United States · United States Congress · 13 May 1999
Domestic Energy Production Security and Stabilization Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to set forth provisions relating to domestic oil and gas production which, among other things: (1) establish a credit for producing oil and gas from marginal wells; (2) make the depreciation adjustment inapplicable to oil and gas assets; and (3) permit a taxpayer to expense geological and geophysical expenditures and to delay rental payments in connection with oil and gas development.
United States · United States Congress · 13 May 1999
Northern Mariana Islands Covenant Implementation Act - Amends the Covenant to establish a Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands in Political Union with the United States of America (the Covenant Act) to direct the Attorney General to determine minimum standards to ensure an effective system of immigration control for the Commonwealth. Directs the Attorney General to make certain findings with respect to the Commonwealth's ability to administer such system consistent with the minimum standards. (Sec. 2) Grants the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit original and exclusive jurisdiction (except for review by the U.S. Supreme Court) over any complaint of the Northern Mariana Islands with respect to the minimum standards or the Attorney General's findings. Declares that the Immigration and Nationality Act shall apply to the Commonwealth if it does not have the institutional capability to meet the minimum standards or has not demonstrated a genuine commitment to enforce an effective system of immigration control. Applies the Immigration and Nationality Act to the Commonwealth over a ten-year transition period during which the Attorney General shall implement an immigration transition program for it. States that the transition program shall provide for the issuance of nonimmigrant temporary alien worker visas, as well as family-sponsored and employment-based immigrant visas. Sets forth a statutory scheme for: (1) temporary alien workers; (2) immigrants; (3) adequate employment in the Commonwealth's hotel industry after the transition period ends; (4) nonimmigrant investor visas; (5) lawful entry under Commonwealth immigration laws; and (6) travel restrictions for certain asylum applicants. Directs the Secretaries of the Interior and of Labor to develop a technical assistance program to aid employers in securing employees from among U.S. labor or lawfully admissible freely associated state citizen labor. Authorizes the Attorney General and the Department of Labor to establish Immigration and Naturalization Service, Executive Office of Immigration Review, and Department of Labor operations in the Commonwealth. Directs the President to report to certain congressional committees an evaluation of the overall effect of the transition program and the Immigration and Nationality Act upon the Commonwealth. Prohibits the Commonwealth from permitting an increase in the total number of temporary alien workers present on the Islands during the period between enactment of this Act and either: (1) the date that the Attorney General finds that the Government of the Commonwealth possesses the institutional capability and genuine commitment to enforce an effective system of immigration control; or (2) if the Attorney General finds that it fails to meet such conditions, the effective date of the transition program. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 13 May 1999
Energy Policy and Conservation Act Amendments - Reformulates the purposes of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA) so as to grant the President specific authority to fulfill U.S. obligations under the international energy program. Repeals its current purposes to: (1) reduce energy demand through implementation of energy conservation plans; (2) increase fossil fuel supply through price incentives and production requirements; and (3) reduce demand for petroleum products and natural gas through programs designed to enhance the use of domestic coal resources. (Sec. 3) Encompasses within EPCA jurisdiction an international energy supply shortage which the President determines to be of an emergency nature. (Sec. 4) Repeals the statutory incentive program to develop underground coal mines. Replaces prohibitions against lease bidding arrangements for oil and natural gas interests located on the Outer Continental Shelf by a major oil company affiliate, with the mandate that the Secretary of Energy (the Secretary) establish a program for setting joint bidding terms for exploration and development of crude oil, natural gas, and minerals located on such Shelf. Mandates that such program consider the goals of ensuring a fair return and encouraging timely and efficient resource development. Repeals restrictions controlling oil or gas production at the maximum efficient rate and temporary emergency production rate. Repeals Federal policy to provide for the creation of an Early Storage Reserve. Removes from the ambit of EPCA jurisdiction: (1) the Early Storage Reserve; (2) the Industrial Petroleum Reserve; (3) the Regional Petroleum Reserve; and (4) other storage reserves. Terminates the SPR Office in the Federal Energy Administration. Repeals the mandate for SPR expansion and for an SPR Plan. Details the authorities conferred upon the Secretary to develop, operate, or maintain the SPR. Repeals guidelines for storage, transport, or exchange of petroleum products, including: (1) fill operation by the President; (2) crude oil from Naval Petroleum Reserve Number 1 and reduction in fill-rate requirements; (3) suspension of fill operations during emergency situations; (4) test program of storage of refined petroleum products; and (5) distribution of the SPR. Replaces SPR distribution guidelines with a directive to the Secretary to: (1) sell SPR petroleum products at public auction to the highest bidder without regard to any Federal, State, or local regulation controlling petroleum product sales; and (2) conduct a continuing evaluation of drawdown and sales procedures. Cites the maximum barrels of petroleum products permissible in any SPR test drawdown, sale or exchange. Repeals the mandate for a study regarding Naval Petroleum Reserve Number 4. Revamps the contents of the Secretary's annual status report to Congress regarding SPR operations. Permits the use of SPR Petroleum Account funds by the Secretary for test drawdown and sales of petroleum products from the Reserve. Repeals guidelines governing: (1) use of the SPR Petroleum Account to meet expenses pertaining to interim storage facilities for SPR petroleum products; and (2) contracts for which no implementing legislation is needed. Extends, from FY 1999 to 2003, the authorities granted to implement domestic supply availability. (Sec. 5) Repeals the statutory plan for: (1) general emergency authorities; and (2) energy emergency preparedness. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1999 through 2003 for domestic renewable energy industry and related service industries. Extends from FY 1999 to 2003 the Federal authorities granted to implement standby energy authorities.
United States · United States Congress · 13 May 1999
Comprehensive Electricity Competition Tax Act - Title I: Amendments to Internal Revenue Code - Amends the Internal Revenue Code with respect to tax-exempt private activity bonds to declare that the determination whether any electric output facility bond issued before enactment of this Act (pre-effective date electric output facility bond) is a private activity bond shall be made without regard to any specified permissible competitive action taken by the issuer. Requires such a bond not to be a private activity bond or industrial development bond as of the date of enactment of this Act. Makes this Act inapplicable to any qualified refunding bond meeting certain criteria which is issued to refund a pre-effective date electric output facility bond if the net proceeds of the refunding bond are used within 90 days of issuance to redeem the refunded bond. Qualifies for tax exemption private activity bonds for electric output facilities issued after enactment of this Act, excluding any part of an issue for distribution property that operates at 69 kilovolts or less. Modifies special rules for nuclear decommissioning costs to eliminate cost-of-service as the maximum which a taxpayer may pay into a Nuclear Decommissioning Fund. Includes any distributed power property within 15-year depreciation property. Establishes an eight percent investment credit for combined heat and power (CHP) system property placed in service in calendar years 2000 through 2002. Precludes any carryback of the energy credit prior to the effective date of this Act, except for solar and geothermal energy property.
United States · United States Congress · 13 May 1999
Dental Health Access Expansion Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), to establish a program for awarding grants to eligible entities and individuals to expand the availability of primary dental care services in federally-designated health professional shortage areas. Makes eligible for such grants: (1) certain health centers located in such designated areas which provide matching non-Federal funds of at least 45 percent of grant amounts; and (2) licensed dentists who practice in such a designated area and 25 percent of whose patients are receiving assistance under a State plan under title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act. Authorizes appropriations for FY 2000 through 2004. Requires the HRSA Administrator to design and implement procedures to simplify the process by which dental health professional shortage areas are designated. Amends the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990 to repeal (as a funding offset) certain requirements for mortgage insurance premiums on mortgages executed during FY 1991 through 1994 that are obligations of the Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund.
United States · United States Congress · 13 May 1999
Digital Education Act of 1999 - Amends title III (Technology for Education) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) to provide for digital education partnerships. (Sec. 2) Renames and revises ESEA title III part C as Ready-to-Learn Digital Television (currently Ready-to-Learn Television). Directs the Secretary of Education to award grants, contracts, or cooperative agreements to eligible public telecommunications entities to: (1) develop educational programming, and related support materials and services, for preschool and elementary school children; (2) develop programming and digital content designed for nationwide distribution over public television stations' digital broadcasting channels and the Internet, containing Ready-to-Learn-based children's programming and resources for parents and caregivers; and (3) disseminate and distribute such programs to the widest possible appropriate audience by the most appropriate distribution technologies. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 3) Establishes the New Century Program for Distributed Teacher Professional Development as ESEA title III part D. (Replaces current part D provisions for a Technology Demonstration Project for Mathematics Project.) Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to a nonprofit telecommunications entity, or partnership of such entities for a national telecommunications-based program to improve teaching in core curriculum areas. Requires such program to be designed to assist elementary school and secondary school teachers in preparing all students for achieving State content standards. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 4) Establishes a Digital Education Content Collaborative as a new part F of ESEA title III. Authorizes the Secretary to award competitive matching grants to, or enter into contracts or cooperative agreements with, eligible local public television communications entities to develop, produce, and distribute educational and instructional video programming designed for use by kindergarten through grade 12 schools and based on State standards. Requires such eligible entities to enter into multiyear content development collaborative arrangements with State educational agencies, local educational agencies, institutions of higher education, businesses, or other agencies and organizations. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 12 May 1999
Motor Vehicle Franchise Contract Arbitration Fairness Act of 1999 - Provides that each party to a motor vehicle franchise contract providing for the use of arbitration to resolve a controversy arising out of or relating to the contract shall have the option, after the controversy arises and before both parties commence an arbitration proceeding, to reject arbitration as the means of settling the controversy. Requires that any such rejection be in writing. Requires the arbitrator, whenever a party elects arbitration, to provide the parties with a written explanation of the factual and legal basis for the award.
United States · United States Congress · 12 May 1999
Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act of 1999 - Provides collective bargaining rights for public safety officers employed by States or local governments. (Sec. 4) Directs the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA) to determine whether State law provides specified rights and responsibilities for public safety officers, including: (1) granting public safety employees the right to form and join a labor organization which excludes management and supervisory employees, and which is, or seeks to be, recognized as the exclusive bargaining agent for such employees; and (2) requiring public safety employers to recognize and agree to bargain with the employees' labor organization. (Sec. 5) Requires the FLRA to issue regulations establishing collective bargaining procedures for public safety employers and employees in States that do not substantially provide for such public safety employee rights and responsibilities. Directs the FLRA, in such cases, to: (1) determine the appropriateness of units for labor organization representation; (2) supervise or conduct elections to determine whether a labor organization has been selected as an exclusive representative by a majority of the employees in an appropriate unit; (3) resolve issues relating to the duty to bargain in good faith; (4) conduct hearings and resolve complaints of unfair labor practices; and (5) resolve exceptions to arbitrator's awards. Grants a public safety employer, employee, or labor organization the right to seek enforcement of such FLRA regulations and authority through appropriate State courts. (Sec. 6) Prohibits public safety employers, employees, and labor organizations from engaging in lockouts or strikes. (Sec. 7) Provides that existing collective bargaining units and agreements shall not be invalidated by this Act. (Sec. 9) Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 12 May 1999
Affordable Housing Opportunity Act of 1999 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to increase, and link to the cost-of-living adjustment, the State low-income housing credit ceiling.
United States · United States Congress · 5 May 1999
Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Equitable Compensation Act - Establishes in the Treasury the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribal Recovery Trust Fund. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to: (1) deposit a specified amount into the Fund out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated; (2) invest such portion of the Fund as is not required to meet current withdrawals; and (3) deposit interest resulting from such investments into the Fund. Establishes a schedule under which the Secretary shall withdraw specified amounts of interest deposited into the Fund and transfer those amounts to the Secretary of the Interior for making payments as requested by the Tribe, pursuant to tribal resolution, for promoting economic and infrastructure development and educational, health, recreational, and social welfare objectives. Authorizes the Tribe to enter into an agreement under which future payments are pledged as security for a loan or other financial transaction. Permits such agreement only in connection with the purchase of land or other capital assets and limits the pledge for any year under the agreement to 40 percent of any payment for that year. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 5 May 1999
Pension Assistance and Counseling Act of 1999 - Amends the Older Americans Act of 1965 to require the Assistant Secretary for Aging to award grants to eligible entities to establish programs that create or continue a sufficient number of pension assistance and counseling projects to provide outreach, information, counseling, referral, and other assistance regarding pension and other retirement benefits and related rights to individuals throughout the United States. Specifies that such grants shall be awarded to: (1) State agencies or area agencies on aging; (2) nonprofit organizations with a proven record of providing services related to retirement of older individuals or specific pension counseling; and (3) an eligible entity to establish a training and technical assistance program to provide information and technical assistance to the staffs of entities operating pension counseling programs and assistance to such entities, including assistance in designing program evaluation tools. Makes nonprofit private organizations with records of providing national information, referral, and advocacy in matters related to pension and other retirement benefits eligible to receive training and technical assistance grants. Requires the Assistant Secretary to enter into: (1) interagency agreements for the establishment and operation of, and dissemination of information about, a telephone hotline for individuals seeking outreach, information, counseling, referral, and assistance regarding pension and other retirement benefits, and rights related to such benefits; and (2) agreements with the Secretary of Labor and with the heads of other Federal agencies that regulate the provision of pension and other retirement benefits, as appropriate, in order to carry out this Act and to develop a nationwide public-private pension assistance system. Authorizes appropriations. Repeals provisions of the Act that establish pension rights demonstration projects.
United States · United States Congress · 4 May 1999
Private Sector Research and Development Investment Act of 1999- Amends the Internal Revenue Code to permanently extend and modify the research credit. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to assist small and start-up businesses in complying with the requirements of such credit.
United States · United States Congress · 30 April 1999
National Sustainable Fuels and Chemicals Act of 1999 - Amends the National Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching Policy Act of 1977 to direct the Secretaries of Agriculture and Energy to cooperate in promoting research and development of biobased industrial products. Establishes: (1) the Sustainable Fuels and Chemicals Board to coordinate Federal programs promoting the use of biobased industrial products; (2) the Sustainable Fuels and Chemicals Technical Advisory Committee; and (3) a Sustainable Fuels and Chemicals Research Initiative to provide for related grants and contracts (authorizes appropriations).
United States · United States Congress · 30 April 1999
Flag Protection Act of 1999 - Amends the Federal criminal code to revise provisions regarding desecration of the flag to set penalties with respect to persons who: (1) destroy or damage a U.S. flag with the primary purpose and intent to incite or produce imminent violence or a breach of the peace under circumstances in which the person knows that it is reasonably likely to produce imminent violence or a breach of the peace; (2) steal or knowingly convert to their use, or the use of another, a U.S. flag belonging to the United States and intentionally destroy or damage that flag; and (3) within any lands reserved for the use of the United States, or under the exclusive or concurrent jurisdiction thereof, steal or knowingly convert to their use, or the use of another, a U.S. flag belonging to another person and intentionally destroy or damage that flag.
United States · United States Congress · 29 April 1999
Military Reservists Small Business Relief Act of 1999 - Amends the Small Business Act to require the Small Business Administration (SBA), upon written request, to defer repayment of principal and interest due on a direct general business or disaster loan made to a member of the reserves ordered to active duty during a period of military conflict, as long as such reservist: (1) received the loan before being ordered to such duty; and (2) is the owner, manager, or key employee of a small business for which the loan was made. Extends such deferral period until 180 days after such reservist is discharged or released from active duty. Directs the SBA to encourage lenders and loan intermediaries participating in other SBA loan programs to defer repayment of similar loans as well as loans made under the Small Business Investment Act of 1958. Authorizes the SBA to make disaster loans to assist a small business that has or is likely to suffer economic injury as the result of the owner, manager, or key employee of such business being ordered to active duty during a period of military conflict. Extends such assistance until 180 days after such reservist is discharged or released from such duty. Provides a loan limitation. Applies such assistance to periods of military conflict occurring on or after March 24, 1999. Directs the SBA to utilize its entrepreneurial development and management assistance programs to provide business counseling and training to any small business adversely affected by the deployment of units of U.S. armed forces in support of a period of military conflict. Requires the SBA, for the duration of Operation Allied Force and 120 days thereafter, to enhance its publicity of the availability of such assistance.
United States · United States Congress · 29 April 1999
Physician Assistant Equity Act - Requires the Director of the Office of Personnel Management: (1) to review the classification of the position of physician assistant; (2) in conducting the review, to solicit comments from physician assistants and organizations representative of physician assistants and give specific consideration to the private sector qualifications, requirements for practice, compensation, and experience of such an assistant and the educational and practice qualifications required for the position, including national accreditation standards and State licensing requirements; (3) to reclassify the position in a professional class that is different from the class of positions that includes any nurse position or medical technician position; and (4) to make any appropriate adjustments in personnel and pay administration consistent with the review and classification conducted under this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 29 April 1999
Made in USA Label Defense Act of 1999 - Amends Federal law to prohibit the affixation of the "Made in the USA" label to a product of the Northern Mariana Islands. Prohibits such products from being imported into the United States free of duty or quotas.
United States · United States Congress · 29 April 1999
Border Patrol Recruitment and Retention Act of 1999 - Increases certain GS-9 Border Patrol agents with one year's successful service to a GS-11 classification and pay scale. Directs the Commissioner of the Immigration and Naturalization Service to establish within the Immigration and Naturalization Service an Office of Border Patrol Recruitment and Retention. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 28 April 1999
Children's Dental Health Improvement Act of 1999 - Title I: Expanded Opportunities for Training Pediatric Dental Health Care Providers - Amends the Public Health Service Act (PHSA), as amended by the Health Professions Education Partnerships Act of 1998, to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to: (1) develop training materials for use by health professionals to promote oral health through health education; (2) make grants to schools that train pediatric dental health providers to meet the costs of projects for developing or improving training programs in providing dental health services to children; (3) establish at least ten Pediatric Dental Centers of Excellence with not less than 36 additional training positions annually for pediatric dentists at such centers of excellence; (4) determine dental site readiness in inner city, rural, frontier, and border areas; and (5) increase the numbers of Corps and private practice dentists under contract with the Corps who are selected for student loan repayments. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 102) Directs the Secretary to increase the number of dental health providers skilled in treating children who become members of the Commissioned Corps of the U.S. Public Health Service and who are assigned to duty for the National Health Service Corps, so that there are specified numbers of additional dentists and dental hygienists in the Corps (ensuring that at least 20 percent of Corps dentists are pediatric dentists and another 20 percent have general dentistry residency training. Requires the Corps to report annually to Congress on how it is meeting the oral health needs of underserved children in rural, frontier, and border areas. Increases the amount of appropriations made available under the Health Professions Education Partnerships Act of 1998 for grant and contract awards under PHSA for programs of pediatric or general dentistry. (Sec. 104) Provides for a dental officer multiyear retention bonus for the Indian Health Service. (Sec. 105) Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to direct the Secretary to make Medicare payments to approved nonhospital based dentistry residency training programs providing oral health care to children for program operating expenses. Provides for a permanent dental exemption from voluntary residency reduction incentive payment programs under Medicare, and for the removal of dentists from full-time equivalent count averaging requirements under Medicare. Redefines primary care resident. (Sec. 106) Amends PHSA to allow the Secretary to designate dental health professional shortage areas in areas with a severe shortage of dental health professionals, including general and pediatric dentists and dental hygienists. Includes dental hygienists in PHSA's student loan repayment program. Title II: Ensuring Delivery of Pediatric Dental Services Under the Medicaid and SCHIP Programs - Amends SSA title XIX (Medicaid) to: (1) provide for quarterly payment to a State of an amount equal to the greater of the Federal medical assistance percentage or 75 percent of the sums expended during the quarter attributable to dental services for children; (2) require a State Medicaid plan to provide for payment for dental services for children at a rate designed to create an incentive for providers of such services (but that does not result in a reduction or other adverse impact on the extent to which the State provides dental services to adults); (3) set the required minimum Medicaid expenditures each fiscal year for dental health services for children; (4) require the State to verify annually sufficient numbers of Medicaid-participating dental health professionals and to collect appropriate data; (5) provide for the inclusion of the recommended age for the first dental visit in the definition of early and periodic screening, diagnostic, and treatment services (EPSDT); and (6) provide for the use of Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) (SSA title XXI) funds to treat certain low-income children with special oral health needs (including advanced craniofacial diseases) who reside in certain States. (Sec. 207) Amends SSA title V (Maternal and Child Health Services) to direct the Secretary to award grants to States to supplement payments made under State Medicaid and CHIP programs for the treatment of children with special oral health care needs. Defines children with special oral health care needs as children with oral, dental and craniofacial conditions or disorders, and other acute or chronic medical, genetic, and behavioral disorders with dental manifestations. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 208) Directs the Secretary to establish demonstration projects designed to increase access to dental services for children in underserved areas. Authorizes appropriations. Title III: Pediatric Dental Research - Directs the Secretary to: (1) support community based research designed to improve our understanding of the etiology, pathogenesis, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of pediatric oral, dental, craniofacial diseases and conditions and their sequelae in high risk populations; (2) develop clinical approaches to assess individual patients for pediatric dental disease; and (3) support demonstrations of preventive interventions in high risk populations. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 302) Amends PHSA to direct the Administrator for Health Care Policy and Research to conduct and support activities with respect to existing barriers, including access to oral health care for children, and the establishment of measures of oral health status and outcomes. (Sec. 303) Amends PHSA to direct the Secretary to establish a specified oral health research and training program involving qualified oral health professional participants who, pursuant to an agreement with the Secretary, will have a specified portion of their educational loans repaid by the Secretary in exchange for the program-related research they conduct or the program-related training they provide. (Sec. 304) Directs the Secretary to convene a Consensus Development Conference to: (1) examine the management of early childhood caries; and (2) support research on the biology and physiologic dynamics of infectious transmission of dental caries. Authorizes appropriations. Title IV: Surveillance and Accountability - Requires the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to collect and report annually to the appropriate congressional committees on the dental, craniofacial, and oral health of residents of at least one State from each HHS region. (Sec. 402) Amends SSA title XIX (Medicaid) to require a State Medicaid plan to provide for the reporting to the Secretary of the following: (1) the percentage of expenditures for EPSDT dental health professionals licensed in the State and providing services commensurate with State Medicaid plan eligibility; and (3) data on the children being served and the actual services provided. (Sec. 403) Directs the Administrator of the Administration on Children, Youth, and Families to report annually to the appropriate congressional committees the percentage of children enrolled in a Head or Early Start program who have access to and who obtain dental care, including children with special oral, dental, and craniofacial health needs. (Sec. 404) Amends the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 to impose on the State involved certain data collection and submission requirements with regard to children under the special supplemental food program for women, infants, and children (WIC) under that Act. Title V: Oral Health Promotion and Disease Prevention - Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to States or localities for the purpose of increasing the resources available for community water fluoridation. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 502) Directs the Secretary to establish a specified demonstration project designed to assist rural water systems in successfully implementing certain CDC water fluoridation guidelines. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes the Secretary to award grants to States or localities to provide for the development of school-based dental sealant programs at eligible public elementary or secondary schools to improve the access of certain children to sealants. Authorizes appropriations. Title VI: Miscellaneous - Establishes the effective dates for this Act, some of which are retroactive to the enactment of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997.
United States · United States Congress · 28 April 1999
Federally Impacted School Improvement Act - Provides matching grants to local educational agencies (LEAs) for construction, renovation and repair of school facilities in areas affected by Federal activities. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary of Education to distribute such funds as follows: (1) 45 percent for basic matching grants to LEAs eligible for impact aid assistance as serving children from Indian lands, if the number of such children is at least 25 percent of the total number in attendance; (2) 45 percent to the Secretary of Defense for basic matching grants to LEAs serving children from military bases, if the number of such children is at least 25 percent of the total number in attendance; and (3) ten percent for emergency non-matching grants in cases of health or safety hazards at facilities of LEAs which have a number of impact aid eligible children equal to at least 50 percent of their total attendance. Sets forth requirements for: (1) LEA eligibility; (2) basic grant awards and amount limits; (3) applications; and (4) emergency grant certifications, amounts, and priorities.
United States · United States Congress · 27 April 1999
Commemorates the 60th Anniversary of the International Visitors Program. Commends the achievements of the thousands of volunteers who are part of the National Council for International Visitors "citizen diplomats."
United States · United States Congress · 26 April 1999
Fuels Regulatory Relief Act - Amends the Clean Air Act to prohibit the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, for purposes of regulating and listing substances anticipated to cause death or serious health or environmental effects in the case of an accidental release, from regulating non-acute toxic flammable fuels when used or stored for fuel purposes or retail sale unless the fuels are hazardous waste.
United States · United States Congress · 21 April 1999
Youth Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to award grants on a competitive basis to eligible consortia to enable such consortia to establish school-based substance abuse prevention and student assistance programs for youth to provide services that address youth substance abuse. Mandates that priority be given to grant applications from eligible consortia that provide services in rural areas or for Native Americans. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary to award grants on a competitive basis to inpatient and outpatient treatment facilities to provide substance abuse treatment services for individuals under age 22. Mandates that priority be given to applications from treatment facilities that provide treatment services in rural areas, for Native Americans, or for underserved populations. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary to award grants on a competitive basis to State and local substance abuse prevention and treatment providers to enable such providers to offer training to provide prevention and treatment services for youth. Mandates that priority be given to applications from areas in which: (1) there is a demonstrated high rate of youth substance abuse; and (2) the population is underserved or the prevention and treatment providers in the area use distance learning. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 21 April 1999
Medicare Social Work Equity Act of 1999 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to exclude clinical social worker services from coverage under the Medicare skilled nursing facility prospective payment system.
United States · United States Congress · 20 April 1999
Amends the Public Health Service Act to make technical corrections with respect to health professions student loan default payments to Federal loan insurance beneficiaries.
United States · United States Congress · 15 April 1999
After School Education and Anti-Crime Act of 1999 - Revises the 21st Century Community Learning Centers Act to: (1) authorize the Secretary of Education to award grants to local educational agencies (LEAs) for the support of public elementary or secondary schools, including middle schools, that serve communities with substantial needs for expanded learning opportunities for children and youth in the communities, to enable the schools to establish or expand projects that benefit specified community needs; (2) direct the Secretary, in awarding grants, to assure an equitable distribution of assistance among the States and among urban and rural areas of the United States; and (3) direct the Secretary to award such grants for a period not to exceed five years. (Sec. 6) Requires an LEA, to be eligible to receive a grant, to submit an application as specified. Requires that such application include: (1) information demonstrating that the LEA will provide not less than 35 percent of the annual cost of the activities assisted under the project from sources other than funds provided under the Act, which may be provided in cash or in kind, fairly evaluated, and provide not more than 25 percent of the annual cost of the activities assisted under the project from funds provided by the Secretary under other Federal programs that permit the use of those other funds for activities assisted under the project; and (2) an assurance that the LEA, in each year of the project, will maintain the agency's fiscal effort, from non-Federal sources, from the preceding fiscal year for the activities that the LEA provides with funds made available under the Act. (Sec. 7) Allows the use of grant funds to establish or expand community learning centers. Allows such centers to provide one or more of specified listed activities, including after school programs that: (1) include at least two of the following: mentoring programs, academic assistance, recreational activities, or technology training; and (2) may include drug, alcohol, and gang prevention activities, health and nutrition counseling, and job skills preparation activities. Limits the amount of appropriated funds that may be used for after school programs. (Sec. 8) Directs an LEA to: (1) request volunteers from business and academic communities, and law enforcement organizations, to serve as mentors or to assist in other ways; (2) ensure that youth in the local community participate in designing the after school activities; (3) develop creative methods of conducting outreach to youth in the community; (4) request donations of computer equipment and other materials and equipment; and (5) work with State and local park and recreation agencies so that activities carried out by the agencies prior to this Act's enactment are not duplicated. (Sec. 10) Authorizes appropriations through FY 2004.
United States · United States Congress · 15 April 1999
Children's Asthma Relief Act of 1999 - Amends title V (Maternal and Child Health Services) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to establish an asthma treatment grants program providing comprehensive asthma services for children and other individuals. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to encourage States to implement plans to carry out activities to assist children with respect to 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 CHIP plan under SSA title XXI (Children's Health Insurance) (CHIP) 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 Public Health Service Act to include, within the preventive health and health services block grant, any systems for reducing asthma and asthma-related illnesses, especially with regard to children, through urban cockroach pest management in public facilities that minimizes or avoids chemical pesticides through a combination of appropriate practices involving the maintenance, cleaning, and monitoring of such sites. Directs 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 to improve the coordination of such activities. Authorizes appropriations. Requires the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 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.
United States · United States Congress · 14 April 1999
Women's Business Centers Sustainability Act of 1999 - Amends the Small Business Act, with respect to the women's business center program, to allow a private organization that has received financial assistance under the program and that is either in the final year of a five-year project or has completed the project to apply for assistance for an additional five-year period. Requires such organizations to agree to obtain matching cash contributions from non-Federal sources. Extends through FY 2001 the authorization for the program, allowing no more than 40 percent of such amounts to be used for providing such additional assistance.
United States · United States Congress · 13 April 1999
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exempt from Federal income tax any amounts received by Holocaust victims or their heirs: (1) from the Swiss Humanitarian Fund established by the Government of Switzerland or from any similar fund established by any foreign country; or (2) as a result of the settlement of the action entitled "In re Holocaust Victims' Asset Litigation", (E.D. NY), C.A. No. 96-4849, or as a result of any similar action.
United States · United States Congress · 13 April 1999
Medicare Cancer Clinical Trial Coverage Act of 1999 - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish a demonstration project which provides for payment under title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act of routine patient care costs for Medicare beneficiaries with cancer who are enrolled in an approved clinical trial program, while still applying the beneficiary cost sharing provisions of such program to project participants. Directs the Secretary to study and report to Congress on the impact on Medicare of covering such costs as well as the cost of extending routine patient care coverage to Medicare beneficiaries with a diagnosis other than cancer.
United States · United States Congress · 25 March 1999
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Strategies for Preventing Crimes Against Seniors Title II: Combating Crimes Against Seniors Title III: Preventing Telemarketing Fraud Title IV: Preventing Health Care Fraud Title V: Protecting Residents of Nursing Homes Title VI: Protecting the Rights of Elderly Crime Victims Seniors Safety Act of 1999 - Title I: Strategies for Preventing Crimes Against Seniors - Directs the Attorney General (AG) to study and report to the congressional judiciary committees on crimes against seniors (over 55 years of age) in order to prevent and otherwise reduce the incidence of those crimes, which include telemarketing fraud, elder abuse, and health care fraud. (Sec. 102) Requires certain statistics concerning crimes against seniors to be included by the AG within each annual National Crime Victimization Survey. Title II: Combating Crimes Against Seniors - Directs the United States Sentencing Commission to review and, if appropriate, amend Federal sentencing guidelines to include the age of a crime victim as one of the criteria for determining whether a sentencing enhancement is appropriate. Requires a Commission report to Congress on issues relating to the age of crime victims. (Sec. 202) Directs the Commission to review and, if appropriate, amend sentencing guidelines and Commission policy statements to include persons convicted of offenses involving fraud in connection with a health care benefit program. (Sec. 203) Amends the Federal criminal code to provide increased penalties for fraud which results in serious injury or death. (Sec. 204) Provides civil and criminal penalties for any person who executes, or attempts to execute, a scheme or artifice to: (1) defraud any retirement arrangement or any person in connection with the establishment or maintenance of such an arrangement; or (2) falsely or fraudulently obtain any of the money or property owned by, or under the custody or control of, any retirement arrangement or other person in connection with such an arrangement. (Sec. 205) Authorizes the AG to bring a civil action to enforce penalties for defrauding pension plans. (Sec. 206) Revises criminal code provisions concerning the illegal influencing of operations of employee benefit plans to: (1) add certain definitions; and (2) include under such provisions bribery and graft committed by an applicable person (an employee benefit plan administrator, officer, counsel, agent, employee, or other person having influence with respect to such plan). Title III: Preventing Telemarketing Fraud - Directs the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to establish procedures to: (1) log and acknowledge the receipt of complaints by individuals who reasonably believe that they have been the victim of fraud in connection with telemarketing; (2) provide to such individuals and any others information on telemarketing fraud; and (3) refer such complaints to appropriate entities, including State consumer protection and law enforcement agencies, for potential law enforcement action. Requires the AG to establish and maintain a computer database containing information on corporations and companies convicted of Federal or State telemarketing fraud. Requires such database to be made available to the FTC. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 302) Includes a wire communications facility (facility) utilizing a telephone service within the scope of telemarketing fraud subject to enhanced criminal penalties under the criminal code. Provides that if a common carrier is notified by the AG that a facility furnished by such carrier is being or will be used by a subscriber to transmit or receive a wire communication in interstate or foreign commerce to execute any scheme or artifice to defraud, or for obtaining money or property by means of false or fraudulent representations, in connection with telemarketing, then the carrier shall discontinue or refuse to lease, furnish, or maintain the facility to such subscriber after reasonable notice to the subscriber. Title IV: Preventing Health Care Fraud - Includes within Federal injunctive authority against fraudulent actions certain offenses under the Social Security Act relating to false claims and illegal kickback schemes involving Federal health care programs. Amends the Social Security Act to authorize the AG to bring an action to enforce such authority. (Sec. 402) Includes within the AG's authority to subpoena information involving a Federal health care offense any allegation of fraud or false claims (whether criminal or civil) in connection with a Federal health care program as defined under the Social Security Act. Prohibits, during the production of such information, any record that contains personally identifiable information from being disclosed to any person, with exceptions for certain attorneys and government personnel as part of their official functions. Requires court ordered disclosures to be undertaken so as to preserve the confidentiality and privacy of individuals, unless such disclosure is required by the nature of such proceedings. Requires such records to be destroyed within 90 days after their production. (Sec. 403) Amends the Social Security Act to extend certain antifraud safeguards to the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program. (Sec. 404) Authorizes grand jury disclosure of matters occurring during an investigation of a Federal health care offense for use in any investigation or civil proceeding relating to fraud or false claims in connection with a Federal health care program. (Sec. 405) Delegates to the Deputy or an Assistant Attorney General the AG authority to issue civil investigative demands for the production of information relevant to a false claims law investigation. Allows disclosure of such information only upon a showing that such disclosure would assist the Department of Justice in carrying out its statutory responsibilities. Title V: Protecting Residents of Nursing Homes - Nursing Home Resident Protection Act of 1999 - Provides civil penalties against anyone who knowingly and willfully engages in a pattern of violations that affects the health, safety, or care of individuals in a residential health care facility, and results in significant physical or mental harm to one or more of such individuals, except that any organization shall be fined not more than $2 million per facility. Authorizes the AG to bring an enforcement action. Lists maximum penalty amounts. Authorizes other relief, including equitable and declaratory relief to eliminate a pattern of violations. Prohibits retaliation against any person reporting a condition that may constitute grounds for civil action. Includes information as to such violations within Federal investigative demand procedures. Title VI: Protecting the Rights of Elderly Crime Victims - Amends Federal civil forfeiture provisions to authorize the AG to retain or transfer forfeited property as restoration to any victim of the offense giving rise to the forfeiture, including a money laundering offense or any offense constituting the underlying specified unlawful activity. (Sec. 602) Amends provisions of the Controlled Substances Act relating to criminal forfeitures to state that a defendant may not use property subject to forfeiture to satisfy an order of restitution, except when the defendant has no assets other than the property subject to forfeiture. Directs the Government to restore the forfeited property to the victims. (Sec. 603) Prohibits the use of bankruptcy proceedings to shield illegal gains from false claims brought against the Government. Prohibits the debt arising from such illegal gains from being discharged in bankruptcy proceedings. (Sec. 604) Authorizes a criminal or civil court, in imposing a sentence on a person convicted of a retirement offense (an offense involving fraudulent gains from another's retirement arrangement), to order such person to forfeit property that constitutes or is derived from proceeds traceable to the commission of such offense.
United States · United States Congress · 25 March 1999
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Expanding Coverage for Small Business Title II: Increasing Pension Access and Fairness for Women Title III: Increasing Portability of Pension Plans Title IV: Strengthening Pension Security and Enforcement Title V: Encouraging Retirement Education Title VI: Reducing Red Tape Title VII: Plan Amendments Pension Coverage and Portability Act - Title I: Expanding Coverage for Small Business - Amends the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to revise requirements relating to pension plan loans for Subchapter S owners, partners, and sole proprietors. (Sec. 102) Allows an employer to establish payroll deductions for contributions to employee individual retirement plans without incurring ERISA liability. (Sec. 103) Amends the IRC to allow an eligible employer to establish and maintain a SAFE annuity (an individual retirement annuity) or a SAFE trust (a trust forming part of a defined benefit plan), both to be funded by the employer. Makes the employer contributions deductible without limitation and otherwise provides for the treatment of contributions and distributions. Mandates a penalty for early withdrawals. Requires simplified employer reports for SAFE annuities and simplified actuarial reports for SAFE trusts. Amends the ERISA to exempt SAFE trusts from coverage requirements and SAFE annuities from certain employer reporting requirements. (Sec. 104) Amends the IRC to modify definitions applicable to special rules for top-heavy plans. Requires consideration of employer matching contributions in determining whether a defined contribution plan meets minimum contribution requirements. Exempts frozen plans from a minimum benefit requirement. Provides an alternative test for top-heavy plans. (Sec. 105) Allows employers to elect salary reduction only arrangements under IRC requirements for simple plans. (Sec. 106) Establishes a small employer pension plan credit. (Sec. 107) Increases (from $6,000 to $8,000) limits for deferrals to simple plans. (Sec. 108) Amends ERISA to provide for a phase-in of an additional premium for new plans to pay to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC). (Sec. 109) Provides for a reduced PBGC premium for new plans of small employers. (Sec. 110) Eliminates user fee requirements for requests to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) concerning the status of pension plans. (Sec. 111) Declares the $150,000 compensation limit inapplicable to simple 401(k) arrangements. (Sec. 112) Provides that elective deferrals shall not be taken into account for purposes of limits on certain plan contributions. (Sec. 113) Repeals specified coordination requirements under the IRC for deferred compensation plans of State and local governments and tax-exempt organizations. Title II: Increasing Pension Access and Fairness for Women - Sets forth requirements relating to equitable treatment for contributions of employees to defined contribution plans. Requires that certain contributions by church plans are not to be treated as exceeding a specified limit. Sets forth special rules for annuity contracts and simplified pensions. (Sec. 202) Provides for faster vesting of certain employer matching contributions under IRC and ERISA. (Sec. 203) Amends Federal civil service law to revise requirements for deferred annuities for surviving spouses of Federal employees under both the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) and the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS). (Sec. 204) Revises IRC requirements relating to tax treatment of division of section 457 plan benefits upon divorce. (Sec. 205) Amends the IRC and ERISA to provide for the spouse's right to know specified distribution information relating to survivor annuities. (Sec. 206) Revises minimum distribution rules under IRC. Revises requirements for actuarial adjustment of benefit under a defined benefit plan. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to: (1) simplify and finalize the regulations relating to minimum distribution requirements; and (2) modify such regulations to reflect increases in life expectancy, and revise required distribution methods so that, under reasonable assumptions, the amount of the required minimum distribution does not decrease over a participant's life expectancy. Provides that, during the first year that such revised regulations are in effect, required distributions for future years may be redetermined, with the opportunity to choose a new designated beneficiary and to elect a new method of calculating life expectancy. Excludes specified amounts from minimum distribution requirements. Repeals a rule relating to distributions begun before death occurs. (Sec. 207) Directs the Secretary to revise regulations relating to safe harbor relief for hardship withdrawals from cash or deferred arrangements. Title III: Increasing Portability of Pension Plans - Permits rollovers from and to various types of plans under the IRC. (Sec. 302) Permits individual retirement plan (IRA) rollovers into workplace retirement plans only if certain conditions are met. (Sec. 303) Permits rollover of after-tax contributions in an exempt trust under specified conditions. Sets forth a hardship exception to the 60-day rule. (Sec. 304) Revises restrictions on distributions from defined contribution plans, including the same desk exception. Repeals business sale requirements. (Sec. 305) Provides that a transferee defined contribution plan shall not be treated as having failed to meet certain requirements because it does not provide for some or all of the distribution forms previously available under a transferor defined contribution plan. (Sec. 306) Authorizes trustee-to-trustee transfers to purchase permissive service credit with respect to governmental defined benefit plans. (Sec. 307) Authorizes employers to disregard rollovers for purposes of employee cash-out amounts under the IRC and ERISA. Title IV: Strengthening Pension Security and Enforcement - Amends the IRC and ERISA to revise the percentage of current liability funding limit. Revises maximum contribution deduction rules and applies them to all defined benefit plan under the IRC. (Sec. 402) Increases dollar limits for employer-sponsored retirement plans. (Sec. 403) Makes certain compensation limitations for defined benefit plans inapplicable to governmental and multiemployer plans. Prohibits combining or aggregating a multiemployer plan with any other plan maintained by the employer for the purpose of applying such limitations. (Sec. 404) Amends ERISA to direct the PBGC to prescribe rules relating to missing participants for multiemployer plans covered by the PBGC that terminate. (Sec. 405) Amends ERISA to make discretionary the imposition and amount of civil penalties for breach of fiduciary responsibility. Revises requirements for the applicable recovery amount and related rules. (Sec. 406) Amends the IRC to allow an employer, in determining the amount of nondeductible contributions for any taxable year, to elect not to take into account any contributions to a defined benefit plan except to the extent that they exceed the full-funding limitation. (Sec. 407) Amends the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997 to protect investment of employee contributions to 401(k) plans by providing that specified requirements apply to elective deferrals for plan years beginning after December 31, 1998. (Sec. 408) Bars the Secretaries of Labor and the Treasury from litigating any claim against a person under specified ERISA provisions if: (1) an action against that person with respect to the same plan is resolved by a court-approved settlement; (2) such proposed settlement is served upon the Secretaries at least 90 days before entry of final judgment approving the settlement; and (3) such claim was or could have been brought in such action. Title V: Encouraging Retirement Education - Requires that pension benefit statements be furnished annually (once every three years for defined benefit plans) or on request. Allows written or electronic statements. Requires multiemployer plans to furnish a statement (written or electronic) on request. (Sec. 502) Directs the Administrator of the Small Business Administration to prepare a plan to: (1) increase awareness of retirement benefits;(2) update small business owners concerning such benefits; and (3) post information on the Internet on types of retirement benefit plans and other options. (Sec. 503) Treats the provision of certain retirement planning services by an employer to an employee as a de minimis fringe benefit to the extent it is not treated as a working condition fringe. Prohibits including an amount in an employee's gross income solely because the employee may choose between any retirement planning fringe and compensation otherwise includible in gross income, providing such choices are available in a way that does not discriminate in favor of highly compensated employees. Title VI: Reducing Red Tape - Amends the IRC and ERISA to revise requirements relating to timing of plan valuations. (Sec. 602) Amends ERISA rules for substantial owners relating to plan terminations to revise: (1) the phase-in of the guarantee; and (2) the allocation of assets. (Sec. 603) Amends IRC requirements for applicable dividends to allow dividends of employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) to be reinvested without loss of dividend deduction. (Sec. 604) Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to modify the regulations regarding the exclusion allowance to render void the requirement that contributions to a defined benefit pension plan be treated as previously excluded amounts. (Sec. 605) Directs the Secretary to provide by regulation that a plan shall be deemed to satisfy specified requirements of the IRC if it satisfies a certain facts and circumstances test, under specified conditions. (Sec. 606) Grants the Secretary discretion in applying a specified coverage test to a plan. (Sec. 607) Makes inapplicable to certain mirror plans specified IRC requirements relating to deferred compensation plans of State and local governments and tax-exempt organizations. (Sec. 608) Revises the notice and consent period regarding distributions. Directs the Secretary to modify certain regulations under the IRC to provide that the description of a participant's right, if any, to defer receipt of a distribution shall also describe the consequences of failing to defer such receipt. (Sec. 609) Sets forth conforming amendments relating to election to receive taxable cash compensation in lieu of nontaxable transportation fringe benefits. (Sec. 610) Repeals a transition rule relating to certain highly compensated employees under the Tax Reform Act of 1986. (Sec. 611) Extends to international organizations the moratorium on application of certain nondiscrimination rules applicable to State and local plans. (Sec. 612) Revises ERISA requirements for annual report dissemination. (Sec. 613) Directs the Secretary to modify certain regulations with respect to certain plan participation by employees of tax-exempt entities under the IRC. (Sec. 614) Repeals a multiple use test. Directs the Secretary prescribe regulations permitting appropriate aggregation of plans and contributions. Title VII: Plan Amendments - Prescribes requirements for plan amendments or annuity contract amendments under the IRC and ERISA.
United States · United States Congress · 25 March 1999
Sanctions Policy Reform Act - Declares that it is the purpose of this Act to establish an effective framework for consideration by the legislative and executive branches of unilateral economic sanctions in order to ensure coordination of U.S. policy with respect to trade, security, and human rights. (Sec. 3) Declares that it is U.S. policy to: (1) pursue U.S. interests through vigorous and effective diplomatic, political, commercial, charitable, educational, cultural, and strategic engagement with other countries, while recognizing that U.S. national security interests may sometimes require the imposition of economic sanctions on other countries; (2) foster multilateral cooperation on vital matters of U.S. foreign policy, including promoting human rights and democracy, combating international terrorism, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and international narcotics trafficking, and ensuring adequate environmental protection; (3) promote U.S. economic growth and job creation by expanding exports of goods, services, and agricultural commodities, and by encouraging investment that supports the sale abroad of U.S. products and services; (4) maintain the reputation of U.S. businesses and farmers as reliable suppliers to international customers of quality products and services; (5) avoid the use of restrictions on exports of agricultural commodities as a foreign policy weapon; and (6) oppose policies of other countries designed to discourage economic interaction with countries friendly to the United States or with any U.S. national, and to avoid use of such measures as instruments of U.S. foreign policy. States that when economic sanctions are necessary, it is U.S. policy to: (1) target them as narrowly as possible on those foreign governments, entities, and officials that are responsible for the conduct being targeted, thereby minimizing unnecessary or disproportionate harm to individuals who are not responsible for such conduct; and (2) to the extent feasible, avoid any adverse impact of economic sanctions on the humanitarian activities of the United States and foreign nongovernmental organizations in a country against which sanctions are imposed. (Sec. 5) Expresses the sense of Congress that any unilateral economic sanction legislation introduced in or reported to a House of Congress should: (1) state the U.S. foreign policy or national security objective; (2) terminate after two years unless specifically reauthorized; (3) provide for contract sanctity, with specified exceptions; (4) provide presidential authority to adjust or waive the sanction in the national interest; (5) target the sanction as narrowly as possible against the parties responsible for the conduct being targeted; and (6) provide for expanded export promotion programs if sanctions are likely to target an export market for American farmers. (Sec. 6) Sets forth a procedure for congressional consideration of any unilateral economic sanction legislation. Requires specified reports: (1) from the President assessing the likelihood that the proposed unilateral economic sanction will achieve its stated objective within a reasonable period of time, as well as the impact of the proposed unilateral economic sanction on U.S. foreign policy, national security, and humanitarian activities; and (2) from the Secretary of Agriculture assessing the extent to which any country or countries proposed or likely to be sanctioned are markets that accounted for more than three percent of all U.S. agricultural export sales in the preceding calendar year, as well as the likelihood that U.S. agricultural exports will be affected by the proposed sanction or by retaliation by any country proposed or likely to be sanctioned, and specific commodities which are most likely to be affected. Requires that any bill or joint resolution that imposes any unilateral economic sanction be treated as including a Federal private sector mandate for purposes of the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995. Requires the Congressional Budget Office, in its report pursuant to such Act, to assess the likely short- and long-term costs of the proposed sanction to the U.S. economy. (Sec. 7) Requires the President to: (1) publish notice in the Federal Register at least 45 days in advance of the President's intention to impose any new unilateral economic sanction with respect to a foreign country or foreign entity; and (2) consult with the appropriate congressional committees regarding such proposed sanction. Requires any executive sanction to include an assessment of whether the sanction is likely to achieve a specific U.S. foreign policy or national security objective within a reasonable and specified period of time. Requires, before imposition of a new unilateral economic sanction, that the President and the Secretary of Agriculture report to appropriate congressional committees the same assessments required in connection with any bill or joint resolution imposing or authorizing the imposition of a unilateral economic sanction by the executive branch. Requires the President to request a report by the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) on the likely short- and long-term costs of the proposed sanction to the U.S. economy, including the potential impact on U.S. competitiveness. Provides, in the event that it is in the national interest, for allowing the President temporarily to waive most of the requirements for executive action in order to act immediately, generally requiring the waived requirements to be met within 60 days after imposition of the sanction (which shall terminate after 90 days if such requirements are not met). Establishes an interagency Sanctions Review Committee to coordinate U.S. policy regarding unilateral economic sanctions and provide appropriate recommendations to the President. (Sec. 8) Requires the President and the ITC to report annually to the appropriate congressional committees with respect to each unilateral economic sanction imposed under this Act or under any other U.S. law, regulation, or Executive order.
United States · United States Congress · 25 March 1999
Prescription Drug Fairness for Seniors Act of 1999 - Requires each participating manufacturer of a covered outpatient drug to make available for purchase by each pharmacy such covered outpatient drug in the described amount (an amount equal to the aggregate amount of the covered outpatient drug sold or distributed by the pharmacy to Medicare beneficiaries) and at the described price (the price equal to the lower of either the lowest price paid for the drug by the Federal Government or the manufacturer's best price for the drug). Sets forth special provisions with respect to hospice programs.
United States · United States Congress · 25 March 1999
Commemorative Coin Amendments Act of 1999- Amends Federal law with respect to the 50 States Commemorative Coin Program to mandate designs emblematic of the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands on quarter-dollar coins issued during the year following the ten-year period beginning in 1999.
United States · United States Congress · 25 March 1999
Decennial Census Improvement Act of 1999 - Prohibits compensation for service performed by an individual in a temporary census position (a temporary position within the Bureau of the Census established for purposes relating to the 2000 decennial census of population) from causing: (1) that individual or any other individual to become ineligible for any benefits provided under any Federal program or any State or local program financed with Federal funds; or (2) a reduction in the amount of any such benefits for which that individual or any other individual would otherwise be eligible. Makes such requirement applicable only with respect to compensation for service performed during calendar year 2000. Prohibits the application of such requirement if the individual performing the service involved is appointed (or first appointed to any other temporary census position) before January 1, 2000. Modifies Federal law regarding exemptions from certain provisions relating to offsets from pay and other benefits for reemployed annuitants and former uniformed service members to make such law: (1) applicable to service in any temporary position within the Bureau established for purposes relating to the 2000 decennial census; and (2) inapplicable to any service performed after December 31, 2000.
United States · United States Congress · 25 March 1999
Government Pension Offset Reform Act - Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) of the Social Security Act to modify the formula for determining the amount of reduced monthly OASDI benefits payable to a spouse, surviving spouse, or parent receiving monthly payments from a Federal or State pension plan. Declares that such benefit reductions shall be equal to the amount by which two-thirds of the total amount of the combined monthly benefit (before reduction) and monthly pension exceeds $1,200, adjusted for inflation.
United States · United States Congress · 24 March 1999
Expresses support for the U.S. military personnel who are engaged in military operations against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and recognizes their professionalism, dedication, patriotism, and courage.
United States · United States Congress · 19 March 1999
Agriculture Market Transparency Act of 1999 - Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to conduct a pilot program requiring certain packers to report to the Secretary with respect to prices, volume, and terms of sale for domestic and imported livestock and livestock products. Directs the Secretary to encourage voluntary reporting by other packers.
United States · United States Congress · 18 March 1999
Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to give States the option of making medical assistance for breast and cervical cancer-related treatment services available during a presumptive eligibility period to certain low-income women without creditable coverage who have already been screened for such cancers under the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention breast and cervical cancer early detection program and need treatment. Provides for an enhanced match with regard to such Medicaid treatment services.
United States · United States Congress · 18 March 1999
Pension Right to Know Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 to set forth notice requirements for large pension plans which significantly reduce future benefit accruals.
United States · United States Congress · 18 March 1999
Medicare Medical Nutrition Therapy Act of 1999 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide for Medicare coverage of medical nutrition therapy services of registered dietitians and nutrition professionals.
United States · United States Congress · 18 March 1999
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Authorization of Appropriations for United States Customs Service for Enhanced Inspection, Trade Facilitation, and Drug Interdiction Title II: Customs Performance Report Drug Free Borders Act of 1999 - Title I: Authorization of Appropriations for United States Customs Service for Enhanced Inspection, Trade Facilitation, and Drug Interdiction - Amends the Customs Procedural Reform and Simplification Act of 1978 to authorize appropriations for FY 2000 and 2001 for the United States Customs Service for: (1) noncommercial and commercial operations; and (2) the air and marine interdiction program. Requires the Commissioner of Customs to submit to specified congressional committees a projected budget for the succeeding fiscal year (out-year). (Sec. 102) Earmarks amounts for: (1) the acquisition and deployment of narcotics detection equipment (including maintenance and support of such equipment, training of personnel, and new technologies) along the United States-Mexico border, the United States-Canada border, and Florida and the Gulf Coast seaports; (2) additional inspectors, canine enforcement officers, special agents, and enhanced investigative resources during peak hours along such borders (including the Bahamas); and (3) air and marine drug interdiction operation and maintenance. (Sec. 105) Requires the Commissioner of Customs, as part of the annual program activity performance plan set forth in the Customs Service budget, to establish performance goals and performance indicators, and comply with certain other requirements with respect to such border activities. (Sec. 106) Changes the basic pay rate of the Commissioner from level IV to level III of the Executive schedule. (Sec. 107) Directs the Customs Service, without regard to whether a passenger processing fee is collected from a person departing for the United States from Canada and without regard to whether funds are appropriated, to provide the same level of enhanced preclearance customs services for passengers arriving in the United States aboard commercial aircraft originating in Canada as the Customs Service provided for such passengers during FY 1997. Authorizes appropriations. Title II: Customs Performance Report - Directs the Commissioner of Customs to report to the appropriate congressional committees with respect to: (1) identification of enforcement priorities and trade facilitation objectives, including the reasons for selecting the objectives contained in its most recent performance plan covering each of its programs; (2) a review of the Customs Service's implementation of the Customs Modernization Act and a summary of the results of the reviews of industry-wide compliance assessments conducted by it as part of its compliance initiative; (3) proposals for improvement of the commercial operations of the Customs Service; (4) a review of Customs Service enforcement responsibilities; (5) a comprehensive strategy for the Customs Service role in the U.S. drug interdiction efforts; (6) the identification of ways to expand cooperation with U.S. importers and customs brokers, U.S. and foreign carriers, and other members of the international trade and transportation communities to improve the detection of contraband before it leaves a foreign port destined for the United States; (7) an outline of the basis for the current allocation of Customs Service inspection and investigative personnel; (8) identification of the automation needs of the Customs Service and an explanation of the current state of the Automated Commercial System and the status of implementing a replacement for such system; and (9) an overview of the current Customs Service personnel practices and workforce needs.
United States · United States Congress · 17 March 1999
Truancy Prevention and Juvenile Crime Reduction Act of 1999 - Directs the Attorney General to make grants to eligible partnerships of local governmental units and local educational agencies to reduce truancy and the incidence of daytime juvenile crime. Sets forth provisions regarding maximum grant awards, allocation of such awards, and grant renewal. Authorizes the use of grant amounts to comprehensively address truancy through: (1) parental involvement in prevention activities; (2) sanctions; (3) parental accountability; (4) in-school truancy prevention programs; (5) involvement of local law enforcement, social services, judicial, business, and religious communities, and nonprofit organizations; (6) technology;(7) elimination of 40-day count and other unintended incentives to allow students to be truant after a certain time of school year; or (8) juvenile probation officer collaboration with one or more local educational agencies. Authorizes the Attorney General to give priority to funding programs that attempt to replicate specified model programs. Authorizes appropriations.
![Official portrait of Sen. Bingaman, Jeff [D-NM]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/b000468_200.jpg)