United States · United States Congress · 10 November 1993
Expresses the sense of the Senate that: (1) the Federal financial institution regulatory agencies, in any effort to reform regulations implementing the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977 (the Act), should consider giving financial institutions credit for providing credit and investments which may assist in fighting the causes of violence and in preventing crime in their communities, including loans to police officers and firefighters who establish their residences in high crime neighborhoods, loans for community recreation facilities in such neighborhoods, and loans for job creating activities for youths or adults who might otherwise become involved in crime; (2) regulations promulgated or amended under the Act should give positive consideration to investments made by financial institutions in other financial intermediaries which have the effect of stabilizing neighborhoods and fighting the causes of violence and preventing crime in those neighborhoods; (3) loans and investments extended by a financial institution for the purpose of fighting the causes of violence and preventing crime outside of its normal lending area or geographic community should be considered legitimate community reinvestment activities; and (4) reformed regulations under the Act should not define a financial institution's "local community" so narrowly that loans and investments provided to fight the causes of violence and help prevent crime will not be positively considered under the Act simply because they are extended outside the area normally delineated by the institution as its "local community."
United States · United States Congress · 5 October 1993
Marine Biotechnology Investment Act of 1993 - Requires the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy to develop a National Marine Biotechnology Strategy for the establishment and implementation of a comprehensive research and development effort to assist the Nation in understanding and using marine biotechnology. Requires the submission of the Strategy to the President and Congress within one year after the date of enactment of this Act and a revised Strategy at least once every three years thereafter. Directs the Secretary of Commerce to maintain, within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, a balanced program of marine biotechnology activities. Amends the National Sea Grant College Program Act to establish a program to further research, development, education, and technology transfer in marine biotechnology. Provides for the establishment of a Marine Biotechnology Review Panel. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 5 October 1993
Designates December 7, 1993, as National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day. Requests the President to urge that the U.S. flag be flown at half staff on December 7, 1993, in honor of the individuals who died as a result of their service at Pearl Harbor.
United States · United States Congress · 5 October 1993
Calls for: (1) the President to encourage the United Nations (UN) to permit representatives of Taiwan to participate fully in UN activities; and (2) cabinet-level exchanges between Taiwan and the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 13 September 1993
American Common Market Act of 1993 - Authorizes the President to negotiate with other countries of North America, Central America, and South America a treaty to establish a Common Market of the Americas which promotes democracy and mutually beneficial economic development.
United States · United States Congress · 9 September 1993
American Common Market Act of 1993 - Authorizes the President to negotiate with other countries of North America, Central America, and South America a treaty to establish a Common Market of the Americas which promotes democracy and mutually beneficial economic development.
United States · United States Congress · 6 August 1993
Antarctic Scientific Research, Tourism, and Marine Resources Act of 1993 - Directs the President to appoint a U.S. officer or employee as the representative to the Committee for Environmental Protection under the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty. Makes it unlawful to: (1) conduct an activity within Antarctica in a manner inconsistent with the Protocol; (2) violate any terms of this Act; (3) refuse to permit an authorized U.S. employee to board a U.S. vessel subject to U.S. jurisdiction for conducting a search or inspection; or (4) interfere with any search or resist or interfere with a lawful arrest or detention. Prohibits the following activities in Antarctica, except in accordance with a permit issued by the Director of the National Science Foundation: (1) tourism or nongovernmental expeditions; or (2) the operation of U.S. facilities, including the construction or decommissioning of a base, building, or airfield. Grants the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency responsibility for implementing Annex III of the Protocol. Directs the Administrator to: (1) prohibit incineration in Antarctica; and (2) require that discharges into the sea in Antarctica after January 1, 1995, meet secondary treatment standards that are the same as those applicable to U.S. navigable waters. Requires environmental assessments of proposed Federal and nongovernmental activities in Antarctica. Provides for environmental impact statements of activities with more than a minor or transitory impact and additional procedures to be taken before such activities can proceed. Requires: (1) a plan for monitoring activities within Antarctica; and (2) contingency plans for incidents with potential adverse effects. Prescribes civil and criminal penalties for violations of this Act. Amends the Antarctic Marine Living Resources Convention Act of 1984 to make it unlawful to introduce a dog or any nonindigenous animal or plant into Antarctica. Amends the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships to apply Annex IV of the Protocol to all ships of U.S. registry and all ships under U.S. jurisdiction. Requires ships to have sufficient capacity to retain all oil, noxious liquid substances, and garbage on board and to have concluded arrangements to discharge such substances outside of Antarctica. Repeals the Antarctic Conservation Act of 1978.
United States · United States Congress · 6 August 1993
Maritime Competitiveness Act of 1993 - Amends the Merchant Marine Act, 1936 to establish the National Committee to Ensure a Strong and Competitive United States Maritime Industry. Terminates the Committee after transmittal of its report.
United States · United States Congress · 6 August 1993
Increases from $200 to $500 the monthly special pension payable to persons named to the Medal of Honor Roll. Includes losses sustained on the resale of property in the net-value calculation for purposes of provisions regarding defaults on veterans' loans. Provides for a permanent extension of the authority of such provisions.
United States · United States Congress · 6 August 1993
Church Retirement Benefits Simplification Act of 1993 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to recodify and revise qualifications for church retirement and pension plans. Makes employee contributions to such plans nonforfeitable. Requires the plan to meet minimum vesting requirements. Recodifies the authority of a church or a convention or association of churches to be treated as an employer making contributions to retirement income accounts. Subjects church-related hospitals and universities to certain coverage and related rules in the case of a contract purchased by a church. Requires distributions from retirement income accounts provided by churches to be in accordance with distributions under cash or deferred arrangements. Provides for determining the beginning date for such distributions. Allows self-employed ministers and chaplains who work for non-church employers to participate in their church plans. Provides that certain rules aggregating employees do not apply to churches. Restores qualified voluntary employee contributions to church plans. Treats self-employed ministers as employees for purposes of certain welfare benefit plans and retirement income accounts. Allows a deduction for contributions to retirement income accounts by such ministers. Provides that a church plan maintained by more than one employer shall not be treated as a single plan. Provides that accounting methods of deferred compensation plans of State and local governments and tax-exempt organizations do not apply to a church plan. Exempts a church plan from the requirement to maintain separate accounts for medical benefits for key employees. Provides that the special rules for computing employee contributions to pension plans do not apply to certain foreign missionaries. Repeals the elective deferral catch-up limitation for church retirement income accounts. Allows church plans to annuitize benefits and increase benefit payments. Provides that rules for self-insured medical reimbursement plans are not applicable to church plans. Provides that retirement benefits of ministers are not subject to the tax on net earnings from self-employment.
United States · United States Congress · 5 August 1993
Children's Protection from Violent Programming Act of 1993 - Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to make it unlawful for any person to: (1) distribute to the public any violent video programming during hours when children are reasonably likely to comprise a substantial portion of the audience; or (2) knowingly produce or provide material for such distribution. Requires the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to promulgate regulations to implement this Act. Authorizes the FCC, as part of its rulemaking proceeding, to exempt programming (including news programs, documentaries, educational programs, and sporting events) whose distribution does not conflict with the objective of protecting children from the negative influences of violent video programming. Exempts premium and pay-per-view cable programming. Requires the FCC to immediately repeal the license of any person who repeatedly violates this Act and to consider, in its review of an application for renewal of a license, whether the licensee has complied with this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 21 July 1993
Small Business Credit Reform Act of 1993 - Amends the Small Business Act (the Act) to increase, for each of FY 1993 through 1996, the funding under such Act for: (1) disaster loans; (2) loans under the Small Business Investment Act of 1958; and (3) loans for other programs under the Act. Revises the loan funding authority and adds FY 1995 and 1996 funding authority for the Microloan Demonstration Program (the provision of loans and grants to start up, newly established, or growing small businesses). Amends the Small Business Administration Reauthorization and Amendments Act of 1988 to remove limitations on the commercial loan interest rates to be charged by a State for private debenture sales authorized under such Act. Authorizes the Small Business Administration (SBA) to charge an additional loan guarantee fee for loans made under the Act which are sold on the secondary market. Makes miscellaneous changes with respect to other loans guaranteed by the SBA under the Act, including the Microloan Program. Revises the dates of conferences to be held by the National White House Conference on Small Business. Increases the authorization of appropriations for Conference activities.
United States · United States Congress · 20 July 1993
Fairness in Medicaid Funding Act of 1993 - Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to change the Federal medical assistance percentage used under the Medicaid program. Bases payments to the States for administration costs on the Federal medical assistance percentage.
United States · United States Congress · 15 July 1993
Amends the Food, Agriculture, Conservation and Trade Act of 1990 to entitle Chapter 3 of Title XXII as the "Agricultural Disaster Assistance Act." Extends emergency crop loss assistance for: (1) wheat, feed grains, upland and extra long staple cotton, and rice; (2) peanuts, sugar, and tobacco; (3) oilseeds and nonprogram crops; (4) orchards; and (5) forest crops. Extends related program provisions, including quality reduction assistance. Authorizes appropriations. Extends emergency grant assistance coverage to low-income packinghouse workers. Amends the Agricultural Act of 1949 to make beekeepers eligible for emergency livestock assistance.
United States · United States Congress · 14 July 1993
Amends the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States to extend, through December 31, 1994, the suspension of duty on power-driven weaving machines for weaving fabrics more than 4.9 meters in width.
United States · United States Congress · 13 July 1993
Designates August 1, 1993, as Helsinki Human Rights Day. Authorizes the President to reassert America's commitment to the Helsinki Accords and requests him to: (1) convey to all signatories of the Accords that respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms is a vital element of further progress in the ongoing Helsinki process; and (2) develop new proposals to advance the human rights objectives of such process to address the major problems that remain.
United States · United States Congress · 1 July 1993
Independence Hall Commemorative Coin Act - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to mint a specified number of one-dollar silver coins emblematic of the national shrines of liberty, showing the Liberty Bell on one side and Independence Hall on the other. Mandates that 50 percent of the surcharges collected be distributed to: (1) the Treasury; and (2) the Independence Hall Preservation Fund to assist its efforts to meet certain funding needs of the Independence National Historic Park.
United States · United States Congress · 30 June 1993
Expresses the sense of the Senate that the identification of trade liberalization priorities by the United States Trade Representative under "Super 301" provisions of the Trade Act of 1974 should be done not later than April 30th of each year.
United States · United States Congress · 24 June 1993
Catawba Indian Tribe of South Carolina Land Claims Settlement Act of 1993 - Restores and extends Federal recognition, rights, and services to the Catawba Nation (Tribe). Repeals the Termination Act (of 1959). Authorizes settlement appropriations. Provides for: (1) ratification of prior transfers and extinguishment of aboriginal title, rights, and claims; (2) tribal membership; (3) transitional and provisional government; and (4) tribal and reservation governance, jurisdiction, and trust funds. Provides for: (1) the conveyance of the Catawba Reservation by South Carolina to the United States as trustee; and (2) the expansion of the Reservation as prescribed by the Settlement Agreement. Makes the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act inapplicable to the Tribe.
United States · United States Congress · 22 June 1993
Expresses the sense of the Congress that increased resources should be invested in public-private partnerships between government and community-based organizations to: (1) empower distressed and disconnected communities to develop their own resources and abilities to meet the needs of children; and (2) forge innovative solutions to challenges confronting children's development in such communities. Amends the Public and Assisted Housing Drug Elimination Act of 1990 to allow certain grants to be issued for community schools demonstration programs. Community Schools Demonstration Program Act of 1993 - Amends the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988 to establish the community schools demonstration program. Authorizes the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to award up to ten demonstration grants to community-based organizations to assist eligible communities located within economically distressed areas to develop and conduct programs to increase students' academic success and improve work force readiness. Requires peer review panels, non-Federal share (including some private or nonprofit sources), and evaluation. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 17 June 1993
Atlantic Coastal Fisheries Cooperative Management Act - Mandates a program to support the interstate fishery management efforts of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission. Authorizes (in the absence of an approved and implemented fishery management plan under the Magnuson Fishery Conservation and Management Act) the Secretary of Commerce to implement regulations to govern fishing in the Exclusive Economic Zone that are necessary for implementation of a coastal fishery management plan and consistent with national standards under the Magnuson Act. Applies specified provisions of the Magnuson Act to those regulations. Requires the Commission to adopt coastal fishery management plans to provide for the conservation and management of coastal fishery resources. Requires States identified by the Commission to implement and enforce the plan under a time schedule set by the Commission. Mandates a moratorium on fishing in the fishery in question in the waters of a noncomplying State, prohibiting fishing, possession, transportation, sale, and related acts. Imposes penalties. Authorizes financial assistance to the Commission and the States to carry out their responsibilities under this Act. Authorizes appropriations to carry out this Act Repeals a provision of the Atlantic Striped Bass Conservation Act terminating the effectiveness of that Act on a specified date. Authorizes appropriations to support the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Compact, the Pacific Marine Fisheries Compact, and the Gulf States Marine Fisheries Compact in developing interstate fishery management plans for interjurisdictional fishery resources.
United States · United States Congress · 17 June 1993
Amends the Public Health Service Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make grants to establish residential programs for special populations of high-risk and disadvantaged pregnant women and their children. Sets forth provisions regarding eligibility of entities to receive such grants and application requirements. Requires such programs to provide specified services in the language and cultural context appropriate for the mother and her family, such as: (1) medical services (including assessment and screening, referrals, and psychological services); and (2) parenting, job counseling, and other services. Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) eligibility of women to receive services under such programs; (2) housing facilities; and (3) peer review. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 17 June 1993
Reforestation Tax Act of 1993 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide taxpayers a partial inflation adjustment for the deduction from gross income for qualified timber gain. Allows such deduction in computing adjusted gross income. Excludes from conditions of the material participation rules, for purposes of the passive loss limitations, closely held timber activity if the aggregate hours devoted to management of the activity for any year is generally fewer than 100 hours. Increases the amount allowable as a deduction for amortization of reforestation expenditures and provides an inflation adjustment after calendar year 1994. Applies such inflation adjustment to the reforestation credit. Shortens the amortization period from 84 to 60 months.
United States · United States Congress · 17 June 1993
Condemns the repressive anti-Baha'i policy adopted by the Government of Iran. Urges the Government of Iran to extend to the Baha'i community the rights guaranteed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the international covenants on human rights. Calls upon the President to continue to: (1) urge such Government to emancipate the Baha'i community by granting such rights; (2) emphasize that the United States regards the human rights practices of such Government, particularly its treatment of the Baha'is and other religious minorities, as a significant factor in the development of U.S.-Iranian relations; and (3) encourage other governments to continue to appeal to the Government of Iran and to cooperate with other governments and international organizations in efforts to protect the religious rights of the Baha'is and other minorities in Iran.
United States · United States Congress · 15 June 1993
Vietnam Veterans Memorial Commemorative Coin Act of 1994 - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to issue a specified number of one-dollar silver coins emblematic of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. Mandates that the surcharges collected from the sale of such coins be paid to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund to help raise an endowment for the Memorial's maintenance and for the addition of names.
United States · United States Congress · 10 June 1993
Designates July 25 through 31, 1993, as National Week of Recognition and Remembrance for Those Who Served in the Korean War. Authorizes the President to urge U.S. departments and agencies, interested organizations, groups, and individuals to fly the American flag at half-staff on July 27, 1993, in honor of the Americans who died as a result of their service in Korea.
United States · United States Congress · 10 June 1993
Congratulates the Anti-Defamation League as it celebrates its 80th anniversary in 1993 and commends it for effectively pursuing the goal of promoting greater tolerance among people throughout the world.
United States · United States Congress · 28 May 1993
Qualified Football Coaches Plan Technical Corrections Act of 1993 - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 to make technical revisions which again allow a qualified football coaches plan to be treated as a multiemployer plan for pension plan purposes.
United States · United States Congress · 27 May 1993
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Authorizations Title II: Personnel Management Improvement Title III: Navigation Safety and Waterway Service Management Title IV: Engineering and Development Amendments Title V: Educational Research Title VI: Passenger Vessel Safety Coast Guard Authorization Act of 1993 - Title I: Authorizations - (Sec. 101) Authorizes appropriations for the Coast Guard for: (1) operation and maintenance; (2) acquisition, construction, rebuilding, and improvement of aids to navigation, shore and offshore facilities, vessels, and aircraft; (3) research, development, test, and evaluation; (4) retirement pay and benefits; (5) alteration or removal of bridges; and (6) environmental compliance and restoration. (Sec. 102) Authorizes the Coast Guard end-of-year strength for active duty personnel and the average military training student loads. Title II: Personnel Management Improvement - (Sec. 201) Eliminates the ceiling on the number of active duty commissioned officers in the Coast Guard. (Sec. 202) Authorizes the President to appoint, with the advice and consent of the Senate, a Chief of Staff of the Coast Guard to rank next after area commanders and have the rank of vice admiral. Removes a requirement that the rear admiral serving as Chief of Staff be the senior rear admiral for all purposes other than pay. (Sec. 203) Requires that officers serving in the grade of admiral and Rear admiral (including the Commandant, Vice Commandant, and Area Commanders) continue to hold that grade while being processed for physical disability retirement and while awaiting retirement. Replaces, in retirement provisions, references to the Commanders of the Atlantic and Pacific Areas with references to vice admirals. Removes references to the Chief of Staff from provisions relating to continuation on active duty and involuntary retirement of rear admirals and rear admirals (lower half). (Sec. 204) Authorizes the acceptance of voluntary services for the maintenance and improvement of natural and historic resources, or to benefit natural and historic research, on Coast Guard facilities. (Sec. 205) Authorizes convening a retention board concerning Reserve officers who have 18 years or more of service. Title III: Navigation Safety and Waterway Service Management - (Sec. 301) Repeals provisions of the Act of June 25, 1936, requiring: (1) public notice of North Atlantic Ocean passenger vessel routes, adherence to the routes, and avoidance of fishing and ice regions; and (2) publication in the Federal Register of rules and regulations promulgated under provisions relating to ice and derelicts. (Sec. 302) Amends the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) to prohibit inclusion of amounts previously appropriated from the Aquatic Resources Trust Fund to carry out provisions of Federal law relating to allocations for State recreational boating safety programs, but not distributed, when calculating whether the Boat Safety Account exceeds certain IRC limits. (Sec. 303) Amends Federal law to declare that a seagoing barge is not subject to inspection under specified provisions if the barge is unmanned and does not carry oil in bulk or a reportable or harmful quantity of a hazardous material. Title IV: Engineering and Development Amendments - (Sec. 401) Authorizes: (1) acquisition of real property for use as Coast Guard family housing units and disposal of any such property; and (2) improvement of buildings at Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod, Cape Cod, Massachusetts. (Sec. 402) Grants the Secretary long-term lease authority for aids-to-navigation sites, vessel traffic service sensor sites, or National Distress System high level antenna sites. Title V: Educational Research - (Sec. 501) Authorizes the Coast Guard to compete for and accept Federal, State, or other educational research grants, provided that no award is accepted for the acquisition or construction of facilities, or for the routine functions of the Academy. Title VI: Passenger Vessel Safety - (Sec. 601) Passenger Vessel Safety Act of 1993 - Amends Federal shipping law relating to vessels and seamen to: (1) modify the definitions of "passenger," "passenger vessel," "small passenger vessel," "uninspected passenger vessel," "offshore supply vessel," and "sailing school vessel"; and (2) define "passenger for hire," "consideration," and "submersible vessel." (Sec. 611) Authorizes the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating to exempt excursion vessels and oceanographic research vessels from requirements of provisions relating to inspection and regulation of vessels, load lines of vessels, manning of vessels, and merchant seamen protection and relief. (Sec. 612) Directs the Secretary to require additional equipment or establish construction standards or additional operating standards for uninspected passenger vessels.
United States · United States Congress · 27 May 1993
Requires that defense reinvestment and economic conversion funds be allocated among communities on the basis of relative levels of reductions in employment experienced in such communities as a result of defense spending reductions or the closure or realignment of military installations.