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United States · Official source
5,070 records where Sen. Daschle, Thomas A. [D-SD] is listed as a sponsor, author, or other actor. Search with topics and years
United States · United States Congress · 2 November 1995
Colorectal Cancer Screening Act of 1995 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to prescribe frequency and payment limits under Medicare part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) for screening fecal-occult blood tests, flexible sigmoidoscopies, barium enemas, and other appropriate screening procedures for colorectal cancer, such as a colonoscopy.
United States · United States Congress · 1 November 1995
Cooperator Program Act of 1995 - Amends the Agricultural Trade Act of 1978 to require the Secretary of Agriculture to establish and, in cooperation with eligible trade organizations (ETOs), carry out a foreign market development cooperator program to maintain and develop foreign markets for U.S. agricultural commodities and products. Directs that such program be carried out through multiyear contracts or agreements between the Secretary and ETOs under which cost sharing assistance shall be provided by the Secretary to the ETOs as cooperators for the conduct of foreign market development activities, and to third party cooperators, under specified annual marketing plans. Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) eligibility requirements; and (2) criteria for contract approval. Requires an ETO participating in the program to provide market development and customer support services outside the United States directed at foreign purchasers, potential purchasers, and users of U.S. agricultural commodities and products through trade servicing, technical assistance, and consumer education. Sets forth specific goals, such as to increase foreign consumer and commercial use of, develop long-term foreign demand for, and help overcome constraints to U.S. exports of, the commodity or product. Requires: (1) a participating ETO to coordinate its activities with those of the Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) which shall assist ETOs in the development and operation of trade promotion programs that use product exhibits, trade teams, market information services, and trade referral services to expand international markets for U.S. agricultural commodities and products; and (2) an ETO to consult with the FAS to ensure that the ETO's annual marketing plan is consistent with and complements the FAS's foreign market development activities. Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) annual marketing plans; (2) oversight; and (3) cooperator organizations. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 1 November 1995
Designates November 1995 as National American Indian Heritage Month.
United States · United States Congress · 24 October 1995
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Individual's Rights Subtitle A: Review of Protected Health Information by Subjects of the Information Subtitle B: Establishment of Safeguards Title II: Restrictions on Use and Disclosure Title III: Sanctions Subtitle A: Civil Sanctions Subtitle B: Criminal Sanctions Title IV: Miscellaneous Medical Records Confidentiality Act of 1995 - Defines "health information trustee" (HIT) to mean a person or entity that creates, receives, obtains, maintains, uses, or transmits protected health information (PHI) and any employee, agent, or contractor of such a person. Title I: Individual's Rights - Subtitle A: Review of Protected Health Information by Subjects of the Information - Requires a HIT to permit an individual who is the subject of PHI to inspect and copy the information, subject to cost reimbursement and exceptions. (Sec. 102) Provides for correction or amendment of PHI, written notice of a HIT's information practices, and development of a model notice. Subtitle B: Establishment of Safeguards - Requires a HIT to maintain: (1) administrative, technical, and physical confidentiality safeguards; and (2) for at least seven years, a record of any PHI disclosure not related to treatment. Title II: Restrictions on Use and Disclosure - Prohibits disclosures except: (1) as allowed under this title; (2) compatible with the purposes for which the information was obtained; and (3) in the minimum amount necessary to accomplish the disclosure's purpose. (Sec. 202) Regulates disclosure authorizations: (1) related to treatment or payment, including providing for revocation or amendment of authorization and development and dissemination of model authorizations; and (2) not related to treatment or payment. (Sec. 204) Allows disclosure to a certified health information service for the purpose of creating nonidentifiable health information. Provides for certification. (Sec. 205) Specifies the circumstances in which disclosure is allowed: (1) to an individual's next of kin; (2) to any other person; and (3) after death. (Sec. 207) Allows disclosure to a health oversight agency for an oversight function authorized by law. (Sec. 208) Allows specified entities to disclose PHI to a public health authority or other person authorized by law for use in a legally authorized disease or injury report, public health surveillance, or public health investigation or intervention. (Sec. 209) Specifies the circumstances in which disclosure to a certified institutional review board is allowed. Provides for certification. (Sec. 210) Allows specified entities to disclose PHI in connection with certain judicial or administrative proceedings. (Sec. 211) Allows specified entities to disclose PHI pursuant to a subpoena if certain procedures are followed. Sets forth challenge procedures. (Sec. 212) Regulates disclosure related to government subpoenas, warrants, and summonses. (Sec. 213) Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to promulgate standards for disclosing, authorizing, and authenticating protected health information in electronic form. Title III: Sanctions - Subtitle A: Civil Sanctions - Imposes on HITs a civil penalty for substantial and material failure to comply with this Act. Provides, if the violations have occurred with such frequency as to constitute a general business practice, for a higher civil penalty or exclusion from Medicare and Medicaid (titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act) or any other federally funded health care programs. (Sec. 302) Allows an individual aggrieved by a violation of this title to bring a civil action for preliminary and equitable relief, actual or liquidated damages, and punitive damages. Allows assessment of attorney's fees. Subtitle B: Criminal Sanctions - Provides for criminal fines and imprisonment for violations of this title. Title IV: Miscellaneous - Declares that: (1) this Act, subject to exceptions, preempts State law; and (2) a HIT that makes a disclosure permitted by this title shall not be liable to the individual for the disclosure under common law.
United States · United States Congress · 23 October 1995
American Jobs and Manufacturing Preservation Act of 1995 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to include imported property income of a controlled foreign corporation or related person as foreign base company income. Defines imported property income as income from: (1) manufacturing, producing, growing, or extracting imported property; (2) the sale, exchange, or other disposition of imported property; or (3) the lease, rental, or licensing of imported property. Requires the separate application of the limitation on the foreign tax credit on imported property income. Applies the look-thru rules in the case of controlled foreign corporations to such income.
United States · United States Congress · 19 October 1995
Livestock Concentration Report Act of 1995 - Directs the President to appoint a Commission on Concentration in the Livestock Industry to review and report on specified meat packing industry matters, including certain studies, effects of antitrust laws, and prices.
United States · United States Congress · 19 October 1995
Repeals a Federal provision limiting salary increases for Federal judges or Supreme Court Justices to those specifically authorized by Act of Congress. Amends the Federal judicial code to make the cost of living adjustments in judicial salaries effective in the first pay period beginning on or after January 1 each year (currently, such adjustments are triggered by General Schedule adjustments).
United States · United States Congress · 19 October 1995
Authorizes Charles Stek, Rebecca Wagner, and any other employee of the Senate from whom testimony may be required to testify and to produce documents in the case of Triangle MLP United Partnership v. United States, except concerning matters for which a privilege should be asserted. Authorizes the Senate Legal Counsel to represent them in connection with such testimony.
United States · United States Congress · 13 October 1995
Jerusalem Embassy Relocation Implementation Act of 1995 - Declares it to be U.S. policy that: (1) Jerusalem remain an undivided city in which the rights of every ethnic religious group are protected; (2) Jerusalem be recognized as the capital of the State of Israel; and (3) the U.S. Embassy in Israel be relocated to Jerusalem no later than May 31, 1999. States that not more than 50 percent of the funds appropriated for FY 1999 to the Department of State for "Acquisition and Maintenance of Buildings Abroad" may be obligated in the fiscal year until the Secretary of State determines, and reports to the Congress, that the Embassy has opened. Makes specified amounts of such funds available until expended in certain fiscal years only for construction and other costs associated with relocating the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem. Requires the Secretary of State to report to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate on: (1) the Department of State's plan to implement this Act; and (2) progress made toward opening the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem.
United States · United States Congress · 12 October 1995
Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments of 1995 - Amends the Safe Drinking Water Act to require the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to make capitalization grants to States to establish State drinking water treatment revolving loan funds. Authorizes State Governors to transfer amounts between such funds and water pollution control revolving funds established under the Clean Water Act. Requires the Administrator to reserve one and one-half percent of drinking water funds for capitalization grants to Indian tribes for the improvement of public water systems. Authorizes the Administrator to make such grants to the District of Columbia and specified U.S. territories. Authorizes: (1) States to reserve a certain amount of such grants for technical assistance for small public water systems; and (2) the Administrator to make grants to Alaska for the benefit of Alaska Native villages. Requires the Administrator, beginning in FY 1999, to withhold a specified percentage (five percent for FY 1999, ten percent for FY 2000, and 15 percent for each subsequent fiscal year) of each capitalization grant made to a State unless the State has met specified requirements under this Act regarding new system capacity. Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) projects eligible for assistance, including assistance for disadvantaged communities, and source water quality protection and capacity development; and (2) State loan fund administration, technical assistance, and management. Requires: (1) States to prepare annual intended use plans for funds; (2) priority for the use of funds to be given to projects that address the most serious risk to human health, that are necessary to ensure compliance with specified requirements (including filtration requirements), and that assist most in need on a per household basis according to State affordability criteria; and (3) each State, after notice and opportunity for public comment, to publish and periodically update a list of projects in the State that are eligible for assistance, including the priority assigned to each project and the expected funding schedule for each project. Directs the Administrator to: (1) conduct annual reviews and audits as the Administrator considers appropriate, or require each State to have the reviews and audits independently conducted, in accordance with specified single audit requirements; (2) submit to the Congress a periodic survey and assessment of the needs for facilities in each State eligible for assistance; (3) conduct an evaluation of the effectiveness of the State loan funds through FY 1999; and (4) publish such regulations and guidance as necessary. Specifies that the failure or inability of any public water system to receive funds, or a delay in obtaining the funds, shall not alter the obligation of the system to comply in a timely manner with all applicable drinking water standards and requirements under the Act. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Administrator to reserve: (1) $10 million for health effects research on specified drinking water contaminants, giving priority to research concerning the health effects of cryptosporidium, disinfection byproducts, and arsenic and for the implementation of a research plan for subpopulations at greater risk of adverse effects; (2) $2 million to pay the costs of monitoring for unregulated contaminants; and (3) specified sums for small system technical assistance. (Sec. 4) Requires the Administrator to publish a maximum contaminant level goal (MCLG) and promulgate a national primary drinking water (NPDW) regulation for each contaminant (with exceptions) for which a NPDW regulation has been promulgated as of the date of this Act's enactment if the Administrator determines, based on adequate data and appropriate peer-reviewed scientific information and an assessment of health risks, that the contaminant may have an adverse effect on the health of persons and the contaminant is known to occur, or there is a substantial likelihood that it will occur, in public water systems with a frequency and at levels of public health concern. Directs the Administrator: (1) not later than July 1, 1996, to publish and periodically update a list of contaminants that are known or anticipated to occur in drinking water provided by public water systems that may warrant regulation; and (2) at such time as such list is published, to describe available and needed information and research regarding the health effects of the contaminants, their occurrence in drinking water, and treatment techniques and other feasible means to control the contaminants. Requires (with exceptions) the Administrator, by July 1, 2001, and every five years thereafter, to take one of the following actions for not fewer than five contaminants: (1) publish a determination that information available to the Administrator does not warrant the issuance of an NPDW regulation; (2) publish a determination that an NPDW regulation is warranted and proceed to propose an MCLG and NPDW regulation not later than two years after the date of publication of the determination; and (3) propose an MCLG and NPDW regulation. Sets forth provisions regarding insufficient information to make, and the basis for, such determinations. Requires the Administrator to give priority to those contaminants not currently regulated that are associated with the most serious adverse health effects and that present the greatest potential risk to human health due to their presence in drinking water provided by public water systems. Sets forth provisions regarding public comment and judicial review. Authorizes the Administrator to promulgate an interim NPDW regulation for a contaminant to address an urgent threat to public health. Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) schedules for publication of MCLGs and NPDW regulations; (2) substitution of contaminants; and (3) promulgation, by December 31, 1995, of an information collection rule to facilitate further revisions to the NPDW regulation for disinfectants and disinfectant byproducts, including information on microbial contaminants such as cryptosporidium. (Sec. 5) Requires the Administrator, in carrying out the Act, to: (1) use the best available, peer-reviewed science and supporting studies conducted in accordance with sound and objective scientific practices, and data collected by accepted or best available methods; and (2) ensure that the presentation of information on public health effects is comprehensive, informative, and understandable. Directs the Administrator to conduct a cost-benefit analysis for each NPDW regulation containing a maximum contaminant level (MCL) or treatment technique before it is proposed, including consideration of alternative MCLs or treatment requirements. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 6) Permits the MCLG for contaminants that are known or likely to cause cancer in humans to be set at a level other than zero if the Administrator determines, based on the best available, peer- reviewed science, that there is a threshold level below which there is unlikely to be any increase in cancer risk and the Administrator sets the MCLG at that level with an adequate margin of safety. Requires the Administrator, at the time he or she proposes an NPDW regulation, to publish a determination as to whether the benefits of the MCL justify, or do not justify, the costs. Authorizes the Administrator to establish an MCL for a contaminant at a level other than the feasible level if the technology, treatment techniques, and other means used to determine the feasible level would result in an increase in the health risk from drinking water by: (1) increasing the concentration of other contaminants in drinking water; or (2) interfering with the efficacy of drinking water treatment techniques or processes that are used to comply with other NPDW regulations. Authorizes the Administrator, if he or she determines that the benefits of an MCL would not justify the cost of complying with the level, to promulgate an MCL for the contaminant that maximizes health risk reduction benefits at a cost that is justified by the benefits, with an exception. Prohibits the Administrator from establishing an MCL in a Stage I or Stage II NPDW regulation for contaminants that are disinfectants or disinfection byproducts, or to establish an MCL or treatment technique requirement for the control of cryptosporidium. Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) judicial review; (2) disinfectants and disinfectant byproducts; and (3) review of standards. (Sec. 7) Requires the Administrator to promulgate NPDW regulations for: (1) arsenic according to a specified schedule and develop and carry out a comprehensive plan for research in support of drinking water rulemaking and take other specified steps regarding assessment, proposed regulation, and final regulation for arsenic; (2) radon, providing for an MCL of 3,000 picocuries per liter; and (3) sulfates. (Sec. 10) Directs the Administrator to propose a regulation that describes treatment techniques that meet the requirements for filtration that are feasible for community water systems serving a population of 3,300 or fewer and noncommunity water systems. (Sec. 12) Directs the Administrator to issue guidance or regulations regarding system treatment technologies. Authorizes the Administrator to make grants to institutions of higher learning to establish and operate not fewer than five small public water system technology assistance centers in the United States. (Sec. 13) Revises the variance provisions of the Act to: (1) allow public water systems to receive a variance on the condition that they install and operate best available treatment technology; and (2) authorize the Administrator (or a State with primary enforcement responsibility for public water systems) to grant to public water systems serving a population of 10,000 or fewer a variance for compliance with a requirement specifying an MCL or treatment technique contained in an NPDW regulation if a system cannot afford to comply with the regulation and adequate protection of public health is ensured. (Sec. 15) Requires each State to: (1) obtain the legal authority or other means to ensure that all new community water systems and new nontransient, noncommunity water systems commencing operation after October 1, 1996, demonstrate technical, managerial, and financial capacity with respect to each NPDW regulation in effect, or likely to be in effect, on the date of commencement of operations; (2) prepare, periodically update, and submit to the Administrator a list of community water systems and nontransient, noncommunity water systems that have a history of significant noncompliance and report to the Administrator; and (3) develop and implement a strategy to assist public water systems in acquiring and maintaining technical, managerial, and financial capacity. Directs the Administrator to support: (1) the States in developing capacity development strategies; and (2) the network of university-based Environmental Finance Centers in providing training and technical assistance to State and local officials in developing the capacity of public water systems, including the establishment of a national public water systems capacity development clearinghouse. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 16) Requires public water systems receiving assistance from a State Revolving Loan Fund to be operated by a trained and certified operator. Authorizes the Administrator to withhold funds that would otherwise be allocated to the State, or require the repayment of an amount equal to the amount of any such assistance, for noncompliance. (Sec. 17) Directs each State to: (1) delineate the source water protection areas for community water systems in the State using hydrogeologic information considered to be reasonably available and appropriate by the State; and (2) conduct vulnerability assessments in source water areas determined to be a priority by the State. Authorizes States to establish source water quality partnership petition programs to assist in the local development of a voluntary, incentive-based partnership to reduce the presence in drinking water of contaminants and to obtain Federal and State financial or technical assistance. (Sec. 18) Extends the date for submitting State regulations to retain primacy for new or revised drinking water standards. Grants States interim primary enforcement authority. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 19) Requires the Administrator to review existing monitoring requirements for not fewer than 12 contaminants within two years. Authorizes: (1) States to establish alternative monitoring programs, except for regulations applicable to a microbial contaminant or an indicator of such a contaminant, subject to specified requirements; and (2) the Administrator or a State to suspend quarterly monitoring requirements applicable to small systems for any contaminant (other than a microbial contaminant or such an indicator that causes an acute effect or a contaminant formed in the treatment process or distribution system) that is not detected during the first quarterly sample in a monitoring cycle. Directs the Administrator to promulgate regulations establishing the criteria for a monitoring program for unregulated contaminants and to list up to 20 contaminants. Requires all systems serving more than 10,000 people to monitor for such contaminants. Authorizes appropriations. Requires the Administrator to establish a national database containing information on the occurrence of regulated and unregulated contaminants. (Sec. 20) Requires each owner or operator of a public water system to give notice to those served by the system: (1) of any failure of the system to comply with an applicable maximum contaminant level or treatment technique requirement of, or a testing procedure prescribed by, an NPDW regulation or to perform required monitoring; (2) if the system is subject to a variance granted for an inability to meet a maximum contaminant level requirement or is subject to a granted exemption, of the existence of the variance or exemption and of any failure to comply with the requirements of any schedule prescribed pursuant to the variance or exemption; and (3) of the concentration level of any unregulated contaminant for which the Administrator has required public notice. Directs the Administrator to prescribe the manner, frequency, form, and content for giving notice. Specifies that such regulations shall provide for different frequencies of notice based on the differences between violations that are intermittent or infrequent and violations that are continuous or frequent and shall take into account the seriousness of any potential adverse health effects that may be involved. Permits a State to establish alternative notification requirements. Sets forth reporting requirements. (Sec. 21) Revises enforcement provisions of the Act to permit enforcement actions to be taken by both EPA and a State with primary enforcement responsibility. Directs the Administrator to notify local elected officials before taking enforcement actions against public water systems in nonprimacy States. Authorizes the Administrator or a State to suspend enforcement action with respect to a violation for a two-year period if the violation is to be corrected through a consolidation or restructuring during that period. Requires States to adopt administrative penalties of at least $1,000 per violation for large systems. Increases the maximum amount for an administrative penalty imposed by EPA from $5,000 to $25,000 per violation, but only after a hearing on the record. (Sec. 22) Waives the sovereign immunity of Federal agencies, subject to specified limitations. Allows citizens and States to seek penalties for all violations of the Act at Federal facilities. (Sec. 23) Authorizes appropriations for research with respect to the safe supply of drinking water. Directs the Administrator to: (1) develop and periodically update an integrated risk characterization strategy for drinking water quality; and (2) develop and carry out a research plan to support the development and implementation of rules regarding enhanced surface water treatment, disinfectant and disinfection byproducts, and ground water disinfection. Sets forth reporting requirements. (Sec. 24) Revises the definition of "public water system" to include water for human consumption through pipes or other constructed conveyances. Excludes from regulation connections to non-piped systems where alternative water supplies or treatment to levels that are equivalent to NPDW regulations is provided before the water is used for drinking or cooking. (Sec. 25) Authorizes the Administrator to makes grants to States for the development and implementation of State programs for the protection of groundwater resources. Prohibits any such grant from being used for more than half of the cost of the program. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Administrator to study and report to the Congress on the extent and seriousness of contamination of private sources of drinking water that are not regulated under this Act. Authorizes the Administrator to reestablish a partnership between the Robert S. Kerr Environmental Research Laboratory and the National Center for Ground Water Research, a university consortium, to conduct research, training, and technology transfer for groundwater quality protection and restoration. (Sec. 26) Prohibits the use (after June 19, 1986, in the installation or repair of any public water system or in any plumbing in a facility providing water for human consumption) or sale (effective two years after this Act's enactment) of any pipe, or plumbing fitting or fixture, that is not lead free, with exceptions. Directs the Administrator to: (1) provide accurate and timely technical information and assistance to qualified third-party certifiers in the development of voluntary standards and testing protocols for the leaching of lead from new plumbing fittings and fixtures that are intended by the manufacturer to dispense water for human ingestion; and (2) promulgate regulations setting a health effects-based performance standard establishing maximum leaching levels from new plumbing fittings and fixtures that are intended by the manufacturer to dispense water for human ingestion if a voluntary standard is not established within a year. Repeals Federal law encouraging the use of geothermal heat pumps that return water to the distribution lines of public water systems. (Sec. 27) Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to issue a regulation establishing a quality level for each contaminant in bottled water or make a finding that a regulation is unnecessary to protect the public health because the contaminant is contained in water in the public water systems and not in water used for bottled drinking water. (Sec. 28) Directs the Administrator to: (1) identify and rank sources of pollution with respect to the relative degree of risk of adverse effects on human health, the environment, and public welfare; (2) estimate the private and public costs associated with each source of pollution and the costs and benefits of complying with regulations designed to protect against risks associated with such sources and those associated with major Federal actions selected by the Administrator that have the most significant impact on human health or the environment; (3) identify reasonable opportunities to achieve significant risk reduction through modifications in environmental regulations and programs and other Federal actions with impacts on human health, the environment, or public welfare; (4) identify, explain, and determine research that would reduce uncertainties associated with the risks; and (5) consider and estimate the monetary and other values of the benefits associated with reducing risk to human health and the environment. Sets forth reporting requirements. Directs the Science Advisory Board to conduct a technical review of Administrator's report in public session before submission to the Congress. (Sec. 29) Authorizes the Chief of the Army Corps of Engineers to modernize the Washington Aqueduct. Authorizes appropriations. Modifies the membership of the National Drinking Water Advisory Council to include two members representing small, rural water systems.
United States · United States Congress · 12 October 1995
Makes the appointment of Thomas B. Griffith as Senate Legal Counsel effective as of October 24, 1995, for a term of service that shall expire at the end of the 105th Congress.
United States · United States Congress · 12 October 1995
Makes the appointment of Morgan J. Frankel as Deputy Senate Legal Counsel effective as of October 24, 1995, for a term of service that shall expire at the end of the 105th Congress.
United States · United States Congress · 29 September 1995
Designates October 19, 1995, as National Mammography Day.
United States · United States Congress · 29 September 1995
Designates the second Sunday in October 1995 as National Children's Day.
United States · United States Congress · 20 September 1995
Crow Creek Sioux Tribe Infrastructure Development Trust Fund Act of 1995 - Establishes in the Treasury the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe Infrastructure Development Trust Fund, which shall receive funds from the programs of the Eastern Division of the Missouri River basin Pick-Sloan program until a specified Fund aggregate is attained. Directs the Secretary of the Interior to develop a plan for the socioeconomic recovery and cultural preservation of the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 18 September 1995
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Commodity Programs Title II: Conservation Farm Security Act of 1995 - Title I: Commodity Programs - Amends the Agricultural Act of 1949 (Act) to direct the Secretary of Agriculture (Secretary) to establish an Adjustment Account to make payments to wheat and feed grain producers participating in the revised marketing loan program established by this Act and the current marketing loan program. Sets forth revised programs for 1996 through 2002 marketing loans and loan deficiency payments. Requires cost limitations if such programs' costs exceed a specified level. (Sec. 103) Provides for: (1) single crop acreage base for wheat, feed grains, and oilseeds; and (2) crop acreage bases for cotton and rice. (Sec. 104) Amends the Food Security Act of 1985 to: (1) revise and extend certain program payment limitations; and (2) replace the three-entity rule (consideration as separate entities for limitations purposes) with a direct attribution rule (based upon ownership percentage). (Sec. 105) Amends the Act to suspend oilseed, wheat, and feed grain price supports through 2002. (Sec. 106) Extends the following provisions: (1) supplemental set-aside and acreage limitation authority; (2) deficiency and land diversion payments; (3) acreage base and yield system; (4) payment limitations; (5) adjustment of established and support prices; (6) normally planted acreage; (7) food security wheat reserve; and (8) National Agricultural Cost of Production Standards Review Board. Title II: Conservation - Amends the Food Security Act of 1985 to establish an environmental quality incentives program which shall combine into a single program the functions of: (1) the agricultural conservation program; (2) the Great Plains conservation program; (3) the water quality incentives program; and (4) the Colorado River Basin salinity control program. Sets forth minimum funding levels. Directs the Secretary to designate watersheds or regions of special environmental sensitivity as conservation priority areas. Sets forth program provisions.
United States · United States Congress · 11 August 1995
Ricky Ray Hemophilia Relief Fund Act of 1995 - Establishes in the Treasury the Ricky Ray Hemophilia Relief Fund. Authorizes appropriations. Specifies that any individual who submits to the Attorney General written medical documentation that the individual has a human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection shall receive $125,000 from amounts available in the Fund if the individual: (1) has a blood-clotting disorder and was treated with blood-clotting agents between January 1, 1980, and December 31, 1987; (2) is the lawful spouse of such individual or the former lawful spouse and was the lawful spouse of the individual at any time after a date within such period on which the individual was treated; or (3) acquired the HIV infection through perinatal transmission from a parent who is such an individual. Requires that a claim for payment be filed with the Attorney General by or on behalf of such individual and that the Attorney General determine that the claim meets the requirements of this Act. Specifies that a claim under this Act shall not be assignable or transferable. Sets limits regarding the number of claims per victim. Prohibits the Attorney General from paying claims filed under this Act unless filed within three years after this Act's enactment.
United States · United States Congress · 11 August 1995
Expresses the respect and appreciation of the Senate to the men and women who served in World War II and their families. Remembers and pays tribute to those Americans who gave their life for their country during such War.
United States · United States Congress · 3 August 1995
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Temporary Employment Assistance Title II: Work First Employment Block Grant Title III: Supporting Work Title IV: Ending the Cycle of Intergenerational Dependency Title V: Interstate Child Support Responsibility Subtitle A: Improvements to the Child Support Collection System Subtitle B: Effect of Enactment Title VI: Supplemental Security Income Reform Subtitle A: Eligibility Restrictions Subtitle B: Benefits for Disabled Children Subtitle C: Study of Disability Determination Process Subtitle D: National Commission on the Future of Disability Title VII: Provisions Relating to Sponsors Title VIII: Food Stamp Program Integrity and Reform Title IX: Effective Date; Miscellaneous Provisions Work First Act of 1995 - Title I: Temporary Employment Assistance - Replaces the current Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) Program under part A of title IV of the Social Security Act (SSA) with a Temporary Employment Assistance (TEA) program for the purpose of providing assistance to families with needy children and assisting parents of such children to obtain and retain private sector work to the extent possible, and public sector or volunteer work if necessary, through the Work First Employment Block Grant (WORK) program. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 101) Sets forth the elements for State TEA plans to be approved by the Secretary of Health and Human Services, including limits on the length of time for cash assistance, with specified exceptions for teen parents and individuals exempt from certain work requirements under this title because of illness or other specified reasons. Includes among such elements requirements for the State to assess the skills, prior work experience, and employability of each parent applicant and develop a parent empowerment contract setting forth their job search, work-, and education-related obligations (including, at State option, appropriate substance abuse treatment) in order to receive the full amount of program assistance, with assistance denied after the third act of noncompliance with the contract. Requires State WORK plans to: (1) guarantee child care assistance for each TEA family with a needy child requiring such care, to the extent necessary for an individual in the family to participate in job search activities, to work, or to participate in the WORK program; (2) provide for development of programs to reduce the incidence of out-of- wedlock and teen pregnancies; (3) promote family preservation and stability; and (4) develop a quality assurance system for use under the plan along with associated data collection and reporting. Outlines special rules regarding alien eligibility for TEA program assistance. Directs the Secretary to compile data on the effectiveness of the programs under this title for annual reports to the Congress. Provides that upon receiving notice from a State agency administering an approved plan that a named individual has been overpaid under it, the Secretary of the Treasury shall: (1) determine whether any tax refunds are payable to such individual, regardless of whether he or she filed a return as a married or unmarried individual; and (2) withhold from any such refunds an amount equal to the overpayment sought to be collected, and pay it to the State agency. Requires the Secretary to issue regulations allowing a State to submit requests for collection of overpayments only with respect to individuals no longer receiving TEA assistance against whom the State has already taken appropriate action, including notice of its intent to request such withholding of income tax refunds. Specifies rules for the collection of overpayments under SSA title IV part A. Title II: Work First Employment Block Grant - Replaces the current Job Opportunities and Basic Skills (JOBS) Training Program under SSA title IV part F with the WORK program of title I, under which States shall have the option of providing a wide variety of work-related activities to clients in the TEA program. Makes the stated goal of the WORK program the achievement in a cost-effective fashion of full-time unsubsidized paid employment for each adult on TEA assistance. (Sec. 201) Allows States to place in such program clients of TEA assistance pursuant to an approved State plan who have signed a contract described above and absent parents who are unemployed, on the condition that, once employed, such parents meet their child support guidelines, with certain exceptions for clients who are seriously ill or of advanced age. Requires States operating such WORK programs to achieve certain work performance rates over a specified fiscal year period, with reduced Federal payments for States failing twice to achieve the rate required. Makes use of performance-based bonuses under such program for States achieving their specified fiscal year work performance rate. Provides that each client, who is not exempt from work requirements, shall begin the WORK program by participating for two months in job search activities designed by the State. Provides that if, after two years, a client who has signed a parent empowerment contract is not working at least 20 hours a week, then the State shall offer that client a workfare or community service position, with hours per week and tasks to be determined by the State. Outlines job placement assistance for program clients, including the use of vouchers with private placement companies. Provides for various WORK program components, including certain family investment programs, microenterprises, and workfare and community service programs. Sets funding levels for State WORK programs. (Sec. 202) Allows State TEA plans to describe the State's efforts to streamline and consolidate activities to simplify the process of applying for a range of Federal and State assistance programs, including the use of "one-stop offices" to coordinate the application process for individuals and families with low-incomes or limited resources, and to ensure that applicants and recipients receive the information they need with regard to such range of programs. Allows such plans to require the use of incentives to change the culture of each appropriate State agency, to improve employee performance, and to ensure that the objective of each State agency is to find unsubsidized paid employment for each program client as efficiently and as quickly as possible. (Sec. 203) Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to eligible community-based organizations that move clients on TEA or other public assistance into private sector work. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary to enter into agreements with nonprofit organizations for the purpose of conducting projects to create employment opportunities for certain low-income individuals. Title III: Supporting Work - Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to provide for an extension of Medicaid enrollment for former temporary employment assistance recipients for one additional year. (Sec. 302) Amends authorization provisions under the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (for purposes related to providing child care services for eligible children through the awarding of State block and matching grants) for the stated purpose of: (1) eliminating program fragmentation and creating a seamless system of high quality child care that allows for continuity of care for children as parents move from welfare to work; (2) providing for parental choice among high quality child care programs; and (3) increasing the availability of high quality affordable child care in order to promote self-sufficiency and support working families. Repeals the State Dependent Care Grant program under the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1981, and the Child Development Associate Scholarship Assistance Act of 1985. Title IV: Ending The Cycle of Intergenerational Dependency - Amends new SSA title IV part A to require State TEA plans to require adult-supervised living arrangements for unmarried minors who are pregnant or who have a needy child in their care in order for them to receive assistance under such plans, with certain exceptions where the appropriate State agency determines current living arrangements to be appropriate. (Sec. 402) Amends SSA title XX (Block Grants to States for Social Services) to provide for the establishment of an adult-supervised group home entitlement program for minor custodial parents and their children for the purpose of reinforcing families. (Sec. 403) Requires completion of high school or other training for teenage parents under the new TEA program who are required to participate in the WORK program, including any available substance abuse treatment services for needy individuals whose contract reflects the need for such treatment services. Gives States the option to provide additional incentives and penalties to encourage teen parents to complete high school and participate in parenting activities. (Sec. 405) Requires the State TEA plan to provide for the development of a program to reduce the incidence of out-of-wedlock pregnancies, which may include providing unmarried mothers and unmarried fathers with services which will help them: (1) avoid subsequent pregnancies; and (2) provide adequate care to their children. Requires the plan also to provide that the State agency may, to the extent it determines resources are available, provide for the operation of projects to reduce teenage pregnancy. Requires the Secretary to conduct a study to determine the relative effectiveness of the different approaches for preventing teenage pregnancy utilized in such projects. Adds funding provisions for teen pregnancy projects. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 406) Directs the Secretaries of Education and of Health and Human Services and the Chief Executive Officer of the Corporation for National and Community Service to establish a National Clearinghouse on Teenage Pregnancy Prevention Programs: (1) for the collection and provision of information relating to adolescent pregnancy prevention programs; and (2) as a material development source for adolescent pregnancy prevention programs. Authorizes appropriations. Title V: Interstate Child Support Responsibility - Interstate Child Support Responsibility Act of 1995 - Subtitle A: Improvements to the Child Support Collection System - Part I: Eligibility and Other Matters Concerning Title IV-D Program Clients - Amends part D (Child Support and Establishment of Paternity) of SSA title IV to require States to have statutorily prescribed procedures to: (1) record child support orders in a central case registry; and (2) collect child support payments through a centralized collections unit. (Sec. 501) Revises requirements for: (1) State plans for child and spousal support; and (2) payments distribution. (Sec. 503) Requires State plans to establish procedural guidelines for: (1) notification of all proceedings and orders affecting child support obligations; and (2) privacy safeguards regarding paternity and child support actions. Part II: Program Administration and Funding - Revises the formulae for: (1) Federal matching payments to the States; and (2) incentive adjustments to the Federal matching rate. (Sec. 513) Requires a State plan for child and spousal support to include prescribed procedures for State reviews and audits. Revises the guidelines for Federal evaluation and audit of State programs governing paternity, child and spousal support, and parent location. (Sec. 515) Revises the automated data processing requirements for State plans to mandate a single statewide automated data processing and information retrieval system which can perform specified tasks. (Sec. 516) Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (the Secretary) to conduct staffing studies of each State child support enforcement program, and report the results to the Congress. (Sec. 517) Makes funds available to the Secretary for: (1) training of Federal and State staff, research and demonstration programs, and special projects of regional and national significance; and (2) operation of the Federal Parent Locator Service. Part III: Locate and Case Tracking - Mandates that the single statewide automated data system function as a single central case registry of State-provided services and support orders. Delineates contents of case records and data matching activities, including data exchange with sister States. (Sec. 522) Requires State plans to include a centralized, automated unit for the collection and disbursement of support payments. (Sec. 523) Requires the States to have statutorily prescribed procedures: (1) for mandatory income withholding for support payments subject to enforcement; and (2) under which child support orders issued before October 1, 1996, shall become subject to withholding from wages if arrearages occur, without the need for a judicial or administrative hearing. Revises the procedural guidelines for income withholding for child support enforcement. (Sec. 525) Revises the Federal Parent Locator Service to add kinds of information which may be transmitted to locate individuals and assets for purposes of establishing parentage and executing child support obligations. Requires the Secretary to establish in the Service a Data Bank of Child Support Orders and an automated directory of New Hires. (Sec. 526) Requires State plans to: (1) provide for a State- operated State Directory of New Hires containing prescribed information furnished by employers on new personnel; and (2) transmit such information to the National Directory of New Hires. (Sec. 527) Requires State plans to include procedures for recording Social Security numbers on certain family legal documents and records, and on all applications for motor vehicle and professional licenses. Part IV: Streamlining and Uniformity of Procedures - Requires each State to have the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act in effect as of January 1, 1997. (Sec. 532) Amends the Federal judicial code to revise the rules for a court to apply when determining which State order to recognize for purposes of continuing, exclusive jurisdiction and enforcement for child support orders. (Sec. 533) Amends SSA title IV part D to revise State plan guidelines for mandatory expedited administrative and judicial procedures to include: (1) authorized genetic testing to establish paternity; and (2) the securing of assets and increasing of monthly payments to satisfy a support arrearage. Part V: Paternity Establishment - Revises the guidelines for statutorily prescribed procedures governing genetic testing and outreach for voluntary paternity acknowledgment. (Sec. 543) Amends part D (Child Support and Establishment of Paternity) of SSA title IV to require State plans for child and spousal support, Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), and Medicaid to provide that the State agency administering the plan will determine whether a program recipient is cooperating with efforts to establish paternity and secure support, or has good cause not to cooperate with such efforts. Part VI: Establishment and Modification of Support Orders - Establishes the National Child Support Guidelines Commission to determine the need for consideration by the Congress of national child support guidelines. (Sec. 552) Revises the requirements for State plan procedures for the review and adjustment of support orders. Part VII: Enforcement of Support Orders - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to revise the priority of refund distribution with respect to past-due support owed to individuals. (Sec. 563) Amends SSA title IV part D to revise procedural guidelines for: (1) consent by the United States to income withholding, garnishment, and similar proceedings for enforcement of child support and alimony obligations of current and retired Federal employees; and (2) enforcement of child support obligations of current and retired members of the Armed Forces. (Sec. 565) Requires States to have statutorily prescribed procedures for: (1) placing liens for child support arrearages on motor vehicle titles of the debtor; (2) voiding fraudulent transfers by a child support debtor; (3) suspending any driver's, business, or occupational license issued to any person who owes past-due child support; (4) reporting to credit bureaus the name of the parent in arrears for child support; (5) extending the statute of limitations for collection on child support arrearages; and (6) calculating interest or penalties on such arrearages. (Sec. 571) Prescribes procedural guidelines for passport denial (or revocation) upon certification of nonpayment of child support. (Sec. 572) Expresses the sense of the Congress that the United States should ratify the United Nations Convention of 1956. Requires State plans to provide that the State must treat international child support cases as interstate cases. Part VIII: Medical Support - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to include within the definition of "medical child support order" an order issued through a State administrative process. Part IX: Visitation and Support Assurance Projects - Authorizes grants to States to establish and administer programs to facilitate absent parents' access and visitation programs. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 592) Authorizes the Secretary to permit State demonstration projects in one or more political localities for the purpose of establishing or improving a system of assured minimum child support payments. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle B: Effect of Enactment - Sets forth effective dates for this Act. Title VI: Supplemental Security Income Reform - Subtitle A: Eligibility Restrictions - Amends SSA title XVI (Supplemental Security Income) to provide for the termination of SSI cash benefits for drug addicts and alcoholics whose alcoholism or drug addiction is a contributing factor towards the individual's disability. Revises associated treatment requirements. Subtitle B: Benefits for Disabled Children - Revises the eligibility rules for children, with corresponding changes to childhood SSI regulations: (1) modifying the medical criteria for evaluation of mental and emotional disorders by eliminating references to maladaptive behavior in the domain of personal-behavioral function; and (2) discontinuing the use of individualized functional assessments for children. Requires the Commissioner of Social Security to redetermine the eligibility of any individual under age 18 who is receiving SSI benefits based on a disability as of the date of the enactment of this Act, and whose eligibility for such benefits may terminate by reason of this subtitle. (Sec. 612) Provides that at least every three years the Commissioner shall review the continued SSI eligibility of each individual who has not attained age 18 and is eligible for such benefits by reason of an impairment (or combination of impairments) which may improve (or, if the Commissioner chooses, which is unlikely to improve). Requires a parent or guardian of a recipient whose case is so reviewed to present, at the time of review, evidence demonstrating that the recipient is, and has been, receiving treatment, to the extent considered medically necessary and available, of the condition which was the basis for providing benefits under the SSI program. Provides that if an individual is eligible for SSI benefits by reason of disability for the month preceding the month in which the individual attains age 18, the Commissioner shall redetermine such eligibility: (1) during the one year period beginning on the individual's 18th birthday; and (2) by applying the criteria used in determining the initial eligibility for applicants who have attained age 18. Outlines specific requirements governing: (1) continuing disability reviews for low birth weight babies; and (2) benefit payments through representative payees to eligible individuals and their spouses. Provides for continuing Medicaid eligibility under SSI for certain children showing improvement following a continuing disability review. Subtitle C: Studies Regarding Supplemental Security Income Program - Requires the Commissioner of Social Security to report annually to the President and the Congress regarding the SSI program. (Sec. 622) Requires the Commissioner to issue a request for comments in the Federal Register on improvements to the disability evaluation and determination procedures for individuals under age 18 to ensure the comprehensive assessment of such individuals. Directs the Commissioner to review such comments and issue any regulations implementing any necessary changes not later than 18 months after this Act is enacted. (Sec. 623) Requires the Commissioner to make arrangements with the National Academy of Sciences, or other independent entity, to study and report to the President and the Congress on the disability determination process under SSA titles II and XVI. (Sec. 624) Directs the Comptroller General to study and report on the impact of this title on the SSI program. Subtitle D: National Commission on the Future of Disability - Establishes the National Commission on the Future of Disability to study all matters related to the nature, purpose, and adequacy of all Federal programs serving individuals with disabilities, including the programs under SSA titles II and XVI, with resulting recommendations for appropriate action submitted to the President and the Congress. Title VII: Provisions Relating to Sponsors - Makes uniform the eligibility criteria for qualified aliens under various specified public assistance programs, including the TEA and Medicaid programs. (Sec. 702) Extends, with certain exceptions, the deeming of income and resources of an alien's sponsor or sponsor's spouse under the SSI and food stamp programs through the date on which the alien becomes a U.S. citizen. (Sec. 703) Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to specify requirements for an alien's sponsor's affidavit of support, extending such requirements to family-related and diversity immigrants as well. Title VIII: Stamp Program Integrity and Reform - Amends the Food Stamp Act of 1977 (Act) to establish a maximum 24-month food stamp program (program) authorization period for certain households. (Sec. 803) Revises the definition of "coupon." (Sec. 805) Revises thrifty food plan adjustment requirements. (Sec. 806) Revises household income provisions regarding: (1) students; (2) Federal energy assistance; (3) job training income; (4) standard deductions; (5) life insurance proceeds; and (6) vendor payments for transitional housing. (Sec. 813) Increases penalties for certain program violations, including coupon trafficking for drugs or firearms. (Sec. 814) Revises work requirements and employment and training provisions. Extends employment and training funding authorizations. (Sec. 816) Establishes a ten-year disqualification period for participating in the program in two or more States. (Sec. 817) Disqualifies an individual in child support arrears from program participation. (Sec. 818) Encourages implementation of a national electronic benefit transfer delivery system. (Sec. 821) Revises State operating plan requirements. (Sec. 822) Reduces program allotments or increases for noncompliance with specified work requirements under the Social Security Act. (Sec. 823) Provides for revised application and benefit procedures. (Sec. 824) Authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to establish specific time periods for: (1) retail food stores and wholesale food concerns (stores) to apply for program participation; and (2) prohibition of program participation based on lack of business integrity. (Sec. 826) Includes tax information among the types of eligibility verification information which may be requested. (Sec. 827) Establishes a six-month reapplication waiting period for a store that does not meet participation requirements. (Sec. 828) Makes the collection of overissuance of coupons from Federal pay or Federal tax refunds (as authorized by this section) mandatory. (Sec. 832) Authorizes suspension of a store pending administrative and judicial review. (States that the Secretary shall not be liable for lost sales during such period.) (Sec. 833) Provides for disqualification of a store that is disqualified from the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). (Sec. 834) Provides for permanent disqualification of a store that knowingly submits a falsified application. (Sec. 835) Establishes criminal forfeiture penalties for specified program violations. (Sec. 837) Authorizes appropriations for Puerto Rico block grants. (Sec. 838) Amends the Social Security Act and the Internal Revenue Code to authorize the sharing of certain retail or wholesale food concern information with State enforcement authorities. (Sec. 839) Amends the National School Lunch Act with regard to the child care and adult food program to: (1) revise day care home reimbursement provisions; (2) obligate funds for State assistance to family or group day care homes; and (3) provide census and school data to family or group day care sponsoring organizations. (Sec. 840) Amends the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 to replace existing discretionary funding (from moneys not otherwise appropriated) for nutrition education and training programs with an authorization of appropriations for such programs. Title IX: Effective Date; Miscellaneous Provisions - Specifies the effective date of this Act. (Sec. 901) Provides for: (1) a one year extension of the JOBS program's authorization under part F of SSA title IV at specified levels; (2) the allocation of such authorization levels to the States in the same manner specified above for the WORK program, but requiring a 25 percent instead of the current 20 percent State participation rate; (3) continuation of existing waivers granted to States and approved by the Secretary as of the date of the enactment of this Act that relate to the provision of assistance under an approved State plan under SSA title IV; and (4) an expedited approval process for such waivers. (Sec. 904) Authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Secretary of Agriculture to jointly enter into negotiations with any county having a population greater than 500,000 for the purpose of establishing appropriate rules to govern the establishment and operation of a five year specified welfare demonstration project. (Sec. 905) Amends SSA title IV part F, with respect to the Work First Employment Block Grant Program for the State of Hawaii, to lower from 20 to 19 the work performance rate component number of deemed hours which individuals must work either in an unsubsidized job while receiving temporary employment assistance, or in a subsidized job through the Work First Program. (Sec. 906) Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to produce and publish every two years for each State, county, and local unit of general purpose government, and for each school district, data relating to the incidence of poverty, with certain reports for the Congress whenever the Secretary is unable to produce and publish such data for a particular entity above. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 907) Directs the Bureau of the Census to expand the Survey of Income and Program Participation as necessary to obtain such information as will enable interested persons to evaluate the impact of the amendments made by title I of this Act on a random national sample of recipients of assistance under State programs funded under SSA title IV part A and other appropriate low-income families. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 908) Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to submit to the appropriate congressional committees a legislative proposal providing for such technical and conforming amendments in the law as are required by this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 2 August 1995
Retiree Continuation Coverage Act of 1995 - Amends the Public Health Service Act, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), and the Internal Revenue Code to extend group health plan insurance continuation coverage under COBRA (Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985) to retirees and their dependents, in cases of substantial reduction or elimination of a retiree group health plan. Allows early retirees and their dependents who lost such employer-sponsored health benefits to purchase continuing group health insurance coverage until they become eligible for Medicare.
United States · United States Congress · 27 July 1995
Commends Senator Robert Byrd for becoming the first Senator in history to cast 14,000 votes in the Senate.
United States · United States Congress · 21 July 1995
Middle East Peace Facilitation Act of 1995 - Declares the sense of the Congress specifying steps the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) must take to demonstrate an irrevocable denunciation of terrorism and ensure a peaceful settlement of the Middle East dispute. Authorizes the President to suspend for up to six months at a time specified provisions of law which prohibit 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; (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; and (3) specified funds provided under this Act and other Acts have been used for the purposes for which they were intended. Prohibits the provision of such assistance until the President certifies to the Congress that: (1) the Palestinian Council has disavowed the articles of the Palestine National Covenant which calls for Israel's destruction; (2) the PLO has exercised its authority to prosecute and imprison terrorists; and (3) it has not provided support for acts of terrorism against Israel.
United States · United States Congress · 17 July 1995
Natural Disaster Protection and Insurance Act of 1995 - Amends the Earthquake Hazards Reduction Act of 1977 (the Act) to require the Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to establish programs which mitigate the effects of natural disasters. (Sec. 6) Requires that all Federal buildings satisfy specified seismic design requirements. Requires the FEMA Director to enter into an agreement with the Director of the National Academy of Sciences to study the feasibility of establishing national minimum consensus building construction standards. Instructs the Director to classify States likely to experience an earthquake, volcanic eruption, tsunami, windstorm, or hurricane perils as natural disaster-prone States. Requires each disaster-prone State to adopt building codes for new or substantially modified buildings that satisfy natural disaster hazard mitigation standards. Allows States to alternatively certify that the local communities have adopted appropriate portions of model building codes. Orders each State with flood-prone communities to adopt flood protection measures. Directs each natural disaster-prone State to develop disaster mitigation plans. Requires each plan to: (1) ensure compliance with building and safety codes; (2) improve emergency response to natural disasters; (3) develop standards and guidelines for training emergency response teams; (4) enforce local land use ordinances; (5) address the impact of development in disaster-prone areas; (6) develop voluntary training programs for developers; and (7) identify essential facilities. Requires each natural disaster-prone State to submit a mitigation plan to FEMA within two years of this Act's enactment. Authorizes the Director to reduce assistance to a State which does not comply. Prohibits the receipt of mitigation funds for States not in compliance. Instructs the Director to distribute mitigation account funds on a pro rata formula based on the State's primary insurance coverages and reinsurance coverage premiums. Prohibits the Director from requiring the States to comply with unfunded mandates. (Sec. 7) Amends the Act to provide a new title III concerning natural disaster insurance. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to grant loans to a private, non-profit Natural Disaster Insurance Corporation (Corporation) to provide primary insurance coverage and reinsurance coverage for natural disasters. Establishes procedures for selecting the Board of Directors and the Administrator of the Corporation. Grants the Corporation the power to provide primary insurance coverage and reinsurance coverage, as well as to manage trust accounts, raise funds, and take other necessary actions. Directs the Board of Directors to develop a plan of operation. Requires the Board to prepare a written report on the Corporation's operations each year. Directs the Board to develop insurance rates using actuarial principles. Establishes an independent National Disaster Insurance Board of Actuaries to review and approve the Corporation's operations. Requires the Board to file copies of the rates charged for primary insurance coverage, as well as any related insurance forms, with each State's insurance commission. Directs the Corporation to establish and maintain a Primary Insurance Coverage Trust Account. Authorizes the Account to hold funds which have been generated through the primary insurance coverages. Instructs the Board to deposit in the primary accounts the portions of the premiums collected by private insurers servicing the primary insurance coverage policies. Establishes requirements for reinsurance repayments. Prohibits the use of unauthorized Federal funds. Directs the Comptroller General to periodically audit the Corporation and the Independent Board of Actuaries. Prohibits the Corporation from using Federal funds unless the Corporation issues primary insurance coverage that covers losses for eligible property owners. Provides that the primary insurance coverage issued under such title shall be supplemental coverage provided in conjunction with a standard residential property insurance contract. Prohibits certain residential property owners from receiving any financial assistance. Sets forth coverage terms and conditions. Requires the Director to submit to the Congress a determination of whether to take other measures to ensure that policyholders purchase Federal flood insurance. Requires all private insurers to place a warning statement on future residential property insurance contracts to alert policyholders of flood insurance policies, terms, and conditions. Prohibits the Corporation from receiving Federal loans unless it makes excess reinsurance coverage policies available to eligible parties. Directs the Board to set the terms and conditions of the reinsurance coverage. States that the reinsurance account shall provide excess coverage when the Board determines that the insurance industry is likely to incur gross losses that exceed 15 percent of the consolidated industry surplus as a result of natural disasters. Establishes standards for the Board to issue reinsurance account payments. (Sec. 8) Amends the Act to establish in the Treasury the Natural Disaster Protection Fund. Divides the Fund into a private loss account, a public loss account, and a mitigation account. Prohibits commingling the accounts. Provides that Fund accounts shall be used to cover shortfalls in the primary insurance account and the reimbursement account. Permits the Secretary of the Treasury to use the public loss account to cover losses to public facilities. States that the Federal share of a grant provided from the public loss account shall be 75 percent if the State has complied with all requirements. Directs the Corporation to pay a percentage of the annual net premiums for natural disaster mitigation programs. (Sec. 9) Amends the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to allow the President to make contributions to State or local governments for disaster relief if the State has paid at least $5.00 per resident for the repair, restoration, or replacement of public facilities damaged during the disaster. Requires a Federal share of 75 percent of the cost of repair, restoration, and replacement of damaged facilities, as well as 75 percent of the cost of debris removal. Waives such requirements under certain conditions.
United States · United States Congress · 17 July 1995
Makes technical corrections to S. Res. 120 (establishing the Special Committee to Investigate Whitewater Development Corporation and Related Matters).
United States · United States Congress · 14 July 1995
Access to Medical Treatment Act - Permits any individual to be treated by a health care practitioner with any medical treatment that the individual desires, or that is authorized by the legal representative of the individual, if: 1) the practitioner agrees to treat the individual; and 2) the administration of such treatment does not violate licensing laws. Authorizes health care practitioners to provide any method of treatment to such an individual: 1) if there is no evidence that the treatment is a danger to the individual; and 2) if the treatment has not been approved, the individual has been informed that the treatment has not been approved and the food, drug, or device contains a warning to that effect. Requires a practitioner, after administering such treatment and discovering it to be a danger to an individual, to submit a report to the Secretary of Health and Human Services. Requires the Secretary to properly disseminate information with respect to the danger of the medical treatment. Requires a practitioner to immediately report to the Office of Alternative Medicine the positive effects of an unconventional medical treatment for a life-threatening medical condition including: 1) the nature of such treatment; 2) the results of such treatment; and 3) the protocol of such treatment.
United States · United States Congress · 14 July 1995
Requires the Architect of the Capitol to restore the Portrait Monument (a statue of Lucretia Mott, Susan B. Anthony, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton) to its original state and place it in the rotunda of the Capitol.
United States · United States Congress · 13 July 1995
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Health Care Access, Portability, and Renewability Subtitle A: Group Health Plan Rules Subtitle B: Individual Health Plan Rules Subtitle C: COBRA Clarifications Subtitle D: Private Health Plan Purchasing Coalitions Title II: Application and Enforcement of Standards Title III: Miscellaneous Provisions Health Insurance Reform Act of 1995 - Title I: Health Care Access, Portability, and Renewability - Subtitle A: Group Health Plan Rules - Prohibits insurers from declining to provide coverage, and plans from establishing certain types of requirements, based on health status, medical condition, and similar factors. (Sec. 102) Mandates plan renewability, except for nonpayment of premiums, termination of the plan, 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. Allows State laws that limit preexisting conditions to shorter periods than the provisions of this paragraph. (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 employers with not more than 50 employees if not defined in State law). Subtitle B: Individual Health Plan Rules - Prohibits an insurer from establishing, for an individual in a period of previous qualifying coverage, eligibility, continuation, or enrollment requirements based on health status, medical condition, and similar factors. (Sec. 111) Mandates renewability of coverage for individuals, except for nonpayment of premiums, misrepresentation of material fact, or termination of the plan. (Sec. 112) Requires that State law in effect on, or enacted after, enactment of this Act apply in lieu of the standards above in this subtitle unless the Secretary of Health and Human Services determines that the State law is not as effective in providing access. (Sec. 113) Mandates a study and report on ensuring the availability of health insurance to individuals, the need for Federal premium variation standards, and the effectiveness of this Act and State laws in stabilizing the small group health insurance market by providing for the broad pooling of risk. 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 Coalitions - Requires a State to certify health plan purchasing coalitions (HPPCs) meeting the requirements of this paragraph. Provides for Federal certification if a State fails to do so. Regulates HPPC organization, duties, and activities. Preempts, for a HPPC meeting these requirements, State fictitious group laws, State rating requirement laws (subject to exception), and other State laws in direct conflict. Applies to HPPCs 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: (1) a plan to be imposed on the insurer; and (2) a self-insured plan to be imposed on the plan sponsor. (Sec. 202) Requires each State to mandate that each plan in the State meet the standards under this Act pursuant to an enforcement plan filed by the State with the Secretary of Labor. Directs the Secretary, for self-insured health plans, to enforce the standards under this Act. Subjects failing plans to civil enforcement 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 Senate that the Congress should take steps to further the purposes of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 13 July 1995
Authorizes: (1) Barbara Riehle and John Seggerman, Senate employees who work for Senator John Chafee, to provide deposition testimony in the case of Barnstead Broadcasting Corporation and BAF Enterprises, Inc. v. Offshore Broadcasting Corporation, except concerning matters for which a privilege should be asserted; and (2) the Senate Legal Counsel to represent them in connection with such deposition testimony.
United States · United States Congress · 12 July 1995
Calls on France to abide by the international moratorium on nuclear testing, refrain from conducting its announced testing, and prepare to close its underground nuclear testing sites at the Moruroa and Fangataufa atolls.
United States · United States Congress · 30 June 1995
Designates the weeks beginning on November 19, 1995, and November 24, 1996, as National Family Week.
United States · United States Congress · 29 June 1995
Regulatory Procedures Reform Act of 1995 - Amends Federal Government operations law on regulatory function analysis, among other things, to revise judicial review provisions. Defines "major rule" as a rule or group of closely related rules not expressly excluded from coverage under this Act that the proposing agency, Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), or presidential designee determines is likely to affect the economy each year, directly or indirectly, in a specified manner. Requires Federal agencies: (1) before publishing rulemaking notices, to determine whether or not the rule in question is a major rule (giving the OMB Director or presidential designee as appropriate the authority to make certain redeterminations); and (2) when publishing a rulemaking notice for a major rule, issue an initial cost-benefit analysis, and, later, when the final major rule is published, a final analysis, with specified contents, along with an appropriate summary for each analysis. Requires initial analysis to contain risk assessments prepared by covered agency heads based on the best available scientific information in accordance with adopted guidelines incorporating specified requirements, including those for peer review panels, if a major rule addresses health, safety, or environmental risks as well as benefit assessments of risk reductions associated with regulatory alternatives. Prescribes executive oversight authority and requirements. Amends Federal Government operations law to add provisions governing congressional review of agency rulemaking, requiring promulgated final major rules to be submitted to the Congress for review in accordance with specified procedures before they take effect. Requires certain risk assessment and other specified studies by the Administrative Conference of the United States for a report to the Congress. Outlines provisions for: (1) encouraging covered Federal agencies engaged in regulating health, safety, and environmental risks to achieve the greatest overall net risk reduction at the least cost practical through appropriate priorities included in the agency's budget and planning; (2) promoting coordination risk reduction policies and programs and open communication between Federal entities and the public regarding risk prevention and management; and (3) comparative risk analysis and a certain methodological study provided for by OMB. Limits judicial review under this paragraph. Details provisions requiring certain biennial accounting statements from the President to the Congress, along with an associated report with appropriate program recommendations, estimating annual regulatory costs and corresponding benefits in accordance with specified guidelines, with appropriate recommendations for improvements from the Congressional Budget Office to the President after such statements and reports have been submitted to the Congress. Requires guidance from OMB for standardized agency cost-benefit measures and statement format. States that regulatory accounting requirements shall not be subject to judicial review.
United States · United States Congress · 29 June 1995
Elects Martin P. Paone as Secretary for the Minority of the Senate.
United States · United States Congress · 29 June 1995
Commends Abby Saffold for her lengthy, faithful, and outstanding service to the Senate.
United States · United States Congress · 27 June 1995
Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to provide for Medicaid coverage of services furnished by certified nurse practitioners and clinical nurse specialists which are authorized under State law to be performed by such a nurse, regardless of whether or not such services are performed under the supervision of a physician or other health care provider. Defines "clinical nurse specialist" as an individual: (1) licensed as a registered nurse to practice in the State where the clinical nurse specialist services are performed; and (2) holding a master's degree in a defined area of clinical nursing from an accredited educational institution.
United States · United States Congress · 26 June 1995
Directs the Architect of the Capitol to transfer the catafalque in the crypt beneath the rotunda of the Capitol to the Chief Justice of the United States to be used in the Supreme Court Building for funeral services for the late Honorable Warren Burger, former Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.
United States · United States Congress · 23 June 1995
Authorizes the Senate Legal Counsel to represent Senator Orrin G. Hatch in the case of William D. (Bill) Peterson II v. The Honorable Senator Orrin G. Hatch.
United States · United States Congress · 21 June 1995
Black Revolutionary War Patriots Commemorative Coin Act - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to mint and issue one-dollar silver coins emblematic of the design selected by the Black Revolutionary War Patriots Foundation for the Black Revolutionary War Patriots Memorial in Washington, D.C. Directs that coin sale surcharges be paid to the Black Revolutionary War Patriots Foundation to establish an endowment to support construction of the Memorial.
United States · United States Congress · 21 June 1995
Authorizes the Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Select Committee on Intelligence to provide copies of records requested by the Office of Inspector General of the Department of Justice for use in connection with its pending review into matters related to the Aldrich Ames case.
United States · United States Congress · 21 June 1995
Authorizes the Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Select Committee on Intelligence to provide copies of records requested by the Office of Inspector General of the Central Intelligence Agency for use in connection with its pending inquiry into the provision of information by the Agency's officials to the congressional intelligence oversight committees.
United States · United States Congress · 20 June 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. Revises provisions which authorize funding for heavily-impacted school districts, with respect to computation of payment, payments for eligible federally-connected children, and current year data. Directs the Secretary of Education, as a special rule for 1994 supplemental payments, not to consider any payment to a local educational agency by the Department of Defense, that is available to such agency for current expenditures and used for capital expenses, in determinations under specified Federal impact aid law. Allows two specified school districts in South Dakota to claim eligibility as heavily-impacted districts for the current year, by allowing them to amend their applications for increased payments.
United States · United States Congress · 20 June 1995
Organ Donation Insert Card Act - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to include specified organ donation information with income tax refund payments made during a specified period.
United States · United States Congress · 20 June 1995
Requires, as of June 18, 1995, that amounts withheld by the Secretary of the Senate from the salaries of Senate pages for lodging, meals, and related services be deposited in the revolving fund, within the contingent fund of the Senate, for the Daniel Webster Senate Page Residence.
United States · United States Congress · 19 June 1995
Directs the Senate Legal Counsel to represent Senator Dianne Feinstein in connection with the subpoena issued to her in the case of United States ex rel. Sequoia Orange Company v. Sunland Packing House Company and consolidated cases pending in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California.
United States · United States Congress · 16 June 1995
Directs the President to support, at the 1995 United Nations review conference, proposals to modify Protocol II to the 1980 Conventional Weapons Convention to implement the U.S. goal of the elimination of antipersonnel landmines. Declares a U.S. moratorium, for a one year period beginning three years after enactment of this Act, on the use of such landmines except along internationally recognized national borders within a perimeter marked area monitored by military personnel and protected by adequate means to ensure the exclusion of civilians. Urges the President to encourage other nations to join in such moratorium. Prohibits the United States from selling, licensing for export, or transferring any defense article or service to a foreign country that sells, exports, or transfers antipersonnel landmines. Authorizes the President to waive such prohibition, after notice to the Congress, if an emergency exists which makes such waiver vital to the interest of the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 15 June 1995
Lewis and Clark Rural Water System Act of 1995 - Authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to make grants to the Lewis and Clark Rural Water System, Inc., a nonprofit corporation, for the planning and construction of a water supply system to provide service to specified counties in South Dakota, Minnesota, and Iowa. Requires the Secretary to make grants and other funds available to the System and other private, State, and Federal entities for the initial development of the environmental enhancement component. Directs that the water conservation program: (1) be designed to ensure that users of water from the water supply system use the best practicable technology and management techniques to conserve water use; and (2) include provisions for periodic review and revision. Specifies that mitigation for fish and wildlife losses incurred as a result of the construction and operation of the water supply system be on an acre-for-acre basis, based on ecological equivalency, concurrent with project construction. Requires the Western Area Power Administration to make available the capacity and energy required to meet the pumping and incidental operational requirements of the water supply system during the period beginning May 1, and ending October 31, of each year from power designated for future irrigation and drainage pumping for the Pick-Sloan Missouri Basin program. Provides that this Act shall not: (1) limit the authorization for water projects in South Dakota, Iowa, and Minnesota; or (2) preempt State water rights. Specifies the Federal and non-Federal share of the cost. Authorizes the Secretary to allow the Bureau of Reclamation to provide project construction oversight to the water supply system and environmental enhancement component. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 15 June 1995
Recognizes the notable contributions of Sheila P. Burke to the Senate and to her country and expresses appreciation and gratitude for her long, faithful, and continuing service.
United States · United States Congress · 15 June 1995
Authorizes Ross Keys, a former Senate employee who worked for Senator Kent Conrad, to produce records and provide testimony in the cases of Schneider v. Schaaf and Schneider v. Messer, 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 · 9 June 1995
Commends Captain Scott F. O'Grady for his heroic conduct after being shot down by Bosnian Serb forces. Commends the U.S. and NATO forces involved in Capt. O'Grady's rescue. Expresses the sense of the Senate that U.S. and NATO air crews should not be put at risk over Bosnia unless all necessary actions to address the threat posed by hostile Serbian air defenses are taken.
United States · United States Congress · 5 June 1995
Amends the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act to prohibit the acquisition of land within the boundaries of a specified segment of the Missouri River in Nebraska and South Dakota without the owner's consent.
United States · United States Congress · 5 June 1995
Designates the Federal building located at 1314 LeMay Boulevard, Ellsworth Air Force Base, South Dakota, as the Cartney Koch McRaven Child Development Center.