United States · United States Congress · 23 September 1997
Property Owners Access to Justice Act of 1997 - Amends the Federal judicial code to provide that whenever a district court has jurisdiction in civil rights cases it shall not abstain from exercising or relinquishing its jurisdiction to a State court in an action where no claim of a violation of a State law, right, or privilege is alleged. Authorizes the district court, in such cases that cannot be decided without resolution of a significant but unsettled question of State law, to certify such question to the highest appellate court of that State (and after the State appellate court resolves the question certified to it, the district court shall proceed with resolving the merits). Bars the district court from certifying a question of State law unless such question will significantly affect the merits of the injured party's Federal claim and is so unclear and obviously susceptible to a limiting construction as to render premature a decision on the merits of the constitutional or legal issue in the case. Requires that any claim or action brought to redress the deprivation of a property right or privilege secured by the Constitution be ripe for adjudication by the district courts upon a final decision rendered by any person acting under color of any statute, ordinance, regulation, custom, or usage, of any State or territory of the United States, that causes actual and concrete injury to the party seeking redress. Provides that any claim brought under provisions regarding the United States as defendant and regarding the jurisdiction of the Court of Federal Claims, that is founded upon a property right or privilege secured by the Constitution but allegedly infringed or taken by the United States, shall be ripe for adjudication upon a final decision rendered by the United States that causes actual and concrete injury to the party seeking redress. Sets guidelines for what constitutes a "final decision" for purposes of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 23 September 1997
Family Caregiver Enumeration Act - Requires the Secretary of Commerce to ensure that an enumeration of family caregivers is taken as part of the 2000 decennial census of the population.
United States · United States Congress · 18 September 1997
Medicare Beneficiary Freedom To Contract Act of 1997 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to revise provisions added by the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 regarding the use of private contracts by Medicare beneficiaries for professional services. Outlines specific requirements for private contracts between Medicare beneficiaries and physicians or health care practitioners for services for which no Medicare claims may be submitted.
United States · United States Congress · 11 September 1997
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Sanctions Title II: Human Rights, Religious Freedom, and Democracy in China Title III: National Security Matters Title IV: Trade Title V: Human Rights and Religious Freedom Worldwide Title VI: Other Matters China Policy Act of 1997 - Sets forth U.S. policy with respect to the People's Republic of China including to: (1) encourage freedom and democracy in China and to deter the Chinese Government from activities contrary to U.S. national security interests; (2) encourage the Chinese Government to make progress towards improving human rights conditions in China and Tibet; and (3) limit the use of U.S. taxpayer funds for the subsidization of China through multilateral development banks and U.S. programs. Title I: Sanctions - Prohibits the Secretary of State (except in the case of a presidential waiver in the U.S. national interest) from issuing any visa to, and the Attorney General from admitting to the United States, certain high-ranking officials of the Chinese Government who have been involved in limiting the free exercise of religion and other human rights in China. (Sec. 102) Requires votes by the appropriate U.S. Executive Directors to deny multilateral assistance by international development banks. (Sec. 103) Directs the President to: (1) prohibit the importation into the United States of products (with specified exceptions) produced by any affiliate of the People's Liberation Army (PLA), the China Poly Group (also known as Polytechnologies Incorporated or BAOLI), and the China North Industries Group (Norinco); (2) direct the Secretary of State and the Attorney General to deny or impose restrictions on the entry into the United States of foreign nationals employed by such entities; (3) prohibit the issuance of licenses for U.S. Munitions List exports to such nationals or entities; (4) prohibit the export of controlled goods or technology to them; (5) direct the Export-Import Bank of the United States not to approve the issuance of credit to them; (6) prohibit U.S. nationals from issuing guarantees for loans or investments, or extending credit, to them; and (7) prohibit U.S. agencies and U.S. nationals from entering into any contract with such nationals or entities for the procurement of goods or services. Requires the Director of Central Intelligence to report annually to appropriate Members of Congress on each PLA entity which transferred controlled goods or technology to any other entity. Requires the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation to report annually to appropriate Members of Congress on each PLA entity which attempted to: (1) illegally import weapons or firearms into the United States; or (2) engage in military collection or espionage here under the cover of commercial business activity. (Sec. 104) Expresses the sense of the Congress that the President should consult with major U.S. allies and trading partners in order to encourage them to adopt similar sanctions against China. Requires a report to the Congress on such consultations. Title II: Human Rights, Religious Freedom, and Democracy in China - Sets forth findings with respect to human rights abuses, restrictions on religious freedom, and coercive family planning practices in China (including Tibet). (Sec. 205) Authorizes appropriations for FY 1998 and 1999 for U.S. Customs Service and Department of State monitoring of Chinese exports of products made with slave labor to the United States. Requires the Commissioner of Customs and the Secretary to each report to Members of Congress on the manufacturing and exportation of such products. Expresses the sense of the Congress that, in light of China's having substantially frustrated the purposes of the 1992 Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the United States on Prison Labor, the President should commence negotiations to replace the MOU with one providing for effective monitoring of forced labor in China, without restrictions on which prison labor camps international monitors visit. (Sec. 206) Authorizes appropriations for FY 1998 for international broadcasting activities for Radio Free Asia (RFA) and Voice of America (VOA) broadcasting to China. Expresses the sense of the Congress that U.S. international broadcasting through RFA and VOA should be increased to provide 24-hour broadcasting in Chinese and Tibetan dialects, including Mandarin Chinese, Tibetan, and at least one other dialect. (Sec. 207) Earmarks specified amounts of National Endowment for Democracy and United States Information Agency funds for FY 1998 for student, cultural, and legislative exchange activities in China. (Sec. 209) Directs the Secretary to report annually to the Congress on family planning activities in China. (Sec. 210) Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) the U.S. Government should increase efforts in the United Nations Human Rights Commission and other international fora to condemn gross violations of human rights by China; and (2) the President should vigorously lobby other countries for passage of future Commission resolutions on China's human rights record. (Sec. 211) Expresses the sense of the Congress with respect to China's compliance with the Joint Declaration on Hong Kong. Title III: National Security Matters - Sets forth findings on China with respect to: (1) the proliferation of ballistic missiles, weapons of mass destruction, and destabilizing advanced conventional weapons; (2) the evasion of U.S. export control laws; and (3) the inconsistent application of U.S. export control laws to it and Hong Kong. (Sec. 306) Directs the President to require that no digital supercomputers may be exported or reexported to China without the prior approval of specified designated agency officials. Authorizes the export or reexport of such supercomputers to China only pursuant to a license issued by the Secretary of Commerce if any one of the designated officials does not approve its export or reexport. (Sec. 307) Prohibits the Secretaries of State and of Commerce from approving an export license application for the export of a dual-use item to Hong Kong if U.S. officials are denied the opportunity to conduct a pre-license verification with respect to such items and their recipient. Requires applications for the export of such items to Hong Kong to be treated in the same manner as a request to export such items to China if: (1) U.S. officials are denied postshipment verification of the location, recipient, and end use of such items; and (2) such items have been diverted to China, a non-authorized end use, or to a recipient other than the one named in the application. (Sec. 308) Declares that it is the policy of the United States that: (1) the delivery of 60 C-802 cruise missiles by China to Iran poses a threat to deployed U.S. forces in the Middle East and contributes materially to Iran's efforts to acquire destabilizing numbers of advanced conventional weapons; and (2) such delivery is a violation of the Iran-Iraq Arms Non-Proliferation Act of 1992. Imposes certain sanctions on China under such Act. (Sec. 309) Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) transfers of certain missile equipment and technology by China pose a threat to the national security interests of the United States; (2) failure of the Clinton Administration to determine whether to impose sanctions for such transfers contributes to such threat; and (3) the President should initiate procedures necessary to determine whether sanctions should be imposed for such transfers. Requires a report to the Congress on the determination whether or not to impose such sanctions. (Sec. 310) Requires specified reports to the Congress on: (1) PLA-owned entities; (2) PLA military modernization activities; and (3) Chinese intelligence activities directed against or affecting the interests of the United States. (Sec. 312) Directs the Secretary of Defense to study, and report to specified congressional committees on, the architecture requirements for the establishment and operation of a theater ballistic missile defense system for Taiwan, including the Penghu Islands, Kinmen, and Matsu. (Sec. 313) Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) current U.S. force levels in the Pacific Command Theater of Operations are necessary to continued peace and stability in that region; (2) any reductions in such force levels should only be done in close consultation with the Congress and with a clear understanding of their impact upon the U.S. capacity to fulfill its treaty obligations with other states in the region as well as its ability to deter potential aggression there; and (3) the annual report on U.S. national security strategy should include specific information on the adequacy of U.S. armed forces to support such strategy as it relates to China. (Sec. 314) Expresses the sense of the Congress that the President and the Secretary of State should initiate negotiations with China and other Asian countries to establish a commission on matters relating to security and cooperation in Asia that would be modeled after the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe. Title IV: Trade - Expresses the sense of the Congress that Taiwan should be admitted to the World Trade Organization upon meeting certain criteria. Title V: Human Rights and Religious Freedom Worldwide - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to direct the Attorney General to establish a program to provide training on religious persecution to U.S. immigration officers. Directs the Secretary of State to report to specified congressional committees on religious persecution worldwide. (Sec. 502) Directs the Secretary of State to establish the Prisoner Information Registry. Title VI: Other Matters - Repeals the Center for Cultural and Technical Interchange Between East and West Act of 1960 (thereby terminating the Center for Cultural and Technical Interchange Between East and West). (Sec. 601) Prohibits the use of United States Information Agency funds for such Center.
United States · United States Congress · 11 September 1997
Declares that the Congress: (1) maintains that the standard for the "Made in USA" label should continue to be that a product was all or virtually all made in the United States; and (2) urges the Federal Trade Commission to refrain from lowering the standard at the expense of consumers and jobs in the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 10 September 1997
Calls for the United States to discontinue all financial assistance to the Palestinian Authority and urge its allies to do the same, unless and until the Palestinian Authority demonstrates a 100-percent maximum effort to curtail terrorism.
United States · United States Congress · 9 September 1997
Expresses the condolences of the Congress on the death of Mother Teresa. Designates September 13, 1997, as a National Day of Recognition for the humanitarian efforts of Mother Teresa and those who have labored with her in service to the poor and afflicted of the world.
United States · United States Congress · 8 September 1997
Urges Hong Kong Chief Executive C.H. Tung and the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region to schedule and conduct elections for the first legislature of the Region according to rules approved by the Hong Kong people through an election-law convention, referendum, or both.
United States · United States Congress · 4 September 1997
Condemns the bombing in Jerusalem on September 4, 1997, and those responsible for encouraging or inciting such acts. Expresses: (1) condolences to the families of the victims; and (2) solidarity with the people of Israel. Reaffirms that the United States should fully cooperate with Israel in helping to stem the tide of terrorism which has threatened the Oslo peace process and the stability of the region. Affirms that the United States should provide no monetary or other assistance to the Palestinian Authority until it has fulfilled its obligations under the Oslo Accords.
United States · United States Congress · 31 July 1997
Trade and Professional Association Free Flow of Information Act of 1997 - Exempts a trade or professional association from civil liability relating to harm caused by the provision of specified information by the trade or professional association to a member of the trade or professional association. Authorizes a trade or professional association to file a special motion to strike any claim in a judicial proceeding against the trade or professional association on the ground that the claim is based on an act with respect to which the association is exempt from liability under this Act. Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) procedures with respect to a special motion to strike; (2) qualified exemption of such associations from third-party discovery; (3) a special motion to quash a subpoena on the grounds that the trade or professional association is exempt from any third-party discovery request; (4) procedures with respect to a special motion to quash; (5) the right of such associations to object under rule 45 of the Federal Rules of Procedure or any similar rule or procedure under applicable State law; (6) a qualified association member privilege not to disclose confidential information received from the association relating to litigation involving the quality, performance, or defect of a product; (7) election of a State to be exempt from the requirements of this Act with respect to any civil action in a State court in which all of the parties are citizens of that State; and (8) preemption of State laws.
United States · United States Congress · 31 July 1997
Comprehensive One-Call Notification Act of 1997 - Provides for the establishment of a State one-call notification program to protect underground facilities from excavation damage. Outlines required elements of the program, including minimum standards and provisions for implementation and enforcement. Authorizes a State to maintain an alternate one-call notification program if it provides protection for public safety, the environment, or excavators that is equivalent to, or greater than, protection under a program that meets the minimum standards of this Act. Directs the Secretary of Transportation to study damage prevention practices associated with existing one-call notification systems in order to determine which systems practices appear to be the most effective in preventing damage to underground facilities and in protecting the public, the environment, excavators, and public service disruption. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to assist qualifying States in improving their one-call notification programs. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 31 July 1997
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands Reform Act - Amends the Covenant to Establish the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands to treat the Northern Mariana Islands as a State under the Immigration and Nationality Act with respect to an individual's entry into the Commonwealth (but not entry from the Commonwealth into the United States). Applies Federal statutes and regulations governing admission of certain workers to Guam to individuals seeking entry into the Northern Mariana Islands for purposes of employment in the textile, hotel, tourist, or construction industries. Requires the Attorney General to coordinate and act in conjunction with State and local law enforcement agencies to ensure that deployment of personnel to enforce such statutes and regulations does not degrade or compromise the law enforcement capabilities and functions currently performed by immigration officers. Amends Federal law to prohibit affixation of the "Made in the USA" label to a textile fiber product from the Northern Mariana Islands unless it is made or assembled using direct labor meeting a specified percentage of qualified manhours by U.S. citizens or nationals or citizens of the Freely Associated States of the Republic of Palau, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, or the Federated States of Micronesia. Applies to the Northern Mariana Islands the minimum wage provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, as modified by this Act. Requires a minimum wage through December 31, 1997, of $3.05 per hour, adjusted annually thereafter in increments of $.30 or the amount necessary to increase the minimum wage rate to the rate required by the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, whichever is less. Applies permanently to the Northern Mariana Islands the minimum wage rate required by the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 once the incrementally increased rate equals such rate. Directs the Secretary of the Interior to study the extent of human and labor rights violations in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, including the use of forced or indentured labor, and any efforts taken by the Government of the United States or the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands to address or prohibit such violations. Requires inclusion of study results in the annual "Federal CNMI Initiative on Labor, Immigration, and Law Enforcement" report to Congress. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 31 July 1997
Parent and Student Savings Account PLUS Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code with respect to education individual retirement accounts to: (1) include qualified elementary and secondary education expenses (including home schooling); and (2) increase annual contribution limits to $2,000.
United States · United States Congress · 31 July 1997
Calls for: (1) the President to demand that the Government of Russia take actions to stop governmental and nongovernmental entities in the Russian Federation from providing missile technology and technical advice to Iran in violation of the Missile Technology Control Regime; (2) the United States, if Russia's response is inadequate, to impose sanctions on the responsible Russian entities in accordance with Executive Order 12938 on the Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction and to reassess cooperative activities with Russia; (3) raising the threshold under current law allowing for the waiver of the prohibition on the release of foreign assistance to Russia; and (4) encouragement of our European allies to take steps to stop such proliferation.
United States · United States Congress · 29 July 1997
Ozone and Particulate Matter Research Act of 1997 - Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to: (1) request the National Academy of Sciences to convene an independent panel of scientists with expertise on the health effects of air pollution to establish priorities for research on the health effects of particulate matter; and (2) report the panel's recommendations to the Congress. Requires the President to establish the Particulate Matter Interagency Committee to develop recommendations for, and periodically evaluate, a program to coordinate the activities of Federal agencies engaged in research on health effects of particulate matter that ensures that such research advances the prioritized agenda of the panel. Directs the Administrator to: (1) review the air quality criteria and standards under the Clean Air Act for ozone and particulate matter; and (2) determine whether to retain or revise such standards and criteria or promulgate new ones. Authorizes the Administrator to require State implementation plans under such Act to require ambient air quality monitoring for fine particulate matter. Provides for grants to States to carry out such monitoring. Reinstates the national ambient air quality standards for ozone and particulate matter in effect on July 15, 1997. Bars revision of such standards until the Administrator's scientific review under this Act is completed. Directs the National Institutes of Health to begin a research program to study the health effects of allergens on asthmatics, particularly in inner city areas. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 29 July 1997
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: National Security Title II: Human Rights Title III: Trade Title IV: Review of Policy United States-People's Republic of China National Security and Freedom Protection Act of 1997 - Title I: National Security - Sets forth the findings of Congress about: (1) the threat to U.S. global interests from the weapons proliferation practices of the People's Liberation Army (PLA), including sale of C-802 cruise missiles to Iran; (2) the U.S. national security interest in Taiwan; and (3) the subsidization of PLA commercial activities by the People's Republic of China (PRC). (Sec. 102) Prohibits commercial activities in the United States by the PLA or any other Communist Chinese military company (CCMC). Directs the Secretary of Defense to compile and publish in the Federal Register a list of Communist Chinese military operating directly or indirectly in the United States or its territories and possessions. Grants the President authority under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to ban such activities. Directs the President to ban: (1) the importation of any product produced, manufactured, or grown by the PLA or by a CCMC; and (2) the sale of any debt on the U.S. bond market which benefits the PLA or a CCMC. (Sec. 103) Requires annual reports to the Congress: (1) jointly by the Director of Central Intelligence and the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation on PRC intelligence activities directed against or affecting U.S. interests; and (2) by the Secretary of Defense on PLA military modernization and on PLA or other CCMC commercial activities. (Sec. 104) Amends the Taiwan Relations Act to declare that its provisions on making U.S. defense articles and services available to Taiwan shall supersede the Joint Communique of the United States and China of August 17, 1982. Directs the Secretary of Defense to study jointly with appropriate representatives of the Government of Taiwan, and report to specified congressional committees on, the architecture requirements for the establishment and operation of a theater ballistic missile defense system for Taiwan, including the Penghu Islands, Kinmen, and Matsu. Expresses the sense of Congress that the President, if requested by the Government of Taiwan, and in accordance with the results of such study, should sell to Taiwan appropriate defense articles, defense services, or design and construction services for the purpose of establishing, deploying, and operating such a defensive theater ballistic missile defense system. Declares that it is in the U.S. national interest that Taiwan be included in any effort at ballistic missile defense cooperation, networking, or interoperability among East Asian nations. (Sec. 105) Urges the President to enforce the Iran-Iraq Arms Nonproliferation Act of 1992 with respect to the acquisition by Iran of C-802 model cruise missiles. Title II: Human Rights - Sets forth the findings of Congress on: (1) human rights in the PRC, particularly the treatment of pro-democracy and human rights activists; (2) coercive family planning practices, especially forced abortion and forced sterilization; (3) religious persecution in the PRC; (4) slave labor and "re-education camps" in the PRC; and (5) the need for international broadcasting into the PRC. (Sec. 202) Authorizes appropriations for international broadcasting to China by Radio Free Asia and Voice of America. Requires the President to report to the Congress on a plan to achieve their continuous broadcasting to the PRC in multiple major dialects and languages. (Sec. 203) Declares that it is the sense of Congress that the President should make freedom of religion one of the major objectives of U.S. foreign policy with respect to the PRC. Urges the Department of State: (1) to raise in every relevant bilateral and multilateral forum the issue of individuals imprisoned, detained, confined, or otherwise harassed by the Chinese Government on religious grounds; and (2) in its communications with the Chinese Government name specific individuals of concern and request a complete and timely response from the Chinese Government regarding their whereabouts and condition, the charges against them, and the sentence imposed. Declares that the goal of such communications should be the expeditious release of all religious prisoners in China and Tibet and the end of the Chinese Government's policy and practice of harassing and repressing religious believers. Prohibits the use of funds appropriated or otherwise made available for the Department of State, the U.S. Information Agency, or the U.S. Agency for International Development to provide travel expenses and per diem for the participation in conferences, exchanges, programs, and activities of a PRC national directly involved in or responsible for repressive religious policies and practices. Requires each Federal agency to certify to specified congressional committees that it did not pay, directly or through a grantee or contractor, for such travel expenses or per diem. Makes ineligible for a visa, and excludes from admission into the United States, any PRC national directly involved in or responsible for repressive religious policies and practices. (Sec. 204) Declares that it is U.S. policy to condemn those officials of the Chinese Communist Party, the Government of the PRC, and other persons involved in the enforcement of forced abortions, by preventing such persons from entering or remaining in the United States. Prohibits the Secretary of State from issuing a visa, and the Attorney General from admitting into the United States, any PRC national who the Secretary finds, based on credible information, has been involved in the establishment or enforcement of population control policies resulting in a woman's being forced to undergo an abortion against her free choice, or in a man's or woman's being forced to undergo sterilization against his or her free choice. Allows the President to waive this prohibition in order to carry on the normal course of foreign policy. (Sec. 205) Authorizes appropriations for monitoring by the U.S. Customs Service and the Department of State of the exportation by the PRC to the United States of products which may be made with slave labor. Requires the Commissioner of Customs and the Secretary of State each to report annually to the Congress on the manufacturing and exportation of products made with slave labor in the PRC. Declares the sense of Congress that, since the PRC has substantially frustrated the purposes of the 1992 Memorandum of Understanding with the United States on Prison Labor, the President should immediately commence negotiations to replace the current Memorandum with one providing for effective monitoring of forced labor in the PRC, without restrictions on which prison labor camps international monitors may visit. (Sec. 206) Authorizes appropriations to support U.S. Embassy personnel in Beijing, as well as American consulates in other specified Chinese cities, to monitor political repression in the PRC and the use of the Laogai system of forced labor and re-education as tools of political repression. Title III: Trade - Declares the findings of Congress with respect to U.S. interests and Taiwan's and the PRC's admission into the World Trade Organization (WTO). (Sec. 302) Declares that it is the policy of Congress that the United States should aggressively support the PRC's accession to the WTO under commercially viable terms. (Sec. 303) Expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) Taiwan should be admitted to the WTO as a separate customs territory without making such admission conditional on the previous or simultaneous admission of the PRC, whether as a developing or a developed nation; and (2) it should be U.S. policy to support such unconditional admission. Title IV: Review of Policy - Directs the Chairmen and Ranking Members of specified congressional committees to review this Act at the President's request or upon any of the following conditions' being met: (1) the PRC's entry into the WTO; (2) its full implementation and compliance with bilateral and international nonproliferation agreements and standards; (3) its active and effective combatting of all forms of religious persecution; (4) its reevaluation of its official view of the Tiananmen Square Massacre of June 4, 1989, consistent with the findings of this Act; and (5) publication of a defense white paper providing a comprehensive description and transparency of the PLA's modernization program roles and missions.
United States · United States Congress · 28 July 1997
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Accountability and Safety Act of 1997 - Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to withhold the U.S. share of assistance for International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) projects in Cuba except those for the discontinuation, dismantling, or safety inspection of nuclear facilities or related materials, or for inspections and similar activities designed to prevent the development of nuclear weapons by Cuba or other specified countries. Denies this exception to (thereby withholding the U.S. share of assistance for IAEA projects at) the Juragua Nuclear Power Plant near Cienfuegos, Cuba, or the Pedro Pi Nuclear Research Center, unless Cuba ratifies certain nuclear weapon nonproliferation treaties and incorporates internationally accepted nuclear safety standards. Directs the Secretary of State to instruct the U.S. representative to the IAEA to oppose IAEA projects at the Juragua Nuclear Power Plant and the Pedro Pi Nuclear Research Center (including any other IAEA project in Cuba that is, or could become, a threat to the security of the United States). Requires specified reports.
United States · United States Congress · 22 July 1997
Interstate Slamming Prevention Act of 1997 - Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to make telecommunications carriers that execute illegal changes in a subscriber's selection of telephone exchange or toll service liable for any fees associated with changing the subscriber back to the carrier previously selected. Subjects carriers that violate verification procedures with respect to such changes to additional fines and penalties, including a forfeiture penalty. Authorizes the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), in order to provide subscribers with additional protections against such illegal changes, to require carriers to: (1) establish toll-free telephone numbers to register complaints regarding service changes; and (2) provide the FCC with information relating to such complaints. Directs the FCC to report annually to the Congress on unauthorized changes of subscribers' selections of telephone exchange or toll service.
United States · United States Congress · 17 July 1997
Federal Law Enforcement Officers' Good Samaritan Act of 1997 - Provides that a law enforcement officer shall be construed to be acting within the scope of his or her office or employment if the officer takes any action, including the use of force, that is determined by such officer to be necessary to: (1) protect an individual in the officer's presence from the imminent infliction of serious bodily injury; (2) provide immediate assistance to an individual who has suffered or who is threatened with serious bodily injury; or (3) prevent the escape of any individual whom the officer reasonably believes to have committed, in his or her presence, a crime of violence.
United States · United States Congress · 16 July 1997
Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1997 - Provides that a veterans' preference eligible (PE) or an individual who has been separated from military service under honorable conditions after three or more years of active duty shall not be denied the opportunity to compete for a vacant position within a Federal agency, either in the competitive or excepted service, by reason of: (1) not having acquired competitive status; or (2) not being an employee of such agency. Requires each agency to notify the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and U.S. employment offices of each vacant position for which competition is restricted to employees or individuals having competitive service. Requires OPM, at least every two years, to submit to the Congress and the President a report detailing for the prior period the number of such vacant positions in the Federal Government and the number of PE or separated individuals referred or appointed to such positions. Directs OPM to establish and keep current a comprehensive list of all announcements of vacant positions within each agency for which competition is so restricted. Applies such PE requirements to the Postal Service, with exceptions for certain collective bargaining positions. Prohibits, during a Federal reduction in force (RIF), a position occupied by a PE from being placed in a single-position competitive level if the PE is qualified to perform the essential functions of any other position at the same grade in the competitive area (defined as being able to perform such functions within 150 days). Entitles a PE whose current or latest performance rating is at least fully successful to be assigned during a RIF to any position for which he or she is qualified that is within: (1) the PE's commuting area and is currently occupied by an individual placed in such position within six months before the RIF; or (2) the PE's competitive area and is not more than three grades below the position from which the PE was released (with an exception). Authorizes a PE to challenge the classification of any position to which the PE asserts assignment rights in an action before the Merit Systems Protection Board. Requires each agency to establish an agency-wide priority placement program to facilitate employment placement for PEs who are scheduled to be or who are separated from service due to a RIF and who have received a rating of at least fully successful at their last performance evaluation or who occupy positions excluded from a performance appraisal system. Allows an individual to designate a different local commuting area in order to exercise reemployment rights if there are no alternative positions within the most local area. Requires an agency to place qualified present and former employees in retention order by PE subgroup and tenure group. Makes an individual eligible for reemployment for two years after a RIF. Provides conditions under which an individual loses eligibility for such reemployment. Provides administrative and judicial redress and remedies for any PE or other individual who alleges that an agency has violated such individual's veterans' preference or related rights. Extends the veterans' preference to: (1) employment within the General Accounting Office; (2) appointments made to the Office of the President (with an exception when the President certifies that the position is a confidential, policy-making, or political position); and (3) appointments to the legislative branch (with specified exclusions). Establishes administrative remedies and procedures for PE and separated individuals with respect to appointments within the legislative or judicial branches of the Federal Government. Requires the Judicial Conference of the United States to prescribe regulations to provide for: (1) veterans' preference in the consideration of applicants for employment, and in the conduct of any RIF, within the judicial branch; and (2) redress procedures for alleged violations of any rights of such individuals. Requires the Conference to: (1) consult with specified congressionally chartered veterans' service organizations when considering such regulations; and (2) provide specified congressional committees with a copy of such regulations. Extends the veterans' preference to RIFs in the Federal Aviation Administration. Includes among PE veterans those who served during a military operation in a qualified hazardous duty area under requirements prescribed by the Secretary of Defense. Prohibits any employee authorized to take personnel actions from knowingly taking, or failing to take, any personnel action if such taking or failure would violate a PE requirement.
United States · United States Congress · 10 July 1997
Directs each Federal agency, before implementing policies and regulations that may affect family well-being, to assess such actions with respect to specified criteria. Requires each agency to: (1) submit a written certification to the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and to the Congress that such policy or regulation has been assessed in accordance with this Act; and (2) provide adequate rationale for implementation of each policy or regulation that may negatively affect family well-being. Directs OMB to: (1) ensure that policies and regulations proposed by agencies are implemented consistent with this Act; and (2) compile, index, and submit annually to the Congress the written certifications received. Directs the White House Office of Policy Development to: (1) assess proposed policies and regulations in accordance with this Act; (2) provide evaluations of such policies and regulations to OMB; and (3) advise the President on policy and regulatory actions that may be taken to strengthen the institutions of marriage and family in the United States. Requires an agency to conduct an assessment of a proposed policy or regulation in accordance with this Act upon request by a Member of Congress.
United States · United States Congress · 10 July 1997
Money Laundering and Financial Crimes Strategy Act of 1997 - Amends Federal law governing monetary transactions to direct the President (acting through the Secretary of the Treasury) to develop and submit annually to the Congress a national strategy for combating money laundering and related financial crimes. Prescribes strategy contents. Requires: (1) an element of the national strategy to be the designation of certain geographic areas, industries, sectors, or institutions as areas in which money laundering and related financial crimes are extensive or present a substantial risk; and (2) the Secretary to take specified factors into consideration when identifying such areas. Authorizes certain Federal, State and local officials and prosecutors to submit a written request for the designation of a high-risk money laundering and related financial crimes area. Authorizes the Secretary to award grants to State and local law enforcement agencies and prosecutors to investigate and prosecute money laundering and related financial crimes in high-risk money laundering areas (with special preference given to collaborative efforts of several State and local law enforcement agencies or prosecutors with a history of intergovernmental cooperative law enforcement and prosecutorial efforts in responding to such criminal activity). Authorizes appropriations. Instructs the Director of the Office of Management and Budget to establish the funding for law enforcement activities regarding money laundering and related financial crimes for each applicable department or agency as a separate object class in each annual budget submitted to the Congress. Directs the Secretary to report to specified congressional committees on the effectiveness of and need for the designation of high-risk money laundering and related financial crime areas.
United States · United States Congress · 10 July 1997
Declares that: (1) President Jiang Zemin's statements constitute a welcome reaffirmation of the obligations of the People's Republic of China under the Joint Declaration and the Basic Law to ensure that Hong Kong remains autonomous, the human rights of its people remain protected, and the government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region is elected democratically; and (2) China's fulfillment of these obligations under the terms of the Joint Declaration of the United Kingdom and the People's Republic of China and the Basic Law constitute a crucial test of Beijing's ability to play a responsible global role.
United States · United States Congress · 18 June 1997
Imported Fire Ant Control, Management, and Eradication Act of 1997 - Amends the National Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching Policy Act of 1977 to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to establish a National Advisory and Implementation Board on Imported Fire Ant Control, Management, and Eradication. Directs the Board to select and fund specified research or demonstration projects, including a final national plan for fire ant control, management, and possible eradication.
United States · United States Congress · 16 June 1997
Instructs the Secretary of Health and Human Services, in the case of certain military retirees and dependents, to provide for a special open enrollment period during which such an individual may enroll under part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act without being assessed a late enrollment penalty. Prohibits an issuer of a Medicare supplemental (Medigap) policy, in the case of such an individual who seeks to enroll during such special enrollment period, from denying or conditioning the issuance or effectiveness of such a policy, or from discriminating in its pricing, on the basis of the individual's health status, medical condition, claims experience, receipt of health care, medical history, genetic information, evidence of insurability, or disability.
United States · United States Congress · 12 June 1997
Area Health Education Center Program Extension Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to replace provisions on area health education center programs with provisions mandating grants and contracts for the planning, development, and operation of area health education center programs that carry out specified functions, including recruiting and preparing individuals to provide health services in underserved rural and urban areas and populations. Allows financial assistance for entities that previously received funding, are operating such a program, and are no longer receiving assistance (model programs), requiring 50 percent matching non-Federal funding. Sets forth requirements for health education training centers, including that they address persistent and severe unmet health care needs. Makes 50 percent of the amounts appropriated under this Act available for the establishment or operation of health education training centers through projects in States along the border between the United States and Mexico and in the State of Florida. Authorizes appropriations. Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) every State have an active area health education center program; and (2) the ratio of Federal funding for model programs should increase over time so that the national program will become entirely comprised of programs funded at least 50 percent by State and local partners.
United States · United States Congress · 12 June 1997
Directs each Federal agency, when formulating and implementing policies and regulations that may have significant impact on family formation, maintenance, and well-being, to assess such actions with respect to specified criteria. Requires each agency to: (1) identify any proposed regulatory and statutory provision that may have significant potential negative impact on the family well-being; and (2) provide adequate rationale for the submission of such proposal. Requires the head of each agency to certify to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB): (1) such proposed regulatory or statutory provision has been assessed in accordance with this Act; and (2) the manner in which such proposals will enhance family well-being. Directs OMB to take action to ensure that the policies of agencies are applied consistent with the assessments conducted under this Act. Directs the White House Office of Policy Development to: (1) assess existing and proposed policies and regulations that affect family well-being in accordance with this Act; (2) provide evaluations on such policies and regulations to OMB; and (3) advise the President on policy and regulatory actions that may be taken to strengthen the institutions of marriage and family in the United States. Requires the Office of Policy Development to annually submit a report to the President and specified congressional committees on compliance and include any recommendations relating to this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 12 June 1997
Declares that the United States should not be a signatory to any protocol to, or other agreement regarding, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change of 1992, at negotiations in Kyoto in December 1997 or thereafter which would: (1) mandate new commitments to limit or reduce greenhouse gas emissions for the Annex 1 Parties, unless the protocol or other agreement also mandates new specific scheduled commitments to limit or reduce greenhouse gas emissions for Developing Country Parties within the same compliance period; or (2) result in serious harm to the U.S. economy. Calls for any such protocol or other agreement which would require the advice and consent of the Senate to ratification to be accompanied by: (1) a detailed explanation of any legislation or regulatory actions that may be required to implement it; and (2) an analysis of the detailed financial costs which would be incurred by, and other impacts on, the U.S. economy.
United States · United States Congress · 12 June 1997
Requests the President to issue a proclamation commending the American airmen held as political prisoners at the Buchenwald concentration camp during World War II for their service, bravery, and fortitude.
United States · United States Congress · 10 June 1997
Social Security Consumer Protection Act - Amends part A (General Provisions) of title XI of the Social Security Act to prohibit any person from charging fees for services or products the person knows or should know are provided without charge by the Social Security Administration (SSA) or the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Permits the offer of assistance for a fee only if, at the time of offer, the person gives prominent written notice that the services or products involved are available for free from SSA or HHS. Sets forth civil monetary penalties for violation of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 9 June 1997
National Motor Vehicle Safety, Anti-theft, Title Reform, and Consumer Protection Act of 1997 - Amends Federal transportation law to require States, in licensing a passenger motor vehicle whose ownership has been transferred, to disclose on the certificate of title whenever records indicate that such vehicle was previously issued a title that contained a term or symbol signifying that it was "salvage," "unrebuildable," "parts only," "scrap," "junk," "nonrepairable," "reconstructed," "rebuilt," or that it has been damaged by flood. Directs the Secretary of Transportation to issue regulations requiring each State in licensing such vehicles to apply specified uniform standards, procedures, and methods for the issuance and control of motor vehicle titles and for information to be contained on such titles. Directs the Secretary to prescribe requirements (similar to those of the Automobile Information Disclosure Act) that a label containing certain information be affixed to the windshield or window of a rebuilt or remanufactured salvage vehicle before its first sale. Prohibits a person from willfully removing, altering, or rendering illegible such label before the vehicle is delivered to the ultimate purchaser. Makes it unlawful for any person knowingly and willfully to: (1) make false statements on an application for a motor vehicle title; (2) fail to apply for a salvage title when such application is required; (3) alter, forge, or counterfeit a certificate of title, a nonrepairable vehicle certificate, a certificate verifying an anti-theft inspection or an anti-theft and safety inspection, or a required decal affixed to a passenger motor vehicle; (4) falsify the results of an inspection; (5) offer to sell any salvage vehicle or nonrepairable vehicle as a rebuilt salvage vehicle; or (6) conspire to commit any of these acts. Sets forth civil and criminal penalties for violations of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 9 June 1997
Responsive Government Act - Directs each Federal agency, no later than 180 days after enactment of this Act, to prescribe regulations requiring each office of the agency having contact with the public to: (1) ensure that the telephone number for the office is published in an appropriate telephone directory widely available to the local public; (2) provide a person to answer the telephone line through which the office makes initial contact with the public; (3) prohibit the use of any electronic, computer, or mechanical device to answer such telephone line, except in an office in which there is one employee; (4) provide for the answering of such telephone line u: l 5:00 p.m. according to the time zone in which the office is located, for which the office is conducting official business; and (5) require all correspondence originating from the agency to include the official telephone number of the person sending the correspondence. Directs the head of each Federal agency to: (1) establish the location of each service oriented office in an area with parking facilities accessible to the public; (2) take such actions as necessary to remove any computer game program not required for the official business of the agency from any agency computer equipment; and (3) prohibit the installation of any computer game program not required for the official business of the agency into agency computer equipment. Amends the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949 to prohibit the head of a Federal executive agency from accepting delivery of computer equipment loaded with game programs not required for an official purpose under the terms of the contract under which the equipment is delivered.
United States · United States Congress · 9 June 1997
Long-Term Investment Incentive Act of 1997 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to establish a sliding scale capital gains deduction on assets held between two years and eight years by noncorporate taxpayers.
United States · United States Congress · 5 June 1997
Amends Federal aviation law, with respect to the automatic stay of administrative orders pending appeal, to revise general deadline requirements for the National Transportation Safety Board to make a disposition concerning the issues on appeal that are related to the existence of an emergency, as declared by the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration, because of which the order must be effective immediately.
United States · United States Congress · 5 June 1997
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to restore the business meal expense deduction to 80 percent (currently 50 percent) for individuals subject to the hours of service limitations of the Department of Transportation.
United States · United States Congress · 5 June 1997
Stealth Tax Prevention Act - Amends Federal law relating to congressional review of agency rulemaking to include in the definition of "major rule" any rule that is promulgated by the Internal Revenue Service and for which the Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs of the Office of Management and Budget finds that implementation and enforcement of the rule has resulted in (or is likely to result in) any net increase in Federal revenues.
United States · United States Congress · 23 May 1997
Department of Veterans Affairs Employment Discrimination Prevention Act - Establishes in the Department of Veterans Affairs an Office of Employment Discrimination Complaints Resolution headed by a Director who shall be solely responsible for resolving complaints of unlawful employment discrimination (UED) within the Department. Requires the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to employ within such Office such administrative law judges (ALJs) and other personnel as necessary. Directs the Secretary to include in Department budget information submitted annually to the Congress specified information on the Office budget and activities. Requires the Director to prescribe: (1) standards of timeliness for the resolution of UED complaints; (2) Office employee qualification and training requirements; (3) requirements for recordkeeping pertaining to counseling and investigations conducted by Office employees; and (4) standards for conduct of UED investigations. Requires such standards to be consistent with those prescribed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, while allowing the Director to shorten the time period for the resolution of complaints. Provides for informal UED complaint resolution procedures within the Office, requiring the Director, if such a complaint is not resolved informally, to assign the complaint to an ALJ for appropriate determination. Requires Office employees to conduct complaint investigations and report results to the Director, who shall then forward such complaint to the presiding ALJ, the complainant, and the Secretary. Requires final complaint resolution by the ALJ when not resolved through informal proceedings. Authorizes the complainant to request a hearing on the matter, to be granted by an ALJ unless there is no dispute as to a material fact. Provides for Commission review of final Office decisions. Applies Federal violation reporting protection provisions (whistleblower provisions) to Department employees or applicants.
United States · United States Congress · 23 May 1997
Economic Growth Dividend Protection Act of 1997 - Amends the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act) to require the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), for any amount by which revenues for a budget year and any outyears through FY 2002 exceed the revenue target absent growth, to estimate the excess and include such estimate as a separate entry in the report to the Congress containing Congressional Budget Office estimates of amounts and changes in outlays and receipts of direct spending and receipts legislation at the same time the OMB sequestration preview report is issued. Requires OMB to include the amount of any change in revenues as a deficit decrease in estimates and sequestration reports unless such amount is offset by legislation decreasing revenues in an amount not exceeding the amount of such decrease. Sets forth the revenue targets absent growth for FY 1998 through 2002. Considers legislation decreasing revenues in compliance with this Act to be in order for purposes of specified provisions regarding congressional pay-as-you-go points of order and consideration in the Senate.
United States · United States Congress · 23 May 1997
Expresses the sense of the Senate that it should be U.S. policy to support the admission of Taiwan to membership in the International Monetary Fund, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and all appropriate regional multilateral economic institutions.
United States · United States Congress · 22 May 1997
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Findings and Purposes Title II: Property Rights Litigation Relief Title III: Alternative Dispute Resolution Title IV: Private Property Taking Impact Analysis Title V: Miscellaneous Omnibus Property Rights Act of 1997 - Title I: Findings and Purposes - Sets forth findings and purposes for this Act. Title II: Property Rights Litigation Relief - Prohibits Federal and State agencies from taking private property except for public use and with just compensation to the owner. Sets forth the circumstances in which compensation is required. Prohibits filing claims against a State agency for carrying out a regulatory program mandated by Federal law, delegated under a Federal program, or funded by Federal funds in connection with a State regulatory program. Title III: Alternative Dispute Resolution - Provides for settlement or arbitration, on consent of both parties, of property rights disputes. Declares that title 9 of the U.S. Code (relating to arbitration) shall apply to enforcement of awards rendered under this title. Title IV: Private Property Taking Impact Analysis - Requires that Federal agency actions likely to result in the taking of private property be preceded by a written impact analysis available to the public. Title V: Miscellaneous - Sets forth severability provisions and the effective date of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 22 May 1997
Medicare Physician Workforce Improvement Act of 1997 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to revise the rules for determining the number of full-time equivalent residents in an approved medical residency training program for purposes of determining payments for direct graduate medical education (GME) costs to provide that a resident enrolled in a fellowship in geriatric medicine or geriatric psychiatry within an approved medical residency training program be counted twice for the period such resident is enrolled in such fellowship (thereby doubling GME payments made to teaching hospitals for geriatric fellows as an incentive for such hospitals to promote and recruit such fellows). Caps the double payment to be provided for an approved medical residency training program to a maximum of 400 fellows per year. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish and conduct a limited number of demonstration projects to increase the number of certified geriatricians who are appropriately trained to provide items and services to beneficiaries under the Medicare program in a range of patient settings. Directs the Secretary to make annual reports to the Congress on such projects.
United States · United States Congress · 21 May 1997
Freedom From Religious Persecution Act of 1997 - Establishes in the Executive Office of the President the Office of Religious Persecution Monitoring, whose Director, appointed by the President, with Senate consent, shall: (1) consider the facts and circumstances of violations of religious freedom presented in certain annual reports on human rights by the Department of State and by independent human rights groups and nongovernmental organizations; (2) make policy recommendations to the President regarding U.S. policies toward governments engaged in religious persecution; and (3) maintain lists of religious persecution facilitating goods and services and the responsible entities within countries engaged in religious persecution. (Sec. 3) Distinguishes between category 1 religious persecution (conducted by government officials or agents) and category 2 religious persecution (conducted by non-government entities or persons, but which the government fails to undertake serious and sustained efforts to eliminate). (Sec. 5) Requires the Director to report to specified congressional committees on countries and entities engaged in religious persecution, identifying the category of persecution and listing persecution facilitating products, goods, and services. (Sec. 7) Prohibits: (1) Federal agencies and U.S. persons from exporting goods, including religious persecution facilitating goods and services, to countries and responsible entities engaged in religious persecution; and (2) U.S. and multilateral assistance to such countries. Directs the President, in casting any vote concerning the membership of a country in the World Trade Organization (WTO), to consider as a significant factor that the country is engaged in religious persecution. Directs the Secretary of State to deny the issuance of a visa to, and the Attorney General shall exclude from the United States, any alien responsible for carrying out acts of religious persecution. (Sec. 8) Provides for the waiver of such sanctions. (Sec. 9) Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act (as amended by the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996), with respect to eligibility for asylum in the United States, to include under the term "credible fear of persecution" aliens who can claim membership in a community found to be subject to religious persecution. Directs the Attorney General to establish a program to provide training on religious persecution to immigration officers who inspect aliens for admission into the United States. Sets forth procedures for the denial of admission based on religious persecution claims. (Sec. 10) Sets forth requirements with respect to certain State Department human rights reports. Directs the Secretary of State to provide training on the right to religious freedom to chiefs of missions as well as certain Department officials. (Sec. 11) Provides for the termination of sanctions. (Sec. 12) Extends certain existing trade and economic sanctions against Sudan for supporting acts of international terrorism until the Director determines that Sudan has substantially eliminated religious persecution, or no longer supports acts of international terrorism, whichever occurs later. Imposes additional trade, economic, and cultural sanctions against Sudan. Sets forth penalties for violations of certain sanctions. Declares it is the sense of the Congress that the President, or, at his discretion, the Secretary of State should convene an international conference of the other industrialized democracies to reach an international agreement to bring about an end to religious persecution in Sudan. Prescribes congressional procedures for implementing such an agreement. Declares it is the sense of the Congress that the President should instruct the Permanent Representative of the United States to the United Nations (UN) to propose that the UN Security Council impose measures against Sudan. Makes it U.S. policy to impose additional measures against Sudan if its policy of religious persecution has not ended on or before December 25, 1997.
United States · United States Congress · 20 May 1997
Domestic Oil and Gas Preservation Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow an election to treat geological and geophysical expenses incurred in connection with the exploration for, or development of, domestic oil or gas as expenses which are not chargeable to capital account. Repeals provisions relating to a limitation regarding the percentage depletion in the case of oil and gas wells. Allows an election to treat delay rental payments (amounts paid for the privilege of deferring development of an oil or gas well) incurred in connection with the development of domestic oil or gas as payments that are not chargeable to capital account, allowing any payments so treated as a deduction. Requires, in the case of a tax shelter, treating economic performance regarding amounts paid during the taxable year for drilling an oil or gas well as having occurred within a taxable year if drilling commences before the close of the 180th (currently, the 90th) day after the close of the taxable year. Amends provisions relating to an enhanced oil recovery credit to include hydro injection in the definition of "qualified enhanced oil recovery project."
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