United States · United States Congress · 23 May 1996
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Short Title; Table of Contents Title II: Conforming Railroad Retirement Benefits with Social Security Title I: Short Title; Table of Contents - Retirement Savings and Security Act - Sets forth this Act's short title and table of contents. Title II: Conforming Railroad Retirement Benefits with Social Security - Amends the Railroad Retirement Act of 1974 (RRA) with respect to eligibility for and the amount of a child's annuity. Provides for entitlement to spousal annuities despite certain age requirements. Removes the age requirement for divorced spouses, and provides for entitlement of the divorced spouse where the worker's annuity is not payable. Provides for RRA benefits equivalent to those under the Social Security Act with respect to: (1) amounts of continued payment to survivors of waived lump sum benefits; (2) lump sum death benefits; and (3) benefits with respect to service for which certain railroad retirement annuities are not payable.
United States · United States Congress · 23 May 1996
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Short Title; Table of Contents Title II: Additional Retirement Participation and Payment Options for Federal Employees Retirement Savings and Security Act - Title I: Short Title; Table of Contents - Sets forth, for this Act: (1) the short title; and (2) the table of contents. Title II: Additional Retirement Participation and Payment Options for Federal Employees - Requires the Executive Director of the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board to prescribe regulations to allow Federal employees to be afforded a reasonable opportunity to make an election to make contributions under the Thrift Savings Plan on the date of commencing service or beginning on the earliest date thereafter that such an election becomes administratively feasible. (Sec. 2002) Provides for a deferred annuity for a surviving former spouse of a deceased former Federal employee who separated from the service with title to a deferred annuity if such individuals were married to one another prior to the date of separation. Provides for a surviving spouse to elect to receive a certain deferred annuity if a former employee dies after having separated from the service with title to a deferred annuity but before having established a valid claim for annuity. (Sec. 2003) Revises provisions concerning the payment of a lump sum to a former spouse of a Federal employee.
United States · United States Congress · 23 May 1996
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Short Titles; Table of Contents Title II: ERISA Provisions Subtitle A: Expanded Pension Coverage and Simplification Subtitle B: Portability Subtitle C: Enhanced Security Title I: Short Title; Table of Contents - Retirement Savings and Security Act - Sets forth the table of contents. Title II: ERISA Provisions - Subtitle A: Expanded Pension Coverage and Simplification - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to establish reporting and fiduciary requirements relating to NESTs (National Employee Savings Trusts, under the Internal Revenue Code (IRC), which are 401(k)-type plans for small business, designed to ensure participation by low- and moderate-wage workers, who will be able to save up to $5,000 per year tax-deferred, plus receive employer contributions toward retirement). (Sec. 2002) Eliminates specified ERISA requirements relating to employee benefit plan descriptions and filing of summary plan descriptions and descriptions of material modifications to a plan. Requires filing of annual plan reports by plan administrators. Authorizes the Secretary of Labor to request any documents relating to such plans. (Sec. 2003) Includes under ERISA purchases of qualified State prepaid tuition program instruments to which specified IRC provisions apply. Subtitle B: Portability - Directs the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) to prescribe specified types of payment rules relating to missing participants for terminated multiemployer plans. (Sec. 2011) Allows the administrator of a plan not otherwise subject to ERISA plan termination insurance provisions to elect to transfer a missing participant's benefits to the PBGC upon plan termination. Requires such administrator to provide the PBGC with specified information. Directs the PBGC, if such a missing participant's benefits are transferred to it, to pay the appropriate amount to the participant or beneficiary. (Sec. 2012) Eliminates a special vesting rule for multiemployer plans. (Sec. 2013) Provides for treatment of certain loans during military service. Subtitle C: Enhanced Security - Increases the amounts of guarantees for multiemployer plan benefits. (Sec. 2022) Directs the Secretary of Labor, as chairman of the PBGC board, to transmit to the President and the Congress an annual reversion report providing information on plans from which residual assets were distributed to employers. (Sec. 2023) Sets forth a full funding limitation for multiemployer plans. Requires a valuation every three years in the case of multiemployer plans. (Sec. 2024) Increases the maximum civil penalty for certain prohibited transactions. (Sec. 2025) Revises provisions relating to substantial owner benefits to modify: (1) a phase-in of guarantee; and (2) allocation of assets. Pension Audit Improvement Act of 1996 - Amends ERISA to repeal certain provisions for limited scope audits. (Sec. 2033) Requires certain notifications by plan administrators and accountants regarding: (1) irregularities that may have occurred with respect to plans; and (2) termination of an accountant's engagement for auditing services. Sets forth civil penalties for failures to provide the Secretary of Labor with such notifications. (Sec. 2034) Prescribes additional requirements for qualified public accountants. (Sec. 2035) Revises certain fiduciary penalties. Modifies a prohibition of assignment or alienation. Changes from mandatory to discretionary: (1) the imposition and the amount of civil penalties for breach of fiduciary responsibility; and (2) certain provisions relating to an applicable recovery amount.
United States · United States Congress · 23 May 1996
Authorizes the Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence to provide copies of records requested by the Office of Inspector General of the Central Intelligence Agency in connection with its review into matters related to the Zona Rosa massacre of six Americans in El Salvador in 1985.
United States · United States Congress · 14 May 1996
Women's Pension Equity Act of 1996 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to provide for the development of a model: (1) spousal consent form when an election is made to waive a qualified joint and survivor annuity or a qualified preretirement survivor annuity; and (2) qualified domestic relations order. Amends the Railroad Retirement Act of 1974 to extend the payment of any portion of Tier II Railroad Retirement benefits to surviving former spouses pursuant to divorce agreements. Amends Federal law to provide for a survivor annuity to widows, widowers, and certain former spouses of Federal employees who die after having separated from the service with title to a deferred annuity, but before attaining age for such annuity under the Civil Service Retirement System on the same basis as is currently provided to certain survivors of former Members of Congress. Revises provisions concerning Federal retirement benefits subject to a court order.
United States · United States Congress · 13 May 1996
Temporary Emergency Livestock Feed Assistance Act of 1996 - Amends the Agricultural Market Transition Act to provide temporary assistance for certain livestock producers. Amends the Agricultural Act of 1949 to obligate specified funds for 1996 livestock feed emergencies. Requires a report on the use of certain commodity reserves for livestock assistance.
United States · United States Congress · 2 May 1996
Constitutional Amendment - Requires a balanced Federal budget, unless a three-fifths roll call vote of both Houses of the Congress provides for a specific excess of outlays over receipts. Prohibits an increase in the public debt limit except by a three-fifths roll call vote by both Houses of the Congress. Requires the President to submit a balanced budget to the Congress. Prohibits any bill increasing revenue from becoming law unless approved by a majority roll call vote of both Houses. Provides for waiver during a declared war or when the United States is involved in a military conflict that causes an imminent and serious military threat to national security. Declares that the judicial power of the United States shall not extend to any case or controversy arising under this amendment, except as authorized by adopted legislation. Exempts from total receipts and outlays: (1) receipts from, and outlays to the principal of, borrowing; and (2) receipts and outlays regarding Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance and the Federal Disability Insurance Trust Funds.
United States · United States Congress · 24 April 1996
Amends the Federal judicial code to prohibit any person serving as an independent counsel from: (1) engaging in any other legal work; or (2) receiving any compensation for affiliating with or being employed by an entity that provides professional legal services.
United States · United States Congress · 24 April 1996
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Health Care Access, Portability, and Renewability Subtitle A: Group Market Rules Subtitle B: Individual Market Rules Subtitle C: COBRA Clarifications Subtitle D: Private Health Plan Purchasing Cooperatives Title II: Application and Enforcement of Standards Title III: Miscellaneous Provisions Title IV: Tax-Related Health Provisions Subtitle A: Increase in Deduction for Health Insurance Costs of Self-Employed Individuals Subtitle B: Long-Term Care Provisions Subtitle C: High-Risk Pools Subtitle D: Penalty-Free IRA Distributions Subtitle E: Revenue Offsets Title V: Health Care Fraud and Abuse Prevention Subtitle A: Fraud and Abuse Control Program Subtitle B: Revisions to Current Sanctions for Fraud and Abuse Subtitle C: Data Collection and Miscellaneous Provisions Subtitle D: Civil Monetary Penalties Subtitle E: Amendments to Criminal Law Title VI: Internal Revenue Code and Other Provisions Subtitle A: Foreign Trust Tax Compliance Subtitle B: Repeal of Bad Debt Reserve Method for Thrift Savings Associations Subtitle C: Other Provisions Health Insurance Reform Act of 1996 - Title I: Health Care Access, Portability, and Renewability - Subtitle A: Group Market Rules - Prohibits insurers from declining to offer whole group coverage to a group purchaser. Allows plans to establish eligibility, continuation, enrollment, or premium requirements, provided the requirements are not based on health status, medical condition, genetic information, or other factors. (Sec. 102) Mandates plan renewability, except for premium nonpayment, material misrepresentation, plan termination, or other specified reasons. (Sec. 103) Regulates the circumstances in which a plan may impose a benefit limitation or exclusion because of a preexisting condition. Mandates crediting of previous qualifying coverage. Allows State laws (unless preempted by specified provisions of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA)) that: (1) limit preexisting conditions to shorter periods than the provisions of this paragraph; (2) recognize previous qualifying coverage with a lapse period longer than provided for by the provisions of this paragraph; or (3) require issuers to have a lookback period shorter than under this Act. (Sec. 104) Mandates special enrollment periods for individuals who have certain types of changes in family composition or employment status. (Sec. 105) Regulates disclosures an insurer must make to a small employer (as defined in State law or, if not defined in State law, employers with not more than 50 employees). Amends ERISA to modify requirements regarding disclosures to plan participants and beneficiaries. Subtitle B: Individual Market Rules - Prohibits an insurer from declining to offer individual coverage or denying individual enrollment based on health status, medical condition, or other factors if the individual meets specified requirements, including having had previous group coverage and not being currently eligible for group coverage. (Sec. 111) Mandates renewability of coverage for individuals, except for nonpayment of premiums, material misrepresentation, or plan termination. (Sec. 112) Allows a State to adopt alternative public or private mechanisms designed to provide access to affordable health benefits for individuals unless the Secretary of Health and Human Services finds that the State's alternative mechanism fails to meet specified requirements of this Act. Deems a State to have met those requirements if it adopts a National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) model found by the Secretary to meet the requirements. Sets forth the circumstances in which a State high risk pool will be deemed in compliance. Subtitle C: COBRA Clarifications - Amends the Public Health Service Act, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), and the Internal Revenue Code to modify continuation coverage requirements. Subtitle D: Private Health Plan Purchasing Cooperatives - Requires a State to certify health plan purchasing cooperatives (HPPCs) meeting the requirements of this section. Provides for Federal certification if a State fails to do so, but prohibits Federal certification in a State where the Secretary finds that, under State law, all small employers have a means readily available that ensures that: (1) individuals and employees have a choice of multiple, unaffiliated health plan issuers; and (2) other requirements of this Act are met. Regulates HPPC organization, duties, and activities. Preempts, for a HPPC meeting these requirements, State fictitious group laws. Specifies the circumstances in which HPPCs are required to comply with State premium rating and mandated benefit laws. Applies to HPPCs, for enforcement purposes only, the requirements of ERISA provisions relating to fiduciary responsibility and administration and enforcement. Title II: Application and Enforcement of Standards - Deems a requirement or standard under this Act imposed on a plan to be imposed on the issuer. (Sec. 202) Requires each State to enforce the standards under this Act pursuant to an enforcement plan filed by the State with the Secretary of Labor. Mandates enforcement of employee health benefit plans by the Secretary in the same manner as under specified ERISA provisions. Provides for Federal enforcement if a State fails to do so. Title III: Miscellaneous Provisions - Amends the Public Health Service Act to allow a health maintenance organization, if notified by a member that a medical savings account has been established for the member and if the member requests, to reduce the basic health services payment by requiring the payment of a deductible for basic health services. Declares that it is the sense of the: (1) Senate Labor and Human Resources Committee that the establishment of medical savings accounts should be encouraged as part of any health insurance reform legislation passed; and (2) Senate that the Congress should take steps to further the purposes of this Act. (Sec. 302) Mandates studies and reports to appropriate congressional committees on: (1) mechanisms to ensure the availability of reasonably priced health coverage to employers purchasing group and individuals purchasing non-group coverage; (2) whether standards limiting premium variation will further the purposes of this Act; (3) the effectiveness of this Act; and (4) patient access to and choice of providers inside and outside of networks, the cost to insurers and the feasibility of out-of-network access, and the percent of premium dollar used for medical care and administration of the types of coverage offered. (Sec. 303) Requires the Health Care Financing Administration to complete their ongoing study of reimbursement of all telemedicine services and report to the Congress with a proposal for reimbursement for fee-for-service medicine. (Sec. 304) Declares that the Senate Labor and Human Resources Committee finds that the Public Trustees of Medicare concluded in a specified report that: (1) the current Medicare program (title XVIII of the Social Security Act) is unsustainable; (2) the Hospital Insurance Trust Fund will be able to pay benefits for only about seven years and is severely out of long-range balance; and (3) the Fund's problems should be comprehensively addressed. (Sec. 305) Prohibits an employee health benefit plan and a health plan issuer offering a group plan or an individual health plan from imposing treatment limits or financial requirements on the coverage of mental health services if similar limits or requirements are not imposed regarding other conditions. (Sec. 306) Amends the Immigration and Nationality Technical Corrections Act of 1994 to extend the termination date of and modify requirements regarding provisions relating to waivers of a requirement that aliens who came to the United States to receive graduate medical education or training return to their country of nationality for two years before applying for an immigrant visa, permanent residence, or a nonimmigrant visa. (Sec. 307) Mandates inclusion with any income tax refund of a document encouraging organ and tissue donation. (Sec. 308) Declares that it is the sense of the Senate that: (1) the issue of adequate health care for mothers and children is important to the future of the United States and the Senate should pass legislation ensuring coverage for all U.S. pregnant women and children; and (2) patients deserve to know the full range of available treatments and the Congress should examine these issues to ensure that all patients get the care they deserve. (Sec. 310) Medical Volunteer Act - Requires that a health care professional who provides a health care service to a medically underserved person without receiving compensation be regarded, for purposes of any medical malpractice claim arising in connection with the service, as a Federal employee for purposes of the Federal tort claims provisions of Federal law relating to the judiciary and judicial procedure. Deems the professional to have provided the service without compensation only if, prior to furnishing the care, the professional: (1) agrees to furnish the service without charge to any person, including any insurance or program covering the recipient; and (2) provides the recipient with notice of the limited liability. Preempts inconsistent State laws, but not State laws providing greater incentives or protections to the professional. Title IV: Tax-Related Provisions - Health Insurance and Long-term Care Affordability Act of 1996 - Subtitle A: Increase in Deduction for Health Insurance Costs of Self-Employed Individuals - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to annually incrementally increase the deduction for the health insurance costs of self-employed individuals so that by the year 2006, 80 percent, rather than the current 30 percent, of such costs will be deductible. Subtitle B: Long-Term Care Provisions - Chapter 1: Long-Term Care Services and Contracts - Subchapter A: General Provisions - Sets forth general rules with respect to a qualified long-term care insurance contract, including that: (1) it shall be treated as an accident and health policy; (2) amounts received under such a contract shall be treated as amounts received for personal injuries and sickness; (3) amounts paid for such a contract shall be treated as amounts paid for medical care; and (4) it shall be treated as a guaranteed renewable contract. Defines such a contract and the services it must include. Subchapter B: Consumer Protection Provisions - Requires long-term care insurance policies to meet model regulation and model Act requirements. Chapter 2: Treatment of Accelerated Death Benefits - Provides, as a general rule, that accelerated death benefits shall be treated as amounts paid because of the death of the insured. Subtitle C: High-Risk Pools - Treats as tax exempt State-sponsored organizations which provide health coverage for high-risk individuals. Subtitle D: Penalty-Free IRA Distributions - Permits penalty-free IRA distributions to pay: (1) financially devastating medical expenses; and (2) health insurance premiums for certain unemployed individuals. Subtitle E: Revenue Offsets - Chapter 1: Treatment of Individuals Who Expatriate - Sets forth the tax responsibilities of an expatriate: (1) who has had an average annual net income tax of more than $100,000 for the five year period ending before expatriation; (2) or whose net worth is $500,000 or more. Provides as a general rule that all property of a covered expatriate shall be treated as sold on the expatriation date for its fair market value. Allows an exclusion from gain of up to $600,000. Permits an expatriate to elect to continue to be taxed as a United States citizen, in which case the provisions applicable to other expatriates will not apply. Sets forth specified reporting requirements for all expatriates. Chapter 2: Company-Owned Insurance - Revises provisions prohibiting a deduction for interest on loans with respect to company-owned life insurance, including a revision which prohibits as well a deduction for interest on loans with respect to company-owned endowment or annuity contracts. Title V: Health Care Fraud and Abuse Prevention - Subtitle A: Fraud and Abuse Control Program - Amends title XI of the Social Security Act (SSA) to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), acting through the HHS Office of Inspector General (IG), and the Attorney General, to establish a program to: (1) coordinate Federal, State, and local law enforcement programs to control health care fraud and abuse; (2) conduct investigations, audits, and inspections relating to the delivery of and payment for health care; (3) facilitate enforcement of certain laws applicable to health care fraud and abuse; (4) provide for the modification and establishment of safe harbors; (5) issue interpretative rulings and special fraud alerts; and (6) provide for the reporting and disclosure of certain final adverse actions against health care providers, suppliers, or practitioners pursuant to the data collection system established by this Act. (Sec. 501) Establishes the Health Care Fraud and Abuse Control Account in Medicare's Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund (Trust Fund) to hold the criminal fines and civil monetary penalties and assessments obtained from Federal health care cases, as well as property forfeiture proceeds from such cases, and other specified amounts for financing the fraud and abuse control program and the Medicare Integrity Program established by this Act. Makes certain appropriations to the Trust Fund and Account, earmarking specified amounts for activities of the HHS IG with respect to the SSA title XVIII (Medicare) and title XIX (Medicaid) programs. (Sec. 502) Establishes the Medicare Integrity Program to promote the integrity of the Medicare program through contracts with certain eligible private entities to: (1) review Medicare service provider activities and audit cost reports to determine whether payment should not have been made; (2) educate service providers, beneficiaries, and other persons on payment and benefit issues; and (3) develop and periodically update a list of items of durable medical equipment subject to prior authorization. Eliminates the responsibilities of fiscal intermediaries under Medicare part A (Hospital Insurance) and carriers under Medicare part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) for certain activities to the extent they are carried out pursuant to a contract under the Medicare Integrity Program. (Sec. 503) Directs the HHS Secretary to provide an explanation of Medicare benefits with respect to each furnished item or service for which payment may be made, whether or not a deductible or coinsurance payment may be imposed on the beneficiary. Directs the HHS Secretary to establish a program to encourage individuals to: (1) report information on fraud and abuse; and (2) submit suggestions on methods to improve the efficiency of the Medicare program. Provides for the payment to such individuals of a portion of: (1) any amounts collected due to any reports of fraud or abuse; or (2) any savings resulting from any suggestions that are adopted. (Sec. 504) Amends SSA title XI to extend the application of criminal penalties for acts involving the Medicare program to similar violations of any health benefits plan or program funded directly by the Federal Government, except the Federal Employees' Health Benefits Program (Federal health care programs). (Sec. 505) Directs the HHS Secretary to publish a notice periodically in the Federal Register soliciting proposals for: (1) modifications to existing safe harbors issued under the Medicare and Medicaid Patient and Program Protection Act of 1987; (2) additional safe harbors specifying payment practices that shall not be treated as a criminal offense or exclusion; (3) interpretive rulings by the HHS IG, upon request, with regard to civil monetary and criminal penalties; and (4) special fraud alerts by the HHS IG, upon request, with regard to suspect practices under the Medicare program or a State health care program. Requires subsequent issuance of implementing regulations. Subtitle B: Revisions to Current Sanctions for Fraud and Abuse - Excludes from participation in Medicare and State health care programs any individual or entity convicted after the enactment of this Act of a felony related to: (1) fraud in connection with the delivery of a health care item or service; or (2) a controlled substance. (Sec. 512) Revises specified current sanctions involving exclusion for fraud and abuse under Medicare and State health care programs. Repeals the prerequisite that a health care practitioner or person be "unwilling or unable" to comply substantially with a corrective action plan before sanctions may be imposed (thus permitting the HHS Secretary to exclude such practitioner or person from eligibility to provide services for failure to comply with a corrective action plan, regardless of circumstances). (Sec. 515) Permits imposition of intermediate sanctions on Medicare health maintenance organizations (HMOs), in addition to the current option of termination. (Sec. 516) Excepts from anti-kickback penalties for risk-sharing arrangements any remuneration between an organization and an item or service provider under a written agreement where certain circumstances pertain. Subtitle C: Data Collection and Miscellaneous Provisions - Directs the HHS Secretary to establish a national health care fraud and abuse data collection program for the reporting of final adverse actions against health care providers, suppliers, or practitioners. Requires each Government agency and health care plan to report to the Secretary any final adverse action taken against a health care provider, supplier, or practitioner. (Sec. 521) Allows the HHS Secretary, with respect to the issuance of unique identifiers for Medicare physicians, to impose appropriate fees on such physicians to cover the costs of investigation and recertification activities. Subtitle D: Civil Monetary Penalties - Revises civil monetary penalty and other related SSA title XI provisions, among other things: (1) subjecting to civil penalties certain program-excluded individuals who retain an ownership or control interest in a participating entity if they know or should know of the action constituting the basis for the exclusion at the time they violated such provisions; (2) increasing the amounts of various specified penalties and assessments, including those against health care practitioners who fail to comply with their statutory obligations; and (3) prohibiting the offering of inducements to individuals enrolled under Medicare or a State health care program, including waiver of coinsurance and deductible amounts and transfers of items or services for free or for other than fair market value. Subtitle E: Amendments to Criminal Law - Amends the Federal criminal code to cover health care fraud, obstruction of criminal investigations of Federal health care offenses, theft or embezzlement in connection with health care, and other specified matters related to health care fraud, such as the laundering of monetary instruments. (Sec. 543) Provides for injunctive relief relating to Federal health care offenses, as well as for property forfeitures. Title VI: Internal Revenue Code and Other Provisions - Subtitle A: Foreign Trust Tax Compliance - Revises the requirements regarding information that must be reported regarding certain foreign trusts. Modifies the circumstances (with regard to foreign trusts having one or more U.S. beneficiaries) in which a transferor is treated as the owner. Replaces provisions setting forth a special rule applicable to foreign grantors with provisions declaring that provisions relating to treating grantors and other as substantial owners shall apply only when that application results in an amount being currently taken into account in computing the income of a U.S. citizen or resident or a domestic corporation. Requires a United States person to report information regarding foreign gifts or bequests when the gifts' aggregate value during a taxable year exceeds $10,000. Modifies requirements regarding the interest charge on accumulation distributions from foreign trusts. Changes the circumstances in which an estate or trust is included in the definition of "United States person." Modifies the definition of "foreign estate or trust." Requires (for provisions relating to the imposition of a tax on transfers to avoid income tax) treating a trust which is not a foreign trust and which becomes a foreign trust as having transferred, immediately before becoming a foreign trust, all of its assets to a foreign trust. Subtitle B: Repeal of Bad Debt Reserve Method for Thrift Savings Associations - Repeals the bad debt reserve method, concerning reserves for losses on loans, for thrift savings associations. Subtitle C: Other Provisions - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to extend the secondary payor provisions. Amends the United States Housing Act of 1937 to direct the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, in specified circumstances, to modify rent adjustments using an operating costs factor that increases the rent to reflect increases in operating costs in the market area. Amends the National Housing Act to remove the provision which limits foreclosure avoidance and borrower assistance to those mortgages insured under such Act which originated before October 1, 1995.
United States · United States Congress · 19 April 1996
Provides for observation of a moment of silence at 9:02 a.m. central daylight time on April 19, 1996, in remembrance of the victims of the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Commends the people of Oklahoma and the aid provided by rescuers, Federal agencies, countless volunteers, and Federal employees. Reaffirms trust in our system of justice to ensure that the perpetrators are convicted and punished.
United States · United States Congress · 15 April 1996
Pays tribute to the remarkable life and career of Ronald H. Brown (the late Secretary of Commerce) and to the contributions of all those who perished in the airplane accident on April 3, 1996, while in service to their country on a mission to Bosnia. Extends condolences to the victims' families.
United States · United States Congress · 29 March 1996
Authorizes each State that issues licenses to commercial motor vehicle operators to waive any requirement to obtain such a license for operators of custom harvesting farm machinery or employees of farm-related service industries (or both) that would otherwise apply.
United States · United States Congress · 29 March 1996
Appoints the following Senators to the following Senate Committees: (1) Robert Bennett and Ron Wyden to Environment and Public Works; (2) Spencer Abraham and Ron Wyden to Commerce, Science, and Transportation; (3) Rod Grams and Ron Wyden to Budget; and (4) John W. Warner and Ron Wyden to the Special Committee on Aging.
United States · United States Congress · 21 March 1996
Extends the service of a Commissioner on the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial Commission for up to one year, with the approval of the appointing authority, after he or she ceases to be a member of the Senate or the House of Representatives.
United States · United States Congress · 29 February 1996
Honors and expresses profound gratitude for the contributions to the pursuit of justice, fairness, equality, and opportunity for all U.S. citizens by Hiram Rhodes Revels, Blanche Kelso Bruce, Edward William Brooke, and Carol Moseley-Braun.
United States · United States Congress · 29 February 1996
Condemns the terror attacks in Jerusalem and Ashkelon. Extends condolences to the victims' families and to the Government and people of Israel. Calls upon: (1) the Palestinian Authority, the elected Palestinian Council, and Chairman Arafat to apprehend the perpetrators of terror attacks, to do more to prevent such acts in the future, and to eschew all statements and gestures which signal tolerance for such acts and their perpetrators; and (2) the Authority and the Council to take all possible action to eliminate terrorist activities by Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and all other such terror groups. Urges: (1) all parties to the peace process to bring to justice the perpetrators of acts of terrorism and to cease harboring, financing, and arming terror groups; and (2) the Clinton Administration to act against those who continue to harbor, arm, or finance terror groups seeking to undermine the peace process.
United States · United States Congress · 27 February 1996
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: General Provisions Title II: Assistance for Education of All Children with Disabilities Title III: Systems Change Title IV: Research and Personnel Preparation Title V: Technical Assistance, Support, and Dissemination of Information Title VI: Infants and Toddlers with Disabilities Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Amendments of 1996 - Revises the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and extends its authorization of appropriations through FY 2002. Title I: General Provisions - Revises IDEA to declare that the right to equal educational opportunities for all children with disabilities is guaranteed by the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution. (Sec. 103) Allows the Office of Special Education Programs to accept voluntary and uncompensated services. (Sec. 104) Revises requirements for: (1) prescribing regulations; (2) eligibility for financial assistance; and (3) discretionary grant programs. Requires the Secretary of Education to develop and implement a comprehensive plan for activities under titles IV and V of this Act. Provides for specified enhanced services to children with disabilities. Lists entities eligible for awards. Authorizes the Secretary to limit, without rulemaking, competitions to projects that give priority to one or more targeted areas, if each project addresses the needs of children with disabilities and their families. Provides for application management, including a peer review process. Authorizes the Secretary to use certain funds for: (1) payments to nonfederal entities for administrative support; (2) Federal employees to monitor projects; and (3) evaluation of program activities carried out under these programs. (Sec. 107) Repeals IDEA provisions for: (1) acquisition of equipment and construction of necessary facilities; and (2) grants for the removal of architectural barriers. Title II: Assistance for Education of All Children with Disabilities - Revises entitlements and allocations for assistance for education of all children with disabilities. (Sec. 201) Authorizes States to determine whether to make subgrants smaller than a specified minimum amount to some local education agencies (LEAs). (Sec. 202) Revises and consolidates State eligibility and planning provisions. Provides that, if a child with a disability qualifies for special education, that child does not have to be classified by a specific impairment or condition. Requires the State educational agency (SEA) to: (1) examine data to determine if significant racial disproportionality is occurring in the identification or placement of children under IDEA; and (2) review and revise policies accordingly. Provides that, if a hearing officer agrees with the parents' unilateral placement of a child with a disability in a private school, the LEA may be required to reimburse the parents. Requires a non-educational agency, if it is responsible for services necessary to ensure a free appropriate public education for children with disabilities, to pay for or provide such services directly or by contract or other arrangements. Requires States to: (1) ensure that interagency agreements or other mechanisms are in effect between educational agencies and non-educational agencies for defining respective financial responsibilities, resolving interagency disputes, and interagency coordination; and (2) establish a mechanism by which LEAs may seek reimbursement from agencies for the costs of providing related services. Revises requirements for a comprehensive system of personnel development. Allows LEAs to use appropriately trained and supervised paraprofessionals. Requires States to: (1) establish performance goals and indicators for children with disabilities; (2) ensure that these children participate in general State and district-wide assessments, with appropriate accommodations, where necessary; and (3) develop guidelines for participation in alternative assessments for those children who cannot participate in such general State and district-wide assessments. Consolidates funding and public participation requirements. Revises requirements for State advisory panels and their duties. Repeals requirements for three-year State plans. (Sec. 203) Revises LEA and SEA eligibility and maintenance of effort requirements, with specified exceptions. Allows specified activities, regardless of certain excess cost and noncommingling of funds requirements, including: (1) incidental benefits to non-disabled students; (2) simultaneous services on a space-available basis to non-IDEA-eligible children with disabilities protected under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA); (3) a coordinated services system that links education, health, and social welfare services, systems, and entities to improve educational and transitional results for all children and their families; and (4) a school-based improvement plan. Revises requirements for LEA involvement with a State's Comprehensive System of Personnel Development. (Sec. 204) Revises and consolidates specified requirements for State and local administration of evaluations, reevaluations, individualized education programs (IEPs), and educational placements. Revises IEP content to: (1) focus on measurable annual objectives; and (2) emphasize ensuring that each child, as appropriate, has the opportunity to progress in the general curriculum, and to participate with nondisabled children in various environments. Requires consideration of transition services needs: (1) for all students with disabilities beginning at age 14 (or younger, under specified circumstances); (2) under the applicable components of the IEP; and (3) in light of the student's participation in the general curriculum. Provides for transfer of rights at the age of majority. (Sec. 205) Repeals certain IDEA provisions relating to Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) State agencies. (Sec. 206) Revises procedural safeguards, including provisions for written notices to parents. Requires States to make mediation available to parents of children with disabilities in disputes with LEAs on any matter regarding the identification, evaluation, or educational placement of a child or the provision of free appropriate public education. Permits the transfer of parental rights to a student with disabilities upon reaching the age of majority under State law. Requires the State to have procedures for appointing the parent or another person to represent the student's interests if, under State law, such a student is determined not to have the ability to provide informed consent. (Sec. 207) Revises requirements for: (1) withholding of payments to non-compliant States and judicial review of such determinations; (2) rulemaking on compliance and eligibility; (3) evaluation and program information; (4) preschool grants; and (5) payments. (Sec. 209) Requires the Secretary to: (1) conduct studies and evaluations to assess the effectiveness of efforts to provide free appropriate public education and early intervention services, including assessing the placement of children with disabilities by disability category; and (2) conduct a longitudinal study that measure the educational and transitional services provided to and results achieved by children with disabilities under IDEA. Title III: Systems Change - Establishes a program to promote systems change to improve educational and transitional services and results for children with disabilities. Authorizes competitive grants to SEAs, in partnership with LEAs and other interested individuals, agencies, and organizations, to improve such services and results on a system-wide basis. Allows grant recipients to collaborate in systems change activities with those in other States, through joint arrangements with institutions of higher education and sharing of staff and consultants. Requires coordination with this program of activities under titles IV and V. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 302) Extends authorities and authorizations of appropriations relating to centers and services to meet special needs of individuals with disabilities, including regional centers for the deaf. Title IV: Research and Personnel Preparation - Establishes a new program (in part by consolidating certain current activities) for improving early intervention, educational, and transitional services and results for children with disabilities through coordinated research and personnel preparation. (Consolidates current part D personnel preparation provisions and current part E research provisions.) (Sec. 401) Authorizes research and innovation grants and contracts for: (1) new knowledge production in learning styles, instructional approaches, behavior management, assessment tools, assistive technology, program accountability and personnel preparation models; (2) integration of research and practice, through demonstration and dissemination of successful practice; and (3) improvement in the use of professional knowledge by teachers, parents, and others in their classrooms and other learning settings. Authorizes personnel preparation grants and contracts in the areas of: (1) high incidence disabilities, such as learning disabilities, mental retardation, and behavior disordered groups; (2) leadership preparation; (3) low-incidence disabilities, such as sensory impairment, multiple disabilities, and severe disabling conditions; and (4) projects of national significance. (Sec. 402) Makes conforming amendments to the Higher Education Act of 1965, Goals 2000: Educate America Act, and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. (Sec. 403) Extends the authorization of appropriations for training personnel for the education of individuals with disabilities. Title V: Technical Assistance, Support, and Dissemination of Information - Establishes a new program (in part by consolidating certain current activities) for improving early intervention, educational, and transitional services and results for children with disabilities through coordinated technical assistance, support, and dissemination of information. (Sec. 501) Authorizes grants and contracts for: (1) parent training and information centers and community programs; (2) coordinated technical assistance, support, and dissemination; and (3) technology and media activities. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 502) Makes conforming amendments to IDEA and the Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act. (Sec. 503) Extends various authorities and authorizations of appropriations. Title VI: Infants and Toddlers with Disabilities - Revises the program for infants and toddlers with disabilities, with respect to: (1) encouraging States to expand opportunities for infants and toddlers with disabilities who are at risk of having substantial developmental delays if early intervention services are not provided; (2) continuing eligibility; (3) statewide system requirements; (4) the individualized family service plan; (5) allocation and use of funds; (6) procedural safeguards; (7) State Interagency Coordinating Council duties; and (8) Federal Interagency Coordinating Council (FICC) membership and duties. (Sec. 615) Directs the FICC to convene a panel of experts to develop recommendations for a model definition of developmental delay. Allows the use of funds for referring at risk infants and toddlers, in those States not currently serving them, to other IDEA services. Permits planning for transition to preschool services to begin up to six months before the child's third birthday, if parents and agencies agree. (Sec. 616) Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 7 February 1996
Revises Federal veterans' benefits provisions to require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to furnish hospital care, and to allow the Secretary to furnish nursing home care, to a veteran who is catastrophically disabled (a veteran whose expenditures for such care exceeded 7.5 percent of his or her gross adjusted income for the preceding year). (Sec. 2) Makes eligible for medical services on an ambulatory or outpatient basis, notwithstanding that there is insufficient medical evidence to conclude that such disability may be associated with the described exposure, any disabled veteran who the Secretary finds: (1) may have been exposed to dioxin or was exposed to a toxic substance found in a herbicide or defoliant used for military purposes during the Vietnam era while serving on active duty in Vietnam; (2) was exposed while serving on active duty to ionizing radiation from the detonation of a nuclear device in connection with such veteran's participation in the test of such a device or with the American occupation of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, from September 11, 1945, through July 1, 1946; or (3) may have been exposed to a toxic substance or environmental hazard while serving on active duty in Southwest Asia during the Persian Gulf War. Prohibits the provision of such medical services: (1) for any disability that is found to have resulted from a cause other than the exposure described; or (2) after December 31, 1996. Repeals a provision regarding the order of priority for furnishing ambulatory or outpatient medical services for veterans. (Sec. 3) Directs the Secretary to furnish nursing home, domiciliary, or long-term care to qualifying disabled veterans where necessary for medical purposes or to obviate the need for hospital care. (Sec. 4) Authorizes the Secretary to furnish hospital and nursing home care to any adult dependent of a veteran which the Secretary determines is needed for a disability if such dependent agrees to pay a specified amount representing a portion of the costs of care. Makes such amounts collected or received by the United States for hospital, nursing home, and domiciliary care available to the Secretary for payment of the costs of such care, without fiscal year limitation. (Sec. 5) Revises the definition of covered "medical services" for purposes of veterans' benefits provisions to include: (1) primary health care services which include initial diagnostic services, treatment services, referral to specialized care or services, and long-term followup care or services for certain chronic conditions, and routine services regarding disabilities that are provided by physicians who specialize in such disabilities; and (2) medical equipment and prosthetic appliances that are prescribed by a physician based on specific medical needs. (Sec. 7) Repeals a requirement that the Secretary include in the budget documents submitted to Congress for any fiscal year a detailed report on contract care and services furnished. Authorizes the Secretary to furnish primary health care or preventive health services to veterans who reside in locations that are more than 50 miles or one hour traveling time from a Department of Veterans Affairs facility by or through contract with non-Department facilities under specified circumstances. (Sec. 8) Modifies provisions regarding prosthetic appliances and seeing eye dogs. Directs the Secretary to furnish medical equipment or a prosthetic appliance (equipment) as well as necessary fitting and training to any veteran who is entitled to such equipment. Authorizes the Secretary to repair or replace any reasonably necessary equipment belonging to the veteran which is damaged or destroyed by an accident caused by a service-connected disability for which the veteran is in receipt of, or would, but for the receipt of retirement pay, be entitled to, disability compensation. Authorizes the Secretary to provide eligible veterans: (1) training in a Department facility or by contract, including certain travel and incidental expenses; (2) special clothing made necessary by the wearing of equipment; (3) seeing-eye or guide dogs trained to aid the blind and devices for aiding individuals in overcoming blindness, plus training including travel expenses; and (4) devices for assisting in overcoming deafness, including telecaptioning decoding devices for television receivers. (Sec. 9) Revises provisions regarding the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical-Care Cost Recovery Fund to make specified amounts available to the Secretary for payment of the costs of furnishing hospital care and medical services, including the costs of Department personnel salaries. (Sec. 10) Grants authority for reimbursement by Medicare of certain health care services provided by Department facilities. (Sec. 11) Directs the Secretary to ensure that the Department maintains its capacity to provide for the specialized treatment and rehabilitative needs of disabled veterans, including veterans with spinal cord dysfunction, blindness, and mental illness, in a manner that: (1) affords reasonable access to care and services for those specialized needs; and (2) ensures that overall Department capacity to provide such services is not reduced below its capacity to provide such services as of the date of enactment of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 1 February 1996
Repeals provisions of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 which direct the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to: (1) modify its multiple ownership rules to eliminate the limitation on the number of radio and television stations which may be owned or controlled by one entity nationally and to limit the number of radio stations an entity may own, operate, or control in a local market, with an exception when the FCC determines that such ownership, operation, or control will increase the number of radio broadcast stations in operation; (2) increase to 35 percent the national audience reach limitations for television stations; and (3) conduct a rulemaking proceeding to determine whether its rules restricting ownership of more than one television station in a local market should be retained, modified, or eliminated. Requires the FCC to rescind any action taken by it under such provisions.
United States · United States Congress · 1 February 1996
Railroad Retirement Amendment Act of 1996 - Amends the Railroad Retirement Act of 1974 to prevent the canceling of annuities to certain divorced wives of workers if, through an administrative error, they received such benefits otherwise precluded by the making of a lump sum payment to a widow. Requires such survivor benefits to be paid to such a divorced wife who elects to repay the lump sum payment to the Railroad Retirement Board. Authorizes the Board to: (1) withhold up to ten percent of each benefit amount paid after the date of the enactment of this Act toward such reimbursement; and (2) waive such repayment to the extent it would cause an unjust financial hardship for the beneficiary. Makes such amendment applicable to such benefits paid in the past, present, or future.
United States · United States Congress · 1 February 1996
Authorizes Amy L. Silvestri, a former employee of Senator William V. Roth, Jr., to submit a declaration in the case of Margaret C. Carlson v. Mike Eassa, et al., except concerning matters for which a privilege should be asserted.
United States · United States Congress · 1 February 1996
Authorizes the chairman and ranking minority member of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations of the Committee on Governmental Affairs, acting jointly, to provide records to all parties in the case of INSLAW, Inc., et al v. United States of America, except concerning matters for which a privilege should be asserted.
United States · United States Congress · 30 January 1996
Commends the men and women who have served or are presently serving in the American Foreign Service and honors those who have given their lives in the line of duty. Designates the first Friday in May 1996 as American Foreign Service Day.
United States · United States Congress · 26 January 1996
Aboveground Storage Tank Consolidation and Regulatory Improvement Act - Redesignates the Office of Underground Storage Tanks of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and establishes it as the Office of Storage Tanks (OST), to be headed by a Director. Transfers to OST authorities of the following as they relate to regulation of aboveground and underground storage tanks: (1) other EPA officers under the environmental laws; (2) the Secretary of Labor under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 and worker protection standards provisions of the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986; and (3) the Secretary of Transportation under pipeline safety provisions. Transfers appropriations and personnel. Requires the Director, by regulation, to restate the laws he or she administers in consolidated form and streamline their application to owners and operators of aboveground and underground storage tanks. Expresses congressional intent that this direction is not intended to modify the laws' requirements. Imposes, as part of such regulations, a requirement that an owner or operator of an aboveground storage tank report to the national response center established under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act a release of a regulated substance (one regulated under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 or petroleum or a petroleum substance) above a specified threshold, including a description of corrective action taken. Allows the EPA Administrator, after release from an aboveground storage tank of a regulated substance posing an imminent threat to human health, public safety, or the environment, to prohibit the use or operation of all or any portion of a storage tank farm within a facility in which the tank is located until the prohibition is no longer necessary or corrective action has been taken. Authorizes the Director to include in the above regulations release detection, prevention, and correction regulations applicable to owners and operators of aboveground petroleum storage tanks. Requires the Director to determine if there are deficiencies in the law applicable to aboveground petroleum storage tanks and examine industry standards addressing the deficiencies, giving substantial weight to these in designing the regulations. Establishes requirements for reports to the Congress.
United States · United States Congress · 23 January 1996
Agricultural Act of 1995 - Applies for 1996, notwithstanding any other provision of law, the provisions of the Agricultural Adjustment of 1938, the Agricultural Act of 1949, the Food Security Act of 1985, and the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 and each program authorized or reauthorized by any of the Acts that were applicable on September 30, 1995. Amends the Agricultural Act of 1949 to: (1) modify planting flexibility requirements; and (2) set forth terms and conditions, applicable to 1995 disasters, for advance deficiency payments. Amends the Food Security Act of 1985 to allow inclusion in a conservation reserve program of croplands that will be used to store water for flood control in a closed basin.
United States · United States Congress · 5 January 1996
Resolves that the President and the Congress shall enact legislation in the second session of the 104th Congress to achieve a balanced budget not later than FY 2002 as estimated by the Congressional Budget Office. Sets forth additional criteria for that budget.
United States · United States Congress · 22 December 1995
Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 regarding impact aid payments. Provides hold-harmless payment amounts for impact-aid payments relating to Federal acquisition of real property. Provides that no eligible local educational agency shall receive less than 85 percent of the preceding year's amount in such a payment for any fiscal year. Provides for ratable reductions and increases in certain types of impact-aid payments in specified circumstances. Allows two specified school districts in South Dakota to claim eligibility as heavily-impacted districts for the current year, and amend their applications for increased payments. Revises provisions with respect to maximum payments for certain heavily impacted local educational agencies.
United States · United States Congress · 22 December 1995
Urges the Secretary of State, in deciding whether to renew the ban on the use of U.S. passports for travel to Lebanon, to: (1) expand the present humanitarian waiver provisions to permit American citizens of Lebanese descent to travel to Lebanon for family reunification purposes; (2) create a new waiver category for U.S. business personnel who wish to travel there on business; (3) change the Lebanon travel ban to a travel advisory; and (4) identify those conditions within Lebanon that are of risk to U.S. citizens and provide suggestions for Lebanon to ameliorate those risks.
United States · United States Congress · 22 December 1995
Authorizes Michael O'Leary, a Senate Committee on the Judiciary employee, to provide testimony in the case of United States of America v. Karl Zielinski, except concerning matters for which a privilege should be asserted. Authorizes the Senate Legal Counsel to represent him in connection with such testimony.
United States · United States Congress · 22 December 1995
Authorizes William Ayala, an employee of Senator Frank Lautenberg, to testify in the case of Cherry v. Cherry, except concerning matters for which a privilege or an objection should be asserted. Directs the Senate Legal Counsel to represent him and Senator Lautenberg's office in connection with the subpoena issued in this case.
United States · United States Congress · 13 December 1995
Expresses congressional support for the United States armed forces (U.S. forces) who are carrying out their missions in support of peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Authorizes the President to fulfill his commitment to deploy such forces in Bosnia and Herzegovina for approximately one year to implement the General Framework Agreement (Agreement) and Military Annex, subject to specified conditions. Requires the President, before acting pursuant to this Act, to make available to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate, his determination that: (1) the mission of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization Implementation Force (NATO force) and U.S. forces deployed in Bosnia and Herzegovina will be limited to implementation of the military provisions of the Military Annex to the Agreement and measures deemed necessary to protect the safety of the NATO force and U.S. forces; (2) an integral part of the successful accomplishment of the U.S. objective in Bosnia and Herzegovina in deploying and withdrawing U.S. forces is the establishment of a military balance which enables the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina to provide for its own defense without depending on United States or other outside forces; and (3) the United States will lead an international effort to provide equipment, arms, training, and logistics assistance of the highest quality to ensure that the Federation can provide for its own defense. Directs the President to submit reports to the Congress on: (1) efforts to enable the Federation to provide for its own defense; and (2) military and non-military aspects of implementation of the Agreement.
United States · United States Congress · 28 November 1995
Authorizes the Secretary of the Air Force to convey to the Belle Fourche School District, South Dakota, all rights and interest to the former radar bomb scoring site in Belle Fourche. Requires such property to be used for education, economic development, and housing purposes.
United States · United States Congress · 7 November 1995
Rural Air Service Survival Act - Directs an eligible public agency that controls a commercial service airport to impose an additional ten cent fee for each enplanement to provide funds to support a national aviation system, rural airspace safety, and rural air service, including the essential air service program. Authorizes the Secretary of Transportation to require an eligible agency to provide matching funds of up to ten percent for any payments it receives under this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 6 November 1995
Condemns the assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. Extends condolences to his family and to all the people of Israel. Expresses admiration for his historic contributions and support for the government of Acting Prime Minister Shimon Peres. Reaffirms a commitment to the process of building a just and lasting peace between Israel and its neighbors. Provides for the adjournment of the Senate as a further mark of respect for Rabin.
United States · United States Congress · 2 November 1995
Amends the Middle East Peace Facilitation Act of 1994, as contained in the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 1994 and 1995, and as amended by other Federal law, to extend, from November 1, 1995, through December 1, 1995, the President's authority to suspend specified prohibitions against foreign and United Nations assistance to the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), the receipt or expenditure of PLO funds, and PLO membership in the International Monetary Fund, upon certification to specified congressional committees that: (1) such waiver is in the national interest; and (2) the PLO continues to abide by commitments made in letters to Israel and the Foreign Minister of Norway and under the Declaration of Principles signed in September 1993.
![Official portrait of Sen. Daschle, Thomas A. [D-SD]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/d000064_200.jpg)