United States · United States Congress · 19 January 1999
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Pay and Allowances Title II: Retirement Benefits Soldiers', Sailors', Airmen's, and Marines' Bill of Rights Act of 1999 - Title I: Pay and Allowances - Waives during FY 2000 any required adjustment in the rates of monthly military basic pay in conformance with the General Schedule of the Federal Government. Increases such pay by 4.8 percent, effective on January 1, 2000. Provides: (1) an increase in such pay as of July 1, 2000, for officer and enlisted personnel within specified pay grades; and (2) a pay increase for fiscal years after 2000 of one percent over the percentage increase as calculated under the Employment Cost Index. (Sec. 103) Directs the Secretary of the military department concerned to pay a special subsistence allowance of $180 for each month in which a member is eligible to receive food stamp assistance. Terminates or reestablishes such entitlement under certain conditions. Title II: Retirement Benefits - Authorizes the payment of a lump-sum bonus of $30,000 to a member who: (1) first became a member on or after August 1, 1986; (2) has completed 15 years of active duty; and (3) executes a written agreement to remain on active duty until the completion of 20 years of such service. Requires notification of those eligible for such bonus. Requires a pro rata repayment of such bonus when the full additional period is not completed. Authorizes a waiver of the repayment requirement when against equity or good conscience or contrary to the best interests of the United States. (Sec. 202) Authorizes a member serving on active duty for more than 30 days to participate in the Federal Thrift Savings Plan, with a maximum annual contribution of five percent of basic pay and any special or incentive pay. Prohibits matching Federal agency contributions. Adds a representative of such members to the Employee Thrift Advisory Council. (Sec. 203) Authorizes the Secretary concerned to enter into an agreement to make contributions to the Thrift Savings Fund for the benefit of a member who: (1) is in a specialty designated as critical; and (2) agrees to continue to serve on active duty in such specialty for a period of six years.
United States · United States Congress · 19 January 1999
Air Transportation Improvement Act - Title I: Authorizations - Amends the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 to authorize appropriations for FY 1999 and 2000 for Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) operations. Earmarks amounts for: (1) wildlife hazard mitigation measures and management of the wildlife strike database of the FAA; and (2) the establishment of a university consortium to provide an air safety and security management certificate program in cooperation with the FAA and U.S. air carriers. (Sec. 102) Amends Federal aviation law to authorize appropriations for FY 1999 and 2000 for: (1) the FAA Facilities and Equipment Program; and (2) continuation through FY 2000 of the instrument landing system inventory program. Directs the Administrator of the FAA to establish life-cycle cost estimates for any air traffic control modernization project in which such costs equal or exceed $50 million. (Sec. 103) Authorizes appropriations for FY 1999 and 2000 for airport planning and development and noise compatibility planning programs. (Sec. 105) Directs the Secretary of Transportation, in order to improve security at U.S. public airports, to carry out at least one project to test and evaluate innovative airport security systems and related technology. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 106) Prohibits the Administrator of the FAA from terminating human weather observers for Automated Surface Observation System stations until certain conditions are met. Title II: Airport Improvement Program Amendments - Removes the maximum cap on airport improvement funds credited to the discretionary fund. (Sec. 202) Authorizes the Secretary to carry out a demonstration program of up to 20 projects for grants to implement innovative financing techniques for airport development projects. (Sec. 203) Limits to no more than 90 percent the Federal share of costs for certain airport projects. (Sec. 204) Increases the apportionment for airport improvement grant funds for airport noise compatibility programs. (Sec. 205) Authorizes the use of airport improvement funds apportioned to Alaska, Hawaii, or Puerto Rico for any of their public airports. Authorizes the use of the supplemental apportionment of airport improvement funds for Alaska for any of its public airports. Repeals a certain limitation on the apportionment of airport improvement funds for commercial airports in Alaska. Revises the amount of certain funds apportioned to the discretionary and small airport funds. Authorizes the Secretary to distribute a certain percentage of funds from the small airport fund for grants for projects at small hub airports. Declares that an airport development project shall remain eligible for funding from the discretionary fund (subject to the availability of funds) even though the status of the airport project changes from a primary airport to a non-primary airport. Revises, for purposes of grant eligibility for airport development funds, the definition of "public-use airport" to include a privately-owned airport that, as a reliever airport, received federal aid for airport development before October 9, 1996, but only if the Administrator of the FAA issues revised administrative guidance after July 1, 1998, for the designation of reliever airports. Repeals the eligibility of reliever airports for the issuance of a letter of intent to obligate airport development funds. Prohibits the collection of a passenger facility fee from a passenger in Alaska aboard an aircraft having a seating capacity of less than 20 passengers. Permits certain regulations promulgated by the Secretary to authorize a public agency to request waiver of a passenger facility fee for: (1) any class of domestic or foreign air carriers that enplane not more than a specified of the total number of passengers enplaned annually at a airport; or (2) passengers enplaned on a flight to an airport with scheduled passenger service but fewer than 2,500 passenger boardings each year, or in a community with a population of less than 10,000 and not connected by land to the National Highway System. Grants priority (except for requests from another Federal agency or instrumentality) to a request by a public agency for surplus property for use at a public airport. Increases the apportionment of airport improvement funds to sponsors of cargo-only airports. Declares that the Secretary may permit the use of State highway specifications for airfield pavement construction using airport development funds at non-primary airports with runways of 5,000 feet or shorter serving aircraft that do not exceed 60,000 pounds, if the Secretary determines that: (1) safety will not be negatively affected; and (2) the life of the pavement will not be shorter than it would be if constructed using FAA standards. Prohibits an airport from seeking airport development funds for runway rehabilitation or reconstruction of any such airfield pavement constructed using State highway specifications for a period of ten years after construction is completed. (Sec. 206) Directs the secretary to report to specified congressional committees on FAA efforts to implement capacity enhancements and improvements, such as precision runway monitoring systems, and the time frame for implementation of such improvements. (Sec. 207) Directs the Administrator of the FAA to discourage airport sponsors and airports from using entitlement funds for lower priority projects by giving lower priority to discretionary projects submitted by airport sponsors and airports that have used entitlement funds for projects that have a lower priority than the projects for which discretionary funds are being requested. (Sec. 208) Prohibits the Secretary from waiving certain required assurances that property be used for aeronautical purposes with respect to the grant of airport development funds, unless the Secretary provides public notice at least 30 days before issuing such waiver. (Sec. 209) Amends Federal aviation safety law to revise the term "public aircraft" to include non-government-owned aircraft transporting passengers if the aircraft is operated for prisoner transport. (Sec. 210) Authorizes the Secretary, in order to enable additional air service by an air carrier with less than 50 percent of the scheduled passenger traffic at an airport, to consider the shell of a terminal building (including heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) to be an eligible airport-related project. (Sec. 211) Directs the Administrator of the FAA to evaluate, and report to specified congressional committees on, options for improving the quality of information available to the FAA on airfield pavement conditions for airports that are part of the national air transportation system. (Sec. 212) Authorizes the Secretary to use unobligated airport development and noise compatibility program funds to make discretionary grants for noise abatement activities. Title III: Amendments To Aviation Law - Amends Federal aviation law to authorize the Administrator of the FAA to contract for procurement of severable services for a period that begins in one fiscal year and ends in the next fiscal year if (without regard to any option to extend it) the contract period does not exceed one year. Declares that funds available for a fiscal year may be obligated for the total amount of the contract. (Sec. 302) Amends the Airport Noise and Capacity Act to make foreign air carriers eligible for a waiver from stage three noise level requirements for certain aircraft. (Sec. 303) Authorizes the Administrator of the FAA to establish consortia of government and aviation industry representatives at airports to provide advice on matters related to aviation security and safety. (Sec. 304) Authorizes the Administrator of the FAA to enter into bilateral agreements with the aeronautical authorities of another country to exchange with that country all or part of their respective functions and duties with respect to certain domestic and foreign aircraft. (Sec. 306) Amends the Pilot Records Improvement Act to require an employment investigation (including a criminal history check) in the case of passenger, baggage, or property screening at airports if the Administrator of the FAA decides it is necessary to ensure air transportation security. Permits an air carrier that has not obtained information about a pilot from a foreign government or entity that has employed the pilot to allow such pilot to begin service as a pilot of certain small aircraft if the carrier has made a documented good faith attempt to obtain it. (Sec. 307) Amends Federal aviation law to extend Federal aviation insurance and reinsurance programs through December 31, 2003. (Sec. 309) Establishes criminal penalties for any individual who: (1) knowingly and willfully serves or attempts to serve as an airman without an airman's certificate; (2) knowingly and willfully employs for service or uses as an airman an individual who does not have such certificate; or (3) without an airman's certificate provides for the air transportation of a controlled substance. (Sec. 310) Requires major air carriers providing air service to essential airport facilities that have interline agreements involving ticketing, baggage and ground handling, and terminal and gate access with other carriers, to provide on a nondiscriminatory basis the same services to any requesting air carrier that offers air service to a small community airport. Title IV: Miscellaneous - Directs the Administrator of the FAA to report to specified congressional committees every three months on electronic data processing problems associated with the year 2000 (Y2K problem) within the FAA. (Sec. 402) Directs the Administrator of the FAA to require by regulation that collision avoidance equipment (TCAS II) be installed on each cargo aircraft with a payload capacity of 15,000 kilograms or more. (Sec. 403) Directs the Administrator of the FAA to solicit comments on the need for: (1) improvement of runway safety areas; and (2) the installation of precision approach path indicators. (Sec. 404) Makes applicable to other specified types of aircraft (currently exempted from them), including turbojet-powered aircraft and aircraft equipped to carry only one individual, certain requirements that commercial aircraft be outfitted with an emergency locator transmitter. (Continues to exempt from such requirements aircraft used in scheduled flights by scheduled air carriers holding certificates issued by the Secretary, training operations conducted entirely within a 50-mile radius of the airport from which the training operations begin, flight operations related to design and testing, the manufacture, preparation, and delivery of aircraft, showing compliance with regulations, exhibition, or air racing, or the aerial application of a substance on agricultural crops.) (Sec. 405) Prohibits the Administrator of the FAA, except for the facilitation of law enforcement, from issuing a certificate to any person: (1) convicted of a violation of any Federal or State law relating to the installation, production, repair, or sale of a counterfeit or falsely represented aviation part or material; or (2) subject to a controlling or ownership interest of an individual convicted of such violation. Directs the Administrator to revoke any such certificates issued to convicted persons or persons who knowingly facilitate such a violation. Prohibits the employment of an individual convicted of counterfeit parts dealing to perform a function related to the procurement, sale, production, or repair of a part or material, or the installation of a part into a civil aircraft. (Sec. 406) Subjects to a civil penalty of up to $10,000 any individual who interferes with the duties or responsibilities of the flight crew or cabin crew of a civil aircraft, or who poses an imminent threat to the safety of the aircraft or other individuals on the aircraft. (Sec. 407) Directs the Secretary to work with appropriate international organizations and aviation authorities of other nations to bring about their establishment of higher standards for accommodating handicapped passengers in air transportation, particularly with respect to foreign air carriers that code-share with domestic air carriers. Establishes a civil penalty for any air carrier that discriminates against handicapped persons while providing air transportation, unless such carrier provides such individual a credit or voucher in a certain amount for the purchase of a ticket on that carrier or any affiliated carrier. (Sec. 408) Authorizes the Secretary to request the head of any Federal department, agency, or instrumentality to convey land or airspace owned or controlled by it to a public agency for use that will complement, facilitate, or augment airport development, including the development of additional revenue from both aviation and nonaviation sources. Authorizes the Secretary, upon making certain determinations, to grant a release from any conditions contained in such conveyances in order to facilitate the development of additional revenue from aeronautical sources. Authorizes the Administrators of the FAA or the General Services Administration (GSA) to convey all right, title, and interest in 12 acres of property at Lake Minchumina, Alaska, to the Iditarod Area School District. (Sec. 409) Directs the Administrator of the FAA to issue a notice of proposed rulemaking to develop procedures to protect air carriers and their employees from civil enforcement action under the Flight Operations Quality Assurance program. (Sec. 410) Directs the Administrator of the FAA to identify or develop a plan to implement the wide area augmentation system (WAAS) to provide navigation and landing approach capabilities for civilian use and make a determination as to whether a backup system is necessary. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 411) Directs the Administrator of the FAA to reissue, and provide for public comment on, the notice to operators published in the Federal Register on January 2, 1998, which advised Alaska guide pilots of the applicability of part 135 of CFR title 14 to guide pilot operations. (Sec. 413) Directs the Administrator of the FAA to establish an advanced qualification program oversight committee to give advice on the development and execution of Advanced Qualification Programs (alternative methods for qualifying, training, certifying, and ensuring the competency of flight crews and other commercial aviation operations personnel (human factors training program)) for air carriers, and to encourage their adoption and implementation. (Sec. 414) Directs the Inspector General of the Department of Transportation (DOT) to initiate an independent assessment that ensures that the method for capturing and distributing overall FAA costs is appropriate and reasonable. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 415) provides for the enforcement of whistleblower laws for FAA employees. (Sec. 416) Directs the Administrator of the FAA to report to the Congress on a plan to modernize the oceanic air traffic control system (including a budget for such program). (Sec. 417) Directs the Administrator of the FAA to report biannually to the Congress on the air transportation oversight system program announced on May 13, 1998, in detail on the training of inspectors, the number of them using the system, air carriers subject to the system, and the budget for the system. (Sec. 418) Declares that the Secretary may authorize the use, in whole or in part, of a completed environmental assessment or environmental impact study for a new airport construction project that is substantially similar in nature to one previously constructed pursuant to a completed assessment or study in order to avoid unnecessary duplication of expense and effort. (Sec. 419) Prohibits air carriers, contractors, and subcontractors from discharging or otherwise discriminating against an employee as to pay, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment because the employee: (1) is about to provide or has provided to the Federal Government information relating to any violation of any FAA order, regulation, or standard or any other Federal law relating to air carrier safety; or (2) is about to file or has filed a proceeding, or testified, or otherwise participated in a proceeding relating to such violations. Sets forth a department of Labor compliant procedure for persons who believe they have been discharged or discriminated against in violation of this Act. Specifies civil penalties for violation of this Act. (Sec. 420) Authorizes the Administrator of the FAA to improve real property leased for air navigation facilities without regard to the costs of such improvements in relation to the cost of the lease, if certain conditions are met. (Sec. 421) Declares that the denial to air carriers (that conduct operations as a public charter with aircraft that are designed to carry more than nine passengers per flight) of access to certain reliever airports shall not be considered to be unreasonable or unjust discrimination. (Sec. 422) Directs the Secretary of Commerce to establish an Intergovernmental Task Force for International Visitor Assistance. Requires the Task Force to: (1) examine, and report to the President and the Congress its recommendation on, signage at U.S. facilities (including airports, seaports, land border crossings, highways, and bus, train, and other public transit stations); and (2) identify and suggest solutions to existing inadequacies, such as the adoption of uniform standards on international signage for use throughout the United States in order to facilitate international visitors' travel here. Requires the Task Force also to examine and report on: (1) the availability of multilingual travel and tourism information and means of disseminating it; and (2) establishment of a toll-free, private-sector operated telephone number, staffed by multilingual operators, to provide assistance to international tourists coping with an emergency. Directs the Secretary of Commerce to complete, as soon as may be practicable, a satellite system of accounting for the travel and tourism industry. Authorizes appropriations for the U.S. National Tourism Organization international promotional activities. Prohibits the use of such funds for any purpose other than marketing, research, outreach, or any other activity designed to promote the United States as the premiere travel and tourism destination in the world. States that the Organization's general and administrative expenses shall be borne by the private sector. (Sec. 423) Directs the Administrator of the FAA to determine whether its safety regulations are equivalent to the safety standards set forth in European Union Directive 89-336EEC. Directs the Administrator, if such standards are equivalent, to work with the Secretary of Commerce to gain acceptance of such determination pursuant to the Mutual Recognition Agreement between the United States and the European Union of May 18, 1998, in order to ensure that aviation products approved by the FAA are acceptable under the Directive. (Sec. 424) Expresses the sense of the Senate that: (1) the property taxes on public-use airports should be assessed fairly, regardless of the location of the airport owner; and (2) the property tax recently assessed on the City of The Dallas, Oregon, as the owner and operator of the Columbia Gorge Regional-The Dallas Municipal Airport, State of Washington, should be repealed. (Sec. 425) Amends the Department of Transportation and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1996 to authorize FAA employees under the new FAA personnel management system to appeal to the Merit Systems Protection Board and seek judicial review of Board decisions. (Sec. 426) Establishes an Aircraft Repair and Maintenance Advisory Panel to review issues related to the use and oversight of aircraft and aviation component repair and maintenance facilities located within, or outside of, the United States. Authorizes the Administrator to seek the advice of the panel on issues related to methods to improve the safety of domestic or foreign contract aircraft and aviation component repair facilities. Directs the Administrator to request aircraft and aviation component repair stations located outside or inside the United States to submit information necessary to assess safety issues and enforcement actions with respect to the work performed at those stations on aircraft used by U.S. air carriers. Requires such information to include: (1) the existence and administration of employee drug and alcohol testing programs; and (2) the amount and type of aircraft and aviation component repair work performed on U.S. and foreign aircraft. (Sec. 427) Directs the Secretary to study and report to the Congress on the desirability and implications of: (1) decreasing from 75 to 51 percent the portion of the voting interest owned or controlled by U.S. citizens necessary to qualify a corporation or association as a U.S. citizen under the Federal transportation law; and (2) revising the definition of air carrier under such law to cover any company whose principal place of business is in the United States (currently, such an air carrier must be a U.S. citizen). (Sec. 428) Declares that the memorandum of agreement between the Administrator of the FAA and any person that directly obtains aircraft situational display data shall require that such person: (1) demonstrate the capability of selectively blocking the display of any aircraft-situation-display-to-industry derived data related to any identified aircraft registration number; and (2) agree to block selectively the aircraft registration numbers of any aircraft owner or operator upon FAA request. (Sec. 429) Expresses the sense of the Senate that the Secretary should: (1) act vigorously to ensure the enforcement of U.S. rights under the Bermuda II Agreement; (2) intensify efforts to obtain assurances from the United Kingdom to allow U.S. air carriers to operate commercially viable, competitive service for the Charlotte-London (Gatwick) and Cleveland-London (Gatwick) routes; and (3) ensure that the rights of the United States and U.S. citizens and air carriers are enforced under the Agreement before seeking to renegotiate a broader bilateral agreement to establish additional rights for U.S. air carriers and foreign air carriers of the United Kingdom, including the right to commercially viable competitive slots at Gatwick Airport and Heathrow Airport in London, England, for U.S. air carriers. (Sec. 431) Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to report annually to the Secretary the amount of State taxes collected during the preceding fiscal year that were transferred to the Airport and Airway Trust Fund. Directs the Secretary to report annually to the Congress for the preceding fiscal year: (1) the State dollar contribution to the Airport and Airway Trust Fund; and (2) the amount of airport development and noise compatibility funds made available to the State. (Sec. 432) Directs the Administrator of the FAA to work with the Taos Pueblo to study the feasibility of conducting a demonstration project to require all aircraft that fly over Taos Pueblo and the Blue Lake Wilderness Area of Taos Pueblo, New Mexico, to maintain a mandatory minimum altitude of at least 5,000 feet above ground level. (Sec. 433) Directs the Secretary to promulgate regulations to provide for improved oral and written disclosures to each consumer of air transportation concerning the corporate name of the air carrier that provides such transportation. (Sec. 434) Directs the FAA to use necessary funds to contract for the operation of air traffic control towers in Salisbury, Maryland, Bozeman, Montana, and Boca Raton, Florida. (Sec. 435) Amends the Death on the High Seas Act to authorize, in addition to any pecuniary damages, the recovery of up to $750,000 (adjusted for inflation beginning in calendar year 2000) of nonpecuniary damages for wrongful death caused during commercial aviation. Title V: Aviation Competition Promotion - Directs the Secretary to establish a four-year pilot aviation development program to provide funds to up to 40 small communities or consortia of communities and States with inadequate access to the national transportation system to improve their access to such system. (Sec. 503) Directs the Administrator of the FAA, in order to facilitate the use of, and improve the safety at, small airports, to establish a pilot program (community-carrier air service program) to contract for Level I air traffic control services at 20 facilities not eligible for participation in the Federal Contract Tower program. Waives the State or local contribution requirement with respect to such program. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 504) Authorizes appropriations for FY 2000 through 2004 for the community-carrier air service program. (Sec. 505) Directs the Secretary to review the marketing practices of air carriers that may inhibit the availability of quality, affordable air transportation services to small and medium-sized communities. Requires the Secretary, if such practices are found to inhibit the availability of such service, to promulgate regulations to address the problem. (Sec. 506) Requires the Secretary, after receiving an application for an exemption to provide nonstop regional jet air service between an airport with fewer than two million annual enplanements and a high density airport, to grant or deny the exemption in accordance with established principles of safety and the promotion of competition. Authorizes the Secretary to permit: (1) an air carrier or an affiliated air carrier to upgrade its service under the exemption to a larger jet aircraft; and (2) an air carrier to change the nonhub airport or small hub airport for which the exemption was granted to provide the same service to a different airport that is smaller than a large hub airport, if certain conditions are met. Provides for the termination of an exemption if the air carrier uses the slot for any purpose other than the purpose for which it was granted or in violation of the conditions under which it was granted. (Sec. 507) Directs the Secretary, subject to specified conditions, to grant exemptions from the prohibitions against the operation of aircraft nonstop between Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and another airport more than 1,250 miles away (perimeter rule), and against the increase or decrease by the Administrator in the number of takeoffs and landings (the High density Rule), to any air carrier that operates limited frequencies and aircraft on select routes between National Airport and domestic hub airports. Mandates such an exemption if the Secretary finds that it will: (1) provide air transportation service with domestic network benefits in areas beyond the perimeter; (2) increase competition in multiple markets; (3) not reduce travel options for communities served by small hub airports and medium hub airports within the perimeter; and (4) not result in meaningfully increased travel delays. Sets forth specified requirements with respect to such exemptions. Directs the Secretary to: (1) grant exemptions from the High Density Rule to commuter air carriers (not including Stage 3 aircraft) for service to airports with fewer than two million annual enplanements within the perimeter established for aircraft at Ronald Reagan Washington national Airport; and (2) develop criteria for distributing slot exemptions for flights within the perimeter to such airports in a manner consistent with the promotion of air transportation. Directs the Secretary to assess the impact of granting slot exemptions, including the impacts of additional slots and flights at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport on safety, noise levels, and the environment. Declares that certain provisions prohibiting the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority from increasing or decreasing instrument flight rule takeoffs and landings under the High density Rule shall not apply to any increase in the number of such takeoffs or landings necessary to implement slot exemptions granted by the Secretary under this Act. Directs the Secretary to give priority in making grants to applications for airport noise compatibility planning and programs at and around airports where operations increase under this Act. (Sec. 508)Directs the Secretary to grant 30 slot exemptions over a three-year period at Chicago O'Hare international Airport provided certain conditions are met. Directs the Secretary to study and submit a report three years after the first slot exemption granted is used on the impact of the additional slots on the safety, environment, noise, access to underserved markets, and competition at such airport. Requires the Secretary to study community noise levels in the areas surrounding the four high-density airports after the 100 percent Stage 3 fleet requirements are in place, and compare those levels with the levels in such areas before 1991. (Sec. 509) Declares that it shall be an unfair or deceptive practice for any carrier utilizing electronically transmitted tickets to fail to notify the purchaser of a ticket's expiration date, if any. (Sec. 510) Directs the Secretary to study and report to specified congressional committees on the efficacy of a program of Federal loan guarantees for the purchase of regional jets by commuter air carriers that service underserved markets. (Sec. 511) Directs the General Accounting Office (GAO) to study the current state of the national airport network and its ability to meet the air transportation needs of the United States over the next 15 years. Title VI: National Parks Overflights - Prohibits a commercial air tour operator from conducting commercial air tour operations over a national park or tribal lands, except in accordance with this Act, conditions prescribed for that operator by the Administrator of the FAA, and with any commercial air tour management plan for the park or tribal lands. (Sec. 602) Sets forth specified requirements with respect to: (1) the granting of authority to commercial air tour operators to conduct air tour operations over national parks or tribal lands, with specified exceptions; and (2) establishment of commercial air tour management plans. Exempts from the requirements of this Act: (1) the Grand Canyon National Park, or any Indian country within or abutting such park; or (2) any land or waters located in Alaska. (Sec. 603) Directs the Administrator of the FAA and the Director of the National Park Service (Director) to establish, jointly, an advisory group to provide continuing advice and counsel with respect to the operation of commercial air tours over and near national parks. Directs the Administrator of the FAA and the Director to report jointly to the Congress on the effectiveness of this Act in providing incentives for the development and use of quiet aircraft technology. (Sec. 604) Directs the Administrator of the FAA to report to the Congress on the effects proposed overflight fees are likely to have on the commercial air tour industry. (Sec. 605) Prohibits any commercial air tour from operating in the airspace over the Rocky Mountain National Park. Title VII: Title 49 Technical Corrections - Sets forth certain technical corrections to specified sections of Title 49 of the United States Code.
United States · United States Congress · 19 January 1999
Biennial Budgeting and Appropriations Act - Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (CBA) to revise the Federal and congressional budget processes by establishing a two-year budgeting and appropriations cycle and timetable. Defines the budget biennium as the two consecutive fiscal years beginning on October 1 of any odd-numbered year. Sets forth a special timetable for any first session that begins in any year immediately following a leap year and during which the term of a President begins (except one who starts a second successive term). (Sec. 2) Devotes the first session of any Congress to the budget resolution and to appropriations decisions, retaining current deadlines in most cases. Changes certain deadlines to conform to the biennial scheme. Devotes each second session to authorization activity, subject to specified deadlines. (Sec. 4) Sets forth revised pay-as-you-go provisions for the Senate to conform with the biennial framework. (Sec. 5) Conforms provisions governing the President's budget to the biennial framework. (Sec. 6) Requires all Acts making regular appropriations for the support of the Government to be enacted for a biennium and to specify the amount of appropriations provided for each fiscal year in that period. (Sec. 7) Amends CBA to provide that it shall not be in order in the House of Representatives or the Senate to consider: (1) any bill, joint resolution, amendment, motion, or conference report that authorizes appropriations for a period of less than two fiscal years, unless the program, project, or activity for which the appropriations are authorized will require no further appropriations and will be completed or terminated after the appropriations have been expended; and (2) in any odd-numbered year, any authorization or revenue bill or joint resolution until Congress completes action on the biennial budget resolution, all regular biennial appropriations bills, and all reconciliation bills. Provides that, in the Senate, such point of order shall not apply to: (1) any measure that is privileged for consideration pursuant to a rule or statute; (2) any matter considered in Executive Session; or (3) an appropriations measure or reconciliation bill. (Sec. 8) Changes to a biennial basis specified requirements for certain Government strategic and performance plans, performance reports in budget submissions, and program performance reports. Requires congressional committee reviews of such plans and reports. (Sec. 9) Provides that it shall not be in order in the House or the Senate in any odd-numbered year to consider any regular bill providing new budget authority or a limitation on obligations under the jurisdiction of any Appropriations subcommittee for only the first fiscal year of a biennium unless the program, project, or activity for which such authority or limitation is provided will require no additional authority beyond one year and will be completed or terminated after the amount provided has been expended. (Sec. 10) Requires the Director of the Office of Management and Budget to report to the Budget Committees on the impact and feasibility of changing the definition of a fiscal year and the budget process based on that definition to a two-year fiscal period with a biennial budget process based on the two-year period.
United States · United States Congress · 19 January 1999
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Biennial Budgeting and Appropriations Title II: Emergency Spending Reforms Title III: Clarifying Changes to Pay-As-You-Go Title IV: Reform of the Senate's Consideration of Appropriations Bills, Budget Resolutions, and Reconciliation Bills Title V: Budget Act Amendments Regarding the Senate's Consideration of Budget Resolution and Reconciliation Bills Budget Enforcement Act of 1999 - Title I: Biennial Budgeting and Appropriations - Biennial Budgeting and Appropriations Act - Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (CBA) to revise the Federal and congressional budget processes by establishing a two-year budgeting and appropriations cycle and timetable. Defines the budget biennium as the two consecutive fiscal years beginning on October 1 of any odd-numbered year. Sets forth a special timetable for any first session that begins in any year immediately following a leap year and during which the term of a President begins (except one who starts a second successive term). Devotes the first session of any Congress to the budget resolution and to appropriations decisions, retaining current deadlines in most cases. Changes certain deadlines to conform to the biennial scheme. Devotes each second session to authorization activity, subject to specified deadlines. (Sec. 104) Sets forth revised pay-as-you-go provisions for the Senate to conform with the biennial framework. (Sec. 105) Conforms provisions governing the President's budget to the biennial framework. (Sec. 106) Requires all Acts making regular appropriations for the support of the Government to be enacted for a biennium and to specify the amount of appropriations provided for each fiscal year in that period. (Sec. 107) Amends the CBA to provide that it shall not be in order in the House of Representatives or the Senate to consider: (1) any bill, joint resolution, amendment, motion, or conference report that authorizes appropriations for a period of less than two fiscal years, unless the program, project, or activity for which the appropriations are authorized will require no further appropriations and will be completed or terminated after the appropriations have been expended; and (2) in any odd-numbered year, any authorization or revenue bill or joint resolution until Congress completes action on the biennial budget resolution, all regular biennial appropriations bills, and all reconciliation bills. Provides that, in the Senate, such point of order shall not apply to: (1) any measure that is privileged for consideration pursuant to a rule or statute; (2) any matter considered in Executive Session; or (3) an appropriations measure or reconciliation bill. (Sec. 108) Changes to a biennial basis specified requirements for certain Government strategic and performance plans, performance reports in budget submissions, and program performance reports. Requires congressional committee reviews of such plans and reports. (Sec. 109) Provides that it shall not be in order in the House or the Senate in any odd-numbered year to consider any regular bill providing new budget authority or a limitation on obligations under the jurisdiction of any Appropriations subcommittee for only the first fiscal year of a biennium unless the program, project, or activity for which such authority or limitation is provided will require no additional authority beyond one year and will be completed or terminated after the amount provided has been expended. (Sec. 110) Requires the Director of the Office of Management and Budget to report to the Budget Committees on the impact and feasibility of changing the definition of a fiscal year and the budget process based on that definition to a two-year fiscal period with a biennial budget process based on the two-year period. Title II: Emergency Spending Reforms - Amends the CBA to require the President, in designating a provision of legislation as an emergency requirement under the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act), to submit to the Congress an analysis of whether a proposed emergency requirement meets criteria specified under this title. Requires the committee report accompanying such legislation to make such analysis as well. Provides that a proposed expenditure or tax change is an emergency requirement if it is: (1) necessary, essential, or vital; (2) sudden, quickly coming into being, and not building up over time; (3) an urgent, pressing, and compelling need requiring immediate action; (4) unforeseen, unpredictable, and unanticipated; and (5) not permanent, temporary in nature. Requires the President or the committee report to justify why a proposed requirement is an emergency if it fails to meet such criteria. Strikes: (1) emergency requirements in legislation under consideration in the Senate when a point of order is sustained against such requirements; and (2) non-emergency provisions in emergency supplemental appropriations legislation when a point of order is so sustained. Title III: Clarifying Changes to Pay-As-You-Go - Amends H. Con. Res. 67 (104th Congress) to apply a point of order in the Senate against consideration of direct spending or revenue legislation that would increase or cause an on-budget deficit (currently, that would increase the deficit) for specified time periods. (Sec. 302) Amends the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act to make conforming amendments to pay-as-you-go provisions to assure that legislation increasing, or causing, an on-budget deficit will trigger sequestration. Adds the estimate of the on-budget surplus for the budget year in the calculation of the deficit increase or decrease. (Sec. 303) Amends the CBA to consider to be extraneous matter in a reconciliation measure provisions that would increase net outlays or decrease revenues and cause an on-budget deficit in a fiscal year after the years covered by such measure, when taken with other provisions in the bill. Title IV: Reform of the Senate's Consideration of Appropriations Bills, Budget Resolutions, and Reconciliation Bills - Government Shutdown Prevention Act - Amends Federal law relating to appropriations to provide for continuing appropriations in the absence of regular appropriations. Sunsets this title after FY 2001. Title V: Budget Act Amendments Regarding the Senate's Consideration of Budget Resolution and Reconciliation Bills - Amends the CBA to prohibit the budget resolution from including precatory language. Revises provisions regarding Senate procedure for consideration of the budget resolution. Provides that it shall not be in order in the Senate to proceed to consideration of the budget resolution unless the resolution's text has been available to Members for at least one calendar day prior to consideration. Decreases the time for debate in the Senate on the resolution and amendments. Sets forth new provisions regarding the disposition and filing of amendments and other matters after a period of debate, limits on second-degree amendments, debate on motions to recommit, and disposition of conference reports. (Sec. 502) Defines "major functional category" as the allocation of budget authority and outlays separated into the following subtotals: (1) defense discretionary; (2) nondefense discretionary; (3) direct spending; and (4) other subsets of discretionary and direct spending, as necessary. (Sec. 503) Changes the pay rates for the Director and Deputy Director of the Congressional Budget Office.
United States · United States Congress · 19 January 1999
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to change the determination of the 50,000 barrel-per-day refinery limitation concerning the oil depletion deduction to a 50,000 annual average daily basis limitation.
United States · United States Congress · 19 January 1999
Powder Cocaine Sentencing Act of 1999 - Amends the Controlled Substances Act to decrease (from five kilograms to 500 grams, and from 500 to 50 grams) the amounts of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of coca leaves, cocaine, ecgonine, or compounds thereof (cocaine powder) the manufacture, distribution, or possession of which is punishable by specified penalties under the Act. Makes the same changes in amounts with respect to violations of the Controlled Substances Import and Export Act. Directs the U.S. Sentencing Commission to promulgate or amend sentencing guidelines to reflect the amendments made by this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 19 January 1999
Considers hepatitis C becoming manifest in a veteran to a degree of ten percent or more to be service-connected, and therefore compensable under veterans' disability provisions, notwithstanding that there is no record of evidence of such illness during the period of such service, as long as it is shown that during such service the veteran experienced: (1) a blood transfusion before December 31, 1992; (2) blood exposure on or through skin or mucous membrane; (3) hemodialysis; (4) a tattoo, body piercing, or acupuncture; (5) unexplained liver disease; (6) an unexplained liver dysfunction value or test; or (7) working in a health-care position or specialty.
United States · United States Congress · 19 January 1999
National Parks Overflights Act - Amends Federal aviation law to prohibit a commercial air tour operator from conducting commercial air tour operations over a national park or tribal lands, except in accordance with this Act, conditions prescribed for that operator by the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and with any effective air tour management plan for the park or tribal lands. (Sec. 3) Sets forth specified requirements with respect to: (1) the granting of authority to commercial air tour operators to conduct air tour operations over national parks or tribal lands, with specified exceptions; and (2) establishment of commercial air tour management plans. (Sec. 4) Directs the Administrator and the Director of the National Park Service to establish, jointly, an advisory group to provide continuing advice and counsel with respect to the operation of commercial air tours over and near national parks. (Sec. 5) Directs the Administrator to report to Congress on the effects proposed overflight fees are likely to have on the commercial air tour industry. (Sec. 6) Prohibits commercial air tours from operating over Rocky Mountain National Park airspace.
United States · United States Congress · 19 January 1999
Surface Transportation Board Reauthorization Act of 1999 - Authorizes appropriations for the Surface Transportation Board for FY 1999 through 2002. Requires Senate confirmation of the Chairman of the Board.
United States · United States Congress · 19 January 1999
Collegiate Learning and Student Savings Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) permit private higher educational institutions, in addition to currently permitted State institutions, to establish qualified tuition programs; and (2) exclude from gross income such program distributions used for qualified higher education expenses. Amends the Investment Company Act of 1940 to exempt qualified tuition programs from the definition of an investment company.
United States · United States Congress · 19 January 1999
Constitutional Amendment - Requires a two-thirds vote of each House of the Congress in order to pass any bill levying a new tax or increasing the rate or base of any tax. Allows the Congress to waive that requirement during war or certain military conflict. Requires all votes under this Amendment to be by yeas and nays and the names of persons voting for and against to be entered in the Journal of each House.
United States · United States Congress · 19 January 1999
Congratulates the University of Tennessee Volunteers football team on winning the 1998 National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I-A football championship.
United States · United States Congress · 19 January 1999
Biomedical Revitalization Resolution of 1998 - Expresses the sense of the Senate that funding for the National Institutes of Health should be increased by $2 billion in FY 2000.
United States · United States Congress · 15 October 1998
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Oregon Institute of Public Service and Constitutional Studies Title II: Paul Simon Public Policy Institute Title III: Howard Baker School of Government Title IV: John Glenn Institute for Public Service and Public Policy Title I: Oregon Institute of Public Service and Constitutional Studies - Authorizes the Secretary of Education to award a grant to Portland State University in Portland, Oregon, to establish an endowment fund to support the Oregon Institute of Public Service and Constitutional Studies, which the University shall establish at the Mark O. Hatfield School of Government under a Leadership Council in order to receive such grant. (Sec. 103) Requires such Institute to: (1) further the knowledge and understanding of students about public service, the U.S. Government, and the Constitution; (2) increase awareness among youth of the importance of public service; (3) establish a Mark O. Hatfield Fellows program for students of government, public policy, public health, education, or law who have demonstrated a commitment to public service through volunteer activities, research projects, or employment; (4) create library and research facilities; and (5) support the professional development of elected officials at all levels of government. (Sec. 106) Authorizes appropriations. Title II: Paul Simon Public Policy Institute - Authorizes the Secretary to award a grant to Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, Illinois, to establish an endowment fund to support the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute, which the University shall establish in order to receive such grant. (Sec. 202) Includes among the Institute's duties research, analysis, debate, and policy recommendations with respect to world hunger, mass media, foreign policy, education, and employment. (Sec. 206) Authorizes appropriations. Title III: Howard Baker School of Government - Authorizes the Secretary to award a grant to the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee, to establish the Howard Baker School of Government and its endowment fund. (Sec. 303) Requires the School to further the study of democratic institutions and public affairs, among other duties. (Sec. 304) Requires the School to operate with the guidance of a Board of Advisors. (Sec. 306) Authorizes appropriations. Title IV: John Glenn Institute for Public Service and Public Policy - Authorizes the Secretary to award a grant to Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, to establish the John Glenn Institute for Public Service and Public Policy and its endowment fund. (Sec. 402) Requires the Institute to further the study of public service and public policy issues, among other duties. (Sec. 406) Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 28 September 1998
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Enhanced Source and Transit Country Coverage Title II: Enhanced Eradication and Interdiction Strategy in Source Countries Title III: Enhanced Alternative Crop Development Support in Source Zone Title IV: Enhanced International Law Enforcement Training Title V: Enhanced Drug Transit and Source Zone Law Enforcement Operations and Equipment Title VI: Relationship to Other Laws Title VII: Criminal Background Checks on Port Employees Title VIII: Drug Currency Forfeitures Western Hemisphere Drug Elimination Act - Declares that it is U.S. policy to: (1) reduce the supply of drugs and drug use through an enhanced drug interdiction effort in the major drug transit countries and support a comprehensive supply country eradication and crop substitution program, because a commitment of increased resources in international drug interdiction efforts will create a balanced national drug control strategy among demand reduction, law enforcement, and international drug interdiction efforts; and (2) develop and establish comprehensive drug interdiction and drug eradication strategies, and dedicate the resources necessary to reduce the flow of illegal drugs into the United States by 80 percent by December 31, 2001. Title I: Enhanced Source and Transit Country Coverage - Authorizes appropriations for FY 1999 through 2001 for the Department of the Treasury for the enhancement of radar coverage in drug source and transit countries. (Sec. 101) Directs the Secretary of Defense to examine and report to specified congressional committees on the options available to the United States for improving Relocatable Over the Horizon (ROTHR) capability to provide enhanced radar coverage of narcotics source zone countries in South America and transit zones in the Eastern Pacific. (Sec. 102) Authorizes appropriations for FY 1999 through 2001 to the Secretary of Transportation for operating expenses of the Coast Guard (including acquisition, construction, and improvement of facilities and equipment) associated with expansion of drug interdiction activities around Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and other transit zone areas of operation. Directs the Secretary to accept seven patrol craft for use by the Coast Guard for expanded drug interdiction activities. (Sec. 103) Authorizes appropriations for FY 1999 through 2001 for the Department of the Treasury for the enhancement of air coverage and operation for drug source and transit countries. Directs the Secretary of Defense to examine and report to specified congressional committees on the available options in the source and transit zones to replace Howard Air Force Base in Panama, specifying U.S. requirements to establish an airbase or airbases for use in support of counternarcotics operations to optimize operational effectiveness in the source and transit zones. Directs the Secretary of the Navy to transfer to the U.S. Customs Service 20 currently retired and previously identified heavyweight P- 3B aircraft for modification, half into P-3 AEW&C aircraft and half into P-3 Slick aircraft. q04q Title II: Enhanced Eradication and Interdiction Strategy in Source Countries - Authorizes appropriations for FY 1999 through 2001 for the Department of State for the enhancement of drug-related eradication efforts in Colombia. (Sec. 201) Prohibits U.S. counternarcotics assistance to the Government of Colombia if it negotiates or permits the establishment of any demilitarized zone in which the eradication of drug production by Colombian security forces (including the Colombian National Police antinarcotics unit) is prohibited. (Sec. 202) Authorizes appropriations for FY 1999 through 2001 for the Department of State for the establishment of a third drug interdiction site in Peru to support air bridge and riverine missions for enhancement of drug-related eradication efforts. Directs the Secretary of Defense to study and report to the Congress on Peruvian counternarcotics air interdiction requirements. (Sec. 203) Authorizes appropriations for FY 1999 through 2001 for the Department of State for enhancement of drug-related eradication efforts in Bolivia. (Sec. 204) Authorizes appropriations for FY 1999 through 2001 for enhanced precursor chemical control projects. (Sec. 205) Expresses the sense of the Congress that any individual serving as an assistant secretary of any Federal agency or department who has primary responsibility for international narcotics control and law enforcement (including the principal deputy of any such assistant) shall have substantial professional qualifications in the fields of management and Federal law enforcement or intelligence. Declares that the Department of Defense (DOD) shall be the principle agency responsible for implementation and processing of counternarcotics foreign military sales requests (with the Department of State having a consultative role in such requests). Expresses the sense of the Congress that the responsiveness and effectiveness of Department of State international narcotics assistance activities have been hampered due, in part, to the lack of law enforcement expertise by responsible Department of State personnel. Title III: Enhanced Alternative Crop Development Support in Source Zone - Authorizes appropriations for FY 1999 through 2001 for the U.S. Agency for International Development (AID) for certain alternative crop development programs in Colombia, Peru, and Bolivia. (Sec. 302) Authorizes appropriations for FY 1999 through 2001 to the Secretary of Agriculture to support the counternarcotics research efforts of the Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service. (Sec. 303) Requires the Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy to develop, and report to the Congress on, a ten-year master plan for the use of mycoherbicides to control narcotic crops (including coca, poppy, and cannabis) in the United States and internationally. Title IV: Enhanced International Law Enforcement Training - Authorizes appropriations for FY 1999 through 2001 for the Department of Justice for the establishment and operation of international law enforcement academies to carry out law enforcement training activities in Latin America and the Caribbean, Thailand, and South Africa. (Sec. 401) Authorizes appropriations for FY 1999 through 2001 for the Department of Transportation (DOT) and the Department of the Treasury for the joint establishment, operation, and maintenance in San Juan, Puerto Rico, of a center for training law enforcement personnel of countries located in Latin America and the Caribbean in matters relating to maritime law enforcement (including customs-related ports management matters). Authorizes appropriations for FY 1999 through 2001 for the DOT for the establishment, operation, and maintenance of maritime training vessels. (Sec. 402) Authorizes appropriations for FY 1999 through 2001 for the Department of Justice for: (1) substantial exchanges for Mexican judges, prosecutors, and police; and (2) enhanced support for the Brazilian Federal Police Training Center. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1999 through 2001 for the DOT for operation and maintenance for locating and operating Coast Guard assets so as to strengthen the capability of the Coast Guard of Panama to patrol the Atlantic and Pacific coasts for drug enforcement and interdiction activities. Makes members of the national police of Panama eligible to receive training through the International Military Education Training (IMET) program. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1999 through 2001 for the Department of Justice for support for the Venezuelan Judicial Technical Police Counterdrug Intelligence Center. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1999 through 2001 for the DOT and the Department of the Treasury for the buildup of local coast guard and port control in: (1) Guayaquil and Esmeraldas, Ecuador; (2) Haiti and the Dominican Republic; and (3) Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua (Central America). (Sec. 403) Authorizes the Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to transfer or lease a specified amount of nonlethal equipment each year to foreign law enforcement organizations for the purpose of establishing and carrying out cooperative illicit narcotics control activities. Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) all U.S. law enforcement personnel serving in Mexico should be accorded the same status as diplomatic and consular personnel serving at U.S. posts in Mexico; and (2) all Mexican narcotics law enforcement personnel serving in the United States should be accorded the same diplomatic and consular status as DEA personnel serving in Mexico. Title V: Enhanced Drug Transit and Source Zone Law Enforcement Operations and Equipment - Authorizes appropriations for FY 1999 through 2001 for the DEA and the U.S. Customs Service of Department of the Treasury for enhancement of counternarcotics operations in drug transit and source countries. (Sec. 501) Authorizes appropriations for FY 1999 through 2001 for the Department of State for the deployment of commercial unclassified intelligence and imaging data and a Passive Coherent Location System for counternarcotics and interdiction purposes in the Western Hemisphere. Directs the Secretary of Defense to examine and propose to specified congressional committees recommendations regarding any organizational changes to optimize counterdrug activities, including certain alternative cost-sharing arrangements. (Sec. 502) Authorizes appropriations for the development and purchase of computer software and hardware to facilitate direct communication between agencies that perform drug interdiction activities at U.S. borders, including the Customs Service, the Border Patrol, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the DEA, and the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). (Sec. 503) Expresses the sense of the Congress that the Secretary of Defense should revise DOD's Global Military Force Policy in order to: (1) treat DOD international drug interdiction and counter-drug activities as a military operation other than war (thus elevating its priority to just below that for war); and (2) allocate DOD assets to drug interdiction and counter-drug activities in accordance with such priority. Title VI: Relationship to Other Laws - Declares that funds authorized to be appropriated for any Federal department or agency for FY 1999 through 2001 are in addition to funds authorized to be appropriated for that department or agency for those fiscal years by any other provision of law. Title VII: Criminal Background Checks on Port Employees - Directs the Attorney General, upon request, to grant access to identification records to any State, county, port authority, or other local jurisdiction to allow it to conduct criminal background checks on employees, or applicants for employment, at any port under its jurisdiction. Title VIII: Drug Currency Forfeitures - Drug Currency Forfeitures Act - Amends the Controlled Substances Act to cite four alternative circumstances that create a rebuttable presumption that property is subject to forfeiture if the Government offers a reasonable basis to believe that there is a substantial connection between the property and a drug trafficking offense. Requires the property at issue to be currency in excess of $10,000 that, at the time of the seizure, was being transported through an airport, on a highway, or at a port-of-entry, and meeting one of several other criteria. Subjects to such presumption, also, any property: (1) acquired during a time period when the person who acquired it was engaged in a drug trafficking offense or within a reasonable time afterwards, and there is no other likely source for such property; (2) that was, or was intended to be, transported, transmitted, or transferred to or from a major drug-transit country, illicit drug producing country, or money laundering country; or (3) involved in a transaction including any person who has been convicted in any Federal, State, or foreign jurisdiction of a drug trafficking offense or a felony involving money laundering, or is a fugitive from prosecution for such an offense. Amends the Federal criminal code to create a rebuttable presumption that property involved in drug money laundering subject to civil forfeiture is the proceeds of an offense involving the felonious manufacture, importation, or other dealing in a controlled substance, thus constituting the proceeds of specified unlawful activity if any of the circumstances set forth in this title apply.
United States · United States Congress · 22 September 1998
Library of Congress Bicentennial Commemorative Coin Act of 1998 - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to mint and issue five-dollar gold coins and one-dollar silver coins emblematic of the Library of Congress. Authorizes the Secretary to mint and issue $10 bimetallic coins of gold and platinum in lieu of the gold coins. Requires payment of coin sale surcharges to the Library of Congress Trust Fund Board to support Library activities.
United States · United States Congress · 21 September 1998
Declares that the Congress supports the existing Federal legal process for determining the safety and efficacy of drugs and opposes efforts to circumvent this process by legalizing marijuana, and other Schedule I drugs, for medicinal use without valid scientific evidence and Food and Drug Administration approval. Directs the Attorney General to report to the House and Senate Judiciary Committees, regarding specified years, on: (1) the total quantity of marijuana eradicated in the United States; and (2) the annual number of arrests and prosecutions for Federal marijuana offenses. Requires the Commissioner of Food and Drugs to report to specified congressional committees on the specific efforts underway to enforce specified provisions of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act regarding marijuana and other Schedule I drugs.
United States · United States Congress · 2 September 1998
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: State Grant Programs Title II: National Activities Subtitle A: Rehabilitation Act of 1973 Subtitle B: Other National Activities Title III: Alternative Financing Mechanisms Title IV: Repeal and Conforming Amendments Assistive Technology Act of 1998 - Title I: State Grant Programs - Directs the Secretary of Education to provide continuity grants, for assistive technology (AT) for individuals with disabilities, to States that have received less than ten years of funding under the Technology-Related Assistance for Individuals with Disabilities Act of 1988. (Sec. 101) Sets forth the following mandatory activities for any State receiving such a continuity grant: (1) a public awareness program to provide information on availability and benefits of AT devices and services, with an electronic link to the National Public Internet Site; (2) interagency coordination to improve access to AT devices and services; (3) technical assistance and training to promote access to AT devices and services; and (4) outreach activities that support statewide and community-based organizations to assist individuals with disabilities, especially the elderly and rural populations, use AT devices and services. Sets forth the following discretionary activities that such States may undertake with such continuity grants: (1) alternative State-financed systems that increase access to, and funding for, AT; (2) demonstrations of AT devices; (3) assistance to individuals with disabilities related to securing AT devices and services; (4) a system for public access to information concerning any such discretionary activity; (5) partnerships and cooperative initiatives between public and private sectors to promote greater participation by business and industry in development, demonstration, and dissemination of AT devices and ongoing provision of information about new products to assist individuals with disabilities; and (7) advocacy services. Authorizes States to enter cooperative agreements with other States to expand their capacity to assist individuals with disabilities of all ages to learn about, acquire, use, maintain, adapt, and upgrade AT devices and services. Authorizes States to operate or participate in a computer system through which the State may communicate electronically with other States to gain timely technical assistance and avoid duplication of efforts. Authorizes a State to pay for expenses (including travel expenses) and services (including services of qualified interpreters, readers, and personal care assistants) necessary for access to the comprehensive statewide program of technology-related assistance by individuals with disabilities in financial need who are ineligible for such services through another public agency or private entity. Provides for such payments to States according to a formula based on the number of years or portions of amounts that would have been provided by extension grants under the Technology-Related Assistance for Individuals with Disabilities Act. Provides for payments to additional States under specified conditions. Limits the annual amount of any continuation grant to an outlying area. Sets forth continuation grant requirements for: (1) State designation of a lead agency; (2) State application supplements, including State goals, performance measures, involvement of individuals with disabilities and their families, and continuing obligations; and (3) options relating to funding for FY 1999 through 2004, under which a State may choose whether to receive a continuation grant or a challenge grant, but not both. (Sec. 102) Directs the Secretary to provide challenge grants to States for five years to maintain and improve consumer-responsive comprehensive statewide programs of technology-related assistance for individuals with disabilities. Sets forth the following mandatory activities for States receiving such challenge grants: (1) interagency coordination; (2) continuation and enhancement of a statewide information and referral system, including an accessible Website with links to other appropriate sites, such as the National Public Internet Site, for individuals with disabilities and service providers; (3) a public awareness program; (4) capacity building and advocacy activities, and technical assistance and training; and (5) outreach activities. Allows States to use challenge grants for additional activities authorized under the Technology-Related Assistance for Individuals with Disabilities Act, or other activities identified by the State or the Secretary, with the Secretary's approval. Limits the amount of such a grant to an outlying area. Provides for a minimum allotment to all States. Determines any additional amount of such grants to States through a formula based on relative population and population density. Sets forth challenge grant requirements for: (1) State technology plans, including designation of a lead agency, goals, performance measures, involvement of individuals with disabilities and their families, personnel training, and coordination with State councils; and (2) progress reports. (Sec. 103) Directs the Secretary to make competitive five-year supplementary millennium grants to States for State and local capacity building. Authorizes the Secretary to provide such grants to States that submit successful supplements to challenge grants, for one or more of the following State capacity-building activities: (1) obtaining compliance of all public agencies with specified AT-related requirements of the Rehabilitation Act; (2) developing, implementing, documenting, and reviewing a plan for enhancing the participation of all individuals with disabilities of the State in education, employment, transportation, communication, and general access in ways that complement and exceed what is required by the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA); (3) developing and implementing activities for incorporating the principles of universal design in the construction and renovation of facilities, information technology and telecommunications, and other products and services, such as transportation; (4) planning and adopting State personnel standards or professional certification procedures that apply to individuals or entities that provide AT services; (5) evaluating AT devices and AT; or (6) engaging in another activity, pursuant to a priority announced by the Secretary. Allows States to make competitive subgrants for local capacity building activities, including: (1) micro-loans and alternative financing programs; (2) equipment demonstrations; (3) long- and short-term equipment loan programs; (4) equipment recycling programs; (5) outreach and training, especially empowerment training; or (6) meeting unmet local AT-related needs. Provides for such grant payments to States and outlying areas. Requires matching funds when a grant exceeds a specified amount. Sets forth requirements for supplementary grant applications, including: (1) grant partners; (2) involvement of targeted individuals, especially individuals with disabilities who use AT, in grant development and activities; (3) data affecting selection grant focus; (4) State and other resources; (5) goals, activities, performance measures, and annual assessments; (6) limits on indirect costs; (7) joint submissions of applications with State technology plans, with distinct activities and separate budgets for challenge grants and supplementary grants; and (8) progress reports. (Sec. 104) Directs the Secretary to make a six-year grant to an entity in each State to support protection and advocacy services through systems established under the Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act to assist in acquiring, utilizing, or maintaining AT or AT services for individuals with disabilities. Requires such grants, in the case of certain States, to be made to a designated lead agency or the State Assistive Technology Office. (Sec. 105) Sets forth administrative requirements, for grant programs under this title, for: (1) review of participating entities; (2) corrective action and sanctions; and (3) annual reports of the Secretary to the President and the Congress. Declares that this title may not be construed as authorizing a Federal or a State agency to reduce medical or other assistance available, or to alter eligibility for a benefit or service, under any other Federal law. (Sec. 106) Authorizes the Secretary to fund a program to provide AT technical assistance to entities, principally those funded under any grant program under this title. Requires, in designing such program, consideration of input from the directors of comprehensive statewide programs of technology-related assistance and other appropriate individuals, especially: (1) individuals with disabilities who use AT and understand the barriers to the acquisition of AT and AT services; (2) family members, guardians, advocates, and authorized representatives of such individuals; and (3) individuals employed by protection and advocacy systems funded by grants under this title. Directs the Secretary, as part of such technical assistance program, to fund the establishment and maintenance of a National Public Internet Site to provide individuals with disabilities and the general public technical assistance and information on increased access to AT devices and services and to other disability-related resources. Requires that an entity eligible to maintain such Internet site be an institution of higher education that emphasizes research and engineering, has a multidisciplinary research center, and has demonstrated expertise in specified matters. Sets forth required features and minimum library components of such Internet site. Sets forth eligibility, application, and program requirements for entities to receive grants, contracts, or cooperative agreements under the technical assistance program. (Sec. 107) Authorizes appropriations for grants and other programs under this title. Title II: National Activities - Subtitle A: Rehabilitation Act of 1973 - Amends the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (RA, as amended by the Workforce Investment Act of 1988) to require increased coordination on disability, AT, and universal design research among Federal departments and agencies that are members of the Interagency Committee on Disability Research and other Federal departments and agencies. Authorizes the Committee to recommend funding for research projects that are jointly undertaken or administered by at least two departments or agencies with representatives on the Committee. (Sec. 202) Directs the National Council on Disability to report to specified congressional committees on the barriers in Federal AT policy to increasing availability of and access to AT devices and services for individuals with disabilities. Requires the Council to obtain input for such report from the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research, the Association of Tech Act Projects, and targeted individuals. (Sec. 203) Directs the Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board (the Access Board) to provide training to Federal and State employees concerning their responsibilities under RA to make their electronic and information technology accessible. Subtitle B: Other National Activities - Authorizes the Secretary to: (1) enter into contracts with small businesses to assist them with design, development, and marketing of AT devices and services, giving preference to such businesses owned or operated by individuals with disabilities; and (2) make grants to small businesses to work with entities funded by the Secretary to evaluate and disseminate information on the effects of technology transfer on the lives of individuals with disabilities, and to utilize such technology transfer and market research services to bring new AT devices and services to commerce. (Sec. 212) Authorizes the Director of the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR) to collaborate in specified ways with the Federal Laboratory Consortium for Technology Transfer (the Consortium) to promote technology transfer that will further development of AT and products that incorporate universal design principles. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to or contracts or cooperative agreements with commercial, nonprofit, or other organizations, including institutions of higher education, to facilitate interaction with the Consortium to promote such technology transfer related to AT and universal design. Amends the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980 to require the Consortium to work with the NIDRR Director to compile a compendium of current and projected Federal Laboratory technologies and projects that have or will have an intended or recognized impact on the available range of AT for individuals with disabilities, including technologies and projects that incorporate universal design principles. (Sec. 213) Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to commercial or other enterprises and institutions of higher education for research and development of universal design concepts for products (including information technology) and the built environment. Requires preference to be given to enterprises and institutions owned or operated by individuals with disabilities. (Sec. 214) Authorizes the Secretary to make grants, enter into cooperative agreements, or provide financial assistance through other mechanisms, for specified AT outreach activities: (1) in rural or impoverished urban areas; and (2) for children and older individuals. (Sec. 215) Directs the Secretary to make grants, or enter into contracts, with public and private agencies and organizations, including institutions of higher education, for specified types of training of rehabilitation engineers and technicians in careers related to providing AT devices and services. (Sec. 216) Authorizes the Secretary to study and report with recommendations to specified congressional committees on the benefits of, and obstacles to implementing throughout the Federal Government, a single assistive technology taxonomy developed by the Secretary. (Sec. 217) Authorizes the President's Committee on Employment of People With Disabilities to design, develop, and implement programs to increase the voluntary participation of the private sector in making information technology accessible to individuals with disabilities, including increasing the involvement of such individuals in the design, development, and manufacturing of information technology. Includes a task force, outreach, and technical assistance among program activities. Requires the Committee to coordinate program activities with those of NIDRR and the Department of Labor. (Sec. 218) Authorizes appropriations. Title III: Alternative Financing Mechanisms - Directs the Secretary to make grants to States for the Federal share of alternative financing programs to allow individuals with disabilities and their family members, guardians, advocates, and authorized representatives to purchase AT devices and services. Requires such program to feature one or more alternative financing mechanisms, which may include: (1) a low-interest loan fund; (2) an interest buy-down program; (3) a revolving loan fund; (4) a loan guarantee or insurance program; (5) a program operated by a partnership among private entities for purchase, lease, or other acquisition of AT devices or services; or (6) another mechanism that meets the requirements of this title and is approved by the Secretary. (Sec. 301) Allows such a grant to be awarded for a one-year period. Limits each State to not more than one such grant. Limits the Federal share of program costs to not more than 50 percent. (Sec. 302) Limits the amount of such a grant to an outlying area. Sets minimum State grant allotments. Bases remaining State allotments on population and population density. (Sec. 303) Makes States eligible to compete for grants under this title if they are receiving or have received continuity grants or challenge grants under title I and comply with application requirements. Requires State assurances that the alternative financing program will: (1) continue on a permanent basis; (2) emphasize consumer choice and control; (3) have a permanent separate account; (4) only invest funds in low-risk securities in which a regulated insurance company may invest under the State law; and (5) not use more than ten percent of grant funds for indirect costs. Provides that interest and income from the program's investments shall not be taken into account in determining eligibility for any Federal program. (Sec. 304) Requires a State that receives a grant under this title to enter into a contract with a community-based organization (including a group of such organizations) that has individuals with disabilities involved in organizational decision making at all organizational levels, to administer the alternative financing program. Requires the community-based organization to contract with commercial lending institutions or organizations or State financing agencies to expand opportunities under this title and facilitate administration of the alternative financing program. (Sec. 305) Requires States that receive grants, and community-based organizations that contract with States, under this title to submit specified policies and procedures for administration of the alternative financing program, including ones to: (1) review and process in a timely manner requests for financial assistance for immediate and potential technology needs; (2) give program access to consumers regardless of type of disability, age, income level, location of residence in the State, or type of AT device or service requested; and (3) assure consumer-controlled oversight. (Sec. 306) Directs the Secretary to provide information and technical assistance (through grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements with public or private agencies and organizations, including institutions of higher education) to States to develop and implement alternative financing programs under this title. (Sec. 307) Directs the Secretary to report annually to specified congressional committees on the progress of each alternative financing program funded under this title. (Sec. 308) Authorizes appropriations. Title IV: Repeal and Conforming Amendments - Repeals the Technology-Related Assistance for Individuals With Disabilities Act of 1988.
United States · United States Congress · 2 September 1998
Expresses the sense of the Senate regarding actions that the President should take to resolve the dispute between the Air Line Pilots Association and Northwest Airlines.
United States · United States Congress · 31 July 1998
Directs the U.S. Customs Service, upon request, to liquidate or reliquidate (refund duty on) certain entries (filed at the port of Los Angeles) of indirect electrostatic copiers at the rate of duty that would have been applicable to such merchandise if they had been liquidated or reliquidated at a duty rate applicable to other automated data processing (ADP) thermal transfer printer units on the date of entry.
United States · United States Congress · 31 July 1998
Amends the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to award grants to States and local health care entities to strengthen their response to domestic violence by building the capacity of health care professionals and staff to identify, address, and prevent domestic violence. Prescribes guidelines for State and local demonstration grants. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 31 July 1998
Expresses the sense of the Senate that the President, acting through the U.S. Agency for International Development (AID), should: (1) aggressively seek to secure emergency famine relief for the people of Sudan; (2) immediately take steps to distribute that famine relief to affected areas in Sudan; (3) encourage and assist Operation Lifeline Sudan and the ongoing efforts to develop relief distribution networks for affected areas of Sudan outside of the umbrella and associated constraints of the Operation; (4) begin providing development assistance in areas of Sudan not controlled by the regime in Khartoum with the goals of building self-sufficiency and avoiding the same conditions which have created the current crisis and providing for longer-term economic, civil, and democratic development, without regard to the constraints that now compromise the ability of the Operation to distribute famine relief or that could constrain future multilateral relief arrangements. Calls for the AID Administrator to submit a report to the appropriate congressional committees on AID's progress toward meeting these goals. Calls for the President, both bilaterally and through the United Nations, to aggressively seek to change the terms by which the Operation and other groups are prohibited from providing necessary relief according to the true needs of the people of Sudan.
United States · United States Congress · 27 July 1998
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: NOAA Atmospheric and Satellite Programs Title II: NOAA Ocean and Coastal Programs Title III: Program Administration and Support Title IV: Hydrographic Services Title V: NOAA Corps Title VI: NOAA Fleet Title VII: Miscellaneous National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Authorization Act of 1998 - Title I: NOAA Atmospheric and Satellite Programs - Authorizes appropriations for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) for: (1) National Weather Service operations and research; (2) improvement of public warning and forecast systems; (3) climate and air quality research; (4) atmospheric research; (5) satellite observing systems; and (6) data and information services. Title II: NOAA Ocean and Coastal Programs - Authorizes appropriations for NOAA for: (1) ocean resources conservation and assessment; and (2) marine environmental research. (Sec. 203) Mandates establishment and maintenance of a National Undersea Research Program to increase scientific knowledge essential for the wise use and conservation of oceanic, coastal, and large lake resources. Requires its research to be conducted by regional National Undersea Research Centers. Mandates annual solicitation of research proposals. Authorizes appropriations. Title III: Program Administration and Support - Authorizes appropriations for NOAA for: (1) administration and services; (2) acquisition, construction, maintenance, and operation of facilities; (3) vessel support; (4) the National Ocean Service for collection of coastal assessment data; (5) the National Marine Fisheries Service for conducting sustained fisheries scientific and survey operations; (6) the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research for conducting sustained oceanographic and atmospheric data collection; (7) ship maintenance and repair and planning for future ship capability; and (8) aircraft services. Title IV: Hydrographic Services - Hydrographic Services Improvement Act of 1998 - Lists the hydrographic duties of the NOAA Administrator. Grants related authorities, including: (1) implementing a quality assurance program and certifying hydrographic products meeting standards promulgated by the Administrator; (2) authorizing the use of the emblem or any trademark of NOAA on a certified product; and (3) charging a related fee. Declares that the Government is not liable for any negligence by a person that produces certified hydrographic products. Establishes the Hydrographic Services Account to receive the fees and other amounts as provided by law, with fees credited as offsetting collections to the Administration, Operations, Research, and Facilities account. Prohibits the Administrator from increasing any charge for hydrographic services except as authorized by this paragraph. (Sec. 405) Mandates reports to the Congress on: (1) the status of implementation of real-time tide and current data systems in U.S. ports; (2) existing safety and efficiency needs in U.S. ports that could be met by increased use of those systems; (3) a plan for expanding those systems to meet those needs; and (4) a plan to ensure that Federal competence and expertise in hydrographic surveying will be maintained after the decommissioning of the three existing NOAA hydrographic survey vessels. (Sec. 406) Authorizes appropriations for NOAA for: (1) nautical mapping and charting; (2) hydrographic surveys; (3) geodetic functions; and (4) tide and current measurement functions. Title V: NOAA Corps - Amends the Coast and Geodetic Survey Commissioned Officers' Act of 1948 to: (1) authorize between 264 and 299 commissioned officers on NOAA's active list; (2) mandate the appointment of one of the officers as the officers' director, to be responsible for administration of the officers and for oversight of the operation of NOAA's vessel and aircraft fleets. Ends the moratorium on new officer appointments. Title VI: NOAA Fleet - Mandates submission to specified congressional committees of a revised fleet modernization plan reflecting the need to continue providing NOAA with high-quality oceanic and atmospheric research information and NOAA's budget constraints. Title VII: Miscellaneous - Amends the Reorganization Plan Numbered 4 of 1970 to remove provisions establishing the position of Chief Scientist of NOAA. (Sec. 702) Amends the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act of 1972 to authorize the Secretary of Commerce to use by agreement the personnel, services, and facilities of State and other Federal departments, agencies, and instrumentalities, on a reimbursable or non-reimbursable basis, to carry out the purposes of title III (Marine Sanctuaries) of that Act. (Sec. 703) Amends the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980 to add health care providers and education providers to the list of categories in which Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Awards must be awarded.
United States · United States Congress · 27 July 1998
Declares that the Congress honors the memory of Detective John Michael Gibson and Private First Class Jacob Joseph Chestnut of the U.S. Capitol Police for the selfless acts of heroism they displayed on July 24, 1998, in sacrificing their lives in the line of duty so that others might live. Provides that, when the Senate and the House of Representatives adjourn on this date, they shall do so out of respect for the memory of Officers Gibson and Chestnut.
United States · United States Congress · 27 July 1998
Authorizes the use of the rotunda of the Capitol for a memorial service for Detective John Michael Gibson and Private First Class Jacob Joseph Chestnut of the U.S. Capitol Police. Directs the Architect of the Capitol to place a plaque in honor of the memory of Officers Gibson and Chestnut at an appropriate site in the U.S. Capitol, with the approval of the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate. Directs the Sergeant at Arms of the House of Representatives to make arrangements for funeral services for Officers Gibson and Chestnut, including payments for travel expenses of immediate family members, and for expenses incurred by Members of the House of Representatives in attending such services. Directs the Chief Administrative Officer of the House of Representatives to pay survivor's gratuities to the widows of Officers Gibson and Chestnut. Expresses the sense of the Congress that there should be established under law a U.S. Capitol Police Memorial Fund for the surviving spouses and children of members of the U.S. Capitol Police who are slain in the line of duty.
United States · United States Congress · 24 July 1998
Medicare Home Health Beneficiary Protection Act of 1998 - Amends part D (Miscellaneous Provisions) of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA), as amended by the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 (BBA '97), to revise reasonable cost requirements with regard to the interim system of limited payments for services provided by home health agencies. Establishes a moratorium on implementation of per beneficiary limits and a three-year freeze on cost limits. Amends BBA '97 to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to: (1) establish a process for eliminating inappropriate utilization of Medicare home health services by reviewing claims in which the number of home health visits provided to a beneficiary in a year exceeds the regional average of per beneficiary annual visits; (2) if appropriate, issue a determination denying payment for such a claim, and refer the name of the claimant-provider to the HHS Inspector General for investigation; and (3) include in the annual reports to the Congress on home health cost containment any recommendations for changes to the method of payment, claims review, and scope of benefits that the Secretary determines is necessary to achieve actual outlays equal to estimated outlays under Medicare parts A (Hospital Insurance) and B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) for such services during the following fiscal year. (Sec. 4) Amends SSA title XVIII to provide for: (1) establishment of limits for calculating prospective payment rates for home health services under the payment system for such services; and (2) temporary restoration of periodic interim payment for such services.
United States · United States Congress · 22 July 1998
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Enhanced Source and Transit Country Coverage Title II: Enhanced Eradication and Interdiction Strategy in Source Countries Title III: Enhanced Alterative Crop Development Support in Source Zone Title IV: Enhanced International Law Enforcement Training Title V: Enhanced Drug Transit and Source Zone Law Enforcement Operations and Equipment Title VI: Relationship to Other Laws Western Hemisphere Drug Elimination Act - Declares that it is U.S. policy to: (1) reduce the supply of drugs and drug use through an enhanced drug interdiction effort in the major drug transit countries and a comprehensive supply country eradication and crop substitution program, because a commitment of increased resources in international drug interdiction efforts will create a balanced national drug control strategy among demand reduction, law enforcement, and international drug interdiction efforts; and (2) support policies and dedicate the resources necessary to reduce the flow of illegal drugs into the United States by not less than 80 percent by December 31, 2001. Title I: Enhanced Source and Transit Country Coverage - Authorizes appropriations for FY 1999 through 2001 for the Department of the Treasury and the Department of Defense (DOD) for the enhancement of air coverage and operation for drug source and transit countries. (Sec. 102) Authorizes appropriations for FY 1999 through 2001 for the Department of Transportation (DOT) for the enhancement of U.S. Coast Guard maritime coverage and operation in drug source and transit countries. (Sec. 103) Authorizes appropriations for FY 1999 through 2001 for the DOD for the enhancement of radar coverage in drug source and transit countries. Title II: Enhanced Eradication and Interdiction Strategy in Source Countries - Authorizes appropriations for FY 1999 through 2001 for the Department of State and the DOD for the enhancement of drug- related eradication efforts in Colombia. (Sec. 202) Authorizes appropriations for FY 1999 through 2001 for: (1) the Department of State for the establishment of a third drug interdiction site at Puerto Maldonado, Peru, to support air bridge and riverine missions for enhancement of drug-related eradication efforts there; and (2) the DOD for operation and maintenance, Defense-wide, for enhancement of drug interdiction efforts in Peru for support of multinational riverine and small boat maintenance training programs in Iquitos, Peru. Directs the Secretary of Defense to study and report to the Congress on Peruvian counternarcotics air interdiction requirements. (Sec. 203) Authorizes appropriations for FY 1999 through 2001 for the Department of State for enhancement of drug-related eradication efforts in Bolivia. (Sec. 204) Directs the Secretary of State to purchase six Bell 212 high altitude helicopters designated for opium eradication programs in Mexican states of Guerrero, Jalisco, and Sinaloa, for enhancement of drug-related eradication efforts there. Makes this purchase mandate contingent on Mexico's agreement to approve full diplomatic immunity for Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) personnel serving in Mexico with privileges granted to U.S. Government officials to carry weapons necessary for the performance of their duties. Authorizes appropriations. Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) all U.S. law enforcement personnel serving in Mexico should be accorded the same status as diplomatic and consular personnel serving at U.S. posts in Mexico; and (2) all Mexican narcotics law enforcement personnel serving in the United States should be accorded the same diplomatic and consular status as DEA personnel serving in Mexico. (Sec. 205) Authorizes appropriations for FY 1999 through 2001 for enhanced precursor chemical control projects. (Sec. 206) Requires any individual serving as an assistant secretary of any Federal agency or department who has primary responsibility for international narcotics control and law enforcement (including the principal deputy of any such assistant) to have substantial professional qualifications in the fields of management and Federal law enforcement, or intelligence. Declares that the DOD shall have sole responsibility in implementation and processing of counternarcotics foreign military sales requests (with the Department of State having a consultative role in such requests). (Sec. 207) Expresses the sense of the Congress that the responsiveness and effectiveness of Department of State international narcotics assistance activities have been hampered due, in part, to the lack of law enforcement expertise by responsible Department of State personnel. Requires the Director of National Drug Control Policy to report to the appropriate congressional committees on: (1) the responsiveness and effectiveness of such activities; and (2) the feasibility costs and steps needed to achieve a transfer of the Department of State's Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs to the DEA. Authorizes appropriations. Title III: Enhanced Alternative Crop Development Support in Source Zone - Authorizes appropriations for FY 1999 through 2001 for the U.S. Agency for International Development (AID) for certain alternative crop development programs in Colombia, Peru, and Bolivia. Title IV: Enhanced International Law Enforcement Training - Authorizes appropriations for FY 1999 through 2001 for the Department of Justice for the establishment and operation of international law enforcement academies to carry out law enforcement training activities in Latin America and the Caribbean, Thailand, and South Africa. (Sec. 401) Authorizes appropriations for FY 1999 through 2001 for the DOT and the Department of the Treasury for the joint establishment, operation, and maintenance in San Juan, Puerto Rico, of a center for training law enforcement personnel of countries located in Latin America and the Caribbean in matters relating to maritime law enforcement (including customs-related ports management matters). Authorizes appropriations for FY 1999 through 2001 for the DOT for the establishment, operation, and maintenance of maritime training vessels. (Sec. 402) Authorizes appropriations for FY 1999 through 2001 for the Department of Justice for: (1) substantial exchanges for Mexican judges, prosecutors, and police; and (2) enhanced support for the Brazilian Federal Police Training Center. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1999 through 2001 for the DOD for operation and maintenance, Defense-wide, for locating and operating Coast Guard and Navy assets so as to strengthen the capability of the Coast Guard of Panama to patrol the Atlantic and Pacific coasts for drug enforcement and interdiction activities. Makes members of the national police of Panama eligible to receive training through the International Military Education Training (IMET) program. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1999 through 2001 for the DOD for operation and maintenance, Defense-wide, for support for the Venezuelan Joint National Guard and Judicial Technical Police Counterdrug Intelligence Center. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1999 through 2001 for the DOT and the Department of the Treasury for the buildup of local coast guard and port control in: (1) Guayaquil and Esmeraldas, Ecuador; (2) Haiti and the Dominican Republic; and (3) Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua (Central America). (Sec. 403) Authorizes the DEA Administrator to transfer or lease a specified amount of nonlethal equipment to foreign law enforcement organizations for the purpose of establishing and carrying out cooperative illicit narcotics control activities. Title V: Enhanced Drug Transit and Source Zone Law Enforcement Operations and Equipment - Authorizes appropriations for FY 1999 through 2001 for the DEA, the DOT, the DOD, and the Department of the Treasury for enhancement of counternarcotics operations in drug transit and source countries. (Sec. 501) Authorizes appropriations for FY 1999 through 2001 for the Department of State for the deployment of commercial unclassified intelligence and imaging data and a Passive Coherent Location System for counternarcotics and interdiction purposes in the Western Hemisphere. (Sec. 502) Expresses the sense of the Congress that the Secretary of Defense should revise the DOD's Global Military Force Policy in order to: (1) treat the international drug interdiction and counter- drug activities of the DOD as a military operation other than war (thus elevating its priority to just below that for war); and (2) allocate DOD assets to drug interdiction and counter-drug activities in accordance with such priority. Title VI: Relationship to Other Laws - Declares that funds authorized to be appropriated for any Federal department or agency for FY 1999 through 2001 are in addition to funds authorized to be appropriated for that department or agency for those fiscal years by any other provision of law.
United States · United States Congress · 17 July 1998
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Patients' Bill of Rights Subtitle A: Right to Advice and Care Subtitle B: Right to Information about Plans and Providers Subtitle C: Right to Hold Health Plans Accountable Title II: Individual Rights with Respect to Personal Medical Information Subtitle A: Access to Medical Records Subtitle B: Establishment of Safeguards Subtitle C: Enforcement; Definitions Title III: Genetic Information and Services Title IV: Healthcare Quality Research Title V: Women's Health Research and Prevention Subtitle A: Provisions Relating to Women's Health Research at the National Institutes of Health Subtitle B: Provisions Relating to Women's Health at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Subtitle C: Women's Health and Cancer Rights Title VI: Enhanced Access to Health Insurance Coverage Patients' Bill of Rights Act - Title I: Patients' Bill of Rights - Subtitle A: Right to Advice and Care - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to require a group health plan covering emergency medical care to provide coverage, without requiring preauthorization, for appropriate emergency medical screening examinations to the extent that a prudent layperson, possessing an average knowledge of health and medicine, would determine such examinations to be necessary to determine whether emergency medical care is necessary. (Sec. 101) Requires a plan to cover additional emergency medical services following such an examination to the extent that a prudent emergency medical professional would determine such services to be necessary to avoid specified serious consequences. Requires a plan (other than a small employer's plan) providing benefit coverage only through a defined set of participating health care professionals to offer the option of point-of-service coverage (of the same benefits provided by a nonparticipating health care professional), unless the plan offers multiple issuer or coverage options. Requires any plan offering gynecological, obstetric, or pediatric care not to require prior authorization from a participant's primary care provider if such provider is not a gynecologist, obstetrician, or pediatrician. Requires a plan to permit a participant or beneficiary undergoing a course of treatment to continue such treatment for a period of time even though the contract between the plan and a health care provider is terminated, or the schedule of benefits or coverage is terminated by a change in the terms of the provider's participation in the plan. Specifies a 90-day continuation of coverage generally, and other transitional periods for institutionalization (until discharge), pregnancy (through post-partum care), and terminal illness (remainder of life). Declares that a plan shall not prohibit a health care professional from advising a patient about the patient's health status, medical care, or treatment for the patient's condition or disease, regardless of whether coverage for such care or treatment is provided under the contract, if the professional is acting within the lawful scope of the practice. Applies the requirements of this subtitle to group health plans, but not to a health insurance issuer licensed by a State and subject to State insurance regulation while engaged in the business of insurance in such State. Subtitle B: Right to Information about Plans and Providers - Requires plans and group health insurance issuers to disclose specified plan information to enrollees and (upon request) potential enrollees. (Sec. 112) Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to contract with the Institute of Medicine for a study and report to the appropriate congressional committees on: (1) health care professionals information currently available to patients, consumers, States, and professional societies, nationally and on a State-by-State basis; (2) the legal and other barriers to the sharing of information about health care professionals; and (3) recommendations for disclosure of such information on health care professionals, including their competencies and professional qualifications, to better facilitate patient choice, quality improvement, and market competition. Subtitle C: Right to Hold Health Plans Accountable - Revises requirements for plan provision of a procedure for appealing denied claims. (Sec. 121) Requires a plan or health insurance issuer conducting utilization review to have: (1) specified procedures in place for coverage determinations, including expedited determinations; (2) written procedures for addressing grievances between a plan and enrollees; (3) an internal procedure for coverage determination appeals; and (4) an external review procedure for enrollee appeals, involving specified entities and independent medical experts, whose determination shall be binding. Prescribes external review standards. Directs the General Accounting Office to study and report to the appropriate congressional committees on a statistically appropriate sample of completed external reviews. Title II: Individual Rights with Respect to Personal Medical Information - Personal Medical Information Access Act - Subtitle A: Access to Medical Records - Amends ERISA to require any health care provider, health plan, employer, health or life insurer, school, or university, except in specified circumstances, to: (1) permit an individual who is the subject of protected health information (or the individual's designee) to inspect and copy protected health information concerning the individual; (2) amend such information upon the individual's request; and (3) make reasonable efforts to inform any person to whom the unamended portion of the information was previously disclosed of any nontechnical amendment that has been made. (Sec. 212) Prescribes procedures for: (1) an entity's denial of a request to amend such information; and (2) an individual's filing of a statement of disagreement with such denial, which shall accompany any subsequent disclosure of the disputed portion of the information. (Sec. 213) Requires any health care provider, health plan, employer, health or life insurer, school, or university to post notice of the entity's confidentiality practices, including specified information. Requires the Secretary to develop and disseminate model notices of confidentiality practices. Subtitle B: Establishment of Safeguards - Requires any health care provider, health plan, employer, health or life insurer, school, or university to establish and maintain appropriate administrative, technical, and physical safeguards to protect the confidentiality, security, accuracy, and integrity of protected health information the entity creates, receives, obtains, maintains, uses, transmits, or disposes of. Subtitle C: Enforcement; Definitions - Prescribes civil money penalties for substantial and material failure to comply with this Act. (Sec. 232) Sets forth definitions. Title III: Genetic Information and Services - Genetic Information Nondiscrimination in Health Insurance Act of 1998 - Amends ERISA, the Public Health Service Act (PHSA), and the Internal Revenue Code to prohibit a health care plan or health insurance issuer from restricting enrollment or adjusting premium or contribution amounts for a group on the basis of predictive genetic information concerning an individual in the group or a family member of the individual (including information about a request for or receipt of genetic services). (Sec. 302) Prohibits a plan or issuer from requesting or requiring predictive genetic information concerning an individual or a family member of the individual (including information about a request for or receipt of genetic services). Permits a plan or issuer to request, but not require, such information for diagnosis, treatment, or payment purposes only. Title IV: Healthcare Quality Research - Healthcare Quality Research Act of 1998 - Amends PHSA to establish within the Public Health Service (PHS) an Agency for Healthcare Quality Research to replace the current Agency for Health Care Policy and Research. (Sec. 402) Directs the Agency to identify and disseminate methods or systems used to assess healthcare research results, particularly to rate the strength of the scientific evidence behind healthcare practice and technology recommendations in the research. Requires the Agency to employ research strategies and mechanisms that will link research directly with clinical practice in geographically diverse locations throughout the United States, including: (1) Healthcare Improvement Research Centers that combine demonstrated multidisciplinary expertise in outcomes or quality improvement research with linkages to relevant sites of care; (2) Practice-based Research Networks, including plan, facility, or delivery system sites of care (especially primary care), that can evaluate and promote quality improvement; and (3) other innovative mechanisms or strategies. Directs the Agency to: (1) award grants to enable eligible entities at geographically diverse locations throughout the United States to carry out research training programs dedicated to health services research training at the doctoral, post-doctoral, and junior faculty levels; and (2) provide specified scientific and technical support for private and public efforts to improve healthcare quality, including accrediting organizations. Directs the Secretary, acting through the Agency Director, to establish a demonstration program of grants for one or more centers to conduct: (1) state-of-the-art clinical research on drugs, biological products, and devices; (2) research on the comparative effectiveness, cost-effectiveness, and safety of drugs, biological products, and devices; and (3) other appropriate activities (excluding the review of new drugs). Requires the Agency Director to: (1) collect certain data on the cost and quality of healthcare; (2) support research on and initiatives to advance the use of information systems for the study of healthcare quality; and (3) provide ongoing administrative, research, and technical support for the Preventive Services Task Force, which shall review scientific evidence on the effectiveness, appropriateness, and cost-effectiveness of clinical preventive services regarding their usefulness in daily clinical practice. Establishes within the Agency a Center for Primary Care Delivery Research to serve as the principal funding source for HHS primary care delivery research and demonstrations with respect to the first contact when illness or health concerns arise, the diagnosis, treatment or referral to specialty care, preventive care, and the relationship between the clinician and the patient in the context of the family and community. Requires the Agency Director by specified activities to promote innovation in evidence-based clinical practice and healthcare technologies. Requires the Secretary, acting through the Director, to coordinate all research, evaluations, and demonstrations related to health services research and quality measurement and improvement activities undertaken and supported by the Federal Government. Requires the Secretary to contract with the Institute of Medicine to: (1) describe and evaluate current quality improvement research and monitoring processes; and (2) recommend options to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of such processes, and optimize public- private sector accreditation bodies. Directs the Secretary, acting through the Director, to establish a nonprofit, nongovernmental Foundation for Healthcare Research, which shall: (1) support the Agency and foster public-private partnerships to support Agency programs and activities; (2) advance collaboration with healthcare researchers from universities, industry, and nonprofit organizations; and (4) develop linkages with users of healthcare and quality research. Requires the Secretary, acting through the Agency Director, to make grants each fiscal year to support the Foundation. Establishes an Advisory Council for Healthcare Quality Research to replace the current Advisory Council for Health Care Policy, Research, and Evaluation. Requires the Agency Director to establish technical and scientific peer review groups to review each application for a grant, cooperative agreement, or contract under this title. Repeals the mandates for: (1) a demonstration program regarding centers for education and research on therapeutics; and (2) the Office of the Forum for Quality and Effectiveness in Health Care. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 404) Requires the Secretary, within 30 days after enactment of any Act providing for a qualifying health care benefit, to evaluate scientifically and report to the appropriate congressional committees on: (1) the safety, efficacy, cost, benefits and value of such benefit; (2) alternative approaches in improving care compared with such benefit; and (3) the benefit's overall impact on health care as measured through research. Title V: Women's Health Research and Prevention - Women's Health Research and Prevention Amendments of 1998 - Subtitle A: Provisions Relating to Women's Health Research at the National Institutes of Health - Amends PHSA to extend the authorization of appropriations for research on the drug diethylstilbestrol (commonly known as DES). Directs the Secretary, acting through PHS agency heads, to carry out a national program to educate health professionals and the public about DES. (Sec. 512) Extends the authorization of appropriations for research on: (1) osteoporosis, Paget's disease, and related bone disorders; (2) breast and ovarian cancers; and (3) aging processes relating to women. (Sec. 514) Requires the Director of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute to expand, intensify, and coordinate research and related activities with respect to heart attack, stroke, and other cardiovascular diseases in women. (Sec. 516) Requires the Director of the National Institutes of Health (currently, the Director of the Office of Research on Women's Health) to appoint members of the Advisory Committee on Research on Women's Health. Subtitle B: Provisions Relating to Women's Health at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - Amends PHSA to extend the authorization of appropriations for: (1) the National Center for Health Statistics; (2) the National Program of Cancer Registries; (3) the National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program; (4) Centers for Research and Demonstration of Health Promotion; and (5) community programs on domestic violence. (Sec. 523) Authorizes a State receiving a Federal grant to make grants to or contract with for-profit private entities to carry out programs of preventive health measures for breast and cervical cancers. Subtitle C: Women's Health and Cancer Rights - Women's Health and Cancer Rights Act of 1998 - Amends ERISA, PHSA, and the Internal Revenue Code to require certain group health plans and health insurance issuers to ensure specified minimum coverage regarding: (1) breast cancer mastectomies, lumpectomies, and lymph node dissections; (2) post-mastectomy breast reconstruction on both breasts; and (3) the costs of prostheses and complications of mastectomy, including lymphedemas. Prohibits: (1) denial of eligibility to a patient, and other related practices, solely to avoid the requirements of this subtitle; (2) incentives or rebates to encourage individuals to accept less than the minimum coverage; and (2) certain penalties or incentives to providers to evade application of this subtitle. (Sec. 535) Amends PHSA to apply the same requirements to health insurance issuers in the individual market. (Sec. 537) Directs the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research to study and report to the appropriate congressional committees on the scientific issues relating to prevention and treatment of breast cancer. Title VI: Enhanced Access to Health Insurance Coverage - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) allow the annual carryover of up to $500 of unused benefits from cafeteria plans, flexible spending arrangements, and health flexible spending accounts; (2) allow a full deduction from gross income of the health insurance costs of self-employed individuals; and (3) repeal the limitation of the availability of medical savings accounts (MSAs) to employees of small employers and the self-employed. (Sec. 603) Reduces from $1,500 to $1,000 (self-only coverage) and from $3,000 to $2,000 (family coverage) the minimum annual deductible of a high deductible health plan. Revises the formula for the monthly limitation on the allowable deduction for MSAs to increase the contribution limit to 100 percent of the annual deductible under a high deductible health plan. Waives the additional tax on MSA distributions not used for qualified medical expenses to the extent any payment or distribution does not reduce the fair market value of the MSA assets to an amount less than the annual deductible for the account holder's high deductible health plan. (Sec. 604) Authorizes the Office of Personnel Management to contract for or approve catastrophic FEHBP plans, whose covered expenses exceed $500. Amends Federal civil service law, with respect to Government contributions under the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP), to require an additional Government contribution, according to a certain formula, to an individual's MSA with respect to a catastrophic plan. Increases the Government's biweekly contribution to an employee's or annuitant's FEHBP catastrophic plan from 75 percent to 100 percent of the subscription charge.
United States · United States Congress · 25 June 1998
Federal Research Investment Act - Calls for Federal funding levels for fundamental, scientific, and pre-competitive engineering research to be increased to equal approximately 2.6 percent of the total annual Federal budget. Authorizes appropriations for civilian research and development (R&D) within specified agencies for FY 1999 through 2010. Directs the President to include with the annual budget request a report concerning Federal R&D program funding, future R&D strategies and targets, and an analysis of funding levels across Federal agencies by funding methodology. Requires the Director of the Office of Science Technology Policy (OSTP) to enter in an agreement with the National Academy of Sciences to conduct a comprehensive study to develop methods for evaluating federally-funded R&D programs. Requires the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), based on study results, to promulgate one or more alternative forms for Federal R&D performance goals. Permits an agency head to apply such an alternative form without further authorization by OMB. Requires agency heads carrying out R&D activities, upon updating a strategic plan, to describe the current and future use of methods for determining an acceptable level of R&D success as recommended by the study. Authorizes appropriations for the study. Requires: (1) the OMB Director, based upon program performance reports, to identify the civilian R&D program activities or components which do not meet an acceptable level of success; (2) an agency head to submit to the appropriate congressional committees a concise statement of the steps needed to terminate a program activity or component identified as being below the acceptable level of success for two consecutive fiscal years; (3) such a program to be terminated unless the Directors of OSTP and OMB and the agency head determine that it should be continued; and (4) the statement of termination to recommend disposition of unexpended and unobligated funds from terminated programs.
United States · United States Congress · 24 June 1998
Education Flexibility Amendments of 1998 - Amends the Goals 2000: Educate America Act to authorize the Secretary of Education to allow all States to participate in the Education Flexibility Partnership Demonstration Act program. Directs the Secretary to make available funds to carry out such program for FY 1999 through 2003.
United States · United States Congress · 23 June 1998
Healthcare Quality Enhancement Act of 1998 - Replaces all provisions of title IX (Agency for Health Care Policy and Research) of the Public Health Service Act with a new title IX (Agency for Healthcare Quality). Sets forth the mission, duties, and general authorities of the new Agency for Healthcare Quality. Requires the Agency to promote health care quality improvement by: (1) conducting and supporting research that develops and presents scientific evidence regarding all aspects of health care; (2) synthesizing and disseminating available scientific evidence for use by patients, consumers, practitioners, providers, purchasers, policy makers, and educators; and (3) advancing private and public efforts to improve health care quality. Directs the Agency, in collaboration with experts from the public and private sector, to identify and disseminate methods or systems used to assess health care research projects. Directs the Agency to employ research strategies and mechanisms that will link research directly with clinical practice in geographically diverse locations throughout the United States. Provides for grants to carry out research training programs that are dedicated to health services research training at the doctoral, post-doctoral, and junior faculty levels at geographically diverse eligible entities. Directs the Agency to provide scientific and technical support for private and public efforts to improve health care quality, including accrediting organizations. Requires the Agency to provide scientific and technical support for private and public efforts to improve health care quality, including accrediting organizations. Requires the collection of data from a nationally representative population sample on the cost and use of health care. Requires the Agency to support research to evaluate and initiatives to advance the use of information systems in connection with health care. Requires the Agency to provide ongoing support to the Preventive Services Task Force. Establishes within the Agency a Center for Primary Care Research. Requires the Director of the Agency to promote innovation in evidence-based clinical practice and health care technologies. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services, through the Agency's Director, to coordinate all research, evaluations, and demonstrations related to health services research and quality improvement activities undertaken and supported by the Federal Government. Establishes the Advisory Council for Healthcare Quality. Establishes, as a nonprofit corporation, the Foundation for Healthcare Research to: (1) support the Agency; (2) foster public-private partnerships; (3) advance collaboration with health care researchers; and (4) develop linkages with users of health care and quality research. Sets forth provisions concerning: (1) peer review with respect to grants under this Act; (2) standards with respect to the utility of data collected and statistics developed; (3) the dissemination of information; and (4) administrative authority. Authorizes appropriations. Deems any reference in law to the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research to be deemed a reference to the Agency for Healthcare Quality.
United States · United States Congress · 16 June 1998
Superfund Recycling Equity Act of 1998 - Amends the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 to absolve persons (other than owners or operators) who arranged for the recycling of recyclable material from liability for environmental response actions. Deems transactions involving scrap paper, plastic, glass, textiles, or rubber (other than whole tires) to be arranging for recycling if the person who arranged the transaction demonstrates that the following criteria were met: (1) the recyclable material met a commercial specification grade and a market existed for the material; (2) a substantial portion of the material was made available for use as a feedstock for the manufacture of a new saleable product; (3) the material (or product to be made from the material) could have been a replacement for a virgin raw material; and (4) with respect to transactions occurring 90 days after this Act's enactment, the person exercised reasonable care to determine that the facility where the material would be managed by another was in compliance with Federal, State, or local environmental laws or regulations. Deems transactions involving scrap metal to be arranging for recycling if the person who arranged the transaction demonstrates that: (1) the criteria for scrap materials were met; (2) he or she complied with applicable standards regarding activities associated with the recycling of scrap metals; and (3) the scrap metal was not melted prior to the transaction. Deems transactions involving spent lead-acid, nickel-cadmium, or other batteries to be arranging for recycling if the person involved demonstrates that: (1) the criteria for scrap materials were met; and (2) he or she complied with applicable Federal environmental regulations or standards regarding such batteries. Makes the exemptions from liability under this Act inapplicable if the person: (1) had an objectively reasonable basis to believe at the time of the recycling transaction that the recyclable material would not be recycled or would be burned as fuel or for energy recovery or incineration or that the consuming facility was not in compliance with Federal, State, or local environmental laws or regulations; (2) had reason to believe that hazardous substances had been added to the material for purposes other than processing for recycling; or (3) failed to exercise reasonable care with respect to the management of the material. Makes such exemptions inapplicable if the recyclable material contained polychlorinated biphenyls in excess of 50 parts per million or any new Federal standard or if such material is an item of scrap paper containing, at the time of recycling, a concentration of a hazardous substance determined to present a significant human health or environmental risk.
United States · United States Congress · 10 June 1998
Disapproves the rule submitted by the Health Care Financing Administration, Department of Health and Human Services, on June 1, 1998, relating to surety bond requirements for home health agencies under titles XVIII (Medicare) and XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act.
United States · United States Congress · 9 June 1998
National Bone Marrow Registry Reauthorization Act of 1998 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to: (1) declare that the purpose of the National Bone Marrow Registry is to increase the number of transplants for recipients suitably matched to biologically unrelated bone marrow donors; (2) revise the membership and tenure of the Registry's board of directors; and (3) revise the Registry's functions. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to ensure that the Registry develops, evaluates and implements a plan to: (1) effectuate efficiencies in the relationship between the Registry and donor centers; and (2) incorporate the findings and recommendations of the Bone Marrow Program Inspection conducted as of January 1997 by the Office of the Inspector General. Requires the Registry to: (1) implement a bone marrow donors recruitment program to identify populations underrepresented among potential Registry donors; (2) establish an office of patient advocacy, which shall provide individualized case management services directly to the patient; and (3) report annually to the Secretary on pretransplant costs. Directs the Secretary (acting through the Registry) to establish a scientific registry of information relating to recipients of bone marrow transplants from a biologically unrelated donor. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Comptroller General to study and report to the Congress on the Registry, covering specified questions, including the extent to which the Registry has increased the representation of racial and ethnic minority groups among potential donors.
United States · United States Congress · 2 June 1998
No Gun Tax Act of 1998 - Prohibits the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation from collecting any fee, assessment, third party collection, or other charge from any person or agency in connection with any background check required under the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act.
United States · United States Congress · 22 May 1998
Technology Transfer Commercialization Act of 1998 - Amends the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980 to revise requirements regarding enumerated authority under a cooperative research and development agreement to permit Government laboratories to grant licenses to federally owned inventions made before the signing of such agreements and directly related to the scope of the work under such agreements. Rewrites Federal restrictions on the licensing of federally owned inventions. Requires a license applicant to make a commitment to achieve practical utilization of the invention within a reasonable time. Requires such a license to include provisions: (1) retaining a nontransferrable, irrevocable, paid-up license for the Federal agency to practice the invention or have the invention practiced throughout the world by or on behalf of the U.S. Government; (2) requiring periodic reporting on use of the invention by the licensee only to the extent necessary to enable the Federal agency to determine whether the licensee is complying with license terms; and (3) empowering the Federal agency to terminate the license if the licensee has been found by a competent authority to have violated the Federal antitrust laws in connection with its performance under the license agreement. Prohibits an agency from granting an exclusive or partially exclusive license on a federally-owned invention unless: (1) it has provided 30 days' public notice and considered all comments received; and (2) the person requesting the license has supplied to the agency a basic business plan with development or commercialization milestones (provides for exempting small business firms from such requirement for non-exclusive licenses). Requires that a license application include the detailed description of the applicant's plan for development or marketing (or both) of the invention as a subdocument which is exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act and which includes only a statement on: (1) the resources required to bring the invention to practical application; (2) the applicant's capability and intention to fulfill the plan; (3) the fields of use for which the applicant intends to practice the invention; and (4) the geographic areas in which the applicant intends to use or sell the invention or to manufacture any product embodying the invention. Directs the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy to review the procedures used by Federal agencies to gather and consider the views of other agencies before final approval or disapproval of: (1) joint work statements with non-Federal entities operating Federal laboratories; or (2) cooperative research and development agreements involving national security, or relating to projects which may have a significant impact on domestic or international competitiveness. Requires the Director to establish and distribute to appropriate Federal agencies: (1) specific criteria to indicate the necessity for interagency review of such approval or disapproval; and (2) procedures for such interagency review. Makes certain technical amendments to: (1) the Bayh-Dole Act with regard to the Government's acquisition of the rights of a private party to a federally owned invention; and (2) the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980 relating to the distribution of royalties received by Federal agencies.
United States · United States Congress · 22 May 1998
Postal Employees Safety Enhancement Act - Amends the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (OSHA) to apply it to the United States Postal Service (USPS) as an employer. Amends Federal law to prohibit USPS from: (1) considering compliance with OSHA in determining whether to close or consolidate a post office; or (2) restricting, eliminating, or adversely affecting any service it provides as a result of paying a penalty imposed under OSHA. Prohibits the Postal Rate Commission from considering compliance with OSHA in determining whether to increase rates. Provides that OSHA compliance shall not otherwise affect the service of the USPS.
United States · United States Congress · 13 May 1998
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to make permanent the credit for increasing research activities. Modifies the fixed-base percentage used in determining such credit. Makes the credit available to additional laboratories and centers. Revises the definition of basic research.
United States · United States Congress · 29 April 1998
Internal Revenue Service Random Audit Prohibition Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code, with respect to Internal Revenue Service audit authority, to: (1) require an examination notice to identify the purpose and basis for such examination; and (2) prohibit random audits and provide civil damages for their knowing performance.
United States · United States Congress · 29 April 1998
Disaster Victim Tax Extension Act of 1998 - Amends the Taxpayer Relief Act to provide for abatement of interest on taxpayer underpayments in presidentially declared disaster areas if a filing and payment extension is granted.
United States · United States Congress · 29 April 1998
Recognizes the historic significance of the 50th anniversary of the reestablishment of the State of Israel. Commends the Israeli people for their achievements in building a new state and a pluralistic democratic society in the Middle East. Reaffirms the bonds of friendship and cooperation between the United States and Israel. Extends congratulations and best wishes to the State of Israel and her people for a peaceful, prosperous, and successful future.
United States · United States Congress · 23 April 1998
Truth in Employment Act - Amends the National Labor Relations Act to provide that nothing in specified prohibitions against unfair labor practices by employers shall be construed as requiring an employer to employ any person who is not a bona fide employee applicant, in that such person seeks or has sought employment with the employer with the primary purpose of furthering another employment or agency status.
![Official portrait of Sen. Frist, William H. [R-TN]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/f000439_200.jpg)