 2004.
United States · United States Congress · 4 February 1999
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Promoting Responsible Managed Care Subtitle A: Grievance and Appeals Subtitle B: Consumer Information Subtitle C: Patient Protection Standards Subtitle D: Enhanced Enforcement Authority Title II: Patient Protection Standards Under the Public Health Service Act Title III: Patient Protection Standards Under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 Title IV: Patient Protection Standards Under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 Title V: Effective Dates; Coordination in Implementation Promoting Responsible Managed Care Act of 1999 - Title I: Promoting Responsible Managed Care - Subtitle A: Grievance and Appeals - Declares that a participant or beneficiary in a group health plan or an enrollee in health insurance coverage offered by a health insurance issuer (covered individual) has rights relating to grievances, timely coverage determinations, expedited coverage determinations, and determination appeals. Requires that a group health plan, and a health insurance issuer in connection with health coverage, maintain procedures in accordance with those sections. (Sec. 102) Requires a plan or issuer to: (1) conduct utilization review; (2) provide procedures for timely hearings and resolution of grievances by covered individuals; (3) make timely coverage determinations and redeterminations, including expedited redeterminations in certain circumstances. Regulates review programs. (Sec. 106) Allows a party to a reconsideration that receives an unfavorable determination to request external review by an entity under contract with the plan. Subtitle B: Consumer Information - Requires plans and issuers to disclose specified information at certain times. (Sec. 111) Authorizes appropriations for grants to States for contracts with organizations that are independent of plans and issuers for Health Insurance Ombudsmen to provide consumer assistance. Authorizes Federal provision of such a contract where States do not do so. (Sec. 112) Requires: (1) plans and issuers to collect and submit to the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research certain aggregate quality data; and (2) the Agency to publicly disseminate the information (thereby allowing quality comparisons) and to conduct and support research demonstration projects, evaluations, and the dissemination of information regarding quality information. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 113) Requires plans and issuers to have: (1) procedures to safeguard the privacy of individually identifiable health information; and (2) quality assurance and quality improvement programs meeting specified requirements. Subtitle C: Patient Protection Standards - Imposes plan or issuer requirements regarding emergency services and related maintenance or post-stabilization care. (Sec. 122) Provides for: (1) choice of primary (and, unless prior notice is given to the contrary, specialist) providers; (2) routine gynecological and pregnancy-related services from appropriate professionals without authorization; (3) referrals to specialists; (4) designation of a specialist as a primary provider in certain circumstances; (5) standing referrals; and (6) continuity of care on termination of a contract between a plan or issuer and a provider or between a plan and an issuer. Prohibits involuntary disenrollment because an individual's behavior is disruptive, abusive, or uncooperative if the behavior is directly related to diminished mental capacity, severe and persistent mental illness, or a serious childhood mental and emotional disorder, unless the behavior directly threatens bodily injury. Requires that plans and issuers have a sufficient number, distribution, and variety of providers. (Sec. 123) Prohibits plans and issuers, in certain circumstances, from denying participation in a relevant clinical trial or otherwise discriminating against the individual on the basis of the enrollee's trial participation. Imposes requirements on plans and issuers regarding drug formularies. (Sec. 124) Prohibits plans and issuers from discriminating on the basis of race and other specified factors. (Sec. 125) Prohibits an organization on behalf of a plan or issuer from penalizing a health professional for advocating on behalf of the professional's patient or for providing information or referral for medical care. Prohibits a plan or issuer: (1) from restricting a health professional from assisting enrollees who are appealing certain matters under subtitle A; (2) through its contract with its provider, from transferring to the provider any plan or issuer liability; or (3) from operating any physician incentive plan not meeting certain requirements. (Sec. 127) Requires plans and issuers to have a written process for the selection of participating professionals. Prohibits discrimination on the basis of a high-risk patient base or the professional's race or other specified factors. (Sec. 128) Sets forth plan and issuer requirements regarding breast cancer and related procedures, coverages, and practices. (Sec. 129) Prohibits a group health plan, or a health insurance issuer in connection with health coverage, from interfering arbitrarily with or altering the decision of the treating physician regarding the manner or setting in which particular covered services are delivered if the services are medically necessary or appropriate for treatment or diagnosis to the extent that such treatment or diagnosis is otherwise a covered benefit. Subtitle D: Enhanced Enforcement Authority - Authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services to: (1) enforce this Act; (2) require States that elect to assume enforcement authority to report on their efforts; (3) require issuers to report regarding compliance with this Act; and (4) bring a civil action for equitable relief regarding violations of this Act. Authorizes the Secretary of Labor to: (1) enforce this Act; and (2) bring such an action. Sets dollar limits on monetary penalties. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 142) Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to authorize the Secretary of Labor to assess a civil penalty against a person acting as a fiduciary of a plan so as to cause a violation of certain amendments made by title III of this Act. Authorizes appropriations. Title II: Patient Protection Standards Under Public Health Service Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act, as amended by the Omnibus Consolidated and Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act, 1999 (Public Law 105-277), to require plans (and, with regard to group and individual insurance, issuers) to comply with patient protection requirements under title I of this Act. Title III: Patient Protection Standards Under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 - Amends ERISA, as amended by the Omnibus Consolidated and Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act, 1999 (Public Law 105-277), to require plans and issuers to comply with the requirements of title I of this Act. Provides for situations in which a plan is not liable for the failure of an issuer's or external appeal entity's failure to meet those requirements. (Sec. 302) Makes any person or persons responsible for making a coverage determination that is not made timely or in accordance with plan terms liable to the participant or beneficiary for economic loss. Title IV: Patient Protection Standards Under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to require a plan to comply with the requirements of this Act. Title V: Effective Dates; Coordination in Implementation - Sets forth the effective dates for this Act. (Sec. 502) Amends the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 to provide for coordination among the Secretaries of Health and Human Services, of Labor, and of the Treasury regarding regulations, rulings, interpretations, and policies relating to specified provisions of the Act.
United States · United States Congress · 4 February 1999
Declares that: (1) the final political status of the territory controlled by the Palestinian Authority can only be determined through negotiations and agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Authority; (2) any attempt to establish Palestinian statehood outside the negotiating process will invoke the strongest congressional opposition; and (3) the President should unequivocally assert U.S. opposition to the unilateral declaration of a Palestinian state.
United States · United States Congress · 3 February 1999
Amends the Animal Welfare Act to eliminate the provision permitting interstate movement of live fighting birds if the fighting venture is to take place in a State allowing such fights.
United States · United States Congress · 28 January 1999
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Expanded Availability of Health Care Services Title II: Ticket to Work and Self-Sufficiency and Related Provisions Subtitle A: Ticket to Work and Self-Sufficiency Subtitle B: Elimination of Work Disincentives Subtitle C: Work Incentives Planning, Assistance, and Outreach Title III: Demonstration Projects and Studies Title IV: Technical Amendments Work Incentives Improvement Act of 1999 - Title I: Expanded Availability of Health Care Services - Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to provide for expanding State options under Medicaid for workers with disabilities, namely by creating State options to eliminate income, assets, and resource limitations for workers with disabilities who buy into Medicaid and to expand opportunities for such workers to make such a buy. Provides that Federal funds paid to a State for medical assistance provided to certain working disabled individuals must be used to supplement but not supplant the level of State funds expended as of FY 1999 for programs to enable working disabled individuals to work. (Sec. 102) Provides for certain continuation of Medicare coverage for working individuals with disabilities. (Sec. 103) Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to: (1) award grants to eligible States to support establishment of State infrastructures to support the working disabled as well as to enable State outreach campaigns on infrastructure existence; and (2) submit a recommendation to specified congressional committees on whether such grant program should be continued after FY 2010. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 104) Authorizes State demonstration projects for certain Medicaid coverage of up to a specified maximum number of workers with a potentially severe disability, coverage equal to that afforded under the State option provided for above for eliminating income, assets, and resource limitations for disabled workers buying into Medicaid. Authorizes appropriations. Title II: Ticket to Work and Self-Sufficiency and Related Provisions - Subtitle A: Ticket to Work and Self-Sufficiency - Amends part A (General Provisions) of SSA title XI to direct the Commissioner to establish a Ticket to Work and Self-Sufficiency Program (TWSSP) under which a disabled beneficiary may use a TWSSP ticket issued by the Commissioner under a described system, designed to ensure quality assurance, to obtain employment, vocational rehabilitation services, or other support services, pursuant to an appropriate individual beneficiary work plan that meets specified requirements, at the Commission's expense, from a participating employment network, public or private, which: (1) meets specified qualifications and is under an agreement with the Commissioner who must select a program manager to assist in administering TWSSP; (2) is chosen by the beneficiary, and (3) is willing to accept assignment of the beneficiary's TWSSP ticket. Allows State agencies administering or supervising the administration of the State plan under title I of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 to elect to participate as an employment network. Sets forth special requirements applicable to cross-referral to certain State agencies and requirements relating to provision of services. Describes employment network payment systems. Provides that during any period for which an individual is using a TWSSP ticket, the Commissioner and any applicable State agency may not initiate a continuing disability or similar review with regards to whether the individual is or is not disabled. Requires payments to employment networks to be made out of the social security trust funds in the case of ticketed SSA title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) disability beneficiaries who return to work, or from the appropriation made available for making Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments under SSA title XVI, in the case of SSI disability beneficiaries who return to work. Provides for allocation of other costs. (Sec. 202) Establishes within the Social Security Administration the Work Incentives Advisory Panel to advise the Commissioner with respect to TWSSP, and other Federal officials on related issues. Provides that the costs for carrying out this paragraph shall be paid from amounts available for the administration of SSA titles II and XVI, and shall be allocated among those amounts as appropriate. Subtitle B: Elimination of Work Disincentives - Amends SSA title II to set forth a number of measures designed to eliminate work disincentives, namely prohibiting work activity as a basis for review of an individual's disability status and providing for expedited eligibility determinations for applications for disability benefits of former certain long-term disability beneficiaries that engaged in substantial gainful activity during a certain extended period following the end of a rehabilitation services trial work period. Subtitle C: Work Incentives Planning, Assistance, and Outreach - Amends SSA title XI part A (General Provisions) to direct the Commissioner to establish a community-based work incentives outreach program for disabled beneficiaries that includes the provision of technical assistance to organizations and entities that are designed to encourage disabled beneficiaries to return to work. Provides that the costs of carrying out this subtitle shall be paid from amounts made available for administration of SSA titles II and XVI, and shall be allocated among such amounts as appropriate. (Sec. 222) Amends SSA title XI to authorize the Commissioner to make certain minimum payments in each State to the protection and advocacy system established under the Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act for the purpose of providing services to disabled beneficiaries, services which may include advocacy or other services that such a beneficiary may need to secure or regain gainful employment. Provides for funding similar to that in he paragraph above. Title III: Demonstration Projects and Studies - Amends the Social Security Disability Amendments of 1980 to provide for an extension of disability insurance program demonstration project authority to include any group of applicants for benefits under such program with impairments that may reasonably be presumed to be disabling for purposes of such demonstration project. (Sec. 302) Directs the Commissioner to conduct certain demonstration projects designed to provide for specified reductions in disability insurance benefits based on earnings. Requires expenditures for such demonstration projects to come out of the social security and Medicare trust funds to the extent provided in advance in appropriation acts. (Sec. 303) Expresses the sense of the Congress that the Commissioner of Social Security and the Secretary of Health and Human Services should establish additional demonstration projects to assist individuals with disabilities to engage in work. (Sec. 304) Directs the Comptroller General to conduct and report to the Congress on various described studies concerning existing disability-related employment incentives and coordination of the OASDI disability insurance program and the SSI program as they relate to individuals entering or leaving concurrent entitlement under such programs, as well as on a study concerning the impact of the substantial gainful activity limit on return to work. Title IV: Technical Amendments - Amends the Contract with America Advancement Act of 1996 with respect to: (1) final adjudication of denied claims by drug addicts and alcoholics for SSA title II disability benefits; and (2) the effective dates of certain requirements concerning representative payees and treatment referrals for such individuals. (Sec. 402) Amends SSA title II to: (1) provide for payments to State and local prisons for monthly reports on the identities of inmates whose OASDI benefits are determined by the Commissioner not to be payable as a result of such reports; (2) provide for a 50 percent reduction in such payments under SSA titles II and XVI in cases involving a comparable payment under the other title with respect to the same prisoner; (3) exempt from the Privacy Act of 1974 any agreements with State and local prisons to supply such information; (4) transfer from the OASDI trust funds any sums necessary to enable the Commissioner to make such payments; (5) eliminate the requirement that confinement stem only from a crime punishable by imprisonment for more than one year (thus denying OASDI benefits to individuals confined for any criminal offense); and (6) provide for continued denial of benefits to sex offenders remaining confined to public institutions upon completion of prison term. (Sec. 403) Provides for a two-year open season for members of the clergy who wish to revoke their exemption from social security coverage. (Sec. 404) Amends SSA title XI to make a miscellaneous technical amendment relating to cooperative research or development projects under SSA titles II and XVI. (Sec. 405) Amends SSA title XI to make miscellaneous technical amendments to provisions concerning the requirements of State income and eligibility verification systems, among other changes allowing a State to permit certain employers that make returns with respect to domestic service employment taxes on a calendar year basis to instead make such reports on an annual basis.
United States · United States Congress · 28 January 1999
Makes veterans who have been awarded the Purple Heart eligible for veterans' hospital care and medical services. Provides such veterans with a priority in the veterans' system of annual patient enrollment.
United States · United States Congress · 27 January 1999
Selective Agricultural Embargoes Act of 1999 - Amends the Agricultural Trade Act of 1978 to direct the President, if he or she takes action to embargo the export under an export sales contract of an agricultural commodity to a country that is not part of an embargo on all exports to the country, to report to the Congress, not later than five days after imposing the embargo, on the reasons for such embargo and its proposed duration. Sets forth congressional procedures for termination of the embargo. Specifies plant nutrient materials among the agricultural commodities whose export the President may not prohibit or curtail if: (1) the export sales contract for such materials is entered into before he or she announces an action that would otherwise prohibit or curtail their export; and (2) the contract terms require delivery of the materials within 270 days after the date of the suspension of trade is imposed.
United States · United States Congress · 26 January 1999
Declares that the Congress: (1) strongly believes that while a stable global marketplace is in the best interest of U.S. farmers and ranchers, the United States should seek a mutually beneficial relationship without hindering the competitiveness of U.S. agriculture; (2) calls on South Korea to abide by its trade commitments; (3) calls on the Secretary of the Treasury to instruct the U.S. Executive Director of the International Monetary Fund to promote vigorously policies that encourage the opening of markets for beef and pork products by requiring South Korea to abide by its international trade commitments and to reduce trade barriers, tariffs, and export subsidies; (4) calls on the President and the Secretaries of the Treasury and of Agriculture to monitor and report to the Congress that resources will not be used to stabilize the South Korean market at the expense of U.S. agricultural goods or services; and (5) requests the United States Trade Representative and the Department of Agriculture to continue bilateral consultations with the Government of South Korea on its failure to abide by its international trade commitments on beef market access, to consider whether Korea's reported plans for subsidizing its pork industry would violate any of its international trade commitments, and to determine what impact Korea's subsidy plans would have on U.S. agricultural interests, especially in Japan.
United States · United States Congress · 22 January 1999
Establishes within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Indian Health to: (1) facilitate advocacy for the development of appropriate Indian health policy; and (2) promote consultation on matters related to Indian health. Requires such Assistant Secretary to perform the functions currently performed by the Director of the Indian Health Service, as well as certain additional HHS advisory and coordinating services in Indian health matters.
United States · United States Congress · 21 January 1999
Education Flexibility Partnership Act of 1999 - Authorizes the Secretary of Education to allow all States to participate in the Education Flexibility Partnership (Ed-Flex Partnership) program. (Sec. 4) Requires Ed-Flex Partnership States to: (1) have approved challenging content standards, challenging performance measures, and aligned assessments in place or have made substantial progress towards having an approved plan under title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA); (2) hold local educational agencies (LEAs) accountable for meeting the educational goals submitted in their local applications for waivers, and for taking corrective actions if they have not met such goals; and (3) waive State educational requirements while holding LEAs or schools affected by such waivers accountable for student performance. Sets forth requirements for: (1) State educational agency (SEA) applications and approval by the Secretary; and (2) local applications and approval and monitoring by SEAs. Limits Federal waivers to five years, unless the Secretary extends such period upon determining that such waiver authority has been effective in enabling such SEAs or affected LEAs or schools to carry out local reform plans. Authorizes the Secretary to carry out the Ed-Flex Partnership program for FY 2000 through 2004. Includes as statutory or regulatory requirements that may be waived under this Act those of programs under the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Technical Education Act of 1998, and of the following programs under ESEA: (1) title I Helping Disadvantaged Children Meet High Standards; (2) part A Federal Activities under the title II Dwight D. Eisenhower Professional Development Program; (3) subpart 2 State and Local Programs for School Technology Resources (with specified exceptions), under part A Technology Education for All Students, of title III Technology for Education; (4) title IV Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities; (5) title VI Innovative Education Program Strategies; and (6) the part C Emergency Immigrant Education Program under title VII Bilingual Education, Language Enhancement, and Language Acquisition Programs. Prohibits waivers for specified types of requirements. Provides that this Act shall not affect the authority of any SEA under the Ed-Flex Demonstration program of the Goals 2000: Educate America Act. Sets forth accountability requirements. Requires the Secretary, in deciding whether to extend the authority of an SEA to issue waivers, to review the progress of the SEA, LEA, or school affected by the waiver or authority toward the desired results described in its application.
United States · United States Congress · 21 January 1999
Education Flexibility Partnership Act of 1999 - Authorizes the Secretary of Education to allow all States to participate in the Education Flexibility Partnership (Ed-Flex Partnership) program. (Sec. 4) Requires Ed-Flex Partnership States to: (1) have approved challenging content standards, challenging performance measures, and aligned assessments in place or have made substantial progress towards having an approved plan under title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA); (2) hold local educational agencies (LEAs) accountable for meeting the educational goals submitted in their local applications for waivers, and for taking corrective actions if they have not met such goals; and (3) waive State educational requirements while holding LEAs or schools affected by such waivers accountable for student performance. Sets forth requirements for: (1) State educational agency (SEA) applications and approval by the Secretary; and (2) local applications and approval and monitoring by SEAs. Limits Federal waivers to five years, unless the Secretary extends such period upon determining that such waiver authority has been effective in enabling such SEAs or affected LEAs or schools to carry out local reform plans. Authorizes the Secretary to carry out the Ed-Flex Partnership program for FY 2000 through 2004. Includes as statutory or regulatory requirements that may be waived under this Act those of programs under the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Technical Education Act of 1998, and of the following programs under ESEA: (1) title I Helping Disadvantaged Children Meet High Standards; (2) part A Federal Activities under the title II Dwight D. Eisenhower Professional Development Program; (3) subpart 2 State and Local Programs for School Technology Resources (with specified exceptions), under part A Technology Education for All Students, of title III Technology for Education; (4) title IV Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities; (5) title VI Innovative Education Program Strategies; and (6) the part C Emergency Immigrant Education Program under title VII Bilingual Education, Language Enhancement, and Language Acquisition Programs. Prohibits waivers for specified types of requirements. Provides that this Act shall not affect the authority of any SEA under the Ed-Flex Demonstration program of the Goals 2000: Educate America Act. Sets forth accountability requirements. Requires the Secretary, in deciding whether to extend the authority of an SEA to issue waivers, to review the progress of the SEA, LEA, or school affected by the waiver or authority toward the desired results described in its application.
United States · United States Congress · 19 January 1999
Satellite Home Viewers Improvements Act - Amends Federal copyright law to cite circumstances under which the secondary transmission by a satellite carrier of a primary transmission of a television broadcast station into the station's local market shall be subject to statutory licensing. Requires the carrier: (1) within 90 days after commencing such secondary transmission, to submit to that station a list identifying all subscribers to which the satellite carrier currently makes such transmission; and (2) on the 15th day thereafter, to submit a subsequent list identifying any subscribers who have been added or dropped since submission of the last list. Restricts the use of the subscriber information for purposes other than monitoring compliance by the satellite carrier. Applies the submission requirements to a satellite carrier only if the station to whom the submissions are to be made places on file with the Register of Copyrights a document identifying the name and address of the person to whom such submissions are to be made. Precludes any royalty obligation for such secondary transmission. States that noncompliance with such reporting requirements by a satellite carrier into the local market of a television broadcast station of a primary transmission made by that television broadcast station is actionable as an act of infringement and fully subject to copyright remedies. Applies such infringement and copyright remedies to a satellite carrier, who provides such secondary transmission, if: (1) the content of a particular program in which the performance or display is embodied or any commercial advertising or station announcement transmitted by the primary transmitter during, or immediately before or after, the transmission of such program, is in any way willfully altered by the satellite carrier through changes, deletions, or additions, or is combined with programming from any other broadcast signal; or (2) such transmission is made to a subscriber who does not reside in that television broadcast station's local market and is not subject to statutory licensing, with exceptions. Sets forth additional remedies for willful and repeated patterns or practices of such violations. Provides that the satellite carrier shall bear the burden of proof in any action brought under this Act. Makes the statutory license created by this Act applicable to secondary transmissions to locations in the United States, and any commonwealth, territory, or possession of the United States. States that no provisions of copyright law or any other law (other than this Act and provisions relating to secondary transmissions of superstations and network stations for private home viewing) shall be construed to contain any authorization, exemption, or license through which secondary transmissions by satellite carriers of programming contained in a primary transmission made by a television broadcast station may be made without obtaining the consent of the copyright owner. (Sec. 3) Amends the Satellite Home Viewer Act of 1994 to extend until December 31, 2004, the effect of amendments to such Act relating to statutory licenses for satellite carriers. (Sec. 4) Revises the formula used to compute the rate of royalty fees to be deposited with the Register of Copyright by satellite carriers by reducing the rate for retransmission of: (1) superstation signals by 30 percent; and (2) network stations by 45 percent. Provides that for purposes of copyright arbitration royalty panels, the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) shall be the agent for all public television copyright claimants and all PBS member stations with respect to royalty fees paid by satellite carriers for retransmitting the PBS satellite feed. (Sec. 5) Modifies the definition of "unserved household" to eliminate the 90-day waiting period for satellite subscribers to wait after termination of their cable service until they are eligible for satellite service of network signals. Defines "local network station" as a network station that is secondarily transmitted to subscribers who reside within the local market in which the network station is located. (Sec. 6) Subjects a copyrighted programming carried upon the PBS's national satellite feed to copyright statutory licensing provisions. Conditions such license, after January 1, 2001, or the date on which local transmissions of broadcast signals are offered to the public, whichever is earlier, on the PBS's annual certifications to the Copyright Office that PBS's membership supports the secondary transmission of the PBS satellite feed, and providing notice to the satellite carrier of such certification. Defines "Public Broadcasting Service satellite feed" as the national satellite feed distributed by the PBS consisting of educational and informational programming intended for private home viewing, to which the PBS holds national terrestrial broadcast rights. (Sec. 7) Subjects the copyright statutory license subject to the Federal Communications Commission's rules, regulations, and authorizations. (Sec. 8) Makes this Act and the amendments made by this Act effective on January 1, 1999, with the exception of provisions modifying the formula for computing royalty fees payable by satellite carriers effective on July 1, 1999.
United States · United States Congress · 19 January 1999
Employee Educational Assistance Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) permanently extend the exclusion from gross income of employer-provided educational assistance; and (2) restore the exclusion for such assistance on the graduate level.
United States · United States Congress · 19 January 1999
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Authorization of Appropriations for the United States Customs Service for Enhanced Inspection and Trade Facilitation Along the United States-Canadian Border Title II: Additional Preclearance Activities Northern Border Trade Facilitation Act - Title I: Authorization of Appropriations for the United States Customs Service for Enhanced Inspection and Trade Facilitation Along the United States-Canadian Border - Authorizes appropriations for the U.S. Customs Service for FY 2000 and 2001 for: (1) additional inspectors and special agents during peak hours along the U.S.-Canadian border; and (2) acquisition and deployment of cargo inspection equipment (including maintenance and support of such equipment, training of personnel, and for new technologies) along such border. Title II: Additional Preclearance Activities - Amends the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 to continue, indefinitely, the use of customs user fees (to the extent funds remain available after making certain reimbursements) for salaries for up to 50 full-time equivalent inspectional positions to provide preclearance customs services. Decreases from $6.50 to $5 the customs user fee charged to each passenger that arrives aboard a commercial vessel or commercial aircraft from a place outside the U.S. customs (except $1.75 shall be charged to each passenger aboard a commercial vessel that arrives from Canada, Mexico, a U.S. territory or possession, or an adjacent island). Earmarks a specified amount of certain customs user fees to the Customs Service for automated commercial systems. .
United States · United States Congress · 19 January 1999
Truth in Quality Grading Act of 1999 - Amends the Federal Meat Inspection Act to define "beef," "lamb," "imported beef," "imported lamb," "United States beef," and "United States lamb." Deems misbranded imported beef or imported lamb that bears a label indicating a quality grade issued by the Secretary of Agriculture (thereby prohibiting the use of such labels on such imported products).
United States · United States Congress · 19 January 1999
Meat Labeling Act of 1999 - Amends the Federal Meat Inspection Act to deem misbranded beef, lamb, and pork that does not bear certain country of origin labeling. Requires the Secretary of Agriculture to promulgate regulations for such labeling. Authorizes the Secretary to require that any person that prepares, stores, handles, or distributes such meat for retail sale maintain a verifiable recordkeeping audit trail in order to verify compliance with such regulations.
![Official portrait of Sen. Baucus, Max [D-MT]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/b000243_200.jpg)