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United States · Official source
2,765 records where Sen. Graham, Bob [D-FL] is listed as a sponsor, author, or other actor. Search with topics and years
United States · United States Congress · 17 September 1998
Long-Term Care and Retirement Security Act of 1998 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to permit a deduction for eligible long-term health care premiums for an individual who is not eligible for an employer-subsidized long-term care health plan.
United States · United States Congress · 17 September 1998
Declares that it is the sense of the Senate: (1) supporting and recognizing the right of U.S. citizens residing in Puerto Rico to express democratically their views regarding their future political status through a referendum or other public forum, and to communicate those views to the President and Congress; and (2) urging the Federal Government to review any such communication.
United States · United States Congress · 16 September 1998
Civil Service Long-Term Care Insurance Benefit Act - Directs the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to establish and administer a program through which Federal employees and annuitants may obtain group or individual long-term care insurance for themselves, a spouse, or, to the extent permitted under the insurance contract terms, any other eligible relative. Directs OPM to: (1) annually identify and list participating insurance carriers; (2) provide carrier application requirements; (3) publish in the Federal Register appropriate information concerning such carriers and the availability of such insurance to eligible individuals; (4) arrange to have covered individuals receive a copy of such insurance policy as well as a benefit certificate; and (5) undertake certain administrative functions with respect to employee or annuitant insurance enrollment and pay or annuity withholdings to cover the cost of such insurance.
United States · United States Congress · 16 September 1998
Designates April 30, 1999, as Dia de los Ninos: Celebrating Young Americans.
United States · United States Congress · 15 September 1998
Mandates revisions to a map depicting a specified unit of the Coastal Barrier Resources System in Florida to exclude Pumpkin Key from the System.
United States · United States Congress · 15 September 1998
Mandates corrections to a specified Coastal Barrier Resources System map relating to the State of Florida as necessary to ensure that depictions of areas on that map are consistent with the depictions of areas appearing on another specified map.
United States · United States Congress · 14 September 1998
Dante Fascell Biscayne National Park Visitor Center Designation Act - Designates the Biscayne National Park visitor center located on the shore of Biscayne Bay on Convoy Point as the Dante Fascell Visitor Center at Biscayne National Park.
United States · United States Congress · 10 September 1998
Expresses the sense of the Senate that October 11, 1998, should be designated as National Children's Day.
United States · United States Congress · 3 September 1998
Designates October 16, 1998, as National Mammography Day.
United States · United States Congress · 31 July 1998
Designates the U.S. Postal Service buildings located at: (1) 3191 Grand Avenue in Coconut Grove, Florida, as the William R. "Billy" Rolle Post Office Building; (2) 550 Fisherman Street in Opa Locka, Florida, as the Helen Miller Post Office Building; (3) 18690 N.W. 37th Avenue in Carol City, Florida, as the Essie Silva Post Office Building; (4) 500 North West 2d Avenue in Miami, Florida, as the Athalie Range Post Office Building; and (5) 995 North West 119th Street in Miami, Florida, as the Garth Reeves, Sr. Post Office Building.
United States · United States Congress · 31 July 1998
Medicaid and Children's Health Improvement Amendments of 1998 - Amends titles XIX (Medicaid) and XXI (Children's Health Insurance) (CHIP) of the Social Security Act to give States the option of covering certain legal immigrant children under Medicaid and CHIP. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to provide for increased allotments under CHIP for the territories. Makes necessary appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 31 July 1998
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Promoting Responsible Managed Care Subtitle A: Grievance and Appeals Subtitle B: Consumer Information Subtitle C: Patient Protection Standards Subtitle D: Enhanced Enforcement Authority Title II: Patient Protection Standards Under the Public Health Service Act Title III: Patient Protection Standards Under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 Title IV: Patient Protection Standards Under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 Title V: Effective Dates; Coordination in Implementation Promoting Responsible Managed Care Act of 1998 - Title I: Promoting Responsible Managed Care - Subtitle A: Grievance and Appeals - Declares that a participant or beneficiary in a group health plan or an enrollee in health insurance coverage offered by a health insurance issuer (covered individual) has rights relating to grievances, timely coverage determinations, expedited coverage determinations, and determination appeals. Requires that a group health plan, and a health insurance issuer in connection with health coverage, maintain procedures in accordance with those sections. (Sec. 102) Requires a plan or issuer to: (1) conduct utilization review; (2) provide procedures for timely hearings and resolution of grievances by covered individuals; (3) make timely coverage determinations and redeterminations, including expedited determinations and redeterminations in certain circumstances. Regulates review programs. (Sec. 106) Allows a party to a reconsideration that receives an unfavorable determination to request external review by an entity under contract with the plan. Subtitle B: Consumer Information - Requires plans and issuers to disclose specified information at certain times. Authorizes appropriations for grants to States for contracts with organizations that are independent of plans and issuers for Health Insurance Ombudsmen to provide consumer assistance. Authorizes Federal provision of such a contract where States do not do so. (Sec. 112) Requires: (1) plans and issuers to collect and submit to the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research certain aggregate quality data; and (2) the Agency to publicly disseminate the information (thereby allowing quality comparisons) and to conduct and support research demonstration projects, evaluations, and the dissemination of information regarding quality information. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 113) Requires plans and issuers to have: (1) procedures to safeguard the privacy of individually identifiable health information; and (2) quality assurance and quality improvement programs meeting specified requirements. Subtitle C: Patient Protection Standards - Imposes plan or issuer requirements regarding emergency services and related maintenance or post-stabilization care. (Sec. 122) Provides for: (1) choice of primary (and, unless prior notice is given to the contrary, specialist) providers; (2) routine gynecological and pregnancy-related services from appropriate professionals without authorization; (3) referrals to specialists; (4) designation of a specialist as a primary provider in certain circumstances; (5) standing referrals; and (6) continuity of care on termination of a contract between a plan or issuer and a provider or between a plan and an issuer. Prohibits involuntary disenrollment because an individual's behavior is disruptive, abusive, or uncooperative if the behavior is directly related to diminished mental capacity, severe and persistent mental illness, or a serious childhood mental and emotional disorder, unless the behavior directly threatens bodily injury. Requires that plans and issuers have a sufficient number, distribution, and variety of providers. (Sec. 123) Prohibits plans and issuers, in certain circumstances, from denying participation in a relevant clinical trial or otherwise discriminating against the individual on the basis of the enrollee's trial participation. Imposes requirements on plans and issuers regarding drug formularies. (Sec. 124) Prohibits plans and issuers from discriminating on the basis of race and other specified factors. (Sec. 125) Prohibits an organization on behalf of a plan or issuer from penalizing a health professional for advocating on behalf of the professional's patient or for providing information or referral for medical care. Prohibits a plan or issuer: (1) from restricting a health professional from assisting enrollees who are appealing certain matters under subtitle A; (2) through its contract with its provider, from transferring to the provider any plan or issuer liability; or (3) from operating any physician incentive plan not meeting certain requirements. (Sec. 127) Requires plans and issuers to have a written process for the selection of participating professionals. Prohibits discrimination on the basis of a high-risk patient base or the professional's race or other specified factors. (Sec. 128) Sets forth plan and issuer requirements regarding breast cancer and related procedures, coverages, and practices. Subtitle D: Enhanced Enforcement Authority - Authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services to: (1) enforce this Act; (2) require States that elect to assume enforcement authority to report on their efforts; (3) require issuers to report regarding compliance with this Act; and (4) bring a civil action for equitable relief regarding violations of this Act. Authorizes the Secretary of Labor to: (1) enforce this Act; and (2) bring such an action. Sets dollar limits on monetary penalties. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 142) Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to authorize the Secretary of Labor to assess a civil penalty against a person acting as a fiduciary of a plan so as to cause a violation of certain amendments made by title III of this Act. Authorizes appropriations. Title II: Patient Protection Standards Under Public Health Service Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to require plans (and, with regard to group and individual insurance, issuers) to comply with patient protection requirements under title I of this Act. Title III: Patient Protection Standards Under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 - Amends ERISA to require plans and issuers to comply with the requirements of title I of this Act. Provides for situations in which a plan is not liable for the failure of an issuer's or external appeal entity's failure to meet those requirements. (Sec. 302) Makes any person or persons responsible for making a coverage determination that is not made timely or in accordance with plan terms liable to the participant or beneficiary for economic loss. Title IV: Patient Protection Standards Under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to require a plan to comply with the requirements of this Act. Title V: Effective Dates; Coordination in Implementation - Sets forth the effective dates for this Act. (Sec. 502) Amends the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 to provide for coordination between the Secretaries of Health and Human Services, Labor, and the Treasury regarding regulations, rulings, interpretations, and policies relating to specified provisions of the Act.
United States · United States Congress · 31 July 1998
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: International Visitor Initiatives Title II: International Marketing Program Value in Supporting International Tourism in the United States Act of 1998 (or the Visit USA Act) - Title I: International Visitor Initiatives - 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 such information; 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 to complete, as soon as may be practicable, a satellite system of accounting for the travel and tourism industry. Title II: International Marketing Program - Authorizes appropriations for 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.
United States · United States Congress · 31 July 1998
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 · 31 July 1998
Public School Construction Partnership Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to authorize issuance of tax-exempt private activity bonds to finance construction and rehabilitation of high-growth area public elementary and secondary schools through public-private construction and ownership agreements. Limits the annual aggregate amount of a State's tax-exempt financing. Sets forth State allocation rules, including a discretionary allocation for non high-growth school areas. Exempts such bonds from: (1) State volume caps; and (2) land use or acquisition limitations. Increases the arbitrage rebate exception for State and local bonds used to finance public schools.
United States · United States Congress · 31 July 1998
Designates October 8, 1998, as the Day of National Concern About Young People and Gun Violence.
United States · United States Congress · 30 July 1998
Transition to Competition in the Electric Industry Act - States that no electric utility shall be required, under the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (PURPA), to enter into a new contract or obligation to purchase or sell electricity or capacity from or to qualifying cogeneration and small power production facilities. Requires the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to promulgate and enforce regulations designed to ensure that no electric utility shall be required to absorb the costs associated with purchases of electric power or capacity from a qualifying facility pursuant to PURPA obligations before enactment of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 30 July 1998
Expresses the sense of the Senate that October 11, 1998, should be designated as National Children's Day.
United States · United States Congress · 27 July 1998
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Predisaster Hazard Mitigation Title II: Streamlining and Cost Reduction Title III: Miscellaneous Disaster Mitigation Act of 1998 - Title I: Predisaster Hazard Mitigation - Amends the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to require a State, in submitting a disaster preparedness and prevention program plan prior to receiving assistance under such Act, to set forth a comprehensive and detailed State program for mitigating emergencies and major disasters, including provisions for prioritizing mitigation measures. (Sec. 103) Authorizes the President to make grants for up to 50 percent of the cost of testing and application of hazard identification technologies that can be used by State and local governments and that will likely result in substantial savings as compared to current hazard identification methods. (Sec. 104) Authorizes the President to establish a program to provide financial assistance to States, local governments, and other entities for carrying out predisaster hazard mitigation activities that exhibit long-term, cost-effective benefits and substantially reduce the risk of future damage, hardship, or suffering from a major disaster. Provides, with respect to such assistance program, for: (1) minimum and maximum per-State allocation of funds; (2) criteria for granting such assistance and determining amounts; (3) State Governor recommendations of no fewer than five local governments or other entities to receive such assistance; (4) a Federal cost-share limit; (5) an authorization of appropriations for FY 1998 through 2002; and (6) a report from the President to the Congress on a process for future program administration, including transferring to State and local governments greater responsibility for administering the program and consideration of private sector initiatives for predisaster mitigation to supplement activities of the President and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). (Sec. 105) Directs the Comptroller General to study and report to the Congress on: (1) the effectiveness of the predisaster hazard mitigation program and whether expenditures under the program are warranted in terms of mitigation, disaster avoidance, and dollars saved; and (2) recommendations concerning the appropriate selection of sites and activities conducted with respect to predisaster mitigation. (Sec. 106) Requires the President to establish an interagency task force for purposes of coordinating the implementation of Federal predisaster hazard mitigation programs. (Sec. 107) Increases the maximum contribution authorized to be made by the President for costs of hazard mitigation measures to 20 (currently, 15) percent of the estimated aggregate amount of grants to be made under the Act with respect to a major disaster. Applies such amendment to major disasters declared after March 1, 1997. Title II: Streamlining and Cost Reduction - Directs the President to: (1) establish management cost rates for disaster preparedness and mitigation assistance grantees and subgrantees; and (2) review such rates three years after establishment and periodically thereafter. (Sec. 202) Limits the Federal share of assistance for repair, restoration, or replacement of facilities damaged by a major disaster to 75 percent of the eligible costs of the repair, restoration, or replacement of damaged public and private facilities. Allows a State, local government, or private nonprofit facility, in lieu of repairing, restoring, or replacing such damaged facilities, to receive the Federal cost share limit and repair other facilities or construct new facilities. Authorizes the President to modify the Federal cost share with respect to a large in-lieu contribution if the contribution will be used for mitigation activities consistent with a State plan. Provides for the determination of eligible costs and the modification of such costs. Requires the President, acting through the FEMA Director, to establish an expert panel for the determination of such costs. (Sec. 203) Authorizes the President to provide financial assistance, and, if necessary, direct services to disaster victims who as a direct result of a major disaster have necessary expenses and serious needs and are unable to meet such expenses and needs through other means. Authorizes the President to provide housing assistance to those who are displaced from their pre-disaster residence or whose residence is rendered uninhabitable as a result of such disaster. Includes as appropriate direct assistance the provision of other housing units. Limits the use of such units to 18 months, but allows the President to extend such period under extraordinary circumstances. Allows such assistance to include the repair of the original residence or permanent new housing construction in limited circumstances. Limits to $25,000 the individual or household assistance amount. (Sec. 204) Repeals a provision of the Act authorizing the President to make community disaster loans following major disasters. (Sec. 205) Authorizes a State desiring to administer its own hazard mitigation assistance program to submit for the President's approval an application for the delegation of such authority, under specified criteria. (Sec. 206) Directs the President to conduct and report to the Congress on a pilot program to streamline the damaged facilities program established under the Act. (Sec. 207) Directs the Comptroller General to conduct studies to: (1) estimate the reduction in Federal disaster assistance that has resulted and is likely to result from the enactment of this Act; (2) determine the current and future expected availability of insurance for public infrastructure eligible for assistance under the Act; and (3) examine major disasters and emergencies declared since January 1, 1974, and describe criteria for making declarations and how such criteria have changed over time. Requires reports to the Congress on the results of such studies. Title III: Miscellaneous - Makes a technical correction to the short title of the Act. (Sec. 302) Removes the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands from the definition of "State" under the Act.
United States · United States Congress · 27 July 1998
National Environmental Education Amendments Act of 1998 - Amends the National Environmental Education Act to require that curricula, materials, and training programs developed with support from the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Office of Environmental Education be balanced and scientifically sound. (Sec. 2) Requires that implementation of the Act be through EPA. Eliminates requirements for a Director of the Office and a minimum number of staff. Allows activities to be carried out through grants, cooperative agreements, or contracts. (Sec. 3) Reduces from 25 percent to 15 percent the percentage of funds to be obligated for environmental education grants of not more than $5,000. Prohibits the use of grants for certain lobbying activities. Requires the EPA Science Advisory Board to review and approve any guidance by the EPA Administrator before it is issued to applicants for such grants. (Sec. 4) Repeals the authority for environmental internships and fellowships. (Sec. 5) Eliminates all environmental education awards provided for under such Act, except the President's Environmental Youth Awards. (Sec. 6) Revises requirements for membership on the National Environmental Education Advisory Council. Requires that membership on the Federal Task Force on Environmental Education be open to representatives of any Federal agency actively engaged in environmental education. (Under current law, membership must include specified agency representatives.) Repeals specific requirements for contents of Advisory Council reports. (Sec. 7) Changes the name of the National Environmental Education and Training Foundation to the National Environmental Learning Foundation. Increases the size of the Foundation's Board of the Directors. Repeals the prohibition on the transmission of logos or other means of identification on materials donated to the Foundation for environmental education and training use. Allows acknowledgement of donors, but prohibits such acknowledgement from: (1) appearing in educational material to be presented to students; and (2) identifying a donor by means of a logo, letterhead, or other corporate commercial symbol, slogan, or product. (Sec. 8) Extends through FY 2004 the authorization of appropriations to the EPA for such Act. Revises funding limitations. Limits to 25 percent the amount available for administrative costs. Directs the EPA Administrator to report on expenses annually to the Congress.
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 · 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 · 22 July 1998
Expresses the sense of the Senate that October 15, 1998, should be designated as National Inhalant Abuse Awareness Day, to be observed with appropriate activities. Requests the President to issue a proclamation designating such Day.
United States · United States Congress · 21 July 1998
Agricultural Job Opportunity Benefits and Security Act of 1998 - Directs the Secretary of Labor to establish a database system of U.S. agricultural worker registries to provide temporary and seasonal agricultural job opportunity and referral information. Bases registry coverage on job opportunities in a State or group of contiguous States with a common pool of workers. Sets forth individual registrant requirements, including validation of employment status. (Sec. 4) Requires an employer (including employer associations) prior to hiring a temporary agricultural worker to apply to the Secretary for a U.S. worker referral from the appropriate registry. Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) employer application and labor- related assurance requirements; and (2) registry search and worker referral by the Secretary, including alien worker visa issuances in cases of insufficient registered workers. (Sec. 7) Sets forth employer requirements regarding: (1) wages; (2) housing, including an allowance in lieu of housing; and (3) transportation reimbursement, including establishment of a pilot program to provide certain registered workers with vouchers to purchase employment location transportation. (Sec. 8) Directs the Secretary to establish an enforcement process with respect to employer application violations, including: (1) written notice of finding and opportunity for administrative appeal; (2) payment of back wages; (3) civil monetary penalties; and (4) temporary and permanent program disqualification. (Sec. 9) Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to replace the existing H-2A temporary agricultural worker admissions program with an alternative admissions program. Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) admissibility criteria; (2) length of stay; (3) abandonment of employment; (4) issuance of identification and employment documents; and (5) extension of stay for aliens in the United States. Establishes a trust fund in the Treasury to administer such program, and to provide monetary incentives for alien workers to return to their country of origin upon a finding by the Attorney General that such financial inducements are necessary to assure departures. Prohibits admission of H-2A alien family members. (Sec. 10) Includes certain H-2A workers who have complied with applicable visa conditions in the employment-based immigration preference allocation. (Sec. 11) Amends the Head Start Act to make certain seasonal agricultural worker families eligible for the migrant and seasonal (as added by this section) Head Start program. Increases the set-aside for specified Head Start programs. (Sec. 13) States that additional funds for the registry program, if necessary, shall come from amounts available to Federal and State entities under the Wagner-Peyser Act.
United States · United States Congress · 21 July 1998
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Expanding Coverage for Small Business Title II: Increasing Pension Access and Fairness for Women and Children Title III: Increasing Portability of Pension Plans Title IV: Strengthening Pension Security and Enforcement Title V: Encouraging Retirement Education Title VI: Reducing Red Tape Title VII: Plan Amendments Pension Coverage and Portability Act - Title I: Expanding Coverage for Small Business - Amends the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to revise requirements relating to pension plan loans for Subchapter S owners, partners, and sole proprietors. (Sec. 102) Allows an employer to establish payroll deductions for contributions to employee individual retirement plans without incurring ERISA liability. (Sec. 103) Amends the IRC to allow an eligible employer to establish and maintain a SAFE annuity (an individual retirement annuity) or a SAFE trust (a trust forming part of a defined benefit plan), both to be funded by the employer. Makes the employer contributions deductible without limitation and otherwise provides for the treatment of contributions and distributions. Mandates a penalty for early withdrawals. Requires simplified employer reports for SAFE annuities and simplified actuarial reports for SAFE trusts. Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 to exempt SAFE trusts from coverage requirements and SAFE annuities from certain employer reporting requirements. (Sec. 104) Amends the IRC to modify definitions applicable to special rules for top-heavy plans. Requires consideration of employer matching contributions in determining whether a defined contribution plan meets minimum contribution requirements. (Sec. 105) Allows employers to elect salary reduction only arrangements under Code requirements for simple plans. (Sec. 106) Establishes a small employer pension plan credit. (Sec. 107) Increases (from $6,000 to $8,000) limits for deferrals to simple plans. (Sec. 108) Provides that qualified staffing firms are to be considered employers for purposes of: (1) specified employment taxes; and (2) providing employee benefits. Provides for coverage of leased employees in employment benefit plans by: (1) applying to leased employees certain requirements concerning cash or deferred arrangements, matching contributions, and employee contributions; and (2) setting forth special rules for the leasing organization's plan. Revises safe harbor plan requirements. (Sec. 109) Amends ERISA to provide for a phase-in of an additional premium for new plans to pay to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC). (Sec. 110) Eliminates user fee requirements for requests to the IRS concerning the status of new pension plans. (Sec. 111) Declares the $150,000 compensation limit inapplicable to simple 401(k) arrangements. (Sec. 112) Provides that elective deferrals shall not be taken into account for purposes of limits on certain plan contributions. (Sec. 113) Repeals specified coordination requirements under the Code for deferred compensation plans of State and local governments and tax-exempt organizations. Title II: Increasing Pension Awareness for Women and Children - Sets forth requirements relating to equitable treatment for contributions of employees to defined contribution plans. Requires that certain contributions by church plans are not to be treated as exceeding a specified limit. (Sec. 202) Provides for faster vesting of certain employer matching contributions under the Code and ERISA. (Sec. 203) Amends Federal civil service law to revise requirements for deferred annuities for surviving spouses of Federal employees under both the Civil Service Retirement System (CARS) and the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS). (Sec. 204) Revises requirements relating to tax treatment of division of section 457 plan benefits upon divorce. (Sec. 205) Amends the IRC and ERISA to provide for the spouse's right to know specified distribution information relating to survivor annuities. (Sec. 206) Revises minimum distribution rules under the Code. Revises provisions requirements for actuarial adjustment of benefit under a defined benefit plan. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to: (1) simplify and finalize the regulations relating to minimum distribution requirements; and (2) modify such regulations to reflect increases in life expectancy, and revise required distribution methods so that, under reasonable assumptions, the amount of the required minimum distribution does not decrease over a participant's life expectancy. Provides that, during the first year that such revised regulations are in effect, required distributions for future years may be redetermined, with the opportunity to choose a new designated beneficiary and to elect a new method of calculating life expectancy. Excludes specified amounts from minimum distribution requirements. Repeals a rule relating to distributions begun before death occurs. Title III: Increasing Portability of Pension Plans - Permits rollovers from and to various types of plans under the Code. (Sec. 302) Permits individual retirement plan (IRA) rollovers only if certain conditions are met. (Sec. 303) Permits rollover of after-tax contributions in an exempt trust under specified conditions. Sets forth a hardship exception to the 60-day rule. (Sec. 304) Revises restrictions on distributions, including the same desk exception. Repeals business sale requirements. (Sec. 305) States that a transferee defined contribution plan shall not be treated as having failed to meet certain requirements because it does not provide for some or all of the distribution forms available under a transferor defined contribution plan. (Sec. 306) Authorizes trustee-to-trustee transfers to purchase permissive service credit with respect to governmental defined benefit plans. (Sec. 307) Authorizes employers to disregard rollovers for purposes of employee cash-out amounts under the Code and ERISA. Title IV: Strengthening Pension Security and Enforcement - Amends the IRC and ERISA to revise the percentage of current liability funding limit. Revises maximum contribution deduction rules and applies them to all defined benefit plan under the Code. (Sec. 402) Amends ERISA to direct the PBGC to prescribe rules relating to missing participants for multiemployer plans covered by the PBGC that terminate. (Sec. 403) Amends ERISA to make discretionary the imposition and amount of civil penalties for breach of fiduciary responsibility. Revises requirements for the applicable recovery amount and related rules. (Sec. 404) Prohibits plans from making loans to beneficiaries through any revolving credit arrangement. (Sec. 405) Amends the IRC to allow an employer, in determining the amount of nondeductible contributions for any taxable year, to elect not to take into account any contributions to a defined benefit plan except to the extent that they exceed the full-funding limitation. Title V: Encouraging Retirement Education - Requires that pension benefit statements be furnished annually (once every three years for defined benefit plans) or on request. Allows written or electronic statements. Requires multiemployer plans to furnish a statement (written or electronic) on request. (Sec. 502) Directs the Administrator of the Small Business Administration to prepare a plan to: (1) increase awareness of retirement benefits; and (2) update small business owners concerning such benefits. (Sec. 503) Treats the provision of certain retirement and financial planning services by an employer to an employee as a de minimis fringe benefit. (Sec. 504) Directs the Director of the Office of Personnel Management to develop a program under which Federal Government retirement education program strategies are made available to nongovernmental retirement plan sponsors. Title VI: Reducing Red Tape - Amends the IRC to provide intermediate sanctions for inadvertent failures. Provides for protection from disqualification upon timely correction or payment of fine under requirements for: (1) qualified pension, profit-sharing, and stock bonus plans; (2) qualified cash or deferred arrangements (section 401(k) plans); and (3) annuity contracts. Provides that, under requirements relating to taxability of the beneficiary of a nonexempt trust, income inclusion for disqualification is not applicable to nonhighly compensated employees. (Sec. 602) Amends the IRC and ERISA to revise requirements relating to timing of plan valuations. (Sec. 603) Amends ERISA rules for substantial owners relating to plan terminations to revise: (1) the phase-in of the guarantee; and (2) the allocation of assets. (Sec. 604) Amends IRC requirements for applicable dividends to allow dividends of employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) to be reinvested without loss of dividend deduction. (Sec. 605) Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to modify the regulations regarding the exclusion allowance to render void the requirement that contributions to a defined benefit pension plan be treated as previously excluded amounts. (Sec. 606) Directs the Secretary to provide by regulation that a plan shall be deemed to satisfy specified requirements of the Code if it satisfies a certain facts and circumstances test, under specified conditions. (Sec. 607) Grants the Secretary discretion in applying a specified coverage test to a plan. (Sec. 608) Directs the Secretary to delete a specified rule under regulations relating to the cash-out rule. under the Code. (Sec. 609) Makes inapplicable to certain mirror plans specified Code requirements relating to deferred compensation plans of State and local governments and tax-exempt organizations. (Sec. 610) Revises the notice and consent period regarding distributions. Directs the Secretary to modify certain regulations under the Code to provide that the description of a participant's right, if any, to defer receipt of a distribution shall also describe the consequences of failing to defer such receipt. (Sec. 611) Sets forth conforming amendments relating to election to receive taxable cash compensation in lieu of nontaxable parking benefits. (Sec. 612) Repeals a transition rule relating to certain highly compensated employees under the Tax Reform Act of 1986. (Sec. 613) Extends to international organizations the moratorium on application of certain nondiscrimination rules applicable to State and local plans. (Sec. 615) Directs the Secretary to modify certain regulations with respect to certain plan participation by employees of tax-exempt entities under the Code. (Sec. 616) Repeals a multiple use test. Directs the Secretary prescribe regulations permitting appropriate aggregation of plans and contributions. Title VII: Plan Amendments - Prescribes requirements for plan amendments or annuity contract amendments under the Code and ERISA.
United States · United States Congress · 21 July 1998
Medicare Waste Tax Reduction Act of 1998 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to: (1) establish new minimum levels increasing the number of annual medical, utilization, and fraud reviews and provider cost report audits under the Medicare Integrity Program (MIP), particularly with regard to providers, individuals, and areas that the Secretary of Health and Human Services determines are subject to abuse and most likely to result in mispayment and overpayment recoveries; and (2) provide for an increase in appropriated amounts to MIP's Health Care Fraud and Abuse Control Account, with certain additional amounts to be used for review and audit costs. (Sec. 3) Authorizes appropriations for carrying out, and expanding nationwide, the Administration on Aging's Health Care Anti-Fraud, Waste and Abuse Community Volunteer Demonstration Projects. (Sec. 4) Amends the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 and SSA title XVIII part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) to eliminate the general 15 percent limitation on the amount of reductions that may be made in payment rates (except those for physician services) that are grossly excessive or grossly deficient and therefore not inherently reasonable. (Sec. 5) Amends SSA title XVIII to: (1) give the Secretary certain oversight responsibility with regard to home health agencies through validation surveys of agencies previously surveyed by the State; (2) restructure the payment rate for prescription drugs and biologicals, setting the payment amount, generally, at the lowest of either the actual acquisition cost or 95 percent of the average wholesale cost; and (3) make certain changes regarding the provision of information by group health plans in order to ensure that Medicare does not reimburse claims owed by other payers. (Sec. 8) Amends SSA title XI and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 with regard to criminal penalties for acts involving Federal health care programs to repeal the expanded exception to anti-kickback penalties for eligible organizations and risk-sharing contracts. (Sec. 9) Amends SSA title XI to apply certain criminal penalties for kickbacks to all health care benefit programs. (Sec. 10) Provides for: (1) the extension of subpoena and injunction authority with respect to the exclusion of certain individuals and entities from participation in Medicare and State health care programs; (2) civil monetary penalties for services ordered or prescribed by a person excluded from the program under which the claim was made, and the person furnishing the ordered or prescribed item or service knows or should know of such exclusion; and (3) civil monetary penalties for false certification of eligibility to receive partial hospitalization and hospice services. (Sec. 13) Amends part A (General Provisions) of SSA title XI to provide that Medicare- and Medicaid-related disciplinary actions are not stayed by bankruptcy proceedings, and Medicare- and Medicaid-related debt is not dischargeable in bankruptcy. Amends SSA title XVIII to provide for the use of Medicare standards and procedures in bankruptcy proceedings. (Sec. 14) Amends part B (Peer Review) of SSA title XI, in order to improve private sector coordination in combatting health care fraud, to shield health plans, plan issuers, and their employees from liability in any civil action for providing information to applicable Federal, State, or local law enforcement officials regarding suspected health care fraud, as long as such information is not false, and the person providing the information had no reason to believe the information was false. (Sec. 15) Amends SSA title XVIII with regard to agreements with service providers to allow the Secretary to: (1) establish a procedure for enrollment of individuals or entities that are not service providers subject to such provisions, but that furnish health care items or services under Medicare; and (2) impose fees for initiation and renewal of provider agreements and for enrollment and periodic reenrollment of other individuals and entities furnishing health care items or services under Medicare. (Sec. 16) Directs the Secretary to: (1) develop and implement a comprehensive plan of activities to improve compliance among health care providers with rules and regulations under the Medicare program; and (2) contract with the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences to establish a committee to study and report to the Secretary and appropriate congressional committees on Medicare program administrative requirements applicable to Medicare health care providers, including any recommendations for minimizing such requirements. Provides for funding for such plan and authorizes appropriations for such study. (Sec. 18) Amends SSA title XI with regard to the exclusion of certain individuals and entities from participation in Federal health care programs (which includes certain State health care programs), to apply such exclusion to employment under such programs as well. Restricts certain notice requirements to Federal health care programs (currently, State health care programs). Includes the Federal Employees Health Benefit Program among Federal health care programs. (Sec. 19) Amends SSA title XVIII to modify the special payment rules for items of durable medical equipment to add as alternative payment bases the least expensive amount that the supplier of the item is paid by a Medicare+Choice organization or by any Federal health care program for such item. Requires the Secretary to adjust the payment rate for an item based on either such alternative basis to reflect any excess of administrative costs (of billing and receiving reimbursement) over the administrative costs associated with providing such item to a Medicare+Choice organization or by any Federal health care program. (Sec. 20) Directs the Secretary to require Medicare carriers to use commercial claims auditing systems, as a supplement to any other information technology currently used in processing claims, to process Medicare part B claims for the purpose of identifying billing errors and abuses. (Sec. 21) Amends SSA title XVIII with regard to partial hospitalization services to: (1) exclude services provided in a skilled nursing facility or in an individual's personal residence; (2) authorize the Secretary to establish additional conditions for community mental health centers; and (3) authorize the Secretary to establish by regulation a prospective payment system for such services provided by such a center or by a hospital to its outpatients.
United States · United States Congress · 17 July 1998
Retirement Account Portability Act of 1998 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to permit rollovers to and from State and tax-exempt instrumentality and public school retirement plans. (Sec. 3) Permits individual retirement plan rollovers only if the entire amount is deposited into another defined contribution retirement plan and certain other conditions are met. (Sec. 4) Removes certain restrictions on the rollover of after-tax contributions. (Sec. 5) Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 to extend single employer missing participant provisions to multiemployer plans. (Sec. 6) Permits distributions upon severance from employment (currently, upon separation from service). (Sec. 7) States that a transferee defined contribution plan shall not be treated as having failed to meet certain requirements because it does not provide for some or all of the distribution forms available under a transferor defined contribution plan. (Sec. 8) Permits employers to disregard rollovers for purposes of cash-out amounts. (Sec. 9) Authorizes trustee-to-trustee transfers to purchase permissive service credit with respect to Federal or public school and State and tax-exempt instrumentality pension plans.
United States · United States Congress · 17 July 1998
Recognizes the 50th anniversary of the enactment of the National Heart Act and the creation of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.
United States · United States Congress · 16 July 1998
Home Health Access Preservation Act of 1998 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA), as amended by the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, with respect to the computation formula of the interim system of limited payments for services provided by home health agencies, in order to mandate a new interim system, as of October 1, 1998, with a revised formula and specific amounts for the agency-specific per beneficiary annual limitation, according to the census division in which an agency is located. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to: (1) estimate the amount of savings (if any) to Medicare resulting from this Act for each fiscal year beginning after FY 1998 and before the first fiscal year in which the prospective payment system (PPS) for home health agencies applies; (2) prescribe rules for increased payments to such an agency, if there will be estimated savings; and (3) establish procedures to provide heightened scrutiny of claims for reimbursement under Medicare for items and services provided to certain agency beneficiaries. Amends SSA title XVIII to provide for a three percent increase in per visit cost limits for cost reporting periods beginning on or after October 1, 1997. Directs the Secretary to meet every 90 days with appropriate congressional committee staff to provide informal updates of progress in implementing the PPS above.
United States · United States Congress · 15 July 1998
Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to prohibit transfers or discharges of residents of nursing facilities as a result of a facility's voluntary withdrawal from participation in the Medicaid program as long as such residents resided in the facility before the withdrawal. Requires a withdrawn facility to provide appropriate notice to new residents who begin residence after the withdrawal that the facility: (1) is not participating in the Medicaid program with respect to that resident; and (2) may transfer or discharge the resident from the facility at such time as the resident is unable to pay facility charges, even though the resident may have become eligible for Medicaid's nursing facility services.
United States · United States Congress · 14 July 1998
Defense Jobs and Trade Promotion Act of 1998 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to repeal the limitation on the amount of receipts attributable to military property which may be treated as exempt foreign trade income.
United States · United States Congress · 13 July 1998
Amends the Older Americans Act of 1965 to extend through FY 2001 the authorization of appropriations for: (1) the Federal Council on the Aging; (2) administration; (3) grants for State and community programs on aging; (4) the availability of surplus commodities; (5) training, research, and discretionary projects and programs; (6) community service employment for older Americans; (7) grants for Native Americans; (8) allotments for Vulnerable Elder Rights Protection activities; and (9) the Native American program.
United States · United States Congress · 8 July 1998
Veterans' Educational Benefits Protection Act of 1998 - Excludes a post-service veterans' educational assistance benefit as financial assistance in the computation of need for Federal educational aid.
United States · United States Congress · 26 June 1998
National Wildlife Refuge System Volunteer and Partnership Enhancement Act of 1998 - Amends the Fish and Wildlife Act of 1956 to provide that any gift or bequest made for the benefit of a particular national wildlife refuge or complex of refuges shall be disbursed only for such refuge's or refuges' benefit. Authorizes Federal matching funds. (Sec. 4) Directs the Secretary of the Interior (Secretary) to conduct a volunteer coordinator pilot project in at least two refuges (but not more than 20 nationwide) in each United States Fish and Wildlife Service region. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes the Secretary and the Secretary of Commerce to provide volunteers in the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration with awards and recognition, including nominal cash awards. Authorizes the Secretary to establish a Senior Volunteer Corps. (Sec. 5) Authorizes the Secretary to enter into cooperative agreements with community partnership organizations (private, corporate, academic, or State or local) to implement refuge related programs. Authorizes Federal matching funds. (Sec. 6) Directs the Secretary to develop guidance for, and programs of, refuge education. (Sec. 7) Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 25 June 1998
Florida Coast Protection Act of 1998 - Amends the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to prohibit the Secretary of the Interior from conducting any preleasing or lease sale activity in the following Areas ("covered areas"): (1) the Eastern Gulf of Mexico; (2) the Straits of Florida; and (3) the South Atlantic. Cites circumstances under which the Secretary may approve or permit an exploration, production, or drilling activity in such areas with respect to any existing lease. Establishes a Joint Federal-State Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Force to: (1) ensure acquisition and consideration of needed information in all relevant disciplines to understand environmental risks; (2) provide scientific expertise to the Secretary; (3) facilitate the resolution of conflicts between the State of Florida and Federal agencies with respect to OCS activities and environmental studies; and (4) participate in peer review of certain required studies and research. Subjects approval of oil and gas exploration plans in the covered areas to the detailed environmental impact statement requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA). Expands the scope of required oil and gas development and production plans to include analyses of the effects upon environmental, human, social and economic resources of the affected areas. Provides that a State's consistency response to the consistency certification accompanying such plans shall be considered preliminary and provisional until receipt and review of such expanded analyses. Requires State concurrence for any approval by the Secretary of either a Development and Production Plan or a Development Operations Coordination Document. Requires the Secretary to consult with and obtain the concurrence of each affected State in determining if the approval of a development and production plan constitutes a major Federal action for NEPA purposes. Requires the Secretary, upon a finding that such plan is a major Federal action, to ensure that each affected State receives the final environmental impact statement six months before determining concurrence or objection to the coastal zone consistency certification. Changes from discretionary to mandatory the Secretary's authority to apply the mandated oil and gas development and production plans to an oil or gas lease located in that area of the Gulf of Mexico which is adjacent to the State of Florida.
United States · United States Congress · 23 June 1998
Lewis and Clark Expedition Bicentennial Commemorative Coin Act - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to mint and issue one-dollar and half-dollar coins emblematic of the expedition of Lewis and Clark. Allocates surcharges from coin sales between the National Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Council and the National Park Service for activities associated with the bicentennial commemoration of the expedition.
United States · United States Congress · 22 June 1998
Sets a one-year moratorium during which the Secretary of Health and Human Services may not modify regulations governing the operation of the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network, including pertinent regulations under the Social Security Act. States that a related final rule published in the Federal Register has no legal effect. Directs the Secretary to: (1) consult with the medical community and organ donation organizations to develop workable guidelines for Network operation; and (2) study the impact of proposed regulations on indigent care, economic and geographic access to transplantation services, transplantation outcome and survival rate, and waiting list time by organ.
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 · 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
Vaccinate America's Children Now Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to reduce the tax on vaccines from 75 cents per dose to 25 cents per dose.
United States · United States Congress · 22 May 1998
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Violence Against Women Act of 1994 Title II: Family Violence Prevention and Services Act Title III: Older Americans Act of 1965 Title IV: Public Health Service Act Title V: Financial Exploitation of Older Individuals Older Women's Protection From Violence Act of 1998 - Title I: Violence Against Women Act of 1994 - Amends the Violence Against Women Act of 1994 to direct the Attorney General to: (1) make grants to law school clinical programs to fund the inclusion of cases addressing issues of elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation, including domestic violence, and sexual assault against older individuals; and (2) develop curricula and provide for the offering of training programs regarding such issues for law enforcement officers, prosecutors, and relevant Federal, State, and local court officials. Authorizes appropriations. Title II: Family Violence Prevention and Services Act - Amends the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act to include elder domestic abuse and adult protective services within its ambit of services, grants, and demonstration grants for community initiatives. (Sec. 205) Instructs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to request the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences, in collaboration with the Family Violence Prevention Fund, to study (for a report to the Congress on) the adequacy of training for health professionals with respect to the detection and referral of victims of family violence. Title III: Older Americans Act of 1965 - Amends the Older Americans Act of 1965 to direct the Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services for Aging to consider the importance of research about the sexual assault of older women when establishing research priorities for grants or contracts for research and demonstration projects on elder abuse. (Sec. 303) Authorizes appropriations without fiscal year limitation for grants to implement a State long-term care ombudsman program. (Sec. 304) Directs the Assistant Secretary, when making grants and contracts, to give special consideration to projects designed to: (1) expand access to domestic violence shelters and programs for older individuals and encourage the use of certain facilities as emergency short-term shelters; and (2) promote research on legal, organizational, or training impediments to providing services to older individuals through shelters and programs. (Sec. 305) Authorizes appropriations without fiscal year limitation for the ombudsman program and for the elder abuse prevention program. (Sec. 306) Directs the Secretary to make grants to: (1) nonprofit private or tribal organizations to support projects in local communities to coordinate activities for intervention in and prevention of elder abuse, including domestic violence and sexual assault; and (2) develop outreach programs for assisting victims of elder abuse, including some for assisting individuals in certain senior housing facilities. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 307) Directs the Assistant Secretary to update and improve curricula and implement continuing education training programs for certain providers of health care and social services to improve their ability to recognize and address elder abuse situations. Title IV: Public Health Service Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to authorize training requirements for area health education center programs to include training in domestic violence and elder abuse screening and treatment. Permits the use of certain grant funds for such training in geriatric education centers for health professionals. Requires geriatric training programs for physicians and dentists to include screening for elder abuse and domestic abuse. Title V: Financial Exploitation of Older Individuals - Instructs the Secretary to study and report to the Congress on the nature and extent of financial exploitation of older individuals.
United States · United States Congress · 20 May 1998
National Fish and Wildlife Foundation Establishment Act Amendments of 1998 - Amends the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation Establishment Act (Act) to expand the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation's authority to accept and administer private gifts within the Departments of Commerce and the Interior. (Sec. 3) Increases the Foundation's Board of Directors from 15 to 25 members, including the Director of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere. (Sec. 4) Authorizes the Foundation to have its principal offices in Washington, D.C. (as currently provided), or in the bordering counties of Maryland and Virginia. Sets forth conditions for the Foundation to: (1) acquire and convey property, including agency approval; and (2) invest and deposit Federal funds. Amends the Wild Bird Conservation Act of 1992 to repeal specified grant and audit provisions with respect to the Foundation. (Sec. 5) Authorizes appropriations for the Departments of Commerce and the Interior to carry out activities under the Act. Authorizes the Foundation to accept funds from a Federal agency under any other Federal law to further its conservation activities. Sets forth matching fund requirements.
United States · United States Congress · 19 May 1998
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Medicare Coverage of Certain Ambulance Services Title II: State Emergency Medical Services Agency Participation in Certain Federal Programs Title III: Federal Commission for Emergency Ambulance Services Title IV: Study and Report Regarding Consolidation of Federal Authority Over Emergency Medical Services Emergency Medical Services Efficiency Act of 1998 - Title I: Medicare Coverage of Certain Ambulance Services - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to ensure Medicare reimbursement for ambulance services rendered as a result of the sudden onset of a medical condition manifested by symptoms believed to be serious but whose ultimate diagnosis results in the conclusion that the ambulance services were not necessary. Title II: State Emergency Medical Services Agency Participation in Certain Federal Programs - Amends the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 to include State emergency medical services agencies among the entities eligible for financial assistance with regard to telemedicine and distance learning services in rural areas. Amends the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 to allow a State emergency medical services agency to participate in the Informatics, Telemedicine, and Education Demonstration Project as part of an eligible health care provider telemedicine network (consortium). Title III: Federal Commission for Emergency Ambulance Services - Establishes the Federal Commission for Emergency Ambulance Services to study and report to the President and the Congress on all matters relating to emergency ambulance services, including any existing or proposed Federal department or agency rules that impact such services, together with recommendations for improving such matters. Title IV: Study and Report Regarding Consolidation of Federal Authority Over Emergency Medical Services - Directs the Comptroller General of the United States to study and report to the President and the Congress on the consolidation of Federal authority over emergency medical services in a single Federal agency, together with appropriate recommendations.
United States · United States Congress · 18 May 1998
NRC Fairness in Funding Act of 1998 - Amends the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990 to extend through FY 2003 Nuclear Regulatory Commission authority (NRC) to assess and collect user fees and annual charges. Reformulates the aggregate annual charges collected from all licensees to factor in the costs of certain NRC activities for FY 1999 and thereafter. Requires the NRC to take specified considerations into account when it determines which costs of its activities would be inequitable to include in licensee assessments. Sets a ceiling for such maximum excluded costs.
United States · United States Congress · 15 May 1998
Modifies the boundaries of the George Washington Birthplace National Monument to include the property known as George Washington's Ferry Farm in Stafford County, Virginia.
United States · United States Congress · 14 May 1998
Coastal States Protection Act - Amends the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to prohibit the Secretary of the Interior from issuing a lease for mineral exploration, development, or production on submerged lands of the Outer Continental Shelf that are seaward or adjacent to lands beneath navigable waters of a coastal State whose Governor has placed a moratorium on such activities with respect to oil, gas, or other minerals.
United States · United States Congress · 14 May 1998
Cuban Solidarity (SOLIDARIDAD) Act of 1998 - Directs the President to: (1) instruct the heads of all relevant U.S. agencies to increase support for democratic opposition groups in Cuba; (2) initiate broadcasting of Radio Marti and Television Marti from the United States Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, or other suitable sites in proximity to Cuba; (3) provide not less than $5 million of funds otherwise available for U.S. voluntary contributions to the Organization of American States (OAS) in FY 1999, solely for the purpose of establishing a fund for the deployment of human rights observers, election support, and election observation in Cuba; (4) direct the Secretary of the Treasury to increase the number of personnel of the Office of Foreign Assets Control having responsibilities with respect to the economic embargo on Cuba in order to enforce the embargo more vigorously and to license expeditiously lawful transactions involving Cuba; and (5) take steps to secure a commitment from the Cuban government to allow the direct delivery of mail from the United States to Cuba. (Sec. 5) Urges the President to instruct: (1) the U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations (UN) to introduce a resolution in the UN Security Council calling upon the Cuban government to immediately respect all human rights, free all political prisoners, legalize independent political parties, allow independent trade unions, and conduct internationally monitored and freely contested elections; and (2) the Attorney General to seek an indictment of Fidel Castro and-or other Cuban government officials for the willful, premeditated attack on and destruction of two unarmed "Brothers to the Rescue" humanitarian aircraft on February 24, 1996 within the special aircraft jurisdiction of the United States, and the violence against and incapacitation and murder of four individuals on such aircraft, Pablo Morales, Carlos Costa, Mario de la Pena, and Armando Alejandre. Requires specified reports on Cuba. (Sec. 6) Earmarks specified amounts of economic support fund and development assistance funds for individuals and independent nongovernmental organizations to support democracy-building efforts, and to provide humanitarian assistance to victims of political repression, in Cuba. Requires notification of the appropriate congressional committees with respect to such funds. Prohibits the provision of assistance under this Act to the Cuban government, to any organization affiliated with the Cuban government, or to any organization that has violated any U.S. law prohibiting or restricting trade or other financial transactions with Cuba. (Sec. 7) Authorizes the President to authorize air transportation flights directly from the United States to Cuba for a period of six months (including additional six month periods) only if the President certifies to the Congress that: (1) those flights are necessary for, and will be used solely for, the delivery of humanitarian assistance (including medicines and medical supplies) by independent nongovernmental organizations to victims of political repression in Cuba; and (2) adequate monitoring is in place to ensure that such assistance will be delivered by such organizations only to the intended recipients and will not be diverted to ineligible persons.
United States · United States Congress · 11 May 1998
Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to prohibit a nursing facility from transferring or discharging from the facility any resident on the basis of the resident's eligibility for medical assistance for services provided by the facility under the State Medicaid plan. Safeguards the rights of residents in facilities which cease to be a participating provider under the State Medicaid plan.
United States · United States Congress · 7 May 1998
Senior Citizen Protection Act of 1998 - Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to extend the authority of State Medicaid fraud control units, upon the approval of the Inspector General of the relevant Federal agency, to investigate and prosecute: (1) fraud in connection with other Federal health care programs (if the suspected fraud or law violation is primarily related to the State Medicaid plan); and (2) at a unit's option, abuse of residents of non-Medicaid board and care facilities. Provides that overpayments collected by a State Medicaid fraud control unit shall be credited to, and be available for expenditure under, the Federal health care program that was subject to the activity that was the basis for the collection.