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Official portrait of Sen. Heflin, Howell [D-AL]

Sen. Heflin, Howell [D-AL]

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2,803 records where Sen. Heflin, Howell [D-AL] is listed as a sponsor, author, or other actor. Search with topics and years

Bill· SS. 1469 (101st)referred

A bill for the relief of Sven O. Spjuth, M.D.

United States · United States Congress · 2 August 1989

Declares a named individual to have been lawfully admitted to the United States for permanent residence under the Immigration and Nationality Act.

Bill· SS. 1484 (101st)open

Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act of 1989

United States · United States Congress · 2 August 1989

Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act of 1989 - Title I: Programs Under the National School Lunch Act and the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 - Subtitle A: Programs Under the National School Lunch Act - Amends the National School Lunch Act (NSLA) to eliminate certain duplicate provisions. Requires that lunches served by schools participating in the National School Lunch Program offer students fluid whole milk and fluid unflavored lowfat milk. Makes certain private nonprofit organizations eligible to sponsor programs under the Summer Food Service Program for Children under specified conditions, including limitations on numbers of children served and on rural or urban sites. Requires that such organizations: (1) either use self-preparation facilities to prepare meals or obtain meals from a public facility or a school participating in the National School Lunch Program; and (2) provide ongoing year-round activities for children or families. Makes such organizations ineligible for such program when they are in areas where a school food authority or the local, municipal, or county government has indicated by March 1 of that year that it will operate such a program under the Summer Food Service Program for Children. Allows higher education institutions that participate in the National Youth Sports Program to receive payments for meals served to children under such Program during the academic year, as well as during May through September. Extends through FY 1993 the authorization of appropriations for the Summer Food Service Program for Children. Directs the Secretary of Agriculture (the Secretary) and State agencies, during FY 1990 and 1991, to disseminate information to potentially eligible private nonprofit organizations concerning the amendments made by this Act regarding the eligibility of private nonprofit organizations for the Summer Food Service Program for Children. Directs the Secretary to use funds for such summer program to institute one or more demonstration projects designed to provide year-round food service to homeless children under age six in emergency shelters. Allows private nonprofit organizations to be eligible to participate in such project under specified conditions. Limits the amounts to be expended by the Secretary for such projects. Requires such projects to commence before the end of FY 1990 and terminate at the end of FY 1992. Extends through FY 1993 the general authority for the Commodity Distribution Program (under which the Secretary provides commodities to participating schools for use in the school lunch program). Revises provisions relating to the computation of cash compensation to school districts under the Commodity Distribution Program. Abolishes the National Advisory Council on Child Nutrition. Provides that eligible organizations under the Child Care Food Program must be reimbursed for expansion into low-income or rural areas. Directs the Secretary to conduct demonstration projects to test innovative approaches to remove or reduce barriers to Child Care Food Program participation by family or group day care homes operating in low-income areas or primarily serving low-income children. Directs the Secretary and State agencies to provide training and technical assistance to help family and group day care home sponsoring organizations in reaching low-income children. Requires that meals served in adult day care programs, which are reimbursed under such day care food program, provide on the average at least one-third of the daily recommended dietary allowance. Requires such adult day care programs to make reasonable efforts to serve meals that meet the special dietary requirements of participants, including efforts to serve foods in forms palatable to them. Authorizes designation of a State agency other than that which administers the child care food program to administer the adult day care food program. Directs the Secretary to carry out, in Iowa and Kentucky, statewide demonstration projects in which private for-profit organizations providing nonresidential day care services shall qualify as institutions for purposes of the Child Care Food Program, if at least 25 percent of the children served by each such organization meet the income eligibility criteria for free or reduced price meals. Requires examination of: (1) the budgetary impact of such change ineligibility on the extent to which additional low-income children can be reached through such change; and (2) the most effective outreach methods. Requires such demonstration projects to begin on or after May 1, 1990, and to terminate on September 30, 1992. Extends until September 30, 1990, a selected State (Minnesota) demonstration project to test the nutritional and participatory impact of providing an additional meal to children staying in family or group day care homes for at least eight hours. Establishes a program of meal supplements for children in after-school care. Directs the Secretary to provide grants-in-aid and other assistance to States for such program in eligible elementary and secondary schools (which operate school lunch programs, sponsor after-school care programs, and participate in the child care food program as of May 15, 1989). Provides for reimbursement for such supplements for children who are not more than 12 years of age (or not more than 15 years of age, in the case of children of migrant workers or children with handicaps). Sets forth administrative provisions relating to payment rates, eligibility for supplements, and content of meal supplements. Extends until September 30, 1992, certain pilot projects under which school districts receive cash payments or commodity letters of credit, instead of donated commodities, under the school lunch program, and under which compensation for certain losses is authorized. Authorizes the Secretary to establish and maintain a Food Service Management Institute for research, training, technical assistance, and information clearinghouse activities. Authorizes appropriations for such Institute for FY 1990 through 1993. Establishes a unified system,to be prescribed and administered by the Secretary, for ensuring that participating local food service authorities comply with school lunch program requirements. Sets forth compliance monitoring duties of the Secretary and State educational agencies under such system, including a duty to minimize imposition of additional duties on local food service authorities. Authorizes appropriations for such compliance and accountability activities for FY 1990 through 1993. Directs the Secretary to provide to each appropriate State agency specified information on income eligibility of children to receive free or reduced price meals and on consideration of applications where the head of the household is less than 21 years old. Directs the Secretary and the Secretary of Health and Human Services to jointly develop and approve, and update as necessary, a publication on nutrition guidance for school food service programs. Directs the Secretary to distribute such publication to school food authorities and other organizations in the school lunch and school breakfast programs and ensure that meals and supplements under such programs are consistent with such guidance in that publication. Subtitle B: Programs Under the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 - Amends the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (CNA) to provide for expansion of the School Breakfast Program. Requires State educational agencies (SEAs) to: (1) provide information to school boards and public officials on the benefits and availability of the School Breakfast Program; and (2) select each year, for informational efforts concerning such program, schools which do not participate in such program and in which a substantial portion of the enrollment consists of children from low-income families. Directs the Secretary of Agriculture (the Secretary) to report annually to specified congressional committees on Federal and State efforts to increase participation of schools in the School Breakfast Program. Directs the Secretary to use specified amounts from appropriations for such Program in FY 1990 through 1993 to make payments on a competitive basis to SEAs in a substantial number of States for startup costs of school breakfast programs at eligible schools which have a significant percentage of enrollment of children from low-income families and which agree to operate such a program for at least three years. Gives preference to SEAs that submit plans for expanding such programs or implement State laws requiring such expansion. Requires SEAs to give preference to schools in greatest need. Revises provisions for State administrative expenses to require appropriate reimbursements for the State agency administering the school breakfast program (if it is other than the SEA) and for the State agency administering commodity distribution under CNA and NSLA. Requires States to agree to participate fully in studies authorized by the Secretary in order to receive payments for State administrative expenses. Extends through FY 1993 the authorization of appropriations for such State administrative expenses payments. Sets forth additional activities and requirements with respect to the Special Supplemental Food Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). Provides that income limits for the WIC program are met by persons who meet income limits for free or reduced price meals under the school lunch program, who receive food stamps or Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) or Medicaid, or who are members of a family in which a pregnant woman or an infant receives Medicaid. Requires State agencies to provide adult participants in and applicants for the WIC program with information on food stamps, AFDC, and the child support enforcement program. Requires State agencies to provide such participants and applicants also with information on Medicaid, and to refer them to Medicaid if they are not participating in it and appear to have family income below its limits. Requires State agencies to ensure that each local agency under the WIC program maintains and makes available for distribution a list of local resources for substance abuse counseling and treatment. Includes local breastfeeding promotion programs and alcohol and drug abuse treatment (as well as counseling) programs among those with which the WIC program is to be coordinated under the State plan. Requires the State WIC plan to include provisions for: (1) getting benefits to eligible persons most in need; (2) reaching eligible persons not participating with program information, eligibility criteria, and application procedures; (3) reaching and enrolling eligible women in the early months of pregnancy and eligible migrants; (4) getting program benefits to unserved infants and children under care of foster parents, protective services, or child welfare authorities, including infants exposed to drugs perinatally; and (5) nutrition education and breastfeeding promotion. Requires local WIC agencies operating within or in cooperation with a hospital to: (1) advise of the availability of WIC program benefits any potentially eligible individuals who receive inpatient or outpatient prenatal, maternity, or postpartum services, or accompany a child under age five receiving well-child services; and (2) provide an opportunity within the hospital for certification for WIC participation. Requires State agencies to notify participants, giving relevant categories, before suspending or terminating WIC benefits due to a shortage of funds. Requires State agencies for WIC to provide breastfeeding promotion materials and instruction in languages other than English. Allows State agencies to implement WIC income eligibility guidelines at the time the State implements such guidelines for Medicaid, as long as this is not later than July 1 of each year. Requires local WIC agencies to provide written information on other potential sources of food assistance in the local area to individuals who apply in person but cannot be served because the local WIC program is operating at capacity. Requires State agencies to require local WIC agencies to: (1) attempt to contact pregnant women to reschedule missed application appointments; and (2) if such agencies do not routinely do so, schedule application or recertification appointments to minimize the time of employed individuals' absence from their workplace. Extends through FY 1993 the authorization of appropriations for the WIC program. Sets forth provisions for availability and allocation of such funds. Increases the amount which may be reserved for studies, evaluations, and pilot projects. Directs the Secretary to conduct a study, and report to specified congressional committees, on WIC program access problems of low-income working or rural family members. Directs the Secretary, on completion of the 1990 decennial census and in coordination with the Secretary of Commerce, to make available an estimate, by State and county, of the number of women, infants, and children who are members of families with incomes below the maximum limit for WIC program participation. Requires the Secretary to make available in each fiscal year, from WIC program funds, an amount sufficient to guarantee a national average per participant grant to be allocated for costs of WIC nutrition services and administration incurred by State and local agencies. Sets forth formulas for adjusting such amount and for determining State allotments. Provides that remaining amounts shall be made available for specified food benefits. Authorizes the Secretary to reduce a State agency's operational level for costs of nutritional services and administration if that level exceeds the grant by more than 15 percent without good cause. Requires State agencies to expend a specified portion of WIC funds for nutrition education and breastfeeding promotion and support. Allows State agencies, under specified conditions, to convert allocations for food benefits to costs of nutrition services and administration. Sets forth provisions relating to WIC program cost containment systems. Requires States to use either competitive bidding, or an equally or more effective system of cost containment, for the procurement of infant formula. Requires the Secretary to inform specified congressional committees of waivers from such requirement. Directs the Secretary, during FY 1990, to review, and report to specified congressional committees on, the relationship between specified nutritional risk criteria and the priority system used under the WIC program. Directs the Secretary to review, and report on to the Congress by the end of FY 1990 and 1991, the appropriateness of foods eligible for purchase under the WIC program. Directs the Secretary to review, and report on to the appropriate congressional committees within one year, the effect on costs for nutrition services and administration incurred by State and local agencies of specified amendments made by this Act (including increases and decreases in imposed requirements). Prohibits the Secretary, in implementing specified amendments to the WIC program under this Act, from imposing any new requirement on a State or local agency to place additional paperwork in, or otherwise additionally document, any case file maintained by it. Revises CNA provisions for nutrition education and training. Authorizes appropriations in increasing amounts for FY 1989 through 1991 and subsequent fiscal years for such nutrition education and training programs. Subtitle C: Cross-Program Provisions - Eliminates the 20 percent commodity refusal option under the NSLA. Revises provisions for determination of total commodity assistance for the school lunch and child care food programs under the NSLA. Requires the Secretary of Agriculture (the Secretary) to estimate the total number of commodities to be delivered to each school or child care institution in the current year. Requires adjustments for differences between such prior year and current year numbers of meals served in subsequent estimations. Title II: Paperwork Reduction Amendments - Subtitle A: Reduction of Paperwork Under the National School Lunch Act - Requires that State-local agreements for carrying out the School Lunch Program under the NSLA shall be permanent agreements that may be amended as necessary, but does not limit an SEA's ability to suspend or terminate any such agreement in accordance with regulations prescribed by the Secretary of Agriculture (the Secretary). Authorizes the Secretary, State, or local food authority to verify data in the application. Authorizes any school food authority to certify any child for free or reduced price lunches, without further application, by directly communicating with the appropriate State or local agency to obtain documentation of the child's membership in a household receiving food stamps or a family receiving AFDC. Authorizes the Secretary, when appropriate, to request each school food authority in the school lunch program to report monthly to the SEA. Directs the Secretary to permit institutions that apply directly to a State agency to participate in the child care food program, at the option of the State agency, to reapply for such assistance at two-year intervals. Directs the Secretary, in carrying out the NSLA and CNA, to: (1) reduce, to the maximum extent possible, the paperwork required of SEAs, schools, and other agencies participating in child nutrition programs; (2) review and simplify application forms and instructions; (3) consult with State and local administrators in reducing and simplifying such paperwork; and (4) report within one year to the Congress on the extent of paperwork reduction in such programs. Subtitle B: Paperwork Reduction Under the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 - Eliminates duplicate provisions under CNA. Requires SEAs to disburse funds paid to the State under the Special Milk Program to schools in accordance with agreements approved by the Secretary. Requires that such agreements be permanent (amendable as necessary), but does not limit the SEAs ability to suspend or terminate any such agreement in accordance with regulations prescribed by the Secretary of Agriculture (the Secretary). Requires that State-local agreements for carrying out the School Breakfast Program be permanent (amendable as necessary), but does not limit an SEA's ability to suspend or terminate any such agreement in accordance with regulations prescribed by the Secretary. Allows local agencies under the WIC program to use a master file to document and monitor provision of nutritional education services to individuals required to be included by the agency in group nutrition educational classes. Authorizes State agencies under the WIC program to provide for delivery of vouchers to any participant not scheduled for nutrition education counseling or recertification interview through means, such as mailing, that do not require a participant to travel to the local agency. Requires State plans to describe mail issuance of vouchers. Prohibits disapproval of the mail issuance of vouchers in specified jurisdictions unless th Secretary finds that it would pose a significant threat to program integrity. Requires each State agency to conduct monitoring reviews of each local agency at least biennially under the WIC program. Requires plans for nutrition education and training to be updated annually. Title III: Technical Amendments - Subtitle A: Amendments to the National School Lunch Act - Makes various technical amendments to the NSLA, including elimination of gender-specific references. Subtitle B: Amendments to the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 - Makes various technical amendments to the CNA, including elimination of gender-specific references. Repeals specified provisions for nutrition education grants.

Bill· SS. 1444 (101st)referred

Child Abuse During Pregnancy Prevention Act of 1989

United States · United States Congress · 31 July 1989

Child Abuse During Pregnancy Prevention Act of 1989 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services, through the Director of the Office of Substance Abuse, to award grants to States to develop and operate five pilot projects to demonstrate the effectiveness of, and expense associated with, providing outreach, education, and treatment services concerning substance abuse to pregnant and postpartum females and their infants. Sets forth application and evaluation requirements. Directs the Secretary to conduct a study regarding specified aspects of substance abused infants and to report to the appropriate committees of the Congress. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1990.

Law· SS. 1430 (101st)enacted

National and Community Service Act of 1990

United States · United States Congress · 27 July 1989

National and Community Service Act of 1989- Title I: School Based Community Service - Part A: School Based Community Service - Serve America, the Service to America Act of 1989 - Authorizes the Secretary of Education (the Secretary) to make grants to States or local applicants to create or expand service opportunities for students and out-of-school youth and for community members, particularly senior citizens, to volunteer in schools. Limits the term of such grants to three years. Authorizes the Secretary to fund: (1) one or more national or regional clearinghouses on service; (2) national model youth service programs; and (3) development of innovative curriculum materials for use in student community service programs and school volunteer and partnership programs. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1991 through 1995. Part B: Higher Education - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) to revise and rename a certain program Innovative Projects for Community Service. Provides that grants for innovative projects are to encourage student participation in community service activities before, during, or after the completion of the student's higher education. Authorizes the Secretary to appoint a limited number of technical employees to administer Postsecondary Improvement Programs. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1991 through 1995 for grants for innovative projects for community service. Part C: Work Study Programs - Amends HEA provisions relating to grants for State student incentives to direct the Secretary to make an additional reservation and allotment of funds for campus-based community work learning study jobs whenever appropriations exceed a specified amount. Amends HEA provisions for Work Study Programs to: (1) decrease the maximum Federal share of compensation of students employed in the work study program from 70 percent to 60 percent for academic year 1992-1993; and (2) increase the maximum Federal share of compensation of students employed in the work study for community service-learning programs from 90 percent to 100 percent. Part D: Publication - Amends HEA provisions for the direct (Perkins) and guaranteed (Stafford) student loan programs to require publicizing of the current loan repayment deferral program for full-time volunteers with the Peace Corps, VISTA, ad tax-exempt organizations. Requires informing students of this deferral program option in their exit counseling. Requires the Secretary of Education to: (1) provide students with specified information on the deferral program; and (2) gather data on loan deferrals and cancellations for such volunteers. Part E: Direct Loans to Students in Institutions of Higher Education - Amends HEA provisions for the direct (Perkins) student loan program to provide for partial loan cancellation for full-time volunteer service with a tax-exempt organization. (Current law provides for such partial cancellation for service in the Peace Corps or VISTA.) Part F: Loan Forgiveness - Amends HEA provisions for the guaranteed (Stafford) student loan program to provide for partial loan cancellation for service in the Peace Corps or VISTA or for comparable full-time service as a volunteer with a tax-exempt organization. Title II: Youth Service Corps - American Conservation and Youth Service Corps Act of 1989 - Authorizes the National Service Board (the Board, established under title IV of this Act) to provide grants to State and local applicants to create or expand full-time or summer youth service corps programs. Sets forth provisions for grant duration and renewal, allocation of funds, and State and lcoal applications. Sets forth authorized project for conservation corps programs and for human services corps programs. Sets forth ineligible service categories. Encourages use of program services by related programs administered under the authority of the Secretary of Health and Human Services. Directs the Board to: (1) fund only programs that involve projects on public lands or Indian lands or provide a public benefit; and (2) consult with the Department of the Interior in reviewing applications proposing programs or projects on public lands or Indian lands. Requires program agencies to provide to participants: (1) in-service training and education; and (2) post-service education and training assistance. Limits enrollment in programs under this title to individuals who at the time of enrollment are: (1) 16 through 25 years of age (15 through 21 for summer programs); and (2) U.S. citizens or nationals or lawful permanent resident aliens. Requires program agencies to provide post-service education and training benefits in specified amounts for each participant. Excludes such amounts from gross income for specified purposes of the Internal Revenue Code. Authorizes the program agency to provide certain services. Requires the program agency to provide necessary job guidance and placement information and assistance to participants, in coordination with other appropriate entities. Requires that each participant in a full-time youth service corps program receive a living allowance and health insurance. Authorizes the Board to develop regulations and standards for joint projects coordinating activities under this title with activities under employment and training programs administered by the Department of Labor (including the Job Training Partnership Act programs). Makes participants, crew leaders, and volunteers responsible to, and the responsibility of, the program agency administering the project. Provides that participants and crew leaders shall not be considered Federal employees, except for purposes of work-related injuries, tort claims procedure, and allowances for quarters. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1991 through 1995 to carry out this title. Title III: National Service Demonstration Program - National and Community Service Demonstration Act - Directs the National Service Board, not later than one year from the date of enactment of this title, to make grants to States to create full-time and part-time national service demonstration programs. Limits authorization to exercise an alternative voucher option to no more than 25 percent of the States. Requires that at least 25 percent of funded programs include full-time, part-time, and special senior service participants. Limits the number of States authorized to operate full-time or part-time programs in specified fiscal years. Requires program participants to perform national service to meet unmet educational, human, environmental, and public safety needs, especially those relating to poverty. Sets forth various authorized types of such national service. Requires part-time volunteers to agree to serve for: (1) at least three years but not more than six years, at the individual's discretion; and (2) two weekends a month and two weeks during the year, or an average of nine hours per week. Requires full-time volunteers to agree to serve for: (1) at least one year but not more than two years, at the individual's discretion; and (2) at least 40 hours per week. Requires special senior service participants to serve either part-time or full-time as allowed by the Board. Authorizes the Board to provide a participant with a portion of specified financial assistance if the State releases the participant from completion of service for compelling personal circumstances. Allows individuals to serve part-time if they are: (1) age 17 or over; and (2) U.S. citizens or lawful permanent U.S. residents. Requires States, in selecting part-time participants, to give priority to applicants who are currently employed. Allows individuals to serve full-time if they: (1) are age 17 or over; (2) have received a high school diploma or equivalent, or agree to work toward it while participating; and (3) are U.S. citizens or lawful permanent U.S. residents. Allows individuals to serve as special senior service members if they: (1) are age 60 or over; and (2) meet eligibility criteria established by the Board. Directs the Board to provide to each participant annually a nontransferable voucher equal to: (1) $3,000 for each year of part-time service; and (2) $8,500 for each year of full-time service. Makes special senior service participants ineligible for such vouchers. Limits use of such vouchers to payment of: (1) a student loan; (2) downpayment or closing costs for a first home; or (3) tuition at an institution of higher education on a full-time basis, or expenses of full-time participation in an approved apprenticeship program. Allows some States to apply to the Board for authorization to offer an alternative option limiting voucher use to either those education or those housing purposes. Excludes such vouchers from gross income for specified Internal Revenue Code purposes. Requires that each full-time participant receive a living allowance and health insurance. Requires that each full-time special senior service participant receive an equivalent living allowance and such other assistance as the Board considers necessary and appropriate. Requires that each participant receive three weeks of specified training conducted by the Board in cooperation with the State. Authorizes States to provide additional training. Requires that each participant receive additional training from the sponsoring organization in relevant skills. Sets forth prohibited and allowable uses of Federal funds. Requires each State receiving funds under this title to provide to each full-time participant in-service educational services and materials to enable such participant to obtain a high school diploma or equivalent. Sets forth provisions relating to the treatment of such vouchers or living allowances for purposes of certain student aid determinations under the Higher Education Act of 1965. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1991 through 1995 to carry out this title. Title IV: Corporation for National Service - Establishes the Corporation for National Service (the Corporation), as a nonprofit corporation that shall not be considered an agency or establishment of the U.S. Government. Declares that the Corporation shall be directed by a National Service Board consisting of members appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. Directs the Corporation, pursuant to title III of this Act, to: (1) issue housing and education vouchers; and (2) establish living allowances, taking account of variations in the cost of living. Requires each State receiving funds under specified provisions of this Act to report annually to the Board on the status of national and community youth service programs in that State and on compliance with specified nonduplication and nondisplacement requirements. Authorizes States to require local grantees to supply necessary information for such reports. Requires the Board to report annually to specified congressional committees. Requires each State applying for funds under titles IA, II, or III of this Act to form a State Advisory Board for National and Community Service, with members appointed by the Governor. Sets forth State board duties, including coordinating service programs with related programs, disseminating information, recruiting participants, and developing materials and activities. Directs the National Board to provide for continuing evaluation of programs assisted under titles II and III of this Act. Sets a deadline for the evaluation of title III programs' effectiveness in reaching specified objectives. Directs the Board to: (1) administer programs under titles II and III; (2) provide training and technical assistance; (3) provide one or more service information clearinghouses; (4) consult with appropriate Federal agencies; and (5) arrange for program evaluation. Authorizes the President to make Presidential Awards for service to: (1) individuals demonstrating outstanding community service; and (2) outstanding service programs. Authorizes one individual award and one program award in each congressional district, and one statewide program award in each State. Provides for dissemination of information on such individuals and programs. Directs the President to design a comprehensive Federal service strategy including specified elements. Title V: Expansion of Volunteers in Service to America - VISTA Expansion Act of 1989 - Amends the Domestic Volunteer Service Act of 1973 to authorize appropriations increasing amounts for FY 1990 through 1993 for the Volunteers in Service to American (VISTA) program. Title VI: National Older Americans Volunteer Programs - National Older American Volunteer Programs Expansion Act of 1989 - Amends the Domestic Volunteer Service Act of 1973 to require the Director of the ACTION Agency to establish, within each National Older American Volunteer Program, grants to support activities that address national problems on a local level. Sets forth award criteria and grant uses. Gives grant priority for activities assisting: (1) those with chronic debilitating illnesses such as AIDS; (2) drug and alcohol abuse prevention and treatment; (3) teenage parents; (4) mentoring of youth needing guidance; (5) adult and school-based literacy; (6) respite care; (7) before and after-school programs serving children of working parents; (8) boarder babies; (9) child care, especially of children with special needs; and (10) developmentally disabled adult individuals (and, when appropriate, involvement of such individuals as volunteers). Limits funding of such grants to those years when program funding is increased by a specified amount. Authorizes appropriations in increasing amounts for FY 1990 through 1993 for: (1) the Retired Senior Volunteer Program; (2) the Foster Grandparent Program; and (3) the Senior Companion Program.

Bill· SS. 1427 (101st)referred

A bill to amend the Federal Meat and the Poultry Products Inspection Act to authorize the distribution of wholesome meat and poultry products for human consumption that have been seized and condemned under such Acts to charity and public agencies, and for other purposes.

United States · United States Congress · 27 July 1989

Amends the Federal Meat Inspection Act to authorize the distribution of a meat article or animal without charge to nonprofit private entities or to Federal, State, or local entities engaged in the distribution of food without charge to individuals, if the article: (1) was inspected and found wholesome and not adulterated; and (2) is marked "Not for Sale." Relieves the United States and the person from whom the meat was seized and condemned from legal responsibility for the article if it: (1) was inspected and found wholesome and not adulterated; and (2) is marked "Not for Sale." Amend the Poultry Products Inspection Act to authorize the distribution of a poultry article without charge to nonprofit private entities or to Federal, State, or local entities engaged in the distribution of food without charge to individuals, if the article: (1) is capable of use as a human food; (2) was inspected and found wholesome and not adulterated; and (3) is marked "Not for Sale." Relieves the United States and the person from whom the poultry was seized and condemned from legal responsibility for the article if it: (1) was inspected and found wholesome and not adulterated; and (2) is marked "Not for Sale."

Bill· SJRESS.J.Res. 183 (101st)open

A joint resolution proposing an amendment to the Constitution relating to a Federal balanced budget.

United States · United States Congress · 27 July 1989

Constitutional Amendment - Prohibits fiscal year Federal outlays (except those for retirement trust funds or repayment of debt principal) from exceeding receipts (except those derived from borrowing or retirement trust funds), unless three-fifths of both Houses of Congress provide for a specific excess. Directs the President, prior to each fiscal year, to transmit to the Congress a proposed budget in which outlays do not exceed receipts.

Bill· SS. 1411 (101st)referred

Conservation Reserve Adjustment Act of 1989

United States · United States Congress · 26 July 1989

Conservation Reserve Adjustment Act of 1989 - Amends the Food Security Act of 1985 to encourage the planting of trees on conservation reserve program (CRP) acreage through: (1) cost-sharing programs; (2) increased CRP eligibility of non-highly erodible cropland used as shelterbelts, windbreaks, or wildlife corridors; and (3) CRP eligibility of uncropped wetlands, marginal pastureland, and converted grassland planted to trees.

Bill· SS. 1385 (101st)referred

A bill to establish a tropical cyclone reconnaissance, surveillance, and research program under the joint control of the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Commerce.

United States · United States Congress · 24 July 1989

Directs the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Commerce to establish a five-year joint program for collecting operational and reconnaissance data, conducting research, and analyzing data on tropical cyclones to assist the forecast and warning program and increase the understanding of the causes and behavior of tropical cyclones. Sets forth the responsibilities of each Secretary. Directs those Secretaries to jointly develop and submit to the Congress management plans for: (1) the program established by this Act; and (2) continued tropical cyclone surveillance and reconnaissance which will adequately protect the citizens of U.S. coastal areas. Mandates that the management plans and programs required by this Act: (1) provide for at least the same degree and quality of protection as currently exists with a combination of satellite technology and manned flights; and (2) in no way allow any reduction in the level, quality, timeliness, sustainability, and area served of both the existing principal and back-up severe storm reconnaissance and tracking systems.

Bill· SS. 1380 (101st)referred

Drug War Bond Act of 1989

United States · United States Congress · 24 July 1989

Drug War Bond Act of 1989 - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to issue: (1) Drug War Bonds for a three-year period with a 12-year maturity date; and (2) Drug War Stamps to evidence payments for or on account of such bonds. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude the interest earned on such War Bonds from an individual's gross income. Authorizes a taxpayer to designate a specified portion of any tax overpayment or make cash contributions to the War on Drugs Trust Fund (established by this Act). Provides that as of FY 1990, unobligated funds remaining in the Department of Justice Assets Forfeiture Fund shall be deposited in the War on Drugs Trust Fund. Amends the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988 to terminate the Special Forfeiture Fund. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to establish the War on Drugs Trust Fund. Transfers to such Fund: (1) proceeds from the sale of Drug War Bonds and Drug War Stamps; (2) certain cash contributions and portions of tax overpayments; and (3) amounts made available from excess monies in the Department of Justice Assets Foreifeiture Fund. Prescribes expenditures from the War on Drugs Trust Fund, including construction of Federal prison facilities and education and rehabilitation programs. Exempts receipts of and expenditures from the War on Drugs Trust Fund from: (1) statutory expenditures and lending limitations; and (2) certain orders issued under the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985. Requires the Secretary to report to the Congress on programs established by this Act. Directs the Attorney General to make recommendations to the Congress regarding the merits of privatizing Federal prisons. Declares that it is not in order for the Congress to consider any proposal for spending less on drug related programs than the total established for the prior fiscal year (plus an additional amount to compensate for inflation).

Bill· SS. 1371 (101st)referred

Rural Housing Revitalization Act of 1989

United States · United States Congress · 20 July 1989

Rural Housing Revitalization Act of 1989 - Amends the Housing Act of 1949 to extend the Secretary of Agriculture's rural housing loan insurance and guarantee, rental assistance payment contract, rental housing loan, and mutual and self-help housing grant and loan authorities through FY 1991. Authorizes appropriations to the Farmers Home Administration through FY 1991 to carry out this Act. Authorizes the Secretary to defer payment of up to 20 percent of the principal on a loan made or insured for housing and buildings on adequate farms where deferral is necessary to enable the borrower to afford payment on the loan and certain other conditions are met. Directs the Secretary to designate as targeted underserved areas 60 counties and communities in FY 1990 and 100 counties and communities in FY 1991 that have severe, unmet housing needs. Defines eligibility criteria and requires an outreach program and set-asides of assistance for such areas. Authorizes the Secretary to provide grants for such areas for the development of housing assistance capacity (capacity building grants). Directs the Secretary to provide 90 percent-guaranteed loans to moderate income borrowers with less than the median income of an area for the acquisition or construction of a single-family principal residence. Mandates priority to first-time buyers and permits as a loan condition successful completion of a homebuyer counseling program. Requires the Secretary also to provide 90 percent-guaranteed loans for housing rehabilitation in certain areas the Secretary shall target. Requires the Secretary to provide technical assistance to borrowers, lenders, and realtors in the guaranteed loan program. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to nonprofit organizations to demonstrate effective public-private partnerships for the development of low-income rural housing. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1990 and 1991. Provides for the continuing availability of deobligated funds and the reallocation of other funds under housing preservation grants. Directs the Secretary, in the event of default involving a security interest in tribal allotted or trust land, to pursue liquidation only after offering to transfer the account to, and after liquidation to sell, transfer, or otherwise alienate the property only to, an eligible tribal member, the tribe, or an Indian housing authority. Provides for the transfer of inventory under the loan program for housing and buildings on adequate farms to the insured loan program for housing and related facilities for domestic farm labor.

Bill· SS. 1365 (101st)referred

Innovative Alternatives to Imprisonment Act of 1989

United States · United States Congress · 20 July 1989

Innovative Alternatives to Imprisonment Act of 1989 - Amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to authorize grants to States to carry out projects that demonstrate innovative alternatives to incarceration for individuals convicted of nonviolent offenses. Includes boot camp prisons as such alternatives, in conjunction with drug treatment, literacy education, vocational education, and job training programs. Makes drug treatment mandatory for drug offenders. Sets forth: (1) application procedures and requirements for grants; and (2) procedures for review of applications. Authorizes appropriations.

Resolution· SRESS.Res. 156 (101st)passed

A resolution to express the sense of the Senate with respect to the Apollo 11 lunar mission, the International Space Station Freedom program, and the "Mission to Planet Earth".

United States · United States Congress · 20 July 1989

Declares that it is the sense of the Senate that: (1) the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the crew of Apollo 11, and all associated with the first lunar landing should be congratulated on the 20th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission; (2) the most appropriate celebration of that landing is renewed support of the Senate and the American people for our space program, especially the International Space Station Freedom program (Space Station program); (3) the additional elements of Earth sensing satellites needed to achieve the goals of the "Mission to Planet Earth" should be vigorously pursued in a cooperative global effort involving all nations; and (4) the President, the Vice President in his capacity as the Chairman of the National Space Council, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, the Administrator of NASA, and the appropriate committees of the Congress should together explore actions to provide NASA's FY 1990 budget request for the Space Station program to insure the continued development of the Space Station program and the expeditious development of the global environmental program envisioned as the "Mission to Planet Earth."

Bill· SS. 1338 (101st)open

Biden-Roth-Cohen Flag Protection Act of 1989

United States · United States Congress · 18 July 1989

Biden-Roth-Cohen Flag Protection Act of 1989 - Amends the Federal criminal code to apply criminal penalties for desecration of the U.S. flag to maintaining the flag on the floor or ground. Eliminates knowingly casting contempt on the flag as an element of desecration.

Bill· SS. 1310 (101st)referred

National Literacy Act of 1990

United States · United States Congress · 13 July 1989

Comprehensive Illiteracy Elimination Act of 1989 - Title I: Literacy Coordination - Literacy Coordination, Research, and Dissemination Act of 1989 - Establishes the Cabinet Council for Literacy Coordination. Amends the Department of Education Organization Act to establish in the Department of Education an Office on Literacy, to be administered by a Director. Requires the Director to: (1) coordinate the administration of literacy programs within the Department; and (2) work with the Cabinet Council for Literacy to coordinate the related programs of other Federal agencies. Directs the Secretary of Education (the Secretary), through the Office on Literacy, to make a grant to establish and operate a nonprofit National Center for Literacy, with a Director of the Center. Requires such grant to be awarded on a competitive basis, and to be limited to not more than five years (renewable). Allows the Center to use such grant funds for: (1) basic and applied research; (2) technical assistance; (3) an information clearinghouse; (4) policy analysis and program evaluation; and (5) a model demonstrative program of remedial training and placement. Directs the Secretary to establish an advisory committee to advise the Secretary and the Director of the Center on policy issues and on Center selection and operation of major research and demonstration projects. Requires the Director of the Center to report annually to the Congress and the Cabinet Council. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1991 through 1995 for the Center, limiting the amount which may be used for its model demonstration program. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to pay the Federal share of costs of establishing and operating State literacy resource centers. Limits the amount and duration of such grants. Allows each State to contract on a competitive basis with a volunteer or community-based or other nonprofit organization to operate such a State center. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1991 through 1995 for such purpose. Title II: Workforce Literacy - Workforce Literacy Act of 1989 - Amends the Adult Education Act (AEA) to authorize appropriations for FY 1991 through 1995. Earmarks funds to train professional teachers, volunteers, and administrators, emphasizing minority teacher training and training of teachers to recognize and better serve illiterate individuals with learning disabilities and low-level reading abilities. Provides that, if a majority of the illiterate population assisted under basic program provisions of AEA has been served, the authorization of appropriations for each of the succeeding fiscal years during FY 1991 through 1995 shall be equal to that for the fiscal year in which such determination is made. Provides that adult education programs for which AEA grants have been made to States shall be carried out by public or private nonprofit entities only if the applicable local educational agency has been consulted and has had an opportunity to comment on the application. Requires State educational agencies receiving such basic State grants to assure direct and equitable access to Federal funds to local educational agencies, public or private nonprofit agencies, community-based organizations, and institutions which serve educationally disadvantaged adults. Grants preference to those organizations which will serve adults with a reading ability below the fifth grade level. Raises from 20 percent to 25 percent the limit on the portion of a State's grant allotment earmarked for high school equivalency certificate programs. Requires that at least ten percent of funds received under provisions for business, industry, labor, and education partnerships for workplace literacy be used for research, teacher training (including learning disabled identification and teaching), and technical assistance. Extends the authorization of appropriations for such provisions through FY 1995. Directs the Comptroller General to update, within 18 months, a 1975 study of the adult basic education program. Title III: Families for Literacy - Families for Literacy Act of 1989 - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) to extend through FY 1995 the authorization of appropriations for Even Start programs operated by local educational agencies. Establishes a Families for Literacy program under which the Secretary may make ten demonstration grants to nonprofit entities (or consortia of businesses, nonprofit entities, and local educational agencies) to pay 80 percent of the cost of establishing intergenerational learning programs (emphasizing literacy skills) for children aged three and under and their parents. Directs the Secretary to give priority to applicants whose programs serve hard-to-serve populations. Sets forth program requirements for staff teams and community advisory councils. Authorizes the Secretary to enter into a contract with the Corporation for Public broadcasting to produce and disseminate a family literacy program to assist parents in improving their knowledge and skills regarding early childhood education, language development, and literacy. Authorizes appropriations for: (1) FY 1991 through 1995 for the Family Literacy Program demonstration grants; and (2) FY 1991 for the family literacy program public broadcasting contract. Title IV: Books for Families - Books for Families Literacy Act of 1989 - Amends ESEA provisions for the inexpensive book distribution program for reading motivation to require the contractor (the Reading Is Fundamental organization), beginning in FY 1990 and thereafter, to: (1) give priority to programs which target rural and urban areas with large concentrations of economically disadvantaged children and students; and (2) report annually to the Department of Education on the number and description of such individuals. Amends the Library Services and Construction Act (LSCA) to extend through FY 1995 the authorization of appropriations for making specified grants under title VI (Library Literacy Programs) of LSCA. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1991 through 1995 to make grants for model library literacy centers and for the inexpensive book distribution program. Authorizes the Secretary, under LSCA, to make grants to State and local public libraries to establish model library literacy centers. Requires the Secretary to establish a peer review panel to assist in establishing criteria for awarding such grants. Authorizes the Secretary, under LSCA, to contract with the Reading Is Fundamental organization to promote the establishment of reading motivation programs which include the distribution of inexpensive books. Requires such contract to provide for: (1) giving priority to programs which target rural and urban areas with large concentrations of economically disadvantaged children and students; (2) increasing access to children's books for parents of newborns through children aged five; and (3) developing motivational materials to reach parents most disconnected from the education community, by making children's books available in specified types of places. Title V: Students for Literacy - Students for Literacy Act of 1986 - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to extend through FY 1995 the authorization of appropriations for: (1) the Student Literacy Corps; and (2) College Work-Study (CWS) programs. Exempts literacy training programs and the creation and placement of literacy jobs for students from specified caps on CWS funds. Sets the Federal share of the compensation of students employed in literacy work-study training programs at 100 percent. Title VI: Volunteers for Literacy - Volunteers for Literacy Act of 1989 - Amends the Domestic Volunteer Service Act of 1973 to provide that, whenever they do not exceed a specified amount the funds for the VISTA Literacy Corps shall supplement and not supplant specified VISTA services provided in FY 1989 to address the problem of illiteracy. Establishes service-learning literacy programs. Authorizes the Director of the ACTION Agency (the Director) to make grants to and contracts with public and private nonprofit entities to enable students in secondary schools, secondary vocational schools, and postsecondary schools to serve as volunteers in projects addressing illiteracy. Gives priority to projects using peer tutoring and involving partnerships to meet a wide range of needs. Requires the Director to make grants and contracts for a program of full-time volunteer service to be known as University Year for Literacy, which establishes and supports innovative ways to use full-time students enrolled in higher education institutions as volunteers: (1) in addressing the problems facing illiterate and functionally illiterate individuals; and (2) in assisting organizations which combat illiteracy and those problems. Gives priority to individuals pursuing a course of study related to a career in a field addressing the problem of illiteracy. Authorizes the Director to make grants and contracts to provide training and technical assistance to increase the effective use of full-time and part-time student volunteers to combat illiteracy. Authorizes the Director to provide technical and financial assistance to nonprofit organizations conducting operations in several areas or States that are engaged in, or wish to become involved in, activities to solve the problems of illiteracy. Authorizes the Director to provide technical assistance in obtaining, training, and integrating volunteers to employers who have established or wish to establish worksite literacy programs. Establishes a program of literacy challenge grants. Authorizes the Director to award such grants to eligible public agencies and private organizations for a portion of the costs of community or employee literacy programs that include use of volunteers. Establishes a Retired Senior Volunteer Literacy Program (which may be jointly administered with other Retired Senior Volunteer Programs). Authorizes the Director to make grants to establish such program to enhance the role of senior volunteers in addressing the problem of illiteracy. Extends through FY 1995 the authorization of appropriations for the VISTA Literacy Corps. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1991 through 1995 for specified programs established under this Act.

Bill· SS. 1299 (101st)referred

Police Corps Act

United States · United States Congress · 12 July 1989

Police Corps Act - Establishes an Office of the Police Corps within the Justice Department to be headed by a Director. Authorizes the Director of the Office of the Police Corps to agree to repay the educational loans of State Police Corps program participants and reimburse them for educational expenses of up to $40,000 following their completion of: (1) an educational course of study; (2) Federal training; and (3) four years of State or local police force service. Limits participants in such programs to 25,000 people per year. Declares that the Director's obligation to pay a participant's educational expenses shall be void and the Director shall be entitled to recover from the participant the amount of any interest on an educational loan that the Director has paid if the participant fails to complete the educational study, Federal training, and required service unless the failure is the result of death or permanent disability. Entitles a dependent child of a law enforcement officer who is not a program participant and who is killed in the line of duty to the educational assistance authorized in this Act without incurring any service obligation. Sets forth selection criteria of and qualifications for participants for State Police Corps programs. Requires each State participating in the Police Corps to make special efforts to seek and recruit minorities without relaxing admission standards. Requires the Director to establish up to three training centers to provide basic law enforcement training to State Police Corps program participants. Requires participants to attend two eight-week training sessions at such training centers and to meet certain performance standards in order to remain in the Police Corps program. Requires the Director to pay participants a weekly stipend during training. Establishes a nine-member Board of Directors to administer such training centers. Requires the Director to serve as chairman of the Board. Requires a State, in order to participate in the Police Corps program, to submit a plan for implementing such program to the Director for approval. Requires such plan to: (1) include assurances that participants will receive additional State or local training after completing Federal training which shall count toward the four-year service obligation; and (2) provide that program participants shall be assigned to community and preventive patrol in geographic areas with the greatest need for additional law enforcement personnel. Provides for the swearing in of participants as members of the police force to which they are assigned after completing Federal training and meeting the requirements of that police force. Requires the Director to report annually to the President and the Congress. Authorizes appropriations.

Bill· SS. 1277 (101st)open

A bill to amend the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 to prohibit the acquisition of a controlling interest in an air carrier unless the Secretary of Transportation has made certain determinations concerning the effect of such acquisition on aviation safety.

United States · United States Congress · 23 June 1989

Amends the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 to prohibit any person from acquiring a controlling interest in an air carrier unless the Secretary of Transportation has determined that the acquisition will not adversely and materially affect such air carrier's ability to conduct air transportation in a manner consistent with the highest degree of safety.

Resolution· SCONRESS.Con.Res. 52 (101st)referred

A concurrent resolution to express the sense of the Congress that science, mathematics, and technology education should be a national priority.

United States · United States Congress · 23 June 1989

Expresses the sense of the Congress that science, mathematics, and technology education should be a national priority (with emphasis on an educated citizenry, curriculum planning, teacher preparation, and service to traditionally underserved students, including those from inner cities and remote areas).

Resolution· SRESS.Res. 151 (101st)passed

A resolution to express the sense of the Senate on the decision of the United States Supreme Court, declaring unconstitutional the Texas statute prohibiting the desecration of the flag.

United States · United States Congress · 22 June 1989

Declares that the Senate: (1) expresses its disappointment that the Texas statute prohibiting the desecration of the flag was found to be unconstitutional; (2) expresses its commitment to preserving the honor and integrity of the flag; (3) intends to make a study of the impact of the Supreme Court decision on Federal and State laws and to seek ways to restore sanctions against such conduct; and (4) urges the American people to continue to display proudly the American flag.

Bill· SS. 1212 (101st)referred

Social Security Notch Adjustment Act

United States · United States Congress · 21 June 1989

Social Security Notch Adjustment Act - Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) of the Social Security Act to establish a new alternative formula for computing the primary insurance amount (used in calculating the amount of OASDI benefits to which an individual is entitled) of workers born after 1916 and before 1927.

Bill· SS. 1207 (101st)referred

Radio License Renewal and Improvements Act of 1989

United States · United States Congress · 20 June 1989

Radio License Renewal and Improvements Act of 1989 - Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to direct the Federal Communications Commission, with respect to applications for radio license broadcast renewals, to grant a renewal if during the preceding term of the license the licensee: (1) has broadcast material responsive to issues of concern to the residents of its service area; and (2) has not committed violations of such Act or the rules or regulations of the Commission, which taken together would constitute a pattern of abuse. Authorizes the Commission to deny a renewal or grant limited renewal if an applicant has failed to meet such requirements. Prohibits the Commission, in evaluating a licensee's performance in broadcasting material responsive to matters of public concern, from establishing or applying any requirement with respect to the broadcast of any specific subject or quantity of material. Directs the Commission to accept the licensee's judgment if found to be reasonable and made in good faith. Prohibits the Commission, in determining whether to renew a license, from considering whether the public interest, convenience, and necessity might be served by granting a license to a competing applicant. Directs the Commission to conduct an inquiry and prescribe any necessary regulations concerning any additional information that licensees should be required to maintain and make available to the public regarding the licensee's responsibility to broadcast material responsive to matters of public concern. Makes it unlawful for a license applicant and any other person, while a license application is pending, to effectuate an agreement whereby the other person withdraws or withholds the filing of a competing application, an informal objection, or a petition to deny in exchange for the payment of anything of value by, or on behalf of, the applicant. Requires the Commission to establish a procedure for the review of informal complaints received by the Commission during the license term of a radio licensee. Authorizes the Commission to consider such complaints at the time of a license renewal if such complaints constitute a pattern of abuse for purposes of this Act or evidence of the licensee's effort to serve the public interest.

Bill· SJRESS.J.Res. 155 (101st)referred

A joint resolution designating June 23, 1989, as "United States Coast Guard Auxiliary Day".

United States · United States Congress · 13 June 1989

Designates June 23, 1989, as United States Coast Guard Auxiliary Day. Authorizes the President to: (1) issue a proclamation commemorating the 50 years of Coast Guard volunteer service to enhance the safety of water-related activities; and (2) call for the observation of such day with appropriate ceremonies, educational activities, and boating safety achievement programs.

Bill· SS. 1153 (101st)referred

Veterans' Agent Orange Exposure and Vietnam Service Benefits Act of 1989

United States · United States Congress · 8 June 1989

Veterans' Agent Orange Exposure and Vietnam Service Benefits Act of 1989 - Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to pay a monthly disability or death benefit to a veteran or his or her survivors for any disability or death of a veteran who served in the active forces in Vietnam during the Vietnam era and who suffered from non-Hodgkins lymphoma or a soft-tissue sarcoma. Provides an exception to the payment of such benefits when there is affirmative evidence that such disease was not incurred during such service in Vietnam or that there was an intervening disease since such service. Provides the rates for the payment of such disability or death benefit. Prohibits such payments when other disability compensation is being paid for such disability. Provides that such disabilities shall be treated as service-connected for the purposes of all laws administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs (Department). Terminates such payments as of April 15, 1992, unless extended by a joint resolution of the Congress. Outlines congressional procedures for the consideration of such joint resolution. Requires the Secretary to take all reasonable actions necessary to notify veterans and their survivors of the availability of such payments. Requires the Secretary to inform such recipients of the temporary nature of such payments. Provides that the disease of chloracne in Vietnam veterans shall be considered to have been service-connected if such disease became manifest to a ten percent degree of disability or more within one year after the last date on which the veteran performed such service in Vietnam. Provides a presumption of service-connection in the case of a Vietnam veteran suffering from a disease associated with effects of exposure to certain dioxins or other herbicide agents during such service in Vietnam. Directs the Secretary to prescribe regulations listing a positive association between any disease and the biological effects of exposure to an herbicide agent in Vietnam. Requires the Secretary to update such list continually. Requires the Secretary, in prescribing and revising such list, to obtain by contract the determinations and estimates of a contract scientific organization. Requires such organization to: (1) determine which diseases have any degree of association with the biological effects of exposure to an herbicide agent; and (2) estimate the extent of association between each such disease and each such biological effects. Requires the organization to determine such association specifically with respect to non-Hodgkins lymphoma, each soft-tissue sarcoma, lung cancer, and each other cancer. Outlines contract provisions required in such agreements between the Secretary and the scientific organization, including surveys, evaluations, and periodic determinations. Requires such scientific organizations to provide reports to the Secretary and the Senate and House Veterans' Affairs Committees regarding its determinations and evaluations. Requires such organization to determine, in the event of a positive association, whether there is a reasonable basis for concluding that a Vietnam veteran with the highest level of exposure to that herbicide agent in Vietnam was exposed to such agent under the circumstances necessary for such biological effects. Requires a report from the organization to the Secretary and the veterans' committees when there is no such reasonable basis found. Requires the Secretary to make certain determinations and follow-up reports after receiving such reports from the contract scientific organization, including the issuance of a report to the veterans' committees and the promulgation of positive association regulations, if necessary. Requires benefits to be continued even though a disease is removed from the regulations listing diseases having positive associations. Terminates such contracting authority ten years after the first day of the fiscal year in which a scientific organization transmits its first report to the Secretary. Provides interim regulations and special effective dates. Directs the Secretary to compile and analyze all clinical data that: (1) are obtained by the Department in connection with examinations and treatment of veterans for disabilities related to exposure to certain herbicides or to service in Vietnam; and (2) are likely to be scientifically useful in determining the association, if any, between the disabilities of such veterans and their exposure to such herbicides and other toxic substances. Requires the Secretary to submit an annual report to the veterans' committees concerning such analysis and its results. Directs the Secretary to consult with the Director of the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) before compiling and analyzing such information. Requires the Director of OTA to review each annual report submitted by the Secretary and transmit to the Secretary an evaluation of the contents of each report. Directs the Secretary to establish and maintain a system for the collection and storage of voluntarily contributed samples of blood and tissue of veterans who performed active service in Vietnam during the Vietnam era. Outlines provisions concerning the security and authorized uses of such specimens, as well as limitations on the acceptance of such samples. Requires the Secretary to consult with the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) to the extent that an agreement has been reached with the NAS serving as the contract scientific organization for the Secretary. Requires the Secretary to consult with the Director of OTA in the event of no agreement with NAS. Directs the Secretary to establish a program to provide for the conduct of studies of the feasibility of conducting additional scientific research on health hazards resulting from: (1) exposure to dioxin; (2) exposure to other toxic agents in herbicides used in support of U.S. and allied military operations in Vietnam during the Vietnam era; and (3) active military, naval, or air service there. Requires the Secretary to report to the veterans' committees on the results of such studies. Requires the Secretary to consult with the NAS before undertaking such studies and requires the NAS to review such studies and report recommendations to the Secretary and the veterans' committees to the extent provided under any agreement between the Secretary and NAS. Amends the Veterans' Benefits Improvement Act of 1988 to require the Secretary to annually furnish updated information to affected veterans on health risks resulting from exposure to dioxin or other toxic agents in herbicides as a result of service in Vietnam during the Vietnam era. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to report to the veterans' committees on the research being conducted to develop treatments for physiological absorption of dioxin and other toxic agents used in herbicides by the United States in Vietnam, including research relating to exposure to dioxin and other toxic agents outside Vietnam. Extends through December 31, 1993, the eligibility for hospital and nursing home care for veterans exposed to toxic substances in Vietnam. Amends the Veterans' Benefits Improvement Act of 1988 to authorize direct consultation between the Ranch Hand Advisory Committee and Department of the Air Force scientists conducting the Ranch Hand Study (a study of the long-term health effects of exposure to phenoxy herbicides and contaminants). Requires the preparation and submission of annual reports and a final report in connection with such study.

Law· SS. 1091 (101st)enacted

United States Coast Guard Bicentennial Medal Act

United States · United States Congress · 1 June 1989

United States Coast Guard Bicentennial Medal Act - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to design, strike, and sell a medal in commemoration of the bicentennial of the U.S. Coast Guard in 1990. Requires the design of the medal to be selected by the Secretary of the Treasury after consultation with the Secretary of Transportation and the Commission of Fine Arts.

Bill· SS. 1107 (101st)open

Tish Sommers and Laurie Shields Displaced Homemakers Training andEconomic Self-Sufficiency Assistance Act of 1989

United States · United States Congress · 1 June 1989

Tish Sommers and Laurie Shields Displaced Homemakers Training and Economic Self-Sufficiency Assistance Act of 1989 - Directs the Secretary of Labor (the Secretary) to allot funds to States annually for services for displaced homemakers. Reserves a portion of such funds for national activities. Requires that such funds supplement and not supplant other Federal, State, and local public funds for such services. Sets forth reallotment procedures and requirements for State plans and State administration. Requires (if such entities do not already exist): (1) creation of a displaced homemakers unit within an appropriate State agency; (2) assignment of a full-time State administrator for displaced homemaker services to administer the program and coordinate it with other such services in the State; and (3) creation of a State displaced homemaker advisory council to assist the unit in planning, implementing, and evaluating programs and activities. Sets forth various services for which funds may be used under this Act for education, training, and supportive services for displaced homemakers. Directs State Governors to make grants, from allotments under this Act, to eligible service providers on a competitive basis, with certain priorities and special consideration. Authorizes State Governors, on a one-time basis only, to reserve ten percent of the State allotment to establish a revolving fund to provide low interest loans to displaced homemakers to pursue education, training, and employment opportunities. Directs the Secretary to implement a uniform data collection system to assist displaced homemaker services. Directs the Secretary, through the Women's Bureau, to make a grant to a national organization to provide the following for displaced homemaker services programs: (1) preservice and inservice personnel training; (2) technical assistance; and (3) establishment of a national clearinghouse to disseminate materials and information from exemplary programs. Directs the Secretary to report biennially, with recommendations, to the Congress on progress in providing training and other work-related services to displaced homemakers. Directs the Secretary to prescribe performance standards, which may be based on specified factors, for programs under this Act. Authorizes State Governors to prescribe variations on such standards, based on specified factors. Makes displaced homemakers receiving assistance under this Act ineligible for assistance under title III (Employment and Training Assistance for Dislocated Workers) of the Job Training Partnership Act, in any fiscal year in which the appropriation for this Act equals or exceeds a specified amount. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1990 and succeeding fiscal years. Provides for a transition to the forward funding method of timing appropriation action.

Bill· SS. 1115 (101st)referred

A bill to amend the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 to permit the prepayment and refinancing of Federal Financing Bank loans made to rural electrification and telephone systems, and for other purposes.

United States · United States Congress · 1 June 1989

Amends the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 to permit Rural Electrification Administration borrowers to prepay Federal Financing Bank loans without penalties if: (1) private capital is used to replace or prepay such loans; and (2) any savings will be used to mitigate future rate increases, passed on to customers, or used to improve the borrower's financial strength. Permits such borrowers to refinance outstanding long-term Federal Financing Bank loans for a specified fee. Requires the borrower to obtain a change in the interest rate on such loan from its present level to the rate then in effect for new Federal Financing Bank loans.

Bill· SJRESS.J.Res. 144 (101st)referred

A joint resolution proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States relating to voluntary silent prayer or reflection.

United States · United States Congress · 31 May 1989

Constitutional Amendment - Declares that nothing in the Constitution shall be construed to prohibit individual or group silent prayer or reflection in public schools. Prohibits the United States or any State from requiring any person to participate in such prayer or encouraging any particular prayer.

Bill· SS. 1076 (101st)open

National Environmental Education Act

United States · United States Congress · 18 May 1989

National Environmental Education Act - Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to establish an Office of Environmental Education within the Office of External Affairs to carry out this Act. Establishes an Environmental Education and Training Program to train educational professionals in the development and delivery of environmental education and training programs and studies. Directs the Administrator to make an annual grant to an institution of higher education or nonprofit research institution to establish and operate such program. Sets forth application and eligibility requirements and criteria to be considered in awarding such grants. Authorizes the Administrator to enter into cooperative agreements or provide grants to support projects to design, demonstrate, and disseminate practices related to environmental education and training. Outlines activities eligible for grant support and priorities in awarding such grants. Requires the Administrator to publish an annual solicitation for environmental education grants. Authorizes local education agencies, colleges or universities, State education or environmental agencies, or nonprofit agencies to apply for such grants. Limits Federal funds for demonstration projects to 75 percent of the total cost, except in specified instances. Limits such grants to $100,000 and requires 25 percent of all funds obligated to be for grants of no more than $5,000. Requires the Administrator to provide for internships by postsecondary students with Federal agencies involved in environmental issues. Directs the Administrator, to the extent practicable, to support at least 150 internships annually. Makes eligible for participation in such program students enrolled at accredited colleges or universities who have successfully completed at least four courses or the equivalent in environmental sciences. Requires the Administrator to provide for a series of national awards recognizing outstanding contributions to environmental education to include: (1) the Theodore Roosevelt Award for environmental teaching or administration; (2) the Henry David Thoreau Award for literature on the environment and pollution problems; and (3) the Rachel Carson Award for film or print media for public education and information on environmental issues or problems. Provides that recipients of such awards shall be nominated by the Environmental Education Advisory Council. Requires the regional administrator of each EPA office to present an "Outstanding Environmental Educator Award" annually to a teacher or faculty member from a local education agency, college or university, or nonprofit organization in recognition of an outstanding contribution to environmental education. Establishes a National Environmental Education Advisory Council. Requires the Council to report biennially to the Congress on: (1) the extent and quality of environmental education in the Nation's schools; (2) activities conducted pursuant to this Act; (3) obstacles to improving environmental education; and (4) training and skills needed to respond to environmental problems. Establishes the Environmental Education Trust Fund to carry out this Act. Allocates funding for this Act's activities and authorizes 50 percent of penalties received under specified environmental Acts to be appropriated to the Fund.

Bill· SS. 1036 (101st)open

Rural Partnerships Act of 1989

United States · United States Congress · 18 May 1989

Rural Partnerships Act of 1989 - Title I: Rural Business and Job Creation - Subtitle A: Rural Partnerships Investment Board - Establishes a Rural Partnerships Investment Board to provide lines of credit through local revolving funds for rural business expansion. Terminates the Board five years after enactment of this Act. Establishes in the Treasury the Rural Business Investment Fund to provide funds for such purpose. Limits an entity's credit line to $750,000. Stipulates that a State agency may receive up to $1,250,000. Requires a participating entity to: (1) provide matching funds at least equal to the line of credit; and (2) demonstrate financial institution participation. Requires only 50 percent matching funds in areas with per capita income levels below specified levels. Limits the maximum amount of Federal contributions to each State's revolving funds to $100,000. Obligates a specified amount of appropriated funds for businesses serving very distressed rural areas or providing specified rural services, including health care, elderly and handicapped services, educational services, or transportation. Authorizes FY 1990 through 1992 appropriations. Requires each participating entity to establish a local revolving fund to: (1) make loans, investments, or loan guarantees; and (2) pay for various training and related programs. Requires local revolving funds to enter into 50 percent matching loan or investment partnerships with banks and other financial institutions. Limits a fund's annual investments in any one business to $250,000. Sets forth compliance and enforcement provisions, including: (1) grounds for revocation of a line of credit; (2) investigatory authority of the Board; (3) unlawful acts of officers, directors, employees, or agents; (4) penalties; and (5) Board authority to bring an action in district court. Subtitle B: Rural Economic Development Promoted by the Rural Electrification Administration - Amends the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 to direct the Administrator of the Rural Electrification Administration (REA) to appoint an Assistant Administrator for Economic Development to carry out REA programs concerning the involvement of rural electric and telephone systems in community and economic development. Directs the Administrator to establish a technical assistance unit to assist borrowers with respect to community and economic development activities. Permits a borrower to defer loan repayments (five or ten years, depending on the project) for amounts invested in community or economic development projects. Limits such deferment to 50 percent of a project's cost. Authorizes and limits water and waste facility loans to the lesser of $40,000,000 or ten percent of fiscal year REA insured loan authority. Sets forth loan priority provisions. Requires private sector assistance under specified circumstances. Targets electrification borrower investments in: (1) the Incubation Fund established by this Act or other business incubators; and (2) community, business, or economic development projects. Expands the scope of REA rural economic development functions. Establishes in the Treasury a Rural Business Incubation Fund to make grants and reduced interest loans to electric and telephone borrowers in order to promote business incubation programs or to create rural business incubators. Requires such incubators to: (1) be operated on a not-for-profit basis; and (2) assist businesses to become viable business entities. Provides for funding of such incubators by assisted businesses, REA borrowers, and the Treasury. Deems investments by REA telephone borrowers in rural telecommunication or other rural development projects not to be dividends or capital distributions. Title II: Enhancing Human Resources - Establishes a grant program to increase rural educational opportunities through the use of telecommunications and related technologies. Authorizes FY 1990 through 1994 appropriations. Requires grantee partnerships to consist of: (1) REA borrowers; (2) specified national telecommunication organizations; and (3) educational institutions. Establishes the Rural Educational Opportunities Board to advise grant recipients, evaluate programs and technology, serve as a liaison with REA and the Secretary of Education, and review and make grant application recommendations. Requires REA and the Secretary of Agriculture to make an annual program report to the appropriate congressional committees. Provides for expedited REA telephone loans. Establishes: (1) a rural medical link telecommunications grant program; and (2) a rural business link telecommunications grant program. Authorizes FY 1990 through 1994 appropriations for such programs. Title III: Focus on Rural America by the Department of Agriculture - Amends the Rural Development Act of 1972 to direct the Secretary to establish an Extension Service rural economic and business program to permit State or county extension services to hire business development and related telecommunications specialists. Authorizes appropriations beginning with FY 1990. Directs the Secretary to: (1) establish a program to study economically distressed rural counties; (2) evaluate the nature and availability of assistance needed by such counties; and (3) report to the appropriate congressional committees in each of FY 1990 through 1993. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary to establish a rural development assistance information program. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary to report to the appropriate congressional committees by September 1, 1989, concerning the coordination of Department of Agriculture rural development activities. Directs the Secretary to conduct a study and report to the appropriate congressional committees with respect to the Department's data processing functions and whether they can be performed more economically in rural areas. Authorizes appropriations. Title IV: Rural Business and Employment Assistance - Directs the Secretary to make technical assistance grants for rural business development, including business support centers. Prohibits the use of such funds for political activity or business relocation. Authorizes appropriations. Amends the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act to direct the Secretary to make grants for rural technology assistance. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary to make rural emergency assistance loans to communities of less than 20,000 persons. Limits such loans to two-year periods, with a maximum of $50,000 to any one borrower. Authorizes appropriations. Title V: National Rural Information Center Clearinghouse - Directs the Secretary to establish within the National Agricultural Library a National Rural Information Center Clearinghouse. Authorizes FY 1990 through 1994 appropriations. Title VI: Water and Sewer Assistance - Amends the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act to increase the authorization of appropriations for small community water and waste facility grants. Directs the Secretary to establish an emergency water assistance grant program for rural and small communities (less than 3000 population, median household income below State nonmetropolitan level) with significant water shortages, or to enable such communities to comply with the requirements of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act or the Safe Drinking Water Act. Limits grants to: (1) $75,000 for existing system repairs; and (2) $500,000 for water shortage areas. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary to base loan rates for health care and related facilities solely on the income of the area to be served. Directs the Administrator of the Farmers Home Administration to establish a national rural waste water circuit rider program modeled after the existing National Rural Water Association rural water circuit rider program. Authorizes appropriations. Title VII: Miscellaneous - Directs the Census Bureau to: (1) expand data collection efforts to gather data on the changing economic conditions of rural America, including employment, poverty and income, and the labor force; and (2) employ rural residents for such efforts in FY 1990. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary of the Interior to establish regulations regarding projects funded under this Act with respect to the preservation of historic properties and historical and archaeological data. Authorizes certain Farm Credit System banks to make small community water and waste system loans. Amends the Food Stamp Act of 1977 to permit a State to designate State areas where the food stamp program (program) employment and training requirements shall be voluntary. Includes self-employment within the scope of such requirements. Increases rural program accessibility for people engaged in certain employment and training programs. Exempts from household financial resources for purposes of program eligibility the value of a vehicle used in rural areas to haul fuel or water. Amends Federal law to increase the amount of annual funds available to the Reforestation Trust Fund. Authorizes Fund use for economic diversification assistance to communities that are economically dependent upon the Forest Service. Directs the Secretary to establish a program of loan restructuring for distressed rural hospitals and health care facilities. Title VIII: Effective Date and Implementation - Makes this Act effective as of October 1, 1989, unless otherwise provided for. Sets forth the effective dates for specified implementing regulations under such Act.

Bill· SS. 1041 (101st)open

Farm Debt Tax Reform Act of 1989

United States · United States Congress · 18 May 1989

Farm Debt Tax Reform Act of 1989 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from gross income up to $350,000 (lifetime total) of capital gain from the transfer of property in complete or partial satisfaction of qualified farm indebtedness of a taxpayer: (1) whose modified gross income is below the national median adjusted gross income median; (2) whose gross receipts for six of the preceding ten years are at least 50 percent attributable to farming; and (3) whose equity in all property held after the transfer in question is less than the greater of $25,000 or 150 percent of income tax liability. Applies a comparable exclusion with respect to the discharge of qualified farm indebtedness of solvent farmers who meet these requirements and whose indebtedness both before and after the relevant transfer equals at least 70 percent or more of equity. Permits both tax exclusions retroactively with respect to taxable years 1987 and thereafter.