United States · United States Congress · 21 January 1993
Authorizes the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity to establish a memorial to Martin Luther King, Jr., in the District of Columbia and its environs. Prohibits the United States from paying any expense of establishing the memorial.
United States · United States Congress · 21 January 1993
Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to pay a specified sum to a named individual in full satisfaction of any claim against the United States for any damages incurred by such individual arising out of U.S. Army service.
United States · United States Congress · 21 January 1993
Authorizes the President, on behalf of the Congress, to present a gold medal to Mrs. Lorraine Gillespie, in memory of her late husband John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie in recognition of his accomplishments as a musician. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to provide for the sale of bronze duplicates of the medal.
United States · United States Congress · 21 January 1993
Medicare Amendments of 1993 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act with respect to: (1) essential access community hospitals; (2) Medicare-dependent, small rural hospitals; (3) payments for electrocardiogram interpretation and new physicians and practitioners; (4) prohibitions on carrier forum shopping; and (5) the treatment of nebulizers and aspirators. Amends the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (OBRA) of 1987 to reauthorize and extend the rural transition grant program. Amends OBRAs of 1990 and 1994 to, respectively, provide for an extension of rural hospital demonstration projects and regional referral centers.
United States · United States Congress · 21 January 1993
TABLE OF CONTENTS Title I: Investment Incentives Title II: Accounting Provisions Small Business Investment Act of 1993 - Title I: Investment Incentives - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to increase the dollar limitation on the election to expense certain depreciable business assets. Allows the expensing of certain start-up costs of small businesses. Allows certain adjustments and preferences to not be taken into account in computing the alternative minimum tax for qualified small business activities. Increases the allowable number of shareholders for small business corporations. Title II: Accounting Provisions - Allows an eligible small business to elect to use the inflation-adjusted first-in, first-out inventory method of valuing its inventories. Exempts certain small businesses from the uniform capitalization rules and the special rules for long-term contracts.
United States · United States Congress · 21 January 1993
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Improvements in Customs Enforcement Title II: National Customs Automation Program Title III: Miscellaneous Amendments to the Tariff Act of 1930 Title IV: Miscellaneous Provisions and Consequential and Conforming Amendments to Other Laws Customs Modernization and Informed Compliance Act - Title I: Improvements in Customs Enforcement - Amends the Tariff Act of 1930 (the Act) to revise customs procedures with respect to: (1) electronic transmission of forged, altered, or false data to the United States Customs Service with regard to the entry of imported merchandise; (2) penalties for failure to declare imported controlled substances; (3) examination and detention of imported merchandise; (4) certain recordkeeping requirements; (5) examination of books and witnesses; (6) review of protests by the Customs Service; (7) a repeal of a provision relating to the reliquidation on account of fraud; (8) penalties relating to manifests, false drawback or refund claims, and for fraud, gross negligence, and negligence; (9) unlawful unlading or transshipment; (10) public access to Customs Service interpretive rulings and decisions; and (11) seizure of imported merchandise. Title II: National Customs Automation Program - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury (Secretary) to establish the National Customs Automation Program which shall be an automated and electronic system for the processing of commercial imports. (Sec. 201) Provides for electronic data transmission relating to: (1) remote location filing; (2) effective date of rates of duty on imported merchandise; (3) merchandise manifests; (4) imported merchandise invoices; (5) entry and release of imported merchandise; (6) admissibility in administrative and judicial proceedings of electronically transmitted information; (7) appraisement and liquidations of imported merchandise; (8) the payment of duties; (9) abandonment and damage to imported merchandise; (10) protests of Customs Service decisions; (11) refunds and errors; (12) bonds and other security; and (13) customhouse brokers. (Sec. 202) Requires a refund (drawback) of duties (less one per cent of such duties) on articles produced in the United States with imported merchandise that have been destroyed under Customs Service supervision, provided such articles have not been used prior to such destruction. (Sec. 214) Sets forth provisions with respect to customs officers' immunity in regard to the appraisement of or collection of duties on imported merchandise. Title III: Miscellaneous Amendments to the Tariff Act of 1930 - Amends the Act to authorize the Secretary to disregard the difference, but not less than $20 (currently ten dollars), between the total estimated duties deposited with respect to imported merchandise and the total amount actually due on such merchandise. Increases specified ceiling amounts of duty-free gifts and articles. (Sec. 302) Requires masters of vessels that have visited a hovering vessel or received merchandise while outside the U.S. territorial sea to report their arrival to the nearest customs facility. Provides for the electronic transmission of vessel documentation to the Customs Service. (Sec. 303) Requires specified kinds of vessels to report to the nearest Customs Service facility within 24 hours (or other period of time as provided) after arrival to a U.S. port. (Sec. 305) Exempts from entry and clearance requirements certain passenger vessels on excursion from the U.S. Virgin Islands to the British Virgin Islands and returning, U.S. documented vessels with recreational endorsement, or (as under current law) undocumented U.S. pleasure vessels not engaged in trade, except such vessels must comply upon arrival with specified customs reporting requirements and navigation laws and must not have visited any hovering vessel. (Sec. 306) Prohibits merchandise, passengers, or baggage from being unladen from any vessel required to make entry or vehicle required to report its arrival until such entry or report of arrival is made and a permit for unlading has been issued by the Customs Service. Authorizes the issuance of such permits through electronic data transmission. (Sec. 309) Reduces from one year to six months the length of time merchandise may remain in customs custody with fees unpaid before it may be treated as unclaimed. (Sec. 312) Authorizes the Secretary to prescribe regulations for the declaration and entry of merchandise whose value does not exceed a designated amount, but not more than $2,500 (currently not greater than $1,250), or when different commercial facilitation and risk considerations that may vary for different classes or kinds of merchandise or different classes of transactions may dictate. (Sec. 313) Reduces from one year to 90 days the minimum length of time after forfeiture the Secretary must wait before selling at public auction any seized imported merchandise with a counterfeit mark. (Sec.314) Authorizes the Customs Service to order the destruction or other appropriate disposition of vessels, vehicles, aircraft, merchandise, or baggage that has been seized under the customs laws if it determines that the expense of keeping such items is disportionate to their value (currently applies only to items of less than $1,000 in value). (Sec. 315) Authorizes the use of funds from the Customs Forfeiture Fund for the payment of: (1) certain transfer and storage charges and expenses; and (2) claims against Customs Service employees. (Sec. 316) Requires actions for fraud, gross negligence, and negligence, false drawback, or refund claims with respect to imported merchandise to be instituted within five years after the alleged violation or discovery of such fraud. (Sec. 318) Authorizes the Secretary to settle, for no more than $50,000 in each case, claims for personal injury, death, or damage to, or loss of, privately owned property caused by an investigative or law enforcement officer of the Customs Service. (Sec. 319) Provides for the use of private collection agencies to recover money owed the United States under customs laws. Title IV: Miscellaneous Provisions and Consequential and Conforming Amendments to Other Laws - Amends the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States to exempt from such Schedule articles which are returned within 45 days after being exported from the United States as undeliverable and which have not left the custody of the carrier or foreign customs service. (Sec. 401) Declares that certain railway locomotives and railway freight cars on which no duty is owed are not subject to the entry or release requirements for imported merchandise under the Tariff Act of 1930. States that instruments of international trade, such as containers, lift vans, rail cars and locomotives, truck cabs and trailers, etc., are exempt from formal entry procedures, but must be accounted for when imported to and exported from the United States through the manifesting procedures required for international carriers. (Sec. 402) Amends the Internal Revenue Code and other specified Federal law with respect to: (1) certain expenditures from the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund; and (2) coastwise trade vessels and U.S. vessels visiting foreign ports. (Sec. 403) Amends Federal law to grant the Court of International Trade exclusive jurisdiction of any civil action for review of decisions of the Customs Service that deny, suspend, or revoke accreditation of private customs laboratories. Bars the commencement of such actions unless brought within 60 days of such decisions. (Sec. 404) Requires U.S. and foreign vessels to obtain clearance from the Customs Service before proceeding from a U.S. port for: (1) a foreign port; (2) another U.S. port (for foreign vessels only), or (for U.S. vessels only) another U.S. port if the vessel has bonded or foreign merchandise for which entry has not been made; or (3) outside the U.S. territorial sea to visit a hovering vessel or to receive merchandise. (Sec. 408) Repeals specified provisions of Federal law. (Sec. 409) Requires the Commissioner of Customs to report to the Congress each fiscal year after FY 1992 on the collection of duties imposed under the antidumping and countervailing duty laws. Amends the Customs and Trade Act of 1990 to require the Commissioner of Customs to: (1) devise a methodology for estimating the level of compliance with the U.S. customs laws; and (2) evaluate the extent to which such compliance was obtained during the 12-month period preceding the 60th day before each fiscal year 1993 through 1995.
United States · United States Congress · 21 January 1993
Amends the Internal Revenue Code with respect to the tax-exempt status of a cooperative telephone company to provide for the tax treatment of income received from a nonmember telephone company for services by the cooperative which are indirectly paid for by members of the cooperative. Includes billing and collection services for a nonmember telephone company under such treatment. Provides for the tax treatment of account reserve income that does not exceed a specified percentage of the company's total income. Subjects a portion of such investment income to unrelated business income tax.
United States · United States Congress · 21 January 1993
TABLE OF CONTENTS I: Amendments to Pension Plan Funding Requirements II: Required Security for Certain Plan Amendments III: Miscellaneous Provisions Pension Funding Improvement Act of 1993 - Title I: Amendments to Pension Plan Funding Requirements - Amends the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to revise minimum funding standards for pension plans. Revises the additional funding requirements for pension plans that are not multiemployer plans to provide for an underfunding reduction requirement and solvency maintenance requirement. Title II: Required Security for Certain Plan Amendments - Amends IRC and ERISA to increase required funding percentages and required security under provisions for pension plan termination insurance. Applies such required funding and security provisions to multiemployer plans, as well as to other pension plans. Applies specified criminal penalties to violations of such requirements. Title III: Miscellaneous Provisions - Requires the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) and the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to submit separate reports to the Congress setting forth alternative increases in premiums that would be required for the assets of the single-employer program (established under ERISA provisions for pension plan termination insurance) to equal or exceed such program's current and expected liabilities by 2002. Amends ERISA to require inclusion in annual PBGC reports of actuarial evaluations of pension benefit guaranty funds for the next five, ten, twenty, and thirty years. (Currently, inclusion of such evaluations for the next five years only is required.) Requires such evaluations to set forth alternative premium schedules to assure that PBGC assets equal or exceed its liabilities during such periods. Authorizes the CBO to transmit a separate report analyzing and commenting upon the actuarial evaluation (and premium schedules) prepared by the PBGC, for any fiscal year the CBO deems appropriate. Authorizes the PBGC to require certain plan sponsors or members of a sponsor's controlled group to provide it with records or other information necessary to determine liabilities and assets of plans covered by ERISA plan termination insurance provisions, or the financial condition of sponsors or members of sponsors' controlled groups maintaining such plans. Applies such information requirements to a plan if: (1) its underfunding exceeds $10,000,000; (2) it has more than 2,000 participants; or (3) it has been granted minimum funding waivers in excess of $1,000,000. Treats all plans maintained by the same sponsor (or any member of such sponsor's controlled group) as one plan for purposes of such information requirements.
United States · United States Congress · 21 January 1993
Directs the Administrator of General Services to convey specified lands in the District of Columbia to the Columbia Hospital for Women for the construction of a National Women's Health Resource Center. Directs the Hospital to establish and operate three satellite health centers to provide health and counseling services for women, including teenage women, and their children. Provides for reversion to the United States if the land conveyed is not used for the Center. Provides damages to be paid by the Hospital for each year in which it fails to operate the satellite health centers, with a waiver in exceptional circumstances. Directs the Hospital to report annually for five years on the establishment, maintenance, and operation of the Center and the satellite health centers.
United States · United States Congress · 21 January 1993
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Safe Streets for Women Subtitle A: Federal Penalties for Sex Crimes Subtitle B: Law Enforcement and Prosecution Grants to Reduce Violent Crimes Against Women Subtitle C: Safety for Women in Public Transit and Public Parks Subtitle D: National Commission on Violence Against Women Subtitle E: New Evidentiary Rules Subtitle F: Assistance to Victims of Sexual Assault Title II: Safe Homes for Women Subtitle A: Family Violence Prevention and Services Act Amendments Subtitle B: Interstate Enforcement Subtitle C: Arrest in Spousal Abuse Cases Subtitle D: Funding for Shelters Subtitle E: Family Violence Prevention and Services Act Amendments Subtitle F: Youth Education and Domestic Violence Subtitle G: Confidentiality for Abused Persons Subtitle H: Technical Amendments Subtitle I: Data and Research Title III: Civil Rights Title IV: Safe Campuses for Women Title V: Equal Justice for Women in the Courts Act Subtitle A: Education and Training for Judges and Court Personnel in State Courts Subtitle B: Education and Training for Judges and Court Personnel in Federal Courts Violence Against Women Act of 1993 - Title I: Safe Streets for Women - Safe Streets for Women Act of 1993 - Subtitle A: Federal Penalties for Sex Crimes - Amends the Federal criminal code to: (1) authorize judges to increase sentences for repeat sex offenders to up to twice that otherwise authorized by statute; and (2) require the U.S. Sentencing Commission to amend sentencing guidelines to increase the base offense level applicable to criminal sexual abuse. (Sec. 113) Requires that a court order restitution for violations of Federal sexual abuse laws. (Sec. 114) Authorizes appropriations to U.S. Attorneys to appoint victim/witness counselors for the prosecution of sex crimes and domestic violence crimes. Subtitle B: Law Enforcement and Prosecution Grants to Reduce Violent Crimes Against Women - Amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to require the Director of the Bureau of Justice Assistance to make grants to areas of high intensity crime against women. Authorizes the Director to make general grants to: (1) States to reduce violent crimes against women; and (2) Indian tribes to reduce violent crimes against women in Indian country. Subtitle C: Safety for Women in Public Transit and Public Parks - Amends the Urban Mass Transportation Act of 1964 to direct the Secretary of Transportation, from funds authorized under existing provisions, to make capital grants for the prevention of crime and to increase security in existing and future public transportation systems. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants and loans to States and local public bodies to increase the safety of public transportation through lighting, camera surveillance, security phones, or other projects. Directs the Secretary to provide grants and loans to study ways to reduce violent crimes against women in public transit through better design or operation of public transit systems. (Sec. 132) Amends: (1) the National Park System Improvements in Administration Act to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to provide assistance to reduce violent crime in the National Park System; and (2) the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act of 1965 to direct such Secretary to provide grants for capital improvements and other measures to increase safety in urban parks and recreation areas. Subtitle D: National Commission on Violence Against Women - Establishes the National Commission on Violence Against Women to promote a national policy on violent crime against women and to make recommendations on reducing such crime. Subtitle E: New Evidentiary Rules - Amends the Federal Rules of Evidence to exclude, in criminal cases other than sex offense cases, reputation or opinion evidence of the past sexual behavior of a victim from admission into evidence. Allows other types of evidence of a victim's past sexual behavior in accordance with specified procedures if its probative value outweighs the danger of unfair prejudice. (Sec. 152) Makes reputation or opinion evidence of the plaintiff's past sexual behavior inadmissible in a civil action involving allegations of actionable sexual misconduct. Makes other types of evidence of a plaintiff's past sexual behavior admissible in accordance with specified procedures if its probative value outweighs the danger of unfair prejudice. (Sec. 154) Makes evidence of an alleged victim's clothing, in a criminal case under Federal laws relating to sexual abuse, inadmissible to show that the victim incited or invited the offense. Subtitle F: Assistance to Victims of Sexual Assault - Amends the Public Health Service Act to allow States to use amounts transferred by the State under block grant provisions for rape prevention and education programs conducted by rape crisis centers or similar nongovernmental nonprofit entities. (Sec. 162) Requires grant recipients under this title to incur the full cost of forensic medical exams for victims of sexual assault. (Sec. 163) Amends the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to make grants to private, nonprofit agencies for street-based outreach and education for female runaway, homeless, and street youth who have been subjected to or are at risk of being subjected to sexual abuse. (Sec. 164) Amends the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure to provide for a victim's right to make a statement at the sentencing of a criminal defendant in cases involving a crime of violence or sexual abuse. Title II: Safe Homes for Women - Safe Homes for Women Act of 1993 - Subtitle A: Family Violence Prevention and Services Act Amendments - Amends the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act (FVPSA) to authorize the Secretary of HHS to award grants to one or more private, nonprofit entities to provide for the operation of a national, toll-free telephone hotline to provide information and assistance to victims of domestic violence. Subtitle B: Interstate Enforcement - Amends the Federal criminal code to provide for a Federal term of imprisonment or fine, in addition to any State penalties, for any person who: (1) in the course of or as a result of travelling across State lines injures his or her spouse or intimate partner (partner); (2) crosses State lines for the purpose of harassing, intimidating, or injuring a partner and who injures such partner; (3) causes a partner to cross State lines by force, coercion, duress, or fraud and who injures such partner; or (4) commits such acts in violation of a valid protection order issued by a State. Provides for temporary protection orders while a case under these provisions is pending. Mandates that a court order restitution to the victim of an offense under this Act. Requires, provided certain conditions are met, that a protection order issued by the court of one State be accorded full faith and credit by the court of another State. Subtitle C: Arrest in Spousal Abuse Cases - Amends the FVPSA to authorize the Secretary of HHS to make grants, with regard to spousal abuse, to: (1) implement pro-arrest programs and policies in police departments and improve case tracking; (2) centralize police enforcement, prosecution, or judicial responsibility for cases in one group of officers, prosecutors, or judges; (3) coordinate computer tracking systems to ensure communication between police, prosecutors, and both criminal and family courts; and (4) educate judges to improve judicial handling of cases. Subtitle D: Funding for Shelters - Amends the FVPSA to authorize appropriations to carry out that Act. Subtitle E: Family Violence Prevention and Services Act Amendments - Amends the FVPSA to require that: (1) applications for State demonstration grants include a plan to address the needs of underserved populations; and (2) upon completion of activities funded, the State grantee file a performance report explaining the activities carried out together with an assessment of the effectiveness of such activities. Subtitle F: Youth Education and Domestic Violence - Amends the FVPSA to direct the Secretary of Education to select, implement, and evaluate four model programs for education of young people about domestic violence and violence among intimate partners, with one program for each of primary, middle, and secondary schools, and institutions of higher education. Subtitle G: Confidentiality for Abused Persons - Requires the U.S. Postal Service to promulgate regulations to secure the confidentiality of abused persons' addresses. Subtitle H: Technical Amendments - Amends the FVPSA to: (1) include among the duties of State domestic violence coalitions to work with local domestic violence programs and providers of direct services to encourage appropriate responses to domestic violence within the State; and (2) make technical amendments to such Act. Subtitle I: Data and Research - Requires: (1) the Director of the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) to request the National Academy of Sciences to enter into a contract to develop a research agenda to increase the understanding and control of violence against women; (2) the NIJ to study and report to the States and the Congress on how the States may collect centralized databases on the incidence of domestic violence offenses within a State; and (3) the Secretary of HHS to conduct a study to obtain a national projection of the incidence of injuries resulting from domestic violence, the cost of injuries to health care facilities, and recommend health care strategies for reducing the incidence and cost of such injuries. Title III: Civil Rights - Civil Rights Remedies for Gender-Motivated Violence Act - Declares that all persons within the United States shall have the right to be free from crimes of violence motivated by the victim's gender. Makes any person, including a person who acts under color of any statute, ordinance, regulation, custom, or usage of any State, who deprives another of such right, liable to the injured party in an action for compensatory and punitive damages, injunctive and declaratory relief, and such other relief as the court deems appropriate. (Sec. 303) Allows the awarding of attorney's fees in actions to enforce this title. (Sec. 304) Expresses the sense of the Senate that news media, law enforcement officers, and other persons should exercise restraint, and respect a rape victim's privacy, by not disclosing the victim's identity to the general public or facilitating such disclosure without the victim's consent. Title IV: Safe Campuses for Women - Amends the Higher Education Amendments of 1992 to authorize appropriations for grants for campus sexual offenses education and prevention programs. Title V: Equal Justice for Women in the Courts Act of 1993 - Equal Justice for Women in the Courts Act of 1993 - Subtitle A: Education and Training for Judges and Court Personnel in State Courts - Authorizes the State Justice Institute to make grants for model programs to be used by States in training judges and court personnel in State laws on rape, sexual assault, domestic violence, and other crimes of violence motivated by the victim's gender. Subtitle B: Education and Training for Judges and Court Personnel in Federal Courts - Encourages the circuit judicial councils to conduct studies of any instances of gender bias in legal proceedings in their respective circuits. Authorizes the Federal Judicial Center to include in its educational and training programs information on issues related to gender bias in the courts. (Sec. 522) Directs the Judicial Conference to allocate funds (as specified) to Federal circuit courts that: (1) undertake studies under this subtitle in their circuits; or (2) implement reforms recommended as a result of such studies in their own or other circuits, including education and training.
United States · United States Congress · 21 January 1993
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: General Provisions Regarding Title IV of Public Health Service Act Title II: National Institutes of Health in General Title III: General Provisions Respecting National Research Institutes Title IV: National Cancer Institute Title V: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Title VI: National Institute on Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases Title VII: National Institute on Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases Title VIII: National Institute of Aging Title IX: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Title X: National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Title XI: National Eye Institute Title XII: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke Title XIII: National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences Title XIV: National Library of Medicine Title XV: Other Agencies of National Institutes of Health Title XVI: Awards and Training Title XVII: National Foundation for Biomedical Research Title XVIII: Research With Respect to Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome Title XIX: Studies Title XX: Miscellaneous Provisions Title XXI: Effective Dates National Institutes of Health Revitalization Amendments of 1993 - Title I: General Provisions Regarding Title IV of Public Health Service Act - (Sec. 101) Amends the Public Health Service Act to condition research funding on human subject review and scientific and technical peer review. Prohibits withholding funding on ethical grounds unless an ethics advisory board so recommends. (Sec. 111) Regulates human fetal tissue transplantation research. (Sec. 121) Removes provisions regarding: (1) biomedical ethics; (2) waiver of a risk standard; and (3) the construction of title IV (National Research Institutes). Declares ineffective a Federal regulation relating to ethical advisory boards. (Sec. 131) Requires inclusion of women and minorities as subjects in each clinical research project under such title IV. (Sec. 141) Establishes: (1) the Office of Research on Women's Health; (2) the Coordinating Committee on Research on Women's Health; and (3) the Advisory Committee on Research on Women's Health. Mandates: (1) study of the representation of women among senior physicians and scientists of the national research institutes (NRIs) and among those conducting supported research; and (2) activities to increase that representation. Establishes a data system containing information on research on women's health. (Sec. 151) Establishes the Office of Research on Minority Health. (Sec. 161) Establishes the Office of Scientific Integrity. Requires grant, contract, or cooperative agreement applicants to have a scientific misconduct report review process. Establishes the Commission on Scientific Integrity. Provides for employee whistle blower protection. Mandates measures against financial conflicts of interest. Title II: National Institutes of Health in General - (Sec. 201) Modifies the duties of the National Institute of Health's (NIH's) Associate Director for Prevention. (Sec. 202) Establishes a program to enhance competitiveness in States receiving little funding from the NRIs. (Sec. 203) Mandates activities, consistent with the global Children's Vaccine Initiative, to develop vaccines. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 204) Requires a plan regarding the use of animals in research. Establishes the Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Use of Animals in Research. Repeals similar provisions. (Sec. 205) Authorizes activities to increase the number of women and members of underrepresented minority groups in biomedical and behavioral research. (Sec. 206) Regulates surveys of human sexual behavior conducted or supported through NIH. (Sec. 207) Establishes a fund for use by the NIH Director to carry out NIH activities. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 208) Modifies NRI advisory council terms of office. Requires that at least half of NIH health education materials not exceed functional literacy. Authorizes a day care service for NIH employees. Title III: General Provisions Respecting National Research Institutes - (Sec. 301) Requires that the Secretary of Health and Human services receive directly all funds appropriated for the Institute. Removes provisions authorizing the National Cancer Institute to directly receive such funds. Modifies requirements regarding the establishment of technical and scientific peer review groups. (Sec. 302) Requires expansion of research on osteoporosis, Paget's disease, and related bone disorders. Establishes a clearinghouse. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 303) Establishes a program of trauma research and the Trauma Research Interagency Coordinating Committee. Title IV: National Cancer Institute - (Sec. 401) Requires expanding National Cancer Institute (NCI) activities on breast and ovarian cancer, other cancers of the reproductive system of women, and prostate cancer. Authorizes appropriations. Removes authorizations of appropriations for NCI and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI). Title V: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute - (Sec. 501) Requires NHLBI to conduct intramural training and education. Authorizes centers on cardiovascular diseases in children. Establishes the National Center on Sleep Disorders. Authorizes appropriations for NHLBI. Title VI: National Institute on Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases - (Sec. 601) Establishes a program on nutritional disorders. Provides for research and training centers. Title VII: National Institute on Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases - (Sec. 701) Establishes a children's arthritis and musculoskeletal disease center. Renames the National Arthritis Advisory Board as the National Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases Advisory Board and modifies its composition. Title VIII: National Institute on Aging - (Sec. 802) Mandates research into the aging processes of women. Authorizes appropriations for the National Institute on Aging. Title IX: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases - (Sec. 901) Includes tropical diseases in the purposes of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Authorizes grants or contracts for centers for research on chronic fatigue syndrome. Establishes an extramural study section. Title X: National Institute of Child Health and Human Development - (Sec. 1001) Mandates grants or contracts for centers on contraception and infertility. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 1002) Establishes programs of: (1) agreements with health professionals to conduct research on contraception or infertility in return for educational loan repayment; and (2) obstetrics and gynecology intramural laboratory and clinical research. (Sec. 1021) Mandates child health research center support. (Sec. 1031) Mandates a longitudinal, large-scale study on the well-being of U.S. adolescents. Allocates funding. Title XI: National Eye Institute - (Sec. 1101) Authorizes grants for diabetic eye care clinical research centers. Title XII: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke - (Sec. 1201) Mandates research on multiple sclerosis. Title XIII: National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences - (Sec. 1301) Establishes the Applied Toxicological Research and Testing Program. Title XIV: National Library of Medicine - (Sec. 1401) Increases the limit on grants to medical libraries and related instrumentalities. Authorizes appropriations for the National Library of Medicine. Mandates grants for new educational technologies research. Establishes the National Information Center on Health Services Research and Health Care Technology. Title XV: Other Agencies of National Institutes of Health - (Sec. 1502) Authorizes grants to alter or construct research facilities. Establishes the Scientific and Technical Review Board on Biomedical and Behavioral Research Facilities. Authorizes appropriations. Reserves funds to construct or improve regional primate research centers. (Sec.1511) Redesignates the National Center for Nursing Research as the National Institute for Nursing Research. (Sec. 1521) Makes the National Center for Human Genome Research an NIH agency. Includes the mapping and sequencing of individual genes in the purposes of the Center. Title XVI: Awards and Training - (Sec.1601) Provides for research recruitment and training for women and members from underrepresented minority groups. (Sec. 1602) Changes service requirements imposed on individuals receiving National Research Service Awards. (Sec. 1611) Modifies existing and authorizes or mandates various new programs of scholarships and loan repayments for health professionals' education in exchange for specified service. (Sec. 1641) Authorizes appropriations related to National Research Service Awards, modifying set-aside requirements. Title XVII: National Foundation for Biomedical Research - (Sec. 1701) Establishes the National Foundation for Biomedical Research. Requires the Foundation to establish a fund: (1) to provide endowments for NIH positions; and (2) consisting of non-Federal donations. Mandates grants to the Foundation for administrative expenses. Authorizes appropriations and other NIH funds for the grants. Title XVIII: Research with Respect to Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome - (Sec. 1801) Modifies the duties of: (1) the AIDS Clinical Research Review Committee; and (2) the acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) clinical evaluation units at the National Cancer Institute and National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Modifies international AIDS efforts support requirements. Authorizes appropriations. Requires that model protocols for clinical AIDS care include treatment and prevention for women. Authorizes appropriations. Requires the AIDS epidemiological data base to include information on the natural history of AIDS infection. Authorizes appropriations. Revises provisions establishing the Office of AIDS Research and setting forth its special authorities (currently, provisions establishing such Office and setting forth special authorities of the NIH Director), including: (1) developing an NIH AIDS budget; (2) developing a comprehensive, long-range NIH AIDS research plan; and (3) establishing AIDS coordinating groups for each research discipline. Establishes the Office of AIDS Research Advisory Council. Mandates availability of a certain amount for an AIDS research discretionary fund. Authorizes appropriations for fellowship and training programs relating to AIDS. Title XIX: Studies - (Sec. 1901) Mandates studies regarding AIDS on: (1) parallel-track drug-release mechanisms; (2) third-party payment incident to participation as subjects in clinical trials; and (3) coordination of AIDS advisory committees. Requires a plan for the inclusion in NIH human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) vaccine studies of women, infants, and children infected with the HIV. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 1902) Requires studies on malnutrition and the elderly. Establishes an advisory panel. (Sec. 1903) Mandates reports or studies on NIH: (1) research on chronic fatigue syndrome; (2) assuming responsibility for all Federal research relating to medical countermeasures against biowarfare; (3) support staff retention, recruitment, vacancy, and turnover rates; and (4) procurement. (Sec. 1907) mandates reports on: (1) the leading causes of death in the United States; and (2) whether there is a relationship between legal drug use and the use or abuse of illegal drugs. Title XX: Miscellaneous Provisions - (Sec. 2001) Redesignates the Senior Biomedical Research Service as the Silvio O. Conte Senior Biomedical Research Service and increases the limit on the number of its members. (Sec. 2002) Requires that the Public Health Service (PHS) be administered by the Assistant Secretary of Health (currently, by the Surgeon General). Adds the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research to the list of PHS agencies. (Sec. 2004) Mandates a master plan to replace or refurbish NIH infrastructure. (Sec. 2006) Authorizes appropriations (currently, authorizes the use of funds) to carry out cancer registries provisions. (Sec. 2007) Prohibits conducting or supporting the SHARP survey of adult sexual behavior or the American Teenage Study of Adolescent sexual behavior. (Sec. 2008) Mandates a report on bioengineering and biomaterials sciences. Title XXI: Effective Date - (Sec. 2101) Sets forth the effective date of this Act and its amendments.
United States · United States Congress · 21 January 1993
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Reduction of Special Interest Influence Subtitle A: Elimination of Political Action Committees from Federal Election Activities Subtitle B: Ban on Soft Money in Federal Elections Subtitle C: Other Activities Title II: Increase of Competition in Politics Title III: Reduction of Campaign Costs Title IV: Miscellaneous Provisions Subtitle A: Federal Election Commission Enforcement Authority Subtitle B: Other Provisions Comprehensive Campaign Finance Reform Act of 1993 - Title I: Reduction of Special Interest Influence - Subtitle A: Elimination of Political Action Committees from Federal Election Activities - Amends the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (FECA) to prohibit Federal election activities by political action committees. Subtitle B: Ban on Soft Money in Federal Elections - (Sec. 111) Bans the use of soft money (any amount raised or contributed outside of source restrictions, contribution limits, and requirements of FECA) to influence any Federal election. (Sec. 112) Imposes information disclosure and mixed activity financial allocation requirements upon party committees. (Sec. 113) Permits a labor organization to make political communications and establish and solicit contributions for a separate segregated political fund only if it meets specified requirements concerning the employees it represents. (Sec. 115) Amends the Internal Revenue Code to deny tax-exempt status for certain politically active organizations. Subtitle C: Other Activities - (Secs. 121 through 123) Modifies contribution provisions for individuals, political parties, and intermediaries. (Sec. 124) Sets forth requirements for disclosure of independent expenditures through broadcast communications. Title II: Increase of Competition in Politics - (Sec. 201) Allows a congressional or senatorial campaign committee of a national political party to make specified contributions (seed money) to a non-incumbent Federal candidate (other than President or Vice President). (Sec. 202) Requires a candidate to file with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) and each other qualifying candidate a declaration of whether or not he or she intends to spend more than $250,000 from personal funds for the primary and general election. Allows the opponents of a candidate intending to exceed such limit to accept larger contributions from individuals. (Sec. 203) Prohibits franked mass mailings during an election year by a Member of Congress. (Sec. 204) Sets forth standards for congressional redistricting and reapportionment. (Sec. 205) Sets forth criminal penalties for using the mail, broadcast media, or interstate commerce to deprive or defraud citizens of the honest services of government officials or for fraudulently conducted elections. Title III: Reduction of Campaign Costs - Sets forth congressional findings regarding discounts for political broadcasts. Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to prohibit any broadcast licensee from preempting the use of of broadcasting time purchased by a qualified candidate. Title IV: Miscellaenous Provisions - Subtitle A: Federal Election Commission Enforcement Authority - (Secs. 401 through 412) Revises FECA enforcement provisions. Sets forth FEC injunctive relief authority. Increases specified penalties and makes certain discretionary penalties mandatory. Provides a specified private right of action. Subtitle B: Other Provisions - Requires disclosure of debt settlement and loan security agreements.
United States · United States Congress · 21 January 1993
Equal Remedies Act of 1993 - Amends Federal law relating to damages in cases of intentional employment discrimination to remove provisions limiting the dollar amount of damages awarded for pecuniary and nonpecuniary losses and punitive damages.
United States · United States Congress · 8 October 1992
Justice for Permanently Displaced Striking Workers Act of 1992 - Amends the National Labor Relations Act to require expedited investigation and adjudication of unfair labor practice charges cases where: (1) a collective bargaining agreement has expired; (2) it is alleged that a party to the agreement has failed to negotiate in good faith; and (3) permanent replacements have been hired. Sets forth a timetable for such expedited adjudication procedure.
United States · United States Congress · 3 October 1992
Dollars for Scholars Community Scholarship Foundation Development Act - Directs the Secretary of Education to make an endowment grant to an eligible organization to support the establishment of not more than 25 regional centers to foster development of locally based, volunteer organizations to improve high school graduation rates and postsecondary attendance through providing academic support services and financial assistance for postsecondary education. Sets forth requirements for the eligible organization, the regional centers, and the local affiliates of the eligible organization. Sets forth conditions for the endowment grant. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 2 October 1992
Amends the Public Health Service Act to authorize grants or contracts to operate population-based, statewide cancer registries in order to collect certain data for each form of in-situ and invasive cancer except basal cell and squamous cell carcinoma of the skin. Authorizes grants for planning the registries. Authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services, directly or through grants and contracts, or both, to provide technical assistance to the States in the establishment and operation of statewide registries. Mandates a study on factors contributing to elevated rates of breast cancer mortality in Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, and the District of Columbia. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 2 October 1992
Agricultural Credit Amendments Act of 1992 - Title I: Farmers Home Administration Loans - Amends the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act to state that the interest rate for loans sold into the secondary market may be lower than the interest rate on the retained portion, but may not exceed the average interest rate charged by the lender on loans made to farm and ranch borrowers. Provides for Federal-State coordination of assistance for beginning farmers and ranchers. Directs the Secretary of Agriculture (Secretary) to establish an Advisory Committee on Beginning Farmers and Ranchers. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants for rural passenger transportation services or facilities. Directs the Secretary to establish within the farm ownership loan program a ten-year down payment loan program for beginning farmers and ranchers. Sets forth loan terms. Limits the availability of certain agricultural loans and guarantees to beginning farmers and ranchers during specified applicable periods. Directs the Secretary to establish a program of assistance (ten-year maximum) for beginning farmers and ranchers. Requires an applicant to submit a farm operations plan (plan) to the appropriate county committee, which must be approved by the committee and by the Secretary. Provides assistance in the form of operation and equipment loan guarantees. Gives applicants priority for equipment purchases in the Farmers Home Administration (FmHA) inventory. Terminates assistance for avoidable failure to achieve plan goals. Directs the Secretary to: (1) establish a program to encourage borrowers with operating loans or guarantees to graduate to private commercial credit sources; and (2) provide for the graduation of FmHA direct loan borrowers to FmHA guaranteed loans. Authorizes the leasing or leasing-with-purchase-option of certain FmHA inventory land not otherwise suitable for sale. Sets forth provisions regarding the transfer of Indian lands pledged as FmHA loan collateral, including properties containing a hazardous substance. Sets forth debt service margin requirements, including establishment of a certified lenders program. Defines "qualified beginning farmer or rancher" for assistance purpose. Sets aside specified percentages of operating and ownership loan assistance for beginning farmers or ranchers. Permits a borrower to appeal a loan appraisal determination. Title II: Farm Credit System - Amends the Farm Credit Act of 1971 to repeal the prohibition against guarantees of debt instruments whose income is tax exempt. Authorizes the Farm Credit Administration to approve competitive charters of Farm Credit System institutions under specified circumstances. Title III: Miscellaneous - Amends the Agricultural Credit Act of 1987 to increase the Federal assistance ceiling for State agricultural loan mediation programs. Title IV: Recreational Hunting Safety - Recreational Hunting Safety and Preservation Act of 1991 - Makes it unlawful to intentionally obstruct a lawful hunt (as defined by this Act) within a national forest. Establishes: (1) civil penalties for such violations; (2) procedures for individual and government agent complaints; and (3) permitted uses of collected penalty money. Authorizes injunctive relief. Permits an affected individual or sportsman's organization to bring a civil action to recover actual and punitive damages and attorney's fees.
United States · United States Congress · 25 September 1992
Medicare and Medicaid Amendments Act of 1992 - Title I: Amendments to Medicare Program - Subtitle A: Provisions Relating to Part A - Amends the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (OBRA) of 1989 to provide that all hospitals classified as regional referral centers on September 30, 1992 shall retain such status through September 30, 1994. Provides that hospitals which fail to qualify as regional referral centers for FY 1993 as a result of a decision by the Medicare Geographic Classification Review Board shall be provided by the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) with an opportunity to decline the reclassification. Prohibits the Secretary from revising standardized amounts to account for hospitals which decline the reclassification. Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to revise Medicare-dependent, small rural hospital payment provisions. Sets forth provisions analogous to those above with respect to Medicare-dependent, small rural hospitals and: (1) reclassification declination; and (2) standardized amount adjustment. Amends the OBRA of 1987 to authorize appropriations for the rural health transition grant program. Amends Medicare to authorize appropriations for the Essential Access Community Hospital program. Modifies the length of stay requirement for State designation of rural primary care hospitals. Amends the OBRA of 1989 to extend additional payments for hemophilia clotting factor furnished through September 30, 1994. Amends the OBRA of 1990 to require the Secretary to continue any rural hospital demonstration project at least through December 31, 1995. Amends Medicare to provide that: (1) a change in classification of hospitals from one area to another may not result in a reduction in the wage index for an urban area if the area has a wage index below the rural wage index for the State, or if the urban area is located in a State without any rural areas; (2) for discharges occurring on or after the effective date of this paragraph and before October 1, 1993, the Secretary shall adjust the urban standardized amount by a factor of 0.999321; and (3) if a hospital was previously reclassified based on standards for Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) (and New England County Metropolitan Areas) published in the Federal Register on January 3, 1980, and the hospital is located in a rural county under the most recently available standards for designating MSAs, the Secretary shall treat the hospital as being located in the urban metropolitan statistical area to which the greatest number of workers in the country commute. Allows the care of hospital inpatients receiving qualified psychologist services to be supervised by a clinical psychologist to the extent such supervision is permitted under State law. Requires the Secretary to: (1) delay until April 1, 1993, recoupment of any amounts paid to hospitals under a State hospital reimbursement control system that exceed amounts that would have otherwise been paid under Medicare payment rules; and (2) make available to the State and the hospitals in it all relevant information used in determining the amount of such excess payments before undertaking a recoupment. Directs the Secretary to begin collecting data on employee compensation and paid hours of employment in skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) to compute a wage index to adjust Medicare SNFs payments. Requires the Prospective Payment Assessment Commission to study and report to the Congress on the impact of applying routine cost limits for skilled nursing facilities on a regional basis. Subtitle B: Provisions Relating to Part B - Amends Medicare part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) to reinstate separate payment for electrocardiogram (EKG) interpretations performed or ordered to be performed as part of or in conjunction with a visit to or consultation with a physician. Repeals provisions providing reduced Medicare payments to new physicians and other practitioners during their first four years of practice. Prohibits the Secretary from modifying the methodology for determining the amount of time that may be billed for anesthesia services until January 1, 1997. Requires the Comptroller General to conduct a study and report to the Physician Payment Review Commission and specified congressional committees on time reported for anesthesia services. Provides that the initial review and revision of the geographic cost of practice index (GCPI) shall apply to services furnished on or after January 1, 1994 and shall be based on the most recent data on practice and malpractice expenses and physicians' work effort. Authorizes the Secretary to adjust GCPI to account for unique local circumstances. Requires the Secretary to study and report to specified congressional committees on the data necessary to review and revise geographical indices. Requires the Physician Payment Review Commission to study and report to specified congressional committees on the feasibility and desirability of providing for a special adjustment to the index value of the medical equipment and supplies input component of the index used with respect to services: (1) furnished by a physician who practices in an isolated area; (2) requiring the presence of expensive medical equipment and supplies in the physician's office; and (3) with respect to which the cost per service of operating the equipment is increased because of such physician's low volume of patients. Prohibits nonparticipating physicians and suppliers from billing or collecting an actual charge in excess of the Medicare limiting charge. Provides that no person is liable for payment of any amount billed in excess of the limiting charge. Requires that excess charges be refunded on a timely basis. Authorizes sanctions against physicians and suppliers who knowingly and willfully bill in excess of the limiting charge or fail to refund excess charges as required by this Act. Requires carriers to: (1) notify physicians and suppliers within 30 days if they have billed in excess of the limiting charge; and (2) include limiting charge information in the mailing explaining an individual's Medicare benefits after the submission of an unassigned claim on the individual's behalf which exceeds the limiting charge. Specifies the nonphysician practitioners that may only bill for services on an assignment-related basis. Provides that no person is liable for amounts billed in violation of such mandatory assignment rule. Requires the Secretary to report to the Congress on the extent to which actual charges exceed Medicare limiting charges, the number and types of services involved, and the average amount of excess charges. Directs the Secretary to appoint a Medicare Beneficiary Advisory Council to discuss proposed regulations, carrier manual instructions, and any other issues with an impact on delivery, cost, quality, or expansion of Medicare services. Requires the Secretary to provide for national standards which suppliers of medical equipment and supplies must meet in order to receive payment for items furnished. Prohibits payment unless a supplier also possesses a valid supplier number. Requires the Secretary to revise such standards to include specified requirements. Requires suppliers to meet such revised standards in order to receive a supplier number. Requires the Secretary to develop one or more standardized certificates of medical necessity for: (1) durable medical equipment (DME); (2) prosthetic devices; (3) orthotics and prosthetics; and (4) surgical dressings, and certain other devices. Modifies the OBRA of 1990 prohibition against the distribution of certificates of medical necessity by DME suppliers to extend its application, with certain exceptions, to suppliers of the other items directly listed above. Requires the Secretary to: (1) develop and establish uniform national coverage and utilization review criteria for 200 items of medical equipment and supplies selected in accordance with standards specified by this Act; (2) publish the criteria as part of the instructions provided to fiscal intermediaries and carriers; (3) review annually the coverage and utilization of such items to determine whether items not included among those selected should be subjected to such criteria (and, if appropriate, develop and apply such criteria to such additional items); and (4) report to specified congressional committees on the effect of uniform criteria on utilization of items. Prohibits the Secretary from issuing more than one supplier number to any supplier of medical equipment and supplies unless such issuance is appropriate to identify subsidiary or regional entities under the supplier's ownership or control. Amends SSA title XI to modify anti-kickback provisions. Amends Medicare to specify the circumstances under which Medicare beneficiaries are not financially liable for covered items furnished by suppliers on an unassigned basis. Removes aspirators and nebulizers from the category of DME items requiring frequent and substantial servicing, and includes supplies relating to aspirators and nebulizers in the category of inexpensive and other routinely purchased equipment. Adds payment rules for ostomy supplies, tracheostomy supplies, urologicals, surgical dressings, and other medical supplies. Provides for a freeze in reasonable charges for parenteral and enteral nutrients, supplies, and equipment during 1993. Directs the Comptroller General to study and report to specified congressional committees on: (1) the types, volume, and utilization of services and supplies furnished to Medicare-eligible nursing facility residents; and (2) changes made to descriptions relating to the codes for certain medical equipment and supplies. Modifies the definition of "certified nurse-midwife" by eliminating language that limits reimbursable services to those related to the care of mothers and babies during the maternity cycle. Revises payments provisions for services furnished by a certified registered nurse anesthetist who is medically directed. Amends the OBRA of 1986 to extend Alzheimer's disease demonstration projects for an additional year. Extends eligibility for designation as eye or eye and ear hospitals to hospitals that otherwise meet current law criteria but on October 1, 1987, operated as an eye or eye and ear specialty hospital or as a separate eye or eye and ear unit of a general acute care hospital which operates less than 20 percent of the beds that it operated on such date and has discontinued a substantial portion of its other acute care operations. Extends the OBRA of 1990's cap on payments for intraocular lenses through 1994. Expends the settings in which nurse practitioners, clinical nurse specialists, and physicians' assistants may bill Medicare part B for services performed. Provides for Medicare coverage of: (1) off-label cancer drugs that have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration, appeared in specified medical journals, or are included in one of three specified major medical compendia; and (2) oral cancer drugs that contain the same active ingredients as anticancer drugs covered by Medicare when administered intravenously. Subtitle C: Provisions Relating to Parts A and B - Permits Medicare Select policies to be offered in all States. Revises current law requirements applicable to Medicare Supplemental policies. Provides that a Medicare Select policy may be canceled or not renewed in the case of an individual who leaves the service area of the policy, except that if the individual moves to an area for which the issuer of the Medicare Select policy (or an affiliate) offers a Medicare Supplemental (Medigap) policy, the individual must be permitted to enroll in such policy if the benefits are comparable to or less than the benefits in the canceled or non-renewed policy. Authorizes sanctions against issuers of Medicare Supplemental policies who make misrepresentations or provide false information regarding such policies to the Secretary. Reduces Medicare payments for erythropoietin provided during 1993. Adds renal dialysis facilities to the list of institutions required under Medicare and Medicaid (SSA title XIX) to furnish patients with advanced directive information. Extends the periods during which Medicare: (1) is secondary to other payors for end stage renal disease beneficiaries; and (2) covers immunosuppressive drug therapy following a transplant procedure. Modifies general exceptions to prohibited physician referrals. Requires the Secretary to provide for an approved full-time equivalent (FTE) resident amount as the Secretary determines to be appropriate in the case of hospitals that in FY 1984 operated a primary care residency training program as their only approved residency program and had a base year per FTE resident amount of less than $10,000. Requires home health agencies and skilled nursing facilities to notify Medicare beneficiaries of the hospice benefit under Medicare, under certain conditions. Modifies hospital conditions of participation with respect to discharge planning to include an evaluation of a patient's need for hospice services. Amends the OBRA of 1987 to require the Secretary to extend the waivers for social health maintenance organization (SHMO) demonstration projects for an additional three years. Amends the Deficit Reduction Act of 1984 to expand SHMO demonstrations. Requires, for FY 1993, interest payments on clean claims if payment is not made within 30 days of the claim's receipt. Title II: Amendments to Medicaid Program - Subtitle A: Technical Corrections - Amends Medicaid to make technical corrections and, in certain instances, such as in item 1 of the list below, technical changes as well, to Medicaid provisions included in the OBRA of 1990 regarding: (1) reimbursement for prescribed drugs; (2) enrollment under group health plans; (3) low-income Medicare beneficiaries; (4) child health; (5) outreach locations; (6) payment for hospital services for children under age six; (7) payment adjustments for disproportionate share hospitals; (8) federally-qualified health centers; (9) substitute physicians; (10) home and community care for frail elderly; (11) community supported living arrangements; (12) COBRA continuation coverage; (13) Medicaid transition provisions for family assistance; (14) personal care services; (15) the Medicaid spend-down option; (16) optional State disability determinations; (17) special rules for health maintenance organizations (HMOs); (18) frail elderly waivers; (19) a certain demonstration project for low-income families; (20) coverage of HIV-positive individuals; (21) advanced directives; (22) physician services; and (23) nursing home reform. Makes other technical corrections to various Medicaid and Medicare provisions added or redesignated by the OBRA of 1990. Subtitle B: Other Amendments to Medicaid Provisions - Amends Medicaid to create an exception to the IMD (institution for mental diseases) exclusion for Medicaid-eligible individuals (of any age) who participate in a qualified comprehensive substance abuse treatment program under SSA title IV (thus allowing States to provide medical services to such individuals). Requires the Secretary to waive the requirements that all Medicaid services be provided on a statewide basis and in comparable amount, duration, and scope to all Medicaid beneficiaries where the Secretary determines that a waiver of such requirements is necessary and appropriate to enable a State to establish such a program. Gives State Medicaid programs the option of covering alcoholism and drug dependency residential treatment services for Medicaid-eligible pregnant women, caretaker parents, and their children. Requires States to operate a vaccine replacement system (VRS) under which childhood vaccines are purchased at the Centers for Disease Control price, or a lower price, if available, and provided free of charge to Medicaid providers unless the State already operates a universal vaccine distribution system or demonstrates to the Secretary's satisfaction that a VRS would not be appropriate or cost-effective. Gives States the option of reimbursing vaccine manufacturers directly when the manufacturer distributes childhood vaccines to Medicaid providers free-of-charge under a contract with the State. Requires the Secretary to establish a demonstration program to enable States to establish innovative immunization outreach demonstration programs. Extends the duration of the waivers used by States to establish primary care case-management systems (PCCMSs). Prohibits the Secretary from granting such a waiver to restrict an individual's freedom of choice of provider with respect to a comprehensive risk-based managed care plan unless the individual has a choice of at least two such plans in an area. Modifies the enrollment composition rule (ECR) which permits the Secretary to waive or modify the requirement that Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries constitute less than 75 percent of the membership of any prepaid medical provider to: (1) allow a State to contract with a private (currently only a public) entity; (2) change the circumstances under which the Secretary may waive or modify such requirement; (3) require the Secretary to review annually the financial stability of any private entity that is granted a waiver or modification and revoke it if such entity is not financially stable; and (4) set limits on the duration of such waivers. Provides that if an individual enrolled in a Federally qualified HMO or PCCMS becomes ineligible for Medicaid benefits as a result of excess income or resources, such individual shall, at the option of the State, continue to be eligible for such benefits through the end of the month in which such benefits would have otherwise terminated. Provides that the enhanced match for expenditures related to external reviews of the quality of care furnished by entities with Medicaid managed care contracts shall be made available for external quality reviews performed by any organization approved by the Secretary which is unaffiliated with the State or with any entity with a Medicaid managed care contract. Authorizes the Secretary to approve waivers to authorize a State to approve managed care plans to be operated by political subdivisions of the State. Specifies conditions for approval. Authorizes the Secretary to extend retroactively the waiver of ECR granted to the District of Columbia Chartered Health Plan, Inc., if the Secretary determines that such entity continues to make progress toward achieving compliance with ECR. Provides that habilitation services shall be available for an individual participating in a home- and community-based services waiver program regardless of whether the individual was previously institutionalized. Permits public and nonprofit case management entities to pay providers directly, under certain conditions. Requires such entities to have a contract with the State under which they are required to maintain claims records and provide information to the Secretary or State agency about such claims. Allows States to restrict an individual's freedom of choice of case managers under home- and community-based waiver programs, under certain conditions. Provides that States are no longer required to bill third parties for case management services where the State demonstrates to the Secretary's satisfaction that it is not cost-effective to do so. Changes the inflation factor used in determining State expenditures for medical assistance with respect to home- and community-based services provided under certain waivers. Gives States the option of extending Medicaid coverage to certain children who have been placed in foster care. Directs the Secretary to provide for the establishment of demonstration projects to provide outreach services to individuals who are likely to be eligible for Medicaid payment of their Medicare out-of-pocket expenses. Amends the OBRAs of 1989 and 1990 to provide for the extension of certain demonstration projects extending Medicaid coverage to pregnant women, children, and certain low-income families not otherwise eligible for Medicaid. Requires the Secretary to provide that additional OBRA of 1990 demonstration projects extending Medicaid coverage to certain low-income families are conducted on a substate basis. Makes technical revisions in provisions for determining periods of ineligibility for Medicaid payment of nursing home expenses. Changes the methodology for determining the amount Medicaid pays for prescription drugs. Allows certified nurse midwives to be reimbursed for providing non-maternity related services, to the extent such practitioners are legally authorized under State law to provide such services. Requires HHS' Departmental Appeals Board to adjust the amount of a disallowance based on the nature of the State's violation. Amends SSA title XI to increase the annual cap on Federal Medicaid matching funds for Puerto Rico starting in FY 1994. Amends Medicaid to provide that beginning in FY 1993 any funds for community supported living arrangements services remaining available at the end of a fiscal year shall be available to be expended in the following fiscal year. Makes any Native Hawaiian Health Center a Federally Qualified Health Center under Medicaid. Title III: Miscellaneous Amendments - Amends SSA title V (Maternal and Child Health Services) to increase the authorization of appropriations for FY 1993. Provides for a set-aside for evaluations of SSA title V programs.
United States · United States Congress · 24 September 1992
Durable Medical Equipment Fraud and Abuse Prevention Act of 1992 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to: (1) define "medical equipment and supplies" to include durable medical equipment and prosthetics and orthotics and prosthetic devices; (2) require the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to issue revised national standards for suppliers of medical equipment and supplies and to develop one or more standardized medical necessity certificates for suppliers of the items covered by the definition above; (3) permit suppliers of such items to complete information in such certificates identifying the supplier and the beneficiary, describing the item furnished, and giving the product code for such item; (4) set penalties for violations involving distribution of such certificates; (5) require the Secretary to develop and establish uniform national coverage and utilization review criteria for 200 items of medical equipment and supplies selected in accordance with specified standards, annually review to determine whether items not included among those selected should be subjected to such uniform criteria, and report to the Congress on the criteria's impact on item utilization; (6) prohibit the Secretary from issuing more than one supplier number to any supplier of medical equipment and supplies, except under certain circumstances; (7) specify the circumstances under which Medicare beneficiaries are not financially liable for items and services furnished by a supplier on an unassigned basis; (8) change payment methodology for nebulizers and aspirators and certain medical supplies; and (9) direct the Comptroller General to study and report to the Congress on services and supplies furnished to Medicare-eligible nursing facility residents, and on HHS changes to descriptions relating to the codes for medical equipment and supplies. Amends SSA title XI to modify anti-kickback provisions.
United States · United States Congress · 18 September 1992
Amends the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States to suspend, through December 31, 1994, the duty on capillary membrane material and microporous hollow fiber membranes for oxygenation of blood during open heart surgery, having an outside diameter of between .22 and .29 mm and a wall thickness of between .017 and .037 mm.
United States · United States Congress · 17 September 1992
Authorizes the President, on behalf of the Congress, to present a gold medal to John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie in recognition of his accomplishments as a musician. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to provide for the sale of bronze duplicates of the medal.
United States · United States Congress · 10 September 1992
State Health Care Financing Equity Act of 1992 - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to waive ERISA preemption requirements so as to allow States to: (1) provide for State universal health plans, State risk pools for the medically uninsurable, or prospective payment systems; and (2) impose State provider taxes.
United States · United States Congress · 12 August 1992
Agency for Health Care Policy and Research Reauthorization Act of 1992 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to add prevention of diseases and other health conditions to the purposes of the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research. Authorizes training grants in the field of health services research. Mandates: (1) the gathering, organizing, summarizing, and conveyance of technology assessment information to provide a single public source regarding assessment of health care technologies; (2) an annual report on technology assessments; and (3) conducting assessments of existing and new technologies, in part through an evaluation of health services provided through publicly and privately funded sources. Replaces provisions establishing at the National Library of Medicine (NLM) an information center on health care technologies and health care technology assessment with provisions mandating establishment and publication of a methodology for setting assessment priorities. Requires: (1) implementation of the methodology to produce, at least annually, a ranked list of assesements to be conducted or supported; and (2) annually conducting at least five of the high priority assessments. Requires the Office of Health Technology Assessment to publish a description of the process used to conduct its assessments. Establishes: (1) a program of grants, contracts, or cooperative agreements for public-private partnerships for conducting health care technology assessments of activities in the private sector; and (2) a task force to support interagency collaboration on health technology assessment, including the development of new and emerging technologies, the conduct of clinical trials, and consensus development. Requires, with regard to certain Agency guidelines, standards, performance measures, and review criteria: (1) inclusion of information on the risks, benefits, and costs of all alternative strategies; and (2) coverage, by a specified date, of at least three clinical treatments or conditions that account for a significant portion of national health expenditures, have significant variation in treatment, and are identified by a specified Advisory Council as likely to involve inappropriate use of health care resources. Establishes, as part of the single public health care technology assessment source established by this Act, a Resource Center for Clinical Practice Guidelines. Requires the NLM to establish a system to identify and collect practice guidelines and to provide information on guidelines in a convenient, electronic form. Requires the Agency to enter into an agreement with the NLM to implement this paragraph. Requires that the Agency's Administrator carry out provisions relating to the Forum for Quality and Effectiveness in Health Care through the Form's Director. Provides for the selection and composition of panels convened by the Director. Limits the percentage of members of grant and contract peer review groups who may be U.S. officers or employees. (Currently, U.S. officers and employees are excluded from the groups.) Revises other requirements regarding the groups. Allows the Agency to tabulate and analyze statistics and prepare studies for public or nonprofit private entities who pay the costs of such services. Modifies requirements for the agenda for development of guidelines, standards, performance measures, and review criteria, including covering at least three conditions that account for significant national health expenditures. Mandates production of an annual list of priority guideline topics. Modifies, with regard to guidelines, standards, performance measures, and review criteria, requirements concerning: (1) pilot testing; and (2) evaluations. Mandates studies of: (1) cost estimating methods for alternative treatments included in guidelines; and (2) the processes by which guidelines and standards are developed and disseminated. Requires the National Advisory Council for Health Care Policy, Research, and Evaluation to advise the Agency's Administrator on the selection of Guideline Panels and the Chairpersons of the Panels and to participate in the production of the annual list of priority guideline topics. Removes provisions establishing a subcouncil of the Council to carry out specified duties. Authorizes appropriations to carry out provisions relating to the Agency. Authorizes appropriations for demonstration projects on emergency medical services for children.
United States · United States Congress · 12 August 1992
Farmer Owned Reserve Improvements Act of 1992 - Amends the Agricultural Act of 1949 with regard to the farmer owned reserve program to authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to: (1) provide original price support loans for wheat and feed grains; (2) announce program conditions at any time; and (3) permit program entry as unforeseen market conditions warrant. Authorizes discretionary program exit for producers with original loans.
United States · United States Congress · 12 August 1992
Amends the Trade Act of 1974 to prohibit the President from designating as an article eligible for duty-free treatment under the Generalized System of Preferences any import-sensitive agricultural article which will render ineffective, or materially interfere with, a loan or purchase program, or other industry-wide operation, of the Department of Agriculture. Requires the President to prescribe procedures under which articles may be granted eligible article status, including procedures under which interested persons may petition that articles be granted such status.
United States · United States Congress · 11 August 1992
Health Insurance Purchasing Cooperatives Act - Mandates grants to States for the administrative costs of planning and implementing coordinated buying programs through which small employers may purchase employee health insurance. Requires that the programs be the sole mechanism for small employers to purchase such insurance. Allow exceptions for insurance purchased from certain associations that offer health insurance as a service to members. Requires that a State program provide each small employer in the State access to health insurance for its employees and their dependents through one or more Health Insurance Purchasing Cooperatives, each covering a defined geographic district. Regulates Cooperative governance. Sets forth Cooperative duties, including issuing contracts and administering all aspects of coverage for all small employers within the district. Waives Federal and State antitrust laws. Mandates that the State program require any small employer that chooses to provide a health benefit plan to do so by purchasing insurance through the Cooperative, nothwithstanding specified provisions of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of of 1974. Authorizes appropriations. Establishes the National Health Care Board. Requires the Board to establish Coordinated Buying Program Precepts setting forth certain criteria, including regarding a uniform data system, collection of outcomes data, and determining minimum benefit requirements. Authorizes appropriations. Requires the Board to establish minimum benefit requirements for plans offered through Cooperatives, including inpatient and outpatient hospital care and physician services, diagnostic tests, prenatal and well-baby care, preventive and early intervention services, and certain inpatient and outpatient mental disorder services. Declares that nothing in State law or this Act: (1) prohibits managed care or different levels of payments for different providers; or (2) requires payment to any provider excluded from participation in any Federal health care program. Requires the Board to establish minimum benefit requirements for two additional health benefit plans providing more extensive or more innovative benefits. Amends provisions of the Public Health Service Act relating to health maintenance organizations (HMOs) to exempt from those provisions HMOs that provide services meeting the requirements under this Act. Establishes the National Health Insurance Data System, consisting of: (1) a National Data Base for Health Insurance and Health Outcomes Information; (2) no more than five Regional Health Insurance Data Centers; and (3) an electronic health insurance and outcomes data processing mechanism. Requires the Board to: (1) establish uniform billing and claims forms and mandatory reporting requirements; and (2) require carriers to issue to each participant an electronic processing card. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 11 August 1992
Federal Crop Insurance Fairness Act - Amends the Federal Crop Insurance Act with respect to crop insurance yield coverage to: (1) base coverage on a producer's crop yields for a commodity over four-to-ten crop years; (2) establish a minimum yield coverage floor of not less than entry level coverage; (3) limit transitional yield data use to not more than four years; and (4) permit the use of previous yield or transitional yield data for new land. States that late planting coverage shall: (1) extend for up to 25 days after the final planting date; and (2) reduce yield guarantee by one percent per day for the first ten days and two percent per day for the next 15 days. Includes prevented planting coverage (with substitute crop option) as part of the basic crop insurance policy. Provides 50 percent coverage for a natural disaster-caused prevented planting. States that the insured producers shall not have their indemnity payment reduced because of a de minimis yield.
United States · United States Congress · 10 August 1992
Pension Funding Improvement Act of 1992 - Title I: Amendments to Pension Plan Funding Requirements - Amends the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to revise minimum funding standards for pension plans. Revises the additional funding requirements for pension plans that are not multiemployer plans to provide for an underfunding reduction requirement and solvency maintenance requirement. Title II: Required Security for Certain Plan Amendments - Amends IRC and ERISA to increase required funding percentages and required security under provisions for pension plan termination insurance. Applies such required funding and security provisions to multiemployer plans, as well as to other pension plans. Applies specified criminal penalties to violations of such requirements. Title III: Miscellaneous Provisions - Requires the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) and the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to submit separate reports to the Congress setting forth alternative increases in premiums that would be required for the assets of the single-employer program (established under ERISA provisions for pension plan termination insurance) to equal or exceed such program's current and expected liabilities by 2002. Amends ERISA to require inclusion in annual PBGC reports of actuarial evaluations of pension benefit guaranty funds for the next five, ten, twenty, and thirty years. (Currently, inclusion of such evaluations for the next five years only is required.) Requires such evaluations to set forth alternative premium schedules to assure that PBGC assets equal or exceed its liabilities during such periods. Authorizes the CBO to transmit a separate report analyzing and commenting upon the actuarial evaluation (and premium schedules) prepared by the PBGC, for any fiscal year the CBO deems appropriate. Authorizes the PBGC to require certain plan sponsors or members of a sponsor's controlled group to provide it with records, documents, or other information necessary to determine liabilities and assets of plans covered by ERISA plan termination insurance provisions, or the financial condition of sponsors or members of sponsors' controlled groups maintaining such plans. Applies such information requirements to a plan if: (1) its underfunding exceeds $10,000,000; (2) it has more than 2,000 participants; or (3) it has been granted minimum funding waivers in excess of $1,000,000. Treats all plans maintained by the same sponsor (or any member of such sponsor's controlled group) as one plan for purposes of such information requirements.
United States · United States Congress · 6 August 1992
Intergovernmental Health Care Fraud and Abuse Task Force Act of 1992 - Amends title XI of the Social Security Act to establish the Intergovernmental Task Force on Health Care Fraud and Abuse to: (1) investigate the nature, magnitude, and cost of health care fraud and abuse in the United States; and (2) identify and develop the most effective methods of preventing and eliminating such fraud and abuse.
United States · United States Congress · 5 August 1992
Congratulates the citizens of Israel on concluding fair and open democratic elections. Welcomes Prime Minister Rabin to the United States. Applauds his statements and actions encouraging active participation in the search for peace. Calls upon all parties in the region to actively and seriously engage in the peace process.
United States · United States Congress · 31 July 1992
Condemns the killing and destruction by the political factions in Somalia. Urges such factions to abide by the United Nations (UN) ceasefire and to allow the deployment of security forces to protect humanitarian relief deliveries and workers. Commends the efforts of UN Secretary-General Boutrous Ghali and his Special Envoy to Somalia, Ambassador Sahnoun. Pays tribute to the actions of relief agencies working in Somalia. Recognizes the July 27, 1992, statement of the President urging the UN to deploy a sufficient number of security guards to permit relief supplies to move into and within Somalia, and committing funds for such an effort. Calls upon: (1) the international community to immediately expand its relief efforts in Somalia; and (2) the President to work with the UN Security Council to deploy security guards immediately to assure that humanitarian relief gets to those most in need.
United States · United States Congress · 27 July 1992
Declares that the Congress acknowledges and appreciates the commitment, devotion, and sacrifices of present and former military families. Designates November 23, 1992, as National Military Families Recognition Day.
United States · United States Congress · 24 July 1992
Rehabilitation Act Amendments of 1992 - Amends the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (the Act) to revise and extend various vocational rehabilitation programs. Title I: Administration and Vocational Rehabilitation Services - Subtitle A: Administration - Revises provisions for findings, purpose, and policy under the Act. Revises or adds definitions of community rehabilitation programs (this term replaces rehabilitation facilities), employment outcomes, individuals with disabilities, personal assistance services, rehabilitation technology (replaces engineering), individuals with severe disabilities supported employment, assessment for determining eligibility and vocational rehabilitation needs, assistive technology devices and services, disability, extended services, impartial hearing officers, independent living services, ongoing support services, supported employment services, and transition services. Sets the Federal share at 78.7 percent. (Currently the Federal share is 80 percent for payments less than or equal to the 1988 payment to the State, and 75 percent of any excess over the FY 1988 payment for FY 1993.) Requires annual reports to include information on types of rehabilitation technology services provided to each client in the preceding fiscal year. Allows recipients of grants under specified programs under the Act to carry over such funds for use in the next fiscal year. Adds client assistance information requirements. Requires all programs that provide services to individuals with disabilities under the Act to advise such individuals or their parents, guardians, or legal representatives of the availability and purposes of the client assistance program, including information on how to seek assistance under it. Subtitle B: Vocational Rehabilitation Services - Revises provisions for findings, purpose, and policy under title I (Vocational Rehabilitation Services) of the Act. Extends through FY 1997 the authorization of appropriations for: (1) basic grants for vocational rehabilitation services (in necessary amounts, but at least equal to the immediately preceding fiscal year, plus indexing for inflation); and (2) innovation and expansion grants (in necessary amounts). Revises the formula for determining amounts under specified provisions for extension of authorization or duration. Revises requirements for State plans under the Act to allow their submission to coincide with the intervals at which State plans are to be submitted under other Federal laws, such as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Requires State plans to include certain provisions, as follows. Requires explanation of the methods by which the State will provide vocational rehabilitation services to all eligible individuals with disabilities. (Provides that State criteria shall determine those with the most severe disabilities, who are to receive such services first.) Requires description of how rehabilitation technology services will be provided at each stage of the rehabilitation process and on a statewide basis, and of the training to be provided for vocational rehabilitation counselors and client assistance and other related personnel. Requires assurance that facilities will comply with provisions for nondiscrimination under Federal grants and programs under the Act and with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. Requires a comprehensive system of personnel development for professionals and paraprofessionals employed by the State agency, standards to ensure appropriate and adequate training of personnel, and minimum standards to ensure availability of personnel trained to communicate in the native language or mode of communication of the client. Provides that determinations regarding availability of comparable services and benefits under any other program are not required prior to the provision of services if an immediate job placement would be lost due to a delay in the provision of comparable benefits. Requires use of existing information available from other programs and providers (particularly education officials and the Social Security Administration) and information that can be provided by the individual with a disability or that individual's family in determining eligibility for vocational rehabilitation services and choosing rehabilitation goals, objectives, and services. Revises provisions for interagency cooperation to specifically include arrangements for coordination of services to individuals eligible under Federal law which created the Committee on Purchases of Blind-made Products (the Wagner-O'Day Act). Provides that interagency cooperation includes, if appropriate: (1) establishing interagency working groups; and (2) entering into formal interagency cooperative agreements that identify policies, practices, and procedures that can be coordinated and describe available resources and financial responsibilities of each agency. Changes references to rehabilitation facilities and their condition to community rehabilitation programs and their effectiveness. Requires annual (currently periodic) review and reevaluation of the status of individuals placed in extended employment settings in community rehabilitation programs, including workshops, or other employment under specified provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 for special certificates for employment of individuals with disabilities. Requires such review and reevaluation to: (1) include individual or family input; and (2) determine such individuals' interests, priorities, and needs for their employment, or training for competitive employment, in integrated settings in the labor market. Requires maximum efforts, including provision of vocational rehabilitation services, designed to promote movement from extended employment to integrated employment, including supported employment. Permits use of funds under title I of the Act for facilities construction, but only under special circumstances. Includes the views of the Director of the client assistance program among those that are to be considered in State and local policy planning under the Act. Requires that continuing studies and annual evaluation also form the basis for developing and updating a required strategic plan. Requires that public comment precede the development of the State plan. Requires the State agency to establish plans, policies, and methods (including entering into a formal interagency agreement with education officials responsible for public education of individuals with disabilities) to facilitate: (1) development and accomplishment of long-term goals and objectives, as well as those related to independent living before a student leaves a school setting, including coordination plans for transition services; and (2) transition from public education by an educational agency to vocational rehabilitation services by the designated State unit, including coordination plans for transition services. Adds State plan requirements for: (1) coordination and working relationships with the Statewide Independent Living Council and independent living centers; (2) a strategic plan to expand and improve vocational rehabilitation services for individuals with disabilities on a statewide basis; (3) description and assurance of the effectiveness of the system for evaluating performance of rehabilitation counselors, coordinators, and other personnel in State facilities; (4) description of State cooperation with disability organizations, business, industry, and labor to expand employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities, including training and technical assistance with respect to changes made by this Act and methods of complying with specified employment and access requirements of the Act and with title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, or otherwise ensuring equal opportunity for such individuals, regardless of whether they have applied for or are receiving vocational rehabilitation services under the Act; and (5) establishment of a State Rehabilitation Advisory Council, unless a consumer-controlled independent commission is responsible for overseeing the operation of the designated State agency, and specified conditions are met. Sets forth provisions for determinations of eligibility for assistance under title I of the Act, including: (1) general eligibility for an individual with a disability who requires vocational rehabilitation services in relation to gainful employment; (2) presumption of a physical or mental impairment which substantially impedes, and a serious such impairment which seriously limits, employment in the case of individuals who have a disability or are blind as determined under specified Social Security Act provisions; (3) appropriate use of determinations made by officials of other agencies, particularly certain education officials, as to whether an individual has a disability or severe disability; (4) presumption that an individual can benefit in employment outcome from vocational rehabilitation services, unless the designated State unit can demonstrate by clear and convincing evidence that an individual is incapable of so benefitting (after extended evaluation, preliminary assessment, prompt determination except in unusual circumstances, and notification of reasons, rights, remedies, and client assistance). Revises provisions for the individualized written rehabilitation program (IWRP). Requires the designated State unit, upon determination of individual eligibility for services, to complete an assessment (if necessary) to determine certain eligibility and vocational rehabilitation needs. Requires the IWRP to be jointly developed, agreed upon, and signed by the individual (or parent, family member, guardian, advocate, or authorized representative) and the vocational rehabilitation counselor or coordinator. Requires the IWRP to be designed to achieve the individual's employment objective, consistent with the individual's unique strengths, resources, priorities, concerns, abilities, and capabilities. Requires the IWRP to include, among other items, statements of: (1) long-range goals based on the assessment of individual rehabilitation needs, and intermediate objectives determined through a needs assessment carried out in the most individualized and integrated setting (consistent with the individual's informed choice); (2) assessment and reassessment of expected need for extended services, if appropriate (as well as for postemployment services) and details on how such services will be provided or arranged; (3) terms and conditions under which goods and services will be provided to the individual; (4) identification of an entity or entities that will provide the services and of the process used to provide or procure such services; (5) the individual's own words (or those of a parent, family member, guardian, advocate, or authorized representative) describing how the individual was informed and involved in choosing among alternative goals, objectives, services, providers, and methods; (6) reasons why an individual for whom a program has been prepared is no longer eligible for services (if such an amendment is necessary); and (7) rights and remedies available to an individual. Requires the designated State unit to furnish a copy of the IWRP and amendments to the individual with a disability (or, if appropriate, a parent, family member, guardian, advocate, or authorized representative). Requires selection of the impartial hearing officer for a case, either on a random basis or by agreement of the Director of the designated State unit (Director) and the individual with a disability, from among a pool of qualified persons identified jointly by the designated State unit and consumer members of the State Rehabilitation Advisory Council (or the consumer-controlled independent commission(s)). Prohibits the Director from overturning or modifying any part of such officer's decision that supports the individual's position, unless the Director concludes (based on clear and convincing evidence) that such decision is clearly erroneous because it is contrary to Federal or State law, including policy. Requires the Director to make a final decision in writing, including a full report of findings and grounds, and provide a copy to the individual. Prohibits suspension, reduction, or termination of services being provided under an IWRP, pending a final determination of such a hearing or other final resolution of administrative review, unless the individual so requests or unless the individual has obtained such services through misrepresentation, fraud, collusion, or criminal conduct. Revises provisions relating to the scope of vocational rehabilitation services under title I of the Act to include: (1) assessment to determine eligibility and vocational rehabilitation needs by qualified personnel, including, if appropriate, an assessment by personnel skilled in rehabilitation technology; (2) maintenance for additional costs incurred while participating in rehabilitation; (3) referral and other services to help secure needed services from other agencies through agreements, if such services are not available under the Act; (4) transition services to help accomplish long-term rehabilitation goals and intermediate objectives; (5) on-the-job or other related personal assistance services to assist individual performance of work-related functions necessary to obtain and retain competitive work in an integrated work setting and to fulfill individual job functions while actively involved in a rehabilitation program that includes other title I services; and (6) supported employment services. Allows title I vocation rehabilitation services, when provided for the benefit of groups of individuals, to also include costs of: (1) establishing a community rehabilitation program; or (2) construction, under special circumstances, of a facility for such a program. Requires a State, in order to be eligible for assistance under title I of the Act, to establish a State Rehabilitation Advisory Council (and a separate Council for individuals who are blind if there is a separate State agency to administer that part of vocational rehabilitation services for such individuals) to review and advise the designated State unit. Allows a State, as an alternative to establishing such a Council, to have a consumer-controlled independent commission (or commissions if there is a separate agency for rehabilitation of individuals who are blind) to oversee the operation of the designated State unit. Requires that a majority of Council members be individuals with disabilities and not employed by the designated State unit. Requires such Councils to coordinate with other appropriate councils within the State. Requires such Councils to submit annual reports to State Governors or appropriate State entities and to the Commissioner of the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) (the Commissioner). Requires the Council to prepare, in conjunction with the designated State unit, a plan for provision of resources, including staff, to carry out Council functions. Prohibits financial conflict of interest by members voting. Allows a State that has established a comparable Council to be considered as complying with such Council requirements. Requires development and implementation of evaluation standards and performance indicators for the vocational rehabilitation services program under title I of the Act, in accordance with specified procedures including public comment. Requires annual State reports to the Commissioner on the extent of State compliance with such standards and indicators. Directs the Commissioner and any State whose performance is below established standards to jointly develop a program improvement plan. Directs the Commissioner to biannually review such State's program improvement efforts, request further revisions where necessary, and continue such review until satisfactory performance is sustained for more than one year. Requires reductions or terminations of payments to any State failing to enter into or comply with a necessary performance improvement plan. Directs the Commissioner to include, in the annual report to the Congress, an analysis of program performance, with relative State performance, based on such standards and indicators. Directs the Commissioner to: (1) provide for annual review and periodic on-site monitoring of programs under title I of the Act; and (2) determine whether States are complying with State plan provisions and with evaluation standards and performance indicators. Sets forth procedures for such reviews and monitoring. Requires the Commissioner to provide technical assistance to programs to improve the quality of services, and corrective action plans for programs not in compliance with plans, standards, or indicators. Requires withholding of payments in cases of State agency failures to comply in administration of a State plan, in accordance with specified procedures for notification and judicial review of withholding determinations. Provides that unused payments to a State shall remain available for reallotment to other States until reallotted. Modifies State maintenance of effort requirements relating to amounts of payments to States. Allows client assistance programs (CAPs) to provide assistance and advocacy with respect to services directly related to facilitating the employment of the individual. Adds to the procedural requirements limiting redesignation of the agency conducting a CAP. Extends through FY 1997 the authorization of appropriations for grants to States for CAPs under title I of the Act. Revises provisions for innovation and expansion grants under part C of title I of the Act. Requires any State desiring to receive assistance under this part C (and under part B basic grants) to submit to the Commissioner a strategic plan to develop and use innovative approaches for achieving long-term success in expanding and improving vocational rehabilitation services (including supported employment services) provided under the State plan and the supplement. Sets forth requirements for the contents of, and the process of developing, such strategic plans. Allows States to use part C funds to improve: (1) working relationships between vocational rehabilitation services and independent living services; (2) vocational rehabilitation services for individuals with the most severe disabilities; (3) services to classes of individuals with unusual or complex rehabiitation needs; (4) use of rehabilitation technology, including appropriate evaluation and adaptation of the workplace or training program; and (5) functioning of the services delivery system and coordination with other entities, including development of an integrated system of community-based vocational rehabilitation service with appropriate transitions between service systems. Allows States to also use part C funds to support: (1) ensuring the effectiveness of the annual evaluation of programs and personnel; (2) initiating, expanding, or improving a comprehensive system of personnel development; (3) training and technical assistance to consumers, business, industry, labor, community rehabilitation programs, and others regarding implementation of amendments made by this Act, of title V (Access) provisions of the Act, and of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990; (4) funding of the State Rehabilitation Advisory Council and the Statewide Independent Living Council. Sets forth provisions for part C innovation and expansion grants allotments among States, and increases the minimum allotment. Repeals outdated provisions for a study of needs of American Indians with handicaps. Directs the Commissioner to undertake a comprehensive review of the current system for collecting and reporting client data under the Act, particularly under title I programs. Sets forth requirements relating to considerations, recommendations, other views, and a report to the Congress on such review. Directs the Secretary of Education (the Secretary) and the Secretary of Health and Human Services to enter into a memorandum of understanding to exchange data of mutual importance, on clients of State vocational rehabilitation agencies, contained in specified databases of the RSA and the Social Security Administration. Directs the Secretary to promulgate regulations for: (1) implementing an order of selection for vocational rehabilitation services under specified provisions of title I of the Act if such services cannot be provided to all eligible applicants; and (2) criteria for selecting vocational rehabilitation services under title I and procuring such services directly by the individual (with specific procedures to ensure such services' sufficient scope, quality, and reasonable costs, and prevention of fraud, waste, and abuse in provision of such services). Allows a State to continue until October 1, 1994, to use Social Security reimbursement payments generated under the State vocational rehabilitation program under title I of the Act or the State supported employment services program under part C of title VI of the Act to support allowable expenditures under any other rehabilitation program under the Act (if such State did so during FY 1992). Title II: Research - Revises the declaration of purpose under title II (Research and Training) of the Act. Extends through FY 1997 the authorization of appropriations for: (1) the expenses of the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (the Institute); and (2) all other programs under title II of the Act. Revises provisions for the Institute's functions and its Director's responsibilities to require wide dissemination of: (1) information on activities funded by the Institute; and (2) educational materials to various public and private entities, including rehabilitation practitioners, individuals with disabilities, and their families, concerning ways to maximize such individuals' full inclusion and integration into society, employment, independent living, family support, and economic and social self-sufficiency (and requires pertinence to such concerns in the Institute's conferences, seminars, and workshops on advances in rehabilitation research and technology). Requires the Institute to report annually to the President and appropriate congressional committees on title II programs and activities, including information on specific advancements and developments and specific impact on vocational rehabilitation services and quality of life for individuals with disabilities, and how such information was disseminated. Includes the Health Care Financing Administration among the entities with which the Institute may jointly produce certain statistical reports and studies (which are to be widely disseminated to various entities, including individuals with disabilities and their families). Requires Institute coordination with the Attorney General with respect to provision of information, training, or technical assistance regarding the Americans with Disability Act of 1990 to ensure consistency with the technical assistance plan under such Act. Requires the Institute's Deputy Director (as well as its Director) to have substantial experience in rehabilitation and in research administration. Includes individuals with disabilities among the highly qualified research fellows who may receive Institute fellowships. Includes knowledgeable individuals with disabilities and family members of individuals with disabilities among those who may comprise peer review groups for scientific review of research grants and programs over which the Institute has authority. Requires that individuals comprising such groups be selected from a pool of qualified individuals. Directs the Secretary to provide for training such individuals and for mechanisms to receive input from individuals with disabilities and their representatives. Revises provisions for use of title II funds. Revises provisions for a long-range plan for rehabilitation research to require such plan to: (1) identify any research which should be conducted regarding the inclusion and integration into society of individuals with disabilities, especially in the area of employment; (2) be developed in consultation with the Rehabilitation Research Advisory Council and after full consideration of input of individuals with disabilities and their families, organizations representing such individuals, providers of services under the Act, and researchers in the rehabilitation field; (3) include plans for widespread dissemination of research results in practical formats to diverse types of individuals and groups; (4) be developed by the Institute's Director (the Director) in coordination with the Commissioner, and in consultation with the Secretary, officials administrating the Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act, the Interagency Committee, individuals with disabilities and their families, and other appropriate persons; and (5) be revised at least once every five years and whenever the Director determines necessary. Revises provisions relating to the comprehensive and coordinated research program and pediatric rehabilitation research. Requires that certain grants to institutions of higher education be for training rehabilitation researchers, including individuals with disabilities, with particular attention to areas of research that improve effectiveness of services under the Act. Eliminates outdated provisions for a certain report, recommendations, and study. Revises provisions for an Interagency Committee to include as members the Commissioner (of RSA) and the Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services. Requires such Committee to first receive input from individuals with disabilities and their families before carrying out its identification, assessment, and coordination duties with respect to research related to such individuals' rehabilitation. Revises various purposes and emphases of required research grant and contract programs relating to multiple and interrelated needs of individuals with disabilities. Includes under such required programs demonstration projects, training, and related activities to develop methods, procedures, and rehabilitation technology to maximize such individuals' (especially those with severe disabilities) full inclusion and integration into society, employment, independent living, family support, and economic and social self-sufficiency, and to improve effectiveness of services under the Act. Revises provisions for discretionary grants to pay all or part of the cost of specialized research activities. Revises provisions for such discretionary grants for Rehabilitation Research and Training Centers to allow such centers to be operated in collaboration with providers of rehabilitation services or other appropriate services (as an alternative to the current collaboration, which is retained, with institutions of higher education). Revises required functions and authorized activities of such centers. Requires, to be eligible to receive a center grant, each institution or provider to: (1) be of size, scope, and quality to effectively carry out center activities in an efficient manner consistent with appropriate State and Federal law; and (2) have the ability to carry out the training activities either directly or through another entity. Requires that center grants be competitive and be for five-year periods, but allows a grant for a lesser period if the recipient is new or the grant supports new or innovative research. Revises provisions for such discretionary grants for Rehabilitation Technology Research and Resource Centers (currently named Rehabilitation Engineering Research Centers). Revises provisions for such center research and demonstration activities. Requires such centers, to the extent consistent with such activities, to: (1) assist, train, and provide information to individuals with disabilities and their families to increase awareness and understanding of how rehabilitation technology can address their needs, and of the range of available options, programs, services, and resources; and (2) train individuals, including those with disabilities, to become rehabilitation technology researchers and practitioners. Lists specified life and functional areas as areas of focus for such centers' activities. Authorizes the Director to fund an additional center, with an area of focus not identified in such list, to conduct research and demonstration activities relating to emerging program trends and technologies (based on public input and the recommendation of the Rehabilitation Research Advisory Council). Requires each such center to have an advisory committee with: (1) a majority membership of individuals with disabilities who use rehabilitative technology (or their parents, family members, guardians, advocates, or authorized representatives); and (2) a full membership broadly representative of individuals and groups with an interest in rehabilitation technology, including providers, manufacturers, funders, practitioners, and minority group members. Requires such grants to be competitive and for five year periods, but allows lesser periods in cases of new recipients or new or innovative research. Revises provisions for such discretionary grants for spinal cord injury research. Adds provisions for discretionary research grants for: (1) model personal assistance services systems and other innovative service programs; and (2) model systems of comprehensive service delivery to individuals with severe disabilities other than spinal cord injuries requiring a multidisciplinary system of providing vocational and other rehabilitation services. Revises provisions for such discretionary grants for rehabilitation of children or older individuals (including older American Indians) who are individuals with disabilities. Allows such research program to include projects designed to assist adjustment of, or maintain as residents in the community, older workers with disabilities on leaving the work force. Allows waiver of the requirement of a peer review site visit before a discretionary research grant may be made, if the Director determines there is sufficient information to make an award without a site visit. Directs the Secretary to establish in the Department of Education a Rehabilitation Research Advisory Council, to advise the Director with respect to research priorities and the development and revision of the long-range plan. Requires Council members to be: (1) appointed by the Secretary; and (2) generally representative of the communities of rehabilitation professionals, rehabilitation researchers, and individuals with disabilities and their families (with at least one-half of the Council members being such individuals or their family members). Title III: Training and Demonstration Projects - Revises and renames title III of the Act (currently Special Federal Responsibilities) as Training and Demonstration Projects, with a part A, Training Programs and Community Rehabilitation Programs (currently Construction and Training Programs), and a part B, Special Projects (currently Special Projects and Supplementary Services). Revises title III grant and contract programs to replace construction of rehabilitation facilities with development and improvement of community rehabilitation programs. Provides for training for skilled personnel to provide rehabilitation services to individuals with disabilities through various types of programs, and for training and information for such individuals and their families to develop skills to access the system and become active decisionmakers. Revises provisions for discretionary grants and contracts for personnel training, to provide for: (1) addressing needs for rehabilitation technology services; (2) specific training for personnel to deliver services, through supported employment programs, to individuals with the most severe disabilities; (3) recipients submitting detailed descriptions of strategies to be used to recruit and train minority group members and individuals with disabilities; (4) the Commissioner to furnish training services provided under the Act, as well as training regarding the applicability of specified access provisions of the Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990); (5) targeting funds to areas of personnel shortage; (6) allowable personnel training in various rehabilitation fields and services; and (7) revision of individual employment requirements as an alternative to individual repayment of scholarships for such rehabilitation personnel training. Revises provisions for grants for training interpreters for individuals who are deaf to include training for interpreters for individuals who are deaf-blind. Revises provisions for compensation of experts and consultants. Extends through FY 1997 the authorization of appropriations in necessary amounts for personnel training grants and contracts. Reserves at least 20 percent of such funds for allocation to designated State agencies for projects for inservice training of rehabilitation personnel (including projects for recruitment and retention, succession planning, leadership development and capacity building, and training on amendments made by this Act). Allows such reservation to be less than 20 percent if it would result in a lower level of funding for projects being carried out on the date of enactment of this Act by other recipients of such funds. Establishes a program of special training initiatives, including: (1) grants and contracts for rehabilitation training projects for rehabilitation personnel, impartial hearing officers, and individuals with disabilities and their families or representatives; (2) grants for training and information for individuals with disabilities and their families or representatives. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1993 through 1997 for such special training initiatives. Revises (and renames) provisions for community rehabilitation programs for individuals with disabilities. Extends through FY 1997 the authorization of appropriations for grants and contracts for such programs. Includes specified types of training and services under the vocational rehabilitation services offered by such programs. Authorizes the Commissioner to make additional grants to assist various entities in meeting costs of planning, services, and initial staffing of such programs. Provides that loan guarantees for facilities for community rehabilitation programs may be given only under special circumstances. Extends through FY 1997 the authorization of appropriations for comprehensive rehabilitation centers. Revises general grant and contract requirements under title III of the Act. Extends through FY 1997 the authorization of appropriations for title III part B special projects and supplementary services. Eliminates provisions for renovating and constructing facilities under special demonstration programs provisions. Establishes a program of discretionary grants by the Commissioner to various entities to increase client choice in the rehabilitation process, including the choice of providers of vocational rehabilitation services. (Replaces specified requirements relating to assisted special demonstration projects which provide services to individuals with spinal cord injuries.) Revises provisions for special projects and demonstrations providing supported employment. Extends through FY 1997 the authorization of appropriations for discretionary grants for such projects and demonstrations. Revises provisions for model statewide transitional planning services. Extends through FY 1997 the authorization of appropriations for discretionary grants for such services. Establishes programs of discretionary grants by the Commissioner to various entities for special and demonstration projects: (1) providing appropriate incentives to vocational rehabilitation counselors to achieve high quality placements for individuals with severe disabilities; (2) supporting models for a variety of community-based, coordinated services to help the transition of individuals with disabilities from rehabilitation hospital, nursing home, or comparable programs to programs providing independent living services in the community; and (3) relating to management and service delivery systems of vocational rehabilitation programs under the Act (or studying such systems). Revises provisions for discretionary grants for special or demonstration projects for vocational rehabilitation services for individuals with disabilities who are migratory or seasonal farmworkers (and their families). Allows such grants to be made to nonprofit agencies working in collaboration with the designated State agency (as well as to such State agency and local agencies). Extends through FY 1997 the authorization of appropriations for such migratory workers program. Revises provisions for special recreational programs. Includes vocational skills development under authorized activities of such programs. Sets a maximum grant period of three years. Allows renewal of a grant if the Commissioner determines that the recipient will continue to develop model or innovative programs of exceptional merit or will contribute substantially to developing or improving special recreational programs in other locations. Sets forth requirements for applications and maintenance of service levels. Sets the Federal share at 90, 75, and 50 percent, respectively, in the first, second, and third years. Extends through FY 1997 the authorization of appropriations for mandatory grants by the Commissioner for special recreational programs. Establishes a program of discretionary grants by the Commissioner to designated State units to provide independent living services and related services to assist older individuals who are blind to adjust to blindness by becoming more able to care for individual needs. Allow recipient State agencies to make subgrants to other entities. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1993 through 1997 for such grants program for independent living services for older individuals who are blind. Title IV: National Council on Disability - Revises provisions for the National Council on Disability (Council) (title IV of the Act). Directs the President to select Council members after soliciting recommendations from representatives of: (1) organizations representing a broad range of individuals with disabilities; and (2) organizations interested in individuals with disabilities. Requires Council members to: (1) be individuals with disabilities; or (2) have substantial knowledge or experience relating to disability policy or programs. Requires that a majority of Council members be individuals with disabilities, or parents or guardians of such individuals. Sets forth as revised Council's purpose the promotion of policies, programs, practices, and procedures to: (1) guarantee equal opportunity for all individuals with disabilities, regardless of nature or severity; and (2) empower such individuals to achieve economic self-sufficiency, independent living, and inclusion and integration into all aspects of society. Provides for three-year terms, with no member to serve more than two consecutive full terms. Changes the Council's duties regarding the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (the Institute) from establishing general policies for it and reviewing its operation to advising its Director on its policies and administration, including suggesting ways of improving its research and collection and dissemination of research findings. Revises other duties. Adds to Council duties continuing review and evaluation of new and emerging disability policy issues affecting individuals with disabilities at the Federal, State, and local levels and in the private sector, including specified issues and policies. Requires the Council to prepare and submit to the President and appropriate congressional committees a progress report on national disability policy by October 30, 1993, and annually thereafter. Requires the Council to seek public input, particularly that of individuals with disabilities, organizations representing a broad range of such individuals, and organizations interested in such individuals. Requires, by 1995, that one such report include information and analysis on State and Federal implementation of the amendments made by this Act. Revises provisions for compensation of council members and staff. Extends through FY 1997 the authorization of appropriations for the Council. Title V: Access - Revises and renames title V of the Act as Access (currently Miscellaneous Provisions). Repeals specified provisions relating to the effect on existing law and other matters. Revises provisions relating to employment of individuals with disabilities at the Federal level. Provides for use of the same standards as those under specified provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 in determining whether these provisions of the Act have been violated in a complaint alleging nonaffirmative action employment discrimination. Refers to the Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board as the Access Board. Includes the Department of Commerce among the agencies represented on such Board and increases the number of Board members by one. Revises provisions for terms of office. Revises provisions for Board functions, investigations, hearings, interagency agreements, reports, and assessments. Extends through FY 1997 the authorization of appropriations for such Access Board. Revises requirements for employment of individuals with disabilities under Federal contracts. Increases to $10,000 (from $2,500) the minimum contract amount which triggers such requirements. Authorizes the Secretary of Labor to waive such requirements under specified conditions. Provides for use of the same standards those under specified provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 in determining violations of such requirements in complaints alleging nonaffirmative action employment discrimination. Requires development of procedures to ensure nonduplication of effort and consistent standards with respect to complaints filed under these requirements of the Act and under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. Revises provisions for nondiscrimination under Federal grants and programs to require the same standards as under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. Revises provisions for electronic and information technology accessibility guidelines. Title VI: Employment Opportunities for Individuals with Disabilities - Revises provisions for employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities (title VI of the Act). Extends through FY 1997 the authorization of appropriations for part A community service employment pilot programs for individuals with disabilities. Revises part A to make conforming language changes. Revises part B provisions for projects with industry and business opportunities for individuals with disabilities. Makes conforming language changes. Revises part B program purposes and project requirements. Revises provisions for types of entities which may be grant recipients and for eligibility of individuals for services from such recipients based on State agency determinations. Includes under annual reporting requirements information on number of project participants who were terminated from project placements and the duration of those placements. Authorizes the Commissioner to include, as part of program agreements, authority for grant recipients to provide technical assistance for: (1) employers in hiring individuals with disabilities or meeting requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 relating to such employment; or (2) improving or developing relationships between current or prospective grant recipients and employers or organized labor. Revises part C of title VI, Supported Employment Services for Individuals with Severe Disabilities. Authorizes allotments, in addition to title I grants for vocational rehabilitation services, to assist States in developing collaborative programs with appropriate entities to provide supported employment services for those individuals with the most severe disabilities who require such services to enter or retain competitive employment. Directs the Secretary to make such allotments based on relative State population, but provides for minimum allotments. Allows such funds to be used to provide supported employment services to eligible individuals under this part. Prohibits funds under this part, title I, or specified title III provisions from being used to provide extended services to individuals eligible under this part or title I. Sets forth part C requirements for individual eligibility, State plan supplements, restrictions, and savings provisions. Extends through FY 1997 the authorization of appropriations for such part C supported employment services for individuals with severe disabilities. Title VII: Centers for Independent Living and Independent Living Services - Revises title VII of the Act, Centers for Independent Living and Independent Living Services. Revises part A general provisions for program purpose and definitions. Provides for consumer control of centers for independent living. Revises requirements for State plans under title VII. Requires the plan to be jointly signed by the Director of the designated State unit and the chairperson of the Statewide Independent Living Council. Requires such plans to specify objectives and timelines for their achievement. Requires, under the State plan, that the State will provide independent living services to individuals with severe disabilities in accordance with an independent living plan mutually agreed upon by the individual and an appropriate staff member of the service provider, unless the individual signs a waiver stating that such a plan is unnecessary. Requires State plans to also include provisions relating to: (1) scope and arrangement of services; (2) statewide network of centers; (3) working relationships among the Statewide Council, the designated State unit, and other appropriate entities; (4) coordination of part B services with part C centers and of Federal and State funding; (5) outreach; (6) requirements for recipients of assistance; (7) evaluation; and (8) administrative costs. Requires that the Statewide Independent Living Council (which must be established in order for the State to receive title VII funds) not be an entity within another State agency. Revises provisions relating to such Council's appointment and its composition of required and optional members and their qualifications (a majority must be individuals with disabilities and not employed by any State agency or center for independent living). Revises Council functions and powers. Allows use of comparable councils. Sets forth title VII responsibilities of the Commissioner for: (1) approval of State plans; (2) development of minimum compliance indicators; (3) on-site compliance reviews; and (4) reports. Extends the authorization of appropriations for FY 1993 through 1997, for title VII: (1) part B, Independent Living Services; (2) part C, Centers for Independent Living; and (3) part D, Protection and Advocacy of Individual Rights. Sets forth part B provisions for independent living services. Requires allotments based on relative State population and minimum allotments. Sets the Federal share at 90 percent. Requires States to use part B funds to provide specified resources relating to the Statewide Council. Allows States to use part B funds for: (1) provision of independent living services; (2) demonstrations of ways to expand and improve such services; (3) support for operation of centers for independent living; (4) support for increasing other entities' capacity to develop comprehensive approaches or systems for providing such services; (5) studies, information-gathering, model policies and procedures, and recommendations to policymakers to enhance such services; (6) training individuals with disabilities, service providers, and others regarding independent living philosophy; and (7) outreach to unserved and underserved populations. Sets forth part C provisions for centers for independent living. Sets forth allotment requirements, including reservation of funds for grants for training and technical assistance, funding priorities, review of applications, and prohibition on combined funds. Provides for allotment based on relative State populations and minimum allotments. Sets forth transition rules. Provides that part C grants to centers for independent living shall be made by: (1) the Commissioner, directly, in States in which Federal funding exceeds State funding; and (2) the director of the designated State unit in States where State funding equals or exceeds Federal funding. Sets forth separate provisions, with respect to these two procedures for making grants, for awards to eligible agencies, existing eligible agencies, new centers, current centers, order of priorities, review, and enforcement by the Commissioner or the director of the designated State unit (and on-site compliance reviews and adverse actions by that director). Requires such assisted centers for independent living to comply with specified standards relating to philosophy, provision of services, goals, community options, independent living core services, activities to increase community capacity, and resource development activities. Requires eligible agencies to provide specified assurances to the Commissioner. Defines eligible agency as a consumer-controlled, community-based, cross-disability, nonresidential private nonprofit agency. Sets forth alternative provisions for centers operated by State agencies, if there is no approved application by a nonprofit private agency. Sets forth transition provisions. Sets forth part D provisions for protection and advocacy of individual rights. Revises program purpose, authorization, and allotments. Reserves funds for technical assistance. Requires that a system, to be eligible for assistance under this part, to be a protection and advocacy system established under specified provisions of the Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act and to meet specified requirements under this Act for: (1) annual statements of objectives, priorities, and coordination; (2) client grievance procedures that assure full access for individuals with disabilities; and (3) assurances of supplementation of non-Federal funds. Provides for direct funding by the Secretary of allotments to systems under this part C, unless the system designates another entity to receive payment. Authorizes the Secretary to delegate administration of this part C program to the Commissioner of the Administration on Developmental Disabilities within the Department of Health and Human Services. Title VIII: Amendments to Other Acts - Subtitle A: Helen Keller National Center - Amends the Helen Keller National Center Act to revise and reauthorize various provisions of such Act. Extends through FY 1997 the authorization of appropriations for such Act. Includes under the definition of an individual who is deaf-blind one who is determined to be so through functional and performance assessment, even if no accurate measure of hearing and vision loss can be obtained due to cognitive or behavioral constraints. Authorizes the establishment of the Helen Keller Center Federal Endowment Fund. Sets forth reporting and other requirements. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1993 through 1997 for such Fund. Makes technical and conforming changes of language under such Act with respect to individuals who are deaf-blind. Subtitle B: Other Programs - Amends the Wagner-O'Day Act and the Small Business Act to make certain conforming changes of language with respect to people who are blind and severely disabled. Amends the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) to authorize the Secretary of Education, in making specified grants, to provide for training or retraining of regular education teachers who are involved in providing instruction to individuals who are deaf and are not certified as teachers of such individuals, in order to meet the communication needs of such individuals (such authority is transferred from the Rehabilitation Act of 1973). Directs the Secretary of Education to issue, within 90 days after enactment of this Act, a Notice of Inquiry concerning the definition of serious emotional disturbance as used in IDEA. Sets forth requirements for: (1) a public comment period; (2) inclusion of a proposed definition in such notice; and (3) a report containing a summary of public comments, and recommendations for an amendment to IDEA with respect to such definition. Amends the Technology-Related Assistance for Individuals with Disabilities Act of 1988 to make certain changes in language with respect to public or private agencies and organizations, including institutions of higher education. Amends a specified Joint Resolution with respect to the President's Committee on National Employ the Physically Handicapped Week (now National Disability Employment Awareness Month) to change references to handicapped persons to persons with disabilities. Extends certain provisions under such Joint Resolution.
United States · United States Congress · 23 July 1992
Amends the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States to suspend, through December 31, 1994, the duty on 4,4 (trifluoro-1 (trifluoromethyl) ethylidene) diphenol or 2,2-bis(4-hydroxyphenyl) hexafluoropropane (bisphenol AF).