United States · United States Congress · 6 March 1990
Amends the Motor Vehicle Information and Cost Savings Act to require the Secretary of Transportation to issue regulations to establish a program encouraging the removal from use and the marketplace of motor vehicles manufactured prior to 1980. Provides for a credit to the corporate average fuel economy of a manufacturer for each pre-1980 automobile destroyed under such regulations.
United States · United States Congress · 5 March 1990
Conditions U.S. adherence to any treaty terminating Allied occupation rights in Germany and in Berlin on Germany's unequivocal recognition that its present borders are legal and unalterable.
United States · United States Congress · 1 March 1990
Pesticide Export Reform Act of 1990 - Title I: Exported Pesticides - Amends the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) to require pesticide producers operating registered establishments to inform the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency of: (1) the types and quantities of pesticides and active ingredients used in producing pesticides for export to a foreign country; and (2) the date of export and quantity of such materials exported to each foreign country to which the producer has exported during the past 360-day period. Provides that specified information on exported pesticides shall not be entitled to confidential trade secret treatment. Makes it unlawful to knowingly or recklessly export a pesticide, device, or active ingredient in violation of FIFRA export requirements. Prohibits the exportation of pesticides, devices, or active ingredients unless: (1) such materials are prepared and packaged according to the specifications of the foreign purchaser and the legal requirements of the country of use; and (2) the producers or exporters meet specified FIFRA requirements. Prohibits the exportation of unregistered pesticides. Waives certain requirements to permit the export of pesticides not meeting FIFRA requirements to prevent or arrest the spread of a communicable disease if the Administrator makes specified determinations. Prohibits the exportation of specified pesticides (including restricted use pesticides and pesticides subject to suspension or cancellation proceedings) unless: (1) the exporter provides specified information on the pesticide to the Administrator; (2) the country of use consents to the import and is included on a list of approved countries; and (3) the pesticide is manufactured, stored, and packaged in accordance with standards of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. Requires the Administrator to maintain a list of approved countries of use. Sets forth labeling requirements for exported pesticides. Permits the export of pesticides for experimental use in foreign countries if specified conditions are met. Requires the Administrator to notify foreign countries and the International Registry of Potentially Toxic Chemicals whenever regulatory action is taken with respect to a pesticide. Directs the Administrator to: (1) convene meetings with foreign governments and other interested parties to promote the implementation of improved research and regulatory programs for pest management and strategies for sustainable agriculture; (2) provide foreign countries with technical assistance to develop pesticide regulatory programs; (3) transmit triennial studies to the Congress on countries that import U.S. pesticides and from which the United States imports agricultural commodities to ascertain such countries' management of pesticides and whether the United States is able to test effectively for pesticide residues; and (4) convene meetings with foreign governments and other interested parties to encourage the adoption of a multilateral convention requiring standard notice and export control measures for pesticides. Title II: Tolerances for Agricultural Commodities - Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to require the Administrator, if registrations for a pesticide chemical under FIFRA have been cancelled, suspended, withdrawn, or modified to eliminate the use of such chemical on a raw agricultural commodity, to publish a notice in the Federal Register announcing: (1) the revocation of any tolerance for an agricultural use; or (2) an exemption for the use of such chemical on such commodity. Provides for temporary waivers from revocations for the purpose of distributing in commerce commodities that contain residues resulting from the application of pesticides before this Act's enactment or residual environmental contamination. Permits the Administrator to issue such waivers only if such waivers do not: (1) pose a dietary health risk; and (2) cause significant economic hardship for domestic producers of a commodity attributable to competition from foreign producers in countries in which the use of the pesticide is permitted. Prohibits, with specified exceptions, the establishment or continuation of a tolerance unless the Administrator determines that a practical method for detecting and measuring pesticide residues exists. Prohibits the importation of food into U.S. customs territory unless the commodity importer files with the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Secretary of the Treasury a document identifying each pesticide chemical used in connection with the commodity. Requires such importers, if unreported pesticides are detected in such commodities, to submit residue analyses for such pesticides. Waives reporting requirements for unreported pesticides if the presence of such pesticides is attributable to long-term environmental persistence and does not pose a health risk. Amends the Federal Meat Inspection Act, the Poultry Products Inspection Act, and the Egg Products Inspection Act to apply such requirements to importers of meat, poultry, and eggs. Title III: Effective Dates - Sets forth the effective dates for provisions of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 1 March 1990
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide that payment under a life insurance contract on the life of an insured who is terminally ill be treated as a death benefit, making such payment eligible for tax exclusion from gross income. Provides that any reference to life insurance shall be treated as referring to a qualified terminal illness rider. Provides for the tax treatment of such riders. Describes such a rider as one which provides for payments to an individual upon the insured's becoming terminally ill. Provides that applicants for or recipients of assistance under the Social Security Act may not be required to elect to receive accelerated death benefits under life insurance policies.
United States · United States Congress · 1 March 1990
Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) the enactment of the 25th anniversary of the Older Americans Act of 1965 and its successful implementation should be recognized; (2) the contributions at all levels of the aging network fostered by this Act should be recognized; and (3) the Congress and citizens should reaffirm their support for the Act and its primary goals.
United States · United States Congress · 28 February 1990
Expresses the sense of the Senate that the United States should not complete trade negotiations with the Soviet Union and the Senate will not approve a waiver of the Jackson-Vanik Amendment to implement any trade agreement until the Soviet Union complies with the commercial airline agreement to allow El Al the right to have direct flights between the Soviet Union and Israel.
United States · United States Congress · 27 February 1990
Repeals the provision of the Revenue Reconciliation Act of 1989 which requires the withholding of income tax from wages paid for agricultural labor. Requires the Internal Revenue Code to be applied as though such provision had not been enacted.
United States · United States Congress · 27 February 1990
Wisconsin Law Enforcement Reimbursement Act - Directs the Attorney General to reimburse Wisconsin for extraordinary law enforcement costs incurred by State and local law enforcement agencies during operations associated with the exercise of court-determined treaty rights by the Chippewa Indians of Lake Superior in 1988 and 1989. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 27 February 1990
Indian Treaty Law Enforcement Assistance Act - Establishes within the Office of Justice Programs of the Department of Justice the Indian Law Enforcement Assistance Program. Directs the Attorney General to reimburse States which have reimbursed local and tribal law enforcement agencies for costs incurred beyond budgeted levels and normal work schedules during operations associated with the tribal exercise of court-determined treaty rights. Limits Federal payments to 90 percent of such costs. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 27 February 1990
Indian Treaty Conflict Resolution Act of 1990 - Establishes the Office of Indian Treaty Conflict Resolution to provide mediation and conciliation services between Indian tribes and other entities arising out of the exercise by a tribe or its members of rights to use natural resources determined by a Federal court to be reserved by such tribe in a treaty with the United States. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 22 February 1990
Older Americans' Freedom to Work Act of 1990 - Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Social Security Act to remove the limitation on the amount of outside income which beneficiaries who have attained retirement age may earn without incurring a reduction in benefits.
United States · United States Congress · 22 February 1990
Civil Rights Protections Act of 1990 - Amends specified provisions of Federal law relating to equal protection under the law to declare that: (1) the rights protected by those provisions are protected against nongovernmental discrimination as well as against impairment under color of State law; and (2) those provisions afford the same protection against discrimination in the performance, breach, or termination of a contract, or in the setting of the terms or conditions thereof, as they do in the making or enforcement of the contract. Amends the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to declare that an unlawful employment practice occurs when a seniority system is adopted, an individual becomes subject to it, or a person is injured by the application of the system or a provision thereof, if it was adopted for an intentionally discriminatory purpose, whether or not that discriminatory purpose is apparent on the face of the provision.
United States · United States Congress · 22 February 1990
Condemns the Government of Cuba for retaliating against citizens who testified before the delegation of the United Nations Human Rights Commission (UNHRC). Urges such Government to release all political prisoners. Calls upon the Secretary General to prepare and make available to the UNHRC a report on the results of his contacts with the Cuban Government. Urges the UNHRC to: (1) hold Cuba accountable to the standards embodied in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; and (2) appoint a Special Rapporteur to investigate the human rights situation in Cuba and submit a report for consideration at the 47th Session of the UNHRC.
United States · United States Congress · 21 February 1990
Enterprise Zone Improvements Act of 1990 - Title I: Designation of Enterprise Zones - Authorizes the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (Secretary) to designate enterprise zones for purposes of providing tax and regulatory relief and improving local services. Limits choices to areas nominated by States and local governments. Limits the total number of areas that may be designated and the time period of the designation. Authorizes the Secretary to designate a zone only if the area meets certain locational, demographic, unemployment, and poverty criteria. Requires nominating local governments, as a condition of the Secretary's designation, to agree in writing to follow a course of action that may include reducing tax rates, improving local services, simplifying or streamlining regulation of business, and providing job training to area residents. Describes areas to which the Secretary must give preference in selecting areas for designation. Requires the Secretary to report to the Congress every two years on the effects of such enterprise zones' designation in accomplishing the purposes of this Act. Title II: Federal Income Tax Incentives - Allows employers located in enterprise zones a nonrefundable income tax credit for qualified increased employment expenditures and employment of the disadvantaged. Sets the credit amount at ten percent of the increase in payroll plus a specified percentage of wages paid to certain disadvantaged workers through the first 20 years of the enterprise zone designation. Allows a nonrefundable income tax credit to enterprise zone employees for five percent of any wages earned as do not exceed a specified amount. Phases out both credits. Provides for the nonrecognition of capital gain on the sale of enterprise zone property. Allows a taxpayer a deduction on the aggregate amount paid for the purchase of enterprise stock on its original issue by a qualified issuer. Requires any gain from the disposition of the stock to be treated as ordinary income. Title III: Regulatory Flexibility - Amends Federal law to revise the definition of "small entity" for purposes of the analysis of regulatory functions to include qualified business, government, and nonprofit enterprises operating within enterprise zones. Authorizes Federal agencies, upon request by a designating government, to waive or modify rules and regulations pertaining to the implementation of projects or activities within an enterprise zone. Requires agencies to approve the request if the resulting benefits of job creation, community development, or economic revitalization outweigh the public interest in retaining the rule unchanged. Disallows waiver or modification of a rule that would directly violate a statutory requirement or present a danger to the public health and safety. Title IV: Establishment of Foreign-Trade Zones in Enterprise Zones - Requires the Foreign-Trade Zone Board to consider on a priority basis and to expedite the processing of applications for the establishment of foreign-trade zones within enterprise zones. Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to give priority to, and expedite applications for, the establishment of ports of entry necessary to establish such zones. Title V: Housing Provisions - Provides for the waiver or modification of housing and community development rules in enterprise zones. Title VI: Repeal of Title VII of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1987 - Repeals Title VII (enterprise zone development) of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1987.
United States · United States Congress · 21 February 1990
Social Security Office Access Restoration Act of 1990 - Requires that the public be given telephone access to field offices of the Social Security Administration (SSA) or the level of regional telephone access that was available on September 30, 1988. Requires that callers on the SSA toll-free telephone line be given the number of, and notice of their option of calling, the field office or regional teleservice center in their area. Requires the publication in each local geographic area of the address and telephone number of the SSA field office serving such area and the telephone number of the regional teleservice center closest to such area.
United States · United States Congress · 20 February 1990
Amends the Small Business Act to authorize the Administrator of the Small Business Administration to make disaster assistance loans to small business concerns within drought disaster areas, without regard to whether such a concern's economic loss is directly related to agricultural production losses. Imposes a civil penalty for wrongful misapplication of loan proceeds.
United States · United States Congress · 8 February 1990
Amends Federal law to authorize and request the President to designate May as Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month annually, beginning in 1990. (Current law designates a seven-day period beginning on May 4, 1979.)
United States · United States Congress · 8 February 1990
Amends the Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 1990 to raise the ceiling on the amount of commitments to guarantee loans for housing and other credit guaranty programs. Earmarks a specified amount of such guaranty funds for housing and infrastructure for Soviet refugees in Israel. Exempts such funds from: (1) requirements under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 with respect to guaranties for housing projects in Israel; and (2) guarantee fees provided for in such Act. Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to raise the ceiling on the amount available for worldwide housing guaranties under such Act.
United States · United States Congress · 1 February 1990
Social Security Integrity and Tax Reduction Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to cut social security taxes. Amends the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 and title VII (Administration) of the Social Security Act to exclude the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund and the Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund from budget totals. Extends deficit reduction target dates.
United States · United States Congress · 1 February 1990
Denounces the military offensive in Angola and urges an immediate ceasefire and withdrawal of MPLA forces. Supports a peaceful settlement leading to free and fair elections. Urges the U.S. Government to: (1) request the Soviet Union to urge the MPLA to cease its offensive and enter into direct negotiations with UNITA; and (2) continue to assist UNITA and assist in bringing about a negotiated settlement in Angola.
United States · United States Congress · 31 January 1990
Calls upon the United Nations to repeal General Assembly Resolution 3379 (equating Zionism with racism). Commends the President for his commitment to this goal and requires progress reports to the Congress.
United States · United States Congress · 30 January 1990
Dolphin Protection Consumer Information Act of 1990 - Requires that tuna products containing tuna caught by methods lethal to dolphins be labeled to inform purchasers of that fact. Permits the labeling of other tuna products as dolphin safe. Directs the Secretaries of Commerce and of Health and Human Services to prescribe recordkeeping requirements that will facilitate the verification of such claims. Sets forth enforcement and penalty provisions, including the authorization of citizen suits against violators of this Act's provisions or its regulations.
United States · United States Congress · 23 January 1990
Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to gradually eliminate differences in average standardized Medicare payments to large urban, other urban, and rural hospitals, based on methodologies developed by the Prospective Payment Assessment Commission and the Secretary of Health and Human Services.
United States · United States Congress · 23 January 1990
Department of the Environment Act of 1990 - Title I: General Findings - Sets forth findings with respect to Federal environmental policy. Title II: Elevation of the Environmental Protection Agency to Cabinet Level - Department of the Environment Act - Redesignates the Environmental Protection Agency as the Department of the Environment, an executive agency to be administered by a Secretary of the Environment. Establishes: (1) a Bureau of Environmental Statistics within the Department; and (2) an Advisory Council on Environmental Statistics to advise the Bureau on statistics and analyses. Authorizes appropriations. Title III: Establishment of the Interagency Committee on Global Environmental Change - Establishes within the Executive Office of the President the Interagency Committee on Global Environmental Change to assist the President in coordinating all Federal programs and annual policy plans related to global environmental change. Title IV: Environmental Role of the United States in International Organizations to Which It Belongs - Urges: (1) the Secretary of the Treasury to instruct the U.S. executive directors of the multilateral development banks to promote energy conservation and environmental protection efforts of borrowing countries when voting to issue financial or technical assistance; and (2) the Secretary of State to convene international conferences to encourage the exchange of information on energy efficiency and environmentally acceptable renewable energy sources and the adoption of a multilateral global climate protection convention. Requires the President to encourage the establishment of an international office to monitor annual generation and removal of carbon dioxide and trace gases on a country-by-country basis. Title V: Establishment of the Commission on Improving Environmental Protection - Establishes the Commission on Improving Environmental Protection to make recommendations on integrating Federal environmental law and other authorities to improve U.S. environmental protection activities. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 21 November 1989
Violent Crime Control and Criminal Procedures Reform Act of 1989 - Title I: Federal Death Penalty Act of 1989 - Federal Death Penalty Act of 1989 - Amends the Federal criminal code to establish criteria for the imposition of the death penalty for Federal crimes. Requires the Government, for any offense punishable by death, to serve notice upon the defendant a reasonable time before trial or acceptance of a plea, that it intends to seek the death penalty and the aggravating factors upon which it will rely. Requires a separate sentencing hearing before a jury, or the court upon motion by the defendant, when the defendant is found guilty or pleads guilty to an offense punishable by death. Allows the defendant and the Government to present any information relevant to sentencing, without regard to the rules of evidence, but permits information to be excluded where its probative value is substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice, confusion of the issues, or misleading of the jury. Specifies mitigating factors which the defendant must establish by a preponderance of the information and aggravating factors which the Government must prove beyond a reasonable doubt. Sets forth special aggravating factors with respect to the crimes of treason, espionage, homicide, and attempted murder of the President. Requires the court to instruct the jury not to consider the race, color, national origin, creed, or sex of the defendant in its consideration of the sentence. Establishes procedures for appeal from a death sentence. Requires the Court of Appeals, upon considering the record and the information and procedures of the sentencing hearing, to affirm the decision if: (1) the sentence was not imposed under influence of passion, prejudice, or arbitrariness; and (2) the information supports the finding of aggravating factors. Requires the court to provide a written explanation of its determination. Prohibits requiring any employee of any State department of corrections, the Federal Bureau of Prisons, or any provider of services under contract to participate in any execution if contrary to his or her moral or religious convictions. Limits the circumstances under which the offense of delivering defense information to aid foreign governments is punishable by death. Provides for the imposition of the death penalty for: (1) murders committed by prisoners in Federal correctional institutions; (2) kidnappings which result in the death of any person; (3) attempting to kill the President of the United States (if such attempt results in bodily injury or comes dangerously close to causing the President's death); (4) murder in the aid of a racketeering activity; (5) engaging in a criminal enterprise activity which results in death; and (6) other specified offenses. Title II: Reform of Procedures for Collateral Review of Criminal Judgments - Reform of Federal Intervention in State Proceedings Act of 1989 - Amends the Federal judicial code to condition consideration of a habeas corpus claim by a prisoner on a showing of actual prejudice resulting from the Federal right violated and that: (1) State action precluded assertion of that right; (2) the Federal right did not previously exist; or (3) the factual basis of the claim could not have been discovered by reasonable diligence. Establishes a one-year statute of limitations for habeas corpus actions brought by State prisoners, and a two-year statute of limitations for similar motions made by Federal prisoners. Vests authority to issue certificates for probable cause for appeal of habeas corpus orders exclusively in the courts of appeals. Permits denial on the merits of habeas corpus writs notwithstanding the failure to exhaust State remedies. Prohibits the granting of a habeas corpus writ with respect to any claim which has been fully and fairly adjudicated in State proceedings. Title III: Exclusionary Rule Limitation Act of 1989 - Amends the Federal criminal code to provide that evidence obtained by a search or seizure undertaken in an objectively reasonable belief that it was in conformity with the fourth amendment to the U.S. Constitution is admissible. States that evidence obtained pursuant to and within the scope of a warrant constitutes prima facie evidence of such a reasonable belief, unless the warrant was obtained through intentional or material misrepresentation. States that, except as provided by statute or a rule of procedure, evidence which is otherwise admissible shall not be excluded on the ground that the evidence was obtained in violation of a law, rule, or regulation. Title IV: Firearms and Related Amendments - Amends the Federal criminal code to prohibit the transfer of firearms to non-residents of the State in which the transferor resides. Provides for the disposition of forfeited firearms. Classifies as serious drug offenses for purposes of the Armed Career Criminal Act of 1984 serious drug offenses committed by juveniles. Specifies that if a conviction was for a violent felony involving the threatened or actual use of a firearm or explosives, or was for a serious drug offense, such person shall be considered convicted for purposes of this Act irrespective of any pardon, setting aside, expunction, or restoration of civil rights. Permits the judicial officer to consider pretrial detention with respect to certain firearms and explosives offenses. Provides enhanced penalties for: (1) the use of a semiautomatic firearm during a crime of violence or drug trafficking offense; and (2) possession of a firearm or explosive during the commission of such offenses. Sets forth penalties for smuggling firearms in aid of drug trafficking and for theft of firearms and explosives. Bars the sale or possession of firearms and explosives to or by persons convicted of violent or serious misdemeanor drug or narcotic offenses. Provides for the mandatory revocation of the supervised release of an individual for possession of a firearm. Increases penalties for: (1) making knowingly false, material statements in connection with the acquisition of a firearm from a licensed dealer; and (2) a second offense of using an explosive to commit a Federal felony. Prohibits the assembly of semiautomatic rifles or shotguns which are prohibited from being imported into the United States, with exceptions. Title V: Drug Testing of Defendants on Post-Conviction Release - Requires: (1) the Director of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts to establish a program of drug testing of criminal defendants on post-conviction release; and (2) the chief probation officer in each district to arrange for the drug testing of such defendants. Requires, as an explicit condition of probation, parole, or supervised release of a defendant involving a felony or a specified violent or drug offense, that the defendant refrain from any unlawful use of a controlled substance and submit to periodic drug tests. Sets limitations on the authority to require such tests and to take action against a defendant based on test results. Title VI: Public Corruption - Anti-Corruption Act of 1989 - Amends the Federal criminal code to prescribe criminal penalties to be imposed against anyone who uses any facility of, or affects, interstate or foreign commerce to deprive or defraud the inhabitants of a State, political subdivision, or Indian tribal government of: (1) the honest services of a government official or employee; or (2) a fair and impartially conducted election process through the use of fraudulent ballots or voter registration forms, paying or offering to pay any person for voting, or the filing of fraudulent campaign reports, subject to certain conditions. Prescribes criminal penalties to be imposed against anyone who deprives or defrauds the inhabitants of the United States of the honest services of a public official. Prescribes criminal penalties to be imposed upon any official who: (1) uses interstate commerce to deprive or defraud the inhabitants of any State, political subdivision, or Indian tribal government, of the right to have government affairs conducted on the basis of complete, true, and accurate information; or (2) in order to carry out or conceal any scheme or artifice to defraud, discriminates, harasses, or takes adverse action against any employee or official of the United States or any State or political subdivision. Authorizes such an adversely affected employee or official to obtain relief through a civil action, provided such person did not participate in the scheme or artifice. Amends mail fraud provisions to prohibit use of any facility of interstate or foreign commerce in the execution of a scheme or artifice to defraud. Makes it a class B felony for a public official to corruptly demand or accept anything of value, personally or for another, in return for: (1) being influenced in the performance or nonperformance of any official act; or (2) being influenced to commit, collude in, or allow the commission of any offense against the United States or any State. Makes it a class B felony for a public official to corruptly give, offer, or promise anything of value, to an official or to another, with intent to: (1) influence any official act; (2) influence such official to commit, collude in, or allow the commission of any offense against the United States or a State; or (3) influence such official to do or omit any act in violation of such official's lawful duty. Grants Federal jurisdiction over an offense under this Act (with respect to narcotics-related corruption) which involves or is intended to further or conceal the illegal importation, manufacture, transportation, or distribution of any controlled substance or controlled substance analogue. Title VII: Facilitation of Undercover Investigations - Amends the Federal criminal code to provide that, wherever it is an element of an offense that any property was embezzled, stolen, counterfeited, or altered and that the defendant knew that the property was of such character, such element may be established by proof that the defendant, after or as a result of an official representation as to the nature of the property, believed the property to be embezzled, stolen, counterfeited, or altered.
United States · United States Congress · 21 November 1989
Television Decoder Circuitry Act of 1989 - Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to require that any television with at least a 13-inch screen which is manufactured, or imported for use, in the United States be equipped with built-in decoder circuitry designed to display closed-captioned TV transmissions. Prohibits shipping in interstate commerce, manufacturing, assembling, or importing any such television except pursuant to rules by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Requires such rules to provide performance and display standards for such built-in decoder circuitry. Requires the FCC, within five years, to evaluate compatibility issues and advancement in TV technology and take any action it deems necessary to amend such rules as to ensure that such decoder chip circuitry is capable of continuing service to closed-caption consumers regardless of new broadcast technologies.
United States · United States Congress · 21 November 1989
Amends the Controlled Substances Act to allow the imposition of the death penalty, when the crime does not involve killing, upon individuals found to be principal organizers of a continuing criminal enterprise involving the manufacture or distribution of large quantities of illicit drugs or if the criminal enterprise receives $10,000,000 from illicit drug operations. (Current law provides for mandatory life imprisonment.) Changes minimum sentences for crimes involving the killing of law enforcement officers. Amends procedures, guidelines, and aggravating and mitigating factors relating to the imposition of the death penalty.
United States · United States Congress · 21 November 1989
Condemns the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN) for initiating a military offensive on November 11, 1989. Deplores the armed seizure of a San Salvador hotel. Deplores the murder of six Jesuit priests and two women. Demands that those responsible for their murder, as well as for the bombing of the headquarters of a local labor union, be brought to justice. Deplores the continuing violence in El Salvador. Calls for a disengagement of military forces to allow international humanitarian organizations to provide medical attention and supplies to the civilian casualties. Urges the United Nations and the Organization of American States to encourage the FMLN and the Salvadoran Government to enter into a ceasefire and withdrawal of FMLN forces from urban areas. Urges the Government of El Salvador and the FMLN to resume a peaceful dialogue. Commends President Cristiani for sending representatives to the meeting scheduled in Caracas, Venezuela, to seek a political settlement of the conflict. Declares that if the Salvadoran Government fails to make every good faith effort to prosecute and punish those responsible for the November 16 murder of six Jesuit priests and two women, the Congress will review the question of aid to El Salvador. Requests the Administration to report to the Congress by February 20, 1990, on the status of the investigation of such murders. Urges the administration to provide emergency assistance to the innocent victims of the war through the International Red Cross and other appropriate channels.
United States · United States Congress · 20 November 1989
Liability Risk Retention Amendments of 1989 - Amends the Liability Risk Retention Act to change the ways in which: (1) States are allowed to regulate risk retention groups; (2) such groups are explicitly exempt from State regulation; and (3) States may control the licensing of agents or brokers for such groups. Allows a risk retention group to provide liability insurance to a nonmember in certain circumstances. Changes the ways in which: (1) purchasing groups are explicitly exempt from State regulation; and (2) States may control the licensing of agents or brokers for such groups. Requires additional information in the notice to State insurance commissioners of intent by a purchasing group to do business. Allows a purchasing group to purchase insurance only from an insurer meeting certain requirements of this Act. Authorizes admitted insurers, approved surplus lines insurers, and other nonadmitted insurers to provide insurance under the Act to purchasing groups, provided certain conditions are met. Requires the provision of insurance by a qualified purchasing group insurer to be regulated in specified ways by the State in which the group has its principal place of business. Requires that purchasing group insurers furnish specified information to the insurance commissioner of the State in which it has its principal place of business and, in certain circumstances, to the insurance commissioner of each State in which it is doing business. Requires a purchasing group insurer to register with and designate the State insurance commissioner of each State in which it has insured members as its agent for receiving service of legal documents or process. Requires the ownership interests of members of risk retention groups to be considered exempted securities for the purposes of the broker-dealer registration requirements of specified provisions of the Securities Act of 1933. Declares that the exemption provided under specified provisions of this Act includes the promotion, sale, and distribution of ownership interests in a company or association which is being organized solely for the purpose of qualifying as a risk retention group. Adds references to purchasing group insurers to provisions concerning the permissible State authority with regard to: (1) State motor vehicle no-fault and financial responsibility insurance law; (2) the applicability of the exemptions in the Act to liability insurance, and the provision or purchase of any other line of insurance; and (3) coverage which is prohibited generally by State statute or declared unlawful by the highest court of the State. Allows a State, subject to certain provisions relating to discrimination, to specify acceptable means of demonstrating financial responsibility as a condition for obtaining a license or permit to undertake specified activities. Prohibits a State from prohibiting any political subdivision or other public entity from becoming a member of a risk retention group or a purchasing group or from obtaining insurance provided by or for a group of which it is a member. Prohibits a State, except the State in which a risk retention group is chartered or has its principal place of business, from requiring a risk retention group or a purchasing group to pay a registration fee. Provides for injunctions to prevent: (1) application of State laws inconsistent with this Act; or (2) discrimination against a risk retention group or a purchasing group. Prohibits a State or political subdivision from establishing or applying requirements or limitations which are not identical to those in this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 19 November 1989
Kenosha, Wisconsin, Equity Act of 1989 - Amends the Tax Reform Act of 1986 to enable the city of Kenosha, Wisconsin, to issue tax-exempt bonds to finance its downtown redevelopment project.
United States · United States Congress · 16 November 1989
Eliminates post-1968 service in the National Guard as a prerequisite to civil service retirement credit for former National Guard technicians. Amends the National Guard Technicians Act of 1968 to eliminate post-1968 service as a prerequisite for National Guard technicians for receipt of credit in the determination of length of Federal civil service for purposes of leave, Federal employees' death and disability compensation, group life and health insurance, severance pay, tenure, and status. Sets forth rules for applying provisions of this Act to affected individuals.
United States · United States Congress · 8 November 1989
Authorizes the President, on behalf of the Congress, to present a gold medal to Laurance Spelman Rockefeller in recognition of his leadership on behalf of natural resource conservation and historic preservation. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to provide for the sale of bronze duplicates of the medal.
United States · United States Congress · 31 October 1989
Medicare Physician Payment Reform Act of 1989 - Amends part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide for the gradual transition, from 1992 through 1995, to the determination of Medicare payments for physician services pursuant to a fee schedule which takes into account the relative value of the work, overhead, and malpractice risks associated with each physician service. Allows for geographic variations in resource values. Sets Medicare payments for nonparticipating physicians' services at 95 percent of the fee schedule amount. Prohibits payments for the same physician service from varying on the basis of whether or not the physician is a specialist. Sets forth sumptuary provisions. Limits nonparticipating physicians' actual charges for unassigned claims. Requires that payments for physician services to Medicaid (title XIX of the Social Security Act)-eligible Medicare beneficiaries be made on an assignment-related basis. Increases the incentive payment for physicians' services furnished in manpower shortage areas from five to ten percent of the payment for such services. Sets forth miscellaneous study and reporting requirements. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish: (1) a patient outcomes assessment research and education program focusing primarily on the study of the management of health conditions; and (2) a practice parameters development program providing health care professionals with information regarding the health care practices found to be most effective. Directs the Secretary to establish the Independent Advisory Committee on Managing Patient Outcomes and enter into a contract with the National Academy of Sciences for assistance in conducting such programs and reviewing outcomes research. Sets forth reporting requirements. Authorizes appropriations for such programs through FY 1992.
United States · United States Congress · 31 October 1989
Nuclear Decommissioning Reserve Fund Act of 1989 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) decrease from 34 percent to 15 percent the rate of the tax imposed on the income of any Nuclear Decommissioning Reserve Fund; and (2) remove restrictions on permitted investments of Fund monies.
United States · United States Congress · 25 October 1989
Tourism Policy and Export Promotion Act of 1989 - Declares it to be the national goal to increase U.S. export earnings from U.S. tourism and transportation services with an eye toward: (1) the elimination of the travel and tourism export deficit of the United States and the U.S trade deficit; and (2) the achievement of a travel and tourism export surplus. Amends the Trade Act of 1974 to require the United States Trade Representative (USTR) to identify foreign trade barriers to U.S. travel and tourism. Requires the USTR to submit the National Trade Estimate to the President and the Senate Committees on Finance and Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Amends the International Travel Act of 1961 to require each annual tourism trade development plan to focus on those countries in which tourism trade development has the greatest potential for increasing travel and tourism export revenues. Declares that the Congress finds that increased efforts directed at the promotion of rural tourism will contribute to the economic development of rural America. Establishes the Rural Tourism Foundation. Authorizes appropriations.
![Official portrait of Sen. Kasten, Robert W., Jr. [R-WI]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/k000019_200.jpg)