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United States · Official source
2,300 records where Sen. Melcher, John [D-MT] is listed as a sponsor, author, or other actor. Search with topics and years
United States · United States Congress · 5 August 1987
Amends the Farm Disaster Assistance Act of 1987 to extend the reporting date for the ethanol cost-effectiveness study from 90 days to 180 days after enactment of such Act.
United States · United States Congress · 3 August 1987
Technology to Educate Children With Handicaps Act - Amends the Education of the Handicapped Act to add provisions for assistive device resource centers. Directs the Secretary of Education to make grants to States to pay the Federal share of the cost of establishing assistive device resources centers. Directs the Secretary to make State allotments based on the number of handicapped children. Sets forth a minimum State allotment. Requires that each center serve: (1) severely handicapped infants and toddlers; (2) severely handicapped children and youth; and (3) severely handicapped individuals who have attained 21 years of age if the State plan prescribes a targeted population of such individuals. Requires each center to: (1) train and assist specialists in local educational agencies and nonprofit community organizations to evaluate a handicapped student's potential to benefit from assistive devices; (2) instruct teachers, therapists, paraprofessionals, parents, and handicapped students in the appropriate use of assistive devices; (3) provide follow-up services and collect data to determine the effectiveness of the services provided; (4) develop a statewide service delivery system for severely handicapped children; (5) be able to assist in the development of assistive devices to meet the needs of handicapped individuals; (6) disseminate information to local educational agencies and nonprofit community organizations; and (7) provide in-service training to specialists, teachers, parents, and others on the benefits of assistive devices to promote improved educational performance and increased interaction between handicapped and nonhandicapped individuals. Requires each State to assure priority of services for handicapped children from birth through age 21. States that nothing in this Act precludes the provision of center services to handicapped individuals who are no longer eligible for services under the Education of the Handicapped Act. Requires each center to establish an Advisory Committee. Prohibits Federal funds from being used for the operations of such Committee. Sets forth required contents of State allotment applications. Allows any public agency or private nonprofit organization or institution to apply to a State for a grant to establish a center. Makes the Federal share of the cost 70 percent in FY 1988, 65 percent in FY 1989, and 60 percent in FY 1990. Authorizes appropriations to carry out this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 29 July 1987
Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to establish a research program that includes: (1) developing technology for the rapid identification of infectious agents and toxins on farms and within the processing and distribution chain; (2) establishing a statistical framework for purposes of health risk assessment related to contamination of the animal product food chain by these infectious agents and toxins; (3) analyzing the animal product food chain to determine the most effective point for preventive intervention; and (4) developing techniques to monitor the production, processing, and distribution of food animals and their food product derivatives in order to detect potential microbiological or chemical agents. Authorizes the Secretary to award grants for the funding of projects to decrease the susceptibility of food products of animal origin to infectious or toxic agents. Identifies entities eligible for such grants. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 22 July 1987
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend through 1992 the period during which qualified mortgage bonds and mortgage credit certificates may be issued. (Under current law, authority for these programs is due to expire as of 1989.)
United States · United States Congress · 22 July 1987
Recognizes the importance of the agricultural export enhancement program established under the Food Security Act of 1985. Expresses the sense of the Congress that the Secretary of Agriculture should assure that sufficient FY 1987 through 1990 funding be available for such program.
United States · United States Congress · 21 July 1987
Methanol and Alternative Fuels Promotion Act of 1987 - Amends the Motor Vehicle Information and Cost Savings Act to authorize the Secretary of Transportation to revise the dual fuel passenger automobile driving range for automobiles operating on certain ethanol or methanol mixtures. Provides that for any ten consecutive model years between 1993 and 2005, a dual fuel passenger automobile manufacturer shall receive an average fuel economy increase according to specified guidelines. Declares that if a manufacturer makes methanol- or ethanol-powered or dual fuel passenger automobiles, the fuel economy of an automobile shall be based on the fuel content of the methanol or ethanol mixture used to operate it. Directs the Secretary to report annually to the Congress regarding ethanol and methanol promotion. Amends the Internal Revenue Code to declare that the determination of tax to be imposed regarding methanol-, ethanol-, or natural gas-powered or dual fuel passenger automobiles shall be based on the fuel economy rating established under the Motor Vehicle Information and Cost Savings Act.
United States · United States Congress · 21 July 1987
Family Security Act of 1987 - Replaces the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) (part A of title IV of the Social Security Act) program with the Child Support Supplement (CSS) program. Title I: Child Support and Establishment of Paternity - Subtitle A: Child Support - Amends part D (Child Support and Establishment of Paternity) of title IV of the Social Security Act to require the withholding of child support payments from the non-custodial parent's wages upon the issuance or modification of a child support order. Waives such withholding requirement when both parents agree to an alternative arrangement or the State finds good cause to rely on an alternative arrangement. Amends part A of title IV of the Act to exclude the first $50 of child support payments which were due for a prior month from the determination of a family's need for CSS payments in the month during which such payments were received. Amends part D of title IV of the Act to require States to review State guidelines for child support award amounts at least once every five years. Makes such guidelines binding upon judges or other State officials unless the judge or official, pursuant to criteria established by the State, finds good cause to ignore such guidelines. Requires that child support awards established under such guidelines be reviewed at least once every two years. Requires the review of a child support award which was not established under such guidelines to adjust it in accordance with such guidelines if either parent requests such review and the State determines that the award should be reviewed. Gives parents at least 30 days notice of pending review or adjustment of a child support award. Subtitle B: Establishment of Paternity - Establishes State performance standards for the establishment of paternity which require the State's paternity establishment percentage for a fiscal year to be: (1) at least 50 percent; (2) the State's percentage for FY 1987 increased by three percentage points for each fiscal year after FY 1988; or (3) equal to or greater than the average percentage for all States. Authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services to modify such requirements to take into account variables which may affect a State's ability to meet such requirements. Directs the Secretary to report annually to the Congress regarding the data upon which State paternity establishment percentages are based and the performance of States in establishing paternity. Raises the Federal matching rate to 90 percent (from 68 percent in FY 1988) for laboratory costs incurred in determining paternity. Subtitle C: Improved Procedures for Child Support Enforcement and Establishment of Paternity - Requires the Secretary to establish time limits within which a State must accept and respond to requests for assistance in establishing and enforcing child support orders. Directs the Secretary to establish an advisory committee, composed of State officials involved in the Child Support Enforcement program, with which the Secretary must consult before issuing regulations regarding such time limits. Requires the issuance of final regulations by the first day of the seventh month after this Act's enactment. Requires States to establish automatic data processing and information retrieval systems to assist in the administration of the Child Support Enforcement program within ten years of the State's submittal (by October 1, 1989) of an advance planning document for such system to the Secretary, or, if earlier, by the date specified by the State in such document. Authorizes the Secretary to waive the Act's requirements for such documents and systems if the State has an alternative system which is in substantial compliance with the Act's requirements. Sets the Federal share of establishing such a system at 90 percent so long as time limits have not been exceeded. Directs the Secretary of Labor to give the Secretary prompt access to wage and unemployment compensation claims information and data maintained by the Department of Labor and State employment security agencies. Amends title II (Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance) of the Act to require States to collect the social security numbers of both parents when their child is born for use by State agencies administering Child Support Enforcement programs unless the State finds good cause for not requiring such numbers. Establishes the Commission on Interstate Child Support which, by October 1, 1988, must hold one or more national conferences on reform of interstate child support procedures. Directs the Commission to submit a report to the Congress by October 1, 1989, containing recommendations for improving the interstate establishment and enforcement of child support and for revising the Uniform Reciprocal Enforcement of Support Act. Terminates the Commission on October 2, 1989. Authorizes appropriations for such Commission. Title II: Joint Opportunities and Basic Skills Training Program - Amends part A of title IV of the Act to require States to establish, within three years of this Act's enactment, a job opportunities and basic skills training program (Program) which helps needy children and parents avoid long-term welfare dependence. Requires private sector involvement in planning and Program design to assure that participants are trained for jobs that will actually be available in the community. Requires non-exempt CSS recipients to participate in such Program if State resources permit such level of participation and necessary child care is available to participants. Allows exempt CSS recipients to participate on a voluntary basis. Authorizes States to require or allow absent fathers who are unemployed and unable to meet child support obligations to participate in the Program. Exempts from Program participation an individual who: (1) is ill, incapacitated, or of advanced age; (2) is needed in the home because of the illness or incapacity of another member of the household; (3) is a parent or relative of a child under age three or, at the State's option, less than age three but not less than age one (such exception applies to only one parent in a two-parent family and may be made inapplicable to both parents if the State provides the family with child care); (4) works more than 30 hours or more per week; (5) is a child under age 16 or attending elementary, secondary, or vocational school full time; (6) is a woman in the third trimester of pregnancy; or (7) resides in an area of the State where the Program is not available. Prohibits the requirement that the parent or a relative of a child under age six who is not the principal earner participate in the Program for more than 24 hours a week. Provides that if an individual is attending a school or a course of vocational or technical training designed to lead to employment when he or she would otherwise commence participation in the Program, such attendance may constitute satisfactory participation in the Program, though the costs of such schooling or training shall not be covered by the CSS program. Requires States to make an initial assessment of the education and employment skills of each Program participant and on that basis develop an employability plan for each participant which, to the maximum extent possible, reflects the participant's preferences. Authorizes the State to: (1) require each participant to then negotiate a contract with the State which specifies the duration of his or her participation as well as the activities the State will conduct and services it will provide in the course of such participation; and (2) assign to each participating family a case manager who is responsible for obtaining, on the family's behalf, any other services which may assure the family's effective participation. Requires State Programs to provide a broad range of services and activities, including: (1) high school or equivalent education; (2) remedial education to achieve basic literacy and instruction in English as a second language; (3) post-secondary education as appropriate; (4) work supplementation programs; (5) community work experience programs; (6) job search, training, and placement services; and (7) other employment, education, and training activities as determined by the State and allowed by the Secretary. Requires non-exempt custodial parents who have not attained age 22 or successfully completed a high school education to participate in high school or equivalent education, or literacy or English language education. Authorizes States to require such parents to participate in training or work activities if they fail to make good progress in educational activities or if their participation in such activities is inappropriate. Requires each work assignment to be consistent with the physical capacity, skills, experience, health, family responsibilities, and place of residence of each participant and not involve unreasonable travel. Gives participants the opportunity for a fair hearing in the event of a dispute involving his or her work assignment. Prohibits: (1) wage rates for work assignments from being set at less than the greater of the Federal or State minimum wage; and (2) work assignments which displace a currently employed worker or position, impair existing contracts for services or collective bargaining agreements, or fill the job of a worker who has been laid off or fired. Prohibits States from requiring participants to accept a job which would result in a loss of income to the participant's family unless the State maintains the family's income level through supplementary payments. Requires that Program activities be coordinated with Job Training Partnership Act programs and any other relevant employment, training, and education programs available in the State. Authorizes any State to institute a work supplementation program under which such State reserves sums which would otherwise be payable to program participants as child support supplements and uses such sums instead to subsidize jobs for such participants. Authorizes any State to establish a community work experience program to provide experience and training for individuals not otherwise able to obtain employment. Limits such programs to projects which serve a useful public purpose, utilizing, if possible, the participant's prior training, experience, and skills. Requires that other Program activities be coordinated with the community work program so that job placement has priority over participation in such program. Authorizes States to require individuals to participate in job search activities for up to eight weeks after applying for child support supplements and for up to eight weeks in any 12-month period thereafter. Subjects the families of individuals who are required to participate in the Program and fail to do so without good cause to the reduction or elimination of child support supplements. Continues sanctions for a minimum of three months if such individual failed to participate on a previous occasion and for six months if such noncompliance has occurred more than one time previously. Requires the State to notify recipients of any failure to comply with work or training requirements and the actions which must be taken to terminate the sanction. Sets the Federal matching rate for Program costs at 90 percent up to a specified dollar amount and 60 percent thereafter. Sets such rate for administrative costs (for needs assessments, case management services, and agency-client contracts) at 50 percent. Reduces the rate of Federal reimbursement for non-administrative Program expenditures to 50 percent if: (1) more than 40 percent of the non-Federal share of such expenditures is contributed in-kind; or (2) less than 60 percent of such expenditures is targeted at individuals who have received child support supplements for 30 of the preceding 60 months, are custodial parents under age 22 who have not completed and are not enrolled in high school, or are parents in families that are eligible for supplements by reason of the unemployment of the principal earner. Requires States to provide child care (or day care for an incapacitated individual living in the home of a dependent child) for families to the extent that it is necessary to an individual's participation in work, education, and training activities. Provides coverage for certain transportation and other work-related expenses. Sets forth technical and conforming amendments. Requires the Secretary to: (1) publish final Program regulations within one year of this Act's enactment; (2) submit recommended Program performance standards to the Congress within five years of this Act's enactment; (3) study State implementation of the Program; and (4) select five States to participate in three-year demonstration projects to study the relative cost-effectiveness of different approaches for assisting long-term CSS recipients under the Program. Sets forth cost-effectiveness study reporting requirements. Authorizes appropriations for the State implementation study for FY 1988 through 1990 and for the cost-effectiveness study for FY 1988 through 1992. Title III: Transitional Assistance for Families After Loss of CSS Eligibility - Provides a family which loses CSS eligibility due to an increase of earned income with nine months of transitional child care if the State determines such assistance to be necessary for continuing employment and the family has received child support supplements for three of the preceding six months. Terminates transitional child care if the family ceases to include a dependent child or the caretaker relative engages in certain conduct prohibited under the CSS program. Requires families to contribute to the costs of such care on the basis of their ability to pay for such care. Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Act to require a State to continue a family's Medicaid eligibility for four months after the family loses CSS eligibility because of increased earnings if the family has received supplement payments for three of the preceding six months, and for an optional five additional months if the family has received the entire four months of extended Medicaid coverage. Terminates extended Medicaid coverage if the family ceases to include a dependent child or the caretaker relative engaged in certain conduct prohibited under the CSS program. Authorizes States to provide the extended Medicaid coverage by paying a family's expenses for health insurance offered by the caretaker relative's employer (or, if more cost-effective, by the absent parent's employer) or a family's expenses, during the five-month extension period, for enrollment in a group health plan offered to the caretaker relative, a group health plan offered by the State to its employees, or a health maintenance organization. Denies a family the five-month extension period if its earnings exceed 185 percent of the Federal poverty level. Requires States to impose a premium on families receiving the five months of extended coverage, but prohibits its exceeding ten percent of the amount by which a family's monthly earnings exceed $581 (as adjusted to reflect changes in the cost of living). Title IV: Family Living Arrangements - Amends part A of title IV of the Act to condition an unmarried minor parent's receipt of CSS payments on his or her residence with a parent, legal guardian, or other adult relative, or in an adult-supervised supportive living arrangement. Makes such requirement inapplicable if: (1) such individual has no living parent or legal guardian or is not allowed to live with such parent or legal guardian; (2) the health and safety of the child or minor parent would be jeopardized if such individual lived with the parent or legal guardian; (3) such individual has not lived at home for at least one year prior to the child's birth or making a claim for CSS payments; or (4) the State otherwise finds good cause for waiving the requirement. Requires that (where possible) CSS payments be made to the parent or legal guardian on behalf of the minor parent and child. Authorizes States to require minor parents who have not graduated from high school to attend school (and parent-training classes when available) on at least a part-time basis as a condition of their receipt of CSS payments. Alters the definition of a "dependent child" to include a child who is poor because of the unemployment of the principal earner in the family. Authorizes States to increase the number of hours which an individual who received a CSS payment in the preceding month may work and remain eligible for such payments. (Currently, an individual must work less than 100 hours per month to maintain such eligibility.) Authorizes States to count for up to four of the six quarters of work required of a parent in the 13 quarters preceding application for CSS payments such parent's: (1) full-time attendance as an elementary or secondary school student; (2) full-time attendance in a vocational or technical training course; and (3) participation in a Job Training Partnership Act education or training program. Title V: Benefit Structure Improvements - Requires each State to make scheduled reevaluations of its need and payment standards for CSS benefits at least once every five years and report to the Secretary and the Congress regarding the results of the reevaluations. Title VI: Demonstration Projects - Authorizes the Secretary to approve, as alternatives to the CSS program, five-year demonstration projects testing: (1) New York State's Child Support Supplement Program; and (2) Washington State's Family Independence Program. Directs the Secretary to enter into an agreement with four States, by April 1, 1988, for the conduct of two-year demonstration projects testing and evaluating model procedures for reviewing child support award amounts. Provides Federal coverage for 90 percent of the costs of such projects. Requires the Secretary to report the results of such projects to the Congress within six months after completion of all such projects. Amends part A of title IV of the Social Security Act to establish a program providing grants to States selected to conduct demonstration projects testing whether CSS housing costs can be reduced by constructing and rehabilitating permanent housing for rental to CSS recipients who would otherwise require CSS emergency assistance in the form of temporary housing. Provides that, to be eligible for selection as one of two States authorized to conduct such a project, a State must: (1) be currently providing CSS emergency housing assistance; (2) have an acute need for Federal assistance by virtue of the large number of homeless CSS families, and shortages of low-income housing, in the jurisdiction(s) where such project would be conducted; and (3) submit a plan to achieve significant cost savings over a ten-year period through the conduct of such project. Requires that such grants be used to provide permanent housing which is: (1) owned by the State, an instrumentality of the State, or a nonprofit organization; (2) available to families who have been unable to find decent housing at rents that can be paid with CSS aid for shelter; and (3) located in jurisdictions experiencing a critical shortage of such housing. Requires that: (1) the most costly temporary housing be retired from use in the emergency assistance program as permanent housing becomes available for occupancy, unless temporary housing is demonstrably needed; and (2) the costs of providing permanent housing be lower than costs which would be incurred if, instead, the State made CSS emergency assistance payments providing temporary housing. Sets the State contribution to the cost of constructing or rehabilitating such housing at at least the current State CSS share increased by ten percent. Authorizes appropriations for the grant program for each of the first five fiscal years following FY 1987. Amends part A (General Provisions) of title XI of the Act to authorize the Secretary to make grants to States for one- to five-year demonstration projects for CSS children testing financial incentives and alternative approaches to reducing school dropouts, encouraging skill development, and avoiding welfare dependence. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to States for demonstration projects designed to increase compliance with child access provisions of court orders. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1988 and 1989. Directs the Secretary to report to the Congress on the effectiveness of such projects by July 1990. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to States for three-year demonstration projects testing innovative methods for providing suitable foster care arrangements and other necessary social and medical services for infants abandoned by their parents or removed from their parents' custody and placed in a hospital's care. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1988 through 1990. Directs the Secretary to make grants to between five and ten States for three-year demonstration projects increasing the availability of child care in communities by the acquisition or renovation of child care facilities, and the provision of child care transportation services. Favors States that propose to conduct the project primarily in communities having fewer than 50,000 inhabitants. Requires the Secretary to report to the Congress regarding such projects by October 1, 1991. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1989 through 1991. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to up to five States for demonstration projects testing whether the employment of parents of dependent children receiving child support supplements as day care providers will facilitate the conduct of the Program and afford a significant number of families a realistic opportunity to avoid welfare dependence. Title VII: Payments to American Samoa, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Virgin Islands - Amends part A (General Provisions) of title XI of the Act to include American Samoa in the CSS program. Limits Federal funding for American Samoa's program to $1,000,000 for any fiscal year. Increases the total amount of Federal payments which may be made to Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Virgin Islands in any fiscal year under titles I (Grants to States for Old-Age Assistance for the Aged), X (Grants to States for Aid to the Blind), XIV (Grants to States for Aid to the Permanently and Totally Disabled), XVI (Grants to States for Aid to the Aged, Blind, or Disabled), and parts A (Aid to Families with Dependent Children) and E (Foster Care and Adoption Assistance) of title IV of the Act. Title VIII: Waiver Authority - Amends title IV of the Act to add a new "Part F: Waiver Authority," which sets forth the required content of State applications to the Secretary for the approval of demonstration projects experimenting with methods to more effectively assist the poor and reduce their welfare dependence. Prohibits the Secretary from approving the conduct of more than ten projects under part F at any one time. Permits applications to include within their proposed projects: (1) title IV programs; (2) social service block grants under title XX of the Act; and (3) any non-Federal public program within the State which is designed to alleviate poverty. Protects individuals and families included in a project from having their benefits reduced below what they would have been in the absence of the project. Requires State applications for projects involving work, education, or training activities to contain specified assurances, including assurances that: (1) mandatory participants in such activities be provided with child care; and (2) work assignments will not displace current employees or impair existing contracts or collective bargaining agreements. Prohibits the Federal share of project funding from being greater than the Federal share in the absence of such project under the programs included in the project. Authorizes the Secretary to approve projects replacing current entitlement programs with new entitlement programs provided such replacement does not cause a large increase or decrease in Federal funding. Requires the Secretary to notify a State of the approval or disapproval of its project within four months of the submission of the application. Sets forth reporting requirements. Provides that such projects shall terminate after five years unless the State Governor or Secretary terminates the project sooner. Title IX: Technical and Conforming Amendments Relating to Replacement of AFDC Program by Child Support Supplement Program - Sets forth technical and conforming amendments relating to the replacement of the AFDC Program by the CSS program. Title X: Reorganization and Redesignation of Title IV; General Conforming Amendment Relating to Such Reorganization and Redesignation - Reorganizes and redesignates the parts of title IV of the Act.
United States · United States Congress · 21 July 1987
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to permit a partnership, S corporation, or personal service corporation, unless it is part of a tiered structure, to elect to have a taxable year other than the required one, but generally only if the deferral period of the taxable year elected is three months or less. (Current law requires partnerships, S corporations, and personal service corporations, in most cases, to conform their taxable years to the calendar years used by their owners.) Subjects the principals of a partnership or S corporation electing to change taxable years to additional estimated tax requirements to offset any tax deferral resulting from such election. Imposes deduction limitations on a personal service corporation that changes taxable years. Provides that an election with respect to taxable year shall be made by the partnership, S corporation, or personal service corporation and shall be binding on all partners and shareholders. Sets forth the formula for determining the additional tax requirement when a taxpayer: (1) is a partner or shareholder in at least one such entity during any applicable election years of the entity that end within the taxpayer's taxable year; and (2) has an aggregate deferred tax exceeding $200 with respect to the entity. Describes payment procedures. Requires the inclusion of specified information on returns filed by partnerships and S corporations that elect to use a non-required taxable year. Limits the tax deduction permitted to a personal service corporation for amounts paid or incurred with respect to employee-owners when such a corporation: (1) elects to have a taxable year other than the required one; and (2) fails to meet certain minimum distribution requirements regarding non-dividend amounts paid to owners.
United States · United States Congress · 17 July 1987
Expresses the Senate's profound sorrow and regret at the death of economist Walter Wolfgang Heller.
United States · United States Congress · 10 July 1987
Air Passenger Protection Act of 1987 - Amends the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 to direct the Secretary of Transportation to: (1) promulgate regulations requiring air carriers to submit to the Secretary on a monthly basis certain information regarding scheduled domestic air transportation; (2) publish such information in the Federal Register and in monthly public reports; (3) amend regulations regarding computerized airline reservation systems to require that specified flight times and related data be made available to the public; (4) promulgate regulations establishing certain uniform air carrier practices; (5) establish a 24-hour toll-free airline consumer hotline; and (6) establish an Advisory Committee to report to the Secretary and the Congress regarding the appropriate level of capacity in the air traffic control system.
United States · United States Congress · 9 July 1987
Title I: Loan Repayment Program - Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish the Indian Health Service Loan Repayment Program in order to assure an adequate supply of trained physicians, dentists, nurses, and other health professionals for the Indian Health Service. Limits participation in the program to individuals who: (1) are full-time students in the final year of a course of study in an accredited educational institution in a State approved by the Secretary; (2) are in a graduate training program in a course of study approved by the Secretary; or (3) have a degree in medicine or other health profession which is approved by the Secretary. Requires that an applicant for the Program be eligible for, or hold, an appointment as a commissioned officer in the Service or be eligible for selection for civilian employment by the Service. Requires an applicant for the Program to submit an application and sign a contract to accept repayment of educational loans and remain in the Service for the applicable period of obligated service. Requires the Secretary to include in the application and contract forms a summary of the rights and liabilities of an individual whose application is approved. Allows the Secretary to approve only applications from individuals who are trained in a health profession or specialty needed for the Service and to extend a preference to Indians. Provides that an individual becomes a participant in the Program only upon the Secretary's approval of his application and acceptance of his contract. Requires under the contract that: (1) the Secretary agree to pay educational loans on behalf of an individual and to accept such individual in the Service; and (2) the individual agree to accept such loan payments, remain in his course of study until completion, maintain an acceptable level of academic standing, provide certification of the degree awarded in the profession approved by the Secretary, and serve for at least two years in a health program maintained by the Service or by any Indian tribe or organization under a contract with the Secretary. Requires any contract to disclose: (1) that any financial obligation of the United States is contingent upon funds being appropriated; (2) a statement of damages to which the United States is entitled for an individual's breach of the contract; and (3) other statements of the rights and liabilities of the individual and the Secretary. Provides that a loan repayment will consist of a payment of the principal, interest, and related expenses on loans for: (1) tuition expenses; (2) other reasonable education expenses; and (3) reasonable living expenses. Limits to $25,000 the amount of loan repayments for each year of obligated service an individual agrees to service. Provides that individuals who enter into written contracts while undergoing academic training will not be counted against any employment ceiling affecting the Department of Health and Human Services. Requires the Secretary to submit to the Congress annual reports showing: (1) the number and type of health profession training of individuals receiving loan payments; (2) the educational institutions where such individuals are receiving their training; (3) the total number of applications filed and the number filed for each type of health profession; (4) the total number of contracts entered into and the number entered into for each profession; and (5) the amount of loan payments made. Authorizes the Secretary to conduct recruiting programs for the Program. Provides that the authority to detail the Service's personnel will not apply to individuals during their period of obligated service under the Program. Requires each individual who has entered into a written contract with the Secretary to remain in the full-time clinical practice of his profession in the Service for the period required under the contract. Requires the Secretary to determine if the obligated service will be in the Regular or Reserve Corps of the Public Health Service or as a civilian employee of the Indian Health Service. Requires the Secretary to give individuals information regarding the advantages and disadvantages of service as a commissioned officer in the Public Health Service or as a civilian employee of the Indian Health Service. Requires individuals to notify the Secretary before completing training of their desire to be an officer of the Public Health Service. Provides that if an individual does not qualify for appointment as a commissioned officer in the Public Health Service, the Secretary shall appoint such individual as a civilian employee of the Indian Health Service. Allows the Secretary to defer an individual's training completion date to permit an internship, residency, or other advanced clinical training. Provides that no period of internship, residency, or other advanced clinical training shall be counted toward satisfying a period of obligated service. Makes an individual liable for the amount the United States has paid on his behalf under the contract if the individual: (1) fails to maintain an acceptable level of academic standing, voluntarily terminates enrollment or is dismissed from an educational institution in the final year of a course of study; or (2) fails to complete a graduate training program. Entitles the United States to recover specified damages from an individual who breaches his contract by failing either to begin a period of obligated service or to complete such a period. Provides that any obligation of an individual under the Loan Repayment will be cancelled upon his death. Authorizes the Secretary to waive or suspend any obligation under the Program if compliance is impossible or would involve extreme hardship. Describes conditions permitting obligations under the Program to be released by a discharge in bankruptcy. Requires the Secretary to submit to the Congress annual reports on the number of providers of health care who will be needed for the Service, the number of scholarships the Secretary proposes to provide under the National Health Service Corps Scholarship program, and the number of individuals for whom the Secretary proposes to make loan repayments under the Loan Repayment Program during the next three fiscal years. Authorizes appropriations. Title II: Other Recruitment and Retention Provisions - Authorizes the Secretary to reimburse health professionals seeking positions in the Service for travel expenses incurred in visiting an area where they may be assigned. Authorizes appropriations. Requires the Secretary to award grants to Indian tribes to enable them to test innovative techniques to recruit, place, and retain health professionals. Authorizes appropriations. Requires the Secretary to establish a program for all of the Service's employees to receive educational instruction in the history of the tribes they serve and the Service. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes the Secretary to provide grants to colleges and universities to expand and maintain the Indians into Medicine Program (INMED). Requires universities applying for such funds to agree to provide a program which: (1) provides recruitment for health professions to Native American communities; (2) incorporates an advisory board comprised of representatives of tribes and communities which will be served by the program; (3) provides summer preparatory programs for Native American students; (4) provides tutoring, counseling, and support for students enrolled in a health career program; and (5) employs qualified Native American staff. Requires the Secretary to report to the Congress on the INMED program. Authorizes appropriations. Requires the Secretary to establish a program to enable health professionals who have worked for the Service for a substantial period to pursue advanced training or research in areas of study where a need exists. Directs the Secretary to provide incentive special pay to: (1) commissioned medical officers of the Regular and Reserve Corps of the Public Health Service; assigned to positions for which recruitment or retention is difficult in the Indian Health Service; and (2) civilian medical officers of the Service assigned to positions for which recruitment is difficult. Directs the Secretary to establish and update annually a list of positions of health care professionals of the Service for which recruitment or retention is difficult and to pay a bonus to persons in such positions.. Directs the Secretary to establish programs using flexible and compressed work schedules for health professionals of the Service. Exempts such persons from limitations on premium pay for overtime. Directs the Secretary to pay a retention bonus to employees of the Service who have: (1) completed three years of employment; or (2) completed service obligations as the result of acceptance of any Federal scholarship or any Federal education loan repayment; and (3) made an agreement with the Service for continued employment for at least one year. Requires that the retention bonus provide for a higher annual rate for multi-year agreements than for single year agreements, that the entire payment be made at the beginning of the term of service, and that physicians failing to complete the term of service refund the full amount. Directs the Secretary to: (1) establish a three-year demonstration project which uses foreign medical graduates to assist in providing health care in Service facilities; and (2) develop a program to assess the abilities of each foreign medical graduate participating in the project, provide individualized orientation and work assignments to each participant, and prepare each participant to obtain a license as a physician assistant. Directs the Secretary to select at least ten individuals to participate in the demonstration project who: (1) had been licensed to practice medicine in their countries of origin and had done so for at least five years; (2) are proficient in English; (3) are citizens or permanent residents of the United States; and (4) originate from countries which are friendly with the United States. Requires the Secretary to report to the Congress on the demonstration project. Authorizes appropriations. Requires the Secretary to establish an advisory panel composed of physicians or other health professionals of the Service, representatives of tribal health boards, and a representative of an urban health care organization to investigate and report to the Congress on administrative policies and regulatory procedures which impede the recruitment of physicians and health care professionals by the Service. Provides that an employee is entitled to an annuity if he was employed in the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Indian Health Service, a tribal organization, or any combination thereof continuously from December 5, 1979 (currently December 21, 1972) to the date of his separation.
United States · United States Congress · 8 July 1987
Declares that the Congress encourages all Americans to read the Constitution within one year of its 200th anniversary and strongly encourages Members of Congress, Federal judges, and officials of the executive branch to set the example in studying this cornerstone of democratic government.
United States · United States Congress · 1 July 1987
Veterans' Beneficiary Travel Reimbursement Restoration Act of 1987 - Amends Federal veterans' benefits provisions relating to the payment of travel expenses for veterans traveling to a Veterans Administration (VA) health care center for treatment to direct the Administrator of Veterans Affairs, in exercising the authority to make such payments, to make such payments to the following persons: (1) a person receiving veterans' benefits for or in connection with a service-connected disability; (2) a veteran receiving veterans' pension benefits; (3) a veteran whose annual income does not exceed the annual veterans' pension rate or who is unable to defray the expenses of such travel; (4) a person whose travel to a VA facility was incident to a scheduled compensation and pension examination; and (5) a veteran whose travel to a VA facility was required to be performed by a special mode of travel which was either authorized beforehand by the Administrator, or was in connection with a medical emergency. Authorizes the Administrator to deduct from the amount otherwise payable an amount equal to $3.75 for each trip to or from a VA facility. Provides a maximum amount authorized to be so deducted from the reimbursed expenses of veterans making six or more one-way trips during the following calendar month or months. Authorizes the Administrator to increase proportionately the amount permitted to be deducted whenever the amount of the reimbursement itself is increased. Directs the Administrator, with respect to any fiscal year in which he or she exercises the authority to make such payments, to make an allocation to each VA facility, before October 1 of each year, to enable the head of such facility to make such payments to veterans using such facility and authorized to receive such payments. Directs the head of each such facility to use such funds solely for such payments. Directs the Chief Medical Director of the VA's Department of Medicine and Surgery, when it is determined that insufficient payments have been made at any such facility, to authorize payments to be made for the proper amounts, unless the Chief Medical Director determines that making such payments at such lesser level would be in the best interests of furnishing care and services to eligible veterans at such facility. Permits any funds authorized for the making of such payments, but unexpended, to be used by the head of any such facility for support of other authorized direct-health care purposes. Directs the Administrator to take all appropriate steps to facilitate the establishment and maintenance of a program under which organizations or individuals who are volunteering their services to the VA would take responsibility for the transportation of such veterans, without reimbursement from the VA, primarily those residing in those areas which are geographically accessible to such facilities, who seek services or benefits from such VA facilities. Directs the Administrator, no later than six months after the enactment of this Act, to report to the Senate and House Veterans' Affairs Committee on the implementation of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 26 June 1987
Designates the week beginning October 25, 1987, as National Adult Immunization Awareness Week.
United States · United States Congress · 25 June 1987
Small Business Retirement and Benefit Extension Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) to cease, as of 1988, the application of special rules for employee benefit plans that are top-heavy. (A top-heavy plan is one in which the value of plan benefits for specified "key" employees exceeds 60 percent of those for all employees under the plan.) Establishes, as a component of the general business credit against income tax, a credit for the administrative costs incurred by an employer having 100 of fewer employees in maintaining a qualified employee pension plan. Limits such credit to a maximum of $3,000 ($4,500 in the case of a defined benefit plan). Reduces the amount of the credit when the average number of employees during a relevant period exceeds 50. Amends the Tax Reform Act of 1986 and the IRC to: (1) apply nondiscrimination rules for coverage and benefits to certain employee benefit plans as of 1991 (currently 1988); (2) extend from 1987 to 1989 the effective date of amendments relating to the definition of "compensation" with respect to pension, profit-sharing, and stock bonus plans; (3) render nontaxable any annuities purchased for employees by a nongovernmental tax-exempt entity; (4) repeal certain restrictions on distributions of contributions under salary reduction arrangements; (5) delay the effective date for the application of nondiscrimination requirements to tax-sheltered annuities; and (6) repeal the 15 percent tax imposed on excess distributions from qualified retirement plans. Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 to provide, for the administrator of an employee benefit plan having fewer than 100 participants, simplified reporting requirements with respect to supplying plan descriptions and annual reports to plan participants and beneficiaries. Expresses the sense of the Congress that the required Government forms currently in use with respect to qualified retirement plans are not designed so that a person with no experience in the area of employee benefits could complete them. Directs the Secretaries of the Treasury and of Labor to: (1) redesign such forms as they pertain to plans having fewer than 100 participants; and (2) report to the Congress on their actions in this regard. Amends the IRC to provide that if an employer does not operate an on-premises eating facility for employees, 50 percent of the employer's share of an off-premises meal furnished to an employee shall be treated as a de minimis fringe benefit (not includible in the employee's income) provided that: (1) the employer pays no more than one-third of the cost of the meal; (2) a maximum of one meal per working day is provided; and (3) the meal is furnished during normal business hours.
United States · United States Congress · 25 June 1987
Polish Permanent Resident Adjustment Act of 1987 - Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to authorize the adjustment of status to permanent resident for certain Polish nationals who have continuously resided in the United States since July 21, 1984. Requires such aliens to apply for status adjustment within two years of enactment of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 25 June 1987
Makes a supplemental appropriation for FY 1987 to the Department of Agriculture to reimburse the Commodity Credit Corporation for net realized losses.
United States · United States Congress · 19 June 1987
Grants a Federal charter to the Non Commissioned Officers Association of the United States of America, Incorporated.
United States · United States Congress · 19 June 1987
Restores, on an interim basis, certain recently amended procedures for determining the maximum attorney's fees which may be awarded to representatives of Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance (title II of the Social Security Act) claimants for services rendered before the Secretary of Health and Human Services. Directs the Secretary to conduct a study and report to the Congress regarding procedures for determining such fees.
United States · United States Congress · 19 June 1987
Expresses the sense of the Senate that: (1) it is in the best interests of U.S. wheat producers to immediately receive the details of the program for the 1988 crop of wheat established under the Agricultural Act of 1949; and (2) such program should provide for an acreage limitation program under which a farm's wheat acreage would be limited to the wheat crop acreage base for the farm reduced by no more than 27 1/2 percent.
United States · United States Congress · 18 June 1987
Federal Onshore Oil and Gas Leasing Act of 1987 - Amends Federal law regarding competitive leasing of oil and gas for onshore Federal lands to increase from 640 acres to 2,560 acres the units of land open to competitive leasing. Mandates that lease sales be conducted by oral bidding. Requires the Secretary of the Interior to accept the highest bid which is at least one dollar or greater per acre, and to reject all bids for less than such amount. Makes lands available for leasing without competitive bidding if no bids have been received, or such bids are for less than the minimum amount. Requires lease sales to be held at least quarterly in each State, and conditions such a lease upon the payment of specified royalties. Describes circumstances under which certain lands may be leased without competitive bidding. Increases the primary lease term from five to ten years. Authorizes the Secretary to disapprove partial assignments of less than 640 acres outside of Alaska, or of less than 2,560 acres within Alaska. Amends the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act to make leasing in Alaska consistent with that in the lower 48 States. Repeals provisions regarding: (1) determination of favorable petroleum geological provinces; and (2) suspension of noncompetitive leasing. Establishes an interim period during which certain pending lease applications will be processed as they would have been prior to the date of enactment of this Act. Establishes civil penalties for persons who willfully and knowingly misrepresent the value of lands and leases under this Act. Grants to the States concurrent civil and criminal jurisdiction for violations of this Act. States that actions taken by the Secretary to develop regulations and procedures for a competitive oil and gas leasing program (or to hold particular lease sales) shall not be subject to requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 regarding environmental impact statements.
United States · United States Congress · 18 June 1987
Designates June 25, 1987, as National Catfish Day.
United States · United States Congress · 9 June 1987
Rural Letter Carriers Automobile Expense Act - Provides that, for taxable years beginning after 1986, rural mail carriers are permitted to compute the amount of the income tax deduction for use of their automobiles in performance of mail services: (1) by using a standard mileage rate for all miles of such use equal to 150 percent of the basic standard rate; or (2) without applying the limitation on deductions generally applicable in cases when the business use of the automobile accounts for 50 percent, or less, of its use. Prohibits the use of 150 percent of the basic standard mileage rate in determining the allowable deduction if the taxpayer claims an investment tax credit or depreciation deduction for such automobile.
United States · United States Congress · 3 June 1987
Prohibits the proposed enhancement or upgrade in the sensitivity of technology of, or the capability of, Maverick missiles for Saudi Arabia.
United States · United States Congress · 2 June 1987
Designates August 1, 1987, as Helsinki Human Rights Day. Requests the President to: (1) reassert the American commitment to the Helsinki Accords; (2) raise the issue of noncompliance with such Accords with the Soviet Union, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, the German Democratic Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Romania; (3) convey to all signatories of such Accords that respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms is vital to progress in the ongoing Helsinki process; (4) convey to U.S. allies the necessity of unity regarding such Accords; (5) continue his efforts to achieve the release of political prisoners of the Soviet Union, an increase in Soviet emigration, resolution of family reunification cases, and cessation of radio transmission jamming; (6) seek the inclusion, in any concluding document agreed to in Vienna, of a mechanism to sustain human rights progress after the Vienna Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe; and (7) convey to signatory states the desire of the United States for a result at Vienna that will not favor military security at the expense of human rights.
United States · United States Congress · 20 May 1987
Designates the burial site at Arlington National Cemetery where the remains of four unknown servicemen are interred as the Tomb of the Unknowns.
United States · United States Congress · 20 May 1987
Expresses the sense of the Senate that each Senate committee that reports legislation requiring employers to provide new employee benefits should include in such report an analysis of the impact of the legislation on employers (especially small businesses), the economy (in terms of international competitiveness), and employees (in terms of lost jobs).
United States · United States Congress · 19 May 1987
Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to provide coverage for services performed by a physician assistant outside institutional settings.
United States · United States Congress · 15 May 1987
Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome Education, Information, Risk Reduction, Training, Prevention, Treatment, Care, and Research Act of 1987 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to create a new title on acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (Secretary), acting through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control (Director), to prepare and transmit to the Committee on Labor and Human Resources of the Senate and the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives a comprehensive national plan containing specified elements relating to education, information, and risk reduction activities concerning AIDS. Directs the Secretary to submit to the committees each year for the next ten years a revision of the plan. Directs the Secretary, acting through the Director, to make grants to States for the development, implementation, or expansion of State plans for education, information, risk reduction, and other activities relating to AIDS. Requires States, in order to receive grants, to submit an application with specified contents. Directs the Secretary to provide technical assistance to States relating to these grants. Directs the Secretary to make grants to local governments and public and private nonprofit entities for development, establishment, or expansion of programs for targeted education, information, and risk reduction activities relating to AIDS. Directs the Secretary to give grant priority to activities directed toward individuals at highest risk of becoming infected with the acquired immunodeficiency virus. Prohibits grants from being made unless an application with specified contents is submitted. Directs the Secretary to give preference to community-based organizations which are located in, have a history of service in, and will serve specified areas. States that the Secretary may review the content of any educational or information materials developed with grants only for scientific and factual validity. Directs the Secretary to establish a program of fellowships at the Centers for Disease Control for the training of individuals to develop skills in epidemiology, surveillance, testing, counseling, education, information, laboratory analysis, and risk reduction relating to AIDS. Declares that individuals receiving fellowships shall not be counted in determining the number of full time equivalent employees of the Department of Health and Human Services for specified purposes. Directs the Secretary to make grants to international organizations concerned with public health for: (1) programs of education, information, and risk reduction relating to AIDS; (2) projects to train individuals to develop skills and technical expertise regarding AIDS; and (3) epidemiological research relating to AIDS. Directs the Secretary to inform the Secretary of State and the Administrator of the Agency for International Development of grants made under this provision. Prohibits grants from being made unless an application is submitted. Requires that not less than 50 percent of the grants be made through the World Health Organization and, in the Western Hemisphere, through the Pan American Health Organization. Requires grants to be in furtherance of the global strategy of the World Health Organization Special Programme on Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1988 through 1990 for grants to States, for grants to local governments and public and private nonprofit entities, for fellowships at the Centers for Disease Control, and for grants to international organizations. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to public and nonprofit private entities for the development, establishment, or expansion in a service area of networks of comprehensive medical services for individuals who have AIDS or who are infected with the virus. Requires networks to provide: (1) comprehensive services, or referrals to comprehensive services, for such individuals, including specified services; and (2) continuing education for health care personnel involved in the delivery of services to individuals infected with the virus. Specifies allowed and prohibited uses of grants. Prohibits making grants unless an application with specified contents is submitted. Requires entities applying for a grant, prior to applying, to establish a network advisory committee to assist in development of grant applications, provide support for the development, establishment, or expansion of the network, and monitor the implementation of, and the services provided through, the network. Directs the Secretary, in making grants, to give priority to specified types of applicants. Directs the Secretary to make at least one grant each fiscal year to an applicant in each service area in which there is a high incidence of children who are infected with the virus. States criteria for selecting such applicant. Directs the Secretary to make grants to public and nonprofit private entities for projects to demonstrate innovative models for cost-effective delivery of health services to individuals with AIDS. Requires projects supported with such grants to provide for the delivery of health services in conjunction with the comprehensive medical services networks. Prohibits making grants unless an application with specified contents is submitted. Authorizes appropriations for comprehensive medical service networks and for innovative models for cost-effective delivery of health services for FY 1988 through 1990. Directs the Secretary, through the Director of the National Institute of Mental Health, to make grants to public and private nonprofit entities for the development, establishment, or expansion of programs to: (1) provide long-term counseling to individuals who have AIDS or who have tested positively for the presence of antibodies to the virus; and (2) conduct evaluations of the effectiveness of such counseling. Specifies purposes for which grants may be used. Prohibits making grants unless an application with specified contents is submitted. Directs the Secretary, in making grants, to give priority to entities based at, or having relationships with, entities providing comprehensive health services to individuals who have AIDS or who are infected with the virus. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1988 through 1990. Directs the Secretary, through the Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, to make grants to public and nonprofit private agencies for the study of, and projects for the demonstration of, effective methods, with regard to intravenous drug abusers, to reduce the transmission of the virus and provide treatment to individuals who have AIDS or who are infected with the virus. Prohibits making grants unless an application with specified contents is submitted. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1988 through 1990. Amends title IV (National Research Institutes) of the Public Health Service Act to create the National Program on Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome, consisting of: (1) a research program on AIDS, including a research program relating to the prevention of AIDS; and (2) demonstration, education, and other programs for the detection, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of AIDS and for the provision of counseling concerning AIDS. Requires the Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to designate one of the Directors of the national research institutes as the Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome Coordinator. Makes the AIDS Coordinator responsible for administration of the Program. Directs the AIDS Coordinator to develop and implement a plan for NIH to expedite the award of grants, contracts, or cooperative agreements by any agency of NIH for projects relating to AIDS, including projects initiated by investigators not in response to any solicitation for proposals. Requires the plan to provide, in the case of applications made in response to solicitations for proposals, for making of awards or disapproval of applications within six months after the date on which a solicitation is issued. Directs the AIDS Coordinator, in conjunction with the Directors of the national research institutes and in consultation with the National Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome Advisory Board (Advisory Board), to promote cooperation between specified agencies in the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of AIDS. Directs the AIDS Coordinator to prepare and transmit to the Committee on Labor and Human Resources of the Senate and the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives a report with specified contents. Directs the AIDS Coordinator to expand clinical trials of treatments and therapies for AIDS and infection with the virus. Authorizes the AIDS Coordinator to: (1) establish or support the large-scale production or distribution of specialized biological materials or other therapeutic substances for research relating to AIDS and set standards of safety and care for persons using such materials; (2) support, in consultation with the Advisory Board, research relating to AIDS outside the United States in certain circumstances, collaborative research involving American and foreign participants, the training of American scientists abroad and foreign scientists in the United States, and programs of education and training, including education and laboratory and clinical research training; (3) encourage and coordinate research relating to AIDS by industrial concerns in certain circumstances and provide for the exchange of information between Federal agencies and private entities involved in specified ways with therapies and vaccines for AIDS; (4) acquire, improve, repair, operate, and maintain, in consultation with the Advisory Board, laboratories and other real and personal property, make grants for the renovation of facilities, and lease certain spaces for a limited period; (5) enter into contracts and cooperative agreements to expedite and coordinate research relating to AIDS; and (6) maintain and operate the International Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome Research Data Bank. Directs the Secretary, in consultation with the AIDS Coordinator, to establish in NIH a National Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome Advisory Board to: (1) review and evaluate the implementation of the Program; (2) advise and make recommendations to the Congress, the Secretary, the Director of NIH, the AIDS Coordinator, and the heads of other Federal agencies; and (3) maintain liaisons with other advisory bodies and key non-Federal entities involved with the control of AIDS. Requires the Advisory Board to prepare an annual report for the AIDS Coordinator describing the Advisory Board's activities and making recommendations regarding the Program. Authorizes the Director of the Institute to enter into cooperative agreements with and make grants to public or private nonprofit entities for planning, establishing, or strengthening, and providing basic operating support for, centers for basic and clinical research into, and training in, advanced diagnostic, prevention, and treatment methods for AIDS. Specifies permitted uses for Federal payments under a cooperative agreement or grant. Limits support of a center to five years, subject to extension for periods of up to five years, if recommended by a peer review group. Requires, in the Institute, appointment of an Associate Director for Prevention to coordinate and promote the programs in the Institute concerning the prevention of infectious diseases, including AIDS. Directs the Associate Director for Prevention to prepare, for inclusion in a biennial report required by existing law, a description of the prevention activities of the Institute. Requires the Director of the Institute to establish a virus and serum bank in which all human immunodeficiency virus serotypes and serum are available to qualified investigators. States that AIDS is included within the scope of the purpose of the National Institute on Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Directs the Secretary, acting through the Director of the National Institute on Allergy and Infectious Diseases, to make awards, under existing provisions for National Research Service Awards, for the training of individuals to participate in national research efforts relating to AIDS. Requires the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, the Director of the Office of Personnel Management, or the Administrator of General Services to respond to any priority request made by the AIDS Coordinator of the NIH within 14 calendar days.
United States · United States Congress · 14 May 1987
Expresses the sense of the Congress commending the Department of Agriculture on its 125th anniversary. Authorizes and requests the President to issue a proclamation commemorating such event.
United States · United States Congress · 12 May 1987
Volunteer Service Promotion Act of 1987 - Amends the Older Americans Act of 1965 to direct the Commissioner on Aging to make annual grants over a five-year period to no more than 20 and, if practicable, to no fewer than eight eligible States for the creation and operation of volunteer service credit demonstration projects through which homemaker services, respite care for families, adult day care, educational services, and transportation and delivery services are provided by volunteers to older individuals in return for the receipt of similar services when they grow old. Requires each State seeking eligibility for a grant to submit an application describing its proposed program and to provide certain assurances regarding the program's operation. Sets forth reporting requirements.
United States · United States Congress · 7 May 1987
Federal Employees Health Care Freedom-of-Choice Act of 1987 - Amends provisions of law relating to Federal employee health benefits to authorize direct payment or reimbursement for services performed by licensed health practitioners in the State where they practice.
United States · United States Congress · 6 May 1987
Mowa Band of Choctaw Indians Recognization Act - Extends Federal recognition and associated services and benefits to the Mowa Band of Choctaw Indians of Alabama. Restores Federal rights and privileges abrogated by earlier statutes. Provides that nothing in this Act shall diminish any rights or privileges of the Band that existed prior to its enactment and that nothing in this Act alters any obligations: (1) with respect to property; (2) under any contract; or (3) to pay a tax levied before the date of enactment. Transfers all interests in lands held by the Band to the United States to be held in trust for the benefit of the Band. Requires the Band to transfer to the United States any interest in lands acquired after enactment of this Act. Provides that such lands shall constitute the Band's reservation. Authorizes the Band to adopt a constitution that will take effect only after being filed with the Secretary of the Interior. Limits membership in the Band, until a constitution is adopted, to every individual who: (1) is named in the tribal membership roll in effect on the date of enactment of this Act; or (2) is a descendant of any such individual. Provides that membership will be determined according to the constitution after its adoption.
United States · United States Congress · 1 May 1987
Federal Coal Leasing and Utilization Act of 1987 - Makes certain statutory coal production requirements inapplicable to coal deposit leases: (1) which have been determined by the Secretary of the Interior (the Secretary) to have had all recoverable reserves mined out; and (2) which are being held in order to comply with reclamation requirements. Prohibits the disclosure of coal-tract value data by Department of the Interior personnel to anyone not associated with the Department. Establishes criminal penalties for disclosure violations. States that a logical mining unit may include certain noncontiguous areas determined by the Secretary to be incorporated into a single operation under the effective control of a single operator. Repeals the requirement that an approved mining plan must include production and operation standards which assure that the entire unit reserves will be mined within 40 years. Provides that no logical mining unit shall be approved by the Secretary if the total Federal acreage exceeds 25,000 acres (current law combines both Federal and non-Federal acreage). Provides for automatic royalty readjustments at specified percentages for surface-mined coal and for coal recovered by underground mining operations under leases issued before August 4, 1976, or in the case of special bituminous coal mines meeting certain requirements. Provides for royalty readjustments on a reasonable basis, taking into consideration specified factors, for that portion of any pre-August 4, 1976, lease from which income is derived from a supply agreement with any nonprofit rural electric cooperative association. Terminates at the end of ten years and 15 years, 20-year leases that are not producing coal in commercial quantities unless the tenth or fifteenth lease year is extended through annual payment of advance royalties. Sets guidelines for the assessment of such royalties. Authorizes the Secretary to suspend the condition of continued operation upon the payment of continued operation advance royalties. Sets guidelines under which such royalties may be accepted in lieu of continued operation.
United States · United States Congress · 1 May 1987
Amends the Federal criminal code to make it unlawful for an employer to monitor an employee's work phone call unless a repeating audible warning tone is utilized. Allows any person whose call is monitored in violation of this Act to recover civil damages.
United States · United States Congress · 29 April 1987
Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to require foods to include on their labeling the presence and amount of any palm, palm kernel, or coconut oils along with a statement that such oil(s) is a saturated fat.
United States · United States Congress · 29 April 1987
Underground Nuclear Explosions Control Act of 1987 - Makes congressional findings concerning the testing of nuclear weapons. Prohibits the obligation of funds, during a two-year period beginning 180 days after enactment of this Act, for the conducting of an underground nuclear explosion: (1) with a yield greater than one kiloton, except for two test explosions, each with a yield not exceeding 15 kilotons; (2) at a location that is not part of a single designated test area; and (3) unless a public announcement has been made at least 30 days before the date of the explosion. Specifies that such prohibition shall not apply if the President certifies to the Congress (and the Congress approves such certification) that the Soviet Union: (1) has carried out such tests; or (2) has refused to implement reciprocal, in-country monitoring arrangements. Declares that such limitations on nuclear test explosions shall be supplanted by a U.S.-Soviet agreement which makes reductions in the number or yield of underground nuclear explosions permitted under treaties between the United States and the Soviet Union signed before January 1, 1987. Sets forth definitions. Specifies special procedures for considering legislation approving presidential certifications required by this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 28 April 1987
Expresses the sense of the Senate that the President should take immediate action to: (1) provide sufficient funding to increase the number of air traffic controllers to at least pre-strike 1981 levels; and (2) ensure that air safety is given the highest funding priority.
United States · United States Congress · 27 April 1987
Expresses the sense of the Senate that the period of May 23 through May 30, 1987, is recognized as Hokule'a Week, celebrating the return to Hawaii after a two and one-half year voyage of the Polynesian Voyaging Society's sailing canoe.
United States · United States Congress · 23 April 1987
Authorizes the reprinting of the report entitled "Developments in Aging" as a Senate document, including additional copies for the use of the Special Committee on Aging.
United States · United States Congress · 22 April 1987
Older American Indian Services Improvement Act - Amends the Older Americans Act of 1965 to provide that no older American Indian will be prohibited from receiving services under such Act. Requires each area agency on aging having a significant Indian population to: (1) conduct outreach activities to identify older American Indians within their area; and (2) inform older American Indians in their area about the availability of assistance. Requires the Associate Commissioner on Indian Aging to evaluate the adequacy of outreach services. Requires the Commissioner to ensure that contracts are equitably awarded among minorities and to support minority centers of gerontology. Requires the establishment of minority centers of gerontology to improve minority personnel and training programs. Directs the Commissioner to: (1) provide for the dissemination of information on older American Indians; (2) provide inservice training opportunities and courses of instruction on aging to Indian tribes; and (3) carry out special training programs to improve services to older American Indians and minorities. Establishes in the Administration on Aging an Office for Tribal Programs to be headed by an Associate Commissioner on Indian Aging. Requires the Associate Commissioner on Indian Aging to: (1) serve as the advocate for older American Indians in the Department of Health and Human Services; (2) administer grants for Indian tribes; (3) develop research plans and technical assistance for recipients of grants; and (4) convene an Indian aging conference at regular intervals not to exceed two years. Requires the Associate Commissioner on Indian Aging to create and chair an interagency task force on older American Indians. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1988 through 1992. Directs the Commissioner on Aging to establish an interagency task force to make recommendations on facilitating the coordination and improvement of services to older American Indians. Requires the Commissioner on Aging to make a contract with a public agency or nonprofit private organization to study services for older American Indians and to submit a report to the Congress on this study within 18 months.
United States · United States Congress · 22 April 1987
Provides for the processing of current and former Cuban political prisoners as refugees for U.S. entry regardless of the length of such imprisonment. Provides for the issuance of immigrant visas to Cuban nationals without regard to: (1) a section of the Immigration and Nationality Act relating to the refusual to accept the return of nationals; (2) the visa application site; or (3) the date of departure from Cuba for persons applying for visas outside Cuba.
United States · United States Congress · 22 April 1987
Medicare Home Health Services Improvement Act of 1987 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to permit patients to receive Medicare home health services on a daily basis for up to 60 days, and longer when the patient's physician certifies that exceptional circumstances require continued daily services. Provides Medicare coverage of up to three weeks of post-hospital skilled and nonskilled home health care, as long as the cost of such benefits does not exceed the cost of care in a skilled nursing facility for an equivalent period of time. Defines as "homebound" (a prerequisite of eligibility for Medicare home health services) any person who has a condition which restricts his or her ability to leave the home without support or for whom leaving the home is medically contraindicated. Provides Medicare home health coverage for homebound individuals in need of occupational therapy. (Currently, occupational therapy is included only after an individual qualifies for home health services by reason of needing skilled nursing care or speech or physical therapy.) Requires Medicare fiscal intermediaries which perform home health payment services to provide an explanation of claim denials for home health services and promptly notify the parties requesting a reconsideration of such determinations of the results of such reconsideration. Requires fiscal intermediaries to make partial payments of disputed claims when such notice has not been transmitted within 60 days of receipt of the reconsideration request. Makes an intermediary's performance on appeals of home health care payment determinations part of the Secretary of Health and Human Services' overall appraisal of the intermediary. Requires a Medicare home health agency to: (1) protect and promote the rights of each individual under its care; (2) furnish the State licensing entity with the name and social security number of any individual hired by the agency as well as information as to whether such individual has been convicted of a felony; (3) inform the State licensing entity of changes in agency ownership or control; (4) furnish items and services through licensed health professionals or persons who have completed or are enrolled in a training program which meets minimum standards established by the Secretary by July 1988; and (5) include the patient's plan of care within its clinical records. Requires an appropriate State or local agency to conduct a standard survey every nine to 15 months and upon a change in the ownership of, or significant number of complaints against, a home health agency, of the quality of patient care provided by such agencies. Subjects home health agencies which perform poorly on such surveys to an extended survey. Directs the Secretary to evaluate the assessment process, report to the Congress on the results of such evaluation, and make appropriate modifications to such process by 1992. Requires the Secretary to develop and implement criteria and procedures for evaluating plans of correction submitted by home health agencies found out of compliance with Medicare participation requirements. Authorizes the Secretary to impose intermediate sanctions on agencies whose failure to correct deficiencies pursuant to approved plans of correction does not immediately jeopardize the health and safety of health care beneficiaries. Requires the Secretary to promulgate major Medicare rules, requirements, or policy statements through the regulatory process. Sets forth publication requirements. Directs the Secretary to publish and make available to the public without charge a directory of home health agencies certified to participate in the Medicare program, including certain information gathered with respect to each agency during the latest certification survey. Requires appropriate State or local agencies to maintain: (1) toll-free hotlines to receive complaints and answer questions regarding home health agencies in the State or locality; and (2) units with enforcement authority and access to consumer medical records and survey reports to investigate such complaints. Directs the Secretary to: (1) report to the Congress before 1988 on the appropriateness of reimbursing home health agencies on either a rural or urban basis rather than considering an agencies mix of urban and rural clientele; and (2) determine home health agency cost limits on the basis of recent agency cost reports.
United States · United States Congress · 10 April 1987
Title I: Recognition of Injustice and Apology on Behalf of the Nation - States that the Congress accepts the findings of the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians and recognizes that a grave injustice was done to both citizens and resident aliens of Japanese ancestry by the evacuation, relocation, and internment of civilians during World War II. Title II: United States Citizens of Japanese Ancestry and Resident Japanese Aliens - Requests the President to offer pardons to those convicted of violating laws during the internment period whose conduct was based on a refusal to accept racially or ethnically discriminatory treatment. Provides that Federal departments and agencies that review applications for restitution of positions, status, or entitlement lost during the internment period shall review such applications giving full consideration to the findings of the Commission. Establishes within the Treasury a Civil Liberties Public Education Fund. Authorizes appropriations for the Fund. Requires the Attorney General to pay $20,000 from the Fund in compensation to each surviving internee. Establishes a Board of Directors which shall be responsible for making disbursements from the Fund. Provides that disbursements from the Fund shall be used to: (1) sponsor research and public educational activities dealing with the internment; (2) fund studies of similar civil liberties abuses; (3) prepare and distribute hearings and findings of the Commission; and (4) promote the general welfare of the ethnic Japanese community in the United States. Title III: Aleutian and Pribilof Islands Restitution - Aleutian and Pribilof Islands Restitution Act - Establishes within the Treasury the Aleutian and Pribilof Islands Restitution Fund. Directs the Administrator of the Fund (the Aleutian/Pribilof Islands Association) to make restitution for certain Aleut losses sustained in World War II. Requires the Administrator to establish a trust of $5,000,000 and to distribute the interest of such trust for: (1) the benefit of the elderly, disabled, or seriously ill; (2) students in need of scholarship assistance; (3) preservation of Aleut cultural heritage and historical records; (4) the improvement of community centers of affected Aleut villages; and (5) other purposes to improve Aleut life. Authorizes the Administrator to rebuild and restore churches and church property damaged or destroyed in Aleut villages during World War II. Requires the Secretary of the Treasury to make payments of $12,000 from the fund to eligible Aleuts for any uncompensated personal property losses. Provides that such payments shall not be considered income or receipts for purposes of Federal taxes or determining eligibility for Federal benefits or assistance. Authorizes appropriations. Requires the Secretary of the Army to implement a program for the removal and disposal of live ammunition, obsolete buildings, abandoned machinery, and other hazardous debris remaining in populated areas of the lower Alaska Peninsula and the Aleutian Islands. States that the authority contained in this Act shall be supplemental to the authority of the Secretary of Defense in administering the Environmental Restoration Defense Account and shall be exercised only in the event that such account is inadequate to eliminate hazardous military debris from populated areas of the Lower Alaska Peninsula and the Aleutian Islands. Authorizes appropriations. Provides that bidding rights for surplus Federal property might be exercised by the Aleut Corporation in lieu of conveyance of Attu Island to the Aleut people, such island having been designated as wilderness. States that the bidding rights shall be exercised by the Aleut Corporation without any preference over any other bidder. Provides that an amount equal to $500 for each acre traditionally occupied by the Aleut people on Attu Island shall be transferred to the Corporation account established by this Act and made available to the Corporation for such bidding.
United States · United States Congress · 10 April 1987
Directs the Secretary of the Interior to review and approve all tax ordinances proposed by an Indian tribe which would be imposed upon nontribal persons on an Indian reservation. Prohibits the Secretary from approving any such ordinances for two years after enactment of this Act. Directs the President to appoint a commission to review the economic impact of tribal taxes upon Indian reservations and to report to the Congress within one year after enactment of this Act. Authorizes funds to be made available for two years to the Secretary to alleviate economic hardship on Indian reservations and to assist with emergency educational and employment needs. Authorizes funds for two years to the Secretary of Health and Human Services to alleviate emergency health care needs on Indian reservations.
United States · United States Congress · 10 April 1987
Amends Federal law to provide that any sale, acquisition, or abandonment of a railroad line, rail transportation, trackage, or trackage rights which exceed 100 miles in length, and which are transferred to a non-carrier, is subject to the jurisdiction of the Interstate Commerce Commission (thus requiring the Commission to review sales of major portions of railroad lines to private noncarrier persons). Directs the Commission to take the necessary action to assure that: (1) the level of service to be provided by the non-carrier transferee of such rail facilities will not be substantially less than the level of service provided prior to the sale; and (2) the rates on that particular segment of tracks involved will not be increased more than the increase in the rail cost adjustment factor.
United States · United States Congress · 9 April 1987
Veterans' Radiation Exposure Disability and Death Benefits Act of 1987 - Sets forth findings, including the following: (1) a significant portion of the veterans present at nuclear detonations were exposed to ionizing radiation which was measured by what proved to be an inaccurate method of determining the amount of such dosage; (2) the present process for adjudicating claims by veterans based on such radiation exposure has not resulted in fair resolution of such claims, due in part to the inaccurate measurement of health risk caused by such radiation dosages; and (3) certain body organs have shown a high susceptibility to the induction of cancers by ionizing radiation, creating a much higher possibility of cancer in various organs and areas of the body. Sets forth purposes of this Act, including: (1) to provide a monthly death or disability benefit for veterans who have died or are suffering from illnesses strongly or moderately associated with radiation exposure after participating in the nuclear weapons testing program or in the American occupation of Hiroshima or Nagasaki, Japan, during and after World War II; and (2) to provide special consideration of claims for compensation for veterans suffering from diseases somewhat associated with such radiation exposure. Amends Federal veterans' benefits provisions to provide either a monthly disability or a monthly death benefit to a veteran who has died or is suffering from a disease based on the Government's testing of nuclear weapons or on the American occupation of Hiroshima or Nagasaki. Specifies the diseases based on such radiation exposure for which such benefits shall be paid, requiring manifestation of such disease within a specified period following exposure to such ionizing radiation. Bases the rates of compensation to be paid on the rates of compensation for service-connected death or disability benefits. Requires the Administrator to give special consideration to claims for compensation or dependency and indemnity compensation based on such radiation exposure and involving specific forms of cancer manifesting themselves within five or more years after exposure. Denies the payment of any such benefits when there is affirmative evidence that the disease was not incurred as a result of a veteran's exposure to testing or involvement in the occupation of Hiroshima or Nagasaki. Treats any benefits paid under this Act as service-connected benefits for purposes of the applicability of other veterans' benefits provisions. Defines a veteran's estimated service-related radiation exposure for purposes of adjudicating a claim for benefits provided under this Act. Extends existing provisions concerning veterans' eligibility for hospital care on the basis of radiation exposure until termination of the provisions of this Act. Amends the Veterans' Dioxin and Radiation Exposure Compensation Standards Act to require a certain advisory committee's report concerning the possible adverse effects resulting from exposure to ionizing radiation to be forwarded to the Senate and House Veterans' Affairs Committees. Terminates the provisions of this Act with respect to any claim for benefits filed after September 30, 1990.
United States · United States Congress · 9 April 1987
Elementary and Secondary Education Improvement Act of 1987 - Amends the Education Consolidation and Improvement Act of 1981 (ECIA) to revise chapter 2 (Federal Programs for the Improvement of Elementary and Secondary Education) with respect to block grants to States. Revises the statement of purpose under chapter 2. Declares the policy of the Congress that financial assistance under chapter 2 to State and local educational agencies shall be made for innovative programs or programs which expand services and activities, but not merely to provide for the continuing maintenance of services and activities previously financed under chapter 2. Prohibits any chapter 2 allotment to a State from being used after September 30, 1990, for the maintenance of services and activities previously assisted under chapter 2 for a period of three continuous years. Authorizes waivers of such prohibition under specified conditions. Extends the authorization of appropriations for chapter 2 through FY 1993. Revises provisions for the use of funds for basic skills instruction. Revises the statements of purpose relating to educational improvement and support services and to special projects.
United States · United States Congress · 9 April 1987
Alzheimer's Disease Research Act of 1987 - Requires the Director of the National Institute on Aging to provide for the conduct of clinical trials on the efficacy of the use of tetrahydroaminoacridine to retard the progression of Alzheimer's disease and to improve the functioning of individuals with such disease. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1988 through 1990.
United States · United States Congress · 8 April 1987
State Long-Term Care Ombudsman Advocacy Improvement Act of 1987 - Amends the Older Americans Act of 1965 to require States to establish an Office of the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman (Office) encompassing any area or local ombudsman entity designated by the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman as a subdivision of the Office. Directs States to establish Statewide toll-free hotlines to facilitate the communication of complaints to ombudsmen. Requires States to provide assurances that Office staff are not subject to conflicts of interest and that mechanisms are in place to identify and remedy such conflicts. Immunizes Office representatives from liability under State law for the good faith performance of official duties. Directs States to provide legal counsel to: (1) the Office for advice and consultation; and (2) Office representatives sued in connection with the performance of official duties. Requires States to provide appropriate sanctions against: (1) those willfully interfering with Office representatives in the performance of official duties; and (2) extended care facilities which retaliate against residents or employees who file a complaint with, or provide information to, the Office. Requires State licensure and certification agencies to provide the Office with inspection reports, notices of deficiencies, and sanctions issued with respect to extended care facilities as well as other data relevant to the Office's investigations of such facilities. Directs the Office to submit annual reports to State licensure and certification agencies, State agencies on aging, and the State legislature and Governor analyzing and suggesting resolutions to problems experienced by, and complaints received against, extended care facilities. Requires the Office to conduct annual on-site visits of extended care facilities to inform residents and personnel of program services and make such services available. Requires that Office staff who do investigative work be trained in Federal, State, and local laws, regulations, and policies regarding State extended care facilities as well as investigative techniques. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to: (1) provide technical assistance and training to State Long-Term Care Ombudsman programs and Ombudsman representatives; and (2) establish a national clearinghouse for collecting and disseminating information regarding, and transferring technology among, such programs. Authorizes appropriations from FY 1988 through 1992 for State Long-Term Care Ombudsman programs. Amends titles XVIII (Medicare) and XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to require that extended care facilities provide ombudsmen with access to facility residents and, with the patient's or guardian's consent, to the patient's medical and social records. Requires that ombudsmen be given access to individuals who are admitted to hospitals from skilled nursing or intermediate care facilities. Directs the Secretary to promptly notify the appropriate Office of the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman of any Medicare or Medicaid sanction imposed on a skilled nursing or intermediate care facility. Requires the Commissioner on Aging to issue a report by January 15th of each year analyzing and suggesting resolutions to problems experienced by, and complaints received against, extended care facilities. Specifies the congressional committees, Federal agencies, and private organizations which are to receive such reports. Amends the Older Americans Act of 1965 to require the Commissioner on Aging to designate a full-time staff of the Administration on Aging within 90 days of enactment of this Act. Requires the Commissioner to conduct studies and issue findings regarding: (1) the practices and impact of the Ombudsman program; (2) Ombudsman programs which are investigating home care service complaints; and (3) the feasibility of extending the Ombudsman program to physician and hospital services received by older individuals. Directs the Commissioner to make grants to States for FY 1988 and 1989 to demonstrate and evaluate: (1) the provision of ombudsman services to home care clients; and (2) cooperative projects between the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program and the State protection and advocacy program for developmental disabilities and mental illness. Amends part B (Peer Review) of title XI of the Social Security Act to require peer review organizations to make available to Ombudsman program personnel their data showing the substantial failure of a provider to meet professionally recognized standards of health care.