United States · United States Congress · 15 April 1996
Pays tribute to the remarkable life and career of Ronald H. Brown (the late Secretary of Commerce) and to the contributions of all those who perished in the airplane accident on April 3, 1996, while in service to their country on a mission to Bosnia. Extends condolences to the victims' families.
United States · United States Congress · 21 March 1996
Defend America Act of 1996 - Expresses U.S. policy to deploy by the end of 2003 a National Missile Defense (NMD) system that: (1) is capable of providing a highly effective defense of U.S. territory against limited, unauthorized, or accidental ballistic missile attack; (2) will be augmented over time to provide a layered defense against larger and more sophisticated ballistic missile threats; and (3) does not feature an offensive-only form of deterrence. Directs the Secretary of Defense to develop for deployment an affordable and operationally effective NMD system which shall achieve an initial operational capability by the end of 2003. Outlines system elements, including the use of missile interceptors on the ground, at sea, and in space. Directs the Secretary to take specified actions to implement the NMD system development upon enactment of this Act, including the conduct of an integrated systems test by the end of 1998. Requires the Secretary to report to the Congress the Secretary's plans for the development and deployment of the NMD system. Urges the President to pursue high-level discussions with the Russian Federation to achieve an agreement to amend the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty to allow deployment of the NMD system. Requires the President to present any such agreement to the Senate for its advice and consent. Requires the President and the Congress, if such an agreement is not achieved within one year after enactment of this Act, to consider exercising the option of withdrawing the United States from the ABM Treaty.
United States · United States Congress · 13 March 1996
Expresses: (1) admiration of the legacy of the late Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and his contribution to the special relationship between the United States and Israel; and (2) the sense of the Congress that the American Promenade in Israel be named in memory of him.
United States · United States Congress · 7 March 1996
Genetic Fairness Act of 1996 - Prohibits an insurer offering a health plan from: (1) discriminating against an individual or family member on the basis of genetic information or on the basis of an individual's or family member's request for or receipt of genetic services; or (2) requiring a genetic test or questions relating to genetic information. Requires insurers to disclose enrollee rights. Provides for enforcement by State insurance commissioners, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, and private actions.
United States · United States Congress · 6 March 1996
Deplores the missile tests that the People's Republic of China (PRC) will conduct from March 8 through 15, 1996, as a threat to the peace, security, and stability of Taiwan and as not being in the spirit of the three U.S.-China Joint Communiques. Calls for the Government of the PRC to cease its bellicose actions directed at Taiwan and enter into meaningful dialogue with the Government of Taiwan at the highest levels with an eye toward decreasing tensions and resolving the issue of the future of Taiwan. Urges the President to consult with the Congress on an appropriate U.S. response to the tests and to reexamine the nature and quantity of defense articles and services that may be necessary to enable Taiwan to maintain a sufficient self-defense capability in light of the heightened threat.
United States · United States Congress · 29 February 1996
Condemns the terror attacks in Jerusalem and Ashkelon. Extends condolences to the victims' families and to the Government and people of Israel. Calls upon: (1) the Palestinian Authority, the elected Palestinian Council, and Chairman Arafat to apprehend the perpetrators of terror attacks, to do more to prevent such acts in the future, and to eschew all statements and gestures which signal tolerance for such acts and their perpetrators; and (2) the Authority and the Council to take all possible action to eliminate terrorist activities by Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and all other such terror groups. Urges: (1) all parties to the peace process to bring to justice the perpetrators of acts of terrorism and to cease harboring, financing, and arming terror groups; and (2) the Clinton Administration to act against those who continue to harbor, arm, or finance terror groups seeking to undermine the peace process.
United States · United States Congress · 27 February 1996
Constitutional Amendment - Requires a two-thirds vote of each House of the Congress in order to pass any bill levying a new tax or increasing the rate or base of any tax. Allows the Congress to waive that requirement during war or certain military conflict. Requires all votes under this amendment to be by yeas and nays and the names of persons voting for and against to be entered in the Journal of each House.
United States · United States Congress · 9 February 1996
Urges the Government of Iran to extend to the Baha'i community the rights guaranteed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the international covenants on human rights. Calls upon the President to continue to: (1) assert the U.S. Government's concern regarding Iran's violations of the rights of its citizens, including members of the Baha'i community, along with expressions of concern regarding the Iranian Government's support for international terrorism and its efforts to acquire weapons of mass destruction; (2) emphasize that the United States regards the human rights practices of the Iranian Government, particularly its treatment of the Baha'i community and other religious minorities, as a significant factor in the development of U.S.-Iranian relations; (3) urge the Iranian Government to emancipate the Baha'i community by granting those rights guaranteed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the international covenants on human rights; and (4) encourage other governments to continue to appeal to the Government of Iran, and to cooperate with other governments and international organizations, in efforts to protect the religious rights of the Baha'is and other minorities in Iran.
United States · United States Congress · 1 February 1996
Provides that any individual who performs Operation Joint Endeavor services (United Nations-sponsored peacekeeping activities in Bosnia and Herzegovina) shall be entitled to the same tax benefits under specified provisions of the Internal Revenue Code that are provided to U.S. military personnel who perform service in an area designated by the President as a combat zone. Makes this Act effective for periods beginning on or after December 4, 1995.
United States · United States Congress · 30 January 1996
Commends the men and women who have served or are presently serving in the American Foreign Service and honors those who have given their lives in the line of duty. Designates the first Friday in May 1996 as American Foreign Service Day.
United States · United States Congress · 26 January 1996
Clinical Research Enhancement Act of 1996 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to direct the President to establish the President's Clinical Research Panel, as part of the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), to evaluate the status of the U.S. clinical research environment. Authorizes appropriations. Requires the Advisory Committee to the Director (of the National Institutes of Health (NIH)) on Clinical Research to report to the Director and to the Panel and to implement recommendations as the Committee determines necessary to remedy NIH clinical research deficiencies. Terminates the Committee five years after enactment of this Act. Requires the OSTP to review the compositions, functions, and outcomes of study section activities at all Federal agencies as such activities relate to clinical research proposals for investigator-initiated support. Authorizes appropriations. Requires the Director to undertake activities to: (1) support and expand NIH's clinical research involvement; (2) support and expand available resources; and (3) establish certain peer review mechanisms. Mandates grants for: (1) the establishment of general clinical research centers to provide the infrastructure for clinical research training and career enhancement; (2) clinical research career enhancement awards; and (3) innovative medical science awards to support individual clinical research projects. Authorizes appropriations. Increases the maximum aggregate number of contracts that may be made under existing provisions relating to: (1) undergraduate scholarships regarding professions needed by NIH; and (2) loan repayments regarding clinical researchers (currently, clinical researchers from disadvantaged backgrounds). Authorizes appropriations for the loan repayment program. Requires a health plan to cover the participation of individuals in investigational therapy in specified circumstances.
United States · United States Congress · 26 January 1996
Agricultural Market Transition Act of 1996 - Subtitle A: Agricultural Market Transition Program - Authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture (Secretary) to enter into production flexibility contracts through crop year 2002 with eligible agricultural operators and owners with respect to conservation, wetlands, and planting flexibility requirements. Requires contracts to be entered into by April 15, 1996, with certain exceptions for conservation reserve lands. Defines eligible "owners and operators" and "farmland." Sets forth: (1) contract payment amounts for each of FY 1996 through 2002 and allocation amounts for wheat, corn, grain sorghum, barley, oats, upland cotton, and rice; and (2) annual payment rate factors. Permits any commodity or crop to be planted on contract acreage with special provisions and limitations for fruit and vegetables, haying and grazing, alfalfa, and legumes. (Sec. 14) Directs the Secretary to make nonrecourse marketing assistance loans for crop years 1996 through 2002 to producers of wheat, feed grains (corn, grain sorghum, barley, and oats), upland and extra long staple cotton, and oilseeds (sunflower, canola, rapeseed, safflower, mustard, flaxseed, and other oilseeds). Sets forth commodity loan rate, term, and repayment provisions. Directs the Secretary to make loan deficiency payments to producers (of other than extra long staple cotton) who forego obtaining such nonrecourse loans in an amount equal to the difference between a commodity's loan rate and repayment level. Establishes special marketing loan provisions for upland cotton, including: (1) cotton user marketing certificates; (2) a special import quota; and (3) a limited global import quota for upland cotton. (Sec. 15) Establishes fiscal year payment limitations for individuals of: (1) $40,000 for flexibility contracts; and (2) $75,000 for marketing loan and loan deficiency payments. (Sec. 16) Directs the Secretary to: (1) make nonrecourse loans available to quota peanut producers at $610 per ton and to additional peanut producers at appropriate rates; (2) make related warehouse storage loans available; (3) provide for marketing area pools for quota and additional peanuts, with separate pools for New Mexico-produced Valencia peanuts; (4) require that all domestic and export peanuts comply with specified quality standards; and (5) provide for a nonrefundable marketing assessment. Provides that: (1) net gains from each marketing pool shall be distributed only to pool producers; and (2) losses in quota pools shall be covered using a specified order of priority. Prohibits the Secretary from making quota peanut loans if producers have disapproved poundage quotas. Amends the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938 with regard to the peanut program to: (1) extend peanut quota provisions through crop year 2002; (2) eliminate the minimum national poundage quota; (3) eliminate seed peanuts from the national poundage quota determination; (4) create a temporary quota allocation for seed peanuts; (5) eliminate the Texas increased quota allocation; and (5) authorize transfers of additional peanuts to the quota pool where natural disasters prevented quota poundage harvesting and marketing. (Sec. 17) Directs the Secretary to make recourse loans available to processors of domestically grown sugarcane and sugar beets at 18 cents per pound and 22.9 cents per pound, respectively. Sets loan terms at the earlier of nine months or the end of the fiscal year, with supplemental loans available for loans made in the last three months of a fiscal year. Authorizes the Secretary to provide nonrecourse loans when the imported tariff rate quota for sugar imports exceeds 1.5 million short tons raw value. Sets forth first processor sugarcane and sugar beet marketing assessment rates for FY 1996 through 2003, which shall be collected monthly and remitted to the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC). Sets forth enforcement and reporting provisions. Amends the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938 to repeal marketing allotment provisions. Makes this section applicable to the 1996 through 2002 crops of sugarcane and sugar beets. (Sec. 18) Directs the Secretary to carry out the provisions of this subtitle through the CCC. (Sec. 19) Repeals the Agricultural Act of 1949, with specified sections transferred to the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938. (Eliminates permanent price support authority.) Makes conforming amendments to the Agricultural Act of 1938. Subtitle B: Conservation - Amends the Food Security Act of 1985 to provide mandatory FY 1996 through 2002 funding through the CCC for the conservation reserve and wetlands programs, and the livestock environmental assistance program. Establishes the livestock environmental assistance program to provide FY 1996 through 2002 technical assistance and cost-sharing and incentive payments to livestock producers who enter into land management and structural contracts to protect water, soil, and related resources from livestock-related degradation. (Makes waste management facility construction ineligible for cost-sharing payments.) Replaces wetlands reserve program permanent easement authority with 15-year easement authority. Limits conservation reserve program total acreage enrollment to 36.4 million acres. Authorizes producers to terminate program participation. Prohibits new acreage enrollment in 1997. Subtitle C: Agricultural Promotion and Export Programs - Amends the Agricultural Trade Act of 1978 to: (1) authorize specified FY 1996 through 2002 appropriations for the market promotion program; and (2) authorize specified FY 1996 through 2002 funding from the CCC for the export enhancement program. Subtitle D: Miscellaneous - Amends the Federal Crop Insurance Act to authorize the Secretary, in consultation with insurance providers, to offer catastrophic risk protection in a State (or portion of a State) through local Department of Agriculture offices if the Secretary determines insufficient coverage is otherwise available. Provides for the transfer of current policies to private insurers. States that beginning with the spring-planted 1996 crop catastrophic coverage shall not be required for agricultural program benefits if the producer signs a written emergency crop loss assistance waiver. Extends crop insurance provisions to seed crops. (Sec. 52) Amends the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 to authorize the Secretary to collect fees to cover the costs of providing import quarantine and inspection services. Establishes in the Treasury the Agricultural Quarantine Inspection User Fee Account. (Sec. 53) Increases the CCC interest rate applicable to agricultural commodity loans by 100 basis points.
United States · United States Congress · 21 December 1995
Housing Opportunity Program Extension Act of 1995 - Extends through FY 1996: (1) section 8 (United States Housing Act of 1937) contract assistance authority for one-year renewals at current rent levels; and (2) the homeownership program under the community development block grant program. Amends the Housing Act of 1949 to extend the following rural housing programs through FY 1996: (1) underserved areas set-aside; (2) multifamily rental housing; and (3) funds for nonprofit entities. Amends the National Housing Act to extend the Federal Housing Administration home equity conversion mortgage program through FY 1996. Increases program mortgages from 25,000 to 30,000. Amends the Housing and Community Development Act of 1992 to extend through FY 1996 the risk-sharing and housing finance agency pilot programs.
United States · United States Congress · 20 December 1995
Antimicrobial Pesticide Registration Reform Act of 1995 - Amends the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) to exclude: (1) bacteria from the definition of "fungus"; and (2) liquid chemical sterilant products for use on a critical or semi-critical medical or dental device from the definition of "pesticide." Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to: (1) coordinate data requirements, test protocols, timetables, and standards of review and reduce burdens and redundancy caused to the registrant, whenever data in support of a pesticide registration is requested by one or more State or Federal agencies; and (2) develop a process to identify and assist in alleviating future disparities between Federal and State data requirements. Provides, with respect to the labeling of an antimicrobial pesticide product, that: (1) a registrant may modify the labeling to include relevant information on the product's efficacy, composition, or container or other characteristics unrelated to a pesticidal claim or activity; (2) such labeling shall not be false or misleading or in conflict with statements required as a condition of registration and be substantiated upon request; (3) modifications shall be subject to a notification and approval process; and (4) different cautionary statements for use dilutions may be included in the labeling upon approval of the Administrator. Directs the Administrator, to the maximum extent practicable, to identify and evaluate changes to the process for registration of antimicrobial pesticides that will reduce current time periods for review. Details rulemaking requirements regarding the review of such pesticides. Requires an annual report to the Congress on measures taken to effect such changes. Exempts from applicability of certain FIFRA storage, disposal, transportation, and container requirements household, industrial, or institutional antimicrobial products that are not subject to regulation under the Solid Waste Disposal Act, unless the Administrator determines that their application is necessary to prevent an unreasonable adverse effect on the environment.
United States · United States Congress · 13 December 1995
Directs the Administrator of General Services to issue regulations to permit the posting in space under the control of the Administrator of materials such as pamphlets, handbills, and flyers concerning missing children and bearing an official identifying mark indicating that the Administrator authorizes the posting. Prohibits an officer or employee of a Federal agency from removing such posted material except in accordance with regulations issued under this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 12 December 1995
Senior Citizens' Freedom to Work Act of 1995 - Amends title II (Old-Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) (OASDI) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to provide, through adjustments in the monthly exempt amount, for increases in the amounts of allowable earnings under the Social Security earnings limit for individuals who have attained retirement age. Retains the current limit on substantial gainful activity earnings applicable to individuals under age 65 who are eligible for disability benefits based on blindness. (Sec. 3) Provides that an individual shall not be considered to be disabled for OASDI purposes, or for supplemental security income (SSI) purposes under SSA title XVI (thus denying them benefits), if alcoholism or drug addiction would be a contributing factor material to the determination of disability. (Continues disability benefits based on a separate disabling condition to individuals also disabled by drug addiction or alcoholism.) Requires the payment of OASDI or SSI benefits based on disability to a representative payee if such payment would serve the interest of an individual who also has an alcoholism or drug addiction condition that prevents the individual from managing such benefits. Requires the Commissioner of Social Security (the Commissioner) to refer such individual to the appropriate State agency administering the approved State plan for substance abuse treatment services. Appropriates additional specified amounts to supplement State and Tribal alcohol and substance abuse treatment programs funded under the Public Health Service Act. Requires State or Tribal governments receiving such an allotment to consider as priorities activities relating to the treatment of the abuse of alcohol and other drugs. (Sec. 4) Bases entitlement of stepchildren to child's insurance benefits solely on their actual dependency on stepparent support. Repeals the requirement that the stepchild actually be living with the stepparent. Requires termination of any child's insurance benefits based on the wages and self-employment income of the stepparent the month after the month in which the natural parent's divorce from the stepparent becomes final. (Sec. 5) Establishes a Continuing Disability Review Administration Revolving Account for OASDI disability benefits in the Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund. Directs the Chief Actuary of the Social Security Administration (Chief Actuary), as established by this Act, to estimate annually the present value of savings to the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund, the Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund, the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund, and the Federal Supplementary Medical Insurance Trust Fund which will accrue for all years because of cessations of benefit payments resulting from continuing disability reviews carried out pursuant to specified requirements during the fiscal year. Directs the Managing Trustee to: (1) transfer to the Account from amounts otherwise in the Trust Fund an amount equal to the estimated savings certified by the Chief Actuary; and (2) make available to the Commissioner from funds in the Account an amount certified by the Chief Actuary as currently required to meet expenditures necessary to provide for required continuing disability reviews (including expenditures for the cost of staffing, training, purchase of medical and other evidence, and processing related to appeals and overpayments and related indirect costs). Includes as required information in a specified annual report a final accounting of amounts transferred to the Continuing Disability Review Administration Revolving Account in the Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund during the year, including a comparison of the number of continuing disability reviews conducted during the year with the estimated number of continuing disability reviews upon which the estimate of such expenditures was made. Terminates the Continuing Disability Review Administration Revolving Account at the end of FY 2002, providing that any balance in such Account shall revert to funds otherwise available in the Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund. Provides for appointment by the Commissioner of a Chief Actuary in the SSA. (Sec. 6) Prohibits, with respect to the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance, Disability Insurance, Hospital Insurance, and Supplementary Medical Insurance Trust Funds, Federal officials or employees from: (1) delaying the deposit of any amount into (or delaying the credit of any amount to) any such fund or otherwise varying from the normal terms, procedures, or timing for making such deposits or credits; (2) refraining from the investment in public debt obligations of amounts in any such fund, if a purpose of such action or inaction is to not increase the amount of outstanding public debt obligations; or (3) disinvesting amounts in any such fund which are invested in public debt obligations, if a purpose of the disinvestment is to reduce the amount of outstanding public debt obligations. Provides, however, that, during any period for which cash benefits or administrative expenses would not otherwise be payable from a Federal fund by reason of an inability to issue further public debt obligations because of the applicable public debt limit, public debt obligations held by such Federal fund shall be sold or redeemed: (1) only for the purpose of making payment of such benefits or administrative expenses; and (2) only to the extent cash assets of the Federal fund are not available from month to month for making payment of such benefits or administrative expenses. Authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury, in undertaking the sale or redemption of public debt obligations held by a Federal fund, and with three days prior notice to the Congress and the Comptroller General, to issue corresponding public debt obligations to the public in order to obtain the cash necessary for payment of benefits or administrative expenses from such Federal fund, notwithstanding the public debt limit.
United States · United States Congress · 11 December 1995
Amends the Trade Act of 1974 to revise the definition of "domestic industry" and "like or directly competitive article" with respect to investigations by the International Trade Commission (ITC) to determine whether perishable agricultural products are being imported into the United States in such increased quantities as to be a substantial cause (or threat) of serious injury to the domestic industry producing an article like or directly competitive with such imported products. Authorizes the ITC, in the case of one or more domestic producers who produce a like or directly competitive perishable agricultural product during a particular growing season, to limit the domestic industry to those producers if they sell all or almost all of their production of the article in that growing season and the demand for the article is not supplied, to any substantial degree, by other domestic producers of the article who produce the article in a different growing season. Requires the ITC, with respect to perishable agricultural products, to limit provisional import relief to imported articles that are entered, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, during the same growing season as the like or directly competitive product.
United States · United States Congress · 11 December 1995
Senior Citizens' Right to Work Act of 1995 - Amends title II (Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Benefits) (OASDI) of the Social Security Act to provide, through adjustments in the monthly exempt amount, for increases in the amounts of allowable earnings under the Social Security earnings limit for individuals who have attained retirement age. Retains the current limit on substantial gainful activity earnings applicable to individuals under age 65 who are eligible for disability benefits based on blindness. (Sec. 3) Establishes a Continuing Disability Review Administration Revolving Account for OASDI disability benefits in the Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund. Directs the Chief Actuary of the Social Security Administration (SSA) to estimate annually the present value of savings to the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund, the Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund, the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund, and the Federal Supplementary Medical Insurance Trust Fund which will accrue for all years as a result of cessation of benefit payments resulting from continuing disability reviews carried out pursuant to specified requirements during the fiscal year. Directs the Managing Trustee to: (1) transfer to the Account from amounts otherwise in the Trust Fund an amount equal to the estimated savings certified by the Chief Actuary; and (2) make available to the Commissioner of Social Security from funds in the Account an amount certified by the Chief Actuary as currently required to meet expenditures necessary to provide for required continuing disability reviews (including expenditures for the cost of staffing, training, purchase of medical and other evidence, and processing related to appeals and overpayments and related indirect costs). Includes under required information in a specified annual report a final accounting of amounts transferred to the Continuing Disability Review Administration Revolving Account in the Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund during the year, the amount made available from such Account during such year pursuant to certifications made by the Chief Actuary of the SSA and expenditures made by the Commissioner of Social Security for the specified purposes during the year, including a comparison of the number of continuing disability reviews conducted during the year with the estimated number of continuing disability reviews upon which the estimate of such expenditures was made. Terminates the Continuing Disability Review Administration Revolving Account at the end of FY 2002, and provides that any balance in such Account shall revert to funds otherwise available in the Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund. Provides for appointment by the Commissioner of a Chief Actuary in the SSA. (Sec. 4) Bases entitlement of stepchildren to child's insurance benefits solely on their actual dependency on stepparent support. Repeals the requirement that the stepchild actually be living with the stepparent. Requires termination of any child's insurance benefits based on the wages and self-employment income of the stepparent six months after the Commissioner is formally notified of the natural parent's divorce from the stepparent. (Sec. 5) Extends the length of time required for recomputation of benefits after normal retirement age. (Sec. 6) Eliminates the role of the SSA in processing attorney fees. Prohibits any person, agent, or attorney from charging in excess of $4,000 (or, if the Commissioner approves, a higher fee) for services performed in connection with any claim before the Commissioner. Directs a court, in determining a reasonable fee, to take into consideration the amount of the fee, if any, that an attorney may charge the claimant for services (eliminating the current limitation of such fee to 25 percent of the total past-due benefits to which a judgment entitles the claimant). (Sec. 7) Provides that an individual shall not be considered to be disabled for OASDI purposes, or for supplemental security income (SSI) purposes under title XVI of the Act (thus denying them benefits), if alcoholism or drug addiction would be a contributing factor material to the determination of disability. (Continues disability benefits based on a separate disabling condition to individuals also disabled by drug addiction or alcoholism.) Requires the payment of OASDI or SSI benefits based on disability to a representative payee if such payment would serve the interest of an individual who also has an alcoholism or drug addiction condition that prevents the individual from managing such benefits. Requires the Commissioner to refer such individual to the appropriate State agency administering the approved State plan for substance abuse treatment services. Appropriates additional specified amounts to supplement State and Tribal alcohol and substance abuse treatment programs funded under the Public Health Service Act. Requires State or Tribal governments receiving such an allotment to consider as priorities activities relating to the treatment of the abuse of alcohol and other drugs. (Sec. 8) Permits members of the clergy to file to revoke their exemption from social security tax coverage under the Internal Revenue Code.
United States · United States Congress · 11 December 1995
Amends the Agricultural Adjustment Act, reenacted with amendments by the Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act of 1937, to subject imported tomatoes to certain domestic packing requirements.
United States · United States Congress · 11 December 1995
Calls for the U.S. Government to: (1) press for the release of Wei Jingsheng and other political prisoners by the Government of the People's Republic of China; (2) urge the Chinese Government to respect the wishes of the Tibetan people by supporting the selection of the new Panchen Lama by the Dalai Lama; (3) work to ensure the safety of the new Panchen Lama; and (4) sponsor and push for the passage of a resolution regarding the human rights situation in China at the annual meeting of the United Nations Human Rights Commission in Geneva scheduled for March 1996.
United States · United States Congress · 17 November 1995
Occupational Safety and Health Reform and Reinvention Act - Amends the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (OSHA) to provide that employee safety and health participation committees are not prohibited under the National Labor Relations Act or the Railway Labor Act. (Sec. 3) Revises inspection provisions. Prohibits routine inspections of employers of ten or fewer employees if such employers: (1) are farming operations which do not maintain a temporary labor camp; or (2) are in a category of employers having an occupational injury or a lost workday case rate which is less than the national average. Grants the Secretary of Labor specified types of discretionary authority in determining which employee complaints must receive special inspection responses. (Sec. 4) Directs the Secretary to establish a voluntary compliance program granting partial exemption from certain OSHA safety and health inspections and investigations for employers who either retain certain consultation or certification programs, or have an exemplary safety record and a safety and health program meeting specified criteria, including having an employee participation program. (Sec. 5) Adds employer defenses of employee misconduct or alternative safer methods. (Sec. 6) Prohibits the Secretary from establishing any quotas for subordinates within the Occupational Safety and Health Administration with respect to number of inspections conducted, citations issued, or penalties collected. (Sec. 7) Provides for warnings in lieu of citations. (Sec. 8) Reduces penalties for nonserious violations and where there are mitigating circumstances. Directs the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission to assess all civil penalties, giving due consideration to their appropriateness with respect to specified factors. Provides for various reductions of penalties for voluntary compliance program participants or exemplary safe worksites under certain conditions. (Sec. 9) Directs the Secretary to enter into cooperative agreements with States for the provision of State consultation services to employers concerning the provision of safe and healthful working conditions. Makes a State eligible to enter into such an agreement only if its approved plan does not include provisions for federally funded consultation to employers. Requires that at least 15 percent of the annual appropriation to carry out OSHA be expended for education, consultation, and outreach efforts. (Sec. 10) Directs the Secretary to establish: (1) cooperative agreements to encourage the establishment of comprehensive safety and health management systems which include specified required features; and (2) a voluntary protection program, also with specified required features, to encourage the achievement of excellence in both the technical and managerial protection of employees from occupational hazards.
United States · United States Congress · 15 November 1995
Genetic Privacy and Nondiscrimination Act of 1995 - Establishes limitations with respect to the disclosure and use of genetic information. Prohibits disclosure of genetic information about an individual unless specifically authorized by the individual involved, or the individual's legal representative, through a written authorization which includes a description of the information being disclosed, the name of the individual or entity to whom the disclosure is being made, and the purpose of the disclosure. Allows such a disclosure if it is: (1) authorized under Federal or State criminal laws relating to the identification of individuals, or as is necessary for the purpose of a criminal or death investigation, a criminal or juvenile proceeding, an inquest, or a child fatality review by a multidisciplinary child abuse team; (2) required under the specific order of a Federal or State court; (3) authorized under Federal or State law for the purpose of establishing paternity; (4) intended to furnish genetic information relating to a decedent to the decedent's blood relatives for the purpose of medical diagnosis; or (5) intended for the identification of bodies. (Sec. 5) Prohibits any employer from seeking to obtain, obtaining, or using the genetic information of an employee or a prospective employee, or requiring a genetic test of an employee or prospective employee, to distinguish between or discriminate against or restrict any right or benefit otherwise due or available to the employee or prospective employee. Provides for enforcement of such prohibition through the same powers, procedures, and remedies that are provided to a person alleging a violation under specified provisions of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. (Sec. 6) Prohibits an insurer offering health insurance from using genetic information to reject, deny, limit, cancel, refuse to renew, increase the rates of, or otherwise affect health insurance. Requires, if an insurer requests that an insurance applicant (other than a health insurance applicant) take a genetic test, that: (1) the use of the results of such test be disclosed to the applicant; and (2) the insurer obtain the applicant's specific written authorization for such disclosure. Prohibits an insurer from using such a genetic test as an inducement for the purchase of insurance. (Sec. 7) Directs the National Bioethics Advisory Commission to report to the appropriate congressional committees its recommendations on the development and implementation of appropriate standards: (1) to provide increased protection for the collection, storage, and use of identifiable DNA samples and genetic information obtained from those samples; and (2) for the acquisition and retention of genetic information in all settings, including appropriate exceptions.
United States · United States Congress · 13 November 1995
Home Equity Conversion Mortgage Act of 1995 - Amends the National Housing Act with respect to the Federal Housing Administration mortgage insurance program for home equity conversion mortgages to: (1) extend the program; (2) increase the mortgage number limitation; and (3) extend program eligibility to certain multifamily residences.
United States · United States Congress · 7 November 1995
ERISA Clarification Act of 1995 - Directs the Secretary of Labor to issue guidance on the application of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to insurance company general accounts. Requires such guidance to: (1) be for purposes of determining, in cases where an insurer issues one or more policies to or for the benefit of an employee benefit plan, which assets of the insurer (other than plan assets held in its separate accounts) constitute assets of the plan for purposes of specified provisions of ERISA and the Internal Revenue Code; and (2) provide that assets not treated as plan assets under certain provisions not be treated as plan assets under other provisions. Authorizes the Secretary to exclude any assets of the insurer with respect to its operations, products, or services from treatment as plan assets.
United States · United States Congress · 6 November 1995
Condemns the assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. Extends condolences to his family and to all the people of Israel. Expresses admiration for his historic contributions and support for the government of Acting Prime Minister Shimon Peres. Reaffirms a commitment to the process of building a just and lasting peace between Israel and its neighbors. Provides for the adjournment of the Senate as a further mark of respect for Rabin.
United States · United States Congress · 24 October 1995
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Individual's Rights Subtitle A: Review of Protected Health Information by Subjects of the Information Subtitle B: Establishment of Safeguards Title II: Restrictions on Use and Disclosure Title III: Sanctions Subtitle A: Civil Sanctions Subtitle B: Criminal Sanctions Title IV: Miscellaneous Medical Records Confidentiality Act of 1995 - Defines "health information trustee" (HIT) to mean a person or entity that creates, receives, obtains, maintains, uses, or transmits protected health information (PHI) and any employee, agent, or contractor of such a person. Title I: Individual's Rights - Subtitle A: Review of Protected Health Information by Subjects of the Information - Requires a HIT to permit an individual who is the subject of PHI to inspect and copy the information, subject to cost reimbursement and exceptions. (Sec. 102) Provides for correction or amendment of PHI, written notice of a HIT's information practices, and development of a model notice. Subtitle B: Establishment of Safeguards - Requires a HIT to maintain: (1) administrative, technical, and physical confidentiality safeguards; and (2) for at least seven years, a record of any PHI disclosure not related to treatment. Title II: Restrictions on Use and Disclosure - Prohibits disclosures except: (1) as allowed under this title; (2) compatible with the purposes for which the information was obtained; and (3) in the minimum amount necessary to accomplish the disclosure's purpose. (Sec. 202) Regulates disclosure authorizations: (1) related to treatment or payment, including providing for revocation or amendment of authorization and development and dissemination of model authorizations; and (2) not related to treatment or payment. (Sec. 204) Allows disclosure to a certified health information service for the purpose of creating nonidentifiable health information. Provides for certification. (Sec. 205) Specifies the circumstances in which disclosure is allowed: (1) to an individual's next of kin; (2) to any other person; and (3) after death. (Sec. 207) Allows disclosure to a health oversight agency for an oversight function authorized by law. (Sec. 208) Allows specified entities to disclose PHI to a public health authority or other person authorized by law for use in a legally authorized disease or injury report, public health surveillance, or public health investigation or intervention. (Sec. 209) Specifies the circumstances in which disclosure to a certified institutional review board is allowed. Provides for certification. (Sec. 210) Allows specified entities to disclose PHI in connection with certain judicial or administrative proceedings. (Sec. 211) Allows specified entities to disclose PHI pursuant to a subpoena if certain procedures are followed. Sets forth challenge procedures. (Sec. 212) Regulates disclosure related to government subpoenas, warrants, and summonses. (Sec. 213) Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to promulgate standards for disclosing, authorizing, and authenticating protected health information in electronic form. Title III: Sanctions - Subtitle A: Civil Sanctions - Imposes on HITs a civil penalty for substantial and material failure to comply with this Act. Provides, if the violations have occurred with such frequency as to constitute a general business practice, for a higher civil penalty or exclusion from Medicare and Medicaid (titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act) or any other federally funded health care programs. (Sec. 302) Allows an individual aggrieved by a violation of this title to bring a civil action for preliminary and equitable relief, actual or liquidated damages, and punitive damages. Allows assessment of attorney's fees. Subtitle B: Criminal Sanctions - Provides for criminal fines and imprisonment for violations of this title. Title IV: Miscellaneous - Declares that: (1) this Act, subject to exceptions, preempts State law; and (2) a HIT that makes a disclosure permitted by this title shall not be liable to the individual for the disclosure under common law.
United States · United States Congress · 19 October 1995
Repeals a Federal provision limiting salary increases for Federal judges or Supreme Court Justices to those specifically authorized by Act of Congress. Amends the Federal judicial code to make the cost of living adjustments in judicial salaries effective in the first pay period beginning on or after January 1 each year (currently, such adjustments are triggered by General Schedule adjustments).
United States · United States Congress · 13 October 1995
Jerusalem Embassy Relocation Implementation Act of 1995 - Declares it to be U.S. policy that: (1) Jerusalem remain an undivided city in which the rights of every ethnic religious group are protected; (2) Jerusalem be recognized as the capital of the State of Israel; and (3) the U.S. Embassy in Israel be relocated to Jerusalem no later than May 31, 1999. States that not more than 50 percent of the funds appropriated for FY 1999 to the Department of State for "Acquisition and Maintenance of Buildings Abroad" may be obligated in the fiscal year until the Secretary of State determines, and reports to the Congress, that the Embassy has opened. Makes specified amounts of such funds available until expended in certain fiscal years only for construction and other costs associated with relocating the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem. Requires the Secretary of State to report to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate on: (1) the Department of State's plan to implement this Act; and (2) progress made toward opening the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem.
United States · United States Congress · 13 October 1995
Jerusalem Embassy Relocation Implementation Act of 1995 - Declares it to be U.S. policy that: (1) Jerusalem remain an undivided city in which the rights of every ethnic religious group are protected; (2) Jerusalem be recognized as the capital of the State of Israel; and (3) the U.S. Embassy in Israel be relocated to Jerusalem no later than May 31, 1999. States that not more than 50 percent of the funds appropriated for FY 1999 to the Department of State for "Acquisition and Maintenance of Buildings Abroad" may be obligated in the fiscal year until the Secretary of State determines, and reports to the Congress, that the Embassy has opened. Makes specified amounts of such funds available until expended in certain fiscal years only for construction and other costs associated with relocating the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem. Requires the Secretary of State to report to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate on: (1) the Department of State's plan to implement this Act; and (2) progress made toward opening the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem.
United States · United States Congress · 12 October 1995
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Repeal of the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 Title II: Enactment of the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1995 Title III: Conforming Changes to Other Statutes Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1995 - Title I: Repeal of the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 - Repeals the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 (PUHCA). Title II: Enactment of the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1995 - Declares that this Act does not apply to persons previously exempted from regulations under the PUHCA. Authorizes the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to institute proceedings to terminate any such exemption if termination would be necessary for regulating the rates of a public utility company and for protecting consumers. Empowers FERC to exempt any person or transaction from this title if it finds that regulation of such person or transaction is irrelevant to the rates of a public utility company. Prescribes procedural guidelines for both FERC and State access to holding company records (including subsidiaries and affiliates). Retains the jurisdiction of FERC and State commissions to determine whether a public utility company may recover in rates any costs of affiliate transactions. Grants FERC certain Federal Power Act enforcement powers. Transfers from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to FERC all resources that relate primarily to the functions vested in FERC by this Act. Expresses the sense of the Congress that all personnel of the Office of Public Utility Regulation of the SEC should be transferred to FERC. Title III: Conforming Changes to Other Statutes - Amends the Federal Power Act to repeal its conflict of jurisdiction guidelines.
United States · United States Congress · 12 October 1995
Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments of 1995 - Amends the Safe Drinking Water Act to require the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to make capitalization grants to States to establish State drinking water treatment revolving loan funds. Authorizes State Governors to transfer amounts between such funds and water pollution control revolving funds established under the Clean Water Act. Requires the Administrator to reserve one and one-half percent of drinking water funds for capitalization grants to Indian tribes for the improvement of public water systems. Authorizes the Administrator to make such grants to the District of Columbia and specified U.S. territories. Authorizes: (1) States to reserve a certain amount of such grants for technical assistance for small public water systems; and (2) the Administrator to make grants to Alaska for the benefit of Alaska Native villages. Requires the Administrator, beginning in FY 1999, to withhold a specified percentage (five percent for FY 1999, ten percent for FY 2000, and 15 percent for each subsequent fiscal year) of each capitalization grant made to a State unless the State has met specified requirements under this Act regarding new system capacity. Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) projects eligible for assistance, including assistance for disadvantaged communities, and source water quality protection and capacity development; and (2) State loan fund administration, technical assistance, and management. Requires: (1) States to prepare annual intended use plans for funds; (2) priority for the use of funds to be given to projects that address the most serious risk to human health, that are necessary to ensure compliance with specified requirements (including filtration requirements), and that assist most in need on a per household basis according to State affordability criteria; and (3) each State, after notice and opportunity for public comment, to publish and periodically update a list of projects in the State that are eligible for assistance, including the priority assigned to each project and the expected funding schedule for each project. Directs the Administrator to: (1) conduct annual reviews and audits as the Administrator considers appropriate, or require each State to have the reviews and audits independently conducted, in accordance with specified single audit requirements; (2) submit to the Congress a periodic survey and assessment of the needs for facilities in each State eligible for assistance; (3) conduct an evaluation of the effectiveness of the State loan funds through FY 1999; and (4) publish such regulations and guidance as necessary. Specifies that the failure or inability of any public water system to receive funds, or a delay in obtaining the funds, shall not alter the obligation of the system to comply in a timely manner with all applicable drinking water standards and requirements under the Act. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Administrator to reserve: (1) $10 million for health effects research on specified drinking water contaminants, giving priority to research concerning the health effects of cryptosporidium, disinfection byproducts, and arsenic and for the implementation of a research plan for subpopulations at greater risk of adverse effects; (2) $2 million to pay the costs of monitoring for unregulated contaminants; and (3) specified sums for small system technical assistance. (Sec. 4) Requires the Administrator to publish a maximum contaminant level goal (MCLG) and promulgate a national primary drinking water (NPDW) regulation for each contaminant (with exceptions) for which a NPDW regulation has been promulgated as of the date of this Act's enactment if the Administrator determines, based on adequate data and appropriate peer-reviewed scientific information and an assessment of health risks, that the contaminant may have an adverse effect on the health of persons and the contaminant is known to occur, or there is a substantial likelihood that it will occur, in public water systems with a frequency and at levels of public health concern. Directs the Administrator: (1) not later than July 1, 1996, to publish and periodically update a list of contaminants that are known or anticipated to occur in drinking water provided by public water systems that may warrant regulation; and (2) at such time as such list is published, to describe available and needed information and research regarding the health effects of the contaminants, their occurrence in drinking water, and treatment techniques and other feasible means to control the contaminants. Requires (with exceptions) the Administrator, by July 1, 2001, and every five years thereafter, to take one of the following actions for not fewer than five contaminants: (1) publish a determination that information available to the Administrator does not warrant the issuance of an NPDW regulation; (2) publish a determination that an NPDW regulation is warranted and proceed to propose an MCLG and NPDW regulation not later than two years after the date of publication of the determination; and (3) propose an MCLG and NPDW regulation. Sets forth provisions regarding insufficient information to make, and the basis for, such determinations. Requires the Administrator to give priority to those contaminants not currently regulated that are associated with the most serious adverse health effects and that present the greatest potential risk to human health due to their presence in drinking water provided by public water systems. Sets forth provisions regarding public comment and judicial review. Authorizes the Administrator to promulgate an interim NPDW regulation for a contaminant to address an urgent threat to public health. Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) schedules for publication of MCLGs and NPDW regulations; (2) substitution of contaminants; and (3) promulgation, by December 31, 1995, of an information collection rule to facilitate further revisions to the NPDW regulation for disinfectants and disinfectant byproducts, including information on microbial contaminants such as cryptosporidium. (Sec. 5) Requires the Administrator, in carrying out the Act, to: (1) use the best available, peer-reviewed science and supporting studies conducted in accordance with sound and objective scientific practices, and data collected by accepted or best available methods; and (2) ensure that the presentation of information on public health effects is comprehensive, informative, and understandable. Directs the Administrator to conduct a cost-benefit analysis for each NPDW regulation containing a maximum contaminant level (MCL) or treatment technique before it is proposed, including consideration of alternative MCLs or treatment requirements. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 6) Permits the MCLG for contaminants that are known or likely to cause cancer in humans to be set at a level other than zero if the Administrator determines, based on the best available, peer- reviewed science, that there is a threshold level below which there is unlikely to be any increase in cancer risk and the Administrator sets the MCLG at that level with an adequate margin of safety. Requires the Administrator, at the time he or she proposes an NPDW regulation, to publish a determination as to whether the benefits of the MCL justify, or do not justify, the costs. Authorizes the Administrator to establish an MCL for a contaminant at a level other than the feasible level if the technology, treatment techniques, and other means used to determine the feasible level would result in an increase in the health risk from drinking water by: (1) increasing the concentration of other contaminants in drinking water; or (2) interfering with the efficacy of drinking water treatment techniques or processes that are used to comply with other NPDW regulations. Authorizes the Administrator, if he or she determines that the benefits of an MCL would not justify the cost of complying with the level, to promulgate an MCL for the contaminant that maximizes health risk reduction benefits at a cost that is justified by the benefits, with an exception. Prohibits the Administrator from establishing an MCL in a Stage I or Stage II NPDW regulation for contaminants that are disinfectants or disinfection byproducts, or to establish an MCL or treatment technique requirement for the control of cryptosporidium. Sets forth provisions regarding: (1) judicial review; (2) disinfectants and disinfectant byproducts; and (3) review of standards. (Sec. 7) Requires the Administrator to promulgate NPDW regulations for: (1) arsenic according to a specified schedule and develop and carry out a comprehensive plan for research in support of drinking water rulemaking and take other specified steps regarding assessment, proposed regulation, and final regulation for arsenic; (2) radon, providing for an MCL of 3,000 picocuries per liter; and (3) sulfates. (Sec. 10) Directs the Administrator to propose a regulation that describes treatment techniques that meet the requirements for filtration that are feasible for community water systems serving a population of 3,300 or fewer and noncommunity water systems. (Sec. 12) Directs the Administrator to issue guidance or regulations regarding system treatment technologies. Authorizes the Administrator to make grants to institutions of higher learning to establish and operate not fewer than five small public water system technology assistance centers in the United States. (Sec. 13) Revises the variance provisions of the Act to: (1) allow public water systems to receive a variance on the condition that they install and operate best available treatment technology; and (2) authorize the Administrator (or a State with primary enforcement responsibility for public water systems) to grant to public water systems serving a population of 10,000 or fewer a variance for compliance with a requirement specifying an MCL or treatment technique contained in an NPDW regulation if a system cannot afford to comply with the regulation and adequate protection of public health is ensured. (Sec. 15) Requires each State to: (1) obtain the legal authority or other means to ensure that all new community water systems and new nontransient, noncommunity water systems commencing operation after October 1, 1996, demonstrate technical, managerial, and financial capacity with respect to each NPDW regulation in effect, or likely to be in effect, on the date of commencement of operations; (2) prepare, periodically update, and submit to the Administrator a list of community water systems and nontransient, noncommunity water systems that have a history of significant noncompliance and report to the Administrator; and (3) develop and implement a strategy to assist public water systems in acquiring and maintaining technical, managerial, and financial capacity. Directs the Administrator to support: (1) the States in developing capacity development strategies; and (2) the network of university-based Environmental Finance Centers in providing training and technical assistance to State and local officials in developing the capacity of public water systems, including the establishment of a national public water systems capacity development clearinghouse. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 16) Requires public water systems receiving assistance from a State Revolving Loan Fund to be operated by a trained and certified operator. Authorizes the Administrator to withhold funds that would otherwise be allocated to the State, or require the repayment of an amount equal to the amount of any such assistance, for noncompliance. (Sec. 17) Directs each State to: (1) delineate the source water protection areas for community water systems in the State using hydrogeologic information considered to be reasonably available and appropriate by the State; and (2) conduct vulnerability assessments in source water areas determined to be a priority by the State. Authorizes States to establish source water quality partnership petition programs to assist in the local development of a voluntary, incentive-based partnership to reduce the presence in drinking water of contaminants and to obtain Federal and State financial or technical assistance. (Sec. 18) Extends the date for submitting State regulations to retain primacy for new or revised drinking water standards. Grants States interim primary enforcement authority. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 19) Requires the Administrator to review existing monitoring requirements for not fewer than 12 contaminants within two years. Authorizes: (1) States to establish alternative monitoring programs, except for regulations applicable to a microbial contaminant or an indicator of such a contaminant, subject to specified requirements; and (2) the Administrator or a State to suspend quarterly monitoring requirements applicable to small systems for any contaminant (other than a microbial contaminant or such an indicator that causes an acute effect or a contaminant formed in the treatment process or distribution system) that is not detected during the first quarterly sample in a monitoring cycle. Directs the Administrator to promulgate regulations establishing the criteria for a monitoring program for unregulated contaminants and to list up to 20 contaminants. Requires all systems serving more than 10,000 people to monitor for such contaminants. Authorizes appropriations. Requires the Administrator to establish a national database containing information on the occurrence of regulated and unregulated contaminants. (Sec. 20) Requires each owner or operator of a public water system to give notice to those served by the system: (1) of any failure of the system to comply with an applicable maximum contaminant level or treatment technique requirement of, or a testing procedure prescribed by, an NPDW regulation or to perform required monitoring; (2) if the system is subject to a variance granted for an inability to meet a maximum contaminant level requirement or is subject to a granted exemption, of the existence of the variance or exemption and of any failure to comply with the requirements of any schedule prescribed pursuant to the variance or exemption; and (3) of the concentration level of any unregulated contaminant for which the Administrator has required public notice. Directs the Administrator to prescribe the manner, frequency, form, and content for giving notice. Specifies that such regulations shall provide for different frequencies of notice based on the differences between violations that are intermittent or infrequent and violations that are continuous or frequent and shall take into account the seriousness of any potential adverse health effects that may be involved. Permits a State to establish alternative notification requirements. Sets forth reporting requirements. (Sec. 21) Revises enforcement provisions of the Act to permit enforcement actions to be taken by both EPA and a State with primary enforcement responsibility. Directs the Administrator to notify local elected officials before taking enforcement actions against public water systems in nonprimacy States. Authorizes the Administrator or a State to suspend enforcement action with respect to a violation for a two-year period if the violation is to be corrected through a consolidation or restructuring during that period. Requires States to adopt administrative penalties of at least $1,000 per violation for large systems. Increases the maximum amount for an administrative penalty imposed by EPA from $5,000 to $25,000 per violation, but only after a hearing on the record. (Sec. 22) Waives the sovereign immunity of Federal agencies, subject to specified limitations. Allows citizens and States to seek penalties for all violations of the Act at Federal facilities. (Sec. 23) Authorizes appropriations for research with respect to the safe supply of drinking water. Directs the Administrator to: (1) develop and periodically update an integrated risk characterization strategy for drinking water quality; and (2) develop and carry out a research plan to support the development and implementation of rules regarding enhanced surface water treatment, disinfectant and disinfection byproducts, and ground water disinfection. Sets forth reporting requirements. (Sec. 24) Revises the definition of "public water system" to include water for human consumption through pipes or other constructed conveyances. Excludes from regulation connections to non-piped systems where alternative water supplies or treatment to levels that are equivalent to NPDW regulations is provided before the water is used for drinking or cooking. (Sec. 25) Authorizes the Administrator to makes grants to States for the development and implementation of State programs for the protection of groundwater resources. Prohibits any such grant from being used for more than half of the cost of the program. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Administrator to study and report to the Congress on the extent and seriousness of contamination of private sources of drinking water that are not regulated under this Act. Authorizes the Administrator to reestablish a partnership between the Robert S. Kerr Environmental Research Laboratory and the National Center for Ground Water Research, a university consortium, to conduct research, training, and technology transfer for groundwater quality protection and restoration. (Sec. 26) Prohibits the use (after June 19, 1986, in the installation or repair of any public water system or in any plumbing in a facility providing water for human consumption) or sale (effective two years after this Act's enactment) of any pipe, or plumbing fitting or fixture, that is not lead free, with exceptions. Directs the Administrator to: (1) provide accurate and timely technical information and assistance to qualified third-party certifiers in the development of voluntary standards and testing protocols for the leaching of lead from new plumbing fittings and fixtures that are intended by the manufacturer to dispense water for human ingestion; and (2) promulgate regulations setting a health effects-based performance standard establishing maximum leaching levels from new plumbing fittings and fixtures that are intended by the manufacturer to dispense water for human ingestion if a voluntary standard is not established within a year. Repeals Federal law encouraging the use of geothermal heat pumps that return water to the distribution lines of public water systems. (Sec. 27) Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to issue a regulation establishing a quality level for each contaminant in bottled water or make a finding that a regulation is unnecessary to protect the public health because the contaminant is contained in water in the public water systems and not in water used for bottled drinking water. (Sec. 28) Directs the Administrator to: (1) identify and rank sources of pollution with respect to the relative degree of risk of adverse effects on human health, the environment, and public welfare; (2) estimate the private and public costs associated with each source of pollution and the costs and benefits of complying with regulations designed to protect against risks associated with such sources and those associated with major Federal actions selected by the Administrator that have the most significant impact on human health or the environment; (3) identify reasonable opportunities to achieve significant risk reduction through modifications in environmental regulations and programs and other Federal actions with impacts on human health, the environment, or public welfare; (4) identify, explain, and determine research that would reduce uncertainties associated with the risks; and (5) consider and estimate the monetary and other values of the benefits associated with reducing risk to human health and the environment. Sets forth reporting requirements. Directs the Science Advisory Board to conduct a technical review of Administrator's report in public session before submission to the Congress. (Sec. 29) Authorizes the Chief of the Army Corps of Engineers to modernize the Washington Aqueduct. Authorizes appropriations. Modifies the membership of the National Drinking Water Advisory Council to include two members representing small, rural water systems.
United States · United States Congress · 29 September 1995
Senior Citizens Health Care Freedom to Contract Act of 1995 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to declare that nothing in such title shall prohibit a physician or other provider from entering into a private health services contract with a Medicare beneficiary for which no claim for payment is to be submitted under the program.
United States · United States Congress · 29 September 1995
Requires the Senate and the House of Representatives to assemble in the Hall of the House on October 11, 1995, to remember the veterans and those who served on the home front in closing the commemoration of the 50th Anniversary of World War II. Designates November 4 through 11, 1995, as a Week of National Remembrance and the Closing of the 50th Anniversary of World War II. Calls for National Days of Prayer on November 4 through 5, 1995, and a World War II Education Day across America on November 8, 1995. Requires commemorations during such week to include the dedication of the future site of the Nation's World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C. Designates Veterans Day, November 11, 1995, as a "National Day of Observance and Celebration of the 50th Anniversary of World War II. Urges each State Governor and chief executive of political subdivisions of each State to issue a proclamation calling upon citizens to participate on November 11, 1995, at 11 o'clock a.m. in the ringing of the Bells of Peace and Freedom 50 times to signify the 50 years without a world war and the world's hope to achieve another 50 years of peace and freedom.
United States · United States Congress · 28 September 1995
Capital Formation and Jobs Creation Act of 1995 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a 50 percent income tax deduction for the net capital gain of both corporate and noncorporate taxpayers. Requires indexing, based on the gross domestic product deflator, of the adjusted basis of certain assets (corporate stock and tangible property that is a capital asset or property used in a trade or business) that have been held for more than one year at the time of sale or other transfer, solely for the purpose of determining gain or loss. Allows an itemized deduction for losses arising from the sale or exchange of a principal residence.
United States · United States Congress · 25 September 1995
Amends the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 to revise and rename it the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1995. Instructs the Secretary of Energy (the Secretary) to: (1) develop and operate a repository for the permanent geologic disposal of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste; (2) accept spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste by no later than January 31, 1998, at facilities designated pursuant to certain interim storage facility contracts; (3) provide for the transportation of such wastes (including procuring all systems and components necessary to transport such fuel and waste among facilities comprising the Integrated Management System established by this Act); and (4) pursue expeditiously the development of each component of the integrated management system. Establishes an integrated management system for spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste, including its storage, transportation, and disposal. Prescribes guidelines under which the Secretary is charged with the development and operation of a rail spur originating in Lincoln County, Nevada, and terminating at the interim storage facility site. Provides for intermodal transfer pending direct rail access. Sets a deadline by which the Secretary must develop the capability to commence rail to truck intermodal transfer at Caliente, Nevada. Requires the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to enter into a Memorandum of Understanding with the City of Caliente and Lincoln County, Nevada, to advise the Commission regarding intermodal transfer and to facilitate on-site representation. Prescribes procedural guidelines for the availability by January 31, 1998 of: (1) railroads; (2) transportation planning and requirements; (3) interim storage facilities; (4) permanent disposal; and (5) land withdrawal. Prescribes guidelines for consultation, financial, and technical assistance between the Secretary and the State of Nevada. Instructs the Secretary to: (1) offer the State of Nevada and the affected local governmental entity an opportunity to designate an on-site oversight representative; and (2) offer to enter into separate benefits agreements with the State of Nevada and certain affected Counties concerning the integrated management system. Establishes a Review Panel to advise the Secretary on the integrated management system. Prescribes a fee schedule for electricity generated by civilian nuclear power reactors and spent nuclear fuel used to generate electricity in a civilian nuclear power reactor. Provides that payment of a one-time fee on either spent nuclear fuel used to generate electricity in a civilian nuclear power reactor, or the high- level radioactive waste derived from it, relieves the responsible party from further financial obligation to the Federal Government for its long-term storage or permanent disposal. Sets forth advance contract prerequisites for utilization or production facility license renewals under the Atomic Energy Act of 1954. Continues the Nuclear Waste Fund and the Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management. Directs the Secretary to: (1) issue a final rule establishing the appropriate portion of the costs of managing high-level radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel allocable to the interim storage or permanent disposal of high-level radioactive waste from atomic energy defense activities and spent nuclear fuel foreign research reactors; and (2) advise the Congress annually of the amount of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste from atomic energy defense activities requiring management in the integrated spent nuclear fuel management system. Prescribes a prioritization scheme for the allocation of funds: (1) to components of the integrated management system; and (2) from the Nuclear Waste Fund. States that actions authorized by this Act shall be governed solely in accordance with the provisions of specified statutes. Grants the United States courts of appeals original and exclusive jurisdiction over civil actions under this Act. Prescribes guidelines for NRC licensing hearings. Prohibits the Secretary from conducting site-specific activities for a second repository unless the Congress has specifically authorized and appropriated funds therefor. Requires the NRC to promulgate regulatory guidelines for: (1) financial assurances for low-level radioactive waste site closures; and (2) training and qualification of civilian nuclear power plant personnel. Delineates an acceptance schedule for contract holders' spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste. Proscribes: (1) subseabed or ocean water disposal of spent nuclear fuel or high-level radioactive waste; and (2) any obligation of funds for any such related activity. Continues the Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary to take action as necessary to improve the management of the civilian radioactive waste management program to ensure that it is operated to the maximum extent like a private business. States that the program is not subject to civil service regulations. Abolishes the Interim Storage Fund, the Monitored Retrievable Storage Commission, the Office of Subseabed Disposal Research, and the Office of Nuclear Waste Negotiator. Requires the Secretary to present annual schedule and timeline status reports to the Congress. Directs the Secretary to: (1) create a value engineering function within the Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management; (2) employ, on an on-going basis, integrated performance modeling regarding site characterization; and (3) report an action plan (and annual updates) to the Congress regarding implementation of this Act and development of the Integrated Waste Management System.
United States · United States Congress · 22 September 1995
Economic Growth and Price Stability Act of 1995 - Amends the Federal Reserve Act to repeal the mandate of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and the Federal Open Market Committee to maintain long run growth of monetary and credit aggregates in order to promote maximum employment, stable prices, and moderate long-term interest rates. Replaces such mandate with a mandate to: (1) establish an explicit numerical definition of "price stability"; and (2) maintain a monetary policy that effectively promotes long-term price stability. Repeals the mandate of the Board and the Committee to report biannually to the Congress on national economic trends, taking into account unemployment, investment and productivity. Replaces such mandate with a mandate to consult semiannually with the Congress and report on their plans and the time required to achieve price stability. Repeals the Full Employment and Balanced Growth Act of 1978 (Humphrey-Hawkins Act). Amends the Employment Act of 1946 and the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to reflect the provisions of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 19 September 1995
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Public and Indian Housing Title II: Section 8 Rental Assistance Title III: Miscellaneous Provisions Public Housing Reform and Empowerment Act of 1995 - Title I: Public and Indian Housing - Amends the United States Housing Act of 1937 (Act) to set forth public housing nondiscrimination provisions. (Sec. 103) Revises public housing agency (PHA) authority with regard to: (1) ceiling and minimum rents; (2) mixed-income projects; and (3) police officers. Permits high performing PHAs to determine rental rates (within specified ceilings). (Sec. 105) Replaces current annual contribution for low-income housing project provisions with a required PHA housing plan which would include provisions concerning: (1) goals and operating policies; (2) management; (3) rents and charges; (4) economic and self-sufficiency programs; (5) funds use for existing and new or additional units (including dispositions); (6) the operating Fund plan; (7) additional performance requirements; and (8) annual audits. Requires PHAs to establish local advisory boards comprising residents, community representatives, and local government officials. (Sec. 107) Revises contract provisions and requirements. Provides for eviction and three-year public housing ineligibility for drug-related activity, unless the tenant completes a PHA-approved rehabilitation program. (Sec. 108) Provides with regard to a troubled PHA, that: (1) the Secretary (Secretary) of Housing and Urban Development may take possession of a troubled PHA, including any of its projects or functions, and may give such PHA a one-year period to demonstrate satisfactory improvement; and (2) an appointed receiver may abrogate certain contract provisions or dispose of PHA assets or create new PHAs. (Sec. 109) Authorizes PHAs to designate public or mixed-income housing (or portions of projects) for occupancy as elderly housing, disabled housing, or elderly and disabled housing. Requires relocation assistance for displaced tenants. (Sec. 110) Consolidates public and Native American housing assistance (other than section 8 assistance) into a Capital Fund and an Operating Fund. Directs the Secretary to establish assistance formulae to be submitted to the Congress. Sets aside funding for: (1) resident councils and related activities; and (2) an emergency reserve. (Sec. 111) Requires tenants (other than the elderly, disabled, full-time workers, or students) to perform eight hours of monthly community volunteer work. (Sec. 112) Permits PHAs to form consortia and joint ventures, and operate subsidiaries. Eliminates: (1) certain energy conservation requirements; and (2) modernization fund authority. (Sec. 114) Revises assisted housing income eligibility provisions. (Sec. 115) Revises public housing demolition and disposition provisions. Eliminates the one-for-one replacement requirement. Provides, in a proposed disposition, for resident organization purchase opportunity. Stipulates that such provisions do not apply to a disposition in accordance with a homeownership program. (Sec. 116) Eliminates family investment center provisions. Authorizes PHAs to convert public housing projects to tenant-based (voucher) systems. Requires PHAs to do a conversion assessment (market analysis and community impact) for each project. (Sec. 117) Eliminates the family self-sufficiency program. Authorizes PHAs to sell low-income units to residents or conduit organizations. Provides rental and relocation assistance for nonpurchasing tenants. (Sec. 118) Provides for identification and conversion of distressed public housing to tenant-based assistance (vouchers). Title II: Section 8 Rental Assistance - Amends the Act to merge the section 8 voucher and certificate programs into a single voucher program. Sets forth program provisions. (Sec. 202) Amends certain housing Acts to repeal specified preference provisions. (Sec. 205) Includes cooperatives within the assisted housing homeownership option. Revises monthly assistance determination provisions. Title III: Miscellaneous Provisions - Amends the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act to repeal the maximum employment-related limitation on rent increases. (Sec. 304) Amends the Act to remove Rockland County, New York, from the metropolitan statistical area in which it is located for purposes of assisted housing income-related determinations.
United States · United States Congress · 15 September 1995
Family Medical Savings and Investment Act of 1995 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow an individual covered under a catastrophic health plan a deduction in an amount equal to the amount paid by the individual to such individual's medical savings account not to exceed the lesser of: (1) $2,500; or (2) the catastrophic health plan deductible. Allows the deduction whether or not the individual itemizes deductions. Excludes employer-provided coverage under an accident or health plan from the gross income of an employee. Amends Federal law to allow a Government contribution to be made under the Federal Employees Health Benefits program for both a medical savings account and a catastrophic health plan.
United States · United States Congress · 8 September 1995
Iran Foreign Oil Sanctions Act of 1995 - Directs the President to impose certain twelve-month economic sanctions against foreign persons who, with requisite knowledge, export goods or technology that would contribute to Iran's ability to extract, refine, produce, store, or transport petroleum or natural gas products. Waives the requirements of this Act if the President certifies to the appropriate congressional committees that Iran has: (1) substantially improved its adherence to internationally recognized standards of human rights; (2) ceased its efforts to develop or acquire a nuclear explosive device, chemical or biological weapons, or missiles or related delivery systems; and (3) ceased support for acts of international terrorism. Sets forth additional criteria for such a waiver. Directs the President to establish a List of Petroleum and Natural Gas-Related Goods and Technology which shall be subject to the export control restrictions of this Act. Requires the President to report periodically to the appropriate congressional committees on Iran's: (1) nuclear and other military capabilities; and (2) support, if any, for acts of international terrorism.
United States · United States Congress · 8 September 1995
Welcomes His Holiness the Dalai Lama to the United States. Urges: (1) the President to meet with him during his visit and to continue to encourage the Government of the People's Republic of China to meet with the Dalai Lama or his representatives to discuss a solution to the present impasse in their relations; and (2) the Dalai Lama to remind the Tibetan people that as they move forward in their struggle toward preserving their culture and regaining their freedom, the Congress and the American people stand with them.
United States · United States Congress · 11 August 1995
Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA) to allow, notwithstanding specified provisions of the Public Health Service Act (PHSA), dissemination to individuals and entities involved in health care (including practitioners, managed care organizations, insurers, and governmental agencies) written information (or an oral or written summary thereof) concerning: (1) a treatment use for an investigational new drug or an investigational biological product approved for that use; or (2) a use (whether or not the use is contained in the official labeling) of a new drug or a biological product for which a new drug application, an abbreviated new drug application, a certification of an antibiotic drug, or a product license issued under the PHSA has been approved. Sets forth restrictions and requirements. Allows, notwithstanding any other provision of law, dissemination to individuals and entities involved in health care (including practitioners, managed care organizations, insurers, and governmental agencies) written or oral information relating to a use (whether or not described in the official labeling) of a device registered under specified FDCA provisions. Sets forth restrictions and requirements. Declares that, notwithstanding any other provision of law, the dissemination shall not be construed as evidence of a new intended use or considered as labeling, adulteration, or misbranding of the device.
United States · United States Congress · 10 August 1995
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Amendments to the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act Subtitle A: Registration of Pesticides Subtitle B: Minor Use Crop Protection Subtitle C: Conforming Amendments Title II: Data Collection and Improved Procedures to Ensure that Tolerances Safeguard the Health of Infants and Children Title III: Amendments to the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act Food Quality Protection Act of 1995 - Title I: Amendments to the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act - Subtitle A: Registration of Pesticides - Amends Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) reregistration provisions to require the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), as soon as the Administrator has sufficient information with respect to the dietary risk of a particular active ingredient (but no later the date of a reregistration determination), to: (1) reassess each associated tolerance (or tolerance exemption) issued under Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA) provisions regarding pesticide residues in raw agricultural commodities; (2) determine whether the tolerance or exemption meets FDCA requirements and whether additional such tolerances or exemptions should be issued; and (3) commence proceedings under both FIFRA and FDCA as are warranted. Establishes a science review board to assist the scientific advisory panel that comments on decisions of the Administrator to cancel a pesticide's registration or change its classification and on regulations issued under FIFRA. Revises the definition of "unreasonable adverse effects on the environment" to include among such effects a human dietary risk from residue that results from use of a pesticide inconsistent with the standard determined by the Administrator to be adequate to protect the public health under FDCA. Subtitle B: Minor Use Crop Protection - Amends FIFRA to define "minor use" as the use of a pesticide on an animal or commercial agricultural crop or site or for public health protection where: (1) the total U.S. acreage for the crop is fewer than 300,000 acres; or (2) the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency determines that the use does not provide sufficient economic incentive to support the initial or continuing registration of a pesticide for such use and there are insufficient alternatives available for the use, any one of the alternatives poses greater environmental or health risks, or the pesticide plays or will play a significant part in managing pest resistance or in an integrated pest management program. Extends the period of exclusive data use for data submitted to support original registration applications for pesticides for an additional year for each three minor uses registered after this Act's enactment and before the expiration of the period of exclusive use, up to a total of three additional years for all minor uses registered by the Administrator if the Administrator determines that: (1) there are insufficient alternatives available for the use or any one of the alternatives poses greater environmental or health risks; or (2) the pesticide plays or will play a significant part in managing pest resistance or in an integrated pest management program. Requires the Administrator, upon the request of a registrant, to extend the deadline for the production of residue chemistry data required solely to support a minor use subject to specified conditions. Applies the same extension conditions to data for reregistrations. Authorizes the Administrator to modify or revoke such extensions if the use may cause unreasonable adverse environmental effects. Permits the Administrator, in handling the registration of a pesticide for a minor use, to waive applicable data requirements if the absence of data will not prevent the Administrator from determining the risk presented by the pesticide and that the risk would not have an adverse environmental effect. Provides for expedited review (within one year of submission) of applications to support minor use pesticide registrations. Provides a procedure for meeting data requirements where a registrant has voluntarily cancelled a registration and another application is pending for registration of a pesticide that is for a minor use and is identical or substantially similar to, or for an identical or substantially similar use as, the cancelled pesticide. Directs the Administrator to establish a minor use program. Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to establish a Department of Agriculture minor use program and a separate matching fund program. Requires the matching fund program to be utilized to ensure the continued availability of minor use crop protection chemicals. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle C: Conforming Amendments - Makes conforming amendments to FIFRA related to pesticide minor uses. Title II: Data Collection and Improved Procedures to Ensure That Tolerances Safeguard the Health of Infants and Children - Directs the Administrator and the Secretaries of Agriculture and Health and Human Services to establish procedures to ensure that pesticide tolerances adequately safeguard the health of infants and children based on the recommendations of a specified report prepared by the National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences. Directs the Secretary of Agriculture: (1) to collect pesticide use data of statewide or regional significance for all the major crops and crops of dietary significance; and (2) in cooperation with the Administrator, to implement research, demonstration, and education programs to support adoption of integrated pest management. Requires Federal agencies to use and promote integrated pest management techniques. Title III: Amendments to the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act - Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA) to redefine "pesticide chemical," subject to exception, as any substance that is a pesticide, or any active ingredient thereof, within the meaning of FIFRA. Defines "pesticide chemical residue," subject to exception, as a residue in or on a raw agricultural commodity or processed food of a pesticide chemical or any other added substance present as a result of a pesticide chemical's metabolism or other degradation. Deems a processed food not to be adulterated, within the meaning of FDCA, if there are present pesticide chemical residues at tolerance levels not considered unsafe. (Current law treats only raw agricultural commodities in this manner.) Sets forth requirements relating to tolerances and exemptions from tolerances for pesticide chemical residues in food, including residues of degradation products, which allow the presence in processed food at the tolerance applicable to the raw agricultural commodity from which the processed food is made. Prohibits establishment of a tolerance that is more stringent than a level the Administrator determines is adequate to protect the public health (i.e., if the dietary risk posed by such level of residues is negligible). Allows a greater than negligible dietary risk if: (1) use protects from greater adverse health effects to humans or the environment; (2) use avoids greater risks from another pesticide; or (3) the unavailability of the pesticide would reduce the availability of an adequate, wholesome, and economical domestic supply of the food. Prohibits issuance of a final rule that revokes, modifies, or suspends a tolerance or exemption until the Administrator has taken any necessary action under FIFRA with respect to the registration of the pesticide involved. Requires the Administrator, where a pesticide is labeled for use on a particular food, to: (1) revoke any tolerance or exemption that allows the presence of a particular chemical or its residue in or on such food if the Administrator cancels the registration of each pesticide that contains the chemical or modifies it to prohibit the pesticide's use in connection with such food; and (2) suspend any such tolerance or exemption upon the suspension of the use of each pesticide that contains the chemical. Provides for: (1) tolerances for unavoidable residues in the case of a residue of a canceled or suspended pesticide chemical that will unavoidably persist in the environment and be present in or on a food; and (2) residues resulting from an application which was lawful at the time of application but with respect to which the tolerance or exemption has since been revoked, suspended, or modified. Prohibits, subject to exception, a State from enforcing any limit on a qualifying pesticide chemical residue (as defined in this Act) in or on any food which is not identical to Federal requirements. Prohibits a State, absent an unreasonable dietary risk, from enforcing a limit on the level of residues in any food if the sale of such food containing such residue level was lawful at the time of application of the pesticide. Authorizes appropriations for increased monitoring of pesticide residues in imported and domestic food.
United States · United States Congress · 10 August 1995
Cancer Screening and Prevention Act - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide for coverage of various specified colon and colorectal screening tests and corresponding payment and frequency limits.
United States · United States Congress · 10 August 1995
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Title I: Wheat Title II: Feed Grains Title III: Cotton Title IV: Rice Title V: Oilseeds Title VI: Peanuts Title VII: Sugar Title VIII: General Commodity Provisions Subtitle A: Amendments to Agricultural Act of 1949 Subtitle B: Miscellaneous Commodity Provisions Subtitle C: Conforming Amendments Subtitle D: Application Agricultural Competitiveness Act of 1995 - Title I: Wheat - Amends the Agricultural Act of 1949 (Act) to extend and set forth wheat loan, payments, and acreage reduction programs. Establishes: (1) a minimum 85 percent loan and purchase level; (2) a $4.00 per bushel target price; and (3) a 75 percent non-paid base acreage. Title II: Feed Grains - Amends the Act to extend and set forth feed grain loan, payments, and acreage reduction programs. Establishes: (1) a minimum 85 percent loan and purchase level; (2) target prices for corn ($2.75 per bushel), oats ($1.45 per bushel), grain sorghums ($2.61 per bushel), and barley (85.8 percent of corn price); and (3) a 75 percent non-paid base acreage. Amends the Food Security Act of 1985 to extend the silage recourse loan program. Title III: Cotton - Amends the Act to extend and set forth upland cotton loan, payments, and acreage reduction programs. Establishes: (1) a $0.729 per pound target price; and (2) a 75 percent non-paid base acreage. Extends: (1) the extra long staple cotton program; and (2) cottonseed and cottonseed oil price supports. Amends the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938 to extend cotton skiprow practices. Amends the Cotton Statistics and Estimates Act to extend cotton classification services. Title IV: Rice - Amends the Act to extend and set forth rice loan, payments, and acreage reduction programs. Establishes: (1) a minimum 85 percent loan and purchase level; (2) a $10.71 per hundredweight target price; and (3) a 75 percent non-paid base acreage. Title V: Oilseeds - Amends the Act to extend and set forth the oilseed loan program. Establishes target prices for: (1) soybeans at $5.50 per bushel; (2) sunflower seed, canola, rapeseed, and flaxseed at $9.75 per hundredweight; and (3) other oilseeds based upon soybean prices. Title VI: Peanuts - Amends the Act to extend and revise the peanut program. Suspends marketing quota and acreage allotment provisions. Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to establish national poundage quotas based upon domestic edible uses. Repeals: (1) undermarketing poundage increases; and (2) the special poundage allocation for Texas. Revises poundage quota transfer provisions. Extends experimental and research programs. Limits: (1) price support increases or decreases to five percent annually; and (2) entry into the New Mexico area marketing association to New Mexico-produced peanuts. Requires imported and exported peanuts to comply with U.S. quality standards. Extends assessment provisions. Title VII: Sugar - Amends the Act to extend and set forth sugar price support provisions. Establishes: (1) the sugarcane target price at 18 cents per pound; and (2) a two-tiered assessment for marketings within and in excess of base amounts. Establishes a procedure to assure the supply of raw cane sugar. Requires the establishment of marketing assessment bases. Amends the Food Security Act of 1985 to extend the reporting requirement regarding third party nation exporting of Cuban sugar into the United States. Title VIII: General Commodity Provisions - Subtitle A: Amendments to Agricultural Act of 1949 - Amends the Act to extend: (1) deficiency and land diversion payments; and (2) support price and established price adjustments. Permits: (1) alternative crops to be planted on 100 percent (currently 25 percent) of crop acreage base without penalty; and (2) planting of crops on up to 25 percent of historical soybean acreage without loss of agricultural program eligibility. Subtitle B: Miscellaneous Commodity Provisions - Amends the Food Security Act of 1985 to extend payment limitations. Amends the Options Pilot Program Act of 1990 to extend the options pilot program. Amends the Agriculture and Food Act of 1981 to extend the National Agricultural Cost of Production Standards Review Board. Subtitle C: Conforming Amendments - Makes specified conforming amendments. Subtitle D: Application - Sets forth application dates for amendments made by this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 9 August 1995
American Family Tax Relief Act of 1995 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a tax credit of $500 for each dependent child under 18 years old. Mandates increases for inflation.
![Official portrait of Sen. Mack, Connie, III [R-FL]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/m000019_200.jpg)