The world's political record
Person
![Official portrait of Sen. Riegle, Donald W., Jr. [D-MI]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/r000249_200.jpg)
United States · Official source
4,376 records where Sen. Riegle, Donald W., Jr. [D-MI] is listed as a sponsor, author, or other actor. Search with topics and years
United States · United States Congress · 22 January 1991
Authorizes the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity to establish a memorial to Martin Luther King, Jr., in the District of Columbia and its environs. Prohibits the United States from paying any expense of establishing the memorial.
United States · United States Congress · 17 January 1991
Agent Orange Act of 1991 - Presumes the following diseases to be service-connected and resulting from exposure to dioxins and other herbicide agents during service in Vietnam during the Vietnam era unless there is affirmative evidence to the contrary: (1) non-Hodgkins lymphoma, each soft-tissue sarcoma (with certain exceptions), and chloracne or other consistent acneform diseases becoming manifest to a degree of disability of ten percent or more; and (2) those additional diseases that the Secretary determines warrant such a presumption by reason of having a positive association with a herbicide agent, if they become manifest within the appropriate period. Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to prescribe regulations providing that a presumption of service connection is warranted whenever it is determined by the Secretary that a positive association exists between the exposure of humans to a herbicide agent and the occurrence of a disease in humans. Requires the Secretary to take into account reports received from the National Academy of Sciences, as well as other sound medical and scientific information. Outlines procedures to be followed by the Secretary in weighing evidence, reporting information, and making conclusions for or against the positive association and, therefore, the service-connection presumption. Provides for the issuance of final regulations listing the diseases for which positive associations have been found or removing the presumption for a disease. Directs the Secretary to enter into an agreement with the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) under which NAS shall review and summarize the scientific evidence (and its strength) concerning the association between exposure to a herbicide agent during service in Vietnam and each disease suspected to be associated with such exposure. Provides for NAS: (1) scientific determinations concerning diseases; (2) recommendations for additional studies to resolve areas of uncertainty relating to herbicide exposure; (3) subsequent reviews; and (4) reports, at least biennially, to the Secretary and the Senate and House Veterans' Affairs Committees (the veterans' committees). Terminates the agreement ten years after the fiscal year of the first report from NAS. Directs the Secretary to enter into an agreement with another body if the Secretary cannot reach an agreement with NAS within two months after enactment of this Act. Amends the Veterans' Benefits Improvement Act of 1988 to direct the Secretary to annually furnish updated information on health risks associated with exposure to herbicide agents during service in Vietnam during the Vietnam era. Extends through 1993 the eligibility for hospital, nursing home, or domiciliary care and medical treatment of individuals who served in Vietnam and who have been determined to have been exposed to dioxin or a toxic substance in a herbicide as the result of such service and of veterans exposed to ionizing radiation while serving between September 11, 1945 and July 1, 1946. Directs the Secretary to compile and analyze, on a continuing basis, all clinical data obtained by the Department of Veterans Affairs in connection with examinations and treatment furnished to veterans by the Department after November 3, 1981, for exposure to herbicide agents in Vietnam and which is likely to be useful in determining the exposure to such agents and the disabilities suffered. Requires an annual report on such compilations and provides funding. Directs the Secretary, for facilitating research on the effects of exposure to herbicides used in Vietnam, to establish and maintain a system for the collection and storage of voluntarily contributed blood and tissue samples of veterans who served there. Provides for: (1) specimen security; (2) authorized uses; (3) limitations on acceptance of samples; and (4) authority based on specific funding. Directs the Secretary to establish a scientific research feasibility studies program for conducting research on health hazards resulting from: (1) exposure to dioxin; (2) exposure to other toxic agents in herbicides used in Vietnam; and (3) active military service in Vietnam during the Vietnam era. Outlines program and report requirements. Directs the Secretary to consult with NAS. Directs the Secretary, upon the request of a Vietnam veteran who has applied for Department medical care and filed a claim for, or is in receipt of, disability compensation, to obtain a blood sample to conduct a test for the presence of a specified dioxin. Provides for notification to the veteran of test results and significance and requires such blood sample to be maintained as part of the collection of blood and tissue samples required under this Act. Makes conforming amendments and provides for alternative effective dates.
United States · United States Congress · 16 January 1991
Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) the Government and people of the United States unequivocally support the right of the people of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia to independence and democracy; and (2) the Soviet Union should immediately cease all hostilities against the Baltic people, remove their troops from Baltic facilities and government buildings, and initiate good faith negotiations with the democratically-elected Baltic governments regarding the restoration of independence to the Baltic countries. Specifies that, until such time as the President certifies to the Congress that the Soviet Union has taken such actions: (1) the Export-Import Bank of the United States may not issue, or make any payment on, any insurance, reinsurance, or guarantee with respect to the financing of exports to the Soviet Union; (2) the Soviet Union should not be eligible to receive nondiscriminatory (most favored nation) trade treatment from the United States; (3) the Secretary of the Treasury shall instruct the U.S. executive directors to the International Monetary Fund and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development to oppose any grant of special association status to the Soviet Union in such institutions; and (4) the United States shall oppose any waiver of restrictions of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development applicable to financing within the Soviet Union. Requires the President to: (1) redirect any Commodity Credit Corporation agricultural credits extended to the Soviet Union away from the central Soviet Government and into the Baltic States and those Soviet republics which are seeking such direct assistance; (2) provide emergency medical assistance to the people of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia channeled through appropriate private voluntary organizations; and (3) request that the recent issue of Soviet aggression against the Baltic people be raised in the United Nations. Urges the President to open closer diplomatic ties with the democratically-elected Governments of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia to pave the way for official U.S. recognition of such Governments.
United States · United States Congress · 16 January 1991
Expresses the sense of the Senate that the President should immediately review all economic benefits provided by the U.S. Government to the Soviet Union, report to the Congress on whether such benefits should be suspended in light of Soviet actions in the Baltic States, suspend all ongoing technical exchanges, consider withdrawing U.S. support for Soviet membership in the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, or General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, and withhold Most Favored Nation trade treatment until: (1) Soviet troops refrain from obstructing the functioning of the democratic governments of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia; (2) the troops that were deployed following the January 7 announcement by the Soviet Defense Ministry, (of the deployment of additional troops to specified republics) are withdrawn; (3) Soviet authorities cease their interference with the media in such States; (4) good-faith negotiations between the governments of such States and the Soviet Union on the restoration of sovereignty to such States have begun; and (5) concrete assurances are received from President Gorbachev that grain purchased with U.S. credits will not be used to coerce such States or any Soviet republic to sign the Union Treaty. States that the United States should consult with and encourage its allies to follow a similar policy.
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 1991
Designates September 8 through 14, 1991, as National Historically Black Colleges Week.
United States · United States Congress · 15 January 1991
Designates September 1991 as National Awareness Month for Children with Cancer.
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 1991
Telecommunications Equipment Research and Manufacturing Competition Act of 1991 - Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to authorize a Bell Telephone Company (BTC), through an affiliate, to manufacture and provide telecommunications equipment, except that no BTC may engage in such manufacturing with an unaffiliated BTC or affiliates thereof. Allows such manufacturing or provision to be conducted only through an affiliate that is separate from any BTC. Requires the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to prescribe regulations to ensure that: (1) such manufacturing affiliate maintains separate accounts and records from its affiliated BTC which identify all transactions with the BTC; (2) neither a BTC nor any of its non-manufacturing affiliates carry out sales, advertising, installation, production, or maintenance operations for a manufacturing affiliate; (3) such manufacturing affiliate conducts all of its manufacturing activity within the United States and uses component parts manufactured in the United States unless specified requirements regarding good faith efforts to obtain such component parts in the United States and domestic content are met; (4) no more than 90 percent of the equity of the manufacturing affiliate is owned by the parent BTC; (5) such affiliate incurs debt entirely separate from and without recourse against the affiliated BTC; (6) such affiliate shall not be required to operate separately from any other affiliates of its BTC; (7) if an affiliate of a BTC becomes affiliated with a manufacturing entity, it shall be treated as a manufacturing affiliate of the BTC; and (8) such affiliate shall make available any telecommunications equipment manufactured by such affiliates to any purchasing carrier, so long as each such purchaser does not manufacture such equipment or agrees to make available to the BTC or any of its affiliates any telecommunications equipment manufactured by such purchasing carrier or any of its affiliates. Directs the FCC to require that each BTC maintain and file with the FCC complete information with respect to the protocols and technical requirements for connections with and use of its telephone exchange service facilities. Prohibits a BTC from disclosing any such information to its affiliates unless such information is immediately so filed. Requires any two or more carriers providing regulated telephone exchange service in the same area to notify each other of the deployment of telecommunications equipment. Requires the FCC to ensure that manufacturers in competition with a BTC's manufacturing affiliate have ready and equal access to information required for such competition that such BTC makes available to its affiliate. Requires the FCC to prescribe regulations to require any BTC which has a manufacturing affiliate to: (1) provide to other manufacturers of telecommunications equipment and customer premises equipment opportunities to sell such equipment to such BTC which are comparable to opportunities the BTC provides to its affiliates; (2) not subsidize its manufacturing affiliate with revenues from its regulated telecommunications service; and (3) only purchase equipment from its manufacturing affiliate at the open market price. Allows a BTC and its affiliates to engage in close collaboration with any manufacturer of customer premises or telecommunications equipment during the design and development of hardware and software relating to such equipment.
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 1991
Michigan Scenic Rivers Act of 1991 - Amends the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act to designate certain rivers in Michigan as components of or potential additions to the national wild and scenic rivers system. Authorizes the Secretary to acquire fee title to lands which, as of August 1, 1990, were owned by Upper Peninsula Energy Corporation without regard to any acreage limitation set forth in this Act. Directs the Secretary of Agriculture to study certain rivers for possible designations as wild and scenic rivers and to establish, for each such river, a River Study Committee to advise him in the preparation of a study report to the Congress. Terminates each such Committee after submission of its report. Permits the installation and operation of facilities or other activities within or outside the boundaries of such designated river segments for the control of the lamprey eel, subject to such restrictions and conditions as the Secretary may prescribe for the protection of water quality and other values (including wild and scenic characteristics) of the river. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend the energy credit for solar and geothermal property until December 31, 1996 (currently, such credit expires on December 31, 1991).
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 1991
Authorizes the granting of a visa and admission to the United States for permanent residence to a named individual.
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 1991
Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to waive the late enrollment penalty under part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) for a disabled individual who failed to enroll because of work-related health insurance coverage or coverage under his or her spouse's work-related health insurance.
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 1991
Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish a program of grants to: (1) identify women who received diethylstilbestrol (DES) while pregnant and their children; (2) establish a voluntary registry of such women and children; (3) provide them with periodic cancer screening; and (4) provide health care personnel and the public with information with respect to the health hazards of such drug. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from broker reporting requirements property or services which involve any metal or coin other than any gold, silver, platinum, or palladium coin or bar which is the proper subject of a regulated futures contract. Provides that a person shall not be treated as a broker with respect to activities consisting of managing a farm on behalf of another person. Provides that except for stocks, bonds, and other intangible personal property, broker reporting requirements shall apply only to transactions the gross proceeds of which are more than $5,000.
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 1991
Amends the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Authorization Act, Fiscal Year 1989, with regard to closing, consolidating, automating, or relocating any Weather Service Office or Weather Service Forecast Office, to: (1) prohibit such action until one year after certification, required by current law, to specified congressional committees that the action will not degrade weather services; (2) require the certification to be based on an independent review by the National Academy of Sciences; and (3) modify the matters included in the certification.
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to permanently extend the period during which qualified mortgage bonds and mortgage credit certificates may be issued.
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 1991
Strengthening Education for American Families Act - Title I: National Goals - Sets forth national goals for education, to be achieved by the year 2000, in the following categories: (1) family literacy and lifelong learning; (2) disadvantaged children's readiness for school; (3) school completion; (4) student achievement; (5) mathematics and science; (6) safe, disciplined, and drug-free schools; (7) teacher recruitment and retention; and (8) equal opportunity for postsecondary education. Title II: National Council on Educational Goals - National Academic Report Card Act of 1991 - Establishes a National Council on Educational Goals (the Council). Directs the Council, after the conclusion of its first meeting, to submit: (1) an interim report within one year; and (2) a National Report Card, within two years and annually thereafter for the duration of its existence. Requires the interim report to: (1) establish a timetable for reporting progress toward achieving the national educational goals by the year 2000; and (2) include a series of reasonable steps for measuring implementation and success of each recommendation of the Council. Requires the National Report Card to set forth an analysis of U.S. progress toward achieving the national education goals, presented in a form understandable to parents and the general public. Provides that the National Report Card may, if the Council deems necessary, also: (1) describe modifications to existing goals; (2) identify continuing gaps in existing educational data; and (3) make recommendations to improve methods and procedures of assessing educational attainment and to strengthen the national educational assessment and information system. Directs the Secretary of Education to make matching grants to the States to: (1) conduct State summits on education; (2) evaluate progress toward implementing national goals; and (3) evaluate the implementation process. Requires States receiving such grants to report on State goals and plans. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1992 through 2001 for: (1) the Council and its National Report Card; and (2) State summits on education. Title III: Literacy - National Literacy Act of 1991 - Provides for comprehensive activities to ensure that all Americans can become literate by the year 2000. Part A: Literacy: Strategic Planning, Research, and Coordination -Establishes an Interagency Task Force on Literacy. Amends the Department of Education Organization Act to direct the Assistant Secretary for Vocational and Adult Education to coordinate literacy-related programs. Establishes the National Institute for Literacy and the National Institute Board. Authorizes the Institute to award Literacy Leader Fellowships. Authorizes appropriations. Amends the Adult Education Act (AEA) to authorize the Secretary of Education (the Secretary) to make grants to establish a network of State or regional adult literacy resource centers. Authorizes appropriations. Part B: Workforce Literacy - Establishes in the Department of Labor a National Workforce Literacy Assistance Collaborative. Authorizes appropriations. Amends the Adult Education Act (AEA) to revise provisions for national workforce literacy strategies grants business, industry, labor, and education partnerships for workplace literacy. Requires the Secretary of Education (the Secretary), in awarding grants for exemplary demonstration partnerships for workplace literacy, to: (1) give priority to partnerships which include small businesses; and (2) limit such grant awards to not more than three years. Directs the Secretary to reserve a specified amount, whenever appropriations for workforce literacy partnership grants exceed a certain level, to establish a program of grants for large-scale national workforce literacy strategies. Authorizes appropriations for AEA workforce literacy programs. Part C: Investment in Literacy - Extends through FY 1995 the authorization of appropriations for programs under the Adult Education Act (AEA). Revises the use of funds under the AEA basic State grants program. Requires that basic grants to States also be used for competitive two-year Gateway Grants to public housing authorities for literacy programs and related activities. Requires biennial evaluations and reports on such Gateway Grants. Revises AEA to give State advisory councils, plans, and evaluations literacy-related responsibilities. Requires States to report biennially to the Interagency Task Force on meeting literacy goals, coordinating workplace literacy services, and building a high quality delivery system for adult literacy programs. Provides for training educators to recognize and serve illiterate individuals more effectively. Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) to revise targeted assistance programs under ESEA to include training programs to enhance the ability of teachers and school counselors to identify, particularly in the early grades, students with reading and related problems which place them at risk for adult illiteracy. Renames the Even Start program under ESEA the Even Start Family Literacy Program. Revises the program to expand eligibility to include community-based organizations or other nonprofit organizations of demonstrated quality applying in collaboration with a local educational agency (LEA) (as well as LEAs and LEA consortia). Sets minimum grant amounts. Makes individual children eligible from birth through age seven (currently from age one through age seven). Provides for continuation of eligibility for certain participants until the parents become ineligible due to educational achievement, or until all children in the family attain age eight. Gives priority to applicants demonstrating that the area to be served has a high percentage or a large number of children and adults in need of program services. Authorizes appropriations for the Even Start Family Literacy Program. Establishes a Family Literacy Public Broadcasting Program. Authorizes the Secretary of Education, subject to availability of appropriations, to contract with the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) for production and dissemination of family literacy programming and accompanying materials to assist parents in improving family literacy skills and languages development. Requires CPB to: (1) cooperate with local public broadcasting stations; (2) arrange for distribution of audio and video instructional media materials for use, and distribution on loan, to families at sites chosen from among State and local libraries with literacy programs and nonprofit entities serving hard-to-serve populations; and (3) report to the Congress. Authorizes appropriations for the Family Literacy Public Broadcasting Program. Part D: Business Leadership for Employment Skills - Amends the Adult Education Act (AEA) to provide for education programs for commercial drivers. Authorizes the Secretary of Education to make competitive matching grants for adult education programs which increase the literacy skills of eligible commercial drivers so that they may successfully complete the knowledge test requirements under the Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1986. Requires grantees to refer individuals identified as having literacy skill problems to appropriate adult education programs. Authorizes appropriations. Part E: Books for Families - Revises the ESEA inexpensive book distribution program to require that priority be given in selection of additional local programs to those which serve children and students with special needs. Requires the program contractor (Reading is Fundamental) to report to the Secretary of Education annually on such additional programs. Amends the Library Services and Construction Act to direct the Secretary of Education, in awarding grants for library literacy programs and services, to give priority to those that: (1) will be delivered in areas of greatest need with highest concentrations of adults without secondary education or its equivalent, and which either have few community or financial resources or have low per capita income, unemployment, or underemployment; and (2) coordinate with literacy organizations and community-based organizations providing literacy services. Part F: Volunteers for Literacy - Amends the Domestic Volunteer Service Act of 1973 to establish a Literacy Challenge Grants program. Authorizes the Director of the ACTION Agency to award such grants to eligible public and private entities to pay the Federal share of costs of establishing, operating, or expanding community or employee literacy programs that include the use of full- or part-time volunteers. Authorizes appropriations for Literacy Challenge Grants, but only if there are specified levels of funding for the VISTA Program and the VISTA Literacy Corps. Part G: Literacy for Incarcerated Individuals - Amends the Adult Education Act (AEA) to establish requirements for mandatory functional literacy programs for incarcerated adults in State correctional systems and local jails or detention centers. Requires such a program to be in effect in at least one major correctional facility, for each State correctional system and each local jail or detention center with an inmate population, within two years after enactment of this Act. Requires, if adequate funds are available, each State correctional system and each local jail or detention center with over 150 inmates to have such a program in effect within five years after enactment of this Act. Sets forth required components of such programs, including inmate mandatory participation (except for any individual who is serving a life sentence without parole, or terminally ill, or under a sentence of death). Requires annual reports. Encourages: (1) parole agencies to make educational recommendations for those being released who do not have a marketable job skill or a high school diploma; and (2) jails with less than 150 inmates to develop such mandatory functional literacy programs.
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 1991
Family and Medical Leave Act of 1991 - Title I: General Requirements for Leave - Establishes certain requirements for family and medical leave for permanent employees. (Excludes from such coverage: (1) employees at worksites at which the employer employs less than 50 persons, if the total number of employees of that employer within 75 miles of that worksite is less than 50; and (2) Federal officers and employees covered under title II of this Act.) Entitles employees to 12 workweeks of leave during any 12-month period because of: (1) the birth of their child; (2) the placement of a child for their adoption or foster care; (3) their care of a child, spouse, or parent who has a serious health condition; or (4) their own serious health condition which makes them unable to perform the functions of their position. Conditions such leave for the birth or placement of a child as follows: (1) the entitlement ends 12 months after the birth or placement; (2) both parents may not take such leave at the same time; and (3) such leave may not be taken intermittently unless employee and employer agree otherwise. Allows all leave to which an employee is entitled under this title: (1) to be taken on a reduced leave schedule, upon agreement with the employer; and (2) to consist of unpaid leave, except under specified conditions when substitution of certain types of paid leave may be elected or required. Declares that nothing in this Act shall require an employer to provide paid sick or medical leave in any situation in which the employer would not normally provide any such paid leave. Requires employees to: (1) give reasonable notice of the need for leave to which they are entitled under this Act, when foreseeable; and (2) make a reasonable effort to schedule medical treatment or supervision so as not to disrupt unduly the employer's operations, subject to approval of the health care provider. Allows limitation of the dual aggregate leave entitlement to 12 weeks in any 12-month period, in the case of spouses employed by the same employer, if such leave is for the birth or placement of a child or for the care of a sick parent. Sets forth conditions of certification for leave entitlements under this Act, including provisions relating to: (1) sufficient certification; (2) explanation of inability to perform job functions; (3) second opinion; (4) resolution of conflicting opinions; and (5) subsequent recertification. Sets forth employment and benefits protections relating to leave entitlements under this Act, including provisions relating to: (1) restoration to position; and (2) maintenance of health benefits. Prohibits employers or other persons from interfering with employee rights under this Act or from discriminating against any individual because of participation in proceedings or inquiries under this Act. Provides for administrative enforcement of this title by the Secretary of Labor, as well as enforcement by civil action. Sets forth provisions for investigative authority, injunctive and monetary relief, attorneys' fees, and limitation of actions. Sets forth special rules concerning employees of local educational agencies, including provisions relating to intermittent leave for instructional employees, periods near the completion of an academic term, and reduction of liability. Requires employers to post notice of the pertinent provisions of this title. Requires fines for willful violations of such requirement. Directs the Secretary of Labor to prescribe regulations to carry out this title. Title II: Leave for Civil Service Employees - Amends specified Federal law to entitle civil service employees to family and temporary medical leave for specified periods. Allows such employees up to: (1) 12 workweeks in any 12-month period for family leave (i.e., leave because of the birth or placement of a child or care of a sick child or parent), but such leave may not be used at a time more than 12 months after such birth or placement; and (2) 12 workweeks during any 12-month period for temporary medical leave. Provides that such leave will be without pay. Allows employees to substitute other types of paid leave for part of such leave. Provides for protection for job position and health insurance benefits of employees using such leave. Sets forth certification provisions and prohibitions against coercion. Directs the Office of Personnel Management to prescribe regulations for administration of this title which are consistent with the regulations prescribed by the Secretary of Labor under title I of this Act. Title III: Commission on Leave - Establishes the Commission on Leave. Requires the Commission to report on its study of family and medical leave (which may include legislative recommendations concerning coverage of small businesses and alternative and equivalent State enforcement of this Act with respect to employees of local educational agencies) to the Congress within two years after the Commission first meets. Terminates the Commission within 30 days after its report to the Congress. Title IV: Miscellaneous Provisions - Sets forth the effect of this Act on existing laws and existing employment benefits. Provides that nothing in this Act shall be construed to discourage employers from adopting more generous leave policies. Directs the Secretary of Labor to prescribe regulations to carry out this title within 60 days.
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 1991
Freedom of Choice Act of 1991 - Provides that a State may not restrict the right of a woman to choose to terminate a pregnancy: (1) before fetal viability; or (2) at any time, if such termination is necessary to protect the life or health of the woman. Allows a State to impose requirements medically necessary to protect the life or health of such women.
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 1991
Social Security Administrative Reform Act of 1991 - Title I: Establishment - Amends title VII (Administration) of the Social Security Act to establish the Social Security Administration as an independent executive agency, governed by a Commissioner of Social Security. Provides that it shall be the duty of the Commissioner to administer the Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance (OASDI) program and the Supplemental Security Income program under titles II and XVI of the Social Security Act. Transfers to the Commissioner all functions carried out by the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) pertaining to such programs. Establishes in the Administration an Office of the Beneficiary Ombudsman. Establishes a Social Security Advisory Board to advise the Commissioner on policies related to such programs and on operations in the Administration. Title II: Conforming Amendments - Makes conforming amendments to titles II and XVI of the Social Security Act. Requires the Commissioner to report to the Congress within 120 days after the beginning of each regular session on his or her administration under the Social Security Act. Directs the Commissioner to appoint, quadrennially, an Advisory Council on Social Security to review the relation of the trust funds supporting the OASDI program to the long-term commitments of the program. Directs the Secretary to appoint, quadrennially, an Advisory Council on Hospital and Supplementary Medical Insurance to review the relation of the trust funds supporting the Medicare program to the long-term commitments of the program. Makes conforming amendments to other titles of the Social Security Act and to other Federal laws.
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 1991
Amends the National Labor Relations Act and the Railway Labor Act to make it an unfair labor practice for an employer to offer or grant: (1) permanent replacement employee status during a labor dispute; or (2) any employment preference to an individual who worked or indicated a willingness to work during a labor dispute over an employee who exercised specified rights during such dispute and who is working for, or has unconditionally offered to return to work for, the employer.
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 1991
Child Welfare and Preventive Services Act - Title I: Provisions Relating to Child Welfare and Family Support - Amends part B (Child-Welfare Services) of title IV of the Social Security Act to provide Federal funds to enable States to plan, develop, or expand innovative programs of child welfare services and family support services in order to preserve and strengthen families and prevent the need for placement in foster care. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to authorize demonstration projects to improve the coordination of welfare services for families and children. Directs the Secretaries of HHS, Agriculture, and Education, and the Attorney General to: (1) review department policies to determine whether changes can be made without statutory changes to improve the funding and delivery of such services; and (2) issue a report to the Congress that includes recommendations for both legislative and nonlegislative changes to improve the coordination of the funding and delivery of such services. Amends part E (Foster Care and Adoption Assistance) of title IV of the Social Security Act to set forth provisions to facilitate adoption, including provisions allowing States to disregard adoption assistance payments in determining a family's eligibility for the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program under part A. Directs the Secretary of HHS to establish an Advisory Committee on Foster Care Placement to study and make recommendations regarding the current requirement that States make reasonable efforts to prevent the need for removal of a child from home, and to make it possible for the child to return home, under State plans for foster care and adoption assistance. Requires that a child who is placed in foster care be placed in a setting that is most appropriate for that child. Authorizes demonstration projects to facilitate the reunification of children eligible for AFDC services with their families. Allows States to claim 90 percent Federal matching for the costs of planning, designing, developing, or installing a statewide data collection and information retrieval system for purposes of administering the Child-Welfare Services program and the Foster Care and Adoption Assistance program. Allows States to claim 50 percent Federal matching for the costs of operating a data collection and information system for purposes of administering the Foster Care and Adoption Assistance program. Allows youths in independent living programs to accumulate assets sufficient to enable them to establish their own households. Requires States to submit all claims for Federal reimbursement under the Foster Care and Adoption Assistance program within one year after the calendar quarter in which the expenditure is made (currently, within two years). Outlines the criteria for the Secretary of HHS to use for approving applications by colleges for grants to provide child welfare traineeships. Permits the Secretary of HHS to authorize up to ten States to establish and evaluate specified types of child welfare demonstration projects. Grants such States more flexible spending authority for such purposes. Directs the Secretary, in order to improve the capacity of State and local child welfare agencies to administer Child-Welfare Services and Foster Care and Adoption Assistance programs and to provide services to families and children, to develop and publish a model staff training program for use by such agencies. Requires the health and education records of foster children to include: (1) the telephone numbers of their health and education providers; and (2) a record indicating that their foster care provider was advised of their eligibility for services under the Medicaid program (title XIX of the Social Security Act). Title II: Provisions Relating to Comprehensive Substance Abuse Programs for Pregnant Women and Caretaker Parents with Children - Amends the Child-Welfare Services program to provide Federal funds to enable States to establish comprehensive substance abuse programs for certain low-income pregnant women and caretaker parents with children. Authorizes appropriations. Title III: Provisions Relating to Child Health - Amends the Medicaid program to allow States to provide federally reimbursed Medicaid coverage for children of families with income below 185 percent of the Federal poverty level. Allows States to extend Medicaid coverage to children born before October 1, 1983, who have attained six years of age but have not attained 19 years of age or a lesser age as selected by the State. Provides for optional State Medicaid coverage for foster children. Provides for optional State Medicaid coverage of: (1) home visitor services for medically fragile infants; and (2) home or community-based services to children with acquired immune deficiency syndrome or children who are ventilator-dependent. Removes restrictions on the ownership of certain assets, such as automobiles and household goods, by pregnant women for purposes of determining Medicaid eligibility. Provides for greater continuous Medicaid eligibility for certain children. Requires States to provide medical assistance under the Medicaid program to any individual who is eligible for and receiving benefits under the Supplemental Security Income program (title XVI of the Social Security Act). Revises the requirement that States with prospective payment systems must provide for outlier payment adjustments for certain expensive services provided to children under age six during their stay in disproportionate share hospitals to make such requirement applicable to children under age 19. Requires the Federal Government to use the most recent data in calculating its matching share for Medicaid. Provides for the extension of certain waivers for services related to pregnancy. Increases the limit on the number of individuals allowed to participate in home and community-based programs under waivers. Outlines various congressional reporting requirements imposed by this Act on the Secretary of HHS, including requirements with respect to the Maternal and Child Health Services program (title V of the Social Security Act). Directs the Secretary of HHS to appoint a Commission on the Evaluation of Disability in Children. Directs the Commission to conduct a study and report to the Congress on the meaning of the term "disability" under the SSI program as it applies to determining whether a child under the age of 18 is eligible to receive benefits under such program. Terminates the Commission on September 30, 1993. Title IV: Provisions Relating to Adoption Expense Deduction - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a deduction for the expenses incurred to adopt a child with special needs, up to an annual limit of $3,000.
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 1991
Senate Election Ethics Act of 1991 - Title I: Senate Election Campaign Spending Limits and Benefits - Amends the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to provide for spending limits and to establish eligibility requirements for benefits for Senate primary, general, and runoff elections. Limits personal expenditures during an election cycle to $250,000 and aggregate expenditures for a general election to the lesser of: (1) $5,550,000; or (2) the greater of: (a) $950,000; or (b) $400,000 plus 30 cents for each voter up to 4,000,000 and 25 cents for each voter over 4,000,000. Limits expenditures for the primary election and any runoff election. Provides for increasing threshold amounts under this Act in accordance with increases in the price index. Increases such primary and runoff election spending limits by the aggregate amount of independent expenditures in excess of $10,000 made against, or on behalf of any opponent of, such candidate during the applicable period. Requires an individual who files as a candidate for the primary election, in order to be eligible to receive the benefits for that election, to file a declaration with the Federal Election Committee (FEC) indicating that the candidate and his or her authorized committees will comply with such limits. Sets forth a threshold contribution requirement for general election candidates. Requires a candidate for the general election, in order to be eligible to receive the benefits for that election, to file a certification with the FEC that the candidate and his or her authorized committees will comply with the primary and runoff election expenditure limits and the threshold contribution requirement. Allows a candidate or Federal officeholder to establish a fund with amounts subject to the requirements of this Act up to a certain amount to defray the costs of legal and accounting services provided to ensure compliance with this Act or in connection with the activities as a Federal officeholder other than costs for the purpose of influencing the election of such candidate to Federal office. Permits the candidate to petition the FEC for a waiver of such limitation if such costs exceed the limitation. Requires upon termination of the fund that remaining amounts be transferred to: (1) another fund to be used for such purposes during the next general election; (2) an authorized committee of the candidate as contributions allocable to the next such election; or (3) the Senate Election Campaign Fund. Exempts any expenditure by the candidate or the candidate's authorized committees for Federal, State, or local taxes on earnings allocable to contributions from the general expenditure limit. Establishes formulae for determining entitlements of candidates of a major party and for those not of a majority party. Entitles candidates to certain broadcast media rates and mailing rates and to voter communication vouchers to purchase broadcast time during the general election period. Limits the aggregate amount of such vouchers to 50 percent of the general election expenditure limit (25 percent if the candidate is not a major party candidate). Provides for additional payments and suspension of spending limits in cases where non-participating candidates exceed spending limitations. Permits candidates to use such payments to defray expenditures in the general election. Prohibits the use of such payments to: (1) make any payments directly or indirectly to the candidate or the candidate's immediate family, except to repay any loan used to further the general election of such candidate; (2) make any expenditure other than expenditures to further the general election; (3) make any expenditures in violation of State or Federal law; or (4) repay any loan except to the extent the proceeds of such loan were used to further the general election. Requires the FEC to certify the eligibility of candidates to the Secretary of the Treasury in order for them to receive benefits. Establishes in the Treasury the Senate Election Campaign Fund for the deposit of funds for payments and voter communication vouchers to eligible candidates. Directs the Secretary to maintain such accounts in the Fund as appropriate. Provides for prorating payments when monies in such Fund are insufficient. Provides for increasing the amount of the eligible candidate's contribution limit under this title by the pro rata reduction in payments. Directs the FEC, after each general election, to audit the campaign expenses of publicly financed candidates. Makes candidates liable for repayment to the Secretary for excess payments and vouchers. Establishes criminal penalties for knowing and willful violations of this title. Subjects FEC actions under this Act to judicial review by the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Authorizes appropriations to the FEC as necessary. Amends the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to: (1) revise the definition of a "political committee" to delete references to any separate segregated fund and any committee, club, association, or group which receives contributions or makes expenditures annually totaling over $1,000 and to include any national, State, or district committee of a political party, including any subordinate committee; (2) repeal provisions excluding nonpartisan registration and get-out-the-vote campaigns and the establishment of, and solicitation of contributions for, a separate segregated fund from the definition of a "contribution or expenditure" by a national bank, corporation, or labor organization; (3) prohibit making, soliciting, or receiving contributions or making expenditures to influence a Federal election by any person other than an individual or a political committee; and (4) deem any political committee which is established, financed, maintained, or controlled by any candidate or Federal officeholder to be an authorized committee of such candidate or officeholder for purposes of limitations on contributions to a candidate's committees. Specifies that if such prohibition is not in effect: (1) it and the other amendments made by this Act to the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 regarding such definitions and a candidate's committees shall not be in effect and prior law will be reinstated; (2) political action committees not connected to corporations, labor organizations, or trade associations will be subject to a $1,000 contribution limit; and (3) it shall be unlawful for a multicandidate political committee to make a contribution to a Senate candidate or a candidate's authorized committee to the extent that the making of the contribution will cause the amount of contributions received from the multicandidate political committees to exceed the lesser of: (1) $825,000; or (2) the greater of: (a) $375,000; or (b) 20 percent of the sum of the general election spending limit plus the primary election spending limit regardless of whether the candidate is eligible. Provides that in the case of individuals who are executive or administrative personnel of an employer: (1) no contributions may be made by such individuals to any political committees established and maintained by any political party, or to any candidate for election to the Senate or the candidate's authorized committees, unless such individuals certify that such contributions are not being made at the direction of, or otherwise controlled or influenced by, the employer; and (2) the aggregate amount of such contributions by all such individuals in any calendar year shall not exceed $20,000 in the case of such political committees and $5,000 in the case of any such candidate and the candidate's authorized committees. Amends the Communications Act of 1934 to prohibit the charges made for the use of any broadcasting station by a candidate for Federal office: (1) during the 45 days before a primary or run-off election from exceeding 100 percent of the station's lowest unit charge for 30 seconds for the same time of day and day of the week; (2) during a general election from exceeding 50 percent of the lowest unit charge for 30 seconds; or (3) at any other time the charges made for comparable use of such station by other users. Outlines the responsibilities of broadcast licensees in providing broadcast time to eligible candidates pursuant to voter communications vouchers. Provides for reduced postal rates for eligible Senate candidates. Requires communications paid for or authorized by a candidate in a Senate general election who is not an eligible candidate under this Act to contain a specified message indicating that the candidate has not agreed to abide by the spending limits set forth in this Act. Sets forth reporting requirements for Senate candidates relating to spending limitations, candidate eligibility, and independent expenditures. Requires any candidate for the Senate who, during the election cycle, expends more than $250,000 from personal funds, the funds of the candidate's immediate family, and personal loans incurred by the candidate and the candidate's immediate family, to report to the FEC within 24 hours after such expenditures have been made or loans incurred. Requires the FEC to notify eligible candidates of such reports. Provides that when two or more persons make independent expenditures in excess of $10,000 in concert during any general, primary, or runoff election period for the office of Senator, each person shall report to the Secretary of the Senate on such expenditures. Title II: Expenditures and Contributions - Subtitle A: Independent Expenditures - Defines "cooperative expenditure" as any expenditure which is made: (1) with the cooperation of, or in consultation with, any candidate or any authorized committee or agent of such candidate; or (2) in concert with, or at the request or suggestion of, any candidate or any authorized committee or agent of such candidate. Specifies the conditions under which an expenditure will be included within such definition. Provides that a cooperative expenditure shall be treated as: (1) an expenditure made by the candidate on whose behalf it was made; and (2) a contribution from the person making the expenditure to the candidate on whose behalf it was made. Amends the Communications Act of 1934: (1) to require a person who reserves broadcast time the payment for which would constitute an independent expenditure to inform the licensee of the nature of the payment and the names of all candidates for the office to which the proposed broadcast relates; and (2) to provide the licensee with a statement that identifies the candidate whom such independent expenditure is intended to affect. Outlines the responsibilities of a broadcast licensee who is informed and who endorses a candidate for Federal office in an editorial. Amends the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to set forth disclosure requirements for independent expenditures through television and audio broadcasts or other types of general public political advertising. Subtitle B: Expenditures - Part I: Personal Loans; Credit - Provides that if a candidate or a member of the candidate's immediate family made any loans to the candidate or to the candidate's authorized committee during any election cycle no contributions after the date of the general election for such election cycle may be used to repay such loans. Provides that no contribution by a candidate or member of the candidate's immediate family may be returned other than as part of a pro rata distribution of excess contributions to all contributors. Includes within the definition of "contribution" any extension of credit for goods or services relating to advertising if such extension of credit exceeds $1,000 and is for a certain period with respect to a Senate candidate. Part II: Provisions Relating to Soft Money of Political Parties - Establishes limitations of $20,000 and $15,000, respectively, on individuals and multicandidate committee contributions to State committees of a political party with respect to any calendar year. Provides for increasing the current $25,000 annual limitation on individual contributions by the amount of contributions made by an individual during a calendar year to such a committee. Limits such increase to $5,000. Subjects to Federal limitations, prohibitions, and reporting requirements any amount solicited, received, or expended directly or indirectly by a national, State, or local committee of a political party with respect to an activity to influence a Federal election (soft money). Specifies the activities during a Federal election period to be treated as influencing a Federal election for purposes of such provisions. Prohibits a State committee of a political party from making expenditures which, in the aggregate, exceed an amount equal to four cents multiplied by the voting age population of the State for such activities with respect to the general election campaign of a candidate for President who is affiliated with such party. Repeals provisions excluding certain payments to State or local committees of a political party from the definitions of "contribution" and "expenditure" to subject such payments to the limitations and reporting requirements of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971. Revises provisions regarding certain payments to State and local committees of a political party to cover the costs incurred with respect to printed slate cards or sample ballots to provide that such provisions shall not apply to the costs incurred by such committees with respect to the mass mailing of such a printed listing. Applies the limitations on contributions under the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to transfers between and among the political committees described in the provisions setting forth such limitations except that a national committee may not solicit or accept contributions not subject to the limitations, prohibitions, and reporting requirements of that Act. Prohibits such provisions from applying to contributions that are to be: (1) transferred to a State committee for activities which are not for influencing an election for Federal office; or (2) used by the committee primarily to support such activities. Prohibits the national committee of a political party, the congressional campaign committees of a political party, and a State or local committee of a political party from making expenditures during any calendar year for the activities specified under this part with respect to such State which, in the aggregate, exceed an amount equal to 30 cents multiplied by the voting age population of the State. Specifies that "generic campaign activities" (a campaign activity whose preponderant purpose or effect is to promote a political party rather than any particular Federal or non-Federal candidate) during a Federal election period shall be treated as influencing an election for Federal office. Subjects fundraising by a candidate for Federal office and by an individual holding Federal office for Federal or non-Federal elections to the limitations, prohibitions, and requirements of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971. Prohibits Federal officeholders and candidates from raising contributions from any person of more than $5,000 on behalf of any tax-exempt organization which they have established or which they maintain or control. Prohibits Federal officeholders and candidates from raising any contributions on behalf of tax-exempt organizations if a significant portion of the activities of such an organization includes voter registration or get-out-the-vote campaigns. Sets forth additional reporting requirements for national, State, district, or local committees of a political party with respect to receipts and disbursements for activities to influence a Federal election (soft money). Requires national committees of a political party and any congressional campaign committee to report all receipts and disbursements whether or not they are used to influence a Federal election. Defines "congressional campaign committee" as the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, the National Republican Senatorial Committee, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, and the National Republican Congressional Committee. Provides that, in lieu of any report required to be filed by the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, the FEC may allow a State committee of a political party to file a report required under State law if such report contains substantially the same information. Applies the reporting requirements of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to certain payments to State or local committees of a political party excluded from the definitions of "contribution" and "expenditure" under such Act (soft money). Requires any such exempt contributions or expenditures in excess of $200 to be reported. Requires any individual who makes contributions in excess of $10,000 to any candidate for Federal office or to any political committee that is subject to the limitations of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to report to the FEC within seven days after making such contributions, and thereafter each time such individual makes contributions in excess of $5,000. Requires any candidate for Federal office, any authorized committee of a candidate, or any political committee of a candidate, or any political committee soliciting contributions subject to such limitation to include with such solicitation a notice of the requirement to report as well as the annual individual limitation on such contributions. Subtitle C: Contributions - Prohibits a congressional campaign committee of a political party, during an election cycle, from accepting from multicandidate political committees and separate segregated funds any contributions which exceed 30 percent of the total expenditures which such committee may make during that election cycle. Prohibits a national committee of a political party, during an election cycle, from accepting from multicandidate political committees and separate segregated funds any contributions which, in the aggregate, exceed an amount equal to two cents multiplied by the voting age population of the United States. Subjects any expenditure made by a national or State committee of a political party or a congressional campaign committee for general public political advertising which clearly identifies a candidate for Federal office by name to the limitations on expenditures by national and State committees of a political party under the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971. Prohibits such provisions from applying to expenditures for mass mailings designed primarily for fundraising purposes which make only incidental references to any one or more Federal candidates. Provides for the accountability of contributions made by intermediaries or conduits. Provides that any contribution by an individual who is not of voting age and who is a dependent of another individual shall be treated as having been made by such other individual. Subtitle D: Reporting Requirements - Revises reporting requirements under the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971. Title III: Federal Election Commission - Revises provisions regarding the organization of political committees to prohibit a political committee that is not an authorized committee from including the name of any candidate in its name in such a context as to suggest that it is an authorized committee of the candidate or that the use of the candidate's name has been authorized by the candidate. Revises reporting requirements to give a political committee which is the principal campaign committee of a House or Senate candidate the option of filing monthly reports in all calendar years in lieu of the reports currently required to be filed with the FEC, except with respect to the general election reports. Revises enforcement provisions. Changes the determination the FEC must make upon receiving a complaint and before notifying a person of an alleged violation. Repeals the requirement that all FEC decisions with respect to the exercise of its duties and powers under the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 be made by a majority vote of its members. Subjects such decisions to an affirmative vote of four FEC members, except with respect to certain questions including the above mentioned determination, in which case the general counsel is required to make a recommendation for action. Requires such action to be taken upon an affirmative vote of three FEC members. Provides that in the event of a vacancy in the office of general counsel, the next highest ranking enforcement official in that office shall serve as acting general counsel with full powers of the general counsel until a successor is appointed. Increases the rate of basic pay of the general counsel to the rate for the FEC staff director. Provides that fees collected by the FEC for copying and certification of records and for the provision of other materials to the public shall not be covered into the general fund of the Treasury, but shall be kept in a separate account and shall be available to the FEC to carry out the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971. Revises provisions regarding penalties prescribed in conciliation agreements and penalties for violations which are adjudicated in court. Authorizes the FEC to conduct random audits and investigations to ensure voluntary compliance with this Act. Sets forth disclosure requirements for expenditures and independent expenditures through television and radio broadcasts or other types of general public political advertising. Declares that no person shall: (1) make a fraudulent misrepresentation that the person is authorized to solicit or accept a contribution to a candidate or political committee; or (2) solicit or accept a contribution to a candidate or political committee unless the person intends to, and does, pay over to the candidate or political committee any contribution received and informs the candidate or political committee of the name of the contributor. Title IV: Miscellaneous - Prohibits an incumbent in, or candidate for, Federal office from establishing, maintaining, or controlling a political committee other than an authorized committee of the candidate or a committee of a political party. Requires a contribution of polling data to a candidate for the Senate to be valued at the fair market value of the data on the date the poll was completed, depreciated at a rate not more than one percent per day from such date to the date on which the contribution was made. Prohibits congressional franked mass mailings within one year before an election (currently, within 60 days before an election).
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 1991
Authorizes the granting of a visa and admission to the United States for permanent residence to a named individual.
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 1991
Amends Federal law to increase the Federal payments in lieu of taxes to units of local government for entitlement land. Requires the Secretary of the Interior to adjust such payments by the rate of inflation according to the Consumer Price Index.
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 1991
Violence Against Women Act of 1991 - Title I: Safe Streets for Women - Safe Streets for Women Act of 1991 - Subtitle A: Federal Penalties for Sex Crimes - Amends Federal law to require the U.S. Sentencing Commission to create or amend guidelines to provide for: (1) up to twice the term of imprisonment or fine for violation, after the first conviction, of Federal laws relating to sexual abuse or similar laws of any State or foreign country; and (2) minimum or increased maximum sentences for rape, aggravated rape, or statutory rape. Requires that a court order restitution for violations of such Federal sexual abuse laws. Subtitle B: Law Enforcement and Prosecution Grants to Reduce Violent Crime Against Women - Amends the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to require the Director of the Bureau of Justice Assistance to make grants to areas of high intensity crime against women. Requires that the grants be used for personnel, training, technical assistance, data collection, and other equipment for the more widespread apprehension, prosecution, and adjudication of persons committing violent crimes against women. Authorizes the Director to make grants to States, for use by States and their subdivisions, to be used for the same purposes as the high intensity area grants and to reduce the the rate of violent crimes against women. Authorizes the Director to make general grants to: (1) States to reduce violent crimes against women; and (2) Indian tribes to reduce violent crimes against women in Indian country. Authorizes the Director, in addition to the grants under this subtitle, to direct any Federal agency, with or without reimbursement, to use its authorities and resources in support of State and local assistance efforts. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle C: Safety for Women in Public Transit and Public Parks - Directs the Secretary of Transportation, from funds authorized under existing provisions, to make capital grants for the prevention of crime and to increase security in existing and future public transportation systems. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants and loans to States and local public bodies to increase the safety of public transportation through lighting, camera surveillance, security phones, or other projects. Sets the Federal share of each project at 90 percent of the net cost. Directs the Secretary to provide grants and loans to study ways to reduce violent crimes against women in public transit through better design or operation of public transit systems. Amends the National Park System Improvements in Administration Act to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to provide assistance to reduce violent crime in the National Park System (NPS). Provides for compilation of a list of areas within the NPS with the highest rates of violent crime. Allows funds to be used, around public parks and recreation areas, for increasing lighting, providing emergency phone lines, increasing security or law enforcement personnel, and any other project to increase security and safety. Amends the Land and Water Conservation Act of 1965 to direct the Secretary of the Interior to provide grants for capital improvements and other measures to increase safety in public parks and recreation areas. Subtitle D: National Commission on Violent Crime Against Women - Establishes the National Commission on Violent Crime Against Women to promote a national policy on violent crime against women and to make recommendations on reducing such crime. Authorizes appropriations. Terminates the Commission after submission of its final report, subject to extension by the President for up to one more year. Subtitle E: New Evidentiary Rules - Amends the Federal Rules of Evidence to exclude, notwithstanding any other provision of law and in criminal cases other than a sex offense case, reputation or opinion evidence of the past sexual behavior of a victim from admission into evidence. Allows other types of evidence of a victim's past sexual behavior in accordance with specified procedures if its probative value outweighs the danger of unfair prejudice. Makes reputation or opinion evidence of the plaintiff's past sexual behavior, notwithstanding any other provisions of law, inadmissable in a civil action involving allegations of actionable sexual misconduct. Makes other types of evidence of a plaintiff's past sexual behavior admissible in accordance with specified procedures if its probative value outweighs the danger of unfair prejudice. Defines actionable sexual misconduct to include sex harassment or discrimination claims under title VII (Equal Employment Opportunity) of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and gender bias claims under title III of this Act. Makes evidentiary rulings made under specified Federal Rules of Evidence relating to sex offense cases and the relevance of a victim's past behavior subject to interlocutory appeal by the Government or by the alleged victim. Allows the alleged victim to waive those rules if the prosecution seeks to offer evidence of prior sexual history. Makes evidence of an alleged victim's clothing, notwithstanding any other provision of law and in a criminal case under Federal laws relating to sexual abuse, inadmissable to show the victim incited or invited the offense. Subtitle F: Assistance to Victims of Sexual Assault - Amends the Public Health Service Act (PHSA) to allow States to use amounts transferred by the State under block grant provisions for rape prevention and education programs conducted by rape crisis centers or similar nongovernmental nonprofit entities. Authorizes appropriations. Removes a requirement that a minimum amount from the block grants under the PHSA be allotted to States on the basis of population. Removes provisions allowing a State to use amounts paid to the State under block grant provisions and amounts transferred by the State to provide services to rape victims and for rape prevention. Requires grant recipients under this title to incur the full cost of forensic medical exams for victims of sexual assault. Title II: Safe Homes for Women - Safe Homes for Women Act of 1990 - Subtitle A: Interstate Enforcement - Provides for a Federal term of imprisonment or fine, in addition to any State penalties, for any person who travels or causes another (including the intended victim) to travel across State lines or in interstate commerce with intent to injure a spouse or intimate partner and who, during the travel or thereafter, injures his or her spouse or intimate partner in violation of a criminal law of the State where the injury occurs, or in violation of a State protection order. Provides for temporary protection orders while a case under these provisions is pending. Mandates that a court order restitution to the victim of an offense under this Act. Requires, provided certain conditions are met, that a protection order issued by the court of one State be accorded full faith and credit by the court of another State. Makes a protection order issued against a person who filed a written pleading for protection not entitled to full faith and credit if no cross or counter petition, complaint, or other written pleading was filed seeking such a protection order or, if a cross or counter petition was filed, the court did not specifically find each party entitled to such an order. Subtitle B: Arrest in Spousal Abuse Cases - Amends the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act (FVPSA) to authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make grants, with regard to spousal abuse, to: (1) implement pro-arrest programs and policies in police departments and improve case tracking; (2) centralize and coordinate police enforcement, prosecution, or judicial responsibility for cases in one group of officers, prosecutors, or judges; and (3) educate judges to improve judicial handling of cases. Directs the Secretary to delegate to the Attorney General responsibility to carry out these provisions. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle C: Funding for Shelters - Amends the FVPSA to authorize appropriations to carry out that Act, earmarking at least 85 percent of funds appropriated for State demonstration grants to prevent family violence and provide immediate shelter and related assistance. Limits the percentage which may be used to carry out public information campaigns under provisions of subtitle D of this title. Subtitle D: Family Violence Prevention and Services Act Amendments - Allows demonstration grants to be used to increase public awareness about, as well as to prevent, family violence. Authorizes the Secretary to make grants for public information campaigns regarding domestic violence. Requires each State, in order to be eligible for the grants, to establish a Commission on Domestic Violence to examine matters such as arrest, prosecution, sentencing, restitution, and reporting. Directs (currently, authorizes) the Secretary to make a specified percentage (currently, no specified percentage) available for demonstration grants to Indian tribes. Removes the limit on the aggregate amount of grants to any single entity. Revises requirements regarding the local share of program costs for grants to entities other than States or Indian tribes. Increases the percentage of funds required to be used for shelter and related assistance for victims of family violence and their dependents. Allows law enforcement training grants to be made under existing provisions only to private nonprofit organizations with experience in providing training and technical assistance to law enforcement personnel on a national or regional basis. Directs the Secretary to make grants to at least ten States to assist in becoming model demonstration States and in improving State leadership concerning: (1) increasing prosecutions for domestic crimes; (2) encouraging reporting of domestic violence; and (3) facilitating arrests and aggressive prosecution policies. Sets forth requirements for being designated a model State. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary to delegate responsibilities under these provisions to the Attorney General. Directs the Secretary to make grants or contracts for the establishment and maintenance of six national resource centers to provide training and technical assistance to State, Indian tribal, and local domestic violence programs and to other professionals who provide services to domestic violence victims. Subtitle E: Youth Education and Domestic Violence - Directs the Secretary of Education to develop three separate model programs for education of young people about domestic violence and violence among intimate partners, with one program for each of primary and middle schools, secondary schools, and institutions of higher education. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle F: Confidentiality for Abused Persons - Requires the Postmaster General to promulgate regulations to secure the confidentiality of abused persons' addresses. Title III: Civil Rights - Declares that all persons within the United States shall have the same rights, privileges, and immunities in every State as are enjoyed by all other persons to be free from crimes of violence motivated by the victim's gender (defined as any crime of violence, including rape, sexual assault, sexual abuse, abusive sexual contact, or any other crime of violence committed because of or on the basis of gender). Makes any person, including a person who acts under color of any statute, ordinance, regulation, custom, or usage of any State, who deprives another of the rights, privileges, and immunities secured by the Constitution and laws as enumerated by this Act liable to the injured party in an action for compensatory and punitive damages, injunctive and declaratory relief, or other relief as the court deems appropriate. Amends the Civil Rights Attorney's Fees Awards Act of 1976 to allow the awarding of attorney's fees in actions to enforce this title. Title IV: Safe Campuses for Women - Safe Campuses for Women Act of 1990 - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to authorize the Secretary of Education to make, on a competitive basis, grants to and contracts with institutions of higher education for rape education and prevention programs. Requires that the grants be used to educate and provide support services to student victims of rape or sexual assault, with 25 percent of the funds available for model demonstration programs for rape prevention and education curricula and for local programs to provide services to student rape victims. Authorizes appropriations to carry out title X (Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education) of the Act. Amends the Crime Awareness and Campus Security Act of 1990 to add sexual assault to the list of criminal offenses about which statistics must be disclosed by institutions participating in certain programs. Title V: Equal Justice for Women in the Courts Act of 1990 - Equal Justice for Women in the Courts Act of 1991 - Subtitle A: Education and Training for Judges and Court Personnel in State Courts - Authorizes the State Justice Institute to make grants for model programs to be used by States in training judges and court personnel in State laws on rape, sexual assault, domestic violence, and other crimes of violence motivated by the victim's gender. Authorizes appropriations. Requires the State Justice Institute to expend at least: (1) 40 percent of appropriated funds on programs regarding domestic violence; and (2) 40 percent on programs regarding rape and assault. Subtitle B: Education and Training for Judges and Court Personnel in Federal Courts - Directs the Federal Judicial Center to study and report on the nature and extent of gender bias in the Federal courts. Requires the Center to develop and disseminate model programs to be used in training Federal judges and court personnel in the laws on rape, sexual assault, domestic violence, and other crimes of violence motivated by the victim's gender. Authorizes appropriations. Requires between 25 and 40 percent of such funds to be used for the study required by this subtitle.
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 1991
Grand Canyon Protection Act of 1991 - Requires the Secretary of the Interior to operate Glen Canyon Dam in such a manner as to protect, mitigate adverse impacts to, and improve the values for which Grand Canyon National Park and Glen Canyon National Recreation Area were established. Directs the Secretary to: (1) develop a plan for operating the Dam on an interim basis to protect, mitigate adverse effects to, and improve the condition of the natural, recreational, and cultural resources of the Park and Recreation Area; and (2) implement the plan on the earlier of September 1, 1991, or the date of cessation of research flows used for preparing an environmental impact statement ordered by the Secretary. Enumerates certain objectives to be included in the plan as implemented, including noninterference with the water storage and delivery functions of the Dam, the minimization of adverse environmental impacts of the Dam operations on the downstream Park and Recreation Area, and adjustment and monitoring of sufficient water flows downstream from the Dam. Directs the Secretary to consult with appropriate agencies of the Department of the Interior, the Secretary of Energy, the Governors of affected States, and affected Indian tribes in the development and implementation of the plan. Authorizes the Secretary to deviate from the plan if found necessary and in the public interest. Requires the Secretary to complete a final Glen Canyon Dam environmental impact statement within three years after enactment of this Act. Directs the Secretary to: (1) adopt criteria and operating plans separate from those specified under the Colorado River Basin Project Act of 1968; and (2) ensure that the Dam is operated in a manner consistent with the protection of the Park and Recreation Area. Requires the Secretary to establish and implement long-term monitoring requirements to assure that the Dam is operated in a manner consistent with the protection of the Park and the Recreation Area downstream. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 1991
Honest Budget/Balanced Budget Act - Title I: Operating Budget, Retirement Funds Budget, and Debt and Interest Budget - Amends Federal law to require that the budget the President submits to the Congress be a unified budget comprising an operating budget, a retirement funds budget, and a debt and interest budget, each presented separately. Directs the President to submit with this budget an account of inter-fund transfers between the operating budget and the debt and interest budget. Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to require the congressional concurrent resolution on the budget to be formulated in terms of these three separate budgets. Title II: Balanced Operating Budgets - Amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to establish a point of order in both the Senate and the House of Representatives against considering a budget resolution that includes an unbalanced operating budget. Makes it out of order in both Houses, after the completion of action on the budget resolution, to consider any legislation that would cause operating budget outlays to exceed revenues. Requires the President to present a balanced operating budget. Title III: Trust Fund for the Reduction of the Deficit and Public Debt - Expresses U.S. policy supporting amendment of the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) establish a special debt retirement tax or taxes dedicated to reduction of the deficit and public debt; and (2) create a special trust fund to be used only for this purpose. Title IV: Definition of Deficit - Redefines the term "deficit" to mean the amount by which combined budget outlays for the operating and debt and interest budgets exceed combined revenues for such budgets for any fiscal year. Removes the surpluses of the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund and the Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund from calculations of the deficit.
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 1991
Central American Democracy and Development Act - Declares that it is U.S. policy to: (1) encourage and support the Central American countries in efforts to build democracy, restore peace, establish respect for human rights, expand economic opportunities, and improve living conditions; (2) support and encourage dialogue as the proper means of resolving armed conflicts in Central America; (3) assist in, and secure greater international support for, the recommendations of the International Commission on Central American Recovery and Development; (4) participate in, and contribute to, the United Nations Development Programme for its Special Plan of Economic Cooperation for Central America; (5) help organize a partnership among donor countries and the Central American countries to provide a means of mobilizing resources and promoting a forum for dialogue about issues of development, democracy, social justice, and human rights; and (6) support and promote the President's proposed Enterprise for the Americas Initiative to assist Central American countries in opening their economies and managing their foreign debt. Requires the United States, if requested by the governments of Central America, to provide assistance for the development of the Central American Development Coordination Commission.
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to declare that any individual who performed Desert Shield services (and the individual's spouse) shall be entitled to an extension of time for performing certain tax-related acts by reason of service in a combat zone. Allows the payment of interest on any overpayments due such individuals starting April 15. (Generally, interest will be paid only on refunds made more than 45 days after a return is filed.) Applies the time extension granted by this Act to individuals during any period of continuous hospitalization.
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 1991
Amends part E (Foster Care and Adoption Assistance) of title IV of the Social Security Act to make Foster Care maintenance payments and adoption assistance available for abandoned children. Defines children with handicaps due to drug exposure before birth as "children with special needs," thereby qualifying their adoptive parents for adoption assistance. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make grants to up to ten States for the conduct of demonstration projects for at least five years designed to: (1) provide preventive services and assistance to families which have problems that may lead to the removal of a child from the family; (2) promote the treatment of family problems so that children may be reunified with their family within two years after it became necessary to remove the child from the family; (3) facilitate the timely and permanent placement of children who are in foster care, are boarder babies, have been abandoned at or shortly after birth, have parents addicted to drugs, or were severely abused; or (4) test an innovative approach to any number of other significant child welfare issues. Requires that at least 50 percent of the approved projects address the second objective listed above. Details the information and assurances required to be included in State applications to conduct such projects. Authorizes each State which receives project grants to such funds to improve the provision of child welfare, foster care, and adoption assistance services in any manner it deems appropriate. Provides for the evaluation of such demonstration projects. Waives the application of part B (Child-Welfare Services) of title IV of the Social Security Act and other provisions of the Foster Care and Adoption Assistance program to States which are conducting such demonstration projects.
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 1991
Declares that, with regard to assistance to nations in transition from communism to democracy, it is U.S. policy to provide foreign aid directly to democratic governments at the republic level in countries that include a ruling communist majority in other republic governments or at the Federal level.
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 1991
Veterans' Compensation Cost-of-Living Increase and Agent Orange Act of 1991 - Title I: Compensation Rate Increases - Increases the rates of veterans' disability compensation, additional compensation for dependents, the clothing allowance for certain disabled veterans, and dependency and indemnity compensation for surviving spouses and children. Title II: Agent Orange Exposure and Vietnam Service - States that the following diseases will be presumed to be service-connected for purposes of eligibility for veterans' disability compensation, if they become manifest to a degree of disability of ten-percent or more in a veteran who served on active duty in Vietnam during the Vietnam era: (1) non-Hodgkins lymphoma; (2) each soft-tissue sarcoma, with specified exceptions; and (3) chloracne, if it becomes manifest to such degree within one year after the last date the veteran performed active duty in Vietnam. Provides that, in the case of a Vietnam veteran exposed to certain dioxins or other herbicide agents during service in Vietnam, specified diseases listed by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs and identified as having a positive association with the biological effects of exposure to such herbicide agent shall be considered to have been incurred in or aggravated by such service, even though there is no record of such disease having occurred during such service. Presumes that Vietnam veterans having such disease were exposed to such dioxin or herbicide during their Vietnam service, unless there is affirmative evidence to the contrary. Authorizes the Secretary to extend the applicability of this section to those exposed to the same type of dioxins or herbicides outside of Vietnam while on active duty. Provides a presumption of service-connection in the case of a Vietnam veteran suffering from a disease associated with effects of exposure to certain dioxins or other herbicide agents during such service in Vietnam. Directs the Secretary to prescribe regulations listing a positive association between any disease and the biological effects of exposure to an herbicide agent in Vietnam. Requires the Secretary, in prescribing and revising such list, to obtain by contract the determinations and estimates of a contract scientific organization. Requires such organization to: (1) determine which diseases have any degree of association with the biological effects of exposure to a herbicide agent; and (2) estimate the extent of association between each such disease and each such biological effect. Requires the organization to determine such association specifically with respect to lung cancer and each other cancer. Outlines contract provisions required in such agreements between the Secretary and the scientific organization, including surveys, evaluations, and periodic determinations. Requires such scientific organizations to provide reports to the Secretary and the Senate and House Veterans' Affairs Committees regarding their determinations and evaluations. Requires such organization to determine, in the event of a positive association, whether there is a reasonable basis for concluding that a Vietnam veteran with the highest level of exposure to that herbicide agent in Vietnam was exposed to such agent under the circumstances necessary for such biological effects. Requires a report from the organization to the Secretary and the veterans' committees when there is no such reasonable basis found. Requires the Secretary to make certain determinations and follow-up reports after receiving such reports from the contract scientific organization, including the issuance of a report to the veterans' committees and the promulgation of positive association regulations, if necessary. Requires benefits to be continued even though a disease is removed from the regulations listing diseases having positive associations. Terminates such contracting authority ten years after the first day of the fiscal year in which a scientific organization transmits its first report to the Secretary. Provides interim regulations and special effective dates. Directs the Secretary to compile and analyze all clinical data that: (1) are obtained by the Department in connection with examinations and treatment of veterans for disabilities related to exposure to certain herbicides or to service in Vietnam; and (2) are likely to be scientifically useful in determining the association, if any, between the disabilities of such veterans and their exposure to such herbicides and other toxic substances. Requires the Secretary to submit an annual report to the veterans' committees concerning such analysis and its results. Directs the Secretary to consult with the Director of the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) before compiling and analyzing such information. Requires the Director of OTA to review each annual report submitted by the Secretary and transmit to the Secretary an evaluation of the contents of each report. Directs the Secretary to establish and maintain a system for the collection and storage of voluntarily contributed samples of blood and tissue of veterans who performed active service in Vietnam during the Vietnam era. Outlines provisions concerning the security and authorized uses of such specimens, as well as limitations on the acceptance of such samples. Requires the Secretary to consult with the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) to the extent that an agreement has been reached with the NAS serving as the contract scientific organization for the Secretary. Requires the Secretary to consult with the Director of OTA in the event of no agreement with NAS. Directs the Secretary to establish a program to provide for the conduct of studies of the feasibility of conducting additional scientific research on health hazards resulting from: (1) exposure to dioxin; (2) exposure to other toxic agents in herbicides used in support of U.S. and allied military operations in Vietnam during the Vietnam era; and (3) active military, naval, or air service there. Requires the Secretary to report to the veterans' committees on the results of such studies. Requires the Secretary to consult with the NAS before undertaking such studies and requires the NAS to review such studies and report recommendations to the Secretary and the veterans' committees, to the extent provided under any agreement between the Secretary and the NAS. Amends the Veterans' Benefits Improvement Act of 1988 to require the Secretary to annually furnish updated information listed in the Department of Veterans Affairs Agent Orange Registry on health risks resulting from exposure to dioxin or other toxic agents in herbicides as a result of service in Vietnam during the Vietnam era. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to report to the veterans' committees on the research being conducted to develop treatments for physiological absorption of dioxin and other toxic agents used in herbicides by the United States in Vietnam, including research relating to exposure to dioxin and other toxic agents outside Vietnam. Extends through December 31, 1993, the eligibility for hospital and nursing home care for veterans exposed to toxic substances in Vietnam.
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 1991
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to make permanent the income tax exclusion of amounts paid under employee educational assistance programs.
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 1991
Designates April 21 through April 27, 1991, as National Crime Victims' Rights Week.
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 1991
Declares that the Department of Commerce, in considering the population discrepancies in the 1990 census, should utilize the statistical correction methodology to achieve a fair and accurate census.
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 1991
Authorizes and requests the President to designate the weeks beginning on November 24, 1991, and November 22, 1992, as National Family Week.
United States · United States Congress · 14 January 1991
Constitutional Amendment - Declares that equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State on account of sex.
United States · United States Congress · 12 January 1991
Calls on President Gorbachev to refrain from further use of coercive tactics against the democratically-elected Governments of Lithuania, Latvia, or Estonia and declares that such tactics are unacceptable among the community of democratic nations.
United States · United States Congress · 10 January 1991
Declares that the Congress: (1) is firmly committed to reversing Iraq's occupation of Kuwait; and (2) supports the continued application of international sanctions and diplomatic efforts to pressure Iraq to leave Kuwait, but does not rule out declaring war or authorizing the use of force at a later time. Authorizes the use of American military force to enforce the United Nations economic embargo against Iraq, defend Saudi Arabia from direct Iraqi attack, and protect American forces in the region. Pledges continued support for sustaining the policy of increasing economic and diplomatic pressure against Iraq, maintaining U.S. military options, and seeking to increase the military and financial contributions made by allied nations. Declares that: (1) the Constitution vests all power to declare war in the Congress; and (2) the Congress will expeditiously consider any presidential request for a declaration of war or for authority to use military force against Iraq. Sets forth congressional priority procedures for consideration of a joint resolution declaring war or authorizing military force against Iraq.
United States · United States Congress · 27 October 1990
Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to require States to provide for the receipt and initial processing of Medicaid applications at locations other than those used for the receipt and processing of applications for Aid to Families with Dependent Children under part A of title IV such as hospitals or clinics providing covered services to Medicaid applicants. Prohibits States from discontinuing a child's Medicaid benefits until it is determined that the child is not eligible for such benefits on any basis. Prohibits the application of fixed durational limits to medically necessary inpatient hospital services for all Medicaid-eligible individuals regardless of age. Prohibits aggregate or institutional volume caps which would limit medically necessary days or result in arbitrary reductions in established payment rates for days exceeding such caps. Prohibits the waiver of such prohibitions to promote cost-effectiveness and efficiency. Requires outlier adjustments under State prospective payment plans for medically necessary inpatient hospital services for very high cost or exceptionally lengthy cases regardless of the age of the Medicaid-eligible patient. Requires a uniform national minimum Medicaid payment adjustment for disproportionate share hospitals. Allows State flexibility in setting adjustments for different types of disproportionate share providers. Prohibits application of visit limits to medically necessary covered outpatient services provided to individuals in disproportionate share hospitals as defined by the States under current law for inpatient payment adjustment. Requires States to adjust payments for outpatient services provided to individuals by disproportionate share hospitals. Prohibits the waiver of such provisions to promote cost-effectiveness and efficiency. Directs the General Accounting Office to conduct a study and report to the Congress on Medicaid hospital reimbursement comparing payment levels with the cost of providing care to Medicaid patients.
United States · United States Congress · 25 October 1990
Recognizes the important part the Alaska Highway played in the defense of our Nation and the settling of Alaska and the ever-important role it will inevitably play in our future. States that this highway should be maintained in a condition that encourages people throughout the Nation to travel it.
United States · United States Congress · 24 October 1990
Title X Pregnancy Counseling Act of 1990 - Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services, notwithstanding any other provision of law, to ensure that projects receiving assistance under title X of the Public Health Service Act offer pregnant women information and counseling on all legal and medical options. Requires that women requesting information regarding an unintended pregnancy be provided with nondirective counseling and referral on prenatal care, delivery, infant care, foster care, adoption services, and pregnancy termination.
United States · United States Congress · 19 October 1990
Resolution Trust Corporation Funding Act of 1990 - Amends the Federal Home Loan Bank Act to direct the Secretary of the Treasury to make monies available to the Resolution Trust Corporation (RTC) with respect to 1988 cases until January 31, 1993, to modify or restructure agreements whenever the Oversight Board determines that such expenditures would result in net savings over time. Directs the Secretary to make additional monies available to the RTC to cover losses in resolving thrift institutions and for administrative expenses. Modifies the formula used to compute the maximum amount of RTC outstanding obligations to acquire working capital.
United States · United States Congress · 19 October 1990
Designates November 16, 1990, as National Federation of the Blind Day.
United States · United States Congress · 16 October 1990
Savings Bank Safety and Soundness Act of 1990 - Amends the Federal Deposit Insurance Act to: (1) modify the definition of "bank" to exclude a savings bank that is a Savings Association Insurance Fund member; (2) include in the definition of "State bank" any savings bank that is a Bank Insurance Fund member; and (3) include in the definition of "appropriate Federal banking agency" the Director of the Office of Thrift Supervision in the case of any savings association that is a Savings Association Insurance Fund member (thus preventing State-chartered savings associations from classifying themselves as savings banks in order to evade Federal restrictions upon depository institution practices). Amends the Home Owners' Loan Act to make technical changes in conformance with this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 11 October 1990
Urban Schools of America (USA) Act of 1990 - Title I: Urban School Improvement - Authorizes appropriations for this title. Directs the Secretary of Education (the Secretary) to reserve specified funds for: (1) national activities to evaluate urban school improvement programs; and (2) competitive grant awards to exemplary school programs. Directs the Secretary to allot, from remaining amounts, to each eligible local educational agency (LEA) with an approved application an amount based on that LEA's relative allocation under certain provisions of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 for education of disadvantaged children (ESEA chapter I). Provides for annual payments to eligible LEAs with approved applications if they comply with certain data collection requirements to monitor progress toward meeting national education goals, and demonstrate such progress. Sets limits on the time and the amount of funds to be used for planning purposes. Requires LEAs to use funds under this title to meet national education goals through programs designed to: (1) increase the academic achievement of urban school children to at least the national average; (2) prepare all urban children for school; (3) increase the graduation rates of urban students to at least the national average; (4) prepare urban school graduates to enter higher education, pursue careers, and exercise their responsibilities as citizens; (5) recruit and retain qualified teachers; and (6) decrease the use of drugs and alcohol by urban students, enhancing their physical and emotional health. Sets forth program accountability requirements: (1) in general, for initial grants, renewal grants, and renewal of school participation; (2) for achievement, including demonstration of improvement; and (3) data collection to monitor progress in achieving national education goals. Authorizes the Secretary to reserve funds for competitive incentive awards to individual schools participating in projects assisted under this title that demonstrate exemplary progress in meeting program requirements. Directs the Secretary, by January 1, 1991, to report on the impact of regulations promulgated pursuant to Federal law on urban public schools. Requires LEAs desiring to receive an allotment under this Act to establish a local advisory group to: (1) design and conduct a needs assessment for participating schools; (2) assist in planning for community-wide collaboration in service delivery for youths in participating schools; (3) advise the LEA and the community on how they can work together to use multiple service providers; and (4) monitor program implementation and oversee program evaluation. Allows use of a comparable existing local advisory group to comply with such requirement. Sets forth special rules relating to ranking of schools to determine relative need, in general, on the basis of achievement, poverty, and number of minority students. Requires each LEA receiving a grant to serve between ten and 20 percent of its schools. Requires eligible LEAs to have flexibility to serve homeless children, desegregating students, immigrants, migrants, or other highly mobile populations, within the program assisted under this title. Deems any approved program for any school served under certain ESEA chapter 1 provisions to be sufficient to meet the application and program accountability requirements of this title. Title II: School Building Repair and Renovation - Authorizes appropriations to assist eligible LEAs in repairing and renovating instructional facilities in city schools. Directs the Secretary to reserve specified portions of funds for: (1) monitoring activities under this title; (2) grants for school building repair and renovation; and (3) grants for school environmental concerns and safety improvement. Directs the Secretary to allocate funds for both such types of grants on the basis of the number of: (1) children from families below the poverty line; (2) school buildings used for instructional purposes; and (3) school buildings more than 25 years old used for instructional purposes. Limits the period covered by a grant application to three years, and requires annual review by the Secretary. Lists types of programs eligible LEAs must conduct with grants for: (1) repair and renovation of school buildings; and (2) improvements related to environmental concerns and safety. Title III: Urban School Research - Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary to reserve specified funds to establish and operate a National Urban Research Center to: (1) evaluate, monitor, and disseminate activities under this title; (2) conduct independent research in urban education; and (3) serve as a clearinghouse on urban education research findings, policies, and practices. Allows the use of funds under this title for: (1) collaborative and coordinated research and evaluation of educational techniques or approaches in multiple cities served by eligible LEAS; (2) evaluation of projects assisted under title I; (3) dissemination of information on successful projects and approaches under title I; (4) design and implementation of programs for LEA technical assistance to individual schools and teachers involved in title I projects; (5) data and information management services for schools participating in a title I program; (6) staff training in such schools; and (7) evaluation of progress in meeting national educational goals by LEAs receiving assistance under this Act. Title IV: General Provisions - Establishes the Interagency Council on Urban Schools to: (1) review Federal programs to determine effects on urban schools' ability to meet national education goals; (2) track school progress toward such goals; (3) solicit advice and information for urban education experts and urban school representatives on improvement of Federal programs; (4) review Federal regulations for duplication or contradiction; (5) report annually to the Congress and the President on urban school progress; (6) review and recommend improvement or streamlinig of Federal data collection in urban schools; and (7) conduct research to help urban school practitioners improve school performance. Directs the President to conduct a White House Conference on Urban Education before October 30, 1992. Requires the Conference to advise on development of: (1) recommendations and strategies for improving urban education; (2) methods for combining forces of the private sector, governmental agencies at all levels, parents, teachers, communities, and education officials to assist urban schools in meeting national goals; and (3) a permanent national advisory commission on urban education. Requires a report to the President. Authorizes appropriations. Establishes a National Commission on Urban Education as an independent agency within the executive branch. Directs the Commission to: (1) study specified issues relating to urban schools; and (2) report, and recommend changes in Federal legislation, to the President and appropriate congressional committees. Terminates the Commission three years after its first meeting. Authorizes appropriations. Requires eligible LEAs to use Federal funds received under this Act only to supplement but not supplant non-Federal funds.
United States · United States Congress · 11 October 1990
Expresses the sense of the Senate that the Department of Commerce, in considering the population discrepancies in the 1990 census, should utilize the statistical correction methodology to achieve a fair and accurate census. States that the Secretary of Commerce should release adjusted data by April 1, 1991, to avoid undue complications in various jurisdictions with respect to formulating redistricting plans.
United States · United States Congress · 9 October 1990
Nursing Home Reform Improvements Act of 1990 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) and title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to make miscellaneous amendments and clarifications to Medicare and Medicaid requirements imposed on nursing facilities by the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1987, particularly nurse aide training and annual resident review requirements.
United States · United States Congress · 9 October 1990
Amends part B (Child-Welfare Services) of title IV of the Social Security Act to provide Federal funds to enable States to plan, develop, or expand innovative programs of child welfare services and family support services in order to preserve and strengthen families and prevent the need for placement in foster care. Authorizes appropriations. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to authorize demonstration projects to improve the coordination of welfare services for families and children. Directs the Secretaries of HHS, Agriculture, and Education and the Attorney General to: (1) review department policies to determine whether changes can be made without statutory changes to improve the funding and delivery of such services; and (2) issue a report to the Congress that includes recommendations for both legislative and nonlegislative changes to improve the coordination of the funding and delivery of such services. Amends part E (Foster Care and Adoption Assistance) of title IV of the Social Security Act to set forth provisions to facilitate adoption, including provisions allowing States to disregard adoption assistance payments in determining a family's eligibility for the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program under part A. Directs the Secretary of HHS to establish an Advisory Committee on Foster Care Placement to study and make recommendations regarding the current requirement that States make reasonable efforts to prevent the need for removal of a child from home, and to make it possible for the child to return home, under State plans for foster care and adoption assistance. Requires that a child who is placed in foster care be placed in a setting that is most appropriate for that child. Authorizes demonstration projects to facilitate the reunification of children eligible for AFDC services with their families. Allows States to claim 90 percent Federal matching for the costs of planning, designing, developing, or installing a statewide data collection and information retrieval system for purposes of administering the Child-Welfare Services program and the Foster Care and Adoption Assistance program. Allows States to claim 50 percent Federal matching for the costs of operating a data collection and information system for purposes of administering the Foster Care and Adoption Assistance program. Revises the independent living program to: (1) allow States to continue independent living services for youths up to age 21 (age 18 as under current law); (2) allow youths in such programs to accumulate assets sufficient to enable them to establish their own households; and (3) allow States to continue to provide foster care maintenance payments for certain youths up to age 21, provided they are active participants in the program and in a full-time education or vocational training program. Includes child placement costs within the scope of allowable Federal matching under the Foster Care and Adoption Assistance program Requires States to submit all claims for Federal reimbursement under the Foster Care and Adoption Assistance program within one year after the calendar quarter in which the expenditure is made (currently, within two years). Outlines the criteria for the Secretary of HHS to use for approving applications by colleges for grants to provide child welfare traineeships. Permits the Secretary of HHS to authorize up to ten States to establish and evaluate specified types of child welfare demonstration projects. Grants such States more flexible spending authority for such purposes.
United States · United States Congress · 4 October 1990
Designates October 30, 1990, as Refugee Day.