United States · United States Congress · 29 March 2000
Oceans Act of 2000 - Establishes the Commission on Ocean Policy and requires it to report to Congress and the President. Directs the President to submit to Congress: (1) after considering the Commission's report, proposals for a coordinated, comprehensive, and long range national policy for the responsible use and stewardship of ocean and coastal resources for the benefit of the United States; and (2) a biennial report on all existing Federal programs related to ocean and coastal activities.
United States · United States Congress · 29 March 2000
Genetically Engineered Food Safety Act - Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to include genetically engineered food and related materials in the definition of "food additive." Requires that a petition to the Secretary of Health and Human Services for a regulation prescribing the conditions of safe use of a genetically engineered food additive include all data collected or developed pursuant to safety investigations, including data that does not support the claim of safety. Mandates a fee from petitioners to cover related costs and to provide for a program of basic and applied research on genetic food additive safety.
United States · United States Congress · 28 March 2000
Medicaid Safety Net Hospital Act of 2000 - Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act, with respect to provisions regarding adjustments in payments for inpatient hospital services furnished by disproportionate share hospitals (DSH), to require DSH allotments for FY 2002 (currently, FY 2003) and succeeding fiscal years to be equal to the allotment for the State for the preceding fiscal year. Sets the DSH allotment for FY 2001 at the FY 2000 level.
United States · United States Congress · 23 March 2000
Authorizes the President to extend nondiscriminatory treatment (normal trade relations treatment) to the products of China, provided, prior to such determination, the President certifies to Congress that the terms and conditions for China's accession to the World Trade Organization are at least equivalent to those agreed between the United States and China on November 15, 1999.
United States · United States Congress · 22 March 2000
Family Opportunity Act of 2000 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to: (1) give States the option of allowing families of disabled children to purchase Medicaid coverage for such children; and (2) provide for treatment of inpatient psychiatric hospital services for individuals under age 21 under waivers allowing for payment for part or all of the cost of home or community-based services. Authorizes a State to apply to the Secretary of Health and Human Services for approval of a demonstration project to provide Medicaid coverage to up to a specified maximum number of children with a potentially severe disability. Amends SSA title V (Maternal and Child Health Services) to make appropriations to the Secretary for special projects of regional and national significance for development and support of family-to-family health information centers.
United States · United States Congress · 9 March 2000
Organ Procurement Organization Certification Act of 2000 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to add to the list of requirements to be met by qualified organ procurement organizations that an organization has been certified or recertified by the Secretary of Health and Human Services within the previous four-year period as meeting performance standards. Requires certification or recertification to be made through a process that either granted certification or recertification with such certification or recertification in effect as of January 1, 2000, and remaining in effect through the earlier of January 1, 2002, or the completion of recertification under regulations promulgated by the Secretary, or that is defined through regulations promulgated by January 1, 2002, that: (1) require recertifications of such organizations no more frequently than once every four years; (2) rely on outcome and process performance measures that are based on empirical evidence of organ donor potential and other related factors in each service area of such organizations; (3) use multiple outcome measures as part of the certification process; (4) provide for filing and approval of a corrective action plan by an organization that fails to meet performance standards and a grace period of up to three years to implement the plan without risk of decertification; and (5) provide for a qualified organization to appeal a decertification to the Secretary on substantive and procedural grounds.
United States · United States Congress · 9 March 2000
Medicare Wellness Act of 2000 - Title I: Healthy Seniors Promotion Program - Establishes within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) a Healthy Seniors Working Group to establish policies and criteria for the HHS Secretary to make grants to approved applicants to study specified approaches to further health promotion and disease prevention among the elderly. (Sec. 101) Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 102) Expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) should encourage inclusion of preventive health measures in all Medicare treatments; (2) HCFA should expand the study of the most promising behavioral modification of risk factors associated with health promotion and disease prevention for all Medicare beneficiaries; and (3) the National Library of Medicine should establish a Medicare health promotion and disease prevention intervention clearinghouse. Title II: Medicare Coverage of Preventive Services - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to outline Medicare coverage of various specified preventive services, including: (1) counseling for cessation of tobacco use; (2) screening for hypertension; (3) counseling for hormone replacement therapy; (4) screening for glaucoma and for diminished visual acuity; and (5) screening and counseling for osteoporosis. (Sec. 209) Extends Medicare coverage to medical nutrition therapy services for Medicare beneficiaries with diabetes, a cardiovascular disease, or a renal disease. (Sec. 210) Waives coinsurance and deductibles for certain preventive services, such as: (1) diabetes outpatient self-management training services; (2) colorectal and prostate cancer screening tests; and (3) bone mass measurement. (Sec. 211) Directs the Secretary to conduct a national falls prevention and awareness campaign to reduce fall-related injuries among Medicare beneficiaries and to integrate specified preventive benefits added by this Act with existing program integrity measures. Title III: Medicare Health Education and Risk Appraisal Program - Amends SSA title XVIII to direct the HHS Secretary to: (1) establish a health education and risk appraisal program to inform certain target individuals, including Medicare beneficiaries, of specified major behavioral risk factors through self-assessment; and (2) conduct periodic followups. Title IV: Disease Self-Management Demonstration Projects - Establishes in HHS a Disease Self-Management Working Group. Directs the HHS Secretary to conduct demonstration projects to promote disease self-management for conditions identified by the Group for described target individuals. Provides funding. Title V: Studies and Reports Advancing Original Research in the Field of Disease Prevention and the Elderly - Amends SSA title XVIII to revise reporting requirements for the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission. (Sec. 502) Directs the Director of the National Institute on Aging to conduct one or more studies, for associated reports to the HHS Secretary and the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences, that focus on ways to: (1) improve quality of life for the elderly; (2) develop better ways to prevent or delay the onset of age-related functional decline and disease and disability among the elderly; and (3) develop means of assessing the long-term development of cost-effective benefits and cost-saving benefits for health promotion and disease prevention among the elderly. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 503) Directs the HHS Secretary to contract with the Institute to study and report to the President and Congress on health promotion and disease prevention among Medicare beneficiaries. (Sec. 504) Provides for fast-track consideration of prevention benefit legislation in the House of Representatives and in the Senate.
United States · United States Congress · 8 March 2000
National Museum of the American Indian Commemorative Coin Act of 2000, or American Buffalo Coin Commemorative Coin Act of 2000 - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to mint and issue a maximum of 500,000 $1 dollar coins in commemoration of the opening of the Museum of the American Indian of the Smithsonian Institution. Expresses the sense of Congress that the United States Mint Facility in Denver, Colorado, should strike such coins unless the Secretary determines that it would be technically or cost-prohibitive. Mandates that the proceeds from sales surcharges be paid promptly to the National Museum of the American Indian of the Smithsonian Institution to: (1) commemorate the opening of the Museum; and (2)supplement the Museum's endowment and educational outreach funds. Subjects the Museum to certain Federal audit requirements. Instructs the Secretary to take actions to ensure that coin minting and issuance will not result in any net cost to the Government.
United States · United States Congress · 7 March 2000
Amends the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States to suspend, through December 31, 2004, the duty on substrates of synthetic quartz or synthetic fused silica.
United States · United States Congress · 6 March 2000
Conservation and Stewardship Act - Title I: Land and Water Conservation Fund - Land and Water Conservation Fund Act Amendments of 2000 - Amends the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act of 1965 to provide for a permanent annual appropriation to the Land and Water Conservation Fund. Establishes the Non-Federal Lands of Regional or National Interest Fund. Title II: Coastal Stewardship - Coastal Stewardship Act of 2000 - Amends the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to establish the Ocean and Coast Conservation Fund and Outer Continental Shelf Impact Assistance Fund. Title III: Wildlife Conservation and Restoration - Wildlife Conservation and Restoration Act of 2000 - Amends the Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act to provide for the deposit of an additional annual amount into the Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Fund. Establishes a wildlife conservation and restoration subaccount in such fund. Title IV: Endangered and Threatened Species Habitat Protection - Establishes the Endangered and Threatened Species Recovery Fund for recovery agreements with landowners. Title V: Historic Preservation Fund - Amends the National Preservation Act to provide for the deposit into the Historic Preservation Fund of a specified annual amount. Allocates amounts to State, local governmental, and tribal historic preservation programs, the American Battlefield Protection Program, and matching grant programs. Title VI: Natural Resource Restoration Programs - Establishes the National Park System Resource Protection Fund and the Coral Reef Resources Restoration Fund. Title VII: Urban Park and Forestry Programs - Amends the Urban Park and Recreation Recovery Act of 1978 to establish the Urban Park and Recreation Recovery Fund. Amends the Cooperative Forestry Assistance Act of 1978 to establish the Urban and Community Forestry Assistance Fund. Title VIII: Conservation Easements - Establishes the Forest Legacy Fund, the Farmland Protection Fund, and the Ranchland Protection Fund. Title IX: Natural Resource Community Investment Programs - Amends the Youth Conservation Corps Act of 1970 to establish the Youth Conservation Corps Fund. Amends the Cooperative Forestry Assistance Act of 1978 to establish the Forest Service Rural Development Fund. Amends the National Forest-Dependent Rural Communities Economic Diversification Act to establish the Forest Service Rural Community Assistance Fund. Title X: Payment in Lieu of Taxes - Establishes the Payment in Lieu of Taxes Fund.
United States · United States Congress · 2 March 2000
Expresses the sense of Congress that the President and the Secretary of Energy should: (1) draw down the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) directly through time exchanges (swaps) or other means to combat unfair foreign trade practices of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and alleviate their severely deleterious consequences to people and businesses in the United States; and (2) prepare for future threats to the domestic economy and energy supply by developing methods to draw down the SPR when needed, and increase SPR crude oil quantity over time in an economically reasonable manner.
United States · United States Congress · 1 March 2000
Holocaust Education Act - Authorizes the Secretary of Education to make competitive grants to educational organizations to carry out educational programs about the Holocaust. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 29 February 2000
Congratulates and thanks Chairman Robert F. Bennett and Vice Chairman Christopher J. Dodd for: (1) presiding over the Special Committee on the Year 2000 Technology Problem which did its work in a bipartisan and fair manner; and (2) helping the Government and the Nation minimize the Y2K computer problem.
United States · United States Congress · 24 February 2000
Expresses the sense of Congress that the aircraft carrier CVN-77 should be named the U.S.S. Lexington to honor the 16 million veterans who served in the U.S. armed forces during World War II, as well as all the U.S. citizens who served on the home front during such War.
United States · United States Congress · 22 February 2000
Authorizes the President to present, on behalf of Congress, a gold medal to John Cardinal O'Connor, Archbishop of New York, in recognition of his accomplishments as a priest, a soldier, and a humanitarian. Authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to strike and sell bronze duplicates. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 22 February 2000
Commuter Benefits Equity Act of 2000 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to raise the $65 transportation fringe benefit limitation (applicable to commuter highway vehicles and transit passes) to an amount ($175) that equals the amount permitted for qualified parking (thus providing for a uniform dollar limitation for all types of transportation fringe benefits). Amends provisions of Federal law concerning Government organization and employees to permit a taxable cash payment to Federal employees in lieu of an agency-provided parking space.
United States · United States Congress · 10 February 2000
Innocence Protection Act of 2000 - Title I: Exonerating the Innocent through DNA Testing - Amends the Federal judicial code to authorize a person in custody pursuant to the judgment of a court established by an Act of Congress, at any time after conviction, to apply to the court that entered the judgment for forensic DNA testing of any biological material that: (1) is related to the investigation or prosecution that resulted in the judgment; (2) is in the actual or constructive possession of the Government; and (3) was not previously subjected to DNA testing, or can be subjected to retesting with new DNA techniques that provide a reasonable likelihood of more accurate and probative results. Sets forth procedures regarding notice to the Government and preservation of remaining biological material. Directs the court to order DNA testing pursuant to such application upon a determination that testing may produce non-cumulative, exculpatory evidence relevant to an applicant's claim that the applicant was wrongfully convicted or sentenced. Specifies that the cost of DNA testing shall be borne by the Government or the applicant, as the court may order in the interests of justice, if it is shown that the applicant is not indigent and possesses the means to pay. Authorizes the court at any time to appoint counsel for an indigent applicant. Establishes post-testing procedures, including ordering a hearing and entering any order that serves the interests of justice, including an order setting aside the judgment or granting a new trial or re-sentencing if the results of the DNA testing are favorable to the applicant. Requires the Government to preserve any biological material secured in connection with a criminal case for such period as any person remains incarcerated in connection with that case, with exceptions. (Sec. 103) Amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (Safe Streets Act) to include among the requirements for DNA identification grants, and for drug control and system improvement (Byrne) grants, that the State will: (1) preserve all biological material secured in connection with a State criminal case for not less than the period of time that biological material is required to be preserved under this Act in the case of a person incarcerated in connection with a Federal criminal case (biological material preservation requirements); and (2) make DNA testing available to any person convicted in State court to the same extent, and under the same conditions, that DNA testing is available under this Act to any person convicted in a court established by an Act of Congress. Makes DNA samples obtained by, and DNA analyses performed at, a forensic laboratory accessible for criminal defense purposes to a defendant, who shall have access to samples and analyses performed in connection with the case in which such defendant was charged or convicted. Requires applications for public safety and community policing grants, if any part of funds received from such a grant is to be used to develop or improve a DNA analysis capability in a forensic laboratory, or to obtain or analyze DNA samples for inclusion in the Combined DNA Index System, to make specified certifications including that: (1) DNA analyses performed at such laboratory will satisfy or exceed the current standards for a quality assurance program for DNA analysis issued by the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation under the DNA Identification Act of 1994; (2) DNA samples and analyses obtained and performed by such laboratory will be accessible only consistent with specified requirements; (3) the laboratory and each analyst performing DNA analyses at the laboratory will undergo, at regular intervals not exceeding 180 days, external proficiency testing by a DNA proficiency testing program that meets certain standards; and (4) the State will meet biological material preservation requirements. (Sec. 104) Prohibits a State from denying a request, made by a person in custody resulting from a State court judgment, for DNA testing of biological material that: (1) is related to the investigation or prosecution that resulted in the conviction of the person or the sentence imposed on the person; (2) is in the actual or constructive possession of the State; and (3) was not previously subjected to DNA testing, or can be subjected to retesting with new DNA techniques that provide a reasonable likelihood of more accurate and probative results. Makes an exception upon a judicial determination that testing could not produce non-cumulative evidence establishing a reasonable probability that the person was wrongfully convicted or sentenced. Bars a State from relying upon a time limit or procedural default rule to deny a person an opportunity to present non-cumulative, exculpatory DNA results in court, or in an executive or administrative forum in which a decision is made in accordance with procedural due process. Authorizes a person to enforce this section in a civil action for declaratory or injunctive relief, filed either in a State court of general jurisdiction or in U.S. district court. Specifies that no State or State executive or judicial officer shall have immunity from such actions. Title II: Ensuring Competent Legal Services in Capital Cases - Amends the Safe Streets Act (regarding Byrne grant programs) to require that State applications include, if the State prescribes, authorizes, or permits the death penalty for any offense, a certification that the State has established and maintains an effective system for providing competent legal services to indigents at every phase of a State criminal prosecution in which a death sentence is sought or has been imposed, up to and including direct appellate review and post-conviction review in State court. Requires the Director of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts to promulgate regulations specifying the elements of an "effective system" including: (1) a centralized and independent appointing authority which shall have authority and responsibility to undertake specified activities, such as to recruit attorneys who are qualified to represent indigents in capital proceedings, draft and annually publish a roster of such attorneys, draft and annually publish qualifications and performance standards for such attorneys, and periodically review the roster, monitor attorney performance, provide a mechanism by which members of the Bar may comment on the performance of their peers, and delete the name of any attorney who fails to meet specified requirements; and (2) specified compensation and reimbursement requirements of private attorneys and public defender organizations. Requires applications for discretionary (justice system improvement) grants to include satisfying such certification requirement. Requires the Director of the National Institute of Justice to include in a report to Congress on such grants to each State a description and a comparative analysis of the systems established by each State in order to satisfy the certification requirement, including qualifications and performance standards, rates of compensation, and rates of reimbursement. (Sec. 202) Amends the judicial code to direct the court, in a proceeding instituted by an indigent applicant under sentence of death, to neither presume a finding of fact made by a State court to be correct nor decline to consider a claim on the ground that the applicant failed to raise such claim in State court at the time and in the manner prescribed by State law, unless: (1) the State provided the applicant with legal services at the stage of the State proceedings at which the State court made the finding of fact or the applicant failed to raise the claim; and (2) the legal services the State provided satisfied the regulations promulgated by the Director of the Administrative Office pursuant to the Safe Streets Act. (Sec. 203) Amends the Federal criminal code to require the Director of the Administrative Office to: (1) award grants to, or enter into contracts with, public or private nonprofit organizations for the purpose of providing defense services in capital cases; and (2) develop guidelines to ensure that defense services provided by recipients of such grants and contracts are consistent with applicable legal and ethical proscriptions governing the duties of counsel in capital cases. Title III: Compensating the Unjustly Condemned - Rewrites judicial code provisions regarding compensation for unjust imprisonment. Limits the amount of damages awarded to $50,000 for each 12-month period of incarceration, except that a plaintiff who was unjustly sentenced to death may be awarded not more than $100,000 for each 12-month period of incarceration. Directs the court, in assessing damages, to consider: (1) the circumstances surrounding the unjust conviction, including any misconduct by Federal officers or employees; (2) the length and conditions of the unjust incarceration; and (3) family circumstances, loss of wages, and pain and suffering of the plaintiff. (Sec. 302) Amends the Safe Streets Act to require applicants for criminal justice facility construction grants to provide reasonable assurance that the applicant, or the State in which it is located, does not prescribe, authorize, or permit the death penalty for any offense, or: (1) has established and maintains an effective procedure by which any person unjustly convicted of an offense against the State and sentenced to death may be awarded reasonable damages upon substantial proof that the person did not commit any of the acts with which the person was charged; and (2) the conviction of that person was reversed or set aside on the ground that the person was not guilty of the offense or offenses of which the person was convicted, the person was found not guilty of such offenses on new trial or rehearing, or the person was pardoned upon the stated ground of innocence and unjust conviction. Title IV: Miscellaneous Provisions - Amends the criminal code to prohibit the Government from seeking the death penalty in any case initially brought before a U.S. district court that sits in a State that does not prescribe, authorize, or permit the imposition of such penalty for the alleged conduct, except upon written certification of the Attorney General (or designee) that: (1) the State does not have jurisdiction or refuses to assume jurisdiction over the defendant with respect to the alleged conduct; (2) the State has requested that the Government assume jurisdiction; or (3) the offense charged is one of certain listed offenses, including destruction of aircraft or aircraft facilities, assassination, kidnapping, and assault of specified Government officials. (Sec. 402) Rewrites Controlled Substances Act provisions regarding continuing criminal enterprises to direct the court, upon a recommendation that the defendant should be sentenced to death or life imprisonment without possibility of release, to sentence the defendant accordingly (otherwise, the court shall impose any lesser sentence that is authorized by law). (Sec. 403) Rewrites provisions of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 regarding Violent Offender Incarceration and Truth-In-Sentencing Incentive Grants to require State applicants to provide assurances to the Attorney General that: (1) the State has implemented policies that provide for the recognition of the rights and needs of crime victims; and (2) in any capital case in which the jury has a role in determining the sentence imposed on the defendant, the court, at the defendant's request, shall inform the jury of all statutorily authorized sentencing options in the particular case, including applicable parole eligibility rules and terms. (Sec. 404) Requires the Attorney General, within two years and annually thereafter, to prepare and transmit to Congress a report concerning the administration of capital punishment laws by the Government and the States. Directs the Attorney General or the Director of the Bureau of Justice Assistance, as appropriate, to ensure that the reports are: (1) distributed to national print and broadcast media; and (2) posted on an Internet website maintained by the Department of Justice. (Sec. 405) Amends the judicial code to provide that, regarding exhaustion of remedies available in State courts, if the highest court of a State has discretion to decline appellate review of a case or a claim, a petition asking that court to entertain a case or a claim is not an available State court procedure. (Sec. 406) Expresses the sense of the Senate that the death penalty is disproportionate and offends contemporary standards of decency when applied to a person who is mentally retarded or who had not attained age 18 at the time of the offense.
United States · United States Congress · 10 February 2000
Kids 2000 Act - Directs the Attorney General to make grants to the Boys and Girls Clubs of America for the purpose of funding effective after-school technology programs, such as PowerUp, in order to provide: (1) constructive technology-focused activities that are part of a comprehensive program to provide access to technology and technology training to youth during after-school hours, weekends, and school vacations; (2) supervised activities in safe environments for youth; and (3) full-time staffing with teachers, tutors, and other qualified personnel. Directs the Boys and Girls Clubs of America to make sub-awards to local boys and girls clubs authorizing expenditures associated with providing technology programs, including the hiring of teachers and other personnel and the procurement of goods and services, including computer equipment. Sets forth provisions regarding grant eligibility, application requirements, and criteria for making grant awards. Authorizes appropriations. Allows funds to carry out this Act to be derived from the Violent Crime Reduction Trust Fund.
United States · United States Congress · 10 February 2000
Authorizes the President to present, on behalf of Congress, a congressional gold medal to Charles M. Schulz in recognition of his lasting artistic contributions to the Nation and the world. Authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to strike and sell bronze duplicates. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 7 February 2000
Amends Federal aviation law to declare that nothing in such law or in the Death on the High Seas Act with respect to additional remedies shall affect any remedy existing at common law or under State law with respect to any injury or death arising out of any aviation incident occurring on or after January 1, 1995.
United States · United States Congress · 3 February 2000
Mother-to-Child HIV Prevention Act of 2000 - Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to direct the agency primarily responsible for administering assistance for health programs in developing countries to coordinate with UNAIDS, UNICEF, WHO, local governments, and other organizations to: (1) develop and implement effective strategies to prevent vertical (mother-to- child) transmission of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV); and (2) increase in scale intervention programs and introduce voluntary counseling and testing, antiretroviral drugs, replacement feeding, and other strategies more widely in due course. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 3 February 2000
Recognizes the 50th anniversary of the Korean War, and expresses the gratitude of the American people for the service of members of the armed forces during such War.
United States · United States Congress · 1 February 2000
American Hospital Preservation Act of 2000 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA), as amended by the Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP Balanced Budget Refinement Act of 1999 with regard to provisions on the one year sole community hospital payment increase, to reset the applicable percentage increase for FY 2001 and each subsequent fiscal year to the market basket percentage increase for hospitals in all areas for purposes of updating payments to prospective payment system (PPS) hospitals for inpatient hospital services.
United States · United States Congress · 26 January 2000
Recognizes May 15, 2000, as Peace Officers Memorial Day, in honor of Federal, State, and local law enforcement officers killed or disabled in the line of duty.
United States · United States Congress · 19 November 1999
Milton Friedman Congressional Gold Medal Act - Authorizes the President to present, on behalf of the Congress, a gold medal to Milton Friedman in recognition of his outstanding and enduring contributions to individual freedom and opportunity in American society through his exhaustive research and teaching of economics and his extensive writings on economics and public policy. Authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to strike and sell bronze duplicates of such national medal. Requires proceeds to be deposited in the United States Mint Public Enterprise Fund.
United States · United States Congress · 19 November 1999
Amends the Internal Revenue Code and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 to make restrictions on the application of State laws to pension benefits inapplicable to State laws which prohibit individuals from benefitting from crimes involving the death of pension plan participants.
United States · United States Congress · 18 November 1999
CT-43A Federal Employee Settlement Act - Directs the Secretary of the Air Force to pay $2 million to the specified beneficiary of each of the 14 Federal civilian officers and employees killed in the crash of a United States Air Force CT-43A aircraft on April 3, 1996, near Dubrovnik, Croatia. Provides that acceptance of such payment constitutes full settlement of all claims by that person against the United States arising from the death. Prohibits any representative of a beneficiary from receiving more than ten percent of a payment for services rendered in connection with the beneficiary's claim.
United States · United States Congress · 18 November 1999
Expresses the sense of Congress that the Secretary of State should: (1) take effective measures to ensure that U.S. assistance and exports of equipment to Mexican security forces are used primarily for counter-narcotics purposes and are not provided to units that have been implicated in human rights violations, unless the Government of Mexico (the Government) is taking effective measures to bring the individuals responsible to justice; (2) encourage the Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN) and the Government to take steps to create conditions for good faith negotiations that address the social, economic, and political causes of the conflict in Chiapas, to achieve a peaceful and lasting resolution of the conflict, and to vigorously pursue such negotiations; (3) commend the Government for its renewed commitment to negotiations and for establishing a date for the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to visit Mexico to discuss human rights concerns; (4) give a higher priority in discussions with the Government to criminal justice reforms that protect human rights; and (5) urge the Government to implement the recommendations of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.
United States · United States Congress · 17 November 1999
Firefighter Investment and Response Enhancement (FIRE) Act - Amends the Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974 to authorize the Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency to: (1) make grants on a competitive basis for protecting the health and safety of the public and firefighting personnel against fire and fire-related hazards; and (2) provide assistance for specified fire prevention programs (requiring at least ten percent of grant funds to be used for such programs). Provides a program priority for organizations that focus on prevention of injuries to children from fire. Requires: (1) ten percent non-Federal matching funds; (2) each grantee to report to the Director on grant uses; and (3) grants to be made to a variety of recipients, including paid and volunteer firefighters and urban, suburban, and rural. Authorizes appropriations for FY 2000 through 2005.
United States · United States Congress · 17 November 1999
John H. Chafee Environmental Education Act of 1999 - Amends the National Environmental Education Act to rename it the John H. Chafee Environmental Education Act (the Act). (Sec. 2) Requires the Office of Environmental Education (OEE), within the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), to: (1) develop and support balanced and scientifically sound programs; and (2) provide for implementation of the Act through the headquarters and regional offices of the EPA. Eliminates provisions for: (1) OEE administration of environmental internship and fellowship programs (internship programs are eliminated and fellowship program administration is transferred elsewhere later in this Act); (2) an OEE Director who is a member of the Senior Executive Service; and (3) a minimum of six full-time equivalent employees on the OEE headquarters staff (retains the maximum of ten). Authorizes the EPA Administrator to carry out OEE activities directly or through awards of grants, cooperative agreements, or contracts. (Sec. 3) Revises provisions for environmental education grants to decrease from 25 to 15 percent the portion of grant funds which must be used for grants of $5,000 or less. Prohibits environmental education grants from being used to support lobbying activities. Requires the EPA Science Advisory Board to review and approve the guidance before the EPA Administrator issues any guidance to grant applicants. (Sec. 4) Establishes the John H. Chafee Memorial Fellowship Program for the award and administration of five annual one-year graduate education fellowships in environmental sciences. (Eliminates provisions for OEE-administered environmental internships and fellowships.) Provides that such Fellowships are to stimulate innovative graduate level study and the development of expertise in complex, relevant, and important environmental issues and effective approaches to addressing those issues through organized programs of guided independent study and environmental research. Requires each $25,000 Fellowship to be made available to individual candidates through a sponsoring institution of higher education and an annual competitive selection process. Requires each Fellowship to focus on: (1) effective land and resource management; (2) innovative open space preservation; (3) science associated with such worldwide issues as global climate change and sustainable marine resources; or (4) any other issue that a sponsoring institution determines to be appropriate. Requires annual awards of two Fellowships by the University of Rhode Island. Allows three annual Fellowships to be applied for through any other sponsoring institution. Directs the National Environmental Learning Foundation (as renamed in this Act) to establish and administer the John H. Chafee Fellowship Panel to establish selection process criteria, receive and review applications, and select Fellowship recipients. Requires that Panel members with specified qualifications be appointed by a majority vote of the National Environmental Education Advisory Council. Directs the Foundation to make specified amounts available for such Fellowships and administrative expenses of the Fellowship Program. (Sec. 5) Revises provisions for national environmental education awards. Retains and revises provisions for: (1) President's Environmental Youth Awards; and (2) environmental education awards for elementary and secondary school teachers and their local educational agencies. (Eliminates provisions for awards named for Theodore Roosevelt, Henry David Thoreau, Rachel Carson, and Gifford Pinchot.) (Sec. 6) Revises provisions for the National Environmental Education Advisory Council and for the Federal Task Force on Environmental Education. Directs the EPA Administrator to appoint at least one Advisory Council member to represent each of the following sectors: (1) elementary schools and secondary schools; (2) colleges and universities; (3) not-for-profit organizations involved in environmental education; (4) State departments of education and natural resources; (5) business and industry; and (6) senior citizens. Revises requirements for Advisory Council meetings and reports. Opens membership on the Task Force to representatives of any Federal agency actively engaged in environmental education. (Sec. 7) Renames the National Environmental Education and Training Foundation as the National Environmental Learning Foundation. Increases the number of director's on the Foundation's Board. Allows the Foundation to acknowledge receipt of donations by listing the names of donors in materials it distributes, but prohibits such acknowledgment from: (1) appearing in educational material presented to students; or (2) identifying a donor by means of a logo, letterhead, or other corporate commercial symbol, slogan, or product. Eliminates a time limit on the EPA Administrator's provision of administrative services and support to the Foundation. (Sec. 8) Extends through FY 2005 the authorization of appropriations to EPA to carry out the Act, with specified portions for: (1) OEE activities; (2) the environmental education and training program; (3) environmental education grants; and (4) Foundation activities. Directs the EPA Administrator to submit an annual report to Congress on the activities for which such funds were expended.
United States · United States Congress · 10 November 1999
High-Speed Rail Investment Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a limited tax credit to holders of a qualified Amtrak bond. Sets forth definitions, State matching requirements, and other rules.
United States · United States Congress · 10 November 1999
Amends Federal law establishing the Women's Rights National Historic Park in Seneca Falls and Waterloo, New York, to repeal provisions which: (1) prohibit the Secretary of the Interior from acquiring a fee simple interest in the Bloomer and Hunt Houses in Waterloo; and (2) require the Secretary, within two years after acquisition, to remove all structures from the property of the McClintock House in Waterloo that are not relevant to its historic integrity.
United States · United States Congress · 10 November 1999
Wartime Violation of Italian American Civil Liberties Act - Directs the Inspector General of the Department of Justice to conduct a comprehensive review of the treatment by the Federal Government of Italian Americans during World War II (between September 1, 1939, and December 31, 1945) and to report to Congress on the findings of such review. Requires the findings to include information regarding: (1) Italian Americans who were taken into custody, interned, ordered to move out of designated areas, or arrested for curfew, contraband, or other violations; (2) Federal Bureau of Investigations raids on Italian Americans' homes; (3) restrictions on Italian American fishermen and railroad workers; and (4) civil liberties infringements suffered by Italian Americans during World War II as a result of Executive Order 9066. Expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) the story of the treatment of Italian Americans during World War II needs to be told; (2) Federal agencies, including the Department of Education and the National Endowment for the Humanities, should support projects such as conferences, seminars, and lectures to heighten awareness of this unfortunate chapter in our nation's history, the refurbishment and payment of all expenses associated with the traveling exhibit "Una Storia Segreta," and documentaries allowing this issue to be presented to the American public; (3) an advisory committee should be established to assist in the compilation, research, and dissemination of information on the treatment of Italian Americans; and (4) financial support should be provided for educating the American public through the production of a documentary film suited for public broadcast. States that the U.S. Government formally acknowledges that these events during World War II represented a fundamental injustice against Italian Americans.
United States · United States Congress · 4 November 1999
John H. Chafee Coastal Barrier Resources System Act - Redesignates the Coastal Barrier Resources System as the John H. Chafee Coastal Barrier Resources System.
United States · United States Congress · 2 November 1999
Child Support Miscellaneous Amendments of 1999 - Amends part D (Child Support and Establishment of Paternity) of title IV of the Social Security Act (SSA) to prohibit the Secretary of Health and Human Services from disapproving a noncompliant State plan for child and spousal support, because of failure to operate an approved State Disbursement Unit (SDU) by October 1, 1999, if the State makes a good faith effort to comply and has submitted an approved corrective compliance plan by April 1, 2000. Directs the Secretary to reduce the amount otherwise payable to the State for the fiscal year by an alternative penalty amount determined according to a specified scale, which increases for each fiscal year of noncompliance. Requires waiver of all penalties for any State subject to a penalty which achieves compliance by April 1, 2000. Reduces the penalty amount for any State achieving compliance after April 1 but before September 30, 2000. Prohibits a penalty against a State for a fiscal year for which the State has already been penalized for noncompliance with respect to the automated data processing system requirement. Exempts failure to comply substantially with SDU or automated systems requirements from the current penalty of loss of Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) block grant funds under part A of SSA title IV.
![Official portrait of Sen. Moynihan, Daniel Patrick [D-NY]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/m001054_200.jpg)