United States · United States Congress · 27 February 1997
Biomaterials Access Assurance Act of 1997 - Provides that, in any civil action, a biomaterials supplier (one who supplies components or raw materials used to manufacture implants) may raise any defense provided under this Act. Exempts a biomaterials supplier from liability for harm to a claimant caused by an implant, with exceptions in the case of a supplier who: (1) is a registered manufacturer of the implant; (2) is a seller of the implant and who held title to the implant at the time of sale (or is related by common ownership or control to such a seller); or (3) furnishes raw materials or components that fail to meet applicable contractual requirements or specifications. States that a supplier may be considered a manufacturer of an implant, for purposes of such civil actions, only if the supplier has registered with the Secretary of Health and Human Services and included the implant on a list of devices filed pursuant to the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. Requires claimant payment of attorney's fees if the court finds the claim to be without merit and frivolous.
United States · United States Congress · 27 February 1997
Adoption Promotion Act of 1997 - Amends the Social Security Act with respect to State plans for foster care and adoption assistance to: (1) revise the requirements, as applied to cases of child abuse, for mandatory reasonable efforts under the plan to eliminate the need to remove a child from the child's home; and (2) make it possible for the child to return home, as a prerequisite to placing a child in foster care. (Sec. 3) Provides for earlier status reviews and permanency hearings, notice of reviews and hearings, and opportunity to be heard. (Sec. 5) Requires a State to initiate proceedings to terminate parental rights for children under age ten who have been in foster care under State responsibility for 18 months. (Sec. 6) Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to: (1) report and make recommendations to specified congressional committees on the extent to which children in foster care are placed in the care of a relative (kinship care); and (2) establish an advisory panel to review such report. (Sec. 7) Authorizes use of the parent locator service in termination of parental rights proceedings. (Sec. 8) Instructs the Secretary to: (1) develop a set of outcome measures to assess the performance of States in operating child protection programs; and (2) report annually to the Congress on the performance of each State on each outcome measure. (Sec. 9) Increases from 10 to 15 the authorized number of State child protection demonstration projects. (Sec. 10) Prescribes technical assistance guidelines for the Secretary to help States and local communities to reach their targets for increased numbers of adoptions and alternative permanent placements for children in foster care. (Sec. 11) Directs the Secretary to make bonus grants to States for the number of foster child adoptions and special needs adoptions that exceed the base number of such adoptions for the fiscal year. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 25 February 1997
Amends the National Highway System Designation Act of 1995 to make permanent the prohibition against the Secretary of Transportation requiring that any State use or plan to use the metric system in designing or advertising, or preparing plans, specifications, estimates, or other documents for, a Federal-aid highway project eligible for assistance under Federal highway provisions.
United States · United States Congress · 13 February 1997
Fairness in Musical Licensing Act of 1997 - Revises Federal copyright law to provide that communication by electronic device of a transmission embodying a performance or display of a nondramatic musical work by the reception of a broadcast, cable, satellite, or other transmission shall not be a copyright infringement unless: (1) an admission fee is charged to see or hear the transmission at a particular time or on a particular date or dates; or (2) the transmission is not properly licensed. Applies the infringement exemption for the performance of a nondramatic musical work at an annual agricultural or horticultural fair or exhibition to such performance at agricultural or horticultural fairs, exhibitions, conventions, meetings, and events. Excludes as a copyright infringement the performance of a nondramatic musical work: (1) by a commercial establishment at no charge when a purpose of the performance is to promote audio, video, or other devices utilized in such performance; and (2) at an organized children's camp if the children in attendance sing, dance, or participate in all or a portion of such work, or when the performance is of an instructional nature. (Sec. 3) Specifies that if a general music user and a performing rights society are unable to agree on the appropriate fee to be paid for the user's past or future performance of musical works in the society's repertoire, the user shall be entitled to binding arbitration of such disagreement pursuant to the rules of the American Arbitration Association in lieu of any other dispute-resolution mechanism established by any judgment or decree governing the operation of such society. Requires the arbitrator to determine a fair and reasonable fee for the user's past and future performance of works in such society's repertoire and to impose a penalty for infringement if the user's past performance infringed the copyright of such works. Makes an arbitrator's determination binding on both parties. Sets forth provisions regarding civil actions for infringement that may be submitted to arbitration if the license fee for a performance is contested. (Sec. 4) Requires a performing rights society, at the request of any radio broadcaster, to offer the broadcaster a per programming period license to perform nondramatic musical works in its repertoire. Directs that such license be offered on terms and conditions that provide an economically and administratively viable alternative to the society's blanket license for all such broadcasters. Sets forth provisions regarding prices of such licenses. Authorizes radio broadcasters entitled to a per programming period license to bring actions to require compliance with such requirements. (Sec. 5) Directs each performing rights society to make available free online computer access to copyright and licensing information for each work in its repertoire as well as a semiannual printed directory of each title in its repertoire. Requires such society, upon request, to provide to any person who may perform musical works in its repertoire copies of documentation establishing the society's right to license the public performance of such works. Bars a society from instituting or being a party to any action alleging infringement in, or charging a fee under any per programming period license for, any work in the repertoire that is not identified or documented as described above, with exceptions. (Sec. 6) Requires the Attorney General to report annually to the Congress on the activities of the Department of Justice relating to the continuing supervision and enforcement of specified consent decrees of the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers and Broadcast Music, Inc. (Sec. 7) Sets forth conditions under which landlords, organizers of conventions, or others making space available to another party are exempt from liability under any theory of vicarious or contributory infringement with respect to an infringing public performance of a copyrighted work by a tenant, lessee, or other user of such space.
United States · United States Congress · 13 February 1997
Truth in Employment Act of 1997 - Amends the National Labor Relations Act to provide that nothing in specified prohibitions against unfair labor practices shall be construed as requiring an employer to employ any person who seeks or has sought employment with the employer in furtherance of other employment or agency status.
United States · United States Congress · 13 February 1997
Citizen's Fair Hearing Act of 1996 (sic) - Amends the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to provide that any person who satisfies the requirements of the Constitution and demonstrates having suffered or being threatened with economic or other injury resulting from a violation of such Act or a failure of the Secretary of Commerce to act in accordance with it shall be deemed to be within the zone of protected interests of such Act and shall have standing to commence a civil suit on his or her own behalf.
United States · United States Congress · 13 February 1997
Prohibits, if a State has a law prohibiting the sale of cigarettes and smokeless tobacco products to individuals under the age of 18 or 19, the Food and Drug Administration from taking enforcement action against a cigarette and smokeless tobacco products retailer for the sale of such items in that State if the sale is a face-to-face transaction conducted in accordance with State law.
United States · United States Congress · 13 February 1997
LAM Disease Research Act of 1997 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require that the National Heart, Blood Vessel, Lung, and Blood Diseases and Blood Resources Program conduct or support research on lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM). Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 12 February 1997
Security and Freedom Through Encryption (SAFE) Act - Amends the Federal criminal code to permit any person within any State, and any U.S. person in a foreign country, to use any encryption regardless of the encryption algorithm selected, encryption key length chosen, or implementation technique or medium used, with an exception for the unlawful use of encryption in furtherance of a criminal act. Allows any person within any State to sell in interstate commerce any encryption. Specifies that no person in lawful possession of a key to encrypted information may be required by Federal or State law to relinquish to another person control of that key, with an exception for access for law enforcement purposes. Sets penalties for the willful use of encryption in furtherance of the commission of a criminal offense. (Sec. 3) Amends the Export Administration Act of 1979 to grant the Secretary of Commerce exclusive authority to control exports of all hardware, software, and technology for information security (including encryption), except that which is specifically designed or modified for military use. Prohibits requiring any validated license (with limited exceptions pursuant to the Trading With The Enemy Act or the International Emergency Economic Powers Act) for the export or reexport of any: (1) software, including software with encryption capabilities that is generally available as is and that is designed for installation by the purchaser, or that is in the public domain for which copyright or other protection is not available or is available to the public because it is generally accessible to the public in any form; or (2) computing device solely because it incorporates or employs in any form software (including software with encryption capabilities) exempted from any requirement for a validated license under this section. Directs the Secretary to authorize the export or reexport of: (1) software with encryption capabilities for nonmilitary end-uses in any country to which exports of software of similar capability are permitted for use by financial institutions not controlled in fact by U.S. persons, unless there is substantial evidence that such software will be diverted to a military end-use or an end-use supporting international terrorism, modified for military or authorization that may be required under the Act; and (2) computer hardware with encryption capabilities if the Secretary determines that a product offering comparable security is commercially available outside the United States from a foreign supplier without effective restrictions.
United States · United States Congress · 12 February 1997
Freedom From Government Competition Act of 1997 - Requires Federal agencies to obtain all goods and services necessary for or beneficial to the accomplishment of their authorized functions by procurement from private sources, unless except as specified. (Sec. 4) Directs the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to establish a Center for Commercial Activities and Privatization within OMB to: (1) be responsible for the implementation of and compliance with the policies, standards, and procedures that are set forth in this Act or are prescribed to carry out this Act; and (2) provide agencies and private sector entities with guidance, information, and other assistance appropriate for facilitating conversions to use of private sector entities for providing goods and services on behalf of the Federal Government. (Sec. 5) Amends Federal law to require that each agency shall include in its annual performance plan the identity of each program activity that is: (1) performed for the agency by a private sector entity in accordance with this Act; and (2) not subject to this Act by reason of an exception, together with a discussion specifying why the activity is determined to be covered by the exception. Revises requirements regarding program performance reports to require each agency, in its annual program performance report, in the case of an activity not performed by a private sector entity, to: (1) explain and describe whether an activity not performed by a private sector entity could be performed by a private sector entity in accordance with this Act; and (2) if the activity could be performed by a private sector entity, set forth a schedule for converting to performance of the activity by a private sector entity.
United States · United States Congress · 12 February 1997
Precision Agriculture Research, Education, and Information Dissemination Act of 1997 - Amends the Competitive, Special, and Facilities Research Grant Act to emphasize competitive grants that promote precision agriculture (as defined by this Act) research projects and to promote dissemination of such projects' results. Provides for the establishment of multistate and national agriculture partnerships, including existing partnerships between national laboratories (Secretary of Energy) and the Department of Agriculture. Amends the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996 to include precision agriculture within the research categories of the Fund for Rural America.
United States · United States Congress · 12 February 1997
Federal Reserve System Accountability Act of 1997 - Amends Federal law to revise the auditing guidelines for the Federal Reserve System and to mandate an annual financial and managerial audit of the System. Amends the Government in the Sunshine Act to include the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (the Board) within its guidelines on open meetings. Amends the Federal Reserve Act to declare that the Board's primary mission is to regulate the money supply so as to maintain a stable currency with minimal fluctuation in interest rates. Amends the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956 and the Federal Deposit Insurance Act to transfer administration of the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956 from the Board to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.
United States · United States Congress · 12 February 1997
Fair Trade in Meat and Pork Products Act of 1997 - Directs the United States Trade Representative (USTR), for purposes of identifying foreign countries not in compliance with the terms of any trade agreement with the United States, to determine whether the European Union has failed to implement its obligations under the Exchange of Letters, the Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures, or any other agreement. Requires the USTR, in the event of such a failure, to: (1) promptly request proceedings under the formal dispute settlement procedures applicable under the agreement; and (2) request the Secretary of Agriculture to direct the Food Safety and Inspection Service of the Department of Agriculture to review certifications for European Union facilities that import meat and other agricultural products into the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 12 February 1997
Major League Baseball Antitrust Reform Act of 1997 - Amends the Clayton Act to make the antitrust laws applicable to the business of professional major league baseball. Provides that nothing in this Act shall be construed to affect: (1) the applicability of the antitrust laws to professional baseball's amateur draft, the minor league reserve clause, the Professional Baseball Agreement, or any other matter relating to the minor leagues or to any restraint by professional baseball on franchise relocation; or (2) the application of the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961.
United States · United States Congress · 12 February 1997
Equine Tax Fairness Act of 1997 - Amends Internal Revenue Code provisions limiting passive activity losses and credits to modify the definition of material participation with respect to the treatment of equine activities (breeding, racing, or showing horses).
United States · United States Congress · 12 February 1997
Constitutional Amendment - Requires the President to transmit to the Congress, before each fiscal year, a proposed statement of receipts and outlays for such fiscal year in which outlays (except those for repayment of debt principal) are not greater than receipts (except those derived from borrowing)(a proposed balanced budget). Requires the Congress to adopt, by law, a statement of receipts and outlays for such fiscal year in which outlays are not greater than receipts (a balanced budget). Authorizes the Congress to amend, by law, that balanced budget, provided revised outlays are not greater than revised receipts. Authorizes the Congress to provide in balanced budget for a specific excess of outlays over receipts by a vote directed solely to that subject in which two-thirds of the whole number of each House agree to such excess. Requires the Congress and the President to ensure that actual outlays do not exceed the outlays set forth in such balanced budget. Prohibits any increase in the limit on the debt of the United States, unless two-thirds roll call vote of each House provides by law for such an increase. Requires any bill that increases the internal revenue (except by a de minimis amount) to receive for final adoption the concurrence of two-thirds of each House. Permits the Congress to waive the requirements of this article when: (1) a declaration of war is in effect; or (2) the United States is engaged in military conflict which causes an imminent and serious threat to national security and is so declared by a joint resolution, adopted by a majority of each House, which becomes law. Makes any increase in the internal revenue enacted under such a waiver effective for only two years. Makes the internal revenue provisions of this Article effective upon ratification, and the remaining provisions effective on the later of FY 2002 or the second fiscal year beginning after ratification.
United States · United States Congress · 11 February 1997
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Commemorative Coins Title II: Circulating Coins Thomas Alva Edison Sesquicentennial Commemorative Coin Act - Title I: Commemorative Coins - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to mint one-dollar silver coins emblematic of the inventions of Thomas Alva Edison in commemoration of the sesquicentennial of his birth. Directs the Secretary to conduct an open design competition for the design of the obverse and reverse of the coins. Terminates the authority to mint such coins after December 31, 1997. Requires that certain surcharges received from coin sales be distributed to specified entities. Title II: Circulating Coins - Amends Federal law to declare that half-dollar coins minted between specified dates shall have the same design as the commemorative coins minted under this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 11 February 1997
ISTEA Integrity Restoration Act - Authorizes appropriations out of the Highway Trust Fund (other than the Mass Transit Account) for the: (1) National Highway System (NHS); (2) Surface Transportation Program (STP); and (3) Federal Lands Highway Program, including Indian reservation roads, public lands highways, and parkways and park highways. (Sec. 4) Defines "highway funds" as funds apportioned and allocations authorized under this Act for the fiscal year and funds allocated to a State for the preceding fiscal year for Federal-aid highways and highway safety construction. Revises the apportionment of NHS funds to allocate 0.4 percent (previously, one percent) to U.S. territories and possessions, and the remaining 99.6 among the States according to a formula based on population density. Includes bridge construction and related activities among eligible NHS projects. (Sec. 5) Repeals provisions regarding: (1) apportionments for resurfacing, restoring, rehabilitating, and reconstructing the Interstate System (IS); and (2) the transfer of interstate construction apportionments, the transfer of funds for STP projects, and limits on new capacity. (Sec. 6) Includes bridge construction and related activities as an eligible activity within the streamlined STP. Makes eligible under the STP an area of a State that is a nonattainment area for ozone or carbon monoxide, or for particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter smaller than or equal to ten micrometers resulting from transportation activities, or for any combination thereof, for congestion mitigation and air quality improvement projects without regard to any Department of Transportation limitation relating to the type of ambient air quality standard addressed by such project. Revises: (1) State certification procedures; and (2) procedures for payments to States for eligible STP activities. (Sec. 7) Directs that, for purposes of STP and IS provisions, population shall be determined based on the most recent estimate prepared by the Secretary of Commerce. (Sec. 8) Repeals provisions regarding: (1) the highway bridge replacement and rehabilitation program; and (2) the congestion mitigation and air quality improvement program. (Sec. 10) Replaces provisions regarding minimum allocations to States with an apportionment adjustment program under which the Secretary shall apportion among the States amounts sufficient to ensure that the ratio of the highway funds of a State to highway funds of all States for the fiscal year is not less than the adjustment percentage specified for that State under this Act. Requires each State to receive additional apportionments so that its percentage of highway funds is not less than 95 percent of the percentage of estimated tax payments attributable to highway users in the State paid into the Highway Trust Fund. Repeals: (1) existing apportionment adjustment programs; and (2) set-asides for interstate discretionary projects. (Sec. 12) Reduces from 3.75 to 2.35 the percentage of program funds authorized to be set aside for administrative costs. (Sec. 13) Sets forth provisions regarding permissible transfers of unobligated balances of funds apportioned to a State for: (1) congestion mitigation and air quality improvement; (2) interstate construction and maintenance; (3) bridge replacement and rehabilitation; and (4) the STP.
United States · United States Congress · 11 February 1997
Amends the Clean Air Act to exclude from the definition of "volatile organic compound" beverage alcohol compounds (ethanol) emitted from aging warehouses.
United States · United States Congress · 10 February 1997
Amends the Clean Air Act to delete from the glycol ether category in the list of hazardous air pollutants ethylene glycol monobutyl ether as used or emitted by metal or composite can manufacturing. Amends the toxic chemical release forms provisions of the Emergency Planning and Community Right-To-Know Act of 1986 to require the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to delete from the lists of toxic chemicals and extremely hazardous substances employed under such Act any substance that has been deleted or removed from the hazardous air pollutants list unless the Administrator demonstrates on the basis of convincing evidence significant human health or environmental threats posed by the substance's storage, use, or release.
United States · United States Congress · 6 February 1997
Right to Life Act of 1997 - States that the Congress declares that the right to life guaranteed by the Constitution is vested in each human being at fertilization.
United States · United States Congress · 5 February 1997
Patient Right to Know Act - Prohibits any contract or agreement, or the operation of any contract or agreement, between an entity operating a health plan (including any partnership, association, or other organization that enters into or administers such a contract or agreement) and a health care provider (or group of health care providers) from prohibiting or restricting the provider from engaging in medical communications with his or her patient. Requires that each State shall enforce this Act with respect to health insurance issuers that sell, renew, or offer health plans in the State. Provides for enforcement of this Act by the Secretary of Health and Human Services if the Secretary, after consultation with the chief executive officer of a State and the insurance commissioner or chief insurance regulatory official of the State, determines that the State has failed to substantially enforce the requirements. Mandates a civil money penalty. Allows State requirements equal to or more protective of medical communications than the requirements of this Act. Defines "medical communication" as a communication between a provider and a patient (or the patient's guardian or legal representative) regarding the patient's health status, medical care, or treatment options.
United States · United States Congress · 5 February 1997
National Discovery Trails Act of 1997 - Amends the National Trails System Act (the Act) to provide for the establishment, as components of the National Trails System, of national discovery trails which shall be extended, continuous interstate trails located so as to provide for outdoor recreation and travel and to connect representative examples of America's trails and communities. Prohibits a trail from being considered feasible and desirable for designation as a national discovery trail unless it: (1) links to one or more areas within the boundaries of a metropolitan area and joins with other trails, tying the National Trails System to significant recreation and resources areas; (2) is supported by a competent trailwide nonprofit organization and has extensive local and trailwide support by the public, user groups, and affected State and local governments; and (3) extends and passes through more than one State and, at a minimum, is a continuous, walkable route. Requires the appropriate Secretary for each national discovery trail to administer the trail in cooperation with a competent trailwide nonprofit organization. Designates as a national discovery trail the 6,000-mile American Discovery Trail which shall extend from Cape Henlopen State Park in Delaware to Point Reyes National Seashore in California, traveling northern and southern routes from Cincinnati, Ohio, to Denver, Colorado. Requires the administering Federal agency, within three complete fiscal years after designation of a national discovery trail, to enter into arrangements with a competent trailwide nonprofit organization to submit to specified congressional committees a comprehensive plan for the protection, management, development, and use of the trail.
United States · United States Congress · 5 February 1997
Declaration of Official Language Act of 1997 - Declares English to be the official language of the U.S. Government. States that English is the preferred language of communication among U.S. citizens. Requires the U.S. Government to promote and support the use of English for communications among U.S. citizens. Requires communications by officers and employees of the U.S. Government with U.S. citizens to be in English. Directs the Immigration and Naturalization Service to: (1) enforce the established English language proficiency standard for all applicants for U.S. citizenship; and (2) conduct all naturalization ceremonies entirely in English. Allows anyone injured by a violation of such provisions to obtain appropriate relief in a civil action. Authorizes the court in any such action to allow a prevailing party, other than the U.S. Government, a reasonable attorney's fee as part of costs. Repeals the Bilingual Education Act (title VII of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965). Amends the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to repeal bilingual voting requirements.
United States · United States Congress · 4 February 1997
Medicare Hospice Benefit Amendments of 1997 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act with respect to hospice care to: (1) restructure the hospice care benefit period; (2) cover any other item or service which is specified in the plan and for which payment may otherwise be made under Medicare; (3) permit contracting with independent physicians or physician groups for hospice care services; (4) allow waiver of certain staffing requirements for hospice care programs in non-urbanized areas; (5) define coverage denial, with respect to the limitation on the liability of beneficiaries and providers, to mean a determination that an individual is not terminally ill; and (6) extend the period for physician certification of an individual's terminal illness.
United States · United States Congress · 4 February 1997
Criminal Welfare Prevention Act, Part II - Amends the Social Security Act (SSA) to require the Commissioner of Social Security to enter into an agreement with a State or local jail or correctional facility under which the facility shall report monthly the name and social security number of any inmate who has received a benefit check under SSA title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) despite being prohibited under other existing SSA law because of confinement in a correctional institution. Requires the Commissioner to pay any complying institution: (1) $400 if it furnishes the information within 30 days; or (2) $200 if it does so within 90 days.
United States · United States Congress · 21 January 1997
Medicare Provider-Sponsored Organization Act of 1997 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to give Medicare beneficiaries the option of receiving Medicare coverage through enrollment with provider-sponsored organizations (PSOs) organized and licensed under State law, and certified as meeting certain Federal standards. Requires a PSO to: (1) deliver a spectrum of health care services (including basic hospital and physicians services) to enrolled purchasers; and (2) provide a substantial proportion of the health care items and services under its Medicare contract through the provider or affiliated group of providers composing the organization. (Sec. 2) Provides for direct Federal Medicare certification as a qualified PSO through calendar 2001. Authorizes State licensure of PSOs after January 1, 2002, only if: (1) State financial solvency and capital adequacy standards are identical with Federal standards; and (2) State licensure standards are substantially equivalent to Federal standards. Allows a PSO seeking to operate under a full-risk contract or a partial risk contract to apply to the Secretary of Health and Human Services for waiver of State licensure if: (1) the State has failed to act on the PSO's State application within a certain period of time; or (2) the State has denied the PSO's application, but the State's licensing standards or review process impose unreasonable barriers to market entry. Declares that a fiscally sound PSO meets Medicare financial solvency requirements. Prescribes general requirements for a PSO's ongoing quality assurance program (including case-by-case utilization review). Treats such requirements as met if the PSO is accredited by a private organization under a process approved by the Secretary. Sets forth physician-participation procedure requirements and other special rules. Directs the Secretary to issue regulations regarding qualified PSO standards, which shall preempt State law. (Sec. 3) Authorizes the Secretary to pay all Medicare health plans on a partial risk basis. (Sec. 4) Treats Medicare-eligible organizations, including PSOs, as meeting the "50-50" enrollment composition rule (which requires that a health plan's Medicare and Medicaid enrollees cannot exceed 50 percent of its total enrollment) if they demonstrate: (1) their capability of providing coordinated care in accordance with the quality assurance standards established by this Act; and (2) their experience providing coordinated care to enrollees of a health plan or State Medicaid plan. (Sec. 5) Provides that a health maintenance organization under Medicaid includes a public or private organization which may be a PSO. (Sec. 6) Directs the Secretary to provide for demonstration projects in at least ten States that permit Medicaid programs to be treated as Medicare-eligible organizations for individuals eligible to enroll with a Medicare organization and also eligible for Medicaid, for the purpose of demonstrating the delivery of primary, acute, and long-term care through an integrated delivery network that emphasizes noninstitutional care. (Sec. 7) Prescribes rules on coverage of emergency services by all Medicare plans. (Sec. 8) Limits State law restrictions on managed care arrangements; but exempts from such restrictions any law that has the effect of preventing involuntary denial of life-saving medical treatment when such denial would cause the patient's involuntary death pending transfer to a health care provider willing to provide such treatment. (Sec. 9) Requires the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission to provide jointly for the development and publication of explicit, binding guidelines on the application of antitrust laws to PSO activities, addressing PSO formation, development, and operation issues of PSOs and facilitating their development and operation.
United States · United States Congress · 20 January 1997
Distilled Spirits Tax Payment Simplification Act of 1997 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to modify or impose requirements regarding: (1) the transfer of distilled spirits between bonded premises and between importation and bonded premises; (2) operations as a bonded dealer conducted on the bonded premises of a distilled spirits plant; (3) establishment and operation of such a plant by a bonded dealer; (4) election to be treated as a bonded dealer; (5) the time at which the tax on distilled spirits is determined; (6) distilled spirits lost or destroyed in bond or returned to bonded premises; (7) the time for tax payment and payment by electronic transfer; and (8) application to a plant used by a bonded dealer of provisions relating to sales by proprietors of controlled premises. Directs the Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms to assess and collect registration fees to defray a portion of the costs resulting from the enactment of this Act. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to study and report to the Congress concerning cooperative agreements regarding the collection of distilled spirits excise taxes.
United States · United States Congress · 9 January 1997
Restores Federal armed forces provisions relating to the status of missing persons as in effect before amendments made by the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1997.
United States · United States Congress · 9 January 1997
Breast Cancer Early Detection Act of 1997 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide for coverage of an annual screening mammography under Medicare part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) for women age 65 or older.
United States · United States Congress · 9 January 1997
Prohibits the Secretary of Health and Human Services and any other Federal official from: (1) regulating the use of tobacco or a tobacco product as a sponsor of an event of the National Association of Stock Car Automobile Racing or other professional motor sports association under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act; and (2) taking any action with respect to tobacco advertising used by such associations under the Federal Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act or the Comprehensive Smokeless Tobacco Health and Education Act of 1986.
United States · United States Congress · 9 January 1997
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Retirement Savings Incentives Subtitle A: Restoration of IRA Deduction Subtitle B: Nondeductible Tax-Free IRAs Title II: Penalty-Free Distributions Savings and Investment Incentive Act of 1997 - Title I: Retirement Savings Incentives - Subtitle A: Restoration of IRA Deduction - Amends the Internal Revenue Code, with respect to the deduction for individual retirement accounts (IRAs), to increase the income limits applicable to active participants. Removes limitations on a spouse's participation. (Sec. 102) Provides an inflation adjustment for the deductible amount. (Sec. 103) Revises provisions concerning the allowance of certain coins and bullion as IRA investments. Subtitle B: Nondeductible Tax-Free IRAs - Permits individuals to establish IRA Plus accounts which shall be treated similarly to an IRA plan. Prohibits deductions for contributions to such accounts. Sets forth distribution rules (including the exclusion of qualified distributions from gross income). Title II: Penalty-Free Distributions - Permits distributions without penalty for qualified: (1) first home purchases; (2) higher education expenses; and (3) unemployed individuals.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Homeowners' Insurance Availability Act of 1997 - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to carry out a program under this Act to make reinsurance coverage available to eligible State insurance programs. Requires that such program shall be designed to improve the availability of homeowners' insurance for the purpose of facilitating the pooling, and spreading the risk, of catastrophic financial losses from natural disasters and to improve the solvency of homeowners' insurance markets. Directs the Secretary to offer reinsurance coverage through contracts with eligible purchasers which shall: (1) provide coverage based solely on insurance industry losses within the State of the eligible purchaser purchasing the contract; (2) not interfere in private markets; and (3) minimize the administrative costs of the Federal Government. (Sec. 4) Makes the following entities qualified to purchase contracts for reinsurance coverage made available under this Act: (1) State insurance programs; and (2) State reinsurance programs. (Sec. 5) Sets forth: (1) qualified lines of coverage; (2) covered perils; and (3) terms and conditions of the reinsurance contracts. (Sec. 9) Establishes, within the Treasury, the Disaster Reinsurance Fund. Specifies: (1) the amounts with which the Fund shall be credited; and (2) the uses of the amounts in the Fund. (Sec. 10) Directs the Secretary to establish the National Commission on Catastrophe Risks and Insurance Loss Costs. Requires the Commission to meet for the sole purpose of advising the Secretary regarding the estimated loss costs associated with the reinsurance contracts. Authorizes appropriations. Provides for an offset amount to be obtained from purchasers of reinsurance coverage and deposited in the Fund. (Sec. 11) Mandates a specified report by the Secretary to the Congress.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Amends the Federal criminal code to establish a national standard for the carrying of certain concealed firearms by non-residents. Authorizes a person who has a valid permit to carry a concealed firearm in one State and who is not prohibited from carrying a firearm under Federal law to carry a concealed firearm (that has been transported in interstate commerce) in another State in accordance with the restrictions of that State (if any) or as specified under this Act. Exempts qualified current and former law enforcement officers from State laws prohibiting the carrying of concealed handguns.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Natural Disaster Insurance Title II: Multihazard Mitigation Program Natural Disaster Protection and Insurance Act of 1997 - Title I: Natural Disaster Insurance - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury (the Secretary) to establish within the Department of the Treasury a National Commission on Catastrophe Risk and Insurance Loss Costs to estimate loss costs from catastrophic natural disasters. Instructs the Commission to: (1) make an initial estimate of catastrophe loss costs (updated at least every three years); (2) file catastrophe loss costs estimates at least every three years; (3) conduct special studies of catastrophe insurance issues in order to develop estimates of catastrophe loss costs, including the investigation of specified issues according to certain procedural guidelines. (Sec. 101) Permits a private insurer to elect to cite the Commission's final catastrophe loss cost estimates in its rate filings to a State department of insurance. Instructs the Secretary to consider catastrophe loss cost estimates when developing reserve prices for Federal excess-of-loss reinsurance contracts. Requires State insurance pools that provide direct insurance, in order to be eligible to purchase Federal excess-of-loss reinsurance contracts, to consider, when developing property coverage rates, such estimates as the minimum loss costs to be filed with State department of insurance. Prescribes guidelines under which the Commission may review and certify private commercial natural disaster hazard models intended to be used to make estimates of catastrophe loss costs. Authorizes appropriations. Expresses the intent of the Congress that: (1) this Act relates specifically to the business of insurance; and (2) specified activities prescribed by this Act and applicable to such business shall be regulated by State law. (Sec. 102) Directs the Secretary to implement a program to auction Federal excess-of-loss reinsurance contracts to eligible purchasers in order to increase the capacity of insurance coverage against specified catastrophic natural disasters. Establishes the Federal Excess-of-Loss Reinsurance Fund within the Treasury to make payments on claims and for: (1) the operation of the National Commission on Catastrophe Risk and Insurance Loss Costs; (2) the anticipated Federal contribution to the Natural Disaster Hazard Mitigation Fund (established by this Act); and (3) administrative expenses. (Sec. 103) Prescribes eligibility qualifications for a licensed private corporation providing excess reinsurance for catastrophic natural disasters, which shall not be subject to antitrust liability. (Sec. 104) Directs the Comptroller General to conduct a joint study with the Secretary of the Treasury and the Secretary of Commerce evaluating specified public policy issues associated with conferring favorable Federal tax treatment to insurance reserves set aside by private insurers for future catastrophic natural disasters. (Sec. 105) Requires the Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to enter into an arrangement with the National Academy of Sciences to study and report to the Congress on the national flood insurance program operated under the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968. (Sec. 106) Requires each State department of insurance to take into account natural disaster hazard mitigation measures in setting rates and deductibles for property insurance. (Sec. 107) Requires the FEMA Director and the Secretaries of Treasury and of Commerce to study jointly, evaluate, and report to the Congress on the availability and affordability of catastrophe insurance for natural hazards to private enterprises and State and local governments. Title II: Multihazard Mitigation Program - Prescribes guidelines and a deadline for the development of State-wide strategic mitigation plans to reduce the hazards of future natural disasters. Denies non-compliant States eligibility to receive funds from the Natural Disaster Hazard Mitigation Fund. (Sec. 202) Establishes the Natural Disaster Hazard Mitigation Fund. (Sec. 203) Directs the Comptroller General to identify all Federal programs providing assistance for public facilities and lifelines, and determine those which include or could include as an eligible use of Federal assistance the retrofitting or strengthening of public facilities and lifelines to minimize damage from future natural disasters. (Sec. 204) Directs the Secretaries of Agriculture and of the Interior to enter into an agreement with the interagency National Wildfire Coordinating Group to study and report to the Congress on the threat posed by wildfires. (Sec. 205) Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Uniformed Services Medicare Subvention Demonstration Project Act - Directs the Secretaries of Defense and Health and Human Services (HHS) to jointly establish a demonstration project to provide the Department of Defense (DOD) with reimbursement, under provisions of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act, for health services provided to Medicare-eligible covered military beneficiaries who participate in the project and receive such services through the managed care option of the TRICARE program (a DOD managed health care program). Requires the project to be conducted during the three-year period beginning on January 1, 1998, in no more than five geographic regions designated by the Secretaries. Makes project enrollment voluntary. Requires the Secretary of Defense to waive the TRICARE enrollment fee for project participants for whom Medicare reimbursement may be made. Requires inclusion in the project of a provision for expansion to incorporate health care services provided to such beneficiaries under the fee-for-services options of the TRICARE program if the Secretaries determine that such expansion is feasible and advisable. Directs the HHS Secretary to make monthly payments to DOD from the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund and the Federal Supplementary Medical Insurance Trust Fund representing appropriate reimbursement amounts. Provides for the determination of such amounts. Directs the Secretary of Defense to: (1) maintain the DOD health care efforts for Medicare-eligible covered military beneficiaries; (2) estimate the amount expended by DOD for FY 1997 for providing health care items and services to such beneficiaries; and (3) establish monthly targets for the number of such beneficiaries enrolled in the project necessary to meet DOD maintenance of health care efforts for such individuals. Limits to $65 million the annual payments to DOD for the project. Requires the Comptroller General, for each project year, to submit to the Secretaries and the Congress a report on the extent to which costs under the TRICARE program and the Medicare program have increased as a result of the project. Directs the Secretaries to modify the project at the end of each year to correct for any discrepancy between cost targets and actual spending under the project. Directs the Secretaries to submit to the Congress an interim and final report on various project aspects.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Law Enforcement Officers' Bill of Rights Act of 1997 - Amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to provide that, except when on duty or acting in an official capacity, no law enforcement officer (officer) shall be prohibited from engaging in political activity or be denied the right to refrain from engaging in such activity. Sets forth minimum standards that apply when an officer is under investigation that could lead to disciplinary action, including, with respect to: (1) rights of officers while under investigation, the right to be notified of the investigation prior to being interviewed and, at the conclusion of the investigation, to be informed in writing of the investigative findings and any recommendation for disciplinary action; (2) rights of officers prior to and during questioning, that the questioning be conducted at a reasonable hour at the offices of the persons conducting the investigation or at the place where the officer reports for duty (unless the officer consents in writing to being questioned elsewhere), that the officer be informed of the questioner's identity, that all questions be asked by or through a single investigator, that the officer be informed in writing of the nature of the investigation prior to any questioning, that the questioning be for a reasonable time period, that no threats or promises be made in connection with an investigation to induce the answering of any question, that all questioning be recorded in full (and a copy of the transcript made available to the officer), and that the officer be entitled to counsel (or another person of the officer's choice) at any questioning (unless the officer consents in writing to being questioned outside the presence of counsel); and (3) the conduct of a disciplinary hearing, notice of opportunity for a hearing, requirement of determination of a violation, time limits, notice of filing of charges, representation, provision of a hearing board and procedure, access to evidence, identification of witnesses, a copy of the investigative file, examination of physical evidence, summonses, closed hearings, recordation, sequestration of witnesses, testimony under oath, verdicts on each charge, the burden of persuasion, findings of not guilty or guilty, and appeals. Allows an officer to waive any of the rights guaranteed by this Act subsequent to the time that the officer has been notified that he or she is under investigation. Specifies that such a waiver shall be in writing and signed by the officer. Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) summary punishment and emergency suspension; (2) retaliation for exercising rights; (3) other remedies; (4) declaratory or injunctive relief; (5) prohibition of adverse material in the officer's file (unless the officer has an opportunity to review and comment in writing on such material); (6) disclosure of personal assets; (7) States' rights; and (8) mutually agreed upon collective bargaining agreements.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Immigration Moratorium Act of 1997 - Restricts U.S. immigration levels to specified numbers of family-sponsored immigrants, employment-based immigrants, and refugees.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Enumerated Powers Act - Requires each Act of Congress to contain a concise and definite statement of the constitutional authority relied upon for the enactment of each portion of that Act. Provides that failure to comply shall give rise to a point of order in either House of Congress.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Social Security Earnings Limitation Repeal Act of 1997 - Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act to remove the limitation on the amount of outside income which a beneficiary may earn (earnings test) without incurring a reduction in benefits.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Amends the Internal Revenue Code, with respect to the retail tax on heavy (in excess of 33,000 pounds) trucks and trailers, to: (1) exempt tractors not suitable for such vehicles; (2) treat certain repairs or modifications as non-manufacture; and (3) provide for a specified tire tax credit.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Working Families Flexibility Act of 1997 - Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA) to provide for compensatory time for all employees. Allows an employee to receive, in lieu of monetary overtime compensation, compensatory time off at a rate not less than one and one-half hours for each hour of employment for which overtime compensation is required under the Act. Allows an employer to provide such compensatory time only: (1) pursuant to a collective bargaining agreement with employee representatives, or, where there is no recognized labor organization, pursuant to an agreement with the employee if such agreement was entered into knowingly and voluntarily; (2) if a private employee has affirmed, in a verifiable statement, the choice of receiving compensatory time in lieu of overtime pay; and (3) if the employee has not accrued compensatory time in excess of applicable limits. Sets forth special rules relating to public employees. Prohibits employer coercion of employees for the purpose of: (1) interfering with their right to choose whether to request compensatory time off in lieu of overtime pay; or (2) requiring them to use compensatory time. Limits to not more than 240 hours the amount of compensatory time an employee may accrue. Requires payment of compensation at the prescribed regular rate for: (1) compensatory time accrued but not used in a calendar year or other designated 12-month period; and (2) unused compensatory time upon termination of employment. Allows an employer to provide monetary compensation at any time after giving the employee at least 30 days notice, at the prescribed regular rate, for an employee's unused compensatory time in excess of 80 hours. Allows an employee to request in writing that monetary compensation be provided at the prescribed regular rate, at any time, for all compensatory time accrued and not yet used. Requires employers to permit employees to use compensatory time within a reasonable period after employees request its use, if such use does not unduly disrupt employers' operations. Makes private employers who violate specified provisions of this Act liable to the employee affected in the amount of the rate of compensation for each hour of compensatory time accrued by the employee, and in an additional equal amount as liquidated damages reduced by the amount of such rate of compensation for each hour of compensatory time used by such employee.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Medicare Preventive Benefit Improvement Act of 1997 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide for expanded coverage of preventive benefits under part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) of the Medicare program. Makes all women over age 49 eligible for annual screening mammography benefit coverage. Waives the deductible co-payment on such benefit. Makes women of childbearing age (if they have not had a negative result in such a test in each of the preceding three years), or at high risk of developing cervical cancer, eligible for yearly pap smears, by suspending in their cases a specified three-year frequency limitation on benefit coverage for screening pap smears. Makes such women eligible also for yearly screening pelvic exams, including a clinical breast exam. Makes other women eligible for triennial screening pelvic exams. Waives the deductible co-payment for such exams. Adds coverage of screening procedures, with specified payment and frequency limitations, for early detection of colorectal cancer, including fecal occult blood test, flexible sigmoidoscopy, and colonoscopy for high risk individuals, as well as a barium enema if the Secretary of Health and Human Services finds that to be an appropriate alternative to a sigmoidoscopy or a colonoscopy. Directs the Secretary to make a decision within two years about covering screening barium enemas as such an alternative. Adds biennial coverage of certain prostate cancer screening procedures for men over 50 years of age, including a digital rectal examination and a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) blood test. Adds coverage of the following diabetes screening benefits: (1) diabetes outpatient self-management training services; and (2) blood-testing strips (with payment based on inexpensive, routinely purchased durable medical equipment). Directs the Secretary to: (1) establish outcome measures to evaluate improvement of the health of Medicare beneficiaries with diabetes mellitus; and (2) submit recommendations to the Congress regarding modifications to the Medicare coverage of services for such beneficiaries.
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
Amends the Federal criminal code to provide that firearms prohibitions applicable by reason of a domestic violence misdemeanor conviction shall apply only to such convictions obtained on or after September 28, 1996 (the date such prohibitions became law).
United States · United States Congress · 7 January 1997
National Right-to-Work Act - Amends the National Labor Relations Act and the Railway Labor Act to repeal those provisions that permit employers, pursuant to a collective bargaining agreement (union security agreement), to require employees to join a union as a condition of employment (including provisions permitting railroad carriers to require, pursuant to such an agreement, payroll deduction of union dues or fees as a condition of employment).
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